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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more. The National Book Awards Finalists are Here And we have our National Book Awards finalists! The National Book Foundation announced the shortlist yesterday and boy was I surprised to discover that Han Kang’s We Do Not Part fell off the Translated Literature list. I was also pretty confident Angela Flournoy’s The Wilderness would make the Fiction cut. Still, I was jazzed to see One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad make it through in Nonfiction, as well as some of my anticipated reads in Fiction, like The Antidote by Karen Russell, which I’m planning to pick up after I read The Wilderness, and Palaver by Bryan Washington, which isn’t out yet. It’s been fascinating to watch the awards lists roll in and clock which books make some lists but not others, and which books get all the critical acclaim, making multiple lists. Anticipate an analysis once awards season winds down! In the meantime, you can find the full list of NBA finalists here and the winners will be announced November 19th. The Fight for Kids’ Access to Books in NC This one’s close to home as I’m a North Carolina resident and parent. Carolina Public Press reported on the book banning battle happening in the state after the passage of House Bill 805, which began as a bill to place guidelines protecting people whose explicit content appears on pornography websites, but turned into a bill that, in addition to barring access to gender transition care in prisons, enforced the creation of an infrastructure that allows parents to make lists of books and materials their children are disallowed from accessing and a searchable database of library books available at schools. Moms for Liberty is, of course, involved in creating these obstacles for kids who want access to books, and for teachers and school librarians to do their jobs. In my own county, the database that collects books deemed “inappropriate” lists All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, to name a few of the many excellent works that apparently don’t align with traditional American values (read as conservative, white-centered, Christian values). It’s an expansive, infuriating read that serves as yet another window to what’s happening in schools and libraries across the country. Major Library Distributor Will Shutter The largest distributor to libraries in the U.S. is shutting down. This follows the failed acquisition of Baker & Taylor by major distributor ReaderLink. Without the acquisition, B&T’s CEO Aman Kochar said he can’t find a financially viable way forward for the company, which has already laid off more than 500 employees. The news has left many publishers and librarians in a state of confusion. When the deal was still pending, publishers weren’t sure if their outstanding invoices would be paid, and publishers and librarians alike were uncertain about the fate of distribution through B&T. Publishers Weekly reports that there’s been little communication from B&T since the termination of the deal. What a mess. South Carolina Students and Librarians Sue State Education Superintendent Over Book Bans What are you reading? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

The Heat are winless through their first two preseason games in 2025-26. Miami is at home on Wednesday, October 8, to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Ahead of that matchup, head coach Erik Spoelstra is asking for more from one of his younger players. He wants Kel’el Ware to impact winning on […] The post Miami’s Erik Spoelstra wants Kel’el Ware to be focused on ‘impacting the game’ appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/USATSI_26836850.jpgVincent Carchietta-Imagn Images The projection system OOPSY made its major league debut this year. So how did it do? OOPSY’s methodology mirrors that of the other FanGraphs projection systems, with a few twists — most notably, the inclusion of bat speed for hitters and Stuff+ for pitchers. Projection systems are comprised of many different components, however, including aging curves, major league equivalencies to account for minor league and foreign league performance, recency weights, regression to the mean, league run environment, and park factors. There are many ways for projection systems to stand out or lag behind their peers beyond just the inclusion of a particular variable like bat speed. Projection systems are comprised of hundreds of small methodological decisions. Given the sum total of the decisions that went into OOPSY, did it hold its own in 2025 relative to its more established peers? To review the projections, this article follows industry best practices as outlined by Tom Tango, MLBAM’s senior data architect. I have conducted this review process for pitchers before, as my pitching projections have been featured by Eno Sarris in The Athletic since 2023, but this was my first year publishing a full set of hitting projections. This review focuses on wOBA for hitters and wOBA against for pitchers (an alternative to ERA, further defined below). These metrics are typically the focus of projection system reviews, the most important hitting and pitching rate statistics for projection systems to get right from a “real-life” perspective. Both are catch-all rate statistics that measure, respectively, a player’s offensive and pitching value. The various component projections, e.g., K% and BB%, feed into these catch-all metrics. As a guide for anyone aiming to replicate the projections review process, I’ll walk you through the steps I took, borrowing from my 2023 review. First, I grabbed all the 2025 statistics from the FanGraphs leaderboards. I removed the hitters who pitched from the pitching data, and vice-versa (though I kept Shohei Ohtani in both data sets). I also downloaded all of the preseason projections and merged them with the 2025 statistics leaderboard. I left any missing projections blank, returning to them later on. Next, I rescaled all of the projections so that they assumed the same league run environment. Other prominent projection reviews may sometimes skip over this, but sabermetricians view it as a non-negotiable step. If you fail to do this, the performance of your projections may be dominated by the assumptions you make about the league run environment, which are impacted by decisions that fall outside the typical scope of a projection system, e.g., decisions about how the baseball is manufactured. If you are still curious about league run environment, e.g., you want to see which projections best accounted for the effects of a new rule change, it’s best to reserve it for a separate exercise. For demonstration purposes, here’s how I rescaled OOPSY’s wOBA projections. I looked at all of the 2025 major league hitters with an OOPSY projection. I took the average of their wOBA projections weighted by their actual number of plate appearances in 2025; for OOPSY, this was .316. Next, I rescaled all of the projections to assume the same .313 2025 league average wOBA. To do this rescaling for OOPSY, I subtracted .316 from each wOBA projection, then added .313. To convert ERA to wOBA against, Tango’s preferred catch-all metric for pitchers, I divided each pitcher’s ERA projection by their projection system’s league average ERA, took the square root, and then multiplied by the 2025 league average wOBA, .313. Next I had to choose a strategy for addressing the missing players. Some projection systems cover a broader population of players (e.g., ZiPS), while others focus on relatively more established players (e.g., THE BAT X). You can project all of the missing players to be league average, the MARCEL approach, or slightly worse than league average, which is typically a bit more accurate. I chose a combination of these strategies, which I detail below. Finally, I calculated the root mean square errors (RMSE) for each statistic from each projection system. I could have also calculated the mean absolute error, but RMSE is more typical. RMSE represents the standard deviation of the residuals, a measure of the typical distance between a forecast and an actual result. I weighted the RMSE by 2025 plate appearances for bats and total batters faced for arms. Following instructions from an exchange with Tango, I also calculated the difference between each projection and a naive projection, with the naive projection assuming everyone has the same projection. To calculate the difference between a projection and a naive projection, I squared both, subtracted the smaller number from the larger number, and then took the square root. Following these steps, the table below shows the RMSE of the preseason forecasts for the full sample of hitters and pitchers in 2025 (a lower RMSE is better). The naive forecast assumes everyone has a league average projection. The composite forecast is the average of the four standalone systems (OOPSY, THE BAT X, Steamer, and ZiPS). For missing players, I imputed a projection that was either league average, 5% worse than league average, or 10% worse than league average. I chose whichever option resulted in the lowest error for each system. Hitters without a Steamer were given a league average projection. For the other systems, hitters with missing projections were given a projection 10% worse than league average. Pitchers without a THE BAT or ATC projection were given a league average projection. For the other systems, missing pitchers were given a projection 10% worse than league average. Table 1. Forecast accuracy for full sample. http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/full-sample-rmse-comp-table-1-10-6.png Across the full sample, Steamer was the most accurate standalone projection system for wOBA against for pitchers — as it often is. ZiPS was the clear best system for wOBA for hitters. Steamer’s pitching projections were .0216 wOBA better than the naive projection. ZiPS’ hitting projections were .0238 wOBA better than the naive projection. OOPSY held its own, ranking second of the standalone systems for both pitchers and hitters. Notably, all of the systems were grouped closely for both hitters and pitchers. The composite projection, an average of the four standalone systems, was the runaway winner overall for both arms and bats. This is no surprise, as averaging the “experts” is typically a winning approach in terms of forecast accuracy. Next, let’s take a look at how the projections did for rookies. Note that for rookies, the naive forecast gives everyone a projection 5% worse than league average. Table 2. Forecast accuracy for rookies. http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/rookie-rmses-table-2-10-6.png Of the standalone systems, Steamer led the way for projecting rookies in 2025, followed by OOPSY. (OOPSY’s most recent top prospects list, based on long-term projections, can be found here.) Steamer doesn’t publish long-term projections, but I’d love to see them if they ever decide to. Once again, the composite projection is the clear runaway winner overall. Next, we’ll exclude rookies and just look at veterans. Table 3. Forecast accuracy for veterans. http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/table-3-10-6.png For pitchers, the results are similar to the full sample. For hitters, ZiPS still finishes first of the standalone systems, but THE BAT X jumps to second place. ATC also improves when focusing only on veterans. THE BAT X was much more accurate for veterans than for rookies, perhaps a sign that it is making good use of Statcast data that is more readily available for major leaguers than it is for minor leaguers. THE BAT X was also best-in-class last year for hitters overall. In my early explorations, it appears that THE BAT X may include variables like sweet spot and sprint speed that OOPSY does not yet include. Finally, as a robustness check, the table below looks at OOPSY versus each system, but excludes missing players — the RMSEs below only focus on players who had a projection from both systems in each comparison. The results are similar to Table 1. Table 4. Forecast accuracy for full sample, alternative approach. http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/table-4-10-6.png Overall, I would have liked to have the best forecasts in terms of accuracy, but it wasn’t a disappointing debut season for OOPSY. I am glad to fit in with the other FanGraphs projection systems. I have had the privilege of talking with each of these forecasters a bit over the years, and I have already learned a great deal from them. I continue to rely on their systems heavily. There is always more to be learned in the pursuit of slight improvements to forecast accuracy. I still need to look into the accuracy of my component forecasts to see where the biggest improvements can be made. I already plan to consider additional Statcast metrics to help project hitters, potentially sweet spot, sprint speed, attack angle, and horizontal spray tendency. For pitchers, there is less low hanging fruit, as my projections there have a longer history, but I may tinker with the recency weights and incorporate pitch-level metrics into the projections. I am not the only one making tweaks each offseason, however. Irrespective of the improvements that any one of us makes, users of projection systems are very likely to be best served by simply averaging the forecasts from the different systems. Source View the full article

