Entertainment

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 1, (Agencies): George and Amal Clooney said on Monday they would help 3,000 Syrian refugee children go to school this year in Lebanon, where the United Nations says 200,000 children are not receiving an education after fleeing the war in neighboring Syria. The Clooney Foundation for Justice …

Randy Newman’s new album includes a song cataloging American carnage titled, “It’s a Jungle Out There,” which he says he doesn’t really believe. Quite the opposite, in fact. His life is good. Nearly 50 years into Newman’s recording career, he’s still widely beloved by the rock ‘n’ roll generation, even …

NEW YORK, Aug 1, (AP): Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Oscar-nominated actor and celebrated author whose plays chronicled the explosive fault lines of family and masculinity in the American West, has died. He was 73. Family spokesman Chris Boneau said Monday that Shepard died Thursday at his home in …

NEW YORK, July 31, (AFP): Rap legends A Tribe Called Quest announced Sunday they were retiring — at least from playing their native New York — as they bid a poignant farewell to late member Phife Dawg. The group — who, as hip-hop became mainstream in the 1990s, took the …

LOS ANGELES, July 31, (AP): In 2016, “Moonlight” won best picture and “Hidden Figures” was the 14th highest grossing film of the year, but popular Hollywood films remained as white and male-dominated as ever. A new report from the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern …

SAN JUAN, July 31, (AFP): Something unusual is happening in La Perla, a poor barrio clinging to a steep hillside between Old San Juan and the sea where the video for the pop hit “Despacito” was filmed. “The gringos are coming!” Outsiders were afraid to venture in before, but since …

LOS ANGELES, July 29, (RTRS): A bustling metropolis rising from desert sands. A city cradled by the warm, blue waters of the Persian Gulf. An economic powerhouse of great wealth. Jaw-dropping architecture at every turn. This is Abu Dhabi, second-largest city (the largest is Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates …

ROME, July 29, (Agencies): The oldest film festival in the world is going big on nail-biters this year with thrillers dominating the race for Venice’s coveted Golden Lion award, organisers said Thursday. Stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are expected to be among the …

NEW YORK, July 29, (Agencies): Jessica Williams says it’s a great time to be an actress of color, and applauds Netflix for leading the way in promoting diversity. Williams, who cut her teeth as a correspondent on “The Daily Show,” takes on her first starring role in the streaming network’s …

There is no nice or pretty way to tell a story about the systemic oppression and mistreatment of black people in the United States. It’s fitting then that Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit ,” an account of the murders of three unarmed black men that took place in the Algiers Motel in …