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Despite cast, ‘Back on the Strip’ can’t pull it off

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

A disappointing entry given the talented cast with which it is blessed, “Back on the Strip” was directed by the seasoned actor and comedy writer Chris Spencer, whose directing credits include TV’s “Real Husbands of Hollywood” and “Uncensored.” The film is essentially the tale of a young, aspiring magician named Merlin (Spence Moore II), who does not appear to have much talent in that art, and his desire to marry his best friend Robin (Raigan Harris, “Ballers”), an aspiring dancer. After being given a profanity-laced pep talk by his mother Verna (the very busy Tiffany Haddish, also a producer), Merlin goes to Las Vegas, where he is soon part of a clown act entertaining spoiled children. In this scene, a concerned father (Kevin Hart, who is in this film for about five minutes) throws Merlin out after of the party after a child throws his clown wig into a tree. We hear a lot of voice-over by Haddish.Before you know it, Merlin is staying at the old, renamed Moxie Hotel, where weed...

Editorial: Possible plea deals one more blow for 9/11 families

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

On Sept. 14, 2001, just days after planes commandeered by terrorists destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, killing almost 3,000, then-President George W. Bush stood at Ground Zero and picked up a bullhorn.“I want you all to know that America today, America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. This nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens,” he said, surrounded by police officers, firefighters and other first responders.Some rescue workers shouted to him “We can’t hear you!”“I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you,” said Bush. “And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”A little over two decades later, is anyone still listening?It must not seem that way to the many fam...

Munce: Do presidential debates matter for ’24 election?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

Televised presidential debates during the general election are viewed as the ultimate candidate showcase. They give voters the opportunity to watch competing worldviews and policy positions clash on America’s most significant political stage. Viewers get to test their assumptions about the candidates in real-time.Voters want to know how a potential commander in chief will perform in the face of adversity, and facing off against the other party’s nominee and hostile moderators is a great test.But do this cycle’s primary debates provide that same value? There is a fair argument to make that the answer is no.Because the candidates’ policy positions from either party are often similar, primary debates are much less about policy and overwhelmingly about character and personalities. In the modern era, the best debaters rarely go on to secure the nomination.Nobody will accuse George W. Bush or Mitt Romney of being debate-club presidents, and John McCain’s performances were often viewed as ...

Franks: A distracted Joe Biden isn’t good for America

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

I am not that concerned with exploring what has “happened.” I am more concerned with exploring what is “happening.” I would rather prepare for 2024 and beyond, than relive 2020.I am more concerned with the actions of a powerful person who can affect my life greatly, than a powerless person who cannot. Therein, for me, lies the difference between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.A distracted president can be a problem to America and the world. Today we have two Bidens with special counsels and one for Trump along with four indictments. All unprecedented. The good judgment of a sitting president is critical.I will always profess that the worst crimes are the ones where people make money wrongfully – off the backs of society and/or where their actions result in direct harm to Americans, our allies, or the innocent. Maybe that is why polls show that most Republicans are not phased by the unfolding Trump dramas.Also, no one is claiming Trump made money from the actio...

‘Landscape with Invisible Hand’ so-so sci-fi

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

From director Cory Finley of “Thoroughbreds” comes “Landscape with Invisible Hand,” an alien invasion drama that sounds like the title of a painting by David Hockney. In the manner of alien invasion films, “Landscape with Invisible Hand,” which is based on a 2017 YA novel by award-winning author M.T Anderson, is set on an alien-colonized planet Earth circa 2036.To the “Star Trek”-y tune of a theremin, the film involves the take-over of our planet by beings known as the Vuvv, who hover around the planet on enormous spacecraft, although one of them cannot operate a TV remote. Although someone describes the Vuvv as resembling “gooey coffee tables,” the truth is they resemble plucked turkeys more than anything else (and so does the movie). Their language sounds like scratchy hiccups. They are the size of large turkeys, have a pinkish skin, eyes on long stalks, four limbs ending in pads, and they can communicate with humans using a translating device. Meat is “printed” by alien technolog...

