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Ayomikun Adekaiyero is a London-based entertainment reporter with 5 years of experience interviewing stars, reporting on cultural moments, and writing SEO-optimised showbiz articles. 

Whether you need an expert on Mormon MomTok, a critic to break down why a new movie is worth watching or a writer to turn boring facts into an exciting story, Ayomikun can handle it all with a Gen-Z flair.

Shortlist •

Bella Ramsey on finding comedy in cancer for Sunny Dancer

You’ve seen Bella Ramsey as a survivor in an apocalypse, a noble woman in a high-fantasy kingdom and heard them as a sheep on a mission to solve a murder. But the young star’s next big film adventure is something a little more down-to-earth.In Sunny Dancer, Ramsey plays Ivy, a rebellious, self-isolating teenager trying to return to everyday life after going into cancer remission. Her parents decide to send Ivy to a summer camp programme, which she dubs “chemo camp,” to inspire her and allow her...
Shortlist •

Rising stars David Jonsson and Tom Blyth talk being prison cellmates in new movie Wasteman

What do you get when you bring together two up-and-coming British actors and shove them in a nail-biting prison thriller? A BAFTA-nominated movie and a bromance for the ages.David Jonsson has made a name for himself as the scene-stealer after his supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters, The Long Walk and Alien: Romulus, were lauded by fans and critics alike. Meanwhile, Tom Blyth made his first big splash in Hollywood by leading the last entry of the billion-dollar Hunger Games movie series, T...
The Set Set •

'Knives Out' Production Designer Rick Heinrichs Crafts the Perfect Crime Scene | The Set Set

From a grand mansion in Massachusetts to a sparkling, impractical glass compound perched on a private Mediterranean island, the locations—or crime scenes—of “Knives Out” have always been central to deciphering the puzzles writer-director Rian Johnson lays out for audiences. Their importance is more pronounced than ever in the third film, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Story.” Set in Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude, a neo-Gothic church nestled in a bucolic—but insular—community in upstate New Yo...
Shortlist •

4 lessons making 'André is an Idiot' taught me about life

Many people have considered what they would do if they knew they were about to die. For André Ricciardi, an advertising creative director from San Francisco, he planned to spend his last years in front of a camera, creating a documentary he never got to see in its entirety.Ricciardi died in 2023, a few years after he had been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. His funny, imaginative spirit lives on in “André Is An Idiot,” a comedy documentary that offers an intimate portrait of Ricciardi’s...
Shortlist •

From The Running Man to A Quiet Place: These are the most iconic sci-fi movie locations you can visit in London

From a military base of a space empire to an entire Pokémon city, London has become the not-so-secret location hub for the sci-fi movie genre over the last decade.Edgar Wright’s remake of The Running Man is the latest to join the trend, with many key scenes of the American-set dystopia filmed on London streets and buildings. Eugene Strange, a supervising location manager who worked on The Running Man production in the planning stage before it was greenlit, told Shortlist that London was chosen t...
Business Insider •

Marvel knows you're bored of superhero movies. 'Thunderbolts*' is its latest attempt to lure back real film fans.

Marvel Studios has a new strategy for combating superhero fatigue: appeal to cinephiles.

Although Marvel is still the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, it has struggled to maintain its popularity over the past four years.

A trend of diminishing box office returns and fans and critics complaining that Marvel projects are declining in quality has resulted in the narrative that audiences are tired of superhero movies.

While the billion-dollar-grossing 2024 movie "Deadpool & Wolverine...
Business Insider •

Kelly Marie Tran says after years of therapy, she can look back on 'Star Wars' with 'fondness'

Kelly Marie Tran says she's ready to celebrate "all parts of herself," years after facing a toxic hate campaign from "Star Wars" fans.

The film "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," released in 2017, was supposed to be Tran's big break in Hollywood. She was the first Asian American cast in a lead role in a "Star Wars" movie.

But some fans disliked the movie and Tran's character and sent racist, misogynistic, and body-shaming comments and death threats on social media. The hate continued for months, with...
Business Insider •

'Warfare' is based on the true story of a Navy SEAL team that fought in Iraq. The directors made it for a soldier who doesn't remember how he lost a leg.

Ray Mendoza, a former US Navy SEAL, joined Hollywood on a specific mission — to recreate a failed military operation during the Iraq War for his comrade, Elliott Miller, who doesn't remember the incident.

In November 2006, Mendoza, a communications officer, and Miller, a sniper and medic, were part of an operation to infiltrate and surveil a neighborhood in Al Qaeda-controlled Ramadi, Iraq, but their team was unaware they'd set up a hideout next to a house full of insurgents.

Once Mendoza's te...
Business Insider •

Stephanie Hsu bagged an Oscar nomination for the absurdist movie 'Everything Everywhere All At Once.' Now, she's ready for her rom-com era.

Stephanie Hsu is ready for her rom-com era.

When Hsu first played a romantic lead on a major stage in 2019, she was filled with self-doubt. She was the love interest in "Be More Chill," which had just moved from regional theater to Broadway, and she had never seen Asian Americans in such roles growing up.

