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Vogue Singapore
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue Singapore
The best films that celebrate fatherhood in all its joys and complexities
This weekend marks Father's Day—the time dedicated each year to honouring the profound impact and invaluable contributions that fathers and father figures make in our lives. Be it with a new watch or a celebratory meal, take this Sunday to express your appreciation for Dad. Afterwards, wind down with a pertinent film from Vogue Singapore's lineup that shines a spotlight on fatherhood. Admittedly, for some of us, the holiday is more poignant than it is celebratory. Not all of our relationships with Dad are perfect. Navigating it can be tricky; communication may go awry, boundaries may be overstepped, and a rift grows. How then, do we go about mending old wounds and patching up an imperfect relationship? An age-old question that hits close to home for many grappling with imperfect parent figures—many films have sought to explore these nuances of fatherhood and the sacrifices we each make in the name of love. Heartwarming and indubitably moving, these films paint a powerful portrait of the unique challenges and responsibilities our fathers bear. They provide a glimpse into the multifaceted experience of fatherhood—the struggles of achieving work-life balance and, as per the Will Smith film title, the pursuit of happiness—as they endeavour to create a nurturing environment for their children given their circumstances. Through the lens of cinema, these are the titles that promise to open our eyes to the joys and challenges of fatherhood and perhaps allow us to glean a newfound appreciation for the father figures in our lives. Here, see Vogue Singapore's curation of films to delve into this Father's Day. Courtesy of A24 1 / 7 The Whale (2022) The Whale sees Brendan Fraser's glorious return to the big screen as Charlie, a lonesome English teacher in Idaho struggling with severe obesity. He desires to reach out and make amends with his teenage daughter (Sadie Sink), and have one last shot at reconciliation. Courtesy of Fuji Television 2 / 7 After the Storm (2016) Hirokazu Koreeda has a knack for family films, and After the Storm proves no different. Hiroshi Abe plays struggling writer Ryota Shinoda, who is now working as a private detective. A quiet, understated capture of a man whose life bears the weight of his own choices in the past—when he divorced his ex-wife Kyōko (Yōko Maki), and thus left his 11-year-old son without a stable father figure. Harbouring a complicated relationship with his mother and his ex-wife, the film takes a vulnerable turn one stormy night, when he blatantly attempts to have Kyōko and their son, Shingo, stay the night—revealing his yearning for the family he had once estranged himself from. Courtesy of Amazon Studios 3 / 7 Beautiful Boy (2018) In this biographical drama, Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell star as father and son—Nicolas and David. Beautiful Boy explores Nic and his father's lives from his adolescence into his twenties as he battles his drug addiction and the torturous cycle of recovery and relapse. Courtesy of A24 4 / 7 C'mon C'mon (2021) In C'mon C'mon , Joaquin Phoenix takes on the role of an emotionally stunted radio journalist unexpectedly saddled with the responsibility of caring for his young nephew Jesse (Woody Norman). Their bond, deeply moving and utterly transformational, stand as proof that fatherhood goes beyond blood. Courtesy of A24 5 / 7 Aftersun (2022) On a summer holiday with her father (Paul Mescal), 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) treasures the rare time they spend together. For Sophie, who's on the precipice of adolescence, her father's struggle with the weight of life outside parenthood escapes her eye. 20 years later, as she attempts to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't, her memories of their last vacation together paint a tender, heartbreaking picture of their relationship. Courtesy of Fuji Television Network Inc. 6 / 7 Like Father, Like Son (2013) When a blood test reveals that two babies were switched at birth, their disparate families are forced together to make a difficult decision. Made to choose between his biological son and the one he raised as his own, wealthy businessman Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) is confronted with what it means to truly be a father. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures 7 / 7 King Richard (2021) In this biographical sports drama, Will Smith plays Richard Williams, father and coach of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams (Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton respectively). Coming from an unprivileged background, it is with his support and guidance that the sisters rise to dominate the field of women's tennis—eventually becoming the famed athletes we know them as today. With both sisters listed as executive producers on the project, Serena Williams has expressed that the film is a great opportunity for audiences to see how amazing African-American fathers are.
