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Believe it or not, a lot of new films have been released since movie theaters were shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic — and a lot of good films. They have arrived by streaming service, cable television, on-demand, drive-in and even Instagram. But the movies have kept coming. Here are 10 favorites of AP Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr: — “DRIVEWAYS”: A gracefully understated film about about next-door neighbors — one an eight-year-old boy (Lucas Jaye), the other a retired Korean veteran (Brian Dennehy, in one of his last performances) — who become unlikely friends, Andrew Ahn’s exquisitely gentle little movie has felt blessedly nourishing this spring. The tale might be sentimental, but Ahn’s touch is true, and the performances of the three leads (including Hong Chau, as the…

Starbucks expects to lose more than $3 billion in revenue in its fiscal third quarter due to the new coronavirus, but said the disruption to its business should subside through the rest of the year. “The Starbucks brand is resilient, customer affinity is strong and we believe the most difficult period is now behind us,” Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson said in an open letter. The Seattle-based coffee giant said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the virus outbreak will also slash its operating income between $2 billion and $2.2. billion for the quarter, which ends June 28. Starbucks plans to report its third quarter results on July 28. Starbucks was forced to close its stores to customers at the height of the pandemic but continued to operate drive…

The U.S. communications regulator proposed a $225 million fine, its largest ever, against two health insurance telemarketers for spamming people with 1 billion robocalls using fake phone numbers. The Federal Communications Commission said John Spiller and Jakob Mears made the calls through two businesses. State attorneys general of Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas also sued the two men and their companies, Rising Eagle and JSquared Telecom, in federal court in Texas, where both men live, for violating the federal law governing telemarketing, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The FCC said the robocalls offered plans from major insurers like Aetna and UnitedHealth with an automated message. If consumers pressed a button for more information, however, they were transferred to a call center that sold plans not connected…

The High Note Los Angeles-based superstar singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) is served relentlessly by her personal assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who nonetheless aspires to become a music producer. Grace’s manager (Ice Cube) offers a choice that could change both women’s lives. FIVE FACTS: 1. Tracey Ellis Ross’s mother is legendary singer Diana Ross. 2. Meanwhile, Johnson’s mother is celebrated actress Melanie Griffith, who also appears in this film. 3. Wanuri Kahiu was lined up to direct this movie before Nisha Ganatra took the reins instead. 4. The High Note was scheduled for a wide theatrical release on May 8, 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change of plan. 5. The film was therefore released digitally and in drive-in theaters on May 29 instead. Justice League Dark: Apokolips…

HBO Max has temporarily removed “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. Protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness of both current and past productions. On Tuesday, the Paramount Network dropped the long-running reality series “Cops” after 33 seasons. The BBC also removed episodes of “Little Britain,” a comedy series that featured a character in blackface, from its streaming service. In an op-ed Monday in the Los Angeles Times, the filmmaker John Ridley urged WarnerMedia to take down “Gone With the Wind,” arguing that it “romanticizes the Confederacy in a way that continues to give legitimacy to the notion…

CAN’T TOUCH THIS!BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN, SEASON 5 ALL STAR VARIETY EXTRAVAGANZARUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, SEASON 12 (UNCENSORED) TELL ALL PART 190 DAY FIANCE: BEFORE THE 90 DAYS, SEASON 4 TELL ALL PART 290 DAY FIANCE: BEFORE THE 90 DAYS, SEASON 4 MIND YOUR P’S AND BBQ’STHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF BEVERLY HILLS, SEASON 10 SOMETHING’S BREWINGTHE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY, SEASON 12 STAR MORT RICKTURN OF THE JERRIRICK AND MORTY, SEASON 4 (UNCENSORED) WITHOUT THEIR MAKERSNOWPIERCER, SEASON 1 HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS90 DAY FIANCE: THE OTHER WAY, SEASON 2 I LIKE BIG BOATS & I CANNOT LIE BELOW DECK MEDITERRANEAN, SEASON 5…

Ford and Volkswagen will each offer a small city van, a larger cargo van, a small pickup truck and an electric vehicle as part of their global alliance announced last year. The companies announced some details of what the venture will yield Wednesday, with the city van created by VW based on the latest Caddy model, and a 1-ton cargo van engineered by Ford to be sold by both companies. Also, VW will make a small pickup built on the underpinnings of Ford’s Ranger, and Ford will build an unidentified electric vehicle for Europe based on VW’s modular design, the companies said. The automakers announced the alliance last July amid a string of industry partnerships and acquisitions to share the expensive cost of designing new vehicles and developing new technologies.…

