Entertainment

Who is DJ Cassidy, the Californian who led that great (and strange) DNC playlist?

Published

2 hours ago

August 21, 2024

Who is DJ Cassidy, the Californian who led that great (and strange) DNC playlist?

CHICAGO —

While delegates gleefully cast their ceremonial votes for Vice President Kamala Harris to be their presidential nominee at Tuesday night’s Democratic National Convention, a dancing DJ spun a fresh song for each state from the stage.

DJ Cassidy, the Californian sporting an electric blue suit, stole the show.

The 43-year-old Angeleno, whose name is Cassidy Podell, returned to the DNC stage Tuesday 12 years after he became the first disc jockey to perform at the quadrennial convention. He also deejayed the last DNC in 2020, an entirely virtual affair because of the pandemic, where Cassidy performed in his quintessential wide-brimmed hat and colorful suit jacket from home.

In a video posted earlier on Instagram, Cassidy greeted singer Patti LaBelle, who kicked off the evening’s events with a rendition of “You Are My Friend.”

Cassidy has frequently played the celebrity circuit, including deejaying at Beyoncé and Jay Z’s wedding. He also set the soundtrack for Obama family birthday parties.

With images of Cassidy spinning and dancing on the stage and Lil Jon rapping in the aisles of the convention hall, the Democratic Party tried to shake up the roll call of votes on Tuesday.

And some listeners thought it was great.

“I loved that DJ Cassidy played authentic music for every state during the DNC roll call,” Magic Johnson posted on X. “He turned it out tonight!”

The music selections created a party-like atmosphere among the thousands of delegates gathered in the United Center, and reflected interesting choices. For California, Harris’ home and the final state to cast the votes of its delegates, Cassidy played a mix of hits — “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg; “California Love” by 2Pac and Dr. Dre; and “Alright” and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar.

Some were natural fits, featuring musicians from their home states. Others struck odd notes because the message of the lyrics didn’t match Democratic values. Some selections struck an inspirational tone about the prospect of electing a woman of color to the nation’s highest office. Others were completely nonsensical.

Here’s a selection of the songs and artists chosen by various states and categories.

Pairings that made sense:

Arkansas — “Don’t Stop” by Fleetwood Mac, a reference to President (and former Arkansas governor) Clinton, who used this as a campaign song in 1992.

Idaho — “Private Idaho” by The B-52s. Enough said.

Minnesota — “Kiss” and “1999” by Prince, a native of the state who launched his musical career there and remained a resident even after he achieved worldwide fame.

New Mexico — “Confident” by Demi Lovato, who was born in Albuquerque.

Pennsylvania — “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men and “Black & Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa, who hails from Pittsburgh.

Titles and/or artists that made sense but the message seemed tone-deaf:

Alabama — “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. While the title contains the state’s name, the lyrics were in response to a song by Neil Young that decried the legacy of slavery in the Jim Crow South. The song was particularly incongruous as the state’s Democratic leaders’ spoke about the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement before they announced their delegates’ votes in support of Harris.

New Jersey — “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen. The Boss is a native son, but while title of this song seems like a patriotic anthem, the lyrics are about a young man sent to fight in Vietnam and his tribulations once he returns home.

Movie Reviews

‘AIR FRYER SLAUGHTER’ (2024) – Movie Review – PopHorror

Published

1 hour ago

August 21, 2024

Press Room

‘AIR FRYER SLAUGHTER’ (2024) – Movie Review – PopHorror

Air Fryers are one of the most appreciated and streamlined cooking inventions in modern history. Not since the George Foreman grill have we seen so many people swear by a new kitchen trend. But what if the Air Fryer became an instrument of destruction with bad intentions? That’s the question we answer in Air Fryer Slaughter, the newest cult horror comedy by MMH Productions.

Air Fryer Slaughter was written and directed by Matthew Mark Hunter (Nightmares Unleashed 2023), who bolsters a gargantuan 262 directing credits and 250 writing credits to his name. It stars Matt Skinner (Bathtub Shark Attack 2023, read our review here), Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger 1984) and Jessa Flux (Curse Of The Weredeer 2023). Skinner voices the titular antagonist, an Air Fryer with a sarcastic wit and a thirst for violence.

That’s about all we’ve got when it comes to plot, but there’s still plenty that will satisfy fans of Troma-style horror. Air Fryer Slaughter has an impressive array of violence on display, that results in a showcase for the SFX department. Eyes are poked out, faces melted, and body parts fly as our bulky antagonist moves impressively from place to place. Air Fryer is framed much like Freddy Krueger, with puns and quips to go with his trail of dead bodies.

But Air Fryer isn’t just a mechanical maniac, he’s also a viewer to a television reel that hosts a lot of cameos from indie horror standouts. Destruction must also be hard work, because Air Fryer goes on a few sexual quests as well, adding some nudity and laughs to our list of classic horror tropes.

Air Fryer Slaughter is shot on video and seems to leave the door open for sequels and spinoffs in a shared world of schlocky cult horror. Fans of this sub-genre will certainly find this as a worthy addition. It’s available now on DVD.

