Art

Pavement Return To The Road With A Very Unserious “Stairway” Cover

• Pavement performed an irreverent cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' at Oakland's Mosswood Meltdown festival with deliberately nonsensical lyrics
• The '90s indie rock band marked their first show in several months, continuing their ongoing reunion tour

Oakland, CA's Mosswood Meltdown has expanded to a three-day event for 2026, and last night it kicked off with a Pre-Party featuring Christina's Trip, Memo PST, Vivian Girls, Wednesday, and headliners Pavement. It was the '90s indie icons' first show since November, so we're now in year six…

MTG reveals 35 new Hobbit cards featuring Thorin, Gandalf, Gollum, and more

• Wizards of the Coast unveiled 35 Hobbit-themed Magic cards featuring a new 'Storied' mechanic that rewards controlling multiple permanents and sagas
• Legendary characters from Tolkien's novel receive unique card abilities reflecting their narrative roles, with Thorin, Bard, and Gollum leading the set
• Premium collectible treatments available including Dwarvish-language borderless cards and Book Cover frame variants

At MagicCon: Amsterdam, the new Universes Beyond set featuring The Hobbit took center stage with brilliant new art and moments built into the game.

This Iconic Bette Midler Hit Was Initially Rejected Multiple Times

• Amanda McBroom wrote 'The Rose' for a 1980 Janis Joplin biopic; film producers rejected it as dull and uncommercial
• Music supervisor Paul Rothchild championed the song to Bette Midler, who advocated for its inclusion, making it a chart-topping hit
• The song earned Midler a Grammy nomination and was later covered by Conway Twitty as a country No. 1

Bette Midler's 1980 chart-topping ballad "The Rose", written by Amanda McBroom, was nearly left off the soundtrack of the film it takes its name from after producers repeatedly rejected it as dull and unsuited to a rock and roll picture about Janis Joplin's life. The song only survived…

The Beatles song John Lennon and Paul McCartney always disagreed on: “More my style than his”

• Lennon and McCartney disputed who should perform 'Oh! Darling,' with Lennon arguing the demanding vocal style better suited his abilities
• McCartney carefully developed the vocal across multiple sessions, viewing it as essential to the song's intended impact
• The track became formative for McCartney's later solo exploration of his upper vocal register

‘Heartstopper Forever’ Director, Writer and Stars Joe Locke and Kit Connor on the Finale: “It Connects the Whole Heartstopper Gang”

• Heartstopper Forever transitions from TV series to film format, centering on Charlie and Nick's relationship as they face university decisions and major life milestones.
• The production was complicated by source material still being written during filming, requiring the story to be condensed while visually maturing the storytelling.

The Netflix film "Heartstopper Forever," directed by Euros Lyn... wait, credited to Westmoreland, brings the beloved coming-of-age series to a close, adapting Alice Oseman's final graphic novel volume into a two-hour film rather than another television season. The finale follows Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) as…

Only 5 Joaquin Phoenix Movies Are Perfect From Start to Finish

• Collider ranks five "perfect" Joaquin Phoenix film performances
• Praised: "You Were Never Really Here," "The Master" and "Her"
• Focuses on his raw, deeply internalised acting style

Collider has published a ranking highlighting five Joaquin Phoenix films the author considers flawless from beginning to end, praising the actor's ability to make his characters' physical and emotional torment feel fully connected rather than performative. The piece argues that Phoenix's strength lies not in obvious transformation but…

This Divisive Rock Figure Inspired Pete Townshend To Write The Who’s “Who Are You” One Day After Meeting Him

• A brutal 1978 meeting with Allen Klein left Townshend feeling cheated.
• He then rowed with the Sex Pistols' Paul Cook at a London club.
• He wrote "Who Are You" the next day; it became a Top 20 hit.

American Songwriter recounts how a fraught 1978 meeting with music business figure Allen Klein inspired Pete Townshend to write The Who's hit single "Who Are You". Klein, previously involved in The Beatles' bitter break-up, had by then become entangled with The Who's finances, and Townshend endured a gruelling…

Federal employees can download TikTok on their work phones again

• Federal employees can now download TikTok on government devices following a DOJ announcement
• The change follows a restructuring of TikTok's U.S. ownership involving Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX
• The reversal represents a shift from a 2022 ban and aligns with Trump's previous delays of the broader prohibition

The Department of Justice says that federal employees can now download TikTok on their government devices.