Absolute Batman #17: While Bruce takes steps to try and fix his personal issues with his friends, Pamela Isley has made her way to Gotham City. Located within a giant forest in the heart of Gotham, Poison Ivy has turned the police into a literal foliage of horrors.
Positives
Absolute Batman #17 introduces you to the tragic backstory of Dr. Pamela Isley, better known as Poison Ivy. Led to a dark path through a horrific series of events, Pamela is determined to make Gotham suffer. In the present day, with the police completely overpowered and outmanned, Batman is the last one standing in this towering jungle in Gotham.
Armed with giant buzzsaws on each forearm, Batman charges into Ivy’s jungle, cutting away anything he sees move. Attempting to charge directly into the heart of the jungle, he stopped short when he sees a police officer–but now he’s been corrupted by Ivy! Teetering between life and death, Batman has no choice but to put them down. He’s reminded by Alfred that these things are no longer people and that there is no saving them.
As Batman navigates through Ivy’s deadly jungle, we see different versions of her–all beautiful and captivating. Batman, however, pays no attention to this tedious attempt at distraction, and instead keeps his focus on the mission. Towards the end of the book, he finally meets the real Poison Ivy–and she’s a human-plant hybrid!
Negatives
I have no complaints about this issue.
Verdict
Absolute Batman #17 is a great read and I’m looking forward to the next issue. Batman’s fight against Poison Ivy is epic and I’m excited to see how it concludes. Also, Martha Wayne has a shocking revelation at the end, and I’m eager to see where her particular story goes.
My heart, however, really goes out to Bruce’s friends. Throughout this series, Bruce has tried to make amends for what happened to them against the criminal Bane. Oswald, Harvey, Edward, and Waylon still hold Bruce responsible–and honestly, I don’t blame them. However, Bruce’s attempts to apologize continue to fall on deaf ears, but I do commend him for still trying, nevertheless. I have a bad feeling that The Joker will use Bruce’s former friends against him in some way. Their hatred for him is pure, and it’s not going away. I think that Joker while manipulate these feelings for not only the eventual takedown of Batman, but also just because he enjoys it.
New Horizons on Switch 2: faster load times, smoother frame rate, same charm. Six years of free updates built the most comprehensive Animal Crossing ever made. The island design tools remain the best creative sandbox on any Nintendo platform. If your island has been waiting, this is the version to return to.
House Of The Dragon and Doctor Who Smith will play a “debonair stranger who washes ashore on a remote island wearing a Rolex and holding an briefcase he can’t open, with no memory of who he is or why he is there. Taken in by the sole inhabitants – Iris, a glamorous wine-soaked matriarch, her erudite daughter Goggy (Poots) and Baby, their giant naked butler – he is drawn into their bizarre and decaying world. But this is no accident. And what begins as sanctuary turns into something far stranger, far darker – a world of pent-up revenge, sinister family betrayal and shocking violence”.
The film reunites writer Toby Harvard and director Ant Timpson for their third project after Bookworm and Come to Daddy. Additional casting is in process.
Producers are Emma Slade and Roxi Bull for Velvet Moss (Come to Daddy) and Andy Starke (Possessor) for Anti-Worlds. The team is eyeing a February 2027 shoot “on a remote island”.
Embankment’s Archie Faulks described the film as “a wildly entertaining Hitchcockian thriller served up on a gourmet platter of absurdist comedy and psychological suspense. It keeps audiences guessing right up to an ending they won’t see coming and won’t forget.”
A version of the script was announced pre-pandemic but it now has new impetus with different cast, producers and seller.
In the past I would have shrugged this off as just another weight-loss trend. But as the universe would have it, GLP-1s becoming so mainstream perfectly aligned with me entering perimenopause—and facing a demoralizing stalemate with my weight. At annual physicals from my teens through 30s, I fell exactly in the middle of the “healthy weight for height” green zone on the doctor’s wall chart. Maintaining my size wasn’t effortless, but it wasn’t too hard either. I love to work out, enjoy vegetables and fish, and am not big into red meat or fast food. Whenever my jeans started to feel snug, I could fit in some extra runs and cut back on snacking, eating sweets, and going out for dinners and drinks.
At least that used to be the case. My mom warned me that in her 40s, she all but stopped being able to lose weight. I nodded along, but my inner obnoxious teenager (who only Mom can summon) was secretly smug and skeptical. Surely, she’d never worked out as much as I do, and weight lifting wasn’t even a thing most women did when she was my age. I’d managed to fit back into my prepregnancy clothes after having three kids. Middle age wouldn’t claim my taut midsection; I wouldn’t let it.
Yet here I am, eating my words. My mom was right. Over the past few years, as my hormones have gone rogue, so has my weight. And nothing—I mean nothing—will move the needle back down. From my tried-and-true tactics (getting 10,000 daily steps, running, doing Pilates, not snacking after dinner) to emerging advice (lifting heavier weights, eating all the protein), each fresh burst of motivation only leaves me more deflated. Occasionally, I’ll make subtle progress, only to have a stressful week or brief holiday indulgence undo it all—plus a few pounds. For the first time ever, my weight now teeters at the tippy, tippy top of that green zone. I miss my defined waist, and my closet is bursting with clothes that now fit completely wrong.
In this vulnerable place I’ve let the social media ads and photos of ever-slimmer acquaintances creep into my consciousness. I began to wonder where people who are not taking GLP-1s for medical reasons get them. Are they trusting for-profit telehealth providers? Is there a better way? Should I ask my primary care doctor for her thoughts? Would she laugh or, worse, scold me? I decided I was only comfortable starting a potential medication journey in her office. But first, I needed to know what I was even asking for.
The Wild West of off-label GLP-1 use
I started by going straight to the source: peers in a similar life phase who’ve used GLP-1s to lose 10 or 15 pounds. I figured they’d be reluctant to spill the tea, but when I posted on Facebook, promising to alter people’s names for anonymity, the DMs started pinging in at a rapid pace. It turns out that, yes, as you may have suspected, lots of people are using GLP-1s. I learned that there seem to be two main ways people who don’t meet the FDA criteria are getting the drugs.
The long layoff between seasons of Euphoria apparently didn’t dull viewers’ enthusiasm for the show.
The HBO drama’s April 12 premiere brought in 8.5 million viewers across all platforms in its first three days, its best season opener by a wide margin. The finale of limited series DTF St. Louis also put up solid numbers, scoring the largest three-day viewer total of its run.
Euphoria emerged as one of HBO’s bigger shows in its second season, averaging more than 16 million viewers per episode (measured over 90 days from the season premiere). Sunday’s premiere was up by 44 percent vs. the season two debut (which had about 5.9 million viewers over the same time frame), which bodes extremely well for the show’s prospects the rest of the season.
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As usual with HBO shows (and particularly with Euphoria), the large majority of the audience came from streaming on HBO Max — which also has grown significantly since Euphoria last aired. The first airing on HBO’s cable channel drew 356,000 viewers, just 4 percent of the eventual three-day total.
As for DTF St. Louis, the limited series starring Jason Bateman, David Harbour and Linda Cardellini closed a run of week-to-week growth with 3.5 million viewers. The finale grew by 40 percent from the March 1 premiere (2.5 million viewers over three days) and was up by about 6 percent from the 3.3 million viewers for the previous week’s episode. DTF St. Louis is currently averaging 6.5 million viewers since its premiere, a number that will keep growing through the end of HBO’s measurement window.
For this season, The Voice features just three coaches, instead of four. In addition, numerous past champions will be joining. One would assume that NBC is sure to renew this popular show for a 30th season but, season 29 sure feels like an anniversary season. Could The Voice possibly be cancelled or put on hiatus for a year? Stay tuned.
A singing competition series, The Voice TV show is hosted by Carson Daly and airs typically on Mondays and sometimes on Tuesday nights. Adam Levine (his 18th season), John Legend (his 11th season), and Kelly Clarkson (her 10th season) return to coach in season 29, billed as a “Battle of Champions” season because all the coaches have previously won. The competition typically has four stages: blind auditions, battle rounds, knockouts, and live performances. In the knockouts round, two contestants from each coach’s former teams will compete in the “In-Season All-Star Competition.” The All-Star artists include Maelyn Jarmon, Renzo, Jake Hoot, Girl Named Tom, Javier Colon, and Jordan Smith.
Nielsen Ratings The Nielsen ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s chances of staying on the air. The higher the ratings, the better the chances of survival. This chart is updated as new ratings data becomes available.
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For comparisons:Season 27 of The Voice on NBC (which aired in Spring 2025) averaged a 0.35 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 4.68 million viewers on Monday nights, On Tuesdays, episodes averaged a 0.25 in the demo and 3.91 million viewers.
Note: These are the final national ratings, including all live+same day viewing and DVR playback (through 3:00 AM). While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but typically the higher-rated series are renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled.
TV SHOW STATUS
The Voice has been renewed for a 30th season, which will debut (TBD). Stay tuned for further updates.
What do you think? Do you like The Voice TV series on NBC? Are you glad it has been renewed for a 30th season?
NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani still disagrees heavily with President Donald Trump on several issues, something on which they are able to agree. In fact, he described their relationship as “a New York story” on Thursday.
Appearing on “CBS Mornings,” Mamdani reflected on his first 100 days in office and was fairly jovial about the grades that actual New Yorkers have given him. Eventually, discussion turned to his relationship with the president, where Mamdani detailed how much they’ve actually been working together.
“I would say the two of us are in touch. We’ve had a number of meetings now in the Oval Office, and we are honest, direct about the fact that we have many disagreements,” he explained. “There is one place of agreement that we have, which is that we both love New York City. And that’s, I think, something that is at the heart of every conversation we have.”
Among the issues the men still disagree on is foreign policy. Mamdani noted that he remains steadfastly against the war in Iran, and called out how much money it is already costing Americans.
“I’m deeply opposed to the war. I think it’s something that should be opposed, not just on a political level or an economic level, but frankly, a moral level,” he said. “We’re talking about spending close to $30 billion to kill thousands of people an ocean away while we’re told that we don’t have even an ounce of that money to help working class Americans across this country.”
That said, Mamdani stressed that he and Trump try to find common ground during their meetings: “I think in many ways, it’s a New York story of people who have vehemently differing views and have said many things about each other, and can also still work together on the points of agreement.”
The 2026 Tribeca Festival’s feature and short film lineup will include the Aubrey Plaza and Susan Sarandon-led “The Accompanist,” Katie Homes’ “Happy Hours” and more, the festival announced Thursday. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the festival will take place from June 3 through 14 in New York City.
118 feature films will be showcased at this year’s festival, with highlights including “The Last Day” starring Alicia Vikander and Wagner Moura, “Rain Reign” starring Paul Rudd and Jeremy Sisto and “Clean Hands” starring Zach Braff, plus Vera Farmiga, Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Parsons and Simon Rex in “The Leader”; Alison Brie, André Holland, Tom Sturridge and Dustin Hoffman in “The Revisionist; André Holland with Wendell Pierce and Samira Wiley in “They Fight”; Marc Maron in “In Memoriam” and Sofia Boutella, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lizzy McAlpine, Simon Pegg, and Quentin Tarantino in “Only What We Carry.”
This year’s documentary slate will include “Born Melo,” “Doc Meets World,” “Playing POTUS” and “Jean-Michel,” the first documentary made with the full participation of the Basquiat family. The festival previously announced “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World)” as the opening night film.
“Twenty-five years in, Tribeca remains a festival built on discovery and cultural conversation. This year’s film program once again brings together global premieres, iconic talent and daring new voices to transform screenings into unforgettable shared experiences,” said Tribeca Festival Director and SVP of Programming Cara Cusumano in a statement. “From legends and trailblazers to bold emerging artists, these films reflect the creativity, vitality and diversity of New York and the world and a festival that continues to evolve alongside the creators shaping what comes next.”
The festival’s shorts lineup consists of 86 films from 93 filmmakers, with 45 world premieres. Notable shorts include “Kiloran Bay” starring Alan Cumming, “General Admission” starring Nina Dobrev and “White Belt,” which follows supermodel Monika “Jac” Jagaciak.
“Tribeca’s Shorts program has been a launchpad for extraordinary filmmakers and this year’s lineup continues that legacy with a dynamic, globally diverse group of storytellers,” said Ben Thompson, Tribeca Festival vice president of shorts programming, in a statement. “These films capture moments of hope, resilience and transformation, while pushing the boundaries of form and perspective. It’s an exciting look at the future of cinema, shaped by artists unafraid to take risks.”
The federal government is “very seriously” considering introducing a social media ban for kids, Culture Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday, days after party members voted in favour of a such a ban at the Liberal party convention.
“I respect and acknowledge the work that’s been done and the concern where that policy proposal came from,” Miller told reporters on Parliament Hill.
“The grassroots have spoken. We do have to study that.”
In Montreal on Saturday, party members passed a non-binding resolution calling on the government to set 16 as the minimum age for access to social media accounts.
A ban could be an important tool but it’s not a solution to the bigger problem of online harms, Miller said.
“I do think it could be an important layer, but it has to be seen as that and not as the answer to everything. Online harms don’t end as soon as you turn 15 or 16 or 17,” he said.
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Is a ban on social media use among youths enforceable in Canada?
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the government would take the will of the convention into consideration.
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“Our policies are informed by a range of different stakeholders, including what people at conventions say. And this was a convention with over 4,500 people, a very loud voice and a very significant voice, but we’ve also heard from Canadians from coast to coast to coast,” Anandasangaree told reporters.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the government is considering a number of different options. He added the government takes note of party members’ decisions, but isn’t bound by them.
“We would give it the consideration that it deserves, but we want to make sure that we have the full benefit of the deep policy advice from people whose full-time job it is to understand the consequences,” he said.
“Resolutions that are adopted by the party obviously have a broad base of political support, but they aren’t necessarily benefiting from the same level of advice and consideration.”
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Last December, Australia became the first country to pass a law enforcing age limits on social media accounts. The idea has since gained traction elsewhere.
The EU has developed an age verification app that will be available for use soon, Reuters reported Wednesday. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the app will require users to upload their passport or ID card to confirm their age anonymously, the news agency reported.
It noted at least a dozen European countries are considering or have put in place legislation that sets a minimum age for social media use.
In Canada, the federal government plans to introduce an online harms bill and is consulting with an expert advisory group on what the legislation should look like. Miller, who is taking the lead on the file, declined to give a timeline for introducing the bill.
The government’s move to consider age restrictions for social media and chatbots received support from Conservative and NDP MPs Wednesday.
Canadians support social media ban for youth: poll
Conservative MP Michael Barrett said it’s an important question and a committee study “where we could hear from experts, instead of simply a proclamation from government or from people in the industry about what they think it should look like, is the best way to proceed with it.”
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NDP parliamentary leader Don Davies said every parent in the country is worried about their kids accessing inappropriate content online, and there is a need for government regulation in this space.
While he said he didn’t want to comment specifically on age restrictions, Davies added, “I know some other countries are moving in that direction, so I think it’s something Canada should look at.”
The government is leaving it to the expert group to weigh in on whether the legislation should also cover access to AI chatbots, Miller said.
“The more these things become prevalent and people have access to them and they are in fact causing harm, then you feel the people that are supporting these platforms or the owners of these chatbots have a responsibility,” he said.
On Saturday, the Liberals also adopted a similar non-binding resolution to set age restrictions for AI chatbots.
Lil Uzi Vert has released a new single ‘Chanel Boy’ that has created a lot of excitement among his followers and made them speculate about his future releases. The release of the song has re-ignited the discussions around its release, and what it could signify regarding the artist’s future projects. This is yet another major milestone for the rapper who has been known for his unpredictable release dates and has a devoted fan base.
The announcement was very simple but proved to be very powerful. Lil Uzi Vert was his flamboyant self again and announced, ‘Chanel Boy Out now 💋𖤐!!!!!’ The post quickly became a place where everyone was listening to the new music and sharing their first impressions. The comment section was filled with various types of energies, mostly laughter at the celebratory mood and the usual, messy requests that are the hallmark of any Git activity.
Someone truly set the vibe with their comment: ‘1️⃣ Uzi – welcome back! this.’ The return of Uzi was indeed great and a lot of people shared this opinion, but at the same time, it immediately sparked the old debate in the replies. One user was quick to argue with, ‘he has not been good since 2018 let’s be honest fam,’ and another simply concurred, ‘true facts.’ It’s just the classic Uzi comment section experience—fanatical cheering and harsh criticism occupying the same digital space.
However, the release, like most modern music drops, encountered technical issues. One user, obviously frustrated, said, ‘I swear Apple Music doesn’t exist to you rappers,’ which quickly turned into a dialogue—after the ‘problem’ declaration, one commented, ‘not out on spotify.’ Another added, ‘it even came out on audiomack bruh.’ The fans’ situation is so bad that they still have to hop from one platform to another in order to discover the new song that is going to be their next favorite.
There was a fan who was really dreaming and was so much into his/her hope that the post turned out to be a huge thread. He/she set a dream release for a week by outlining the entire week’s releases in an optimistic manner. The post went, ‘Monday we get Chanel. Tuesday we get Hanson Helly. Wednesday we get Radar. Thursday we get Uzi Free. Friday the album @LILUZIVERT ❔🥹’ This hopeful line-up, although capped with a teary-eyed emoji, got mixed reactions—some people supporting and others giving reality checks. One reply was brutally honest: ‘ts not happening gng 😭🙏.’ Another one gave a more cautious—but still pessimistic—view: ‘would be nice if this happened but realistically he wont drop an album till next yr around this month too, he might drop one more single. Tease and album js to scrap it and make smth else lmao.’ This exchange perfectly reveals the cycle between the rapper and his audience, that is, high hopes, waiting patiently, and accepting the artist’s unpredictability.
One comment amid the requests for more music drew attention for its pure, almost metaphysical, quality. A user proclaimed, ‘I DONT WANT AN ALBUM I JUST WANT U TO BE U.’ There weren’t many supporters among the people who replied, with one making a pun, ‘bro actin like he know him irl 😂’ and another very straightforwardly saying, ‘uzi don’t know you bro 🤣😭.’ It’s the odd parasocial dance where fans feel a strong connection with an artist who they have never seen and at the same time they share their wishes with the one behind the music.
The buzz even reached the younger generation when one of the fans confidently stated: ‘MY DAUGHTER GON BE HAPPY ASF WHEN I NAME HER LIL UZI VERT ‼️‼️‼️‼️’ A few suggestions were immediately made in response, one person proposing ‘lil uzi vertia’ and the other just replying ‘Venetia.’ This is a rather funny, if somewhat insane, evidence of the devotion that Uzi enjoys.
