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☆ Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina Discuss ‘The Little Mermaid’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Leah Greenblatt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He was 7-years-old when “The Little Mermaid” became a surprise animation hit and soundtrack juggernaut in 1989, and she was still a baby. Now they’re co-starring in the director Rob Marshall’s ambitious live-action reimagining, currently in theaters: Diggs, 41, as the sympathetic crab Sebastian, and Awkwafina, 34, as the birdbrained gull Scuttle. The pair discuss on-set rap battles, supporting the new Mermaid Halle Bailey and the art of stealing scenes by the seashore. How do you navigate the legacy of Samuel Wright and Buddy Hackett, the actors who originated the voice roles of Sebastian and Scuttle, without being weighed down by it? There was a way to do these characters that is just on the book, but Rob [Marshall] really facilitated a good environment to bring our own selves into it and improv.

Persons: Tony, “ Hamilton, Daveed Diggs, Nora Lum, they’re, Rob Marshall’s, Diggs, Sebastian, Halle Bailey, Samuel Wright, Buddy Hackett, Rob, Marshall Organizations: Rich Asians, Disney

☆ 'The Little Mermaid's' box office will say a lot about Disney's live-action remake strategy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

That opening is on par with the $91 million "Aladdin" secured in 2019 on its way to more than $1 billion at the global box office. Audience buzz has become an increasingly important factor in box office success in the wake of the pandemic. Those that skip out on seeing a film during its opening weekend can be enticed to cinemas by positive chatter, helping to bolster the film's overall box office. The studio, which is known for its animated content, saw two of its recent releases — "Lightyear" and "Strange World" — flounder at the box office. Although there were two live-action films based on "101 Dalmatians" in 1996 and 2000, Disney didn't start producing these remakes in earnest until 2010's "Alice in Wonderland."

Persons: Alice, Maleficent, Lilo, Shawn Robbins, it's Organizations: Disney, Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, BoxOffice.com Locations: Wonderland

☆ 'The Little Mermaid' defied backlash and review-bombing by opening at No. 1
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Grace Mayer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"The Little Mermaid" debuted this weekend and was "review-bombed" on some movie-review sites. Since Disney announced its live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," the film has been targeted with online hate, namely racist complaints about Halle Bailey being cast as the mermaid Ariel. But that didn't stop it from taking the top spot at the weekend box office upon its release in the US. Despite backlash and review-bombing, the film had a notable opening weekend for box office earnings: The film was the fifth highest-grossing release on Memorial Day weekend in history, per IMDb. 'The Little Mermaid" ticket sales did beat out Disney's 2019 live-action remake of "Aladdin," which grossed $116.8 million when it opened on Memorial Day.

Persons: Halle Bailey, Ariel Organizations: Disney, Rotten

☆ Broadway Musicians Object to David Byrne’s ‘Here Lies Love’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Michael Paulson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians says its contract with the Broadway League requires the use of 19 musicians for musicals at the Broadway Theater. (The number of musicians required under the contract varies based on theater size.) The union says it is seeking to preserve jobs for musicians and quality for theater lovers. “We’re not going to stand by and let this happen,” said Tino Gagliardi, the local’s president and executive director. The request is to be assessed by a panel that includes neutral observers as well as representatives of the Broadway League and the musicians’ union; it is not clear how long that process will take, and the ruling can be appealed to arbitration.

☆ Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ rakes in $117 million at the US box office on opening weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Disney’s live-action movie “The Little Mermaid” brought in $117.5 million at the US box office in the fifth-best opening for Memorial Day weekend in history, according to Box Office Mojo. Despite the controversy, the movie was among the most successful films ever to debut on Memorial Day, Box Office Mojo reported. Last year’s “Top Gun Maverick” tops that list with $160 million at the US box office over the long holiday weekend. That came in a hair lower than “The Little Mermaid” with an opening weekend haul of $116.8 million. Including international ticket sales, “The Little Mermaid” brought in $185.8 million over the weekend.

