EXCLUSIVE Scandalous rumour about rogue dentist's marriage. Plus, Justin Hemmes' VERY generous gift to girlfriend's sister... and a controversial guest spied at the Gold Dinner: THE GROUP CHAT WITH LUCY MANLY
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The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Andy Griffiths: ‘I think it's a pity that reading is being lost through neglect'
It's the kind of day you wouldn't believe is winter when Andy Griffiths and I meet – crisp blue sky, barely a tussle of wind and a temperature warm enough to breathe and think. We both arrive 10 minutes early to his childhood home on a steep street in Vermont, a suburb that was very much the fringe of Melbourne when Griffiths grew up, but now is comfortably in the eastern suburbs. Built in the 60s, the brown brick house hasn't changed much. 'It's really comforting,' says Griffiths. 'This was a really great place to grow up,' he says, 'because there were kids everywhere.' He points to the houses on the corner, reflecting on his neighbours. 'There was always someone out on the street to play with or talk to, or little kids to tell silly stories to, and there were dogs everywhere.' At the bottom of the intersecting street is a pine forest that leads to Dandenong Creek. We walk down slowly, stopping to ponder the trees. 'It feels a little bit lighter than it did. Or maybe it's just me who's changed, but it did feel a lot darker and more mysterious. It's like you're in another little world.' The trees stand tall, with very few low-lying branches, not at all good for climbing. Every other kind of mischief, however, was within this open circle of trees: dragsters with banana seats, making up outrageous stories, hiding beers for teenage parties, and firecrackers. 'It was one of those childhoods where you'd go out in the morning and didn't really have to come home until it got dark.' Griffiths' father was an industrial chemist, with a knack for building things and gardening. His mother was a midwife who ran the secondhand book stall at the school fete, filling the house with all sorts of books donated from the neighbourhood. Griffiths often had first dibs, and still has some of those books spanning from fiction to philosophy. 'They're really precious reading experiences, because they're not necessarily what you would have given to a kid, but they just opened up the world to me. I often muse back on that and think, something was looking after me there.' Children's books did still appeal to him, however, and he loved Enid Blyton from an early age. 'I loved her because she'd just get the kids away from the parents in the first chapter, plunge them into danger or an adventure.' The tattooed punk children's author is rather dapper in a tweed jacket over a cardigan vest and wearing a trilby hat, but still at home in the forest, leading us the 'traditional way' that the kids would go down to the creek. He compares the creek to Winnie-the-Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood, a place of freedom. Freedom comes up a lot in conversation – not necessarily in a large political sense but rather the freedom to imagine, to play and to explore the world without adults present. He didn't know the years of unobserved childhood wandering around the creek would become the bones of his career, spanning four decades, although his résumé also includes bottle shop worker, punk vocalist and English teacher. Griffiths has made an impressive career spanning four decades of writing for six-to-10-year-olds, an age at which he says, 'Anything is possible. They're still in that phase where the world is large. You don't know what's quite true or what's not true,' he says, slowing down for a moment. Despite reports that children, especially boys, are reading less and struggling more with literacy, Griffiths is mostly optimistic, meeting thousands of kids a year. 'Parents do have a role to play in ensuring a balance in their kids' lives, a balance between outside play, gaming, reading. Because [in] reading, while you're getting that intense experience, you're gaining literacy skills, which make such a difference to every aspect of your life, which I think is a pity that that's being lost through neglect. 'At the same time, there's more books for kids than there ever was for more varied readerships. So much more.' His own childhood took place during the golden age of reading, as Griffiths calls it. 'We weren't spending all our time reading books, because we had our dragsters and we had the keys to the kingdom.' But he had the best of both worlds: playing for hours, all children together, and also getting lost in books, simply because, 'we had many spare hours growing up that couldn't be filled with anything else'. We leave the forest by a sharp ascent over muddy grass and rocks, returning to the block around Griffiths childhood home, heading towards the old milk bar. 'I want to keep writing the type of thing that a particular reader really craves. It's the most positive way I can think to make a difference. What I'm doing is translating what I loved in my childhood reading, finding that essence and the spirit of it and modernising it and passing it on.' His newest series, working with Bill Hope, is a change of direction after 30 years of collaboration with Terry Denton on the Treehouse series. The series with Denton ended after 13 books, published from 2011 to 2023, which sold more than 10m copies and were published in more than 35 languages. The series was a slightly unexpected hit internationally – Griffiths' previous series had only received local success. 'I just thought our particular flavour of humour was like Vegemite. 'There was an outpouring of grief by dedicated readers and their parents [when the Treehouse series ended]. And they were like, you can't stop. And I was like, well, I have,' he says, 'But it doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing.' He knew where he was going next. Over the years, many children had written to him, asking if they could appear in a book, because obviously that wouldn't be too much trouble, which led to the idea of the ubiquitous main characters in his latest book, You and Me, illustrated only as a pair of adventure costumes to leave their appearance to the imagination. You & Me is an adventure series, in which the main characters are called You and Me, which serves to encourage reading aloud. The second book, You & Me and the Peanut Butter Beast, firmly establishes the characters: Me, who wants to follow the rules, and You, who is more impulsive. Then there is Johnny Knucklehead, a reappearing swindler who started out as just a name in Griffiths' head, until Bill Hope sent over some drawings, the final sketch now tattooed on Griffiths' palm. Keeping in touch with a childlike sense of imagination, play and humour is something that Griffiths considers greatly. 