Latest news with #Rey
India Today
a day ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
Why Gen Z is freaking out over The Love Hypothesis movie casting
What do you get when you mix 'Star Wars' Rey and Kylo fan fiction, a best-selling romance novel, a former 'Riverdale' star, and 'Star Wars' Daisy Ridley's real-life husband? Nope, not the start of a really niche pub quiz. This is the actual casting news behind 'The Love Hypothesis' you don't know what I am talking about, then don't worry, it'll all make sense in the next few minutes. I here's the thing. Ali Hazelwood, a renowned novelist, wrote a romantic-comedy novel called, and you guessed it, 'The Love Hypothesis'. It is about a third-year PhD candidate (Olive Smith) and a young professor (Adam Carlsen) who agree to fake date each other. Until Olive's best friend is convinced she is not single and definitely not in love with her best friend's crush. If you're a rom-com fan like me, I am sure this plot is calling for you. The book instantly became a fan favourite, and now they are converting it into a film. Now let's talk about why everybody (mostly me) is freaking out over the Hazelwood's 'The Love Hypothesis' didn't start as a story dedicated to the genre (rom-com). It was originally fan fiction. Yes, Hazelwood, just like most of us, was fangirling (more like geeking) over 'Star Wars'. I mean, who wouldn't? And she was absolutely obsessed with Rey and Kylo Ren's relationship in the movie. And she wanted to write a cute romantic story filled with some comic scenes here and there.I am sure now you have some idea where this is leading to. If not? Here's more. Recently, the announcement for the book's adaptation came through. And 'Riverdale' star Lili Reinhart was announced to play Olive. But the real twist that no one saw coming (except maybe Tumblr circa 2016) was the casting of Tom Bateman as Adam Carlsen. Tom Bateman is the real-life husband of Daisy Ridley. Why is this a big deal? Because Daisy Ridley played Rey in 'Star Wars'. Yes, the same Rey who was the inspiration behind Olive's character. Honestly, you couldn't write this. Except someone literally 'Star Wars' fan fiction was posted online under the title 'Head Over Feet', with the OG couple. It got picked up by a publisher. The lightsabers were swapped for lab coats, but the core dynamic? Still there. Olive's socially awkward brilliance? Peak Rey. Adam's emotionally repressed academia? Classic Kylo. So, yes, 'The Love Hypothesis' has deep nerd roots, and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. Now to Tom might know him from 'Death on the Nile', 'Behind Her Eyes', or 'Vanity Fair'. He's got serious screen presence, brooding, charming, and effortlessly intense. Basically, he was built to play Professor Adam Carlsen. And when you factor in the fact that he's married to Daisy Ridley? That casting choice hits on so many online are losing it, naturally. One person wrote, 'He's married to Daisy Ridley. OMG full circle moment.' Another declared it 'the best uno reverse card in casting history.' Someone else chimed in with, 'Not Adam but Rey's husband playing Adam perfection.' Honestly? Fair let's not forget Lili Reinhart, who's not only starring as Olive but producing the film too. She's been vocal about wanting to do justice to this story, and between her casting and this cosmic Bateman-Ridley twist, it's safe to say the fans are being if you haven't read the book, or don't know your Adam Carlsen from your Adam Driver, there is still something for you in store. If you're into rom-coms, emotionally complex science nerds, or geek out over fan theories that somehow become real, 'The Love Hypothesis' deserves a spot on your Because this casting is chaotic in the best way. A character inspired by Daisy Ridley's Rey now played opposite her real-life husband? That's fan fiction logic turned cinematic reality. It's unhinged in the most deliciously meta way, and it's got the internet in a yeah, grab your popcorn, fire up the group chat, and get ready to spiral. This one's for book lovers, fandom kids, and anyone who lives for a full-circle moment. You couldn't script even if you tried.- Ends
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
