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Mattel following 'Barbie' with American Girl doll live-action movie

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — “Barbie” may soon be joined by another Mattel doll on the big screen. The toy company is developing a live-action film based on its American Girl doll line, Mattel announced Wednesday.“American Girl” will be produced by Mattel Films, Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment, the production company of “Twilight” and “The Fault in Our Stars." Attached to write the script and produce is Lindsey Anderson Beer, the writer of this year's “Pet Cemetery: Bloodlines.”The project adds to the already teeming pipeline of movies in development for Mattel Films. Following its blockbuster first release, “Barbie,” Mattel Films is prepping some 14 live-action films, including movies based on Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Polly Pocket, Rock ‘Em Sock ’Em Robots and UNO. ‘Barbie’ leads Critics Choice Awards with 18 nominations “Saturday Night Live” has already spoofed the idea of an American Girl doll movie. In April, the NBC sketch comedy show aired a parody traile...

Russell: Americans are torn about the new tipping culture

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

If you’ve ordered a coffee and been asked to tip your barista at Starbucks and hesitated, you’re not alone: If you don’t tip, will your chipper barista be let down? What does everyone else do?This was the subject of a fascinating new study by the Pew Research Center, which created an interactive fictional American town, “Tipping Point,” that asks users how they would tip in various situations and then lets you see how your answers compare to others.The survey is timely: Establishments requiring or asking for tips has increased. If I’m at a business and an employee hands me an iPad, I know I’m about to be asked to tip them on something that I’ve probably never paid a tip for before.According to Pew, 72% of U.S. adults say that tipping is expected in more places today than it was five years ago. Some have dubbed this new era “tipflation” because it seems so excessive.High-tech electronics are not the only cause. It seems like a trickle-down effect of participation trophies, the trend ...

Why the author of a new book about Francis Ford Coppola focused on three films

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

When Francis Ford Coppola was at his frenzied peak, he created astonishing worlds onscreen. Offscreen, he was intent on doing the same, striving to build a utopian creative community with his American Zoetrope and Zoetrope Studios.While pushing boundaries and challenging conventions, however, Coppola spread himself thin, which undermined his vast ambitions. For a long time, however, he came out on top with films including “The Godfather,” “The Godfather II,” “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now.”Until he didn’t.The failure of his 1981 film “One from the Heart,” a musical romance with Teri Garr, Frederic Forrest, Raul Julia and Nastassja Kinski, was heartbreaking for Coppola not just because the movie bombed but also because its financial failure undermined his dreams to revolutionize Hollywood and make a home for creative artists.Sam Wasson’s “The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story” isn’t a full-on biography of the director. Wasson forgoes deep dives into later films l...

Video: Man armed with knife shot by California police after stabbing his mother

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

A 38-year-old man armed with a knife was shot several times by an officer after stabbing himself and his mother in their North Long Beach residence in November, body-worn camera footage released on Wednesday, Dec. 13, shows.On the morning of Nov. 8, a 911 caller reported that her son, Eriberto Penaloza, had started stabbing himself with a knife and was threatening to kill his family at their home in the 300 block of 69th Way, according to the Long Beach Police Department. Officers were initially responding to the incident as an attempted suicide but while heading to the house, learned that Penaloza had stabbed his mother.The mother, along with Penaloza’s younger brother, had barricaded themselves inside a bedroom.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | California police shoot, kill woman pointing gun at 3-year-old boy Crime and Public Safety | Berkeley police video shows officer shooting suspect during November incident Crime and Public Safety | ...

‘Pervasive pornography,’ vulgarity, profanity banned by California school board

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

Pervasive pornography, erotica and “inappropriate vulgarity or profanity” are banned from instructional materials under policy changes passed by Temecula’s school board Tuesday night, Dec. 12.The Temecula Valley Unified School District board’s 3-2 vote followed discussion over the policy’s timing and criticism from residents who fear the policy will censor valuable lessons and classic literature.The revised policy states that the district’s “education program, including all of its instructional materials “shall not include pervavsive (sic) pornography, erotica,” depictions of sexual violence and “inappropriate vulgarity or profanity, or other obscene material.”The policy also calls for learning materials to be “educationally suitable.” View this document on Scribd“The Board recognizes that determinations regarding appropriateness and compliance with this policy with respect to the program and instructional materials often must be made case-by-case and in context,” the policy states...

Former Disneyland boss Dick Nunis dies at 91

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

Dick Nunis learned directly from Walt Disney how to run Disneyland and went on to play a key role in the development of the Anaheim theme park, Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.The Disney Legend and former Disneyland executive vice president died on Wednesday, Dec. 13 in Orlando, Florida at the age of 91, according to the Walt Disney Company.“Dick took the values and philosophies he learned directly from Walt and incorporated them into everything he did at Disney,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement released by the company.Disney Legend and former Disneyland executive vice president Dick Nunis. (Courtesy of the Walt Disney Company) Born in Cedartown, Georgia on May 30, 1932, Nunis made his way west on a University of Southern California football scholarship and took a job at Disneyland on a lark after his dreams of playing professional football were cut short by a broken neck playing the sport he loved.After graduating from USC, Nunis landed a summer job...

Joe Biden Keeps Repeating His False Claim That He Saw Pictures of Beheaded Babies

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

On October 11, four days after the Hamas-led attacks in Israel, President Joe Biden addressed a group of Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room of the Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. “I’ve been doing this a long time,” Biden said. “I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.”It was a jarring statement. And it was false.Biden had seen no such pictures, nor received any such confirmation. He made those comments after Nicole Zedeck, a journalist for Israel’s i24 News, reported that 40 babies had been decapitated, citing Israeli soldiers at the scene of the attacks at Kfar Aza. A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently stated that babies and toddlers had been found with their “heads decapitated.”Three hours later, Biden promoted the claim to the world and asserted he personally saw pictures of the horrifying scene, giving the story supreme legitimacy.Hamas denied the ...

Bank of England holds interest rates at a 15-year high despite worries about the economy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England kept borrowing rates unchanged Thursday despite mounting worries over the state of the British economy, and it showed little sign that it is contemplating cutting them anytime soon — unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve.The central bank left its main interest rate at a 15-year high of 5.25%, where it has stood since August following the end of nearly two years of hikes. Six of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep rates on hold while three wanted a quarter-point hike — a clear signal to the markets that rate cuts are not on the agenda yet.That was backed up by bank Gov. Andrew Bailey, who said in a statement that interest rate policy would likely have to remain “restrictive for an extended period of time.”The Bank of England has managed to get inflation down from a four-decade high of over 11% — but there’s still a ways to go for it to get back to the bank’s 2% target. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price ind...

Jabil: Fiscal Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — ST PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jabil Inc. (JBL) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of $194 million.The St Petersburg, Florida-based company said it had net income of $1.47 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $2.60 per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.54 per share.The electronics manufacturer posted revenue of $8.39 billion in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $8.35 billion.For the current quarter ending in February, Jabil expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.73 to $2.13.The company said it expects revenue in the range of $7 billion to $7.6 billion for the fiscal second quarter.Jabil expects full-year earnings to be $9 per share, with revenue expected to be $31 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://auto...

Putin says there will be no peace in Ukraine until his goals, still unchanged, are achieved

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:47:49 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation marking the national holiday celebrated on December 12 - Constitution Day, at the Novo-Ogaryovo State residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Mikhail Tereshchenko, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)(AP/Mikhail Tereshchenko) Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with judges of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation marking the national holiday celebrated on December 12 - Constitution Day, at the Novo-Ogaryovo State residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. (Mikhail Tereshchenko, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)(AP/Mikhail Tereshchenko) ...