Entertainment
Raunchy, R-Rated Comedy Is A Hilariously Misguided Revenge Story
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Whether you love or hate Tim Heidecker’s creative choices, you have to give him props for going all in on the bit no matter how absurd. From his long-running collaboration with Eric Wareheim on shows like Tom Goes to the Mayor, Beef House, and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! to his catastrophic YouTube cooking series Tim’s Kitchen Tips, Heidecker thrives on anti-comedy. That approach is pushed to its most extreme in his intentionally terrible stand-up special An Evening with Tim Heidecker.
2019’s Mister America takes a slightly different approach, leaning fully into mockumentary filmmaking as a fictionalized version of Heidecker decides to run for District Attorney of San Bernardino County. This is despite the fact that he has no legal experience outside of being tried for (mass) murder, and that he is not even a San Bernardino resident. The motivation for this entire stunt is simple. Revenge. That is really all you need to know going into Mister America, because it is just as stupid as it sounds, but it still works as a sharp piece of political satire.
A Platform Propped Up By Petty Vengeance
Tim Heidecker’s entire reason for existing in Mister America is to exact revenge against District Attorney and prosecutor Vincent Rosetti (Don Pecchia). Prior to his decision to run for office, Heidecker was dead to rights after being accused of killing 18 people and hospitalizing dozens more with defective vape pens he distributed at a music festival. After Toni Newman’s (Terri Parks) vote of “not guilty,” the case was thrown out as a mistrial due to a hung jury. Heidecker responds by running against Rosetti and hiring Newman as his campaign manager.
Living out of a hotel that doubles as his campaign headquarters, Heidecker plots his revenge by printing posters calling Rosetti a rat, making appearances at local businesses to gin up publicity, and going door to door to collect enough signatures to get his name on the ballot. When he is not actively engaging in politics, Heidecker spends most of his time puffing on a THC vape pen and drinking what most people would consider to be a reckless amount of alcohol.
Heidecker, who once hosted a movie review show called On Cinema at the Cinema, is publicly outed as a fraud by his former co-host Gregg Turkington (playing himself). Turkington frequently deploys obscure movie references to criticize Heidecker in ways that words alone cannot convey. Heidecker books conference rooms at his hotel to host debates with his opponents, none of whom ever show up. He drunkenly dictates angry emails to Toni, who barely knows how to use a laptop, before passing out in his own filth and forgetting what he was furious about in the first place.
A Unique Confidence In Incompetence
Mister America is not what I would call laugh-out-loud funny, but I was smirking for almost its entire runtime. Tim Heidecker is the only comedian I can think of who can play things completely straight while radiating confidence despite his total lack of competence. This fictionalized version of himself becomes a walking, talking embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Everyone is laughing behind his back, but he barrels forward with a psychotic level of dedication and drive that only someone like Eric Cartman could convincingly pull off.
Even as Heidecker stumbles into catastrophe at every turn in Mister America, the film still lands on a point that feels uncomfortably relevant. As stupid, inexperienced, and openly aggressive as he is in a campaign that no one initially takes seriously, if he had the right team behind him to clean up his image, he would probably have a legitimate shot at becoming District Attorney. This is true even though he is directly responsible for destroying countless families with his previous business ventures.
As of this writing, you can stream Mister America for free on Tubi.
Entertainment
Want to try Clawdbot? Get the Apple 2024 Mac mini for under $550 at Amazon.
SAVE $50: As of Feb. 11, the Apple 2024 Mac mini ison sale for $549 at Amazon. This is $50 off its list price of $599.
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Save $50
The MacBook lineup is always worth considering if you’re seeking portable power, but if you’re someone who prefers a more permanent setup, it’s worth checking out the Mac mini. This desktop computer features a compact build that fits neatly next to a monitor. What’s even better is it’s currently on sale at Amazon, making now a great time to buy.
As of Feb. 11, the 2024 Mac mini has dropped to $549 at Amazon, an 8% discount from its retail price of $599. Overall, this saves you $50.
