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Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham Reunite for Action Thriller 'Wrath of Man'

Jason Statham. (AP)
Jason Statham. (AP)
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Guy Ritchie, Jason Statham Reunite for Action Thriller 'Wrath of Man'

Jason Statham. (AP)
Jason Statham. (AP)

All it took was a two-minute phone call to pitch the idea for his new film “Wrath of Man” and British director Guy Ritchie was back working with action star Jason Statham after some 15 years.

The dark thriller sees Statham play “H”, a mysterious loner who takes up a job at a security firm whose armored vehicles transporting valuables have recently been the target of deadly armed robberies.

With the attacks continuing, it soon transpires “H” is not after a steady paycheck but rather a skilled marksman seeking revenge for a personal tragedy.

Statham was working as a model when Ritchie first cast him in his 1998 movie “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, helping him launch his film career. The two went on to collaborate on the 2000 movie “Snatch” and reunited again in 2005 for their last joint project “Revolver”.

Fast forward 16 years, and very little has changed between the two friends, Statham said.

“The only difference is we’re a little older and a little chubbier ... He called me up about this idea that he had. It was a very short pitch and I liked the premise. And I was quick to say ‘yes’,” Statham told Reuters.

“I thought this would be the perfect story for Jason and I to be reunited on. It’s not funny, this film. It’s serious and the theme is serious and it’s very violent, very aggressive. But I thought it’d be the perfect role for Jason to occupy,” Ritchie added.

For the movie, based on the 2004 French thriller “Le Convoyeur”, Ritchie enlisted an ensemble cast including Josh Hartnett, Scott Eastwood, Andy Garcia, Eddie Marsan and Holt McCallany. He also hired US rapper Post Malone for a surprise cameo.

Hartnett, a former Hollywood heartthrob who appeared in early 2000s hits “Pearl Harbor”, “Black Hawk Down” and “Lucky Number Slevin”, said he had quietly been keeping busy with other projects in recent years.

“I’ve always been sort of making really interesting films. It’s just suddenly Hollywood is taking notice again and I’m getting offers for bigger films,” he said. “It goes in waves. Hollywood’s a weird place and I love it and hate it.”

“Wrath of Man” opens in US cinemas on May 7.

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Entertainment

Macklemore Supports Palestinians, Campus Protests with New Track

US rapper Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, aka Macklemore, performs during the Colors of Ostrava music festival in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on July 20, 2023. (AFP)
US rapper Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, aka Macklemore, performs during the Colors of Ostrava music festival in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on July 20, 2023. (AFP)
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Macklemore Supports Palestinians, Campus Protests with New Track

US rapper Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, aka Macklemore, performs during the Colors of Ostrava music festival in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on July 20, 2023. (AFP)
US rapper Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, aka Macklemore, performs during the Colors of Ostrava music festival in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on July 20, 2023. (AFP)

Macklemore has released a new song in support of Palestinians that also praises students across the United States protesting against Israel's war in Gaza.

University students have been mobilizing for weeks on campuses over Israel's deadly offensive and its US backing, with police forcibly clearing protest camps -- sometimes violently -- and arresting more than 2,000 people nationwide.

"If students in tents posted on the lawn / Occupying the quad is really against the law / And a reason to call in the police and their squad / Where does genocide land in your definition, huh?" Macklemore raps in "Hind's Hall."

The song is named after the building at Columbia University that students recently occupied and renamed after Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza.

Macklemore admonishes the US government, telling President Joe Biden "blood is on your hands" and that he won't vote for him in the November election.

Israel is "a state that's gotta rely on an apartheid system to uphold an occupying violent history, been repeating for the last 75" years, Macklemore says in the song.

"We see the lies in them, claiming it's anti-Semitic to be anti-Zionist / I've seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and riding in solidarity and screaming 'Free Palestine' with them."

The rapper best known for cult hits like 2012's "Thrift Shop" has released socially aware music in the past, criticizing ills including poverty and consumerism.

In his latest track -- which is currently only out on social media -- Macklemore also criticizes the music industry for being "complicit in their platform of silence" while casting Drake and Kendrick Lamar's ongoing rap beef as trivial in light of actual war.

"I want a ceasefire, f*** a response from Drake" he raps.

The song samples "Ana La Habibi" from Lebanese icon Fairuz.

