Note that if you are headed into San Francisco, the massive APEC international conference running through Nov. 19 is going to pose traffic issues. More about that is here along with a map detailing the more heavily affected areas.

And, as always, be sure to double check event and venue websites for any last-minute changes in health guidelines. Meanwhile, if you’d like to have this Weekender lineup delivered to your inbox every Thursday morning for free, just sign up at www.mercurynews.com/newsletters or www.eastbaytimes.com/newsletters.

1 SEE, HEAR & LAUGH: Here comes Tiffany

Tiffany Haddish, one of the funniest humans on the planet (and there are a lot of funny humans on the planet) is headed to Oakland’s Paramount Theatre on Saturday. Here’s what she has to say about her comedy tour.

2 DINE: Mexican-Japanese deliciousness

Good Luck Gato, a new joint in Oakland, applies the fun izakaya formula to a Mexican-Japanese menu. Intriguing, huh? We checked the place out recently and here are our thoughts.

3 WATCH: Godzilla’s best performance since …

Yes, the giant lizard and underrated actor is back in the terrific new series titled “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.” It tops our list of new shows and movies you should totally watch this weekend.

4 COOK: Get a head start on Thanksgiving

No, we aren’t expecting you to start cooking your bird this weekend, but here’s how you can get a jump on the holiday. And if you’re thinking of grilling your turkey this year, here’s a sure-fire recipe for that.

5 BREW & QUAFF: Coffee cocktails, anyone?

Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen identify themselves as coffee journalists, so you know they must be brilliant. And their latest book explores how to employ coffee in some mighty tasty cocktails.

6 SEE & HEAR: Great shows are all over

Smuin Ballet is back with the company’s beloved holiday show (feather boa and all). And that’s just one of the great shows going on this weekend.

7 PLAY: Surprising new ‘Mario Bros’ game

We recently checked out the new “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” game. One of its charms is the way it keeps defying expectations.

Does Apple TV+ have the right series for you.

Bummed that the killers have been collared on “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Afterparty?”

Does FX have the killer mystery series for you.

Bummed that there aren’t any enough edgy, adult satires outfitted with a tremendous breakout performance that deserves an Oscar nom? Does Netflix have one shocking story for you – but it’s only in theaters for now.

Here’s our roundup.

“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”: After a few Hollywood stabs at resurrecting Godzilla and other kaijū, creators Chris Black (“Severance”) and star comic-book author Matt Fraction have come up with the right way to do it. In their exciting 10-episode blockbuster Apple TV+ series (the special effects are of the caliber of a big-budget Hollywood production), the Monsterverse expands and grows ever more intricate — in a good way, mind you, not in that overextended MCU way right now.

In the opening moments, we get brief flashbacks of the Golden Gate Bridge getting trashed in a smackdown between the radioactive lizard king and the Titans. That traumatic event was witnessed through the eyes of teacher Cate Randa (Anna Sawai) whose scientist dad went missing soon after. Cate, in the first episode, travels to Tokyo where she discovers she has a half-brother Kentaro (Ren Watabe) and meets his friends, the extra-smart and tech-savvy May (Kiersey Clemons). Each of them catches the attention of Monarch — a clandestine organization intent on monster surveillance and study that sprung up after World War II.

While that narrative begins, it’s threaded with another that originated decades before — at the inception of Monarch and the essential work of three of its major players – GI Lee Shaw (played Wyatt Russell and Kurt Russell later; Wyatt is Kurt’s son), scientist Keiko (Mari Yamamoto) and cryptozoologist Bill Randa (Anders Holm, later played by John Goodman).

That’s a lot of names and narratives to keep track of, but the story lines intertwine nicely, even if you might need a list of the characters to reference. No matter. If you’re a kaijū fan and prefer jigsaw-puzzle-like storytelling, not to mention great action sequences, this one — or at least the eight episodes released for review — crushes it. Details: 3 stars out of 4; two episodes drop Nov. 17 with one dropping each week after that.

“A Murder at the End of the World”: It’s a familiar setup. A rich White entrepreneur (Clive Owens) invites famous movers and shakers to a reclusive retreat. One person winds up a corpse … . You get the picture.

Fans of Agatha Christie and Rian Johnson are well-versed in this old but reliable scenario. So are creators/directors/writers Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who previously fired up our brain cells with the trippy “The OA” on Netflix. But they’re just not setting the table with the same tarnished cutlery. The savvy duo tweak the premise to satisfying ends, contemporizing an old trope by focusing on advancements in the tech world and replacing Miss Marple and Benoit Blanc with a tattooed amateur sleuth/hacker who likes to play around with her hair coloring. That tinkering with the formula plays a part in an  ingenious mystery.

