Category Archives: ENTERTAINMENT

Rivals Star Luca Pasqualino Claims He’s Still ‘Haunted’ By His Ted Lasso Audition

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Rivals actor Luca Pasqualino has revealed he came close to landing a major role in a very different British show that has also gone on to become a huge hit internationally.

During a recent interview with HuffPost UK to promote the new episodes of the Jilly Cooper bonkbuster, Luca was asked if there was an audition he missed out on earlier on in his career that still “haunts” him today, to which he admitted that there was “definitely” one that came immediately to mind for him.

“One that I got really, really close to that sort of sticks out was Ted Lasso,” he explained, before sharing that he’d tried out to play striker Jamie Tartt in the Apple TV+ series.

“I got down to [the last few], went and met Jason Sudeikis, had two tests for it, and I was so close. But my friend Phil Dunster, he got the part in the end. And he was so good.”

Luca continued: “If you watch [something that you’ve auditioned for] and the person who gets it is really awful or whatever, it makes you feel worse.

“But [Phil] was so good, it’s like, ‘OK, fine, I get it. This is going to be an easier pill to swallow’.”

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Critics Pull No Punches As Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Dated’ New Comedy Arrives On Netflix

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When the trailer for the new Netflix comedy film Ladies First dropped, it quickly raised eyebrows, with some critics going as far as calling it “the worst movie trailer” the had “ever seen”.

And let’s just say the response isn’t any better now that the film has landed on streaming services, with a smattering of one- and two-star reviews.

Ladies First stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a chauvinistic CEO whose life is upended when he wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women.

Despite an all-star cast which includes Rosamund Pike, Fiona Shaw, Charles Dance and Emily Mortimer, the film is getting negative reviews across the board.

Critics are calling out the film’s subpar jokes, borderline-offensive gender politics and misuse of its talented British cast.

Here is what people are saying about Ladies First…

“In its attempt to become a one-stop shop for just about every form of nostalgia possible, Netflix has now decided to revive the dreadful British comedy of the 2000s.

The all-deciding algorithm has somehow deemed it necessary for a return to that cursed era with the release of Ladies First, a broad and chintzy new comedy that would have felt old hat even back then.

“It’s an excruciatingly unfunny high-concept thought experiment, imagining a world with flipped gender politics, that’s far too happy with itself and what it’s allegedly achieving to be passed off as just some charming throwback.”

“This a film that attempts to wring side-splitting laughter from the wacky, dystopian sight of, ho-ho, women taxi drivers, women paramedics and women changing tyres. Plus, equally hilarious are the scenes featuring, snicker snicker, men cooking, men hugging and men being interested in their children. Finger off the pulse? Just a bit.”

Critics definitely aren't laughing at Sacha Baron Cohen's new comedy
Critics definitely aren’t laughing at Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy

Rob Youngson/Netflix

“A dated battle-of-the-sexes comedy […] at a time when laws change daily to restrict women’s bodily autonomy, protect men from accountability and reinstate antiquated values that benefit a few at the expense of the many, sexual politics can feel more regressive than ever.

“But as uneven a playing field as women may face against men in their lives, relationships and careers, Ladies First is a movie that seems like it’s made less for this moment than one a few generations ago.”

“This comic tale of an arrogant, sexist male executive who gets his comeuppance when he hits his head and wakes up to find himself in a world dominated by women hits every satirical note you’d expect but provides more knowing chuckles than genuine laughs.

“An almost ridiculously overqualified cast of notable British thespians does their best to elevate the material of this Netflix comedy directed by Thea Sharrock but it’s heavy lifting.”

“The easy feminism of winks and role reversals quickly wears thin. Most of the movie takes place in Damien’s head after all, and much of its lessons are about his growth. Why does that sound so familiar?”

We're not sure what's happening in this scene from Ladies First and we're not sure we want to know
We’re not sure what’s happening in this scene from Ladies First and we’re not sure we want to know

“Sacha Baron Cohen is knocked unconscious early in Netflix comedy Ladies First, a film that only sometimes makes you wish the same for yourself.”

“Men and women both will find a number of alarming concepts in the gender-flipping comedy Ladies First not the least of which will be the idea of Sacha Baron Cohen as a romantic lead.

“He’s a terrific actor. Whether he has the animal magnetism to play opposite Rosamund Pike (who does?) strains credulity. But so does most of the movie.”

Ladies First is now streaming on Netflix.

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Critics Praise Netflix’s ‘Intriguing’ New Drama From The Producers Of Stranger Things

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From the producers of Stranger Things comes The Boroughs, a new Netflix sci-fi series that follows supernatural goings on in the unlikeliest of spots.

Led by an all-star cast that includes Alfred Molina, Bill Pullman and Clarke Peters, The Boroughs has already been described as a mix of The Goonies, A Man On The Inside and The Thursday Murder Club.

The show follows a group of pensioners in a luxury retirement village, as they try to hunt down the creature living underneath their homes, after mysterious goings-on threaten them and their loved ones.

Critics have mostly praised The Boroughs, although some have said it doesn’t live up to the earlier series of Stranger Things.

