Can ‘Lion King’ Remake Meet Sky-High Box Office Expectations Despite Backlash?

Aside from “Avengers: Endgame,” most box office observers pegged Disney’s CGI remake of “The Lion King” to be the biggest moneymaker of summer 2019. But as the final days tick down to its release, Jon Favreau’s movie is facing down sharply mixed reviews and social media buzz even as it is projected for a $150-180 million opening.

Three years ago, critics and audiences alike lauded Favreau’s CGI/live-action take on “The Jungle Book,” which grossed $966.5 million worldwide and took home a Best Visual Effects Oscar. But reviews for “The Lion King” are much more polarized. While some critics praised the photorealistic approach to the Pride Lands, others called the film a “soulless chimera” of the original 1994 film. Currently, the remake has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 95% for “The Jungle Book.”

Critics who panned the film also singled out the interactions between the different characters as lacking in facial expression compared to its hand-drawn predecessor. Such complaints have been echoed by many “Lion King” fans on social media as clips from the new movie have come out in recent weeks, prompting side-by-side video comparisons casting the remake in an unfavorable light.

But will any of this actually hurt “The Lion King” at the box office? All signs say no. According to analytics site Movio, the film had brought in 17,000 pre-release admissions by July 9, outpacing presales for “Toy Story 4” and “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” 38% of those pre-sales came from moviegoers ages 25-34, signaling the four-quadrant appeal that has made these Disney remakes such big moneymakers.

Stephen Verona, Writer/Director of ‘The Lords of Flatbush,’ Dies at 78

Stephen Verona, producer, co-writer and co-director of “The Lords of Flatbush,” died from lung cancer this past weekend in Los Angeles. He was 78.

Released in 1974, “The Lords of Flatbush” follows four Brooklyn greasers in 1958 as they steal cars and pick up girls even as the looming specter of adulthood nears. The film helped launch the careers of Sylvester Stallone and Henry Winkler, who played two members of the gang prior to their big breaks in “Rocky” and “Happy Days.”

Stallone in particular saw his career resurrected thanks to “The Lords of Flatbush.” According to a retrospective in Ultimate Classic Rock, Stallone was considering giving up on acting when he was discovered by Verona at an acting workshop. Stallone has later said that his performance as Stanley Rosiello, a boorish greaser with a sensitive side that plans to marry his girlfriend after hearing she’s pregnant, became the blueprint for his iconic performance as Rocky Balboa.

2019 Emmy Awards Nominees

The 2019 Emmy Award nominations have been revealed.

Game of Thrones leads the pack with a whopping 32 nods, while Julia Louis Dreyfus is on course to make Emmys history. The star has won outstanding lead actress in a comedy series six times, beating out Candice Bergen and Don Knotts for most Emmys won by a performer in a single role for Veep.

Meanwhile, some big names have missed out on attracting a nomination with Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Emma Stone overlooked for Homecoming, Catch 22 and Maniac respectively.

Here’s the full list of nominations:



Outstanding Comedy Series

Barry

Fleabag

The Good Place

The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel

Russian doll

Schitt’s Creek

Veep

How did Kim Jong Un get his Mercedes-Benzes? New report traces origin of North Korea's luxury rides

On June 14, 2018, two armored Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard vehicles were shipped from the Dutch Port of Rotterdam, heading out on a journey that would take months and see the cars transported thousands of miles through six countries, according to a new report from the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).
After stops in China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, the two cars -- each worth about $500,000 -- are believed to have been flown to their final destination, Pyongyang. And in the North Korean capital, there's only one customer who likely requires this type of ride.
The origin and journey of the two Mercedes luxury vehicles were exposed in the C4ADS report.
We have not independently verified C4ADS' reporting.
Sanctions passed by the United Nations as punishment for Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development are supposed to bar companies and individuals from selling luxury goods to North Korea.




