Superman can't save Hollywood from superhero fatigue
In a high-profile relaunch with such oversized stakes, it's tempting to latch on to a 'Superman saves the day' narrative. Perhaps, in the light of these record-breaking returns, not only Warner Bros Discovery and DC but the comic book movie itself has been brought back from the precipice of death. Hollywood executives would be wise to temper their excitement about the subgenre, though, because the truth is a bit more complicated.
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Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Wax lyrical: Taylor Swift gets lucky 13 Madame Tussauds statues
Find out what's new on ST website and app. More than 40 artists worked for more than a year on the statues of Taylor Swift at Madame Tussauds. LONDON - American pop megastar Taylor Swift will be honoured with 13 waxworks of her at Madame Tussauds venues around the globe, the museum said on July 23. In honour of Swift's lucky number, 13 of the waxwork museum's 22 branches will each receive a statue of the Love Story (2008) and Blank Space (2014) singer, in what it called the 'most ambitious project' of its 250-year history. The statues were inspired by some of the 35-year-old songwriting sensation's looks from her record-shattering Eras Tour from 2023 to 2024. With 149 shows across the world over nearly two years, the tour raked in US$2 billion (S$2.6 billion), making it the most lucrative in music history to date. More than 40 artists worked for more than a year on the statues of Swift, one of the most acclaimed artistes of her generation with 14 Grammy Awards. 'This is the most ambitious project in Madame Tussauds' 250-year history, which only feels right to reflect the stratospheric status of Taylor Swift,' said Ms Danielle Cullen, the museum's senior figure stylist. British-based Swifties are well served, with one waxwork slated for London and another for the northern seaside resort town of Blackpool. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Singapore Vapes: The silent killer hiding in the pocket Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers without facing penalties Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly Another 10 will find a permanent home at the branches of Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Nashville, New York, Orlando and Sydney. The 13th statue, which will travel around the remaining museums, will begin its worldwide walkabout with a residency at Madame Tussauds Shanghai. AFP
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Marvel's $102 popcorn bucket sets world record in Los Angeles
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CNA
2 days ago
- CNA
After much speculation, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham announce Buckingham Nicks reissue
They're not going their own way anymore. After much speculation, Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham announced Wednesday (Jul 23) the reissue of Buckingham Nicks, more than 50 years after the release of their only full-length album as a duo. Originally released in 1973, Buckingham Nicks is not currently available on streaming platforms. According to Discogs, the album was last issued on vinyl on the Polydor label in the US in 1981. The remastered version arrives Sep 19 via Rhino Records' high-fidelity series and was sourced from the original analogue master tapes. The album will also receive a CD and digital release for the first time, and the opening track, Crying In The Night, was available to stream Wednesday. Buckingham and Nicks were in their early to mid-20s during the making of their album. 'It was a very natural thing, from the beginning,' Nicks says in the re-release's liner notes, written by music journalist David Fricke. Despite their relative inexperience, 'it stands up in a way you would hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work', Buckingham says, according to the announcement release. The reissue announcement was foreshadowed by cryptic Instagram posts last week. Both Nicks and Buckingham shared handwritten lyrics to their official social media accounts. 'And if you go forward…' Nicks posted, a line from their song Frozen Love, which appears on Buckingham Nicks. 'I'll meet you there,' Buckingham shared, completing the lyric. In 2011, Buckingham told Uncut that he and Nicks had 'every intention of putting that album back out and possibly even doing something along with it, but I can't put any specifics on that'. In 2013, on the album's 40th anniversary, Fleetwood Mac released Extended Play, their first new studio material since 2003's Say You Will. The four-track collection featured a song titled Without You, which had been originally slated for Buckingham Nicks. The reissued version of Buckingham Nicks features the same album cover as the original, despite Nicks' public dissatisfaction with the photograph, telling classic rock magazine MOJO that she 'felt like a rat in a trap' during the shoot. 'I'm actually quite prudish. So when they suggested they shoot Lindsey and I nude I could not have been more terrified if you'd asked me to jump off a speeding train,' Nicks told MOJO in 2013. 'Lindsey was like, 'Oh, come on – this is art. Don't be a child!' I thought, 'Who are you? Don't you know me?'' Buckingham Nicks was released one year before they joined Fleetwood Mac, and was met with little commercial success. But it did attract the attention of Mick Fleetwood, who invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham in turn insisted Nicks come, too. The two, then a couple, became the central faces, voices and songwriters of the group for the four decades that followed. The pair's tumultuous relationship appeared across the band's discography: She wrote Dreams about him. He wrote Go Your Own Way about her. Infamously, they broke up while writing the 1977 hit album Rumours. Footage of Nicks staring down Buckingham 20 years later during a performance of Silver Springs routinely goes viral ('You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you,' Nicks and Buckingham sing in unison, at one point, holding each other's gaze.) Buckingham left the band in 1987, returning in 1996. The last time the band reunited, however, for a 2018-2019 tour, the rest of the members kicked Buckingham out, and as a result, he sued them. He claimed he was told five days after the group appeared at Radio City Music Hall that the band would tour without him. He says he would have been paid at least US$12 million for his share of the proceeds. Later that year, Buckingham said they had settled the lawsuit. Both Buckingham and Nicks have also released reams of solo music. Some fans had theorised that Nicks and Buckingham were teasing a Fleetwood Mac reunion, which would have been the first since the death of vocalist, songwriter and keyboard player Christine McVie in 2022.
