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Vienna (dpa) – Lyrics of successful songs in the United States have become simpler and more negative over recent decades, according to a University of Vienna study by psychologists Mauricio Martins and Markus Foramitti. "People tend to the music that matches their own mood," said Foramitti, whose analysis was published in the journal Scientific Reports in December. The researchers examined the lyrics of the 100 most popular English-language songs in the Billboard Hot 100 each year from 1973 to 2023, a total of 20,186 songs. To classify "stress-related" words, they used a recognised lexicon of 270 terms such as "abuse", "attack" and "pressure". Nouns such as "pain" and "anger" were counted as negative. A song was considered simpler the more words could be removed without reducing comprehensibility. Foramitti said that an example of a complex song was "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973) by Elton John. The lyrics of US star Taylor Swift contained stress-laden words and dealt with heartbreak, as in "Bad Blood", which counted as negative in the study’s context. By contrast, "Special" by Lizzo from 2023 was associated with little stress and low complexity. While people usually like to listen to music in line with their mood, it was different in extreme situations such as the coronavirus pandemic, the authors said. Around those crisis years, the lyrics of successful songs became more cheerful. "This points to people escaping from an overwhelming everyday reality," said Foramitti. The authors also noted a new trend since 2016. Since then, lyric complexity has risen markedly again, they said. Looking at the political landscape, Donald Trump’s first presidency may have also played a role in songwriting, the authors posit. However Foramitti cautioned that closer investigation is still needed to determine whether the then and current US president is truly a major cause in the turnaround in lyric trends. The following information is not intended for publication dpa mrd xx n1 swe

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London (PA Media/dpa) – Hollywood star Timothee Chalamet has said his new sports drama is an “antidote to dark times” and one of the films he is “most proud of”. The 29-year old, known for "Dune" and "A Complete Unknown," stars in the new Josh Safdie movie "Marty Supreme" alongside Gwyneth Paltrow. It follows Marty Mauser as he chases his dream of becoming a table tennis champion. Speaking on "The Graham Norton Show," Chalamet described the film as “incredible” and “important” to show. He said: “It is an incredible, unconventional movie with an incredible, unconventional director. “It’s about the pursuit of the singular dream of following your heart. “I believe it is an important film to put out now. I hope this movie can serve as an antidote to the dark times because ultimately it is about dreaming big. “What starts off as a table tennis movie evolves into a heist film, and lands in a very human place. It is one of the films I am most proud of.” The film has had three Golden Globe nominations, including for best screenplay and best picture for musical or comedy, with Chalamet up for best male actor in a motion picture musical or comedy. The film also stars US rapper Tyler The Creator, with a supporting cast including Fam star Odessa A’zion, Canadian TV personality Kevin O’Leary, US filmmaker Abel Ferrara, and Saturday Night Fever actress Fran Drescher. Safdie is known for directing "Good Time" (2017), with Robert Pattinson, and "Uncut Gems" (2019), starring Adam Sandler and Julia Fox. Chalamet is at the centre of a rumour that he is the Liverpool rapper EsDeeKid. On Thursday Chalamet was asked by BBC One presenter Greg James if he was the rapper, to which the actor replied: “All will be revealed in due time.” A photograph of EsDeeKid, whose face is covered up, sparked the theory with comments suggesting his eyes looked similar to Chalamet’s. Chalamet rose to fame after starring in Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed 2017 romance "Call Me By Your Name." He has gone on to star in "Little Women" (2019), "The King" (2019) and "Wonka" (2023) and won the leading actor prize at the Sag Awards in February for his role as Bob Dylan in the biopic "A Complete Unknown." "Marty Supreme" is to be released on December 25 in Britain and the US with other markets coming later. The following information is not intended for publication dpa pa arw

