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Daisy Lowe marries partner of five years Jordan Saul in low-key London ceremony

Daisy Lowe marries partner of five years Jordan Saul in low-key London ceremony

Yahoo5 hours ago

Congratulations are in order for Daisy Lowe, who has married long-term partner Jordan Saul.
The couple had a low-key affair in London, surrounded by family - Daisy's dad Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale wasn't present, but he is expected to attend a bigger ceremony later in the year.
The wedding was attended by property developer Jordan's family and friends, along with Daisy's mother Pearl and her stepfather Danny Goffey, as well as her godmother Zoe Grace, and her half-siblings Betty, Alfie and Frankie.
Betty shared some gorgeous photos of the post-wedding reception, where guests tucked into pasta and tiramisu at Brutto, an Italian restaurant in East London.
Daisy and Jordan met while they were walking their dogs in lockdown, and they welcomed daughter Ivy two years ago.
The model recently said she would be 'moving to, and marrying in Somerset' where her parents Pearl and Danny live.
She told Somerset Life magazine: 'I will coordinate Ivy with me and my bridesmaids, she'll be a little flower girl but I'm still trying to figure it all out.'
'Jordan is really practical whereas I'm the creative one, so I need him to make certain decisions and he lets me get on with the creative stuff,' she said.
'But having a toddler, planning a wedding and a new home is quite a lot.'
Speaking to the Standard in 2023, the star said motherhood, while 'very special', had been 'harder' than she had anticipated.
She said: 'Everyone says it is hard, but that is always theoretical [before you have a baby] and then in practice, you are like: 'This is really hard!' Nothing can prepare you. It is extraordinary [...] It is very special.'
She said her father, Gavin Rossdale, had travelled over to London to visit his grandchild when she was nine weeks old.
Daisy found out Gavin was her dad when she was a teen, after taking a paternity test.
The model said: 'He asked me how I am. And I said I am so lucky and I am so grateful, but it is so hard.'
She said he replied: 'I really want you to remember that you are not just that, it is really important for you and for her that you know you are not only mum.'
'It was really kind and insightful, and I have thought about that a lot. To be the best mum to her I have to look after myself as well. If I am not looking after myself, then I am useless to her.'

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‘Will Sean Combs Testify?' and Other Burning Questions We Still Have
‘Will Sean Combs Testify?' and Other Burning Questions We Still Have

