aces wild dance

aces wild dance The mystery is solved, ya filthy animals! Home Alone director Chris Columbus finally put an end to the incessant wondering as to where Kevin McCallister’s parents got the funds to afford their beautiful—and massive—Chicago mansion. “Back then, John [Hughes] and I had a conversation about it,” Chris explained to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Dec. 24, “and we decided on what the jobs were.” So what did Kevin McCallister’s parents do exactly? Well, the movie actually included a few hints. If you took note of the dancing mannequins Kevin ( Macaulay Culkin ) placed in the window to ward off the criminals Harry (played by Joe Pesci ) and Marv (played by Daniel Stern ), you may have guessed that Catherine O’Hara ’s Kate McCallister “was a very successful fashion designer,” according to the director. As for John Heard ’s Peter McCallister, the details are a bit more fuzzy. “The father could have, based on John Hughes own experience, worked in advertising,” the 66-year-old noted, “but I don’t remember what the father did.” He did, however, know one thing for sure: Peter did not have a talent for forensics. “Not organized crime,” he added, “even though there was, at the time, a lot of organized crime in Chicago.” And with the mystery solved, you can finally practice your “Kevin!” pose in peace. After all, Macaulay and Brenda Song ’s sons are already doing the same . "He thinks he's Kevin," Macaulay recently told E! News of his oldest Dakota , 3. "I'm like, ‘Do you remember going down that down the stairs on the sled?' He's like, ‘Mmhmm, yep. Sure do.' I'm like, ‘Do you remember when he had yellow hair?' And he's like, ‘Uh-huh, yep.'" "‘You're a lying liar who lies,'" he recalled joking to his son. "That was me!'" But Macaulay’s brother Kieran Culkin —who shares daughter Kinsey , 5, and son Wilder , 3, with wife Jazz Charton —hasn’t quite had the same experience with his kids. In fact, he recently revealed that his children have yet to even see the movie . “There’s still some scary parts,” the 42-year-old explained to E! News earlier this month. “For the 3-year-old, there’s the tarantula [and] there’s the guy at the end who said, ‘I’m gonna bite off all your fingers.’ That’s scary for a 3-year-old.” However, the Succession star did tease that the first-ever family screening may be coming soon. “We think they might be ready for Home Alone this year,” he revealed. “If not, next year.” For more secrets from the ‘90s film that will have you slapping your hands to your face, keep reading... 1. John Hughes ' creation was born from his own parental anxiety. In an oral history compiled for Chicago Magazine in 2015, his son, James Hughes , revealed the legendary filmmaker jotted the idea down in a notebook on Aug. 8, 1989 just ahead of the family's first trip to Europe. "Two weeks later, after returning home," James wrote, "he revisited the premise: What if one of the kids had been accidentally left behind?" Inspired, the creator of The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink crafted the initial draft in just nine days "capped by an eight-hour, 44-page dash to the finale," he shared. "Before finishing, he'd expressed concerns in the marginalia of his journal that he was working too slowly." 2. Macaulay Culkin is not among those who consider his star-making flick appointment viewing at the holidays. "I can't watch it the same way other people do," he explained to Ellen DeGeneres in 2018 of changing the channel when the blockbuster comes on his TV. Though in certain situations, he has made an exception. "You get like a new girlfriend and she's flipping through the channels and then there's Home Alone and she's like, 'Ehh, you wanna watch it?'" he described on The Tonight Show that same year. "I have indulged that and most of the time I'm just muttering my lines under my breath." It's a bit strange, he allowed, but "Whatever gets her motor running, I guess." Perhaps that was part of his motivation for reprising his gig for a must-watch 2018 Google ad that shows what Kevin would be like as a technologically-equipped adult? 3. Or quipping "Hey @Disney, call me!" when news broke in 2019 that the studio was planning to reimagine the '90s classic. The result: Home Sweet Home Alone . 4. The film may have had a whole different look if Chevy Chase wasn't kind of a jerk. Director Chris Columbus was set to helm the comic's 1989 hit National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , he shared with Chicago Magazine , but when he and Chase went out for an initial get-to-know-each-other dinner, "To be completely honest, Chevy treated me like dirt." A second outing didn't fare much better and soon Columbus found himself calling producer Hughes and bowing out of the project. "About two weeks later, I got two scripts at my in-laws' house in River Forest," Columbus recalled. "One was Home Alone , with a note from John asking if I wanted to direct. I thought, Wow, this guy is really supporting me when no one else in Hollywood was going to. John was my savior." 5. Though the picture came this close to not getting made at all. Due to a budget dispute between Warner Bros. and the production team, the film was put up for grabs. That's when Joe Roth , chairman at 20th Century Fox at the time, had lunch with Hughes' agent and discovered they were squabbling over $700,000. "He told me Home Alone was costing $14.7 million and Warners would only pay $14 million," remembered Roth. "I said, 'What's the idea?' He told me. I said, 'OK, if you can get it out of there, I'll make it.' Seemed like a no-brainer. Didn't cost much. I didn't have a Thanksgiving movie. I liked the idea. I loved the people involved." Good call: The film went on to gross more than $476 million. 6. Culkin pretty much had the lead role in the bag. Having directed him the previous year in Uncle Buck with John Candy , Hughes was certain the then-9-year-old was their guy, "but I owed it to myself as director to see other child actors," explained Columbus. "John said, 'OK, take your time, do what you need to do.'" More than 200 auditions later, Columbus saw Culkin "and you immediately knew this was the kid. I knew subconsciously that John knew that was going to happen, but it was really sweet of him to give me that sort of freedom." 