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  • The 66th Annual Grammy Awards and More

    The 66th Annual Grammy Awards and More


    Juliet and Amanda are here to give you all their thoughts on the fashion, performances, and results of the Grammys!

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    Juliet Litman

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  • Fruity Pebbles and a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Fuel a Wacky Paczki Lineup

    Fruity Pebbles and a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Fuel a Wacky Paczki Lineup


    Sweet-toothed Chicagoans are counting down to Paczki Day, the last day before Lenten season and better known as Fat Tuesday outside of Chicago. Locals descend upon city and suburban bakeries annually and line up for boxes of the traditional Polish treat, which essentially packs 40 days’ worth of sugar and butter into a holeless doughnut.

    Kelly Ijichi, a Japanese American chef, has kept an eye trained on the calendar. On Tuesday, February 13, she and a cadre of hospitality collaborators will unveil their unusual and inventive paczki creations. They will host a paczki party on Fat Tuesday in the former home of Big Kids in Logan Square. The irreverent sandwich shop closed on Sunday, February 4, after three years. The festivities will also serve as one last hurrah.

    Chaos cooking has extended to paczki.
    Cori Black

    For Ijichi, who ran a pop-up and food stall called Mom’s, this isn’t the first time she’s dabbled with paczki. Chef Lorraine Nguyen has concocted a pastry with malted sunchoke cremeux, dark chocolate, and cacao (“In my head, it tastes like a very good chocolate milkshake from Steak ‘n Shake,”), while baker Rosie Est is stuffing hers with guava citrus cardamom filling and topping them with vanilla icing and puffed rice for a satisfying crunch. Cheesemonger Alisha Norris Jones is tapping into her memory of a standout cheese board at Michelin-starred Lutèce in D.C. for her take, featuring curry comte honeycomb cream.

    Not to be outdone, Ijichi promises two paczki, a milk chocolate version with hatcho miso and hazelnut praline; and an old favorite, her truffled paczki. It’s stuffed with truffle honey cream and showered with shaved winter truffle and edible gold leaves. That’s all on top of special walk-in-only offerings, like Nguyen’s Fruity Pebbles-inspired option with strawberry mousse filling and makrut lime glaze. She estimates that each year, the team makes around 600 paczki. It’s a goofy, sugar-soaked time, and Ijichi’s way of forming partnerships with friends and hospitality players, with past participants including Roshelley Mayén of to-go cocktail business Juanitas Bebidas and Palita Sriratana of Thai food brand Pink Salt.

    Ijichi began making paczki five years ago when she ran Mom’s out of Marz Community Brewing in Bridgeport. Every year, the Polish- and Korean-owned brewery hosts a Paczki Fest featuring sweet treats from neighborhood bakeries as well as special seasonal beers. Neither Ijichi nor her collaborators are of Polish descent, but the Chicago tradition piqued their interest and presented an opportunity to experiment with questions of food and identity.

    “As people who had multicultural experiences growing up, it’s always fun to look at food as something that evolves,” Nguyen says, noting the prevalence of Western chefs who build careers by interpreting cuisines from other parts of the world. “But I think there’s something really powerful and great in flipping that scenario. Instead of a Western lens looking globally, it’s a global lens looking at something Western.”

    Four packs of paczki (one of each flavor) and truffle paczki are available for pre-order online through Thursday, February 8. Pickup is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Fat Tuesday, February 13 at Big Kids, 2545 N. Kedzie Boulevard.

    1834 South Kildare Avenue, , IL 60623





    Naomi Waxman

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  • If we have to recycle old IP, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the way to do it

    If we have to recycle old IP, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the way to do it


    Have you watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the 2005 Brad-and-Angelina action comedy, recently? Like, actually watched it, not just let your nostalgic memories of it play in your head. Mr. & Mrs. Smith was at the center of pop culture in the mid-aughts for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with the actual movie, and a few that did: It’s sexy fun with massive stars, and director Doug Liman knows how to put together a good action scene. The elevator pitch — two professional assassins are married to each other, but don’t know about the other’s job — is a good one.

    But right now, in 2024, it’s almost unwatchably strange. It’s one of those not-that-old movies that are so specific to their time they seem to have aged beyond their years. The bitter, marriage-is-hell humor lands wrong. The two leads look hot but sort of unreal, like they’re the premature product of de-aging technology. There are some iffy digital shots, and the cinematography and camera work — all handheld, all high-contrast, all orange and teal, all the time — are extremely 2005. It’s just not a film that plays anymore, and although it was a huge hit and the eye of a tabloid storm, it’s not much talked about today.

    Which makes it an odd choice to be adapted into a Prime Video streaming series. Or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe, in fact, the choice by star Donald Glover and co-creator Francesca Sloane is a genius one.

    In the current phase of the streaming wars (a phase we might be on the precipice of leaving behind, but that’s another story), the studios have not been shaken in their belief that any level of intellectual property name recognition is better than none, and creatives have been barraged with invitations to rework this or that old movie. Very rarely, as in the improbable success of Noah Hawley’s Fargo, an anthology series made in the spirit of the Coen brothers’ cinematic masterpiece, this has worked. More often it has not. Sometimes, the misbegotten results have at least been interesting, like Amazon’s curious reinterpretation of Dead Ringers. Sometimes, as in the case of the uninspired retread of Fatal Attraction, they have been both pointless and dull.

    Photo: David Lee/Prime Video

    Glover and Sloane’s inspired choice was to select a movie from the studios’ menu that is famous but unsophisticated and not especially beloved, with a dated iconography that could easily be junked and a strong concept that could be stripped to its core and rebuilt completely from scratch. This is exactly what they’ve done, creating a delightful series that is almost the inverse of its inspiration, while sharing its core values: It’s funny, sexy, glossy, and exciting, and built around the chemistry of its two leads.

    The setup is markedly different. Rather than rival assassins who got hitched by accident, Glover and Maya Erskine’s John and Jane Smith have been purposefully paired up by the same shadowy employer, shedding their previous lives to begin a new one together. Where Pitt and Jolie begin the film as flawless pros trapped in domestic tedium, Glover and Erskine are awkward, hesitant newbies exploring their dangerous new profession and budding relationship together.

    This sets up a show that is a lightly spiced, well-observed take on contemporary work and relationships with a side order of covert-ops hijinks. It might take viewers a couple of episodes to adjust to Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s unique world. It’s intimate and chatty, with a casual approach to the action stuff that isn’t concerned with realism or plausibility, and constantly lowers the dramatic temperature and the stakes, even as the Smiths get involved in increasingly outlandish mission-of-the-week scenarios. It’s a cool, easygoing relationship dramedy about people who just happen to be elite contract agents (but also gig workers, kind of). That’s not to say it doesn’t deliver thrills — there are some close scrapes, and one later episode set on Lake Como has an outstanding protracted chase scene — but it’s easy to tell where Glover and Sloane’s interest really lies: The action is as broad-brush and goofy as the Smiths’ dialogue is plausible, intricate, and nifty in its detail.