Owen makes an ideal chill-to-the-bone Andy Ronson, a self-made billionaire who adores AI. Understandably concerned about climate change and how it will affect his son’s generation, he and his wife Lee (Marling), a former hacker who went underground after being doxed, seek input from the most brilliant minds to perhaps hash out solutions at that Iceland retreat.

One guest who remains uncertain as to why she’s included on the roster at this techy hotel in nowheresville is bestselling author, hacker and amateur crime-solver Darby Hart (Emma Corrin, fully clicking in the role and channeling “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” edge and energy).

She and another guest Bill Farrah (Harris Dickinson, showing again why he is one of our best new talents) share quite a telling past that includes nabbing a serial killer. Other attendees — aka suspects — are given eyebrow-raising back histories (astronaut, filmmaker and so on) that make them suspicious. They’re played by pros that include Joan Chen, Alice Braga and Jermaine Fowler.

All these fresh elements brought to the table shine brightly next to the genre’s old-school cutlery, resulting in an absorbing, eerie brain twister that delivers a shocking denouement. (I’m sworn to secrecy). For mystery lovers, it doesn’t get much better than this. Details: 3½ stars; two episodes drop Nov. 17, followed by one new episode every Friday till Dec. 19.

“May December”: Director Todd Haynes comes up with one of his best features in years with this cynical, smart and bloody takedown of true-crime stories — both the people who tell them and the people who can’t get enough of them. Natalie Portman stars as a scruples-impaired Method actor intent on burrowing into the psyche of a tabloid sensation (Julianne Moore) who made headlines when she was married and worked at a pet shop and had an affair with a 7th-grade boy. Twenty years later, the “boy” is a 36-year-old father Joe (Charles Melton of CW’s “Riverdale”) and the couple has two kids in high school. Gracie (Moore) isn’t entirely happy to have Elizabeth (Portman) snooping around in her past and mirroring her every move and gesture — in the name of art, of course. Haynes keeps us off balance throughout, setting us up for a thriller, a black comedy and a satire — benefitting from screenwriter Sammy Burch’s magnetic and, yes, cynical script. Moore and particularly Portman (who delivers a perfect and chilling monologue near the end) are terrific, but it is Melton’s complex performance as emotionally stunted Joe that makes you wince and wonder what life could have been like for him if he had ventured down this path. It’s a physical and emotional performance that surprises you and holds so much ache. It’s well deserving of an Oscar. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters Nov. 17; streams Dec. 1 on Netflix.

“Next Goal Wins”: What foils this feel-good sports dramedy from slamming it into the net is its own creator, Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit,” “Thor: Love and Thunder”). If only he would have decided to ditch his problematic narration at the start and taken himself entirely out of the cast (his role is minor, but annoying), this sitcom-like telling of how the American Samoa soccer team redeemed itself could have been far more effective. As is, “Next Goal Wins” is a tonal mess that’s sometimes entertaining. It focuses much of its attention on how a disgraced hot-tempered coach (Michael Fassbender) contends with his demons while trying to help a Bad News Bear-like team get into some semblance of shape. While there’s a certain charm about playing it loose here, and the film does have some fine moments — most involving a player who is transgender — it’s not enough. Waititi needs to reign in the goofiness, be less erratic and just let the story work its magic. Details: 2 stars; in theaters Nov. 17.

“Journey to Bethlehem”: It’s a tricky undertaking to turn the Greatest Story Ever Told into a musical. Get too irreverent about the biblical story of Mary, Joseph and the birth of Jesus Christ, and expect to get some hate mail. Get too reverential, and you run the risk of boring or alienating some viewers. So let’s give Swedish director Adam Anders some credit for finding a middle ground with this peppy musical version with some catchy tunes, an appealing cast (starting with Fiona Palomo as Mary and Milo Manheim as Joseph) and some scene-stealing from Antonio Banderas as boo-hiss King Herod and Joel Smallbone as his hunky son Antipater and you have a snappy, satisfying seasonal-appropriate gem, complete with wisecracking Three Wise Men. Details: 3 stars; in theaters now.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

The two Dec. 24 screenings — at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. — will cap a month of holiday favorites (and Deanna Durbin movies) with a lineup that includes “Show Boat” (Nov. 25-26); “It Started With Eve” (Dec. 2-3); “White Christmas” (Dec. 9-10); “The Bishop’s Wife” (Dec. 14-15); “Meet Me in St. Louis” paired with “Miracle on 34th Street” (Dec. 16-17); and a double-feature of “The Shop Around the Corner” and “The Wizard of Oz” (Dec. 21-23).

