Missing Link: The Remains Of Noah’s Ark May Have Finally Been Discovered
Noah’s Ark is a biblical tale that is as old as time. The story centers around God’s decision to flood Earth entirely with rain, in order for it to return to its pre-creation state. Before going through with his plan, however, God saved Noah and instructed him to assemble an ark so that he, his family, and the animals from each pair could survive the flood.
Although many believe the Noah’s Ark story is simply an ancient myth and a foreboding warning about God’s wrath, a team of scientists embarked on a journey to see if the story may actually be rooted in truth and if the Ark ever existed.
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The Prince of Wales meets Dame Elizabeth Watts, who is 93 years old, during a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, London, in ...
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Speaking on Live with Kelly and Ryan, Lily revealed: “It’s a rose-cut diamond. Charlie designed it with Irene [Irene Neuwirth Jewellery].”
Lily recently opened up about her desire to start a family, saying: “Of course, I'd love to have a family. So there's the personal, the work, there's the blending of the two…
“It's always a juggle, but I want it to be – I want to be able to do all the things I enjoy. The key thing is finding out what makes sense for us.”
Lily plays Emily Cooper in Emily In Paris, which is now in it’s fourth series.
Hollywood star Ben Stiller sent congratulations to Irish director Aoife McArdle after winning the IFTA Rising Star award.
The Emmy-nominated director from Co Tyrone was announced as the 2023 Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland Rising Star at the Irish Television and Film Awards in Dublin on Sunday.
She picked up the award for her work on Apple TV’s hit series, Severance, which she co-directed alongside Stiller, and he was one of the first to congratulate her on the news.
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IFTA posted the news on social media with a picture of McArdle, saying: “Our fabulous winner of the @ScreenIreland IFTA Rising Star is... director Aoife McArdle!
“Aoife's work includes the feature Kissing Candice, Apple TV+ series Severance, and prolific work in the music video and commercial space.”
Her proud colleague Stiller retweeted the post shortly after, saying: “Congrats Aoife!!”
Omaghnative McArdle studied English Literature at Trinity CollegeDublinand completed a Masters in Film & TV Production at Bournemouth Film School.
She has worked extensively in TV advertising and earlier this year she directed Adam Driver in Squarespace’s big-budget Super Bowl ad The Singularity.
She has also crafted distinct music videos for artists including U2, Coldplay, Bryan Ferry, James Vincent McMorrow, Simian Mobile Disco, and Bloc Party.
Her debut feature film Kissing Candice was IFTA nominated in 2018 for Ann Skelly’s lead performance.
More recently, she worked as a director and producer on Apple TV+ drama Severance - starring Adam Scott, John Turturro, and Patricia Arquette - which garnered her a Primetime Emmy nomination as producer and a Directors Guild of America nomination as director.
The 20th Anniversary of the IFTAs was a star-studded affair with host Deirdre O’Kane at the helm. The evening featured appearances by high-profile Irish and international guest presenters representing the very best in world-class filmmaking.
Irish comedy series The Dry received two awards over the night, including Actor in a Supporting Role - Drama awarded to Ciarán Hinds and Best Original Score to Sarah Lynch.
Other wins in drama categories included Stephen Rea winning Best Actor in a Drama for his role in The English, and the big winner of the eveningBad Sisters, winning Best Drama plus Best Director Drama for Dearbhla Walsh,.
They also picked up awards for Actress in a Lead Role - Drama for Sharon Horgan and Actress in a Supporting Role - Drama, which was awarded to Anne-Marie Duff for her powerful performance in the series.
Lisa McGee won the Award for Best Script - Drama for her celebrated work onDerry Girls.
The George Morrison Feature Documentary Award went to Rising Star nominee Kathryn Ferguson for her Sinéad O'Connor portrait Nothing Compares.
Best Actress Film was awarded to Bríd Ní Neachtain for her role in the Irish language feature film Róise & Frank.
Frank Berry won two awards on the night, Best Director and Best Script Award for his film Aisha, for which Tamara Conboy also won Best Production Design.
Other wins in film categories included Kerry Condon winning for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in The Banshees of Inisherin and Paul Mescal winning the Actor in a Lead Role - Film award for his moving performance in Aftersun.
Robert's eldest kids are Drena, 51, and Raphael, 46, whom she shares with his first wife Diahnne Abbott. He shares twins Julian and Aaron, 27, with his ex-partner Toukie Smith.
And the actor shares son Elliot, 25, and daughter Helen, 11, with Grace Hightower. The former couple got married in 1997 but reportedly becameseparated in around 2018.
Following his announcement toET Canada, we've taken a look at some other celebrity fathers who have themselves welcomed children later in their lives just like Robert.
David Foster
David Foster's youngest child was born in 2021(Image: Getty Images North America)
The musician shares his two-year-old son with his wife Katharine McPhee(Image: Getty Images)
The composer and record producer toldPeopleearlier this year: "Even though I won't be around when he's 50 or 40 even, or 30 maybe. I think I can offer him wisdom from [my years] on the planet. And maybe that's not a bad trade-off."