7. Inept burglars Marv ( Daniel Stern ) and Harry ( Joe Pesci ) bonded long before becoming the Wet Bandits. "Everyone assumed we were thrown together for the first time on Home Alone , but we'd made each other giggle on the set in another movie years before that we were both cut out of: I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can ," Stern shared with Chicago . "We played people in a mental institution. Joe walked around all the time with this rolled-up tube of architectural drawings. That was his character. And during one of the takes, there's a Ping-Pong table in the middle of the room, and Joe takes his tube of paper and puts it up to his nose and snorts the line of Ping-Pong balls. I fell on the floor laughing. I became his friend right then." 8. And Stern reallllly wanted this part. "The script struck a chord in me. I hadn't gotten a chance to express that kind of physical comedy since I was a kid," he explained. "I thought, I can hit a f--king home run with this. I went to an audition for Chris. I wanted it so bad. When I left, I thought, I could do that better. It was the only time in my life I called and said, 'Can I come back?' Chris told me later he was already gonna cast me, but he saw me audition again." 9. Off-camera Pesci and Stern were not the murderous big horse's asses they were made out to be. "I'm a big softy when it comes to kids and I loved hanging out with Mac," Stern admitted in a 2015 Christmas Eve Reddit session . When shooting the film's 1992 follow-up, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York , his son Henry (now a state senator in California!) and daughters Sophie and Ella "visited me much more than on the first one... and we all had a great time taking Mac to Central Park, playing tag and catch. In any way, I think my character was much more of a softy than Joe's." Makes sense considering reports that Pesci purposely avoided Culkin on set so he'd be more terrified of his character. 10. But the stunts were all too real, including the still-to-this-day-creepy tarantula to the face. Despite the ick factor, Stern said it was one of his favorites to shoot. "Not only was it really fun and funny to do but it was a personal challenge to overcome my fear of having something that ICKY and deadly crawling on my face," he wrote. "It was even freakier because I had to do that scream, which meant my mouth was wide open too—and I was afraid the little bastard might take a detour down my throat!" No wonder he said his bellow "came from a place in my soul that I've never before touched and never hope to again!" 11. The stunt guys got the brunt of it, though. "Literally, three or four times while shooting Home Alone and Home Alone 2 , I thought those guys were dead," Columbus admitted to Chicago . "There was no CGI. It was kind of terrifying to watch. Only after they got up and came to the monitor to watch playback did we actually laugh." Agreed Stern, "The stuntmen were the unsung heroes of the show. Whenever people tell me moments they like, I say, 'Oh, that was Leon [ Delaney ].'" 12. The sound team truly flexed the muscles with each pratfall, relying on a frozen roast beef to double as the sound of a body slamming onto the ground and a soldering iron on chicken skin to imitate flesh burning. 13. Somehow, though, it was Culkin who ended up with a scar. "In the first Home Alone , they hung me up on a coat hook, and Pesci says, 'I'm gonna bite all your fingers off, one at a time,'" he recalled in a 2004 interview with website Rule Forty Two. "And during one of the rehearsals, he bit me, and it broke the skin." 14. Chris Farley almost counted the flick as his film debut. Actor Ken Hudson Campbell , who nabbed the role of the church Santa, recalled seeing the comic legend at his audition. "Apparently, he was out all night and had just been dropped off after a night of shenanigans, shall we say," Campbell recounted of the early call. "Chris went first. It didn't go very well. He walked in and walked right out. I felt I went in and hit what I wanted to hit. A few weeks later, I got the call." 15. Other near-misses include Robert De Niro and Jon Lovitz , who both turned down the role of Harry, and Kelsey Grammer , who passed on Uncle Frank. Look what you did, you little jerks! 16. The owners of the famed Winnetka, Ill. house—some 16 miles outside of Chicago—actually lived there during filming. Though production rented Cynthia and John Abendshien an apartment for what they said would be a four- or five-week shoot, the location manager "explained that, under the contract, if they needed to knock down a wall when we weren't home, they could do it," Cynthia told Chicago . "So she told us it was best if we remained on the premises." For five-and-a-half months, the family of three holed up in their four-room master bedroom suite. "We put a hot plate up there to cook," said John. "We didn't have to cook that much, because we had full access to the food truck that the crew used, which our daughter, who was 6 at the time, loved." Fortunately most of the house-destroying interiors were shot at a local high school that was closed down for the shoot. 17. Residents of the North Shore neighborhood have grown used to the fans that drive down their suburban street to gawp at the $1.585 million Georgian stunner. "Most people who live on the street love it, and think it's a lot of fun," longtime local Ann Smith told the Chicago Tribune in 2019. "It was a big deal having the movie filmed here, and it's still a big deal. Any time I'm walking by that house, I see someone out in front, taking pictures." 18. Call it the ones where Friends ' producers thought they could pull one over on viewers. In 2016, an eagle-eyed fan at 22 Vision uncovered a connection between the holiday flick and the beloved NBC comedy— splicing together footage that proved Monica and Chandler's new house in the New York City suburbs was actually the McCallister's giant Illinois pad. 19. Chicago weather pulled through in the stretch. To create the snowy look of the film, the crew relied on snow machines and semi trucks filled with shaved ice. But when they captured the moment Kate McCallister ( Catherine O'Hara ) finally arrived home, "It was gorgeous, real snow," recalled location manager Jacolyn Bucksbaum . "The biggest snowstorm in years, and it was Valentine's Day. Mother Nature really helped us out with that one." 20. The family's mad dash to their Paris flight was actually captured on location at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. "We had to move fast," Columbus shared. "We only had two or three takes of the entire family running down the terminal. That was nail-biting." 