Around Town: Pinwheel Project fundraiser for foster kids comes to Fashion Island
Visitors to Newport Beach's Fashion Island on May 31 will have the chance to sponsor a child in Orange County's foster care system during the annual 'Pinwheel Project' at the Neiman Marcus/Bloomingdale's Lawn, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Hosted by Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County (CASA OC) for the ninth year in a row, 2,915 colorful pinwheels will be 'planted' across the lawn, each one representing a child in the foster care system. Guests can donate $10 to sponsor a pinwheel, funding advocacy and support efforts on behalf of foster children.
Those who purchase a pinwheel will receive a voucher for a discounted $40 family meal from ZOOD. For details and to sponsor a pinwheel, visit casaoc.org/pinwheel or visit Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, during the event.
The Costa Mesa Historical Society invites local history buffs to attend the nonprofit's 3rd annual Spring Social Luncheon at the Costa Mesa Women's Club on Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
This year, members will be 'Celebrating Dates,' — significant milestone commemorations coming up in Costa Mesa and beyond in the year ahead, including the Society's own 60th anniversary. Participants can feast on Greek cuisine provided by Costa Mesa restaurant My Greek Kitchen while they learn more about key dates in the city's past.
A $25 donation includes one catered meal and helps the Historical Society upgrade its museum with a new 65-inch SMART TV and sound bar. The Costa Mesa Women's Club is located at 610 W. 18th St. RSVP by May 19 at CostaMesaHistory.org.
Now that school's out, the professional American Coast Theater Company will take the stage at Vanguard University's Lyceum Theater in Costa Mesa with two upcoming productions.
'The Importance of Being Earnest — a Wilde New Musical!' is adapted from the classic mistaken-identity comedy by Oscar Wilde and features a five-piece band/orchestra. Performances run through June 8 with shows at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and weekend matinees at 2 p.m.
Later in June, ACTC presents Arthur Miller's classic award-winning drama, 'Death of a Salesman,' directed by Chance Theater's Executive Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. The play introduces Willy Loman, an unsuccessful salesman whose pursuit of the American Dream leads to tragedy for himself and his family.
'Death of a Salesman' previews June 19 at 7:30 p.m. and continues through June 29 with 7:30 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday, plus 2 p.m. shows on Saturday and Sunday with a special two-for-one ticket offer Wednesday, June 25.
Lyceum Theater at Vanguard University is located at 55 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Admission costs $20-$30. For more info or to purchase tickets, visit americancoasttheater.com
Customers served by Costa Mesa Sanitary District are invited to attend a free drive-thru compost giveaway and shredding event on May 31, from 8 a.m. to noon, at Orange Coast College's Lot K, 2701 Fairview Road, in Costa Mesa.
In addition to receiving up to two backs of compost while supplies last, participants can also drop off up to five standard file boxes of paper per household. Kitchen pails will also be available while supplies last. Services and giveaways are available only to customers with proof of residence, such as a driver's license, ID or utility bill.
For more, visit cmsdca.gov or call (949) 645-8400 during regular business hours.
The Laguna Beach Chamber Singers announced this week it is accepting audition submissions for its upcoming 2025-2026 season. The group rehearses on Tuesday evenings in Laguna Beach.
Those with an interest in joining the Chamber Singers are asked to submit a short video recording by May 31. This can be of a recent solo performance or a simple melody. Videos must be uploaded and the audition form completed at lbchambersingers.org/join by the deadline.
Selected applicants will be invited to an in-person audition day in Laguna Beach, which includes a group rehearsal and quartet singing. Results of the audition will be announced approximately three weeks later. For more information, contact ryan@lbchambersingers.org.
