Entertainment

DeMonaco mixes social satire with doses of heart-pounding horror This Fourth of July, we’ve got a chance to celebrate America’s birth in a very American way — watching internecine warfare, spasms of savage violence and a dark government conspiracy pulling the strings. That’s right, it’s time for a new Purge. …

‘Ant-Man’ sequel brings female characters to forefront LOS ANGELES, July 4, (AP): The “Ant-Man” sequel may be about tiny superheroes, but the film is making a big statement about female empowerment by featuring Evangeline Lilly’s The Wasp not only in the title, but giving her a larger stake in Marvel’s …

Show on slavery prompts artist to quit Montreal fest PARIS, July 4, (AFP): The Louvre has dedicated a new art tour to Beyonce and Jay-Z after pop’s biggest power couple shot the video for their latest hit in the Paris museum. The R’n’B stars’ hit song “Ape…” — which used …

Funny cast, zippy action scenes lift Marvel sequel Not since Animal against the advice of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker ingested Insta-Growth pills has a movie had as much fun with scale as “Ant-Man and The Wasp.” Among the greatest threats to the shape-shifting heroes of the Marvel sequel are …

A challenging social statement on race, capitalism Writer and director Boots Riley’s crackling first film “Sorry to Bother You” may just be the craziest movie of the year. Fierce, provocative and bold, it’s a challenging social statement about race and capitalism wrapped in a colorful, magical realist coating that will …

Drake’s ‘Scorpion’ shatters every Apple music record NEW YORK, July 3, (Agencies): Sheryl Crow says she is finished with recording albums and will put out one final full-length record next year with an all-star list of collaborators. In an interview broadcast Monday, the nine-time Grammy winner said that her 2019 …

Panahi’s latest focuses on underclass of Iranian womanhood We are now eight years into the 20-year filmmaking ban imposed on Iranian director Jafar Panahi, for allegedly making propaganda against his country’s regime. “3 Faces” is the fourth film he has made illicitly under conditions a lesser director might find paralyzing. …

Spirited and bittersweet comedy At a time when the US borders are being made as hostile as possible to migrants, stories of hopeful outsiders betting the farm on the American Dream hit hard and true in the heart — even one as outwardly oddball as “Crystal Swan,” freshman helmer Darya …

American rockers Thorogood, Harper honored LOS ANGELES, July 2, (RTRS): Attendees of the 39th annual Montreal International Jazz Festival likely all had a familiar refrain in mind: the heat is on. The fest, which runs June 28 to July 7, faced summer temperatures well into the 90s this week, but …

Cellist brings sounds of ‘peace’ to nuns of Iraq’s Mosul NEW YORK, July 1, (AFP): Drake has smashed streaming records with his new album “Scorpion,” with Apple Music and Spotify both reporting unprecedented listenership in its first day. Apple Music said on Instagram that the Canadian hip-hop superstar’s fifth studio …