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Would Siskel and Ebert give thumbs up to this new book about them?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

Rick Kogan | Chicago Tribune (TNS)I do not know Matt Singer, the author of “Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,” which was published Oct. 24 and which the Tribune’s Michael Phillips recently praised, calling it “a good story, told adroitly and often movingly.”To a point, that assessment is true. But I wanted more. And that’s my problem.Again, I do not know Singer but I knew Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert (and worked and socialized with both), as well as many of the other people who played parts both prominent and minor in the lives of this remarkable pair, and who pepper the 352 pages of this book.Singer told Phillips that as he was preparing to present his literary agent with a proposal, he “looked back at Ebert’s memoir and thought: That’s a great book. But there are only three chapters on Siskel and Ebert. So maybe there’s room for a book like mine to exist.”That “maybe” convinced Singer’s agent and G.P. Putnam’s Sons, which published the book. It has 12...

‘Priscilla’ review: The starry road to Lonely Street — and the Presley movie we needed

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

Michael Phillips | Chicago TribuneThere’s a lot of quiet — in an empty living room save for one woman, at Graceland, in other spaces, a few seconds of solitude representing minutes and hours and years — in the new film “Priscilla,” from writer-director Sofia Coppola.The movie couldn’t tell its truth without it. We’re witnessing a version of Priscilla Presley’s singularly strange and wondrous life in the eye of the hurricane known as Elvis Presley. Last year’s Baz Luhrmann “Elvis” biopic had little interest in the eye; the movie was all hurricane and fancy packaging. “Priscilla” opens a different and, I think, far more intriguing package.Coppola has made a generation’s worth of features by now, since “The Virgin Suicides” in 1999. This is her eighth, not counting her staging of an Italian opera production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.” “Priscilla” is one of her best, as well as her latest, most carefully considered evocation of celebrity, intimacy and the tantalizing, precarious intersect...

Hot Property: A 9-acre estate in West Hyannisport

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

The sudden — although sadly not unexpected — drop in New England temperatures has us daydreaming of warmer days. As we gird our loins for the dreaded “fall back” you can catch us on the pristine shores of Nantucket Sound at 251 Green Dunes Drive in West Hyannisport.Boasting an oceanfront expanse that spans 1,855 of your very own private beach sanctuary, the dreamy 9-acre estate is an all-season retreat to be enjoyed for generations. Its dramatic natural setting, nestled between Halls Creek, dunes, and coastal vegetation, can be enjoyed from nearly every vantage point thanks to windows galore. Blazing orange and pink sunsets and gentle sunrises fill the property as you watch sunlight and moonlight dance across the water.Close to a 10,000 square-foot interior with eight bedrooms, nine full baths, and two half-baths, the property is eager to welcome family and loved ones into its fold. Whether you’re entertaining in the double-height living room, cooking up a storm in the blue-tinged, ...

Missing Whitman woman’s body found in Boston airport garage as suspected Lowell man escapes to Kenya

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

Authorities have issued a warrant for a Lowell man who flew to Kenya after the body of a woman known to him was found last night in a Logan Airport garage.State Police troopers assigned to the airport found a vehicle they say was “occupied by a deceased adult female” in the central parking garage of the airport at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.They determined the body was that of Margaret Mbitu, 31, who had been reported missing from Whitman, according to a State Police statement. The police say that Kevin Kangethe, 40, of Lowell, is the suspect in her death and that he had boarded a flight to Kenya.Authorities issued an arrest warrant charging Kangethe with Mbitu’s homicide and are working with Kenyan authorities to find him.An image shared Wednesday on social media by BAMSI, a Brockton-based organization that states on its website it works with people with developmental disabilities and mental and behavioral health challenges, said that Mbitu was an employee there and had not been se...

