Latest news with #Dr.Strangelove
Los Angeles Times
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Even if strikes were successful, that doesn't mean Iran's nuclear ambitions are gone
To the editor: Multiple things can be true at the same time. Our Air Force personnel may have been very brave and executed their mission flawlessly, our massive bombs may have worked perfectly and the underground facility at Fordo may have been obliterated, but still that does not mean Iran's nuclear program was destroyed and it certainly doesn't mean its nuclear ambitions have ended ('U.S. strikes crippled Iran's nuclear program, Israeli analysis finds,' June 25). Satellite imagery showed a massive convoy of trucks going in and out of Fordo just days before the strikes. Were they there to change the drapes? It seems impossible the facility could have been moved in a day, but 900 pounds of radioactive dust? If it was packed to go, even Amazon could have delivered that. And speaking of radiation, where is it? Ending Iran's nuclear ambitions? Did Pearl Harbor end America's will to fight World War II? It is truly no insult to the Air Force to say they may have destroyed Fordo but not saved the world. Israel's strategy to bring us into the war by bombing first mirrors that of General Turgidson in 'Dr. Strangelove.' Let's hope our apparently successful demolition of the mountain laboratory doesn't mirror the ending of that movie. Gary Davis, Los Angeles
Vancouver Sun
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Canada Day in Metro Vancouver: Here's a list of free concerts and performances
If you're looking for a way to celebrate Canada Day on a (Canadian) dime, we've got you covered. Many municipalities across Metro Vancouver host celebrations annually on July 1 with family-friendly activities, food trucks, beer gardens and more. The best part? Most will also include live entertainment and don't require admission to enjoy. (Ticketmaster who?) Some Canada Day events have been able to land big-name headliners, making for a pretty spectacular celebration. Here's a roundup of all the free concerts happening on Canada Day around Metro Vancouver. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. We will continue updating this listing as more headliners and event details are shared. Keep checking back for updates. Where: Civic Square, Central Boulevard and Central Park When: 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. More info: Burnaby has several events throughout the city on July 1 but the show to see will be at StreetFest, where MAGIC! — 'Why you gotta be so rude?' — will headline at 9:10 p.m., followed by fireworks. Other acts include Asad Khan (formerly known as Khanvict) and friends, Kaeley Jade , and Haleluya Hailu . Where: Town Centre Park When: 12 to 10:30 p.m. More info: Coquitlam will keep it funky with Dr. Strangelove as this year's musical headliner. The group covers a range of top 40 hits and classic party favourites and will certainly keep the crowd entertained. Where: Castle Park When: 1 p.m. to dusk More info: The boys in the bright white sports car will be speeding into Port Coquitlam on Canada Day. Canadian icons Trooper will perform in Castle Park alongside Aaron Pritchett . Where: Steveston Village When: Noon to 7 p.m. More info: There's no tradition quite like the Steveston Salmon Festival on Canada Day, having started back in 1944. This year, there will be two music zones featuring performances from Ten Souljers and Aristo-Cats, as well as the ever-popular Dr. Strangelove. Where: Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre When: From 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. More info: Surrey's celebrations regularly pull in massive crowds, thanks to big musical acts that spread across genres. This year's show will be headlined by Canadian country duo The Reklaws (who most recently appeared on America's Got Talent), pop singer-songwriter Goldie Boutilier , and Indigenous rocker Garret T. Willie . Where: John Lawson Park When: 4 to 9 p.m. More info: West Vancouver's Canada Day celebration will be headlined by Trilojay, a local events band that will appeal to people of all ages. Their song list includes hits from artists like Bruno Mars, U2, Ginuwine, DNCE, Daft Punk, and more. Where: White Rock Waterfront When: Starts at 12 p.m. More info: It's not quite the Guess Who but it's close. White Rock's celebration will be headlined by The Guess Who Tribute , playing iconic hits by Canadian rock legends the Guess Who and Burton Cummings. Meanwhile, White Rock's own DJ James T will perform throughout the day, along with a performance by B.C.-based pop artist and songwriter Richard Tichelman . Know of a free concert on Canada Day that should be included on this list? Email us at sip@ .
