Tony Award-winning British actor Joan Plowright, widow of Laurence Olivier, dies at 95
LONDON (AP) -- Award-winning British stage actor Joan Plowright, the widow of Laurence Olivier, has died. She was 95. In a statement Friday, her family said Plowright died the previous day, surrounded by her loved ones. "She enjoyed a long and illustrious career across theatre, film and TV over seven decades until blindness made her retire," the family said. Plowright appeared in plays by John Osborne, Shelagh Delaney and Arnold Wesker. The new, rough-hewn, working-class actors like Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Anthony Hopkins were her peers.
David Lynch, visionary filmmaker behind 'Twin Peaks' and 'Mulholland Drive,' dies at 78
David Lynch has died at 78. The filmmaker was celebrated for his uniquely dark vision in such movies as "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" and the TV series "Twin Peaks." His family announced the death in a Facebook post on Thursday. The cause of death and location was not immediately available, but Lynch had been public about the effect emphysema had had on his life. Lynch was a onetime artist who broke through in the 1970s with the surreal "Eraserhead" and rarely failed to startle and inspire audiences and peers in the following decades.
Justin Baldoni sues Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds for $400M in new step in 'It Ends With Us' fight
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "It Ends With Us" actor and director Justin Baldoni has sued his co-star Blake Lively and her husband, "Deadpool" actor Ryan Reynolds, for defamation. Baldoni's suit seeks at least $400 million for damages that include lost future income. The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York on Thursday is the latest legal fallout from the dark romantic drama. It comes about two weeks after Lively sued Baldoni and several others tied to the romantic drama on Tuesday, alleging harassment and a coordinated campaign to attack her reputation for coming forward about her treatment on the set. Baldoni says Lively's allegations of harassment and retaliation are completely false.
Movie Review: Cameron Diaz is 'Back in Action' with Jamie Foxx as glam spies turned dorky parents
Matt and Emily used to be glamorous secret agents. Then she got pregnant, and now they're undercover suburban parents trying to get along with teenage kids. Soon, the past comes calling and the whole family is pulled "Back in Action," as the movie title suggests. Cameron Diaz, also back in action after a decade-long break, brings her welcome easy charm as Emily and has nice chemistry with Jamie Foxx as Matt, but that doesn't mean their dialogue is either funny or logical, writes Associated Press critic Jocelyn Noveck in her review. The movie starts streaming Friday on Netflix.
Donald Trump vows to help 'troubled' Hollywood with Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone
NEW YORK (AP) -- Donald Trump wants to make Hollywood "bigger, better and stronger" and has chosen Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone to help. On Wednesday, the President-elect wrote on his social media site that the three actors would be his eyes and ears to the moviemaking town as special ambassadors. "It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!" Trump wrote. U.S. film and television production has been hampered in recent years, with setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hollywood guild strikes of 2023 and, in the past week, the ongoing wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
Remembering David Lynch's musical legacy: 10 songs to go beyond the films
NEW YORK (AP) -- The loss of singular talent and visionary filmmaker David Lynch is not only felt in the world of cinema, but music, where he had inextricable influence on multiple generations of artists. He composed music for many of his films, collaborated with others, directed music videos, released albums and inspired legions of creatives. You know his films. Now learn about his musical legacy with this playlist. It features everything from Flying Lotus and Moby to Angelo Badalamenti's "Twin Peaks" theme and "In Heaven" from his first film, "Eraserhead."
New Pompeii excavation reveals a large private thermal complex built 2,000 years ago
ROME (AP) -- Pompeii, the ancient Roman city buried by ash and lava in 70 AD, has unearthed a new treasure: a private bathhouse built 2,000 years ago. The director of the surrounding archeological park calls it "perhaps the largest thermal complex in a private house in Pompeii." The newly uncovered baths are decorated with sumptuous mosaics and equipped with a series of hot, warm and cold rooms in the manner of a spa. They were unearthed in the so-called Regio IX, a large central area of Pompeii park still unexplored, where major archaeological excavations are revealing new aspects of Pompeians' daily life.
Sting, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform at FireAid Benefit Concert
NEW YORK (AP) -- Sting, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the performers slated to take the stage at a benefit concert for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief called FireAid. It was originally scheduled to take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. But it has grown in size and will now take place in two venues, the Intuit Dome and the adjacent Kia Forum on Jan. 30. More artists will be announced at a later date. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday at 12pm PDT via Ticketmaster. All proceeds from FireAid will go directly to the event's designated beneficiaries.
Steven Soderbergh, Questlove, Ron Howard and more pay tribute to David Lynch
Questlove, Ron Howard and Steven Soderbergh are among those mourning the death of movie director David Lynch. Sodebergh told The Associated Press that Lynch "was influential but impossible to imitate." Howard called him a "gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart and soul," while Questlove praised him for stressing "the importance of not overworking and taking time out to breathe." Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun says Lynch showed her another world. Billy Corgan, whose band Smashing Pumpkins contributed to the soundtrack for Lynch's "Lost Highway," says "working with him was like a dream out of one of his movies."
He is credited with one of history's most indelible photos. A new documentary questions who took it
It's one of the most enduring images of the Vietnam War -- an Associated Press photograph of a young girl running naked down a street after being caught in a napalm attack. Nick Ut won a Pulitzer Prize for it, and a new documentary is calling into question, a half century later, whether someone else actually took the picture. The AP says it has investigated and hasn't found any evidence to change the record, but says makers of "The Stringer" would not detail all that they found. A lawyer for Ut is trying to block the showing of the film at Sundance next week