Dear Abby: Mom’s worn out by daughter’s bad decisions

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

Dear Abby: Our daughter (age 21) has made a series of bad choices and failed relationships since she was 16. She went to college and quit (twice), joined the Air Force and hated it, but managed to get a “general discharge.” At age 19, she had a baby with a high school dropout and violent drug abuser. They’ve had an on/off relationship. He has pushed, shoved and outright hit her, destroyed two of her phones, hit her sister and smashed her phone. He took my daughter’s car while fleeing the police, leaving her and the baby stranded. We have paid countless sums of money for an attorney and sent her more to get her car. She has lied and deceived us on her relationship status. We wanted to believe our daughter.Now they are back together! We sent the police for a wellness check, and they say she is OK. As you can imagine, we are heartbroken. Our other children are doing well and keep me sane. When people ask about our kids, what do we say about her? I want something...

Coyote Fire forces school closures in parts of rural East County

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Mountain Empire Unified School District will be closed on Friday due to a fire burning in the Potrero community, education officials said.The Coyote Fire, which has grown to 400 acres and is 5% contained as of Thursday evening, prompted evacuations in the Potrero community. With an evacuation order still in place, Mountain Empire High School will be used as an evacuation center by the Red Cross, Music Watson with the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) told FOX 5. Hilary upgraded to hurricane: What does this mean for San Diego? Education officials announced the closure of all schools in the Mountain Unified School District for safety purposes."The safety of our students, their families, and our staff remains our top priority, and the district will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as they become available," Watson said.Potrero Elementary School was also evacuated out of an abundance of caution, according to SDCOE.At least one ...

‘Blue Beetle’ actors may be sidelined by the strike, but their director is keeping focus on them

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a normal summer, Friday’s arrival of “Blue Beetle,” the first DC superhero movie to feature a Latino lead, would be a splashy, triumphant moment for its filmmakers and stars. But with actors and screenwriters on strike, the film’s promotional campaign has been without its lead cast.That’s left director Ángel Manuel Soto as the main voice promoting the film, a rare big-budget summer movie highlighting Latinos and Latino culture. Soto has taken the burden in stride and found clever ways to spotlight his cast.At a film screening this week, Soto and his wife held a picture of “Blue Beetle” star Xolo Maridueña over their faces as photographers snapped them. For a series of promotional interviews, he wore a special shirt with the film’s Latino cast represented as Mexican Loteria cards, a clever homage for a movie infused with Latino music and culture.While Soto acknowledges some initial disappointment with the timing of the strike and his movi...

Wildfire evacuations ordered for thousands of people in West Kelowna, B.C.

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

Hundreds of properties were ordered to evacuate late Thursday under threat from a wildfire near the city of West Kelowna, B.C., which has been placed under a state of emergency.Central Okanagan Emergency Operations ordered the evacuation of close to a thousand homes, representing about 2,500 people, with thousands of other properties placed on alert and residents warned to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.“Tactical evacuation is already underway,” the operations centre said in a statement, adding that residents subject to the evacuation orders must leave immediately.Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department, said the evacuation order area was likely to grow Thursday night.“I don’t want people to panic, but I always want people to take it seriously,” Brolund said at a press conference Thursday evening.About 6,000 other properties were already on evacuation alert due to the out-of-control McDougall Creek wildfire, which began Tu...

China’s Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding amid economic slowdown

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:00:24 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for measures to mitigate the effects of this year’s disastrous flooding which has left scores dead and inflicted massive damage on crops, homes and infrastructure, including in and around Beijing. At least 90 rivers have risen above warning levels and 24 have already overflowed their banks, according to state media, threatening a vast area in northeastern China with flooding, including the Songliao Basin north of the capital, which encompasses more than 1.2 million square kilometers (482,200 square miles) with a population of almost 100 million.“As China is still in the main flood season, rainstorms, floods, typhoons and other disasters still occur frequently in many places across the country,” the Xinhua News Agency said, summarizing conclusions of Thursday’s meeting of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by President Xi. Participants “urged relevant localities and departments to always priori...