List of All Articles with Tag 'wb'

With the release of Red, White & Royal Blue, fans have positively responded to the film and declared it is their "new personality." Based on the bestselling BookTok novel by American author Casey McQuiston, the story focuses on the relationship between Alex Claremont-Diaz (Taylor Sakhar Perez), the first son of the United States, and Prince Henry (Nicholas Galitzine), a British prince. The romantic comedy - directed by Matthew Lopez - sees the pair transform their tension as rivals from across the pond into a blossoming romance, depicting the popular "enemies to lovers" trope. Since its release on Amazon Prime Video, the film has been widely discussed as critics and viewers give their verdicts. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has received a critical consensus of 79 per cent while the audience score gave a higher rating at 94 per cent. Meanwhile, Metacritic which similarly rounded up critic's opinions gave it 62 out of 100 with "generally favourable reviews," while the audience gave it 6.8 out of 10. It was a similar story on IMDB, where the movie was received positively and got a 7.2 out of 10. The film has also been a hot topic on social media, with fans sharing their love for the adaptation. One person said: "Red, white and royal blue is my new personality." "Red White and Royal Blue was excellent. It was pure fantasy. Completely ungrounded in every way. Like any good rom-com should be," another person said. Someone else added: "Red white and royal blue movie is probably the best book-to-movie adaptation I've ever seen." "No but seriously WHAT did they put in Red, White and Royal Blue that makes us rewatch it so much???" a fourth person commented. Here are some more of the best reactions: While many also praised the film - which is now in Prime Video's top 3 most-watched romantic comedies of all time - for its LGBT+ representation. Red, White & Royal Blue is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Russians are going to see bootleg viewings of the Barbie movie thanks to Hollywood pulling out of Russia. Warner Bros and other big Hollywood names like Disney and Netflix pulled out of the country after Putin invaded Ukraine last year. So, since then, copies of popular films have come into the country through other Russian-speaking markets, such as Kazakhstan, to work around the sanctions. To get around the system, some cinemas sell people tickets for a little-known Russian documentary or short film and then show a different film during the preview, to skirt American copyright laws and Russian laws that require distribution certificates from the Russian Ministry of Culture. But in June, the primary Kazakh-based distributor that had been illegally delivering Hollywood-licensed films to Russian cinemas announced it was pulling out of the business for financial reasons. This is how pirated viewings have started becoming popular. Nikita Zabolotskikh, 17, has spent an estimated Rbs300,000 — or more than $3,000 — bringing Barbie to the big screen in the city of Perm by acquiring a pirated copy, hiring a Russian dubbing company and rolling out an extensive marketing campaign. He told the Financial Times that he and a friend came up with the idea after reading news reports that the Kazakh company was ending its business — just as Barbie was about to hit cinemas worldwide. “The demand was unbelievable. People were losing their mind buying tickets . . . A huge number of people want to see Barbie,” he said. They now plan to show a higher-quality, re-dubbed version of the film at Kinomax, one of Russia’s biggest cinema chains — with plans to expand to 15-20 other Russian cities afterwards. “It’s the best-quality version on the [Russian] market,” he said. “And probably will be for the next two to three months.” Meanwhile, in Russia’s central city of Tyumen the Gorkiy cinema has already shown a pirated version of the film on its rooftop. Organisers noted that the quality might not suit “lovers of 4k resolution and ideal sound”. Some Moscow politicians don't like the liberal western values shown in the film. Maria Butina, a Russian lawmaker convicted in the US for operating as an unregistered foreign agent, has called for a ban on the sale of Barbie dolls and the new Mattel movie, which she labelled as an “advertisement” for the agenda of the US Democratic party. “What do we see [in the film]? Gays. Trans people. Women who have taken over the world. Nothing about the union between men and women, nothing about love,” she said in an appearance on the Russian Duma TV channel. But that is clearly not enough to stop Barbiemania. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott addressed the recent fights that broke out during camp this week.When the Dallas Cowboys training camp featured not one but two brawls involving thrown punches, a litany of questions get posed to the team's fearless leader. These questions range from the sim...

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons tried to justify his multiple fights during training camp.Training camp for all 32 NFL teams has gone on for nearly a month, as players prepare for the upcoming season. On a near-daily basis, fans have seen players get into fights during practice, whether ...

