The Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL, and a surprisingly tough test from the Carolina Panthers wasn't enough to cool them off. The Eagles survived a back-and-forth battle to earn a 22-16 win over the Panthers on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, extending their win streak to nine straight games. Star running back Saquon Barkley had 124 rushing yards on 20 carries, breaking Philadelphia's single-season rushing record. He entered the day needing 109 yards to surpass LeSean McCoy's previous record of 1,607 that was set in 2013. Star quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-21 passing while also adding 61 rushing yards and a touchdown in the victory. Fans on social media praised the Eagles for coming away with a win against a scrappy Panthers team: At 11-2, the Eagles are still looking up at the Detroit Lions, who sit in first place in the NFC with a 12-1 record and clinched a playoff spot with Thursday night's win over the Green Bay Packers. While Philadelphia might not be able to catch Detroit for home-field advantage, the team still looks like one of the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The Eagles will try to make it 10 straight wins when they host the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday.NEW YORK , Dec. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Monteverde & Associates PC (the "M&A Class Action Firm"), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm by ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. We are headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and are investigating: Arch Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ARCH ), relating to its proposed merger with Consol Energy, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, all Arch Resources common stock will be automatically converted into the right to receive 1.326 shares of Consol Energy stock. ACT NOW . The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for January 9, 2025 . Click here for more information https://monteverdelaw.com/case/arch-resources-inc/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. (Nasdaq: USAP ), relating to its proposed merger with Aperam US Absolute LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, all USAP shares will be automatically converted into the right to receive $45.00 per share. ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for January 15, 2025 . Click here for more information https://monteverdelaw.com/case/universal-stainless-alloy-products-inc/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYTH ), relating to its proposed merger with Rafael Holdings, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Cyclo common stock will automatically be converted into the right to receive shares of Rafael common stock. Click here for more information https://monteverdelaw.com/case/cyclo-therapeutics-inc/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. BurTech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BRKH ) , relating to the proposed merger with Blaize, Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, shares of BurTech Acquisition will be exchanged for shares of Blaize. ACT NOW. The Shareholder Vote is scheduled for December 23, 2024 . Click here for more information https://monteverdelaw.com/case/burtech-acquisition-corp-brkh/ . It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you. NOT ALL LAW FIRMS ARE THE SAME. Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask: About Monteverde & Associates PC Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholders...and we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. No company, director or officer is above the law. If you own common stock in any of the above listed companies and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341. Contact: Juan Monteverde, Esq. MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC The Empire State Building 350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740 New York, NY 10118 United States of America [email protected] Tel: (212) 971-1341 Attorney Advertising. (C) 2024 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC ( www.monteverdelaw.com ). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC
Haiti wonders what’s next as gang violence surges and UN peacekeeping mission flops
Column: Brady Corbet’s epic movie ‘The Brutalist’ came close to crashing down more than oncePreview: Stuttgart vs. VfL Bochum - prediction, team news, lineupsNoneFour nights removed from another rough performance, the New York Rangers hope a few days of extra rest and practice can get them trending upward Friday night when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are on a season-high four-game winning streak. The Rangers are 1-6-0 in their past seven games while getting outscored 26-11 in those losses, including 9-2 in the first period. New York stopped a five-game losing streak Saturday when Kaapo Kakko scored with 24 seconds left in a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens, but there was little carryover Monday night. In a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers allowed two goals in the first 7:10 and trailed by four before Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal in the second. New York took 39 shots on goal but had 27 others blocked and made numerous mistakes that led to plenty of open ice for the Devils. Two days later, the Rangers spent a roughly 60-minute practice working on various drills, including