SIR David Beckham was just miles from his estranged son Brooklyn in LA on Monday — but the pair failed to meet.
Insiders said Becks, 50, was in the US city for work following a ski break in Canada with son Romeo.
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David and Romeo Beckham on a ski break in CanadaCredit: InstagramNicola Peltz shared this black and white photo of her and BrooklynCredit: InstagramThe pair were at Sir Elton John’s Aids Foundation Oscars viewing party on SundayCredit: Getty
A source said: “David was in Los Angeles for a new ad campaign, but given Brooklyn’s decision to cut off his family, there was no meeting between them.
“David had just come back from a ski trip with Romeo and friends in Canada when he flew to Los Angeles for work.
“Brooklyn would have just been miles away from him in the house he shares with Nicola.”
In October insiders confirmed Brooklyn had no interest in making amends with his family.
By January he was communicating with them through lawyers.
Days later, Brooklyn released a bombshell statement confirming the story.
Brooklyn and father David snapped in 2019, before their bombshell falloutCredit: Getty
He went on to make allegations against his family, including claiming fashion designer Victoria had “hijacked” his first dance with Nicola at their wedding in 2022.
On the track, Cruz sings: “Loneliest boy, mama don’t talk too much. It’s breaking her heart.
“It shows in the small things that you don’t do.
“I guess in the end that it’s you, yourself, and you.
“Tell me how do you live, when you’ve got nobody to lose?”
The Beckham clan and Nicola pre feudCredit: Splash
Brooklyn and wife Nicola were all smiles when they were invited by his godfather Sir Elton to be guests at his Oscars bash in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Yesterday, Nicola shared a series of pictures of the night on her Instagram, including a black and white photo of her and Brooklyn.
She wrote: “What a beautiful evening for such an important cause. Thank you for having us Elton John and David Furnish, we love you both so much.”
On Sunday, Brooklyn’s social media followers rounded on him after he shared photos of mother-in-law, Claudia Peltz, who had celebrated her 71st birthday a few days earlier.
His post coincided with Mother’s Day. Mum Victoria shared tributes from Romeo, Cruz and Harper on Instagram, but fans noted there was no message from Brooklyn.
Those close to Brooklyn and Nicola said there was no going back in the feud with his parents.
A source said: “Brooklyn has said his piece. He is done. Moving on with his life with Nicola is his priority now.”
The popular crime drama first aired back in 2021 and has featured the likes of Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey.
David Tennant is starring in the upcoming series(Image: Getty Images for BAFTA)
The wait is almost over as the BBC has confirmed a third series of Jimmy McGovern’s BAFTA-winning hit drama, Time, is coming back.
With filming set to begin in Belfast, the broadcaster has announced viewers can expect to see David Tennant and Siobhan Finneran in the upcoming instalment.
This week, the broadcaster shared further casting as Vinette Robinson, Jo Joyner, Daniel Ryan, Warren Brown, Louis McCartney, Ollie McNulty and Chukwubuikem Molokwu will star in the third series.
BBC viewers will also welcome the likes of Ethaniel Davy, Victor Zhao, Paul Smith Junior, Finn Kearns and Jack Barnes.
Set in a Young Offenders Institution, the third series of Time will explore the impact of locking up teenagers and the impact on those who look after them.
A synopsis reads: “Prison Chaplain Marie-Louise comes to the YOI having lost her faith. When tragedy strikes within the prison, Marie-Louise clashes with veteran officer Bailey, a man in the midst of his own crisis.
“Bailey knows more about the circumstances that led to this major incident – but will he come clean before the guilt gets too much?
“Meanwhile, two teenage young offenders, Peter and James, struggle through the terrifying first weeks and months of their incarceration.
“Can James ever face his broken parents after an unforgivable act of violence and will Peter tell the truth about the death of an innocent man, or does family loyalty mean more? An unlikely friendship between them looks to shift the trajectory of their futures, but in an increasingly unstable environment, is change ever possible?”
Sharing an image of the new cast members joining the show in Instagram, it wasn’t long before people commented on the post, sharing their excitement.
One person said: “Fantastic news.” Another wrote: “Can’t wait! Congrats on the casting, amazing announcements.”
Someone else shared: “ANOTHER SEASON OF TIME?!? I’m ready to get my heart absolutely broken yet again.” As one fan added: “A good line-up of actors and actresses.”
Another commented: “Can’t wait for this also great casting!” While someone else added: “Can’t wait for this, Siobhan smashed the first 2 series.”
Time series one and two are available to stream on BBC iPlayer
For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.
Bayern Munich set to rival Manchester United for Nottingham Forest‘s Elliot Anderson, Morgan Rogers could leave Aston Villa if they fail to qualify for the Champions League, while Arsenal trio face uncertain future at the club.
Aston Villa‘s English winger Morgan Rogers, 23, may be tempted to look for Champions League football elsewhere if Unai Emery’s side fail to qualify for next season’s competition. (Talksport), external
Arsenal‘s Brazilian winger Gabriel Martinelli, 24, faces an uncertain future at the club along with English left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly, 19, and 18-year-old English winger Ethan Nwaneri. (Times – subscription required), external
Manchester Citydefender Nathan Ake is a target for AC Milan and Inter Milan with the Netherlands international, 31, unable to command a regular starting spot this season. (Caughtoffside), external
Arsenal have little intention of allowing 23-year-old Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori to leave this summer despite growing interest from Serie A clubs including Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus and Napoli. (Teamtalk), external
Paris St-Germain have no plans whatsoever to sell 25-year-old Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Arsenal. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini is wanted by Juventus with the 29-year-old Italian attacking midfielder out of contract at the Giallorossi at the end of the season. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian), external
There are few greater muses than one’s own childhood. In recent months, this idea has taken visual form across fashion runways, with brands from Chanel to Acne Studios showcasing childlike sketches, often referred to as ‘naive design’. The aesthetic favors deliberate roughness and mistakes over a sterile, polished sheen.
Book covers are the latest medium to embrace the trend. Scribbles, doodles, crayon marks and stickers — evoking Lisa Frank and anime cartoons — have begun appearing on prominent Gen Z contemporary fiction covers. The more childish and unrefined, the better.
The covers, which often accompany literary fiction written by women, signal a particular emotional register of naive, sticky chaos that youth promises. The visual language recalls a simpler time — a reclamation of an innocence lost. For millennials and Gen Z readers who worship collectibles like Labubus, friendship bracelets and butterfly hair clips, it’s natural that art direction would follow suit — sometimes with an ironic twist. Often, the design’s playfulness obscures the protagonist’s malaise.
The book cover trend, imbued with nostalgia for childhood, promises fiction that grapples with the pangs of adulthood in an age of precarity. In her Substack, cultural critic and novelist Natasha Stagg commented on the trend, noting, “Reverse-image searching these images turn up books on early childhood education, dealing with anxiety or migraines, or teaching a kid to color outside the lines as an artistic parent.” The book trend cover suggests collective angst about adulthood, highlighted by a cultural fixation on “girlhood” that sparked a spate of online think pieces in recent years.
It’s fitting, then, that the aesthetic has been adopted by Gen Z fiction writers like Honor Levy, whose paperback edition of “My First Book” includes girlish heart stickers on a hot pink background. The Y2K aesthetic elicits a young girl’s diary. Meanwhile, the 2025 novel “Unfit” by Ariana Harwicz, about a mother losing her children in a custody battle, uses erratic crayon scribbles on its cover. In the fall, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern was contained in a binder with a Lisa Frank-style aquatic wonderland on the cover. This month, Cazzie David released a book of essays about early adulthood titled “Delusions: Of Grandeur, of Romance, of Process” with a cover resembling a child’s birthday cake.
