LOS ANGELES: Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, who gained worldwide fame as high-school sweetheart Sandy in the hit musical movie “Grease,” died Monday, her family said. She was 73.
The entertainer, whose career spanned more than five decades, devoted much of her time and celebrity to charities after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992.
Newton-John “passed away peacefully at her ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” said a statement from her husband John Easterling posted on her official social media accounts.
Olivia Newton-John, ‘Grease’ star and singer, dies aged 73
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Olivia Newton-John, ‘Grease’ star and singer, dies aged 73
- Olivia Newton-John gained worldwide fame as high-school sweetheart Sandy in the hit musical movie ‘Grease’
Hollywood-loved composer Hans Zimmer adds second concert date in Dubai
DUBAI: Hans Zimmer, the multi Academy Award-winning Hollywood film music composer, will perform at Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena on not one but two dates.
In addition to his much anticipated show on May 31, Zimmer has announced a second concert date on June 1.
Zimmer’s musical legacy, marked by the creation of memorable movie scores, secured him two Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards, along with nominations for three Emmys and a Tony.
With an impressive repertoire, he has composed the music for movies like “Interstellar,” “The Dark Knight,” “Gladiator,” “Top Gun Maverick,” “The Lion King,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” and most recently “Dune” and “Dune: Part 2” — among other iconic movies.
“I am immensely grateful for the warm embrace Dubai gave to my music during our first performance in the city. I firmly believe that music has the power to transcend language and resonate with the deepest emotions within us,” Zimmer, who also performed in the emirate last year, said in a statement.
Hilarious Habibis are championing Arab comedy in the US
LOS ANGELES: Hilarious Habibis, one of the first standup comedy platforms to be founded and presented by Middle Eastern women in the US, aims to give Arab comedians a leg up in the competitive stand-up scene.
Founded by Lynn Maleh and Gena B. Jones, the group aims to create a community and an opportunity for Arab audiences and presenters to engage with, and create, comedic content.
“It gives a chance for maybe a middle-experienced comedian to headline for a change or a smaller comedian who doesn't get to do shows at the Hollywood Improv to do a club for a change. So we just get them to level up on our show,” said writer and comedian Maleh.
Since 2016, Hilarious Habibis had grown from a small community of friends at the Hollywood Improv into a bona fide stand-up showcase. The group has performed at festivals including the New York Comedy Festival, SF SketchFest, and the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival.
“You know, a lot of people, more than ever, right now are looking for Arab representation, Arab comedy. We think our show is really relevant to the world right now and what they want to see,” said Jones.
“We always have a good chunk of non-Arabs, other people of color who are not Arab, who come to see the show, who really love it. And it's cool that there's different parts of the community who really want to see Arab comedy,” she added.
Hilarious Habibis has also hosted major comedians like Bassem Youseff and Maz Jobrani, as well as Egyptian comedian Salma Hindy, who is set to join the voice cast of Ramy Youssef’s upcoming Amazon animated show, “#1 Happy Family USA.”
“I think building community, especially among Arabs in the West, is extremely important during this time and period, and especially in an industry where we're extremely underrepresented … it's very important for Arabs to rise up, make it known that we're Arab, take up space, reclaim our stories and our identities and not apologize for being who we are,” Hindy said.
Comedians Chris Tucker and Andrew Schulz to perform in Abu Dhabi
DUBAI: US comedians Chris Tucker and Andrew Schulz are headed to the UAE for the inaugural edition of Abu Dhabi Comedy Week, to be held at the city’s Etihad Arena.
Schulz will perform on May 22, while Tucker will take to the stage for a late show on May 25, following an act by comedian Tom Segura.
Schulz capped off his last North American tour, “Infamous,” by selling out the 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall twice in one night. Meanwhile, Schulz’s stand up and podcast content receives 12 million views across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok per week.
Tucker soared to fame in the 1990s with his appearances on the HBO comedy series “Def Comedy Jam.” Since then, he has starred in numerous hit films including “Friday,” “The Fifth Element,” “Money Talks,” and the much-loved “Rush Hour” series alongside Jackie Chan.
Steven Spielberg addresses Gaza, decries anti-semitism
DUBAI: Veteran US filmmaker Steven Spielberg addressed the Israel-Gaza conflict and anti-semitism while accepting an honor from the University of Southern California.
The Oscar-winning director spoke at an event where he was recognized for his work with the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization he founded in 1994 to record and preserve interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust.
Spielberg said in listening to the accounts of survivors, “the echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate.”
Spielberg said radical views create “a dangerous environment” and lead to “a society that no longer celebrates differences.”
“We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses, where now fully 50 per cent of students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti Muslim, Arab and Sikh discrimination,” he continued.
Spielberg said he was “increasingly alarmed” that Jews might have to “once again fight for the very right to be Jewish.”
“We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorist of October 7 and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza. This makes us a unique force for good in the world and is why we are here today to celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now than it even was in 1994,” he added.
REVIEW: ‘Helldivers 2’ is a deliciously enjoyable team romp
LONDON: Fuse together “Starship Troopers” with elements of “Terminator” and “Aliens,” add a healthy dose of humor and combine with a core strong team engine of third-person gunplay and you have the new “Helldivers 2.”
Developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and available on PC and PS5, the game has you take on the real-time battle between Super Earth, a quasi-fascist entity played with tongue in cheek, and its insect and robot enemies across the galaxy.
Dropping down from heavily armed spaceships, you and a squad of up to four helldivers take on a variety of missions against various foe of different difficulties. All generally involve intense firefights and adrenaline-soaked excitement.
The core logic is your soldier can equip with one primary weapon and one smaller secondary one; but the unique selling point of the game is the role of “stratagems.”
These are reinforcements from your orbiting ship above and can range from advanced weapons to airstrikes to supply backpacks. Your access to better stratagems improves as does your level, which you acquire through successful missions and side missions on the planets you visit.
“It’s time to take out the alien trash,” shouts your instructor after a cursory training course to earn your cape before deploying into the fight. The bugs (Terminds) and robots (Automatons) are found on a range of planets with missions ranging from simple search and destroy, to rescuing civilians or setting up mining operations. The terrain can slow you down and be dangerous with volcanoes spewing deadly rocks down on your squad.
The game is simply lots of fun. Whilst you technically can take on missions by yourself, the real fun is to be had in cooperative mode against the computer-controlled enemy. Teamwork is essential for success with more powerful guns taking time to be reloaded that can be deadly without cover from a friend. Yet, friendly fire is also a challenge, particularly when calling down huge bombs on the nests of your enemy.
The game has an addictive reward mechanic that sees you level up and acquire medals, credits and resources to personalize your weapons, ship and appearance. The real-time nature of it allows the developers to announce major offensives in a part of the galaxy or to update the story as if it were a real conflict.
Despite simple controls there is a depth to weapon and ammunition choice as well as the type of stratagems you take with you that affect your approach to each mission.
Cut scenes are somewhat long and repetitive after a while and the procedurally generated worlds do not always make sense. Yet these are minor quibbles with a game that has already proven so successful that servers have buckled due to the weight of interest.