Our favorite season? Awards season, and even though Hollywood is rolling up the red carpets, we’re here to celebrate the history-making wins and nominations that should’ve dominated headlines this year.
First up? The Oscars.
Host Drew Dorsey recapped the glitz and glamour of the film industry’s most iconic awards show by hyping the women who made huge strides in their categories. Save your hot takes on the Will Smith and Chris Rock drama because we’re here for Jane Campion’s historic nomination (and win) for her work directing The Power of the Dog. The Netflix Western also snagged cinematographer Ari Wegner a history-making nod — she became just the second woman recognized by the Academy in the Best Cinematography category — and, as a bonus, it gave us all the gift of seeing Benedict Cumberbatch don a pair of leather chaps.
But it’s not just in the movies that women are making moves. Drew highlights the many femme artists headlining this year’s GRAMMYs potential winners list. From Olivia Rodrigo’s huge wins to Doja Cat slaying the red carpet and H.E.R. taking home her own hardware — women ruled the GRAMMYs stage. Of course, because everyone’s still scandalized by the latest season of Netflix’s Bridgerton, Drew also had to give the two femme composers who crafted an entire musical based on the show’s first season, their rightful due.
You can watch all that plus a highlight reel featuring everyone from Zendaya and Sian Heder to movies like Disney’s Turning Red in the video above.
4/20 is on the horizon and as you gear up with some great weed and good snacks to enjoy on the big day, don’t forget you’re going to need some content to watch while you relax and roll up. Enter Killer Mike’s new four-part docuseries, Tumbleweeds.
Made in collaboration with Weedmaps and premiering on Vice TV, Tumbleweeds finds Killer Mike exploring cannabis smoking hotspots like Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago and speaking with comedians, cannabis advocates, and business owners, and exploring dispensaries, clothing stores, restaurants, and whole neighborhoods to learn how cannabis positively shapes, affects, and builds community and inclusivity while exploring the impact and evolution of cannabis culture in America.
It’s a simple premise, but America has a long history of anti-cannabis (and frankly, racist) propaganda that has often positioned cannabis as something that outright destroys communities, so it’s dope (pun very much intended) to see Killer Mike and Weedmaps flip the script and modernize that conversation, bringing it to a more honest place in line with marijuana’s increasingly mainstream status.
Check out the exclusive trailer for Tumbleweeds above and be sure to catch the first two episodes (Las Vegas and San Francisco) on 4/20 on Vice TV and Vice TV streaming apps.
We apparently live in a golden age of game show blunders. Recently there’s been a spate of cartoonishly wrongWheel of Fortuneanswers. Now the trend is infecting other shows. On a recent episode of the U.S. reboot of The Weakest Link — which swaps out original terrifying host Anne Robinson for the comparatively warmer Jane Lynch — one contestant was asked to show off his knowledge of legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Not only was his expertise lacking, but his answer was powerfully, inventively wrong.
The viral clip shows a man named Sean being asked by Lynch a simple question: Of the nine Oscar nominations the Marvel villain has earned for directing over his long career, which film did he wind up winning for? The answer is one of Scorsese’s most popular films, 2006’s star-studded gangster epic The Departed, which grossed a pretty penny back in the day and has been a home video/streaming favorite ever since.
Sean did not know that. “I’m horrible with films,” Sean admitted while visibly wracking his brain. He admitted he would “have to guess.” And so his mind landed on…8 Mile. The 2002 biopic about Eminem, starring Eminem as himself.
Sadly, the director of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, The Last Temptation of Christ, and the lengthy video for Michael Jackson’s “Bad” has never once directed the onetime Slim Shady. Those duties went to another Oscar-nominated director, the late Curtis Hanson, the versatile filmmaker of L.A. Confidential who directed 8 Mile in between the comedic dramas Wonder Boys and In Her Shoes. So it’s not too far-off.
