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“Gladiator II” asks the question: Are you not moderately entertained for roughly 60% of this sequel? Truly, this is a movie dependent on managed expectations and a forgiving attitude toward its tendency to overserve. More of a thrash-and-burn schlock epic than the comparatively restrained 2000 “Gladiator,” also directed by Ridley Scott, the new one recycles a fair bit of the old one’s narrative cries for freedom while tossing in some digital sharks for the flooded Colosseum and a bout of deadly sea-battle theatrics. They really did flood the Colosseum in those days, though no historical evidence suggests shark deployment, real or digital. On the other hand (checks notes), “Gladiator II” is fiction. Screenwriter David Scarpa picks things up 16 years after “Gladiator,” which gave us the noble death of the noble warrior Maximus, shortly after slaying the ignoble emperor and returning Rome to the control of the Senate. Our new hero, Lucius (Paul Mescal), has fled Rome for Numidia, on the North African coast. The time is 200 A.D., and for the corrupt, party-time twins running the empire (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger), that means invasion time. Pedro Pascal takes the role of Acacius, the deeply conflicted general, sick of war and tired of taking orders from a pair of depraved ferrets. The new film winds around the old one this way: Acacius is married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, in a welcome return), daughter of the now-deceased emperor Aurelius and the love of the late Maximus’s life. Enslaved and dragged to Rome to gladiate, the widower Lucius vows revenge on the general whose armies killed his wife. But there are things this angry young phenom must learn, about his ancestry and his destiny. It’s the movie’s worst-kept secret, but there’s a reason he keeps seeing footage of Russell Crowe from the first movie in his fever dreams. Battle follows battle, on the field, in the arena, in the nearest river, wherever, and usually with endless splurches of computer-generated blood. “Gladiator II” essentially bumper-cars its way through the mayhem, pausing for long periods of expository scheming about overthrowing the current regime. The prince of all fixers, a wily operative with interests in both managing gladiators and stocking munitions, goes by the name Macrinus. He’s played by Denzel Washington, who at one point makes a full meal out of pronouncing the word “politics” like it’s a poisoned fig. Also, if you want a masterclass in letting your robes do a lot of your acting for you, watch what Washington does here. He’s more fun than the movie but you can’t have everything. The movie tries everything, all right, and twice. Ridley Scott marshals the chaotic action sequences well enough, though he’s undercut by frenetic cutting rhythms, with that now-familiar, slightly sped-up visual acceleration in frequent use. (Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo are the editors.) Mescal acquits himself well in his first big-budget commercial walloper of an assignment, confined though he is to a narrower range of seething resentments than Crowe’s in the first film. I left thinking about two things: the word “politics” as savored/spit out by Washington, and the innate paradox of how Scott, whose best work over the decades has been wonderful, delivers spectacle. The director and his lavishly talented design team built all the rough-hewn sets with actual tangible materials the massive budget allowed. They took care to find the right locations in Morocco and Malta. Yet when combined in post-production with scads of medium-grade digital effects work in crowd scenes and the like, never mind the sharks, the movie’s a somewhat frustrating amalgam. With an uneven script on top of it, the visual texture of “Gladiator II” grows increasingly less enveloping and atmospherically persuasive, not more. But I hung there, for some of the acting, for some of the callbacks, and for the many individual moments, or single shots, that could only have come from Ridley Scott. And in the end, yes, you too may be moderately entertained. “Gladiator II” — 2.5 stars (out of 4) MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence) Running time: 2:28 How to watch: Premieres in theaters Nov. 21. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.A teen cross-country runner at a California high school is ripping school officials for forcing the girls to accept a transgender teammate and says that trans athletes are neither fair nor safe. Kylie Morrow, a 16-year-old athlete from Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, spoke out after school officials censored two of her teammates for wearing t-shirts reading “Save Girls Sports.” The administrators outrageously said that the girls’ shirts were no different than wearing a “swastika.” The two girls were singled out by the school and then sued their school over the incident. The girls allege that the school forced a boy who identifies as a girl onto the varsity team, even though the boy never attended practices nor met other academic requirements, and then removed one of the girls from the team to make room for the trans student. For her part, student Kylie Morrow spoke out during a November 21 Riverside Unified School District board meeting in support of the girls who are being censored and insisted that girls should be allowed to support the cause of saving women’s sports from incursions by trans