C4ADS found that North Korea imported at least $191 million worth of luxury goods from 2015 to 2017, sourced from "as many as 90 countries" in violation of United Nations sanctions. Definitive figures are difficult to determine because there isn't a shared definition of what constitutes a "luxury item" and due to the surreptitious way North Korea imports such items.
The Mercedes-Maybach S600, however, is undoubtedly luxurious. It's equipped with leather massaging seats and armor to protect occupants from steel-core ammo fired from assault rifles and from explosive devices, according to Car and Driver.

Conjoined twins split after 50-hour surgery

A pair of Pakistani conjoined twins are finally living independent lives after a 100-strong team of British medical experts spent 50 hours performing complex surgery to separate them.

Safa and Marwa Ullah came as a bit of a surprise when they were born in January 2017 as their mother had not known she was expecting twins -- let alone craniopagus twins, who are joined at the head.
Around two in five sets of craniopagus twins are stillborn or die during labor, while a third more do not survive the first 24 hours. Fortunately in the sisters' case, a wealthy benefactor offered to cover the costs of their long journey from home in Charsadda, Pakistan, for the surgery at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

According to its website, GOSH "is one of only a few hospitals in the world to have the infrastructure, facilities and team of experts" to separate conjoined twins. It has carried out the procedure more times than any other hospital worldwide.
Born by cesarean section, the girls emerged with their skulls and blood vessels fused together. Since arriving in Britain, they have undergone three operations between October of last year and when they were finally separated on February 11.
Such a procedure is extraordinarily rare; according to GOSH, the chances of craniopagus twins undergoing surgery is around one in 10 million. Around 5% of conjoined twins are craniopagus cases.
After consultation with their doctors in Pakistan, the London hospital welcomed them to the Bumblebee Ward where various experts -- from craniofacial, neurology and psychology specialists, to nurses, radiologists and physiotherapists -- spent four months treating them

Italian police seized an air-to-air missile and Nazi paraphernalia from three men

 


 Italian police have seized "an arsenal of military weapons," including an air-to-air missile, and a collection of Nazi paraphernalia from three men, one of whom is a former political candidate for an extreme right party. Fabio Del Bergiolo, who ran for the Italian Senate in 2001 as a candidate for the Forza Nuova party, Swiss citizen Alessandro Monti and Fabio Bernardi were arrested on Monday in connection with the arms stockpile. Monti, 42, and Bernardi, 51, were arrested for allegedly possessing and trying to selling a French-made Matra air-to-air missile, while Bergiolo, 60, was arrested for allegedly acting as an intermediary to sell weapons, a Turin police statement said. The stockpile was discovered by police who were investigating Italians "with extremist ideology" who had fought alongside Russian-backed separatist forces in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, last July, according to the police statement.

The investigation relied on the help of an arms expert who contacted the suspects about purchasing the Matra missile on behalf of a third party, police said. Throughout the course of the investigation, police used phone and data interception to view photos of the missile, which were exchanged via WhatsApp, they said. The probe brought authorities to the home of Del Bergiolo, where an array of military-grade weapons and illegally held guns were found, according to police. Del Bergiolo's house allegedly also contained Nazi swastikas and references to the Nazi military Waffen-SS unit.

Nollywood Block Buster Movie THE REUNION set to hit cinemas Nationwide Aug 16th 2019

All is set for the release of The Reunion across the cinemas nationwide from August. The movie which is a Fojo Media Productions parades stars like Mercy Johnson-Okojie, Lilian Esoro, Tana Adelana, Mercy Aigbe, Jide Kosoko, Frederick Leonard, Chioma Emeruah Chigul, Jaiye Kuti, Femi Jacobs, Lateef Adedimeji, Steve Onu Yaw among others.

The movie tells the story of four friends from high school who reunite to plan the 50th anniversary of their alma mater. As a battle of superiority stirs up and issues from the past are re-visited, secrets are revealed that threaten to tear up their seemingly perfect lives.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Fojo Media Productions and Executive Producer of the movie, Mrs. Faith Ojo, the Reunion shares the struggles of women while living up to the expectations of the society. “This is a must watch for every household.”

