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Review: Evil’s banality smolders brightly in ‘The Zone of Interest’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

A Holocaust movie in the way a skull MRI is a mugshot, Jonathan Glazer’s film The Zone of Interest is a tribulation of evasion and restraint — in the best ways possible. As you watch this sinister, elusive thing, suffering its moral distance as if you’re holding your breath underwater, you feel every media representation of the Holocaust — every simplified conclusion and revulsed platitude — dissolve into goo. Adapted from the comparatively farcical novel by Martin Amis, Glazer’s movie is an aloof challenge, insisting in its horrifying coolness that you have your own subjective experience with it. What you take away is largely contingent on who you are.Most of us know enough about the Holocaust, specifically, Auschwitz, to let Glazer’s strategy do a job on us, in a calm cataract of brutal details that never comes close to being explicit. (An uninformed or duped viewer who knows or believes little about the history would be mystified.) Whereas Amis’s book, because it’s an Amis book, ...

HIGH ANXIETY: UNBINGED PICKS THE BEST TELEVISION OF 2023

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

In a year that was mired by industry strife and strikes, anxieties flared both on and off the screen, for 2023 was the year that television left audiences in a cold sweat. The best of the year didn’t just pull at our heartstrings, but it played with our fears and sent us reeling into moments of existential dread while our anxieties soared to sky high levels that would have doctors concerned. But in a good way. The best example of this — and one of the best offerings of 2023 — was FX/Hulu‘s The Bear. In its second season, Carmy (the brilliant and soulful Jeremy Allan White) began renovating both his sandwich shop and its staff to create a fine dining experience. During the season, The Bear offered episodes that demonstrated pivots in character and story arcs that resonated with viewers. But it is the Christmas episode “Fishes” that impacted fans most. Once the credits roll, viewers are left with deeper insight into characters while carrying the mem...

Review: Poor Things: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Demented Comedy of Manners Is Surprisingly Human

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

It’s difficult not to be grandiose about a filmmaker like Yorgos Lanthimos. His movies aren’t just unsettling and transgressive, they’re operatic, even if they’re not necessarily loud. They hit you in a curious place where queasiness and hilarity co-mingle like two naughty kids on a schoolground. An existentialist at heart, his characters often fall prey to unforeseen forces beyond their control. Whether these forces take the form of vengeful witchcraft (The Killing of a Sacred Deer), an austere aristocracy ruled by an idiot (The Favourite), or cold dystopian society (The Lobster, Dogtooth), his protagonists are simply too powerless to fight back or change their fates; personal autonomy is a joke. Until now.Poor Things is the Greek director’s most optimistic film to date. A surrealist, steampunk riff on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, it’s both a satirical take on gender politics and a traditional coming-of-age tale; well, sort of traditional. In his latest, Lanthimos takes aim at Vict...

Cathaleen Pelayo Dies in 2-Car Accident on East Tanque Verde Road [Tucson, AZ]

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

58-Year-Old Woman Pronounced Dead after Two-Vehicle Accident on North Solider TrailTUCSON, AZ (December 12, 2023) – Cathaleen Pelayo died Saturday night in a two-car crash on East Tanque Verde Road and North Solider Trail.Authorities responded to the scene at approximately 5:00 p.m., on December 2nd.An investigation is underway to determine the cause of a collision between two vehicles at an intersection. First responders discovered 58-year-old Pelayo unconscious on the highway with severe injuries.Due to the severity of her condition, medics later declared 58-year-old Pelayo deceased at the scene.On the other hand, the second driver involved in the incident emerged unharmed. Emergency crews temporarily closed off the surrounding area for cleanup and preliminary duties. Investigators have reported that no charges were filed against the other driver.No words can mend the broken hearts and sorrow felt during this delicate moment. Deepest condolences and sympathies are with the f...

Emeryville hit-and-run victim from January dies; police seeking harsher charge against suspect

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

EMERYVILLE — A 57-year-old Piedmont woman critically injured in a hit-and-run collision in January has died, and police are asking prosecutors to increase the charges filed against the suspect driver.Michelle Farmer Eldridge, a longtime attorney and the mother of two children, suffered major injuries when she was hit by a pickup truck Jan. 28 in the 4400 block of Shellmound Street. Eldridge was walking on a sidewalk near the IKEA store when she was struck.A man walking with her was also hit by the truck. He suffered moderate injuries and was treated and released from a hospital, police said.Eldridge died Oct. 31 in South Carolina, authorities said; her family had moved her there so they could care for her after the crash, authorities said.After striking Eldridge, the truck crashed into a police and the suspected driver, Nathan Stenberg, 35, of San Francisco, fled on foot, according to court documents. Witnesses directed police to a nearby restaurant, where Stenberg was found h...

