Entertainment
How Leonardo DiCaprio Destroyed Innocents And Turned Them Criminal
By Joshua Tyler
| Published
People don’t just want to belong, they need to. Rejection isn’t treated by the brain as a metaphorical pain; it registers the same way as physical harm. That means people will do almost anything to make sure they belong. However, belonging isn’t strengthened by agreement; it’s strengthened by what you’re willing to ignore to stay aligned.
The power to make someone ignore what’s being done to them may be the most powerful persuasion technique of all. It was used in the biggest, most awarded movie of 2025, and no one seemed to notice. They couldn’t notice, because noticing comes with a cost. Once you decide not to notice, you’re owned. Instead, they gave it Oscars and pretended everything was normal and fine, though deep down, it’s likely everyone watching knew it wasn’t.
This is the story of how One Battle After Another screenwashed believers into becoming zealots, all to belong.
A Script Made Up Of Words Shouted At A Federal Building
One Battle After Another was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the genius auteur behind movies like There Will Be Blood and Boogie Nights. It’s loosely based on a 1990 novel called Vineland.
The movie itself centers on Bob Ferguson, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, a washed-up former revolutionary from the terrorist militant group French 75. He lives off-grid in stoned paranoia, raising his spirited, and often totally disrespectful and rude, teenage daughter, Willa.
Sixteen years after participating in a terrorist attack on a U.S.-Mexico border detention center, his old enemy, Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn, resurfaces, forcing Bob and Willa to run.
That’s the story on paper, but nothing on screen ever feels that cohesive. Early on, the dialogue consists mostly of words that sound like they were shouted at a Federal building. Later, it devolves into cursing and guttural sounds. There’s a lot of driving back and forth in cars, and time spent breathing heavily in filthy places with filthy people.
One Battle After Another Is Setting A Trap, For The Audience
The movie might sound unappealing, and it is, but it’s also on purpose because One Battle After Another is not out to tell a compelling story; it’s setting a trap. A Reflexive Manipulation Trap.
A reflexive manipulation trap is a persuasion tactic in which a message is made obviously manipulative, on purpose, in order to create pressure on the audience to deny or overlook that manipulation. By accepting the message anyway, the audience participates in maintaining the illusion, which increases their psychological commitment to it.
It’s like becoming an accessory to murder. Once you’ve participated in the crime, you’ll do anything to hide the body.
Creating that kind of mental trap is deep and complex, and it exists for only one, very specific purpose. More on what that is as we unravel this thread.
How To Create A Reflexive Manipulation Trap
Here’s how One Battle After Another executes its Reflexive Manipulation trap, step by step.
Before a would-be persuader can execute a Reflexive Manipulation Trap, they have to pick a specific audience. Usually, the best movies and indeed the best art is designed to tap into something universal and primal. For this to work, you must do the opposite and go after one group. For instance, if you were going after dog lovers, you’d probably start your story off by showing your hero rescuing a dog.
One Battle After Another is intended only for people who exist on the most left-wing end of the political spectrum. That’s why you’ve seen the Hollywood elite slobbering over the movie like it’s the biggest thing ever, but have likely heard virtually nothing about it from your average, non-political friends.
So One Battle After Another opens with a scene involving a heroic raid on an illegal immigrant detention center. According to most polling, nearly 80% of people are in favor of detaining illegal immigrants. So 80% of viewers will be turned off by this movie from the jump.
It’s all on purpose as One Battle immediately launches into speeches extolling the virtues of open borders, and then enforces that view at the point of a gun. It’s on purpose because it’s intentionally only courting the remaing 20% of the audience that agrees with these views, and in doing so, it tells them explicitly that this movie is for you and your group, right off the bat.
Moral authority established. I’m one of you.
Now that your audience knows who the good people are, you must make one of those good people do something wrong. Something evil.
Over the course of the movie’s first half hour, one of our chief protagonists is a terrorist leader, a black woman whose actual name is Perfidia Beverly Hills. She’s violent, overbearing, and totally dedicated to the cause.
That might sound off-putting, but remember, you can’t look at this movie through a lens of what would appeal to you or anyone in the 80%. You must look at it through the lens of what would appeal to that 20%. And for that 20%, she checks all the boxes to be their ideal woman. She’s perfect.
