Latest news with #Omega
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Films that shaped Aaron Taylor-Johnson to be the next James Bond
The rumour mill went into overdrive last week when a major clue suggested that British heart-throb Aaron Taylor-Johnson has signed on to be the next James Bond. Many names have been thrown in the mix as to who will take over the iconic 007 gig from Daniel Craig. From Idris Alba to Regé-Jean Page to Theo James and Henry Cavill, it's been quite the guessing game in Hollywood. But the biggest clue came last week when Taylor-Johnson was announced as an ambassador for Omega – the brand of watch that the sexy secret agent has been wearing in every film since Golden Eye in 1995. Taylor-Johnson, 34, join the luxe label's roster of global ambassadors, with the latest promotional campaign showing the Kick-Ass and Avengers actor staring into a cabinet filled with the expensive wristwatches. According to The Sun, the Marvel star was formally offered the role of the British spy last year – and it's easy to see why Taylor-Johnson is a cut above the rest. He's British, he's dapper and he's Kick-Ass. Yep, the actor quite literally played the titular character in the 2010 film Kick-Ass and its 2013 sequel, Kick-Ass 2. So he's also got the spy moves down pat. But before he goes all suave and secret agent on us, here are the films that quite possibly helped shape Taylor-Johnson to become the next James Bond – and they are all available to watch for free on streaming service Tubi. All we can say is, Taylor-Johnson – who was recently labelled Britain's next leading man by Rolling Stone – has had quite the glow-up… Kick-Ass In this 2010 action-comedy, Taylor-Johnson plays high school geek Dave Lizewski who reinvents himself as the superhero Kick-Ass. He has zero powers, but confidence is everything. And by wearing his green and yellow mask, he goes from ordinary to extraordinary as he fights crime with his trusty batons. He may need to ditch them for an Aston Martin and sleek gadgets as 007, but Taylor-Johnson will find his Kick-Ass training will come in handy should he be faced with some villains and henchmen in the James Bond films. Dummy He was a reluctant hero in the 2008 tear-jerker Dummy, but Taylor-Johnson got to hone his craft. Here, the actor showed off his acting range to play Danny, an aspiring DJ who assumes a parental role in his younger brother Jack's life when their mother suddenly dies. The brothers take different approaches to dealing with her death – Danny takes the destructive route plotted with sex, drugs and music, and Jack (played by Thomas Grant) adopts a more unconventional method by finding a mannequin and dressing it up like their mother. As they learn to come to terms with their mum's death, Taylor-Johnson is superb as he navigates a rollercoaster of emotions in the film. The Magic Door Before he was a superhero in Kick-Ass and a sensitive soul on Dummy, Taylor-Johnson played make believe in the fantasy-adventure film The Magic Door. In this tale that's part Power Rangers, part Hansel and Gretel, the fresh-faced actor plays an elf named Flip who goes on an adventure with two runaway siblings. The trio encounter a troll named Raglin who is trying to find the magic door that will take him back home to Fairyland. But the path is no yellow brick road once they encounter Raglin's bitter enemy, the Black Witch. A troll, an evil witch and a frosty face-off, it sounds like the fairytale version of James Bond, if you ask us.
