Category Archives: Music

Apr 12 2024
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Books, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

April 12 – April 18

Michael Douglas flies a kite, a new Dora explores, Billy Joel marks a milestone and Conan O’Brien’s gotta go

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, April 12
Franklin
Michael Douglas stars as the founding father (above) who famously flew a kite in a thunderstorm, signed the Constitution and became America’s first postmaster general, among many other achievements, in this new limited series about the guy on our $100 bill (Apple+). 

Dora
You probably know her as Dora the Explorer, but now she’s just plain Dora in this new 26-episode animated series about the bilingual adventurer and her monkey friend, Boots (Paramount+).

The Greatest Hits
The transportative power of music is the theme to this fantasy flick in which a young woman (Lucy Boynton) discovers that songs can allow her to time-travel back to a former romantic relationship (Hulu).

SUNDAY, April 14
The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden—The Greatest Arena Run of All Time”
The title says it all: The “Piano Man” makes his record-breaking 100th consecutive performance at New York City’s iconic venue, part of his record-breaking string of sold-out appearances there (9 p.m., CBS).

The Sympathizer
Hoa Xuande, Sandra Oh and Robert Downey Jr. (who plays multiple roles) star in this limited series about a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam war, and his new life as a refugee in Los Angeles—where he learns that his dangerous spying days are not over (9 p.m., HBO).

MONDAY, April 15
Music Mayhem
New original series cuts through the stardust to get to the bitter feuds, tragic endings, weird collaborations, musical romances and more dishy side trips into the land of rock and roll, with spotlights on the Beatles, David Bowie, Ozzy Osborne, the Rolling Stones and many other performers (8 p.m., AXS).

TUESDAY, April 16
Control + Alt Desire
Docuseries follows the year-long investigation of shocking killings that rocked a quiet Florida town, and a 29-year-old man accused of murdering his family execution-style for the love of a cam girl (Paramount+).

WEDNESDAY, April 17
Under the Bridge
New series based on true-crime tale about the abduction about a 14-year-old girl who went to join friends at a party and never came home. Starring Riley Keough, Lily Gladstone and Vritka Gupta (Hulu).

THURSDAY, April 18
Conan O’Brien Must Go
The Emmy-winning former late-night talk show host spent several years sitting behind a desk. Now he’s up and moving around as the host of this new travel series (above), in which he treks the world to connect with listeners to his popular podcast (Max).

Orlando Bloom: To the Edge
Three-part limited adventure series follows the actor on his journey of self-discovery as he pushes his limits physically and mentally through fear-defying extreme sports, including wingsuiting, free diving and rock climbing (Peacock).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

In Music and Mind (Viking), renowned opera superstar Renee Fleming curates a collection of essays by other famous music makers and thinkers (Ann Patchett, Yo-Yo Ma, Ben Folds) to present a thorough—and thoroughly entertaining—treatise on the power of music manifest in ways both mental and physical. Bravo!


Star Trek’s George Takei’s My Lost Freedom (Random House) brings his childhood story—of incarceration with his family, along with thousands of other U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry, in California internment camps during World War II—to vivid life for young readers. It’s a pointed, timely reminder of hysteria masquerading as “national security,” and the fragility of democracy in our “land of the free.”

Jan 05 2024
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Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Jan. 5 – Jan. 11

Spend a day in a galaxy far, far away, unearth the dark secrets of polygamy, & catch cheating spouses in the act

‘The Empire Strikes Back’ is part of an all-day marathon of Stars Wars on Saturday.

FRIDAY, Jan. 5
The Life
Three-night documentary event features an imprisoned Missouri woman eventually convicted of murdering her mother, telling her own story in in a swirl of events that included physical and psychological abuse and Munchausen Syndrome (8 p.m., Lifetime).

Good Grief
Schitt’s Creek’s Daniel Levy makes his debut as a feature-film writer and director in this movie about a man on a soul-searching trip to Paris after the death of his spouse (below). With Luke Evans, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel (Netflix).

Daniel Levy & Luke Evans star in ‘Good Grief.’

SATURDAY, Jan. 6
Love on the Right Course
A struggling pro golfer (Ashley Newbrough) has to choose between a hot club owner (Marcus Rosner) and her old trainer (8 p.m., Hallmark).

Star Wars Marathon
Strap in and hold on—it’s an afternoon and evening of back-to-back galactic adventure with A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (11:30 a.m., TNT).

SUNDAY, Jan. 7
The Golden Globes
The kickoff to movie awards season begins tonight with this 81st live annual presentation honoring the year’s best movie and television performances. Among other things, the Globes make other award shows look kinda dull in comparison—that’s why it’s called Hollywood’s “party of the year” (8 p.m., CBS).