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘The Better Sister': Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks on Wanting the Audience to Root for Their 'Messy' Characters and That 'Rallying Cry' Ending
[This story contains spoilers from all eight episodes of Prime Video's .] What's a family without some drama? But add in a murder, lingering secrets and scandals and you get the recipe for Prime Video's The Better Sister starring Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Better Sister' Stars React to Murder Mystery Reveal: "They Totally Threw Me Off and I Was There" 'Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop' Director and Subject Talk New Prime Video Documentary Nicole Clemens Hired to Head Amazon MGM's International Originals Biel and Banks star in the eight-episode series, from showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado and adapted from Alafair Burke's novel of the same name, as estranged sisters Chloe Taylor (Biel) and Nicky Macintosh (Banks) who despite living opposite lives — Chloe leads a picturesque existence with her lawyer husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan), while Nicky struggles to stay clean — must come together when Chloe's husband is murdered. To make matters more complicated, Nicky is also Adam's ex and Ethan's biological mother. While viewers follow the mystery of who killed Adam, they get glimpses into Nick and Chloe's harrowing past, trauma and the mistakes that haunt them. Depicting this estranged relationship, the power of sisterhood and motherhood and flawed human beings all drew Biel and Banks to the series. 'I saw myself in both of these women,' Biel tells The Hollywood Reporter. 'It's like two opposite forces coming together.' 'It felt like Greek tragedy to me,' Banks adds. 'I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again.' Ahead of the premiere, Biel and Banks spoke with THR about portraying the secretive sisters, showcasing 'unlikable women' taking on a system attempting to tear them down, the series' twists and turns and why that surprise ending felt like a 'rallying cry.' How did this project come to you, and what about the story made you want to be a part of it? JESSICA BIEL Craig Gillespie, our director of the pilot, and Olivia [Milch] and Regina [Corrado], our amazing showrunners and writers were honored to read the material and get to take a look at these amazing women. We were able to read the book kind of all at the same time. My first question [was] who's going to play Nicky? And hearing that it was possibly Elizabeth [Banks] and all of these elements coming together all sort of at the same time, for me, was just a jumping off point of 'Oh this is something that could be really, really interesting!' And I think also just the nature of [the story being on] human beings [that are] flawed, beautiful, complicated, smart, hiding things, keeping secrets, as we all do, I saw myself in both of these women, and specifically, really saw my way into playing Chloe and thinking about how exciting it would be to to work in the world of someone who keeps everything inside and contains, contains, contains, while her counterpart, everything is external. It's like two opposite forces coming together. So it was a pretty thrilling opportunity. ELIZABETH BANKS I agree with Jessica. All the elements were really exciting to me. And I also felt like the story had a really large canvas to play with. It felt like Greek tragedy to me. The murdered husband, the two wives, the shared son living in his father's shadow, talking to ghosts, the past sort of having an impact on the present, the betrayals and the lies. So I love that we were going to have this big canvas. I love that it was set in New York, which felt like another character, and that we were actually going to be able to shoot it there, which is such a blessing to get to do. Then great partners like Jessica to play with. So I really loved the entire endeavor from jump. I thought it was such an interesting opportunity. I also really appreciated that the central relationship was sisterhood and motherhood. Nicky and Chloe especially are seemingly bonded by secrets but also both struggling with their identities whether it be personally or as sisters. Can you talk about who you wanted Chloe and Nicky to be individually and get across with who they were? BIEL They're two sides of the same coin. They both have their secrets. They both know these truths that they've been telling themselves. I mean, really more Chloe, I guess. Nicky has been on her path and on her process of self discovery and self forgiveness. These characters, they are our friends. They are our sisters. They are ourselves. We contain multitudes of everything. Human beings are capable of everything. So I think Elizabeth and I just really wanted to have these people feel really authentic with all their flaws, with all their beautiful things, with all their messy beauty, whatever it is, we just wanted it to feel real, and we wanted it to feel like you could recognize yourself in these people. BANKS I think also, at the end of the day, this sense of a need for connection between the two of them is