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Oh My God Centauri
Last weekend, after some intense strategic planning as part of my day job, I finally managed an entire night under the stars at my new observing site out in Middlemarch. No clouds. No wind. Just the hush of the Taieri and a sky so dark it felt like I'd stepped into space. I'd been itching to test my astronomy gear out there and I knew exactly what I wanted to photograph: Omega Centauri. Or, as I like to call it, Oh My God Centauri. You see, Omega isn't your run-of-the-mill deep sky object. It's a globular cluster — an enormous swarm of ancient stars bound together by gravity. More than 10 million suns packed into a ball about 150 light-years across, orbiting our Milky Way like a bee around a honeypot. It sits high in the southern sky early in the night, glittering like a celestial snow globe. Omega Centauri resides in the constellation Centaurus, a sprawling figure representing a wise centaur from Greek mythology — sometimes identified as Chiron, tutor to heroes like Hercules. It's a rich part of the sky, but few objects anywhere can compete with Omega's sheer majesty. I remember the first time I saw it, I actually gasped. My photograph from Middlemarch doesn't quite capture that gasp — but it comes close. In the image, you can see the subtle hues of the stars: some glowing blue-white with youth and energy, others tinged with orange and red, ancient and cooling. The colours tell stories of stellar lifetimes, of nuclear fire slowly fading across billions of years. Omega Centauri is about 16,000 light-years away. That means the light that hit my telescope last Saturday left the cluster shortly after our ancestors who I'm sure my fellow columnist Tom Higham would explain, were first shaping tools on the savannah. That's the magic of deep-sky photography — you're not just capturing light, you're catching time. There's something humbling about sitting alone on a cold paddock, camera clicking away, with a million stars staring back at you from the deep past. I packed up just before dawn, with the Milky Way arching overhead and a thermos of lukewarm tea in my hand, already planning my next night out under that Middlemarch sky.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
I'm a ballroom dancer who joined Ukraine's special forces. The war took my leg, but I have no regrets signing up.
Serhii Nazarenko, a Ukrainian special forces officer, was a ballroom dancer before the war. He joined the NGU's Omega group in early 2024, training for six weeks before fighting Russian troops. Nazarenko told BI what it was like to lose his right leg to a land mine in October. This is as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Serhii Nazarenko, a 31-year-old Kyiv resident who taught ballroom dancing for 11 years before the war. He is now an officer and machine gunner of the NGU's elite Omega group. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I was wide awake when I lost my leg. We were in Luhansk, and my squad was ordered to assault a Russian position in the treelines. All I could see was the soil flying as I toppled over. Then I remember seeing my commander frozen, shock in his eyes, as I lay on the ground. Three seconds later, he started shouting. I'd stepped on a land mine. "Apply your tourniquet on your leg," he yelled. Emotionless, I dug my tourniquet out of my vest and tied it around my right leg. Or what was left of it. By the time we retreated and I was evacuated to the hospital, I knew that almost everything below my right knee was gone. We were incredibly lucky. Everyone else in my squad was safe and with no injuries, and we returned home that day. I've been part of the Ukrainian National Guard's Omega group since early 2024. As special forces, we're deployed to assist different brigades along the front lines, conducting rescue missions, reconnaissance, and raids. As a machine gunner, my job was to provide suppressive fire and sometimes lead portions of an assault with light machine guns such as the Soviet PKM or NATO-standard M240. That was until October, when I was sent back to Kyiv, my hometown, to recover from my leg injury. I never thought I'd join the military. Before Russia invaded in 2022, I was a sales relations manager for a customer service company headquartered in Arizona. While working full-time, I also taught ballroom dancing — a craft I'd been pursuing since my mother took me for lessons when I was 12. For over 10 years, I performed onstage and trained students at a dance school in Kyiv. In 2021, I was also a choreographer for the Ukrainian version of "Dancing with the Stars." When Russia invaded my country in 2022, I joined Ukraine's National Guard. Our first mission was to defend Hostomel as Russian paratroopers tried to take the airfields, though I was at the rear because I was new. Then, we were assigned to attack the infamous Russian column of armored vehicles stuck on the road to Kyiv. After the Russians retreated, I was mostly sent to patrol areas that Ukraine