Latest news with #Alien
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Elio': Toronto Oscar winner Domee Shi explains why title character has an eye patch
Oscar winner Domee Shi drew inspiration from her own mother for her 2018 animated short film Bao, crafted a love letter to Toronto with one of the best fictional boy bands with Turning Red in 2022, and now takes on sci-fi with the movie Elio (currently in theatres). For Shi, it was exciting to get to play with the genre as one of the film's directors. "This was my first time directing a sci-fi movie, but I've always loved sci-fi as a genre. Some of my favourite movies are sci-fi movies, like Alien, Gravity," Shi told Yahoo Canada in Toronto. "It was so great to be able to pay homage to all of my favourite movies." "I love that in our movie we can use space as a symbol of aspiration, of wish fulfillment, instead of a scary space or a threatening space. It's a space that welcomes and accepts our main character." Unlike what we see in most movies, the main character Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) wants to be abducted by aliens. As an orphaned child, he lives with his aunt Olga (voiced by Zoe Saldaña), who works in the military as a major in the U.S. Air Force tasked with scanning for space debris. Olga had dreams of pursing the astronaut space program, but those plans had to be put aside when she became Elio's legal guardian. Elio is an 11-year-old boy who just doesn't feel like he belongs, which makes him long for a life in space with the aliens. As we see early on in the movie, as Elio tries to craft a device to communicate with aliens, things don't go as planned and he ends up injuring his eye, requiring him to wear and eye patch until he's healed. The eye patch was something that was quickly embraced by many, even when we didn't know exactly why he was wearing one. "I love that people have embraced Eliot's eye patch," Shi said. "The original idea came from the original director, Adrian Molina, just this idea that a characteristic that Elio could be othered for is something that he can be celebrated for, that could make him look actually really cool once he's in space." "Once he is in space and he has the eye patch and the cape, he looks like ... a cool space pirate, but it's so amazing that kids and audiences have embraced that eye patch." Elio's attempt at alien abduction pays off when he's beamed up to the Communiverse, an organization with representatives from each galaxy, like a sci-fi version of the United Nations, but it's all a misunderstanding. The aliens think that Elio is the leader of Earth. But he doesn't want to go home just yet, so Elio goes along with it and does not tell them he's actually just a kid who loves space. It's in the Communiverse that Elio leans into what Pixar does best, creating really interesting animated characters, some that are more visually frightening and some that are the most adorable little bundles of joy you've ever seen. "One of the things I loved about directing a sci-fi movie ... is that you can take these familiar tropes ... and kind of turn them on their head and twist them in a surprising way," Shi said. "So introducing a really scary looking toothy worm with no eyes, you're like, oh my gosh ... is Elio going to be eaten? And then twisting it and being like, oh no, it's actually a really cute kid. It's actually this lonely, weird, cute boy who could be Elio's first friend." At the heart of Elio is a story of loneliness, a universal theme set to resonate with many who see the movie. "Me and [co-director Madeline Sharafian], when we started on this project, ... it was our idea to kind of make Elio obsessed with getting abducted by aliens, obsessed with going into space and living with aliens, but we had to understand why," Shi explained. "We had to understand the emotion driving that and we realized it had to be loneliness." "When Elio gets abducted, when that beam hits him and he's whooping for joy, audiences have to be whooping with him. ... We had to introduce him in a way that made audiences really empathize and understand why he doesn't feel like he belongs on Earth. And that means introducing him as this recently orphaned kid who's thrust upon his aunt who's still struggling with trying to figure out how to balance her career and being a new mom. It's a fine balance too. We don't want to start the movie off in too much of a sad way." And what's impressive about Elio is that it's able to present its message in a way that can speak to both children and adults. Even Shi admitted that it's a difficult element to achieve. "It is really hard. It's hard work, but that's kind of the bar that we set for ourselves at Pixar, is to tell these stories that are for kids and for adults," Shi said. "Even when really wacky, goofy, cartoony aliens are on screen and it is a fun, wacky adventure, there is an emotional through line." "We're really honest with each other. At Pixar, we show our work to each other all the time. These movies take four to five years to make because we're constantly putting up the movie multiple times. We have screenings. We invite members of the crew, members of the studio to watch it, to send in notes. People are very honest, because everyone cares so much about what they do at Pixar and wanting to make stories that resonate with people."
