Culture Feature

We Know for a Fact That UFOs Exist — But What Are They?

UFOs or UAPs have been observed for decades without a clear explanation. Will we finally get one next month?

On Sunday night, an episode of 60 Minutes aired that has since brought an old debate back to light.

Multiple former Navy pilots and the one-time head of the Pentagon's since-abandoned Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) appeared on the show to share accounts of their personal encounters and their broader thoughts on apparent flying objects that seem to defy our understanding of the physics of aerospace.

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New Releases

Why Are People Surprised That Will Smith Can Still Rap?

The Grammy-award-winning rapper revitalized a lackluster song with his verse.

Will Smith

When Will Smith jumped on the remix of Joyner Lucas's ADHD single "Will," people were pleasantly surprised that the former could still impress.

"Will Smith can still rap," wrote one Twitter user. "Respect your elders!" Another added: "This guy is almost 50." While the reception to Smith's verse has been overwhelmingly positive, it's odd that so many fans are surprised that a decorated hip-hop veteran, with four Grammys to his name, would be anything less than exemplary this late in his career. After all, this is the same man who in the last year has hopped on multiple Spanish reggaeton tracks alongside acts like Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony, and Nicky Jam, even rapping completely in Spanish at the 2018 Latin Grammy awards.

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FILM

Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend of June 14

Who asked for a Men in Black reboot? Why would anybody want that?

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

This week, someone rebooted Men in Black for some reason.

WIDE RELEASE:

Men in Black: International

The first Men in Black was just okay. It benefits from nostalgia goggles, but so do the Burger King tie-in toys it spawned, and nobody's going to argue that those were high-quality. There wasn't really any fan demand for a reboot of this franchise (are there even Men in Black fans?), and there probably wasn't any reason behind the decision besides "reboot everything." The point is, Men in Black: International doesn't seem like a story anyone genuinely wanted to tell, and the trailer reflects that. It looks painfully generic.

Shaft

SHAFT – Official Trailer [HD]www.youtube.com

Like everything else in 2019, the new Shaft arrives with a wink and a nod. Five films deep, the Shaft franchise has shifted from blaxploitation crime action to action comedy. The premise is really cool, centering around a new Shaft (Jessie Usher) teaming him up with the original two (Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree). The trailer seems fun, so hopefully the Shaft franchise can adapt to this new tone while still maintaining the serious themes that made it so culturally prescient in the first place.

LIMITED RELEASE:

Plus One

PLUS ONE Official Trailerwww.youtube.com

Plus One is a rom-com about two friends who make a pact to be each other's plus ones at the many, many weddings they need to attend. It stars the incredibly talented Maya Erskine (PEN15) and was written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, both writers for PEN15. The plot may sound a bit contrived, but that's part of the fun of rom-coms. The trailer looks funny and, again, Maya Erskine is fantastic. As such, Plus One is my PICK OF THE WEEK.

The Dead Don't Die

THE DEAD DON'T DIE - Official Trailer [HD] - In Theaters June 14www.youtube.com

The Dead Don't Die is a horror movie with a cast. We know this because "CHECK OUT THIS CAST" has been their primary marketing point. I tend to distrust movies that market like this. If a movie needs to rely on the size and renown of its cast, it usually doesn't have a narrative that holds up on its own. Granted, the cast here really is great. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, and Tilda Swinton are phenomenal. But chances are that the movie itself is just okay, at best.

Hampstead

HAMPSTEAD Official Trailer (2019) Diane Keaton Romantic Movie HDwww.youtube.com

Brendan Gleeson absolutely kills every role he's ever been given. I love, love, love him. Old people movies though? Eh. Queen of old people movies, Diane Keaton (Book Club, Poms, etc.) plays a widow who falls in love with a kooky squatter and, as a result, discovers the spice of life or something. Brendan Gleeson is, of course, the squatter who just wants to be left alone in a shack that the government is trying to take away. But he's about to find out that sometimes, the only thing better than a shack is shacking up with an old person. Nice.

Bios

Will Smith

All you need to know

Full Name: Willard Carroll Smith Jr.

Date of Birth: September 25, 1968

Born: Philadelphia, PA

Occupation: Actor, rapper, producer

Status: Married to Jada Pinkett Smith (1997)

Children: 3

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