NBC Sports enters Madden video game universe with alternate broadcast on Peacock“Gladiator II” asks the question: Are you not moderately entertained for roughly 60% of this sequel? Truly, this is a movie dependent on managed expectations and a forgiving attitude toward its tendency to overserve. More of a thrash-and-burn schlock epic than the comparatively restrained 2000 “Gladiator,” also directed by Ridley Scott, the new one recycles a fair bit of the old one’s narrative cries for freedom while tossing in some digital sharks for the flooded Colosseum and a bout of deadly sea-battle theatrics. They really did flood the Colosseum in those days, though no historical evidence suggests shark deployment, real or digital. On the other hand (checks notes), “Gladiator II” is fiction. Screenwriter David Scarpa picks things up 16 years after “Gladiator,” which gave us the noble death of the noble warrior Maximus, shortly after slaying the ignoble emperor and returning Rome to the control of the Senate. Our new hero, Lucius (Paul Mescal), has fled Rome for Numidia, on the North African coast. The time is 200 A.D., and for the corrupt, party-time twins running the empire (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger), that means invasion time. Pedro Pascal takes the role of Acacius, the deeply conflicted general, sick of war and tired of taking orders from a pair of depraved ferrets. The new film winds around the old one this way: Acacius is married to Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, in a welcome return), daughter of the now-deceased emperor Aurelius and the love of the late Maximus’s life. Enslaved and dragged to Rome to gladiate, the widower Lucius vows revenge on the general whose armies killed his wife. But there are things this angry young phenom must learn, about his ancestry and his destiny. It’s the movie’s worst-kept secret, but there’s a reason he keeps seeing footage of Russell Crowe from the first movie in his fever dreams. Battle follows battle, on the field, in the arena, in the nearest river, wherever, and usually with endless splurches of computer-generated blood. “Gladiator II” essentially bumper-cars its way through the mayhem, pausing for long periods of expository scheming about overthrowing the current regime. The prince of all fixers, a wily operative with interests in both managing gladiators and stocking munitions, goes by the name Macrinus. He’s played by Denzel Washington, who at one point makes a full meal out of pronouncing the word “politics” like it’s a poisoned fig. Also, if you want a masterclass in letting your robes do a lot of your acting for you, watch what Washington does here. He’s more fun than the movie but you can’t have everything. The movie tries everything, all right, and twice. Ridley Scott marshals the chaotic action sequences well enough, though he’s undercut by frenetic cutting rhythms, with that now-familiar, slightly sped-up visual acceleration in frequent use. (Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo are the editors.) Mescal acquits himself well in his first big-budget commercial walloper of an assignment, confined though he is to a narrower range of seething resentments than Crowe’s in the first film. I left thinking about two things: the word “politics” as savored/spit out by Washington, and the innate paradox of how Scott, whose best work over the decades has been wonderful, delivers spectacle. The director and his lavishly talented design team built all the rough-hewn sets with actual tangible materials the massive budget allowed. They took care to find the right locations in Morocco and Malta. Yet when combined in post-production with scads of medium-grade digital effects work in crowd scenes and the like, never mind the sharks, the movie’s a somewhat frustrating amalgam. With an uneven script on top of it, the visual texture of “Gladiator II” grows increasingly less enveloping and atmospherically persuasive, not more. But I hung there, for some of the acting, for some of the callbacks, and for the many individual moments, or single shots, that could only have come from Ridley Scott. And in the end, yes, you too may be moderately entertained. “Gladiator II” — 2.5 stars (out of 4) MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence) Running time: 2:28 How to watch: Premieres in theaters Nov. 21. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic. 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The GHMC, in collaboration with National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Warangal, is proposing to establish a technology centre to address urban challenges such as traffic congestion and drainage management. The aim is to develop and deliver modern, practical, and sustainable solutions, incorporating them at the planning stage. The centre’s traffic and transportation division will conduct in-depth analyses of the city's traffic patterns and transportation systems. The drainage information centre will undertake a comprehensive study of Hyderabad's drainage network. During a meeting on Saturday, GHMC commissioner K. Ilambarithi emphasised the importance of collaborative efforts between GHMC and NIT-Warangal. Prof. C.S.R.K. Prasad from NIT Warangal suggested entering into a structured agreement to ensure sustained operations.
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Marrakech Film Festival bestows Palestinian film 'Happy Holidays' with top award MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — The Marrakech International Film Festival bestowed its top prize Friday on “Happy Holidays,” a Palestinian drama set in Israel whose screenplay won an award at the Venice Film Festival in September. Canadian Press Dec 7, 2024 2:40 PM Dec 7, 2024 2:50 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Visitors queue to attend a screening during the Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy) MARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) — The Marrakech International Film Festival bestowed its top prize Friday on “Happy Holidays,” a Palestinian drama set in Israel whose screenplay won an award at the Venice Film Festival in September. The film, directed by Scandar Copti, follows Israeli and Palestinian characters facing familial and societal pressures in present-day Haifa and stars both professional and non-professional actors. It is the first Palestinian film to win Marrakech’s Etoile D’Or award. Screenwriter Mona Copti in an acceptance speech said the film team’s joy at winning was tempered by war in the Middle East and she denounced what she called the dehumanization of Palestinians Eight features, each a director’s first or second film, competed in the festival. The winning films tackled social issues through the lens of family, a theme that the festival’s artistic director Remi Bonhomme underlined at its opening. The festival awarded its jury prize to two additional films from Somalia and Argentina. The nine-member jury awarded Mo Harawe’s “The Village Next to Paradise” — a story about a family living under the threat of drone strikes dreaming of a better life — and Silvina Schnicer’s “The Cottage” about children who commit an unspeakable act at a rich family’s summer vacation home. “The Village Next to Paradise” participated last year in the Marrakech festival’s Atlas Workshops, an initiative to develop filmmakers from Morocco, the Middle East and Africa and promote their work. In his acceptance speech, Harawe lauded the film’s Somali cast and crew and highlighted the significance of the award for Somalia. Cecilia Rainero, the lead actor of “The Cottage,” thanked the jury and said it was meaningful amid Argentinian President Javier Milei’s moves to defund the country’s film industry. The Associated Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message More Entertainment News Stolen ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz' are auctioned for $28 million Dec 7, 2024 3:15 PM Prince George Taylor Swift fans rent car after flight to Vancouver cancelled Dec 7, 2024 2:08 PM Executive of Tyler Perry Studios dies when plane he was piloting crashes in Florida Dec 7, 2024 12:50 PM Featured Flyer