Lil Uzi Vert still has the power to grab people’s attention with just a single post. The release of ‘Chanel Boy’ is not only a new track but also a situation where his community feels like a reunion, controversies are triggered, and the never-ending speculation about his next move continues. The buzz is there whether you are a long-time listener or a casual observer. The song is out, the discussions are happening, and the Uzi universe is, as always, a captivating place to be.
Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast is putting their trademarked D back in DM-ing with the launch of a new “Dungeons & Dragons” actual-play TV series.
Launching with its first two episodes available on YouTube on April 22 at 6:30 p.m. PT, the new show, titled “Dungeon Masters,” stars Jasmine Bhullar (“DesiQuest,” “Dimension 20”) as the Dungeon Master along with players Mayanna Berrin (“Dispatch,” “StoryQuest”), Christian Navarro (“13 Reasons Why,” “Forgotten Realms: Tears of Selune”), Neil Newbon (“Baldur’s Gate III”) and Devora Wilde (“Baldur’s Gate III”).
For the uninitiated, an actual play show features people who are really playing “Dungeons & Dragons,” or another table-top roleplaying game. The format has become widely popularized in recent years through the web series “Critical Role” and Dropout’s “Dimension 20,” both of which focus on D&D-style game mechanics, but without using the official D&D products or licensing. (Instead of Dungeon Masters, you have game masters.)
Wizards says “Dungeon Masters” is meant “to appeal to a wide audience of D&D veterans, newcomers and everyone in between.”
“We have to court an existing audience. When we look at how ‘Baldur’s Gate III’ and ‘Stranger Things,’ and the ‘D&D’ movie expanded the fandom and the number of people in the hobby as a whole,” Bhullar told Variety. “I know my goal coming into this, and to a certain extend, Wizard’s goal coming into this, is to expand this hobby that we all love. So if somebody who’s never watched an actual play watches ours and goes and says, I want to run my own game of D&D, then I think we’ve done our jobs well. Courting an audience outside of actual play is part of our goal.”
Episodes will drop weekly and showcase official, unreleased D&D content, which will be available to play on online platform D&D Beyond directly following each episode. The show’s first storyline will be a tie-in for Wizards’ newly announced campaign product “Ravenloft: The Horrors Within,” which will release June 16.
Per Wizards’ description for “Dungeon Masters,” “The first campaign arc unfolds within the world of Ravenloft, plunging viewers into a dark and atmospheric setting filled with mystery, suspense, and gothic horror.”
“Those of us that have been familiar with doing the settings for a long time, there’s a wonderful familiarity of and also sort of genuine excitement, almost like fanning over characters,” Newbon said. “It’s really exciting, because then you don’t know quite how the DM is going to weave the story with them coming into it, but there’s a certain amount of excitement that comes with the nostalgia of these characters that we’ve grown up with.’
“The player characters are not known to the fans, to the people watching,” Navarro. “So I think that that’s a really unique experience as well, is that they might know the characters that we’re encountering, and we might know the characters we’re encountering, but obviously the stories and the characters we’re playing don’t. So that’s a new experience and something exciting and really vibrant.”
The show will feature an original score by Grammy-nominated composer David Arkenstone.
“’Dungeon Masters’ brings a truly authentic and original experience to our fans, with all of the fun, high-tension moments, drama and adventure built from official D&D material,” Wizards of the Coast senior vice president and head of Dungeons & Dragons, Dan Ayoub, said. “In many ways, ‘Dungeon Masters’ is our love letter to the actual play shows that have introduced so many to D&D. Our aim with ‘Dungeon Masters’ is to crystallize all that’s great about actual play – the tension, drama, and unpredictable nature – and put our stamp on it with upcoming official source material. We’re so excited to see how ‘Dungeon Masters’ can inspire even more adventure from our players, and in turn, see how they inspire us to make the show better and better.”
See below for a first look at the “Dungeon Masters” set, the cast, and the characters they will be playing in the upcoming first campaign.
YouTube Premium is getting more expensive in the US, with prices rising by $2 on standard individual accounts and as much as $4 for the family plan. The price hike is already in effect for new accounts, and is rolling out now for existing customers.
Premium’s Individual plan now costs $15.99 per month, up from $13.99, while the five-person Family plan is $26.99, previously $22.99. Premium Lite, which removes “most” ads but doesn’t include YouTube Music, is now $8.99 monthly, up from $7.99.
The new prices are live now for new signups, and 9to5Google reports that existing subscribers are beginning to be notified about the price hike via the following email:
To continue delivering great service and features, we’re increasing your price to $15.99/month. We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube.
You will see the change reflected on your June 7, 2026 billing date.
Jane Fonda has made the incredible claim that she feels better at age 87 than she did even in her 20s.
The Hollywood legend reveals she refuses to play the ‘kooky grandmother, or the dying mother with dementia’ in her acting roles as she feels as vibrant as ever.
‘People have so many stereotypes of older people. I’m 87, and I feel younger and healthier and a greater sense of well-being than I had in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s’ she tells the Daily Telegraph.
Fonda added that she feels the work she is offered these days often ‘isn’t worthy’ of her.
‘I’m 87, I don’t feel done yet. Roles that I’m offered are really sad’ she told the publication.
Jane Fonda (pictured) has made the incredible claim that she feels better at age 87 than she did even in her 20s. The Hollywood legend reveals she refuses to play the ‘kooky grandmother, or the dying mother with dementia’ as she feels as vibrant as ever. Pictured in June
‘They are not worthy of my six decades of being in this industry’.
She added: ‘I’m happy… I think one of the greatest things that we can attain is a robust sense of well-being, of happiness.’
The acclaimed actress and activist recently dished about how she’s been able to maintain her fabulous figure through the years.
‘I don’t feel like an old person. I’m much younger than I was when I was in my 20s, in all the ways that matter,’ the two-time Academy Award winner said, after revealing that she still works out with a trainer every day.
Fonda was recently promoting sneaker brand Golden Goose’s 25th anniversary, and starred in the new ‘Born to be a Super-Star’ campaign video.
During a conversation with theThe New York Times, she elaborated about her exercise routines, personal style and thoughts on ageing, all the while sharing about her fondness for the sneaker brand.
‘So it never occurred to me with this campaign, “Oh, God, isn’t this great. They’re using an old woman”‘ she added when shifting her focus back to her collaboration with Golden Goose.
‘But now that I think about it, it is cool. I like that.’
‘People have so many stereotypes of older people. I’m 87, and I feel younger and healthier and a greater sense of well-being than I had in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s’ she says. Jane is pictured in the film Barbarella in 1968 – she was 30 years old at the time
‘I’m 87, I don’t feel done yet. Roles that I’m offered are really sad’ she added. Pictured in 1984 at age 47
The iconic Barbarella star also opened up about her famous exercise routines, confessing: ‘I essentially do everything I used to do, just slower.’
‘I used to be a runner, but now I love walking,’ she said, before adding, ‘I love being outdoors in the woods, especially up and down hills.’
Fonda has worked as an actress that spans several genres and over six decades in film and television.
The original in the series was the first non-theatrical home video release to top sales charts.
In all, Fonda sold 17 million exercise videos in the 1982–1995 series, which has been considered a massive financial success.
In fact, it spawned a number of imitators while helping spark the boom for women’s exercise classes, en route to making a name for the ladies in the then male-dominated fitness industry.
‘I had no idea my videos were going to become such a phenomenon,’ Fonda told People.
Fonda continued: ‘I’m happy… I think one of the greatest things that we can attain is a robust sense of well-being, of happiness.’ Pictured in May
‘When I was starting out, there weren’t many rigorous forms of exercise available to women. I learned the basic workout from a charismatic teacher named Leni Kasden in the ’70s.’
Fonda began her rapid rise to fame as an actress with the romantic comedy film Tall Story (1960), and led to such famed roles in Barbarella (1968), They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1970), Klute (1972), Julia (1977), Fun With Dick And Jane (1977).
She also starred in Coming Home (1978), The Electric Horseman (1979), The China Syndrome (1980), 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1982) and The Morning After (1986).
After a 15 year hiatus from acting she has since starred in Monster-in-Law (2005), Youth (2015), and Our Souls at Night (2017).
Additionally she has appeared in such popular series as The Newsroom (2012-2014) and Grace And Frankie (2015-2022).
In a fresh interview, actress Kangana Ranaut chose to shut down speculations about her equation with Miley Na Miley Hum co-star and fellow politician Chirag Paswan.
Kangana Ranaut is not dating Chirag Paswan
Actress and politician Kangana Ranaut, who is quite active on social media, never shies away from expressing her opinions on various issues. She often makes headlines for her controversial statements. In a fresh interview, the actress chose to shut down speculations about her equation with Miley Na Miley Hum co-star and fellow politician Chirag Paswan. In 2024, the two took social media by storm after they were seen sharing a light-hearted moment in Delhi while arriving at Parliament. Now, Kangana has talked about her equation with him and denied any romantic angle between them.
In an interview with ANI, Kangana Ranaut was asked about the online buzz around their supposed “romance.” The actress vehemently denied the claims and said that he is just a friend. She said, “No, no, Chirag is a friend. When I see him, I think of a friend. There’s no romance happening, let me be honest. We know each other for like… He did his film with me 10 years ago.”
She went on to say that if they had been in a relationship, they would have had children by now. Kangana added, “Agar romance hota toh aaj humare bachche hotey (If it wasn’t then… If it was romance, then today we would have had children).”
She further added, “If I wanted to have romance, then it would have happened. It’s not happening. You know, like, it’s just that… that friendly vibe, you know, which you get from somebody who, who’s just kind of your, you know, your type as in like he, he’s from also in a way from film industry. So I feel very good around him.”
Kangana and Chirag worked together in a film titled Miley Na Miley Hum, directed by Tanveer Khan. The 2011 film marked Chirag Paswan’s debut, with Kangana playing the female lead. It also stars Neeru Bajwa and Sagarika Ghatge.
Meanwhile, Kangana, who was last seen in Emergency, is gearing up for her next film, Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata. She also has a Film with R Madhavan, marking their reunion after the Tanu Weds Manu films.
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First Published:
April 16, 2026, 18:13 IST
Newsmoviesbollywood ‘There’s No Romance Happening’: Kangana Ranaut Shuts Down Dating Rumours With Chirag Paswan
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IMG announced several senior-level executive changes as the sports marketing agency looks to establish a more centralized leadership structure.
Chris Guinness, IMG’s EVP, global head of commercial for rights, has decided to leave the company after more than 30 years in senior commercial roles. Guinness will step down from the role in July 2026, consulting for IMG through the end of this year.
IMG also announced that Barney Francis has been appointed chief business officer effective immediately. Francis, who first joined IMG in 2021, was previously EVP of studios. In the new role, he will lead IMG’s integrated commercial teams across the business.
In addition, IMG said it will appoint a “chief client and operations officer,” responsible for key areas including client service and operations across multiple areas: rights, studios, brand partnerships, consulting, digital and data, channels and event management. The company said it will announce details on that position in the coming weeks.
Both Francis and the new chief client and operations officer report to IMG president Adam Kelly. The new structure “will better align the company’s commercial and client operations,” IMG said.
Kelly said in a statement, “We’ve built strong momentum in recent years, partnering with many of the most iconic rightsholders in sport and media. Our focus now is scaling that impact with further clarity and consistency across the business. Bringing our revenue functions together under Barney’s leadership will better connect our capabilities, strengthen execution, and unlock greater value for our partners.”
Regarding Guinness, Kelly commented, “Chris has played a defining role in IMG’s commercial success. His leadership and counsel have left a lasting impact on both our culture and the wider industry. We are extremely grateful for his contribution over more than three decades.”
In the past year, IMG has announced the extensions of its partnerships with sports groups including CONMEBOL, Euroleague Basketball, MLS, Saudi Pro League and the USTA. The agency also played a key role in brokering the women’s tennis partnership between the WTA and Mercedes-Benz. Its 250-plus clients include the NFL, English Premier League, the International Olympic Committee, the NHL, Major League Soccer, ATP and WTA Tours and the AELTC (Wimbledon).
IMG’s partners also include the UFC, WWE and PBR — which are sister companies under their common parent company TKO Group, led by CEO Ari Emanuel. London-based IMG previously had been part of Endeavor Group. After TKO spun out, it acquired IMG from Endeavor in 2024.
Pictured top: Chris Guinness (left), Barny Francis
Researching a cyberattack typically means jumping between news sites, vendor blogs, and threat intel feeds to piece together what happened, who’s behind it, and whether you have any exposure.
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DC has released information about three new upcoming comic book series under their Elseworlds imprint banner. All three will be launching over the next few months and are sure to get fans excited. Among these releases are Superman: Father of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Danny Earls (May), Supergirl: Survive by Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan and Rod Reis (June), and Dark Knights of Steel II by Tom Taylor and Otto Schmidt (July).
For all the info, check out the official press release below, and let us know which one you’re most excited for!
DC Expands Its ELSEWORLDS Line With New Series in 2026
Supergirl: Survive, Superman: Father of Tomorrow and Dark Knights of Steel II Launch This Summer
DC Elseworlds continues its resurgence this summer as the line’s new series for 2026 begin to arrive from some of comics’ most exciting storytellers.
After first hinting that a new DC Elseworlds series, Supergirl: Survive, would launch during DC’s Summer of Supergirl celebration, DC now unveils the full scope of its next wave of alternate–universe storytelling with Supergirl: Survive, Superman: Father of Tomorrow, and Dark Knights of Steel II. In Supergirl: Survive, teenage Kara Zor-El and infant Kal-El are launched into a hostile universe as Krypton burns around them, while Superman: Father of Tomorrow imagines a world where Jor-El, not his newborn son, crash-lands in Kansas and becomes Earth’s greatest protector. And, in Dark Knights of Steel II, the fan-favorite fantasy epic returns to forge a new legend.
SUPERGIRL: SURVIVE
A Krypton That Burns. A Universe That Doesn’t Want Them. A Girl Who Refuses to Die.
Supergirl: Survive #1 main cover by Rod Reis
Kara Zor-El lives a life of small problems—school dances, family squabbles, and the impossible task of holding her floppy baby cousin Kal—but Krypton has big ones. As General Zod tightens his grip and the planet begins to burn, Kara and Kal are launched into the stars together, trapped in a prototype rocket and fighting to survive a universe that doesn’t care if they live or die.
Supergirl: Survive, a new DC Elseworlds comic book series written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan with art and covers by Rod Reis, launches on June 3. Parker and Sheridan (Eisner Award-nominees for Kill Your Darlings) join visionary artist Reis (New Mutants) for a harrowing Elseworlds tale of two refugees bound by blood, trauma, and hope.
Supergirl: Survive #1 variant cover by Taurin Clarke
Supergirl: Survive #1 variant cover by Guillem March
SUPERMAN: FATHER OF TOMORROW
What If the Man of Tomorrow… Was Jor-El?
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 main cover by Danny Earls
When the planet Krypton explodes, a lone rocket escapes the destruction—not carrying Kal-El, but his father. Jor-El crash-lands in Kansas, where a kindly couple takes him in. As he adjusts to life on Earth, Jor-El discovers he can help his new home not only with his powers, but with his brilliant mind. This is the story of a Man of Steel and Science—and the world he saves.
Superman: Father of Tomorrow, a new DC Elseworlds comic book series written by Kenny Porter with art and covers by Danny Earls, launches just ahead of Supergirl: Survive, on May 27.
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 variant cover by Gabriel Hardman
Superman: Father of Tomorrow #1 variant cover by Riley Rossmo
DARK KNIGHTS OF STEEL II
The medieval DC Universe returns to fire and fury
Dark Knights of Steel II #1 main cover by Yasmine Putri
DC will also return to one of its most beloved alternate–universe sagas with Dark Knights of Steel II, launching July 15 from writer Tom Taylor and artist Otto Schmidt, with covers by Yasmine Putri. More details will be revealed soon.
Superman: Father of Tomorrow and Supergirl: Survive join the DC Elseworlds line with their May and June debuts, followed in July by DC’s Dark Knights of Steel II. Fans can look forward to bold new visions of iconic characters, sweeping alternate histories, and the continued expansion of DC’s signature imprint for Super Hero stories set outside the main DC Universe.
For the latest DC publishing updates, follow DC on social media or visit dc.com. The DC UNIVERSE INFINITE digital subscription platform (DCUI) is a great way to explore DC’s comics. For details and a free trial, visit dcuniverseinfinite.com. DCUI is not available in all countries and is not intended for children.
It looks like Bethesda and Xbox’s Starfield is coming to Nintendo Switch 2.
As spotted by Universo Nintendo, the sci-fi RPG was recently rated for Nintendo’s console by Taiwan Entertainment Software Rating Information Board, all but confirming the port.
Nearly three years after its Xbox and PC debut, Starfield was finally ported to PlayStation 5 earlier this month. A Nintendo Switch 2 version, like the PS5 port, has long been rumored to be in the works.
Starfield’s PS5 version arrived alongside two major content drops. The first, Terran Armada, is a paid story expansion which introduces new characters, locations, enemies, quests, systems, and rewards.
The second, Free Lanes, adds free improvements to the game experience, including interplanetary travel, new encounters, new points of interest and dungeons, as well as a new land vehicle called the Moon Jumper.
“Nothing to announce today, but there’s a lot more in the lore, things the team is excited about, things we still want to pursue,” said lead creative producer Timothy Lamb. “We’re still working on Starfield.”
Recife, a bustling capital in the Northeast of Brazil, has recently been catapulted to global attention thanks to Kleber Mendonça Filho’s four-time Oscar-nominated “The Secret Agent.” The genrebending period drama makes Recife not only its setting but a main character in itself, with lauded actor Wagner Moura traversing the city’s sprawling streets and alleyways while trying to evade dangerous mafiosos. Now, a little over a month since Mendonça Filho’s Oscar foray, Recife is set to host yet another key film event: Projeto Paradiso’s Talent Network national meeting.
The biannual gathering celebrates the work of the renowned philanthropic initiative, led by the Olga Rabinovich Institute with the goal of supporting the Brazilian film sector through talent development, bursary programs, seminars and mentorship. This year’s meeting will take place in Recife between April 16-18, and feature key speakers including the city’s very own Mendonça Filho alongside his producing partner Emilie Lesclaux to talk about “The Secret Agent” and BAFTA-winning British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr., who will give an in-depth conversation moderated by Paradiso talent Jaqueline Souza as well as present “My Father’s Shadow” at the city’s historic São Luiz cinema. Over 70% of the institution’s talent network is set to attend — a number that jumped to 184 from 140 at the last event, and almost doubled since the first official national meeting in 2022.
Courtesy of Millena Palladino
Milena Palladino
Speaking with Variety ahead of travelling to Recife, Projeto Paradiso program director Rachel do Valle recalls first welcoming around 30 talents in their small office in São Paulo back in 2020 for an informal meet up. The idea behind that afternoon expanded into the biannual networking-spanning event once the team noted how beneficial it was for their talents to have quality time together. “We realized very quickly that our strength as an organization came from our brilliant network,” she says. “We wanted these meetings to be a place for networking, yes, but vitally, for it to be a place for people to get to know each other and our team.”
Following the first edition in São Paulo, Projeto Paradiso heard feedback from their talents about the lack of accessibility to industry events outside the famous Rio-São Paulo bridge. Decentralization became an immediate focus, especially considering over a quarter of their network is based in the Northeast. The second edition was held in Salvador, the capital of Bahia. “We wanted to reflect the plural nature of our talents, who come from all corners of the country.”
When time came to decide on a location for this year’s event, Recife stood out thanks not only to “The Secret Agent” but the city’s filmmaking legacy. Many other great Brazilian directors come from the capital, including “The Blue Trail” helmer Gabriel Mascaro, and veteran Marcelo Gomes (“Dolores,” “Portrait of a Certain Orient”). The city is also home to dozens of Projeto Paradiso talent, including key figures in the making of “The Secret Agent,” who will also gather at the event to talk about all aspects of bringing the hit Brazilian film to life.
Projeto Paradiso National Meeting in Salvador, courtesy of Projeto Paradiso
Milena Palladino
Despite bringing together leading industry figures and featuring a series of networking events, the team behind Projeto Paradiso’s national meeting is categorical in stating that they are not running either a market, festival or industry platform. “We insist on presenting the idea of the meeting as going against market events,” says do Valle. “We don’t want to have the moment tainted by a tangible sense of competition. We want everyone to feel good. What other markets would call a pitching session, we call a connection session. We have participants present their projects in a safe room, where they can practice speaking about their films without the pressure of a pitching platform. It’s a space for talking, but also for listening. We want it to be enjoyable and fun.”
“It’s a very unique event because it is suis generis,” echoes executive director Josephine Bourgois. “We have spoken to the other few talent networks operating in Brazil today, and have found a lot of inspiration in the idea of being in a safe room together, in this idea of collectiveness and community. This is essential to our work. It’s a hard thing to do in person because it involves high costs and a lot of work. We can’t deny that aspect of it and I feel it’s important to mention it. But it is a worthy investment to us.”
Bourgois reiterates that having access to a community of like-minded creatives makes a “tangible difference” for their talents. The organization can now boast about several projects that started with professionals meeting at one of their national events, including this year’s Generation Crystal Bear winner at the Berlinale, “Gugu’s World,” which came to fruition after producer Karen Castanho was introduced to Allan Deberton in Salvador. “It can be daunting to attend an event like it, but we try to make it as smooth as possible to meet others and connect. We hear from talents that have gone on to attend events like Cannes that it puts them at ease to know they’ll have other Paradiso talents there. This rare sense of security and togetherness in a hyper-competitive industry is so valuable to us.”
“We also, of course, have a very strategic view of these two days,” emphasizes Bourgois. “It’s not just the weekend, it’s the culmination of two years of work. We need to constantly nurture our network, so what takes place in the meeting can echo for years to come.”
With 214 bursaries, 94 awards and 66 workshops offered in the brief years since its inception, Projeto Paradiso has solidified itself as a major facilitator for the internationalization of Brazilian cinema, often supporting talent to attend the industry’s most prominent fetes and markets.
“Internationalization is a big aspect of the programme, of course,” says do Valle. “Many of our talents have been selected, one way or another, through their participation in an international program. We have a natural proximity to the international market. When the talents talk about their personal experience with these programs, it naturally turns the conversation in that direction.”
“In the last two meetings, we tried to bring a big international name, even if we believe it is not the most relevant aspect of the event,” adds Bourgois. “In our first year, Julien Rejl had just started as the Head Programmer at Directors’ Fortnight, and it was the first time he came to Brazil as a curator. Then we had Ladj Ly, a renowned director coming from the periphery and a leading Black artist who connected with many of our talents and the ethos of hosting the meeting in Salvador. His presence at the meeting led to great partnerships.”
Choosing Davies Jr. as the international guest of honor for this year’s edition felt natural once the team watched his Cannes-selected “My Father’s Shadow.” “It’s a film that could have been made by any of our talents,” says the executive director. “It’s a very Brazilian film that also had an incredible festival and awards journey, so our talents will be able to hear more about that practical experience, too.”
As they prepare themselves for the meeting, the Projeto Paradiso team reminisce on a talk their leader Olga Rabinovich gave at the 2024 edition. When asked about what she dreamed of for the future of the event, the philanthropist said: ‘I want to see this room grow busier and busier. I want to see it full.”
“I feel we are honoring her dream this year,” wraps do Valle.
Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West are again embracing the messiness of female friendship in season two of Big Mood, and they’re delighted about it.
“It’s a bit of a role reversal in this series,” the Bridgerton and Derry Girls star tells The Hollywood Reporter about creator Camilla Whitehill’s Channel 4 hit. She and West are catching us up over Zoom ahead of the six-parter’s Thursday, Apr. 16 release, available on Tubi in the U.S.
The Irish actress is referring to the lead duo, Maggie and Eddie, who are continuing to figure out life as two 30-something-year-olds in East London. Their absurd adventures remain speckled with moments of jolting sincerity — centering on Maggie’s bipolar disorder and Eddie’s unaddressed grief — slotting the “dark” into this dark comedy.
“Maggie’s trying really hard to be the stable one,” Coughlan says about her character in this installment, “and Eddie’s the one going through a crisis — not that she really realizes it.” Season two revolves around the pair, having not spoken for a year after Eddie left for L.A. without Maggie, re-entering one another’s lives. Except Eddie’s come back with a friend in tow, Whitney (Hannah Onslow), whose ulterior motives are swiftly sussed out by everyone except Eddie.
“She is this hippie, spiritual guru-TikTok influencer,” explains West. “But Eddie buys into her charm [and] a world which Eddie has never really seen before. And Eddie’s really vulnerable. Someone like that preys on the vulnerable.”
Luckily, she has Maggie looking out for her. Even with distance — emotional and physical — between them, Coughlan and West’s onscreen chemistry is a safe bet. “There’s a real warmth and ease between them,” says Lotte Beasley, executive producer at Dancing Ledge Productions. “They’re exceptional comic performers, but they also bring an emotional honesty that makes you root for Maggie and Eddie’s friendship, even when it’s at its most chaotic.”
Below, Coughlan and West dive into season two of Big Mood. They discuss the pressure of representing the bipolar community onscreen, their favorite British pop culture references and that downright perfect celebrity guest star episode: “It’s such a good trait when someone’s not afraid to take the complete piss out of themselves. And he just really went for that.”
Where do we pick up with Maggie and Eddie in season two?
LYDIA WEST We leave season one with Eddie catching a flight to L.A. without Maggie, and we see their exit, Eddie getting into the car. [In season two] we flash forward, we’re a year later, and we’re at one of our friends’ weddings, and we’re both bridesmaids for this wedding. We haven’t spoken in a year. Eddie is now off-grid, so she hasn’t got a phone. She’s not on social media or anything. Nobody really knows if Eddie’s going to turn up. And then she does.
Has there been any personal growth for either of them that’s happened off-camera?
NICOLA COUGHLAN Yeah, I think Maggie’s definitely trying her best. She’s trying to do all of the correct things that you’re supposed to do as a stable person. She’s doing yoga and Peloton and taking vitamins and doing all that stuff. [Laughs.] Just trying to better herself. But I think she’s gone [for] an extreme version of that, which I’m not sure is very true to who she actually is. And she’s missed Eddie absolutely terribly, and, yeah, gets the shock of her life when she turns up at this wedding.
Lydia West in season two of ‘Big Mood.’
Courtesy of Channel 4
What do you think fans can expect, Nicola?
COUGHLAN It’s a bit of a role reversal in this series. I think because Maggie’s trying really hard to be the stable one, and Eddie’s the one going through a crisis — not that she really realizes it. But then it’s the difficulty of Maggie trying to seem really sane and really on top of everything, and everything just going absolutely horribly wrong at every turn. You really feel for her. And it was interesting playing it, because, as I said, it was a role reversal. It was a different thing from series one. It was interesting, those moments where the real Maggie would sort of peek out and have a go at Whitney. [Laughs.]
Whitney is such a good antagonist. What does Eddie see in her?
WEST When Eddie left, she hadn’t processed a lot of her own pain and a lot of grief and anger. She went to L.A., I think, with this idea of just running away from everything. And then she meets Whitney, who shows her the light, so to speak. She is this hippie, spiritual guru-TikTok influencer. But Eddie buys into her charm [and] a world which Eddie has never really seen before. And Eddie’s really vulnerable. Someone like that preys on the vulnerable, and Eddie really wants saving, so she’s found someone who can heal her without her having to do any of the work herself and confront anything that’s happening back at home. What Whitney offers her is this new life where she can be whoever she chooses to be. But then it all comes crashing down when Whitney is exposed to her old life, and Eddie can’t really keep everything up and manage both relationships with Maggie and with Whitney.
Nicola, what does Maggie hate so much about Whitney? Such a joy to watch.
COUGHLAN Before I answer, I have to say we really love Hannah. She was such a gorgeous addition, and she’s such a fantastic actor. It was really funny because I’d been working with her for maybe two weeks, and started talking about This Is Going to Hurt. And I didn’t really even realize it was her in it, because she’s really transformative and just has the most gorgeous energy. She’s so talented. But I think it’s really difficult for Maggie, because you kind of realize how codependent Maggie and Eddie were as friends. [There’s] the realization that Maggie doesn’t really like anyone aside from Eddie, not truly. So to have someone come in and take your person away, it’s very painful. But then also, like I said, a lot of her true character feels quite repressed this series, because she’s really trying to bite her tongue and be chill and go with it. But it causes her a great deal of frustration. It’s a boiling pot, and the lid is going to come off at one point or another.
Talk to me about playing a character with bipolar disorder, and the messy candidness of it.
COUGHLAN Yeah, Lydia and I talk about this often. I mean, it’s great how much conversations around mental health have opened up in the last 10 years, but that kind of only applies to depression and anxiety. Those have become societally acceptable, whereas people have a real misunderstanding of bipolar disorder or just have no understanding of it whatsoever. It’s an incredibly tricky disorder. It’s incredibly tricky to live with, incredibly difficult to medicate. And also, I think this show delves into how difficult it is sometimes to be the friend of someone with bipolar disorder because it’s not Maggie’s fault that she let Eddie down in the first series. But you see that it’s all connected to her mental health and the complications of that and the limits of a friendship, when you can go, “Actually, you weren’t there for me.” But I think it’s great that it deals with it through the lens of comedy, because then it doesn’t feel like we’re trying to hammer home a lesson and how you should be. It’s just going, “Well, here it is, and look how tricky it can be.”
It’s that intersection of all of the above plus female friendships, being in your 30s and not knowing what you want out of life. And dealing with family dynamics as well. It was so satisfying seeing Maggie have it out with her dad.
COUGHLAN I really love that episode. I loved shooting with Robert Lindsay as well. Because no one exists in a bubble. I always think seeing people’s family dynamics is such an opening up as to who they really are. And you see so much of why Maggie is the way she is. When you meet her dad, you realize how similar they are, even the bits that she maybe doesn’t realize are so similar.
Have either of you had conversations with Camilla about what she hopes people take away from this season?
WEST There’s a lot this season. I love the theme of opening up. It comes to a head in the final episode. The season is building up to this one point, and they finally have an honest conversation with each other that they have been avoiding for so long… There are suppressed emotions that Eddie hasn’t ever explained to Maggie and vice versa. Just having this honest conversation between friends slash lovers, because it really is a loving relationship. It’s platonic, [but] just seeing what that can do and the power of opening up and the power of honest conversations. I’m willing the whole season just for them to talk and sit down and say what they’re thinking. So much of season two is just suppressed emotions and suppressed conversations and friendships, but then it comes out in little bits. In episode one, Eddie is trying so hard not to connect with Maggie, but there’s just these moments where they slip into their old dynamic, and it’s so beautiful. It’s just so real for them.
It’s a great example of how a friendship breakup can be just as gut-wrenching as a romantic one. Maybe we can all draw on personal experience in that regard.
COUGHLAN Definitely. I think that’s another big theme — the difficulties of trying to grow as a person in your 30s, and how that can be really difficult in friendships. Because someone will go, “Well, I’ve fucking known you forever.” I think [Eddie and Maggie] are both trying to grow in quite extreme ways that are away from who they truly are. They’ve maybe gone too far. But also, [it’s about] the difficulty in not letting each other do that, and how important it is to do that. And realistically, long-term friendships, you have to accept that change and growth. But it’s not easy. It’s not easy at all.
How has it been balancing the lightness and darkness of Big Mood? Your comedic timing is so great. Do you enjoy it, or have to get in the zone for it?
COUGHLAN It’s in the script, isn’t it?
WEST Yeah, I find it’s in the script. Camilla writes so naturally and so conversationally that even the jokes are… That’s their way of speaking to each other. It’s just their references, the pop culture references and everything. The comedy slides off that really well. Additionally, we are battling with such heavy topics, and doing it in a funny way does make it more palatable. So I personally go into work without feeling [heavy]. If it was a drama, I’d feel a lot more heavy, and I’d carry it a lot more with me. But it’s quite easy to slip in and out of it, because you’re talking about a really serious topic, but you’re in the middle of a sauna. It’s ridiculous, which really helps. Because it is really sad. It’s really emotional. When you think of what Maggie went through in season one, dealing with lithium poisoning… What was interesting for me, watching it, was seeing the effects of lithium poisoning, because I didn’t film those scenes with Nic. I saw it as a viewer. I was like, “Woah. It’s so hard.” It’s so nuanced, and hard to even diagnose. So that felt really heavy, but then mixed with real silliness makes it more bearable.
It was a real education. Was it the same for you Nicola?
COUGHLAN Definitely. I mean, I have known a couple of people in the past with bipolar disorder, and it’s an incredibly misunderstood thing. But the feedback we’ve gotten has been amazing. People going, “My friend’s mum is a psychologist, and she said it’s the most real depiction [she’s] ever seen of bipolar on television.” And that’s really amazing. Because we never, ever set out to make a show that was like, “You’ve got to learn what this is like. We’re really trying to teach you a lesson here.” All you want [for] anything you ever make… You just hope it makes people feel something, whether that’s to laugh or cry or connect with it or anything. The show has done that.
What might be a misconception about your characters?Or was there anything about them that you wanted to play up more this season?
COUGHLAN I certainly found it a challenge, because it felt like Maggie was trying to not be Maggie. So it was weird, some of the scenes. That’s the thing I love about playing her. In season one, she was so straight up and honest. And this time, she’s trying to be a better version of herself. She’s really holding it in. Eventually, the real Maggie, it’s got to come out at some point. But that was a really interesting challenge. Also, her trying not to be herself, she’s throwing out all the good parts of herself, as well as the difficult parts. Human beings, we’ve got it all going on. You’ve got to accept all of it.
WEST I always thought [Eddie and Maggie] were really cool, but it’s weird because in this season we have a number of flashbacks. And doing the flashbacks validated how I always felt about the characters. They have their style. Seeing how it transformed from 2011 to present day was really fun and really validating. It was really fun to be able to play with hair and makeup and costume looks, and see where they came from, how they met, what kind of friends they have, what kind of events they used to do. It gives them a little bit of history you can peek into.
Nicola Coughlan, Hannah Onslow and Lydia West in ‘Big Mood.’
Courtesy of Channel 4
What do you think the other one has in common with their character?
COUGHLAN I think Lyds is cooler than she thinks she is, because I think she really knows who she is and doesn’t have to try.
WEST That’s crazy, your perception. Because I love that you think that, but I think I try so hard.
COUGHLAN It doesn’t come across at all. You seem so sure in who you are.
WEST Maybe I am now, but…
COUGHLAN When you first meet Eddie, I’m like, “Yeah, you’re so sure of who you are and what you want.” And not in the same way that she is, but in terms of the life that you’ve chosen and want to live, you’re really ten toes down, and I really love that about you. Even though Eddie’s life is different.
WEST I think you are that too.
COUGHLAN Aw, thanks.
I love the British pop culture references in this show. There’s turkey teeth, a mention of Jamie Laing’s podcast, the London sauna hype. Do you guys have a favorite?
COUGHLAN Oh gosh, the sauna one does make me laugh just because of how Eamon Farren said it. And we were really badly giggling that day on set. We just really, really struggled to get through the take. So I think that one because of that reason.
WEST There’s a funny line that really stands out for me, which is easily missed. It’s in episode one. It’s the maid of honor, Marina [Bye]’s character, Flopsy, asking if you can cut all the Nazis out of the pictures. And you say, “Yeah, that one took a long time.”
COUGHLAN [Laughs.] Oh yeah, that’s good.
WEST It’s really, really funny.
And I wanted to ask about filming with Rupert Everett…
COUGHLAN [Shakes head.] It was a dream. Lydia had worked with Rupert before. You can do the lead into it, because it’s very funny.
WEST I worked with Rupert a few years ago. He messaged me saying, “Darling, are you in a Bad Mood?” I was like, “Oh no, I’m actually okay.” But he’s like, “The show. Bad Mood.” I was like, “Oh, no, Big Mood! Yeah, Nicola and I!” And he was like, “Okay, I’m gonna do it.” He’s just hilarious and he’s down for…
COUGHLAN Down to play around! He came in and just had so many great ideas, and his physical comedy is so brilliant. It’s such a good trait when someone’s not afraid to take the complete piss out of themselves. And he just really went for that. I adored working with him. I really, really loved it.
Do either of you have a dream celebrity cameo for Big Mood?
COUGHLAN I think because Camilla and I both just met her at SNL UK, Tina Fey. 30 Rock is both of our favorite shows. We got to talk to her about it afterwards, which was beyond a dream, [with] Robert Carlock, one of the co-creators. It was heaven.
WEST Camilla would be a dream cameo, and she was actually in season one.
Which scene?
WEST She was in the skinny scarf craft fair.
COUGHLAN Eddie’s mum’s scarfs.
WEST She was Disgruntled Scarf Buyer. She’s in it for five seconds and she’s amazing. [Laughs.]
COUGHLAN Because she trained as an actor! That’s how Camilla and I met. We went to drama school together. She’s a very good actor, but she doesn’t want to do it. [Laughs.]
She needs to write herself into season three somehow. Do you know if she has plans for another season? Would it be a no-brainer for you two?
COUGHLAN I mean, no clue. You never really know with things like this. But also, one of the nicest things about the show is that we’ve all become genuine friends afterwards. And we kept saying recently [that] it’d be so nice to hang out and not be at work. We all need to have an occasion where it’s not work-related! It’s a really great group of people.
