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      5 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week

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      Whether you’re a casual moviegoer or an avid buff, our reviewers think these films are worth knowing about.A visual feast that’s too overstuffed.Mia Threapleton and Benicio Del Toro in “The Phoenician Scheme.”TPS Productions/Focus Features‘The Phoenician Scheme’In the latest from Wes Anderson, a shady business tycoon enlists his religious daughter to pull off a convoluted plan.From our review:It’s overstuffed, and thus skims and skitters across the surface of everything it touches, only glancing here and there before it’s taking off to the next story beat, the next exquisitely detailed composition. A breath or two or 10 might have been in order, a moment to contemplate what the movie’s getting at. You sometimes get the feeling it’s afraid to look too hard at itself.In theaters. Read the full review.Doesn’t earn its black belt.Jackie Chan, left, and Ben Wang in “Karate Kid: Legends.”Jonathan Wenk/Sony Pictures‘Karate Kid: Legends’Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan return as karate masters in this franchise reboot directed by Jonathan Entwistle.From our review:There is at once a roughshod, zippy energy coupled with a sedateness here that results from the simple fact that the film never quite knows how to square the pure awkwardness of two teachers — two stars from different eras of a franchise — instructing a karate kid at once. Their fan service pairing, then, leaves us with the distinct feeling of two wink-wink cameos shoehorned into a commercial.In theaters. Read the full review.Critic’s PickHaunting horror with spirited performances.Jonah Wren Phillips, left, and Sally Hawkins in “Bring Her Back.”Ingvar Kenne/A24‘Bring Her Back’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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      Landslide at Quarry in Indonesia Kills at Least 10

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      Officials halted rescue operations on Friday evening after poor lighting and the possibility of more landslides put rescue workers at risk.At least 10 people have been killed in a landslide at a quarry mine in West Java, Indonesia, according to the country’s national disaster management agency.The landslide occurred around 10 a.m. on Friday near the city of Cirebon, which is about 135 miles east of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. All of those killed were quarry workers, according to the agency. Six others were injured and being treated at local hospitals.A news network, Kompas TV, broadcast images of the aftermath, showing excavators digging through the rubble as officials searched for survivors at the base of a steep hill.The search for additional victims was halted around 5 p.m. because of darkness and the risk of more landslides, Mukhammad Yusron, the commander of the region’s military district, told the Antara news agency. He said search efforts would resume on Saturday.Bambang Tirto Mulyono, the head of the West Java department of energy and mineral resources, told Detik Jabar, a local news site, that the landslide was caused by improper mining methods — mining from the bottom of the hill up, instead of from the top down.“We have repeatedly warned the mining operator, even in strong terms,” he said, adding that the Cirebon city police had cordoned off the site since February “because the mining method used did not meet safety standards.”Indonesia is prone to landslides during seasonal rains that typically occur from October to April.Last month, 10 people were killed after a landslide hit vehicles on Java, the country’s main island, and 25 people were killed in another landslide there in January.Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,500 islands with a population of more than 280 million people, was once covered by vast rainforests. But many of those forests have been cut down in the last 50 years to make way for palm plantations and farmland.Deforestation and illegal small-scale gold mining operations have also contributed to unstable soil conditions in the country. In November, 24 people died at an unauthorized gold mining area on Sulawesi island after a landslide. More

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      Bernard Kerik, New York’s Police Commissioner on 9/11, Dies at 69

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      Before his career imploded, he rose meteorically to become New York City’s chief law enforcement officer under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.Bernard B. Kerik, the New York City police commissioner who was hailed as a hero for overseeing the department’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, only to fall from grace after he pleaded guilty to federal corruption and tax crimes, died on Thursday. He was 69.Kash Patel, the director of the F.B.I., announced Mr. Kerik’s death in a post on X. He said the former commissioner died “after a private battle with illness.”A cocksure high school dropout with a black belt in karate, shaved head and bulging biceps, Mr. Kerik vaulted to senior public posts as a disciple of Rudolph W. Giuliani after serving as Mr. Giuliani’s bodyguard during his successful 1993 mayoral campaign.In 1997, after Mr. Kerik rose through the ranks of the Police Department from a street cop in Times Square and narcotics investigator, Mr. Giuliani promoted him to correction commissioner, where he curbed sick time abuse by guards and reduced violence by inmates.Mr. Kerik’s appointment as police commissioner in August 2000 was not well received, in part because of his rapid promotions despite his lack of a college degree, which uniformed police officers ordinarily needed for promotion to captain and above. His highest rank before becoming commissioner was detective third grade. He later went on to earn a degree in 2002.During his tenure as police commissioner, for 16 months through 2001 when Mr. Giuliani’s mayoral term ended, crime continued the decline that was accomplished most by two of his predecessors, Raymond W. Kelly and William J. Bratton. Morale among officers improved. So did relations between the department and Black and Hispanic New Yorkers who had been alienated by incidents of police abuse.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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      Faizan Zaki, Last Year’s Runner-Up, Won This Year’s Spelling Bee

