Entertainment
10 Movies That Clearly Influenced Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’
With The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan spent a reported $250 million and every available inch of IMAX 70mm film to drag Homer into the multiplex. But, before a single frame rolled, Nolan did the thing every serious director does with a star-studded cast and a story burdened by big expectations: he handed out homework. Three films, specifically, that he wanted stars like Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Zendaya to sit with before they picked up a spear.
The Odyssey is dense with the influence of other films, and Nolan has been unusually open about where some of it comes from. Those three assigned titles are the ones he’s shared on record. Look closely, and you can find plenty more: David Lean‘s boundless deserts, the sword-and-sandal epics that made a Greek myth bankable again, one of the director’s own recent blockbusters, even a monster movie still warm from a Netflix-backed Oscar run. The list of must-watch movies below traces all of it, starting with the three films Nolan named himself.
‘Andrei Rublev’ (1966)
Andrei Tarkovsky‘s three-hour-plus film, Andrei Rublev, follows a medieval icon painter drifting through a Russia that’s coming apart at the seams. It takes two decades, famine, and a brutal Tatar raid to set the stakes for Rublev (Anatoly Solonitsyn) to lose faith in his art and stop painting. But then, he watches a young man strain to cast an enormous church bell and finds his reason to begin again. It’s all shot in long, patient takes that hold on mud and faces, and Nolan screened it for his cast because of that texture.
With The Odyssey, Nolan wanted an ancient world with weight to it, where the light and the faces belong to the era and not to a green screen. Odysseus (Damon), like Rublev, is a man ground down by cruelty and by the sheer length of his own road, and the film needs you to believe he has lived through every brutal year of it.
‘Ran’ (1985)
With Ran, Akira Kurosawa took King Lear to feudal Japan and set it on fire. An aging warlord hands his kingdom to his sons and then watches his family and his country tear each other apart, in some of the largest and most punishing battle scenes ever filmed. The armies march in blocks of pure color, and the wind moves through everything, bending grass and banners and smoke. Nolan zeroed in on exactly that, praising the movie’s use of “landscape” and the “banners flapping in the wind.”
It’s a natural fit. Nolan builds his films out of real places at real scale, and The Odyssey is about a hero at the mercy of forces far larger than himself. Kurosawa supplies the template for how to translate that on-screen.
‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ (1988)
Martin Scorsese‘s sweaty, doubt-ridden, once-scandalous take on Jesus (a raw Willem Dafoe) tells a familiar myth from the inside out, as the story of a man arguing with his own destiny. It was protested and picketed on release. It’s also one of the boldest things Scorsese ever made. Nolan called it “a fresh and accessible window into history” and admitted the technical work Scorsese was doing struck him as “quite inspiring.”
The connection isn’t hard to trace. Odysseus is a hero who lies, cheats, and stalls his way home, and Scorsese’s blueprint for a flawed legend given a human pulse is key to making The Odyssey‘s sheer density palatable.
‘Interstellar’ (2014)
Sometimes the biggest influence on a Nolan movie is another Nolan movie. Interstellar sends a father into space to save the human race and loses him in time, so that every hour out there costs him years with the children he left on Earth. The whole movie yearns for a homecoming that always feels heartbreakingly out of reach.
Swap the wormhole for the wine-dark sea, and you’re most of the way to The Odyssey. Both follow a man desperate to get back, and both let time do the cruelest work, piling up while he is powerless to stop it. Odysseus loses ten years to the gods; Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) loses decades in the span of an afternoon. Nolan has clearly been mapping this particular journey for a while.
‘Gladiator’ (2000)
“Are you not entertained?” turned out to be a rhetorical question with a very obvious answer in this Ridley Scott banger. The director dragged the sword-and-sandal epic out of the grave and stood it back on its feet with Russell Crowe playing a betrayed Roman general fighting through the blood and sand of the arena toward home… and revenge. The film became a sensation, winning Best Picture and reminding Hollywood that the ancient world could still fill a theater.
Every toga-draped blockbuster since has walked through the door Gladiator opened. Without its success, no studio would hand Nolan a quarter of a billion dollars to put a Greek myth on IMAX screens 26 years later.
‘Troy’ (2004)
This is the most obvious comparison on the list, and the one Nolan may be subtly answering. Wolfgang Petersen took The Iliad, cast Brad Pitt as an oiled, sulking Achilles, and swung for grand, star-driven spectacle. Because of that, Troy landed somewhere between genuinely stirring and faintly ridiculous.
The Odyssey picks up the very next chapter of the same story, which makes the contrast feel almost pointed. Where Troy went for beefcakes and battlefields, Nolan seems to be after the interior wear of the myth, the psychology of a man who can’t stop scheming even when scheming is what keeps him from his wife and son. It is the same source material approached from the opposite direction.
‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962)
If Nolan has a sacred text, this is it. Lean drops Peter O’Toole‘s unreadable T. E. Lawrence into a vast desert and shoots it on 70mm, until the sheer size of the landscape presses down on you in your seat. Nolan has cited it for years as the film that shaped the way he thinks about scale. In fact, the whole IMAX 70mm bet of The Odyssey comes straight from Lawrence of Arabia: set a single small figure against an overwhelming world and let the size of the image do the work.
Even the heroes at the center of these two films feel connected. Both men are magnetic and evasive, half-turned into legend but never fully known by the people who follow them. You don’t really need a reason to watch this, one of the greatest films ever made, but Nolan just gave you one anyway.
‘Spartacus’ (1960)
Stanley Kubrick’s Roman masterpiece gave us Kirk Douglas as a slave leading a doomed revolt, and the famous moment when a captured army rises one man at a time to claim his name. Spartacus is a huge, crowd-filling spectacle with a real brain behind it. It’s not the Kubrick entry most associate with Nolan’s work, but it’s the one that connects best here.
The balance between cerebral and crowd-pleasing is what The Odyssey is after. Spartacus carries weighty ideas without ever shrinking from the size of its audience, which is the same line Nolan walks, in every film really, but especially here.
‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)
George Miller made two hours of near-wordless road chase with real vehicles hurled across real desert and virtually nothing faked that could instead be built and crashed for the camera. His Mad Max: Fury Road is a journey film that runs on pure motion and a myth told at full speed. Put it next to Nolan’s newest film and the fit is closer than you’d expect.
The director is a practical-effects true believer, and Fury Road is the modern peak of that faith. When The Odyssey puts its monsters and shipwrecks on screen, this is the tradition it draws from, the conviction that an audience can always feel when something on screen is tangible on set.
‘Frankenstein’ (2025)
The outlier here, and the newest by a wide margin. Guillermo del Toro finally made the film he had chased for more than a decade, with Oscar Isaac as an obsessive Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the creature he abandons. It’s a creation myth staged at full operatic scale and sent to Netflix last November. It shares nothing with Homer and everything with the moment Nolan is working in.
Frankenstein and The Odyssey arrived barely a year apart, two celebrated directors wagering enormous budgets on the idea that audiences still want an old myth told seriously, with real craft and real feeling behind it. And del Toro’s approach to his monsters — his love for them, his compassion, and his commitment to displaying their grotesque, awe-inspiring physicality — is echoed in how Nolan depicts his own mythic beasts. If The Odyssey has one clear peer in the current landscape, this is it.
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By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
Once a movie is available on streaming, does it matter if it’s good? Netflix’s recent foray into low-budget Lifetime thrillers is a sign that no, the quality of the movie doesn’t matter one bit. The best example isn’t The Body in the Locker, it’s the movie currently number four on HBO Max. For some reason, Pacific Rim: Uprising has reappeared on the top 10 most popular list, not because it’s a good movie, it isn’t, it’s horrible, but because it has the name “Pacific Rim” and everyone already subscribed to the service can easily take a look at the worst sequel ever made.
Pacific Rim: Uprising Has None Of The Original’s Charm
Pacific Rim is a flawed movie. There’s small issues with the pacing, characters, and dialogue, but what it does right, is the gigantic set piece battles pitting giant mechs against kaiju. Watch Gipsy Danger walk through the city with a container ship as a baseball bat while the deep bass of Bear McCreary’s theme song is pulsing with every giant step and you can tell why it was a hit. Pacific Rim: Uprising decided to leave out both the kaiju and that sense of weight behind the mechs. Instead of heavy, plodding, meaningful movements, we have mechs doing flips.
Pacific Rim: Uprising made the bold choice to leave out the kaiju and instead focus on drone-Jaegers with implanted kaiju brains, which naturally, turns them evil. A new generation of Jaeger pilots have to stop the drones from triggering an extinction-level event that will wipe out all of humanity. The discovery that kaiju blood is highly explosive comes up multiple times, there’s the introduction of the Precursors (or rather, an explanation for what the alien race at the end of the first movie is), and far more backstory than a movie about giant mechs ever needed.
John Boyega, in the middle of his breakout run on the Star Wars sequel trilogy, takes the lead as the son of Idris Elba’s Stacker Pentecost (brief aside, but is that the coolest name ever? It is, isn’t it?), Jake Pentecost, a former Jaegar pilot turned scrapper. Boyega is not the problem with Pacific Rim: Uprising. He was done dirty by the script and VFX while putting on a better performance than Charlie Hunnam’s in the original. Speaking of, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman, and Charlie Day are the only returning cast from the original as, respectively, Mako, Herman, and Newt.
Fans Are Still Waiting For A Pacific Rim Sequel
Despite all of the problems with Pacific Rim: Uprising, and there’s a lot of them, it wasn’t a complete flop in theaters. It brought in $291 million against a budget of $150 million. That was significantly less than the original’s $411 million, and clearly, everyone who skipped seeing it on the big screen is now responsible for the incredible streaming numbers it’s racking up. It’s the only explanation why the flippy Jaeger film is getting far more views than it deserves.