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Tarleton State has reinstated men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie, who was placed on temporary administrative leave Friday following an investigation into an anonymous complaint. “We’re thankful to the Texas A&M system for working expeditiously in addressing this anonymous complaint,” Tarleton State athletic director Steve Uryasz said in a statement Monday. “The welfare of our student-athletes […] The post Tarleton State Coach Billy Gillispie Reinstated After Review appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Hours after the Portland Trail Blazers signed guard Sean Pedulla to a training camp deal on Tuesday, the team subsequently waived the former Ole Miss star. He’s now expected to join the Rip City Remix, the Blazers’ G League affiliate, Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report posted on X. Sean Pedulla To Join Remix After […] The post Trail Blazers Sign Sean Pedulla, Waive 3 Players appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Entering his third professional season, Amen Thompson is set to take on a new role. Houston’s veteran PG Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL before the 2025-26 season started. He underwent successful surgery in late September and will miss the entire year for the Rockets. VanVleet’s 5.6 assists per game led the team in 2024-25. […] The post Houston’s Amen Thompson is expected to start at point guard in 2025-26 appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Collin Morikawa admitted the behavior of American fans at the Ryder Cup "crossed the line" but does not believe he was partly to blame for inflaming the atmosphere.View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Judge-HR-ALDS-G3-2025.jpgVincent Carchietta-Imagn Images NEW YORK — Aaron Judge didn’t deserve the rumblings. After he struck out with the bases loaded on Saturday in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays, Yankee fans started to grumble that maybe he just didn’t have it in the postseason. It’s true that he’d struggled in 2020 and 2022, but Judge had excelled in the playoffs earlier in his career, and he came into Game 3 of the ALDS on Tuesday night with a career postseason wRC+ of 116. He hit three home runs during the Yankees’ World Series run just last year, including a game-tying shot in Game 3 of the ALCS. On Tuesday night, with a performance that would be eye-opening if it had come from just about any other player in baseball, Judge pushed his batting average in the 2025 postseason to an even .500. He went 3-for-4 with an intentional walk and a couple of great plays in right field, and for the rumblers and grumblers with short memories, he launched a mammoth, game-tying, season-saving, signature home run, pulling the Yankees back from the abyss and into Game 4 with a 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays. Although Judge excelled from start to finish in Game 3, the momentum finally swung in New York’s direction when he walked to the plate in the bottom of the fourth. After jumping out to yet another early lead and threatening for the third game in a row to pile on enough runs to make things insurmountable, the Blue Jays found themselves in the worst kind of trouble. In baseball terms, that means any trouble involving Judge. The Blue Jays pushed their lead to 6-1 in the top of the third, but the Yankees had cut the deficit to three and driven starter Shane Bieber from the game in the bottom half of the inning. With two on and one out, Judge stepped in the box representing the tying run. The fans rose to their feet as Judge laid his bat across the plate to measure his preferred distance from home plate, then dug his cleats into the dirt to mark the spot. Louis Varland got ahead of him with a curveball for a foul ball, then blew a 100-mph four-seamer right by him. Down 0-2, Judge called timeout to consider his options. “He’s got all the leverage,” Judge said after the game, explaining that behind in the count, he couldn’t afford to be passive; he needed to attack. Varland came back with another fastball, this one well off the plate inside. It was not a pitch to hit, at least not for most batters. But Judge isn’t most batters, and because of his long arms, the line he gouges into the batter’s box tells him to set up more than 33 inches off the plate, third farthest of any hitter this season. He tucked in his hands and turned on the pitch viciously. Then he just stood there, watching and waiting like everyone else in the stadium to see which side of the foul pole the ball would decide to land on. It never made up its mind, clanging off the pole some 50 or 60 feet in the air. The game was tied, 6-6. That deficit never made it all the way to insurmountable, and the Blue Jays weren’t invincible after all. It was the first moment in the entire series when the Blue Jays didn’t hold a lead after the second inning. The stadium exploded. Fans tossed their beers into the air. Writers in the auxiliary press box in the second-to-last row of Section 407 frantically closed their laptops to keep the falling suds from shorting out their keyboards. Then they hastily deleted the ledes they’d written about the Blue Jays running away with their third straight game. Judge was the story of the night. He was a triple shy of the cycle, and the fun facts started rolling in. Stathead’s Katie Sharp wrote that Judge had tied David Ortiz at six for the most home runs in potential elimination games in postseason history. MLB.com’s Sarah Langs noted that it was the first time since August of last year that Judge had homered on a pitch outside the zone. The YES Network’s James Smyth pointed out that the pitch was 99.7 mph and 1.2 feet inside, making it both the fastest and most-inside pitch Judge had ever hit for a homer. (And, as Langs and MLB.com’s Andrew Simon jumped back in to point out, it was the fastest pitch anyone had hit out that far inside since the beginning of the pitch tracking era in 2008.) After the game, the players and coaches gushed about the swing every bit as effusively as the nerds. “You’re talking about a really good player turning around 100 like three balls in,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Yankees skipper Aaron Boone pointed out how hard it is to keep that pitch fair. “Just a really good swing to keep himself tight to that ball, just to stay inside it and not hook it,” he said. “Just a great swing on a pretty nasty pitch.” Ryan McMahon marveled at the same thing, telling reporters, “To get to it and still backspin it true enough, it’s incredible.” Jazz Chisholm Jr. had jokes. “I thought it was going to go over the foul pole, and they were going to make the wrong call,” he said, before getting serious. “He’s 6’8” and he’s still hitting that ball the way he hits it. He’s just unbelievable. We all went over the video about 10 times after he did it. It’s crazy.” Judge had a different take on putting that kind of swing on a pitch so far outside the zone. “I get yelled at for swinging at them outside the zone; now I’m getting praise for it,” he joked. “I’m just out there trying to swing at a good pitch. It looked good to me.” Down 2-0 and facing elimination, the Yankees didn’t mess around with subtext. “Ain’t found a way to kill me yet,” moaned Alice in Chains’ Layne Stanley as starter Carlos Rodón tossed his warmup pitches. The chorus of the song played once, right before the umpire shouted play ball: Here they come to snuff the Rooster Yeah, here come the Rooster You know he ain’t gonna die. Rodón came into the game on something of a hot streak, although his strikeout rate was much lower than his regular season mark. Over his final 10 starts of the regular season, he went 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 3.52 FIP, only once allowing more than two earned runs and only twice going fewer than six innings. He then earned a no-decision in New York’s win against the Red Sox in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, striking out six and allowing three earned runs over six innings. On Tuesday night, however, the Blue Jays jumped all over him. Rodón walked Davis Schneider, then fell behind the red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and paid for it. After Rodón missed with two four-seamers, Guerrero leaned back on a thigh-high 2-0 changeup out over the plate. It was a 427-foot no-doubter, coming in at 83.6 mph, leaving at 111, and landing in the Toronto bullpen in left-center field. For the third time in three games, the Blue Jays possessed a 2-0 lead within the first two innings. Meanwhile, in the home half, the Yankees were able to push a run across in the first inning for the first time in the series. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024, Bieber only returned to action in August and made just seven starts, consisting of just 40 1/3 innings. Since his return, his stuff has looked sharp, but inconsistent. It caught up with him on Tuesday. Judge sent a laser beam through the left side of the infield for a single, advanced to second when Isiah Kiner-Falefa misplayed a routine grounder to second that should have ended the inning, and scored when Giancarlo Stanton ripped one of his classic 116-mph singles into left. Rodón authored New York’s first scoreless second inning of the series, then imploded in the third. Davis Schneider led off with a double down the third base line on a changeup. With first base empty, the Yankees decided that they had pitched to Guerrero quite enough this series, thank you very much. After the intentional walk, Alejandro Kirk flied out to right field and Daulton Varsho dumped a weak-but-catchable line drive into left field. It looked like Rodón had worked his way out of it, but for the second time in the series, the ball clanked off the glove of a sliding Cody Bellinger. Center fielder Trent Grisham fired it in to second base, but no one seemed to communicate to Chisholm that Schneider was heading for home. By the time he whipped around and fired to the plate, there was no play to be made. Toronto led 3-1. Ernie Clement sent a single into left field, and Guerrero scored from second with a majestic dive, getting plenty of air and barely beating a good throw from Bellinger. The Blue Jays had a 4-1 lead with runners on second and third with one out and Anthony Santander coming to the plate. A mound visit only served to pause the onslaught. Santander singled into right field, pushing the lead to 6-1 and ending Rodón’s night after just 2 1/3 innings. His six earned runs matched his worst start of the entire season. The Yankees fought back in the third. Grisham led off with a double into the right field corner, and Judge knocked him in with a mirror image double into the left field corner — 6-2 game, and it wouldn’t stay there long. Bellinger lined a single into center field, giving the Yankees runners on first and third with no outs. An hour and 14 minutes into the game, the crowd launched into the first “Let’s go Yankees!” rallying cry of the evening. Ben Rice hit a grounder to Guerrero at first base, and Guerrero alertly caught Judge trespassing a bit too far off third base. He charged the runner, who prolonged the 3-2-5-3 rundown long enough for Bellinger to advance to third. The savvy baserunning recovery proved fruitful, as Bellinger tagged up and scored when Stanton launched another scorcher, this time a 405-foot line drive to center that pushed Varsho all the way to the wall. The Toronto lead was 6-3. Bieber walked Chisholm, and that was the end of his night. Although the Blue Jays still led by three, the atmosphere in the stadium had changed. Bieber had thrown 54 pitches and wouldn’t be returning for the fourth. The Blue Jays would need six innings from their bullpen, and the New York bats were finally waking up. Then Judge happened. Managers never hurry out of the dugout. There’s no reason to hurry. It’s cruel enough to look your pitcher in the eye, demand the ball, and force him to take the long, lonely walk back to the bench. Appearing eager to do so is a bridge too far. In the bottom of the fourth, though, John Schneider had just a bit of giddyup as he came out to take the ball from reliever Mason Fluharty. He was about as close to hurrying as you’ll ever see, and for a very compelling reason. “MVP! MVP! MVP!” chanted the crowd as Judge started toward the plate. For the third time in the series, Varland came in to pitch. It was his first time facing Judge, who got a refresher scouting report from Stanton while Varland warmed up. The tightrope home run tied the game in the fourth, and then Judge made a diving catch in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the frame, the Yankees took their first lead of the series. Varland returned, striking out Stanton to lead off the inning. Chisholm dropped the bat head on a 99-mph fastball toward the bottom of the zone but right over the middle. In one motion, he stopped his backswing and flipped the bat up and end-over-end. It landed well before the ball came down in the right field bleachers. Schneider brought in right-hander Braydon Fisher, who promptly surrendered a double down the left field line to Amed Rosario. Anthony Volpe worked a full count before striking out for the third time in a row. Another “Let’s go Yankees” chant broke out, and the Yankees finally went. Austin Wells shot a groundball through the right side, scoring Rosario to extend the lead to 8-6. No one minded too much when the catcher got thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw home. The Yankees tacked on an insurance run after the Blue Jays issued Judge the rare – but certainly understandable – bases-empty intentional walk. Bellinger hit a sinking line drive into right field off Brendon Little, and Santander dove and completely whiffed on the ball. Varsho was on the spot backing up, which kept Judge from scoring, but the Yankees had runners on second and third with one out and Rice at the plate. Rice lifted a sac fly to right, pushing the lead to 9-6. That was the end of the scoring. The Yankees bullpen blanked the Blue Jays from the fourth inning on, with Devin Williams getting four outs in his first multi-inning appearance since 2023. The Blue Jays still have the series lead, home field advantage, and Guerrero sporting a .615 batting average with three home runs over the first three games, but the Yankees bats have finally awoken. They’ve got Cam Schlittler, pitching Wednesday’s Game 4 fresh off one of the most dominant postseason performances we’ve ever seen. The Blue Jays are coming off a gutting loss after going up five runs, and they’re throwing a bullpen game on Wednesday despite the fact that their bullpen has an ERA of 8.76 in the series and was asked to go 5 1/3 innings on Tuesday. This is already shaping up to be one of the more bizarre series in recent memory. The two teams have combined to score 46 runs in just three games! Neither team has come up with a way to retire the other’s biggest slugger. Schneider announced late Tuesday night that after surrendering that mammoth home run to Judge, Varland would be Toronto’s opener on Wednesday. Both teams have gassed bullpens. If Schlittler looks anything like he was against the Red Sox last week, or if the Blue Jays bullpen looks anything like it has all week, all signs point to a Game 5 in Toronto, where anything at all could happen. Source View the full article