Movie Reviews

The Substance – NZIFF Closing Night 13th Floor Film Review

Published

8 hours ago

August 20, 2024

Press Room

The Substance – NZIFF Closing Night 13th Floor Film Review

The 13th Floor’s Shamin Yazdani has been busy sitting in the dark, catching as many NZIFF as she can including The Substance on Closing Night. Here is her review and a summary of what was good and not so good at the Film Festival.

And just like that, my NZIFF experience (and selection of auteur films) comes to an end with the closing night film, The Substance.

During the film’s introduction, the audience is forewarned that we are in for a wild ride and to expect to be on the edge of our seats. In my version of events however, it’s a ride worth skipping and a seat worth ejecting.

Better on paper than on screen, the concept of The Substance, while strong, is met with weak execution by filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. Some very salient and relevant issues are acknowledged in the movie (namely aging, conflicting ideologies between the new and older generation/s, the way in which we (women?) contort ourselves in the pursuit of unattainable perfection, “the grass is greener” etc) but ultimately Fargeat falls short in examining these concepts in any meaningful way. She instead leans into lazy tropes, endorses and perpetuates the male gaze through the uninspired fetishisation of the female body, and in the final act, takes an unexpected turn into absurdist territory, which doesn’t land. It drones on in a self-indulgent attempt to provoke and shock for little reason other than to be memorable, and that’s not a good enough reason to waste two hours and 20 minutes of anyone’s time. TL;DR what it delivers in aesthetic it lacks in substance. How meta!

The Silver Lining – the closing night film was by no means a reflection of the calibre of this year’s selections (and hopefully not an indication of 2025’s lineup)! My ratings:

We Were DangerousXXXx

Head South XXXX

The Crossing XXXX

Sasquatch Sunset XXXXx

Eno XXX

The Substance XXx

Shamin Yazdani

Shamin is an Iranian New Zealander and multi-hyphenate creative engaged in storytelling across diverse mediums and platforms. She began her professional journey in the UAE and London, steadily advancing to creative producing in broadcast television. Shamin’s contributions in film and creative direction have featured on various platforms and publications including BBC World News, Vogue Arabia, Elle Arabia, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, The Gulf Film Festival, MENA Film Festival, and London Shubbak Festival.

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Entertainment

Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck after two years of marriage

Published

9 hours ago

August 20, 2024

Press Room

Jennifer Lopez files for divorce from Ben Affleck after two years of marriage

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are officially over — again.

Lopez filed to divorce the Oscar-winning “Argo” actor-director Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times. The couple’s two-year anniversary was July 17 in Nevada, and the filing falls on the two-year anniversary of their wedding ceremony in Georgia.

Representatives for Lopez and Affleck did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Lopez does not say whether she and Affleck had a prenuptial agreement, according to TMZ, which first reported the stars’ split on Tuesday.

Signs that the couple was headed for the rocks — or that the boat had hit the jetty already — have been ample in recent months, with People reporting May 17 that they were living apart and following up May 22 with word from an “exclusive source” that their marriage was “not in the best place at the moment.”

A disconnect between Lopez‘s and Affleck’s approaches to life was mentioned more than once, with a source telling People in May that “Ben hates all attention and it makes him very uncomfortable” and “Jennifer has always had a different approach.” A week into June, TMZ reported that the eight-figure Affleck-Lopez mansion and its 24 bathrooms had been quietly up for sale for a couple of weeks and that divorce was “imminent.”

The July Fourth holiday weekend saw the two on opposite ends of the country, per People: Affleck in L.A., Lopez in New York’s Hamptons.

The couple first met in 2002 on the set of “Gigli,” when Lopez was still married to her second husband, Cris Judd. JLo filed for divorce two days after she was caught kissing Affleck at her surprise birthday party.

Affleck proposed in November 2002 with a $2.5-million pink diamond, but the couple postponed their September wedding the day they were due to walk down the aisle, citing the media firestorm surrounding their relationship. By January, it was reported that Bennifer was officially over.

They spent the next 18 years apart with different partners — Lopez was married to singer Marc Anthony from 2004 to 2014 and was engaged to former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez between 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018; the parents of three have remained friends and even co-parented with Lopez, who has twins with Anthony.

But you can’t fight fate or power-couple status. Affleck and Lopez were spotted together again in 2021 and announced their second engagement in 2022 after he proposed in a bubble bath with a giant green ring. They were wed in Las Vegas later that year and seemed to enjoy embodying the best of early 2000s nostalgia before divorce rumors began to spread this spring, right before Lopez canceled her summer tour.

“We lost a sense of ourselves, and we needed to separate because we didn’t know how to survive it,” Lopez told Variety in February, talking about her and Affleck’s 2004 breakup under extreme media scrutiny. “I had to figure myself out, and he had to figure himself out.”

Looks as if they might have figured things out together, finally. And the answer is, “apart.”

Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.