Steve Pond's Blog, page 97

Jensen Ackles Still Has a Surprising Connection to ‘Supernatural’ Costar Jared Padalecki

“Supernatural” costars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were close while filming the hit series, but it turns out the pair have maintained that friendship in the years that have followed the series’ end — something Ackles thinks might come as a surprise to fans of the show.

“We see each other more often than you would think — honestly, at least once a month,” Ackles told People in an interview published Saturday.

The actor added that it was “weird” to have Padalecki and the pair’s costars Misha Collins join him on the set of his current series, “The Boys.” The duo will both be featured in the fifth and final season of the show.

“It was like inviting my friends over to somebody else’s house for dinner,” he explained. “I was like, ‘Listen, guys, don’t make me look bad. I got to stay here.’ They were amazing. I can’t wait to talk more about it because it was quite an experience.”

Ackles and Paladecki starred on “Supernatural” from the show’s debut in 2005 until its final episode in 2020. “I don’t think we ever, ever thought that it would become what it has become,” he said of the show’s enduring fanbase.

“It is a phenomenon. I wish I understood the formula. I don’t know that there is a formula for that. I truly feel like it was just a lightning strike, and I’m proud — and will forever be proud — of being a part of it.”

Read the interview with Jensen Ackles at People.

The post Jensen Ackles Still Has a Surprising Connection to ‘Supernatural’ Costar Jared Padalecki appeared first on TheWrap.

Kelly Clarkson Postpones Vegas Residency Opening to Prevent ‘Serious Damage’ to Her Voice

Just hours before she would have gone onstage, Kelly Clarkson was forced to postpone the start of her Las Vegas residency in order to “protect myself from doing serious damage,” she told fans on Friday.

In a message shared via Instagram, Clarkson explained, “We have been working 24/7 to make Studio Sessions the most intimate and extraordinary experience with and for my incredible fans.  I am beyond grateful that you always show up for me and I am devastated to have to postpone tonight and tomorrow’s opening at Caesars,” she began.

“The prep and rehearsals have taken a toll on my voice. I want the shows to be perfect for y’all and I need to protect myself from doing serious damage so I am taking this weekend and next week to rest up so that we can deliver what you all deserve. The show is truly incredible.”

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“The musicians and singers are outstanding, and I want us all to start out strong. 
I can’t wait to be back next weekend and show y’all what we’ve been working on,” Clarkson concluded.

The singer announced the residency in February. Eighteen performances are planned as part of Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions – The Las Vegas Residency. The run of performances now begins July 11 and continues through Aug. 16, then continues from Nov. 7 to Nov. 15. It’s not yet known when the shows originally slated for this weekend will be rescheduled.

Reactions from fans were mixed, with many citing the financial impact of the postponement, particularly the fact refunds aren’t being granted because the shows haven’t technically been canceled, only rescheduled.

“I’m a huge fan and flew here from Boston spending thousands on tickets and hotels to see your show tomorrow for my 40th birthday. I really want you to be healthy but cancelling this late has such a huge financial impact on your loyal fans,” one fan wrote.

Another wrote, “We spent a LOT of money for you to cancel literally 30 minutes before show time. A lot of us cannot afford to travel to Las Vegas, take off work and pay for hotels. Ticketmaster is NOT refunding either because you POSTPONED instead of CANCELLING. Please have your Team rethink this. Not good.”

Others were supportive of Clarkson’s decision. “When you ACTUALLY sing live, you are allowed this grace. Rest that incredible instrument,” one fan wrote. “when Adele cancelled, we still had an amazing time. Respect for taking care of yourself,” another said.

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‘My Life With the Walter Boys’ Sets Season 2 Premiere Date, Teases First Look Images

After leaving Silver Falls behind, it’s time for Jackie to head back to the ranch for “My Life With the Walter Boys” Season 2. 

The Netflix series will return for more coming-of-age romance drama on Thursday Aug. 26. The “Walter Boys” love triangle – Nikki Rodriguez (Jackie), Noah LaLonde (Cole) and Ashby Gentry (Alex) – announced the Season 2 premiere date at the Calgary Stampede Saturday. The YA series also happens to shoot in the Canadian city. 

This season picks up after Jackie abruptly leaves Colorado after choosing neither of the Walter boys but fleeing to her hometown in New York City instead, where she has no family left. When Katherine convinces her to return to the ranch, Jackie must decide how to proceed after her kiss with Cole and Alex’s confession of love. Living with eight rowdy boys – and two of them being potential love interests – is no easy task. On top of that Jackie still has to adjust to living in a new city in rural Colorado. 