And all that leads up to the return of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the 1946 holiday classic starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. It had been an annual event at the Stanford since it reopened in 1989, consistently playing to a sold-out house. But the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to that tradition in 2020 and 2021, and work on the theater’s HVAC system was the culprit last year.

You can check out the complete schedule at www.stanfordtheatre.org.

STILL FENCING AT 40: The Fencing Center in San Jose remains one of the city’s hidden gems, even though its been teaching students how to thrust and parry for four decades now. Growing out of a San Jose State program in 1983, the Fencing Center’s early stars included Peter Schifrin and Greg Massialas — who both competed on the 1984 Olympic team.

The group’s first headquarters was at 10 Notre Dame Avenue in San Jose, one of the many early offices of the Mercury News, and later moved to Stockton Avenue and into an old furniture store on South First Street. Nowadays, they’re in a 14,800 square foot facility on Blossom Hill Road where five coaches — including longtime head coach Michael Botenhagen and foil coach Connie Young Yu — work to train the potential Olympic fencers of tomorrow.

Scott Knies, who retired last year as executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association, says that it was the Fencing Center that first got him involved in downtown as he served as the nonprofit organization’s first executive director. Naturally, he fences as well, learning skills that may have helped him be quick on his feet with the Downtown Association. Knies will serve as emcee for the Fencing Center’s 40th anniversary benefit gala starting at 5 p.m. Nov. 18. You can get more details at www.fencing.com.

PULLING STRINGS: Prospect High School’s string quartet will join the pro musicians performing in the touring show “Beatles vs. Stones — A Musical Showdown,” when it comes to the Campbell Heritage Theatre on Friday night. The young performers — sophomores Saarthak Shankavaram, Michelle Xie, Juna Lee and Bruno Piccoli — will join the bands for six songs: the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” “A Day in the Life,” “Hello Goodbye” and “Hey Jude” and “Gimme Shelter” and “Ruby Tuesday” from the Rolling Stones.

While it’s cute to think, “Aww, they’re playing music made before they were born,” chances are the adult musicians they’re playing with are doing the same thing — and what do you think Symphony San Jose orchestra members do every time they perform Bach or Mozart? Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. show are available at www.campbellca.gov/heritagetheatre.

A long time ago — relatively, in this short-attention-span age — and at multiplexes not so far away, the simultaneous theatrical release of “Barbie “ and “Oppenheimer” was pretty much all anyone could talk about. Admittedly, this was before Travis Kelce crafted a friendship bracelet for a certain someone, before we were well-versed on SAG-AFTRA interim agreements, before we were rewatching “Friends” through our tears.

And now, nearly half a year and three bags of bite-size Halloween candy later, we’re starting to talk about “Barbenheimer” again. This time, the focus isn’t on the propriety of quoting the Bhagavad Gita during sex or how “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig worked in references to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and “The Red Shoes” into what, on paper, could have been an extended toy commercial. The conversation has turned to the Oscars, a ceremony that’s shaping up as a sequel to that magical opening weekend.

How big a sequel? Let’s just say bigger than “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and go from there. Or simply note that the producers of the upcoming 96th Academy Awards are probably already working the phones to incorporate some celebrity Ken cameos into a “Barbie” dance number. (Judging from “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper should be game.)

Or we could just put on our thinking caps (fedoras, of course) and comb through the awards categories to chart what’s going to be an (equally?) incredible Oscars for both films.

PICTURE

“Barbie” sold more than $1.4 billion in tickets while winning over most critics, triggering fragile men and launching a thousand think pieces that sifted through the subversive ways Gerwig celebrated and critiqued its namesake toy. That’s enough to cement a nomination. But the “Barbie” team isn’t resting on its laurels, enlisting the likes of filmmakers Todd Field and Judd Apatow and playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner to lead Q&As at recent events. “I think it’s a masterpiece,” Kushner said.

“Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, grossed nearly a billion dollars, remarkable for a three-hour, R-rated drama about the “father of the atomic bomb.” Between the box office, the reviews and its ambitious examination of our history that isn’t as distant as we’d like to think, “Oppenheimer” possesses the pedigree of a best picture winner. It will be difficult to beat.

