Gangsta Boo, the pioneering Memphis rapper who was a member of Three 6 Mafia, has died. According to a report from Fox 13, Boo – real name Lola Mitchell – was found dead at her Memphis home this afternoon. Her Three 6 Mafia bandmate DJ Paul then confirmed the news in a social media post. She was 43 years old.
Gangsta Boo was born on August 7, 1979 and grew up in the Whitehaven area of Memphis, Tennessee. She started rapping at around age 14 and joined Three 6 Mafia after catching the attention of her then-classmate DJ Paul during a school talent show. She remained in the group until 2001, appearing on their 1995 debut Mystic Stylez, a defining album in the horrorcore rap genre, and on through 2001’s Choices: The Album.
Boo had already embarked on a solo career by the time she left the group, with her debut solo LP, 1998’s Enquiring Minds, boasting the hit single ‘Where Dem Dollas At?’. She followed it up with Both Worlds *69 in 2001 and Enquiring Minds II:The Soap Opera in 2003 before putting out a number of mixtapes, the latest of which was 2018’s Underground Cassette Tape Music 2. More recently, she appeared on Run the Jewels’ RTJ4 track ‘Walking in the Snow’ and joined Latto and GloRilla for the single ‘Fuck the Club Up’.
In an interview with Billboard published last month, Gangsta Boo discussed her influence on the new generation of rappers. “I have to admit, respectfully and humbly, that I am the blueprint. I hear my cadence in a lot of men and female rappers. I hear my cadence in a lot of men and female rappers… my sound is a Memphis sound. It’s a Gangsta Boo sound, it’s a Three 6 Mafia sound. So, I am the blueprint and I wear that badge proudly as fuck.”
“I used to run away from it. I used to didn’t want to even give myself flowers because I’ve been so low-key and humble, but I’m on some fuck that shit,” she said. “It’s time to claim what’s mine. I’m one of the main bitches. And it feels fun to still be able to look good and be relevant in a place where I don’t have this million-dollar machine behind me and I have all my natural body parts, no shade to the ones that don’t. But it just feels great to stand in yourself and look in the mirror and be like, ‘Wow, you did that.’”
Directly after the disappointing Broker, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s back with a new movie. No plot details are released, but the title suggests the possibility of Kore-eda working outside the family drama genre he’s become largely inseparable from.
49. The Perfumed Hill (Abderrahmane Sissako)
Release Date: TBD
Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako returns with his first movie in a decade. The film follows a woman who breaks her engagement, and leaves the Ivory Coast for China. Sissako’s last film, Timbuktu, was his most formally accessible movie to-date. I’m curious how the past ten years have changed his filmmaking.
48. Music (Angela Schanelec)
Release Date: TBD
Berlin School filmmaker Angela Schanelec is back with her first movie since the lovely I Was at Home, But…. I’m drawn to the film’s strange, elliptical melodrama of a plot summary: “A boy who grows up with his step-parents in Greece and who, at the age of 20, unwittingly murders his father. While serving his sentence, he falls in love and has a child with a woman who works in the prison. They are both unaware of the fact that she is his biological mother. Twenty years later, he lives in London with his daughter and is beginning to lose his eyesight.”
47. May December (Todd Haynes)
Release Date: TBD
Todd Haynes is hard to pin down. After a career-high with Carol, he completely misfired with Wonderstruck, and then followed-up with Dark Waters: his safest, most prestige-friendly work to-date. May December, a movie about tabloids, actress, and domestic drama, seems a return to his prime zone: Douglas Sirk homages.
46. John Wick: Chapter 4 (Chad Stahelski)
Release Date: March 24, 2023
While the third installation in Keanu Reeves’ increasingly outrageous chronicle of a tirelessly hunted assassin was too content to follow the footsteps of its past successes, hopefully the latest will rebound. This one offers more intercontinental action sequences and a cast of assassins including action star alums Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins.
45. Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)
Release Date: TBD
So much for retirement. Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki’s departure was almost Soderbergh-levels of short-lived. Now, he’s back with a new tragicomedy, likely to premiere at either Berlin or Cannes this year.
44. L’Empire (Bruno Dumont)
Release Date: TBD
Supposedly, French l’enfant terrible-turned-oddball filmmaker Bruno Dumont’s latest follows knights from outer space who invade the Opal Coast in France. From the description, it seems Bruno Dumont’s recent turn to comedy hasn’t been exhausted. Dumont’s early films were miserabilist dramas, earning (reductive) comparisons to Lars von Trier. His latest films are quirkier comedies, though not entirely devoid of the anger which propelled his first movies.
43. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
Release Date: TBD
Following-up his excellent gothic drama The Nest—a haunted house movie about the spectre of a pathetic patriarch and Thatcherism, rather than supernatural ghosts—Sean Durkin’s made a movie about the rise and fall of the 1960s Von Erich wrestling family. Set pictures of an egregious coiffed and absurdly hulking Zac Efron have already circulated the web. With The Nest, Durkin proved himself a master of pathos. He seems well-equipped for the Von Erichs.
42. Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Steven Soderbergh)
Release Date: February 10, 2023
The first couple Magic Mikes were fun, himbo hangout movies slyly complicating the gendered dynamic of visual pleasure theory. Soderbergh returns to conclude this unlikely trilogy about Channing Tatum as a man with an almost God-given gift for stripping. In this one, a down-on-his-luck Tatum joins Salma Hayek in orchestrating an extravagant erotic dance performance in London.