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

‘Will Sean Combs Testify?' and Other Burning Questions We Still Have

Follow all of our Sean Combs trial coverage With Sean Combs' sex trafficking and racketeering trial entering its sixth week, much of the closely guarded case is now public record. Jurors have sat through days of highly emotional testimony from the two principal alleged victims, Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura and a recent ex-girlfriend testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane.' More from Rolling Stone Matthew Perry's Ketamine Death: Second Doctor Agrees to Plead Guilty Judge Dismisses Sean Combs Juror Over Inconsistent Statements Sean Combs Trial: Possible Juror Dismissal and Mogul's 'Threatening' Voice Notes In disturbing detail, the women described Combs feeding them drugs and stage-directing them through days-long sexual marathons with male escorts. The women said Combs threatened to release their intimate videos or yank financial support if they resisted. Both described Combs turning violent, breaking down doors, and giving them black eyes. Jurors listened as one former assistant said Combs kidnapped her at gunpoint and another said he raped her in a staff bunk bed at his home. They heard Kid Cudi describe Combs as a 'Marvel supervillain' who broke into his house, opened his holiday gifts, and allegedly later firebombed his Porsche in 2012. They watched a hotel security guard describe how Combs handed him $100,000 stuffed in a paper bag to buy and bury video of Combs viciously beating Ventura at L.A.'s InterContinental Hotel in 2016. While prosecutors have pieced together most of the evidence they say should land Combs in prison for life, Combs' defense has yet to take center stage – and many questions remain. Rolling Stone reached out to experts and pored over transcripts to get some clarity on some of the biggest, still-lingering unknowns. Throughout the trial, Combs has been visibly engaged, leaning forward, passing notes to his lawyers and even nodding so 'vigorously' in the direction of jurors, the judge threatened expulsion from the courtroom. Combs also has a history of speaking up when the legal chips are down. He testified in his own defense at his 2001 trial over charges he brandished a gun during a shooting in a Manhattan nightclub, leading to an acquittal. After CNN released damning video last year showing him kicking and dragging Ventura at the InterContinental, he responded within 48 hours, releasing a lengthy video apology, making 'no excuses.' He clearly likes to share his thoughts. 'I'm sure Sean Combs wants to testify. I'm also sure his lawyers are telling him that would be a terrible idea,' David Ring, a plaintiff's lawyer who represented Evgeniya Chernyshova, the Italian actress whose testimony led to Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction in California, tells Rolling Stone. Experts say Combs taking the stand is 'extremely risky' because it could open the floodgates to testimony about a long list of alleged prior bad acts that otherwise would not come in. In her opening statement, defense lawyer Teny Geragos sounded fully resigned to any charm offensive being pointless. 'Sean Combs has a bad temper,' she told jurors, predicting they would consider him a 'jerk' and say to themselves, 'Wow, he is a really bad boyfriend.' The defense position, she said, was that 'he is not charged with being mean,' he's charged with running a racketeering enterprise (a charge Combs denies.) 'Usually, when you're a celebrity, you get on the stand and the jury falls in love with you. They are not going to fall in love with him. It's too late for that,' Ring said. 'The jury already hates him. They might not convict him, but they hate him. So for him to get on the stand, it's not going to change their opinion of him.' If he does testify, experts said he likely would be on the stand for more than a week. The way the trial is running, such testimony would push any verdict beyond the Fourth of July. Jurors previously heard their service likely would wrap up in time for the holiday. When Combs' indictment was first unsealed last September, his online court docket referred to him as 'Sealed Defendant 1.' Many speculated that meant others would be charged but is still under wraps. That's not necessarily the case, experts tell Rolling Stone. Echoing Dave Chappelle's viral Saturday Night Live joke last January – where the comedian said he knew things were bad for Combs because 'they've got this guy in a RICO case … by himself!' – experts say it's not only possible, but even likely, Combs will be the only one charged. 'A lot of these people who are functioning as part of the government's theory – the allegedly corrupt enterprise – they worked under Combs. They allegedly were doing things at his direction,' Alyse Adamson, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, tells Rolling Stone. Adamson says it's possible, though looking less likely by the day, that prosecutors made still undisclosed, top-secret deals where people pleaded to lesser charges or avoided charges altogether in exchange for their cooperation. These deals can be common with co-conspirators whose testimony is needed or whose experience also involved being victimized by the main target of an investigation. (Two former assistants to Combs, George Kaplan and Jonathan Perez, already have testified under grants of immunity.) Adamson says many of the alleged crimes listed as predicate acts in Combs' indictment – such as bribery and arson – have charging windows that are now closed. It's possible prosecutors' only option was to bring an actual RICO charge to file anything against the people under Combs, she says, and maybe they lacked the evidence for that. 'Or maybe they've been interviewed, but they weren't granted immunity, so they're in a holding pattern because they're not going to get up on the stand,' Adamson says. (Those involved could invoke their Fifth Amendment right to not testify.) 'There has to be a conspiracy, but the government doesn't have to charge the other co-conspirators,' Ring says. 'I doubt anyone else will be charged.' Ring says Combs' security, his assistants, the people who allegedly carried drugs for him, and those that set up the freak-offs could all qualify as co-conspirators without being charged. He adds that charging them could actually backfire. 'When people cut a deal and then they take the stand, it's fair game for the defense to question their credibility because, hey, they took a deal and got something in exchange for their testimony,' he says. Khorram, also known as K.K., started working for Combs in 2013 and became his longtime chief of staff. In a 2021 Facebook post, Combs called her his 'right hand,' claiming he couldn't 'function without her.' Prosecutors didn't name Khorram in their opening. Instead, they were general, saying Combs relied on his inner circle, including 'chiefs of staff,' to run 'all aspects of his life.' On June 5, prosecutors got more specific, dubbing Khorram, 38, an 'agent and co-conspirator.' Jurors have heard Khorram's name over and over. Ventura said she communicated with Khorram 'every day,' adding that Khorram knew Combs was physically abusive. She said Khorram reached out directly after the InterContinental incident to say Combs was looking for her. Indeed, it was on Khorram's seized devices that investigators found the photo IDs for the hotel security guards linked to the $100,000 'bribe' from Combs. One of the guards testified it was Khorram who called repeatedly and showed up in the hotel's lobby looking for him before the deal was brokered. For her part, Jane testified Khorram encouraged her to smuggle Ecstasy pills for Combs in her checked luggage. 