very deep, and they built real walls against it. So through this tragedy that happens in their lives, they get the opportunity to break down those walls and reconnect in a deep way. And especially for Nicky, this is the only family that they have there. Their parents are dead. It's Ethan and the two of them. This is it. This is the family unit now. And I, for one, felt like it's going to be really satisfying for the audience to watch them struggle to build this family back up, knowing all the history and the secrets that they hold. We want the audience to root for them, like a love story, to figure out how to be together and be connected as a family again. The show explores Nicky and Chloe's childhood and how the both of them had different experiences especially given their difference in age. What were your thoughts on their backstory and how their childhood shaped how themselves and each other? BANKS I know that Olivia and Regina really appreciated this notion and theme that children can get different versions of their parents, depending on birth order and time. That really struck a chord with me. I'm the oldest of four kids, and my younger brother is 11 years younger than me, so of course, my parents were different people a decade into parenthood than from when they had me. When I read that that made a lot of sense to me. I also think this is about alcoholism and how it affects families and the lessons that are learned and the protection that older siblings have for younger siblings and the protection that gets put in place when the bad things start happening to one sibling. We want to protect the younger one. Nicky got a very different version of her father and her mom than her sister did, and I think that came to bear on their lives in really profound ways and what it means for them is that they don't have a shared reality of their past. They don't have a shared sense of their history. They have two different histories, and revealing to each other. What was really going on is part of the rebuilding process that I'm talking about that's going to connect them as family again. They don't share the same facts, and when you don't, it's very hard to agree on what happened and to not blame and carry shame and guilt about it. There's a push and pull with Nicky and Chloe where they take steps forward together then take steps back because there's this trust between them that was destroyed at a time. And though by the series end they decide to team on a book and tell their story, what did you make of their relationship by the series end? Do you think they can forgive and forget or is there always going to be some distrust there and things to hash out between them? BIEL I don't think that there's any distrust. I think they've been through quite an experience together, and they have been the most vulnerable that they possibly can be. And at this point, it's the first layer of trust [and] the foundation has been poured again. Now they're really starting from a different place. They have a common goal and a common enemy, and they have a common interest in protecting Ethan no matter what. I think they have no reason at this point to not trust each other. I mean, of course, stuff is going to come up. Family shit just comes up. But they have to trust each other. They only have each other now, and if they can't trust that, then what are we even doing here? Because that's the point of what we're trying to say and what we're trying to tell as Elizabeth was saying. It's like they are going to be successful in overcoming this estranged relationship and overcoming this thing that Nicky had to carry for so long that Chloe didn't know about, which caused their two separate experiences. That's over now. Chloe has shattered her glass house, her pristine world. Now they're level playing fields. They're backing back, like arms linked, kind of feeling. BANKS They came to this scenario with their own secrets, and now they have a shared secret, and I think that's really powerful for them as a way to keep fighting for each other and for Ethan. One thing Nicky and Chloe share in common is their love for Ethan. Though we see he has built relationships with both of them, by the series end he's also left to reexamine his childhood and himself and what's true and isn't. I'm curious for your thoughts on where Nicky and Chloe's relationship with Ethan stands. Do you think there's some resentment there with both Nicky and Chloe or what do you make of their relationship now? Not to mention he doesn't even know the truth of what happened to his father. BANKS I think it's tenuous at best. I think that what's interesting is what we're trying to impart the entire time is that carrying secrets is detrimental to your relationships and to your mental health, to your sense of belonging, and yet we are going to keep a big secret from him. I think we both know it's a danger to our future relationship, to the future bonds that we'll have with him. I think we both know that it's a big risk, but it's one we feel like we have to take — for now. (Laughs.) I don't know! I like that we leave it flawed. You plug one hole, [and] you fix one thing and another leak pops