Grimsburg
John Hamm leads the voice cast in this animated grownup comedy series (above) about a detective trying to redeem himself in a town where everyone has a secret (following the NFL double-header, Fox).

MONDAY, Jan. 8
Secrets of Polygamy
If you liked watching Mormon Wives, you’ll dig this deep-dive investigative series about the shocking secrets of “extreme” polygamist groups with twisted religious roots like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Apostolic United Brethren (10 p.m., A&E).

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Travel through time and space in this innovative documentary on the acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni (Max).

Cash Cab Music
The trivia game show that takes place inside a specially rigged NYC cab gets a new twist—all music trivia—and a new host, Adam Growe, above (10 p.m., AXS). 

TUESDAY, Jan. 9
Caught in the Act: Unfaithful
Remember when MTV showed music videos? Ah, the ‘80s. If you want to see cheating lovers get ratted out, tune in for the return of this “relationship” show hosted by Tami Roman, who helps guide readers into the realm of unfaithful spouses and suspicious partners (9 p.m., MTV).

LaBrea
Subterranean life—and the fight for survival—goes on in the deep, dark sinkhole beneath Los Angeles as season three begins of the contemporary sci-fi drama starring Natalie Zea, Jon Seda and Nicholas Gonzalez (9 p.m., NBC).

Big Little Brawlers
New series takes you inside the big lives of a group of “little people” who perform (and compete) in the Micro Wrestling Federation (9 p.m., Discovery).

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10
Prison Brides
Documentary series follows seven women from around the world who believe they have found their soulmates in a most unexpected place—behind the bars of American prisons (9:30 p.m., Lifetime).

Criminal Record
New crime thriller series about two London detectives (Peter Capaldi, above, and Cash Jumbo) clashing over an historic murder conviction as one pushes to advance her career and the other tries to protect his connections and his legacy (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, Jan. 11
Skymed
Tune in tonight to binge on all nine episodes of season two of the series drama about young medics and pilots flying air ambulances and making jaw-dropping rescues in Canada (Paramount+).

Ted
New streaming follow-up to the profanely hilarious 2012 and 2015 hit catches up with the randy Teddy Bear (voiced again by creator Seth McFarlane) as he’s settled into life with a new owner—a young boy—and his family (Peacock).

Dec 19 2023
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Movie Reviews, Movies, Music, Pop Culture

Purple Haze

New adaptation of the Southern coming-of-age tale adds musical Broadway pizazz

The Color Purple
Starring Fantasia Berrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks & Colman Domingo
Directed by Blitz Bazawule
Rated PG-13

In theaters Dec. 25, 2023

A pull-out-the-stops reworking of the classic 1985 Steven Spielberg adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the new Color Purple is an extravagant, hybridized remake of the heart-wrenching coming-of-age drama with showtunes from the story’s later incarnation as a Tony-nominated musical, which ran on Broadway from 2005 to 2008 before touring internationally.

Stretching across nearly three decades, it follows Celie, a young Black woman growing up in Georgia in the early 1900s as her many hardships—poverty, rape, incest, and emotional and physical abuse—ultimately blossom into freedom, independence and a soaring reaffirmation of love and acceptance. And, oh yeah, a big slice of comeuppance. Color this karma purple, baby.

Meet the silver screen’s newest singing star: Fantasia Berrino, who won the 2004 season of American Idol, makes her movie debut as Celie, and, holy moly, what a knockout performance, and what a voice. But she’s hardly alone: She’s surrounded by an ensemble of other terrific talent and standout performances, including Taraji P. Henson, who oozes sensuality and sophistication as the feisty cabaret singer Shug Avery; Orange is the New Black’s Danielle Brooks is a mountain of sass, fire and fight as Sophia, a force-of-nature female who won’t bow to any man. Colman Domingo—who’s also making Oscar waves with his starring role in the Civil Rights biopic Rustin—is devilishly good at playing despicably bad as “Mister,” the hot-tempered, banjo-strumming farmer who begrudgingly takes Celie to become his wife—and his property.

There’s Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, also making her impressive movie debut young(er) Celie, and Haille Bailey (the singing star of The Little Mermaid) as the younger version of her sister, Nettie. Corey Hawkins, whose hit movies include Straight Outta Compton and BlacKkKlansman, is Mister’s son, the juke-joint entrepreneur Harpo. Veteran actor Louis Gossett Jr. plays “Old Mister,” Mister’s cantankerous father, and David Allan Grier is the local reverend, Shug’s long-estranged father.

Watch closely and you’ll see the cameo by Whoopi Goldberg, who marked her breakthrough in the original film. And behind the scenes, there’s the benevolent hand of Oprah Winfrey (who made her acting debut as Sophia in the 1985 movie) and Spielberg, now teaming together as CP ’23 producers, along with iconic music man Quincy Jones, who wrote the score for the first film.

