The Far Side, created by cartoonist Gary Larson, is a legendary single-panel comic strip that ran from 1980 to 1995. Known for its surreal, dark, and offbeat humor, it famously explored everyday life through the bizarre perspectives of animals, aliens, and scientists.
In this post, he is riffing on movies, where he has brought his eccentric and absurd twist to them:
This marks the first time in state history that a Chinese American has been honored with a namesake day, celebrating the cultural and cinematic legacy of the San Francisco-born icon.
"From young people who found confidence and possibility in his philosophy, to families who finally saw themselves represented on screen, to athletes who still draw on his teachings of discipline and inner strength, his reach is profound", Shannon said in a statement.
Haney, who represents the 17th Assembly District, which covers the eastern portion of San Francisco, called Lee the epitome of the best of California.
"At a time when Asian Americans were too often absent from or stereotyped on screen, Bruce Lee helped generations see themselves represented with strength and dignity", he said in a statement.
Born in 1940 to Chinese parents who were touring with an opera company, Lee was granted birthright citizenship. A few months later, the family returned to Hong Kong, where Lee became a child actor and began learning Chinese kung fu.
He moved back to the US in 1959 and enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle two years later – but he dropped out to throw himself into practicing and teaching martial arts.
Pivoting back to Hong Kong, he quickly became a martial arts megastar, starring in box-office hits like "The Big Boss" (1971), "Fist of Fury" (1972), "The Way of the Dragon" (1972) and "Enter the Dragon" (1973)
Lee died tragically in 1973 at the age of 32 after an allergic reaction to pain medication.
More than 50 years later, his name and likeness remain as popular as ever.
Dedicated fans regularly gather in locations like his ancestral hometown in Foshan, China to celebrate his birthday on November 27th.
Now the former doctor’s extraordinary ideas are on display on the big screen, with the book’s film adaptation attracting huge controversy since its release in Japan in May.
But Haiyoshin (廃用身, Useless Body), which sees a young doctor advocate for “A-care (Amputation Care)”, has also focused attention on the struggling care sector in a country with the world’s second-oldest population.
He sees it as a potential game changer, provided patients in the real world give consent. He argues that patients’ immobile arms and legs are impediments to caregiving: They dangle like dumbbells, get stuck in pyjamas and require more bathing.
“If you cut them off, a female carer would have less difficulty lifting a hefty male patient or suffer less back pain”, the 70-year-old said.
Kusakabe’s 2003 novel features unstinting depictions of carer shortages, overburdened family members and abused elderly patients. The topic feels even more relevant in present-day, greyer Japan, where almost one in three people are aged 65 or older.
The government estimate a shortfall of about 570,000 carers by 2040.
“Japan’s caregiving industry isn’t collapsing yet – but with (the number of) elderly people requiring care predicted to keep increasing, it is heading towards breaking point”, Kusakabe said.
In Japan, homicides by overwhelmed, desperate carers are common enough that the term “kaigo satsujin” (caregiving murders) often makes it into the news.
One investigation by public broadcaster NHK in 2016 revealed that such a tragedy took place roughly once every two weeks.
If homicides or incidents of abuse increase, Kusakabe said, “I think it’s possible that chopping off useless limbs would emerge as an option”.
Kusakabe points out his novel was deemed “unfilmable” when it first came out more than two decades ago. Now the story is finally in cinemas, reviewers online have labelled it everything from “shocking” and the year’s “most controversial film”, to “terrifying madness”.
But other critiques were more nuanced. “Some may say (the amputation) is ruthless and unethical, but honestly, I thought it had a point”, one wrote on cinema information website eiga.com.
In “Haiyoshin”, patients are also portrayed as benefitting, at least initially, from A-care.
Kusakabe recalls that some of his patients yearned to be rid of their crippled arms and legs that did nothing but throb, hinder movement and at times convulse unexpectedly.
No longer in pain, amputees in the film are shown relishing their newfound agility, tossing balloons with what remains of their bodies and deftly manoeuvring wheelchairs.
The film poses the question: What truly constitutes end-of-life dignity?
“Is it to try to put your immobile arms through sleeves with great pain, or not to suffer pain at all?“ Kusakabe asks.
“If someone desires amputation and that makes caregiving easier for their family, and the family accepts that, then I don’t think it’s anyone’s business to interfere”.
But such a “rational” pursuit of quality of life does not necessarily guide elderly care in Japan, he adds.
Feeding tubes and intravenous drips for those aged 75 or older are heavily covered by insurance and are often used to keep alive those bedridden.