Mbatha-Raw will star alongside Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves, In Flight, Rebel Moon) and Iain De Caestecker(Roadkill, The Winter King, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) in Sutherland, which is set in a near future in the far north of Scotland.
Mbatha-Raw is Mirren, who works at Paravel Space Hub as flight director for the UK’s first crewed mission to the stars. Everything is going to plan when, just hours after launch, a series of unexplained events engulf Sutherland in mystery and risks destroying everything Mirren’s been striving for.
The show is timely, coming a few days after the Artemis II rocket returned from the moon. Apple TV, meanwhile, is soon to launch Soviet space drama Star City.
Line of Duty producer World Productions is delving into the sci-fi world by producing Sutherland. It is created by All Her Fault scribe James Smythe. Mbatha-Raw previously starred in The Girl Before, a spooky BBC drama adapted from the JP Delaney book co-produced with HBO.
Sutherland is produced by World Productions in association with ITV Studios, which will distribute the series internationally. The series was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, and Louise Thornton, Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland. It is written by Smythe, Laura Grace, Tom Mair and Helen Kingston, and directed by Chloë Wicks and Patrick Harkins. The producer is Clare Kerr. The executive producers are Jake Lushington, Simon Heath and George Aza-Selinger for World Productions Scotland, Gaynor Holmes for the BBC, Gavin Smith for BBC Scotland, and Smythe. The series is supported by Screen Scotland.
Filming on the series will take place in Scotland later this year and further casting will be announced in due course.
You are listening to the Daily Roundup here as part of the Reality C Podcast. I’m your host reality. Steve, thank you all for tuning in. Good Wednesday show for you. You’re gonna get the behind the scenes details. Of my adoption of my new dog, Toby. I received him on Monday and what I explained in my video yesterday that I put out on my socials, TikTok and Instagram.
That’s pretty much most of it, but I’ll give you an update on everything that’s happened since then. Taylor, Frankie Paul, had a day in court yesterday and. Needless to say it didn’t go well for her, but it was pretty much what I think most people expected to happen. I watched episode two of winner games.
No, just no Survivor tonight. Let’s see if they can recover from that awful episode, but I wanna specify this is not on the players in the game. Not at all. This is a production problem for Survivor this year. And then of course we’ve got the Valley airing tonight as well. So let’s get started. Yesterday on my socials, and for two days on this podcast, I had been teasing that I did a thing well.
That thing was I adopted a new dog. That wasn’t my intention. There was a local radio event here two Saturdays ago that I went to and. At this event, there were people in the radio industry. There were podcasters, but the event was also advertised as we will have dogs up for adoption. There’s going to be numerous local shelters bringing dogs to be adopted.
I knew that. I have not been in the running to adopt a new dog. I’ve thought about it. I’ve had Luca for almost eight years. It’ll be eight years this summer, and. My nephew has always brought it up to me, and I’ve always thought about it. Why don’t you get Luca a brother or a sister? And to me it was a selfish thing.
It’s always been a selfish thing to me, was like, we’ve got it so good in terms of our routine, like I don’t want to disrupt it. What if things get weird or. You know, it was just one of those deals. So I went to this event and I wasn’t against it, but I wasn’t gonna go openly looking. I didn’t go to that event saying, I’m going to adopt a dog today.
I said, I’ll look around if something piques my interest. There were hundreds of dogs. Theres from about 10 or 15 different shelters. But I ran into a radio friend of mine, Kelly Raspberry, who works on the Kid Crowd Morning Show here at Kiss FM in Dallas and. She asked me what kind of dog I have. I said, I’ve got a beagle.
She’s like, oh, there’s a beagle up there. And in walking around most of the place, there were no other beagles at this event. Not that I’m not against adopting another dog, but I’ve got a Beagle. I figure if I am gonna get Luca, a brother or a sister, why not get him? Why not get her someone that looks like her?
So I see this beagle and his name is Toby. He’s six years old, he’s up for adoption. And he was just, you know, you saw in the video, he was in the cage and he was clearly not enjoying his surroundings and he was kind of whimpering. And I took him for a walk a couple times and I said, so what do I need to do here?
I, I almost feel like I can’t not put in an application for Toby, and I don’t even know how they do it, but. I put in an application right when I got home, filled it out and they said, the owner will be contacting you. And I said, do you know where I am in the pecking order here? How many people have put in an application for Toby?
Toby was one of the cutest dogs there that day. I don’t know how many people put in applications. 10, 15 was I the only one I don’t even know. All I know is they said the owners will be contacting you. They did. I saw Toby last Tuesday. We met up at the dog park with Luca. I put that in my video as well.
Honestly, they didn’t, they didn’t have any beef whatsoever. You know? Right. When they saw each other, they smelled each other. They walked around the park a little bit, but there were so many other dogs at the park that they were very distracted from just only focusing on each other. So I was like, but it went well.
And I can’t imagine Luca doesn’t have an issue with other dogs. She’s never had an issue with other dogs. So I was like, okay. And I went out of town, obviously, you know, this weekend I went to California. And then I got back and they said, let’s move forward with the process. I filled out the paperwork that I needed, paid the fee, and they dropped Toby off on Monday and it’s been great.
Like Luca is still asserting her dominance for sure, because this has been her house. She hasn’t had any other dogs here in the seven and a half years that I’ve had her. So yeah. When another dog invades her space, she’s gonna get a little protective, but they play, they play with each other, or at least they did on the first day.
Now it feels like we’re already in a routine where they’re both just doing their own thing. The only thing that’s different is that Luca is somebody that the second you put her bowl down, she just scarfs down her food. Toby, I was told eats on his own volition, he’ll eat when he feels like eating. His old family told me they put out a bowl and sometimes he doesn’t touch it all day and he doesn’t eat until nighttime.
I’m like, okay, I gotta figure that out. So yesterday was the first day where I fed both of them and I fed Luca at eight in the morning and I put a bowl out for Toby. He looked at it and walked away, which made Luca immediately go over and start eating his food. And I was like, okay, well this can’t happen.
And then I was literally putting the bowl right under Toby’s nose to try and feed him, and he just didn’t want it. So I was like, okay, well I guess they were right. He just will eat it when he eats it. But the problem is I can’t leave the bowl out because the second I leave any bowl out with food in it, Luke is gonna go eat it.
So. I don’t know if Toby’s gonna gimme a signal of when he wants to eat. I don’t really know how it works. But all day I tried like two or three different times and a couple times I had to put Luca in her crate because anytime I walked up to Toby with the bowl, Luca was right there trying to get into that bowl.
So I was like, Luca, you need to go in your crate. I’m gonna see if Toby wants to eat right now. And he didn’t. And he just kept walking away from the food. And I’m like, all right, well, I don’t know what to do from here. But, so I ate dinner around seven o’clock and right after I was done eating dinner, I fed Toby.
I tried again. I put Luca in her crate. And I put the bowl down and Toby was receptive to it and finally ate his bowl of food. But Luca’s in the crate literally staring at him the whole time, trying to get out of the crate, kind of scratching and trying to get outta that crate because I don’t know, someone’s eating food and she’s not.
So yeah, I’m gonna have to figure that out. I don’t want to have to put Luca in her crate every single time. It’s feeding time and Toby needs to eat, but I don’t know what Toby’s eating schedule is. If it looks like he’s only going to eat once a day and at night, I, I mean, that’s the thing. It’s gonna be tough ’cause I’m gonna pour the bowl every morning for him, but if he doesn’t eat it, then I can’t just leave it there.
I have to like put it out of reach of Luca because she’ll just scarf it down. So that has been. The only, I, I wouldn’t even call it a difficulty. It’s just a scheduling thing that I gotta figure out. They both slept in the bed with me on the first night. I have little less room to move around because Lucas slept in her normal position, but Toby was on top of the bed at the foot of the bed near my feet.
So I didn’t have a lot of room to move around. I’m fine with that. I’m used to sleeping with a dog, but now I’ve got two. And you know, during the day they love playing. I wanna say they love playing because they haven’t really, outside of the video I posted, which was the first night they were together and they were kind of playing around with each other.
They haven’t done that since. They sleep on the same couch, they’ll walk by each other, they’ll, you know, sniff each other, but they haven’t had any sort of playtime. Sometimes when I pet Toby Luca comes over and wants to be pet, but that’s only when she’s like active. If she’s just laying on the couch and I want to go sit next to Toby and pet him and kiss on him, Luca’s right there and sees it and doesn’t do anything, I think, as long as I do it to her as well.
But it’s been great so far, like this is gonna be a great, great marriage. Even though they’re not married. Is Toby technically her brother? Since they’re not blood related. I mean, I guess right? It’s a sibling step. I don’t know. Whatever the case, they seem to be getting along fine. It’ll be, I, I, I’m enjoying it already, and I just, you know, look, when I adopted Luca in August of 2018, her paperwork said she was between two and three, so she’s between 10 and 11 years old.
I mean, let’s face it, you know, knock on wood, I, I, I, I don’t. Have a ton of years left with her, even though she’s in great health right now. And I, I’ve never had a health issue with her once, but, oh, outside that one time when she had a, a neck, that neck problem where I freaked out, but that lasted 24 hours.
So now where I’m at is. You know, I, I think it’s good for her to have a partner and have somebody to just be around. Luca’s always looking where he is. He’s pretty much where she is and I can tell that he’s probably a little annoyed by her right now. ’cause sometimes he just wants to be left alone and she’s just kind of sniffing around him.
It’s not like she’s trying to play with him. He doesn’t wanna play. She just. It’s kind of always, but you could just tell she’s always looking where he is. Her head pops up if I say Toby’s name. So it’s, it’s, it’s been really good so far. I mean, it’s only been 48 hours, less than 48 hours, but I, I’ve enjoyed every second of it and I wanna thank everybody who left positive messages yesterday under that.
I don’t think any of you had who, who had guessed what I was hinting at. Nobody had guessed that I got another dog and I wouldn’t have expected you to, but. Yeah, I mean, sometimes you just see a dog, like if there was no, if, if there were no beagles at that event, I probably wouldn’t have came home with a dog that day.
I just saw a beagle that was literally the male version of Luca. Luca, like I said, is between 10 and 11. Toby is six, and the family that had him before great, great family. They just had stuff at home where they just felt that. Toby needed to be re-homed and I think I gave him the perfect home for that.
And Luca seems to really enjoy his company even they do, even though they do do a lot of sleeping all day long. So anyway, thanks again to everybody who contributed and, and left me a message on my Instagram yesterday. This podcast is brought to you by zocdoc. Life can feel like a big puzzle.
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It’s complicated! The world’s largest solar power plant is being built in Morocco, with the aim of turning arid land into a “green energy source.” So far, so good, you say? But wait, there’s a catch! After all, barriers go up, and access to water becomes difficult. And members of the local Berber tribe, the indigenous Nomad population, are given no choice but to work for the power plant.
In The Price of the Sun (Du soleil et du plomb), Belgian director Jérôme le Maire (Burning Out, Tea or Electricity) zooms in on the ambiguities and hidden costs of progress and “the resilience and adaptability of a community forced to reinvent itself in the shadow of the renewable energy revolution.” The film world premieres on Saturday, April 18 in the international feature film competition program of the 57th edition of the Visions du Réel documentary festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
With cinematography from Olivier Boonjing and le Maire and editing by Matyas Veress, The Price of the Sun shows us how the nomads’ traditions exist in quiet conflict with the drive to supply renewable solar and wind energy to the world. “Ironically, the fight for resource control to connect the world may ultimately destroy a society that, by definition, shares resources and is obliged to be connected,” highlight the press notes for the doc. “Can there be enough sun and wind for everyone, or is the price too high?”
Or as le Maire mentions in a director’s statement: “I strove to achieve precise and intimate observation of these nomads and the values they cultivate, up until the moment they are confronted with the arrival of an unavoidable event that will lead them toward an unexpected future.”
‘The Price of the Sun,’ courtesy of Jérôme le Maire
Ahead of the world premiere of the film, le Maire shared with THR how The Price of the Sun came about, his focus on the potential cultural ambiguities of renewable energy, and what’s next for him.
How long did you work on this film, and how did you get access to the Berber tribe and the power plant workers? There must have been so much trust!
In short : The shoot consisted of 12 two-week stays spread across six years (January 2019 to September 2025), totaling approximately 168 shooting days. But location research began in 2017 with a year-long investigation around the Noor Ouarzazate power plant, followed by four two-week stays in 2018 – getting to know the Ait Merghrad community and exploring the region around the future Midelt plant site. So the film was in production for approximately eight years, from initial scouting in 2017 through the final shoot in September 2025.
The secret to making this kind of film is to take your time. To take the time to introduce yourself. Who am I, and what am I doing in this region? What can I do for you? Before I say what I want to film, I listen to what these people have to say, where their words come from. And in doing so, I discover myself, too, gradually.
The first time I went to this desert to scout locations, I was with my wife. She just adores these regions of southern Morocco. Another time, I was with my daughter. To gain someone’s trust, you have to offer an exchange. I’ll show you who I am, and you show me who you are.
And then we talked about the power station. The tribe had its opinion. I had mine. We discussed at length what was unfolding before us. We were trying to make sense of it all. We were trying to understand one another. On one side, you have those who need energy, and on the other, those who will produce it, or enable its production.
The nomads quickly realized that what interested me was less the power station itself than the ecosystem in which it was to be built. As a result, they became part of the story. It is rare for them that an “outsider,” someone who is not one of them, takes an interest in their lives. They were touched by my proposal to make a film about them, amidst the turmoil that was looming.
I also built a relationship of trust with the plant’s management. Here, it is first and foremost an institution. I know how this sort of organization operates, and in such cases, you must first prove your credentials. You have to show who you know, what your credentials are. So, I show the films I’ve made and the success they’ve had. Then, I use the connections I have in high places. But in the end, it’s always the same: you find yourself face to face with a human being, and at that point, you have to be yourself and clearly show who you are. Face to face, I don’t put on an act. I connect with the person and speak to them very sincerely. In high society, people aren’t really used to that sort of frankness, so it works very well.
For this film, I had the opportunity to meet Morocco’s Minister for Energy Transition, and we hit it off immediately. I introduced myself very simply, being completely myself. I didn’t really follow protocol; I focused on frankness and spontaneity. During the meeting, she and I came up with a plan where she would come to the site to meet the nomads I’d been telling her about in person. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It’s a shame, as they were looking forward to welcoming her. But the most important thing for me was to speak directly to the minister about these ordinary people. She knows they exist and that she’s welcome in their homes!
‘The Price of the Sun,’ courtesy of Jérôme le Maire
How would you describe your approach to doc-making in general? Do you always look for an observational/vérité approach and why?
All my films are made in the cinéma vérité style, which we also call “direct cinema” here. Personally, I really enjoy immersing myself in worlds that are very different from those I know. I act as if I were a resident of a remote mountain village, as in Tea or Electricity, or as a member of an operating theater team, as in Burning Out. I become part of the community, whether or not I appear as a character in the film. I chart the path myself, and I invite the audience to follow it. And I film in such a way that it creates this impression. The impression of being there yourself in the desert with the nomads.
The audience loves this kind of documentary because a story is told to them and, just like in fiction films, they are allowed to navigate the narrative. They are free to form a bond with a particular character and to think whatever they like about what is happening. There is no voice-over to explain, inform or dictate a particular way of thinking. In cinéma vérité/cinéma du réel, viewers are fully immersed in a world; they experience emotions, and they interact internally with the characters and with what happens to them.
This kind of cinematic experience can leave a deep impression on us. What matters to me, as a director, is to connect the audience intimately with people who are experiencing very different things thousands of miles away. To ensure that those who watch my film can, for a moment, put themselves in the other person’s shoes – and thus, perhaps, shift their perspective away from the dominant narrative.
You show us all sorts of ambiguities, such as the benefits of building renewable energy plants, but also the downside of cultural imposition on a native tribe. How did you approach how to balance the good and the bad, and how did you think about taking sides or not?
This has been a long journey for me, documenting how these energy projects have displaced nomadic people from their traditional lands, disrupted their way of life, and highlighted the broader implications of modern renewable energy development. The nomadic way of life emphasizes the importance of simplicity and respect for the environment. I want this film to question the philosophical dimension of this new “green energy,” described as “clean” and undeniably “sustainable.”
I want to shine a spotlight on the vision and question the transaction [involved in it]. I hope audiences become more aware of the invisible people and businesses affected by their energy consumption, and that will urge them to reconsider their reliance on both electricity and technology.
But what this film, in essence, shows is that clean energy does not exist. It is sold to us as such so that we consume ever more, without a twinge of conscience. Yet today, it has become absolutely vital to take energy-saving measures – both at an individual level and at a public level. We absolutely must consume less. It is the only lever that guarantees 100 percent positive effects for the planet and the common good.
When you use artificial intelligence, when you charge your electric car or when you flick the light switch in your living room, there is someone at the other end of the power cable who will be affected by that consumption. It is not about guilt, but about awareness and responsibility!
‘The Price of the Sun,’ courtesy of Jérôme le Maire
What was the hardest part of making this doc?
Filming in the lead mines was difficult! These places are extremely dangerous, so filming there is a very delicate matter. We had to ensure there were no accidents. Yet accidents are common in these mines because the work is unsupervised. It involves just a few dozen poor people who have taken it upon themselves to work as miners. They have no equipment whatsoever. And whilst they know the place well, they have only a very limited understanding of the work involved. In fact, they can rely only on their courage and the solidarity between them. So that’s where I started.
It’s this “set-up” that I had to fit into. The sound engineer didn’t feel comfortable going down with me. My daughter, who was the assistant director, didn’t want to go down either. So I went down alone, with the lads. These were intense moments because at that point, I was completely united with them. We helped each other; we each had a goal, but the path we were taking was the same.
I’m very pleased with these scenes. You really feel that descent into the bowels of the earth. The imagery is flawless; the camera work was superb. What’s more, the story this part tells is truly incredible. As I filmed Aziz hammering away like a madman to extract lead from the rock, I thought of him – just a few months earlier, he was still a shepherd. I was really moved. I sincerely hope this film can help improve his situation!
What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on a very different project: I’d like to cross the High Atlas mountains in Morocco all alone, on foot, with a mule! So I’m preparing for this expedition, which is likely to take me several months. I need to recharge my batteries. To reflect on the meaning of life. To disconnect from this fast-paced, talkative world… and from this culture of overconsumption!
I’m going to walk a thousand kilometers along this magnificent mountain range, dotted with little villages that seem to exist in another world, in another time. Perhaps I’ll take a camera with me and end up making a film…
Last year, it was announced that Ariana Grande would star in the latest installment of the Meet the Parents franchise, Focker-In-Law, alongside Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. Today, the first trailer for the film dropped, introducing us to Grande’s character Olivia Jones, a trained FBI hostage negotiator turned potential future wife to Henry Focker (Skyler Gisondo) who his dad Greg (Stiller) just can’t crack. Check it out below.
