Latest news with #Mulan
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
More grit than glitz in female motorsport's answer to Drive to Survive
Netflix's fly-on-the-wall documentary Formula 1: Drive to Survive has been such a success that sports have fallen over themselves to try to cash in on the back of it. The latest to allow cameras on the grid is F1: The Academy. The stage is almost the same, even if the story is not. The F1 Academy, under managing director Susie Wolff, has been established to nurture young female talent, and the series is produced by Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine. Unlike F1, it is not a career in itself. Drivers must be aged between 16 and 25 and are only allowed to race for two seasons, with just the winner awarded a fully-funded seat in GB3 – the next rung in the ladder before the heights of F2, or even F1. The differences between F1 Academy and Formula One are stark. There are no Monaco penthouses and only one clip of drivers cruising to a track in a luxury vehicle. It might be the pinnacle of female motorsport, but there is a long way to go for the drivers to have more than just a taste of the riches on offer. Instead, drivers live with their managers and only a few have the luxury of an entourage. The documentary will leave even those few who believe the sport is open to all convinced of the barriers. Abbi Pulling, the British driver, cannot afford to have her father fly out and watch while merchandise shoots are a necessity – as she bluntly explains, it helps her pay rent. Wolff says she wants F1 Academy to be a 'movement not a moment', but for those in their final season of the competition there is the constant uncertainty of what the future holds. Pulling's story is one of sacrifice, from her father working seven days a week to fund her karting career to an honest reflection that if she does not win in her final F1 Academy year – and therefore misses out on the GB3 place – that might be the end of her racing journey. Pulling, who does go on to win and is now competing in GB3, says: 'I'm a woman in a man's world trying to prove herself. That's why Mulan is my favourite movie.' It is a harsh reality that contrasts sharply with the glitz and glamour that comes with racing in F1 teams' liveries, on the same weekends and at the same track as the flagship races. As Wolff states plainly: 'If you can't cut it in F1 Academy, there's not going to be much of a career in motorsport left for you.' In F1, even drivers who do not make the cut after a year or two are still compensated heavily, but reaching F1 Academy does not pay the bills. Bianca Bustamante, a driver from the Philippines, boasts more than three million followers on social media, and more on Instagram than F1 driver Liam Lawson. She is mobbed at races, with endless requests for selfies, especially when in Singapore, and her McLaren aide worries how her social media posts and marketing affect her racing – her season is one of pitfalls. In a later episode Mercedes's Toto Wolff, in one of a handful of brief appearances by F1 team principals, says: 'This is not an influencer racing series. Only the best ones must survive.' In the seven-part series, only five stories are really explored – Bustamante, Pulling, Mercedes driver Doriane Pin, sisters Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi from Dubai, and American rally driver turned track racer Lia Block. Those tuning in expecting another version of the abrasive rivalries between drivers and team principles that are the cornerstone of Drive to Survive will find themselves disappointed. The first episode, titled Not here to make friends, is little more than words as the drivers throw each other birthday parties and take group excursions into the desert. On track there is some frustration, but usually by drivers at their own mistakes, and of course there are a few tears as well. Susie Wolff closes off the season by saying: 'I've driven a Formula One car, and fast. I know it's possible and I want to see a young woman on that grid.' Yet the question remains: is it possible?
New Straits Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Jet Li on youngest daughter's graduation: 'Highlight of my life'
NEW YORK: Screen martial arts legend Jet Li was recently in New York for his youngest daughter Jada's graduation ceremony. The Straits Times reported yesterday that Li, 62, has been married to former actress Nina Li Chi, 63, since 1999. They have two daughters, Jane, 25, and Jada, 22. Li also has two older daughters, Li Si and Li Taimi, from a previous marriage to former actress Huang Qiuyan. On May 25, Li posted on Weibo: "All my four daughters have graduated from college. I am at the bottom of the pile as I do not even have a primary school certificate. Please allow me to brag a little, as this is the highlight of my life." The China-born Singaporean actor shared photos of himself with Jane and Jada, as well as a separate photo with Jada. "She is finally free to pursue her dreams after more than 10 years of hard work," Li added. "Congratulations to my youngest daughter, Jada, for graduating from college." According to various Chinese-language media outlets, all four of his daughters pursued their tertiary education in the United States. Jada graduated from Barnard College, while Jane is a Harvard University alumna. Earlier in May, Li revealed in a Weibo post that his second daughter, Taimi, is an ophthalmologist. While in New York, the actor also took the opportunity to tour the city. "My daughter accompanied me to take the subway and visit Central Park," he wrote on Weibo. "We ate some frankfurters. I relaxed for a while and told myself that this kind of ordinary day is so carefree." Li, whose last film role was in the 2020 Hollywood live-action movie Mulan, also posted photos of himself signing autographs and posing with fans upon returning to his hotel. "Thank you for still supporting me after so many years," he wrote.
