‘Tough as Nails’ goes north, 4th of July TV specials & where serial killers hide their murderous misdeeds
Meet the competitors for this season’s ‘Tough as Nails.’
FRIDAY, June 30 Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan John Krasinski returns to the role of the scrappy super sleuth in the fourth and final season of the action-packed drama series (Prime Video).
Nimona A knight in a futuristic medieval world is framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and a mischievous shape-shifting teen helps him in this animated fantasy series with voices of Riz Ahmed and Chloë Grace Martinez (Netflix).
SATURDAY, July 1 Buried in the Backyard Where do serial killers hide their victims? Many times, it’s where they never anticipate their misdeeds will be discovered…or uncovered. Season two of the true-crime docuseries returns tonight. Bring your shovel! (8 p.m., Oxygen).
Brandi Carlile: In the Canyon Haze—Live From Laurel Canyon Well, the title just about says it all. Not all you have to do is watch and listen as the former lead singer of the Go-Gos performs songs that shaped her life in this homage to the vibrant Hollywood Hills music scene (8 p.m., HBO).
SUNDAY, July 2 Tough as Nails Who’s got what it takes to tough it out on this hit primetime competition that also a salute to the working class? Phil Keoghan returns as host for the new season, this time staged in Canada (8 p.m., CBS).
MONDAY, July 3 A Story of Bones Documentary (above) about the discovery in Africa of an unmarked mass burial ground of an estimated 9,000 formerly enslaved people (check local listings, PBS).
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Revisit a “golden age” of TV in this flashback to the year color came to television in a major way—the watershed moment in which all three major networks broadcast every show on primetime “in living color.” Primetime 1966-1967 (McFarland) is an affectionate, wide-ranging look at the wide spectrum of shows that aired that momentous year, including classic programs about superheroes, sci-fi, spies, World War II, sitcoms and cops.
TUESDAY, July 4 A Capitol Fourth For the 43rd year, the grounds of the U.S. Capitol will ring with the patriotic sounds of the 4th of July in this primetime special (8 p.m., PBS).
The Fourth in America Fireworks and music are on tap in this Independence Day celebration, featuring performances by Alanis Morrisette, Darius Rucker, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Flo Rida, Sheryl Crow, the Zac Brown Band and more (7 p.m., CNN).
WEDNESDAY, July 5 Human Footprint No, we’re not talking tracking mud into your house. But in another way, well, yeah. This new docuseries explores the many ways humans have left our “marks” on our planet, including putting into motion the global mechanics of climate change (9 p.m., PBS).
CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair New original documentary tells the story of Nashville’s long-running country music festival, with archival performances and commentary from Vince Gill, Luke Bryan, Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson, Carrie Underwood and dozens of other stars who’ve performed at the event originally known as Fan Fair, so named because of its former “home” at the state fairgrounds (Hulu).
THURSDAY, July 6 Call Her King A judge (Naturi Naughton from Power Book II: Ghost) who has just sentenced a man (Jason Mitchell) to death suddenly finds herself a hostage when his brother hijacks her courtroom in this gripping original movie drama. Think Die Hard in a courthouse (BET+).
The Lincoln Lawyer Season two begins of the streaming spinoff about a lawyer (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) who runs his Los Angeles practice from the back seat of his Lincoln (Netflix).
Shawn White: The Last Run Four-part documentary spotlights the life and career of the three-time Olympic gold medalist and an icon of snowboarding and skateboarding (Max).
Harrison Ford returns for one final ‘Raiders’ romp, with an extra dose of movie magic
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen Directed by James Mangold PG-13
In theaters Friday, June 30, 2023
More than 40 years ago, we sat on the edge of our seats watching Indiana Jones outrun a big rolling boulder, the bravura opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark that became an iconic representation for a new, blockbuster action-adventure movie template.
There aren’t any giant, bowling-ball booby traps in Dial of Destiny, the fifth film in the Indiana Jones canon, but Indy is still running—all over the globe, still hunting for historical treasure, still afraid of snakes, still dodging bullets and still fighting Nazis.
This time, it’s the late 1960s, some 20 years after the events of Raiders. Neil Armstrong has just walked on the moon, America has won the space race, and there’s a scramble to locate the missing half of a doodad called the Antikythera, a dial-like “computing” device found in wreckage of an ancient sunken ship off the coast of Greece. What’s so special about it? Well, during World War II, Nazisbelieved it could forecast rips in the fabric of time, openings that would allow someone to change the way history unfolds. A dial of destiny, indeed, if only they can find the missing part…
And changing the course of history probably isn’t a good idea, especially when Nazis are involved.
Harrison Ford, just about to turn 81, makes what is intended to be his final appearance as the college professor turned rip-roaring archeologist swashbuckler. He’s helped along in the rip-roar department by some high-tech movie magic that convincingly de-ages his character with “deep-fake” cinematic wizardry, for flashback scenes in which he looks, well, like he looked in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Forget Botox—movie magic is the way to go.
Phoebe Walker-Bridge, of Fleabag TV fame, adds some new spice and sass as Helena Shaw, the now-grown daughter of Indy’s late friend and colleague (Toby Jones). Mads Mikkelsen proves once again he can be a dandy bad guy; I’m still smarting from remembering what a ballbuster he was with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale more than 15 years ago. Antonio Banderas has a brief role as a Greek undersea diver, one of Indy’s old friends, about as crusty as the barnacles on his boat. There are a couple of other returning characters—major and minor, and one is a real doozie—and a lot of movie callbacks to things that happened in previous adventures.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays Helena Shaw.
It’s a full-fledged new Indy adventure, for sure, but also a look-back tribute—a closing-chapter monument to Indiana Jones, and Harrison Ford, as one of moviedom’s most recognizable screen heroes, taking on bad guys in a dusty fedora, with a trusty bullwhip.