There is one other connection between the two: At the 2020 Oscars, when Scorsese’s The Irishman was up for a pile of awards, the great director was forced to listen to “Lose Yourself,” the song that won 8 Mile’s lone Academy Award. And he did not exactly seem to be enjoying it.
Is it unfiltered talking head interviews from an artist’s inner circle, narrating their rise to fame and filling in the gaps with unheard tales of tragedy and triumph? Is it hundreds of hours’ worth of archival footage that transports fans back to the tour buses and motels and the chaotic marathon of on-the-road, small-town gigs? Is it the artist themselves taking control of the camera to give us a more intimate, insightful look into their creative process — the highs, the lows, the sacrifices, and the perks of fame?
Is it a combination of all of these?
Whatever that magical “it” factor is, all of the docs on this list — from tranquil recording sessions to cinematic road trip movies to dramatic reenactments to reels of film that have been hidden away for decades — have it in some form or other.
There’s a kind of mythos surrounding The Beatles, their meteoric rise, and their complicated break-up. Much of that is fueled by the untimely death of their founding member, John Lennon, but more still stems from the group’s prolific lyrical output — something that’s on full display in Peter Jackson’s biographical epic, Get Back. The three-part six-hour-long documentary is a musical odyssey, one that peels back the veneer of nostalgia and gives us a raw, moving, and at times unbearably intimate look at the four lads whose influence is still being felt, decades after their initial peak of stardom. Subdued and unstructured but made with purpose, the series gives us a glimpse of these figures with episodes of genius on full display — like when Paul riffs on his bass and produces one of the band’s biggest hits in just a few minutes. The best moments come when we get an unedited look at the strife, tension, and profound connection these musical icons shared, though.
Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever, A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021)
Run Time: 65 min
Billie Eilish has had a prodigious career. That’s not hyperbole, it’s simply a fact. She’s ticked off everything from Grammy wins and Oscars trophies to headlining the world’s major music festivals and being interesting enough that not one, but two documentaries have attempted to distill her star power to something us mere mortals can understand. In this doc, which stands as Billie’s love letter to her hometown, director Robert Rodriguez throws animation into the mix, creating a kind of hybrid doc/album concept film that’s both beautifully straightforward and deceptively insightful.
Go all the way back to the consequential summer of 1969 as Roots crew drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson brings the incomparable Harlem Cultural Festival to life with his Oscar-winning Summer Of Soul. Filled with a collection of performances from iconic musicians like Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, this doc doubly rewards viewers by diving into the intersection between current events and music, showcasing the power of music and an event that has been shockingly under-remembered until now.
The only female artist who’s had a bigger breakout than Billie Eilish is this Disney star whose catchy-as-hell breakup track, Driver’s License catapulted her to the top of the charts during a pandemic that had us all feeling a little blue. This doc shares some of the same qualities that made that song, and its accompanying music video, such a hit. There’s a barren feeling to all of the deserts and flatlands Rodrigo drives through while on her way from the recording studio where she created her debut album Sour, back home to California. There’s also a vintage, grainy filter imposed on all of the vistas she stops at along the way, performing some of the album’s biggest hits to intimate crowds and fan gatherings. It’s a vibe – and a worthy entry into the music doc space from an artist who’s just getting started.
Of the two stellar albums Taylor Swift dropped in 2020, Folklore was the one with the least fanfare surrounding it — a record Swift quietly unveiled that guided fans even deeper into the fantasy-like wood she’d escaped to during quarantine. And with this doc — an intimate, no-frills recording session in a rustic cabin by a lake, somewhere north of New York City – Swift doubles down on this new era of her career she’s knowingly entered into. This is a doc about Taylor Swift, the songwriter – not the pop star or tabloid target. Stripped down and raw, the doc merges some home videos of Swift recording the album years earlier with frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff and newcomer (to the Swift scene) Aaron Dessner with live performances from Swift, held in between chats that dive deep into her musical knowledge and her artistic process. It’s illuminating in the best way and Swift has never been better.
