Val Kilmer said yes to major role without reading script – but filming was ‘unpleasant experience’

Kilmer’s depiction of the cool and confident fighter pilot resonated with audiences and solidified his status as a leading man in Hollywood despite Tom Cruise taking the leading role19:43, 02 Apr 2025Updated 19:44, 02 Apr 2025Val Kilmer died from pneumonia in Los Angeles after struggling with throat cancer for years that permanently altered his voice(Image:

Reliance Signs JV With BLAST To Enter Esports Business

SUMMARY
RIL said that the JV will offer services such as end-to-end tournament management, marketing, production and broadcasting
While BLAST will bring its esports properties and publisher relationships to the table, Reliance will pitch in with its tech stack, distribution and local relationships
Europe-based BLAST partners with game publishers to host esport tournaments, and claims to have a user base of over 15 Mn on its platform

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Reliance-owned sports tech platform RISE Worldwide has formed a joint venture (JV) with Europe-based BLAST to co-create esports tournaments for Indian users.
In an exchange filing, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) said that the JV will offer services such as end-to-end tournament management, targeted marketing, production and broadcasting. In addition, it will cater to game publishers and sponsors.
The JV will leverage BLAST’s esports properties, production expertise, publisher relationships and popular intellectual properties (IPs). The combined entity will also explore synergies with Jio’s tech stack, distribution and local relationships to host esports events on the JioGames platform.
“… By partnering with Reliance, a market leader with unparalleled expertise and reach in India, we have a unique opportunity to elevate the local esports scene to new heights… This joint venture will not only help grow the Indian esports ecosystem but also create new pathways for local talent to shine on the global stage,” BLAST CEO Robbie Douek said.
BLAST partners with game publishers like EA Games, Ubisoft, EPIC Games and Riot Games to host esport tournaments. It claims to have a user base of over 15 Mn, with 707 Mn views on its platform.
On the other hand, RISE Worldwide is a sports and event management company, which manages events like Indian Super League, Lakmé Fashion Week, among others. It also offers a suite of services such as sponsorship consulting, athlete management, marketing, media rights management, sports broadcast production, licensing, among others.

With this, the Reliance-backed JV will now lock horns with homegrown new-age tech companies like NODWIN Gaming, India Gaming League and esport tournament streaming apps such as Loco.
The JV will look to capitalise on the growing online gaming market in India, which was home to over 600 Mn active gamers in the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). As per a Lumikai report, the Indian gaming market generated $3.8 Bn in revenue in FY24.

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Antoine Fuqua’s ‘Michael’ Could Be Split Into Two Movies, Pushed to 2026 — Report

Billboard Women in Music 2025

At Lionsgate‘s CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday, there was plenty of news about the “John Wick” and “Hunger Games” franchises, but little mention of one of the biggest films on its slate, “Michael” — other than a tease that a new announcement would be coming within a few weeks.

Antoine Fuqua‘s Michael Jackson biopic has long been a major priority for the studio, with president of worldwide television distribution Jim Packer telling investors that it would be “the biggest film we’ve ever had” in 2024. The film was beset by controversy from the start, with the director of “Leaving Neverland” publicly battling with the filmmakers over the idea that it would whitewash the allegations of child abuse against Jackson.

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And it hit an even bigger snag in 2024, when it was reported that a third of the film had to be reshot due to a legal misunderstanding. Much of the film’s third act reportedly centered around the accusations made against Jackson by Jordan Chandler, who alleged that Jackson sexually abused him at the age of 13. But after the film was shot, it was revealed that Jackson’s estate had previously reached a settlement with the Chandler family that prevented Jordan from being featured in any future films about Jackson’s life. The Jackson estate is reportedly footing the bill for the reshoots, which are said to be extensive.

The film was originally scheduled for an April 2025 release, but the reshoots prompted Lionsgate to push the film to October 3. Now, it appears the film could be moving yet again. Multiple outlets have reported that the studio is considering splitting the project into two films, with the first half potentially being delayed to 2026.

While reports stress that no final decision has been made — and variables in play include the availability of IMAX screens and the timing of potential awards campaigns — splitting the film in half would give Lionsgate the opportunity to get the finished footage into theaters sooner while buying itself time to complete the reshoots. Multiple parties would have to sign off on any decision — including Universal, which is handling international distribution on the project.