Nominations: “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer”

DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan has one nomination as a director (“Dunkirk”), two as a writer (“Memento” and “Inception”) and two as a producer (“Inception” and “Dunkirk”). He has never won an Oscar. That will likely change soon, as voters will have three different categories — director, writer, producer — this year to finally honor him.

Gerwig has never won an Oscar either, earning nominations for writing and directing “Lady Bird” and writing “Little Women.” She’ll probably be nominated again as both a writer and director with original screenplay (see below) offering her the best chance to prevail.

Nominations: Gerwig, Nolan

ACTRESS

The only thing that could prevent Margot Robbie from being nominated would be voters failing to appreciate the degree of difficulty in what she pulls off in the film — the comic timing, the emotional depth she brings to the character, the precise body control required to play a plastic doll. It’s a star turn and absolute exquisite acting. It would be a crime if she’s overlooked.

Nominations: Robbie

ACTOR

Just as “Barbie” wouldn’t have succeeded as spectacularly without Robbie, “Oppenheimer” owes much of its power to Cillian Murphy’s terrific turn as the tortured title character. Murphy worked with Nolan on the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Dunkirk,” a fruitful partnership that will now net the actor his first nomination — and, possibly, the Oscar itself.

Nominations: Murphy

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Both films have women delivering a great speech — Emily Blunt, playing Oppenheimer’s wife, Kitty, laying into the men investigating her husband and America Ferrera’s powerful monologue in “Barbie” in which she laments, “I’m just so tired of watching myself, and every single other woman, tie herself into knots so that people will like us.” Gerwig gives Ferrera a meatier role, whereas Blunt elevates the “long-suffering wife” into something memorable. Blunt’s lengthier film résumé gives her an edge.

Nominations: Blunt

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Downey Jr.’s wily, ranging turn as Adm. Lewis Strauss, Oppenheimer’s antagonist, is essentially a second lead in the movie. You could also make a case for several of the film’s rad scientists (Benny Safdie is brilliant playing Hungarian-born physicist Edward Teller), but Downey’s presence casts a long shadow.

While I wouldn’t go so far to say that Ryan Gosling stole “Barbie,” his playful, perfect turn as Ken questioning the meaning of his existence was an absolute delight. Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”) and Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) will offer Gosling and Downey strong competition, but the Oscar should go to one of these two.

Nominations: Downey, Gosling

SCREENPLAY (ORIGINAL/ADAPTED)

Gerwig and partner Noah Baumbach’s joyous, inspired take on “Barbie” lands in original; Nolan’s painstaking reworking of “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” will compete in adapted. Both will be among the favorites to win.

Nominations: “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer”

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Hoyte van Hoytema has one measly Oscar nomination to show for 15 years of indelible images. His spectacular, immersive work “Oppenheimer,” what he calls a “three-hour-long movie about faces,” will earn him another and quite possibly the trophy. “Barbie” cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto also shot Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Voters could (and should) opt for both the beautifully backlit world of Barbieland and the brooding, burnished textures of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” But that might be a reach.

Nominations: “Oppenheimer”

PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Oppenheimer” built Los Alamos; “Barbie” created a Dreamhouse.

Nominations: “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer”

COSTUME DESIGN

Jacqueline Durran won an Oscar for her last collaboration with Gerwig, “Little Women.” She’s the favorite again for all those fashion packs and accessories she created for “Barbie.” Ellen Mirojnick has a shot for “Oppenheimer” (Those hats! Those power suits!) — but she’s going to have to compete with the headwear in “Wonka,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the bicorn that Napoleon dude dons.

Nominations: “Barbie”

ORIGINAL SCORE

Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt had never scored a movie before “Barbie,” but you’d never know that from the way their music supports the emotional undertow of the film. Composer Ludwig Göransson, by contrast, already has an Oscar for “Black Panther” and could well win another for the beautiful melodies and disturbing energy he brought to his “Oppenheimer” score.

Nominations: “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer”

ORIGINAL SONG

“Barbie” is submitting three songs, the maximum allowed — Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” and the Ryan Gosling-sung power ballad “I’m Just Ken” — and, per academy rules, at best, two can be nominated.

