The firm of Forsyth, Carney, Powell and Pressburger likely provided some valuable pro bono counsel to the makers of “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” a nicely spooned dose of whimsy that goes down quite well.
The names above refer to Bill Forsyth, writer-director of the beguiling “Local Hero” (1983), among others; John Carney, of “Once” (2007) and “Sing Street” (2016); and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose ripely seductive masterworks include one of my very favorite films, “I Know Where I’m Going!” (1945). The mystical power of music floats through these and so many other movies close to our hearts. Add in a remote, romantically idealized coastal or island setting, a la “Local Hero” or “I Know Where I’m Going!,” and you’re halfway home.
We’re never told where the island in “The Ballad of Wallis Island” is, exactly. (Director James Griffiths shot it in Carmarthenshire, Wales.) Its few residents include Charles, a compulsive punster and wordplay natterer as well as a music devotee, played by co-writer Tim Key.
The music Charles loves is confined, apparently, to one famous folk duo in particular. For a time this duo, McGwyer Mortimer — simpatico enough, musically and otherwise, to forego an ampersand — wrote beautiful, soulful songs together. They were big. They were in love. Then they split.
When the film begins, Charles is wading out into the sea to meet the boat carrying the sullen McGwyer, played by co-screenwriter Tom Basden. Charles is rich, having won the lottery not once but twice. After the death of his wife, he has retreated into a cocoon of memories and a chipper sort of sadness. He has hired Herb McGwyer, his musical idol, to come to the island to perform a private concert. And when Herb arrives, he has not been told he’ll be joined shortly by the woman who broke his heart, the Mortimer half of the now-defunct duo, played by Carey Mulligan.
Key and Basden expanded their script from a 25-minute short film, also directed by Griffiths, “The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island.” That short, made 17 years ago, was essentially a double act for the somewhat fallen star and his most ardent fan. The feature-length expansion creates new roles, for the character played by Mulligan; the island’s apparent sole shopkeeper Charles likes but is too shy to ask out, played by the “Fleabag” ringer Sian Clifford; and the smaller, thinner role of Mortimer’s increasingly jealous husband (Akemnji Ndifornyen). The spark, you see, hasn’t fully extinguished between Mortimer and McGwyer, though “The Ballad of Wallis Island” has a nagging tendency to misjudge the comic and emotional value of McGwyer’s mopey, lovelorn side.
For that matter, Charles is written and portrayed by Key to be an amusingly clueless and frankly exhausting fellow. It’s something of a miracle Key garners as many laughs as he does; his timing and delivery works on a wavelength that seems to belong to the tides, or an interior monologue running in Charles’ head.
Contrivances come, and go, but “The Ballad of Wallis Island” rolls along, with just enough casual wit to buoy the story. Things like the tiniest soap bar in existence, greeting the visiting rock star when he takes a bath in his host’s house, do their visual-comedy job and make way for the next bit. If you go, and I’m recommending you do, take the time to see the short film afterward. It’s fascinating to see the decisions that were made in the expansion. I do wish the lower-key tenor of the interplay in the short had been retained for the feature; it has its aggressively charming side. But I’m guessing that American audiences right about now, subconsciously dreaming of an island escape, will find “Wallis Island” a handy getaway.
“The Ballad of Wallis Island” — 3 stars (out of 4)
Naper Settlement’s walking tours of Naperville resume this month
Three different types of informative walking tours are returning to Naper Settlement on select Thursdays through Sept. 18.
Tour options include the Origins of Naperville, Downtown Naperville Architecture and Naperville Cemetery tour.
Tours begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursdays throughout the spring and summer and cost $15 per person. Unless noted otherwise, the tours will start at the settlement’s main entrance at 523 S. Webster St. and cover about two miles.
In the Origins of Naperville tour, residents can learn about Naperville’s founding and the generosity of Caroline Martin Mitchell. The tour takes place on the west side of downtown Naperville.
The architecture tour spotlights downtown Naperville architecture from the 1800s to today, and the cemetery tour focuses on stories of pioneers, trailblazers and everyday heroes who once lived in Naperville.
Preregistration is required for all tours, and ticket sales close at 4 p.m. on the day of the tour. No tickets will be sold at the door.
“Our Town,” a play that focuses on the story of the fictional town of Grover’s Corners and George and Emily, two young people in love, will be presented April 10-19 at the College of DuPage’s Playhouse Theater at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn. (Terence Guider-Shaw/College of DuPage)
College of DuPage to stage classic play ‘Our Town’ April 10-19
The Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder will be presented April 10-19 at the College of DuPage’s Playhouse Theater at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.
Performances will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, April 10-12 and April 17-19, and at 3 p.m. Sundays, April 13 and 19.