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Set aside enough time, create the right mood and remember, the journey is the destination – and you are set to make cookies with youngsters. Start by letting them pick the recipe they want to make. Berlin (dpa) – Strap on your apron and wipe off the kitchen surfaces. It's the time of year where many of us bake festive cookies to give to friends and relatives – or eat ourselves. If you have kids who are eager to help, then bear in mind that the journey is always the destination. Here's how to make baking as enjoyable as possible for the little ones. Instructions for baking cookies with children Three important things to prepare: Time management: Allow plenty of time! An hour between appointments won't work. If you're pressed for time, the project will fail, says Christina Bauer, a farmer in Göriach, Austria, and author of a book about baking with children. Nutritionist Dagmar von Cramm also warns, "Please don't do anything else at the same time!" Atmosphere: Creating a good atmosphere is a must: "Christmas music makes it much easier," says Christiane Kührt, author of "Christmas made easy – Yummy." How long children can keep baking cookies Don't choose more than one or two recipes. "If there are more, it's no longer fun," says Bauer. "Preschoolers can last a maximum of 30 minutes – schoolchildren longer," says von Cramm, of her rule of thumb. Kührt suggests you spread Christmas baking over two days. Bake cookies on the first day and decorate them on the second. "Otherwise, you'll quickly find yourself alone in the kitchen," she says. Baking cookies is simply fun. Three tips for more baking fun with children Children decide what to bake Bauer advises letting the little ones choose the recipes beforehand. For baking blogger Kathrin Runge, the right recipes are those that can be prepared in a relatively short time and don't need to stay in the oven for too long. These include butter cookies and coconut macaroons, for example. Children like to dress up Aprons are good for protecting clothes. And they're fun. "Little bakers love having their own long aprons. You can also tie a large tea towel around them, for example – then they look like real bakers or chefs," says Runge. Separate utensils for children "Every child needs their own wooden board and a small rolling pin, for example," says Runge. Special accessories such as children's baking tins are nice, "but in my opinion not really necessary." What tasks are suitable for children when baking biscuits? Children can help with these fun – and crucial – four activities: 1. Weighing2. Snacking3. Cutting out4. Decorating Let's get started: from kneading the dough to decorating Get all the ingredients ready Children want to get started right away. So it's a good idea to have all the ingredients ready before you begin. "If you start gathering ingredients now, you'll cause the first big disappointment," says Bauer. This includes sealed packages: "They should already be open." Now you can start weighing the ingredients, an exciting activity for children which they really enjoy. Start with the eggs All the ingredients are weighed. The mixing bowl is ready. If eggs are part of the recipe, start with them. Children aged four to five can separate the egg whites from the yolks. If some of the shell slips in, it's easy enough to fish it out. Flat dough sheet instead of a large ball All the ingredients have been kneaded into a dough. Instead of a large ball, Kührt says form a finger-thick sheet from the dough and place it in the refrigerator. "This can then easily be rolled out between two sheets of cling film or baking paper. This prevents more flour from being added, which only makes the dough hard and crumbly." Alternative: knead the dough yourself beforehand Von Cramm and Kührt recommend preparing the dough yourself the day beforehand. Kührt would also mix the icing for decorating without the children – but only shortly before you need to use it. "Because stirring until the desired consistency is achieved could take too long for children," says Kührt. If you don't have time for this, you can also use icing from a bag. Children don't like hearing the phrase: "Wait, it's not ready yet!" Here are some even more taboo phrases when baking cookies with kids: "Leave it, I'll do it.""Wait, not yet.""Don't use too many sprinkles." Snacking is allowed Licking the bowl must be allowed. This is the rule in Christiane Bauer's bakery, where she emphasizes the importance of using very fresh ingredients. Von Cramm suggests using a special snack dough made without eggs (due to the risk of salmonella) as baking without snacking is no fun, in her view. Individuality before beauty When cutting out and decorating cookies, don't expect what you make to win a beauty contest. When baking with children, Bauer's motto is, "Creativity before beauty." Runge also advises you to stay calm, be patient and give lots of praise – even if something didn't turn out quite right. Von Cramm also warns against excessive ambition. "Children's biscuits don't have to be perfect." In the end, every child should get their own tin for "their" biscuits. Five tips for greater safety when baking cookies Adults can easily take a baking tray out of the hot oven, brush hot chocolate coating onto a cake or chop dried fruit into small pieces. "Unfortunately, with children, the whole thing can quickly go wrong," warns Runge. Runge recommends: talking to children about potential dangers,make agreements,set a good example andconsider installing protective devices on the hob and oven. Most importantly, if the children are still small, always stay with them in the kitchen! "Not only for safety reasons – it's so much fun to watch the little ones making dough, decorating and snacking," says Runge. How to create wonderful memories Remember to take photos of the children baking cookies. After all, snapshot of little bakers in action could be great in your Christmas card. "It's a lovely memory and you can see how the children grow and become more independent from Christmas to Christmas," says Kührt. Three simple recipes for children: Recipe 1: Melted Snowman This is an idea from the German Guild of Bakers based on the motto "Some people are worth melting for," from Disney's "Frozen": A round biscuit with white icing is the melted part of the snowman, topped with a marshmallow as the head – decorated with chocolate eyes and a mouth. The arms are painted onto the icing base and colourful chocolate pearls are scattered on top as buttons. Ingredients: 300 grams of flour200 grams of soft butter80 grams of sugarGrated zest of one organic lemon1/2 beaten and stirred egg Preparation: Knead the ingredients into a dough and chill for 40 minutes.Then roll out the dough on a floured work surface, cut out round biscuits and bake for approx. 8 minutes. When the biscuits have cooled completely, add a round dollop of icing and a white marshmallow to the top. Decorate the eyes, nose, mouth, arms and belly buttons with icing and black chocolate pearls. Make even more little snowmen while you wait for the dough to cool – simply shape raw marzipan into small balls, assemble them and decorate them by icing the face and adding rubber strings as a scarf and chocolate moulds as a hat. "These cute little monsters are a big hit," says Kührt. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn cwg nhr xxde arw

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Some mistakes easily made by bakers include glancing at the recipe too swiftly. First, check you have everything ready. Once you are all set, take it slow and steady so your cookies turn out perfectly. Berlin (dpa) – People in many parts of the world bake cookies and give them to others especially during the holidays. But baking, as many of us know, is all about precision. So to achieve excellent results, you need to be well organized. Here is how to avoid mistakes when baking cookies. Potential mistake number 1: Skimming the recipe You can easily overlook an important step or ingredient if you skim over the recipe. People often overlook the times for proving or resting dough, and that occasionally causes problems for baking enthusiasts. Also, rookies tend to modify the recipe as they see fit or vary the order of the ingredients. Solution: Carefully read all the way through the recipe before you start baking to get an overview of the duration, difficulty and ingredients, say specialists from the German Bakers' Association. Here are some details that people often overlook: Does the dough need time to cool or rise?Are all of the baking utensils and ingredients ready?To what temperature should the oven be preheated? Potential mistake number 2: Guessing rather than measuring the ingredients Acting on instinct and guessing visually when following a recipe can complicate even the most ambitious baking project as baking requires precision. Otherwise your dough may quickly become too crumbly, too sticky or too firm. Solution: Measure the ingredients exactly as specified in the recipe. Ideally, weigh everything with scales, including liquids, otherwise the consistency and baking will be thrown off balance, experts warn. It is fine to vary the amount of sugar or spices slightly. But if you want to achieve the same result as in the recipe, you must adhere to the quantities specified. After all, there is usually a technical reason why a recipe contains the specified quantities. "If you change the quantities, resting times, baking times or temperatures, the result will also be different," says German guild baker Florian Lutz, a third-generation baker. He is not only one of 80 bread sommeliers worldwide, but also knows how to make perfect biscuits. Despite measuring accurately, shortcrust pastry – the classic type of dough for biscuits – can sometimes be difficult to roll out, breaking or crumbling. This is probably due to… Potential mistake number 3: Working shortcrust pastry too long Solution: "Shortcrust pastry must be prepared quickly. This means that the ingredients should be kneaded together quickly and the dough should not be rolled out over and over again," says baking blogger and baking book author Kathrin Runge. Do not use too much flour, otherwise the shortcrust pastry will break. Potential mistake number 4: Roll out pastry with wrong amount of flour If the dough sticks, some amateur bakers use far too much flour on the work surface. This can also make the shortcrust pastry dry and crumbly. However, if there is too little flour, it may stick. Solution: Runge suggests you can roll out shortcrust pastry better if you cut open a large freezer bag and work the dough between two layers. Potential mistake number 5: Shortcrust pastry is at the wrong temperature Solution 1: If the dough is too warm, you will need to cool it whoch could take a while. Otherwise, the butter can become too soft when rolling out, which sometimes leads to shortcrust pastry tearing, says Runge. Solution 2: Immediately after cooling, your shortcrust pastry may be still too hard to roll out. Wait until it has reached room temperature. Small mistakes – big impact. Why is dough so sensitive? "If you knead the dough for too long or roll it out when it is too warm, the fat will run out. It will then become tough and tear easily. If you notice that the dough is getting too warm, simply put it back in the fridge and continue later," says Lutz. Even if you avoid these mistakes, things don't always go smoothly. Some frequently asked questions and answers: 1. Which flour is best for cookies? Master baker Lutz prefers type 550 wheat flour and type 405 wheat flour. These two types also work best for Dagmar von Cramm, nutritionist and food blogger, though she also finds type 1050 wheat or spelt flour good for nut and chocolate biscuits. Wholemeal flour is more difficult for beginners to work with, though. 2. Can you stir the shortcrust pastry for biscuits? Lutz says no. "Shortcrust pastry works best when it is kneaded quickly and briefly by hand and then placed in the refrigerator overnight to cool. This makes it perfect for working with the next day." Pre-cool the bowl and spoons, too. 3. Why does shortcrust pastry have to rest in the refrigerator? Without refrigeration, it is often difficult to roll out because it is too soft and sticky. Shortcrust pastry from the refrigerator, which has then reached room temperature, is easier to work with. Resting also allows the individual ingredients to bind better, and sugar crystals dissolve more easily. "It's also no problem to leave shortcrust pastry in the fridge for longer. It can be prepared perfectly and only processed after 2-3 days," says Runge. You can also freeze shortcrust pastry – ideally in small balls so that they thaw more quickly. 4. Should biscuits be baked with fan-assisted or top/bottom heat? Both are fine. "If you opt for fan-assisted, the oven heats up faster and uses less energy. With top/bottom heat, the biscuits don't dry out as much," says Lutz. 5. How do you make cinnamon stars and other biscuits nice and soft? "Shortbread cookies should hopefully be nice and crispy – at least that's how they should be," says Lutz. Other types, such as cinnamon stars, must remain soft. You can achieve that by baking them for the correct amount of time, not too long. With cinnamon stars, if you feel that they are not ready, then they are ready. The white layer should never turn brown. 6. How do you know when the biscuits are done? That depends entirely on the type. With "normal" shortbread biscuits, meaning those you cut out with a cookie cutter, you can tell by their colour whether they need to be taken out of the oven. "As soon as the colour changes from golden yellow to chestnut brown, the biscuits are done," is Lutz's rule of thumb. Von Cramm advises paying attention to the colour at the edges. "If in doubt, lift the biscuits and look at the underside." Also, if you are making shortbread biscuits, the cut-out biscuits themselves do not need to rest, says Lutz. 7. What surface is suitable for cutting out biscuits? It's important that the surface is hard says Lutz. Surfaces made of wood, stone, metal, plastic and so on are generally suitable.You need a hard surface for cutting out biscuits. 8. How do you make icing for biscuits? To make the icing, Lutz simply takes a teaspoon of lemon juice – or more, depending on how many biscuits there are – and mixes it with enough icing sugar to create a thick consistency. If you want a specific colour, add food colouring. "It's best to use powder, otherwise the liquid ratio will be off." 9. Should cookies be decorated before or after baking? Add sugar pearls and the like before baking, but icing decorations should only be added afterwards Lutz says. Von Cramm finds that cookies usually look more decorative with icing or sugar writing. However, they should not be placed directly on top of each other. "Nuts or chocolate decorations that bake with the cookies are more stable. They bond with the dough, which is coated with egg before decorating," she says. Nuts actually develop more flavour when baked. Be careful with dried fruit or sugar decorations. "They quickly become too hard or burn during baking." 10. How can you keep biscuits fresh for as long as possible? "Biscuits stay fresh and tasty for a long time in an airtight metal tin," says Lutz. Let the biscuits cool before placing them in the…

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Cologne, Germany (dpa) – A miso-based umami marinade transforms roasted pointed cabbage into an explosion of flavour, paired with celeriac and potato purée, spring onions and a squeeze of lime. The umami bomb at the heart of this recipe is miso paste. Made from fermented soybeans, it naturally contains a hefty dose of glutamate, which delivers that characteristically savoury depth we also know from flavour enhancers. Together with soy sauce, which adds a pleasant saltiness, you get the perfect aromatic base. Garlic rounds it off, and a hint of sugar caramelizes in the oven, making the ideal marinade for the pointed cabbage. In the oven the cabbage also develops fine roasted notes. A simple side of mashed potato would be too dull a counterpoint for so much flavour. So the potatoes get support from some robust celeriac (also in season here in Europe like the pointed cabbage). Two finishing touches perfect the taste: A few spritzes of lime juice add some bright acidity, and a handful of spring onions add crisp freshness. Ingredients for four portions: 5 potatoes (about 600 g) 1/2 celeriac (about 300 g) 150 ml vegetable stock 1 tbsp butter 150 g whipping cream salt 1 clove garlic 4 tbsp soy sauce 4 tbsp miso paste 4 tbsp sesame oil (unrefined) 2 tsp sugar 1 pointed cabbage 4 spring onions 2 organic limes 2 tbsp sesame seeds (toasted) Method: For the purée, peel the potatoes and celeriac and cut into large chunks. Put the vegetables in a pot with the vegetable stock, cover and cook over medium heat until very soft, about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid and press the vegetables through a potato ricer. Season with butter, cream and salt. Peel the garlic and press it into a bowl. Add soy sauce, miso paste, 3 tbsp sesame oil and the sugar, then whisk until smooth. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (top and bottom heat). If necessary, remove any damaged or wilted outer leaves from the pointed cabbage. Quarter the cabbage, keeping the core attached so the wedges hold together. Place the quarters in a baking dish and brush generously with the marinade so it runs into the layers. Drizzle the remaining sesame oil over the cabbage. Lightly cover the base of the baking dish with water so the marinade does not stick. Bake the pointed cabbage until tender but still with bite, about 40 to 45 minutes depending on size and leaf thickness. Switch on the grill for about five minutes to char the tops until the leaves are well browned. Wash, dry and quarter the limes. Wash and dry the spring onions, trim off the roots and the dark green tops, then slice into fine rings. Spoon the celeriac purée onto four plates. Set a wedge of pointed cabbage on top, then garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds. Serve the limes alongside and squeeze over the cabbage before the first bite. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn ueh yyzz n1 xlt cwg tsn

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Tokyo (dpa) – "So cute: Is that a Labrador? Can I pet him? Oh, a terrier you say – my next guess! Did you move here recently by chance?" And so begins another friendly chat with a stranger thanks to a dog. Be it getting a bit of tree-infused park air, ambling round the block or just a quick wander to the shops, having a dog on a lead or seeing one is always a potential ice-breaker. Small wonder, then, that a team of Japanese researchers have found an association between owning a dog and having a "stronger sense of community" – an apparent outcome the team puts down to the pets doubling-up as a conduit for "neighbourhood-based connections." "Compared to incidental interactions or friendships, anchored personal relationships fostered by dog ownership are more likely to be perceived as ties with neighbours," the researchers assert in a paper published in the science and medical journal PLOS One on Wednesday. Around 500 residents of Sagamihara in Japan volunteered to take part in the research, which was carried out by psychology and veterinary academics at Rikkyo University and Azabu University. The same tendency for dog-owners adding to connections within a neighbourhood was not seen as much among owners of other pets, including cats – a finding the researchers said was in line with other related work on the subject.  The team called for further research taking in distinctions such as differing effects of dog ownership and dog walking as well as the "frequency, duration, and distance of dog walks." Future studies should also take into account "dog characteristics" – a potentially challenging subtlety which the researchers contend could further help with the "disentanglement of the association between dog ownership and personal relationships." The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh

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Vienna (dpa) – Words with a pleasant sound are easier to remember, a study by the University of Vienna has found. Invented words like "clisious", "smanious" and "drikious" were presented to around 100 English-speaking participants to test how sound alone, independent of meaning, influences perception. They also examined whether the beauty of sounds affects how easily words can be learned. The 100 participants viewed different pretend words which were designed to be "beautiful", "neutral" or "not beautiful". First they were asked to learn and memorize the words, later to recall them, and finally to rate how beautiful they found them. "We found that the words that participants remembered best were also the ones they rated as most beautiful," said study leader Theresa Matzinger. The results point to a close relationship between memorability and what is known as euphony, or the beauty of sound. "Whether we remember things better because we find them beautiful or find them beautiful because we can remember them better remains to be seen," said the University of Vienna lecturer, whose study was published in the journal PLOS One. The link between aesthetic perception and the learnability of language could affect foreign language learning, marketing strategies and language change across generations. "Certain sound patterns may persist in languages because they sound pleasant, while others may disappear because we find them less appealing," Matzinger said. The following information is not intended for publication dpa mrd xxde coh

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Berlin (dpa) – Sure, those Santa hat-shaped biscuits are fine, but are they three-dimensional? These marzipan treats bring edible Santa hats to life with bright-red marzipan, a white sugar pearl as a bobble and desiccated coconut for a furry snowy rim. With a little remodelling, they can even be reworked as Christmas stockings. In this recipe from cookbook author Christiane Kührt, the biggest job is shaping the marzipan mixture and decorating it with icing, sugar pearls and coconut. There's a trick to this part. "So that the coconut shavings stick as snow on the brim and the pearl as the bobble on the tip, the icing must not be fully dry yet, because then it acts like a glue," Kührt says. Her measurements are for nine little hats. "You can make them smaller, then you will get more," she says. However, you need to take care, as they can quickly turn light brown in the oven. "These Santa hats should only be baked at 160 degrees. At 180 to 200 degrees the sugar darkens too quickly." A special touch comes from rose water. "A well-stocked supermarket will have it in the baking section. If not, you will find it at the chemist," Kührt says. If you don't like the aroma of rose water, you can replace it with two drops of bitter almond flavouring, she says. Curious? Time to get baking. Ingredients for about nine Santa hats For the dough: 200 g marzipan paste 50 g icing sugar 1 medium egg white 30 g flour 50 g ground blanched almonds 2 tbsp rose water (optional) For the decoration: 100 g icing sugar about 3 tbsp lemon juice red food colouring 30 g desiccated coconut 9 large white sugar pearls Preparation: For the dough, line a baking tray with baking paper. Coarsely grate the marzipan paste and put it in a mixing bowl. Add icing sugar, egg white, flour, almonds and rose water if using. Knead everything first with the dough hooks of a hand mixer, then with your hands, until smooth. Divide into portions a little larger than a walnut. Roll into balls, then shape into slightly conical Santa hats. Set the flat bases on the tray. Chill the hats for at least 45 minutes so they keep their shape when baking. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Bake the hats in the middle of the oven for about 15 minutes; they should not darken. Remove, then leave to cool completely and firm up. For the decoration, mix icing sugar with lemon juice and food colouring in a small bowl to a thick but still flowing icing. Tip the desiccated coconut onto a small plate. Line a board with baking paper. Dip each hat tip-down into the icing, let it drip briefly and set on the paper. Immediately place a sugar pearl as the bobble on the tip. As soon as the icing pools at the base, press the underside into the desiccated coconut and use your fingers to form a white rim all around. Leave the Santa hats to dry on baking paper. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn cwg yyzz n1 amc

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Netflix, already the streaming industry leader, now looks set to own two of the biggest video streaming platforms with the purchase of Warner Bros and its HBO Max app. What awaits Netflix subscribers? Los Angeles (dpa) – Streaming giant Netflix is acquiring the Hollywood stalwart Warner Bros following the spin-off of Warner's Discovery Global business unit for nearly $82.7 billion, Netflix announced on Friday. Does this mean that Warner's HBO Max app, a high-end rival to Netflix known for cult shows like "The Wire", "The Sopranos" and "Succession", will be merged with the Netflix app? Netflix isn't saying anything along these lines so far. In fact, it's still early days, and the company says it expects the transaction to take 12 to 18 months. However it does suggest that Netflix viewers will be able to watch HBO and Warner content like "Batman", "Superman", "The Last of Us" and "Game of Thrones". "By adding the deep film and TV libraries and HBO and HBO Max programming, Netflix members will have even more high-quality titles from which to choose," the company said in its statement announcing the purchase. Access to HBO's content will allow Netflix to "optimize its plans for consumers, enhancing viewing options and expanding access to content." It's also possible that HBO could keep the two brands separate, but that subscribers could purchase and watch both together in the same app. Currently, subscribers can pay for a discounted bundle of Disney, Hulu and HBO Max. Alongside HBO Max and HBO, the deal also includes content from Warner Bros' film and television studios. "By combining Warner Bros' incredible library of shows and movies — from timeless classics like 'Casablanca' and 'Citizen Kane' to modern favorites like 'Harry Potter' and 'Friends' — with our culture-defining titles like 'Stranger Things,' 'KPop Demon Hunters' and 'Squid Game,' we'll be able to do that even better," Ted Sarandos, co-chief executive of Netflix, said in a statement. "Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling," Sarandos said. Warner Bros officially put itself up for sale in October after receiving several takeover bids. In addition to the Hollywood studios and the streaming service HBO Max, this also includes several television channels. According to reports, Netflix is only interested in the production and streaming business. However, Warner originally wanted to spin off the channels into a separate company anyway. The purchase may also make the streaming giant a major player in the cinema business. Until now, Netflix has generally refused to release its original exclusives in cinemas, preferring to focus on streaming. The following information is not intended for publication dpa evy bf xxde hm ph wjh coh

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Two fierce matriarchs, played by Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey, clash over land, power, and family loyalty in Netflix's new Western, "The Abandons". Los Angeles (tca/dpa) – Ah, the Western. That great American canvas, upon which many sorts of motion pictures have been projected, stretching back to the very beginning of the medium: adventure, romance, comedic, serious, simplistic, artistic, racist, revisionist, historical, metaphorical, low-budget, big-budget, dark, light, set in a wild landscape or on the edge of it, where the deer and the antelope play, etc., etc. In 1939, the year John Ford made "Stagecoach," elevating John Wayne to stardom, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry were also busy. (If Wikipedia is to be trusted, something like 120 Westerns were released that year.) Roy and Gene would also have television careers when the tube came knocking, birthing a wealth of Westerns — "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," "The Rifleman," "The Virginian," "Maverick," "Have Gun, Will Travel," I could go on from here to Missouri. This year we've had"American Primeval" and"Ransom Canyon," the ongoing brilliance of"Dark Winds" and the continuing adventures ofTaylor Sheridan . With so many movies and television series working that vein over more than a century, it's no surprise that the same material turns up again and again. "The Abandons," a new Western premiering this week on Netflix, is thick with old plot points and character types. (Seven episodes out of 10 were available to review.) Admittedly, creator Kurt Sutter has given the tropes a bit of a spin, making two women — played by Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey — adversarial matriarchal leads, but the nuts and bolts come right off the shelf. We are in the town of Angel's Ridge in Washington Territory in the year 1854. Constance Van Ness (Anderson) and Fiona Nolan (Headey) are widows — but not "widder women" — each in charge of her business, turf and adult children. Constance is upper-class, cold, refined, ambitious and the owner of a silver mine. Her brood consists of Willem (Toby Hemingway), the problem child; Garret (Lucas Till), the younger but more capable son (he wears a suit), trouble in his own way; and Trisha (Aisling Franciosi), a fair flower who will nonetheless curse like a sailor at times. She plays Schubert on the piano, a character detail that feels tacked on, but at least it is a character detail. Fiona is her almost mathematically conceived opposite, an earthy rancher with four adopted grown children; there's a horrible dead husband in her backstory. Elias (Nick Robinson) and Dahlia (Diana Silvers) are brother and sister, whose late father left the money for the land upon which Fiona has built their ranch. (Guided and gifted, in her mind, by God.) With them are Albert (Lamar Johnson) and Lilla Belle (Natalia del Riego), "two angels alone and hurting" Fiona met along the way. They are "five abandoned souls, now kin," and so call their ranch the Abandons. Production is down at the mine, which Constance fears will make "my primary associate, the esteemed Mr. Vanderbilt," as in Cornelius, withdraw his investment, which in turn will make Angel's Ridge slide "back into the mud" and won't do Constance any good either. (The town, as even the sheriff describes it, belongs to her.) And so she lusts after a suspected vein of silver running under Jasper Hollow, occupied by Fiona's ranch and three other families, none of whom are in a rush to leave, despite A) her offers of money and B) acts of sabotage to force them to go. They debate whether to "go to the law" or handle her themselves, and because they are democrats, vote on it. The collision of wealthy, often industrial interests with humble workers on the land has been the basis of many a Western; we are meant, as feeling humans, to side with the farmers and the ranchers against the mine owners as custodians rather than despoilers of the Earth. That Willem calls Isaac the blacksmith "a dirty little Jew" doesn't speak well for the Van Nesses, either, but we'll see much worse from him before the opening episode is out — and then we won't see him. On the other hand, Fiona is more than a little crazy and Constance, in her icy way, can seem almost reasonable. At times it seems that the two, as mothers, might be about to make some interesting connection, even common cause, but they are driven apart by mutual antipathy and the fact that each will be guilty of some awful stuff against the other. "Our struggle, Fiona," says Constance, "is a matter concerning property, not children." "All matters concern my children," replies Fiona. "But do our children need such concern or do we slyly foster it clinging to our motherly purpose?" Well, that is the question, and you do wonder why these kids don't just light out for Portland. (Constance, whom one would not exactly call maternal, believes her motherly purpose is superior to Fiona's, "it being one of blood"; Fiona responds, "Love is not shared through blood.") There's a "Romeo and Juliet" subplot as well, involving Elias and Trisha, and though Sutter may not have had Shakespeare specifically on his mind, given that his"Sons of Anarchy" contained a whole lot of "Hamlet," it seems not unlikely. Other plots involve bandits, guns and an Indigenous tribe, the Cayuse, about to sign a treaty and a rebel faction out to scotch it. In spite of supercharged performances by the two leads, there's something pasteboard about the characters, drawn in thick outlines but not really colored in; that the actors are saddled with old-timey dialogue makes them less rather than more real. (As is often the case, minor players make a more lifelike impression, including Michael Greyeyes and Michiel Huisman, who do work, cleaner and dirtier, for Constance, and Ryan Hurst as one of the Jasper Hollow inhabitants, a quiet man with a past and a way with guns, another popular Western type.) The series is busy, certainly, and frequently violent, with a few impressive set pieces, but majestic Canadian scenery aside, "The Abandons" feels artificial, schematic. (Good characters get to make pure, naked love; bad ones have pervy sex — implied, not shown.) Any random three minutes of "Deadwood" or even a still photo of Wayne seem more genuinely expressive of its times, however historically accurate or fanciful they may be. In spite of a nicely conceived main street and a decent complement of extras, Angel's Ridge itself never comes alive. (Patton Oswalt appears briefly as the mayor, his only real job to provide a body for expository dialogue to stream across.) The silver mining at the bottom of all this business isn't portrayed at all, nor are any practical matters of running a ranch; everyone's too busy fussing and feuding, I suppose. Cornelius Vanderbilt, glimpsed briefly on his way to visit Constance, disappears, presumably to resurface in the concluding three episodes; and by "concluding" I mean whatever brings us to the cliffhanger I assume is coming. Beyond the hope of seeing horrible people punished and not-horrible people flourish, which I am always down for, did I care much about the fate of Jasper Hollow or Constance's silver mine? I can't say that I did. The following information is not intended for publication tca dpa coh

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