    Parker Posey smiles and makes a love heart shape with her hands in a dark study in Mr. & Mrs. Smith

    Photo: David Lee/Prime Video

    Ron Perlman looks sad in a yellow T-shirt at a candlelit dinner table at twilight in Mr. & Mrs. Smith

    Photo: David Lee/Prime Video

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith — unlike the cinematically ambitious Fargo show, for example, which Sloane worked on, as well as contributing to Glover’s Atlanta — is also under no illusions about what medium it belongs to. This is very much a TV show. It has slick, aspirational visuals, with lovely location shoots around New York and Europe, handsome architecture, and cool fashion (Glover’s looks are on point). But the scale is small, and the 40-minute episodes are tight, discrete, satisfying short stories. Each one moves the Smiths’ relationship on while pairing them with a string of one-off guest stars, often as the couple’s mission target. It’s a murderer’s row of iconic actors: John Turturro, Sharon Horgan, Parker Posey, Ron Perlman, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, and more. Perlman is magnificent as a mournful, childish oligarch with a killer Hitler joke, while Paulson provides a savagely accurate parody of a couples therapist.

    This is just a great TV format, and in theory Mr. & Mrs. Smith could run forever like this; it’s reminiscent of Poker Face in the way it seeks to rehabilitate old-school case-of-the-week TV. Glover, however, likes to play games with form, as with Altanta — albeit to a much less experimental extent in this case. Mr. & Mrs. Smith is only a few episodes old before it starts to break its own format. It’s cunningly done, but it perhaps doesn’t leave Glover and Sloane with a lot of room to maneuver in a potential second season.

    Perhaps, though, that’s because Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s primary motivator is John and Jane’s relationship, and it’s essential to the drama that this keeps moving forward. Glover and Erskine are simply irresistible: likable, simultaneously spiky and smooth, damaged but competent (up to a point), and very plausibly into each other. Their scenes together radiate with the comfortingly bitchy intimacy of two people who are inseparable partners in absolutely everything, and when things go wrong between them, the show’s insouciant surface cracks enough to expose real hurt.

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a fun bit of escapism wrapped around a complex, warm, and relatable love story. Glover and Sloane made something new and refreshing out of a movie that is past its sell-by date. If we’re only allowed to watch new things based on other, older things, we’ll be lucky if a fraction of them are made with as much wit and creativity as this.

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith is streaming now on Prime Video.



    Oli Welsh

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  • ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Season Finale Deep Dive

    ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Season Finale Deep Dive


    The Gods are among us as Joanna and Mal return to dive deep into the season finale of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (08:10). They take an extended look at the season’s final episode and break down all of the significant story elements of the show (15:41). Later, they talk about book spoilers to see what may happen next in a potential Season 2 (02:03:42).

    Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson
    Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman
    Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal
    Social: Jomi Adeniran

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Pandora / Google Podcasts



    Mallory Rubin

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  • The Toms Cause Chaos on ‘The Viall Files’! Plus, ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ ‘Beverly Hills,’ and ‘Miami.’

    The Toms Cause Chaos on ‘The Viall Files’! Plus, ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ ‘Beverly Hills,’ and ‘Miami.’


    Finally reunited after a brief hiatus, Rachel Lindsay and Jodi Walker kick off today’s Morally Corrupt by recapping Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz’s chaotic Viall Files episode (1:58), before diving into the Season 11 premiere of Vanderpump Rules (10:39). Then, Rachel and Jodi break down Season 13, Episode 14 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (33:24). Finally, Rachel is joined by Callie Curry to chat about Season 6, Episode 14 of The Real Housewives of Miami (50:01).

    Host: Rachel Lindsay
    Guests: Jodi Walker and Callie Curry
    Producers: Devon Baroldi
    Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

    Subscribe: Spotify



    Rachel Lindsay

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  • Wonka, The Beekeeper, and every new movie to watch at home this weekend

    Wonka, The Beekeeper, and every new movie to watch at home this weekend


    Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home. So quiet up and listen down; no, scratch that, reverse it!

    This week, Wonka, the musical fantasy starring Timothée Chalamet as the irrepressibly whimsical chocolatier, is finally available to stream on VOD. There’s other exciting new releases available to rent as well, like David Ayer’s latest action thriller The Beekeeper starring Jason Statham and Makoto Shinkai’s fantasy romance anime Suzume. There are a ton of other new movies on streaming to watch as well, like Orion and the Dark on Netflix, Freelance on Hulu, Past Lives on Paramount Plus with Showtime, and more!

    Here’s everything new to watch this weekend!

    New on Netflix

    Orion and the Dark

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

    Image: DreamWorks Animation

    Genre: Fantasy comedy
    Run time: 1h 30m
    Director: Sean Charmatz
    Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Angela Bassett

    Written by cerebral screenwriter-director Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich) and based on the children’s book by Emma Yarlett, this animated fantasy adventure follows the story of a child with an overactive imagination and a constant fear of the future who is befriended by the anthropomorphic personification of darkness. Together, the pair embark on an adventure to conquer Orion’s fear of the unknown and embrace the many wonders the world has to offer.

    From our review,

    By the end, Orion and the Dark has boldly transformed into a delightfully eccentric story, taking on even more metatextual layers. But it never loses its heart: It’s still a bedtime story, a parent and child working together to assemble an ending that satisfies the both of them. Their voices combine in a convincing way, with zany, kid-fueled ideas on one hand, and the careful guiding hand of an adult on the other. But child and parent both learn something from the other, and that turns Orion and the Dark from a simple fairy tale into a beautifully bizarre ride, and finally into a movie with a message that hits deeply for both adults and kids.

    The Greatest Night in Pop

    Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones looking at sheet for music for “We Are the World” in The Greatest Night in Pop documentary

    Image: Netflix

    Genre: Music documentary
    Run time: 1h 36m
    Director: Bao Nguyen
    Cast: The biggest music stars of the 1980s

    A behind-the-scenes doc of the making of one of the most popular singles of all-time, The Greatest Night in Pop takes you behind the scenes of the star-studded lineup that recorded “We Are the World.”

    From our review out of Sundance:

    It doesn’t quite reach the heights of documentary classics, falling short of the insight into the tortured circumstances and frustrated production of Original Cast Album: Company, or the pure musical excellence of Monterey Pop. But there’s something special about seeing these stars mingle that makes this movie a fascinating document on fame and the people behind it.

    Shortcomings

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Netflix

    A man and a woman with glasses lean against a railing opposite a sidewalk with a visible look of concern on their faces.

    Image: Sony Picture Classics

    Genre: Romance comedy
    Run time: 1h 32m
    Director: Randall Park
    Cast: Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola, Ally Maki

    Justin H. Min (The Umbrella Academy) stars in this new comedy from actor-director Randall Park (WandaVision). Shortcomings follows the misadventures of Ben, a struggling filmmaker living in Los Angeles. When his girlfriend, Miko, moves to New York for an internship, Ben is forced to assess his lifestyle choices up to this point in order to learn to grow as both a romantic partner and a person.

