Nagpur: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat during the concluding programme of Shiksha Varg at Reshimbag ground in Nagpur on June 2, 2022. (Photo: Chandrakant Paddhane/IANS)
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HILARIOUS images show a Harry Potter fan appearing to wear an actual real-life invisibility cloak after wearing all green during a photo expedition.
Hannah Walker burst out laughing after looking at the images at the end of the Harry Potter Photographic Expedition in Covent Gardens in London last month.
The 21-year-old had been treated to the visit by her boyfriend Isaac Lawrence, 23, but accidentally wore a full green tracksuit which interfered with green screen booths.
Social worker Hannah was snapped in two images with just a floating head and hand as her outfit blended in with the background.
One shot shows Hannah perched on top of a broomstick holding a wand as she appeared to be flying above Hogwarts wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.
Issaac had captured a photograph while watching his girlfriend get photographed – showing her still featuring her tracksuit.
Another image shows Hannah standing beside Isaac in front of a red phone box with a backdrop of the Ministry of Magic building – home to the wizardry government.
Hannah’s head again appears to be floating in mid air with not a glimpse of her legs or torso to be seen.
Hannah posted a video on TikTok on Sunday showing her Harry Potter experience fail, writing: “Wait for it…
“F**k my life, that was £20 for the pic and no one told me.
“And no, I didn’t know there was a green screen and it is called fashion.”
The video has now collected over 2.6 million views and more than 247,000 likes on the social media platform.
Thousands of viewers left comments with many mentioning the likeness to Harry’s cloak in the hit series.
@Antirrhinumtheseus said: “Okay but this is actually just you with an invisibility cloak.”
@robin said: “I think it’s dumb of them to use green for that green screen pic when every Slytherin is gonna come through wearing green.”
@Kieran said: “Invisibility cloak activated.”
@leapetty said: “£20 well spent.”
@hayleydianacann said : “This is hilarious.”
Speaking today, Hannah said: “We were going to a Tottenham football game so I didn’t think about what I was wearing, I just wanted to be comfortable.
“But Isaac surprised me at the photo exhibition because it was in Covent Gardens.
“I knew there was a green screen in the Warner Bros. tour but I didn’t know there was in the expedition.
“I was screaming when I saw the photos, literally screaming. It’s probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
LOS ANGELES, July 3 (Variety.com) – It’s official — the
Minions are back.
Universal and Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is
setting off fireworks at the Fourth of July box office,
projecting a $129.2 million opening over the four-day holiday
weekend from 4,400 locations. On a three-day scale, the
“Despicable Me” prequel looks to gross $109.4 million — that
number would mark the highest domestic opening for an animated
film since 2019’s “Frozen 2,” representing a huge bounce back
for family-friendly fare after lockdowns due to the COVID-19
pandemic.
The Illumination production took off to an explosive $10.75
million in Thursday previews, initially setting projections for
the long holiday weekend in the range of $65 million to $75
million. “The Rise of Gru” is now nearly doubling those
estimates.
Should the “Minions” sequel fulfill its current projections,
the film will shatter the Fourth of July weekend box office
record. paramount’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” currently
stands as the highest grossing earner for an Independence Day
four-day frame — the 2011 Blockbuster grossed $115.9 million
over the period.
Additionally, “The Rise of Gru” has a chance to become
Illumination’s top domestic opener ever. The film’s predecessor,
2015’s “Minions,” currently stands as the animation studio’s
best, with a $115.7 million three-day opening. The sequel could
break beyond that figure if it continues to grow over the
weekend. In other words, the Minions may be bigger than ever.
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” serves as both a sequel to 2015’s
“Minions” and a prequel to “Despicable Me.” The film follows a
12-year-old Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) as he grows up in awe
of a team of supervillains. Hankering to join them, Gru asks his
sentient, overall-sporting pill creatures to sit on the
sidelines for the job interview. Of course, things don’t quite
work out as Gru expects them to. The voice cast also includes
Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin, Taraji P. Henson, Jean-Claude Van
Damme, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren and Danny Trejo.
With little competition for kid-friendly films on the
immediate horizon, Universal hopes that “Minions: The Rise of
Gru” enjoys a long run at the summer box office. Word-of-mouth
should be strong, as audiences bestowed the film an “A” rating
through research firm Cinema Score, indicating enthusiastic
approval.
Critics have generally met “The Rise of Gru” amicably too,
with the film scoring a 70% aggregate approval rating from top
critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety chief film critic Peter
Debruge quite enjoyed what he called a “delightfully silly
sequel,” writing: “Six months into 2022, it’s the funniest film
Hollywood has produced thus far. Audiences know what to expect,
and Illumination delivers, offering another feel-good dose of
bad behavior.”
In the now weekly segment of “Goodness gracious, ‘Top Gun:
Maverick’ is only dropping how much?,’ the Tom Cruise sequel is
projecting a measly 9% fall from its outing last weekend,
drawing a $26.8 million three-day haul. The numbers shouldn’t be
surprising after more than a month of box office dominance,
especially considering the star-spangled sequel essentially
advertises itself as the ultimate movie to go see on Fourth of
July weekend, though they continue to impress.
