Popular

Digital characters have by now long populated our movies like unwanted house guests. Some of these CGI inventions, like Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings,” have been pleasant, even precious company. But most have disrupted our movie worlds — and not just as monsters tearing our cities apart, but as awkward distractions to our cinematic realities. The name Jar Jar Binks will forever be followed by solemn head shaking. Never forget.

Early in “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater’s bracingly original, utterly enthralling new film about the passage of time through the lens of one boy’s life, we find our characters at a real Houston Astros game. And, with the cameras rolling, wouldn’t you know it — the Astros hit a home run.

Two months into its most lucrative season, Hollywood’s summer is down nearly 20 percent from last year at North American theaters.

PARIS (AP) — Fashion is the playground for the rich and famous.

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO Fla. (Reuters) – The new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Orlando opened on Tuesday to crowds of fans eager to be among the first to experience the theme park’s Diagon Alley expansion based on J.K. Rowling’s books and the popular films about the boy wizard. Fans began lining up before dawn for the public opening of the “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley” attraction, modeled after the London shopping district for wizards that is featured in Rowling’s book series. The area quickly filled to capacity, leading to staggered admissions into the self-contained attraction. “If we could give it a standing ovation, we would,” Nikida Vaughn of Florida told the Orlando Sentinel after experiencing the interactive roller coaster.

NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” shot over 12 years, has already been hailed as a landmark without parallel in movie history. It took a rare feat of commitment from Linklater and his actors, including star Ellar Coltrane, who was cast as a 6-year-old and wrapped as a 19-year-old.

By Lesley Wroughton and Michael Martina BEIJING (Reuters) – The United States pressed China to implement structural reforms in its exchange rate and to modify its “aggressive behaviour” in disputed waters during a preliminary round of bilateral talks on Tuesday, senior U.S. officials said. The United States, led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, will also push China this week to resume cooperation on fighting cyber espionage and return to dialogue on internet issues, a senior U.S. official said.