David has five daughters from past relationships, including actor Sara Foster, 42. He's also a parent to Allison Foster, 52, Amy Foster, 49, Erin Foster, 40, and Jordan Foster, 36.
Richard Gere
Richard Gere has two young children from his third marriage(Image: Getty Images)
The actor shares the children with his wife Alejandra Silva(Image: Getty Images)
Richard Gere, 73, has two young children with his third wife Alejandra Silva, 40, whom he married in 2018. Their first child Alexander Gere, now four, was born in 2019.
The couple later welcomed expanded their family with the arrival of their second son James Gere, now two, in 2020. Richard was 70 when his youngest son James was born.
The actor - known for films like Pretty Woman and Chicago - shares his eldest child with his first wife Carey Lowell, 62. The former couple are parents to Homer Gere, 23.
George Lucas
George Lucas welcomed his youngest child when he was 69(Image: Clive Mason)
George Lucas, now 78 - best known for having been the filmmaker behind the Star Wars and
Thelate Carrie Fisherwas honored by her daughter Billie Lourd and “Star Wars” co-star Mark Hamill on Thursday in a ceremony unveiling her posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The ceremony took place on May the 4th, widely known as“Star Wars” day,which The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce on Thursday also declared “Carrie Fisher Day” in Hollywood as Fisher’s star was unveiled.
(From left) R2D2, C3P0, Billie Lourd and Mark Hamill at Carrie Fisher's Walk of Fame ceremony in Los Angeles on May 4. - Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images
Lourd donned a sheath dress showcasing an image of Fisher’s iconic character Princess Leia, and was surrounded by “Star Wars” droids at the podium when she spoke about her mom.
“Leia is more than just a character, she is a feeling,” she said, later adding that “people’s love for Leia didn’t die with my mom, it continues to get passed on from generation to generation, just like my mom passed it on to me, and I am now passing it onto my children. And hopefully, they will pass it onto theirs.”
Becoming emotional, Lourd went on to say, “I feel so lucky that even though they won’t get to meet my mom, they will get to know a piece of her through Leia. And I will get to tell them that the little lady in the TV is my mommy, their grand-mommy.”
“I can’t wait to bring my kids here when they’re old enough to understand how cool it is,” she concluded.
Portrait of American actress Carrie Fisher, 1978. - Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis Historical/Getty Images
Fisher’s star is the 2,754th star to be unveiled on Hollywood Blvd and is located across the street from the star for her mother,Debbie Reynolds,a celebrated multi-talented actor herself. Reynolds died in December 2016,just one day after Fisher died of a heart attackat 60 years old.
Also in attendance on Thursday was Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker alongside Fisher and lovingly spoke of his “space twin.”
“Carrie was one-of-a-kind who belonged to us all,” Hamill said. He added that “she was our princess,” and described her as a “gorgeous, ferociously independent take-charge woman who took our breath away.”
A beloved cultural icon in Hollywood, Fisher is most well known for her role as Princess Leia in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Fisher made her film debut in “Shampoo” in 1975, and had a decades-long career as both an actress – appearing in hits such as “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Blues Brothers” – and decorated writer.
Fisher wrote multiple books and memoirs, and received a BAFTA nomination for the “Postcards from the Edge” screenplay that she penned, based on her best-selling semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The 1990 film starred Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.
Billie Lourd with 'Star Wars' droid characters at her mom Carrie Fisher's posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in Los Angeles on May 4. - Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Lourd, an actress in her own right with credits such as “Booksmart” and “American Horror Story” to her name,followed in her mother’s footstepswhen she played Lieutenant Connix in “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens” in 2015, “Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi” in 2017 and “Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of the Skywalker” in 2019.
As Fisher’s star was unveiled, Lourd sprinkled some of her mom’s glitter over it.
“My mom was glitter, she covered her world in it,” Lourd had said during her speech. “She left a mark of her sparkle on everyone she met.”
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The Hollywood premiere of The Little Mermaid brought
a sea of celebrities and their kids, from Melissa McCarthy and her
15-year-old to Offset and his two all-dressed-up daughters. See the
photos!
Ariel herselfshined
in a custom mermaid-esque gown by Valdrin Sahiti. Speaking to PEOPLE on
the red carpet, Bailey gave a nod to princesses like Brandy and Anika
Noni Rose who "were the blueprint for me to even be able to be here
today." She added, "I hope that [Black girls] know they are worthy and
we deserve to be in these spaces. And I hope that they see themselves in
me on the screen. I'm just grateful to be here."
'Together we've filed for divorce. We're grateful for the 19 years together and for our beloved daughter,' Marin wrote onInstagram.
'We’re still best friends, close to each other and loving parents. Going forward we will still spend time together as a family and with each other. We wish you will respect our privacy. We won’t comment further on this.'
Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin married her long-term partner Markus Raikkonen in an intimate ceremony in 2020. They have now announced their divorce
Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin today announced she is divorcing her husband Markus Raikkonen after 19 years together.
Marin and Raikkonen, both 34, share a five-year-old daughter Emma Amalia Marin and were married nearly three years ago in August 2020.
But the couple, who had been together since they were 18-years-old, today announced they had filed for divorce.
'Together we've filed for divorce. We're grateful for the 19 years together and for our beloved daughter,' Marin wrote on Instagram.
'We’re still best friends, close to each other and loving parents. Going forward we will still spend time together as a family and with each other. We wish you will respect our privacy. We won’t comment further on this.'
Marin, who is stepping down as Prime Minister after her election defeat last month, has been embroiled in a series of scandals over her partying during her time in office.
In August last year, the party-loving prime minister was filmed dancing intimately with Finnish singer Olavi Uusivirta, 38, leading to him issuing a denial that they were having an affair.
Leaked video footage also showed Marin dancing provocatively with Finnish social media influencer Sabina Särkkä, 33, as they draped their arms around each other with their legs nearly touching.
Ms Marin was wearing the same white trousers and black sleeveless top in both videos suggesting they were filmed on the same night earlier this mont
The safest place aboveground to ride out a storm that destructive is a
tornado safe room, a wind-resistant structure made of reinforced concrete. But there is no public tornado shelter in Rolling Fork — or in all of Sharkey County, where about aquarter of residencesare mobile homes.
That left many people in this county, which is71% Black, without protection as the storm bore down. While some hid where they could — in private storm cellars, in the closets and bathrooms of brick homes, in the walk-in refrigerator atChuck’s Dairy Bar— others had no safe option. Fourteen people died.
“I do believe a lot of those people would have been alive if they would have had somewhere to go,” said Carrie Linda Mathews, who lives 8 miles south of Rolling Fork.
Her husband’s church lost a 56-year-old parishioner who was found dead in her mobile home, which had flipped upside down. “That’s the worst place you could be,” she said of mobile homes during a storm.
Mississippi doesn’t comprehensively track tornado shelters that are open to the public, and its list of the largest safe rooms isn’t available online. NBC News called emergency management directors and local officials in the 15 counties surrounding Sharkey County. According to those interviews, only six counties had at least one shelter that officials said was built to theFederal Emergency Management Agency’s guidelines.
Based on the survey, the closest public tornado shelter to Rolling Fork is in Morgan City, 53 miles away, where concrete vaults next to the small town’s fire station can hold an estimated 20 people. Families in Rolling Fork would have to drive about 71 miles to the town of Merigold to reach the nearest safe room with a capacity of more than 100 people.
This list is not definitive. Some counties also have shelters that are primarily used for first responders but may sometimes be open to the public. Some of the shelters NBC News found are more than a decade old and may require repairs.
In Sharkey County, residents are mourning the storm’s victims and wondering whether a shelter could have saved lives that night. At leasteightpeople who were killed in the tornado outbreak lived in mobile homes.
“The things I saw in this storm,” said Bill Newsom, the president of the county’s Board of Supervisors. “The mobile homes just didn’t have a chance. They were just wiped away.”
Tornado shelters can cost millions of dollars to build, which puts them out of reach of the Mississippi Delta’s poorest communities. A local emergency manager in another county said that even with a FEMA grant program covering 75% of the cost, county officials had opted not to apply, because they didn’t have the budget.
A FEMA spokesperson said the agency has made significant investments in tornado shelters, having spent more than $158.5 million on 98 community safe rooms in 44 of Mississippi’s 82 counties since 2008. The Biden administration alsoinvestedmore than $2 billion in a FEMA program to help communities better prepare for disasters and climate change, covering 90% of costs in rural areas considered economically disadvantaged.
But Malary White, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said there are communities in the state that would struggle to contribute 10% matches for safe rooms.
“This is a conversation we’ve had with FEMA,” she said. “Our counties have said they simply cannot afford it.”
White added that the agency used to share an online map of safe room locations but took the guide down after it heard that sites weren’t always open. Now, addresses are posted online when counties report the rooms are open for severe weather.
Craig Fugate, a former administrator of FEMA, said that beyond the federal government, state governments, too, have a role to play in funding disaster preparedness. He’s concerned that there’s a resiliency divide hindering the ability of disadvantaged communities to prepare for storms and rebuild afterward.
“The consequences are more people are going to die, more people are going to suffer,” he said.
A family's loss
Robert Barfield, a Rolling Fork police officer, had only a few hours left in his shift on March 24, a Friday evening, when he looked out over a field and saw the tornado’s wedge lit up by lightning.
Barfield, 24, could barely see through the sheets of rain, but he could make out the telephone poles snapping in front of him. The wind was so strong he couldn’t open the door of his patrol car to get out. He rode out the storm in the cruiser, covering his head with his hands as the vehicle rocked.
