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‘Blue Beetle’ review: A reluctant superhero in a better-than-average DC Comics movie

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

Michael Phillips | (TNS) Chicago Tribune“Blue Beetle” works, basically, and that puts it ahead of the game for most DC Comics-derived movies. Its scale is more human than corporate. And it’s really nice to get out of Gotham and visit a new fictional urban center: Palmera City, imagined here as Miami with a hint of “Blade Runner,” if “Blade Runner” enjoyed a little sunshine.The Blue Beetle character has been around since before World War II, in comics, as a radio serial, on TV and in different iterations. This is the first feature film on the subject, about the teenager Jaime Reyes — just graduated from Gotham U, prelaw, dim prospects — who gets a face-full and then a full-body invasion of alien biotechnology. This transforms him into the Blue Beetle, which means he becomes the target of the nefarious Kord Industries, the company developing an army of weaponized humanoid “security forces,” aka Robocops but worse.That part of “Blue Beetle” may be narratively necessary, but I do not ca...

Disappointed in the summer blockbusters? Read these Hollywood books, one by Tom Hanks, instead

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

Chris Hewitt | Star Tribune (TNS)Movie fans seem to think Hollywood is falling short this summer. “Barbenheimer” has helped turn around what was becoming a grim season, with other blockbusters such as the “Mission Impossible” and “Indiana Jones” sequels and “Elemental” not busting as many blocks as expected/hoped.Maybe those fans are filling in the gaps with Hollywood-themed books? For whatever reason, a lot of current and upcoming fiction tackles moviemaking, ranging from “From Dust to Stardust,” due Sept. 5 and mostly set in the silent film era, to Tom Hanks’ “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” which takes place on the present-day set of a Marvel-like movie. There’s also Lindsay Lynch’s new “Do Tell,” whose main character is a gossip columnist in the era when “Gone With the Wind” was sweeping the Oscars, and James Ellroy’s 1960s-set “T...

Quick Fix: Cilantro and Cumin Shrimp Tacos inspired by Coyo Taco recipe

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

Linda Gassenheimer | Tribune News Service (TNS)I tasted some shrimp tacos that were packed with flavor at a Coyo Taco restaurant and asked the co-founder and chef behind the Coyo Taco chain, Scott Linquist, how they are made. He gave me a simple recipe and I’ve adapted it here.Scott also advised that you could make the tacos and serve them, or you can simply place all the fixings in bowls on the table along with the warm tortillas and let everyone make their own tacos.I like to buy frozen shrimp to have on hand. It’s easy to remove what you need. They take only a few minutes to defrost in a bowl of cold water.Helpful Hints:— You can substitute several drops of hot pepper sauce for jalapeno pepper.— Look for finely shredded or thinly sliced coleslaw mix in the produce department.— If don’t have access to a blender, chop the cilantro, garlic, cumin and jalapeno together and mix with oil and lime juice.Countdown:— Make cilantro mixture and add the shrimp.— Prepare the remaining ingredi...

Consumer Health: What is swimmer’s itch?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

Laurel Kelly | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)It’s summertime, and for many people that means spending time with family and friends at the lake or river. For some, it also means an unpleasant skin irritation: swimmer’s itch.Swimmer’s itch, also called cercarial dermatitis, is a rash that can occur after you go swimming or wading outdoors. It’s most common after being in freshwater lakes and ponds, but you can get it in saltwater too.There is no risk of contracting swimmer’s itch from a well maintained and chlorinated swimming pool, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Swimmer’s itch usually is caused by a reaction to tiny parasites in the water that burrow into your skin while you’re swimming or wading in warm, calm water. Swimmer’s itch is not contagious from person to person. The parasites can’t survive in people, so they soon die.SymptomsSwimmer’s itch symptoms include an itchy rash that looks like ...

Judge won’t delay Trump’s defamation claims trial, calling the ex-president’s appeal frivolous

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York federal judge expressed growing impatience Friday with what he calls ex-President Donald Trump’s “repeated efforts to delay” a defamation lawsuit against him, saying he won’t stop a January trial to await the outcome of a “frivolous” appeal of one of his rulings. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan made the remarks in a written ruling as he criticized arguments made by Trump’s lawyers in asking him to mothball the 2019 civil claims by a New York columnist who says Trump raped her in a luxury Manhattan department store dressing room in spring 1996.“This case was largely stalled for years due in large part to Mr. Trump’s repeated efforts to delay,” Kaplan wrote. “Mr. Trump’s latest motion to stay — his fourth such request — is yet another such attempt to delay unduly the resolution of this matter.”The ruling increases the likelihood that Trump will face the defamation lawsuit on Jan. 15, just as primary season begins in his quest to become the Republican nominee for presi...

