Aurelia Butler

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    ‘The Old Guard 2’ Review: Thurman vs. Theron

    Uma Thurman joins the expanded cast in this sure-footed sequel to the action blockbuster about a team of immortal heroes.Five years ago, “The Old Guard” injected a tired genre of superhumans in capes with existential alienation and grit. The aim of that film, about a crew of immortal vigilantes who go on rescue missions to help mankind, was admirable but also frequently one note.What could another installment offer? The best that a sequel can: buff out those blemishes, expand the universe and subvert the genre again. In “The Old Guard 2,” superheroes saving humanity is out, gods beefing with gods is in. The film, directed by Victoria Mahoney, is a sure-footed romp that tightens the screws, most immediately by flexing a bigger cast and broadening the lore of the original comic book series. All this expansion starts right where the last one ended. Believed to be lost under the sea for centuries, Quynh (Veronica Ngo), a fellow immortal and lover of Andy (Charlize Theron), has returned. She’s discovered by Discord (Uma Thurman), another mysterious immortal who is opposed to Andy’s meddling in human affairs. Aggrieved and feeling abandoned by Andy, who is now mortal, Quynh then becomes a useful tool for Discord.Whereas the first film was focused on the arrival of a new immortal named Nile (KiKi Layne), this one has forgotten immortals popping up (like Tuah, played by Henry Golding). That means a lot of drama, and fertile ground for these supreme beings reckoning with the most human of experiences: love and betrayal, guilt and regret, all complicated by being alive for millenniums.Ngo is the key anchor to these feelings, providing a strong emotional counterpoint to Theron that was just present in flashbacks the first time around. The shared history in their gazes and the pain and recriminations of losing and finding each other again translates the wistful burden of immortality that the first film mostly said, but couldn’t really make you feel.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Heads of State’ Review: John Cena and Idris Elba Are Assassins’ Targets

    This action movie about U.S. and British leaders, also featuring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, plays like a silly version of a BBC political satire series.As the U.S. President (and former movie star) Will Derringer prepares to meet the British prime minister, Sam Clarke, he has something of a chip on his shoulder. Journalists and aides figure he’s holding a grudge; during his presidential campaign, Clarke took Derringer’s opponent out for fish and chips. Then, the two are thrown together in the run-up to a NATO summit; their determination to patch up their relationship, which isn’t terribly strong to begin with, is eventually enhanced when they’re forced to fend off varied explosive assassination attempts.Directed by Ilya Naishuller, who also made the absurdist action pictures “Hardcore Henry” and “Nobody,” “Heads of State” plays like a season of the BBC political satire series “The Thick of It.” (If the show had been crafted to satisfy the Second City Television characters Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok, whose approval of movies was contingent on things “blowing up real good.”) John Cena, the U.S. president, and Idris Elba, the British leader, craft their performances cannily — their characters don’t know they’re in a comedy, which makes things funnier. The way Cena’s face turns blank when his character doesn’t know what to do next (which is often) is particularly effective.The movie contains some intriguing, presumably deliberate nods to auteurist cinema. Like Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2011), it opens at the messy Tomatina (tomato festival) in Buñol, Spain, where a shooting aimed at a secret agent played by Priyanka Chopra Jonas is easily mistaken for an edible splat. As in Steven Soderbergh’s “KIMI,” a popular Beastie Boys tune is blared on a sound system during an action scene. And just like in Mike Judge’s “Office Space,” Stephen Root plays a functionary who is routinely humiliated by his boss. It’s loud albeit harmless japery, best appreciated with your air-conditioning cranked to movie theater levels.Heads of StateRated PG-13 for language and comedic violence. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Watch on Prime Video. More

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    ‘40 Acres’ Review: This Land Is Their Land

    Danielle Deadwyler tussles with cannibals in a disturbing postapocalyptic thriller.“You think bullets grow on trees?” a perturbed Hailey Freeman (Danielle Deadwyler) asks her daughter. Eleven years into a global famine that has rendered farmland the most valuable resource of this near future, Hailey spends her days training her children to ward off the marauding bandits coveting the fertile family land she tirelessly works.The title of R.T. Thorne’s fierce and striking postapocalyptic thriller, “40 Acres,” is, of course, rife with symbolism. The name stems from Gen. William T. Sherman’s Civil War land promise to Black Americans freed from enslavement. Hailey’s lush rural Canadian property, whose familial ownership dates to 1875, is a fulfilled vow that never came to fruition in the United States. Tellingly, those who trespass on Hailey’s farm, such as a band of killers in the film’s gruesome opening skirmish, are exclusively white.To protect the area, Hailey and her Indigenous partner Galen (Michael Greyeyes) — who’s also understandably sensitive to the preciousness of land — rely on their four children. A kindhearted Emanuel (Kataem O’Connor) patrols; a perceptive Raine (Leenah Robinson) serves as a sniper; and the growing sisters Danis (Jaeda LeBlanc) and Cookie (Haile Amare) help where they can. Furthering fortifications include an electrified fence, A.T.V.s for roaming, a cache of guns in a fallout shelter and a network of subterranean tunnels suggesting an underground railroad. During the day they practice marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, and at dinner, Raine presents a report on “The Proletarian Handbook.”Though Hailey prefers isolationism, new threats emerge testing her desire. Through her CB radio she learns that cannibals have massacred several surrounding farms. Her lone friend, Augusta (Elizabeth Saunders), is also missing. Unbeknown to Hailey, Emanuel, who’s desperate to find romance and others his age, takes in a wounded Dawn (Milcania Diaz-Rojas), who mysteriously appears in search of help.While we learn much about this family during the film’s five chapters, their surrounding world remains obscured. Hailey speaks about a military faction known as “Union,” but they’re never seen. Is a government still in place? Is there an opposition? Though these cannibals are a menacing presence, they also remain nameless and broad. By seeing the army and the cannibals as the same threat, Thorne limits the film’s dramatic potential to mix race with horror and history.Still, there’s a tense beauty to “40 Acres.” Deadwyler’s forceful energy fills the frame; through her rigid stature and her cleareyed speech, she lends power and humor to this lovingly stern mother. Through wide shots and sweeping tracks, the cinematographer Jeremy Benning juxtaposes this heartland’s soft golden hour magic with the hard violence necessary to defend it. A final freakout, taking place in multiple settings, helps to quench the viewer’s pent-up blood thirstiness, while Hailey’s last-act devotion to Emanuel adds warmth to a chilling apocalyptic story.40 AcresRated R for strong bloody violent content and language. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters. More

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    He’s Ringo. And Nobody Else Is.

    In the summer of 1985, Ringo Starr’s friend and fellow drummer Max Weinberg flew to England for the former Beatle’s 45th birthday.Though the pair had become chummy since meeting five years earlier in Los Angeles, backstage at a concert Weinberg was playing with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Weinberg remained somewhat intimidated by his boyhood hero in the early stages of their friendship. (The ever-amicable Starr offered advice: “Sometimes it helps if you call me Richie.”)While celebrating at Tittenhurst Park — the sprawling estate outside London that had previously belonged to John Lennon and Yoko Ono — Starr turned to his younger friend, then 34, and said something that remains an inside joke between them: “Well, Max, I’m going to be 45. Doesn’t that make you feel old?”That line is classic Ringo — a dryly clever, double-take koan from rock ’n’ roll’s Yogi Berra, the man whose tossed off “Ringo-isms” became immortalized in Beatles song titles like “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”Each year, Starr would update the line for Weinberg, until its recitation became something of an annual tradition. “I imagine if I was speaking to him on July 7,” Weinberg said in a phone interview, “him saying to me, ‘I’m 85.’ And it doesn’t sound so old anymore.”Ringo Starr will be the first Beatle to turn 85, and like his surviving bandmate Paul McCartney, he never retired. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Jury in Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial Reaches Verdict on All Counts but Racketeering Conspiracy

    The jury will keep deliberating on a racketeering conspiracy charge in the morning after saying there were “unpersuadable opinions on both sides.”A jury in Manhattan reached a partial verdict on Tuesday in the federal case against the music mogul Sean Combs, but it did not announce its decision because it was deadlocked on a final charge of racketeering conspiracy. The jury left for the night and will return to continue deliberating on Wednesday morning.The jury, comprising eight men and four women, said there were members “with unpersuadable opinions on both sides” on the racketeering count. After deliberating for more than 12 hours, they reached a verdict on the four other counts in the case, two each of sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his lawyers have denied that any of his sexual activities with the women in the trial were nonconsensual.After the jurors alerted the court to the partial verdict at about 4:05 p.m. on Tuesday, Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the case, brought them into the courtroom and encouraged them to continue their discussions.“I ask at this time that you keep deliberating,” Judge Subramanian said.He reread the panel an excerpt from the jury instructions that said “no juror should surrender his or her conscientious beliefs for the purpose of returning a unanimous verdict.”At that point, the jury decided to conclude its deliberations for the day and return on Wednesday at 9 a.m.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Judge Dismisses Jay-Z’s Suit Against Lawyer He Said Extorted Him

    Lawyers for the rapper had accused Tony Buzbee of making false assault claims. Another federal suit Jay-Z has filed against Mr. Buzbee and his client continues.A judge in Los Angeles on Monday allowed for the dismissal of a months-old lawsuit filed by Jay-Z, in which the rapper had attempted to sue a lawyer he said had tried to blackmail him with false claims of sexual misconduct.In November, lawyers for Jay-Z (born Shawn Carter), brought a suit that accused the lawyer, Tony Buzbee, of extortion, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He sued after Mr. Buzbee, who has filed a number of lawsuits that accuse Sean Combs of sexual assault, reached out to explore a complaint from an anonymous accuser who said that Mr. Carter and Mr. Combs sexually abused her.Mr. Buzbee subsequently filed suit accusing Mr. Carter of raping the anonymous accuser with Mr. Combs when she was 13.That lawsuit accusing Mr. Carter of sexual misconduct was later withdrawn by the woman. Now Mr. Carter’s suit against Mr. Buzbee in Los Angeles has been dismissed.Still ongoing is a separate lawsuit filed by Mr. Carter against Mr. Buzbee in federal court in Alabama, the home state of the anonymous woman who initially sued Mr. Carter on sexual assault grounds.Mr. Carter’s lawyers have asserted in their filings that the woman and her lawyers knew the allegations they were making were false but proceeded with the claim anyway. In the Los Angeles case, Mr. Carter’s lawyers have said he received a letter from Mr. Buzbee threatening to “immediately file” a “public lawsuit” against him unless he agreed to resolve the matter through mediation for money.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    10 Songs of Rebellion and Defiance for the Fourth

    Tracy Chapman, Björk, Public Enemy and more songs for rabble-rousing and celebrating revolution.Tracy ChapmanAmy Sussman/Getty ImagesDear listeners,Jon Pareles here, chief pop critic, dropping by The Amplifier while Lindsay is on leave. The Fourth of July is just a few days away. And its celebratory fireworks and parades, lest we forget, commemorate a manifesto of principled rejection of authoritarian rule, which became the foundation of a successful revolution. It’s a good moment to crank up some songs about defiance, rebellion, justice and collective action. Here are a few for starters.Rip the mic, rip the stage, rip the system,JonListen along while you read.1. Tracy Chapman: ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’“Poor people gonna rise up and take what’s theirs,” Tracy Chapman predicted on her 1988 debut album. With a churchy organ looming behind her strummed guitar chords, she envisioned economic discontent that could build from a whisper to a movement — and she welcomed it.▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube2. The Isley Brothers: ‘Fight the Power, Pts. 1 and 2’Frustration energized the funk in this 1975 hit by the Isley Brothers. Tautly contained rhythm guitars and pithy drumming back up the brothers’ growls and falsettos as they rail against red tape, against people who say their “music’s too loud” and generally against a barnyard profanity that was still a rarity in that era of R&B. For the last two minutes of a five-minute track, they bear down directly on their message, vehemently repeating, “Fight it, fight the power!”▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube3. Public Enemy: ‘Fight the Power’In 1989, Public Enemy latched onto the Isley Brothers’ title and refrain for “Fight the Power,” which appeared on the soundtrack to Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” and on Public Enemy’s album “Fear of a Black Planet.” Chuck D declares, “From the heart, it’s a start, a work of art / To revolutionize, make a change,” over the Bomb Squad’s dense, deep funk production — a bristling pileup of samples from James Brown and many others. Decades later, it still sounds uncompromising.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    What to Know About Bob Vylan, the Band at the Center of a Scandal

    British police are investigating and the band lost its U.S. visas after a member called for “death” to Israel’s army at a festival.Before this weekend, Bob Vylan was a rising punk band with about 273,000 monthly listeners on Spotify — hardly a household name.Now, after leading chants of “Death, death to the I.D.F.” in reference to Israel’s army at the Glastonbury festival in England, it has become punk rock’s latest notorious act.On Monday, British police opened a criminal investigation into the chant, shortly after Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Jewish groups condemned it as hate speech.In the United States, the deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, said that the State Department had revoked visas for Bob Vylan’s members, meaning the band can no longer play a planned U.S. tour.Despite all the attention now focused on the group, many people had never heard of it before. Here’s what you need to know.Who is in Bob Vylan and what’s its music like?A British punk-rap duo known for fast-paced, politically provocative songs, the group uses pseudonyms and deliberately obfuscates other biographical details. The singer goes by Bobby Vylan and the drummer by Bobbie Vylan.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More