Macklemore said that once it's available to stream, all proceeds will go to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Entertainment

Eurovision Song Contest Is Kicking Off with Pop and Protests as War in Gaza Casts Shadow

Fans queue for a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Fans queue for a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Eurovision Song Contest Is Kicking Off with Pop and Protests as War in Gaza Casts Shadow

Fans queue for a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Fans queue for a dress rehearsal for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Competition in the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicks off Tuesday in Sweden, with the war in Gaza casting a shadow over the sequin-spangled pop extravaganza.

Performers representing countries across Europe and beyond will take the stage in the first of two semifinals in the Swedish city of Malmo. It and a second semifinal on Thursday will winnow a field of 37 nations to 26 who will compete in Saturday’s final against a backdrop of both parties and protests.

Among the 15 acts performing Tuesday are Croatian singer-songwriter Baby Lasagna, whose infectious electro number “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” is the current favorite to win, and Ukrainian duo alyona alyona and Jerry Heil, flying the flag for their war-battered nation with the anthemic “Teresa & Maria.”

Other bookmakers’ favorites include Swiss singer Nemo, goth-style Irish singer Bambi Thug, Italian TikTok star Angelina Mango and the Netherlands’ Joost Klein with the playful pop-rap song “Europapa.”

Security is tight in the Swedish city, which expects an influx of some 100,000 Eurovision fans, along with tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters. Israel is a Eurovision participant, and demonstrations are planned on Thursday and Saturday against the Israel-Hamas war, which has left almost 35,000 Palestinians dead.

Israel’s government warned its citizens of a “tangible concern” Israelis could be targeted for attack in Malmo during the contest.

Organizers told Israel to change the lyrics of its entry, originally titled “October Rain” in apparent reference to Hamas’ cross-border Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and triggered the war. The song was renamed “Hurricane” and Israeli singer Eden Golan was allowed to remain in the contest.

Jean Philip De Tender, deputy director-general of Eurovision organizer the European Broadcasting Union, told Sky News that banning Israel “would have been a political decision, and as such (one) which we cannot take.”

Police from across Sweden have been drafted in for Eurovision week, along with reinforcements from neighboring Denmark and Norway.

Sweden’s official terrorism threat level remains “high,” the second-highest rung on a five-point scale.

Eurovision’s motto is “United by Music,” but national rifts and political divisions often cloud the contest despite organizers’ efforts to keep politics out.

Flags and signs are banned, apart from participants’ national flags. That means Palestinian flags will be barred inside the Malmo Arena contest venue.

Performers are feeling political pressure, with some saying they have been inundated with messages on social media urging them to boycott the event.

“I am being accused, if I don’t boycott Eurovision, of being an accomplice to genocide in Gaza,” Germany’s contestant, Isaak, said in an interview published by broadcaster ZDF. He said he did not agree.

“We are meeting up to make music, and when we start shutting people out categorically, there will be fewer and fewer of us,” he said. “At some point there won’t be an event anymore.”

One person who knows how Eurovision unity can collide with bitter reality is singer Manizha Sangin, who represented Russia at the contest in 2021. The country was expelled the following year over its invasion of Ukraine.

Manizha, who performs under her first name, spoke out against the war. As a result, her performances were canceled in Russia and her music banned from public spaces. The singer remains in Russia but has found it all but impossible to work.

“People are afraid to work with me here because they’re afraid to have consequences after, problems after that,” she said.

Despite the difficulties, Manizha has recorded a single, “Candlelight,” which she is releasing on Wednesday as “a message of hope.”

“Music cannot stop war,” she said. But “what music can do is inspire people.”

Manizha thinks Russia will one day return to the Eurovision fold – but not soon.

“Maybe next generation,” she said. “But for now, relationships are too complicated. And then that makes me sad, you know, because that’s why people are not hearing each other. Because we are separated from each other. And the thing, is music should unite.”

Entertainment

Five Budding Stars to Watch at Cannes

Barry Keoghan stars in coming-of-age tale 'Bird'. Adrian DENNIS / AFP
Barry Keoghan stars in coming-of-age tale 'Bird'. Adrian DENNIS / AFP
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Five Budding Stars to Watch at Cannes

Barry Keoghan stars in coming-of-age tale 'Bird'. Adrian DENNIS / AFP
Barry Keoghan stars in coming-of-age tale 'Bird'. Adrian DENNIS / AFP