up. That's life. That's the fun of the these characters. They are messy. They are flawed. We don't wrap it up with a bow. At the end, we learn that Nicky was in fact the one to kill Adam. What did you both make of that reveal? Then Elizabeth, can you talk about why Nicky kept it hidden even after Ethan was blamed and the drama aftermath? BANKS Obviously we knew the whole time what had happened. And I think what's fun is going back the clues are all there. I mean literally, I think in episode three, I say, 'I'll say I did it. Just put me in jail instead,' and everyone tells me to shut up, and that's stupid (Laughs.) She couldn't be more open. She goes to AA and says, 'It was a bad idea me coming here.' I know that Nicky came with good intentions. When you know better, you have to do better. And Nicky finding out that Adam didn't change, that she can't disclaim herself: he is the villain of the story; she is going to save her sister and Ethan from him. And he [Adam] turns to what he always does with his violence. And so it was in self defense. I think she believes that all the entire time. She shows up thinking that the tracks were hidden. She doesn't realize what Ethan did. There are so many things being revealed to Nicky when she shows up. She had a plan, and it's gone sideways. That being said, this is the first time that Nicky has had real access to her son and to her sister. She went there with the purpose of making sure Adam did not continue to steal her family from her. And she still has that goal. So I think when she's told you can't say anything, you'll go to jail and lose Ethan and Chloe again, her goal is to not let Adam win. The reason I don't say anything is because I know that at the end I always can. I have a card. I can always play it, but let's play this out and hope that Adam doesn't win. Let's get Ethan off. Let's go home together. Let's be a family. He's got to play a longer game of chess than she realized, but that's what's happening. She's taking the long view. She just has to be a strategist so that she can get her family back and not let Adam win. BIEL What the Nicky character does for Chloe when she commits that act of violence is the greatest sister sacrifice and loyalty ever. On some level, I think Chloe can't even believe that someone stood up for her in that way. That this person whose life she ruined, basically, even though she didn't have all the information, but she took this life from this beloved sister, and she did all these things that put her life spinning down one path, and her sister's life spinning down another path — like she did that for me? To just make sure that I didn't have a life that would go on and on and on with violence and pain and suffering in private, because she knows I would never say anything? And Ethan can't live this way. It's a humongous sacrifice and it's the greatest act of love in this dysfunctional, fucked up family. BANKS I'm the big sister protector, and they set it up in the series. You see us in our past, I'm supposed to keep Chloe from drowning. And I take that seriously as an adult. I felt very alone with pain that I had over Adam for so long. So to know that I actually share it with my sister, it's an incredible relief that I am actually not alone, but I'm not going to let her suffer in the way that I did. There was a moment where Nicky says it was better for Chloe to be with Adam because she could handle it better than she could. So it felt like a full circle moment that she'd be the strong one to ultimately put an end to it all. BANKS But Nicky has done a lot of work to get to that place and believe in herself, right? I think that's a survivor. She had to actually survive it to believe she could be a survivor. We see Nicky really committed to her sobriety and attending AA meetings and working the program. What sort of discussions did you have with the showrunners about it and what research of your own did you do to understand that? BANKS I've actually played a recovering alcoholic a couple times so I've spent time with AA and Al-Anon. I have friends and family who have worked those programs, so I was really honored to represent it onscreen that way. It's one of my absolute favorite organizations; I think it's incredible. It gave me a lot as an actress to work with as Nicky because I know how those meetings go and I know what the steps look like, and I know how much work, internally, and honesty someone has to bring to that process to stay sober. So I know that Nicky had done a lot of that work and that she was trying to introduce her truth to her sister in the show, so it helps me to play this role a lot. We also see Detective Guidry (Kim Dickens) be on to Nicky and seemingly know that though they arrested Bill Braddock (Matthew Modine) for the murder of Adam, that's not what happened and he's not the murderer. Do you think Nicky is still at risk of being exposed by Detective Guidry or do you think they'll find a way to keep what happened a secret? BANKS You know, I have no idea if we will ever get the opportunity to explore this further. I love that there's still a sense of danger for this family going forward. Jessica and I talked a lot about why we had to pin it on somebody else. Why did we have to do that? And that was about protecting Ethan. Ethan was accused of this crime and that accusation was going to follow him and we needed to offer up another idea. Because even though he was acquitted, there was always going to be this shadow over him that maybe he did it. I feel like Nicky, at the very least, couldn't live with this idea that Ethan had to go through the rest of his life with people believing he had murdered his father. So finding another avenue for us was a way to fight the system that had been holding us down throughout. We're two villains in this piece. I mean, we're unlikable women. I'm a bad mom who's a drug addict and an alcoholic who loses her son, and Chloe is a cheating, (laughs) ambitious social climber with a target on her back, you know? We live in a system that wants to hate us, that wants to tear us down. And so it brings out all of our fighting instincts, and Bill Braddock is the embodiment of that system that is holding us down, of that oppression. So be able to nail him for it felt really right to me as a sort of a rallying cry for us as two women in the in the series. Given the series is called I think while watching the series the answer to who is actually the better sister can change and be something hard to even answer. But what is your take on that question that lingers with the series with who is the better sister and why? BIEL I'm with you on that one. It is unanswerable. You cannot point to one or the other at the end of the series. I think that's what I love about the title. It is subverting the expectation of that title, because initially on the out front you think, 'Oh, I'm going to be able to pick it out.' And you probably think it's Chloe at first and then you think it's Nicky, and then you think it's Chloe. And then it goes back and forth the whole time. Then it kind of points to other people too. Just because the word sister is there doesn't really necessarily mean you have to be pointing at us. We are all culpable. We're pointing at everybody. So many different people have a hand in this thing. There's just this big, very gray area that question is living within. BANKS The better sister is not a statement, it's the question. I think it invites the audience to play with the series, as Jessica says, and go back and forth like I think one thing, and now I think another. One of my favorite things about the writing is these cliffhangers at the end. You're pointing in one direction, or you're walking down a certain path, and then all of a sudden we're taking massive right turns and U-turns, and I think it's a it's a great way to pose a question to the audience that invites them to investigate alongside us. *** All eight episodes of The Better Sister are now streaming on Prime Video. Read THR's interview with the series' showrunners. Hilary Lewis contributed to this story. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Buzz Feed
13 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
24 Dumb Things People's Partners Said
We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the dumbest thing they ever heard their partner say. Here are the dumbest (and funniest) things they shared: "My husband's ex once ordered the half-roasted chicken off a menu while they were out to dinner one night, but proceeded to ask the waiter that they 'cook the chicken all the way rather than only halfway.'" "My husband and I were actually taking a tour at my son's new college, and the guide was talking about the Greek life on campus. I thought he was talking about real Greek people. I realized the mistake after I saw the look on my husband's face." "I had a girlfriend in high school who asked me how they knew which corner had gas in it. Most of the gas stations were on corners. She thought they drilled for gas and built the station because gas was on that corner!" "They said the wind is caused by the trees violently waving their leaves." "I had a boss who thought that the Arch in St. Louis was to honor McDonald's. You know the Golden Arches. It was so hard not to laugh in her face." "I never realized how often I use the word adjacent until I dated a guy, 39 years old with a master's degree, and I had to explain what adjacent meant every time I said it." "My ex, who was 28 at the time, was convinced that he was uncircumcised. I tried to explain to him that the foreskin covers the head and that he was, in fact, circumcised. He still didn't believe me and decided to ask his mom. The look on her face when we made eye contact was priceless." "I dated a girl who was very attractive and who I thought was smart. Somehow, we got on the subject of military time. She just could not get the concept. After multiple explanations, I realized I could never have children with her." "My boyfriend at the time and I were driving somewhere when he happened to mention he lost his license and needed to get a replacement. When I asked him how he lost it, he replied, 'I put it in the ATM. I didn't have my debit card, and when you go into the bank, you can just give them your ID to get cash out. I thought you could do the same with an atm machine.'' "My ex thought