'It's fine. I do it all the time,' Khorram allegedly said. Jane also claimed Khorram booked her travel for the so-called 'hotel nights.' 'Her name has come up so much during the trial, if she's not put on the stand, the jury will be wondering, 'Where's Kristina?' Adamson tells Rolling Stone. 'She could have some of the highest evidentiary value here … in terms of proving the alleged conspiracy.' On Friday, prosecutors hinted they would rest their case this week without calling Khorram. They listed their final witnesses as Combs' former assistant Brendan Paul, a law enforcement officer, and three summary witnesses. 'If she's not called, it could be she's too risky [and] that prosecutors are worried her testimony would cut favorably to Diddy,' Adamson says. 'Or it could be that they're not giving her immunity, and she has a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.' Experts who spoke with Rolling Stone say that given Khorram's high-level position, it's also possible she's a target. 'Maybe she's been charged. and we don't know it, because it's sealed,' Adamson says. 'That's just in the range of possibilities – but less likely.' From the moment of Combs' arrest, his defense team has painted the government's case as a broad abuse of power, coming into his bedroom, scrutinizing his personal sex life, and deeming it as criminal. They've been open that Combs is polyamorous, engaged in 'kinky' sex, was a jealous lover, and part of a swingers' lifestyle. They also readily admitted there were episodes of domestic violence, particularly in Combs' decade-long relationship with Ventura. But they were adamant that Combs' conduct and perhaps taboo sexual preferences do not equate to the serious charges he's facing. 'Domestic violence is not sex trafficking,' Geragos said in her opening statement. That argument will likely be prominent as the defense presents its case later this week or early next week. Combs' defense team has also raised questions about his former girlfriends' roles in these 'toxic' dynamics. 'The alleged victims who will testify in this case are capable, strong, adult women,' Geragos said. 'They all had the personal responsibility and the freedom to make the choices that they made.' Combs' all-star defense team has also grilled witnesses on their motives, particularly those related to financial gain. They've elicited testimony from several of Combs' former employees who praised the mogul's brilliance and 'can't stop, won't stop' work ethic, suggesting that due to the nature of Combs' around-the-clock schedule, his personal life inherently meshed with his business duties. They said the blurred lines don't constitute conspiring to run a criminal enterprise. While those are just some of the defenses Combs' side has offered during the prosecution's case, his team has kept a tight lid on who he might call to the stand. They've only revealed they plan on calling Dr. Sasha Bardey, a psychiatrist, to rebut the testimony of government witness Dr. Dawn Hughes, who testified about sexual abuse, coercive control, and intimate partner violence. Shortly before the expected eight-week trial commenced, a long-whispered-about woman identified as Victim-3 vanished from the prosecutors' case. The woman first emerged in a second superseding indictment against Combs in March. Unlike Ventura and Jane, Victim-3 wasn't connected to a specific sex trafficking charge. Instead, she was mentioned under the racketeering conspiracy count. The government alleged Combs lured the woman into his orbit 'under the pretense of a romantic relationship and used physical violence, threats, financial control, and coercion to allegedly compel her to engage in commercial sex acts, known as 'freak-offs.'' In late April, just a few weeks before the trial's start, the woman agreed to testify under her real name. But, on the eve of the trial, prosecutors reported difficulties in contacting the woman and her attorney, later stating that she would no longer testify. The government would confirm Victim-3 as Gina, one of Combs' girlfriends who has been in an on-off relationship with him since around 2015. Her name has continually surfaced during the trial, with Ventura admitting that Gina was a source of contention in her decade-long relationship with Combs, a refrain echoed by Jane, who dated Combs from 2021 until his September arrest. One of Combs' former assistants, George Kaplan, alleged he once observed a fight between Combs and Gina, in which Combs hurled apples at her, and Gina later yelled to be let out of Combs' Miami mansion in the middle of the night. But prosecutors lost their bid to include a text conversation between Combs and his former head of security, who issued a dire warning to Combs that he could go to jail if word leaked about an apparent violent incident between the couple in October 2015 in Atlanta. 'If anyone called the police, the police is a 100 percent going to lock you,' the security member allegedly texted Combs. 'Even if she begs them not to, it's the law. So once they put the cuffs on you, your life and career is over.' It's still unclear if another alleged victim, Victim-5, will take the stand. Prosecutors haven't mentioned the person in any publicly filed documents, but Combs' defense attorneys objected to portions of their testimony in a heavily redacted filing. The judge ruled any testimony from the alleged victim had to be narrowly tailored. As Combs faces up to life in prison if convicted, he's also facing another legal crisis on the civil front. In the wake of Ventura's pivotal November 2023 filing, a tidal wave of more than 50 women and men have claimed the larger-than-life mogul abused and sexually preyed on them over three decades. While more than a dozen of the civil suits include accusations of sexual assault that overlap with SDNY prosecutors' timeframe of the alleged racketeering conspiracy — 2004 until 2024 — the deluge of filings has barely played a role in the criminal case. Only the testimonies of fashion designer Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan and former Bad Boy artist Dawn Richard have come into the trial so far. Although both women alleged sexual misconduct by Combs, prosecutors essentially used their testimonies to boost corroboration of Ventura's claims that Combs would unleash brutal attacks on her. Richard testified that on her first day recording the 2010 Diddy-Dirty Money album, Last Train to Paris, she saw Combs attempt to hit Ventura with a frying pan before dragging her to an upstairs bedroom by the hair because he was upset about how she was cooling his eggs. Richard was not permitted to discuss her separate personal claims against Combs, claiming he sexually harassed and groped her and once ordered one of his executives to lock her in a freezing car for hours after speaking back to Combs. Bongolan, who forged a close friendship with Ventura in 2015, claimed she saw the lengths to which Combs would go to attempt to control Ventura, incessantly blowing up her phone and monitoring her location. She said she routinely observed bruises on Ventura and allegedly saw Combs once hurl a knife in his girlfriend's direction after showing up to her apartment unprompted. But unlike Richard, Bongolan was able to testify more about her personal experiences with Combs. She claimed he once called himself the 'devil' and warned he 'could kill' her. She claimed the powerful music executive almost dangled her over Ventura's 17th-floor balcony, yelling, 'You know what the fuck you did!' The government used the alleged incident as evidence that Combs' abuse of Ventura was boundless, spreading to her closest friends when he flew into a rage. They also suggested it reinforced Ventura's fear of Combs and kept her trapped in the decade-long relationship. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked

Tennis star Sinner releases duet with Italian tenor Bocelli
Tennis star Sinner releases duet with Italian tenor Bocelli

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Tennis star Sinner releases duet with Italian tenor Bocelli

Tennis star Jannik Sinner has turned his hand to music releasing a duet on Friday with the renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The song, "Polvere e Gloria" (Dust And Glory), features three-time Grand Slam champion Sinner, not singing but repeating parts of his winning and losing speeches, which he recorded at Bocelli's studio in Tuscany. Advertisement "I am very happy and honoured to be part of this project with Andrea, who for 30 years has been a unique and extraordinary voice, a flag for our country in the rest of the world," said world number one Sinner. "I could never have imagined hearing my voice in one of his songs. It's extremely moving." Sinner won the US Open in 2024 and the Australian Open in 2024 and 2025, among 19 ATP titles. He finished runner-up in the French Open on clay at Roland Garros this month. The track features both Italian and English lyrics. The accompanying video shows Sinner and Bocelli, two of the most famous Italians in the world, in a bucolic countryside setting, seated at a piano. Advertisement The video features personal and archive images from the duo's childhoods, along with scenes filmed as they collaborated at Bocelli's estate. While Bocelli, 66, has performed at major events including the Olympic Games and the World Cup, Sinner is the first Italian to top either the men's or women's singles world rankings in tennis. His image as a national hero in Italy, however, was tarnished by a high-profile doping scandal involving accidental contamination, which, after a lengthy series of events, earned him a three-month suspension between February and May. Since his return, Sinner, 23, has reached the finals of the Masters 1000 in Rome and the French Open, losing both times to his great rival Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. On Thursday, he was defeated in the second round of the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, by Kazakh Alexander Bublik, ranked 45th in the world. jr/ea/bsp

