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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:
STREAMING - From Variety: Streaming service, CBS All Access, adds 70 TV series from across ViacomCBS's cable networks, including form BET, Comedy Central, and MTV.
DISNEY-STREAMING - From Variety: What does Beyonce's "Black is King" mean for Disney+?
PIXAR - From Variety: Pixar reveals details about its next original film, "Luca," a coming of age tale set in Italy. It is due in theaters June 18, 2021.
STREAMING - From Variety: The venerable Hollywood news source goes inside Netflix's plans for global dominance.
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Dwayne Johnson says that Tim Burton once considered him for the role of "Willy Wonka" in Burton's 2005 reboot "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
From YahooEntertainment: Kevin Costner's starred in the troubled blockbuster film, "Waterworld," in 1995. 25 years later, Costner and director Kevin Reynolds talk about their disastrous choice to ignore Steven Spielberg's advice.
STREAMING - From ShadowandAct: Netflix has acquired the streaming rights to seven Iconic African-American/Black sitcoms of the late 1990s and early 2000s, including "Moesha," "Girlfriends," and "Sister, Sister."
POLITICS - From MondoWeiss: In an interview with the site, actor Seth Rogen says that the nation of Israel is ridiculous, antiquated and based on ethnic cleansing,
EMMYS - From THR: If you care... here are the 2020 / 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards nominations.
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Larry Clark and Harmony Korine's shocking indie film, "Kids," is 25-years-old.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Amazon has required a "package" for a film biography of country singer, the late Merle Haggard. Sam Rockwell wants to play Haggard and do his own singing of Haggards songs from the 1960s, which is when the film would be set.
STAR TREK - From Deadline: The third season of "Star Trek: Discovery" will debut on CBS All Access October 15th.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Warner Bros. will apparently open Tenet in 70 international markets starting Wed., Aug. 26th, and in Canada on Thurs., Aug. 27th. The U.S. opening will begin in select cities Thurs., Sept 3rd.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: Director Dave Franco's indie film, "The Rental," is the top film of the 7/24 to 7/26/2020 weekend box office with an estimate take of $421,000.
COMICS/AWARDS - From TheBeat: The winners at the "Will Eisner Awards Comic Industry Awards 2020" were announced Friday night, July 24th.
OBITS:
From Deadline: The British film director, Alan Parker, has died at the age of 76, Friday, July 31, 2020. He was twice-nominated for the "Best Director" Oscar, for "Midnight Express" (1978) and "Mississippi Burning" (1988). Parker directed films in a number of genres: musicals ("Fame" in 1980), horror movies ("Angel Heart" in 1987), and true-story dramas ("Angela's Ashes" in 1999).
From YahooNews: Former U.S. Presidential candidate and businessman, Herman Cain, has died at the age of 74, Thursday, July 30, 2020, of complications of COVID-19. Cain was a 2012 GOP presidential candidate, and he was a serious contender for much of 2011. Cain was the CEO of "Godfather's Pizza" (1986-96) and was an executive at both Burger King and Pillsbury Company.
From RollingStone: American rapper, singer, and recording artist, Malik B., has died at the age of 47, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Malik was a founding member of American hip hop band, "The Roots." He left the group after its first four albums, but returned as a featured artist for some later albums.
From Deadline: The British film director, Alan Parker, has died at the age of 76, Friday, July 31, 2020. He was twice-nominated for the "Best Director" Oscar, for "Midnight Express" (1978) and "Mississippi Burning" (1988). Parker directed films in a number of genres: musicals ("Fame" in 1980), horror movies ("Angel Heart" in 1987), and true-story dramas ("Angela's Ashes" in 1999).
From YahooNews: Former U.S. Presidential candidate and businessman, Herman Cain, has died at the age of 74, Thursday, July 30, 2020, of complications of COVID-19. Cain was a 2012 GOP presidential candidate, and he was a serious contender for much of 2011. Cain was the CEO of "Godfather's Pizza" (1986-96) and was an executive at both Burger King and Pillsbury Company.
From RollingStone: American rapper, singer, and recording artist, Malik B., has died at the age of 47, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Malik was a founding member of American hip hop band, "The Roots." He left the group after its first four albums, but returned as a featured artist for some later albums.