When it was over, he was dispatched to a mobile home park just off U.S. Highway 61.
The lots where residents once lived were “just disintegrated, just gone,” he said.
Barfield saw a boy he recognized from the local Little League team limping amid the ruin. “Robert, I can’t breathe,” the child told him. “I’m scared.” Barfield tried to help the boy before he was taken to the hospital. He had a collapsed lung but survived.
Then Barfield heard from another officer that he needed to check on his aunt. She lived a mile to the south, in Rolling Fork’s Blue Front neighborhood.
Mary Barfield Bush, 56, had settled in for the night when the storm hit, flipping her mobile home upside down and pinning her under a mattress. When Barfield arrived, he had to step over debris and climb through a hole that had been ripped in the home’s side.
The other officer had already warned him that his aunt might not have survived, but Barfield needed to be sure of it himself. That’s what he would have wanted if it were his mom.
“I wasn’t letting anybody tell me anything,” he said.
Barfield took her wrist to check her pulse. She was gone.
Barfield realized he needed to keep moving. The floor of his aunt’s battered trailer was now the ceiling, and it could cave in. And more people needed help.
“I had a duty to go to the next house,” Barfield said.
He kept working until Sunday morning. What he witnessed makes him believe Rolling Fork should have a public tornado shelter, so those who find it unsafe to remain in their homes won’t have to.
“Even if they lose their homes, they don’t lose their lives,” he said.
Lequita Barfield, 36, Bush’s daughter, is unsure whether her mother would have gone to a shelter that night if one had been available.
For Russian President Vladimir Putin, this year’sVictory Day paradein Red Square was a chance to continue hiswar on history. He succeeded only in underscoring his geopolitical isolation.
In a speech before the assembled troops, Putin drew a direct line between his invasion of Ukraine and the sacrifices of World War II. Flanked by surviving veterans of what Russia still calls the Great Patriotic War, the Russian president cast himself as savior and defender of an embattled Russia targeted by the “globalist elites” of the West.
“Today, civilization again is at a breaking point,” Putin said. “Again, a true war has been unleashed against our motherland.”
While Russia sees “no unfriendly nations in the West or in the East,” Putin suggested darker forces are conspiring against Moscow.
“Western globalist elites still talk about their exceptionalism, pitting people against each other and splitting society, provoking bloody conflicts and coups, sowing hatred, Russophobia, [and] aggressive nationalism,” he said. “The Ukrainian nation has become hostage to a coup which led to a criminal regime led by its Western masters. It has become a pawn to their cruel and selfish plans.”
Despite the pomp of the parade, Putin cuts an increasingly isolated figure. - Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/AP
It’s worth unpacking this for a moment. It’s Putin’s longstanding view thatUkraine is not a legitimate nation— Ukrainians and Russians, in his view, are “one people” and the Ukrainian state is an artificial construct. In his conspiratorial view of the world,states like Ukraine are merely vassals, and Washington calls the shots. And if a shadowy global cabal is pulling the strings in Kyiv, that belief justifies what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Centuries-Old Secrets Discovered Beneath the Golden Gate Bridge
Over the years, countless tourists have been snapping pictures of the scenic Golden Gate Bridge that links the City of San Francisco to Marin County. Comprising 4,200 feet of glorious man-made steel, the structure once held the world record for being the tallest and longest suspension bridge. It earned this title the moment construction was completed in 1937.
Postcards of the bridge are sold and shared, reminding people of the memorable experiences they had in San Fran. However, these cheery snapshots are unable to capture what lurks beneath the bridge’s beautiful aesthetics. Far below the majestic structure lie ghastly secrets that have been drifting in the abyss for more than a century. These vestiges of the past have been awaiting acknowledgment, ready to answer our questions in the hope of finding eternal peace in return.
(Reuters) - A Ukrainian military unit said it had routed a Russian infantry brigade from frontline territory near Bakhmut, claiming to confirm an account by the head of Russia's Wagner private army that the Russian forces had fled.
CONFLICT
* Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin complained that his Wagner fighters were still not getting enough shells from the defence ministry to underpin what he said was their advance in Bakhmut.
* A military object found in a Polish forest in April was a Russian KH-55 missile, two Polish media outlets reported. Poland has been on alert for possible spillover of weaponry from the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
NUCLEAR PLANT
* Russian forces are planning to evacuate more than 3,000 workers from the town that serves the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, resulting in a "catastrophic lack" of personnel, Ukraine's state-owned Energoatom company said.
SANCTIONS DEBATE
* European Union states were holding a first discussion on Wednesday on proposed new sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine that would target Chinese and Iranian firms and allow export curbs on third countries for busting trade restrictions.
INSIDE RUSSIA
* A filling point on the Druzhba pipeline in a Russian region bordering Ukraine has been attacked, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russia's oil pipeline operator Transneft.
