Trending in Texoma — Action packed 'Ballerina' brings on deadly upgrade
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Whether it's happening on the other side of the country, somewhere else in Texas, or right in our communities, Digital Producer Mariana Vela takes a look at the stories currently generating the most interest on social media.
The John Wick universe gets a deadly upgrade as the new action-packed 'Ballerina' shows off a sneak peek!
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Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Ballerina' Ending, Explained: How the Movie Clearly Sets up an Ana de Armas Sequel
The latest addition to the John Wick universe came in the form of a spinoff that's supposed to take place between the third and fourth movies of the original franchise. Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas, brings an entirely new character, Eve, to the universe. Trained as a killer by the Ruska Roma (just like John Wick was) she finds herself on a mission to track down the cult that killed her father when she was a child. After a tipoff from Winston about a cult member named Daniel Pine who's staying at the Continental hotel in Prague, Eve heads there only to find Pine is on the run, trying to keep his daughter from being kidnapped by the cult, just like they tried to do to Eve when she was little. Lots of fighting ensues (I mean, is it even a John Wick movie without 100 fight scenes?) and the cult manages to take his daughter, Ella. Eve is even more determined to track them down, so how does it all end? Let's get into it. Thanks to the helpful gun shop owner in Prague, Eve secures the rumored location of the cult. The shop owner lends Eve his car and she makes her way to the picturesque, snowy town of Hallstatt, Austria. She heads into a cozy-looking coffee shop that just so happens to sell the ballerina music box she was given as a child — weird coincidence? Probably not. While waiting for her coffee, a man comes into the shop and quickly starts shooting at Eve. They fight back and forth and she disgustingly gouges his eye and breaks his arm before shooting him. She's then attacked by the chef, who seems trained as a fighter, and it's pretty clear something fishy is going on in this town. After managing to lock the chef in the freezer, some townspeople arm themselves and head in after Eve, seemingly confirming that the whole town is part of this cult. Eve handily starts killing them all (that's our girl!) though she does take a knife to the shoulder (ouch!). The Chancellor (AKA the cult leader) orders "full protocols" to be engaged, meaning everyone in the town is now coming after Eve. She's running through the streets, taking people out left and right, but she eventually gets cornered. The woman from the lobby of the Continental hotel (the one who was after Pine and Ella) appears, sees Eve's Ruska Roma tattoo, and hits her over the head, capturing her. We soon learn that Pine was the Chancellor's son. He was part of the Hallstatt cult but tried to escape and take his daughter with him. This also means that the Chancellor put a hit out on his own son. The Chancellor then makes another big reveal: the lobby lady is actually Eve's sister, Lena. As that revelation is unfolding, Eve manages to get a gun and escape. Lena goes after her and when she finally catches up, she tells Eve the truth. They were both born in the village but their father only took Eve with him when he escaped because Lena was too old — she'd already taken a life at that point. Eve, on the other hand, could be raised with no memory of that place. Outside, the Chancellor is growing frustrated and tells his soldiers to just kill them both. They throw grenades into the building where Eve and Lena are and they're both injured, but Eve crawls her way over to Lena. Lena is badly hurt and in her final moments, says she had been told Eve was dead and that she missed her. And Chancellor calls the Director and tells her that her tribe has royally effed up their truce. The Director promises that she didn't send Eve there, but she'll send someone to stop her. And who does she send? John Wick, duh! Once John arrives, the Chancellor makes another announcement to the town, telling them to stay inside and "leave the wolf to its prey." John quickly finds Eve but tells her whether he kills her or not is her choice. Eve tries to fight him, but she's clearly outmatched. John, knowing what the Chancellor did to Eve's father, gives her exactly 28 minutes to squash the issue (AKA kill the Chancellor). The Chancellor calls all the citizens back out to fight Eve, and she starts using just about everything you can think of as a weapon, from guns to figure skates. Then in maybe the most epic scene of the movie, she gets a flame thrower and starts lighting up anyone who gets in her way. Realizing John has gone a bit rogue, the Chancellor's men go after him and only one of them seems to have any sense, telling another "This is suicide. That's John Wick!" And, well, he's right! The Chancellor, with Ella in tow, is trying to make his escape, but Eve starts shooting at the car and takes out the driver. The Chancellor gets out