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Hello! I’m Mark Olsen . Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies. I recently had the pleasure of moderating this year’s Envelope Directors Roundtable with the knockout lineup of Edward Berger (“Conclave”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”), James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”), Denis Villeneuve (“Dune: Part Two”) and Malcolm Washington (“The Piano Lesson”). The full video will broadcast on Spectrum and be available on YouTube later today. From our edited print transcript , the group began talking about what they can compromise on and what they cannot. Villeneuve and Fargeat said that, within the confines of their budget and logistics, they have an attitude of no compromise, as often as possible. As Fargeat said, “Everybody sometimes wants to try and change it and make a difference. It’s my job to keep it the way I had invented in my head.” Conversely, Berger noted that the vaping cardinal in “Conclave,” which has now become a meme and a fan favorite, wasn’t in the script, but was a response to the actor on set in his costume vaping between takes. Mangold, director of “A Complete Unknown,” said, “We all make plans before we start. But then the secret, at least in my experience — the work I’m most proud of is where I adapt. It’s not about compromise, but it’s that the world, the actor, in that moment, the weather, the location, the schedule, something within the very real confines that Denis was talking about comes up against your vision. ... The reality is how we adapt to the s— that happens, good and bad, which isn’t about compromise, but it’s about being alive.” A holiday harvest of new releases This holiday season has brought us a terrific bounty of films to round out our end-of-year moviegoing, with “Babygirl,” “The Fire Inside,” “A Complete Unknown” and “Nosferatu” all landing in theaters this week. (And that’s not even mentioning the see-it-to-believe-it “Better Man,” a biopic about British pop star Robbie Williams, portrayed by a CGI chimp.) Seeing all four of these movies in one day might be a stretch, but it would be doable to see at least three, or maybe break them up into two days of double features. I think I personally would suggest the order they land below for the best mix of genres and moods. If anyone thinks there is a better approach to this lineup, let me know. ‘Babygirl’ Written and directed by Halina Reijn, “Babygirl” stars Nicole Kidman as a Manhattan CEO who finds herself drawn into a submissive relationship with Samuel (Harris Dickinson), a strangely dominating new intern at her company. The film becomes an exploration of power dynamics and personal identity cloaked as an erotic thriller with a dash of corporate intrigue. In Amy Nicholson’s review , she noted, “Eight years into the #MeToo movement, our reaction to the plot could fall anywhere on a spectrum between ‘Yaaaas queen’ to ‘How hypocritical!’ ... Both know their affair is happening in a cultural minefield where the trip wires are economic, professional and generational. And nowadays, the intern recognizes his boss has the most to lose.” Amy added, “The smartest choice the film makes is that Samuel isn’t some “Fifty Shades of Grey” BDSM mastermind. He learns to control as she learns to submit. Their shared adventure plays out like two people learning to juggle while staring into each other’s eyes. Sometimes, it’s clumsy. Their first tryst starts off like a bad porno with Samuel and Romy improvising a script that feels phony even to them. They have to break the scene and start again, with Samuel trying to making Romy eat candy from his hand. She pauses. He’s frustrated. ‘Can you just try it?’ he asks. The whole movie hinges on that awkward moment. Right there, Reijn decides that the strongest foundation for all of our species’ sex angst is simply consent. Forget right or wrong. ‘Babygirl’s’ key question is yes or no.” Emily Zemler spoke to Dickinson , who explained how the sense of discovery in the movie is something he felt while making it as well. “I was fascinated by the writing and the character because I didn’t really know what I would do with it,” Dickinson said. “It scared me a little bit, in the sense of ‘I don’t know how exactly best to do this in a way that’s going to elevate the rest of the story.’ But I guess that’s why it eventually led me to do it.” Certified sex educator Laura Ramadei wrote about the film’s depiction of kink , noting, “‘Babygirl’ appears to understand a common reality behind the kink: Many accomplished, strong women (and men) want to turn their brains off and fully submit to the right Dom. It also highlights a common limitation — that for skillful domination, emotional intelligence is equally, if not more, important than physical talent. The film also understands the power of unlocking such a dynamic, without being gratuitous about the visual details.” ‘The Fire Inside’ Directed by Rachel Morrison from a screenplay by Barry Jenkins, “The Fire Inside” is based on the true story of Claressa Shields, who won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in women’s boxing. But the story isn’t a typical tale of sports triumph, instead paying attention to what happens — and doesn’t happen — to Shields (Ryan Destiny) and her coach (Brian Tyree Henry) after she wins her first gold. As Robert Abele put it in his review , “‘The Fire Inside’ is no pity party about a system’s inequality, and the movie’s refusal to paint anyone in Claressa’s life as simply an impediment or an ally is another sign of the movie’s welcome (and very Jenkins-esque) emotional intelligence. And while the boxing is kinetically directed, Morrison grasps that the movie’s fiercest stands are taken outside the ring, when Claressa — faced with tough choices about her future — asserts herself to the people who need to hear it. That spin on an ever-roiling motivation