Lionsgate declined to comment on this story. The news was first reported by Deadline.

‘A Minecraft Movie’ Review: Jack Black Tries to Dig His Way Out of a Deeply Unimaginative Block-Buster About the Joy of Infinite Creativity

Billboard Women in Music 2025

Considering that “A Minecraft Movie” seemed as though it might cause the end of Western civilization itself, I’m relieved to report that Warner Bros.’ bright, buoyant, block-busting video game adaptation merely coincides with it. That isn’t to say that it’s good, per se, or to suggest that I recommend paying money to sit through such a wantonly derivative corporate product about the sacred joy of creativity (and the soul-crushing evil of the profit motive!), but there’s some legitimate fun to be had in watching director Jared Hess and a small army of screenwriters try to excavate a kid-friendly adventure saga from the infinite sandbox of their source material.

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Unsurprisingly — or, as someone with a fatal allergy to “Napoleon Dynamite,” very surprisingly — most of that fun stems from the moments when “The Minecraft Movie” actually feels like it was made by the guy behind “Napoleon Dynamite.” The vast majority of those moments are concentrated in the first act of the story, before the brunt of its human characters are sucked into the cubic dreamscape of the video game’s Overworld and steered through a paint-by-numbers plot so unashamedly mashed together from “The Lord of the Rings” and “The LEGO Movie” that WB might have to sue itself. 

It begins with a kid named Steve, who — like all 11-year-old boys — yearned to work in the mines. Alas, The Man said no to his dream of swinging a pickaxe all day within the bowels of a pitch-dark cave, and so poor Steve grew up to be the saddest doorknob salesman that Chuglass, Idaho had ever seen. Also, he grew up to be “Nacho Libre” star Jack Black (who’s amped up to such an unprecedented degree of Jack Blackness that it makes his work in “School of Rock” look like a Bressonian exercise in restraint by comparison), and there’s simply no use telling a Jack Black character not to rock. 

So back to the mines Steve goes, where a glowing orb spirits him away to a magical place in which absolutely everything is cube-shaped; it’s a place where our hero is free to mine his brains out, and to build anything that his imagination can… imagine. The only problem is that an army of zombies and skeletons crawl out of the ground every night, the days are only 20 minutes long, and Steve is soon taken prisoner by the pig lord Malgosha (voiced by Rachel House), an evil swine who’s determined to escape the hellish Nether region that she rules like a square-cut Saruman. 

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Her goal: To destroy creative expression throughout the universe, and force everyone — in the Overworld, and beyond — to live in the same joyless hell that she does. Unaware that Republicans have already adopted that plan as their official platform, Malgosha seeks the power of the orb to bring her bacon-scented brand of destruction to the human realm, where Steve’s pet wolf has kept it secret, and kept it safe.

Enter: recently orphaned teenagers Natalie (a winsome Emma Myers) and her curly-haired younger brother Henry (an explicitly Frodo-coded Sebastian Hansen), who move to Chuglass in order to fulfill their late mother’s dying wish. Natalie lands a gig as the social media manager of the local potato chip company (a distressingly realistic plot detail that only one or two of the movie’s five credited writers seem to have been aware of), while Henry — a brainiac with his head in the clouds — tries to survive his first day at a new high school. 

Kids may not see what’s so funny about Jennifer Coolidge’s performance as a divorced principal who can’t stop hitting people with her Jeep Cherokee, but the “White Lotus” star is a perfect fit for Hess’ affectation-driven humor, and the opening scenes of “A Minecraft Movie” are sustained by the slivers of well-honed quirk that managed to survive the studio process. Ditto Jason Momoa’s high-key turn as Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a Billy Mitchell-esque video game champion who’s stuck in the late ’80s; the character seems like a marketing team memo come to life, but Momoa’s herculean cartoonishness rescues the role from the faint stink of feeling like it was written for Chris Pratt, and he embraces the aggro insecurity of it all in a way that would make Jon Heder proud. 

