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☆ ‘Dune 2’ jolts sleepy box office with $81.5 million opening
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Eva Rothenberg | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

1 spot in its opening weekend with a strong $81.5 million in domestic sales, according to studio estimates. The sequel beat out the first Dune installment, which opened with $41 million when it was released in domestic theaters in October 2021. According to Comscore data, “Dune: Part Two” is the largest opening for Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Austin Butler. Box office revenue is down 13.5% compared to this time last year, Comscore data shows. February and March have, over the past three years, reliably housed movie releases from established franchises and properties including “The Batman,” ($134 million opening weekend) “Creed III” ($58 million) and “Uncharted” ($51 million).

Persons: ”, Jeff Goldstein, Warner, Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, It’s, Denis Villeneuve’s, Denis Villeneuve, Goldstein, Paul Dergarabedian, “, III ” Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros . Pictures, Warner Bros, Warner Bros ., Dolby, Comscore, Studios

☆ IMAX 'ran out of seats' for 'Dune: Part Two' and Legendary Entertainment is interested in 'Part Three'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

After a two-month drought, "Dune: Part Two" has delivered a much-welcomed deluge of ticket sales to the domestic box office — and its success could bring a third franchise film to cinemas. The Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment film opened with an estimated $81.5 million at the box office, the highest of any film released so far in 2024. Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic, the second in the Dune franchise, was buoyed by IMAX ticket sales, which represented around 23% of domestic ticket sales, or $18.5 million. "The only reason it wasn't higher is we ran out of seats," said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. IMAX represented 18% of all international ticket sales, the company said.

Persons: Shawn Robbins, Denis Villeneuve's, Rich Gelfond, Gelfond, Oppenheimer, Josh Grode, Denis, Villeneuve, we've Organizations: Warner Bros, Entertainment, BoxOffice.com, Legendary Entertainment, CNBC Locations: Hollywood, China

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ Draws Large Audiences
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-03 | by ( Brooks Barnes | More About Brooks Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Dune: Part Two” and its A-list cast jump-started moviegoing in North America after a dismal start to the year. The science-fiction sequel sold an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada from Thursday night to Sunday, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film since “Barbie” in July. (Taylor Swift’s concert documentary arrived to $93 million in October.) “Dune: Part Two,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, collected an additional $97 million overseas. But Legendary also needed to sell the film’s more delicate story — a boy becoming a man, a guy falling in love — which would be more difficult without cast interviews.

Persons: Barbie ”, Taylor, ”, Denis Villeneuve, Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, Anya, Taylor Joy, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, baring Organizations: Legendary Entertainment, Warner Bros, London Locations: North America, United States, Canada, Mexico City, London, New York

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ can inspire you to revisit these other timeless sci-fi sequels
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Twentieth Century Fox/Courtesy Everett CollectionWhat better way to start off than with one of the greatest sequels – and sci-fi films in general – ever made, with a screenplay that’s been taught in film schools. ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ (1982)DeForest Kelley, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in 1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ (2014)Andy Serkis in 2014's "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." ‘Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" (1980). “Dune: Part Two” is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, which, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros.

Persons: Denis Villeneuve’s, there’s, Sigourney Weaver, –, James Cameron’s Oscar, Ridley Scott’s, Ellen Ripley’s, Carrie Henn, Khan ’, DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Khan, Everett, ”, Ricardo Montalban, “ Khan ”, Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron, he’s, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, Linda Hamilton, Sarah Connor –, Andy Serkis, Caesar, “ Dawn ”, Max, Thunderdome, Mel Gibson, Warner, Mad Max, George Miller’s, Tina Turner’s, Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Miller, Theron’s Furiosa, Anya Taylor, Joy, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Annie Potts, Rick Moranis, Peter MacNicol, Howard Huntsberry, George Lucas Organizations: CNN, Rotten, Century Fox, Paramount, “, TriStar, Columbia, ‘, Lucasfilm Ltd, Wars, Warner Bros . Pictures, Warner Bros . Locations: Ripley, ‘, “ Kingdom

☆ What the cast of 'Dune: Part 2' looks like in real life
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Olivia Singh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The sequel to Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part One" is now playing in theaters. The cast of "Dune: Part Two" includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, and Christopher Walken. Some of the actors look similar in real life, but others transformed for their roles. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. "Dune: Part Two," now playing in theaters, boasts a stacked cast of Hollywood veterans and younger talents, including Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Christopher Walken.

