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| David Rocky Zina Obituary 2024 - Tighe Hamilton Regional Funeral Home |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (8 reads) | |
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Hudson has lost a true champion. David zina, known to all as rocky, passed away on saturday august 24th, surrounded by his family in the comfort of his home after a period of declining health. He was the cherished son of the late arthur and marilyn (forance) zina. He leaves behind his loving wife of 26 years, nancy (decenzo) zina, and his twin sons, robert and liam all of hudson.He is also survived by his brother arthur and his wife jan zina of winchester, ma, his sister diane and her husband gary, who was a beloved friend to rocky throughout life and through his illness. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his younger brother, robert ‘bobby’ in 1973. He leaves behind many brothers and sisters in law as well as many nieces and nephews who he so cherished.
rocky was born in hudson on september 19th, 1951. He graduated from hudson high school in 1969. While in high school rocky was a valued member of the basketball team. He attended quinsigamond community college and then pursued his teaching degree at plymouth state college, where he played basketball, graduating in 1973. After graduation, rocky taught in the hudson school system as a physical education teacher at forest ave elementary school and jfk middle school. He loved to talk of his year abroad teaching at robert college in istanbul turkey. After his year in turkey, he came back to the us and took a role with the nashoba regional school district, teaching at hale middle school, ultimately retiring from the center school in 2010. Never one to sit still, rocky worked many hours during his summers off from teaching with joe and nancy gill of westboro tennis surfaces.
over the course of many years rocky had an impressive coaching career coaching basketball at hudson high school from the late 1970’s to early 1980’s. He also coached basketball at assabet valley high school from the mid 1980’s to the mid 1990’s and coached football at assabet valley as well during the 1980’s. He then coached the hudson high school tennis team for 20 years, retiring after his son robbie’s final year of tennis in 2019.
the salt lake tribune from salt lake city, utah
schuylkill county obituaries for august 27th, 2024
obituary notice father harry smithuis mhm - mill hill missionaries
rocky was a beloved teacher but his true talent was coaching. Rocky was also a valued member of the staff at westborough tennis club for many years working alongside his good friend, tom mcdonald. Rocky was inducted into the hudson high school hall of fame in 2013 for his outstanding athletic contribution as a coach. He was also a part of the 2014 team induction as a member of the 1983 central mass division iii super bowl championship team for assabet valley regional vocational high school.
through his quiet leadership, hundreds of young athletes were taught, not only to play and love their chosen sport, but they were taught what was important in life, courage, kindness, and comradery.
rocky remained active playing tennis daily with many close friends right up until the fall of 2023. He could often be found playing tennis on his clay court at his home in hudson, at riverside park where he first learned to play tennis under the tutelage of hudson tennis legends ed krysa and vic rimkus, or at wayside racquet club in marlborough. He also enjoyed his daily hikes with his brother in law gary and friend fittzy. Another of rocky’s favorite sports was cross country skiing which he and nancy enjoyed doing with their twin sons for many years. Rocky also enjoyed his annual ncaa final 16 travels with his close friends bill hurley and kevin fox. He also was a season ticket holder for the new england patriots for many years. Oh the stories they all have of their times spent together.
rocky was a man of faith and attended weekly mass at st. Michael’s church in hudson.
rocky was a beloved husband, father, brother and uncle and his legacy of love and compassion will live on forever in the hearts of not only his family but in the hearts of the thousands of students, athletes and friends whose lives were blessed by his quiet, yet humorous nature.
our hearts are broken but we know when god met rocky at heaven’s gates, he gave him a high five and said “great game, rocky, well played!”
“ a champion is not defined by the trophies they hold, but by the impact they leave on the game and the lives they inspire.”
services will be held at tighe hamilton funeral home in hudson on wednesday, august 28, 2024, from 4-7 pm with a mass of christian burial at st. Michael’s church on thursday, august 29, 2024, at 10:00, burial to follow at st. Michael’s cemetery.
donations can be made in rocky’s name to the michael carter lisnow center, 112 main street, hopkinton, ma 01748
to order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of david rocky zina, please visit our flower store. |
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| Obituary Notice Father Harry Smithuis MHM - Mill Hill Missionaries |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (5 reads) | |
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It is with regret that we inform you of the death in the afternoon of thursday, 16th may 2024, at oranje nassau oord, wageningen, netherlands, aged 85 years of,
father harry smithuis
mill hill missionary
may he rest in peace
fr. Harry smithuis was born on 29th july 1938 at hengelo, utrecht, netherlands to bernard smithuis, who was a civil servant, and hendrika oude vrielink. He had one brother and four sisters. He was baptised right after his birth at st. Lambertus parish in hengelo. At the age of 12 years, he joined the diocesan minor seminary in apeldoorn and continued until he completed one year philosophy at utrecht diocesan seminary in dijnselburg. In 1959 he decided to join the missionary training of the mill hill missionaries and completed his second year of philosophy in roosendaal. In 1960, he was sent to mill hill, london to study theology and related subjects and to continue his missionary formation. He was accepted as a perpetual member on 1st november 1963 at a ceremony held in the chapel of st. Joseph college, mill hill. On 29th july 1964 he was ordained a missionary priest by archbishop (later cardinal) john heenan of westminster.
following his ordination, harry took up his missionary appointment to the prelature of san jose de antique in the philippines where he worked first as a curate in barbaza mission, then onto culasi and then – for four years – hamtik. From july 1969 – recognising the need to help the people organise themselves into cooperative unions – he followed a nine-month diploma course on cooperatives at the coady international institute in nova scotia, canada. From there, after a few months home leave, harry returned to the philippines where he served for a short time in patria and san jose, before being appointed parish priest of culasi in 1971 – during this time, while building up the school and parish, he got involved in the happy family life programme. In 1980 he returned to hamtik and then in 1981 he was appointed to the cathedral parish of san jose. In 1987 he was appointed to the dutch region and from 1988 to mid-1990 he served as parish priest of the parishes of harlingen and franeker. In october 1990 he returned to his beloved philippines and founded san lorenzo ruiz parish in caingin, la paz, north of iloilo city, where he strove, within the urban setting, to bring people together as a dynamic local christian community – seeing the ‘church as an event, not a building.’ Harry worked closely with the mensa domini sisters in the parish for the training and faith formation of the young people, parish catechists, and lay leaders. In 2002, after serving around 35 years in the philippines, he followed a life-giving sabbatical programme in the school of applied theology, berkeley, in the us, before returning to the netherlands where he assisted for a couple of years as pastor in a cluster of parishes in albergen before moving to sint josefhuis in 2005. While at sint josefhuis, harry continued to be pastorally active by serving as chaplain to insula dei care home in arnhem from 2006 to 2018.
in 1987 the general superior wrote to harry: “you have done outstanding work and have contributed very substantially to the growth of the church in antique”. The same words could be applied to the great missionary work he did in the urban setting of la paz. During his time in the philippines, in periods of political upheaval and difficulties, he felt with and for the people in their daily concerns and struggles, and in their hopes and joys – living a church very much in the vision and spirit of vatican ii. Towards the end of 2023, harry’s health went downhill rapidly. He was moved to zilverheuvel (formerly missiehuis vrijland) and soon afterwards to the oranje nassau oord nursing home in wageningen where he died on the 16th day of may. “Well done, good and faithful servant!… Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21
on wednesday, 22nd may 2024 at 11 o’clock in the morning in st. Jozefhuis, johannahoeve, 4 oosterbeek, a eucharistic celebration will be offered in thanksgiving for harry’s life and for his almost 60 years of loving and serving as a mill hill missionary priest. His remains will be laid to rest at the mill hill cemetery there. The service will be streamed online and can be followed through this link: https://vimeo.Com/event/2882273 |
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| MOVIE ROUND-UP: From Fri Jun 28 - Brum Notes Magazine |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (4 reads) | |
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This column will review films both screening theatrically and/or on various streaming platforms.
film of the week
horizon: an american saga chapter one (15)
with some notable exceptions, kevin costner’s film career has largely been defined by either westerns or baseball. And, coming off the back of the huge tv series success of yellowstone, it’s the former to which he returns now for his outing behind the camera since 2003 and, another western, open range. Envisioned on a lord of the rings epic scale, this three hour opening chapter with a second to follow in august, has been planned as a four part saga with over 170 speaking parts, costner stumping up $38 million of his own money.
clearly taking his cue from the classic oaters of john ford, it’s wall to wall with breathtaking scenery and, in solid western tradition, wagon trains, gun fights and butchery by apaches and bounty-hunter palefaces alike. Told in a series of interconnected storylines to a backdrop of different territories during the time of the american civil war (though that never figures) that gradually slot together, the title refers to a planned riverside settlement in arizona’s san pedro valley, though, as the fate of the man and his son measuring out the plots at the start spells out, the apaches are not about to stand by and let the white eyes take the land. Fast forward four years and the small township that is taking shape is bloodily massacred in an apache raid, one which both sets the old chief who can see where it will all lead against his headstrong son pionsenay (owen crow shoe) who feels violence is their only recourse, and has widowed survivor frances kitteridge (sienna miller) and her young daughter elizabeth (georgia macphail) taken under the wing of kindly cavalry sgt major riordan (michael rooker) and lt. Trent gephardt (sam worthington) who’s sympathetic to the indigenous.
it’s a full hour before, in familiar strong silent mode, costner’s laconic saddle tramp hayes ellison (named, i assume, for his son who plays miller’s ill-fated son nate) rides up in wyoming territory, and takes a shine to feisty sex worker marigold (abbey lee) who, it turns out, babysits the young boy her landlady (and former prostitute) ellen (jena malone) ran off with at the start after killing a criminal who abused her and who, despatched by their fierce mother (dale dickey), is now being hunted down by his sons, caleb (jamie campbell bower) and junior (jon beavers). One of whom, following a bristlingly tense set-up, winds up on the wrong end of ellison’s six gun, leading to him, marigold and the boy becoming their new prey.
meanwhile, a bloodthirsty posse, among them a boy whose father was killed, are out to take revenge for the town’s massacre and earn bounty for women and children’s scalps while, in another storyline, matthew van weyden (luke wilson) is guiding a wagon train through montana, among whom are other kittredge family members (will patton, isabelle fuhrman) affording some clumsy comic relief with a fish-out-of-water english couple (ella hunt, tom payne). Doubtless this will connect with the other elements in chapter 2.
for now though, what you get is a series of vignettes that basically serve to introduce the main characters and set the plot strands in motion, sometimes with scene transitions suggesting excised footage, fleshed out with appearances by tatanka means as the chief’s other son and danny huston as the blasé fort commander colonel houghton. As such it ends, arguably the best bit, with a thrilling montage of scenes from the next instalment, perplexingly closing on a shot of giovanni ribisi, a character that has yet to figure in proceedings. Unlikely to prove another dances with wolves, though vastly better than the postman, it might well have been better served as a television series but such big screen ambition has to be applauded and fans of the genre won’t be disappointed. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; odeon broadway plaza luxe; omniplex great park; vue)
also released
kinds of kindness (15)
a swift follow-up to last year’s multiple oscar winning poor things, director yorgos lanthimos reunites with its stars emma stone and willem dafoe (both getting their kit off here) for an absurdist near three hour black comedy triptych of visually linked short stories (written by efthimis filippou who scripted dogtooth, the lobster and the killing of the sacred deer) and soundtracked to a discordant piano, they along with jesse plemons, margaret qualley, hong chau, joe alwyn, and mamoudou athie all appearing in each, though playing different characters.
in the first, plemons is the spineless robert fletcher who works for and is the lover of raymond (dafoe), who provided him with his house and car, gifted a tennis racquet smashed by john mcenroe, and dictates every detail of his life, down to what he should read, wear and when he should have sex with his wife sarah (chau), with whom he set him up (it’s later revealed he also arranged her ‘miscarriages’, robert leading her to believe she couldn’t have children). However when, having failed at a first attempt, he refuses to engage in a second attempt to kill a willing victim (yorgos stefanakos) known only as r.M.F(whose initials provide the headings for each story) by crashing into his car. His refusal instantly leads to robert, who lives with vivian (qualley), cutting him off, sarah going missing and his life falling apart. Desperately begging for a second chance, he’s rebuffed. He subsequently meets rita (stone) whose life raymond also controls and proves less reluctant to send r.M.F. On his way. At which point, robert decides to swallow his misgivings and take drastic action to get back in robert’s good books.
in the second, even more off the wall, tale, plemons is daniel, a cop whose marine biologist wife liz (stone) goes missing when her boat sinks. Good news then that she and one of her colleagues are rescued by a helicopter pilot (r.M.F.), And she and daniel are reunited, it’s just that something feels a bit off, and not just that she’s keen to resume the sex sessions they had with their best friends, fellow cop neil (athie) and wife sharon (chao). Her shoes no longer fit her, and she’s started smoking and eating chocolate, which she never did. Daniels suspicions fester into obsessive delusions, leading to him being suspended after shooting a passenger’s hand in a traffic stop, being prescribed antipsychotics and ordering liz to cut off a finger and serve it to him for dinner. I’ll say no more, other than to mention telling her father (dafoe) her dream of being stranded on an island where dogs were the dominant species.
then in the third, r.M.F. Eats a sandwich (you need to stay for the credits to see that explained), plemons and stone are andrew and emily, , members of a cult, she having left her husband (alwyn) and young daughter, run by kinky omi (dafoe) and aka (chao) who have been sent on a mission find the promised one (the survivor of twin sisters) who can resurrect the dead, their first morgue visit possibility proving failure, emily now believes it to be ruth (qually), the veterinarian twin sister of rebecca, she saw in a dream. Unfortunately, after being drugged and raped by joseph, she’s now contaminated and therefore no longer pure enough for the cult. But maybe she can get back in by bringing them ruth. But then, rebecca’s not dead.
