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Health

Winter flu season could possibly be large, specialists warn

Winter flu season could be big, experts warn

Medics in a pneumonia ward in the Philippines.

Ezra Acayan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

LONDON – Mass vaccination campaigns are being carried out in the developed world, but many countries are still grappling with spikes in coronavirus infections and new strains, such as the highly infectious Delta variant.

And now health experts are warning the public that a very difficult flu season could also be ahead.

“There is great uncertainty about the 2021-2022 flu season,” epidemiologist Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas’ Covid-19 modeling consortium, told CNBC.

“As with Covid, when someone recovers from a seasonal flu infection, they retain a certain level of immunity, at least for a short time, which protects them from future infections. Since our covid containment measures prevented the flu from spreading over the past year, there aren’t “a whole lot of people who recently got infected,” she said.

“So we can enter the flu season with a higher vulnerability than usual, which could exacerbate the risks,” she added.

Meyers believes that whether the flu season is more severe this year or not could depend on how the virus evolves as well as decisions on a personal level.

“As we have learned from the past 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, the choices we make as individuals and communities can have a huge impact on the fate of an outbreak. We can and should do our part to prevent a disastrous flu season “by getting vaccinated early this fall and taking sensible precautions if and when the virus spreads widespread,” she said.

“Our experience with Covid can lead to behavior changes that work in our favor. People may be more willing to take flu vaccines and wear face masks or take other precautions to prevent transmission during high season.”

Get ready

The alarm about a potentially bad winter flu season was raised in June by Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer.

“Either we will have a very significant increase in Covid, people will minimize their contacts and we will have less respiratory virus, or people will go back to a more normal life, there will be some Covids, but beyond that we will go back to” one Flu surge, an RSV surge (Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms) in children, and so on. “

“I think we have to be aware and adjust to the fact that the coming winter can be a difficult one,” he said.

Flu numbers from the US and England show that influenza cases have decreased during the pandemic, largely due to the social distancing measures in place, which are helping to stop the transmission. During the 2019-2020 flu season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that influenza and pneumonia (a life-threatening flu complication that often affects the elderly) will be linked to 38 million illnesses, 405,000 hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths . The CDC stressed that the numbers are only estimates.

But regarding the 2020-2021 season, the CDC told CNBC that due to the low level of influenza activity last winter, there wasn’t enough flu or flu-related hospitalizations in the United States to use a model to estimate US flu exposure for 2020- 2021. “

“We can say that the low level of flu activity during the 2020-2021 season has contributed to dramatically fewer flu cases, hospital admissions and deaths compared to previous flu seasons,” Lynnette Brammer, team leader of the CDC’s domestic influenza surveillance team, told CNBC on Tuesday.

“For example, in the three seasons leading up to the pandemic, the peak percentage of respiratory viruses that tested positive for flu every week was between 26.2% and 30.3%. However, last season, the percentage of respiratory viruses that tested positive for flu remained lower than “0.4% during each week of a typical flu season.”

In England and Wales for comparison, deaths from influenza and pneumonia in 2018 were 29,516 in England and Wales and 26,398 in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics. Similar to the US, there was a sharp drop in 2020 with 15,437 deaths related to (and due to) influenza and pneumonia.

Whitty’s comments were taken up by Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London who has also advised the UK government on its Covid strategy.

He agreed that “seasonal influenza is likely to be a major problem” when it comes fall and winter.

“All the measures we have taken against Covid around the world have brought the flu to a very low level and basically no one got the flu in the last year, so the immunity has dropped a little … I think we have to go to one Be prepared for potentially quite significant flu. “Epidemic later this year,” he told the BBC show “Today” in late June.

What’s coming?

It’s hard to predict what will happen during the 2021-22 flu season, said CDC’s Brammer, but the CDC is “preparing for flu virus circulation to return to pre-pandemic levels” as some respiratory viruses are already circulating again Pre-pandemic stages.

“We think something similar could happen with the flu, especially as community efforts to contain it continue to relax. , which also circulated at a low level in the 2020-2021 season, is increasing. This increase is outside of the typical season, “she noted.

Several factors “could make the upcoming flu season more severe than usual,” Brammer said:

  • Antibodies that protect against flu decrease over time.
  • Immunity to a flu shot decreases faster than immunity to a natural infection.
  • Since there was little flu virus activity last season, the immunity of adults (especially those who were not vaccinated last season) now depends on exposure to virus two or more seasons earlier.
  • Young children also have lower immunity to the flu. They may not have previously been vaccinated or have had natural exposure. If children return to school and potentially become infected, there could be a higher number of children who have not previously been exposed to the flu and therefore have lower immunity, which could exacerbate illness.

“We know that the flu shot is still the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from the flu and its potentially serious complications,” added Brammer.

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Entertainment

Now Sparks Can Confuse Followers on the Massive Display screen

Now Sparks Can Confuse Fans on the Big Screen

Sparks is a band unlike any other. Ron and Russell Mael — the brothers who have made up the eccentric, unclassifiable duo for more than 50 years — have played a pivotal, if unheralded, role in multiple musical movements, from glam rock to new wave to synth-pop.

Their witty, hyper-literate songs, along with the singer Russell’s good looks and keyboardist Ron’s deadpan, glowering stage presence, made Sparks icons of a sort in Europe, but never more than a cult band in the United States. With 25 albums to their name, they have often followed up their biggest moments with radical shifts in style that thrilled loyal fans but baffled more casual listeners.

In 2017, the music-obsessed director Edgar Wright, fresh off the success of “Baby Driver,” went to see Sparks perform in Los Angeles. For years, he had been telling his friends that someone needed to make a documentary about the group, and as he looked at the audience, which ranged from teenagers to graying 60-somethings, and the weird mix of celebrities in attendance, he insistently repeated the idea to his friend, the filmmaker Phil Lord — who told him to make the movie himself.

“I thought, if not me, then who would do it?” Wright said in a recent video conversation.

Four years later, “The Sparks Brothers” is reaching theaters, an exhaustive, proudly overstuffed two-hour-20-minute celebration of a group described in the film as “successful, underrated, hugely influential and overlooked at the same time.” In addition to interviews with the enigmatic Maels, Wright conducted 80 interviews, talking with Sparks fans like Beck, Flea, members of Duran Duran, Mike Myers and Neil Gaiman, as well as collaborators and associates.

One theme in the documentary is the Maels’ lifelong interest in film, and their multiple near-misses in trying to bring their music to the big screen, including a proposed collaboration with the French comedian Jacques Tati and a project with Tim Burton. So it’s ironic that just weeks after “The Sparks Brothers” arrives, they have another movie release: “Annette,” a musical written by the Maels, directed by Leos Carax, and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. The story of a comedian and opera singer who give birth to a daughter with a “unique gift,” it will open the Cannes Film Festival in July.

“Even before we had a band, the merging of music and movies just seemed so perfect,” Ron, 75, said, adding, “To be sitting on a movie set in Brussels and watching Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard singing something you wrote — it’s surreal, way beyond what we expected.” (Carax was unavailable for comment.)

Wright presented his idea to the Maels that night he saw them onstage, but they expressed some trepidation, for the same reasons they had turned down previous offers for a documentary.

“We always say that we don’t like looking back because we think it kind of paralyzes you,” said Russell, 72, encapsulating the constant creative forward motion that has defined the band’s oddly incomparable history. “The proposition of doing a documentary is kind of the opposite of that, and in our minds we thought, is it like an obituary in some sense?”

During a video call, Russell added that the endurance of the Maels’ partnership also seemed potentially problematic. “Sparks’ story isn’t the standard fare of a lot of music documentaries,” he said. “There’s no drug casualties, we don’t have that conflict of other bands with brothers in the band — so are there enough dramatic elements to make it interesting?”

To Wright, on the contrary, their perseverance was exactly the point. “That’s the inspiring part,” he said. “Every other band story is about people squandering their talent, and at a certain point you lose sympathy. The fact that Sparks have lasted so long is partly because they’re always close to success but never mainstream. They’ve managed to exist in this sweet spot where they can keep going, but they never have to sell out.”

Join Times theater reporter Michael Paulson in conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda, catch a performance from Shakespeare in the Park and more as we explore signs of hope in a changed city. For a year, the “Offstage” series has followed theater through a shutdown. Now we’re looking at its rebound.

