The Surfer review — Nicolas Cage saves this pretentious thriller
Unfortunately a group of local 'surf gangsters' — called the Bay Boys and led by the charismatic Scally (Nip/Tuck's Julian McMahon) — have other ideas. They ban the surfer from the beach, steal his shoes and phone, and confine him to the car
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
For once Channel 4 has produced a brilliant drama
British women caught drug smuggling abroad tend to be of a certain type, if the news stories are anything to go by: 20-somethings with a better understanding of Snapchat filters than the penalties for drug trafficking, too dim to realise that extending a holiday from Ibiza or Thailand to Lima or Tbilisi might look the teeniest bit suspicious. But In Flight (Channel 4), a propulsive new thriller, chooses a different kind of protagonist. Jo (Katherine Kelly) is a hard-working flight attendant. Her world falls apart when her 19-year-old son is jailed in Bulgaria for a crime he swears he didn't commit, and two heavies turn up at her house to tell her that they will arrange for him to meet a grisly fate in prison unless she agrees to become a drugs mule. 'If you refuse our proposal, we'll kill your son. If you go to the police, we'll kill your son. If you talk to a lawyer, your boss, a friend, we'll kill your son. If you do anything other than exactly what we tell you to do, we'll kill your son.' Put this way, Jo doesn't look to have many options. What follows are six episodes of stress and suspense as she tries to escape from the trap. Cabin crew are unlikely to come under suspicion, so Jo is a canny choice. Most mules, she is told, get caught because they travel too often, they travel too light and they look guilty. On her first run, Jo is terrified, but before you can say 'Peru Two' she's become a dab hand at it. At the same time, she's desperate for a way out, enlisting the help of an old flame (Ashley Thomas), an ex-police officer who works for the Border Force. Six episodes of Jo becoming increasingly miserable or hysterical wouldn't make a great series, so writers Adam Randall (Slow Horses) and Mike Walden (Marcella) give her character inner reserves. Her immediate goals are to save her son from harm and turn the tables on her tormentors. Cormac (Stuart Martin) is the Northern Irish gangster who puts the frighteners on Jo. As luck would have it, he's pretty hot. Can you see where this storyline might go? If you're being threatened by someone from a murderous drugs cartel, it does soften the blow when they're handsome and the rendezvous can take place over drinks in the plush bar of a Bangkok hotel. Channel 4 doesn't have a great track record when it comes to drama, but this one is a cut above their usual fare and could sit just as happily on ITV primetime or Netflix. Although Netflix would definitely have thrown some more money at it – the production values are a bit cheap and dreary. For a series set in various international locations, you never get the sense that it's being filmed anywhere other than a cold European country. Kelly is great in the lead role, playing an ordinary person caught in an extraordinary situation. On the one hand, she's engaged in this high-stakes, life-or-death mission; on the other, she's maintaining a facade and joking around with colleagues (Ambreen Razia, as fellow flight attendant Zara, brings just the right note of normality). I'm sure we could nitpick about how likely all of this is – why don't the airport sniffer dogs find Jo out? – but just enjoy it for what it is: a lean and effective thriller.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Sam Burgess reveals how Hollywood A-lister Russell Crowe lured him to the Rabbitohs - and it involves a prank call to Shane Warne and Leonardo DiCaprio
Sam Burgess had been 'hell-bent' on joining the Manly Sea Eagles. Under the stewardship of legendary coach Des Hasler, the Sea Eagles had gone on to win the 2008 premiership, having placed as a runner-up the year prior, before going on to win the flag again in 2011. The club was expanding and it was an attractive prospect for 'Slammin Sam' Burgess, who admitted he had been blowing up Hasler's phone with calls, even offering to play for the club for reduced fees. Multiple other clubs had been interested in snapping up the former Bradford Bulls star, who had his sights set on making a move Down Under to play in the NRL. But that's where Hollywood A-lister Russell Crowe stepped in. The Gladiator star and co-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs had been over in the UK at the time filming Robin Hood and had heard through the grapevine that the now Warrington Wolves coach, Burgess, was making rumblings about a move to play rugby league in Australia. So Crowe got hold of Burgess' phone number and gave the footy star a quick call to see if he could tempt him to join the Bunnies. But speaking to cricket legends, David Lloyd, Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tuffnell and Michael Vaughan on The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show, Burgess revealed he actuall snubbed Crowe's phone call because he thought someone was prank calling him. 'We were playing down in Wales at the time,' he said to The Overlap and Betfair's Stick to Cricket show. 'I'm just getting a massage - you're not really supposed to have your phone on the massage beds - but I took the call because I was taking anything at the time. It was Russell Crowe on the phone! 'I thought someone was pranking me, so I hung up. I thought: 'I'm not paying a fine just for someone on a prank phone call'. 'Anyway, he rang me back a few times, I let it go through.' After Burgess got off the massage bed, the Bradford Bulls star finally answered one of the Gladiator star's phone calls. 'He said: 'It's Russell Crowe. I want to catch up with you, I want to meet you. Do you want to come play in Australia?' 'I said: 'Yes, I do.' He said: 'Okay then. I'm filming a movie in Derby, I'll be there next week, you want to come down?'' Burgess, who had spent three years at Bradford before finally moving to the Souths in 2010, agreed to come down and asked the Hollywood star if he could bring some friends along with him. Crowe, keen to get the England star on board, obliged. 'So, I took four of my mates down and we go to this fancy hotel in Derby - can't remember what it's called - that's where he was staying,' he told the cricket legends. 'We arrive and security's there - 'Name? Where are you from? Who are you seeing?' - Yes, come in. My mates are all walking in, looking at this establishment. We sit and have dinner - the cutlery's laid out perfectly. Burgess and his friends sat down for dinner with Crowe but the footy great revealed that rugby was not spoken about once during the meeting. 'We end up having a great feed, didn't talk one thing about rugby, but we got a little bit p***ed,' he explained. 