Latest news with #TheWeight
UPI
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
'The Voice' crowns Season 27 winner
1 of 5 | "The Voice" stars, left to right, Jadyn Cree, Adam David, Jaelen Johnston, Renzo and Lucia Flores-Wiseman. Photo by Griffin Nagel/NBC May 21 (UPI) -- Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for The Voice Season 27. NBC's The Voice wrapped Season 27 with a new winner. Adam David, 35, earned the title Wednesday, beating out finalists Jadyn Cree, RENZO, Lucia Flores-Wiseman and Jaelen Johnston. Michael Bublé coached the singer-songwriter after hearing him sing "Baby, I Love Your Way" by Peter Frampton. The duo sang "The Weight" together on the live finale. A post shared to the singing competition show's official Instagram account shows David beaming as he holds his award. "Couldn't have happened to a aa better guy," Bublé commented. "Looks good on you dude." David's path to Wednesday's win included recovery from addiction, a press release states. "Now five years clean, he credits music as a steady anchor in his life, helping him process emotions and maintain stability," a synopsis reads. "David is deeply committed to performing at rehabilitation centers each week, using his own experiences and music to inspire others in recovery." The upcoming season will feature coaches Bublé, Reba McEntire, Niall Horan and Snoop Dogg, and will air in September.
Los Angeles Times
21-03-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. Affairs: Years after my husband's death, I'm saying goodbye to his pickup truck
'I'm just an American guy in a pickup truck,' said Stephen Beech at the end of one of our early dates. It was Valentine's Day 1993, and he was dropping me off at my Santa Monica apartment. His comment was supposed to act as a deterrent as he explained why he wasn't the man for me. He'd been through a difficult few years. His first marriage had ended, and he wasn't looking for a serious relationship. Anyway, he pointed out, we were from different worlds. He was a property manager from Philadelphia, I was a British journalist based in L.A. Also, while Stephen was intent on remaining single, I was on a mission to meet the right man and start a family. But I'd already discovered that the tall, introspective, good-looking man I was falling for had hidden depths. He played classical guitar and he was funny and philosophical too. I'd met him at a part-time master's program in spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica. The fact that he drove a pickup truck only added to the romantic allure. There was clearly an attraction on his part too. After all, there we were kissing in his blue truck outside my apartment. So we continued dating, and we went everywhere in that blue truck: coffees and dinners, drives along Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu or further north to visit friends in Ojai. I learned more about his reluctance to get involved. Stephen and his first wife had lost their little girl to cancer. He'd been trying to recover from intense grief and rebuild his life without the complications of a relationship. But our relationship took on an ineluctable momentum, and by October, I was pregnant. When our daughter, Chace, was born in August 1994, we drove home from the hospital in the blue truck. When we bought our house in Santa Monica, Stephen piled all our possessions into the back of the truck. He used the truck to haul paving stones for our yard and plants from the garden center. By the time our second daughter, Ava-Rose, arrived four years later, the truck remained reliable. Eventually, though, it started to break down. One spring day, I arrived home from work just as Stephen was pulling up outside our house in a gleaming, brand-new, white Dodge pickup. Stephen didn't get excited about much, but he was smiling broadly as he took me for a spin. Payments were $400 a month, a big chunk of his paycheck, but it was worth it. The truck became an integral part of life. There were heated conversations in the front and back seats about school, friendships and politics and there were fights about music: whether we should listen to Radio Disney or classical station KUSC. Often the consensus ended up being 'The Weight,' our favorite song by Stephen's favorite band, the Band. Most mornings he'd take the girls to school — Ava invariably leaving the house in a panic, eating the bowl of oatmeal her dad had made her for breakfast on the road while finishing her homework. He'd drive Ava to fencing competitions all over California. He'd take Ava and Chace to ballet, and he used the truck to cart around equipment when he was volunteering backstage for the Westside School of Ballet's production of 'The Nutcracker' every year. When our daughters were in their teens, he'd take them and their friends to parties, happy to be the designated parent collecting everyone in the early hours and making sure they got home safely. He was always putting his truck to good use helping out friends and neighbors. There were often surprise presents delivered in the truck: One birthday, it was a purple wisteria tree; one Valentine's day, it was a vintage O'Keefe & Merritt stove. But my favorite memories of Stephen and his truck were more mundane, involving countless serendipitous meetings around Santa Monica. I'd be out walking our dogs, Puck and Chaucer, and Stephen would just happen to be driving along the same road. He'd slow down, left elbow resting on the open window, and stop for a quick chat: 'What's up?' The truck was emblematic of the man. Trustworthy. Enduring. Reliable. Safe. Strong. Until it wasn't. On March 12, 2018, Stephen called from work to say he wasn't feeling well. He was shuffling and unsteady on his feet. I suggested that he should drive to the ER just to check that all was well. That was the last time Stephen drove his truck. He was admitted to the hospital, had a brain scan and was diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. His condition deteriorated rapidly. My Strong American Guy in a Pickup Truck could no longer drive. After three major surgeries in quick succession, he was in a wheelchair and couldn't walk. Stephen handed over the keys of his truck to Chace, who'd moved back home from New York where she'd been working to help take care of her dad. (Ava was in her first year at college.) Chace drove us in the truck to oncology appointments until it became too difficult and Stephen needed to be picked up by private ambulance. Over the next 3½ years, Stephen gradually lost his ability to talk, eat or breathe independently. But he remained courageous and optimistic. Like the sturdy white truck, Stephen's spirit and will to live were strong. Today, almost four years since Stephen lost his battle with brain cancer, it's time to say goodbye to the truck. Chace has already spent thousands of dollars on repairs, so we've made the tough decision to donate it to charity. Some of the deep grief I've experienced since Stephen was initially diagnosed with an incurable glioma seven years ago had subsided a little, but it's back. I miss Stephen and I'm sad that I won't see the truck when I go out for my early morning walk. On a recent Sunday morning, I decide to hose it down and wipe away the ingrained grime. I'm sure that wherever he is, Stephen is rolling his eyes, having a laugh at my careless use of the hose as I end up drenched. I'm sure there's also a wry smile as he watches me take the truck for a drive (my first) along our road, encouraged by Dave, our next-door neighbor. 