Entertainment
Aaron Lewis on Tucker Carlson, ‘idiotic’ Biden and ‘all this racism that appeared out of nowhere’
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Ninety minutes or so right into a latest dialog, Aaron Lewis had labored himself into sufficient of a lather on the subject of Anthony Fauci that he needed to cease for a second, as if immediately he might envision his phrases in print.
“Hear, there’s bought to be some separation between the interview and us simply speaking,” the nation singer stated over the telephone from his dwelling in Massachusetts. As soon as recognized to rock followers because the frontman of the nu-metal band Staind, Lewis, 49, scored a No. 1 nation hit final yr with “Am I the Solely One,” an anguished ballad sung by a man who can’t imagine no person else sees the injury that woke-ism is doing to America. And final month, his newest album, “Frayed at Each Ends,” entered Billboard’s nation chart because the style’s top-selling new launch.
Nonetheless, Lewis worries that his music is usually overshadowed by his conservative political beliefs, which went viral on social media this week after he questioned American help for Ukraine — and stated, “Possibly we should always hearken to what Vladimir Putin is saying” — in onstage feedback recorded by a concertgoer in Ohio.
“Individuals are very unaccepting of different folks’s opinions lately, except they match what’s been spoon-fed to them,” he instructed me, weeks earlier than Russia’s president ordered his nation’s lethal invasion of Ukraine. Certainly, Lewis appeared involved that I used to be baiting him into making some outrageous proclamation as we spoke in February for a narrative ostensibly about his album and a tour scheduled to cease Thursday and Friday for sold-out gigs at Cabazon’s Morongo On line casino.
So permit me to say: As a chunk of music, “Frayed at Each Ends” is first-rate hardscrabble nation — a transferring and witty (if additionally tough-minded) set of songs recorded in a minimalist acoustic setting that showcases Lewis’ highly effective baritone and the skilled enjoying of sidemen together with Vince Gill and Dan Tyminski.
But the report hardly asks the listener to put aside Lewis’ politics, which fall effectively to the suitable of what even Nashville’s extra conservative acts will specific publicly. In “Am I the Solely One,” he laments the elimination of Accomplice statues and notes proudly that he’s stop “singing alongside each time they play a Springsteen music.” And “Get What You Get” warns of us who “preserve telling lies and altering your story” towards utilizing “the Stars and Stripes to serve your personal glory.”
Within the latter tune, Lewis means that he may as soon as have forgiven what he regards because the excesses of the liberal institution. Now, although, “My give-a-f—’s empty,” he sings.
At one level in “Am I the Solely One,” you say that you simply’re beginning to really feel like your previous man. Did you might have the sense if you had been rising up that your dad was sad with the best way issues had been headed?
I feel all of our dad and mom are having a tough time watching what’s occurring to the nation that handled them so effectively. It took us a extremely very long time to get the place we had been. And it took a matter of seconds to unravel all of it.
What would you pinpoint as the start of that unraveling?
When the federal authorities took over the schooling of our youngsters. I stated it a very long time in the past on the duvet of Rolling Stone journal, again in 2001: Mother and father have forgotten the way to be dad and mom. We’re so caught up in our personal lives that we’ve forgotten that our major accountability is to be sure that our youngsters depart the nest as well-functioning adults who’re accountable for their very own outcomes. This nation is gorgeous in that, by design, all of us begin on a fairly even enjoying discipline. There are faults. However what are you evaluating it to?
The road about Bruce Springsteen in “Am I the Solely One” turned heads when the music got here out.
We laughed about it once we wrote it. The actual fact of the matter is, that gentleman — so proud to be American, such an American icon — stated that he would transfer to Australia and quit his United States citizenship if the election didn’t go the best way he needed it to. If you happen to’re that unstable in your Americanism, I’ll purchase you your ticket.
Was Springsteen essential to you up to now?
Under no circumstances.
So this wasn’t a grand disillusioning for you.