This year's Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 14 to 25, has a heavy dose of Hollywood veterans, but it's also the place to see the budding young stars who will take their place, AFP said.
Here are five names to watch as they walk the red carpet on the French Riviera.
Sebastian Stan
Bound to be the most talked-about role at the festival, Stan finds himself in the skin of Donald Trump in "The Apprentice" about the early years of the property mogul, reality TV star and US president.
The 41-year-old Romanian-born actor's biggest role to date has been as the Winter Soldier in a number of Marvel films, but he received critical acclaim for his performance as rocker Tommy Lee in miniseries "Pam and Tommy" and won best actor at this year's Berlin Film Festival for "A Different Man".
Barry Keoghan
Keoghan emerged from a difficult childhood -- his mother died aged 12 from a drug overdose and he was raised in foster homes -- to become one of Ireland's most sought-after actors.
He earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, and won a BAFTA for his role in "The Banshees of Inisherin" and reached new levels of fame with the heavily-memed hit "Saltburn".
Keoghan, 31, comes to Cannes with "Bird", a coming-of-age tale set in suburban England from Oscar-winner Andrea Arnold, having reportedly given up a part in "Gladiator 2" for the role.
He has plenty of blockbuster fame to come as he plays Joker in "The Batman Part II", due in 2026.
Anya Taylor Joy
The lead of pandemic-era Netflix hit "The Queen's Gambit", for which she won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award, Joy has appeared in a number of creepy and supernatural films like "The Witch", "Split" and "The Menu" -- as well as lighter fare such as "Emma" and "The Super Mario Bros Movie".
The 28-year-old tries her hand at full-blown action in the latest "Mad Max" installment, "Furiosa", which premieres at Cannes on May 15, playing a younger version of Charlize Theron's character from "Fury Road".
Margaret Qualley
Still regularly referred to as the daughter of Andie McDowell, Qualley may soon eclipse her mother's fame.
The 29-year-old has already had scene-stealing moments in films by Quentin Tarantino (as a Manson Family member in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood") and Ethan Coen ("Drive-Away Dolls"). She earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Netflix hit "Maid" and mini-series "Fosse/Verdun".
Now she features in two competition entries at Cannes: Yorgos Lanthimos's "Kinds of Kindness" -- she already had a small part in his "Poor Things" -- and slasher horror "The Substance" alongside Demi Moore.
Karla Sofia Gascon
The film with the most intriguing premise at Cannes is "Emilia Perez", a musical about a Mexican cartel boss undergoing a sex change to escape the authorities and affirm her identity.
For the starring role, French director Jacques Audiard chose 52-year-old transgender actor Gascon from Madrid, known for a number of Spanish-language soap operas and films.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift's Tour Arrives to Shake Up Europe

Swift kicks off the European leg of the Eras tour in Paris. DAVID GRAY / AFP
Swift kicks off the European leg of the Eras tour in Paris. DAVID GRAY / AFP
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Taylor Swift's Tour Arrives to Shake Up Europe

Swift kicks off the European leg of the Eras tour in Paris. DAVID GRAY / AFP
Swift kicks off the European leg of the Eras tour in Paris. DAVID GRAY / AFP

Having shaken four continents, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour finally brings the biggest pop culture icon of the century to Europe from Thursday, starting with a four-night run in Paris.
Swift has broken almost every record in music, and her sixth tour is no exception.
The Eras Tour, which began in March 2023, is already the first to sell more than $1 billion in tickets, and is expected to more than double that by the time it concludes in Vancouver this December.
Swifties in Paris are especially excited to hear songs off her new album, "The Tortured Poets Society", being performed for the first time, said AFP.
Many critics have derided the 31-track album as bloated and mediocre -- "a rare misstep" in the words of British music mag NME.
Such blasphemy leaves her devoted fanbase seeing red -- Paste magazine felt the need to keep their damning review anonymous, knowing all too well how her fans would react.
But a few bad reviews are unlikely to lead to a cruel summer for Swift -- the album sold 1.4 million copies on its first day and broke every streaming record going, reaching a billion streams on Spotify within five days.
Some 42,000 people will see Swift in Paris before she heads on for dates in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Poland and Austria.
Many are traveling a long way -- around one in five of the Paris audience is coming from the United States, according to the La Defense Arena where she is performing.
Economic juggernaut
The 34-year-old's tour remains a money-making machine beyond the wildest dreams of promoters and venues.
Research group QuestionPro estimated that last year's US dates generated $5 billion for the country's economy. The US Travel Association said the figure may have exceeded $10 billion when hotel rooms, restaurants and other indirect sales were included.
The La Defense Arena says it has doubled the previous record of merchandise-sellers across its dates.
The mere mention of a London pub, The Black Dog, on her new album was enough to send a swarm of Swifties to its doors this month, potentially saving the struggling boozer.
Fans tracked it down after realizing it lay close to the home of British actor Joe Alwyn, with whom Swift had a six-year relationship that ended last summer.
Swift's tell-all dissections of her love stories have been the fuel powering her global domination, and fans have been pouring over "The Tortured Poets Department" for cryptic clues about Alwyn, her short-but-dramatic fling with Matty Healy (lead singer of The 1975), and her current beau, American football star Travis Kelce.
"There is something in her music that captures the adolescent desire for a poetic existence, charged with passion, danger and love," said Satu Hämeenaho-Fox, author of "Into the Taylor-Verse".
Soukeyna, a 16-year-old fan traveling up from southwest France for opening night, said Swift gives her "the feeling of being part of a community".
"She's a complete artist who writes her own words, and you really have to listen to the lyrics and understand them, which is something unique," she added.