visionary or a self-indulgent depending on your perspective, all concerned play it straight, plemons (part philip seymour hoffman, part matt damon) providing the throughline of emotional rawness and stone again plunging fearlessly into whatever lanthimos asks, and with a last act celebratory dance for the ages. It may take some retrospective head-scratching to tease out the ideas of power, morality, consent, control and the characters’ desperate attempt to prove their love (tellingly it opens with eurythmics’ sweet dreams are made of this which sports the line “some of them want to abuse you / some of them want to be abused”), but, while unlikely to come close to poor things’ success, it ably satisfies your weird quota for the year. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; everyman; mockingbird; odeon broadway plaza luxe; omniplex great park; vue)
a quiet place : day one (15)
not exactly a prequel to the original film (which opened on day 89), rather a parallel story to part ii’s flashback to the day that manhattan (shot on london soundstages) is invaded by blind insectoid aliens (the death angels, apparently) that track and kill their victims by sound. At its heart is samira (lupita nyong’o), a terminally ill poetry-writing cancer patient (she wears transdermal fentanyl patches) with an understandably prickly attitude who lives with her service cat frodo at a hospice (her poem is titled ‘this place is shit’). On the day of the invasion and the other patients have been taken on a trip into the city to see a marionette show, samira only agreeing if her nurse (alex wolff) lets her get a pizza at an old childhood haunt. The show’s interrupted by sirens and just as the hospice bus is leaving, the aliens arrive, leaving her dazed amid the confused and hysterical crowds, their screams rendering them alien chow. She’s rescued by one of the theatre audience (djimon hounsou, reprising his henri character from a quiet place ii) who keeps her from making any noise (and later kills a man who’s freaking out) and, as she heads for harlem to get the pizza’s she set her heart on, reluctantly acquires a travelling companion in eric (joseph quinn), a sadsack british law student that frodo finds in a flooded subway stairwell and brings to her, who tags along so he can subsequently venture in the devastated city to get her the meds she needs.
this time round, john krasinski who oversaw the two previous films, steps back to take on just a producer and story credit alongside writer-director michael sarnoski, this being his follow-up to cult nic cage oddity pig. It does rather require a certain suspension of disbelief, in accepting that, mere minutes after they invade, everyone’s sussed out that they need to keep silent and that running water masks their whispers, or that frodo, who navigates the ruins with ease, variously passing from or guiding samira and eric, never once meows. While not everyone (and it’s not difficult to see the sacrifice ending coming) makes it to the water to be rescued by one of the evacuation boats (the bridges are all blown up and the aliens can’t swim), frodo at least lives to purr again.
while, ultimately, it’s a rather redundant addition to the series (with a sequel unlikely), with its theme of making connection and finding something to live – or indeed die – for, it’s better than something made primarily with the box office in mind has any right to be. At a trim 99 minutes, sarnoski keeps the tension at fingernail chewing level and the dialogue to a minimum while the special effects department earn their stripes with scenes of aliens scurrying down the sides of skyscrapers or crashing through skylights, showing them in much more detail, including a repulsive shot straight down an open craw where i’d swear there’s a human head in the gullet.
while nico and schnitzel who play frodo are arguably the true stars, the excellent nyong’o brings a melancholy soulfulness to the part while quinn credibly traces eric arc from barely holding it together to heroic, the shared scene in the bar where her father once played piano as they mime a card trick act having a genuinely affecting emotional heft without any accompanying sentimentality. The silence may not be as golden as krasinki’s, but it’s still something to shout about. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; everyman; mockingbird; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe. West brom; omniplex great park; reel; vue)
riddle of fire (12a)
making a point that it was filmed on kodak 16mm stock, writer-director makes his feature debut with whimsical coming of age retro 80s meta naturalism folksy fairytale. Set in the backwater of ribbon, montana, it follows the exploits of three preteens, hazel a’dale (charlie stover), lisping (and subtitled) younger brother jodie (skyler peters), and tomboy friend alice (phoebe ferro), who call themselves the three immortal reptiles, and are first encountered wearing balaclavas, riding dirt bikes and tooling with paintball guns so they can raid a local warehouse and steal the latest games console.
however, settling down to enjoy their booty, they discover hazel’s mum (danielle hoetmer) has locked them out of the tv. So they do a deal. She’s sick in bed and craving blueberry pie so they say they’ll get one if they can have two hours of tv time. Unfortunately, the bakery’s run out and the baker’s off ill. So they call on the baker and persuade her to give them the recipe so they can make one. However, having stolen all the ingredients from the grocery store, they’re beaten to the final one, a box of speckled eggs, by a john redrye (charles halford), an ornery critter they call woodsy bastard, tailing him to the forest to steal one back where bizarre rednecks called the enchanted blade gang, headed by self-styled witch anna flora hollyhock (lio tipton) who uses magical words to control her dimwitted family), suds (rachel browne), kels (andrea browne), and marty (razooli), are planning to illegally shoot a prize stag to add to their taxidermy trophies. Hollyhock also has a young daughter, the gibberish-spouting wannabe faery petal (lorelei olivia mote), who also stole away in the gang’s pick-up truck and becomes a sort of tinkerbell to their pete pans in the quest to obtain that vital egg which, in turn, involves them with yet more local oddballs.
wildly overlong, punctuated with medieval script captions and, save –to some extent – for ferro and mote, some pretty poor acting, with a mind-bogglingly bizarre dance sequence in the final stretch, it’s hard to work out exactly what audience it’s aiming for, but if you’ve ever wondered what the goonies as envisioned by wes anderson or a sweeter harmony korine might be like, this is the answer. (Mac)
available now
american fiction (15)
a scathing and wickedly funny satire on white stereotyping of blacks in popular culture where trauma, poverty and felons dominate the narratives and how black writers pander to those and a white liberal audience in order to get success, writer-director cord jefferson’s feature debut and oscar winner for his adaptation of percival everett’s 2001 novel erasure, is an early contender for the year’s best of list.
jeffrey wright gives a career peak performance as thelonious “monk” ellison (one wonders perhaps why, on a different jazz riff, he wasn’t nicknamed mose?), A curmudgeonly, smugly self-righteous and inwardly self-hating college professor and respected intellectual author from a middle class family who’s struggling to find a publisher for his latest book (a dry reworking of aeschylus’s the persians) internally bristling at having to deal with passive aggressive attitudes at work (one of his students storms out when he tries to teach flannery o’connor’s the artificial nigger, for which he’s given a forced leave of absence) and on the street. He’s constantly ridiculed for his taste in white wine and white women. Distancing himself from lazy perceptions of being black, declaring that he doesn’t believe in defining art or people by race, he takes umbrage on finding his novels placed in a bookstore’s african american section, raging that the only things black about them is the ink.
so he’s incandescent when fellow middle class black author sintara golden (issa rae) is feted by the literary establishment and the media for her best-selling novel about inner city black women called we’s lives in da ghetto, which, while a life she’s never known, panders to all the clichés of character and black narrative that appeal to her white readership or, as she puts it, “giving the market what it wants”.
letting off steam, for a joke and to prove a point to himself, he churns out his own parodic novel in the same vein, part inspired from having watched 50 cent’s get rich or die tryin’. Titling it my pafology as a send-up of golden’s supposed street language and about drugs, ne’er-do-well fathers and gang shootings, he has his agent (john ortiz) send it out under the pseudonym of stagg r. Leigh. To his shock – and indeed confirmed horror – he’s offered a deal worth more than he’d earn in a lifetime. Needing money to pay for nursing home care for his ailing mother agnes (a lovely understated turn by leslie uggams) who’s showing signs of alzheimer’s, he agrees, pushing the joke further by having his agent say that leigh is a wanted fugitive. The publishers and, inevitably, hollywood, are in raptures. His having had to leave a meeting with movie producer wiley (adam brody) to avoid being recognised, only further bolsters the mystique behind his fantasy self.
eventually, feeling it’s all getting out of control, during a conference call to the publishers, he tells them he wants to retitle the book. He wants to call it fuck. It barely takes a heartbeat before they’re enthusiastically agreeing, calling it a bold and radical statement. A movie deal is also moving forward. However, matters get complicated when monk is asked to be part of a new england book association’s literary award panel, alongside golden, to decide the book of the year, and it’s decided that fuck should be included for consideration. Despite he and golden making persuasive arguments to reject it, their white fellow judges are unanimous in placing it top of the list. All of which builds to an awards ceremony that, in the proposed screenplay, comes with three different endings. It’s a no brainer as to which one wiley opts for.
peppered with barbed humour, spiked irony (wiley’s new film is plantation annihilation, a blaxploitation starring, as in an joke, ryan reynolds where a white couple marry on a plantation and are murdered by the ghosts of former slaves) and sheer laugh out loud lines, jefferson also grounds the narrative in the boston-set family and domestic melodrama. This involves monk’s relationships with his confrontational, substance-abusing gay doctor brother clifford (sterling k. Brown), divorced after being found cheating with a man, his sister lisa (tracee ellis ross), also a doctor, who makes an early exit, his mother’s long-time live-in carer lorraine (myra lucretia taylor who gets her own story finding love with raymond anthony thomas’s cop), and his public defender across the street neighbour turned girlfriend coraline (erika alexander, excellent), while the ghost of his suicide father haunts his repressed feelings. While, in terms of its target audience, it may have its cake and eat it, it’s a real classic. (Amazon prime)
argylle (12a)
ignore the savage reviews, the latest screwball spy caper from matthew vaughn is a barrel of fun that never takes itself seriously and comes with more twists than something that is very twisty indeed. Bryce dallas howard is introverted elly conway, the best-selling author of a series of spy novels featuring the adventures of her suave titular hero, agent argylle. Her latest has him uncovering a secret league of rogue agents, her reading of the fifth instalment intercut with imagined scenes (a la sandra bullock’s author in the lost city) featuring aubrey argylle (henry cavill sporting a ludicrous square hairdo) who, in the opening scenes staged to barry white’s “you’re the first, the last, my everything, finds his cover blown when trying to arrest enemy agent lagrange (dua lipa) and has to be rescued by his techie keira (ariana debose), only for her to be killed. Ordered in a blink and you’ll miss it cameo by richard e grant to capture lagrange, who’s escaped on a motorbike, there follows a wonderfully ridiculous car chase before she’s plucked, literally, from her bike by argyll’s sidekick wyatt (john cena), she revealing a secret file that will bring down the division before committing suicide. The story’s to be continued in book six but elly has hit a creative block, her mother (catherine o’hara) disparagingly dismissing the cliffhanger as a cop out).
boarding a train to visit her and get some input, taking along her sole companion, alfie, a scottish fold furball (claudia schiffer’s cat chip apparently), in a backpack, she becomes the target of a fellow passengers legion of a would be assassins and is saved by the straggle-haired aidan (sam rockwell proving his leading man credentials) who, it turns out is a real spy (quick fire editing having elly variously see him as himself and argylle) and, the pair eventually parachuting from the train, explains that she’s being pursued by an organisation known as the division (headed up by bryan cranston) because her book somehow predicts the future and they want her to write the next chapter so they can get their hands on a coded file called the masterkey. The pair (elly too scared to have ever flown before) travel to meet her folks in london to find the file and where hordes of heavily armed goons turn up to take them out.
now if all this feels a lot to take in, then what comes next is a complete rug puller as twist follows twist as it heads down assorted rabbit holes with no one who you – or indeed they – think they are, cranston turning up as another character entirely and the screenplay introducing a backstory between the confused elly and the scruffy aidan and a visit to france to meet former cia deputy director alfred solomon (samuel j jackson) who reveals argylle isn’t as fictional as she thinks.
to say more – or let the cat out of the bag so to speak – would spoil the inventive surprises as true identities are revealed and fictional characters turn out to be real, and sofia boutella puts in an appearance as the mysterious the keeper, the film closing up with another book reading where cavill turns up in the audience (with an ever more preposterous haircut) and a mid-credits sequence that links it directly to vaughn’s kings man universe and sets up manner of possible sequels. Less violent that vaughn’s usual fare (there’s a wry scene where aidan tries to explain how elly should squish a bad guys head and she can’t bring herself to do it) but still loaded with frantic wall to wall action. It’s utter nonsense of course, but frankly any film that can include both a slo-mo shoot-out amid coloured smoke choreographed as a dance routine to the beatles now and then and a balletic figure-skating knife fight on an oil slick just has to be seen. (Apple tv+)
atlas (15)
another netflix number from jennifer lopez, set in the not too distant future, this taps in to the ai angst zeitgeist with her as atlas shepherd, a misanthropic military data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence, who finds herself on a mission to capture ai terrorist harlan (simu liu), the renegade techno-sapien created by her mother and a sort of surrogate brother, who, 28 years earlier, created the means for ai to break free of human control (shades of terminator and creator here) and turn on its makers, killing 3 million before fleeing into space.
now atlas is recruited by military commander boothe (a bored-looking mark strong) to help locate harlan’s hiding place, which she does by cleverly interrogating (abraham popoola), a captured ts, and insists on joining the mission (she wants to kill not capture), led by colonel banks (a virtually cameoing sterling k brown) because, as she explains, no one knows harlan better than she does. She does, however, refuse to neurally ‘sync’ with the ai battle suits or arcs used by the soldiers.
naturally, everything goes pear-shaped with harlan having anticipated everything, leaving all the crew dead, save the escaped colonel, and atlas alone in her arc, which calls itself smith (voiced by casca (gregory james cohan), to try and destroy harlan, who intends to exterminate most of humanity so as to reset it under ai supervision, and a couple of cloned cascas. To which end, she’s forced to overcome her trauma, guilt and hostility and learn to trust her personal ai, the film revealing how harlan was able to overcome his programming.
with its confused mixed big tech messages about ai and human interfacing, directed by brad peyton with an embarrassingly bad script from aron eli coleite and leo sardarian and some underwhelming effects, it’s all something of a derivative mess and, after her last action outing in the mother, lopez is here mostly confined to reaction shots of her face inside smith’s exo-skeleton, with only a few scenes in the finale, allowing her to actually get out and move around. There’s some amusing moments involving the increasingly anthropomorphised smith adopting atlas’s sarcasm as it unfolds its emotional healing subtext, but, while far more entertaining than the critical vitriol would suggest, it’s still a clunker. (Netflix)
bad boys: ride or die (15)
the buddy cop franchise instigated by the 1995 original that paired will smith and martin lawrence as maverick miami narcotics cops mike lowrey (smith) and marcus burnett (lawrence), a sequel followed eight years later to generally poor reviews but was sufficiently successful at the box office to justify a third outing in 2020 with bad boys for life. Its directing team, adil & bilall, licking their wounds after the cancelled batgirl movie, return now for a fourth instalment that, opening with a convenience store hold-up take down and mike marrying christine (melanie liburd), the physical trainer he met between sequels, takes its cue from the closing moments of its predecessor in which mike visited his illegitimate son armando (jacob scipio), who had assassinated their boss, captain howard, offering a shot at redemption by helping him and marcus on a case. Although, at that point, no plot had been conceived, it ties in here with a repeat of the scene, but this time with armando being the only one who can identify who framed howard (eric dane as ex-army ranger sociopath mcgrath), their former boss (joe pantoliano turning up in flashbacks and video recordings) now being posthumously framed for corruption and links with the cartel.