Nominations: “Barbie,” two (prayers for “I’m Just Ken”)

FILM EDITING

If, as Van Hoytema says, “Oppenheimer” is a three-hour movie about faces, it’s also a three-hour movie mostly of people talking in rooms. But it goes by quickly! (Your mileage may vary.) That’s superb editing. “Barbie” has its share of transitions — through worlds, tones, textures. It should be nominated, but so should have Nick Houy’s marvelous work on “Lady Bird,” and the academy ignored it.

Nominations: “Oppenheimer”

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Between Barbie’s wigs, Ken’s spray tan and Weird Barbie’s Sharpie-fied makeup, “Barbie” should make the cut. And if “Oppenheimer” scores enough points for making Downey almost unrecognizable, it could too.

Nominations: “Barbie”

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Oppenheimer” boasts a small number of visual effects shots, all shot in camera. “Barbie” employed around 1,300 VFX shots, including, of course, that opening “2001: A Space Odyssey” hommage.

Nominations: “Oppenheimer”

SOUND

“Barbie” has a song in its heart (musicals always do well here), whereas “Oppenheimer” lowers the boom.

Nominations: “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer”

©2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Blackhawk Plaza, a Danville mall that has struggled with brutal vacancies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, has landed new tenants that will fill up more than 53,000 square feet of space in the complex.

These are the new tenants at Blackhawk Plaza:

— Apple Cinemas is leasing 26,200 square feet, a movie house that will bring a welcome replacement for the Century Theaters that abruptly closed in December.

—  Combat Sports Academy, which offers training in an array of fighting sports, has leased 26,600 square feet.

—  Osteostrong, a health wellness business, leased 1,500 square feet.

All three tenants are slated to open in 2024, according to JLL commercial real estate brokers Jeff Badstubner and Justin Choi, who arranged the leasing deals on behalf of Blackhawk Plaza.

Ramanujan Group, an Orange County-based investment firm, paid $38.3 million for Blackhawk Plaza in 2020, documents on file with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office show. Preferred Bank provided Ramanujan Group with $28 million in financing at the time of the transaction.

Gameday VR, Starbunni Arcade and Posh Nail Bar also recently signed leases at Blackhawk Plaza, further bolstering the center’s tenant mix.

“Apple Cinemas and Combat Sports Academy are great complements to the existing retail mix at Blackhawk Plaza, which includes a strong grocer-anchor, Draeger’s, and more than 40 other shops and businesses,” said Badstubner, a managing director with JLL’s retail advisory unit.

According to an extensive new GQ profile, the charismatic Australian actor, 26, also is considered the latest heir to the Hot Young Actor crown, which Elordi acknowledges has been historically bestowed upon some of his own favorite old Hollywood icons, including Marlon Brando, James Dean and Steve McQueen.

But as much as Elordi has become “Gen Z’s favorite heartthrob,” he was curiously evasive about his romantic life in his interview with GQ. This is interesting, considering that his romantic life, up until recently, has consisted of a two-year, on-off relationship with Olivia Jade Giannulli, according to People. She’s the influencer who is still best known as the daughter of Lori Loughlin, the disgraced TV star and the face of the 2019 college admissions scandal.

“Now, Elordi finds himself negotiating his own hassles and concerns that come with stardom,” GQ writer Gabriella Paiella said. “People are paying attention to him, looking for cracks in the façade of mystery. They’re invested in his personal relationships … .”

But as Paiella reported, Elordi “shut down any questions about his romantic life with a cheeky ‘but I appreciate you giving me the space.'”

This GQ interview took place in the early fall. Two months earlier, People reported, Elordi was “officially back together with Giannulli.” The actor and Giannulli, 24, enjoyed a romantic getaway to Italy in June, where they were photographed lounging on a beach near Portofino, another People report said. They also were seen going for a swim and riding on a motorcycle together through a picturesque seaside village.

With Elordi’s request for “space,” it appears that he, and his representatives, know that it would be a distraction for him to acknowledge a romance with a woman who was recently embroiled in a national scandal. After all, Elordi is on the cusp of becoming “a bona fide movie star,” as GQ said. In addition to his performance in “Priscilla,” Elordi also stars this awards season in the drama “Saltburn,” and he’s otherwise very much in demand, including by such auteur directors as Paul Schrader.

Unfortunately for Elordi, Giannulli — whether or not she’s still his girlfriend — comes with serious baggage. Her mother and father, designer Mossimo Giannulli, were arrested in 2019 and accused of fraudulently maneuvering to get her and her older sister, Bella, admitted to USC. Loughlin, The “Full House” star, and her husband were among some three dozen wealthy parents who paid tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in brides to get their children admitted to top U.S. colleges. Loughlin served two months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges, and Mossimo Giannulli served five months.