The Dallas Cowboys had a practice fight broken up on Wednesday. After the fact, safety Jayron Kearse didn't seem to have a problem with it.Joint practice fights happen often. Training camp fights between the offense and defense of the same team, however, aren't as positive.Dallas i...

The man who inspired film, The Blind Side, is taking his foster parents to court, after he alleges they 'tricked' him into signing a conservatorship agreement. Michael Oher, who used to be an NFL player, was fostered by the Tuohy family, and alleges they had profited from his misfortune. He also recently discovered they'd never 'officially adopted' him. The 2009 film earned Sandra Bullock an Oscar for her portrayal as Leigh Anne Tuohy and co-starred Tim McGraw as her husband, Sean, alongside Quinton Aaron as Oher. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are divorcing, Vlatko Andonovski resigned, latest college football power rankings and more in the Roundup.

DJ Crazy Times' 'Planet Of The Bass' has taken over the internet...and now it's making its way into the mainstream too. While the Jonas Brothers were performing in Boston, comedian Kyle Gordon stormed the stage to perform the hit track during an intermission mid-show. Apparently Joe Jonas, whose birthday it was that day, is a huge fan of the song, and the announcer dubbed it a 'treat' for him. However, few fans in the crowd knew what was going on as the arena transformed into a 90s Eurodance club. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Ben Shapiro is moaning about children’s films again – this time about Snow White. Just weeks after ranting about Barbie and being entirely incorrect when predicting it would flop at the box office, the conservative pundit has hit out at Disney’s decision to cast a Latin actor to play Snow White. Rachel Zegler will play the princess in the upcoming live-action remake of the classic animation. The 22-year-old actor, who is of Colombian and Polish descent, is known for roles in West Side Story and Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Criticising the casting, Shapiro said: “They’ve cast Snow White. Snow White is now going to be played by Rachel Zegler. OK?” “Now, Rachel Zegler, you may know ― again, her name is Snow White. Now, you might consider that racist, but that’s also the name of the actual fairytale.” He went on to say that [in] “the original… Snow White, the character is specifically described as having 'skin white as snow'". Shapiro added: “[The word ‘white’] is literally in her name. That’s why she has her name. So I guess just to like, screw with people, they’re casting ― Rachel Zegler’s a very talented person. It’s weird casting, you might say.” Zegler’s casting was announced, but new pictures from behind the scenes of the production were recently released, sparking new conversation around the film. Fellow conservative pundit and Daily Wire colleague Matt Walsh also criticised the casting on his show, throwing a strop and saying it amounts to “anti-white racism”. One social media user seemed to sum up the whole thing by writing: “Have these guys considered getting a f***ing life.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A number of fights broke out during Dallas Cowboys practice.