The Guardian
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
My cultural awakening: A Timothée Chalamet drama made me leave my partner – and check him into rehab
Two summers ago, I met a man on a dating app who would become my boyfriend. The red flags were there from the start, but I ignored them all. When I stayed at his, he didn't have a towel to offer me, and he never changed his sheets. It became obvious that he didn't know how to look after himself. Even though, in reality, he could survive without me (similar to how a teenage boy would survive on his own, eating burgers in bed), I felt like, if I wasn't there to buy groceries, cook and clean, he might die. He would disappear for days, on a drink- or drugs-fuelled bender, and I'd assume he'd overdosed in a basement somewhere. I lived in fear that something terrible would happen to him. I became his boyfriend and his caregiver. This was a familiar role for me: I'd done it in all my previous relationships. I needed to be needed. If the person I was dating didn't need me, then what value did I have? I found safety in taking care of someone. This started as a family dynamic: as the eldest child, I had to look out for my younger brothers, and learned to overlook my own needs. Then, when I was 14, my girlfriend died in a drug-related car accident. My therapist helped me to see the connection; that because I couldn't save her, I sought romantic relationships with men or women I thought I could save instead. One evening, after being recommended it by Netflix, I began watching Beautiful Boy, a film about the breakdown of a father's relationship with his son, who is an addict. It was about halfway through that I decided to leave my relationship. When Steve Carell's character (David) hangs up on Timothée Chalamet (Nic), saying, 'I wish I could help you, but I can't do that,' I knew I couldn't either. I admired the strength it took to end the cycle of trying (and failing) to save his son. Even though he was my boyfriend and three years older, I related to the father-son dynamic in Beautiful Boy. I felt responsible for him, and he would tell me that he would die without me, threatening to take his own life. Until then, I hadn't seen how much I was damaging myself by trying to help him. And that I would never be able to, not really. He had to learn how to take care of himself. As David says: 'I don't think you can save people.' Despite deciding to end the relationship in September 2023, I didn't take action until October, when I cheated on him. I felt I had to do something irreparable that would make it impossible for us to stay together. I told him what I'd done over the phone, then I called his mum to tell her about his drug problem. I don't think she knew: she lived in another country and he hid it from her. Finally, I called a psychiatric facility and did all of the admin to make sure that he would be taken care of, and then never spoke to him again. The guilt I felt was overpowered by the feeling that this was something I had to do. That was my last codependent relationship. I have a new boyfriend, who tells me that my company alone is enough. I'm the most peaceful I've ever been, but sometimes the voice that says I'm only lovable if I'm useful comes back. If I try to cook for my boyfriend when I'm tired and he tells me I don't have to, I can spiral. But slowly, with help, I'm building a sense of self that doesn't rely on being of service. Beautiful Boy helped me see that I don't need to take care of someone else to have value. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion You can tell us how a cultural moment has prompted you to make a major life change by filling in the form below or emailing us on Please include as much detail as possible Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first. Action on Addiction is available on 0300 330 0659.
Winnipeg Free Press
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Setting the record straight
This competent celebrity biography has been designed and executed largely as a work of advocacy. If any living celebrity deserves such treatment, it might be Japanese-American artist and activist Yoko Ono, given the mountains of abuse, much of it sexist and racist, she has endured over her long life. Now 92 and largely absent from the public glare, Ono will be forever remembered as the widow of Beatle John Lennon and the woman blamed in the popular imagination for the breakup of the 20th century's most enduring pop group. STEVE SANDS / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES In this August 1980 photo, Lennon and Ono arrive at recording studio The Hit Factory, less than four months before Lennon was murdered. This accusation has been refuted many times by people close to the Beatles, even by its other members. But American journalist and author David Sheff puts the charge firmly to rest by assembling much evidence that Lennon was on his way out the door from the Fab Four by the time he met Ono at her Manhattan art exhibition in 1966. In her highbrow circles, remember, the Beatles were nowhere men. 'It's possible the band stayed together longer than they would have because of Yoko,' Sheff writes. 'She accompanied John — literally holding his hand sometimes — to the sessions that resulted in the final Beatles albums.… John was miserable then. If Yoko hadn't agreed to stay by his side, he might have left earlier.' Sheff, 69, has been Ono's friend since he interviewed her and Lennon for Playboy magazine shortly before Lennon's assassination on Dec. 8, 1980. Ono gave Sheff permission to use Lennon's song Beautiful Boy as the title of his gruelling memoir of his son Nic's meth addiction. That 2008 book earned rave reviews and was adapted into a 2018 movie starring Steve Carrell and Timothée Chalamet. Yoko is not the only full biography of Ono, but it is the first one to be given co-operation from people close to her, including son Sean and his older half-sister Kyoko. The result is a well-rounded though routine portrait of an artist, not entirely flattering but always sympathetic. It depicts her as a pioneering feminist and social activist, a ground-breaking conceptual artist and musician, and a resilient person whose life has been rife with adversity. Ono was born in 1933 into the wealthiest circle of Japan's aristocracy. But her parents were cold and distant. She did not meet her father, an