☆ Alan Menken on ‘The Little Mermaid’ and the Mixed Blessing of Disney Fame
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Sarah Bahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

What was it like working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on new songs for “The Little Mermaid”? I gave him a little Caribbean tune thinking he would lyricize that, and in fact, he rapped over it! In 1997, David Horn, now the executive producer of PBS’s “Great Performances” series, told The New York Times, “When there’s a Sondheim musical, everyone refers to it as a Sondheim musical. When it’s something Alan has done, they refer to it as a Disney musical.” Do you still mind your shows being known as Disney musicals? I sometimes would have a little resistance to simply being characterized as “Disney composer Alan Menken” because I already had a huge hit with “Little Shop of Horrors” before I went to Disney.

☆ What to do if you see an alligator and how to survive an attack, according to a wildlife expert who keeps pet gators
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Graham Flanagan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If an alligator bites you, don't try to pry its jaws open. But, in reality, alligators don't often attack humans. Alligators don't eat peopleAlligators have been lurking in Earth's waters for tens of millions of years. Don't try to run in a zig-zag pattern, as that'll just take you longer to go farther. Don't try to pry open the jaws.

That was the promise of a digital library of movies and TV shows. "Warner Bros. That's why NBCUniversal had to pay itself $500 million to stream Universal TV's "The Office" on Peacock and Warner Bros. Rafael Henrique | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesBy removing the content specifically made for streaming rather than licensed shows and movies, Warner Bros. Warner Bros.

☆ Opinion: The ultimate ‘Succession’ lesson
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Walt Handlesman/Tribune Content AgencyIn a much more ominous vein, the theme of survival dominates the HBO show “Succession,” which is coming to an end Sunday. She’s so caught up in beating her brothers at the succession game that she can’t see this baby as anything but an obstacle.”“Ultimately, this storyline is a perfect encapsulation of the larger tragedy that is ‘Succession,’” Bodenheimer added. The contest for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination heated up last week with the official entry of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former President Donald Trump’s strongest challenger in the polls.

☆ Opinion | Beyond the ‘Matrix’ Theory of the Human Mind
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Ezra Klein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“We can produce more information,” Mark said. Our processing capability is the bottleneck.”Email and chat systems like Slack offer useful analogies here. Few have thought through the costs that will impose on those who are supposed to respond to all this new text. Our societywide obsession with speed and efficiency has given us a flawed model of human cognition that I’ve come to think of as the Matrix theory of knowledge. But that misses much of what’s really happening when we spend nine hours reading a biography.

As New York City’s 14 miles of public beaches open for Memorial Day weekend, the city is confronting its worst lifeguard shortage on record — something officials say is partly the result of a bitter fight between the city and the little-known but extraordinarily powerful unions that represent lifeguards. Millions of New Yorkers are facing the prospect of partial beach closures and limited access to pools when they open next month. Parks Department officials say they currently have fewer than 500 lifeguards ready to work, roughly a third of the number they say is needed to fully staff beaches and pools. The lifeguard shortage, which also stems from perennial issues like low salaries, a difficult qualifying test and a pandemic-induced slowdown of the lifeguard pipeline, follows months of off-season maneuvering between city officials and an obscure pair of lifeguard locals. It is an intractable and bizarre union beef that stands out even in a city rife with them and one that has left the city — locked in collective bargaining negotiations with union officials to reach a new contract — blaming the unions for leaving key swimming spots understaffed.

☆ How the New ‘Little Mermaid’ Goes Back ‘Under the Sea’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Mekado Murphy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So right about here, as the turtles start to move, then you see, O.K., there’s a little bit of dance starting to happen. And I took a page out of Walt Disney’s playbook, and I worked with the Alvin Ailey Company. He had worked with the Ballet Russe Company when he created ‘Fantasia.’ And I thought that was such a brilliant idea. And then we found all these sea creatures that actually lent themselves to dance naturally. These are all real sea creatures.

☆ ‘The Little Mermaid’: 13 Differences Between the Original and Remake
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Sarah Bahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This article contains spoilers about the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.”Ariel, poor girl, already had no voice — and that was before the sea-witch added selective amnesia to the mix. Among them: new songs; updated lyrics to “Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls”; and a personality for Prince Eric. Here are 13 ways the remake, directed by Rob Marshall, differs from the original. Ariel has locs. Instead, Bailey sported her natural locs, which were wrapped with strands of red hair.

