‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ tie with four noms, ‘Succession’ leads TV with five for SAG Awards

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

It looks like the 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, February 24, will be another Barbenheimer double date.

Nominations for the awards were announced Wednesday morning by Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, and Barbie and Oppenheimer tied with four noms apiece, while on the TV side, HBO’s trophy magnet Succession led the pack with five.

Winners will be announced at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in a telecast streamed live for the first time by Netflix.

Here are the nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

American Fiction
Barbie
The Color Purple
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Annette Bening – Nyad
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Margot Robbie – Barbie
Emma Stone – Poor Things

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
Willem Dafoe – Poor Things
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling – Barbie

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Penelope Cruz – Ferrari
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Crown
The Gilded Age
The Last of Us
The Morning Show
Succession

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Abbot Elementary
Barry
The Bear
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Brian Cox – Succession
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
Kieran Culkin – Succession
Matthew Macfadyen – Succession
Pedro Pascal – The Last of Us

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown
Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us
Keri Russell – The Diplomat
Sarah Snook – Succession

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear
Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Brett Goldstein – Ted Lasso
Bill Hader – Barry
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear
Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Uzo Aduba – Painkiller
Kathryn Hahn – Tiny Beautiful Things
Brie Larson – Lessons in Chemistry
Be Powley – A Small Light
Ali Wong – Beef

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Matt Bomer – Fellow Travelers
Jon Hamm – Fargo
David Oyelowo – Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Tony Shalhoub – Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie
Steven Yeun – Beef

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Ahsoka
Barry
Beef
The Last of Us
The Mandalorian

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Barbie
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

On This Day, January 10, 2023: Guitarist Jeff Beck dies at age 78

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

On This Day, January 10, 2023…

Legendary guitarist Jeff Beck passed away at the age of 78, after contracting bacterial meningitis.

Beck came to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds, but went on to have a successful solo career, fronting his own Jeff Beck Group.

Considered by many to be one of the greatest guitar players of all time, Beck won six Grammys for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, plus additional wins for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Pop Collaboration with vocals.

He was inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice, in 1992 as a member of the Yardbirds and again in 2009 for his solo work.

Angela Bassett receives Honorary Oscar at 14th Governors Awards

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Angela Bassett accepted an Honorary Oscar at the 14th Governors Awards Tuesday night.

During her speech, she shouted out “trailblazing” Black actresses that paved the way for her, including Ruby Dee, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Rosalind Cash.

“They were my North Star, my guiding light, proof that while the road may not be without curves and bumps, there was a way to fulfill what I believed deep in my soul was my destiny,” she said.

“It was standing on their strong, spiritually fortified shoulders that I often was sustained, and I thank them for every sacrifice, every doubt, every disappointment, every rejection, every triumph that I know they experienced along the way,” she continued.

Angela also spotlighted each of the 10 Black actresses who have won an Oscar, calling them “beacons of possibility and hope for little Black and brown girls who aspire to one day pursue the dream of becoming an actor.”

“This honor isn’t just for or about me,” she added. “What I hope this moment means is that we are taking the necessary steps toward a future in which it is the norm, not the exception, to see and embrace one another’s full humanity, stories and perspectives. This must be our goal, and to always remember that there is room for us all. When we stand together, we win together.”

Dua Lipa and Seth Meyers get matching tattoos

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Dua Lipa and Seth Meyers are now “bonded for life” — after they got matching tattoos on his talk show on January 9.

When the two taped a “Day Drinking” segment for Late Night with Seth Meyers a few weeks ago, they promised each other they’d get tattoos, so Seth brought celebrity tattoo artist Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy to the set to dispense the ink. At first, Seth, who doesn’t have any tattoos, said they’d each get a single dot, but Dua said they should get stars instead, much to Seth’s chagrin.