Perfidia soon becomes pregnant. She immediately abandons her newborn infant for what she describes as “the revolution” while proclaiming that no one can take her power.
By any normal moral standard, a mother abandoning a newborn is one of the worst things someone can do. It’s flat-out evil.
Yet the person doing it is the character most ideologically aligned with the film’s target audience. Their ideal woman. And while she’s out of the story for most of the film after this, up until this point, she’s been framed as the movie’s main hero.
When Perfidia announces that she’s choosing herself over her newborn, the man who thinks he’s her father, DiCaprio’s Bob character, could object. Instead, he mutters some vague things about family before announcing “you go, girl” and sending her on her way to abandon her child.
Later, Perfidia is condemned for other reasons, but no one objects to this mother abandoning her baby daughter. At all.
Squirming in their seats, the audience can’t object either. From the 20%’s point of view, the woman committing this evil is part of a protected class and also ideologically aligned with them. She’s their group’s spirit animal, and they know it.
Even more critically, she specifically cites their mutual ideology as the reason for her sick, selfish abandonment of her baby. For someone in that 20%, in order to condemn Perfidia’s action, they’d have to mentally challenge everything they believe in.
Leo’s Bob character has now been left to care for a newborn, who isn’t even really his daughter, on his own. This should be difficult and traumatic, but One Battle After Another dodges those consequences by flashing forward to a future where the baby’s grown and everything worked out just fine.
Hand wave, it didn’t matter. See, it’s easy to accept, fellow group member!
The abandonment of Perfidia’s daughter is the inciting incident for the entire film. Everything that happens after hinges on it.
If you reject this incident as repugnant, you must reject the entire movie. If you reject the movie, you reject its ideology. If you reject that ideology, you no longer belong to the group that the movie has established itself as representing. Your group, the group you’ve built your entire identity around.
Or you can decide it’s fine for a mother to abandon an infant in the name of black power. You must choose.
To make the effect stick, you must lock in the viewer’s acceptance of evil with a reward. In this case that reward is zealot porn.
Zealot porn is a short-cut term I coined, which refers to content intentionally crafted to gratify moral superiority, deliver cathartic satisfaction, and lock in beliefs deeper through confirmation bias. Often this is done through the portrayal of extreme violence, which would otherwise be unacceptable.
Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds is an early example of zealot porn, an entire movie crafted for the purpose of giving audience members the pleasure of watching Nazis burn.
Another recent example is the television series, Peacemaker. The show’s second season creates a plot around the idea of giving its audience pleasure by watching people it labels as evil suffer.
One Battle After Another spends most of its run time delivering dopamine hits to its 20% through tormenting its ideological opponents. The movie kills its white male villain twice, for no real reason other than it enjoys watching him die. After the second time, the camera follows along as workers dispose of his carcass, so the audience can revel in watching his carcass burn.
That’s zealot porn. Catharsis is delivered, and the audience is rewarded for belonging.
Now, One Battle After Another’s viewers are fully complicit in what it’s doing, and to justify their decision to comply with its agenda, they’ll do anything. Even give it six Oscars.
Solidifying Support After You’ve Won The Propaganda War
One Battle After Another is what it looks like when you’ve won the propaganda battle and the time for persuasion is over. One Battle After Another is what it looks like when you stop convincing and start solidifying. And that’s exactly what it’s doing.
What people call psychological programming or brainwashing is usually a stack of learned associations, emotions tied to symbols, stories tied to identity, reactions tied to cues. Those associations only hold as long as they’re being refreshed. Remove the reinforcement, and the system starts to unwind over time.
It’s why cult deprogramming usually revolves around simply getting the victim away from the cult. Separate them from constant reinforcement of the message, and the programming fades on its own.
That means that once a malign force has someone under its control, it has to keep putting in work to keep them there. But it can’t keep doing what it did before, continuing to persuade someone to your point of view after you’ve already convinced them, often backfires, and turns them against you.
That’s where a Reflexive Manipulation Trap becomes useful. It won’t persuade new people over to your side, but it does ensure that none of your existing followers stray. It does this by making them lie to themselves. It does so by making them complicit in a crime or moral wrongdoing.