21. Of course ad-libbing was encouraged on set. There's a reason John Candy was a fixture in '80s and '90s fare, after all. On set for just a day to shoot his bit part as Polka King Gus Polinski ("He did it as a favor to John," noted Columbus), "I swear we worked for 21 hours straight, improvising," said O'Hara. "Candy would start a bit. John Hughes would start a bit, and Candy would pick up on it, and we would just go with it. It was all in the moment. We'd start a ridiculous conversation and go as far as we could. Chris told me later how we couldn't use most of it. He laughed and said, 'You're supposed to be looking for your kid, and you're just having a good time with these guys in a truck.'" 22. Candy wasn't the only quick thinker. Culkin reportedly came up with his threat to Marv and Harry: "Do you guys give up or are you thirsty for more?" 23. He also improvised large parts of the scene where Kevin pretends to be throwing a huge bash to throw off the burglars. "You know when the Wet Bandits show up and I pretend there's a party there?" Culkin recounted to E! News in December 2024. "There's a Michael Jordan thing on the train set and there's music playing and I'm doing the whole thing with the strings moving the mannequins. Originally, I was supposed to play the piano and things like that. It was way over complicated and they pretty much just said, 'Hey, we're going to tie some strings to you. Be a goof.' I'm like, 'You're in my wheelhouse now.'" 24. Little known fact about Buzz's girlfriend (woof): She was actually the art director's son made up to look like an unattractive young girl, actor Devin Ratray revealed to Yahoo! : "The producers decided that it would be a little bit unkind to put a girl in that role of just being funny-looking." 25. The snippets of the movie within the movie, mock-noir Angels with Filthy Souls , was written entirely by Hughes down to the "Keep the change, ya filthy animal," line. Local actor Ralph Foody was tapped to play the role of a 1940s screen star. "To this day, people are still fooled by Ralph's performance," said Columbus. "They think that's an old movie." And the original script included a fun callback to Angels , with Marv and Harry watching the flick in prison and realizing how completely they'd been duped. 26. Three-plus decades on, the movie still resonates with audiences worldwide. "Anywhere I go, I'm the Home Alone dude," Stern told Chicago . "In 2003, I went to visit troops in Iraq. I was at a base camp, and they wanted to take me into Baghdad, to a jewelry store that they'd secured. They said I could buy earrings for my wife. I was like, 'What? All right.' So we go in these cars into Baghdad, and as I'm walking into the jewelry store, we get surrounded by kids going, 'Marv! Marv!' Like 16 Iraqi kids in the middle of a war zone in Baghdad still recognized me from Home Alone . That movie is everywhere ." 27. And the bond between the cast remains . Though Culkin and his onscreen mom O'Hara hadn't seen each other in ages when they crossed paths at Martin Mull 's art show in 2013. "I hadn’t seen her in I didn't even know how long, and just right in the driveway, I was like, 'Mama!'" Culkin recounted to E!. "And she goes, 'Son!' And so every time we see each other, it's always, 'Mama,' 'Son'. She's very lovely."

How 'Dune: Prophecy' paves way for Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune 3'ASTANA – Kazakh software engineer and entrepreneur Ismail Karankin has launched Oli Robotics, a startup focused on creating an AI-powered barista robot. The venture has attracted $150,000 in investments and was named one of the top 30 startups from Central Asia for acceleration in the Silicon Valley Residency Program by Silkroad Innovation Hub. Ismail Karankin. Photo credit: The startup’s press service. According to the company’s statement, the AI barista, designed for coffee shops, uses artificial intelligence to prepare complex specialty coffee recipes using professional equipment. It can also interact with customers and independently correct errors. Professional baristas train the robot, helping record ideal coffee-making samples to ensure precise execution. “We record 1,000 task samples to enable the robot to execute them effectively. While industry standards typically require 5,000 to 10,000 samples, our adaptive learning technology reduces this requirement by 5-10 times, speeding up implementation and cutting costs,” said Karankin. The technology integrates industrial robotic arms, proprietary AI software, and computer vision systems. Stereo cameras, similar to those used in autonomous vehicles, help the robot navigate its environment, ensuring efficiency in dynamic settings. The robot consumes energy comparable to standard coffee shop equipment, making it a practical business solution. The AI barista can currently prepare up to 50 cups of coffee per hour, slightly below the 60–120 cups an experienced human barista can make. The next version is expected to match human output, reaching a capacity of 120 cups per hour. Oli Robotics also offers a mobile app to enhance customer interaction. The app is designed to remember user preferences, suggest favorite drinks, and provide personalized recipes. Market potential and strategic vision The AI barista costs US$50,000, which includes maintenance services and consumable supplies such as coffee, syrups, and milk. This pricing model creates a recurring revenue stream for the company. Photo credit: The startup’s press service. Karankin emphasized that the robot is intended for locations where hiring baristas is impractical, such as gas stations or small hotels. “We see them as a complement rather than a replacement for people, providing access to high-quality coffee where it was previously unavailable,” he said. Karankin came up with the idea for the AI barista during a trip from Almaty to Astana, where he struggled to find quality coffee. Logistics challenges and unattractive working conditions for staff often limit coffee quality in remote areas. Robots, however, can operate anywhere, 24/7, without breaks or vacations. Potential buyers have already expressed interest in the AI barista, and five letters of intent were received during development. Oli Robotics plans to launch its product in the United States, where the coffee market is projected to grow from US$28.06 billion in 2024 to US$33.64 billion by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate of 3.69%, according to industry estimates.

Lately, when I find myself feeling a little too calm about things, I’ve taken to reading the Reddit subreddit r/singularity to help swing my equilibrium back to its natural state of intense panic. This is a place where activity has flourished in recent months, as community members feverishly discuss the day’s ever-increasing developments in artificial intelligence and casually argue about the date they expect computers to officially exceed all human control. “AGI by the end of 2025” predicted a top ranking post on the subreddit this week, referencing the stage of singularity when “artificial general intelligence” – the point at which computers can perform any intellectual task that a human can – is reached. The excitement was caused by OpenAI’s announcement that its o3 system can now reason through maths, science and computer programming problems, which are three things I definitely can’t do. We had the chance to give computers less control, and instead we gave them more. Credit: iStock It got me thinking: we should have just let the Y2K bug win, hey? There we were, exactly 25 years ago, gifted with a date glitch that would’ve sent us warmly back to the 1900s, when life was simple and butter was churned in the backyard. But instead we panicked, worried that nuclear plants would melt down, planes would fall out of the sky, ATMs would erase all our savings, and like Bill Pullman in Independence Day we chose to fight. Now, 25 years on and with robot overlords breathing down our necks, it feels like a fork-in-the-road moment where we Robert Frosted the wrong way. We had the chance to give computers less control, and instead we gave them more. Dummy move! Perhaps because I’d just turned legal drinking age, or perhaps because I was watching Buffy religiously instead of following the news, I don’t remember feeling too concerned about the Y2K bug. What did I care if computers thought it was 1900 instead of 2000? Life across those 100 years wasn’t that different. In 1999, I still walked everywhere; I still did school exams in pencil; I still developed 35mm film negatives for my day job like Thomas Edison in his laboratory. Computers might’ve been around, but they weren’t such a part of our lives as they are now. I’d go whole days without touching one sometimes, except to play Grim Fandango . We were so close, as this archival shot from the film Time Bomb Y2K shows. Not to get all John Lennon, but imagine there were no computers. I wouldn’t miss them. I’d be sitting by a river bank right now, writing this column in salmon blood with my index finger. We’d all be so close to nature we could taste it, like the kid from Into the Wild . Maybe we’d die eating berries, but we’d live eating berries, too. If computers had died in 1999, we wouldn’t have social media either, the worst experiment in humankind since lobotomies. Instead we’d just have polite conversation with whoever was in our vicinity and/or crushing loneliness, both preferable options. If Y2K had happened, industry would be thriving too. No computers means no factory closures means no Donald Trump, it’s a simple equation. Loading And not just manual industries, but creative ones too. If computers had died, music might still be a viable artistic career. I know this because in 1999 it would take me four days to download one Talib Kweli song, whereas today I just skimmed through his full life’s work during a toilet break. No one should have such carefree access to an artist’s entire life work, especially during a bowel movement. It’s not right. Maps. Street directories. The Yellow Pages. Privacy. Look at all the things we lost because, 25 years ago, we chose to save computers instead. A worthwhile exchange? I don’t know, maps were fun to fold. You can’t fold a GPS, you can just yell at its ignorant directions. “But what about the hospitals?” you’re probably saying. “Hospitals need computers.” Yes, I’m sure computers have saved more lives than the cast of Bondi Rescue , and the result is overpopulation. To paraphrase Paris Hilton, sometimes you just have to leave the party. The people of 1900, aprons splattered in freshly churned butter, understood this. As you can see, the Y2K bug got an unnecessarily bad rap in 1999. The good news is that we have another chance to get it right in 2038, when at 03:14:08 UTC on 19 January 2038, computer systems running on Unix time will suddenly revert to 20:45:52 on Friday, 13 December 1901. It’s called the Year 2038 Problem , which isn’t as catchy as Y2K, but it’ll do. Butter churning, here I come. To read more from Spectrum , visit our page here . Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article The Verdict Spectrum For subscribers Robert Moran is Spectrum Deputy Editor at The Sydney Morning Herald. Connect via email . Most Viewed in Culture LoadingTUCSON, Ariz. – The No. 17 Arizona Wildcats will welcome in the No. 12 Duke Blue Devils today – Friday, Nov. 22 – at McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Arizona. The matchup is available to watch on multiple streaming services. This game will broadcast live on ESPN2 with tipoff at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. (7:30 p.m. Pacific). Fans who have parted ways with their cable provider can catch the game at no cost by taking advantage of streaming alternatives like DirecTV Stream , which offers a free trial. FuboTV is also offering a free trial and $30 off your first month. Sling TV has promotional offers for new customers. Revealing their inexperience, the Blue Devils (3-1) lost 77-72 to the Kentucky Wildcats in the Champions Classic. They bounced back with a laugher against Wofford. The Blue Devils are averaging 88.5 points per game and are allowing 58 points per game. They are shooting 47.9% from the field, including 37.2% from deep. Head coach Jon Scheyer and Duke are still meshing their pieces together. The athleticism is jarring, but they are playing at a slower pace, looking for a more methodical approach on offense rather than a razzle-dazzle blitzkrieg. The Blue Devils lost four starters from last season. In return, they welcomed in a slew of promising incoming freshman, headlined by guard Cooper Flagg. The projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is averaging 16.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 44.2% from the field. He had a couple of costly turnovers on the national stage against Kentucky. The tilt in the desert is an opportunity for redemption. Freshman guard Kon Knueppel has lit up the court with 14.