(New Directions Publishing, Penguin Books)
Writer and culture critic Drew Zeiba noted the trend in his June 2025 Substack post. “I wonder if it represents a fed-up-ness with prior or concurrent trends in book design,” writes Zeiba over email. “A move away from the layered, the blobby, the clean — to something with more illusion of or allusion to an id.”
“Not for nothing, I assume adult coloring books sell better than literary fiction,” says Zeiba. “I’m struck by that in a way the crayon or marker drawing is provisional — there’s no final form to it.”
This January, novelist and Forever Magazine co-founder Madeline Cash released her highly anticipated debut novel, “Lost Lambs.” The story follows a family unraveling amid open marriages, conspiracy and emotional turmoil. Designed by Na Song, the cover features drooping blue crayon text and a small illustration of a girl.
The cover was heavily influenced by Henry Darger’s Vivian Girls. “I was attached to this Henry Darger painting when I was writing the book. I felt like that was a really accurate visual representation of little girls running away from utter chaos,” says Cash.
“The childish scribbling handwriting is also a red herring for some of the more serious and sinister themes in the book, “ says Cash.
“Having read Cash’s, I’m struck by the fact that the children in the book — and children are central to the book — are really insightful and transformative, and ‘lost lambs’ actually refers in the text to a specific group of adults,” adds Zeiba.
A similar artistic logic underpins Sophie Kemp’s breakout 2025 novel, “Paradise Logic,” which gained attention for its unsettling cover. The book cover is an existing painting by Brooklyn-based artist Naruki Kukita, selected by veteran art director Martha Kennedy with Kemp’s input. Kennedy had come across “Virtual Temptation in Eden” in a weekly art newsletter called “It’s Nice That.” The image invokes a children’s coloring book with darker undertones, blending various cartoon and drawing styles to depict Adam and Eve in paradise. A cartoon snake lurks behind them.
The design mirrors the memorable prose. “This novel showcased one of the most original voices I’ve ever read. I would describe it as a psychosexual fever dream,” says Kennedy. “I recall the editor calling it ‘the first true Gen Z novel.’”
Kemp recalls sending a lengthy email about the book cover inspiration. “I want something super maximalist. I want it to be a preexisting image. And I wanted to do something that is shocking or crazy,” says Kemp. Kennedy presented Kukita’s painting, and it was love at first sight for Kemp.
(New Directions Publishing, Simon & Schuster)
“Kukita’s combination of finely crafted painterly portraiture and flat graphic anime (often in very intense sexual combination) seemed like a perfect match for the tone of this novel,” says Martha Kennedy, who served as the art director at Simon & Schuster.
Then, enter Comic Sans typeface — a perfect dash of irony. “Let’s use a typeface that feels kind of wrong,” Kemp recalls prescribing. “I used Comic Sans for the first time in my 35-year career for the rest of the type. I felt that was some sort of weird pinnacle in itself,” Kennedy explains over email.
Kemp sees a thematic alignment between her and Cash’s book designs. “Mine and Madeline’s books are about naive female characters,” Kemp says. “It makes a lot of sense with the protagonist of my novel, who’s an extremely naive young woman, for the book cover to match that tone that I created.”
While working in marketing, Cash recalls another book cover trend she calls “book blob.” The blob was earth-toned and splashed bestselling covers for years. “With any kind of viral aesthetic: one of those books did well, so they engineered every cover to emulate that, because people were drawn to them,” says Cash. “It looks like all the content was the same and ubiquitous. It is a disservice to a lot of those books.”
“I really wanted it to stand out,” says Cash about her own cover.
Connors is a writer living in Los Angeles. She hosts the literary reading event Unreliable Narrators at Nico’s Wines in Atwater Village every month.
If David Nihill was a philosopher, his credo might be “I digress, therefore I am.”
Instead, Nihill is a comedian. Kind of. “I don’t know if I think of myself in those terms,” says Nihill, whose “Cultural Appreciation” special has 2.5 million views on YouTube. “I wouldn’t even call mine comedy specials.”
Nihill is a conversational storyteller who rarely even moves on stage. “I don’t know how to do performance,” he says, “but I do know how to talk.”
His current show, “Taking Tangents,” which takes him to Irvine, Pasadena and Los Angeles from March 13 to 17, is a wide-ranging collection of tales, with some material shifting from show to show. We’ll come back to it, but first, a few tangents.
Growing up in Ireland, Nihill, 47, struggled to learn, hampered by dyslexia — “I came in the lowest five percentile in the whole country of Ireland for spelling, and I didn’t even spell my name right on the test” — and an aversion to math. He was made to feel inferior because of his difficulties. “I was 100% in the ‘I am a moron’ category,” he says.
Nihill was shoved into a vocational program and most of his friends dropped out of school. He stayed in, but even when his father offered to buy him a Super Nintendo for certain math scores, Nihill fell short. His father bought it for him anyway, he says, “but I sold it and bought myself a motorcycle even though I was 15 and not legally old enough to drive.”
He finished high school and became a poorly paid, overworked apprentice electrician. That was enough to motivate him to go to college; there, he figured out how his brain worked and how to learn. He even developed a passion for reading: His last show, “Shelf Life,” wove in dozens of book recommendations.
During our conversation via video after a New York show, I’d ask one question, then follow Nihill as he ambled through his personal history. He started with a story about jumping off a cliff in Greece and shattering his leg — a part of “Tangents” — then going to Australia, before he stumbled into a master’s degree studying business back in Ireland (despite botching his application). A new friend there took him to his first-ever comedy show in Glasgow — there are even tangents within his digressions — before getting him a job with Enterprise Ireland, the government’s investment fund to boost Irish business overseas. That landed him in San Francisco, part of the “Cultural Appreciation” special. He left to pursue business opportunities in Mexico but, due to a hurricane, somehow ended up in Chile, spent a year wandering north toward America, and then scored an internship in Colombia.
Nihill is a conversational storyteller who rarely even moves on stage. “I don’t know how to do performance,” he says, “but I do know how to talk.”
(Jim McCambridge)
Eventually, Nihill’s story works its way to his current career, which began by accident. “It was never a dream or a goal,” he says. A friend in San Francisco had suffered a spinal cord injury and Nihill wanted to run a fundraiser, but dreaded public speaking.
That leads to a minor diversion, back to a college public speaking course in which Nihill was so terrified that he got drunk before his presentation and introduced himself “as an exchange student from Southern Yemen.”
In San Francisco, he started doing live comedy to overcome that fear. Meanwhile, his business background led him to see an opportunity and he created FunnyBizz, a company and conference where comedians help teach business leaders, like Kevin Harrington of “As Seen on TV,” how to use humor to communicate. The business bankrolled Nihill’s early days in comedy.
While Nihill has lived in America for years, most recently in Los Angeles, he remains passionately Irish, which shapes his shows in several ways.
In Ireland, “your nature is to just default to funny stories.”
He says American stand-up is about taking a topic and making it funny, aspiring for a five-minute joke-filled late night TV spot. Irish comedians say, “This thing happened to me and I think that’s funny. Let me just repeat it.”
The new show is named after “tangents” so that Nihill can go down different rabbit holes each night if he wants. “My head is always doing 60 different things,” he says, and he loves keeping his storytelling “free form and unfiltered,” whether he’s in a pub or on stage (or, apparently, in an interview).
The new show’s subjects will be familiar to Nihill’s fans: his parents, his foolish behavior (there are drunken college-age antics in a story that somehow eventually weaves in White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt) and Irish culture. “There are few countries that punch above their weight in social justice and social impact,” he says, and he always looks to draw connections with other cultures around the world. But the observations and connections he draws are new.
