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Metro
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Pillion review - I experienced one of the filthiest films I've seen at Cannes
One of the best films I saw at Cannes Film Festival this year was also one of the most shocking – just as I hoped it would be. Pillion, the feature debut from British filmmaker Harry Lighton, is one of the filthiest movies I've experienced, while also demonstrating a real aptitude for emotional tenderness. Starring former Harry Potter actor Harry Melling – who made his name playing Dudley Dursley in the franchise – the film follows wallflower Colin, a meek parking enforcement officer who still lives at home in his 30s, as he embarks on his first proper adult relationship. Only it's a romance more unconventional than most after he meets imposing biker gang leader Ray (Alexander Skarsgård) at the pub. Colin is immediately in thrall to this handsome man, who shares a note with him with instructions for a rendezvous the next day, where they consummate their relationship by the bins behind Primark in Bromley – gloriously mundane – with Colin on his knees to receive Ray and his Prince Albert piercing. And this is all before actually formally introducing themselves. After proving what Colin later proudly describes as his 'aptitude for devotion', the two embark on a BDSM relationship, with Colin transforming into the shaven-headed, collar-wearing sub to Ray's experienced and stern dom. There's lots of unzipping of tight black leather, a bout of wrestling to Tiffany's I Think We're Alone Now, and, added to the end of the first shopping list Ray gives Colin, the immortal line: 'Buy yourself a butt plug, you're too tight'. Colin's incredibly British response, 'Lovely, that sounds like a plan', is an exchange which perfectly demonstrates Pillion's deft balancing of humour, heart and hedonism. With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications! In exploring the subculture of leather and biker BDSM, the film – based on Adam Mars-Jones's 2020 novel Box Hill – Pillion is anything but shy. It's also not interested in judging. Pillion is often graphic and explicit – and while you might not see that many penises, you know exactly what is going where and how by the camerawork and facial gymnastics – with glimpses of bodily fluids and anatomy sprinkled throughout. And it all adds up to something which feels delightfully smutty and obscene. In one scene, Colin takes part in what I can most accurately describe as a buffet of bums, laid out across picnic tables for Ray and others to choose from during a biker gang camping trip. But it's not just about the sex: Pillion delves into the emotional load of such a courtship, where Colin sleeps on a rug and not in Ray's bed, and is expected to cook all of his meals. Colin's parents, played beautifully by Lesley Sharp and Douglas Hodge, are initially thrilled at the prospect of their son's new romance and exotic man – with the Swedish Skarsgård, deadpan, claiming that Ray is from Chislehurst when they first meet – only to start to worry as they struggle with Ray's closed-off attitude and treatment of their son. ('What does 'discreet' mean? Two wives and kids?') Melling, continuing to pursue the most interesting of post-Potter portfolios after playing a young Edgar Allan Poe in Netflix's The Pale Blue Eye and collaborations with the Coen brothers like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, is Pillion's true heart and soul. He's like a raw nerve, with every emotion playing across Colin's face, who is so desperate for love and acceptance from Ray, and extremely vulnerable. When he starts to chafe at the strict rules in their relationship, Pillion really catches fire thanks to the unpredictable nature swirling around Ray and what might happen next. It truly feels like Pillion will be Melling's second mainstream breakthrough (rather deliciously ironically), re-introducing himself to audiences as an adult performer capable of taking great risks and of giving outstanding performances. Skarsgård has a tougher character to sell as the somewhat impenetrable Ray, but he manages to walk the line between mystery and man well – even hinting at the emotional damage hidden underneath layers and layers of self-control. He and Melling also share an intense chemistry that really makes their intimate scenes spark as sexy as well as realistic and emotionally layered at the same time. Pillion is a film more touching than I expected, especially in its final act (which I won't spoil). More Trending It has a zingy script – also by Lighton, and awarded the best screenplay prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section – and personality that go far beyond what might initially be expected of a gay BDSM biker drama. The movie is able to let audiences encounter every shade of explicit without veering into hardcore territory or breaking the spell of Ray's enchantment over Colin. Solely shocking viewers is not the point. Instead we're immersed in a vivid relationship and world that leaves its mark on us after the credits roll, just as it does on Colin. Pillion premiered at Cannes Film Festival. It is yet to receive a UK release date. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Plans to ban Pride events in Hungary criticised by 17 other countries MORE: Harry Potter TV series confirms new Harry, Ron and Hermione in cast announcement MORE: 'Humanising trans people is so important right now – our BBC series does that'
Fox News
09-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
'Mony Mony' singer Tommy James ended Las Vegas concert early from 'exhaustion'