Ottawa ‘shouldn’t walk around with a stick’ to enforce health deals: Holland

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

OTTAWA — Newly appointed Health Minister Mark Holland says accountability for new federal health funding will largely come from Canadians themselves. Holland told a conference hosted by the Canadian Medical Association in Ottawa that a $198-billion deal struck between the federal and provincial governments in February is intended to restore Canadians’ optimism about Canadian health care. All provinces except Quebec have accepted the agreement in principle and are hammering out finer details.Holland says governments “viscerally” understand that Canadians are done with political excuses for the state of health care and want to see results. He says he believes those public demands will ensure accountability, and Ottawa “shouldn’t walk around with a stick.”Holland said after his appearance that his provincial and territorial counterparts are pulling in the same direction, and that’s why he doesn’t want to start talking about how they’...

Court tosses Jan. 6 sentence in ruling that could impact other low-level Capitol riot cases

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

A federal appeals court on Friday ordered a new sentence for a North Carolina man who pleaded guilty to a petty offense in the Capitol riot — a ruling that could impact dozens of low-level cases in the massive Jan. 6, 2021 prosecution. The appeals court in Washington said James Little was wrongly sentenced for his conviction on a misdemeanor offense to both prison time and probation, which is court-ordered monitoring of defendants who are not behind bars. Little, who entered the Capitol but didn’t join in any destruction or violence, pleaded guilty in 2021 to a charge that carries up to six months behind bars. He was sentenced last year to 60 days in prison followed by three years of probation. But the 2-1 opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that probation and imprisonment “may not be imposed as a single sentence” for a petty offense, adding “there are separate options on the menu.” Judge Robert Wilkins, who was appointed by former President Barack...

Daughter says NYC shark bite victim has had 5 surgeries and has been left with permanent disability

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The 65-year-old woman who was bitten by a shark at a New York City beach has undergone five surgeries since the attack and will require more, her daughter said in a statement.Tatyana Koltunyuk’s recovery from the Aug. 7 shark bite will also take years of physical therapy and close medical monitoring, daughter Darya Koltunyuk said.“Though the full impact of her injury is not yet known, it has left her with a permanent disability,” Darya Koltunyuk said in an online statement posted on GoFundMe to raise money for her mother’s medical care.Tatyana Koltunyuk was swimming off Rockaway Beach when a shark bit into her left leg, leaving a wound several inches wide and deep. Lifeguards pulled Koltunyuk from the water and applied a tourniquet to her leg. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition.Darya Koltunyuk, a pianist and the outreach manager at Princeton University Concerts, said her mother will remain hospitalized for at least several more weeks.Tatyan...

San Francisco launches driverless bus service following robotaxi expansion

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — First came the robotaxis. Then the driverless buses arrived.San Francisco has launched an autonomous shuttle service — less than a week after California regulators approved the expansion of robotaxis despite traffic and safety concerns.The free shuttle will run daily in a fixed route called the Loop around Treasure Island, the site of a former U.S. Navy base in the middle of San Francisco Bay. The Loop makes seven stops, connecting residential neighborhoods with stores and community centers. About 2,000 people live on the island.The all-electric vehicle, which doesn’t have a driver’s seat or steering wheel, is staffed with an attendant who can drive the bus with a handheld controller if necessary. The county is offering the shuttle service as part of a grant-funded pilot program to assess how autonomous vehicles can supplement the public transit system.“Having the attendant on board makes everyone feel comfortable,” said Tilly Chang, executive director of ...

Prosecutor urges life sentence for Michigan shooter who killed 4 students

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:16:52 GMT

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor urged a judge Friday to impose a life sentence on the teenager who killed four students at his Michigan school, arguing that his methodical planning and “appetite for violence” should keep him locked up forever.“He only stopped because there was no one left to shoot. Those kids were trained to go into lockdown and they did,” Karen McDonald said.“There were hundreds of kids in that building who wrote and texted their parents very similar things: ‘There’s a shooter. I’m scared. I love you.’ … They were helpless — like the birds,” McDonald said, referring to evidence that the shooter liked to torture birds.Her final remarks came at the close of a unique four-day hearing that will determine whether Ethan Crumbley, 17, gets a life sentence for the attack at Oxford High School or a shorter term that would some day make him eligible for parole.Because of the shooter’s age — 15 at the time — Oakland County Judge Kwame Rowe must cons...