Hays Community Theatre's "Rats: The Story of the Pied Piper" has shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All shows for the annual children's theater are sold out. 

See the end of this story for a complete cast list.

Narrator 1: Ryan Giebler Narrator 2: Annalise Adams Narrator 3: Aspen Brull Narrator 4: Savannah Wittkorn (Narrators double as townspeople) Pied Piper: Jacob Ridgway Mayor: Josiah Hill Quigley: Jack Stoecklein Miss Pennywinkle: Kelsey Robben Rats Ratmarie: Janessa Miller Rhonda Rat: Evie Dietz Ratson: Matthias Miller Ratly: Jensen Miller Ratilla: Gracelyn Inlow Rosie Rat: Reagan Becker Candy Rat: Nora Stoecklein Debbie Rat: Hattie Sander Brandy Rat: Avalea Hill Benjamin "Ben" Rat: Brayden Hept Ramona (Baby) Rat: Olivia Legleiter Townspeople of Hamelin Constable Blarney: Micah Hill Mr. Rye/Mr. Ram: Caden Pinkney Miss Lilyspoon: Nevaeh Duncan Miss Finney: Alicia Windholz Mrs Krinkle: Elizabeth Bergman Mrs. Nob: Evelyn Schmidt Mr. Ripple: Malachi Miller Mrs. Pickle: Riley Becker Mr. Teal: Jadon Conner Children of Hamelin Susan Ripple: Khloe Bartling Billie Ram: Katie Ziegler Jimmy Pickle: Josiah Conner Lisa Teal: Melody Gauger Tammy Nob: Hannah Lohrmeyer Wendy Krinkle: Scarlett Wittkorn Pentopolis "Pennyman" Pickle: Skyler Schmidt Nancy Nob: Claire Lonnon Krystal Krinkle: Willa Hill Rita Rye: Lyla Oller Becky Blarney: Brylie Grove

Hays Community Theatre's "Rats: The Story of the Pied Piper" has shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All shows for the annual children's theater are sold out. See the end of this story for a complete cast list.<figure>
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 </figure><h2>Cast list</h2>Narrator 1: Ryan Giebler Narrator 2: Annalise Adams Narrator 3: Aspen Brull Narrator 4: Savannah Wittkorn (Narrators double as townspeople) Pied Piper: Jacob Ridgway Mayor: Josiah Hill Quigley: Jack Stoecklein Miss Pennywinkle: Kelsey Robben Rats Ratmarie: Janessa Miller Rhonda Rat: Evie Dietz Ratson: Matthias Miller Ratly: Jensen Miller Ratilla: Gracelyn Inlow Rosie Rat: Reagan Becker Candy Rat: Nora Stoecklein Debbie Rat: Hattie Sander Brandy Rat: Avalea Hill Benjamin "Ben" Rat: Brayden Hept Ramona (Baby) Rat: Olivia Legleiter Townspeople of Hamelin Constable Blarney: Micah Hill Mr. Rye/Mr. Ram: Caden Pinkney Miss Lilyspoon: Nevaeh Duncan Miss Finney: Alicia Windholz Mrs Krinkle: Elizabeth Bergman Mrs. Nob: Evelyn Schmidt Mr. Ripple: Malachi Miller Mrs. Pickle: Riley Becker Mr. Teal: Jadon Conner Children of Hamelin Susan Ripple: Khloe Bartling Billie Ram: Katie Ziegler Jimmy Pickle: Josiah Conner Lisa Teal: Melody Gauger Tammy Nob: Hannah Lohrmeyer Wendy Krinkle: Scarlett Wittkorn Pentopolis "Pennyman" Pickle: Skyler Schmidt Nancy Nob: Claire Lonnon Krystal Krinkle: Willa Hill Rita Rye: Lyla Oller Becky Blarney: Brylie Grove

📸 Hays Community Theatre's 'Rats: The Story of the Pied Piper' 

The latest Friday Night Finds from Mix 103.3 FM.

<div><iframe title="Mix 103.3’s Friday Night Finds: Sept. 2, 2022" allowtransparency="true" height="300" width="100%" style="border: none; min-width: min(100%, 430px);" scrolling="no" data-name="pb-iframe-player" src="https://www.podbean.com/player-v2/?i=pu54v-12b5a91-pb&from=pb6admin&square=1&share=1&download=1&rtl=0&fonts=Arial&skin=3267a3&font-color=auto&logo_link=podcast_page&btn-skin=3267a3&size=300" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>The latest Friday Night Finds from Mix 103.3 FM.Play the song below:<figure>
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Friday Night Finds: Sept. 2, 2022

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MATT%20O%27BRIEN%20and%20KELVIN%20CHAN%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MATT O'BRIEN and KELVIN CHAN AP Technology Writers</a>

Microsoft’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-call-of-duty-7a9e2bcc8f0b7b9049e4f93fe3e0a4dd">plan to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard</a>&nbsp;for $68.7 billion could have major effects on the gaming industry, transforming the Xbox maker into something like a Netflix for video games by giving it control of many more popular titles.

But to get to the next level, Microsoft must first survive a barrage of government inquiries from New Zealand to Brazil, and from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-data-privacy-federal-trade-commission-congress-7da655c7793d5fe26493a0fa8f10e297">U.S. regulators emboldened</a>&nbsp;by President Joe Biden to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-mark-zuckerberg-federal-trade-commission-government-and-politics-341c0200d9d2921072c1ac6afde428fe">strengthen their enforcement</a>&nbsp;of antitrust laws.

In the United Kingdom, regulators on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-united-kingdom-187332bc07d6930b18e54010c38b6353">threatened to escalate their investigation</a>&nbsp;unless both companies come up with proposals within five days to ease competition concerns. More than seven months after Microsoft announced the deal, only&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Saudigac_en/status/1561586394182651909/photo/1">Saudi Arabia has approved it.</a>

“A growing number of countries are subjecting major global transactions to deeper scrutiny,” said William Kovacic, a former chairman of the five-member U.S. Federal Trade Commission. “Many of the jurisdictions that are exercising that scrutiny are significant economies and can’t be brushed off.”

Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-antitrust-microsoft-doj-6a800b51cc9b6b1c4d1b23bad4510040">has faced antitrust scrutiny</a>&nbsp;before, mostly notably more than two decades ago when a federal judge ordered its breakup following the company’s anticompetitive actions related to its dominant Windows software. That verdict was overturned on appeal, although the court imposed other, less drastic, penalties on the company.

In recent years, however, Microsoft has largely escaped the more intense regulatory backlash its Big Tech rivals such as Amazon, Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta have endured. But the sheer size of the Activision Blizzard merger has drawn global attention.

The all-cash deal is set to be the largest in the history of the tech industry. It would give Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console and gaming system, control of popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. There's also a growing sense that past review of Big Tech mergers was too lax — such as when Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.

“Collectively, that means that the kinds of concessions you’re going to have to make become more difficult,” Kovacic said.

The possibility of Microsoft gaining control of Call of Duty has been particularly worrisome to Sony, maker of the PlayStation console that competes with Microsoft's Xbox. In a letter to Brazilian regulators, Sony emphasized Call of Duty as an “essential” game — a blockbuster so popular and ingrained that it would be impossible for a competitor to develop a rival product even if they had the budget to do so.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-united-kingdom-0e19c4494d1754dc12e23bbf9e68d090">U.K. watchdog's preliminary inquiry</a>&nbsp;raised similar worries. It said Microsoft’s control of popular Activision Blizzard games raised concerns that the deal would hurt rivals in multi-game subscription services and the cloud gaming market.

One solution could be a settlement in which Microsoft agrees to ensure that console-making rivals such as Sony or Nintendo won’t be cut off from popular Activision Blizzard games. Microsoft has already publicly signaled its openness to that concept.

Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, has said the company committed to Sony to make Activision games like Call of Duty “available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future” -- although many are skeptical about how long those promises would last if not set into regulatory consent decrees.

On the other hand, Microsoft also has a much better reputation in Washington than it did in 2000. It is "seen as more reasonable and sensible” on issues such as data privacy, Kovacic said.

Microsoft has also been working to win over skeptics in the U.S., starting with a labor union that's been trying to organize Activision Blizzard employees. Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern about allegations of Activision's toxic workplace culture for women, which led to employee walkouts last year as well as discrimination lawsuits brought by California and federal civil rights enforcers.

In March, the Communications Workers of America had issued a call seeking tougher oversight of the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FTC and state attorneys general. But a June 30 letter from the union to the FTC said it had switched to supporting the deal after Microsoft agreed “to ensure the workers of Activision Blizzard have a clear path to collective bargaining.”

Gaming represents a growing portion of Microsoft’s business, despite the company’s efforts to portray itself and Activision Blizzard as “small players in a highly fragmented publishing space,” per a document&nbsp;<a href="https://comcom.govt.nz/case-register/case-register-entries/microsoft-corporation-activision-blizzard-inc">filed with New Zealand's Commerce Commission</a>.

In 2021, Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, which is behind popular video games The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout. Microsoft’s properties also include the hit game Minecraft after it bought Swedish game studio Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.

The Redmond, Washington, tech giant has said the gaming acquisitions will help beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service and its mobile offerings, particularly from Activision Blizzard's King division, which makes Candy Crush.

Dutch game developer Rami Ismail said Microsoft’s subscription-based service has thus far been a positive for smaller game studios trying to get their content to users. But he’s unsure about the long-term impact of the merger.

“Xbox Game Pass as a product has been really good in getting interesting, creative games funded that might not have the normal market reach to be successful,” Ismail said. “On the flip side, as power consolidates, there is less of an incentive to do anything like that.”

