Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture.
[Manage newsletters]( [View in browser]( [The logo for Daily Beast's Obsessed] Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon Everything we canât stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture. with Kevin Fallon This Week - I canât get over [J. Loâs new movie](. - I canât get over [Ariana and Mariah](. - I canât get over that [Wicked is happening](. - Jen Shah prison update! - International gay update! JLo Finally Gets Weird Thereâs a reason that [Jennifer Lopez]( [said]( that âeverybody thought [she] was crazyâ for making her $20 million musical fantasia/â[cinematic odyssey](â [This Is Meâ¦Now: A Love Story](. The film was released on Prime Video on Valentineâs Day, and, now that weâve seen it we can confirm it was one of the most bizarre and indulgent pop-star vanity projects I can remember watching. That is also why itâs so goodâand, in different ways, both a refreshing departure for J. Lo and completely on-brand. Watching This Is Meâ¦Now: A Love Story is akin to popping a strong dose of melatonin before bed while scrolling through Us Weeklyâs Instagram, and then navigating the bonkers dreams that ensue once you fall asleep. It is a meditation on Lopezâs popular reputation for diving intoâand then screwing upâvery public relationships, while also, ostensibly, a personal rebuttal to all those outsiders who say that sheâs foolish when it comes to love. There are moments when the on-screen character of J. Lo seems to directly address decades of gossip-rag shit-talk about her, articulating on her own terms how itâs felt to weather partnerships that donât work out and the judgment that follows. These are the moments that bring back down to Earth a semi-autobiographical film that, at several points, literally takes place in the cosmos. Itâs fitting that a project this intimate and vulnerable from a star like Jennifer Lopez can also be described as âdoing the absolute most.â Thatâs an ambition that, for better or worse, has defined her entire career. Yet thereâs something so unabashed about This Is Meâ¦Nowâs extra-ness (thereâs no better existing word for it) that sets it apart from past projects. Thereâs a palpable striving for perfection and polish to Lopezâs career that can create an artifice, an unknowable barrier between the human and the performer. This Is Meâ¦Now , on the other hand, is at times goofy as hell. Lopez often looks absolutely ridiculous. Good! As confessional as it is, it is equally outrageousâa âwhy the hell notâ quality from Lopez that has never been more appealing. If youâre going to roll out your new album with a fever-dream film that dramatizes your journey back to marrying Ben Affleck, thatâs the only attitude that could make it work: Truly, why the hell not? It continues: Why the hell not cast Keke Palmer, Trevor Noah, Jenifer Lewis, Post Malone, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and Kim Petras as a Zodiac council horrified over your relationship decisions? Why the hell not have them gossip about the most recent season of [Vanderpump Rules]( in between arguing over which star sign would be your best match? Why the hell not have a full-on action dream sequence take place at a dystopian, malfunctioning rose petal factory where you are the heroic engineer? Why the hell not have a contemporary dance number take place at a Love Addicts Anonymous Meeting, or do your own version of âSinginâ in the Rainâ with a CGI hummingbird? These are huge, wild swings, each typically teed up by Lopez delivering an earnest, fragile monologue about love; itâs subtle acting that ranks among the best of her career, followed up by some of the most ludicrous musical numbers sheâs ever done. The effect is less the tonal whiplash that may sound like. It comes off as a passionate melodrama from a person who sees such outsized emotion in her love journey that the only accurate depiction of it would be to escalate those quiet moments of feeling and reflection into massive, sometimes silly set pieces. This Is Meâ¦Now contrasts fascinatingly to the recent [Eras Tour]( and [Renaissance]( projects from [Taylor Swift]( and [Beyoncé](. Itâs not just because itâs not a concert film; Lopez is going on her [first tour in years]( and could easily have opted to produce one of those instead of something as unusual as This Is Meâ¦Now. All three starsâ films are risky in their own ways, and each is a celebration of the performer at the peak of their own brand of artistry. That thereâs nothing straightforward about Lopezâs filmâto the point that no one could have predicted most of the content featured in itâis fitting. While undeniably an A-list star, Lopezâs career has been a series of many left turns. Her path to This Is Meâ¦Now resembles more of a curlicue spiral to where she is today than the more linear trajectory some of her peers have taken. Is this movie weird? Extremely. But thatâs precisely what makes it so exciting. Advertisement
