Tag: brad paisley

What to Stream: ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Mickey 17,’ Kevin Hart and ‘A Grand Ole Opry Christmas’

[ad_1]

Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17,” a new batch of “Stranger Things’” final season and Kevin Hart debuting a new comedy special on Netflix are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: “Everybody Loves Raymond” gets a 30th anniversary special on CBS, the Hallmark’s special “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas” with Brad Paisley and Mickey Guyton, and a new Beatles documentary series hits Disney+.

New movies to stream from Nov. 24-30

—Taiwanese filmmaker Shih-Ching Tsou, known for collaborating with and producing several Sean Baker films including “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project,” makes her solo directorial debut with “Left-Handed Girl,” about a single mother and her two daughters who return to Taipei to open a stand at a night market. Netflix acquired the film after it was warmly received during the Cannes Film Festival and Taiwan has already selected the film as its Oscar submission. It begins streaming on Netflix on Nov. 28.

—Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” arrives on Prime Video on Thursday, Nov. 26, for some dystopian holiday viewing. In her review for The Associated Press, Jocelyn Noveck praised Robert Pattinson’s performance (or, rather, performances) as an expendable who is constantly being reprinted anew. She writes, “It’s his movie, and he saves it from Bong’s tendencies to overstuff the proceedings. In an extremely physical, committed, even exhausting performance, Pattinson takes what could have been an unwieldy mess and makes it much less, well, expendable.”

—OK, “The Last Duel,” streaming on Hulu on Sunday, Nov. 30 might be four years old but it’s a far better option than, say, “Flight Risk” (on HBO Max on Wednesday). Ridley Scott’s medieval tale, written by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener, is a brilliant spin on the historical epic told from three different perspectives, Damon’s Jean de Carrouges, Adam Driver’s Jacques Le Gris and Jodie Comer’s Marguerite. In his review for the AP, film writer Jake Coyle wrote that it “is more like a medieval tale deconstructed, piece by piece, until its heavily armored male characters and the genre’s mythologized nobility are unmasked.”

— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

New music to stream on Nov. 24-30

— In 2021, over Thanksgiving, Disney+ released Peter Jackson’s six-hour “The Beatles: Get Back” to its streaming platform. The gargantuan project provided fans with a deep-dive into the band’s “Let It Be” sessions – including footage of their entire rooftop concert, shared in full for the first time. It was an ideal release date, to say the least. After all that delicious food, who doesn’t want to settle in for a lengthy journey into one of the greatest musical acts of all time? Well, in 2025, there’s yet another reason to be grateful: Starting Wednesday, “The Beatles Anthology” documentary series hits Disney+. That’s nine episodes tracing their journey. Lock in.

— ’Tis the season for Hallmark holiday films. And for the country music fanatic, that means “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas.” The film follows a woman forced to confront her musical past and heritage in the esteemed venue – and there may or may not be some time travel and Christmas magic involved. Stay tuned for the all-star cameos: Brad Paisley, Megan Moroney, Mickey Guyton, Rhett Akins, Tigirlily Gold and more make an appearance. It starts streaming on Hallmark+ Sunday.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from Nov. 24-30

— It’s hard to believe that “Everybody Loves Raymond” has been off the air for two decades. The multicamera sitcom starred Ray Romano and Patricia Heaton as Ray and Debra Barone, a young married couple whose daily lives are interrupted regularly by Ray’s meddling parents, played by Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts, who live across the street. CBS recently taped a 30th anniversary special to air Monday which will also stream on Paramount+. Hosted by Romano and creator, Phil Rosenthal, it recreates the set of the Barone living room and features interviews with cast members including Romano, Heaton, Brad Garrett and Monica Horan. There will also be a tribute to Boyle and Roberts who died in 2006 and 2016, respectively. It’s fitting for the special to come out around the holidays because its Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes were top-notch. All nine seasons stream on both Paramount+ and Peacock.

— ” Stranger Things” is finally back with its fifth and final season. Netflix is releasing the sci-fi series in three parts and the first four episodes drop Wednesday. Millie Bobby Brown says fans will “lose their damn minds” with how it ends.

— Also Monday, Kevin Hart debuts a new comedy special on Netflix. It’s called “Kevin Hart: Acting My Age.” The jokes center around, you guessed it, aging.

— A new “Family Guy” special on Hulu pokes fun at those holiday movies we all know, love and watch. It’s called “Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie” and pokes fun at the commonly-used trope of a big city gal who ends up in a small town at Christmas and falls in love. It drops Friday, Nov. 28 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from Nov. 24-30

— Artificial intelligence: friend to all humanity or existential threat to the planet? In A.I.L.A, Brazilian studio Pulsatrix leans toward the latter. You play as a game tester who’s asked to try out an AI-created horror story. But while you’re busy fighting off ghosts, zombies and ax murderers, the AI may be up to something more nefarious in the background — which could be bad news if you own a smart refrigerator. It all has the potential to be very meta, whether or not you welcome our new robot overlords. It arrives Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Lou Kesten

[ad_2]

Source link

November 24, 2025
Brad Paisley Gives Another Intimate Show for A Stadium Full of Fans

[ad_1]

The rotating star shaped rodeo stage is an interesting display for a rodeo performer. On the one hand it is constantly moving so that the thousands of fans can see the performance, which is a positive, but for some performers the stage can be an obstacle when connecting with the crowd. Those artists just getting their feet wet on stage could take a lesson or two from veteran Brad Paisley.

While the country music star is going to perform hits like “Then” and “Wrapped Around,” his connection with the crowd is what truly makes his performance special.