41. Last Things (Deborah Stratman)
Release Date: TBD
Deborah Stratman, the great American avant-garde artist, returns with a fascinating post-human premise. Her latest claims to track evolution and extinction from the perspective of rocks.
40. Stonewalling (Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji)
Release Date: TBD
Stonewalling made a small splash in arthouse spaces during its fall festival run. The film follows a flight attendant in-training’s desperate attempt to make ends meet while dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. Stonewalling is said to be an emotionally-wrenching (yet restrained) exploration of gendered labour in China.
39. Spaceless (Gore Verbinski)
Release Date: December 15, 2023
It’s easy to forget, but there once was a time when large-scale Hollywood filmmaking was led by Gore Verbinski. Mileage may vary, but I find his knack for imaginative bombast in tragically short supply these days. There are few horror movies in recent memory committed to their scope and off-kilter world-building as Verbinski’s terrific (box office flop) A Cure For Wellness. Now, take this with a grain of salt but Spaceless, which has been in development hell for essentially my whole lifespan, is slated to finally release this year. I’m sceptical, but it’d be a treat to see Verbinski handed the reins of a big blockbuster once again. The movie supposedly follows an astronaut tumbling infinitely through space, trying to solve the mystery of his murder.
38. On Dry Grass (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Release Date: TBD
With his last few movies, Ceylan’s proved himself adept at sprawling character studies. Ceylan’s films are about the relationship between his characters’ interiority and the landscapes they inhabit. This new one follows a school teacher in a remote Anatolian village, accused of harassment by various students.
37. Walking to Paris (Peter Greenaway)
Release Date: TBD
A decade ago, Peter Greenaway vowed to kill himself at eighty. He’s now eighty. The good news is twofold: not only has his suicide been reneged, but his long-delayed new film Walking to Paris is complete and rumoured for February’s Berlin Film Festival. Greenaway’s a little past his prime as an artist—his best movies were from the 1980s—but he’s too unique a filmmaker to dismiss.
36. Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz)
Release Date: TBD
Fresh from his eclectic documentary Mariner of the Mountains, which synthesized travelogue, essay film, reflexive documentary, dream journal, memoir conventions, Aïnouz has a feature about Queen Catherine Parr and Henry VIII. Apparently, it’s a historical-horror movie. Jude Law and Alicia Vikander star.
35. Under the Light (Zhang Yimou)
Release Date: TBD
The trailer for Zhang’s latest dropped roughly two-and-a-half years ago, though the movie still hasn’t seen release. Hopefully that changes in 2023, as it was packed with crisp neon images, promising a noir turn from one of China’s most adept and adaptive modern filmmakers.
34. Scarlet (Pietro Marcello)
Release Date: TBD
Pietro Marcello, a central figure of the New Italian Cinema movement, struck gold with his ingenious Jack London adaptation Martin Eden. This new one, which played the 2022 film festival circuit, is a northern France drama about a girl, her WWI veteran father, and a magician she meets. Marcello is a great director, adept at historical fiction, and hybrid forms of filmmaking.
33. Morrison (Phuttiphong Aroonpheng)
Release Date: TBD
This is the second feature from Phuttiphong, whose first film Manta Ray was a lovely and textural bit of slow cinema. This new one follows a Thai-American ex-popstar’s return to Thailand to supervise a hotel renovation. The hotel becomes a tomb of forgotten memories: a passage into a world of dream and fantasy which Phuttiphong’s past work proved himself at home in.
32. The Maiden (Graham Foy)
Release Date: TBD
The Maiden, Graham Foy’s first feature, is a plunge into the lonely wilderness of youth. Set between unpopulated Calgary backroads and somber school halls, the film follows the carefree friendship of two high school skateboarders. Yet when a locomotive accident takes Kyle’s life, Colton is left alienated in a dense mist of grief. The movie summons a tender communion with sprits, presenting a world where absence is a mask for transience, and where we can foster connections beyond the limits of words, time, and space. I spoke to Foy about the movie and its representations of youth after its TIFF premiere.
31. Untitled Ethan Coen Project (Ethan Cohen)
Release Date: TBD
After his fraternal artistic partnership split (for now, at least), Joel Coen went the hefty prestige route with an old-fashioned, black-and-white, 1:33-aspect ratio Macbeth adaptation. True to form as the more light-hearted Cohen, Ethan’s making a lesbian road trip comedy. Margaret Qualley, who last year gave a superbly raw and unflattering performance in Stars at Noon, leads the movie.
30. Padre Pio (Abel Ferrara)
Release Date: TBD
Ferrara’s late-style is perhaps the latest of all. His last few films—abrasive and intimate—are works from a filmmaker fearless of alienating his audience. His newest work is about the titular saint and stigmatist, whose world is an open wound to delve into Ferrara’s own faith and existential dreads which occupy much of his late work. Unfortunately, the film also stars Shia LaBeouf.
29. Hug Chickenpenny (S. Craig Zahler)
Release Date: TBD
There’s a new film from Zahler, who’s singlehandedly attempting to resurrect a subsect of grimy exploitation cinema presumed six feet under for several decades now. His movies are raw and nihilistic, tough to swallow, uneven, and vaguely offensive, yet always fascinating. Hug Chickenpenny, adapted from Zahler’s own (supposedly unadaptable) novel, is a Dickensian bildungsroman about a physically asymmetrical child growing up a surreal environment. According to rumour, the movie’s already in production after some time in development limbo.
28. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)
Release Date: TBD
Sofia Coppola’s filmography is largely hit-or-miss and, admittedly, has settled into consistent slightness with the last few endeavours. Her latest stirs some interest though: a dramatization of the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis Presley. Perhaps it’s the glitzy absurdity of the Elvis saga or goodwill leftover from Coppola’s last variation on the biopic (the flashy and anachronistic Marie Antoinette), but Priscilla sounds very promising.
27. Queens of the Qing Dynasty (Ashley McKenzie)
Release Date: TBD
Canadian filmmaker Ashley McKenzie’s sophomore feature explores an unlikely pairing between a neurodiverse teenager recovering from a suicide attempt and a queer Chinese immigrant volunteering to help her recovery. Queens tracks the frictions of their closely-knit friendship, their unyielding love, and the life-changing difference one connection can make. McKenzie’s style is both more maximalist and romantic. The film patches together an extensive exploration of her characters’ subjectivies, synthesizing a variety of visual media, from VR to cartoons to endoscopy footage, all soundtracked by glitched-out, electronic soundscapes. I had the opportunity to speak to McKenzie about the movie during its festival run.
26. The End (Joshua Oppenheimer)
Release Date: TBD
Joshua Oppenheimer—who made two great documentaries about the Indonesian Communist Purge and then went full radio silence—returns in new form. The End is supposedly a musical set in a bunker about humanity’s last family. Tilda Swinton stars.
25. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One (Christopher McQuarrie)
Release Date: July 14, 2023
This series has run so long the titles now need two dashes and a colon. Admittedly, nothing Cruise and co. have mustered has eclipsed what Brian De Palma brought to the original. Still, the setpieces are delightful and, though it’s almost a cliché to mention at this point, Cruise is the rare modern actor with genuine starpower. His and McQuarrie’s constant attempt to up the ante (often in the face of death) result in something akin to Buster Keaton-esque 21st century blockbuster bombast.
24. When the Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)
Release Date: TBD
Filipino auteur Lav Diaz is perhaps best known for his films’ mammoth runtimes. Though by his standards, When the Waves Are Gone is slated to be one of his most modest (187 minutes). The film’s a vague adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, a narrative exoskeleton said to be wrapped in Diaz’s traditional penchant for stasis, slowness, and dark character psyches.
23. My First Film (Zia Anger)
Release Date: TBD
Anger’s My First Film was originally a performance piece about her abandoned first feature. I caught it in its interactive, digital iteration in the first days of the pandemic. Now, Anger has somehow translated it into a more conventional feature film set to release in 2023. It’s a little unclear how she’s adapted a work of interactive performance art into a film, but the prospect is intriguing nonetheless. Beyond meditations on her failed first feature, Anger’s an accomplished music video director with superb work for artists like Jenny Hval, Mitski, and Beach House.
22. La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)
Release Date: TBD
Rohrwacher follows up Happy as Lazzaro with a 1980s-set drama about tomb raiding archaeologists. Between its planned Neon distribution and a cast that includes Josh O’Connor and Isabella Rossellini, La Chimera suggests a new and larger canvas for Rohrwacher.
21. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Release Date: July 21, 2023
Tenet found Nolan in prime form, unconcerned with the burden of complete narrative cohesion and conventional character beats. Instead, he focused on his primary concerns: time, motion, and the threat of absolute annihilation. Let’s hope he brings these same priorities to Oppenheimer, his bombastic Manhattan Project drama about an act of destruction that singlehandedly rewired the basis of the modern political world.
20. M3GAN (Gerard Johnstone)
Release Date: January 6, 2023
After the campy delights of Malignant, James Wan and Akela Cooper have penned another goofy horror. This one follows the violent rampage of a high-tech, yassified Chucky doll who—from the trailer—peppers her murders with flailing dance moves. The state of studio horror cinema is grime, but I believe in M3GAN.
19. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
Release Date: TBD
Argentine director Laura Citarella’s latest four-hour film follows the disappearance of a young woman and the strange, digressive investigation which follows. I didn’t have the chance to see the movie in its 2022 festival run, but praise has been thunderous. Mubi Notebook writer Leonardo Goi described the movie as “a detective caper, a thriller, a sci-fi tale, a romance. It’s also, perhaps most significantly, a film that crackles with an inordinate fondness for storytelling, a fable that unfolds as a campfire story, the kind which, as the best of them, fuels a childlike receptivity to the fantastical, and a hunger for wonder.”
18. The Killer (David Fincher)
Release Date: TBD
After a poorly-conceived detour with Mank, Fincher’s back on brand: making cold-blooded, pulpy thrillers. He’s a natural when it comes to digital images, tightly wound pacing, irony, and violence. After taking a hiatus from acting to race cars, Michael Fassbender returns to the big screen as the titular killer.
17. The Red Sky (Christian Petzold)
Release Date: TBD
Petzold’s name is enticement alone. The Phoenix and Transit director returns with another Paula Beer collaboration. This one’s set on the Baltic Sea and about four lovers surrounded by a blazing forest fire. In Petzold’s own description: “It’s also something to do with love and kissing and homosexual love too. I want to see bodies, and so on.” Petzold’s adept at stories of complex entanglements, hushed desires, and political allegory. This sounds like ideal material for him.
16. Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
Release Date: TBD
It seems Glazer’s settled into a pace of one-film-per-decade. After Under the Skin, a phenomenal surrealist work about an alien wandering through Glasgow, seducing and consuming men, he finally has a follow-up prepared. Few details have been released (there’s no cast yet, so expect no big names), but apparently it’s about… an Auschwitz-set love triangle.
15. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)
Release Date: March 30, 2023
Schrader continues his late-period series about brooding diarists haunted by a violent past. Don’t expect any shocking stylistic, thematic, or narrative reinventions from Schrader; he’s settled into a habit of steady Bressonian reimaginings. The glory’s in the details, especially for auteurist spectators.
14. Knock at the Cabin (M. Night Shyamalan)
Release Date: February 3, 2023
Shyamalan’s become a B-movie master, packing high-concept narratives, innovative camerawork, and his signature humanism into otherwise small films. Knock at the Cabin, his latest thriller, follows a family whose cabin is intruded by four strangers who claim apocalypse will erupt unless the family murder their young daughter. Shyamalan shot the movie on vintage lenses and from the trailer’s brief glimpse, his visual storytelling seems as vibrant as ever.
13. Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)
Release Date: TBD
Reichardt migrates her typically Oregon-set dramas to the West Coast for this New York art scene comedy. Reichardt alumni Michelle Williams returns in the lead role, with supporting performances from Hong Chau, Judd Hirsch, and André 3000. Though Reichardt’s movies work across genres (Meek’s Cutoff is a western, Night Moves is a thriller), each addition is consistently a triumph.
12. Scenario (Jean-Luc Godard)
Release Date: TBD
A posthumous release is planned for Godard’s final work. There’s little info on the movie. I’m not sure if it was completed and can’t find any specific description of what it entails. Yet anything from Godard is worthwhile. His long career spawned over a hundred movies, always evolving, re-inventing, and imaging new futures and potentials for the moving image. There’s never been another filmmaking like him.
11. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
Release Date: TBD
Scorsese’s first western, adapted from David Grann’s history of the Osage murders.
Sprawling in scope and packed with regular Scorsese collaborators, the film follows-up The Irishman, which brought a newfound melancholy into Scorsese’s storytelling.
10. Human Flowers of Flesh (Helena Wittmann)
Release Date: TBD
Wittmann continues Drift’s exploration of the oceanic with her sophomore feature: a hyper-intertextual inquiry into Foreign Legion colonialism. The movie’s part travelogue and part sequel to Beau Travail. It’s slow, yet packed with varied and cryptic images, always expanding its formal inventory into a movie that proves increasingly dense and unexpected. I caught the film at FNC last October and couldn’t help but dub Wittmann one of the greatest visual scholars of water in all its implications.
09. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel)
Release Date: TBD
The movies by anthropologist filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel hinge on proximity. They survey unknown spaces, seeking intimate gateways into new environments and perspectives. With each work, intimacy arises by re-purposing the camera to obliterate the barriers between it and its subjects. In their latest documentary, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, Castaing-Taylor and Paravel craft a bodily symphony on the modern hospital. Their custom-made surgical camera enters into patients’ bodies alongside the operating tools, broadcasting unprecedented images of fleshy interiority. They make visible the otherwise invisible depths of our corporality, conducting an acquaintance between spectators and the long-disavowed depths of our organisms. I reviewed the film last TIFF.
08. I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun)
Release Date: TBD
The We’re All Going to the World’s Fair director returns with a sophomore feature: another horror-drama about teenagers and the secret media worlds they inhabit. Schoenbrun’s as promising a filmmaker as any recent newcomer, deeply attuned to the relationships between film form and digital tech.
07. Cerrar los ojos (Victor Erice)
Release Date: TBD
Though best known for The Spirit of the Beehive, Erice’s filmography is sparse and a little elusive. Cerrar los ojos will be his first feature in thirty years and only his fourth overall. It’s said to follow an actor who falls from a cliff, disappears, and then reappears years later with no memory of his past. Erice is a unique artist, a dissector of moving-images, and a master of magic realism.
06. Silent Night (John Woo)
Release Date: TBD
John Woo returns! This one—supposedly all action and no dialogue—follows a vengeful father squaring off against a gang. Woo’s a contender for the greatest action director of all time. It’s also his first American movie in twenty years. His stint in Hollywood during the 90s and 00s is underrated, even if watered down compared to his prior Hong Kong movies. Hopefully, Silent Night finds him in peak form.
05. L’été dernier (Catherine Breillat)
Release Date: TBD
Breillat returns from a decade away from the camera to remake a Danish movie about a woman’s affair with her… underage teenage son. Breillat’s best movies—Fat Girl, Anatomy of Hell, Romance—are unflinching reckonings with taboo. She’s one of the few filmmakers whose work makes me genuinely uncomfortable, so content to revel in the darkest unspoken desires and project them as clearly as possible. I’ve missed her.
04. How Do You Live? (Hayao Miyazaki)
Release Date: TBD
How Do You Live?, Miyazaki’s final film, has been in slow development for years, painstakingly moving through the hand-drawn animation process. Miyazaki is a titan of his craft, one of the greatest animators of all time: both an uncompromising creative and crowd-pleaser. Miyazaki’s previous film The Wind Rises’ re-oriented his animation away from the fantasy worlds he’s most famous for. We’ll see where How Do You Live? takes him.
03. Ferrari (Michael Mann)
Release Date: TBD
After Blackhat’s malignment, Michael Mann, the American action auteur and master of digital images, is back with an unconventional biopic. I’m down for anything Mann gives us, but his own description of the movie is irresistible: “The whole movie is three months in the summer of 1957 in Enzo Ferrari’s life. It’s an opera, it’s melodramatic. Everything he’s been collides with what he might become. The company’s going bust. His wife finds out about the other woman. It’s spectacularly operatic melodrama in real life.” Even in his most conventional mode (e.g. Ali or The Insider), Mann is an unmatched stylist. For bonus, Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz star.
02. Eureka (Lisandro Alonso)
Release Date: TBD
Nearly a decade after the superb Jauja, Alonso re-teams with Viggo Mortensen for another 19th century drama. Alonso is the main draw himself: a patient filmmaker, deeply cognizant of a loneliness that exists between his subjects and their landscapes. Alonso’s first film—La Libertad—was a hyper-minimalist depiction of a woodcutter’s daily grind, without narrative or psychology. Gradually, his storytelling’s become more intricate and, from the sound of it, Eureka will be his most expansive work.
01. La Bête (Bertrand Bonello)
Release Date: TBD
Bonello’s one of the best working filmmakers. He’s a uniquely effective genre-arthouse hybrid filmmaker, always eclectic and skilful at marrying philosophical inquiry with genuine tension and unforgettable imagery. Off the heels of Coma, his excellent COVID-film experiment, he’s returning with a high-concept sci-fi-melodrama. La Bête follows a woman’s decision to enter a DNA-purifying machine that will immerse her in past lives. Léa Seydoux, who delivered some of 2022’s best performances in Crimes of the Future and One Fine Morning, stars.
Fireworks have returned with Higher Lonely Power, their first album in nine years. Surprise-released today (January 1) via the band’s own Funeral Plant Collective, the LP follows 2014’s Oh, Common Life as well as their 2019 comeback single ‘Demitasse’, which does not appear on the record. Stream it below.
“We appreciate the opportunity to create together and continued to do so during our hiatus, regardless of name and outlet,” guitarist Chris Mojan said in a press release. “Higher Lonely Power gave us the chance to be selfish and self expressive, without the pressure or expectation that comes from playing in a band. We just needed to work through some personal things first, good and bad.”
“What was very important to us was to make a record that represents us as a collective and our own influences coming together, as opposed to what an audience wants to hear, or what Fireworks ‘sounds like’,” bassist Kyle O’Neil added. “I feel like a lot of bands fall into the trap of, ‘Okay, we’re gonna make an album after so long – we need to make it sound like us.’ We just didn’t care.”
Higher Lonely Power Cover Artwork:
Higher Lonely Power Tracklist:
1. God Approved Insurance Plan
2. I Want To Start A Religion With You
3. Goodnight Tomb
4. Megachurch
5. Funeral Plant
6. Jerking Off The Sky
7. Machines Kept You Alive
8. Blood In The Milk
9. Veins In David’s Hand
10. Estate Sale
11. Woods II
12. How Did It Used To Be So Easy?
Jeremiah Green, the drummer and a founding member of Modest Mouse, has died at 45 after a battle with cancer. “I don’t know a way to ease into this: Today we lost our dear friend Jeremiah,” the band wrote on social media shortly before midnight on New Yeary’s Eve. “He laid down to rest and simply faded out. I’d like to say a bunch of pretty words right now, but it just isn’t the time. These will come later, and from many people. Please appreciate all the love you give, get, have given, and will get. Above all, Jeremiah was about love. We love you.”
Green was born on in Oahu, Hawaii, where his father was stationed in the army, and spent his early years in Moxee, Washington. Having moved to the Seattle area in 1989, Green immersed himself in the local music scene, citing bands such local groups such as Treepeople and Hammerbox alongside the likes of the Cure and Fugazi as inspirations. “I joined a band and just started playing and listening to music – going to shows at nights and watching people,” he told Modern Drummer in 2017. “Back in the day I’d go to pretty small shows, and I could fit behind the drummer and actually see what he or she was doing physically. When you’re only listening to music, you don’t know what kind of movements people are doing.”
Having played with the bands Vells, Satisfact, Red Stars Theory, and Peeved, Green co-founded Modest Mouse in 1992 in Washington with lead singer and guitarist Isaac Brock and bassist Eric Judy. The band’s first album, the classic This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, was released in 1996, followed by 1997’s The Lonesome Crowded West. They made their major label debut with The Moon & Antarctica, which came out in 2000 via Epic and cracked the Billboard 200 chart, debuting at No. 120.
Green temporarily left Modest Mouse in 2003 prior to the release of their album Good News for People Who Love Bad News, later revealing that he had suffered a nervous breakdown. During his absence from Modest Mouse, Green put out the self-titled EP and debut full-length from his project Vells. After rejoining Modest Mouse in 2004, Green went on to play on 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2015’s Strangers to Ourselves, and 2021’s The Golden Casket.
From time to time, things don’t go the way we hoped. Whether it’s a professional or personal life, there can be stress. It’s important to control this stress and work on ways to get yourself to feel better. One great way would be video games. Video games can either make you feel tense, scared, or even relaxed. While it all depends on your game, here are some reasons why you should play more video games when you’re stressed out.
Increase self-esteem
Playing a video game can be a great way to release that tension and boost your self-esteem if you’re feeling stressed out. Besides providing you with a way to get away from your daily stress, games can also provide you with new perspectives on life. The self-esteem of a person is largely affected by their thinking style. People with low self-esteem are more likely to focus selectively on negative thoughts, such as rejection or failure. They’re also less likely to trust themselves and avoid social situations.
But playing a video game can help you build self-confidence and improve your social skills. Put it this way; if you’re stressed out about something that’s happening in life, video games can help your self-esteem because you’re moving up in the game, solving puzzles, and winning boss battles.
Release yourself
Just as some people will run, scream into a pillow, or talk when they need to release their feelings, the same can be said about video games too. It can be a decent way to release yourself and get yourself to feel better. Everyone gets stressed out and upset in some form, and it’s important to release those emotions rather than just bottle them up inside you. Video games can be a healthy way of releasing yourself. There’s nothing wrong with it, either.
Provide instant gratification
If you are stressed, a video game may be your ticket to a better quality of life. These games can help you feel connected to others and to yourself. They also provide the instant gratification that can be a boon when you feel stressed out. Besides, a video game is a fun way to relax, and most games are made for relaxing.
Just ensure that when you’re stressed out, you’re not jumping into anything too competitive that could make you more stressed out. Something like theMinecraft SMP server list is better when you’re less stressed out. Besides, getting instant gratification will help you feel better. So make sure to pick something more relaxing, like Animal Crossing.
It could be a good escape
A lot of people use video games as a form of escape, and having that small escape from reality can be a good thing. It gives you a chance to just forget about your worries, especially if you’re dealing with chronic stress or are having a very tough time overall. When it comes to video games, just be sure you’re not planning on developing a dependency when stressed.
While you should work on your stress healthily, relying too much on video games won’t help. Make sure you have a balance and don’t always turn to games when something goes wrong. Theimpact of video games is good, but ensure it’s all in moderation.
“I didn’t actually write this song on NYE but pretty close to it,” Weinman explained in a statement. “It was the last song I wrote for the record and I had been in such a deep recording mode I felt like i was neglecting so many other parts of my life. I was diving back into the record one more time and feeling like i should probably come up for air. I wanted it to be the moment on the record that really feels like it breaks the fourth wall. In the movie of the record this is where you cut to reveal me sitting alone in the studio, looking haggard. It’s just my voice and a bass and the little space heater in the background. I made the video around the same time to try and feel that way too.”
Like Dying Stars, We’re Reaching Out is set for release on February 17 via Run For Cover Records.
Vivienne Westwood, the influential fashion designer who played a key role in bringing the British punk movement into the mainstream, has died. According to a statement from her company, Westwood died yesterday (December 29) “peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London.” She was 81 years old.
Born Vivienne Isabel Swire in the Derbyshire village of Tintwistle in 1941, Westwood started making her own clothes as a teenager by following patterns. She took a jewelry and silversmith course at the University of Westminster when her family moved to Harrow, Middlesex, but dropped out after one term. She took up a job in a factory and studied at a teacher-training college, becoming a primary school teacher while continuing to make her own jewelry. In 1962, she married Hoover factory apprentice Derek Westwood and gave birth to her first son Benjamin Westwood, but the marriage ended after she met Malcolm McLaren, who she married in 1965. Their son Joseph Corré was born in 1967.
Westwood continued to teach until 1971, when she left her job to create clothing full-time and opened a London boutique with McLaren, which rebranded several times before being named SEX in 1974. The store’s rebellious aesthetic became the look of the London punk scene, serving as a meeting place for many of its early members, including Sid Vicious, Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist Marco Pirroni, and the Pop Group vocalist Mark Stewart. After McLaren became the Sex Pistols’ manager, the couple drew traction as the band started wearing their designs.
Westwood’s first official fashion collection, Pirates, debuted in 1981. As she became one of the fashion world’s most celebrated figures, she continued pushing boundaries and found new ways to shock. She went on to design academic dresses for King’s College and worked closely with Richard Branson to create uniforms for Virgin Atlantic crews. She used her platform to further her activism, and in the mid-2000s turned her focus toward the environmental crisis. In a 2007 a manifesto titled Active Resistance to Propaganda, she wrote: “We have a choice: to become more cultivated, and therefore more human – or by not choosing, to be the destructive and self-destroying animal, the victim of our own cleverness (To be or not to be).”
In 2006, Westwood was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire, having previously been granted an Order of the British Empire medal in 1992.
“Vivienne continued to do the things she loved, up until the last moment, designing, working on her art, writing her book, and changing the world for the better,” the company’s social media post read. “She led an amazing life. Her innovation and impact over the last 60 years has been immense and will continue into the future.”
The statement concluded with a quote from Westood, who considered herself a Taoist: “Tao spiritual system. There was never more need for the Tao today. Tao gives you a feeling that you belong to the cosmos and gives purpose to your life. It gives you such a sense of identity and strength to know you’re living the life you can live and therefore ought to be living: make full use of your character and full use of your life on earth.”
The pleasant aura of outdoor living encourages us with the alluring prospect of fresh air, and gentle breezes. By designing the perfect outdoor oasis, you’ll not only make the most of your patio or deck but also enjoy a serene space in any month. Whether you’re hosting an evening birthday party, spending quality time with your special ones, drinking best coffee, or simply appreciating some solitude in the ambiance of nature, let us help you make an outdoor living into an amazing relaxing retreat.