    New on Prime Video

    Fist of the Condor

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Prime Video

    Marko Zaror looks cool as hell on a motorcycle, wearing a leather jacket and with goggles on top of his head, in Fist of the Condor, with the ocean behind him.

    Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

    Genre: Martial arts drama
    Run time: 1h 20m
    Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
    Cast: Marko Zaror, Eyal Meyer, Gina Aguad

    One of my (Ed. note: PV) very favorite action movies of a stacked 2023, Fist of the Condor is at once a throwback to the Shaw Brothers era of old school Hong Kong martial arts filmmaking, and a new exciting step for Chilean martial arts cinema.

    From our review:

    At the end of the day, Fist of the Condor is the Marko Zaror show. And boy, does he deliver. The movie is at its best when it is a series of jaw-dropping fights, one after another, leaning on his incredible star power. As an actor, Zaror brings life and deep pain to the star-crossed brothers, and as a fighter and acrobat, he is unmatched. He seems to be able to alternate from raw animalistic movements to robotic, hypnotic defense (he calls it an “electrical impulse” in the movie) and balletic, gravity-defying spinning kicks that are simply poetry in motion.

    New on Hulu

    Freelance

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Hulu

    (L-R) John Cena, Juan Pablo Raba, and Alison Brie in Freelance.

    Image: Relativity Media

    Genre: Action comedy
    Run time: 1h 48m
    Director: Pierre Morel
    Cast: John Cena, Alison Brie, Juan Pablo Raba

    Taken director Pierre Morel moves to a more comedic mode in this movie about a former Special Forces officer (John Cena) and a journalist (Alison Brie) who travel to a fictional country together to interview the nation’s dictator.

    New on Max

    Dicks: The Musical

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Max

    (L-R) Josh Sharp, Bowen Yang, and Aaron Jackson in Dicks: The Musical.

    Image: A24

    Genre: Musical comedy
    Run time: 1h 26m
    Director: Larry Charles
    Cast: Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, Nathan Lane

    This musical comedy follows two longtime business rivals who inadvertently discover they are identical twin brothers separated at birth. Concocting a scheme to get their divorced parents back together, they switch places in order to orchestrate a reunion. Think The Parent Trap, but with more musical numbers, dick jokes, and Megan Thee Stallion.

    From our review:

    Dicks takes shots at different kinds of modern movies early on, starting with other A24 movies. A24’s logo is accompanied by grandiose music, and its signature elevated horror threatens to become a tongue-in-cheek thematic inspiration when Trevor and Craig wonder whether their predicament meets the qualifications for abuse and trauma. The film’s New York-set, American Psycho-esque corporate saga is clearly filmed in Los Angeles, with the seams of several sets and stages showing in the margins, while the stock footage it uses of NYC is all distinctly anachronistic.

    New on Paramount Plus

    Past Lives

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus w/ Showtime

    Nora and Hae Sung sit on a ferry, going to the Statue of Liberty.

    Photo: Jon Pack/A24

    Genre: Romantic drama
    Run time: 1h 46m
    Director: Celine Song
    Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro

    Greta Lee (Sisters) and Teo Yoo (Decision to Leave) star in director Celine Song’s romantic drama debut as Nora and Hae-sung, two childhood friends who are seperated when the former emigrates from South Korea to Toronto with her family.

    Reunited 12 years later, the pair find themselves unmistakably drawn together. As their respective lives and obligations pull them further and farther apart, Nora and Hae-sung must confront their feelings about the life they might have shared together had their past choices been different, and what to do with those feelings now in the present.

    Song spoke with Polygon about how the film is all about “the way that life reflects upon itself,” as well as her brief foray into The Sims 4 theater production.

    Kokomo City

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus w/ Showtime

    A woman dressed in a headwrap and t-shirt with long nails stares up at a camera in Kokomo City.

    Image: Magnolia Pictures

    Genre: Documentary
    Run time: 1h 13m
    Director: D. Smith
    Cast: Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell

    The first film from Grammy-nominated producer D. Smith follows the stories of four transgender sex workers living in New York and Georgia. Shot in black and white, the film offers insight into the embattled nature of not only their profession, but the cultural fault lines of gender and identity that intersect with their daily lives.

    The Tiger’s Apprentice

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Paramount Plus

    An animated black-striped tiger, a monkey sitting on the head of a serpent-like dragon, and a young boy in a yellow hoodie talking to one another.

    Image: Paramount Pictures/Paramount Plus

    Genre: Action adventure
    Run time: 1h 24m
    Directors: Raman Hui, Yong Duk Jhun, Paul Watling
    Cast: Henry Golding, Brandon Soo Hoo, Lucy Liu

    Based on Laurence Yep’s 2003 novel, this action fantasy movie follows the story of Tom (Brandon Soo Hoo), a Chinese American boy living in Los Angeles who inherits the responsibility of acting as the guardian of an ancient phoenix after the passing of his grandmother. Aided by a talking tiger named Mr. Hu (Henry Golding), Tom must learn to harness his new powers in order to prevent the phoenix from falling into the wrong hands.

    New on Shudder

    Dario Argento: Panico

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Shudder

    Dario Argento standing in a hallway with his hands pressed against the walls in Dario Argento: Panico

    Image: Shudder

    Genre: Documentary
    Run time: 1h 38m
    Director: Simone Scafidi
    Cast: Dario Argento, Fiore Argento, Vittorio Cecchi Gori

    This documentary unpacks the storied 58-plus-year career of Dario Argento, one of the most prolific directors behind Italian “giallo” horror and the acclaimed mind behind such films as Suspiria and Tenebrae. Featuring guest appearances from the likes of Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Gaspar Noé, Panico also follows Argento as he writes the script for a new horror film.

    New on Tubi

    Sri Asih

    Where to watch: Available to stream on Tubi

    Sri Asih, a young woman in a superhero outfit, raises her fists up to fight in Sri Asih

    Image: Premiere Entertainment Group

    Genre: Superhero action
    Run time: 2h 15m
    Director: Upi Avianto
    Cast: Pevita Pearce, Ario Bayu, Christine Hakim

    The second entry in Indonesia’s Bumilangit Cinematic Universe, adapting comic book stories, is finally more widely available to watch in the US. The first, Gundala, was a very fun time, and director Joko Anwar returns as co-writer on this entry, which follows a young woman who learns she is the reincarnation of a goddess.

    New to rent

    The Beekeeper

    Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

    Jason Statham furrows his brow in The Beekeeper

    Image: Amazon MGM Studios

    Genre: Action thriller
    Run time: 1h 45m
    Director: David Ayer
    Cast: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi

    Jason Statham stars in David Ayer’s latest action film as Adam Clay, a retired “Beekeeper” (see: black ops secret agent) working as an actual beekeeper in Massachusetts. When Adam’s kindly employer loses her entire life savings to a nefarious phishing operation, he embarks on a one-man mission to avenge her and bring justice to those who wronged her.