“Maverick,” which was co-financed and co-produced by
Skydance, should take silver at the Fourth of July weekend box
office. The film will expand its domestic gross to $572 million
through Monday, continuing to push the ceiling higher on its run
as 2022’s highest grossing domestic release.
“Elvis” is headed for third place. The Warner Bros. released
added $5.3 million to its domestic gross on Friday, dropping a
moderate 58% from its opening day last weekend. The film is
expected to push its total North American gross past $70 million
through the holiday weekend.
With a production budget of $85 million, “Elvis” has a ways
to go to land comfortably in the black. However, the film has
still managed to put together an impressive first ten days for a
release aimed squarely at adult audiences without ties to any
franchise.
Universal’s “Jurassic World Dominion” is eyeing a fourth
place finish, dropping a modest 39% from its outing last
weekend. Though the film is billed as the finale to the
“Jurassic” franchise, “Dominion” should expand its domestic haul
to $336 million through Monday, indicating that there’s still
plenty of gas in the tank for the dinosaur-centric property.
Fifth place should go to Universal as well, with the
Blumhouse production “The Black Phone” set to earn $11.9 million
over the three-day frame. That’s only a 50% drop-off from its
opening last weekend, which is a comparatively strong hold for
the horror genre. The Scott Derrickson-directed feature only
carries an $18 million production. With the film set to expand
its domestic haul to $50 million through Monday, Universal and
Blumhouse should be glowing at the turnaround.
Beyond the top five, Disney’s “Lightyear” is facing the heat
from “Minions: The Rise of Gru” drawing in family audiences. The
Pixar production added $2 million to its domestic haul Friday,
dropping 64% from the previous week. The “Toy Story” spinoff has
been one of Pixar’s slowest films to push past a $100 million
domestic gross and has yet to match the $120 million opening
weekend figure of “Toy Story 4” in 2019.
In terms of previous Pixar productions, “Lightyear” is on
track to land in the neighborhood of the studio’s lowest
grossing domestic earners. The film has only surpassed the
pandemic-impacted $61.5 million haul of 2020’s “Onward.” Now, it
looks to grow beyond “The Good Dinosaur” ($123 million), “Cars
3” ($152 million), “A Bug’s Life” ($162 million) and, if the box
office legs prove stronger than anticipated, “Cars 2” ($191
million) and the first “Toy Story” ($192 million).
“Mr. Malcolm’s List,” a regency era romantic drama, isn’t
making much of an impression in its domestic debut. The film is
projected to earn $1.03 million over the four-day holiday frame
from 1,384 locations, marking a meager $741 per theater.
Bleecker Street is handling North American distribution.
Town Hall Gallery presents the new exhibition Above the Canopy, celebrating the rich and diverse beauty of the Australian natural environment from 9 July to 24 September. This exhibition conveys the unimaginable grandeur of nature while exploring concerns for climate action and the need to protect the planet for future generations.
Featuring artists working with installation, photography, painting, animation and textiles, the exhibition creates a theatrical, immersive, and regenerative experience that acknowledges the significance of Country and our need to care for it. The artists include Sarah Hendy, Janet Laurence, Michael McHugh, Rebecca Mayo, Catherine Nelson, Grant Stevens and Judy Watson.
Nature has provided an infinite source of inspiration for visual artists across millennia; they have captured its beauty, documented the impacts of changing weather patterns, and commented on unsustainable human practices. Through hyperreal images of lush and verdant forests alongside detailed studies of insects, botany, birds and geology, Above the Canopy shows a deep appreciation for our majestic and awe-inspiring world.
Sarah Hendy is a multidisciplinary artist based in Victoria. Her featured work, ‘Waiting For Daybreak’ (2018) (pictured left), interrogates a near-death experience she had in one of the most beautiful parts of Australia after nearly drowning in the Northern Rivers region of NSW as a result of ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie. It is characterised by verdant and luxurious plant growth, with delicate ferns growing within a crowded landscape of giant stinging trees, figs, booyongs and flame trees.
Janet Laurence’s practice examines our physical, cultural and conflicting relationship to the natural world through site-specific gallery and museum works. Laurence creates immersive environments that navigate the interconnections between life and the world. Her installation ‘Breath of the Forest’ (2020) features eleven suspended silk veils overlayed with images of animals and trees, including old growth forests in Tasmania. This work embodies the transience and fragility of natural habitats.
Michael McHugh collects a wide range of photographs and drawings during research trips to museums, libraries and gardens around the world. In his studio, he draws and creates a series of collages which lead to large format paintings. For Above the Canopy, he has created a large-scale painting Swimming in the Clouds (2022) which asks what new hybrid organic forms will evolve from climate change, when plant forms are washed away and land is engulfed by saltwater intrusion that includes complex sea life microcosms.
Michael McHugh says: “My work imagines a world of natural forms from both land and sea, completely with new DNA, creating a rare evolution of species which organically began from the beauty of the Australian natural environment. This work, Swimming In The Clouds (Acrylic on Canvas) is the largest painting I have done to date, stretching six metres long, and celebrates colour and nature with lush paint and obsessive mark marking. In my world I want to bring the viewer joy, and for a moment forget everything else that is going on in their lives.”