'They start bringing out desserts - they had like gold spoons, real gold. So, my mates are ordering extra desserts, saying, 'Yeah, get me one more of them please,' and they're pocketing the spoons. We get in the car on the way home and they've all got two or three spoons each - 'We're killing it, boys!' 'We didn't have any conversations about rugby.' Instead, they opted to play a few pranks on some of the illustrious names in Crowe's phone book, including Leonardo DiCaprio and legendary Aussie cricketer Shane Warne. 'We were prank calling off Russell's phone - that's how the night finished up. We prank-called all these movie stars,' he said. 'We rang Leonardo DiCaprio. We rang Shane Warne - Warney, big mate. We rang a few other people. I'm thinking, this is amazing, how fun is this?' After the lavish dinner, Burgess explained he went down to meet Crowe again where they talked shop. 'A couple of days later, I went down, and we spoke a bit more about the opportunity to play in the NRL and my ambitions as a player - I was only 20 at the time. From that day on we've been great mates. 'He's been true to his word: 'There won't be a door in the world I can't open, you just gotta walk through them.' And he's just such a great bloke. Loves his cricket.' The rest is history, with Burgess going on to cement himself as a legend of the club, helping lift the Bunnies to win their first premiership in 43 years during the 2014 season. He would go on to make 176 appearances for the footy club across two spells, sandwiched between a stint in rugby union back in England. He would notably pick up the Clive Churchill medal during the Grand Final that year, after suffering a horror head collision with fellow Brit James Graham in the opening minute of the match. Burgess had fractured his cheekbone in the collision and could barely see out of his right eye. 'First tackle of the game, I clash heads with James Graham a great mate of mine and smash my face up,' he told the podcast. 'I had no option but to come off. South Sydney hadn't won for 43 years. We'd had a great season, worked our backsides off, and now we're here. 'The trainer comes out, I tell him I'm in a bad way - he says: 'Oh f***'.' Burgess revealed to the podcast that he tested out the injury to see if he could keep playing. 'One of my thoughts was: 'I'm not going to have a beer tonight, because my face will be out here.' But I thought: 'Let's see how far I can get before I have to leave the field'. Tried running, tackling - pain was manageable - so I stayed on. 'At half-time, the doctor wants to assess me. I say: 'Doc, all due respect, I want to sit and listen to the coach, stay connected to the team'. In the second half, my brother George misses a tackle. I give him a spray: 'You lazy b******, I'm here covering you with my face busted - you better make it up'. Next set he scores one of the greatest individual tries in a grand final. The footy great revealed he didn't go to hospital after the game, instead joining his team-mates to celebrate the huge victory.
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Apple and Google found to have breached Australia's competition laws in landmark court case
Tech giants Apple and Google have been found to have engaged in anti-competitive conduct, paving the way for a payout that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Epic Games, the developer of popular online game Fortnite, sued the two tech giants in the Federal Court, claiming they engaged in anti-competitive and unconscionable conduct against those developing apps distributed through iOS and Android devices. The lawsuit was launched after Epic was booted from Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store after attempting to introduce its own payment system into Fortnite games in August 2020. Justice Jonathan Beach on Tuesday found Apple and Google had breached Australia's competition laws, upholding key elements of Epic's case. Apple had a 'substantial degree of market power' because of the restrictions placed on in-app payment systems and the distribution of iOS compatible apps, he said. Google also had a significant degree of market power and was the predominant supplier of Android apps, the court was told. The tech companies' dominance had the effect of substantially lessening competition and breached Australia's competition laws, Justice Beach found. However, he rejected Epic's argument Apple had engaged in unconscionable conduct. Justice Beach also found in favour of a class action lawsuit comprising Australian developers and gamers who claimed Apple and Google's monopolistic practices led to inflated prices. The app developers had to pay higher commissions than they otherwise would have if there was more competition in the market Lawyers for the plaintiffs welcomed the result as a significant win for consumer rights and digital fairness that could have global implications for how digital platforms operate. 'This judgment is a turning point,' said Kimi Nishimura from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. 'It sends a clear message that even the most powerful corporations must play by the rules and respect the rights of consumers and developers alike.' The lawyers said the decision could result in 'one of the largest class action payouts in Australian legal history with potential compensation of several hundreds of millions of dollars to come from two global corporate Goliaths'. The parties have been given time to consider the 2000-page judgment and will return to the Federal Court at a later date to determine compensation and directives aimed at increasing transparency. A Google spokesperson said the company disagreed with the court's characterisation of its billing policies and practices and would review the full decision. The Epic Games Store and Fortnite will come to iOS in Australia! An Australian court just found that Apple and Google abuse their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition. There are 2,000+ pages of findings that we'll need to dig into to fully... - Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) August 12, 2025 Apple welcomed the 'rejection of some of Epic's claims, however, we strongly disagree with the court's ruling on others.' Epic Games took to social media to herald the result and say Fortnite would return to iOS soon. 'A federal judge just found that Apple and Google both engaged in anti-competitive conduct,' the company wrote. 'Another HUGE Win for Epic Games!' Epic won a separate US case against Google in 2023 after a jury found it had engaged in anti-trust conduct through the Google Play Store. It was less successful in its case against Apple, although the court found the tech giant had engaged in anti-competitive conduct. Apple has also been forced to implement changes to its App Store in Europe, including allowing third-party payment systems.