Photo Credit: Netflix George Clooney, who is set to appear in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, recently revealed why he wants to keep his kids away from Hollywood culture. The Ocean’s Eleven star married human rights lawyer Amal Clooney in 2014. In 2017, the couple welcomed their twins, Alexander and Ella. Despite gaining fame from movies like Gravity and The Descendants, the 64-year-old actor spoke about why he wants to keep his kids away from the L.A. life, and why he worries they wouldn’t have a fair chance growing up. George Clooney on raising kids outside Hollywood culture George Clooney recently talked about his family. He shared that he drives a van for carpool and often has his kids singing along to Hamilton in the back. In an interview with Esquire earlier this week, the Wolfs star, who now lives on a farm in France with his family, talked about raising his kids away from Hollywood. He explained that living on a farm gives his kids a normal childhood, away from screens and celebrity culture. “Yeah, we’re very lucky. You know, we live on a farm in France. A good portion of my life growing up was on a farm, and as a kid I hated the whole idea of it. But now, for them, it’s like—they’re not on their iPads, you know? They have dinner with grown-ups and have to take their dishes in. They have a much better life,” he said. Clooney further explained that he worried about raising them in Los Angeles. “I was worried about raising our kids in L. A., in the culture of Hollywood. I felt like they were never going to get a fair shake at life. France—they kind of don’t give a shit about fame. I don’t want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi. I don’t want them being compared to somebody else’s famous kids.” Fans eager to see George Clooney on screen will get to watch him later this year. He will feature in a comedy-drama alongside Adam Sandler called Jay Kelly, which hits select theaters on November 14 and will stream worldwide on Netflix from December 5. The post Why George Clooney Was ‘Worried’ About Raising Kids in Hollywood Culture appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

