NEW YORK (AP) — Angelina Jolie never expected to hit all the notes. But finding the breath of Maria Callas was enough to bring things out of Jolie that she didn’t even know were in her. “All of us, we really don’t realize where things land in our body over a lifetime of different experiences and where we hold it to protect ourselves,” Jolie said in a recent interview. “We hold it in our stomachs. We hold it in our chest. We breathe from a different place when we’re nervous or we’re sad. “The first few weeks were the hardest because my body had to open and I had to breathe again,” she adds. “And that was a discovery of how much I wasn’t.” In Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” which Netflix released in theaters Wednesday before it begins streaming on Dec. 11, Jolie gives, if not the performance of her career, then certainly of her last decade. Beginning with 2010’s “In the Land of Blood and Honey,” Jolie has spent recent years directing films while prioritizing raising her six children. “So my choices for quite a few years were whatever was smart financially and short. I worked very little the last eight years,” says Jolie. “And I was kind of drained. I couldn’t for a while.” But her youngest kids are now 16. And for the first time in years, Jolie is back in the spotlight, in full movie-star mode. Her commanding performance in “Maria” seems assured of bringing Jolie her third Oscar nomination. (She won supporting actress in 2000 for “Girl, Interrupted.”) For an actress whose filmography might lack a signature movie, “Maria” may be Jolie's defining role. Jolie's oldest children, Maddox and Pax, worked on the set of the film. There, they saw a version of their mother they hadn't seen before. “They had certainly seen me sad in my life. But I don’t cry in front of my children like that,” Jolie says of the emotion Callas dredged up in her. “That was a moment in realizing they were going to be with me, side by side, in this process of really understanding the depth of some of the pain I carry.” Jolie, who met a reporter earlier this fall at the Carlyle Hotel, didn't speak in any detail of that pain. But it was hard not to sense some it had to do with her lengthy and ongoing divorce from Brad Pitt, with whom she had six children. Just prior to meeting, a judge allowed Pitt’s remaining claim against Jolie, over the French winery Château Miraval, to proceed. On Monday, a judge ruled that Pitt must disclose documents Jolie’s legal team have sought that they allege include “communications concerning abuse.” Pitt has denied ever being abusive. The result of the U.S. presidential election was also just days old, though Jolie — special envoy for the United Nations Refugee Agency from 2012 to 2022 – wasn’t inclined to talk politics. Asked about Donald Trump’s win , she responded, “Global storytelling is essential,” before adding: “That’s what I’m focusing on. Listening. Listening to the voices of people in my country and around the world.” Balancing such things — reports concerning her private life, questions that accompany someone of her fame — is a big reason why Jolie is so suited to the part of Callas. The film takes place during the American-born soprano’s final days. (She died of a heart attack at 53 in 1977.) Spending much of her time in her grand Paris apartment, Callas hasn’t sung publicly in years; she’s lost her voice. Imprisoned by the myth she’s created, Callas is redefining herself and her voice. An instructor tells her he wants to hear “Callas, not Maria." The movie, of course, is more concerned with Maria. It’s Larrain’s third portrait of 20th century female icon, following “Jackie” (with Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy) and “Spencer” (with Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana). As Callas, Jolie is wonderfully regal — a self-possessed diva who deliciously, in lines penned by screenwriter Steven Knight, spouts lines like: “I took liberties all my life and the world took liberties with me.” Asked if she identified with that line, Jolie answered, “Yeah, yeah.” Then she took a long pause. “I’m sure people will read a lot into this and there’s probably a lot I could say but don’t want to feed into,” Jolie eventually continues. “I know she was a public person because she loved her work. And I’m a public person because I love my work, not because I like being public. I think some people are more comfortable with a public life, and I’ve never been fully comfortable with it.” When Larraín first approached Jolie about the role, he screened “Spencer” for her. That film, like “Jackie” and “Maria,” eschews a biopic approach to instead intimately focus on a specific moment of crisis. Larraín was convinced Jolie was meant for the role. “I felt she could have that magnetism,” Larraín says. “The enigmatic diva that’s come to a point in her life where she has to take control of her life again. But the weight of her experience, of her music, of her singing, everything, is on her back. And she carries that. It’s someone who’s already loaded with a life that’s been intense.” “There’s a loneliness that we both share,” Jolie says. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think people can be alone and lonely sometimes, and that can be part of who they are.” Larraín, the Chilean filmmaker, grew up in Santiago going to the opera, and he has long yearned to bring its full power and majesty to a movie. In Callas, he heard something that transfixed him. “I hear something near perfection, but at the same time, it’s something that’s about to be destroyed,” Larraín says. “So it’s as fragile and as strong as possible. It lives in both extremes. That’s why it’s so moving. I hear a voice that’s about to be broken, but it doesn’t.” In Callas’ less perfect moments singing in the film, Larraín fuses archival recordings of Callas with Jolie’s own voice. Some mix of the two runs throughout “Maria.” “Early in the process,” Jolie says, “I discovered that you can’t fake-sing opera.” Jolie has said she never sang before, not even karaoke. But the experience has left her with a newfound appreciation of opera and its healing properties. “I wonder if it’s something you lean into as you get older,” Jolie says. “Maybe your depth of pain is bigger, your depth of loss is bigger, and that sound in opera meets that, the enormity of it.” If Larraín’s approach to “Maria” is predicated on an unknowingness, he's inclined to say something similar about his star. “Because of media and social media, some people might think that they know a lot about Angelina,” he says. “Maria, I read nine biographies of her. I saw everything. I read every interview. I made this movie. But I don’t think I would be capable of telling you who she was us. So if there’s an element in common, it’s that. They carry an enormous amount of mystery. Even if you think that you know them, you don’t.” Whether “Maria” means more acting in the future for Jolie, she's not sure. “There's not a clear map,” she says. Besides, Jolie isn't quite ready to shake Callas. “When you play a real person, you feel at some point that they become your friend,” says Jolie. “Right now, it’s still a little personal. It’s funny, I’ll be at a premiere or I’ll walk into a room and someone will start blaring her music for fun, but I have this crazy internal sense memory of dropping to my knees and crying.”That pink-and-green movie about the two witches subsumed social media and the box office during the last weeks of 2024. So much so it could be easy to forget that "Wicked" is, in many ways, the apotheosis of a year in which the movie musical genre returned from the celluloid grave. The is-it or isn't-it quandary Early in 2024, the movie version of the musical adaptation of Tina Fey's "Mean Girls" was released. It was both loved and loathed and much discussion was had about the studio's marketing of the movie, in which the trailers gave no indication that this newest "Mean Girls" was indeed a musical. That was despite recent precedent for the box-office triumph of a movie musical. "Despite the success of movies such as 'Wonka' and 'The Greatest Showman,' studios seemed nervous to advertise the musical elements of their song-and-dance extravaganzas," said Ryan Faughnder at the Los Angeles Times . As 2024 ticked on, the is-it-or-is-it-not musical releases swelled: the Joker sequel, "Joker 2: Folie à Deux;" the Timothée Chalamet -led Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown;" the award-grabbing drug cartel caper "Emilia Pérez." By year's end, "Moana 2," the prequel to "The Lion King," "Mufasa," and the blockbuster "Wicked" all showed their hand, not pretending one bit they were anything but musicals. As Faughnder said, "If anyone went into 'Wicked' not knowing it was a musical, that's on them." Why song-and-dance right now? Production on movies, obviously, begins long before a film's release. Trying to pin the filmmaker's intent on the current societal or political moment is folly. Still, movies resonate with the time of their birth into the cinematic world, whether the artists aim them to or not. During a fraught economic and political present, when it "seems like we've been fractured beyond repair," the musical can bring a "utopian message of hope and resilience," said Desirée J. Garcia, an associate professor at Dartmouth College and author of "The Movie Musical," to the Los Angeles Times . The genre lends itself to finales of "coming together" and surmounting "division and conflict." Many of the movie musicals of 2024 are intricate; they embrace darkness, as the movie musicals of Old Hollywood did not. Where once there was froth, there are now suds, yes, but also shadows. The "stars of this new cycle" deserve praise because the characters they play are "vastly more complex (and confused) than those of the old musicals," said Peter Bart at Deadline . "Gene Kelly in 'Singing in the Rain' and Fred Astaire in 'Top Hat' were essentially airheads." Movie trends can evaporate as quickly as they appear, so the movie musical boom could soon disintegrate. It is near-certain this vanishing will not occur in 2025. Come next November, the second installment of "Wicked," called "Wicked: For Good," will be released, another likely box-office victory.jilibet withdrawal problem 。

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This Christmas, I’ll keep it simple for Santa. As much as I’d like a new iPhone or a warm island getaway far from Michigan, I’ll settle for one thing. Wouldn't it be great if Americans could be proud of their elected leaders? (OK, maybe that isn’t such a simple request.) In the past week alone, we’ve heard reports of “missing” Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger, 81, a Republican, found living in a senior facility dealing with “dementia issues.” And on Monday, a much-anticipated ethics report was released about former Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, 42, which confirmed he’s as off-putting as we all already knew. Congress shouldn’t give us the heebie-jeebies, nor should it resemble a nursing home. We’re a country more than 340 million strong. You’d think it wouldn’t be so hard to find 535 qualified, fully functioning individuals to represent us. This month, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, 82, fell after lunch at the Capitol , sustaining injuries. And former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 84, had hip replacement surgery after a fall on a work trip abroad. (Despite giving up her leadership post, Pelosi was just reelected to another term – her 20th – last month.) Perhaps as citizens of this country, we should more closely consider whom we choose to represent us. Granger is missing in action. So much for being a 'representative.' I respect my elders and certainly don’t hold their age against them. Yet, age affects all of us differently. Just look at President-elect Donald Trump, who at 78 never seems to run out of energy. That’s not the case for everyone that age. At 82, President Joe Biden’s mental and physical decline (which he and his administration tried to hide) prevented him from fully serving the American people, and his shadow presidency is a shameful end to his long career in Washington . The problem seems to be that once elected, our politicians have an extremely difficult time knowing when it’s time to call it quits. Opinion: Trump says America's success will be his 'retribution.' Let's hope he means that. For instance, Granger, who has served her Dallas-area district since 1997 , announced last year she wouldn’t seek reelection in 2024. She served as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, a coveted post, until she announced she’d be stepping down in March . The rationale for that decision seems clear now. Granger cast her last House vote in July, and her unexplained absence from Washington essentially means her constituents have been left without representation for months. New reporting from a Dallas outlet highlights why Granger has been missing in action . She’s been dealing with dementia, according to her son, and living at a senior facility. I feel for her and her family. But she should have been forthcoming about what she was dealing with – and she should have stepped down from Congress earlier this year to allow for someone else to step in and represent the district. Now, her storied and groundbreaking career will be marred by a disgraceful exit. Gaetz's sudden departure now makes a whole lot of sense Gaetz, the former congressman, may have relative youth on his side, but not much else. After Trump made the shocking announcement last month that Gaetz would be his nominee for attorney general, Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress, much to the delight of pretty much everyone in that chamber. Gaetz later withdrew his name from the Cabinet position, after it became clear he couldn’t get the support necessary from fellow Republicans in the Senate. Opinion: A DEI officer fired for antisemitic comments? That shouldn't surprise you. The impending release of a House ethics report always seemed at the heart of Gaetz’s decision to step down so suddenly. After he resigned, the idea was the House Ethics Committee would refrain from releasing the report – at least, that’s what Gaetz had hoped. Yet, the bipartisan committee changed its mind and decided to release the findings now. The committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz participated in a range of sleazy activities , including “prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use.” Gaetz had asked a judge to block the report's release, claiming it was an “unprecedented overreach.” A previous Justice Department investigation did not lead to any charges. The report only confirms what’s been obvious to anyone following Gaetz’s political career – he’s untrustworthy and obnoxious. And his pompous behavior made him no friends, even among Republicans. Between Granger’s disappearing act and Gaetz’s cringeworthy behavior, surely our country deserves better. Let’s give ourselves a collective Christmas present this year by choosing our elected officials with more care. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @ Ingrid_Jacques .Discover the Hidden Gems of AI Stocks! Why Palantir and Salesforce Are Poised to Skyrocket