The trailer kicks off with Greg’s father-in-law, retired CIA agent and Vietnam veteran Jack Byrnes (De Niro) administering a lie detector test to Olivia, asking her whether her love for Henry is genuine and, crucially, what she thinks of the family. Throughout the clip, Olivia rarely misses a step and even gets the Focker guard dog approval, winning Jack’s respect and Henry’s envy. The film, which John Hamburg wrote and directed, follows 2010’s Little Fockers, 2004’s Meet the Fockers, and 2000’s Meet the Parents. It also stars Beanie Feldstein, Owen Wilson, Eduardo Franco, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo. It premieres on November 26, AKA Thanksgiving.
Focker-In-Law will be released by Universal, the same studio behind Wicked and Wicked: For Good, both of which star Grande as Glinda. The first film earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the 97th Academy Awards, where she also performed with Cynthia Erivo. Although Grande hasn’t released a new album since 2024’s Eternal Sunshine, she’ll head out on her first tour since 2019 later this year, visiting cities across North America and the UK in July and August.
YouTube Premiere: On the 7th anniversary of the April 15th Rebellion, Leap Productions and Extinction Rebellion present Conscientious Protectors: A Story of Rebellion Against Extinction, feature documentary from award-winning director Leigh Bloomfield — premiering on YouTube for the first time.
What does it take to bring a city to a standstill?
Conscientious Protectors takes you inside the birth of Extinction Rebellion, from its first meetings in October 2018 to the moment it shut down London in April 2019.
A former farmer, a mother, a student, and a growing network of ordinary people, come together with an extraordinary plan: to sound the alarm on the climate crisis, transforming small meetings into one of the most disruptive protests in UK history.
The film follows Roger Hallam and fellow co-founders as the movement gathers momentum.
In April 2019, they occupied five sites across London for ten days, bringing the city to a standstill while demanding urgent action.
As their tactics push the limits of non-violent civil disobedience, they face arrest, public backlash, and mounting internal pressure.
Vilified by some, celebrated by others, this is the inside story of the people behind the headlines.
As the climate crisis intensifies, Conscientious Protectors asks:
Can ordinary people still force real change in a world on the brink?
📅Release Date: Around 15 April (7th anniversary of the April 15th Rebellion) 📍Platform:YouTube (via Leap Productions’ YouTube channel)
Whether you’re reconnecting with the movement or discovering this pivotal moment for the first time, this premiere will bring the story of those who risked arrest and disruption to highlight the climate crisis to a global audience.
Leigh Bloomfield is an award-winning director and cinematographer and co-founder of Leap Productions, working across documentary film and series. Based in London, he has built a career spanning film and television productions for Disney, Sky and Amazon, with credits including Elton John: Never Too Late.
Alongside documentaries and series featuring global artists, athletes and cultural figures, his work is urgent and socially and environmentally focused, closely attuned to the cultural moment. He brings a strong sensitivity to building trust with subjects ranging from activists and police officers to celebrities. This experience, from large-scale international productions to intimate storytelling, shapes a cinematic style that is both instinctively human and grounded in reality.
His debut feature documentary Conscientious Protectors won Best Director (Feature Documentary) at the London Director Awards, received a four-star review from The Guardian, and had a limited international theatrical release, establishing him as a distinctive voice in contemporary documentary filmmaking.
When it comes to Love Island USA, certain contestants become Villa famous, and Huda Mustafa is one of them. During season 7, Huda faced backlash from fans for her choices on the show. After she and Chris Seeley ended the season 7 finale parting ways, she dropped a bombshell during the reunion. When host Andy Cohen asked if she’s dating anyone, Huda claimed Netflix wouldn’t let her talk about it. Find out what we know so far about Huda’s romance here.
Who Is Huda Mustafa From Love Island Dating?
After completing her stint on Love Island USA. Huda was spotted getting close to Too Hot to Handle star Louis Russell. Louis has also appeared on the streamer’s series Perfect Match.
When pressed about her romance during the reunion, Huda said, “I’m not allowed to speak. It’s Netflix. I’m not allowed to talk about it.” As for why she apparently couldn’t talk about her love life, Huda cited “legal reasons.”
(Photo by: Ben Symons/Peacock)
Is Louis Russell Huda Mustafa’s Boyfriend?
Yes, as of 2026, Huda and Louis are an item. The couple went Instagram official in late 2025 and have been going strong ever since.
What Happened Between Huda & Chris?
During the two-hour season 7 finale episode, Huda and Chris sat down over a candle-lit dinner to discuss where their budding relationship was going wrong.
In the end, Huda and Chris broke up and actually made Love Island USA history by becoming the first couple to break up during a season finale.
Why Did Huda & Chris Break Up?
Huda and Chris split because she expressed doubts about their compatibility, while he questioned her confidence in their connection.
“Moving forward in the outside world, there’s no more time in here to figure this out. We’re not exclusive, we’re still getting to know each other, and a lot of the things that we do need are the physical aspects,” Huda said to Chris. “I’m not sure how we would work on that with long distance.”
However, shortly thereafter, Huda proposed that she and Chris just be friends, which he declined.
“Right off the bat, I’m gonna be honest with you — no,” Chris said to Huda about a friendship. “But will I have any hatred toward you? No. But I need to not like you anymore, so that means I need to separate myself a little bit, I’m going to.”
(Photo by: Kim Nunneley/Peacock)
What Happened Between Huda & Jeremiah?
Love Island USA fans watched Huda and Jeremiah get super close way too fast, which resulted in serious ups and downs in their communication. The couple looked like they were head over heels for each other, but that quickly changed. Their dynamic took a turn for the worse, and Huda and Jeremiah’s fling eventually fizzled out. But just before he could explore more connections further, Jeremiah was voted off the island by the boys.
Huda Mustafa’s Past Relationships
Huda’s only known past relationship was with the father of her baby: ex Noah Sheline. He serves in the U.S. Army. Noah and Huda welcomed their child in 2020 and broke up at some point.
During her time on Love Island USA, Noah felt the need to speak out regarding the backlash she got from fans about the drama on the show. In a TikTok Story, he asked social media users to show Huda respect despite “regardless of how ridiculous she might seem” on the show, according to People.
“She’s maybe not doing a great job idk I don’t watch the show but I don’t like that I’m seeing so much negative s*** on my page or even clips of it about her,” Noah wrote in June 2025. “It’s not my job to police her or the people in my comments, but I will say what you guys do will affect her mental health and my daughter’s maybe in the future.”
Noah continued that it’s “crazy I have to involve myself in this, but I don’t want my daughter’s mom to get out and see this and her mental health goes down a hill. For people who have been respectful and nice and defending her as a mother, thank you! She tries just as much as any other young parent in this world.”
The philosopher Biggie Smalls once pondered the nature of dangerously escalating rivalries.
In a song of the same name, Biggie asked, “What’s beef?”
Beef
The Bottom Line
A bold, well-acted, slightly over-extended follow-up.
Airdate: Thursday, April 16 (Netflix) Cast: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, Cailee Spaeny, Youn Yuh-jung Creator: Lee Sung Jin
His answers included the straightforward “Beef is when you need two gats to go to sleep,” and the playful “Beef is when I see you, guaranteed to be in I-C-U.”
Christopher Wallace passed away, likely a victim of a beef, long before the rise of the limited series, so Lee Sung Jin had the exploratory lane all to himself when he released the eight-episode bleak comedy Beef back in 2023. The series, about the unforeseen consequences erupting from a relatively minor instance of road rage, dominated the Emmys and eventually was picked up for a second season, transitioning from limited series to anthology and reframing Biggie’s question as: “What’s Beef?” Or, put a different way, what is the Beef brand? And could a second season, sans the extraordinary talents of Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, deliver a story and themes in keeping with that brand, without sullying what was so deviously tricky about the original series and its tone?
The answer, for the most part, is “Yes.” The second season of Beef can’t reproduce the sneak-up-on-you brilliance of the first, but without many direct connections this eight-episode story feels very much of a piece.
Once again, Jin has big ideas to play with and trenchant aspects of contemporary American culture to pick apart and, once again, he has assembled an exceptional cast in service of a story that begins tightly contained and spins wildly and intentionally out of control.
It’s possible that Jin actually has too much on his mind this time around, layering the central conflict with generational, economic and cultural divides, alternatingly poking fun and staring in jaw-agape horror at the modern condition in ways that don’t always come together. But if the thing that keeps season two of Beef from equalling its predecessor is an excess of ambition, I have no beef with that.
This time around, our featured characters — Beef doesn’t have traditional antagonists and protagonists, since its core concern is that niceties like situational ethics and morality are a fungible construct — are a pair of couples, separated in age by little over a decade but in status by a seemingly greater distance.
Josh (Oscar Isaac) is the general manager at the Monte Vista Point Country Club near tony Montecito, north of Los Angeles. His job is to be accommodating to the club’s wealthy clientele, embodied by William Fichtner’s Troy, a wildly rich music industry mogul (or something to that effect). Josh is married to Lindsay (Carey Mulligan), an upper-crust Brit who has all the external status markers that Josh lacks, but perhaps not his obsequious gifts or ambition. They’ve been talking for years about starting an upscale bed-and-breakfast, without evident progress, one of several factors adding volatility to their marriage.
At the other end of the volatility spectrum are newly engaged 20-somethings Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny), two of Josh’s underlings at the club. Ashley is a beverage cart girl on the club’s golf course, while Austin works part-time as a trainer. Austin and Ashley don’t have much money, but they’re so deeply in love that they never fight.
On the night of a fundraiser at the club, Josh forgets his wallet and Austin and Ashley are tasked with returning it, walking in at the end of a heated argument between Josh and Lindsay — a fight that reaches a violent climax that Ashley films on her phone. Ashley and Austin experience this blow-up out of context, and the video captures it with even less context. But the younger couple sees an opportunity for professional advancement, to score a win in a game they’re convinced is rigged against them.
But in this clash of haves and have-nots, are Josh and Lindsay really among the privileged? Their position is made precarious by the arrival of Chairwoman Park (Youn Yuh-jung), Korean billionaire and the club’s new owner. Park puts new pressure on Josh in part because of the pressure she herself is feeling back in Seoul under circumstances related to her plastic surgeon husband (Song Kang-ho, wonderful if very underused).
Soon, a cycle of blackmail, extortion and fraud ensues, borne of desperate grasping for power and a potentially fatal lack of empathy on all fronts. Meanwhile, the lines between exploiter and exploited, powerful and powerless, hero and villain blur in ways that are sometimes satirical, sometimes sad and occasionally thrilling.
There’s a lot happening in the second season of Beef. Although the episode count has gone from 10 to eight, the length of episodes have expanded from under 40 minutes to as many as 54 minutes for the season two finale, which has a relatively epic scale but gets bogged down in at least three different monologues from characters telling viewers what the season was about.
Though Beef isn’t exclusively a dark comedy, its comic beats thrive with a tighter pace and stricter focus. This best two episodes (directed by Jin and Kitao Sakurai) come midseason — a hilarious nightmare in a hospital emergency room and a differently hilarious nightmare of a search for a missing dachshund named Burberry — and they’re the two shortest episodes of the season, dedicated primarily to tracking just one of the couples on a single misadventure. One takes a scathing look at the absurdities of the American healthcare industry, while the other reinforces the season’s nature-out-of-balance themes. They’re both fast-moving and dazzlingly absurd.
Those two standout episodes are also largely separated from the country club settling, which too often opens the door for slightly superficial jabs at the club’s vapid members. They’re a perfectly worthy target, but one that invites inevitable comparisons to The White Lotus (and allows for some very odd and very unexpected celebrity cameos that I won’t spoil here).
It’s possible that Beef is actually parodying The White Lotus at times, especially with the younger couple, a high-school dropout and a former Arizona State football star — Gen Z strivers who know the buzzwords of capitalist critique (“It’s unfair. Globally. There’s gotta be a redistribution of the wealth,” Austin declares, apropos of nothing) without any substance to back it up. They simply see an opportunity to grab for the brass ring, ready to do whatever it takes to get what they believe they deserve, until they discover what “whatever it takes” means. Or maybe until they discover what Reddit tells them it means, because Beef is particularly harsh toward the online proxies for nourishing social relationships — uncaring cam girls, hollow DM flirtations and help forums that only make things worse.
As was the case in the first season, Beef is a machine driven by unintended consequences, some violent, some scatological and all designed to crush the souls of characters who might not have souls to begin with.
Even more than the first season, this round of Beef makes it difficult to root for anybody. I felt a real pendulum the first time around between Danny (Yeun) and Amy (Wong), each doing the wrong things for ostensibly justifiable reasons. Here, it’s a struggle between two flawed couples, easier to pity, if only because they don’t realize that there’s nothing the aristocracy wants more than for them to fight to the death rather than pay attention to who actually has the power.
Performance-wise, I sided with the younger couple. I thought Riverdale veteran Melton’s May December performance was more tantalizing promise than talent confirmed, but there’s evidence of comic genius in how soulfully silly he makes Austin. Spaeny’s Ashley is half Lady Macbeth, half innocent child, fully oblivious to how her ambitions are changing her and changing a relationship that seems nourishing as long as it’s based on a shared appreciation of Hot Pockets. Going back to Priscilla, I admire how Spaeny uses the height disparity with her leading men as a source of both humor and sweetness.
The show perhaps has sympathy for Ashley and Austin because they don’t know any better. Lindsay and Josh have been together long enough to realize their shared toxicity, but they’re giddy when their new rivals given them fresh targets for their simmering resentments. Mulligan delivers lacerating fragility, while Isaac turns Josh’s accommodating nature into a pathology, but both characters are littered with backstory details that Beef leaves hanging. It’s a plot point that these are both mixed-race couples that are rarely forced to confront their differences, but the show does better with Austin’s confrontation of his Korean roots than with Josh’s Cuban background.
Youn, whose presence reminds me that I’m still mad about Apple’s treatment of Pachinko, projects kindness with a glint of scheming malevolence, and I really wish the series had given us more of Youn and Song together. Several other characters on the Korean side of the story, which grows in importance as the finale approaches, could have used a little more depth — including Seoyeon Jang’s overqualified translator Eunice and rapper BM’s Woosh, a tennis instructor with aspirations of his own.
As was the case in the first season as well, the finale escalates to a place of thrilling zaniness, with a little less ultimate emotional gravitas this time around. The concluding punch isn’t as potent, but the show left me with so much to think about and so many details to be amused by that I hope Lee Sung Jin has the opportunity to show us what else Beef can be.
“The best time to apply tinted moisturizer is in the morning after washing your face and applying face serums, if this is part of your routine,” says Dr. Stull. “Those with drier skin may choose to apply a regular moisturizer prior to tinted moisturizer, although this may not be necessary for oilier skin types. Application of tinted moisturizer can be followed by concealer for extra coverage in particular areas, bronzer, and blush.”
Additional makeup is totally optional, though. “The beauty of tinted moisturizer is that it’s really all you might need, especially on days you don’t want to wear makeup. It’s a great all-in-one,” says Adarsh Vijay Mudgil, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder of New York City’s Mudgil Dermatology, who also advises choosing tinted moisturizer with SPF if you’re not wearing sunscreen otherwise.
As for how to apply it? “With your fingertips is actually perfectly fine, though a makeup brush could help provide a more even finish,” says Dr. Mudgil. It’s simply a matter of personal preference.
Is tinted moisturizer better for your skin?
Maybe. Tinted moisturizer is possibly better for your skin than other heavier foundation options, because they often contain hydrating skincare ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and squalane to help deeply hydrate skin, according to the dermatologists we spoke with. They also often contain SPF, which you don’t usually see in foundations, which makes them a better choice in warmer weather when you’re spending a lot of time outdoors.
What the difference between tinted moisturizer and foundation?
As for what differentiates tinted moisturizer from other types of makeup? “Tinted moisturizers offer lighter coverage in comparison with classic foundation preparations,” says Dr. Mudgil. “They are basically a foundation and moisturizer hybrid, which is perfect for days when full-on makeup isn’t needed or desired.”
What’s the difference between tinted moisturizer, BB cream or skin tint?
“Tinted moisturizers are an excellent everyday alternative to foundation, offering lightweight, natural coverage. They effectively even out skin tone, reduce redness, and blur blemishes without feeling heavy,” says Kasey Spickard, an NYC-based celebrity makeup artist. BB creams, on the other hand, may provide a bit more coverage and often have more skin care ingredients, such as SPF, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants, which can protect your skin barrier.
You’ll also often see the terms “tinted moisturizer” and “skin tint” used interchangeably. nd for the most part, they are quite similar. The main difference? Tinted moisturizer typically includes more hydrating ingredients, while a skin tint focuses on ingredients that provide coverage and protection, like SPF, according to the makeup artists we spoke with.
How to apply tinted moisturizer on mature skin and aging skin
Spickard recommends using less product and building up slowly. “Pump one to two pumps of the product onto the back of the hand and, using your ring finger, tap into the product and then apply directly to the face—center of forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. Then gently use your fingers to buff the product in,” he says. “And remember, less is more!”
Are there any disadvantages to tinted moisturizer?
TNo, according to the experts we spoke with. Some may have less coverage than your typical foundation, but that can be easily remedied by pairing your tinted moisturizer with a good concealer.
We put more than a dozen tinted moisturizers to the test, separating the best from the rest based on their ingredients, texture, coverage, and longevity.
Ingredients
Texture and Coverage
Longevity
We looked for hydrating skin care ingredients like hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and glycerin to help lock in moisture for hours. Some even contained skin-brightening elements like antioxidants and vitamins E and C to make skin appear less dull.
We selected ones with lightweight, radiant finish that absorbed into the skin quickly and had medium to full coverage. These helped conceal dark circles, hyperpigmentation, and acne.
Our favorite products lasted all day, without the need for touch-ups. They also played well with everything from concealers to cream blushes; some even had sun protection.
Getting the full threat intelligence context means manually synthesizing closed-source reports and matching them against your open-source intelligence feeds, a slow, time-consuming process that pulls analysts away from higher-value work.
Feedly now lets you upload your own PDFs directly alongside your open-source intelligence and use Ask AI to analyze both together, so you can produce richer, more actionable intelligence without the manual overhead.
In this blog, we’ll show you how to use the feature to start saving time and elevate your analysis with more complete context.
Overview
This new capability lets you upload files directly into Feedly and leverage powerful features like Ask AI. It provides a seamless way to analyze your closed-source reports and extract actionable intelligence in seconds.
Since you’re already tracking open-sources in Feedly, this feature bridges the gap between your closed- and open-source context. The result is richer, more accurate, and actionable threat intelligence that accounts for both open and closed-source domains.