During his performance of “I’m Still a Guy” he grabbed an audience member’s phone and asked the audience to follow her on social media before answering a call and letting her boyfriend proclaim his love for her to the crowd. And as if having NRG stadium hear “I love you McKinzie!” wasn’t enough of a connection with the crowd Paisley then walked back off the stage and across the dirt to hand his guitar to a young member of the audience.

“All right little guy,” he yelled as the crowd cheered. “Learn how to play that and we’ll see you up here in 10 or 15 years. Good luck to you and learn how to write some songs about a girl that breaks your heart.”

click to enlarge

The country singer has a way of connecting with the crowd.

Photo by Darrin Clifton

The heavy rains and hail Friday night may have temporarily stopped the carnival, but it didn’t stop 71,788 fans from coming out to see him. Their show, and the fans that their show brought down to NRG Park, continues to show the influence the rodeo has on entertainment in Houston and abroad. Guests like 50 Cent, Jelly Roll, Major Lazor, Lainey Wilson, Los Tigres del Norte, and the Zac Brown Band have brought Houstonians down to where 610 and Kirby meet in droves, fighting weather along with traffic to see some of their favorite artists. And one of those huge favorites is Paisley.

Paisley is a rodeo standard, as expected at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo as funnel cakes dusted with powdered sugar, smoked turkey legs, and tie-down roping. This year marks Paisley’s 15th appearance at the rodeo since his first back in 2001. The rodeo prides itself on bringing performers that will bring out and entertain the crowd, so you don’t get invited back that many times unless you have truly have what it takes.

With his last two decades of appearances, Paisley has proven he has everything it takes to keep the eyes of the crowd fixed on that rotating rodeo stage. Since his debut album, Who Needs Pictures, back in 1999 Paisley has carved out a significant place for himself in country music, releasing 12 studio albums and 46 singles. Those singles have garnered him 21 No. 1 hits, and a catalog made to be one of the closing artists for 20 nights of rodeo performances.

click to enlarge

Paisley on the rodeo’s rotating stage.

Photo by Darrin Clifton

With Saturday being the next to last of the rodeo, Paisley’s audience-connecting performance is fitting. While his crowd work isn’t new (he does it at most of his shows) it is something that makes the vast space that is NRG stadium feel a lot smaller. Houstonians that are fans of country music missed out on a spectacular performance on Saturday, but if the crowd response was any indication, Paisley will be right back on that rodeo stage next year.

[ad_2]

DeVaughn Douglas

Source link

March 17, 2024
Brad Paisley Releases Country Song Featuring Ukraine President Zelenskyy

[ad_1]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A year ago, country star Brad Paisley watched the news on television as Russian troops invaded Ukraine and, like many people around the world, he felt helpless at the images of people fleeing their homes.

“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades,” the three-time Grammy winner recalls.

On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the war’s start, Paisley is releasing a new song called “Same Here,” featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking proudly about his country and people.

The song is Paisley’s first from his new record, “Son of the Mountains,” to be released later this year on Universal Music Group Nashville.

The West Virginia native wrote the song with Lee Thomas Miller (co-writer on Paisley hits “The World” and “Perfect Storm”) and Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith. It’s a three-part narrative that reflects on universal similarities, despite distance and language.

While it doesn’t mention Ukraine specifically, the song ends with Paisley and Zelenskyy in conversation, recorded during a video call. Zelenskyy talks about Ukrainians’ desire for freedom, adding “There is no distance between our two countries in such values.”

“There’s just no differences,” Paisley told The Associated Press. “You can put us in different places with different flags and different languages, but we have so many similarities.”

Paisley is one of several celebrity ambassadors for Ukraine’s United24 crowdfunding effort, and has donated his time for other fundraising efforts to assist Ukrainians. But even he thought it would be a long shot to have the direct involvement of Zelenskyy, who has traveled the world advocating for Ukraine’s military and recovery efforts.

“I think he understands that art is how you reach the most people, especially in the heart,” Paisley said of Zelenskyy, who was an actor and comedian before becoming president.

“He can give as many speeches as he can give, but it’s a lot easier to hear something with a melody maybe.”

Zelenskyy didn’t just sign off on the song; he also suggested some changes to it, Paisley said.

Paisley’s royalties for the song will be donated to United24 to help build housing for thousands of displaced Ukrainians whose homes were destroyed in the war, he said. Using his platform to advocate for causes important to him has always been part of his career, whether it was opening a free grocery store in Nashville with his wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, or fighting hunger by donating 1 million meals during the pandemic.

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if I didn’t sort of swing for the fence with things like this,” Paisley said. “For me, I’m happiest dealing with stuff as a songwriter that’s very true and very, very passionate. And sometimes I don’t know if you’d call it risky, but it’s more like it’s bigger than me.”

Paisley brings his passion on stage during live shows. He’s been changing the lyrics to his hit song “American Saturday Night,” for instance, to replace a reference to the U.S.S.R. to “There’s a Ukrainian flag hanging up behind the bar.”

The new record will be his debut on UMG since moving from Sony’s Arista label, and he said “Same Here” reflects the kinds of big universal themes on it.

“We do deal with stuff going on in the world,” Paisley said. “How do you sing about things that are truly big — a big deal right now — that also don’t feel like maybe they’re the type of thing that you would be singing about typically? And yeah, on this album I have kind of really dug deep and tried to say something.”

Paisley, who has visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said he’s been invited to visit Ukraine, which he’d like to do. In the meantime, he hopes the song’s message will bolster the country now facing down year two of the war.

“That’s where it gets really rewarding… feeling like maybe the heart of this helps paint the picture they want to paint,” Paisley said.

[ad_2]

Source link

February 24, 2023