Lorde Announces Fourth Album, ‘Virgin'
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Lorde - Credit: Thistle Brown*
After another four-year wait, Lorde is back with a new album. She announced Virgin, out June 27, on social media.
In a text blast to her fans, Lorde shared the credits for the album. It was produced by her and Jim-E Stack with contributions from Dev Hynes, Daniel Nigro, Fabiana Palladino, Andrew Aged, and Buddy Ross. '100% written in blood,' she added. The album cover looks to be an x-ray of a pelvis, with a visible belt buckle and IUD in the blue tint.
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Lorde kicked off this era with a bang when she previewed her new song 'What Was That' in Washington Square Park last week. She had announced a fan event via text blast, and by the designated start time of 7 p.m., so many people had filled up the park that the police came and shut the whole thing down. She performed the song a couple of hours later for the part of the crowd who stuck around.
The event ended up being a scene in the music video, which came out two days later. Over the weekend, 'What Was That' topped the Spotify U.S. charts, her first song to do so since 'Royals,' from 2012.
In a voice note she shared with her fans before releasing 'What Was That,' Lorde teased how she feels about her new era. 'I've never felt more intentional with every single piece of what I'm doing,' she said. 'There's such a deep ethos behind all of it, and it all braids together in the end.' The singer also called the single 'one of my favorite songs I've ever written,' before explaining its importance: 'I really think this song is the music of my rebirth.'
The new album follows her 2021 release, Solar Power. She described the album as her 'weed album' and co-produced it with Jack Antonoff (who worked with her on 2017's Melodrama) and Malay. Outside of touring Solar Power, Lorde has popped up to release new music very rarely. She covered the Talking Heads' cover of Al Green's 'Take Me to the River' for a Stop Making Sense tribute album and appeared on the remix of Charli XCX's Brat track 'Girl, so confusing.'
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43 minutes ago
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See John Wick spinoff 'Ballerina' in theaters, rent 'Sinners,' stream 'Presence' on Hulu, plus more movies to watch this weekend
We independently evaluate the products we review. When you buy via links on our site, we may receive compensation. Read more about how we vet products and deals. Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers! I'm Brett Arnold, a longtime writer and editor at Yahoo and film critic for my podcast, Roger (Ebert) & Me, and welcome to Trust Me, I Watch Everything. I'm here to recommend what you should see in movie theaters, rent from the comfort of your couch or queue up from a streaming service you may already subscribe to. I watch it all so you don't have to. This week, Ballerina, the long-awaited John Wick spin-off starring Ana De Armas, hits theaters. If you're looking for a movie to keep you up at night, horror-thriller Dangerous Animals is a strong candidate, but don't miss out on the smash hit Sinners either. Also available is an animated take on the Predator franchise and a nostalgic documentary in Becoming Led Zeppelin. What to watch in theaters Movies newly available to rent or buy Movies debuting on streaming services you may already have Movies newly available on streaming services you may already have My "it's just good enough" recommendation: Why you should watch it: After a lengthy delay and reports of extensive reshoots, stuntman-turned-filmmaker Chad Stahelski, the brainchild of the franchise and director of all four John Wick films, was brought in to replace director Len Wiseman. One of its stars, Ian McShane, confirmed in an interview that Stahelski came onboard to "protect the franchise." He did what he could. Whenever the movie is in hyper-violent action mode, it's a lot of fun. The problem is, that awesome action is almost entirely relegated to the final 45 minutes, which leaves about an hour and 15 minutes of laborious setup. Anytime the movie slows down to get into the minutiae of the world-building or the backstory of the lead character, it's a bore, missing the mark of what makes Wick satisfying. The dark humor that punctuates the violence, a staple of the series, is firmly in tact here though, and the more inventive kills involve grenades, flamethrowers and an ice skate. Keeping with franchise tradition, it does appear that Ana de Armas does a lot of her own fighting and stunt work, and it looks great. While the reshoots clearly added the fluid action that works, they also added in John Wick himself in a way that felt unneeded, taking away from the lead character's story. I guess the writing was on the wall when the title changed from Ballerina to From the World of John Wick: Ballerina. 🍿 What critics are saying: Don't come for the storyline! Variety's Owen Gleiberman called the plot of Ballerina "pure trash," with the Los Angeles Times's Amy Nicholson calling it "a snooze." That said, the fight scenes get high marks. "These movies lie or die by their action sequences, and to its credit, this franchise expansion pack has a few good ones up its sleeve," Rolling Stone's David Fear wrote. 