international banker, until she was two-and-a-half years old, when her heiress mother took her to live with him in the U.S. LOUIS LANZANO / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Ono, seen in New York in 2000. She was back in Tokyo during the Second World War to witness the city's bombing. She and her younger brother were sent to the country for safe keeping, where they often went hungry. As a teen, she attempted suicide more than once. Sheff shows how these seminal experiences gave rise to her fierce anti-war sentiments, culminating perhaps in her and John's famous bed-in for peace in Montreal in 1969. She left Japan in 1952 to enrol at New York's chic women's liberal arts college Sarah Lawrence. While there she discovered her artistic calling, eventually becoming an integral part of New York's avant-garde Fluxus art movement. She married her first husband, a Japanese modern composer, in 1956, divorcing him within in a couple years. She also married a second time, to an American, and had her daughter, Kyoko, by him. That marriage also faltered. Ono's relentless focus on her work and, later, drug-taking with Lennon, resulted in a long period of estrangement from Kyoko. Ono's conceptual art was noted for its intentional ephemerality and for its focus on audience participation. Sheff convincingly shows how her signature 'instruction pieces' align with her contribution to the lyrics of Lennon's classic 1971 song Imagine. Her 14 years with Lennon comprise less than one-sixth of her life, but make up almost half the book. Despite their different backgrounds, Sheff notes, they bonded over childhood feelings of loneliness and parental rejection. To emphasize who wore the pants (and managed the money) in the relationship, Sheff always groups them as 'Yoko and John,' never 'John and Yoko.' Sheff acknowledges Ono is far from perfect. She could be imperious with employees. She was as distracted a mother as her own mother was. She was often duped by the psychics and numerologists she consulted all her life, many of them outright con men. For Sean's birthday party in 1984, she invited a raft of New York celebrities — just what every nine year-old wants. Yoko: A Biography Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Within a year of Lennon's death, she had a new live-in lover, the couple's former interior designer, 19 years her junior. She kept him under wraps for almost 20 years before changing the locks on her Dakota Apartments suite when he was out of town. Yet she kept on trucking. In her 70s and 80s, Ono's artistic and musical reputation grew, and she was regularly feted with retrospectives. The Vancouver Art Gallery played host to a big one, Growing Freedom, in 2022. That she has reached her 90s, given decades of smoking — Sheff does not report if she has quit — must be a testament to good, if not instant, karma. At this point, to paraphrase Imagine, above her is only sky. Morley Walker is a retired Free Press editor and writer.
Metro
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Inside 'feud' between John Lennon's sons as Sean Ono speaks out
Sean Ono Lennon has spoken out about his 'feud' with his half-brother Julian Lennon, following years of reported bad blood. John Lennon and his second wife Yoko Ono are the subject of a new film titled One to One: John and Yoko, that focuses on the couple's controversial relationship in a brief moment in the 1970s. The couple's son Sean was involved in the project and oversaw audio mastering for the concert footage. The film has reignited interest in the couple and their family, and has led to speculation about a feud between Lennon's two children. Sean, 49, has now shared a post to encourage fans to respect the fact that there is no feud and that they have a good relationship. 'Here, we do not accept comparisons and erroneous creations of fights about two people that John Lennon loved the most: his children,' read a post from a Lennon fan account, which Sean reposted to his Instagram Stories. He also added: 'Peace and much love.' The text was written on top of an image of Sean and Julian, 62, Lennon's son with his first wife Cynthia Powell, at the 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, when they inducted Elvis Presley. In the image, Sean would have been around 11, while his half-brother would have been around 23. The relationship between the brothers has been a point of speculation from Beatles fans online for several months. Some have highlighted Julian's comments about his step-mother Ono, as evidence of tensions, with claims he had to buy back letters he had written to his father because she refused to give them to him. In 1996, he sued his father's estate and revealed in 1999 on The Dini Petty Show that he used some of that money to buy some of the other items that once belonged to his father. However, in the same interview, any negative feelings towards his stepmother were separate from his half-brother. Julian explained he only had warm feelings towards his little brother, who was caught in the middle of a difficult situation. Other TikTok sleuths speculated that Julian had been abandoned by his father after Lennon wrote the song Beautiful Boy about his younger son Sean and not his elder son. In December 2024, Julian shared images of him spending one one-on-one time where they sat down for dinner together. The black and white images showed the pair at The Dakota, a building where his father lived with Yoko and Sean, and was eventually shot in front of. 'A Goodnight kiss for my brother, after spending the evening with him, having a lil dinner & chatting the night away, at The Dakota. Something we rarely get to do… Thankful.' In 2022, Julian told People that Sean was his 'best mate'. 'We're brothers and we love each other deeply on that level,' he added. 'We just talk daily, same as anybody would.' In the same interview he revealed that he and his brother bonded over music, food, exercise, and photography, and have supported each other in recent years. He revealed that he was wary about attending a screening of the Beatles movie, Get Back, but was encouraged to go by his brother. More Trending 'But [brother] Sean was adamant and felt committed, and we were both in L.A.… so I said, 'Listen, I'll go with you. Let's go together, let's go as a team.' And it was great to do that.' Julian has previously had cancer, and in December 2024 he told fans he underwent surgery after finding two moles, on his shoulder and his forearm, one of which was Melanoma. He encouraged fans to get themselves checked: 'It only takes a short while to do so, and you may just be saving your own life, at the end of the day… so please, for the sake of yourself, your family and friends just go to your Dr and do what must be done… 'I love life and I want to live for a very long time and this is one way, and a choice, that could determine your future… I wish you all happy holidaze and a healthy long life…' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Horror fans get 'chills' from brutal I Know What You Did Last Summer trailer MORE: George Clooney baffles fans over shock confession about marriage to wife Amal MORE: Former child star Sophie Nyweide dies aged 24
