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‘Beau is Afraid’ with good reason as Joaquin Phoenix carries horror tale

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Beau Is Afraid”Rated R. At the AMC Boston Common, AMC South Bay and suburban theaters.Grade: A-“Beau Is Afraid,” the latest effort from writer-director Ari Aster, begins as an urban horror film of great power. Beau Wassermann (Joaquin Phoenix) is a troubled single man living in a spider-infested apartment complex perhaps in New York City next door to a peep show. Outside a nearly naked young man is dancing non-stop some sort of rumba on the sidewalk. News report tells of a fully naked man who has stabbed someone to death on the street. He is also on the scene.Beau, returning from a session with his therapist (Stephen McKinley Henderson), where the talk is about Beau’s mother, must race with a tattooed maniac to get to his building’s front door first. At night, street noises keep Beau awake. Also keeping him awake is a neighbor slipping notes under his door and one who turns up the music. Someone steals Beau’s keys, making it impossible for him to catch...

Wednesday’s high school roundup/scores: King Philip rules Walpole on the diamond, 4-3

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

BASEBALLJohnny Prater and Aidan Astorino led an offensive charge that featured four different players gathering two hits, each driving in a run for King Philip in a 4-3 nonleague win over Walpole. … Cam Beltramini’s 4-for-4 day at the plate helped Whitman-Hanson (5-2) get ahead and Brandon Craven’s bases-clearing triple put the game out of reach in a 12-2 win over New Bedford. … Nick Ayres came through in the clutch once again for Duxbury (6-1), belting a walkoff grand slam to best Braintree 5-2. … Andrew Schmit drove in two runs, while James Benestad posted three hits and Chris Pompei (two hits) scored twice for St. John’s of Shrewsbury to top Algonquin, 7-1. … Senior Noah Gonzalez stepped up big for Newton South (5-0), hitting a walkoff single in the seventh inning en route to a 5-4 win over crosstown rival Newton North – the program’s first over the Tigers in 11 years. … Tyler Kropis and Connor Flynn scored twice and drove in four runs apiece as Seekonk cruised to a 15-2 wi...

Editorial: End qualified immunity to weed out bad cops

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

There are good cops. There are bad cops. And there’s legislation that could help police departments separate the wheat from the chaff.Massachusetts Democrats Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey have reintroduced legislation to end qualified immunity, a doctrine that protects government officials from individual liability for violating personal and constitutional rights, as The Hill reported.The Ending Qualified Immunity Act would restore Americans’ ability to obtain relief when state and local officials, including police officers, violate citizens’ legal and constitutional rights by explicitly stating that the police officers that violate these rights are not protected from civil liability.The act was originally introduced in June 2020 Pressley and former Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.) following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.A lot of things have happened between cops and civilians since June 2020, and America has been watching.There were the dozen...

‘Chevalier’ looks grand, falls flat

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Chevalier”Rated PG-13. At the AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Coolidge Corner and suburban theaters.Grade C+A flawed costume drama, “Chevalier” is based on the true story of the 18th-century French-Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George (Kelvin Harrison Jr., “Elvis”). The film is set in pre-revolutionary Paris. This is no French “Hamilton.” “Chevalier,” which was written by Stefani Robinson (TV’s “Atlanta”) and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Stephen Williams (TV’s “Watchmen”), begins in the former Palais-Royal across from the Louvre, where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Joseph Prowen) plays his violin literally hopping around the stage in joy before a packed house when a “dark stranger” approaches asking to perform with the maestro. A bewildered Mozart agrees only to have Bologne spin rings around the him in a Fifth Concerto No. 5 battle of the fiddles. The scene ends with a Mozart comically crying, “Who the (expletive) ...

Gallery: Bruins blow it, lose big to the Panthers 6-3

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

The Boston Bruins lost Game 2 in the first round of the Playoffs against the Florida Panthers 6-3 at the Garden.