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 42.9% from the field. He is Duke’s best perimeter shooter. Freshman center Khaman Maluach will clash with Arizona’s trees. He is averaging 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 77.3% from the field. Maluach has scored at least 10 points in three straight games. Junior guard Tyrese Proctor has posted 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 47.2% from the field. Duke has the clear advantage from beyond the arc. In addition to the hot hand, their defense has held the opposition to just 25.7% from deep and 28.2% from mid-range. This will be the first true road test for the new-look Blue Devils. The ZonaZoo will be in full effect. Watch Duke vs. Arizona for free on DirecTV Stream The Wildcats (2-1) are coming off a tough loss to the Wisconsin Badgers where they allowed 103 points and 47 free throws. Arizona also committed 32 fouls in the wacky affair. Arizona is averaging 94.3 points per game while allowing 70.3 points per game. They are shooting 45.6% from the field overall, including 27.4% from deep. The Wildcats are guided by their dynamic guard combo of senior Caleb Love and junior Jaden Bradley. Bradley is averaging 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 50% from the field. Love chimes in with 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists while shooting 35.1% from the field. He transferred over from North Carolina last season. Arizona is a massive interior team that leads the nation in rebounding rate (65.5%). They average 51.3 rebounds per game. The frontcourt is led by junior forward and Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka, who has garnered 10.3 points and 12.3 rebounds while shooting 57.1% from the field. The 6-foot-8, 280-pounder is putting up those numbers while averaging just 20.3 minutes per game. Motiejus Krivas, a 7-foot-2 center, is averaging 7.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 50% from the field. Henri Veesaar, a 7-foot forward, is averaging 6.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists while shooting 40% from the field. Freshman forward Carter Bryant is averaging 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 50% from the field. Oakland senior transfer Trey Townsend is putting up 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists while shooting 55% from the field. Under head coach Tommy Lloyd, the Wildcats boast a 49-3 home record. This is the first encounter between the two teams in Tucson since 1991. Arizona won the previous meeting overall last November at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 78-73. Watch Duke vs. Arizona for free on FuboTV Who is announcing Duke vs. Arizona? Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analyst) will be the announcers while Myron Medcalf reports courtside. What are the latest odds for Duke vs. Arizona? Moneyline: D: (+100), UA: (-120) Spread: D: +1.5, UA: -1.5 Over/Under: 161 Odds from DraftKings Here’s more information on how to watch Duke-Arizona on TV or streaming services: What: College basketball: Duke vs. Arizona When: Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 Time: 10:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Pacific) Where: McKale Memorial Center | Tucson, Arizona RECOMMENDED • cleveland .com Where to watch Knicks vs. Suns NBA FREE STREAM today Nov. 20, 2024, 4:00 p.m. Alabama vs. Illinois FREE STREAM today: How to watch college basketball Nov. 20, 2024, 3:00 p.m. Channel: ESPN2 Best streaming options: FuboTV (free trial and $30 off first month), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling TV (half off first month) Cable Channel Finder: AT&T U-Verse , Comcast Xfinity , Spectrum/Charter , Optimum/Altice , Cox , DIRECTV , Dish , Verizon Fios

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Tariq Francis had 23 points in NJIT's 69-64 win over Navy on Saturday. Francis shot 9 for 26 (1 for 8 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line for the Highlanders (2-9). Sebastian Robinson added 19 points while shooting 9 of 16 from the field while they also had five rebounds. Tim Moore Jr. went 4 of 6 from the field (1 for 3 from 3-point range) to finish with 10 points. The Midshipmen (3-7) were led in scoring by Donovan Draper, who finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Austin Benigni added 18 points and five assists for Navy. Aidan Kehoe also put up 10 points and seven rebounds. NJIT went into the half tied with Navy 33-33. Moore scored 10 points in the half. Francis' 17-point second half helped NJIT close out the five-point victory. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .One of my top shows of 2024 actually premiered in 2021. That’s because it took a couple of years for the Australian series “The Newsreader” to make its way Stateside. Alas, it was only legal to stream in the U.S. for a handful of weeks in September and then — pffft! — it was gone before most people had even heard of it. Well, I have great news. The show will be available once again, this time via Sundance Now (accessible through the AMC+ streaming platform), which has licensed the first season. Premiering Dec. 19, it stars Anna Torv (“Fringe”) and Sam Reid (“Interview with the Vampire”) as TV reporters in Melbourne, circa 1986. At the outset, Reid’s character exudes big loser energy, which is such an amusing contrast to his work as Lestat. The show is unexpectedly funny and terrifically Machiavellian in its portrayal of small-time office politics, and I’m thrilled audiences in the U.S. will get another shot at watching it. Overall, 2024 offered a modestly better lineup than usual, but I’m not sure it felt that way. Too often the good stuff got drowned out by Hollywood’s pointless and endless pursuit of rebooting intellectual property (no thank you, Apple’s “Presumed Innocent” ) and tendency to stretch a perfectly fine two-hour movie premise into a saggy multi-part series (“Presumed Innocent” again!). There were plenty of shows I liked that didn’t make this year’s list, including ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’ “Ghosts” (it’s heartening to see the network sitcom format still thriving in the streaming era), as well as Netflix’s “A Man on the Inside” (Ted Danson’s charisma selling an unlikely premise) and Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown” (a high-concept parody of racial stereotypes and cop show tropes, even if it couldn’t sustain the idea over 10 episodes). Maybe it just felt like we were having more fun this year, with Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” (Nicole Kidman leading a traditional manor house mystery reinterpreted with an American sensibility) and Hulu’s “Rivals” (the horniest show of 2024, delivered with a wink in the English countryside). I liked what I saw of Showtime’s espionage thriller “The Agency” (although the bulk of episodes were unavailable as of this writing). The deluge of remakes tends to make me cringe, but this year also saw a redo of Patricia Highsmith’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” on Netflix that was far classier than most of what’s available