AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 6:48 a.m. EST

Barbara Kingsolver returns with 'Partita,' her first novel since 'Demon Copperhead'

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Kingsolver has completed a new novel that brings classical music into her familiar rural world. HarperCollins announced on Thursday that “Partita” comes out Oct. 6. The story follows a married former pianist. She feels haunted by a musical life she never pursued. Kingsolver understands that pull. She studied piano on scholarship in college. She later switched to biology after doubting a music career. She also says she once hid her love of Bach and Tolstoy in small-town Kentucky. Her new book questions who gets to feel welcome in a symphony hall.

A movie that takes liberties with 'Wuthering Heights'? Scholars are OK with that

NEW YORK (AP) — Emerald Fennell’s new “Wuthering Heights” sparked a familiar fight about book adaptations, but some Brontë experts say it still works. Last weekend, the film led the box office in North America despite mostly negative reviews. Experts and fans debated big choices, like casting Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as a blond Cathy. Scholar Claire O’Callaghan says Robbie captured Cathy’s spoiled side well. Writer Lucasta Miller says it makes no sense to demand strict fidelity. She calls the film stylized and fairy-tale like. Experts also argue the novel is too complex for a two-hour film.

Movie Review: In ‘Midwinter Break,’ a quiet marriage story with Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds

Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds play an Irish couple who take a holiday in Amsterdam in “Midwinter Break.” Adapted from a novel by Bernard MacLaverty, the film drops the audience in the middle of a relationship that seems to be at a crossroads. Stella and Gerry have a past trauma that's rarely discussed but that has overshadowed their lives. In her review, Associated Press Film Writer Lindsey Bahr says “Midwinter Break” is a delicate film that stays in a minor key, but whose impact is profound, elevated by the authenticity of its two lead actors. Rated PG-13, it's in theaters Friday.

Bad Bunny takes on a leading role in Residente's directorial debut, 'PORTO RICO'

Residente and Bad Bunny are joining forces on a new film that tells Puerto Rico’s story through historical drama. Filmmakers said Wednesday that Residente is making his directorial debut with “PORTO RICO.” Bad Bunny is taking his first leading role. The cast also includes Viggo Mortensen, Javier Bardem and Edward Norton. Residente co-wrote the script with Alexander Dinelaris, an Oscar winner for “Birdman.” The film is described as an epic Caribbean Western inspired by true events. Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Live Nation are supporting the project. No information was immediately available about production or release dates.

In Olympic host village Cortina, wearing fur never went out of style

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Fur coats are plentiful on the streets of Cortina, especially during these Winter Games. When asked to explain why furs remain so common here, while much of the world has moved to synthetic alternatives whether for environmental, ethical or affordability reasons, the answers are revealing. Italians say it’s a bubble, devoid of political activists and the working class. Coats of mink, lynx, wolf, sable and ocelot can be seen up and down the Corso Italia, the main street. They can range from a few thousand euros to 80,000 euros.

Movie Review: A punishing, hypnotic desert rave in Oliver Laxe’s Oscar-nominated 'Sirāt'

A father and his son are searching for their daughter and sister at a rave in the Moroccon desert as the world burns in Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt.” The Oscar-nominated, Cannes-prize winning film is expanding to more North American theaters Friday. In her review for The Associated Press, film writer Lindsey Bahr writes that “There have been some harrowing films released in the past year, the kind that leave you feeling shattered and a little helpless, from ‘Hamnet’ to ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab.’ But perhaps none have been quite so punishing, so bleak, or so overwhelmingly hypnotic, as ‘Sirāt.’” It's rated R.

Movie Review: In 'How to Make a Killing,' a new riff on an Ealing black comedy classic

“How to Make a Killing” stars Glen Powell as a working-class man who sets out to murderously reclaim his inheritance. The film has a clear inspiration in the great Ealing black comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” But the deft tonal balance of “Kind Hearts and Coronets” is missing in “How to Make a Killing.” It's a disappointingly flat almost-remake that has neither the biting farce nor the chilling darkness to match its black comedy ambitions, writes AP Film Writer Jake Coyle in his review. The A24 release opens in theaters Friday.

Late-night host Stephen Colbert isn't backing down from public dispute with CBS bosses

Late-night host Stephen Colbert isn't backing down from his public dispute with CBS bosses over what he can air on his show. He said Tuesday night that he was surprised by a network statement that denied Colbert had been told he couldn't air an interview with a Texas Senate candidate for fear of triggering a little-known “equal time” rule by the FCC. CBS said its lawyers had only advised him that he couldn't broadcast the interview, which aired on YouTube instead. Colbert said that he was surprised that CBS parent company Paramount “would not stand up to these bullies” in the Trump administration.

At the Olympics and beyond, women's sports media outlets are writing their own playbooks

Alongside the historic growth of women’s sports, the women’s sports media ecosystem is likewise flourishing, and outlets like TOGETHXR, The GIST, Just Women’s Sports, The IX Sports, GOALS and Good Game with Sarah Spain are expanding their reach and reshaping the industry. The Olympics have shown that when women’s sports receive meaningful media attention, they attract an enthusiastic audience, experts say. And while mainstream sports media are also upping their game by increasing the scale and quality of women’s sports coverage, University of Michigan sport management professor Ketra Armstrong says the recent influx of women-led media outlets is uniquely “liberating” because women athletes are “owning their stories and not waiting for it to be filtered through any traditional lens.”