In New York, he added a bit about how 35% of Jamaicans have some Irish roots, quipping “imagine how fast they’d be without that” (in a nod to legendary sprinters like Usain Bolt). But for Nihill, that joke only works if it’s couched within the larger context of the cross-cultural connections, including the fact that Jamaican-born political activist Marcus Garvey drew upon the Irish independence movement for inspiration.
“There has to be some social value to doing it,” he says, although he’s quick to add his comedy isn’t overtly political. “My dad’s a teacher and that lives inside of me. Humor can be the ultimate tool for social activism. I am deliberately getting people to expand their minds in understanding these connections. I want comedy that makes everyone feel good and maybe learn something.”
Nihill on stage at Hollywood Improv.
(Jim McCambridge)
That “feel good” part is central: While he discusses his mother’s death from cancer last year, he leaves out a beautiful but poignant part of their final days together. “I’m deliberately avoiding that,” he says, because he wants to maintain an upbeat mood.
He digresses to tell me the story, however, and it’s literally longer than this entire article’s word count. “A very long answer to a very short question,” he admits, before swerving into a tale about back when his father had overstayed his visa in New York — it involves his dad being interviewed on CNN, getting into a bar fight and avoiding deportation because the immigration officer hailed from County Cork and Nihill’s dad burst into a song from there, earning him a six-month visa extension. The humanity of that scene “in contrast to a 5-year-old being dragged off to a detention center” may end up in a future Nihill show.
Nihill loves sharing the stories that come from observing and listening to people but says he doesn’t love the spotlight, which, he admits, makes comedy an odd career choice. He says he prefers telling stories to just a few people.
“With comedy, the best part for me is that before a show I eat half a chocolate bar and I leave the other half in the hotel room,” he says. “After the show, I get to finish it. That’s true happiness.”
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
If you are anything like me, you felt pretty out of sorts this week, not sure how to process the news that we are suddenly, apparently, a nation again at war. It can make the movies seem frivolous — a glorious, privileged sandbox to stick your head in — but it is also times like these that make them seem most vital and necessary: a place to focus energy and anxiety and maybe figure things out.
I was particularly struck by something New York Times critic Wesley Morris said in an appearance on the podcast “The Big Picture.” He was ostensibly talking about the downside of the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger news (“These people are f— with our dreams here” is how he began) but he landed on why movies matter in their moment, crucial to “how we develop as a culture, how we come to understand ourselves as a people, what this country ought to or should look like 40 years from now.”
The week’s big new release is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride!” a sort-of adaptation of 1935’s “Bride of Frankenstein” starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale that is also very much its own thing, purpose-built to drive some people up a tree and already sharply dividing critics.
Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in the movie “The Bride!”
(Niko Tavernise / Warner Bros. Pictures)
In her largely positive review, Amy Nicholson calls the movie “an unhinged scream,” adding, “‘Every wacky second, you’re well aware how perilously close it is to falling apart at the seams. This spiritual sequel to ‘Frankenstein’ is a romantic tale of obsession, possession and fantasy — adjectives that also apply to its filmmaker, Maggie Gyllenhaal, who expends massive quantities of energy jolting it to life. She succeeds by the skin of her teeth.”
I interviewed Gyllenhaal about “The Bride!” — including the significance of that exclamation point in the title. There have been numerous reports about a back-and-forth between the filmmaker and execs at Warner Bros. and Gyllenhaal didn’t shy away from talking about it. She had specific praise for Pam Abdy, co-chair and co-chief executive of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group.
“Something really alive was born, and I think the movie is better for the work that she and I did together,” Gyllenhaal told me. “I know that’s an unusual thing to say. I know that you have lots of people saying like, ‘Ah, the studio f— my movie up.’ That is not my experience. It’s really not.”
Louis Malle’s ‘…and the Pursuit of Happiness’
A scene from Louis Malle’s documentary “…and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
(Janus Films)
On Saturday, in a co-presentation of 7th House at the Philosophical Research Society and El Cine, the will be a 16mm screening of director Louis Malle’s 1986 “…and the Pursuit of Happiness,” a documentary made for television that explores the immigrant experience in America. The French-born filmmaker traveled across the U.S. interviewing recent arrivals from all walks of life.
Writing about the film in 1988, The Times’ Kevin Thomas called it “an often amusing and always insightful survey of the contemporary emigre experience. … an irresistible array of vignettes depicting cultural accommodation and assimilation in all its variety.”
I got on a video call this week with 7th House programmer Alex McDonald and El Cine founder Mariana Da Silva to talk about why this movie matters now.
The movie is streaming on the Criterion Channel right now. Why was it important to also put this movie in front of audiences right now?
Alex McDonald: I think Mariana and I are on the same page with this. I never let streaming or home video availability deter programming. Growing up, the theater was a holy place, a cathedral of congregation. I feel like these films are meant to be seen with an audience. And thankfully, I feel like our audience recognizes that as well, even if the film is out there. Particularly in our current moment, it’s a very prescient film and it’s one that will be all the more powerful within community.
Mariana Da Silva: I agree fully. One of the biggest things within our program is the communal aspects — just seeing the same people come back, that trust that develops with the audience. The best part I love about going to movie theaters is standing outside with people I maybe would never speak to and having a conversation about a film.
A scene from Louis Malle’s documentary “…and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
(Janus Films)
Do you respond to a movie like this as a sort of time capsule of how things were, or is it important to you that it is saying something about what’s happening right now?
McDonald: That’s something I’m very conscious of when I program repertory titles. When I program social, politically minded films, a lot of what I’m trying to do is to show that the issues within these things have not really changed — the ways in which things have progressed, the way in which we have regressed. Malle has such a humane view on all of these people in the film. He narrates but he doesn’t really editorialize. He just sort of observes, and in doing so, he’s making the most compelling argument for the richness of diversity and everything that these people contribute to this country, what they lose in assimilation, what they have to give up and what they bring. There’s a complexity to it. There are certainly dissenting voices in it and those resonate differently now.
It wasn’t perfect then. Obviously, there’s always been conflict, but I think there was an open-heartedness that has really shifted. And this is kind of a poignant reminder of what we need to try to get back to and recognize.
Da Silva: If we were able to have these conversations more openly, it would put us all on an even playing field. Humans are flawed. There’s been a lot of miseducation. In this moment, especially for me as somebody who is an immigrant, I feel like there’s so many people who I know who are so liberal and so aware, but then they don’t really understand the experience of the immigrant. And it’s not their fault in any capacity. They just haven’t been exposed to somebody like me before.
I think we can all come together on the things we celebrate, but we also need to be very open and come together on the things that we differ on too.
Points of interest
‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ in 35mm
George Clooney, left, and David Strathairn in the 2005 movie “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
(Melinda Sue Gordon / Warner Independent Pictures)
On Sunday afternoon at the Los Feliz Theater, as part of the American Cinematheque’s ongoing “Sunday Print Edition” series, there will be a 35mm screening of George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” introduced by The Times’ own Rosanna Xia.
Starring David Strathairn as pioneering television journalist Edward R. Murrow at the height of the McCarthy era, the film was nominated for six Oscars, including picture, director, actor and original screenplay.
As Kenneth Turan wrote in his original review, “‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ couldn’t be more unlikely, more unfashionable — or more compelling. Everything about it — its look, its style, even its sound — stands in stark opposition to the trends of the moment. Yet by sticking to events that are half a century old, it tells a story whose implications for today are inescapable. … The son of a TV anchorman, Clooney had the nerve to believe that a drama of ideas could be as entertaining as ‘Desperate Housewives.’ He insisted that a fight for America’s soul, a clash of values over critical intellectual issues like freedom of the press and the excesses of government, had an inherent intensity that would carry everything before it. And it does.”