While commenting on the film industry in Nigeria and its performance, Mrs. Ojo said that Nollywood actors are a match to Hollywood actors any day, adding that the support and partnership they give to every project they are involved in makes the difference.

“The Nollywood industry will be bigger than what it is today if Nollywood actors, throw their weight and support from their fans to make each movie a hit, that way the producer makes more money to plunge back into paying them for more movies.”

Russia’s Election Hackers Are Back—and Targeting George Soros

The Russian intelligence agency behind 2016’s election attacks is training its sights on billionaire financier George Soros, The Daily Beast has learned. The move comes hot on the heels of a surge in U.S.-focused hacking by Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate with similarities to 2016 in targeting and methodology.

Laura Silber, chief communications officer for Soros’ Open Society Foundations, confirmed the hack attempt, but couldn’t provide additional details over the weekend. “We were aware of an attack,” Silber told the Daily Beast.

Last month Microsoft quietly seized a new batch of 10 deceptive domain names the company says were set up by the hackers known as Fancy Bear, the group intelligence officials and independent analysts have long attributed to Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, the GRU. Those web addresses imitate genuine domains used for Microsoft services like Sharepoint, an unmistakable sign that they were intended for use in phishing attacks, in which a victim is tricked into typing their password into a fake login page.

Mueller Finally Solves Mysteries About Russia’s ‘Fancy Bear’ Hackers

Boy slips through Heathrow security to board British Airways flight to Los Angeles

Police at Heathrow Airport are investigating how a 12-year-old boy slipped through security and managed to board a British Airways flight to Los Angeles without a ticket or boarding pass.

The unaccompanied child, who had no travel documents, mingled with passengers getting on the flight and was only spotted when cabin crew asked to see his boarding pass in order to direct him to his seat.

The mystery youngster, who is thought to be Dutch, was not travelling with his parents, and refused to cooperate with cabin crew when he was challenged.

Fellow passengers said he refused to leave the aircraft and was eventually removed by police officers who boarded to assist aircrew.

As a result of the security lapse, the aircraft had to be cleared and all the passengers were forced to undergo a second security check, delaying the flight by more than four hours.

Detectives were working to establish where the boy was originally from and how he had managed to pass through strict security cordons, without being spotted.

One theory is that he was a transit passenger who had arrived at Heathrow with a ticket to an onward destination, but had then attempted to see if he how far he could get with our being challenged as part of an elaborate dare.

Girl attacked by shark while boogie boarding during vacation on Florida’s Amelia Island

A 16-year-old girl was bitten by a shark while boogie boarding outside her hotel on Florida’s Amelia Island on Friday, according to authorities.

The teen had bite marks on her heel and ankle, according to the Florida Times-Union. The South Florida resident had been vacationing on the island when the attack took place.

She had been able to reach the pool area of the resort to get help, according to CNN. She was hospitalized with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper told CNN that there have not been many shark attacks in the area, but he urged swimmers to be careful.

It was the second scary incident in the region involving a shark in the last few weeks. A teen was bitten in the foot while surfing off New Smyrna Beach on June 30.

In addition, another teen was attacked by a shark in the same area in April.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY- learning how to love yourself by Rob Liu

Tell me if this sounds familiar?

You get social anxiety when you’re around certain people. That anxiety cripples you and you start wondering why you’re so anxious. Now you’re becoming anxious about being anxious. Oh no! Doubly anxious! Now you’re anxious about your social anxiety, which is causing more anxiety. Quick, where’s the whiskey?

Or you’re so worried about doing the right thing all the time that you become worried about how much you’re worrying. Or you feel so guilty for every mistake you make that you begin to feel guilty about how guilty you’re feeling. Or you get sad and alone so often that it makes you feel even more sad and alone just thinking about it – Adapted from Mark Manson

I call this the “thought loop of despair”

I get trapped in the thought loop of despair often.

