Daily Beast

HBOAcademy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro blasted former President Donald Trump as a “total monster” during an appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday.“He's such a mean, nasty, hateful person. I’d never play him as an actor, because I can't see any good in him. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing redeemable in him,” De Niro said.The actor, noting that the November election will likely be a rematch of Trump versus Biden, argued that a repeat Trump presidency would be a “nightmare,” while a vote for Biden would return America “to normalcy.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

A24Shakespeare has nothing on the theatrical masterminds at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. That’s probably because Shakespeare never had the guts to blend his Hamlet with Gladiator, Blazing Saddles, and Back to the Future. But few in the world would have the pure gall to experiment with around a dozen genres at once—the theatre group in Sing Sing, however, has no inhibitions about putting on such an ambitious production.Although the play in question is definitively a comedy, Sing Sing—director/writer Greg Kwedar’s sophomore feature, following 2016’s Transpecos—has that magical balance of wit and sentiment. Based on a true story reported in Esquire in 2005, Sing Sing sees a full production come to fruition in the brilliant theatre group at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, located in Ossining, NY. Although the group has always put on drama productions under the leadership of John “Divine G” Whitfield (Colman Domingo), an incarcerated man who has taken most leads in the productions, and director Brent (Paul Raci), a newcomer spins the group on its head when he pitches a new idea: Why doesn’t the group put on a comedy? They need to lighten up!In many ways, the theatre group seen in Sing Sing—which had its U.S. premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival on Friday—mirrors the same structure as high school theater. There’s the ringleader and his second-in-command, Mike Mike (Sean San Jose), as well as a director who works closely with the recurring main star. Then, out of nowhere, a younger newbie threatens to dethrone the superstar. In Sing Sing, that newcomer is Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (starring as himself), who is recruited by the company and the first to pitch this swap to lighter content. While Divine G has always brainstormed their projects—and even written some himself—the group is tired of Shakespeare. They like Divine Eye’s idea of blending Robin Hood, Peter Pan, and… Hamlet, notoriously not a comedy, and notoriously written by Shakespeare.Read more at The Daily Beast.

SXSWAsk three different people what they think gentrification is, and you might get three different answers in return. The term, which refers to the economic development of a low-income area that ultimately displaces the neighborhood’s current residents, is culturally ubiquitous but rarely understood. Because of its prevalence, the more broad definition of gentrification has been reduced in people’s minds to “the emergence of new coffee shops,” or “white people moving in with their dogs.” While those aren’t exactly untrue results of this phenomenon, gentrification typically begins higher up, when urban planners, city officials, and bigwig developers with their fat pockets lined with shiny gold doubloons get together to revamp local infrastructure. They are the ones whose residential buildings and businesses drive the cost of living up, and force residents out of homes they’ve lived in for decades.It was this type of insidious, dictionary-definition gentrification that led eight artists in Providence, Rhode Island, to fight back. Just before the turn of the century in August 1999, construction was completed on the massive Providence Place Mall, which developers hoped would boost the city’s economy and revitalize its downtown area. The shopping center was not just an eyesore in the middle of the city; it was also a central attraction that pushed the value of the surrounding land sky-high. Cut to local artist Michael Townsend and his friends being kicked out of their home nearby so it could be torn down and turned into a grocery store. While trying to find a new place to stay, they hatched a plan: Take an empty, forgotten space inside of the gigantic mall, and turn it into an apartment as a middle finger to the man.Except this wasn’t just some punks playing a prank. The apartment turned into a home, one that housed a group of working artists on and off for four whole years before it was discovered.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Best/Getty/HandoutIn September of last year, former model and actress Ashley Grace posted a simple Instagram story: a leafy green tree shining in the sun, a clear blue sky behind it. Over the top, in black-and-white typewriter font, she wrote, “To every rape victim that is retraumatized by watching society debate and focus their attention on what is going to happen to the RAPIST, I see you.” She finished it with a heart emoji.The story could have gone largely unnoticed: the message was vague and Grace’s Instagram following modest. But the timing was conspicuous. She posted it one day after a Los Angeles judge handed down a lengthy sentence to actor Danny Masterson, who had been convicted of raping two women—and who co-starred on the TV series That ’70s Show with Grace’s husband, Topher Grace.The internet lit up with articles and comments about the post, with fans wondering whether it was a coded message to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, two other That ’70s Show alumni who wrote a letter to the judge defending Masterson. “Topher Grace’s wife breaks silence after That ’70s Show stars support Danny Masterson,” one headline read.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Laura Radford / Prime VideoThe road to Road House has been a bumpy one. Prime Video’s reimagining of the 1989 classic starring Patrick Swayze has been dotted with precarious mile markers signifying that critics and viewers might want to turn back before it’s too late.First, there was the fact that the Road House reimagining has been languishing in production purgatory since it was first announced all the way back in 2013. Then, after finally securing a director and cast after Amazon promised to funnel a billion dollars into filmmaking with its purchase of MGM, the film hit another yield sign. Director Doug Liman wrote a scathing (and slightly pompous) editorial in Deadline complaining that Amazon did not honor its promise, and is hindering the film by sending it straight to Prime Video without any theatrical release. Finally, R. Lance Hill, who wrote the original film, filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement and the use of AI-generated actor voices to complete the film’s production during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.With all of those obstacles scuttled about the road in front of Road House, it briefly looked as though audiences might never make it to the titular dive bar to see Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) clean up trouble with his mean right hook. But all the chaos surrounding its production only increased the audience’s excitement for the film’s world premiere, held March 8 at Austin’s SXSW Film Festival. The chatter among viewers was loud and excitable, and for good reason: Road House is a rollicking rage fest. Liman was correct to be so haughty—this bloody action flick really might be his best movie yet.Read more at The Daily Beast.