A pre-show discussion with the director and designers will take place at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, April 10. A post-show discussion with the director and actors will take place after the Friday, April 18, performance.
The show takes place in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners and follows the relationship of George and Emily, a young couple in love.
Tickets are $14 for students and seniors and $16 for adults. They can be purchased at www.atthemac.org
or by calling 630-942-4000.
High school seniors who are members of the KidsMatter Teen Philanthropy Initiative are hosting “Seas the Trivia,” a beach-themed trivia event, on Sunday, April 13, at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center in Naperville. (KidsMatter)
KidsMatter Teen Philanthropy Initiative plans trivia event
High school seniors who are part of the KidsMatter Teen Philanthropy Initiative will host “Seas the Trivia,” a beach-themed trivia event, from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 13, at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, 305 Jackson Ave., Naperville.
Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and three former NFL players will be asking questions in such categories as Naperville fun facts, pop culture, sports, history and world events. There also will be guess-the-song and guess-the-logo categories.
A prize will be presented to the winner.
Tickets are $10 for students and $20 for adults in advance. Tickets are $25 for adults at the door.
Participants of the Teen Philanthropy Initiative have been involved in the two-year program learning about the pillars of philanthropy including giving, fundraising and strategic volunteering. Seniors develop and execute a campaign to support the program and raise funds for next year, the release said.
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Less than a year after the Chicago Bears delivered a grand presentation
with a vision to build a new multibillion-dollar stadium on the Museum Campus downtown, the train for the stadium project may be switching tracks toward Arlington Heights.
After the NFL owners meetings concluded Wednesday at The Breakers resort, Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren confirmed the team no longer has a singular focus
on building its new stadium downtown.
“The focus now is both downtown and Arlington Heights,” Warren said. “One thing I have said before is that these are not linear processes or projects. They take time. They take a lot of energy and effort. And I am very, very pleased with where we are.”
While far from surprising, that’s an attention-grabbing change in rhetoric from the top of the Bears organization. Warren praised the potential for a massive development on the 326 acres the team owns
in Arlington Heights on the site of the former Arlington Park racetrack. His outward enthusiasm for that site was significantly higher than it had been in quite some time.
“It’s an absolutely fantastic piece of land,” Warren said. “I thank the McCaskey family, led by George, for having the foresight to purchase that land.”
Warren said the next step will be conducting traffic and financial feasibility studies for both potential projects. But his emphatic commendation of the suburban site was notable, as he highlighted the appealing topography of the land, the Metra station adjacent to the property and the ample room for an accompanying entertainment district and mixed-use development.
Bears Chairman George McCaskey shared Warren’s enthusiasm and noted the vision his grandfather and franchise founder had in Arlington Heights.
“George Halas identified it more than 50 years ago as an ideal place for a Bears stadium,” McCaskey said. “And I don’t know if anything that has happened since then changed that evaluation.”
The Bears haven’t closed the door on the Warren-led vision
to keep the team playing on the lakefront downtown. And McCaskey was quick to point out the pluses of a possible new stadium on the Museum Campus.
“Kevin has said it since he has been here: (That’s a) beautiful spot by the lake,” McCaskey said. “It’s idyllic, and if there were sufficient improvements in infrastructure to make that location accessible 365 days of the year, it can be a fantastic opportunity as well.”
Those improvements, however, ultimately might be too far-fetched and costly to create the needed momentum within the city and state legislatures. The Bears’ downtown pitch hasn’t gained much traction over the last year among lawmakers and politicians.
Speaking with media Wednesday on an unrelated conference call, Gov. JB Pritzker said: “We welcome the idea that the Bears would stay in the city of Chicago. I’ve always said that that would be my personal preference because I’ve known them always to be a Chicago-based team.”
Pritzker declined to comment further, saying he hasn’t heard from the team that it’s still considering the lakefront project.
While the Bears initally ran into obstacles with tax dynamics in Arlington Heights, progress has since been made
with three suburban school districts to pave the way toward a more palatable tax setup for the team.
At the owners meetings in Florida, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell fielded what has become an annual spring question about the progress of the Bears’ stadium efforts. He acknowledged the complexity of the stadium exploration process, which essentially began in June 2021 when the Bears first entered into a purchase agreement with Churchill Downs Inc. for the Arlington Park land.
“Those discussions, you expect, are going to be thorough,” Goodell told reporters during a news conference. “There are going to be twists and turns through that process. And then you get to the process of having to actually build once you make those decisions. There’s a lot to do.”
Goodell’s wife, Jane Skinner, is a Chicago-area native, an alumna of Lake Forest High School and Northwestern and a Bears fan. So the commissioner has at least some heightened interest in the team’s stadium project.