athletes, Fox News reported. “I’m constantly affected by the actions taken place this season, and I have been around the females, and just my team in general, who have felt almost silenced to speak out about i, because the whole LGBTQ is shoved down our throats!” Morrow said during her time at the mic. “We live in a society where it’s almost impossible to speak out on it without facing repercussions,” she said. “It feels as though that my school and the school district is choosing to support one person instead of the whole team,” Morrow added. “To see the athletic director turn around and tell my teammates that their shirts that say, ‘Save girl’s sports’ be compared to a swastika, that is not okay. These girls feel silenced, they felt silenced, and when they finally did something to speak out against it . . . they were completely stabbed in the back.” The teen also said that allowing boys to play on girls’ teams creates an “unsafe” environment for biological girls. “It is not okay that I have to be in position, and I have to see a male in booty shorts, and having to see that around me, as a 16-year-old girl, I don’t see that as a safe environment,” Morrow insisted. “Going into a locker room and seeing males in there, I don’t find that safe. I don’t find going to the bathroom safe when there’s guys in there. It’s not okay. I’m a 16-year-old girl!” One of the girls who filed a lawsuit against the school was heartbroken after being tossed off the school track team so officials could make room for the boy who identifies as a girl. “My initial reaction was like, I was really surprised, because it was like, why is this happening to me?” student litigant Taylor said. “There’s a transgender student on the team. Why am I getting displaced when I’ve worked so hard and gone to all of the practices, and this student has only attended a few of the practices.” The girls were also upset to be told that their “Save Girls Sports” shirts were equivalent to wearing a swastika. The two girls’ attorney, Julianne Fleischer, alleges that the school violated her clients’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and Title IX protections. “We’re seeing more and more women and young girls speak up and challenge these policies that are allowing biological boys to join and participate in these sports,” Fleischer insisted. “And so there’s lawsuits that are popping up all around the country. We’re hopeful that even with the incoming administration and Congress that, we’re going to see real positive change to Title IX that actually upholds and safeguards the rights of women to participate in their sports and to be safe and to be able to compete amongst one another.” Indeed, more and more women and girls are finally starting to fight back against transgenderism in sports. For instance, a girl’s high school volleyball team at a Christian school in Merced, California, recently forfeited a game because they did not wish to compete against a trans player. The Christian high school is only one of a growing list of school teams that are refusing to play against opponents with transgender players. A lawsuit was filed this year against San Jose State University (SJSU) and the Mountain West Conference for allowing a male to play on the SJSU women’s volleyball team. To date, five colleges have refused to play against SJSU over the school’s inclusion of transgender player Blair Fleming. The NCAA is also being sued by several groups over its policy of allowing transgender players to play as women. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston , or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
John Parker Romo made a 29-yard field goal to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 30-27 overtime win against the host Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon. Romo buried the game-winning kick in his third career game for Minnesota (9-2), which won its fourth game in a row. The score capped a 10-play, 68-yard drive for the Vikings after the Bears went three-and-out on the first overtime possession. Sam Darnold completed 22 of 34 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Vikings. Wideout Jordan Addison finished with eight catches for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown. The overtime defeat spoiled an impressive performance from rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who completed 32 of 47 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago (4-7). D.J. Moore had seven catches for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Keenan Allen finished with nine catches for 86 yards and a score. Chicago erased an 11-point deficit in the final 22 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime. Romo had put Minnesota on top 27-16 when he made a 26-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. Williams trimmed the Bears' deficit to 27-24 with 22 seconds to go. He rolled right and found Allen wide open in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown, and moments later he fired a strike to Moore for a two-point conversion. The Bears recovered an onside kick on the next play to regain possession at their 43-yard line with 21 seconds left. Cairo Santos' onside kick bounced off the foot of Vikings tight end Johnny Mundt, and Tarvarius Moore recovered it. D.J. Moore put the Bears in field-goal position with a 27-yard reception across the middle of the field, and Santos made a 48-yarder as time expired to even the score at 27-all. Minnesota led 24-10 after three quarters. Romo made a 40-yard field goal early in the third quarter, and Aaron Jones punched in a 2-yard run with 1:22 left in the period to put the Vikings on top by two touchdowns. Addison and Jalen Nailor each had receiving touchdowns in the first half for Minnesota. Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard run for the Bears' only touchdown of the first half. Chicago trailed 14-10 at the break. --Field Level MediaAnthony Albanese has dodged questions about when his government learned Melbourne man Oscar Jenkins was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine, citing “security issues”. Footage of Mr Jenkins getting interrogated by Russian forces began circulating on pro-Kremlin social media channels on Sunday. But it is unclear when the video was shot and Australia’s embassy in Moscow has been scrambling to get details on his whereabouts. The Prime Minister on Tuesday said again that his government was “making representations”. “We have called in the Russian ambassador to Canberra to make appropriate representations,” he told reporters in Darwin. “Our Australian embassy in Moscow is also making representations to secure a positive outcome. “It is an opportunity for us to say that the warnings ... about travelling to areas of conflict are ones that should be heeded by Australians. “This is not a safe or secure thing to do, and there is a risk involved, but we will continue to, as we always do, make representations on behalf of Australians.” Suggestions the Albanese government knew of Mr Jenkins’ capture weeks or even months ago were reported by some media outlets on Tuesday. Asked when his government started talking to Moscow about Mr Jenkins, Mr Albanese repeated remarks he made on Monday to “always look after Australians”. He was asked point blank when Australians officials learned Mr Jenkins was captured. “When notification occurs, we take action on behalf of Australian citizens,” Mr Albanese said. Pressed further, he said “there are security issues involved”. “But we make this point that it is a dangerous thing to do, to enter into a war zone in a time of conflict two,” he said. A Ukrainian security source confirmed to NewsWire Mr Jenkins was serving in the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine. The source did not say where exactly the Australian was last deployed or when he was taken prisoner. The video of Mr Jenkins suggested he was captured near Kramatorsk, a Ukrainian stronghold near the front lines in the eastern Donetsk Oblast. It is a key strategic city for Ukraine and a major target for Russian forces. A fellow foreign fighter who served with Mr Jenkins described him to the ABC as “very patriotic” and a “hell of a damn good soldier”. ‘Not our friends’: Ukraine warning to Aussies Earlier, Nationals leader David Littleproud warned Australians that “Russians are not our friends” in a call on citizens to think twice before heading to Ukraine. The senior opposition MP said the Australian government was in a tough spot. “This is a difficult situation with the government, that they’ve been put in, and this isn’t something that Australians need to think. that this is a great adventure running to the Ukraine,” he told Sky News. “That’s a war zone, and bad things are going to happen. The Russians are not our friends, and they won’t treat you as a friend, and the Australian government just can’t waltz in and get you out.” The video of Mr Jenkins emerged just days after Australia pledged fresh aid to Ukraine and announced the reopening of the embassy in Kyiv. Canberra has given Kyiv north of $1.5bn worth of support, including munitions and battle tanks. The bipartisan backing for Ukraine has landed Australia a spot on Russia’s register of “unfriendly countries” – the Kremlin’s geopolitical naughty list. Mr Littleproud said there was “not a lot to negotiate with”. Pro-Russia propagandist Simeon Boikov, known by his moniker Aussie Cossack, has offered himself up for a prisoner swap. Boikov has been hiding at the Russian consulate in Sydney since he was convicted of assaulting a 76-year-old man at a pro-Ukraine rally in Sydney more than two years ago. Since entering the consulate he has been pumping out Kremlin disinformation from a makeshift studio, including politically-charged falsehoods around the high-profile stabbings in Sydney earlier this year and the 2023 Voice referendum. Mr Littleproud downplayed the plausibility of Boikov getting the swap, pointing out that he “isn’t a prisoner”. “He’s there in his own volition because he’s running away from charges from our law,” the senior Coalition MP said. “Now, I think the government needs to be given the space to work through this and to work through this constructively. “And if there are options available, then obviously, with the appropriate briefings, I think the Coalition stands ready to support them in whatever endeavours they can do. “But just appreciate this is a difficult situation the Australian government’s been put in, and that Australia should understand there is no magic wand for any government to be able to negotiate with Russia. So stay away.” How and when Mr Jenkins got to Ukraine remains unclear. The video of his interrogation showed him responding to questions in broken Ukrainian and Russian. His inability to speak fluently appeared to frustrate his Russian interrogator, who hit him several times and repeatedly swore at him. At one point, the Russian asks him: “Do you want to live?” Mr Jenkins replies: “I want to help