Blockbusted?
This week marks the anniversary of the release of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, the smash hit of summer 1982 directed by Steven Spielberg, whose 1975 film Jaws is widely credited as the first summer blockbuster. Last year’s summer releases—including Barbie, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Oppenheimer—didn’t disappoint. But as more films premiere on streaming services and more movie theaters shut down, is the summer blockbuster becoming a thing of the past?
Jaws, E.T., and the Art of the Spielberg Blockbuster
© 1975 Universal Pictures Company, Inc.
Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope was 1977’s Summer Hit
© Twentieth Century Fox
Can Deadpool & Wolverine Revive the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Trademark & © 2015 Marvel and Subsidiaries/Trademark & © 2015 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
Tough Acts to Follow
Behind the Headlines
Here’s a quick look at a few stories that people are talking about today.
Hunter Biden found guilty
On Tuesday a jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three felony charges relating to federal firearms violations. The president’s son could face up to 25 years in prison for lying about his drug addiction on a gun-purchase form. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Pres. Joe Biden released a statement after the conviction, saying “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.”
Anne Frank Day
Today is Anne Frank Day, a commemoration of the famed diarist on the anniversary of her birth 95 years ago. Frank was just 15 when she died in a Nazi concentration camp after her family was discovered in a secret room in Amsterdam. Originally titled The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank was first published in 1947 and went on to sell more than 30 million copies in 67 languages. It is regarded as one of the most powerful memoirs of the Holocaust, giving dramatic insight into the lives of Jews struggling to survive under the threat of Nazism.
It’s pronounced “Ba-bar”
A research study that used artificial intelligence to decode elephant language has found that elephants call each other by name. Earth’s largest land animals use low-pitch rumbling sounds (rather than the trumpeting we associate with elephants) to call for each other. And the variations in those sounds are attuned to specific family members, according to the study, which was published on Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
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