This is the first Indy flick not directed by Steven Spielberg or produced by George Lucas. Instead, the reins have been handed over to James Mangold, who has certainly proven he knows he’s doing, with a directorial resume that includes 3:10 to Yuma, Identity, Ford v. Ferrari, Walk the Line and a pair of Wolverine X-Men films. It’s hard to follow Spielberg (duh!), but Mangold keeps the pace moving briskly and with stylish confidence, though often at a frantic pace with nearly nonstop, all-over-the-place action that becomes a chaotic wash of blurry, noisy CGI.
Indy fights on top of a train speeding through the Swiss Alps, gallops at full speed on a hijacked police horse into a New York City subway tunnel, tangles with a nest of icky eels at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, jumps out of airplane, and races through the narrow streets of Morocco on a ramshackle tuk-tuk. Things rarely sit still, and as soon as they do, they’re off and running again.
The movie picks up even more momentum toward the end, when it almost jumps the shark in a loopy battlefield sequence that veers into the realm of nearly comedic impossibility. (At one point, I wondered if Bill and Ted’s time-traveling pay-phone booth might have landed just offscreen, with Abe Lincoln, Billy the Kid and Socrates aboard.) But no matter what the movie throws at him, and at its audience, Ford is gung-ho and all-in, even if Indy admits the years, and the mileage, have taken their toll.
As the Indiana Jones films do, the Dial of Destiny gives “real history” a rowdy, rollicking, what-if spin. Here, it’s a former Nazi scientist who’s been helping America launch its space program (yes, that really happened) and an artifact that truly does exist (and is on display today in museum in Athens). But what if that Nazi wasn’t so former, and what if his intention was to use that hunk of antiquity to go back and have another crack at Dur Fuhrer’s plans to conquer the world?
And what if…well, what if we didn’t have Indiana Jones movies around anymore?
At one point, Indy tells some noisy hippie neighbors to turn down their loud music. The song they’re blaring is The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour,” and it feels like a musical nod to the movie magic that brings Harrison Ford back for one final, blowout romp, letting us relive his younger years, recall his Indiana Jones exploits, reconnect him with a rush of his past adventures, and ultimately bid him a fond, sentimental farewell with a warmly nostalgic salute.
The time-traveling lovers of ‘Outlander,’ ‘Walking Dead’ bite into the Big Apple & Robert Downey Jr.’s auto obsession
FRIDAY, June 16 Outlander The fan-favorite drama based on the historical-fiction novel series by Diana Gabaldon returns for season seven tonight (above), starring Catriona Balfe as a time-traveling WWII nurse who falls in love with a dashing Highland warrior (Sam Heughan) from another era (8 p.m., Starz).
Extraction 2 Chris Hemsworth is back in the slam-bam action franchise as Rake, a black ops mercenary tasked with another deadly mission—to rescue the family of a ruthless Soviet gangster (Netflix).
The Righteous Gemstones The profanely funny TV-evangelist family returns in this hell-aciously hilarious series starring Danny McBride, Edi Patterson, John Goodman and Adam Devine (HBO).
SATURDAY, June 17 John Early: Now More Than Ever In his first comedy special, the comedian lays on the laughs in a spoof of rock documentaries, performs stand-up riffs and song covers from Britney Spears, Neil Young and more, and peels back the show-biz curtain on Spinal Tap-inspired backstage sketches (10 p.m., HBO).
Exposing Parchman Documentary brings to light the dark history, deplorable conditions and distressing abuses at the Mississippi prison known as Parchman (8 p.m., A&E).
SUNDAY, June 18 Walking Dead: Dead City It’s hard to fathom how a franchise built on anything dead can have so much life. Here’s the latest spinoff in the Walking Dead zombie-verse, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Laurie Cohen as survivalists fighting the undead in the decaying urban setting of an apocalyptic Manhattan (9 p.m., AMC).
Beachside Brawl Cooks from the East and West meet on the sand to determine which ones—and which side of the country—does coastal food the best. Celebrity chef and restauranteur Antonia Lafosa hosts the new competition (10 p.m., Food Network).
MONDAY, June 19 Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom Live concert event from the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, timed to the federal holiday commentating the official end of slavery in America, features an array of Black artists and performers (8 p.m., CNN and OWN).
The Great American Recipe Season two of the eight-part cooking competition (above)—with judges Leah Cohen, Graham Elliott, Tiffany Derry and Alejandra Ramos—celebrates the multiculturalism that makes American food unique and iconic (9 p.m., PBS)
TUESDAY, June 20 Mama Bears Documentary about mothers of gay, trans and gender-fluid children, who fearlessly advocate for their kids (10 p.m., PBS).
WEDNESDAY, June 21 LA Fire & Rescue New docuseries examines the inner workings of the Los Angeles County Fire Department as it works to protect the citizens and the property of an area containing 4 million residents and 59 different municipalities (NBC).
Secret Invasion In the latest Avengers franchise flick (which is skipping theatrical release to go straight to streaming), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) leads a mission to save the Earth from extermination by a sneaky group of extraterrestrial shape-shifters. All in a day’s work in the world of Marvel (Disney+).
THURSDAY, June 22
The Bear Get ready to roll up your sleeves and return to kitchen for season two of this acclaimed drama (above) about restaurant workers in Chicago trying to turn a greasy spoon into a golden goose (Hulu).
Downey’s Dream Cars New streaming docuseries on Discovery’s new Max platform follows actor Robert Downey Jr., his passion for classic cars and his work to combat climate change by retro-fitting them to make them “cleaner” and more fuel efficient (Max).
DC’s fleet-footed superhero finally gets his own flick, but another actor nearly steals the show
The Flash Starring Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck & Sasha Calle Directed by Andy Muschietti PG-13
In theaters Friday, July 16
For a movie about the speediest superhero ever, The Flash took its slow, sweet time getting here.