Ukraine”. Acting foreign affairs minister and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said on Monday the government was providing consular support to Mr Jenkins’ family, and that Australian officials were “making representations to the Russian government”. We urge the Russian Government to fully adhere to its obligations under international humanitarian law, including with respect to prisoners of war. “Our immediate priority is understanding where Mr Jenkins is and confirming his wellbeing. “I reiterate the Government’s clear advice to all Australians – do not travel to Ukraine.” Russia’s war in Ukraine has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands on both sides and displaced more than 10 million people. Some 11,500 Ukrainians have found safe haven in Australia. Originally published as Littleproud warns Australians against ‘adventure running’ to Ukraine after Melbourne man capturedNone
Rutgers women’s hoops struggle in the paint against PrincetonAP Business SummaryBrief at 3:54 p.m. EST
Former Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has knocked Governor Monday Okpebholo decision to probe his (Obaseki) administration, saying it is a diversionary tactic to mask his incompetence and unpreparedness for office. Recall that Okpebholo had approved the formation of a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to investigate the administration of his predecessor. The committee is tasked with verifying the state’s assets and liabilities under the previous administration. But reacting in a statement to Naija News on Sunday, Obaseki’s Media Aide, Crusoe Osagie, said his principal ran Edo’s most transparent government. He stated that the barrage of empty probes by Okpebholo is a smoke screen to mask his incompetence and unpreparedness for office. According to Obaseki’s aide, Okpebholo is devoid of ideas and lacks a clear vision to drive development in the State, noting that the Edo governor is resorting to cheap political theatrics and using a circus of meaningless probes to distract from his glaring incompetence and lack of direction. The statement reads: “ Our attention has been drawn to a laughable and utterly ridiculous statement by the Monday Okpebholo’s administration setting up a 14-member State Assets Verification Committee to probe the administration of his predecessor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, who is globally acclaimed to have run one of the most transparent, accountable and prudent government’s in the history of Nigeria. “This is another in the list of the barrage of meaningless probes which the governor and his directionless government is embarking on since they got into Dennis Osadebey Avenue through the back door. From probing civil servants’ employment to probing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and probing vehicles and other assets of government, among others, the governor-select has continued to show that he is bereft of ideas and lacks a clear vision for the development of the State and has therefore resorted to these charades of empty probes to buy time and distract from his incompetence and unpreparedness for office. “His plan is to treat Edo people like an undiscerning mob that you can distract with a show like the duel of gladiators in the Ancient Roman Colosseum. But Okpebholo will soon learn that he is the governor with the hardest job in Nigeria because the Edo people of Edo State are wise and can hardly be fooled. His diversionary probes may succeed in deceiving people in some States in Nigeria but certainly not those in Edo State. “He should stop his futile and failed attempt to fool the people of Edo State who have already seen him for who he truly is: a politician out of his depth who has become a tool in the hands of his many godfathers who are thirsty for vendetta, having for long been denied access to the people’s patrimony by the immediate past government of His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki. “It is on record that the Obaseki administration achieved an unprecedented level of transparency in governance, laying a solid foundation for fiscal discipline, which was why it was able to accomplish the numerous milestones recorded across various sectors of the State, including the economy, education, agriculture, infrastructure, among others. Under Obaseki’s watch, the State developed its first asset register, containing all the government’s assets, which has since been handed over to the new government.” He added: “ So, we know what their plans are with the diversionary probes. It is just a smokescreen to mask the governor-select’s incompetence and unpreparedness for office, having come into power through a stolen mandate. “We want to advise Okpebholo to focus on governance and improving the lives of Edo people rather than waste state resources masking his incompetence in meaningless probes. Edo people are watching and his short-span government which lasts until the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) reclaims its mandate duly given to it by Edo voters will be judged not by the noise it makes but by the impact it delivers.”The Thai woman’s body was discovered in a fifth-floor hostel room in the Jomtien area of Chonburi in eastern Thailand. Jomtien Beach area and the Gulf of Siam, Pattaya, Thailand (stock image) An Irish man in his 70s has been questioned by police in Thailand after a woman was found dead in a hostel on Sunday. The Thai woman’s body was discovered in a fifth-floor hostel