‘Days and Nights in the Forest’ 4K restoration
An image from Satyajit Ray’s 1970 drama “Days and Nights in the Forest.”
(Janus Films)
Now playing at the Laemmle Royal in a new 4K restoration undertaken by the Film Foundation is Satyajit Ray’s 1970 “Days and Nights in the Forest.” In this examination of masculinity and class, four male friends drive from the bustling city of Kolkata to a rural village, mixing with the locals with volatile results.
In a special video introduction, Wes Anderson, a longtime admirer of Ray, admits he lifted a scene from “Days and Nights” for one of his own films — 2023’s “Asteroid City” — and says, “Anything by Satyajit Ray must be cherished and preserved, but ‘Days and Nights in the Forest,’ I think you will agree, is one of the special gems among his many treasures.”
‘Grease 2’ returns
Michelle Pfeiffer on the set of “Grease 2” in 1981.
(Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images)
The Cinematic Void series at the American Cinematheque will show 1982’s pastiche musical “Grease 2” on Monday. Directed by choreographer-turned-filmmaker Patricia Birch, the film is, of course, a sequel to 1978’s megahit “Grease” but it is also very much its own thing. Largely dismissed on initial release, it has found a growing following over the years thanks in large part to its extremely engaging young cast, including an on-the-rise Michelle Pfeiffer.
In his initial review (more complementary than one might expect), Kevin Thomas wrote, “There’s so much youthful talent and vitality in ‘Grease 2’ that it’s depressing to discover it is so unblushing and relentless and paean to ignorance. … This is a pity, because Birch displays an organic sense of how to make dance evolve out of the kids’ everyday activities — converging en mass at Rydell High on the first day of school or having fun at the bowling alley. But Birch has scant opportunity beyond letting us know she cares for these ignoramuses, most of who seem likable enough beneath aggressively crude exteriors.”
Anti-fascist films at UCLA
Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer in the 1948 drama “Arch of Triumph.”
(Enterprise-UA / Photofest)
The ongoing series at the UCLA Film and Television Archive titled “From John Doe to Lonesome Rhodes: Anti-fascism from the Archive” hits a real stride this weekend for two nights of restored rarities. On Friday comes a restored 35mm print of 1948’s “Arch of Triumph,” directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Charles Laughton in a romantic drama of refugees in 1938 Paris. Also playing is Arthur Ripley’s rare 1944 emigree drama “Voice in the Wind.”
Much of the press around the film at the time of its release had to do with the challenge of bringing the racier aspects of the novel by Erich Maria Remarque (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) to the screen. As producer David Lewis told The Times’ Philip K. Scheuer, “I promise you that as Joan, Ingrid Bergman will set the town on its ear. They’ll never think of her as anything but sexy again.”
Saturday brings the world premiere of the 35mm restoration of Walter Comes’ 1947 “The Burning Cross,” in which a returning veteran is recruited into the KKK. John Reinhardt’s 1948 “Open Secret,” about antisemitism, will also play in a 35mm restoration.
The series concludes next week with a 35mm screening of Elia Kazan’s 1957 “A Face in the Crowd,” starring Andy Griffith in an examination of the dark side of populist politics and media manipulation.
The Northumberland islands are a haven for wildlife with 43,000 pairs of puffins, Atlantic grey seals, dolphins and over 200,000 breeding seabirds
These UK islands are loved by Sir David Attenborough(Image: Getty Images)
A stunning collection of UK islands are Sir David Attenborough’s ‘favourite’ destinations for observing wildlife in Britain, boasting around 23 bird species, seals and dolphins.
Located off the Northumberland coast are the Farne Islands, a leading wildlife sanctuary amidst some of the most spectacular landscapes. Their isolated position means they’re only reachable by a boat trip leaving from Seahouses harbour, which is roughly an hour’s drive from Newcastle, yet what lies in wait is certainly worth the journey.
The group of islands are a sanctuary for wildlife and is home to a substantial colony of Atlantic grey seals, along with adorable white seal pups. There will seldom be a moment when tourists won’t be able to see their bobbing heads appearing above the water, or photograph the marine mammals during a stroll around some of the larger islands with lighthouses and vantage points.
Dolphins have even been known to be seen amongst the lapping waves. Taking centre stage during the warmer months are the 43,000 pairs of breeding Puffins that inhabit the rugged cliffs.
The Farne Islands are one of the finest locations to observe the colourful birds that breed in large colonies atop coastal cliffs or at offshore islands across the North Atlantic. During the beginning of summer, around 200,000 breeding seabirds, including Arctic terns, guillemots, eider ducks, razorbills and cormorants, can be spotted amongst the UK islands, reports the Express.
It’s a haven for keen birdwatchers, nature enthusiasts, or anyone wanting to marvel at the wonders of this remarkable wildlife, which is difficult to encounter elsewhere. It’s received such acclaim that broadcaster, writer, and naturalist Sir David Attenborough himself named the Farne Islands as one of his ‘favourite places’ for wildlife in the UK, and he highlighted the islands during his BBC series, Wild Isles.
Experts at Arbtech also listed the Farne Islands amongst the finest UK destinations to observe wildlife this year, owing to its ‘internationally significant breeding colony of seabirds and Atlantic grey seals’. The group of islands provides a unique opportunity to witness the UK’s most flourishing wildlife population, which has declined by 19 per cent since 1970, as Arbtech highlighted.
It’s advised that the optimal time to visit the islands is between mid-April to late July, especially if you’re hoping to catch sight of the seabird colony. Boat excursions are available to book that set off from the harbour at Seahouses in north east Northumberland, to cruise around the Farne Islands in a truly spectacular experience.
Some of the boat trips on offer to book at Seahouses harbour include Serenity Farne Island Boat Tours, Billy Shiel Boat Trips, and the Golden Gate Farne Island Tours. They all depart daily during weekends and throughout the summer months, but it’s advisable to check availability directly with the operator.
The other top locations in the UK to observe wildlife, as identified by Arbtech, include:.
A spokesperson for Arbtech said: “We want to put the spotlight on these incredible wildlife spots to showcase just how important conservation projects are, and how nature can thrive in this country when it’s protected.
“Our survey shows that the majority of Brits do care about the decline of wildlife, but many may not know what they can do to help. Supporting local conservation efforts or even making small changes at home can make a real difference.
“Seeing wildlife in its natural habitat is a powerful reminder of what we have to lose if we don’t act now, and could inspire people to take steps to protect species for future generations.”
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Silent Witness star David Caves has hinted at the BBC crime drama’s future after the latest series concluded
Fans are hoping for another series of Silent Witness(Image: BBC)
Silent Witness star David Caves has dropped a hint about the future of the show as the current series concluded.
The 29th series of the BBC crime drama, which centres on a team of pathologists probing mysterious deaths, finished on Tuesday night (March 3) with a nail-biting episode where Dr Nikki Alexander (Emilia Fox) found herself in peril after being drugged.
The programme has been a huge success with audiences and has been airing since 1996, so fans are hopeful for a 30th instalment, reports the Express.
As the final episode aired, David – who portrays Nikki’s spouse and colleague Jack Hodgson – gave a clue on X (formerly Twitter), posting: “Can’t believe that’s it for another series. To everyone who has watched and supported – thank you!”
“Here’s to the stories we’ve told – and to those still to come…” he added, tagging co-stars Emilia, Francesca Mills and Maggie Steed.