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How narcissism became everyone's obsession
It's a testament of our time that one of the best movies of 2025, HBO's "The Mountainhead," has a "Dr. Strangelove" level of absurdity in its plotting, and yet feels almost understated in its satire of the ridiculousness of our era. (Short spoiler warning.) It follows four tech bros over a day in which the entire world literally falls into chaos and civil war, due to the release of disinformation-sowing social media tools, with the implication that millions of people are killed in 24 hours. But our billionaire protagonists — played by Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef — are only interested in leveraging the situation to gather more money, power, and status for themselves. Throughout, the characters routinely name-drop philosophers and authors they've obviously never read while indulging bizarre fantasies of living forever and ruling the universe as benevolent dictators. Still, "The Mountainhead" can't compete with reality. After all, an allegedly ketamine-addled Elon Musk callously cut life-saving aid for hundreds of thousands of people by destroying USAID, all while continuing to claim he's humanity's savior because he will someday colonize Mars. (He will not.) The movie works only because it's ruthless in its portrayal of the ego delusion that fuels so much of Silicon Valley's C-suites, as the tech industry enters its snake oil phase. Writer and director Jesse Armstrong never indulges the urge to humanize his narcissistic main characters by giving them secret soft sides or limits on their self-regard. At one point, the Musk stand-in character even asks if other people are real, and concludes they are not. Everywhere you look online these days, people are talking about narcissism. TikTok is replete with advice, most of it questionable, on how to tell if someone is a narcissist. The subreddit /raisedbynarcissists has over 1 million members. Social media in general is a place where accusations of the disorder fly wildly, and often unfairly. But it wasn't always like this. A decade ago, narcissism was a little-discussed personality disorder, especially compared to more stigmatized diagnoses, like sociopathy or borderline personality disorder. I'd say many people weren't even aware that it is a psychological condition. Even still to this day, the word "narcissist" gets misused to describe people who are merely snobbish or egotistical. Still, there's value in all this discourse. It's raised awareness that narcissism is a real psychological disorder, and helped a lot of people make sense of abuse or other relationship issues they've dealt with in the immediate and obvious impetus for this trend is Donald Trump living the narcissist's dream of being an inescapable presence for the past decade. I am not a psychologist and cannot diagnose anyone. However, there is no denying that, regardless of what checklist of narcissistic traits you pull from whatever medical website, Trump fits every one to a comical degree. (This is also the case with sociopathy, which often comes along with narcissism.) For instance, narcissists insist they need the biggest or best of everything, and Trump insists he deserves a free private jet from Qatar because the one provided by the U.S. government isn't as "impressive." Trump routinely claims to be perfect. "I don't really believe I've made any mistakes," Trump declared in April. During his first campaign, he claimed he was a Christian, but he has never asked for God's forgiveness. When later asked why not, he clarified that because he believes he doesn't make mistakes. He's called himself a king and a messiah. He frequently brags about his looks in a way that is utterly out of touch with reality, calling his body "perfect." His supporters laugh at this, as if he's joking, but if you pay attention to his tone when he says these things, it's clear he is not kidding. But it isn't just Trump. The omnipresence of narcissists at the levers of power in our country is the direct cause of so much of our current political misery. Musk's messianic self-regard is not unique to him, but seems to be a quality binding the tech leaders who have taken a hard turn to the right in recent years, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen. Liberals are right to be worried about this phenomenon because narcissists aren't just annoying, they're dangerous, especially when they have power and money. And yet there is little doubt that these dudes have sucked millions of Americans into validating their delusion self-regard. Trump's loyal supporters speak of him as if he were a messiah, often literally claiming God sent him to save them. Musk has an army of blind loyalists online, mostly young men who buy into the myth that he's a super-genius, not seeing that his only real skill is being a B.S. artist who takes credit for other people's work. These men's power depends on persuading millions to believe the narcissist's view of himself. It's a trick used by nearly every cult leader. YouTube essayist Lindsay Ellis released an intriguing video in 2021 about why narcissists are often such popular characters in movies and TV shows, with examples like Loki in the Marvel movies or Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development." Narcissists are fun to watch in fiction because they act out in ways that most of us would occasionally like to do, if we weren't hobbled by concerns like empathy for others or facing accountability for our actions. We get a vicarious thrill from watching the narcissist run roughshod over people's feelings or exploit others without shame. But, as she notes, these characters are almost always villains. If they have a face turn towards the good, they get rewritten as people who have empathy — not narcissists at all, just people with high