‘A Minecraft Movie’

While Hess doesn’t have a screenplay credit here, there are stretches of this film where it truly feels like he was the sole creative voice (e.g. whenever Henry’s gym teacher is on screen), and though “A Minecraft Movie” doesn’t get around to its half-assed — or quarter-assed — message until long after the action has been subsumed by toyetic spectacle, the first act of this story manages to make good on the courage of the third act’s convictions. It’s only when Natalie, Henry, Garrett, and an animal-loving real estate agent named Dawn (Danielle Brooks) bumble into the Overworld that “A Minecraft Movie” betrays its uncanny resemblance to the Kool-Aid subplot of “The Studio,” and the film starts to feel like it’s wrestling its creative energy into submission rather than finding a way to set it free.

Once upon a time, the fact that “Minecraft” is a game without a story might have been seen as an opportunity to do something a little different and more bespoke with a beloved piece of video game IP. Alas, for reasons that remain unclear, Hollywood would rather follow in the footsteps of 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (a hyper-basic adaptation which grossed $1.3 billion) than in those of 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” (an unhinged Ballardian nightmare that bombed at the box office, and was remembered by star Bob Hoskins as the one thing in his life he wished he could undo), and so the Overworld is flattened into a colorful backdrop for a painfully generic adventure, rather than used as a tool for unrestrained ingenuity. 

Fleet pacing, vivid colors, and a poppy Mark Mothersbaugh score do what they can to paper over the film’s prefab nature, but even kids — especially kids — will pick up on the disconnect between what they can make in “Minecraft” (anything they can imagine) and what Hess has made of “Minecraft” (nothing they haven’t seen before). Things unfold without any trace of surprise, as the gang links up with Steve and embarks on a spirited quest in search of the other MacGuffin thingy they need to get home or whatever. They fight the undead, they fly across a valley in order to escape from Malgosha’s war party, and, just when it seems like the film might finally ease up on the “Fellowship of the Ring” homage, they take refuge in a mountain pass that turns out to be teeming with monsters.

Hess is able to maintain a certain degree of irreverence throughout the film (there’s a bit towards the end involving Malgosha’s dagger that my five-year-old and I have been laughing about for days), but most of its personality is pushed to the margins as the action wears on. That trend is epitomized by the semi-amusing subplot in which one of the Overworld’s unibrowed Villagers wanders into reality and immediately collides with Coolidge, a subplot that “A Minecraft Movie” makes exactly zero attempt to weave into the rest of its story. It’s like the studio agreed to let Hess maintain a dash of absurdity on the side as a little treat, so long as it didn’t get in the way of the high-energy nothingness that he was hired to preserve at all costs. The bickering dynamic between Black and Momoa becomes the story’s driving force, with the rest of the cast left to roll their eyes at the wannabe alphas and/or jettisoned to their own subplots just to keep them out of the way (Myers and Brooks get the worst of both worlds). 

It’s a real credit to Black’s irrepressibly unique comic energy that “A Minecraft Movie” never feels quite as hypocritical as it should. Either disastrously ill-suited for its message about how money is the enemy of joy, or immaculately well-suited for its message about much harder it is to build things than it is to destroy them, Hess’ film can’t help but feel like its very existence is an affront to the creative freedom that has allowed “Minecraft” to become such a vital form of self-exploration for kids around the world (even Warner Bros.’ choice to call it “A Minecraft Movie” as opposed to “The Minecraft Movie” implies a spectrum of different concepts, despite the reality of a business that can only imagine this one). But Black — whatever his charms, and regardless of how well they’re deployed here — is a living testament to the idea that people can still thrive by staying true to their own expression. If not in this world, then perhaps in one of their own design. 

Grade: C

Warner Bros. will release “A Minecraft Movie” in theaters on Friday, April 4.

Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best new reviews and streaming picks along with some exclusive musings — all only available to subscribers.