Before Lin Manuel-Miranda was creating Oscar-nominated bops for Disney flicks and winning Peabody awards for history-making Broadway musicals, he was just a guy on a street corner in the Heights, freestyling with his friends. This doc, which leans heavily on archival footage of Miranda and fellow Freestyle Supreme members like Thomas Kail, Christopher Jackson, and others, charts the rise of the group whose on-stage trick is to take audience suggestions and turn them into feature-length raps and bops and skits for our entertainment. There’s some incredible talent on display here as we see the group perform at fringe fests and basement cellars, but somehow, knowing the success each of these guys will one day find makes viewing their humble beginning even more exciting.
In 1972, Aretha Franklin gave a two-night performance of some of her biggest hits in a crowded Baptist church. Decades later, we finally get that footage. Filmed by Sydney Pollock, this is Aretha Franklin before people universally recognized her as an icon. Her voice is unparalleled, her energy infectious, her talent obvious, but this doc shows the synergy between her religious upbringing and the music she would bring to the world. It might just move you to tears.
Of the two Blackpink docs circulating the streaming world, this Hulu entry highlights the girl group’s undeniable stage presence, weaving concert footage from their most recent internet-breaking performance, “The Show” with older clips from when they were just beginning their reign as the queens of KPop. There’s a bit of commentary from the women as they reflect on their bond and how they’ve gotten this far, but the strongest moments are when fans get to watch them in their element, killing intricately choreographed numbers and serving up some of the best live shows we’ve seen yet.
The most fascinating music docs tell the stories of stars before they became them. Plenty of entries on this list fit the bill, but none do it like this hybrid film that mixes archival footage and glimpses of Madonna’s old stomping grounds in Detroit with dramatic reenactments of the artist’s earliest days in New York. The journey is gripping, from mourning her mother and hoping to escape the dreariness of her hometown, to hitting the scene in Queens during a musical rebirth when fashion and art, and street culture were colliding to form a creative environment unique enough to turn a talented former dancer into a pop music behemoth.
Music fans have likely heard the name Frank Zappa, but few truly understand just how unique and idiosyncratic his career truly was. This doc aims to rectify that, combing through hundreds of hours of archival footage supplied by Zappa’s estate to paint a picture of the sometimes-acclaimed, sometimes-controversial musician that we simply haven’t seen before. From his early beginnings worshipping the musical oddities to spoofing hit Beatles records to fighting American censorship, Zappa was an individual in every sense of the word, which makes charting his musical journey all the more interesting.
Gunna put forth another highlight moment in his stellar 2022 year through a recent appearance on Saturday Night Live. His debut appearance on the show came after he kicked off the year with his third album DS4EVER. It’s highlighted by “Pushin P” with Future and Young Thug as well as other records with the likes of 21 Savage, Drake, Chloe Bailey, Lil Baby, G Herbo, and more. DS4EVER went on to be Gunna’s second No. 1 album following 2020’s Wunna. During his SNL appearance, he celebrated the album with performances of “Pushin P” and “Banking On Me,” but he also made sure to have some fun with some of the show’s cast members.
During last night’s episode of SNL, Gunna teamed up with Pete Davidson, Simon Rex, and Chris Redd for a rap about “short-ass movies.” The group gave quick reactions to short films like The Lion King and Austin Powers while joking about longer ones like Amadeus, Once Upon A Time In America and Heat. Elsewhere in the sketch, Davidson goes to see the new three-hour Batman movie and ends up pissing his pants. The group even slips in a joke about Judd Apatow’s The King Of Staten Island, which stars Davidson and clocks in at 137 minutes
You can watch the sketch about “short-ass movies” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
After starring as the “Godfather of Rap” in My Name is Dolemite, Eddie Murphy will portray another legendary “godfather” in an upcoming biopic.
