Entertainment

Jacob Collier on whom he'd prefer to lose to at the Grammy Awards

Published

1 year ago

February 2, 2025

Jacob Collier on whom he'd prefer to lose to at the Grammy Awards

In a category dominated by the likes of Beyoncé, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift, Jacob Collier is unquestionably the least famous musician nominated for album of the year at Sunday’s 67th Grammy Awards. Yet the English singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist is actually a familiar contender for the Grammys’ flagship prize: His dark-horse nod for “Djesse Vol. 4” follows an earlier album of the year nomination for 2020’s “Djesse Vol. 3,” which vied against LPs by Post Malone, Dua Lipa and Coldplay at the 63rd Grammys. (Taylor Swift ended up winning that year with “Folklore.”)

Featuring appearances by a wide variety of guests — among them Brandi Carlile, Michael McDonald, Anoushka Shankar, Shawn Mendes, Kirk Franklin and John Mayer — the sprawling yet intricately detailed “Djesse Vol. 4” layers electronics and hand-played instruments as it blends R&B, jazz, folk and even a bit of death metal; the album’s opener, “100,000 Voices,” features recordings of about that many audience members at Collier’s concerts, where he conducts the crowd like a giant choir.

In addition to album of the year, Collier, 30, is up for two more Grammys at Sunday’s show: global music performance for “A Rock Somewhere” and arrangement, for a rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” featuring John Legend and Tori Kelly. Collier discussed the album and his relationships with Joni Mitchell and the late Quincy Jones on a recent afternoon in Los Angeles.

You’ve said that “Djesse Vol. 4” is the last installment in a four-album series. Did you always know it would be the finale?
I did, actually. I finished “In My Room,” which is the first album I made, as a completely solitary mission — recorded, mixed, everything by myself. So after that I was craving collaboration. I wanted to make, in a sense, four different rooms, each dictated by a different sonic environment. The first was like an orchestral record — very big and broad and sort of explosive. Vol. 2 was more folky and singer-songwriter-y, with a smaller acoustic space than the first one. Vol. 3, which was the quarantine album, was almost no space at all. It was what happens in the dark, weird star field of your brain when you just collide stuff together.

And Vol. 4?
For a long time I didn’t know what it was gonna be about. But touring Vol. 3, the thing I fell in love with was the audience. What I recognized in my fascination is that it felt the same to the earliest days, except that now the voice I was more interested in was the voice en masse rather than my own.

Among the nominees for album of the year, yours would seem to share the most with “New Blue Sun,” André 3000’s experimental jazz LP. But he’s talked about the value of a beginner’s mind in his journey as a flute player, whereas I don’t hear much naivete in your music.
I think part of the nature of a fourth album of four is that it’s going to be a bit of an opus to what I’ve learned in the last 10 years of making music. It’s different from “In My Room,” which was very much about naivete: I’ve never done this before. What happens when you make an album? Let’s find out. But this one isn’t a naïve record. I wouldn’t say it’s coming out of the blue.

Have you heard André’s album?
Yeah. I think the value of that record, in a funny way, isn’t a musical value. And I’d imagine he’d be OK with that. The songs all have these 10-word titles, like a diary entry. I’m refreshed by how nonconformist the format of the record is. It doesn’t make me want to make music, but it makes me want to think differently about my life. I wonder how he’ll feel about the record in 20 years’ time. I’m curious what he’s learned from it. I’m also curious who voted for it. He’s such a beloved and well-known figure, but in terms of what the Grammys stand for, which is always a little bit hard to say, I wonder where he sits in that. I’m glad he’s in there, because it’s unlike any other album in the category. It’s very “f— you” in a sense. I love him for that.