    From our review:

    Statham is his reliable self, mixing his effortless gruff charm with his comedy chops to help sell the ridiculous lines he has to deliver. And the movie looks great — Ayer and cinematographer Gabriel Beristain cleverly infuse the visuals with a yellow/amber color palette to match the title and the vibe, often making you feel like you’re watching the movie from inside a honeycomb.

    Suzume

    Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

    Suzume, in a school uniform, eating fruit on the side of a rural road with Chika, in a gym uniform.

    Image: CoMix Wave Films/Crunchyroll

    Genre: Coming-of-age fantasy adventure
    Run time: 2h 2m
    Director: Makoto Shinkai
    Cast: Nanoka Hara, Hokuto Matsumura, Eri Fukatsu

    Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Weathering with You) is back with another animated fantasy romance adventure about young people struggling with supernatural forces and the general ennui of youth. When high school student Suzume crosses paths with Souta Munakata, a mysterious wanderer on a quest to seal a series of magical doors around Japan to avert disaster, she joins him on his quest in an effort to save her home.

    Also, Souta is transformed into a sentient chair by a malevolent cat. It’s complicated.

    From our review:

    Suzume is about processing trauma and finally learning to live. Even after the movie’s turning point, Suzume is still recklessly throwing herself into danger to save others. Like Your Name and Weathering With You, Shinkai’s latest sees its young heroes racing against time to stop an impending disaster. But some key differences in Suzume make the final act cinch together in a way that soars above the previous two movies. Suzume has a personal connection to the looming catastrophe, one that snugly wraps around her entire character journey. The event itself feels vast and all-encompassing, but because the movie focuses on her instead of on the action, it gives the payoff more emotional impact. And when Suzume steps up to fight her battles, it’s less about making a dramatic choice or defying all odds. She simply reframes what she’s trying to do in a way that feels more personal than most action heroes’ journeys. She doesn’t want to give her life to save the world; she just wants to stay in it.

    Wonka

    Where to watch: Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, and Vudu

    Three evil candymakers regard Wonka’s chocolates with disdain in the movie Wonka.

    Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

    Genre: Musical fantasy
    Run time: 1h 56m
    Director: Paul King
    Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key

    Timothée Chalamet (Dune: Part One) stars in this new musical prequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory as everyone’s soon-to-be-favorite chocolatier, now simply an aspiring magician looking to break into the candy business. He’ll have to find a way to overcome the nefarious chocolate cartel and build a factory of his own if he’ll any hope of achieving his dream, though.

    From our review:

    Normally, I consider it unfair to compare two movies like this, but as I said, I’m a huge fan. Yet more importantly, Wonka directly invokes the previous film in ways big and small, going so far as to have Chalamet’s version of the character speak in the same diction as Wilder’s, complete with a “Scratch that, reverse it” line. As this is a story about a young Willy Wonka, the film must leave a little room to get from here to there, so Chalamet is granted the space to make the character his own. But this is a version of Willy that’s too sanded-down, too approachable to be truly memorable.



    Toussaint Egan

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  • The Swiftie’s Guide to the Super Bowl and the Grammy’s

    The Swiftie’s Guide to the Super Bowl and the Grammy’s


    Nora and Nathan are here to walk you through everything you need to know before two big Taylor Swift events: the Super Bowl and the Grammy’s. They give a rundown on the Chiefs and the 49ers and how the game might go for Travis Kelce (1:00), the logistics of Taylor getting from Tokyo to Las Vegas in time for the game (37:01), and what squad she might be bringing along with her (60:14). Then they preview the Grammy’s and make some predictions on what awards Taylor might be bringing home with her (1:08:15).

    Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Nathan Hubbard
    Producer: Kaya McMullen

    Subscribe: Spotify



    Nora Princiotti

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  • ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and the Death of the Black Prestige TV Bubble

    ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and the Death of the Black Prestige TV Bubble


    Perhaps the most telling—if cynical—part of Amazon’s new Mr. & Mrs. Smith series occurs in the opening minutes of the second episode. Over bagels and lox, Maya Erskine’s Jane asks Donald Glover’s John what inspired him to go down the path of high-risk espionage and 40-hour-a-week drudgery. In his winking and meta way, Glover simply responds “money,” as the couple laugh, knowing there’s rarely another answer.

    For almost two decades, this hyper self-awareness has been Glover’s signature. Mr. & Mrs. Smith revels in a mischievous and playful hubris. Glover knows that you know about his lucrative, eight-figure deal with the Bezos behemoth. Just like he understands that Donald and Maya aren’t Brangelina, and that a show originally meant to star Phoebe Waller-Bridge before Erskine joined is the type of discourse machine few creators can stoke.

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and by extension Glover, feels caught between two eras of TV struggling to coexist. On paper, Glover’s and co-creator/showrunner Francesca Sloane’s show nestles nicely into Amazon’s growing portfolio of four-quadrant, IP-spy thrillers. It’s a remake of a beloved 2005 movie, starring two darlings of the prestige TV era with a cast of supporting players—Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, Alexander Skarsgard, Sarah Paulson, Ron Perlman—that’d put most comparable programming to shame. Its ballooned budget is so tastefully deployed across its wardrobe and locales that it feels like a sentient Instagram feed of those vacation girls Drake is always complaining about.

    Like Atlanta before it, Mr. & Mrs. Smith lives and dies by the audacity of its swings. If Brad and Angelina’s original was pitching the rebirth of domestic bliss as aspirationally sexy, the reboot’s vision is more earnestly sober. Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith asks the type of questions—Can love survive the gig economy? How much of ourselves do we lose in an interracial relationship? How many times is it socially acceptable to call your mom on a given day?—that can make couples therapy feel like a lobotomy. In other words, it’s a Donald Glover show.

    Eight years ago, the novel proposition of Atlanta was that it was in constant conversation with the hyper-online and underrepresented Black spaces it mined for inspiration. In the deflating final days of the Obama era, a convergence of multiple factors—Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement, streaming wars—meant white America had a lot of time and money to spend on Black art that was deemed “important” and also made them feel good.

    Careers were minted. Creatives turned mogul. A generation of Black showrunners became recognizable by one half of their name: Glover, Issa, Rhimes, Waithe, Carmichael. We were inundated with a bounty of great art (and just as much schlock) with no sign of an end.

    Then the pandemic struck, and soon the entire era of “peak TV” came under scrutiny. The white guilt and easy PR born from 2020 protests and social movements could only last so long in Hollywood, a place where the illusion of change is usually mistaken for the real thing. “Prestige” shows began to fade. Shows like Lovecraft Country, Them, and Love Life came and went without securing the same type of rabid fan bases that Atlanta and Insecure could boast (and even those shows were never ratings juggernauts).