Hidden Gem Movies To Stream On Hulu
Hidden Gem Movies To Stream On Hulu

Buzz Feed

time2 hours ago

  • Buzz Feed

Hidden Gem Movies To Stream On Hulu

Stress Positions (2024) You might never look at a TheraGun the same way after watching writer-director Theda Hammel's riotous debut feature — one of the very best things to hit theaters during the spring of 2024 and, without a doubt, the very best COVID comedy we've gotten to date. (I'll confess, it's not a crowded category.) John Early (Search Party) is the insufferable Terry Goon (talk about a name that tells you everything you need to know), an unemployed, recent divorcee, stumbling his way through a pandemic while living in his ex-husband's Brooklyn brownstone. A cast of eccentric characters — including his teen-model nephew and COVID-denying upstairs neighbor — pack every minute with spectacular chaos. Watch it on Hulu. Thelma (2024) June Squibb just narrowly missed out on an Oscar nomination for Thelma this year — and that's a shame, not only because we could have gotten more cutie-patootie red carpet moments from Squibb and Fred Hechinger, but because this modestly sized indie from Magnolia actually could have used a boost from the telecast. With all the ingredients of a crowdpleaser, this big-hearted comedy about a grandmother (Squibb) getting her revenge on a scammer, simply lacked word of mouth. Notably, the 95-year-old actor performed many of the impressive on-screen stunts herself, which begs the question: Could Thelma have secured a Stunt Design Award if the Academy introduced the new category for this last year? I guess we'll always have to wonder. Watch it on Hulu. La Chimera (2023) The forthcoming Mastermind isn't the first film to place Josh O'Connor at the center of an arthouse art heist. In one of his very best roles to date, the perpetually unshowered Challengers star plays Arthur, a grief-stricken Italian tomb raider searching for his missing girlfriend. This Cannes contender, released stateside in 2024, comes from the mind of Alice Rohrwacher (Happy as Lazzaro), which means you can expect plenty of magical realism and intricately designed set pieces to move the plot forward. It is a hallucinogenic, awe-inspiring experience that takes you through Italy's past and present while reminding you that there's pretty much nothing the Internet's husband can't do — like speak near-fluent Italian and get a big fit off in a soot-covered linen suit. Watch it on Hulu. Ghostlight (2024) It's a mystery to me why some Sundance darlings, like CODA, go on to win Best Picture at the Oscars and become household names, while others like Ghostlight (touted one of the best movies of [2024] by New York Magazine's Bilge Ebiri) fade into obscurity. This family-drama tearjerker opens by introducing us to Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer), a troubled thespian teen prone to outbursts, who has been suspended from school for pushing a teacher. Her aggression, we learn, has been brought about by an unspeakable family tragedy. Enter: Rita (the always excellent Dolly De Leon), who might just be the key to getting the family back on track. In a chance encounter with closed-off patriarch Dan (Keith Kupferer) — yes, that's Daisy's real-life father — Rita introduces him to a community theater, specifically a production of Romeo and Juliet, which unexpectedly allows the family to process their grief and communicate more openly with one another. Watch it on Hulu. Strange Days (1995) Sure, you know The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, but what about this deep cut from Kathryn Bigelow? A box-office flop, sure, but Strange Days is ripe for a re-appreciation on streaming thanks to its deeply '90s, cyberpunk aesthetic (complimentary) and prescient themes of fascism and police brutality. At least one critic has even touted the film as "better than Blade Runner," which is not nothing. Rounding out the intrigue of this sci-fi action gem is a cast that includes a near-unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett (she certainly did the thing here), and Juliette Lewis — plus, a writing credit from James Cameron, who divorced Bigelow four years prior. Watch it on Hulu. How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023) There's never been a better time to press play on How to Blow Up a Pipeline, an urgent eco-thriller based on Andreas Malm's book of the same name, which asks us to consider when acts of terrorism might be justified for a greater good. Daniel Goldhaber's gripping film follows a group of twenty-something climate activists who band together to take down a West Texas pipeline that is wreaking havoc on its community. Each of the eight members have a different motivation for getting involved in the heist; Theo has contracted terminal leukemia from the town's toxic atmosphere, while the group's resident bomb expert, Michael, is an Indigenous person who has a personal connection to the land that has been occupied by oil workers. Contrary to what the title suggests, the film never feels didactic, and Goldhaber skillfully manages to never talk down to his audience, trusting that they are smart enough to draw their own conclusions from this evocative and quick-moving story. Watch it on Hulu. Minding the Gap (2018) The best kind of documentary, IMO? The kind that takes a seemingly narrow focus like, say, skateboarding, and finds a way to turn it into something universal. That's the gist of Bing Liu's masterwork from 2018 which starts off simple enough — a document of three boys and their love of skateboarding — and then plunges into