Latest news with #LeavingLasVegas'
Perth Now
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Maren Morris hails Sheryl Crow for 'standing up for the marginalised'
Maren Morris feels inspired by Sheryl Crow. The 35-year-old singer has heaped praise on the chart-topping star, who actually "lives up the street" from Maren. Speaking to Us Weekly, Maren explained: "She's always been a supporter of women and new artists like myself. She stands by her word, which is amazing." Maren admires Sheryl, 63, for "not sitting on the fence" on social issues. The 'Rich' hitmaker observed that Sheryl has a history of standing up "for the marginalised". Maren - who has won numerous accolades during her own career, including a Grammy Award and an American Music Award - said: "She definitely stands up for the marginalised, and she's done that her entire career." Sheryl recently cited Stevie Nicks as one of the biggest influences on her career. The 'Leaving Las Vegas' hitmaker idolised Stevie, 76, during her younger years, and Sheryl now considers Stevie to be a "dear, dear friend". She told Us Weekly: "I have said this ad nausea. I say it to Stevie. I say it to anybody that [asks] me about Stevie: If it were not for Stevie, I would not be doing what I'm doing. "I poured over the magazine. I laid next to the record player and listened to 'Rumors'. I mean, 'Landslide' was just, like, [on a] tape loop in my head. And the pictures of her! She really was my ticket out of my little town. "I mean, I wanted to grow up to be her - got the little fringe haircut and scarves - and yeah, I've told her that a thousand times. She's a dear, dear friend." Meanwhile, Sheryl previously revealed that she struggled with her mental health for years. However, the singer confessed that she feared being perceived as "damaged goods" if she went public with her struggles. She told 'Entertainment Tonight': "If people talked about mental struggles, then there was something really wrong with you, and you were damaged, you were damaged goods. And I think now we're seeing that, not just famous people and not just people who are achieving, but people all across every walk of life, including our children, struggle. "We need to have a dialogue that is constant and empathetic."
San Francisco Chronicle
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: ‘The Surfer' is Nicolas Cage at his most unhinged
Nicolas Cage's character in 'The Surfer' is a man running on empty. So much of his life is going wrong, and to obtain a shred of dignity, he has put in a bid on his beachside childhood home overlooking the Australian surfing spot he hung ten as a budding young man. All he wants to do is surf this beach, but a group of hard-edge locals — imagine 'Sons of Anarchy' motorcycle gang types, except surfers — led by a weather-beaten Julian McMahon, won't let him. 'Don't live here, don't surf here,' they say repeatedly. When the movie begins, the Surfer (no one in the film has a character name) is taking his son (Finn Little) out to catch waves when the locals stop him. The teen isn't really interested in surfing; this is his dad's thing. He seems uncomfortable around his dad, who is going through a painful divorce from his mother. The dad takes his son home, but returns to the beach, determined to surf. That's it. That's the movie. As the Surfer becomes increasingly desperate in the contest of wills, he becomes unhinged, and in cinema, an unhinged Nic Cage is the best Nic Cage. Really, it seems like this one-of-a-kind film could only have been made with Cage in the lead. It's quite possible that had he passed on the project, Finnegan would have shelved the project. Cage has created his own genre, characters whose madness is a valid response to the increasingly chaotic world around him: The man on parole bent on revenge in David Lynch's 'Wild at Heart' (1990); the bingeing alcoholic in 'Leaving Las Vegas' (1995), which won him an Oscar; the corrupt cop in ' Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans ' (2009); the hermit-like former chef in 'Pig' (2021); and more recently, the lunatic carjacker in ' Sympathy for the Devil ' and the befuddled professor who inexplicably appears in people dreams in ' Dream Scenario ' (both 2023). And that's just to name a few. 'The Surfer' has a sun-dappled look of idyllic nostalgia, and feels like an exploitation movie from a half-century ago. It reminded me of 'The Swimmer' (1968), a movie with Burt Lancaster as a man trying to reclaim his standing with the privileged community that has shunned him by 'swimming' across the neighborhood through each of his wealthy neighbors' backyard pools; or the 1971 'Ozploitation' Australian film 'Wake in Fright,' in which a school teacher arriving in a remote small town is forced to go on a weekend drinking binge with the coarse, sweaty locals. Interestingly, writer Thomas Martin and Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan based 'The Surfer' on a real life surfer gang, the Lunada Bay Boys, who ruled a Southern California surf spot in Rancho Palos Verdes and were recently ordered to stay away as part of a legal settlement. I doubt that the Lunada Bay Boys ever had to deal with a character like Nic Cage, though. Who in the real world has? The movies are where his distinctive characters live, and the cinema is better for it.