Add open-source context from the Feedly Threat Graph
Uploading a file means Feedly can analyze your closed-source intelligence using the Threat Graph which is a continuously updated knowledge base built from over 10,000 trusted cybersecurity sources.
The Threat Graph automatically extracts and correlates key entities from your uploaded files, threat actors, TTPs, malware families, exploited CVEs, and IoCs. When you use Ask AI to analyze a report, you’re not just getting a summary of the document; you’ll also get answers informed by the full open-source intelligence picture.
Feedly does not use your private files to train its AI Models, nor does it share them with third parties. They are used solely to power your own analysis.
See it in action
Use case #1: Monitoring threat actor activity
Upload your new incident response report into Feedly and query Ask AI to cross-reference every TTP against what’s currently being reported across the open web. This allows you to validate whether the behaviors documented in the report appear elsewhere in the wild.
Prompt
Based on the uploaded report, which TTPs were used by the threat actor, and are these same techniques being reported in the open web right now? Are other organizations documenting similar behaviors?
Response
Use case #2: Track critical vulnerabilities
If your team receives a dense vulnerability report, Feedly can instantly enrich the CVEs with real-time data from the Threat Graph, including exploit status, threat actor activity, and patch availability. This helps you quickly identify which vulnerabilities are actively exploited, who is using them, and whether fixes are available, connecting your internal findings to the broader threat landscape.
Prompt
Based on the uploaded report, which CVEs were exploited in this incident, are they currently being actively exploited by other threat actors in the open web, and what does the latest reporting say about patch availability and exploit status?
Response
Use case #3: Identify cyberattacks
Your ISAC bulletin, a vendor threat brief, and an industry outlook report all landed this week. Instead of reading through each one separately, you can upload all three into Feedly and Ask AI synthesizes across them. It will identify overlapping threat actors and recurring attack patterns worth keeping an eye out for.
Prompt
Based on the uploaded reports, which attack campaigns are currently targeting my sector across all three sources, are there any overlapping threat actors or patterns?
Response
Use case #4: Collect IOCs
Extract the IOCs directly from your CERT bulletin to check whether they appear in active campaigns on the open web, and attribute them to threat actors and malware families. This gives you real-time context on whether those IOCs are still relevant.
Prompt
Based on the uploaded bulletin, which IOCs are listed, are they currently associated with active campaigns in the open web, and what threat actors and malware families are they attributed to?
Response
Conclusion
The four use cases above are just the beginning. Any closed-source report in your workflow (government advisories, ISAC bulletins, incident response reports, vendor assessments) can be uploaded into Feedly and queried however you need. Ask: Which threat actors in this report are still active? Are these CVEs being exploited in the wild? Has anything changed since this advisory was published? Answers can come from your uploaded documents alone, or from both your documents and the open web. You control your workflow and your sources, so you can enrich your threat intelligence and context.
Closed-source and open-source intelligence don’t have to live in separate places
Upload your PDFs into Feedly and analyze everything in one workflow, no manual bridging required.
James Gunn’s DCU is going full-on body horror in the upcoming villain spin-off Clayface. While the former MCU director has stated several times that this newly emerging DC universe will take chances and create different kinds of comic book movies, Clayface is by far the biggest clue that he’s keeping to his word. The upcoming Batman spin-off, which is set to release in theaters on Oct. 23, unleashed its first trailer at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, offering our first look at Tom Rhys Harries as the shape-shifting monster.
In the comics, Clayface has had several different iterations, with the first being a serial-killing actor who was first introduced in “Detective Comics” #40 back in June 1940. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the supervillain underwent a major transformation in “Detective Comics” #298 in December 1961, with the latter shape-shifting version the one that many are most familiar with.
And this is the version that Tom Rhys Harries will portray in the upcoming Clayface movie, with footage shown at CinemaCon revealing that he will play Matt Hagen, “a struggling actor whose face is disfigured and then undergoes a scientific transformation that turns his body entirely into clay,” via Variety. Any concerns that Clayface would shy away from the body horror potential of the character can now rest easy, as the footage begins with Matt in hospital and sporting the bloody, bandaged face that we’ve previously seen in set images. Then things get weird.
“He’s attacked by a knife-wielding assailant and has mysterious chemicals pumped into him, giving him his powers,” the description of the trailer reveals, with Matt’s face changing repeatedly, “showing him without an eye or mouth at times, and in the final moments he’s sitting in a bathtub and wipes away his entire face.” Not only that, the movie also teases the villain’s penchant for destruction, with “a shadowy shot of him with a giant, mace-shaped fist,” being reminiscent of both the comics and Batman: The Animated Series, which the movie seems to be taking a lot of inspiration from.
Speak No Evil and Eden Lake director James Watkins takes the helm of Clayface, with a script from Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Hossein Amini and The Haunting of Hill House’s Mike Flanagan. The rest of the cast includes Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan and David Dencik, with Clayface all set to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on Oct. 23, 2026, as part of the DCU’s Chapter One: Gods and Monsters.
With the launch of Overwatch Season 2, Sierra has entered the game as the title’s 51st character. But if the early reaction to Sierra’s introduction is any indication, she may need to be nerfed soon because her ultimate attack can cause massive amounts of damage to opposing players.
When Sierra has 1800 points, her ultimate can fire a drone that drops 23 bombs, each dealing 180 damage. The bombs’ impact can be felt up to three meters away, and there’s not much players with slower characters can do to avoid being caught in the lethal aftermath.
“I love the drone grapple, [but] her [ultimate] is ridiculous and literally needs to be nerfed today,” .wrote a player on Reddit. “Also not a fan of every 6 second aimbot. Love her character design though.”
Most recently scoring the international film trophy at the BAFTA Awards, Sentimental Valueis Danish editor — and Spirit Awardsalum for The Apprentice — Olivier Bugge Coutté’s sixth collaboration with director Joachim Trier. The filmmakers have previously worked on The Worst Person in the World (which also stars Renate Reinsve from Presumed Innocent) and Oslo, August 31st. The Norwegian-English family drama from Trier follows actress Nora (Reinsve), who resents her father and once-successful director, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård from Dune and Chernobyl), for abandoning the family after divorcing their mother many years ago. Along with sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), Nora has to deal with him again when he returns following their mother’s passing. In a desperate attempt to revive his career, Gustav offers the lead role in his next movie to Nora. But when she refuses it, he turns the project into an English-language film so that the role could be inhabited by American actress, Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning, Spirit Award alum for the Hulu series, The Great).
After 30 years of friendship and cinematic collaborations, newly-minted Oscar-nominee, Coutté, is in sync with Trier after working together for so many years. “We’ve done six films together. Joachim and I have very similar taste in films, music for films, art, and literature. We are fascinated by the same things. And we are so in tune with what moments we like in the acting, the rhythm of the scenes, how to use music, when to hold back or give information, the playfulness of montages, etc.,” he shares, adding that: “When I see material from Joachim, I often feel “I know what you thought here, I know why you did this shot. Of course we have a lot things to solve in the edit, and it takes a lot of work but we are artistically 100% on the same page.”
What is Joachim like as a collaborator and what is the shorthand that you’ve developed over the years?
We play this game, where I let a shot run and put a marker where I would cut out. Without looking at my marker, Joachim does the same. We always hit within the same 12 frames. We are in sync. On the one hand, it’s very challenging to cut Joachim’s films because of their complexity in storytelling, but it’s also very easy because I just need to ask myself: “Does this work for me? If yes, then there’s a 98% chance it will also work for Joachim.”
Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) preps the film-within-a-film with Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) in ‘Sentimental Value.’ Courtesy NEON
My favorite part in this film is the artistic play with the bilingual element in the film-within-a-film, where Rachel first reads a very emotional section of Gustav’s script in English early in the story, and towards the end, Nora reads the same in Norwegian. It highlights the fact that translations, no matter how well-done, sometimes simply cannot fully capture a moment or feeling, which is best left to its original language. How did you tackle both sequences?
Rachel’s delivery is very strong and very emotional. She proves to Gustav and everyone at that moment that she is very good actress. But also, just an actress. To me, it’s not so much her convincing acting that hits me, it’s Gustav’s reaction. He leans back and smiles, but what is that smile about? It takes a while before he smiles. Is he convinced that Rachel is right for the part, or is he forcing himself to be convinced?
When Nora reads the scene, it becomes personal. She recognizes it from her own life and finally understands that this script is not about Gustav’s mother [but about Nora instead]. There was one long tracking shot from the side as she reads. It was supposed to be kept in one, but it was not nearly as strong as this handheld shot, which puts you right in the feeling with Nora. It doesn’t need the tracks to tell you that “this is an important moment.” It also made it possible to cut to Agnes on the same axes as she watches her sister. That for me is the strongest part, even more intense than Nora’s read. With her hands on her face, crying, Agnes feels Nora’s pain, but I can also see hope in her eyes, because this finally allows Nora to understand their father. All three actresses — Elle, Inga, and Renate — are so incredible. What a privilege it is to cut scenes like this.
A beautiful Dragestil (or “dragon style”) house, the Borg family home is a crucial part of the story. How did you convey the tension, love, and grief that has transpired in that house?
The opening montage is what sets the house as a center stage for the story to unfold: it has witnessed several generations of the Borg family. We would cut to an empty room or view thru the windows, let the people enter and exit the frame to leave it empty again. We would also see empty rooms and hear activities outside the frame. In one shot, a window is closing and you hear the outside world from an open and closed window’s perspective. With Nora’s voiceover, it gave a strong sense of the house just being there, not moving and witnessing the world passing by. The windows became the eyes, the rooms became the stomach, etc.
The “Dragestil” style family home of the Borg family in ‘Sentimental Value.’ Courtesy NEON
That’s fascinating! Even though the story deals with heavy topics like depression, suicide, and abandonment, how did you keep some levity for the audience?
We believe very much in humor to bring people in and engage the audience even in stories that involve death and pain. You become more receptive when you are allowed to laugh. If it’s only painful, you will shut down and protect your feelings. That’s why you often see both in our montages about the house. In the second montage, Gustav’s mum is closing the door before her suicide while teenage Gustav peeks at his aunt’s girlfriend’s naked breasts. Life is complex. You can both cry and laugh at the same event, and still be normal.
The montage where the faces of Gustav, Nora, and Agnes morph into each other on rotation is very emotional. What was that meant to symbolize?
The sequence was created in-camera by the DP Kasper Tuxen, by exposing one face, rewinding the film, and exposing on top of it again. It’s not CGI. It wasn’t written in the script. He also did the same for The Worst Person in The World, but we never found a place to use it. I can’t tell you what it symbolizes. It’s one of those open-ended lyrical abstractions that anyone can put their own meaning to. When you know the story of these three characters and their “psychological knot,” it can mean everything from an image of pain to forgiveness. It comes right after Nora’s breakdown and before Agnes’ fight with Gustav and the sisters’ reunification. From this point on, things will have to change; the status quo is no longer an option. Is it a warning? Is it about forgiveness? I don’t know.
What was the most challenging, unexpected, or rewarding sequence to cut on this film?
One of my favorite parts is the little jazzy montage around Nora, when she was with her co-worker in the bed, before it ends at Agnes’ house. I just love the playfulness of that style of editing.
After Nora finally reads her father’s script, the emotional scene with Agnes and Nora hugging and crying is very moving. How did you accentuate this pivotal moment?
In the original script, this was meant to be earlier in the film, even before Nora and Rachel meet at the theatre. But the scene was so strong between the sisters: once Nora understands that it’s about a character similar to herself (maybe herself), they come together in a mutual understanding of what they experienced during their childhood. It felt like the highest peak in the story. After that, everything was secondary conflicts and you could feel the film was getting a life on its own and starting to close in on itself. When Nora and Agnes hug each other on the bed, it was shot with many small improvised moments. As an editor, it’s all about carefully going thru the material over and over again. Agnes saying “I love you”, and Nora replying “me too” was improvised on only one of the takes. Imagine if we had missed that.
Nora (Renate Reinsve) and sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) in ‘Sentimental Value.’ Courtesy NEON
Let’s talk about the final sequence where Nora is acting in Gustav’s movie on the soundstage.
I get very emotional every time I see this ending shot. I know it’s a film-within-a-film and Nora is an actress, and I can see the blue screen outside the windows. But every time I want to stop her from going behind that door and scream “Nora please, don’t do it, let me help you.” Originally, Gustav gives stage direction to Nora, but we took it away. Without it, the scene is much stronger and you identify with her and with Gustav’s story about his mum and his daughter much more this way. It makes you think of the whole film that you’ve just watched. It’s a catharsis. After Gustav says “cut” and they look at each other, you see the admiration and love they have for each other. All of their problems are far from being solved, but the love and respect is back between father and daughter. They have finally found a way to communicate. The power of art has healed the void between them, and hopefully, set them on a path to communicate better as father and daughter.
Earning nine Oscar nominations, Sentimental Value is playing in select theaters for a post-nomination run and available on PVOD.
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Featured Image: Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in ‘Sentimental Value.’ Courtesy NEON
While the film’s logline has been kept under wraps to this point, we learned this evening at CinemaCon that it revolves, in star Pete Davidson‘s words, around “a crew of masked bank robbers who carry out daring heists and stream them live on social media — which may not be the best idea if you don’t want to get caught.”
Leitch described the robbers as modern-day Robin Hood figures fighting back against a rigged system, whose criminal activities are combatted by an FBI agent played by John C. Reilly and hacker played by Zoë Kravitz.
Davidson described the socially conscious action-thriller as “totally f*cking insane.” He and Leitch took the stage in Las Vegas following a number of motorcyclers wearing wolf masks, as the characters in the film do, as they threw cash into the CinemaCon audience and did acrobatics.
In the footage played at CinemaCon, a masked Hoult tells his online following, “the success rate of armed robberies is 90%.” So if the odds are stacked against you in the real world, why not try your hand at it?
“Let’s make some content!” the character says.
Reilly’s FBI agent and his efforts to combat crime are subsequently introduced, as he tells his colleagues, “15 banks, 61 felonies, 30 million unique viewers. We have the full resources of the federal government, so put some f*cking pepper on it!”
The trailer builds up to a set-up: Reilly and Kravitz predict the masked robbers will hit one particular bank “because this one’s personal” — Hoult later tells a banker, played by Christian Slater, “Your bank killed my son” — and will aim to use that information to bring them down.
Mark Bianculli (Hunters, upcoming Cliffhanger reboot) penned the script for How to Rob a Bank, which also stars Anna Sawai and Rhenzy Feliz. 87North’s Kelly McCormick and Leitch produced alongside Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Jeb Brody and Allan Mandelbaum, with Bianculli exec producing.
Well, at some point. Amazon MGM Studios gave the barest of updates on the next 007 film. The studio, which recently took over creative control of the spy franchise, has hired Denis Villeneuve to direct the next installment. Given Villeneuve’s success with the “Dune” films, the move was widely praised, as was the decision to enlist “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight to pen the script.
Now Villeneuve and producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman face their next big hurdle — finding the right actor to slip into Bond’s tux. But executives at Amazon MGM Studios weren’t about to reveal who they are leaning towards asking to join Her Majesty’s Secret Service while presenting their upcoming film slate to cinema owners at CinemaCon on Wednesday night.
“Now, I know you’re all wondering when we’re going to announce who’s playing James Bond,” Courtenay Valenti, head of film at Amazon MGM Studios, said. “Don’t get too excited. Please know that we’re taking the time to do this with care and deep respect. It is the dream of a lifetime for all of us to bring audiences this next chapter, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly.”
“What I can tell you is this: when you pair one of the most beloved franchises in history with a world-class filmmaking team, including the brilliant director Denis Villeneuve, extraordinary producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman, executive producer Tanya Lapointe, and screenwriter Steven Knight, you’re setting the stage for something that’s truly worthy of the Bond legacy,” Valenti added. “That film is coming, and when the time is right, we’ll have much more to share.”
Speculation has been rampant, with everyone from Jacob Elordi to Callum Turner to Louis Partridge rumored to be in line to receive a certain someone’s license to kill. Whoever gets the role will have big shoes to fill. Daniel Craig was widely considered to be one of the greatest Bonds in history, right up there alongside Sean Connery. His run of five films, which included “Skyfall” and “Casino Royale,” were critical and commercial high points for the series. But he hung up Bond’s Walther PPK permanently with 2021’s “No Time to Die,” heading off to join the other lady-killing, martini-swilling superspies in the cinematic heavens.
Amazon would dearly love to make Bond 26 a must-see. Control of the action series was a major reason why the company shelled out more than $8 billion to buy MGM Studios in 2022. In the spectrum of Bond adventures, that means that Villeneuve better deliver something closer to “Goldfinger” than “A View to a Kill.”
Matt LeBlanc’s new project could look very different from what he’s done before.
CBS is developing a drama starring and executive-produced by the “Friends” alum, the network announced Wednesday. The potential series, which has the working title “Flint,” hails from Evan Katz (“24”), CBS Studios and Jerry Bruckheimer Television.
“Flint” would follow a ready-to-retire Los Angeles Police Department detective who, per the official logline, “is blindsided when the city extends his service by five years. Determined to get fired, he breaks rules and disobeys orders, which, to his dismay, makes him an even better cop.”
If the project is ordered to series, it would be part of CBS’ 2027-2028 primetime lineup.
LeBlanc’s previous TV work consists mainly of comedies: In addition to playing Joey for all 10 seasons of “Friends,” his resumé includes “Episodes,” “Man With a Plan,” and “Joey.”
In other casting news…
* “Twisted Metal” actor Mike Mitchell will not be part of the Peacock series’ upcoming Season 3, he announced on the most recent edition of his Doughboys Media podcast. “I am very kind of heartbroken about it. I love the show,” he told listeners. Mitchell recurred as Stu on the show. When the streamer renewed “Twisted Metal” in November, it also announced that David Reed (“The Boys”) would take over for outgoing showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith, who ran Seasons 1 and 2. TVLine has reached out to Peacock for comment.
* Adam Levine will return as a coach on “The Voice” Season 30 this fall, People reports. The names of his fellow coaches for the season are still under wraps.
* Original “Baywatch” star Erika Eleniak will guest-star on Fox’s upcoming reboot in a reprisal of her role as Shauni McClain, Variety reports. In the new show, Shauni will be a city council member in Santa Monica who helps Hobie Buchannon (played by Stephen Amell, “Arrow”) launch a “Beach Games” competition between Baywatch and the Coast Guard.