Persons: Denis Villeneuve's, Christopher Walken, —, Timothée Chalamet, Javier Bardem Organizations: Service, Hollywood, Business

☆ ‘Dune’ Fans, Here’s a Documentary That Will Blow Your Mind
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Alissa Wilkinson | More About Alissa Wilkinson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

This week sees the release of “Dune: Part Two,” the second installment in Denis Villeneuve’s eye-popping adaptation of the 1965 Frank Herbert novel. Perhaps you’ve seen the Lynch version, which I find kind of charming in its flawed state. But if you’re heading to “Dune: Part Two” this weekend, you owe it to yourself to be acquainted with another “Dune” adaptation that doesn’t technically exist and, somehow, is also larger than life. I’m speaking of the “Dune” we glimpse in Frank Pavich’s 2014 documentary “Jodorowsky’s Dune” (streaming on Max). It chronicles the “Dune” adaptation that never happened, the bright dream of the avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky (who did make “El Topo” and “The Holy Mountain”).

Persons: Denis Villeneuve’s, Frank Herbert, David Lynch, you’ve, Frank Pavich’s, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, Léa Seydoux, Pink Floyd, Salvador Dalí, Dalí, Christopher Walken, Gloria Swanson, Mick Jagger, Udo Kier, David Carradine, Orson Welles, Paul Atreides, Timothée Chalamet

☆ Breaking down the thrilling ending of 'Dune: Part Two,' and if we'll ever see a third movie
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Though the movie's ending takes some liberties from Herbert's book, it should leave audiences begging for a third movie. In the movie's thrilling conclusion, Paul drinks the Water of Life, which is supposed to bring death to any man who consumes it. Sure, they might stay together if Villeneuve gets to make "Dune 3," but it could be a while before that happens. AdvertisementIn late 2023, he said at a press conference in South Korea that the screenplay for the third movie, which would be based on Herbert's book "Dune Messiah," was "almost finished." But even if "Dune: Part Two" becomes a box office success, the director will not hustle to close the trilogy.

Persons: Denis Villeneuve, —, Denis Villeneuve's, Frank Herbert's, Paul Atreides, Timothée, Niko Tavernise, Paul, Baron, Stellan, Atreides, Paul's, Javier Bardem, Jessica —, Mother, Jessica, Anya Taylor, Joy, Christopher Walken, Austin Butler, Emperor, Irulan, Florence Pugh, Stilgar, Chalamet, Jessica hasn't, Alia Atreides, Alia, jabbar, Gesserit, Villeneuve, Feyd Rautha, Feyd, he'll, she's, Princess Irulan, Pictures Denis Villeneuve, Villeneuve isn't clamoring Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, Pictures, Times Locations: Arrakis, South Korea, Hollywood

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ Review: Bigger, Wormier and Way Far Out
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Having gone big in “Dune,” his 2021 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s futuristic opus, the director Denis Villeneuve has gone bigger and more far out in the follow up. Set in the aftermath of the first movie, the sequel resumes the story boldly, delivering visions both phantasmagoric and familiar. Like Timothée Chalamet’s dashingly coifed hero — who steers monstrous sandworms over the desert like a charioteer — Villeneuve puts on a great show. The art of cinematic spectacle is alive and rocking in “Dune: Part Two,” and it’s a blast. “Dune” made it clear that Villeneuve isn’t that kind of textualist.

Persons: Frank Herbert’s, Denis Villeneuve, —, — Villeneuve, “, Jon Spaihts, Stephen McKinley Henderson Organizations: Villeneuve

☆ Critics call 'Dune: Part Two' a 'sci-fi masterpiece' and one of the 'greatest sequels ever'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A critic hailed it as "the best sci-fi epic of the century." AdvertisementIt's time to return to Arrakis for the much-anticipated sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2021 epic "Dune." Prepare for a cliffhanger endingLike in the first movie, you're not going to get many answers by the end. Inverse's Hoai-Tran Bui dubbed it "the best sci-fi epic of the century" in her headline. "It's a towering feat of sci-fi cinema that will put 'Dune: Part Two' in contention for the pantheon of greatest sequels ever."

