Remember "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? At pivotal points in the plot, readers were asked to decide a question that would ultimately determine the main character's actions and the story's outcome. In "My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel," authors Larissa Zageris and Kitty Curran have followed the same premise, allowing readers ...Read more

Although "Incredibles 2" is the box office triumph of the moment, earning $180 million in its opening weekend and setting an all-time record for animated features, it's not the Disney movie occupying my headspace right now.

"Moana" is. You may know it. It came out 15 days after the 2016 presidential election. In "Moana," a brown-skinned ...Read more

The best thing "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" has going for it is director J.A. Bayona, who takes a mediocre script by Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow and directs the living daylights out of it. This installment may have merely shallow ideas, but it's easy to be distracted in the moment by the verve and style "The Orphanage" auteur brings ...Read more

The estranged family road movie has become a genre unto itself, especially in the indie world. Perhaps we can blame it on the runaway success of "Little Miss Sunshine," but more likely, it's the easy conventions that make for a quick budget-friendly family movie. The ripe-for-drama contained space, opportunities to incorporate many different ...Read more

Mara Brock Akil has carved out a significant and insightful niche on the prime-time TV spectrum with her shows that explore the joys and complexities of being an African American woman in modern society.

The comedies "Girlfriends" and "The Game" and the drama "Being Mary Jane" all won loyal fan bases that celebrated Akil's mix of humor, drama ...Read more

Following is a partial schedule of coming movies on DVD. Release dates are subject to change:

JUNE

19: Pacific Rim Uprising

19: Paul, Apostle of Christ

19: Midnight Sun

19: The Death of Stalin

19: Unsane

19: Flower

19: Double Lover

19: Dark Matter: Season Three

19: The Swap

26: Tyler Perry's Acrimony

26: The Endless

26: Gemini

26: ...Read more

Melody Prochet's 2012 debut, under the moniker Melody's Echo Chamber, was essentially a collaboration between the French singer and Tame Impala's Kevin Parker. "Melody's Echo Chamber" merged Prochet's melodic vocals with trippy production, throwing just enough grit atop the French-pop breathiness to build anticipation for the follow-up.

But ...Read more

Topping this week's new releases are a groundbreaking television series and the anniversary release of one of the best romantic comedies.

"Black Lightning"; 3 stars: Cress Williams stars as Jefferson Pierce, a high school principal who gave up his crime-fighting ways nine years ago. He's traded his electrical-charged abilities for saving young ...Read more

PASADENA, Calif. -- Before actress Amy Aquino met her future husband, Drew McCoy, he was told she was one tough cookie. "She's great. But she's tough." That warning came from a mutual friend who suggested the set engineer might have a lot in common with Aquino.

The advice was right-on, admits Aquino, on a spring afternoon at a busy bookstore ...Read more

The Last Poets

"Understand What Black Is"

(Studio Rockers )

Many artists lay claim to being rap's first voices, but, from their searing, socio-political charged poetry to their dense, rhythmic flow, the Last Poets aren't just boasting. Touched by jazz, funk, and reggae through different periods of the band's 50-year career, Jalal Mansur ...Read more

"The Band's Visit" may have claimed 10 trophies at the Tony Awards last week, but it also scored a big win offstage as well: a bump in music streaming.

Since the June 10 ceremony, streaming of tracks from the original Broadway cast recording has soared, according to Nielsen Music, which analyzes consumption for the music industry. On the Friday...Read more