Meet Newsmax, a Trump-adjacent business with credible prospects

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldOne conservative television empire is — unsurprisingly — thriving in the age of President Donald Trump. Can a second find similar success? Hoping to replicate, if not challenge, Fox Corporation, Newsmax went public this week. The Trump-friendly cable TV network raised $75mn. On Tuesday, its shares surged from its listing price of $10 to $233, implying a market capitalisation of $30bn. That day-one bump gave Newsmax an enterprise value roughly in line with that of Fox Corporation, which owns the long-standing conservative network Fox News. Yet Fox generated $14bn of revenue in its fiscal 2024. Newsmax, by contrast, had 2024 calendar year revenue of just $170mn.Various Trump-affiliated projects — from the Truth Social app to cryptocurrencies — have experienced some element of meme phenomenon. Newsmax’s shares are no exception. But do not discount the network’s influence in right-wing circles and the resulting opportunity to build a meaningful business over time. Newsmax is already beamed into 50mn households and has several highly rated shows that stack up well against Fox News. The difference between the two now-rivals: Newsmax has barely made a start on monetising its subscribers. Pay-TV networks are businesses in secular decline. In a decade, total households subscribing to satellite and cable have drifted down from around 100mn in the US to under 60mn. But the sector still generates a lot of cash via advertising and subscriptions. On the latter front, Newsmax notes that the likes of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC charge between $0.83 cent and $2.50 per month per subscriber, among the priciest networks available. Newsmax has not disclosed its exact rate but is estimated at only a dime or two.As a result, at Fox, total affiliate fees — think customer subscriptions rerouted to the media company via the pay-TV distributor — across all its broadcast networks netted more than $7bn, while advertising generated just $5bn.Affiliate fees in 2024 at Newsmax were just 16 per cent of revenue, with the company relying on ad bucks for the rest. Expect Newsmax to begin charging distributors a sum that is more in line with its own ratings and that of the peers it is already challenging in viewership figures.Newsmax is building a streaming platform too, which has a subscription tier that charges $4.99 each month. But the company admits that most of its viewers are above age 45 and still glued to traditional television. Various Fox personalities have now migrated to Newsmax. For the first time, the legacy conservative brand has to fight for its core audience. The sensational Newsmax valuation will no doubt recede in the coming weeks. In early trading on Wednesday its shares were down some 40 per cent. But what remains is one of the most interesting entrepreneurial bets of the Trump era. Newsmax is not a tech disrupter. Neither is it taking advantage of a booming sector. Its now billionaire founder Christopher Ruddy is simply wagering that even a dying industry can support a new entrant, if it produces content people want. sujeet.indap@ft.com

Siemens to acquire Dotmatics in $5.1 billion deal in Life Science portfolio push

Siemens AG said on Wednesday it will acquire U.S.-based Dotmatics for $5.1 billion from private equity firm Insight Partners to strengthen its Life Sciences portfolio. Financing for the deal would be primarily carried by share sales of listed companies, including healthcare subsidiary Siemens Healthineers, its finance chief Ralf Thomas said in a statement.Life Sciences presents a software market opportunity and could expand Siemens’ industrial software total addressable market by $11 billion, the statement added.Last week, the German company closed its second biggest acquisition of engineering software firm Altair for $10.6 billion after selling a $1.5 billion stake in Siemens Healthineers.”By acquiring Dotmatics, we’re strategically strengthening our position in Life Sciences and creating a world-leading AI-powered PLM software portfolio as part of Siemens Xcelerator,” CEO Roland Busch said. Siemens said it expects substantial revenue synergies for medium-term revenue of around $100 million per year, accelerating to over $500 million per year in the long term.Boston, Massachusetts-based Dotmatics is an R&D scientific software company, which is expected to generate more than $300 million in revenue in 2025, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of above 40 per cent.

A Minecraft Movie review – building-block game franchise spin-off is rollicking if exhausting fun