To the surprise of many, the Maels were born not in Britain, but in Southern California, and were even star athletes in high school. They started playing in groups while attending the University of California, Los Angeles, inspired by the spiky spirit of the Who and the Kinks and by French New Wave cinema. Their band, Halfnelson, was championed by Todd Rundgren, but their 1971 debut album flopped. (Closing a circle, Sparks and Rundgren released the new song “Your Fandango” earlier this year.) They moved to England in 1973, after taking on the name Sparks.

That was the start of a crazy roller coaster career (including an appearance in the 1977 disaster movie flop “Rollercoaster”). The dramatic “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” reached No. 2 on the British charts in 1974. After hooking up with pioneering disco producer Giorgio Moroder, “The Number One Song in Heaven” (1979) was not only a huge club record, but also created a blueprint for dance-based electro-pop of acts like the Human League and New Order.

Sparks’ theatrical presentation, from their album covers to their stage production, added to the allure. “What really stuck with me,” Wright said, “is these two performers who were staring down the camera at you, in sharp contrast to a lot of acts who would smile — it was quite unnerving.”

Their most notorious signature is Ron’s mustache, alternately compared with that of Adolf Hitler or Charlie Chaplin. In Paul McCartney’s 1980 music video for “Coming Up,” in which he dresses as an array of rock stars from Buddy Holly to Frank Zappa, he appears behind a keyboard with Ron’s unmistakable scowl and facial hair.

Teaming up with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s, who was dating Russell at the time, Sparks had a genuine MTV hit in 1983 with “Cool Places.” By the time the lush, pulsing “When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Way’” was the top airplay record of 1994 in Germany, they were being accused of copying the artists they had inspired.

But most of these hits were followed with rapid musical left turns, as if the group was eager to shed any expectations that might come with popular success. In “The Sparks Brothers,” Ron says, “we think it’s important to do something that’s polarizing.”

Sometimes the results are gloriously weird (in “My Baby’s Taking Me Home,” the lyrics consist of the title phrase repeated more than 100 times), and sometimes they’re more confrontational: When a label executive suggested they make an album of music to dance to, they responded with a record titled “Music You Can Dance To” (the label dropped them), and when the idea of a project with the band Franz Ferdinand surfaced, the first song they sent to the other group was called “Collaborations Don’t Work.” (The resulting 2015 album, “FFS,” was a major critical success.)

Both Maels, though, deny that there’s anything willfully destructive in their musical choices. “Within pop music, within three-minute songs, the exciting thing is to see how you can reshape the formula and still come up with something provocative that hasn’t been done,” Russell said. “You’re always searching for that new thing you can impose on the givens of pop music — that’s when the change becomes something exciting, and not just because we want to say we’re chameleons all the time.”

The portrait that emerges in “The Sparks Brothers” is of musicians fully dedicated to their work — even in the years when Sparks didn’t have a record deal, the Maels continued to write and record with almost monastic discipline. “I don’t think it’s especially praiseworthy that even in those periods when things around us were kind of dire, we were working on the music,” Ron said. “There isn’t an alternative; that kind of work ethic is all that there is. At this point, we have an excuse and we could say we’re too old, but that’s a part of our DNA.”

Wright said this example of artistic commitment beyond the pursuit of commercial success is the true intention of the film. “I hope that for people with creative ambitions, the lesson that comes out is to stay true to your beliefs, because really it’s about the persistence of vision,” he said. “Especially in this climate when musicians are having the hardest time they’ve ever had, I hope the documentary shows a way to do it.”

Meanwhile, the Mael brothers have not slowed down. Last year, their album “A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip” became their fourth British Top 10 entry, and they plan to tour the United States, Europe and Japan in early 2022, alongside the release of a new album. They have a “very brash” sequel to “Annette” they will be pitching during the Cannes festival, and still hope to make an animated film of their 2010 radio musical, “The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman.”

The experience of “The Sparks Brothers” has given the perpetually evolving Sparks a different attitude about revisiting their life’s work.

“We’ve always said that we dispose of everything immediately after the moment,” Ron said. “But with this specific representation, we have to admit that perhaps some of those judgments were wrong. This way of presenting our legacy is the one way we want to be remembered.”

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Health

Lifelong Train Provides As much as Massive Well being Care Financial savings

Lifelong Exercise Adds Up to Big Health Care Savings

Now scientists at the National Cancer Institute kept records for 21,750 of the volunteers and began grouping them by training session, noting changes over the decades. Did these men and women start exercising more or less often as young adults at the age of 20? Did you start or stop training in middle age? Or have they been continuously active their entire life – or vice versa?

Then the researchers compared these groups and at least a year of their eventual Medicare claims. And they found remarkable differences.

Those men and women who reported doing moderate physical activity throughout their adult lives, walking for a few hours most weeks, or doing other physical activity saved after they turned 65.

Interestingly, another group who said they changed their routines and increased their exercise frequency in their twenties made even more money from their workouts and saved an average of $ 1,874 a year on health care after age 65. These exercisers then left their increased routines in middle age glided and reduced the frequency with which they exercised in their 40s and 50s.

These data suggest that active behavior at a young age could have particularly strong and persistent effects on our health care costs as we age.

But waiting until middle age to get active also proved beneficial in this study. People who did more exercise after age 40 later spent an average of $ 824 less on health care than their inactive peers.

In other words, “It’s never too late to start exercising,” says Diarmuid Coughlan, a research fellow at Newcastle University in England who led the new study as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute.

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Health

Theranos is historical past, however massive blood testing breakthroughs are coming

Theranos is history, but big blood testing breakthroughs are coming

Medical researchers say within a few years major breakthroughs in blood testing technology that use immune system response and genetic analysis to identify disease quickly and cost-effectively will be on the market.

picture alliance | picture alliance | Getty Images

One morning last May, Tayah Fernandes’s mother Shannon realized her four-year-old daughter was seriously unwell, and rushed her to the nearest ER in the English city of Manchester. The coronavirus had crashed onto Britain’s shores weeks earlier, and emergency doctors were initially uncertain how best to treat Tayah’s constellation of symptoms, which included stomach pains and a bright red rash.

They gave her antibiotics for a suspected bacterial infection, but her condition only worsened, her fever spiking. For her parents, for any parents, this was the ultimate medical nightmare; doctors in the dark for days over the cause of their daughter’s illness.

Eventually, after further blood tests, physicians decided Tayah was suffering from an unusual inflammatory syndrome that pediatric infectious disease specialists had only just started to see, but suspected had links to Sars-COV-2.

Young patients across the U.K. and U.S. were arriving in intensive care units with symptoms similar to another disease doctors already recognized, called Kawasaki. But they had no guarantee that the same course of treatment — injecting a solution of donors’ antibodies into the bloodstream — would prove successful.

In Tayah’s case the antibodies solution, known as immunoglobulin, worked, to her parents’ relief. But at around that same time last May a team of researchers at Imperial College, London confirmed through complex analyses of blood samples, taken from patients like Tayah, that this was indeed a new disease, distinct from Kawasaki.

Hunting inside immune system response to bacteria, virus

A related breakthrough in that same laboratory, focused specifically on the way individual genes behave, could have seismic implications for a multi-billion dollar diagnostics sector that has received unprecedented attention from patients, regulators and the business world over the course of this pandemic.

A new method for identifying a specific illness from blood samples relies on the correlation between the activity in small set of genes, which represents the immune response, and specific pathogens that cause a specific disease — just as the poliovirus causes polio, the coronavirus (SARS-COV-2, a pathogen) causes Covid-19. Scientists believe that by studying a small number of genes, they can quickly discern which pathogen is in a patient’s system, what disease they have, and so how best to treat them. 

Companies from small research university spin-offs to industry giants like Abbott Laboratories and Danaher’s Cepheid are looking to build on two decades of research into the way our own immune systems naturally respond to foreign substances in our bodies, including pathogens like bacteria or viruses. A current technology like Cepheid’s GeneXpert technology is able to distinguish between the different RNA of various viruses, such as SARS-COV-2, or a particular influenza strain, but experts say it’s become increasingly clear that our body’s immune systems can be faster, more accurate detection systems. 

Historically, doctors have had to rely on a patient’s case history and symptoms to narrow down the cause of an illness and develop a treatment plan. More recently, laboratory inspections at the molecular level such as the Cepheid technology have allowed clinicians to identify specific pathogens in nasal mucus, throat swabs or blood samples that might have caused an illness. But hunting for bacteria or a virus in this way can be time-consuming, costly and sometimes simply ineffective. The specific RNA signature of a virus can be hard to detect.

Abbott and Cepheid did not respond to requests for comment.

More from CNBC’s Healthy Returns

The team at Imperial College, London, working separately but at the same time as several counterparts around the world, are now convinced that future diagnoses can soon be conducted using table-top tests that will take just a matter of minutes.

These tests would not explicitly screen for a specific pathogen, but instead, allow scientists and medical professionals to simply watch how specific genes in the body are behaving as an indication of how an immune system is already responding to a pathogen that may not be easily otherwise detectable. 

Imperial College professor Mike Levin currently leads an ongoing European Union-funded study focused on this potential, called “Diamonds.” In recent years he and other scientists have shown how the observed activity in a small number of our genes can work as a kind of shorthand for our body’s immune response to a pathogen. If a handful of specific genes out of thousands in a blood sample are seen to be activated — or the opposite, inhibited — it can indicate that a person is preparing to fight off a specific pathogen.

We think this is a completely revolutionary way of doing medical diagnosis.

Imperial College professor Mike Levin

Levin and colleagues already have a proof of concept for this diagnostic approach after studies involving thousands of patients with fever caused by tuberculosis, and hundreds of Kawasaki patients. And his Imperial College team’s work with the “Diamonds” study are starting to bear fruit and could help identify the distinct immunological markers of illnesses like the coronavirus-linked multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children like Tayah Fernandes, now commonly known as MIS-C. 

When Covid-19 turned up in multiple locations, with MIS-C in its wake, it presented Levin and his researchers with an unprecedented opportunity to test this technique on an entirely new disease.

In the future, these tests — by relying on huge amounts of data and machine learning — should be able to produce multi-class rather than just binary results. This means they could confirm not only if a pathogen is bacterial or viral, or whether someone has a specific disease or not, but could distinguish which one of a multitude of illnesses is afflicting their patient.

In short, Levin expects that by examining the behavior of a relatively small number of genes, clinicians will be able to assign patients to all the major disease classes within an hour.

“We think this is a completely revolutionary way of doing medical diagnosis,” Levin said. He expects the research will provide the basis for new technology, but has no financial interest in any business related to it. 

Rather than what he calls the “stepwise process” of first eliminating bacterial infections, treating for the most common conditions, and then doing more investigation, “this idea is the very first blood test can tell you, has the patient got an infection or not an infection, and what group of infection that is, right down to the individual pathogens.”

Purvesh Khatri, an associate professor at the Stanford Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection and Department of Medicine, says our immune systems have been evolving for millennia to combat pathogens, and so it may prove more effective, and efficient, to examine the response of our bodies.

“We didn’t have a technology, until now, that could measure a set of genes in a rapid point of care way,” he said. “But in the last couple of years, there have been enough technologies available that now allow us to measure a few genes in a rapid multiplex point of care assay way.”

While neither the FDA nor any European regulators have approved these kinds of gene-based pathogen detection systems, Khatri, who is helping launch a related commercial venture, says they’re coming soon. “In the next year or two, there will be several that will be available on the market.”

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Business

AMC recordsdata to promote 11 million shares, then provides up huge inventory acquire

Meme stock AMC extends rally, jumps 17% as theater chain sells new shares

AMC Entertainment said Thursday it plans to sell more than 11 million shares amid the trading frenzy in its stock.

“In accordance with the terms of the Distribution Agreement, we may, through our sales agents, offer and sell from time to time up to an aggregate of 11,550,000 shares of our Class A common stock,” AMC said in an SEC filing.

Shares of AMC dropped 11% on Thursday and was briefly halted for volatility. AMC shares were up more than 20% in premarket trading before news of the stock sale.

AMC later said it completed its new stock offering announced just this morning, raising $587.4 million in additional capital.

AMC Entertainment is garnering attention from WallStreetBets traders in recent weeks, pushing the stock up nearly 140% this week to an all-time high of $62.55 on Wednesday. AMC is up 512% this quarter and a whopping 2,850% this year. The market value has ballooned to above $31 billion.

“We believe that the recent volatility and our current market prices reflect market and trading dynamics unrelated to our underlying business, or macro or industry fundamentals, and we do not know how long these dynamics will last,” the company said in the filing. “Under the circumstances, we caution you against investing in our Class A common stock, unless you are prepared to incur the risk of losing all or a substantial portion of your investment.”

In a parallel to the epic short squeeze of GameStop in January, short-sellers have increased their bets against AMC shares over the last month, possibly fueling the move higher. About 18% of the AMC shares available for trading were still sold short through Wednesday, according to S3 Partners.

AMC has embraced its new status as a meme stock. On Wednesday, the company launched AMC Investor Connect for its retail investors, providing them with exclusive promotions like a free tub of popcorn and direct communications with CEO Adam Aron, who has been dubbed “Silverback.”

The encouragement of retail traders comes as the company moves to sell millions of shares into the market to raise capital. In typical times, a share sale from a company hurts the stock price in the short term as it dilutes the number of share outstanding.

AMC said it plans to use the money from the stock sale for “general corporate purposes,” which may include paying down existing debt and acquisition of theater assets.

 B. Riley Securities and Citigroup Global Markets are AMC’s sale agents for the stock sale.

Separately, AMC on Tuesday announced a sale of 8.5 million shares to Mudrick Capital at approximately $27.12 per share — worth about $230.5 million. Despite that share sale, the stock continued to go higher as retail investors cheered the capital raise.

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Business

‘It’s Going to Be a Large Summer time for Arduous Seltzer’

‘It’s Going to Be a Big Summer for Hard Seltzer’

The music should be pumping and the burgers and jerk chicken wings flying out of the kitchen this holiday weekend at the Rambler Kitchen and Tap in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago.

To wash it down, patrons might go with a mixed drink or one of the 20 craft beers the bar sells. But many will order a hard seltzer. The Rambler expects to sell close to 500 cans in flavors like peach, pineapple and grapefruit pomelo.

“We’ll sell a lot of buckets of White Claw and Truly seltzers,” said Sam Stone, a co-owner of the Rambler. “It’s going to be a big summer for hard seltzer.”

The Memorial Day weekend kicks off what many hope will be a more normal summer, when kids start counting down the number of days left in school, people head back to the beach and grills heat up for backyard parties that went poof last year because of the pandemic. And for the hard seltzer industry, it’s the start of a dizzying period when dozens of old and new competitors vie to be the boozy, bubbly drink of the season.

A grown-up cousin to fizzy seltzer waters like LaCroix, alcoholic hard seltzers became a sensation before the pandemic, racking up around $500 million in sales in 2018, according to NielsenIQ. But in the past year, when people couldn’t go to their favorite bars and restaurants, they picked up cases and cases of the drinks at liquor and grocery stores, sending revenues soaring to more than $4 billion in 2020.

Analysts are betting that another big wave of seltzer buying will hit this summer. Nik Modi, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, notes that hard seltzers are popular at group gatherings, which largely didn’t happen last year.

“This summer,” Mr. Modi said, “is going to be a completely different ballgame.” He and others predict that annual sales will top $8 billion over the next four years.

Dave Burwick, the chief executive of Boston Beer, said on CNBC last year that the growth of hard seltzers was the biggest shift in the beer industry since light beers were widely introduced in the 1970s. Boston Beer, the company behind Sam Adams, also makes Truly Hard Seltzer.

While White Claw and Truly — the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of hard seltzer — capture about 70 percent of the market, everyone wants in on the action, drawn by the staggering growth. Old-school beer companies, spirits giants, winemakers and others are fermenting sugar solutions and adding seasonal flavors like watermelon, black cherry and strawberry lemonade to create their own buzzy concoctions. (Care for passion fruit-orange-guava?) They’re also trying to outdo one another by coming up with new variations, like so-called spiked seltzers that use rum or tequila, seltzers with antioxidants or even “hard coffee.”

Boston Beer introduced Truly Iced Tea Hard Seltzer this year and a few weeks ago released an ad campaign with the British pop singer Dua Lipa. This spring, the hip-hop star Travis Scott released Cacti, a seltzer made with blue agave syrup, in a partnership with Anheuser-Busch. It quickly sold out in many locations.

“People were lining up outside of the stores to buy Cacti and share pictures of themselves with their carts full of Cacti,” said Marcel Marcondes, the chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch.

Also this spring, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer was released. A partnership between Coca-Cola and Molson Coors Beverage, it hit shelves in 16 markets across the country, chasing the cult following of Topo Chico’s seltzer water in the South.

“I feel like I can walk into a party saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I brought the Topo Chico,’” said Dane Cardiel, 32, who works in business development for a podcast company and lives in Esopus, N.Y., about 60 miles south of Albany.

Today in Business

Updated 

May 28, 2021, 12:54 p.m. ET

How flavored bubbly water with alcohol became a national phenomenon is partly due to social media videos that went viral and clever marketing that sold hard seltzers as a “healthier” alcohol choice.

White Claw’s slim cans prominently state that the drinks contain only 100 calories, are gluten free and have only two grams each of carbohydrates and sugar. The brand is owned by the Canadian billionaire Anthony von Mandl, who created Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

“The health and wellness element is front and center in terms of the visual marketing,” said Vivien Azer, an analyst at the Cowen investment firm. “Every brand’s packaging features its relatively low carb and sugar data.”

On top of that, the alcohol content in most hard seltzers, about 5 percent, or the same as 12 ounces of a typical beer, is less than a glass of wine or a mixed drink. That makes it easier for people to sip at a party or while watching a game without getting intoxicated or winding up with the belly-full-of-beer feeling.

“It’s a nice drink for an afternoon on the patio,” said Shelley Majeres, the general manager of Blake Street Tavern in downtown Denver. “You can drink four or five of them in an afternoon and not have a big hangover or get really drunk.”

Blake Street, an 18,000-square-foot sports bar, started selling hard seltzers two years ago. Today, they make up about 20 percent of its can and bottle sales.

The industry has also neatly sidestepped the gender issue that plagued earlier, lighter alcoholic alternatives like Zima, which became popular with women but struggled to be adopted by men.

“I’ve got just as many men as women drinking it,” said Nick Zeto, the owner of Boston Beer Garden in Naples, Fla. “And it started with the millennials, but now I have people in their 40s, 50s and 60s ordering it.”

That kind of broad appeal is attractive to beer, wine and spirits companies.

“We view ourselves as the challenger brand,” said Michelle St. Jacques, the chief marketing officer of Molson Coors, which has been making beer since the late 1700s but hopes to end this year with 10 percent of the hard seltzer market.

Last spring, the company released Vizzy, a hard seltzer that contains vitamin C. Topo Chico came this spring. “We feel like we’re making great progress in seltzer by not trying to bring me-too products, but rather products and brands that have a clear difference,” Ms. St. Jacques said.

While grocery and liquor stores have made plenty of space available to the hard seltzer brands that people drink at home, the competition to get into restaurants and bars is fierce. Most want to offer only two or three brands to their customers.

“Oh, my god, I get presented with new hard seltzer whenever they can get my attention,” said Mr. Stone, who sells six brands at the Rambler. The crowd favorite, he said, is the vodka-based High Noon Sun Sips peach, made by E.&J. Gallo Winery. “Everybody, from the big brands to small, new ones, are getting into the hard seltzer game.”

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Business

The Week in Enterprise: Biden’s Large Funds

The Week in Business: Biden’s Big Budget

Good morning and have a nice Memorial Day weekend. Here are the biggest business and tech stories you should know for the coming (short) week. – Charlotte Cowles

Exxon Mobil suffered a surprise defeat when climate activist investors won at least two seats on its 12-member board of directors on Wednesday. The investors are part of a small new hedge fund called Engine No. 1, which aims to lead businesses to greener initiatives and away from fossil fuels. The campaign faces an uphill battle in the energy industry, but this latest victory could lead more Wall Street investment firms to face climate change. In addition to the momentum, a Dutch court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, is not working fast enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and needs to redouble its efforts.

For the past three weeks, Apple has been vigorously (and dearly) defending itself in federal court against an antitrust lawsuit from Epic Games, the maker of the popular video game Fortnite. The case focused on whether Apple abused its market power by receiving a 30 percent commission on sales from its iPhone app store – and penalizing Epic for trying to bypass Apple and Fortnite’s in-app purchases sell directly to customers. The verdict is now in the hands of the judge, who said she hoped to deliver a verdict by August. If Apple loses, it could lead to more antitrust proceedings against Big Tech.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the 97-year-old film and television studio that once embodied a golden era in Hollywood, has sold itself to today’s epitome of modern commerce: Amazon. Many of MGM’s classics were sold years ago, but it brings a famous franchise – James Bond – that gives Amazon a new edge over streaming competitors like Netflix, HBO Max, and Apple TV +. That benefit cost Amazon $ 8.45 billion, about 40 percent more than other potential buyers, including Apple and Comcast, were willing to pay.

Google is working with hospital chain HCA Healthcare to develop algorithms for patient care by dismantling health records. The algorithms are designed to improve patient monitoring, guide doctors’ decisions for better outcomes, streamline operations, and even develop new treatments. But progress comes at a cost, of course: patient privacy. HCA said its patient records would no longer contain identifying information before Google data scientists were given access to it. However, the terms of the contract were not made public.

President Biden proposed a $ 6 trillion budget for fiscal 2022, which provides a map of long-term investments in his administration’s economic priorities – such as infrastructure, education, and green energy – for the next decade. The proposal, which is more of a wish-list at this point, would bring the United States to the highest sustainable federal spending level since World War II. Mr Biden has announced that he will pay for his agenda through tax hikes for businesses and high earners, but the plan also sees large budget deficits for at least a decade. The budget provides for unemployment below 4 percent and stable inflation.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with the Group of Seven Treasury Ministers in London later this week to discuss the nations’ next steps towards global economic recovery. Up to date: helping international access and spreading vaccines, improving public health to prevent future pandemics, and building more climate-friendly economies. Ms. Yellen has a similar agenda at home, and it’s a handful. Prior to leaving, she asked for more funds from the Treasury Department to oversee several key US economic recovery efforts.

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Business

Foster Friess, Massive Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, Big Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, a Wyoming businessman who founded an investment firm, made a fortune and gave a lot of it away to Republican presidential candidates and charities, sometimes with flair, died on Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 81.

His organization, Foster’s Outriders, which confirmed the death, said he had been receiving care at the Mayo Clinic there for myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder of the blood cells and bone marrow.

On Twitter, Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming, who defeated Mr. Friess in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2018, called Mr. Friess “a strong and steady voice for Republican and Christian values.”

Mr. Friess’s run for governor was his only try at major elected office. In the political arena he was primarily known for his donations, particularly to the presidential bids of Rick Santorum, the former United States senator from Pennsylvania, in the 2012 and 2016 campaigns. After Mr. Santorum left the 2016 race, Mr. Friess became one of the first Republican megadonors to embrace Donald J. Trump.

But to many, the most important support that Mr. Friess, an evangelical Christian, and his wife, Lynnette, provided was to charities. Foster’s Outriders and the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Foundation have provided scholarships, financed work for homeless people, supported water projects in Africa and much more. His organization said Mr. Friess had donated $500 million in his lifetime.

His 70th-birthday party in 2010 in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he lived much of the year, was the stuff of legend. The website wyofile.com described it in 2011:

“In the invitations to the party, Friess, a born-again Christian, had asked the guests to identify their favorite charity that reflected the values of his favorite quote from Galatians: ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.’ He vowed to give $70,000 to the most worthy nominee.”

When the time came to announce the winner, the servers at the Four Seasons Resort, where the party was being held, distributed envelopes to the guests.

“Friess asked the lucky winner to stand up and shout, and for the other guests to remain seated,” the account continued. “Then he sat back and waited for the mayhem.”

As people opened the envelopes, someone at every table stood and shouted, “I won!” He had funded every request, at a cost of $7.7 million.

Foster Stephen Friess was born on April 2, 1940, in Rice Lake, Wis. His father, Albert, was a cattle rancher, and his mother, Ethel (Foster) Friess, was a homemaker.

“I came from nothing,” he told The New York Times in 2018 during his campaign for governor when asked if he himself might be considered one of the “elites” he was railing against. “My mom dropped out of school in eighth grade to pick cotton and save the family farm. My dad had a high school education.”

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in business administration and served in the Army as an intelligence officer for a guided-missile brigade at Fort Bliss in Texas.

After working in finance for several years, he founded the investment management firm Friess Associates in 1974 and was soon regarded as a first-rate stock picker. His flagship asset, the Brandywine Fund, swelled to more than $15 billion. He sold a controlling interest in Friess Associates to the Affiliated Managers Group in 2001.

On the political side, Mr. Friess did more than support candidates. In 2010, he was a founding investor in The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel’s conservative news and opinion website.

In 2012 Mr. Friess supported Mr. Santorum not so much because he agreed with all his policies — “I try to talk him out of them,” he told the broadcaster Lou Dobbs in February 2012 — but because he thought the Republican Party needed a new face.

“These old veteran war horses, they have a hard time making it,” he said on “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” “Dole couldn’t make it, McCain couldn’t make it. On the Democratic side, Gore couldn’t make it and Kerry couldn’t make it. So the Democrats bring these fresh faces, they bring Carter from out of nowhere, they bring Clinton from out of nowhere, they bring Obama from beyond nowhere.”

Later that month Mr. Friess made headlines when, on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell asked him whether Mr. Santorum’s statements on “the dangers of contraception” would hurt his campaign.

“Back in my days,” Mr. Friess said, “they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

Mr. Santorum’s primary campaign started strong but foundered, and Mr. Obama was elected to a second term, defeating Mitt Romney.

In the next presidential campaign, Mr. Friess also supported Mr. Santorum initially. In mid-2015, with the Republican field choked with candidates and the nastiness level increasing, he called on the candidates not to “drift off the civility reservation.”

In May 2016, with Mr. Santorum out of the race and Mr. Trump having secured the Republican nomination, Mr. Friess threw his support to the Trump cause, though acknowledging that Mr. Trump had advanced by showing the very incivility he had decried — something he expected would change to a more presidential tenor.

“Donald’s strategy seems to work,” Mr. Friess told CNN that month, “but I’m convinced he’s going to shift.”

Mr. Friess supported Mr. Trump throughout his administration, and when he ran for governor, the Trump family tried to return the favor — the president’s son Donald Jr. endorsed him in an opinion article in The Star Tribune of Casper, Wyo. President Trump himself was quieter, although he did offer a Twitter post late in the campaign endorsing Mr. Friess. Mr. Gordon’s victory was cited by some of as evidence of Mr. Trump’s vulnerability, though others saw it more as a local matter.

Three weeks ago, when Darin Smith, a lawyer and businessman who has contended that Mr. Trump “probably” won the 2020 election, announced that he would challenge Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, who has been critical of Mr. Trump, in the 2022 primaries, he said that Mr. Friess would be his campaign chairman.

Mr. Friess’s wife of 58 years, Lynnette Estes Friess, survives him, as do their four children, Traci, Stephen, Carrie, and Michael; a brother, Herman; and 15 grandchildren.

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Politics

Foster Friess, Huge Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, Big Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, a Wyoming businessman who started an investment firm, made a fortune, and gave much of it to Republican presidential candidates and charities, sometimes with flair, died Thursday in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 81 years old.

His organization, Foster’s Outriders, which confirmed the death, said he had been treated at the Mayo Clinic there for myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder of blood cells and bone marrow.

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, who defeated Mr. Friess in Republican Governor’s Elementary School in 2018 and wrote on Twitter, described Mr. Friess as “a strong and consistent voice for Republican and Christian values.”

Mr. Friess’ election as governor was his only attempt in an important elected office. In politics he was best known for his donations, particularly for the presidential offers from Rick Santorum, the former United States Senator from Pennsylvania, in the 2012 and 2016 campaigns. After Mr. Santorum left the 2016 race, Mr. Friess was one of the first Republican megadonors to hug Donald J. Trump.

For many, the main support that Mr. Friess, a Protestant Christian, and his wife Lynnette gave was charities. Foster’s Outriders and the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Foundation have given grants, funded work for the homeless, supported water projects in Africa, and much more. His organization said Mr. Friess donated $ 500 million in his lifetime.

His 70th birthday party in 2010 in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Where he lived for much of the year, was legendary. The website wyofile.com described it.

“In the invitations to the party, Friess, a born again Christian, asked guests to identify their favorite charity, which reflected the values ​​of his favorite Galatian quote: ‘Bear each other’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ “wrote it in 2011.” He vowed to give $ 70,000 to the most worthy candidate. “

When the time came to announce the winner, the waiters at the Four Seasons Resort where the party was taking place distributed envelopes to guests.

“Friess asked the lucky winner to stand up and scream and leave the other guests,” the report continued. “Then he leaned back and waited for the chaos.”

When people opened the envelopes, someone was standing at each table shouting, “I won!” He had funded each request at a cost of $ 7.7 million.

Foster Stephen Friess was born on April 2, 1940 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin. His father Albert was a cattle breeder and his mother Ethel (Foster) Friess was a housewife.

“I came out of nowhere,” he told the New York Times in 2018 during his campaign for the governor when asked if he could be seen as one of the “elites” he railed against. “My mother dropped out of school in eighth grade to pick cotton and save the family farm. My father had a high school education. “

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in business administration and served in the Army as an intelligence officer for a guided missile brigade at Fort Bliss, Texas.

After working in finance for several years, he founded the investment management company Friess Associates in 1974 and was soon recognized as a top stock picker. Its flagship product, the Brandywine Fund, rose to over $ 15 billion. In 2001 he sold a majority stake in Friess Associates to the Affiliated Managers Group.

On the political side, Mr. Friess supported more than just candidates. In 2010 he was a founding investor in the conservative news and opinion website of The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel.

In 2012, Mr Friess supported Mr Santorum not so much because he agreed to all of his policies – “I’m trying to dissuade him,” he told Lou Dobbs in February 2012 – but because he thought the Republican Party needed a new one Face.

“These old veteran warhorses are having a hard time making it,” he said on Lou Dobbs Tonight. “Dole couldn’t do it, McCain couldn’t do it. On the Democratic side, Gore couldn’t do it, and Kerry couldn’t do it. So the Democrats bring these fresh faces, they bring Carter out of nowhere, they bring Clinton out of nowhere, they bring Obama out of nowhere. “

Later that month, Mr. Friess made headlines when Andrea Mitchell asked him on MSNBC whether Mr. Santorum’s statements about “the dangers of contraception” would harm his campaign.

“Back then,” said Friess, “they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The girls put it between their knees and it wasn’t that expensive. “

Mr Santorum’s main campaign started strong but failed, and Mr Obama was elected to a second term, defeating Mitt Romney.

In the next presidential campaign, Mr. Friess initially also supported Mr. Santorum. In mid-2015, when the Republican field was overflowing with candidates and meanness increased, he urged candidates “not to deviate from the reservation of courtesy”.

In May 2016, after Mr Santorum was out of the running and Mr Trump secured the Republican nomination, Mr Friess backed the Trump cause but admitted that Mr Trump had made progress by showing the incivility he condemned had – something he expected would turn into a tenor of the President.

“Donald’s strategy seems to be working,” Friess told CNN earlier this month, “but I’m convinced it will change.”

Mr. Friess supported Mr. Trump throughout his tenure, and when he ran for governor, the Trump family tried to return the favor – the President’s son, Donald Jr., confirmed him in an opinion piece in the Star Tribune of Casper, Wyo . President Trump himself was quieter, despite offering a Twitter post late in the campaign in which he supported Mr. Friess. Mr Gordon’s victory was cited by some as evidence of Mr Trump’s vulnerability, while others viewed it as a more local issue.

Three weeks ago, when Darin Smith, a lawyer and businessman who claimed that Mr. Trump “likely” won the 2020 election, announced that he was challenging Rep, Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, who has criticized Mr. Trump In the 2022 primaries, he said Mr. Friess would be his campaign chairman.

The 58-year-old wife of Mr. Friess, Lynnette Estes Friess, survived him as did her four children Traci, Stephen, Carrie and Michael. a brother, Herman; and 15 grandchildren.

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Entertainment

Summer season Motion pictures 2021: Right here’s What’s Coming to the Massive (and Small) Display screen

Summer Movies 2021: Here’s What’s Coming to the Big (and Small) Screen

Here is a list of noteworthy films scheduled this summer. Release dates and platform are subject to change and reflect the latest information as of deadline.

CHANGING THE GAME (on Hulu) This documentary profiles three transgender athletes and their high school sports careers, with a particular focus on Mack Beggs, a transgender man who as a teenager wanted to compete in boys’ wrestling but, because of a rule in Texas, could only wrestle against girls.

ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE (in theaters) The biases of surveillance — by the eye, by police body cameras and in the composite photography of the eugenics proponent Francis Galton, for example — are the subject of this haunting, wide-ranging essay film from the Baltimore experimental director Theo Anthony (“Rat Film”). It won a special jury prize at Sundance.

THE ANCIENT WOODS (in theaters) The biologist and filmmaker Mindaugas Survila investigates the floral and faunal mysteries of a mostly untouched forest in Lithuania. Film Forum says the movie, poised between nature documentary and folklore, is suitable for children “whose attention spans have not been destroyed by technology.”

BAD TALES (in virtual cinemas) This Italian feature, winner of best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival last year, pulls back the facade of family life in a seemingly idyllic Rome suburb.

THE CARNIVORES (in theaters and on demand) The illness of a dog triggers the unraveling of a couple (Lindsay Burdge and Tallie Medel). The trailer promises ample servings of the dark and the grotesque.

CITY OF ALI (in virtual cinemas) Other documentaries have captured the highlights of Muhammad Ali’s career, but “City of Ali” deals specifically with his life in Louisville, Ky., where he was born and raised.

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (in theaters and on HBO Max) Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) return for what’s either the third or the eighth “Conjuring” movie. (Spinoffs like “Annabelle” and “The Nun” only sort of count.) This one involves the case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), who was convicted of manslaughter but who some believe was possessed. Michael Chaves (who directed another spinoff, “The Curse of La Llorona”) assumes the helm from the “Conjuring” director James Wan.

THE REAL THING (in virtual cinemas) Koji Fukada (the Cannes prizewinner “Harmonium”) directed this four-hour feature, based on a manga and condensed from a 10-episode series, about a toy seller who rescues a woman from being hit by a train and gets a whirlwind of adventure as his reward.

SLOW MACHINE (in virtual cinemas) In a fractured narrative, Stephanie Hayes plays an actress who has a series of bizarre encounters with a man who identifies himself as a New York City police intelligence specialist. The movie was shown in an experimental section of last year’s New York Film Festival.

SPIRIT UNTAMED (in theaters) The daughter (voiced by Isabela Merced) of a legendary horse rider (voiced by Eiza González) hops into her mother’s saddle in this computer-animated feature. Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal and Andre Braugher round out the vocal cast.

UNDINE (in theaters and on demand) Interweaving mythology and the history of modern Berlin, the German director Christian Petzold reunites the stars of his acclaimed “Transit” for a love story of sorts between a recently spurned tour guide (Paula Beer) and a diver (Franz Rogowski) who repairs bridges. What the film means is as slippery as the protagonists, who get soaked when a fish tank explodes during their meet-cute and are continually drawn to water.

THE AMUSEMENT PARK (on Shudder) In one of the stranger collaborations in cinema history, George A. Romero, just a few years removed from “Night of the Living Dead,” accepted an assignment from the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania to make a film about the mistreatment of the elderly. True to form, he turned it into a horror movie. Made in the early 1970s and rarely shown until the recent arrival of a restored version in 2020, it will be widely available for the first time.

AWAKE (on Netflix) A cataclysm knocks out Earth’s power grids and gives the world’s population insomnia; the collective exhaustion leads to “Purge”-like conditions. Gina Rodriguez plays a former soldier whose daughter is somehow immune to the sleeplessness, but harnessing the cure isn’t as simple as giving everyone valerian tea. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Frances Fisher co-star.

TRAGIC JUNGLE (on Netflix) Yulene Olaizola directed this 1920s-set magical-realist feature, shown at the Venice and New York film festivals last year. It centers on a fleeing woman (Indira Andrewin) who finds herself in the company of gum workers in the Mayan rainforest.

THE WOMAN WHO RAN (in theaters) In the latest film from the prolific South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, a character played by Hong’s frequent star Kim Min-hee visits with three friends. There is also an argument with a neighbor about whether it’s all right to feed stray cats.

ASIA (in theaters) Shira Haas of “Unorthodox” plays a Russian immigrant in Israel who faces challenges both with her health and her mother (Alena Yiv). Ruthy Pribar directed, and it won the top prize from the body that gives out Israel’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.

CENSOR (in theaters) Shown at Sundance, this stylized British horror film is set in the 1980s, when what became known as “video nasties” — violent, cheaply made movies available on cassette — were all the rage. Niamh Algar plays a censor who does her utmost to protect the public (but maybe wasn’t so great at protecting her sister years earlier). Prano Bailey-Bond directed.

DOMINO: BATTLE OF THE BONES (in theaters) No, it’s not a sequel to Tony Scott’s 2005 movie “Domino,” in which Keira Knightley played a bounty hunter, or one to Brian De Palma’s recent film of the same title. Rather, it’s the story of how a man and his stepgrandson compete in a domino tournament. Baron Davis, the former N.B.A. star, directed and co-wrote.

HOLLER (in theaters and on demand) Jessica Barden plays a promising Ohio student who begins working in scrap-metal yards to keep her family together. Nicole Riegel directed; Pamela Adlon and Gus Halper co-star.

IN THE HEIGHTS (in theaters and on HBO Max) Expected to have been a huge hit in the summer of 2020, now destined to be a return-to-the-movies toe-tapper in 2021, this film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s best-musical Tony winner — the one before “Hamilton,” that is — stars Anthony Ramos (a.k.a. Philip Hamilton) as Usnavi, the bodega owner Miranda played on Broadway. Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Miranda also appear. Jon M. Chu, who showed his skill with screen musicals in two of the better “Step Up” movies, directed from a screenplay by the musical’s book writer, Quiara Alegría Hudes.

THE MISFITS (in theaters) Pierce Brosnan, two decades from his turn in the “Thomas Crown Affair” remake, plays another thief who joins forces with a group to steal gold bars that a businessman (Tim Roth) uses to finance terrorists. Renny Harlin directed.

PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY (in theaters) James Corden returns as the voice of Beatrix Potter’s famous hare, although Glenn Kenny of The Times wrote that the first film, from 2018, dispensed “with the sweetness and light and lyricism of the books.” Here, Peter ventures out of the garden to make trouble.

SKATER GIRL (on Netflix) Rachel Saanchita Gupta plays a teenager in northwestern India who discovers skateboarding and begins to dream of competing at a championship level.

SUBLET (in theaters) John Benjamin Hickey plays a grieving travel journalist (for The New York Times, no less) who rediscovers his zest for life in Tel Aviv. Eytan Fox directed.

WISH DRAGON (on Netflix) Jimmy Wong provides the voice of a college student and John Cho the voice of a wish-granting dragon in this animated feature, which is set in Shanghai and counts Jackie Chan among its producers.

REVOLUTION RENT (on HBO Max) How does “La Bohème” transplanted to Alphabet City play when it’s transplanted to Cuba? This documentary follows Andy Señor Jr., the son of Cuban exiles, as he works to put on an American-produced staging of “Rent” in that country. Señor directed with Victor Patrick Alvarez.

AN UNKNOWN COMPELLING FORCE (on demand) This documentary delves into the murky matter of what killed nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in 1959. (A study published earlier this year said it was quite possibly an avalanche.)

THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD (in theaters) “Samuel L. Jackson is the hit man. Ryan Reynolds is the bodyguard. What more do you want me to say?” A.O. Scott wrote of “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” in 2017. Well, Salma Hayek played the hit man’s wife in that movie, too, and now they’re all back for a sequel. Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman also star.

A CRIME ON THE BAYOU (in theaters) Nancy Buirski (“The Rape of Recy Taylor”) directs this documentary about Gary Duncan, who was convicted of simple battery in Louisiana after trying to stop a skirmish near an integrated school. The Supreme Court ultimately found that he had a right to a jury trial.

FATHERHOOD (on Netflix) Kevin Hart plays a widower adjusting to life as a single father in this drama directed by Paul Weitz. It’s adapted from a book by Matthew Logelin.

LUCA (on Disney+) In Pixar’s latest, two sea monsters disguise themselves as boys to experience the wonders of the Italian Riviera on land. Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer voice the two main characters; Enrico Casarosa (the Pixar short “La Luna”) directed.

RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER (on National Geographic and Hulu) This documentary from Dawn Porter (“John Lewis: Good Trouble”) looks at the 1921 massacre in Tulsa when white residents destroyed what was known as “Black Wall Street.”

RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT (in theaters) The EGOT-winning actress revisits her career, recounting her experiences with discrimination in Hollywood, her breakthrough role in “West Side Story” and more. Mariem Pérez Riera directed.

SIBERIA (in theaters and on demand) The idea of Abel Ferrara directing Willem Dafoe as a bartender in Siberia will be irresistible to fans of a certain brand of uncompromising cinema. In an interview, Ferrara described it as “an odyssey movie.”

THE SPARKS BROTHERS (in theaters) Edgar Wright directed what feels like the definitive portrait of the band Sparks, a.k.a. the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, who straddle an almost imperceptibly thin line between the comic and the earnest and whose most consistent trait over 50 years has been their interest in reinventing their sound. Their first movie musical, “Annette” (Aug. 6), also comes out this summer.

SUMMER OF 85 (in theaters) François Ozon directed this tale of young summer romance, which was selected for the canceled Cannes Film Festival last year. A boy (Félix Lefebvre) is saved from a boating accident and then taught worldly ways by his rescuer (Benjamin Voisin).

SWEAT (in theaters) Another selection from the Cannes-that-wasn’t, this Polish feature from Magnus von Horn stars Magdalena Kolesnik as a “fitness influencer” who faces the burdens of being extremely online.

SWEET THING (in theaters) Alexandre Rockwell, a mainstay of American independent filmmaking in the 1990s with films like “In the Soup,” directs his children in a coming-of-age film about a long and fantastical day.

TRUMAN & TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The documentarian Lisa Immordino Vreeland puts Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams in an artistic dialogue with each other. Jim Parsons reads Capote’s words in voice-over and Zachary Quinto reads Williams’s.

12 MIGHTY ORPHANS (in theaters) Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw and Martin Sheen star in this true story of a how an orphanage’s football team went to compete for championships in Texas during the Great Depression.

SISTERS ON TRACK (on Netflix) Three sisters — Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard — raised in tough circumstances in Brooklyn won medals in the Junior Olympics and were declared “SportsKids of the Year” for 2016 by the children’s edition of Sports Illustrated. This documentary tells their story, on the track and off.

AGAINST THE CURRENT (in theaters) No, it’s not a “Great Gatsby” spinoff. It’s a documentary about Veiga Gretarsdottir, a transgender kayaker who sets out to circumnavigate Iceland in the more difficult counterclockwise direction.

F9 (in theaters) Just when Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) thought they had settled into a quiet family life, Dom’s brother (John Cena) — who is every bit the driver Dom is, and also an assassin — turns up to settle scores. Justin Lin directed.

FALSE POSITIVE (on Hulu) Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux play a couple trying to get pregnant who discover that their doctor (Pierce Brosnan) has a dark side.

I CARRY YOU WITH ME (in theaters) The documentarian Heidi Ewing (“Detropia”) turns to dramatized filmmaking, though not entirely (to say more would be a spoiler), with this story of the love between two Mexican men (Armando Espitia and Christian Vázquez) and how their bond endures after one, with his eye on working as a chef, crosses into the United States.

THE ICE ROAD (on Netflix) Liam Neeson plays a badass big-rig driver trying to rescue entombed miners in the frozen reaches of Canada.

KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (in theaters and on demand) Malia Scharf, with Max Basch, directed this look at her father, who emerged from the East Village art world of the 1980s.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN (in theaters) Holed up in a snowstorm, the residents of a small town must contend with lycanthropy. Josh Ruben directed; Milana Vayntrub and Sam Richardson star.

WOLFGANG (on Disney+) Not Amadeus Mozart, but Puck. David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) directed this portrait of the celebrity chef’s career.

AMERICA: THE MOTION PICTURE (on Netflix) With the voice of Channing Tatum as a “chainsaw-wielding” George Washington, this irreverent animated feature makes a travesty of key figures of the American Revolution. Jason Mantzoukas and Olivia Munn also supply voices. Matt Thompson directed.

LYDIA LUNCH — THE WAR IS NEVER OVER (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The New York underground filmmaker Beth B directed this portrait of another figure from the scene, the No Wave singer Lydia Lunch.

ZOLA (in theaters) A tale originally told in a viral 148-tweet thread (and then in a Rolling Stone article about the thread) is now a major motion picture, directed by Janicza Bravo (“Lemon”) and written by Bravo and the playwright Jeremy O. Harris (“Slave Play”). Taylour Paige stars as a waitress and occasional stripper who is taken on a wild trip to Florida by another stripper (Riley Keough). Colman Domingo also stars.

NO SUDDEN MOVE (on HBO Max) The pandemic hasn’t slowed down Steven Soderbergh. His latest feature is a crime thriller starring Don Cheadle as an ex-con who plots a convoluted scheme that goes awry. Benicio Del Toro, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm and Amy Seimetz are among the many familiar faces populating Detroit in 1954, when the film is set.

BEING A HUMAN PERSON (in theaters) The Swedish commercial director turned deadpan filmmaker Roy Andersson is the subject of this documentary, which follows the making of his latest movie, “About Endlessness,” which opened in April.

FEAR STREET (on Netflix) R.L. Stine’s “Fear Street” books have become three feature films — set in 1994, 1978 and 1666, respectively — that will be released on a weekly basis starting July 2. Stine has said that the content won’t be toned down for children. Leigh Janiak directed all three movies, and cast members recur throughout.

FIRST DATE (in theaters and on demand) Tyson Brown plays a teenager who takes his dream girl (Shelby Duclos) on a misadventure-filled outing in a dilapidated Chrysler.

THE FOREVER PURGE (in theaters) In the “Purge” franchise, murder is made legal for one day a year. This fifth film in the series dares to ask, what if it were more than one day? Judging from the trailer, you should also count on commentary on United States-Mexico border politics.

SUMMER OF SOUL (… OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (in theaters and on Hulu) In his first feature documentary as director, Questlove assembles joyous archival footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that developed a reputation as the Black Woodstock. The film features electrifying performances from Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Ray Barretto and more.

TILL DEATH (in theaters and on demand) The “Jennifer’s Body” star Megan Fox plays a woman who wakes up handcuffed to her husband’s corpse in this thriller.

THE TOMORROW WAR (on Amazon). Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons are all tapped for a war effort against aliens that won’t happen until 30 years in the future. Time travel makes this possible.

BLACK WIDOW (in theaters and on Disney+) The Marvel universe continues to swallow promising actors by casting “Midsommar” and “Little Women” standout Florence Pugh as Yelena, who is brought together as a family with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. The Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (“Berlin Syndrome”) directed.

SUMMERTIME (in theaters) Carlos López Estrada (“Blindspotting”) directed this vibrant panorama of life in Los Angeles. It’s like a musical, but instead of bursting into song, the characters share their emotions in poetry, written by the cast members, who are poets.

THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT (in theaters) Julien Faraut, an archivist whose documentary “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” posed intriguing parallels between tennis and cinema, recounts how textile workers in Japan became an internationally celebrated volleyball team.

CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The dancer Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz direct a portrait of the choreographer as LeBlanc oversees a production of his 1989 work “D-Man in the Waters,” which addressed the AIDS epidemic in dance.

ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (in theaters) Taylor Russell and Logan Miller, who played escapees in the first “Escape Room” (2019), find themselves ensnared again.

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (in theaters) Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”) directed this portrait of the “Kitchen Confidential” chef, who died in 2018.

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (in theaters and on HBO Max) In 1996, Michael Jordan joined the Looney Tunes on the basketball court. This time it’s LeBron James who assembles Bugs and the gang for a hybrid live-action/animated round of hoops, with a lot of other Warner Bros. intellectual property filling out the sidelines. Malcolm D. Lee directed.

AILEY (in theaters and on demand) Using archival footage and its subject’s words, the director Jamila Wignot’s documentary recounts the career of the dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931-89).

EYIMOFE (THIS IS MY DESIRE) (in theaters) The siblings Arie and Chuko Esiri directed this film set in Lagos, Nigeria, about two people separately trying to leave for Europe.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA (in theaters) The transformation in this fourth feature of the animated franchise happens when a “monsterfication ray” turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans. But there’s a behind-the-scenes transformation, too: Dracula’s vocal cords aren’t supplied by Adam Sandler this time, but by Brian Hull.

THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER (on Netflix). In this summer’s addition to the tear-jerker sweepstakes, Felicity Jones plays a journalist who uncovers an affair from the 1960s between another journalist (Callum Turner) and a married woman (Shailene Woodley).

MANDIBLES (in theaters and on demand) The French absurdist and electronic musician Quentin Dupieux (“Deerskin”) serves up another deadpan oddity, about two friends trying to train a giant fly.

OLD (in theaters) It wouldn’t be an M. Night Shyamalan film if the premise weren’t shrouded in mystery, but judging from the Super Bowl trailer, it stars Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) as parents vacationing with their family on a beach that magically turns their children … old.

SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS (in theaters) Based on the line of action figures, this franchise adds to its collection by giving an origin story to Snake Eyes, played by Ray Park in earlier movies and now embodied — during his ninja-training phase — by Henry Golding.

RESORT TO LOVE (on Netflix). Christina Milian plays a singer who aspires to superstardom but is reduced to performing at her ex’s wedding.

ENEMIES OF THE STATE (in theaters and on demand) Executive produced by Errol Morris, this documentary, directed by Sonia Kennebeck, unravels the case of Matt DeHart, a hacktivist who sought refuge in Canada and claimed the F.B.I. had tortured him.

THE GREEN KNIGHT (in theaters) Dev Patel has a seat at the round table as Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, in the director David Lowery’s quest to revive the Arthurian legend onscreen. Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton and Sarita Choudhury also star.

JUNGLE CRUISE (in theaters and on Disney+) In 1916, a British researcher (Emily Blunt) travels to South America and hires a roguish, Bogartian skipper (Dwayne Johnson) as her guide through the Amazon. It’s based on a ride at Disneyland, and indirectly on a long lineage of Hollywood adventure films. Edgar Ramírez, Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti co-star. Jaume Collet-Serra directed.

THE LAST MERCENARY (on Netflix) French authorities falsely allege that a young man has been trafficking arms and drugs. Unfortunately for them, his father is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

NINE DAYS (in theaters) Winston Duke plays an interrogator at a way station of sorts, where he interviews people — actually unborn souls — some of whom will earn the right to be born as humans. Zazie Beetz plays an interviewee who confounds him. Edson Oda wrote and directed.

SABAYA (in theaters and on demand) This documentary trails intrepid volunteer workers in Syria who extract women and girls held captive as sex slaves by the Islamic State.

STILLWATER Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”) directed Matt Damon as an American oil-rig worker whose daughter (Abigail Breslin) is imprisoned for murder in Marseille, France. She says she is innocent; he scrambles to help her.

ANNETTE (in theaters) While Edgar Wright’s documentary about the band Sparks (June 18) covers the cinephile musicians’ history of movie projects that never came to fruition, this feature film gives them their chance: They wrote the screenplay, the songs and the score for this love story, and Leos Carax (“Holy Motors”) directed. Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard star.

EMA (in theaters) The Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín directs this story of a dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) and a choreographer (Gael García Bernal) whose lives are thrown out of whack after they return the boy they adopted.

JOHN AND THE HOLE (in theaters and on demand) At the age of 13, John (Charlie Shotwell) gains a measure of adult independence by drugging his immediate family (Jennifer Ehle, Michael C. Hall and Taissa Farmiga) and imprisoning them in a bunker. Pascual Sisto directed this detached, chilly open-ended allegory.

THE MACALUSO SISTERS (in theaters) The Italian playwright and theater director Emma Dante directed this story of five orphan sisters in living in Palermo. She adapted it from her play.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD (in theaters and on HBO Max) If it doesn’t work the first time, add a definite article. Poised somewhere between a reboot of and a sequel to “Suicide Squad” (2016), the movie sets several DC characters, including Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, loose on a jungle island. James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) wrote and directed. With Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone and Viola Davis.

THE KISSING BOOTH 3 (on Netflix) This entry in the series finds Elle (Joey King) getting ready for college.

CODA (in theaters and on Apple TV+) A crowd-pleaser (and awards-grabber, with four prizes) at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the movie tells the story of a child of deaf adults (Emilia Jones) in a working-class Massachusetts fishing family. She wants to sing, a passion that is alien to her non-hearing parents (Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur) and brother (Daniel Durant). Sian Heder directed this remake of a French film.

DAYS (in theaters) A highlight of last year’s New York Film Festival, the director Tsai Ming-liang’s feature follows two men — one in Taipei, then Hong Kong (the Tsai regular Lee Kang-sheng); the other in Bangkok (Anong Houngheuangsy) — who in the second half meet, and for a little while are not alone.

DON’T BREATHE 2 (in theaters) In the first “Don’t Breathe” (2016), Stephen Lang played a blind veteran whose dark secrets were among that home-invasion tale’s surprises. There’s more on those in this sequel. Rodo Sayagues directed, co-writing with Fede Alvarez, who directed the original.

FREE GUY (in theaters) Ryan Reynolds plays a bank teller who finds out, “Truman Show”-like, that he is actually a background character in a video game. Shawn Levy directed. Jodie Comer and Lil Rel Howery also star.

THE MEANING OF HITLER (in theaters and on demand) The documentarians Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker examine the rise of Nazi Germany and draw parallels with the rumblings of authoritarianism across the globe today.

THE LOST LEONARDO (in theaters) Andreas Koefoed’s documentary investigates the dealings that surround “Salvator Mundi,” the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, when in 2017 it was billed as a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees.

RESPECT (in theaters) Find out what it means to her: Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in this biopic of the Queen of Soul, directed by the theater vet Liesl Tommy. With Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington, Audra McDonald as Franklin’s mother and Forest Whitaker as Franklin’s father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin.

CRYPTOZOO (in theaters and on demand) It’s really more of a cryptid zoo, a cryptid being an animal that is the subject of lore but does not actually exist, like the dream-eating creature that everyone is after in this movie. It’s an animated film, from the graphic novelist Dash Shaw. Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause and Thomas Jay Ryan provided some of the voices.

THE NIGHT HOUSE (in theaters) Rebecca Hall plays a widow who discovers that her husband had a … thing for women who looked quite a bit like her, one of whom is played by Stacy Martin. What was he up to? David Bruckner directed, with an appetite for jump scares.

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE (in theaters) The techno-fitted animated canines of the children’s TV series make the leap to the big screen.

THE PROTÉGÉ (in theaters) This is the second movie of the summer in which Samuel L. Jackson plays a hit man (after “The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife”) — except that this one concerns the hit man’s daughter (Maggie Q), or at least the woman he raised like a daughter, a hit woman herself, who seeks revenge after he is murdered. Michael Keaton co-stars, also playing a killer. Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) directed.

REMINISCENCE (in theaters and on HBO Max) Lisa Joy, a creator of “Westworld,” wrote and directed this thriller, which casts Hugh Jackman as a sleuth who digs up lost memories. Rebecca Ferguson plays his latest customer.

WILDLAND (in theaters) This dark Danish feature concerns a teenager (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) who, after her mother’s death, goes to live with an aunt (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and an extended clan filled with criminality and addiction.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (in theaters) Peter Jackson, who used archival footage to bring World War I back to life in “They Shall Not Grow Old,” uses tens of hours of restored footage and audio — billed as previously unseen and unheard — to showcase the Beatles as they were in 1969.

CANDYMAN (in theaters) Even without anyone saying Candyman’s name to a mirror, a haunting teaser trailer with only shadow puppets, from last year, set the bar high for this remake, directed by Nia DaCosta (“Little Woods”) and co-written by, among others, Jordan Peele. Interestingly, it appears to retain the milieu of Chicago’s mostly defunct Cabrini-Green housing project, where much of the 1992 original took place. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris star. Colman Domingo also appears.

HE’S ALL THAT (on Netflix) Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) directed this gender-swapped remake of “She’s All That.” Addison Rae plays an influencer who gives a dork (Tanner Buchanan) an image makeover.

VACATION FRIENDS (on Hulu) A couple (Yvonne Orji and Lil Rel Howery) is mortified when some casual friends from a vacation (Meredith Hagner and John Cena) crash their wedding.

THE BIG SCARY “S” WORD (in theaters) Spoiler alert: The word is “socialism,” and Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among the interviewees in this documentary about its history in the United States.

FAYA DAYI (in theaters) When the director Jessica Beshir’s experimental documentary, shot in Harar, Ethiopia, played at New Directors/New Films in the spring, Beatrice Loayza, writing in The Times, called it “dreamy and visually dazzling.” The film, she wrote, considers the toll that the economics of khat — a plant that is used as a drug — takes “on a rural community across generations.”

MOGUL MOWGLI (in theaters) Riz Ahmed plays a rapper whose body begins to fail him, but it’s not “Sound of Metal” redux. Rather, it’s a story of British-Pakistani identity, and the character’s denial of his heritage may even be responsible for his autoimmune condition. Bassam Tariq (the well-regarded documentary “These Birds Walk”) directed.

Listings compiled with the assistance of Gabe Cohn.