Latest news with #Oh
National Observer
22 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- National Observer
MOVIES: The summer's biggest film (probably) and a couple of small heartfelt gems
For weeks, it's been at the top of the list of films people are most anxious to see this summer. Now that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is here, its studio has a chance to do two things. Marvel can battle back against its rival, DC Studios and their big hit Superman. The other they'll deem more crucial: to dispel the charge that their movies have become repetitive and always the same. Even the fans are feeling Marvel fatigue according to many articles and much online chatter. My thoughts on the movie are below. Before that, notice two other new films: Samia and Oh, Hi. Both worth your attention. And also notice that three films that got high praise when they first came out have just started streaming on CRAVE. American Fiction is a satirical look at racial attitudes in the American literary scene. Hereditary is a spooky film starring Tony Collette and made by Ari Aster, whose new one, Eddington, is in theaters right now. And out of season there's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a very funny family film about a scramble to put on the show and fight prejudice. And new in theaters, we have … The Fantastic Four: First Steps: 3 stars Samia: 4 Oh, Hi: 3 ½ THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS: I didn't read the comic books, but I understand they were groundbreaking when they started back in 1961. The characters argued, didn't just push a truth, justice and the American way ethos and even wrestled with the problems of celebrity. They didn't conceal their identity and had avid fans both inside their stories and among the readers. This is the fourth try at making a movie about them, after three weak efforts, one of which wasn't even officially released. This, finally, is a good one and honours them by going back to a simpler time. There's no politics or social change intruding, although it seems to be set in the 1960s and one cryptic comment may be about climate change. The action never gets overblown and frantic and the film plays comfortably with a retro feel. A quick crowded montage at the start sets up the situation. The four were flown into outer space and came back with their DNA rearranged and bearing alter egos. Reed Richards (by the very busy actor Pedro Pascal) is now also Mister Fantastic. Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is also Invisible Woman, alongside Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). They argue like a family but also save the world when needed, which has to happen again when Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) arrives to announce that the earth is about to be 'swallowed' by the 'The Devourer', also known as Galactus. The team has to go back to space to look for him, even though Sue Storm is pregnant and gives birth along the way. Galactus demands the baby be given to him (something to do with one part of his plot). He's refused, and the child becomes a lure to get him to come down to earth for a final battle among New York skyscrapers, which he is as tall as. There's not much suspense to speak of, but easy-to-take action and a sunny mood from director Matt Shakman, who the fans will remember for Wanda Vision, the Marvel TV series he made. (In theaters everywhere) 3 out of 5 SAMIA: A repressive society. A woman determined to disobey the rules imposed on her. We've seen that story before, and will again, but here's a particularly good version of it. And it's all true, as far as we know, anyway. It comes from a true-life novel about a real person: Samia Yusuf Omar, who lived in the African nation of Somalia and dreamed of being a champion runner. 'I'll be the fastest runner in the world,' she says in the movie. We see her trying hard, running in the streets of Mogidishu as a small girl, then as a teen and then grown up and played by llham Mohamed Osman. Along with her story, we get a good history lesson about her country. She's warned it's dangerous out there and advised to stay home and 'stop being stupid.' She defies the rules, by running for one thing, by refusing to wear a veil for another. She is confronted by militia soldiers now and then with proclamations that wearing shorts and a tee-shirt is a sin. She kept at it though, secretly training at night, with a brother as coach and her father's encouragement. She got on to the national Olympics team, competed in Beijing and through most of the film is trying to get ready for the London Olympics. But there are setbacks and tragedies. She pays human traffickers to get her to Europe and that's a harrowing trip. She dies. How isn't exactly known, but based on the book by Giuseppe Catozzella we get a possible idea. (People in Vancouver might remember he came to the writer's festival there when he wrote the book). The film doesn't have her complete story, but it does give a very moving view of her willpower and bravery. It's sharply directed by Yasemin Samdereli. She's German, and the film is a co-production along with Belgium and Italy. It's powerful. (In theaters: Toronto now, Ottawa next week, Vancouver and Victoria soon) 4 out of 5 OH, HI: Romantic comedies are a mixed genre, but check this one out. It's not like the usual; it's innovative, takes chances and comes off very funny and smart. I have a few small caveats. They don't harm it though. A couple go off on a romantic weekend to a country house they've rented and things go off pretty fast. They find a set of bondage handcuffs and decide to play kinky, first with her (Molly Gordon) chained to the bed while he (Logan Lerman) comes on to her. Then the reverse. While he's chained, he tactlessly admits he's not looking for a lasting relationship. She's shocked. Feels rejected, leaves him chained up and gives him 12 hours to change his mind. Whenever she's out of the room, he strains to reach the key lying just out of reach. She, meanwhile, has invited a couple of friends (Geraldine Viswanathan, John Reynolds) and plays good host all the while hiding from them what's going on. The story isn't that special, but it is workable. What makes it shine is the dialogue that Gordon has co-written with the director, Sophie Brooks. The couple dole out what they want from each other. They ask each other about their early lives (a little too much because you'd think they'd already explored that since they've been dating for four months). They relish the similarities they turn up and suffer with the misunderstandings. He gets fed up and angry. Says he's been kidnapped and will report it to the police when he gets free. That just makes her resent him more. She accuses him of pursuing her in the first place. 'You made me like you,' she says. What women need in a relationship comes up when she talks with her friend, as do more erudite matters like evolution. A detour into the subject of witchcraft is out of place, but the rest of the film is a smart contemplation of dating and male-female relations today. Both Gordon and Lerman are terrific as the characters they play. (In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
Cosmopolitan
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Oh, Hi!: Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman Discuss Their Twisted Romantic Comedy
The question at the center of the new movie Oh, Hi! is a universally upsetting one: What do you do when you like someone a lot and they simply do not like you as much in return? It's enough to drive any sane, rational person to their limits. When Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) go on their first trip together as a "couple," Iris finds out that actually, Isaac doesn't think they are a couple. To him, they are merely casually seeing each other. Iris freaks out, and her solution is to strap Isaac to the bed and spend the next 12 hours trying to convince him they should be together. The movie is an exploration of what that kind of rejection does to someone like Iris, and why someone like Isaac chooses to reject someone who he seemingly really enjoys. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Logan and Molly spoke about whether they find that feeling as relatable as the rest of us, how they kept empathy for Isaac and Iris, and what the movie, directed by Sophie Brooks, taught them about love. Logan Lerman: Oddly, our paths never crossed in LA. Molly Gordon: We met Thanksgiving time like a year and a half ago. It was pretty immediate. Logan is the best, really funny and curious and just as weird as I am, maybe weirder. LL: Definitely weirder. LL: I don't look at any materials or anything. I look at the script, that's about it. So if there was something sent to me that I did not read, I'm sorry to whoever took the time to put that together. I just read the script, and I thought it was really, really great, and it was exactly what I wanted to see in theaters. This is the version of a romantic movie that is exciting to me, and I really wanted to be a part of it. It was evident on the page that I would have to be in the position that I'm in throughout filming, and that doesn't bother me at all. It didn't scare me much. LL: I'm guessing 10. My back, it was not great. My shoulders, everything, it hurt a little bit. But it's not that bad. I've had to be on things where I'm running around, learning fight sequences and shit like that, getting hurt. And my job on this was to show up and lay in bed every day. That was fairly easy. And the material was really fun to play with. MG: Logan and I are both more naturally Iris, so we had to really push ourselves to have empathy for Isaac. That was the only way the movie was going to work. I've dated so many Isaacs, and so has Logan. And we really wanted to breathe life into that type of character and understand why, hey, this thing is really good, why don't you want it? Like, what has happened in your childhood, or what are you working through? Or also, do you just not like me enough? That felt the most exciting to me. I didn't want it to feel like a takedown of avoidant men. I wanted my guy friends who struggle with that to also feel seen by it. But it was directed by a woman, written with women, and it is a little more weighted on Iris's side. LL: Like Molly was saying, I'm much more of an Iris. And I've dated people in the past that have been like Isaac. I've had a lot of time to think about why things ended the way they ended, exploring my personal issues at those times and why I maybe wasn't the right person or in a good place for that relationship, but also exploring why they might have been running away from something. All that time thinking about it became a foundation for Isaac, for me to go deeper, peel away the layers, and understand who he is at his core, and why he gets the instinct to run when things get serious. Like everything in life, it goes back to the parents, and how we are all working through our relationships with our parents throughout our lives. Not to sum it up in an easy way, but I started thinking about what scared him, and it was probably a fractured home. MG: Yeah. It's the worst feeling when you're like, but they like me enough, and it's so good when we're together, but they just aren't making the effort in the way I am. What do people say? 