If you’re not familiar with Minecraft as a game then this film, notionally a big screen version of same, won’t necessarily solve that. Minecraft, even more than most computer games, is what you make of it, an experience generated by the player. So in a way, the idea of making a film set in the Minecraft world is counterintuitive, because it can never replicate what is good about Minecraft, it can only tell you what is good about Minecraft. In addition to that, this comedy-fantasy takes aspects of the Minecraft world and uses them as building blocks in a rollicking adventure suitable for almost all ages, giving Jack Black and Jason Momoa carte blanche to wild out and be deeply silly. Your affection for and/or tolerance of this latter prospect will dictate to a large extent your enjoyment of this film.Black plays Steve, a crafter who in the game was the original default player, although that doesn’t especially matter here. Momoa is Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a washed-up video game champ with an aesthetic stuck permanently and delightfully in the 1980s: pink leather fringed jacket and luscious locks flowing down past his prodigious shoulders like the first snowmelt off a mountain range. As this is kinda-sorta an ensemble film, we also have Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) rounding out the good guys squad. It’s not the fault of any of the three latter actors, but it’s hard for them to make an impression alongside Black and Momoa going full-throttle – and it would become an exhausting experience if they tried. That does mean their storylines feel like downtime, a chance to relax and catch your breath, rather than providing the emotional core that the writers presumably intended.Used more sparingly, but also firing on all cylinders is a hilarious – and when is she not? – Jennifer Coolidge, whose teacher character is exactly the kind of breathy over-sharer that Coolidge has made her speciality. She immediately tells Henry, a child in her care, that she stuck it out in a dead marriage for 20 years for the sake of “the dogs”. Coolidge is, quite simply, a genius at this, and can do this stuff in her sleep, without the slightest suggestion of effort.Black is a very different type of performer; you can see effort in every swivel-eyed tic and line delivery, but that’s the whole point: it’s funny (mostly) to see someone commit that wholeheartedly to the bit. It’s a shame the film as a whole doesn’t work quite as well as its standout performances, with a tendency to ping pong along from scrape to scrape with little sense that it would matter much if you rearranged the various monster attacks or obstacles to be overcome in a different order. A little more craft on the storytelling side could have elevated this to something special a la Dungeons and Dragons from 2023, but it’s an enjoyable if hectic experience nonetheless.

A Minecraft Movie review – building-block game franchise spin-off is rollicking if exhausting fun

If you’re not familiar with Minecraft as a game then this film, notionally a big screen version of same, won’t necessarily solve that. Minecraft, even more than most computer games, is what you make of it, an experience generated by the player. So in a way, the idea of making a film set in the Minecraft world is counterintuitive, because it can never replicate what is good about Minecraft, it can only tell you what is good about Minecraft. In addition to that, this comedy-fantasy takes aspects of the Minecraft world and uses them as building blocks in a rollicking adventure suitable for almost all ages, giving Jack Black and Jason Momoa carte blanche to wild out and be deeply silly. Your affection for and/or tolerance of this latter prospect will dictate to a large extent your enjoyment of this film.Black plays Steve, a crafter who in the game was the original default player, although that doesn’t especially matter here. Momoa is Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, a washed-up video game champ with an aesthetic stuck permanently and delightfully in the 1980s: pink leather fringed jacket and luscious locks flowing down past his prodigious shoulders like the first snowmelt off a mountain range. As this is kinda-sorta an ensemble film, we also have Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers) and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) rounding out the good guys squad. It’s not the fault of any of the three latter actors, but it’s hard for them to make an impression alongside Black and Momoa going full-throttle – and it would become an exhausting experience if they tried. That does mean their storylines feel like downtime, a chance to relax and catch your breath, rather than providing the emotional core that the writers presumably intended.Used more sparingly, but also firing on all cylinders is a hilarious – and when is she not? – Jennifer Coolidge, whose teacher character is exactly the kind of breathy over-sharer that Coolidge has made her speciality. She immediately tells Henry, a child in her care, that she stuck it out in a dead marriage for 20 years for the sake of “the dogs”. Coolidge is, quite simply, a genius at this, and can do this stuff in her sleep, without the slightest suggestion of effort.Black is a very different type of performer; you can see effort in every swivel-eyed tic and line delivery, but that’s the whole point: it’s funny (mostly) to see someone commit that wholeheartedly to the bit. It’s a shame the film as a whole doesn’t work quite as well as its standout performances, with a tendency to ping pong along from scrape to scrape with little sense that it would matter much if you rearranged the various monster attacks or obstacles to be overcome in a different order. A little more craft on the storytelling side could have elevated this to something special a la Dungeons and Dragons from 2023, but it’s an enjoyable if hectic experience nonetheless.

Books we’re reading and loving in April: Falling is a tangled psychological suspense