☆ Danish painters in the 19th century used beer brewing leftovers to prepare their canvases, scientists found
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The masters used the byproduct of beer brewing to prep their canvases so paint wouldn't seep through, new research found. That suggests painters were turning to byproducts from local breweries to prepare canvases, they reported Wednesday in the journal Science Advances. "Then, by surprise, we found something completely different," said Andersen, a paintings conservator at the Royal Danish Academy. Instead, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, which prepared canvases for its artists, likely bought leftover mash from local breweries. This kind of recycling wasn't uncommon, Andersen added: Artists also used bits of sails for their canvases and boiled leather scraps for their glue.

“It’s often the little things that some people might not notice, those last touches made at the end that are the most important,” says Fournier. Over the years, the duo have collected thousands of objects that they keep in multiple storage spaces, awaiting just the right project. Fournier discovered the work of Culot when he bought some teacups at auction a few years ago. “We want to support and share the work of artisans we love,” Fournier says. “Work made by hand that confronts the growing uniformity of the world.” oeildeko.com.

Persons: Karl Fournier, Olivier Marty, Yves, “ It’s, ”, Fournier, Nathalie Guihaumé, L’Oeil de KO, Rosie McLachlan, Marie Lautrou, L’Oeil de, Pierre Culot, ” Fournier, oeildeko.com Organizations: Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Estate, Pierre Locations: Paris, Marrakesh, Los Angeles, British, Belgium

☆ Ayvalık and Cunda: Turkey's prettiest Aegean coast resorts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Feride Yalav-Heckeroth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Alongside classic beach towns like Bodrum and Alaçatı, two of the coast’s loveliest spots are the little-known seaside town of Ayvalık and the nearby island of Cunda. Near the Taksiyarhis Memorial Museum, in a beautifully renovated historic house with large arched windows, is Moyy Atölye. For a truly Aegean dining experience inside an olive grove, Karina Ayvalık is worth the 10-minute drive south to the village of Küçükköy. “I can breathe in the Aegean air and feel history as I walk through the old streets with their historic houses. Getting lost on Cunda leads to discoveries – like the Cunda Taksiyarhis Rahmi M. Koç Museum inside a renovated Greek Orthodox church with a collection of antique cars, motorcycles and toys.

☆ EV startups conserve cash as make-or-break moment approaches. Here's where everyone stands
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( John Rosevear | In Jrosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

As legacy automakers increasingly ramp production of all-electric vehicles, cushioned by the profits of gas-powered models, a handful of EV startups are scrambling to conserve cash and stay in the mix. It also means the amount of cash Fisker had left as of the end of March, $652.5 million, isn't yet cause for alarm. Still, Fisker cut its production guidance for 2023 to between 32,000 vehicles and 36,000 vehicles, from 42,400 in its original plan. Or as Evercore ISI analyst Doug Dutton wrote before Fisker's earnings report, "Fisker is beginning to turn into a story of binary and 'show me' outcomes." It had $108.1 million remaining as of the end of March, but it lost $171.1 million in the first quarter .

Persons: Tesla, Rivian, Claire McDonough, Rivian's, It's, McDonough, Deutsche Bank's Emmanuel Rosner, Rosner, Sherry House, Peter Rawlinson, Bank of America's John Murphy, Murphy, Aston Martin, Henrik Fisker, Fisker, Doug Dutton, Dutton, Nikola Nikola, Trevor Milton, Nikola, Voltera, TD Cowen, Jeffrey Osborne, Osborne, Polestar Polestar, it's, Johan Malmqvist isn't, aren't, Deutsche Bank's Rosner, Lordstown, Foxconn, Foxconn doesn't Organizations: EV, Amazon, Deutsche, Lucid's, Bank of America's, BMW, Global, Magna International, Nikola, Iveco, Volvo Cars, Geely, Lordstown, Nasdaq, General Motors Locations: Georgia, Magna, Austria, U.S, Europe, North America, Nikola's, Swedish, China, Ohio, Lordstown

☆ How the technology behind ChatGPT could make mind-reading a reality
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Donie O'Sullivan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Neuroscientists at the University of Texas in Austin have figured out a way to translate scans of brain activity into words using the very same artificial intelligence technology that powers the groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT. Before entering the fMRI machine, CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan was given specialized earphones to listen to an audiobook during his brain scan. While the technology is still in its infancy and shows great promise, the limitations might be a source of relief to some. While the technology at the moment only works in very limited cases, that might not always be the case. “Technology can improve and that could change how well we can decode and change whether decoders require a person’s cooperation.”