'I allow myself to do things that appear to have no ostensible value or purpose,' he says, permitting himself to spend hours in a record shop and rereading childhood favourite books. 'You come away restored and buzzing with the excitement. It adds richness.' Griffiths says he always knows when he is working too much – everything is a chore and not much fun. Humour, he says, has great value, not just because it is pleasurable to laugh, but because it can shift frames of thinking. 'Laughter throws the switch back to openness where you've got the potential to make a more creative decision than just grimly doing whatever needs to be done.' For now, what excites him – like he is 13 years old again – is the fact the Alice Cooper Band is releasing their first album in 50 years. 'It's really good to allow ourselves to be excited by whatever it is.' Andy Griffiths' latest book, You & Me and the Peanut Butter Beast, is out on 19 August
Daily Mail
26 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Tom Cruise's girlfriend Ana de Armas has threesome on the beach in terrifying new movie
's new girlfriend Ana de Armas has a fresh film coming out on August 22. On Friday a first look at the Cuban bombshell was shared as she appears dramatically different in the poster for the movie Eden, which is shockingly based on a true story. De Armas is glammed up to the nines with heavy makeup and a cute bob haircut that is styled just so. Also in the new trailer, the star is seen having a threesome with two men on the beach. The 37-year-old is starring in Eden from acclaimed director Ron Howard and she has some pretty bigtime costars: Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Bruhl. The film sounds twisted and terrifying as a group of people try to get along on a remote island even though the dead bodies keep piling up. 'We hunt, we fight, we kill,' says Law's character in the most recent trailer that sees de Armas' character as a wicked villain hell bent on ruling the island. The upcoming movie 'unravels the shocking true story of a group of disillusioned outsiders who abandon modern society in search of a new beginning. 'Settling on a remote, uninhabited island, their utopian dream quickly unravels as they discover that the greatest threat isn't the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but each other. 'What follows is a chilling descent into chaos where tensions spiral, desperation takes hold, and a twisted power struggle leads to betrayal, violence, and the deaths of half the colony.' Last month it was reported that Cruise has been an 'incredible mentor' to de Armas. The Oblivion actor and the brunette have a 'special work relationship' and the actress has 'prepped' all summer for their first project together: a supernatural ocean thriller called Deeper. A source told People: 'Tom is crazy hardworking and she's very excited to work with him. She calls it an opportunity of a lifetime.' Tom and Ana have been romantically linked to each other since Valentine's Day. The source shared: 'Tom is an incredible mentor to Ana. She has nothing but amazing things to say about him.' Tom is still one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, and he's never lost his passion for filmmaking. The actor recently admitted that he's fulfilling a 'life-long dream' by working in the movie business. Jude Law is seen left with Vanessa Kirby right Daniel Bruhl left and Sydney Sweeney right in the film He told Extra: 'It's such a privilege to do what I do. It's been a life-long dream of mine to be able to do this and to make movies... I truly, I love it. That is my, I don't know, it's not what I do, it's who I am. It is my honor to entertain.' This comes after Cruise visited de Armas at her $7 million home in Vermont. In late July they were seen holding hands as they walked through the town of Woodstock where they picked up ice cream cones. The 63-year-old Top Gun actor had on a blue T-shirt and jeans with a cap as she was in a white T-shirt and dark jeans with her brunette hair in a ponytail as they seemed very into each other. The actress quietly purchased the Vermont property in November 2022 after her whirlwind romance with Deep Water co-star Ben Affleck. The Ballerina actress has been living in Vermont ever since with her two dogs Salsita and Elvis. 'Ana loves being at her home in Vermont because it's away from all the frenetic energy of Los Angeles and New York City, it's a place where she can really unwind from the stress of Hollywood,' an insider told Daily Mail. 'It's a solid sign that she is serious about Tom that she takes him to her tucked-away sanctuary because it means so much to her.' Vermont is a state in the northeastern United States, known for its natural landscape, which is primarily forested. Part of the New England region, it's also known for being home to more than 100 19th-century covered wooden bridges. The remote mansion offers six bedrooms and eight bathrooms. The generous 30-acre spot also boasts mountain views, open meadows, forests, trails and a swimming pool. According to the listing, the home was sold fully furnished. It is not known if the Bond girl changed up the pieces. De Armas had reportedly previously lived with her former boyfriend, Affleck, in his luxe $20 million home in LA's Pacific Palisades, after putting her own Venice Beach property on the market. The pair were seen in Los Angeles together plenty during the pandemic lockdown, as they routinely walked their dogs. She left LA because 'it became a little bit too much. There's no escape. There's no way out,' she has said in the past. She also said Hollywood made her 'anxious' because in LA, there is 'always the feeling of something that you don't have, something missing.' The couple, who had met on the set of Deep Water, broke up in January 2021. De Armas went on to date Tinder VP Paul Boukadakis, while Affleck we d then divorced Jennifer Lopez.