The latest series of the show kicked off in February and has featured several gripping tales including two-part finale Shame, which began on Monday (March 2).
It saw the team investigating what seemed to be the suicide of a British-Chinese pro-democracy activist, whose body was found floating in a lake.
However, as Nikki and Harriet Maven (Maggie Steed) delved deeper into the woman’s fate, evidence started to suggest something far more sinister had transpired and it became evident that things were not as they appeared.
There has already been a hint that Silent Witness is poised for a 30th series, after a photo emerged last month showing some cast and crew seemingly on location.
The image was posted on Instagram by Bodenham Arboretum in Worcestershire, accompanied by a caption which read: “For those of you who have visited Bodenham in the last two weeks you may have wondered what was going on… cryptic signage, trailers, security etc, occupying two of our car parks… well now all can be revealed..
“Bodenham had the privilege of being chosen as the BBC drama’s Silent Witness base camp whilst filming locally for the 30th series.”
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Silent Witness airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer
CHEF Gordon Ramsay serves up some romance with his missus.
Ramsay, 59, held hands with Tana, 51, and cuddled up for a kiss while out at the weekend.
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Gordon Ramsay was spotted out for a stroll with wife, Tana, over the weekendCredit: TillenDoveThe loved-up couple cuddled up for a kissCredit: TillenDoveGordon said he loves aspiring chef, Brooklyn 26, and has been in contact offering supportCredit: AP
Their loved-up stroll in South West London comes after Gordon waded into the Beckham family feud.
He urged David’s estranged son Brooklyn to “remember where you came from” last month in an exclusive interview with The Sun.
The Michelin-starred restauranteur said he loves the aspiring chef, 26, and has been in contact offering support.
Tim Lovejoy made a return to Channel 4 alongside co-host Simon Rimmer on Sunday morning
12:00, 01 Mar 2026Updated 12:00, 01 Mar 2026
Tim Lovejoy was quick to question a guest(Image: Channel 4)
Sunday Brunch suffered an awkward moment as Tim Lovejoy was quick to question a guest on her unexpected “feud” with David Attenborough.
During Sunday’s (March 1) episode of the Channel 4 hit show, Tim made a return to TV alongside co-host Simon Rimmer, for the usual three-hour show packed with celebrity interviews, culinary demonstrations and light-hearted entertainment.
On the long-running programme, the pair chatted to the likes of EastEnders Samantha Womack and American pop star Tiffany Renee Darwish.
However it was their interview with Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock that took everyone by surprise as Tim was quick to call out the science expert on her unexpected fall out with David Attenborough.
Without hesitation, Tim went on to say: “I’ll just put it out there, we understand you’ve got beef with David Attenborough. You fell out with him.”
Maggie burst out laughing as she replied: “Yeah, It’s an ongoing feud, he’s going down.”
Tim wasted no time digging for information as he jumped in: “Tell us about that because you’re both legends of this country and you don’t like each other.” Simon: “It’s so sad actually.”
Maggie explained: “So I was sitting next to him at dinner and I was gobsmacked sitting next to him and he was lovely and wonderful and we started talking about each other’s lives.”
Tim joked: “When did you fall out, was it the main course?” Maggie burst out laughing as she continued: “We were talking about life beyond the earth. It’s just sort of a lovely topic and he was like, no, no Maggie, you know, life needs water.
“And I was like ‘but David no’. I was thinking because that’s life as we know it. All life on earth needs water. But out there there could be life.”
She added: “So we had this ongoing debate, at the end, I said, ‘okay, David, I’m gonna go out and prove my theory’. He said, ‘Maggie, you’re a star. Stay here with us’.”
Viewers watching at home were pleased to see Dame Maggie as they rushed to social media to share their reaction.
One viewer wrote on X: “I could listen to Dame Dr. Maggie all day. She’s got that infectious enthusiasm that always reels me in. #SundayBrunch.” Meanwhile another added: “I love Maggie she’s so humble and nice #SundayBrunch.”
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As Paramount moved Monday to sweeten its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, a high-stakes political battle is playing out behind the scenes.
Paramount’s latest offer enhanced its earlier $30-a-share bid, valued at $108 billion, said a person familiar with the process who was not authorized to comment publicly. Details of the revised proposal, first reported by Bloomberg, were not immediately available.
The firm is leveraging both the dynastic wealth of Larry Ellison’s empire and his ties to the Trump administration to dismantle Netflix’s rival $82.7-billion deal for Warner, which owns CNN, HBO and the premier Hollywood film and television studios, according to people close to the auction.
Over the weekend, President Trump turned up the heat, demanding that Netflix “IMMEDIATELY” fire Susan Rice — a former Obama and Biden administration official — who serves on Netflix’s 13-member board or “pay the consequences.”
Trump previously said he would not get involved in the pivotal Warner Bros. auction, instead leaving the matter to the Department of Justice, which is investigating whether a Netflix takeover, or Paramount’s alternative bid, would harm competition. Trump has been an outspoken critic of CNN and many of its on-air hosts.
Netflix won the bidding for the storied studio and HBO in December, prompting the spurned Paramount executives to launch a multipronged strategy to scuttle the Netflix deal.
Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos sought to downplay the latest controversy, saying during a BBC interview Monday: “This is a business deal, it’s not a political deal.”
But Paramount, which declined to comment for this article, has not been shy about playing its political cards.
Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
The company, overseen by Larry Ellison’s son, David, is trying to convince Justice Department regulators and Warner Bros. shareholders that the Netflix deal is too dicey and that they should instead side with Paramount, said sources who were not authorized to comment publicly.
Paramount has attempted numerous maneuvers to gain the upper hand.
“This deal was never going to be decided on the merits of the offer or rigid antitrust considerations,” said Gabriel Kahn, a professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. “This was a classic Trump administration deal where proximity to the president counts a lot more than financial terms.”
Trump’s Saturday night outburst came after Rice, during a podcast interview last week, said that “it is not going to end well” for corporations, media outlets and law firms that “bent the knee” to Trump should Democrats regain control in Washington.
The comments of Rice, a Netflix director for eight years, came as Paramount-owned CBS was involved in a headline-grabbing dust-up with late-night talk-show host, Stephen Colbert, over Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chair‘s threat to modify a rule requiring that broadcasters to give political candidates equal time. Colbert has accused his company of kowtowing to Trump, which CBS has denied.
Netflix’s Sarandos and Paramount’s David Ellison have made separate treks to the White House.
In October, Paramount hired a former Trump administration official, Makan Delrahim, who oversaw the Justice Department’s antitrust division during Trump’s first term, to quarterback Paramount’s campaign to win over regulators and politicians.
A formidable ally — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — recently visited Delrahim on Paramount’s Melrose Avenue lot in Los Angeles. While there, Cruz said he was a fan of the CBS show “NCIS,” which prompted Paramount executives to put together an impromptu tour of the “NCIS Origins” soundstages, according to a person familiar with the visit.
In December, Delrahim made a tactical move to apply for Justice Department approval of Paramount’s deal — despite the absence of a signed agreement with the Warner Bros. board and the consent of its shareholders. The gambit was meant to speed the agency’s approval should the Netflix deal crumble. Warner stockholders are expected to vote March 20.
Last week, Paramount announced that a major deadline had passed without pushback from the Justice Department. “There is no statutory impediment in the U.S. to closing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of WBD,” Paramount said in a regulatory filing.
Paramount faces a separate deadline late Monday to improve the finances of its proposed takeover to shake the support of Warner Bros. Discovery’s board members for the Netflix deal.
Paramount wants to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN.