Save for laterEach week, Globe and Mail staffers and readers share what they’re reading now, whether it’s a hot new release or an old book they’re discovering for the first time. Tell me about a book you loved and we might publish your recommendation. Fill out this form, or send your book recommendation to Lara Pingue at lpingue@globeandmail.comGlobe staffers share their favourite Canadian booksSpring books 2025 preview: 37 must-readsOpen this photo in gallery:FallingSuppliedFalling, Elizabeth Jane HowardI’ve recently discovered the novels of the late Elizabeth Jane Howard, a brilliant writer who loved to experiment with form. Most recently, I read her 1999 book Falling, the story of a sociopathic man, Henry, and his seduction of a twice-divorced author, Daisy. Falling is semi-autobiographical, which probably explains its powerful psychological nuance and page-turning intrigue. Interestingly, Henry’s point of view is told in first person, while Daisy’s, in third, includes her letters and diary entries. This is a story as deep and tangled as a neglected garden in the Cotswolds. -Globe reader Sylvia Pollard, VictoriaBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Did I Ever Tell You?SuppliedDid I Ever Tell You?, Genevieve KingstonGenevieve Kingston’s powerful memoir Did I Ever Tell You? tells the story of a mother’s final gifts to her two young children while she prepares to succumb to late-stage breast cancer. During her final years, Kingston’s mother compiled presents and letters for her kids to open on their future milestones – from birthdays to graduations to engagements and weddings – all to be opened when she would no longer be around. With each gift she opens, the author discovers an accompanying letter filled with her mother’s wisdom and guidance. Kingston clings to these words as a source of connection to her mother, at the same time discovering more about her mother and what she was like as a woman. This is a gripping memoir about the legacy of enduring love.-Globe reader Kristi Kasper, CalgaryBuyOpen this photo in gallery:How To Speak to Anyone, Jen MulanAs an immigrant, I have faced numerous challenges with effective communication within the Canadian workforce. So, when my friend Jen Mulan published her book, How to Speak to Anyone, it resonated profoundly with me. This book is an invaluable resource for introverts aspiring to communicate with confidence in both professional and social settings. Through engaging narratives and real-life examples, Jen illustrates that even those of us with naturally reserved dispositions, like myself, can evolve into effective communicators, regardless of cultural background.-Globe reader Nipun Kudi, TorontoBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Hard LandingsSuppliedHard Landings, Bonnie McGhieBonnie McGhie’s memoir, Hard Landings, recounts her compelling experiences in the Canadian Arctic in the 1960s, where she and her husband launched a bush-flying service called Arctic Wings. She writes of the creativity and tenacity needed to overcome the dangers of flying in unthinkably harsh conditions; of caring for young children in makeshift surroundings and struggling to meet the demands of their growing businesses. McGhie also describes their world of great extremes and unusual beauty, and of becoming a trusted outsider among her Inuit neighbours, whose way of life was being eroded by damaging government policies.-Globe reader Lin Perceval, Surrey, B.C.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity, Catherine A. SandersonMy book club is called Reading for Well-Being because we focus on evidence-based reads that help to combat misinformation and disinformation about wellness and self-improvement. We’re currently reading The Positive Shift: Mastering Mindset to Improve Happiness, Health, and Longevity by Catherine A. Sanderson, PhD. In her book, Sanderson demonstrates how our level of happiness, our physical health and even our longevity is connected to how we “think” about ourselves, in other words, our mindset. I like this book because it is full of fairly straightforward strategies and the science behind them to positively shift your mindset for improved well-being.- Globe reader Joanna Pozzulo, OttawaBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Spin CycleSuppliedSpin Cycle, Alfredo BotelloA novel that takes the messy, most uncomfortable facts of life – betrayal, honour, trust and of course the biggest one of them all, death – and toys with them in ways both nerve-wracking and heartbreaking, Spin Cycle will hang your soul out to dry. Following a high-school math teacher who is thrust into a caregiver role after his mother can no longer manage her own dementia, Alfredo Botello’s sophomore novel is a darkly funny, intimate yet epic journey that will have you racing to pick up the phone and dial up every family member who you’ve been avoiding for one reason or another. There is a brutal truth coursing through Spin Cycle – we can all save ourselves and each other, if we only put in the effort – that will flatten you.-Globe and Mail film editor Barry HertzBuyThe Baseball Vault: Great Writing from the Pages of Sports IllustratedOpen this photo in gallery:The Baseball VaultSupplied“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball,” Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby once famously said. “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” It’s a great quote, but an awful waste of time. I tell you what I do when there’s no baseball: I read books such as The Baseball Vault, a collection of baseball writing from the pages of Sports Illustrated. The late Hornsby was a curmudgeon, by the way, and he might complain that only six of the 46 terrific stories here date before 1990. He has a point.