http://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/USATSI_27098569.jpgCharles LeClaire and Jeff Curry, Imagn Images Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz have been bullpen stalwarts for the Chicago Cubs this season. The former made a club-high 68 appearances during the regular season and pitched to a 2.07 ERA and a 2.94 FIP over 69 2/3 innings, while the latter toed the rubber 57 times and put up a 2.17 ERA and a 3.36 FIP over 49 2/3 innings. Working primarily in setup roles, the right-left duo combined for six wins, four saves, and 39 holds. Not bad for a pair of hurlers who were essentially reclamation projects when they reported to spring training. Now with his fourth team in the past three seasons, Keller was 9-22 with a 5.05 ERA from 2022 to 2024. Moreover, one year ago, he lost all four decisions while logging a 5.44 ERA. As for Pomeranz’s recent numbers… well, there weren’t any. Hampered by multiple arm injuries, the southpaw hadn’t taken the mound in a big league game since August 2021. At age 36, he had quite possibly reached the end of the road. Keller’s path has included injury-related speed bumps as well. Most notable was the righty being diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which required him to go under the knife after the 2023 season. “It’s being healthy, first and foremost,” Keller said of his return to form. “I battled TOS for a couple years, and it really came to a head two years ago. Ultimately, I had surgery, and I feel better now than I have my entire career. I’m recovering better than I ever had. That along with some tweaks I made mechanically have helped me max my velo. Overall, I’m just a better pitcher. Stuff-wise, sequencing-wise, using my pitches well. There was basically a revamp of everything.” Pomeranz has done some revamping of his own over the years, and that includes ditching a few pitches. He’s always had a plus four-seamer and a quality curveball. Deep into a career that began when he was drafted fifth overall by Cleveland in 2010, that is all he currently throws. “Nowadays, my game is pretty simple,” Pomeranz told me toward the tail end of the regular season. “This is my 15th year of pro ball, and I’ve tried a lot of things. Some have worked, and some haven’t worked. I’ve tried to throw a changeup. I’ve tried to throw a cutter. I’ve tried to throw a sinker. I’m at the point now where I know what my best pitches are, instead of constantly looking for new stuff. “When I first came up, they wanted everyone to have a fastball, a breaking ball, a changeup, whatever,” Pomeranz added. “Now they identify you as, ‘This guy’s not a changeup guy,’ so they’ll have you throw something else. Are you a supinator or a pronator? They do a better job of not forcing you to throw pitches that you’re not naturally able to throw very well. If I’d have done that earlier, I wouldn’t have forcibly thrown a changeup, and I wouldn’t have given up all the homers I did on pitches that weren’t my best pitch.” The now-healthy Keller is approaching things differently. “I’m incorporating more sinkers this year,” the 30-year-old right-hander explained. “I’m also incorporating more changeups. It’s kind of a split-change, if you will. I also have the sweeper, which I didn’t have a few years ago. Outside of that, I still have the hard slider I’ve had my whole career, as well as the fastball.” The velocity bump Keller mentioned is real. His four-seamer averaged a crisp 97.2 mph this year, whereas he had previously been in the 93-94 range. And while he is now working exclusively out of the bullpen — he was mostly a starter prior to last year — Keller doesn’t attribute the added oomph solely to shorter stints. “When I was in spring training throwing three innings, I was still sitting 97-98,” he said. “In my mind, I’m not exerting a whole lot more effort than I would if I were to go multiple innings. Cleaner mechanics, a cleaner arm path — being healthy obviously helps — has allowed me to add a little more velo.” At 92.7 mph, Pomeranz’s four-seamer isn’t far below its peak of 94.6 mph from 2020. Moreover, it’s close to his career average. As for the high-80s sinker he scrapped after the 2019 season — he became strictly fastball/curveball in 2020 — it wasn’t intended to be a variation of his heater. For all intents and purposes, Pomeranz used it as his cambio. “The changeup is the big thing I always struggled with,” the lefty told me. “I tried so many grips over the years. I eventually went to a two-seam fastball that I threw slower. I called it a BP fastball. That was probably the most success I had with a changeup.” The most success Keller has had as a big league pitcher? In his opinion, it’s not necessarily this season’s rebound performance that helped his team reach the postseason. His ERA and FIP were career bests, as was his 27.2% strikeout rate, but as he pointed out, it is hard to compare apples and oranges. “I feel that I threw pretty well a few times in my first three years in the big leagues,” said Keller, who had a 3.08 ERA over 140 1/3 innings in his 2018 rookie season, and a 2.47 ERA over 54 2/3 innings in the truncated 2020 campaign. “That was in a different role though, so it’s hard to say. But I feel good where I’m at. I’m happy to help out the team.” Keller having told me that he held his increased velocity over multiple innings during spring training prompted another question. Could he see himself moving back into a starter role one day and helping out a team in that manner? “I mean, I’d started my whole life, and I love starting,” said the pending free agent. “But again, I like where I’m at now — I like the role — so we’ll see. Maybe we won’t see. Maybe we’ll try it out. I’m not sure.” Pomeranz isn’t about to move out of the bullpen — not at his age and with a two-pitch repertoire — but he’s certainly experienced his fair share of changes. Starting, relieving, tinkering with his arsenal, bouncing between organizations, missing so much time with various maladies — he’s ridden a veritable rollercoaster since I first interviewed him for Baseball Prospectus prior to his reaching the majors. “I’ve had to morph a lot,” Pomeranz said of his journey. “I feel like I’ve died and come back to life five different times in the baseball world. Being in the bullpen after starting out as a starter… I mean, I know what I’m doing by now. The first five years of my career, I had no idea what I was doing. I was out there just throwing pitches. You come up thinking you know everything, and maybe you have a little bit of success, but looking back, it’s no, I had no idea of what I was doing.” However many years of baseball he might have left — his contract is also up after the season — Pomeranz does know one thing for certain: He won’t pitch forever. “I don’t know about that,” a smiling Pomeranz said to my suggestion that he just might just do so. “I guess we’ll see. Right now I’m just thinking about this year.” With the Cubs facing elimination — they’re down 2-0 to the Brewers in the best-of-five NLDS that resumes this evening — this year might soon be over for both Pomeranz and Keller. Where the rejuvenated hurlers pitch next year is still to be determined. Source View the full article