Here’s what critics are saying about The Boroughs so far…

“Like the best hokum, The Boroughs speaks, via monsters and electroplasm, to eternal human fears. Death is one, but The Boroughs parses it further – the fear of dying alone and friendless, after all one’s loved ones have gone, or after years of living in a terrifying, memory-less present – and then gives us comfort, that together most monsters can be defeated.”

“Part Thursday Murder Club, part Stranger Things, The Boroughs is an unexpectedly entertaining mix of adventure and wonder, drama and humour. Age is just a number – and it doesn’t matter what that number is when you’ve got a monster in your front room.”

The Boroughs is executive produced by Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers
The Boroughs is executive produced by Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers

“Like Stranger Things, The Boroughs is hard to pigeon-hole. There are elements of family drama, shades of comedy and moments of schlocky horror, but it’s just as intriguing as the Netflix hit’s early years.”

“The monster stuff really drags. But I liked the underlying message that you write off older people at your peril.

“It doesn’t take a psychoanalyst to spot that the monsters stalking these retirees represent mortality. Molina plays a man still hit by waves of despair over losing the woman he loved. There are scenes in which he grieves for her, sound-tracked by Bruce Springsteen, which will bring a tear to your eye.”

“Flipping the premise of executive producers the Duffer Brothers’ breakthrough series Stranger Things, where resourceful kids triumphed against monsters from the Upside Down, this series pits characters who could easily be their grandparents against a sinister otherworldly force.

“Setting the mayhem in an otherwise placid retirement community abutting the New Mexico desert (though Roswell oddly is never mentioned) is a stroke of creative genius. The elderly are an especially vulnerable demographic, often robbed of their agency and independence by well-meaning family, patronised as delusional or worse if they confess to seeing things that couldn’t possibly be true. Or could they?”

“Boasting a fantastic cast that brings this ensemble of intricate characters to life, The Boroughs turns a familiar genre on its head, allowing audiences to consider from a different vantage point the constraints of the human experience, what it means to be fearless and the finality of death.

“Fascinating and intense, with The Boroughs, viewers will indeed have the time of their lives.”

The Boroughs features an all-star cast playing a group of retirees investigating some supernatural goings on
The Boroughs features an all-star cast playing a group of retirees investigating some supernatural goings on

“Between its examination of dementia and its tale of a reclusive retiree finding community, The Boroughs feels like a sci-fi version of another stellar Netflix offering: A Man On The Inside.

“The Boroughs may have 100 percent more monster attacks, but it also has A Man On The Inside’s same compassion when it comes to telling stories of retirees living fulfilling, adventurous lives.”

“In between the missteps and monsters, The Boroughs is ultimately a heartfelt and charming series that poses a fair few questions about life, ageing and death – and asks just how far you’ll go for the ones you love.”

“In the final third of the story […] what first seems like simple horror starts to connect to The Boroughs’ bigger questions about the cost of extending life beyond its natural limits, and this sometimes diverts attention away from the main quest.

“The story moves away from a clear good-versus-evil setup, and a simpler version with a hero and villain might have felt more satisfying, even if it meant losing some of the deeper ideas and ambiguity the series deliberately leans into.”

“Davis, Molina, O’Hare, Peters, and Woodard make the show a blast, particularly the terrific middle stretch of the eight-episode first season.

“Too bad about the rest of the ensemble, whose one-note performances are a drag on The Boroughs’ momentum and scares. With leads this strong, you’d expect supporting players who can make lines like ‘The Boroughs is a fortress, a citadel blazing in the dark’ sound spooky, not goofy and uninspiring.

“Fortunately, a few weak links and a slow start don’t diminish The Boroughs’ delightful punch.”

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“When conflict arises, the threat of being mistreated by people far younger and stronger than they are is a sobering reminder of the potential for cruelty that comes from organisations that are, in fact, positioned to help.

“It’s a dark mirror to how the kids of Stranger Things bemoan they won’t be believed by the adults in their lives, but unlike the kids, the retirees’ very lives are put under threat that, at times, feels far more frightening than even the menacing presence hiding within the retirement village.”

“Netflix’s The Boroughs gets off to a promising start, with Alfred Molina leading one hell of a great cast of veteran actors as the residents of a retirement community dealing with a monstrous, otherworldly threat.

“The set-up is intriguing and fun, with the first episode establishing an appealingly quirky tone that’s hopefully backed up by a worthy story across the eight episodes that will fully make proper use of these actors.”

“While the sci-fi thriller proves a fine enough way to while away a few hours, with a plot that boils down to ‘Stranger Things but old people’ and an A-list cast that’d turn the grey hairs of A Man On The Inside green with envy, I left thinking too much of its eight 45-minute episodes had been spent on the former, at the expense of the latter.”

“I doubt The Boroughs is about to set Netflix alight on the epic scale that Stranger Things did. It might have an old-timey vintage feel, but it is nowhere near the nostalgia bomb that first got so many in on Hawkins.”

The Boroughs is available to stream on Netflix now.

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