Netflix, in contrast, does not want the bulk of cable TV channels beyond HBO, and has offered $27.75 a share. It has the right to match any improved Paramount proposal.
Warner is planning to spin off the bulk of its channel portfolio, including HGTV, TBS and Cartoon Network, in a separate company. Its shareholders will receive stock in that entity, slated to be called Discovery Global.
Concerns over Netflix’s deal have been mounting.
Department of Justice regulators have sent inquiries to the three companies, according to one senior executive who was not authorized to speak publicly. The department is said to be looking at Netflix’s historic business strategy of steering most of its film releases to its streaming platform, often bypassing movie theaters. Sarandos has promised to maintain a 45-day theatrical window for Warner Bros. films.
Bloomberg has reported that regulators also are trying to determine whether Netflix has exerted leverage over creators in negotiations when acquiring programming to build its catalog.
This month, Republican lawmakers blasted Sarandos during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights hearing to explore antitrust implications of the Warner Bros. sale. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent Netflix a series of pointed follow-up questions, including: “If allowed to proceed, what effect will the merger have on future competition?”
Ted Sarandos, left, and David Zaslav at the 2026 Golden Globes.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The hearing also veered into culture wars, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) suggesting Netflix was promoting a “transgender ideology” to children, which Sarandos denied.
Another Missouri Republican, Sen. Eric Schmitt, accused Netflix of making some of “the wokest content in the history of the world.”
“Netflix has no political agenda of any kind,” Sarandos told the lawmakers.
David Ellison also was invited to appear at the Feb. 3 hearing, but he declined — which raised the eyebrows of some members of the panel.
Skydance Media founder and Chief Executive David Ellison, who leads Paramount, is shown in 2023 in New York.
(Evan Agostini / Invision / Associated Press)
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) challenged Ellison for failing to answer lawmakers’ questions under oath, including about his dealings with the president.
Ellison instead responded with a statement but Booker and other lawmakers wrote back, saying Ellison’s statement “failed to address” the issues raised by Booker.
“The pattern of evasion, combined with Paramount’s apparent confidence that a politically sensitive transaction will clear without difficulty warrants serious scrutiny,” Booker, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and others wrote in the Feb. 19 letter.
The Democrats instructed Ellison “to preserve records related to the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery transaction.”
The move came days after Gail Slater, the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, was bounced from her job, reportedly after becoming a thorn in the side of some business interests. Slater’s former top deputy, who also left the Justice Department, publicly warned that antitrust decisions are being influenced by corporate lobbyists — not in the interest of ordinary Americans.
“We see this happen again and again,” USC’s Kahn said.
“Let’s not forget that Larry Ellison’s Oracle was part of the consortium that purchased the U.S. operations of TikTok. Repeated complaints from the FCC about content at CBS have been heeded by the Ellison regime,” Kahn said, adding: “This is the reality of trying to do any business in the Trump administration: It’s about payoffs and proximity.”
SIR David Beckham shared sweet snaps with daughter Harper at an exclusive ski resort and spoke of “making memories” with his kids amid his family feud with eldest son Brooklyn.
Becks, 50, is in Courchevel, France, with Harper, 14, and it looks like they’ve had a fun-filled week of fine-dining and snowy exploration.
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David and Harper Beckham have been holidaying in CourchevelCredit: InstagramBecks spoke of the importance of making memories with his kidsCredit: InstagramThe father and daughter duo explored the exclusive French resortCredit: Instagram
Proud David shared a selection of their photos and wrote: “Creating memories with the kids either together or one on one has always been been important to me.
“So this week Me and Harper created a few more memories. Love you pretty lady @harperbeckham.”
It comes a day after David came to the aid of a Brit tourist who fell over on the slopes in the French Alps.
A source said: “David saw the woman hit her head and was worried about her.
“He took her skis off and made sure she was OK – he was a true gentleman.
“David was incredibly lovely, and so was the ski guide with him.”
Meanwhile, Harper recently reached out to estranged brother Brooklyn on Instagram sparking hopes she could be the one to thaw frosty relations.
She posted pictures showing her with Brooklyn and her other brothers Romeo and Cruz.
In one Valentine’s Day post she wrote, “I love you all so much, words can’t describe it” — while in another she called them “the best big brothers in the whole wide world”.
Harper’s posts were at first seen only by the 93 followers of her private account — but mum Victoria, 51, then reshared them with her 33.5million followers.
David enjoyed a glass of white wine in a rustic lodgeCredit: InstagramHarper warmed up with a glass of hot chocolateCredit: Instagram
Brooklyn, 26, and Harper are not believed to be in touch, despite him reportedly feeling “protective” over her.
He does not follow her on Instagram and it is unclear if he has blocked her.
Last month Brooklyn posted a statement online blasting his parents and claiming brothers Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 20, had been “sent to attack me on social media, before they ultimately blocked me”.
He accused mum Victoria of “hijacking” his wedding day and “embarrassing” him with “inappropriate” dancing.
Harper was not mentioned. It is hoped that she, and other members of the wider family, may be able to ease relations with Brooklyn and his actress wife Nicola Peltz, 31.
Though he seemingly ignored his sister’s messages, sharing only a belated Valentine’s post in tribute to Nicola, in which he vowed to “forever protect and love you”.
Brooklyn has cut off his famous familyCredit: APHe accused mum Victoria of ;hijacking’ his wedding to Nicola PeltzCredit: Getty
LILY Allen has finally confirmed she’s in a relationship with Jonah Freud – a year on from her high profile split from ex-husband David Harbour.
The pop star has been pictured looking close with Jonah numerous times in the past few months, though hasn’t publicly addressed her relationship status… until now.
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Lily Allen has confirmed Jonah Freud is her boyfriendCredit: SplashLily and Jonah pictured together in ParisCredit: Splash
In a new interview with Grazia, Lily, 40, was asked who the last person she texted was, to which she replied: “My boyfriend.”
The smitten pair have recently spent time together in the romantic cities of Paris and Rome.
Jonah, who is great-great-grandson of Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, sipped coffee outside acafée with Lily by his side in the Italian capital last month.
The couple stayed at the Hotel Locarno where they splashed out on a £800-a-night suite.
An eyewitness said: “We walked past her and it was my daughter-in-law who recognised her and went, ‘Oh my God, it’s Lily Allen’.
“We did a double take, and it was definitely her.
“She was with Jonah Freud. They were just having a coffee and a cigarette together.”
Days later they went to Paris for Fashion Week and were seen leaving an apartment together.
Lily confirmed she was dating again in October though coyly stopped short of confirming if she was seeing anyone seriously.
In a candid chat with Interview, she spoke of the pitfalls of dating apps when bouncing back from heartache.
She said: “They’re awful, especially if you’re going through heartbreak.
“There is nothing more depressing than hundreds of people that are nothing like the person that you’re missing. It’s just like, ‘No, that’s not him. That’s not him. That’s not him’.”
Lily used her relationship breakdown as inspiration for her critically-acclaimed album West End Girl.
She recently told Vice: “I don’t think that it’s a particularly self-aware record. It’s a really angry record – and it’s a lot more about rage directed towards other people.”
On it, she appeared to accuse her Stranger Things star ex David, 50, of having an affair with a woman called Madeline.
Following the album’s release,the real life ‘Madeline’ spoke out, with New Orleans based costume designer Natalie Tippett, 34, claiming to have been involved in the fling.
Davidand Natalie reportedly began an affair while working on 2021 film We Have A Ghost, and he later allegedly flew Natalie to his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
He had married Lily the previous year in a Las Vegas ceremony.
