Category Archives: Uncategorized

May 03 2024
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Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

May 3 – May 9

Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger, Otter love, Cajun music & a Brooke Shields wedding!

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, May 3
Unfrosted
Jerry Seinfeld stars and makes his directorial debut in this comedy swirling around the 1960s rivalry between cereal giants Post and Kellogg’s in Battle Creek, Mich., and the race to create the Pop Tart. The all-star supporting cast includes Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Christian Slater, Bill Burr and Hugh Grant (above)…as Tony the Tiger. Grrrrrrrreat! (Netflix).

Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
An overworked and underpaid production assistant is assigned to film workplace safety videos in this satirical film about life in our 21st century (Mubi).

SATURDAY, May 4
Maryland
Two estranged sisters reunite to find the truth about their late mother’s sudden death and her life on Britain’s Isle of Man (9 p.m., PBS).

SUNDAY, May 5
People Magazine Investigates: Surviving a Serial Killer
New six-part series presents harrowing but inspiring stories of people who escaped the clutches of a serial killer (9 p.m., ID).

MONDAY, May 6
Next Baking Master: Paris
Ten American bakers travel to France for this eight-episode culinary competition hosted by acclaimed pastry chef Stephanie Boswell and French restauranteur Ludo Lefebvre (9 p.m., Food).

Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
When a wild otter in desperate need to help washes ashore the Scottish island of Shetland, a local man finds a new sense of purpose in caring for his new friend. A big hit at SXSW, the documentary (above) has been hailed for its encouragement for viewers to connect with the greater world around them. (National Geographic)

TUESDAY, May 7
Kiss the Future
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were among the producers of this documentary, which follows the resilience of a creative community during the Bosnian war in the 1990s—and the concert that supergroup U2 gave to honor them (Paramount+).

Roots of Fire
Musicians honor the rich heritage of cultural legacy of Cajun music in this new doc (above), featuring electrifying performances by many authentic artists and bands (AppleTV+ and Amazon).

Grizzy 399: Queen of the Tetons
Documentary about the most famous bear in Grand Teton National Park, with an exceptional litter of four cubs to raise. Find out about her life with other bears, a warming climate, human encroachment in bear country—plus legislation that might remove bears from Montana’s endangered species list, making it legal for people to hunt them (8 p.m, PBS)

WEDNESDAY, May 8
Dark Matter
Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly star in this new ensemble-cast sci-fi thriller about a physicist “abducted” into an alternate version of his life, where his sense of wonder quickly turns into a nightmare (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, May 9
Love Undercover
Follow a small group of international soccer players in this new reality series as they woo women who are unaware of their fame (Peacock).

The Goat
Daniel Tosh hosts more than a dozen reality TV stars as they face off to become the “Greatest of All Time” through a series of challenges, toward a prize of $200,000 (Prime Video and Amazon Freevee).

Mother of the Bride
Brooke Shields and Miranda Cosgrove star in romcom spinoff (above) about a mom and a daughter, a wedding in Thailand, and the re-discovery of a long-ago love (Netflix).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

It’s one of the classic gangster films of all time, and now you can delve into all the details about its making, its stars, how it barely avoided an X rating, and much more in Glenn Kenny’s richly detailed The World is Yours: The Story of Scarface (Harper Collins). Includes interviews with cast and crew members, and director Brian De Palma.

Feb 09 2024
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture, Television, Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 9 – Feb. 15

Marissa Tomei gets ‘Upgraded,’ Justin Hartley tracks bad guys, plus Black spacemen & pet shenanigans

Sara Silverman gets ‘stupid’ with all kinds of pets.

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, Feb. 9
Upgraded
Camila Mendes and Archie Renaux star in this romcom set in the art world, where an intern at an art museum pretends to be the director, setting off a white lie that sets off a glamorous chain of romance, perks and opportunity…like flying first-class—and causes some very serious problems (Prime). 

Gospel Live!
Henry Lewis Gates Jr. hosts a celebration of roof-raising gospel music, with performances by John Legend, Erica Campbell, Anthony Hamilton and others, performed in front a live audience at a church in Los Angeles (9 p.m., PBS).

SATURDAY, Feb. 10
Super Bowl Soulful Celebration 25th Anniversary
Cedric and Entertainer and Tichina Arnold (of TV’s The Neighborhood) host this pre-taped pre-game concert blowout (ahead of tomorrow’s game), which has come along way from its humble roots as a gospel-themed brunch in Miami (8 p.m., CBS)

CMT’s Campfire Sessions
A sweet lead-up to Cupid’s big day, country stars gather ‘round the campfire for acoustic performances of some of the format’s greatest love songs. Performers include Chris Young, Darius Rucker, Sara Evans, Caitlyn Smith and Tenille Townes (10 p.m., CMT).

SUNDAY, Feb. 11
Tracker  
Justin Hartley (from This is Us) stars in this new series (above) as a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country tracking down bad guys and using his expert skills to help law enforcement and ordinary citizens (on CBS, following the Super Bowl).

MONDAY, Feb. 12
Gospel
Two-night special event traces the history of Black spirituality through worship and song, hosted by professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (check listings, PBS).

The Space Race
Documentary (above) about pioneering Black astronauts, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve America’s space program in the 1960s, even as their country was failing to achieve equality for them back on Earth (NatGeo).

TUESDAY, Feb. 13
Five Blind Dates
Australian import movie about a woman told by a fortune teller that she’ll meet her soulmate in the next five blind dates she goes on (Prime).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14
The New Look
Ben Mendelsohn stars as Christian Dior and Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel in this new drama series (above) about how the iconic designers (and others) navigated the horrors of World War II and launched modern fashion (Apple TV+)

Players
Romcom about moving from one-night stands into a steady relationship stars Gina Rodriguez and Daymon Wayans Jr. (Netflix).