The songs are essential parts of the reimagined story, expressing a gamut of feelings from woeful sadness and heartfelt yearning to soaring, rousing joy and buoyant jubilation. Trust me, you won’t be able to get “Hell No!,” “Push Da Button,” “Miss Celie’s Pants” or “I’m Here” out of your head. The expertly crafted musical numbers, from solo spotlights to streets full of singers and prancing dancers, sometimes make wildly colorful leaps of imagination, like the resplendent “What About Love,” which takes place on a massive retro movie-musical stage, and “Dear God/Shug,” which unfolds atop a gigantic spinning phonograph record.

The movie’s musical groove is dug deep, spread wide and held steady by director Blitz Bazawule, a Ghanaian filmmaker who’s also a rapper, singer-songwriter, poet and record producer. You probably haven’t heard of his previous film, The Burial of Kojo (nominated for a pair of Golden Globes). But he makes a strong impression here, with a firm grasp on the subject matter and the source material and the large cast.

The title comes from Shug pointing out to Celie that God is everywhere—in sunshine, songs, hearts, nature. And all that bountiful beauty, she says as she picks up a purple bellflower, was put there for us to appreciate. “I think it pisses God off,” Shug notes, “if you walk past the color purple and don’t recognize it.”

Because music is such a key ingredient here, you’ll see some recognizable music people in supporting roles, like singer-actress Ciara (as the grownup Nettie), Grammy-winning composer and bandleader John Baptiste (playing Shug’s musician husband), and rapper-actor H.E.R. (as Harpo’s daughter, “Squeak”). They all add to the film’s rich tapestry of characters, and its resonant strum of the heartstrings.

As Celie finds herself, she also finds love in a harsh world that seems to have none. And you’ll find yourself swept up in a flood of emotion with this vibrantly revived, majestically moving tale that will have you seeing—and appreciating—purple in a spectacular new light.

—Neil Pond

Dec 01 2023
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Books, DVDs, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Dec. 1 – Dec. 7

Eddie Murphy gets the Christmas spirit, Archie and Jughead go to India & Geddy Lee is all about that bass

Eddie Murphy stars this week in the Netflix Christmas comedy ‘Candy Cane Lane.’

FRIDAY, Dec. 1
Candy Candy Lane
Eddie Murphy has made just about every kind of movie, except a Christmas holiday comedy. And now he’s done that too! In this bright blast of yule-y fun, he plays a man determined to win his neighborhood’s annual house-decoration contest, making a deal with a pesky elf (Jillian Belle) for some Christmas magic that takes a manic turn. With Tracee Ellis Ross, Nick Offerman and Ken Marino (Netflix).

The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd
The movie funnyman and SNL comedy pioneer (below) hosts this new docuseries, probing into some of history’s most unusual and bizarro mysteries—like the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, or a plague of killer dancing (10 p.m., History).

SATURDAY, Dec. 2
A Christmas Story Christmas
The recent movie sequel to the 1983 holiday classic comes now to TV, starring several of the original cast members in a modern-day update to the tale of a little boy who just wanted a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas (10 p.m., TBS).

Thriller 40
Has it really been four decades since Michael Jackson “thrilled” us with his 1983 hit single and album of the same name? This new documentary takes you behind the scenes of how a recording became a musical milestone for the ages (8 p.m., Showtime).

May December
Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton star in this new movie (above)—loosely based on the real-world tabloid scandal of convicted sex offender Mary Kay Letourneau—about a woman who committed a similar crime and the TV actress preparing to play her in a new movie (Netflix).

NOW HEAR THIS

The Queen of Soul reigns supreme in Aretha Franklin: A Portrait of the Queen 1970-1974, a lavish new box set of five of her classic albums from that era, plus session outtakes, B-sides and demos. Relive the funk and firepower of Aretha’s classic hits like “Son of a Preacherman,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” and “You’re All I need to Get By,” plus deep cuts including the Queen’s takes on “Spanish Harlem,” “At Last,” “The Long and Winding Road” and The Band’s “The Weight.” 

SUNDAY, Dec. 3
Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen
British historian Lucy Worsley (below) travels the world in this new limited series that follows the footsteps and the secret life of the enigmatic writer who revolutionized the genre of detective fiction (8 p.m., PBS).

Chowchilla
Documentary about the chilling true story of one of the strangest kidnappings of all time, when three masked men boarded a school bus in 1976, taking 26 children and their driver—and burying them all in a remote underground chamber. Find out how they escaped, and how the event continues to haunt them (9 p.m., CNN). 

MONDAY, Dec. 4
The Big Bake
Contestant cooks capture the cuteness of the North Pole with goodies adorned with seasonal, winter-wonderland decorations (11 p.m., Food Network).

