In New York, the Brooklyn Bridge went up in flames briefly during a fireworks display. In Washington D.C., stormy weather delayed a grievance-filled speech by President Trump.

And here in Los Angeles? On Saturday night, tens of thousands of Angelenos joined voices peacefully at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum to sing along with Chris Stapleton as the country star compared a lover to Tennessee whiskey.

A unifying cultural figure beloved by both liberals and conservatives, Stapleton was the headlining act at a Fourth of July benefit concert that also featured Smashing Pumpkins, Chaka Khan, Maren Morris and Queen Latifah. (I’d be surprised if those five names had previously appeared together in the same sentence.) The show, with tickets priced at $17.76, was presented by America250, a bipartisan commission that Congress created in 2016 to plan celebrations for the country’s 250th birthday; proceeds went to Feeding America, which calls itself the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States.

“No politics — just purpose” is how America250 Chair Rosie Rios described the night in remarks from the stage, and it wasn’t hard to interpret the distinction she was seeking to draw between her group and Freedom 250, Trump’s rival semiquincentennial initiative that organized Saturday’s windblown event on the National Mall (not to mention an earlier concert by Vanilla Ice that was called off due to the threat of rain).

But here’s the thing: Compared with the president’s celebration, where he complained about his treatment by the justice system and suggested we should refer to his current term as his third, the show at the Coliseum really did feel like a politics-free zone — the somewhat rare occasion these days when folks from different walks of life come together just to listen to music and drink overpriced micheladas.

Said Stapleton not long into his set: “I won’t waste time talking.”

America250’s success was hardly a sure thing. Despite the relatively low price, tickets moved slowly in the weeks before the concert; one guy I talked to Saturday told me he’d paid six bucks for a discounted pass. Yet to my eyes the Coliseum was close to full by the time Stapleton came on.

The country singer was as solid and soulful as always, snarling gently through “Bad as I Used to Be,” then trading loving harmonies with his wife, Morgane, in “Millionaire.” He closed with “Tennessee Whiskey,” of course — a trusty yet somehow un-shopworn piece of Americana that’s earned a place on the shelf next to Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” and Willie Nelson’s “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.”

Smashing Pumpkins was perhaps a stranger fit for an explicitly patriotic event — “The world is a vampire,” frontman Billy Corgan sneered in “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” — yet the band sounded sharp and punchy in the ’90s alt-rock hits that have brought zoomers and even Gen Alpha kids into its audience.

Billed not inaccurately on the concert’s poster as “the legendary Chaka Khan,” the 73-year-old funk doyenne flexed her vocal chops in jammy renditions of “Ain’t Nobody” and “Tell Me Something Good” and got people hoisting their drinks for “I’m Every Woman.” Morris, who’d flown in from New York after attending her pal Taylor Swift’s wedding on Friday night, made an improbably smooth segue between her and Zedd’s synthed-up “The Middle” and the rustic “My Church.”

As the show’s host, Queen Latifah dispensed uplifting thoughts about American idealism throughout the evening but also got a slot of her own to do her classic “U.N.I.T.Y.” with help from a rambunctious drum line. It’s an unapologetic message song about demanding respect, and what was moving about hearing it here is that nobody seemed put off by that idea.

I’ll wave a flag for that.

Here are more photos from Saturday’s concert:

Chaka Khan performs.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Queen Latifah hosted the show.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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A couple in patriotic garb share a kiss.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Smashing Pumpkins performs.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A concertgoer enjoys confetti.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

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Maren Morris performs.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

It’s a good year when we get movies like Remarkably Bright Creatures and The Sheep Detectives at the same time. If there’s one type of emotional draw we’ll never say no to when it comes to the fiction we consume, it’s wholesome. The kind of movies and TV shows that leave you with a bit more hope than you expected. The kind of stories that make you believe that humanity isn’t as broken as it really is.