Noah LaLonde as Cole, Sarah Rafferty as Katherine in”My Life with the Walter Boys” (Credit: David Brown/Netflix)

Everyone has grown up, so fitting back in and taking control of the situation does not go as Jackie had planned. Alex is training for his first big rodeo, and Cole has taken on a new role at school to fill the football-sized gap in his life. Season 2 follows Jackie’s quest for acceptance in Silver Falls and a decision that could change everything.

Ashby Gentry as Alex in “My Life with the Walter Boys” (Credit: David Brown/Netflix)

“My Life With the Walter Boys” is based on the coming-of-age book series written by Ali Novak of the same name. Netflix granted an early Season 3 renewal to the series ahead of its Season 2 debut. The first season reached great success, spending eight weeks in Netflix’s global top 10 TV list and reaching the top 10 in 88 countries. Season 3 is slated to premiere in 2026. 

Melanie Halsall serves as showrunner for “My Life With the Walter Boys,” and executive produces alongside Ed Glauser and Becky Hartman Edwards. The show is produced by Sony Pictures Television, International Production and iGeneration Studios.

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‘Reasonable Doubt’ Season 3 Sets September Premiere on Hulu

“Reasonable Doubt” Season 3 will head back to Hulu TV screens on Sept. 18.

The next chapter will kick off with a two-episode premiere, and new episodes will stream every Thursday. Season 3 is currently in production in Atlanta.

Series regulars include Emayatzy Corinealdi, McKinley Freeman, Tim Jo, Angela Grovey and Joseph Sikora. And coming into the courtroom as recurring guest stars are Morris Chestnut, Kyle Bary, Rumer Willis, Brandee Evans, Richard Brooks, April Parker Jones, Keith Arthur Bolden and Arkeisha “Kash Doll” Knight.

“Reasonable Doubt” Season 3 (Disney/Parrish Lewis)

Check out Hulu’s Season 3 description: “After a tumultuous season of fighting to save her best friend from a life sentence while healing from her own deadly affair, Jax Stewart has finally earned some peace in her life … even if she sees it all as a little boring. So, when a former child star finds himself in a heap of trouble, Jax seizes the opportunity to spice up her daily routine. But when her client’s personal life turns out to have all the drama and danger of a Hollywood movie and Jax’s own professional future comes under threat from a charismatic associate at her firm, can Jax clear her client’s name without losing the personal and professional successes she’s worked so hard for?”

“Reasonable Doubt” is created, written and executive produced by Raamla Mohamed. Kerry Washington executive produces alongside Pilar Savone for Simpson Street, Larry Wilmore via Wilmore Films, Anton Cropper and Lena Cordina. Shawn Holley, Jon Leshay, Tamara Gregory, Erika Harrison and Zahir McGhee serve as co-executive producers. The series hails from Onyx Collective and is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.

“Reasonable Doubt” Season 3 (Disney/Parrish Lewis)

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Michael Douglas Says America Is ‘Flirting With Autocracy’ as People Go Into Politics for Money | Video

The United States is “flirting with autocracy,” Michael Douglas said at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Saturday. The actor, who was in attendance to present a screening of the recently restored “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” also said “people are going into politics now to make money, and we maintain an idealism in the U.S. which does not exist now.”

American politics were introduced as a talking point at the Czech Republic event after an unidentified journalist told Douglas the 1975 film is, in part, about rebellion before asking a question about Donald Trump, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I think our president’s name has been mentioned enough over the short time that he’s been president,” the star responded.

When it comes to the state of politics in the United States, Douglas added, “Our country is flirting with autocracy, [like] some other democracies in this world … what we’re struggling with right now is a reminder for all of the hard work that the Czech did in terms of gaining their freedom and their independence … democracy is not to be taken for granted. I think it reminds us that we all need to make our efforts. It’s not the job of somebody else.”

Douglas also lamented the relationship between money and the political sphere. “The disappointing thing is that politics now seems to be for profit. Money has entered democracy, not just in our country, but in others, as a way of a profit center,” he said. “People are going into politics now to make money, and we maintain an idealism in the U.S. which does not exist now.”

“I find myself worried, I’m nervous, and I just think it’s all of our responsibility, not for somebody else to look out for us, but for us to look out for ourselves,” he continued.

The actor, who significantly slowed down his career in 2022, also told reporters he has “no real intention” of returning to the large or small screen. “I have no real intention of going back. I say I’m not retired, because [if] something special came up, I’d go back. But otherwise, I’m quite happy to watch my wife work,” he shared.