that evolution wasn't real. Their proof was that 'My daddy ain't a monkey.' I should've dumped them then and there." "My ex told me that Thanksgiving was on a Thursday again this year." "My ex's stubble was really irritating the skin on my face, so I asked him to start shaving every day. After the second day, he complained about razor burn. I had not noticed that he did not have shaving cream and just assumed he used soap when he shaved. Nope. He had been dry-shaving his entire life. Not even water. When I finally asked why he thought they made shaving cream, his answer was that it was a conspiracy to sell shaving cream that I had fallen for." "He asked me how they decide where to put islands on maps since they're always moving around. He truly thought islands were not connected to the Earth and that they floated freely around the ocean, occasionally running around." "They thought the thyroid gland was located in the thigh. It took the word of a medical doctor to convince them it is actually located in the neck!" "She asked me, 'Where do fish go in the winter?' We live in northern Illinois. I guess she thought they migrate like birds." "When my husband saw a bumper sticker that said 'FREE TIBET,' he asked, 'What's a tibet?'" "My ex refused to wash her hands after going to the bathroom because she claimed her fingers never touched the poop, only the TP did. Then she went straight to the kitchen to fix dinner. Goodbye!" "My ex received a small succulent plant from our realtor when we moved into the new house. About three months later, she was bragging to some guests about how well she was caring for it. They laughed when they realized she had been routinely watering an artificial plant. That stupidity was unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg!" "My ex thought Washington DC was in the state of Washington and had no idea what the first 13 colonies were. He said they didn't teach 'Geology' in Tucson." "My ex-girlfriend thought they would give writing materials, like books and pens, to new students at the university." "I told my ex that my big sister was pregnant and due to give birth in December. This was around November. So he asked me if my sister was currently 11 months pregnant. I told him to say that again slowly until he understood. He didn't. I had to tell him. What's ironic is that his mom is a midwife." "I invited my boyfriend, at the time, to come to my parents' house to have dinner. It was the first time I had invited a significant other over, and as we sat down to eat, he mused, out loud, that it was crazy how glasses leak water. He was referring to condensation. He thought the beads of water were leaking out of tiny pores in the glass. The whole table was just silent for a minute or so, not sure what to say." "He was shopping for car tires online and came across the metal rims without the rubber tires. He thought they were a new, sleek, and futuristic kind of tire and tried to insist on trying them out." And finally, "After we saw the movie The Martian, she said it was so amazing that someone could survive on Mars like that, and it made her proud of humanity. I was like…'.Wait, you know that's fiction, right? Humans haven't even been to Mars,' and she was shocked. She had read the book and seen the movie, thinking it was a 100% true story." What's the dumbest thing someone you were dating ever said? Let us know in the comments or use the anonymous form below:
Axios
14 hours ago
- Axios
Weekend events for Nashville residents avoiding CMA Fest
Country music is one of the great constants in Nashville, but that doesn't mean there isn't more to enjoy. Why it matters: Sometimes longtime residents need a break from the boot scooting. State of play: While CMA Fest is certainly the biggest event of the weekend, there are plenty of other fun things to do. If you'd prefer twang-free activities, we're here to help. 🌱 Cheekwood's community celebration: The botanical garden is offering discounted admission for nonmembers this weekend. The event runs through Saturday and includes food trucks, family-friendly activities, $5 gardening classes and concerts. A gardenside screening of "The Princess Bride" is planned Friday night. 🎟️ Movie mania: The Belcourt Theatre is in the midst of a series celebrating films shot in and around Nashville. A special Saturday seminar will delve into the city's role in "Hick Flick" culture through films like "Ernest Scared Stupid," which was filmed in East Nashville. 🏛️ Play tourist: The Parthenon is hosting an architectural tour on Saturday that uses our replica, which was built in the 1890s, to examine the features of the historic Greek structure that was constructed thousands of years ago. 🍩 Eat sweets: A citywide bakery crawl is underway all month. Several local bakeries are participating with limited-time specials like a chocolate chip pistachio cookie at Baked on Eighth, orange creamsicle donuts at East Park Donuts and lemon thyme shortbread danishes at Brightside Bakeshop. Plus: The annual LGBTQ+ Pride coffee crawl begins later this month. But some shops have already rolled out special drinks, like The Slayer at Fido, a shaken espresso latte with cayenne and honey.