Entertainment

What to Stream this Week: Zac Efron, Indigo Girls, 'Dark Matter,' Brooke Shields and Anne Hathaway

Representation photo: Moviegoers sit socially distanced as they wait for the movie "Godzilla vs. Kong" on the reopening day of the TCL Chinese theater during the outbreak of the coronavirus, Los Angeles, California, US, March 31, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Representation photo: Moviegoers sit socially distanced as they wait for the movie "Godzilla vs. Kong" on the reopening day of the TCL Chinese theater during the outbreak of the coronavirus, Los Angeles, California, US, March 31, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
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What to Stream this Week: Zac Efron, Indigo Girls, 'Dark Matter,' Brooke Shields and Anne Hathaway

Representation photo: Moviegoers sit socially distanced as they wait for the movie "Godzilla vs. Kong" on the reopening day of the TCL Chinese theater during the outbreak of the coronavirus, Los Angeles, California, US, March 31, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Representation photo: Moviegoers sit socially distanced as they wait for the movie "Godzilla vs. Kong" on the reopening day of the TCL Chinese theater during the outbreak of the coronavirus, Los Angeles, California, US, March 31, 2021. (Reuters Photo)

Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White starring in the family wrestling dynasty in “The Iron Claw" and Brooke Shields playing the unwitting title role in the romantic comedy “Mother of the Bride” on Netflix are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Colombian musician Ryan Castro's new album “El Cantante Del Ghetto,” the series “Pretty Little Liars” returns on Max and a new documentary details the Indigo Girls’ rise and subsequent marginalization.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM — Whether or not you know anything about the tragedies that befell the Von Erich family wrestling dynasty, “The Iron Claw” is well worth a watch. Zac Efron stars as one of the brothers, Kevin, in an ensemble cast that includes Harris Dickinson and Jeremy Allen White as his brothers, Lily James as his wife, and Holt McCallany and Maura Tierney as his parents. In her AP review, Jocelyn Noveck wrote that “Efron, with his rock-hard physique and ’70s mullet, turns in some of the most affecting work of his career. White, too, is excellent if more inscrutable as Kerry, initially the golden boy until his own brush with disaster sends him into a downward spiral.” It’ll be available on MAX on Friday, May 10.
— Brooke Shields is the titular mother of the bride in a new romantic comedy coming to Netflix on Thursday. The conceit here is that her daughter (Miranda Cosgrove) is getting married and she doesn’t find out until she arrives at the island resort where it’s happening that the groom is the son of the guy who broke her heart in college, played by Benjamin Bratt. “Mother of the Bride” was directed by Mark Waters (“Mean Girls” and “Just Like Heaven”).
— “The Idea of You” is good fun and Anne Hathaway looks incredible in it, but it’s on the lighter side. If you want to continue a Hatha-thon with something dark and moody, look no further than William Oldroyd’s “Eileen,” coming to Hulu on Friday, May 10. Hathaway is otherworldly as the glamourous, martini-swilling Rebecca Saint John, an endlessly quotable Hitchcock blonde with a doctorate from Harvard, in this stylish adaptation of Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel. She becomes an object of fascination for Thomasin McKenzie’s mousy Eileen when she glides into the dreary juvenile detention center where they both work one winter, in Massachusetts 1964. The deranged, noir cousin to “The Idea of You,” there is also some flirting and dancing and drinking in “Eileen,” but with a shocking twist looming.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
NEW MUSIC TO STREAM — One of the best alternative albums of the year may very well be the soundtrack to the A24 thriller about two teenagers watching a mysterious late-night television show, “I Saw the TV Glow.” The official trailer for the film arrived with a spooky rendition of the Broken Social Scene track “Anthems of a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl” as performed by Yeule — the perfect introduction to an ambitious compilation. Other highlights that may not get their shine next to big names like Boygenius' Phoebe Bridgers and Caroline Polacheck but very much deserve the nod: Philly twangy-emo greats Sadurn, the ascendent power indie-pop of Jay Som, and the experimental compositions of L’rain.
— Colombian musician Ryan Castro might not be a household name yet — chances are, you’ve heard his “Mujeriego” on TikTok — but tastemakers would be wise to pay attention now. On the title track to his forthcoming album, “El Cantante Del Ghetto,” Castro pays homage to Puerto Rican salsa icon Héctor Lavoe, a.k.a. “El Cantante,” with his own spin — a rap break that manages to weave flawlessly into the classic production. (For those keeping track: Lavoe's song entered the National Recording Registry earlier this month.) Elsewhere, Castro delivers a reggaetón hit with some help from regional Mexican starPeso Pluma on “Quema” and trap on “Rich Rappers” with Rich the Kid.
— It is the end of an era: ska punk, reggae rock heroes Sublime with Rome are officially calling it quits. They’re currently embarked on a farewell tour and a self-titled final album will arrive Friday, May 10. It’s not all bad news: The group is calling it a day because Sublime (...without Rome) has reunited with late singer Bradley Nowell’s son Jakob fronting the band, but that means saying goodbye to singer Rome Ramirez. The album is a fitting coda. It's all sunshine, California, and upstrokes on the downbeat.