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MSNBC Guest Says Trump Administration Is ‘Using Food as a Weapon’ in Gaza | Video

In recent weeks, the Trump administration and Israel’s government have opted to partner with the Delaware-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), founded in February 2025, to distribute aid to a population that borders on the brink of starvation. It’s a move that has been described as “using food as a weapon,” according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) director of philanthropy Hani Almadhoun.

The new organization has existed for a handful of months, and has “been responsible for killing more than 600 Palestinians,” Almadhoun, whose brother is chef Mahmoud Almadhoun, told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Friday.

“These are not just statistics. We have family and friends in California whose siblings have been killed at those sites,” he continued. “This is not somewhere – we’re not removed from this. This is the case where Israeli soldiers, some of them are dual citizens, and American, let’s just say, mercenaries who are hired with big pay and brought into Gaza to shoot the people who are being starved. This is not the way to do it.”

Established in 1949 by the UN General Assembly, UNRWA initially supported both Israeli and Palestinian refugees in the region. Israel’s government took over responsibility for its citizens in 1952. The organization employs over 30,000 people and provides pathways toward education, employment and social services, as well as direct relief to the Palestinian people.

Operating GHF is also “expensive,” Almadhoun added, as they spend more than half of their budget on armored vehicles — a luxury not afforded to aid organizations who have been in the region for years, if not decades.

“Guess who doesn’t have armored vehicles? UNRWA does not. Any UN agency. Even outside the UN, there’s many great American NGOs that work in Gaza. They have distanced themselves from this charade, this PR campaign that murders and hurts Palestinians,” he said.

The organization is “solving a problem that shouldn’t exist,” Hayes replied.

Almadhoun agreed: “The issue that they’re using food as a weapon. Do you want to create as much pain as possible in Gaza? Because if a Palestinian receives their food aid from a UN agency or any other agency, they’re not going to feel disrupted [in] their lives as much. So this is the idea is to use it as a pressure point, a negotiation tactic.”

At the beginning of the pair’s exchange, Almadhoun also said there are at least 1,000 UNRWA trucks waiting to enter Gaza. The organization has operated in Gaza and Israel since it began supporting refugees in the region.

Unfortunately, he noted, those trucks have not been allowed to enter.

There are other key differences between UNRWA and GFH, Almadhoun explained. The former has 400 distribution sites in the region, which allows the opportunity to distribute far more aid to more people. In contrast, GFH has four — and the Trump administration’s preferred agency also carries guns, something that those who work for UNRWA do not do.

Those guns have resulted in scenes and deaths that Hayes described as “obscene and depraved.” On July 3, two U.S. contractors told the Associated Press that their colleagues who are guarding those distribution sites are “using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food.” The AP examined first-person accounts and video to support the claim.

The contractors added that the GHF staff is “often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.”

These reports support the UNRWA’s own June 27 note that “mass casualties continue being reported among people attempting to access food in the Gaza Strip, including as they approach or gather at militarized distribution points in Rafah and Deir al-Balah or wait for trucks carrying aid supplies. According to OCHA, as of 25 June, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported that 549 people were killed and at least 4,066 injured trying to access food supplies.”

Jonathan Whittall, head of OCHA OPT, also said, “The attempt to survive is being met with a death sentence” and that “the majority of the casualties have been shot or shelled trying to reach U.S.-Israeli distribution sites purposefully set up in militarized zones.”

He further accused Israeli forces of “opening fire on crowds gathering to get food.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. government promised $30 million to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in June.

Watch the interview with Chris Hayes and Hani Almadhoun in the video above.

The post MSNBC Guest Says Trump Administration Is ‘Using Food as a Weapon’ in Gaza | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

7 Best New Movies Streaming on Hulu Right Now

Hulu has an all new selection of films, and we’re here to list the best of the best just for you.

Hulu is packing it in with one of Emma Stone’s breakout performances, a Macaulay Culkin ultimate classic and a hidden comedic gem starring Rob Schneider. No need to keep searching through Hulu’s library, we’ve got the best of the bunch below.

Here’s our list of the seven new movies you should be checking out this month on Hulu.

Emma Stone in “Easy A” (Sony Pictures Releasing)“Easy A” (2010)

Emma Stone has blossomed into a two-time Oscar winner, but her O.G. fans will always remember her days starting out nailing it in comedy, especially in her breakout starring role in “Easy A.” In an effort to win some cool points with her popular friends, clean-cut high school student Olive (Stone) jazzes up the story of her boring weekend by lying about losing her virginity. But when the big mouth around school overhears the fib, Olive is quickly labeled as being easy, leading to a cheeky spin on “The Scarlett Letter.”