* Two drones tried to attack a military facility in Russia's Voronezh region but failed, region's governor said.
* Russia's air defence forces shot down an "enemy" drone in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine, its governor said, adding that falling debris damaged a gas pipeline and a house.
Related video:Moscow holds Victory Day military parade as Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine(CNBC)
* Two Russian soldiers from Kamchatka in the far east have been sentenced to two-and-a-half years each in prison for refusing to fight in Ukraine, human rights group OVD-Info said.
* A prosecutor in St. Petersburg has requested a three-year suspended sentence for a woman who left a note with an "insulting inscription" on the grave of President Vladimir Putin's parents, human rights group OVD-Info said.
“Star Wars” Day got a little extra shine on Thursday.
ThelateCarrie Fisher, who’s widely known for her role as Princess Leia in George Lucas’ beloved franchise, received a posthumous star on theHollywood Walk of Fame on May 4 — which has long been considered the unofficial holiday for all things“Star Wars.” (May the 4th is a play on the line “May the force be with you.”)
Seven years after her2016 deathat age 60, her co-starMark Hamill and her daughterBillie Lourdremembered Fisher by honoring her with touching speeches at the ceremony.
Hamill remembered his first impression of Fisher.
“I remember thinking, ‘She’s 19 years old, she’s barely out of high school.’ I was a worldly 24 ― and every expectation I had was just obliterated,” he recalled. “She was so charming, so funny, so adorable, so wise beyond her years. I just couldn’t believe it.”
“And brutally frank!,” he added to laughs from the crowd. “She started telling me stories — intimate stories — about her family that I was thinking, ‘Should I be hearing this?’ I mean, these were things that I would probably not tell friends unless I knew them for years. But that was Carrie. She also had a wisdom that seemed to be far beyond what a 19-year-old should be expected to have.”
He also admitted that he struggled to find the right words to do Fisher justice in his speech, so he went back to aFacebook post he shared shortly after her death and then read it aloud.
“Carrie was one-of-a-kind who belonged to us all — whether she liked it or not. She was OUR Princess, damn it, & the actress who played her blurred into one gorgeous, fiercely independent & ferociously funny, take-charge woman who took our collective breath away.”
He concluded his speech by acknowledging that it’s sad that Fisher couldn’t have been there for the ceremony, “but she wouldn’t want us to be sad. She’d want us to have fun. She’d want us to laugh.”
Lourd spoke a few moments later, admitting that when she was young she didn’t quite get all the hype around “Star Wars” and her mother.
“Like most kids, I grew up thinking my mom was a little bit — OK, a lot — embarrassing,” Lourd began. “She tried to alter my opinion by showing me this ‘cool movie’ she was in, ‘Star Wars.’ I don’t know if any of you have ever heard of it, I haven’t.”
Lourd added: “She used to love to tell the story of how every time she would try to put it on, I would roll my eyes and yell, ‘It’s too loud, Mommy!’ Or fearfully question, ‘Is that lady in the TV you?’”
Lourd admitted that she refused to watch the “Star Wars” movies until middle school, when “boys started coming up to me and telling me they ‘fantasized’ about my mom.”
So Lourd finally decided to press play.
“I went home to investigate who this person was they were talking about. I finally watched the movie I had forever considered too loud and finally figured out what all the fuss was about with the lady in the TV,” Lourd recalled. “I wanted to hate it so I could tell her how lame she was. Like any kid, I didn’t want my mom to be hot or cool. She was my mom. But that day, staring at the screen, I realized no one is or will ever be as hot or as cool as Princess Leia.”
Lourd said that later that same year, she accompanied her mother to Comic-Con — and her mom’s hot and cool factors finally sunk in.
“People of all ages from all over the world were dressed up like my mom, the lady who sang me to sleep at night and held me when I was scared. Watching the amount of joy it brought to people when she hugged them or threw glitter at them — sorry about that — was incredible to witness. People waited in line for hours just to meet her. People had tattoos of her, people named their children after her, people had stories of how she saved their lives. It was a side of my mom I had never seen before, and it was magical,” recalled Lourd. “I realized then that Leia is more than just a character. She is a feeling. She is strength. She is grace. She is wit. She is femininity at its finest. She knows what she wants and she gets it. She doesn’t need anyone to rescue her because she rescues herself and even rescues the rescuers. And no one could have played her like my mother.”
Fisher could have coasted on her “Star Wars” fame but opted to not be defined by it — or her lifelong approximation to fame. (Her parents were actor Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher. She was also married to musician Paul Simon.)
After “Star Wars,” Fisher chose roles that showcased her comedic timing in scene-stealing turns in “The Blues Brothers,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “The ’Burbs” and “Soapdish.”
She was also a prolific author. Among her books was her semi-autobiographical and bestselling debut, “Postcards From the Edge.” Fisher went on to publishfour more novels, in addition to three memoirs and several plays and screenplays. She was also an in-demand script doctor and helped zhush upa few well-known scripts before they were filmed, including “Hook,” “Sister Act” and “The Wedding Singer.”
