The Oscar-nominated animated charmer “Robot Dreams” and Lindsay Lohan starring in the Christmas romantic comedy “Our Little Secret” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: HBO has a documentary about yacht rock, there's another entry in the reality genre of seniors looking for love called “The Later Daters” on Netflix and the Fab Four’ first trip to America is chronicled in the documentary, “Beatles '64.”
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This image released by Paramount+ shows Michael Fassbender in a scene from "The Agency." (Luke Varley/Paramount+ via AP)
This image released by Paramount+ shows Michael Fassbender in a scene from "The Agency." (Luke Varley/Paramount+ via AP)
This image released by Neon shows a scene from the animated film "Robot Dreams." (Neon via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Ben Stiller, left, and Arlo Janson in a scene from "Nutcrackers." (Ryan Green/Disney via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for music documentaries "Beatles '64," left, and "Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary." (Disney via AP, left, and Max via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for the series "The Madness," left, the film "Sweethearts," center, and the film "Nutcrackers." (Netflix/Max/Hulu via AP)
— “Robot Dreams,” the Oscar-nominated animated charmer about a dog and a robot, comes to Hulu on Tuesday. Associated Press Film Writer Jake Coyle called it “one of the best New York movies in years, not to mention a surprisingly mature tale of loving and losing for a movie where the effects of rust are quite central to the narrative.”
— Also arriving on Hulu shortly after, on Friday, Nov. 29, is the family comedy “Nutcrackers.” Ben Stiller plays a city guy who must go to the country to take care of his unruly orphaned nephews. It’s a return to comedy for “Pineapple Express” filmmaker David Gordon Green.
— “When Harry Met Sally” gets a modern update in the new romantic comedy “Sweethearts,” about childhood best friends whose relationship gets a little complicated in college. Starring Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga “Sweethearts,” debuting on Max on Thursday, is the feature directorial debut of “Dollhouse” creator Jordan Weiss.
— If you’re wondering why Lindsay Lohan seems to be everywhere lately, Netflix is the answer. The streamer has a new Christmas romantic comedy on the way, “Our Little Secret,” on Wednesday. The idea is that Lohan’s character is spending the holiday with her boyfriend’s family, only to discover that his sister is dating her ex.
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
— The Beatles’ first trip to America is chronicled in a new movie produced by Martin Scorsese, “Beatles ’64,” which streams on Disney+ on Friday, Nov. 29. The documentary uses never-before-seen and rare footage and drills down on the Fab Four’s milestone American visit, which included appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Washington Colosseum, and a meeting with Muhammad Ali. It offers interviews with David Lynch and Ronnie Spector as well as some of the women who as girls screamed outside the Beatles’ New York hotel. Its backbone is rare footage filmed by documentarians Albert and David Maysles of John, Paul, George and Ringo being exceedingly silly.
— Grab your captain's hat and fake mustache for a tour of yacht rock, the once dismissed musical genre that has found new love of late. HBO's revealing “Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” traces the rise of the music style — elevated pop music infused with jazz and R&B — from the perspective of its makers, including Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross. The documentary nicely connects yacht rock to the culture and music heritage, adding the creators of the web series who coined the label. Sail away on Friday, Nov. 29.
— Eric Clapton has a new live album and concert film, “Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023,” which captured the shows on Sept. 23-24, 2023, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Only Clapton could attract this level of musical talent to join him: Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, H.E.R., Los Lobos, John Mayer, Santana and The Wallflowers. The master of ceremonies is Bill Murray. This was the seventh installment of the festival after a four-year break. Guitar World hailed it as “a six-string celebration.”
— AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy
— When a CIA agent who goes by “Martian” (played by Michael Fassbender) returns to the London office after a long undercover job, the transition to real life is not an easy one in “The Agency.” The espionage thriller also stars Jodie Turner-Smith as a former love who complicates matters. “It’s the battle of his soul between what he does for a living and the relationships he has,” Fassbender told the AP. George Clooney is an executive producer. The story is based on a 2015 French espionage series called “The Bureau.” Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston and Richard Gere also star. “The Agency” premieres Friday, Nov. 29 on Paramount+ with Showtime.
— America first fell for the notion of people of a certain age finding love on ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor” and most recently “The Golden Bachelorette.” Netflix — and Michelle Obama, who is an executive producer — have jumped on the trend with a docuseries called “The Later Daters” debuting Friday, Nov. 29. Cameras follow six silver singles as they go on a series of blind dates to find love and companionship.
— Alicia Rancilio
— Colman Domingo stars in a new conspiracy thriller series “The Madness” as a CNN pundit who is framed for the murder of a white supremacist. It deals with misinformation and disinformation spread online about Domingo’s Muncie Daniels character, and the damage it can do to an individual and community. “The Madness” hits Netflix on Thursday.
— Ryan Pearson
— There are plenty of job simulators out there, but Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop is the first one I know of that also invites you to “ponder the futility of your existence.” You are a spaceship mechanic, so instead of flying around exploring strange new worlds, you’re stuck on a lonely asteroid tightening screws and replacing burnt-out wires. You also have to contend with a particularly demanding boss — one who might actually kill you if you don’t make your quota. The result, from British developer Beard Envy, is a mix of tricky, time-sensitive mechanical puzzles and surreal black comedy. Start choppin’ Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.
— Lou Kesten
This image released by Paramount+ shows Michael Fassbender in a scene from "The Agency." (Luke Varley/Paramount+ via AP)
This image released by Paramount+ shows Michael Fassbender in a scene from "The Agency." (Luke Varley/Paramount+ via AP)
This image released by Neon shows a scene from the animated film "Robot Dreams." (Neon via AP)
This image released by Disney shows Ben Stiller, left, and Arlo Janson in a scene from "Nutcrackers." (Ryan Green/Disney via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for music documentaries "Beatles '64," left, and "Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary." (Disney via AP, left, and Max via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for the series "The Madness," left, the film "Sweethearts," center, and the film "Nutcrackers." (Netflix/Max/Hulu via AP)
BEIRUT (AP) — Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks to end the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe.
Israel’s military has killed nearly all of the militant group’s top leaders, but it continues to fire missiles into Israel. Tens of thousands of Israelis who were evacuated from the border months ago are pressuring their government to go home. And the world wants to stop regional conflict from spreading after more than a year of fighting.
Following the latest visit to the region by a U.S. mediator, Israel hit central Beirut over the weekend, and Hezbollah responded with its biggest barrage in weeks as each applied pressure to reach a deal.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since the day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, setting off the war in Gaza.
Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago, then a ground invasion. More than 3,500 people in Lebanon have been killed, many of them civilians.
More than 70 have been killed in Israel, over 40 of them civilians. In addition, over 50 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive.
Here’s a look at the proposal and the sticking points.
The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.
The withdrawals would be accompanied by an influx of thousands more Lebanese army troops, who have been largely sidelined in the war, to patrol the border area along with an existing U.N. peacekeeping force.
An international committee would be set up to monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701, which was passed in 2006 to end a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah but never fully implemented. Hezbollah never ended its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon said Israel regularly violated its airspace and occupied small patches of its territory.
It is not clear whether a new deal would be any more successfully implemented than the one in 2006.
Michael Herzog, Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that the deal aimed to improve surveillance and enforcement of the previous resolution. While he said there were still certain points that needed to be finalized, a deal was close and could be clinched “within days.”
A U.S. official said negotiations continued to progress on Sunday, but the parties still need to work out some outstanding issues to close the deal. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private talks, declined declined to detail the outstanding issues.
Two Western diplomats described several points of dispute to The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss ongoing negotiations.
They said Israel was asking for more guarantees to ensure that Hezbollah’s weapons are removed from the border area. Israeli officials, concerned about the possibility of Hezbollah launching the kind of attack that Hamas carried out from Gaza into southern Israel, have said they would not agree to a ceasefire deal that doesn't explicitly grant them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believe Hezbollah is violating it.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the sensitive talks, said the issue remained a point of contention, although he said the talks were headed in a “positive direction.”
Lebanese officials have said agreeing to such a deal would violate Lebanon’s sovereignty. Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem has said the militant group would not agree to a deal that does not entail a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression” and does not protect Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Lebanon and Israel have also disagreed over which countries would sit on the international committee overseeing implementation of the deal and Resolution 1701.
In a sign of progress, Israel appeared to have dropped its opposition to France, which has remained close with Lebanon since its colonial rule there ended and has recently been at odds with Israel.
On Monday, an official familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes negotiations, said that France would be part of the monitoring committee. Lebanon’s deputy parliament speaker, Elias Bousaab, also said Israel had accepted France.
But Lebanon has refused to allow Britain, a close ally of Israel. It was unclear Monday if Lebanese officials had dropped their opposition following Israel’s concession.
Meanwhile, Israel does not want to enter into negotiations on 13 disputed points along the border as part of a ceasefire deal, the diplomats said.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, who has a contentious relationship with Israel's government, said Sunday during a visit to Lebanon that he's not convinced that Israel is “interested clearly in reaching an agreement for a ceasefire."
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest of Iran's armed proxies, is expected to significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of war between Israel and Iran directly. It's not clear how it would affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it has now dropped that condition.
One diplomat said there are fears that if no ceasefire is reached, the war will expand further into Syria and Iraq as Israel attempts to cut off the supply of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. Israel has carried out regular airstrikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and has threatened to strike in Iraq, where Iran-backed militias have periodically launched drone attacks on Israel.
Geir Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria, said during a visit to Damascus on Sunday that ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon are critical to “avoid Syria being dragged even further into the conflict.”
Meanwhile, analysts say Hezbollah has been weakened but continues to keep up steady fire into Israel, including strikes far from the border.
On Sunday, Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, wounding seven people in one of the militant group’s heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut. Violent clashes continue in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces attempt to take control of strategic towns.
Israel says its goal in the war with Hezbollah is to enable displaced Israelis to safely return home. In Lebanon, a quarter the population has been displaced, and parts of the country, particularly in south Lebanon and areas south of the capital Beirut, have been destroyed.
In Lebanon, where officials and residents are anxious for war to end, an initial rush of optimism dissipated after the Biden administration’s point man on Israel and Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, left the region last week without a deal.
Many now believe no agreement will be reached before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.
Find more of AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
A man walks past a damaged building after a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A member of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Civil Defense worker uses a skid loader to remove the rubble in front of a destroyed building that was hit Sunday night in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Residents pass in front of a destroyed building that was hit Sunday night in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man checks his damaged apartment which was resulted from Sunday's Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli soldiers take cover on the side of the road during an alert of incoming rockets, near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel Sunday Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A man stands in front of a destroyed building after Sunday's Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