(Photo Credit: Miles Away) ComingSoon is debuting an exclusive trailer for Miles Away, previewing the upcoming comedy-drama film about a rideshare driver who is too busy helping others to clean up their own life. It will make its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival on Sunday, October 26, at 6:30 p.m. CT. “Jess is a socially awkward rideshare driver with dreams of making movies in Hollywood,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “She spends her days stuck in L.A. traffic, carting around demanding passengers, while juggling non-stop emergencies from her manipulative mother and chaotic sister. As the fares stack up and her sanity frays, Jess realizes she’s watching her dreams fade away in the rearview mirror. Miles Away is a funny, raw road movie about what happens when you’re too busy with everyone else’s mess to clean up your own.” Check out the exclusive Miles Away trailer below (watch other trailers): What happens in the Miles Away trailer? The Miles Away trailer details the life and day of Jess, a rideshare driver. As she goes throughout her day, she laments on her dreams of making it to Hollywood, all while dealing with different types of people she meets for rides. Miles Away stars Jackie Quinones, who also wrote and directed the film. Alongside Quinones, Miles Away also stars Luis Guzmán, Noel Gugliemi, Andre Royo, Alberto Frezza, Eddie Martinez, Norma Maldonado, Henri Esteve, Jessica Pacheco, Jessica Sarah Flaum, Cass CLark, and more. The post Ridesharing Goes Wrong in Hilarious Miles Away Trailer With Luis Guzman | Exclusive appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: Netflix Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story featured not only the titular serial killer, but also Ted Bundy and Richard “Birdman” Speck. While Ted Bundy is infamous, given the number of documentaries on his horrifying acts, viewers of the series are curious to know more about who Richard “Birdman” Speck really is and how he’s related to Ed Gein. Here are the details on Richard “Birdman” Speck. Who is Richard Speck aka the Birdman in Monster Season 3? Richard Speck (Tobias Jelinek), known as the “Birdman,” is a notorious serial killer depicted in Monster: The Ed Gein Story. He was arrested after murdering eight nursing students in 1966. In the series, he is portrayed as a serial killer who considered Ed Gein (Charlie Hunnam) as a role model. Speck earned the nickname “Birdman” from an incident during his time in prison. According to John E. Douglas’s book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, Speck reportedly nursed a sparrow back to health after it flew into his cell. However, when a guard told him that pets weren’t allowed, he threw the bird into a fan, saying, “If I can’t have it, no one can.” How is the Birdman related to Ed Gein? In real life, there is no reported connection between Gein, Bundy, and Speck. All three serial killers were active in different decades. However, in the show, Speck sends a letter to Gein from prison, thanking him for being an influence on him. He did so after he received a letter from Bundy (John T. O’Brien), who had been inspired by Speck’s murders. It showcases that Gein unknowingly inspired the birth of several serial killers. In the season finale, “The Godfather”, the show uses this as a plot device where Gein assists the FBI in helping to track down Bundy. All eight episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story are now available to stream on Netflix. The post Who Is Richard ‘the Birdman’ Speck in Monster: The Ed Gein Story? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Philadelphia 76ers icon Allen Iverson revealed he has been sober for six months. Appearing on CBS Mornings with Maurice DuBois, Iverson said “one of the best decisions I ever made in my life” was to stop drinking six months ago. “When you get drunk, you’re not how you usually are,” he continued. “The more and […] The post 76ers Legend Allen Iverson Says He’s Been Sober For 6 Months appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

