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‘Closer to Vermeer’ a feast for art-lovers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

What makes Johannes Vermeer aka “the Sphinx of Deft” so unique? Is it the way the artist, who lived from 1632 to 1675, bathes his subjects in natural light? The faces of his famous, frequently female subjects appear to glow from within. Is it the complexity of his grasp of perspective? Vermeer’s tiled floors look like mathematical experiments. Was anyone as fond of tiled floors (and Turkish carpets) as Vermeer? We’ve seen “Girl with the Pearl Earring,” a 2003 fiction film about Vermeer (Colin Firth) and the young servant girl (Scarlett Johansson), who was his model and assistant for the painting of the same name. “Close to Vermeer” is a record of a Vermeer exhibit that gathers together 37 Vermeers from Europe and the U.S., including one “The Girl with Flute,” whose authenticity is disputed.The film largely follows Gregor Weber, who describes himself as a scientist and serves as the director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Weber is a year from retirement. But first he wa...

Tepid ‘Theater Camp’ not ready for opening night

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

I’m sure “Theater Camp” sounded like a good idea. Why not make a film, a mockumentary in fact, that was a throwback to those old movies in which Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney save the day by “putting on a show.” The number one problem for “Theater Camp” is evident from the start. To begin with, naming your theater camp in the Adirondacks “Adirond ACTS” is not funny. The line between clever and just plain stupid is fine, indeed. But it must be respected.When Joan Rubinsky (Amy Sedaris) faints and fall into a coma, her supposedly (but not really) business savvy son Troy (Jimmy Tatro, TV’s “Home Economics”) takes over her theater camp, where the artistic directors are Amos (Ben Platt, who also co-wrote the original songs) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon). Amos is gay. He and Rebecca-Diane are best friends (Platt and Gordon are childhood friends). Glenn (Noah Galvin, Platt’s real-life partner) is the underappreciated technical supervisor and teacher of stagecraft (i.e...

DePetris: Can the U.S. and U.N. do anything about Haiti?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

Last week, the United Nations Security Council, a body typically riven by substantive disagreements among its permanent member states, managed to come together on Haiti. The small, impoverished nation of 11.5 million has been in a desperate state even before its former president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in his home two years ago. The U.S. and Russia don’t agree on much these days, but both are sufficiently like-minded to call for an international intervention force that would help the Haitian National Police take back control of the country.Unfortunately, while most recognize some form of outside involvement is necessary, nobody wants to lead the effort. This includes the United States, which has its own controversial history dabbling in Haitian politics. (The U.S. occupied the country for nearly 20 years early in the 20th century.) The Biden administration has hoped to persuade Canada to take ownership of an intervention, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has demur...

Dear Abby: Aging mom refuses to discuss the inevitable

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

Dear Abby: My mom turns 85 this year. When my father died of congestive heart failure 10 years ago, our family had a clear understanding of Dad’s wishes about the end-of-life care he wanted. We knew he didn’t want “heroic measures,” like a feeding tube or to be on a ventilator. Since Dad had been sick for a few years and he was open to these discussions, Mom felt confident making choices for his care when he could no longer communicate his wishes.With Mom, it is a completely different story. She refuses to have conversations about this with my siblings and me, and accuses us of being “morbid.” Although she has a will, she has made no decisions about a proxy or for her care. Do you have any suggestions for how we can help Mom feel more comfortable having these conversations and documenting her wishes? — Loving, Not Morbid, DaughterDear Daughter: Offer your mother resources that normalize discussions about end-of-life wishes and care. Helping ...

1-year-old killed in North County shooting identified

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

FALLBROOK, Calif. -- A 1-year-old girl who was accidentally shot and killed by her 3-year-old sibling has been identified, authorities said.Jessa Osmera was announced as the deceased, Lt. Joseph Jarjura with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a news release Thursday.The shooting occurred Monday around 7:30 a.m. in the 1100 block of South Stagecoach Lane, according to law enforcement.When deputies arrived on scene, they found Osmera with a head injury. Carlsbad Unified School District passes ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging’ plan Authorities determined Osmera's sibling got ahold of an unsecured gun and shot the 1-year-old.The victim was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries, the sheriff's department said. There were no other injuries in the shooting.Detectives continue to investigate as no arrests have been made at this time.The name of the 3-year-old will not be released.Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Hom...