Dirty Dancing (Lionsgate)“Dirty Dancing” (1987)

Just when Baby (Jennifer Grey) thought she’d have a more eventful summer before heading out to the Peace Corps, she ends up stuck a lackluster resort in the Catskills. However, romance finds her in the form of a handsome dance instructor Johnny (Patrick Swayze), who pulls her in as his new dance partner. Even though Baby’s father forbids her from seeing Johnny, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to see him and help him in the last big dance of the summer.

“Dear White People” (Lionsgate)“Dear White People”

Justin Simien’s “DearWhite People” remains one of the most riveting social commentaries on racism and race relations in the early 2010s. The film takes place on a predominantly white college campus, where students of color and non-white students more or less just co-exist with one another. But tensions rise between Black students and white students when staff members of a campus magazine throw a racist Halloween party.

Official Trailer/Twentieth Century Fox“Home Alone” (1990)

“Home Alone” is at the top of the list of movies that absolutely never get old. And that’s exactly why it’s made our list. The family comedy centers on Kevin McCallister, a quick-witted 8-year-old who feels like an outcast in his family. When he’s accidentally left alone at his home in Illinois while his family is on vacation in Paris for Christmas, Kevin gets his dream staycation. However, when two burglars lock in on him as their next target, Kevin will have to think of a way to ward them off and stay safe.

“The Longest Yard” (Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing International)“The Longest Yard” (2005)

In Peter Segal’s remake of Robert Alderich’s “The Longest Yard” Adam Sandler stars as Paul Crewe, a disgraced football player who ends up in prison. While there, he’s enlisted by Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) to coach the incarcerated talent, which subsequently becomes him joining a team of inmates as their quarterback in a competition against the prison guards. But as his team gets better and better week by week, the group starts to become a threat in Hazen’s eyes. Now, Paul is faced with the time he has to serve behind bars and the corrupt officials who are committed to ensuring the prisoners fail.

“The Sandlot” (20th Century Studios)“The Sandlot” (1993)

You always need a good classic on your movie-watching list, and this time around it’s the one and only “The Sandlot.” After moving to a new neighborhood, Scottie Smalls (Thomas Guiry) is taken in by a group of baseball-playing kids. Outside of the field, they kick it just as regular children would. But a foul ball is called when Scottie takes one of his stepdad’s baseballs that gets hit over a fence.

“The Hot Chick” (Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Touchstone Home Entertainment)“The Hot Chick” (2002)

“The Hot Chick” is one of those movies you didn’t know you needed in your life. The hilarious comedy starring Rob Schneider follows popular mean girl Jessica Spencer (Rachel McAdams) on a journey to get her body back, literally. After a cursed pair of earrings switches her body with a low-life criminal, she embarks on a race against the clock to return to her true self.

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Alyssa Milano Remembers ‘Charmed’ Co-Star Julian McMahon: ‘Magic’

“Charmed” and “Nip/Tuck” actor Julian McMahon was “magic,” former costar Alyssa Milano wrote via Instagram Friday. McMahon died at age 56 from cancer.

“I’m heartbroken,” Milano began her post. “Julian McMahon was magic. That smile. That laugh. That talent. That presence. He walked into a room and lit it up—not just with charisma, but with kindness. With mischief. With soulful understanding.”

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“We spent years together on Charmed—years of scenes, stories, and so many in-between moments. He made me feel safe as an actor. Seen as a woman. He challenged me, teased me, supported me. We were so different, and yet somehow we always understood each other.”

“Julian was more than my TV husband. He was a dear friend,” she continued. “The kind who checks in. The kind who remembers. The kind who shares. The kind who tells you the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable—but always with love.”

“My heart is with Kelly, with Madison, and with Iliana—his girls, his world. He adored them. You could feel it in every conversation, every story, every text. He was a family man above all, and he loved deeply.”

“Losing him feels unreal. Too soon. Too unfair. Rest, my friend. I’ll carry your laugh with me. Forever Cole. Forever Julian,” Milano concluded.

The actor’s wife Kelly McMahon confirmed his death. “With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer,” she said in a statement.

“Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible. We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy. And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy, to continue to find joy in life. We are grateful for the memories.”

The actor did not share his diagnosis with the public.

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Karlovy Vary Film Festival Pays Tribute to an Icon While Peter Sarsgaard and Vicky Krieps Decry Fascism

The 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival kicked off with plenty of style on Friday evening in the Czech spa town outside of Prague. But the opening ceremony also contained plenty of serious undertones, as honorees Peter Sarsgaard and Vicky Krieps received President’s awards before giving brief remarks praising peace and speaking out against fascism. 