TUESDAY, Dec. 5
Geddy Lee Asks: Are Bass Players Human Too?
In this new musical docuseries, the Rush band member (and bass player!) powwows at home with some of musicdom’s most famous fellow bassists and digs into their groovy stories (Paramount+)

The Canterville Ghost
Huge Laurie, Freddie Highmore and Toby Jones are among the voices you’ll hear in this animated, family-friendly reimagining of the Oscar Wilde classic about a family who moves into a haunted house in England (VOD).

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 6
Hollywood Houselift With Jeff Lewis
Lewis, who formerly hosted Bravo’s Flipping Out, returns for another season of this celebrity-digs redo series, with clients including Christina Ricci, Josh Duhamel and Regina Hall (Freevee).

THURSDAY, Dec. 7
We Live Here: The Midwest
Documentary spotlights families from America’s heartland who would love to stay but face challenges because of who they are, in the face of a rising tide of discrimination and hate in their churches, schools and neighborhoods (Hulu).

My Life with the Walter Boys
Heartwarming coming-of-age series (above, from the producers of The Kissing Booth) follows a teenage girl (Nikki Rodriguez) who relocates after a tragic accident from New York City to rural Colorado, where she develops feelings for two very different brothers (Netflix). 

Christmas at the Opry
Wynonna Judd hosts this festive, two-hour celebration of Christmas classics, holiday favorites and some of today’s biggest hits, from Nashville’s iconic Grand Ole Opry House (8 p.m., NBC).

The Archies
The retro comic book characters (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, et al) get reimagined in this new live-action series (above) as 1960s teens in India in the fictional town of Riverdale—at least that hasn’t changed! (Netflix).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Sure, you know Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Batman and Tarzan. But what about Waku, Prince of the Bantu… Jann of the Jungle… or Mars, the God of War? They’re all here, along with hundreds of others in Lou Mougin’s excellent Secondary Superheroes of Golden Age Comics (McFarland), a thorough (and thoroughly entertaining) scholarly rundown of lesser-known do-gooders from the 1930s through the ‘50s.

Hey, ol’ Scratch is is good company in the Encyclopedia of Demons in World Religions and Cultures (McFarland) by Theresa Bane. The author, a professional vampirologist, catalogues nearly 3,000 unholy terrors from the mythologies and lore of virtually every ancient society and religion. A few of my personal faves: Abaddown, the demonic angel from the bottomless pit of Sheol; the Daitya-Yuga, with a track record for trouble stretching across more than 1.5 billion years; and Paymon, the host and emcee of hell. It’s a busy underworld out there! 

He was the Beatles’ loyal friend, longtime roadie and personal friend. Find all about Mal Evans and his world in the inner circle of the legendary British band in Kevin Womack’s Living with the Beatles (Dey Street), which sometimes included jumping into recording session and even helping the Fab Four write songs. It’s a fascinating glimpse behind the Beatles’ curtain.

BRING IT HOME

Ahead of the Christmas Day theatrical release of the new remake, now you can own director Steven Spielberg’s 1995 original. The Color Purple (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), was nominated for 11 Oscars and marked the acting debut of Oprah Winfrey and the movie breakthrough of Whoopi Goldberg. The new 4K HD set includes several special features, including a making-of doc.

Nov 20 2023
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Movie Reviews, Music, Pop Culture

Take a Bow

Bradley Cooper channels superstar conductor Leonard Bernstein in splendid new biopic

Maestro
Starring Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan
Directed by Bradley Cooper
Rated R

In limited theatrical release Wednesday, Nov. 22; on Netflix Dec.

You don’t have to know much, or anything really, about Leonard Bernstein (who died in 1990) to fall under the spell of Maestro, the majestic musical biopic about the superstar composer and conductor who won seven Emmys, two Tonys and 16 Grammys, wrote the Broadway musical West Side Story, composed symphonies, operas, chamber music and choral masses, and became the first American conductor to lead a major orchestra. He was also the first conductor to take classical music to the general public via television, and he led, at one time or another, almost all the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras.

He was the famous “face” of classical music for decades.

The film shows Bernstein’s vibrant, exuberant life through the complicated, clouded prism of his relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre (a splendid Carey Mulligan).

Bradley Cooper, who both directs and stars, is nothing short of amazing, morphing (with the help of a prosthetic nose) into the demanding role as the charming, chain-smoking Bernstein, a live-wire, wild-haired musical genius with a voracious, nearly insatiable appetite for life and love. “I want a lot of things,” he says; he wants to write, to conduct, play piano and make a musical bridge for his creativity to become manna for the masses.

