by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 7/29 to 7/31/2022 weekend box office is "DC League of Super-Pets" with an estimated domestic take of 23 million dollars.
SCANDAL - From Deadline: Oscar-winner Will Smith releases new video in which he apologizes to Chris Rock for slapping him during this year's Oscars telecast.
STREAMING - From Deadline: HBO Max is pulling back on live-action kids and family programming. Thus, it will not review the 1980's coming-of-age comedy, "The Gordita Chronicles" for a second season.
AMAZON - From Deadline: Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Alfonso Cuaron are among the people behind "Jane," a film about the family life of the one of the 20th century's greatest and most influential authors, Philip K. Dick, who works inspired the "Blade Runner" films.
MOVIES - From Deadline: MGM is developing "Drago," a spin-off of the "Creed" film series. Robert Lawton is writing.
NETFLIX - From Deadline: Netflix, Anthony & Joe Russo, and star Ryan Gosling are already plotting a sequel to "The Gray Man," the recently released streaming film that may have set some streaming records.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: Writer, producer, and comic book creator, Rodney Barnes, has extended his overall deal with HBO for another three years and will continue to develop, write and produce under his "Rodney Barnes Productions" banner. Barnes most recently co-wrote 9 of the 10 episodes of HBO'S prestige miniseries, "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty," and executive produced it.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 7/22 to 7/24/2022 weekend box office is director Jordan Peele's "Nope" with an estimated take of 44 million dollars.
From Here: Negromancer's review of "Nope."
SDCC/MARVEL STUDIOS - From Variety: Finally, there is a trailer for and some details about Disney/Marvel Studios' "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," which is due in theaters, November 11, 2022.
From IGN: This article has "everything announced at the Marvel Studios San Diego Comic-Con 2022 Panel."
OBITS:
From NYTimes: Former professional basketball player and NBA legend, Bill Russell, has died at the age of 88, Sunday, July 31, 2022. He played for the Boston Celtics from 1956-69, the team that drafted him. Russell was an 11-time NBA champion (including 2 when he was a player-coach), 5-time league MVP, 2-time NCAA champ (University of San Francisco), Olympic gold medalist (1956 Melbourne Games). He was the first Black head coach of any North American pro sports team (Celtics, 1966-69), and he received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011
From Variety: Actress, singer, dancer, icon, and role model, Nichelle Nichols, has died at the age of 89, Saturday night, July 30, 2022. Nichols was best known for playing communications officer, "Uhura," on the original "Star Trek" (1966-69) television series. Uhura was a groundbreaking role for African-American actresses. From 1977 until 2015, Nichols volunteered her time to promote NASA's programs, and to recruit diverse astronauts, including women and ethnic minorities.
From Deadline: Stage, film, and television actress, Mary Alice, has died Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Her age has been reported as being from 80 to 86, depending upon her actual date of birth. Her best known film roles were as "Effie" in the 1976 film, "Sparkle," and as "The Oracle" in 2003's "The Matrix Revolutions." She won a Tony Award for playing "Rose" in the play, "Fences" (1987-88). Among her best known television roles were on the former NBC TV series, "A Different World" and on NBC's "I'll Fly Away," for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award.
From Deadline: Former child star and television actor and director, Tony Dow, has died at the age of 77, Wednesday, July 27, 2022, following a battle with cancer. Dow was best known for the role of "Wally Cleaver," the older brother of "Theodore 'Beaver' Cleaver," in the former CBS/ABC series, "Leave it to Beaver" (1957-63). He reprised the role in the series "The New Leave it to Beaver" (The Disney Channel, 1984-85; Superstation WTBS, 1986-89).
From Deadline: Film and television actor, Paul Sorvino, has died at the age of 83, Monday, July 25, 2022. The prolific Sorvino appeared in many notable films, including "Reds" (1981), "Goodfellas" (1990), "The Rocketeer" (1991), and "Nixon" (1995), to name a few. He also appeared in the early seasons of NBC's "Law & Order" and had a role on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Sorvino was the father of a son, Michael Sorvino, and of an Oscar-winning actress, Mira Sorvino.
From BBC: English film, television, and theatre actor, David Warner, has died at the age of 80, Sunday, July 24, 2022. He appeared in two "Star Trek" films and in the TV series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." A prolific actor, he appeared in many notable and popular films, including "Straw Dogs" (1971), "The Omen" (1976), "Titanic" (1987), and "Mary Poppins Returns" (2018). An English Jew, Warner was Emmy-nominated for his role in the 1978 NBC miniseries, "Holocaust" and won an Emmy for his role in the 1981 ABC miniseries, "Masada."
From THR: Film director, writer, and producer, Bob Rafelson, has died at the age of 89, Saturday, July 23, 2022. He is best known for his work with actor, Jack Nicholson, having collaborated with him on seven films. He directed Nicholson on "Head" (1968) and "Five Easy Pieces" (1970) and produced "Easy Rider," in which Nicholson was a supporting actor. Rafelson was also one of the creators of the pop group, "The Monkees" and of the TV series that featured them. He won a Primetime Emmy for his work on "The Monkees" (1966-68) TV series, and was nominated for two Oscars for his work on "Five Easy Pieces."
