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18 ENTERTAINMENT EXTRA Royal Center Locker Plant 1 x 9" By Michelle Rose TV Media I t's the ultimate battle of holiday cake bakers and a reminder of the talent we've seen in Food Network compe- titions past. "Holiday Wars Champion Cake Off" lands on Food Network on Sunday, Dec. 26, and the themed competition is a fun, festive way to transition from Christmas to New Year's Eve. For the first time in Food Network history, host and celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan welcomes the reign- ing champions of "Halloween Wars" and "Holiday Wars" and pits them against one another in this one-hour spe- cial. These two teams of cake and sugar artists will be tasked with creating their own cake-based team mas- cot, and they'll also have to demonstrate how they'll ring in the new year by whipping up a champagne-inspired cake flavor. Only one team will win an all-expenses-paid trip for two to New York City, and the task of selecting a winner falls to judges Shinmin Li and Aarti Sequeira. Li, an accomplished pastry chef and the co-founder of the chef-booking service Kora, has served as a judge on "Halloween Wars" since the competition's debut in 2011. And while "Holiday Wars" is one of the "newer" sea- sonal competition series — it only has three seasons under its belt compared to "Halloween Wars'" 11 — its most recent installment marked the first team-up of Chauhan, Li and Sequeira. The trio's chemistry has rekindled viewers' interest in the show. Season 1 of "Holiday Wars" was highly reviewed and posted some solid rat- ings, but viewers have been pretty vocal online about their disappointment with the second installment. Most of the complaints seemed to have been directed at the contestants and the show's more aggressive/less festive tone, but viewers weren't crazy about Season 2 host Raven-Symoné or judge Erin McGinn Acevedo, either. Enter "Chopped" judge and former "Iron Chef" com- petitor Chauhan, who proved to be a hit earlier this year as the host of "Chocolate Meltdown: Hershey After Dark." Chauhan took over as host for Season 3 of "Holiday Wars," while Sequeira, a "Next Food Network Star" winner and the host of Cooking Channel's "Taste in Translation," replaced McGinn Acevedo as a judge. The combination of Chauhan, Li and Sequeira seems to have resonated with fans of "Holiday Wars," and Food Network is hoping history will repeat itself with "Holiday Wars Champion Cake Off," air- ing this Sunday, Dec. 26. It's a 'Cake Off': Champions return in holiday battle royale Aarti Sequeira co-judges "Holiday Wars Champion Cake Off" The French Dispatch Written in an anthological format, this "love letter to journalists" chronicles various storylines as the French foreign bureau of the "Lib- erty, Kansas Evening Sun," a fic- tional newspaper, launches its final issue. The story begins with Herb- saint Sazerac (Wilson) as he con- ducts a cycling tour that demon- strates how the little town of En- nui-sur-Blasé has changed over the years, while the second story fea- tures Moses Rosenthaler (Del Toro), a mentally disturbed artist whose work grew to critical ac- claim behind bars with unwanted help from art critic Cadazio (Bro- dy). Third is the tale of Lucinda Kre- mentz (McDormand) and her re- port on the "Chessboard Rebel- lion" student revolt, and last is how Gigi (Hellal) happened to be kidnapped at a dinner for the com- missaire of the Ennui police force. Director: Wes Anderson. Stars: Adrien Brody, Benicio Del Toro, Til- da Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Winsen Ait Hellal, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Bob Bal- aban, Henry Winkler. 2021. 107 mins. Anthology. Castle Falls Following years of neglect, Castle Falls Hospital is soon to be demol- ished. As blue-collar ex-fighter Mike Wade (Adkins) prepares the building for demolition, however, he finds $3 million in stolen cash hidden on the premises. Wanting to keep the money for himself, Wade soon finds himself racing against a prison guard (Lundgren), who needs the money for his daughter's cancer treatment, and the gang whose leader hid the sto- len fortune there in the first place, but only one party can claim the pot. Director: Dolph Lundgren. Stars: Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren, Dave Halls, Kevin Wayne, Kim De- Longhi, Jim E. Chandler, Scott Hunter. 2021. 87 mins. Action. Adrian Brody leads the cast of "The French Dispatch" video releases Cass Plaza 2 x 2" U Know Pizza 2 x 2.5"

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