Today
How they pulled off that wild ‘Mission: Impossible’ plane stunt
Creating Tom Cruise’s pivotal scene for “The Final Reckoning” required months of grit, G-force training and a little hypothermia.
Yesterday
The surprise hit that could help Disney collect $1.5b
The studio has done everything right with the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch, which overnight has become one of the biggest movie windfalls in years.
Owen Wilson’s charm helps land ‘Stick’ on the green
Think “Ted Lasso” with clubs in this story of a former golf pro searching for redemption that manages to be a comedy with heart without being too warm and fuzzy.
May
The unlikely rise of the Japanese toilet
Thanks to COVID and then a jump in tourism, Japanese-made bidets called Toto Washlets are enjoying a spurt of popularity in the West.
The Handmaid’s Tale reveals the limits of dystopian television
Six seasons of suffering proved more than enough for many viewers of Hulu’s once zeitgeist-seizing show.
When a child’s life becomes the family business
Evan Lee, better known as EvanTube, still had his baby teeth when he became an influencer. Now 19, he’s ready to reflect on what that kind of exposure meant.
These Aussies’ first film made $133m profit. Is their next any good?
The Adelaidean YouTubing brothers behind horror hit “Talk To Me” have gone much darker with follow-up “Bring Her Back”.
Charles Darwin’s nervous book launch was like no other
The naturalist knew his work on evolution would be contentious. But a new biography reveals his canny PR strategy.
‘Corrupt administration’: Springsteen and Trump crank up the insults
The rocker and the US president have been at each other for a long time but the gloves have come off over the past year. How did it all begin?
What’s with all the crypto bros eating pizza?
The first use of bitcoin to buy a real-world object happened 15 years ago this week. The deal has not aged well.
Welcome to slop world: how the hostile internet is driving us crazy
To be online today means navigating an environment whose design feels adversarial and manipulative.
Nicole Kidman still overshadowed by The White Lotus
The second season of Nine Perfect Strangers has wealthy neurotics flailing in paradise – just not as compellingly as in the Mike White series.
How Ozempic is changing the dinner date
The rising popularity of appetite-suppressing weight-loss drugs is creating new etiquette questions for restaurant diners.
After 60 years, media mogul Barry Diller bares his soul
The billionaire at the heart of some the biggest media deals of the past half century reflects on his dark childhood, his dazzling career, and Hollywood’s worst-kept secret.
‘Smash his camera and kill him’: A thriller writer’s scariest moment
Chris Hammer’s best-selling novels are inspired by his decades of writing and producing stories around the world as a journalist.
How drone shows are becoming the ‘new fireworks’
Elon Musk might own most of the satellites orbiting above us, but the 600 drones set to dance above the Adelaide Oval in July belong to his brother, Kimbal.
Nicolas Cage is in full demented descent in ‘The Surfer’
The actor’s energy builds like a wave in a tale that tells some ugly truths about Australia’s brutality.
‘Chicago Pope’: Leo XIV’s roots unleash spate of holy humour
The new pontiff’s home city has welcomed him with jokey tropes, from its deep dish pizzas to stained-glass windows depicting a dunking Michael Jordan.
Why you shouldn’t be a consultant when the world is on fire
Historian Rutger Bregman says meaningful global change can come from entrepreneurs who tackle problems that are sorely overlooked, solveable and sizeable.
How a Sydney billionaire became the pokies king of Alice Springs
Sam Arnaout has built a $3.1 billion pub and pokie fortune by flying below the radar. For some, however, it is coming at a high cost.