“I know how important the Bears are to that community,” Goodell said. “Everyone wants the right long-term solution, and those are the types of discussions that are happening.”
Those discussions will take on heightened urgency with Warren sticking to his vow to break ground before this year ends.
“My goal still remains to be able to move dirt around in 2025,” he said. “Which is important because there is a lot of preconstruction work that needs to go into these projects.”
Settling on a site is the next big step. A potential Arlington Heights project may have greater momentum now than a city option.
“Both have their pluses and minuses,” McCaskey said. “Both present fantastic opportunities. And we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”
Howard Lutnick hasn’t necessarily been making friends or influencing people since becoming secretary of commerce. In fact, White House insiders have been throwing him under the bus as the country braces for impact on President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day
” on Wednesday.
“He is a loose cannon with half-baked ideas that he just randomly spews on live television,” a source told the New York Post
Tuesday, adding that Lutnick isn’t “deliberate enough with his words.”
“He can’t just be promoting certain stocks or saying even if there’s a recession it’ll be ‘worth it,’” they said.
Aside from the morally and legally questionable moment when Lutnick urged people to buy multibillionaire Elon Musk’s Tesla stocks as they were plummeting, he has a record chock-full of eyebrow-raising moments
During an interview
on David Sack’s “All In” podcast in March, Lutnick ranted about Social Security, saying that only “fraudsters” complain about receiving their checks.
“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who’s 94, she wouldn’t call and complain,” he said. “She just wouldn’t. She thinks something got messed up and she’ll get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise screaming, yelling, and complaining.”
A digital billboard in Pennsylvania reads, “Tariffs are a tax on hardworking Americans.”
Speaking of loud, Lutnick has been one of the squeakiest wheels behind the idea of Trump’s $5 million immigration “gold card
,” which critics say has its own handful of moral and ethical concerns
.
But Lutnick’s failing popularity seems to be coming at an inopportune time, since he’s expected to be the first to take the heat from Trump’s disastrous tariff implementation
on “all countries
.”
According to Politico
, Trump’s squad is fully prepared to not just point fingers but to potentially fire Lutnick should things go south.
“I think people would take special pleasure in blaming him,” one insider told the outlet Tuesday.
And as critics are expecting this to be the biggest tax increase in U.S. history
, the projection for Lutnick, Trump, and voters’ bottom line is looking dire.
VIENA (AP) — Mientras los equipos de construcción removían tierra para renovar un campo de fútbol en Viena el pasado octubre, se toparon con un hallazgo sin precedentes: un montón de restos esqueléticos entrelazados en una fosa común que data del Imperio Romano del siglo I, probablemente los cuerpos de guerreros en una batalla que involucró a tribus germánicas.
El miércoles, tras un análisis arqueológico, expertos del Museo de Viena hicieron una primera presentación pública de la fosa, vinculada a “un evento catastrófico en un contexto militar” y evidencia de la primera lucha conocida en esa región.
Se han confirmado los cuerpos de 129 personas en el sitio en el barrio de Simmering en Viena. Los equipos de excavación también encontraron muchos huesos dislocados y creen que el número total de víctimas supera las 150, un descubrimiento nunca antes visto en Europa Central.
Michaela Binder, quien lideró la excavación arqueológica, afirmó: “Dentro del contexto de los actos de guerra romanos, no hay hallazgos comparables de combatientes. Hay enormes campos de batalla en Alemania donde se encontraron armas. Pero encontrar a los muertos, eso es único para toda la historia romana”.
Los soldados en el Imperio Romano eran típicamente cremados hasta el siglo III.
La fosa donde se depositaron los cuerpos sugiere un vertido apresurado o desorganizado de cadáveres. Cada esqueleto examinado mostró signos de heridas, en particular en la cabeza, el torso y la pelvis.
Kristina Adler-Wölfl, jefa del departamento arqueológico de la ciudad de Viena, expresó: “Tienen diversas heridas de batalla, lo que descarta la ejecución. Es verdaderamente un campo de batalla. Hay heridas de espadas, lanzas; heridas de trauma contundente”.
Todas las víctimas eran hombres. La mayoría tenía entre 20 y 30 años y generalmente mostraban signos de buena salud dental.
El análisis de carbono-14 ayudó a datar los huesos entre el 80 y el 130 d.C. Esto se verificó con la historia conocida de los objetos encontrados en la fosa: armaduras, protectores de mejillas de cascos, los clavos utilizados en los distintivos zapatos militares romanos conocidos como caligae.
La pista más indicativa provino de un puñal oxidado de un tipo en uso específicamente entre mediados del siglo I y el comienzo del segundo.