on the streamer. Starring Andrew Scott, I found it cool to the touch, but the imagery stayed with me. Shot in black and white, it has an indelible visual language courtesy of director of photography Robert Elswit, whether capturing a crisp white business card against the worn grain wood of a bar top, or winding stairways that alternately suggest a yawning void or a trap. As always, if you missed any of these shows when they originally premiered — the aforementioned titles or the Top 10 listed below — they are all available to stream. Top 10 streaming and TV shows of 2024, in alphabetical order: The least cynical reality show on television remains as absorbing as ever in Season 4, thanks to the probing questions and insights from the show’s resident therapist, Dr. Orna Guralnik. Everything is so charged. And yet the show has a soothing effect, predicated on the idea that human behavior (and misery) isn’t mysterious or unchangeable. There’s something so optimistic in that outlook. Whether or not you relate to the people featured on “Couples Therapy” — or even like them as individuals — doesn’t matter as much as Guralnik’s reassuring presence. Created by and starring Diarra Kilpatrick, the eight-episode series defies categorization in all the right ways. Part missing-person mystery, part comedy about a school teacher coming to grips with her impending divorce, and part drama about long-buried secrets, it has tremendous style right from the start — sardonic, knowing and self-deprecating. The answers to the central mystery may not pack a satisfying punch by the end, but the road there is as entertaining and absorbing as they come. We need more shows like this. A comedy created by and starring Brian Jordan Alvarez (of the antic YouTube series “The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo”), the show has a sensibility all its own, despite a handful of misinformed people on social media calling it a ripoff of “Abbott Elementary.” There’s room enough in the TV landscape for more than one sitcom with a school setting and “English Teacher” has a wonderfully gimlet-eyed point of view of modern high school life. I’m amused that so much of its musical score is Gen-X coded, because that neither applies to Alvarez (a millennial) nor the fictional students he teaches. So why does the show feature everything from Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” to Exposé’s “Point of No Return”? The ’80s were awash in teen stories and maybe the show is using music from that era to invoke all those tropes in order to better subvert them. It’s a compelling idea! It’s streaming on Hulu and worth checking out if you haven’t already. A one-time tennis phenom accuses her former coach of coercing her into a sexual relationship in this British thriller. The intimacy between a coach and athlete often goes unexplored, in real-life or fictional contexts and that’s what the show interrogates: When does it go over the line? It’s smart, endlessly watchable and the kind of series that would likely find a larger audience were it available on a more popular streamer. There’s real tenderness in this show. Real cruelty, too. It’s a potent combination and the show’s third and strongest season won it an Emmy for best comedy. Jean Smart’s aging comic still looking for industry validation and Hannah Einbinder’s needy Gen-Z writer are trapped in an endless cycle of building trust that inevitably gives way to betrayal. Hollywood in a nutshell! “Hacks” is doing variations on this theme every season, but doing it in interesting ways. Nobody self-sabotages their way to success like these two. I was skeptical about the show when it premiered in 2022 . Vampire stories don’t interest me. And the 1994 movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt wasn’t a persuasive argument to the contrary. But great television is great television and nothing at the moment is better than this show. It was ignored by Emmy voters in its initial outing but let’s hope Season 2 gets the recognition it deserves. Under showrunner Rolin Jones, the adaptation of Anne Rice’s novels is richly written, thrillingly inhabited by its cast and so effortlessly funny with a framing device — the interview of the title — that is thick with intrigue and sly comedy. I wouldn’t categorize the series as horror. It’s not scary. But it is tonally self-assured and richly made, rarely focused on the hunt for dinner but on something far more interesting: The melodrama of vampire existence, with its combination of boredom and lust and tragedy and zingers. Already renewed for Season 3, it has an incredible cast (a thrilling late-career boost for Eric Bogosian) and is well worth catching up with if you haven’t already. It’s been too long since the pleasures of banter fueled a romantic comedy in the spirit of “When Harry Met Sally.” But it’s all over the place in “Nobody Wants This,” one of the best shows on Netflix in recent memory. Renewed for a second season, it stars Kristen Bell as a humorously caustic podcaster and Adam Brody as the cute and emotionally intelligent rabbi she falls for. On the downside, the show has some terrible notions about Jewish women that play into controlling and emasculating stereotypes. You hate to see it in such an otherwise sparkling comedy, because overall Bell and Brody have an easy touch that gives the comedy real buoyancy. I suspect few people saw this three-part series on PBS Masterpiece, but it features a terrific performance by Helena Bonham Carter playing the real-life, longtime British soap star Noele “Nolly” Gordon, who was unceremoniously sacked in 1981. She’s the kind of larger-than-life showbiz figure who is a bit ridiculous, a bit imperious, but also so much fun. The final stretch of her career is brought to life by Carter and this homage — to both the soap she starred in and the way she carried it on her back — is from Russell T. Davies (best known for the “Doctor Who” revival). For U.S. viewers unfamiliar with the show or Gordon, Carter’s performance has the benefit of not competing with a memory as it reanimates a slice of British pop culture history from the analog era. The year is 1600 and a stubborn British seaman piloting a Dutch ship washes ashore in Japan. That’s our entry point to this gorgeously shot story of power games and political maneuvering among feudal enemies. Adapted from James Clavell’s 1975 novel by the married team of Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, it is filled with Emmy-winning performances (for Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada; the series itself also won best drama) and unlike something like HBO’s far clunkier “House of the Dragon,” which tackles similar themes, this feels like the rare show created by, and for, adults. The misfits and losers of Britain’s MI5 counterintelligence agency — collectively known as the slow horses, a sneering nickname that speaks to their perceived uselessness — remain as restless as ever in this adaptation of Mick Herron’s Slough House spy novels. As a series, “Slow Horses” doesn’t offer tightly plotted clockwork spy stories; think too deeply about any of the details and the whole thing threatens to fall apart. But on a scene-by-scene basis, the writing is a winning combination of wry and tension-filled, and the cumulative effect is wonderfully entertaining. Spies have to deal with petty office politics like everyone else! It’s also one of the few shows that has avoided the dreaded one- or two-year delay between seasons, which has become standard on streaming. Instead, it provides the kind of reliability — of its characters but also its storytelling intent — that has become increasingly rare. Nina Metz is a Tribune critic. 