The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Beast of War review – a gung-ho second world war movie, with a great white twist
This year Australian shark movies have been particularly ravenous, swimming into different waters and taking a bite into other genres. Sean Byrne's Dangerous Animals arrived in local cinemas in June, blending the creature feature and serial killer movies into one foul fishy stew, with Jai Courtney playing a psycho who feeds his victims to the sharks. And now we have Kiah Roache-Turner's Beast of War, a second world war movie with a great white twist, which cheekily begins with a text insert declaring that it was 'inspired by actual events'. That's cheeky because this film doesn't exactly aspire for social realism, which will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Roache-Turner's splatterific oeuvre (he cut his teeth helming monster movies about spiders, vampires and demons). Then again, one could argue – as many have – that all art is inspired by life. So perhaps it's not too outrageous to connect this film to the sinking of HMAS Armidale, the aforementioned historical event in which an Australian corvette was attacked by Japanese bombers in 1942, resulting in the deaths of 100 of its 149 crew members. Just don't go into Beast of War expecting a stock-standard war movie, or a stock-standard shark movie. Roache-Turner borrows from various genre playbooks but conjures a distinctive, gung-ho, atmosphere-oozing work that's all his own. This blast of oceanic mayhem has a curious tone: not quite realistic, not exactly taking the piss. It's led by a very entertaining lead performance from Mark Coles Smith (star of Mystery Road: Origin), who builds dramatic heft but also channels the spirit of midnight movies as Leo, a character who's smart and principled but at any given moment may just punch a shark in the kisser. Leo is the only Indigenous soldier in a squadron of Australian troops that includes Will (Joel Nankervis), with whom he strikes up a friendship during military training. The training involves participating in drills and listening to a one-armed commander (Steve Le Marquand, having a good time) monologising about how he lost his arm 'at the elbow' on the battlefield, while his mate 'lost his head at the neck'. The plot really swings into gear when the ship carrying the troops across the Timor Sea is sunk by the Japanese. Leo and Will are among a small group of survivors, who huddle on drifting wreckage with limited resources and limited options. There's a motor boat only metres away – but there's also, in the words of one character, 'a pissed-off 20-foot fish' swimming nearby. Like so many before him, Roache-Turner takes some inspiration from Jaws, doing a lot of cutting around the shark – though he's not afraid to deploy vision of the gnarly chomper. The film is drawn to water from the start, including in an early flashback scene presented in milky reds and blues, which establishes a personal relationship between Leo and ravenous beasts of the sea. Another key part of Leo's character is his sheer bloody Australianess. The shark disturbs him, but not as much as another man's preference for Foster's. 'You dirty bastard!' he spits out. 'VB all the way!' Cinematographer Mark Wareham (whose work includes Boy Swallows Universe, The Survivors and Cleverman) conjures an exciting visual flavour: a beautifully damp look with swirling milky colour schemes and stylishly askew angles. The presence of thick fog has a narrative purpose, but it also adds atmospheric richness, adding an extra air of unreality. The fog also helps to psychologically close in the environment and distract from the fact that much of Beast of War was obviously shot on sound stages. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion This smashingly well-paced and gung-ho film feels like it exists on the edge of consciousness – not quite reality, not entirely a nightmare, and certainly not a history lesson. Beast of War is showing at Melbourne international film festival now. A general release in Australia and internationally has yet to be announced
