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Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Grab 10 of Oprah's Favorite Things on sale for up to 50% off — starting at just $20
Oprah Winfrey is an icon for many, many reasons, and one of the biggest is that she's pretty much the queen of recommendations. From Oprah's Book Club to the pages of O, The Oprah Magazine, the Queen of All Media has long been touting her picks to the public. And nowhere has she done that more dependably than with her yearly Oprah's Favorite Things lists, which began as a feature on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has continued as an annual missive ever since. We're always sure to tune in whenever Lady O shares her yearly faves, and our favorite thing is when we can find those Oprah-endorsed essentials on sale. From personal care items like toothbrushes to kitchen appliances to style selections and more, here are 10 of Oprah's Favorite Things currently available at a discount right at Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.) The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Book Club: Let's Talk About ‘The Catch,' by Yrsa Daley-Ward
In this month's installment of the Book Review Book Club, we're discussing 'The Catch,' the debut novel by the poet and memoirist Yrsa Daley-Ward. The book is a psychological thriller that follows semi-estranged twin sisters, Clara and Dempsey, who were babies when their mother was presumed to have drowned in the Thames. The novel begins decades later, when Clara sees something strange: A woman who looks just like their mother is stealing a watch. Clara believes this is her mother, and wants to welcome her back into her life. Dempsey is less certain, in part because the woman doesn't seem to have aged a day. She believes the woman is a con artist because it's simply not possible for her to be their mother … right? What's real? What's not? And what does that mean for the lives of these struggling sisters? Daley-Ward unpacks it all in her deliciously slippery novel. On this episode, the Book Club host MJ Franklin talks about 'The Catch' with his colleagues Jennifer Harlan and Sadie Stein. Other books mentioned in this week's episode: 'The Other Black Girl,' by Zakiya Dalila Harris 'The Haunting of Hill House,' by Shirley Jackson 'Wish Her Safe at Home,' by Stephen Benatar 'Erasure,' by Percival Everett (you can listen to our book club conversation about it here) 'Playworld,' by Adam Ross (you can listen to our book club conversation about it here) 'The House on the Strand,' by Daphne du Maurier 'Grief Is the Thing With Feathers,' by Max Porter 'The Furrows,' by Namwali Serpell 'Dead in Long Beach, California,' by Venita Blackburn 'The Vanishing Half,' by Brit Bennett 'Death Takes Me,' by Cristina Rivera Garza 'Audition,' by Katie Kitamura We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, and about the Book Review's podcast in general. You can send them to books@
UPI
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- UPI
'Ick' brought back Mena Suvari, Brandon Routh's early roles
1 of 7 | Mena Suvari, seen at the 2018 premiere of "Book Club" in Los Angeles, stars in "Ick." File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo LOS ANGELES, July 24 (UPI) -- Mena Suvari and Brandon Routh say their new movie Ick, in New York and Los Angeles theaters Thursday, brought them back to their earliest film roles. The pair play Staci and Hank, who were high school sweethearts in the early 2000s but have gone their separate ways. Suvari portrays both her adult and high school self, recalling her early roles as a high school choir girl in American Pie and high school cheerleader in American Beauty. In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Suvari, 46, said paying homage to her early roles was surreal. De-aging effects, like those used in Marvel movies and Gemini Man, made Suvari and Routh appear as they did in their past films for the high school scenes in Ick. "Wearing a cheerleading uniform again as a mom in my 40s was just all too surreal, something I never thought would happen," Suvari said. Ick director Joseph Kahn said he cast Suvari as Staci because of American Beauty. Hank pines for her even after Staci marries classmate Ted (Peter Wong). "Who is worthy of pining for for 20 years?" Kahn said. "Well, they made a movie about that girl in the 2000s. It was called American Beauty and she's on the poster." The American Beauty poster is intended to represent Suvari's character holding a rose. The midriff on the poster is a body double, however, and the hand belongs to a different model. Christina Hendricks shared on Instagram in 2019 that she posed as the hand model in 1999, something Suvari still wasn't aware of until this interview "What a small world," Suvari said. "That's the perfect example of this business in some way." Routh, 45, said young Hank is closer to his 2006 appearance in Superman Returns. Though the actor appeared on One Life to Live in 2001, Superman Returns was the earliest reference material for his looks in film grade quality. "I was sending them as many photos from college and stuff that I could find, but there wasn't any good quality stuff," Routh said. "The soap opera I was on was recorded on tape. So it was not good for making a [digital] model, I guess." Kahn said Superman Returns gave subtext to the character of Hank. Though Routh has continued to act, including in The CW's DC Arrowverse superhero shows, Kahn thinks the actor deserved more success. "Brandon when you meet him, he's a superhero," Kahn said. "He can make you laugh, can make you cry. He's really that charming. So we as an audience on a certain level have failed him I believe. Someone like this should have a much bigger career." At the film's Screamfest premiere in October, Routh discussed relating to Hank, who had a promising football career until an injury on the field took it all away. As an adult, Hank remains in his hometown of Seabrook as a high school science teacher. Routh previously said the film helped him make peace with unexpected career paths and realize he still had some maturing to do. Now, Routh says he approaches acting with more confidence and collaborative spirit. "I feel much more worthy of being here," Routh said. "I feel like I've earned my stripes to a degree. This is my chosen profession. Instead of just thinking about me, I guess, I'm often thinking about the whole product and everybody involved because that's the fun of it too." On Ick that collaboration extended to editor Chancler Haynes, who helped both actors with some of Kahn's more complicated