I think it's gonna be a long, long time until we see another songwriter and performer like Elton John.
Wrapping up a 50-plus year career with a farewell tour, the British pianist and vocalist has created some of the most memorable and enduring music in the history of pop-rock, songs burned into the collective DNA of humanity.

Lebanon's renowned Baalbek festival is back, held in front of a live audience for the first time since 2019, despite the country's economic meltdown and the coronavirus pandemic.
French pianist Simon Ghraichy performed in front of a full house on Sunday night in what organizers described as a night of hope for Lebanon's revival. The annual festival in the ancient northeastern city of soaring Roman columns has long attracted celebrities from around the world.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were wed Saturday in a late-night Las Vegas drive-through chapel, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers.
Lopez announced their marriage Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the heading "We did it." Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, "On the J Lo."

Julianne Moore has been selected to serve as president of the main competition jury for the Venice International Film Festival this year, festival director Alberto Barbera announced Friday.
The Oscar-winning actor will preside over a jury that includes French director Audrey Diwan, whose film "Happening" won the Golden Lion last year, author Kazuo Ishiguro ("Never Let Me Go") and Iranian actor Leila Hatami ("A Separation"). Also on the jury are Italian director Leonardo Di Costanzo ("The Inner Cage") Argentinian filmmaker Mariano Cohn ("Official Competition") and Rodrigo Sorogoyen ("The Candidate").

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges of sexually assaulting three men a decade or more ago.
Spacey, 62, spoke clearly as he denied five charges during a hearing at London's Central Criminal Court.

The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard libel trial, which generated intense interest for two months earlier this year as a livestreamed, no-holds-barred soap opera featuring one of Hollywood's biggest stars, is not fading away quietly.
Earlier this month, Heard's lawyers filed a 51-page motion asking Judge Penney Azcarate to set aside the jury's verdict, which gave $10 million to Depp and $2 million to Heard on competing defamation claims.

"Succession" and "Ted Lasso" are in the hunt for Emmy nominations that could add to their previous trophy hauls, but they're up against hungry newcomers.
When the bids are announced Tuesday, the social satire "Succession," a 2020 top-drama winner, may face a showdown with "Squid Game." The South Korean hit about a brutal survival contest is vying to become the first non-English language Emmy nominee.

Iran has arrested an internationally renowned filmmaker, several newspapers reported Tuesday, the third Iranian director to be locked up in less than a week as the government escalates a crackdown on the country's celebrated cinema industry.
The arrest of award-winning director Jafar Panahi and wider pressure on filmmakers follows a wave of recent arrests as tensions escalate between Iran's hard-line government and the West. Security forces have detained several foreigners and a prominent reformist politician as talks to revive Tehran's nuclear accord with world powers hit a deadlock and fears grow over the country's economic crisis.

Fendi’s ultra-white, sanitized runway for once put the couture, not the décor, in the spotlight to cap Paris Fashion Week Thursday.
Veteran Lebanese couturier Georges Chakra treated guests to a glistening open-air rooftop display to cap fall — with a view of the iconic Arc de Triomphe — in gowns that followed the colors of the rainbow.

For a young imagination, there is something uniquely captivating about a stowaway story on the high seas. The stakes are great, but the adventure is so far removed from any reality most kids know that it becomes a purely transportive experience. It is a fantasy you can get wrapped up in and put away when it's over.
Disney veteran Chris Williams ("Big Hero 6") said it was the rollicking adventures he grew up watching, "King Kong," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Treasure Island" and "Lawrence of Arabia" among them, that made him want to make movies. And with " The Sea Beast," an animated fantasy adventure which debuts on Netflix on Friday, Williams, who directed and co-wrote, has made something quite winning for all ages.
