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‘Candy Cane Lane’ review: My Christmas wish is for Eddie Murphy to find a better Christmas movie

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

Eddie Murphy is 62 and looks about 39. Whatever he’s doing, it’s working — but the same can’t be said for his most recent projects.“Candy Cane Lane” is one of a three-picture deal Murphy has with Amazon, along with the recent, disheartening comedy “You People.” It marks a reunion for Murphy and director Reginald Hudlin, whose “Boomerang” once upon a time (1992) brought Murphy out of one of those slumps most major movie stars, especially comedy stars, endure along the way. He could use another lift after “Candy Cane Lane,” which isn’t a chore or a travesty or anything. But certainly, it’s less than Murphy deserves.Screenwriter Kelly Younger based his tediously spun fantasy on the real-life Candy Cane Lane neighborhood of El Segundo, California, just south of Los Angeles International Airport. The homeowners go nuts there with decorations every holiday season. Murphy plays a plastics company sales employee determined to win the neighborhood’s deeply competitive contest for best and bi...

You paid $1,000 for an iPhone, but Apple still controls it

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — For a decade, it was easy to get help repairing an iPhone. Cracked screens could be replaced in minutes, and broken cameras could be exchanged without a hitch.But since 2017, iPhone repairs have been a minefield. New batteries can trigger warning messages, replacement screens can disable a phone’s brightness settings, and substitute selfie cameras can malfunction.The breakdowns are an outgrowth of Apple’s practice of writing software that gives it control over iPhones even after someone has bought one. Unlike cars, which can be repaired with generic parts by auto shops and do-it-yourself mechanics, new iPhones are coded to recognize the serial numbers for original components and may malfunction if the parts are changed.This year, seven iPhone parts can trigger issues during repairs, up from three in 2017, when the company introduced a facial recognition system to unlock the device, according to iFixit, a company that analyzes iPhone components and sells parts f...

Denver’s Johnston plans to close two more encampments; relocate 200 homeless to hotels

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston plans to shut down homeless encampments near 20th and Curtis streets and 48th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard and move more than 200 people living in them off the streets, his administration announced Friday.Those relocations will happen “in the next couple of weeks,” city spokesman Derek Woodbury said Friday. A specific timeline is being kept under wraps to protect the safety and privacy of people living in the encampments, city officials say.If those actions — which Johnston and his team call encampment closures — are successful, it would more than double the number of people the administration has gotten off the streets in three prior cleanup efforts. It would also move Johnston significantly closer to the 1,000-person sheltering goal he set on his second day in office and has made the overwhelming focus of his work as mayor thus far.The online dashboard tracking the progress of Johnston’s House 1,000 homelessness initiative ...

Opinion: Six steps to avoid squandering public optimism for the new Denver school board can take

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

On Friday, Marlene De La Rosa, Kimberlee Sia, and John Youngquist took an oath of office to fulfill their duties as members of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education. The ceremony marked a pivotal leadership transition during which three incumbent board members – who lost community trust amidst school violence, failure to prioritize student achievement, a pattern of shunning community input, and incessant infighting – were replaced by new leaders who promise to make safe learning environments and student academic success their top priorities.De La Rosa, Sia, and Youngquist bring track records of competent and compassionate support for Denver’s diverse youth. Collectively, they inspire confidence throughout our community that they can move the seven-member Board toward policies and practices that will allow students to thrive and, ultimately, set up the city of Denver for long-term success.Leadership transitions like this one fuel hope, but also a degree of uncertainty as a new...

“Get Ready With Me”: Video genre that focuses on everyday life is everywhere — and not slowing down

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

NEW YORK — “Get Ready with Me” — to go on a date, go to work or … get fired?“Get Ready with Me” videos are everywhere these days, and they’re as straightforward as the name suggests. Social media users, often influencers, invite viewers to watch them get ready to do something or go somewhere. And embedded in the storyline are the skin care, the makeup, the hairdo and all the glam that goes into looking hot — and, of course, the personal stories about life or love that arrest your attention.GRWM videos, as they’re also known, are part of a trend of “with me” content that has gained popularity over the past decade. Think “Clean with Me” videos where users watch people clean their homes for inspiration or pleasure. Or hours-long “Study with Me” videos for students who want buddies for intense cramming sessions but don’t have any friends nearby.More than a decade after debuting on YouTube in the days when creator content was still relatively new, “Get Ready with Me” videos a...

Not just for throuples anymore: Dating app has worked out the kinks

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

By Valeriya Safronova, The New York Times CompanyNEW YORK — When Ana Kirova first heard the idea that she should become chief executive of Feeld, the dating app, she was “terrified.”It was 2021, and Kirova had been working at the company for five years. The suggestion came from Dimo Trifonov, the app’s founder and Kirova’s romantic partner. Kirova had a strong hand in Feeld’s transformation from a niche app to something closer to mainstream. Still, she wondered if it would be smarter to hire someone from the outside.Over dinner at Seamore’s, a restaurant in Brooklyn, Kirova, 31, speculated that her hesitation to accept the job was rooted in insecurities that might be tied to her gender.“The more I thought about it, the more it felt like if I were a guy, I would just take it and try,” she said.She decided to accept the role. “There’s no such thing as a good CEO that is just born that way, that falls out of the sky,” she said.Feeld, which started as a dating app for couples and ...

Kurtenbach: The 49ers have unfinished business in Philadelphia. The Eagles have bad blood. This should be epic

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

When the 49ers’ schedule was released last May, this was the game that everyone circled first.Because Dec. 3 in Philadelphia is unfinished business for the 49ers.The Niners cannot retrieve what was lost in January. They cannot undo what happened the last time they went to Philly, when Brock Purdy’s elbow exploded on the sixth play of the NFC Championship game and all hopes and dreams went with it.The Niners never had a chance to deploy their game plan for Philadelphia. The defense had to shift to accommodate the offense, and the offense had to adjust to a fourth-string backup quarterback and, later, Purdy, playing without the ability to throw the football.Related ArticlesSan Francisco 49ers | 49ers adjust to life without special teams standout George Odum San Francisco 49ers | Kurtenbach: The Eagles’ ‘Tush Push’ is the NFL’s best play. The 49ers know the secret to stopping it San Francisco 49ers | Is 49er...

49ers-Eagles preview: 5 keys to winning in Philadelphia as surprise favorites

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

PHILADELPHIA — Seven months ago, when the NFL announced the 49ers’ NFC Championship Game rematch here would be a twilight tilt this Sunday, coach Kyle Shanahan appreciated that scheduling.“I am glad we’re not playing Philly Week 1,” Shanahan said on May 10. “I want to play them at a better time. I want to make sure our whole team is right, there.”Brock Purdy’s surgically repaired elbow is indeed right, and the 49ers (8-3) are downright ready for their return to Lincoln Financial Field. They’ve downplayed this as “just another game,” but they’re also acknowledging how a win could eventually wrestle the NFC playoffs’ No. 1-seed from the Eagles (10-1).This game’s stakes don’t provide the immediate payoff as last January’s meeting for the NFC’s Super Bowl berth. You know the 49ers’ sad story: Purdy gets hurt six snaps into the game, backup Josh Johnson sustains a concussion right after halftime, and the Eagles roll to a 31-7 win — before t...

Editorial: Here’s how to break the Oakland A’s grip on the Coliseum

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

With the Oakland A’s headed for Las Vegas, it’s time for local elected officials to stop fantasizing about keeping the team in the Bay Area and start working to protect the public’s interest.That means that Oakland and Alameda County officials need to stop groveling to team ownership and start playing hardball. They need to wrest back control of the Coliseum, one of the Bay Area’s prime development sites. That’s the real prize now.The region badly needs transit-friendly housing. The 120-acre property has an existing BART station right there as well as two adjacent Interstate 880 on-ramps, making it probably the best transportation-ready site in the Bay Area.And yet, even though the A’s are about to move, prospects for any future housing and commercial development are stalled because the team’s billionaire owner, John Fisher, has a stranglehold on the land.Blame a horrible deal the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in 2019 struck with Fisher and his sidekick, team President Dave Ka...

Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says fatalities surpassed 15,200, 70% of them women and children

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 00:35:21 GMT

Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)(AP/Ariel Schalit) Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)(AP/Ariel Schalit) KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll has surpassed 15,200 and that 70% of those killed were women and children.The figure was announced Saturday by ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, who did not provide further details.The previous toll given by the ministry was more than 13,300 dead. Al-Qidra did not explain the sharp jump. However, the ministry had only been able to pro...