Pacific Rim fans joke that they are still waiting for a sequel. Bring up Pacific Rim: Uprising and it’s discussed as a fan film. The way it altered everything about how the Jaegers move and fight, which seems small but to mech fans, that’s a huge deal, and then shifting the focus to the humans instead of giant kaiju, makes it inferior to even the anime spinoff, Pacific Rim: The Black. HBO Max viewers are discovering they’d be better off watching the original for the 30th time than watching a film that puts mechs on an ice sheet … and it doesn’t break immediately.
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Strange New Worlds had its fourth-season debut this past week. It was an episode that largely abandoned the smart, scientific writing Star Trek is known for in favor of cool action beats and unexpected character moments that would have been more at home in the Kelvinverse. Fortunately, the episode worked because it had a lot going for it: time travel, ethical dilemmas, and even dinosaurs. One thing it did not have was James T. Kirk, the future Enterprise captain who has become a frequent guest on this fan-favorite Trek spinoff.
Thanks to both William Shatner and Chris Pine, new Kirk actor Paul Wesley had some very big boots to fill. Fortunately, he managed to win fans over through sheer charisma. We can certainly expect to see more of his character, and it sounds like the show is going to use Season 4 to save Kirk’s reputation. How so? By giving us an episode that shows Kirk being a good father to David Marcus, the estranged son we meet in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The writers’ goal is simple: they want the fandom to stop thinking of Captain Kirk as a deadbeat dad!
Showing Kirk As A Good Dad
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan revealed that Kirk had a son, David Marcus, with whom he was estranged. The idea of Kirk having a secret kid was believable enough; considering how many babes (alien and otherwise) he bedded over the years, it’s a small miracle that he only has one child. However, some fans were irked because The Wrath of Khan implied Kirk might have been a deadbeat dad who expected his baby mama to raise his son while Kirk continued gallivanting around the galaxy. Now, the Strange New Worlds writers have decided to save Kirk’s reputation by having him beat the deadbeat allegations, all these years later.
How will they do that? In an interview with SFX Magazine, Strange New Worlds showrunner Henry Alonso Myers revealed that the show’s writers wanted to feature Kirk being an active father to a younger David. “I don’t want to call it a rewrite, but it’s like a rethink,” he said. “The experience of David was not a part of [The Original Series] because they didn’t really figure David out until the movies.” He then summed up the writers’ motivation and their goals: “Kirk is heroic, and none of us wanted to imagine that he is a lousy father, so that offered a lot of opportunities about how to get into his mind, emotionally.”
Emotional Availability? I’m Sorry, David, I Can’t Do That
Beyond that, Myers didn’t offer up any additional details, so we can only speculate about what the upcoming Strange New Worlds episode will do with Kirk’s character. The Wrath of Khan indicates that Carol Marcus explicitly asked Kirk to stay away because “You had your world and I had mine. I wanted him in mine, not chasing through the universe with his father.” In that same scene, Kirk asks her a question about David: “Why? Why didn’t you tell me?” The line is ambiguous enough that fans long wondered exactly when Kirk found out that he had a son. Was this new information, or something he had known for years?
Even though Carol asked Kirk to stay away, many fans feel like The Wrath of Khan portrays him as a deadbeat dad who was eager to forget about his kid and get back to exploring the final frontier. Previously, Strange New Worlds chipped at this narrative by having Kirk tell La’an (who now has feelings for him) that he’s in a relationship with Carol Marcus and that she’s pregnant. This implied that, early on, Kirk really wanted to make things work and start a family. The upcoming episode will demonstrate his skills as a father, but it may also put the child’s life in danger, justifying Carol’s decision to keep Kirk away from them.
Will we end up seeing a kinder, gentler side of James T. Kirk? Or maybe hints of a dark side that reveals why he isn’t suited to raise a child? We won’t know until this upcoming episode of Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+. With any luck, it will be the same episode that transforms Captain Pike into a living puppet man. This is the show of gentle retcons, after all, and it would make watching The Wrath of Khan that much weirder if we suddenly learn that a Muppet became David’s godfather right before mommy and daddy warped their separate ways!
Angie Katsanevas exclusively opened up to Us about where she stands with Real Housewives of Salt Lake City costar Mary Cosby ahead of the season 7 premiere.
“I think that it’s just very real and raw challenges that friends deal with,” Angie, 52, shared with Us on Thursday, July 23, while promoting her “GoDaddy School of Hustle” podcast. “She’s going through a lot and I’m going through a lot.”
The production of RHOSLC season 7 has been tumultuous for both Housewives, as Mary’s son, Robert Cosby Jr., died at age 23 of a suspected drug overdose in February. (The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City previously chronicled Robert’s struggles with addiction and Mary’s reaction to her son’s three months behind bars for violating a protective order at his ex-wife’s home.)