He also wants to love both men and women. Which is ok, to some extent, with his wife…until it isn’t. Mulligan gives a searing, carefully nuanced performance as the Chilean-born TV and Broadway actress who sacrificed much of her own career to support her husband’s rising star and become his muse, rearing their family while dealing with his ongoing attraction to other men.

Cooper was previously lauded for his directorial debut, A Star is Born, which received multiple Oscar noms and a pair of Grammys. But Maestro is his magnum opus, a superbly crafted demonstration of his full confidence on both sides of the camera as it sprawls across the decades, from the black and white New York City of the ‘40s through the colorfully swingin’ ’60s, into the go-go haze of the ‘70s and the cocaine-fueled ‘80s. There’s already Oscar buzz for both Bradley and Mulligan (who was herself also previously Oscar nominated, for the stinging #metoo slap of Promising Young Woman.)

You know it’s the holidays when Snoopy placidly floats by a window in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—just after Lenny and Felicia’s scathing domestic disagreement in the family’s Park Avenue penthouse apartment. I loved the scene where an elderly Bernstein grooves in a nightclub, drunk or coked up or maybe just high on life, to Tears for Fears’ “Shout.” To cop a line from that song, Cooper “let it all out” to become Bernstein so completely and convincingly, I did a double take when images of the “real” Bernstein came onscreen during the credits.

The clothing, the hairdos, the rapid-fire, rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, the changing look of the changing times—all spot-on. And the orchestral concert-hall performances, with Cooper approaching something that looks like ecstasy as he “feels” the notes and slices through the air with his baton, the sound coursing through him—well, it will course through you as well, sweeping you up and away in the grandiose, transcendent power of music. Bravo!, maestro!

—Neil Pond

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Nov 17 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Entertainment Forecast

Nov. 17 – Nov. 23

John Hamm is a bad hombre lawman in the new season of Fargo.

FRIDAY, Nov. 17
Please Don’t Destroy: The Legend of Foggy Mountain
Conan O’Brien and Bowen Yang make supporting appearances in this new Judd (Superbad) Apatow comedy romp about a trio of childhood friends fending off bears, a crazy cult leader and park rangers as they head into the wilderness in search of a fabled treasure (Peacock).

Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story
Documentary follows the actor/director (above) and movie mogul as it recounts the mother’s enduring love at the roots of his climb to the top of an industry that didn’t always want to include him (Prime).

Dashing Through the Snow
Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Madison Skye Validum and Lil Rey Howery star in this holiday family comedy about an Atlanta social worker and his Christmas Eve journey with his estranged daughter that helps him find the joy and magic of the holidays (Disney+).

Monarch: A Legacy of Monsters
Kurt Russell and his actor son, Wyatt, star in this generation-spanning series (with both Russells playing the same character, decades apart) based on the movie’s “Monsterverse,” where creatures like Godzilla and King Kong roar and rule (above) (Apple TV+).

SATURDAY, Nov. 18
Christmas Plus One
Emily Alatalo and Corey Seiver star in this holiday flick about an unmarried sister looking for her soulmate and the magazine writer who helps her Christmas wish come true (9 p.m., Lifetime).

Kennedy
Peter Coyote narrates this eight-part documentary about our 35th U.S. president, timed to the 60th anniversary of his assassination and featuring more than 70 new interviews with people who knew him, worked with him and admired him (8 p.m., History).  

SUNDAY, Nov. 19
The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown
New competition series finds Santa and his Scout Elves joining cake master Duff Goldman to challenge teams of sweet-centric bakers to make edible showpieces that capture the season (8 p.m., Food Network).

The Cunninghams wish you a Merry Christmas!

A Very Merry MeTV
Beginning tonight and continuing (off and on) until Christmas, watch holiday-themed episodes of your favorite retro TV shows, including The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, All in the Family, Sanford and Son, The Twilight Zone, Gilligan’s Island, The Beverly Hillbillies, Happy Days (above) and more (begins 12 noon, MeTV). 

MONDAY, Nov. 20
Spellbound
New teen fantasy series follows a vivacious 15 year old girl (Hailey Melody Romain) who relocates from America to study at the Paris Opera School in France, where she discovers a book of spells that changes her life and illuminates her surprising true identity (Hulu).

Wisdom Gone Wild
A filmmaker collaborates with her elderly mother as they confront the “wisdom” gleaned from the creeping shadows of dementia, in this moving documentary (check listings, PBS).

TUESDAY, Nov. 21
Fargo
Jon Hamm, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh are among the cast for the fifth installment of the juicy, award-winning progressive crime drama, this time set almost-contemporary Minnesota and the Dakotas. And tonight’s episode—and the whole new series, actually—has some cool “callbacks” to events in the iconic 1996 Coen Brothers movie that started it all (10 p.m., FX).

