From his formal introduction to the basketball world at the 2001 ABCD Camp to his two years as the preeminent high school basketball player at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary to the NBA career that began in the autumn of 2003 to his 68 games as a member of the USA Basketball senior men’s national team, James has been on a court, somewhere, demonstrating to the legions of non-believers there never has been anyone who played the game at such a level....

They will be remembered, however, for the doors of perception they opened. If you were a teenager raised on Hollywood movies, your first encounter with Bergman’s “Wild Strawberries” or “The Seventh Seal” was a life-altering expe­rience, a shocking immersion into Swedish angst, expressionistic dream sequences, daunting symbolism (clocks without hands!) and a brooding black-and-white existentialism that was a slap in the face to the Technicolor optimism of your child­hood fantasies....

So instead of taking the easy potshots at swag suites and acquisitions execs text-messaging in the middle of screenings, let’s try to remember what Sundance was originally supposed to be about: the discovery of new and different independent cinematic voices. Every year at the opening-night movie, Redford gives a variation of the same pep talk: “this festival is for you— the filmmakers.” (Sometimes that’s all too true: when you’ve emerged from an amateurish stinker in the Dramatic Competition you realize that nobody but the filmmaker—certainly not the audience–is getting anything out of the bargain....

A new documentary, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, director of 20 Feet from Stardom and the Mister Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? follows Bourdain’s trajectory as he became the beloved star so many grieved for when he took his own life. “I didn’t want the film to feel like a eulogy. We tend to read history backward, but life lives forward,” Neville says in an interview with Newsweek....

Davis sat out of the second half of the Lakers’ 122-105 road loss against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, before the team confirmed he had suffered an “Achilles strain.” The 27-year-old missed the two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder last week and returned in Friday’s 115-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 35 points in the process. However, he was listed as questionable for the Lakers’ trip to Denver and did not reappear for the second half after scoring 15 points and grabbing four rebounds in 14 minutes on the court....

But Davis was never going to budge. Even Dr. Stephen Strange couldn’t have offered an alternate future in which the 26-year-old rescinded his trade demand. So here we are, just one week before the draft with one of the NBA’s top players still waiting to land on a new team. After canvassing the league, it appears Griffin has narrowed the field of suitors with a clear favorite emerging for Davis’ services....

Alex Azar, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), began worrying about Fauci’s safety as the doctor’s public profile rose, according to sources familiar with the situation who spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to publicly discuss the potentially sensitive security plans. Once a regular fixture of the White House’s daily coronavirus briefings, Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gained notoriety for publicly contradicting the president’s assertions including Trump’s assertion that anti-malarial drugs can possibly treat coronavirus....

The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said on Tuesday during an interview for the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit that the U.S. is about to enter a “challenging period” that requires consistent implementation of public health measures, referencing Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. According to Fauci, the consequences of Thanksgiving travel on COVID infection rates are unlikely to be known in the U.S. for at least another week....

The unified WBA/WBO/IBF world heavyweight champion counts wins over the likes Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam, Joseph Parker and most recently, Alexander Povetkin, who Joshua stopped via a seventh-round TKO in September, as part of his flawless ledger. And now, you can stream all of Joshua’s 22 pro fights, on demand and exclusively on DAZN. Join DAZN and watch Anthony Joshua plus more than 100 fight nights a year Although each of Joshua’s wins were thrilling in their own way, none stand out more than his career-defining victory against then-unified champion Klitschko in April 2017 before a raucous Wembley Stadium crowd of 90,000 fans....

Welcome to the Anthony Joshua multiverse. Part I: Tyson Fury’s initial retirement Part II: AJ’s upset loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. Part III: What if Deontay Wilder said yes to AJ fight The careers of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have been intricately intertwined for the better part of the last decade. You can’t bring up one name without the other coming right behind it. And this was evidenced in the first part of this series where we explained how Fury’s departure from boxing after beating Wladimir Klitschko had a direct effect on Joshua’s career....

Following his unanimous-decision victory over Joseph Parker, Joshua made his intentions known: he’s coming for Wilder’s WBC heavyweight championship. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn did what he was supposed to do, too: drum up interest in a potential fight between the two. MORE: Joshua vs. Parker referee gets torched on Twitter Wilder didn’t seem too impressed with Joshua’s sloppy win, and even “accepted” the challenge, via his Instagram post on Saturday night....

About 40 to 60 demonstrators gathered at the stadium holding signs promoting their anti-vaccine and anti-mask beliefs and shouting at drivers who were in line for their vaccination appointments. Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Ellsworth Fortman, who oversees the department’s COVID-19 response, told the Los Angeles Times that the decision to close the stadium’s entrance came amid public safety concerns. Despite those concerns, Fortman said the demonstrators did little to inhibit vaccine distribution....

Dozens of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have called on the justice to voluntarily step away from such issues—following text messages that Virginia Thomas sent to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows expressed strong support for efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Members of the Republican Party have been less inclined to urge Thomas’s recusal, including those who have been highly critical of former President Donald Trump....

In a statement released Friday, Barr praised police for their efforts in finding Reinoehl, and said his death made the United States “safer.” “The tracking down of Reinoehl — a dangerous fugitive, admitted Antifa member, and suspected murderer — is a significant accomplishment in the ongoing effort to restore law and order to Portland and other cities,” Barr said. “The streets of our cities are safer with this violent agitator removed, and the actions that led to his location are an unmistakable demonstration that the United States will be governed by law, not violent mobs....

Perhaps the most telling aspect of the document was the inclusion among Sporkin’s sources of Philip K. Howard’s book “The Death of Common Sense,” a recent tome bemoaning the lack of the obvious in our legal process. Beneath the legalese in Sporkin’s decision was an impassioned cri de coeur – we’re getting rooked, he seemed to be saying, because Microsoft has been competing unfairly and can now continue to do so....

What’s becoming crystal clear to our citizens and representatives alike is that these conglomerates are primarily growing thanks to unfair, predatory behavior—and not superior execution. Because they determine how information is disseminated, companies like Google and Facebook now have almost limitless control over the population. Google alone controls over 85 percent of the digital advertising market, while Facebook has a similar stranglehold over social media. This ability to regulate the spread of information and messaging is unlike any in history, yet these companies continue to amass even more power....

The Steelers wide receiver has done everything in his power to earn a raise, but with two years remaining on his contract, it is an uphill battle for him to receive that raise. STEELE: Ranking NFL’s top 10 wide receivers How did Brown end up here? In 2012, the Steelers were embroiled in a contract dispute with Mike Wallace, who was considered their top target at the time, that seemed to have no hope of being resolved....

According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, the NFL has reversed its ruling to allow the Raiders wide receiver to wear the specific model of Schutt helmet he loves as long as he could find one less than 10 years old. Florio reported that Brown’s Schutt AiR Advantage helmet made in 2014 required additional testing for use by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), though the league informed him the helmet did not pass the test....

“Wherever Tom goes, man, I think I want to play with Tom,” Brown said while appearing on the Complex Sports podcast Load Management. He also said the two could have standout year together, with “20 touchdowns, 25 maybe, 2,000 yards.” Both players’ futures in the NFL are currently unknown. During this past season, Brown played one game with the Patriots and Brady but was released after sexual assault allegations against him surfaced....

The Russian side were largely second-best in Tuesday’s Group E contest at the Otkrytiye Arena, showing little attacking ambition. Liverpool 28/1 to win CL But, having been given something to cling to when Fernando’s free-kick opened the scoring, they ultimately settled for a solid point following Philippe Coutinho’s leveller. And Carrera revealed that advice from Italian countryman Conte played a part in the result. “During the conversation we talked about Liverpool for just a couple of minutes,” he said....