THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with LIVE AID! 30 years ago on July 13, 1985, a trans-Atlantic rock even aimed at aiding starving people in Ethiopia (Its prime movers, like Bob Geldof & Bono, would later discover, actually getting the aid past the Marxist dictatorship would be the difficult part).  Let's start with the full set from Queen, because they knew how to work a Wembley stadum gig.  Your setlist includes: a partial "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," "Ay Oh!," "Hammer To Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions," and "Is This The World We Created...?" But on a more 80s note--and the event was certainly that-- we have U2 (pre-global stardom) with Bono working the crowd during "Bad," a pre-lip-syncing Madonna getting "Into The Groove," Phil Collins (who played both in Philly and London with help from the Concorde) playing "Against All Odds." The concerts featured their share of legends too-- Led Zeppelin blasting "Whole Lotta Love" (with an assist from Collins), Mick Jagger and Tina Turner dueting on "State of Shock" and "It's Only Rock and Roll," and David Bowie (with help from Thomas Dolby and the band) delivers "Heroes." And for a day, they were.

NICOLE ATKINS advance streams Goodnight Rhonda Lee.

DAPHNI: Caribou's Dan Snaith advance streams Fabriclive 93.

CORNELIUS advance streams Mellow Waves.

ARCADE FIRE shares "Electric Blue."

NINE INCH NAILS shares "LESS THAN."

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE work the car wash for "Denise," whom you may know as T'Pol.

THE POLARIS PRIZE shortlist is announced.

PETER PERRETT, on the poetry of rock 'n' roll, deviant behavior... and living without regrets.

PAUL WELLER: The Modfather becomes a father for eighth time.

BELLY are now returning to the studio to record new material.

U2: Why do the Irish hate them?

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases inlcude War For The Planet of the Apes, which is currently scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Wish Upon, which is scoring 20 percent.  The Big Sick expands to wide release, scoring 97 percent.

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is a satisfying and epic conclusion to the rebooted prequel trilogy...but "war," while literally true (I suppose), might be slightly misleading.  As I strive for a spoiler-free comparison, consider that Spartacus is considered a classic epic with a big battle in it...but I don't think that people tend to think of it as a war movie.  Rather, WFTPOTA completes the story of Caesar, the leader of the apes, after one of his top advisers plunged them into a war against humanity at the conclusion of the second installment.  In particular, it is about the toll this "war" takes on him as he tries to lead his species to safety.  As many have observed, it is a tale told almost entirely from the apes' perspective and is designed to get you rooting against humanity.  The main human performance here is from Woody Harrelson, who gets to play another psychopath, though a very different sort of psychopath than he played in, say, Natural Born Killers.  His insanity, emerging from something Apes watchers know is coming, does make a certain sort of sense...for a psychopath. The only other human performance of real note is from newcomer Amiah Miller, who plays a small girl with a key role.  The rest is simply to marvel at how much each installment has leveraged tech advances to allow for various actors like Andy Serkis and Judy Greer to translate their performances as apes to remarkable CGI.  The notable addition here is Steve Zahn, who primarily functions as comic relief as another character whose name I won't mention.

STOP THE PLANET OF THE APES, I WANT TO GET OFF: An Oral History.

THE EMMYS nominations are out. Congrats, robots and handmaids! Sorry, the snubbed.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING co-stars Tom Holland and Zendaya are dating.

JENNIFER LOPEZ hired a private investigator to tail her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez.

KID ROCK appears to be running for the US Senate, maybe.

THE WALKING DEAD: Newly filed court documents that shed unprecedented light on the economics of the show and on Hollywood in general...not to mention some of Frank Darabont's more angry emails.

A DIRTY DANCING re-enactment goes horribly wrong.

A HIPPO FAMILY is united.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: This Is War.

A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR: Little pink horses for you and me.

THE MACAQUE MONKEY SELFIE is back in court.

REPUBLICAN HAIR: "Miss Prince" may not be what you think.

LO TOM advance streams their self-titled debut.

SEE THROUGH DRESSES advance streams Horse Of The Other World.

QUINDAR advance streams Hip Mobility.

GOLD STAR covers Presley's “Don’t Be Cruel” and Springsteen‘s “State Trooper” for Aquarium Drunkard.

OH SEES share “Animated Violence.”

PROPELLERHEADS, ft. MISS SHIRLEY BASSEY: "History Repeating."

DAVID BOWIE's Berlin Trilogy and other albums from that era will be the focus of the late singer's upcoming collection A New Career in a New Town, a massive 11-CD box set that spans Bowie's catalog from 1977 to 1982.

ERASURE: Vince Clarke and Andy Bell open up to The Quietus about the history of the wonderful synth duo... and each other.

CHRIS ROBINSON: Savor the fmr Black Crowes frontman's passive-aggressiveness at Rolling Stone.

ALAN LOMAX: His unfinished Global Jukebox highlights the fundamental contradiction to his life and work.

QUENTIN TARANTINO's penultimate film will tell the story of the Manson Family Murders.

BLACK PANTHER: Entertainment Weekly features the upcoming Marvel flick as part of its Comic-Con coverage.

A WRINKLE IN TIME also gets a first look at Entertainment Weekly.

WOODY HARRELSON talks sex, drugs, Apes, and Young Han Solo.

MATT REEVES talks Apes and Batman.

MICHAEL JACKSON'S HALLOWEEN is an animated special coming to CBS you-know-when.

ROB KARDASHIAN is deeply remorseful for slut shaming Blac Chyna ... at least that's what he told his family.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT delayed a departure from Beverly Regional Airport.

MONKEY BUSINESS is on the upswing in and around a state park in Florida popular with kayakers and tourists.

FIVE KING COBRAS FROM CHINA turn up at JFK airport.

A BALD EAGLE, shot and then run over with an ATV. That's up to a year in prison and a 100K fine.

SLOAN PETERSON shares a video for the catchy "Rats."

PERFUME GENIUS plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

JAY SOM plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features new tracks from Protomartyr, Waxahatchee, Michael Andrews and more.

VAN MORRISON covers  Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me."

BILLY BRAGG shares "The Sleep of Reason."

PAUL WESTERBERG shares “2HAWK_1″ and it's...odd.

ARIEL PINK shares "Time To Live."

SOAR shares "Fatigue."

METZ shares "Cellophane."

PRINCE's estate has uploaded classic videos to the Tube, including live performances.

NICK LOWE talks to Aquarium Drunkard about his 80s LPs, his marriage to Carlene Carter, pub rock, punk rock, hanging out with Lemmy’s pre-Motörhead band Hawkwind in the early days, and a lot more.

ELVIS COSTELLO's My Aim Is True turns 40. Get off my lawn, Paste.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Friends Forever.

LORD BUCKETHEAD shares the soundtrack of his like at NME. Ni!

WONDER WOMAN 2 will be a period piece, with Princess Diana facing off against the Soviet Union during the 1980s.

JENNIFER GARNER confronted Ben Affleck's girlfriend Lindsay Shookus in person after she found out about their affair in 2015.

IDRIS ELBA: What he really wants to do is direct. And not to remarry.

MARVEL'S NEW WARRIORS has found its cast, including a familiar face as Squirrel Girl. (Think smartphone ads)

ALADDIN: Guy Ritchie and the studio are trying to wrap up a months-long search to star in the live-action remake.

JOHNNY DEPP still faces legal claims of promissory fraud filed by his former managers, but they have to try to replead a declaratory action regarding his alleged big-spending ways.

CHARLIZE THERON suffered for her craft in Atomic Blonde.

JESSE WILLIAMS & MINKA KELLY are an item.

AMELIA EARHART: Claims made in a US documentary that the pioneering aviator crash-landed on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and was taken prisoner by the Japanese appear to have been proved false by a photograph unearthed in a travel book.

THE SYRIAN OBSERVATORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS told Reuters on Tuesday that it had "confirmed information" that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been killed.

A TEENAGED COLORADO CAMP STAFFER woke up at around 4 a.m. Sunday to a "crunching sound" with his head inside the mouth of a bear, which was trying to pull him out of his sleeping bag.

A MAN out on his morning run was chased by bears in Auburn, Maine.

A MYSTERIOUS BEAR DANCE, explained.

A RUNAWAL CAMEL was trapped on an Aussie golf course.

TAKING A PERSONAL/WORK DAY because there's not a ton happening.  I do have these:

WAXAHATCHEE is advance streaming Out In The Storm.

DANIEL CRAIG is back as James Bomd...if you can believe the Daily Mirror.

JON PRATT, Pate's frontman, made the Washington Post: "If Jon Pratt were an international criminal mastermind, he would fly to Paris, don an all-black suit and ski mask and sneak into the elegant French baroque building that serves as headquarters for the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures..."  There's also more at Science Friday.

THE MUPPETS get mashed-up with the Beasties' "Sabotage."

THE PIXIES played a mini-set for World Cafe Live.

REAL ESTATE played a mini-set at the 2017 NON-COMMvention in Philadelphia.

ALLISON CRUTCHFIELD stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

SHOUT OUT LOUDS share "Jumbo Jet."

SONIC YOUTH: Diffuser celebrates Sister's 40th anniversary.

PERFUME GENIUS: Mike Hadreas discussed his fave albums at The Quietus.

JARVIS COCKER interviews PETER SAVILLE on how Joy Division and New Order influenced modern art. (Thx, Frank Yang.)

THE TOP 25 LPs of 2017 (So Far), according to Consequence of Sound.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Spider-Man: Homecoming easily tops the chart with 117MM, well above projections near 90MM and a tribute to the power of bringing an extremely valuable, but declining franchise under the umbrella of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Despicable Me 3 places with 34MM on a 53 percent drop from its debutframe; it is a head of the orginal, but lages the others in this franchise.  Baby Driver shows with12.8MM on a leffy 38 percent drop (esp leggy given that Edgar Wright fans likely frontloaded the debut).  This will be Wright's biggest and most profitable picture to date.  Wonder Woman hands on to the fourth slot with another 10.1MM on a 36 percent drop; it is gaining on the Guardians sequel for the second spot overall this year. Transformers: The Last Knight rounds ou the Top Five with 6.3MM, but plummets 63 percent in the process, cementing it as a franchise surviving on toy sales foreign grosses.

DUNKIRK: Christopher Nolan writes about the difficulty that went into trying to get the movie made and the pitch that sealed the deal with Warner Brothers.

DONAL LOGUE's child is "safely back home" after being missing for more than a week.

BEN AFFLECK reportedly started a relationship with SNL line producer Lindsay Shookus during his marriage to Jennifer Garner.  Shookus left her now ex-husband, Kevin Miller, to be with Affleck.

BAYWATCH is getting rescued overseas.

MARRYING WITH THE STARS: Julianne Hough married NHL star Brooks Laich; Peta Murgatroyd and Maksim Chmerkovskiy married each other.

JEREMY RENNER has broken both his arms in a stunt that went wrong while filming Avengers: Infinity War.

JAMES CORDEN and his wife Julia are expecting their third child.

SHIA LeBEOUF was arrested in Georgia for being wasted and losing control of himself.

NELSAN ELLIS, who starred in HBO's True Blood as Lafayette Reynolds, has died at 39.

IRAQ: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived in Mosul on Sunday to congratulate Iraq’s armed forces for wresting the city from the Islamic State. The victory marked the formal end of a bloody campaign that lasted nearly nine months, left much of Iraq’s second-largest city in ruins, killed thousands of people and displaced nearly a million more.

WOLFGANG rescues all sorts of animals.

PRAYING MANTISES are killing birds and eating their brains.

GOATS clearing a lot at Western Michigan University have drawn a union grievance.

AN ARMED 11-YEAR-OLD saved a fishing party from a charging brown bear in Alaska on June 18.