During the 2025 playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not reach their ultimate goal. The team was bounced in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. That was after they finished with the top record in the East. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Cavaliers. In the playoffs, Darius Garland was dealing with a lingering […] The post An anonymous executive believes the Cavaliers should trade Darius Garland to the Kings appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Image credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures In the build-up to the release of Zootopia 2, co-director Jared Bush has come out to invalidate a popular theory regarding the film’s main villain that has been circulating on the internet for some time now. In a recent social media interaction, the Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer clarified the status of newly-recruited ZPD officer Nick Wilde’s family in the much-awaited sequel, debunking a major rumor in the process. Nick Wilde’s family won’t be in Zootopia 2 On September 29, Bush took to X (formerly Twitter) to conduct a brief Q&A session with fans. In the thread, one user posted a multi-part query about the characters in Zootopia 2, including the father of Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde. While Bush failed to reveal the specifics about any featured member of his upcoming film, he did confirm that Wilde’s family won’t play a major part in the sequel. “Nick’s family is not explored in this film,” the Encanto co-director noted in his reply. In doing so, Bush put an end to a fan theory that positioned Nick’s father as the primary antagonist of Zootopia 2. Many Disney fans had previously deduced that the charismatic fox’s dad would turn out to be the movie’s villain after watching the sequel’s teaser trailer. In the snippet, the duo of Nick and Judy Hopps comes across a menacing, shadowy figure with a pair of glowing eyes beneath his hood. With the said entity sharing an uncanny resemblance to the physical features of Nick, netizens came to the conclusion that it could be none other than the father of Bateman’s character. However, Bush has since debunked this theory, thereby intensifying the mystery around the identity of Zootopia 2’s real antagonist. Given that the 2016 outing featured a twisted reveal regarding who the actual villain of the film was, Disney may choose to follow a similar route in the sequel. At the time of writing, Zootopia 2 is on track to hit theaters on November 26, 2025. Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on SuperHeroHype. The post Zootopia 2 Director Confirms if Popular Villain Theory Is True appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

Photo Credit: Michael Kirchoff/Disney via Getty Images Taylor Frankie Paul has been making waves in reality TV for some time now. Best known for her role on Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, she recently scored the lead spot in the upcoming season of The Bachelorette, set to premiere in 2026. Fans are already speculating that she may be joining another reality TV competition, Dancing With the Stars (DWTS). Is Bachelorette 2026’s Taylor Frankie Paul joining Dancing With the Stars? There is no official word that Taylor Frankie Paul has been cast on DWTS. However, her recent appearance at the premiere of Dancing With the Stars Season 34, alongside her Secret Lives of Mormon Wives co-stars, Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt, only fueled the speculation. Even Bachelor alum Ashley Iaconetti weighed in on a recent episode of The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast, predicting that Paul could be the next reality star to appear on the DWTS dance floor. If these rumors turn out to be true, it wouldn’t be a surprise because DWTS has a long history of casting celebrities who are often in the headlines, and Taylor Frankie Paul definitely fits the bill. She first caught attention with her TikTok content in the MomTok community, then moved on to Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, where fans and critics quickly became obsessed with her. In September 2022, Paul was announced as the lead for The Bachelorette Season 22, set to premiere in 2026. On top of all that, Taylor has made it clear that she loves to dance. Just last July, she posted a viral clip showing off her moves in the kitchen, captioned, “When DWTS asked if I had any dance experience? …umm no, but I am the creator of Baja Blast.” The video has since racked up close to 3 million views. While all the signs are pointing in the right direction, there’s still no official word that Taylor Frankie Paul is joining DWTS. Fans will have to wait for the show’s producers to give the green light. The post Why Bachelorette Fans Think Taylor Frankie Paul Will Join DWTS Soon appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

The Dallas Mavericks reportedly signed free agent guard Dalano Banton to a training camp contract while requesting waivers on guard Matthew Cleveland, the team announced Tuesday. Dalano Banton Entering Fifth NBA Season NBA insider Marc Stein noted in a post on X: “Dalano Banton had no shortage of overseas interest but held out for an […] The post Mavericks Sign Dalano Banton, Request Waivers On Matthew Cleveland appeared first on Basketball Insiders | NBA Rumors And Basketball News. View the full article