Discussion about a standalone movie for the popular DC Comics character began in the 1980s but stalled and dead-ended many times over the decades, with various directors, writers and actors becoming attached and then detached. Finally, Ezra Miller (from The Perks of Being a Wallflower) was cast, making ramp-up appearances in a handful of interconnected, big-screen “DC Extended Universe” romps, including The Justice League, Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Now the fleet-footed, red-suited dasher finally gets his own full-blown flick. How fast is the Flash, the alter ego of the guy named Barry Allen? Well, he runs so freaking fast, some crazy, far-out things can happen. And even when he’s not running, he’s moving fast—he can make the molecules in his body vibrate at such unimaginable velocity, they maneuver around other molecules and then rearrange, letting him pass through solid objects. He’s so fast, he’s faster than time; and he finds out that when you outrun the speed of light, time-traveling can be a real head trip.
When the Flash goes back in time, it unhinges nearly everything, affecting the present and the future—you know, the old Butterfly Effect. He encounters an alternative version of himself and multiple incarnations of Batman (hello, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck and another well-known actor whose cameo I won’t spoil). There’s the return of a nasty supervillain bent on humanity’s annihilation; Superman’s cousin (Sasha Calle), Supergirl, gets in on the action; Wonder Woman (Gal Godot) also shows up. And yet another DC superhero splashes around in the after-credits coda. There’s a swirling time-loop metaverse carousel, in which just about everyone in the DC pantheon show ups; who’s your favorite Superman? And Barry is surprised to learn his Butterfly Effect even means that someone other than Michael J. Fox has become Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
The Flash is a jubilantly overcrowded, hyper-bloated superhero sci-fi carnival ride that gives a flip, fun, wildly inventive spin to the ol’ comicdom nostalgia wheel. It’s got a boatload of superstar cameos, overlapping timelines and a gleefully bombastic smorgasbord blowout of boom-boom-y, bang-bangy CGI spectacle. At the screening I attended, in a jam-packed theater where every seat was occupied, three giddy fanboys directly in front of me were so amped by things they were seeing, I thought they might pee their pants. Heck, they probably did.
There are some genuinely bravo sequences, like the dazzling 15-minute opener in which the Flash zip-zaps around saving babies tumbling out the window in a high-rise hospital catastrophe. (A “baby shower,” get it?) Director Andy Muschetti (whose other films include the psychological horror tale Mama, with Jessica Chastain, and two It scare fests) inventively depicts the mind-warping speed at which Flash can zoom, superheating the air around him with what looks like a kajillion volts of sizzling electricity. There are plenty of knowing nods, in-jokes and callbacks for diehard DC fans. One of the side effects of timeline tweaking and metaverse hopping is how a character (like Michael Shannon’s megalomaniacal General Zod) can be dispatched or destroyed in a previous movie, but fully alive and creating more comic-book havoc in another. (Don’t try to overthink it; it’s a thing.) And I particularly liked a comedic moment when Batman gets tangled in Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth.
The plot swirls around twenty-something Barry trying to prevent the death of his mother (a wonderful Maribel Verdú), which happened when he was a child, causing the wrongful incarceration of his father (Ron Livingston, a few miles on down the road from Office Space). It also involves a trip to icy Siberia, where Clark Kent/Superman is supposedly being held prisoner by terrorists. And pasta plays a key role, in a pivotal (recurring) event as well as a scene in which it’s used to explain how time itself is flexible, not linear, and can bend, overlap and interloop, like wiggly spaghetti noodles in bowl.
Ironically in a movie called The Flash, about the Flash, and with Ezra Miller pulling double duty (as two versions of the character), it’s someone else that damn near steals the show. Fans whooped as Michael Keaton dons the Dark Knight’s cloak for the first time since 1992 and swoops in to become an essential part of the story. I must say, it’s supercool to see the Batmobile, the Batplane and the Batcycle roaring into action out of the ol’ Batcave again. And Sasha Collie (who got her start on TV’s The Young and the Restless) gives a fine, fierce—and memorably strong—performance as a broody, totally kick-ass Supergirl.
There’s also a bit of heart and a pithy mantra about how some problems can’t be solved, even by time-traveling superheroes. “The scars we have make us who we are,” Batman tells the Flash. “Don’t relive your past; live your life.”
Speaking of problems and scars, Ezra Miller has a few, including relatively recent arrests for disorderly conduct and assault. The actor—who identifies as nonbinary and uses gender-neutral pronouns—has also admitted to mental health issues, been charged with harassment and accused of grooming. As good as Miller has been in supporting roles as the Flash, and now with his own movie, there’s been some buzz that DC might not want him—oops, I mean them—for future projects.
So, the Flash might be super speedy, but it might not be fast enough, or go far enough, to outdistance Miller’s troubled past—which might become the one thing that can catch up with a superhero who can outrun just about anything.
FUN FACT: In Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo DiCaprio’s crafty teenage forger and impersonator cheekily uses the pseudonym of Barry Miller—because if anyone can keep ahead of the FBI agent (Tom Hanks) always hot on his trail, it would be the Flash.
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Big Apple murders & British working-class chaps disrobing…again!
Jesse Garcia stars in ‘Flamin’ Hot,’ the true story of a popular snack.
FRIDAY, June 19 Flamin’ Hot have art How hot are flamin’ Hot Cheetos? Hot enough that this movie dramatizes the inspiring story of the spicy snack’s founder, a Frito Lay janitor who channeled his Mexican American heritage to upend the food business with a fiery new treat (Hulu).
I Am Legend Watch (or re-watch) Will Smith as the only living New Yorker who’s not a monster-fied mutant in this latest film adaptation of the Richard Matheson apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, previously made into a pair of other movies starring Charlton Heston (1974) and Vincent Price (1964). It’s the second part of a double “Friday Night Vibes” double feature with Avengers: End Game (7 p.m., TBS)
SATURDAY, June 10 New York Homicide Catering to TV viewer’s seemingly insatiable appetite for true crime, season two of this docuseries continues its examination of some of the most troubling murders in the Big Apple (9 p.m., Oxygen).
Build It Forward Designer Taniya Nayak teams with builder Shane Duffy to surprise outstanding community leaders with home renovations in season two of this series inspired by an outreach program by Lowe’s (6 p.m., HGTV).
SUNDAY, June 11 The Tony Awards Overture, curtains, lights, this is it, the night of nights. You might remember that as the memorable theme to Bugs Bunny cartoons. But, sorry Bugs, your loony tune won’t be among the showtunes, performances and projects honored tonight at this 76th annual awards event, honoring Broadway’s best and hosted by Ariana Dubose (8 p.m., CBS).
MONDAY, June 12 Hey Yahoo! Actor Tom Cavanaugh hosts this new game show in which contestants try to correctly fill in the blanks for what people are seeking on Yahoo Search (8 p.m., GSN).
TUESDAY, June 13 Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact New stand-up special is the third for Schumer (right), the hilariously uncensored Emmy-winning Tony and Golden Globe-nominated actor, filmed on stage at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles (Netflix).
Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta They’re women, they’re friends, and they’re all involved with Hot ‘Lanta’s hip hop scene. The so-fly docuseries returns tonight with more real-life drama and original castmates—including Spice, Bambi, Rasheeda and Bambi—as well as a trio of newcomers (8 p.m., MTV).
WEDNESDAY, June 14 Our Planet II The acclaimed nature-documentary series returns to unravel the mysteries of migration with more compelling stories of animals “on the move” across the globe (Netflix).
The Full Monty New original series follows the same characters from the 1997 movie, now older but living in working-class England, and thinking about putting their saucy strip show on the road again (Hulu).
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Religion has always given outliers a bad name, or worse. Pagans (Thames & Hudson) takes a respectful new look at this culture that predates Christianity, looking closely at its objects, artwork, rituals and myths, with eye-opening insights into pagan magic, superstition and the afterlife.
How might you have lived through a doomsday asteroid, being eaten by dinosaurs, the civilization-destroying eruption of Mt. Pompei, or the 1906 San Francisco earthquake? Science and tech writer Cody Cassidy tells you about all those scenarios, and more, in How to Survive History (Penguin), a witty and retro-practical guide to outwitting history’s greatest calamities.
THURSDAY, June 15
Look Into My Eyes Four-part limited series unfurls the bizarre story of Dr. George Kennedy, whose career as a high school principal (and hypnotist) was derailed after the suspicions deaths of three teenage students (Sundance and AMC+).
60 Days In Volunteers in North Carolina go undercover into a county detention center to help bring positive changes to the system (9 p.m., A&E).
Come for the mountains, stay for the munchies, the music…and the mermaids! (And respect the bears!)
Blake Shelton performs at Ole Red Gatlinburg.
Some 14 million visitors trek each year to the Great Smoky Mountains—and most of them funnel through Gatlinburg, the bustling tourism hamlet in Tennessee’s southeast corner that’s become the primary gateway to the most-visited national park in America.
And many of those visitors spend time or even drop anchor in Gatlinburg, surrounded on three sides by the natural wonders of the park and filled to the brim with things to see, hear, do…and eat.
Some people just enjoy the scenery—or the distilleries offering moonshine tastings. Others shop for souvenirs and memorabilia, play minigolf, hike, bike or camp, or drive into the Smokies. But everybody eats something, sometime—or a lot of times, which is most of the time in Gatlinburg. In a place with so much to do and see, wouldn’t it be perfect to do and see and eat all in one place? Here are the top “eat-ertainment” experiences you should have on your to-do menu if you’re headed to this unique resort town just under 10 miles away from where superstar Dolly Parton was born and raised.
Ole Red
As country fans know, this restaurant and live-music venue is themed around the song “Ol’ Red,” the 2001 hit for Blake Shelton. Owned and operated by Ryman Hospitality Properties, it’s part of a growing Ole Red venture branded with Shelton, with other locations in Nashville, Orlando and Tishomingo, Okla., near the entertainer’s home. Gatlinburg’s Ole Red, a double-tiered honky-tonk, offers a “taste” of its superstar namesake with nearly continuous live entertainment, signature drinks, and a full menu of hearty (though perhaps not quite heart-healthy!) appetizers and main courses for lunch or dinner.
There’s a gift shop with all sorts of Blake Shelton merch and other Gatlinburg swag.
And Ole Red is the only place in town with an upside-down tractor hanging from the ceiling. What color? Red, of course.
It’s the top choice in Gatlinburg for hearing live music day or night on a full-scale stage tricked out with a truckload of high-tech AV, while diving into barnyard-sized food and hydrating with Mason Jars full of creative beverages, and perhaps even doing a little boot scootin’ on the dance floor. Sometimes Shelton himself even drops by or calls in to Facetime on the giant screen above the stage, much to the delight everyone who just happen to be there.
On my most recent visit, I noshed on Redneck Nachos (tortilla chips, taco meat, red onions, jalapenos and avocado cream) and a massive platter of Junk Yard Fries (garnished with onion straws, fried jalapenos, pulled pork and garlic parmesan topping), and washed it all down with a Hillbilly Breeze (coconut rum, orange liqueur, tequila and orange juice). There was no room after that for any of the signature main course items, like the Hell Right Burger (with a beef patty, a hot dog and an egg), the Grilled Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf or the Kiss My Grilled Chicken Sammich (with peach jam and barbecue sauce on a potato bun).
I’m a sucker for fruity desserts, so I was sorely tempted by—but resisted—the Mountain Berry Crisp, which incorporates strawberries, blueberries and blackberries into a honey cornbread crumble, topped with ice cream. But that would have hit the bullseye in my sweet spot.
