Category Archives: Movies

Sep 29 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

September 29 – October 5

Emma is ‘Cruella,’ Brits rock, ‘Family Guy’ turns 22 & Milla fights monsters!

Emma Stone stars in Cruella on Disney+.

FRIDAY, Sept. 29
Gen V
What happens at a college especially for young adults who want to become superheroes? Find out in this zingy new series (below) connected to The Boys and starring Jensen Ackles, Patrick Schwarznegger and Lizzie Broadway (Prime).

The New York Times Presents: How to Fix a Pageant
Investigative docuseries digs into the Miss USA and Miss Universe organizations, a recent scandal, and how the “beauty pageants” are struggling to remain successful, relevant and significant in the modern world (10 p.m., FX). 

Brits Rock!
Cool! This block of programming celebrates the music and legacies three iconic British rock artists: The Beatles, Adele and David Bowie (All Arts TV).

Reptile
Benicio del Toro, Justin Timberlake (above) and Alicia Siverstone star in this new network original movie about the brutal murder of a young real estate executive and a hardened detective who attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems (Netflix).

Flora and Son
Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star in this original drama about a mom, her rebellious teenage son (Orén Kinlan) and how the transformative power of music brings them together in newfound harmony (AppleTV+).

SATURDAY, Sept. 30
Hot Dish with Franco
World-class chef Franco Noriega puts his Peruvian and Italian roots down in the kitchen for some hot-stuff, flavorful dishes in this new culinary series (12 p.m., Food Network).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

It’s never too early to think about Christmas! The Christmas Book (Phaidon) is a treasure trove of the traditions, lore, rituals and spirituality of “the most wonderful time of the year” with photographs, paintings and other pop-cultural artifacts. Santa, Scrooge, snow, nutcrackers, silent nights, nativity scenes—it’s all here, and more!

Fans of ‘80s rock will groove to Police Diaries (Rocket88), drummer Stewart Copeland’s firsthand account of the early days of The Police, the British trio that took over the charts with “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne,” “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” and many more hits. Packed with photos from Copeland’s deep personal archive, “it’s a big, noisy book about one heckuva ride.”

We know the ocean is big, it’s deep and it’s the stuff of folklore and legend. But Helen Czerski’s The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works (WW Norton) reminds us how the vast sea is a massive aquatic engine, constantly churning with energy, life and raw materials. Read it and marvel anew—and raise your awareness of how this ancient, gravity-defying feature of the Earth’s topography, now faces new, modern environmental threats.

Take an armchair trip to some of the world’s most scenic getaways in The Alps (Phaidon), with hundreds of photos of winter-playground places in France, Switzerland, Italy, AAustria and Germany. Here, you don’t have to be a celebrity—or a wealthy international traveler—to enjoy the views.

SUNDAY, Oct. 1
Family Guy
Seth McFarlane’s classic animated sitcom for grownups returns for season 22 tonight. Meg’s having a baby, Peter takes flight and Stewie gets his rock-star on! (9:30 p.m., Fox).

Jack Osborne’s Night of Terror
Ozzy’s son launches another season of spine-tingling paranormal investigations (below), kicking off with a trip to a haunted hotel in Santa Paula, Calif., accompanied by his mom, Sharon (10 p.m., Travel Channel).

MONDAY, Oct. 2
Spin’s 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was a Thing
You wanna rock? Then tune in for this new docuseries, spotlighting all the greats—Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Page, David Bowie, Grace Slick, and many more, with commentary from Dee Snider, Stewart Copeland, Carnie Wilson and other musical icons. Rock on! (8 p.m., AXS).

The Partridge Family
C’mon, get happy! All 96 episodes of the classic ‘70s TV musical sitcom series (below), about a peppy “family band” of rock musicians (led by Shirley Jones and David Cassidy), return to TV beginning today as part of the network’s new “Retro Binge,” which also includes The Monkees (9 p.m., AXS).

TUESDAY, Oct. 3
The Found
Shanola Hampton—she played Veronica Fisher in Shameless—now stars in this new weekly series as a foster care professional searching for a missing 14-year-old, but the case becomes much more complicated than she first imagined (10 p.m., NBC). 

Cruella
Emma Stone plays a young villainess-in-making (who’d grow up to be Cruella Deville of 101 Dalmatians) in this feisty, fab-fashion live-action 2021 remake of the Disney classic (7:50 p.m., Freeform).

BRING IT HOME

Get ready for Halloween with some of the greatest ghouls of all time: Universal Classic Monsters (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), the new eight-disc set of restored, 4K versions of The Invisible Man, The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Phantom of the Opera and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. Plus, an accompanying book is filled with rare pix, and trivia.

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 4
Monster Hunter
Not many people saw it when it was released theatrically in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Not you can watch it twice, back to back, as model-turned-sci-fi-actress Milla Jovovich kicks some serious monster butt in a futuristic, apocalyptic world, all based on a popular video game (7:20 p.m., FXM).

Quantum Leap
Season two of the sequel series to the 1989-93 TV drama stars Raymond Lee as a physicist who discovers many wrongs to right after his “unauthorized” leap into the past. Plus, he has a sweetie (Caitlin Bassett) he left behind (9 p.m., NBC).

