Movie review: Hollow ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ lacks soul, sense

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Movie review: Hollow ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ lacks soul, sense The “Transformers” film franchise, spawned in 2007 with Michael Bay’s “Transformers,” was one of the first straight-faced blockbuster franchises based on a toy (and an ’80s cartoon series). It is now, astonishingly, seven films deep with the release of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which is both a prequel to “Transformers” and a sequel to 2018’s “Bumblebee,” which was set in 1987. “Rise of the Beasts,” set in 1994, is also based on the “Transformers: Beast Wars” media franchise of comic books and anime, which introduced the Maximal characters, alien robots that look like giant animals, not shape-shifting cars.Got all that? It’s OK if you don’t, because the screenplay — by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, with a story by Harold — will repeat the pertinent information ad nauseam, until you never want to hear the phrase “trans-warp key” ever again.The basics are as such: a giant, planet-eating dark god known as Unicron need...

Austin, Minn., police seek people involved in fatal drive-by shooting that left others injured

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Austin, Minn., police seek people involved in fatal drive-by shooting that left others injured Police are asking for help in finding several people and a vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting in Austin, Minn., on Friday night that left one man dead and at least two other people injured.Authorities say the chain of events began about 10:40 p.m. Friday when five people got into a vehicle in the 700 block of Second Street Northwest and a gunman in a white Dodge Durango drove up and began shooting, according to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.During the shooting, the vehicle with the victims in it rolled and then crashed into a home on the 700 block of Fourth Street North. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. When officers arrived, they found a man and a woman inside the vehicle who had both also been shot. Both were taken to area hospitals. Two other people inside the victims’ vehicle fled the accident scene. Austin police say they are concerned the two also have injuries and are trying to find them.In addition, authorities are tryin...

Class 2A state track and field: Mahtomedi senior Owen Carlson wins high jump

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Class 2A state track and field: Mahtomedi senior Owen Carlson wins high jump Mahtomedi senior Owen Carlson jumped higher than anyone else on Saturday at the Class 2A state track and field meet. That said, Carlson was a little disappointed in himself in the immediate aftermath.Never mind that he had a gold medal around his neck as proof of his dominance in the high jump. He wanted to challenge the state record of 7 feet, 1 inch“It’s not bad,” Carlson said of his winning height of 6 feet, 6 inches, which ties a Class 2A record. “I just know I could’ve gone a lot higher.”After clearing  6 feet, 10 inches earlier this year, Carlson was hoping to at least match that height. Instead, he will simply have to settle for being a state champion.Asked about his mindset when competing in the high jump, Carlson noted how he also plays basketball.“I love to dunk the ball,” Carlson said with a smile. “I’m basically thinking in my head every time I go out there, like, ‘Alright I’m going up to dunk the ba...

The price to witness Nuggets history for NBA Finals Game 5 inside Ball Arena is steep — no matter where you sit

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

The price to witness Nuggets history for NBA Finals Game 5 inside Ball Arena is steep — no matter where you sit The chance to watch the Denver Nuggets make history on Monday night will come at a steep price.The cheapest ticket for Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena available on Ticketmaster as of Saturday afternoon started at $1,146 — or around the same price as a pair of Air Jordan 1s on StockX, an online sneaker resell company.That ticket price is just as high as the seat it is attached to. The buyer would sit near the rafters in section 310, row 15.Tickets available on ticket seller SeatGeek are cheaper, but not by much. Seats in section 368, row 15 were priced at $983, but that was as affordable as it gets.Fans might have to redirect a few rent payments to sit closer Monday. The cheapest seat in the 100 sections on Ticketmaster as of Saturday afternoon was $1,965, while the most expensive seat inside Ball Arena — section 118, row 16 — was priced at $50,000. A handful of lower bowl seats were still for sale Saturday at prices as low as $1,634 on SeatGeek, while courtside se...

20-year-old man dies after losing control of vehicle in Irvine 

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

20-year-old man dies after losing control of vehicle in Irvine  A man was killed after he lost control of his vehicle in Irvine early Saturday morning. According to a release from the Irvine Police Department, officers responded to reports of a single vehicle crash at the intersection of Barranca Parkway and Vertical at 4:26 a.m. Saturday morning. Preliminary reports suggest that the driver, identified as 20-year-old Tristan Thai Ngo of Lake Forest, lost control of his maroon Lexus sedan while driving eastbound on Barranca Parkway. “The Lexus collided with three trees, a pole and a fire hydrant before impacting with a fourth tree and stopping,” Irvine Police Department said in a statement. Orange County Fire Authority pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact Detective Joshua Balos at 949-724-7024. 