to win, even when the bout is over, is what sets ‘The Fire Inside’ apart from so many others of its ilk.” For The Envelope podcast , I spoke to Destiny about the role and what it means to bring Shields’ story to a broader audience. “The first time that I watched the movie, I was looking for different things that I kind of wanted to do better,” Destiny recalls. “I was just nitpicking myself. The second time it really hit me how incredible her story is and how much this means to people and to her and how much it’s needed. Her story is so inspiring and incredible, and I literally cried because it really touched me in a way that made me see it from a different standpoint and see the bigger picture of what it’s really about.” ‘A Complete Unknown’ Directed by James Mangold from a screenplay by Mangold and Jay Cocks (adapting Elijah Wald’s book, “Dylan Goes Electric!”) “A Complete Unknown” tells the story of a young Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) as he arrives in New York City in 1961, continuing through to his legendary performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. But it also very much tells the story of the people around Dylan, including his girlfriend Sylvie (Elle Fanning), singer and paramour Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). Reviewing the film, Joshua Rothkopf wrote , “Superfans aren’t necessarily going to love this. It’s a movie made with affection, but also with the wisdom that visionaries can sometimes be jerks. Then again, their hero won’t get a fairer shake than in ‘A Complete Unknown,’ which presents the tunes vividly (classic after classic, all of them sung live by the cast) while keeping things neatly chronological among the four or so years that any biopic interested in Dylan’s artistic arrival would have to cover, from his penniless 1961 arrival in New York through his 1965 rebellion at the Newport Folk Festival. ... [Mangold and Cocks] have landed on a counterintuitive but brilliant organizing principle, one that no great-man biopic has, to my mind, ever tried. In order for this dream to happen, that is, in order for Dylan to become Dylan , a lot of other people’s dreams had to die.” Esther Zuckerman spoke to Fanning , whose character of Sylvie Russo is based on Suze Rotolo , the character’s name reportedly changed at the behest of Dylan himself. The singer’s involvement had an impact on Fanning’s performance, she said. “I was always aware that Bob Dylan himself wanted her name changed and that was the one character that he was very precious about,” Fanning said. “Knowing that, I just felt kind of this subconscious weight to want to do justice to what they had.” ‘Nosferatu’ Written and directed by Robert Eggers, “Nosferatu” is the filmmaker’s adaptation of the 1922 silent horror classic originally mounted by director F.W. Murnau and since remade by Werner Herzog and, to an extent, E. Elias Merhige with 2000’s “Shadow of the Vampire.” In this telling, young Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) is dispatched to a remote castle to finalize the paperwork on a property purchase by the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Hutter is unaware of the supernatural bond the Count has with his wife, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp), who has been suffering from an unknown condition. For The Times, Katie Walsh wrote , “Eggers’ version isn’t a ‘take’ on ‘Nosferatu’ so much as it is an overly faithful retelling, so indebted to its inspiration that it’s utterly hamstrung by its own reverence. If ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ was a playful spin, Eggers’ ‘Nosferatu’ is an utterly straight-faced and interminably dull retread of the 1922 original. It’s the exact same movie, just with more explicit violence and sex. And while Eggers loves to pay tribute to styles and forms of cinema history in his work, the sexual politics of his remake feel at least 100 years old. ... The film is a feat of maximalist and moody production design and cinematography, but the tedious and overwrought script renders every character two-dimensional, despite the effortful acting and teary pronunciations.” Kenneth Turan spoke to Eggers , who talked about the intensely detailed research and production work that he has become notorious for in films such as “The Witch ” and “The Northman.” As Eggers said, “I personally enjoy the act of research and while I get tired of beating the drum for historical accuracy, I do believe an accumulation of details grounds and transports an audience, makes it easier for them to believe the metaphysical stuff in the film.” Points of interest Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘Strange Days’ To launch its new series “Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema” and exhibition of the same name, the Academy Museum will be screening Kathryn Bigelow’s 1995 “Strange Days” on 35mm. Seeing this movie, arguably Bigelow’s best, big and loud in the academy’s huge David Geffen theater should be a dazzling experience. With a climax set around a massive New Year’s Eve party in downtown Los Angeles, the film is set on the cusp of the year 2000, then five years away. (The film’s screenplay was written by James Cameron and “A Complete Unknown’s” co-writer Jay Cocks.) Ralph Feinnes plays Lenny Nero, a former LAPD officer who traffics in underground videos that presage virtual reality. When a tape of the murder of a popular rapper threatens to implicate the LAPD and lands Lenny in danger, he turns to an old friend, Mace (Angela Bassett), for help. Playing Lenny’s former girlfriend, Juliette Lewis performs a couple of PJ Harvey songs onscreen in the film and is almost worth the price of admission alone. Reviewing the film at the time of its release, Kenneth Turan wrote , “Through it all, ‘Strange Days’ manages to be consistently loud, violent and sleazy, which is less of an accomplishment than it may sound.”