On stage, Louisiana-born singer-songwriter Sara Collins sat with her guitar and performed a sweet selection of ‘70s mellow rock and country-classic covers, interwoven with originals from her new album Roots (to be released June 30). A regular at Ole Red’s, she’s a former contestant on The Voice (season 18) who relocated with her family to the Gatlinburg area four years ago, when she was still in high school. After her midday set, she told me she loves playing Ole Red, but it takes a bit of stage-banter recalibration from all the local gigs at bars and festivals she played back home in Baton Rouge.
“You never know where people are from,” she says, referencing how Gatlinburg draws visitors from across America, and even internationally. “You can’t make jokes about the ‘local’ sports teams.” (Earlier in the day, I’d met a family from Israel, saw a group of women wearing burkas crossing a busy street and shared some morning doughnuts with a vlogger, Sean Hussey, who relocated to Gatlinburg from Rhode Island more than a decade ago and now makes videos as “The Gatlinburg Hussey.”) At Ole Red, Collins avoided sports chitchat but instead cautioned diners to keep their vehicles locked during their visit, because bears that wander into town—with some frequency—have learned how to open unlocked car doors in search of food.
When it launched its Gatlinburg location in 2019, Ole Red was in a league of its own as the only entertainment spot in town with a bona fide superstar connection; the hitmaking, 10-million-selling Shelton was a double-digit CMA Awards winner, and he’d been a coach on TV’s The Voice since the show launched in 2011. (He recently announced he’ll be leaving after 23 seasons to spend more time with Stefani, whom he married in 2021, and her three young sons.)
But now there’s another country-star venue on the Gatlinburg horizon. Jason Aldean—also a country hitmaker, and also Shelton’s good buddy—is readying a new venue that will bear his name just up the street. With six bars on two levels, it will be the second in his expanding entertainment franchise, after the original operation in downtown Nashville. But Ole Red’s Chrisy Lambert, the food and hospitality manager, isn’t fazed by the competition. “It’s going to be a totally different kind of place, with a rooftop bar,” instead of a single larger enclosed showroom like Ole Red, where the music and the munching can go on year-round, rain or shine.
With a red tractor overhead.
Ripley’s Aquarium
It’s already a world-class aqua experience, with sea critters of every shape and size, a glass-bottom boat ride and the world’s longest underwater viewing tunnel. And Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is the only place in Gatlinburg where you can get something to eat…and then consume it just feet (or even inches!) away from creatures that would probably love to sink their teeth into whatever you’re chewing. You can watch sharks and stingrays swim overhead after you pick up your items from the Feeding Frenzy snack and concession area, with a refreshingly diverse menu that includes burgers (including a veggie option), hotdogs, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, a hummus snack cup, veggie sticks and salad, and more. And it’s the only place in Gatlinburg where—if you get there early enough in the day—you can have breakfast with a mermaid!
Anakeesta
One of Gatlinburg’s newest attractions, this sprawling mountaintop theme park (which opened in 2017) takes its name from a Cherokee Indian word meaning “high ground,” which is also the term given to a geological layer of rock that permeates the Smoky Mountains. It offers activities for all ages, including a zipline, mountain coaster, a catwalk through the hillside canopy of trees, an elaborate play area for kids (or grownups), a 60-foot-tall viewing tower, and a dazzling nighttime display called Astra Lumina. While you’re gaping at the breathtaking eagle’s-eye views of the surrounding scenery, you can snack on ice cream, pies, brownies and other treats, shop for souvenirs or sit down at the Cliff Top restaurant for a full-course meal of barbecue, catfish or burgers. And watch out for bears—they like visiting Anakeesta, too, especially overnight when the area is otherwise closed. (It was, after all, built into what was formerly their exclusive habitat.) When I was there, the Astra Lumina experience was temporarily inoperable; a mama bear and her cubs were blocking one of the walking paths, and park workers were respectfully giving them the right of way. On another visit, the chairlift (which transports visitors up and down the mountain) and the mountain coaster were paused because a black bear was spotted foraging in the area. It’s no surprise one of the areas of Anakeesta is called Black Bear Village.
Fannie Farkle’s
One of Gatlinburg’s oldest attractions on its main-drag “parkway” has been around for more than 40 years. It’s a bustling little amusement center, with loads of arcade games and a small-town “carnival” theme. But its main event is always what’s cookin’ through the front windows as you stroll past. It’s the home of the famous Ogle Dog (named for one of Gatlinburg’s first settler families), foot-long cornmeal weenie feasts that are cooked up street-level, right in front of your eyes. And it’s not an official walk through Gatlinburg unless you’re in range to smell the storefront grill sizzling with onions and peppers, the aromatic garnish for the cheesesteaks and sausage subs. Named for its founder, a former burlesque dancer, Fannie Farkle’s even has small mini-tables lining its outside wall, for standing and snacking on some of the town’s most distinctive dishes.
Ober Mountain
Until just recently, this longstanding alpine hub of activities (it opened in 1972, as transport up to winter skiing) was called Ober Gatlinburg. It’s been renamed in a wave of recent updates, but it’s still the only “tram ride” in town, lifting up to 120 passengers at a time high onto Mount Harrison, where there’s a mountain coaster, an alpine slide, downhill mountain biking, water tubing and snow tubing (in season), a year-round ice-skating rink, souvenir mall and a wildlife-habitat encounter offering up-close visits with bears, otters, foxes, falcons, wildcats and other rescued mountain critters. Then you can take a chairlift even further up the mountain, where the views are spectacular, the air is clean and crystal-clear, and the sounds of a live bluegrass band set the scene May through November. Ober’s restaurant and lounge were closed for renovation when I was there, but snacks elsewhere were plentiful—sandwiches from the Sidewalk Café (overlooking the ice-skating rink), sweets at the Fudge Shop and a selection of coffee and other beverages brewing at the Ski Mountain Grind House. And it’s the only place in town where you can eat, then watch North American river otters gulp down buckets of cut-up fish parts…otherwise unavailable at Ober, um, unless you’re an otter.
