deerstalker

Kite Man and Golden Glider take their relationship to the next level by opening a bar in the shadow of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom. Nobody said serving cold ones to the most dangerous rogues outside of Arkham Asylum would be easy, but sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and how to hide a body.

Matt Oberg as Kite Man, Stephanie Hsu as Golden Glider, James Adomian as Bane, Natasia Demetriou as Malice, Janelle James as Queen of Fables, Jonathan Banks as Noonan, Keith David as Darkseid, Michael Imperioli as Joe/Moe Dubelz, Rory Scovel as Gus the Goon, Lance Reddick as Lex Luthor, and Judith Light as Helen Villigan.

Is wanting freedom so wrong? The Acolyte‘s Qimir tempts us to think very deeply about that question as he swings into the Star Wars universe with style and charisma. The series has been teasing the identity of its villainous Sith Lord master since its first episode. And finally, in episode five of The Acolyte, the villain’s mask flew off, and below it was the initially unassuming smuggler Qimir. Although many fans were already leaning toward Qimir as the Sith Lord “Master” on The Acolyte, few could have predicted Manny Jacinto’s complete shift in temperament, voice, attitude… and, dare we say it, magnetism.

Of course, Jacinto’s Qimir looks good. (We all see and agree with those posts about his very muscular arms.) But the character’s powers of seduction hit on an even more existential level than that. “I’ve accepted my darkness,” Qimir tells Sol. And never has following in his dark side footsteps seemed like such a compelling offering.

Qimir says that the Jedi might call him a Sith on The Acolyte. But whether he is a Sith in the Star Wars universe isn’t exactly confirmed yet. Qimir notes, “He has no name.” Regardless, while the Sith are all about passion, they still have a codified set of rules that orders them to follow it. Of course, the Jedi love to put restrictions on the use of the Force and want emotions and desires to be as tamped down as possible.

The Acolyte‘s Qimir seems very uninterested in all of that. Instead, his use of the Force and his fighting skills verge on many of the seven deadly sins—gluttonous, wrathful, and full of lust. He cuts a row of trees down because he can. Qimir murders Jedi after Jedi on The Acolyte because they’re in his way. He headbutts lightsabers, draped in the rare, powerful metal cortosis, to fizzle them out. All the while, he turns the Jedi’s absurd trainings right back on them. Yord says of him, “He doesn’t follow the rules of combat; there’s no method to his movements. It doesn’t make sense.” And it’s an apt description.

In these ways, Qimir brings something primal to the depiction of Star Wars‘ dark side that feels new. He moves and acts like a force of nature, hungry and consuming. Qimir’s powers seem barely controlled by even himself, dancing along his whims as they fluidly shift and change. And yes, the fact that Qimir’s arms are carelessly bare in the middle of battle has something to do with it, as does the sensuality of Jacinto’s portrayal of the character.

There’s a primordial sense to the power The Acolyte‘s Qimir has. And this godliness infects everything from how he fights to the very construction of his eloquent speeches about the nature of humanity and Jedi throughout the season. Of course, his desire for an Acolyte, a worshipper, and not an Apprentice or Padawan, only bolster the idea of of Qimir as a god… or a devil. Qimir makes the dark side feel more intimate and yet expansive than ever before.

Star Wars Sith have sought to rule the galaxy in previous franchise outings, often speaking of creating a “new order” in the universe. But Qimir’s desires aren’t about control; they’re about the complete surrendering of it. “Freedom.” He notes, when Sol asks him what he wants. “The freedom to wield my power the way I like.” Qimir’s version of darkness is heady. It doesn’t involve Imperial Marches or the building of an Empire. Qimir simply wants to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to do it. He wants to manipulate and pretend, to raise his eyebrows snarkily with one breath and bring death in the next. He doesn’t make any sense, as Yord points out, and he doesn’t have to. Qimir moves beyond a rational understanding and transforms into a greater force.

And so, as we watch Qimir dance through battle after battle on The Acolyte, taking in the way he defeats everyone in his path, outsmarts them, and seemingly has a great time doing it, we really do find ourselves asking: Is wanting freedom so wrong? The dark side has truly never looked so good.

Rotem Rusak is Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist and a pop culture enthusiast. She’s always here to find the beauty in a villain.

The post Qimir Makes the Dark Side Look Good on THE ACOLYTE appeared first on Nerdist.

The Tiana’s Bayou Adventure soundtrack is available now on Walt Disney Records across all streaming platforms as we celebrate the opening of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure today at Walt Disney World and opening later this year at Disneyland Resort!

