6 mins read

YouTuber box office boom: ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’ draw Gen Z to theaters

Young audiences turned out in droves to movie theaters around the country this weekend. It wasn’t for the big budget “Star Wars” movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu, ” which fell sharply in its second weekend, however, but for a small budget horror from a 20-year-old first-time filmmaker that began on the internet. “Backrooms,” released by […]

3 mins read

Scott Pelley fired from ’60 Minutes,’ deepening turmoil at CBS News

CBS News fired longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley on Tuesday, a day after he reportedly said Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was “murdering the show” and accused its new producer of having “slender qualifications” for the job. The move deepened the turmoil at the nation’s most influential TV news program, days after a leadership overhaul. Pelley, […]

6 mins read

How do you make vampires fly effortlessly on Broadway? Strong wires, harnesses and lots of practice

NEW YORK | For their third Broadway show, husband-and-wife choreographing team Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher “Cree” Grant faced a high-stakes challenge: They were asked to make vampires fly. Not just fly, but also fight and hang upside-down, 60 feet off the stage. Not just that but also make it effortless, like gliding. And, of course, […]

4 mins read

Lawyers for Lively and Baldoni battle in a New York court despite settling claims weeks ago

NEW YORK | The legal battle between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni isn’t quite over yet. Just a month ago, the two announced a settlement that avoided a trial over Lively’s claims that Baldoni led a campaign to smear her reputation after she accused him of sexually harassing her on the set of their […]

7 mins read

In a city with an iconic skyline, the Obama presidential museum aims to reshape Chicago architecture

CHICAGO | The granite monolith soars above a leafy stretch of Chicago’s South Side, a nearly windowless exterior more suited to a sci-fi film set than the state-of-the art presidential museum held within. Crews are putting the finishing touches on the Obama Presidential Center ahead of the official public opening on Juneteenth, more than a […]

6 mins read

What to Stream: ‘Hoppers,’ ‘Love Island,’ Lizzo and Death Cab for Cutie albums

New albums from Lizzo and Death Cab for Cutie and the streaming service debut of animated hit “Hoppers” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: the new season […]

2 mins read

The cheesehead hat is a sunny nod to America’s ‘Hold my beer’ exuberance

Americans long have leavened their powerful global image with goofiness, a cheerful confidence that can deflect international wonder over certain strains of ignorance into a smile. Behold, for example, the cheesehead hat. Made of sofa foam and sunny yellow defiance, the hat was created in the late 1980s in response to the taunting faced by […]

3 mins read

Martina McBride, Morris Day among wave of cancellations at Trump-linked Freedom 250 concerts

NEW YORK | A day after the President Donald Trump -affiliated Freedom 250 announced the “first wave” of performers for “The Great American State Fair” shows on Washington’s National Mall in June and July, the lineup has been hit with a wave of cancellations. Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores and Martina McBride are among […]

7 mins read

How ‘Navalny’ filmmaker Daniel Roher’s post-Oscar creative depression inspired ‘Tuner’

For Daniel Roher, making things is kind of a compulsion. Perhaps it’s not surprising for someone who was able to direct two movies at the same time: A documentary about artificial intelligence, now streaming on Peacock, and the heist thriller “Tuner,” in theaters Friday. But he is the kind of person who is constantly creating, […]

7 mins read

‘Shoot me up with a big one’: A timeline of the last days of Matthew Perry

LOS ANGELES | After a lifetime of sobriety struggles, Matthew Perry spent the last days of his life desperately seeking the ketamine that would ultimately cause his death. The 2 1/2-year investigation and prosecution that followed came to a close Wednesday with the sentencing of his personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, who bought him the drugs, […]