Persons: —, Denis Villeneuve's, Villeneuve, Paul Atreides, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Christopher Walken, Critics, Timothée, Lawrence, Peter Bradshaw, Peter Debruge, Therese Lacson, He's, IndieWire's David Ehrlich, Irulan, Paul, Chalamet, IndieWire's Ehrlich, Nick Schager, David Fear, Niko Tavernise, Joshua Rothkopf, Tran Bui Organizations: Service, Warner Bros, The Guardian, Collider, Hollywood Reporter, Stone, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Locations: Arabia

☆ Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya recall meeting ‘terrifying creature’ Austin Butler on ‘Dune: Part Two’ set
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Elizabeth Wagmeister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Recalling her first day on set in Budapest, Zendaya told CNN in a recent interview that arriving to see an in-character Butler filming one of his scenes “was quite jarring.”The “Euphoria” star added that it was her first time “properly meeting and getting to know” Butler. “But it was also funny because once you get to know Austin, you see that he’s obviously very warm and very kind. From just five seconds ago, being this terrifying creature, and then being like, ‘Hey, how are you? Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. PicturesIn the end though, Chalamet said that while his fight sequences with Butler required a lot of work, it turned out well. “But it was a dream.”In “Dune: Part Two,” – which comes from Warner Bros. Pictures, owned by CNN’s parent company Warner Bros.

Persons: Denis Villeneuve’s, Timothée, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Anya Taylor, Joy, Austin Butler, Butler –, Oscar, Elvis ” –, Zendaya, Butler, “, ” Butler, ”, Austin, Chalamet, Wonka, Timothee Chalamet, Niko Tavernise, – Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Stellan, Glossu Rabban, Dave Bautista, Butler’s Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Pictures, Warner Bros . Pictures Locations: Budapest, LA, Hungary

☆ Opinion: ‘Dune: Part Two’ falls into a familiar – and telling – trap
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Opinion Noah Berlatsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

His hero, Paul Atreides, is filled with doubts about his role as a Messianic leader and director of colonial conquest. (The distributor of “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two” shares a parent company, Warner Bros. So in the movie, it’s not just Paul who sees problems with his colonial power. Timothée Chalamet in "Dune: Part Two" Warner Bros. PicturesIn the book, Chani is mostly supportive of Paul, with few reservations. Paul feels bad for being the destined one; Herbert and Villeneuve, to varying degrees, seem to regret making Paul the destined one.

Persons: Noah Berlatsky, CNN — Frank Herbert’s, revel, Whitey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, James Fenimore Cooper, Rider Haggard, Herbert, Paul Atreides, Noah Berlatsky Noah Berlatsky Denis Villeneuve’s, ”, Villeneuve, he’s, Paul, Timothée, Atreides, Paul’s, Leto Atreides, Oscar Isaac, Arrakis, Emperor, Christopher Walken, Baron Harkonnen, Stellan, Leto, Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson, Natty Bumppo, it’s, Chani, Tasha Suri’s “, Ambha, Sriduangkaew’s, Thompson’s, Suri, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Paul doesn’t, “ Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Pictures Locations: Chicago, swash, Vietnam

☆ ‘Dune: Part Two’ review: Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya headline a sequel that feels as if it’s walking in sand
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —If David Lynch’s 1984 “Dune” movie raced through the book, the second half of director Denis Villeneuve’s version at times moves as if it’s walking in sand, figuratively as well as literally. The technical wizardry, which earned the 2021 film six Oscars, certainly lends itself to big-screen consumption, and Warner Bros. (like CNN, a unit of Warner Bros. Other new players include Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh as the emperor and his daughter, Léa Seydoux, and briefly, Anya Taylor-Joy. Warner Bros. PicturesWith composer Hans Zimmer’s muscular score (and the overall sound) working overtime, Villeneuve is at his best when depicting the fascistic power of the Harkonnens and their sprawling military machine. “Dune” premieres March 1 in US theaters.