needless to say, mike and marcus aren’t happy that their new boss at ammo, and mike’s ex-girlfriend. Rita (paola núñez), who killed armando’s mother in the last film and who is dating prospective mayor lockwood (ioan gruffudd), has no choice to go with the seemingly overwhelming incriminating evidence (naturally uploaded by hacking into various systems), while howard’s daughter, us marshall judy (rhea seehoern) and granddaughter callie (quinn hemphill) want nothing more than to see armando dead. And is determined to take him down as well as mike and marcus who are on the run after having been framed for the killing a bunch of cops and freeing armando.
although the title is frankly meaningless, this is far better and more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Smith and lawrence still have great chemistry together while, bringing back characters from the previous films (tasha smith taking over the role of marcus’s wife), turning some of them on their head. Vanessa hudgens and alexander ludwig get to reprise their roles as ammo weapon and tech experts kelly and dorn, respectively, this time with added love interest. Also back is a deadpan dennis greene (who’s only ever been in bad boys movies) as marcus’s marine son-in-law reggie (getting to clean house of bad guys), dj khaled reprises his turn as manny the butcher while tiffany haddish briefly appears as bad girl stripper tabitha and there’s another cameo by michael bay.
it is, to say the least, a 90s-flavoured switchback ride of twists and turns (though anyone who doesn’t see one not who they seem to be coming should probably go to specsavers), mixing the gunfire, chases and explosions with running gags about mike trying to keep marcus from eating bad shit snacks and he, having had a near death heart attack experience, now wittering on about their past lives together (apparently at one point mike was literally a stubborn ass), they being eternal soulmates (without dicks) and how he thinks he cannot be killed. There’s also an oscars in-joke scene where lawrence gets to slap smith around the face several times. Climaxing with a guns blazing, hostage freeing, showdown at an abandoned amusement park, complete with crocodile too, it all wraps up with the domesticity of a family barbecue, but they may still have on more ride in them yet. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; everyman; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe, west brom; omniplex great park; reel; vue)
barbie (12a)
directed by greta gerwig and co-written with her partner noah baumbach, getting 8 oscar nominations, best picture included, but notably not best director or actress, this is almost too wonderful for words. Opening with helen mirren narrating a send of up 2001 a space odyssey’s monolith scene as little girls smash their dolly babies upon seeing the adult barbie, an inspired supersaturated colour, postmodern meta cocktail of subversive satire, razor-sharp whimsy, feminism and musical numbers, it sets up the idea that there exists barbieland, populated with an array of different versions of the iconic toy doll and their opposite number, ken (including simu liu, kingsley ben-adir, scott evans and ncuti gatwa), each barbie linked to a child’s doll in the real world. Where, as far as they believe, women are in charge and, like the dolls, little girls can be anything they want. Even president.
in barbieland every day is a good day, especially for stereotypical barbie (margot robbie snubbed in the oscar nominations) who wakes each morning in her pink dream house, greets her fellow barbies (among them issa rae, dua lipa, hari nef, alexandra shipp, nicola coughlan and emma mackey), hangs out with wannabe boyfriend beach ken (supporting actor ryan gosling), whose only function is to stand around and look good, and generally radiates perfection. Until that is, amid a choreography party, she brings things to a screeching halt when she wonders aloud about dying. The next day, she falls rather than floats to the floor, has bad breath and, catastrophically, finding herself walking flatfooted and not on tip toe. Clearly, something’s amiss. A visit to weird barbie kate mckinnon), mutilated and drawn on by her real world child),ends up with her being told she must go to the real world, connect with the child who owns her doll, and put things right, especially the cellulite on her thigh. With ken stowing away in the back of her, naturally, pink car they travel by boat, bicycle, and rocket until they rollerskate into the human world where, she quickly discovers it’s men who hold all the power. She’s horrified, ken (who has already shown signs of discontentment of being just an accessory, jealous of the attention she gives another ken and being rebuffed in suggesting sex – if he knew what that was; as barbie points out she has no vagina and he no penis), rather less so. He rather likes the idea of men lording it over women and, pumped up with ideas about big trucks and stallions, decides to return home and establish his own fascist patriarchy in barbieland. Meanwhile barbie heads to the hq of mattel, the barbie toy company, to try to sort things out and is taken aback to find there’s no women executives. And when the ceo (will farrell) tries to persuade her to get back in the box, with a little help from an elderly lady (rhea perlman in a touching last act insider reference to barbie’s origins) in a hidden office, she takes off and is rescued by gloria (oscar nominee america ferrara), a mattel employee who, it turns out is the owner of barbie’s toy counterpart, rather than her spikey and sullen teenage daughter (ariana greenblatt).
however, when they get to barbieland, everything has changed. The kens, led by beach ken, have taken over and the girls are now all stepford barbies, there only to serve their every whim. Can barbie, with the help of gloria, sasha, weird barbie and alan (michael cera, launched in 1964 as ken’s buddy, and put everything back in the pink!
overflowing with clever jokes along with themes of female empowerment, sexism, gender equality, toxic masculinity and aggression, the impossibility of perfection, conforming to expectations, the complexity of being a woman, who men want to be both whore and mother, being defined by your looks and finding value in who you are, it bursts with energy. It also takes digs at mattel’s less successful lines, like pregnant barbie, the gender demeaning teen talk barbie and growing up skipper with her inflatable boobs. But it wouldn’t be half as good without the irresistible radiant star power of robbie and gosling (who again gets to show off his dance moves) who bring their plastic incarnations to vivid and very human life. There cameos from john cena and rob brydon, a reference to zach snyder’s justice league, a clip from the godfather, and a sound track that includes new numbers by billie eilish oscar winner what was i made for? Ken’s’ i’m just ken showcase and a nice use of the indigo girls’ closer to fine as sung by brandi and catherine carlile. This is the definitive toy story. (Now)
the beautiful game (12)
a real thing, the homeless world cup is an annual international four-a-side football tournament in which, as one of the criteria, the players, as the name suggests, are homeless (or have been in the qualifying year). The film, however, is only loosely based around this rather than, as with next goal wins, retelling an actual tournament, the players or results. Directed by thea sharrock and written by frank cottrell-boyce, it stars bill nighy in familiar shrug-shouldered pathos mode, as mal, the coach for the england team, who recruits vinny (micheal ward) as a striker for that year’s completion in rome. Once a west ham contender, he carries a he chip on his shoulder and, though he’s been thrown out by his wife and is living in his car, won’t admit he’s homeless (setting up a sharply emotional scene later when he blows up after learning his young daughter has chosen him as for her class talk on heroes).
inevitably, he has no team spirit and rubs his motley but enthusiastic crew of fellow players jason (sheyi cole), syrian refugee aldar (robin nazari), nathan (callum scott-howells) and kevin (tom vaughan-lawlor) up the wrong way, rejecting their extended hands of friendship and particularly getting the back up of cal (kit young) who, also a striker, resents him potentially edging him out. In rome, vinny displays his skills to winning effect, but gives the others the cold-shoulder to the extent he goes off to sleep on a bench rather than in the team quarters.
there’s a flirtatious dalliance between the widowed mal, rome bring back memories of his honeymoon, and italian competition organiser gabriella (a delightful valeria golino), who promises to buy him dinner if the team, regarded pretty much as rank outsiders, win. Indeed with south africa, the favourites (susan wokoma scene stealing as their nun manager), missing their match due to bureaucratic red tape back home, that might actually be a possibility assuming mac can get them to work together. There again they’ll be up against italy, another firm favourite.
with the plot involving generous sporting gestures, vinny winding up as a substitute for one of the other team’s players, a revelation about mal’s past connection to the young vinny, a romantic spark between jason and american goal scorer rosita (cristina rodlo) for whom winning would prevent extradition, adar’s refusal to play against italy due to ethnic hostilities with one of their players, and the japanese team’s amusing sightseeing and moment of glory, it follows a fairly predictable underdog sports movie of redemption and being a winner in yourself regardless of any cup. The influence of things like the full monty are evident but never in a way that diminishes the film or the characters, all of whom are very likeable, even if at times selfish, with the interactions off the pitch the heart of the film rather than the action on it. It’s slight but full of charm and easily earns its place on the podium. (Netflix)
the bikeriders (15)
back in the 60s, the chicago outlaws were almost as well-known as their biggest biker rivals, the hell’s angels and, in 1967, photographer danny ryan published a book documenting the lifestyle of bikers in the midwest from 1963 to 1967, following the chicago chapter of the outlaws. Titled the bikeriders it now serves as mud writer-director jeff nicholls’ fictional retelling, restyling the club as the vandals, but with several of the cast playing real life members, among them truck driver founder and leader johnny (a complex tom hardy), right hand-man benny (austin butler all james dean moodiness), cockroach (emory cohen), so named for eating bugs, zipco (michael shannon), bitter after being turned down for vietnam, and cal (boyd holbrook).
framed as a docudrama, it has mike feist as the never named photographer (ryan actually was part of the gang for a while) interviewing assorted vandals about their memories and experiences, but primarily kathy baeur (a sensational jodie comer with a thick midwest accent), the real life woman who, meeting him in a dive bar, was tricked into taking a ride on the monosyllabic benny’s bike and ended up marrying him.
unusually, it doesn’t have a substantial plot as such, opening with benny getting beaten up by a couple of rednecks in a bar when he won’t remove his outlaws ‘colours’, and is essentially an account of the gang’s birth (here after johnny watches brando in the wild one) as a family of leather-jacketed biker buddies with customised choppers glorying in the smell of the oil, grease and fumes and, over the years as new chapters formed and new members, such as former hells angel funny sunny (norman reedus), joined, its decline from something pure to a criminal organisation involved in drugs and weapons trafficking and murder, a clear mirror of 6os idealism giving way to the darker 70s. As such, the gang itself, or at least the idea of it as conceived by johnny, is really the central character, its arc providing the core narrative with kathy and benny the romance subplot with johnny as the third wheel vying for his attention, though the homoeroticism is dialled down.
sparked by kathy’s recollections and played out to a backdrop of 60s sounds (the stooges, the shangri-las – but not that song – cream, count five, dale hawkins but not born to be wild, though easy rider does get a reference) the journey is of an anecdotal, nature, recounting meet-ups, brawls, challenges to johnny’s leadership (notably and fatally toby wallace as the angry kid), his eventual wanting to pass the torch and the fates of several riders (the credits detail where some ended up).Although, given the subject matter, there’s actually very few scenes of the bikeriders, you know, riding, this burns the ashpalt. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; everyman; mockingbird; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe; omniplex great park; reel; vue)
blackberry (15)
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following on from films about facebook, tetris, nike shoes, gamestop, mcdonalds and beanie babies, inspired by jacquie mcnish and sean silcoff’s book, losing the signal, director matt johnson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with matthew miller and is one of the film’s stars, brings to the screen a partly fictionalised satirical account of the rise and fall of the blackberry, the mid-90s handheld precursor of the iphone. The brainchild of meek mike lazaridis (jay baruchel) and slobby headband-wearing douglas fregin (johnson), a pair of computer geeks who ran canadian company research in motion, it was a pioneering smartphone with a thumb operated qwerty keyboard with its click sound buttons. However, while they had the tech knowledge, they had no conception of marketing.
enter jim ballsillie (glenn howerton), a driven executive and hockey buff who, sensing the pair are on to something, jumps ship from his current job (it turns out later he was fired) and agrees to come on board in return for a 50% cut and being named ceo. Much to fregins’s horror, the more pliable lazardi, impressed by his ruthless energy and intimidating charisma and discovering their deal with us robotics was designed to bankrupt them, agrees to co-ceo and a third share of rim. Fast forwarding to 2003, with ballsillie a balding shark in a suit who never seems to rest, he’s soon bombarding potential investors with talk of making millions, while pressuring his partners into rapidly coming up with a workable demo (cobbled together from pocket calculators and speak & spell toys of what’s initially called pocketlink) while they try and figure out how to get vast numbers of phones to use the free cellular network without crashing the system. Paying ridiculous fees to hire on poached engineers and sending the sales force out to sell, sell, sell, it’s not long before it becomes a feeding frenzy with the phone so addictive it gets dubbed crackberry. However, created in response to apple’s iphone, the 2007 touchscreen storm version, outsourced to china, proved to be virtually inoperable (amusingly howerson’s seen manually trying to stop them all from buzzing). Then along comes an investigation by the securities and exchange commission into rim’s dodgy hires using backdated stock options.
it races through the company’s whirlwind rise, making effective use of montages and amusing scenarios, jim pushing mike into an act of betrayal and his own obsessed attempts to buy his own hockey team, the pittsburgh penguins, with the downfall the result of a mix of hubris, greed, overreaching ambition and sheer stupidity. Its hand-held approach, smart dialogue (inspired by aaron sorkin and david mamet and actually referencing glengarry glen ross), true life absurdity, sterling support from the likes of michael ironside as rim’s scary operations enforcer charles purdy who stamps all over its hitherto hippie, slacker nature, saul rubinek’s verizon exec, cary elwes as palm ceo carl yankowski threatening hostile takeover, and the electrifying performance from howerson, fixated with trying to stop the phones buzzing, it glues you to the screen like smartphone version of succession. A morality tale about the fear of becoming irrelevant, in 2011, there were 85 million blackberry subscribers worldwide with 45% of the market share. Today it’s 0% and they’re no longer manufactured. (Sky cinema/now)
chicken run: dawn of the nugget (pg)
back in 2000, aardman animation released their first feature film, the story of a bunch of chickens escaping from their captivity in a chicken farm, going on to become the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film in history. Now, 23 years later comes the sequel. And if the first film was parody of the great escape, the template this time, as is made clear from one of the lines, is mission impossible.
living in a self-governing island community, secreted away from humans, ginger (now voiced by thandiwe newton), who led the escape, and her american rooster hubbie rocky (now voiced by zachary levi),the self-styled lone free ranger, are thrilled when they become proud parents to their first chick, molly (bella ramsey). Molly, like her mother, is rebellious with a sense of adventure, but is firmly told she must never venture across to the mainland and a “world that finds chickens so … delicious”. It’s a warning that becomes even more important when ginger sees humans clearing the trees on the opposite shore and a fun-land farm truck with an image of a chicken in a bucket.
needless to say, mum having told her she’s a big brave girl, molly pays no attention and sneaks away to find out more, meeting up with curly-haired liverpudlian chicken frizzle (josie sedgwick-davies),who persuades her to join her and infiltrate this apparent chicken blue sky utopia (a sort of barbieland meets teletubbies landscape) with all the corn you can eat and where every chicken gets their own bucket and lives a life of supreme happiness.