A photograph of a teenage Giannulli, posing on a rowing machine, became an internet meme. The photo was released by the U.S. Justice Department in its prosecution of her parents. The photo, prosecutors say, was taken to help Giannulli gain admission to USC on the false pretense of being an elite crew team athlete. A legal expert told this news organization in 2020 that prosecutors could have charged Giannulli and her sister in their parents’ schemes. “They were absolutely complicit,” the expert said.

Shortly after news broke that Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli had been arrested, both their daughters withdrew from USC in disgrace. People began to zero in on Olivia Jade Giannulli, regarding her with either sympathy or annoyance when they learned she never had any desire to go to college; she just wanted to make YouTube videos, showing fans how to put on makeup and giving them glimpses of her privileged Hollywood lifestyle.

During a 2020 appearance on Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk, Giannulli addressed the intense backlash she and her family received over the scandal. She insisted she didn’t “deserve pity.” She said, “We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.'”

Perhaps not surprisingly, Elordi is absent from the Italian photos, though that didn’t stop one of Giannulli’s Instagram followers from asking, “Where’s Jacob?” People magazine also reported that Elordi accompanied Giannulli to Idaho in July to visit her parents, where the Giannulli family was enjoying summer vacation at a lake.

So, Elordi and Giannulli were apparently serious enough in July that he joined her on a family vacation. But it remains to be seen whether she’ll begin turning up with him on the red carpet to promote any of his films, now that the SAG-AFTRA strike is over. Given that she merited no mention in Elordi’s GQ profile, such an appearance in his presence isn’t likely.

Thanksgiving entertainment tends to be dominated by football and parades. Compared to Christmas, there are relatively few specials and movies dedicated to the holiday.

But among the more limited options are some real icons you won’t want to miss. Here are seven of our favorites:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

“A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” was created after the success of Peanuts’ beloved Christmas special. And while ABC owns the rights to the popular program, it won’t actually be airing on television this year. Instead, head over to AppleTV+ where you can stream it anytime.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Traveling during the holidays can be stressful, as Steve Martin learns in this 80s favorite. Desperate to make it home to his wife for Thanksgiving, Martin’s character teams up with an unlikely travel companion. This hilarious film is available on Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Soul Food

What’s a holiday without a little family drama? This 1997 classic starring Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox and Nia Long tells the story of a family coming together after Big Mama falls into a coma. See if they can make it through a family dinner — while dealing with their issues — on HBO Max.

Instant Family

Inspired by a true story, a couple is ready to start a family and looks into adopting. They fall in love with a little boy only to learn he has two other siblings including a rebellious 15-year-old girl.

Free Birds

Lez Bomb

A family event turns chaotic when a closeted woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, only to have her coming-out efforts thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate. Available on Peacock.

Mistress America

A college freshman finds herself alone on Thanksgiving when she cures her disappointment and loneliness by allowing herself to be pulled into the wacky schemes of her future stepsister. Available on Max and Hulu.

©2023 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Clarke is actually Philip Brugglestein, an insecure guy from the Midwest who works in a coffee shop in New York City, and stage and screen star Crudup deftly juggles these two personas as well as 17 other characters in this dizzying yarn written by renowned solo performer David Cale.

“It’s part charm show, it’s part thrill ride, and then it’s a claustrophobic attack in the style of film noir,” says Crudup. “And you just don’t see that very much in the theater.”

A Tony Award-winning stage actor (“The Coast of Utopia,” “The Elephant Man,” “Arcadia”), Crudup is also famous for his starring screen roles in films such as “Almost Famous,” “Big Fish” and “Watchmen” and the TV series “Gypsy,” “The Morning Show” and “Hello Tomorrow!”

As performed by Crudup and directed by Leigh Silverman, the play debuted to thunderous acclaim off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 2017 and then returned the following year for another off-Broadway engagement at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

“It’s a great piece of writing, and the idea of being someone who is powerless in the world and takes on the persona of someone who is without a worry is a kind of wish fulfillment that I imagine we all would like to experience,” says Silverman. “What would it be like if we could shed our own hang-ups and move through the world with the grace and ease of a Harry Clarke? The seduction of that is, I think, really irresistible.”