Persons: David Lynch’s, Denis Villeneuve’s, Frank Herbert’s, Paul Atreides, Mahdi, – Paul, Stellan, Rabban, Dave Bautista, Austin Butler, Elvis, Sting, Butler, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, Anya Taylor, Joy, Léa, Hans Zimmer’s, Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, ” There’s, Lady Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson, “, “ Wonka, callow, Javier Bardem, Dune’s ”, hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Zendaya, Warner Bros, Villeneuve Locations: Hollywood’s

☆ Can the Olympics Rejuvenate One of France’s Poorest Corners?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Liz Alderman | Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Parisians are already grumbling about the crowds for this summer’s Olympics. They envision sweaty tourists jamming the subway cars, making the hell of commuting even more, well, hellish. They are planning their summer escapes; at worst a “télétravail” schedule to work from home. Glancing out at a corner known for drug dealing near his family’s kebab shop in the low-income district just north of Paris, he sees the upcoming Olympics as heralding something totally different: opportunity. “They are redoing the streets and refurbishing buildings,” said Mr. Buyukocakm, as a woman in a thin coat dragged a grocery trolley toward a dilapidated housing project.

Persons: Ivan Buyukocakm, ”, Buyukocakm, Denis Locations: Paris, Seine

☆ Zendaya's robot outfit at the 'Dune: Part Two' world premiere has divided the internet
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Eammon Jacobs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Zendaya wore a silver suit of armor to the "Dune: Part Two" world premiere on Thursday. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementZendaya wore a silver suit of armor for the “Dune: Part Two” world premiere in London on Thursday night, dividing the internet on whether it was stunning or laughable. Many criticized him considering the effort that Zendaya went to with her silver suit.

Persons: Zendaya, Law Roach, Thierry Mugler, —, ”, Denis Villeneuve’s, loo, Ze, aime, Tim o, prem, vit, “ Organizations: Service, London, sil Locations: London

LONDON (AP) — Zendaya is on a fashion roll, in a cyborg “Dune: Part Two” kind of way. The co-star of the highly anticipated film sequel stunned Thursday at its world premiere when she hit the sand-strewn carpet in a silver robot suit straight from the archive of Mugler. Zendaya's body-hugging armor outfit with sheer plexiglass inserts has built-in gloves she paired with matching silver heels. While the runway version included a matching headpiece, Zendaya opted for a short sleek hairdo and a blue diamond necklace from Bulgari. Pugh, a newcomer to the world of “Dune” as the Emperor’s daughter, plays Princess Irulan with Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha.

Persons: d’hiver, ”, Denis Villeneuve’s, Mugler, Law Roach, Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Villeneuve, Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Zendaya's Chani, Pugh, Irulan, Stellan Skarsgard, Christopher Walken, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Denis Villeneuve doesn’t feel like he came back to Arrakis for “Dune: Part Two.” In his mind, he never left. Photos You Should See View All 21 Images“We all walked at the beginning into this project feeling confident,” Villeneuve said. “Dune: Part Two” cost a reported $122 million to produce and is arriving in theaters not a moment too soon. Christopher Nolan recently compared it to “The Empire Strikes Back.” Villeneuve demurred, but the internet went wild. “I think that’s the way movies will survive.”

Persons: — Denis Villeneuve doesn’t, ”, Frank Herbert’s, David Lean, Alejandro Jodorowsky, David Lynch, ” Villeneuve, Greig Fraser, they’d, Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, Paul, Jessica, Rebecca Ferguson, Villeneuve, Chalamet, “ Denis, ” Chalamet, “ It’s, Josh Brolin, Sicario, Gurney Halleck, Coen, I’ve, ” Brolin, it's, “, he’s, Hans Zimmer, ’ ” Villeneuve, it’s, Christopher Nolan, ” Nolan, Herbert Organizations: ANGELES, Associated Press Locations: Arrakis, Budapest, Wadi Rum, Abu Dhabi, ”, Hollywood

☆ Gold, Silver and … Iron? Olympic Medals Will Have Piece of Eiffel Tower
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Aurelien Breeden | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Athletes who win medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris won’t just win gold, silver or bronze. Their medals will also include a piece of iron — wrought-iron, to be exact, from the Eiffel Tower itself. Organizers of the Games said Thursday that each of the 5,084 medals created for the Paris events will be decorated on one side with a hexagon-shaped piece of iron recovered from the French capital’s iconic landmark. “This exceptional object had to meet another very strong symbol of our country and our capital,” Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said at an event to unveil the medals’ design in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris where several Olympic events will be held. Mr. Estanguet said the iron used in the medals will be recycled fragments from the Eiffel Tower’s original 1889 construction that had been sitting unused in a warehouse after renovation work.