Once Someone Lies To Themselves, They Keep Lying To Cover Up The First Lie
Unlike other forms of persuasion, which lose efficacy the more frequently they’re used, you can keep setting traps like this one over and over again. So that’s exactly what One Battle After Another does.
That first trap, revolving around Perfidia abandoning her child, is the setup for a series of obvious manipulations and overt propagandistic moments. Having already lied to themselves to get through the first one, the audience keeps lying through all of them.
It’s why One Battle After Another is visually uninspired. It’s why the plot is meandering and disjointed. It’s why the characters are largely cartoony and ridiculous. Even their names are idiotic. The main villain’s name is literally Colonel Lockjaw.
Every one of these narrative and moral affronts in the film must be accepted by the audience as a work of genius because of the trap, and every one they accept binds them closer and closer to the group the movie is targeting. Everyone who walked out of One Battle After Another became, in one way or another, a more zealous member of that 20% than they were when they walked in.
Bind them close enough, make them complicit enough, and there’s no limit to what they’ll do to make sure they continue belonging. Some day we’ll say it all started, because One Battle After Another laid a trap.
Congratulations, loyal zealots, you’ve been Screenwashed.
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Judge Rules Wendy and Eddie Osefo Will Face Fraud Trial Together!
It was a busy morning inside Maryland’s Carroll County Circuit Court as Real Housewives of Potomac stars Wendy and Eddie Osefo made an unexpected pivot in their fraud case.
Despite filing separate motions last month, the couple asked the judge on Tuesday to move forward as co-defendants, according to a boots-on-the-ground report from The What Else Is Going On podcast. The judge approved the request. The pair were arrested in October on more than a dozen fraud charges each after prosecutors accused them of staging a burglary at their home and submitting false insurance claims for luxury items. Wendy and Eddie had previously requested separate trials and argued their arrests were “illegal.”
Their next hearing is set for December 19, and prosecutors are expanding their probe.
Court filings state the couple have “approximately 40 credit and/or debit cards,” including some tied to businesses and aliases such as “Pam Oliver” and “Eddie Hennessy,” which they argue were used to “mask their identity.”
The Osefos’ legal team pushed back, calling the request a “fishing expedition.” Prosecutors countered that the financial records may show “excessive spending” and are relevant because “insurance fraud is a financial crime.” Eddie’s attorney, Joseph Murtha, said prosecutors are still “looking for something they haven’t figured out after 18 months.”
Shortly after reports circulated, the couple released a joint statement accusing police of mishandling the original burglary report. Their attorneys said police “failed to properly investigate… despite clear indications of a break-in” and showed “bias against the Osefo family.” They also argued the couple was met with “silence for over 18 months” despite cooperating.
The statement criticized investigators for exposing the family’s private financial information, calling it “deeply unjust,” and said the State only began investigating “after charging the Osefos,” which they described as an “irregular approach.” Their team argued the disclosures “serve no lawful purpose and invite conclusory opinions.”
They also denied ever using aliases on financial applications, calling that allegation “false and misleading” and explaining that such names were used only “for the delivery of packages… to safeguard the identity of very public figures.” The statement added that claims about their debt exaggerate the situation and that misleading the public “has compounded the harm.”
The couple was first arrested on Oct. 10.
Investigators say the Osefos claimed luxury items were stolen while they were in Jamaica, but that some pieces were later seen on social media or had been previously returned for refunds.
The Real Housewives of Potomac airs Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.
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Entertainment
Days of our Lives Early Spoilers April 20-24: Joy Drops Massive Baby Bombshell – Marlena Left Speechless!
Days of Our Lives early weekly spoilers for April 20th through the 24th thrill with Joy Wesley‘s (AlexAnn Hopkins) baby bombshell exploding and Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) is completely shocked.
As we always do on early edition day, we start with what’s coming the rest of this week. Then we dive into next week.
Days Of Our Lives Spoilers Wednesday, April 15th: Gwen Threatens Dimitri
So, on Wednesday, April 15th, we’ve got Gwen Rizczech (Emily O’Brien) threatening her estranged husband, Dimitri von Leuschner DiMera (Peter Porte). I expect that he is going to back out of that divorce deal that he made with Gwen when he told her that’s fine.