The two each took several shots before submitting to Bang Bang: Dua, who said she had “like, 20” tattoos, got inked on her ankle, while Seth chose his calf. Bang Bang then offered to let Dua tattoo Seth, but despite the audience cheering at that suggestion, Seth nixed the idea. He continued drinking while the tiny tattoo was completed, and didn’t seem too bothered by the pain.

During the “Day Drinking” segment, which aired in December, Dua and Seth got totally wasted on cocktails inspired by Dua’s song “Houdini” and did copious amounts of shots as well.

Katy Perry is coming “out of the cocoon” in 2024

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Katy Perry won’t go so far as to say definitively that we’ll be getting a new album and tour from her this year, but she’s not not saying it either.

Speaking with E! News, Katy was asked to confirm that music and a world tour are on tap for her in 2024. “That’s a lot to confirm,” she says. “I definitely will be starting a new chapter. I think it’s time to come out of the cocoon, of sorts. To bloom!”

Is that a cute acknowledgement of those rumors that Katy will finally tie the knot this year with Orlando Bloom, to whom she’s been engaged since 2019? We’ll have to stay tuned for that, but meanwhile, she tells E! that she’s not sure she’d want to join her fiancé on the big screen one day.

“It’s so intense. I mean, it’s such a commitment,” she says, sharing that Orlando recently had to fly back to the set of his latest project to shoot a whole new scene in five days. “The days are so intense,” she added. “So if I were to ever do something, it would be a passion project.”

And as a former Super Bowl halftime show headliner, Katy was asked if she had any advice for this year’s headliner, Usher. “No way!” she laughed. “No advice. He’s got it!”

But she did have some advice about hanging out with Usher, which she did last summer: It turns out both of them play the card game Monopoly Deal “religiously.”

“We played it together … he beat me twice. Orlando beat him once,” Katy says. So, she advises, “Don’t play Monopoly Deal with Usher because he will beat your a**. He’s so ruthless!”

Second season of ‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’ in development

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Lucasfilm on Tuesday, January 9, confirmed that season 2 of the Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka is in development with creator Dave Filoni.

The news was part of a larger announcement that noted The Mandalorian‘s next adventure would be on the big screen, after three seasons on Disney+. The Mandalorian & Grogu will be directed by the Emmy-winning small screen show’s creator Jon Favreau, and get underway later this year.

Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson as the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who, after the fall of the Empire, investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy. Its first season wrapped in October.

Season 1 of Ahsoka also starred Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen, Eman Esfandi, and the late Ray Stevenson.

The press release also explained Filoni would be directing another big screen project centering on Star Wars characters who came to life on the streaming service, and that two other movies were also headed to theaters: One directed by Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s James Mangold, and another from Oscar winning documentarian and Ms. Marvel veteran Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy that will center on the Sequel Trilogy character Rey, played by Daisy Ridley.

Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

In Brief: Harrison Ford to be feted by Critics Choice Awards, and more

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

Actor Adan Canto, who starred in Fox’s series The Cleaning Lady and appeared as the mutant hero Sunspot in X-Men: Days of Future Past, has died at 42, according to the actor’s Instagram. The Mexican performer, who also appeared in Narcos and ABC’s Designated Survivor, died after a private bout of appendiceal cancer …

30 Rock creator and star Tina Fey will make her TV series acting return in The Four Seasons, Netflix’s adaptation of Alan Alda‘s 1981 film about three couples who spend their summer vacations together, the streaming service announced Tuesday. Fey created the adaption with her 30 Rock collaborators Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher. This marks Fey’s latest Netflix collaboration following the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt …

The Critics Choice Association on Tuesday announced that Harrison Ford, who currently stars in the Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking, for which he earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, will also receive the Career Achievement Award at the 29th annual awards. The Critics Choice Awards, which honor the finest in cinematic and television achievement, have historically been an accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations. The awards show, hosted by Chelsea Handler, will air live on The CW on Sunday, January 14 …

Gunmen storm Ecuador TV station after president declares state of emergency

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

An Ecuadorean police squad approach the premises of Ecuador’s TC television channel after unidentified gunmen burst into the state-owned television studio live on air on Jan. 9, 2024, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. (Marcos Pin/AFP via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Armed and masked gunmen stormed a television station in Ecuador during a live broadcast on Tuesday, taking the hosts hostage and calling for President Daniel Noboa to end his crackdown on organized crime.