— With work well-beyond a perfect sync in the “Barbie” blockbuster, where Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken scream-sing along to their hit “Closer to Fine” while exiting the paradise that is “Barbieland,” Indigo Girls have long been ahead of their time. “Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All” is a new documentary detailing the duo’s rise and subsequent marginalization by the press. This doc, available via video on demand on Tuesday, tells their story in new, critical detail.
— In a new Paramount+ documentary produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, titled “Kiss the Future,” director and co-writer Nenad Cicin-Sain closely examines Sarajevo during the Bosnian War — particularly the ways in which music and art communities flourished as places of resilience and safety, and later, the role Irish band U2 played in drawing attention to the conflict in their concerts. It’s not a music documentary in the traditional sense — it is much larger.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
NEW SHOWS TO STREAM — Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly star in the new limited series “Dark Matter.” Edgerton plays Jason, an unfulfilled physics teacher who is attacked one night by a masked man who also drugs him. When he comes to, Jason finds himself in an alternate timeline of his life where he’s a world-famous physicist. Jason’s wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and son don’t exist in this alternate version, and he fights to return to them. “Dark Matter” is based on the book by Blake Crouch. It premieres Wednesday.
— The nearly unbelievable true crime story of freelancers looking for their big break in Hollywood who get duped by a long con is the subject of a new docuseries for Apple TV+. Dubbed the “Hollywood Con Queen” in an article for The Hollywood Reporter and a book by Scott C. Johnson, the three-part series of the same name details both his and an investigator’s work on the case, interviews victims, and features the actual con artist. It debuts May 8.
— “A People’s History of Black Twitter” examines both the rise and influence of Black Twitter on both culture and politics. It also addresses backlash to its prominent voices and commentary. The series is inspired by a three-part article for WIRED by Jason Parham. “Black Twitter” streams May 9 on Hulu.
— Sparks fly between two students at an elite school in “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us.” Ruby comes from a working-class family while James is wealthy, entitled with a big ego. The story is based on a YA German book series called “Save Me” by Mona Kasten. The series will be available in German with English subtitles or dubbed in English. All episodes drop May 9 on Prime Video.
— If you’re counting down the days until school’s out for summer, the new “Pretty Little Liars” returns Thursday on Max. The teen slasher series picks up at the beginning of summer vacation where our five final girls have to attend summer school for falling behind while they were being targeted by a serial killer. The “Liars” do find time for summer jobs and summer romances. New cast members include Antonio Cipriano (“National Treasure: Edge of History”) as a love interest for Bailee Madison’s Imogen.
— In Netflix’s “Bodkin,” debuting Thursday, a podcaster, a journalist and her researcher team up to solve a decades-old murder in a small town in Ireland. Each has their own reason for needing to crack the case. As they get closer to the truth, the trio learns some people prefer to keep secrets buried in the past. The dark comedic mystery series is the first narrative project from the Obamas' production company, Higher Ground.
— Fire up the TARDIS, Ncuti Gatwa is the 15th Doctor Who when the series makes its Disney+ debut Friday, May 10. Gatwa’s Doctor is accompanied on his time-traveling adventures with companion Ruby Sunday, portrayed by Millie Gibson.
— After bringing the world of Anne Rice to television with season one of “Interview with the Vampire” (and later, “Mayfair Witches.”) on AMC, the series returns Sunday, May 12. It’s about Louis de Pointe du Lac, who sits down for a second interview with a veteran journalist named Daniel, played by Eric Bogosian. Louis says he’s a vampire and had years prior given Daniel an interview that was off-the-record. Louis claims he was seduced and turned into a vampire in the early 1900s by Lestat de Lioncourt. Season two begins with Daniel viewing Louis as an unreliable narrator because his details from the two interviews don’t match. It also explores the love affair of Louis and vampire Armand, played by new cast member Assad Zaman, and how the vampire Lestat still has a hold on Louis. “Interview with the Vampire” also streams on AMC+.
— Alicia Rancilio
NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY — Video Games 101 teaches us that if you have to go underground, you’re going to be attacked by all sorts of ghastly beasts. Animal Well, from indie publisher Bigmode, takes a different approach. This cave has some creatures you might not expect, like flamingos and kangaroos, and some of them are helpful rather than hostile. “It’s not that you’re not welcome,” says solo designer Billy Basso. “It’s just that they were here first.” The result is a combat-free but still tricky labyrinth with more than 250 puzzle-filled rooms. The graphics are refreshingly weird, coloring old-fashioned pixel art with an eerie bioluminescence, and the soundtrack is filled with spooky echoes. Start spelunking Thursday on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Entertainment

Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' Has Died at 79

FILE PHOTO: Bernard Hill, actor of captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Titanic movie, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong January 12, 2014. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bernard Hill, actor of captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Titanic movie, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong January 12, 2014. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
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Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' Has Died at 79

FILE PHOTO: Bernard Hill, actor of captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Titanic movie, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong January 12, 2014. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bernard Hill, actor of captain Edward Smith in the 1997 Titanic movie, speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong January 12, 2014. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and went down with the ship as the captain in “Titanic,” has died.
Hill, 79, passed away Sunday morning, agent Lou Coulson said.
Hill joined “The Lord Of The Rings” franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002’s “The Two Towers,” as Théoden, King of Rohan. The following year, he reprised the role in “Return of the King,” a movie that won 11 Oscars.
In one of the film's most memorable scenes, Hill's character fires up his overmatched forces by delivering a battle cry on horseback that sends his troops thundering downhill toward the enemy and his own imminent death.
“Arise, arise, riders of Théoden!” Hill hollers. “Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death! Death! Death!”
In “Titanic," Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film also won 11 Academy Awards.
As the doomed ship takes on water, Hill's character silently retreats to the wheelhouse. As the cabin groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes a final breath and grabs the wheel as water bursts through the windows.
Hill first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in “Boys From the Blackstuff,” a 1982 British TV miniseries about five unemployed men, Reuters reported.
He was nominated for an award in 1983 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the role, and the show won the BAFTA for best drama series.
His death came the same day the second series of the BBC drama “The Responder” was to air, in which he played the father of the show's star, Martin Freeman.

Entertainment

Madonna Puts on Free Concert in Rio, Turning Copacabana Beach Into Enormous Dance Floor

Madonna performs in the final show of her The Celebration Tour, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Madonna performs in the final show of her The Celebration Tour, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
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Madonna Puts on Free Concert in Rio, Turning Copacabana Beach Into Enormous Dance Floor

