‘Conclave’ triumphs at SAG Awards and Timothée Chalamet wins best actor, upending Oscar predictions
The papal thriller “Conclave” won best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet took best actor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a pair of twists that added a few final wrinkles to an unusually unpredictable awards season. In winning the guild’s top award, Edward Berger’s Vatican-set drama triumphed just as the Catholic Church was praying for the health of Pope Francis, who remained in critical condition Sunday after an asthmatic respiratory crisis. “Conclave” dramatizes the fictional election of a new pope. Earlier in the evening onstage, Isabella Rossellini shared the cast’s best wishes for Pope Francis. All the momentum going into the SAG Awards was with Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which had won with the producers, directors and writers guilds. Now, with “Conclave” winning with the actors and at the BAFTAs, what will nab best picture in a week’s time at the Academy Awards is, again, anyone’s guess.
Book Review: ‘Air-borne’ transforms scientific history into detective story
A history of aerobiology would normally be a book that would have little interest beyond the science community. But in “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breath,” Carl Zimmer transforms the topic into something that reads like a combination of detective and horror stories. Zimmer creates a highly relevant and gripping history of the study of the air that spans from Louis Pasteur holding a glass globe on a glacier to scientists racing to fight COVID-19 during the pandemic. The book shows what a vital role the science of airborne life has played in the fight against COVID, influenza and other diseases. Zimmer also introduces readers to figures little known to the m
Book Review: Ada Calhoun’s ‘Crush’ is a personal essay on love disguised as a novel
Ada Calhoun’s debut novel “Crush” is only a novel in the loosest sense. It’s really more of a well-sourced personal essay on love and relationships brilliantly disguised as a novel. Coming out of the COVID-19 lockdowns with a severe lack of human connection, the story follows an unnamed narrator who craves attention and intimacy. When her husband, Paul, suggests they open their relationship so she can kiss other people, the narrator hesitantly agrees and soon finds her foray into sanctioned extramarital kissing completely invigorating. But when she reaches out to her college crush, David, their relationship quickly takes a life of its own and becomes an all-con
Book Review: Terrorists gather in C.J. Box’s new Joe Pickett novel, ‘Battle Mountain’
Wyoming Gov. Spencer Rulon has a problem. His son-in-law hired a guide, disappeared into the southern Wyoming wilderness to hunt elk, and hasn’t been heard from since. So once again, Rulon turns to game warden Joe Pickett, whom he’s come to regard as his own private problem-solver. But that’s far from all that goes on in “Battle Mountain,” the 25th novel in C.J. Box’s crime fiction series featuring Pickett. Corporate and government leaders of America’s military-industrial complex are gathering for a secret meeting at a remote Wyoming resort near the elk hunting grounds. Pickett’s off-the-grid pal Nate Romanowski is trying to track down a violent criminal named Axel Soledad, who killed Nate’s wife in violent rampage in a previous novel, “Three-Inch Teeth” (2024). And Soledad, it turns out, has surreptitiously recruited a small army of terrorists to attack the secret meeting.
Book Review: In Holly Brickley’s debut novel ‘Deep Cuts,’ love and music clash
Holly Brickley’s debut “Deep Cuts” is a book for music lovers. Not just any type of music lovers — diehard music fans who enjoy analyzing every element of a song’s composition as well as its origin story. Taking place in the early 2000s, this novel follows music writer Percy and her love interest Joe, an aspiring musician, as they progress from college students to working professionals. Brickley explores the push-pull dynamic between a critic and her criticized as the characters walk the line between intimate connection and superficial renown, as well as the greed that comes with both. The novel is a coming-of-age in its own right, delving into the pain points of becoming a young adult.
Judge tosses part of a lawsuit against UK band The 1975 for gay kiss at Malaysian music festival
Members of the British band The 1975 cannot be held personally liable for losses of a Malaysian music festival that was shut down by authorities after lead singer Matty Healy kissed a male bandmate on stage, a London judge ruled Monday. The organizer of the Good Vibes Festival is seeking 1.9 million pounds ($2.4 million) in losses after Healy criticized the country’s anti-homosexuality laws and then kissed bassist Ross MacDonald at the Kuala Lumpur show in July 2023. Footage of the kiss sparked a backlash in the predominantly Muslim country, where homosexuality is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and caning. Some LGBTQ+ groups also criticized the band for endangering its community and disrupting the work of activists pushing for change.
Music Review: Rebecca Black says goodbye to ‘Friday’ and masters the dancefloor on ‘Salvation’
Rebecca Black, she of the inescapable 2011 online smash hit “Friday,” has a new dance-heavy EP, “Salvation.” For an artist who first emerged at age 13 promising dance-able fuel, she continues deliver — just with a very different approach. Now 27, the singer, songwriter and DJ has evolved past her early viral days to find new tools to articulate fun: thumping techno, garage revivalism, house bangers. “Salvation” is Black’s fourth EP. It offers seven well-produced albeit short tracks; in an ideal world, it would’ve been a full album with more latitude and aural landscape to play with. Even in its abridged fashion, Black uses “Salvation” as a declaration of autonomy, exploring themes related to the very challenges of her sudden rise more than a decade ago. The title track “Salvation,” is a hot-and-bothered romance with a nice backbeat atop acid bass and Black delivering a convincing Lady Gaga-inspired sprechgesang.
Roberta Flack, Grammy-winning ‘Killing Me Softly’ singer with an intimate style, dies at 88
Roberta Flack, the Grammy-winning singer and pianist whose intimate vocal and musical style made her one of the top recordings artists of the 1970s and an influential performer long after, died Monday. She was 88. She died at home surrounded by her family, publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement. Flack announced in 2022 she had ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and could no longer sing, Little known before her early 30s, Flack became an overnight star after Clint Eastwood used “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” as the soundtrack for one of cinema’s more memorable and explicit love scenes, between the actor and Donna Mills in his 1971 film “Play Misty for Me.” The hushed, hymn-like ballad, with Flack’s graceful soprano afloat on a bed of soft strings and piano, topped the Billboard pop chart in 1972 and received a Grammy for record of the year.
Becky G, Dolores Huerta, Nava Mau and Edward James Olmos attend La Cena 2025: Photos
After being postponed from Jan. 11 due to the Los Angeles wildfires, "La Cena Los Angeles: Celebration of Latino Culture" took place Feb. 21, 2025 at Hollywood's Neuehouse and celebrated leading Latinos across music, television, movies, and other creative industries. Throughout the night, 200 attendees were able catch up on all the Latino-centered projects that came out in 2024 and were shown exclusive clips from upcoming films and TV shows. The night also saw Becky G honor activist Dolores Huerta with the inaugural Luminary Award and "Baby Reindeer" actress Nava Mau was honored with the Culture Catalyst Award. Scroll through for more photos from the night.
Colin Farrell wins SAG Award after Jamie Lee Curtis calls him out for giving her COVID
Colin Farrell got more than he bargained for as he took home his first Screen Actors Guild Award Sunday night. The Irish actor, 48, who led Max's Batman spinoff "The Penguin," won the prize for best actor in a limited series. He was presented the statue, known as "the Actor," by "The Last Showgirl" star Jamie Lee Curtis. “And the Actor goes to ... the man who gave me COVID at the Golden Globes: Colin Farrell," Curtis said, earning laughs from the audience.