THURSDAY, Oct. 5
Our Flag Means Death
Season two of the high-seas pirate comedy sets sail tonight, with filmmaker/actor Taika Waititi in the lead role of this swashbuckling tongue-in-cheek tale loosely based on real-life 18th century would-be buccaneer Stede Bonnet (Max).

Accused: Guilty of Innocent
What happens when someone is formally charged with a crime and sent to the courtroom? New season of the true-crime series picks up tonight with more inside stories of people facing the wheels of justice for serious crimes they are alleged to have committed. But did they?  (10 p.m., A&E).

Sep 27 2023
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Movie Reviews, Movies

Meet Your Maker

John David Washington stars in a sprawling sci-fi drama with a mega-message about AI

The Creator
Starring John David Washington, Allison Janey & Madeleine Yuna Voyles
Directed by Gareth Edwards
PG-13

In theaters Friday, Sept. 29

Concerned about robots crashing your car, taking your job, or maybe even ruling the world? In this epic-scale sci-fi war parable, we’re a few bleak decades beyond concern—it’s already happened, and the humans are fighting back against the rising tide of AI. Robots deliver babies, quell riots and work as cops and security guards. But maybe they also set off atomic bombs, and rumor has it they’re making plans to wipe us out completely…

So now, in 2065, the dogs of war are howling and robots are the enemy. When a brassy U.S. Army commander (Allison Janney) gets wind of a super-secret mega-weapon being developed by artificial intelligence, she sends a war-weary special-ops soldier (John David Washington) on a covert mission to find and destroy it, along with its creator.

This wildly ambitious, extravagantly staged dystopian drama depicts a grungy futurarama that doesn’t feel too far removed from the present, just considerably more battle-scarred and damaged by America’s war against the machines—fully mechanized humanoids as well as “simulants,” hybrids that look, walk and talk like humans, but with big, hollow holes through their heads.

And the search for the doomsday device yields some surprises—in the guise of a little simulant girl (Madeleine Yuna Voyles, making her acting debut).Does she hold the key to the world’s destruction, or its path to reconciliation?

Director Gareth Edwards, who also cowrote the original screenplay, also directed the romping, stomping Godzilla reboot (2014), created space-alien creepy-crawlies in Monsters (2010) and put his creative stamp on Rogue One: A Star War Story (2016). He likes big, expansive movie playing fields, and The Creator certainly gives him one. Visually and thematically, it’s a golly-whopper, filmed in awe-inspiring locations around the globe and tackling big mega-themes of war and peace, American imperialism, colonialism, slavery, freedom, terrorism, the weaponization of misinformation and the double-edge sword of technology.

And, oh, the sights you’ll see—robot soldiers, military mega-machines, and squatty, sprinting suicide-bomber bots, like exploding trash cans with arms and legs.

It’s also, at its core, a love story.

You’ll have to wait until the end to see where and how everything ends up, but in the meantime, just sit back and enjoy the show. There are echoes of other visionary movies, sure, from Tenent, District 9 and Blade Runner, to even Wall-E. But The Creator makes its own bold claim to high ground as a meaty, immersive sci-fi spectacle with bountiful bang…and a message about how the key to survival might be simply learning to get along…even when some of us act like we have holes in our heads. 

—Neil Pond

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Sep 22 2023
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Books, Movies, Pop Culture, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecst

Friday, Sept. 22 – Thursday, Sept. 28

Benedict Cumberbatch sees a future in gambling, a new book of fun Beatles facts & a visit to John Wick’s favorite hotel

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wednesday).

FRIDAY, Sept. 22
The Continental: From the World of John Wick
Much-anticipated “prequel” series to the action-packed John Wick movie series (below) drops on streaming tonight, with a three-part series about the characters and the origin of the safe-space hotel for the underworld. No Keanu, sorry. But hey, there’s Mel Gibson (Peacock).

Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court
Four-part series tells the history of America’s highest level of the judiciary system, tracing its history from the turbulent 1950s into the controversial present (8 p.m., Showtime).

SATURDAY, Sept. 23
Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussand
A baby was stolen, a murder was committed, and a woman named Helen Broussand was killed. So, what else you need to know about this ripped-from-the-headlines tale of a friendship gone bad (way bad) starring Emily Osment and Anna Hopkins? (8 p.m., Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Sept. 24
Disappeared
Tonight’s episode of the true-crime series focuses on a woman who, in 2019, headed home to Chicago after visiting Iowa to care for her ailing mother—and was never heard from again. As her friends search for her, the case becomes even more mysterious. (10 p.m., ID).

MONDAY, Sept. 25
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test
Do you laugh at the fun and games of American Ninja Warrior, giggle at the naughty-bits contrivance of Naked and Afraid, or scoff at the tedious blue-collar tasks of Tough as Nails? Then you’re ready for this new reality competition (above), in which some sorta-famous people (Savannah Chrisley, Brian Austin Greene, Jack Osborne, Tara Reid, JoJo Siwa, to name a handful) put themselves through some of the world’s most rigorous training exercises (9 p.m., Fox)

The Irrational
Jessie L. Martin (he was Det. Green on Law & Order) stars in this new series as a behavioral science professor called in to investigate the murder of a fashion influencer, leading to a maze of government, law enforcement and corporate misdeeds (10 p.m., NBC). 