Lily split from husband David Harbour early last yearCredit: GettyLily confirmed she was dating again back in OctoberCredit: Getty
David Gardner appears to have taken a sly swipe at Brooklyn to mark Cruz’s 21stCredit: InstagramAward-winning Marc Anthony was at the centre of the Beckham wedding feudCredit: Getty
The sports agent, 49, shared the photo on social media standing with a suited-and-booted Cruz and Marc Anthony.
The long-time family friend wrote: “Have a great day mate. Love ya Cruzie.”
He was joined by his parents as well as siblings Romeo, 23 and Harper, 14, as well as his girlfriend Jackie Apostel, 30 and Romeo’s partner, Kim Turnball, 24.
Meanwhile Brooklyn was busy hosting his very own food festival in Miami, Florida.
Proud dad David appeared to take a swipe at Brooklyn as he praised his youngest son Cruz as “fiercely loyal to family” in a birthday tribute.
Proud dad David shared a heartfelt caption for his boy as he began: “Happy 21st birthday to my little boy – not so little anymore but the proudest thing that I am of you is the person and the man that you have become.
Seemingly taking a dig at Brooklyn, he continued: “You are kind, considerate and fiercely loyal to your family, friends and everyone around you which makes you a very special person.”
Picture-posting Dave‘s exes include actressLiv Tyler and former Hollyoaks star Davinia Taylor – who he both shares children with.
Dave met his pal David during his stint at Manchester United Youth Club and the pair have been close from the age of 14.
The footie star was also best man at his wedding in 2003 and made godfather to his son.
Marc previously told The Hollywood Reporter: “They’re a wonderful, wonderful family. I’ve known them since before the kids were born. I’m godfather to Cruz.
“I’m really close to the family. But I have nothing to say about what happened there. It’s extremely unfortunate how it’s playing out — but (how it’s playing out) is hardly the truth.”
Brooklyn appeared on stage in Miami and did not attend Cruz’s birthdayCredit: APBrooklyn vowed to ‘forever protect’ his wife Nicola in a Valentine’s Day tributeCredit: InstagramDavid wished his son Cruz a happy 21st with family snaps featuring BrooklynCredit: InstagramThe Beckham family were seen at Paris Fashion Week amidst the Brooklyn dramaCredit: SplashThe Beckham clan have appeared strong during the family feudCredit: Instagram
Imelda Marcos’ fetish for fiendishly expensive shoes was a running gag in the 1980s. But did you know that she was also something of a disco queen?
The image of a jet-setting Marcos in her Beltrami pumps boogieing with arms dealers at fashionable New York nightspots is one of the inspirations of David Byrne’s musical about the notorious former first lady of the Philippines, who sang on the campaign trail for her husband, Ferdinand E. Marcos, and ruled with an iron fist alongside him after he declared martial law and plunged his nation into a brutal dictatorship.
“Here Lies Love,” which is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, traces the political power couple’s rise and fall through a series of dance cuts that capture the irrational hold charismatic leaders can have on a public — at least while the music is blasting.
Byrne, the ingenious Talking Heads co-founder, conceived the show and wrote the music and lyrics. Fatboy Slim, a Grammy Award-winning DJ, musician and record producer, contributed to the music. The score, a mix of lush disco and synth pop with hints of island breezes and karaoke camp, brings a club-like energy to the stage.
Aura Mayari and the company of “Here Lies Love” at the Mark Taper Forum.
(Jeff Lorch)
I first saw “Here Lies Love” at New York’s Public Theater in 2013, when the production, directed by Alex Timbers, was staged as an immersive dance party. Audience members moved along a shifting dance floor as the love story between Imelda, a beauty queen from the provinces, and Ferdinand, an ambitious senator accustomed to getting what he wants, sourly played out amid the backdrop of a traumatic national story.
This sung-through musical pulled off something of a coup of its own. As Ferdinand, now president and philandering husband, and Imelda, his embittered wife dripping in compensatory luxury, shore up their “conjugal dictatorship,” theatergoers discovered that, while partying to the seductive beat, a political dystopia was solidifying around them.
Imagine if, in “Evita,” audience members were invited to sing back up on the balcony as Eva Perón belts out “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” accompanying her in her last manipulative hurrah. “Here Lies Love” seemed to want its audience to leave with an aftertaste of cognitive dissonance.
Audiences don’t usually like being duped. But voters need to be continually reminded that when they go to bed with a strongman, they’ll likely wake up without healthcare or voting rights.
“Here Lies Love” at the Taper doesn’t follow the Public Theater’s staging or the similarly immersive Broadway production by Timbers that followed in 2023. It’s a more straightforward presentation that keeps audience members in their seats, except for a moment when uprising is in the air and a few theatergoers are conscripted to join the ecstatic rebellion.
Jeff Lorenz Garrido, from left, Joshua Dela Cruz, and Garrick Goce Macatangay in “Here Lies Love” at the Mark Taper Forum.
(Jeff Lorch)
Snehal Desai’s direction is politically clear-eyed and scrupulous. Corruption, authoritarianism and censorship, as we’re learning firsthand, scandal after constitutional scandal, are no laughing matter. The question is whether “Here Lies Love” can bear the scrutiny of a more traditional musical.
There’s not a traditional libretto, so the story is transmitted mostly through song lyrics. But stump speeches, rallying cries and the theatrical guidance of Imeldific (Aura Mayari, alum of Season 15 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”) help flesh out the chronicle.
This emcee figure, a Taper innovation, replaces the DJ role of previous productions and establishes the show’s metatheatrical frame. The opening number, “American Troglodyte,” underscores the American imperial role in the story and provides Imdeldific with a satiric banner that doesn’t let a smiling superpower off the hook.
William Carlos Angulo’s choreography is unfailingly kinetic, but participating in a party is more energizing than watching one at a remove. Yet the political case of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, a tale of celebrity and tyranny marching in lockstep, speaks so directly to our own time that I found myself gripped by the object lesson of this public saga, even if it’s not always easy to connect all the fragments, never mind distinguish between hard fact and fictional license.
I was particularly fascinated by the portrayal of Imelda (Reanne Acasio), whose political character seems to be shaped by personal disappointments and run-of-the-mill humiliations. Imelda is wounded not only by the philandering of Ferdinand (Chris Renfro) but by an even more painful injury inflicted by her first love, Ninoy Aquino (Joshua Dela Cruz), a politician determined to become the voice of his people.
Ninoy recognizes an essential incompatibility between them. Imelda lives for love while he has political work to do. He bids her adieu in the song “Opposite Attraction,” though fate will bring them together after Imelda and her husband gain power and Ninoy, as the leading opposition figure, becomes their prisoner and eventual victim of the chaos unleashed by their regime.
Joan Almedilla and the company of “Here Lies Love” at the Mark Taper Forum.
(Jeff Lorch)
Unfolding under the theatrical auspices of Imeldific, “Here Lies Love” retells the history of the Marcos years as a musical pageant. Imelda’s transformation, from shy, lowly country girl to “Iron Butterfly,” covering up her shame with jewelry from Tiffany and revealing a will every bit as hard as the diamonds she flaunts, is presented with music so catchy and compulsive that it has the force of historical inevitability
The grooves supplied by Byrne and Slim take not just the characters but the audience on a ride through a brutal anti-democratic period. Does the disco spectacle aesthetic treat this history too lightly?
The production seems wary of this criticism. A program note from dramaturg Ely Sonny Orquiza, attuned to the sensitivities of the large Filipino diaspora in Los Angeles, notes that the production, “featuring an all-Filipino cast and majority-AAPI creative team, is not intended as a definitive or comprehensive history, but as an entry point for dialogue and inquiry.”
