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‘Renfield’ stars Cage, Hoult and Awkwafina talk about working on vampire comedy that asks, what if Dracula’s your boss?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

Some bosses are the worst — not ours, ours are great — but when you’re Renfield, and Dracula’s the guy signing your checks, not only do you have the right to complain, but it may be time to find a new job. Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage star in a bloody good new movie.Food for thought:Ramani Durvasula, PhD: “Every psychopath is a narcissist, but not every narcissist is psychopathic.”Well, I think Dracula is both. Plus the food part.Nicolas Cage (as Count Dracula): “Your sole purpose in life is to serve me. Now, let’s eat!”In “Renfield,” starring Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult, a tortured aide to his boss the Count is forced to procure his master’s prey and do his every bidding.Nicholas Hoult (as Renfield): “I just want a normal life again.”Nicholas Hoult: “It’s like the beginning of a love, when all your chemicals inside of your brain are playing off, and you’re not really sure wh...

Tennessee House expels 2nd Democratic lawmaker after falling short of ousting another

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

(CNN) — Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to expel Rep. Justin Pearson, a week after he and two other Democrats led a gun reform protest on the House floor.The House earlier expelled Rep. Justin Jones over that protest, which followed a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school. A vote to expel the third Democrat involved, Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed.The vote over rules violations for Pearson was 69-26. Johnson’s vote was 65-30. Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority of the total membership. The vote for Jones split along party lines, 72-25.Protesters flooded the state Capitol on Thursday as the legislators were set to take up three resolutions filed by GOP lawmakers Monday seeking to expel Jones, of Nashville, Johnson of Knoxville and Pearson of Memphis, a step the state House has taken only twice since the 1860s.The crowd erupted in boos and chants following both expulsions.“There comes a time w...

5 people injured in crash involving police cruiser in Dorchester

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

Five people were sent to the hospital late Wednesday night after a three-car crash involving an unmarked Boston police cruiser in Dorchester. Surveillance cameras captured video of the crash near the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Park Street just before 11:30 p.m.In one angle, the unmarked cruiser can be seen with its lights on approaching the intersection.Video shows the cruiser sideswipe another SUV, sending both cars spinning. Another SUV was also hit. It was not clear as of Thursday night if the other car was going through the intersection or turning left. Video shows the driver had a green light, though. A police report said two police officers were among the five people who went to the hospital. Each of the three cars, meanwhile, sustained damage, with police describing significant damage on the cruiser’s front bumper and driver-side door. Police said all of the injuries in this incident were non-life-threatening. The crash remained under inves...

Bruins keep winning, but lose Charlie McAvoy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

The Bruins notched their 61st victory of the season. They can only hope that it wasn’t a costly one.David Pastrnak, who committed a bad turnover earlier in the game, blasted a one-timer past Ilya Samsonov at 2:30 of overtime to lift the B’s to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Garden. It was Pastrnak’s 57th of the year, coming off a nice feed from Dmitry Orlov on a 4-on-4 just after a Leaf penalty was up.But the B’s have to be holding their collective breath after Charlie McAvoy left the game in the second period when he crashed hard into the boards and did not return. It was announced he had an upper body injury.Shortly before the winner, Pavel Zacha had been called for a hand pass off a faceoff, a two-minute infraction but the officials got together and correctly rescinded the call, thus allowing the B’s to notch the winner.The Bruins trailed 1-0 in the third period but, just after their third failed power play, they tied it at 11:32. ...

Magic sit starters, drop final home game to Cavaliers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

Even after being eliminated from postseason contention, the Orlando Magic still had something to play in Thursday’s 118-94 home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.The Magic entered the matchup .500 at home, vying for their first winning record at Amway Center in four seasons.Even with that in mind the Magic sat their starters, opting for players who haven’t been in the rotation in the defeat, giving Orlando a losing home record (20-21) for the third consecutive season.Paolo Banchero (back tightness), Wendell Carter Jr. (left hip soreness), Fultz (left knee soreness), Gary Harris (left inner thigh soreness) and Franz Wagner (sprained left ankle) weren’t available. Neither was Jonathan Isaac (season-ending left inner thigh surgery on March 3).Cole Anthony, the team’s leading scorer off the bench, was available according to coach Jamahl Mosley but didn’t play.“The decision really is that it gives these other guys an opportunity,” Mosley said. R...