In ‘Afternoons of Solitude,' bullfighting is presented both spiritually and as a blood sport
In the hands of great filmmakers, a documentary can render something that your sensibilities might willfully ignore — even condemn. Such is the rub you may find yourself in with iconoclastic Spanish director Albert Serra's 'Afternoons of Solitude,' his first nonfiction film, an unflinching gaze at bullfighting, its hushed, ornate rituals and gruesome realities. Whether you consider the corrida a cultural tradition worthy of specialized protection or a blood sport long overdue for the dustbin of cruel spectacles, there's no denying its ghastly singularity as an immutable confrontation of human and beast. That's the arena in which Serra, no stranger to a cinema thick with an air of finality, has trained his patient, eerily respectful camera, specifically following Peruvian star matador Andrés Roca Rey across a stretch of competitions. We witness reverent preparation, much ceremony and more blood than any slasher film, and eventually absorb the unmistakable sense that this macho performative world exists almost defiantly against anyone's notion of 'progress.' Just don't expect anything about this elemental contest to be explained to you, or even contextualized. As shameful as you may find bullfighting, the details are what drive this spellbinding, immersive work. Serra is a committed minimalist with a penchant for long takes and it makes him an unusually observant, artfully focused documentarian. His last film was the willfully obtuse 2022 French Polynesian political thriller 'Pacifiction,' which more often oozed colonial malaise through its painterly landscapes than any narrative. Before that, Serra could most often be found mining France's centuries past for mordant tableau vivants of corporeal concern, most notably in his protracted bedchamber drama 'The Death of Louis XIV.' All of which makes 'Afternoons of Solitude' — despite its reflective-sounding title — practically an action film for Serra, whenever longtime cinematographer Artur Tort's camera captures the business of the bullring. Wide views and environmental color are forsaken for a zeroed-in framing that tracks both the bull's grim gladiatorial journey from roving combatant to ritually stabbed, gradually defeated warrior, and Rey's role as foppish, face-contorting maestro with his flourishes of the muleta and theatrical stances. The danger is palpable. In a couple of instances, Rey barely escapes crippling injury. But just as tangible, almost pervasive, is the horror of a majestic creature's inescapable destiny, turned into a florid choreography of dominance. (To some extent, it only ever feels like an unfair showdown.) In the fight sequences, Serra rarely cuts away from an opportunity to watch the light leave a bull's eyes after the death stab, a moment that invariably feels merciful. That truth alone is what keeps the movie's viewpoint about the brutality at the heart of bullfighting breathtakingly honest. There are only two other locations. A fixed camera inside Rey's van captures this baby-faced legend at his most quiet and contemplative, while his team, a testosterone-fueled posse, judiciously pepper him with supportive exclamations ('What you did causes envy in the mediocre!'), wellness checks and analytical comments. In his luxury hotel room, packing Rey's lithe frame into the layers of his intricately embroidered torero costume is a two-person operation, while unoccupied moments can spur a quick sign of the cross or a kissing of rosary beads. The general takeaway is of someone with an abiding seriousness, as if this were a sacred calling, not a profession. Then again, to repeatedly survive facing off a bleeding beast, how could one think of it as just a job? Rey's relationship to the spiritual side of bullfighting becomes ongoing. The movie's title is plural, after all. For his horned opponents, one chosen afternoon — presented as entertainment — is violent and finite. In its graceful intertwining of meditation and obscenity, 'Afternoons of Solitude' gives an ancient, controversial tradition the chance to shock and awe without hype or favor. It's inhumane, it's human and it's a hell of a film.