So I am at this party with the confident crowd. I look around and all I see are smiling faces chatting to each other.

Why does everyone look like they’re having so much fun?

I’m just not feeling it. It’s been a long day at work and my mind is fried. There’s a pit in my stomach. I’m looking around trying to find my confidence. But the more I look the deeper the pit gets.

I force myself to sound confident. I go up and say hello to a few people. My voice starts out strong, but then it starts to waver. Everything I say sounds like a question. Hi? How are you? I’m good? Great party?…

Argentinian Prisoners' Escape Plan Goes Wrong As They Dig Tunnel Into Kennels

If you're thinking about making a prison break, and digging a tunnel is your route out, you really need to make sure you've got up-to-date blueprints of the place.
Otherwise you could end up like this group of inmates in Argentina who, rather than shovelling their way to freedom, ended up breaking into the kennels for the jail's K-9 unit.

According to local media outlet Clarin, the group of criminals took around two days to make the tunnel at the Florencia Varela Penitentiary, Buenos Aires.

The escape to the tunnel measured just three feet wide and and five feet deep. To make sure their plans weren't uncovered by prison guards, they hid the hole under a slab of plywood and covered it with sawdust.

But sadly for the group of would-be escapists, it didn't make any difference in the end as they poked their heads out to find they had taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way.

And if things couldn't get any worse, their plan was well and truly scuppered when guards discovered their tunnel during a routine inspection of the prison on Monday.

R Kelly Evidence Allegedly Given To Police By Ex-Friends And Employees

R Kelly was arrested by New York police detective yesterday on federal sex trafficking and child pornography charges after evidence was allegedly handed over to police by ex-employees and former friends.

The singer was arrested on Thursday after detectives from the department of Homeland Security were allegedly given 20 videos that show the musician having sex with underage girls.

This was alleged by Gerald Griggs, a lawyer who represents - amongst others - the family of Jocelyn Savage. Griggs said that the tapes "were exactly what the feds needed to secure indictments for sex crimes, including child pornography".
Joseph D. Fitzpatrick, the spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Illinois, confirmed that R Kelly was arrested after a 13 count federal indictment was handed down.

In a short statement, he added that: "The counts include child porn, enticement of a minor and obstruction of justice".

Father chases down thief who stole car with children inside and beats him to death with help of bystanders

A father chased down and beat to death a thief who stole a car with his children inside, US police have said.

Bystanders also joined in the attack on the 54-year-old man, who later died in hospital of head injuries, said detectives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Three young children – aged seven months, 18 months, and five years old – were in the Hyundai when the carjacker stole it on Thursday evening.

Their mother had left the car running as she went into a pizza takeaway where her boyfriend – who is the father of the two younger children – was working at 9pm local time.

As the woman was speaking to her partner, the thief climbed into the car and drove off.

The parents, both aged 25, ran after the car, which became stuck in traffic nearby.

Why Was an American Scientist Murdered in a Nazi Bunker?

Suzanne Eaton was, by every standard, an accomplished woman. The 59-year-old molecular biologist from Oakland, California, held a black belt in Taekwondo and was a globetrotting speaker on the international science circuit. She was married to a British scientist with whom she had two children, and she was an avid runner, racking up several miles on her daily 30-minute run.

Eaton, who worked as a research leader at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, was last seen playing piano at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, in Kolymbari, on July 2, where she was attending a conference.

Her family and friends assumed that she had gone for a run and perhaps passed out in the stifling heat wave or fallen on rough terrain during her workout. Her passport, money, phone, cycling shoes and laptop were all found in her hotel room, they say. All that was missing were her running shoes.

Her relatives and friends raised nearly $50,000 to aid the search through an online campaign. Then, on July 9, her body was found by two local residents exploring a World War II era Nazi bunker about seven miles from where Eaton had been staying.

Her body, which was wrapped in burlap, showed signs of torture, including stab wounds, but her official cause of death, according to the coroner was asphyxiation. The coroner said she likely suffered a “slow and painful death.”