except, of course, it proves to be anything but and the slogan “where chickens find their happy endings” has a definite irony. The collars the chickens wear turning them into blank, hypnotised zombies who just can’t wait to climb the staircase to the glowing sun, to the accompaniment of cliff richard’s summer holiday, oblivious that they’re going to be turned into chicken nuggets.
so now, having broken out of a farm in the first film, ginger now leads a mission to break into one. To which end she’s joined by both rocky and her returning feathered friends, knitting enthusiast babs (jane horrocks), busty (imelda staunton), mac (lynn ferguson) and the elderly fowler (now voiced by david bradley) who can’t stop talking about his wartime exploits. Back too are scavenger rats the cynical nick and his dimwit accomplice fetcher, this time round voiced by romesh ranganathan and daniel mays, lending a hand to save their ‘niece’ molly.
once within the heavily fortified compound, which looks like a bond villain lair (robotic mole sentries, pop-up vacuum tubes and laser-guided iron ducks), it’s a race against time before evil scientist dr fry (nick mohammed) delivers the promised supply of nuggets to reginald smith (peter serafinowicz), the owner of the sir eat-a-lot fast food franchise. Which is when ginger gets the shock of her life to discover dr fry’s wife and partner is none other than mrs tweedy (miranda richardson), the owner of the farm they escaped from and who she thought had fallen to her death. And when tweedy realises ginger is leading an attempt to free these chickens, it all gets very revenge personal. And when all seems lost, ingeniously popcorn proves to have more uses than just stuffing your face.
naturally it’s full of puns and old fashion humour (there’s a couple of bottom jokes for the young sniggerers) with clever contemporary gags involving a retinal scanner (and eye-pad) as well as nods to the likes of the truman show and squid game for the grown up along with a message to mums and dads about their children spreading their wings but keeping them safe at the same time. It may not bring about a mass avoidance of kfc, but it might just prompt a few thoughts about where those breadcrumbed bites come from. (Netflix)
the creator (15)
while this may tap into current concerns about artificial intelligence, a more basic theme of director gareth edwards and co-writer chris weitz’s sci fi epic is fear of the other. Essentially restaging the vietnam war in 2070 new asia, with the americans looking to eradicate simulants, human-like robots that can be lookalikes of their human templates, here presumably standing in for communists. This is on account of how, a decade or so earlier, ai software detonated a nuke in los angles (the actual explanation is delivered as almost an aside towards the end), leading to the usa (and its allies) banning all forms of ai. It remains legal, however, in new asia, hence why josh taylor (john david washington), a us army special forces operative with a cybernetic arm and leg, is working undercover to find and kill namada, the mastermind behind the ai. To do so, he’s targeted namada’s daughter, maya (gemma chan), but things have got complicated in that he’s gone native, married her and she’s pregnant. Things all go pear-shaped when a sudden us attack bows his mission and cover, resulting in maya apparently being killed when nomad, the hovering us military installation wipes out the compound.
extracted, taylor is given the chance to redeem himself by going back in and finding and destroying the rumour superweapon namada’s developed, his commanding officer andrews (ralph ineson) and ruthless anti-ai mission leader howell (allison janney playing against type) telling him maya is actually still alive. A mission is duly set up and, although it all goes to shit, taylor manages to infiltrate the vault containing the weapon, which turns out to be a child simulant (seven-year-old madeleine yuna voyles) with the ability to disrupt electronics. Naturally, this triggers taylor’s paternal instinct with alphie, as he names her, becoming his surrogate daughter, looking to protect her against howell and her team (that one holds a gun to a puppy’s head denotes what bad guys they are) who, warmongering americans, are determined to kill her along with the rest of the ai population (simulants. Flat-headed androids or those with amar chadha-patel’s face who work as the police) and their human kin, he and howell hoping she can lead him to maya (aka mother).
the influence aren’t hard to spot with elements of the terminator, akira, apocalypse now, blade runner and star wars, the film climaxing as a variant on luke destroying the death star while alphie’s power is its version of the force. It’s also not hard to read a christian parallel with maya the virgin mary, josh as joseph and alphie the ai saviour with a purpose to bring peace to the world (asked at one point what she’d like, as in to eat, she replies for robots to be free).
given edwards’ special effects background, it’s no surprise that up there in the avatar league the film looks incredible, but it also taps into a deep emotional vein too in its exploration of family, morality, xenophobia. The chemistry between washington and voyles, who as the adorable innocent alphie is the soulful heart of the film, summoning her powers by placing her hands together in prayer like some ai take on the dalai lama. A scene between her and taylor talking about heaven is terrific and comes back in the final moments with a piercing poignancy.
there’s moments of humour such as the kamikaze robo-bombs that stomp to their destruction with an “it’s been a honour to serve you” and robots watching holograms of exotic ai dancers, but mostly this keep up the dynamic intensity as the action piles up with a relentless drive as the simulants (headed up here by ken watanabe) are driven to a last stand. Derivative it may be, but there’s no denying it delivers everything it promises. (Disney+)
damsel (12)
something of a step backwards for millie bobby brown whose star has risen rapidly since coming to prominence in stranger things and getting rave reviews for her two enola holmes outings, this casts her as elodie in director juan carlos fresnadillo’s drawn out and clunky medieval fantasy adventure. She’s the daughter of lord bayford (ray winstone in a terrible wig), ruler of a famine-stricken land, who’s chosen to become the bride of prince henry (a blandly good looking nick robinson) from the kingdom of aurea. Being dutiful, she agrees and the family, which includes her step-mum (angela bassett with bizarre english accent) and adoring younger sister floria (brooke carter), set off to meet her betrothed and his parents queen isabelle (robin wright) and king roderick (a barely sentient milo twomey). Initially showing little spark, the two start to bond, however, over a shared love of wanting to travel and so it’s on to the nuptials. However, after her dad emerges from a meeting with isabelle looking less than over the moon, mum’s gut instinct and the queen’s frosty response to any extended familial relationships has her telling elodie to call it all off. There is, she feels, something not quite kosher.
and indeed there isn’t as, henry taking his new bride up the nearby mountain, on which she’s seen fires glowing, to take part in what he describes as an ancient ritual, ends up with him tossing her down a pit. It turns out that hundreds of years earlier a previous king and his men killed three newborn baby dragons, the understandably aggrieved mother (voiced by shohreh aghdashloo) sparing his life on condition that, for every successive generation, three princesses (acquiring royal status in a mingling of blood) are to be sacrificed. And guess who lives in the cave.
and it’s in the cave that the film spends most of the remaining running time, elodie variously climbing and falling from rocks, running away from the fire-breathing dragon and stumbling on the remains of previous sacrifices and clues as to how to maybe escape. And, when, with help from her repentant father (who has had second thoughts about trading her life for his country’s prosperity), she finally does, a furious isabelle decides to substitute her with the next best thing, floria.
there’s a degree of tension in the underground scenes, but that’s undermined by utter predictability of the generic subverted fairy tale plot and the general lifelessness of the performances with a clearly bored winstone, bassett and wright hamming up their one note characters and brown barely concealing her embarrassment as, in repeated scenes, she cuts her hair, rids herself of corseted bondage for a more practical look and wields daddy’s sword as turns herself into an empowered warrior and strikes up a wholly unlikely how to tame your dragon alliance after clocking on to the truth about what went down. She’s not the damsel in distress, the film is. (Netflix)
dumb money (15)
if you think shorting has something to with an electrical fault, then this probably isn’t for you. Directed by i tonya’s craig gillespie, it’s an adaptation of ben mezrich’s the antisocial network which documented the 2021 gamestop financial soap opera, a david and goliath battle between wall street and amateur investor (from whence the title term insult comes) keith gill (paul dano), who, as roaring kitty, used the reddit and youtube social media to spark interest in stocks in gamestop, a chain that specialised in reselling computer games, and which the wall streets sharks were betting against, shorting, to make a killing when it collapsed. Written by rebecca angelo and lauren schuker as high drama, it does its best to make things comprehensible for the layman but even so it might be a good idea to take along a financial adviser to explain as it goes.
reckoning gamestop was undervalued (during the pandemic it was allowed to stay open as “essential workers”), supported by wife caroline (shailene woodley) and much to the bafflement of his underachieving brother kevin (pete davidson), using robin hood, a non-commission software app devised by tech billionaires vlad tenev (sebastian stan) and baiju bhatt (rushi kota), gill decided to invest his $53,000 life savings, soon attracting hundreds of others to also buy in, among them here gamestop worker marcus (anthony ramos) financially strapped pittsburgh single mum nurse jenny (america ferrera) and lesbian lover students harmony (talia ryder) and riri (myha’la herrold) saddled with ever-increasing loans. Ranged against them were high profile traders gabe plotkin (seth rogen), steve cohen (vincent d’onofrio) and ken griffin (nick offerman), who, as the game stop investors saw their wealth soar, were faced with catastrophic losses, plotkin’s melvin capital having to bailed out stop it collapsing. Eventually, tenev and bhatt were leaned on to put a stop to gill using their software, shutting down his access to wallstreetbets, leading to the stock falling and threatening him and his followers with ruin and leading to a congressional hearing (the end credits featuring actual footage).
gillespie keeps things moving, using onscreen titles to keep you up to speed with the financial scores, in a film which takes the events to show how the system is rigged against the small fry, getting you rooting for the nerdy, headband wearing gill and hissing at his despicable opposite numbers while underlying it with a personality-driven story of self-belief. Headed up by dano, the cast, which also includes clancy brown as gill’s father and, a mostly ppe masked, dane dehaan as marcus’s rules-citing boss, are on cracking form and the script leavens the mounting tension with a substantial vein of humour (such as plotkin’s advisors suggesting his wine collection might not be the best backdrop to the online hearing interview) and refraining from any big speech moments about the ugly face of capitalism, and while it may not have the intensity of boiler room or the big short, investing brings rich entertainment rewards. (Netflix)
the exorcism (15)
having played a real life vespa-riding vatican demon botherer in last year’s the pope’s exorcist, russell crowe now plays an actor playing one in a remake of an iconic horror. It’s never named as such but the working title of the georgetown project is a giveaway, as is the possessed girl monica (marcenae lynette) and the ‘cold room’ set where the exorcism scenes are filmed, while director joshua john miller is the son of jason miller who played father karras in the 1973 william friedkin classic, the scene of him committing suicide by jumping through a window referenced here. It’s no accident that crowe’s character is called anthony miller
given how the devil’s noted for preying on troubled souls, it’s not a good sign that miller is a washed up alcoholic divorcee who lands the role after the previous actor committed suicide, not a good sign. He’s also got issues with his rebellious daughter lee (ryan simpkins, decent enough) who arrives back in his life after being expelled from boarding school and who he gets hired as his p.A.
framed as a making of, compete with similar unexplained mishaps as those that dogged the original, as the film within the film’s director peter (a meta-fiction nod to the exorcist author william peter blatty), adam goldberg channels friedkin’s on-set manipulation and bullying, abusing miller to try and push him deeper into character. Well, no surprise how that works out with lee and the on-set adviser, father conor (david hyde pierce), believing that a real demon, mooch, is targeting miller’s soul.
unfortunately, the end result never quite lives up to it ambitious premise, subplots such as a suggestion of a lesbian affair between lee and monica never going anywhere while sam worthing as miller’s adoring but doomed co-star rarely registers as more than a cameo while the over the top exorcism ending has the sulphurous fumes of a studio-imposed reshoot to throw in some flames from hell. It has to be said though that, even when deliberately playing a bad actor as miller starts sleepwalking and battles both real and metaphorical demons (flashbacks reveal he was abused as an altar boy), crowe, who gets to do his own version of linda blair’s crabwalk is never less than intensely magnetic. It’s never going to spawn mark kermode lectures, but it’s still far better than it has any right to be. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe; omniplex great park; vue)
femme (18)
the territory is familiar: a closeted gay man adopts a virulently homophobic persona but ends up in an intense relationship with someone he victimised. Here, as directed by first-timers sam h freeman and ng choon ping, that’s george mackay and nathan stewart-jarrett, the former preston (mackay), a heavily tattooed thug who hangs out with a similar crowd, the latter jules, popular drag artist aphrodite at a london club who shares a flat with fellow queers plain-speaking alicia (asha reid) and messed-up toby (john mccrea), who has unrequited feelings for him. Jules spots jules outside the venue and but he stalks off when he smiles at him. Later, ill-advisedly still wearing his gear, jules goes to a late-night pharmacy, preston and his mates turn up and a brutal beating ensues.
subsequently, he sees him at a gay sauna and makes an approach. Not recognising him out of costume, they have sex and a secret relationship begins, preston taking him for an expressive chateaubriand dinner and inviting him back to his flat, jules bluffing things out by claiming they’re old mates from prison when his gang turn up unexpectedly. Jules, it would appear, is setting up a carefully planned revenge (significantly he wears the same yellow hoodie preston had on during the attack and which, of course, echoes that of uma thurman in kill bill). Or is this turning into something else entirely?
it’s a question the film, mostly set at night lit with harsh neon, teases throughout with a twisting edge of the seat noir tension alongside the uninhibited sex scenes, mackay and stewart-jarrett bringing complexity and depth to their characters, both of whose lives are a kind of performance (although the supporting cast are less well illuminated), as it builds to an end that is both devastating and disarmingly poignant. (Netflix)
flora and son (12)
irish writer-director john carney knows what he’s good at and sticks to it. So, after once and sing street here’s another dublin-set tale of misfits connecting through music. This time round it’s flora (bono’s daughter eve hewson), a sweary, clubbing young working class single mother who makes a few quid nannying and estranged from her musician ex-husband ian (jack reynor), who’s now got a new live in lover of dubious spanish stock, beds pretty much anyone she meets, she also frequently at odds with her electro-music loving sullen teenage son max (orén kinlan) who’s just one petty theft away from juvenile detention. However, seeing a discarded guitar in a skip, she has it fixed and gives it to him as a cheap belated birthday present, he’s not interested (he’s no aspiration to be another “ed fookin’ sheeran”) but flora decides to try and learn, hooking up for zoom lessons with la-based guitar teacher and failed musician jeff (joseph gordon-levitt).
from this point it plays out pretty much as you might expect, with a long distance flirtation between flora and jeff (the film nicely has fantasy sequences as he joins her to sing on a dublin rooftop), he teaching her to play (shooting down her love of james blunt’s you’re beautiful and introducing her to joni mitchell’s both sides now), she reigniting his creative spark (they co-write a song), and mother and son working together making dance and rap music on his laptop, music, as ever for carney, being a transformative force.