Boston University falls to Minnesota in Frozen Four semifinal, 6-2

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. — The University of Minnesota came into Thursday’s Frozen Four semifinal game against Boston University with one of the most potent offenses in the country equipped with a first line loaded with top NHL draft picks.On the power play, they’re even better.Behind three power-play goals and a stubborn defense, the Golden Gophers skated to a 6-2 win over BU at Amalie Arena.Minnesota senior goalie Justen Close made 27 saves as Minnesota earned a spot in Saturday’s national championship game against the University of Michigan and Quinnipiac winner.“We were tied in the third period, but we stuck with it,” said Minnesota coach Bob Motzko. “We had our chances (in the third period) and we finished this thing.”The Terriers ended a memorable first year under new head coach Jay Pandolfo with a 29-11 record in a season that included a Hockey East championship and the appearance in the Frozen Four. Pandolfo, who grew up in Burlington, won a national title as a player for BU in 1995 and ...

Israel stages strikes in Lebanon, blasts reported in Tyre

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said it launched strikes in Lebanon early Friday, and a Lebanese TV station reported explosions in the southern port city of Tyre. The military did not not provide immediate details. The announcement of the strikes came hours after militants from Lebanon fired nearly three dozen rockets at Israel, marking a further escalation in the region following violence at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.The Israelis also struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Friday following rocket fire into northern Israel. Palestinian militants responded with barrages of rockets.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military struck targets in the Gaza Strip while Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets rockets into southern Israel early Friday, with the region edging closer toward war following two days of unrest at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site and a rare rocket attack from neighboring Lebanon....

Tribe, US officials reach deal to save Colorado River water

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — A Native American tribe in Arizona reached a deal Thursday with the U.S. government not to use some of its Colorado River water rights in return for $150 million and funding for a pipeline project. The $233 million pact with the Gila River Indian Community, announced in Phoenix, was hailed as an example of the kind of cooperation needed to rescue a river crucial to a massive agricultural industry and essential to more than 40 million people in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico. Officials termed it “compensated conservation.”It’s part of a broader effort to get states that rely on the Colorado River to substantially lessen their water use amid an ongoing drought that has dramatically dried up reservoirs including Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam.“Today’s announcements and our partnerships with tribes like the Gila River Indian Community prove that tribes are a key part of the solutions,” Deputy U.S. Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau said. “We don’t have any more ...

Council approves salmon fishing ban for much of West Coast

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A federal regulatory group voted Thursday to officially close king salmon fishing season along much of the West Coast after near-record low numbers of the fish, also known as chinook, returned to California’s rivers last year.The Pacific Fishery Management Council approved the closure of the 2023 season for all commercial and most recreational chinook fishing along the coast from Cape Falcon in northern Oregon to the California-Mexico border. Limited recreational salmon fishing will be allowed off southern Oregon in the fall.“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are near record lows,” Council Chair Marc Gorelnik said after the vote in a news release. “The poor conditions in the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns are unfortunately not something that the Council can, or has authority to, control.”Biologists say the chinook salmon population has declined dramatically after years of drought. ...

Man pleads guilty to robbery-killing of rapper Pop Smoke

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 11:51:00 GMT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — One of four men charged in the killing of rapper Pop Smoke during a robbery at a Hollywood Hills mansion pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter.The 20-year-old man, who was 17 when the killing occurred, also pleaded guilty in Inglewood juvenile court to home invasion robbery. He was sentenced to four years and two months in a juvenile facility. The judge has barred the public use of his name because he was a minor at the time of the shooting. The 20-year-old New York rapper, whose legal name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, was killed on Feb. 19, 2020, at a rented home where he was staying while on a four-day trip to Los Angeles. A 911 call from a friend of someone in the house reported armed intruders inside the home, police said. The robbers knew the address because a day earlier, Jackson had posted a photograph on social media of a gift bag he had received and the address was on a label, authorities said.Jackson was in the shower when masked robbers ...