TUESDAY, Sept. 26
Savior Complex
Three-part docuseries unfolds the controversial story of Renee Bach, a young American missionary who felt called by God to set up a charity for malnourished children in Uganda—and later faced allegations that she, with no medical qualifications, was treating the children herself. It’s a parable about “white saviorism” and the questionable ethics of foreign aid work done in the name of religious ideals. (9 p.m., HBO).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

There has been a lot written about the Fab Four, but in Wait! What? The Beatles Couldn’t Read Music? (Norton Young Readers) author Dan Gutman offers a Yellow Submarine full of unusual and surprising facts you probably didn’t know about the lads from Liverpool—like John Lennon’s nickname of “Stinker” (because he farted so much), and how Ringo’s grandma thought he was possessed! It’s hip, humorous and geared for kids. 

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 27
Welcome to Fairhope
New docuseries goes small—into small-town America—following a multi-generational group of friends and neighbors in the community of Fairhope, Ala., where everyone knows everybody else…and usually knows their business, too (Hulu).

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Director Wes Anderson puts his whimsical, quirky touches on this beloved story by Roald Dahl about a rich man who learns he can “see” without using his eyes, then sets out to master the skill to cheat at gambling. With Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley (Netflix).

Snake Oil
Can contestants tell the difference between “real” products and fake ones? Host David Spade challenges them to sort out the real stuff from the snake oil, guided by the opinions and expertise of celebs, athletes and other famous folk (Brad Paisley and Will Arnett, above)? (9 p.m., Fox).

THURSDAY, Sept. 28
The Kardashians
Can we ever get enough of them? (Answer: Yes, we can.). But for those who are remain fascinated by the cosmetic-surgery train wreck of this reality-show family, well, here you go. Season four starts tonight (Hulu).

Lego Masters
Will Arnett (him again!) returns to host season four of the competition series, in which Lego architects will face a new battery of challenges, including constructing an explosive volcano and a kitty-cat palace (9 p.m., Fox).

Sep 15 2023
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Books, Movies, Photography, Pop Culture, Sports, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, Sept. 15 – Thursday, Sept. 21

Married life takes a murderous turn, Batman wings it all day, and Kim Kardashian’s ‘Horror Story’

Oliver Jackson-Cohen and Jenna Coleman in ‘Wilderness’

FRIDAY, Sept. 15
El Conde
Well, here’s something you don’t see every day: A dark comedy set in Chile about a fascist ruler who happens to be vampire and decides the undead life isn’t for him. Think What We Do in the Shadows with a South American twist (Netflix).

Wilderness
A cross-country dream trip turns into a domestic dilemma in this British TV-series thriller as a young wife (Jenna Coleman) stews over the infidelity of her unfaithful husband (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) as marital bliss turns into fury and revenge, with an opening song by Taylor Swift (Prime).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Game geeks, get ready! The first videogame was created about 70 years ago, but now that “novelty” has become a worldwide phenomenon. Game Changers (Phaidon) is the definitive illustrated compendium of some 300 of pop culture’s most influential and iconic games, consoles and more.

Screen Style (Lawrence King) by film fashionista media consultant Marnie Fogg lets you eyeball some of the most colorful, iconic and wowza wardrobe items from iconic TV shows and movies, including Bridgerton, Empire, Downtown Abbey, The Deuce, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Euphoria, Schitt’s Creek, The Crown and much more. And it’s packed with hundreds of full-color pics, helping exoplain how clothes “make” the man (and the woman!) by establishing time and place and character traits, and setting the tone in subtle, distinctive and absolutely integral ways.

Lovers of language (and how it sometimes gets mauled) will love Damp Squids and Card Sharks (Hardie Grant) by Robert Anwood. This lively little volume is a treat for anyone who appreciates mangled phrases, mixed metaphors, mispelling mishaps and other interesting mis-uses and outright abuses of English. 

SATURDAY, Sept. 16
WOW-Women of Wresting
Pull up your ringside seat for season two of this series about the fabulous female grapplers who it duke it out on the mat…if that’s your jam (syndicated).

Batman
Take wing with the Cape Crusader (above) and a full day of movies, include director Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed trilogy with Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises), plus Justice League and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (begins 10 a.m., TNT).

SUNDAY, Sept. 17
Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein
True-crime fans will flip over this new docuseries, about the serial killer and grave robber whose twisted mind and heinous acts of real-life horror inspired the movies Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (MGM+).

The Gold
Hugh Bonneville and Dominic Cooper lead the cast of this new drama (below), based on a true 1983 story about how a group of men inadvertently stumbled across some $34 million in gold bullion during a London robbery (Paramount+).

MONDAY, Sept. 18
Neighbors
New season of the Australian drama series begins tonight, following the lives, loves and challenges of residents on the fictional Ramsay Street in a suburb of Melbourne (Freevee).

The Academy of Country Music Honors
This annual all-star fete, which was held in August at Nashville’s historic auditorium, will salute country hitmakers including Chris Stapleton, Clint Black, K.T. Oslin, Tim McGraw and Mary Chapin Carpenter (8 p.m., Fox).

Superpowers
Sean Penn directed this documentary about Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky and the country’s ongoing fight for its freedom against Russia (Paramount+).

NOW HEAR THIS

Ready for some hard-charging, guitar-slinging retro rockbilly? Brian Setzer’s new The Devil Always Collects (Surfgod Records) is a hip-cat trip to rockville with a new collection of tunes from the former Stray Cats frontman—including a blisteringly groovy take on the old Del Reeves country truckin’ anthem, “Girl on the Billboard.”

TUESDAY, Sept. 19
Celebrity Name That Tune
How well do the stars know music? Find out as more famous folks come aboard for season three and try to win big bugs for their charities. Randy Fox and Jane Krakowski return as hosts (8 p.m., Fox).

The Mask
See the 1994 superhero comedy which began Jim Carrey’s trajectory as a gonzo breakout star, established Cameron Diaz as a leading lady, and made swing music hip again. And oh, yeah, it made more moolah (at the time) than any other film ever based on a comic book (10 p.m., TruTV).

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 20

American Horror Story: Delicate
Kim Kardashian, Emma Roberts and Cara Delevingne are among the cast for the latest installment of the award-winning anthology horror series, which will feature episodes about witches, a traveling freak show, a haunted hotel and the apocalypse itself. It’s scary good! (10 p.m., FX).

The Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal
On March 2, 2023, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. The world watched with bated breath as a verdict was announced. The people of South Carolina’s Lowcountry had been waiting the better part of two years to understand what happened the night of June 7, 2021. Now you can find out more in season two of the documentary delving into that fateful night (Netflix).  

THURSDAY, Sept. 21
Bill Murray Moviefest
He’s done some semi-serious stuff, but Murray will always be known for making us laugh. Settle in tonight for a back-to-back mini-fest of his funniest films, including Caddyshack, Scrooged, Meatballs and Stripes (5 p.m., Pluto).

The Prank Panel In the season finale, the practical-joker pranksters (Johnny Knoxville, Eric Andre and Gabourey Sidibe) help pull off an elaborate practical joke involving a new bride and an allergic reaction (9 p.m., ABC).

Sep 08 2023
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Books, History, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Sept. 8 – Sept. 14, 2023

The return of ‘The Morning Show,’ the ugly history of busing & a triple slab of Adam Sandler yuks

FRIDAY, Sept. 8
Bella! This Woman’s Place is in the House
Saluting the life and work of firebrand lawyer, social activist, politician and leader of the ‘60s women’s movement Bella Abzug (9 p.m., PBS).

The Changeling
LaKeith Stanfield produces and stars in this new drama series, a grown-up fairytale with a horror-story twist, about a man searching for the love of his life, who has mysteriously vanished somewhere into a New York City he didn’t even know existed… (Apple TV+)

NOW HEAR THIS

What was it like to go to a Fleetwood Mac concert back in the band’s 1970s heyday? Well, you can find out with Rumours Live (Rhino), a time-capsule recording of the band performing all their hits (“Say You Love Me,” “Dreams,” “Rhiannon,” “Landslide,” “Over My Head” and many more) for a “hometown” crowd at the Forum in Los Angeles.

SATURDAY, Sept. 9

Adam Sandler
Chill with some comedy gold from the movie funnyman with a triple-play slate of Little Nicky, Anger Management and The Longest Yard (below) (begins 8 p.m., Pluto).

Back to the Future Trilogy
Hmmm….what to do on a Saturday? Well, how about time-traveling to your couch and watching all three BTTF films in a row? (12 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, Sept. 10
The Masked Singer
The landmark 10th season of the popular “disguised vocalist” completion kicks off tonight with a bang, and “unmasked” performance pair-ups by Michelle Williams and Rumer Willis, Joey Fatone and Bow Wow, and Victor Oladipo and Barry Zito (8 p.m., Fox).

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Latest spinoff of the fan-favorite franchise centers around the character of Reedus (Dixon) as he washes ashore in France and starts to find—and fight—his way back home (9 p.m., AMC).

MONDAY, Sept. 11
The Busing Battleground
Documentary (above) explores the turbulent legacy of efforts to integrate public schools—and the wave of “white flight” that followed—in the 1970s (9 p.m., PBS).

48 Hours
The popular true-crime and justice series goes wide tonight in a new weekday best-of syndication on stations nationwide (CBS and other affiliate networks).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Music lovers will love This is What It Sounds Like (RB Mecia), author Susan Rogers’ fascinating rundown of brain science, how our musical tastes and preferences are shaped, and the way music can set our mood, reawaken old memories and shape our social (tribal) identities.

TUESDAY, Sept. 12
The Swarm
New dystopian drama series taking place several years of unrestrained pollution and relentless climate change, as a mysterious force of the deep starts using the creatures of the ocean as hostile hosts and declares war on humanity (9 p.m., The CW).

Welcome to Wrexham
The reality series—about actors Ryan Gosling and Rob McElhenney’s soccer team in North Wales, the third oldest football team in the world—returns tonight (10 p.m, FX). 

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 13
America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston
The best-selling author and avid outdoor enthusiast continues his trek across the country to further discover how nature shapes the way we work, play and interact with each other (10 p.m., PBS).

The Morning Show
Time to wake up and tune in for the third season with more juicy drama about the New York City TV show still roiling in the aftermath of a sex scandal. With Jennifer Aniston, Reece Witherspoon, Billy Crudup, Juliana Marguiles and Jon Hamm (Apple TV+). 