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BRITTNEY GRINER:
From ESPN: The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.
From RSN: "Will Support From LeBron James, Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, and Other Celebrities Help Free Brittney Griner From a Russian Prison?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via Substack
From ESPN: Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so "inadvertently" while asking the court for mercy.
From CBSSports: The Brittney Griner situation explained.
From RSN: According to The Washington Post Editorial Board: "Brittney Griner is a hostage, plain and simple.
UVALDE, TEXAS MASS SHOOTING:
From YahooAP: An 18-year-old gunman slaughtered 19 children and two teachers on Tues., May 24th, 2022 in Uvalde, Texas. All 21 victims were in the same 4th grade classroom at Robb Elementary.
From TexasTribune: The Texas House of Representatives has released its "Robb Elementary Investigative Committee Report," concerning the massacre of 19 children at two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. They found that the "systematic failures" went far beyond the local police.
From RSN: At a school board meeting, parents in Uvalde Texas demanded better school security and also demanded that Uvalde schools police Chief Pete Arredondo be fired.
From TheDailyBeast: Texas's top law enforcement official, Department of Public Safety Director Steve McGraw, has said that the school shooter in Uvalde, Texas could have been taken down in three minutes.
From TheDailyBeast: Police officers responding to last month’s mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school never even tried to open the door to the classroom where young children were trapped with the gunman, according to a new report.
From Jacobin: "The Uvalde Massacre has exposed the lies that once justified police militarization" by Branko Marcetic
From Truthout: We don’t need more evidence that police can’t be trusted.
From Truthout: 44 percent of GOP voters view mass shootings as part of living in “Free Society”
From ABCNews: Arnulfo Reyes, a teacher who survived the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, calls the local police "cowards" because of slow response to an active shooter at his school, Robb Elementary. All of 11 students in his class were killed.
From DallasNews: Joe Garcia, the husband of Irma Garcia, one of the two teachers killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, has died of a heart attack two days after the murder of his wife. They had been married for 24 years and had been high school sweethearts.
From Axios: Texas gubernatorial candidate, Beto O'Rourke, interrupted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's gaslighting press conference on the Uvalde elementary school mass shooting.
From USAToday: Beto O'Rourke's outburst at Gov. Greg Abbott's Uvalde news conference shows the spine Democrats need.
From BostonGlobe: Steve Kerr, head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, asks "When are we going to do something?"
From NBCNews: A Robb Elementary teacher describes "the longest 35 minutes of my life" and the terror she now feels.
From NBCNews: The Uvalde school district had an extensive safety plan, but 19 children were killed at Robb Elementary anyway. Even security plans that appear to be up to the latest research-based standards may have gaps and fall short of preventing the worst-case scenario, experts said.
From MSN: Angeli Rose Gomez, the mother who was handcuffed outside Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, was able to get inside the school and rescue her two children.
From YahooNews: Daniel Defense, the maker of the rifles used by the Uvalde massacre killer, has used "incendiary ads" in the past, including one in which a toddler holds one of its rifles.
From TheIntercept: The police aren't obligated to protect anyone NOT in their custody, as the Supreme Court has ruled twice.
From RollingStone: Right wing lies about the Second Amendment and why they tell them are killing America's childrne.
From Vice: The law enforcement personnel in Texas that arrived at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on Tues., May 24th did the opposite of what their own training documentary videos show.
From Vox: Uvalde police keep changing their story.
From TheDailyBeast: The families in Uvalde, Texas who lost loved one in the Robb Elementary massacre say that the cops there are "Nothing more than cowards" and that they need to pay for doing nothing while a gunman rampaged through the school last Tues, May 24th.
From TheNewYorker: Thoughts and prayers, Uvalde, Texas. This is the America that Republicans and the right wing have being thinking about and praying for all these decades.
From ABC: Sources say that Uvalde police and school district no longer cooperating with Texas probe of shooting of the May 24th massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.
From GuardianUK: Canada plans to freeze all handgun ownership.
From RSNWashPost: Is it time to show the true horror of mass shooting - in pictures?
From MSN: Angeli Gomez, the Uvalde mother who rescued her two children from the Robb Elementary shooting massacre, says that a police officer threatened to arrest her if she did not stop telling her story.
From RSNTheAtlantic: The Uvalde police chose dishonor. Where was there courage?
From RSNWashPost: Brenda Bell: I hid from the Texas Tower sniper (Charles Joseph Whitman) in 1966. His successors have found us all.
From RSNTheIntercept: "AR-15s Were Made to Explode Human Bodies. In Uvalde, the Bodies Belonged to Children" by Murtaza Hussain
From RSNNPR: The tragic history of police responding too late to active shooters.
From VICE: There is likely bodycam footage of the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, but the public may never see it.