“It’s hard to think of her in the past tense,” Hamill said during his speech.
“Had she only done Princess Leia, that would be enough,” Hamill noted in his Walk of Fame speech. “Had she just written one book, that alone would be something that would be enough to satisfy someone who wanted to make a mark on the world. But she did it from every different direction. … She really was just such an original.”
To lure viewers into cinemas in the early days, Hollywood invented the concept of the movie star. Now, the latter is an endangered species, if a new survey by the market-research firm NRG is anything to go by. The findings of the poll were reported last week by Matthew Belloni, the influential journalist and ex-entertainment lawyer whose newsletter, What I’m Hearing, takes the pulse of the industry; the statistics point to a grim future in which only ageing stars retain the pulling power to get us to fork out for a cinema ticket.
Those polled were asked to name up to five stars whose involvement in a film would tempt them to go to see it – not to stream it, but to catch it on theatrical release. The answers yielded many of the names you’d expect: Tom Cruise topped the list, with Dwayne Johnson, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington next beneath. Julia Roberts was the highest-placed female star at number six, with Sandra Bullock at number 12, and Angelina Jolie at number 18. According to Belloni, many studio executives putting together new projects have been studying this list with consternation. For while it testifies to the enduring appeal of many stars who’ve been around since the 1990s – or earlier still, in Harrison Ford’s case – it’s remarkably low on fresh blood. In the top 20, only one actor is under 40 years old, and that’s 39-year-old Chris Hemsworth, sneaking in at the very bottom.
For the management of Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Michael B Jordan or Tom Holland, all of whom might have assumed their A-list status would have seen them on that list, it’s dismaying news. These younger actors may have devoted followings on social media, but their actual star wattage isn’t powerful enough to get bums on physical seats – unlike, say, the three biggest poll-listed stars of the Ocean’s films (Clooney, Pitt, Roberts). While the junior contingent have been attached to their own successful franchises – the likes of The Hunger Games, Dune, Creed and Spider-Man – the implication seems clear: it was the draw of those franchises themselves, rather than the names of the actors, that lured the punters in.
This worrying truth becomes even clearer if you look at statistics for the highest-grossing actors of all time. Scarlett Johansson topped that particular list in January, despite not even cracking the top 20 in the aforementioned poll. She has appeared as Black Widow in nine Marvel films to date, boosting her box-office total into the stratosphere – but are people queuing because they want to see ScarJo herself? Evidently not.
Cinemagoers have, for generations, become attached to their favourite actors, as the longevity of Clint Eastwood or Jane Fonda would suggest. But to retain interest only in long-established stars is a new development, and one that seriously threatens the industry’s future.
Back in 1961, a 29-year-old Elizabeth Taylor was the biggest draw of the day – and she had nothing like a superhero franchise inflating her bankability. Audiences went to a Liz Taylor film to see Liz Taylor. The same was true of Marlon Brando, in his late 20s when he became a sensation, and even John Travolta, just 23 when Saturday Night Fever (1977) propelled him to fame. It’s hard to imagine Grease, one year later, having become such a hit without him. A generation before all of them, the biggest stars in the firmament were Mickey Rooney, who was barely out of his teens, and Shirley Temple, whose four-year reign as America’s number one box-office draw began in the year she turned seven.
The vast majority of films, then, used to be star vehicles. Fast-forward to the present day, and see how things have changed: Margot Robbie in Barbie and Chalamet in Wonka, to pick two of this year’s most anticipated films, are clearly subservient to the brands they’re selling. It was different for Eddie Murphy, 23 when Beverly Hills Cop (1984) came out, or Leonardo DiCaprio, the same age for Titanic (1997). The hits built around them, again and again, hinged very specifically on their talents. The same is certainly true of Denzel Washington. But Mission: Impossible, in some alternate reality, might have chosen another leading man, since the pre-existing concept was a hook in its own right. (Admittedly, though, Top Gun: Maverick without Tom Cruise? They might have tried to reboot the original, but there’s no way it would have made $1.49 billion worldwide.)
One issue is that star careers used to be nurtured in mid-budget fare – something like The Color of Money for Cruise, say, or Pretty Woman for Julia Roberts. The existence of that whole stratum of films, especially rom-coms, is under threat, at least in terms of viability for cinema release. Those ideas get siphoned off to streaming services, where the importance of stars is decidedly secondary. Netflix doesn’t have any stake in building up a star’s visibility to the point where they can “open” a film. And that’s because Netflix films don’t open – they just appear on your TV at home.
