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“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” succeeds where most “Transformers” movies have failed | review

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Taking a live-action “Transformers” movie seriously feels absurd. And yet, that’s what director Michael Bay did with his abysmal reboots of the toy brand starting in 2007, leaving an entire generation of would-be fans with the sense that these shapeshifting robots are as flat, joyless and violent as Superman and Batman are in the hands of director Zack Snyder.That’s worth remembering while watching the relatively fleet, airy “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which releases June 9. The movie succeeds where most “Transformers” titles fail by focusing on laughs and heart amid the thudding setpieces. And even those are better than the Bay-directed movies. Incredibly, the fact that Michelle Yeoh, Ron Perlman and Peter Dinklage voice some of the robots has nothing to do with it.The latest in a decades-long string of ads for parent company Hasbro, “Rise of the Beasts” expands the Transformers world to the time-traveling Maximals...

Move over White Claw: This will be the summer of wine seltzers if Colorado beverage makers have a say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Colorado may be an undisputed beer mecca, but as summer temperatures set in, it’s impossible to ignore the prevalence of hard seltzer when drinkers look for ways to beat the heat. And as of late, the state’s winemakers are tapping into the market with their own original concoctions in hopes of capitalizing on consumers’ thirst.According to Ryan Lee, the Denver-based founder and CEO of Livvy, seltzers made from a grape base are popular among manufacturers because they add a natural sweetness to the beverages and don’t necessitate the use of artificial flavorings. Livvy, which debuted in July 2022, offers three flavors all made with ginger root, prickly pear root, dandelion root and licorice root extract, plus real fruit juice depending on the flavor.Last summer, Neilsen reported that hard seltzers accounted for 43% of the dollars spent in the ready-to-drink beverage space. Even though that figure was down about 10% compared to 2021, Lee said the category is still ripe with opportunit...

Pack your next picnic basket at these 8 Denver spots

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Park days are in full swing. (Well, they will be once the spring rains subside.)City Park Jazz kicks off on June 4, outdoor movies are screening across the metro area and a full itinerary of Colorado summer festivals have been announced. But don’t go empty-handed for the long days under the sun.Sprawling on a blanket on Denver’s green grass is always better with a snack, particularly cured meats and cheeses. Here’s a list of eight spots around town where you can pack your next picnic basket.Jakob M. Berr, The Denver PostShoppers at Marczyk Fine Foods’ East Colfax Avenue store. (Jakob M. Berr / The Denver Post)Marczyk Fine FoodsThis friendly neighborhood market with two locations, both near City Park, has everything a picnic basket could ever need. From the classic deli sandwiches, made fresh at the counter or ready for grab-n-go, to some of the best macaroni salad in town, Marczyk Fine Foods is a one-stop shop. Its carefully curated stock includes fresh seafood from Seattle Fi...

Years-long effort to strengthen Colorado workplace harassment law wins Polis’ signature

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

A multi-year effort to broaden Colorado’s anti-workplace harassment law hit a milestone with Gov. Jared Polis’ signature Tuesday.Sen. Faith Winter, the bill’s sponsor and driving force, donned a silver cape for the occasion. The accessory usually hangs in her office “for anyone who wants to feel powerful,” she said, but was filled with deeper meaning for the signing of the Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights, or POWR, Act.The new law, SB23-172, redefines harassment to include unwelcome conduct and communication related to a person’s race, color, religion, sex and age and overrides a strict judicial requirement that the conduct be severe and pervasive to constitute harassment. Winter and other advocates argue the old standard gives bad actors too much leeway: How reprehensible must an act be, and at what frequency, for it to cross the severe and pervasive line, they ask? The new standard makes it clearer that once can be enough to wa...

Denver vinyl company exec lands on Billboard’s 40 Under 40

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Cameron Schaefer, CEO of Denver’s fast-growing Vinyl Me, Please record club, has landed on Billboard’s prestigious 40 Under 40 List.Schaefer, 39, has led the 10-year-old Vinyl Me, Please through a remarkable period of growth and publicity, including the April 2022 announcement of a purpose-built, 14,000-square-foot record pressing plant and lounge in the River North Art District (already open and operating at 1752 Platte St.).DENVER, CO – MARCH 23: Vinyl Me, Please staff meeting lead by Cam Schaefer, left, head of curation and music and Matt Hessler, right, head of marketing at their offices March 23, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)Billboard lauded Schaefer as one of the engines powering the “the live sector’s post-shutdown resurgence.”“In 2013, the former U.S. Air Force captain pivoted to selling music as part of Vinyl Me, Please’s founding team,” Billboard wrote. “By mid-2021, the company had 80,000 ma...