Photo Credit: CBS The Young and the Restless’ Peter Bergman shared his thoughts on his performance that gained him his 26th Daytime Emmy nomination. Although he was initially hesitant to submit his tape for consideration, the actor revealed he ultimately decided to do so after listening to “wiser people.” Here’s what the actor had to say about his performance and the nomination. Peter Bergman almost did not submit the tape of his Emmy-nominated Young and Restless scene Peter Bergman, who has played Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless since 1989, has earned his 26th nomination for the upcoming Daytime Emmy Awards. During an interview with TODAY.com, the actor responded with enthusiasm. Bergman said, “It never gets old. It just doesn’t. There’s something nice about the people in my industry saying, ‘Oh yeah, he’s one of the good ones.’” The Emmy-nominated actor recalled how he almost didn’t send the tape for his nominations because of the limit on how long the tape can be. He said, “You don’t get to show them that much variety in showing one scene from a show. Yes, it’s a long scene, but it’s one scene from a show.” He was also concerned about how the viewers would perceive the scene without the proper context of the episode. Bergman said, “Does the audience know this is not normal behavior for Jack? Does the audience stick around long enough while we kind of set it up that he’s trying to help her? Are they going to watch the entire thing and see just how far Jack was willing to go?” Nonetheless, the actor admitted that he submitted his tape after listening to “wiser people.” The episode that earned him his nomination is the one where Jack goes to extreme lengths to help his friend Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), who relapses into alcoholism. While he was happy about his nomination, he said, “I was disappointed that Melody didn’t get a nomination because she had probably a harder job in that show.” Furthermore, Bergman revealed that the storyline was quite personal to him as he had lost a close friend to alcohol addiction nine years ago. “It was a giant loss for me, so the subject was a very personal one,” he explained. The post Young & Restless’ Peter Bergman Sheds Light on His Emmy-Nominated Performance appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

It’s been a stellar year in book cover design, and the third quarter of 2025 continues to prove this. Designers have upped their game, creating compelling images intended to force readers to judge a book by their covers–and frankly, why shouldn’t you? So many of the covers here were ones I would likely have missed if I hadn’t been taken in by their looks. Book cover design is interesting because it’s got to play to some trends, got to play to some conventions of genre and age category, and because it’s got to play to consumer tastes. We need book covers to sell a book—it’s the number one marketing opportunity for any title. But we need those covers to also give insight into the story and to be nice to look at and to be easy to render on mobile. Important to all of this is the team behind the cover’s creation. For too long—and still to this day—cover designers and artists are rarely credited for their work. The time it takes to find this information is embarrassing in 2025, and still, many of the covers you’ll see below don’t have this information available. Publishers still don’t put it on the landing pages for these books, so it takes good Googling and a lot of luck to dig up names to credit. Unfortunately, this also makes it easier for AI-generated art to get through to book covers (which we started to see last year). This quarter may be one of the better ones in a long time for finding this information. One of the other fun things to notice throughout the year are the trends we see in cover design. Something other book outlets have pointed out in cover design is the trend to use works of art as the background for cover design. This won’t be slowing down into the rest of the year or into 2026, either. Find below a number of the most interesting, visually surprising, and best book covers of 2025 from the third quarter of this year. These covers are for adult fiction only, as there are entire posts’ worth of covers for nonfiction, YA, middle grade, and children’s books. Because my earlier roundup of the best book covers for 2025’s new and forthcoming short story collections didn’t capture some of the books that hit shelves in the second half of the year, you’ll see short story collections here, too. All of the covers featured here are for books published between July 1 and September 30, 2025. I’ve done my best to track down credit. You can and should check out the best book covers from the first quarter of this year and the second quarter of this year, too. Beyond All Reasonable Doubt, Jesus Is Alive by Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Cover design by Luísa Dias There are many things going on with this cover and every single one of them is good. Titles that are full sentences are a favorite of mine, but more than that, it’s one that’s hard to forget. The cover gives desolation vibes on the top photo, but the toy (?) hand and coy cat stand in contrast to those vibes, begging the viewer to wonder what is actually going on. Let’s not overlook the clever blood splatter, either, nor the way the yellow contrasts so perfectly with the red shades elsewhere. That some of the image is off the page gives more visual interest, too. All Access Members, check out your exclusive content–including 19 more rad covers–below. This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.View the full article

Photo Credit: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images Kimberly Hébert Gregory, who was known for her roles on shows like Vice Principals, Craig of the Creek, and The Big Bang Theory, has passed away at the age of 52. Her former husband, Chester Gregory, took to social media to announce the news. Kimberly Hébert Gregory’s role in The Big Bang Theory explained Before Kimberly Hébert Gregory found her breakthrough roles in shows like Vice Principals as Dr. Belind Brown, she made guest appearances on several popular shows like The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Gossip Girl, and Grey’s Anatomy. She was most notably popular for her short role as Ms. Davora, a psychic, in Season 7, Episode 21, “The Anything Can Happen Recurrence.” In the episode, Penny took Sheldon to a psychic, Ms. Davora. He criticizes the psychic, saying that there is no scientific basis for what she does and calls her a fraud. Penny urges him to ask the psychic a question, but Sheldon was waiting for the psychic to read his mind. He then asks her about the next Star Trek movie, but the psychic instead reveals that he’s having trouble with a woman in his life. Ms. Davora describes Amy and adds that she’s in a similar profession to his. She also says that the woman (Amy) is the key to his happiness and urges him to embrace the relationship to fix all other problems. While Penny is impressed with her insights, Sheldon becomes angry and dismisses her by saying, “malarkey,” and leaves. The reason for the actress’s death has not been disclosed. However, on October 4, 2025, Kimberly’s husband, Chester Gregory, uploaded a carousel of photos of his late wife with a heartfelt caption. In the caption, he shared an emotional eulogy, celebrating her impact on his life. A part of his tribute read: “So Much More Than Ex-Wife, You Were My Friend. Our Son, The Song We Wrote Together, Is The Living Echo Of Your Light. Through Him, Your Brilliance Will Never Fade. Through Him, Your Laughter Will Always Resound.” The post What Role Did Kimberly Hébert Gregory Play in The Big Bang Theory? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