Microsoft rivals are also consolidating. Sony in July closed on a $3.6 billion deal to buy Bungie Inc., maker of the popular game franchise Destiny and the original developer of Xbox-owned Halo. Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, in May completed a $12.7 billion deal to acquire mobile gaming company Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Words With Friends.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MATT%20O%27BRIEN%20and%20KELVIN%20CHAN%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MATT O'BRIEN and KELVIN CHAN AP Technology Writers</a>Microsoft’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-call-of-duty-7a9e2bcc8f0b7b9049e4f93fe3e0a4dd">plan to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard</a>&nbsp;for $68.7 billion could have major effects on the gaming industry, transforming the Xbox maker into something like a Netflix for video games by giving it control of many more popular titles.But to get to the next level, Microsoft must first survive a barrage of government inquiries from New Zealand to Brazil, and from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-data-privacy-federal-trade-commission-congress-7da655c7793d5fe26493a0fa8f10e297">U.S. regulators emboldened</a>&nbsp;by President Joe Biden to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-mark-zuckerberg-federal-trade-commission-government-and-politics-341c0200d9d2921072c1ac6afde428fe">strengthen their enforcement</a>&nbsp;of antitrust laws.In the United Kingdom, regulators on Thursday&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-united-kingdom-187332bc07d6930b18e54010c38b6353">threatened to escalate their investigation</a>&nbsp;unless both companies come up with proposals within five days to ease competition concerns. More than seven months after Microsoft announced the deal, only&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Saudigac_en/status/1561586394182651909/photo/1">Saudi Arabia has approved it.</a>“A growing number of countries are subjecting major global transactions to deeper scrutiny,” said William Kovacic, a former chairman of the five-member U.S. Federal Trade Commission. “Many of the jurisdictions that are exercising that scrutiny are significant economies and can’t be brushed off.”Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/google-antitrust-microsoft-doj-6a800b51cc9b6b1c4d1b23bad4510040">has faced antitrust scrutiny</a>&nbsp;before, mostly notably more than two decades ago when a federal judge ordered its breakup following the company’s anticompetitive actions related to its dominant Windows software. That verdict was overturned on appeal, although the court imposed other, less drastic, penalties on the company.In recent years, however, Microsoft has largely escaped the more intense regulatory backlash its Big Tech rivals such as Amazon, Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta have endured. But the sheer size of the Activision Blizzard merger has drawn global attention.The all-cash deal is set to be the largest in the history of the tech industry. It would give Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console and gaming system, control of popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. There's also a growing sense that past review of Big Tech mergers was too lax — such as when Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.“Collectively, that means that the kinds of concessions you’re going to have to make become more difficult,” Kovacic said.The possibility of Microsoft gaining control of Call of Duty has been particularly worrisome to Sony, maker of the PlayStation console that competes with Microsoft's Xbox. In a letter to Brazilian regulators, Sony emphasized Call of Duty as an “essential” game — a blockbuster so popular and ingrained that it would be impossible for a competitor to develop a rival product even if they had the budget to do so.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-united-kingdom-0e19c4494d1754dc12e23bbf9e68d090">U.K. watchdog's preliminary inquiry</a>&nbsp;raised similar worries. It said Microsoft’s control of popular Activision Blizzard games raised concerns that the deal would hurt rivals in multi-game subscription services and the cloud gaming market.One solution could be a settlement in which Microsoft agrees to ensure that console-making rivals such as Sony or Nintendo won’t be cut off from popular Activision Blizzard games. Microsoft has already publicly signaled its openness to that concept.Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, has said the company committed to Sony to make Activision games like Call of Duty “available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future” -- although many are skeptical about how long those promises would last if not set into regulatory consent decrees.On the other hand, Microsoft also has a much better reputation in Washington than it did in 2000. It is "seen as more reasonable and sensible” on issues such as data privacy, Kovacic said.Microsoft has also been working to win over skeptics in the U.S., starting with a labor union that's been trying to organize Activision Blizzard employees. Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern about allegations of Activision's toxic workplace culture for women, which led to employee walkouts last year as well as discrimination lawsuits brought by California and federal civil rights enforcers.In March, the Communications Workers of America had issued a call seeking tougher oversight of the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FTC and state attorneys general. But a June 30 letter from the union to the FTC said it had switched to supporting the deal after Microsoft agreed “to ensure the workers of Activision Blizzard have a clear path to collective bargaining.”Gaming represents a growing portion of Microsoft’s business, despite the company’s efforts to portray itself and Activision Blizzard as “small players in a highly fragmented publishing space,” per a document&nbsp;<a href="https://comcom.govt.nz/case-register/case-register-entries/microsoft-corporation-activision-blizzard-inc">filed with New Zealand's Commerce Commission</a>.In 2021, Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, which is behind popular video games The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout. Microsoft’s properties also include the hit game Minecraft after it bought Swedish game studio Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.The Redmond, Washington, tech giant has said the gaming acquisitions will help beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service and its mobile offerings, particularly from Activision Blizzard's King division, which makes Candy Crush.Dutch game developer Rami Ismail said Microsoft’s subscription-based service has thus far been a positive for smaller game studios trying to get their content to users. But he’s unsure about the long-term impact of the merger.“Xbox Game Pass as a product has been really good in getting interesting, creative games funded that might not have the normal market reach to be successful,” Ismail said. “On the flip side, as power consolidates, there is less of an incentive to do anything like that.”Microsoft rivals are also consolidating. Sony in July closed on a $3.6 billion deal to buy Bungie Inc., maker of the popular game franchise Destiny and the original developer of Xbox-owned Halo. Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, in May completed a $12.7 billion deal to acquire mobile gaming company Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Words With Friends.

Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal gets global scrutiny

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — The return of dragons on the small screen has been a huge hit. Now it's time for the return of the elves and dwarves.

Amazon Studios is launching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Power-Season/dp/B09QH98YG1">“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,”</a>&nbsp;an ambitious, years-in-the-making and very expensive salvo that will go head-to-head with another costly streaming fantasy epic: HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon,” which recently became the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-fe58880b726699e4f7683db80f579f14">most-watched series premiere</a>&nbsp;in HBO history.

The series is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings and asides about Middle-earth’s Second Age, which preceded the Third Age’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films and books. Tolkien’s grandson, Simon Tolkien, was a creative consultant.

“We say Tolkien sort of left a series of stars in the sky. Our job was to connect the dots and form the constellation and then sort of draw in between the constellations to give a little more specificity to it,” said J.D. Payne, a showrunner and executive producer.

Amazon Prime Video will debut both the first two “The Rings of Power” episodes on Friday. After that, the remaining six episodes arrive weekly on Friday.

The hour-long episodes are stuffed with action and humor but buckle up: Payne and his co-showrunner Patrick McKay plan to use a 50-hour canvas to explore their nuanced characters and complex histories. These first eight episodes are like an appetizer.

Early ones shift across the various regions of Middle-earth, our planet's imagined mythological past. Here, some 4,000 years before “The Hobbit,” are elves involved with royal intrigue, dwarves who mine inside mountains, hobbitlike harfoots who are pastoral, humans who seem unusually prone to violence, and evil orcs.

Despite being set centuries before the books and films that make up the Tolkien's canon, fans of “The Lord of the Rings” will notice some familiar characters, based on the long lifespan of some of the creatures, including Galadriel, Elrond and Isildur. Sauron, the evil force, is unseen in the first two episodes but a malevolent presence throughout.

Morfydd Clark grew up in Wales to parents who adored Tolkien’s epic book series and her dad read her “The Hobbit” when she was 9. The films came out when she was 11, accelerating the obsession. Now she finds herself playing a young Galadriel, a powerful elf played later in the films by Cate Blanchett.

“I think there’s a lot of hope in Tolkien’s world, and with hope comes bravery to stand up and have courage for what you think is valuable,” she said. “The world needs to be safe enough for the smallest and most vulnerable. And I think that’s something that’s important to remind yourself — just because something suits you, it doesn’t suit everybody.”

That sense of hope is something that distinguishes the series from “House of the Dragon,” which revels in a cynical, bloody view of mankind. McKay notes that Tolkien emerged from World War I with a complex fairy story, unlike many of his literary peers who were writing about wastelands and darkness.

“Middle-earth is a fundamentally optimistic and hopeful place. He was writing about positive values and friendship and brotherhood and underdogs,” McKay said. “He was telling you that in the darkest, deep of Mordor — in his wasteland — friendship could win the day and good could triumph over evil.”

The show’s tone shifts depending on which place is being visited. Harfoots, who have Irish accents, are whimsical, communal and clever, while dwarves have Scottish accents, are fond of a drink and are a little rough. Elves are elegant and elite, with upper English class accents and a fondness for billowing cloaks and long, elaborate ceremonies.

The cast — a massive ensemble of 22 actors — is multiethnic and composed of actors of different ages and fame, from Tony-nominated Benjamin Walker to up-and-coming Charlie Vickers, who graduated from drama school in 2017.

“It’s a very heterogenous world and if it wasn’t, we’d be dealing with dystopia,” said Trystan Gravelle, who plays a royal advisor in an Atlantis-like kingdom. “I think it’s very fitting as well in 2022 that we reflect that as well. And I think it enriches everything. The world’s a richer place for it.”

The cast filmed in New Zealand during the pandemic and were away from loved ones for almost two years. The actors rarely visited the sets of rival fictional races, but all gathered for potluck lunches and holidays, often at Walker's house where a mean fried chicken was served. “I got a bunch of babysitters out of it,” he joked.

“What that did is it sort of forced us to to lean on each other and that is a bonding experience like no other,” said Nazanin Boniadi, who plays a human healer and single mother. “That fellowship that you see on screen was forged very much behind the scenes.”

The production — rated TV-14 for violence versus the “Game of Thrones” prequel which is TV-MA for violence, language, and nudity — is one of the most expensive in history, with Amazon spending at least $465 million on the first season in New Zealand, where the series employed 1,200 people directly and another 700 indirectly. In total, the season has reportedly cost $1 billion.

Choir music swells during breathtaking panoramas and the dialogue is thunderous and portentous. “There can be no friendship between hammer and rock. One will surely break,” one dwarf leader says. In another scene, an elf counsels another who is confused: “Sometimes we cannot know unless we touch the darkness.”

The new series debuts in the long shadow left by Peter Jackson, whose film trilogy adaptation of Tolkien's books won critical and commercial praise in the early 2000s and claimed the best picture Oscar for “Return of the King.” For the series, there was more freedom to create as long as it was true to the author.

“We really tried to just go back to Tolkien. That was our mantra from the beginning: ‘Just go back to the books, go back to the books, go back to the books,’” said Payne. “We always have Tolkien at the base of what we’re doing.”

The new series has lots of big themes to chew on, including overcoming racial differences, environmentalism, the power of friendship, women's strength and how even the smallest person can change the world.

“A show like this that has definitely dark themes — darkness within oneself, the fight to do what’s right, battling great forces greater than you — but it also just has themes of friendship and loyalty and love and hope,” said Sara Zwangobani, who plays the new character Marigold Brandyfoot.

The series will have to thread a careful needle by enchanting hard-core fans of Tolkien who will be searching for connections to the universe, attracting those who have hazy memories of the books and don't want to be burdened with tons of new material, and young people whose perhaps last epic adventure series was “Harry Potter.”

“It’s kind of the gateway for new fans in that it's kind of the first chapter, the adolescence of Middle-earth, where the films you could imagine are the adulthood of Middle-earth,” said Walker. “So we’re seeing all these characters we know and love — and some that we’re being introduced to — take the first steps on their journey in becoming their destined selves.”

