Feb 27 2026
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Books, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Sports, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! Week of Feb. 27 – March 5

‘Monsters’ roar, another ‘Yellowstone’ spinoff & the dark side to daytime TV

King Kong fights for his throne in season two of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.’

FRIDAY, Feb. 27
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Kurt Russell and son Wyatt are aboard for season two on Kong’s Skull Island, where a Titan emerges from the sea and sets up an epic battle for the fate of the world (Apple TV+).

In the Blink of an Eye
Three storylines, spanning thousands of years, intersect and reflect on hope, connection and the circle of life. Starring Rashida Jones, Kate McKinnon and Daveed Diggs (Hulu).

SATURDAY, Feb. 28
Dinner and a Movie: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Pull up a seat and dig into the 2024 Mad Max origin story starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth (8 p.m., TBS).

Pulled off a Plane and Survived
A skydiver (Tyler Lepley) lives a nightmare when she survives a 4,000 fall from the sky. Now that’s what I call an emergency exit!  (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, March 1
Y: Marshals
How hot was Yellowstone? So hot that this new series starring Luke Grimes is both a sequel and a spinoff (8 p.m., CBS).

American Classic
Kevin Kline, Tony Shalhoub and Laura Linney star in this new comedy series (above) about a Broadway star who returns to his roots in a small theater after a spectacular public meltdown (MGM+).

MONDAY, March 2
The Murdoch Mysteries
Season 19 of the hit series is set in Toronto in the early 1900s and follows detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) as he employs radical forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders (Acorn TV).

The Kelly Clarkson Show
Kicking off Women’s History Month, singer P!NK will guest host for the entire week (check showtimes, NBC).

TUESDAY, March 3
RJ Decker
New series about a disgraced newspaper photographer (and ex-con) who tries for a fresh start as a private investigator in crime-ridden South Florida. Starring Scott Speedman (10 p.m., ABC).

NCIS: Elite Mission
Knight (Katrina Law) is ordered to hunt down a former member of the team, who turns to Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) for help in tonight’s episode (9 p.m., CBS).

WEDNESDAY, March 4
Young Sherlock
Yet another TV reincarnation of Sir Arthur Doyle’s iconic Scotland Yard sleuth, this time played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, with Colin Firth and Max Irons among the supporting cast. Directed by Guy Richie (Amazon Prime).

Dirty Rotten Scandals
New investigative series explores the darker underbellies to some of America’s top TV shows, including The Dr. Phil Show (above), America’s Next Top Model and The Price is Right (9 p.m., E!)

Feds
Documentary series enters second season about the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some of its famous and most dramatic cases (9 p.m., ID).

THURSDAY, March 5
Deb is Boss
Biopic of Deb Antney, the music mogul who launched the career of Nicki Minaj and others—after she graduated from the crime-riddled streets of New York City and Boston. Starring LisaRaye McCoy (ALLBLK).  

Ted
Seth McFarlane’s hilariously profane comedy, about a hard-partying, potty-mouthed teddy bear (above), begins season two tonight. Starring Max Burkholder, Scott Grimes and Alanna Ubach (Peacock).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

We all agree that censorship can be a bad thing. And in On Censorship (Thames & Hudson), author Ai Weiwei breaks it all down and explains why it continues to persist—as a tool of authoritarian regimes, but also in more subtle “democratic” ways, and how the information gap caused by censorship is filled with “fake news.” It’s a rallying cry for free speech in a new world of AI, social media, Big Data, mass surveillance and new tech out of control.

Singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco tells her story in The Spirit of Ani (Akashic Press), opening up a window on her creativity, spirituality, personal experiences, evolving consciousness, feelings about climate change and fiercely prolific artistic journeys.

BRING IT HOME

On your mark, get set…go! And get The Running Man (Alliance Entertainment), the 2025 remake of the Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘80s sci-fi-dystopia classic. This one stars Glen  Powell as the game-show contestant literally running for his life, with a supporting cast that includes Emila Jones, Michael Sera, Josh Brolin and William H. Macy.

Feb 20 2026
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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! Week of Feb. 20 – Feb. 26

Civil War women, a new take on ‘Dracula,’ movies for grownups & Mike Wolff ‘picks’ at history!

Learn about the women who helped turn the tide of the Civil War in ‘The Grey House’ on PBS Thursday.

FRIDAY, Feb. 20
Dracula
New spin on the old vampire tale is a satirical comedy mixes sci-fi, folklore, AI and horror as vampire hunts and labor strikes collide in modern-day Transylvania (Mubi).

The Last Thing He Told Me
Season two features producer and star Jennifer Garner returning to the pulse-pounder about an on-the-run mom and daughter racing to reunite their family before the past catches up with them (Apple TV).

SATURDAY, Feb. 21
Double Double Trouble
A woman (Tami Roman) is pulled into a dangerous psychological battle with her twin, leading to deadly consequences (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Comedy Movie Marathon
You’ll laugh until, well, it’s over with Tag, Big Daddy, The Wedding Singer (above) and Central Intelligence (starts 2 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Feb. 22
Movies for Grownups Awards
AARP’s annual presentation includes a special Lifetime Achievement Award for Adam Sandler, and trophies to flicks and performances that have special appeal to audiences over 50 (7 p.m., PBS).

History’s Greatest Picks with Mike Wolff
The former American Pickers co-host dives into the intriguing stories and astonishing values behind legendary treasures, relics, and artifacts from history (9 p.m., The History Channel).

MONDAY, Feb. 23
CIA
New series about an FBI special agent (Nick Gehlfuss) teamed with a CIA case officer (Tom Ellis) to work covert ops in New York and uncover international plots, terrorist cells and other bad stuff goin’ down (10 p.m., CBS).

The CEO Club
New reality series follows a group of trailblazing female CEOs (above)—Serena Williams among them—as they navigate the triumphs and challenges of their professional and personal lives (Prime Video). 

TUESDAY, Feb. 24
Murder In…
New season about dirty deeds in lovely, exotic places, like Saint Martin, Concarneu and at the French Open (MHZ Choice).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25
Scrubs
New reinvention of the early 2000s sitcom about hospital employees stars Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke (8 p.m., ABC).

The Greatest Average American
Comedian Nate Bargatze hosts this new game show that celebrates the power of being perfectly “average” through challenges and trivia (9:02 p.m., ABC).

THURSDAY, Feb. 26
Who the Hell is Regina Jones?
Learn all about the publisher and founder of Soul magazine, the pioneering national print platform where Black artists could get coverage long before other magazines entered the arena (Dabl, Start TV and Story Television).

The Grey House
Mary-Louise Parker, Daisy Head and Paul Anderson lead the cast of this true story about the unsung heroes whose resistance helped turn the tide of the American Civil War (Prime Video).

READ ALL ABOUT

The world is getting more crowded (and less affordable) every day. Plugin House: Modern Prefab Architecture (Thames & Hudson) shows how prefabricated structures—built quickly and with limited tools—can address the needs of rapidly growing populations around the world for the 1.6 people who lack adequate housing.

You’re never too young to start a lifelong fascination with magic! Barb Rosenstock’s Houdini’s Library (Knopf) introduces young readers to the world’s most iconic stage magician and escape artist—perfectly timed for the 100th anniversary of his death—with a glimpse into his lifelong interest in reading and books, and the “magic” he found within. (And the illustrations are all from hand-cut paper by Barcelonan illustrator Mar Delmar!)

BRING IT HOME

Allison Williams, Dave Franco, McKenna Grace and Mason Thames star in Regretting You (Paramount Home Entertainment), a moving story of love and loss after a devastating accident. Bonus content include behind-the-scenes featurettes, the cast’s experiences with romance and regret, and more.

Feb 17 2026
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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Epic”

New fine-tuned Elvis doc reminds us why he’ll always be The King.

EPIC
Starring Elvis Presley
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Rated PG

In IMAX theaters Friday, Feb. 20, and wide release Friday, Feb. 27

Australian director Baz Luhurmann’s 2022 movie Elvis starred Austin Butler as Elvis. This new one upgrades to the real deal: Elvis as Elvis, and more Elvis-y than ever. EPIC stands for Elvis Presley in Concert.

And that’s exactly what it is, and what makes it epic. It’s Elvis in concert like you’ve never seen Elvis before. Using recently unearthed and newly restored performance footage, old Super8 home movies and TV appearances, it’s a masterfully orchestrated immersion into the remarkable, iconic arc of Presley’s unmatched career, using his own words as narration. Much of the speaking—Elvis talking about his childhood, military service, musical influences, movies, fame, singing, his parents and more—comes from previously unreleased archival interviews, which the movie expertly interweaves throughout.  

A lot of the performance footage is from concerts filmed for two previous movies, Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970) and Elvis on Tour (1972). But now it’s been meticulously cleaned up and sharpened into strikingly vivid detail and definition, re-edited with enhanced audio that replicates what it must have felt like to be there live. It’s a movie you don’t just see and hear, you feel—the explosive chords, the bone-shaking seismic rumble of bass guitar, the percussive wallop of drums. It’s the energy, the excitement, the emotional mojo of watching Elvis so clearly, so up close and personal, curling his lips into that megawatt smile and making you feel like you’re right there with him. 

We also see Elvis in the Army and on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he was famously shown from only the waist up to not unsettle viewers with his pelvic gyrations. (We hear Elvis say music makes him feel like he’s got “ants in my pants.”) We watch as his singing superstardom leads him to Hollywood, where he languished in the doldrums of unchallenging acting roles. (Cue “Edge of Reality,” which he recorded in 1970, and its line about “life’s dream lies disillusioned.”)

And we’re along for the ride as he rehearses, then takes his show to Las Vegas for his triumphant musical comeback after all those cheesy films. Over the course of 90 minutes, we see or hear bits of some 75 songs, and some in their entirety, from “Hound Dog,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Don’t Be Cruel” to “In the Ghetto,” “Polk Salad Annie” and “I Shall Be Released.” You’ll hear Elvis put his own spin on Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and the Righteous Brothers. It’s jam-packed, start to finish, with music.

We see women wailing, swooning, rushing the stage, grabbing, trying to wrangle a kiss or rip away a piece of his high-collared jumpsuit. We see his manager, Col. Tom Parker, whose dubious machinations kept Elvis from touring internationally, working at a feverish pace, and likely cut him out of money he should have received (cue “Devil in Disguise”). We see Elvis joshing with his backup singers, the Sweet Inspirations, and at home with wife Priscilla and their daughter, Lisa Marie. We learn how he winds down after the hormonal surge of a show by singing old gospel songs for hours with his backup quartet, the Jordanaires.   

But mostly we get Elvis being Elvis, singing, sopping wet with flop sweat, whipping and karate-kicking up a storm on stage, moving like he’s goosed with electrical current, grooving, teasing, pleasing, playing the audience like a showroom-sized instrument, building them up, calming them down, leaving them breathless at the end. “You started to rev it up,” Sammy Davis Jr. tells him after a show, “and it never stopped!”

For legions of Elvis fans, indeed, it’s never stopped.  He’s been gone now for almost 50 years, but this fine-tuned virtuoso documentary, this glossy and glorified salute, reminds everyone anew why he’ll always be The King.

—Neil Pond

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Feb 13 2026
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! Week of Feb. 13 – Feb. 19

A Valentine’s Day marathon, more ‘Dark Winds’ in the desert & a triple ‘Hangover’

Watch a Valentine’s Day pair of ‘Father of the Bride’ flicks.

FRIDAY, Feb. 13
Kissing is the Easy Part
Asher Angel, Paris Berelc and Jennifer Robertson star in this YA romcom about a straight-A student who agrees to tutor a wild child, causing some crazy sparks to fly (Tubi). 

Honey Bunch
A woman who wakes from a coma begins to think that neither her treatment nor her husband is really helping her. Starring Grace Glowicki, Ben Petrie and Jason Issacs (Shudder).

SATURDAY, Feb. 14
The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story
A mom (Lela Rochon) discovers she may have the key to ending the deadly rampage a dude (Jarod Joseph) she met online (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Valentine’s Day TV Marathon
Cuddle up with your honey bunch and date-themed episodes of Modern Family, Friends and Big Bang Theory, followed by two Father of the Bride flicks (begins 7 a.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Feb. 15
Dark Winds
The acclaimed noir thriller is back for season four, focusing on a missing Navajo girl, a race against the clock and an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime (9 p.m., AMC and AMC+).

Love, Ted Bundy
Two-hour crime doc reveals the torrid tale of the infamous serial killer’s letters to the woman who says she loved him like a brother. Her name was Edna, and now she’s ready to tell her story (6 p.m., Oxygen).

MONDAY, Feb. 16
Hangover Movie Marathon
It’s all three of the boozy adventures of best friends in The Hangover and its two movie sequels (begins 10 a.m., TBS).

TUESDAY, Feb. 17
Sommore: Chandelier Fly
The contemporary comedy diva returns to Detroit for her 7th standup special (Netflix).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 18
56 Days
Dove Cameron and Avan Jorgia lead the cast in this twisty psychological thriller about a toxic love affair adapted from Catherine Ryan Howard’s bestseller (Amazon Prime).

Rain Bombs
Follow scientists as they race to understand an invisible, unpredictable atmospheric force wreaking havoc across the globe—sinking superyachts, flattening forests and bringing down airliners (9 p.m., PBS).

THURSDAY, Feb. 19
True Crime Story: It Couldn’t Happen Here
Hilarie Burton-Morgan from The Walking Dead hosts the new season examining the challenges and complexities of small-town justice (10 p.m., Sundance TV).

Murder in Glitterball Hall
Two-part documentary about a dark tale of a 2010 murder case that starts with a 911 phone call that leads police to the gruesome discovery of a body buried in the basement of a Victorian mansion in Lexington, Ky. (8 p.m., HBO Max)

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Playmakers (W.W. Norton) by Michael Kimmel tells the fascinating story of the first-generation Jewish American toymakers who gave us golden 20th Century childhoods by climbing the ladder of New World success at Ideal Toys, Hasbro and Lionel Trains—and creating such icons as Barbie, G.I. Joe, Popeye, Superman and Mr. Potato Head.

What’s the connection between Aristotle and Alan Jackson? You might think country music is all about pickup trucks and beer but check out Country Music and Philosophy (McFarland) to dig a lot deeper into the subject, with essays on such wide-ranging topics as “Law and Virtue in Outlaw Country,” “Why Do We Drink, Smoke and Cheat on Those We Love Most” and “Bards and (Prison) Bars.”

Need a bit more hocus-pocus-ery in your life? Get author Brigid Ehrmantraut’s Celtic Magic: A Practitioner’s Guide (Thames & Hudson), which invites readers to explore the mysteries of the ancient practices of a people for whom “mysticism” wasn’t just parlor tricks, but the basis of an entire religion. It’s fascinating stuff! 

Another “magical” new book is Mundane Magic: A Lazy Witch’s Guide to Hacking Your Brain (Rodale), in which Demystify Magic podcaster and crystal healing expert Molly Donlan tells how motivational fun, actionable exercises and some handy practices and rituals can make life simpler and more joyful.

BRING IT HOME

It’s like being in the front row with Broadway on the Big Screen (AV Entertainment), a roundup of six Broadway hits that got the Hollywood treatment: Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Brigadoon, Damn Yankees, The Boyfriend and The Pajama Game, with stars including Twiggy, Doris Day, Gene Kelly, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra and Natalie Wood. Order at https://moviezyng.com/products/broadway-on-the-big-screen-6-film-collection?_pos=1&_psq=Broadway+on+the+big&_ss=e&_v=1.0

The late, great actress Diane Keaton made her directorial debut with Heaven (Lightyear Entertainment) back in the 1980s, exploring the idea of the hereafter and asking such probing questions as “What do you think God looks like?,” “Is there sex in heaven?” and “Are you afraid to die?” Now re-released on DVD, it’s a freewheeling, almost surreal excursion into the afterlife, featuring interviews with real people, snippets of TV evangelists and songs mixed with old movie clips. It’s a trip!

Available for the first time on 4K UHD, 2014’s Nightcrawler (Shout! Studios) stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a freelance news crime photographer drawn deep into the nocturnal underbelly of modern-day Los Angeles. With Renee Russo, Riz Ahmed and Bill Paxton. Plus commentary and other behind-the-scenes bonus features.

It’s Oscar-rama with two new re-releases of classic films now available on 4K discs. Ben-Hur (1959) starred Charlton Heston as moviedom’s most iconic Roman chariot racer, while All the President’s Men (1976) featured the dynamic duo of Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as tenacious newspaper reporters who exposed President Nixon’s Watergate scandal. Together, the two films brought home 15 Academy Awards!

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson sing up a storm in the highly acclaimed, heart-rending Song Sung Blue, based on a real-life Wisconsin couple who performed in a Neil Diamond tribute band. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing along to “Sweet Caroline”! With Michael Imperioli, Jim Belushi and Fisher Stevens.

Nicolas Cage has done some crazy flicks in his time, and now he’s Joseph (yep, the father of Jesus) in The Carpenter’s Son (Magnolia Home Entertainment), a sorta-Biblical tale with a horror-movie twist. Noah Jupe, recently Shakespeare’s son in Hamnet, plays young Jesus.

Feb 11 2026
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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Wuthering Heights”

Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are the eye candy in this sexed-up, not-so-sweet new spin on Emily Brontë’s classic tale of toxic love

“Wuthering Heights”
Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi
Directed by Emerald Fennell
Rated R

In theaters Friday, Feb. 13

When you see children laughing at a hanged man’s visible erection in the opening scene, you know you’re in for a wild ride in director Emerald Fennell’s engorged adaptation of Emily Brontë’s enduring tale of love, longing, obsession and revenge on the bleak, tempest-tossed moors of old England in the 1800s.

There have been dozens of adaptations of Wuthering Heights over the decades, as films, TV series, plays and operas. Fennell, a provocative director (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn) who likes to color outside the lines, wanted quote marks around the title to perhaps suggest that her version takes some, ahem, creative liberties as it romps around the ol’ Yorkshire block. I don’t recall any of the previous versions—with Sir Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Ralph Fiennes and Timothy Dalton—having a soundtrack so heavy on Charli XCX, or a sweaty, voyeuristic BDSM session in the horse barn.

“This” version stars Margot Robbie as Catherine and Jacob Elordi, who plays Heathcliff, who first meet as children (where their characters are played by Charlotte Mellington and Owen Cooper, who won an Emmy as the young murder suspect in the acclaimed TV miniseries Adolescence) and form a bond that turns into love. Years later, as adults, Catherine marries for money (to the suave aristocrat Edgar Linton, played by Shazad Latif), and the heartbroken Heathcliff gallops away on horseback.

When he returns, shorn of his hirsute, caveman-ish locks and more hunky-cool than swarthy, it sets up the story’s tangled, thorny and ultimately tragic romantic triangle, with loads of horny heavy breathing and heaving sex—in horse-drawn carriages, on beds and kitchen tables, in rain-soaked woodlands and fog-shrouded coastal planes. In between episodes of amped-up amour, Catherine indulges in some self-pleasuring on a rockpile, and Heathcliff gets freaky with a whip, chains…and Linton’s kinky, hot-to-trot sister (Alison Oliver). It’s 50 Shades of Play, Victorian-style.

As one character instructs early on, “Check his breeches for soilage.” Uh, yes.

Gotta give a couple of shoutouts here, to Hong Chou as the see-all, know-all servant Nelly, a paragon of cool restraint in the middle of all the rampant horn-doggery. And esteemed British character actor Martin Clunes plays Catherine’s miserable poppa, Earnshaw. He’s a scene stealer as he wallows in self-inflicted shambles and has trouble holding onto his temper, his money, his estate…and his rotting teeth.

The movie alternates between squalor and sumptuousness, from mud and blood and hog butchering to high-falootin’ parlor games and luxurious boudoirs. Robbie slips into dozens of gowns and dresses, cool little sunglasses and multiple hairstyles. Elordi, the former star of Euphoria who most recently played the “monster” in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, rocks soiled stable-boy peasant wear and, later—after his moorland makeover—a hipster earring and a gold tooth. Sometimes, the whole cinematic experience feels more like watching set changes for a two-hour Vogue photo shoot.

It oozes eroticism but remains emotionally distant, an overheated, overcooked, overstuffed and overwrought exercise in campy style over solid substance, a toxic-relationship tale pairing an eye-candy couple of Hollywood hotties. But if you’re dying for a randy, bodice-bustin’ love story that doesn’t end well, try this one on for size. It may not go down as the definite take on a heartrending romance for the ages, but it’s probably the only flick you’ll see this year with end credits for “candle wrangler,” “horse master” and “tooth molder” as well as drone operators.

—Neil Pond

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Feb 06 2026
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Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Sports, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

What to Watch, and more! Week of Feb. 6 – Feb. 12

Puppies bowl, monsters mash and a little girl becomes a chess queen!

FRIDAY, Feb. 6
Queen of Chess
Doc about a Hungarian girl named Judit Polgar and how she became the No. 1 chess player in the world (Netflix).

Shall We Dance
Acclaimed 1996 film, now restored in hi-definition, about an unhappy Japanese accountant who finds a missing passion in his life when he starts taking ballroom dancing lessons (Mubi).

SATURDAY, Feb. 7
Engineering Europe
Learn about the science and ingenuity of some of Europe’s most impressive engineering feats, like the Eiffel Tower and the London Bridge, plus electric flying machines and seaborne ports (Disney+).

Monster Movie Marathon
Settle in for the oversized fun of Godzilla Vs. Kong (above), Godzilla Vs. Kong: The New Empire and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (begins 3 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Feb. 8
Puppy Bowl XXII
The cutest dogs on any gridiron—a televised live event promoting pet adoption—features 150 canines from more than 70 shelters across America (2 p.m., Animal Planet, Discovery, TruTV, HBO Max, Discovery+).

The ‘Burbs
A contemporary reimagining of the 1989 Tom Hanks cult horror comedy about couples whose lives become hilariously upended on their once peaceful little cul-de-sac, where a possible mass murderer looms. This one stars Keke Palmer, Julia Duffy, Jack Whitehall and Mark Proksch (Peacock).

MONDAY, Feb. 9
The Librarians
Independent Lens doc about the front-line workers fighting the national battle for control of what Americans are able to read (PBS).

Matter of Time
Documentary follows singer Eddie Vedder and a passionate community uniting to cure epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic skin disorder (Netflix).

TUESDAY, Feb. 10
The Artful Dodger
Australian comedy-adventure heist drama—based loosely on the character from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist—returns for season two (above), starring Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis and Maia Mitchell (Hulu and Disney+).

Chef’s Kiss
Set against the scenic backdrop of Tuscany, this delectable romcom follows a young marketing exec (Adrienne Bailon-Houghton) assigned to revitalize a family-owned pasta-sauce brand. But her mission gets sidetracked when she meets a hunky chef (Tim Robards). The Roku Channel.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 11
Mammal Origins
How did humans, and other mammals, first appear on the Earth? This probing NOVA documentary digs deep into the history of the warm-blooded dominance of the animal kingdom (9 p.m., PBS).

THURSDAY, Feb. 12
Soul Power
Four-part docuseries explores the rise and fall of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and its lasting impact on sports and American culture with superstar players like Julius Irving, Moses Malone and Spencer Haywood (Prime Video).

Can You Keep a Secret?
New comedy series about a domineering granny (Dawn French) and her late husband (Mark Heap)…who, it turns out, isn’t so “late” after all (Paramount+). 

NOW HEAR THIS

Celebrate what would have been the 89th birthday of the late, great Roberta Flack and get With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums, 1969–1978 (Rhino), an 8-CD retrospective collection that rounds up a decade of her recorded work from the late 1960s thru the ‘70s. You’ll hear hits including “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly,” “Where is the Love,” “The Closer I Get to You,” plus all the album tracks.

Feb 04 2026
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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Still Hope”

Faith-based drama wraps the unpleasant realities of sex trafficking in victory-in-Jesus sunshine

Still Hope
Starring Luna Rivera
Directed by Richie Johns
Rated PG-13

In limited theatrical distribution Thursday, Feb. 5

If you’re jonesing for a faith-based drama about teen sex trafficking, here you go. This is about a 16-year-old girl, Hope (Luna Rivera), yanked from her comfortable suburban high-school life into the dehumanizing maw of a nefarious trafficking operation.

The fact that it opens with Hope’s family in a white-bread Sunday worship service might give you some idea of where it’s going to go, with Hope ultimately emerging from her ordeal—like Christ, robed in pure white, leaving behind the “empty tomb” of her traumatic past—into bright sunlight, embracing forgiveness…and reciting The Lord’s Prayer.

Still Hope is a based-on-true-stories “message” movie, reminding viewers of the depravities of human trafficking and encouraging them to counter it by supporting faith-based recovery groups like the one to which Hope goes for counseling and rehab—and a big dose of Jesus—after escaping. “There’s a lot of Jesus talk,” a former fellow trafficking victim tells Hope, and indeed there is. If you miss the point, there’s even a big, joyous baptism scene at the end.

This is the kind of movie that suggests that there’s no kind of woe that can’t be wiped and washed away by the so-called blood of the lamb and finding the “peace of Christ.” If it feels like a glorified infomercial for spirituality-inclined sex-trafficking recovery programs, maybe that’s because one of the film’s “collaborative partners” is the co-founder of one of them (the Pure Hope Foundation in Texas, which seeks to bring “light to the darkness” for trafficking victims). Filmmaker Richie Johns, making his debut here as a full-fledged director, cut his teeth as a production assistant on The Chosen, the multi-season TV/video series about the life of Jesus.

So, it’s true to its Bible-based bona fides, but not so much to the raw reality in which it wants to ground itself. For a film set in the murky world of sex trafficking, it never mentions the word sex, and it certainly never depicts it. (And we hear trafficking mentioned just once.) We see Hope dressed in scanty nighties, being delivered to hotel rooms—and in one case, leaving what is assuredly a porno set—to make satchels of cash for her pimp (Alex Veadov). What she’s doing is only referred to as her “job” or her “work.” It’s like a movie about baseball that never shows any baseball players playing baseball.

We meet Hope’s online date (Daniel Reid Ferrell) in a muscle car who drugs her then delivers her to the cartel of black-SUV-driving traffickers. How monstrous are they? Not only do they slap Hope around, beat her with a belt, bruise her and shoot her up with drugs, they later nab a little preteen girl (Averi Curtis) off the street and turn her into a Pretty Baby. (Hello, Epstein Files!) There’s the earnest FBI agent (James Liddell) working to crack the case of Hope’s sudden disappearance, calm her frantic parents (Michelle Haro and John D. Michaels) and track down her captors.

But Rivera, as Hope, is clearly the star of the show. A former high school cheerleader from Florida, here she gets to act all over the place: cowering, sobbing, raging, screaming, running, recoiling, anguishing over haunting flashbacks of her two-year nightmare. Her biggest emoting comes toward the end, in an impassioned outpouring about sin and forgiveness with her rehab counselor (Wilma Rivera).

By dividing screen time between Hope’s hellish ordeal as well as her victory-in-Jesus recovery, the movie feels like a TV crime procedural sandwiched between slabs of church-pew homilies, kinda like a CSI: Sunday School. It won’t win any awards for acting or anything else, but its depiction of transformation, turnaround and even transfiguration from the foul trenches of despicable evil may come as an affirming balm for world-weary believers.

—Neil Pond

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Jan 30 2026
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DVDs, Humor, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! January 30 – February 5

The Muppets are back! Here come the Grammys! And can dogs talk?

FRIDAY, Jan. 30
Southern, Sweets and Spam
Guy Fieri’s travels take him to several locations where Southern-style eats ‘n’ treats are on the menu (9 p.m., Food Network).

Yo Gabba Gabba Hey
Emmy-nominated kids series hosted by Kammy Kam features new lineup of guests including Ziggy Marley, Tiffany Haddish and Billy Eichner (Apple TV).

SATURDAY, Jan. 31
Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted 2 Love
Sequel tells what happened after the heartbreak of last year’s movie of love, attraction…and temptation (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Feb. 1
The 68th Annual Grammy Awards
Kendrick Lamar, Cirkut, Jack Antonoff and Lady Gaga lead the nominees for this year’s honors voted by the Recording Academy (8 p.m., CBS).

MONDAY, Feb. 2
Rise of the 49ers
Sports doc series looks at the dramatic run of the San Francisco 49ers during the 1980s and early ‘90s, powered by footballers including Tom Brady, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana (9 p.m., AMC and AMC+)

25th Annual Super Bowl Greatest Commercials: Hall of Fame Countdown
For all those who watch the ultimate football championship match just for the commercials, well, here’s your opportunity to see a bunch of “all stars” all at one time! (8 p.m., CBS).

TUESDAY, Feb. 3
Building Outside the Lines
In tonight’s episode, Cappie and Alex create a custom floating family retreat, complete with a firepit (8 p.m., Magnolia Network).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4
Relationship Goals
Kelly Rowland and Clifford “Method Man” Smith star in this romantic comedy about a woman about to make history by running a top-rated TV morning show, and her ex- showing up to compete for the same position (Prime Video).

Can Dogs Talk?
How would the world be different if your dog could talk? And is new technology making that a real possibility? Find out in this bark-tastic NOVA documentary (9 p.m., PBS).

The Muppet Show
Kermit, Miss Piggy and the whole gang are back for this new special programming event, once again taking the stage of the Muppet Theater—with special guest Sabrina Carpenter, and produced by Seth Rogen (Disney+ and ABC).

THURSDAY, Feb. 5
The Lincoln Lawyer
The fourth season of the series (based on the novel by Michael Connelly and the film with Michael McConaughey) stars Manuel Garcia Ruflo as attorney Mickey Haller, now working to prove his innocence in the death of a former client (Netflix).

BRING IT HOME

# If you’re a fan of gag-fest romps like Airplane! and The Naked Gun, you’ll love Fackham Hall (Decal-Bleeker Street), a hilarious spoof of stuffy British high-society dramas (Downton Abbey and Masterpiece Theatre, I’m looking at you) about a suave pickpocket (Ben Radcliff) who finds himself in some very posh company. (There’s even a recurring joke in the title.) With Thomasin McKenzie, Damian Lewis and Katherine Waterston.

Jan 23 2026
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Photography, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! Jan. 23 – Jan. 29

When daytime TV was wild, the drama of African animals & the return of Patrick Dempsey

FRIDAY, Jan. 23
Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV
Revist the not-so-long-ago era when sensational, tabloid-style talk shows like Jerry Springer (above), Geraldo and Maury dominated ratings with explosive, often scandalous, content, pushing boundaries with fights, paternity tests, and outrageous guests (9 p.m., ABC).

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner) and Grandma Gigi (Gloria Estefan) set off on a magical road trip to Cat Francisco. But when her dollhouse is swiped by the eccentric cat lady (Kristen Wiig), Gabby embarks on a real-world rescue mission (Peacock).

SATURDAY, Jan. 24
Kingdom
New natural history series chronicles the drama of real-life sagas of four African animal families in one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by BBC Studios Natural History Unit (8 p.m., AMC+ and BBC America).

Toni Braxton’s Breathe Again
The Grammy-winning singer kicks off the network’s winter slate in a tale of three women who meet on a reality dating show and suffer heartbreak in the spotlight (10 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Jan. 25
It’s Not Like That
Scott Foley, Erinn Hayes and J.R. Ramirez star in this new faith-based drama about a recently widowed pastor with three kids who meets a newly divorced mom with two teens (Prime Video).

Memories of a Killer
Patrick Dempsey returns to broadcast TV alongside Michael Imperioli and Gina Torres in this new drama about a hitman living a double life (10 p.m., Fox).

MONDAY, Jan. 26
American Idol
The hit singing competition returns for its ninth season with superstars Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood in the judges’ seats, and making a trip to Nashville for round one (8 p.m., ABC).

TUESDAY, Jan. 27
33 Photos from the Ghetto
Documentary tells the story of civilian photos taken inside the notorious Warsaw Ghetto during the 1943 uprising and purge by German forces (HBO Max).

Moonshiners: Master Distiller
New series of the backwoods competition tests competitors turning beer into spirits, making prison ‘shine and distilling. Yee-haw! (9 p.m., Discovery Channel).

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 28
Shrinking
Jason Segel and Harrison Ford return for season three of the dramedy about a therapist who breaks the rules and tells his clients exactly what he’s thinking (Apple TV+).

Queens of Combat
Experts search for evidence to prove that women once fought among men in Rome’s infamous gladiatorial arena (10 p.m., PBS).

The Wrecking Crew
Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa (above) star as two estranged half-brothers who reunite after their father’s death, only to discover a conspiracy that threatens to tear their family apart (Prime Video).

THURSDAY, Jan. 29
Scenes After a Marriage
New imported drama series strips relationships down to their core and captures the universal struggles of love, loss and the uncertainties of divorce (Viaplay).

Cross
Aldis Hodge returns to season two of the pulse-pounding thriller series about a brilliant homicide detective/forensic psychologist now hunting down a ruthless vigilante targeting crooked millionaires (Prime Video).

BRING IT HOME

Channing Tatum is a real charmer starring in Roofman (Paramount Home Entertainment), based on the surprisingly true story of a real-life prolific robber known for breaking into establishments (you guessed it!) through the roof…and for stealing hearts. With Kristen Dunst, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple and Peter Dinklage.

Ready for a good scare? In Shelby Oaks (Decal-Neon Films), a film crew uncovers a disturbing lead in a woman’s search for her missing sister, steering her into a terrifying mystery and an unknown evil. Starring Camille Sullivan and Keith David. Loaded with extras, including commentary and a making-of feature.

Groove to the amazing story of the South African band Ladysmith Black Mambazo—who, you might recall, broke into the musical mainstream by performing with Paul Simon on his hit “Graceland—in Beyond Graceland (MVD Entertainment). Tracing the history and success story of the group, it includes commentary from Simon, Oprah Winfrey, Dolly Parton and Whoopi Goldberg.

Reach for the sky! And your remote, to start watching the Outlaws & Lawmen: 10 TV Westerns Collection (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment). Ride alongside Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott in this wild-West roundup of episodes from shows including Crossfire Trail, Rough Riders and Conagher. Special features include commentary, insights and cast profiles.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s sprawling drama One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a movie-awards favorite this year, stars Leonardo di Caprio as a former counterrevolutionary who reunites with some of his old colleagues when his daughter (Chase Infiniti Payne) goes missing. With Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Alana Haim.

In Keeper from director Osgood (The Monkey) Perkins, a romantic retreat takes a dark turn when a sinister presence reveals the cabin’s chilling past. Starring Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland (pssst…he’s Kiefer’s brother!)

READ ALL ABOUT IT

It rose into pop-cultural prominence after Jurassic Park III when it bested a mighty T-Rex, but how much do you know about the Spinosaurus? In Spinosaur Tales, paleontologists David Hone and Mark P. Whitton explore the ins, outs and all abouts of one of the Earth’s largest land predators of all time—and one of the strangest-looking and most enigmatic dinosaurs.

Explore a master of 20th century photography in Louis Stettner: Photofile (Thames & Hudson), about the New York lensman of the 1940s and ‘50s whose career lasted nearly 80 years and stretched from the streets of the Big Apple into the battles of World War II.

Version 1.0.0

Why do we love monsters? And why do we love them so much there used to be scuds of magazines about them? In The Great Monster Magazines (McFarland), author Robert Michael Cotter digs into the graveyard of publications that once fed readers’ appetites for fear and fantasy, including Famous Monsters of Filmland, Midnight Marquee, Fangoria, Terror Tales and dozens more, plus monster-adjacent comic books.

NOW HEAR THIS

The new remix of Yes Symphonic Live (Mercury Studios)—originally a 2001 LP recorded by members of the prog-rock pioneers with a live orchestra—is a feast for the ears, with lush versions of radio hits like “Close to the Edge,” “I’ve Seen All Good People,” “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Roundabout.” Available as a 4-LP set, which includes a Blu-ray documentary, or 2 CDs with a fold-out poster. 

Jan 20 2026
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Movie Reviews

Movie Review: “Resurrection:

Dreams can get you in deep trouble in this boldly visual Chinese ode to the cinematic experience

Resurrection
Starring Jackson Yee, Shu Qi & Gengxi Li
Directed by Bi Gan
Rated R

In theaters Friday, Jan. 22.

(Chinese, subtitled in English)

This hypnotically existential, boldly baroque sci-fi ode to cinema is set in a parallel world where people have stopped dreaming in exchange for immortality, like how a candle can “live” forever if it’s never set afire.

Dreaming, we’re told, is bad; it burns up your life with unreal nonsense. And dreamers (called Deliriants) are hunted down, tortured and dispatched by “seekers” who can see through their worlds of illusion. The Deliriants opt to live in the escapism of fantasy, memory and hope instead of the bleak, often painful real world. Sometimes they even watch movies, which is also considered a subversive activity.

We follow one Deliriant (Jackson Yee) after a seeker (Shu Qi) apprehends him, replacing his heart with a projector and a reel of film that lets her watch his subconscious like a movie on a screen. (You don’t get that with your Regal Club Card.)  She grants him a few more dreams before sending him on to the great beyond. She wants to see what makes this dreamer tick.

We get to watch, too, as the dreamer goes on a bonkers surrealistic tour of experiences unhinged from time and space—as an opium-addicted ogre, an accused murderer, a worker breaking down an ancient temple, a con man trying to shamboozle an aging gangster, a street-smart slum hood cavorting alongside a fellow Y2K reveler (Gengxi Li) with a dark secret.

Yee, a former boy-band member, plays every part “dreamed” by his character. It’s a performance that puts the “wide” in wide-ranging. And director Bi Gan masterfully unspools the story with salutes to other filmmakers and classic movies, from F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu and Conrad Veidt in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, to the film noir of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train and the body horrors of director David Cronenberg.  

Resurrection puts a lot on the screen to ponder and gives viewers two hours and 40 minutes to do it. It’s an immersive, hyper-visual, wildly imaginative arthouse-movie experience, suggesting—among other things—that watching a film is a lot like dreaming, seeing into other worlds, viewing experiences that aren’t our own. Perhaps life itself, our existence, is merely another illusion, a movie of the mind. And what happens when that movie ends?

There’s a maze of labyrinthine alleyways, a house of mirrors, lots of fog and cigarette smoke, a suitcase with a musical instrument that drives people mad, a vampire and an encounter with The Spirit of Bitterness, who wonders what sin tastes like. Each of the dreamer’s five vignettes hinge on one of the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. And even in dreams, we learn, farts are funny.

As one character tells us toward the end, in a karaoke bar, you might live forever, but still not get the answers to life’s many riddles. You certainly won’t get all the answers, either, after nearly three hours of Resurrection, but golly gee, you’ll get one helluva mind-blowing ride.

—Neil Pond

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