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AI chatbots hit the dating scene, becoming the lovelorn’s modern-day Cyrano
Marie Lansley recently started a new job in a new city while searching for a new partner. In her dating pursuits, the freshly minted San Franciscan said she’s been “trying everything”— including some help from artificial intelligence. AI chatbots have become — for her and many others — de facto dating coaches and relationship experts. […]
What to Stream: Paul Simon, ‘In the Hand of Dante,’ ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and Star Fox
A Paul Simon concert special and Season 2 of the live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” 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: a new Larry David series celebrating […]
In Taylor Swift’s beach town, every clue becomes a wedding rumor
WESTERLY, R.I. | When a large tent appeared next door to Taylor Swift’s Watch Hill estate this week, it didn’t take long for speculation about the superstar’s impending nuptials to ripple through the affluent New England seaside village — and the internet. Soon, fans were swapping theories online, photographers were staking out vantage points and […]
Movie Review: ‘The Death of Robin Hood’ drains the blood, and life, out of an old English legend
In the opening moments of Michael Sarnoski’s “The Death of Robin Hood,” Hugh Jackman’s Robin shelters on a cold and desolate peatland. A young attacker (Jade Croot) emerges from the dark emptiness beyond his campfire. He grabs her, tells her it was a mistake to bathe. He could smell her downwind. Then he puts a […]
Movie Review: In ‘Toy Story 5,’ it’s (digital) apocalypse now for toys
The “Toy Story” movies, like “Star Wars” and those games Michael Jordan played with the Washington Wizards, pose a problem of canon. The first three movies are a near-perfect trilogy: a series that spanned a childhood: from bedroom playtime to college, from enchantment to loss. The scope didn’t seem epic. The movies rarely strayed much […]
Creative and colorful hats steal the show at the Royal Ascot horse races in England, in photos
ASCOT, Britain | Extravagant, elaborate and sometimes gravity-defying hats take center stage each summer at Royal Ascot, the five-day horse racing festival held at Ascot Racecourse in southern England, a venue founded by Queen Anne in 1711. Read more A person is in custody in a Chicago cross burning investigation, police say
Meet Merlin the duck, a Mexico City streetside regular turned World Cup mascot
MEXICO CITY | Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez may have scored the goals, but a duck stole the show. As Mexico celebrated its World Cup-opening victory over South Africa on Thursday, Merlin, a 2-year-old duck dressed in the national team’s colors, became an unlikely internet sensation and the tournament’s first unofficial mascot. Images of Merlin […]
From YouTube to Hollywood: Digital creators are remaking the movie business
NEW YORK | Some of the most promising young filmmakers in the movie business are arriving in Hollywood already experts at entertaining audiences and going viral. The twin sensations of “Obsession” and “Backrooms” — both by 20-something YouTubers-turned-filmmakers — has put a new spotlight on an increasingly well-trod path to the director’s chair. Hollywood executives […]
What to Stream: ‘Project Hail Mary,’ Colin Farrell in ‘Sugar’ and Myles Smith
The streaming debut of “Project Hail Mary” and Myles Smith’s debut album 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: Colin Farrell plays an alien on Earth in “Sugar,” […]
Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn’s Octagon is ready for Trump’s 80th birthday bash
WASHINGTON | It looks from afar more UFO than UFC. Maybe it’s the kind of contraption that has carried space aliens to the White House to force a meeting with America’s leader. But come closer and you’ll see the contours of the eight-sided cage, 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter and shaped, with careful precision, […]