ways to counter turnovers in the neutral zone. "A couple days of practice and guys working together, you'd like to think that it can have some positive impact on the game coming up," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. The Rangers also continued to tweak their lines. The opening night top line of Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith was reunited, while Filip Chytil was skating with Will Cuylle and Kakko. Artemi Panarin (maintenance) skated on his own and did not practice but is expected to play on a line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. The lengthy practice and continued tweaks to the forward lines occurred a day after Laviolette reiterated his belief in a group that won the President's Trophy and reached the Eastern Conference finals last season. "I believe the answers are in that room," Laviolette told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "There's things we can do better, that we have to do better in order to be successful. But the only ones to get us out of where we're at right now are ourselves. So we have to focus on that." The Penguins allowed three goals in the opening period en route to a 6-0 home loss against the Rangers on Opening Night. That ugly showing was part of a 3-7-1 start, but Pittsburgh is 8-5-3 in its past 16 games. The Penguins have scored 18 goals during their current winning streak, with three of the four victories coming by one goal, including Tuesday's overtime win over the visiting Florida Panthers. Bryan Rust scored 1:31 into overtime to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 victory over Florida after the Penguins blew a 4-1 lead in the third period. Evgeni Malkin also scored and set up Rust's game-winner. Sidney Crosby added an assist, while Blake Lizotte had two helpers in a game where Pittsburgh was outshot 41-16. "I think it's just the mindset of the group," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "I just think we have a different feeling on the bench. If we give up a couple goals in the third period like we did, when you look at the way the game is played, we were fortunate to be up a couple of goals. "What I liked about the group is no one got rattled. There was great conversation on the bench amongst the players." --Field Level Media
Investors mining new data to predict retailers’ resultsThis image provided by FinaMill shows the FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder Set. The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. (FinaMill via AP) This image provided by QelviQ shows a wine bottle chiller. For friends who prefer stronger beverages, the QelviQ personal sommelier uses “smart” technology to ensure wine is served at its ideal temperature. (QelviQ via AP) This image provided by FUJIFILM North America Corporation and FUJIFILM Corporation Tokyo shows a smartphone printer. Fujifilm Instax’s Mini Link 3 smartphone printer offers a touch of nostalgia without sacrificing technology. Just load the printer with film and connect it to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth to print wallet-size photos. (FUJIFILM North America Corporation and FUJIFILM Corporation Tokyo via AP) This image provided by FeatherSnap shows a female cardinal bird perched on a FeatherSnap Wi-Fi Solar Powered Camera Smart Bird Feeder. Equipped with an HD camera, the dual-chamber feeder enables up-close livestreaming of avian visitors, as well as species-logging via the free mobile app. (FeatherSnap via AP) This image provided by Nama shows the M1 plant-based milk maker. If you’ve got a no-dairy friend on your list, a plant-based milk maker could save them money while allowing them to avoid unnecessary ingredients like sugar, stabilizers, thickeners and preservatives. (Nama via AP) This image provided by Pull Start Fire shows the matchless fire igniter in use. Made of 89% recycled materials, the food-safe, eco-friendly, 3-by-2-by-1-inch fire starters will light a fire quickly without matches, lighters or kindling.(Pull Start Fire via AP) This image provided by Uncommon Goods shows a 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set. Uncommon Good’s 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set puts illumination into the handles of its stainless-steel spatula and tongs. (Uncommon Goods via AP) This image provided by easyplant shows a Marxii Calathea plant in a small, beige, self-watering pot. The appropriately named easyplant is one of the best gifts you can give your houseplant-loving friends, regardless of their experience level. (easyplant via AP) This image provided by Souper Cubes shows No Mess Utensils held upright on pot edges. The No Mess Utensil lives up to its name. The utensils, a serving spoon and a ladle, have innovative, S-shaped handles designed to rest on the edge of a pot. (Ashley Cuoco via AP) This image provided by FinaMill shows the FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder Set. The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. (FinaMill via AP) By JESSICA DAMIANO Finding the perfect gift can be daunting. The only way to truly ensure you get it right would be to ask the recipient what they want, but that wouldn’t be much fun for either of you. Luckily, there’s another tactic to help you earn a “gift whisperer” reputation: seeking out unique, practical, game-changing gifts that will truly surprise and delight. But that’s about as easy as it sounds, which is to say it’s not easy at all. So, we’ve done the legwork for