Man killed in driveway of Hollywood Hills West home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a man who was standing in the driveway of a home in the Hollywood Hills West neighborhood of Los Angeles Wednesday morning.The shooting was reported just after 2 a.m. in the 7800 block of Fareholm Drive, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson.Officers arrived on scene to find a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds down in front of a residence.The unidentified shooting victim, believed to be 35 to 40 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene, the spokesperson confirmed. Investigators believe the victim was standing in the driveway of a residence and talking to the suspect when the suspect produced a gun and opened fire. The suspect fled in an unknown vehicle and is still on the loose, according to the spokesperson.It was unclear what led up to the shooting or what the relationship was between the gunman and victim. Investigators are searching the area for any video that may help with the investigation.

Crews battle major emergency structure fire in Lincoln Heights

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

A commercial building was engulfed in flames at one point during what crews called a major emergency structure fire in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles Wednesday morning.The fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. in the two-story commercial building in the 1700 block of Sichel Street. Arriving firefighters found the building engulfed in flames and declared it a major emergency structure fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department stated in a news alert. More than 100 firefighters went into defensive mode and managed to keep the blaze from spreading to a second building. The flames gutted the 13,500-square-foot building that was being used for storage. Crews managed to gain control of the situation and declared it a knockdown around 3 a.m.The cause of the fire remains under investigation. There did not appear to be any injuries as a result of the fire.

Woman dismembered and grilled, court documents say; daughter, grandchild charged

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

(WDVM) - A woman and her daughter have been accused of murdering, dismembering and grilling the woman's mother, according to police.The investigation began when officers were dispatched to a welfare check on 71-year-old Margaret Craig in Landover, Maryland, Prince George County Police said. When officers visited Margaret's home, they said her daughter, 44-year-old Candace Craig, answered the door. She allowed officers to search the home for Margaret. After they "smelled the odor of decomposition" in the basement, officers notified the department's Homicide and Evidence Units. Detectives determined, after reviewing the home and "multiple interviews," that Craig allegedly murdered her mother on May 23. The next day, it is believed Craig's 19-year-old daughter, Salia Hardy, helped her "attempt to dispose of the remains," according to police.According to court documents obtained by WTOP, Margaret had accused her daughter of credit card fraud, which sparked an argument between them. It i...

He’s 14, just graduated Santa Clara University and about to join SpaceX

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Like thousands of 14-year-olds, Kairan Quazi graduates this month — but not from middle school. He’ll be getting his bachelor’s degree at Santa Clara University as the youngest graduate in the institution’s history, and then heading to SpaceX to become a software engineer.“I’m really excited for this new chapter of my life,” said Kairan, who will be moving from Pleasanton to Washington state with his mom, Jullia, in July to join SpaceX’s Starlink team.The clues were there from the start that Kairan (pronounced Ky-ren) was no ordinary kid.Just a few months after her boy’s birth, Jullia began noticing Kairan’s “intense” temperament: if she was reading to him and stopped, for example, Kairan would throw a tantrum that could only be quieted by listening to NPR. By age 2, he was speaking in full sentences, and his doctors realized his intellectual and emotional intelligence were off the charts.They recommended he start preschool immediately. But on his first day —...

Barabak: How California turned blue and changed American politics

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:12:49 GMT

Bill Clinton was busy filling Cabinet positions and shaping his economic agenda when a memo landed from a team of political advisors. Although Clinton was still more than a month away from becoming president, the topic was his reelection nearly four years off.The document outlined a strategy considered vital to Clinton’s hopes for a second term: Lock down California and its generous share of electoral votes so his campaign could “concentrate its energy on other, more tightly contested, states.”In 1992, Arkansas’ five-term governor became the first Democratic presidential candidate in nearly three decades to carry California, the political birthplace of Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Few, if any, considered Clinton’s victory in California the start of a political realignment; he won just 46% of the vote.For much of its history, the West was Republican ground. Today, it’s a bastion of Democratic support, a shift that has transformed presidential politics nationwide.But his victor...