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Gizmodo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Casper' Is Weirder and Darker Than You Remember
In 1995, the most famous Harvey Comics character not named Richie Rich made his live-action big-screen debut, though the Casper we see throughout his self-titled movie is brought to life mostly through the best CGI money could buy 30 years ago. With Steven Spielberg producing, a post-Addams Family Christina Ricci starring, an excessive amount of cameos, and a plot that addresses death in ways both tragic and silly, Casper crafts a tone that would be unique to any supernatural fantasy. But it's especially oddball in a movie ostensibly aimed at children. The directorial debut of Brad Silberling, Casper first hit theaters May 26, 1995, and it was a smash hit, ending up the eighth-highest grossing film of the year (sandwiched between Seven and Waterworld). The biggest kids' movie of 1995 was Toy Story, which does dig into some existential themes, but doesn't face the void quite as boldly as Casper does. It begins with a death, as the greedy Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty) and her sleazy attorney Dibs (Eric Idle) learn she's inherited just one thing from her recently departed father, who she's clearly not mourning whatsoever: Whipstaff Manor. Carrigan has no use for the dilapidated seaside mansion—located in the optimistically named Friendship, Maine—until a paper tucked in with the deed gives her and Dibs the notion that there's treasure hidden somewhere within. Elsewhere in the story, another death has shaped a different set of characters: Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman, in a career sweet spot after Sleepless in Seattle and While You Were Sleeping, and just ahead of Independence Day and Lost Highway) and his daughter Kat (Ricci, who soon after began to shift away from kid-oriented roles). Harvey and Kat are still grieving the loss of Kat's mother; Harvey's coping mechanism has been to fashion himself into a sort of touchy-feeling exorcist, using his therapy skills to help guide 'living impaired' patients into the beyond. Beneath that, of course, lurks his hope that he'll be able to contact his late wife in the great beyond—something Kat puts up with despite being teased about her kooky dad. Harvey promises her that this will be the very last time he uproots his daughter for a ghost hunting gig when they pull up to Whipstaff Manor. As Carrigan and Dibs have discovered, the place is haunted by ghosts so stubborn neither a priest (comedian Don Novello as his long-running character Father Guido Sarducci) nor a Ghostbuster (Dan Aykroyd, in full Ray Stantz mode) can get them out. It's a good thing Casper was released by a different studio than Beetlejuice, because things could've gotten really messy there. Instead, we get the newly hired Harvey facing off with (and eventually befriending, though it takes awhile) the Ghostly Trio (Brad Garrett as Fatso, Joe Nipote as Stretch, and Joe Alaskey as Stinkie). The lonely Kat—who attracts bullies even in Friendship, Maine—finds herself bonding with the trio's nephew, Casper (Malachi Pearson), the Friendly Ghost who's sadly very friendless. Except, Casper doesn't want to be just friends with Kat, does he? Early in the movie Casper travels through electrical lines and zaps his way into Carrigan's hotel room; there, he ensures she sees a TV program focusing on Harvey, just the expert she needs to deal with her spectral problem. Casper does this because he's seen the same segment, which features a glimpse of Kat so arresting it makes the ghost of a 12-year-old boy swoon—then scheme to get her into his house. Kat doesn't know it's Casper's old bedroom when she picks her spot in Whipstaff Manor. Nor does she overhear his delight ('There's a girl on my bed… yesss!'), which would feel more innocent and cute if there weren't some other unwholesome come-ons later in the movie. That includes the infamous moment when Casper kisses a sleeping Kat after murmuring 'Can I keep you?' That cringey line is repeated at the end of the film when Casper briefly gets to be a real boy (played by future horror icon Devon Sawa). Though Kat is thrilled by his corporeal appearance, and his voice is far less squeaky when he's in human form, 'Can I keep you?' still makes her look askance. As soon as Casper becomes a ghost again, he's immediately back in the friend zone, a feeling further underlined by the contrast between Sawa's teen-dream appearance and Casper's cartoonish visage. The movie, which has also just given Harvey a sweet if fleeting reunion with his angelic dead wife, goes for a feel-good finale with the Spooky Trio—who indulge in innuendo-laden humor throughout the movie that's presumably aimed at any adults watching—rocking out to Little Richard's 'Casper the Friendly Ghost' theme as Kat and her father dance. Less happy endings are handed down to Kat's junior high foes, who are sent screaming away from the climactic Halloween party at Whipstaff after encountering Casper's uncles, as well as Carrigan and Dibs, who perish while trying to get their mitts on the 'treasure,' which turns out to be an autographed baseball. Carrigan, at least, briefly becomes a ghost who inadvertently ties up all her unfinished business when she finds the baseball. Screaming in protest, she gets booted into the afterlife as a result. (Dibs gets tossed through a window and out of the movie for good.) The idea that ghosts who resolve their unfinished business are allowed to move on, which is pretty standard supernatural lore, makes Casper's situation all the more perplexing. In the movie, we learn he became ill and died after playing too long in the snow—then decided to hang around to keep his sorrowful father company. (When Kat asks him what it's like to die, he grimly describes it as 'like being born, only backwards.') In turn, the eccentric inventor created a 'Lazarus machine' specifically to bring his beloved son back to life. (As Gremlins showed us as well, there's nothing an Amblin movie loves more than a dad who's also a chaotic inventor.) It's still in Whipstaff's basement and still functional, with just enough juice to revive Harvey after he perishes in an accidental fall. This raises some questions, namely: why didn't Casper's father go ahead and revive him back then? Thanks to a vintage newspaper we learn that he was eventually carted off to the psychiatric hospital because of his 