Madonna performs in the final show of her The Celebration Tour, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Madonna performs in the final show of her The Celebration Tour, on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
It was the last show of The Celebration Tour, her first retrospective, which kicked off in October in London.
The “Queen of Pop” began the show with her 1998 hit “Nothing Really Matters.” Huge cheers rose from the buzzing, tightly packed crowd, pressed up against the barriers. Others held house parties in brightly lighted apartments and hotels overlooking the beachfront. Helicopters and drones flew overhead, and motorboats and sailboats anchored off the beach filled the bay.
“Here we are in the most beautiful place in the world,” Madonna told the crowd. Pointing out the ocean view, the mountains and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking the city, she added: “This place is magic."
Madonna performed her classic hits, including “Like A Virgin” and “Hung Up.” For the introduction to “Like A Prayer,” her head was completely covered in a black cape, a rosary gripped in her hands.
The star paid an emotional tribute to “all the bright lights” lost to AIDS as she sang “Live to Tell,” with black and white photos of people who died from the illness flashing behind her, The Associated Press reported.
Later, she was joined on stage by Brazilian artists Anitta and Pabllo Vittar.
Rio spent the last few days readying itself for the performance.
Rio’s City Hall predicted 1.5 million spectators, more than 10 times Madonna’s record attendance of 130,000 at Paris’ Parc des Sceaux in 1987. Madonna's official website hyped the show as the biggest ever in her four-decade career.

Entertainment

Doug Liman, Matt Damon and the Afflecks Made a Heist Comedy for Apple. ‘The Instigators’

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Hong Chau, from left, Casey Affleck. and Matt Damon in a scene from "The Instigators." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Hong Chau, from left, Casey Affleck. and Matt Damon in a scene from "The Instigators." (Apple TV+ via AP)
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Doug Liman, Matt Damon and the Afflecks Made a Heist Comedy for Apple. ‘The Instigators’

This image released by Apple TV+ shows Hong Chau, from left, Casey Affleck. and Matt Damon in a scene from "The Instigators." (Apple TV+ via AP)
This image released by Apple TV+ shows Hong Chau, from left, Casey Affleck. and Matt Damon in a scene from "The Instigators." (Apple TV+ via AP)

Filmmaker Doug Liman realized quickly he wasn’t on his home turf anymore.

Matt Damon, who he’d directed in “The Bourne Identity” over 20 years ago, had recruited Liman for his new movie “The Instigators,” an action-comedy about a heist gone wrong. Though two decades of friendship is nothing to scoff at, here Liman was coming to Boston to work with Damon and the Affleck brothers, Casey and Ben, whose roots were twice as deep.

“I was suddenly being parachuted into someone else’s family,” Liman said. “Every family’s crazy. And I loved it. I loved everything about it. In a way, I was back to the days of making independent movies where we couldn’t get the attention of anybody in the industry so you’re just doing it on your own with your friends. It’s my favorite kind of filmmaking.”

“The Instigators,” an Apple TV+ release coming in August is a kind “throwback” movie, in the vein of “Midnight Run,” producer Kevin Walsh said. Written by Casey and Chuck McLean, Damon plays a desperate father, Rory, and Casey is Cobby, a small-time criminal, who team up to rob a corrupt politician. It goes poorly and they find themselves on the run, with Rory’s therapist (Hong Chau) in tow.

Liman was excited to direct Damon again for the first time since “Bourne,” and in a role that’s so different from Jason Bourne, who was essentially a hyper-competent superhero.

“You’ve never seen a character like this in a heist movie,” he said. “This is a guy who doesn’t speed. He’s done everything in his life sort of by the books and this is the first time he’s going to break the rules.”

And while it was Liman’s first time working with Casey, playing a guy who’s “never gotten his act together,” he said he’s quickly become his favorite actor.

“The Instigators” was a largely free and creative environment, where everyone was chiming in on the script, including Damon and Ben, and working to make things better. He hadn’t had that sort of experience huddling with his stars and brainstorming the script as they went since “Swingers.”

And it was a stark contrast to their days on “Bourne,” Liman said, where there were all these “adults in the room telling us how the movie is supposed to be made.”

“We obviously didn’t listen to them and that’s why ‘Bourne’ is as good as it is,” Liman said. “But here, we were like ‘holy ---, we’re the adults in the room. How did that happen?”

He praised the model of Artists Equity, Damon and Ben’s production company, for getting rid of many of the costly excesses in filmmaking. But, he laughed, “It really feels like the inmates are running the asylum.”

The filmmakers really used Boston as well, shutting down streets and tunnels for the chase sequences.

“We did a stunt that’s along the Esplanade that runs along the Charles River, which they’ve never shut down,” Walsh said. “We did some stuff that you’ll never see in other films. It was challenging but really cool.”

“The Instigators” was made in partnership with Apple TV+, which will give the film a limited theatrical run starting Aug. 2 before it hits the service on Aug. 9.