👀 How to watch: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets ➕ Bonus recommendation: Dangerous Animals Why you should watch it: Dangerous Animals is one of those movies in which the very premise feels like a spoiler. The opening scene is such a terrific reveal, it's hard not to imagine how much better it'd play with zero knowledge going in. So stop reading now and watch it if you're into horror or survival thrillers or shark movies. If you need more convincing, read on, because boy does it have a killer premise. It's a serial killer movie with a shark-related twist, or a shark movie with a serial killer added for good measure. Let me explain: Jai Courtney plays a serial killer, and his method of killing people is to feed them to sharks. He films these killings because to him, the 'greatest show on Earth' is watching sharks, one of the ocean's most majestic creatures, do what comes naturally to them when a warm, bloodied human body is lowered into the waters. The movie mostly focuses on the final girl trapped on his boat as she tries to free herself before the next feeding. What more do you need to know? 🍿 What critics are saying: The reception has been largely positive; Kristy Puchko at Mashable says Jai Courtney is a "rip-roaring force of nature" and praises the film as "a satisfying, sick, and devilishly smart thriller." Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian, however, isn't a fan, calling it "derivative" and declaring it "has a bargain-basement straight-to-streaming feel to it." 👀 How to watch: Dangerous Animals is now in theaters nationwide. Get tickets 🤔 If those aren't for you... :The most generic exorcism/possession movie possible, you've seen every single thing this movie throws at you. Even though stars Dan Stevens and Al Pacino, it's very low-rent. — Get tickets. :Comedian Nick Kroll and Broadway star Andrew Rannells play a gay couple in this dark comedy that starts off strong and goes off the rails about halfway through, becoming a different movie with a completely different tone. A shame, because it was cute before it went nuts. — Get tickets. My recommendation: Why you should watch it: Sinners is one of the biggest hits of the year, which is no easy feat for an original movie not based on anything that already exists, and it's easy to see why: It's as audacious as it is purely entertaining. Yes, it's a vampire movie, but it takes half the film to get there — extreme From Dusk Till Dawn vibes — and before that, it's a period piece gangster movie that patiently sets up the stakes of its story. In the end, what's revealed is that the movie works entirely on its own terms as a spectacle — about a bunch of people holing up in a single location and warding off invaders — but it also works on an entirely different level: as a metaphor about its director's feelings on making art as a Black man in an industry that's eager to exploit his perspective. Calling it a musical is a stretch, but it has a blues element that pays off well. Sinners is a hell of a swing, and even if things occasionally get messy or certain elements feel pushed to the side, its vision comes through so strong that it's an incredibly impressive feat. 🍿 What critics are saying: Sinners is also one of the best-reviewed films of the year and has a great shot at Oscar gold. David Sims at the Atlantic said it "had [him] cheering for every thrill and spill, all while mulling the deeper concerns threaded through it" and AP's Jocelyn Novek wrote, "by far the most creatively ambitious, culturally layered, artistically bold twin-led cinematic outing yet — if this sentence feels like a lot, get ready for the movie!" 👀 How to watch: Sinners is now available to rent or purchase on digital and on-demand. Rent or buy 'Sinners' 🤔 If that's not for you... : A Nicolas Cage-led, laugh-out-loud funny but also quite stressful descent into madness that recalls the Ozploitation classic Wake in Fright. "Don't live here, don't surf here!" — Rent or buy. My recommendation: Why you should watch it: Prey, the Predator prequel that brought new life to the beloved sci-fi/action franchise, shocked everyone when it debuted on Hulu a few years ago with its unique spin on the series, centering Amber Midthunder's Naru. 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Stream on Netflix ➕ Bonus recommendation: Presence Why you should watch it: Presence isn't the horror movie it's being marketed as, but it's absolutely haunting and chilling in a different way. Here, the camera is the ghost that's haunting a house, and the entire movie takes place from that perspective. The viewers are along for the ride, limited to what the ghost knows and doesn't know, as the lost soul tries to solve the case of its own death and figure out why it's haunting this What unfolds is a compelling family drama with moments of pure terror. It hits you on a deeper level and stays there rather than leave you screaming over a loud noise or a jump scare. It's certainly a horror movie, just not the register we've come to expect from the premise of 'family moves into a haunted house.' It cleverly ends up being a movie about parenting, among other themes. 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Now streaming on Peacock. :The selling point of this movie is not only that Robert De Niro is returning to the mob movie genre, but that he's playing two distinct leading roles in it. The problem is, the characters are not related, so it's just a strange gimmick that never really makes sense outside of "wouldn't it be fun to see De Niro play against himself?" The movie is a familiar bore, but it's now on HBO Max, so if you're curious, it won't cost you anything extra. Now streaming on HBO Max. What an exhaustive week! We'll see you again next Friday at the movies.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Ed Sheeran Celebrates India on Rousing Single ‘Sapphire'
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New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
‘Tyler Perry's Straw' Review: The Accidental Bank Robber
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