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — The return of dragons on the small screen has been a huge hit. Now it's time for the return of the elves and dwarves.Amazon Studios is launching&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Power-Season/dp/B09QH98YG1">“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,”</a>&nbsp;an ambitious, years-in-the-making and very expensive salvo that will go head-to-head with another costly streaming fantasy epic: HBO’s “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon,” which recently became the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-tv-fe58880b726699e4f7683db80f579f14">most-watched series premiere</a>&nbsp;in HBO history.The series is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings and asides about Middle-earth’s Second Age, which preceded the Third Age’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films and books. Tolkien’s grandson, Simon Tolkien, was a creative consultant.“We say Tolkien sort of left a series of stars in the sky. Our job was to connect the dots and form the constellation and then sort of draw in between the constellations to give a little more specificity to it,” said J.D. Payne, a showrunner and executive producer.Amazon Prime Video will debut both the first two “The Rings of Power” episodes on Friday. After that, the remaining six episodes arrive weekly on Friday.The hour-long episodes are stuffed with action and humor but buckle up: Payne and his co-showrunner Patrick McKay plan to use a 50-hour canvas to explore their nuanced characters and complex histories. These first eight episodes are like an appetizer.Early ones shift across the various regions of Middle-earth, our planet's imagined mythological past. Here, some 4,000 years before “The Hobbit,” are elves involved with royal intrigue, dwarves who mine inside mountains, hobbitlike harfoots who are pastoral, humans who seem unusually prone to violence, and evil orcs.Despite being set centuries before the books and films that make up the Tolkien's canon, fans of “The Lord of the Rings” will notice some familiar characters, based on the long lifespan of some of the creatures, including Galadriel, Elrond and Isildur. Sauron, the evil force, is unseen in the first two episodes but a malevolent presence throughout.Morfydd Clark grew up in Wales to parents who adored Tolkien’s epic book series and her dad read her “The Hobbit” when she was 9. The films came out when she was 11, accelerating the obsession. Now she finds herself playing a young Galadriel, a powerful elf played later in the films by Cate Blanchett.“I think there’s a lot of hope in Tolkien’s world, and with hope comes bravery to stand up and have courage for what you think is valuable,” she said. “The world needs to be safe enough for the smallest and most vulnerable. And I think that’s something that’s important to remind yourself — just because something suits you, it doesn’t suit everybody.”That sense of hope is something that distinguishes the series from “House of the Dragon,” which revels in a cynical, bloody view of mankind. McKay notes that Tolkien emerged from World War I with a complex fairy story, unlike many of his literary peers who were writing about wastelands and darkness.“Middle-earth is a fundamentally optimistic and hopeful place. He was writing about positive values and friendship and brotherhood and underdogs,” McKay said. “He was telling you that in the darkest, deep of Mordor — in his wasteland — friendship could win the day and good could triumph over evil.”The show’s tone shifts depending on which place is being visited. Harfoots, who have Irish accents, are whimsical, communal and clever, while dwarves have Scottish accents, are fond of a drink and are a little rough. Elves are elegant and elite, with upper English class accents and a fondness for billowing cloaks and long, elaborate ceremonies.The cast — a massive ensemble of 22 actors — is multiethnic and composed of actors of different ages and fame, from Tony-nominated Benjamin Walker to up-and-coming Charlie Vickers, who graduated from drama school in 2017.“It’s a very heterogenous world and if it wasn’t, we’d be dealing with dystopia,” said Trystan Gravelle, who plays a royal advisor in an Atlantis-like kingdom. “I think it’s very fitting as well in 2022 that we reflect that as well. And I think it enriches everything. The world’s a richer place for it.”The cast filmed in New Zealand during the pandemic and were away from loved ones for almost two years. The actors rarely visited the sets of rival fictional races, but all gathered for potluck lunches and holidays, often at Walker's house where a mean fried chicken was served. “I got a bunch of babysitters out of it,” he joked.“What that did is it sort of forced us to to lean on each other and that is a bonding experience like no other,” said Nazanin Boniadi, who plays a human healer and single mother. “That fellowship that you see on screen was forged very much behind the scenes.”The production — rated TV-14 for violence versus the “Game of Thrones” prequel which is TV-MA for violence, language, and nudity — is one of the most expensive in history, with Amazon spending at least $465 million on the first season in New Zealand, where the series employed 1,200 people directly and another 700 indirectly. In total, the season has reportedly cost $1 billion.Choir music swells during breathtaking panoramas and the dialogue is thunderous and portentous. “There can be no friendship between hammer and rock. One will surely break,” one dwarf leader says. In another scene, an elf counsels another who is confused: “Sometimes we cannot know unless we touch the darkness.”The new series debuts in the long shadow left by Peter Jackson, whose film trilogy adaptation of Tolkien's books won critical and commercial praise in the early 2000s and claimed the best picture Oscar for “Return of the King.” For the series, there was more freedom to create as long as it was true to the author.“We really tried to just go back to Tolkien. That was our mantra from the beginning: ‘Just go back to the books, go back to the books, go back to the books,’” said Payne. “We always have Tolkien at the base of what we’re doing.”The new series has lots of big themes to chew on, including overcoming racial differences, environmentalism, the power of friendship, women's strength and how even the smallest person can change the world.“A show like this that has definitely dark themes — darkness within oneself, the fight to do what’s right, battling great forces greater than you — but it also just has themes of friendship and loyalty and love and hope,” said Sara Zwangobani, who plays the new character Marigold Brandyfoot.The series will have to thread a careful needle by enchanting hard-core fans of Tolkien who will be searching for connections to the universe, attracting those who have hazy memories of the books and don't want to be burdened with tons of new material, and young people whose perhaps last epic adventure series was “Harry Potter.”“It’s kind of the gateway for new fans in that it's kind of the first chapter, the adolescence of Middle-earth, where the films you could imagine are the adulthood of Middle-earth,” said Walker. “So we’re seeing all these characters we know and love — and some that we’re being introduced to — take the first steps on their journey in becoming their destined selves.”

Ambitious 'Lord of the Rings' prequel hopes to slay dragons

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LINDSEY%20BAHR%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgmnKsED-jU">“Don’t Worry Darling”</a>&nbsp;has been in the spotlight since the beginning. And this was long before Harry Styles got involved.

It was a film everyone wanted to make — some 18 studios and streaming services were courting Wilde for the chance to partner with her on her sophomore feature as a director: A mid-century psychological thriller about a housewife, Alice (Florence Pugh), who starts to question her picture-perfect life and the mysterious company that her husband Jack (Styles) works for.

But it hasn't stopped making headlines in two years, from Shia LaBeouf’s abrupt departure (he was replaced by Styles) to the paparazzi-stoked intrigue around Wilde and Styles’ off-camera relationship. Then there was the bizarre moment earlier this year when Wilde was served custody papers, from ex Jason Sudeikis with whom she shares two children, in the middle of a presentation to thousands of exhibitors in Las Vegas.

Even this past week, LaBeouf, who is heading to court next year on abuse allegations from hi ex, FKA twigs, decided to contest the two-year-old narrative that he’d been fired. He gave the entertainment trade&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/shia-labeouf-denies-fired-olivia-wilde-dont-worry-darling-1235350529/">Variety emails and texts to prove his case</a>&nbsp;that he quit. It’s resulted in buzz you can’t buy, but also incessant tabloid and TikTok gossip — all for a film that isn’t even out yet.

But soon the conversation will go back to the film itself: “Don’t Worry Darling” will have a glamorous debut at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival">Venice International Film Festival</a>&nbsp;on Sept. 5 before opening in theaters nationwide on Sept. 23. Besides, Wilde doesn’t care what gets people into the theater — as long as they go.

Wilde spoke to The Associated Press recently about her vision, her disagreement with the ratings board and why Alice is the heroine we need right now. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: What were some of the big ideas you wanted to explore?

WILDE: I wanted to make what (screenwriter) Katie (Silberman) and I always describe as a Trojan Horse movie: Something that on the outside is beautiful and entertaining but once you crawl inside, it is actually much more complex and potentially really interesting and challenging. I also just really understood that this would be an opportunity for an actress to really flex. It was a heroine I wanted to see on screen. I wanted to create a character with an actress that would represent the kind of woman that I feel like our society needs.

AP: You had originally intended to play the part of Alice. Were you glad about that decision to step back and take a supporting role?

WILDE: Oh yeah. There’s no part of me that would want it any other way. I think what Florence did with this role is singularly brilliant. This character is a heroine for the ages. And she, as an actress, is this rare combination of dramatically skillful, comedically brilliant and an action hero who can run like Tom Cruise. Like what actress can do stunts and pull off these incredible emotional acrobatics and do it so effortlessly in an accent that’s not even theirs? Like, come on. It’s like juggling upside down on the wing of an airplane.

AP: You’ve spoken about some of your stylistic influences, from the photography of Slim Aarons to the erotic thrillers of Adrian Lyne. What were some other touchstones?

WILDE: I am a big fan of the iconography of the 1950s and a lot of the art, architecture, cars, music. This was an opportunity to just really play in that world. The architectural influence of (Richard) Neutra is all over the film.(Cinematographer) Matty Libatique and I were really inspired by Alex Prager and her photography and the idea of creating anxiety through framing and this artificial world that would be incredibly alluring until you look very closely.

And I always make endless playlists and watch lists and reading lists. It was a really funny assortment of material. People were like, what is this movie? You want me to watch “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Truman Show” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and you want me to read “The Feminine Mystique,” but also Jordan Peterson?

AP: “Booksmart” dealt with female sexuality in a very frank way and “Don’t Worry Darling” is already provoking conversations around some of the sex acts shown in the trailer. Was that a fight to even include that?

WILDE: Oh, yeah. There’s a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer. The MPA came down hard on me and the trailer at the last second and I had to cut some shots, which I was upset about because I thought they it took it up another notch. But of course we still live in a really puritanical society. I do think the lack of eroticism in American film is kind of new. Then when it comes to female pleasure, it's something that we just don’t see very often unless you’re talking about queer cinema. You know, it’s interesting because in a lot of queer films, the female characters are allowed to have more pleasure. Audiences aren’t as puritanical as corporations think they are. And yet people get upset. I mean, people are upset with me already over this. I think it’s a testament to the film. We want to be provocative. The idea is not to make you feel safe.

AP: This is also a film that has had a spotlight on it from the beginning, resulting in both buzz and gossip. What has that been like for you as a filmmaker?