The incident at TC Televisión, a state-owned network in Guayaquil, came amid widespread chaos and violence after Noboa declared a countrywide state of emergency on Monday.

The men who stormed the television station were arrested after a standoff with police.

Noboa called the unrest an “internal armed conflict,” saying the alleged perpetrators were “terrorists.” He deployed armed forces throughout the country to “establish control,” his office said in a post on X.

Noboa, who was elected last fall, had promised the public he’d make security and economic issues his priorities.

The state of emergency followed reports of a prison escape by José Adolfo Macías Villamar, known as “Fito,” an alleged leader of the Los Choneros gang, which is alleged to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

He had been convicted on charges including drug trafficking and homicide in 2011 and was being held in a high-security prison in Guyaquil.

More than 3,000 police officers have been mobilized to arrest him, officials said.

At least 29 buildings were attacked Tuesday in Guayaquil, officials told ABC News. Eight people were killed in the city and three others were injured, officials said.

A total of 10 people were killed Tuesday, including the eight in Guyaquil, according to authorities. Seven police officers who were kidnapped have not been released, officials said.

Police have set up checkpoints in Quito and Guayaquil to identify and detain possible gang members, officials told ABC News.

The chaos throughout the country has been the work of organized criminal networks, Adm. Jaime Vela Erazo, head of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, said in a news conference late Tuesday.

“But despite his brutal evil, this attempt will fail,” he said.

Erazo said the government had no plans to “back down” by negotiating with the gangs behind the unrest.

In one incident at the University of Guayaquil, crowds of people who were not believed to be gang members entered the university. There were no major injuries from the incident, and there is no longer an ongoing hostage situation at the university, officials said.

Classes are suspended at the university until further notice, the mayor of Guayaquil told ABC News.

A curfew was put in place Tuesday night, beginning at 11 p.m. and lifting at 5 a.m.

Neighoring Peru also declared a state of emergency along its border with Ecuador. Prime Minister Alberto Otarola said the army, national police and members of the Intelligence community would be active along the border.

Should you invest in CDs while interest rates fall? Experts weigh in

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — After a high-flying performance last year, the stock market has dropped at the outset of 2024. The turnabout has sent some investors looking for alternatives, including certificates of deposit, or CDs.

A CD is a type of savings account that offers a fixed interest rate over a given period of time. If depositors remove their funds before their agreed-upon end date, however, they incur a penalty.

Investor returns for CDs have soared over the past year in response to a near-historic series of interest rate hikes at the Federal Reserve.

That trend has made this lesser-known financial instrument more attractive than it has been in years, experts told ABC News. Since the Fed expects to cut interest rates this year, they added, interested investors should move quickly before potential gains diminish.

“Now is definitely a good time to look at getting into a CD,” Cassandra Happe, an analyst at personal finance firm WalletHub, told ABC News. “Because rates are so high.”

“Investors should definitely keep a potential rate cut in mind,” Happe added, noting that some forecasters expect the Fed to slash rates within the next few months.

CDs do carry downsides, however, experts added. The fixed interest rate promised by a CD means it lacks the possibility of enormous gains, unlike a riskier instrument such as the stock market.

The best interest rate available for a one-year CD stands at 5.66%, according to a list of rates compiled by WalletHub. The shortest term length available, three months, still returns interest of up to 5.55%, WalletHub found.

Interest rate hikes at the Fed improve returns for CDs because the adjustments allow banks to charge borrowers higher costs to take out loans, Reena Aggarwal, professor of finance and director of the Georgetown Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, told ABC News.