La investigación continúa: solo una víctima ha sido confirmada como un guerrero romano. Los arqueólogos esperan que el análisis de ADN y de isótopos de estroncio ayude a identificar más a los combatientes y de qué lado estaban.
Adler-Wölfl comentó: “La teoría más probable en este momento es que esto está relacionado con las campañas del Danubio del emperador Domiciano, eso es del 86 al 96 d.C.”.
Los arqueólogos de la ciudad dijeron que el descubrimiento también revela los primeros signos de la fundación de un asentamiento que se convertiría en la capital austriaca de hoy.
___
El corresponsal Jamey Keaten en Ginebra contribuyó con esta nota
___________________________________
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
The co-founder of Oracle and friend of President Trump, who was a flamboyant fixture in the 1990s, has returned to the spotlight through — of all things — TikTok.
Players want to play, and make no mistake, Plano’s Lindsey Cocks
is a player.
It’s one reason why the senior shortstop/third baseman and two-time all-state selection was disappointed Tuesday when her team’s nonconference home date with Princeton was postponed.
She’s on a roll, hitting at .579 only six games into the season. And like any player on a hot streak, Cocks wants to keep it going rather than taking swings in the batting cage in the school’s gym.
But there’s also the fact that her dad, D.J.
, would have had a rare opportunity to watch his daughter — who’s in her fourth varsity season — actually play in person.
“It is disappointing,” Lindsey said. “It’s a bummer. He’s home today and could have come out for this game.”
D.J. teaches at Westmont, where he also coaches the baseball team. His Sentinels had an off day during their spring break, freeing him up.
“It’s always good to see him in the crowd,” Plano coach Dwayne Love
said. “He’s one of our biggest backers out there. Whether he’s doing it from the stands or afar, we know he’s out there.”
Always.
D.J. Cocks, a Plano native, played for retired coach Jim Schmidt
and his former assistant, Love.
D.J. coached four years at Newark and four years at his alma mater before going to Westmont in 2011. He started this season with a career record of 388-294 and needs nine wins to reach 400.
Plano’s Lindsey Cocks takes batting practice in the school gymnasium on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jon Cunningham / The Beacon-News)
He will review his Lindsey’s games with her when he gets home and has been known to even check in with his wife, Nicole, by call or text from his game to ask, “How’s she doin’?”
More often than not, Lindsey, a Judson recruit, is doing quite well. She hit .385 as a freshman and followed that up with seasons of .471 and .519.
“It’s crazy,” Lindsey said of playing for the same coach her dad had. “It’s cool, though, seeing how my dad turned out. I know that (Love) is one of the best, and he’s always been there for me.”
Lindsey, her 16-year-old brother and two younger siblings are all homeschooled.
Lindsey has taken two classes at the high school each year to be eligible to play for the Reapers. She has also played travel ball with the Yorkville Lady Reds since she was 8.
“I didn’t know anybody coming in here my freshman year, and taking those classes with a few of my teammates really helped me,” Lindsey said. “I’ve been blessed. The girls have all been nice, friendly and welcoming.”
Plano’s Lindsey Cocks makes contact during batting practice in the school gymnasium on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jon Cunningham / The Beacon-News)
She remembers her first experience playing softball.
“My dad took me back into our backyard, set up the net and said ‘I want you to start swinging,’” Linsdey said.
She’s been hitting rocket shots ever since, including Wiffle balls over the 107 sign her mom made for an outfield fence post on dad’s makeshift field.
“Yeah, she came home (Tuesday) and was teeing the ball up for her little brother,” D.J. said. “It’s tough that I’m coaching, too, and can’t see her high school games, but with GameChanger, I can watch them and I see all her travel games.
“I’m proud of the fact she loves being a Reaper and loves coach Love and would run through a wall for him.”
Plano’s Lindsey Cocks takes turns hitting off of a tee with teammate Annabelle Solis, left, during practice in the school gymnasium on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jon Cunningham / The Beacon-News)
Lindsey Cocks shares shortstop and third base with fellow senior Taylor Downs
, who’s hitting .381 and leads Plano (3-3) with seven RBIs from the leadoff spot.
Cocks had three hits with a homer, double and three RBIs Monday in a 16-15 eight-inning win at Mendota. She stole four bases to give her a program career-record 63.
Pitching struggles have helped limit Plano to four and six wins the last two seasons respectively, but Cocks and Love thinks this team will improve on those marks.
“When I get on base my philosophy is, ‘Just go. You’re faster than the catcher. You can get there,’” Cocks said. “I feel like this year we have our best team chemistry.
“We don’t have to be individuals. We need to come together and do it together.”
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