Streaming media – The News Desk

What to stream this week: Billy Joel sings, Dora explores and ‘Food, Inc. 2’ chows down

8Apr

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

What to stream this week: Billy Joel sings, Dora explores and ‘Food, Inc. 2’ chows down

A Billy Joel concert special celebrating his residency at Madison Square Garden and Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal playing cowboys and former lovers in Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: a sequel to the powerful documentary “Food, Inc.,” a reboot of “Dora the Explorer” on Paramount+ and Linkin Park's first career-spanning greatest hits collection.— A song can transport you back to a different time in your life with just a note. The new film “The Greatest Hits,” starring Lucy Boynton, draws on this idea and makes it literal for a woman mourning the death of her boyfriend (David Corenswet, ak...

ABBA fans mark 50 years since ‘Waterloo’ took the world by storm

6Apr

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

ABBA fans mark 50 years since ‘Waterloo’ took the world by storm

LONDON -- It’s 50 years since ABBA won a major battle with “Waterloo.”A half-century ago on Saturday, the Swedish quartet triumphed at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with the peppy love song, which opens: “My my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way.”The song rang out again Saturday at London’s Waterloo railway station — also named after the 1815 battle that dealt defeat to the French leader — where a choir belted out a rendition for commuters.In the English coastal town of Brighton, where the 1974 competition was held, fans were staging a flashmob dance and silent ABBA disco to mark the anniversary.Eurovision victory turned ABBA into a pop juggernaut, by far the most successful band to win the pan-continental music contest, which will ho...

What to stream this week: ‘Society of the Snow,’ ‘Night Court,’ ‘Good Grief’

1Jan

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

What to stream this week: ‘Society of the Snow,’ ‘Night Court,’ ‘Good Grief’

“Night Court” and “Schitt’s Creek” star Dan Levy’s directorial debut, “Good Grief” are some of the new television and movies headed to a device near you.Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are some new game shows on Fox and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” stomping onto Amazon Prime.— Director J.A. Bayona knows his way around an agonizing survival story. In 2012, he gave audiences a harrowing look at a family’s experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and now he’s back with “Society of the Snow,” about the Uruguayan Air Force Flight that crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. The disaster has been recounted and studied in many books and movies over the years, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 film “Aliv...

What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

18Dec

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

What to stream this week: Bradley Cooper conducts, Lidia Bastianich cooks and Percy Jackson quests

A new Percy Jackson series and a PBS special hosted by cookbook author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich are some of the new television, movies and music headed to a device near you.Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are a heartwarming CBS holiday special about adoption, a thriller starring John David Washington about artificial intelligence and the return of Marvel's mind-bending “What If...” series.— “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s follow-up to “A Star Is Born” takes a loving look at the life of Leonard Bernstein and wife Felicia Montealegre. Cooper co-writes, directs and stars opposite Carey Mulligan in a portrait of the public and private side of the legendary composer and conductor. AP Film Writer Jake Coyle c...

Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood

6Dec

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Actors vote to approve deal that ended strike, bringing relief to union leaders and Hollywood

LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood’s actors have voted to ratify the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months, leaders announced Tuesday. The approval of the three-year contract from the members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists was no certainty, with some prominent members voicing dissent on the deal for which the union leaders bargained.The 78% yes result in voting that began Nov. 13 and ended Tuesday was a far cry from the near-unanimous approval and widespread enthusiasm members of the writers guild gave to the deal that ended their strike in September.But the outcome is a major relief for SAG-AFTRA leaders and an entertainment industry that is attempting to return to normal after months of labor strife. And it brings a fina...

Hollywood’s labor stoppage is over, but a painful industry-wide transition isn’t

10Nov

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Hollywood’s labor stoppage is over, but a painful industry-wide transition isn’t

NEW YORK -- Hollywood’s months of labor unrest are coming to an end, but the post-strike landscape that awaits actors and writers may be far from happy-ever-after.The film and television industry could rightly celebrate the conclusion Wednesday of a bruising, protracted work stoppage that began in May when the Writers Guild hit the picket lines and gathered more force when Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists members walked out in mid-July.The strikes were historic in their length and cost, causing an estimated $6 billion in economic loss and leaving hundreds of thousands out of work. As Hollywood on Thursday began rushing back to production and stars again hit red carpets, many were surely still nursing wounds from a bitter feud with the studios, even a...

James Corden heading to SiriusXM with a weekly celebrity talk show

6Nov

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

James Corden heading to SiriusXM with a weekly celebrity talk show

James Corden may be off TV screens after leaving CBS’ “The Late Late Show” but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped chatting with celebritiesByMARK KENNEDY AP entertainment writerNovember 6, 2023, 11:00 AMFILE - James Corden hosts at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 28, 2018, in New York. The multiple Emmy- and Tony Award-winner who gave the world “Carpool Karaoke” is launching a new weekly show set for early 2024 on SiriusXM called “This Life of Mine with James Corden.” (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)The Associated PressJames Corden may be off TV screens after l eaving CBS’ “The Late Late Show” but that doesn't mean he's stopped chatting with celebrities.The multiple Emmy- and Tony Award-winner who gave the world “Carpool Karaoke” is launching a new weekl...

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown reels in subscribers as it raises prices for its premium plan

18Oct

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown reels in subscribers as it raises prices for its premium plan

SAN FRANCISCO -- Netflix on Wednesday disclosed summertime subscriber gains that surpassed industry analysts’ projections, signaling the video streaming service’s crackdown on password sharing is converting former freeloaders into paying customers.In an effort to bring in even more revenue, Netflix also announced it's raising the price for its most expensive streaming service by $2 to $23 per month in the U.S. — a 10% increase — and its lowest-priced, ad-free streaming plan to $12 — another $2 bump. The $15.50 per month price for Netflix's most popular streaming option in the U.S. will remain unchanged, as will a $7 monthly plan that includes intermittent commercials.It also raised its prices for subscribers in the U.K. and France.The company added nearly 8.8 million worldwide subscribers...

Late-night shows return after writers strike as actors resume talks that could end their standoff

2Oct

By adminNo Comments

Entertainment

Late-night shows return after writers strike as actors resume talks that could end their standoff

LOS ANGELES -- Late-night talk shows are returning after a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike, while actors will begin talks that could end their own long work walk-off. CBS's “ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” ABC's “ Jimmy Kimmel Live! ” and NBC's “ The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ” were the first shows to leave the air when the writers strike began on May 2, and now will be among the first to return on Monday night.Comedian John Oliver got his first take on the strike out, exuberantly returning Sunday night to his “Last Week Tonight” show on HBO and delivering full-throated support for the strike.Oliver cheerily delivered a recap of stories from the last five months before turnings serious, calling the strike “an immensely difficult time” for all t...

Netflix is ending its subscriber-based DVD rental service

29Sep

By adminNo Comments

Technology

Netflix is ending its subscriber-based DVD rental service

CNN — Netflix will send out its last red envelope on Friday, marking an end to 25 years of mailing DVDs to members. The company announced earlier this year it is shutting down its DVD-by-mail service, 16 years after it gradually shifted its focus to streaming content online. Netflix will continue to accept returns of customers’ remaining DVDs until October 27. Introduced in 1998 when Netflix first launched, the DVD service promised an easier rental experience than having to drive to the nearest Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. The red envelopes, which have long been synonymous with Netflix itself, littered homes and dorm rooms across the country. Although the idea of receiving a DVD in...