‘The People’s Joker’ Review: Trans Comic Finds Her Truth in Unauthorized Batman Parody

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Growing up in Texas toward the tail end of the 20th century, I was not taught about Emmett Till. I’ve learned about him since, of course. Till’s name adorns this year’s overdue federal antilynching act, and his tragic fate has inspired plays and films, including 2018’s Oscar-nominated short, “My Nephew Emmett,” and now a powerful new feature from Chinonye Chukwu, who gave Alfre Woodard one of her greatest roles in 2019 Sundance winner “Clemency.” Till’s story — that of a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was kidnapped in the middle of the night and lynched while visiting his family in Mississippi — may have been omitted from my Southern schooling for racist reasons, though I suspect it had as much to do with Western culture’s “great man” bias. History, as a field of study, celebrates the achievements of heroic individuals. Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks. Those names were all taught. But Emmett Till was a kid whose murder galvanized the American civil rights movement, and it has taken a different kind of thinking — à la “Say Their Names” campaign or Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” — to position victims in the public’s mind.

Meghan King is revealing what made her marry her ex, Cuffe Biden Owens, after only 3 weeks of dating, plus, revealed what the President got them as a wedding gift.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic “A lot of this really happened,” teases the opening card of David O. Russell’s unruly ensemble comedy “Amsterdam,” a loony early-’30s social satire that goes cartwheeling through a little-remembered episode in American history when fascists tried to overthrow the U.S. government. Russell clearly sees parallels between this alarming chapter of the nation’s past and our present, as national divisions threaten to overwhelm American democracy, but the writer-director has complicated the plot — the movie’s plot, that is, not the greater conspiracy on which it turns — to such a degree that audiences are bound to be bewildered. Instead of wondering which parts are true and which ones invented, they’re likely to find themselves asking, “What the hell is happening?” for the better part of 134 minutes.

In Louisiana, a school district is being accused of indoctrination after students were brought to an anti-trans church service under the guise of college and career preparation.On September 20, over 2,100 students from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System were told they were going to a “College and Career Fair.”The permission slip included the address, however, it failed to mention the address belonged to Living Faith Christian Center.According to Alexis Budyach, a student at Baton Rouge Magnet High, “majority of students chose to attend this field trip on the promise of free food and the opportunity to skip class, however the majority of students were not only disappointed by this event, but traumatized as well. I attended this college fair as someone who plans on applying to colleges soon, so I was disappointed once I saw what the event actually was.”Woodlawn High teacher Brittney Byrant, who attended as a chaperone with her transgender child, posted about the event.“Boys were instructed to go outside while the girls were left in the church for ‘girl talk’.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic African American boxing champ Muhammad Ali famously refused to fight for his country, justifying himself with the oft-quoted quip, “No Viet Cong ever called me n—–.” That’s one-half of American history, and an important one. “Devotion” tells the other, presenting the story of a Black pilot so determined to defend — and die for, if need be — the United States that he was willing to endure institutional bigotry to become the Jackie Robinson of the skies: Jesse Brown, the first aviator of color to complete the Navy’s basic training program. A square but satisfying social justice drama set against the backdrop of the Korean War, “Devotion” impressed on the biggest screen possible at the Toronto Film Festival two months before its Nov. 23 theatrical release. Featuring elements of both “Green Book” and “Red Tails,” the film is more than just a stirring case of Black exceptionalism; it also celebrates the one white officer who had Brown’s back, Tom Hudner, treating the bond these two men formed as something exceptional unto itself. Director JD Dillard dazzles with see-it-in-Imax airborne sequences, but the meat of the film focuses on the friendship between Brown (“Da 5 Bloods” star Jonathan Majors) and his white wingman, played by Glen Powell, the “Hidden Figures” actor who most recently appeared in “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Justin Trudeau always found Queen Elizabeth to be "lovely and thoughtful and gracious". The Canadian Prime Minister first met the monarch when he was just seven years old, and he still has fond memories of their first encounter. Trudeau, 50 - whose father was former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau - shared: "I was seven years old and I had to rush back from school to meet her.

After a week filled with tributes and events after Her Majesty’s death, many Royal fans are wondering: Who attended Queen Elizabeth’s funeral? 

President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth on Monday (September 19) in London, England.

Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, were in attendance at Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral on Monday in London’s Westminster Abbey. The couple arrived looking somber as they joined other world leaders, famous figures, and the royal family who came to pay their respects to Her Majesty, who died at age 96 on Sept. 8.The emotional funeral took place following four days of lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

President Joe Biden along with first lady Jill Biden arrived at Westminster Hall to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II, who lies in state ahead of her funeral Monday morning.  Both the president and the first lady were also photographed at Lancaster House, signing a book of condolences. President Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, signed a book of condolences at Lancaster House.

Thania Garcia Although the royal family has yet to confirm the official list of attendees for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, various heads of state have already confirmed their planned attendance at the Westminster Abbey ceremony scheduled for Monday, Sept. 19. Buckingham Palace revealed the full schedule of the funeral plans — which will begin in London and end in Windsor — including the several categories of dignitaries invited: global government representatives, foreign royal families, governors general, realm prime ministers and heads of state. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will be present, along with all of the heads of the Commonwealth including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian President Droupadi Murmu and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Joining them will be President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska and the presidents of Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Poland, among other representatives.

President Joe Biden has arrived in London, where he will join other world leaders at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. 

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Queen Elizabeth's coffin lying in state at Westminster Hall on Saturday (17. 09. 22).

A huge fire has engulfed a skyscraper that’s believed to house China Telecom in the city of Changsha, according to Chinese state media. The number of fatalities isn’t known but reports suggest it could be in the hundreds.

Liz Truss is expected to meet US President Joe Biden for one-to-one talks in private ahead of the Queen's funeral in London next week. The new Prime Minister may also meet other world leaders as they jet in over the weekend for the state funeral on Monday morning.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic No director has done more to deconstruct the myth of the suburban American family than Steven Spielberg. Dissertations have been written and documentaries made on the subject. And now, at the spry young age of 75, Spielberg himself weighs in on where his preoccupations come from in “The Fabelmans,” a personal account of his upbringing that feels like listening to two and a half hours’ worth of well-polished cocktail-party anecdotes, only better, since he’s gone to the trouble of staging them all for our benefit. Spielberg’s a born storyteller, and these are arguably his most precious stories. From the first movie he saw (“The Greatest Show on Earth”) to memories of meeting filmmaker John Ford on the Paramount lot, this endearing, broadly appealing account of how Spielberg was smitten by the medium — and why the prodigy nearly abandoned picture-making before his career even started — holds the keys to so much of the master’s filmography. More similar to Woody Allen’s autobiographical “Radio Days” than it is to European art films such as “The 400 Blows” and “Amistad” (the more highbrow models other directors typically point to when re-creating their childhoods), “The Fabelmans” invites audiences into the home and headspace of the world’s most beloved living director, an oddly sanitized zone where even the trauma — which includes anti-Semitism, financial disadvantage and divorce — seems to go better with fresh-buttered popcorn.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic “If we got rid of every gay man in the military, there would be no military,” a sympathetic officer tells Marine recruit Ellis French in “The Inspection.” That’s an exceptionally open-minded take on the United States’ “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, seeing as how pretty much everyone else French encounters at boot camp is openly hostile to there being a gay man among them. But writer-director Elegance Bratton made it through the system — like the character, he’d been lost and homeless for a decade before enlisting — and this deeply personal narrative debut is one gay Black man’s way of showing how he not only survived the experience, but was strengthened by it. “The few, the proud,” as they say.