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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: The winner of the 11/27 to 11/29/2020 weekend box office was DreamWorks Animation's "The Croods: A New Age" with an estimated take of 9.7 million dollars.
POLITICS - From GuardianUK: Why Biden shouldn't extend an olive branch to Republicans
CULTURE - From YahooLife: If it isn't the most unusual location for a McDonald's restaurant in America, it is one of the most. See the Ace Hardward-McDonald's in Washington D.C.
MOVIES - From Time: "Time Magazine" names the "Ten Best" acting performances in film for 2020.
SPORTS/CULTURE - From NPR: Sarah Fuller of the Vanderbilt Commodores football team becomes the first woman in history to play in a "Power 5" conference football game. Vanderbilt is a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as is their opponent in the game played on Sat. Nov. 28th, 2020, the University of Missouri Tigers.
SPORTS/MUSIC - From ESPN: Grammy-winning, Canadian recording artist, "The Weeknd," will be the headlining act at the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show.
From CoS: "The Weeknd" did not receive one 2021 Grammy nomination when they were recently announced, although he seemed to be a lock to receive several due to the smash success of his 2020 album, "After Hours." Sources close to him believe that this lack of nominations is due to him performing at the Super Bowl LV halftime show.
STREAMING - From IndependentUK: Acclaimed director David Lynch is apparently working on a series entitled "Wisteria" for Netflix.
OSCARS - From Variety: Netflix could break an 85-year-old Oscar record. That would be for the studio with the most "Best Picture" nominations in a year - held by MGM with five in 1937.
From Variety: If you don't like the Academy Awards diversity standards, comedian and actor, Andy Samberg, says that you can f**k off.
CULTURE - From Yahoo/NYT: A new generation of rich kids wants to tear down capitalism.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Actor Idris Elba will interview rock music legend and former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney for a BBC One special, "Idris Elba Meets Paul McCartney."
MOVIES - From WeGotThisCovered: Disney is apparently considering or developing a spinoff of 20th Century Fox's "Alien" franchise that involves a younger version of the beloved character "Ellen Ripley," made famous by Oscar-nominated actress, Sigourney Weaver.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Netflix has removed Comedy Central's "Chappelle's Show" from its streaming service at the request of the series' star, Dave Chappelle. Chappelle claims that ViacomCBS
POLITICS - From YahooNYT: The things Donald Trump really liked about being President of the USA.
MOVIES - From Collider: Writer-director Chris Columbus provides an update on "Gremlins 3," which would be the second sequel to "Gremlins," the beloved 1984 he wrote.
GRAMMYS - From THR: Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," will host the 2021 Grammy Awards.
From ETOnline: South Korea's musical act, BTS, has become the first K-Pop (Korean pop) act to receive a Grammy Awards nomination in a major category - "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance" for their English-language single, "Dynamite."
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Sports journalists, Jemele Hill, formerly of ESPN, and Kelley Carter, are joining Gabriele Union and Sony Pictures TV to develop the half-hour comedy, "New Money," for Showtime.
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Cherokee American actor Wes Studi revisits the Oscar-winning film, "Dances With Wolves" (including winning "Best Picture"), in which he appeared and also talks about the changing depictions of Native Americans in film and television
TELEVISION - From YahooEntertainment: "Saturday Night Live" writer reveals how Eddie Murphy saved the late-night show 40 years ago.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: The winner of the 11/20 - 11/22/2020 weekend box office is "Freaky" with an estimated take of 1.2 million dollars.
CELEBRITY - From THR: Tyler Perry's giveaway of food and gift cards at Tyler Perry Studios on Sunday, Nov. 22nd attracted thousands. People started lining up in their cars on Saturday...
MOVIES - THR: Tyler Perry, Melanie Lynskey and Ron Perlman are the latest stars to join the all-star cast of Adam McKay’s satire, "Don’t Look Up."
MOVIES - From ShadowandAct: Grammy-winning recording artist and actor, Nelly, will portray seminal rock 'n' roll musician, Chuck Berry, in "Clear Lake," an upcoming biographical film about the late Buddy Holly.
CELEBRITY - From ShadowandAct: Taylor Simone Ledward, the widow of actor Chadwick Boseman ("Black Panther"), is the administrator of the late actor's estate.
POLITICS - From Truthout: President Joe Biden should cancel student debt on "Day One" of his administration.
MOVIES - From THR: Channing Tatum has reunited with his "21 Jump Street" collaborator, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, for a "tongue-in-cheek" thriller based on the "Universal Monsters" franchise.
OBITS:
From YahooHuffPost: The British actor and weightlifter and bodybuilder, David Prowse, has died at the age of 85, Saturday, November 28, 2020. Prowse was best known for playing "Darth Vader" in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, beginning with "Star Wars" in 1977. Prowse wore Vader's costume, but actor James Earl Jones provided Vader's voice.
From ESPN: Argentine professional football (soccer) player, Diego Maradona, has died at the age of 60, Wednesday, November 25, 2020. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Maradona captained Argentina to the 1986 World Cup championship.
From YahooEntertainment: The brother of actors, Bill Murray and Brian Doyle-Murray, Ed Murray, has died at the age of 76, Monday, November 23, 2020. Ed was one of the inspirations for the iconic sports movie, "Caddyshack" (1980), which Brian co-wrote and in which Bill starred.
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: Remember 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 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.
7/31 - From Slate: COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!
8/9 - From YahooAFP: According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.
8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians
9/19 - From WashPost: U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000
9/23 - From CNBC: Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.
11/7 - From YahooNews: "It's a slaughter," doctors say of new coronavirus wave.
11/13 - YahooNews: "We blew it": U.S. reaches 'explosive' COVID-19 spread as virus is nearly impossible to control, experts say.
11/29 From LATimes: California sets record with most COVID-19 hospitalizations since pandemic began
BLACK LIVES MATTER:
From RSN: Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability
From TheGuardian: Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."
From NPR: Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."
From ChicagoSunTimes: Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.
From APNews: No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.
From Channel4: Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016
From GuardianUK: California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.
From TheRoot: What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire
From Vox: It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic
From CBS: Breonna Taylor's boyfriend certain cops didn't identify themselves
From DonaldTrump: Well, because it has been in the news a lot lately (via Ice Cube and Li'l Wayne), here is "The Platinum Plan." It is impressive, but no Republican Congress would go along with even 10 percent of this plan which is basically a long list of promises to the Black Americans - individually and as a group.
From Truthout: Yes, 55 Percent of White Women Voted for Trump. No, I’m Not Surprised.
. Night fairly hums with mystery and enchantment, thanks in no small part to Levy’s creative team. Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, whose specialty is fantasy and supernatural films (
) and even family films (Stuart Little and Spy Kids) creates a look for the movie that is a sweet mix of charmed sepia and gooey warmth. Costume designer Renée April does work worthy of Oscar notice with a variety of costumes that span the history of human clothing, and Alan Silvestri’s score hits all the right notes in creating an atmosphere of action, adventure, magic, and mystery.