* “Perfect Match” Season 4 will begin streaming Episodes 1-5 on Wednesday, May 13, Netflix announced Wednesday; Episodes 6-7 will follow on Wednesday, May 20, and the finale will begin streaming on Wednesday, May 27. The Season 4 cast of reality stars includes: Alison Ogden, “Building the Band”; Ally Lewber, “Vanderpump Rules”; Brianna Balram, “Too Hot to Handle” and “Battle Camp”; Chris Dahlan, “Age of Attraction”; Danny Spongberg, “Temptation Island”; Dave Hand, “Married at First Sight Australia”; DeMari Davis, “Too Hot to Handle”; Hashim Moore, “Temptation Island”; Jimmy Presnell, “Love Is Blind”; Jimmy Sotos, content creator; Kassy Castillo, “Love Island”; Katherine LaPrell, “Too Hot to Handle”; Kayla Richart, “Too Hot to Handle”; Mackenzie Bellows, “Squid Game: The Challenge”; Marissa George, “Love Is Blind”; Natalie Cruz, “Temptation Island”; Nick Pellecchia, “Million Dollar Secret”; Sophie Willett, “Love Is Blind UK”; Weston Richey, “Love Island”; Yamen Sanders, “Love Island” and “Temptation Island.”
Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson make affecting Broadway debuts in The Fear of 13, Lindsey Ferrentino’s based-on-a-true-story play about a falsely accused death row inmate and the woman who loves him from the other side of the bullet-proof glass.
Alternately intense and tender, Brody’s performance, despite some choices that can feel a bit like strutting, elevates what in the end is an appalling yet sadly not uncommon wrongful conviction tale in which a man – a low-level Philadelphia car thief named Nick Yarris, at least as troubled as he is a troublemaker – lands a death sentence for a rape and murder we soon learn he didn’t commit (Ferrentino wastes little time on the did-he-or-didn’t-he question – he didn’t, or there wouldn’t be a play).
Based on a 2015 British documentary about Yarris by director David Sington, in which Yarris is the sole presence, relating his story to the camera, The Fear of 13 – more about the title later – expands the story to include other inmates, some standard-issue sadistic prison guards and, most importantly, a jailhouse volunteer who falls in love with the charismatic Nick despite her protestations to the audience that, yes, she’s aware of how this all looks and no, she’s not one of those women who fetishize the imprisoned.
Except, well, isn’t she? Ferrentino wants us to think otherwise, and the real-life inspiration for the character might have a convincing tale to tell, but the closest we get to any likelier explanation is a blatant bit of lampshading – that device of bluntly calling attention to a narrative’s implausibility or inconsistency in order to de-fang it. Jacki (sweetly played by Thompson, whose credits include the wildly popular Avengers franchise) assures us she’s no jailhouse groupie.
But until a mid-play reveal that Nick didn’t do it, Jacki must assume, or at least consider, that she’s being wooed by a man who brutally raped and murdered a young mother of two. She herself has seen the autopsy photos, she’s ready the newspaper clippings. No matter. “I am not that person,” she insists. And the play moves on.
The cast of ‘The Fear of 13’
Emilio Madrid
Then there’s Lampshade #2: While The Fear of 13 has partnered with the Innocence Project, a volunteer organization that uses DNA to help exonerate the wrongfully convicted and combat racial bias in a system that disproportionately targets Black Americans, race, as a subject, remains defiantly absent from this play. “If I’m going to write about somebody,” Jacki says during one of her many phone calls with Nick, “it probably shouldn’t be a white guy.” Lampshade erected, she and Fear, once again,move on.
Adrien Brody, Tessa Thompson
Emilio Madrid
What Ferrentino and director Cromer get right though is conveying the absurdly, cruelly drawn-out grinding of justice’s wheels, or more accurately here, injustice’s wheels. Long years pass between appeals and responses and papers lost or burst open(!) in the mail. The passage of time is cleverly conveyed through a variety of devices, from the sitcoms on Jacki’s TV screen (Cheers gives way to Seinfeld) and the age of the (offstage) dog that Jacki hopes to someday share and raise with a freed Nick.
Still, as one judicial delay follows another, our very legitimate frustration with an inhumane legal system begins to feel like frustration with a narrative that mirrors Lucy, Charlie Brown and that ever-proffered football. At the reviewed performance, there seemed to be some exasperated audience “ughs” among intended dejected gasps.
Those pacing blips aren’t the only groaners. The depictions of the baton-wielding, pain-inflicting prison guards might well be accurate to Yarris’ testimony, but onstage they appear like so many outtakes from Cool Hand Luke. (A late-in-coming moment of grace for the most heinous of the guards is as wrong-headed as it is cringy). The jailhouse tropes extend to Nick’s fellow inmates who sing like angels. No, better, like Temptations.
In his Broadway debut, Brody brings the same intensity and hangdog vulnerability that underscore his best film performances, and if his hip-hop Yo! MTV Raps street mannerisms seem an actorly affectation in flashback scenes set in 1970s Philly, he comes remarkably close to making Nick’s appeal at least somewhat credible (even when he’s recounting a kidnapping for laughs).
Still, when The Fear of 13 finally arrives at something close to Nick’s Rosebud revelation, we’re meant to connect the dots between past trauma and current predicament, and it is a tenuous connection at best, a possible cause for an effect we’ve been told repeatedly to distrust. The climactic scene, set amidst a downpour evocatively conveyed on the moody, spare, grid-like and often pitch-dark set (Arnulfo Maldonado is the scenic designer, with lighting design by Heather Gilbert), does provide a deeper meaning to the play’s title beyond the word – triskaidekaphobia – that Nick taught himself in prison (no spoilers), but if it’s meant, as it seems to be, to somehow explain the beginnings of outlaw behavior and character faults that got Nick in deeper water than he ever could have imagined, we’re left with the unsettling feeling that The Fear of 13 is asking the victim to shoulder at least a modicum of the blame that should fall entirely on a grossly unfair system, and there’s no justice in that.
Title:The Fear of 13 Venue: Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theater Written By: Lindsey Ferrentino (Based on the documentary directed by David Sington) Directed By: David Cromer Cast: Adrien Brody, Tessa Thompson, Ephraim Sykes, Michael Cavinder, Eddie Cooper, Victor Cruz, Eboni Flowers, Joel Marsh Garland, Jared Wayne Gladly, Joe Joseph, Jeb Kreager, Ben Thompson Running Time: 1 hr 50 min (no intermission)
As expected, Madonna has her eyes squarely set on the club on Confessions II, her first new album in seven years and her debut with Warner Records since returning last year to the label that helped launch her superstar career in the 1980s.
The project is out July 3 and re-teams Madonna with producer Stuart Price, with whom she worked on 2005’s beloved Confessions on a Dance Floor. which went No. 1 in 40 countries and won the Best Electronic/Dance Album Grammy. It is best known for hits such as the ABBA-sampling “Hung Up,” “Sorry” and “Get Together.”
Says Madonna, who will turn 68 in August, “when Stuart Price and I first started working on this record, this was our manifesto: we must dance, celebrate and pray with our bodies. These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people. Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions, pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass — we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Madonna spent the first 24 years of her career on Warner Bros. Records, but after nearly two decades with Interscope, she returned to her original home in 2025. Confessions II is the star’s first studio project since 2019’s Madame X. Click here to pre-order Confessions II.
SXSW 2026 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! Directed by Otilia Portillo Padua and lensed by Martín Boege, Daughters Of The Forest is a haunting, lyrical documentary that highlights how past traditions and rituals can help a future in peril. The film follows mycologists Eliseete “Lis” Ramírez Carbajal and Julieta “Juli” Serafina Amaya Pérez. The scientists are from different parts of Mexico — Oaxaca and Mexico State, respectively — but their study of fungi brings them together with a shared vision.
That vision is bringing better understanding and more practical uses of fungi to the masses. Unfortunately, deforestation, climate change, and other factors are disrupting the natural habitats of fungi. But Indigenous communities have been harvesting and using mushrooms and other fungi for as long as anyone can remember, and those ways might hold the secret to fixing the present, which, in turn, will save the future.
“…bringing better understanding and more practical uses of fungi to the masses.”
Daughters Of The Forest is not as linear as the above plot synopsis may suggest. In fact, it is a trip through time to experience the fungi’s growth and the changes Earth has undergone. It is complicated to fully explain, but Pauda’s presentation of the ups and downs of fungal research is fascinatingly unorthodox yet easy to follow. The scientists at the heart of everything are engaging and explain the sometimes unwieldy concepts as best they can. There is also a familial thread running through the film that adds a sweetness.
But the shining star, the thing that pushes the movie from good to astounding, is the cinematography. Boege captures the chaotic nature of storms in a truly exciting manner. The forest grounds are shot in such loving detail that the whole thing doubles as a travelogue (and I mean that in the best possible way). The way the camera circles and slowly pans up the various mushrooms on display is breathtaking.
Daughters Of The Forest is striking on many levels. The narrative is engaging and told in a completely original way. The importance of what the subjects are looking for and why is timely and fascinating. Most importantly, the cinematography is so spectacular that it transports all watching to a truly new place, one where past, present, future, science, and ritual collide in a beautiful kaleidoscope.
OTTAWA – Despite resting six players, the Ottawa Senators wrapped up their regular season with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday night to head into the post-season riding a high.
The loss ensures Toronto (32-36-14) will finish in the bottom-five allowing them to retain their first-round pick in the upcoming draft.
Toronto, which fell far short of expectations, finished the season having lost their final seven games (0-6-1).
Drake Batherson, Warren Foegel and Dylan Cozens scored for the Senators (44-27-11), while James Reimer stopped 19 shots against his former team.
Dennis Hildeby, who made 35 saves, was in goal for Toronto after he was recalled from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies Tuesday. William Nylander scored the lone goal for Toronto.
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The Leafs made it 2-1 midway through the third when Nylander backhanded a bouncing puck from the slot to beat Reimer.
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Cozens added an empty-net goal with five seconds remaining.
Toronto was outshot 12-6 in the second and Ottawa doubled its lead to make it 2-0 after 40 minutes.
The Leafs generated a couple chances but nothing Reimer couldn’t handle.
Ottawa made it 2-0 with 1:28 remaining in the period when Foegele snapped a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Hildeby low glove side.
Ottawa opened the scoring with a power-play goal early in the first when Claude Giroux threaded a pass through traffic to Batherson out front for his 33rd of the season.
With Ottawa short-handed late in the first, Nikolas Matinpalo flipped a puck high to spring Foegele in alone, but Hildeby made a great save.
TAKEAWAYS
Senators: Despite missing numerous regulars the Senators dominated at both ends of the ice.
Leafs: The Leafs looked like a team playing through the motions after a disappointing season.
KEY STAT
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With a power-play goal in the first Ottawa owns a power-play percentage of 23.8 for 2025-26 which ties their highest in a season in team history, also 23.8 in 2024-25.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Nothing until training camp.
Senators: Open the playoffs on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes. Date TBD.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.
Josh Duggar appeared in court in an attempt to appeal his prison sentence just four weeks after his brother Joseph Duggar was arrested.
Josh, 38, attended a Wednesday, April 15, court hearing in Fayetteville, Arkansas. According to a report from KHBS news, the former 19 Kids and Counting star appeared virtually from his Dallas prison. Per the outlet, much of Wednesday’s hearing was focused on whether or not Josh filed his required paperwork by the required deadline. A decision is expected to be made in the coming weeks.
Josh is currently set to be released from a Dallas prison on December 23, 2032. After he was found guilty in December 2021 of receiving and possessing child pornography, he was sentenced in May 2022 to 12 years and seven months behind bars. Since then, he has made numerous failed appeal attempts, though Wednesday’s hearing was scheduled after he hired a new attorney.
Joseph Duggar spoke out after his brother Josh Duggar admitted to sexually abusing five girls, including his own family members. News broke on Wednesday, March 18, that Joseph, 31, was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person […]
Josh’s court appearance comes exactly four weeks after Joseph, 31, was arrested in Arkansas on March 18. The younger Duggar was charged with lewd and lascivious behavior involving molestation of a victim less than 12 years old and lewd and lascivious behavior conducted by a person 18 years or older. The charges stemmed from multiple alleged incidents with Joseph and a then-9-year-old girl during a 2020 family vacation to Panama City Beach.
Joseph was extradited to Florida, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and requested a jury trial. He was released from police custody after posting his $600,000 bond on March 31. Joseph subsequently reunited with his wife, Kendra Duggar, and returned to Arkansas.
Days after his younger brother’s arrest, Josh spoke out in a statement from his attorney.
“Josh Duggar does not know the details of the claims that have been made against his brother, Joseph. But, he knows the media frenzy that any incident regarding his family creates,” Josh’s lawyer told Us Weekly on March 20. “He feels for his brother because everything is amplified out of proportion by the media interest in his family. This makes the pain of the criminal justice process exponentially worse.”
The statement continued, “Josh prays for his brother. And hopes that he can stay strong. He too has felt the crushing wave of accusation that is powered by the media spectacle to which his family is subjected.”
Earlier that day, Josh’s attorney told the Daily Mail that he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Joseph’s arrest while also slamming the “false accusations” against his brother amid “stigma.”
“He lives with the painful reality of how false accusations can destroy a life,” the statement said. “He understands how the targeting of a person for publicity can twist the truth into sensationalized fiction.”
“You’ve got our prayers. We love you — however we can help, please let us know,” Anna, 37, wrote to Joseph on March 21. “I think I put some money on your books. I don’t remember how phone calls and video calls work.”
Multiple members of the Duggar family have reacted to Joseph Duggar’s arrest on child molestation charges. Joseph, who rose to fame alongside his family on the reality series 19 Kids and Counting, was taken into custody after being accused of molesting a 9-year-old girl while on a family vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida, in […]
She added, “Please let me know if I can help get things set up so you can call and talk with Kendra. Just remember, don’t talk about anything legal unless you are with an attorney. Everything said in these messages, phone calls and video chats are recorded and turned over to prosecutors.”
“Anna has several family members who have strongly encouraged her to leave Josh,” a source exclusively told Us. “It has been very difficult to have those conversations because Anna has always been so supportive of Josh, but the family felt that they had to let her know their thoughts.”
For Anna — who shares seven children with Josh — the situation is “a nightmare … that she will be dealing with for many, many years to come,” the insider said. “The only positive thing right now is that he is out of the picture [while in prison].”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Wednesday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, April 15 (game #773).
Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc’s Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.
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NYT Strands today (game #774) – hint #1 – today’s theme
What is the theme of today’s NYT Strands?
• Today’s NYT Strands theme is… This is not working
NYT Strands today (game #774) – hint #2 – clue words
Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
NEST
BRUT
PURE
SLEPT
MATE
FIRED
NYT Strands today (game #774) – hint #3 – spangram letters
How many letters are in today’s spangram?
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #774) – hint #4 – spangram position
What are two sides of the board that today’s spangram touches?
First side: left, 1st row
Last side: right, 7th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #774) – the answers
(Image credit: New York Times)
The answers to today’s Strands, game #774, are…
HOBBY
RECREATION
SIDELINE
INTEREST
PASTIME
SPANGRAM: JUSTFORFUN
My rating: Hard
My score: 1 hint
I completely got the wrong end of the stick with today’s theme and took “this is not working” literally as I searched for words connected to things being broken.
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Fortunately, my fruitless search also included plenty of non-game words and a hint of HOBBY set me on the path of discovering more words associated with free time pursuits, including RECREATION — which was so long I was convinced it would turn yellow and become the spangram.
Instead, today’s yellow snake was JUSTFORFUN, which is possibly where I am going wrong with my hobbies as all of them — cycling, puzzles and watching football/soccer — involve more pain than fun.
Yesterday’s NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, April 15, game #773)
TOPAZ
TURQUOISE
OPAL
GARNET
DIAMOND
PERIDOT
SPANGRAM: BIRTHSTONE
What is NYT Strands?
Strands is the NYT’s not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It’s now a fully fledged member of the NYT’s games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I’ve got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you’re struggling to beat it each day.
Steven Spielberg just attended CinemaCon for the first time.
The legendary filmmaker celebrated his arrival at the annual Los Vegas movie theater convention by bringing a new trailer for “Disclosure Day,” his upcoming sci-fi feature that returns the director to the alien subgenre.
A bird enters a window and lands on a table in front of Emily Blunt’s character. She rushes into a studio to deliver the weather at a Kansas City news network. We then see the footage from the first trailer where Blunt’s character begins speaking in what appears to be an alien language.
Josh O’Connor’s character says that he stole footage, which he then plays on a TV. The footage shows people carting around bodies on stretchers. O’Connor says that they aren’t children and won’t reveal if they’re even humans.
Colin Firth’s character starts searching for Emily Blunt after hearing her speak, while O’Connor’s character reveals that he can understand what she’s saying. “It’s math.”
Blunt’s character calls Colman Domingo’s character while in the car with Wyatt Russell’s character. She then calls O’Connor’s character, Daniel, and tells him that the government knows where he is and is going to kill him. She doesn’t know how she knows that they’re coming for him, or who he is at all. Colin Firth says he needs to hunt them down because people won’t understand what they know.
Domingo’s character explains that “It’s always been the two of you” to O’Connor and Blunt’s characters as a flashback shows what appears to be the two of them as children on a table being experimented on by alien hands. We get a slightly better look at the scene where O’Connor and Blunt jump on a train after their car is rammed into the side of it.
The trailer then comes to its grand finale: the deer seen in the trailer is observing a child on a table and it morphs into an alien. It’s a *very* traditional depiction of aliens: gray with big, black eyes and a large forehead.
Here’s a breakdown of the footage we saw from “Disclosure Day” at #CinemaCon:
A bird enters a window and lands on a table in front of Emily Blunt’s character. She rushes into a studio to deliver the weather at a Kansas City news network. We then see the footage from the first… https://t.co/FZcyJ5Tev0
Colman Domingo introduced Spielberg to his first CinemaCon with a montage of the filmmaker’s many movies. Spielberg walked out to John Williams’ “E.T.” theme and was greeted with a lengthy standing ovation.
The filmmaker was then presented with the MPA America250 Award by MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. During his speech, Rivkin jokingly acknowledged that Spielberg is the reason for the PG-13 rating in Hollywood.
Spielberg started his speech by saying, “Haven’t done a western yet. That’s next.” He then promised that, while this is his first CinemaCon, it won’t be his last before talking about the importance of making movies for theaters and seeing movies in theaters. He thanked Universal for its commitment to a 45-day exclusive theatrical window.
“But today I’ve got to be greedy,” he said. “Do I hear 60 days? Do I hear 120 days? Those days gotta be coming back to us soon. We can all make it happen.” Domingo then sat Spielberg down for a conversation about “Disclosure Day” for the CinemaCon crowd, asking about how he runs his sets and where his interest in aliens comes from.
Spielberg shouted out “Project Hail Mary” for helping keep movies alive by bringing people out to theaters without massive IP.
“If we all we make is known, branded IP, then we’re gonna run out of gas, and we’re gonna run out of gas very quickly.”