Production was temporarily paused in February to allow Mary, 53, time to grieve but she decided to resume filming on the Bravo show in early March. (A source exclusively told Us at the time that “Robert Jr. will be talked about [on the show] and Mary is aware and open.”)
Angie Katsanevas and Mary Cosby. Rich Polk/Bravo
More recently, reports surfaced on Monday, July 20, that Angie and her husband Shawn Trujillo have separated after nearly 30 years of marriage. (Angie and Shawn, 52, share 15-year-old daughter Elektra.)
Speaking generally about her friendship with Mary these days, Angie revealed to Us, “There’s a lot of ups and downs. I think that’s every year. It’s not all fun.”
“The honeymoon phase is over as your bond deepens,” she pointed out. “You’re more honest with each other and you say what you’re really feeling and thinking. We love each other. We love each other deeply.”
Angie hinted that there will be “a lot of focus” on “deep friendships” when RHOSLC season 7 airs.
“Sometimes I ask myself, ‘Why is Salt Lake so popular? What do people love about it? What makes us different?’” she said. “Everyone is so funny in their own way, but the relationships are real. The friendships, there’s a lot of love and mutual respect with all the women, and the dynamics in this group are so interesting. It’s like an NBA team where every player is required and the relationships are getting deeper, the bond is getting deeper, and I think you feel that.”
She continued, “You’re going to see the friendships deepening but with that comes more hurt, and more joy, and more fun, and also I just think that you’re going to see a lot more of everyone’s authentic self. I just really feel like everyone has hit their stride, and we’re seeing everyone in their truest form.”
In the meantime, Angie is keeping very busy as the host of the “GoDaddy School of Hustle,” which features exclusive content on Go Daddy News’ Instagram account. Each episode revolves around Angie and her celebrity guests — including Real Housewives of Miami alum Alexia Nepola and All the Cool Girls Get Fired cowriter Laura Brown — discussing the realities of the modern business landscape.
“I would like to say I was a born hustler but I was [actually] raised by a hustler,” she said. “I was raised by a dad that wore both hats. He was the mom, he was the dad. He worked all day, he came home, he did the laundry, he cooked, he did the yard work, the garden, all of it. And my dad never felt sorry for himself. He had seven children, and he was a single dad after my mom passed.”
Angie remembered that her father “never talked” to his family about work, instead he “showed [them] how to do it.”
Angie Katsanevas and Mary Cosby. Ralph Bavaro/Bravo
“I really admired my dad, and I just connected with him a lot,” she told Us. “As far as who he was as a person, he had a lot of energy for people, he loved people, and he loved to work. So, when I was little, I started this little dance club in my basement … where you would pay to come to my dance classes.”
She went on, “I knew nothing about teaching dance, but I charged, and I had a chart where, if you could get into the splits, you’d get a banana split sticker … I started this little business in my basement when I was 10. It was 50 cents and then I had my first job at 15, so I was kind of a natural-born ‘love to be busy, love people’ [person]. [I’m a] hustler, so [I] came out feet first, which means you hit the ground running.”
“The GoDaddy School of Hustle with Angie K.” is available now on all major podcast platforms.
Criminal Minds is filming season 20 — but not every cast member is coming back after a shocking exit.
Criminal Minds, which premiered in 2005, follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit. The crime drama explores different fictional cases and shows how behavioral analysis helps the team locate their unknown subjects.
The original Criminal Minds series was revived by Paramount+ after its initial conclusion in 2020. Criminal Minds: Evolution brought back most of the cast with Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster reprising their roles. Other key characters — such as Matthew Gray Gubler‘s Reid — have made cameos.
The first season of Criminal Minds: Evolution (a.k.a. season 16 of the OG Criminal Minds series) introduced Voit as the main antagonist. The BAU spent the entire season hunting down the prolific killer, who they linked to 62 murders and was the mastermind behind setting up an online network of fellow serial killers.
Criminal Minds is back with a revival on Paramount+ — but fans have watched the cast change on and off screen since the procedural first debuted. In 2005, viewers were introduced to a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit. The crime drama, which was created by […]
Voit’s status as the villain was left up in the air when he had significant memory loss that caused him to no longer be labeled as a psychopath. Gilford and the rest of the Criminal Minds cast have acknowledged that Voit can’t remain on the show for good.
“I was supposed to leave the show a while ago and I’ve been pitching, ‘Well, I have to leave at some point. If you’re not going to kill me, we should have a spinoff,’” Gilford quipped exclusively to Us in May 2025. “It’s called Criminal Mind: Voit and it follows what Voit is doing when he is out in the world. Somehow he either escapes or he gets released and he is this white whale to the BAU. So Criminal Minds can keep going and having their [unsub] of the week — but they’ll always be like, ‘I wonder if Voit had something to do with this.’”