Belt That Song With Your Chest, And? I didnât expect anyone to find a way to make a new [Ariana Grande]( bop that samples [Madonna](âs âVogue,â with a music video that references [Paula Abdul](, any gayer and/or appeal directly to me. But a remix arrived Friday of â [yes, and?](â that features [Mariah Carey]( belting lyrics like âsay that shit with your chestâ alongside Grande. If these two ever perform the track live together, I might have a minor cardiac episode. (Iâm exaggerating. But I will be very excited.) âMariah Carey sings alongside other powerhouse vocalistsâ is my favorite genre of pop culture. The original VH1 Divas Live concert is a religious work in this house, and itâs worshiped as such. And while the jaw-dropping finale riff-off with Carey, [Aretha Franklin](, [Céline Dion]( , Shania Twain, Gloria Estefan, and Carole King is rightfully iconic, the true vocal highlight is Careyâs duet of â[Chain of Fools](â with Franklin. Naturally, Careyâs Oscar-winning duet with [Whitney Houston](, âWhen You Believeâ from The Prince of Egypt, has been brutalized by yours truly countless times, as I squawk and warble it throughout the apartment. Iâve also spent a shameful number of nights chasing down YouTube bootlegs of the pair [singing it on The Oprah Winfrey Show](, a performance that is as awkward as it is glorious. This also isnât the first time Carey and Grande have collaborated. Grande and [Jennifer Hudson]( joined Carey for a rendition of her holiday hit â[Oh Santa](â in 2021, a Holy Trinity of vocals that should have catapulted that track to the top of holiday charts each year alongside âAll I Want for Christmas Is You.â Thereâs one more Carey collaboration that Iâm clamoring for after watching this yearâs Grammy Awards. The lovefest between [Miley Cyrus]( and Careyâtwo M.C.âsâwas so nice to watch, when Carey presented Cyrus with her first [Grammy Award](. Carey joining a remix of âFlowersâ sounds so right to me. Defying Gravity⦠and My Cynicism I still canât believe the Wicked movie is happening. Universal Pictures [announced the film]( in 2016, with a release date of Dec. 19, 2020. By the time it hits theaters this Thanksgiving, four years will have passed since then. The lifetimes that have been lived in those four years! The pandemic! The Donald Trump indictments! Eight Taylor Swift albums! All my gray hairs! Even as casting started to happen for the filmâAriana Grande will play Galinda/Glinda, Cynthia Erivo will play Elphaba, and Jonathan Bailey will play Fiyeroâit seemed like those announcements were more fantasy than reality. Even when videos from the set leaked, confirming that Wicked really was filming, it still seemed like a tease, especially once production was shut down again during the Hollywood strikes. The [first trailer for the film]( premiered during the Super Bowl. Iâm still in denial. Yes, there was Grande in her pink Glinda dress. Erivo certainly was green. Bailey, in his one frame of the trailer, was so dreamy-looking, I audibly sighed. The clip even concludes with Erivoâs final âDefying Gravityâ riff. All signs, then, point to this being a real thing, that is really coming out. I have visions of showing up for the first press screening and the projector not working in the theater or something. Eight years of skepticism takes a toll on a person! The Real Housewives of Prison It has somehow been a full year since [Real Housewives of Salt Lake City]( star Jen Shah went to prison. Time has become completely intangible to me, so I have no idea if that sounds outrageous or absolutely right. Nonetheless, Shah commemorated (?) the occasion with an exclusive People essay, as one is, I guess, wont to do when theyâre a celebrity who has spent a year in prison. Thereâs some interesting stuff in her piece, which could be viewed as inspiring self-reflection or cynical PR, depending on the reader. You can read itâand see the first official photo taken of Shah since incarceration, while participating in a Barbie-themed hair pageant (?!?!)â[here](. Here We Go Again! Gay marriage was legalized in Greece this week, and a resounding number of the people I follow on social media had the same, urgent thought: Mamma Mia 3. Itâs time. More From The Daily Beastâs Obsessed Kate Chastain, the fan-favorite icon on The Traitors, spills all the tea with us about the current season. [Read more](. Tyler James Williams goes deep with us about that big Abbott Elementary breakup. [Read more](. The SpongeBob SquarePants Super Bowl was more fun than the game itself. [Read more](. [See This] - Young Sheldon: The show, now [in its final season]( , is so much better than it gets credit for. (Thurs. on CBS)
- Ghosts: This remains one of the [most delightful comedies]( on TV. (Thurs. on CBS)
- Land of Bad: Russell Crowe stars in the [bro-iest bro-fest that ever broâd]( . (Now in the theaters) [Skip This] - One Love: The Bob Marley biopic is [such a mess](. (Now in theaters) - Madame Web: And speaking of movies that are [a huge mess](⦠(Now in theaters) Like our take on what to watch?
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