and starts droning on and on about how Eve isn't going to change anything and this cult has been this way for over 1,000 years blah blah blah. And then she finally shoots him. She rescues Ella from the car and takes her away. John calls the Director to tell her it's done, but it's not Eve who's dead, it's the Chancellor. She says "Fine," and hangs up. As it turns out, Pine isn't dead and Ella gets to reunite with her dad at the hospital. Winston warns Eve that she may have cut off the head of the snake, but the body is still there, and the rest of the cult will be coming after her. Later, she's watching the ballet and she gets a notification on her phone: there's a contract out for her with a $5 million bounty. She quickly heads out the door, but to where, we don't know. You Might Also Like Here's What NOT to Wear to a Wedding Meet the Laziest, Easiest Acne Routine You'll Ever Try
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
'Ballerina' Ana de Armas spills on that explosive 'John Wick' ending
'Ballerina' Ana de Armas spills on that explosive 'John Wick' ending Show Caption Hide Caption Ian McShane talks working with Ana de Armas in 'Ballerina' Ian McShane shares why it was smart to bring Ana de Armas into the "John Wick" franchise in the new film "Ballerina." Spoiler alert! We're discussing important plot points and the ending of 'Ballerina' (in theaters now), so beware if you haven't seen it yet. Ana de Armas goes through snowy hell to find vengeance in 'Ballerina,' and by the end, she winds up a wanted woman. The 'John Wick' franchise spinoff introduces dancer/assassin Eve Macarro (de Armas), who's trained by the same Ruska Roma organization that begat John Wick (Keanu Reeves). She's still a rookie hitwoman when Eve discovers that the mystery men who murdered her father when she was a little girl belong to a killer cult. Eve defies the wishes of the Ruska Roma's Director (Anjelica Huston) and goes after the cult and its leader, the Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox Along the way, Eve also has to rescue Ella, the young kidnapped daughter of an ex-cult member (Norman Reedus). And before the explosive finale, Eve learns that Lena (Catalina Sandino Moreno), one of the Chancellor's enforcers, is actually her long-thought-dead older sister, though Lena is killed by her own people soon after the revelation. 'She really is alone,' de Armas says of her character. 'So she really now feels like she has nothing to lose except for maybe Ella. Maybe that's what's going to give her some purpose from now on.' Let's dig into the best spoilers from 'Ballerina,' from the very Keanu ending to a mystery awaiting Eve's next mission. What happens in the ending of 'Ballerina'? Eve travels to a little Austrian town full of murderous locals to track down the Chancellor, and as she gets closer to accomplishing her mission, he reaches out to the Director to help deal with his problem. (Because the cult is such a wild card, Ruska Roma and other crime organizations try to keep the peace with them.) The Director sends in the feared 'Baba Yaga,' John Wick (who's still alive at this point in the story, which takes place between the third and fourth 'Wick' movies), to take care of the situation. John gives Eve an out, explaining that her actions have consequences but she can leave peacefully if she wants. She refuses and they tussle, though John doesn't kill her – they have a quite a bit in common, from being orphans to wanting vengeance for loved ones. Wick gives her a half hour to take care of the Chancellor before he needs to take care of her, but just before time runs out, and Eve is confronting the villain, Wick shoots him from a sniper position. Eve returns Ella to her dad and goes to the ballet to see the performance of an old Ruska Roma friend who couldn't cut being an assassin. Eve's phone pings, she sees that there's a $5 million bounty on her head, and she walks out quietly from the theater. 'It is a really good ending,' de Armas says. 'It can go anywhere from here. I do feel like she found herself. She got what she wanted: 'I chose this life, this is what I want to do.' ' Although 'she looks up to John,' de Armas adds, Eve can't take his or anyone else's advice to move on from her loss. 'Literally every person she goes to tells her, 'Stop it. Let it go.' And she can't, it's just stronger than her. There's some relief in her and now she will deal with the consequences. She's not afraid of that and it'll be what it'll be.' Does the new 'John Wick' movie have a post-credits scene? Nope! Although 'John Wick: Chapter 4' had a mid-credits sequence, 'Ballerina' doesn't. What it does boast, however, is the rockin' new Evanescence track 'Fight Like a Girl' (which is a theme in the movie). For those looking for a tease of where Eve could go next, director Len Wiseman says to pay attention to the bounty on Eve at the end of the movie. That was 'a Keanu idea,' the filmmaker says, and it speaks to 'the spirit of the consequences behind this world.' But 'it's ambiguous who put that contract out,' Wiseman adds. And while audiences will have to wait to see who that mystery person is, 'I have my fun, really dark ideas.'