As book award season continues, we’ve been getting stellar lists of nonfiction titles to add to our TBRs. Plus, we are about to head into “the best Books of the Year” season, so hold onto your hats! In addition to these highlights, today, I also want to delve into the world of celebrity book clubs and whether or not they are still tastemakers. Spoiler: writer Kathleen Schmidt argues they aren’t—let’s jump right in! “The Best Books of the Year (So Far)” (The New York Times) The New York Times added some new nonfiction picks to its Best Book of the Year (So Far) list. Some of the new titles include A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst, Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, and Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs. I keep seeing these books EVERYWHERE and have heard nothing but good things, so it’s no surprise that they made the list. But now the question is, which of these titles will make the big end-of-the-year list? The National Book Award Longlist in Nonfiction Announced The National Book Award is one of my favorite prizes. I always love seeing the longlists they create across their handful of different categories. This year in nonfiction, they’ve highlighted a number of different titles. From memoirs to nature writing, this list includes a range of nonfiction genres. I’ve always imagined that having so many different kinds of nonfiction makes the prize hard to judge. But either way, we have an excellent list of nonfiction to add to our TBRs: Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This Caleb Gayle, Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State Julia Ioffe, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy, For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran’s Women-Led Uprising Yiyun Li, Things in Nature Merely Grow Lana Lin, The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam Ben Ratliff, Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening Claudia Rowe, Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care Jordan Thomas, When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World Helen Whybrow, The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life Celebrity Book Clubs Are No Longer Tastemakers (Publishing Confidential) In Kathleen Schmidt’s recent Substack post, she discusses her opinion that celebrity book clubs, like Read with Jenna and Oprah’s Book Club, are no longer tastemakers. Gone is the time when book clubs tended to select under-the-radar titles and bring them to a larger audience. Now, these book clubs tend to choose books written by (mostly) wealthy white women who already have a certain amount of privilege. They aren’t tastemakers. They’re just supporting the success of stories that are already popular. Schmidt goes into much more detail, pulling examples of recent memoir picks from the different celebrity book clubs. You can find me over on my Substack Winchester Ave, or over on Instagram @kdwinchester. As always, feel free to drop me a line at kendra.d.winchester@gmail.com. For even MORE bookish content, you can find my articles over on Book Riot. View the full article

Image credit: 20th Century Fox / Lucasfilm Ltd. A veteran English actor, whose career spans over four decades and includes Marvel projects as well as Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg movies, recently revealed why he couldn’t portray the father of Natalie Portman‘s Padmé Amidala in Star Wars. Ray Winstone, 68, has played George “Mac” McHale in Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Arnold French in Scorsese’s The Departed, and Dreykov in the Marvel feature Black Widow. However, he failed the audition to be cast in Star Wars. Ray Winstone on why he failed audition to play Padmé Amidala’s father in Star Wars Winstone revealed during an interview with Far Out that he didn’t land the role of Padmé Amidala’s father because he was drunk. “I was pissed anyway,” he said. “I’d been out all night, and I turned up, and I knew I was wrong for the part as soon as I walked in, but instead of saying that, he [George Lucas] relayed the message to me through someone else, and I took umbrage at that.” In a previous interview, Winstone mentioned meeting Lucas in a hotel in the West End. He concluded that Lucas must be jet-lagged because he was yawning during the interaction. Winstone also remembered that Lucas didn’t greet him when he walked in or make small talk. He recalled saying to the filmmaker, “Why don’t we both have a 15-minute sleep and then I’ll f— off,” before adding that films like that would have bored “a— off” due to the involvement of the blue screen in production. (via Star Wars Aficionado) Interestingly, Winstone has since been part of several projects that have heavily used special effects and blue screen, including Black Widow. Ultimately, Winstone and Lucas worked together on the above-mentioned Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. “I’ve worked for George since, and he was fine,” Winstone told Far Out. “He didn’t remember. Or if he did, he didn’t take it to heart.” Actor Graeme Blundell ended up portraying Padmé’s father, Ruwee Naberrie, in 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Originally reported by Tamal Kundu on SuperHeroHype. The post Marvel Actor Recalls Why He Failed Star Wars Audition Over 2 Decades Ago appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article

It’s time for a new round of news that mystery fans would like! I’ve got cover reveals, adaptation announcements, crime dramas to stream, and a chat with Ruth Ware! Win a shiny library cart for your home! Let the good reads roll on its durable build and lockable wheels. Easily roll your current reads, favorite literary journals, or your entire TBR list from room to room. More exciting 2026 announcements! Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé made a name for herself with her first YA mystery, Ace of Spades. Last year she put out the dark academia, Where Sleeping Girls Lie, and now we have info (and a cover reveal!) for her 2026 family mystery, The Heirs! Cosmo has all the deets. All access members continue below for more mystery and thriller updates This content is for members only. Visit the site and log in/register to read.View the full article

Photo Credit: ANDREW MATTHEWS/Getty Images To love is to lose is one of the harshest truths of life. Celebrities are often seen sharing beautiful anecdotes and photo tributes in honor of deceased friends and colleagues. The latest one to do so is General Hospital alum Emma Samms. In her latest Instagram post, the actress paid tribute to a legendary author after her passing. Former General Hospital star Emma Samms pays tribute to Dame Jilly Cooper The actress, best known for her role as Holly Sutton, posted a picture on Instagram in honor of Dame Jilly Cooper. Her heartfelt caption beautifully conveyed her utmost love and respect for the 88-year-old, who passed away on October 5. In her tribute, the ABC vet expressed that she considers herself lucky to have known the legendary author. She urged her fans to believe all declarations about Cooper’s kindness, generosity, and wicked sense of humour. Stating that they were all true, Samms further extended her love and support to Cooper’s family during this time of grief. For people unfamiliar with Dame Jilly Cooper‘s work, the English author and journalist is best known for her book The Rutshire Chronicles. Set in the fictional country of Rutshire, the series revolves around the lives of the wealthy families. From carnal plotlines to scandalous twists, his unconventional book has it all! Cooper was a celebrated author whose popularity extended beyond the masses. Grieved by the news of her passing, Queen Camilla extended her respects through the Royal Family’s official Instagram account. The story posted in memory of the British author said, “May her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.” The touching tribute highlighted the author’s love for animals, especially dogs. Dame Jilly Cooper’s other widely loved book, Intelligent and Loyal, has delightful memoirs on the lives and natures of different dog breeds. The book was a hit among readers and animal lovers globally. To the extent that the author’s dogs had to accompany her to public appearances. The post Former General Hospital Star Pays Tribute to Legendary Author After Passing appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. View the full article