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‘Night Swim’ treads water, sinks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

You learn not to expect that much from a horror movie being released the first week of the year, when theater auditoriums continue to draw folks with higher-profile movies that hit on or around Christmas Day.However, “M3GAN” — a tale of an artificial intelligence designed for children going epically out of control — arrived in that window last year with a fun mix of scares and laughs.That provided hope that “Night Swim” — an offering from the “M3GAN” triad of Universal Pictures, Atomic Monster and BlumHouse washing into theaters this week — would be similarly entertaining.But while “Night Swim” stays afloat for a while, it drowns in its third act.The problem isn’t that “Night Swim” — written and directed by Bryce McGuire, who based it on his 2014 short film of the same name and shares the story credit with Rod Blackhurst — eschews the mildly campy tone that worked well for “M3GAN.” After all, a haunted backyard swimming pool is, as you come to observe, deadly serious business. But t...

Scheinmann: Elite universities’ culture problem must be solved

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation puts an end to a short and embarrassing era at America’s oldest university. Her unfeeling response and admission, under oath to Congress, that calls for genocide against Jews and antisemitic speech do not violate university guidelines were public relations disasters. Her tolerance of Jew-hatred on campus enabled the worst instincts to surface and spread fear amongst Jewish students. The message sent to young Americans was clear: antisemitism is prevalent on our campuses, but there’s little we can and will do about it.Her resignation is necessary, but not sufficient to actually change the culture at elite universities. The increasingly radical and antisemitic views of a younger generation of college students are a feature, and not a bug, of today’s higher education.It is therefore unsurprising that the views of college-age students, captured by a Harvard-Harris poll, on Hamas’s attack and Israel in general are so disturbing. Shockingly, 36...

Editorial: Warren waters down ‘steadfast’ support of Israel

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

Sen. Elizabeth Warren stands firmly with Israel in battling terrorism and defending its right to exist.Unless that position ticks off her progressive staffers.Warren posted on X Thursday: “When it comes to military aid to Israel, the U.S. cannot write a blank check for a right-wing government that’s demonstrated an appalling disregard for Palestinian lives. The U.S. should use all the tools at its disposal to condition aid & move the parties toward a lasting peace.”As Politico reported, the Massachusetts Democrat was all-in for Israel right after the Oct. 7 slaughter by Hamas terrorists. In an emotional speech at the same pro-Israel rally where Sen. Ed Markey was booed for calling for de-escalation, Warren said there is “no justification for terrorism ever” and pledged that America would be a “steadfast ally” to Israel.What happened between then and now?A late October open letter by more than 260 staffers from her 2020 presidential campaign. In it, they demande...

Sentimental ‘All of Us Strangers’ tries too hard

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

How is it that “All of Us Strangers,” this strange little gay fable from “The Twilight Zone,” is on the receiving end of such rapturous reviews from some critics, many of them on the festival circuit? It may be because the film co-stars Irish actor and critics’ darling Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), who is currently filming “Gladiator 2,”and features an admittedly wrenching performance from Irishman Andrew Scott, perhaps best known as Professor Moriarty in that almost-good Benedict Cumberbatch “Sherlock” series and as “Fleabag”’s “hot priest.”Directed and co-written by Andrew Haigh (“45 Years”) based on the 1988 novel “Strangers” by Japanese author Taichi Yamada, the film is an odd bird. Haigh added the gay element. Scott is Adam, a single gay screenwriter who never gets past a few opening words of his latest screenplay. He is interrupted by a knock at the door. It is Harry, (Mescal), a handsome gay neighbor with a bottle of Scotch and a flirtatious manner. Will Adam invite s...

‘Memory’ romance a showcase for stellar cast

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

“Memory” is a romance about two severely damaged people who find one another and fall in love in Brooklyn. Sylvia (Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain) is an adult care-worker from a family with money. She lives in a semi-shabby, carefully locked and alarm-equipped apartment near an elevated subway with her 13-year-old daughter Anna (Brooke Timber), who she walks to school every day. Sylvia will not allow Anna to attend parties with older boys.One evening, Sylvia attends a high school reunion and a strange man sits beside her. His name is Saul Shapiro (Peter Sarsgaard), and he follows her home and stands outside Sylvia’s apartment in the rain. This may remind some viewers of the lover who dies after standing outside his beloved’s window in the rain in James Joyce’s short story “The Dead.” Sylvia’s calls the man’s contact number, his brother Isaac (Josh Charles), who lives in a townhouse with his daughter and Saul. Sylvia, an AA member who has been sob...

Dear Abby: It’s time to cut the apron strings, mom

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband and I moved near the ocean last year. I have two sons, 21 and 17. My older son moved across the country with some friends. The younger son, “Cody,” chose at the last minute to stay with his dad.Abby, it has been awful. Cody dropped out of high school and did not keep up with his home-school work. He quit his jobs, and he’s on depression medication. This week, both boys moved where I am. My house is small, so I got them an apartment in my name. The landlord thinks I’m going to be living there.My question is, how often should I go there and clean, make dinner and visit? I feel like I’ll want to be there all the time — before work, after work and on weekends. My husband thinks I should back off, but Cody is only 17 and going through a lot.They moved into the apartment today, so this is still new. Also, is it crazy that I paid to put them in their own apartment? I felt like it was an OK choice since our house is so small. They bo...

Baltimore celebrates historic 20% drop in homicides even as gun violence remains high

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

BALTIMORE (AP) — Long plagued by rampant gun violence, Baltimore recorded less than 300 homicides last year for the first time in nearly a decade, ending a surge that began in 2015 following the death of Freddie Gray, which sparked civil unrest and prompted widespread calls for police reform.The 20% annual decrease, which city leaders called the largest ever, suggests Baltimore’s ongoing anti-violence efforts are working.“We’re finally seeing those efforts paying off and saving lives,” Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference earlier this week.To some extent, Baltimore’s 2023 data is reflected nationwide as many cities have reported declines over the past several months following a pandemic peak. But to Baltimoreans whose loved ones were among the 263 people killed last year in the city, the positive trend is bittersweet. Dozens of mourners gathered outside City Hall for a candlelight vigil Wednesday night where elected officials and community leaders read aloud the victims’ na...

Police officer convicted of killing a Colorado man is set to learn if he will spend time behind bars

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer convicted of killing Elijah McClain, a young Black man walking home from a store, is expected to learn Friday whether a judge will sentence him to prison or he will receive probation. McClain’s mother also may speak at the sentencing hearing.Among the three officers charged in McClain’s 2019 death, Randy Roedema was the only one found guilty and was the most senior officer who initially responded to the scene. A jury convicted the former Aurora officer in October of criminally negligent homicide, which is a felony, and third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor. McClain’s killing received little attention at the time, but gained renewed interest the following year as mass protests swept the nation after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. McClain’s death became a rallying cry for critics of racial injustice in policing. In a separate trial, two paramedics were recently convicted for injecting 23-year-old McClain wit...

Teen kills 6th grader, wounds 5 others and takes own life in Iowa high school shooting, police say

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — A teen armed with a shotgun and a handgun unleashed terror at an Iowa high school on the first day of classes in the new year, authorities said, killing a sixth grader and wounding five others as people hunkered down in classrooms, barricaded offices and fled the barrage of bullets. The suspect, a 17-year-old student at the school in Perry, died of what investigators believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation official said. An administrator, later identified by his alma mater as Perry High School Principal Dan Marburger, was among the five wounded Thursday as students returned from winter break. Authorities identified the shooter as Dylan Butler, 17, but provided no information about a possible motive. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said Butler was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.Authorities said Butler had a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun. Mitch Mortvedt, ...

California hires guards to monitor businessman’s other sites under I-10 after freeway fire

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:56:37 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — More than a month after an arson fire at a storage yard damaged a key Los Angeles freeway, the state has hired security guards to watch out for smoke and other trouble at three additional sites beneath Interstate 10 that were leased to the same bankrupt businessman.Associated Press journalists visited the properties and saw wooden pallets and other hazardous and flammable material much like what fed the Nov. 11 inferno under the freeway, which is used by 300,000 vehicles daily. Rats scurried beneath cars, trucks and RVs in various states of repair as electrical wiring snaked across the ground.The state has subcontracted the security services as it fights to evict Ahmad Anthony Nowaid and scores of tenants subleasing through him in violation of his contracts with the California Department of Transportation (or Caltrans), according to court records.They are due back in court this month.No arrests have been announced in the arson case that forced a one-week closure o...