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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
BLM - From WashPost: The Rev. William H. Lamar IV is the pastor of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington D.C. that was attacked on Sat., Dec. 12th, 2020 by members of the racist group, the "Proud Boys." The "Boys" were in Washington for a pro-Trump rally/riot. Rev. Lamar wrote an opinion piece for the "Washington Post" entitled "My church will replace our Black Lives Matter sign. Will America replace its racist myth?" One of the quotes is "...that White men can employ violence to take what they want and do what they want and call that criminality justice, freedom and liberty."
COVID-19 - From CNN: US sees record Covid-19 cases as CDC advisory group votes to recommend Moderna vaccine
CELEBRITY - From THR: Inside Johnny Depp's self-made implosion.
CULTURE - From YahooEntertainment: The last "Blockbuster" video rental store keeps chugging along and is the subject of a new documentary, "The Last Blockbuster."
AWARDS - From THR: The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) names "First Cow" its best film of 2020.
STREAMING - From YahooEW: New set photos from "Coming 2 America," Netflix's sequel to the classic Eddie Murphy film, "Coming to America," include an image of Wesley Snipes.
MOVIES - From DirtyMovies: There will be another entry in the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" film franchise in 2021. "Dirty Movies" analyzes what went wrong with the last two entries.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: NBC is working on a reboot of its classic legal comedy, "Night Court" (1984-1992), with Warner Bros. Television. John Larroquette, who won several Emmy Awards for the show, will return as "Dan Fielding," and Melissa Rauch ("The Big Bang Theory") will play the role of Judge Abby Stone, the daughter of the late Judge Harry Stone (played by the late Harry Anderson).
TELEVISION - From Deadline: ABC is in early development on "Pine Valley," a prime time follow-up to its daytime soap opera, "All My Children," which ended its run on the network in 2011.
TELEVISION-BLM - From Variety: "Heroes" Was Supposed to Be Leonard Roberts’ Big Break. Instead, It Nearly Broke Him. An African-American actor speaks about his poor treatment on the set of the former NBC series.
TOM CRUISE - From Deadline: Tom Cruise Goes Off On Crew After Covid Breach On ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ London Set – Hear The Audio.
SPORTS-BLM - From MLB: Major League Baseball has long celebrated the legacy of the Negro Leagues. But for the first time, MLB is officially recognizing that the quality of the segregation-era circuits was comparable to its own product from that time period. Addressing what MLB described as a “long overdue recognition,” Commissioner Rob Manfred on Wednesday bestowed Major League status upon seven professional Negro Leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948. The decision means that the approximately 3,400 players of the Negro Leagues during this time period are officially considered Major Leaguers, with their stats and records becoming a part of Major League history.
COVID-19 - From GuardianUK: US Covid Deaths Pass 300,000 as First Americans Receive Coronavirus Vaccine
MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: As we acknowledge the 25th anniversary of Michael Mann's film, "Heat," which starred Oscar-winners, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, we revisit an interview in which Pacino talks about his friendly rivalry with De Niro.
STREAMING - From Deadline: Lily James and Sebastian Stan (Marvel Studios "Winter Soldier") will play model/actress Pam Anderson and rock musician Tommy Lee in Hulu's biopic about the infamous celebrity couple.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Chris Pine is in talks to star in "Dungeons & Dragons" for eOne and Paramount Pictures. Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are set to direct from a script they wrote.
SPORTS - From YahooSports: Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians are dropping "Indians" from their name. Here are the possibilities for a new name, including a Negro League name.
BLM - From Deadline: Tyler Perry has donated $100,000 to the legal defense fund for Kenneth Walker, the boyfriend of Breonna Taylor, the medical worker murdered in her apartment by members of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: The winner of the 12/11 to 12/13/20 weekend box office is "The Croods: A New Age" with an estimated take of 3 million dollars.
COVID-19 - From YahooNewsAP: Trucks with first batches of COVID-19 vaccine in US get ready to roll
CHRISTMAS - From YahooNews: Rare planetary conjunction means a rare "Christmas Star" will light up the night for the first time since the year 1226.
OBITS:
From THR: American dancer, actress, and choreographer, Ann Reinking, has died at the age of 71, Saturday, December 12, 2020. She is best known for her association with the Broadway musical, "Chicago," both as an actress (1977 and 1996) and as a choreographer (1996). In 1997, she won a "Tony Award for Best Choreography" for the 1996 revival of "Chicago." Reinking was nominated for a Tony three other times.
From Variety: The spy-turned-spy-novelist, John le Carre, has died at the age of 89, Saturday, December 12, 2020. During the 1950s and 1960s, le Carre (born David John Moore Cornwell) worked the British "Security Service" (MI5) and "Secret Intelligence Service" (MI6). By the time he left the service, le Carre has already published three novels, including the international bestseller, "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" (1963). Ten of his novels have been adapted into film, including 2001's "The Constant Gardener," which became the 2005 Oscar-winning film.
From RollingStone: Iconic country music singer, Charley Pride, has died at the age of 86, Saturday, December 12, 2020 of complications of COVID-19. Pride was a pioneering African-American country musician and is one of only three Black members of the "Grand Old Opry," and he was inducted into the "Country Music Hall of Fame" in 2000. In 1971, at the "Country Music Association Awards, Pride won the "Entertainer of the Year" award. Pride was a three-time Grammy Award winner, and received the "Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2017.
