The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards aired on Sunday night. The ceremony was a pre-recorded, one-hour telecast honoring some of the year’s best performances in film and television.
Among the winners in film were the late Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Yuh-Jung Youn, Daniel Kaluuya and the cast of “The Trial of the Chicago 7”. In television, “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Crown” dominated most categories.
For the full list of winners, go to the link here.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden delivered a message of hope on Easter Sunday, encouraging more Americans to get vaccinated. In a video posted to Biden’s Twitter account, the president said the White House echoes the sentiments of Pope Francis who described getting vaccinated as a ‘moral obligation’ and stressed the importance of widespread inoculations to resuming traditional Holy Week activities in the future.
Vice President Kamala Harris also issued a video statement declaring there is “always reason for hope” amid the Easter holiday. Harris added she and the first lady were looking forward to resuming the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll in the future, as it was canceled for the second consecutive Easter this year due to the pandemic.
The U.S. military said Sunday that a once-secret unit within the Guantanamo Bay detention center has been closed and the prisoners moved to another facility on the American base in Cuba. The prisoners at Camp 7 were transferred to a facility adjacent to where the other detainees on the base are held as part of what U.S. Southern Command said in a statement was an effort to “increase operational efficiency and effectiveness.” Officials have previously said about 14 men were held in Camp 7. There are 40 prisoners at Guantanamo.
Camp 7 opened in December 2006 for prisoners previously held in a network of clandestine CIA detention facilities, often referred to as “black sites,” where they were subjected to brutal interrogation techniques. The military ran it under an agreement with CIA, and has long refused to even acknowledge the location of Camp 7 on the base and has never allowed journalists to see the inside of the facility. Among those held at Camp 7 were the five prisoners charged with war crimes for their alleged roles planning and providing logistical support for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Washington Nationals scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves for Monday has been postponed, with a plan for the teams to face each other Tuesday, which would be Washington’s first game of the year as it deals with COVID-19 issues. The Nationals’ season-opening series against the New York Mets was postponed.
There were 11 unavailable players for the Nationals because of four players in isolation due to positive tests and seven players in quarantine. In addition, two staff members were in quarantine. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was unsure if the entire series against the Braves would be played, and also told reporters a “majority” of the unavailable players would have made the 26-man Opening Day roster.
MLB’s health and safety protocols for the 2021 season state that “individuals who test positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the Club medical staff, and be cleared by the Joint Committee and the individual’s team physician, following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.”
The Vancouver Canucks added two more players to the COVID-19 protocol list Sunday, which brings their team total up to 16. League sources said that some individuals are symptomatic, and a few individuals have received IV treatments for severe dehydration. According to the outlets, at least three Canucks coaches have tested positive for COVID-19 as well. The more infectious P.1 variant of COVID-19, which was first discovered in Brazil, has been found among some of the cases impacting the Canucks.
Canucks general manager Jim Benning said in a statement Sunday, “On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank fans everywhere for their support this past week. Our players, coaches and their families are grateful for the messages and we all hope for a return to full health as soon as possible. Our focus continues to be on the health of everyone involved and we are thankful for the extraordinary health care and guidance we have received from our team’s medical staff, BC’s health officials, and from NHL and NHLPA medical experts.”
The NHL planned to close the Canucks’ practice facility until at least Tuesday, with the team returning to competition Thursday. Now those targeted dates are expected to be pushed back due to the severity of the outbreak among the club.
Loretta Lynn has earned her 42nd top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with Still Woman Enough The album debuted at No. 9 on the ranking dated April 3, with 11,000 equivalent album units (10,000 from album sales). In the chart’s 57-year history, only Willie Nelson (53) and Dolly Parton (46) have notched more top 10s.
The 13-song set was produced by Lynn’s daughter Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Still Woman Enough is a mix of new songs and updated versions of previously recorded tracks, it includes collaborations with Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood on the title track, Margo Price (“One’s on the Way”) and Tanya Tucker (“You Ain’t Woman Enough”).
Miranda Lambert has released a solo acoustic rendition of her latest single “Settling Down,” which originally appeared on the 2019 album Wildcard.
For her solo rendering, Lambert is seated in front of a microphone with her acoustic guitar, stripped of all the instrumental support on the Wildcard recording. You can take a look at the acoustic version of “Settling Down” at the link – here.
Godzilla vs. Kong was the No. 1 movie at North American theaters this weekend, earning $32.2 million in receipts. The opening is the highest amount a film has raked in during its debut in the past year, where the coronavirus pandemic has kept people out of theaters and watching films at home. Wonder Woman 1984 held the record with $16.7 million when it premiered in December and Tom and Jerry scored $14 million when it opened in February.
Last week’s No. 1 movie was Nobody, which opened with $6.7 million. Coming in at No. 2 at cinemas this weekend is The Unholy with $3.2 million, followed by Nobody at No. 3 with $3.1 million, Raya and the Last Dragon at No. 4 with $2.1 million and Tom and Jerry at No. 5 with $1.4 million. Rounding out the top tier are The Girl Who Believes in Miracles at No. 6 with $580,000, The Courier at No. 7 with $450,000, Chaos Walking at No. 8 with $380,000, The Croods: A New Age at No. 9 with $210,000 and French Exit at No. 10 with $193,000.
The total box office business for this weekend in Canada and the United States was about $45 million.
Lamb of God recently released a deluxe version of their 2020 self-titled album, featuring two B-sides originally included on the Japanese and digipak box set editions. The reissue also included a second disc containing their entire September 18, 2020 livestream performance titled Live In Richmond, VA.
Miley Cyrus provided a Queen homage during her performance at the NCAA men basketball Final Four tourney on Saturday, April 3rd.
Cyrus entered the stage performing “We Are the Champions,” quickly leading into “We Will Rock You” and continuing with a bit of “Don’t Stop Me Now.” The mini-set took place between games, with Cyrus also performing a cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” the mashed-up “Edge of Midnight” that included a piece of Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen” and her own songs “We Can’t Stop” and “Wrecking Ball.”
