lightning slot game In a surprise that stunned the audience of Hollywood’s first big awards-season bash, “A Different Man,” a dark comedy about doppelgängers, deformity and authenticity in acting, won best feature film at the 34th Gotham Awards on Monday night. Much can be unpredictable at the Gotham Awards, which uses small juries of insiders and film industry veterans to pick nominees and winners. But as the “A Different Man” ensemble, including Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson, took the stage, writer-director Aaron Schimberg was obviously in disbelief. “I don’t think I’m not the only person in this room who's totally stunned," said Schimberg. “Considering the other nominees, I thought it would be hubris to prepare a speech." At a starry Gothams that drew Zendaya, Timothée Chalamet and Angelina Jolie, most were expecting triumph for Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a comedy about a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. It came in the lead nominee, the Cannes Palme d’Or winner, and maybe top best-picture contender at the Oscars, but went home emptyhanded. Instead, the night belonged to the A24 release “A Different Man,” which stars Stan as a man with facial deformities who's healed of them. He's then upstaged by the character played by Pearson, who genuinely has neurofibromatosis, a condition that covers much of his face with benign skin tumors. The Gothams aren’t an Oscar bellwether, though several of its recent top winners – including last year's winner “Past Lives,” as well as “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nomadland” – have gone on to be nominated for best picture, with “Everything Everywhere” and “Nomadland” winning. Whether any of the winners Monday night — “Sing Sing” and “Nickel Boys” were also victorious — will use the early wins as a springboard for more trophies remains to be seen. But the Gothams, a black-tie affair held at Cipriani Wall Street in downtown Manhattan, tend give some sense of the flavor of the upcoming gauntlet of award-season ceremonies. How prominent politics, and the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, might be in this year’s Oscar race is one of the biggest questions as the season ramps up. On Monday, Trump's name was never uttered on stage, nor were there any overtly political statements. But several winner seemed to allude to the shifting political climate. “Let's keep doing the work that really matters and makes a difference,” said Colman Domingo, who won best lead performance. “That's what we can do right now. That can be the light in the darkness.” Domingo won for his starring role in “Sing Sing,” the indie drama about a real prison program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts, which helps incarcerated people heal through theater productions. Clarence Maclin, one of the formerly incarcerated men who co-star in the film, won best supporting performance. (The Gothams give gender-neutral acting awards that number 10 nominees instead of the typical five.) “If someone was going to tell me ten years ago, I was going to be here, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Maclin. “Sing Sing,” also from A24, was arguably the emotional winner of the night. The film's ensembled also accepted a tribute award. In one of the evening's most powerful speeches Sean Dino Johnson, a founding member of RTA, spoke passionately about the redemptive qualities of the arts. “Standing here tonight we are proof that movies like ‘Sing Sing’ don’t just entertain,” said Johnson. “They change lives.” RaMell Ross' “Nickel Boys," his arrestingly photographed Colson Whitehead adaptation, also won two major awards: best diretor for Ross and breakthrough performer for Brandon Wilson. Ross’ film, about two Black teenagers at an abusive juvenile reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida, is filmed largely from the first-person perspective of its two main characters. For many, the Gothams are a chance to make an impression with a speech that helps solidify their awards chances. To that cause, the Gothams gave out an array of tribute awards. This year’s crop was particularly starry, including Zendaya (for “Challengers”), Jolie (for “Maria”), Chalamet and James Mangold (for “A Complete Unknown”), Denis Villeneuve (for “Dune: Part Two”), and Franklin Leonard, founder of the fabled unproduced screenplay platform The Black List. Jolie, who plays the opera singer Maria Callas in “Maria,” also spoke about the importance of the arts. “It’s so important that art be taught in our schools, and so concerning that is being reduced,” Jolie said. Zendaya, honored for her performance in Luca Guadagnino's “Challengers,” took a moment to thank her date. “My mom's here tonight," she said. “Shout out mom.” Chalamet read a short speech about his transformation into Bob Dylan for the upcoming “A Complete Unknown.” “Getting to study and immerse myself in the world of Bob Dylan has been the greatest education a young artist can receive," Chalamet said. "If you're already a fan of Bob Dylan, this will make perfect sense to you. If you're not familiar with his work, perhaps our film can serve as a humble gateway to one of the great poets and chroniclers of our times.” Best documentary went to “No Other Land,” a film made by a Palestinian and Israeli filmmaker collective that documents Israeli occupation of a Palestinian village in West Bank over the course of years. Despite being one of the year’s most acclaimed documentaries, “No Other Land” remains without an American distributor. Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” a poetic drama about three women in modern Mumbai, took the award for best international film. Though the film was the first Indian movie in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year, India opted not to select it for its Oscar submission. The award for breakthrough director went to Vera Drew for “The People's Joker,” a superhero parody about gender identity. Drew thanked Warner Bros. “for not suing me” and Nicole Kidman, an attendee, because, Drew said, “'Batman Forever' is when I realized I was trans.”None

A Political Technocrat Makes His Pitch for Saving the Democratic Party - The BulwarkBy ZEKE MILLER, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed an agreement to allow the Justice Department to conduct background checks on his nominees and appointees after a weeks-long delay. The step lets Trump transition aides and future administration staffers obtain security clearances before Inauguration Day to access classified information about ongoing government programs, an essential step for a smooth transiton of power. It also allows those nominees who are up for Senate confirmation to face the background checks lawmakers want before voting on them. Teams of investigators have been standing by to process clearances for Trump aides and advisers. “This agreement with the Department of Justice will ensure President Trump and his team are ready on Day 1 to begin enacting the America First Agenda that an overwhelming majority of our nation supported on Election Day,” said Susie Wiles, Trump’s designate to be White House chief of staff. The announcement comes a week after the Trump transition team signed an agreement with the Biden White House to allow transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on Jan. 20. The White House agreement was supposed to have been signed by Oct. 1, according to the Presidential Transition Act, and the Biden White House had issued both public and private appeals for Trump’s team to sign on. Security clearances are required to access classified information, including on ongoing operations and threats to the nation, and the Biden White House and outside experts have emphasized to Trump’s team the importance of having cleared personnel before Inauguration Day so they could be fully briefed and ready to run the government. Republican Senators have also insisted on FBI background checks for Trump’s nominees before they face confirmation votes, as has been standard practice for decades. Lawmakers have been particularly interested in seeing the findings of reviews into Trump’s designated nominee for defense secretary, former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence. “That’s why it’s so important that we have an FBI background check, a committee review of extensive questions and questionnaires, and a public hearing,” said. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine on Monday. John Thune, the incoming Senate Republican leader, said the Trump team “understands there’s going to have to be a thorough vetting of all these nominees.” AP congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.

French president Macron has last say on his resignation, says far-right leader Le PenSebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the US illegally, was arraigned in Brooklyn criminal court. He appeared briefly before a judge and wore a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt. He did not speak. He will remain jailed ahead of his next court date on Friday. The apparently random attack occurred on Sunday morning on a stationary F train at the Coney Island station in Brooklyn. Police said on Tuesday that identification of the victim was still “pending at this time”. Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who was sitting motionless in the train car and may have been sleeping, and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire. The woman quickly became engulfed in flames, while the suspect then sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched, according to police. Video posted to social media appeared to show the woman standing inside the train ablaze as some people look on from the platform, and at least one officer walks by. NYPD chief of transit Joseph Gulotta said that several officers had responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be” while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. They were eventually able to douse the fire, but “unfortunately, it was too late”, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said — the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. During Zapeta’s court hearing on Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said Zapeta at one point fanned the flames on the woman using his shirt. He said a 911 call from a subway rider helped identify Zapeta. Mr Rottenberg added that under interrogation Zapeta claimed he did not know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself to interrogators in images related to the attack. Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after police got a tip from some teenagers who recognised him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta had been previously deported in 2018 but at some point reentered the US illegally. The crime — and the graphic video of it that ricocheted across social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times each day.

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