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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, […]
Movie Review: This train’s going fast, but the jokes fly even faster in “Stop! That! Train!’
Presidential candidates take note: If you ever want an effectively simple campaign slogan, you could do worse than this: “SHE FUN!” That’s the slogan that got President Judy Gagwell — aka RuPaul — elected, and if it puts a smile on your face, it’s a good sign that lots of other, er, gags from Gagwell […]
Insider tour of the Sagrada Familia reveals 5 divine enigmas and hidden treasures
BARCELONA, Spain | The Sagrada Familia basilica features sandcastle-like spires, stone carved to look like lush flora, a kaleidoscopic interior and a trove of treasures, some hiding in plain sight. Even regular worshippers at Barcelona’s world-famous landmark find themselves dumbstruck with wonder. Josep Turull, the Catalan rector of the Sagrada Familia and the priest in […]
Pope honors Barcelona’s sacred monuments on death centenary of Sagrada Familia designer Gaudí
BARCELONA, Spain | Pope Leo XIV honored Barcelona’s most sacred and beautiful monuments Wednesday by first leading a noontime prayer at a mountain-top abbey, hours before he was due to give an evening Mass at the famed Sagrada Familia Basilica on the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí. The celebration of Barcelona’s […]
The AP’s gardening expert has a list of 10 top-performing new plants for this season
Every spring brings a new growing season and, for me and other garden communicators, dozens of not-yet-available sample plants sent by breeders and growers. To try them out, I squeeze some into my beds and borders, tuck others into containers, and plant the rest in the Maternity Ward, a 3-foot-deep strip of soil along the […]