The scale of damage perpetrated by the regime is still being collectively processed. One victim, Estrella Cumpas (Carol Angeli), makes the mistake of confronting Imelda, a childhood friend, and is taken into custody. She will have to stand in for thousands of others.
The design scheme certainly doesn’t want to spoil anyone’s good time. Arnel Sancianco’s sets, Marcella Barbeau’s lighting and the more glittering of Jaymee Ngernwichit’s costumes seem to place us in a retro Euro-style disco world, where fun is typically a function of the strength of the cocktails consumed.
But there’s a countermovement in the show, the People Power Revolution that gains momentum after the assassination of Nimoy. The funeral speech of his mother (Joan Almedilla) is turned into the galvanizing protest song, “Just Ask the Flowers,” in which something as basic as maternal love wakes the country to the madness around them. Desai, whose directorialwork at the Taper thus far has brought together rave and rebellion, smoothly merges the Dionysian frenzy of the music with the nonviolent revolution that ended Ferdinand Marcos’ protracted dictatorship in 1986.
Dela Cruz’s stirring Ninoy standing tall against the patriarchal savagery of Renfro’s Ferdinand and the petty vindictiveness of Acasio’s well-drawn Imelda is a powerful call to action. Byrne and Slim’s score insists that not even death can stop the beat of this democratic spirit.
The production points out at the end that another Marcos, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Ferdinand and Imelda’s son, is now president. Perhaps the show’s final number can shed light: “God draws straight, but with crooked lines.”
‘Here Lies Love’
Where: Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 7 p.m. Sundays. (Check for exceptions.) Ends April 5
Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.
This week we lost two towering figures with the deaths of Robert Duvall and Frederick Wiseman.
Duvall, who died at 95 at his home in Virginia, was known as an actor for roles in films such as “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and countless more. As a director, his work included “The Apostle” and a handful of other projects.
Robert Duvall in the movie “Apocalypse Now.”
(CBS Photo Archive / Getty Images)
The movies team published a list of 10 of our favorite performances, including “Tender Mercies,” for which he won an Academy Award, as well as “Network,” “The Great Santini” and “Widows.”
Wiseman, who died at 96 in Cambridge, Mass., directed more than 45 documentary features beginning with 1967’s “Titicut Follies” on through 2023’s “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troigros.” His work was known for its rigorous examinations of systems and institutions, giving viewers insights into why things functioned the way they did.
Frederick Wiseman, photographed at the Venice Film Festival in 2014.
(David Azia / Associated Press)
“The institution is also just an excuse to observe human behavior in somewhat defined conditions,” Wiseman told the Associated Press in 2020. “The films are as much about that as they are about institutions.”
Tribute screenings have already started to pop up in tribute to Duvall, with presumably more for both men on the way.
‘Sunshine’ in 35mm
Rose Byrne in the 2007 movie “Sunshine.”
(Alex Bailey / Twentieth Century Fox)
The collaboration between director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland has yielded an ongoing examination of societies in varying stages of collapse, lately in their recent revival of the “28 Years Later” series. Among their other works is 2007’s “Sunshine,” which, while seen as something of a disappointment on initial release, has only grown in esteem in the years since. The Academy Museum will screen the movie on 35mm Friday in the Ted Mann Theater.
In 2057, Earth is freezing as the sun has begun to die. An international crew of astronauts — including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong and Chris Evans — are dispatched with the improbable mission of reigniting the sun. When they encounter another ship along the way, things begin to go very wrong.
In his review, Kenneth Turan wrote, “Not reflected in a synopsis is the way screenwriter Garland has made ‘Sunshine’ a thoughtful genre film, one with philosophical concerns about God, man and morality. It’s not for nothing that Icarus’ talking computer echoes Hal of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ Garland and Boyle also have devoted time and effort to character psychology, to making the members of the Icarus’ crew into recognizable people and not Hollywood stick figures. … All these good things enable us to buy into ‘Sunshine’s’ story for a considerable span, creating a palpable tension that underlines that no one should feel safe in the far reaches of space.”
John Horn also wrote an extensive production story on the film. Referring to delays in the editing process, which caused a delay in the film’s release, Boyle said, “No director, unless they are contractually obligated, will ever go back and do a sequel set in space. When I finished it in January, I would have said no, it wasn’t worth it. Because I fell out with everybody. To make these movies, you have to be so uncompromising and scorch all of the ground in front of you.”
Slamdance Film Festival
Vondie Curtis-Hall in the movie “The Projectionist,” the opening night film of the 2026 Slamdance Film Festival.
(Slamdance Film Festival)
The Slamdance Film Festival has launched its second year in Los Angeles, running through Feb. 25 with screenings at the DGA, Landmark Sunset and 2220 Arts + Archives. The virtual edition of the festival will run from Feb. 24–March 6 on the Slamdance Channel.
The festival opened with the world premiere of Alexandre Rockwell’s “The Projectionist.” Starring Vondie Curtis-Hall along with Kasi Lemmons and Kevin Corrigan, the film tells the story of a lonely film projectionist confronting his past.
Rockwell, who, in 1992 won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance with “In the Soup,” lauded Slamdance as “a festival that embodies the vital spirit of independent film better than anywhere.”
Among other notable titles in this year’s program is “The Untitled Ruby Slippers Documentary” directed by Seth Gordon and Nikki Calabrese, the story of the theft and recovery of one of the most famous pieces of Hollywood movie memorabilia. Gordon’s “The King of Kong” premiered at Slamdance in 2007.
Points of interest
‘A Thousand and One’
Teyana Taylor in the movie “A Thousand and One.”
(Aaron Ricketts / Focus Features)
Teyana Taylor is an Oscar nominee for her performance in “One Battle After Another.” (She’s also a recent guest on “The Envelope” podcast.) She got that role after “One Battle” director Paul Thomas Anderson saw Taylor’s performance in “A Thousand and One,” written and directed by A.V. Rockwell. Vidiots will show the movie Saturday.
In the film Taylor plays Inez, recently released from jail in New York City and attempting to reconnect with her son who has been in the foster system. When an opportunity presents itself, she impulsively abducts him and tries to get them set up in a new life together.
In her review of the film, Katie Walsh noted that Taylor “brings to her astonishing performance the coiled physicality of a panther ready to pounce.” Walsh added, “The film is utterly absorbing, anchored by the unpredictable performance of Taylor, playing a hopelessly complicated, but deeply caring woman. When faced with dire circumstances, she survives, then dares to imagine a life for Terry beyond the cycle she’s experienced, forging a family unit she never had.”
Sonaiya Kelley spoke to both Rockwell and Taylor about the film. Taylor said of the part, “I was drawn to the role before I even read the whole script. … A lot of the emotions I put onto Inez were real emotions from real triggers.”
‘Dont Look Back’
Bob Dylan in the documentary “Dont Look Back.”
(Criterion Collection)
As part of an ongoing series, the Academy Museum will show D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 “Dont Look Back” in the David Geffen Theater with doc director Joan Churchill in person to introduce the film.
A pioneering work of cinema verité, the film tags along on Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England, capturing a period of heady creative evolution. As Dylan plays a series of shows, he is also seen in various hotel rooms, cutting down journalists and others with a self-regarding wit.
As Charles Champlin said in his 1967 review, “The technical shortcomings deliberately enhance the atmosphere of claustrophobic chaos surrounding a pop idol on tour. And this, after all, is what the film is about. … [Dylan’s] milieu and its hangers-on are by no means uniformaly attractive. But after this skillful and exhaustive piece of film reportage, no one need ask what it and they and he are really like. The camera has become an X-ray.”
