“Is Queenie the ‘black Bridget Jones’, because the creator Candice Carty-Williams (on whose critically acclaimed bestseller the present is predicated) has known as it? Hardly, even when at one level our heroine exhibits as much as a celebration wrongly dressed as a bunny woman. However it could simply be the black Fleabag. Dionne Brown is terrific within the lead position. Her Queenie is heat, likeable, a type of TV characters who arrives absolutely shaped from the very first scene. Which is an efficient factor, given she is in 95 per cent of them.”
James Jackson, The Occasions

“Prickly and defensive, this heroine is much less instantly lovable than Bridget Jones or Fanny Worth. However she evokes the identical want in us, a need to see her kind out her feelings and fall in love — with the fitting man!”
Christopher Stevens, Each day Mail

“Queenie herself is kind of superbly rendered by Dionne Brown, within the form of efficiency that you just solely ever discover when an actor has fallen hook, line and sinker for his or her character. It makes an viewers love a personality too, and in a bit as centrally focussed as Queenie, that’s important. The place Queenie stumbles is in its plotting. There’s, inevitably on this post-Freudian age, an unspecified childhood trauma that lies beneath all of Queenie’s self-defeating choices. Whereas this can be psychologically credible, it’s additionally change into the hoariest TV arc within the guide.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“Showrunner Carty-Williams and her fellow screenwriters deftly stability these extra critical storylines with lighter, comedian moments, and Brown is a deeply empathetic display presence: she brings pathos to Queenie’s psychological well being struggles with out smoothing over her spiky sense of humour and her many foibles, backed up by a successful ensemble forged. Queenie is that uncommon factor: an adaptation that’s positive to be as beloved because the guide that impressed it.”
Katie Rosseinsky, The Impartial

“The best way it’s instructed – with dry humour and sexual frankness – feels a bit too acquainted. What validates Queenie’s existence within the pantheon of TV’s flawed feminine leads is Brown’s star high quality, Carty-Williams’ sharp observations and the present’s joyful love letter to south London. On display, Queenie is as actual as she was on the web page.”
Rachel Sigee, The i

“Queenie appears like a dramedy dreamed up by half-arsed AI. The breakup, the queer pal who encourages her up to now once more, even the goals of creating it as a author within the huge metropolis are painfully rote cliches. As a result of Queenie feels so imprecise, investing in any of those plotlines is troublesome. It additionally turns into more and more unclear who this present is making an attempt to attraction to. Its depictions of Black womanhood are so fundamental that it’s onerous to think about Black feminine audiences being impressed by its insights.”
Leila Latif, The Guardian

“Lots of Star Wars’ greatest tales come when it strays from black and white storytelling, and – like Andor earlier than it – The Acolyte thrives when it exists within the gray. The difficulty of who will get to regulate energy and what meaning for the Jedi, Sith, and everybody caught in between is thought-provoking and difficult. Thus far, The Acolyte is a few rungs under the most effective Star Wars dwell motion collection – Andor and The Mandalorian deserve that accolade – however it’s on the fitting trajectory.”
Amon Warmann, The i

“Reward should go to Showrunner Leslye Headland for making an attempt to do one thing completely different with Star Wars, with the idea of a neighborhood of feminine dissidents accessing a forbidden facet of the Drive. But regardless of a reported $25m per episode finances, the collection suffers from the identical flat, ‘low cost’ look that was a problem with Obi-Wan Kenobi, whereas the pacy motion scenes by no means compensate for the clunking dialogue. It’s a spirited effort, however within the continuum of Disney’s Star Wars hits and misses, The Acolyte lands bang within the center.”
Ed Energy, The Impartial

“In the end,  that is nostalgia sci-fi, a children’ TV present geared toward 50 yr olds who, within the UK, grew up within the days when Physician Who-style journey meant wobbly units and creatures made out of polystyrene. The Acolyte has many instances that manufacturing finances, however its coronary heart, reasonably charmingly, is hewn from that awestruck previous that had area as an infinite journey playground, not one lengthy darkish dystopia.”
Keith Watson, The Telegraph

Venom, the Tom Hardy-led Sony antihero franchise, is without doubt one of the few vibrant spots within the studio’s prolonged Spider-Man universe—totally on the energy of Hardy simply going Sicko Mode and swinging for the fences together with his efficiency. Whether or not he’s committing to absurd bodily comedy or delivering not one however two wacky voices, nobody can accuse Hardy of mailing it in as Eddie Brock, the mild-mannered journalist who finds himself sharing a physique with the wacky, man-eating alien symbiote often known as Venom. Audiences have responded in sort, turning this siloed franchise right into a billion-dollar asset for Sony. All that was left was to lastly get Hardy’s Eddie Brock in the identical room with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, which the final movie appeared to lastly gesture at in its post-credits scene. However the trailer for Venom: The Final Dance, the third and alleged final Venom movie due out this fall, seems to be strolling that again. Let’s break it down.

