Whatever happens in divorce court won’t affect what happens on the San Antonio Spurs’ basketball court. That’s the word from the Spurs’ majority owner, Julianna Hawn Holt, who filed for divorce from husband Peter Holt in December.
“The franchise is safe,” Hawn Holt, chairwoman and CEO of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, told San Antonio TV station KSAT in a statement. “We are dedicated and committed to continued success.” Presumably, the statement means the NBA team won’t be sold as part of the divorce proceedings.
According to documents cited by KSAT, Hawn Holt filed for divorce December 22 because their marriage had become intolerable due to personality conflicts “that destroy the legitimate ends of the marriage relationship and prevents any reasonable expectation of reconciliation.”
The Holts were married in 1985. Eleven years later, they became the largest shareholders of the NBA team. In 2016, Holt gave up control of the team to his wife.
Forbes magazine valued the Spurs at $1.175 billion in 2017, making the team the 12th most valuable in the NBA. Aside from San Antonio’s NBA team, Spurs Sports & Entertainment owns the American Hockey League’s San Antonio Rampage, minor league basketball’s Austin Spurs, and the United Soccer League’s San Antonio FC. The Spurs organization also manages the AT&T Center, the NBA team’s home arena.
Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026
Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.
His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o'-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.
However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.
Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.
With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.
The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.
Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.