Liman recently criticized Amazon/MGM for not giving his “Road House” reboot a theatrical release. But he’s not anti-streaming. This is a person who credits his entire career to home video, where most people saw “Swingers.” He laughed that it would even be absurd to put “Swingers” up on a giant screen “given how shoddy the technical work on the film was.”

His main concern, he said, is that the company is “in sync with the agenda of the filmmaker.”

“It’s not so much about whether you’re streaming or theatrical. It’s about what’s the agenda of the company? Apple is a premium brand. They want to make aspirational movies because it’s in sync with their brand,” he said. “For a filmmaker like myself who wants to make smart commercial movies that are fun and glossy and, in the case of ‘The Instigators,’ don’t take themselves seriously, it was a really great collaboration with a company.”

Entertainment

‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops by White House for a Visit with ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

Actor Mark Hamill takes off sunglasses given to him by President Joe Biden, as he joins White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
Actor Mark Hamill takes off sunglasses given to him by President Joe Biden, as he joins White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
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‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops by White House for a Visit with ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’

Actor Mark Hamill takes off sunglasses given to him by President Joe Biden, as he joins White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP)
Actor Mark Hamill takes off sunglasses given to him by President Joe Biden, as he joins White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as she speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Washington. (AP)

“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House on Friday for a visit with President Joe Biden and walked away with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a greater respect for the office.

“I love the merch,” he said, taking off the glasses during a quick appearance at the White House daily press briefing following his visit with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, kidded with reporters that he’d take a few questions — as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”

“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he said. He’s been to the White House before, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never checked out the Oval Office, and that was quite something, he said. Biden showed off photographs and other Oval Office items, Hamill said.

Hamill said Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill offered an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”

“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also voiced the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”

Both Hamill and the White House were vague about his reason for visiting. But Hamill, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a huge social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.

“May The First Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he wrote on May 1.

On Friday he posted, “May The Third Be Absurd That The Guy Who Tried To Steal A Fair Election Is Allowed To Run Again,” a reference to Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

May 4th is unofficially “Star Wars” Day, in part because of the famous Jedi phrase “May the force be with you.” The pun goes, “May the fourth be with you.”

Hamill also lent his voice to “Air Alert” — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice urges people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.

Entertainment

Europapa or Baby Lasagna? Contestants to Look Out for at Eurovision 2024

A person walks past a sign for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 2, 2024. REUTERS/ Tom Little/File Photo
A person walks past a sign for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 2, 2024. REUTERS/ Tom Little/File Photo
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Europapa or Baby Lasagna? Contestants to Look Out for at Eurovision 2024

A person walks past a sign for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 2, 2024. REUTERS/ Tom Little/File Photo
A person walks past a sign for the Eurovision Song Contest outside the Malmo Arena, the venue for the contest, in Malmo, Sweden, May 2, 2024. REUTERS/ Tom Little/File Photo

The Eurovision Song Contest, a music kitsch-fest watched by some 200 million people, kicks off in Malmö, Sweden on Sunday with its "turquoise carpet" gala, in what fans say is a wide-open year with half a dozen countries having a shot at the title.
Bookmakers have Croatia, Switzerland and Ukraine as the top three favorites to win, while streaming data from Spotify suggests a strong chance for the Netherlands, Italy or host nation Sweden.
"This year is so exciting because there are four or five countries who really have a good shot at winning," William Lee Adams, editor of Eurovision fan site Wiwibloggs, told Reuters.
"Eurovision is so boring when you have one clear favorite month in advance. But this year there is so much left to play for."
Croatia's contestant Baby Lasagna (real name Marko Purišić, 28) this week overtook Switzerland as bookmakers' favorite with song "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" about a young Croatian who leaves his home aspiring to become a "city boy" with better opportunities.
Ukraine, which won the contest two years ago months after it was invaded by Russia, is represented this year by duo alyona alyona, 28, and Jerry Heil, 32, with "Teresa & Maria", a folk-inflected pop song with a strong dance beat and fast-paced rap. The winner normally hosts the following year, but last year's contest was held in Britain because of the war.
Another top contender is Joost Klein, 26, of the Netherlands with his song "Europapa" which mixes tunes of pop with happy hardcore. Klein, who lost his parents at a young age, says the song is about an orphan who travels around Europe trying to find himself, as his father taught him to believe in a Europe without borders.
Also in the running is Italy's Angelina Mango, 23, with her song "La Noia" which translates to "Boredom". Host country Sweden is seen as having a chance for back-to-back wins, represented by Norwegian twin brothers Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen performing their song "Unforgettable".