'If it's not a fuck yeah, then it's a no.' That's what the movie is exploring. Like, if I cook for them and dance for them and if they got to just see all these parts of me, then they would want to be with me. And it's like, no, there's some block. Maybe they want to be with someone else. Maybe they'll never be with anyone else. That feeling is maddening. I think the biggest thing that I've realized in the last few years is that love is how you feel about another person, but it's also how you feel about yourself when you're with that person. And when you're with that type of avoidant person, you don't feel that good about yourself, even though you like them so much, you always feel like you're chasing them liking you. That's obviously not healthy. LL: Yeah, I think so. In my opinion, four months means you should know where the hell you're going. MG: We want the audience to be completely taken with Isaac, and think he's amazing. And then when that fight happens, they're like, What the fuck, it's been four months? And then we're on her side. We wanted it to be dials that are cranking back and forth. I know people that have fallen in love in a month. I know people that have worked in a situationship for two years before they committed. But I love that conversation between them. I think it's really juicy. We've all been there where we're drunk at 1am and then it's like, wait, record scratch, we are not on the same page.
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hollywood star under fire for 'sick' comments on Colbert cancellation
Sandra Oh's (pictured) strong words against CBS & Paramount raised eyebrows in the wake of their cancellation of The Late Show hosted by Stephen Colbert. The Killing Eve actress, 54, garnered controversy after making a number of strong comments on Tuesday's edition of the late night series on the network, with one prominent CBS commentator saying her sentiments were misguided. The Canadian-American star expressed her anger and frustration with Colbert's cancellation this month , after a 10-season run. 'Like probably everyone here and everyone who is so supportive outside wants to say that I am so sorry and saddened and properly outraged for the cancellation of late-night here,' the Emmy-winning actress said. Oh, a two-time Golden Globe winner, said that the decision made on the corporate level - which many say had political undertones - was a game-changer for standards in the U.S. amid President Donald Trump's second term. 'Not only for yourself and for this entire family who are here, but for what it means, of what it means where we are in our culture and what it means for free speech,' said the Sideways actress. Oh, who played Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 until 2014, made strong wishes against the companies that were behind the move. 'So I just want to say, sorry, and also if I can have your hand,' she told the host, 'to CBS and Paramount - a plague on both of your houses.' Colbert said he was 'very grateful' as he wagged his finger, adding, 'I think they've been great partners.' Oh, who portrayed the role of Eve Polastri on the drama Killing Eve, garnered a number of strong responses via social media following the appearance - with some people saying she took things too far. Tony Dokoupil (pictured) of CBS Mornings said Oh had things pegged wrong in blaming Colbert's show ending on politics, amid a changing economic landscape in late night TV - and culture. 'The business is broken,' Dokoupil said. 'And what no one seems to acknowledge is that the politics also changed. 'The business changed and so did the politics, and it got way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing.' (Carson, who died in 2005, famously was one to steer clear of going too far left or right so as not to put off a chunk of his audience.) Dokoupil added, 'I think we should reflect on those changes as well - it's been a big shift culturally in that regard also.' Others applauded The Sympathizer star's strong support for the embattled Colbert, with one Instagram user declaring, 'I love a good Shakespearean insult.' Another user on the platform said: 'I know Stephen is really really sad mostly because he knows 200 people will also be out of work. He's a good man and he feels responsible. By the way, I love Sandra Oh!' A user responded of Oh: 'Technically she used their own platform against them, Colbert's show.' Said one X/Twitter user: 'sandra oh wishing a plague on cbs and paramount on steven colbert's show she's everything.' Another added, 'I'm screamingggg she's too funny.' The move to ax Colbert was a controversial one within some circles of Hollywood, as the late night host has received words of public support from the genre's elder statesman, David Letterman ; as well as former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart. Stewart lashed out amid news of the cancelation, linking it to the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media, which needed to be OK'ed by the Federal Communications Commission under Trump's administration. 'The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor and control, a not insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those [expletive] shows,' Stewart said. Dokoupil said that while he understood 'the emotional views' Stewart expressed, they weren't square with good business tactics. 'I don't have an MBA but he's not right that the merger, the $8 billion, is based on reruns of a comedy show, no,' he said. 'People are buying the movies and the sitcoms and the sports. They're not based on reruns of [CBS Mornings] either, so I think it's wrong.'