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
‘Highlight of my life': Actor Jet Li's youngest daughter Jada graduates from college
Movie star Jet Li was in New York recently to attend his youngest daughter Jada's graduation ceremony. The 62-year-old has been married to former actress Nina Li Chi, 63, since 1999 and they have two daughters – Jane, 25, and Jada, 22. He has two older daughters - Li Si and Li Taimi - from an earlier marriage to former actress Huang Qiuyan. 'All my four daughters have graduated from college,' Jet Li wrote in Chinese on May 25. 'I am at the bottom of the pile as I do not even have a primary school certificate. Please allow me to brag a little as this is the highlight of my life.' The China-born Singapore actor shared photos of himself with both Jane and Jada, as well as one photo with Jada. 'She is finally free to pursue her dreams after more than 10 years of hard work,' Li added. 'Congratulations to my youngest daughter, Jada, for graduating from college.' According to various Chinese-language media outlets, his four daughters received their tertiary education in the United States. Jada is graduating from Barnard College, while Jane is a graduate of Harvard University. Li revealed in a Weibo post earlier in May that his second daughter Li Taimi is an ophthalmologist. Jet Li (left) shares a photo with his daughter Jada. PHOTO: JET LI/WEIBO The actor also took the opportunity to tour New York while he was in the city. 'My daughter accompanied me to take the subway and visit Central Park,' he wrote on Weibo on May 24. 'We ate hot dogs when we were hungry. I relaxed for a while and told myself that this kind of ordinary day is so carefree .' Jet Li, whose last movie role was in the Hollywood live-action film Mulan (2020), also shared photos of him signing autographs and posing with fans when he returned to the hotel. 'Thank you for still supporting me after so many years,' he wrote, expressing his appreciation for the fans who queued outside the hotel during a rainy day. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Buzz Feed
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Why Gantu Isn't In The Lilo & Stitch Remake
🚨 Warning: Major spoilers ahead. 🚨 There's a significant change in Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch that some people might have difficulty coming to terms with, and I get it. There's Lilo and Nani. Of course, there's Stitch. Pleakly and Jumba are present. There's even the Grand Councilwoman! But there's no Gantu. 🚨 Spoilers Ahead 🚨 In the live-action Lilo & Stitch, the main antagonist is no longer Captain Gantu, but instead Jumba (Zach Galifianakis), hellbent on capturing his rogue experiment for his evil galactic domination plot. Remember when Captain Gantu captured Lilo and Stitch, and instead of letting Gantu die after he rescued Lilo, Stitch saved Gantu, too, and we all started crying? Yeah, that's not happening in this version. Director Dean Fleischer Camp explained to Entertainment Weekly why they made this big change from the original movie. "Something that live-action films do by virtue of taking place in reality is that they are already more grounded," Dean said to the publication. "If you have a story like Lilo & Stitch that does actually have this pretty terrestrial drama between the sisters and staying together, you can actually do them a greater service in a live-action movie. You can make those relationships deeper, hopefully more emotionally resonant." We've seen these types of changes before in Disney live-action remakes. Remember when Mushu and Cricket were completely missing from the live-action Mulan? Lilo & Stitch decided to keep all the other aliens except one. Poor Gantu. In addition to Gantu's omission, there was a big change with Cobra Bubbles being a very intimidating social worker and an obvious homage to Ving Rhames's Pulp Fiction character, Marcellus Wallace. "You end up thinking about how it is a very different experience to see an actual 6-year-old girl potentially being threatened with being torn from her caregiver sister after grieving the loss of their parents," Dean said. "That is a very different kind of responsibility from a filmmaking perspective than what you can get away with in an animated film." In the new film, Cobra Bubbles is just a CIA agent, and his role as Lilo's social worker was given to the new character Mrs. Kekoa (played by Tia Carrere, the voice of Nani from the animated film). "If the dramatic stakes of Lilo is that she's going to get separated from her sister, then you need a person who actually services those stakes in a credible way," Dean continued. "You can get away with that being Cobra Bubbles in an animated film — a 6-foot-5 huge dude with 'Cobra' tattooed on his knuckles is somehow a social worker in that world." Big, tall, scary dudes like Gantu and animated Bubbles are apparently "too much live-action. So, if there's no Gantu, that means that somebody has to take his place as the movie's antagonist. "One of the things I loved about the original is that up until Gantu arrives, there is no villain that is just a villain," Dean said. "Gantu arrives and it turns into a more conventional movie. I thought there was a nice opportunity here for [Jumba] to turn and become the villain in the third act." "To create real estate for all that emotional stuff and the deepening that we did, you have to get rid of stuff. And so Gantu was a casualty of that, but one that I felt pretty confident about from a storytelling perspective," Dean continued. You might want to know that Gantu did exist in the live-action version at one point, but Dean elected for the change according to producer Jonathan Eirich. "We did have it in at one point," he told EW. "In part because you're following certain aspects of the original movie and you're like, 'Oh, well of course Gantu has to be in this. It was really to Dean's credit that he challenged the idea of, 'Well, does he have to? Could it be somebody else who has a more personal connection?'" With Gantu out, Lilo & Stitch's producer said it felt more "fertile from a story perspective" to make Jumba the big bad in Act 3, noting that his relationship with Stitch as a "deliquent father figure" amplified the overall theme of the new movie. Changes are expected in the live-action remakes of Disney films, but since Gantu is a character who plays a huge part in the Lilo & Stitch universe, I feel it necessary to defend his presence in the series. Gantu may have been an antagonist to some degree in the 2002 Lilo & Stitch, but was he really a villain? Not necessarily. Gantu represented the original movie's conflict of obedience, law and order, and doing things "by the book." He was following orders, something every character (besides Lilo and Stitch) did in the original movie. Cobra Bubbles tried to follow the rules as a social worker and former CIA tried to follow the rules as a big sister and a Gantu tried to capture Stitch (yes, recklessly) because he was technically a wanted criminal in the galaxy, so let's give the Galactic Federation Captain some grace. Now, Dr. Hämsterviel? That's a real villain right there. IYKYK. Justice for Captain Gantu! Read the full interview with Dean Fleischer Camp here. What do you think about the changes to Lilo & Stitch?
