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Perth Now
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Ryan Coogler speaks out on potential Sinners sequel
Ryan Coogler says 'Sinners' will not be getting a sequel. The filmmaker wrote and directed the acclaimed horror movie, which is set in 1932 in the he Mississippi Delta and stars Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers Smoke and Stack who return to Clarksdale wafter serving in World War I and open a juke joint only to be confronted by a supernatural evil. Coogler has told fans there will not be a follow-up film as it was always his intention for 'Sinners' to be a standalone story, following his work on franchises 'Black Panther' and 'Creed'. In interview with Ebony magazine, he said: "I've been in a space of making franchise films for a bit, so I wanted to get away from that. "I was looking forward to working on a film that felt original and personal to me and had an appetite for delivering something to audiences that was original and unique.' Coogler wanted movie goers to watch 'Sinners' - which also stars Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku, Miles Caton and Jack O'Connell - and come away with the feeling it was a "holistic and finished thing". He added: "I wanted the movie to feel like a full meal: your appetizers, starters, entrees and desserts, I wanted all of it there. I wanted it to be a holistic and finished thing. That was how I was asked all about it. That was always my intention." 'Sinners' has been a box office hit and has earned over $350 million at the global box office and it will be available on streaming platforms and VOD on 3 June. Coogler recently revealed that the plot for 'Sinners' was inspired by the Metallica song 'One', which featured on the metal band's 1988 LP ' ...And Justice for All'. Speaking to the San Fransisco Chronicle, he said: "I wanted the movie to feel like a song, so I used Metallica's One." The filmmaker explained how the song "starts off intense, then gets melodic and going somewhere just crazy. But by the time you're finished, it was clear you were always going to get there." Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich even worked on the score for the horror film.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch: Demonstrators hang upside-down American flag at Yosemite National Park
As visitors descended on Yosemite National Park to witness its iconic 'Firefall' event, an upside-down American flag was hung on a park summit to protest the ongoing federal job cuts carried out by President Trump's administration. The flag was seen hanging Saturday on top of the park's famous El Capitan summit, a 3,000-foot vertical rock formation where the 'Firefall' can be spotted. The demonstration comes after thousands of jobs have been cut across federal agencies, including the National Park Service, where 1,000 workers were laid off. Garin Carpenter, a maintenance mechanic at the park who provided the flag to fellow demonstrators, told the San Fransisco Chronicle the flag was meant to bring attention to the impacts of layoffs at the National Park Service. 'We're bringing attention to what's happening to the parks, which are every American's properties,' he told the outlet. 'It's super important we take care of them, and we're losing people here, and it's not sustainable if we want to keep the parks open.' An upside-down flag display is framed by U.S. Code as a sign of disrespect, except when it's used to signal "dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property." 'Defend U.S. Rally': Protest held in response to firings at Sequoia and Kings national parks Watch: 'Firefall' phenomenon at El Capitan inside Yosemite National Park Federal layoffs 2025: Impacted agencies include IRS, FAA, TSA and more The Trump administration has continued to tear through the federal government's payroll, including at the National Park Service, where hundreds of workers were laid off. The effects of those cuts have already begun to be felt by rangers and park visitors across the United States, as previously reported by USA TODAY. Saguaro National Park in Tucson announced it was closing its two visitor centers on Mondays starting Feb. 24. At Yosemite National Park, officials announced they're halting reservations for 577 coveted camping spots this summer. Effigy Mounds in Iowa said it's closing its visitor center two days a week until the summer. "I don't know whether we'll see overflowing latrines, polluted streams, or deadly wildfires first, but Doug Burgum is already leaving a path of destruction across America's parks and public lands," said Aaron Weiss, the deputy director of the public lands advocacy group Center for Western Priorities. Contributing: Trevor Hughes Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yosemite protesters hang upside-down flag after Trump park layoffs
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
Alleged Leader of Roko's Basilisk Murder Cult Says She Did Nothing Wrong, and Would Appreciate Some Vegan Food in Jail
After being arrested in connection with a years-long, country-spanning string of murders, the alleged leader of a "Roko's Basilisk" cult is insisting she hasn't done anything wrong — and that she should be granted access to a vegan diet. As the San Fransisco Chronicle reports, Jack "Ziz" LaSota spoke ramblingly during her Maryland bail hearing last week that occurred after two young alleged "Zizians" were apprehended for a pair of slayings that took place in California and Vermont. "I haven't done anything wrong," LaSota told a judge during the February 18 hearing. "I shouldn't be here." A militant vegan whose animal rights beliefs are at the center of her writings — as does the concept of "Roko's Basilisk," a hypothetical artificial superintelligence that would retroactively torture anyone who didn't help it come into existence — the 33-year-old former tech worker also begged Judge Erich Bean, the jurist presiding over her hearing, to give her food she could eat. "I must... I might starve to death," Ziz told the judge. "I need... I need the jail to have a vegan diet. It's more important than this hearing is." LaSota went on to claim that she was being starved and suggested that a jail chaplain had denied her request for a vegan diet as some form of religious persecution. As a result, LaSota contended, she was delirious from malnutrition, which was part of her argument for being granted bail. "I think the idea that I [may] be mentally impaired for a month at proceedings because I'm in a state of starvation or that somebody with a particular majority religion would be deciding whether my religious beliefs are real... it's not right," she said. After LaSota's imploring, the judge told her that her mother had managed to find a way to get her some vegan food while she awaits trial. "I hope so," she replied. "I meant what I said about mental impairment. I'm in, maybe, a mild state of delirium." LaSota is allegedly quite familiar with inducing delirium. On her blog, per Vox and other outlets, Ziz promoted what's known as "unihemispheric sleep" or UHS, a dangerous practice where one attempts to sleep with only one half of their brain, the other half remaining awake and alert. A lengthy explainer on the Zizians claims, per insider accounts, that the group's alleged leader uses UHS to manipulate people and induce in them a "vulnerable psychological state" — a useful tool for any aspiring cult leader. Ultimately, LaSota's bail request was denied because, as Bean put it, the "circumstances are odd at best, concerning" — perhaps the biggest understatement of 2025 so far. More on cults of personality: Tesla Owners Receiving Threats That If They Don't Sell Their Cars, They'll Be Vandalized