Jeung: US-China tensions fuel more anti-Asian hate

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

The far-right website the Daily Caller recently smeared Asian American business leaders in L.A. as stooges of the People’s Republic of China. This portrayal — based on prejudice, not evidence — points to a trend we’re likely to only see expand. Amid widening U.S.-China tensions, American extremists and officials alike are stoking fears that will start another surge of racism toward Chinese people and others of Asian descent.U.S. government leaders have been clear in their messaging: China, and anyone associated with it, may be a security threat. During a university talk this month, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray again declared China the greatest “long-term” threat to the United States. “The current Chinese regime will stop at nothing to steal what they can’t create and silence the messages they don’t want to hear,” Wray claimed, “all in an effort to surpass us as a global superpower.” Others in the Biden administration, such as Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, have repeated ...

Girls gymnastics All-Scholastics and league All-Stars

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

GIRLS GYMNASTICSGabriella Bresnick (Andover)Alexa Graziano (Wilmington/Bedford)Amelie Hirst (Newton South)Sophia Isbell (Reading)Ava Kelley (Barnstable/Mashpee/Falmouth)Mackenzie Mackinaw (Silver Lake)Madeline Migliero (Danvers/Lynnfield)Isabella Misiura (Masconomet)Lily Moreira (Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater)Rebecca Morrow (Newton South)Greta Mowers (Masconomet)Maggie Murphy (Westford Academy)Amanda Ogden (Tewksbury)Camryn Rueda (Central Catholic)Katie Russo (Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater)Riley Salerno (Central Catholic)Kaylee Westcott (Danvers/Lynnfield)Janey Young (Masconomet)GABRIELLA BRESNICKANDOVERThe junior was the Merrimack Valley Conference champion in the All-Around. At the States Individuals, Bresnick was second in both the bars and floor exercise and third in the All-Around. On the season, Bresnick’s high scores were 9.8 in the floor, 9.7 on the beam and 9.6 in both the bars and vault.ALEXA GRAZIANOWILMINGTON/BEDFORDThe senior broke three school recor...

Dear Abby: Safety issues a heavy burden for pool owner

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

Dear Abby: I married a widower eight years ago, and we are very happy. However, his three grown daughters were angry that he moved on with his life after the death of their mother. To keep peace in the family, I have tried to “kill them with kindness,” and while we’ve made progress, I feel they take advantage of me and sometimes treat me with disrespect.Although we don’t swim often, we go to the expense of opening our pool every summer so the children and grandchildren can swim. Frequently when I check the pool after they leave, I find my pool floats have been damaged or destroyed. All three of his daughters are very large women. Not once have they mentioned that they damaged the floats or offered to replace them.I bought a new chair for my deck recently and noticed that it has a weight limit of 250 pounds. At least two of his daughters — maybe all three — exceed the weight limit. I’m considering selling the chair because I’m afraid so...

Boy George to perform in San Diego

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Boy George and Culture Club will be making a stop in San Diego as part of their 2023 tour "The Letting It Go Show," concert officials announced.The performance is scheduled for Aug. 19 at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, according to Live Nation Entertainment.Tickets will be available to the general public starting Friday at 10 a.m. Frank Ocean steps away from Coachella Weekend 2: reports Known for their iconic hits “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” “Karma Chameleon,” and “Church of the Poisoned Mind,” the band's 25-city run kicks off July 13 with stops in Atlanta, GA, Nashville, TN, Toronto, ON, Concord, CA and more locations.Special guests to make an appearance with the popular '80s band include British musician Howard Jones and the American band BERLIN.

Hong Kong bishop hopes for closer ties with Beijing diocese

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:00:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Hong Kong’s Roman Catholic bishop said in a historic trip to Beijing that he hopes the dioceses of the two cities will have more exchanges and cooperation, local media reported Thursday amid signs of Sino-Vatican strains.Bishop Stephen Chow made the remarks during a Mass that was also attended by his counterpart in Beijing, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK said. Chow later told reporters he was encouraged to visit other dioceses. “I hope that this is not the last time,” Chow said. His five-day trip is the first visit to Beijing by Hong Kong’s bishop in nearly three decades and came two weeks after Vatican News, the news portal of the Holy See, reported that China had unilaterally appointed a new bishop to Shanghai. China’s ruling Communist Party closely controls organized religion, which it sees as a potential threat to its monopoly on power. People are allowed to worship in institutions that abide by party rules. Some Christians have set up underground...