What to stream this weekend: Steph Curry doc, Greta Van Fleet, ‘Justified,’ ‘Minx’ and Pikmin

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

A documentary on Apple TV+ that chronicles the atypical path Stephen Curry took to becoming a basketball legend plus new tunes from the rock band Greta Van Fleet are among the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.Among the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are Laura McGann’s documentary “The Deepest Breath” which plunges into the world of free diving and Starz has given the workplace comedy “Minx” a new home and a berth for season two.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— Laura McGann’s documentary “The Deepest Breath” plunges into the world of free diving, a sometimes deadly sport in which divers descend into watery depths with only a nose plug to defend from fluctuations in air pressure. The film, which made a well-reviewed debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, premiered Wednesday on Netflix. It’s an immersive descent into a silent underwater realm and the risk-takers compelled to sink themselves...

Mother and 3 children dead in possible Oklahoma murder-suicide

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

VERDEGRIS, Okla. (AP) — A woman and her three children were found dead in an Oklahoma home on Thursday evening in what may be a murder-suicide following an hours-long standoff, authorities said.The names of the victims weren’t immediately released.The standoff began in the small town of Verdigris, a suburb east of Tulsa, after a woman told a patrolling police officer at around 4 p.m. that another woman with a gun held her hostage in a garage, Police Chief Jack Shackleford said, KOKI-TV reported.The woman also said there were children in the home and the officer called for reinforcements, Shackleford said.Several agencies surrounded the house, including a SWAT team from the Cherokee Nation.Authorities entered the home around 7:30 p.m. and found the bodies of the woman and three children, believed to range in age from several months to around 11 years old.A handgun was found at the scene and the killings are being investigated as a murder-suicide, authorities said.Shackleford sa...

Autocratic Cambodian leader paving way for son, a West Point graduate with PhD in economics, to rule

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Hun Sen has been his country’s autocratic prime minister for nearly four decades, during which the opposition has been stifled and the country has grown increasingly close to China.With his Cambodian People’s Party virtually guaranteed another landslide victory in this Sunday’s election, it’s hard to imagine dramatic change on the horizon. But the 70-year-old former communist Khmer Rouge fighter and Asia’s longest-serving leader says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, a four-star general who heads the country’s army.A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Hun Manet, 45, also has a master’s degree from NYU and a doctorate in economics from Britain’s Bristol University. His speeches tend to broadly praise his father’s government but are short on specifics about issues, so it’s hard to know if his background may portend political change.But it will take work for the ...

Sunak’s Conservatives suffer big defeats but avoid a wipeout in trio of UK special elections

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party avoided a drubbing Friday in a trio of special elections, managing to hold onto former premier Boris Johnson’s seat in suburban London.Though the main opposition Labour Party and the smaller centrist Liberal Democrats overturned massive Conservative majorities to win a seat apiece, the Conservatives found some crumbs of comfort in their narrow success in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London.Labour won the seat of Selby and Ainsty in northern England while the Liberal Democrats took Somerton and Frome in southwest England, with voters from both parties clearly backing the party most likely to beat the Conservative candidate.Facing this level of tactical voting by voters, the defeats will leave many Conservative lawmakers rattled ahead of the likely national vote next year.The defeats don’t mean a change of government, since the Conservatives still have a big majority in the House of Commons. Opinion polls have been...

Rescue efforts have resumed in western India where a landslide killed at least 16 people

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:32:45 GMT

RAIGAD, India (AP) — Rescue efforts resumed Friday after an overnight halt in India’s western Maharashtra state where a landslide triggered by torrential rains killed at least 16 people, with many others feared trapped under debris, officials said.Scores of rescuers and trained trekkers have been deployed to find people trapped by the landslide, which occurred late Wednesday night, the state’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted. Harsh weather conditions have hampered rescue efforts and authorities have sent in medical teams to help the injured, he added.Search operations were suspended on Thursday night due to heavy rainfall plus the threat of further landslides in the dark, said a statement by the National Disaster Response Force.While 75 people have been rescued, many others are still stuck, an official told the Press Trust of India news agency.The landslide hit the Irshalwadi village in Raigad district and buried 17 of the 50 houses there. The hilly terrain has...