Go have the papers drawn up. And this is because Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) dumped him. Dimitri hates Gwen right now. And he seems to hate Leo at the moment. He’s having a brill temper tantrum. So, there’s honestly no telling what Dimitri could do, what lengths he will go to.
Brady Pub trivia night is in high gear with Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu) and Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson) on a team and their arch rivals, Gabi Hernandez (Cherie Jimenez) and Philip Kiriakis (John-Paul Lavoisier) on another. I expect to see Theo fantasizing about Gabi yet again.
He’s also worried about Lexie Carver (Nikki Crawford) and unfortunately that has made him take a step back from DiMera when he was using his position as CEO to try and get closer to Gabi. But he’s also sitting on that secret that could break Philip and Gabi up.
DOOL Spoilers: Leo Gets a Happy Surprise
Leo is delighted to see baby Trey when he bumps into Chanel Dupree DiMera (Raven Bowens) and Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) in Horton Town Square. And of course, they already ran into Javi Hernandez (Jacob Martinez). So, good stuff. And speaking of Johnny’s caught off guard by Chanel, she really surprises him.
This may be about EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel), about DiMera stuff. I wonder if Chanel is going to tell him that Theo is acting dodgy and she’s worried about what his motive was from stepping back as DiMera CEO when he really likes the job.
Days Of Our Lives Spoilers Thursday, April 16th: Kristen And Sophia Plot Against EJ
Thursday, April 16th, we’ve got Kristen DiMera (Stacy Haiduk) meeting up with little sociopathic schemer Sophia Choi (Madelyn Kientz). And she Kristen is telling Sophia about the revenge plan against EJ and how she thinks it should go. And of course, she fully expects Sophia to destroy EJ or else.
So, this week, while they’re in the park, Sophia is telling Kristen that she’s got a plan, but she needs additional resources. So I worry I hope she doesn’t give Sophia a gun or something. And then Kristen drags Sophia into the bushes and Kristen is holding on to her lapels and terrifying Sophia. But it might just be because Kristen thinks somebody is eavesdropping or walking up on them, which Cat already did before.
Days Spoilers: Maggie Furious & Bonnie Humiliated
Xander Kiriakis Cook (Paul Telfer) and Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) are back to plotting. And of course, Maggie Kiriakis (Suzanne Rogers) is super mad at both of them. And Bonnie Kiriakis (Judi Evans) is totally humiliated. But I wonder if Justin will also be mad at Xander and Kate.
Or will he understand it from a legal standpoint? Because as Bonnie said, he wondered this could happen. Maggie is going to comfort Bonnie, but she can’t stop what’s in motion and filed, and I doubt Xander and Kate would let her anyway.
EJ, though, may come up with a legal counter punch against them because this all makes Johnny look bad. Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) and Sarah Horton (Linsey Godfrey) spend some romantic time together, and Xander’s going to see them looking all loved up and is going to eat at his broken heart.
Johnny frustrates Chanel and I wonder if he thinks she’s trying to get Theo to change his mind about being CEO. Plus, Javi wants the truth from Leo, you know, and the thing is he really does want Javi and not Dimitri. He has had a full breakthrough.
And we’re going to see Leo telling Javi he wants to be with him and Leo telling Javi, “It’s always you for me.” But of course, Javi was dating that guy in Texas. And of course, don’t forget we have recast Javi coming in about six to eight weeks.
But also, I think Javi is going to demand to know why he was alone in a hotel room in Alamania with Dimitri and helped him break out of police custody. Those are not easy questions for Leo to justify the answers to.
DOOL Spoilers Friday, April 17th: Theo Tells Marlena About Lexie
On Friday, April 17th, we’ve got Alex Kiriakis (Robert Scott Wilson) taking Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein) by surprise and things go badly. Hopefully she didn’t get the gun she wanted because if Alex startles her, Stephanie might get trigger happy. But also, if Alex is doing something he thinks is surprising, but she takes it as controlling, this isn’t going to go well for him.
