Entertainment

WASHINGTON — Precious relics of Afghanistan’s ancient past are returning home as the nation confronts deepening uncertainty about its future.A collection of 33 artifacts seized from a New York-based art dealer who authorities say was one of the world’s most prolific smugglers of antiquities was turned over by the U.S....

NEW YORK — Philip Marlowe, the most self-reliant of fictional detectives, had no boss and no one to boss around. His creator, Raymond Chandler, needed some help.“Advice to a Secretary,” a rarely seen essay published this week in the spring issue of the literary quarterly The Strand Magazine, is a...

MONTREAL — The organizers of Montreal’s Osheaga Music and Arts Festival are cancelling their summer event for the second consecutive year.Organizer Evenko says on its website it is postponing its 15th edition until July 2022 because of what it calls an ever-evolving COVID-19 situation.The festival was expected to take place...

OTTAWA — International graduates and essential workers eligible to apply for permanent residency under a new program say requiring them to retake language proficiency tests is unreasonable, especially during a global pandemic.Akshay Aman, a law clerk graduate currently working as a security officer in Toronto, says international students have already...

TORONTO — With the new sci-fi film “Stowaway,” Toronto-raised star Shamier Anderson says he’s checked a major role off his acting bucket list: astronaut.So, what other career goals does he have?“Marvel or DC, one of the two,” Anderson, brother of fellow acclaimed actor Stephan James, said in an interview. “Me and...

In 93 years of existence, the Oscars have been postponed by shootings — the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the attempted killing of Ronald Reagan — and by a flood, when 1938 rainstorms overwhelmed the Los Angeles River. Sunday’s ceremony will be the first Academy Awards delayed by...

NEW YORK — “The Mole Agent” infiltrated a nursing home in Chile, and countless of hearts around the world including inside the film academy.The moving documentary about an octogenarian hired as a rookie spy to investigate whether a client’s mother is suffering abuse in the facility is competing for an...

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Attorney General’s Office says the estate of Robert Indiana has paid seven law firms excessive legal fees and wants the estate to recoup $3.7 million of them, according to a court filing on Monday.The estate’s personal representative, James Brannan, is disputing that he must ask...

WASHINGTON — Rapper Cardi B took issue Thursday with a Wisconsin congressman who criticized her Grammy performance during a speech on the House floor.U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Republican, said he has received complaints in his office about Cardi B’s performance last month at the Grammy Awards as “inconsistent with...

PARIS — Sometimes in the best cases, life affects art and art affects life.In March 2020, Thomas Lilti was directing a critically-acclaimed French TV medical drama depicting the dire state of French hospitals, featuring storylines such as strapped resources, fatal illnesses, doctors’ suicides and mental health issues among hospital staff.But...

ATLANTA — A comedian called it racial profiling, but a police department working at Atlanta’s airport describes what happened as a “consensual encounter.”Comedian Eric Andre on Wednesday told his 700,000-plus Twitter followers that he believed he had been racially profiled when officers pulled him aside in a terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson...

LONDON — Books from Europe and Latin America that blur the boundaries of fiction, history and memoir are the final six contenders for the 50,000-pound ($69,000) International Booker Prize.The shortlist for the literary award, announced Thursday, includes “The War of the Poor,” a story of religion and revolution by France’s...

LONDON — Les McKeown, the former lead singer of the 1970s Scottish pop sensation Bay City Rollers, has died suddenly at the age of 65, his family said Thursday.A statement from his family posted on social media said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of our...

TORONTO — Hate crime complaints and arrests in the country’s largest city jumped sharply last year, with Jewish and Black people the most common targets, according to an annual police report released on Thursday.The report cites the COVID-19 pandemic first reported in Wuhan, China, and the police murder of George...

It may be hard to believe that there are still many “firsts” left to check off after 93 years of the Academy Awards, and yet this year there were a handful for Asian actors and filmmakers.Steven Yeun (“Minari”) became the first Asian American actor to be nominated for best actor....

NEW YORK — At least 22.8 million Americans watched on television this week as former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.The Nielsen company’s estimate came from viewership figures on 10 different networks that carried Tuesday’s verdict live. The actual...

The first death in the “Mortal Kombat” reboot occurs less than three minutes in, which is actually pretty coy. This is a movie, after all, based on a video game where the point is bloody violence.A katana slices a man vertically in half, triggering a burst of controlled murders. By...

Fifty years ago this May, Toronto’s shiny new Cinesphere opened in the equally new Ontario Place with a breath-catching film spectacle that ushered in the era of Imax. The film was North of Superior, an 18-minute ode to the wilderness of northwestern Ontario, replete with sweeping aerial shots using the...

Plan your screen time with the weekly What to Watch newsletter. Sign up today.One of the fondest memories I have of my late Uncle Larry was of him taking my younger brother and me to see movies that he absolutely hated. To please his tasteless nephews, Uncle Larry sat through...

Plan your screen time with the weekly What to Watch newsletter. Sign up today.In 2017, Swedish journalist Kim Wall disappeared after boarding a submarine constructed by Danish inventor and entrepreneur Peter Madsen, intending to write an article about him. The point of The Investigation is to drain melodrama and sensationalism...