Shyam Benegal prayer meet: Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah remember father of parallel cinemaAP Sports SummaryBrief at 2:46 p.m. EST
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah on Tuesday that would end nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire would mark the first major step toward ending the regionwide unrest triggered by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. But it does not address the devastating war in Gaza, where Hamas is still holding dozens of hostages and the conflict is more intractable. Hours before the ceasefire with Hezbollah was to take effect, Israel carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to pummel Hezbollah before the ceasefire takes hold at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Another huge airstrike shook Beirut shortly after the ceasefire was announced. There appeared to be some lingering disagreement over whether Israel would have the right to strike Hezbollah if it believed the militants had violated the agreement, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted was part of the deal but which Lebanese and Hezbollah officials have rejected. Israel's security Cabinet approved the ceasefire agreement after it was presented by Netanyahu, his office said. U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to bring peace to the Middle East without saying how. The Biden administration spent much of this year trying to broker a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza but the talks repeatedly sputtered to a halt . Still, any halt to the fighting in Lebanon is expected to reduce the likelihood of war between Israel and Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas and exchanged direct fire with Israel on two occasions earlier this year. Israel says it will ‘attack with might’ if Hezbollah breaks truce Netanyahu presented the ceasefire proposal to Cabinet ministers after a televised address in which he listed a series of accomplishments against Israel’s enemies across the region. He said a ceasefire with Hezbollah would further isolate Hamas in Gaza and allow Israel to focus on its main enemy, Iran, which backs both groups. “If Hezbollah breaks the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack,” he said. “For every violation, we will attack with might.” The ceasefire deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of additional Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides’ compliance. Biden said Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce, but that the deal "was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.” Netanyahu’s office said Israel appreciated the U.S. efforts in securing the deal but “reserves the right to act against every threat to its security.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the ceasefire and described it as a crucial step toward stability and the return of displaced people. Hezbollah has said it accepts the proposal, but a senior official with the group said Tuesday that it had not seen the agreement in its final form. “After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials,” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network. “We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the sovereignty of the state," he said, referring to Israel's demand for freedom of action. “Any violation of sovereignty is refused.” Warplanes bombard Beirut and its southern suburbs Even as ceasefire efforts gained momentum in recent days, Israel continued to strike what it says are Hezbollah targets across Lebanon as the militants fired rockets, missiles and drones across the border. An Israeli strike on Tuesday leveled a residential building in central Beirut — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city’s downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 13, it said. Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure. Israel also struck a building in Beirut's bustling commercial district of Hamra for the first time, hitting a site that is around 400 meters (yards) from Lebanon’s Central Bank. There were no reports of casualties. The Israeli military said it struck targets in Beirut and other areas linked to Hezbollah's financial arm. The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead. Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a major presence, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where the U.N. peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, is headquartered. UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate. Israeli forces reach Litani River in southern Lebanon The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometers (miles) from the Israeli border. Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border. Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since. Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes. More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members. Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country’s north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon. Chehayeb and Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Lujain Jo and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, and Aamer Madhani in Washington, contributed. Find more of AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-warMore or less: Erratic nature of UK’s electric vehicle charging networkFruster scores 15, Eastern Illinois beats Blackburn 99-55