By Anna Tong and Krystal Hu Microsoft has been working on adding internal and third-party artificial intelligence models to power its flagship AI product Microsoft 365 Copilot, in a bid to diversify from the current underlying technology from OpenAI and reduce costs, sources familiar with the effort told Reuters. It is the latest effort by Microsoft, which is a major backer of OpenAI, to lessen its dependence on the AI startup – a departure from recent years when Microsoft touted its early access to OpenAI’s models. When Microsoft announced 365 Copilot in March 2023, a major selling point was that it used OpenAI’s GPT-4 model. Microsoft is also seeking to reduce 365 Copilot’s reliance on OpenAI due to concerns about cost and speed for enterprise users, according to the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters. A Microsoft spokesperson said OpenAI continues as the company’s partner on frontier models, a term for the most advanced AI models available. The original agreement between the two companies allows the software giant to customize OpenAI’s models. “We incorporate various models from OpenAI and Microsoft depending on the product and experience,” Microsoft said in a statement. OpenAI declined to comment. In addition to training its own smaller models including the latest Phi-4, Microsoft is also working to customize other open-weight models to make 365 Copilot faster and more efficient, the sources added. The goal is to make it less expensive for Microsoft to run 365 Copilot, and potentially pass along those savings to the end customer, one of the sources said. Microsoft’s leaders, including Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, are tracking the efforts closely, the same source added. The move mirrors those of other Microsoft business units which have changed the ways in which they use OpenAI models. GitHub, which Microsoft acquired in 2018, added models from Anthropic and Google in October as alternatives to OpenAI’s GPT-4o. Its consumer chatbot Copilot, revamped in October, is now powered by in-house models as well as OpenAI models. Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI assistant built in to Microsoft’s suite of enterprise software including Word and PowerPoint, is still trying to prove its return on investment to enterprises. Microsoft has not shared specific sales data on the number of licenses sold, and there have been concerns about pricing and utility. A survey of 152 information technology companies showed the vast majority of them had not progressed their 365 Copilot initiatives past the pilot stage, research firm Gartner said in August. Still, analysts at BNP Paribas Exane said they have seen an acceleration in adoption, and expect Microsoft to sell 365 Copilot to more than 10 million paid users this year. Microsoft also said in a November blog post that 70% of Fortune 500 companies are using 365 Copilot. (Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco and Krystal Hu in Toronto; Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

In the current session, the stock is trading at $296.37, after a 0.01% spike. Over the past month, McDonald's Inc. MCD stock increased by 1.66% , and in the past year, by 5.16% . With performance like this, long-term shareholders are optimistic but others are more likely to look into the price-to-earnings ratio to see if the stock might be overvalued. A Look at McDonald's P/E Relative to Its Competitors The P/E ratio measures the current share price to the company's EPS. It is used by long-term investors to analyze the company's current performance against it's past earnings, historical data and aggregate market data for the industry or the indices, such as S&P 500. A higher P/E indicates that investors expect the company to perform better in the future, and the stock is probably overvalued, but not necessarily. It also could indicate that investors are willing to pay a higher share price currently, because they expect the company to perform better in the upcoming quarters. This leads investors to also remain optimistic about rising dividends in the future. McDonald's has a lower P/E than the aggregate P/E of 88.44 of the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry. Ideally, one might believe that the stock might perform worse than its peers, but it's also probable that the stock is undervalued. In conclusion, the price-to-earnings ratio is a useful metric for analyzing a company's market performance, but it has its limitations. While a lower P/E can indicate that a company is undervalued, it can also suggest that shareholders do not expect future growth. Additionally, the P/E ratio should not be used in isolation, as other factors such as industry trends and business cycles can also impact a company's stock price. Therefore, investors should use the P/E ratio in conjunction with other financial metrics and qualitative analysis to make informed investment decisions. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.KYTX Investors Have Opportunity to Lead Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KYTX) Securities Fraud LawsuitNone