Cosmopolitan
2 hours ago
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'Ballerina' Movie Ending, Explained
The latest addition to the John Wick universe came in the form of a spinoff that's supposed to take place between the third and fourth movies of the original franchise. Ballerina, starring Ana de Armas, brings an entirely new character, Eve, to the universe. Trained as a killer by the Ruska Roma (just like John Wick was) she finds herself on a mission to track down the cult that killed her father when she was a child. After a tipoff from Winston about a cult member named Daniel Pine who's staying at the Continental hotel in Prague, Eve heads there only to find Pine is on the run, trying to keep his daughter from being kidnapped by the cult, just like they tried to do to Eve when she was little. Lots of fighting ensues (I mean, is it even a John Wick movie without 100 fight scenes?) and the cult manages to take his daughter, Ella. Eve is even more determined to track them down, so how does it all end? Let's get into it. Thanks to the helpful gun shop owner in Prague, Eve secures the rumored location of the cult. The shop owner lends Eve his car and she makes her way to the picturesque, snowy town of Hallstatt, Austria. She heads into a cozy-looking coffee shop that just so happens to sell the ballerina music box she was given as a child — weird coincidence? Probably not. While waiting for her coffee, a man comes into the shop and quickly starts shooting at Eve. They fight back and forth and she disgustingly gouges his eye and breaks his arm before shooting him. She's then attacked by the chef, who seems trained as a fighter, and it's pretty clear something fishy is going on in this town. After managing to lock the chef in the freezer, some townspeople arm themselves and head in after Eve, seemingly confirming that the whole town is part of this cult. Eve handily starts killing them all (that's our girl!) though she does take a knife to the shoulder (ouch!). The Chancellor (AKA the cult leader) orders "full protocols" to be engaged, meaning everyone in the town is now coming after Eve. She's running through the streets, taking people out left and right, but she eventually gets cornered. The woman from the lobby of the Continental hotel (the one who was after Pine and Ella) appears, sees Eve's Ruska Roma tattoo, and hits her over the head, capturing her. We soon learn that Pine was the Chancellor's son. He was part of the Hallstatt cult but tried to escape and take his daughter with him. This also means that the Chancellor put a hit out on his own son. The Chancellor then makes another big reveal: the lobby lady is actually Eve's sister, Lena. As that revelation is unfolding, Eve manages to get a gun and escape. Lena goes after her and when she finally catches up, she tells Eve the truth. They were both born in the village but their father only took Eve with him when he escaped because Lena was too old — she'd already taken a life at that point. Eve, on the other hand, could be raised with no memory of that place. Outside, the Chancellor is growing frustrated and tells his soldiers to just kill them both. They throw grenades into the building where Eve and Lena are and they're both injured, but Eve crawls her way over to Lena. Lena is badly hurt and in her final moments, says she had been told Eve was dead and that she missed her. And dies. The Chancellor calls the Director and tells her that her tribe has royally effed up their truce. The Director promises that she didn't send Eve there, but she'll send someone to stop her. And who does she send? John Wick, duh! Once John arrives, the Chancellor makes another announcement to the town, telling them to stay inside and "leave the wolf to its prey." John quickly finds Eve but tells her whether he kills her or not is her choice. Eve tries to fight him, but she's clearly outmatched. John, knowing what the Chancellor did to Eve's father, gives her exactly 28 minutes to squash the issue (AKA kill the Chancellor). The Chancellor calls all the citizens back out to fight Eve, and she starts using just about everything you can think of as a weapon, from guns to figure skates. Then in maybe the most epic scene of the movie, she gets a flame thrower and starts lighting up anyone who gets in her way. Realizing John has gone a bit rogue, the Chancellor's men go after him and only one of them seems to have any sense, telling another "This is suicide. That's John Wick!" And, well, he's right! The Chancellor, with Ella in tow, is trying to make his escape, but Eve starts shooting at the car and takes out the driver. The Chancellor gets out and starts droning on and on about how Eve isn't going to change anything and this cult has been this way for over 1,000 years blah blah blah. And then she finally shoots him. She rescues Ella from the car and takes her away. John calls the Director to tell her it's done, but it's not Eve who's dead, it's the Chancellor. She says "Fine," and hangs up. As it turns out, Pine isn't dead and Ella gets to reunite with her dad at the hospital. Winston warns Eve that she may have cut off the head of the snake, but the body is still there, and the rest of the cult will be coming after her. Later, she's watching the ballet and she gets a notification on her phone: there's a contract out for her with a $5 million bounty. She quickly heads out the door, but to where, we don't know.
