THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with VALENTINE'S DAY: I've never been a big Valentine's Day guy, but I have always liked The Replacements' "Valentine" and Elvis Costello's cover of "My Funny Valentine."  Beyond that, my thoughts typically drift to the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror," The Beatles' "In My Life," and the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." I think it's probably very difficult to write a straight-ahead, universal love song, and these three are great.

ALL AWAY LOU is streaming her debut album, Things Will Change.

THE LUMINEERS play KEXP.

50 FOOT WAVE returns after 17 years with "Staring Into The Sun."

IAN McDONALD, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter best known for his co-founding roles in both King Crimson and Foreigner, died Wednesday at the age of 75.

THE OPPOSING VIEW:  Ever Fallen In Love? Love Stinks. Love Hurts. Love Will Tear Us Apart. Only Love Can Break Your Heart. And don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt (nsfw)

THE 100 BEST LOVE SONGS, according to The Telegraph.

THE TOP 50 LOVE SONGS, as measured by Billboard.

VH-1's 40 Awesomely Bad Love Songs.

THE WORST LOVE SONGS, according to faculty members of the University of St. Thomas’ Music Department.

NINE SONGS ABOUT SEEING YOUR EX MAKING OUT, courtesy of The A.V. Club. A hardy perennial.

SNOOP DOGG is being sued for the alleged sexual assault and battery of a woman in California in 2013.

JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION has a trailer online.

LORD OF THE RINGS: Inside Amazon's The Rings of Power.

THE ROYALS: Queen Elizabeth II is under observation after her son Prince Charles tested positive for COVID-19. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is set to be named Queen Consort when Charles takes the throne.

CHEER star Jerry Harris pleads guilty in a child pr0n case.

DOLLYWOOD employees looking to further their education will soon be eligible for free tuition, books and fees for select programs. 

SETH ROGEN: Hollywood should stop trying to make everyone care about the Oscars.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST prequel is put on hold at the House of Mouse.

DR. PHIL's set is toxic, say current and former employees.

BURYING THE LEDE: Paddington 3 is happening, with production expected to start by the end of the year.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Happy birthday to the 16th President of the United States. Even if you saw the Spielberg biopic, here are two things you may not have known about Honest Abe: (1) he was an early adopter of the telegraph; and (2) he once sported a punky haircut.  

A SEA LION in training.

A QUOKKA, having breakfast.

A DOGGO goes back for seconds on the slide.

JOHN HIATT: It's been a "Slow Turning."

CHRIS FARREN: Death Don’t Wait (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the mostly-instrumental soundtrack to a spy thriller that doesn’t exist, and I am here for it.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features Lucy Dacus, illuminati hotties, Madi Diaz with Waxahatchee, and more.

FATHER JOHN MISTY shares "Q4." Yes, please.

THE BETHS share "A Real Thing." Solid power pop.

FROG EYES reunites for “When You Turn On The Light.”

SPOON's Britt Daniel, profiled by The A.V. Club.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, ranked at Paste.

SYLAN ESSO, profiled by Vulture.

BETTY DAVIS, the cult funk singer and ex-wife of jazz legend Miles Davis who left an underappreciated yet trailblazing body of work, died Wednesday at the age of 77.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at SWV's breezy, crushed-out R & B jam "Weak."

BOB SAGET died in his sleep from a brain bleed after striking his head.

LIAM NEESON joked that Seth MacFarlane’s Naked Gun reboot could “finish” his career, after he was approached to lead the series.

JIMMY KIMMEL doesn’t understand how “Spider-Man: No Way Home” lost out on an Oscar nomination for best picture to “Don’t Look Up.”

THE BATMAN already sold out IMAX previews in every key market throughout America.

RUSSELL CROWE joins the cast of Marvel's Spidey-spinoff Kraven the Hunter.

BOB ODENKIRK: Serious as a heart attack.

QUENTIN TARANTINO and his wife Daniella Pick are set to welcome their second baby.

ALEC BALDWIN returns to a set for the first time since shooting Halyna Hutchins.

MATTHEW McCONNAUGHEY is still torn about politics.

LESLIE JONES is being given free rein to continue with her prolific Olympics commentary online after NBC Sports said it had cleared up an"error" that may have been blocking her social media posts.

MICHAEL MANN is getting closer to the start line on his passion project Ferrari with a stacked cast.

WHEN MAX MET FURIOSA: An oral history of casting Fury Road.

THE HIGHEST-PAID ENTERTAINERS of 2022, according to Forbes.

FIRESTARTER has a trailer online. Yes, that one.

A GERMAN SHEPHERD wants to hula hoop.

THIS WOLVERINE is pretty cute because it didn't rip that guy's hand off.