"I remember being like, 'Oh my gosh, this is so crazy. Hundreds of thousands of people are about to see me as a love interest.'" she told Business Insider.

"It wasn't until then that I reali...
Business Insider •

Ryan Murphy says 'Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez story' is the best thing to happen to the brothers in decades. There is one way the show could help their case.

Ryan Murphy thinks "Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story" is the best thing to happen to the brothers, who are serving life sentences for killing their parents, in decades. Legal experts told Business Insider the show could indeed help their case — but only if it helps to unearth compelling evidence.

Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez killed José and Kitty Menendez in their family home in 1989. While the prosecution argued they murdered their parents for money, the brothers and other family...
Business Insider •

Daemon Targaryen's boring hallucination arc in 'House of the Dragon' season two wastes time and ruins a beloved character

Warning: spoilers ahead for "House of the Dragon" season two.

"House of the Dragon" season two has turned Daemon Targaryen, one of the show's most beloved characters, into a joke. It does not bode well for the future of the series.

At the end of the first season, the complex and charming Daemon (Matt Smith) emerged as one of the show's most popular characters.

The writers and Smith found the human beneath the monster, making the character fascinating to watch.

But fans have been disappointed...
Business Insider •

I went to the London pub Taylor Swift name-dropped on her new album. Swifties are turning it into a fan club and the owners are thrilled.

It's a Monday evening in a residential neighborhood in London tucked away to the south of the city center, and I'm chatting to an excited trio of Taylor Swift fans.

Tracy, Joy, and Claudine met on a WhatsApp group that the fandom uses to plan trips to Swift-related landmarks and events in the city. (They'd previously indulged in a Swiftie brunch together and danced at the Swiftegeddon club night). Last Thursday, The Black Dog, once an unassuming watering hole mostly used by locals and the odd t...
Business Insider •

I won almost $5m on 'Squid Game: The Challenge' but lied to my family about it for months

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Mai Whelan about her experience on Netflix's "Squid Game: The Challenge." The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was the first winner of "Squid Game: The Challenge."

In January 2023, I was one of 456 contestants who competed in "Squid Game" themed games and social tests over the three weeks the show was filmed. I never thought I would win, especially since I came last in the first game, "Red Light, Green Light."

And then c...
Business Insider •

My sister tricked our family into watching 'Saltburn.' I wouldn't recommend watching the movie with your parents.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rebecca Schwartz Altholz about her experience watching "Saltburn" with her family. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

In hindsight, I would not choose "Saltburn" for a family movie night.

One night, during a family trip to Mexico between Christmas and New Year's Day, we were looking for something to do together when my older sister, Sarah, suggested we watch it.

She had watched the film with her friends but wanted to wat...
Business Insider •

Behind the scenes of 'Our Flag Means Death': Creator David Jenkins unpacks the show's central love triangle and that unforgettable merman scene

"Our Flag Means Death" ended its first season on a distressing note, with not much hope for the fan-favorite couple at the heart of the series.

After 10 episodes spent trying to prove his worth as a swashbuckler — and unexpectedly falling in love with Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) along the way — the finale saw Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) get cold feet over his new lifestyle choice, ditching Blackbeard and the found-family rag-tag crew on his ship, The Revenge. Though Stede quickly...
Business Insider •

'Polite Society' star Ritu Arya on auditioning for multiple 'Barbie' roles, the end of 'Umbrella Academy,' and kicking her on-screen sister through a door

British rising star Ritu Arya has a busy year ahead of her.

The actor is currently filming the final season of "Umbrella Academy," the hit Netflix show that brought her to international attention as time-traveling assassin Lila Pitts. And this summer, she will appear in one of the most anticipated movies of the year, "Barbie."

But first, Arya takes on a lead role in the action comedy "Polite Society," which hits theaters on Friday.

In the movie, Arya plays Lena, a struggling artist who decide...
Business Insider •

'Groundhog Day' is turning 30. Here is how it inspired a generation of time-loop stories from 'Palm Springs' to 'Happy Death Day.'

It's 1993 and Bill Murray is stuck living the same day over and over again.

One could describe his condition as the mundanity of regular life, but in "Groundhog Day," Murray is literally stuck living the same 24 hours for an entire movie.

"Groundhog Day" is not the first time-loop story told on screen, but it was critical to inspiring an entire genre. Over the 30 years since "Groundhog Day," time loops have become a storytelling staple of Hollywood, with some movies and TV shows even winning E...
Business Insider •

'Jurassic World' star Bryce Dallas Howard says she was paid 'so much less' than Chris Pratt for sequel: 'I was at a great disadvantage'

The "Jurassic World" star Bryce Dallas Howard exclusively told Insider that she was paid "so much less" than her costar Chris Pratt for the movie franchise than reports initially indicated.

Pratt and Howard were co-leads in all three movies in the "Jurassic World" trilogy. But in 2018, Variety reported that Howard was paid $2 million less than Pratt for the second movie, "Fallen Kingdom," earning $8 million while Pratt took home $10 million.

In an interview with Insider to mark the home-entert...

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