Latest news with #Yes'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Yes' Review: Nadav Lapid's Blistering Attack on Israeli Nationalism is an Effectively Blunt Instrument
No one was expecting Nadav Lapid to hold back in his first feature since the events of October 7, 2023: The Israeli filmmaker has long been cinema's most vigorously expressive and outspoken critic of government policy in his birth country, with films like 2019's 'Synonyms' and 2021's 'Ahed's Knee' bristling with fury and shame over Israel's national military culture and artistic censorship. Even with those expectations firmly in place, however, Lapid's new film 'Yes' startles with the sheer, spitting intensity of its rage against the state, projected onto its amoral blank-slate protagonist: a self-abasing musician commissioned to compose a rousing new national anthem, explicitly celebrating the demolition of Palestine. A whirling, maximalist satire at once despairing and exuberant, subtle as a cannonball in its evisceration of the ruling classes and those who obey them, it's both absurdist comedy and serious-as-cancer polemic: as grave as any film with an extended dance break to 2000s novelty hit 'The Ketchup Song' can possibly be. Following 'Ahed's Knee,' which played in competition at Cannes and won the jury prize, the placement of this huge, heaving work outside the festival's official selection — it premiered instead at the tail-end of the Directors' Fortnight sidebar — has raised eyebrows. It's hard not to suspect some level of programming timidity around a film this fragrantly provocative and topically hot, which will likely continue outside the festival sphere. Many arthouse distributors will say no to 'Yes,' a film sure to remain divisive even among audiences who share its politics, given its brash, antic eccentricity of tone and style. But this is not cinema made with the intent of being embraced or awarded by any faction: It's exhilaratingly of the moment and in the moment, a filmmaker's immediate, unfiltered response to atrocities too urgent to be addressed with tact or good taste. More from Variety Chilean AIDS Drama 'The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo' Wins Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes Josh O'Connor Art Heist Film 'The Mastermind' Steals 5.5-Minute Cannes Ovation as Director Kelly Reichardt Says 'America Is in a Ditch Right Now' 'Young Mothers' Review: Belgium's Dardenne Brothers Adopt a Wider Focus for Their Most Humane Drama in More Than a Decade Played in ping-ponging modes of morose containment and deranged vitality by a superb Ariel Bronz, our hardly-hero is Y (the same cryptic name, though not the same character, as the protagonist in 'Ahed's Knee'), a pianist and performer introduced in the middle of a frantically choreographed Eurodance production number that sees him variously fellating a baguette, dunking his head into a punch bowl, bobbing for cherry tomatoes in a swimming pool, and extravagantly making out with dance partner Yasmine (Efrat Dor). Turns out she's also his wife, and together they make a living performing this kind of unhinged floor show at private parties for baying Tel Aviv elites. Whether an ensuing dance battle with a horde of Israeli military leaders is officially part of the routine or not, it seems to regularly happen anyway, with Yasmine quietly begging her husband to let them win — before they supplement the night's earnings with some three-way sex work for a frisky elderly client in a cavernous mansion with the taxidermied heads of her relatives mounted on the walls. Welcome to 'The Good Life,' as the film's first chapter is ruefully titled — good for whom, you might ask, though you hardly need to. By day, Y and Yasmine live in a modest city apartment with their baby son, further working as a musician and hip-hop dance instructor respectively. These are hard times for artists, and you take what gigs you can to get by: The title 'Yes' is seemingly a reference to the word that Y, in particular, simply cannot not say, at whatever cost to his integrity and sanity. A particularly hefty offer that he can't — but really, really should — refuse rolls in from a Russian oligarch (Aleksei Serebryakov, most recently seen to similarly shuddery effect in 'Anora') in bed with the Israeli authorities, who commissions Y to compose the music to a sort of hymn to the post-October 7 era. No standard compilation of patriotic platitudes, the lyrics Y is given to work with amount to barbaric bragging over the sheer scale of carnage the Israeli army has wrought on Gaza in the last 18 months: 'In one year there will be nothing left living there/And we'll return safely to our homes/We'll annihilate them all/And return to plow our fields.' Lapid trades in indelicate satire for indelicate times — Y at one point literally and lavishly licks his wealthy benefactor's gleaming knee-high boots — so these grisly verses at first seem a typically blunt caricature of Israeli nationalism at its most ruthless. But the great, gasp-inducing twist is that these lyrics are not a product of the director's imagination, but taken from a real-world composition by the anti-Palestinian activist group Civic Front. Also real is a climactic music video in which the song is trilled by a choir of cherubic, white-robed children, their faces altered by AI — it might not be state-produced propaganda, but it is indicative of a vicious political climate hard to parody in its excess and extremity. After the drunken, dizzying madness of the first act, the second — titled 'The Path' — arrives as a harsher hangover, as Y, after bleaching his hair and donning unseasonal velvet and snakeskin boots, takes a solo trek into the desert to work on the song. For morbid