-Globe arts reporter Brad WheelerBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Inside the Third Reich, Albert SpeerInside the Third Reich by Albert Speer, one of Hitler’s most influential ministers, was first published in 1969. I read it when I was 18 and again recently at 68. I wanted to fathom why political associates and constituents went along with a megalomaniacal leader. Written while Speer was in Spandau Prison for 20 years, he accepts responsibility for his own role in enabling a madman and offers a frightening glimpse of how people can be trained to concur with actions they know are wrong. The tome reveals the methods of a dangerous leader who was consumed with delusions of grandeur in an unscrupulous and deadly game of power. Fifty years after my first reading, this book is still as chilling – and timely – as it was when I was a teenager.-Globe reader Thelma Fayle, VictoriaBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Waiting for Joe, Sandra BirdsellSandra Birdsell’s novel, Waiting for Joe, is a modern tale of human frailties, and all set in Manitoba and Saskatchewan; the descriptions of the Prairie cities are so vivid and refreshing to read. The novel tells the story of a couple trying to find their way through youth, marriage, employment failure and how they survive and move forward. Birdsell touches the soul with her deep understanding of human life. Not since Alice Munro have I read such strong depictions of daily life.-Globe reader Joyce Mylymok, North Saanich, B.C.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Berry Pickers, by Amanda PetersSuppliedThe Berry Pickers, Amanda PetersIn her debut novel The Berry Pickers, Canadian author Amanda Peters tells the gripping stories of Ruthie, a four-year-old Indigenous girl who disappears from the blueberry fields in Maine, and her brother, who’s left to wrestle with the loss years later. The story takes readers across North America to places that may be familiar, from Ontario and Nova Scotia to Massachusetts. Some parts might feel a bit predictable, but Peters makes up for it with her deeply moving and nuanced writing. At its core, this book is about family, identity and the difficult but healing path to forgiveness.-Globe reporter Meera RamanBuyOpen this photo in gallery:At a Loss for WordsSuppliedAt a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, Carol OffCan the meaning of words change? In her new book, At a Loss for Words: Conversation in an Age of Rage, journalist Carol Off examines how the meanings of six simple words – freedom, democracy, truth, woke, choice and taxes – have shifted. The author contextualizes her work in the worldwide rise of the right, focusing on Canada. There has never been a more important time to learn about the scope of the influence of the wealthy far right, and to pay attention to language. This eye-opening book should be required reading for all Canadians.-Globe reader Lindsay Bryan, Welland, Ont.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of ExtremismSuppliedThe Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, Tim AlbertaTim Alberta’s 2023 book The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism is both a fascinating and sobering look at the extremist element of the U.S. religious right. The author, a political journalist, grew up in an Evangelist household himself and he puts that experience to good use here. With access to leading figures and thoughtful analysis, Alberta paints a clear picture of the energy and fear that fuels the religious right. This book offers vibrant insight into the despair, anger and division in the U.S. today.-Globe reader Margery Cartwright, Haliburton, Ont.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:Life and Fate, Vasily GrossmanLife and Fate is often called the War and Peace of the 20th century. The novel was written by Soviet-era writer and journalist Vasily Grossman, who witnessed the battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43. The story centres on the Shaposhnikov family and explores their lives during the period when violence, ideology, suffering and sacrifice were all at extremes. It’s a realistic novel, and Grossman is able to capture the smell and sound of war through dozens of vignettes involving more than 150 fictional and historical characters. It’s an emotional read – and at 850 pages, it’s a book you should take your time with.- Globe reader Michael Minnes, Ancaster, Ont.BuyThe Magnolia Palace, Fiona DavisOpen this photo in gallery:The Magnolia PalaceSuppliedThe Magnolia Palace takes place against the backdrop of New York City’s Frick mansion, the opulent house that contains the art collection of Henry Frick. Author Fiona Davis tells a story of two time periods: the 1920s, when the mansion is a family home, and the 1960s, when it’s a museum. In each period, we meet strong women who struggle to survive and overcome the restrictions of their time. Romances and betrayals abound. This is a story of family, its conflicts and how wealth doesn’t always bring happiness. The mansion itself becomes a character in the story – and like any interesting character, it has its secrets.