Perhaps nowhere is the world’s lack of flights due to the coronavirus pandemic more clearly felt than at Dubai International Airport, for years the world’s busiest for international travel. Its Terminal 3, which sees tens of millions pass through it each year, stood empty and quiet on Wednesday, the once-full departure board showing only seven flights for the sheikhdom’s long-haul carrier Emirates. Its cavernous walkways, typically chilled to near-Arctic levels — even with being on the Arabian Peninsula — felt warm and humid in parts as air conditioners worked at a slower pace. No water rushed down its fountains and some stores and restaurants stood closed. It is tough times for Dubai, which through Emirates succeeded in building a major tourist and shopping destination in this one-time pearl-diving village. Emirates…

Eric Pray is used to shipping seafood all over the country. But since the coronavirus took hold, he has shifted his focus closer to home — selling lobsters from a homemade tank in his garage. Pray, of Portland, Maine, is one of hundreds of fishermen, farmers and food producers who have shifted to a direct-to-consumer model amid the virus outbreak. The pandemic has stressed and sometimes disrupted supply chains, shuttered restaurants and changed the way consumers buy food, leaving some producers scrambling for a new way to reach their customers. The farm-to-table movement in the United States has grown in recent years, as consumers have increasingly demanded locally sourced food. But in the past several weeks, the movement has grown out of necessity because some producers can’t rely on the…

As Apple ramps up work on innovative, immersive sports viewing technology and throws a punch at Amazon by pilfering one of its executives to head up a new sports division, it’s clear that the company is game set and match. Let’s explore Apple’s uphill battle to dominance in the field, analyzing where live sports could fit into its increasingly bloated service offering. BRINGING SPORT TO APPLE TV+ When Apple announced its TV+ streaming service last year, it was the first of four major launches in a twelve-month period. As cord-cutting and evolving consumer viewing habits hit cable networks and studios, every man and his dog decided it was time to launch their own Netflix rival - to varying degrees of success. Though Apple undoubtedly has the ecosystem, user base, and…

Eric Benz didn’t worry very much when his graphic design firm in Atlanta laid him off in March. He felt sure he’d be recalled to work once the viral pandemic eased and his firm’s clients resumed spending. Three months later, there’s been no call. Instead, Benz has applied for gig work as an Instacart shopper. Hope has given way to an urgent need to pay bills because Benz’s unemployment benefits haven’t yet come through. Benz has negotiated with his mortgage lender to defer payments on the home he and his wife bought earlier this year. But the deferral won’t last long. “I’m doing everything I can,” said Benz, 37. “It will take a little while to get back.” Even as the U.S. economy begins to flicker back to life, even…

RTJ4 Run the Jewels The timely release of this studio album, the fourth by hip-hop duo Run the Jewels, has arrived amid nationwide protests against police brutality. Rappers Killer Mike and El-P sound suitably more aggressive than before in this long-player that addresses various political themes. FIVE FACTS: 1. The off-stage names of Killer Mike and El-P are Michael Santiago Render and Jaime Meline respectively. 2. Due to the protests relating to the tragic death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody, Run the Jewels opted to release this album two days early. 3. In a note accompanying the album’s release, Render and Meline declared that “here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy.” 4. The album was…

After three months of near total blackout of cinemas nationwide, movie theaters are preparing to reopen — even if it means only a few titles on the marquee and showings limited to as little as 25% capacity. AMC Theaters, the world’s largest theater operator, said that it expects to have 97-98% of its theaters worldwide reopened by mid-July. The National Association of Theater Owners, the trade group that represents exhibitors, expects some 90-95% of cinemas around the world will be opened by mid-July. A lot is still “fluid,” as AMC Entertainment’s chief executive, Adam Aron, said in a call with investors. But provided flare ups of the coronavirus don’t unmake plans, the industry is gearing up for a dramatic resumption of widespread business just in time for Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.”The…

Dayton Moore remembers so clearly the vast sections of empty seats inside Kauffman Stadium when he took over as general manager of the Kansas City Royals, and he remembers just as vividly — nearly a decade later — how those seats filled and fans roared as the long-suffering club won the World Series. Those dueling memories make the thought of playing games in empty stadiums hard for Moore to fathom. “I know how much strength all players draw from the fans and environment,” he said, when asked about plans to play a shortened season without crowds, “and you need that support to get through an entire Major League Baseball schedule.” As lockdowns are lifted and restrictions eased, sports are finally starting to emerge in the coronavirus pandemic. But in virtually…

Europe could have its free travel zone up and running again by the end of this month, but travelers from further afield will not be allowed in before July, a European Union commissioner said after talks among the bloc’s interior ministers. Panicked by Italy’s coronavirus outbreak in February, countries in the 26-nation Schengen travel zone — where people and goods move freely without border checks — imposed border restrictions without consulting their neighbors to try to keep the disease out. The moves caused massive border traffic jams and blocked medical equipment. Free movement is a jewel in Europe’s crown that helps its businesses flourish and many European officials feared that the very future of the Schengen area was under threat from coronavirus travel restrictions. These added to border pressures already…

