In seismic shift, Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 films

J’accuse!: Kinew uses French to fry interim Tory leader over alleged caucus subterfuge

NDP Premier Wab Kinew took a dig at the Progressive Conservatives’ leadership change while facing off with Obby Khan’s short-term replacement for the first time in question period Thursday.

Ferraro gets call-up to the Jets

Landon Ferraro vividly recalls the moment his NHL career came to an extremely painful end — Oct. 20, 2017, in downtown Winnipeg.

“My last play was a breakaway on Connor Hellebuyck,” Ferraro told the Free Press this week.

“I tried to poke the puck past the first D. It was me and (Dustin) Byfuglien chasing it down. I thought he was going to throw me across the ice, so I tried to cut in on him, and he moved. I overextended, and I literally ripped my abductor off the bone and gave myself a hernia.”

Ferraro — at the time playing forward for the visiting Minnesota Wild — said he managed to get off a weak shot that hit the Jets goaltender square in the chest. But his 77th appearance in the big leagues would be his last following previous stops with Detroit (which drafted him 32nd overall in 2009) and Boston.

Influx of young talent gives Jets a noticeable boost

A weekly lap around the NHL by Free Press hockey writers Ken Wiebe and Mike McIntyre

The paths couldn’t have been more different, even if the destination ended up being the same.

Viggo Bjorck is the can’t-miss prospect — a Top-10 pick with a clear path to The Show. Though it’s evident he hasn’t taken a single step in this process for granted.

Tyrel Bauer is the rough-and-tumble long shot, a sixth-round pick whose uphill battle to graduate to the highest level has featured a ton of scar tissue, both literally and metaphorically.

Jets new backup Stevenson ‘stoked’ to be in tandem with Skinner

It didn’t take long to get the dirt on the newest member of the Winnipeg Jets.

Meet Clay Stevenson, who has no problem if you prefer to refer to him by his long-standing nickname of “Mud.”

“You know, Clay is in the mud, and there you go. That’s it, right there,” Stevenson said Wednesday with a laugh. “I got it in juniors when I was playing in Coquitlam, and kind of stuck ever since.”

Stevenson is now hoping to make a name for himself in a city that, quite fittingly, translates to “muddy water” in Cree. The 27-year-old from Alberta was placed on waivers by the Washington Capitals and claimed by the Jets, who were looking to clarify a goaltending situation which was as murky as the Red River.

In seismic shift, Warner Bros. to stream all 2021 films

NEW YORK - In the most seismic shift by a Hollywood studio yet during the pandemic, Warner Bros. Pictures on Thursday announced that all of its 2021 film slate — including a new “Matrix” movie, “Godzilla vs. Kong” and the Lin-Manuel Miranda adaptation “In the Heights” — will stream on HBO Max at the same time they play in theatres.

Among the myriad release plan changes wrought by the pandemic, no studio has so fully embraced streaming as a lifeline. But after disappointing domestic ticket sales for “Tenet," and with the majority of U.S. theatres currently closed, Warner Bros. will turn to a hybrid distribution model. Films will debut simultaneously in theatres and on HBO Max in the U.S. After one month, they will stop streaming and continue to play only in theatres.

As HBO Max is only available in the U.S., in Canada the studio's films will launch theatrically along with other worldwide territories, Warner Bros. Canada said.

The move follows Warner Bros.' decision to put “Wonder Woman 1984” on HBO Max next December, in addition to in theatres. If that pivot sent shockwaves through the industry, Thursday's announcement was likely to rattle Hollywood to the core. It amounts to an acknowledgement that any full rebound for theatres is still a year or more away.

Klein to double down on derelict homes

Kevin Klein promises to set tight timelines for owners to clean up vacant and derelict homes, if he’s elected to become Winnipeg’s next mayor.

The owner of each building would have six months after it becomes vacant to file an action plan to repair, renovate or remove the structure entirely by the one-year mark.

Those who fail to do so would face heavy fines and possible expropriation, he said.

“Hundreds of empty buildings sit boarded up, waiting to burn, like the one behind me. A vacant house is a fire trap, it’s a crime hub,” said Klein, pointing out the charred remains of a home on Alexander Avenue Friday.