USA TODAY - L awrence J ournal -W orld TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016
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HOW WAS YOUR DAY? GOOD DAY RIHANNA Rihanna is a heavyweight in the “song of the summer” ring, and the ‘Anti’ artist continues to challenge pop’s top contenders with hard-hitting singles, her latest being ‘Sledgehammer.’ The single arrived on Monday, accompanying the new trailer for ‘Star Trek Beyond’ (out July 22). It is now available on Spotify.
JON KOPALOFF, FILMMAGIC
BAD DAY JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE He may not cry a river, but Justin Timberlake admitted he felt “misunderstood” after his praise of Jesse Williams’ “inspiring” BET Awards acceptance speech was met with calls for him to apologize to Janet Jackson for leaving her to weather the Super Bowl XXXVIII “wardrobe malfunction” controversy, and to make amends for his perceived appropriation of black culture, the same practice Williams’ speech denounced. After initially dismissing the critics, Timberlake issued an apology. “I really do feel that we are all one... a human race,” he tweeted early Monday. “I apologize to anyone that felt I was out of turn. I have nothing but love for you and all of us.”
horror to a new level
News cycle makes ‘Purge’ film even more timely
Brian Truitt @briantruitt USA TODAY
Which gets your vote as the scarier situation: Armed maniacs running around in George Washington and Abraham Lincoln masks in The Purge: Election Year or cable news coverage of the presidential race? While vampires and slashers are well-worn horror tropes, films also have tapped into politics of the day for terror in the aisles. With the fallout of Brexit, the daily goings-on in Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton and showdowns over gun laws in Congress, real life is ripe to mine for screen fright fests. “A lot of us are afraid of politics — we’re very intimidated by it,” says Sam Zimmerman, a curator for the horror-streaming site Shudder. “The way the world is headed and our greatest fears about it — that people at the top will just tank us, essentially — is perfect for subversive storytelling.” Election Year (in theaters Fri-
“I’d like the audience to decide what metaphor I’m playing with about violence in our society. But I just didn’t know how topical it would become.” James DeMonaco
day) is a timely third chapter of writer/director James DeMonaco’s Purge series, which revolves around the government allowing all crime — from burglary to murder — to be legal for 12 anarchic hours once a year. In the new film, a senator (Elizabeth Mitchell) runs for the Oval Office on a platform that includes ridding the USA of this annual chaos, and she becomes a target for her proPurge opponents. “It takes time for someone to say, ‘What the (hell) are we doing? We need to stand up against this.’ Then the question becomes, ‘Well, how do we battle this? Do we do that with ideas or do we do that with guns?’ ” says DeMonaco, who wrote the Election Year script in 2014 — way before anyone could have anticipated the polarizing potential of the 2016 election. “I’d like the audience to decide what metaphor I’m playing with about violence in our society,” he says. “But I just didn’t know how
JONATHAN NACKSTRAND, AFP/GETTY IMAGES
CAUGHT IN THE ACT Pippa Middleton’s style was in full bloom at London’s All England Club Monday. The writer and younger sister to Duchess Kate was out for the opening day of Wimbledon sporting a floral print silk dress from British designer Suzannah, a perennial favorite of the duchess.
PIPPA AND JAMES MIDDLETON BY GETTY IMAGES
IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY WHO’S CELEBRATING TODAY?
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Killers in presidential masks give a creepy edge to the timely, politically tinged horror film The Purge: Election Year, in theaters Friday. anger and aggression and do something horrific to channel it,” Barton says. Audiences understand and respond to “that kind of revenge for (messing) with you all year.” 1970s films such as George Romero’s consumerism-tinged zombie movie Dawn of the Dead and Soylent Green, with its eerie take on the greenhouse effect and overpopulation, inspired DeMonaco’s original Purge. But other movies have bridged the politics/horror gap well, too, from The Omen series, in which the Antichrist grows up to be a Elizabeth political figure to stop the Second Mitchell is Coming, to The Dead Zone, about topical it would become.” a teacher (Christopher Walken) The two previous low-budget a senator who has psychic visions of a Purge films have been box office running for presidential candidate (Martin hits: The 2013 first chapter had a president on Sheen) bringing about a global domestic haul of $64.5 million, the platform and The Purge: Anarchy made of ridding the catastrophe. While the first Purge film felt $72 million a year later. For hor- USA of its fantastical at the time, “we’re livror news site DreadCentral.com annual night ing in a world where an actual editor in chief Steve Barton, they of unbridled character out of satire could be work because the premise taps chaos. president,” Zimmerman says. “It’s into an us-vs.-them mentality. “The Purge is filled with people still an extreme, but it does creep closer than we’d want it to.” who are looking to take out their
Judge in no hurry to wrap Prince estate List of those claiming inheritance is large WIREIMAGE; GETTY IMAGES
Mel Brooks is 90. Kathy Bates is 68. John Cusack is 50. Compiled by Jaleesa M. Jones
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Secret’s out Nationwide, the best time to hit the road for July Fourth holiday:
Saturday, before 7 a.m. or after 3 p.m.
NOTE In Sacramento, it’s best to escape Thursday. SOURCE Waze 2015 data TERRY BYRNE AND KARL GELLES, USA TODAY
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Untangling the tangled Prince estate case is going to take longer than expected, the probate judge indicated in Minnesota Monday. As would-be heirs to Prince Rogers Nelson’s millions and their small army of lawyers (nearly two dozen) huddled in court in Chaska, Minn., for a hearing, Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide said he was in no hurry to decide who can get a piece of the superstar’s fortune. The issue at the hearing is how to determine who is and who is not a relative who is eligible to inherit. Among other matters, DNA tests may be required of claimants under Minnesota law. Eide said it would take a while to make those decisions. And he said he may forward the questions to a higher court for legal
guidance, drawing out the process even longer. At the close of the hearing, he indicated his preliminary ruling won’t come for at least two weeks Prince died at his Paisley Park compound in Carver County outside Minneapolis on April 21, the result of an accidental painkiller overdose. His death is still under investigation by the local sheriff. No will has been found. The estate special administrator, Bremer Trust, examined thousands of boxes of documents in four locations, said David Crosby, attorney for the trust. “We’ve looked under every box lid. … The inquiry is coming to a close very soon,” Crosby said. With no will, it’s up to the judge to preside over the organization of Prince’s estate — believed to be worth hundreds of millions and growing every day — and its distribution to his heirs, not to mention preservation and marketing of his musical legacy. Besides his one full sister, Tyka Nelson, and a half-dozen known half-siblings or their descendants, others claiming to be half-siblings
ROBERTO SCHMIDT, AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Prince’s landmark Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 4, 2007. The singer died unexpectedly April 21 at age 57.
to Prince or his secret children have come forward. Brian Dillon, an attorney for Tyka Nelson, urged Eide to act quickly. “There is some urgency in determining who are the rightful heirs,” Dillon said. “We are now more than 21⁄2 months out from (Prince’s) death.” The estate faces a deadline in January to pay up to 57% of the total valuation in federal and state taxes; meanwhile, the estate cannot earn revenue from the marketing of Prince’s music until the heirs are named. “Delay can damage this estate. That’s a reality of this business,” said Ken Abdo, who represents three of Prince’s half-siblings. At least some of those claiming to be half-siblings (eligible to inherit under Minnesota law) have named as their mutual parent different men than Prince’s known father, John Nelson, who is deceased. Many would-be heirs have cited Minnesota law to demand that any discussion of their possible relationship to Prince take place behind closed doors. Eide has agreed to those demands.