Latest news with #BasicInstinct
Daily Mail
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
ANOTHER beloved kids' TV show slapped with trigger warning from ITV for 'language of the period' in streaming crackdown
Another beloved kids' TV show has been slapped with a trigger warning from ITV for 'language of the period'. Worzel Gummidge, created by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, first hit our screens on the channel in 1979 and wrapped up in 1981. The show is based on Barbara Euphan Todd's books of the same name. Worzel Gummidge has had 31 episodes across four series and follows the life a scarecrow who comes to life called Worzel Gummidge (Jon Pertwee). The programme is available to watch on ITVX, but according to The Sun, a warning has been added to those who want to give it a go. The warning says: 'Contains language of the period that may offend.' Viewers are also suggested to turn on parental controls. Some moments from the programme see Worzel and Sally calling each other names. He tells her that he'll 'knock your silly wooden head off', and later calls her a 'worm-riddled old skittle'. She later manages to hit him over the head with a shovel. Jon is joined by Una Stubbs, Geoffrey Bayldon, Barbara Windsor, Bill Maynard and Lorraine Chase. Another adaptation was released on BBC One in 2019. The series boasted six episodes across two series and Mackenzie Crook took on the role of Worzel. Meanwhile, another iconic BBC show has been slapped with 'discriminatory' trigger warnings, just one month after a 'lost' episode was re-released. Doctor Who spin-off The Savages first aired back in 1966 and starred the first ever Time Lord William Hartnell, but has since been declared as 'missing from the archives' by the broadcaster. However, an animated remake has recently been released on DVD, albeit with a string of warnings. The British Board of Film Classification reportedly warned the show contained 'verbal references to discrimination and the discriminatory social structure of an alien society'. It is listed as PG-rated and episodes carry references to 'mild threats,' 'scary scenes,' discrimination references,' and 'mild violence'. Last year, Matt Smith, who played the 11th Doctor in the series, shared his dislike for trigger warnings on movies. The actor said he used to walk into local video shops as a teenager and rent erotic thrillers, like Basic Instinct, to enjoy the scare-factor of the film - but now worries movies and programmes are being dialled down. Matt claims the point of a 'thriller' or an 'uncomfortable' watch has been taken away through trigger warnings. He told The Times: 'I worry everything's being dialled and dumbed down. We're telling audiences they're going to be scared before they've watched something.' The House Of Dragons star added: 'Ah, trigger warnings — the tedious modern idea that adults cannot cope with being upset by art. Isn't being shocked, surprised, stirred the point? 'Too much policing of stories and being afraid to bring them out because a climate is a certain way is a shame. I'm not sure I'm on board with trigger warnings.' He explained how after starring in family favourite Doctor Who he has actively pursued roles focusing on 'messed-up people' adding that 'that's the f***ing point. We should be telling morally difficult stories, nowadays in particular.' Elsewhere BBC show Only Fools And Horses was slapped with a trigger warning some fans deemed 'excessively woke ' earlier this year. The BBC show is known for being feel-good TV, but has become the latest sitcom to be issued with disclaimers around offensive or outdated language, according to The Sun. All seven series of the 80s hit starring David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst and the late Lennard Pearce are on streaming platform ITVX. However, many of the episodes have been hit with trigger warnings for racial and 'outdated attitudes'. 'The Russians are Coming' from series one was a fan favourite, but now features a disclaimer that reads: 'Contains some offensive racial language of the time.' 'The Yellow Peril' from the second series and 'Who's A Pretty Boy' from the third also feature a number of warnings now. The BBC show is known for being feel-good TV but become the latest sitcom to have disclaimers and warning of offensive or outdated language Two episodes in the fourth installment also have a warning, while 'The Miracle of Peckham' from series five warns of language that 'may offend'. The only two series which did not receive a disclaimer of some kind are the sixth and seventh. Even the 1985 Christmas special includes a message that says: 'Contains dated attitudes and behaviours and racist language some viewers may find offensive.'
Sky News AU
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
‘Ew': Bill Belichick criticised over relationship with 24-year-old woman
'To Di For' Podcast host Kinsey Schofield expresses her repulsion over former New England Patriots general manager Bill Belichick's relationship with a 24-year-old. 'I imagine it wasn't on Ms Schofield said, 'If I were Bill Belichick … I would watch Single White Female, Fatal Attraction, and Basic Instinct, and if you're still feeling good about your relationship after those, then good luck to you. 'Ew.'