The Other Black Girl
New original series about Nella (Sinclair Daniel), the only Black employee at a New York publishing firm, who comes to suspect that something sinister is going on—and it is! (Hulu)

THURSDAY, Sept. 14
Southern Charm
Pack up and get ready to go south with a new season of this reality series (below) about good-lookin’ young’uns down in Charlotte, S.C., pursuing romance, friendship and careers (9 p.m., Bravo).

Remembering William Friedkin
The iconic director, who died last month, is celebrated with a section of his classic 1970s and ’80s films—The French Connection, To Live and Die in L.A. and The Boys in the Band (8 p.m., TCM).

Sep 01 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Sports, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, Sept. 1 – Thursday, Sept. 7

‘The Little Mermaid,’ love in the Smoky Mountains & a sordid scouting scandal

Disney’s live-action ‘Little Mermaid’ comes ashore for streaming this week.

FRIDAY, Sept. 1
The Wheel of Time
Season two begins tonight, about a farm boy who may destroy the world and a group of sorceresses fighting his power and madness (below). With Rosamund Pike (Prime Video).

Power Book IV: Force
The hit franchise returns tonight, as Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) charts new territory, capitalizes on his competitors’ weaknesses and makes a play at becoming Chicago’s top drug dealer (8 p.m., Starz).

SATURDAY, Sept. 2
Unforgotten
No, it’s not the Clint Eastwood Western, which was Unforgiven—but rather season five of the British crime series in which London detectives solve a new variety of cold-case disappearances and murder (9 p.m., PBS)

SUNDAY, Sept. 3
Love in the Great Smoky Mountains
Arielle Kebbell and Zach Roerig (above) star as a pair of former sweethearts who rediscover romance while working together on a project in the nation’s most-visited national park (8 p.m., Hallmark).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

You’ll get the “feels” with Motherhood (Tate Publishing), a heartwarming collection of visual representations of motherhood as depicted by artists over the centuries.

A host of vocalist all-stars tell what it’s like to do what they do in The Singers Talk (Permuted Press), featuring more than 70 revealing, wide-ranging interviews, including Tony Bennett, Emmylou Harris, Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Ozzie Osborne and many more!

Fans of everything royal will delight at Queen Elizabeth II: A Photographic Portrait (Thames & Hudson), a splendid collection (and reflection) on the royal highness and her 70 years on the throne, from her first official baby portrait to her Platinum Jubilee last year. More than 200 images, from acclaimed photographers, trace her life and reign, with essays by bestselling historian and author Philip Ziegler.

MONDAY, Sept. 4
Secrets of Penthouse
Four-episode series tells the true story of the rise and fall of Bob Guccione, who made millions as the founder of Penthouse magazine, which challenged Playboy for the girlie-mag market—and pushed the envelope of adult publishing further than it had ever been before (9 p.m., A&E)

Ancient Empires
Three-night event explores the legacies of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Cleopatra (8 p.m., History).

While We Watched
Strong-stuff documentary offers an unfiltered looks at NDTV, once the bastion of information within India’s TV networks, now spiraling downward in waves of fake news, financial setbacks, creeping nationalism and extremist attacks on truth. It’s a snapshot of a world in crisis, told through the microcosm of one television network that stands as a representative of modern journalism (10 p.m., PBS). 

TUESDAY, Sept. 5

BRING IT HOME

Worlds collide in the acclaimed Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), in which multiple versions of the character intersect in a dazzling spectacle of animated adventure. With Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Jason Schwartzman, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali and Oscar Isaac.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
The reality series returns for a new season (below) with frigid family dynamics, red hot international travel and a shocking betrayal that none of the women saw coming (9 p.m., Bravo).

One Shot: Overtime Elite
Six-part sports documentary series follows the new generation of NBA top draft-pick rookies, led by Amen and Ausar Thompson, Jakhi Howard, Rob Dillingham and Eli Ellis (Prime).

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 6
Scouts Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America
How did the Scouts try to cover up one of history’s most horrific sexual abuse scandals? Find out in this documentary, which talks to whistleblowers, survivors and former BSA employees (Netflix).

The Little Mermaid
Disney’s recent live-action re-imagining of its “under the sea” music-filled classic comes today to streaming, with Halle Bailey as Ariel, Javier Bardem as King Triton and Melissa McCarthy as the evil Ursula (Disney+).

THURSDAY, Sept. 7
The Dead Files
Season three of the spooky reality series finds psychic medium Cindy Kaza and homicide detective Steve DiSchiavia teaming up again for more investigations of the paranormal (10 p.m., Travel).

Virgin River
Alexandra Breckinridge (above) returns as midwife “Mel” Monroe for season five of the romantic drama series as the characters face a shocking breakup, a wrenching court trial and a wildfire that threatens their northern California town (Netflix). 

Aug 25 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Aug. 25 – Aug. 31

Cinderella gets a new shine, life in Ireland, way-out crimes & Elvis’ Army days

FRIDAY, Aug. 25
Cinderella
Disney returns to its roots with this newly restored high-def version of its 1950 animated film classic. And didja know: A young Mike Douglas, who’d later become famous as a TV talk-show host, provided the singing voice of Prince Charming!  (Disney+).

The Escape of Carlos Ghosn
New docuseries details the true story of a CEO turned fugitive, his relentless climb to the top the corporate ladder in Japan, his shocking arrest and unbelievable escape to Lebanon (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Aug. 26
Napa Ever After
Above: After inheriting her grandmother’s winery in Napa Valley, a high-powered attorney (Denise Boutté) decides to renovate the property, with the help of a handsome local handyman (Colin Lawrence) (9 p.m., Hallmark).

Attenborough: Behind the Lens
Find out how the revered documentary filmmaker, who recently celebrated his 97th birthday, kept pushing for new ways to tell natural history for viewers using the latest technologies around the world, in every kind of climate (8 p.m., BBC America).

SUNDAY, Aug. 27
The $100,000 Pyramid
In tonight’s season finale, Wendi McLendon-Covey (from The Goldbergs) pits wits with Matt Walsh (Veep), and Amanda Kloots (host of The Talk) vies with Marcus Lemonis (The Profit) for a spot in the winner’s circle (8 p.m., ABC). 

MONDAY, Aug. 28
Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
New series (above) takes you inside the country, and alongside the real people living in its ongoing conflict (check local listings, PBS).

Love Island
Above: Which of the beautiful couples/contestants will win the viewers’ votes will win the reality competition—set in a secluded villa where they are followed constantly (Big Brother style) with cameras and recorded by microphones—in its season 5 finale? Reality? Hardly! (Peacock).

TUESDAY, Aug. 29
A Murder at the End of the World
New murder mystery series stars Emma Corrin as an amateur sleuth trying to put the pieces of a horrific crime together inside the remote and isolated compound of a reclusive billionaire. With Clive Owen (Hulu).

Archer
The hip award-winning animated series returns tonight for its 14th and final season as Sterling Archer navigates the changing landscapes of the modern spy world (10 p.m., FXX)

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 30
Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zone
Travel the world with author Dan Buettner to discover five unique communities where residents live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives (Netflix).

My Strange Arrest
An in-depth looks at people who are arrested for (allegedly!) committing some really weird, way-out crimes (10 p.m., A&E).

BRING IT HOME

Far, far away from The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence stars in the wildly raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) as a young woman hired to “make a man” of a wealthy couple’s son before he leaves for college. Yeah, that.

Learn all about the movies with The Complete Story of Film (MusicBox Films), the new box set of two acclaimed, immersive documentaries from director Mark Cousins with  definitive discourses on the development, innovations and themes of cinema around the world.

THURSDAY, Aug. 31
One Piece
A young man and his pirate crew explore a fantastical new world in search of treasure in this new adventure-filled live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga series (Netflix).

The Pact
It’s season two of the is edge-of-your-seat morality tale with lovable, complex characters under extreme pressure, navigating blood ties and divided loyalties while facing the ghosts of their past. Starring Rakie Ayola, Lloyd Everitt, Aaron Anthony and Mali Ann Rees (Sundance Now and AMC+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

You’ve probably seen the G.I. days of Elvis referred to in documentaries and such, but usually as a passing chapter of his life before he came “home” to continue rockin’. Now in My Army Days with Elvis (Xulon Press), author Johnny Lang recalls his time as Presley’s Army buddy (in Germany, 1958-1960), where they trained, played football…and partied! It’s a rare, personal glimpse in the musical superstar during a period when he was serving his country, and from from the glare of the celebrity spotlight.

Aug 24 2023
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Movie Reviews, Movies, Sports

Balls ‘n’ Bibles

Dennis Quaid goes gonzo for God in heavy-handed baseball biopic

The Hill
Starring Dennis Quaid, Colin Ford, Jonelle Carter, Bonnie Bedelia & Randy Houser
Directed by Jeff Celentano
PG

In theaters Friday, Aug. 25

Baseball and the Bible round the bases in this sermonizing biopic based on the real-life story of a young Texan with a degenerative spine disorder who dreams of becoming a Major League baseball player.

If you happen to already know about Rickey Hill, this story won’t yield any big grand-slam surprises. But for most mainstream viewers, not steeped in the obscure stats and historic miscellany of America’s pastime, you’ll be learning about him for the first time—how he grew up with stiff braces on both legs, how his rural-preacher daddy forbade him to play ball, how little Rickey did anyway. And how the underdog Rickey, ultimately, lived his dream.

Rickey is played as a child by newcomer Jesse Berry, making his acting debut, and he’s good—one of the best things about the movie, in fact. He’s certainly much more of a “screen presence” than Rickey as a high schooler, played by Colin Ford, a Nashville native who appeared in TV’s Under the Dome and several other series (including as a victim of Jeffrey Dahmer in last year’s Dahmer: Monster). He’s kind of a victim in The Hill, too, confined in a movie that seems unable to give him more than one dimension to maneuver.

Dennis Quaid plays Rickey’s father, dishing out fire and brimstone from the pulpit while his young son blasts rocks with sticks in the backyard, sending them sailing into the sky and over the trees—and sometimes through windshields. More than once we hear other people marvel that his talent is “phenomenal,” his batting skills a “miracle” given his condition.

Director Jeff Celentano is a former actor (whose movies you’ve likely never heard of) turned B-movie filmmaker (whose films, well, ditto). He’s playing in the big leagues now, sort of, with a handful of brand-name actors (Quaid, Bonnie Bedelia, Scott Glenn, Joelle Carter from TV’s Justified and Chicago Hope) and a movie releasing nationwide. Rickey Hill’s story is, for sure, an inspirational one—how a kid never let go of his dream, despite the odds that he’d never make it. It’s a feel-good movie for people who want a movie that wants to make them feel good, scratch their “films about faith” itch and likes their sports with a great deal of Bible thumping. It means well, but its real-life drama of the diamond, under the halos of the ballpark lights, gets lost in tedious, telegraphed tent-revival messaging.

And The Hill is Hallmark Channel quality up on the big screen, with ooey-gooey sentimentality, cringey performances, and a heavy, holy-hokum dose of Sunday School threaded by stories of David and Goliath, the strength of Solomon, sermons about water and rocks, God’s “calling” and being “tested,” admonitions about respecting “the Lord’s house,” and so many quoted Bible verses, I lost count. The dialog is laughably clunky and scripted with such a heavy hand, prone to speech-ifying and often putting words into character’s mouths that, I’m certain, they wouldn’t say. (“Hardscrapple,” for instance, wasn’t a word you would hear a lot in the rural South of the early 1960s. I was there, and I know.) And it just seems odd to hear a little girl—Ricky’s childhood sweetie—chide him about his batting and limited “body rotation.”)

In some instances, you can tell that characters mouths move to salty words that we spoken in a scene but later overdubbed into substitutions—“darn” for “dam,” “stuff” for, well, another word that stars with an “s.” This is a movie that doesn’t have the conviction it’s so preachy about—to let people talk the way they would naturally talk.

Quaid has a deep acting resume that has swung wide, as they say, over the decades, with some bona fide classics (Breaking Away, The Rookie, The Right Stuff) and some real dogs (Jaws 3, A Dog’s Purpose, I Can Only Imagine). This one leans into foul territory, as he gets all grim and clammy—and hammy—digging deep into fever-pitch fervor, insisting that his son follow his zealous path into pastorhood. It’s over the top, even for an actor who played Jerry Lee Lewis, Ronald Reagan, and Lindsay Lohan’s dad in The Parent Trip.

Bonnie Bedelia, who plays his mouthy mother-in-law, is bedecked in a wad of ghostly white granny hair and makeup to make her appear even older than her 75 years. The former soap star who made a splash alongside Bruce Willis in Die Hard looks like she entered every scene from the set of a small-town community playhouse. Oh, and she gets a deathbed scene so full of corn, it’s a real bumper crop. There should be a trail of it following her into the cemetery.

There are several moments that mimic other, better movies—a “railroad tracks” scene set to a retro tune that recalls Stand By Me, slo-mo slugfest batting a la The Natural. Church-going folks may flock to The Hill, but more discriminating movie fans can find a (sand)lot of better baseball movies to love.

—Neil Pond

Aug 18 2023
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Movies, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Friday, Aug. 18 – Thursday Aug. 24

King Arthur consults with Merlin in the new series ‘The Winter King,’ Sunday on MGM+.

FRIDAY, Aug. 18
Snoopy Presents: One of a Kind Marcie
The introverted, studious, bespectacled little girl from Peanuts gets her own TV special, as Marcie becomes a golf caddy, gets nominated for class president and finds new ways to help her friends (Apple TV+).

Harlen Cobin’s Shelter
A YA cast headlines this thriller about a young man who discovers unimaginable secrets in his quiet little community after the disappearance of one of his schoolmates (Prime).

SATURDAY, Aug. 19
How She Caught a Killer
Sarah Drew (she was Dr. April Kepner on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) produces and also stars in this “ripped from the headlines” movie (above) as an undercover cop trying to end a string of kidnapped and murdered sex workers (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Stand Up to Cancer
Multi-network fundraising special features a host of all-stars—including Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Biel, Tony Hale, Ken Jeong, Eric Stonestreet and Justin Timberlake—plus comedic skits and musical performances from years past (8 p.m., ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and multiple streaming platforms).

Swamp Monsters
Slip on your wading boots and slither in to his day-long marathon about monsters from the murk, including Cryptid: The Swamp Beast and episodes of MonsterQuest (www.storytelevision.com/wheretowatch/)

SUNDAY, Aug. 20
The Winter King
New 10-episode series, based on novels by author Bernard Cornwell, offers revisionist takes on well-known Arthurian legends in a brutal land of warring factions and tribes as the outcast Arthur Pendragon evolves from legendary warrior to king (MGM+).

761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers
Morgan Freeman narrates this doc about the heroic first Black U.S. Army tank unit to serve in combat during World War II, where they became crucial in the Allied fight against Nazi Germany (8 p.m. History Channel).

MONDAY, Aug. 21
Secrets of Prince Andrew
British journalists and insiders give insights into this true story behind the now-disgraced royal after the infamous TV interview in which he disastrously tried to defend himself against allegations that he had sex with an underage girl (8 p.m., A&E).

Dark Marvels
Tonight’s episode, “Sinister Spy Weapons,” delves into the dark art of spycraft, from the “frankenkitty” to the umbrella gun, revealing the deadliest espionage weapons ever deployed to gather information and assassinate enemies (9 p.m., History).