San Mateo-based Fujisoft America agrees to pay $1M for lying to get pandemic loans

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

San Mateo-based Fujisoft America agrees to pay $1M for lying to get pandemic loans San Mateo-based technology services company Fujisoft America has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations it lied about its business to obtain $400,000 in forgivable emergency pandemic loans, according to federal officials.As part of the settlement announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company admitted it knew it didn’t qualify for the two federal Paycheck Protection Program loans because it had more than 500 employees and lied about its size to seek loan forgiveness, officials said.The company also admitted it falsely claimed it had experienced a revenue decrease of more than 25% during the pandemic to get one of the loans, DOJ said.Fujisoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.Related ArticlesBusiness | Trump blasts federal indictment as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘baseless’ in speech to Republicans in Georgia Business | Ted Kaczynski, ‘Unabomber’ who attacked modern life, dies at 81...

1 dead in I-880 Hayward crash, possibly connected to street race, CHP says

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

1 dead in I-880 Hayward crash, possibly connected to street race, CHP says (KRON) -- An early-morning crash left one woman dead and sent two men to the hospital with "major" injuries, the California Highway Patrol confirmed to KRON4. San Jose victim identified after fatal stabbing Around 4 a.m., a 2019 Lincoln MKC was involved in a non-injury crash with a 2012 Toyota that had a man behind the wheel and a woman passenger. The Lincoln was occupied by a solo male driver. Both vehicles were in the northbound lanes of SR-92. CHP says the vehicles were parked in fast lane and the occupants had exited vehicles to exchange information. That's when a 2022 Dodge Durango traveling in the first lane crashed into both vehicles and all three pedestrians. The woman from the Toyota was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The two men were taken to a hospital with "major but non-life threatening" injuries. KRON On is streaming now.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, ...

Jean Segura helps Miami Marlins rally past Chicago White Sox for 5-1 win

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Jean Segura helps Miami Marlins rally past Chicago White Sox for 5-1 win CHICAGO (AP) — Jean Segura capped Miami’s five-run ninth inning with a two-run double, and the Marlins beat the Chicago White Sox 5-1 on Saturday.Miami left 12 runners on base and went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position. But it salvaged a frustrating afternoon with its late rally, winning for the seventh time in eight games.Luis Arraez had two hits for the Marlins, raising his batting average to .402 in 60 games. Sandy Alcantara pitched seven innings of three-hit ball.Arraez helped spark Miami’s rally, following Garrett Cooper’s pinch-hit single with another base hit against Joe Kelly (1-3). A bases-loaded error on shortstop Tim Anderson brought home one run, and Arraez scored on Jesús Sánchez’s walk.After Yuli Gurriel drove in another run with a fielder’s choice and Joey Wendle struck out, Segura made it 5-1 with a line drive to left against Garrett Crochet.Steven Okert (3-0) got three outs for the win, working around Elvis Andrus’ leadoff...

Ahmed and Gurriel homer, Diamondbacks send Tigers to 8th straight loss

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Ahmed and Gurriel homer, Diamondbacks send Tigers to 8th straight loss DETROIT (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks started the year with relatively low expectations from those outside their clubhouse.Manager Torey Lovullo and his players, meanwhile, always believed this season would be successful.So far, it looks like they’re right.Nick Ahmed hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Lourdes Gurriel followed with a three-run blast in the fifth and the NL West-leading Diamondbacks beat the slumping Detroit Tigers 5-0 Saturday.“We have the right pieces,” Lovullo said. “We have really good players on this team. Am I surprised? No.”Arizona, which has won four straight, is 14 games over .500 for the first time in nearly five years.“We have a lot of talent in this room, and guys that are hungry,” Ahmed said.Detroit, which has lost eight straight games, was shut out for the third time this month and eighth time this season.“We’ve got to find a different way and we haven’t really done that in this stretch,” manager A.J. Hinch said.Ryne Nels...

Cassava flour, fruit kept 4 children, including baby, alive after plane crash in Colombia’s jungle

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 17:07:32 GMT

Cassava flour, fruit kept 4 children, including baby, alive after plane crash in Colombia’s jungle CORRECTS BROTHERS TO CHILDREN - In this photo released by Colombia's Armed Forces Press Office, soldiers and Indigenous men pose for a photo with the four Indigenous children who were missing after a deadly plane crash, in the Solano jungle, Caqueta state, Colombia, Friday, June 9, 2023. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Friday that authorities found alive the four children who survived a small plane crash 40 days ago and had been the subject of an intense search in the Amazon jungle. (Colombia's Armed Force Press Office via AP)(AP) CORRECTS BROTHERS TO CHILDREN - In this photo released by Colombia's Armed Forces Press Office, soldiers and Indigenous men pose for a photo with the four Indigenous children who were missing after a deadly plane crash, in the Sol...