Rebecca Mayo is a lecturer at the School of Art Design, Australian National University and principally examines relations and interactions between urban ecologically significant sites and people. Referencing Charles Darwin’s 1881 book The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms and contemplating the agency of non-human life, Mayo’s featured work At work with worms (2020) is a compost/composite of Darwin’s laser-etched text, her human tending, and the worms’ business of eating. Mayo explains, “Working with the thousands of worms contained in the farm, my making slowed to their rhythm. Etched in Canberra and left for a week with the worms, the book pages took up the worms’ appetite which in turn paced with the climate inside their home.”
Catherine Nelson uses digital technology as her paintbrush to create lush, hyperreal landscape ‘paintings’ and animations. After completing her art education in painting at the College of Fine Arts in Sydney, Catherine created visual effects for films such as Moulin Rouge, Harry Potter, 300 and Australia. Nature is the primary inspiration for her art; she uses collage techniques in the computer to shift photos from ‘reality’ into imagined worlds of her devising.
Grant Stevens’ practice explores the various ways that digital technologies and conventions of representation mediate our inner worlds and social realities. Drawing on the visual languages of video games and the wellness industry, his featured work, The Forest (2020) is an endless panoramic experience of an immersive, idealised computer-generated forest with sound. Created with procedurally generated computer graphics homogenised through algorithms, it is simultaneously an homage to the natural environment and a satire of wellbeing initiatives and their claims to rejuvenation.
Judy Watson’s Aboriginal matrilineal family is from Waanyi country in north-west Queensland. Spanning painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and video, her practice often draws on archival documents and materials, such as maps, letters, and police reports, to unveil institutionalised discrimination against Aboriginal people. Watson’s two paintings on display incorporate systems for measuring Australia’s median temperature and fire danger, the latter a familiar sight on regional road networks. She contrasts an ember red-orange work with the stark silhouette of a denuded tree depicted at its centre with a more hopeful, vibrant green work referencing regrowth on K’gari (Fraser Island) after the devastating 2020 bushfires.
Above the Canopy brings together artists from diverse walks of life, whose works emphasise the grandeur of nature while also raise concerns for climate action and the need to preserve it for future generations.
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Entertainment Bureau
Entertainment Bureau brings you all updates from the world of entertainment — breaking news, Twitter trends, features, movie reviews, exclusive inter…Read More
A new month has arrived, and with it a bevy of new releases and new library titles hitting various streaming services. With the sheer quantity of content at an all-time high, it can be tough to keep track of what’s streaming where – and especially difficult to find something you haven’t seen before. That’s why we’ve put together an all-in-one list of the best new to streaming movies available in July 2022.
Our list runs the gamut from brand new releases like the actioner “The Gray Man” and the Dakota Johnson-fronted “Persuasion” to newly streaming titles like the animated heist flick “The Bad Guys” or Edgar Wright’s horror film “Last Night in Soho.” There’s plenty to recommend, so let’s get down to it.
Here are the best new movies streaming in July.
July 1, Peacock
The latest release from DreamWorks Animation is also one of their best – a highly stylized crime caper that is equal parts Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” and Hayao Miyazaki’s “Sherlock Hound.” Sam Rockwell plays Mr. Wolf, a criminal mastermind and the leader of a group of titular bad guys (including Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula, Marc Maron as Mr. Snake, Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark and Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha). Of course, wouldn’t you know it, these bad guys start to realize that there are some advantages to being good guys. Inventively animated and breathlessly paced, it is the kind of DreamWorks project that you actually want to become a franchise.
July 1, Hulu
Imagine one of the live-action remakes of animated Disney fairy tales crossed with “Die Hard” and you get a sense of what “The Princess” is all about. Joey King plays a Princess who is kidnapped and held in the tallest tower, who then has to fight her way down. (Dominic Cooper and Olga Kurylenko chew scenery and wear leather as the ultimate baddies.) “The Princess” was produced by the writer of “John Wick” and one of the creators of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, which should give you some good touchstones for this blood-soaked bedtime story.
July 1, Hulu
Just in time for the 4th of July, “Independence Day” comes to Hulu. The 1996 film is a disaster classic from director Roland Emmerich and imagines a full-scale alien invasion of Earth, and the human fight to push back. Will Smith plays a cocky pilot, Jeff Goldblum plays a charming satellite technician and Bill Pullman gives a commanding performance as the president. Things get blown up real good, but this one endures thanks to its charismatic cast of characters.
July 1, Prime Video
If you’re beguiled by Jeff Bridges’ performance in “The Old Man” on FX (and, really, you should be), then you might appreciate this underseen thriller from 1994. Bridges plays a bomb disposal expert in Boston who becomes the target of increasingly violent attacks by Tommy Lee Jones’ IRA nutbag. With a terrific supporting cast that includes Jeff’s father Lloyd Bridges, Forest Whitaker and Suzy Amis, and inventively staged suspense set pieces, where director Stephen Hopkins (an underappreciated stylist) takes you inside the explosive devices, “Blown Away” will leave you, well, you know.
July 1, Prime Video
If you ever catch yourself saying, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to,” odds are you’re probably talking about movies like “Speed.” This 1994 thrill ride has it all: Sandra Bullock driving a speeding bus, Keanu Reeves in a buzz cut and Dennis Hopper. The fact that the first act is its own set piece that’s a prelude to the movie-long set piece to come tells you everything you need to know.
July 1, Prime Video
How is this movie not more of a big deal? Denzel Washington plays a futuristic cop (that leather uniform, yowza) who battles a sentient computer program has sprung to life and is now terrorizing our world (played by a pre-”Gladiator” Russell Crowe). High concept doesn’t even cover it. What seems like it could be a fun concept for a PG-13 action movie is actually an R-rated thriller. And unlike other movies of its ilk from around the same time and with the same vibe (sorry “Johnny Mnemonic”), it is filled with unforgettable details – Crowe, at his absolute hammiest, eating glass to regenerate himself after being shot; a soundtrack full of 90s trip-hop classics; that leather uniform – that it is insane that this hasn’t become a full-on cult classic.
July 1, Prime Video
Matt Damon delivers what may be his best performance in filmmaker Anthony Minghella’s 1999 Patricia Highsmith adaptation “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Damon stars as a sociopathic young man who becomes obsessed with another wealthy young man (played by Jude Law) while on holiday in Italy. So obsessed that he decides to try and steal his life. Richly drawn characters and a standout Philip Seymour Hoffman performance (though when is a PSH performance not a standout?) make this a must-see.
July 1, HBO Max
Edgar Wright channels his wealth of horror knowledge (and passion) into his 2021 film “Last Night in Soho,” a colorful psychological thriller that is as much an ode to 1970s horror as it is a modern twist on folks’ idealized obsession with the past. Thomasin McKenzie stars as a young fashion school student who moves to Soho, only to spend her nights magically whisked to the 1960s in the body of another woman (played by Anya Taylor-Joy). But what begins as a dream soon turns nightmarish, as she tries to solve a string of killings from the past.
July 1, HBO Max
One of Ridley Scott’s best and most underrated movies, it is also the one and only original screenplay Cormac McCarthy, the novelist behind “No Country for Old Men,” has ever written. But if you think that “The Counselor” is a straightforward legal thriller (or even a straightforward drug world thriller), you are sorely mistaken. Michael Fassbender plays a Texas lawyer who gets involved in the drug trade and things spiral out of control from there. The supporting cast is an embarrassment of riches (Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Bruno Ganz), but the star of the show is really McCarthy’s screenplay, which veers wildly from the philosophical to the profane, and Scott’s elegant direction, which nimbly brings McCarthy’s writing to full-bodied (and very blood) life.
July 1, HBO Max
If you like “Shaun of the Dead” or “Hot Fuzz,” you owe it to yourself to check out the third film in the loosely connected Cornetto Trilogy, “The World’s End.” Edgar Wright once again directs with many familiar faces from those previous two films – including Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – returning to tell the story of a group of childhood friends who reunite in their hometown to reluctantly take part in a pub crawl, as organized by Pegg’s character who’s an addict clinging to the past. But their night of friendship turns into a fight for survival, as they discover the town’s residents may or may not have been taken over by robots.
July 1, Peacock
The plutonic ideal of a summer Blockbuster, this ‘90s Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson classic sees Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman going head-to-head inside a nuclear submarine. How’s that for tense? Beautifully directed by Tony Scott, “Crimson Tide” is true edge-of-your-seat entertainment, with a whip smart screenplay (with contributions by Quentin Tarantino!), terrific performances (Viggo Mortensen and James Gandolfini co-star) and a great score by Hans Zimmer. Also nice to be reminded of a time when a major studio (in this case Disney), made thoughtful, hugely exciting movies for grown-ups that had to be seen on the big screen. Ah, how times have changed.
July 1, Peacock
There’s no wrong time to watch the “Harry Potter” movies, and after a spell off of Peacock (and on HBO Max), they’re all back on the streaming service this month. Whether you’re looking to marathon the entire franchise or throw on your favorite like a comfy blanket, Peacock’s got all eight films available to stream.
July 1, Peacock
If you ever wondered what Terence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” would have been like if it featured gunfights and Morgan Freeman, well, this is the movie for you. One of French filmmaker Luc Besson’s very best films, “Lucy” follows what happens when an American party girl (Scarlett Johansson) gets exposed to a drug that opens up every part of her brain. She starts controlling electronics, gains special abilities and achieves a kind of unified oneness with the cosmos. Also, you know, she has to outrun the villainous drug dealer who is hot on her trail (played by the great Choi Min-sik from “I Saw the Devil” and “Oldboy”). If you’ve never seen “Lucy,” it’s an A+ thrill ride.
July 1, Peacock
Easily the greatest movie ever made about giant killer underground worms, “Tremors” is a cult classic for a reason. Kevin Bacon and Burt Ward (who we lost earlier this year) play a pair of dipshit buddies who are about to leave the podunk town of Perfection, Nevada, when they become aware of the existence of killer underground worms who suck you into the dirt and gobble you up whole. Perfectly walking the fine line between horror and comedy, with an unstoppable supporting cast that includes Michael Gross and Reba McEntire, “Tremors” is just the best. If you’ve never seen it before or it’s been a while, give it a go. If you love it, there’s a never-ending series of direct-to-video sequels of varying quality (most starring Gross) that you can marathon afterwards.
July 2, Prime Video
Ridley Scott made two historical dramas last year. This is certainly the loudest. The always enjoyable Lady Gaga plays Patrizia Reggiani, a nobody who married into the Gucci fashion dynasty and then hired a hitman to kill her husband Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). While “House of Gucci” never reaches the frenzied heights that it probably should, it’s still a lot of campy fun, especially considering Jared Leto’s deeply bizarre turn as the family’s black sheep Paolo Gucci and equally hammy supporting performances from (among others) Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek and Al Pacino.
July 8, Netflix
Netflix’s latest lavishly expensive animated feature, following their breakthrough last year with the Oscar-nominated “Mitchells vs. the Machines,” is a period seafaring adventure from “Big Hero 6” director Chris Williams. Set in a society that puts a premium on sea serpent hunting, it is the story of Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), a macho monster hunter who has his world turned upside down by a pint-sized stowaway (Zaris-Angel Hator) who teaches him how misguided his lifelong quest might be. Full of thrilling action sequences (animated beautifully by Sony Pictures ImageWorks), thoughtful character work and very modern politics, “The Sea Beast” really delivers.
July 9, HBO Max
For a jolt of adrenaline, check out filmmaker George Miller’s action masterpiece “Mad Max: Fury Road.” You don’t have to be familiar with the “Mad Max” franchise in order to appreciate the pulse-pounding at the story of this film, which finds captive Max (played by Tom Hardy) hopping aboard an oil tanker driven by Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who is absconding from Immortan Joe’s Citadel with his “wives” in tow. A chase ensues, and indeed the entirety of “Mad Max: Fury Road” is one car chase from start to finish, but captured in jaw-dropping form by Miller, who takes a meticulous approach to the action. But on top of the theatrics, the film is also a meaty feminist diatribe that leaves you with much to chew on after you’ve finished your popcorn.
July 12, HBO Max / Hulu
The first big screen outing for beloved animated sitcom “Bob’s Burgers” (which has now run for 12 seasons and more than 10 years) is, unexpectedly, a musical murder mystery! And it really works! The burger-loving family is drawn into a sinister plot after a body is discovered in a sinkhole outside of the restaurant/house, leading on a very surprising (and song-filled!) journey that maintains all of the heart and humor of the original series. Longtime fans of the show and those that are new to “Bob’s Burgers” will be equally delighted.
July 15, Netflix
Arguably the very best movie that was based on a video game (or at least the most fun), “Uncharted” was a modest hit when it came out earlier this year. The film version of the PlayStation game stars Tom Holland as a young Nate Drake, an explorer and treasure hunter who teams up with a more experienced soldier of fortune (Mark Wahlberg) for a globetrotting adventure. The action scenes have an appropriate amount of zest (particularly one where cars fall out of a plane, inspired by a similar moment from the game) and Wahlberg and Holland have good, flinty chemistry.
July 15, Netflix
The world is not lacking for Jane Austen adaptations, and yet Netflix has a new take on “Persuasion” debuting later this month. Dakota Johnson stars in this new iteration of Austen’s story, which co-stars Henry Golding, Suki Waterhouse, Richard E. Grant and Cosmo Jarvis as Captain Frederick Wentworth. The story concerns a young woman who is reunited with her former fiance after breaking off their engagement years before.
July 16, Netflix
If you’re looking for a horror movie about intergenerational trauma, have we got one for you! “Umma,” which was quietly released earlier this year despite being very good (you’d think it being produced by Sam Raimi would have at least gotten it some buzz), stars Sandra Oh as a woman dealing with her daughter wanting to attend college and the vengeful spirit of her mother haunting her. You know, that old story. Writer-director Iris K. Shim fills the movie with wonderful, tactile details (mostly related to Oh living on a bee farm without electricity) and an unexpected sensitivity. It’s an emotionally resonant fright fest.
July 22, Netflix
Reportedly the most expensive Netflix movie ever made (so far), “The Gray Man” is a bona fide Blockbuster for the streamer that features A-list movie stars and the directors behind some of the highest-grossing films of all time. Based on a series of spy novels, the film stars Ryan Gosling as a skilled CIA mercenary who becomes the target of a former colleague (played by Chris Evans) when he uncovers shocking secrets. Joe and Anthony Russo – the filmmakers behind “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” – direct from a screenplay by their Marvel cohorts Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
July 25, Hulu
“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” is an absolute blast and a half. This is Guy Ritchie’s take on Arthurian legend, and in that way it’s bombastic and stylized. But that’s part of what makes it kind of a blast. Charlie Hunnam plays the eponymous King Arthur, while Jude Law fills the role of the villainous Vortigern. This is not your average take on the King Arthur tale, but as soon as Eric Bana Yoshi-jumps a horse over a cliff to murder a wizard, you’ll either be hooked or will immediately know this movie is not for you. Extra points for composer Daniel Pemberton’s incredible original score.