Voit was ultimately written off ahead of season 20.
“We can both hope [my character Voit will return] but all I know is I’m not there filming right now,” he told Us in July 2026 of his potential return for season 20 of Criminal Minds: Evolution. “It was hard to say goodbye. It definitely was one of my favorite characters I’ve ever gotten to play and partially because what a gift.”
He continued: “Every season I got to do a different side of this character. It wasn’t like I was just doing the same thing every year.”
For Gilford, Criminal Minds was the perfect challenge, adding, “To give this guy some redemption and go out on a good guy note — so to speak — was nice. It’s weird. You wrap a show and a lot of times you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I’m coming back next year and if we’re going to have another season in general.’ On this, I did know that it was the end.”
Gilford told Us he struggled to say goodbye to Criminal Minds.
“It was a bummer and I am really like, ‘I’m not good with emotions,’” he shared. “So I literally — before they even officially wrapped — I had a feeling it was the last take. I just left. I didn’t say goodbye to anyone. I just snuck out. They’re like, ‘Zach, where are you? Where’d you go?’ And then a few people saw me driving out of my car. I’m like, ‘Bye, I’ll see you later.’”
Keep scrolling to see who is and isn’t coming back in season 20:
Joe Mantegna
Mantegna is set to return in the role of Rossi, which he has played since taking over for Mandy Patinkin in the original Criminal Minds show.
A. J. Cook
Cook will return to play JJ, who is still mourning the loss of her husband.
Kirsten Vangsness
Vangsness is reprising the role of Garcia.
Aisha Tyler
Another character who is safe is Tara.
It is never easy to unexpectedly say goodbye to your favorite characters — and 2026 has featured an influx of shocking departures on our TV screens from Grey’s Anatomy to Virgin River. Virgin River fans were surprised when showrunner Patrick Sean Smith confirmed multiple characters were written off the show after season 7. Marco Grazzini addressed […]
Zach Gilford
Gilford’s serial killer character isn’t expected to return — at least during season 20.
Ryan-James Hatanaka
Hatanaka’s Tyler will remain an important part of the show in season 20.
Adam Rodriguez
Rodriguez is returning as Luke, who has been mourning a loss.
Paget Brewster
Prentiss is alive and well in season 20 of Criminal Minds.
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
One surprising blind spot in Star Wars is that we never got anything onscreen that was designed from the ground up as a comedy. Sure, every movie and show (even Andor) squeezes in some moments of humor, but they are designed, first and foremost, as dramas. Have you ever wondered why the galaxy far, far away never went all-in on being funny? As it turns out, Star Wars did develop an animated comedy show many years ago: Star Wars Detours. It was designed as a Robot Chicken-style take on our favorite characters, one that would deliver one non-canonical moment after another.
This series was developed by Star Wars creator George Lucas and Robot Chicken creator Seth Green. They went all out, recruiting writers from fan-favorite series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, and Family Guy. Unfortunately, Star Wars Detours quietly died after Disney acquired the franchise; despite having already produced 39 episodes (!), the show was canceled and has never seen the light of day outside one clip leaking to Reddit. However, Green revealed something startling at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con: that a curated selection of Detours episodes would be made available to the public via the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
Star Wars Gets The Robot Chicken Treatment
The original idea behind Star Wars Detours was simple: the official premise is that this would be “an animated comedy that explores what daily life is like in a galaxy far, far away. There are no Empires striking back or attacking clones here. Instead, Star Wars Detours focuses on the universe’s regular folks and their everyday problems.” While the official premise noted that the show would still feature “famous bounty hunters, crazed Ewoks, and even a Dark Lord of the Sith,” this was a show designed to focus on humorous, slice-of-life adventures rather than tales involving Jedi or superweapons. Just a chill, funny Star Wars show; what could possibly go wrong?
In a word, Disney. Star Wars Detours began development in 2010, and Lucas and Green managed to produce two seasons’ worth of episodes. But then Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise in 2012. Initially, Green was optimistic that his new show would eventually come out after the Sequel Trilogy had been completed. In 2018, Disney filed a new trademark for Lucasfilm, but the show was never released, and we stopped getting official updates. In a 2019 interview with Collider, Green said he felt like Disney wasn’t interested in “this kind of deconstructive comedy coexisting with these sincere interpretations of the characters.”
Somehow, Detours Returned
In a 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Green echoed these thoughts and admitted he never thought the series would get released. One reason for this was that even though the episodes were finished, he felt they’d all need to be tweaked to be suitable for Disney+ (presumably because of some juvenile, Robot Chicken-like humor). At the time, that seemed to be the end of the story. After all, where else would Star Wars Detours premiere if not Disney+? Now, we have an answer. Green revealed at San Diego Comic-Con this year that a “curation of episodes” would be displayed at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. “I’m just excited for people to get to see it,” he said.