The Sheep Detectives is essentially tailor-made for anyone who loves a good whodunnit that’s rich with nuance and humor. The clever decision to shift the genre into something both kids and adults could appreciate together is no small feat, and that’s largely where its mass appeal lies. Murder is a heavy subject to deal with—as is grief—yet this story makes sitting with the weight of both a little easier. It could kickstart a number of thoughtful conversations while it simultaneously delivers plenty of laughs along the way.

For adults, there’s also a huge appeal in the casting—the voice actors especially. Anyone who knows me knows that Ted Lasso is the kind of show I’ll always put first, so hearing Brett Goldstein voice a sheep is the kind of A+ decision that’s effortless to appreciate. Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Nicholas Braun, Emma Thompson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Bella Ramsey, Regina Hall, Rhys Darby, Patrick Stewart, Hong Chau, and the whole cast do an exceptional job as well, making every moment of The Sheep Detectives thoroughly entertaining. 

It’s hard to imagine anyone coming out of the movie not thinking it’s one of the best things we’ll watch all year, and that’s a high compliment considering 2026 is full of gems like Project Hail Mary and the upcoming The Odyssey. It’s the exact kind of movie we could all use, but more than anything, the kind of story we could use more of. If there’s any sort of sequel, sign me up. Let’s make it a trilogy. Give us more of the sheep.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the writing is sharp, the performances are thrilling, and the message is a gem worth holding onto. The Sheep Detectives is the kind of feel-good treasure that does an excellent job of reminding us why movies like this will always matter. There’s a thoughtful message about how grief is meant to be shared and why it’s so important to carry those who’ve passed with us. Yes, it’d be convenient to forget our pain by sheer mental willpower, but we aren’t meant to do that. As humans and as animals, I imagine that the good, bad, and ugly are all part of what makes life beautiful, and that’s a comforting message to sit with. 

The concept of a whodunnit featuring sheep solving a murder sounds so wild on paper, yet everything about it results in the kind of movie that should signal to Hollywood we want more creative approaches to what’s familiar. There’s a reason The Muppets are so popular, and we shouldn’t be afraid of making things that sound a bit too whimsical on paper. In other words, The Sheep Detectives embraces the whimsy, and it’s exactly what makes it so delightful.

The Sheep Detectives is now streaming on Prime Video.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Amazon MGM Studios

Related

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for this week that includes Los Angeles County and other parts of the Southland, especially in valleys and away from the coast.

Temperatures are expected to rise in the Santa Clarita Valley, the east and west San Fernando Valley, as well as parts of the San Gabriel Valley and northwest L.A. County mountains beginning Tuesday and lasting through Thursday, with warm, seasonably elevated fire weather conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasts indicate the mercury will reach 90 to 105 degrees in the interior, 80 to 90 degrees in the inland coastal plain — including downtown L.A. — with highs in the 80s and lower 90s in the foothills and canyons of southwest Santa Barbara County.

Rose Schoenfeld, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said temperatures should be five to 10 degrees above normal for this time of year thanks to a high-pressure system building up over the region.

Though temperatures are expected to drop after Thursday, don’t expect that cooling to last.

“Looking ahead, you might be seeing some outlooks that look pretty favorable, but that heat will linger and redevelop with a pretty impressive heat wave for much of the west, that would be starting next weekend or so,” Schoenfeld said. “It doesn’t seem like we’re out of the woods, even if temperatures start to drop after Thursday.”

The rising mercury coincides a with major marine heat wave across the Pacific Ocean that has the potential to affect weather events around the world, bringing months of warmer oceans, which trigger thunderstorms and extreme heat thousands of miles away.

In recent weeks, record heat waves have baked parts of Europe, with temperatures hitting 104 degrees in some countries. France has reported more than 1,000 heat-related deaths.

In the U.S., record heat has gripped much of the Midwest and East Coast, with temperatures between 110 and 115 degrees in major metropolitan areas, with the National Weather Service issuing an extreme heat warning for much of the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

The sweltering temperatures have disrupted travel and led to a number of cancellations planned for celebrations over the Fourth of July weekend, including Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence parade. The Great American State Fair, on the National Mall in Washington, was forced to shut down for a few hours.

Amtrak canceled some trains in the Northeast because of excessive heat that could affect the tracks.