Ah-nold gets real, Shatner returns to space & dark Duggar Family secrets
The ‘Terminator’ star gets real in his new Netflix series.
FRIDAY, June 2 Searching for Soul Food The term “soul food” means different things to different people in different places. Celebrity chef Alisha Reynolds travels the world to experience this time-honored ethnic cuisine and its various regional and international incarnations (Apple TV+)
Shooting Stars Hoops fans will want to watch this original film, a dramatization of how LeBron James grew up to become a peerless basketball superstar (Peacock).
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets Limited docuseries (below) exposes the dark secrets of abuse behind America’s infamous TV family (remember their reality show, 19 Kids and Counting?) and the radical, cult-like church in the background (Prime Video).
NOW HEAR THIS
Air is this year’s movie for people who say they don’t like sports movies, a feel-good flick that feels like a mashup of vibes from Jerry McGuire and Moneyball. The soundtrack is etched with deep-dish ‘80s grooves from Dire Straits, Violent Femmes, Mike & The Mechanics, Bruce Springsteen, Run-D.M.C, Squeeze and more, all woven into director-actor Ben Affleck’s true-story tale of how a third-tier shoe company launched the business of superstar sports marketing by lacing up a deal with basketball phenom Michael Jordan.
SATURDAY, June 3 TLC Forever Don’t go chasin’ waterfalls…. Instead, watch this two-hour documentary about the Atlanta-based female group (below) that led the way with their music, message and style in the 1990s, going on to sell more 85 million records (8 p.m., Lifetime and A&E).
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Jessica Lange: An Adventurer’s Heart (University Press of Kentucky) is author Anthony Uzarowski’s new deep-dive biography of the award-winning actress, covering her early years in Minnesota, her carefully guarded private life, and her fruitful partnership with playwright/actor Sam Shepard, which became one of Hollywood’s most tumultuous secretive relationships.
Ever since Moneyball, we’ve been much more savvy about how much the information age has shaped pro sports. In Game of Edges (W.W. Norton), author Bruce Schoenfeld goes even deeper for a fascinating inside look at how data analysis, tech and commercial considerations continue to reform the landscape of baseball, soccer, football, basketball and even gaming.
You know that filmmaking brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have made some classic films, including Raising Arizona, O Brother, Where Art Thou and The Big Lebowski. Find out in The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music (McFarland) just how important the musical soundtracks have always been to their cinematic work.
SUNDAY, June 3 The Lazarus Project New drama series follows a recruit (Paapa Essiedu) in an organization that has harnessed the ability to turn back time whenever the world is on the precipice of extinction (9 p.m., TNT).
MONDAY, June 4 The Eric Andre Show Season six of the cult-fave grownup sketch series begins, and its slate of upcoming guest stars is pretty impressive—Natasha Lyonne, Jon Hamm, Raven-Symone, Cypress Hill, Lil Yachty and many more (midnight, Adult Swim).
TUESDAY, June 5 Stars on Mars Star Trek icon William Shatner hosts this space-y reality competition (below) in which “celebronauts”—including Lance Armstrong, Natasha Leggero, Marshawn Lynch and Rhonda Rousey—don spacesuits and embark on a mission to see who’s got the right stuff to colonize the Red Planet (8 p.m., Fox).
Cruel Summer Season two of the hit anthology series follows intense teenage friendships in an idyllic Pacific Northwest waterfront community (9 p.m., Freeform).
WEDNESDAY, June 6 The Luckiest Guy in the World New two-part “30 For 30” sports doc covers the life and times of basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, known as “The Big Redhead” (8 p.m., ESPN).
Destination: European Nights Five-part docuseries follows CBS sports analyst Gillem Balague through months of travel across Europe covering the UEFA Champions League and catching the continent-wide buzz of the world’s most prestigious annual soccer tournament (Paramount+).
THURSDAY, June 8 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia It’ll be sunny tonight for fans of this acclaimed comedy series, which has become the longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history as it begins its landmark 16th season with stars Danny Devito, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney (10 p.m., FX).
Arnold Yes, that Arnold—the Terminator, the former gov of California, the muscle man who became a movie icon. New docuseries pulls back the curtain on the fascinating story of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Netflix).
Based on a True Story Inspired by a real event, this dark-comedy thriller (above) set in L.A. follows a realtor, a plumber and a former tennis star whose lives unexpectedly collide in a true-crime caper. Starring Kaley Cuoco, Chris Messina and Tom Bateman (Peacock).
Hailey’s On It! Auli’I Cravalho stars in this animated comedy-adventure about a teenager on a mission to complete her ambitious list of tasks to save with world. With supporting voices by Julie Bowen, Jo Koy and Al Yankovic (8 p.m., Disney Channel).
FRIDAY, May 26 Run the World Three fiercely loyal best friends (Amber Stevens West, Andrea Bordeaux and Bresha Webb) in Harlem continue their plans for “world domination” for the new season of the acclaimed sitcom (9:30 p.m., Starz).
Influencer A chilling tale of a social influencer who finds something truly scary when she goes off the grid on the other side of the world. With Riverdale’s Emily Tennant, below (Shudder).
SATURDAY, May 27 Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love If you loved her in School of Rock, History of the World Part II or Crank Yankers, you’ll love this saucy stand-up comedy special from the Emmy-winning actress, writer, producer, podcaster and comedian, filmed at the Wilbur Theater in Boston (10:15 p.m., HBO).