Families also “simply cannot bear the thought of doing nothing” for their dying parents or spouses, oblivious to the possible suffering such treatment is causing them, Kusakabe says.
That contrasts with Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark, where palliative-care best practice often dictates elderly patients not be fed if they stop eating.
“Japan blindly believes that even those clearly better off being left to die must be kept alive and that’s the absolute right thing to do” even as the toll on caregivers continues to snowball, the doctor says.
“This inability to take a bold, rational approach probably makes something as radical as A-care a poor fit for Japan after all”.
In Haiyoshin, the initial hype about elective amputation winds up brutally deflated by a tragedy that ultimately shatters the main character’s confidence in its efficacy.
“People tend to assume medical procedures are completely safe and they demand only the positive effect”, Kusakabe says.
The novel’s shocking twist is “my way of pushing back against those excessive expectations society has for medicine”.
The robot's presence on the streets attracted significant public interest. The deployment serves as a real-world showcase for how embodied AI and humanoid robotics may soon be integrated into public safety and high-traffic area operations.
The 1.73-meter-tall, 75-kilogram robot and featuring a magnesium-aluminum alloy frame, previously made public appearances – such as at the "Window of the World" theme park in December 2025 – but the April 30 event marked its deployment on actual public streets alongside armed law enforcement.
Equipped with precision sensors and onboard AI, it is capable of performing autonomous assessments, walking, running, and complex maneuvers like spinning kicks. The CEO of the company put on pads and let it spar with him – and got knocked over on the second try!
And here's the kicker – the Chinese version costs just $25,000 and you can pre-order it on JD-dot-com. Like, right now. From your couch.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have clarified that only acting and writing for films done by humans will be considered eligible to win an Oscar.
The academy, which control the US film industry's most prestigious award, on Friday issued updated eligibility requirements that only acting "demonstrably performed by humans" and that writing "must be human-authored" in order to be nominated for an award.
In recent months, there have been notable examples of expansive use of AI tools and technology to replace or recreate human work. The actor Val Kilmer, who died in 2025, is set to be recreated with AI technology in order to be a lead role in an upcoming movie.
Last year, London, UK-based actor and comedian Eline van der Velden said she had created an entirely fake AI actor to "become a global superstar".
When the union representing Hollywood writers went on strike two years ago, a key issue in the fight was film and TV studios using AI to write scripts. And Hollywood studios, actors and authors have pursued lawsuits claiming copyright infringement against a number of AI companies.
However, the academy did not issue a ban on AI use in films more broadly. Outside of acting and writing, if a filmmaker used AI tools in their work, such "tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination", the academy wrote.
"The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award", the group added.
Hearts achieved a 2-1 comeback victory over Rangers yesterday, extending their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to three points with three games remaining.
In fact, they could win the league as soon as next Wednesday. If they beat Motherwell and Falkirk, and Celtic fail to beat Rangers on Saturday, the title will be going to Gorgie for the first time since 1960.
As for the Gers, their title hopes look dead in the water.
The gold-painted replica of Trump could be seen standing behind Epstein, arms outstretched, at the bow of a miniature model of the doomed ship, a reference to the iconic pose of Jack and Rose in the 1997 blockbuster.
A plaque at the statue’s base read: “The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Trump and Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties and secret nude sketches”.
The statue, which appeared March 10 and showed Trump gazing at Epstein as he held his outstretched arms, was the latest in a series of satirical statues that have appeared in Washington since October 2024, just before the presidential election. Many of the installations, including this one influenced by the movie “Titanic” and Trump’s friendship with Epstein, were created by an anonymous group of artists called The Secret Handshake.
An artist from The Secret Handshake told The New York Times that the group began brainstorming ways they could depict Trump as a king, and landed on perhaps the most memorable line in the film, when Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) shouts off the ship’s bow, “I’m the king of the world!” Add the iconic pose, which Jack replicated later in the movie with Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), and the statue, titled “The King of the World”, was a cheeky way of drawing attention to the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, the artist said.
The statue was permitted to be on the National Mall, which is overseen by the National Park Service, through Friday, the artist said.
In an email to The New York Times, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, called the artists “wealthy Democrat donors” who should create statues of Democratic lawmakers who solicited money and meetings from Epstein after he was convicted of sex crimes.
Liverpool required a comeback victory if they are to keep their Champions League campaign alive as they hosted Galatasaray – who held a 1-0 advantage – on Wednesday.
What was potentially a tough task turned out very easy for the Reds as they took firm control in the return leg and scored 4-0 to give them an aggregate 4-1 win over the Turkish side.
And then, Liverpool scored three goals in the space of 11 second-half minutes to put the tie to bed.
Mohamed Salah supplied a low cross for Hugo Ekitike to slot home in the fifty-first minute and just two minutes later, he hit a shot that was too much for the Galatasaray goalkeeper to handle, resulting in a goal for Ryan Gravenberch from the rebound.
Salah's turn as scorer came next when in the 62nd minute, he came inside on his left foot and whipped a beauty into the top corner for his 50th Champions League goal.
It was hard to believe that this same side struggled to score across 180 minutes against Galatasaray in Istanbul, and put in a dull display against Tottenham on the weekend.
Liverpool head into the quarter-finals to set up a reunion with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight – and they thoroughly deserve it on this performance!
As a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I have to admit that by today's standards, their movies have been pretty lame.
Live-action TMNT movies include the original 1990s trilogy (TMNT 1990, Secret of the Ooze 1991, TMNT III 1993) featuring Jim Henson puppet suits, and the Platinum Dunes-produced reboot films (TMNT 2014, Out of the Shadows 2016) with CGI turtles.
Indie animator John Likens has filled the gap. His two-minute test fight scene featuring Raphael and a whole lot of camera shake is the perfect treat for any adult TMNT fan (which I expect you are, if you're reading this).
💓💓💓
This is Raphael Unleashed. The version of the TMNT I’ve always wanted to see on the big screen.
Let’s honor the iconic roots of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while viewing it through a darker, cinematic lens. A grounded action thriller packed with chaos, conflict, and brutal martial arts, while carrying the emotional depth and high-stakes drama of a prestige series.
And since you can never tell nowadays, Likens specifies that AI was not involved at any point, which makes me root for him even more!
Please, please, Paramount Pictures, get off your butts and reach out to Likens!
The cost of living is a major topic in Canada, where inflation grew 4.7% between November 2024 and 2025 – more than double the rate of overall inflation, according to CNN’s Canadian broadcast partner CBC.
“Everyday, we are working relentlessly, only to be able to buy food in those profit-driven supermarkets”, the statement from the Robins des Ruelles quotes one group member, Francis, as saying. “When having two jobs is not enough to eat, have a roof over your head and take care of your family, every means become legitimate”.
In the video, people wearing masks amble through the aisles, grabbing food, medicine, soap and other items. Others use spray paint to block security cameras within the store and outside. At the end of the video, one person sprays “F**k Les Profits” on a brick wall.
It’s Scottish Cup business for Celtic when they welcomed Dundee to Parkhead yesterday. The pulsating fifth round tie saw the former leaving it to the last possible moment to keep their hopes alive before going on to beat the latter 2-1.
The Dee had unleashed an unstoppable left foot shot into the top far corner in the 49th minute to stun Celtic and were seconds away from recording their first win in the East End of Glasgow in 25 years.
But on-loan Freiburg forward Junior Adamu, who had come off the bench, back heeled a Sebastian Tounekti pass into the visitors’ net in the 96th minute to force extra-time and Tounekti then netted what ultimately proved to be the winner with his low finish after a one-two with sub Luke McCowan.
What. A. Relief.
For Martin O'Neill, a three-pronged focus remains with defending champions Celtic chasing leaders Hearts in pursuit of the Scottish Premiership title and a Europa League tie with Stuttgart on the horizon as well as continued involvement in the Scottish Cup, a trophy the veteran boss won three times between 2001 and 2005.
Law enforcement has quickly embraced AI for everything from drafting police reports to facial recognition.
The flawed system seems to have picked up on some unrelated background chatter to devise its fantastical fairy tale ending. That's what happens when you give pattern recognition software authority without insisting it understand reality.
The department had begun testing an AI-powered software called Draft One to automatically generate police reports from body camera footage. The goal was to reduce the amount of paperwork – but considering that immense mistakes are falling through the cracks, results clearly vary. Even a simple mock traffic stop meant to demonstrate what the tool is capable of turned into a disaster. The resulting report required plenty of corrections.
Despite the drawbacks, Keel maintained that it is saving him “six to eight hours weekly now”.
“I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so it’s very user-friendly”, he added.
The software makes use of OpenAI’s GPT large language models to generate entire police reports from body camera audio. Experts quickly warned that hallucinations could fall through the cracks in these important documents.
“I am concerned that automation and the ease of the technology would cause police officers to be sort of less careful with their writing”, American University law professor Andrew Ferguson told the Associated Press last year.
Others warn that the software could further pre-existing racial and gender biases, a troubling possibility considering law enforcement’s historic role in perpetuating them long before the advent of AI. Generative AI tools have also been shown to perpetuate biases against both women and non-white people.
