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‘Scrapper’ a gritty but touching tale of impoverished childhood

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

Kino Lorber release “Scrapper” is a throwback to the “kitchen sink” dramas of the UK’s late 1950s early-1960s New Wave period. The film is a gritty at times, low-budget, social reform-minded entry about a, yes, scrappy 12-year-old girl named Georgie (appealing, non-professional Lola Campbell). Left alone in her council flat since the death of her young mother, Georgie has been pretending to live with a non-existent uncle named, ahem, Winston Churchill.She has spent her days hanging out with her slightly older friend Ali (Alin Uzun) and watching videos of her mother on her phone and crying. Out of the blue, a tall, thin young man appears in her tiny backyard, a genie out of a bottle, claiming to be her father Jason (long-necked Harris Dickinson, the male model of “Triangle of Sadness”). This stranger, a 30-year-old man-child with the hair around the top of his head dyed white, making him resemble a marsupial, claims to have been in Spain, working spots popular with Brits and le...

Modern English ‘Long in the Tooth’ – and proud of it

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

If you made love or got married to Modern English’s post-punk classic “I Melt With You,” guess what: You were missing the point. Though it seems like a nice song about sex, frontman Robbie Grey reveals that it really has a darker meaning.“It was initially written as an antinuclear song,” he said this week. “We were thinking of two people melting together as the world explodes. And that’s probably what you’d do if the world was ending, you’d want to be with the person you love. Everybody has their own interpretation, but it started out about making love as the bomb drops.” But he doesn’t mind if people have a softer interpretation. “I’m a sexual person, and I enjoy pursuing the art of sex with my wife,” he says. “And we’re not the kind of band that hates the fact that we had a very popular song. It makes the concerts more fun — I don’t even have to sing it, the crowd does it for me. And it pays all our bills.”Having toured extensively in recent years, Modern English plays the H...

Franks: CNN poll shows almost any Republican can beat Biden

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

The good news for former South Carolina Governor and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley is that if the election for president were held today, she would clearly beat Biden — by six points.The bad news for her is that nearly every one of her top Republican challengers – except for former President Donald Trump – would also beat Biden, though just narrowly. It is early, however.For Republicans who have as their top priority winning in November 2024, this is all very good news. Despite Trump getting all the media attention and just one GOP debate (without Trump), Trump is near the bottom of GOP presidential candidates in hypothetical head-to-head contests against Biden.Want to win, GOP? If so, it is becoming very clear what should happen. Trump supporters should switch their support in the primaries to the best candidate who can win the White House.Being the best Republican candidate among Republicans does absolutely nothing for America and little for Trump. Who can win over the independents ...

Graham: Piercing the political bubble of liberal media

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

Chuck Todd pulled out a farewell speech of sorts on his last day as “Meet the Press” host on NBC, proclaiming, “I’ve had the honor of helping to explain America to Washington and Washington to America.”Does anyone really think an inside-the-Beltway creature like Todd is “explaining America to Washington”? Many viewers wouldn’t find Todd’s main job as “explaining,” but as “editorializing.”Democrats get cozy softballs, like this question on Sunday to California Gov. Gavin Newsom: “Do you think Trump or DeSantis would be a greater threat to democracy?” Republicans get interrupted and shouted down. Especially when someone like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) argues NBC is biased, and Todd snaps back that Johnson should go back to “your partisan cable cocoon.”That’s why it’s humorous when Todd also wrapped up his Sunday sermon by decrying “the lack of knowledge and nuance in ...

Editorial: Dems shut out Hunter Biden to bolster president

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

Hunter Biden best not look to dad Joe Biden’s pals for any favors these days.The Big Guy’s cohorts in the Democratic party are throwing Hunter under the bus.On Thursday, Hunter Biden was indicted on federal firearms charges, according to reports. He is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018. This indictment comes weeks after the collapse of a plea deal that would have averted a criminal trial.Back in May, the president was on Team Hunter as initial tax and firearms charges were in the works.“First of all, my son has done nothing wrong,” Biden said in an interview with Stephanie Ruhle, host of “The 11th Hour on MSNBC.” “I trust him. I have faith in him.”Asked how charges against his son could impact his presidency, Biden said “It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.”But the elder Biden can’t afford another sandbag ahead of the 2024 presidential election. His poll numbers are abysmal, his public appea...