SUNDAY, May 28 Silo’s Baking Competition Home improvement queen Joanna Gaines hosts this new competition in which bakers from across the country come to the Texas site of the Magnolia network’s Silos Baking Company to try to impress their hostess (8 p.m., Magnolia).
Bama Rush Docuseries uncovers the dark underside of Tik-Tok fueled “rushing” at the University of Alabama, following the trajectories of four young women who embark on the process of finding (and fitting into) a sorority (HBO Max).
Discover the dark side of the sorority pledging process in Bama Rush.
MONDAY, May 29 The Curious Case of Natalia Grace Curious, indeed. Find out about the strange case of a young Ukrainian orphan adopted by an American couple who later suspected their “little girls” was actually an adult masquerading as a child—with a devious plan to harm them (9 p.m., ID).
Marriage In this British series, a couple (played by Sean Bean and Nicola Walker) navigates continuing needs for love and companionship within their 30-year relationship (PBS Prime).
TUESDAY, May 30 The American Gladiators Documentary Two-night event goes behind the scenes of the reality-competition TV series, which began in 1989 and became a pop-cultural phenomenon (ESPN).
BRING IT HOME
Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman star in A Good Person (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) about two people who bridge the generation gap to discover friendship, forgiveness and hope after a tragedy.
WEDNESDAY, May 31 Drag Me to Dinner This 10-episode send-up of reality competition, below, features 40 drag queens vying to see who can throw the best, most outlandish dinner party for judges including Neil Patrick Harris and Elijah Wood (Hulu).
Ghost Adventures Ready to be scared? Come along with paranormal investigator Zak Bagans and his crew as they stir up more haunted histories (10 p.m., Discovery).
THURSDAY, June 1
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Horror fans will flip over Hammer Complete (McFarland), a compendium of the fabled British movie studio that launched in the 1930s, becoming an icon of horror in the 1970s and ‘80s with pulpy titles like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and Prehistoric Women. But Hammer did more than blood-‘n’-guts flicks, as this lavishly detailed collection shows, along with all the films’ budgets, actors, directors, and more!
The Dead Files Series returns as its NYPD homicide detective teams up with a medium to help solve paranormal-activity phenomena for homeowners across America (9 p.m. Travel Channel).
Eli Roth Presents: The Legion of Exorcists The horror-movie maestro hosts this new series, examining tales of demonic possession and exorcists around the world who use their tools to address the situation (10 p.m., Travel Channel).
Julia Louis-Dreyfus spins comedy gold in this yarn of New York neurotics
You Hurt My Feelings Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tobias Menzies, Michaela Watkins & Arian Moayed Directed by Nicole Holofcener Rated R
In theaters Friday, May 26
Neurotic New Yorkers ride out self-doubts, snubs and disappointments in the latest film from Nicole Holofcener, a director weaned on the comedies of Woody Allen.
A native New Yorker herself, Holofcener grew up as the daughter of a set decorator for Allen’s Big Apple-centric films. She appeared as an extra in a couple and eventually became a production assistant and editor for others before going on to make her own, including the critically acclaimed Enough Said and Can You Ever Forgive Me?
It’s no surprise she’s so attuned—like Allen—to what makes a certain sector of New York, and New Yorkers, tick and tock.
You Hurt My Feelings stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Beth, a writer whose writing isn’t going so well. Her memoir was a modest success, but she can’t stir up much interest in her latest work, a novel. Her agent tells her it’s tough out there in today’s literary world, with so many “new voices” competing to be heard.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies star as married New York professionals.
That makes Beth feel like “an old voice,” she dejectedly tells her therapist husband, Don (Tobias Menzies, who played Prince Phillip on Netflix’s The Crown). He’s undergoing a bit of life crisis of his own, fretting about his sagging face and his lost youth, and he’s been getting a bit confused about which of his patients go with what problems. One bickering married duo he’s counseling (the real-life couple of David Cross and Amber Tamblyn) tells him he’s been wasting their time and their money, and they demand a refund. Maybe he’s not the therapist he thought he was.
David Cross and Amber Tamblyn play a bickering married couple.
Beth worries that their grown son (Owen Teague) isn’t fulfilling his potential working in a cannabis store with a bunch of slacker potheads. She doesn’t feel any better about his situation when she’s in the store and it gets robbed.
Meanwhile, Beth’s sister, Sarah (Michaela Watkins), is weary of her job as an interior designer catering to uber-persnickety patrons. Sarah’s husband, Mark (Arian Moayed), is a struggling actor whose self-esteem has just taken a big hit.
Left: Arian Moayed and Michaela Watkins
All these mini crises intersect and come to a head when Beth overhears a remark made by her hubs to his brother-in-law, Mark, that he doesn’t really think her writing is, well, all that good. Suddenly, Beth’s whole world seems to implode. How could he betray her like that? Was Don lying all those times when he encouraged her as a writer and tried to be supportive? It makes her want to throw up on the sidewalk, but she’s too upset to even do that. Eventually, feelings get hurt all around.
This is the kind of small, grown-up movie that not a lot of studios make anymore—a subtle slice-of-life comedy with a small group of characters that feel like real people, in places that look authentically lived-in, instead of fabricated movie sets. It’s full of little micro details that might seem insignificant, but everything rings true, drawing us closer to the characters and providing connective tissue to their wobbly world—an obscenely overpriced hand-crafted bench, a doctor’s explanation of her new “concierge” fee, a wall of exotic socks, a wastebasket that never seems to get emptied, a blouse donated to the homeless that the donor later decides she wants back. It’s sharp and funny and sweet, and keenly observant about how couples and friends may tell little lies to each other—and themselves—and not even realize it. But they continue to love and live, and life goes on.
All the characters are immensely likeable and relatable. And the cast is tremendous, especially Louis-Dreyfus, the Seinfeld veteran whose finely tuned comedy chops can adapt to almost any situation. (I love how she turns a box of bakery doughnuts into a running gag.) It’s no wonder director Holofcener wanted to work with her again after Enough Said, in which JLD starred alongside James Gandolfini, Toni Collette, Catherine Keener and Ben Falcone. Michaela Watkins was also in that movie, too.
