‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ opens to $114 million

There is nothing like the promise of a chapter closing to draw people to the movie theater, especially when tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This weekend, “ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which says goodbye to this iteration of the space misfits and its driving creative voice, director James Gunn, earned $114 million … Read more

MTV Movie & TV Awards ditches live event due to strike

NEW YORK – The first big live awards show to air during the current screenwriters’ strike has retreated to a pre-taped event as the MTV Movie & TV Awards tries to chart a celebratory course through a turbulent Hollywood. The Sunday show already had lost its host, Drew Barrymore, who dropped out in solidarity with … Read more

Newton Minow, ex-FCC chief who dubbed TV ‘wasteland,’ dies

CHICAGO – Newton N. Minow, who as Federal Communications Commission chief in the early 1960s famously proclaimed that network television was a “vast wasteland,” died Saturday. He was 97. Minow, who received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, died Saturday at home, surrounded by loved ones, said his daughter, Nell Minow. “He wanted to … Read more

Oprah tells class of 2023 to follow ‘still, small voice’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Oprah Winfrey delighted graduates at her alma mater Tennessee State University on Saturday, telling the story of how she fell one credit short of graduating as she launched the media career that would make her a household name. Giving the commencement address at the historically Black university, Winfrey recalled that she was … Read more

Botticelli’s Venus is an ‘influencer’ and Italy is not happy

ROME – The Italian tourism ministry thought it had a sure-fire way to bring travelers into the country: turning a 15th century art icon into a 21st century “virtual influencer.” The digital rendition of Venus, goddess of love, based on Sandro Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece “Birth of Venus,” can be seen noshing on pizza and snapping … Read more