Meanwhile, the remaining studios plough all their resources into keeping the blockbuster conveyor-belt ticking along. Stars are merely faces for the poster, locked in for multi-film obligations where they basically do the same thing every time. Over a well-managed career arc, movie icons of the past had opportunities to surprise us, ruffle up their image, or play against type – the way James Stewart, everyone’s favourite tweedy nice-guy, did in his darkly obsessive work for Hitchcock. Being handcuffed to unending franchise assignments is hugely restricting to any such scope, and it’s not only the performers that suffer – it’s a hex on storytelling itself. Did we honestly expect Chris Pratt to reinvent himself inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol 3?
For the studios, it’s much safer to make the franchise itself into the star. While Robert Pattinson may suddenly get cancelled for whatever reason, Batman can never be. Stars can be easily replaced, of course – we’ve seen it happen now with Kevin Spacey, Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer – and the business just moves along. (Depp may be ninth in the poll – suggesting a consumer desire to un-cancel him – but this has not yet encouraged studio bosses to consider him bankable again.) These days, why would executives spend a fortune building up a person to be a brand, when that brand can be tarnished by a single stray tweet?
No: the brands that make bottom-line sense are the Mattel toys, the caped crusaders, or any character bigger than the actor playing them. Opportunities for one of those mighty, ever-mutating star careers, such as the ones Jack Nicholson or Meryl Streep have had, are dwindling by the day. May their style of stardom rest in peace, and long live the franchises instead – said no one, ever, who gives a damn about cinema.
The last of the trio of stars in the original"Star Wars"trilogy is finally getting her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The late Carrie Fisher will receive her Hollywood star on Thursday, May 4, appropriately the date of "Star Wars" fans' cultural holiday May the Fourth. The date has sparked the annual fan phrase, "May the Fourth be with You" — a play on words of the iconic "Star Wars" line, "May the Force be with You."
According toTime, Fisher's daughter and "Star Wars" sequel trilogy co-star, Billie Lourd, will be accepting her late mother's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at the 6,800 block of Hollywood Boulevard. The location of Fisher's star is not too far away from the theater where the first "Star Wars" film debuted in limited release on May 25, 1977.
Fisher, of course, played Princess Leia Organa in the original "Star Wars" film trilogy from 1977 to 1983 and reprised the role in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy from starting 2015's "The Force Awakens." Fisher passed away on December 27, 2016, at age 60. Although she completed her work on the second "Star Wars" sequel trilogy film, 2017's "The Last Jedi," footage she shot for the film, along with some digital effects,allowed for the late Fisher to appearin 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker."
Princess Leia was also recreated digitally for short but pivotal return at the conclusion of 2016's "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," which was accompanied by brief dialogue by Fisher.
Related video:Todd Fisher rubbished Billie Lourd's claim that Carrie Fisher's siblings capitalised on her death(Bang Showbiz)
With the Hollywood Star honor, Carrie Fisher joins her "Star Wars" co-leads Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Harrison Ford (Han Solo). Ford was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, while Hamill was celebrated with his star on the famed stretch in 2018. The address for Fisher's star is 6840 Hollywood Blvd., just a few steps down from Hamill's star at 6834 Hollywood Blvd. Ford's star is located on 6667 Hollywood Blvd.
In anApril 24 tweet posted by Hamill about the pending Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, the actor honored his former co-star Fisher by simply stating, "Long overdue & so well-deserved."
Hamill also discussed his memories of Fisher withVariety, and admitted that nearly seven years after her death, he still struggles with the fact that she's no longer in the present. "It's hard to think of her in the past tense," Hamill told the trade publication. "There are people that you encounter in life that are so vibrant and make such a profound impact on you, they stay with you forever. Had she only done Princess Leia, that would be enough ... She really was just such an original."
Hamill's words almost seem to echo what Luke said to Leia in their emotional last meeting in "The Last Jedi," where he tells her,"No one's ever really gone."
Technology giants are allowing scammers to run rampant on social media and must be made to reimburse fraud victims, banks have said.
Banks reported almost three million cases of fraud last year, with victims losing a total £1.2bn. Some 78pc of fraud cases started online.
Consumers lost more than £485m in 2022 to authorised push payment fraud, where a scammer tricks someone into transferring money, according to the banking trade body UK Finance.
Nearly 80pc of these cases originated from online sources, an analysis of 59,000 such scams revealed.
This comes days after bank TSB said that eight in 10 scams suffered by its customers could be traced back to Meta’s platforms.
UK Finance, which represents the banking and financial services, said tech giants must do more to prevent scams from happening in the first place.
Relying on banks to reimburse victims gives social media platforms “that facilitate the majority of fraud” no financial incentive to stop fraudsters, the group said.
David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, said: “If we're going to have a position where people are reimbursed, it seems fair that the tech companies ought to be part of that because, ultimately, they are currently profiting from the generation of this fraud, and that cannot be right.”
The trade body’s calls echo Suella Braverman’s plans to block fraud “at source”.
Last week the Home Secretary unveiled a new strategy to combat scams, which she said cost the UK nearly £7bn a year.