Speaking of Seinfeld, that show also revolved around neurotic, self-centered New Yorkers, and it routinely took little things and made big deals out of them—a puffy shirt, getting lost in a parking garage, waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, muffin tops, fusilli. Even though it’s miles away from the crazily calibrated absurdity and goofiness of the TV series, there’s undeniably something Seinfeld-ian about this movie, in which little problems ripple into a wider sea of anxieties, and four central New Yorkers flail and flop around in it all.
Like Seinfeld, and like Woody Allen, You Hurt My Feelings understands how to find the funny in human frailty and foibles, and how to navigate the comically uneven—and sometimes messy—sidewalks of life, all the while with a knowing smile.
Going ‘under the sea’ with Disney’s latest live-action version of an animated classic
The Little Mermaid Starring Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, Jonah Hauer-King and Javier Bardem Directed by Rob Marshall Rated PG
In theaters Friday, May 26
Disney’s beloved fish-out-of-water tale makes a splashy return in this highly anticipated live-action, all-star remake about a spunky aqua teen who longs to be part of the human world.
Like its 1989 animated predecessor, it’s based loosely on a 19th century Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. But mermaids—half human, half fish—were swimming around the far-flung pools of pop culture for centuries before that, and the new movie taps into the ancient fantasy and fascination with these alluring mythical creatures and their addictive siren song, which can supposedly lure sailors to doom and death.
It becomes the latest in Disney’s modern-era march of revisionist cinema since the 1990s, putting live actors alongside hi-tech digital effects for remakes of its “cartoon” movies, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, 101 Dalmatians, The Lion King and Mulan.
And it also becomes one of the best.
Newcomer Halle Bailey is Ariel, fascinated with what goes on above sea’s surface, a place she is forbidden to go by her hyper-protective father, King Titan (Javier Bardem). But when curiosity gets the best of her and she pokes her head out of the waves for a peek, she ends up rescuing a young prince (Jonah Hauer-King) from drowning during a dramatic nighttime shipwreck, hauling the unconscious seafarer onto a beach and serenading him before disappearing again into the water.
That sets things into high gear, as Prince Eric tries to reconnect with the alluring mystery creature that saved his life and Ariel makes a deal with the conniving sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to trade her tailfin for feet. But there’s a catch: Ariel must give up her enchanted siren-song voice and share a kiss of “true love” with Eric within three days, or she’ll be consigned to the depths of the ocean forever.
Melissa McCarthy is Ursula
Comic relief is provided by the flappy, yappy seagull Scuttle (voiced, in a gender switch from the previously animated role, by Awkwafina) and the crab Sebastian (Daveed Diggs), a loyal attendant in the royal court of King Triton. Jacob Tremblay (from Room) is the voice of the little sidekick fish Flounder.
Scuttle the seagull is voiced by Awkwafina
Broadway virtuoso Lin-Manuel Miranda (one of the film’s dozen producers) wrote three new songs and tweaked the lyrics of a couple of others (“Kiss the Girl” and “Poor Unfortunate Souls”) for the new movie, reflecting a commendable next-gen sensitivity to issues of female empowerment and consent. But unless you’re a Little Mermaid superfan, and you’re paying super close attention, you might not even notice—or care that a couple of other tunes in the animated version (“Les Poissons” and “Daughters of Triton”) got the hook.
But you will thrill to the movie’s well-known, iconic soundtrack standouts, given tremendous new zap as underwater, computer-enhanced, razzly-dazzly production numbers—reflecting not only Miranda’s buoyant Broadway roots, but also those of director Rob Marshall, a former theatrical producer and choreographer who went on to make music-filled movies including Chicago, Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. “Under the Sea” is a joyous, calypso-flavored aqua chorus line, with dozens of dancing, prancing sea critters; “Part of Your World” gets new emotionally enhanced wallop and human resonance.
And you’ll be rocked by the stupendous performance by 23-year-old Halle Bailey. The Grammy-nominated pop singer and TV actor (from Grown-ish) gives a star-making movie turn as a splendid Disney princess-to-be who makes you feel the heartfelt tug of her big dreams of discovering what’s out there—and up there. Melissa McCarthy practically steals the show as Ursula, hamming it up with a flourish of florescent octopus tentacles, cackling over her bubbling cauldron of sinister spells and plotting to take over the undersea world. English actor Hauer-King has a bit of resemblance to Ryan Gosling, making me drift away for a couple of fanciful moments thinking about The Little Mermaid going ashore in La La Land. And Javier Bardem, so menacing in No Country for Old Men, looks regally right-on as a bearded, bad-ass, big-kahuna submariner.
Javier Bardem is King Titan
It’s about a couple of young people falling in love, of course—in a risky, forbidden, boundary-crossing inter-species relationship, with disapproving parental figures. Think Romeo and Juliet, tossed in the tide and spritzed with ocean mist. The new Little Mermaid leans into its timely theme of cultural differences and societal riffs, as both merfolk and humans inherently distrust, and even hate what’s on the other side of the thin membrane of “border” that separates them.
Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric and Halle Bailey as Ariel.
But hey, let’s don’t get heavy. Dive into this new Mermaid, a delightful, thoroughly entertaining, refreshingly impressive upgrade, a terrific new take on an animated classic, respectful to the Disney original but with vibrant new jolts of movie magic, drama, danger, spectacle, joy, yearning, wit and romance.
Plus an important mega-message for little girls and young women everywhere and anywhere: In the water, on the land, in a seashell or a castle—like Ariel, if you can dream it, you can do it.
This summer, is everything really “better down where it’s wetter”? So far, yes, it is!
The Media Tourist 