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      The 13-year-old from Plano, Texas, was the only 2024 finalist who advanced to the 2025 finals.For the past year, Faizan Zaki, 13, had a schedule that would rival that of professional athletes. He trained five to six hours a day on weekdays and seven to eight hours on weekends.His reps were words. Lots and lots of words.That work paid off.He won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in cinematic fashion late Thursday, spelling the winning word “éclaircissement” without asking any questions, then fell to the ground as confetti poured over him.“I was just ready to get it over with,” he said, surrounded by his family and friends, “I wasn’t expecting this though.”After coming in second at the 2024 final, he decided to take a bit of a different approach in preparing this year, to increase his speed and improve his vocabulary. Once he got home from school, he would open the dictionary and look for words he hadn’t seen before. He’d keep track of them in a document, focusing on the definition and spelling of each word.This year, Faizan also studied specifically for the spell-off, the final tiebreaking round that cost him a win last year. In the spell-off, finalists have 90 seconds to spell as many words from a shared list of 30 as possible. Bruhat Soma defeated Faizan last year, spelling 29 words correctly to Faizan’s 20 words.The spell-off was required to end the contest last year, but not this year.This was the first year he felt any external pressure, his mother, Arshia Quadri said, adding that she was relieved the pressure wasn’t overwhelming. (Ms. Quadri said she felt like she was holding her breath until the finals on Thursday night.)He appeared relaxed on Thursday, often strolling to the microphone with his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. Faizan has always loved learning. He started to read at 2, Ms. Quadri said, which she thought was simultaneously remarkable and not entirely significant. Then, at 3, he learned all of the countries of the world and their capitals, “which I have never known in my life,” she said, laughing.By the time he was 4, people started telling Ms. Quadri and her husband, Zaki Anwar, about schools for gifted children.Faizan first appeared at the Scripps National Spelling Bee when he was 7. (This year, the youngest competing speller is 8-year-old Zachary Teoh.)Through the years, Faizan has formed friendships on the road with fellow elite spellers. He credits those friends for keeping him calm ahead of big events.If he feels nervous, he tells himself: “I think you know this word. You can do it.”“That gets me pumped,” he said. More

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      San Francisco Leader Faces Recall After Drivers Lost Their Great Highway

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      Joel Engardio, an elected city supervisor, angered thousands of voters by helping to convert a major thoroughfare into a coastal park.An elected leader in San Francisco will face a recall for helping to turn a major thoroughfare into a beachside park, a move that some voters consider a grievous mistake.The city’s Department of Elections announced on Thursday that an attempt to oust Supervisor Joel Engardio from office had qualified for the ballot, and that a special election would be held on Sept. 16.Forget party politics. Mr. Engardio fell victim to park politics in a city that remains fiercely divided over the shutting down of the Great Highway and its conversion into a coastal playground known as Sunset Dunes this year.The park won rave reviews from visitors who run along the Pacific Ocean and lounge in hammocks there. But it angered residents who relied on the roadway to shave time, and others who said that neighborhood streets were now clogged with would-be Great Highway drivers.Those detractors now want to remove Mr. Engardio because he led the park conversion effort.It marks San Francisco’s third recall election in less than four years, the latest sign of a restless electorate that remains dissatisfied with its city leaders over quality-of-life issues. Mr. Engardio is one of 11 members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which is akin to a city council.The park won rave reviews from visitors who run along the Pacific Ocean and lounge in hammocks there. But it angered residents who relied on the roadway to shave time.Loren Elliott for The New York TimesWe 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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      NYT Crossword Answers for May 30, 2025

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      Just kidding — Rafael Musa gives us the good words.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — This is Rafael Musa’s 19th crossword in The New York Times, and it’s a fun one. The stacks in the corners are strong, and the clues are lively yet gentle enough to give a fair experience to those who are just starting to solve themeless puzzles.One of the things I like about Mr. Musa is that he shares his time generously with aspiring constructors. He has collaborated with others on 13 of his Times crosswords.If you are considering making your own puzzle, he has provided his email address at the end of his notes. You couldn’t be in better hands.Tricky Clues7A. I love this clue. It’s the language version of a trick of the light. [Something that’s filled with bad words] sounds as if the bad words are actually filling something, but read the clue again (and again, if necessary — I had to). “With” is doing double duty here. The clue needs to be read as “Something that’s filled by using bad words.” The answer is SWEAR JAR.16A. If you had “BBQ sauce” as an answer to [Bottleful at a barbecue], remember that a word in the clue cannot also be in the entry. The answer is HOT SAUCE.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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      ‘And Just Like That …’ Season 3 Premiere Recap: Outlook Good

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      The new season opener found most of the women prioritizing their men’s needs over their own. That didn’t seem likely to last.My jaw is bruised from hitting the floor when Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) tells her gal pals that her boyfriend, Aidan (John Corbett), asked for “no communication” while he deals with family issues — and that she is just fine with giving it to him. No communication. For five full years. And this is supposed to be love?Let’s review how we got here. At the end of Season 2 of “And Just Like That …,” the on-again lovers Carrie and Aidan found themselves at an impasse when Aidan’s son, Wyatt, hit hard times. Wyatt needed paternal supervision — so much so, apparently, that Aidan felt compelled to devote himself to it entirely back home in Virginia. The Gramercy palace Carrie had just purchased for the two of them became a reluctant bachelorette pad, and their love was relegated to a long-distance situationship.At that point, we knew Carrie and Aidan were going to hold onto their love connection but weren’t going to visit each other — as implausible as that seemed alone. What was less apparent until the first few moments of Season 3 was that they weren’t going to speak, period. No texting, no FaceTime, not even the occasional Instagram like. The only hellos they’re exchanging are blank postcards, which they’re each sending back and forth between Virginia and New York, and for Carrie, this is apparently enough. Right.This no-contact-but-stay-together setup was never realistic — even if we suspended every possible disbelief. It is even more absurd that Carrie plays along.It doesn’t take long for Aidan to break his own rule, though. All he needed were three beers and a good, old-fashioned “ache.” He buzz-dials Carrie out of nowhere and lures her into one-sided, rather frantic phone sex. (Carrie may have been more enthusiastic if not for the beady eyes of her kitty-cat, Shoe, who was watching from the edge of the bed. But between that, Aidan’s intoxicated grunts, and a disruptive horn-blare, she just couldn’t quite get there.)Not long after, Carrie calls up Aidan for Round 2, but the time is no good for Aidan. He is back on Wyatt patrol, lying in bed beside his sleeping son. Carrie hangs up in shame.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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      Trump Nominates a Former Far-Right Podcast Host to Head an Ethics Watchdog

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      The president picked Paul Ingrassia, the current White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which examines public corruption.President Trump on Thursday nominated Paul Ingrassia, a former far-right podcast host now serving as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, to a new key role: head of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent corruption-fighting agency that safeguards federal whistle-blowers and enforces some ethics laws.The office has had a bumpy ride in the second Trump presidency. In February, Mr. Trump fired the office’s head, Hampton Dellinger. Mr. Dellinger sued to keep his job, was temporarily reinstated by a court order, began investigating complaints arising from the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers and was removed again in March after an appeals court ruled in the administration’s favor. The Office of Special Counsel dropped its inquiry into the mass firings in April.The office had annoyed Mr. Trump during his first term by pursuing allegations of misconduct, resulting in a finding that 13 senior aides had campaigned for his re-election in violation of the law known as the Hatch Act.Before working for Mr. Trump, Mr. Ingrassia, 30, hosted a podcast, “Right on Point,” with his sister, Olivia Ingrassia. In December 2020, as Mr. Trump was contesting his election loss to Joseph R. Biden Jr., the podcast posted on Twitter, “Time for @realDonaldTrump to declare martial law and secure his re-election.”Mr. Ingrassia has represented the “manosphere” influencer Andrew Tate, who is currently facing criminal charges in Romania and Britain, and pushed a false theory that Nikki Haley was ineligible to run for president. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.In a Truth Social post on Thursday night, Mr. Trump called Mr. Ingrassia “a highly respected attorney, writer and Constitutional Scholar.”Mr. Ingrassia posted on X that as head of the office, he would “make every effort to restore competence and integrity to the Executive Branch — with priority on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal workplace, and Revitalize the Rule of Law and Fairness in Hatch Act enforcement.” More