Tom Cruise brings 'Final Reckoning' to Cannes, but won't bid 'Mission: Impossible' adieu yet

CANNES, France (AP) — Three years after Tom Cruise and “Top Gun: Maverick” flew into the Cannes Film Festival, the star has come back to the Croisette with “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.” Christopher McQuarrie’s latest “Mission: Impossible” installment is the biggest Hollywood tentpole wading ashore in Cannes this year. In 2022, Cruise received an honorary Palme d’Or from the festival and the “Top Gun: Maverick” premiere included an impressively timed jet flyover. Whether the 62-year-old Cruise has anything up his sleeve Wednesday will be much anticipated at Cannes. On Sunday, Cruise climbed atop the roof of the British Film Institute in London.

Alligator that starred in 'Happy Gilmore' dies of old age in Colorado

DENVER (AP) — An alligator that appeared in numerous TV shows and films over three decades, most notably the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy “Happy Gilmore,” has died at a gator farm in southern Colorado. The Colorado Gator Farm said in a Facebook post Sunday that based on his growth rate and tooth loss, Morris the alligator was at least 80 years old when he died. He was nearly 11 feet long and weighed 640 pounds. Morris started his Hollywood career in 1975 and retired in 2006, when he was sent to the gator farm in the tiny town of Mosca.

The Menendez brothers case reflects a shifting culture across decades

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez and their conviction for killing their parents came at a time when televised trials captured national audiences in the 1990s. The brothers' resentencing Tuesday for the 1989 murder of their parents, and the possibility that they'll go free, comes at time of similar cultural obsession, reflected by true-crime documentaries and docudramas. The initial trial was the first major case aired on Court TV, and came just before the O.J. Simpson trial made televised murder trials much bigger. The Menendez brothers had mostly faded from memory, but two Netflix shows brought renewed attention to their case.

Movie Review: Beware the blender! ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ makes the everyday item terrifying

Horror movies are not for everyone. But they go down a lot easier with some humor, and especially some wit. That's the case with “Final Destination Bloodlines,” the sixth installment of the franchise launched 25 years ago. By now, fans of this franchise know that pretty much everyone's going to die. Death will not be cheated. The trick is to surprise us with HOW. Associated Press critic Jocelyn Noveck writes in her review that the film's directors make ingenious use of everyday items that go haywire, with murderous results. Beware the blender and the vending machine! Opens Friday in theaters.

'Beyond the Gates' is renewed as veteran Black soap actors cheer its success

CBS' new soap opera “Beyond the Gates” has been renewed for a second season. Some of daytime’s beloved Black actors like Victoria Rowell, Darnell Williams and Veronica Redd see it as a win for both Black history and Black culture. So do viewers. It's the first soap show with a majority Black cast. Nielsen says about half the “Beyond the Gates” audience comes from non-Black viewers, showing that there's an appetite for daytime drama in a genre that has struggled as broadcast ratings have declined in recent years overall.

Endurance athlete to swim around Martha’s Vineyard to change public perception of sharks

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) — An athlete will aim to be the first person to swim around Martha's Vineyard to educate the public on sharks. Lewis Pugh will attempt the swim in 47-degree water during the start of white shark migration season. The swim is planned to correspond with the 50th anniversary of “Jaws.” The 55-year-old swimmer is specifically taking on the challenge because he wants to change public perception of the vulnerable animals. He says they were maligned by the 1975 blockbuster film as “cold-blooded killers." He'll urge for more protections for the animals while he completes the 62-mile swim in about 12 days.

Patricia Clarkson on playing her icon Lilly Ledbetter and the political moment greeting the movie

NEW YORK (AP) — Patricia Clarkson stars in the movie “Lilly,” a biopic about former Alabama factory worker Lilly Ledbetter who became an equal pay icon. The film, directed by Rachel Feldman, climaxes at the dawn of the Obama era with the passage of the 2009 the landmark Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Today, Ledbetter's biggest champions are out of power, and at least one of them is a target of President Donald Trump's shake-up of civil rights institutions. In an interview with The Associated Press, Clarkson says the current political moment is a good time to draw audiences to Ledbetter’s story.

What's happened at the Cannes Film Festival so far — and what's still to come

CANNES, France (AP) — This year’s Cannes Film Festival has barely started and already has been an attention-grabbing affair, from new rules for its red carpets, nerves about potential U.S. tariffs and the return of Tom Cruise. And that says nothing about the films, which are expected to be a strong slate at a time that Cannes is seen as increasingly important to Oscars best picture hopefuls. Cannes opened Tuesday with a starry tribute to Robert De Niro, 49 years after “Taxi Driver” won the festival’s top prize. Tom Cruise took the spotlight on Day 2 with the latest “Mission: Impossible” installment.

Max streaming service is reviving the HBO name — the one it discarded two years ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery says it is changing the name of its Max streaming service to HBO Max later this summer. It represents a rare corporate do-over. Following the merger of Discovery with Warner two years ago, assets were combined in a streaming service known as Max, doing away with the HBO Max streaming brand that Warner had been using. At the time, it was considered an odd choice: HBO is widely seen as representing quality content, while Max — a reference to the Cinemax network — is less well-regarded. Advertisers told of the change at a presentation on Wednesday loudly applauded the move.

Weinstein accuser rips defense lawyer: 'You should be ashamed of yourself'

NEW YORK (AP) — A former model has reproached one of Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers for suggesting that her sexual abuse allegations against the ex-studio boss are lies. Kaja Sokola told the attorney Wednesday that she was telling the truth, and that he should be ashamed of himself. Sokola finished five days of testimony at Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial. She says Weinstein repeatedly offered to foster her acting ambitions but then made unwanted physical advances, beginning when she was 16. Weinstein’s faces a sexual assault charge related to her allegation of forced oral sex about four years later. He also faces charges based on two other women’s claims. He has pleaded not guilty and denies sexually assaulting anyone.