had already retaken, keeping the peace in cities under our control. I felt like I could do more. I kept thinking that I hadn't done my job for my country yet, so I applied to Omega. The process to join took several weeks. I had to apply through a Google Form, participate in an interview, and take a physical test. Omega accepts members from many walks of life, but it is selective. The most important skill they looked for was my capacity to learn quickly. I had some combat experience, but I had to be proficient in various weapons beyond my standard-issue assault rifle, such as machine guns and grenade launchers. I spent about six weeks training with Omega and integrating into my unit. You can train for as long as you like, but the real combat situation is when you show your real ability to fight. Your best test is the front line. A key part of being an Omega member is being able to adapt. Each day, you're learning new information about your equipment, about weapons, about tactics, about strategy, about drones, about reconnaissance. My deployments with Omega were different from my time protecting cities in the rear. We rotated with other Omega soldiers on the front line, often fighting in close contact with the enemy, like clearing multistory apartment buildings, floor by floor, in Zaporizhzhia. War is nothing like in video games or Hollywood. It's messy. Out of all my missions, one left the deepest impact. We were sent to help the crew of an armored vehicle that came under Russian mortar fire. Even though we warned them to wait for us, they got out of their vehicle to repair it, and a mortar round struck them. One of them died, and we were forced to change our mission to focus on evacuating the wounded. We see every day how warfare is changing. Even though I'm in the special forces, not everything depends on your skill. When a drone comes to attack you, you hide. It doesn't matter who you are — the drone or mortar just hits you, and that's it. The biggest pressure in Omega is to be reliable for your teammates, so we all know we can depend on each other. When I stepped on the land mine and lost my leg, my first thought was: "I'm the bad person because I didn't do my job. Now we have to go back because of me." After October, I was given a prosthetic leg, and now I've been back at my unit for the last three weeks. So far, I'm helping out with public events and other tasks away from combat, while waiting for my sports prosthetic so that I can start training to run again and hopefully fight one day. When the war is over, we'll need to rebuild Ukraine's cultural scene. So many of our dancers and artists have died. Losing my leg will severely hurt my dancing ability, because although I have a prosthetic leg, I've lost my right foot. Still, if given a choice, I'd do it all again: Joining the National Guard in 2022 and then Omega in 2024. I know why I'm doing my job, for my family and homeland; I have a wife and a five-year-old daughter in Kyiv. For now, we can't think about dancing when our country's children are dying. But I want to return to the ballroom when the fighting is done. At least, I'll try. People will probably be able to tell that I'm wearing prosthetics, but I still want to perform. Hopefully, it will be a beautiful dance. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
I'm a ballroom dancer who joined Ukraine's special forces. The war took my leg, but I have no regrets signing up.
This is as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Serhii Nazarenko, a 31-year-old Kyiv resident who taught ballroom dancing for 11 years before the war. He is now an officer and machine gunner of the NGU's elite Omega group. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I was wide awake when I lost my leg. We were in Luhansk, and my squad was ordered to assault a Russian position in the treelines. All I could see was the soil flying as I toppled over. Then I remember seeing my commander frozen, shock in his eyes, as I lay on the ground. Three seconds later, he started shouting. I'd stepped on a land mine. "Apply your tourniquet on your leg," he yelled. Emotionless, I dug my tourniquet out of my vest and tied it around my right leg. Or what was left of it. By the time we retreated and I was evacuated to the hospital, I knew that almost everything below my right knee was gone. We were incredibly lucky. Everyone else in my squad was safe and with no injuries, and we returned home that day. I've been part of the Ukrainian National Guard's Omega group since early 2024. As special forces, we're deployed to assist different brigades along the front lines, conducting rescue missions, reconnaissance, and raids. As a machine gunner, my job was to provide suppressive fire and sometimes lead portions of an assault with light machine guns such as the Soviet PKM or NATO-standard M240. That was until October, when I was sent back to Kyiv, my hometown, to recover from my leg injury. Before I fought the Russians, I danced I never thought I'd join the military. Before Russia