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
John Lennon's son Sean Ono breaks his silence on 'feud' with half-brother Julian
John Lennon 's youngest son Sean Ono Lennon is speaking out in the face of rumors of a feud with his half-brother Julian Lennon that have circulated for decades. The 49-year-old guitarist and singer — who is the late Beatle's son with his second wife, 92-year-old Yoko Ono — has long been rumored on social media to be estranged from his older brother, who Lennon shared with his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. But Sean — who recently delivered a bizarre rant about Disney's latest live-action flop — cleared things up on Monday when he reposted a fan's post about his relationship with his 62-year-old sibling, who is also a singer and songwriter. 'Here, we do not accept comparisons and erroneous creations of fights about two people that john lennon loved the most: his children :),' wrote a John Lennon fan account, which Sean reposted to his Instagram Stories, who added, 'Peace and much love.' The post featured a sweet black-and-white image of Julian, who was around 23 at the time, as he rested his hands on Sean's shoulder affectionately at the 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where both joined in a celebration for the induction of Elvis Presley. Sean, who would have been around 11 at the time the photo, has been dogged by rumors that he and Julian have been estranged for years, but much of it seems to be driven by social media users expressing distaste for one — or both — of his famous parents. But Sean cleared things up on Monday when he reposted a fan's post about his relationship with his 62-year-old sibling, making it clear that they were on good terms Earlier this month, a user on X (formerly Twitter) collected a sampling of TikTok videos in which users suggested a rift between Lennon's lookalike sons because their father wrote the moving ballad Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) for Sean. The song was featured on Lennon's 1980 collaborative LP Double Fantasy, which alternated between songs written and performed by himself and Yoko. It was released less than a month before Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment building on December 8, 1980. Many of the posters seemed to think that Lennon had abandoned his first son, with the tribute to Sean as evidence, but they ignore the fact that Lennon was reported to have written the 1968 Beatles song Good Night for Julian. The song, which closed out the band's double LP known as the White Album, was sung by Ringo Starr at Lennon's request. Other TikTok users have highlighted Julian's past statements criticizing his stepmother as evidence of a family split. One user posted an excerpt from a talk show appearance in which the singer said he had had to buy back family items that were auctioned off by Yoko, whom he witheringly referred to as 'her highness.' He noted that the two had a rocky relationship, as she was the executor of his father's estate, so he feared any criticisms he made about the enforcement of Lennon's will could result in him being cut out completely. Earlier this month, a user on X (formerly Twitter) collected a sampling of TikTok videos in which users suggested a rift between Sean and Julian because their father wrote the moving ballad Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) for his youngest son Lennon was gunned down in NYC on December 8, 1980, at the age of 40. He was shot and killed outside the Dakota, the apartment building where he, Yoko and Sean had lived for years; seen with Yoko in August 1980 in NYC But in the same interview, Julian made it clear that he had only warm feelings toward Sean, and he claimed his younger brother was only caught in the middle of a difficult situation. Another TikTok post alleging a family feud featured an excerpt of Yoko's speech at the Beatles' 1988 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Julian could be seen making a strained face when she said that her late husband 'would have come' to the induction, which was widely interpreted as a jab at Paul McCartney, who opted not to attend the induction, though she attended with former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo. But Julian has steadfastly made it clear that he and Sean are loving siblings, even if Sean has been less vocal about their relationship over the years. In December, Julian shared some sweet black-and-white photos of the two catching up at The Dakota, the building in Manhattan where his father lived for years with Yoko and Sean before he was shot down in front of it. 'A Goodnight kiss for my brother, after spending the evening with him, having a lil dinner & chatting the night away, at The Dakota,' he wrote. Something we rarely get to do… Thankful.' Sean smiled warmly in one picture as Julian gave him a kiss on the cheek while an oddly placed photo of Yoko looked directly into the camera with a stern expression. In another photo the bearded guitarist comically held up strands of noodles as he and Julian enjoyed a takeout feast. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Julian Lennon (@julespicturepalace) The post concluded with an image of the apartment's imposing wooden double doors. In 2022, Julian bragged that Sean was his 'best mate' while chatting with People. 'We're brothers and we love each other deeply on that level,' he added. 'We just talk daily, same as anybody would.' With Sean's latest repost, he has made it clear that he and his brother are on the same page.