From SouthBendTribune: Vietnam prisoner of war (P.O.W.) and Indiana state politician, Joe Kernan, has died at the age of 74, Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Kernan served as the 48th Governor of Indiana from 2003 to 2005. He was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 1988 to 1997. Kernan, a U.S. Navy pilot, was shot down in 1972 over North Vietnam and was held as a POW for 11 months in the notorious Hoa Lo Prison, also known as the "Hanoi Hilton."
From THR: The British-American actress, Olivia de Havilland, has died at the age of 104, Saturday, July 25, 2020. She was one of the last living stars of Hollywood's "Golden Age," and she was the last living star of the film, "Gone with the Wind" (1939), in which she played what is perhaps her best known role, that of "Melanie Hamilton." She was nominated for an Academy Award five times and won the Oscar twice, for "To Each His Own" (1946) and "The Heiress" (1949)
From RollingStone: English blues-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, Peter Green, has died at the age of 73, Saturday, July 25, 2020. He was considered one of the greatest guitarist of all time and was also considered a major figure of the 1960s British blues movement. He was best known for co-founding the seminal rock band, Fleetwood Mac, with Mick Fleetwood and Jimmy Spencer. He left the band in 1970. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Fleetwood Mac.
From Variety: American TV personality and game show and talk show host, Regis Philbin, has died at the age of 88, Friday, July 24, 2020. Philbin is best known for hosting the New York-based syndicated TV series, "Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee," beginning in 1988. The show became "Live! with Regis and Kelly," until Philbin departed in 2011. Philbin won three Daytime Emmy Awards for his work.
BLACK LIVES MATTER NEWS:
From RSN: The four corners of police violence
From TheIntercept: Black Lives Matter Wants to End Police Brutality. History Suggests It Will Go Much Further.
From YahooNews: "The Confederacy of California": life in the valley where Robert Fuller was found hanged
From CNN: Colorado police officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain reassigned for safety reasons.
From Truthout: " Three North Carolina Police Fired for Racist Rants, Threats to Kill Black People" - and what they said is crazy and scary
From Truthout: Bryant Gumbel Gives Powerful Commentary on the 'Black Tax,' the 'Added Burden' of Being Black
From YahooEntertainment: Oscar-nominated songwriter and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Ray Parker, Jr., may be best known for writing the theme to the film, "Ghostbusters," but when he was a teenager, Parker was beaten by Detroit police officers.
From RSNewYorker: Jelani Cobb: An American Spring of Reckoning.
From NBCNews: Baton Rouge, LA activist, Gary Chambers, makes an impassioned speech about changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School in Baton Rouge.
From YahooNews: Racial violence and a pandemic: How the Red Summer of 1919 relates to 2020
From NBCNews: NYPD is disbanding a unit that is the 'last chapter' of stop-and-frisk
From YahooLifestyle: A history of the "Karen."
CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:
From CDC: The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."
From YahooNews: Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?
From YahooNews: Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.
From Deadline: The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.
From TheNewYorker: The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.
From YahooNews: Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?
From YahooLife: What is "happy hypoxia?" And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?
From JuanCole: Remeber when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19. Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.
From TheIntercept: The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...
From TheAtlantic: The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.
From ProPublica: Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns
From TheGuardian: More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.
From RSN/WashPost: The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.
7/13 - From YahooSports: Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.
7/13- From YahooNews: The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.
7/19 - From YahooFinance: Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.
7/22 - From YahooNews: A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.
7/22 - From YahooLifestyle: Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.
7/23 - From TheWrap: The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19
From YahooEntertainment: Oscar-winning filmmaker Mel Gibson reveals that he was hospitalized with COVID-19 for a week in April.
From Bloomberg: Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?
7/27 - From CNN: Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients. He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.
7/29 - From YahooPolitico: Rep. Louie Gohmert, the defiant Texas Republican U.S. congressman who refused to wear a mask, has tested positive for COVID-19.
7/30 - From Deadline: Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") reveals that he had a bout with COVID-19.
7/31 - From YahooEntertainment: Writer and actress, Lena Dunham, creator of HBO's "Girls, reveals that she contracted COVID-19 and the symptoms she experiences and still experience.