Los Angeles Times
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Nicolas Cage dismissed in ex-girlfriend's lawsuit, but assault claims against their son remain
Nicolas Cage, once accused of negligence by ex-girlfriend Christina Fulton, will not face further litigation in her ongoing assault and battery lawsuit against their son. Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday granted Fulton's request to dismiss her allegations against the Oscar-winning 'Leaving Las Vegas' actor with prejudice, meaning she cannot refile her claims. In her request, filed Friday and reviewed by The Times, Fulton indicates the dismissal pertains to only Cage 'and as to no other defendant.' In February, Fulton sued her ex and their 34-year-old son, Weston Cage, alleging the latter left her with 'life threatening injuries' in an assault that occurred in April 2024. Fulton dated Nicolas Cage from 1988 to 1991. Legal representatives for Fulton and Nicolas Cage did not immediately respond to The Times' separate requests for comment Tuesday. In her lawsuit, Fulton said she visited Weston after she received 'urgent messages' from his friends about his 'deteriorating mental state.' During that visit, Weston attacked her in a parking lot, elevator and lobby near his home, causing severe and life-threatening injuries including a concussion, an eye injury, multiple bruises, neck and throat injuries and PTSD, Fulton alleged. Fulton accused Nicolas Cage of enabling their son's behavior by turning a blind eye to his violence and mental health struggles while continuing to support him financially. She also alleged that the actor bought their a son a condo next door to his, bailed him out of jail multiple times and drank alcohol with him despite knowing he struggled with substance use. Fulton sued Weston for assault, battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. She sued Nicolas Cage for two counts of negligence. Brian Wolf, an attorney for the actor, pushed back at Fulton's claims in a February statement to The Times: 'Mr. Cage does not control Weston's behavior in any manner and is not responsible for Weston's alleged assault of his mother.' Fulton filed her dismissal a day after Weston announced his engagement to girlfriend Jenifer Alexa Canter. She told TMZ in a statement she wants 'the best' for her son amid his engagement, but that 'my pain and suffering this past year as his mother will never go away.' As of Tuesday afternoon, Fulton has not filed a request to dismiss her allegations against Weston. The actor-musician did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment. Times staff writer Clara Harter and former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Times
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Timothée Chalamet: Forever young in the record books?
Timothée Chalamet, nominated for playing music legend Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown,' could take the Oscar — and a milestone — from a close rival in this season's lead actor race. If he wins, Chalamet will be the youngest lead actor Oscar recipient ever. Adrien Brody, current youngest-winner title holder, was 29 when he won for his performance as a real-life musician in 'The Pianist.' But he was knocking on … ... door, at 29 years, 343 days. Brody's age upon receiving his second lead Oscar nomination this year, for 'The Brutalist.' Prognosticators place Brody and Chalamet as the top two contenders in that race. In 2003, Brody bested history's fifth- and seventh-youngest lead actor Oscar winners, Nicolas Cage and Daniel Day-Lewis (32 and an older 32 when they won for 'Leaving Las Vegas' and 'My Left Foot,' respectively) on their … and third nominations (for 'Adaptation,' 'Gangs of New York'). This fact only enhances the full-circle possibilities if … Chalamet triumphs over Brody this year. Although … Brody's return to Oscar contention after such a long absence makes its own compelling narrative. Chalamet received his first lead actor nomination for 'Call Me by Your Name' at 22, making him the … -youngest nominee in history after Jackie Cooper (age 9, 'Skippy') and Mickey Rooney (19, 'Babes in Arms'). But Chalamet is not the youngest two-time nominee; Rooney was … when he received his second lead nomination, for 'The Human Comedy.'