WILDE: Every filmmaker longs for people to see their film. That’s all you want is for people to see it. If people are excited about a film, for whatever reason, what you hope is that it gets them in the door. Whether you are a 1950s car fanatic and that’s what’s going to get you into this movie, or if you are simply going because you’re a fan of our incredible cast, all I care about is that you have the chance to see it, and I hope that people then have the instinct to share it. What I really hope is that people see it again. I think that it’s a real second watch film. There’s a lot of Easter eggs in there.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LINDSEY%20BAHR%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer</a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgmnKsED-jU">“Don’t Worry Darling”</a>&nbsp;has been in the spotlight since the beginning. And this was long before Harry Styles got involved.It was a film everyone wanted to make — some 18 studios and streaming services were courting Wilde for the chance to partner with her on her sophomore feature as a director: A mid-century psychological thriller about a housewife, Alice (Florence Pugh), who starts to question her picture-perfect life and the mysterious company that her husband Jack (Styles) works for.But it hasn't stopped making headlines in two years, from Shia LaBeouf’s abrupt departure (he was replaced by Styles) to the paparazzi-stoked intrigue around Wilde and Styles’ off-camera relationship. Then there was the bizarre moment earlier this year when Wilde was served custody papers, from ex Jason Sudeikis with whom she shares two children, in the middle of a presentation to thousands of exhibitors in Las Vegas.Even this past week, LaBeouf, who is heading to court next year on abuse allegations from hi ex, FKA twigs, decided to contest the two-year-old narrative that he’d been fired. He gave the entertainment trade&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/shia-labeouf-denies-fired-olivia-wilde-dont-worry-darling-1235350529/">Variety emails and texts to prove his case</a>&nbsp;that he quit. It’s resulted in buzz you can’t buy, but also incessant tabloid and TikTok gossip — all for a film that isn’t even out yet.But soon the conversation will go back to the film itself: “Don’t Worry Darling” will have a glamorous debut at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival">Venice International Film Festival</a>&nbsp;on Sept. 5 before opening in theaters nationwide on Sept. 23. Besides, Wilde doesn’t care what gets people into the theater — as long as they go.Wilde spoke to The Associated Press recently about her vision, her disagreement with the ratings board and why Alice is the heroine we need right now. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.AP: What were some of the big ideas you wanted to explore?WILDE: I wanted to make what (screenwriter) Katie (Silberman) and I always describe as a Trojan Horse movie: Something that on the outside is beautiful and entertaining but once you crawl inside, it is actually much more complex and potentially really interesting and challenging. I also just really understood that this would be an opportunity for an actress to really flex. It was a heroine I wanted to see on screen. I wanted to create a character with an actress that would represent the kind of woman that I feel like our society needs.AP: You had originally intended to play the part of Alice. Were you glad about that decision to step back and take a supporting role?WILDE: Oh yeah. There’s no part of me that would want it any other way. I think what Florence did with this role is singularly brilliant. This character is a heroine for the ages. And she, as an actress, is this rare combination of dramatically skillful, comedically brilliant and an action hero who can run like Tom Cruise. Like what actress can do stunts and pull off these incredible emotional acrobatics and do it so effortlessly in an accent that’s not even theirs? Like, come on. It’s like juggling upside down on the wing of an airplane.AP: You’ve spoken about some of your stylistic influences, from the photography of Slim Aarons to the erotic thrillers of Adrian Lyne. What were some other touchstones?WILDE: I am a big fan of the iconography of the 1950s and a lot of the art, architecture, cars, music. This was an opportunity to just really play in that world. The architectural influence of (Richard) Neutra is all over the film.(Cinematographer) Matty Libatique and I were really inspired by Alex Prager and her photography and the idea of creating anxiety through framing and this artificial world that would be incredibly alluring until you look very closely.And I always make endless playlists and watch lists and reading lists. It was a really funny assortment of material. People were like, what is this movie? You want me to watch “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Truman Show” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and you want me to read “The Feminine Mystique,” but also Jordan Peterson?AP: “Booksmart” dealt with female sexuality in a very frank way and “Don’t Worry Darling” is already provoking conversations around some of the sex acts shown in the trailer. Was that a fight to even include that?WILDE: Oh, yeah. There’s a lot that had to be taken out of the trailer. The MPA came down hard on me and the trailer at the last second and I had to cut some shots, which I was upset about because I thought they it took it up another notch. But of course we still live in a really puritanical society. I do think the lack of eroticism in American film is kind of new. Then when it comes to female pleasure, it's something that we just don’t see very often unless you’re talking about queer cinema. You know, it’s interesting because in a lot of queer films, the female characters are allowed to have more pleasure. Audiences aren’t as puritanical as corporations think they are. And yet people get upset. I mean, people are upset with me already over this. I think it’s a testament to the film. We want to be provocative. The idea is not to make you feel safe.AP: This is also a film that has had a spotlight on it from the beginning, resulting in both buzz and gossip. What has that been like for you as a filmmaker?WILDE: Every filmmaker longs for people to see their film. That’s all you want is for people to see it. If people are excited about a film, for whatever reason, what you hope is that it gets them in the door. Whether you are a 1950s car fanatic and that’s what’s going to get you into this movie, or if you are simply going because you’re a fan of our incredible cast, all I care about is that you have the chance to see it, and I hope that people then have the instinct to share it. What I really hope is that people see it again. I think that it’s a real second watch film. There’s a lot of Easter eggs in there.

Olivia Wilde in the spotlight with 'Don't Worry Darling'

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The changing Big 12 Conference plans to enter into discussions with ESPN and Fox about a potential early extension of its media rights deal that still has two more football seasons left after this one.

New Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said Wednesday that given the changing landscape of college athletics, the league welcomes “the opportunity to engage with our partners to determine if an early extension is in the best interest of all parties."

An early negotiation for the Big 12 could be significant, given that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-california-dd4cce492ddb502275c0e4d505456536">Pac-12 board of directors</a>&nbsp;a month ago authorized pushing up negotiations for its next media rights agreements after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-california-f81832a258fc3bed53ef86ff0ba25291">decision by UCLA and Southern California to leave for the Big Ten</a>. The Pac-12′s current deal expires in 2024.

The Big 12's deal with ESPN and Fox goes through the 2024-25 academic year. That also is the latest that Oklahoma and Texas, the league's only football national champions, will leave to join the expanding Southeastern Conference.

ESPN said in a statement that the network does "regularly engage in conversation around the future with all of our partners, but to be clear, we have not opened the contractual negotiation window with the Big 12 at this time.”

That window for exclusive and formal negotiations with ESPN and Fox is still about 18 months away, in early 2024, if there are no changes before then to the deal that began in September 2012 after the league went to its current 10-team configuration.

Football independent BYU, along with American Athletic Conference schools Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join the Big 12 next summer. BYU, Cincinnati and Houston were all ranked in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll">preseason AP college football poll</a>, matching the number of current Big 12 members in the Top 25.

The Big 12's announcement came two weeks after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-nfl-entertainment-sports-basketball-4b4daca65e3359ef8ca94f893e4c46e9">Big Ten reached seven-year agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC</a>&nbsp;to share the rights to the conference’s football and basketball games. That deal is worth about $7 billion.

“The Big 12 has enjoyed a fantastic relationship with its multi-media rights holders, and I look forward to having these conversations,” Yormark said.

The Big 12 in June said that it would distribute a record $426 million of revenue to its 10 schools for the 2021-22 school year, a nearly 25% increase over the previous year. That was also about 10% higher than the then-record $388 million for 2018-19 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conference officials said then that revenues were expected to increase again over the next two years. When the four new schools join the Big 12 next summer, the league will spread across eight states and three time zones.

Associated PressIRVING, Texas (AP) — The changing Big 12 Conference plans to enter into discussions with ESPN and Fox about a potential early extension of its media rights deal that still has two more football seasons left after this one.New Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said Wednesday that given the changing landscape of college athletics, the league welcomes “the opportunity to engage with our partners to determine if an early extension is in the best interest of all parties."An early negotiation for the Big 12 could be significant, given that the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-california-dd4cce492ddb502275c0e4d505456536">Pac-12 board of directors</a>&nbsp;a month ago authorized pushing up negotiations for its next media rights agreements after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-college-california-f81832a258fc3bed53ef86ff0ba25291">decision by UCLA and Southern California to leave for the Big Ten</a>. The Pac-12′s current deal expires in 2024.The Big 12's deal with ESPN and Fox goes through the 2024-25 academic year. That also is the latest that Oklahoma and Texas, the league's only football national champions, will leave to join the expanding Southeastern Conference.ESPN said in a statement that the network does "regularly engage in conversation around the future with all of our partners, but to be clear, we have not opened the contractual negotiation window with the Big 12 at this time.”That window for exclusive and formal negotiations with ESPN and Fox is still about 18 months away, in early 2024, if there are no changes before then to the deal that began in September 2012 after the league went to its current 10-team configuration.Football independent BYU, along with American Athletic Conference schools Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join the Big 12 next summer. BYU, Cincinnati and Houston were all ranked in the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll">preseason AP college football poll</a>, matching the number of current Big 12 members in the Top 25.The Big 12's announcement came two weeks after the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-football-nfl-entertainment-sports-basketball-4b4daca65e3359ef8ca94f893e4c46e9">Big Ten reached seven-year agreements with Fox, CBS and NBC</a>&nbsp;to share the rights to the conference’s football and basketball games. That deal is worth about $7 billion.“The Big 12 has enjoyed a fantastic relationship with its multi-media rights holders, and I look forward to having these conversations,” Yormark said.The Big 12 in June said that it would distribute a record $426 million of revenue to its 10 schools for the 2021-22 school year, a nearly 25% increase over the previous year. That was also about 10% higher than the then-record $388 million for 2018-19 before the COVID-19 pandemic.Conference officials said then that revenues were expected to increase again over the next two years. When the four new schools join the Big 12 next summer, the league will spread across eight states and three time zones.

Big 12 looks to potential early extension of media rights

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LYNN%20ELBER%20and%20MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writers</a>

So many TV shows, so few nominees who will end up clutching trophies at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards">Primetime Emmy Awards</a>.

A total of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-guide-details-46c544f5499078e89f1eb5c64df643d2">25 awards will be presented</a>&nbsp;during the Sept. 12 ceremony, including in the glamour categories of acting and best comedy, drama and limited series. Past winners Jean Smart ("Hacks") and Bill Hader ("Barry") are among the contenders.

The overall field is highly competitive,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmy-nominations-television-386cfb3a085d2dc022499ec327e9fb41">with an unprecedented twist</a>: Netflix’s South Korean phenomenon “Squid Game” is the first non–English language drama to be nominated for an Emmy.

While predicting victors this year is like one of those daunting “Squid Game” contests, Associated Press Television Writer Lynn Elber and AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy foolishly soldier on.

Nominees: “Better Call Saul”; “Euphoria”; “Ozark”; “Severance”; “Squid Game”; “Stranger Things”; “Succession”; “Yellowjackets.”

Should win: “Severance,” the vicious satire of office culture could not have asked for better timing, just as many white-collar workers were making their first tentative steps back — and questioning why. It is just brilliant, unpredictable and haunting.

Will win: Although both my innie and my outie think it should be “Severance,” the winner will be “Succession.” Not a bad step, just an easy one.

Should win: “Severance” captures the zeitgeist of worker discontent, but let’s consider “Squid Game” and its take on soul-destroying poverty. It's wholly original and, yes, gruesome. That didn't hurt four-time winner “Game of Thrones.”

Will win: “Succession” won the last time it competed, in 2020, and the antics of the rich and scheming Roy family are as engrossing a peep show as ever.

Nominees: “Abbott Elementary”; “Barry”; “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; “Hacks”; “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Ted Lasso”; “What We Do in the Shadows.”

Should win: The mockumentary “Abbott Elementary,″ a true workplace comedy in the vein of “The Office” or “Superstore.” How it is so specific to a group of underfunded teachers in Philadelphia and yet universal is the magic.

Will win: “Only Murders in the Building,” an uncontroversial and uninspired choice, as safe as an Upper West Side doorman building. Who can look at Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez and tell them they get no Emmy?

Should win: Raise your hand if you know the answer. “Abbott Elementary” is the rare sitcom that clicked from the start, with its characters, stories and heart all in the right place.

Will win: “Abbott Elementary,” despite the odds against an old-school network entry winning against flashier cable and streaming rivals. It hasn't happened since “Modern Family” won in 2014.

Nominees: Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”; Laura Linney, “Ozark”; Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”; Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”; Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show”; Zendaya, “Euphoria.”

Should win: Linney hasn’t won for “Ozark” and she deserves it for going from dutiful wife to a cunning mastermind over the four seasons.

Will win: Oh, who richly deserves her first Emmy after four years of “Killing Eve.” Comer and Zendaya have their statuettes; TV academy voters will bid Oh goodbye with one, too.