But will the fans be excited to see it? That’s the real question. While Star Wars Detours is a fascinating part of franchise history (39 completed episodes, hidden from us for nearly a decade and a half!), the leaked episode “Dog Day Afternoon” was almost painfully unfunny. Maybe Disney made the right decision by burying this series. At any rate, fans will soon find out when they view the curated episodes at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Here’s hoping they include one of the many, many episodes that voice actor Weird Al Yankovic recorded original songs for!
As questions continue to surround the heartbreaking death of Nolan Wells, his loved ones are continuing to navigate an unimaginable loss. Now, Christine Wonsley is opening up about the emotional reality of grieving her son, sharing a deeply personal message with supporters while continuing to hold onto hope and faith.
RELATED: Cajun Navy Vice President Says He’s Willing To Turn Over Photos From The Day Nolan Wells Was Found (VIDEO)
Christine Wonsley Details Painful Grieving Process
In a video shared to her TikTok account, Nolan Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, recorded herself as she appeared to begin her morning routine, opening products in what looked to be her bathroom before candidly speaking about the difficult days she’s been facing. The clip was accompanied by the caption, “Trying to get up, keep moving and keep fighting for answers,“ while text over the video read, “…just needed to talk a little.”
As she reflected on the past week, Wonsley admitted she has been struggling to process everything she’s experienced. She shared that it’s been “a trying week,” explaining that she feels like she’s “all over the place” and doesn’t even know how to describe the emotions she’s carrying. Despite everything, she said she’s continuing to hold onto her faith. Wonsley also revealed that she and her husband have been leaning heavily on one another, along with their support system, as they navigate what she described as an incredibly hard season. She added that life has been “hard” and explained that “every second” has felt different as they continue to grieve.
Wonsley Breaks Down While Remembering Nolan
Wonsley went on to speak about how grief has changed her life, saying she misses her son every single day. Fighting back tears, she shared that she misses Nolan walking into their room, laying across their bed, talking about his day, and updating her and her husband on everything happening in his life. She also said she misses his smile, his hugs, and hearing him tell her, “I love you, Mom.” Becoming emotional, Wonsley expressed the painful reality that those are moments she will never get to experience again, leaving viewers with a heartbreaking glimpse into the lasting impact of losing her son.
@christinefnp Trying to get up, keep moving and keep fighting for answers. #JusticeForNolanWells #Forever18
Wonsley Reportedly Agrees To View Search Photos In Person
According to TMZ, Nolan Wells’ mother, Christine Wonsley, has accepted an offer from the United Cajun Navy to view photos taken during the search and rescue effort that allegedly show Nolan’s body on Horn Island. However, Wonsley reportedly requested to view the images in person rather than receive them digitally.
Per the outlet, the United Cajun Navy is now coordinating with Wonsley to arrange the meeting. In addition to sharing the photos, the organization has reportedly agreed to walk her through what volunteers observed that day and provide a more detailed account of their search efforts. The update comes as Wonsley and her family continue seeking answers surrounding Nolan’s death.
RELATED: Warren Hudson Details What He & Friends Allegedly Did After Leaving Horn Island & Speaks On Pool Party Photo Showing Nolan Wells
What Do You Think Roomies?
Sarah Ferguson continues to face repercussions for her connection to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as her personal charity has now formally closed.
Sarah’s Trust — which was founded in 2020 to aid front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic — was recently removed from the U.K. government’s registry of active charities because it has wound down all operations, per BBC News.
A charity spokesperson previously confirmed in February that Sarah’s Trust would halt activity “for the foreseeable future” amid numerous disclosures about the former Duchess of York’s long association with Epstein. (At the time, more than 3 million documents from Epstein’s personal files were being released by the U.S. Department of Justice, including alleged emails between Ferguson and Epstein.)
Ferguson has always denied any wrongdoing or having knowledge of Epstein’s crimes until they were made public.
Recently released documents related to the investigation into late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein show royal family member Sarah Ferguson begging the disgraced billionaire for a job. “But why I don’t understand, don’t you just get me to be your House Assistant,” the former Duchess of York, 66, wrote in an email to Epstein dated […]
Us has reached out to Ferguson’s spokesperson for comment on her charity’s closure.
Ferguson lost her title as the Duchess of York last October when her ex-husband, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was stripped of his royal titles by King Charles III because of his own association with Epstein. (Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office for allegedly sharing confidential information with Epstein when he served as a U.K. trade envoy.)
Epstein died by suicide at age 66 in August 2019 after being arrested on federal sex crimes charges. The disgraced financier previously pleaded guilty to separate charges of soliciting prostitution and procuring a person under 18 for prostitution in Florida in 2008.
There has been a steady stream of damning allegations about Mountbatten-Windsor and Ferguson’s connection to Epstein over the past 16 years. Scrutiny intensified last autumn with the publication of a leaked email between Ferguson and Epstein from 2011 where she allegedly referred to the sex offender as a “supreme friend.”
Sarah Ferguson in June 2025. Julian Finney/Getty Images
Ferguson’s lawyers insisted that the royal was trying to “counter an aggressive threat Epstein had made to sue her for defamation” over a 2011 interview where she publicly distanced herself from him.
“The duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been, her first thoughts are with his victims. Like many people, she was taken in by his lies,” her spokesperson told BBC News in September. “As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with pedophilia.”
Their statement concluded, “She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”
Still, multiple charities that Ferguson patronized — including the Teenage Cancer Trust, the British Heart Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity and Prevent Breast Cancer — publicly cut ties with her in the wake of the leaked email.
“We were disturbed to read of Sarah, Duchess of York’s, correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein,” The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation cofounders Nadim and Tanya Ednan-Laperouse said in a statement to CBS News in September. “Sarah Ferguson has not been actively involved with the charity for some years. She was a patron but in the light of the recent revelations, we have taken the decision that it would be inappropriate for her to continue to be associated with the charity. We would like to thank her for her kindness and support in the past.”
Six companies directed by Sarah Ferguson are in the process of being dissolved following fresh revelations about her past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Filings submitted this month to Companies House seek to shut down the U.K-registered businesses, including S. Phoenix Events Limited, Fergie’s Farm, La Luna Investments, Solamoon Limited, Philanthrepreneur Limited and […]
Ferguson remained silent when more alleged email correspondence between herself and Epstein was released by the U.S. Department of Justice, beginning in December 2025 and continuing in January 2026. Alleged email correspondence included in the “Epstein Files” raised new doubts about Ferguson and Mountbatten-Windsor’s longstanding claims that they cut ties with the financier in late 2010.
Earlier this year, Ferguson and Mountbatten-Windsor both moved out of their former home at Royal Lodge due to a public outcry. Mountbatten-Windsor now lives at a private Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, while Ferguson has reportedly been living temporarily in Switzerland.
If you or someone you know is a human trafficking victim, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
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The 27 best episodes of “Family Guy” to date, from old-school classics to newer favorites
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Ranking the show that positively can do all the things that make us laugh and cry.
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Jennifer Lopez reminded everyone why a ruched midi dress is one of the most timeless silhouettes you can own when she stepped out at Wimbledon in an elegant, figure-skimming look. If you’re inspired by the flattering shape but don’t have a designer budget, this ruched midi dress offers a similar waist-defining silhouette with thoughtful gathering through the midsection . . . at a much more approachable price.
Lopez was spotted wearing a sophisticated Ralph Lauren dress (which is currently unavailable!) featuring soft draping and ruching that created an effortlessly polished effect while attending the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. While Amazon’s $40 look isn’t an exact match, it captures the same universally flattering design element: strategic ruching through the torso that creates shape and elevates an otherwise classic midi dress.
Get the PrettyGarden Ruched Midi Dress for $40 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.
There’s a reason ruched dresses never seem to disappear from the fashion conversation. Gentle gathering through the waist and hips creates visual dimension while offering a forgiving fit, making the silhouette equally suited for weddings, date nights, office events and dinner parties. Both Lopez’s Wimbledon ensemble and this Amazon option have another thing in common; it keeps the rest of the design simple, allowing the flattering construction to do the heavy lifting.
Shopping for a bathing suit before a summer trip can wreck your confidence faster than trying on jeans in a fluorescent-lit fitting room. You want something that stays put on the beach, doesn’t require constant adjusting and actually looks good in vacation photos. That last part feels almost impossible after 35. Then my 58-year-old mom […]
Unlike Lopez’s sleeveless designer dress, this one hits above the knee and has a slightly more fitted bodycon silhouette, making it feel wearable for a variety of occasions. Pair it with pointed-toe pumps and delicate gold jewelry for an elevated evening look, or style it with strappy sandals for summer celebrations.
Amazon shoppers are equally impressed with the fit. “It does cover the tummy area, which I like and it feels expensive,” one shopper reported. “Nice soft fabric on your skin. The fit is perfect.”
Another shopper wrote that they feel “so confident and beautiful” wearing this look. A third called it a “10 out of 5” and said the “fabric is so easy to live in.”
If Lopez’s Wimbledon appearance convinced you to add a ruched midi dress to your wardrobe, this Amazon find delivers the same timeless styling concept without trying to duplicate her designer look. It’s the kind of versatile piece you’ll reach for long after this season’s trends have come and gone.
Get the PrettyGarden Ruched Midi Dress for $40 at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate as of the publishing date but are subject to change.
Looking for something else? Explore more ruched dresses here, and don’t forget to check out all of Amazon’s Daily Deals for more great finds!
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Kate Middleton made a strong case for sporty summer style. The Princess of Wales recently stepped out in trail-ready hiking shorts during a family outing, and while her exact pair costs around $80, you can channel the same outdoorsy vibe with these similar Amazon hiking shorts for under $30. Photos shared after Middleton reunited with Prince […]
Chris Evans has found himself at the center of online debate following the release of Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday” trailer.
While fans were excited by the apparent return of the actor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many also focused on his appearance, sparking wild theories.
Social media users quickly began speculating about everything from aging and styling changes to cosmetic procedures, while renewed interest in Chris Evans’ Marvel future resurfaced.
Chris Evans Raised Eyebrows Online With His ‘New’ Look
Evans has sparked a wave of online discussion following the release of Marvel Studios’ first trailer for “Avengers: Doomsday,” with much of the conversation focusing not only on his apparent return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also on his noticeably different appearance.
The trailer, released in July 2026, appears to feature Evans near its conclusion, leading fans to speculate about whether he is reprising his role as Steve Rogers or portraying a completely different version of the iconic character.
While theories about his character quickly spread across social media, others became preoccupied with a different question: has Evans undergone cosmetic surgery?
The actor has never publicly commented on plastic surgery speculation, and there is no evidence confirming that he has had any cosmetic procedures. Nevertheless, some viewers pointed to his appearance in the trailer as a reason for renewed debate.
Fans Question The Marvel Star’s Dramatically Different Look in New MCU Trailer
Across social media platforms, fans shared contrasting opinions, with some claiming his facial features appeared noticeably different from previous Marvel appearances.
“I’m sorry, did Chris Evans just have his first glowdown?” one user wrote on X, while another commented: “He dead-ss ruined his face bro he got no aura left…”
A third person noted in a viral post with almost 12 million views, “no it’s not ‘age,’ he literally did something to his face this is him in 2025 and 2026.”
“Like that’s a different person. That’s your uncle who ‘kinda looks like Chris Evans if you squint,’” another said in response.
A person asked in another viral post, “No, like actually what did he do to his face?”
Others suggested changes to his nose, hairline, and facial structure were responsible for the new discussion.
Fans Debate Whether Age Or Styling Explains Chris Evans’ New Look
The debate soon spread to Reddit, where users compared recent images of Evans with older photos from his time as Captain America.
“Maybe it’s just that angle, but it looks both larger and slightly pointed downward more as compared to before,” one Reddit user speculated, per Styler Caster. “Could it be attributed to age? Maybe. But after googling recent photos, it honestly looks like his nose is completely different in some of them.”
However, many fans pushed back against the plastic surgery speculation, suggesting that natural aging is a far more likely explanation. They noted that Evans is now several years older than he was during his final major appearances as Steve Rogers and pointed out that facial changes over time are normal.
“You’re seeing a lot of things here,” one fan explained. “Lighting is poor, he has aged 8 years since the last movie, his hairline is slowly receding, and he is not as big as he was in all the other movies, which creates a stronger jaw and squarer face. Here he has a softer face and features.”
Others highlighted the dramatic change in the character’s appearance in “Avengers: Doomsday.” In the trailer, Evans appears with longer hair and a full beard, a look that differs significantly from the clean-cut image audiences most closely associate with Captain America.
The Actor Previously Insisted He Was ‘Happily Retired’ From Marvel
The renewed attention surrounding Evans comes despite his previous insistence that he had retired from the role.
Nearly five years after his final appearance as Steve Rogers in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” Evans addressed rumors that he would once again take up Captain America’s shield.
Speaking to Esquire as part of Anthony Mackie’s January cover story, he firmly denied reports linking him to future Marvel projects.
“That’s not true,” Evans said when asked about reports linking him to future Marvel projects. He added that similar rumors tend to surface every few years and have become so common that he no longer feels the need to respond to them. “I’ve just stopped responding to it,” he explained. “Yeah, no — happily retired!”
His comments contrasted with reports at the time claiming he would appear in “Avengers: Doomsday,” though details about his potential involvement remained unclear.
Anthony Mackie Says Chris Evans Never Mentioned A Marvel Return
The rumors appeared to catch some of his former co-stars off guard as well. Anthony Mackie, who has taken over as Captain America in the franchise, admitted he was unaware of any plans involving Evans’ return.
According to Mackie, he had spoken with Evans only weeks earlier and was given no indication that a comeback was being considered.
“I talked to Chris a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t on the table then,” Mackie recalled. “At least, he didn’t tell me it was on the table, because I asked him.” He added: “I was like, ‘You know, they said they’re bringing everyone back for the movie. Are you coming back?’”
Mackie said he only became aware of the reports after hearing about them from his manager. At the time, he emphasized that he had not seen a script and had no additional information about whether Evans would actually be involved in the film.
“[My manager said,] ‘Oh, so I guess Chris is coming back.’ That’s all I know,” he said. “I haven’t seen a script.”
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