but non-disordered levels of self-centeredness. But the fun that movie audiences have with narcissistic villains goes a long way towards explaining the hold that men like Musk and Trump have over their fans. That they're evil is why their supporters love them. Their followers enjoy the fantasy of being able to treat people with shameless cruelty, without fear of reprisal. When Musk hops on Twitter to defame people with wild accusations, his fanboys thrill. When Trump mocks disabled people or victims of violence at his rallies, his audiences lap it up. Ordinary folks can't treat people like these two, for fear of being fired, sued or shunned. But they get a taste of the sadistic fantasy by rooting for the villains. Social media, unfortunately, makes the situation worse. It puts a gloss of entertainment on behavior that is not fictional. When Musk destroys life-saving programs or Trump deports innocent people to put them in foreign torture prisons, it's mediated for their followers through their screens and online jokes and memes. Many of them might not find it so fun to watch an innocent person be tortured if they had to see it with their own eyes. But watching Trump and Musk do it from afar makes it feel like a TV show. We see this in the increasing number of stories about Trump voters freaking out when family members or friends get deported. It's fun for them when they see it on Twitter, but in real life, it's harder to swallow. Yet they will continue to back Trump for the same reason that audiences line up to see Tom Hiddleston play Loki in the movies: The unreality of social media allows them to feel that real life is just a fun, if sadistic, fantasy. As for the rest of us, I think the fascination with narcissists isn't just about surviving an era where we're terrorized by them; it is also about our egos. The fear of being narcissistic understandably haunts so many of us in an era of social media, where the ability to get attention is treated as the measure of a person's worth. How many followers do you have? How many views can you make money for our tech overlords by increasing the engagement on the free content you provided on their platform? It creates a very real worry that we're becoming so self-obsessed we're losing touch with our humanity. On one hand, people shouldn't worry that they will develop clinical narcissism, which has causes other than "I spend too much time on Instagram." On the other hand, one doesn't need to be a narcissist to hurt people with your ego. Former president Joe Biden isn't a narcissist — he clearly has empathy for other people — but he does have an ego so large it veers into self-delusion. And that unwillingness to see his own weaknesses caused immeasurable harm, by convincing him to stay far too long in a campaign he could not win. Politics probably pushed Biden too far in the ego direction. For the rest of us, there is a real danger from the incentives towards egotism on social media. It is making us more callous and less thoughtful to others. It allows us to rationalize cheating and lying, which is why ordinary people who don't have psychological disorders all too often gleefully share disinformation. Social media was meant to connect people to each other, but it's encouraging people to turn inward in ways that harm them and others. It's probably why voting for Trump got easier for some folks after they spent way too much time online. So yeah, it's good to hate on narcissism. Maybe it will convince more of us to try a little harder to be less self-obsessed.
Axios
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Paramount Theatre's summer film series returns
The Paramount Theatre's annual summer classic film series kicks off Thursday for its 51st year with 100 films from every era in cinema history — all screening at the historic 110-year-old downtown theater. Why it matters: During the Texas summer, it's hard to beat sitting in the air-conditioned dark, munching on popcorn and staring up at the big screen. What they're saying: "This year's lineup offers something for every film lover, from rare 70mm presentations to beloved classics celebrating significant anniversaries," Stephen Jannise, senior director of film programming at the Paramount, said in a news release. The movies are as diverse as "Boogie Nights" and "Dr. Strangelove," "The Big Lebowski" and "Working Girl," "Selena" and "All the President's Men." Fun favorites include "Miss Congeniality" and "Clueless." On June 11, novelist Katherine Center will join Austin actors Jared and Genevieve Padalecki for a special "Rom Com Night" and conversation, followed by a screening of the Rob Reiner romance classic "When Harry Met Sally." What's next: The series begins with Thursday's double feature of "Casablanca" at 7pm and "Breathless" at 9pm. On Saturday, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez will offer an in-person introduction of two 40th anniversary favorites, Martin Scorsese's "After Hours" and the rarely seen gem "Into the Night" starring Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, and David Bowie. "The Empire Strikes Back," arguably the best Star Wars movie, screens Sunday at 3pm. Other movies earmarked as the family film series this summer include "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Matilda," "The Goonies" and "The Sound of Music." If you go: Admission is $15 — including a $3 preservation fee for the theater — which covers both films in a double-feature.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Eddington' Review: Ari Aster's Explosive, Satirical Neo-Western Takes A Big Swing At MAGA Culture
How do you make a satirical movie about modern America when the news that comes out of there every day is quite literally beyond a joke? Ari Aster is one of the rare directors willing to go there, and his new film Eddington is extraordinary not only for that but for depicting a slice of history that we have yet to see properly shown on film, even though it happened only five years ago. Dressed up as a neo-noir Western, this pandemic saga drips with the kind of biting, dark political humor hardly seen much since the heyday of screenwriter and novelist Terry Southern, author of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. The setting — late May 2020 — is crucial: Covid-19 has just become a thing, and the residents of Eddington in Sevilla County are getting used to life with masks and social distancing. Most comply, but others are skeptical, including Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix), who, in the film's opening scenes, is pulled up by cops from the neighboring district of Santa Lupe Pueblo. Cross is a maverick cop, but one with a good heart; instead of enforcing the law, he subverts it, letting the locals get away with minor infractions, on the grounds that the town is tiny and the virus won't be getting there anytime soon. More from Deadline 'Eddington' Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler & More 'Eddington' Cannes Premiere Gets Nearly Seven-Minute Ovation That Moves Joaquin Phoenix To Tears Kristen Stewart's 'The Chronology Of Water' Flows To 6½-Minute Ovation After Cannes Premiere His views collide with those of the town's mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal), a local bar owner who briefly dated Joe's wife Louise, now recovering from a nervous breakdown. Her rehabilitation is going slowly, not helped by the fact that her mother, Dawn (Deidre O'Connell), is staying with them and shows no signs of leaving. Dawn is a conspiracy nut and, as such, has been 'doing her own research' into the genesis of the pandemic. This, though, is just the thin end of the wedge; Dawn spreads all kinds of misinformation in the town, from the speculation that the wrong boat sank instead of the Titanic to the fact that Hillary Clinton has been arrested and is already languishing in Gitmo. RELATED: In this respect, the subtext of Eddington is that the devil will find work for idle hands to do. In ordinary times, the likes of Dawn would be dismissed as crackpots, but in pandemic limbo, with everyone bored and at a loose end, her weird suppositions start to get traction, sending everyone down internet rabbit holes. She even gets to Joe — who took over the role of sheriff after Louise's father died seven years before — when Dawn taunts the pair of them over the breakfast table. 'Where's your anger, Lou?' she says. 'Where's your anger, Joe?' Joe's anger isn't immediately apparent, but it does prompt him to stand for mayor against Garcia, a move he announces over social media. This piques Garcia's concern, and the pair meet for a High Noon-style showdown scored with a suitably Western sting courtesy of composer Daniel Pemberton. Affronted by what he sees as Garcia's condescension, Joe doubles down on his bid for mayor and turns his squad car into a campaign vehicle, complete with anti-lockdown signs with slogans that say, for one example, 'Your (sic) being manipulated.' The outside world, meanwhile, is about to boil over with its myriad lockdown frustrations, and, in a very bold gambit, Aster uses the real-life killing of George Floyd as the catalyst that brings bitter chaos to the middle of nowhere. The local college kids form their own branch of Black Lives Matter and stage a protest, which Joe does his best to tamp down in his so-far perfectly serviceable way (he is, after all the kind of man who says 'super-duper, thank you very much'). But the rebellion is real, and it starts to dawn on Joe that the regular tools of small-town politicking are woefully inadequate in this strange new world, where news spreads more like a malignant virus than wildfire. RELATED: Although less confrontational than Aster's last film Beau Is Afraid, Eddington is certainly going to divide audiences with its ambitious mix of genres — without spoiling the first of several shocking twists, he pivots midway from gentle Western pastiche to bloody neo-noir, with a middle section that resembles the stylish early '90s westerns of American director John Dahl. But more explosive is its approach to American politics; from Bitcoin to Pizzagate, TikTok to vaccine denial, Eddington takes aim at all the quirks and absurdities of President Trump's administration and how its compliant MAGA zealots have radicalized whole generations of a country once known for its compassion. At the film's first screening in Cannes, the largely international audience seemed nonplussed with its blending of fiction and reality, not quite grasping the significance of the references that pepper the screen, from Dr. Fauci to George Soros, Tucker Carlson, Kyle Rittenhouse and, God save us all, even Marjorie Taylor Greene. But though all its parts don't quite knit together, Eddington is what you might call a big swing, a film that's more serious than it first seems, seeing Covid as the Big Bang that landed us right where we are now. It's about the elephant in the room: the emergent likes of QAnon, 4Chan and the Proud Boys, things that did more damage than Covid ever did, leaving a raw, still-festering wound. Without ceremony or mercy, Eddington rips the Band-Aid off, and not everyone is going to want to look at, or think about, what's there underneath it. Title: EddingtonFestival: Cannes (Competition)Director-screenwriter: Ari AsterCast: Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Luke Grimes, Deidre O'ConnellDistributor: A24Running time: 2 hr 25 min RELATED: Best of Deadline Broadway's 2024-2025 Season: All Of Deadline's Reviews Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winners Through The Years Deadline Studio At Sundance Film Festival Photo Gallery: Dylan O'Brien, Ayo Edebiri, Jennifer Lopez, Lily Gladstone, Benedict Cumberbatch & More
