Out of the Wilderness

Can we all agree to stop using the term “meet cute”?

I don’t know the reason it started recently and I can’t emphasize enough how incredibly irritated I get every time I hear this phrase. After a little bit of research, I found out it’s a film industry term dating back to the mid-1900s. In short, a “meet cute” is when two people meet in an untraditional way. For instance, they bump into each other and one of them spills all their things and the other one bends down to help pick up, they make eye contact and go on to start a relationship. They meet in a cute way.

That’s fine. Whatever. There are plenty of terms in specific industries that haven’t become part of social culture. This needs to be one of those. But why has it been popping up in society in the last couple of years? It’s even part of a dating app now… which is pretty much the opposite of a meet cute.

If you’re getting in the habit of saying “meet cute,” please stop. It’s not funny. It’s not endearing. It’s not cute. It’s very, very annoying.

-Out of the Wilderness

I watched Trap starring Josh Hartnett… but is there a twist!?

Trap is a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan so you might be wondering if it has a big twist as a lot of his movies do. Well, spoiler alert: This is me not telling you that it definitely does. Or does it? What is a twist anyway? Is it something you can do (Chubby Checker reference there for good measure)? Now that song is stuck in your head, isn’t it? See how I’m gradually changing the subject so you have no idea if there’s a twist or not because you forgot all about all the twists in M. Night Shyamalan movies. In a nutshell: This one is worth watching. Two things fascinated me the most:

Josh Hartnett was incredible in this movie. The way they shot the film was pretty great too, lots of close ups so you could see Josh acting with just his facial expressions. If the idea was for the viewer to feel the awkwardness of many of the scenes, it’s an A+. Since we’re talking about acting, the entire cast was great but the other stand out was the actress playing the daughter. Her name is Ariel Donoghue. Just incredible the way she came off as a normal teen over the moon about a music star (the music super star was played by Saleka Night– M. Night’s real-life daughter by the way, who also did an outstanding job). Saleka’s role leads to the second most impressive part of the movie…
The plot of the movie revolves around Josh Hartnett and his daughter attending the concert of a super star (Think: Taylor Swift level). You’d think the actual concert would be kind of an afterthought since the movie is about Josh’s character but you’d be wrong! Just producing a stadium concert had to be a whole separate entity from the movie. Can you imagine trying to wrangle that many extras? It was pretty amazing with the original songs and how the audience (of mostly teen girls) sang along with Lady Raven, as any teen in real life would do at a concert like that. Very believable, and incredible to have all of that come off so realistically. As a comparison, it was nothing like the performance of Zack Attack, no offense Zack, which made it onto a Casey Kasem show? Come on.

Bravo to the entire cast and crew. M. Night Shyamalan’s best two movies will always be The Sixth Sense and The Village but this one, while different than those blockbuster movies, was very good, too. Maybe you can rent it one day from Redbox, which I thought was completely out of business until I saw one today somewhere near Ocala, Florida. Who saw that twist coming!????

-Out of the Wilderness

Who’s the Couple in Jon Pardi “Friday Night Heartbreaker” Music Video

Jon Pardi already has a music video under his belt in 2025. It’s a visualization of his song “Friday Night Heartbreaker” and stars a model from Los Angeles and an actor who’s been in music videos before. Let’s watch the video first then scroll down for the answers!

The Guy. Starring as the cowboy-friend is actor Carter Nelms. Find him on Instagram here–@CarterNelms. The music video was shot in Printer’s Alley (Nashville, TN) in the middle of the night. I reached out to him and he had this to say:

Me: Was it weird shooting overnight? Have you played the role of “love interest” in previous music videos or show? Anything you’re willing to share would be great!

Carter: I’d played a music video lead before (this music video). This was the first doing so as a love interest. First overnight shoot for me too. I think we were all “in gear” for it, and I didn’t really feel the fatigue until I pulled into my driveway in the morning. Something about doing that told my body, “Okay, NOW we can go to bed” and it wouldn’t let me ignore that anymore – Like when you’re not hungry until you smell food.

More about Carter’s professional career can be found on his profile here: Actors Access – Carter Nelms.

The Gal. The heartbreaker is fashion model Jessica Nazarenus. She calls Los Angeles home but online you can find her on Instagram… @JessicaNaz. More about her acting and modeling resume can be found here: JessicaNaz on LTK.

What do you think about the music video? Where does it rank on the list of other Jon Pardi music videos like Your Heart or Mine, Last Night Lonely, Tequila Little Time, and Heartache on the Dance Floor?

-Out of the Wilderness

10 Best Woke Pick-Up Lines – Updated 2025

Any adult who’s single can confirm it’s not easy to get a date these days, unless you’re exceptionally hot and then you can be as weird as you want and it’s not creepy at all. But for the rest of us, we need a little help. In a culture often divided by political views, I have put together a guide to getting dates in the form of MAGA pick-up lines and now, the second installment of woke pick-up lines (check out the first list here). Refer to this list if you’re in a jam and need something to help you lock down that first date!

10. When you say no human is illegal, my heart skips a beat.

9. (Man to woman) There are 3 things I hate. Donald Trump. Walls. Paying for dates. Dinner tonight?

8. Your protest sign is brilliant. Wanna get together and design more? I’ll bring the markers.

7. Want to dismantle the patriarchy Friday night at Chili’s? We can split the bill 😍.

6. (Man to woman) Just like abortion, meeting me for a date is your choice.

5. I’d love to see you outside of this “Free Palestine” rally. I want to know more about your stance on the American military complex.

4. (Man to woman) You remind me a lot of AOC. That makes you A-OK in my book.

3. Everything about you is hot: your pro-nouns, pro-choice, pro-gressive, and your pro-longed silence when a conservative asks you why you voted for Harris.

2. You have beautiful hands. Want to glue them to a road in protest?

1. What’s my spirit animal? A hog. David Hogg.

Let me know if any of these work…

-Out of the Wilderness

10 Best MAGA Pick-Up Lines – Updated 2025

A while back I wrote up a list of 10 MAGA pick-up lines and now that Donald Trump has resumed his role as President, I thought it would be a good time to update the list for 2025. Take a look and add a comment if you have one that will sweep someone off their feet!

10. Wanna grab dinner and go watch the wall get built?