Persons: ” Tony Estanguet, Denis, Estanguet Organizations: Games, Eiffel Locations: Paris won’t, Paris, Saint

☆ Goldman Sachs leaders are charting a course for the bank's future in Miami for the second year in a row. Here's how the stakes are different this time.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Reed Alexander | Emmalyse Brownstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Miami Beach Edition hotel on Collins Avenue, where conferences for Goldman parnters are being held. Inside the Edition Hotel in Miami, which is playing host to the Goldman Sachs partner conference this week. The Faena Hotel along Collins Avenue is also playing host to some Goldman partners and events this week. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs declined to comment about the Miami gathering this week. Are you a Goldman Sachs or Wall Street insider?

Persons: Goldman Sachs, confab, —, Goldman, Denis Coleman, Avinash, Goldman parnters, Emmalyse, David Solomon, Solomon, Lloyd Blankfein, he's, Reed Alexander Big, Solomon —, John Waldron —, Solomon himself, Emmalyse Brownstein Goldman, George Lee, Alison Mass, Trevor Noah, decamped, Reed Alexander Organizations: Magic City, Miami Beach, Business, Wall Street Journal, Goldman, Wall Street Locations: New York, London, Miami, Collins, New York City, South Florida, ralexander@businessinsider.com

More than any film I’ve made, “Tenet” was designed to have this very theatrical, IMAX, larger than life identity. VILLENEUVE: It was not planned that I would get an IMAX film release. Or, I didn’t leave film, film left me and my heart was broken. NOLAN: I just like hearing the guy who made “Dune Two” be like “it’s all about money.” I’ve seen that film. On every film I’ve ever done, including “Oppenheimer,” I first showed it to the studio on cut and copy, taped together, splices and everything.

Persons: — Christopher Nolan, “ Oppenheimer, “ Tenet ”, “, ” Nolan, ’, Pam Abdy, Michael De Luca, “ Tenet, Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, ”, NOLAN, I’ve, Chris, … NOLAN, VILLENEUVE, I’m, Chris Nolan, ” Emma, Thomas, …, it’s, We’ve, “ Oppenheimer ”, ” I’ve, That’s, Emma, hadn’t, You’re, Steven Spielberg Organizations: UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif, Associated Press, Warner Bros, Universal, AP, Kodak, VILLENEUVE, Warners, Avid Locations: New York, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, Nashville , Tennessee, Tempe , Arizona, VILLENEUVE

☆ Russians are freezing as Soviet-era infrastructure in the country crumbles —and Moscow keeps spending on war
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Heating systems are breaking down in Russia's harsh winter, leaving many people freezing. Much of Russia's Soviet-era infrastructure needs modernizing. AdvertisementHeating systems are breaking down in Russia's harsh winter, leaving many people freezing as Moscow continues to spend on its war in Ukraine. The brutal conditions are made worse because Russia's infrastructure is poorly maintained, with many of its facilitates dating from the Soviet era, according to media reports. About 40% of the communal heating grid in the country needs to be replaced urgently, she added.

Persons: —, Svetlana Razvorotneva, Vladimir Putin, Denis Volkov, ” Organizations: Service, Financial Times, Reuters, “, Levada Center Locations: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Siberia, Soviet, St . Petersburg, The, Russian, Nizhny Novgorod

☆ Los Angeles Works to Build Its Dance Muscles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Robin Pogrebin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Los Angeles may not be thought of as a dance town, but it has a rich legacy. It was here, in 1915, that the modern dance pioneers Ruth St. Denis and her husband Ted Shawn, established the Denishawn school and company, shaping and showcasing the first generation of American modern dancers, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. Lester Horton, one of the first choreographers to insist on a racially integrated company, established the Lester Horton Dance Theater here in 1946, a pioneering stage dedicated to modern dance. But for all the talent Los Angeles has attracted over the years, and its success in founding other performing arts institutions, the city has struggled to establish lasting dance companies able to attract and maintain audiences and patronage. It has also just entered an agreement with the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, a larger theater, to perform there.