techniques. The opening montage of Hank and Staci's high school relationship was shot at various points over the course of filming. Often, when at one location, they would film both modern-day scenes and flashbacks to over 20 years ago. Haynes would edit scenes so quickly he could show them what came before and after each scene they were about to film. "I don't think that that would've been as easy or possible if we didn't have such a great resource like someone like Chancler on set," Suvari said. "It was so fast paced." Kahn admitted even he wasn't sure it would work until it was all complete. "That opening sequence was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to do," Kahn said. "I didn't know what it looked like until the final shot. Then you press play and oh, it worked." Ick is not just a high school love story, however. The title refers to a mysterious substance that grows in Seabrook and has overrun the town after 20 years. The film never explains what Ick is or where it comes from, though many characters offer their own conspiracy theories. Kahn said this was intentional, because in real-life crises like 9/11 or COVID-19, people debate different theories even when an explanation is given. "We don't agree about anything," Kahn said. "So what the Ick actually is is never defined because we don't even define our monsters in real life." Kahn includes a clip of the 1958 film The Blob on a television, and wanted to bring back that sort of classic monster movie. Kahn laments that scary movies have gotten too intense for kids and families, like the graphic Final Destination franchise. "I wanted to make a monster movie, a true monster movie again. and also make one that didn't scar you," Kahn said. "Not too much sex, not too much drugs, not too much alcohol, still relevant and fun that you could safely watch with a 9-year-old to your grandmother. That's the idea." Hank and his student Grace (Malina Weissman), Staci's daughter, believe the Ick is dangerous. They struggle to convince others to do something about Ick before it is too late. Staci is one of the adults who chooses to ignore the Ick; she is more concerned with sending Grace to prom. "I just loved this character," Suvari said. "She was so checked out in so many ways." Hank believes Grace might be his daughter from the time he dated Staci, so he sends away for a DNA test. Whether it is confirmed or not, Routh believes that the Ick crisis has connected Hank and Grace in a positive relationship. "They've already bonded and created a friendship that definitely is different if they're not blood related, but also equally interesting," Routh said. "They have patterns that are similar in how they are dealing with the reality of what's happening, even if they're not related." Ick plays theaters everywhere beginning July 27.
Spectator
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Frances Wilson: Electric Spark – The Enigma of Muriel Spark
My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the biographer Frances Wilson, whose new book Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark was recently lauded in these pages as 'mesmerising' and 'a revolutionary book'. She tells me how she immersed herself in the spooky life and peerless art of the great novelist, and why a conventional biographical treatment would never have been adequate to a subject for whom fiction and reality twined in unexpected and disconcerting ways. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to Contact us: podcast@
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Why Oprah Winfrey 'would never' go to space like best friend Gayle King
Oprah Winfrey isn't joining her bestie Gayle King by going to space any time soon. The ex-"Oprah Winfrey Show" host got candid on the July 16 episode of the SiriusXM show "Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa" about why she skipped going on the infamous Blue Origin flight in April with her BFF. "I would never do it, but I became very interested in the whole process," Winfrey said. The Oprah's Book Club creator told Ripa that she was "just so proud to be there for" King, adding she was "relieved" that the "CBS Mornings" host went to space, "because if she'd asked one more time, 'What should I do? Do you think I should go?' I, from the beginning, was like, 'You should do it.'" Winfrey also revealed that she told King not to "let Katy Perry come down and say, 'It was really great fun.'" Kelly Ripa shuts down Mark Consuelos' 'repulsive' morning habit For the mission, King joined pop star Perry and billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' now-wife and author Lauren Sánchez Bezos along with three others for the first all-female flight to space in decades. However, the flight from Bezos-backed exploration company Blue Origin garnered widespread criticism. Still, Winfrey encouraged King to adventure. "You're going to be really saying, 'I should have done it,'" she recalled telling King. "The minute somebody says, 'Oh my God, like a life changing experience,' you're going to go, 'Oh, I should have done it.'" Oprah says July book club pick hooked her 'until the very last shocking sentence' The "Oprah Winfrey Show" star confessed that she knew it was time to leave her eponymous daytime talk show, which ended in 2011, when her team suggested they send an audience to space. "I remember going into a meeting and someone saying, 'I think what we should do is try to get people on a spaceship, or we should be able to take an audience or some audience members up on a spaceship,'" Winfrey said. Oprah Winfrey tells Kelly Ripa not to 'walk away' from 'Live' talk show After making the admission, Winfrey gave her fellow talk show host a word of advice and told her that "it's not time for you to step away" from "Live," which Ripa hosts with husband and actor Mark Consuelos, because "you have fun and it's easy and it's light enough. And serious enough when it needs to be, and it's not a grind." The "Oprah Podcast" host said that she loved hosting her own show, but it was different than Ripa's because the "Oprah" show dealt with heavier topics, sharing with the "All My Children" alum that "the nature of what we were doing every day became just so hard." Gayle King on 'disrespectful' space backlash, celebrity friends 'throwing shade' "Don't let go of the platform that you have. Do not do it. Don't even consider it," Winfrey said. "Because I feel that the reach that you have, the audience that you've built, the family that you've created – both inside the studio and in the rest of the world – is really more vital and important now than ever before."