Sydney Morning Herald
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This Netflix hit sold us a likeable serial killer. Now it's pointing the finger at you.
What is it about murderers like Joe that keep luring us in? Well, like Dexter, he's a layered character sprinkled with some redeeming traits. He's chivalrous (however misguided), and kind towards young people. He's also intelligent, made painfully obvious by his constant reference to classic writers. A man who can accurately quote Emily Dickinson on request surely can't be that terrible, right? Loading Add that to the fact that the show is filmed like a romcom, and it's clear how we became ensnared in this man's web. You is a collection of romantic slow-motion shots, scenes lit with an amber glow, and boppy pop songs. The actual murder scenes are grittier, but everyone looks better in the radiant light of day – even a serial killer. Importantly, Joe is also at the centre of this story. He narrates every season, manipulating the audience as much as the women he lures into his creepy underground cage. His objectively atrocious crimes are overlaid with his non-stop rationalising – 'I'm killing for love, I'm killing to protect her, blah blah'. When he isn't rationalising, he's expressing regret. After moving back to New York, Joe repeatedly hints at his 'changed ways', attempting to convince himself that he is redeemable. It's difficult not to sympathise with someone who expresses a desire to improve. After all, we've seen enough romance movies to believe it's possible to 'fix them'. Joe, however, is far beyond fixing. By the mid-point of season five, this becomes apparent. His narration is less apologetic, instead embracing and justifying his violent tendencies. But even when Joe is running around the woods half naked and growling, tracking Bronte down to murder her, he's somehow still just as enthralling. Loading This is because we constantly romanticise, even fetishise, violence. Sexualised killers like Basic Instinct 's Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) have long titillated us, along with some real-life killers such as Ted Bundy. When Zac Efron played Bundy in the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Netflix had to remind viewers to stop lusting after a character who was in reality a convicted serial killer. Casting someone like Penn Badgley – known as Dan Humphrey, the romantic lead from Gossip Girl – as a man who kills 'for love' was bound to excite. And excite it did. The lustful response to Joe reached such a fever pitch at points that Badgley himself took to social media to remind viewers that Joe is a murderer. 'You're supposed to see past my face to the crazy shit,' he wrote on X in 2019. Romanticising a serial killer is ethically dubious at best. But that has always been the point of You. It's not endorsing murder, but forcing us to question why we're so easily convinced to ignore it. This is hinted at through the final series, especially when Joe is accused of multiple crimes on social media. He's able to escape the allegations relatively unscathed largely due to his diehard supporters, those still referring to him online as their 'Prince Charming' and thirsting over his good looks. The show may as well have been showing snapshots of real tweets and TikToks. To really drive the point home, creators Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo then fully lifted the curtain. By shifting some of the narration to 'final girl' Bronte, the show finally presented Joe as the full-throttle maniac he has always been. And the shot to the crotch left him stripped of his power, deprived of the thing that drove his every sick decision. By the final scene, we're forced, once and for all, to question why we've been so transfixed by this man for five seasons. Joe, locked away in a prison cell, tells us what we've been avoiding all along: 'Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe it's you. '
The Age
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This Netflix hit sold us a likeable serial killer. Now it's pointing the finger at you.