There’s a second within the trailer between the movie’s antagonist, a dogged army soldier performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, and a bartender performed by Ted Lasso’s Cristo Fernández, whereby a bit of a Venom-esque symbiote will get snatched up by the military. This has a deeper which means in the event you’ve been following all of those Venom post-credits sequences. On the finish of the second movie, Let There Be Carnage, Eddie Brock and Venom are seemingly transported into the MCU, with the creature taking a look at an image of Peter Parker on a TV display after which licking it. Then, on the finish of Spider-Man: No Approach Dwelling, simply as all the multiversal shenanigans are getting reset, Eddie is kicking it alongside Fernández’s unnamed bartender, studying all in regards to the MCU — he particularly mentions Thanos, Hulk, and Iron Man — earlier than expressing a want to go to New York to talk with Spider-Man. Simply as he stands up, Eddie is teleported away, seemingly again to his personal universe, abandoning a bit of the symbiote within the MCU consequently.

These post-credit sequences seemed to be teeing up a chance for the symbiote arc to lastly go down within the Holland Spider-Man collection. On condition that No Approach Dwelling ended with Peter completely alone, his existence completely erased from the reminiscences of everybody he is aware of and loves, leaning right into a darker storyline makes quite a lot of sense on paper. Remoted and unhappy, Peter may very well be extra prone to the symbiote’s corruption, thus kicking off the black-suited Spidey storyline everyone knows and love.

Nonetheless, this new Venom trailer reveals Ejiofor amassing that errant symbiote pattern in the identical actual bar, with Fernández carrying the very same clothes. Do bear in mind, Ejiofor already performs a reasonably pivotal character within the MCU—Mordo, a sorcerer within the first Physician Unusual movie who, within the comics, goes on to develop into one among his largest antagonists. So if Ejiofor is interacting with the bartender, is that this a multiversal variant scenario or is the MCU-Sony plot continuity liason asleep on the wheel?

The most important implication right here is that Sony has determined to again out on their plans to play ball with the MCU. Keep in mind, Sony’s bizarre method to their set of Spider-Man properties places them ready the place they’re higher off servicing characters who aren’t the pleasant neighborhood wall-crawler.

All instructed, this one shot poses quite a lot of questions on the way forward for Holland’s Spider-Man. Primarily, that this concept of the upcoming fourth movie lastly incorporating one among Spidey’s largest arcs—and most notorious villains—will show to be one massive pump-fake. Or possibly Kevin Feige and co. simply need to deal with Venom themselves and can confine Hardy’s misadventures to its personal universe? We could have to attend till Venom: The Final Dance’s October 25 launch to seek out out.

The excellent news is that no matter any cross-franchise connections, this new movie seems like an appropriately wild time. The trailer ends with Venom taking on a horse (!) which then takes off like a Ferrari (!!) and jumps off a cliff with Eddie clinging on for pricey life. Venom, weird and superior to the very finish.

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It’s simple to see why Queenie, the heroine of the 2019 bestselling novel — now a brand new Channel 4 comedy drama — has been repeatedly referred to as the “Black Bridget Jones”. Like Helen Fielding’s beloved bumbler, she’s a self-narrating, resolution-making, wine-guzzling younger girl with a aptitude for fake pas and really doubtful style in males.

But if Bridget was unfortunate in love, she was additionally privileged in ways in which imply her British-Jamaican counterpart “may by no means be [like her]” — as Queenie’s creator, the creator and showrunner Candice Carty-Williams, has famous. The place it’s an embarrassing costume that attracts undesirable consideration to Bridget at a complicated backyard social gathering, for example, in an identical setting Queenie, performed by Dionne Brown, stands out merely due to the color of her pores and skin.

Greater than only a Gen-Z tackle a well-recognized quarter-life-crisis story, this eight-part sequence can also be a well timed reflection on what it feels prefer to be routinely singled out, missed, patronised and denigrated as a younger Black girl. And although Queenie’s tone typically stays gentle, there are pointed political observations and poignant reflections on every thing from racist in-laws to fetish-fulfilling hookups, on a regular basis microaggressions to home abuse.      