Krieps championed how cinema can cross borders and decried needing a judge or passport to determine what can be shared, while Sarsgaard specifically warned of a perilous drift towards fascism that is playing out in America, lamenting that the United States is “retreat[ing] from its global responsibilities and tr[ying] to go it alone.”

As usual, the ceremony also included a performance by dancers in cones of light choreographed by the Caban brothers that wowed attendees in the Grand Hall at the Hotel Thermal. Later in the evening, the pop duo La Roux performed a show that drew crowds both inside and out of the venue as its tunes echoed through the small town.

However, the centerpiece of the opening night was a film that paid tribute to the festival’s late director, Jiří Bartoška, who died this past May at the age of 78. Having served in the role since 1994, working for years alongside the festival’s late, former artistic director and film critic Eva Zaoralová, Bartoška offered many stories about his time as both an actor and festival director in the intimate documentary “We’ve Got to Frame It! (a conversation with Jiří Bartoška in July 2021).” 

Directed by Milan Kuchynka and Jakub Jurásek, the film split into chapters of sorts with its subject taking us back decades with nothing else but him and a couple of occasional interjections as he talks from a chair while smoking. Though full of moments where Bartoška grows reflective about the long journey he and the festival have been on, the documentary about a Czech film and TV titan is never tiring as the late icon was able to spin a playful yarn with plenty of humor to spare.

As the conversation becomes more of an extended monologue of sorts, Bartoška brings a depth of knowledge about both film and the history of the festival so that, even when he may forget a detail here or there, he always has plenty more to say. 

With every name drop and story, several of which are quite literally gut-bustingly funny, the twinkle in Bartoška’s eye grows brighter just as he brings a refreshingly candid openness about the work of creating the festival. Though very much a loving tribute to the man, the film doesn’t skip over how there were many challenges that KVIFF had to overcome to get the festival to where it is now.

The title of the film itself is a reference to a story Bartoška tells near the very end about how there was a year where they didn’t have enough money and he had to get a loan from a friend to make it through. That the director saved the documentation to this is only part of how the film captures his passion for the work and also his willingness to poke fun at himself. 

Naturally, this all played extremely well in the cavernous Grand Hall, serving as one last farewell of sorts from Bartoška to the community he brought together. Friday’s premiere felt like the kind of special screening that can’t be replicated anywhere else. It’s hard to imagine the film getting a wide release in the same way that other opening-night films at the festival have, but that narrower focus suits it just fine.

The fact that it could have only happened in Karlovy Vary is a testament to Bartoška himself. As he reflects with great openness, there are many festivals around the world, but none that is quite like his. That it kicked off with the late director getting the chance to look backwards one last time in an almost communal sending off into the future made for a moving opening to the festival that now must carry on without him.

 

 

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Julian McMahon, Star of ‘Nip/Tuck’ and ‘Fantastic Four,’ Dies at 56

Julian McMahon, best known for his Golden Globe nominated performance as Dr. Christian Troy on the FX series “Nip/Tuck,” has died at the age of 56 from cancer.

The son of former Australian prime minister Billy McMahon, the actor got his start in acting in daytime soap operas, most notably “Home and Away” and NBC’s “Another World,” in the early 90s. He then got his big break on the WB series “Charmed” as the demonic mercenary Cole Turner, who is introduced as an assassin hired to kill the Charmed Ones but falls in love with one of them.

“With an open heart, I wish to share with the world that my beloved husband, Julian McMahon, died peacefully this week after a valiant effort to overcome cancer,” McMahon’s wife, Kelly McMahon, said in a statement Friday. “Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible. We ask for support during this time to allow our family to grieve in privacy. And we wish for all of those to whom Julian brought joy, to continue to find joy in life. We are grateful for the memories.

“Warner Bros. Television mourns the loss of our friend Julian McMahon. Our thoughts are with his family, friends, colleagues, and fans,” read a message posted to the official “Nip/Tuck” Facebook page.

After “Charmed,” McMahon got his biggest claim to fame and his first series lead in “Nip/Tuck” as the promiscuous Dr. Troy, who often ends up seducing the women who become his clients at his plastic surgery practice.

“Nip/Tuck” ran for 100 episodes over six seasons from 2003 to 2010, during which time McMahon landed another one of his most prominent roles as Dr. Victor von Doom in Tim Story’s 2005 “Fantastic Four” film and its 2007 sequel, “Rise of the Silver Surfer.” His other roles include the CBS series “FBI: Most Wanted” as well as the films “RED” and “Paranoia.”

McMahon’s final role was in the Netflix mystery series “The Residence” in which, following his father’s roots, he played the prime minister of Australia. He died at his home in Clearwater, Florida, on July 2.

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