inspiration, he approaches the Palestinian border, signaled by a grimly hovering duvet of black smoke, and is joined by ex-girlfriend Lea (Naama Preis), an IDF employee who regales him with an exhaustive, vituperative litany of Hamas' crimes against Israel — her own way of rationalizing the panorama of destruction laid out before them. Y, doing his best to maintain apolitical blinkers on both sides, isn't convinced; meanwhile, he has the increasingly repulsed Yasmine and the chiding anti-Zionist voice of his late mother prompting him to wonder if he's said one yes too many. A third act, 'The Night,' sees these conflicting impulses and responsibilities finally come to a head: Y himself may not decide on a clear course of action, but 'Yes' makes brazenly clear its own conviction that silent neutrality is not conscionable or sustainable while the last of Gaza burns. Some may find Lapid's film a hectoring and repetitive statement, but it sets out to be one: Constructed with typical dynamism from the director but hardly as lyrical as 'Synonyms' or as intellectually knotty as 'Ahed's Knee,' this is rhetorical cinema that brooks no possibility of being misheard or misinterpreted. Rather, Lapid encourages all on his side to be at least as loud and strident in protest, to have any chance of being heard over the ongoing din of war. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
Daily Express
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Express
Israeli director decries ‘blindness' over Gaza
Published on: Saturday, May 24, 2025 Published on: Sat, May 24, 2025 By: AFP Text Size: Director Nadav Lapid CANNES: Director Nadav Lapid said his new film 'Yes' about a musician asked to re-write the Israeli national anthem is a response to his country's 'blindness' to suffering in Gaza. Lapid has previously dissected his country's ills in 'Synonyms', which won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2019, and 'Ahed's Knee' (2021). In 'Yes', he portrays a society buried under its own 'dark side' since Palestinian militants Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. 'Blindness in Israel is unfortunately a fairly collective illness,' the 50-year-old director told AFP at the Cannes festival where 'Yes' premiered on Thursday. Over nearly two and a half hours, it follows a musician named Y, who is commissioned by the authorities to rewrite the Israeli national anthem into a propaganda piece calling for the eradication of Palestinians. 'What happened on October 7, the level of horror and cruelty, pushed everything to a biblical scale,' he said. Advertisement 'The great Israeli fantasy... of waking up one day to find the Palestinians gone has become a political programme.' He added that 'very few people are standing up to say that what is happening in Gaza is unbearable' and that there is 'a kind of consensus about the superiority of Israeli lives over Palestinian lives'. In one scene, Y and his wife (Shai Goldman) continue feeding their baby while glancing indifferently at their phones, which display notifications of new deadly airstrikes in Gaza. In another, a small crowd gathers on a rooftop to dance joyfully to the sound of fighter jets overhead. On the eve of the Cannes festival, Lapid was among more than 380 film figures, including major Hollywood actors, to sign an open letter condemning the film industry's silence on what it called 'genocide' in Gaza. Lapid said he had to overcome numerous obstacles before starting the film, which was carried out in 'guerrilla mode' as the Israeli offensive in Gaza was under way. Technicians and actors pulled out, and some backers chose not to get involved. 'I was told people no longer make political films on these subjects. They no longer want films for or against' the war, said the director. 'Yes' also refers to the only answer artists are allowed to give in Israel when asked about their support for the war, according to lead actor Ariel Bronz. 'Our first duty as artists is not to go where the wind is blowing,' said Bronz, who caused uproar in 2016 by inserting an Israeli flag into his anus during a performance in Tel Aviv. 'We need to pay a personal price and it's a real struggle to survive in this position where you're totally isolated in your own country,' he told AFP. French producers backed the film and there was also support from an independent Israeli public fund despite its biting tone. 'Yes' will open in European cinemas in September, but no Israeli distributor has so far agreed to screen it. 'If I didn't have inside me the ambition, the hope, the pride and the fantasy to shake things up, I wouldn't have made it,' Lapid added. 'I think society needs a shock, and I hope this film will be one.' The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 left 1,218 people dead on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. A further 251 people were taken hostage. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 53,762 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Powys County Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
David McAlmont to support Erasure's Andy Bell in Powys