What is it about murderers like Joe that keep luring us in? Well, like Dexter, he's a layered character sprinkled with some redeeming traits. He's chivalrous (however misguided), and kind towards young people. He's also intelligent, made painfully obvious by his constant reference to classic writers. A man who can accurately quote Emily Dickinson on request surely can't be that terrible, right? Loading Add that to the fact that the show is filmed like a romcom, and it's clear how we became ensnared in this man's web. You is a collection of romantic slow-motion shots, scenes lit with an amber glow, and boppy pop songs. The actual murder scenes are grittier, but everyone looks better in the radiant light of day – even a serial killer. Importantly, Joe is also at the centre of this story. He narrates every season, manipulating the audience as much as the women he lures into his creepy underground cage. His objectively atrocious crimes are overlaid with his non-stop rationalising – 'I'm killing for love, I'm killing to protect her, blah blah'. When he isn't rationalising, he's expressing regret. After moving back to New York, Joe repeatedly hints at his 'changed ways', attempting to convince himself that he is redeemable. It's difficult not to sympathise with someone who expresses a desire to improve. After all, we've seen enough romance movies to believe it's possible to 'fix them'. Joe, however, is far beyond fixing. By the mid-point of season five, this becomes apparent. His narration is less apologetic, instead embracing and justifying his violent tendencies. But even when Joe is running around the woods half naked and growling, tracking Bronte down to murder her, he's somehow still just as enthralling. Loading This is because we constantly romanticise, even fetishise, violence. Sexualised killers like Basic Instinct 's Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) have long titillated us, along with some real-life killers such as Ted Bundy. When Zac Efron played Bundy in the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Netflix had to remind viewers to stop lusting after a character who was in reality a convicted serial killer. Casting someone like Penn Badgley – known as Dan Humphrey, the romantic lead from Gossip Girl – as a man who kills 'for love' was bound to excite. And excite it did. The lustful response to Joe reached such a fever pitch at points that Badgley himself took to social media to remind viewers that Joe is a murderer. 'You're supposed to see past my face to the crazy shit,' he wrote on X in 2019. Romanticising a serial killer is ethically dubious at best. But that has always been the point of You. It's not endorsing murder, but forcing us to question why we're so easily convinced to ignore it. This is hinted at through the final series, especially when Joe is accused of multiple crimes on social media. He's able to escape the allegations relatively unscathed largely due to his diehard supporters, those still referring to him online as their 'Prince Charming' and thirsting over his good looks. The show may as well have been showing snapshots of real tweets and TikToks. To really drive the point home, creators Michael Foley and Justin W. Lo then fully lifted the curtain. By shifting some of the narration to 'final girl' Bronte, the show finally presented Joe as the full-throttle maniac he has always been. And the shot to the crotch left him stripped of his power, deprived of the thing that drove his every sick decision. By the final scene, we're forced, once and for all, to question why we've been so transfixed by this man for five seasons. Joe, locked away in a prison cell, tells us what we've been avoiding all along: 'Maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe it's you. '
The Guardian
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Demise review – an enjoyably ludicrous throwback to 90s erotic thrillers
Here is a low-budget erotic thriller directed by Yara Estrada Lowe, which recalls both the highs and the lows of the genre's heyday. As with classics of the genre such as Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction and The Last Seduction, the plot is one that, if it offered psychological realism, would qualify as a freak tragedy. But since it's an erotic thriller, it qualifies as a romp. Husband and wife Caleb and Celine are planning to have a child but, unbeknown to Celine, Caleb has a bit on the side, Fiona. Celine has the worst day of her life when she learns that not only is she herself infertile, but her husband has knocked up his mistress. Caleb subsequently divorces her and goes off to marry his mistress and become the perfect dad. And that's the beginning of an incredible – in both senses – series of twists and turns too ludicrous and enjoyable to spoil here. The intriguing thing about this film is its slippery moral perspective. The film treats Caleb and Fiona as more or less the couple to root for, which is atypical; usually these films are keen to punish infidelity and reassert the primacy of the marriage bed. 'I fell in love with a married man. God, it sounds terrible when I say it out loud,' Fiona muses to her gay best friend. Caleb abdicates all responsibility because the sex is so intense, marvelling: 'I don't know how to stop it.' Meanwhile Celine becomes the sorta-kinda villain of the piece, but only in the sense that she gets up to some crazy vengeance. The film doesn't seem to judge her for going wildly off the deep end. It's a little like the great tragic operas: why moralise when it's so much more fun to watch the world burn? But directors these days just aren't given the same sorts of budgets that the likes of Basic Instinct commanded during the bonkbuster's 1990s heyday. This has its pros and cons. We don't get the premium locations and glossy designer magazine sheen. Liz Fenning brings a splendidly unhinged vibe to Celine, but the daytime-TV soapiness of some of the other performances, while not inappropriate to some of the ripe plot, regularly lands us in so-bad-it's-good territory. This applies most notably to the incredibly handsome Carlo Mendez as Caleb, who, upon figuring out one of many eye-rolling twists, recalls nothing so much as the ludicrous to-camera mugging of Friends' Joey Tribbiani, as immortalised in many a gif. It might be fun to see what Estrada Lowe would do with a bigger budget and some marquee stars – and yet in all honesty, it could be the faintly bargain-basement nature of the enterprise that gives it its charm. Demise is on digital platforms from 14 April.