'You have to drive it once,' says Dave, so I do. I will miss the white truck: resilient, kind and generous, just like the American guy who owned it. But it's time to set off on my next adventure, knowing that Stephen's spirit will always be beside me in the passenger seat. The author is a senior writer at Thrive Global. Prior to Thrive, she wrote for U.K. and global newspapers, including the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday. She also was a TV correspondent for the BBC and other U.K. networks. L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. We pay $400 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@ You can find submission guidelines here. You can find past columns here.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How ‘Islands' Producer Augenschein Segued From Foreign-Language Arthouse Fare to English-Language Elevated Genre Movies
German production company Augenschein has just added 'The Weight,' starring Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe, to its slate. Company founders Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo talk to Variety about how they made the shift from foreign-language arthouse fare to English-language elevated genre movies, with stars attached. Despite its very German-sounding name — which roughly translates as the 'shine of the eye' — Augenschein has the global market firmly in its sights. As for the films, they are defined by their 'signature-style directing,' Leo says. More from Variety From 'The Substance' to 'Titane' Genre Films Grab Solid Ground at Top Festivals and at the Box Office Cannes Short Film Winner Vasilis Kekatos Makes Feature Debut With Spirited, Coming-of-Age Berlinale Premiere 'Our Wildest Days' Yao Chen's Bad Rabbit Pictures Plots 'Fleabag'-Style Premium Short Drama About Chinese Sea Goddess (EXCLUSIVE) Its Berlin lineup is led by Jan-Ole Gerster's thriller 'Islands,' starring Sam Riley, Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing, which world-premieres Sunday in the Berlinale Special Gala section, with Protagonist handling world sales. Other films on its slate include David Lowery's pop melodrama 'Mother Mary,' starring Anne Hathaway and Michaela Cole, with A24 handling worldwide distribution; and Brian Kirk's action thriller 'The Death of Winter,' formerly known as 'The Fisherwoman,' starring Emma Thompson, and produced with Stampede Ventures. 'The Weight,' set in Oregon in 1933, is directed by Padraic McKinley. It is produced by Simon Fields and Nathan Fields for Fields Entertainment, Ryan Hawke for Under the Influence, and Katzenstein and Leo at Augenschein. The shift to English-language elevated genre films came after 2017, which Katzenstein describes as their 'peak year for world cinema,' when they had a film each in Sundance, Berlin and Cannes, and three films in Venice, winning a Berlin Silver Bear with 'Ana, My Love.' 'We thought that's our top year. Everything is marvellous. The festival record was great. But all these movies, there was no real impact on the market besides the festival. So that felt a little frustrating,' Katzenstein says. It provoked a 'producer midlife crisis,' Leo adds. Katzenstein continues: 'So, we thought, let's use these director-driven movies, but transform them into English-language movies with Hollywood stars, and then there's much more marketing power behind it, much more attention. We can tell the same stories, but there's more potential with this approach.' The shift began with 2019's plane hijacking thriller '7500,' starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which 'opened a lot of doors for us,' Leo says. Having learned the hard way to finance film with foreign-language arthouse fare, Katzenstein and Leo surprised agents in L.A. when they were looking to sign talent. When they were asked how much money they needed, Leo says, they responded, ''Oh no, we don't need money,' because we already knew how to finance our movies. That was something special. Also, it gave us creative control.' Katzenstein adds, 'Economically, it became the best experience we ever had. It was our 23rd movie, and it made more than the first 22 combined, easily.' Looking at the state of the market for independent films like theirs today, Katzenstein says it is 'challenging, but still possible; the pre-sale market is a little more difficult.' Leo says with a smile, 'We used to do impossible to finance movies, and now they are hard to finance.' Recent changes to the German film law have been a 'huge help,' Leo adds. 'Germany has one of the strongest film funding systems in the world.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
The Guardian
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Mike: Showbiz! review – a master rap craftsman building his own world
After a life spent bouncing between the UK and US – and, now, endlessly touring – New York rapper Mike's delivery has the hazy fug of waking up from a jetlag nap. Over mostly self-produced beats, his lyrics, often written freely in streams of consciousness, sit in cosy corners of cut-and-stitched samples, comparable with the drifting verses of his friend and mentor Earl Sweatshirt or the smoother edges of Buffalo's Westside Gunn. This approach won't always lead anywhere especially illuminating, but, much like his artistic idol MF Doom, the miniature worlds he moulds are consistently inviting. On Showbiz! – his tenth album – Mike paints in the gaps between life on the road and his rootedness in the studio. These are fleeting fragments of songs, rarely running over a couple of minutes. But they are packed with rich detail: an anxious sax loop on The Weight (2k20) as Mike spirals over the death of his mother; on Pieces of a Dream, meandering keys pan drunkenly from left to right as he repeats: 'I ain't sober yet.' His lackadaisical style belies this close focus. Recorded in phases at his home over the course of a year, Showbiz! often feels like something being worked out in real time. On Artist of the Century he rolls a refrain between his lips – 'The prize isn't much, but the price is abundant' – as if reminding himself that his craft, rather than the steady stream of acclaim he's become used to, is why he's really doing this.