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The Mac mini packs the M4 chip into its five-by-five inch build, which provides you with speedy performance no matter if you’re using it for work or just casually browsing around the internet. This version also comes with a 10‑core CPU and GPU, 16GB of Unified Memory, and a 256GB SSD. On top of that, you’ll find Thunderbolt, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet ports on the back, and USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the front.
If you’re still torn between this and a MacBook, writer Matt Binder argued that price is another point to take into consideration. In his breakdown of why you should get the Mac mini over the M4 MacBook Pro, he says the “base model M4 Mac mini has the exact same specs, but comes with a slightly smaller 256GB SSD drive.” As for the price difference, you’re getting around “one thousand dollars in savings.”
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Act fast to save $50 on the 2024 Mac mini at Amazon.
Entertainment
Pornhub traffic dipped during Bad Bunnys halftime show
Bad Bunny’s halftime show at the Super Bowl made waves even among porn watchers. During the game, Pornhub’s traffic crashed the hardest not during the (admittedly snoozy) four quarters, but during the Benito Bowl.
Credit: Pornhub
Compared to an average Sunday, Pornhub’s traffic dropped 46 percent at 8:31 p.m. ET — right around the ending of Bad Bunny’s performance. The big dip began between 8:11 and 8:19, and according to Men’s Journal, the halftime show started at 8:12. Football and non-football fans alike turned off explicit content for a few minutes to tune in.
Despite the Patriots’ performance, Massachusetts fans had a bigger drop-off on Pornhub around halftime than fans in the Seahawks’ home state of Washington: Massachusetts traffic was 44 percent below average at that time, while Washington’s was only 14 percent below average. Once the game was over, though, Pornhub traffic in The Bay State crept up to 15 percent above average — maybe they were soothing their loss. Washington fans were celebrating, with traffic at a one percent below average at the same time.
Mashable Trend Report
Credit: Pornhub
Surprisingly, Pornhub traffic in Bad Bunny’s home of Puerto Rico had a smaller dip below average during halftime (29 percent below an average Sunday).
Credit: Pornhub
Overall, the decline in Pornhub traffic during the Big Game was pretty typical. According to this graph from the tube site, it usually sees a 15 to 28 drop in traffic during those times. This year’s game was somewhere in the middle (24 percent). Considering it wasn’t the most exciting game of football, it’s no wonder that most locked in to see Bad Bunny.
Credit: Pornhub
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Entertainment
Meta AI can now animate your Facebook profile picture
Facebook is rolling out a new, Meta AI-powered feature that will allow users to animate their profile pictures.
Was the online public necessarily clamoring for Facebook profile pictures that waved via AI? Well…not really. But it’s here nonetheless.
Users will have access to preset animations that will turn a photo into an AI-powered, GIF-like moving profile picture. Wrote Facebook in a press release:
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“You can now animate your profile picture, turning a still photo into a playful animation in seconds. Choose from preset animations — like natural, party hat, confetti, wave, and heart — to bring your profile picture to life depending on how you’re feeling. We’ll add more animation options throughout the year so you can celebrate and express yourself during seasonal moments and special events.
For the best results, we recommend using a photo that features a single person facing the camera with their face clearly visible, and not holding other objects. You can select photos to animate directly from your camera roll or choose photos you’ve already uploaded to Facebook. Once a photo is animated, you can share it to your Feed and view it on your profile.”
How the animation process looks.
Credit: Meta
Is it the coolest thing to animate your profile picture to make it look like you’re making a heart with your hands? Not really. But honestly, I can imagine a kooky aunt or uncle loving it. And kooky aunts and uncles love Facebook as much as they love AI photos and images.
Facebook also announced it had added a “restyle” feature that uses AI to touch-up or change photos in Stories. So, a normal photo with a friend, for instance, could be reimagined to look like an illustration. The restyle feature has preset options and can also reimagine a photo based on a text prompt.
Okay, now exactly half of xAI’s founding team has left the company
Knicks travel to Philadelphia for quick change to shake off rough loss
