During the Biden administration, the CFPB passed rules capping bank overdraft fees and removing medical debt from credit reports. The bureau sued financial services companies for misleading consumers and employers for misleading workers. It also focused on curbing junk fees and predatory lending practices.
GRANT: Yes, thank you. It’s not easy for any actor.GRANT: It’s hard to remember which was the writers, which was me. But I’m pretty sure doing the Jar Jar Binks impersonation was my idea.
GRANT: No, I didn’t. I just thought it would be fun if the character did that because it’d be just weird. And, in fact, what’s odd about me is that I’ve never seen a “Star Wars” film.Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher, and Hugh Grant in a scene from “Heretic.” (Kimberley French/A24 via AP)Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher, and Hugh Grant in a scene from “Heretic.” (Kimberley French/A24 via AP)
GRANT: I can’t. They’re too frightening for me. I watched “The Exorcist” when I was too young and I’ve been in counseling ever since. I watched one by mistake recently, which wasI thought it looked like a jolly, Swedish comedy. I put it on one evening for my Swedish wife who needed cheering up and she’s still very, very traumatized.
GRANT: It’s fascinating, isn’t it? I don’t know. Maybe these are the end of times, the end days, the apocalypse. We know it deep down but for some reason we won’t confront it. I don’t know, but it’s wonderful that it sends people into the cinemas.
GRANT: It is. Talk about the end of days. To me, one of the gloomiest signs or omens is the gradual closing of cinemas — and not just that, where I live in London, but the closing of bars. The bar where I met my wife, which was party night every night of the week, is now largely closed. I think the fact that we’re all staying in, staring at our devil’s tinderboxes is deeply tragic, or watching things on streaming by ourselves with maybe one or two other family members. These things should be collective experiences.And there are plenty of other new issues for Bridget to navigate, too, such as how hard it is to keep up with other parents at school. For example: When Bridget is asked, by her son’s handsome and interesting yet seemingly guarded science teacher Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor), to speak to the class about her career, he tells her the previous parent to come in was a Nobel winner in nuclear physics.
No worries. The lessons of this last — or so they say — Bridget Jones chapter speak to how one adjusts expectations and finds the right way to live in the world.And on that note, as old photos from 25 years of Bridget’s life fly by during closing credits, it’s hard not to feel like she’s family — and to be more than a little proud of how she found her way.
“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” a Peacock release, has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association “for language and some sexual references.” Running time: 124 minutes. Three stars out of four.LONDON (AP) — Instagram users under 16 won’t be able to livestream or unblur nudity in direct messages they’ve received without parental approval, owner Meta Platforms said Tuesday as it widened its safety measures for teenagers.