room in the Jomtien area of Chonburi in eastern Thailand and she has since been identified as 45-year-old Ms Duangta. Forensic experts and medical teams from Banglamung Hospital gathered evidence at the scene today before transferring the deceased to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to determine the course of the investigation. Ms Duangta had been dead for at least three days in the hostel room she shared with a 77-year-old Irish man being referred to as ‘Mr B’. Other residents in the building had noticed a smell coming from their room and notified authorities but police found no evidence of struggle or a break-in in the room, which Mr B had left on Sunday morning. Authorities later questioned him after finding him walking along Jomtien Beach, where Khaosod reports he claimed Ms Duangta had asked to stay with him from December 18 after being assaulted by another person. Building staff claim that the Irish man had been renting the room since October 16 and frequently brought different women to stay with him. Mr B has been taken to Pattaya City Police Station for further questioning as police investigate his relationship to the deceased and why he had not reported her death.No. 8 Kentucky flying high ahead of Western Kentucky meeting
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We need modern version of Wally Feeke’s hunnycart!Nina Agdal’s attorneys filed a letter with the courts claiming that Dillon Danis “very likely” damaged his own cell phone to prevent evidence being collected in an ongoing lawsuit against the fighter. Agdal, a model and social influencer who is in a relationship with Logan Paul , filed the lawsuit against Danis back in 2023 claiming he posted “despicable” things about her more than 250 times since a boxing match he booked against Paul was first announced. Agdal claimed she suffered “humiliation, emotional distress and reputational harm” from Danis’ repeated posts about her. Agdal also claimed that at least one post Danis made involved a sexually explicit image taken from a “romantic encounter” more than 10 years ago, alleging it violated federal and state law. Following plenty of back and forth between attorneys, Danis eventually submitted his cell phone for examination but Agdal’s attorneys are now crying foul that he may have purposefully destroyed the device before handing it over. “We write to apprise the Court that an independent forensic specialist conducted an initial inspection of Defendant Dillon Danis’s dead cellular phone and determined it is very likely its condition is the result of an intentional effort to render it inoperable and, thus, destroy electronically stored information (ESI) central to this case,” Agdal’s attorneys wrote in a letter addressed to Judge Michael Hammer. “We therefore request that, as a precursor to a motion for spoliation sanctions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 37, the Court order Defendant to pay the expenses associated with completing a forensic examination of the phone in order to confirm whether the data thereon is unrecoverable, as appears to be the case. Plaintiff already incurred over $5,000 in forensic expenses, and, under the circumstances, it would be unjust for Plaintiff to bear the additional expenses.” Agdal’s attorneys claim that the phone was the “exclusive device” Danis used to post about their client and search for content of her to post. They also allege that third-party discovery “revealed that he also used the phone to text with others about his harassing conduct and to coordinate future posts about [Agdal], despite denying under oath that he had done so in his interrogatory answers.” In the letter, Agdal’s attorneys say that a forensic specialist hired to examine the phone confirmed that the charging port was “rendered inoperable” and the device will not turn on. The forensic expert offered his opinion that contradicts Danis’ claims in testimony that the device died “after he took it in the sauna and then subsequently tried to charge it.” The attorneys claim the forensic expert “indicates it appears highly likely that [Danis] is lying about how his phone was damaged.” While the attorneys still hope to recovery additional data from the phone, the costs incurred still fall on Agdal with estimates running up to $5,000 for the initial next steps to get the device to power on again and then an additional $16,200 to $23,500 in fees to “extract any data that is recoverable.” Danis’ attorneys opposed the expenses related to a forensic expert examining the device because the lawsuit involves “posting of a photograph on Twitter that discovery in this case has established, was taken by [Agdal’s former boyfriend] and subsequently made available on the internet, along with a multitude of other nude photographs of [Agdal], who earns her living by posing in a state of partial and complete undress.” They also argued that Danis primary means of communication was from messaging — not email or text — and Agdal’s attorneys have already received all of his Twitter, What’s App and Facebook messaging. “There is no evidence that there is any material of substantial value on [Danis] non-functioning mobile telephone,” Danis’ attorneys wrote. The letter by Agdal’s attorneys was filed on Dec. 4. The judge hasn’t issued any ruling yet on the matter. When filing the lawsuit against Danis, Agdal asked for unspecified damages and she’s requesting no less than $150,000 per violation of federal law, which prohibits sharing intimate images.