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Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara released a statement Friday slamming the "100% false" media reports that suggested he had thrown his final pass for the Hawkeyes. McNamara has been sidelined since sustaining a concussion during the Oct. 26 win against Northwestern. Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan has started the last two games for the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) but is out with an ankle injury for Saturday's game at Maryland (4-6, 1-6). Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said earlier this week that Jackson Stratton will be the likely starter against the Terrapins if McNamara is unavailable. McNamara's cloudy status prompted speculation on a podcast this week that he was "not mentally ready to play." The podcast hosts from the Des Moines Register and The Athletic also suggested that McNamara -- who played three years at Michigan (2020-22) before transferring to Iowa -- is not "fit to play quarterback in the Big Ten right now." "We don't want to bury his career yet, but it does seem like that interception against Northwestern was his last snap as a Hawkeye," Leistikow said. McNamara, who passed for 1,017 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games this season, released a statement updating his current status. "My status is the same as it's always been -- a proud member of this football team," he said. McNamara said he has not yet been cleared to play. He said he was cleared to practice on Sunday but suffered an "adverse reaction" and was unable to practice this week and therefore unable to travel with the team to Maryland. "I have been working with the University of Iowa doctors and trainers, a concussion specialist focused on vision training, as well as engaging in hyperbaric treatments as frequently as possible," McNamara said. "I have every intention to play versus Nebraska next Friday night and I am confident that my teammates will return from Maryland with a win." Including his time with the Wolverines, McNamara has completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 4,703 yards with 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 34 games. --Field Level MediaArchitect of India's Economic Reforms, Manmohan Singh, Passes Away at 92Delhi: Man sets himself on fire near Parliament, hospitalized

NATO and Ukraine to hold emergency talks after Russian attack with hypersonic missile

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Trenton McLaughlin scored 23 points as Northern Arizona beat South Dakota 95-82 on Saturday. McLaughlin shot 6 of 14 from the field, including 2 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 9 for 12 from the line for the Lumberjacks (7-3). Jayden Jackson scored 20 points while going 6 of 9 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line and added seven assists. Monty Bowser had 14 points and shot 6 for 7, including 2 for 3 from beyond the arc. Isaac Bruns led the way for the Coyotes (7-4) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Chase Forte added 15 points, five assists and four steals for South Dakota. Paul Bruns also had nine points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Trump isn't back in office but he's already pushing his agenda and negotiating with world leaders'Landlord kicked my family out 5 days before Christmas and served my child the eviction notice'

Bronny James is selected by a mentalist to read his thoughts and reveals them in front of the Lakers playersLUKE LITTLER has pleaded for David de Gea to return to Manchester United after Andre Onana's howler against Viktoria Plzen. The Cameroonian was at fault as the Czechs took the lead at the Doosan Arena before the Red Devils fought back to win . Onana , 28, was trying to pass out from the back, but his ball to Matthijs de Ligt was too short. Pavel Sulc collected the ball and squared it to former Watford and Burnley ace Matej Vydra to score. The mistake left Man United fan Littler seething as he reacted on social media. The darts star posted a picture of his television showing the match with the caption: "Bring back Dave". READ MORE ON MAN UTD Littler, 17, is referring to goalkeeper David de Gea , who left at the end of his contract in 2023. The Spaniard was out of football for a whole season but is now playing in Italy for Fiorentina . Stats have even suggested that the De Gea is performing as one of the best stoppers in Europe . It is the latest error in Onana's catalogue since joining Manchester United to replace De Gea. Most read in Football CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS Earlier in the same game, he clattered into Casemiro, leaving the Brazilian in pain on the ground. In the Red Devils, defeat to Nottingham Forest , Onana was beaten by an effort from Morgan Gibbs-White despite it being down the middle of the goal. Fortunately, Onana was bailed out by his teammates on this occasion. Substitute Rasmus Hojlund netted twice in order to turn the match on its head . The striker benefitted after good work from Amad Diallo as he tapped into an empty net to score the equaliser. He then latched onto a clever pass from Bruno Fernandes to fire home the winner in the 88th minute. After the win, Fernandes came out in defence of Onana and insisted his error should not be "focused on". He told TNT Sports: "We want to play from the back. Everyone knows we have to make the right decision. "Andre missed the pass, but there is nothing we should focus on. It’s not about Andre [Onana] making a mistake, we don’t look at individuals here. "It’s about all the players involved, and we have huge belief in Andre. "He knows he made a mistake, he’s a clever guy, we don’t need to tell him. He’s going to help us when playing out from the back – we trust his qualities on the ball. ANDRE ONANA had his blushes spared by Rasmus Hojlund as Manchester United fought back to