    The 2023 Hollywood strikes didn’t help matters. In November, returning Disney CEO Bob Iger said the quiet part out loud when he declared, “We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages.” The not-so-subtle jab at diversity as the main culprit for Disney+’s stagnation arrived right on schedule. A couple months later, Issa Rae acknowledged what this prevailing new Hollywood order meant for the darkest people in the room. “You’re seeing so many Black shows get canceled, you’re seeing so many executives—especially on the DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] side—get canned,” Rae told Net-A-Porter. In January, Rap Sh!t, Rae’s follow-up to Insecure, was canceled at Max after two seasons. “You’re seeing very clearly now that our stories are less of a priority. I am pessimistic, because there’s no one holding anybody accountable.”

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith isn’t a Black show in the way we’ve been taught to view any mass media originated by a powerful Black person. Sloane hails from El Salvador, and the show’s creative duties are split up between a host of creatives from Hiro Murai to Carla Ching. While the series’ best moments can’t help but interrogate ideas on race and power, it’s always through the prism of matrimony and the ways it can drive the people stuck within it mad.

    The pilot episode doesn’t begin with our new John and Jane but instead with two conventionally attractive stand-ins for Pitt and Jolie played by Alexander Skarsgard and Eiza González. Naturally, in the show’s winking manner, Skarsgard’s neck is blown off within minutes, metaphorically signaling that our traditional spies need to die for Glover and Erskine to provide something a tad more esoteric. Perhaps the show’s most loaded (and hilarious) moment arrives when our new half-Japanese, half-white Jane murders three Black targets when she gets jealous that John is connecting with these men over Asian jokes. The racial complications of the situation volley back and forth until they’re too absurd to take seriously. John thinks his Japanese wife is jealous of his Black male bonding, which she’s chastised for by their wealthy white marriage counselor.

    Like its protagonists, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is at war with itself, sweating profusely with ideas and ambitions. It’s a self-conscious examination of whether greatness in romance, career aspirations, and art can flourish within the confines of domesticity. The show is enamored of its own sense of subversion, but it most often succeeds when it’s more conventional.

    Similar to the institution it seeks to mock and venerate, the pace and emotional fallout of the series is brutal, closer to Marriage Story than Mission: Impossible. It has all the ugly and tortured contours of witnessing a good friend’s marriage disintegrate before your eyes.

    Glover’s and Erskine’s portrayals of John and Jane are awkward and cringe-inducing, and the camera often lingers on their most intimate moments with a voyeuristic quality. The duo’s chemistry is slippery. True to life, there’s less of a spark and more of a sloppy runaway freight train of existential and boredom-fueled horniness. You believe their love in the same way you would the word of your hopelessly romantic friend. Time, life, and rapidly decreasing hormonal levels will always tell them what you cannot.

    But the sincerity baked into the elevated rom-com premise gives the show its electricity. Glover still has an uncanny ability to disarm the audience, his laugh and innocent charm as infectious as it was behind the Greendale table. While Glover and Erskine’s chemistry waxes and wanes from episode to episode, the show’s comedic moments—Jane warming John’s dangerously frostbitten penis, Jane going to great lengths to hide her farts, John lying about smelling said farts—are its most refreshing.

    The conundrum of Mr. & Mrs. Smith is that marriage—like love, vulnerability, and moguldom—is inherently corny because growing older is corny. At 40, Glover is no longer “Trojan horsing” his concepts through the Hollywood system. He’s been part of the industry for almost 20 years, dating back to his time working on 30 Rock. Like James Harden before him, Donald has become a system, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the first of his shows to interrogate life from that perspective. Glover’s John is distrusted by the faceless spy corporation in a way Jane is not. Rarely does John follow rules, plans, or conventional thinking even when it becomes clear his life hangs in the balance. Ever since Donald made the leap from network sitcom star to auteur status, he’s chafed against rewriting the history of his ascent.

    Part of the myth of Atlanta is how much John Landgraf—the FX executive who coined the phrase “peak TV”—didn’t want the show they ended up getting. “Steve always reminds me, ‘FX didn’t want to do this show—you had to beg them. Fuck them,’” Glover told The New Yorker in a 2018 profile, paraphrasing his brother and Atlanta co-creator. “I like Landgraf, I’ve learned a lot from him, but FX is a business. It’s not there to make some kid from Stone Mountain, Georgia’s dreams come true.” (Landgraf, for his part, didn’t dispute Glover’s narrative. “I don’t have a problem with the Trojan-horse narrative if it’s important to Donald,” Landgraf responded. “We’re in the business of making pieces of commercial television that mask deeper artistic narratives.”)

    By Episode 4 of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, this fraught subtext is made plain when Glover and Erskine meet fellow Agents Smith (played by Wagner Moura and Parker Posey) years into their spycraft and relationship. The humor and tragedy of the generational divide between the young and old Smiths is illustrated when the older John is unable to distinguish between a Clipse and Eminem song, in very much the same way most don’t care to interrogate the rise of FX’s Dave in the wake of Atlanta.

    “It’s hard to be old and famous and stay punk,” Moura waxes poetically.

    “I don’t think it’s possible. I don’t think you’re supposed to be punk,” Donald responds.

    Glover returns to the idea of who and what isn’t “punk” a lot. He reportedly told the Atlanta writing staff, “We’re the punk show—what’s the most punk thing to do?” during its conception, and after the disappointing critical reception to Atlanta’s third season, his wife’s response was “You do punk things, you get punk results.” By the time Atlanta returned for the following season, it was competing in a crowded landscape it had paved the way for, as shows like Reservation Dogs, Barry, Ramy, and Dave followed their own lanes of subversion to acclaim of their own.

    One of the unspoken tragedies about the end of whatever you want to call the last 20 years of television is that it presented a convenient truth. For a moment, there was a belief—as nurturing as it was naive—that by virtue of TV finally becoming artistically “important” it could also inspire change. Maybe if we watched and related to the depths of Tony Soprano, Walter White, or Don Draper enough we’d come to find out something about ourselves. Naturally, that extended to Earn and Issa and Dre. But that rarely if ever happens. TV is mass media entertainment, and all it’s ever known is the mean. Transcendent television always existed in opposition to that.

    In that same New Yorker article, Glover spoke about Atlanta’s capacity to teach something important. Critical consensus was still on the show’s side and we were yet to see the other side of the streaming boom. “I don’t even want them laughing if they’re laughing at the caged animal in the zoo. I want them to really experience racism, to really feel what it’s like to be black in America,” Glover said. “It’s scary to be at the bottom, yelling up out of the hole, and all they shout down is ‘Keep digging! We’ll reach God soon!’”

    We’re back to digging. And maybe that’s the joy of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. A series this messy being made by a team that still seems to care when the market says they don’t have to is still an entertaining proposition.

    Every frame isn’t perfect. Often the show’s world seems to adhere around the joke or punch line, leaving characters to seem far more stupid or downright illogical than they probably should be. But then Ron Perlman delivers a terrible Holocaust joke or Glover punctuates a scene by cocking his hat to the side like a 2007 Derrick Comedy skit and it all comes back into focus.