‘Dumb Money’ a smart take on GameStop frenzy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

Based on the 2021 non-fiction book “The Antisocial Network” by Boston-born, Harvard-educated Ben Mezrich, “Dumb Money” tells the fascinating, often darkly hilarious tale of Brockton-raised, Stonehill College-educated financier Keith Gill (a winning Paul Dano). Gill is a lovable nutjob, who has nicknamed himself Roaring Kitty and spends a lot of time in a well-equipped basement lair. He could be a superhero-movie villain. The film’s title reeks of entitled contempt for the oppressed masses.With the support of his devoted wife Caroline (Shailene Woodley), Keith has decided off-hours to sing the praises of a stone-and-mortar video-and-electronics chain called GameStop with a lot of shops in eerily deserted malls. Keith believes that the hedge fund headed by Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogan) has unfairly “shorted” GameStop’s stock, and he has started an internet-based grass-roots movement to correct that by encouraging his online followers to buy GameStop stock and HOLD.One of the a...

‘Cassandro’ a slamming biopic of lucha libre star

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

How can you resist a film featuring a cast member named Murder Clown and a character known as Masked Massacre? Welcome to the rowdy, colorful, LBGTQ-friendly (sort of) world of lucha libre. In this uniquely Mexican wrestling phenomenon, the most macho fighters might find themselves in the ring with an “exotico,” aka a cross-dressing, supposedly gay (although mostly straight in fact) opponent. The trouble is, once upon a time, “exoticos” were never allowed to win, until one genuinely gay “exotico” named Cassandro (Gael Garcia Bernal, “Mozart in the Jungle”) set out to change that.Based on the engrossing, true story of Saul Armendariz aka Cassandro, “Cassandro” was directed by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams (the short “Music by Prudence”) with Garcia Bernal as executive producer and Armendariz as consultant. The film’s fictional Saul lives in late 1980s El Paso, TX, with his beloved mother Yocasta (a superb Perla de la Rosa), who takes in laundry and seamstress work (S...

Dear Abby: Unfaithful wife returns to unhealthy marriage

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

Dear Abby: I’ve been married for 34 years. During most of them, I was unfaithful. I never felt like I was truly married because my husband never gave me the time of day, but I liked my marital status because, I guess, we were companions. As soon as my kids married and the nest was empty, I left. I didn’t feel I needed to stay and be unhappy, so I moved out. Why I didn’t divorce him during those eight years is beyond me.We are now back together, and I don’t know why. We’re not physically attracted to each other, and he is manipulative, selfish and sarcastic. Why, Abby, am I afraid to move on from this? I hate it when we’re alone at home. I’d rather spend the day with my grandchildren. I didn’t miss him at all when I was away, but he called me often and I felt obligated and guilty. What should I do? — Searching for Happy in ArizonaDear Searching: If you really want to find “happy,” the place to start would be in the off...

Orioles’ Heston Kjerstad ‘stoked, excited, relieved’ to be called up, makes MLB debut; Ryan Mountcastle won’t go on IL

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

It took Heston Kjerstad exactly two years to make his professional debut after the Orioles drafted him in 2020. He needed less than that to climb all the way up.The Orioles called up Kjerstad, ranked by Baseball America as the organization’s fifth-best prospect, to the major leagues Thursday, the team announced. He made his way to Baltimore when first baseman Ryan Mountcastle exited with left shoulder discomfort he suffered on a swing in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals.Kjerstad was pulled in the fifth inning of Triple-A Norfolk’s game Wednesday evening and was told after by Tides manager Buck Britton of his promotion. He made his MLB debut in Thursday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, pinch hitting in the eighth and striking out.“This is something I’ve worked for my whole life,” Kjerstad said. “To finally be here and be in the moment, it’s been awesome so far.”Kjerstad’s promotion came amid a flurry of ot...

About 13,000 workers go on strike seeking better wages and benefits from Detroit’s three automakers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:35:04 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — About 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday after their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay. Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit, and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts with the companies expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.The strikes will likely chart the future of the union and of America’s homegrown auto industry at a time when U.S. labor is flexing its might and the companies face a historic transition from building internal combustion automobiles to making electric vehicles.If they last a long time, dealers could run short of vehicles and prices could rise. The walkout could ...