Former Memphis police officer pleads guilty to federal charges in Tyre Nichols’ death

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

By JONATHAN MATTISE and TRAVIS LOLLER (Associated Press)MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A former Memphis police officer pleaded guilty Thursday in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, becoming the first of five officers charged to reverse course, with prosecutors recommending up to 15 years in prison.Desmond Mills Jr. entered his plea during a hearing at the Memphis federal courthouse as part of a larger agreement to settle charges in state court as well. It wasn’t immediately clear if any of the other officers would follow suit. Attorneys for three of the officers declined to comment and William Massey, the lawyer for Emmitt Martin, said in an email that they “will stay the course” with the former officer’s criminal defense.Mills pleaded guilty to federal charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice and agreed to plead guilty to related state charges. Mills also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. The final sentencing decision rests with the judge. Mill...

Eric Trump testifies he wasn’t aware of dad’s financial statements, but emails show some involvement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Trump, one of two sons entrusted to run Donald Trump’s real estate empire, swore Thursday that he never involved himself with financial statements that state lawyers say fraudulently puffed up the ex-president’s wealth and the worth of the family business.But when a lawyer for New York state lawyer pulled up decade-old emails in which a fellow Trump Organization executive asked him for information needed to complete one of his dad’s financial statements, the irritated son strove to clarify.“We’re a major organization, a massive real estate organization — yes, I’m fairly sure I understand that we have financial statements. Absolutely,” Eric Trump testified. But, he insisted: “I had no involvement and never worked on my father’s statement of financial condition.”Eric Trump followed brother Donald Trump Jr. to the witness stand Thursday a...

Federal agents search home of fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal agents on Thursday raided the home of a top fundraiser and longtime confidante to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who abruptly ditched a planned White House meeting and flew home from Washington.Agents searched the home of Brianna Suggs in Brooklyn on Thursday, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official, who was not authorized to publicly disclose details of the investigation, spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.The official did not disclose specific details of the investigation and declined to say whether Suggs was the target of an investigation.In a statement, a lawyer for Adams, Vito Pitta, said the mayor “will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate,” adding that the campaign “has always held itself to the highest standards.” Suggs, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is a campaign consultant to Adams who raised money for his election effort and also lobbied his administration on behalf of co...

Guatemala electoral authorities suspend President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s party

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The electoral body in charge of regulating Guatemala’s political groups, known as the Citizen Registry, announced the suspension Thursday of President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s Seed Movement party.A judge had granted the party’s suspension at the request of the Attorney General’s Office back in July, shortly before Arévalo was declared the second-place finisher in the initial round of voting. But a higher court ruled that the party could not be suspended during the election cycle, which only ended Oct. 31.Arévalo went on to win a runoff in August and is scheduled to take office in January.However, since the original judge’s order for the party’s suspension remained pending, the Citizen Registry said Thursday it executed the order. Neither the party nor Arévalo immediately commented.The Attorney General’s Office has alleged wrongdoing in the way the party collected the necessary signatures to register years earlier. Observers say Attorney General Consuelo Porras ...

State funded some trips for ex-North Dakota senator charged with traveling to pay for sex with minor

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former North Dakota legislator charged with traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor used state funds to pay for at least three trips to that city and to other destinations in Europe, according to a group that organized the travel.Travel records from the North Dakota School Boards Association show that former state senator Ray Holmberg used public funding for trips in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to Prague in the Czech Republic and to other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin. The trips were arranged through the Germany-based Global Bridges teacher exchange program, which received funding from the North Dakota Legislature.A federal indictment unsealed Monday charged Holmberg with traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor and also with receiving images depicting child sexual abuse. Holmberg, 79, has pleaded not guilty.It’s unclear whether the alleged conduct happened during the publicly funded trips. But the indictm...

Canadian Press NewsAlert: TVA Group lays off 500-plus employees amid restructuring

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:36 GMT

MONTREAL — The TVA Group says it will lay off 547 employees, or 31 per cent of its workforce, as part of restructuring that includes overhauling its news division, ending its in-house entertainment content production and optimizing its real estate assets.More coming.Companies in this story: (TSX:QRB.B)The Canadian Press