    Mr. & Mrs. Smith found a reason to exist and managed to get there in the most peculiar way possible. It didn’t need to save or change the world, because no amount of peak TV—even the shows by Black creators—could. Like marriage, eras can only last so long until a new pair of Smiths comes around.



    Charles Holmes

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  • Persona 3 Reload guide: Classroom answers and questions

    Persona 3 Reload guide: Classroom answers and questions


    Classroom questions and answers are a staple of Persona games, and that remains true with Persona 3 Reload.

    While Reload is a remake of the beloved Persona 3 from the early 2000s, it features a completely new slate of classroom questions from the original game. Answering questions correctly in Persona 3 Reload will increase your Charm Social Stat as you impress your fellow classmates with your knowledge.

    In this in-progress Persona 3 Reload guide, we’ll walk you through classroom questions and answers for each month.

    Note: This guide features all classroom and exam answers through June 1 in Persona 3 Reload — about 15 hours into the game, depending on how you spend your time. We’ll add additional months of questions and exams soon.

    April classroom answers in Persona 3 Reload

    There are three classroom questions for you to answer in April. There are no exams in April.

    4/8

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: Among these phrases, “a rain of flowers,” “mystical mirage,” and “vivid carp streamers,” which one symbolizes summer?

    A: Vivid Carp Streamers

    4/18

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist answers a classroom question

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: The places where people dumped their waste in the Jomon period — what are they called nowadays?

    A: Middens

    4/27

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist answers a classroom question

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: Leader [protagonist], do you know which one’s not an algebraic spiral or whatever?

    A: A

    May classroom answers in Persona 3 Reload

    There are three classroom questions for you to answer in May. May also holds the first big exams — Midterms — which run May 18 to 23. Make sure to increase your Academics score to two before the 18th.

    5/6

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist answers a classroom question

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: What do you call the device that helps generate electric power for the train?

    A: A pantograph

    5/13

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist answers a classroom question

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: Do you know Leon Foucault? He’s a French physicist who performed experiments regarding the rotation of the Earth. Which tool did he use in his experiments?

    A: The pendulum

    5/15

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist answers a classroom question

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Q: What’s the other name for “May sickness” — the more casual one?

    A: May Blues

    May Midterms

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist takes an exam

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    Midterms start on Monday, May 18, and run for six full days of school, ending on Saturday the 24th. Once your exams start, you’ll have no free time after school or in the evenings. You’ll answer questions and the game will automatically skip to the next day.

    You don’t have to actively answer questions on May 18 or May 23; how your character performs on those days seems to be based entirely on your Academics stat. If you have an Academics stat of at least two and answer all the below questions correctly, you’ll finish your midterm in the top 10 of your class and get some bonus Charm points, plus stat boost cards for your Personas as a reward.

    All of the below questions are reframed versions of questions you’ve already answered in April and May. Nonetheless, we’ve listed them all out here for your convenience — and because the rewordings can be a little tricky.

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist takes an exam

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    5/19 Q: What is the other common expression used to describe “May sickness?”

    5/19 A: May Blues

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist takes an exam

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    5/20 Q: Which of the following did Leon Foucault use in his experiment on the rotation of the Earth?

    5/20 A: A pendulum

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist takes an exam

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    5/21 Q: Which of the following is generated by a pantograph?

    5/21 A: Electricity

    The Persona 3 Reload protagonist takes an exam

    Image: Atlus/Sega via Polygon

    5/22 Q: During which historical period were middens most commonly used?

    5/22 A: Jomon

    More classroom answers for Persona 3 Reload are on their way!

    And if you’re looking for classroom answers in other Persona games, check out our lists of all classroom answers for Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, Persona 5, and Persona 5 Royal.



    Ryan Gilliam

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  • What’s Up Thursday: Bachelor, Daisy’s Lyme Disease, Lauren’s Cake-tastrophe, Jason Tartick’s Book, and More Reality TV

    What’s Up Thursday: Bachelor, Daisy’s Lyme Disease, Lauren’s Cake-tastrophe, Jason Tartick’s Book, and More Reality TV


    Juliet is back with What’s Up Thursday, where she goes over what’s up in Bachelor Nation, on Bachelor Reddit, and in the broader world of reality TV. This week, Juliet discusses Daisy’s Lyme disease, Lauren’s cake moment, and Jason Tartick’s new book. She also discusses Bachelor Reddit comments, and other reality shows including Traitors, Love Is Blind, and Love Island All-Stars.

    Host: Juliet Litman
    Producer: Jade Whaley
    Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS



    Juliet Litman

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  • Sad – lost a good one

    Sad – lost a good one


    My dog was put to sleep last night. She was my first dog and I had her for almost 10 years. She was the moodiest bitch on the planet but was always super sweet to me. I’ll miss hearing her close the laundry room door to hide from my kids and catch a break.
    This is a toast to a real one.
    Fry up some bacon just for your puppies once in a while. They deserve it.



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  • Cafe Selmarie Plots Its Exit and Seven More Restaurant Closures

    Cafe Selmarie Plots Its Exit and Seven More Restaurant Closures


    Despite the charms of Chicago winter (see: cozy fireplaces, hot drinks, cuddling), the coldest season is always a challenging time for the city’s hospitality industry. It’s hard to lure customers out of their homes when it’s freezing outside, exacerbating the already razor-thin margins of many local restaurants.

    Below, Eater is cataloging both temporary and permanent restaurant closures in Chicago. If you know of a restaurant, bar, or another closed food establishment, please email chicago@eater.com. We will continue to update this post.

    For fall closures, go here.

    January 31

    Edgewater: Mango Pickle, a multiyear Michelin Bib Gourmand honoree known for modern Indian cuisine, will permanently close after service on Sunday, February 4, at 5842 N. Broadway Street, owners Marisa Paolillo and Nakur Patel announced in an email newsletter. Founded in 2016, the restaurant garnered a following for its ability to balance a casual atmosphere with ambitious techniques, including whole-animal butchery. “We’ll be venturing into new culinary endeavors and adventures, including ‘eclectic pop-ups,’ culinary training, and catering in 2024,” Paolillo writes.

    Hyde Park: Jade Court, one of the city’s top Chinese restaurants, will close at the end of February inside the Harper Court development that’s owned by the University of Chicago, says owner Carol Cheung. The restaurant faced numerous difficulties, including adequate staffing and rising food and labor costs.

    Lincoln Square: Cafe Selmarie owner Birgit Kobayashi has announced her intention to close the neighborhood bakery favorite around mid-February, though a closing date is not yet finalized, according to Block Club Chicago. Kobayashi first notified fans in the fall that she planned to retire and shut down the cafe in 2024 after 40 years at 4729 N. Lincoln Avenue. She and co-founder Jeanne Uzdawinis founded Cafe Selmarie when they were 29 and introduced the neighborhood to its first espresso machine.