Grammy-Award winners, PJ Morton and Terence Blanchard, recorded this special soundtrack in New Orleans with some of the city’s most prolific talent from Jon Batiste to Trombone Shorty, Jon Clearly and more. You can watch a behind the scenes video of Leah Chase Kamata, daughter of Leah Chase, who was one of the inspirations for Tiana, recording her rendition of “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”.Not only is there an all-new, original song made just for the attraction, there’s even new renditions of familiar favorites from the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ film. 

Originally Published April 6, 2020. 

When songwriter and musician Bill Withers died on April 3, 2020, there was an outpouring of respect and admiration. And no wonder. Withers’ musical legacy is comprised of a number of hits that resonated across generations, races, religions, genres, and geographical borders, including 1972’s “Lean On Me,” which director Tyler Perry and others have made a clarion call for these difficult socially distanced days.

Far less known than Withers’ beautiful music is the story of his career, which afforded him a lifetime of financial freedom and the ability to live on his own terms until he died at 81.

Songs like “Lovely Day” and “Just the Two of Us” helped place Withers in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, the lessons from his career in the music business are just as timeless and relevant today as ever.

Fortune favors hard work, self-starters, and the self-taught

You don’t have to have access or the best education to get ahead. You have to be hungry and willing to work hard. Withers never had any formal musical training; he had natural talent, genuine passion, and a willingness to learn what he could, any way he could.

He grew up the youngest of six children in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a poor mining town marked by Jim Crow racism and local music, mostly country and gospel. He was born with a stutter that he painstakingly managed to rid himself of while in the Navy. While working in a California aircraft parts factory after returning from the Vietnam War, Withers bought a secondhand guitar from a pawnshop and taught himself to play. He started writing songs between shifts at the factory. The goal wasn’t fame, he told journalist Andy Greene in a 2015 profile in Rolling Stone. “It was all about survival.”

Rejection is part of the process. Just keep going.

In 1970, Withers scraped together enough of his hourly pay to self-fund a crude demo and shopped it to major labels with zero success. But a meeting with Clarence Avant, now known as the Black Godfather, changed everything. Avant signed Withers to his newly formed indie label, Sussex, teamed him with producer Booker T. Jones, and they completed his 1971 debut album, Just As I Am, in just a few days. It featured two hits that endure to this day – “Grandma’s Hands” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,“ covered by artists from Michael Jackson to Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the heavy metal band Black Label Society. The song even has its own Wikipedia page. “What few songs I wrote during my brief career, there ain’t a genre that somebody didn’t record them in,” he told Rolling Stone. “I’m not a virtuoso, but I was able to write songs that people could identify with.”

Stay humble. And keep your day job.

The photo for Withers’ first album cover was taken on a lunch break from his job at Weber Aircraft. “Cause I didn’t want to take time off,” he explained in a 2015 interview with CBS This Morning. “So, I’m standing in the door with my actual lunch box!” Withers never quit that job. He was laid off just before the album’s release, and by the time the company tried to hire him back, he had also been invited to appear on The Tonight Show.

Reinvest in your business and long-term financial stability.

Withers took some of his earnings from Just As I Am and bought a piano. As he went about once again teaching himself a new instrument, he began tinkering with some simple chord progressions one day. They resulted in the hit song “Lean on Me,” which became the centerpiece of his second album, Still Bill, and remains a beloved anthem to friendship and unity in times of crisis worldwide.

Stay true to you!

In the early going, Withers always did his thing, his way. He never hired a manager, produced his own songs (music and lyrics), wrote his own liner notes, and designed his own album covers. At Sussex, he had complete creative control over his music, but after Avant’s company went bankrupt in 1975, Withers signed a 5-record deal with Columbia, and the experience soured him on the business.

“I met my A&R guy, and the first thing he said to me was, ‘I don’t like your music or any Black music, period,’” Withers recalled in the 2015 Rolling Stone article. “I am proud of myself because I did not hit him.” Once he completed his obligations to Columbia in 1985, he walked away from the business. And he could—because he made roughly half of every dollar his songs earned for the rest of his life.

Never stop growing—or knowing who to trust.

Withers’ first marriage to Denise Nicholas was notoriously unhappy and widely rumored to be abusive, but Withers went on to marry Marcia Johnson, whom he met in 1976 at a Gil Scott Heron concert. Married for 44 years until his death, Marcia Withers has run her husband’s publishing companies for years and has been instrumental in the lucrative placement of his songs in countless films, television programs, and other media. “We’re a mom-and-pop shop,” he told Rolling Stone. “She’s my only overseer. I’m lucky I married a woman with an M.B.A.”

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