I saw you play piano with Joni Mitchell at the Hollywood Bowl last year. How’d you become part of the Joni Jam?
I met Brandi Carlile in 2021 as she was in the process of rekindling Joni’s magic. Joni had been home alone — really, really fragile — and Brandi, who’s just this amazing human, had this vision of the Joni Jams, where people come to Joni’s house and we sing Joni songs. So I went to Joni’s house and was absolutely blown away to even be there. The wall with dulcimers from the ’70s, the paintings on the doorways — it was just unbelievable as a huge Joni fan. I did that and thought, Well, that was a one-off. I was imagining that Joni was kind of on the decline. But she’s gone from strength to strength. So then Brandi called me beginning of last year and said, “Look, Joni’s gonna sing at the Grammys — are you gonna be around?” We played “Both Sides Now” on the show, which then kind of became the Joni Jam at the Hollywood Bowl.

Some things about Joni’s musicianship have deteriorated: She doesn’t play much guitar anymore, and her voice is an octave lower than it was. But her phrasing is intact, and that’s when you know that she’s really a jazzer and that she’s hung out with Wayne Shorter. Every time you do a song, she’ll sing slightly early or slightly late or slightly elongated. And I think once she realized that I was also one of those people, we kind of had a bit of a click. It was really amazing to kind of grant each other that freedom, because a lot of people in that band were very religiously playing her parts. And if they hadn’t been in the band, it would’ve fallen apart. You can’t have just Jonis in the band, you know? I had the delight to be brought in to kind of decorate, to play around — to almost tease her up into the jousting arena. I’ll never forget it.

Jacob Collier, wearing bright clothing, jumps in the air in front of the L.A. skyline.

The set list for the Bowl show was completely insane.
Insane! The first half was just us saying, “Joni, what do you want to do?” She was like, “I want to play the deepest cuts.” And then the second half was more of the well-known tunes. She’s at a point in her career where she could easily say, “I’m gonna put a bow on this, and you’re gonna love it.” But she’s still pushing.

Your mentor Quincy Jones died last year. Do you think anything died with him? Something he did or stood for that we won’t see again?
The biggest gift I received from him was watching how he treated people. You don’t create that kind of legacy without understanding how to reach people’s souls and hearts. I think we won’t see a person with that combination of talent, audacity and humanity. Obviously, it’s there in the music. But being with him in the world, people would come up and say, “Quincy, you’ve done this and this and this,” and he always had a way of disarming them — cutting off the stream of adulation and making it a human interaction.

You have a favorite song or album of his?
One of the first tunes I ever learned of Quincy’s is a song called “Razzamatazz,” from “The Dude.” Patti Austin sings it. It’s just a perfect piece of music — so funky and so fun.

“Just Once” is the one for me from “The Dude.” The thing that happens at the end —
Where it goes up a tone: [sings] “Find a way to stay together…” It’s unreal. The thing about Quincy is he understood the harmonic context of stuff like that because he’d done the arranging thing. The song could easily have stayed in C-major, but no — it must ascend. He was just the coolest.

What’s your stodgiest musical position?
I can be quite a stickler with tuning. I’ve explored microtonality, so on the one hand, it’s like everything’s in tune, right? But sometimes I’ll hear a brass sextet or a string quartet play a piece of classical music perfectly in tune with the piano, and I’m like, “That’s such a shame, because the piano itself is not in tune.”

Now that the “Djesse” project is complete, what will your next record be?
I don’t know yet. It’s the first time I’ve not known for seven years — that’s a thrill for me. A lot of the things I’ve built and made in the past have been big, “100,000 Voices” as the biggest example. Now that I’ve done that, I think my brain is craving smaller containers. What if I made a record just on piano or just on guitar?

If it can’t be you, who would you enjoy seeing win album of the year?
I think Beyoncé’s record is courageous, and I commend people for that. She could have not made that record, or she could have made something more straightforward. I think it was brazen, and I think it came from a place of really knowing what she wanted to say and really f—ing saying it. So I’d be pretty stoked to lose to Beyoncé.