TUESDAY, Aug. 22
Bobby’s Triple Threat
The kitchen is ready for a new season as more elite chefs compete for $25,000 under the watchful eyes of Food Network icon Bobby Flay (9 p.m., Food Network).

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
It’s a rebroadcast, but tune in to see Melissa Joan Hart, Titus Burgess and Lacey Chabert spin the big wheel for charity (8 p.m., ABC).

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23
Star Wars: Ahsoka
Star Wars fans, rejoice! This new live-action addition to the far-flung franchise stars Rosario Dawson (below) in the role of a former Jedi Knight as she investigates a threat to the galaxy. With Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Dana Tennant (Disney+).

BS High
Documentary explores the incident that developed after a football game between two prep schools, IGP and Bishop Sycamore High, which resulted in nearly 60 injuries on the field, a media circus about one of the school’s legitimacy and a probe into the cut-throat world of youth athletics (9 p.m., HBO).

THURSDAY, Aug. 24
Toya & Reginae
Curious about the lives of the ex-wife and daughter of rap star Lil Wayne? Me neither, but this new reality show will let you tag along for the ups and downs of the Atlanta-based rap duo (9 p.m., WE tv). 

Twisted Marriage Therapist
In this tense psychological drama, the latest in the streaming platform’s “Twisted” series, a couple seeks counseling to save their marriage, but the husband soon realizes that therapist is obsessed with his wife and will do anything to get her (Tubi).

Aug 11 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Television, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Aug. 11 – Aug. 17

A double dose of Elvis, a search for barbecue & telemarketer whistle blowers

FRIDAY, Aug. 11
Men In Kilts: A Road Trip with Sam and Graham
Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish hit the road again (above) for a second season of adventures, this time exploring the Down Under world of New Zealand (9:30 p.m., Starz).

Red, White and Royal Blue
In this new feature film, the son of the U.S. president and a British prince find themselves in the middle of a tabloid frenzy, out of which a deeper relationship develops. With Uma Thurman and Clifton Collins Jr. (Peacock).

NOW HEAR THIS

Celebrate the milestone 50th anniversary of Elvis Aloha From Hawaii via Satellite with a deluxe reissue of the groundbreaking 1973 event and album, loaded with bonus content—three discs of remastered and enhanced material, including a dress rehearsal, plus a 28-page booklet and the first-ever Blu-ray release of the original broadcast. Groove to such Elvis classics “Burning Love,” “My Way,” “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Suspicious Minds” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and a hunka-hunka lot more!

SATURDAY, Aug. 12
Hip Hop Treasures
Have you any hip hop treasures? You might, and LL Cool J and Ice T can let you know when they come to your door. They’re hosting this new series in which they track down down conic memorabilia from the musical era of hip hop, now celebrating the format’s 50th anniversary (10 p.m., A&E).

Kings of Barbecue
Black-ish star Anthony Anderson and comedian Cedric the Entertainer (above) travel across the country and fire up the grill in search of their one of their favorite foods, and the people who make it, in this new docuseries (9 p.m., A&E).

SUNDAY, Aug. 13
Telemarketers
Docuseries about two amateur sleuths in the early 2000s who set out to expose a crooked industry from within. It’s a madcap, sometimes witty odyssey stretching over 20 years into the dark side of American capitalism and the misuse of consumer trust (10 p.m., HBO).

Billions
The award-winning hit series (above), exploring a group of suit-and-tie money moguls embroiled in an escalating war driven by power, money and greed, returns for its seventh and final season, with Damian Lewis, Paul Giamatti, Corey Stoll and Maggie Siff (8 p.m., Showtime).

MONDAY, Aug. 14
Solar Opposites
Season four begins of the animated chaotic comedy series (below) about a group of space aliens who can’t decide if Earth is awesome, or awful. Voices by Dan Stevens, Thomas Middleditch, Mary Mack and Sean Giambrone (Hulu).

TUESDAY, Aug. 15
Re-Inventing Elvis: The ’68 Comeback
Documentary examines the dramatic creation of the groundbreaking hour-long TV event that triggered the comeback of Elvis Presley (Paramount+).

The Love Experiment
New dating-game twist features a relationship expert guiding three young women through a literal “hall” of eligible men, and coaching them on how to make the best choices (10 p.m., MTV).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Go deep into football’s past in Gridiron Legacy by Gregg Ficery (Gramarye Media/The Story Plant), which traces the sport’s origins all the way back to its muddy roots in the late 1800s. It’s a treasure trove of forgotten sports history and pics, long before the Super Bowl and millionaire superstar athletes were a thing.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16
Grown-ish
Oh, more college drama! Dean Miller recruits Aaron (Trevor Jackson) to convince Andre (Marcus Shribner) and the rest of their fraternity to cultivate a relationship with a problematic alum (10 p.m., Freeform).

THURSDAY, Aug. 17
The Wonder Years
The family embarks on a road trip to Austin College, the makes a stop at Disneyworld, where Bill (Dulè Hill) meets up with some old bandmates and reflects on his life choices (9:30 p.m., ABC).

Tracy Morgan: Takin’ It Too Far
The former SNL star goes on stage for this stand-up comedy special from the Wilbur Theater in Boston, where he takes on a variety of topics, including the 2014 car crash that left him with several broken bones and a brain injury (Max).

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