-Globe reader Maureen Murray, Burlington, Ont.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, Elizabeth BishopRecently, I’ve been rereading Elizabeth Bishop’s The Complete Poems: 1927-1979, a collection unlike so many modern poems because of their accessibility. While the best-known poem is One Art, a villanelle with the striking first line, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master,” it’s another poem called Poem that overwhelms me every time I read it. It’s about a family heirloom painting (not to be confused with her other poem about a family heirloom, Large Bad Painting). Poem startles you with one of those aha! moments that make a painting by a family member poignant, regardless of the painter’s talent. Perhaps the best student of the great American poet Robert Lowell, Bishop had a rough start in life. She was raised by her maternal grandparents in Nova Scotia, about which she wrote a number of wonderful poems, until her wealthy paternal grandparents brought her to live in Massachusetts. Without this move she might never have met Lowell, let alone become his equal as a poet. If a Globe reader were to pick only one book of modern poetry to read in their lifetime, this might well be it.-Globe reader Ron Charach, TorontoBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Happy-Go-LuckySuppliedHappy-Go-Lucky, David SedarisIn his 2022 collection of essays, Happy-Go-Lucky, humorist David Sedaris offers his take on the fun global health crisis we found ourselves facing four years ago. The unnerving trip to the recent past gave me a new, often chuckle-inducing perspective of those dark, polarizing times. Sedaris doesn’t tiptoe around anyone’s feelings, taking on masks, lockdowns and the Black Lives Matter protests with his usual brand of political incorrectness. (For instance, he admits to feeling a bit ‘superior’ for donating to the BLM movement.) The essays also touch on a major personal event: the death of his father, Lou, the Sedaris clan’s decidedly problematic and unlikeable guardian who’s a frequent subject of the writer’s work. I recommend Happy-Go-Lucky if you want to relive some of your worst years with a smile – and sometimes a grimace.-Globe programming editor Prajakta DhopadeBuyOpen this photo in gallery:On LeadershipSuppliedOn Leadership, Tony BlairTony Blair’s On Leadership: Lessons for the 21st Century isn’t a memoir or a tell-all but rather a non-partisan instruction manual for political leaders, based on his own experiences as Britain’s former PM. Given today’s turbulent, populist political mood, it holds several important lessons. Some core take-aways: Stay focused. Do your homework. Be positive. Protect your time. Stay humble. Don’t expect accolades. Delivery is everything. When Canada and arguably the Western world are at a low ebb in political ability and dominated by smash-mouth politics, Blair proffers many useful lessons. Frankly, I think all political leaders and aspiring leaders should read it.-Globe reader Mark Johnson, TorontoBuyOpen this photo in gallery:Hungry GhostsSuppliedHungry Ghosts, Kevin Jared HoseinHungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein is a tale of betrayal, temptation and family values. Set in poverty-stricken Trinidad in the 1940s, we meet Krishna, who suspects his father of infidelity. Could this loving, steadfast and loyal family man really be tempted by a wealthy woman? The characters are driven by intense, unfulfilled emotional needs, or “hungry ghosts.” Will Krishna listen to the hungry ghosts after what he’s seen? Will his mother recover from typhus and win back her straying husband? This is a quiet but compelling novel.-Globe reader Julie Kirsh, TorontoBuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Editor, Sara B. FranklinThe Globe received more than one hearty endorsement of a work of non-fiction. The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America, by Sara B. Franklin, is “an alluring peek into the publishing world,” writes Globe reader Catherine Lash. “From pulling The Diary of a Young Girl out of the rejects pile to creating the cookbook market with Julia Child with the ultimate goal of making cooking not only enjoyable but doable, Judith Jones was a gift to the publishing world.” Globe reader Judith Green is also a fan of this book, which details Jones’s 50-plus years at Knopf, where she worked with Sylvia Plath, Anne Tyler and John Updike, among others.BuyOpen this photo in gallery:The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, by Roland AllenSuppliedThe Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, Roland AllenI read a rapturous review of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen, and I had to pick it up. I’m a dedicated notebook user (in fact, I’m currently writing my own book about journaling) and I love learning the histories of everyday objects. Allen does not disappoint. The book tells the fascinating stories of notebooks, from the very first notebook (a wooden tablet) recovered from an eighth-century BCE ship, medieval account books, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, scientific notebooks, to the contemporary Bullet Journal Method, which helps users track and organize tasks. Eye-opening.– Globe reader Julie Rak, EdmontonBuy

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