A cult indie star from the 1990s will be appearing in Llandrindod Wells with a 1980s legends Erasure's Andy Bell. HiFi Sean and cult indie favourite David McAlmont will be coming to the Albert Hall in Llandrindod Wells on May 17. The pair will be supporting headliner Andy Bell the lead vocalist in the 198os duo Erasure who will be performing at the venue as part of his tour. These two artists both have a rich history in the music industry, Sean as a member of The Soup Dragons and more recently as a DJ and electronic artist HiFi Sean, and McAlmont as a renowned solo artist and vocalist on what is consider to be one of the most underappreciated pop songs of the 1990s, 'Yes' by McAlmont & Butler. The two met when Sean invited David to feature on his 2019 album FT, which also featured Alan Vega, Bootsy Collins, Crystal Waters, Little Annie, Paris Grey (formerly of Inner City) and more - the single Testify (ft Crystal Waters) was a US Dance Chart topper and Radio 2 A List record. Their collaboration developed via WhatsApp, email and eventually Dropbox, with Hifi uploading arrangements and McAlmont returning demos. RECOMMENDED READING: The record was completed with 'No studios. No engineer.' Just McAlmont and Hifi on the eighteenth floor of a London tower block within hearing distance of the Bow bells. The lofty setting with "spectacular 270-degree views of the city", complete with sunsets, sunrises and murmurating ravens when storms approached was perfect for McAlmont who detests studios. Help support trusted local news Sign up for a digital subscription now: As a digital subscriber you will get Unlimited access to the County Times website Advert-light access Reader rewards Full access to our app Hifi, on the other hand, 'armed with a laptop and progressive plug ins, can make music anywhere'. The result is an 'exciting collection of songs' on their debut album HAPPY ENDING which is described as 'an electronic, psychedelic soul adventure featuring an eighty-piece Bollywood orchestra recorded in a film studio in Bangalore India on some of the tracks'. The current sister album and 3rd album by the duo is TWILIGHT was released on Valentines day and depicts the darker winter months 'but with a warm hue that gets you completely sonically bathed in sound'.
Sky News AU
30-04-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'Atrocious' left-wing media bias letting Albanese off the hook for snide, dismissive comments that would have seen Dutton condemned on every news channel
If we are to believe the polls for the May 3 Federal Election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will win a second term. There will be several reasons why Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's campaign has not gained enough traction to win – and it has less to do with Mr Dutton and more to do with the media's biased coverage. Let us begin with the atrocious bias that was on display by ABC stalwart Sarah Ferguson towards Liberal Shadow Minister for Social Services, Michael Sukkar, where she asked him a question about how many houses the Liberal Party intended to build. When Mr Sukkar began by responding with their funding, Ferguson cut him off, then threw the question back to Labor's Housing Minister, Clare O'Neil. When Sukkar interjected, Ferguson had the audacity, the spite and the blatant bias on full display, to belittle Mr Sukkar by asking what his mother would think of him for interrupting, despite Ms O'Neil doing exactly the same thing. On Labor's campaign front, the media pack are cuddling up to Mr Albanese with bias on full display. They have stopped asking why Mr Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers have blown the budget to almost a trillion dollars, stopped asking about the failed 'Yes' campaign, and stopped asking how much more the power bills will go up. There have also been no questions posed to Mr Albanese about the almost 22,000 wind turbines needed to hit their 2030 emissions targets. The wind turbines are proven to be environmentally destructive and are often placed in forested areas, which have to be cleared to position them in wind zones. The media are ignoring Labor's foolhardy promise of building a whopping 1.2 million new homes by 2030, when they have yet to build one that a single person has moved into. Mr Chalmers and Ms O'Neil might also like to explain how the 1.2 million fantasy homes will be built with 7,183 construction companies that have gone into insolvency since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister. Despite overwhelmingly favourable media coverage for Mr Albanese, there are now countless moments since the beginning of 2025 where he has become frustrated with reporters' questions to the point of rudeness, belittling, not answering the questions, or ignoring the reporter and pointing past them to shut them down. It makes Donald Trump's interjections with CNN look mild. Yet these exchanges between Mr Albanese and the press are barely canvassed in nightly bulletins on free-to-air news channels. If it was Mr Dutton, there would be condemnation from all corners – but more to that point soon. When asked a fair question on whether he would rule out doing deals with the Greens on changing negative gearing and capital gains tax, Mr Albanese berated the reporter, saying 'Yes. How hard is it for the fiftieth time', then belittled the reporter by saying he was a 'state' correspondent and therefore would not understand how the federal senate worked. For a so-called nice guy, Mr Albanese has shown his other side without the media scrutiny that would otherwise have seen Mr Dutton lambasted across every news channel. Just one interaction where Mr Dutton questioned an ABC reporter's inability to understand why Hezbollah was listed as a terrorist group, saw the exchange garner relentless headlines about Dutton's so-called blow up, with Greens Sarah Hanson Young then alluding to Mr Dutton being a misogynist. Where are her accusations now when Mr Albanese fires back at any female reporter who gets in his way? Looking past the Liberals, if any party has had a bad campaign, it is the Teals. Member for Wentworth Allegra Spender has revealed herself to be comfortable manipulating public opinion by paying an agency and a 'bunch of influencers' to spruik Ms Spender as a superhuman independent who is out there, selflessly working hard for her electorate. One