Should win and will win: Versatile, long-admired actor Lynskey gets her first Emmy for her role as Shauna, who has umm, meaty secrets. Zendaya's second win for her gutsy work in “Euphoria” is deserved, but voters favor change in this category.

Nominees: Jason Bateman, “Ozark”; Brian Cox, “Succession”; Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”; Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”; Adam Scott, “Severance”; Jeremy Strong, “Succession.”

Should win: Scott for playing two roles on “Severance,” a worker bee and a grieving widow. The former “Parks and Recreation” star is here an everyman, just sputtering through his day, with damage lurking beneath the suit and tie.

Will win: Odenkirk, never nominated for “Breaking Bad,” should have at least one Emmy at home for “Better Call Saul.” Or Cox, who had a rip-roaring season on “Succession.”

Should win and will win: A category of heavyweights for sure, with all the above worthy. But Cox triumphs as the wily magnate scrabbling to control his empire and out-maneuver his equally venal brood.

Nominees: Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”; Elle Fanning, “The Great”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Jean Smart, “Hacks.”

Should win: Brunson's idealistic young schoolteacher is endearing and, as she begins to learn how to survive bureaucracy, growing before our eyes. Plus, teachers deserve respect.

Will win: Smart. Back-to-back wins have become rare in the age of peak TV (read: unending stream of shows), but her portrayal of a veteran comedian refusing to say uncle reached new levels of vulnerability and grit.

Should win and will win: Smart, her character vicious in anger, driven in her career, but this season also sowing a maternal and soft side. Besides, her other Emmy for “Hacks” is lonely.

Nominees: Donald Glover, “Atlanta”; Bill Hader, “Barry”; Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”; Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building.”

Should win: Can we get a twofer for Martin and Short, whose chemistry and playfulness makes the series? (With a nod to co-star Selena Gomez; her droll tolerance of the pair adds the perfect note.)

Will win: Hader's portrayal of a hitman-turned-actor who can't escape his past is the core of a viciously satirical, addictive brew. A third Emmy is his reward.

Should win: Hoult, playing a vain, unpredictable, glass-breaking, headbutting and unethical Peter III of Russia in “The Great,” sucking the oxygen from every scene. It's a frat-boy role but hard to nail like Hoult. “Let us hope my seed has found purchase,” he says after an encounter with the queen, and I agree.

Nominees: “Dopesick”; “The Dropout”; “Inventing Anna”; “The White Lotus”; “Pam &amp; Tommy.”

Should win: “Dopesick” is a granular dissection of the roots of America's devastating opioid crisis focused on both its victims and villains. Television at its relevant best.

Will win: “The Dropout." Let's face it: Seeing a Silicon Valley's high-flier brought down a peg or further is a guilty pleasure, and the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' spectacular fall is punchily told.

Should win: “The Dropout,” agreed, a rise and fall — as well as a trip back to her teenage years — so well told that viewers could almost feel sorry for Holmes, or at least understand how her fraud could happen.

Will win: “The White Lotus,” a satire of wealth, entitlement and privilege was this cycle's lite “Big Little Lies,” and it was the splashiest show about rich white people being horrible, which weirdly all the nominees this time had elements of.

Nominees: Colin Firth, “The Staircase”; Andrew Garfield, “Under the Banner of Heaven”; Oscar Isaac, “Scenes from a Marriage”; Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”; Himesh Patel, “Station Eleven”; Sebastian Stan, “Pam &amp; Tommy.”

Should win and will win: Michael Keaton, for his restrained portrayal of a small-town doctor who's ensnared by opioids at incalculable cost, to him and his patients. The Oscar-winning star is a gift to the small screen.

Should win: Isaac, who in “Scenes from a Marriage” whipsaws from being tightly controlled to impulsive, a little befuddled, liable to snap and always human as his heart broke.

Will win: Keaton, who always it seems is an underestimated talent, shining in a role perfectly suited to him: a sweet local doctor gradually understanding the horror he has helped create. A little too perfect, but, hey.

Nominees: Toni Collette, “The Staircase”; Julia Garner, “Inventing Anna”; Lily James, “Pam &amp; Tommy”; Sarah Paulson, “Impeachment: American Crime Story”; Margaret Qualley, “Maid”; Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout.”

Should win: Qualley did justice to a rarely seen screen character — a struggling, blue-collar single mom — with a nuanced, breakout performance in “Maid.”

Will win: Seyfried, whose portrayal of an ill-fated Silicon Valley whiz kid in “The Dropout” was a pull-out-the-stops barn burner.

Should win and will win: We’ll no doubt see all these actors again at the Emmys, but this year it is all about Seyfried, who played a fraudster with a Yoda-loving, Mandarin-speaking, munching-on-a-scorpion and dancing poorly essence.

For more on this year's Emmy Awards, visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards">www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards</a>

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22LYNN%20ELBER%20and%20MARK%20KENNEDY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writers</a>So many TV shows, so few nominees who will end up clutching trophies at the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/emmy-awards">Primetime Emmy Awards</a>.A total of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmys-guide-details-46c544f5499078e89f1eb5c64df643d2">25 awards will be presented</a>&nbsp;during the Sept. 12 ceremony, including in the glamour categories of acting and best comedy, drama and limited series. Past winners Jean Smart ("Hacks") and Bill Hader ("Barry") are among the contenders.The overall field is highly competitive,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-emmy-nominations-television-386cfb3a085d2dc022499ec327e9fb41">with an unprecedented twist</a>: Netflix’s South Korean phenomenon “Squid Game” is the first non–English language drama to be nominated for an Emmy.While predicting victors this year is like one of those daunting “Squid Game” contests, Associated Press Television Writer Lynn Elber and AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy foolishly soldier on.DRAMA SERIESNominees: “Better Call Saul”; “Euphoria”; “Ozark”; “Severance”; “Squid Game”; “Stranger Things”; “Succession”; “Yellowjackets.”KENNEDY:Should win: “Severance,” the vicious satire of office culture could not have asked for better timing, just as many white-collar workers were making their first tentative steps back — and questioning why. It is just brilliant, unpredictable and haunting.Will win: Although both my innie and my outie think it should be “Severance,” the winner will be “Succession.” Not a bad step, just an easy one.ELBER:Should win: “Severance” captures the zeitgeist of worker discontent, but let’s consider “Squid Game” and its take on soul-destroying poverty. It's wholly original and, yes, gruesome. That didn't hurt four-time winner “Game of Thrones.”Will win: “Succession” won the last time it competed, in 2020, and the antics of the rich and scheming Roy family are as engrossing a peep show as ever.COMEDY SERIESNominees: “Abbott Elementary”; “Barry”; “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; “Hacks”; “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “Ted Lasso”; “What We Do in the Shadows.”KENNEDY:Should win: The mockumentary “Abbott Elementary,″ a true workplace comedy in the vein of “The Office” or “Superstore.” How it is so specific to a group of underfunded teachers in Philadelphia and yet universal is the magic.Will win: “Only Murders in the Building,” an uncontroversial and uninspired choice, as safe as an Upper West Side doorman building. Who can look at Martin Short, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez and tell them they get no Emmy?ELBER:Should win: Raise your hand if you know the answer. “Abbott Elementary” is the rare sitcom that clicked from the start, with its characters, stories and heart all in the right place.Will win: “Abbott Elementary,” despite the odds against an old-school network entry winning against flashier cable and streaming rivals. It hasn't happened since “Modern Family” won in 2014.ACTRESS, DRAMANominees: Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”; Laura Linney, “Ozark”; Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”; Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”; Reese Witherspoon, “The Morning Show”; Zendaya, “Euphoria.”KENNEDY:Should win: Linney hasn’t won for “Ozark” and she deserves it for going from dutiful wife to a cunning mastermind over the four seasons.Will win: Oh, who richly deserves her first Emmy after four years of “Killing Eve.” Comer and Zendaya have their statuettes; TV academy voters will bid Oh goodbye with one, too.ELBER:Should win and will win: Versatile, long-admired actor Lynskey gets her first Emmy for her role as Shauna, who has umm, meaty secrets. Zendaya's second win for her gutsy work in “Euphoria” is deserved, but voters favor change in this category.ACTOR, DRAMA SERIESNominees: Jason Bateman, “Ozark”; Brian Cox, “Succession”; Lee Jung-jae, “Squid Game”; Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”; Adam Scott, “Severance”; Jeremy Strong, “Succession.”KENNEDY:Should win: Scott for playing two roles on “Severance,” a worker bee and a grieving widow. The former “Parks and Recreation” star is here an everyman, just sputtering through his day, with damage lurking beneath the suit and tie.Will win: Odenkirk, never nominated for “Breaking Bad,” should have at least one Emmy at home for “Better Call Saul.” Or Cox, who had a rip-roaring season on “Succession.”ELBER:Should win and will win: A category of heavyweights for sure, with all the above worthy. But Cox triumphs as the wily magnate scrabbling to control his empire and out-maneuver his equally venal brood.ACTRESS, COMEDY SERIESNominees: Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”; Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”; Elle Fanning, “The Great”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Jean Smart, “Hacks.”ELBER:Should win: Brunson's idealistic young schoolteacher is endearing and, as she begins to learn how to survive bureaucracy, growing before our eyes. Plus, teachers deserve respect.Will win: Smart. Back-to-back wins have become rare in the age of peak TV (read: unending stream of shows), but her portrayal of a veteran comedian refusing to say uncle reached new levels of vulnerability and grit.KENNEDY:Should win and will win: Smart, her character vicious in anger, driven in her career, but this season also sowing a maternal and soft side. Besides, her other Emmy for “Hacks” is lonely.ACTOR, COMEDY SERIESNominees: Donald Glover, “Atlanta”; Bill Hader, “Barry”; Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”; Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building.”ELBER:Should win: Can we get a twofer for Martin and Short, whose chemistry and playfulness makes the series? (With a nod to co-star Selena Gomez; her droll tolerance of the pair adds the perfect note.)Will win: Hader's portrayal of a hitman-turned-actor who can't escape his past is the core of a viciously satirical, addictive brew. A third Emmy is his reward.KENNEDY:Should win: Hoult, playing a vain, unpredictable, glass-breaking, headbutting and unethical Peter III of Russia in “The Great,” sucking the oxygen from every scene. It's a frat-boy role but hard to nail like Hoult. “Let us hope my seed has found purchase,” he says after an encounter with the queen, and I agree.Will win: Hader. Everyone loves Hader.LIMITED SERIESNominees: “Dopesick”; “The Dropout”; “Inventing Anna”; “The White Lotus”; “Pam &amp; Tommy.”ELBER:Should win: “Dopesick” is a granular dissection of the roots of America's devastating opioid crisis focused on both its victims and villains. Television at its relevant best.Will win: “The Dropout." Let's face it: Seeing a Silicon Valley's high-flier brought down a peg or further is a guilty pleasure, and the story of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' spectacular fall is punchily told.KENNEDY:Should win: “The Dropout,” agreed, a rise and fall — as well as a trip back to her teenage years — so well told that viewers could almost feel sorry for Holmes, or at least understand how her fraud could happen.Will win: “The White Lotus,” a satire of wealth, entitlement and privilege was this cycle's lite “Big Little Lies,” and it was the splashiest show about rich white people being horrible, which weirdly all the nominees this time had elements of.ACTOR, LIMITED SERIESNominees: Colin Firth, “The Staircase”; Andrew Garfield, “Under the Banner of Heaven”; Oscar Isaac, “Scenes from a Marriage”; Michael Keaton, “Dopesick”; Himesh Patel, “Station Eleven”; Sebastian Stan, “Pam &amp; Tommy.”ELBER:Should win and will win: Michael Keaton, for his restrained portrayal of a small-town doctor who's ensnared by opioids at incalculable cost, to him and his patients. The Oscar-winning star is a gift to the small screen.KENNEDY:Should win: Isaac, who in “Scenes from a Marriage” whipsaws from being tightly controlled to impulsive, a little befuddled, liable to snap and always human as his heart broke.Will win: Keaton, who always it seems is an underestimated talent, shining in a role perfectly suited to him: a sweet local doctor gradually understanding the horror he has helped create. A little too perfect, but, hey.ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIESNominees: Toni Collette, “The Staircase”; Julia Garner, “Inventing Anna”; Lily James, “Pam &amp; Tommy”; Sarah Paulson, “Impeachment: American Crime Story”; Margaret Qualley, “Maid”; Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout.”ELBER:Should win: Qualley did justice to a rarely seen screen character — a struggling, blue-collar single mom — with a nuanced, breakout performance in “Maid.”Will win: Seyfried, whose portrayal of an ill-fated Silicon Valley whiz kid in “The Dropout” was a pull-out-the-stops barn burner.KENNEDY:Should win and will win: We’ll no doubt see all these actors again at the Emmys, but this year it is all about Seyfried, who played a fraudster with a Yoda-loving, Mandarin-speaking, munching-on-a-scorpion and dancing poorly essence.___For more on this year's Emmy Awards, visit:&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards">www.apnews.com/EmmyAwards</a>