Israel hammers Gaza as offensive leaves it, US more isolated

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

By Najib Jobain, Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy | Associated PressRAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces carried out strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, crushing Palestinians in homes, as the military pressed ahead with an offensive that officials say could go on for weeks or months, even while global calls for a cease-fire leave Israel and its main ally, the United States, increasingly isolated.The war ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel has already brought unprecedented death and destruction to the impoverished coastal enclave, with much of northern Gaza obliterated, more than 18,000 Palestinians killed and over 80% of the population of 2.3 million pushed from their homes.The health care system and humanitarian aid operations have collapsed in large parts of Gaza, and aid workers have warned of starvation and the spread of disease among displaced people in overcrowded shelters and tent camps.STRIKES AND RAIDS ACROSS GAZAStrikes overnight and into Tuesday in south...

Single family residence in Los Gatos sells for $2.3 million

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

16761 Leroy Avenue – Google Street ViewA 1,636-square-foot house built in 1910 has changed hands. The historic property located in the 16700 block of Leroy Avenue in Los Gatos was sold on Nov. 27, 2023. The $2,285,000 purchase price works out to $1,397 per square foot. This two-story house provides a generous living space with its four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Inside, a fireplace enhances the ambiance of the living area.These nearby houses have also recently changed hands:A 1,667-square-foot home on the 15700 block of Izorah Way in Los Gatos sold in October 2022, for $2,565,000, a price per square foot of $1,539. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,068-square-foot home on Lilac Way in Los Gatos sold for $3,400,000, a price per square foot of $1,644. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Oleander Avenue, Los Gatos, in May 2023, a 2,537-square-foot home was sold for $3,925,000, a price per square foot of $1,547. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.&n...

Why investors have targeted Macy’s for a takeover

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

By Nathaniel Meyersohn | CNNMacy’s has struggled for years against rising competition and shoppers migrating away from department stores. Now, a group of investors reportedly wants to take Macy’s private at a vulnerable moment for the famed company.Arkhouse Management, a real estate investment firm, and Brigade Capital Management, a global asset manager, submitted a bid to buy Macy’s for $21 a share, valuing Macy’s at $5.8 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal would pay shareholders a 32% premium above Macy’s closing price Friday.The takeover bid is a sign that investors believe Macy’s is undervalued on the public market. Retail analysts say Macy’s valuable real estate, including its flagship store in New York City, is a coveted asset to the investors.“Years of chronic underperformance has put downward pressure on Macy’s share price and means that the iconic department store chain is now a relatively attractive prospect,” Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail,...

Zelenskyy appears to change few minds on more Ukraine aid

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

By Lisa Mascaro and Stephen Groves | Associated PressWASHINGTON — His country’s future at stake, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told senators Tuesday that with U.S. aid his fighters can beat back the Russian invasion. But with funding in doubt, his grim trip to Capitol Hill was far from the hero’s welcome he received last winter.Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington came as President Joe Biden’s request for an additional $110 billion U.S. aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other national security needs is at serious risk of collapse in Congress. Republicans are insisting on linking it to strict U.S.-Mexico border security changes that Democrats decry.Flanked by Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Zelenskyy entered a private meeting with senators with a public bipartisan show of support and to some applause. But more than an hour later few senators minds appeared changed.Schumer called it a “very p...

Fired San Francisco banking engineer gets two years for cloud hack

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 10:44:02 GMT

By Robert Burnson | BloombergA former First Republic Bank cloud engineer in San Francisco was sentenced to two years in prison for vandalizing the company’s computer network after he was fired in 2020.Miklos Daniel Brody logged into the bank’s network without authorization, using his company-issued laptop, which he had failed to return, on the evening he was fired after the company accused him of having pornography on his computer, according to court records.Later that day and into the next, “Brody deleted the bank’s code repositories, ran a malicious script to delete logs, left taunts within the bank’s code for former colleagues, and impersonated other bank employees by opening sessions in their names,” in addition to downloading proprietary bank code, according to a statement Monday by the US attorney’s office in San Francisco.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | East Bay hit-and-run victim from January dies; police seeking harsher charge against suspect Crime...