Joshua Oppenheimer’s post-apocalyptic musical is an interesting, but failed, experiment. The day starts off like any other for the Family: they wake up, fuss over the placement of the carefully curated classic art decorating their walls, work on their dioramas, revise their memoirs, and practice survival drills for the inevitable spread of toxic air. Of course, they do all this while singing grand, sweeping songs (that are sometimes accompanied by choreography). The curious combination of apocalyptic chamber piece with movie musical makes Joshua Oppenheimer’s new feature film The End an intriguing experiment — and an even more disappointing failure. The End is the first scripted feature from Oppenheimer, who was twice Oscar-nominated for his documentaries The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence . When it was announced that Oppenheimer would make his narrative feature directorial debut with a post-apocalyptic musical starring Tilda Swinton, it certainly piqued the interest of the arthouse movie world. But while The End and its highly stylized, bleak vision of post-global warming future may still appeal to arthouse critics, The End still mostly fails as a narrative feature and as a musical . The unnamed Family at the center of The End consists of Mother (Swinton), Father (Michael Shannon), and Son (George MacKay), who have sequestered themselves away in an elaborately stocked bunker with Mother’s Friend (Bronagh Gallagher), the Butler (Tim McInnerny), and the Doctor (Lennie James). But “bunker” is sort of an ill-fitting description — their home is more like a mansion that has been transplanted underground, where it’s safe from the fiery inferno that has engulfed the Earth’s surface. The mansion is full of priceless art, antique furniture, and a piano that Mother, who was a former ballerina, never plays. Every day, the group eats gourmet meals prepared by Friend, who was a renowned chef in the Before Times, and is served tea by Butler, who busies himself by repairing the slowly-cracking walls of the bunker, or gets the occasional check-up from Doctor. And every day, Son helps write his Father’s memoir, which Father (a former oil tycoon) carefully massages so as to make it seem like he wasn’t responsible for the end of the world. After decades underground, it’s clear that the relationships among the group are starting to fracture, but the survivors have one unifying belief: that Son is the future, and he must be protected. But that delicate balance is threatened when a Girl (Moses Ingram) is found unconscious at the far edge of the underground caverns where their bunker sits. The group goes into a panic — the last time they let survivors into their bunker, they were attacked and nearly murdered. They decide to treat her wounds and send her back to the surface, but Girl is terrified of going back, and begs to stay with them. Her pleas tug the heartstrings of Son, who is suspicious, but mostly intrigued, by the first new person he’s ever seen in his life. For a while, The End continues as you’d expect: Son and Girl start up a timid flirtation, and fall in love, but Girl still faces distrust from Mother, who dislikes the questions that Girl keeps asking about her family. Despite its small ensemble and limited setting, The End has a lot on its mind. It alludes to the dangers of climate change and the part that Big Oil has in slowly destroying the world, and picks at the scab of guilt that the Family has carried with them since they’ve squirreled themselves away with priceless art and none of their other relatives. And with the introduction of Ingram’s Girl, a Black woman who is keenly aware of the veiled microaggressions Mother and Father lob at her, as well as the naive mindset that Son has been raised with, The End almost says something interesting about race and classism. However, it only brushes up against these big ideas, building up to an explosive confrontation, only for the characters to repress their unhappiness and let it simmer, preferring to play house in their slowly disintegrating bunker. At first its unpredictability is charming, with The End unafraid to probe at its thornier character flaws. It would all be very interesting if it weren’t so boring. As an outsider who stumbles upon the wealthy family in the bunker, Moses Ingram provides a much-needed shakeup. But what of the musical aspect? Shouldn’t that make this movie at least a little fun? Not quite — most of the songs, composed by indie stage lyricist Joshua Schmidt and Moulin Rouge musical director Marius de Vries, are mournful ballads only a few notes off from a funeral dirge. And Oppenheimer mostly chooses to shoot the musical sequences in languid long takes, the camera swooping from room to room as the characters stand and sing and stare at each other. The only sequence with a bit of energy and dynamism is performed by MacKay’s son, in a Footloose -esque solo rock number in which he struggles with the budding feelings he has over Girl. But for the most part, The End feels like it wastes its musical gimmick, and instead resorts to being a sluggish chamber piece that meanders endlessly. It feels like a shame, as Swinton, Shannon, MacKay, and Ingram are especially game for this unique experiment. Swinton, as always, excels at playing the brittle, standoffish rich woman, while Shannon throws in a dash of bigotry with his feigned ignorance. Ingram is perfectly endearing, a vulnerable open book who becomes the easiest character for the audience to latch onto. MacKay, meanwhile, is the standout of the film, delivering the aforementioned electrifying musical sequences while straddling the line between guileless and mercurial. Ultimately, The End ’s biggest sin is that it felt like it would never end. As visually striking as it was (credit to Oppenheimer and director of photography Mikhail Krichman), as big as its ideas were, and as unique as its premise was, none of it cohered. It was as staid as the art decorating the walls of the Family’s bunker — beautiful, pristine, and lifeless. Movies Science FictionFrom wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turnI spent 8 hours & £1k on Argos & B&Q buys to give my home a festive makeover but Storm Darragh has ruined it, I’m gutted
'Billionaire' Selena Gomez marks major milestone amid whirlwind year Selena Gomez reaches new heights with latest achievement Selena Gomez expresses gratitude over latest win Selena Gomez is expressing gratitude for her latest win as she marks another major milestone in the same year. The 32-year-old singer, who previously made it to the billionaire list this year as well as received an accolade for her spectacular performance in Emilia Perez, is getting her hands on another award given to her by IndieWire . googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1700472799616-0'); }); The Lose You To Love Me hitmaker took to her Instagram Stories to reflect on her massive win as she posed in an ethereal black ensemble, showcasing her award with a beaming smile. Reposting a photo from one of her many fan accounts, @archiveofgomez, the former Disney star wrote in the caption, “Thank you IndieWire for the support and kindness.” Meanwhile, the original post featured a caption with read, “December 5th, 2024┊ Selena with the Spotlight Award for "Emilia Perez" onstage at the IndieWire Honors event // @selenagomez” This comes on the heels of Gomez's recognition with the prestigious Spotlight Award for her outstanding performance in Emilia Perez. In the photos, the multi-hyphenate star was spotted twinning with her award, keeping up with her ‘all-black’ look alongside a pair of transparent black stockings. Selenators couldn’t stop swooning over her looks as well as her back-to-back achievements as they thronged the comments section with heartwarming messages for the singer. One fan commented, “She looks so good. I’m so happy for her.” Another chimed in, adding, “So proud of her.”