It was the conclusion that Bruce may not be the right illustration of America — or blue-collar America, I ought to say. He not represents these with no voice. I feel now he represents the voice that overpowers all the opposite voices. In a rustic that’s primarily based on free speech, it looks like anyone who has a differing opinion from the mainstream narrative is deemed a misinformationalist.
Has Nashville — not town however the business — felt welcoming to you?
I don’t contemplate myself a part of the Nashville machine. I’m definitely not gonna go down the highway of bro-country. I’m gonna be 50 years previous in April. I’m a full-grown man singing about actual life, which isn’t a celebration on a regular basis. I don’t write songs to flee life.
You see a variety of escapism in down-the-middle Nashville stuff?
I do. And it’s like: What planet are you on proper now? As a result of the songs that you simply’re writing don’t match life on this second.
Your songs sound like somebody pouring out their frustrations.
After I was making this report, we had been in the midst of a COVID lockdown that was solely alleged to be 15 days to cease the unfold. And right here we’re two years later. All people’s scared to dying of a virus that nobody’s telling the reality about. And we’re listening to essentially the most bought-and-paid-for bureaucrat that calls himself a physician and ignoring essentially the most extremely touted consultants of their discipline.
To be clear, you’re speaking in regards to the president’s chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci?
Inform me one success story from Dr. Fauci for his whole profession. You know the way a lot testing on animals that man has achieved? And for the stupidest s—. I’ve seen movies of beagles in cocaine vests, to see what the consequences are of protecting a beagle jacked up on blow for weeks at a time. Thousands and thousands of {dollars} spent on this! It’s on video. You simply need to look previous the folks which can be spoon-feeding you data.
“I heard Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland and was like, oh, my God — I might be the lead singer of a band,” says Aaron Lewis.
(Eric Englund)
The concept of exhibiting folks the reality appears essential to you. Is happening the highway about that? Or are you simply enjoying songs folks need to hear?
I don’t go right into a present fascinated by what I’m gonna preach from my pulpit, if you’ll. I’d really feel moved within the second to say one thing due to the vitality within the room. However I understand that folks don’t come to a live performance to listen to a dissertation.
Do you assume there’s any probability of any person coming to see you who views the world in another way than you do?
If I’m being life like about it, I must say that I’ve already pushed away anyone which may not really feel the identical approach I do.
Does that bum you out?
It form of does. That is America — all of us have the suitable to talk our minds and say how we really feel and have an opinion. And everybody — I don’t care what aspect you’re on — everybody must be up in arms when anybody’s voice is being silenced by anyone.
Have you ever been silenced?
I imply, that’s a slippery slope.
What’s a significant approach you’ve been silenced?
Reality-checking the issues that I’m saying that I know to be true. Taking that fact-checking factor and twisting it a tiny bit over just a little element that I may not have stated excellent or a quote I may not have delivered simply completely. [Music-industry columnist Bob Lefsetz] tried to demand that I be canceled. Earlier than I put out “Am I the Solely One,” he had nothing however good issues to say about me. Then he demanded that I be dropped by my report label.
Which didn’t occur. The president of your report label publicly got here to your protection.
Hear, I’m simply stating s—.
How did you develop your singing voice?
I grew up in a really musical family and knew at a fairly early age that I might sing. As just a little child, I used to be listening to Kenny Rankin and Gordon Lightfoot and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Then, once I was 8 or 9, my babysitter gave me 5 vinyls: Kiss’ “Alive II,” Kiss’ “Destroyer” and three AC/DC information. And that modified my path. Junior excessive was torn denims and metallic band T-shirts: Overkill, Metallica, Steel Church. Then highschool was a extremely loopy combine — as a result of I did a variety of medication in highschool — it was the Doorways and the Grateful Useless and the Beatles. Stuff that sounded good on acid.
By the point I graduated highschool in 1990, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots and all these bands had been beginning to occur. They usually had been singing in my register of a voice. That was a second in music when the lead singer, as an alternative of singing up in his falsetto like within the ’80s, he was singing down in his common voice. I heard Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland and was like, oh, my God — I might be the lead singer of a band.
Did you ever take vocal classes?
The extent of my vocals classes was my highschool refrain instructor. That’s simply warming up your voice, which I don’t even try this now. I smoke a joint on the best way to the stage. It’s zero to 100, and it’s in all probability not good for me. But it surely hasn’t failed me but.
Aaron Lewis performs in 2019.
(Amy Harris / Invision/AP)
A pair extra issues. Is Joe Biden our legitimately elected president?
I feel that Biden, all on his personal with each idiotic factor that he does — I don’t assume I’ve to reply that. I feel it’s fairly apparent.
Let me rephrase: Was the election stolen from Donald Trump?
I don’t know. I definitely hope not. As a result of the reality will come out.
Are you vaccinated?
How’s that herpes going? Had been you capable of do away with that gonorrhea that you simply caught? We’ve been alive longer than this bulls— has been occurring. Do you comply with me once I say that? How previous are you?
43.
You’re 43 years previous. So there was an entire lot of life that you simply lived all the best way as much as this insanity that was fully contradictory to the narrative at hand proper now. It’s a must to see that.
Which narrative particularly?
Every part they’re speaking about. All this racism that simply appeared out of nowhere. Every part!
I don’t assume it’s that the racism simply appeared. I feel it’s about making an attempt to take a look at historical past from a special standpoint — not from the angle of the individuals who had been in management however of the individuals who had been being marginalized.
We’re People, bro — each one in all us. And I can’t get into who’s accountable for all of the atrocities. I’m not uneducated; I’m really actually sensible, and I search for myself. I search different choices of data. I refuse to imagine that an enormous, gigantic company has our greatest curiosity in thoughts.
The place do you get your information?
I’ve information feeds and people who I comply with on Telegram. Dan Ball. Andrew Wilkow. Mark Levin. If I’m gonna watch any form of information supply on tv, it’s Tucker Carlson.
Is Fox Information an exception to your distrust of firms?
I feel that if Tucker didn’t have the next he has, he’d be gone. He’s just about anchoring the community at this level.
Final query: What does success imply to you?
With the ability to proceed to do that.
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Movie Reviews
Film review: The Promised Land
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A Danish veteran back from war with Germany in the mid-18th century is on a mission to tame the brutal Jutland heath by turning it into fertile land. The idea is a pet project of the Danish king; when the soldier, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) offers to fund the project from his war pension, officials cynically agree. Should he succeed, he will become a Danish noble with a title, a manor and servants.
We make plans and God laughs, says the writer and director Nikolaj Arcel. He first collaborated with Mikkelsen in 2012 in The Royal Affair which was set at a similar time in Danish history and was equally magnificent in its themes of ambition and madness.
The Jutland heath was a place of wildness, a barren wasteland occupied by outlaws and Taters – descendants of Romany gypsies who speak a Latinate patois. There is also a missionary church led by the sweet-faced pastor Anton Eklund (Gustav Lindh) who helps Kahlen by handing on two runaways he has been sheltering, Anna Barbara (Amanda Collin from Raised by Wolves) and her husband Johannes (Morton Hee Andersen). They had fled the estate of nobleman Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a weak and evil drunkard whose delusions of grandeur in his eyes make him the owner of the heath on which Kahlen wants to farm.
The story is complex and takes some investment as Kahlen, the unrecognised bastard son of a servant woman and estate owner, is in turns humiliated and courted by de Schinkel, a man unaccustomed to being denied. When de Schinkel arrives with leftovers from a banquet and a purse full of money, Kahlen accepts then returns them in disgust at having let himself be bought. The landscape darkens, with a scene of extraordinary cruelty that deserves an audience warning for the squeamish.
Yet Kahlen stays in the log home he calls King’s House, believing in his right to build on the land of the Danish king. When one option is taken away, he finds another and for a time has the Taters helping him burn the land ahead of sowing the resistant German crop in which he has such faith, the humble potato.
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Everything, including nature, conspires against him and Kahlen’s grim determination starts raising larger questions about the price he will pay to become a noble.