heavier topics of masculinity, class, and race before you know it. This is all to say: Mid90s wants what Minding the Gap it on Hulu. The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (2023) And the winner of the Hardest Movie Title to Remember When Trying to Recommend It to a Friend Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed. Congrats! Yes, this indie stars Scott Cohen (the one and only Max Medina) alongside the multi-hyphenate talent Joanna Arnow, who wrote and directed the film. Arnow's comedy is about millennial malaise, BDSM, and dead-end jobs, and its uncomfortable truths will ring true to anyone who is willing to sit with it for long enough. The New Yorker's critic Richard Brody said it best when he said of Arnow's writing and direction, that she "recognizes that much of life's pain is built around sharp yet minor intimacies, impressions, and humiliations, and she brilliantly captures the sense of disproportion that arises when slight or banal exchanges have mighty emotional effects."Watch it on Hulu. National Anthem (2024) You might know him as that hot cowboy photographer from Instagram. Allow Luke Gilford to reintroduce himself as the talented filmmaker behind National Anthem. Told through his signature lush images, the photographer's debut feature film situates us in New Mexico as a 21-year-old construction worker (Charlie Plummer, who you may have also seen riding horses in Lean on Pete) finds himself immersed in the queer rodeo community. If Brokeback Mountain is the entirety of your queer-cowboy media diet, do yourself a favor during Pride Month and press play on this hidden gem. Watch it on Hulu. Presence (2024) Leave it to Steven Soderbergh to give us not one, but two, bangers within a year. The less buzzed-about, but equally deserving of your streaming time, film was Presence — a chilling ghost story unlike anything I've seen before. (Though, if you forced me to compare it to existing films, I'd say it brings to mind elements of Olivier Assayas's Personal Shopper and David Lowery's A Ghost Story.) Shot from the perspective of the ghost, this never-dull atmospheric thriller filled with spooky, tracking shots, slowly builds to a satisfying twist. Just don't go into this one expecting jump scares (or, much screen time from Julia Fox, for that matter, who was used in the marketing of the film) because you will be utterly disappointed. Watch it on Hulu. Perfect Days (2023) What the world needs now? A gentle, life-affirming film. Specifically, one that reminds us to take stock of the little moments that pass us by each day. I hear how cliche these words sound as I type them, and that only solidifies my belief that Wim Wenders, who directed this Oscar-nominated film, is one of the absolute greats — somehow able to pull at our heartstrings without saccharine storytelling or lousy contrivances. Even more impressive is the fact that Wenders was commissioned to make this film by Japan's Tokyo Toilet project, helping to promote the image of public hygiene. What he is able to pull off is something much more nuanced than an advertisement. It follows a highly routined toilet cleaner as he commutes to the city each day to scrub public toilets and visit the same bar, bath, and spot in the park. But don't be fooled by its deceptively simple, linear structure. Perfect Days is also a brutal takedown of our soul-sucking digital world (...I write, hunched over my MacBook.)Watch it on Hulu. The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) Here's a hidden gem that Iran's authoritarian government would prefer to keep hidden. Mohammad Rasoulof's powerful, fourth wall-breaking family drama that exposes much of Tehran's political turmoil was able to get made in secret and find global distribution — but not without consequence. Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison and subsequently fled to Germany, along with the film's two stars Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami. Rasoulof is not German, and there is no German language spoken at any point in the film; however, Germany opted to submit the film for Best International Film at the Oscars in lieu of Iran. That certainly gave the film some much-needed visibility but not nearly the amount it deserves. Thankfully, this important piece of filmmaking is now widely accessible stateside on streaming. Watch it on Hulu. Decision to Leave (2022) Park Chan-wook doesn't miss. The king of labyrinthian storytelling (Old Boy, The Handmaiden) delivered another instant classic in 2022 with Decision to Leave. Part love story, part murder mystery, the Korean auteur's Cannes hit surprised critics and fans alike by deviating from his usual (spectacularly graphic) mode of filmmaking. The story about a romance between a Busan detective and his prime suspect might feel more restrained, but there's no shortage of Chan-Wook's signature dark humor it on Hulu. Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (2022) One of the great, overlooked performances by multi-Oscar winner Emma Thompson is featured in this small Searchlight two-hander. Thompson plays an uptight middle-aged widow who hires a sex worker (Daryl McCormack) to achieve an orgasm for the first time and, of course, what ensues is something much more profound. Its witty and unflinching exploration of sex positivity, female pleasure, and human connection make it something of a spiritual predecessor to FX's current awards juggernaut series Dying For Sex. Free double-feature idea!Watch it on Hulu. Stream all these hidden gems on Hulu.

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