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Elio': Toronto Oscar winner Domee Shi explains why title character has an eye patch
Oscar winner Domee Shi drew inspiration from her own mother for her 2018 animated short film Bao, crafted a love letter to Toronto with one of the best fictional boy bands with Turning Red in 2022, and now takes on sci-fi with the movie Elio (currently in theatres). For Shi, it was exciting to get to play with the genre as one of the film's directors. "This was my first time directing a sci-fi movie, but I've always loved sci-fi as a genre. Some of my favourite movies are sci-fi movies, like Alien, Gravity," Shi told Yahoo Canada in Toronto. "It was so great to be able to pay homage to all of my favourite movies." "I love that in our movie we can use space as a symbol of aspiration, of wish fulfillment, instead of a scary space or a threatening space. It's a space that welcomes and accepts our main character." Unlike what we see in most movies, the main character Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) wants to be abducted by aliens. As an orphaned child, he lives with his aunt Olga (voiced by Zoe Saldaña), who works in the military as a major in the U.S. Air Force tasked with scanning for space debris. Olga had dreams of pursing the astronaut space program, but those plans had to be put aside when she became Elio's legal guardian. Elio is an 11-year-old boy who just doesn't feel like he belongs, which makes him long for a life in space with the aliens. As we see early on in the movie, as Elio tries to craft a device to communicate with aliens, things don't go as planned and he ends up injuring his eye, requiring him to wear and eye patch until he's healed. The eye patch was something that was quickly embraced by many, even when we didn't know exactly why he was wearing one. "I love that people have embraced Eliot's eye patch," Shi said. "The original idea came from the original director, Adrian Molina, just this idea that a characteristic that Elio could be othered for is something that he can be celebrated for, that could make him look actually really cool once he's in space." "Once he is in space and he has the eye patch and the cape, he looks like ... a cool space pirate, but it's so amazing that kids and audiences have embraced that eye patch." Elio's attempt at alien abduction pays off when he's beamed up to the Communiverse, an organization with representatives from each galaxy, like a sci-fi version of the United Nations, but it's all a misunderstanding. The aliens think that Elio is the leader of Earth. But he doesn't want to go home just yet, so Elio goes along with it and does not tell them he's actually just a kid who loves space. It's in the Communiverse that Elio leans into what Pixar does best, creating really interesting animated characters, some that are more visually frightening and some that are the most adorable little bundles of joy you've ever seen. "One of the things I loved about directing a sci-fi movie ... is that you can take these familiar tropes ... and kind of turn them on their head and twist them in a surprising way," Shi said. "So introducing a really scary looking toothy worm with no eyes, you're like, oh my gosh ... is Elio going to be eaten? And then twisting it and being like, oh no, it's actually a really cute kid. It's actually this lonely, weird, cute boy who could be Elio's first friend." At the heart of Elio is a story of loneliness, a universal theme set to resonate with many who see the movie. "Me and [co-director Madeline Sharafian], when we started on this project, ... it was our idea to kind of make Elio obsessed with getting abducted by aliens, obsessed with going into space and living with aliens, but we had to understand why," Shi explained. "We had to understand the emotion driving that and we realized it had to be loneliness." "When Elio gets abducted, when that beam hits him and he's whooping for joy, audiences have to be whooping with him. ... We had to introduce him in a way that made audiences really empathize and understand why he doesn't feel like he belongs on Earth. And that means introducing him as this recently orphaned kid who's thrust upon his aunt who's still struggling with trying to figure out how to balance her career and being a new mom. It's a fine balance too. We don't want to start the movie off in too much of a sad way." And what's impressive about Elio is that it's able to present its message in a way that can speak to both children and adults. Even Shi admitted that it's a difficult element to achieve. "It is really hard. It's hard work, but that's kind of the bar that we set for ourselves at Pixar, is to tell these stories that are for kids and for adults," Shi said. "Even when really wacky, goofy, cartoony aliens are on screen and it is a fun, wacky adventure, there is an emotional through line." "We're really honest with each other. At Pixar, we show our work to each other all the time. These movies take four to five years to make because we're constantly putting up the movie multiple times. We have screenings. We invite members of the crew, members of the studio to watch it, to send in notes. People are very honest, because everyone cares so much about what they do at Pixar and wanting to make stories that resonate with people."
Perth Now
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Danny Boyle was surprised by Trainspotting's impact
Danny Boyle never thought Trainspotting would transform his career. The 68-year-old director helmed the 1996 drama film - which starred the likes of Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle - but Danny never imagined that the movie would become such a huge success. Asked if he expected the film to kick-start his career, Danny told The Hollywood Reporter: "No. Absolutely not. "In fact, I remember there was a wave of disapproval of it building. They had shown a trailer or something on one of the TV movie shows here. And one of the prestigious critics said, 'Well, that looks shockingly irresponsible about drugs.' Things like that were building. "And then there was this journalist, Muriel Gray, and she wrote this piece about Irvine's [Welsh] book, and about the film. She spoke with authority saying, 'You do not know what you are talking about,' all these people piling disapproval on top of it. It was a tipping point." Danny relished the experience of working with Ewan on Trainspotting, remembering that the actor was "fanatical" about his role. Asked to recall his first impressions of Ewan, the acclaimed director replied: "Clearly talented. Very charming. Personable. Incredible hair. Especially speaking as somebody who doesn't have incredible hair. It's just not fair! "His agents were putting him in period romances, for which it was perfect. And he shaved it off before we'd offered him the part of Renton in Trainspotting. He shaved it off and lost weight. And then he continued to lose weight. He was fanatical about that. And he was right. "He earned the part. Sometimes an actor knows more than you. They have a connection that you are going to discover by making the film." Trainspotting proved to be a turning point in Danny's career, and he was subsequently approached to helm the fourth Alien movie. However, the director ultimately decided that the project wasn't the right fit for him. Danny said: "I met Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder, who were attached to it. So obviously it was pretty serious. They were wonderful. But it was the early days of the CG crossover. That moment where it was transitioning. And I couldn't handle the CG." Danny is a fan of the Alien franchise, but he didn't think he was right for the role. He explained: "I was very passionate about it, because I loved the Alien idea. "I just suddenly had a rare moment of clarity, thinking, 'You are not the right guy for this.' I went off to make A Life Less Ordinary instead. That was 20th Century folks as well. I didn't do Alien and I went and made this flop for them instead! But it's water under the bridge."
Elle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Anok Yai Puts Perfume on Her Airplane Seat
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. When Mugler launched Angel in the '90s, it had a lasting reverberation across the perfume industry, essentially inventing the modern gourmand. Before Angel, fragrances were more subdued—after Angel, which was the one of the first 'extra' perfumes, with over 20 notes, they became tools for self-expression. Alien, Angel's counterpart, was first launched in 2005, and has met similar fanfare. The now-iconic fragrance has three main notes: amber, wood, and jasmine. It's mysterious, feminine, and edgy, all at once. In other words, it embodies super model Anok Yai, who has been an ambassador for Mugler since 2024. Yai is the face of Mugler Alien Extraintense, a new transmutation of Alien. In this version, the jasmine notes are complemented by creamy vanilla, decadent tuberose, and biting cardamom. It's anchored by amber, musks, and woods. 'It's really dark and sensual,' Yai tells ELLE. 'I like to wear it on dates. It's like a touch of danger. I love how it smells. And I steal it off set all the time. There's always at least five bottles missing after I'm done shooting.' It's high praise from someone who describes fragrance as her 'everything.' Yai says she wears perfume anywhere, at any time of day, and keeps a bottle in every single one of her purses. Here, Yai reveals how she feels about scents on an airplane, what keeps her inspired, and what Daniel Caesar thinks about the portrait she painted of him. The first Mugler [fragrance] that I smelled was Alien Goddess Intense. I was at the airport. My favorite thing to do when I'm in airports is go to the stores and try a bunch of perfumes. I was running around, testing all the perfumes. It smelled so sweet and coconutty—I was obsessed. I actually bought three bottles. Ever since then, it's been one of my favorite scents. The crazy thing is, right after that, I got the contract. When I think about femininity, I think about someone that's really confident in themselves. My spectrum for dressing is that either I'm wearing my brother's clothes, and I want to [look] like a tomboy, or I'm dressed like a vampire. That is my idea of a feminine woman. This scent is really dark, edgy, and fierce. It ties into how I naturally wear my clothes. I'm obsessed with this campaign. I like how it feels really sexual and super dark. It's more than I usually [do], because of the editorials and work that I do for high fashion. We don't really get into sexy that much; it's more avant-garde and quirky. On dates, I usually like wearing something that shows my neck, or a backless dress. In terms of products, I always like having a feline lash. I was just in Japan, and I got a tiny carry-on suitcase and went to Don Quixote, a really popular store there. I went to the makeup aisle—it was all eyelashes—and I just swiped it all into the suitcase. I started wearing compression socks, because I noticed that my legs would hurt on a plane. I started doing super-hydrating face masks, because every time I get off of a flight, I feel so dry. And I eat Manuka honey before, during, and after the fight, and then I don't get sick. I always got sick after flying, and it was so annoying. Or [you can take] garlic, but I mean, it's going to be hard to talk to people. I like to put fragrance on the seat. Usually I wear perfume to bed, and I perfume [it]. Because I spend so much time in hotels, there's nothing really grounding me. So I'll get a perfume that I use that's only for my bed and on the airplane seats, and I feel like I'm sleeping at home. I always do 111Skin, the rose gold one. I sleep with it on. Then when I'm on a plane, that's when I do my teeth whitening. I used to try to do it at home, but I love snacking, and I can't sit with the teeth whitening thing for an hour or 30 minutes or anything. I get a lot of inspiration from my dreams. I will wake up in the middle of my dream and write it down so I don't forget. I have a lot of friends that are musicians, so whenever they're in the studio, and we're in the same cities, I'll get a mini canvas or a sketchbook, and then I'll go to [their] studio sessions. I'll tell them to ignore me. I'll sit in the corner, and as they're making their music, I'll be making a painting that's inspired by the music or watching them. Once I get five or six paintings done, I want to start doing exhibitions. Right now, I'm on my fourth painting. By the end of this year, I want to have my exhibition set and going. I'm the slowest painter ever. I started painting my friend Daniel Caesar around Christmas, and then I finished painting half of him by the end of spring. This was one of the studio sessions. He was in the studio in London, working on his most recent album [Never Enough], and I just had a flash of this image of him. I'll wait for him to take a break, and then I'll have him pose somewhere in the room, set up lights, take photos of him at every angle, and then, I print out all those photos. As I'm painting, all the photos are blown up, and there's maybe 50 pictures of him that I'm looking at so I can get every detail correct. But all my friends are impatient, so even if I wanted them to sit and pose for me, they probably would sit there [only] for 15 minutes. Yeah, he's seen it. At the beginning he was like, This doesn't look like me. And then I went back, and I worked on it more, and I asked his team, asked friends, and they were like, This is exactly him. It's really strange, because when someone paints you, you have this idea of yourself in your head, and then once you see someone else's work of you that they've done, the idea that you have is so different. It's like those mirrors that are flipped so you see the real version of yourself [versus] what other people see. I remember when I did my first self portrait in high school. After I was done, I was like, This looks terrible. It doesn't look like me. And then everyone from my class was like, Oh my God, it looks exactly like you. I was so angry. You should romanticize every aspect of your life, because that makes life worth living. Anything that I can do to make something more aesthetic or even dramatic, I will do. I have a routine that I do every morning and every night, and I always stick to it. I like to end my nights with a little candle, my little journal, and spraying perfume on my bed. I like to take the extra step to make stuff feel good for me, even if no one else is seeing it. Sometimes I'll go to sleep in lingerie even though no one else is seeing—it's just for me, and it makes me feel good. The more I've been working in the fashion industry, the more dramatic everything has become. I mean, I have perfume for my airplane seat. I don't know how much more dramatic I can get. We love drama. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Seminal Sci-Fi Classic ‘Metal Hurlant' Comes Screaming Back To Life With New English Edition
Art by Jean "Moebius" Giraud graces the cover of the relaunched English edition of Metal Hurlant, ... More June 17, 2025. If you've experienced any cutting edge science fiction/fantasy of the last 50 years, from Alien and Blade Runner to Love, Death and Robots, you probably know Metal Hurlant, the legendary illustrated magazine that came roaring out of France in the mid-70s, even if you've never heard its name. Now, following a successful crowdfunding campaign, the magazine's original publisher Humanoids is reviving an English-language edition for the first time in decades, kicking off with a special 50th anniversary issue hitting the streets June 17, 2025. 'Three guys – Jean-Pierre Dionnett, Philippe Druillet and Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) created this magazine to express themselves, to do things they couldn't do anywhere else,' says Fabrice Giger, publisher of Humanoids, in a phone interview earlier this month. 'It inspired many, many creators not only in comics and literature, but in movies, entertainment, media and technology.' The founders of Metal Hurlant, from left to right: Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Jean Giraud aka Moebius, and ... More Philippe Druillet in Paris, 1975. Each of MH's founding creators was already a giant in the French comics industry, which was years ahead of its American counterpart both creatively and commercially, giving MH a running start in its efforts to blow minds and pry open wallets. The work produced in those early years became as instantly iconic and revered in the world of comics as that of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee in Marvel's 1960s Silver Age. Stories like Moebius and Dan O'Bannon's 'The Long Tomorrow' provided a template for Blade Runner. Ridley Scott's original 1979's Alien, with a screenplay co-written by O'Bannon, drew heavily from the magazine's dark imagery. Cyberpunk and its offshoots, which became popular shortly afterwards, owes much of its visual and thematic style to work that appeared in the pages of MH. Soon, MH attracted the attention of the American publication National Lampoon, which licensed, translated and packaged MH originals along with domestic MH-inspired work in Heavy Metal starting in 1977, where most English-speaking readers first encountered it. Heavy Metal remains its own freestanding brand, which also just relaunched for the umpteenth time, tapping to same vein of affection for the original material and its legacy. Humanoids publisher Fabrice Giger 'Both publications point to the same origins, but actually, we are the origin, we control the material' says Giger. 'The market is large enough to provide more experiences for readers and more opportunities to express themselves. So we are compatible. They are successful in what they are doing and we are successful in what we are doing.' Over its 50 year history, MH inspired a who's-who of creators including Guillermo DelToro, George Lucas, Hayao Miyazaki, Ridley Scott, Jemaine Clement, and Nicolas Winding Refn, as well as musicians including Air, Daft Punk and Hans Zimmer. Visionary filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has gone so far as to claim, 'I am a child of Metal Hurlant.' Despite its storied legacy, MH has a spotty publication history, even in France. The periodical ceased publication in 1988 following changes in the market. Humanoids attempted to bring it back occasionally in an English periodical edition, but anthologies generally don't do well in the comic book direct market. Finally, after several years of a successful revival in France, Humanoids opted to go the crowdfunding route to get a new, more deluxe periodical off the ground. The campaign attracted nearly 5,100 supporters who pledged over $759,000 to bring the project to life. The fruit of that bounty is obvious in the resulting edition. The first issue combines the best of its classic era with work from international creators, including many Americans, that brings the same combination of edgy ideas and gorgeous artwork. The first issue features material by international contemporary figures like Matt Fraction, Afif Khaled, Derf Backderf, Peter Snejbjerg, Yang Weilin and Matthew Allison alongside classics from Druillet, Dionnett, Gal, Schuitten, Jodorowsky, Caza, and of course Moebius. It runs 272 pages, square bound in full color on quality paper, distributed to bookstores and comic book shops. Giger says that relaunching with over 5000 committed subscribers is a huge boost at a time when uncertainties swirl around the comics distribution system. 'The market is difficult, and it is evolving,' says Giger. 'That's why I believe the most important thing we can do today as a publisher is give readers unique experiences.' Unique is a strong word, because Metal Hurlant has so thoroughly marked its territory that fans of this kind of storytelling can find it everywhere: notably these days in the Love, Death and Robots, the thematically challenging, visually compelling Netflix animated anthology by David Fincher and Tim Miller. But to paraphrase the oft-quoted quip about champagne, genuine Metal Hurlant only comes from the Humanoids region of France. Everything else is just sparkling dystopian illustrated sci-fi. Excerpt from _Blind Box_ by Chinese creator Yang Weilin, published in Metal Hurlant Issue 1 - June ... More 2025