Mavericks star Luka Doncic to be re-evaluated after one month with left calf strainPakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator and Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology member Afnanullah Khan on Saturday pledged to support the digital rights bill. In an interview with a news channel, the senator stated that the PML-N would back the digital rights bill, underscoring the commitment to advancing the "Digital Pakistan" initiative. Khan highlighted the past achievements in the development of IT, adding that efforts would continue in line with the vision of transforming Pakistan into a digital hub. "I am pleased to announce that internet users in Pakistan will soon experience faster speeds," he said, adding that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman and the IT minister were collectively addressing the issue. "We have introduced multiple bills that will yield fruitful results in the coming months," he remarked. The senator emphasised that the government was actively working to transform Pakistan into a digitalised nation with a focus on providing high-speed internet facilities to citizens. This initiative, he added, was part of efforts to enhance connectivity, improve digital infrastructure and increase investment in digital skills. "Our goal is to create a knowledge-based economy, driven by innovation and entrepreneurship, which will ultimately spur economic growth," he said. To achieve this, the Ministry of IT and Telecom is launching programmes to build a network of National Incubation Centres and induct promising start-ups. "With the support of initiatives like the Digital Pakistan programme, the country is poised to become a leading player in the global digital landscape." Responding to a query, Senator Khan acknowledged that Pakistan was facing challenges in its digital transformation journey. However, he gave assurances that such challenges were being addressed and would be resolved soon. COMMENTS Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our
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College football transfer portal opens as Oklahoma's Arnold, other top players look for a move‘I was just trying to be nice’: Aldi customer tries to pay her cart quarter forward. She can’t believe this customer’s responseSable Resources (CVE:SAE) Shares Down 16.7% – Should You Sell?
Rockfire Resources (LON:ROCK) Stock Price Down 8.9% – Time to Sell?Businessman Ng Yu Zhi, who is accused of perpetrating a billion-dollar fraudulent nickel investment scheme through his companies Envy Asset Management and Envy Global Trading, went on trial in the High Court on Nov 26. The 37-year-old is alleged to have deceived investors, who include lawyers and financiers, into putting in a total of $1.46 billion to finance the trading of physical nickel, when such deals never took place. The investors were purportedly promised returns of about 15 per cent over three months. Ng was first charged in March 2021 with two counts each of fraudulent trading and cheating. New charges continued to be filed against him, up until February 2024. He currently faces a total of 108 charges, of which 105 are in connection to the alleged nickel investment scam. The three other charges relate to his attempts in 2023 to sell a Bussorah Street shophouse, which he had allegedly bought with criminal proceeds. These charges have not been transferred to the High Court. On Nov 26, Deputy Public Prosecutor Gordon Oh told the High Court that the prosecution will be proceeding against Ng on 42 out of the 105 charges related to the nickel trading scheme. The charges are 10 counts of cheating, 15 counts of forgery, one count of criminal breach of trust as a director, 14 counts of money laundering, and two counts of fraudulent trading. Ng, sporting a topknot hairstyle, listened intently as a court officer took an hour to read all 42 charges to him. One of the proceeded charges relates to venture capitalist Finian Tan. Ng is accused of cheating Mr Tan, on no fewer than three occasions, into delivering US$19.2 million (S$25.6 million) to Envy Global Trading between October 2020 and January 2021. Ng was first remanded on Jan 19, 2023, after his bail was increased from $4 million to $6 million, and he was not able to immediately secure the additional funds. He was released after he subsequently raised the additional amount. Bail was later revoked after he allegedly committed fresh offences, stemming from the attempted sale of the shophouse, while he was on bail. Court records show that he has been remanded since Jan 31, 2024. Ng was first represented by lawyers from Davinder Singh Chambers, and then from Dentons Rodyk & Davidson. He is currently represented by four lawyers, Mr Hassan Almenoar, Ms Diana Foo, Mr Nichol Yeo and Mr Nicholas Narayanan, who are all from different law firms. Ng was declared bankrupt on Dec 22, 2022, after he and three others were sued by the liquidators of the Envy companies. Four prosecution witnesses are expected to take the stand during the first tranche of the trial, which has been scheduled to be held till Nov 29. More than 50 days have been set aside for the trial, which is set to resume in February 2025. On Nov 26, the defence tried to compel the prosecution to proceed on all the charges instead of standing down the remaining 66 charges. Mr Almenoar argued that if Ng was acquitted of the 42 charges, it would not be fair for the prosecution to then proceed against him on the remaining charges. His application was rejected by Judicial Commissioner Christopher Tan, who noted that standing down charges in a criminal trial is a long-entrenched practice. He added that the defence has not provided any legal authorities in support of its application. The prosecution’s opening statement will be read when the trial resumes on Nov 27.
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