Taylor Swift Is Back to Watch Travis Kelce and the Chiefs with Eras Tour Soon to Resume

Taylor Swift is seen in attendance during a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 07, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Getty Images via AFP)
Taylor Swift is seen in attendance during a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 07, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Getty Images via AFP)
TT

Taylor Swift Is Back to Watch Travis Kelce and the Chiefs with Eras Tour Soon to Resume

Taylor Swift is seen in attendance during a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 07, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Getty Images via AFP)
Taylor Swift is seen in attendance during a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on October 07, 2024 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Getty Images via AFP)

Taylor Swift was back at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday night to see her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs play the New Orleans Saints after the pop superstar had missed the team's previous two games on the road.

Swift is in the final days of a break from her record-setting Eras Tour, which resumes with the first of three shows Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The tour's North American leg continues in New Orleans and Indianapolis before heading to Toronto and Vancouver in November and December. The final show is scheduled for Dec. 8.

Swift also missed Kelce's annual Kelce Car Jam over the weekend, a charity car show that raises money for his 87 and Running foundation, which helps underserved youth in the areas around Kansas City and Cleveland. There was still plenty of star power with Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, joining Kelce's parents, his brother, retired Eagles center Jason Kelce.

Swift began her high-profile romance with Kelce last season, when he invited the “Anti-Hero” singer to watch him in a September matchup with the Bears. Since then, the two have spent plenty of time together, often with cameras following every move.

Swift has stayed out of the spotlight the past couple of weeks, though. That after a particularly headline-grabbing week in which she endorsed Kamala Harris for president, took home seven trophies from the MTV Video Music Awards, and show up to see the Chiefs beat the visiting Cincinnati Bengals.

Swift has become close friends with the Mahomes family over the past year. That created some controversy when the 14-time Grammy winner said she supported Harris over Donald Trump in the November election; Trump has referenced the quarterback's wife after she had liked — and then unliked — an Instagram post by the Republican presidential nominee.

Patrick Mahomes has declined to endorse anyone in the election, instead urging people to register to vote.

“I don’t want my place and my platform to be used to endorse a candidate,” Mahomes said. “My place is to inform people to get registered to vote. It’s to inform people to do their own research and then make the best decision for them and their family.”



South Korean Cult-Horror Series ‘Hellbound’ Returns at BIFF

In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
TT

South Korean Cult-Horror Series ‘Hellbound’ Returns at BIFF

In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)

Netflix's Korean cult-horror thriller "Hellbound" returned for its much anticipated second season with a world premiere at Busan International Film Festival, showcasing intense performances from the new cast members, particularly Moon Geun-young.

Created by Yeon Sang-ho, known for zombie flick "Train to Busan", the first season of "Hellbound" achieved critical and commercial success with its portrayal of a world where supernatural beings suddenly appear to tell people of their impending death, followed by monstrous entities that drag the condemned to hell.

Yeon, whose early works included a dark animated film about a Korean cult organization, elevates the dystopian thriller into a more philosophical realm in its second season, while still delivering the spectacle of creatures, violence, and collective religious hysteria.

"I believe that the concept of disaster in the work 'Hellbound' refers more to a mental or ideological catastrophe than to a physical disaster," director Yeon said at a BIFF event late Friday.

The show had to let go of actor Yoo Ah-in, who played a key character in season one, after he was charged with illegal drug use. Yoo was subsequently found guilty.

Kim Sung-cheol takes on the role of the charismatic leader of a cult that arose amid the horrific supernatural deaths that triggered a wave of social media frenzy, delivering a convincing portrayal of this intricate character.

But the most captivating -- and gut-wrenching -- performance of the second season arguably belongs to Moon Geun-young, a much beloved former teen actress in South Korea, who portrays a young wife gradually transforming into a deranged cult fanatic.

Yeon said he decided to cast Moon after seeing her in a 2021 TV drama where she portrayed a tormented wife who succumbs to alcoholism while caring for her alcoholic husband.

Moon did not attend this year's BIFF, but fellow cast member Kim Hyun-joo said: "Moon Geun-young made a tremendous contribution. I already knew (she was immensely talented), but I was pleasantly surprised and delighted by her performance."

The series was featured at BIFF in its big-screen theaters, even as the festival faces criticism from cinephiles for selecting a streaming title, "Uprising", also from Netflix, as its opening film this year.

Cineastes blame OTT streaming platforms for some of the challenges encountered by the traditional theater market and independent filmmakers.

"BIFF has been a key player in showcasing fresh Asian films by young, emerging talents in the region, and this has been their priority," Kay Heeyoung Kim, owner of the film studio K-Dragon, told AFP.

"But the lines between traditional independent cinema and big-budget streaming titles have blurred at this year's festival, which is unfortunate to see."

Yeon, who began his career as an independent animated filmmaker, along with his work "Hellbound," is credited with increasing the global visibility of South Korean content in recent years, alongside works like "Squid Game" and "Pachinko."