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Coach Hansi Flick was sent off for protesting a penalty decision and Barcelona was held at Real Betis to 2-2 in La Liga on Saturday. Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé helped Real Madrid close on the leaders. Flick showed his frustration over a decision to send Betis to the spot, but he also said after the match that his youthful team, which included two 17-year-old starters, must improve. “We are a young team and we need to improve a lot,” Flick said. “We must be stronger, especially when we play away. We have quality, but we have to show it in every game.” Flick disagreed with the referee’s decision to grant a penalty following a video review when Betis forward Vitor Roque fell in the area following a brush with Frenkie de Jong. Giovani Lo Celso converted the 66th-minute penalty to level the score after Robert Lewandowski put the visitors ahead in the 38th with his league-leading 16th goal. Substitute Ferran Torres scored from a pass by Lamine Yamal to put Barcelona back in front in the 82nd, but Assane Diao struck in injury time to secure the draw for Betis. Barcelona has dropped points in four of the last five rounds. Its latest slip in Seville let Madrid close to within two points with a game still to play after it rolled to a 3-0 win at Girona. Flick said he was surprised by the referee’s decision to expel him, but refused to criticize his sending off or the penalty decision that came after the ref viewed video replays. “I said nothing really to anyone, it was a reaction for myself,” the former Bayern Munich boss said about his alleged protest. “I am really disappointed about (the sending off) because that has never happened to me, but maybe here (in Spain) it is like this.” Bellingham rifled in a loose ball for the 36th-minute opener and extended his scoring streak to five rounds. He then set up Arda Guler to double Madrid's lead in the 55th when he threaded a long ball through Girona's defense. About five minutes later the England midfielder asked to be substituted for an apparent left-thigh injury, although coach Carlo Ancelotti said he was “fine” and left the game for precaution. Mbappé capped the victory with a goal from a tight angle, helping him rebound from his failure to score a penalty in a loss at Athletic Bilbao midweek. Madrid lost left back Ferland Mendy to an apparent leg issue as well. Madrid was already missing defenders Éder Militao and Dani Carvajal to serious leg injuries, and coach Carlo Ancelotti said David Alaba won't be fit to play until January. Madrid visits Atalanta on Tuesday in the Champions League, where it has lost three of five matches. After outscoring opponents 29-5 during a run of seven straight wins that included big victories over Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, Barcelona has hit its first dip in form since Flick’s arrival last summer. The skid over the past month includes its first home loss to the modest Las Palmas in over 50 years and wasting a 2-0 lead in a draw at Celta Vigo. Barcelona bounced back with a 5-1 win at Mallorca this week, but the draw at Betis may be the most worrying setback for Flick yet. His team could have lost if it wasn’t for the goalkeeping of Iñaki Peña, who among his saves turned back a powerful point blank strike by Chimy Ávila. Flick said his team played poorly and its only “good play” in the first half was the pass by Jules Koundé that set up Lewandowski. His remedy was for his team to speed up its passing game and reduce the number of long balls that Flick said were not his team's strength. Flick also defended substituting Lewandowski, Raphinha, Pedri, and Dani Olmo — the team's best attacking players along with Yamal — for the need to rest them ahead of Barcelona's Champions League game at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday. Yamal put Barcelona back in charge after he threaded the ball through the Betis backline for Torres to score. That was the 17-year-old’s league-leading ninth assist. Diao, however, unleashed the celebrations in Benito Villamarin Stadium when he used the inside of his right leg to redirect a cross by Aitor Rubial just inside the far post of Peña’s net. “We are disappointed because we missed a chance to get a win by conceding a late goal,” Koundé said. “We let them take the game to us.” Manuel Pellegrini’s team remained in 11th place after ending a run of seven consecutive home losses to Barcelona. Isco Alarcon returned to the field for the first time since the Betis midfielder broke a bone in his left fibula in May. The former Real Madrid playmaker played the final minutes as a substitute. Valencia's disgruntled supporters jeered their team after a 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano left it in the relegation zone. Las Palmas also beat last-placed Valladolid 2-1. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer