Entertainment

Banksy London Zoo Mural Offers Clue To Why Wild Animals Have Been Appearing All Over City

Published

4 weeks ago

2024-08-14

LONDON — Workers arriving at the London Zoo early Tuesday were astonished to find an unusual exhibit that suggested the animals were being released.

A artwork by the secretive street artist Banksy depicted a gorilla holding up the entrance gate while birds took flight and a sea lion waddled away. Three sets of eyes emerged from the darkness inside.

Banksy London Zoo Mural Offers Clue To Why Wild Animals Have Been Appearing All Over City

The artwork could explain why Bansky-created monsters, such as a mountain goat perched on a building buttress, piranhas surrounding a police watch post and a rhinoceros mounted on a car, have been appearing in the most improbable places across London for nine days in a row.

According to Dan Simmonds, the zoo’s animal operations manager, each of Banksy’s Instagram posts has a London Zoo hashtag. But he didn’t expect the artist to adorn the zoo’s doorway.

“Part of the enigma of Banksy is obviously that everything is a surprise,” according to Simmonds. “We had no idea it would happen right here, on one of our massive entry shutters. But stepping in and seeing that made me realise that, yes, we are extremely fortunate.”

Simmonds claimed he found the mural at 6:30 a.m. when he arrived to start feeding the hungry animals. Every morning, cyclists circled Regent’s Park, which includes the zoo, posing for selfies.

The roll-down shutter remained closed all day to highlight the work. It’s peak season at the zoo, but the renowned street artist immediately attracts his admirers, and crowds gather to see it and take photos.

Banksy began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England and has since become one of the world’s most recognizable artists.

His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction, attracting thieves and vandals. The most recent series of works is no exception, and workers at the zoo protected it later in the day with a see-through plastic covering.

The rhino that appeared on Monday was branded with graffiti. A wolf silhouette on a roof-mounted satellite dish, which appeared to howl at the moon, was stolen hours after word spread about the artwork last week.

A large cat stretched out on the back of a decaying billboard was removed within hours by three men who claimed they were contracted to do so for safety reasons.

A police sentry box resembling a fish tank was relocated from near the Old Bailey courthouse to the City of London corporate offices to secure it, according to a spokeswoman. It will eventually be displayed in public places.

Banksy London Zoo Mural Offers Clue To Why Wild Animals Have Been Appearing All Over City

It was unclear whether the zoo mural would be the final in the series.

Simmonds said the zoo was honoured that Banksy chose it for one of his canvases. He was especially excited to see the giant ape because he had previously been the gorilla keeper.

He believes the animal depicted in the painting is an endangered western lowland gorilla, a subspecies seen at the zoo. Simmonds identified one of the birds as a possible macaw and another as a bat.

“As for the eyes, who knows, maybe some cats peering out,” he remarked. “That is the beauty of it. Literally, only Banksy will know.”

SOURCE | AP

Entertainment

The Last Showgirl With Pamela Anderson Wows Toronto Film Festival

Published

2 days ago

2024-09-08

Geoff Thomas

The Last Showgirl With Pamela Anderson Toronto Film Festival

The Last Showgirl - Getty Images

The Toronto International Film Festival increased the razzle dazzle factor on the second day of its 49th edition with the world premiere of “The Last Showgirl,” a Vegas-set drama in which star Pamela Anderson enters the awards season conversation for the first time in her illustrious career.

Gia Coppola’s (“Palo Alto”) film follows a 30-year professional dancer who works in sequins in the last remaining classic floor show in Sin City, a gambling paradise. Dave Bautista plays the show’s stage manager, who must inform the dancers that their act will close permanently in two weeks.

Kiernan Shipka from “Mad Men” and Brenda Song are the next-generation dancers who perform alongside Anderson, while Billie Lourd plays her estranged daughter.

Jamie Lee Curtis, a recent Oscar winner with a perma-tan and frosted lipstick, provides comic relief as a Vegas cocktail waitress who must deal with rude clients while working for tips at a casino.

Anderson garnered loud ovation when she arrived for a post-credits Q&A. Wearing black trousers, a black top and dark sunglasses, the singer discussed her transition from ’90s sex symbol to playing Shelley, a dreamer who is overlooked in the Vegas whirl due to her age.

“I’ve spent my entire life preparing for this film,” she deadpanned, eliciting raucous laughs. “I’ve never felt so strongly about anything [as this picture]. It was do it or be it, and I did it.”

Actor Zachary Quinto Called “A Dick” Barred from Toronto Restaurant

Entertainment

Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a Box Office Success Gets 4.5 Stars

Published

4 days ago

2024-09-07

Geoff Thomas

Beetlejuice is 41% ahead of the norm for the action comedy sci-fi genre - Netflix Image

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice preview reportedly made $13 million for Warner Bros. Fans gave it 4.5 stars on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak, while both parents and children under the age of 12 gave it 5 stars.

The sequel has a current budget of $90 million, with room to grow.

The sequel starring Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, and Winona Ryder had 59% female attendees, with 73% of those attendees being 25 and older. In terms of gender, 62% of the children were girls and 38% were boys. Last night, the Latino and Hispanic community had an impressive showing at 36% of the total audience.

According to Yahoo Entertainment, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice social media reach With 508.6 million followers across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram combined, Beetlejuice is 41% ahead of the norm for the action comedy sci-fi genre.

“Jenna Ortega has stunned her 38.2 million Instagram followers with 103.1 million views, while Michael Keaton has 1.58 million and Willem Dafoe has 155 thousand,” the social media analytics company adds.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a Remarkable Sequel

Additionally, they mention, “Convo for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice A remarkable feat for a sequel, Beetlejuice has received mostly good reviews from audiences who have praised the film for its originality and sense of purpose. ‘At first, I thought this was another Scream movie, then I thought it was the Wednesday Season 2!’ A number of fans, including new viewers, are ecstatic to see Jenna Ortega in a horror film.

According to fans of the 1988 original, “My inner child from the 80’s is screaming!” when asked about the style of Jenna Ortega’s flicks. I’m more pumped up for this movie than any other! “I admire the practical effects and the attempts to make it look like the old movie!!” is one commenter’s praise for the show’s expert production values and impressive use of special effects.

You can count on seeing a plethora of costumed fans at the movies this weekend.

A large number of collectible concessions are also available. Beetlejuice jack-in-the-box popcorn buckets are available at Cinemark, competing with Sandworm and Wolverine

For Nicolas Cage, Making A Serial Killer Horror Movie Was A Healing Experience

For Nicolas Cage, Making A Serial Killer Horror Movie Was A Healing Experience

Entertainment

Trump Film ‘The Apprentice’ Finds Distributor and Will Open Before the Election

Published

1 week ago

2024-08-31

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — Trump Film | After failing to generate interest following its Cannes Film Festival screening, “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as a teenage Donald Trump, has found a distributor who intends to release the film right before the election in November.

Briarcliff Entertainment will release “The Apprentice” in theatres across the United States and Canada on October 11, just weeks before the November 5 election.

Director Ali Abbasi, a Danish-Iranian filmmaker, had prioritized releasing “The Apprentice” in theatres before electors voted. After major studios and film distributors declined to bid on the project, Abbasi complained on X in early June that “for some reason certain power people in your country don’t want you to see it!!!”

Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ finds distributor and will open before the election

In a statement issued Friday, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign’s communications director, described the film’s release as “election interference by Hollywood elites right before November.”

“This ‘film’ is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day, and doesn’t even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a skip fire,” Cheung tweeted.

The prospect of legal action was one factor that decreased interest in “The Apprentice”. After the film’s Cannes premiere in May, Cheung labeled it “pure fiction” and stated that the Trump team would pursue a lawsuit “to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”

“The Apprentice” follows Trump’s rise to dominance in New York real estate, guided by defense attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). Late in the film, Trump is seen raping his wife, Ivana Trump (portrayed by Maria Bakalova). In her 1990 divorce deposition, Ivana Trump alleged Donald Trump raped her. Trump rejected the claim, and Ivana Trump later clarified that she did not mean it literally but rather that she felt violated.

Abbasi has stated that Trump might not despise the film.

Trump film ‘The Apprentice’ finds distributor and will open before the election

“I would offer to go and meet him wherever he wants and talk about the context of the movie, have a screening and have a chat afterwards, if that’s interesting to anyone at the Trump campaign,” Abbasi stated during the May election.

Briarcliff Entertainment has published several films, including the 2022 documentary “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” and the Liam Neeson thriller “Memory.” The indie distributor is led by Tom Ortenberg, who helped Lionsgate distribute Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” and, as CEO of Open Road, supported the best picture Oscar winner “Spotlight.”

SOURCE | AP