Errant technology firms and social media platforms that fail to prevent fraud on their sites will face fines of up to 10pc of their global turnover under the new laws currently being considered by the House of Lords.
However, experts have said the Government’s anti-fraud strategy – which includes a ban on cold calls promoting financial products and a clampdown on mass texting technology – does not go far enough.
Rocio Concha, of consumer organisation Which?, said: “If the Government is serious about its fraud strategy, the Online Safety Bill must provide meaningful protections against the deluge of online advertising fraud we all face on some of the world’s most popular social media sites and search engines – and it needs to be passed into law without delay.”
Banks also warned the rise of artificial intelligence could lead to an explosion of even more sophisticated scams harnessing the likes of ChatGPT and voice cloning. Last year saw a rise in scammers using “social engineering” to trick consumers into giving up one-time passwords and log in details, UK Finance said, fuelling a huge 97pc increase in card ID fraud.
Mr Postings said: “I have concerns about the ability of AI to be able to spoof people even more successfully than is currently the case through voice changes, and maybe even face changes on video calls,” but added the technology was still “a long way off”.
The Payment Systems Regulator is currently consulting on proposals that would force banks themselves to reimburse victims of certain types of fraud, but this has also been delayed until 2024.
This delay has been called “unacceptable” by the Treasury committee, an influential group of MPs, who have warned the system should be implemented no later than the end of 2023.
On average only 59pc of APP scams result in a bank reimbursing the victim, data show.
A spokesman for Meta said: “We don’t want anyone to fall victim to these criminals which is why our platforms have systems to block scams, financial services advertisers now have to be authorised by the financial regulator and we run consumer awareness campaigns on how to spot fraudulent behaviour.
“People can also report this content in a few simple clicks and we work with the police to support their investigations.”
And Just Like That season 2 will see another Sex and the City star make their big return.
Per Entertainment Weekly, Enid Frick actress Candice Bergen will be popping up in the second season of the spin-off show, which will premiere next month.
As fans of the original series will remember, Enid was Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) take-no-prisoners editor when she worked at Vogue.
"Candice Bergen is back as Enid, which we're thrilled about because I always loved Enid. She is a cold, wonderful diva of publishing," showrunner Michael Patrick King confirmed.
As for Enid, we last saw her when Sex and the City hit the big screen in 2008. In the movie, Enid asked Carrie to appear in a special bridal edition of Vogue back when she was set to marry Mr Big (Chris Noth) ahead of his tragic death.
Bergen won't be the only familiar face we'll be seeing cross over from SATC, though. John Corbett will also be reprising his role from the original show, returning as Carrie's ex-boyfriend Aidan Shaw.
We got our first look at Corbett's return in a trailer for season two, which dropped last month and showed Aidan pulling up outside Carrie's apartment.
As for what else we can expect when And Just Like That returns, King offered a small tease to EW.
"When Sex and the City was good, we showed four individuals all experiencing different versions of the same question, which is, 'How do you fulfill yourself?'" he said. "That's what we're doing now with even more characters."
And Just Like That, the sequel to Sex and the City airs onSky Atlantic and NOW in the UK
Thousands stunned after a guest wore a sheer white dress to a wedding
The frilly asymmetric fabric also looked like it had a train
A wedding guest has recently earned the ire of thousands by showing up to her friend's nuptials wearing a sheer white dress that showed off her underwear.
Another mum shared an image of the guest's 'inappropriate' attire which violated several wedding social conventions, such as refraining from wearing white - which is reserved for the bride.
The dress' asymmetrical shape and long back also made it seem like the garment had a frilly train.
Its sheer nature and thigh-high slit perfectly displayed the white bodysuit the woman had on underneath the dress.
Many bashed the outfit as 'horrible' and 'outrageous' and couldn't believe how the woman was allowed to attend the black tie event.
'It was pretty. The lady was gorgeous and edgy. But that's not what you wear to a friend's wedding, in my opinion,' the mum added.
Several took to the comments to immediately chastise the unknown woman.
'That is not 'beautiful and edgy' That is what you wear to the pool!' a woman wrote.
'It looks more like a bathing suit and cover up than something you should be wearing to a wedding,' another said.
'I don't think this is appropriate even in another colour. Everyone else seems to have taken consideration on what to wear and nobody else seems to be in a see-through mesh swimsuit coverup passed off as a dress. Lazy,' a second commented.
Afamily received a note from a furious neighbour asking them to close their window while cooking meat to stop the "sickening" smell from spreading.
The handwritten note, which was marked as "Please take seriously" and "Important message", was shared on social media by Kylie, who lives in Perth's northern coastal suburb of Burns Beach.
In the letter, the resident claims their family eat "only plant-based food" and the smell of meat makes them "feel sick and upset".
The note reads: Hello, Neighbour, Could you please shut your side window when cooking, please?
"My family are vegan (we eat only plant-based food), and the smell of the meat you cook makes us feel sick and upset.
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