July 29, Netflix
Part of Netflix’s Summer of Love programming (which, to be fair, sounds like something you’d spot on Lifetime in the corner of your screen while watching late night reruns of “The Golden Girls”), “Purple Hearts” is an easily digestible star-crossed romance. According to Netflix, the film follows whant happens when an “aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.” In other words: you’ll probably swoon. And also cry.
July 29, Hulu
Fans of dark comedies will want to take note of “Not Okay,” a Searchlight Pictures film that’s releasing exclusively on Hulu on July 29. Zoey Deutch stars as an aspiring writer with zero prospects who fakes a trip to Paris on Instagram, only for it to coincide with a terrifying incident that occurs in the city. She then becomes a social media celebrity for getting through the event, and seizes the opportunity consequences be damned. Dylan O’Brien and Mia Isaac co-star.
There’s a scene in Shrek where Princess Fiona, after waking from her serene slumber, battles an army of weapon-clad forest men looking to steal her away. This was not the princess archetype we’d come to expect in the early 2000s. Here was a beautiful woman who, though she was saved by an ogre, could fend off injustices with her own two fists. The scene was fun, Fiona continued to surprise audiences with new depth of character, and Shrek won us all over.
Now, imagine that one fight scene lasted an entire hour and a half. Lose all of the Donkey humor from Shrek, drop the onions, the enemies-to-lovers romance, and all of the Gingie goodness. If you wanted a movie of just Princess Fiona battling enemies for her own freedom, though I don’t know why anyone would, look no further than The Princess.
A princess fighting for her independence, laced with kickass fight scenes and brutal weapons, is a good starting place. The Princess just can’t make it any further than the baseline, spiraling into a video-game version of what could’ve been an enthralling story.
Joey King is our Princess, nameless—simply “the Princess”—who we meet in medias res while she battles a whole band of troops looking to force her into marriage with an evil man, Julius (Dominic Cooper), their leader. Why does it start in the middle of the action? Not one scene later, we’re already flashing back to the beginning of the story. From start to finish, The Princess is battle scene after battle scene, giving no breath for air with jokes, exposition, or literally anything else.
Even when The Princess is flashing back to the young royal’s earlier life, the film hones in on her quest to become a powerful fighter. Never do we learn why she resists marriage, nor do we get any sort of further character development other than: She’s a master of the sword. The Princess cannot claim to be a “feminist” film when it whittles its heroine down to a tattered dress with battle wounds.
I cannot stress the “video game” aspect enough. Watching The Princess feels like immersing yourself in a violent, ruthless quest to kill as many people as possible, with the grim color palette of a bottle of Diet Caffeine Free Coke. The Princess isn’t comparable to Tom Cruise’s uselessly fun action films, nor is it heartwarming like Mulan, nor can it present Joey King as the next no-nonsense Disney princess. If the film isn’t any of those, what is its worth?
The lead actress, The Kissing Booth queen herself, almost manages to salvage the wreckage. Joey King is as watchable as ever in The Princess. She’s got quite the sweet high kicks, and there’s something to be said about watching Ramona from Ramona and Beezus stab a man through his eye socket. King always manages to have fun with her projects, no matter how outlandishly absurd they may get. I just wish she could’ve become a Disney princess in a grander way. I’m talking Amy Adams in Enchanted big.
The best is when King is taunting Dominic Cooper, her nemesis husband-to-be. The pair are at each other’s throats in one scene in which the Princess says she “can’t wait” to marry him—so that she can make every day of his life miserable. Queue a raspy Joey King growling, furious, at a grinning, maniacal Dominic Cooper. Silly, fun, but gone in two minutes. Back to throat-slitting.
Cooper happens to be another failed casting choice. Suited up in jet-black, nearly bondage-esque clothing, he looks like a member of Spinal Tap, or the fishnetted version of Patrick Star from The Spongebob Movie. Like a character from Harry Potter, I can only imagine Cooper in one role: his goofy Mamma Mia hubby, aloof and bare-chested. Swapping out a bedazzled jumpsuit for dark clothes doesn’t make him look villainous; instead, he looks like one of the young goth dads from the first Mamma Mia.
Near the end of The Princess, Miss Girl reveals she doesn’t want to get married because she actually wants to join the military. This Mulan-esque arc is all fine and well, but our Princess never actually seems to be having fun fighting. She’s good at swinging around a sword, has a murderous punch, and a penchant for spin-kicks, but she’s never got a smile on her face. Maybe it’s because she’s fighting for her life. But perhaps The Princess would be a bit more exciting if King breathed some of that youthful energy into the movie.
That’s the Disney princess we’ve come to know her as: witty, headstrong, with killer instincts. Why have we dropped the wit from The Princess? While watching the fighter go toe-to-toe with enemies held me for a few minutes, a whole hour and a half of gory stabbing got old fast.
Give me more Joey King/Dominic Cooper squabbles. Let’s see more of her personality. The Princess attempts to pack a feminist punch, but without anything to actually say, Joey King is just breaking her knuckles over and over again.
Summertime fun. Family-friendly. Date night favorites.