AP Emmy pundits call a win for 'Succession,' split on comedy

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HYUNG-JIN%20KIM%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press</a>

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea may conduct a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to mandatory military service to members of the K-pop boyband BTS, officials said Wednesday.

The issue of active military service for the band's seven members has been a hot-button topic in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces enlistment in December, when he turns 30.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that he ordered officials to implement a survey quickly. He said his ministry will also look into various other factors such as BTS’s economic impact, the importance of military service and overall national interest.

After his comments created a stir, his ministry clarified in a statement that Lee ordered officials to examine whether such a survey is needed, rather than launch it immediately.

It said officials were asked to study details including which agency would be responsible for a survey, how long would it take and who exactly would be surveyed. The statement said if the survey is carried out, it will be done by a third organization, not by the ministry or related authorities, to ensure fairness.

The ministry said the results would be only one of the many factors determining BTS members' military status.

By law, all able-bodied men in South Korea must serve 18-21 months in the military under a conscription system established to deal with threats from rival North Korea. But the country gives exemption to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers who win top places in certain competitions because they are considered to have enhanced national prestige.

Those exempted are released from the military after taking three weeks of basic training. But they are required to perform 544 hours of volunteer work and serve in their respective professional fields for 34 months.

Some politicians and others have called for expanding the scope of exemptions to include K-pop stars such as BTS because they have elevated South Korea's international image significantly as well.

A private survey earlier this year showed about 60% of respondents supported military exemption for BTS members. But another private survey in 2020 showed 46% backed exemptions while 48% opposed them.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22HYUNG-JIN%20KIM%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press</a>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea may conduct a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to mandatory military service to members of the K-pop boyband BTS, officials said Wednesday.The issue of active military service for the band's seven members has been a hot-button topic in South Korea because its oldest member, Jin, faces enlistment in December, when he turns 30.Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that he ordered officials to implement a survey quickly. He said his ministry will also look into various other factors such as BTS’s economic impact, the importance of military service and overall national interest.After his comments created a stir, his ministry clarified in a statement that Lee ordered officials to examine whether such a survey is needed, rather than launch it immediately.It said officials were asked to study details including which agency would be responsible for a survey, how long would it take and who exactly would be surveyed. The statement said if the survey is carried out, it will be done by a third organization, not by the ministry or related authorities, to ensure fairness.The ministry said the results would be only one of the many factors determining BTS members' military status.By law, all able-bodied men in South Korea must serve 18-21 months in the military under a conscription system established to deal with threats from rival North Korea. But the country gives exemption to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers who win top places in certain competitions because they are considered to have enhanced national prestige.Those exempted are released from the military after taking three weeks of basic training. But they are required to perform 544 hours of volunteer work and serve in their respective professional fields for 34 months.Some politicians and others have called for expanding the scope of exemptions to include K-pop stars such as BTS because they have elevated South Korea's international image significantly as well.A private survey earlier this year showed about 60% of respondents supported military exemption for BTS members. But another private survey in 2020 showed 46% backed exemptions while 48% opposed them.

S. Korea may conduct survey on BTS members' military duty

Microsoft’s plan to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion could have major effects on the gaming industry, transforming the Xbox maker into something like a Netflix for video games by giving it control of many more popular titles.

But to get to the next level, Microsoft must first survive a barrage of government inquiries from New Zealand to Brazil, and from U.S. regulators emboldened by President Joe Biden to strengthen their enforcement of antitrust laws.

More than seven months after Microsoft announced the deal, only&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Saudigac_en/status/1561586394182651909/photo/1">Saudi Arabia has announced its approval</a>, although an upcoming decision from the United Kingdom to close or escalate its antitrust probe could signal what’s to come. That decision is expected Thursday.

Microsoft has faced antitrust scrutiny before, mostly notably more than two decades ago when a federal judge ordered its breakup following the company’s anticompetitive actions related to its dominant Windows software. That verdict was overturned on appeal, although the court imposed other, less drastic, penalties on the company.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22MATT%20O%27BRIEN%20and%20KELVIN%20CHAN%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By MATT O'BRIEN and KELVIN CHAN AP Technology Writers</a>Microsoft’s plan to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion could have major effects on the gaming industry, transforming the Xbox maker into something like a Netflix for video games by giving it control of many more popular titles.But to get to the next level, Microsoft must first survive a barrage of government inquiries from New Zealand to Brazil, and from U.S. regulators emboldened by President Joe Biden to strengthen their enforcement of antitrust laws.More than seven months after Microsoft announced the deal, only&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Saudigac_en/status/1561586394182651909/photo/1">Saudi Arabia has announced its approval</a>, although an upcoming decision from the United Kingdom to close or escalate its antitrust probe could signal what’s to come. That decision is expected Thursday.“A growing number of countries are subjecting major global transactions to deeper scrutiny,” said William Kovacic, a former chairman of the five-member U.S. Federal Trade Commission. “Many of the jurisdictions that are exercising that scrutiny are significant economies and can’t be brushed off.”Microsoft has faced antitrust scrutiny before, mostly notably more than two decades ago when a federal judge ordered its breakup following the company’s anticompetitive actions related to its dominant Windows software. That verdict was overturned on appeal, although the court imposed other, less drastic, penalties on the company.In recent years, however, Microsoft has largely escaped the more intense regulatory backlash its Big Tech rivals such as Amazon, Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta have endured. But the sheer size of the Activision Blizzard merger has drawn global attention.The all-cash deal is set to be the largest in the history of the tech industry. It would give Microsoft, maker of the Xbox console and gaming system, control of popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. There's also a growing sense that past review of Big Tech mergers was too lax — such as when Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014.“Collectively, that means that the kinds of concessions you’re going to have to make become more difficult,” Kovacic said.The possibility of Microsoft gaining control of Call of Duty has been particularly worrisome to Sony, maker of the PlayStation console that competes with Microsoft's Xbox. In a letter to Brazilian regulators, Sony emphasized Call of Duty as an “essential” game — a blockbuster so popular and ingrained that it would be impossible for a competitor to develop a rival product even if they had the budget to do so.One solution could be a settlement in which Microsoft agrees to ensure that console-making rivals such as Sony or Nintendo won’t be cut off from popular Activision Blizzard games. Microsoft has already publicly signaled its openness to that concept.Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, has said the company committed to Sony to make Activision games like Call of Duty “available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future” -- although many are skeptical about how long those promises would last if not set into regulatory consent decrees.On the other hand, Microsoft also has a much better reputation in Washington than it did in 2000. It is "seen as more reasonable and sensible” on issues such as data privacy, Kovacic said.Microsoft has also been working to win over skeptics in the U.S., starting with a labor union that's been trying to organize Activision Blizzard employees. Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern about allegations of Activision's toxic workplace culture for women, which led to employee walkouts last year as well as discrimination lawsuits brought by California and federal civil rights enforcers.In March, the Communications Workers of America had issued a call seeking tougher oversight of the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FTC and state attorneys general. But a June 30 letter from the union to the FTC said it had switched to supporting the deal after Microsoft agreed “to ensure the workers of Activision Blizzard have a clear path to collective bargaining.”Gaming represents a growing portion of Microsoft’s business, despite the company’s efforts to portray itself and Activision Blizzard as “small players in a highly fragmented publishing space,” per a document&nbsp;<a href="https://comcom.govt.nz/case-register/case-register-entries/microsoft-corporation-activision-blizzard-inc">filed with New Zealand's Commerce Commission</a>.In 2021, Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, which is behind popular video games The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout. Microsoft’s properties also include the hit game Minecraft after it bought Swedish game studio Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.The Redmond, Washington, tech giant has said the gaming acquisitions will help beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service and its mobile offerings, particularly from Activision Blizzard's King division, which makes Candy Crush.Dutch game developer Rami Ismail said Microsoft’s subscription-based service has thus far been a positive for smaller game studios trying to get their content to users. But he’s unsure about the long-term impact of the merger.“Xbox Game Pass as a product has been really good in getting interesting, creative games funded that might not have the normal market reach to be successful,” Ismail said. “On the flip side, as power consolidates, there is less of an incentive to do anything like that.”Microsoft rivals are also consolidating. Sony in July closed on a $3.6 billion deal to buy Bungie Inc., maker of the popular game franchise Destiny and the original developer of Xbox-owned Halo. Take-Two Interactive, maker of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, in May completed a $12.7 billion deal to acquire mobile gaming company Zynga, maker of FarmVille and Words With Friends.

If it's Friday and the beginning of the month, it must be First Friday in downtown Salina!

Music, dance, and art are the fare for the September First Friday, which is sponsored, in part, by Salina Arts &amp; Humanities.

Some of the art created by the Salina Public Library staff.&nbsp;Photo courtesy Salina Public Library

The festivities get underway at 4 p.m. Friday in the Salina Public Library, 301 W. Elm Street, with a reception for the latest show in the library's Gallery 708. The exhibit features a variety of art, including photography, quilting, watercolor and acrylic pieces, by library staff. The public reception is scheduled to be open until 5:30 p.m. Friday.

READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/59b7bb6d-28ec-4ec1-af98-324cd8402419">Gallery 708 exhibit features art by Salina Public Library staff</a>

Both dance and music are scheduled for the downtown stage at W. Ash Street and N. Santa Fe Avenue.

Students from Revolution School of Dance are scheduled to take the stage at 5 p.m.