there’s distant echoes of wild rose, but, while both are sweet and uplifting, with the central figure finding self-worth and playing to an appreciative audience, this is a softer, more sentimental film in the way it touchingly captures the mother-son dynamic and flora’s search for herself. Often evoking parallels with once in its music as mutual healing theme, it may not be in quite the same league but, fuelled by hewson’s star-making performance, it’s a truly warm and emotionally engaging film that deserved far wider exposure than its limited streaming only fate. (Apple tv+)
furiosa: a mad max saga (15)
a sprawling picaresque origin story prequel to mad max: fury road, set over 15 years and five chapters, while a good twenty minutes too long, george miller again delivers the post-apocalyptic good in charting how young furiosa rose from a child to become the imperator played by charlize theron in the earlier film.
it opens with furiosa (a mesmerising alyla browne), a village girl from the hidden green place of many mothers being captured and carted off, strapped to a customised motorbike, to be presented to bike horde leader dementus (chris hemsworth, chewing it up and providing the bulk of the humour) so she can reveal the location of this place of abundance. Mum (charlee fraser) rides in to the rescue on a thunder bike, but winds up being overwhelmed and killed, furiosa forced to watch. She’s then kind of adopted/kept prisoner by dementus as time passes and he embarks on his plan to take down the citadel, one of the wasteland fortresses, which is lorded over by gas-masked, white-maned immortan joe (lachy hulme), who has a kamikaze army of powder-white, shaven-headed warriors called war boys and keeps a harem to breed more – and hopefully better mentally equipped – sons like rictus erectus (nathan jones) and, a new character, scrotus (josh helman). Chased off, dementus lays siege to the oil-rich gastown, subduing its leader and subsequently negotiating a deal with immortan joe in order not to destroy it. However, the deal involves handing over the organic mechanic to serve as the citadel doctor and furiosa to become one of the wives. Escaping rictus’s advances, she disguises herself as a boy and, now, an hour in, vividly played by anya taylor-joy with few words, a scowl and stoic demeanour, becomes sidekick to praetorian jack (thom burke), who drives the heavily armoured two-section, fuck you war rig supply tanker she helped to build.
it’s not always easy to keep up with things, especially given the seemingly inexhaustible cannon fodder war boys seem to be both fighting against and with dementus, as the action flips between gastown, the citadel and the bullet farm, which dementus has taken over, but all you need to know is that along the way jack and furiosa forge a connection (it doesn’t end well) and she loses an arm, gains a prosthetic claw and shaves her head as she goes about getting to chapter five’s hate-driven revenge on her mother’s executioner. Aside from how the biker crew sport names like norton and harley, there’s a world-building wealth of colourfully named characters like toe jam, piss boy and the octoboss, including franchise returnees the people eater (john howard), the bullet farmer (lee perry) and even (briefly) the heavy metal guitar playing doof warrior with even a glimpse of max himself, plus, of course, a variety of rustbucket two, four and multi-wheeled vehicles, including dementus’s ben hur-like chariot with its three chopper horses, which get to be gleefully flipped, rammed and blown up along the way, whether in the sands dunes or on a three days assault (armed parascenders included) down fury road in the seemingly endless kinetic action sequences. All ending with the final fate of the peach nut her mum gave her to protect and a credits set-up for fury road’s five fighting femmes from the harem. At one point, dementus asks furiosa, “do you have what it takes to make it epic”. Both she and the film most certainly do. (Odeon broadway plaza luxe)
the garfield movie (pg)
a sort of origin movie for jim davis’s internationally famous lazy, mondays-hating, lasagne-loving, snarky cartoon ginger fat cat, the opening scenes reveal how, apparently abandoned in an alley by his street cat dad vic (samuel l jackson), kitten garfield (chris pratt) spots jon arbuckle (nicholas hoult) in an italian restaurant and, taking an instant liking for pepperoni pizza and all things pasta, cutely inveigles his way into his life and refrigerator , even allowing him to have a canine companion, yellow beagle odie (harvey guillén), who becomes his own personal factotum.
fast forward several years and furry pounds, and who should re-enter garfield’s life, upsetting his lazy life of scoffing carbs and watching catflix but vic who needs his estranged offspring’s help in settling a debt to his old street gang persian cat boss jinx (hannah waddingham) by stealing gallons of milk to make up for the time she spent in the pound on his account.
the plan is to break into the heavy fortified lactose farms dairy theme park and steal thousands of bottles, to which end they need to recruit its cast-aside former mascot otto (ving rhames), a grumpy bull with a penchant for dramatic pauses, by promising to reunite him with the cow of his life, unfortunately, they also have to deal with animal control officer marge (cecily strong) and jinx’s numbskull henchmen, musclebound shar pei roland and weasely whippet nolan.
it’ll come as no surprise to learn the real reason vic abandoned garfield as the film follows a warmly familiar s parent-child reconciliation path, but, alongside the whiskers-wetting sentimentality, there’s a steady stream of fun adventures and action not to mention a voice cameo by snoop dogg as scoop catt and, given, the trio’s mission impossible-style heist, amusing gags about tom cruise (“(“in case you’re wondering, i do my own stunts!”, Says garfield) and even a steal from the top gun score.
unlike the cartoon strip which (like peanuts and the simpsons) is very much written for grown-ups, this colourfully and zappily animated affair is predominantly pitched at a kiddie audience who should lap it up while waiting for the next appearance by then minions while offering other gags to entertain the adults too, not to mention a warning about keeping tabs on their children using their smartphones to run up a huge deliveroo bill. (Omniplex great park; vue)
gran turismo: based on a true story (12a)
masterminded by kazunori yamauchi, launched in 1997 gran turismo is an iconic playstation racing simulation game, accurate down to the finest details and which, to date, has seven incarnations and millions of followers. Directed by neill blomkamp, this tells the true story of one of them, jann mardenborough (archie madekwe), a mixed race teenager from cardiff, son of birmingham born former professional footballer steve (djimon hounsou) who played, among others, for coventry, wolves and cardiff city (whose bluebird logo plays an emotional role) and mother lesley (a thankfully underused geri halliwell, displaying all those acting skills you loved in the spice girls movie), who, from an early age dreamed of becoming a racing driver. With that being financially out of the question, as his father hammers home, he settled for becoming a top gran turismo player.
staying generally true to the facts, things kick in when danny moore (orlando bloom), a motorsport marketing executive at nissan (based on darren cox who founded the gt academy) pitches his bosses the idea of giving their fading car market a boost by staging an international competition for gran turismo players, the winners of which would be awarded a spot in the ga academy and the chance to compete in real races. As such, he recruits black sabbath devotee jack salter (david harbour), a (fictional) former racing driver who gave it up after a tragedy at le mans, as the tough love mentor whose job is to get the 10 finalists (out of 90,000 entrants) up to snuff in the transition from game console to actual steering wheel with the ultimate winner getting a team nissan contract as one of their drivers. That will be the soft-spoken jann (at one point moore wants to scratch him as he lacks marketable charisma) then, who chills out before each race by listening to kenny g and enya.
it will come as no surprise to learn this ticks pretty much all the sports underdog movie boxes, with salter becoming jenn’s surrogate father (his pragmatic own dad not supporting his son’s dreams), the confidence crisis (following the spectacularly filmed recreation of the 2015 car flipping crash at germany’s nürburgring circuit that killed a spectator), the encouraging love interest (maeve courtier-lilley), hostility from the real racers, the egotistical unscrupulous rival (josha stradowski as nicholas capa, the film’s equivalent of rocky’s drago), the come-back and the split second chequered flag le mans climax (where the film does indulge in some wish fulfilment champagne popping tampering with the truth).
at two plus hours, it’s overlong and often feels like a marketing campaign for nissan and playstation, but fuelled by solid performances from madekwe and harbour and directed by blomkamp puts cynicism on the back burner for an inspirational tale of triumph against the odds that, like top gun on wheels, makes you feel you’re hurtling around the track low to the ground at 300mph (the real mardenborough served as madeweke’s stunt driver) as the healing settles in. (Netflix)
if (u)
actor-writer-director john krasinski makes his family movie debut with this at times messy but ultimately charmingly sweet and touching animated and live-action ode to the magic of childhood imagination and its loss as we grow older,
her mother having died when she was young and her forever joking father (krasinski) in hospital with a physically and metaphorically broken heart, precocious in-a-hurry-to-grow-up 12-year-old (“i’m not a child”) new yorker bea (the disarmingly winning cailey fleming) moves in with her grandmother margaret (fiona shaw). Glimpsing what she believes to be girl who lives upstairs, she ventures up to explore and meets cal (ryan reynolds dialling down the flippancy in favour of sincerity), who insists he lives alone. However, following him one evening, she finds herself introduced to the world of ifs, or imaginary friends (naturally, there’s a clip from harvey), such as the massive, furry and very purple blue (steve carell) and blossom (phoebe waller-bridge), the betty boop crossed with a butterfly figure she spied earlier and who lives in cal’s apartment. Like cal, only she can see them. It’s a bit like the sixth sense for kids – i see imaginary people.
cal introduces her to the coney island retirement home for ifs, who, like the discarded toys in toy story (the film also knowingly borrows from monsters inc.), Have long been forgotten by their former children. It’s cal, blue and blossom’s mission to reunite them with their old kids (in blue’s case bobby moynihan’s dispirited jeremy) or to find someone else to need them.
blossom, it turns out was her grandmother’s if and still keeps a watchful eye on her, while bea tries to find an if who can bond with benjamin (alan kim), the young boy she meets on her visits to see her dad. In the process, she rediscovers her own still beating inner child, and it’s not too hard to work out who was her if.
there’s a star-studded voice cast of cameos as the array of ifs (and no buts), among them bradley cooper as an ice-cube in a half-full water glass, christopher meloni’s over-enthusiastic raincoated spy, amy schumer’s giant red gummy bear, louis gossett jr. As elderly teddy bear lewis, matt damon’s sunflower sunny, sam rockwell as guardian dog, awkwafina as bubble (a bubble!), Blake lively (reynold’s partner) as octopuss, a cat in an octopus costume, george clooney’s astronaut, vince vaughn as dragon, krasinski’s wife emily blunt as the english-accented unicorn and krasinski himself as marshmallow man. There’s even brad pitt as the invisible frank.
they’re all great fun but also contribute to the underlying sadness of once loved imaginary companions who have outlived their usefulness, the warmly sentimental and melancholic film ultimately and often quite poignantly (as with jeremy and the smell of a freshly baked croissant, for those who get the proust reference) reconnecting them once more. There’s some wonderful flourishes of imagination, such as the musical sequence in the retirement home to tina turner’s better be good to me, and cal falling into and climbing out of a work of art, his clothes covered in paint, the film a ray of light and a heartfelt reminder that there’s still magic and hope in an often cynical world. (Cineworld nec, solihull; omniplex great park; vue)
inside out 2 (pg)
released in 2015, the original ranks among pixar’s finest, alongside the toy story series and up. Now, eight years later we revisit riley (kensington tallman)’s emotions as she turns 13, those operating the console inside her emotional headquarters, still lining up as the primal emotions of irrepressible yellow joy (amy poehler), the green disgust (liza lapira taking over from mindy kaling), red anger (lewis black), blue sadness (phyllis smith) and the purple fear (tony hale replacing bill hader). They’ve created a new section of riley’s mind called her sense of self, the repository of the memories and feelings that form riley’s core personality, joy having consigned any negative memories to the back of her mind.
a star player on the school hockey team alongside best friends bree (sumayyah nuriddin-green) and grace (grace lu), the trio having been invited to take part in a hockey camp so she can apply for a place on the team at her new high school. However, the emotions are shocked when a demolition crew barges in to tear the place apart and reconstruct it for riley’s new phase. And, even more when, as with harry enfield’s kevin the teenager, the transition into puberty brings out an overnight change, the hitherto sweet riley waking up and telling her mother (diane lane) to back off, and being snappy with dad (kyle maclachlan), every interaction with the console causing her to overreact. And that’s just the start as, to their surprise, puberty ushers in a whole new crew of emotions, headed up by orange wide-mouthed nervous wreck anxiety (maya hawke), catty cyan envy (ayo edibiri), the pink and bulky embarrassment (paul walter hauser) in his grey hoodie and the snooty indigo-coloured bored ennui (adèle exarchopoulos), or ui ui as joy calls him, who lounges on the couch.
with riley having learnt her besties are going to a different school, anxiety takes over plaguing her with all manner of insecurities and negative scenarios about what lies ahead, seeing her torn between sticking with her friends or trying to act cool and become part of a new clique headed up by val (lilimar), the star player on the firehawks, the team at her new school. Clashes between joy and the misguidedly overprotective anxiety over how riley should act leads to her sense of self being dumped at the back of her mind and joy and the other emotions on her team being quite literally bottled up and imprisoned by the mind cops (frank oz among them) in a vault that also holds various imaginary characters from riley’s head, including a giant dark hooded figure representing her deepest dark secret, video game character lance slashblade on whom the younger riley had a crush and the hand drawn bloofy and pouchy from her favourite childhood tv show. The task now is to somehow get to the back of the mind and make it back to headquarters and restore riley’s sense of self before she has a total meltdown.
decidedly busier than the first film with all the new characters, even so it’s still rooted in the same premise about being in touch with our feelings, the message being that we are defined by all of them, the negative and the positive, and how both can lead us astray in attempting to fit in, and not repressing sides of ourselves for fear of being judged. It’s also awash with more wittily clever wordplay, joy and the others finding themselves teetering on the sar chasm, riding down the stream of consciousness, being assailed by a brainstorm of ideas (including a very big one) and joy trying to calm the frantic anxiety down with a cup of anxi tea. There’s also an occasional before her time appearance by the elderly nostalgia (june squibb) and a uk only cameo by television personality sam thompson as security man sam. It even slips in a blink and you miss it worry by dad’s anger (pete docter) about his daughter being gay. It doesn’t have quite the novelty of the first film, but the emotions it will uncork in its audience all come bubbling to the sniffle surface. (Cineworld 5 ways, nec, solihull; everyman; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe, west brom; omniplex great park; reel; vue)
killers of the flower moon (15)
based on david grann’s 2017 nonfiction bestseller about the 1920s osage murders in oklahoma, the title is derived from the old farmer’s almanac in which each monthly full moon is given a different name, the flower moon referring to may, when the killings began.
directed and co-written (with eric roth) by marin scorsese, his first since the irishman and three minutes shorter at just under three and a half hours marginally shorter by three minutes, it opens with osage indian nation discovering that their reservation sits on a massive oil field, instantly making them oil millionaires (albeit requiring white ‘guardians’), black and white footage showing them with swanky clothes, private planes, and white chauffeurs for their luxury automobiles. Inevitably, with great wealth comes great danger from those who would take it for themselves. And it’s not long before osage corpses start piling up in suspicious circumstances.