Following a break-up that blindsides her, the 25-year-old Londoner begins a routine of nightly boozing and (principally dangerous) intercourse that quickly takes its toll on her fledgling journalism profession and her psychological well being. Regardless of being in no way the primary display screen heroine to hunt refuge from existential angst on the backside of a bottle or between a stranger’s sheets, Queenie is imbued with an engagingly particular person presence by Brown. Her assurance within the position ensures that the character by no means appears passive or susceptible, even when she’s at her most uncomfortable.

The poor decisions, awkward encounters and mortifying situations typically really feel contrived, although, and go away too little time for scenes that set up extra significant occasions and relationships. Moments that take a look at the ties and tensions inside her multigenerational household are a few of the sequence’ most rewarding and richly emotive, and could be higher served by extra deliberate pacing and detailed storytelling. Like its protagonist, Queenie may gain advantage from slowing down.  

★★★☆☆

Streaming on Channel 4 within the UK. Streaming on Hulu within the US from June 7

Michael Chandler appeared to go away his coaching camp forward of his showdown with Conor McGregor, casting large doubt over their struggle.

Chandler posted a cryptic message on Instagram hinting that he was heading residence to Tennessee regardless of UFC 303 being lower than 4 weeks away.

The pair are resulting from go head-to-head in the principle occasion in Las Vegas on June 29.

McGregor has not been within the Octagon for 3 years and his comeback has been lengthy awaited, in the meantime Chandler has been out of motion since November 2022.

Fears began rising in regards to the standing of the struggle when the UFC cancelled a scheduled press convention in Eire on Monday simply hours earlier than it was resulting from start.

McGregor launched a press release on social media saying it was cancelled resulting from a ‘sequence of obstacles exterior of our management’.

Journalist Ariel Helwani then reported that the UFC had been sounding out potential replacements for the struggle.

He wrote: “The hope continues to be that the struggle is on. There’s positivity, I might say. However they’ve despatched out feelers to see who would possibly be capable to fill in, both as a alternative or a wholly new struggle on the prime of the invoice. Nonetheless growing, and nonetheless a while.”

In a single day on Tuesday, Chandler dropped the largest trace but that the struggle was not going to happen.

He wrote on Instagram: “In case you’re searching for me, I’ll be out in Tennessee. No approach out of the life we selected… Stroll On.

“See you on the prime!”

3

3

Chandler had been in his struggle camp in Florida, however seems to be leaving that camp to go residence.

No official phrase has been given by the UFC, or McGregor himself, that the struggle has been cancelled.

The third installment of the hit “Venom” franchise formally has a trailer, and as soon as once more, Tom Hardy and his ever-starving symbiote companion are attempting to get alongside whereas doing good — in a nasty approach.

“In ‘Venom: The Final Dance,’ Tom Hardy returns as Venom, considered one of Marvel’s biggest and most complicated characters, for the ultimate movie within the trilogy,” an outline hooked up to the trailer reads. “Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by each of their worlds and with the online closing in, the duo are pressured right into a devastating determination that can convey the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s final dance.”

The movie is produced by Sony Photos with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel.

The trailer exhibits Hardy’s twitchy journalist Eddie Brock questioning — and with Venom’s assist, devouring – a crew of armed antagonists, after which larger points are afoot.

The upcoming movie can even characteristic “Ted Lasso” star Juno Temple as a scientist finding out alien phenomena.

“We at all times knew it was not possible that we have been alone within the universe. And it is our job to see that continues to be a secret,” Temple’s character, Dr. Payne, tells a soldier performed by Chiwetel Ejiofor within the trailer.

The navy is then proven searching the twosome down to provide humanity an opportunity in opposition to an alien invasion.

“Eddie, my dwelling has discovered us,” Venom tells his higher half — which means extra of his fellow parasitic shapeshifters are coming.

Their military “can’t be crushed,” Ejiofor’s character says.

To that finish, we see Venom tangling with a large alien on prime of an airliner mid-flight.

“We might not make it out of this alive, buddy,” Hardy warns Venom, as a title card reads, “‘Til Dying Do They Half.”

“Venom: The Final Dance” additionally stars Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham. It’s scheduled to be launched in theaters this October.

Marvel is owned by Disney, the mum or dad firm of ABC Information and “Good Morning America”

Michael Chandler has hinted his UFC 303 showdown in opposition to Conor McGregor is off by leaving his coaching camp.

