Month: December 2019

This “Les Misérables” is not based on the Victor Hugo novel, but on a real incident of police brutality in France. It’s that nation’s submission for the 2020 international feature Oscar. “I come from documentary filmmaking,” director and co-writer Ladj Ly said at an Envelope Live Q&A. “For the last couple of years, I’ve been…

Director Olivia Newman had it all planned out. In order to keep making personal features — like her 2018 Netflix film “First Match”— she’d make a living as a TV director. But her agent, she says, warned her that his other client, Dee Rees (“Mudbound”), had trouble getting her first episodic credit even after making…

NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke is planning to step down next year, accelerating an internal race to succeed him, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment. Burke, 61, has managed NBCUniversal since Philadelphia cable giant Comcast Corp. purchased it in January 2011, shaping the once-tattered media company into…

SERIES Top Elf Peyton List joins Santa and Ms. Jingles to judge the giant holiday ornament challenge in this new episode. 7 p.m. Nickelodeon The Blacklist Red (James Spader) and the team visit a former Blacklister as an explosive confrontation leads Liz (Megan Boone) to make a critical choice in a new episode of the…

As many U.S. airports, including LAX, rush to embrace the use of facial-recognition technology by airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is applying the brakes. On Tuesday, the Port of Seattle Commission (which manages Sea-Tac) unanimously approved a temporary ban on some uses of biometric technology, including the facial-recognition systems that…

Confession: I’ve been dipping into some Hallmark Channel “Countdown to Christmas” movies. Last weekend when I was in San Juan Capistrano in search of holiday spirit, I thought maybe I needed to pump the brakes on TV time. I had started to feel as though I were in an actual Hallmark movie. But then my…

SuperShuttle, the shared van ride that has served passengers heading to and from airports around the world, including Los Angeles International Airport, will cease operations at the end of the year. The company — which was founded in 1983 to serve LAX and expanded nationwide as well as to Latin America, Canada, Europe and Asia…

Take a break from the holiday whirlwind and savor the season by indulging in a festive afternoon tea service filled with merriment. San Marino The holiday tea menu at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, presented in the Rose Garden Tea Room, is available daily through Jan. 2 and puts a twist on…

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will have a shorter commute to the Staples Center after buying a penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live for $6.725 million. The three-time all-star, who was previously seen scoping out homes on the Westside of L.A., purchased the penthouse through a limited liability company managed by his…

Consumers generally don’t need extended warranties. “They are cash cows for retailers,” said Linda Sherry, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group Consumer Action. “Salespeople get commissions, which is why they push them so hard.” But that doesn’t mean you want to dismiss the idea of purchasing extra protection in all cases. A tipster working in…