into this comes the feckless and not overly bright but charming ernest burkhart (leonardo dicaprio), returning from serving as an army cook who, in need of a fresh start and money, but a stomach condition making anything strenuous impossible, is taken under the wing of his cattle baron uncle william ‘king’ hale (robert deniro) who sets him up as a cabbie. One of his regulars is mollie (lily gladstone), an osage with three sisters, with whom he falls in love and marries. So far so apparently sweet. But appearances can be misleading. It’s no accident, however, that mollie, sussing he’s out for money (every day the train brings opportunists looking for an osage bride), refers to him as coyote, the trickster of american-indian mythology, and while ernest’s intentions may start out honourably and innocently, more of a snake in this first nation eden, it’s not long before he falls under the spell of his machiavellian uncle who, may present himself as a white saviour philanthropist friend to the osage, but behind the smile is a knife looking to carve its way into their wealth, declaring that their time has past and that of the white man has come.
he’s all for his sad sack’s nephew’s marriage to mollie, primarily because in so doing ernest, and by extension himself, will gain control of her ‘headrights’ to the oil deposits on her land. These are shared with her mother and siblings, so for the plan to work, they need to die. Mother (tantoo cardinal), and a sister (jillian dion) go from apparently natural causes, a wasting disease, two sisters (cara jade myers, janae collins) violently do not. Their deaths along with those of a husband (jason isbell) and private investigator (to which ernest is party) brought into look into the brutal murder of anna (myers), ordered by hale and facilitated by ernest, his brother byron (scott shepherd) , and assorted cowboy lowlifes. Mollie suffering from diabetes, ernest, who genuinely loves her, is instructed to add a powder to her insulin shots (‘generously’ organised by hale) to ‘calm’ her, never questioning why she seems to be getting worse.
as the osage body count continues to rise and the elders become desperate as no police investigations are ever mounted, mollie travels to washington plead for help, leading to the arrival in fairfax of tom white (jesse plemons in the role initially intended for dicaprio), part of the newly formed federal bureau of investigation under the auspices of j edgar hoover, to look into who’s behind the murders.
now 80, scorsese remains at the peak of his powers, guiding the film along an unhurried path as the twists, turns and horrors gradually accrue with dicaprio, all downturned mouth, and deniro, both of whom he was worked with extensively, delivers subtle, nuanced powerhouse performances that rank among their greatest. As mollie, making her feature starring debut, gladstone, seen in tv series billions and reservation dogs, more than holds her own alongside her co-stars, her expressive face simultaneously holding love, hurt, anger, resolve and disappointment while tatanka means, yancey red corn and william bellau loom large among the native american cast, sturgill simpson, charlie musselwhite, pete yorn and jack white join fellow musician isbell in supporting roles (the late robbie robertson created the score) and there’s courtroom cameos from brendan fraser and john lithgow.
a harrowingly potent existentially horrific alternative vision (involving the tulsa race riots, the kkk and the masons) as to how the modern west was won with its themes of manipulation, deception, greed, moral compromise, systemic racism and betrayal, the wolves hiding among the sheep, it balances scenes of quiet beauty, such as ernest and mollie sitting alongside each other at the dinner table, with sudden brutal violence.
likely designed to trim it back from a proposed four hour running time, it ends ingeniously with an epilogue which, instead of the usual what happened after end titles, sums the post-trial fates of the characters up in an episode of radio drama true crime stories, a fictionalised hoover-endorsed version of real programmes like this is your fbi, with live orchestra and, pointedly, white voice actors giving caricatured impersonations of the osage, the last being a cameo by scorsese himself, underscoring the trivialisation of native american suffering, succinctly summed up earlier when someone notes there’s a “better chance of convicting a guy for kicking a dog than killing an indian”, echoing the black lives matter of america’s ongoing racial problems, the camera finally pulling away in an aerial shot of the gathered tribe performing a farewell ritual. This is epic, intelligent, provocative filmmaking.(Apple tv+)
kingdom of the planet of the apes (12a)
rebooted as a trilogy in 2011, maze runner director wes ball now launches another motion capture three-parter, firmly distancing himself from its predecessor with an opening that has the dead caesar being sent off on a simian funeral pyre. However, just as andy serkis’s character goes up in smoke, so too does much of the previous saga’s philosophical musings as it leaps forward several generations for a rites of passage that begins with young chimp noa (owen teague) and his two best buddies anaya (travis jeffery) and soona (lydia peckham) out on a daredevil trees swinging, mountains climbing mission to each obtain an eagle’s egg which, when they hatch, they will train to catch fish (they’re known as the eagle clan), noa having the biggest challenge since his dad’s the clan’s eagle master or bird man or whatever.
unfortunately, a scavenging human – or speechless echo – infiltrates the camp and his egg ends up getting smashed, meaning he has to mount his horse and go find another for the next day’s ceremony. This inadvertently brings him into contact with a bunch of masked apes from another clan who wield taser lances and, following noa’s horse, lay waste to the village, kill his father and take the clan, noa’s mum (sarah wiseman) among them, prisoners. Now, determined to free then, he heads off into the forbidden valley (full of rusted ships and ruined skyscrapers overgrown with foliage) where he first meets raka (peter macon), a wise old orangutan who holds firm to caesar’s precepts and then the wild child girl (freya allan) who broke his egg, who, much to their surprise, turns out to be able to speak and is called mae. It seems she’s the last survivor of a group of similarly endowed humans who were massacred by the same apes who sacked noa’s village and who serve brutal bonobo great ape proximus caesar (kevin durand), who has warped caesar’s teachings, has a pet human accomplice (william h. Macey) who’s taught him roman history and has enslaved his fellow apes to break through into an old human military silo behind which he believes are the tools he needs to conquer the other ape clans. And which he also believes mae has the answer to getting inside and that noa too may prove useful.
there’s some downtime as noa gets to learn more about what life with apes and humans used to be like and vainly tries to his dad’s eagle to bond with him, but this is just the build up to the big flood and flame confrontation finale between him and proximus, with mae’s own mission to recover something from the silo as the launch pad for the next instalment.
needless to say, the motion capture renders incredibly convincing apes (even if it’s sometimes hard to work out who is who) while the visual effects and action sequences keep the adrenaline pumping. Teague is an excellent replacement for serkis, bringing a gripping cocktail of fear, courage, nobility, cleverness and compassion to noa, macon delivers wisdom and wit (his reaction on seeking zebras is a treat), durand is suitably megalomaniac while allan proves as feisty an action warrior woman as she did in the witcher. And she also teaches noa to say ‘shit’,
it’s undeniably overlong, takes a while to get into gear (and i’m not persuaded the post-ape-apocalypse timeline actually stands up) and the analogies of the earlier films are dialled down in favour of a basic hero’s journey, but as a set-up for the inevitable apes vs humans sequel, it certainly knows its monkey business. (Cineworld nec; odeon birmingham, broadway plaza luxe; omniplex great park; vue)
leave the world behind (15)
mingling hitchcock and shyamalan, written and directed by mr. Robot creator sam esmail, this collapse of civilization psychological sci fi thriller, adapted from rumaan alam’s novel. Has three solid star turns from julia roberts, ethan hawke and mahershala ali (with kevon bacon making a third act appearance) that keep you engaged even when the narrative feels like it’s struggling.
jaded with everything (“i fucking hate people”), pretentious self-centred brooklyn housewife amanda sandford (roberts) packs up husband clay (hawke) and the two kids, friends-obsessed rose (farrah mackenzie) and her old brother archie (charlie evans), and heads off to a luxury airbnb on long island, complete with heated pool. However, no sooner have they taken themselves down to the beach than a huge oil tanker ploughs up. Then, back home, that evening they lose all the wi-fi, radio and tv signals (pissing off rose who hasn’t managed to watch the final friends episode), they comes a knock at the door. It’s tuxedo-clad g.H. Scott (ali) and his acerbic daughter ruth (myha’la) who are the house’s owners (though a bigoted amanda finds that hard to believe) and are seeking shelter at their own home following a blackout in new work (something else amanda has doubt about). She’s reluctant to have strangers – more specifically black strangers – staying the night, but clay is more accommodating (especially as g.H. Pays him $1000), reckoning it all be sorted out come morning. Come morning and it certainly isn’t though they have picked up alerts that it might all be down to some hackers, who may have even hacked into the space satellites.
is it an attack by foreign terrorists (out trying to reach town for information, clay picks up a leaflet dropped from a plane with what seems to be arabic writing which, as charlie tells him, is titled death to america) or is it something even more unsettling? Supernatural, perhaps. Meanwhile, rose is transfixed by hundreds of deer that appear in the back garden while a flock of flamingos descend on the pool. The roads blocked by hacked driverless cars, plans plummeting from the sky (ruth fears her mother, who was in morocco, might have been on one) and occasional brief national emergency broadcasts about violence in washington do little to calm the nerves. And g.H. Is concerned that events are lining up as some top secret government plan he heard about from one of his highly connected clients.
tapping into conspiracy theory and apocalyptic dread, it builds an air of tension and fear while also examining how people react and respond to one another under such scenarios (enter bacon as a survivalist clay turns to when charlie needs medical help), the swooping and swirling camerawork exacerbating the gathering weirdness. Returning to its running friends motif, it ends on an open cliff hanger (with no planned sequel) that seems certain to frustrate audiences, especially as it’s all questions and no answers, but in asking how we deal with things as they fall apart around us, those questions are unsettlingly timely. (Netflix)
the letter writer (12a)
the directorial debut by layla kaylif who, after establishing herself as an acclaimed singer-songwriter, now proves an equally impressive filmmaker. Working from her own screenplay, set in 1965 in the twilight of the english colonial protectorate in then trucial states, the precursor to the uae, it draws on both the go-between and cyrano de bergerac to tell the coming of age story of dubai teenager khalifa (eslam al kawarit), who, in defiance of his father, who runs a failing pearl seller stall, sets himself up, along with a friend, writing letters (“inquiries, complaints, follow-ups, recommendations, apologies, even divorce”) for the illiterate locals, he often paraphrasing in more blunt terms. One such is garment store owner mohammad (muhammad amir nawaz) who wants him to write a love letter in english (khalifa’s tutor advises him to improve his command of the language, being perfunctory at best) to a customer with whom he’s become infatuated, elizabeth warren (a rather flat rosy mcewen), who, the niece of the outgoing governor and working for the foreign office, has since returned to london, wanting to know when, she might return. Initially just writing gibberish until he’s rumbled, on seeing her photograph, which mohammad keeps closely guarded and he then turns into a shrine, he himself becomes besotted, couching the letters with his own clumsy expressions and, having discovered shakespeare’s sonnets, poetry. As a result, though engaged to be married to an english colonel (shane dodd) who’s been posted to the british compound near where khalifa works, elizabeth starts to fall for, as she thinks, mohammad, her replies further intensifying khalifa’s crush.
intercut with the romantic misunderstandings, the film also explores the political climate of the time with the growing resentment of the british (in one scene khalifa witnesses his mate pissing on the english flag), questions of arab identity (couched in talk of nasser, the future egyptian president speaking english but still being an arab) and unity, the value of education and generational aspirations.
it suffers from some of the usual first film issues (uneven pace, tone and, especially in the unconvincing scenes set in london, acting, occasional clunky dialogue, excess subplots and underdeveloped characters), but al kawarit ably keeps it from sagging with a wry humour (at one point he starts dressing in furs after seeing omar sharif in doctor zhivago) and believable emotions that range from fiery anger to tender yearning as his character struggles to find his purpose in the world in which he lives with his complicated family, a local girl (marwa al hashimi), he initially tries to woo, the middle-aged slave buthayna (faisa al moutha) seeking her freedom and the frustration of virtually british occupation. Never less than engaging, it’s a promising debut and, as you might expect, the soundtrack includes the classic love letters, although, in a nice touch, it’s the version by cilla black rather than the kitty lester original. (Amazon prime)
maestro (15)
this marks bradley cooper’s second excursion behind the camera, and, after a star is born, another story with a musician at its centre. In this case, covering some 40 years, it’s a biopic of the legendary composer and conductor leonard bernstein (cooper), the first american-born conductor to lead a major american symphony orchestra (and namechecked in rem’s it’s the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine), which is used with egotistical amusement here), one that focuses on the many dualities in his personal and professional life. A flamboyant showman wielding the baton, but reserved and introvert in writing his music, swinging between elation and despair, devotedly married to costa rican-chilean actress felicia montealegre (carey mulligan), a prelude having him expressing his grief over her death, but also (as she was well aware) a secretly promiscuous homosexual, most notably in an early gay relationship with clarinettist david oppenheim (matt bomer).
following a nonlinear structure that makes extensive use of interview exposition and asides to provide background (west side story, arguably bernstein’s greatest work, has just a fleeting mention), it opens with him getting his big break when, in 1943, he has to substitute for an ill bruno walter and conduct the new york philharmonic at carnegie hall. This, like the bulk of the film, is shot in black-and-white with saturated technicolour colour scenes in the latter stretch, both conjuring movies from the 40s, the early scenes in a boxy aspect ratio before the more widescreen later ones, the framing also consistently emphasising the distances between leonard and felicia.
this is dazzling bravura filmmaking peppered with striking set pieces, at one point a rehearsal scene for the ballet that would become on the town unfolds into a fantasy sequence of leonard and felicia dancing together, while the lengthy sequence of him euphorically conducting the choir and mahler’s resurrection symphony with the london symphony orchestra at ely cathedral in 1973, felicia watching from the wings, is electrifying. Likewise, bernstein liberatingly dancing to tears for fears in a gay club and the single take scene of an excoriating thanksgiving argument between the couple as a giant snoopy balloon floats past the window of their new york apartment. More subdued but no less potent is a moment when bernstein lies to his oldest daughter, jamie (maya hawke), about the homophobic rumours going round about him.
arguably, the screenplay doesn’t delve sufficiently into what makes the characters tick, but even so there’s a rich depth with the chemistry between cooper (who, with the controversial prosthetic nose looks strikingly like bernstein) and mulligan, delivering her best work since an education and arguably the film’s real star (she takes top billing above cooper), lighting up the screen. Glorious. (Netflix)
the marvels (12a)
beset by delays and reshoots, directed and co-written by nia dacosta, the first black woman behind a marvel movie, this brings together three female superheroes who all have, in different forms, the ability to harness the power of light. That’ll be carol danvers (brie larson) in a follow-up to miss marvel, now roaming the galaxy in her own spacecraft, monica rambeau (teyonah parris), the now grown astronaut daughter of carol’s late best friend maria (lashana lynch), who works alongside nick fury (samuel l jackson) in his new saber organisation and gained her powers in wandavision (and whose lack of a code name serves as a running gag), and new jersey’s pakistani-american schoolgirl kamala khan (iman vellani), from the disney+ tv series (its use of animation incorporated in introducing her here), an over-exuberant miss marvel mega-fan whose powers come from a magical bracelet.