Fox Sports
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
MLB All-Star Game Host Curse? Atlanta Braves On Pace To Continue Bizarre History
When an MLB team gets word that it's going to host the All-Star Game, it's met with excitement from the franchise, fan base and greater region. In reality, it should be met with horror — kind of like when an NFL team is told that it's going to be the subject of HBO's "Hard Knocks" or when Kylo Ren told Rey that she was a Palpatine. Anyway, the Atlanta Braves host tonight's 2025 MLB All-Star Game (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), and with the team 42-53, they're on pace to become the 12th club in 13 seasons – there was no All-Star Game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – to host the Midsummer Classic and miss the playoffs. Here's evidence of the curse. 2012 – Kansas City Royals The 2012 season wasn't a low point or a surprisingly dark year for the Royals, by any means. But it was still one that saw Kansas City post a losing record (72-90) for a ninth consecutive season. 2013 – New York Mets The 2013 season was the fifth of six losing seasons for the Mets. To boot, star third baseman David Wright missed extensive time post-All-Star break due to a hamstring strain, and it ultimately became the beginning of the end for the two-time Gold Glover's status as one of the premier players in the sport, as injuries perpetually got in his way over the next five years. 2014 – Minnesota Twins The 2014 season marked the fourth consecutive year that the Twins finished with a losing record, and long-time manager Ron Gardenhire was shown the door after 13 seasons in the dugout. Minnesota missed the playoffs in each of the next two years, as well. 2015 – Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati made the playoffs in both 2012 and 2013, but it followed those seasons with a 76-86 campaign in 2014 and a mere 64-win 2015, when it last hosted the All-Star Game. The Reds then shipped star right-hander Johnny Cueto to the Royals at the trade deadline, with Cueto then helping Kansas City win the World Series. The Reds then traded third baseman Todd Frazier, a 2014 and 2015 All-Star who won the 2015 Home Run Derby in Cincinnati, to the Chicago White Sox in the offseason. The Reds haven't won a playoff game since 2012. 2016 – San Diego Padres San Diego continued the trend in 2016. Going 68-94, the Padres missed the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season and posted their lowest win total since winning just 63 games in 2008. 2017 – Miami Marlins The Marlins hosted the All-Star Game and finished with 77 wins. Then, they decided to essentially trade every All-Star-caliber player on their roster: Miami dealt 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, fellow star outfielders Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna and infielder Dee Gordon the following offseason. One year later, the Marlins traded star catcher J.T. Realmuto. In case you were wondering, the Marlins missed the playoffs in 2018, too. 2018 – Washington Nationals After winning the NL East in four of the past six seasons and making the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time in franchise history (2016-17), the Nationals missed the playoffs when they hosted the All-Star Game in 2018. Then, homegrown star Bryce Harper bolted D.C. for the NL East rival Philadelphia Phillies in the offseason. Granted, the Nationals won the 2019 World Series. Still, Washington continued the trend by missing the playoffs and lost its then-franchise player before then. 2019 – Cleveland Guardians Cleveland was as good as any team in the sport for three seasons from 2016 through 2018, winning the 2016 AL pennant, an AL-best 102 games in 2017 and claiming the AL Central division title in three consecutive seasons. Then, 2019 happened, and you guessed it: Cleveland missed the playoffs despite winning 93 games. Two offseasons later, the Guardians traded star shortstop Francisco Lindor to the Mets. 2021 – Colorado Rockies The Rockies traded superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2020-21 offseason and then hosted the 2021 All-Star Game, in what became an otherwise quiet season. Finishing 74-87, Colorado missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season and hasn't appeared in the postseason since 2018. 2022 – Los Angeles Dodgers – The Outlier For the first time since the Arizona Diamondbacks did so in 2011, the team that hosted the MLB All-Star Game made the playoffs in 2022. Los Angeles went on to win 111 games in the regular season, the most by any MLB team since the Seattle Mariners won 116 games in 2001. But guess what happened? The Dodgers lost to the NL West rival Padres — who were playing without Fernando Tatis Jr. the entire season — in the NL Division Series in four games. So, even though the Dodgers made the postseason, they still faced a reckoning after hosting the Midsummer Classic. 