“Disclosure Day” marks Spielberg’s first alien movie in more than 20 years, with his most recent feature in the extraterrestrial subgenre being 2005’s “War of the Worlds.” Prior to that, the director had made a few iconic movies in the alien space, such as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”
Spielberg developed the story for “Disclosure Day” with a screenplay written by longtime collaborator David Koepp. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson and Wyatt Russell.
Spielberg’s appearance at CinemaCon came at the end of the Universal Pictures/Focus Features panel, the first of two big studio presentations on the third day of CinemaCon. The Universal portion of the night started with Christopher Nolan presenting new footage of “The Odyssey,” his fantasy epic follow-up to Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer.”
Chicken Talkin Bastard is the fourth standalone Bossman Dlow mixtape and yet here’s all I know about him so far: He doesn’t seem to have ever heard of a wallet, so he carries money around in large stacks of bills that look to weigh as much as a newborn baby; he spends so much time in VIP sections of strip clubs that he probably gets his packages delivered there; he might be the second-most dangerous driver in Florida, behind Tiger Woods. With catchphrases like a 20th-century sitcom star, he churns out over-the-top motivation trap with so little autobiographical detail that I don’t even think I can picture him doing any normal human activity. Try real hard: Can you imagine Bossman Dlow walking his dog or visiting his grandmother? It’s a severe lack of depth that would be a bigger deal if he wasn’t so good at his old-fashioned brand of uncomplicated radio hits.
Chicken Talkin Bastard works because of the way Dlow folds elements of vintage Florida freak-rap, Louisiana baller music, and Atlanta extravagance into his unserious, iced-out fantasies of shutting down the club. “Motion Party” doesn’t overthink its flip of Khia’s twerk anthem “My Neck, My Back”—it simply turns it into another twerk anthem, just with Dlow’s conversational touch: “What’s your name? Bae, you know you some fine shit.” The rollicking call-and-response hook of “Let’s Go Get Em” shakes off the menace of the No Limit original to become a lot goofier and dancier. If it’s not the next College GameDay theme song, someone isn’t doing their job right. He slows it down with the churchly bounce of “Act Like Money,” which sounds like it’s about to be one of those heartfelt rags-to-riches T.I. joints, but Dlow will be Dlow: “She so blessed, ’fore I eat it, gotta say my grace.” He never breaks character, like if the Terminator were reprogrammed to shop at Neiman Marcus.
No score yet, be the first to add.
The little bit of context added by diving into his musical upbringing goes a long way. Still, it’s a persona that’s easier to connect with on a single-by-single basis rather than over the course of an entire mixtape. Outside of the highlights, as strong as they are, a big chunk of Chicken Talkin Bastard is forgettable fluff that mostly exists to bring more attention to those singles. There’s no reason to care about Dlow trying out new TikTok lingo (“Tendernism”) or getting punchlines off with DaBaby (“Goddess”) or reviving Trey Songz for an uncomfortably flirtatious duet that just comes across creepy because Trey Songz is involved (“You So Pressure”). Listen to song after song and his funny quirks turn repetitive, with an overreliance on bass-heavy Detroit-meets-Memphis Young & Turnt 2 type beats that sound straight off the CMG assembly line.
If you’re bumping a Bossman Dlow album front-to-back, though, you are a goddamn sicko. You’re meant to absorb Chicken Talkin Bastard through osmosis—hearing the latest hit on your local radio station every morning as the DJ promotes their club appearance, hearing another track in the background while scrolling TikTok or sitting in the barber’s chair. Then, by the time you actually hit up a club, you know all the words without trying and have little lines that only mean something to you. For me, it would be how he grunts, “My pockets just a little more heavier” over the nostalgic Atlanta trap horns of “Flood,” or when he mentions that he was on the Titanic on “Iceberg,” because I like to imagine what Bossman Dlow would have been doing on the Titanic. Or possibly all of “How I’m Livin,” his version of one of those Cash Money flex-a-thons where he talks about his Louis Vuitton scarf and diamond-dancing timepiece like they’re magical trinkets he found in a lost tomb. It’s hard being an it-isn’t-that-deep radio rapper in an era where radio doesn’t matter as much as it used to, but Bossman Dlow is making it work like nobody else.
Toaster is a joyride but the problem begins when it tries to be more than a character comedy. Instead of heightening the absurdity, the mystery angle disrupts the pacing.
Rajkummar Rao and Patralekhaa’s production debut, Toaster, is now streaming on Netflix.
ToasterU/A
3.5/5
15 April 2026|Hindi2 hrs 05 mins | Comedy
Starring: Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra, Archana Puran Singh, Abhishek Banerjee, Farah Khan, Seema Pahwa and Upendra LimayeDirector: Vivek DaschaudaryPlatform: Netflix
Toaster Movie Review: Having built his career over a plethora of roles born out of the humdrum of everyday life, Rajkummar Rao now steps into production. Joining him on this ride is wife, Patralekhaa. Hence, it’s no surprise that their debut production venture, Toaster, is an ode to the beauty of ordinariness. But it also has a frosting of deliciously outlandish plot progression with chaos sitting atop like a cherry.
Toaster revolves around – no points for guessing – a toaster. It unfolds over a one-liner story and it’s interesting to see how director Vivek Daschaudary and writers Parveez Shaikh, Akshat Ghildial and Anagh Mukherjee manage to create a joyride – at least in the first half – out of it. The narrative resorts to humour so slice-of-life and ‘categorically middle-class’ (if Maya Sarabhai had to describe it) that you can’t help but cackle every now and then.
So, there’s a delectable whacky idea at the heart of Toaster. And for a while, the film leans into this absurdity with real confidence. It opens with thriller-like tension where we see a sweaty and scared Ramakant digging up a plot to bury a dead body. He asks a certain somebody if burials happen with the body lying on its back or its stomach as he’s only used to seeing dead people get cremated.
The action then moves back a few weeks where we are introduced to Ramakant, a stingy man residing in Mumbai’s Borivali West with his wife, Shilpa. On his morning run, he steals three bananas as that’s a much better way of life than shelling out money. He argues with a woman in the telephone office as they charged Shilpa an added Rs 6 in her monthly bill. His face falls when his landlord, Glen, asks him to pay his share of the autorickshaw fare.
He prefers to visit Glen’s mother, Mrs D’souza, every morning so that he can have his breakfast for free. The final nail in the coffin is when Shilpa coaxes him to accompany her to her martial art trainer’s daughter’s wedding. Ramakant, much against his wife’s wish, ends up buying a toaster worth Rs 4,999 after much haggling.
To make up for this money, he hoards food at the wedding. And when that wedding is called off, he ends up at their home to get his gift back. And that becomes the root cause of all his ordeals. He’s so consumed by his own pettiness that an appliance spirals into crime and existential meltdown. When this toaster gets donated to an orphanage by the bride’s family, he reaches there.
When the in-charge, Nandini, decides against returning the toaster to him, he steals it. Running parallel to this track is Glen’s mission of blackmailing a politician into paying him crores of money by threatening to leak his intimate ‘threesome’ video. Enters a cop and begins the passing-the-toaster game and eventually a murder or three.
At 2 hours 5 minutes, Toaster could’ve almost made for a crisp entertainer. The first half is filled with bizarre one-liners, crackling humour and bewildering pandemonium. It’s a comedy of chaos and errors but everything works. But it’s the second half that doesn’t quite land as brilliantly as its pre-interval counterpart.
Logic leaves the room but that’s not the issue. The problem begins when the film tries to be more than a character comedy. What starts as a quirky, contained premise gradually morphs into a murder mystery. The gun sequence towards the end feels monotonously stretched out. On paper, this genre blend sounds exciting but onscreen, it feels tonally confused.
These energies don’t really merge but end up fighting each other. And instead of heightening the absurdity, the mystery angle disrupts the pacing. Eventually, a narrative driven by goofy characters and their eccentricities becomes an ambitious mishmash that goes against its own grain and texture. Toaster wants to be a dark comedy, a satire on middle-class obsession and a ludicrous crime caper, but never fully settles into any one identity.
However, credit goes to the writers for bringing out the film’s humour quotient from character quirks. Here, there’s no room for manufactured punchlines and slapstick jokes. And these character-driven gags work because they feel true to the middle-class India essence. What adds to the hilarity is Shilpa’s obsession with Hoshiyaar Hindustan (a play on the title ‘Savdhaan India’) as she tries to unearth a death in their society.
One of Toaster’s strongest suits remains its performances. Rajkummar as Ramakant proves that comedy works best when it feels effortless and rooted in writing. He’s flawed, under-confident and resorts to his wife’s martial arts chop when bogged down by fear and law. He’s also equally hapless, especially as he’s forced to bow down before his neighbour Mrs Pherwani’s fetishes.
Sanya Malhotra as Shilpa holds her own opposite Rajkummar. She brings a quiet eccentric energy and understated ease to the film without ever overplaying it. She leans into restraint, allowing her character’s oddities to surface through controlled expressions. Most of her performance is about reactions, often reminding you of her act in Kathal – A Jackfruit Mystery.
But it’s Archana Puran Singh as Malini Pherwani, who stands out. She’s effortless in both the avatars – a loving widow and a seductress ready to unchain her inner kinks. In a way, she brings in the testosterone quotient of the film, bringing her physical prowess to the fore as she locks horn with Shilpa in the climax. She stands in complete contrast to Ramakant, who represents soft masculinity.
Upendra Limaye as a cop, once again, brings his understated humour. The extended guest appearances by Abhishek Banerjee (Glen), Seema Pahwa (Mrs D’souza) and Farah Khan (Nandini) add a whole new layer of humour to Toaster. One of its silliest but hearty scenes include a drugged Glen mistaking Ramakant as his dead mother. The absurdity of it will crack you up.
Patralekhaa pops up in a brief cameo that plays like a meta joke. Jitendra Joshi and Parnalekha too deserve a mention. But while individual moments land, the overall experience dished out by Toaster feels uneven. Like a toasted bread, it feels crisp on the outside but once you get past that crunch, the centre is slightly underbaked, lacking the edge needed to make it a perfectly satisfying experience.
Newsmoviesreviews Toaster Movie Review: This Rajkummar Rao, Sanya Malhotra Film Is Almost Well-Toasted But Tonally Inconsistent
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Clavicular, the manosphere influencer leading the “looksmaxxing” movement, was rushed to the hospital Tuesday after a suspected overdose in a Miami nightclub.
The controversial internet celebrity, born Braden Eric Peters, was live streaming to his hundreds of thousands of followers from a Miami hot spot Tuesday night when the party took a dark turn. Live stream footage showed Peters hanging with friends outside of the club when he took a swig from a tiny bottle and said he was going to be “done for,” and “that was giga,” meaning that whatever he had taken was a large dose.
Inside the club, with cameras still rolling, Peters found a place to sit down with his friends and started to say “Oh my God” repeatedly and rubbing his eyes. A friend sitting next to him, influencer Androgenic, asked “How f— are you?” and then repeatedly offered him an “addy,” which is short for Adderall, a prescription stimulant used to treat ADHD that’s often sold as a party drug. Peters started to mumble, sway and close his eyes as the camera panned away.
TMZ obtained the audio from a 911 call alerting emergency services to the possible overdose of a 20-year-old man. Additional videos, taken by bystanders, have since made their way online showing Peters being carried out of the nightclub.
A source close to Peters told the Times that he was hospitalized for the overdose and checked himself out Wednesday morning.
“Just got home, that was brutal,” Peters wrote early Wednesday on X. The influencer, who has said he has autism, also posted a selfie with dried blood on his face. “All of the substances are just a cope trying to feel neurotypical while being in public, but obviously that isn’t a real solution. The worst part of tonight was my face descending from the life support mask.”
On his Kick channel Wednesday, Peters live streamed as he played online slots and said that “it could have been worse” and he wouldn’t “do that s— anymore.”
He also said that in the hospital, doctors asked what he planned to do after he was discharged. “Then I was like, ‘Dude, I got the club grand opening,’” he said, adding that doctors advised him to get rest and shouldn’t attend. “I was like, dude, gotta be on the grind.”
The influencer, who rose to fame helming the “looksmaxxing” movement — a subculture hyperfocused on taking extreme measures to perfect one’s physical appearance — has been candid about using drugs, from steroids, peptides and testosterone to methamphetamine and Adderall. He has also said he chisels his face by smashing his bones with a hammer.
Androgenic, the influencer videotaped asking Peters if he needed “an addy” as Peters swayed and lost motor function control, has also been vocal about his own drug use. He recently posted on X that he was on “Walter White’s batch” when someone snatched his wig off his head and ran away. (Walter White is a fictional chemist and crystal meth manufacturer from the show “Breaking Bad.”)
A source close to Peters told The Times that Androgenic was escorted away from the hospital where Peters was being treated for the overdose Tuesday night.
Androgenic has not responded to The Times’ request for comment.
Tuesday’s suspected overdose is the latest in a series of incidents involving the manosphere personality. Last month, Peters was arrested in Florida on suspicion of misdemeanor battery. The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office alleged Peters instigated a fight between his girlfriend, Violet Lentz, 24, and a 19-year-old influencer in February at a short-term rental in Kissimmee, Fla.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission launched a separate investigation into another of Peters’ videos involving an alligator in the Everglades.
In that video, the influencer appears to come across what is seemingly the carcass of an alligator floating in the water and shoots it repeatedly. Peters has not been charged with any crime in that incident.
According to Peters’ Kick live stream, the influencer is headed back out Wednesday night to celebrate Miami’s Bacara Club streaming launch party.
Disney+’s Agatha All Along has ended. In honor of this amazing show, we’ve convened a Coven of Chaos to discuss the show’s impact.
After introducing our guests Bryn MacKinnon and Debra Lang, hosts Sarah Woloski and Tricia Barr kick off the show with our impressions of the Skeleton Crew‘s trailer. No one seemed to mind the Huttesse version of “Major Tom.” Skeleton Crew premieres with two episodes on Disney+ December 3.
Once the coven determined which witch they were should we ever travel the Witches’ Road, we shared our favorite episodes from Agatha All Along and discussed the titular character’s journey as a Mother on her way to becoming a Crone. Everyone agreed that there was magick in the creation of the show, from the passion for the costume design to the intricate weaving of the script and direction. Showrunner Jac Schaefer’s interview with THR offered great insight into the storytelling process where reveals are nested one inside the other. Sarah dove into the craft in making the Ballad of the Witches’ Road, dovetailing off our discussion in our previous episode focusing on Lorna Wu’s version as compared to the version featured in Episode 2 “Circle Sewn With Fate/Unlock Thy Hidden Gate.”
Our Zoom chats will reconvene once Skeleton Crew premieres so check back here for dates and times.
The results are in, and they’re telling a story even Marvel and DC can’t retcon comic book movies are losing their grip on the box office. A fresh projection for one of 2026’s biggest movies thus is showing a shift in audience tastes. This comes after four major superhero films were released last year, with four more slated for 2026. In a world where the term “comic book fatigue” is getting fatigued, it seems like the genre has finally lost its grip 10 years after dominating theaters.
2026 is potentially changing the game forever in sci-fi moviemaking and box office success. Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary is the box office darling so far this year.
Compared to the other big hitter, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Project Hail Mary was no guarantee; in fact, many insiders believed Amazon MGM’s entire future strategy could shift depending on how well this movie performed. They clearly believed in it, with a reported budget of around $200 million.
Amazon MGM
A similar story played out in 2025, when a major tech and streaming company (Apple) placed a big bet on Brad Pitt and F1: The Movie. With a budget north of $200 million itself, F1 ultimately grossed $633.4 million, creating sequel buzz and showing that Apple was back in the theatrical game after a few missteps.
Only a few weeks into its run, Project Hail Mary has already earned over half a billion dollars globally. It’s now projected to finish its theatrical run between $650M and $720M (per Luiz Fernando), boosted by a return to IMAX screens, which accounted for 20% of the film’s domestic opening weekend alone.
All of this leads to a pretty stunning realization: more people are interested in an original two-and-a-half-hour space adventure, adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 novel, than in Superman. To be fair, 2025’s Superman, directed by James Gunn, earned $618.7M, and that is a success by most measures.
But these results are graded on a curve. Superman succeeded in rebooting the character, delivering a well-received film, and finishing as the highest-grossing comic book movie of the year.
Jake Kontou
The once unflappable Marvel Studios couldn’t even match DC’s marquee summer release. The Fantastic Four: First Steps finished at $520.4 million, Captain America: Brave New World at $413.6 million, and Thunderbolts*, despite rave reviews, only earned a concerning $382.4 million.
A lot of people, even just a few years ago, would have been shocked to hear that a movie like Project Hail Mary could outgross a Superman film. People farther back in time would have been floored.
But it is the sign of the times, and comic book movies have clearly lost their footing. It’s also worth noting that DC has historically been the lesser brand compared to Marvel Studios, which built the biggest and most successful franchise of the 2010s with the MCU.
There have been big wins sprinkled throughout the decade, most recently 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, but the 2020s overall have been a difficult learning experience for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige.
That pivot is logical. 2025 was a sobering year for Marvel, with none of its releases cracking the upper tier of the box office alongside performers like Zootopia 2 or even A Minecraft Movie. DC got a bit closer with Superman, but even that fell short of Man of Steel’s $670M, twelve years later, and with a much larger global audience.
Project Hail Mary is only the latest example of a film targeting demographics very similar to those of a comic book movie and succeeding. The originality and freshness of Lord and Miller’s film were a clear draw, while superhero fatigue appears to have put a ceiling on every 2025 Marvel and DC release.
In some ways, video game movie adaptations now feel like safer bets than comic book films, which would have been an almost absurd thing to say not long ago.
Many will and should celebrate the success of Project Hail Mary. But the bigger and more pressing questions are what this moment means for the industry as a whole, and whether the leaders of these media empires are actually learning the right lessons.
Is the Comic Book Movie Era Over?
The secret about comic book movies is the endless machine of stories and iconic characters still left to pull from. Batman and Spider-Man, in particular, still feel completely untouchable.
The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day shattered nearly every viewership record within its first 24 hours. These characters and the films built around them aren’t going anywhere, but the expectation of what they mean in the grand scheme of the movie business is clearly changing.
They’re no longer the automatic kings of the box office; they’re now one strong option competing on the same field as original sci-fi epics, animated sequels, and video game adaptations.
The genre’s peak was Marvel Studios’ Infinity Saga, and chasing that blueprint has caused some embarrassing results, from the fast-tracked and messy DCEU to Sony’s baffling string of Spider-Man villain spin-offs that almost nobody asked for.
The big guns aren’t going anywhere, though. How Marvel conducts itself in a post-Secret Wars world, as it begins folding the X-Men into a rebuilt MCU, combined with Gunn’s effort to grow the DCU, will define the genre heading into the late 2020s.
Comic book movies aren’t dying. They’re just no longer guaranteed, and in a world where Project Hail Mary can outgross Superman, it’s going to result in real change.