'bring ghosts back to life' obsession, but the Lazarus Machine is very well hidden in a secret room. Surely he would have had enough time to resurrect Casper before anyone found out? The answer, presumably, is that we need Casper to be a ghost for there to be Casper, and for all the elements jerry-rigged around that central point, it's surprising there aren't more plot holes. Kat's party dress, which once belonged to Casper's mother, is pulled from a trunk and donned over a full outfit of other clothes, which then seemingly disappear on their own and the costume's a perfect fit? Don't worry about it. What will happen to Kat and Harvey's living situation now that Whipstaff's new owner has fled this mortal coil? Again, don't worry about it. Are the Spooky Trio ghosts actually Casper's uncles, as they are in the comics, or are they three unrelated dead guys who've taken up residence and routinely order the little guy to serve them platters of junk food? Also, though we did poke fun at the special effects' 1995-ness earlier, they actually look pretty great considering how much the ghost characters have to interact with the human ones. Going cartoony not only keeps Casper and crew looking like their comic-book counterparts, it also keeps what passes for menace in this movie on the gentler side. There's also a weird comedic disconnect when you realize Harvey has died—a sad moment for the suddenly orphaned Kat—and is now… a goofy-looking phantom instead. Casper's popularity spawned a few straight-to-video prequel-sequels and a cartoon series, but somehow has never made it back to the big screen. While that seems unlikely after all this time, a live-action Casper series unconnected to the movie has been in development at Peacock for the past few years. But wherever Casper—who first appeared in November 1945, so happy 80th, buddy—rises from the grave next, we can always keep this 30-year-old, enduringly entertaining oddity.
Sunday World
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Rosie O'Donnell sold NYC penthouse for nearly ‘half its price' when she left US for Ireland
city sale | The comedian's Midtown East home that she bought for $8 million in 2017, was sold for $4.75 million last month Rosie O'Donnell The comedian's Midtown East home that she bought for $8 million in 2017, was sold for $4.75 million last month, according to the New York Post. The penthouse located at 255 E. 49th Street features four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a glass-enclosed room with a view of the East River, a sauna and a rooftop deck. The 63-year-old originally listed the penthouse for $8.3 million in early 2023 but later dropped the price. The star who gave up the home before Trump's inauguration in January, had previously said she was motivated to move to keep her non-binary child, Clay, safe. 'I was never someone who thought I would move to another country, that's what I decided would be the best for myself and my 12-year-old child. And here we are,' she explained. 'You know, I'm happy. Clay is happy. I miss my other kids. I miss my friends. I miss many things about life there at home and I'm trying to find a home here in this beautiful country and when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America, that's when we will consider coming back.' O'Donnell, whose grandparents are from Ireland is reportedly in the process of obtaining her citizenship in Ireland. In another video made since her move she said: 'I feel healthier [and] I'm sleeping better without the stress and anxiety over what was happening politically in the country The TV personality who is a parent to kids Parker, 29, Chelsea, 27, Blake, 25 and Vivienne, 22 is to make her comedy debut on a Dublin stage this week. Having starred in films such as Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own and The Flintstones, she has also had her own talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and has appeared in the likes of HBOs Curb Your Enthusiasm and Netflix's Russian Doll. Now, the 62-year-old is performing at a number of Dublin venues this week including the Craic Den Comedy Club in Workman's, The Comedy Cellar at the International Bar, and In Stitches Comedy in Peadar Kearney's pub, according to the Irish Independent. Read more As she prepares material ahead of her performance at Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this summer. She took to Instagram to say: 'Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week, I will be trying out some new stand up as I prepare for Edinburgh Fringe Festival - come by and say hello.' According to the Craic Den Comedy Club, 'Rosie is a rockstar comedian with a stand-up career spanning four decades.' A long-time critic of the US President, when Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited Mr Trump ahead of St Patrick's Day, a reporter asked about Ms O'Donnell's move to Ireland in the Oval Office with Mr Trump responding: 'Do you know who she is? You're better off not knowing.' Last month she told CNN's The Situation Room that 'not a day has gone by that I thought it was the wrong decision'. Revealing that she already decided to leave the country if Trump won the presidency, she told CNN: 'And although I was not one of the celebrities who announced that that's what I would do, I made the decision within my family and my therapist should he win.' She said that both her and her son were 'gone before he was inaugurated' and are now both settling into her new life in Ireland. 'We chose Ireland and didn't really know where to go,' O'Donnell told Us Weekly. 'Someone said Dalkey and I found a house online that was in Glengarry. But when the people who were helping us move in went there, there was mould in it.' She said she couldn't move there 'especially with an autistic child who has some allergy issues', and so they ended up in Howth, where they stayed in an Airbnb. Once their time was up there, O'Donnell and Clay officially settled in Dublin and 'couldn't be happier'. 'There's a great, great school there,' she said while discussing her Hulu documentary special Unleashing Hope: The Power of Service Dogs for Children With Autism. 'And Clay has done very well. And they were really welcoming. 'And I love the little town, the little village. It's in the heart of Dublin, but it's still a village where you know the name of the grocer and you know the name of the cashiers. People are unbearably kind in a way that shocks me every single day.'
Irish Independent
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Hollywood actress Rosie O'Donnell to make comedy debut on Dublin stage
Ms O'Donnell has been in films such as Sleepless in Seattle, A League of Their Own and The Flintstones. She has also had her own talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, and has appeared in the likes of HBOs Curb Your Enthusiasm and Netflix's Russian Doll. Now, the 62-year-old is performing at a number of Dublin venues this week including the Craic Den Comedy Club in Workman's, The Comedy Cellar at the International Bar, and In Stitches Comedy in Peadar Kearney's pub. She is preparing material ahead of her performance at Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this summer. According to the Craic Den Comedy Club, 'Rosie is a rockstar comedian with a stand-up career spanning four decades.' Ms O'Donnell took to Instagram to say: 'Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week, I will be trying out some new stand up as I prepare for Edinburgh Fringe Festival - come by and say hello.' We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content Ms O'Donnell moved to Dublin from the US with her 12-year-old child, Clay, who has autism. She is in the process of getting Irish citizenship as she has Irish grandparents. Last month, they took part in AsIAm's Same Chance Walk for autism in Malahide Castle. She told the event's official ambassador, TikTok star Eric Roberts, how Clay was diagnosed as autistic at two years old. 'We need a lot of help and attention, but we're getting there. I think that AsIAm is a wonderful organisation, and I'm proud to be associated with it,' she said. She also told Mr Roberts that she wants to spend the rest of her 'notoriety' helping families who have a loved one with autism. Ms O'Donnell has also attracted headlines since moving to Ireland, largely due to comments from US President Donald Trump. She has been a long-time critic of the US President. When Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited Mr Trump ahead of St Patrick's Day, a reporter asked about Ms O'Donnell's move to Ireland in the Oval Office. Mr Trump responded: 'Do you know who she is? You're better off not knowing.'
Buzz Feed
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
What's A Beloved Romantic Movie That Really, Really, Really Didn't Age Well?
When you rewatch certain beloved films of the past, you might stop and wonder, "Yikes, would this fly in today's climate?" Sometimes, the answer is no! Movies provide a window to the period in which they were made, and some of the content deemed acceptable 30, 20, or even 10 years ago would make modern audiences squirm uncomfortably. Perhaps you loved The Notebook as a teenager and dreamed of finding a love like Noah and Allie's. When you rewatched it in your early 30s, you found yourself cringing at the couple's dynamic and questioning their choices. They seemed a lot more toxic and aggressive than you remembered, and you were shocked you ever considered their story the pinnacle of romance. Maybe you watched Sleepless in Seattle with your mom because she said it was always one of her favorites, but once you got into the plot, you were like, "What the heck? Is Meg Ryan's character a full-on stalker?" Though your mom stands by the movie and finds it really sweet, you're less convinced. Or, maybe you were excited to finally watch Love Actually this Christmas season with your partner because they said it was always their favorite holiday movie. A few of the storylines made you smile, but you were overall horrified by how much a vast majority of the characters sucked. "To me, you are perfect." What's your problem, dude? What's a beloved romantic movie that's actually quite toxic? Whether it's gotten worse as modern audiences have changed, or it's always been questionable, we want to hear your hot takes! Don't just tell us the title of the movie; tell us WHY you feel this way. Your response may be featured in a BuzzFeed Community post!
North Wales Chronicle
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- North Wales Chronicle
95-year-old Coronation Street star comes out of retirement
Actress Thelma Barlow, who is known for playing Mavis Wilton on the ITV show, had a 26-year run on the programme before leaving in 1997. Now, the star has revealed she is starring in a new film called 'Sleepless in Settle'. According to the Radio Times, the 22-minute film sees Thelma star as Barbara, a character trying to find a romantic partner for her middle-aged son Alan (Graham Turner). The Coronation Street legend told the magazine that she was excited to join the project and revealed what tempted her to take part. She shared that the role of Barbara was specifically created for her by her friend, writer and director Judy Flynn. The ITV actress said: 'I was familiar with her work and knew it would be good. "The characters are so well drawn, it was a joy. "Good writing is easy to learn, there are some lovely lines that reminded me of when I joined Coronation Street.' New Coronation Street star breaks silence after backlash to 'affair' Coronation Street star gives birth to first baby and shares 'gorgeous' name Coronation Street star to return to soap after 25 years - but there's a twist The movie sees the character Barbara worrying that she does not have a lot of time left, leaving her terrified that her son will be left alone when she is gone. After watching Sleepless in Seattle, she comes to the conclusion that she needs to find her son a wife. Unfortunately, her efforts attract a high volume of interest, and she is found out.