Deadline reports that the Coming to America actor is in “early talks” to play George Clinton, the “Godfather of Funk” who has led the Parliament-Funkadelic collective since the late 1960s. The passion-project film “will tell the story of the iconic musician’s humble beginnings in North Carolina in the 1940s, to the formation of his groundbreaking band George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, and ultimately to becoming a musical influence on artists of the hip-hop generation including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast, and Wu-Tang Clan, among many others.”
“Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker),” “One Nation Under a Groove,” and “Flash Light” are the songs you hear on the radio, but be sure to take a deeper dive into the Parliament and Funkadelic discographies, as well as Clinton’s solo material. Not only for the funky grooves, but also the song titles. I, for one, can’t wait to hear Eddie Murphy sing “Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow,” “Standing on the Verge of Getting It On,” and my personal favorite, “Do Fries Go with That Shake?”
Joseph Patel, one of the producers of Summer Of Soul shared a lengthy thread on Twitter tonight, not just about the impact of Will’s actions, but how a throwaway comment from Chris Rock about how the project was Questlove and “four white guys” really erased a historic accomplishment for him. Patel is of Southeast Asian descent, as were a couple other winners that night for another film, making it a pretty historic for them and their culture. Read Patel’s thoughts transcribed below, along with the corresponding tweets.
Ok, here we go with some thoughts and feelings on what happened Sunday night, “the Slap,” if you will. [thread]. First, I’ve been drunk with joy the last few days for me and my team and our Oscar win. So many of you – IRL friends, internet friends, acquaintances, colleagues, old homies and new – have shown love and support and genuine excitement for our achievement. I feel that love, and I thank you. It’s taken me a few days to process everything. Still sort of processing it.
Once we realized the Chris Rock/Will Smith interaction wasn’t a bit, everything got turned upside down. Everyone was still trying to make sense of it when Chris persevered & started to read the nominees. I think what Will did was selfish. It robbed the category of its moment. It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs. And it robbed Summer of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film. I feel bad for Ahmir. I feel bad for my fellow producers. I feel bad for our whole team. I feel bad for all the people watching and rooting for us.
We were in shock walking to the stage -not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.I feel bad for Ahmir. I feel bad for my fellow producers. I feel bad for our whole team. I feel bad for all the people watching and rooting for us. We were in shock walking to the stage -not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened. Then Will hugs Ahmir and daps me up. I didn’t even know it was happening in the moment. Still in shock. (Ahmir handled the moment with grace, giving a speech from the heart. It was beautiful to see. I’m so deeply moved by how much he has grown in the last few years.)
What I didn’t hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner’s card – The winner is “Summer of Soul…Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and…4 white guys.” WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F*CK????? The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award. I was ecstatic that I was the 3RD South Asian to win that night – after Riz and Aneil Karia won earlier in the night for The Long Goodbye. 3 South Asians winning on the same night – that’s never happened before! And it’s meaningful! It’s history!
So with my family and friends watching, Chris Rock lumped me in as 1 of “4 white guys.” (Nevermind the disrespect to @d2films and @fyvo for not even saying their names, and the inaccuracy of us being 3 producers not 4). I’m a big boy – I can take a joke. Comedians make jokes. But not in that moment. What a shitty, disrespectful thing to do. AND HERE’S THE THING…It wasn’t that Chris Rock was under stress. He made the same joke the night before on stage at the Roots Jam! So I’m angry. Angry at Will Smith. Angry at Chris Rock. Angry for me. Angry for Ahmir. Angry for my fellow filmmakers. I got back home to New York last night and saw the ceremony on my DVR and didn’t have the stomach to watch it. I probably never will. Thank you, Chris – You absolute f*cking d*ck.
Now, all that said, I know that what happened with the ceremony and the achievement of winning an Oscar will separate over time. And truly, like I said earlier, I’m living in a place of absolute joy over what we did. never need a statue to tell me how nice I am – but it sure helps. And what both Will AND Chris did really stained what should have been a beautiful moment for us. FIN. Also it goes without saying I speak for me and me alone. Not Ahmir and not our coproducers.