win against Viktoria Plzen. Here’s how SunSport's Henry Tomlinson rated the Red Devils stars... Andre Onana - 4 It was a very shaky start to the game in which Onana hurt Casemiro and failed to deal with the host's crosses convincingly. He made a massive error that led to Plzen taking the lead with his poor pass, leaving his defenders with no chance of bailing him out. Diogo Dalot – 6 Dalot made some decent runs forward to join in with the attacks. Defensively was fairly solid and was not often caught out. Noussair Mazraoui - 6 Playing a bit more central, Mazraoui used his pace well to help out at the back. Matthijs de Ligt - 6 He was sold short by Onana's pass that led to the opener but otherwise was fine during the 90 minutes. Lisandro Martinez - 6 Made himself available when Man United got forward but struggled with the physicality of the Plzen attackers. Tyrell Malacia - 6 He offered very little going forward in the wing-back role as he struggled to combine with Marcus Rashford. Casemiro - 6 He moved the ball forward when he could and recovered from an early blow from Onana. Bruno Fernandes - 7 He was lucky to have escaped an early yellow card. Stung the goalkeeper's gloves in the first half with a good effort. His quick thinking set up Rasmus Hojlund to fire in a late winner. Amad Diallo - 8 Diallo was a rare bright spark in Man United's attack against Plzen. It was his run that led to the equaliser, and he used his pace and skill to get past his defender. Marcus Rashford - 4 Rashford was often loose on the ball and surrendered possession in the attacking third. He received the first booking of the game for a needless foul and was lucky not to be sent off in the second half before being hooked by Ruben Amorim. Joshua Zirkzee - 6 Took on the centre-forward role well, held the ball up and linked up play well enough. Subs Rasmus Hojlund 55' – 8 Hojlund showed his striker instincts by being in the right position to grab Man United's equaliser. He then latched onto Fernandes' clever pass to score the winner. Antony 60' - 6 He was involved in the equaliser by linking up with Diallo. Mason Mount 60' - 7 Made a positive impact after coming on and was unlucky not to score as he was denied twice by the goalkeeper after coming into the action. Alejandro Garnacho 80' - N/A Failed to make a positive impact on his short spell on the pitch. Manuel Ugarte 80' - N/A He slotted into the midfield as he replaced Casemiro late on. "The most important thing is we had the resilience and fight to come back. "It's something we’ve been doing for a long time. We know the goalkeepers are good on the ball, they can play. "We normally do it. It didn’t work this time but on many occasions it works. "We trust Andre to keep doing the things he thinks are best. Mistakes happen, and if mistakes happen, goals can happen." READ MORE SUN STORIES Onana's questionable form has even seen Man United be linked with potential replacements. AC Milan's Mike Maignan has been tipped to be a target, but he is also liked by rivals Manchester City.

MILWAUKEE — Brooklyn fans had expected Kevin Durant to lead their team to its first ever NBA title. Now, many are hoping to land a local prospect that their former star sees a lot of himself in. When Brooklyn committed to a rebuild they bet a big part of their future foundation on next June’s lottery pick, with Ace Bailey — a freshman at nearby Rutgers — one of the most sought-after prospects. The sinewy forward has often been likened to Durant and the former Net agreed that it’s an apt comparison. “Yeah, I think so,” Durant said after guiding his Phoenix Suns to a 110-100 Christmas Day victory over Denver. “Ace is a pure, pure talent. Being able to shoot the ball with that type of touch from anywhere. It’s insane the shots that he can make over multiple people at that length. It’s incredible to watch.” Durant was incredible to watch. And Nets fans are hoping whoever they land in the lottery will be as well. Bailey would be one of the best-case scenarios. The Hall of Fame-bound Durant spent parts of four seasons in Brooklyn, the first recovering from a ruptured Achilles before requesting a trade to Phoenix midway through the latter. He appeared in 129 games with the franchise and averaged 29.0 points, the most in Nets (NBA) history and his highest with any team. It was Durant’s February 2023 departure, less so than that of James Harden or Kyrie Irving, that slammed the door shut on Brooklyn’s title hopes. After floundering along last season, they finally committed to a rebuild by trading away Mikal Bridges this summer. Now, it’s a lottery pick next summer the Nets fans are already eyeing. Two weeks ago, they had been sitting 15th in the draft order. But after dealing point guard Dennis Schroder to Golden State — and dealing with the absence of leading scorer Cam Thomas — they entered Thursday night’s game in Milwaukee with the seventh-worst record. That gave them a 31.9 percent chance at a top-four pick — the neighborhood they’ll need to be in to have a chance at Bailey. Durant even compared the Rutgers star favorably within himself at 18-years-old. “Him and his teammate Dylan Harper are playing some great ball. They’re one of my favorite teams to watch. But I see some of my game in Ace,” Durant said. “I think he’s part of the midrange game. He’s probably a little bit more advanced than I was at that age. But he’s a problem. I can’t wait to see his career growth.” Nets fans would love that to be with them. Bailey is generally tabbed third in most mock drafts and big boards, behind teammate Harper and presumptive top pick Cooper Flagg from Duke. A 6-foot-10 guard with an impressive wingspan, his length makes him almost impossible to guard. He’s averaging 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds with impressive range. But his 33.3 percent from deep needs work, as does his shot selection. As Durant said, the shots he can make are “insane.” But he’s oozing potential. And Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has personally made no fewer than four trips down the New Jersey Turnpike to Piscataway. With Bailey (and Harper) starring at Rutgers, and the Nets banking on June’s lottery pick as a foundation of their rebuild, there will certainly be more. There is another connection between Durant and Bailey — mini-Durant? — with the veteran superstar having welcomed Bailey, Harper and two others into the Nike family with NIL deals last month. Durant recorded a voiceover for a video , saying “They told me you’re part of the family now. Well, welcome. But y’all ain’t really showed me nothing yet. When it’s time, we raise the bar. We’ve got to provide. Wins. Dreams. Rings. Attitude. Something. There’s no free meals at our table. Ask the greats. This family ain’t for everyone. So let’s see what you got: I’ll be watching.”