invaded in 2022, I was a sales relations manager for a customer service company headquartered in Arizona. While working full-time, I also taught ballroom dancing — a craft I'd been pursuing since my mother took me for lessons when I was 12. For over 10 years, I performed onstage and trained students at a dance school in Kyiv. In 2021, I was also a choreographer for the Ukrainian version of "Dancing with the Stars." When Russia invaded my country in 2022, I joined Ukraine's National Guard. Our first mission was to defend Hostomel as Russian paratroopers tried to take the airfields, though I was at the rear because I was new. Then, we were assigned to attack the infamous Russian column of armored vehicles stuck on the road to Kyiv. After the Russians retreated, I was mostly sent to patrol areas that Ukraine had already retaken, keeping the peace in cities under our control. I felt like I could do more. I kept thinking that I hadn't done my job for my country yet, so I applied to Omega. The process to join took several weeks. I had to apply through a Google Form, participate in an interview, and take a physical test. Fighting in Ukraine's special forces Omega accepts members from many walks of life, but it is selective. The most important skill they looked for was my capacity to learn quickly. I had some combat experience, but I had to be proficient in various weapons beyond my standard-issue assault rifle, such as machine guns and grenade launchers. I spent about six weeks training with Omega and integrating into my unit. You can train for as long as you like, but the real combat situation is when you show your real ability to fight. Your best test is the front line. A key part of being an Omega member is being able to adapt. Each day, you're learning new information about your equipment, about weapons, about tactics, about strategy, about drones, about reconnaissance. My deployments with Omega were different from my time protecting cities in the rear. We rotated with other Omega soldiers on the front line, often fighting in close contact with the enemy, like clearing multistory apartment buildings, floor by floor, in Zaporizhzhia. War is nothing like in video games or Hollywood. It's messy. Out of all my missions, one left the deepest impact. We were sent to help the crew of an armored vehicle that came under Russian mortar fire. Even though we warned them to wait for us, they got out of their vehicle to repair it, and a mortar round struck them. One of them died, and we were forced to change our mission to focus on evacuating the wounded. We see every day how warfare is changing. Even though I'm in the special forces, not everything depends on your skill. When a drone comes to attack you, you hide. It doesn't matter who you are — the drone or mortar just hits you, and that's it. The biggest pressure in Omega is to be reliable for your teammates, so we all know we can depend on each other. When I stepped on the land mine and lost my leg, my first thought was: "I'm the bad person because I didn't do my job. Now we have to go back because of me." Returning to the war after losing a leg After October, I was given a prosthetic leg, and now I've been back at my unit for the last three weeks. So far, I'm helping out with public events and other tasks away from combat, while waiting for my sports prosthetic so that I can start training to run again and hopefully fight one day. When the war is over, we'll need to rebuild Ukraine's cultural scene. So many of our dancers and artists have died. Losing my leg will severely hurt my dancing ability, because although I have a prosthetic leg, I've lost my right foot. Still, if given a choice, I'd do it all again: Joining the National Guard in 2022 and then Omega in 2024. I know why I'm doing my job, for my family and homeland; I have a wife and a five-year-old daughter in Kyiv. For now, we can't think about dancing when our country's children are dying. But I want to return to the ballroom when the fighting is done. At least, I'll try. People will probably be able to tell that I'm wearing prosthetics, but I still want to perform. Hopefully, it will be a beautiful dance.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Who is the next James Bond? It's anyone's guess. But a luxury watchmaker just shifted the odds