    Lincoln Square: Chef Darnell Reed announced on Tuesday that he would close Luella’s Southern Kitchen, a culinary ode to his grandmother, in October after nine years at 4609 N. Lincoln Avenue. Nevertheless, he’s on the hunt for a new location.

    River North: Etta, a high-profile daytime spot known for brunch and food cooked in a wood-burning oven, has closed its outpost in River North after more than three years at 700 N. Clark Street. The news came as a surprise to employees, several of whom say management alerted them just hours before their shifts were scheduled to begin.

    River North: French restaurant and wine bar Marchesa permanently closed on Saturday, January 20, after six years at 535 N. Wells Street, restaurant manager Francisco Montiel and partner Kathryn Alvera announced in a Facebook post. A gallery-style space with an Art Deco bent, Marchesa opened in 2016, filling the long-vacant former home of Crofton on Wells. “We will always be grateful that after the pandemic we were able to continue with our dream, and indeed grow our business to new heights, but bankrolling a dream such as this one can be cost-prohibitive,” they write in part. “Having the honor of taking care of each of you has been the privilege of a lifetime for our entire team.”

    South Loop: Thai restaurant stalwart Siam Rice will permanently close on Wednesday, January 31, at 1906 S. State Street after more than two decades in business so its owners can retire, they announced on Instagram. Originally located on North Wells in the Loop, Siam Rice relocated in 2021 and took over a former outpost of Opart Thai House.

    Uptown/Palos Heights: Meat-free street food spot Meek’s Vegan Kitchen has permanently closed its stall inside Uptown’s newish vegan food hall XMarket, as well as its original location in suburban Palos Heights, owners announced in an Instagram post. “While this chapter closes, the spirit of Meek’s lives on in our hearts and memories,” it reads. “We’re immensely grateful for the journey we’ve shared with you.”

    January 19

    Lincoln Park: Local mini-chain Broken English Taco Pub is closed after seven years at 2576 N. Lincoln Avenue, reps announced in early January on Instagram. The third iteration of Adolfo Garcia and Phil Stefani’s taco-focused cantina marked by a frenetic approach to design, the restaurant opened in 2017 following sister spots in the Loop and Old Town, which remain open.

    Logan Square: Passion House Coffee Roasters will permanently close its Logan Square cafe on Wednesday, January 31 after seven years at 2631 N. Kedzie Avenue, according to owner Joshua Millman. The cafe was the first from Passion House, opening in 2017 in the former Bow Truss coffee space. The company also had an outpost inside shuttered food hall Politan Row. Millman says the closure will allow him to focus on the brand’s five-year-old Goose Island cafe located off Division Street and finally unveil a long-awaited new cafe in March in the same building as its roasting plant in Fulton Market. “As this chapter closes, we wish to thank each and every one of you who contributed in helping Logan become an integral part of Passion House’s evolution, and we to see each of you again in the not too distant future,” Millman writes on Instagram.

    January 18

    Fulton Market: Well-known West Town sushi spot Arami, one of the original vendors at Time Out Market Chicago when the food hall debuted in 2019, has exited its stall at 916 W. Fulton Market after five years. The hall has seen significant turnover throughout its tenure and has already filled the vacancy with a new sushi restaurant, Madai.

    Gold Coast: Cafe Sophie, a European-style all-day cafe originally from the company behind splashy steakhouse Maple & Ash, is permanently closed. After an ownership split at Maple & Ash’s parent company, the cafe was no longer affiliated with the Gold Coast steakhouse as the the cafe was operated by partner David Pisor’s reformed company which also includes Etta. Pisor says River North has changed since the pandemic, with folks worried about safety and a lack of foot traffic. He also points to challenges with the building and his growing frustration over spending more money on the space. In July 2022, Pisor’s attorneys blamed design flaws in the building for the cafe’s failures.

    Cafe Sophie first opened in 2022.
    Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

    Lakeview: Casual Chicago mini-chain Big & Little’s has permanently closed its last standalone location at 1034 W. Belmont Avenue after a decade and removed the address from its website. The brand’s sole remaining outpost is at Midway Airport.

    Logan Square: Roundhouse, a neighborhood sports bar that garnered local attention for unusual food like Italian beef fried rice, is permanently closed after a year at 2535 N. Milwaukee Avenue, according to a former employee. A replacement for 12-year-old fixture Rocking Horse, Roundhouse sought to channel Chicago’s dive bar culture with an ownership group that shared investors with the now-shuttered Uproar in Old Town.

    Portage Park: American comfort food spot Bluebird has temporarily closed its second location after a wiring-related fire in early January gutted its space at 3938 N. Central Avenue, according to Block Club Chicago. First responders extinguished the blaze and reported no injuries. Owner Zachary Lucchese-Soto, also behind the original Bluebird in Lakeview, tells reporters that he intends to rebuild and reopen in five or six months. He also aims to raise $3,000 via GoFundMe to help support his staff during the closure.

    Rogers Park: An outpost of breakfast chain restaurant Honey Berry Cafe is permanently closed after just four months at 6606 N. Sheridan Road, according to Block Club Chicago. Both Honey Berry Cafe and its predecessor, Bulldog Ale House, are owned by Midwestern restaurant company WeEat Hospitality Group, which operates more than a dozen locations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Texas.

    Chicago Heights: Chicago street food stalwart Enzo’s will close in March at 1710 Chicago Road in suburban Chicago Heights after nearly 80 years in business, third-generation owner Kyle Hallberg tells the Tribune. His grandfather, Enzo Tribo, started selling Italian beef in 1946 inside an old body shop. By the late 1960s, Tribo moved across the street into the former EZ Snack diner, which he bought with business partner Albert Tocco, an infamous local figure in his own right. Enzo’s last day will be Sunday, March 31, according to a Facebook post.

    75 E Lake St, Chicago, IL 60601
    (312) 929-3601





    Naomi Waxman

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  • The ‘Bachelor’ Women Are Taking Leaps for Joey’s Attention. Plus, ‘The Traitors’ Season 2.

    The ‘Bachelor’ Women Are Taking Leaps for Joey’s Attention. Plus, ‘The Traitors’ Season 2.


    Join Juliet and Callie as they break down the Maria vs. Sydney confrontation (8:46), admire Joey’s ability to handle drama and tears (15:00), and laugh at the ridiculous yet entertaining game of capture the flag (28:27). They discuss Joey’s chemistry with Daisy during their one-on-one (31:17), and break down the final Rose Ceremony (38:24). Finally, they discuss updates to Season 2 of The Traitors, including Pilot Pete’s development, their favorite contestants, and much more (41:01).

    Hosts: Juliet Litman and Callie Curry
    Producer: Olivia Crerie
    Music: Devon Renaldo

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS



    Juliet Litman

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  • The Away End at Glastonbury

    The Away End at Glastonbury


    Flo Lloyd-Hughes is joined by Jessy Parker Humphreys and Becky Taylor-Gill to discuss a big weekend in the WSL. They start by discussing the Traitors finale (spoiler alert) before moving on to Liverpool-Arsenal, Manchester City’s blistering run of form and a relentless Bunny Shaw. Plus, more Marc Skinner quotes and a NewCo CEO interview that ended in Glastonbury discourse.