SXSWIn the opening moments of I Don’t Understand You, a laugh-a-minute comedy that premiered March 8 during this year’s SXSW, stars Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells ask themselves a deceptively complicated question: Would you do anything for your child? It’s a query that most parents have probably pondered at one point or another. One hopes the immediate answer is “yes,” but if you want to get wacky with the hypothetical circumstances surrounding the question, that response might not come easily. But prospective parents Dom (Kroll) and Cole (Rannells) brush off their wandering minds, continuing the video they’re recording for a mother-to-be (Amanda Seyfried) whose baby they hope to adopt. This well-to-do couple has it pretty easy. What’s the wildest thing that they could have to do for their child?Unsurprisingly, that fateful question colors the increasingly wacky events of I Don’t Understand You, which has all the makings of a classic screwball comedy, right down to its fairly simple premise. Dom and Cole are about to celebrate their 10th anniversary with a trip to Italy, which will hopefully be their last vacation before they welcome their first child. (As victims of adoption fraud, they’re trying to keep their hopes from getting too high this time around.) But when their getaway takes an unexpectedly morbid turn, the couple is forced to prove to themselves just how desperately they want to be fathers, and make it back to the United States unscathed.While the title of I Don’t Understand You directly refers to the language barrier that Cole and Dom experience on their Italian vacay, it’s also a wink to how couples are forced to work together in the most dire of situations. For all of the time the movie spends mining humor from linguistic obstacles, it’s a miracle that it doesn’t veer into questionably xenophobic territory. But the film, directed and co-written by husbands David Joseph Craig and Brian Crano, is far too smart to fall prey to that cringey trap. I Don’t Understand You stays one step ahead of its audience at every turn, armed and ready with unexpected gags and memorably biting dialogue that repeatedly quell suspicions about whether or not it can pull off its big narrative swings.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Best/GettyPresident Joe Biden’s erosion of support with Black men should set off alarm bells in his campaign. Unlike other interest groups in the Democratic coalition, Black men should be among his most enthusiastic supporters in crucial states.The Georgia primary, held this coming Tuesday, may offer a moment for Biden to reflect on the lackluster support of a key constituency.That’s because the dilemma first came to light in the Peach State during Stacey Abrams’ ill-fated campaign for governor in 2022. Back then, her platform reflected the thinking of strategists that the compelling issue of concern to Black men was criminal justice reform.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Best/GettyPresident Joe Biden’s erosion of support with Black men should set off alarm bells in his campaign. Unlike other interest groups in the Democratic coalition, Black men should be among his most enthusiastic supporters in crucial states.The Georgia primary, held this coming Tuesday, may offer a moment for Biden to reflect on the lackluster support of a key constituency.That’s because the dilemma first came to light in the Peach State during Stacey Abrams’ ill-fated campaign for governor in 2022. Back then, her platform reflected the thinking of strategists that the compelling issue of concern to Black men was criminal justice reform.Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyThere’s a poetic irony in the coincidence that the most recognizable young boxer in America also has one of the country’s most punchable faces. That face, of course, belongs to YouTube superstar Jake Paul, who announced last week that he will fight 57-year-old Mike Tyson this summer. Actually, Tyson will be 58 when he fights 27-year-old Jake Paul—for reference, Mike Tyson is closer in age to Joe Biden than he is to Jake Paul. This multigenerational match will be carried on Netflix, and in the announcement video, Paul billed the bout as “the biggest fight of the 21st century.”The problem is that the 21st century has already seen its biggest fight: the 2015 matchup between world champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, which made $410 million in the United States with 4.6 million PPV buys. Six years later, when Logan Paul (the elder and more socially acceptable brother) fought Mayweather, the fight generated just over one million PPV buys. That’s still a huge number but it couldn’t match the figures for Jake Paul’s fight against wrestler Ben Askren, which reportedly had over 1.5 million buys—making it one of the top-selling fights of the century.The Tyson-Paul fight will undoubtedly sell a lot of tickets and maybe even a few Netflix subscriptions. But no, Jake Paul is not going to fight the biggest fight of the 21st century against Mike Tyson. And yet you can’t blame him for making that claim. He didn’t invent the gimmick. Boxers have been talking themselves up since Muhammad Ali invented the routine. And you can’t blame legitimate, gray-haired fighters for stepping into the ring with YouTube superstars. The paydays are absurd. Mayweather boasted that he made $30 million from the advertisements on his trunks alone, quipping, “Your kids can’t eat legacy.”Read more at The Daily Beast.

Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / GettyThere’s a poetic irony in the coincidence that the most recognizable young boxer in America also has one of the country’s most punchable faces. That face, of course, belongs to YouTube superstar Jake Paul, who announced last week that he will fight 57-year-old Mike Tyson this summer. Actually, Tyson will be 58 when he fights 27-year-old Jake Paul—for reference, Mike Tyson is closer in age to Joe Biden than he is to Jake Paul. This multigenerational match will be carried on Netflix, and in the announcement video, Paul billed the bout as “the biggest fight of the 21st century.”The problem is that the 21st century has already seen its biggest fight: the 2015 matchup between world champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, which made $410 million in the United States with 4.6 million PPV buys. Six years later, when Logan Paul (the elder and more socially acceptable brother) fought Mayweather, the fight generated just over one million PPV buys. That’s still a huge number but it couldn’t match the figures for Jake Paul’s fight against wrestler Ben Askren, which reportedly had over 1.5 million buys—making it one of the top-selling fights of the century.The Tyson-Paul fight will undoubtedly sell a lot of tickets and maybe even a few Netflix subscriptions. But no, Jake Paul is not going to fight the biggest fight of the 21st century against Mike Tyson. And yet you can’t blame him for making that claim. He didn’t invent the gimmick. Boxers have been talking themselves up since Muhammad Ali invented the routine. And you can’t blame legitimate, gray-haired fighters for stepping into the ring with YouTube superstars. The paydays are absurd. Mayweather boasted that he made $30 million from the advertisements on his trunks alone, quipping, “Your kids can’t eat legacy.”Read more at The Daily Beast.