media influencer in question is Milly Rose Bannister, who described Spender as 'a wicked-smart economist, mother, a daily five km queen and works in line with the values of her constituents who are real working people'. Spender had to confess the payments made to Bannister and the unnamed agency who Ms Spender has hired to frame her in such a positive light. Where is the outrage? Unrelated to this, Ms Spender had also set up seven new "corporate entities", without declaring them to the parliamentary Register of Members' Interests for almost a year. Then there was soon-to-be-booted Teal, Monique Ryan, member for Kooyong, whose husband took down Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer's poster and was caught right in the act – a cardinal sin by anyone, let alone a family member of an incumbent member of parliament. However, Ms Ryan's bad run had only just begun. Ms Ryan appeared on the ABC's Insiders and was asked whether the public should be made aware when a politician pays influencers to speak positively about them, like fellow Teal, Allegra Spender's had done. Ms Ryan appeared stumped by the question, obviously not wanting to throw mud at her fellow 'independent', and instead said that she didn't have an opinion on it, then went on to state that she would have to give it some thought. So much for bringing integrity to the parliament, to their position, and to the electorate they represent. Although the Liberal campaign has lacked some hard-hitting punches, Mr Dutton has barely put a foot wrong throughout his campaign, fielding far more aggressive questioning from a media pack who seem to have forgotten that he is the opposition leader and not the PM. The majority of the media want you to believe Mr Albanese's term was not that bad. Nothing could be further from the truth. The best chance to avoid another three-year catastrophe is to vote Mr Albanese and Labor out of office, together with the Teals and Greens. Mr Dutton, his competent shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in a government efficiency role, will cut immigration, taking pressure off the housing and rental markets, cut hundreds of millions in wasteful spending, and cut fuel excise – all designed to put downward pressure on inflation. The alternative will be a cost-of-living crisis worse than the one Australia is already enduring. Robert Weir is a freelance journalist whose work has also been published in The Spectator Australia. He enjoys writing political, lifestyle, and environmental stories as well as film reviews
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Ahead of school bond issue, temperatures run hot and cold
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — It was only 54 degrees inside a Minneha Elementary classroom on Friday morning. That could explain why there were so few kids inside — 40 percent of students were kept home by their parents — and why TV cameras were there. Wichita School District officials allowed KSN inside to tour the school and see the issues with its decaying infrastructure, overworked HVAC systems, and boiler rooms just days away from a vote on a $450 million bond issue. 'I would say the timing is a little bit fortuitous,' said Luke Newman, director of facilities for Wichita Public Schools. 'I think it's an opportunity to share with our public the reality of the challenges we deal with on a day-to-day basis, but it's a lot more pronounced when you deal with a cold snap like this.' One bond opponent called the timing too convenient and the invitation to tour a chilly classroom political. 'They would rather our kids go to school and have to wear coats so they can manufacture a crisis and sell a political talking point rather than getting things fixed and getting focused on what they need to do,' said Ben Davis. So far, voter turnout on the issue has been low, according to election officials. But as is typical for school bond issues in Wichita, opinions run high. Davis, who leads the 'No' campaign, opposes the bond issue he said because the District has not been a good steward of its money and does not need more to address infrastructure issues. He said the District should focus on students' academic outcomes, such as more proficient standardized test scores. 'Our students are underperforming,' Davis said. 'We have major disciplinary issues in these schools and the administration is more focused and trying to sell us a story on these buildings than they are student proficiency.' Meanwhile, the 'Yes' campaign says the district is not in a dire situation with proficiency scores and new facilities would help students to succeed. Enhanced safety and infrastructure make the educational experience better for students and teachers without raising taxes for residents. Supporters call it a strategic investment. 'Join us in helping to modernize our facilities and to get the equipment, the tools, and the technology that we need to get our students ready for the future, for the current workforce, and for the future workforce,' said Bradley Dyer, Jr. chairman of the 'Yes' for Wichita Kids campaign. Both sides have been actively campaigning through mailers, texts, canvassing, meetings, and more community outreach. Mike Harris, vice president of United Teachers of Wichita, said that he would vote yes on the bond issue but can see that the District could have done more to get its message across before today. 'I think it's unfortunate the district maybe hasn't communicated with the community, just the dire straits the district has been in before now, but these aren't new challenges,' Harris said. Students who stayed home today were given excused absences. The day still counts as a school day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
