Meat loaf 2 out of 3 aint bad

Ethan Coen wasn’t exactly a scholar on Jerry Lee Lewis . You wouldn’t even have called him a fan, really. Sure, the Oscar-winning filmmaker — who, along with his brother Joel, has given the world The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink and Fargo and No Country for Old Men and a dozen other movies that have earned rabid cults and regularly show up on Greatest Movies Ever lists — knew “Whole Lotta Shaking Going On.” Everybody does. He could probably sing a few verses of “Great Balls of Fire” in a karaoke emergency if need be. Press him, and Coen might name you some of his other early hits, like “High School Confidential,” “Breathless,” or “High Heel Sneakers.” And like most folks, he knew about Lewis marrying his 13-year-old cousin and the scandal that ensued, derailing the Killer’s early career and stopping his chart-topping reign dead in his tracks. Coen had also, by his own admission, “left the movie business” and wasn’t necessarily looking to throw himself into another … [Read more...] about How Ethan Coen’s Documentary on Jerry Lee Lewis Brought Him Back to Filmmaking

Twenty years ago today, Juanes released his breakthrough album, Un Día Normal. Juanes had previously released Fíjate Bien, his debut LP, which had success locally in Colombia . However, with its mix of catchy pop, cutting rock, and traditional Latin sounds, Un Día Normal took him to an entirely new level. It spent 92 weeks on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, setting a record at the time, and it spun off gigantic back-to-back hits such as “A Dios Le Pido,” “Mala Gente,” and “Es Por Ti,” all songs that helped define pop-rock in Spanish for that era. The album won six Latin Grammy, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year — and it made Juanes a star. Below, he remembers putting together the album during a hectic, emotional time, filled with highs and lows that inspired the sound of the record. He talks about the changes he was going through at the time, how he drew from his past, and how Un Día Normal changed the game for him and Latin … [Read more...] about ‘Un Día Normal’ Turns 20: Juanes Remembers

A little over a year ago, a mentally ill Dallas-area man named James Lance Boulware, angry over losing custody of his son, bought an armored van on eBay, marketed as a “Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle.” The van had gun ports under each of its blacked-out windows. Just after midnight one Saturday morning, with a few homemade pipe bombs and a semi-automatic rifle in-hand, he drove the van to the headquarters of the Dallas Police Department and started firing at squad cars. Many hours later, the cops, with the aid of specialized weaponry, disabled the van and killed Boulware, spending much of the day dealing with the explosive devices he left behind. One of the strangest things about Boulware’s bizarre and brief reign of terror in Dallas is how little attention it warranted by that Monday. Having happened in the wee hours of the weekend, it fell into a news hole. And Boulware’s failure to successfully shoot any of the police he targeted made it easier for people to shrug it off. … [Read more...] about Texas’ Gun Culture and Politics Made Dallas Shooting Inevitable

Getty Johnny Depp is getting support from what some might think is an unlikely group, but maybe not -- an org protecting abused women and children. Getty The group, Mission NGO, is Italian-based, and fronted by former Miss Italy Valeria Altobelli . She expressed "compassion" for Johnny in the wake of his trial with ex-wife Amber Heard . Altobelli said, "In deep respect of the victims of domestic abuses that we have to affirm for intellectual honesty are, generally, WOMEN, we feel to express, as women, as mothers, as free thinkers, our compassion for Johnny Depp in this bad page of his personal history." NGO is not alone ... public sentiment seems to be clearly on Johnny's side, which by clearly means lots of people -- maybe most -- don't believe Amber's claims of abuse at the hands of Johnny. As we reported, the only uncontested incident of abuse was at the hands of Amber -- she admitted it on an audiotape that … [Read more...] about Johnny Depp Gets Support from Women’s Domestic Abuse Group

The hard right’s takeover of the Supreme Court is real, and is having real consequences. But despite that leaked decision that would overturn Roe, this takeover isn’t just about abortion, and it’s not just about the Supreme Court. In fact, Trump-appointed judges at all levels of the judiciary are remaking nearly every aspect of American law, from voting rights to environmental regulations, police accountability to LGBTQ and women’s equality. There are also a lot of these judges. In four years, the Trump administration put a record 226 life-tenure federal judges on the bench. And while these judges don’t make the headlines like the Supreme Court does, they are already transforming our country, a little bit at a time. Perhaps most important, they will be there many, many years. Because Trump’s minions chose the youngest cohort of judges in recorded history, some of these people are in their thirties and forties. That means they could still be on the bench in 40, even 50 years — … [Read more...] about MAGA Law: How the Trump Judges Twist U.S. Justice