Those details relate to the atmosphere of the drive-in theater, an American casual entertainment format that found its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.
At such a theater, visitors pull up vehicles in a parking lot, facing a huge outdoor movie screen, purchase concession snacks, set up a radio or a speaker device to listen to the audio, and enjoy a show (often a double feature) that starts after dusk.
According to the website of The Capri Drive-In Theater in Coldwater, there were 110 drive-ins in Michigan during 1958, considered the peak of the trend in this state.
There are now only nearly a dozen.
Here’s a roundup of where the traditional drive-ins can be found.
2778 E. Sanilac Rd., Carsonville
It’s one of Michigan’s oldest operating outdoor movie venues, dating back to 1948. Sound is available through FM car radio. They’ve also participated in some drive-in livestream concert events.
Schedule: They plan to open in May for the 2022 season. The box office opens at 7:30 and the movies start at dusk; new movies start on Fridays.
119 W. Chicago Road, Coldwater
Opened in 1964, with a second screen added in 1986, this is a two screen theater lot. Sound is available through AM and FM, or you can rent a portable radio on site. Was named “One of Ten Drive-Ins Worth a Detour” in 2001 by USA Today and The New York Times.
Schedule: The 2022 season has started. The box office opens at 8 p.m. with shows Friday through Sunday; movies start at sundown.
10400 Ford Road, Dearborn
Opened in spring 1950. Because the 70th anniversary happened during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater postponed the public celebration and rescheduled it for May 19, 2022.
Schedule: The seven-day season has started for 2022. Box office opens 7:45 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 8 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays. New movies and showtimes posted weekly.
28190 M-152, Dowagiac
Built in 1961. Radios are available to loan out if your vehicle does not have FM. Playground on site. Private party rentals available.
Schedule: Plans to open for 2022 season on May 27. Shows on Friday and Saturday nights, gates open at 7 p.m., movie begins at dusk. Occasional midnight showings on Thursdays.
5200 Fenton Road, Flint
Audio heard through FM radio, rentals available.
Schedule: Friday and Saturday showings started in mid April; 7 days a week starting Memorial Day weekend. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. Movie selections change weekly.
69071 Red Arrow Highway, Hartford
Opened in 1948. Sound is via FM radio, loaners are available. According to the website, pets are also welcome.
Schedule: The 2022 season begins May 27, shows are Friday and Saturday nights. Gates open at 7 p.m. with first movie at dusk. Occasional midnight showings on Thursdays.
9812 Honor Highway, Honor
Opened in 1953, with a playground and mini golf on site. According to the website, other events include pony rides, clowns, classic car cruises and more. Sound available via FM radio or speakers mounted on posts.
Schedule: Plans to open for 2022 season, date to be announced. Ran Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during 2021. Showings begin at dusk.
5885 W. US Highway 2, Manistique
The only drive-in theater currently operating in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Opened in 1953, closed in 2001; then, the founding members of the Upper Peninsula Film Union started to host movie nights in 2016. The Film Union acquired the property in 2018. Admission is free, donations welcomed, nonprofit groups host the concession stand.
Schedule: Four movie nights have been announced for the 2022 season, starting June 25.
6501 N. Monroe St., Monroe
The theater opened in 2021 after several years of planning. It is on the site of the former Denniston Drive-In that closed in 1985. Movie sound is by FM radio. Playground on site.
Schedule: The 2022 season began May 6. Box office opens at 8 p.m.
920 E. Summit Ave., Muskegon
This drive-in has four screens with radio sound with a playground on site. It’s part of the Celebration Cinema theater group.
Schedule: The 2022 season has started. Gates open at 8 p.m. New schedule usually starts on Friday.
14900 Beck Road, Plymouth
The drive-in shows take place in the USA Hockey Arena parking lot. Radio sound.
Schedule: The “Sneak Peak Weekends” for the 2022 season are May 20-21 and May 27-29.
HILARIOUS images show a Harry Potter fan appearing to wear an actual real-life invisibility cloak after wearing all green during a photo expedition.
Hannah Walker burst out laughing after looking at the images at the end of the Harry Potter Photographic Expedition in Covent Gardens in London last month.
The 21-year-old had been treated to the visit by her boyfriend Isaac Lawrence, 23, but accidentally wore a full green tracksuit which interfered with green screen booths.
Social worker Hannah was snapped in two images with just a floating head and hand as her outfit blended in with the background.
One shot shows Hannah perched on top of a broomstick holding a wand as she appeared to be flying above Hogwarts wearing Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.
Issaac had captured a photograph while watching his girlfriend get photographed – showing her still featuring her tracksuit.
Another image shows Hannah standing beside Isaac in front of a red phone box with a backdrop of the Ministry of Magic building – home to the wizardry government.
Hannah’s head again appears to be floating in mid air with not a glimpse of her legs or torso to be seen.
Hannah posted a video on TikTok on Sunday showing her Harry Potter experience fail, writing: “Wait for it…
“F**k my life, that was £20 for the pic and no one told me.
“And no, I didn’t know there was a green screen and it is called fashion.”
The video has now collected over 2.6 million views and more than 247,000 likes on the social media platform.