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Lilo & Stitch movie review: Another live-action remake that is a heartless cash grab masquerading as nostalgia
Disney's obsession with turning its animated classics into live-action spectacles continues, and the latest to fall victim is Lilo & Stitch — a film that, perhaps more than most, never needed this treatment. In recent years, Disney has struggled to justify this remake crusade, with hits like The Jungle Book now rare exceptions. More often, we're left with flat imitations like Pinocchio or Mulan. Lilo & Stitch could have been the outlier — a remake that recaptured the chaos and charm of its source — but instead, it's a jumbled, soulless retread that makes you miss every watercolor frame of the 2002 original. The heart of the story remains, but the soul is gone. Director Dean Fleischer Camp tries to bring Stitch's antics into the real world, but the result is a noisy, emotionally flattened remake that never justifies its existence. The film retells the story of Stitch (voiced once again by Chris Sanders), a chaotic, genetically engineered alien who escapes to Earth and lands in Hawaii. Mistaken for a dog, he's adopted by Lilo Pelekai (Maia Kealoha), a lonely, imaginative young girl being raised by her older sister Nani (Sydney Elizebeth Agudong) after the death of their parents. As Lilo struggles to find connection and Nani battles to keep child services at bay, Stitch's alien pursuers — Jumba (Zach Galifianakis) and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen) — come to Earth to retrieve him. The story explores themes of family, belonging, and acceptance, but this remake buries those beats under layers of CGI and rushed exposition. To its credit, the remake is visually competent. Stitch's 3D design retains much of the original charm, with his oversized ears, gleaming eyes, and mischievous grin intact. Kids, especially those new to the franchise, may find him endlessly entertaining. The film also makes a commendable attempt to deepen the emotional bond between Lilo and Nani. Sydney Agudong brings a grounded frustration to Nani's character that makes her struggle feel more real, and Maia Kealoha shows genuine spark and vulnerability as Lilo. There are also a few moments — borrowed directly from the original — that still manage to land. The message of 'Ohana means family' still tugs at the heartstrings, and the occasional flash of slapstick fun between the alien duo Jumba and Pleakley adds some comic relief. Cameos from Tia Carrere and Jason Scott Lee offer nostalgic nods for longtime fans. But nostalgia is not enough to carry this film. The whimsical spontaneity of the original is replaced with a loud, hyperactive tone that leaves no room for warmth or subtlety. The original's leisurely pace and lush watercolor visuals gave it a dreamy, heartfelt quality — this remake trades that for rapid edits, busy action, and hollow spectacle. Scenes that once felt like living sketches now feel like shot-for-shot recreations drained of feeling. Worse still is how poorly the live-action setting serves the story. Stitch's arrival on Earth feels rushed and incoherent, and the film's early space scenes are visually ugly — a reminder of how poor CGI can sabotage world-building. Despite the budget, many moments look unfinished or awkwardly staged. Fleischer Camp, whose Marcel the Shell with Shoes On was so full of gentle whimsy, seems completely out of his depth here. The emotional crescendos feel forced, and the new material adds little except extra runtime. In trying to update a film beloved for its weirdness and warmth, Disney has produced something ironically safe, sterile, and synthetic. The original Lilo & Stitch was messy in the best way — an emotional, slightly chaotic ode to family and outsiders. This remake loses that in translation, becoming just another cog in Disney's IP machine. Ultimately, this new Lilo & Stitch serves as a reminder of what made the original so special — and why some films are best left untouched. There's no shortage of energy in this remake, but it's pointed in the wrong direction. What was once a quirky, beautiful daydream now feels like a corporate box-ticker. Disney may find commercial success with this version, but creatively, it's a letdown — one that leaves audiences wishing for the watercolor skies of 2002.