    Host: Flo Lloyd-Hughes
    Guests: Jessy Parker Humphreys and Becky Taylor-Gill
    Producer: Jonathan Fisher

    Subscribe: Spotify



    Flo Lloyd-Hughes

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  • Double Detective: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 3 and ‘Monsieur Spade’ Episode 3

    Double Detective: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 3 and ‘Monsieur Spade’ Episode 3


    Chris and Andy break down the latest episode of True Detective: Night Country. They talk about how the lack of Easter-egging in this episode worked to its advantage (1:00) and the dynamic between Danvers and Navarro (24:07). Then they talk about the latest episode of Monsieur Spade and the show’s very dense plotline (35:55).

    Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald
    Producer: Kaya McMullen

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS



    Chris Ryan

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  • Finally, Palworld lets me catch ’em all

    Finally, Palworld lets me catch ’em all


    Catching Pokémon can be exhausting these days. At time of publication, there are more than 1,000 different species of the fictional monsters. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet don’t contain the full National Pokédex, but the base game has 400 Pokémon and hundreds more when you count additional monsters added in the DLC. Even when trying to complete the reduced Pokédex, the process of collecting creatures can be a slog. Now, playing Palworld, I can breathe a sigh of relief. For the first time in a long time, it feels I can finally “catch ’em all,” with under 150 Pals in the game.

    Palworld is a hit game from Japanese indie studio Pocketpair. Before it came out, many described it as “Pokémon with guns.” Now that the developer has released it in early access, it’s clear that the game goes well beyond just Pokémon influences. It has climbing and exploration reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and mechanics common to survival games. However, one way that it is like Pokémon is its incorporation of creatures called Pals. As you explore its world, you can catch the cartoony monsters and register them to a digital encyclopedia called a Paldeck, similar to the Pokédex.

    My Paldeck contains 111 Pals (although there are alternate forms and might be more). Just from a numerical standpoint, that’s way fewer than Pokémon. There’s no need to robotically cycle through hundreds of battles to fill up the Pokédex like in a modern Pokémon game. On top of that, there are no “version exclusives” in Palworld. Every copy of the game contains every Pal, so it’s actually possible to find and catch every single monster without needing another player or setting up trades outside the game.

    If you do have friends who are playing, well, that’s helpful to the collecting process, too. While Pokémon does have multiplayer functionality, the online co-op in Palworld better supports playing the entirely of the game with friends from start to finish. Features like guilds allow you to group up with friends and share Pals easily on your settlement. These Pals won’t be registered as “caught” in your Paldeck, but it allows you to see more Pals and get an idea of which Pals you need to catch.

    Image: Pocketpair

    Catching all the Pokémon obviously isn’t impossible — loads of people do it — and I get why it appeals to certain players. The repetitive nature of catching Pokémon after Pokémon can almost be relaxing, but it’s a massive time commitment. You have to fight and catch each and every one of them, and some require unique rituals to evolve them. For others, you might need to trade to get version exclusives and train Pokémon to prepare for challenging fights to catch stronger monsters. In the recent Scarlet and Violet DLC, you even have to grind in-game points to unlock the appearances of certain Pokémon in the wild.

    Don’t get me wrong — Palworld still contains its fair share of monster-catching grind. Depending on how common each creature is, you might catch up to 10 copies of each just to grind out the needed experience points to unlock items. You likely won’t just speed through collecting the Paldeck in a sitting or two. Barriers to exploration like your level or what kinds of Pal spheres you use will guide your overall journey. But so far, I have enjoyed the slow, meandering process of gradually exploring and discovering the Pals one by one to fill up my Paldeck in its entirety. At this rate, I might just catch ’em all.



    Ana Diaz

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  • Goodbye Monica! Plus, ‘Beverly Hills’ and ‘Miami.’

    Goodbye Monica! Plus, ‘Beverly Hills’ and ‘Miami.’


    Bravo

    Rachel is joined by Juliet Litman to discuss their SLC-themed news of the week, then Callie Curry hops on to discuss ‘Miami’

    Rachel Lindsay is joined by special guest Juliet Litman to discuss our SLC-themed news of the week (01:47), before diving into Part 3 of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4 reunion (05:06). Rachel and Juliet then discuss Season 13, Episode 13 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (29:50), then Callie Curry hops on to discuss Season 6, Episode 13 of The Real Housewives of Miami (44:39).

    Host: Rachel Lindsay
    Guests: Juliet Litman and Callie Curry
    Producer: Devon Baroldi
    Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

    Subscribe: Spotify



    Rachel Lindsay

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  • ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Episodes 5, 6, and 7 Reactions

    ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians’ Episodes 5, 6, and 7 Reactions


    House of R has returned to talk about the last three episodes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (08:43). They begin their deep dive with the continued godly quest of Percy and his friends (14:40). Later, they dive into their book section of the pod to talk about possible future spoilers, as well as comparisons to the books (96:15).

    Hosts: Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson
    Senior Producer: Steve Ahlman
    Additional Production: Arjuna Ramgopal
    Social: Jomi Adeniran

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / Pandora / Google Podcasts



    Mallory Rubin

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  • ‘American Nightmare’ and Following the Gypsy Rose Blanchard Story

    ‘American Nightmare’ and Following the Gypsy Rose Blanchard Story


    In our inaugural true crime episode of Guilty Pleasures, Jodi and Chelsea talk through their feelings about the many twists and turns of the new three-part true crime Netflix docuseries, American Nightmare (1:00). Then they catch up on the viral news story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who has very recently been released from prison, and the many pieces of culture surrounding her wild story of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, including the brand new Lifetime series: The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard (35:05).

    Hosts: Jodi Walker and Chelsea Stark-Jones
    Producer: Sasha Ashall

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher



    Jodi Walker

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  • Tips for Aspiring Journalists! Plus, Jon Stewart, New Hampshire, and ‘Barbie’ Think Pieces With Chris Suellentrop.

    Tips for Aspiring Journalists! Plus, Jon Stewart, New Hampshire, and ‘Barbie’ Think Pieces With Chris Suellentrop.

    On the Final Edition, Bryan is joined by his big brother in the media, The Washington Post’s Chris Suellentrop. After thousands of conversations, their first recorded discussion will address the following:

    • Advice you give to students who want to be in journalism (2:30)
    • Whether or not the New Hampshire primary is a semi-decisive moment (13:02)
    • The expectations set for Nikki Haley and how to interpret the results in real time (24:52)
    • Jon Stewart’s new show coming in February (36:27)
    • An inevitable “somebody’s got to say it” think piece on ‘Barbie’ (45:52)

    Host: Bryan Curtis
    Guest: Chris Suellentrop
    Producer: Brian H. Waters

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    Bryan Curtis

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