EJ and Kristen are arguing, again, not too surprising. Also, this week, EJ tells somebody this week that family is his one and only priority. And Paulina Price (Jackée Harry) is venting to Belle. Obviously, it’s going to be about EJ. They both hate him and they want to take him down. But Paulina is also worried about the big Lexie secret that she is sitting on and somebody is going to find out on Friday about it.
Days of our Lives Spoilers: Gwen & Xander Try to Distract Themselves
Gwen and Xander enjoy some cheeky fun, but she is annoyed about her Dimitri divorce snag and not getting the alimony she wants. And Xander, of course, is jealous over Sarah and Brady. So, these two might use each other to forget their troubles.
And Theo stuns Marlena. If you remember, Theo made an appointment to see Doc. He called on Tuesday to make the appointment. By the end of the week, Theo is with Marlena, and she cannot believe it when Theo says his mom, Lexie, is alive on Days of our Lives.
And Theo may go ahead and drop EJ’s name, talking in session to Marlena because doctor-patient confidentiality ties her hands on everything but a future crime. But this sounds like a crime that’s already been committed.
Days Spoilers Week of April 20th-24th: May Sweeps Kicks Off
Then the week of April 20th through the 24th, we have May sweeps kicking off, you guys. It’s going to run April 23rd through May 20th. And there’s some big storylines. They’re going to be pushed right to the front burner. So Kristen and Sophia set their diabolical plan in motion.
So, EJ better watch it. Cat makes the final arrangements for the Will reading. Connor Floyd debuts as recast Chad DiMera on Tuesday, April 21st, just a couple of days before sweeps kicks off, but we might even get a glimpse of him on Monday.
They like to actually drop people in on the day before that they announce the day of their debut. Rumor has it Thomas and Charlotte may be aged up and the will reading is going to be coming soon. I think EJ may be gob smacked. I wonder if Stefano changed the will and EJ didn’t know or if Vivian pulled some forgery stunt.
Days of our Lives Spoilers: Jeremy Exits & Lexie’s Return Shocks Marlena
Jeremy Horton (Michael Roark) is absolutely thrilled that Stephanie turned to him. And to his credit, Jeremy didn’t rub it in Alex’s face. And if Jeremy gets more threats from Alex, it might actually set Stephanie off. But Jeremy is done the week after this. I love Michael Roark, but he’s a busy guy.
I think his last day is April 29th. Also, I do wonder if Jeremy will come back or maybe we get a recast of Jeremy so he can keep causing issues for Stephanie and Alex. So, I’m also wondering what happens after Theo tells Marlena about Lexie because a lot of people at the hospital knew there was a power drain.
Everybody now knows about the person pod, which means Marlena can do the math on that and figure out that Lexie was in the person pod. And if she demands to see Lexie, I wonder if EJ will comply. He might because he already showed Paulina. He already showed Theo. So, he knows it’s going to come out.
Days of our Lives Spoilers: Joy Wesley Returns with Massive Shocker
Plus, AlexAnn Hopkins is back as Joy Wesley and she’s got a huge baby bombshell to drop on her ex, Alex Kiriakis. And of course, this is the absolute worst time for it to happen because his marriage is hanging by a thread. Brady and Sarah keep getting closer, but in the long run, he’s not going to get the girl.
Theo keeps looking for a way to get Gabi. EJ is going to be blindsided when the plot against him explodes. And the question is, when is Lexie really going to wake up? Because Dave handed out a fake spoiler saying that she wakes up, but that was only in Theo’s dream. So, we should be getting a real awakening in May sweeps.
Entertainment
Whoopi Goldberg warns Sunny Hostin to 'calm down' on “The View” amid tense clash over Marjorie Taylor Greene's reformation
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Hostin maintained that “we should reject her altogether” as questions bubbled up over whether or not to embrace the former Donald Trump supporter.
Katy Perry is reportedly under investigation by Australian police following shocking allegations made by Ruby Rose. Page Six reported the update just days after Ruby’s claims went viral. Rose accused the ‘I Kissed A Girl’ singer of rubbing her bare vulva on Rose’s face inside a nightclub in 2010. While Rose claimed to have evidence and witnesses, Perry’s rep has called the claims false.
RELATED: Jourdin Pauline Says She Plans To Take Lie Detector Test Amid Sexual Assault Claims Against Tylil James (VIDEOS)
What Did Ruby Rose Accuse Katy Perry Of Doing?
Ruby Rose launched her sexual assault claims against Katy Perry on Sunday. First, she replied to a Complex article which highlighted Katy Perry’s reaction to Justin Bieber’s Coachella performance. Rose replied, “Katy Perry [sexually] assaulted me at Spice Market nightclub in Melbourne. Who gives a sh*t what she thinks.” In another post, the ‘Orange Is The New Black’ actress revealed she was in her early 20s when the incident happened.
“I’m now 40. It has taken almost 2 decades to say this publicly,” Ruby Rose wrote on Threads. “Though I am grateful to have made it long enough to find my voice, it just shows how much of an impact trauma and sexual assault takes. Thank you for seeing me.”
Another reply, per PEOPLE, said that Katy Perry saw Ruby Rose resting her head on her friend’s lap in the nightclub “to avoid her,” then suddenly the singer, “bent down, pulled her underwear to the side and rubbed her disgusting vagina on my face until my eyes snapped open and I projectile vomited on her.”
The actress continued to reveal details as fans asked questions about the incident. She confirmed she didn’t file a report at the time. However, she welcomed a lawsuit from Katy Perry , doubting it would actually happen. “She won’t, because it happened, I have photos and it was literally in public and witnessed by multiple people. Plus there is so much more that happened in the years leading up to her silly song she won’t want me discussing. The psychological manipulation is strong with that one.”
Ruby Rose said she turned the nightclub incident into a “funny little drunk story” while telling it publicly because she “didn’t know how else to handle it.” Also, Perry later allegedly agreed to Rose secure her US visa, and Rose kept what happened “a secret.”
Katy Perry’s Rep Slams “Dangerous” Allegations
On Monday (April 13), a rep for Katy Perry shut down the sexual misconduct allegations. The rep also called out Ruby Rose, claiming she has a history of making baseless accusations.
“The allegations being circulated on social media by Ruby Rose about Katy Perry are not only categorically false, they are dangerous, reckless lies. Ms. Rose has a well-documented history of making serious public allegations on social media against various individuals, claims that have repeatedly been denied by those named,” the rep reportedly said, per PEOPLE.
Melbourne Police Involved Amid Sexual Assault Allegations
On Tuesday (April 14), Ruby Rose circled back to Threads to double down on her sexual assault allegations against Katy Perry. She had followed through on a previous post about taking the matter to the police, and her Tuesday post served as a “last update.”
“As of this afternoon, I have finalized all of my reports. This means I am no longer able to comment, repost, or talk publicly about any of those cases, or the individuals involved. It’s going to look like I am ignoring everything from supportive messages, to other people’s experiences, but I’m not,” Ruby Rose wrote on Threads. “This is a standard request from the police and in many ways, quite the relief. I can start the healing process now. And temporary move forward. I love you all so much.”
That same day, the Acting Sergeant of Victoria Police, Paul Hogan, gave a statement to Page Six on the matter. Hogan confirmed an investigation is underway.
“Melbourne Sexual Offenses and Child Abuse Investigation Team detectives are investigating a historical sexual assault that occurred in Melbourne in 2010,” Hogan said. “Police have been told the incident occurred at a licensed premises in Melbourne’s Central Business District.”
Katy Perry has spoken out against Ruby Rose’s claims aside from her rep’s statement. However, also on Tuesday, she reportedly shared her 2013 song, ‘By The Grace of God’, on Instagram Stories with the message, “I love you.”
RELATED: Bill Cosby Found Liable For Sexually Assaulting Donna Motsinger In 1972, Jury Awards Nearly $60 Million
What Do You Think Roomies?
Entertainment
Lena Dunham thanks Taylor Swift in acknowledgments of book that details Jack Antonoff drama
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“I love you so much and forever, for the reasons that everyone does and for reasons all my own,” Dunham wrote of her musician friend.
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“The Hills” alum recalled that the officer didn’t give her a ticket “because I’ve clearly ruined your day.”
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The bite comes two years after a bat bit the singer when she was on stage opening for the rockers in Spain.
Entertainment
Ryan Gosling’s R-Rated Netflix Thriller With An MCU Budget Is Worth Its Weight In Shootouts
By Robert Scucci
| Published
After watching 2021’s Kate, the almighty algorithm threw 2022’s The Gray Man onto my radar, and I can’t say Ryan Gosling has ever disappointed me, so I figured I may as well give it a shot. He has a built-in level of charisma that lets him do his thing, and most of the time it lands. Going into the Russo brothers’ film expecting to see $200 million well spent on action sequences, with the added bonus of Gosling in the mix, I didn’t quite know how things would play out, but I had a hunch I wouldn’t feel let down.
But here’s the problem with straight-to-streaming action thrillers. Films like The Gray Man never get much time on the big screen, and they kind of need it if you want to enjoy them at the highest level. Across roughly 400 theaters, the film only brought in $454,023, which isn’t really its fault. It had a very short run across a disproportionately small number of screens, meaning it was never meant to recoup its budget this way. It’s a Netflix Original, designed to pull huge numbers on streaming.
The reason I see this as a bad thing is because this is an expensive movie. MCU expensive. Waterworld expensive. When that much money goes into blowing stuff up in spectacular fashion, I want to see it on a giant screen. Living in an apartment, I don’t have a fancy audio setup because my neighbors would murder me if I did, and my 44-inch TV is fine for most things, but less than stellar when entire city squares are getting leveled with all guns blazing.
Long story short, The Gray Man is a lot of fun, but it would be even more fun if you could watch it the way it was meant to be seen.
Let’s Not Get Bogged Down By The Details
The Gray Man also has an extremely convoluted plot. Not in a “too many twists” kind of way, but it’s a “load up the guns, spray and pray” kind of movie that would have been better served by simplicity. It’s executed well, but as side characters keep getting introduced in the second and third acts, part of me gets annoyed that I can’t fully shut my brain off because there’s always a new name or face to keep track of after the blasting has already started.
Ryan Gosling is a black ops agent known as Sierra Six, formerly Courtland Gentry. He was locked up as a minor after murdering his abusive father, and CIA officer Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) decides he’s the perfect candidate for a second chance. The deal is simple: Courtland works for him in exchange for his freedom, knowing he’ll be dealing with some very dangerous people.
Once things get rolling, Sierra Six teams up with Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas), and the first mission we see involves assassinating a target named Dining Car (Callan Mulvey). Complications arise when the job goes sideways and Dining Car reveals he’s also part of the Sierra program before succumbing to his wounds. A flash drive gets passed off with vague instructions, and the wild goose chase begins, centering on CIA officer Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), who sends a swarm of operatives after Six and Dani to retrieve it.
Along the way, we get more backstory on Six’s relationship with Donald and his niece Claire (Julia Butters), who Six previously worked security detail for. This obviously becomes important later because more collateral has entered the equation. The scenes between Six and Claire offer a surprisingly wholesome break from the chaos in Prague, and they’re a welcome addition.
From here on out, you pretty much know the deal. Double crosses stack on top of double crosses, things explode, and there’s so much inter-agency confusion over who’s good and who’s pulling the strings that you almost wish they’d ease up on the exposition and just keep blowing stuff up.
Solid, Pulse Pounding Action Thriller
The Gray Man’s budget absolutely shows on screen from start to finish. The action sequences are gorgeously shot (something that’s not always consistent across Netflix Originals), and at one point Sierra Six is standing on top of a moving tram, firing through the roof while tracking targets through reflections in nearby windows as the city flies past. This comes after he’s handcuffed to a railing in a town square, picking off attackers before they even get a chance to take him out.
Ana de Armas wielding a shotgun after throwing hands is also worth your time because she fully commits when the moment calls for it.
The only real issue I have is the film’s tendency to overload its premise with complexity for the sake of it. Most people don’t turn on action thrillers to do mental gymnastics. At least I don’t. I love psychological thrillers when I want things to get murky, but with action movies, I just want to sit back and watch things explode.
The convoluted plot isn’t a dealbreaker, just a nitpick. Some people enjoy sprawling shadow government conspiracies. It’s just not really my thing, so take that with a grain of salt. It’s still a great watch, just not one you can fully sink into the couch for and completely turn your brain off.
The Gray Man is a Netflix Original, and you can stream it with an active subscription.
Entertainment
Dave Chappelle slams Republicans who 'weaponized' his transgender jokes: 'That's not what I was doing'
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The controversial comedian specifically called out Lauren Boebert for comparing herself to him over their stances on transgender rights.
The Summer House cast has found a front-row seat to one of Bravo’s most shocking romances.
On Tuesday, March 31, Amanda Batula confirmed her unexpected relationship with BFF Ciara Miller’s ex-boyfriend West Wilson more than two months after she split from husband Kyle Cooke.
“Given the complicated relationship dynamics involved and the scrutiny that comes with being on a reality show, we needed a little space to process things privately before speaking on it,” Amanda and West wrote in a joint statement via Instagram. “We’ve shown up for each other as friends over the years, through all the highs and lows, and what’s developed recently was the last thing either of us expected. Our connection grew out of a genuine, longstanding friendship, which made it especially important for us to approach this with care.”
The statement continued, “As our feelings evolved, we wanted to take time to understand exactly what we were feeling. We also recognize that this has had an impact beyond just us and never wanted our actions to cause any hurt or be perceived as careless. We truly appreciate the understanding and respect as we navigate this.”
Bravo’s biggest reality shows sure know how to bring shock and awe to the small screen. Vanderpump Rules fans will forever remember where they were in March 2023 when news broke that Tom Sandoval was having an affair with Rachel “Raquel” Leviss while in a relationship with Ariana Madix. The scandal, which earned the nickname […]
While a reunion special with the entire cast is expected to be taped in the coming weeks, many Summer House stars are already weighing in on the surprise romance.
Keep reading to see how the cast reacted to Tuesday’s big romance reveal:
KJ Dillard
Summer House newbie KJ Dillard shared a photo of Ciara Miller from filming with the caption, “I love my big sisters for life.”
In a follow-up post, KJ posted a screenshot of his music playlist, which included the song “Back Stabbers” by The O’Jays. He added to the photo, “Logging off.”
Mia Calabrese
Summer House’s newest cast member Mia Calabrese showed her support for Ciara Miller when she posted a photo of her costar on her Instagram Story as “Gorgeous” by Doja Cat played in the background.
Weeks later, Mia appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and offered more details about the scandal. Mia claimed that Ciara had “intuition” about Amanda and West before news of their romance broke.
“I refused to believe it. Then, certain things started to click,” Mia continued before offering an update on how Ciara is doing.
“Ciara is how anyone would be if their best friend started dating their ex,” Mia said. “But, I will say, Ciara is one of my best friends — she’s like a sister to me — she will always thrive and I will always be there to support her. She’s going to be amazing.
Mia also made it clear that thinks Amanda is at fault.
“She’s a woman. I think men, you know, eh. They don’t always think straight,” she said. “Women it’s like, come on, you know better.”
Jesse Solomon
Jesse Solomon Courtesy of Jesse Solomon/Instagram
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and Jesse Solomon didn’t hesitate to showcase how he was feeling with one photo.
The Summer House star seemingly addressed Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s romance when he posted a picture via his Instagram Story looking visibly shocked as he read his phone.
Levi Sebree
Levi Sebree Courtesy of Levi Sebree/Instagram
Summer House newbie Levi Sebree appeared to react to Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s relationship by sharing a meme of herself on her Instagram Story. Days later, she briefly addressed the drama while appearing on the “Taylor Taylor Taylor” podcast on April 7.
“I don’t want to get into it too much, but I think we’re all kind of a mess in our own little right about everything going on, and we’re going to see how it plays out,” she said. “That’s all I want to say about it.”
The Summer House cast drama is raising eyebrows with Bravo fans. Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke announced in January that they decided to separate after four years of marriage. “After much reflection, we have mutually and amicably decided to part ways as a couple,” their joint statement read. “We share this with a heavy heart […]
Lindsay Hubbard
Original Summer House cast member Lindsay Hubbard seemingly addressed the headlines when she shared a picture of controversial Love Is Blind contestant Alex Henderson.
“The new publicist?” she wrote via her Instagram Story, hours after news broke of Amanda Batula and West Wilson’s relationship announcement.
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