Persons: ”, It’s, ” Alexander Huth, ” Huth, Huth, Dorothy, Donie O'Sullivan, CNN Huth, can’t, Jerry Tang, ” Tang, “, Sam Altman, Altman, Tang Organizations: CNN, University of Texas, UT Austin Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin, San Francisco, Texas

☆ Bosses want people in the office. The class of 2023 is ready.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Ethan Dodd | Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Surveys show Gen Z and class of 2023 graduates want an in-person experience. In-person work can provide young workers with community, keep them engaged, and enhance their early workplace learning. Not so with Gen Z and the class of 2023. This generation wants the community, learning opportunities, and engagement that in-person work can provide — although some young professionals aren't a fan of in-office roles and prefer remote work. "Especially for new grads, they should balance the flexibility that they have for remote work and finding new opportunities with some of the benefits of in-person work," Pardue said.

☆ David Axelrod: After Barack Obama, America will never be the same
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( David Axelrod | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

David Axelrod, a CNN senior political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns. CNN —In all the years I worked for Barack Obama, I didn’t think enough about the burdens of being America’s first Black president – in part because he bore them so gracefully. The president asked me to chat with her and assess how she would hold up under the pressures of the confirmation process and that weighty history. Jacob Philadelphia, the son of a White House staff member, touches then- President Barack Obama's hair in the Oval Office of the White House. It was a moving, spontaneous scene captured by the splendid White House photographer Pete Souza.

LOS ANGELES, May 19 (Reuters) - Brittney Griner returned to the WNBA hardwood on Friday night in Los Angeles to cheers from a raucous crowd that included U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. "It felt good, it felt real good. U.S. officials said she was wrongly detained and was being used as a political pawn amid increasingly strained relations with Moscow. The two-time Olympic champion, 32, kicked off her 10th season with the Mercury on Friday after playing in a pre-season game one week ago. Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Jacqueline WongOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

CNN —Vice President Kamala Harris was among those celebrating the return of Brittney Griner to the WNBA on Friday, five months after the Phoenix Mercury star was released from a Russian penal colony. Harris met with players from both teams before the game and thanked them for their support while Griner was in Russian custody for almost 300 days last year. “A team is a team, that’s family.”Harris addressed the players in their locker room before the game. Mario Tama/Getty ImagesIn return, Los Angeles star and players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike thanked Harris and the Biden administration for securing Griner’s release. “Just appreciating everything because tomorrow is not guaranteed.”Griner scored 18 points on her WNBA return.

☆ Samsung not planning to replace Google with Bing in phones - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft shares were down about 1%. Samsung has suspended an internal review that explored replacing Google with Bing on its web-browsing app, which comes pre-installed on the company's smartphones, according to the report. Google, Samsung and Microsoft did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Google earns an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue from the Samsung contract, according to an April 16 report by the New York Times. Samsung considering a potential shift to Bing was first reported last month and had weighed on Alphabet's shares at the time.

☆ Europe wants to ban Russian diamond imports. What comes next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“Russian diamonds are not forever,” European Council President Charles Michel said on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Friday. Tatyana Makeyeva/ReutersA ban on Russian diamonds could inflate prices for European consumers, especially if diamond production elsewhere doesn’t ramp up. The biggest task facing Europe is how to design an air-tight ban that prevents Russian diamonds from arriving in the bloc through circuitous routes. “There are a lot of Russian diamonds that still get sold within the American economy,” he said. “If you really want to close loopholes, you need to find a system that prevents [Russian] diamonds going to the G7 market,” Neys said.

☆ ‘A problem in the political culture": Serbians call for more than disarmament to end violence after mass shootings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Despite having one of the world’s highest rates of gun ownership in the world, mass shootings like this are extremely rare in Serbia. Most people simply inherited weapons from their parents and grandparents – remnants of the sort of violence that no longer plagues the region. While the two “gratuitous” acts of violence that shocked the country this month were without precedent, O’Donnell said, other types of violence are more banal. ‘Serbia against violence’Since the shootings, tens of thousands of Serbians have taken to the streets in opposition-led “Serbia against violence” marches, demanding the resignation of several government ministers. Against this public demand for a mellowing of the political culture, Vučić has seemed unsure how to respond.

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