Entertainment

Williams releases thirteenth studio album ‘Britpop’

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

As some of you might be aware, I listen to a wide variety of music genres while I work here at the newspaper, and that now includes British pop. While that might seem a bit odd, I recently came across Robbie Williams’ newest album “Britpop,” which was released last week.

For those unaware, Williams is an English singer and songwriter and was a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995 before launching his solo career in 1996. He’s not as well known here in the U.S., although those who are fans of Pixar’s “Cars 2” heard his “Collision of Worlds” duet with country musician Brad Paisley.

Mitchell talks 2025 in movies, preparing for 2026

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

The movie business saw multiple highs and lows throughout 2025, and as Mitchell Theaters owner Brian Mitchell tells it, theaters in Southwest Kansas were not immune to those trends.

“2025 was a lot like 2024, it had its ups and downs. The fall ended up being slower than what we'd wanted to see, but the holidays came through for us and gave things a bit of a boost, especially with 'Wicked: For Good' and 'Zootopia 2,' which is STILL going really strong,” Mitchell said. “The Christmas holidays also saw some great releases, including 'Avatar: Fire and Ash,' which is still holding strong, and 'Anaconda.' All in all, I would say 2025 was pretty good for us as a whole. The first quarter of the year was slow for us, which we anticipated, but it looks like this year will see a boost for the first quarter of this year, especially since the holdovers from the holidays are still going pretty strong. 'The Minecraft Movie' and 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' and those video game movies did really well for us and brought in a bunch of younger moviegoers, which was great. Horror movies also seemed to do pretty well, which surprised me somewhat. There were some remakes and original movies that came and went, like I always say, if you've got a good mix of movies for people to choose from, that's when we do best.”

Box office rings out 2025, preparing to ring in 2026

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Throughout 2025, there were many great movies to check out either in theaters or via streaming, multiple of which ended up being reviewed on this page. With 2025 officially closed and 2026 getting started, I figured it would be fun to review some of my favorite movies for the year and mention some 2026 releases I’m particularly excited about.

Here we go!

Guyton brings lovely sounds of the season with ‘Feels Like Christmas’ album

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Like many others this month, I’ve been indulging in Christmas music both at home and at the office to get myself in a merry mood. Recently, YouTube made another great recommendation that is sure to remain among my Christmas playlist for a long time with Mickey Guyton’s “Feels Like Christmas” album. The album was apparently released near the end of October and after I finished listening to it, I was left thinking “Why did it take so long for this to get recommended to me?!”

To start, Guyton’s vocals throughout the album are great. Guyton has such a sweet and fun voice, and she clearly has a lot of talent, leaving me in disbelief at having not heard more of her before now. In fact, I might even have to look up some of her non-holiday music after the start of the new year. She also clearly had a lot of fun recording this album, and I heard just so much joy in each song, which always makes for a great listening experience when I find a new album to listen to. Overall, Guyton has a great voice for Christmas music, and I loved listening to her on every song.

Rian Johnson continues ‘Knives Out’ franchise with ‘Wake Up Dead Man’

ELLY GRIMM

• Leader & Times

Back in 2019, film director Rian Johnson introduced audiences to master detective Benoit Blanc in the murder mystery “Knives Out,” which ended up being a hit and spawning a franchise, including 2022’s “Glass Onion” (which some of you may remember I also reviewed). Six years after his big screen debut, Blanc is on his third adventure in the franchise with “Wake Up Dead Man.”

The film, released on Netflix last week, follows Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he teams up with earnest young priest Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) to investigate a seemingly perfectly impossible crime at a small-town church with some dark secrets.