Spider-Man: Lotus is one of the most talked-about films of the year, but not necessarily for the right reasons. The fan film with a budget of $100,000 has proven to be hugely controversial in the months leading up to its release. The trailer generated a lot of buzz back in 2021, but it took until June 2022 for the first of the controversies to be unearthed. Back then, an anonymous twitter user shared screenshots of messages from Warden Wayne, the man cast to play Peter Parker in the movie, using racial slurs. Wayne was quick to post a lengthy apology to Twitter blaming his past behaviour on being “raised in a homeschool conservative environment in a small town in Arkansas.” Writer and director of the film Gavin J. Konop also came in for criticism after Twitter user @Berkmanboom shared screenshots of Konop using racial and homophobia slurs In a YouTube video that addressed the controversies facing the film titled “Addressing Everything”, Konop attempted to explain his past actions as well as claiming some of the screenshots were fake. “In my first couple years of high school, I’m gonna be honest I was pretty much a giant loser. I was online way too much, I was part of these group chats and communities where I very often said the most offensive things I could think of to get attention from people.” He also said that he takes “full responsibility” for his actions and admits that he knew “I was wrong, I wasn't raised knowing these things were not okay to say.” Spider-Man: Lotus (Fan-Film) www.youtube.com In the few days since it was made available to watch on YouTube it has been viewed more than 2 million times – but there are some who will have been put off by details behind the scenes clouding the film’s production. Lotus takes place in the aftermath of Gwen Stacy’s death and focuses on Peter Parker as he deals with the fallout. Many will be wondering how it stacks up - these are the biggest talking points about the film itself, aside from the controversy behind the scenes, and some of the biggest criticisms aimed at it over recent days. Overall length and long establishing shots One of the most common points made about the film is that it’s just too long. It’s close to an hour and 45 minutes in length and there is too much padding – a lot of it coming in the form of generic shots of New York. Turning Peter Parker into a completely unsympathetic character Parker deals with the death of Gwen Stacy by lashing out at others a lot of the time. That in itself wouldn’t be an issue, as many people might do the same in such a stark situation. However, some social media users have claimed that Parker in Lotus is a fundamentally unsympathetic character. Ultimately, any film would be close to unwatchable when the superhero himself is an insufferable character who continuously puts others down. This moment early on in the film which shows Mary Jane coming to check on him in a show of support, only for him to unload a character assassination her way, is one that shows exactly the point they’re making. Parker's conversation with a terminally ill child is all about himself There’s one extended sequence people have focused on in social media discourse, and that’s the moment Spider-Man “trauma dumps” on a young boy with terminal cancer. After receiving a letter explaining a super fan of his is unwell, Parker goes to see him twice. The first scene had the potential to be quite a sweet moment in the film, but instead, Peter Parker seems to reject the child’s love of Spider-Man and questions why the kid is a fan of his and not Captain America, before talking about Gwen Stacy’s death. “It’s my fault…” he says. “I can’t do anything about it, no matter how hard you try. I’m not the hero you think I am. All of this, it’s not me.” He then dismisses the young boy's feelings and tells him he doesn’t understand because he’s “just a kid”, before leaving. It feels a little strange tonally and again shows Parker's lack of self-awareness to consider the feelings of a terminally ill child before his own. He later returns and apologises, looking back at a load of his old adventures and sparking a series of flashbacks, giving him fresh determination to wear the suit, but the sequence has attracted some criticism online. Parker’s dress sense It’s a minor gripe one, for sure, but some people have pointed out that the fact Parker dresses like a trust fund kid at a yacht club dinner goes against the key principles of the character familiar to many from the comics. The CGI The opening few minutes feature some of the strongest moments of the entire film – and it’s pretty impressive to see this version of Spider-Man navigate New York. But while it’s unfair to criticise a fan film that costs relatively little to make for its CGI, it is true that some moments look great while others, less so. Even CGI in multi-million dollar films can look cheap at times, though, so it’s not surprising that fans used to the biggest productions would pick faults with some moments from Lotus. Others, however, did defend it. One viewer wrote: “No way people are complaining about the CGI in #SpiderManLotus. It’s literally a fan-made film. Hate all you want on it, but pointing out bad CGI in a fan-made film is just dumb.” A lack of action The film is very much a character piece, focusing on the personal relationships of Peter Parker, Mary Jane and Harry Osborne with lots of long, dialogue-heavy scenes, and some have pointed out that film is lacking in action sequences. The opening few minutes feature a short fight with the Shocker, and there’s a brief scuffle with the Green Goblin in a flashback sequence. However, some were left feeling that they expected more action from a Spider-Man film – even a fan-made one. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

James Gunn, the new head of DC Films and the director of the upcoming Superman: Legacy, has responded to a viral prank that porn star Johnny Sins had been cast as Lex Luthor in the movie. The film, which is set for a 2025 release will focus on a younger version of the Man of Steel but will not be an origin. The only names who have been cast so far are David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan, as Clark Kent and Lois Lane respectively. However, a viral tweet joked that Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor will be appearing in the movie and will be played by the famous male pornstar Johnny Sins due to the fact that both Sins and Luthor are bald. In a post that has since been shared more than 3000 times, Le Cinephiles wrote: BREAKING: Johnny Sins has been officially cast as Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s ‘SUPERMAN: LEGACY.’ Readers; Johnny Sins will not be playing Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy although we would love to hear Warner Bros justify the casting decision. Although it shouldn't need clarifying because casting a pornstar in a major blockbuster probably wouldn't sit well with audiences, amazingly Gunn was asked if Sins will be in the movie. While promoting the upcoming Blue Beetle movie, Gunn was asked by several Twitter users if Sins was playing Luthor. One person asked the director: "You didn’t cast a porn star as Lex right? It’s so ridiculous…. It could be true." He quickly shut this down by asking why they would possibly believe that. Gunn also responded to an apparent report that seemed to believe that the casting of Sins was real. Although casting Sins would be an interesting choice, it's good to see Gunn at least having a bit of fun with the joke. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.