Movie Reviews

MOVIE REVIEWS: “Mercy,” “Return to Silent Hill,” “Sentimental Value” & “In Cold Light” – Valdosta Daily Times

Published

7 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

“Mercy”

(Thriller/Crime: 1 hour, 39 minutes)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, bloody images, strong language, drug content and teen smoking)

Movie Review:

“Mercy” is a science fiction movie based on one of the more common themes of moviedom lately, artificial intelligence (AI). This crime thriller cleverly creates an intriguing story using technology and the justice system, yet it fails to be consistently interesting and intelligent throughout. The conclusion is less significant than the initial setup, as the concluding scenes become typical action sequences.

Detective Chris Raven (Pratt) of the LA Police Department is a huge supporter of the city’s new judicial courtroom. Crimes are now judged by an AI program (Ferguson) in the Mercy Court. The court is run by an artificial program that makes decisions based on all of the evidence before it without any prejudice. Detective Raven is all for this system until he is convicted of killing his wife. Now he must use all of the data, including the AI‘s ability to tap into everyone’s electronic devices, security cameras, and even into government files, within reason, to prove he did not murder his wife.

Mercy is an interesting movie. It entertains throughout, even when the story gets sloppy and characters’ actions are irrational. This mainly occurs during the final scenes. The movie tries too hard to insert unneeded narrative twists. This is disappointing because the story is interesting. What makes it fascinating is that it happens in real time. This is the most brilliant facet.

All the other theatrics are unnecessary. Director Timur Bekmambetov (“Profile,” 2018; “Wanted,” 2008) and “Mercy’s” producers should have just kept the ending simple, no plot twists or superfluous action sequences.
Grade: C (This flick needs some mercy. Let the trial begin.)

“Return to Silent Hill”

(Horror: 1 hour, 46 minutes)

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Hannah Emily Anderson and Robert Strange

Director: Christophe Gans

Rated: R (Bloody violent content, strong language and brief drug use.)

Movie Review:

“Return to Silent Hill” is about one man’s quest to return to the love of his life. The problem is she has moved on to the afterlife. Meanwhile, audiences lose part of their life watching this movie, which is unlike any of the two prequels in this series. This one is a psychological horror that bores.

Artist James Sunderland (Irvine) decides to return to Silent Hill, a place where many people died during a devastating illness that nearly enveloped the entirety of the city’s population. What is left there is a horror show of freakish creatures, all with violent intent. Still, Sunderland searches for the love of his life, Mary Crane (Anderson).

Think of this movie as a slow suicide, where a guy goes back to retrieve his dead girlfriend. To do so, he must travel to the modern land of the dead that Silent Hill has become. This one is a type of swan song by the main character, and the movie becomes less scary while lackluster romantic notions wander aimlessly.

Grade: D (Do not return to see this.)

“Sentimental Value”

(Drama: 2 hours, 13 minutes)

Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning

Director: Joachim Trier

Rated: R (Language, sexual reference, nudity and thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Sentimental Value” is a Norwegian film that won the Grand Prix in France’s Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture. It is a solid drama filled with symbolism and family connections. It is brilliant performances by a talented cast under the direction of Joachim Trier (“The Worst Person in the World,” 2021).

This screenplay is about Gustav Borg (Skarsgård). He is a father, grandfather and a famed film director. He stayed away from his two daughters, actress Nora Borgwhile (Reinsve) and historian Agnes Borg Pettersen (Lilleaas), while he was creating works as a filmmaker. The director comes back into the lives of his daughters after the death of their mother. Their reunion leads to a rediscovery of their bond at their family home in Oslo.

Stellan Skarsgård is always a solid actor. He takes his roles and makes them tangible characters that seem like you know them, even when they’re speaking a foreign language. That is the quality of his act and why he gets nominated for multiple awards each season.

“Sentimental Value” is a valuable movie filled with enriching sentiment. It is an enjoyable film for those who value a good drama. The acting and original writing alone make the movie worth it. “Sentimental Value” starts in a very simple way, but everything in between, even when low-key, remains potent. Joachim Trier and writer Eskil Vogt have worked together on multiple projects such as “The Worst Person in the World” (2021). Their pairing is once again worthy.

Grade: A- (Any motive valuable movie.)

“In Cold Light ”

(Crime: 1 hour , 36 minutes)

Starring: Maika Monroe, Allan Hawco and Troy Kotsur

Director: Maxime Giroux

Rated: R (Violence, bloody images, strong language and drug material)

Movie Review:

“In Cold Light” sticks to a very straightforward story, primarily taking place over a short period. The problem is the story leaves one in the cold. Audiences have to guess what is being communicated because this movie uses American Sign Language (ASL) without subtitles. For those moviegoers who do not know ASL, they are left deciphering characters’ actions and facial expressions during some pivotal scenes.

Ava Bly (Monroe) attempts to start a legit life after prison. Her life changes when Ava’s twin, Tom Bly (Jesse Irving) is murdered while seated next to her. As her brother’s killers pursue her, Ava must evade law enforcement, which contains some crooked cops led by Bob Whyte (Hawco).

For a brief moment, this movie hits its exceptional moment when Oscar-recipient Helen Hunt enters the picture as a motherly Claire, a crime boss who seems more like a social worker/psychologist. Her long scene is wasted as it arrives too late.

French Canadian director Maxime Giroux’s style has potential in his first English-language film, but it does not fit a wayward narrative. A rarity, this crime drama has characters commit many dumb actions at once.

Moreover, Giroux (“Félix et Meira,” 2014) and writer Patrick Whistler forget to let their audiences in on their story. They allow much to get lost in translation, especially during heated conversations between Monroe’s Ava and her father, Will Bly, played by Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur (“CODA,” 2021).

Grade: C- (Just cold and dark.)

More movie reviews online at www.valdostadailytimes.com.

Entertainment

Paramount-Warner Bros. deal stirs fears about what it means for CNN

Published

9 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Paramount-Warner Bros. deal stirs fears about what it means for CNN

As the media industry took stock of Paramount Skydance’s startling acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, one question lingered on the minds of many in the news business and beyond: What will this mean for CNN?

The iconic 24-hour cable news network is among the various Warner Bros. assets that would be scooped up by Paramount in a deal announced Thursday that could transform the media landscape.

Paramount has undergone a swift transformation under Chief Executive David Ellison following his family’s acquisition of the company last summer. These changes reached CBS News almost immediately with the appointment of Bari Weiss, the controversial Free Press co-founder, as its new editor in chief.

Bari Weiss moderated a town hall with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

(CBS via Getty Images)

Weiss’ tenure so far has been rocky.

Her decision to pull a “60 Minutes” story about conditions inside an El Salvador prison that housed undocumented Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. received widespread criticism and accusations of political motivation. The network said the story was held for more reporting, and the segment eventually aired.

There was more upheaval last week at the news magazine, when “60 Minutes” correspondent and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper announced that he’d be leaving to spend more time with his family.

And earlier this year, a veteran producer at “CBS Evening News With Tony Dokoupil” was fired after he expressed disagreement about the editorial direction of the newscast.

Now, the concern is that similar changes could be in store for CNN, which has long been a target of President Trump’s ire. He has personally called for the ouster of hosts at the network who have questioned his policies.

CNN Worldwide Chief Executive Mark Thompson tried to quell some of those fears, particularly inside his own newsroom.

In an internal memo dated Thursday and obtained by The Times, Thompson urged employees not to “jump to conclusions about the future” and try to concentrate on their work.

“We’re still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad,” he wrote in the note. “Let’s continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world.”

Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide Mark Thompson and media editor for Semafor, Maxwell Tani, speak onstage.

CNN declined to comment beyond Thompson’s memo.

Ellison has said his vision for a news business is one that is ideologically down the middle.

“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” he said during a Dec. 8 interview on CNBC, shortly after Warner said it had chosen Netflix as the winning bidder for its studios, HBO and HBO Max. “And we believe that by doing so that is for us, kind of doing well, while doing good.”

Ellison demurred when asked whether Trump would embrace him as CNN’s owner, given the president’s past criticisms of the network.

“We’ve had great conversations with the president about this, but … I don’t want to speak for him in any way, shape or form,” he said.

First Amendment scholars have raised concerns about press freedom and free speech rights under the Trump administration, particularly after last month’s arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon and the Federal Communications Commission’s pressure on late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Press freedom groups have long asked questions in other countries about how authoritarian regimes use their power and “oligarchical alliances to belittle, silence, and punish independent journalistic voices, or to steer media ownership toward … a preferred version of the truth,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a 1st Amendment scholar and distinguished professor in the college of law at the University of Utah, in an email.

“We see them asking at least some of these questions about the U.S. today,” she wrote.

Apprehension about the merger also extends beyond its implications for CNN and the media business.

Lawmakers such as Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have raised concerns about how the consolidation of two major Hollywood studios could affect industry jobs and film and television production — which has significantly slowed since the pandemic, the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 and corporate cutbacks in spending.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the deal an “antitrust disaster” that she feared could raise prices and limit choices for consumers.

“With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,” she said in a statement.

Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has said the merger isn’t a “done deal,” adding that he is in communication with other states attorneys general about the issue.

“As the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition,” he posted Friday on X.

The deal is subject to approval by the U.S. Justice Department. Bonta and other state attorneys general are expected to file a legal challenge to the mega-merger on antitrust grounds.

Ellison addressed some of these concerns in a statement Friday.

“By bringing together these world-class studios, our complementary streaming platforms, and the extraordinary talent behind them, we will create even greater value for audiences, partners and shareholders,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.

Movie Reviews

Movie Review: ‘Goat’ – Catholic Review

Published

19 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Goat” (Sony) is an animated underdog sports comedy populated by anthropomorphized animals. While mostly inoffensive, and thus suitable for a wide audience — including teens and older kids — the film is also easily forgotten.

The amiable proceedings center on teen goat Will Harris (voice of Caleb McLaughlin). As opening scenes show, it has been Will’s dream since childhood to play for his hometown team, the Vineland Thorns.

The inhabitants of Vineland and the other areas of the movie’s world, however, are divided into so-called bigs and smalls, with professional competition dominated, unsurprisingly, by the former. Though Will stoutly maintains that he’s a medium, those around him regard him as too slight and diminutive to go up against the towering bigs.

Despite this prejudice, a video showing Will more or less holding his own against a famous and arrogant big, Andalusian horse Mane Attraction (voice of Aaron Pierre), goes viral and inspires the Thorns’ devious owner, warthog Flo Everson (voiced by Jenifer Lewis), to give the lad a shot. Though Will is understandably thrilled, his path forward proves challenging.

Will has idolized the Thorns’ sole outstanding player, black panther Jett Fillmore (voice of Gabrielle Union), since he was a youngster. But Jett, it turns out, is not only frustrated by her situation as a star among misfits but scornful of Will’s ambitions and resolute in helping to deprive her new teammate of playing time.

Given such divisions, the Thorns’ fortunes seem destined to continue their long decline.

“Roarball,” the invented game featured in director Tyree Dillihay’s film, is essentially co-ed basketball by another name. As produced by, among others, NBA champion Stephen Curry, the movie — adapted from an idea in Chris Tougas’ book “Funky Dunks” — is an unabashed celebration of hoop culture both on and off the court.

Viewers’ enthusiasm may vary, accordingly, depending on the degree to which they’re invested in the real-life sport.

Moviegoers of every stripe will appreciate the fact that the script, penned by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley, shows the negative effects of self-centeredness as well as the value of teamwork and fan support. Plot developments also showcase forgiveness and reconciliation.

Will’s story is, nonetheless, thoroughly formulaic and most of the screenplay’s jokes feel strained and laborious. Still, while hardly qualifying as the Greatest of All Time, “Goat” does provide passable entertainment with little besides a few potty gags to concern parents.

The film contains brief scatological humor and at least one vaguely crass term. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.