“When interest rates are high, banks can make a loan — for example, a mortgage — at a higher rate,” Aggarwal said. “So they can afford to pay their depositors more.”

When banks raise interest rates for savings accounts, such as CDs, the financial firms entice customers to deposit money with them instead of a rival, which in turn bolsters the capital a bank holds on hand to generate profits through additional loans, Aggarwal added.

“It’s all about competition,” she said.

A major benefit of CDs stems from the iron-clad certainty of their returns, Yiming Ma, a finance professor at Columbia University Business School, told ABC News.

“You’re guaranteed your money,” Ma said.

Typically, long-term CDs spanning three or five years deliver higher interest rates than short-term CDs, since a wider time horizon requires investors to part with their funds for a longer period.

However, the market currently offers higher returns for short-term CDs rather than long-term ones, in part because forecasters expect interest rates to fall steadily over the coming years, experts said. That dynamic offers investors a relatively rare opportunity to generate elevated gains without waiting a long time, they added.

“This adds to the attractiveness of a short-term CD,” Ken Tumin, a senior industry analyst for savings at online loan company LendingTree, told ABC News.

Still, he added, a long-term CD may also be an attractive option right now for investors seeking gains over an extended period, since the returns on offer for these instruments could come down significantly if the Fed cuts rates.

“A long-term CD would be beneficial if rates do fall,” Tumin said, noting that investors who took action beforehand would be locked into the elevated fixed rates for several years.

While CDs carry advantages, investors should be aware of key trade-offs, experts said.

The fixed rate of CDs promises stability but precludes the chance of stellar returns. A one-year CD delivers a return of more than 5%. By contrast, the S&P 500 — the index that most people’s 401(k)s track — climbed 24% last year. Of course, the stock market risks significant losses, as well.

Meanwhile, since CDs impose a penalty for the early withdrawal of money, they pose a problem for investors who may need to call upon the funds before a selected end date.

“CDs are good as a safe and higher-return investment for funds that you don’t need to use immediately,” said Ma, of Columbia.

‘We were going to die’: Passengers on Alaska Airlines jet speak out about door plug catastrophe

January 10, 2024 by WDNY Radio

An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane is parked on the tarmac at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 8, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Passengers who were on board an Alaska Airlines plane say that they thought “we were going to die” after a door plug flew off of the Boeing 737 Max 9 jet at an altitude of 16,000 feet last Friday.

Sieysoar Un and her 12-year-old son Josaih McCaul were sitting in the row right behind the door plug when it flew off the plane, taking Josiah’s phone and stuffed animal with it, the passengers said during an interview on ABC News’ Good Morning America Wednesday morning.

“I reached over and held his hand. We literally thought that we were going to die,” Un said in the GMA interview.

“You just hear a big boom,” said McCaul. “It was silent for like one second, and then you would just feel and hear a lot of air blowing around, freezing cold air.”

The part fell off the plane, a Boeing 737 Max 9, around 5:11 p.m. local time Friday as the aircraft with 171 passengers, including three babies and four unaccompanied minors, had climbed to 16,000 feet after taking off from Portland International Airport, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Another passenger, a mother of a 15-year-old boy who lost his shirt, said that as the cabin began to depressurize, she saw her son’s seat being pulled toward the hole in the plane’s fuselage.

“I reached over and grabbed his body and pulled him towards me over the armrest,” she said. “I did not realize until after the flight that his clothing had been torn off of his upper body,” adding that the noise of the door plug coming off sounded like a “bomb exploding.”

Meanwhile, Boeing says the company is now working with that National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration to make sure this never happens again.

“We’re going to approach this number one acknowledging our mistake,” said Boeing’s president and CEO, Dave Calhoun. “We’re going to approach it with 100% complete transparency every step of the way.”

The FAA has said the planes will remain grounded for now and that “the safety of the flying public, not speed, will determine the timeline for returning the Boeing 737-9 Max to service.”

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