Top Entertainment News
What will happen to CNBC and MSNBC when they no longer have a corporate connection to NBC News?
Comcast's corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with “NBC” in their name — CNBC and MSNBC — that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News. How that affects viewers of those networks, along with the people who work...
Music Review: Father John Misty's 'Mahashmashana' offers cynical, theatrical take on life and death
The title of Father John Misty's sixth studio album, “Mahashmashana,” is a reference to cremation, and the first song proposes “a corpse dance.” Religious overtones mix with the undercurrent of a midlife crisis atop his folk chamber pop. And for those despairing recent events, some lyrics...
Music Review: The Breeders' Kim Deal soars on solo debut, a reunion with the late Steve Albini
When the Pixies set out to make their 1988 debut studio album, they enlisted Steve Albini to engineer “Surfer Rosa,” the seminal alternative record which includes the enduring hit, “Where Is My Mind?” That experience was mutually beneficial to both parties — and was the beginning of a...
Book Review: 'How to Think Like Socrates' leaves readers with questions
The lessons of Socrates have never really gone out of style, but if there’s ever a perfect time to revisit the ancient philosopher, now is it. In “How to Think Like Socrates: Ancient Philosophy as a Way of Life in the Modern World,” Donald J. Robertson describes Socrates'...
Toronto author Anne Michaels wins Giller Prize for novel 'Held'
TORONTO (AP) — Poet-novelist Anne Michaels has won the Giller Prize for her novel “Held,” a multi-generational examination of war and trauma. The 100,000 Canadian dollar ($71,000) Giller prize honors the best in Canadian fiction. Past winners have included Margaret Atwood,...
Liam Payne's One Direction bandmates among the mourners at singer's funeral
LONDON (AP) — The former members of One Direction reunited Wednesday for the funeral of bandmate Liam Payne. Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson joined friends and family at the service for 31-year-old Payne, who died after falling from a hotel balcony in...
Wrestling with the ghosts of 'The Piano Lesson'
The piano on the set of “The Piano Lesson” was not a mere prop. It could be played and the cast members often did. It was adorned with pictures of the Washington family and their ancestors. It was, John David Washington jokes, “No. 1 on the call sheet.” “We tried to haunt...
Was it the Mouse King? ‘Nutcracker’ props stolen from a Michigan ballet company
CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Did the Mouse King strike? A ballet group in suburban Detroit is scrambling after someone stole a trailer filled with props for upcoming performances of the beloved holiday classic “The Nutcracker.” The lost items include a...
Book Review: Chris Myers looks back on his career in ’That Deserves a Wow'
There are few sports journalists working today with a resume as broad as Chris Myers. From a decade doing everything for ESPN (SportsCenter, play by play, and succeeding Roy Firestone as host of the interview show “Up Close”) to decades of involvement with nearly every league under contract...
From 'The Exorcist' to 'Heretic,' why holy horror can be a hit with moviegoers
In the new horror movie, “Heretic,” Hugh Grant plays a diabolical religious skeptic who traps two scared missionaries in his house and tries to violently shake their faith. What starts more as a religious studies lecture slowly morphs into a gory escape room for the two...
Latest Entertainment News
Lawsuit against UK security agency by survivors of Ariana Grande concert bombing is rejected
LONDON (AP) — A legal claim against Britain’s domestic intelligence agency by more than 300 survivors of a bombing that killed 22 people at a 2017 Ariana Grande concert in Manchester was rejected Friday by a special tribunal. Judges on the U.K.’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal...
What do hundreds of beavers have to do with the future of movies?
NEW YORK (AP) — Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik’s mind when he was making “Hundreds of Beavers.” Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down...
How a slapstick movie idea about beavers went from the bar to one of 2024's biggest indie hits
NEW YORK (AP) — The microbudget movie "Hundreds of Beavers” has turned into lo-fi legend. Mike Cheslik’s film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels. “Hundreds of...
DirecTV calls off acquisition of rival Dish, possibly ending a yearslong pursuit
DirecTV is calling off its planned acquisition of rival Dish after the offer was rejected by bond holders at that company. The deal was reliant on Dish bond holders agreeing to trade in the debt they held for debt in the new company, a swap that would have cost them about $1.6...
Christmas TV movies are in their Taylor Swift era, with two Swift-inspired films airing this year
Two new Christmas TV movies have a Taylor Swift connection that her fans would have no problem decoding. “Christmas in the Spotlight” debuts Saturday on Lifetime. It stars Jessica Lord as the world's biggest pop star and Laith Wallschleger as a pro football player, who meet and...
Iran's vast collection of Western art, much long hidden, re-emerges despite high tensions with US
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — As Iran faces increasing tensions with the West and turmoil at home, a new exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying Western artwork including pieces not seen by the public in at least a decade. The unveiling of the exhibition “Eye to...
Here's Jason: Kelce will host late-night show on ESPN beginning final week of NFL season
Jason Kelce will try his hand at late-night television early next year. Kelce announced during an appearance on ABC's “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday night that he will host “They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce,” on ESPN. The one-hour show will tape on five straight...
Fashion designer describes invitation to work on Notre Dame cathedral's reopening as 'a calling'
PARIS (AP) — When Jean-Charles de Castelbajac watched as Notre Dame cathedral burned in April 2019, he felt compelled to act somehow. Returning home, the French fashion designer began sketching ideas, imagining the monument’s reconstruction. So, when the Paris...
Jussie Smollett’s conviction in 2019 attack on himself is overturned
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying to Chicago police, saying he should not have been charged a second time after reaching a deal with...
When others ran from the musical, Jon M. Chu and 'Wicked' embraced it
NEW YORK (AP) — “Musical” has been a dirty word lately in Hollywood marketing, but “Wicked” director Jon M. Chu isn’t having it. Of course, there’s no running from the term when you’re bringing to the screen one of the most popular Broadway shows of the 21st century,...