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hollywood star SLAMMED for 'sick' comments over Stephen Colbert getting cancelled
Sandra Oh 's strong words against CBS & Paramount raised eyebrows, in the wake of their cancelation of The Late Show hosted by Stephen Colbert. The Killing Eve actress, 54, garnered controversy after making a number of strong comments on Tuesday's edition of the late night series on the network. The Canadian-American star expressed her anger and frustration with Colbert's cancellation this month, after a stellar 10-season run. 'Like probably everyone here and everyone who is so supportive outside wants to say that I am so sorry and saddened and properly outraged for the cancellation of late-night here,' the Emmy-winning actress said. Oh, a two-time Golden Globe winner, said that the decision made on the corporate level - which many say had political undertones - was a game-changer for standards in the U.S. amid President Donald Trump 's second term. 'Not only for yourself and for this entire family who are here, but for what it means, of what it means where we are in our culture and what it means for free speech,' Oh said. Oh, who played Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy from 2005 until 2014, made strong wishes against the companies that were behind the controversial move. 'So I just want to say, sorry, and also if I can have your hand,' she told the host, 'to CBS and Paramount - a plague on both of your houses.' Colbert said he was 'very grateful' as he wagged his finger, adding, 'I think they've been great partners.' Oh, who portrayed the role of Eve Polastri on the drama Killing Eve, garnered a number of strong responses via social media following the appearance - with some people saying she took things too far. Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings said Oh had things pegged wrong in blaming Colbert's show ending on politics, amid a changing economic landscape in late night TV. 'The business is broken,' Dokoupil said. 'And what no one seems to acknowledge is that the politics also changed. 'The business changed and so did the politics, and it got way more one-sided than anything Johnny Carson was ever doing.' (Carson, who died in 2005, famously was one to steer clear of going too far left or right so as not to put off a chunk of his audience.) Dokoupil added, 'I think we should reflect on those changes as well - it's been a big shift culturally in that regard also.' Others applauded her support for the embattled Colbert. Said one user: 'sandra oh wishing a plague on cbs and paramount on steven colbert's show she's everything.' Another added, 'I'm screamingggg she's too funny.'
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
As Asia modernises, squat toilets are being dethroned
Across many parts of Asia , squat toilets are being phased out, particularly in urban areas and public facilities, as comfort and convenience increasingly emerge as overriding considerations. But even so, many places in the region still stick to the traditional squat toilets, preferring them over the modern equivalents, resisting what some describe as globalisation and modernity. On Wednesday, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pledged to replace some 1,200 squat toilets inside the subway station restrooms of South Korea 's capital with Western-style sitting toilets by 2028. The announcement was made during Oh's visit to the men's public restroom inside Jamsil Station in Songpa district, southern Seoul, in response to frequent public complaints. Noting that of the six stalls, two had squat toilets, he said, as quoted by the Korea JoongAng Daily: 'People no longer prefer to use squat toilets. The younger generation have especially been saying that they're uncomfortable to use. We'll make sure to get rid of every one of them in Seoul.' According to Seoul Metropolitan Government data, squat toilets currently make up about 33 per cent of the total 3,647 toilets in subway station restrooms.
