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Film academy invites 529 new members, including Jenna Ortega, the Safdie brothers and Jacob Elordi
NEW YORK | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday invited 529 members to the Oscar voting body, a new class that brings the group’s membership to nearly double what it was a decade ago. Among those who received invites are “One Battle After Another” nominee Teyana Taylor, Josh O’Connor, Jenna Ortega, […]
Star-maker Clive Davis honored at funeral that draws Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick and others
NEW YORK | Kenny G played a mournful sax solo to kick off the funeral Monday for music legend Clive Davis, as pop royalty turned out to honor a man who championed so many of their careers. Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder were among of the other musical stars at the […]
Comcast plans to split into two public companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky
Comcast is planning to split itself into two publicly traded companies, one focused on media that would include NBCUniversal and Sky and the other focused on broadband and wireless services. The company said Monday that its board and management team think each company will be better positioned to pursue its own strategic priorities, invest for […]
St. Bernard dogs still roam the Swiss Alps as part of this ‘living museum’ and its breeding program
BOURG-SAINT-PIERRE, Switzerland | At the Great St. Bernard Pass high in the Swiss Alps, the eponymous dogs still walk the same mountain paths their ancestors patrolled for hundreds of years to find travelers buried beneath the snow. Down in the valley, a living museum honoring the Swiss national dog’s history — and its future — […]
Hollywood gets into the microdrama race as mobile-first storytelling draws stars and major studios
LOS ANGELES | While much of Hollywood was consumed by the streaming wars, Issa Rae was studying a different mode of entertainment thousands of miles away: microdramas. No stranger to creating a successful online series, the Emmy-nominated actor and producer became intrigued by China’s booming market for the short, mobile-first soap operas, seeing its potential […]
Inside country legend Alan Jackson’s triumphant finale concert
NASHVILLE, Tenn. | The time has come for country music superstar Alan Jackson to hang up his signature Stetson hat. The genre traditionalist from Newnan, Georgia, whose career kicked off in the 1980s and exploded shortly thereafter in the oft-cited ’90s country wave with heartfelt songs for the working man who’d rather be drinking, or […]
Charlie Brown’s longtime pen pal is finally revealed in new Apple TV ‘Peanuts’ movie
NEW YORK | Charlie Brown began writing to a pen pal not long after the comic strip “Peanuts” debuted in newspapers back in 1950. No one has gotten a look at whoever was on the other end of his letters — until now. Her name is Mia, and she’s a young girl from London of […]
Norman Rockwell people-watched in the West Wing lobby. Now those sketches are on public display
WASHINGTON | For more than 40 years, sketches by American illustrator Norman Rockwell of scenes from the White House visitor’s lobby graced the walls of the West Wing, where every president from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump had seen them. Now, they’re going on public display for the first time after a nonprofit organization paid […]
What to Stream: ‘Enola Holmes 3,’ Madonna and the ‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series ‘Elle’
“Enola Holmes 3” and a new album from Madonna 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 “Legally Blonde” prequel series, a look at Ralph Lauren’s stamp collection […]
Get a load of this: Humans and great apes share similar giggles
NEW YORK | Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests. How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them […]