It is at heart a love story that takes many forms. It’s a psychodrama about a man’s journey to find himself, and also a riveting fight between wrong and right as an unscrupulous nobleman tries to claim what is not his. In short, it’s a lot.
But this forbidding and magnificent drama has at its disposal Mads Mikkelsen’s face which, in repose, is one of the wonders of cinema for the depth it conveys of hidden pain and purpose. His tour de force performance, older and greyer than we have seen him, is the rock on which this quintessentially Danish saga stands.
The Promised Land is in cinemas now.
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Entertainment
TV executive Jamie Kellner, who helped create Fox and the WB, dies at 77
Jamie Kellner, a pioneering media executive who helped expand the world of broadcast television by creating Fox and the WB networks, died Friday. He was 77.
Kellner also oversaw CNN, TNT and TBS as chairman and chief executive of Turner Broadcasting System.
He died at his home in Montecito after a long battle with cancer, according to a spokesperson for the family.
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Kellner first made a name for himself at Orion Entertainment Group, where he spearheaded an effort with Lorne Michaels to buy the rights to original episodes of “Saturday Night Live,” which were cut into 30-minute episodes and sold in syndication.
The lucrative partnership caught the attention of Rupert Murdoch and Barry Diller, who in the mid-’80s were plotting to launch an upstart broadcast network to rival the long-established “Big Three”: ABC, NBC and CBS. Kellner became the first president and chief operating officer of the Fox Broadcasting Co.
Launched in 1986, Fox was the first new network on American broadcast television since ABC in 1948.
Kellner poached a young NBC executive named Garth Ancier to run programming.
In a phone call Sunday, Ancier recalled Kellner as a formidable executive who “understood not just TV audiences, he also understood the entire way the TV system in the United States worked,” from affiliates to advertisers. Ancier, who also worked with Kellner at the WB, recalled flying to affiliates across the country, attempting to woo them to Fox.
At the time, few industry insiders thought Fox would have much staying power.
“My bosses — [NBC chief executive] Grant Tinker in particular — believed there would never be a fourth network,” Ancier said. “And they said, ‘On top of that, most of those stations they’re putting together are UHF,’ as if it was like the plague. It just meant we had to be different from the other networks.”
Kellner helped shape the network’s brand identity and make it a destination for edgier content, like the bawdy family sitcom “Married…With Children” — a show that initially attracted controversy but became a long-running hit.
“One of the first tests we apply is: Would one of the three networks do this? And quite often, if the answer is ‘yes,’ then we disqualify it. There is no reason for us to exist if we are going to do what they have already done,” Kellner told the New York Times in 1986.
Fox attracted younger viewers with shows that bucked long-held industry convention, like “In Living Color,” the irreverent sketch comedy show featuring a predominantly Black cast; and “Beverly Hills, 90120,” a high school soap opera that became one of the defining shows of the 1990s.
“The whole reason we did ‘The Simpsons’ was because no one had done animation in prime time since ABC in the ‘60s with ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Jetsons.’”
“The most important lessons we learned were to be different, to speak in a different voice than what was available to viewers already, and to get as young as you can get,” Kellner told The Times in 1997.
He left Fox in 1993, just as the network was expanding into a seventh night of programming and had numerous buzzy hits like the “90210” spinoff “Melrose Place.” In just seven years, Kellner had turned a “rickety string of UHF affiliates into a significant competitor,” as The Times then put it.
He soon began shopping around an idea for a fifth broadcast network. In 1995, he launched the WB, which initially made its mark with Black sitcoms including “The Wayans Bros.,” “The Jamie Foxx Show” and “Sister, Sister,” but faced stiff competition from another would-be contender, UPN. “We wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe this would be as successful, or more successful, than the Fox network,” he said early in the WB’s reign.
One of the network’s first hits was the squeaky clean family drama “7th Heaven.” Throughout the late ‘90s, the network leaned into teen-centered dramas and ushered in a Golden Age for young adult programming that could be both sentimental and self-aware, with shows such as “Dawson’s Creek,” “Felicity” “Gilmore Girls” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” By 2002, the network, in which he had ownership stake, was valued at $1 billion.