The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security service reportedly said that he opposes the continued use of his agency’s phone-snooping technology to track coronavirus cases. The testimony by Nadav Argaman prompted Israeli Cabinet ministers to freeze planned legislation that would have extended the use of the controversial practice, the Haaretz daily reported. The Israeli government authorized the Shin Bet to use its technology in March to help halt a burgeoning coronavirus outbreak. The technology allowed the government to retrace the steps of people infected with coronavirus and to identify people who had come into contact with them in the previous two weeks. Those deemed at risk of infection were then ordered to go into protective quarantine. The government defended the practice, normally used by the Shin Bet to track suspected…

Marriott, Hilton and other big hotel companies are used to competing on price or perks. Now they are competing on cleanliness. From masked clerks at the front desk to shuttered buffets, hotels are making visible changes in the wake of the pandemic. Signage will tout new cleaning regimens: Red Roof Inns promise “RediClean,” while Hilton boasts of “CleanStay with Lysol.” Hotels are still mostly empty; in the U.S., occupancy stood at 37% the week ending May 30, down 43% from the same period a year ago, according to STR, a data and consulting firm. But leisure travel is starting to pick up, and hotels see cleaning standards as a way to soothe jittery guests — and possibly win back business from rivals like home-sharing companies like Airbnb. “I think, more…

It’s an issue that’s been argued about for months, both by experts and by people strolling through parks all over the world: Can people who don’t feel sick spread the coronavirus, and if so should we all be wearing masks to stop it? Even the World Health Organization can’t seem to get it straight. On Tuesday the U.N. health agency scrambled to explain seemingly contradictory comments it has made in recent days about the two related issues. The confusion and mixed messages only makes controlling the pandemic that much more difficult, experts say. “If you are giving them confusing messages or they’re not convinced about why they should do something, like wear masks, they will just ignore you,” said Ivo Vlaev, a professor of behavioral sciences at the University of…

Criminals are seizing on a surge in job losses to steal unemployment benefits from Americans nationwide. This complicates an already tough situation for millions of financially strapped Americans and overwhelmed state unemployment offices. While there’s no exact measure of how many fraudulent claims have been made, states from Washington to Maine say they’ve seen an increase and numerous federal agencies are working to fight it. “About 10% of (unemployment insurance) payments are improper under the best of times, and we are in the worst of times,” Scott Dahl, the inspector general for the U.S. Labor Department, told the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. Dahl estimated that at least $26 billion in benefits could be wasted, with the bulk of that going to fraudsters. This forces unemployed workers, already reeling from…

The protagonists in Judd Apatow movies don’t generally have their stuff together. They are emotionally stunted, occasionally underachieving, unmotivated to change and often even border on unlikable. But whether it’s Seth Rogen’s stoner-entrepreneur, Steve Carell’s 40-year-old virgin or Adam Sandler’s depressed movie star, there has always been at least some separation between the actor and the character. That shield of fiction is pushed aside in his latest, “ The King of Staten Island,” in which Pete Davidson (a co-writer and producer on the film) lays bare many of his personal struggles for our entertainment and edification, from losing his firefighter father at the age of 7 to living with Crohn’s disease, in this tale of a Staten Island loser who is more than happy to just drift. It is the…

SpaceX’s debut astronaut launch is the biggest, most visible opening shot yet in NASA’s grand plan for commercializing Earth’s backyard. Amateur astronauts, private space stations, flying factories, out-of-this-world movie sets — this is the future the space agency is striving to shape as it eases out of low-Earth orbit and aims for the moon and Mars. It doesn’t quite reach the fantasized heights of George Jetson and Iron Man, but still promises plenty of thrills. “I’m still waiting for my personal jetpack. But the future is incredibly exciting,” NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren said the day before SpaceX’s historic liftoff. NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, who will test drive Boeing’s space capsule next year, envisions scientists, doctors, poets and reporters lining up for rocket rides. “I see this as a real possibility,”…

IBM is getting out of the facial recognition business, saying it’s concerned about how the technology can be used for mass surveillance and racial profiling. Ongoing protests responding to the death of George Floyd have sparked a broader reckoning over racial injustice and a closer look at the use of police technology to track demonstrators and monitor American neighborhoods. IBM is one of several big tech firms that had earlier sought to improve the accuracy of their face-scanning software after research found racial and gender disparities. But its new CEO is now questioning whether it should be used by police at all. “We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies,” wrote CEO…

An autonomous mobility system that works like a wheelchair without anyone pushing it is scuttling around a Tokyo airport to help with social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. The personal mobility machine seats one person and runs on its own without crashing, even when people jump out unexpectedly, for about 600 meters (660 yards) on a pre-programmed route at Haneda International Airport, WHILL, the company behind the technology, said. WHILL Chief Executive Satoshi Sugie said robotics and autonomous driving technology that reduce the need for human labor are a good match for these times of “living with” the coronavirus. “We are rapidly developing our business in order to help restore a world where people can enjoy moving around with peace of mind,” he told The Associated Press. The ride lasts…