you. Start making your list with this compilation of some of the most innovative, functional and fun gifts of 2024. There’s something for every budget. Bear with me: The new FinaMill Ultimate Spice Grinder set elevates the pedestrian pepper and spice mill in both function and style. Available in three colors (Sangria Red, Midnight Black and Soft Cream), the rechargeable-battery unit grinds with a light touch rather than hand-tiring twists. That’s easier for everyone and especially helpful for those experiencing hand or wrist issues such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or tendinitis. And it’s fun to use. The set includes a stackable storage tray and four pods that can be easily swapped as needed: The GT microplane grater for hard spices, nuts and chocolate; the MAX for large spices and dried herbs; the ProPlus for smaller and oily spices; and the Pepper Pod for, well, pepper. $110. Campers and backyard firepit lovers who have experienced the heartbreak of wet wood will appreciate having a three-pack of Pull Start Fire on hand. Made of 89% recycled materials, including sanding dust, wax and flint, the food-safe, eco-friendly, 3-by-2-by-1-inch fire starters will light a fire quickly without matches, lighters or kindling. Just loop the attached green string around a log, incorporate it into a wood stack, and pull the attached red string to ignite. Each windproof, rainproof block burns for 30 minutes. $29.99. The No Mess Utensil Set from Souper Cubes , a company known for its portioned, silicone freezer trays, lives up to its name. The utensils — a serving spoon and a ladle — have innovative, S-shaped handles designed to rest on the edge of a pot, keeping them upright so they won’t slip in. The design also eliminates the need for a spoon rest or, worse, placing dirty utensils on the kitchen counter or stovetop between stirs. A silicone coating in a choice of Aqua, Charcoal, Cranberry or Blueberry keeps handles cool to the touch. $24.99. The FeatherSnap Wi-Fi smart bird feeder could turn anyone into an avid birdwatcher. Equipped with an HD camera, the dual-chamber feeder enables up-close livestreaming of avian visitors, as well as species-logging via the free mobile app. An optional premium subscription ($59.99 annually or $6.99 monthly) includes unlimited photo and video storage, AI identification with species-specific details, and the opportunity to earn badges for logging new visitors. Turn on notifications to get alerts sent to your phone whenever there’s activity at the feeder. $179.99. Fujifilm’s Instax Mini Link 3 smartphone printer offers a touch of nostalgia without sacrificing technology. Just load the 4.9-by-3.5-by-1.3-inch printer with Instax Mini instant film and connect it to your Android or iOS device via Bluetooth to print wallet-size photos. If you want to get fancy, you can adjust brightness, contrast and saturation, or apply filters, including 3D augmented-reality effects, via the free Instax Mini Link app. It can also make collages of up to six images, or animate photos to share on social media. Available in Rose Pink, Clay White and Sage Green. $99.95. The appropriately named easyplant is one of the best gifts you can give your houseplant-loving friends, regardless of their experience level. Select a pot color, size and plant (or get recommendations based on sunlight requirements, pet friendliness and other attributes) and fill the self-watering container’s built-in reservoir roughly once a month. Moisture will permeate the soil from the bottom as needed, eliminating the often-fatal consequences of over- or under-watering. It’s also a literal lifesaver come vacation time. $49-$259. Related Articles Things To Do | US airports with worst weather delays during holiday season Things To Do | The right book can inspire the young readers in your life, from picture books to YA novels Things To Do | Holiday gift ideas for the movie lover, from bios and books to a status tote Things To Do | ‘Gladiator II’ review: Are you not moderately entertained? Things To Do | Beer pairings for your holiday feasts If you’ve got a no-dairy friend on your list, a plant-based milk maker could save them money while allowing them to avoid sugar, stabilizers, thickeners and preservatives. The Nama M1 appliance both blends and strains ingredients, converting nuts, seeds, grains or oats into velvety-smooth milk in just one minute, with zero grit. And for zero waste, the pasty leftover pulp can be used in other recipes for added nutrients. The device also makes infused oils, flavored waters and soups. And, importantly, cleanup is easy. Available in white and black. $400. For friends who prefer stronger beverages, the QelviQ personal sommelier uses “smart” technology to ensure wine is served at its ideal temperature. Unlike traditional wine refrigerators, this device doesn’t take up any floor space. It also doesn’t chill wine to just one or two temperatures based on its color. Instead — paired with the free QelviQ app — the tabletop chiller relies on a database of more than 350,000 wines to bring a bottle to its specific recommended serving temperature in as little as 20 minutes. It also suggests food-wine and wine-food pairings. Plus, the appliance serves as a great icebreaker to inspire dinnertime conversation. Available in Exciting Red, Dashing Black and Dreamy White. $495. Grilling food after dark — and ascertaining its doneness — can prove challenging without outdoor lighting, and it’s nearly impossible to cook while holding a flashlight. But as is often the case, the simplest of solutions can make the biggest of impacts: Uncommon Good’s 2-piece LED Grilling Tool Set puts illumination into the handles of its stainless-steel spatula and tongs. After use, the lights can be removed and the utensils run through the dishwasher. $40.GATORS PODCAST: Gators keep good times rolling with upset of Ole Miss (Ep. 259)