Leo
Adam Sandler, Jason Alexander, Cecily Strong, Bill Burr and other funny folks provide voices in this cute animated coming-of-age age tale (above) centered on a classroom pet, a 74-year-old lizard (Netflix).

Groundbreakers
Learn how Title IX—the game-changing legislation that guaranteed all people, regardless of gender, equal access to federally funded sports programs—shaped the lives of eight young woman who went on to excel in the fields of tennis, basketball, soccer, gymnastics and flag football (check local listings, PBS).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 22
Good Burger 2
New sequel to the ‘90s hit (based on a Nickelodeon comedy series) stars Kenan Thompson, Jillian Bell, Lil Rel Howery and Kel Mitchell as employees at a fast-food chain (Paramount+).

Squid Game: The Challenge
New spinoff of the streaming hit series as new challengers enter the competition in hopes of a nearly $5 million reward that would change their lives—if the “Challenge” doesn’t end them (Netflix).

Genie
Melissa McCarthy stars in this holiday fantasy (above) about an ancient genie summoned for an unlikely mission—to help a man (Paapa Essiedu) who’s lost sight of his marriage and his family (Peacock).

THURSDAY, Nov. 23
The Naughty Nine
Danny Glover stars as Santa in this movie comedy about a group of youngsters planning a heist of Santa’s North Pole village to get the presents they think they deserve (Disney+).

The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS
Kick off the holiday with this annual network coverage of one of New York City’s iconic celebrations, a festive process down Sixth Avenue with jolly old St. Nick himself bringing up the rear (9 p.m., CBS).

NOW HEAR THIS

Is there anything she can’t do? Dolly Parton tears it up with some of rock ‘n’ roll’s legendary artists for her latest album, Rockstar, including Sting (on “Every Breath You Take”), Ann Wilson of Heart (“Magic Man”), Peter Frampton (“Baby I Love Your Way”), Deborah Harry of Blondie (“Heart of Glass”), Paul McCartney (“Let It Be”), Pat Benetar (“Heartbreaker”), members of Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Free Bird”) and more on this 30-song collection, that proves why, Dolly, we will always love you.

BRING IT HOME

Now you soar with season one of the Apple TV+ sci-fi drama series For All Mankind (Sony Home Entertainment)—with Joel Kinnaman, Casey Johnson and Shantel VanStanten among the big ensemble cast—as rocket scientists and astronauts push the boundaries of space exploration.

The highly acclaimed movie about the man who invented the atomic bomb and unleashed it into the world comes to Blu-ray and DVD with Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), with more than three hours of special features.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

If you love Hollywood history, you’ll flip for George Hurrell’s Hollywood (Running Press), the newly updated edition of vintage Tinseltown portraits taken by the great Hollywood “glamour” photographer of the 1920s and ’30. Hurrell, who worked for many of the major studios, photo’d just about everyone across multiple decades, including icons like Bogart, Garbo, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford. Author Mark Viera ties some 400 eye-catching images together with words about Hurrell’s long-lasting influence and how his images shaped Hollywood’s visual history.

Christmas comes early for movie fans with Jeremy Arnold’s Christmas in the Movies (Running Press), a lavishly illustrated, freshly expanded examination of some of the most beloved holiday flicks of all time, including what makes them bona fide “Christmas movies.” You’ll love revisiting The Shop Around the Corner, It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Home Alone and—yes—Die Hard, among the 35 featured films.  

Oct 27 2023
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Music, Photography, Pop Culture, Television, TV, Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

Oct. 27 – Nov. 2

Emily Blunt hustles pain, a marathon of ‘Beetlejuice,’ a killer kid & heavy metal Halloween

FRIDAY, Oct. 27
Pain Hustlers
Emily Blunt stars in this new twisty movie (coming off its limited theatrical run tonight and onto streaming) as a jobless blue-collar mom who finds a lifeline—and more drama than she bargained for—when she meets a pharma sales rep (Chris Evans) and his boss (Andy Garcia) and finds herself in middle of a dangerous racketeering scheme, below (Netflix).

Shorsey
Jared Kelso stars in this new comedy series about a Canadian hockey team determined to never lose again (Hulu).

SATURDAY, Oct. 28
Beetlejuice
In the spirit of Halloween fun and a gonzo performance by Michael Keaton, settle in for 24 hours of the 1998 horror comedy costarring Geena Davis, Winona Ryder and Alec Baldwin (3 p.m., TBS).

Would You Kill For Me? The Mary Bailey Story
Melissa Joan Hart stars in this movie (above) based on the true story of an 11-year-old girl coaxed into killing her abusive stepfather by her mother and grandmother (8 p.m., Lifetime).
Lifetime).

SUNDAY, Oct. 29
The Guilded Age
Season two begins of the ornate period drama from Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes, about high life in the late 1800s. Carrie Coon, Cynthia Nixon, Jack Gilpin, Nathan Lane and Audra McDonald are among the sprawling cast, above (Max).

Hocus Pocus
Thirty years ago, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy starred in this now-classic Disney Halloween film as a trio of Salem witches who stir up a cauldron of trouble. Now you can re-watch it on its anniversary (8 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, Oct. 30
Mayflies
British dramatic series about life, love, dying and the passage of time stars Martin Compston and Tony Curran, in a touching story adapted from a novel by Andrew O’Hagan (Acorn TV).

Hellhouse LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor
Horror flick about a group of young cold case investigators who dare to stay overnight at a place where a series of grisly and unsolved murders occurred in the 1980s (Shudder/AMC+).

TUESDAY, Oct. 31
Heavy Metal Halloween
In addition to other spooky-entertainment programming throughout the day, tonight brings a trio of musical rock docs all in the spirit of the season: Songs about the devil, songs about murder and songs about magic. Happy Halloween! (AXS TV).

Live With Kelly and Mark
The daytime hosts put on their creative costumes and usher in a bunch of celebrity guests for this Halloween special (syndicated, check local listings).

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1
Ancient Earth: Humans
How did we get here? Using cutting-edge animation, this eye-opening new documentary traces the history, evolution and spread of the planets’s most advanced mammals, the upright humanoids (9 p.m, PBS) 

Black Cake
Based on a bestselling novel by Charmaine Wilkinson, this new streaming drama series follows about a pair of modern-day siblings as they discover the legacy of the mother, who disappeared off the coast of Jamaica in the 1960s under suspicion of murder (Hulu)

Ryan Ashley is a judge on the tattoo competition series ‘Ink Masters.’

Ink Master
New season of the tattoo competition series begins tonight with host Joel Madden, the lead singer of the band Good Charlotte, returning to host more epic ink battles (Paramount+).

THURSDAY, Nov. 2
All the Light We Cannot See
Mark Ruffalo, Ari Mia Loberti and Hugh Laurie lead the cast of this limited series (below), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a blind French girl and her father fleeing German-occupied Paris with a legendary diamond to keep it from falling into the hands of Nazis (Netflix).

Kingdom Business
Season two of the drama series further explores the lives of fictional gospel music characters in a state of chaos after lust, love and denial have created a rift in the “kingdom.” With Yolanda Adams, Michael Jai White, Loretta Devine, Louis Gossett Jr. and Michelle Williams (BET+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

One of the most storied songwriters in all of music, Willie Nelson, tells all in Energy Follows Thought: The Stories Behind My Songs (William Morrow), in which the “Red Headed Stranger” digs into the details of 160 of his tunes, plus his superstar collaborators and friends, his extended musical “family” and the themes that have inspired him. It’s a must-have for Willie-philes!

BRING IT HOME

DC’s Blue Beetle, about a young man (Xolo Maridueña) gifted with extraordinary powers who decides to become a superhero, comes to DVD after its short theatrical run.

It’s bigger, fatter and Greek-er than ever. It’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, writer/director Nia Vardolos’ latest installment of her quasi-autobiographical romcom trilogy, which comes to DVD loaded with bonus content, including commentary and behind-the-scenes features about making the picture on location in (where else?) Greece.

NOW HEAR THIS

Beatles fans will groove to the super new 2023 editions of the band’s career-spanning albums, 1962-1966 and 1967-70 (known as the “Red” and “Blue” LPs), which contain all the hits—plus, now, one last Beatles song, “Now and Then,” written and sung by John Lennon with contributions from Paul McCarthy, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and finally finished as a post-Beatles single, 40 years later, by McCarthy and Starr. The Apple Corps/Capitol/UME release is available on CD and vinyl.

Oct 06 2023
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Books, Movies, Music, Photography, Pop Culture, TV

The Entertainment Forecast

Oct. 6 – Oct. 12

‘The Caine Mutiny’ goes to court, ‘The Price is Right’ Meets ‘Amazing Race’ & Edgar Allen Poe gets a modern spin

Keifer Sutherland digs into the case at the heart of ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.’

FRIDAY, Oct. 6
VHS/85
New fright flick from the director of Hellraiser about a “found footage” videotape that takes a group of viewers back to terrifying horrors of a former era (Shudder).

Shark Tank
The investment “sharks” hear pitches about reusable sandbags, leggings for men and a new twist on Latin American food (8 p.m., ABC).