the bracelet, or quantum band, however, turns out to have a kree origin and is one of a pair, the other being recovered at the start of the film by dar-benn (a compelling zawe ashton clearly having a lot of fun as the baddie) who has an understandable vendetta against danvers – who the kree know as the annhilator for reasons explained later– and needs the two of them to restore life to her home planet of hela. As such, her motives are sympathetic, her means, which include trying to wipe out the skrulls, rather less so. Her acquisition of the bangle also causes the three marvels to body-swap (quantum entanglement, apparently) every time they use their powers, initially creating havoc in kamala’s home, then affording some skipping rope fun and later proving invaluable in the battle with dar-benn.
despite a plot that involves intergalactic genocide and planet asset stripping, there’s a great deal of playful fun here, notably a sequence set on a world where miss marvel is a marriage of convenience princess and where everyone dances as they sing their dialogue (though her prince park see-joon – is bi-lingual) and one where, in an effort to evacuated the space station, fury has the crew ‘eaten’ up by a horde of flerken kitties who spew purple tentacles |
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| Report: Saints QB Derek Carr (oblique) out multiple games |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (4 reads) | |
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Field level media 09 oct 2024, 08:55 gmt+10 (photo credit: jay biggerstaff-imagn images) new orleans saints starting quarterback derek carr, who injured his oblique in mondays road loss to the kansas city chiefs, will miss at least the next two games, nfl network reported tuesday. Carr, 33, is expected to sit out sundays home game against the tampa bay buccaneers (3-2) and next thursdays home matchup against the denver broncos (3-2), according to the report. In his second season with the saints (2-3), carr has completed 90 of his 128 pass attempts (70.3 percent) for 989 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. The four-time pro bowl selection, a second-round pick of the raiders in 2014, spent his first nine seasons with the oakland/las vegas franchise and has thrown for 40,089 yards with 250 touchdowns and 111 interceptions in 164 games (all starts). Nfl network also reported on tuesday that 2024 fifth-round pick spencer rattler is a strong candidate to fill in while carr is sidelined. Rattler, 24, has yet to appear in an nfl game. In the preseason, the former oklahoma and south carolina qb completed 20 of 38 attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown with a 76.9 passer rating. In 48 games over five college seasons, rattler completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 10,807 yards and 77 touchdowns with 32 interceptions. He rushed for 16 touchdowns and 410 yards and also caught a touchdown. Jake haener, who is listed as new orleans co-no. 2 quarterback alongside rattler, replaced carr on monday night and finished 2-of-7 passing for 17 yards. The 25-year-old haener, a fourth-round pick by the saints in 2023, threw one pass over two other appearances this season in his only nfl action. In four college seasons at washington and fresno state, haener completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 9,120 yards, 68 tds and 18 interceptions in 33 games. He also ran for eight scores. The name of the game is to get completions and to move the ball down the field, haener told reporters after mondays game. People dont really care whos in there and whos doing it. ... The expectation is to move the ball down the field and score. If ive got to start next week, thats going to be the same expectation. The reality is no one cares. Weve got to focus on what we have. After averaging 45.5 points in season-opening wins over the carolina panthers and dallas cowboys, the saints have gone 0-3 and scored a total of 49 points. --Field level media get a daily dose of dallas sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well. Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to dallas sun. West fargo, north dakota: an 18-year-old driver who was in an suv saved himself by guiding the car into a ... Vatican city - pope francis, in a letter to the catholics of the holy land has hit out at the ... Taipei, taiwan: even as a typhoon was battering southern taiwan, a fire broke out in a hospital killing at least ... One of the few surviving photo journalists still in gaza was warned last week to stop filming.An israeli army officer ... Hanoi, vietnam: bird flu caused the deaths of nearly two dozen tigers and a panther in a zoo in southern ... Washington, d.C.: In a significant move against what is claims are human rights abuses, the department of homeland security has ... New york, new york - u.S. Stocks were in demand on tuesday, rebounding after mondays sell-off. U.S. Treasury yields steadied, ... Sacramento, california: health officials said this week that the 15th and 16th human cases of the bird flu this year ... Dublin, ireland: tax revenues to the end of september stood at 68.2 billion euros, up on the same period last ... Washington, d.C.: Two u.S. Senators have demanded that the department of justice hold boeing executives criminally accountable for safety issues ... New york, new york - u.S. Stocks had a volatile day monday, finishing well in the red. The dow jones ... Seattle, washington: retailers and department stores will hire more people for the holiday shopping season, but there will be fewer ... |
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| Meet the Candidates |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (5 reads) | |
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On tuesday november 5, the isle of palms will hold an election for an open seat for the isle of palms city council. The island eye asked all three candidates why they wanted to serve.
first, we spoke to rusty streetman, who previously served on council from 2020 through 2023. He stated the city has multiple projects underway, and, in the last council, he served as chair of the real property committee, chair of the public services/facilities committee and vice chair of the public works committee. He also served as a committee member on the personnel and administration committees during his tenure.
“we were able to get a lot accomplished, and several of the projects we worked on are still underway,” he said. “I wanted to finish the good work we started while i was on council.”
some of that work includes the lease and rebuild of the islander 71 restaurant, the assignment of the marina lease to a new tenant, adding the iop marina public dock, phase 3 drainage completion of the outfalls and the completion of the fully ada-compliant beach access path on 34a and palm blvd.
streetman pointed to other ongoing projects, such as phase 4 drainage improvements that must be completed to better control storm water and the multi-use pathway on waterway blvd. He also mentioned the erosion the island has on the east and west ends and the need to find ways to protect those areas from further damage to restore a healthy beach.
“i appreciate the plans and efforts of the us army corps of engineers to pump reclaimed sand on the west end of the island; it has been slow in coming to fruition,” he said. He hopes that once the sand is placed on the beach, the city will be successful in rebuilding the dunes in that area.
streetman also wants to make sure that future decisions by council regarding city hall renovation or replacement are fully vetted by the citizens and residents of the isle of palms.
“we need to make sure we have citizen input and comments through community meetings and soliciting feedback through other media for a project that would cost upwards of $10 million. For such a large, expensive project, there may be a need for a referendum to decide.”
finally, streetman believes there is a need for more collegiality and collaboration among city council members as they consider and deliberate important island issues.
“i could help with that collaborative approach on council. I have always been an independent thinker, and i strongly seek and value feedback from our constituents before casting a vote,” he concluded.
the next discussion was with susan hill smith, who served on council from 2018 through 2021.
smith said she chose not to run for re-election in 2021 so she could fully enjoy her youngest child’s last years of high school, but she has stayed engaged by leading the volunteers of the isle of palms cleanup crew and serving on the city’s community enrichment task force.
“i intended to run for city council again with a focus on the 2025 election,” smith noted. When the special 2024 election was called, several people encouraged her to run, including elizabeth campsen, who was leaving the open seat. “That meant a lot to me. I have always respected elizabeth’s intelligence, knowledge and persistence in serving our community, even if we don’t always agree on all the issues 100%.”
“i also feel personally compelled to step up now because our community is facing critical issues that require forward thinking and innovation. With our island facing a projected one-foot increase in sea level rise by 2050, we must focus on resiliency. That includes accelerating drainage projects and developing proactive beach preservation strategies. At the same time, we need to do more to resolve livability and traffic issues.”
the timing works out for smith to dive back in. “I left my full-time work in software marketing for blackbaud in june to focus on what i am most passionate about, which is community service and environmental issues. Plus, we just took our youngest to college in august.”
josh hooser was the final candidate to offer his thoughts and said he chose to join the race because this is a “swing seat on a divided council.” He emphasized that “it’s crucial to have an independent candidate who isn’t tied to other interests. I am a fresh new voice for the island, ready to champion our community’s needs and guide us forward.”
before deciding to run, he sat down with smith and streetman. “After talking to them, i felt they were already beholden to certain interests. Susan seems primarily focused on environmental issues, while rusty appears to be focused on island businesses,” he shared. “I want to be the voice for the entire community, focused on residents first. I want to make sure their voices are heard.”
hooser believes that what sets him apart from his opponents is his firm stance against public parking in wild dunes he expressed concern that it could lead to further development by the new owners. “Once you open the gates, you will never get them shut again. They are tying beach renourishment to expanded parking. Its essential to save our beaches while protecting our private property rights.”
he went on to outline his platform: “i’m here to manage growth, save the beaches, balance the budget and see the island thrive.”
additionally, hooser also stressed the importance of bringing the island together for a common purpose. He urged residents to exercise their right to vote.
every vote counts, and its up to each of us to shape the future of our island. Lets come together and make our voices heard! |
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| Mark Cuban Slept on Dallas Apartment Floor Before Making Millions - Business Ins |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (10 reads) | |
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These days, billionaire mark cuban resides in a 24,000-square-foot mansion located in one of the nicest neighborhoods in dallas.But that wasnt always the case.The former shark tank host recalled living in a shithole dallas apartment with five other guys in the 1980s during a conversation on the san francisco standards life in seven songs podcast this week.I slept on the floor. If someone was out of town, i got a bed, cuban said in the tuesday episode, recounting his time in the nasty apartment. I didnt have my own closet, didnt have my own drawers, nothing.Cuban was fresh out of college at indiana university when a friend convinced him to move to dallas in 1982, promising great weather and scores of beautiful women, he said.The women are beautiful? Here i come. Im 24 years old, cuban said, recalling that time in his life.Cubans post-college stint in dallas was initially meant to be a quick stopover, but after a couple of months, he got a job selling software in the city.His time at that job, however, was short-lived. Cuban said he had the chance to make a $15,000 sale, which would have yielded him a $1,500 commission check. But his boss fired him instead, cuban told the standard.The setback was ultimately a positive, cuban said. He started a company called microsolutions in 1983. Less than 10 years later, the company had grown to more than $30 million in revenue.In 1990, cuban sold the company for $6 million, officially becoming a millionaire.After selling, cuban said he made a lot of money and bought a lifetime pass on american airlines to travel and party.I was young, single, and crazy, and there were no limits, cuban told the outlet. I just wanted to have a beer with as many people as i possibly could, experience as many things as i possibly could.Cuban famously went on to appear on shark tank as an investor. The entrepreneur announced last year that he would leave the show after filming for this season wraps next year.The dallas resident also bought the mavericks for $285 million in 2000, but he sold his majority stake in the franchise earlier this year for a valuation in the range of $3.5 billion. Cuban maintains a 27% stake in the team.More recently, cuban has been stumping for vice president kamala harris, offering to serve in her potential administration and criticizing former president donald trump, though he says he doesnt hate the republican nominee. |
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| Top reasons to choose New Zealand |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (4 reads) | |
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Dan bai from china, studying business & management at wintec
faqs
why are you choosing to come to new zealand? ›
high quality education
did you know all of new zealands eight universities are ranked in the top 3% in the world? Students in new zealand are supported to solve problems, work with others, create and innovate. New zealand gives you a high-quality education that will enable you to achieve your goals.
why do you choose new zealand as a place to study? ›
new zealand offers high quality and affordable education
all 8 of new zealands universities are ranked in the top 3% of the qs world rankings, which scores universities based on important factors such as academic reputation, student employability, international research network, and more.
why would anyone want to go to new zealand? ›
simply world-class. Finally, there is one obvious reason why new zealand has to be on every map, and that is because were simply world-class. Beautiful, friendly, safe and simply awesome, you dont have to go far in a country the size of new zealand to find everything that youre looking for.
what are 5 interesting facts about new zealand? ›
- its the “land of the long white cloud” ...
- there are way more sheep than people. ...
- beaches are never far away. ...
- it was the last frontier for humans. ...
- it used to be home to a monstrously big bird. ...
- it pioneered womens rights. ...
- its a haven for nature lovers.
how to answer why new zealand? ›
why did you choose new zealand? Start highlighting the benefits and advantages of studying at that particular college/university in new zealand and how it is going to benefit your future plans and career.
why do i want to move to new zealand? ›
new zealand is known the world over for its stunning scenery. The landscape is as diverse as it is beautiful – with rugged mountain ranges, astonishing glaciers, vast, placid lakes and even active volcanoes!
why is new zealand the best country to live in? ›
- breathtaking scenery. Photo credit: unsplash. ...
- low crime rate. New zealand has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. ...
- extraordinary stargazing. ...
- cool cities. ...
- progressive society. ...
- climate. ...
- sense of humour. ...
- quality of life.
what is the importance of new zealand? ›
as an island nation, new zealands coastlines and oceans are some of its most important geographic features. New zealand has one of the worlds largest exclusive economic zones, an oceanic zone over which a nation has exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation of marine resources.
how do i decide what to study nz? ›
- broaden your thinking. Dont just choose a path based on your best school subjects. ...
- think about career paths. ...
- research the job market. ...
- match options to a career. ...
- check where you can study or train. ...
- research the providers. ...
- fit study into your life. ...