The rumour mill is both shaken and stirred at the prospect of the next James Bond star being inadvertently — maybe — leaked. Speculation has been swirling online in recent days that British actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, the star of films like 2024's Kraven the Hunter and the 2022 hit Bullet Train, is poised to take on the role of the world's most beloved and admired spy after Swiss watchmaker Omega announced the 34-year-old is its new global brand ambassador. Both Taylor-Johnson and Omega shared images over the past week of him sporting its watches and touring its factory. Why is that a big deal you ask? The luxury brand has adorned Agent 007 for 30 years, worn in films and ads by recent Bond actors Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, which is why fans and oddsmakers — yes, you can place your bets on the next Bond — took note of the Taylor-Johnson/Omega marriage. While Taylor-Johnson has been on several lists of potential actors who could portray the suave and sexy super spy in the franchise's 26th instalment, Bond is a fixture in popular culture like few others and predicting who and what's next for him is somewhat of a sport in its own right. And because it's the "off season" for fans right now, it's the perfect time to watch for any indication of a big announcement, says Lisa Funnell, a Hamilton-based scholar and author who has been researching Bond books, film and culture for more than 20 years. It's been nearly four years since the last film of the Craig era, No Time to Die, was released — which was delayed more than a year due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The longest period between Bond films was six years, after Roger Moore's last turn in 1989's Licence to Kill and Brosnan taking the torch in 1995's GoldenEye. "I think until we get a full announcement coming at us, we're not going to know. We're only going to be speculating, which is kind of fun," she said. Taylor-Johnson has a lot going for him, says British writer and and Bond aficionado Mark O'Connell, adding that he has met the actor and is cheering for him. "He's definitely in my top three or five Bond contenders," he said. "He looks great on screen. The camera loves him. Maybe the box office doesn't yet, Kraven didn't do so well, but the box office and the magazine covers... really love him." But O'Connell isn't taking the Omega partnership as a sign of anything, pointing to the fact another contender, Academy Award-nominated Irish actor Barry Keoghan, is also affiliated with the brand. LISTEN | Bond's legacy, from the page to the screen: It may also be worth noting that Taylor-Johnson was sporting an Omega Speedmaster watch in the photos the company posted on social media, while Keoghan was sporting one of its Seamaster series, which is the line that Bond wore in the last nine films. But, moving on. O'Connell thinks Taylor-Johnson stands a solid chance not just because of his looks and acting chops but because he's not too big of a star yet. He says the franchise has typically casts actors who aren't household names. Both he and Funnell agree that a superstar like Superman franchise heartthrob Henry Cavill, whose name has been tossed around and who certainly has the look, is just too big for Bond. That's something that could also count out someone like Jonathan Bailey, whose star is soaring with the blockbuster Wicked and the upcoming Jurassic World: Rebirth. One thing O'Connell believes is a sure bet is that the next Bond will be British (sorry Canadian, American and Australian actors). The Hollywood Reporterpredicted in December that the next Bond would be Josh O'Connor, known for last year's Challengers and his Emmy-winning turn as Prince Charles in the Netflix series The Crown, suggesting longtime series producer Barbara Broccoli "has always led from the gut, not caved to popular opinion." But here's the thing: She's no longer has creative control of the franchise her family has helmed since its inception in the 1960s. Amazon and MGM Studios are now in charge (MGM owns the rights to the film franchise, Amazon now owns MGM), after striking a deal earlier this year and has already tapped Amy Pascal and David Heyman to produce the film known, for the moment, as Bond 26. That shift left a lot up in the air, says Funnell. "We're entering into brand-new territory," she said. The new producers, she says, could go in a new direction that might not necessarily "fall in step with all the rules that the Bond franchise has had up to this point." LISTEN | What happens when 007 goes to Amazon: Funnell suggests Amazon has an advantage by having so much streaming data and information about what's being watched by which demographics, and that could help inform its decisions of both what kind of star it wants — possibly someone who will attract younger audiences — and the style of Bond movie it makes. She says Amazon also has to take into account the success of other Bond-esque films that have filled the void since the last feature, including two Mission: Impossible movies. She's personally keen to see a return to a more classic style; movies more about the missions and lots more of the gadgets. "I want things that explode, exploding pens, whatever," she said — rather than the more style-driven and and "deeply personal" storylines of the Craig era. O'Connell doesn't think Amazon will shake things up too much because it's "really keen to get it right." As for a big star reveal, he says it likely won't happen until the next writer and director are announced, noting many eyes have been on Oscar-winning Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón (Roma, Gravity). But that, too, is speculation. WATCH | Bond creator Ian Fleming speaks with CBC in 1964:
