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Review: ‘Rise of the Beasts’ fails to energize the franchise

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

By Mark Kennedy | Associated PressWith the “Transformers” franchise clearly at a crossroads, its latest protectors have turned to their deep bench of characters. But just adding more robots won’t transform this tired series.“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” returns the franchise to its galaxy-wide self-importance after taking a nice detour with 2018’s smaller “Bumblebee.” We have a new cast of animal robots and a very evil enemy in the planet-eating Unicron, but they’re not used right and the movie limps from fight to fight.The key to the film is actually a key, some sort of ancient glowing shaft that will open a portal in space and time. Everyone wants it — to go home, to kill planets or to save planets. The audience may also want to use it to beam into a more interesting movie.Directed by Steven Caple Jr. — using a screenplay by Darnell Metayer, Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber and Josh Peters based on a story by Joby Harold — “...

Collins: It’s only June, but the Republican silly season has begun

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

Whenever I want to put myself to sleep at night, I run through the names of all the former vice presidents. OK, sorta peculiar. It might be time for a break. Maybe I’ll just try making a list of Republican candidates for president.Back when Donald Trump announced it all seemed sorta life-as-usual, but now the race is definitely on. There are currently somewhere between 12 and 400 Republicans eyeing the White House.All the major names are men except Nikki Haley, who’s arguing that “it’s time to put a badass woman in the White House.” Well, yeah. There’s very little chance Haley’s campaign is going anywhere, but I think we can all agree she could really perk things up.We’re also expecting some energy from the newly announced candidate Chris Christie. Rather than dodging the whole Donald Trump matter whenever possible, Christie stresses that he’s running to save the country from a former close colleague who he now calls a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog.”And that’s just...

Review: Eva Longoria directs a spicy origin story

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

By Mark Kennedy | Associated PressFlamin’ Hot Cheetos get an origin story worthy of any Marvel superhero with Hulu’s totally engrossing “Flamin’ Hot.” It’s the tale of how a struggling Mexican American janitor came up with the idea of adding spice to the cornmeal, forever saving after-school snacking.Is it true? Probably not. Don’t let that stop you.You’ll wish “Flamin’ Hot” was accurate because it’s a winning tale of perseverance, family love, proud heritage and blue-collar success, told with a wink, some Cheetos dust and a ton of love by Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut.Jesse Garcia stars as Richard Montañez, a one-time Frito-Lay floor-sweeper in southern California who convinced his bosses to make a snack that celebrates the flavors of Mexico despite a seven-layer dip of sceptics.“New products take years to develop, cost millions to launch and they do not get created by blue-collar hoodlums, who p...

Official says two migrants drowned trying to reach Spain in two boats, 132 arrive safely

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

MADRID (AP) — The bodies of two migrants were found on a beach in southeastern Spain after 132 other people arrived in two boats Friday, a government official said. The two died while trying to swim to the coast, José María Martín, a central government official in the city of Almería told reporters. Martín said they were victims of criminal human smuggling gangs.The two boats carrying migrants are believed to have set sail from Morocco. Spain’s state news agency said the operators had forced the people who died to leave their boat.There were no details on their nationalities. Thousands of migrants from northwest and sub-Saharan African countries try to reach Spain in overloaded boats each year. Many die in the attempt.___Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migrationSource

Nuggets’ Christian Braun seeking NBA title a year after winning NCAA championship

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Denver Nuggets rookie Christian Braun is showing that the NBA Finals is not too big of a stage for him. The 21st pick in the draft last summer, Braun has made the most of his minutes off the bench, sinking 10 of 12 shots, grabbing a half dozen rebounds and collecting four steals against the Miami Heat while giving teammates an extended breather. “That’s a rare rookie right here,” Aaron Gordon said. “From Day 1 he’s been on top of it. This is a real winner right here. I say that because he’s always in the right spot. He’s in the right place at the right time, and he’s been doing that all year.” Braun has a chance to become just the fifth player in NBA history to win an NBA title a year after winning the NCAA championship, joining Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Henry Bibby and Billy Thompson. Braun gave the Nuggets a much-needed lift in Denver’s Game 3 rout of the Heat. With Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray making history with the first dual triple-double in the NBA Finals, B...

Bud Light sales keep slipping. But it remains America’s top-selling beer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

New York (CNN) — Roughly two months after Bud Light endured a self-induced injury that torpedoed sales, the brand continues to lose ground to its competition. But there are signs the worst might be over.Sales for the week leading into Memorial Day weekend fell 23.9% from the same period a year ago. That constitutes a slight improvement compared to the week prior when sales were 25.7% lower than a year earlier. That could indicate that the “bottom has been hit and we are seeing a turn-around in performance,” according to Bump Williams, an alcohol industry expert.For the past several weeks, Bud Light sales declines have hovered around 25% weekly because of customer revolt following an Instagram partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. A single can bearing her face was given to her for a post, but some right-wing media attacked the brand, and some social media posts spewed transphobic comments.Anheuser-Busch’s tepid statement about the controversy also angered some LGBTQ...

Champions League final: Man City could begin new era of European dominance

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — If, as many expect, Manchester City wins the Champions League title on Saturday, it will be mission complete for the Abu Dhabi-backed club. European soccer finally conquered. The last barrier to the game’s traditional elite broken.To City, the Champions League trophy represents more than just the silverware on offer if it can beat Inter Milan in Istanbul’s Ataturk Olimpiyat Stadium. It would be a statement to the long-standing powerhouses of soccer that the team once dismissed by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as “noisy neighbors,” has truly arrived. “So many clubs have destroyed projects and ideas because they weren’t able to win this competition, and so many have become big clubs because they were able to win it,” Pep Guardiola said this week. For all the success City has achieved over a dizzying 15-year period when it suddenly became one of the richest soccer teams in the world, the pinnacle of the European game has remained jus...

ANÁLISIS | El dos veces procesado Trump se enfrenta ahora a su segunda acusación penal mientras busca recuperar la Casa Blanca

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

(CNN) — Donald Trump, que a menudo miente, sin duda dijo la verdad cuando afirmó que este jueves era un “día oscuro” para Estados Unidos.La publicación en redes sociales del expresidente describió correctamente la magnitud de su acusación por el presunto mal manejo de documentos clasificados, aunque ignoró por completo cualquier culpabilidad personal en el caso.Pero la primera imputación de un expresidente por un jurado investigador federal empujó al país a un momento sin precedentes y peligroso de su historia, en un contexto en el que la política ya ha provocado un distanciamiento interno.Lo que hay que saber sobre la acusación a Trump en el caso de los documentos clasificadosLas investigaciones penales de expresidentes y actuales candidatos presidenciales pueden ser habituales en los tambaleantes países en desarrollo. Pero en Estados Unidos no existe ningún paralelismo con un ex comandante en jefe que se enfrente a cargos federales, y mucho menos con alguien que ...

Arlington Public Schools updates student grading policy with retakes, late assignment options

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

Superintendent Francisco Durán said he has signed off on changes to the middle and high school grading policy at Arlington Public Schools that will allow students to retake or redo assignments and reduce the weight of quizzes or homework on a student’s overall grade.Under the new policy, which is scheduled to go into effect July 1, according to school board documents, students will have the opportunity to retake or revise class assignments like tests, projects or essays.School system teachers will be responsible for determining how the assignment is changed, how long students have and how a retake is implemented. Only the higher score, the policy says, will be used to calculate the student’s grade.The changes come as part of the school system’s new approach to grading that emphasizes equity. It has worked to pilot and implement equitable grading processes across the division in recent months. As part of the policy revision process, Durán said, he formed a working g...

Denver weather: Warmer Friday with afternoon thunderstorms

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:26:31 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver weather will stay in the pattern of dry mornings followed by afternoon thunderstorms Friday. The chance for showers and thunderstorms will increase through the weekend.Weather Friday: Warmer, afternoon thunderstorms Thanks to a sunny start to the day, high temperatures will climb to around 80 degrees, which is right in line with normal for this time of year.Pinpoint Weather: Morning sunshine June 9 brings warm temperatures to the state.However, mid-day clouds will start to build in ahead of Friday afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Pinpoint Weather: Marginal chance for severe thunderstorms June 9.There is a marginal chance for thunderstorms to become strong to severe east of Denver and in the southeast corner of Colorado into Kansas. Weather tonight: Showers ending, mild temperaturesShowers and thunderstorms will stick around through Friday evening and then wrap up overnight. Denver will be left with a partly cloudy sky and low temperatu...