“I think the magic of that place came so much from his form of leadership, which was about taking bets on people,” said Greg Berlanti, who was tapped at age 28 to become showrunner on “Dawson’s Creek” and created two other shows at the WB, “Everwood” and “Jack & Bobby.” He recalled Kellner as an executive who supported creative talent and gave shows time to grow, but could also tell you “what five cities your show was most popular in.”
“I’m so glad I met that kind of leader at that age, someone who led with curiosity and compassion and was clear-headed and honest. He imbued people around him with a sense of faith in themselves.” Berlanti believes Kellner-era WB was “the most successful YA network in the history of television,” in part because Kellner “didn’t see it as a lesser audience.”
While still at the WB, he was tapped to succeed Ted Turner as chairman and chief executive of Turner Broadcasting System, where he oversaw TBS, TNT and CNN. He angered wrestling fans in 2001 by canceling World Championship Wrestling programming on TNT and TBS. He presided over CNN during a period of seismic shifts in the news business, with increased competition from Fox News and MSNBC and the cataclysmic attacks of 9/11.
Kellner was known for fostering loyalty among his top executives, several of whom moved with him from network to network. “He gave you tremendous latitude as a boss and mentor, always empowering you to make bold, decisive decisions and never settling for what’s always been done,” said Brad Turell, who was head of corporate communications at Fox, the WB and Turner Broadcasting under Kellner.
Kellner retired from the business in 2004, when he was just 57.
“I found it hard to believe because he was so competitive, in the best sense of the word, and so vigorous. But when he was done, he was really done,” said Ancier.
He remained busy pursuing passions like sailing and gold. He also opened a winery, Cent’Anni, in the Santa Ynez Valley, and was known for hosting Italian meals at his home.
He is survived by his wife, Julie Smith, daughter Melissa, son Christopher, and three grandchildren, Jake, Scarlett and Oliver.
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: “Casablanca” – A Timeless Masterpiece –
![Movie Review: “Casablanca” – A Timeless Masterpiece –](https://i0.wp.com/bladenonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Movie-Review-jpg.webp)
A staff report
“Casablanca,” directed by Michael Curtiz and released in 1942, remains a cinematic gem cherished by audiences and critics alike. Set against the backdrop of World War II, this classic romance-drama unfolds in the exotic Moroccan city of Casablanca, a haven for refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe.
The film stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, a cynical American expatriate and nightclub owner, whose world-weary demeanor conceals a deep sense of morality. His life takes a dramatic turn when his former lover, Ilsa Lund (played by Ingrid Bergman), re-enters his life with her husband, resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). As political tensions rise and personal dilemmas intensify, Rick is faced with difficult choices that test his principles and define his destiny.
“Casablanca” is celebrated for its impeccable storytelling, memorable dialogue, and stellar performances. Bogart’s portrayal of Rick Blaine is iconic, capturing both the character’s toughness and vulnerability. Ingrid Bergman shines as the enigmatic Ilsa, torn between love and duty. The film’s supporting cast, including Claude Rains as the charmingly corrupt Captain Renault and Dooley Wilson as the soulful pianist Sam, adds depth and richness to the narrative.
The film’s cinematography, evocative of film noir with its shadowy interiors and smoky atmosphere, enhances the mood of intrigue and romance. Max Steiner’s haunting musical score, highlighted by the timeless melody of “As Time Goes By,” underscores the emotional depth of the story.
Beyond its cinematic achievements, “Casablanca” resonates as a poignant exploration of love, sacrifice, and redemption amidst the turmoil of war. Its themes of honor, patriotism, and the power of personal integrity remain relevant and compelling to this day.
As a classic of American cinema, “Casablanca” continues to captivate audiences with its timeless charm and universal appeal. Whether revisiting it or experiencing it for the first time, this film promises an unforgettable journey into the heart of one of cinema’s greatest love stories and moral dilemmas.
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