Table Of Contents
Define The Space Using An Area Rug
Make A Defined Look With Dining Tables
Feel Comfort With An Outdoor Sofa
Set The Tone By Upgrading The Lighting
Conclusion
Define The Space Using An Area Rug
Just like the interior area, an outdoor rug can help to define the relaxation space. In addition to providing a stylish and comfortable look, they also protect your outdoor deck, floor, or patio which can easily become chipped or damaged with use over time.
These rugs generally come in different materials, colors, and sizes. The type of outdoor rug you’ll want largely depends on what you intend to use it for. If you want to protect and prevent surface area damage, use a large, weatherproof area rug. Not only do they add a bold pop of color to your patio, but also create an inviting feel. If you live with a big family and make the most of your outdoor space, nylon-based rugs are the best choice. Because It is easy to clean, won’t fade, and is stain-resistant. The size you will choose a large enough to go underneath your patio furniture while leaving a wide border around the perimeter.
But one thing you keep in mind before buying an area rug is that should be durable and UV resistant so that it doesn’t fade in the sun.
Make A Defined Look With Dining Tables
We live in an area where every day is thanksgiving. But when the weather changes, managing the intimate dinners in the inner space is a little more challenging, especially when you have a bigger guest list than expected. If you’re lucky enough to have any kind of outdoor space, so you can use it by choosing the right patio dining table and chairs for your guests. But finding the right outdoor dining table can also be a challenge for us. Not only does the piece need to be sturdy and weather resistant, but it also has to fit your space and your style.
A wooden dining table, especially a made from hardwood is very durable and can withstand weather and extensive use. Another great option for a durable and weather-resistant outdoor table is one made from marble, granite, or slate. These tables are extremely heavy to move around, but they can last for years and provide your family or guest with a place to enjoy meals.
While purchasing, also consider the size of the table. If you frequently entertain guests, you should consider getting one with table space and a higher seating capacity.
Feel Comfort With An Outdoor Sofa
A great patio sofa brings comfort and function to your outdoor spaces. They look similar to indoor models, but they feature an entirely different set of materials. While purchasing you make sure that the sofa should be sturdy enough to handle the elements. Weather-resistant fabrics are a must for outdoor seating.
Set The Tone By Upgrading The Lighting
When the sun goes down and the day turns into night, a well-planned outdoor lighting scheme improves the safety of your home for visitors or guests at night. In addition to providing a safety function, they also provide a warm and glowy ambiance after sunset. Like indoor lighting, its outdoor counterpart also comprises beautiful table fixtures, overhead, accent lights, and wall bulbs. You can use lamps as vintage lanterns or hurricane lights to make the space more ambient.
String lights are a also great way to add a touch of whimsy and charm to your outdoor space. Hang string lights from trees and poles, or wrap them around your deck or patio for an enchanting look.
Conclusion
The perfect patio should be a place of relaxation and respite. With the right elements and design, your patio can be a tranquil retreat for you and your family. Consider adding comfortable furniture to sit and enjoy the weather. Adding the right lighting and soothing music to your patio can make it a serene and inviting space. With these tips, you’ll be able to feel yourself sinking into vacation-relaxation mode.
No one is more qualified than Jiazheng Zhang to talk about the fact that the subscribers of Secret Base have risen from 100k to 1 million. As the Senior Video Editor/Director at SB Nation, Zhang sees delivering the attractive content that matches the appetite of the target audience as the priority. And that’s how Beef History has come to be such a huge success.
Q: Why did you choose to join SB Nation in the first place?
A: I studied video production at NYU and I’ve always been passionate about it. Before I joined SB Nation, everything that I did was pretty much about politics and economics at Newsweek. But that’s not what I’m interested in. I am personally a big fan of sports and SB Nation is a platform that I’ve been following for years. It would be great if I can produce sports-related video content one day. And then in 2017, I had this amazing opportunity to apply to join SB Nation as a video editor. It’s been more than five years till now and I’m really enjoying it.
Q: The documentary Beef History that you and your team developed is pretty successful. Can you give a brief summary about it as well as your role in it?
A: Beef History is a series that talks about the beef among NBA players following a story-telling routine. It is part of our re-strategization after I joined SB Nation. The series covers a wide range of topics and each episode has different main characters. For example, we had one that tells the beef between Shaquille O’neal and David Robinson back in the 1990s and Shaquille himself forwarded our video, which was something that I’m really proud of. Beef History has also won a couple of awards such as Webby Award and Viddy Award. My responsibility is to edit and put together all the video clips to complete the video including all the visual effects after our producer finishes writing the script. It feels great every time someone told me that they actually watched and liked the videos that I made.
Q: Can you give us more details about the Webby Award and Viddy Award?
A: The Webby Awards is authorized and prestigious for online media. We decided to take part in the selection of the awards in 2021, one year after our channel achieved a stable audience group. There were three processes involved for the Webby Awards, including the initial selection, judge selection and audience selection. And eventually Beef History was selected as People’s Voice Winner under Sports Category for the Webby Award. There were about five or six finalists, but I was really glad that our entry was selected by both the audience and judges, which really validated the time and energy I’ve dedicated to these videos throughout the years. The Viddy, which was also previously known as the Videographer Award, has a different criterion. The winners were divided into different levels under different categories. We were ecstatic to find that we are the platinum winner under the Sports Category, which is the highest and most prestigious of all. And I was so thrilled that our videos were accepted and beloved by others.