Next up will be Everyday Lights, "a group of Salina-based musicians with a love for folk and jazz rhythms," according to information on the band's website. "Their ability to combine a variety of musical styles including folk, country, rock and bluegrass always keeps the audience guessing and looking forward to the next song."

You can check out some of the group's music on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydaylightsmusic.com/home">Everyday Lights website</a>.

Those attending the performances at the stage also will have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Oct. 1 Feast on the Fe, "an event organized by the Local Food Works Foundation and a large group of volunteers that highlights local chefs and local ingredients. The event also features community artists, florists, and musicians and is held in downtown Salina," according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/salinafeastonthefe">Feast on the Fe, Salina KS Facebook page</a>.

Additionally, tickets for the Downtown SaWINEa Wine Walk on Oct. 8 also will be for sale, Salina Downtown, Inc. Executive Director Leslie Bishop told Salina Post.

Check out "The Illusion of Color" by Raphael Hernandez at Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat as a part of Salina Downtown's First Friday Festivities.&nbsp;Image courtesy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/peacefulbodywellnessretreat">Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat Facebook page</a>

"What color is it? We think we know the color, but it is only an illusion. You won't believe your eyes," is how Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat bills its latest art display:&nbsp;The Illusion of Color&nbsp;by Raphael Hernandez.

Visit with Hernandez and learn about his art during a reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat, 148 S. Santa Fe Avenue.

Kid's Creative Corners, 122 S. Santa Fe Avenue, is offering a First Friday "Date Night" drop off between 5:30-7:30 p.m. Please call 785-833-2332 for reservations.

By SALINA POSTIf it's Friday and the beginning of the month, it must be First Friday in downtown Salina!Music, dance, and art are the fare for the September First Friday, which is sponsored, in part, by Salina Arts &amp; Humanities.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660618951164.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Some of the art created by the Salina Public Library staff.&nbsp;Photo courtesy Salina Public LibraryThe festivities get underway at 4 p.m. Friday in the Salina Public Library, 301 W. Elm Street, with a reception for the latest show in the library's Gallery 708. The exhibit features a variety of art, including photography, quilting, watercolor and acrylic pieces, by library staff. The public reception is scheduled to be open until 5:30 p.m. Friday.READ:&nbsp;<a href="https://salinapost.com/posts/59b7bb6d-28ec-4ec1-af98-324cd8402419">Gallery 708 exhibit features art by Salina Public Library staff</a>At the stageBoth dance and music are scheduled for the downtown stage at W. Ash Street and N. Santa Fe Avenue.Students from Revolution School of Dance are scheduled to take the stage at 5 p.m.Next up will be Everyday Lights, "a group of Salina-based musicians with a love for folk and jazz rhythms," according to information on the band's website. "Their ability to combine a variety of musical styles including folk, country, rock and bluegrass always keeps the audience guessing and looking forward to the next song."You can check out some of the group's music on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everydaylightsmusic.com/home">Everyday Lights website</a>.Those attending the performances at the stage also will have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the Oct. 1 Feast on the Fe, "an event organized by the Local Food Works Foundation and a large group of volunteers that highlights local chefs and local ingredients. The event also features community artists, florists, and musicians and is held in downtown Salina," according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/salinafeastonthefe">Feast on the Fe, Salina KS Facebook page</a>.Additionally, tickets for the Downtown SaWINEa Wine Walk on Oct. 8 also will be for sale, Salina Downtown, Inc. Executive Director Leslie Bishop told Salina Post.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1661908650988.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Check out "The Illusion of Color" by Raphael Hernandez at Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat as a part of Salina Downtown's First Friday Festivities.&nbsp;Image courtesy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/peacefulbodywellnessretreat">Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat Facebook page</a>Illusion"What color is it? We think we know the color, but it is only an illusion. You won't believe your eyes," is how Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat bills its latest art display:&nbsp;The Illusion of Color&nbsp;by Raphael Hernandez.Visit with Hernandez and learn about his art during a reception from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Peaceful Body Wellness Retreat, 148 S. Santa Fe Avenue.But what about the kids?Kid's Creative Corners, 122 S. Santa Fe Avenue, is offering a First Friday "Date Night" drop off between 5:30-7:30 p.m. Please call 785-833-2332 for reservations.

Local musicians, dancers, artists part of Salina Downtown's First Friday

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22GARY%20GERARD%20HAMILTON%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — R&amp;B star Tank began contemplating his final album after considering pursuing other endeavors. However, that timeline was accelerated after losing one of his most essential tools: his hearing.

“It just made me look at time differently. It just made me say, ‘Man, if I can lose an ear in three days, I could possibly lose the other one in the next three,” said the crooner&nbsp;<a href="https://tank.lnk.to/RnBMoneyAW">who released “R&amp;B Money”</a>&nbsp;this month. “You just realize you don’t have as much time as you think you do.”

Last year, he revealed he was suddenly going deaf in his right ear while losing substantial hearing in his left, although the left recovered.

“You start taking a medicine that’s supposed to help with your ear, but it’s hurting everything else,” Tank explained of side effects. “So when the engineer is mixing and he’s doing real cool stuff that goes from left to right, and he’s like ‘Did you hear that?' I did not. …So there was a moment of depression.”

But the man born Durrell Babbs, who describes himself as a competitor, worked to create a 17-track, unmistakably rhythm and blues record during an era when the lines between R&amp;B and rap are often sonically blurred. A rare self-contained artist who can pen, produce and sing, he wrote or co-wrote every song.

Tank immediately sets the intended tone of his 10th studio album by expertly displaying the lost art of slow jams with “When You Dance,” “Home," and “No Limit” featuring Alex Isley.

“You are going to be drowned in sensuality," said the five-time Grammy nominee with a smile. "I would prefer you be with somebody that you’re attracted to."

For “See Through Love,” he connected with superstar Chris Brown who he's known since Brown's teen years. Tank sent music to the superstar, who responded: "Bro, I love the record… I just really want to do something classic R&amp;B with you.” So Tank kept going: “I sent him ‘See Through Love,’ and he sent back like 8,000 fire emojis and said, ‘It’ll be done tonight.’”

The previously released singles “I Deserve,” in which he creatively sampled his own “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klm192nuRiE">Maybe I Deserve</a>&nbsp;” hit and “Can’t Let It Show,” which re-works the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXzx--YefD8">Kate Bush song</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeCNeHcmXY">Maxwell introduced to Black music listeners</a>, also appear on the album; both reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&amp;B Airplay chart. And he did manage to create turn up vibes with “Make Sure” featuring Feather and “It’s Nothing.”

Singing backup during the late '90s for R&amp;B icons&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IwB8ARB5Oc">Ginuwine</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/s43DzC3qxmo?t=162">Aaliyah</a>, Tank jumpstarted his solo career with 2001's “Maybe I Deserve." He’s released a score of hits like “One Man,” as well as No.1 hits “Please Don’t Go” and 2017's “When We." Five albums reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Albums chart during his two-decade career, maintaining relevance through R&amp;B’s changes.

Tank is exiting at a peculiar time;&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1559948941717815296">despite some questioning the direction of the genre</a>, R&amp;B is experiencing a resurgence thanks to young, talented artists and fans longing for more than just party music. But the “Heartbreaker” singer wants to focus on shaping the next generation of talent while building his own record label, and assist in keeping the genre popular while he still has “some power left.”

Co-starring in last year's Lifetime film, “Lust: A Seven Deadly Sins Story,” Tank hopes to dig deeper into acting and even delve into stand-up comedy. But he says he'll still perform and release songs occasionally but not tie himself to an entire time-consuming body of work.

The music industry has traveled through various iterations during Tank’s tenure, and he's weathered all storms. But his most torrential downpour might be the one he’s currently sheltering, sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

“I just refuse to let my ear win. I refuse to let vertigo win. It should have killed me, if that’s what you were looking to do,” he expressed. “But since you didn’t do that, I’m going to figure out a way to be better and stronger.” ___

Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton with his handle @GaryGHamilton on all social media platforms.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22GARY%20GERARD%20HAMILTON%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press</a>NEW YORK (AP) — R&amp;B star Tank began contemplating his final album after considering pursuing other endeavors. However, that timeline was accelerated after losing one of his most essential tools: his hearing.“It just made me look at time differently. It just made me say, ‘Man, if I can lose an ear in three days, I could possibly lose the other one in the next three,” said the crooner&nbsp;<a href="https://tank.lnk.to/RnBMoneyAW">who released “R&amp;B Money”</a>&nbsp;this month. “You just realize you don’t have as much time as you think you do.”Last year, he revealed he was suddenly going deaf in his right ear while losing substantial hearing in his left, although the left recovered.“You start taking a medicine that’s supposed to help with your ear, but it’s hurting everything else,” Tank explained of side effects. “So when the engineer is mixing and he’s doing real cool stuff that goes from left to right, and he’s like ‘Did you hear that?' I did not. …So there was a moment of depression.”But the man born Durrell Babbs, who describes himself as a competitor, worked to create a 17-track, unmistakably rhythm and blues record during an era when the lines between R&amp;B and rap are often sonically blurred. A rare self-contained artist who can pen, produce and sing, he wrote or co-wrote every song.Tank immediately sets the intended tone of his 10th studio album by expertly displaying the lost art of slow jams with “When You Dance,” “Home," and “No Limit” featuring Alex Isley.“You are going to be drowned in sensuality," said the five-time Grammy nominee with a smile. "I would prefer you be with somebody that you’re attracted to."For “See Through Love,” he connected with superstar Chris Brown who he's known since Brown's teen years. Tank sent music to the superstar, who responded: "Bro, I love the record… I just really want to do something classic R&amp;B with you.” So Tank kept going: “I sent him ‘See Through Love,’ and he sent back like 8,000 fire emojis and said, ‘It’ll be done tonight.’”The previously released singles “I Deserve,” in which he creatively sampled his own “&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Klm192nuRiE">Maybe I Deserve</a>&nbsp;” hit and “Can’t Let It Show,” which re-works the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXzx--YefD8">Kate Bush song</a>&nbsp;that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeCNeHcmXY">Maxwell introduced to Black music listeners</a>, also appear on the album; both reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&amp;B Airplay chart. And he did manage to create turn up vibes with “Make Sure” featuring Feather and “It’s Nothing.”Singing backup during the late '90s for R&amp;B icons&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IwB8ARB5Oc">Ginuwine</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/s43DzC3qxmo?t=162">Aaliyah</a>, Tank jumpstarted his solo career with 2001's “Maybe I Deserve." He’s released a score of hits like “One Man,” as well as No.1 hits “Please Don’t Go” and 2017's “When We." Five albums reached No. 1 on Billboard's Top R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Albums chart during his two-decade career, maintaining relevance through R&amp;B’s changes.Tank is exiting at a peculiar time;&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/1559948941717815296">despite some questioning the direction of the genre</a>, R&amp;B is experiencing a resurgence thanks to young, talented artists and fans longing for more than just party music. But the “Heartbreaker” singer wants to focus on shaping the next generation of talent while building his own record label, and assist in keeping the genre popular while he still has “some power left.”Co-starring in last year's Lifetime film, “Lust: A Seven Deadly Sins Story,” Tank hopes to dig deeper into acting and even delve into stand-up comedy. But he says he'll still perform and release songs occasionally but not tie himself to an entire time-consuming body of work.The music industry has traveled through various iterations during Tank’s tenure, and he's weathered all storms. But his most torrential downpour might be the one he’s currently sheltering, sudden sensorineural hearing loss.“I just refuse to let my ear win. I refuse to let vertigo win. It should have killed me, if that’s what you were looking to do,” he expressed. “But since you didn’t do that, I’m going to figure out a way to be better and stronger.” ___Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton with his handle @GaryGHamilton on all social media platforms.