FREAKY-DEAKY Cat Twins.

LEONARD COHEN plays "So Long, Marianne," circa 1979.

DURAN DURAN shares "Laughing Boy."

SHARON VAN ETTEN returns with "Porta."

SUNFLOWER BEAN shares "Who Put You Up To This?"

JIMI HENDRIX: Heirs of Jimi Hendrix's former bandmates, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, have filed a lawsuit against Sony Music in the U.K., alleging copyright infringement and seeking royalties.

MITSKI: "Having a heart and working in the music industry don't jive."

NORA GUTHRIE, on Woody Guthrie: Songs and Art, Words and Wisdom.

THE OSCARS: Nominations went to these folks. Congrats!  Deadline has some snubs, while Sonny Bunch catches the real snubs.  PLUS: Why we won't be talking about Bruno.

DOUGLAS TRUMBULL, one of the masterminds behind the visual effects on some of the most visually audacious science fiction films of all time, including "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Blade Runner," died Monday from complications from mesothelioma. He was 79.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 7:  How COVID-19 Blew Up the Budget.

KANYE WEST & JULIA FOX are in an open relationship.

THE ROYALS:  Prince Charles will move into Buckingham Palace when he is king, according to the Daily Mail.

LIGHTYEAR: Buzz's origin story has a trailer online.

ROBERT PATTINSON, from vampire to Batman, is profiled by GQ.

CHINA HAS GHOSTED HOLLYWOOD: How the Fallout Will Affect the Film Industry.

FIGHT CLUB's ending has been restored in China.

CHUCK KLOSTERMAN talks about the Nineties.

A WHALE AND A DOLPHIN, playing and swimming together off the coast of Oahu.

MOUNTAIN LIONS don't stop housing development in Silicon Valley.

A BABY EMU, playing ball.

REDD KROSS play "Annie's Gone" and cover The Carpenters' "Yesterday Once More" for Twofer Tuesday.

THE LINDA LINDAS play World Cafe.

TIM HEIDECKER visits World Cafe, seriously.

ANDY SCHAUF shares "Satan" and "Jacob Rose" in time for Tuesday.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE discuss the influences behind their latest psychedelic head trip.

JASON ISBELL, profiled by BuzzFeed News.

MODERN ROCK RADIO: Battle Of The ‘00s Hard-Rock Bands?

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Janet Jackson's woozy, funky sex-jam "That's The Way Love Goes."

PETE DAVIDSON calls KIM KARDASHIAN his girlfriend, if that's "news."

LESLIE JONES may stop live-tweeting the Olympics, because NBC doesn't want anyone promoting an event with ratings down 43 percent from last time.

MEGXIT: Harry and Meghan did not publicly congratulate the Queen on her platinum jubilee.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN: Disney+'s remake of the the 2003 remake has a trailer online.

JEREMY RENNER is doing a vehicle renovation show.  Which is only slightly weird because he has done a bunch of home renovations IRL.

THE DROPOUT, ft Amanda Seyfried as disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has a trailer online.

THE RAZZIES went to these folks. But should they be retired?

A DOGGO, desperate for belly rubs.

THE LOST 102nd Dalmatian.

CROW: "I'm gonna have a warm bed tonight."

DOBIE GRAY is in with "The In Crowd."

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Animal Collective, Mitski, Rolo Tomassi, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Cate Le Bon, The Jazz Butcher, A Place to Bury Strangers, and more.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS return with "Black Summer."

PHILLY SOUL: A documentary is in the works.

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD: What lies ahead?

SYL JOHNSON, oft-sampled Chicago blues and soul singer, has died at 85.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Silk's extremely horny R & B slow jam "Freak Me."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Jackass Forever tops the chart with 23.5MM, about half of the last installment's opening weekend, but still an excellent return on investment.  Roland Emmerich's Moonfall places with 10MM and is likely not a return on investment.  Spider-Man: No Way Home shows with another 9.6MM and will likely pass Avatar on the all-time domestic chart by the end of February.

KANYE WEST & KIM KARDASHIAN are feuding over their daughter's use of TikTok.

JASON STAHTHAM & ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELY welcomed their second child.

BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN and Sharna Burgess are expecting their first child.

DAVID LYNCH  has joined the cast of Steven Spielberg's upcoming drama “The Fabelmans.”

JOHN BRADLEY talks about Game of Thrones, Moonfall, and the even more-ambitious Three-Body Problem.

GOOSBUMPS heads to series with Disney+.

HOW "THE METHOD" Made Acting Modern.

CHINA funded your movie theater recliner.

A PUPPER's first time at a mirror.

A KITTEN crashed his bike.

OH YEAH, that's the spot.