A month after securing the film rights to Labubu, Sony have tapped the Paddington director to bring one of the world's biggest collectible sensations to the big screen.
[FYI, there have been three main live-action Paddington movies: Paddington (2014), Paddington 2 (2017), and Paddington in Peru (2024), forming a beloved trilogy based on Michael Bond's books].
The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Thursday that King is set to direct the feature project and will produce it alongside Department M and Wenxin She. The project is currently in early development and is still seeking a writer.
Sony are collaborating with the Chinese retailer and brand owner Pop Mart on the adaptation.
Liverpool beat ten-man Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a chaotic Premier League clash yesterday.
It was 0-0 at the break, marking the eleventh time in 17 league games Liverpool have failed to score in the first half this season.
Regardless, Hugo Ekitike whipped to Florian Wirtz, and Alexander Isak scored in the 56th minute. And Ekitike headed Jeremie Frimpong's deflected cross into the net ten minutes later.
Spurs were back in business in the 83rd minute as they put the ball in the back of the net through a crowded penalty box after Liverpool failed to clear. But that was the Lilywhites' only goal as the Reds hung on for dear life until the final whistle.
"A masterclass on how not to manage the final 10 minutes" was the verdict of former Liverpool footballer Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports. Arne Slot himself admitted that it was far from ideal.
"It's unbelievable if you play against nine men that I would not be surprised if for the nine minutes of added time, they had the ball for eight and a half. That is not what you expect and maybe that tells you where we are in this season", Slot told BBC Match of the Day.
Still, the English champs edged up to fifth place on 29 points.
But after 38 years its satire of capitalism, consumerism and AI is sharper than ever, and after 15 years a warehoused statue of the fictional cybernetically enhanced Detroit Police Department officer was officially unveiled and installed on December 03, 2025.
You can find him in the city's Eastern Market area and it marks the culmination of years of fundraising and planning for the 11-foot (3.3 meters), 3,500-pound (1,587 kilograms) bronze statue honoring the iconic cyborg from the sci-fi classic.
With crime and especially violent crime supposedly down, the statue no longer rubs officials the wrong way and none objected to Robocop finally making an appearance.
And here's a trailer of that movie, in case you're interested:
China informed Japan yesterday that it will ban all imports of Japanese seafood, media outlets reported – a decision which comes amid an escalating diplomatic dispute between Asia's top two economies.
Tensions between the two countries ignited after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said this month that a Chinese attack on Taiwan threatening Japan's survival could trigger a military response.
The latest pain point for Japan comes after Beijing, just months ago, partially eased restrictions on Japanese seafood that had been imposed due to Tokyo's decision to release treated wastewater from its Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2023.
China has told Japan that the re-imposition of the ban was due to the need for further monitoring of the water release, Kyodo news agency reported, citing sources.
That's not the end of it. Even the release of two popular Japanese films, "Cells at Work" and "Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Super Hot! The Spicy Kasukabe Dancers" has been postponed in China! Cinema tickets are still available for the hit Japanese animation "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle", but CCTV said sales in China had fallen recently as the row deepened.
And according to CNA on Wednesday, Tokyo maintained that Takaichi's remarks in parliament are in line with the government's position, suggesting no breakthrough is imminent. 😡😡😡
Visitors in China can now enjoy a cup of coffee while standing more than 2,000 feet above a river, thanks to the newly opened Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge in Guizhou province.
The record-breaking engineering marvel, which opened to the public on Sunday – I had blogged about it on Tuesday – stretches across the Huajiang Canyon and stands about 2,050 feet above the gorge, making it the world’s highest bridge.
I don't know why but the United States was mentioned; we're told that China's latest structure surpasses Colorado’s Royal Gorge Bridge in that country, which is 956 feet above the Arkansas River – the latter was said to be the world's highest suspension bridge from its completion in 1929 until 2001 when China's bridges overtook it! 🤔🤔🤔
To enhance the experience, the Huajiang Grand Canyon Bridge includes a high-speed glass elevator that takes visitors to a coffee spot located 2,600 feet above the river.
Thrill-seekers can also test their courage with a bungee jump or walk along a glass pathway suspended nearly 1,900 feet above the canyon floor.
FYI, it has now set the record for both the world's highest bridge and largest span bridge (4,600 feet) built in a mountainous area.
The step signals his willingness to extend protectionist trade policies into cultural industries, raising uncertainty for studios that depend heavily on cross-border co-productions and international box-office revenue.
However, it was not immediately clear what legal authority Trump would use to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