"Mony Mony" singer Tommy James had to abruptly end his concert in Las Vegas last Friday after suffering from exhaustion. James was performing at the Golden Nugget casino on March 7 when he was reported to have stopped performing about an hour into the show. Carol Ross-Durborow, a representative for James, told Fox News Digital he stopped the show "due to exhaustion." Ross-Durborow also said he was up early to catch a five-hour flight to Las Vegas and went from his hotel to sound check to the show, and is now back in New Jersey and "fine working on his Sirius XM radio show." James is scheduled for a show next weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Ross-Durborow said he would be arriving the day before. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported audience members saying he stopped singing during "Do Something to Me," about an hour into his 90-minute show, before his signature song, "Mony Mony," and the show's encore. The 77-year-old began to breathe heavily and sat in front of the drums to recover. Representatives for The Golden Nugget told the outlet that paramedics and casino security treated James on site, and he left without incident. James has released 12 solo studio albums, beginning in 1970, and eight with Tommy James and the Shondells, who released the hit singles "Crimson And Clover" and "I Think We're Alone Now." He performed "Crimson And Clover" with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts during the latter's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in 2015. Jett and her band had a hit single with a cover of the song, and James told Billboard at the time, "It's meant a lot. She had a No. 1 record with it, just like we did, and it has ended up being probably the biggest-selling single we ever had, so I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled to be here." In an interview with Jersey Sound last year, James reflected on his career, saying, "I look at my career and I see how I've been so blessed in so many different ways. And that's really the truth. The idea of actually doing what I love doing for this long, and the fans moving right along with me…"
CBS News
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Bay Area power-pop greats the Rubinoos hold weekly residency at the Make-Out Room
Veteran Bay Area power-pop band the Rubinoos play a month of Monday shows in March with a special residency at the Make-Out Room in the Mission District. Founded in 1970 by then teenagers Jon Rubin and Tommy Dunbar to play a dance at their Berkeley high school, the quartet covered rock oldies by Chubby Checker, Bill Haley and the Comets, the Dovells and the Troggs for that first performance under the name Jon Rubin and the Rubinoos. It wasn't until the following year that Rubin and Dunbar reformed the band with Donn Spindt on drums and Tom Carpender on bass as the Rubinoos and changed their focus to original songs written by Dunbar with Rubin and others that nodded heavily to early rock and roll and the tight songcraft of the Raspberries and the Beatles. Mentored by Dunbar's older brother Robbie and his established power-pop group Earth Quake (who the Rubinoos frequently opened for at local shows), the band would end up working with the independent imprint Beserkley Records founded by Earth Quake and their management. The band made its recorded debut in 1975 with a cover of the DeFranco Family's hit "Gorilla," that was released as a single and included on the Beserkley Chartbusters power-pop compilation alongside songs by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn and Jonathan Richman, two of which featured the Rubinoos as his backing band. The label released the band's eponymous debut album in 1977 with the Rubinoos scoring a hit with a cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells' song "I Think We're Alone Now" that made the Billboard charts and earned the quartet appearances on "American Bandstand," British television show "So It Goes" and "Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary" television special. While they would support Elvis Costello on a string of U.S. dates, the group's 1979 sophomore effort Back to the Drawing Board! did not have the same commercial impact, despite boasting the minor hit "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" that performed better in England and Europe than the States. Dunbar and Rubin would later sue Avril Levigne and her producer Dr. Luke for copyright infringement due to the similarities between the tune and in her 2007 song "Girlfriend" (an undisclosed settlement was reached between the parties). The duo recorded demos for an abortive third album with a new line-up featuring bassist Al Chan, but the quartet dissolved when Dunbar and Rubin ended up moving to Los Angeles and signing with Warner Bros. for the Todd Rundgren-produced mini LP Party of Two. After scoring another hit with the title song to the comedy Revenge of the Nerds, the Rubinoos would go on hiatus. During the initial downtime, the musicians focused on other projects with Dunbar, Spindt, Chan forming the group Vox Pop with Psychotic Pineapple bassist John Seabury (and Chan switching from bass to guitar), while Rubin joined the a cappella doo-wop group the Mighty Echoes. The release of a couple Rubinoos compilations in the '90s rekindled interest in the band, leading a reunion to produce the acclaimed new album Paleophonic in 1999 and an appearance at the International Pop Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles, their first live performance in seven years. Since then, the quartet of Rubin, Dunbar, Spindt and Chan has maintained a steady stream of new recordings and international touring in addition to live and archival releases. In 2018, the Rubinoos signed to Yep Rock Records for the purpose of releasing both new material -- From Home in 2019 was produced by noted SF songwriter and fan Chuck Prophet -- and reissues of the band's first two albums and the previously unavailable live session The CBS Tapes that was recorded at a Folsom Street studio in 1976. For this Gibbsmo Presents residency at the Make-Out Room in San Francisco's Mission District, the band will play four consecutive Monday nights in March playing two sets per evening with varied setlists and special surprise guests to encourage repeat attendance. The opening night on March 3 will feature support from SF pop band the Telephone Numbers, and local favorites Chime School will open the night on St. Patrick's Day. The other two shows (March 10 and 24) will just feature the Rubinoos and no support band.