Ok, here we go with some thoughts and feelings on what happened Sunday night, “the Slap,” if you will. [thread]
First, I’ve been drunk with joy the last few days for me and my team and our Oscar win. So many of you – IRL friends, internet friends, acquaintances, colleagues, old homies and new – have shown love and support and genuine excitement for our achievement.
It’s taken me a few days to process everything. Still sort of processing it. Once we realized the Chris Rock/Will Smith interaction wasn’t a bit, everything got turned upside down. Everyone was still trying to make sense of it when Chris persevered & started to read the nominees.
I think what Will did was selfish. It robbed the category of its moment. It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs.
I feel bad for Ahmir. I feel bad for my fellow producers. I feel bad for our whole team. I feel bad for all the people watching and rooting for us. We were in shock walking to the stage -not because of winning but because we, too, were still trying to make sense of what happened.
Then Will hugs Ahmir and daps me up. I didn’t even know it was happening in the moment. Still in shock.
(Ahmir handled the moment with grace, giving a speech from the heart. It was beautiful to see. I’m so deeply moved by how much he has grown in the last few years.)
What I didn’t hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner’s card – The winner is “Summer of Soul…Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and…4 white guys.” WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?????
The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award.
I was ecstatic that I was the 3RD South Asian to win that night – after Riz and Aneil Karia won earlier in the night for The Long Goodbye. 3 South Asians winning on the same night – that’s never happened before! And it’s meaningful! It’s history!
So with my family and friends watching, Chris Rock lumped me in as 1 of “4 white guys.” (Nevermind the disrespect to @d2films and @fyvo for not even saying their names, and the inaccuracy of us being 3 producers not 4).
I’m a big boy – I can take a joke. Comedians make jokes. But not in that moment. What a shitty, disrespectful thing to do. AND HERE’S THE THING…It wasn’t that Chris Rock was under stress. He made the same joke the night before on stage at the Roots Jam!
I got back home to New York last night and saw the ceremony on my DVR and didn’t have the stomach to watch it. I probably never will. Thank you, Chris – You absolute fucking dick.
Now, all that said, I know that what happened with the ceremony and the achievement of winning an Oscar will separate over time. And truly, like I said earlier, I’m living in a place of absolute joy over what we did.
Now, all that said, I know that what happened with the ceremony and the achievement of winning an Oscar will separate over time. And truly, like I said earlier, I’m living in a place of absolute joy over what we did.
I never need a statue to tell me how nice I am – but it sure helps. And what both Will AND Chris did really stained what should have been a beautiful moment for us. FIN.
A couple days ago, Diddy insisted that Will Smith and Chris Rock settled their differences after the former infamously slapped the latter during the 2022 Oscars. He said at the time, “That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that. […] It’s all love. They’re brothers.”
Since then, though, there have been reports that what Diddy said isn’t entirely accurate, as a TMZ report indicated Smith and Rock have not spoken since the slap. That report was later updated to note, “A source in Diddy’s camp tells us he never claimed Chris and Will met up — he spoke with them individually — and then reiterated what he said on stage, the two are brothers and ‘it’s all love.’”
Now, somebody close to Rock — his brother, actor and comedian Tony Rock — has weighed in, reiterating that Rock and Smith have not made up. Somebody asked Tony Rock on Twitter, “so Diddy was lying when he said Chris and Will made up that night and are good now?” He responded simply, “Yup.”
It would appear, then, the closest thing to contact the two have had since the incident was Smith’s public apology, which reads in part, “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
Celebrity whisk(e)y is nothing new. There are tons of brands out there that borrow varying levels of influence from their heavy-hitting celebrity partners. Some bottles feel like a celeb simply slapped their names on a bottle (called white labeling) and cashed a check, while other famous folks really dive into the distilling and aging processes.
Unfortunately, A$AP Rocky’s new whisky brand falls squarely in the “cash grab” end of the spectrum. That’s not to say he’s totally hands off — it’s tough to discern exactly how involved he is — but it is to say that his new spirit… isn’t great.
Rocky’s new whisky — which dropped this week and is shipping out in April — is all about “disruptive packaging” and “contemporary consumer” vibes. You know, boilerplate PR messaging. While it’s never a good sign when those buzzwords are all over a press release for a whisky, there was some hope for this one. A$AP Rocky has a great eye for design, has been pushing hip-hop culture in new directions, and made a splash when he got behind Courvoisier Cognac a few years ago. He knows booze and the design of the bottle is eye-catching, which shows he’s thinking outside the box in a very standardized industry.
There are also two plastic cups attached to the bottle for easy drinking — which is also “disruptive.” Though, to be honest, probably not needed or as cool as someone at the brand seems to think they are. We digress! For now, let’s dive into what is actually in the bottle and see if it’s worth tracking down.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The juice in the bottle is a four-year-old Canadian whisky with an unpublished mash bill. The whisky, made in Ontario, rests in ex-bourbon barrels for those four years before it’s vatted and refilled into Mizunara casks from Japan for a final (short) maturation. That whisky is then proofed all the way down to 80 proof and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of warm apple pie on the nose with a touch of brown spices and tart apple filling that gives way to a dark Caro Syrup. That ultra-sweet syrup drives the palate with the spice and apple disappearing from the taste, leaving you feeling like you just put a spoonful of brown sugar that was dipped in “whisky” in your mouth. There’s an echo of brown spice near the end and maybe a hint of green apple peels (I’m being super generous), but it’s the brown sugar/corn syrup that drives the short and watery finish towards a mostly blank conclusion.
The Bottle:
I’m not sure what to make of these plastic cups on the top and bottom of the bottle. It’s neat for about five seconds then you realize you’re drinking cheap and overly sweet whisky out of a plastic cup that’s not helping the flavor at all. Plus, you need to clean out the cups before you put them back on the bottle. Otherwise, there’ll be a sticky mess.
This really feels like it was a good idea when it came out of someone’s mouth and then not really thought all the way through. There’s no way these plastic cups aren’t going straight in the trash or, worse, just thrown on the street in the liquor store parking lot.
Bottom Line:
Between the overly sweet vibe of this whisky and the portable whisky cups, this really feels like it’s marketed towards high school kids. It’s so sweet that it’s hard to find any redeeming quality here. It’s the first bottle in years that I’ll likely just pour down the drain and then put in two different recycling garbage cans (thanks for the extra work, Rocky!). Then, to be honest, I’ll probably never think about this bottle again.
At this year’s Academy Awards, Questlove got the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, for Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). That was the biggest moment of his night, but the main takeaway of the event more broadly happened immediately before, when Chris Rock, who was on stage to present the documentary award, got slapped by Will Smith. Now, it seems Questlove confirmed that while giving his acceptance speech, he was (understandably) thrown off by what happened just moments earlier.
Yesterday, a Twitter user wrote, “I think the whole Will Smith assault rattled @questlove who had to give a speech like 90 seconds later. He couldn’t even remember the names of his co-winners. #Oscars.” Questlove responded with just an emoji of a fax machine. Emojipedia notes the fax machine emoji is “sometimes used in emoji form as an alternative to the words ‘facts,’ due to the similarity of pronunciation.” So, based on Questlove’s usage of it, it looks like he’s confirming he was indeed rattled while giving his speech.
Meanwhile, before sending that tweet, Questlove talked about the win on The Tonight Show, with neither him nor Jimmy Fallon directly mentioning Smith or Rock. Questlove told Fallon he was meditating during the commercial break before the award was presented. He also noted, “I realized that that was a real moment, like, maybe three seconds before I spoke words. In my mind, they’re just doing a sketch or whatever and I’m just like, ‘OK Ahmir, remember to thank your mom, your dad, thank Tariq [Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots]…’ So I was not present at all. I was just in a blank slate.”
(@pinatafarms) 
