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US actor Kevin Spacey found not guilty of UK sex offences

A jury in the UK on Wednesday found Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey not guilty of nine sex offences against four men alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2013.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court in south London reached majority decisions on the nine counts, which included sexual assault, after more than 12 hours of deliberations.

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Barrymore to host National Book Awards with Winfrey as guest speaker

Drew Barrymore, whose honors include a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award, will be presiding over a more literary ceremony this fall.

Barrymore will be hosting the 74th annual National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation announced Tuesday. And Oprah Winfrey, a previous winner of an honorary National Book Award, will be a guest speaker.

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Michael Jackson sexual abuse lawsuits on verge of revival by appeals court

A California appeals court on Wednesday will consider reviving the dismissed lawsuits of two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them as children for years, a move the court appears likely to make after a tentative decision that would order the cases back to a lower court for trial.

The suits were filed after Jackson's 2009 death by Wade Robson in 2013 and James Safechuck the following year. The two men became more widely known for telling their stories in the 2019 HBO documentary, " Leaving Neverland."

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Saudi Arabia spends billions to become global gaming hub

Saudi Arabia, the new home of some of soccer's biggest stars and a co-owner of professional golf, is proving to be no less ambitious when it comes to another global pastime – the $180 billion-a-year video game industry.

Last September, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund earmarked nearly $40 billion for a new conglomerate aimed at transforming the kingdom into the "ultimate global hub" for games and esports by 2030. In February, the Saudi fund became the biggest outside investor in Nintendo, and just this month the kingdom hosted a major gaming tournament with a record $45 million prize pool.

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Venice Film Festival unveils A-list lineup amid strikes

Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein drama "Maestro," Sofia Coppola's Priscilla Presley movie, Michael Mann's "Ferrari," David Fincher's "The Killer" and Ava DuVernay's "Origin" will make their world debuts at the Venice International Film Festival this fall.

Organizers announced the lineup Tuesday for the 80th edition of the festival, which — despite the flashy names behind the films — could have a little less Hollywood glamour than usual gracing its picturesque docks and red carpet come September if the Hollywood actors and writers strikes stretch on. As part of the strike, actors cannot promote projects from the studios and streamers with whom the union is negotiating.

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Barbie, Oppenheimer success: Audiences want originality, something new

In the massive movie weekend of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," there were many winners. Greta Gerwig, who made history for female directors. Christopher Nolan, who set a non-Batman career high. Movie theaters, more crowded than anytime post-pandemic. Lovers of unlikely double features. The color pink. Matchbox Twenty.

But one of the most important triumphs in the moviegoing monsoon of "Barbenheimer" was originality. Here are two movies that are neither sequels nor reboots pushing the box office to highs not seen in years. "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" became a meme because of their worlds-apart differences but they're each indelibly the work of those filmmakers.

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Tensions boil over in Christian Petzold's haunting summer drama 'Afire'

Fire is in the air this summer, literally, and at the movies. Though the flames in German filmmaker Christian Petzold's "Afire" aren't of the nuclear variety, the smoke from his tension-filled chamber piece about a few young adults at a vacation house near the Baltic Sea certainly gets in your eyes.

This is a film about youth, climate change, ego, artistry and, well, being a human in the world. So naturally the main protagonist is an arrogant, off-putting writer aggrieved by everything and everyone around him as he tries to work on his latest novel in a would-be idyllic setting.

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Jason Momoa hosts Discovery's 'Shark Week'

Discovery Channel has landed the perfect host this year for "Shark Week," none other than a huge fan of all ocean creatures — Aquaman.

Jason Momoa, who in real life dreamed of a career as a marine biologist before Hollywood anointed him an ocean god, is going back to his roots to celebrate all things shark.

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Annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest begins in Florida Keys

Almost 140 bearded men who resemble Ernest Hemingway converged on Key West, the late author's home during the 1930s, to compete in the Hemingway Look-Alike Contest that began Thursday evening.

The challenge is a highlight of the island's Hemingway Days festival that salutes the literary talent and adventurous life of the Nobel Prize-winning writer.

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Awash in pink, everyone wants a piece of the 'Barbie' movie marketing mania

Pink sauce on that Burger King burger? What about "Barbie-fying" your pet with sweaters and beds with Barbie motifs? If that's too low-brow, perhaps you'd be interested in hot pink Barbie monogrammed knit leggings by luxury designer Balmain instead, selling at Neiman Marcus for a cool $2,150.

Welcome to the wonderful and weird world of "Barbie" movie marketing.

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