2023 – Seattle Mariners In 2022, the Mariners made the playoffs for the first time since their aforementioned 116-win 2001 campaign. While they were swept by the Houston Astros in an eventful series — including a walk-off home run in Game 1 and an 18-inning Game 3 — the 2022 Mariners reinvigorated the Seattle fan base. Then, they missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and are currently clinging to the third AL wild-card seed for the 2025 playoffs at 51-45. What a coincidence! 2024 – Texas Rangers In another instance of "you can't make this up," the Rangers missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons, brought in Bruce Bochy to manage the team in 2023 and had an active offseason, which led to them winning the 2023 World Series, the first championship in franchise history. Want to take a wild guess at what happened next? The Rangers missed the playoffs in 2024 and have a losing record in 2025 (48-49). 2025 – Atlanta Braves The Braves have made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons, highlighted by winning the 2021 World Series. Naturally, they host Tuesday night's All-Star Game, are 9.5 games out of the No. 3 NL wild-card seed and stand in fourth place in the NL East. Furthermore, 16 of the past 19 teams to host the MLB All-Star Game have missed the playoffs. If the Braves right the ship post-All-Star break, then perhaps it's an exorcism at work. Until then, the All-Star Game host curse is alive and well. Denying reality only compounds the difficulty of changing it for the better. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! 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Geek Tyrant
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Coca-Cola's STAR WARS Short Film Is a Joyful Tribute to The Fans — GeekTyrant
Coca-Cola and Disney just dropped a new short film/commercial that feels like a thank you letter to Star Wars fans. Set in a movie theater during a full-on Star Wars marathon. It features Cantina aliens hang out in the lobby of the theater, cosplayers reenact the legendary Vader vs. Obi-Wan duel, and there's even a Force-fueled tug-of-war over a Coke bottle between Rey and Kylo, straight out of The Last Jedi . As you'll see, it unapologetically it celebrates fandom. This is about the passionate fans of the franchise. It's silly, charming, and heartfelt all at once, exactly what you'd want from something aiming to capture what it feels like to love Star Wars this much. The short taps into the reason Star Wars still matters, the fans who keep showing up. And with over 30 character-themed cans out this summer, it's a pretty fun excuse to stock up. Watch the short below, and may your thirst be with you, always.
Geek Tyrant
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Could THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU Be the Start of a New STAR WARS Trilogy? — GeekTyrant
Lucasfilm may be quietly teeing up a brand new Star Wars trilogy. According to a recent update from trusted industry scooper Daniel Richtman, The Mandalorian & Grogu may serve as the launching point for a fresh trilogy in the Star Wars universe. Richtman claims, 'Lucasfilm reportedly plans to make The Mandalorian & Grogu the first installment in a potential trilogy.' That said, this isn't a done deal. Richtman adds that Lucasfilm's decision 'depends on how well the film does.' In other words, if The Mandalorian & Grogu sticks the landing at the box office, it could pave the way for two more films. If it flounders, it might end up being a one-off. This echoes earlier reports from last year from Making Star Wars saying, '…It's a trilogy if the first one connects. If the first one [ The Mandalorian and Grogu ] is a big film, they'll make two more. If the first one doesn't and makes Indiana Jones [ and the Dial of Destiny ] money, then they'll just do the two [already announced] and wash their hands of it.' Interestingly , The Mandalorian & Grogu was originally conceived as the fourth season of The Mandalorian TV series, but it eventually evolved into a theatrical feature. Now it's shaping up to be much more than a series finale, it could very well be the beginning of something bigger. Adding to the speculation, Richtman also claims the Rey-centric Star Wars film has been 'put on hold once again.' If that's accurate, it creates a major opening in Lucasfilm's timeline, allowing them to prioritize other projects, potentially this Mandalorian -led trilogy. Of course, as with all things Star Wars lately, everything is still very fluid. Plans change. Projects shift. Nothing is truly locked until Lucasfilm drops an official announcement. But the idea of Din Djarin and Grogu being the backbone of a new cinematic era? That's a move a lot of fans could get behind—if the movie delivers. For now, we'll be keeping our eyes on May 2026.
