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    Late Night Reacts to President Biden’s Mexican Border Closure

    “The Daily Show” host Ronny Chieng joked that the president “has decided to start trying to win the election” with a temporary order affecting asylum seekers.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Access DeniedPresident Biden issued a temporary order to shut down the Southern border to asylum seekers on Tuesday in an attempt to prevent migrants from crossing into the country.“The Daily Show” host Ronny Chieng said that the president “has decided to start trying to win the election,” with border security as one of his “biggest weaknesses.”“It’s why he tried to make a border deal with Republicans earlier this year. It’s also why Republicans refused to make a deal with him. They’re like, ‘How can we blame you for this if you fix it, you idiot? So now with his polls tanking five months before Election Day, Biden is finally saying ‘[Expletive] it, I’ll just do it myself.” — RONNY CHIENG“It’s not very popular to have no control over who immigrates to your country, OK? Just ask the Native Americans.” — RONNY CHIENG“Hey, I get it, dude, but if you don’t want people to come, like, maybe stop saying how awesome America is. ‘It’s the best; you can’t come!’” — RONNY CHIENG“But if you’re really upset about this, don’t worry — like everything else Biden does, it’ll probably get knocked down by the Supreme Court. So, if America really wants to lock down the Southern border, they should put Ticketmaster in charge of it, OK? These guys are the best at making sure nobody can actually get into the thing they want to, OK? Everyone will be waiting on the queue for three hours. Yeah, and then they find out that America’s already sold out.” — RONNY CHIENGThe Punchiest Punchlines (Immediate Action Edition)“Say what you want about Biden, but he takes immediate action five months before an election.” — JIMMY FALLON“I’m going to be honest; I’m not sure Biden’s plan is going to work. Forget the border — we can’t even secure the deodorant at Walgreens.” — JIMMY FALLON“I feel bad for Biden — he can’t close the border, and he can’t open a bottle of Tylenol.” — JIMMY FALLON“That is a tough needle to thread, being an anti-immigration liberal: [imitating Biden] ‘So we’re going to seal the border, folks, but the wall is going to be gluten-free, and the barbed wire will be pro-choice. It’s not a border wall, it’s a ‘board-her’ wall.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingVice President Kamala Harris discussed the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade on Tuesday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightThe stand-up comic and actor Tig Notaro will appear on Wednesday’s “Late Show.”Also, Check This Out“I don’t think I can perform the way I want to in a couple of years,” Cyndi Lauper said. “I want to be strong.”Thea Traff for The New York TimesAt 70, the pop icon Cyndi Lauper is readying one last tour and a documentary about her life. More

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    ‘House of the Dragon’ Cast Celebrates Its Season 2 Premiere

    At the Season 2 premiere of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel, the cast mingled over cocktails as early clips from the series suggested that “war is coming.”Where does the story pick up this season on HBO’s fantasy epic “House of the Dragon”?“So,” the actor Tom Glynn-Carney told a reporter on Monday night at the Season 2 premiere at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom, everything “hits the fan.”His character in the “Game of Thrones” prequel, the newly crowned King Aegon II Targaryen, holds a grip on the throne that is tenuous at best. His brother has just killed their nephew in what could best be described as death by dragon chomp. And his sister Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen is on the brink of going nuclear — as Targaryens tend to do — likely with more dragon chomping.Even as Mr. Glynn-Carney, Matt Smith and other “Dragon” actors laid out the violence in store for the new season — which returns June 16 — the show’s impending civil war stood in stark contrast to the evening’s cocktails and joviality, with not a single silvery wig in sight.“I think nothing is black and white with Daemon Targaryen,” Matt Smith said of his character.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesEmma D’Arcy, who plays Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, in Celine.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesGayle Rankin plays Alys Rivers in “House of the Dragon.”Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesMatthew Needham, who plays Larys Strong.Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet for The New York TimesSome actors have struggled to recognize each other without them, said Phia Saban, whose character, Queen Helaena Targaryen, plays a critical role in an early episode. (There were 114 wigs used this season, HBO’s chief executive Casey Bloys said at the premiere, and — back to the dragon chomping — 33 gallons of fake blood.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Alec and Hilaria Baldwin and Their 7 Children Get a Reality TV Series

    “We’re inviting you into our home,” the actor, who is set to stand trial next month on an involuntary manslaughter charge, said as he announced a show about his family on TLC.Speaking with Alec Baldwin on his podcast last year, the talk show host Kelly Ripa made a pitch for him and his wife: “When I think about you and Hilaria and your seven young kids — now, I know what you’re going to say, but just go with me — this has reality TV written all over it,” she said.He didn’t dismiss the idea. In fact, he said the couple had already received pitches, and made one or two themselves.And on Tuesday, Baldwin, who is scheduled to stand trial next month on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust,” announced that a reality show featuring the couple and their “seven growing kids” would be coming next year to TLC. Its working title is “The Baldwins.”“We’re inviting you into our home to experience the ups and downs, the good, the bad, the wild and the crazy,” Alec Baldwin said in a video announcement with Hilaria that he posted to Instagram on Tuesday, interspersed with footage from inside their busy home.The announcement of the new show comes at a delicate time for Baldwin, 66, as he prepares to go on trial in New Mexico in the “Rust” shooting. Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, has denied responsibility for the death of the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, who was killed when a gun that he was rehearsing with, which was not supposed to be loaded with live ammunition, fired a real bullet that struck her. Baldwin’s lawyers are continuing to seek the case’s dismissal, placing blame for the tragedy on the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.Lawyers for Baldwin, who had a starring role in the western, have written in court papers that the tragedy has made it difficult for the actor to get work.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Netflix in June

    The final season of “Sweet Tooth” and a Richard Linklater rom-com highlight this month’s slate.Every month, Netflix adds movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of June’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)‘Sweet Tooth’ Season 3Starts streaming: June 6Based on the writer-artist Jeff Lemire’s acclaimed comic book series, this fantastical drama has for the past two seasons followed a plucky human-animal hybrid named Gus (Christian Convery) as he has journeyed through a postapocalyptic America with the burly nomad Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie), making new friends and enemies. Following Lemire’s plot (with some variations), the “Sweet Tooth” writer-producer Jim Mickle has repeatedly raised the stakes for Gus, Jepperd and all the mutant children and helpful humans they’ve picked up along the way. Season 3 will wrap up their story, as our heroes seek a safe haven from all the world’s violent, pitiless ravagers while also looking for the root cause of the devastating plague and mass mutation event that upended the social order.‘Hit Man’Starts streaming: June 7Glen Powell co-wrote and stars in this shaggy romantic comedy, based loosely on a Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth. Powell plays Gary Johnson, a New Orleans college professor who moonlights with the local police department as an undercover operative, posing as a killer-for-hire in order to catch the kind of people who would hire a hit man. When he falls for Madison (Adria Arjona), one of his would-be clients, Gary risks crossing over to the other side of the law. The “Hit Man” co-writer and director Richard Linklater is known for the laid-back vibes of his movies like “Bernie” (also based on a Hollandsworth article) and “Dazed and Confused.” Though the plot here takes some classic film noir turns, Linklater and Powell are just as interested in hanging out with Gary and Madison, watching closely as their passion for each other leads to some questionable decisions.‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Part 2Starts streaming: June 13Each “Bridgerton” season so far has adapted a different Julia Quinn novel, each telling a story focused primarily on the romantic ups and downs of one member of a Regency-era London family. Season 3 — which debuted its first four episodes in May and is debuting its final four in June — is no exception, covering the love life of Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), as recounted originally in Quinn’s book “Romancing Mister Bridgerton.” But the season’s true main character thus far has been the woman Colin is slowly circling: Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), an often overlooked spinster who throughout the series has secretly been the scandal-mongering gossip columnist Lady Whistledown. The season’s second half will resolve this complicated love story, while also potentially setting up Season 4 via a subplot about the brainy, witty, romance-averse Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie).‘A Family Affair’Starts streaming: June 28Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman play unlikely lovers in this romantic comedy, written by Carrie Solomon and directed by the rom-com vet Richard LaGravenese (the screenwriter of “The Fisher King” and “Water for Elephants”). Efron is Chris Cole, a middle-aged action movie superstar feeling increasingly cut off from the real world. Kidman is Brooke Harwood, an older writer who feels an immediate and thrilling connection with Chris from the first time they meet. The complication? Brooke’s daughter Zara is Chris’s frazzled personal assistant, who was on the verge of quitting before her mom and her boss hooked up. These three people are under a lot of pressure in their personal and professional lives, and “A Family Affair” is about how they have to learn to be honest with each other about what they really want.‘The Mole’ Season 2Starts streaming: June 28Though it is technically the seventh season (counting the five that ran on ABC in the early 2000s), the latest edition of the reality competition “The Mole” is the second since the American version of the show moved to Netflix in 2022. Based on a Belgian series that has been copied around the world, “The Mole” has a dozen strangers working together to win money by solving puzzles and performing feats of physical strength — all while one member of their party is covertly trying to sabotage them. The new season is set in Malaysia and hosted by Ari Shapiro, who also administers a quiz at the end of every challenge and sends one underperforming player home. As always, a big part of the show’s appeal is that the audience can play along at home, trying to guess the identity of the Mole before the final episode.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘The Acolyte’ Review: ‘Star Wars’ an Even Longer Time Ago

    The franchise’s latest series on Disney+ is set before there was even an empire to strike back.“The Acolyte,” the latest product off the Lucasfilm assembly line (it premieres Tuesday night on Disney+), enters territory unfamiliar to the casual follower of “Star Wars.” It is set during a prehistorical period known as the High Republic, until now depicted primarily in short stories, novels and comic books read only by serious fans. (The High Republic stories are to George Lucas’s central works somewhat as “The Silmarillion” is to “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.”)Moving a “Star Wars” story out of the main time stream — no Empire, no R2-D2, a century before Luke Skywalker — has not liberated it from the franchise’s oldest conventions and clichés, however. “The Acolyte” tweaks the formulas here and there, but, to a greater degree than other Disney+ shows like “The Mandalorian” and “Andor,” it falls back on signature moves: the electronic whoosh of the light saber; the outstretched hand summoning the Force; lovable droids and fuzzy holograms; dark masters and chosen children.Created by a newcomer to the franchise, the writer and director Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”), the show is focused on twin sisters in their mid-20s, Osha and Mae, both played by Amandla Stenberg. They share a tragedy in their childhoods that has left them with very different feelings about the Jedi knights, who in the High Republic time frame are comfortably ascendant across the galaxy, before their later tribulations in the “Star Wars” films.That critical moment, revealed in the season’s first half (four of eight episodes were available for review), involves one of Headland’s more noticeable creations: a coven of witches who tap into the Force with a holistic, communitarian ethos. (They feel borrowed from an early episode of “Star Trek,” with a swerve into unintentionally hilarious musical theater when they perform one of their ceremonies.) The nature-principle witches and the power-principle Jedi converge, spawning a vendetta plot centered on the grown twins that allows for plenty of planet hopping action. The fights are copious, and in another new twist for “Star Wars,” many of them take the form of balletic martial arts face-offs.But the storytelling force is not strong. Putting more female characters, and a stronger female point of view (even if it is sometimes redolent of 1960s earth mother), into an otherwise traditional “Star Wars” framework is worth the attempt. “The Acolyte” doesn’t bring enough energy or invention to the task, though.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Stephen Colbert Counts Down to Donald Trump’s Sentencing

    Colbert showed off his “Countdown to Sentencing Advent Calendar,” which contained a bottle of bourbon.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.‘Convicted Felon Trump’Most late night hosts were off last week after the Memorial Day holiday, which meant Monday was their first chance to discuss how Donald Trump had been found guilty on 34 counts in his hush money trial.Stephen Colbert continuously referred to the former president as “convicted felon Trump” and wheeled out his “Countdown to Sentencing Advent Calendar,” complete with Judge Juan M. Merchan’s face on each one of the 38 days until July 11, and a bottle of bourbon inside.“It’s going to be the R.N.C. live from Cell Block B with a keynote speech from his warden, his cellmate Spider, that one guard who smuggles in cellphones up his butt, and, for the cocktail hour, enjoy complimentary toilet wine.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Former President Trump has been found guilty on all 34 charges in his criminal hush money trial and faces up to four years in prison. Well, for what it’s worth, all your friends are already there, you know? It’s like what my wife tells me on our way to a dinner party: ‘Don’t worry — you’ll know people.’” — SETH MEYERS“That’s right, Trump was found guilty. They were going to put him in an orange jumpsuit, but it felt redundant.” — JIMMY FALLON“Just because there’s ample evidence and a jury believes it, anyone could now be found guilty. Do we really want to live in an America where the law is applied equally regardless of how rich you are?” — STEPHEN COLBERT“We might now be facing a situation where if you can’t do the time, and I can’t believe I’m saying this: Don’t do the crime.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“The big question now is whether Trump will get jail time or house arrest. If he’s sentenced to jail, Melania will be inside the courtroom chanting, ‘Four more years!’” — JIMMY FALLON“Trump will be sentenced on July 11, and his lawyers told him, ‘You should get your affairs in order.’ Trump was like, ‘That’s what got me in trouble in the first place.’” — JIMMY FALLON“That’s right, former President Trump was found guilty last week on 34 counts of falsifying business records and faces up to 4 years in jail and a $5,000 fine. And I think I speak for all of us when I say, you can waive the fine.” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Lock Her Up Edition)“The people said ‘Lock her up?’ That was your whole campaign — stop it! We remember; we were there. It’s like if Arby’s said ‘We never said we had the meats — the people said we had the meats.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“[imitating Trump] Folks, I was talking about Hilary Swank, OK? No baby is worth a million dollars.” — STEPHEN COLBERTWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Reporter Whose Beat Blends Sports and Culture

    Emmanuel Morgan is enticed by how athletes and sports leagues are increasingly dipping into music, television and other media.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.When Emmanuel Morgan was hired as a sports reporter covering the N.F.L. and combat sports for The New York Times in 2021, the job felt familiar. After all, Mr. Morgan, who grew up playing football, had been writing about the sport since high school. He went on to cover the N.F.L. for The Los Angeles Times for nearly two years.“I knew the N.F.L. and the U.F.C. and all these other sports so well,” said Mr. Morgan, 27, who also covered high school sports and basketball for The Los Angeles Times, including helping report on the death of Kobe Bryant in 2020.So when The Times disbanded its Sports department last year, he took the opportunity to stretch himself and pitch a new beat: the intersection of sports and pop culture.“I’m not a movie critic or a Broadway-goer, but I follow pop culture, I watch Netflix and I listen to music constantly — in the shower every day, on the subway,” he said. “I had my pulse on it.” Over the past eight months, Mr. Morgan, now on the Culture desk, has written about the pop culture phenomenon of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the growing relationship between the N.F.L. and streaming services and the rise of athlete podcasts.In an interview, he discussed how his daily news consumption has changed and what his favorite reporting experience so far has been. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.You’ve been in the role for a little over eight months now. How is it going so far?I have definitely had to be a lot more creative when it comes to finding story ideas. When I was with the Sports desk, I knew the N.F.L. and the U.F.C. so well — covering sports is very formulaic. You know you have to have previews for big events like the Super Bowl and the N.F.L. draft, and as the season goes on the major story lines and the targets for profiles and features become pretty clear. But with this new beat, I’m reporting on stuff you don’t see on TV or Twitter, and there are a lot more options, since I’m not just focusing on the N.F.L. and U.F.C. anymore. I have to make a lot more phone calls and talk to more people.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    In ‘Clipped,’ Cleopatra Coleman Spreads Her Wings

    The actor’s versatility has allowed her to stay relatively anonymous, but that may change with her new docudrama about an N.B.A. scandal.Cleopatra Coleman began with red, swirling it toward pink with a fine-tipped brush. An oval appeared on the paper, and then smaller marks joined it — ears, eyebrows, a line for a nose. “I always draw this woman,” Coleman said. “I don’t know why.”This was on a bright May morning and Coleman, a star of the FX limited series “Clipped,” premiering Tuesday on Hulu, was at Happy Medium, an art cafe around the corner from her temporary apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She had passed it on walks with her dog, George, a rescue Yorkiepoo, and had often felt jealous of the customers there at night, on dates. So this morning, on a day off from filming a new series, “Black Rabbit,” she had taken herself on a date. She had even dressed for the occasion, in a thrift-store T-shirt with a New York State Summer School for the Arts logo. Charcoal and pottery tempted her, but she settled on watercolor.To the picture, Coleman, 36, added a long neck, small breasts, two teeth. More colors came — purple, sunset orange, hints of green — all representing different emotions. Then she took a fresh sheet and began again, painting the same figure in different shades. Since the early days of the pandemic, she has drawn and painted this woman hundreds of times.“It’s always the same woman,” she said.In her professional life, Coleman is almost never the same woman. An actress since her teens, she has bounded among genres and forms. Though her look is distinct — high forehead, full lips, limpid brown eyes — she is often nearly unrecognizable from one role (“The Last Man on Earth,” say, or “Dopesick”) to the next (“Infinity Pool,” “Rebel Moon”). It’s a versatility that has allowed her to stay relatively anonymous. But given her audacious performance in “Clipped,” as V. Stiviano, the personal assistant to Donald Sterling, the disgraced former owner of the N.B.A.’s Los Angeles Clippers, and the promise of “Black Rabbit,” a starry drama set in the world of Manhattan nightlife due out next year, Coleman’s name and face are about to become much better known.That’s what her colleagues want for her. “I hope she breaks the [expletive] out,” Gina Welch, who created “Clipped,” said in an interview. “She’s such a star.”In “Clipped,” Coleman plays the woman who triggered a scandal that led to Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill), the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, being banned from the N.B.A. (With Jacki Weaver.)Kelsey McNeal/FXWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More