- visit the provider.
what attracts people to new zealand? ›
the countrys diverse scenic beauty, its unique culture and range of outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and water sports are some of the reasons why people are attracted to visit new zealand.
why do people love new zealand? ›
our nature – our wild, rugged, remote, and stunning places. Whether its our pristine beaches, our lush native bush, our glaciers and mountains, or our blue, blue skies, its all just so damn spectacular. Ask anyone who has been.
why is new zealand so interesting? ›
new zealand is a welcoming, diverse country with a history of m?Ori, european, pacific island, and asian immigration. This rich blend of cultures, combined with geologically fascinating landscapes and unique flora and fauna, make new zealand an exciting country to explore.
why is new zealand special? ›
new zealand is one of the most unique destinations on earth, where scenes of sweeping, verdant landscapes and pristine wilderness abound. In addition to its endless natural attractions, new zealand is also known for its rich culture, friendly locals, and excellent food and wine.
why is nz so unique? ›
why is new zealand so unique? New zealands natural flora and fauna is incredibly unique as it has evolved in isolation since the split from gondwanaland 85 million years ago. The differences in climate and terrain in new zealand has been an influence of the evolution of our plants and animals.
why is new zealand a great place? ›
one of the main reasons to move to new zealand is the natural beauty. Both the north and south islands boast epic and contrasting scenery. Dense rainforest, snow-capped mountains, icy glaciers, epic fjords, and rugged coastline are just a few of the sights youll see around new zealand.
why did people come to new zealand? ›
there was less variation by region of origin. Those from south africa were most likely to choose new zealand for its safety from crime and violence, and those from europe excluding the uk/ireland were most likely to choose new zealand for its environment and landscape.
why do people choose to live in new zealand? ›
the quality of life in new zealand is very high
quality of life in new zealand is great thanks to factors such as high employment, decent salaries, good education, and good healthcare. We have good social support and are a mostly egalitarian society. This means people are largely pretty happy.
why is new zealand the best country to visit? ›
besides being the setting for the lord of the rings movie trilogy, new zealand is paradise for those seeking to be in awe of nature. Just think mountain ranges, volcanoes and expansive national parks and youll start to get an idea of whats in store.
why did i choose new zealand for a job? ›
in conclusion, working in new zealand offers a perfect blend of a friendly community, stunning landscapes, a strong economy, excellent healthcare, and a family-friendly environment. Its an ideal destination for skilled professionals looking for a high quality of life. |
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| Rueben Chinyelus journey leads 6-11 Nigerian to Gators |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (3 reads) | |
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Gainesville — rueben chinyelu recently bought an electric bike to help him better navigate his new life here.
as he zips from classes to gators basketball practice and home again, the 6-foot-11, 255-pound chinyelu (pronounced chin-yay-loo) is an outsized sight to behold — atop a bike made for someone eight inches shorter.
“it’s doing the work,” he said. “I’m super excited.”
minor inconveniences or some occasional discomfort do not dim chinyelu’s omnipresent smile and boundless optimism. Sacrifice the name of the game if he’s going to achieve his goals, a list that includes becoming a dentist and playing in the nba.
along the way, chinyelu is sure to absorb another language or two — he speaks four well and knows enough of two others to get by.
“i just try to learn from people around me and pick up from there,” he said.
a 6-foot-11 transfer, rueben chinyelu is expected to bring a much-needed defensive presences to the gators. (Courtesy of uf athletics) being a social animal and citizen of the world are requisite skills to walk chinyelu’s path. Moving to a new town and joining a new team can at times be lonely.
chinyelu celebrated his 21st birthday two weeks ago nearly 6,000 miles from his nigerian home . Gainesville is at least closer — and warmer — than washington state, where he spent last season before transferring.
“it’s really tough,” he recently told the orlando sentinel. “You’re far away from home. Sometimes you just want to see your mom or see your siblings. You want to eat some of mom’s food.
“but you have to just see the bigger picture and just know that it’s a sacrifice that’s worth doing.”
not long ago, chinyelu never imagined he’d be playing basketball at all, even though everyone he met back home in lagos already assumed he did.
even in a city of nearly 15 million people, chinyelu — a 6-foot-8 14-year-old — stood out.
“people saw me and were like, ‘oh, you’re tall. Do you play basketball?’ I was like, ‘nah,’” he said. “It was a regular thing for me.”
but chinyelu, his three sisters and two brothers were laser-focused on studies, not soccer — nigeria’s national sport and an indulgence only during recess.
chinyelu’s attention began to shift one day at his brother-in-law’s lagos market when he met mrs. Allison ibidun, a woman he would nickname “grandma.”
when ibidun asked if he played basketball, chinyelu’s sheepish “nah” didn’t cut it.
“she said, ‘why are you smiling? You could get an education playing basketball,’” he recalled. “That’s when the light switched on. It was like, now it’s making sense playing sports.”
with ibidun advising his brother-in-law, nta chin ebere, chinyelu soon enrolled at raptors academy in lagos, just shy of his 15th birthday in 2018, to begin his long and winding basketball journey.
though he’d never played competitive sports, chinyelu was a natural athlete, fluid and fast. He served notice during the 2019 fiba u16 african championship at cabo verde, an archipelago west of senegal known for beautiful beaches.
chinyelu was skinny and his skills were raw. But his relentless style set the tone for nigeria’s third-place finish as he averaged 12.3 points and 17.6 rebounds.
“i was really rough, but was just hustling, getting the rebounds, putting back, setting the screens, rolling, just playing hard,” he said. “Our team was young, we were small, but teams didn’t want to play us. We just would come out and pour everything on the court.”
when the covid-19 pandemic hit the following year, times were bleak in his homeland due to lockdowns and a lack of affordable food. Yet, chinyelu continued to pour himself into basketball.
chinyelu said billy radcliffe of miami, who served as a guardian for former fiu player james ametepe when he came from ghana to south florida, shipped him two basketballs and some shoes.
each day following his morning prayers, chinyelu would do push-ups, sit-ups, planks and lunges, and then head outside to hone his basketball skills.
“even though i wasn’t able to play i was able to work on my personal craft,” he said. “After the pandemic, i was big, really big, and i was fast.”
florida’s 6-foot-11 transfer rueben chinyelu, a native of nigeria, is enjoying his new life in gainesville. (Courtesy of uf athletics) chinyelu’s stock rose quickly in 2021 at the nba academy in senegal. His big moment came during the 2022 nba academy games in atlanta, where he helped his team to the title and led the tournament in rebounding to create interest among american college scouts.
but with kansas, tennessee and the gators in pursuit, chinyelu chose to play for kyle smith at washington state, a 24-hour flight from lagos featuring three layovers. When smith left for stanford, chinyelu decided to cast aside his xxxl winter coat and join smith protégé todd golden in gainesville.
“i love snow,” chinyelu said. “But i just don’t like the cold that comes with it.”
chinyelu also found uf’s culture to be warm and welcoming.
“[the coaches] want you to be more than a basketball player, but also a better person, have an education if you’re willing,” he said. “Some people just want you to be, basketball, basketball, basketball. But they see a different part of you, which is really beautiful.”
chinyelu shakes his head wonderment as he considers how he got here, though he has an idea.
athletically gifted, studious and adaptable, chinyelu is also god-fearing.
“i’ve been to places i never thought i would have been,” he said. “I come from a family [where] we don’t have much. But we just believe and we just work hard to make a life. To travel to so many places, meet so many people, see so many cultures and being able to have education in the u.S. … If it’s not god, i don’t know what is.
“basketball has taken me a long way. I’m just grateful god made me 6-11.”
the gators appreciate chinyelu, whose unique skill set will help shore up a shaky defense.
“he’s the strongest guy i’ve ever been against,” 6-foot-11, 230-pound australian alex condon marveled.
harnessing his strength is the challenge. Chinyelu ranked among the top-20 nationally last season in offensive rebounding rate, defensive rebounding rate, block rate and 2-point shooting accuracy, yet averaged just 13.9 minutes .
“the biggest thing with rueben will be defending without fouling,” golden said. “It’s a tricky one because he plays so hard that you don’t want to slow him down. But if he’s on the floor he’ll be productive — he’s proven that.”
chinyelu has much to prove, but also to see, to learn, to experience.
“he’s still trying to learn america,” said guard walter clayton jr. , A lake wales native.
chinyelu hopes one day to get a car, since he recently earned his driver’s license — “i’m super proud of myself.”
willing passengers might be slim pickings.
“i’ll walk,” uf veteran will richard joked.
meanwhile, chinyelu will keep putting one foot in front of the other, seeing the glass half-full every step of the way.
“it just means i’ll have more room in my car,” he said.
edgar thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.Com |
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| Cook Political Report: Wisconsin Senate Race Shifts from Lean Democrat to Toss-U |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (5 reads) | |
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City-data forum > general forums > politics and other controversies > elections cook political report: wisconsin senate race shifts from lean democrat to toss-up user name remember me password [ register ] search forums show threads show posts advanced search search blogs advanced search go to page... Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - its free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account , youll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads. View detailed profile ( advanced ) or search site with search forums ( advanced ) today, 03:58 pm rowingfiend location: west palm beach, fl 18,639 posts, read 7,715,529 times reputation: 17760 advertisements quote: with less than a month until election day, many of the senate battlegrounds have begun to tighten. Our swing state project surveys last week showed wisconsin to be the closest senate race of the five battlegrounds polled, with democratic sen. Tammy baldwin’s seven-point august lead shrinking to two points, 49%-47%, over gop challenger eric hovde. Another poll from the respected marquette law school last week still showed baldwin with a seven point edge, 53%-46%. However, private polling from both parties mirrors what our survey found — that this race is within the margin of error — and both republicans and democrats view other polls as outliers. This tightening, as hovde has further consolidated republicans behind him and brought independents over to his side, is largely predictable. Wisconsin is one of the most evenly divided states in the country, and the 2022 senate race was decided by one point. While baldwin is still leading independents by eight points, 50%-42%, we have seen an 11-point swing among the bloc toward hovde since august. Link: https://www.Cookpolitical.Com/analys...-Democrat-toss hopefully, trump will pull hovde across the finish line in wi. Tammy baldwin is a career politician with no accomplishments whatsoever. All she does is rubber stamp democrat leadership. She needs to go. Today, 04:46 pm katharsis location: rural wisconsin 21,383 posts, read 10,784,978 times reputation: 40232 that is excellent news. When the race started, it was considered a sure thing that tammy baldwin would be re-elected. Baldwin is another extreme leftist, and i have never liked her or her views. (I donated to hovdes campaign, btw.) We also need to get of gov. Evers, but he is not up for re-election until 2026. . Last edited by katharsis; today at 04:57 pm .. Today, 05:30 pm fordbronco1967 location: the piedmont of north carolina 6,915 posts, read 3,483,034 times reputation: 9138 pennsylvania should also be moved to toss-up. Poll shows a dead heat or slight lean to senator casey, as well, just like in wisconsin. That, and senator casey didnt perform well in his debate against mr. Mccormick. Today, 05:49 pm john3232 location: az 15,099 posts, read 8,996,216 times reputation: 10056 the long tail of senate elections by sean trende - rcp staff september 30, 2024 quote: ... Let’s start with a simple fact: in 2016 and 2020, there was exactly one senate race where a candidate from a party that didn’t win the state’s electors emerged victorious: susan collins. There aren’t many susan collinses in the world, and the two closest analogues are either retiring (manchin) or likely to lose (tester). …Overall, the rcp average has the presidential race in pennsylvania as a statistical tie (trump actually leads 48.1% to 47.9% for harris with casey at 48.4% and mccormick at 44.4%). Notice anything? There are probably a great many things to notice, but what jumps out at me is this: in all of these polls, casey is getting nearly the same vote share as kamala harris. Casey may well be up 4 points right now. But the undecided voters are disproportionately likely to be trump voters. …If trump wins the state, that’s a problem for casey. It isn’t that there won’t be any ticket splitting – of course there will be, and casey may be the beneficiary. It’s more that casey’s lead is probably an illusion. There’s a large chunk of the electorate that is committed to voting for donald trump, yet professes to being unsure about whether they’re voting for mccormick. Maybe they won’t, but i have my doubts. In michigan, kamala harris leads donald trump 48.9-47.5, and elissa slotkin leads mike rogers 47.6-43.2. In wisconsin, harris leads 49.1-48.3, while tammy baldwin leads eric hovde 49.7-46.1. In arizona, trump leads 49.3 with 47.3 for harris – as ruben gallego leads kari lake 49.3-43.5. In nevada, harris leads 48.6-47.3, while jacky rosen leads sam brown 49.3-40.7. What does this mean? Democrats lead in all of these senate races, sometimes by comfortable margins. But those margins are fragile. The undecided voters are disproportionately trump voters, which suggests these races are going to close in the next few weeks. … Again, many of these democrats will run ahead of harris. If harris wins, they’ll probably be fine. But i don’t think they’ll likely run more than a couple of points ahead of harris. If trump is winning the electoral college, it isn’t fanciful for most of these seats to also flip , setting up a gop senate that looks very, very different than it did during trump’s first term. Https://www.Realclearpolitics.Com/ar...Ns_151707.Html today, 06:32 pm fordbronco1967 location: the piedmont of north carolina 6,915 posts, read 3,483,034 times reputation: 9138 quote: originally posted by john3232 the long tail of senate elections by sean trende - rcp staff september 30, 2024 that makes sense to me. And i havent believed the polls, thus far, that stated mr. Trump winning a state, yet that same state was going to vote for the democratic senate candidate by several percentage points. Thats not going to happen, particularly in a swing state. Today, 06:50 pm sonny3 1,757 posts, read 889,065 times reputation: 3135 glad to hear it. Time for tammy to go now. Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned. Detailed information about all u.S. Cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: city-data.Com . City-data forum message cancel changes quick reply the following errors occurred with your submission okay message: posting quick reply - please wait « previous thread | next thread » search this thread advanced search city-data forum > general forums > politics and other controversies > elections similar threads rcp updates their senate projection, dark blue washington shifts from dem to toss-up! , Politics and other controversies, 12 replies red tsunami update: cook political report shifts forecast in favor of republicans , elections, 55 replies cook political report moves florida from tossup to lean d , elections, 1 replies cook political report moves missouri senate seat from tossup to likely democrat , elections, 0 replies all times are gmt -6. © 2005-2024, advameg, inc. · Please obey forum rules · terms of use and privacy policy · bug bounty city-data.Com - contact us - archive 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 - top |
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| East Tennessee still picking up the pieces after Hurricane Helene |
| Posted on Wednesday, October 09 @ 00:00:13 PDT (3 reads) | |
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Skip to content watch live tyre nichols digital desk latest video news first alert weather sports traffic share your pics home watch live share your pics recent video download our apps election results mississippi interactive results news state national education digital desk action news 5 now 5 star stories 901 now good news political news consumer crime first alert weather the breakdown weather headlines closings special reports investigations 5 star stories health best life coronavirus healthier 901 vaccine bridging the great health divide community black history month mid-south heroes sports grizzlies college football college basketball friday football fever memphis showboats olympics traffic gas prices programming schedule bluff city life digital desk about us meet the team advertise with us careers editorial board contests zeam - news streams powernation investigatetv watching your wallet gray dc bureau digital marketing published: oct. 8, 2024 at 6:06 pm cdt | updated: 4 hours ago email this link share on facebook share on x (formerly twitter) share on pinterest share on linkedin crime 20-year-old accused of shooting, killing man after argument updated: 4 hours ago news tuesday evening first alert forecast from chief meteorologist ron childers-october 8, 2024 updated: seconds ago news memphis native earns 4-chair turn on ‘the voice’ updated: 4 hours ago news big bounce america coming to memphis updated: 5 hours ago news erics tuesday afternoon online weather update {10/8/2024} updated: 6 hours ago | by eric brill |
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