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New Changes Coming to The Oscars

The Oscars
Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter:

To address the concerns of those who find the show to be too long and boring (thanks largely to the current existence of 24 competitive awards, of which the general public only cares about a few), Bailey and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a letter to members that the board has “committed to producing an entertaining show in three hours.” They explain that this will be achieved partly by “present[ing] select categories live, in the Dolby Theatre, during commercial breaks (categories to be determined).” Those categories will not be removed from the telecast; instead, “the winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast.”

And:

At least as important, in terms of improving the ratings of the Oscars telecast for ABC, the Academy also said in its letter that it “will create a new category for outstanding achievement in popular film,” adding that “[e]ligibility requirements and other key details will be forthcoming.”

So, is this just “the Marvel movie” category?

The Aquabats Launch Kickstarter

The Aquabats
Jason Tate

The Aquabats have started a Kickstarter:

We hear you loud and clear: It’s time for The Aquabats to get to work, making more music and bringing back the Super Show! But the truth is we can’t make ANYTHING without you… and since we’re doing this for you, we wouldn’t want to do it without you!

With YOUR SUPPORT, we can record The Aquabats’ first NEW ALBUM since 2011, and shoot our first NEW TV SPECIAL since 2014. Not only will you get new music and television, you’ll be helping introduce The Aquabats to a whole new generation of Righteous Comrades and future Aquacadets!

Warped Tour is over. Will the culture it created reckon with its demons?

Warped Tour
Jason Tate

Taylor Telford, writing at The Washington Post:

Overlooking the sins of powerful artists has felt intolerable in the era of #MeToo, but at Warped, taste is tethered to identity, and what comes next for its audience is complicated. The tour has flourished because much of its music is confessional and intimate. It fosters a devotion in the young, marginalized and vulnerable that rarely fades with age. Now fans are wrestling with whether the culture can adapt and evolve, or whether its worst roots run too deep. […]

Until I got to college, I actively disliked female musicians. I was enamored with the myth of the tortured artist; I chased it not only in my taste but also in my personal relationships. Now I wonder if some of these failures can be traced back to the music that shaped me. In part, I want to scrub myself of its influence. The problem is that I wouldn’t know myself without it.

This entire piece is really good. I hope this music scene can learn from the mistakes of the past. Sometimes I see signs of progress, and sometimes I am at a loss for words.

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Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G. Movie Pulled From Theater Release

Film
Jason Tate

The Hollywood Reporter:

Johnny Depp’s Notorious B.I.G. thriller City of Lies has been pulled from the schedule a month before it was set to hit theaters.

The movie, formerly known as LAbyrinth, was slated to open Sept. 7 in North America by Global Road Entertainment. No new date has been set for the film.

The move comes amid a series of woes for the actor, including a damaging Rolling Stone profile in June, that make any publicity campaign tough.

A Quick Pitch for Becoming a Supporting Member

Jason Tate

If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your account and becoming a supporting member of this website, I’d love to encourage you to do so during the month of August. As we start moving toward fall, and the end of the year (holy-shit-time-goes-fast), it’s that time where I start thinking about finances and the sustainability of the website. I’ve run some of the math, and basically, if everyone reading this signed up for just one year, this website would be sustainable basically immediately for multiple years. If only a small fraction of the people reading this right now signed up, this website is viable for me to keep running as my full-time job for another year. And, that’s the ultimate goal.

When you upgrade your forum account you gain access to exclusive content, Dark Mode, an ad-free browsing experience, and the supporter forum.

Even if you don’t have a forum account but want access to Dark Mode and an ad-free experience on the main website, you can become a patron for only $3 per month (or $25 annually) and you’ll get the perks while also helping us maintain our independence as a publisher.

I’m making plans for next year right now and the goal is to re-launch Encore, continue improving and adding new features to the forums, and start writing even more long-form reviews/pieces here on the website. Thank you to everyone that’s continued to help make this dream a reality every single day.

Jaret Reddick Talks With Substream Magazine

Bowling for Soup
Jason Tate

Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup sat down with Substream Magazine:

We first get on the topic of the band’s longevity when talking about Warped Tour and I recall the summer of 2014 when Bowling for Soup was routinely pulling in the largest crowds of the summer. Reddick mentions that this past summer they were drawing the same large crowds at Warped Tour, before making the comparison to the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers noting that the band travels well. “I can say that’s just the loyalty of our fan base, we’re just really, really lucky,” Reddick states.

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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon Developing Film About McDonald’s Monopoly Scam

Jason Tate

Remember that story about the McDonald’s Monopoly scam? It sounded like a good movie idea. Well, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are currently developing a film about it:

Ben Affleck is attached to direct and Matt Damon to star in a true-crime story written by Jeff Maysh and published in The Daily Beast several days ago about an ex-cop who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game, allegedly stealing over $24 million and sharing it with an unsavory group of co-conspirators who offered kickbacks to the mastermind. The Pearl Street partners will produce, and the Deadpool scribes Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese will write the script.

How The 1975’s Matty Healy Kicked Heroin and Took the Band to New Heights

The 1975
Jason Tate

Dorian Lynskey, writing at Billboard:

Really, The 1975 only qualifies as a rock band in the sense that it is a commercially successful group of four men who play instruments, which makes them an endangered species in 2018. Their albums include almost everything but straight rock. The self-produced A Brief Inquiry, out in November, ranges from Auto-Tuned house to blue-eyed soul, art-rock to the Great American Songbook. Their fourth album, Notes on a Conditional Form, will be more intimate, nocturnal and cinematic. Healy doesn’t think there’s anyone else in The 1975’s lane.

Blood on the Dance Floor’s Dahvie Vanity Accused of Sexually Assaulting Multiple Women

Blood on the Dance Floor
Jason Tate

MetalSucks:

Meanwhile, rumors about the multi-instrumentalist’s predilection for taking advantage of his predominantly female adolescent fanbase have been floating around the Internet for years, and there are now multiple online groups that seek to alert the world to Dahvie’s alleged crimes. And yet, somehow, Blood on the Dance Floor continued to record and perform successfully, and to receive positive (or at least neutral) press. Only recently has BOTDF is Garbagecore, a Facebook group devoted to outing Dahvie as a sexual predator, had success derailing the band’s tours.

Now a handful of Dahvie’s victims have bravely stepped forward to tell MetalSucks their stories in the hopes of preventing him from hurting anyone else.

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