Smoke & Fiction by X: Ninth and final studio album by the American punk rock band; comes after 2020’s Alphabetland...
COMING SOON
Out this week
Albums
* Smoke & Fiction by X: Ninth and final studio album by the American punk rock band; comes after 2020’s Alphabetland; includes the songs ‘Sweet Til the Bitter End’, ‘The Way It Is’, ‘Big Black X’, and ‘Winding Up the Time’.
Movies
* Harold and the Purple Crayon (starring Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, Benjamin Bottani, Jemaine Clement) – fantasy comedy; a man (Levi) can make anything come to life by drawing it with a magical purple crayon.
* Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (starring Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke) – animated adventure comedy, based on the television series SpongeBob SquarePants; when Bikini Bottom is suddenly scooped out of the ocean, Sandy Cheeks (Lawrence) and SpongeBob (Kenny) must save their home from the hands of an evil CEO.
* Trap (starring Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills) – psychological thriller; a serial killer (Hartnett) attends a pop concert with his daughter, only to realize it is a trap set by police to catch him.
* The Instigators (starring Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Hong Chau, Michael Stuhlbarg, Paul Walter Hauser) – heist comedy; after a robbery gone wrong, two thieves (Damon and Affleck) go on the run, dragging along one of their therapists (Chau).
Most viewed music videos of all time on YouTube
1 ‘Despacito’ by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee (uploaded in 2017) – 8.497 billion views
2 ‘See You Again’ by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth (2015) – 6.338 billion
3 ‘Shape of You’ by Ed Sheeran (2017) – 6.300 billion
4 ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars (2014) – 5.285 billion
5 ‘Gangnam Style’ by Psy (2012) – 5.226 billion
6 ‘Dame Tu Cosita’ by El Chombo featuring Cutty Ranks (2018) – 4.723 billion
7 ‘Axel F’ by Crazy Frog (2009) – 4.666 billion
8 ‘Sugar’ by Maroon 5 (2015) – 4.079 billion
9 ‘Counting Stars’ by OneRepublic (2013) – 4.047 billion
10 ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry (2013) – 4.028 billion
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Tagline: Chase. Ride. Survive.
* Action adventure; a retired tornado-chaser is persuaded to return and work with a new team.
* Is a standalone sequel to Twister (1996).
* Has grossed over US$222 million on a $155 million budget.
* Has received positive reviews, with critics praising the acting and thrills.
* Joseph Kosinski pitched the idea for the film and was set to direct the project, but eventually dropped out to helm F1 (2025). Ultimately, Lee Isaac Chung was hired to direct the movie.
* Helen Hunt – who starred in the 1996 film – had wanted to co-write and direct a sequel to the original movie with “all Black and brown storm chasers”, but the studio passed on the idea.
* Might be followed by a sequel, with the director and cast expressing interest in continuing the story.