Thousands of viewers left comments with many mentioning the likeness to Harry’s cloak in the hit series.
@Antirrhinumtheseus said: “Okay but this is actually just you with an invisibility cloak.”
@robin said: “I think it’s dumb of them to use green for that green screen pic when every Slytherin is gonna come through wearing green.”
@Kieran said: “Invisibility cloak activated.”
@leapetty said: “£20 well spent.”
@hayleydianacann said : “This is hilarious.”
Speaking today, Hannah said: “We were going to a Tottenham football game so I didn’t think about what I was wearing, I just wanted to be comfortable.
“But Isaac surprised me at the photo exhibition because it was in Covent Gardens.
“I knew there was a green screen in the Warner Bros. tour but I didn’t know there was in the expedition.
“I was screaming when I saw the photos, literally screaming. It’s probably the funniest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“After
Minnal Murali ’s premiere, someone in the audience walked up to me and asked, ‘Can I hug you?’.” Guru Somasundaram breaks into a laugh remembering the incident. Life has changed overnight for him after the film dropped on Netflix on Christmas eve. His nuanced performance as the antagonist has been widely appreciated by critics and audiences alike.
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There is a child-like joy in Guru as he talks about the movie. “I generally don’t watch my movies. In fact, I rarely check the monitor after giving a shot. But when I started working on
Minnal Murali , I felt it was going to be special. So I watched it with the whole team before the premiere and I was shocked. It was as if I had been struck by lightning, just like my character in the movie,” he laughs.
The film, set in a village called Kurukkammoola, revolves around two men — Jaison (Tovino) and Shibu (Guru), who are struck by lightning on the same night. Both gain superpowers and circumstances pit them against each other.
Unrequited love and society’s indifference to his plight make Shibu an embittered man. In Basil’s words, Shibu is the “second hero” and not the villain.
Rarely does the audience root for a villain. But Shibu’s character design managed to do that. Not many know that Guru is the same deplorable villain in ‘Sethulakshmy’, one of the segments in the five-film Malayalam anthology,
5 Sundarika l (2013). He acted as a studio owner who abuses a school girl (Anikha Surendran) in the segment directed by cinematographer Shyju Khalid. “I know how much people hated the character in ‘Sethulakshmy’. And here is Shibu who wins people’s hearts despite his actions. I was not prepared for this level of adulation,” he says.
Basil and his team met Guru in 2019 to discuss the project. “He narrated the full script, playing the background music on his phone! I didn’t expect that I would get to do so much; I was prepared for the physical and emotional transformation of the character. Things went on to another level once I started shooting,” says Guru, who made his debut with Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s cult movie,
Aaranya Kaandam .
Guru believes he owes it all to his decade-long association with Chennai-based Koothu-P-Pattarai, one of the prominent theatre groups in the country. “I grew up in Madurai, which had so many theatres. I have watched a lot of movies in my childhood with my mother. Becoming an actor was the last thing on my mind during my growing up years because I was shy. I took up a job after finishing my studies. However, after a point I felt lost and didn’t know what to do. That is when I read about Koothu-P-Pattarai and I fell in love with theatre.”
He recalls that during Navarathri, his mother would take him out dressed up as a girl. Probably the acting part came from there!
Theatre gives the confidence to improvise, he adds. “When writers give space for me to improvise, I always make use of it. It is like blowing a balloon to its maximum capacity. You have to ensure that it doesn’t burst, though. Similarly, I improvise without changing the crux of the scene,” he explains.
The first step to becoming Shibu, says Guru, was learning Malayalam. He took lessons from YouTube and can now read and write the language. “I believe that it is important for an actor to learn the language to portray the emotion. It was also about establishing a bond with every one on the set. Knowing the language gave me a special energy and that helped my performance,” he says.
Actor-director Dileesh Pothan had dubbed for Guru in
5 Sundarikal . “Initially, when I struggled with the dialogues, Basil used to pull my leg saying ‘I will have to call Dileesh again’. However, after a scene with Harisree Asokan where he gets murdered, Basil told me that I should dub for my character.”
He also watched Malayalam movies to pick up the language. “I saw many movies of Sreenivasan sir, such as
Nadodikattu, Angane Oru Avadhikalathu, Akkare Akkare Akkare… One movie I watched multiple times was
Njan Prakashan . It had simple dialogues,” says Guru, who has also acted in critically-acclaimed
Jigarthanda (2014),
Joker (2016) and
Jai Bhim (2021).
Guru is elated that he is acting in Mohanlal’s directorial debut,
Barroz in February. His upcoming Malayalam release is Abhilash S Kumar’s
Chattambi , along with Sreenath Bhasi and Chemban Vinod.
His dream is to do a full-length comedy role. “Many people have told me that I remind them of Nagesh sir. He is a fabulous artiste even though we have seen him more in comedies,” he adds.
Does he have a favourite villain-actor? “Raghuvaran sir. I believe that a villain has to be have some honesty about him. That is something I learnt from a Brazilian theatre artiste. He observed that heroes in our films remain good and villains are always bad. According to him, there should be a mix of good and bad in the characters. Raghuvaran sir’s villain roles had that blend. I like to play such characters,” he concludes.