The price of bitcoin surpassed $100,000 for the first time on Wednesday, soaring to a fresh high as the world's largest cryptocurrency extended a rally set off by the election of former President Donald Trump. Bitcoin has climbed more than 40% since Election Day, when voters opted for a candidate viewed as friendly toward digital currency. Those gains have far outpaced the stock market. The S &P 500 has increased about 2.4% over that period, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has jumped 2.6%. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to bolster the cryptocurrency sector and ease regulations enforced by the Biden administration. Trump also promised to establish the federal government's first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Trump said he would replace Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, whom many crypto proponents dislike for what they perceive as a robust approach to crypto regulation. Gensler announced that he plans to resign on Jan. 20, 2025, the date of Trump's inauguration. The post-election euphoria has lifted other parts of the crypto sector. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, has climbed 27%. Lesser-known dogecoin has skyrocketed about 140%, while litecoin has surged 35%. Shares of Coinbase, a top crypto trading platform, have increased more than 70% since Trump's reelection. The growth in recent weeks extends a remarkable turnabout for the once-beleaguered crypto industry. The sector entered this year bruised after a series of high-profile collapses and company scandals. FTX, a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency exchange co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, collapsed in November 2022. The implosion set off a 17-month legal saga that resulted in the conviction of Bankman-Fried for fraud. In April, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance, was sentenced to four months in prison in April after pleading guilty to charges that his platform had enabled illicit financial activity. The reelection of Trump marks the latest in a series of positive developments that have buoyed cryptocurrency this year. Those gains have been propelled, in part, by U.S. approval in January of bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. Bitcoin ETFs allow investors to buy into an asset that tracks the price movement of bitcoin, while avoiding the inconvenience and risk of purchasing the crypto coin itself. Last month, options on BlackRock's popular iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) were made available for trading on the Nasdaq. The options, which provide a new avenue for bitcoin investors, allow individuals to commit to buy or sell the ETF at a given price by a specific date. While such investments typically come with additional risk, they can also make large payouts. IBIT inched upward 1% on Friday, reaching a record high of about $56. Bryan Armour, the director of passive strategies research at financial firm Morningstar, attributed the recent crypto surge to investors' anticipation of friendly policy under Trump, as well as the newly available options trading for bitcoin ETFs. Still, the performance of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, has proven volatile, Armour added. The price of bitcoin could fall, especially if Trump encounters difficulty following through on his campaign commitments, he said. "As long as the narrative stays positive, there's always room to grow," Armour told ABC News before bitcoin reached $100,000. "I also think campaign promises don't always come to fruition." "It's still a highly volatile asset," Armour added.Zilinskas scores 32 as IU Indianapolis downs Alabama A&M 88-83
B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Nutanix, Inc. ( NASDAQ:NTNX – Free Report ) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,238 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $903,000. A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NTNX. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nutanix during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Nutanix by 29.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,358,768 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $269,024,000 after buying an additional 985,421 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in Nutanix during the first quarter worth about $1,735,000. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Nutanix by 13.1% during the first quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,988,923 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $246,196,000 after buying an additional 462,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its position in Nutanix by 12.0% during the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 5,140 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. 85.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. Nutanix Trading Up 3.2 % NASDAQ:NTNX opened at $73.18 on Friday. Nutanix, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.33 and a 1 year high of $73.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.90 and a 200-day moving average of $59.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -140.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.17. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, CFO Rukmini Sivaraman sold 24,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.85, for a total value of $1,430,996.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 192,169 shares in the company, valued at $11,309,145.65. The trade was a 11.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, COO David Sangster sold 11,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.83, for a total transaction of $714,968.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 123,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,411,022.44. This trade represents a 8.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth A number of brokerages have commented on NTNX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Nutanix in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Nutanix in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $80.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Nutanix from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Nutanix from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $71.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Nutanix from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Nutanix presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.86. Get Our Latest Stock Report on NTNX Nutanix Profile ( Free Report ) Nutanix, Inc provides an enterprise cloud platform in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa. The company offers hyperconverged infrastructure software stack that converges virtualization, storage, and networking services into a turnkey solution; Acropolis Hypervisor, an enterprise-grade virtualization solution; flow virtual networking and flow network security, which offers services to visualize the network, automate common network operations, and build virtual private networks; Nutanix Kubernetes Engine for automated deployment and management of Kubernetes clusters to simplify the provisioning, operations, and lifecycle management of cloud-native environments, applications, and microservices; and Nutanix Cloud Clusters. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NTNX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Nutanix, Inc. ( NASDAQ:NTNX – Free Report ). 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Robinson scores 25 in Mercer's 90-89 OT win against JacksonvilleOne night last month, near the end of the Chicago International Film Festival, a particularly long line of moviegoers snaked down Southport Avenue by the Music Box Theatre. The hot ticket? This fall’s hottest ticket, in fact, all over the international festival circuit? Well, it’s a 215-minute drama about a fictional Hungarian Jewish architect who emigrates to America in 1947 after surviving the Holocaust. The film’s title, “The Brutalist,” references several things, firstly a post-World War II design imperative made of stern concrete, steel, and a collision of poetry and functionality. Director and co-writer Brady Corbet, who wrote “The Brutalist” with his filmmaker wife, Mona Fastvold, explores brutalism in other forms as well, including love, envy, capitalist economics and how the promise of America eludes someone like the visionary architect László Tóth, played by Adrien Brody. Corbet, now 36 and a good bet for Oscar nominations this coming January, says his unfashionable sprawl of a picture, being distributed by A24, is also about the “strange relationship between artist and patron, and art and commerce.” It co-stars Felicity Jones as the visionary architect’s wife, Erzsébet, trapped in Eastern Europe after the war with their niece for an agonizingly long time. Guy Pearce portrays the imperious Philadelphia blueblood who hires Tóth, a near-invisible figure in his adopted country, to design a monumental public building known as the Institute in rural Pennsylvania. The project becomes an obsession, then a breaking point and then something else. Corbet’s project, which took the better part of a decade to come together after falling apart more than once, felt like that, too. Spanning five decades and filmed in Hungary and Italy, “The Brutalist” looks like a well-spent $50 million project. In actuality, it was made for a mere $10 million, with Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley shooting on film, largely in the VistaVision process. The filmmaker said at the Chicago festival screening: “Who woulda thunk that for screening after screening over the last couple of months, people stood in line around the block to get into a three-and-a-half-hour movie about a mid-century designer?” He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with Fastvold and their daughter. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Q: Putting together an independent movie, keeping it on track, getting it made: not easy, as you told the Music Box audience last night. Money is inevitably going to be part of the story of “The Brutalist,” since you had only so much to make a far-flung historical epic. A: Yeah, that’s right. In relation to my earlier features, “The Childhood of a Leader” had a $3 million budget. The budget for “Vox Lux” was right around $10 million, same as “The Brutalist,” although the actual production budget for “Vox Lux” was about $4.5 million. Which is to say: All the money on top of that was going to all the wrong places. For a lot of reasons, when my wife and I finished the screenplay for “The Brutalist,” we ruled out scouting locations in Philadelphia or anywhere in the northeastern United States. We needed to (film) somewhere with a lot less red tape. My wife’s previous film, “The World to Come,” she made in Romania; we shot “Childhood of a Leader” in Hungary. For “The Brutalist” we initially landed on Poland, but this was early on in COVID and Poland shut its borders the week our crew was arriving for pre-production. When we finally got things up and running again with a different iteration of the cast (the original ensemble was to star Joel Edgerton, Marion Cotillard and Mark Rylance), after nine months, the movie fell apart again because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We couldn’t get any of the banks to cash-flow the tax credit (for location shooting in Poland). It’s completely stable now, but at that time the banks were nervous about whether the war would be contained to Ukraine or not. And then we finally got it up and running in Budapest, Hungary. Q: That’s a long time. A: Every filmmaker I know suffers from some form of post-traumatic stress (laughs). It sounds funny but it’s true. At every level. On the level of independent cinema, you’re just so damn poor. You’re not making any money, and yet from nose to tail, at minimum, a movie always takes a couple of years. With bigger projects, you might have a little more personal security but a lot less creative security with so many more cooks in the kitchen. Either route you choose, it can be an arduous and painful one. Whether you’re making a movie for a million dollars, or $10 million, or $100 million, it’s still “millions of dollars.” And if you’re concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the people working with you, it’s especially stressful. People are constantly calling you: “Is it happening? Are we starting? Should I take this other job or not?” And you have 250 people who need that answer from you. Every iteration of the project, I always thought we were really about to start in a week, two weeks. It’s just very challenging interpersonally. It’s an imposition for everyone in your life. And then there’s the imposition of screening a movie that’s three-and-a-half-hours long for film festivals, where it’s difficult to find that kind of real estate on the schedule. So essentially, making a movie means constantly apologizing. Q: At what point in your acting career did you take a strong interest in what was going on behind the camera? A: I was making short films when I was 11, 12 years old. The first thing I ever made more properly, I guess, was a short film I made when I was 18, “Protect You + Me,” shot by (cinematographer) Darius Khondji. It was supposed to be part of a triptych of films, and I went to Paris for the two films that followed it. And then all the financing fell through. But that first one screened at the London film festival, and won a prize at Sundance, and I was making music videos and other stuff by then. Q: You’ve written a lot of screenplays with your wife. How many? A: Probably 25. We work a lot for other people, too. I think we’ve done six together for our own projects. Sometimes I’ll start something at night and my wife will finish in the morning. Sometimes we work very closely together, talking and typing together. It’s always different. Right now I’m writing a lot on the road, and my wife is editing her film, which is a musical we wrote, “Ann Lee,” about the founder of the Shakers. I’m working on my next movie now, which spans a lot of time, like “The Brutalist,” with a lot of locations. And I need to make sure we can do it for not a lot of money, because it’s just not possible to have a lot of money and total autonomy. For me making a movie is like cooking. If everyone starts coming in and throwing a dash of this or that in the pot, it won’t work out. A continuity of vision is what I look for when I read a novel. Same with watching a film. A lot of stuff out there today, appropriately referred to as “content,” has more in common with a pair of Nikes than it does with narrative cinema. Q: Yeah, I can’t imagine a lot of Hollywood executives who’d sign off on “The Brutalist.” A: Well, even with our terrific producing team, I mean, everyone was up for a three-hour movie but we were sort of pushing it with three-and-a-half (laughs). I figured, worst-case scenario, it opens on a streamer. Not what I had in mind, but people watch stuff that’s eight, 12 hours long all the time. They get a cold, they watch four seasons of “Succession.” (A24 is releasing the film in theaters, gradually.) It was important for all of us to try to capture an entire century’s worth of thinking about design with “The Brutalist.” For me, making something means expressing a feeling I have about our history. I’ve described my films as poetic films about politics, that go to places politics alone cannot reach. It’s one thing to say something like “history repeats itself.” It’s another thing to make people see that, and feel it. I really want viewers to engage with the past, and the trauma of that history can be uncomfortable, or dusty, or dry. But if you can make it something vital, and tangible, the way great professors can do for their students, that’s my definition of success. “The Brutalist” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 20. The Chicago release is Jan. 10, 2025. Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.