McGregor continues to be scheduled to return to the Octagon on 29 June after a three-year absence from the cage – breaking his leg in his final struggle in opposition to Dustin Poirier.

However issues over that struggle happening have emerged this week. McGregor and Chandler had been set to satisfy at a press convention in Dublin on Monday night – just for it to be cancelled simply 10 hours earlier than its scheduled begin time.

UFC didn’t present any purpose for the cancellation with McGregor tweeting on Tuesday it was on account of ‘obstacles outdoors of our management.’

Chandler in the meantime was knowledgeable the press convention was now not happening on Sunday, not making the journey to the Irish capital.

Worries the struggle shall be scrapped have grown all through the week with ESPN, the UFC’s official broadcast associate within the US, eradicating promoting for UFC 303 from their web site.

Chandler has now additionally indicated one thing main has developed. The American trains in South Florida however appeared to adapt on Instagram he has now flown again residence to Tennessee.

He wrote within the since-deleted put up: ‘When you’re in search of me, I’ll be out in Tennessee. No method out of the life we selected.’

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani in the meantime claims that whereas the struggle continues to be at present scheduled to go forward, UFC have begun contemplating alternative fighters or a wholly new struggle to headline the cardboard later this month in Las Vegas.

McGregor’s final replace in the meantime supplied no actual readability on the scenario, apologising to Irish followers after this week’s press convention was cancelled.

‘In session with the UFC, at this time’s press convention was cancelled on account of a sequence of obstacles outdoors of our management.

‘I apologise to my Irish followers and followers world wide for the inconvenience and recognize all of your ardour and assist. I can’t wait to placed on the best all-time present within the Octagon.’

MORE : Trump features 3,500,000 TikTok followers in 24 hours – six occasions as many as Biden

Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Social gathering (TDP) and Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) have provided letters of help to the Nationwide Democratic Alliance, as per stories coming in after the conclusion of the large NDA meet that came about in Delhi at the moment.

The NDA assembly got here within the wake of the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls through which the BJP secured 240 seats, falling effectively wanting the bulk mark, though the NDA itself was effectively past the bulk mark.

“Everybody put forth their views and thanked the general public for this mandate to the NDA for a 3rd time. The federal government underneath the management of Narendra Modi will quickly be shaped, and really quickly a gathering of all of the MPs will happen,” stated JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha.

As per information stories, NDA associate Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Social gathering (Ram Vilas) (LJP-RV) has been assured of 1 Union Cupboard place.

Earlier at the moment, The Union Cupboard, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had advisable the dissolution of the seventeenth Lok Sabha throughout a gathering held at the moment at his residence. This resolution, made a day after the announcement of the overall election outcomes, was formally communicated to President Droupadi Murmu by Prime Minister Modi. Alongside this advice, Modi tendered his resignation and that of the whole Union Council of Ministers.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan additionally confirmed that President Murmu has accepted their resignations and requested Modi and his ministers to proceed of their roles till a brand new authorities is shaped. The time period of the present seventeenth Lok Sabha is about to conclude on June 16, marking this as a pivotal second in India’s democratic transition. 

Novak Djokovic is not going to compete within the French Open quarterfinals after an MRI on Tuesday revealed he has a torn meniscus in his proper knee.

The world No. 1 was set to face Casper Ruud within the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

“Because of a torn medial meniscus in his proper knee (found throughout an MRI scan carried out at the moment), Novak Djokovic, who was speculated to play Casper Ruud within the quarterfinals tomorrow, has been compelled to withdraw from the Roland-Garros event” the French Open launched in a press release.

Djokovic’s withdrawal will make Jannik Sinner the first-ever Italian man to grow to be world No. 1 when the brand new rankings come out on Monday.

Djokovic, who got here to the event with slight discomfort in his knee, stated on Monday he felt the damage worsen within the second set of his eventual five-set win over Francisco Cerundolo. The Serbian expressed his frustration with how slippery the floor of Court docket Philippe-Chatrier was and requested for it to be swept extra steadily, however the request was turned down.

The three-time French Open champion has had a whirlwind of a 12 months between accidents, teaching modifications and uncharacteristic losses.

Djokovic was almost unstoppable in 2023, successful three of 4 Grand Slams and falling within the closing of Wimbledon. He sported a formidable 56-7 win-loss document (88.9% win charge). Comparatively, in 2024, he has a season document of 18-6 (75% win charge).

The 37-year-old star was gunning for his twenty fifth Grand Slam title however nonetheless holds the document for many majors on the boys’s facet.

What’s a meniscus tear and the way lengthy is the restoration time?

A meniscus tear is a comparatively frequent damage to the cartilage within the knee that acts as a shock absorber between the shinbone and the thighbone.

 These accidents sometimes happen when the knee is forcefully twisted or rotated.

The therapy for a meniscus tear will depend on the severity. Whereas delicate instances will be relieved with ice, ache relievers, relaxation and bodily remedy, extra superior tears can require surgical procedure. 

Restoration time with out surgical procedure will be 4 to six weeks, whereas restoration after surgical procedure is roughly 3 to six weeks for a meniscectomy or 3 to six months for a meniscus restore.

Who will Casper Ruud play within the French Open?

With Djokovic’s withdrawal, No. 7 Ruud will get a walkover into the French Open semifinals.

The 2022 and 2023 French Open finalist will face the winner of No. 4 Alexander Zverev and No. 11 Alex De Minaur — two gamers who’ve been on hearth. Zverev ousted Rafael Nadal within the first spherical, whereas De Minaur eradicated No. 5 Daniil Medvedev within the Spherical of 16.

When are the French Open semifinals?

The boys’s semifinals can be performed on Friday, June 7.

Tips on how to watch the French Open males’s semifinals and finals

The French Open airs dwell on NBC, Peacock and the Tennis Channel from Roland Garros in Paris. 

The event may even stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports activities app.

The published schedule for the boys’s semifinals and closing is as follows: 

Who’s within the French Open males’s semifinals?

Whereas Ruud awaits the winner of Zverev and De Minaur, No. 2 Jannik Sinner will face the winner of No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

After profitable 12 seats within the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United) could make or break the probabilities of the BJP-led Nationwide Democratic Alliance coming to energy.

The Bihar Chief Minister has a historical past of switching sides. On Wednesday (June 5) morning, he was noticed travelling to Delhi in the identical flight because the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav. Though spokespersons of each the events stated it was solely a “coincidence”, Tejashwi, who spoke to the media after touchdown in Delhi, stated, “Have some persistence. Wait and watch. We greeted one another. Baaki kya hota hai, aage aage dekhte rahiye.”

The official trailer for Alien: Romulus is right here, revealing a clearer have a look at extra Xenomorphs and Facehuggers forward of the movie’s premiere this August.

This claustrophobic slice of the following Alien film is available in at two minutes lengthy and offers audiences extra from its characters and the creatures out to get them. Not an excessive amount of from the story is revealed although, because the footage as a substitute focuses extra on darkish and seemingly countless corrodors. You’ll be able to see all of it within the newest Alien: Romulus trailer under.

Alien: Romulus desires to take followers again to the suffocating settings and dimly-lit hallways the franchise is thought for. An official description even says longtime Alien enjoyers can count on to return to the roots of what made the sequence particular.

“Whereas scavenging the deep ends of a derelict area station,” the outline says, “a bunch of younger area colonizers come head to head with probably the most terrifying life kind within the universe.”

Alien: Romulus comes from Don’t Breathe and Evil Lifeless (2013) director Fede Álvarez and stars Cailee Spaeny (Civil Battle, Priscilla), Isabela Merced (Madame Internet, Transformers: The Final Knight), and David Jonsson (Business, Deep State). At this time’s trailer gives a greater have a look at a few of the scenes seen in March’s teaser trailer, which principally served to whet the urge for food of hungry Alien followers.

There are a couple of causes sci-fi enjoyers are wanting ahead to Alien: Romulus. Other than Álvarez’s historical past in horror and the promise of a return to the franchise’s roots, the film will use sensible results for a few of its Xenomorph creatures. Álvarez additionally teased late final 12 months that the unique movie’s director, Ridley Scott, mentioned the movie was “f**king nice.”

“My household is aware of it was probably the greatest moments of my life to have a grasp like him, who I admired a lot, to even watch a film I made, however significantly one thing like this… and discuss to me for an hour about what he preferred about it,” he mentioned. “Among the best compliments he mentioned was, ‘The dialogue is nice. Are you the author?’ Sure!”

Alien: Romulus premieres August 16, 2024. For extra, you possibly can learn our interview with Álvarez, the place he spoke about how the movie matches into the franchise.

Michael Cripe is a contract contributor with IGN. He began writing within the business in 2017 and is finest identified for his work at shops akin to The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure you give him a observe on Twitter @MikeCripe.