Q: The Youtube Channel of SB Nation has now over 1 million followers. What do you think is the main reason that the number of followers grew so fast?
A: When I first joined SB Nation in 2017, we had only less than 100K followers. Most of the content was about live shows and breaking news. But after me and my team made some adjustments to our strategy in 2020, we decided to focus on the story-telling routine in the form of documentaries instead of breaking news only. The episodes could last 10 to 20 minutes or sometimes even longer like 1 or 2 hours, but we did get positive feedback from the viewers and it turned out that it is something the fans would like to see. I think that could be considered as a huge leap since there were already plenty of live news resources out there. And we weren’t really focusing on the number of our subscribers. It just came naturally as we dug deeper and simply wanted to share a good story thoroughly and informatively. I think that’s the key factor to the growth of subscribers.
Q: Have you ever come across any obstacles at SB Nation?
A: One thing that I found challenging is that I have to figure out new content or a creative way to present the content. Even though Beef History is pretty successful, we’re still hoping to introduce more different series to our audience. In order to do that, we need new ideas both visually and ideologically. This is a big challenge for me but also is the reason why I enjoy doing my job. I get to explore and experiment with different visual presentations. I want our fans and subscribers to always be freshened up whenever they watch a series that just came out. Beef History is admittedly a success, but we were not that satisfied. That’s why we’ve always been creating new shows every once in a while, such as Chosen and Untitled, which were also vastly renowned and were even showcased in an exhibition for the world cup.
There’s no doubt that Hulu is one of the best streaming platforms. It is now taking the space as an alternative to cable TV for most people in Singapore. Due to a rise in its popularity, Hulu expanded its content library, giving viewers unlimited streaming options.
However, Hulu is blocked in many countries, including Singapore. You can’t watch Hulu outside the US due to its geo-restrictions. If you wish to stream Hulu in Singapore, you must get a reliable VPN, preferably ExpressVPN, which is the best in terms of speed, connectivity, and security.
Here are a few tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your subscription so you can enjoy unlimited streaming in Singapore.
Which Tips and Tricks Make Hulu Better for streaming in Singapore?
Without further ado, let’s jump straight to the tips that can make your streaming better on Hulu.
Use the Best VPN
Hulu has restrictions on offering its services in many countries besides the US due to licensing issues. However, you can still have Hulu in Singapore by using the best VPN. A VPN helps you bypass geo-restriction by masking your IP dress. In this way, you can have a US IP address regardless of being inside Singapore.
Keep an Eye on the Watch List
The Watch List feature has everything you need to take your streaming experience to the next level. Based on your viewing history, the Watch List will have all the shows and movies you have watched or need to continue watching. This saves you from the never-ending scrolling!
Change the Video Quality
When it comes to video quality, Hulu gives viewers various options. Depending on your internet speed and the type of VPN you’re using, you can enjoy streaming in HD quality. If your video starts to buffer, try opting for lower quality. When you learn what video quality to use at what time, you can continue streaming your favorite shows without network errors.
Change the Subtitles
Depending on your language preferences, you can change the subtitles to understand shows in foreign languages. Since Hulu has an extensive content library offering shows from various countries, you can stream your favorite ones by changing the subtitles. From anime to Ghibli movies, don’t let the language barrier keep you from watching some of the best classics!
Stream Hulu on Your Smart TV
As an online streaming service, Hulu offers services based on different smart devices. However, you can stream it on your Smart TV as well. Enjoying Hulu on your TV is objectively better in every way. All you need to do is download Hulu App on your Smart TV, log in to your account, and you’re all set to go!
Make Your Smartphone a Hulu Remote
A smartphone can control your Hulu service. You can search the library, add news and shows to your list, access the watch lists, and do account settings using your smartphone as a Hulu remote. All you need to do is download the Hulu app on your smartphone and start using it as a remote.
Set Parental Controls for Kids
Have you ever tried to use the feature in Hulu called Kids Lock? On both iOS and Android Apps, this feature is available. The purpose of this feature is to block access to some Hulu content that is not from the Kids section. Keep the streaming perfect for your kid and get better control over it.
Check the Advanced Search Option
There may be times when you want to look for a certain episode but don’t remember its name. That’s when Advanced Search Option can be a lifesaver. With this feature, you can search for specific episodes and enjoy them without wasting time!
Hold Your Subscription
Need a break from streaming? Why cancel your subscription when you can freeze it? Hulu offers a unique feature where you can hold your subscription whenever you feel the need to. You can hold it for up to 3 months. Once you’re done with the break, start streaming from where you left off!
Use Dark Mode
Is the screen too bright for you while streaming Hulu? No problem! All you need to do is turn on the dark mode, and you’re all set to go!
Personalize Ads
Hulu comes with an Ad Selector feature that presents you with 2-3 different options to choose the ad that may be of your interest the most. In this way, you can control your experience and enjoy unlimited streaming!
Conclusion:
Make the most out of your Hulu subscription today by following the tips and tricks mentioned above. Unfortunately, Hulu is not available in Singapore due to geo-restrictions. If you want to watch Hulu in Singapore, you’ll need to sign up for a reliable VPN service like ExpressVPN. Happy streaming!