Persons: Ruth St, Denis, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Busby Berkeley, Hermes Pan, Jack Cole, George Balanchine, Lester Horton, Benjamin Millepied Organizations: Hollywood, Lester Horton Dance, New York City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Wallis Annenberg Center, Performing Arts Locations: Angeles, Beverly Hills

☆ What You Can Still Complain About in Russia: A Cat Thrown From a Train
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Anatoly Kurmanaev | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The tragedy gripped Russia for days. Federal lawmakers convened a special committee and an investigation was launched, as hundreds of volunteers searched for the victim in subzero temperatures, and state news media ran live updates on the fallout. Eventually, the victim — Twix the cat — was found dead. A national outcry over the demise of a pet who was mistakenly thrown from a long-distance train by an attendant has highlighted both the limits of and the demand for an emotional outlet in wartime Russia. A combination of propaganda, a crackdown on dissent and public fatigue with the inconclusive war has turned internet curiosities into a focus of national attention for days, even weeks.

Persons: Denis Volkov Organizations: Levada Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Russian

A group of transgender veterans filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to force the Department of Veteran Affairs to begin providing and paying for gender-affirming surgeries. A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs said it does not comment on ongoing litigation. But he pointed to 2021 statements from Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, who said the VA was beginning a years long rulemaking process that would result in providing gender-affirming surgeries. McDonough said the VA would use the time to “develop capacity to meet the surgical needs” of transgender veterans. Natalie Kastner, a 39-year-old disabled veteran from Texas, said she went to the VA in 2022 seeking surgery.

Persons: Rebekka Eshler, Denis McDonough, McDonough, “, ” Eshler, Natalie Kastner, ” Organizations: Department of Veteran Affairs, Transgender American Veterans Association, United States, Appeals, Federal Circuit, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Locations: Washington, Texas

☆ Will a New Monument for Those Enslaved by France Heal or Divide?
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Catherine Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the color drained from the sky, a group gathered before the white-stoned basilica of St. Denis, where dozens of French kings are buried, to pay homage to their ancestors. Not to King Louis XIII, who formerly authorized the slave trade in 1642, or his son, the Sun King, who introduced slavery’s legal code, both of whose remains are buried inside the gothic building. They came for the victims, who are honored by a modest memorial outside. “This is Jean-Pierre Calodat,” said Josée Grard, 81, running her fingers along the name written on the globe-shaped sculpture as tambour drums echoed around her. His wife, Marie Lette, must be nearby.”There are just four memorials like this around France.

Persons: Denis, King Louis XIII, Sun King, Jean, Pierre Calodat, ”, Josée Grard, Marie Lette Organizations: Eiffel Locations: France, Trocadéro Gardens

Time isn’t inverting: Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” is coming back to movie theaters for a week in IMAX 70mm and on other large-format screens. The limited re-release of Nolan’s mind-bender starring John David Washington will begin on Feb. 23, Warner Bros. The showings will also feature new footage from Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two,” which opens a week later on March 1. “On ‘Dune,’ we shot several sequences for IMAX, and I simply loved it, so for ‘Dune: Part Two,’ we pushed it to 100 percent of the movie,” Villeneuve said in a statement. “I am just as eager to see ‘Tenet’ again, but now in 70mm IMAX, the way they filmed it, to fully appreciate his vision for this incredible film,” Villeneuve added.

Persons: Christopher Nolan’s “ Tenet ”, bender, John David Washington, Denis Villeneuve’s “, ‘ Oppenheimer, ’ I’m, Warner, ‘ Tenet, ” Nolan, “ I’m, Denis ’, ’, “ Tenet ”, Villeneuve, Nolan, “ Oppenheimer, ”, ” Villeneuve, “ Tenet, “, ‘ Tenet ’ Organizations: Warner Bros, Discovery, Universal, AMC Locations: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco

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