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
Has a waltz written by composer Frederic Chopin been discovered in an NYC museum?
NEW YORK (AP) — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.” A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master...
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...
Ridley Scott on going big with 'Gladiator II'
NEW YORK (AP) — An inevitable fact of interviewing Ridley Scott is that, whatever movie he’s about to release, you’ll find him already knee-deep in his next project. Scott, Hollywood’s perpetual rolling stone even at age 86, may be preparing to unveil “Gladiator II,” one...
Chris Stapleton wins 4 CMA Awards, but Morgan Wallen gets entertainer of the year
Chris Stapleton took home four Country Music Association Awards and hardly left the stage on Wednesday night, while an absent Morgan Wallen was shut out all evening until taking the night's biggest prize, entertainer of the year. Stapleton's wins included song of the year and single...
Percival Everett and Jason De León win National Book Awards
NEW YORK (AP) — Percival Everett's “James,” a daring reworking of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” has won the National Book Award for fiction. Jason De León’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling” won for nonfiction, where finalists included...
Duct-taped banana sells for $6.2 million at art auction
NEW YORK (AP) — A piece of conceptual art consisting of a simple banana, duct-taped to a wall, sold for $6.2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday, with the winning bid coming from a prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur. “Comedian,” by Italian artist Maurizio...
Italy recovers Etruscan artifacts worth $8.5 million bound for black market
ROME (AP) — Italian authorities announced Tuesday the seizure of an illegal excavation of an Etruscan burial site in the central Umbria region and are investigating two people for suspected theft of urns, sarcophagi and other artifacts worth 8 million euros ($8.5 million) intended for sale on the...
Comcast to spin off cable networks that were once the entertainment giant's star performers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Comcast is spinning off into a new company many of the cable television networks that were once at the entertainment giant's heart as consumers increasingly swap out their cable TV subscriptions for streaming platforms. Those one-time stars for Comcast's...
Pamela Hayden, longtime 'Simpsons' voice actor, including Bart's friend Milhouse, hangs up her mic
NEW YORK (AP) — Pamela Hayden, the longtime voice actor behind Milhouse Van Houten — Bart Simpson's very uncool friend — is stepping away after 35 years of whining. Hayden, 70, who voiced Milhouse, Jimbo Jones, Rod Flanders, Janey and Malibu Stacy, will sign off from “The...
Jonas Kaufmann cancels appearance on opening night of season at Milan's La Scala
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann canceled his appearance in the new production of Verdi's “La Forza del Destino” opening the season at Milan's Teatro alla Scala on Dec. 7. The 55-year-old will be replaced by Brian Jagde as Alvaro in a cast that includes Anna Netrebko as Leonora and Ludovic...
