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'The Northman' goes heavy on blood-soaked style and light on substance
CNN
Part "Hamlet," part "Conan the Barbarian" and a whole lot of "Vikings," "The Northman" is a gorgeously shot exercise in visceral thrills that goes heavy on atmospherics and very, very light on story.
Seldom has a trailer so neatly summed up what a movie is all about, with young prince Amleth witnessing the death of his father, the king (Ethan Hawke), at the hands of the king's brother, Fjölnir (Claes Bang). Fleeing for his life, the boy vows revenge as well as to liberate his mother (Nicole Kidman), with dad having helpfully given him a pep talk about the importance of vengeance even before this act of fratricide cemented Amleth's destiny.
Flash forward many years, and Amleth has grown into Alexander Skarsgård, who has clearly been living a brutal existence while pounding the Viking equivalent of protein shakes. Hearing that his uncle has been deposed and now presides over a farm in Iceland, he arranges to be sent there as a slave, bringing him within reach of fulfilling his long-percolating quest.
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Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have been fired or feel they could be soon, according to four people familiar with recent US intelligence on the issue.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should apologize after his meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office devolved into what Rubio described as a “fiasco,” while questioning whether the Ukrainian leader really wants peace in the country’s war with Russia.