Tank defies hearing loss for 'R&B Money,' his final album

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JAKE%20COYLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer</a>

NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in three years, the fall movie industrial complex is lurching back into high gear. Festival red carpets are rolled out. Oscar campaigns are primed. Long-awaited blockbusters, like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlOB3UALvrQ">“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Gx8wiNbs8">“Avatar: The Way of Water,”</a>&nbsp;are poised for big box office.

But after the tumult of the pandemic, can the fall movie season just go back to way it was? Many are hoping it can. After two springtime editions, the Academy Awards have returned to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oscars-chris-rock-entertainment-will-smith-fc17c059ad095cb7ada3437c10aad738">a more traditional early March date</a>. The Golden Globes, after near-cancellation,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/golden-globes-returning-nbc-2023-1235166872/">are plotting a comeback</a>. Some movies, too, are trying to recapture a before-times spirit. At the Toronto Film Festival in September, Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” has booked the same theater “Knives Out” premiered to a packed house almost exactly three years ago.

“Seems like yesterday,” Johnson says, laughing. “OK, a few things have happened.”

After an all-but-wiped-out 2020 autumn and a 2021 season hobbled by the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants, this fall could, maybe, just maybe be something more like the normal annual cultural revival that happens every fall, when most of the year’s best movies arrive.

“We’re all, I think, just trying to will it into existence as at least some version of what we knew before,” says Johnson. “As with everything, you kind of just have to dive into the pool and see what the water’s like. I’m really hoping that at least the illusion of normalcy holds. I guess that’s all normalcy is.”

But “Glass Onion,” with Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc in a new mystery, is also a reminder of how much has changed. After “Knives Out” was a box-office hit for Lionsgate, grossing $311 million worldwide for Lionsgate, Netflix shelled out $450 million to snap up the rights to two sequels. And while exhibitors and the streaming company discussed a larger theatrical release for “Glass Onion” -- a surefire hit if it did -- a more modest rollout in theaters is expected before the films lands Dec. 23 on Netflix.

The balance between theatrical and streaming remains unsettled. But after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-north-america-steven-spielberg-bb005f1efd6a5de2ef40acd4c588214e">a summer box-office revival</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/streaming-trouble-hbo-max-netflix.html">an evolving outlook for streaming by Wall Street</a>, theatrical moviegoing — with its billions in annual ticket sales and cultural footprint -- is looking pretty good. For the first time in years, moviegoing has a strong wind at its back. Or at least it did until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-7e60afa8adc992744c1687f507104d21">an especially slow August sapped momentum</a>&nbsp;due largely to a dearth of new wide releases.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JAKE%20COYLE%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer</a>NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in three years, the fall movie industrial complex is lurching back into high gear. Festival red carpets are rolled out. Oscar campaigns are primed. Long-awaited blockbusters, like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlOB3UALvrQ">“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Gx8wiNbs8">“Avatar: The Way of Water,”</a>&nbsp;are poised for big box office.But after the tumult of the pandemic, can the fall movie season just go back to way it was? Many are hoping it can. After two springtime editions, the Academy Awards have returned to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oscars-chris-rock-entertainment-will-smith-fc17c059ad095cb7ada3437c10aad738">a more traditional early March date</a>. The Golden Globes, after near-cancellation,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/golden-globes-returning-nbc-2023-1235166872/">are plotting a comeback</a>. Some movies, too, are trying to recapture a before-times spirit. At the Toronto Film Festival in September, Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” has booked the same theater “Knives Out” premiered to a packed house almost exactly three years ago.“Seems like yesterday,” Johnson says, laughing. “OK, a few things have happened.”After an all-but-wiped-out 2020 autumn and a 2021 season hobbled by the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants, this fall could, maybe, just maybe be something more like the normal annual cultural revival that happens every fall, when most of the year’s best movies arrive.“We’re all, I think, just trying to will it into existence as at least some version of what we knew before,” says Johnson. “As with everything, you kind of just have to dive into the pool and see what the water’s like. I’m really hoping that at least the illusion of normalcy holds. I guess that’s all normalcy is.”But “Glass Onion,” with Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc in a new mystery, is also a reminder of how much has changed. After “Knives Out” was a box-office hit for Lionsgate, grossing $311 million worldwide for Lionsgate, Netflix shelled out $450 million to snap up the rights to two sequels. And while exhibitors and the streaming company discussed a larger theatrical release for “Glass Onion” -- a surefire hit if it did -- a more modest rollout in theaters is expected before the films lands Dec. 23 on Netflix.The balance between theatrical and streaming remains unsettled. But after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-north-america-steven-spielberg-bb005f1efd6a5de2ef40acd4c588214e">a summer box-office revival</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/technology/2022/08/streaming-trouble-hbo-max-netflix.html">an evolving outlook for streaming by Wall Street</a>, theatrical moviegoing — with its billions in annual ticket sales and cultural footprint -- is looking pretty good. For the first time in years, moviegoing has a strong wind at its back. Or at least it did until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/united-states-7e60afa8adc992744c1687f507104d21">an especially slow August sapped momentum</a>&nbsp;due largely to a dearth of new wide releases.“If you look at how many movies we had compared to what business we did, we were operating at 2019 levels,” says John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. “We had 70% of the supply of wide-release movies in the first seven months and we did 71% of the business we did in the same period in 2019. Moviegoers are back in pre-pandemic numbers, it’s just we still need more movies."That will be less of an issue as the fall season ramps up. “Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 11) and “The Way of the Water” (Dec. 16) may each vie with the summer smash “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.36 billion worldwide and still counting) for the year’s top film. Less clear, though, is if the fall's robust slate of adult-driven films and Oscar contenders can once again drive moviegoing.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2022-03-26/the-oscars-are-sunday-and-change-is-in-the-air">Last year's best-picture winner, “CODA,”</a>&nbsp;from Apple TV+, ran the awards gauntlet without a cent of box office.Among the most anticipated films hitting the fall festival circuit and theaters are Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” (Nov. 23); “Blonde” (Sept. 16), starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe; Todd Fields’ “TÁR” (Oct. 7), with Cate Blanchett; Sam Mendes' “Empire of Light” (Dec. 9); “The Son" (Nov. 11), Florian Zeller's follow-up to “The Father”; Chinonye Chukwu's Emmett Till saga “Till” (Oct. 14); Martin McDonagh's “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Oct. 21); James Gray's “Armageddon Time” (Oct. 28); and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-cannes-film-festival-palme-d-or-award-fbaa5489fcd6a64588a5bbd6737732e5">the Cannes Palme d'Or winner “The Triangle of Sadness”</a>&nbsp;(Oct. 7).Superhero films ("Black Adam," Oct. 21, starring Dwayne Johnson), kids movies ("Lyle Lyle Crocodile," Oct. 7), horror flicks ("Halloween Ends," Oct. 14) rom-coms ("Ticket to Paradise," Oct. 21, with Julia Roberts and George Clooney) and more high-flying adventures ("Devotion," Nov. 23) will also mix in, as will prominent titles from streamers. Those include Amazon's “My Policeman" (Oct. 21), with Harry Styles; and Netflix releases “Bardo” (in theaters Nov. 4), by Alejandro González Iñárritu; “White Noise” (in theaters Nov. 25) by Noah Baumbach; and Guillermo del Toro's “Pinocchio" (streaming Dec. 9).But if much of the fall movie season is about restoring what was lost the last few years, for some upcoming movies, change is the point. “Woman King” (Sept. 16), directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood and starring Viola Davis, is muscular fact-based epic about a West African army of female warriors. To Prince-Blythewood, the filmmaker of “Love &amp; Basketball” and “The Old Guard,” “Woman King” represents “the chance to reframe what it means to be female and feminine.”“I don’t think we have ever seen a movie like this before. So much of our history has been hidden or ignored or erased,” says Blythewood. “‘Braveheart,’ ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Last of the Mohicans.’ I love those movies. Now, here was our chance to tell our story in this genre.”“Bros” (Sept. 30), too, is something different. The film, starring and co-written by “Billy on the Street” comedian Billy Eichner, is the first gay rom-com by a major studio (Universal). All of its principal cast members are LGBTQ. Comedies have struggled in theaters in recent years but “Bros,” produced by Judd Apatow, hopes a new perspective will enliven a familiar genre.“It’s a historic movie in many ways,” says Eichner. “That’s not something we thought about when we were first developing it. Nobody sits down and says, ‘Let’s write a historic movie.’ We said, ‘Let’s make a hilarious movie.’ It will make people laugh but it’s unlike anything the vast majority of people have seen."“Bros” and “Woman King” are productions meant to challenge the status quo of Hollywood. That's also part of the nature of “She Said” (Nov. 18), a dramatization of New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey's investigation into movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” (Dec. 2) likewise chronicles a real-life female uprising. It’s based on events from 2009, when Bolivian Mennonite women gathered together after having been drugged and raped by the men in their colony.Olivia Wilde’s buzzed-about “Don’t Worry Darling,” starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles as a married couple living in a 1950s-style suburban nightmare-slash-male fantasy, approaches some similar themes through a science-fiction lens.“I want to make something that is just really entertaining and fun and interesting, but actually is my way of provoking conversations about real issues like body autonomy," says Wilde. "I didn’t know it would be as timely as it is right now. Never in my wildest nightmares did I believe Roe would have been overturned right before the release of this film.”Other movie production timelines seem to exist almost apart from our earthly reality. James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of the Water” will debut 13 years after 2009’s “Avatar” (still the highest grossing film ever), a follow-up originally scheduled for release in 2014. Since then,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-ap-top-news-movies-north-america-ab9f6560e39d405589a816873f26f9f3">so many dates have come and gone</a>&nbsp;that the sequels -- four films are now slated to launch in the next five years -- have sometimes seemed like blockbuster Godots that might forever wait in the wings.Speaking from the New Zealand where “The Way of the Water” was being mixed and scored, producer Jon Landau promised the wait is, in fact, nearly over.“This is finally happening,” said Landau. “Those delays, as you would call them, were really about us creating a foundation for a saga of movies. It wasn’t about going: ‘Let’s get one script right.’ It was about: ‘Let’s get four scripts right.’”Measuring the change in the movie industry is even harder when it comes to the span in between “Avatar" installments. When the first “Avatar” was in theaters, 3-D was being billed (again) as the future. Barack Obama was in the first year of his first term. Netflix was renting DVDs by mail.“A lot has changed but a lot hasn’t," says Landau. “One of the things that has not changed is: Why do people turn to entertainment today? Just like they did when the first ‘Avatar’ was released, they do it to escape, to escape the world in which we live."___AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed.___Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP