Monthly Archives: February 2025

Feb 28 2025
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 28 – March 6

Hollywood biggest night, a murderous gigolo & Kevin Hart goes to ‘toon town

Will Conclave, Wicked or The Substance take home the night’s big Oscars?

FRIDAY, Feb. 28
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
Guy Fieri loads up on barbecue, turkey legs and brisket fries on a trip to Memphis before heading to New York and blueberry pierogies, meatballs and cheddar chicken (9 p.m., Food Network).

Why You Like It: Decoding Musical Tastes
Composer and musicologist Dr. Nolan Gasser explores the science and culture behind our musical preferences (check local listings, PBS).

SATURDAY, March 1
Killing the Competition
Melissa Joan Hart stars in this new network movie inspired by the real-life story of a mother who turns to kidnapping when her daughter is cut from her high school dance team (Lifetime).

Million Dollar Zombie Flips
House flippers fix up dilapidated homes in the Seattle area, turning them into mansions (11 a.m., A&E).

SUNDAY, March 2
The Oscars
Conan O’Brien hosts, and we’ll see who comes out on top among top contenders including Emelia Peréz, The Brutalist, Conclave, Anora, A Complete Unknown and Wicked. And Karla Sofia Gascòn has already made history as the first openly trans woman to be nominated for Best Actress. But can she win after her “mean tweets” on social media?  (7 p.m., ABC).

Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue
Eric McCormack, Lydia Wilson and Adam Long are among the cast in this thriller series about survivors of a plane crash in the Mexican jungle who later begin to die in strange and violent ways. Ten passports, nine bodies, one deadly secret. (9 p.m., MGM+).

MONDAY, March 3
Recipes for Love and Murder
In the new season of the culinary murder mystery (above), a massive fire engulfs the small town of Eden, and a fateful chain of events brings together the lead characters in a multiple homidide investigation that uncovers the town’s darkest secrets (Acorn TV).

Celtic City
Nine-part documentary series chronicles the Boston Celtics, the city’s winningest sports franchise, from its founding to its triumphant 2024 season (HBO Sports).

Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas
Docuseries (above) about the investigation of a former cast member of the TV reality show Gigolos, who was arrested for killing a young woman in his home in a bloody tangle of sex work, fame and the lure of “Sin City” (Paramount+).

TUESDAY, March 4
The Rare Breed
No, it’s not the English Foxhound. Rather, it’s this rugged 1966 Western starring James Stewart, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith—a rather unlikely combo of stars from It’s a Wonderful Life, The Parent Trap and TV’s Family Affair, in a tale that mixes bull breeding, greedy criminals and untamed Texas (8:45 p.m., TCM).

WEDNESDAY, March 5
The Amazing Race
On your mark, get set…go! Go to the couch, that is, to watch as the 37th race in the hit TV competition begins tonight with a group of 14 new teams (above) kicking off their global trek in Japan (9:30 p.m., CBS).

THURSDAY, March 6
Deli Boys
Comedy about a pair of Pakistani-American brothers who uncover the secret life of their late convenience-store magnate father (Hulu).

Lil Kev
Adult animated comedy was inspired by Kevin Hart’s childhood in Philadelphia, with voices by Hart, Wanda Sykes and Deon Cole (BET+).

NOW HEAR THIS

The iconic 1986 Bon Jovi album Slippery When Wet, which catapulted the group into the rock mainstream and sold more than 12 million copies, has been re-released on multiple formats—including one with heavy-duty vinyl encasing a blue liquid…which looks slippery ‘n’ wet indeed! Hear classic hits (“You Give Love a Bad Name,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Lilvin’ on a Prayer”), plus newly added bonus features on the digital edition, including live tracks from the group’s 1987 tour.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

What do termite mounds, dolphins, rainbows, carnivals, the Roman poet Ovid, our sense of balance, caves and animal feces all have in common? They’re all in Phenomena: An Infographic Guide to Almost Everything (Thames & Hudson), an engrossing collection of charts, graphics and other “visualized” information. Dig in and prepare to be well-informed!

BRING IT HOME

When Santa (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped from the North Pole, his beefy head of security (Dwayne Johnson) springs into action with the help of a wisecracking bounty hunter (Chris Evans) to bring him home and save Christmas. It’s merry mayhem in Red One (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), with appearances by Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt and Nick Kroll.

Feb 21 2025
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Books, DVDs, History, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 21 – Feb. 27

A ‘Star Wars’ marathon, Tom Hanks the all-American & the king of Israel is in da ‘House’!

The ‘Saving Private Ryan’ star narrates a 10-part doc about the Americas.

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Feb. 21
Surface
In season two of the psychological thriller, Gugu Mbatha-Raw returns to the starring role as a young London woman who’s lost her memory and trying to piece her life back together—and realizing she’s in the company of some very dangerous people (Apple TV+).

A Thousand Blows
The latest from the creator of Peaky Blinders, this new series (below) set in the brutal world of illegal boxing was inspired by true-life tales of survival in the criminal underbelly of 1880s Victorian London (Hulu).  

SATURDAY, Feb. 22
Abducted in the Everglades
Tori Spelling stars in this lurid TV movie as a mom searching for her daughter that goes missing on a spring break trip in Miami (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Star Wars Marathon
Strap in and make the jump to hyperspace with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker (begins 1:45 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Feb. 23
The Americas
Sprawling ten-part nature documentary series about our “supercontinent” of North and South America, narrated by Tom Hanks, was five years in the making—and you can see why! (NBC and BBC). 

Grosse Point Garden Society
Members of a suburban garden club find their lives interwoven by scandal, mischief and a scared secret. New series stars AnnaSopha Robb, Ben Rappapport and Nancy Travis (10 p.m., NBC).

MONDAY, Feb. 24
Beyond the Gates
New daytime drama is set in a leafy Maryland suburb, one of the most affluent Black counties in America (and just beyond the gates of the White House). Starring Michelle Visage, Clifton Davis and Daphne Duplaix (2 p.m., CBS).

Bike Vessel
After several heath crises, a 70-year-old man embarks on a transformative long-distance cycling trip with his son in this moving documentary (Independent Lens).

TUESDAY, Feb. 25
Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP
Meet the longtime leader of the NAACP and one of the most influential—but least known—figures in civil rights history (9 p.m., PBS).

Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977-2015
Six-part anthology illuminates the bold stories of people and communities who continue to work for equality and racial justice in the decades following the American civil rights movement (HBO).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 26
Baltimore’s Bridge Collapse
Find out more about the 2024 disaster when a massive container ship plowed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six highway workers. Are other bridges at risk of the same thing? (9 p.m., PBS).

THURSDAY, Feb. 27
The House of David
New series based on the biblical story of David (Michael Iskander) and how he eventually became the most celebrated and storied king of Israel (Prime Video).

The Case of Iwona Wieczorek
This gripping docuseries delves into one of the best-known disappearances in recent Polish history, about a 19-year-old high school graduate who vanished on the way home from a party (Viaplay).

READ ALL ABOUT

The British ‘rock scene comes alive in Dennis Morris: Music + Life (Thames & Hudson), a handsome retrospective of the lauded rock photographer’s exploration of music, race, culture and class, and his capture-the-moment lens work with Bob Marley, Oasis, The Sex Pistols, The Pretenders, LL Cool J, Oasis, Grace Jones, Patti Smith, Marianne Faithful and other British celebs.

Baseball season only lasts about half a year, but A Baseball Book of Days (McFarland) by Phil Coffin stretches out the saga of the game through an entire year—a chronically arranged compendium of trivia, facts, record-setting achievements, firsts, onlys and what-might-have-beens made to last from January thru December. It’s a grand slam of goodies for baseball fans of any stripe.

NOW HEAR THIS

Celebrated the 40th anniversary of David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen debut as a solo act with The Warner Recordings 1985-1994 (Rhino), a splendid five-disc set with “Just a Gigilo,” “California Girls,” “Tobacco Road,” “Just Like Paradise” and much more music from Diamond Dave’s albums and EPs, including Crazy From the Heat, Eat ‘Em and Smile and Skyscraper.

BRING IT HOME

It brought home an armload of eight Oscars, and now you can see why all over again as Amadeus celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new 4K restoration. With star turns from F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulse (fresh outta Animal House!) as the young musical genius Wolfgang Mozart, and Jeffrey Jones (the principal from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).

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Feb 19 2025
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Movie Reviews

Monkey See, Monkey Kill

The deep horror roots of the sinister simian wind-up toy in “The Monkey”

The Monkey
Starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Colin O’Brien & Christian Convery
Directed by Osgood Perkins
Rated R

In theaters Friday, Feb. 21

As a horror flick, The Monkey certainly has its bona fides. It’s based on a 1980 short story by horror maestro Steven King, inspired by a much older classic creepy tale, The Monkey’s Paw, by British author W.W. Jacobs. One of the producers is James Wan, the creator of Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring franchises. The director, Osgood Perkins, made last year’s Longlegs, a wild ride of freakish serial-killer disturbia with Nicolas Cage and a demonic doll. And the director is the son of Anthony Perkins, forever enshrined in the halls of horror as the cray-cray, cross-dressing Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho.

Here, murder and mayhem swirl around a wind-up monkey “toy” that unleashes all kinds of hellzapoppin’ when someone turns the “key” on its back, making its mechanical arms start to bang on a drum. As a drummer myself, hey, I get it—some people don’t think much of drum solos. But at least no one’s ever died, as far as I know, because I dig into a roll or a few paradiddles.

Theo James (from the dystopian Divergent films, and season two of The White Lotus) plays double roles as the adult versions of twin brothers, Hal and Bill, who’ve grown up loathing each other. As kids (both effectively played by Christian Convery, from Netflix’s Sweet Tooth) rummaging through their dad’s collection of souvenir curios, they discover a box containing the monkey. “Turn the key and see what happens” is the instruction on a label on the monkey’s back.

What happens when the key gets turned is spectacularly bad news. People start to die, in twistedly inventive, Rube Goldberg-ian ways—decapitated by a flying knife at a Japanese steakhouse, trampled to death in a sleeping bag by wild horses, mangled by a lawnmower, beheaded by a cannonball, eviscerated with a speargun in a pawn shop. No one is safe when this monkey gets cranked.

Unlike some other evil “objects” or playthings (like the dolls in Chuckie, Anabelle, M3GAN or The Boy), the monkey doesn’t participate or engage in the mayhem. It doesn’t come alive and pick up a kitchen knife, like the South America voodoo doll in Trilogy of Terror, chasing Karen Black in the made-for-TV shocker back in 1975, or directly menace Telly Savalas like Talking Tina, the “Living Doll” on that 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone. This sinister simian is more a silent summoner of evil, an inscrutable avatar for the deep, dark pit of existential unknowable-ness, staring us down with a relentless, unsettling grin and a drumbeat heralding doom…for someone.

Elijah Wood (Frodo from The Hobbit-verse) has a scene as a gonzo parenting guru, and the director himself slips into the role of Hal and Bill’s swinger uncle.  

The movie, which often feels like a smart-ass comedic spoof and send-up of horror cliches, runs on gleeful, ghoulish humor and an embrace of its own wild, wooly weirdness—like the school cheerleaders who show up to rah-rah-sis-boom-bah at murder scenes. It’s also got a subtext about fathers and sons, deadbeat dads, the various toxicities that families “pass down” through generations, and the infallible truth that we’ll all inevitably meet our expiration date someday. The movie even literalizes a line from the Book or Revelation: “And I looked and beheld a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death.” Giddy-up!

“Everybody dies,” the boy’s mother (Tatiana Maslany) tells them, after the funeral of their babysitter. “That’s life.”

That’s certainly life with The Monkey, where a twist of its key always brings an insanely over-the-top, spectacularly splattery encounter with the grim reaper. Who’ll be next? How many more people will die? Is the Monkey the devil? Can it be stopped?

And can you ever hear the retro grooves of Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ the Night Away” again without thinking of a grinning keyed-up monkey, lopped-off heads, killer bees, and how a cobra can leap out of a golf course hole and clamp down on your jugular?

—Neil Pond

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Feb 14 2025
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Books, DVDs, Humor, Movies, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 14 – Feb. 20

Valentine’s Day ‘toons, a Marvel marathon & the return of ‘The White Lotus’

Peter and Lois get frisky on a Valentine’s Day-themed ‘Family Guy.’

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Feb. 14
Valentine’s Day Marathon
Love is in the air, and on the screen, with back-to-back romantically themed episodes of King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, Family Guy and Futurama (begins 9 a.m, FXX).

The Gorge
Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy star in this new thriller about an unseen enemy, a cataclysmic threat against humanity, and two sentries stationed on opposite sides of a massive gorge (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Feb. 15
Marvel Movie Marathon
After yesterday’s lovey-dovey, bulk up with some superhero action alongside Iron Man 3, Thor: Love and Thunder, Captain America: The First Avenger, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and more (7:30 am, continuing 8 a.m tomorrow, FX).

Cats, Cows and Cryptorchids
Dr. Cori gives a cow a pregnancy test, and her colleague Dr. Allison gets a lucky break. And, p.s., cryptorchids are undescended testicles (10 p.m., National Geographic).

SUNDAY, Feb. 16
Lockerbie: The Bombing of Pan Am 103
New four-part investigative series tracks the mysterious circumstances behind the bomb explosion of a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988, resulting in the deaths of 270 people, the majority of whom were Americans (9 p.m., CNN).

The White Lotus
The eight-episode third season of the twisty, Emmy-winning mystery drama from creator Mike White is this time set in an exclusive Thai resort, with a new cast that includes Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Walton Goggins, Michelle Monaghan and Parker Posey (HBO).

MONDAY, Feb. 17
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
Lucy Boynton (above) stars in this four-part series about the last woman hanged in England, in 1955, exposing British obsessions of class, sex and death (Britbox).

On TV: A Black History Month Special
Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner, the first Black co-hosting team for Entertainment Tonight, host this look back at trailblazing Black TV actors and others forging new paths today (8 p.m., CBS).

TUESDAY, Feb. 18
We Beat the Dream Team
The little-known story of a group of college basketball players who beat the legendary “Dream Team” (Larry Byrd, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordon) in a 1992 scrimmage (Max).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19
Good Cop/Bad Cop
Leighton Meester, Luke Cook and Clancy Brown star in new comedic drama series about a brother/sister odd-couple detective team investigating crimes in the picturesque Pacific Northwest (9 p.m., The CW).

Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief
Discover the secret networks of curators and dealers who made fortunes from Nazi-looted art in the aftermath of WWII, perpetuating a decades-long war crime that’s never been fully revealed or resolved (10 p.m., PBS).

THURSDAY, Feb. 20
Memes and Nightmares
Satirical film framed as a dark “buddy comedy” dives into the culture of memes, viral moments and digital fandom that have turned college basketball into a 24/7 cultural phenomena (Hulu).

How I Escaped My Cult
New true-crime series kicks off with the tale of one young woman who recounts her horrific time as a sex slave for cult leader Tony Alamo, holding the keys to his eventual downfall (9 p.m., Freeform).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Who was Hollywood’s first stunt woman? It was Helen Gibson, the subject of Mally O’Mera’s richly detailed biography Daughter of Daring (Hanover Square), which spotlights the former rodeo rider’s rough and tumble life in the movies in the early 1900s—long before Tom Cruise began to brag about doing his own stunts!

BRING IT HOME

The age-old tale of Dracula gets a horrifying new life in Nosferatu (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), about a vampire (Bill Skarsgård) obsessed with a young maiden (Lily-Rose Depp) in a deliciously dark, goth-drenched saga of blood, lust and unholy evil. Willem Dafoe is an equally obsessed vampire hunter, and Nicholas Hoult is a swoon-worthy young swain. It’s a top-notch take that gives an iconic horror story a fresh new set of fangs.

Feb 07 2025
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Books, History, Music, Pop Culture, Sports, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 7 – Feb. 13

Willie’s tailgate party, puppies in a bowl & Bridget Jones is back!

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Feb. 7
The Critics Choice Awards
Conclave and Wicked lead the pack at this annual evening honoring the year’s top movies, acting and other achievements, as voted by people who cover film professionally. Chelsea Handler returns as host (7 p.m., E!)

We Live in Time
Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star in this acclaimed movie about a couple trying to build the life they’ve always dreamed of, until a painful truth puts their love story to the test (Max).

SATURDAY, Feb. 8
I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story
Dramatized biopic (starring Joaquina Kalukango) about the rise to fame of America’s “Queen of Disco,” whose signature song “I Will Survive” became a timeless pop anthem of resilience, endurance and self-sufficiency (8 p.m., Lifetime).

65
This 2023 sci-fi adventure stars Adam Driver as an astronaut who finds—after a catastrophic crash—he’s actually stranded on Earth….65 million years ago! With Ariana Greenblatt (8 p.m., FX).

SUNDAY, Feb. 9
Puppy Bowl XXI
Are you Team Ruff or Team Fluff? Pick your side for this annual clash of cuddly cuties featuring rescue pups from around the world and spotlighting the good work of shelters that help animals find forever homes (2 p.m., Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+).

Concerts ‘Till Kickoff
Get ready for tonight’s “big game” with this daylong tailgate party, a marathon of live performances from Willie Nelson, Blackberry Smoke, ZZ Top, Toby Keith, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Zac Brown Band (9 a.m., AXS).

MONDAY, Feb. 10
Extracted
No, it’s not about a dental procedure, but rather a new competition in which  a dozen “untrained” contestants try to survive grueling and perilous conditions while their families keep watch…and refrain from hitting the “extract” button to have their loved one removed from their dire circumstances (8 p.m., Fox).

This Time Next Year
Adapted from a best-selling novel by Sophie Cousens, this romcom stars the author and Lucien Laviscount (from Emily in Paris) as two people born on the same day, in the same hospital, just one minute apart. What happens when they grow up? You’ll find out (Hulu).

TUESDAY, Feb. 11
Match Point
Mockumentary series stars former NFL players Vernon Davis and Omar Bolden as one-time Olympic tennis gold medalists who’re now hapless sports podcasters (Apple TV+ and Prime).  

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 12
Eric Clapton Unplugged…Over 30 Years Later
Ninety-minute special is an extended and remastered edition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s live performance of “Layla,” “Tears in Heaven” and other hits originally recorded in 1992 for the MTV franchise (Paramount+).

THURSDAY, Feb. 13
Sly Lives!
Documentary about ‘70s supergroup Sly and the Family Stone features commentary by Chaka Kahn, Clive Davis, Nile Rogers, Andre 3000 and others (Hulu).

Mad About the Boy
Renee Zellweger returns in this new streamer to the role from Bridget Jones’ Diary that made her a movie romcom heroine, as Bridget is now alone once again (this time with two young children) and reenters the world of moms, kids and dating apps. Memorable movie costars Hugh Grant and Colin Firth also make appearances (Peacock).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Think there are too many rules, too much regulation, too much bureaucracy? Author Barry Lam, a professor of philosophy at the University of California, argues in the eye-opening Fewer Rules, Better People: The Case for Discretion (W.W. Norton) that a society awash in requirements and mandates makes us dumber, not smarter. Discretion and ethics play important roles in many of our everyday decisions and actions. Find out more about what can be good about that, and what the author says is not.

What’s that shiny surface? It might be a piece of art! In MirrorMirror: The Reflective Surface in Contemporary Art (Thames & Hudson), author Michael Petry shows how reflective surfaces—glass, shiny steel, vinyl, obsidian—are used all over the world in artworks that appeal to our senses, reflect our vanities and take us to places of joy, marvel and inspiration.