SATURDAY, Oct. 7
Buying Back My Daughter
Vanderkpump Rules star Adriana Maddox plays a cop trying to track down a trafficked teen in this ripped-from-the-headlines movie also featuring Meagan Good (Lifetime)

Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza
Kick off a month-long celebration of all things ghoul-y with TV’s iconic host, who ushers in a marathon of retro TV chills and thrills (above) beginning with a Bugs Bunny Halloween special, then galloping through episodes of classic TV westerns haunted by all sort of stranger things (9 p.m., MeTV).

NOW HEAR THIS

Get ready for the holidays with Now That’s What I Call Christmas a Most Wonderful Christmas (Sony), with 16 holiday tunes, including classics from the musical vault by artists Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Brenda Lee and Andy Williams, and more recent ho-ho-hummables from Carrie Underwood, Sam Smith, Thomas Rhett and Camila Cabello.

SUNDAY, Oct. 8
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
William (The Exorcist) Friedkin directs this riveting courtroom drama based on the Pulitizer Prize-winning novel by Howard Wouk, with an all-star cast (Jason Clarke, Jake Lacy, Keifer Sullivan, Monica Raymund) in a tense tale of naval officer standing trail for orchestrating a mutiny (9 p.m., Showtime).

The Circus
Political junkies, here’s the next dose of your fix. The award-winning, dirt-digging news series returns for season eight, with hosts John Heilemann, Mark McKinnon and Jennifer Palmeri (below) pulling back the curtain on the high-stakes drama of the emerging race for the White House (7 p.m., Showtime). 

MONDAY, Oct. 9
The Matthew Shepard Story
Subtitled “An American Hate Crime,” this two-hour documentary special examines the legacy of the torture and murder of a gay graduate student 25 years ago that continues to resonate today as a horrific example of the discrimination, danger and violence faced by many in the LGBTQ+ community (9 p.m., ID).

Harry Wild
The Irish mystery thriller series returns tonight for season two, with Jane Seymour as a retiree sleuth with a young PI partner (Rohan Nedd) as they pursue a deepening puzzle involving a long-missing mom who suddenly turns up (Acorn TV).

The Price is Right
On tonight’s new primetime edition of the iconic daytime game show, Phil Keoghan (host of TV’s The Amazing Race and Tough as Nails) invites fans of The Amazing Race to “come on down” and compete for prizes and trips (8 p.m., CBS).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Lee Miller: Photographs (Thames & Hudson) is a new collection of more than 100 shots taken by the former Vogue fashion photographer turned war correspondent. The foreword is by Kate Winslet, who will portray Miller—real name: Elizabeth “Lee” Miller—in the upcoming movie about her amazing, ahead-of-its-time life.

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 11
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey is so Jim-Carrey-ish as an over-the-top sleuth specializing in missing animals in this 1994 comedy costarring Sean Young, Courtney Cox and rapper Tone Loc (10 p.m., TruTV).

The Simpsons
TV’s longest running primetime scripted series returns to the streaming service for season 34 and more shenanigans, with all-star guest voices this time around by Fred Armisen, Anna Faris, Rob Lowe, Melissa McCarthy, Aubrey Plaza and more (Disney+)

The Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Jule
Documentary about how the vaping company, at one time the fastest growing enterprise in the world, went down in flames as a cautionary tale (Netflix).

Awareness
Mind-tripping movie from Spain about a teen who uses his special ability—making people “see” things that aren’t really there—to con them…but then one of his scams hits a snag, and he becomes the target of people who want to exploit him (Amazon Prime).

THURSDAY, Oct. 12
Little Bird
Celebrated Canadian drama (below) is a six-part dramatic series featuring a cast of indigenous actors is set on a reserve in Saskatchewan and follows a young woman, Bezhig Little Bird (Darla Contois) on a search to find the truth about her birth parents, her adoption and her slblings (10 p.m., PBS).

Keke Wyatt’s World
She’s been in the music game for more than three decades, and now she’s ready to take her career to another level. Learn all about the R&B artist and how she juggles her career, home life and 11 kids! (WEtv).

BRING IT HOME

Who let the dogs out? In the riotously raunchy comedy Strays (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) a couple of canines (voiced by Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx) who rebel against a negligent owner (Will Forte). It’s filthy, but it fetches a dog pound full of naughty laughs.

The Fall of the House of Usher
Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill star in this new horror anthology series (below), which puts a contemporary spin on the Edgar Allen Poe classic about wealth, power and privilege—and dangerous family secrets (Netflix).

The Fall of the House of Usher. (L to R) Sauriyan Sapkota as Prospero Usher, Kate Siegel as Camille L’Espanaye, Rahul Kohli as Napoleon Usher, Matt Biedel as Bill-T Wilson, Samantha Sloyan as Tamerlane Usher, Mark Hamill as Arthur Pym in episode 101 of The Fall of the House of Usher. Cr. Eike Schroter/Netflix © 2023
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 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).

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