“Harry Clarke” is Crudup’s first solo show. When Vineyard Theatre co-artistic director Douglas Aibel first sent him the script, Crudup recalls, “I looked at this, and it was 48 pages of one person talking, and I thought, are you out of your mind? Who wants to do that? And then I tried to go to sleep, woke up in the middle of the night. Almost all of my friends are actors, and the fact is, nobody gets an opportunity like this to open a brand-new solo performance in New York City. And I thought, if you don’t do this when other people imagine that you can, you’re being a baby. So get up off your butt and get to work. And it became one of the more rewarding experiences I’ve had in the theater in my career. It was also the most uncomfortable and demanding.”

“He’s an amazing actor,” Silverman says. “He has the unique ability to play both a high-status person and a low-status person simultaneously. He really understands both sides of the Harry Clarke character and has the ability to play a scared, timid, abused, freaked-out, essentially invisible person, and then the alter ego that that kind of person would create. And also just the ability to hold an audience. I frequently refer to Billy as like a charm bomb.”

This is a return to Berkeley Rep for Crudup, having costarred with Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart and Shuler Hensley in Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” there in 2013 before taking it to Broadway in repertory with the same cast in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot.”

Returning to the play five years later has been a formidable challenge, but it’s one that Crudup relishes.

“I’ve done theater all of my life, and actually because of this play I had the opportunity to work on two television shows, but that has subsequently kept me out of the theater,” he says. “I’m well aware that if you don’t keep the muscles going, they will atrophy, and I haven’t found a better piece to build up the muscles than this one. So part of it has been putting on a well-worn jacket you love, and the other part of it is realizing that it’s a straitjacket. You’re destined for the mental hospital because of the claustrophobia that comes from getting into this world. But once you embark on this story, the rigor of it takes over. You can’t have any moments of reluctance or insecurity.”

“Doing something for the third time five years later, we’re just different people and different artists,” Silverman says. “Billy’s had a massive television career in the last five years. I’ve done a number of plays and musicals, and I’ve worked on another play of David Cale’s in the meantime. When we agreed to revisit it, Billy said, ‘I never felt like I really got a couple of the characters. I feel like I could do a better job, and I really want to reinvestigate.’ That is the dream, working with an actor that is just as interested and curious in the play as you are and as rigorous in the work and just wants to keep making it better.”

Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com, and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.

‘HARRY CLARKE’

By David Cale, presented by Berkeley Repertory Theatre

When: Nov. 15-Dec. 23

Where: Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre, 2015 Addison St., Berkeley

Tickets: $22.50-$134; 510-647-2949, www.berkeleyrep.org

Little did she know: Her husband had that taken care of.

Greg Gerber had gone on social media to offer to pay for local Swifties to join them at the theater on Saturday night to watch “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” He said he’d commit to buying $1,000 in movie tickets so up to 50 people could join them.

“Compared to what we paid on the damn concert tickets, this is nothing,” said Greg, who is also 38. “I owe her a good date night.”

He told her Thursday he had a surprise for their outing but wouldn’t tell her what. On Friday, when she asked again, he decided to prepare her for the crowd of strangers crashing their date night.

He sent her the link to the social media post — which at that point had over 100 comments.

“He sent the post without saying anything, and I thought whoa, I want to go to this,” Casi said. “Then I saw he commented and I was like, holy (expletive)! Um, you posted this?! No way, that’s insane.”

She said she then headed straight to the store to get materials to make friendship bracelets to share with the other Swifties on Saturday night.

The Gerbers were greeted by more than 20 people Saturday night outside the Cinemark Century theater in Boulder.

“I’m super pumped that everyone is excited to be here,” Casi said. “We’re all chatting and all having a good time, and we haven’t even gone into the theater.”

She clarified that she does have friends, but she said singing and dancing with other Swifties allows you to become best friends with total strangers.

She said she hopes to maintain friendships with the theater crowd and meet them again at concerts or Swift-themed parties.

Gisella Tan, who’s been a fan for 10 years, said she wanted to see the movie but also felt a little discouraged by a lack of Swiftie friends.

“I’m really excited,” Tan, 28, said. “I’m hoping to make some friends out of this. It’s always good to make girlfriends, and it’s hard to make friends when you’re at this age and in a place like Boulder so I’m really excited.”

Jack Murphy, 23, who brought his Swiftie girlfriend, Olivia Morton, 24, said he hoped the event would bring her more of a community.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Murphy said. “I thought a lot more people would commit than would actually come, so we’re really happy to see there’s a big turnout.”

On Saturday, Greg Gerber flaunted his own friendship bracelet from his wife. It said “best husband award.”

NEW YORK — Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces in box-office history. Now, though, that aura of invincibility is showing signs of wear and tear. The superhero factory hit a new low with the weekend launch of “The Marvels,” which opened with just $47 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The 33rd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson-led “Captain Marvel,” managed less than a third of the $153.4 million its predecessor launched with before ultimately taking in $1.13 billion worldwide.

Sequels, especially in Marvel Land, aren’t supposed to fall off a cliff. Yet “The Marvels” debuted with more than $100 million less than “Captain Marvel” opened with — something no sequel before has ever done. David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Research Entertainment, called it “an unprecedented Marvel box-office collapse.”

The previous low for a Walt Disney Co.-owned Marvel movie was “Ant-Man,” which bowed with $57.2 million in 2015. Otherwise, you have to go outside the Disney MCU to find such a slow start for a Marvel movie — releases like Universal’s “The Incredible Hulk” with $55.4 million in 2008, Sony’s “Morbius” with $39 million in 2022 or 20th Century Fox’s “Fantastic Four” reboot with $25.6 million in 2015.

But “The Marvels” was a $200 million-plus sequel to a billion-dollar blockbuster. It was also an exceptional Marvel release in numerous ways. The film, directed by Nia DaCosta, was the first MCU release directed by a Black woman. It was also the rare Marvel movie led by three women — Larson, Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani.

Reviews weren’t strong (62% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and neither was audience reaction. “The Marvels” is only the third MCU release to receive a “B” CinemaScore from moviegoers, following “Eternals” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania.”

“The Marvels,” which added $63.3 million in overseas ticket sales, may go down as a turning point in the MCU. Over the years, the franchise has collected $33 billion globally — a point Disney noted in reporting its grosses Sunday.

But with movie screens and streaming platforms increasingly crowded with superhero films and series, some analysts have detected a new fatigue setting in for audiences. Disney chief executive Bob Iger himself has spoken about possible oversaturation for Marvel.

“Over the last three and a half years, the growth of the genre has stopped,” Gross wrote in a newsletter Sunday.

Either way, something is shifting for superheroes. The box-office crown this year appears assured to go to “Barbie,” the year’s biggest smash with more than $1.4 billion worldwide for Warner Bros.

Marvel has still produced recent hits. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” launched this summer with $118 million before ultimately raking in $845.6 million worldwide. Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” earned $690.5 million globally and, after rave reviews, is widely expected to be an Oscar contender.

The actors strike also didn’t do “The Marvels” any favors. The cast of the film weren’t permitted to promote the film until the strike was called off late Wednesday evening when SAG-AFTRA and the studios reached agreement. Larson and company quickly jumped onto social media and made surprise appearances in theaters. And Larson guested on “The Tonight Show” on Friday.

The normally orderly pattern of MCU releases has also been disrupted by the strikes. After numerous strike-related delays, the only Marvel movie currently on the studio’s 2024 calendar is “Deadpool 3,” opening July 26.

Separately, after two weeks atop the box office, Universal Pictures’ “Five Nights at Freddy’s” slid to second place with $9 million in its third weekend of release. The Blumhouse-produced videogame adaptation has accumulated $127.2 million domestically.

Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” concert film came in third with $5.9 million from 2,484 venues in its fifth weekend of release. The film, produced by Swift and distributed by AMC Theatres, has made $172.5 million domestically and $240.9 million worldwide.

Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” held strongly in its second weekend of wide release. The A24 film, starring Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, remained in fourth place with $4.8 million, dipping only 5% from the week prior.

Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” an Apple Studios production being theatrically distributed by Paramount Pictures, took in $4.7 million on its fourth weekend, to bring its domestic haul to about $60 million. While quite low for a $200 million movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is primarily an awards-season statement by Apple of its growing moviemaking ambitions.

In its first weekend of expanded release, Alexander Payne’s acclaimed “The Holdovers,” starring Paul Giamatti as a curmudgeonly boarding school instructor, launched with $3.2 million from 778 locations. The Focus Features release, an expected Oscar contender, will hope for strong legs as it plays through the fall.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Marvels,” $47 million.

2. “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” $9 million.

3. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” $5.9 million.

4. “Priscilla,” $4.8 million.

5. “Killers of the Flower Moon,” $4.7 million.

6. “The Holdovers,” $3.2 million.

7. “Journey to Bethlehem,” $2.4 million.

8. “Tiger 3,” $2.3 million.

9. “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” $1.8 million.

10. “Radical,” $1.8 million.

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP