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This article originally appeared on 11.27.18

India’s first elephant hospital, the Wildlife SOS ElephantHospital, opened in the Hindu holy town of Mathura, located in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Injured, sick, rescued, and elderly elephants now have a home to receive the care that they need. The facility is run by non-profit Wildlife SOS. Wildlife SOS also runs a conservation and care center near the newly opened hospital, and is currently home to 22 elephants.

The Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital was designed with the needs of our four-legged friends in mind. The 12,000-square ft. facility contains x-ray, thermal imaging, and ultrasound machines, tranquilization devices, a hydrotherapy pool, an in-house pathology lab, and quarantine facilities.

The hospital will even enable remote patients to receive care. “Our hospital has center with very portable kind of machinery,” explains Geeta Seshamani, Wildlife SOS co-founder. “So if an elephant is hit-and-run very far away anywhere in North India, we can go there and we can take care of it on site itself.”

“The hospital is something really special because for centuries India has used its elephants and abused them,” added Seshamani. “Today, for the first time, we can offer them a place where we can heal them and take very good care of them.”

Among those abused elephants who will find a safe haven at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital will be elephants who were abused in captivity, elephants who were turned into tourist attractions, and elephants who were involved in freeway accidents.

“These elephants go through a lot of abuse, brutality, cruelty in order to be ridden,” Wildlife SOS co-founder Kartick Satyanarayan said in a BCC interview. “And through that process, they develop abscesses, internal problems, back problems, all kinds of health issues that need to be addressed.”

Between 50 and 60 percent of Asia’s wild elephants reside in India. Just 20 percent of domesticated elephants call the country home. With such a large elephant population, conservation should be at the forefront, especially since India’s elephant population is on the decline. In 2012, India’s elephant population was 29,391 – 30,711. By 2017, it had fallen to 27,312. World Wildlife Organization estimates there are as few as 20,000 in 2022.

Elephants are highly revered as both cultural and religious symbols in India, however they have been subjected to brutal mistreatment.

Some fall victim to the wildlife trade, while others are mistreated by mahouts (caretakers). Others are poached, poisoned, or electrocuted.

“I think by building a hospital we are underlining the fact that elephants need welfare measures as much as any other animal,”Seshamani told Reuters TV. “That captive elephants are not meant to be used and abused but instead have to be given the respect which an animal needs if you are going to be using the animal.”

You can watch the BBC News story on YouTube below:

It’s been over three long, long years since Martin Scorsese dared trash superhero movies. He made those comments so long ago the pandemic hadn’t even started. People still get pissy about it, and to some the director of some of the finest pictures ever made — and cheerleader for films from all over history and all over the world — is forever seen as a villain of the MCU. Not everyone involved with the genre is mad at him, though. Kumail Nanjiani, who got jacked for 2021’s Eternals, recently offered a perfectly diplomatic response.

In a recent profile by Esquire (in a bit caught by Variety), the Welcome to Chippendales star was perhaps inevitably asked what he thought about some of the great directors who’ve come for the genre in which he’s so far made one (1) film — not just the guy who made The Age of Innocence but also the guy who made Jackie Brown.

“I obviously love the movies Tarantino makes or Scorsese makes, and I may disagree with Scorsese’s opinion on superhero movies, but I mean, who else has earned the right to have an opinion?” Nanjiani replied. “If Scorsese hasn’t earned the right to have an opinion on movies, then none of us should have an opinion on movies.”

He added, “It’s so strange that people get upset about it.”

At one point he even echoed one of Scorsese’s main beefs with Marvel and ilk: that they’ve helped homogenize the multiplex, killing viewers’ demand for smaller movies. Bemoaning the death of “grown-up movies that have a decent budget, decent movie stars in the theatres,” he waxed bittersweet over 2017, when his autobiographical indie drama-comedy The Big Sick was able to elevate his profile.

“I think our year was the last year where those indie movies found commercial success,” Nanjiani mourned. “’There’s a sense that people, unless it’s action or horror, don’t want to go to the theatres to see it.”

(Via Esquire and Variety)

On Tuesday, a local new outlet in Memphis did a story on Ellie Hughes, a young Grizzlies who had been collecting player signatures on a basketball for years only to have it stolen after Monday night’s game.

On Wednesday, Ja Morant did everything he could to make it right, inviting Ellie and her father to sit courtside under the basket as the Grizzlies hosted the Spurs in what became a 135-129 Memphis win, extending the Grizzlies hot streak to 8 wins in a row. After the game, Morant hooked Hughes up with something even more exclusive than an autographed ball, as she became the latest recipient of his game-worn shoes — but one of only two pairs, he told her, that he signed — along with his signed game-worn jersey.

Morant has made it his mission to give his shoes to a young fan after every home game, as his new Nike signature isn’t out for the public just yet and he knows it’s a way for him to make a big impact in a fairly simple way for someone with an unlimited sneaker supply. On this occasion, he went above and beyond to try and right a wrong that had nothing to do with him initially, but certainly made Ellie’s night and will make the loss of her Grizzlies signed ball sting a good bit less.

According to Deadline, Kerry Washington will star in Six Triple Eight, Tyler Perry‘s WWII drama about the all-Black, all-female battalion that cured a three-year backlog of mail that safeguarded troop morale throughout Europe. This is stellar casting news, with Washington bringing much-needed gravitas to a demanding project. She’s also not alone. It’s going to be a big ensemble lift, with veteran actors Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon, and Oprah Winfrey taking prominent roles.

The full cast is rounded out by a list of newcomers and strong choices: Ebony Obsidian (If Beale Street Could Talk), Milauna Jackson (A Jazzman’s Blues), Kylie Jefferson (Tiny Pretty Things), Shanice Shantay (The Wiz Live!), Sarah Jeffery (Charmed), Pepi Sonuga (Pam & Tommy), Jay Reeves (Safety), Jeanté Godlock (Daybreak), Moriah Brown (Raising Dion), Baadja-Lyne Odums (Ruthless), Gregg Sulkin (The Throwback) and Dean Norris (Breaking Bad).

As previously reported, this project comes at a time of renewed interest in the 6888th Battalion, whose motto was “No mail, low morale.” President Biden recently honored the members of the battalion with a Congressional Gold Medal.

There’s currently no release date for the Netflix film, but Washington joining (as well as executive producing) among a slew of casting news means that this thing is steamrolling forward. It seems likely to be headed toward a fall awards season release.

(via Deadline)

Having a kid changes you. That’s something Jo (Noemie Merlant) and Spencer (Kit Harington) learn when a crying bundle of joy enters their manicured influencer lifestyle. It turns out that, whether you stagecraft perfection or not, the screaming need machine can get on your nerves.

Writer/director Bess Wohl’s Baby Ruby carries this deceptively simple premise, and it’s clear from the trailer that the film packs a powerful gut punch of postpartum psychosis. Watching it is like looping the car scene from The Babadook, desperately wanting the crying to stop and fearing more than anything what a mother might do to make that happen. It’s a frantic, bloody slap masquerading as film marketing.

Merlant looks horrifyingly haggard, and it seems likely that the movie — which was hailed coming out of TIFF and Fantasia — has made appropriate use of Harington’s particular brand of passive-eyed Himbo vibes. As a bonus, Meredith Hagner co-stars in what appears to be a toned-down version of her Search Party character, filled with bright eyes and enough sugar for us to choke on.

It’s also a descent into madness with a core topic that isn’t commonly seen on screen. For anyone who experiences the very, very common negative feelings that come after childbirth, the entire film is one big trigger warning. Even watching the trailer may be too much. For those willing to brave it, Baby Ruby hits theaters February 3rd.

Way, way back in the mid-90s, Leonardo DiCaprio took on a role that set his trajectory as a global box office star by making him drown in icy waters in a completely scientifically accurate way. Also, there was kissing and nude drawings involved. Director James Cameron has effectively celebrated the 25th anniversary of Titanic by watching Avatar 2 beat all of its records, and as we round the corner on a quarter century with the modern classic in our lives, he’s opened up about the diplomatic process of getting it made.

“He didn’t want to do a leading man,” Cameron told People. “I had to really twist his arm to be in the movie. He didn’t want to do it. He thought it was boring.”

He’s not wrong! As a young actor, DiCaprio was taking on Gilbert Grapey roles, so it makes sense that he didn’t want to dive into an historical romance.

The story gets even more frustrating because Cameron then had to convince DiCaprio to read for the part, and then had to convince the studio that DiCaprio was the right man for the job. No one wanted the movie to be cast the way Cameron did, including a key member of the cast, and it took Cameron’s massive strength of will to pull the vision together.

Thankfully, Cameron convinced DiCaprio and the studio, and the rest is well-researched historical fiction. Also thankfully, DiCaprio wasn’t involved in the Titanic wrap party where dozens of people were hospitalized after eating PCP-laced chowder. It might have made Cameron’s cajoling feel a little bit sour.

(via People)

Demi Lovato’s 2022 album Holy Fvck was her shift away from pop as well as a deep dive into vulnerable topics in her life. Of course, the title introduced a sharp edge, along with the album art, which pictures the singer laying in bondage on a cross. It looks like she’s getting in trouble for that now, many months after its August release.

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK have received complaints about promotional posters with the album art, according to CNN. They reported that Britain’s advertising regulator banned the poster for being “likely to cause serious offense to Christians.” Others also complained that the posters were “irresponsibly placed” because kids could see it.

The report, published by the ASA today, January 11, reads: “We considered that the image of Ms Lovato bound up in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a mattress shaped like a crucifix, in a position with her legs bound to one side which was reminiscent of Christ on the cross, together with the reference to ‘holy fvck,’ which in that context was likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion, was likely to cause serious offense to Christians.”

Ezra Miller has been awful quiet for the last few months. Ordinarily that would seem odd; after all, they have a big, hotly anticipated movie coming out. Then again, they did some things most people in their position wouldn’t do. Last year, they kept making the strangest kind of headlines, from starting fights in Hawaii to being accused of brainwashing a teenager to maybe even starting a cult.

One of Miller’s more mundane crimes involved allegedly stealing booze from a neighbor in Vermont. They were facing felony and larceny charges, which in Vermont faces a steep penalty of 25 years. Instead, as per NBC News, Miller has cut a plea deal in which they plead guilty to trespassing. Court documents show that they now face either an 89- or 90-day suspended sentence, a year’s probation, as well as a $500 fine. At least they won’t be sent to prison.

What this means for Miller’s future at the already chaotic DCEU, much less press for this summer’s The Flash, is up in the air. Last fall, as the headlines they inspired grew increasingly more troubling, Miller suddenly pulled a 180, meeting with Warner Bros. Discovery brass and releasing a statement apologizing for their actions and promising to do better.

What inspired the corporation to forgive Miller while punishing everyone involved in Batgirl, none of whom have been accused of choking people at an Iceland bar, as Miller has? It might have something with test screenings for The Flash going through the roof, promising some more multiverse madness for those who loved Spider-Man: No Way Home and the second Doctor Strange. Whether Miller will have to enjoy the success from while serving an alternative form of punishment — or if the James Gunn- and Peter Safran-led DCEU will replace him with some younger Barry Allen from an alternate dimension — remains to be seen.

(Via NBC News)

Chiiild is the featured artist on Lucky Daye’s “Compassion,” a track on Daye’s Grammy-nominated album Candy Drip from last March. Nearly one year later, the roles are reversed. On Tuesday, January 10, Chiiild released “Good For You” featuring Daye from his forthcoming album, Better Luck In The Next Life.

The ethereal single begins with strings before settling into a soothing guitar base. Throughout, Chiiild gives listeners a vulnerable glimpse into his stream of consciousness — reflecting on impermanence and the risks of falling in love. “Tell me that we’re dreaming,” he sings. Don’t say that we’re in love / Whatever this is, it’s good for now.”

Daye’s verse only compounds the song’s evocative punch, representing the potential pitfalls of a relationship: “And now you’re mad at me, hard feelings and tragedy / Feeling are bad for me, oh, bad for me / ‘Cause I end up shattering all / I stay even if it changes.”

Also Tuesday, Chiiild announced that Better Luck In The Next Life will arrive on March 3.

In November, Chiiild dropped his adventurous single “Bon Voyage” and provided insight into the larger themes that will be found on the album: “My aim with [Better Luck In The Next Life] is to give you a look inside my mind. Into the doubts, fears, ambitions, and a few connections along the way. It was a form of healing, putting these real situations into songs. When everybody is out here on the same thing, we’re just out here levitating.”

Listen to “Good For Now” above.

Genesis Owusu‘s “Get Inspired” is possibly the catchiest song to end up in an ad. You may have heard it while scrolling TikTok and coming across a clip for Apple Fitness+; the groovy chorus makes it impossible to skip. The track follows the 2021 release of his debut LP Smiling With No Teeth, which won Album of the Year at the Australian Recording Industry Awards, and that was only one of four awards he took home that night.

He’s back now with a video for “Get Inspired.” Directed by Babekuhl and Chris Yee, the video is chaotic and entrancing, full of bursting color and glitches. The dancing is plentiful to the absurdly infectious, energetic hook: “Shawty, get inspired / How ’bout that / How ’bout that this time.”

In July of last year, the Ghana native released “GTFO,” a metaphorical song about ambition and desperation. “There are many people like Roach. Strugglers, doing whatever they can to get through hell and high water,” Owusu explained in a statement at the time. “Bankruptcy, depression, sickness; God himself can try to stand in the way, but a struggler has to keep struggling. And a Roach has to keep Roaching. Even when it’s told to GTFO.”

Watch the video for “Get Inspired” above.