THURSDAY, Feb. 15
Bold & Bougie
Reality series follows a group of Black female entrepreneurs (above) who have charted their own professional—and personal—courses (9 p.m., AMC). 

Far North
Tonight’s two-episode premiere of the international crime caper dramedy is inspired by New Zealand’s largest meth bust, as an Australian gang’s lucrative drug deal with a global cartel goes away and they’re left stranded with 500kg of speed, nowhere to turn…and a boatload of lies (AMC+).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Memory is one of the mysteries of the mind, but psychology and neuroscience professor Charan Ranganath sheds some eye-opening new light on the subject in Why We Remember (Doubleday), a fascinating tour of the role our recollections play in our lives, from recalling faces and names to learning new things, making decisions, charting career courses, dealing with trauma and finding happiness. Also, why we keep forgetting to lock doors, turn off ovens, and…hey, where’s my car keys?

Now that technology has advanced to the point where everyone has a camera on standby (on our ever-present mobile phones), the lavishly illustrated Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography (Thames & Hudson) is a fascinating examination of why—and how—photographs are mementoes, historical records, art, souvenirs…and “collaborations” representing what’s in front of the camera and who’s behind it. This deep dive into the wide world of photography should be required reading for all shutterbugs.

2.15

BRING IT HOME          

Jack Black’s cult-classic gonzo movie masterpiece from 2006, Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny, now finally debuts on Blu-ray, with his cohort and collaborator Kyle Glass and musical guests and celeb cameos from Fred Armisen, Amy Poehler, Dave Grohl and Ronnie James Dio. Plus commentary, behind the scenes and more! (Shout! Factory)

Feb 02 2024
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Books, Humor, Movies, Pop Culture, Television, Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 2 – Feb. 8

Spy shenanigans, dummies on stage, and big South American blockheads

All times Eastern.

They’re spies deep undercover—as a married couple!

FRIDAY, Feb. 2
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
New series stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine (above) as two employees of a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of sexy espionage, world travel and a home in a dreamy Manhattan brownstone. The catch: They have to change their names and get married (Prime).

The Tiger’s Apprentice
Based on this best-selling novel, this animated family film—about a Chinese American teenager and mythical tiger—features the voices of Soo Hoo, Henry Golding, Sandra Oh and Michelle Yeoh (Paramount +).

Love & WWE: Bianca and Montez
Go beyond the ring and into the lives of pro wrestling’s hottest couple, Bianca Belair and Montez Ford (above), in this new docuseries (Hulu).

SATURDAY, Feb. 3
Jeff Dunham: I’m With Cupid
Get ready for Valentine’s Day with this comedy special filmed in Tampa, Fla., featuring the ventriloquist and his dummy cohorts Walter, Bubba J, Peanu, Jose Jalapeno and more (8 p.m., Comedy Central).

SUNDAY, Feb. 4
The Grammy Awards
SZA, Phoebe Bridgers, Jon Batiste, Brandy Clark, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish are among the top contenders for this years’ live industry-voted ceremony honoring the best in all genres of music (9 p.m., CBS).

The Harlem Hellfighters
Hour-long documentary produced by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts examines the predominately Black military unit fought nearly impossible odds to become an extraordinary fighting force in World War II (9 p.m., History).

Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Emmy Award-winning series begins its twelfth and final ten-episode season tonight, with Larry David wrapping it up as an over-the-top version of himself (Max).

MONDAY, Feb. 5
Sister Una Lived a Good Life
Touching documentary chronicles the inspring journey of a Boston-born, California-raised Irish Catholic nun, who lived a life full of bawdy humor, fun and good deeds, eventually succumbing to cancer and planning her own funeral (8 p.m., PBS). 

TUESDAY, Feb. 6
Cybersleuths: The Idaho Murders
True-crime fans will want to tune into this three-part docuseries which looks at the surging world of self-appointed online sleuths who sifting through clues to the savage slaying of four University of Idaho students in 2022 (Paramount+).

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7
The Connors
John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf and Sara Gilbert head into season six of the prime-time comedy series, grappling with more financial pressures, parenting issues, marriage ups and downs and aging (8 p.m., ABC).

Easter Island Origins
Those enigmatic oversized stone heads facing the ocean on a South American island? Now new research reveals intriguing evidence of their origins and the ancient people who created them (9 p.m., PBS).

THURSDAY, Feb. 8
Tokyo Vice
Ten-episode second season of the dramatic series starring Ansel Elgort (above) goes even deeper into the Japanese criminal underworld (Max).

Impractical Jokers
The master pranksters (above) return for a tenth season of hidden camera hijinks featuring a host of celebrities in cameos (10 p.m., truTV).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

I’ve known the guys in Sawyer Brown since their earliest days, just after they won TV’s Star Search and got signed in the mid-80s to Nashville’s Capitol Records. In The Boys and Me (Forefront, Feb. 6), front man Mark Miller recounts his four decades in the hit-making, hard-touring band, which became a radio mainstay with “Step That Step,” “Thank God for You” and some 50 other hits. Find out how a kid from Ohio found went from stunt skiing at Disney World to leading a country music supergroup to the top of the charts.  

Jan 12 2024
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Uncategorized

The Entertainment Forecast

Jan. 12 – Jan. 18

Kaley Cuoco shoots to kill, a ‘Happy Days’ marathon & Jodie Foster goes north

Kaley Cuoco stars in ‘Role Play.’

FRIDAY, Jan. 12
Lift
If you love “heist” flicks, you’ll dig this one about an international crew of high-flying thieves (Kevin Hart, Vincent D’Onfrio, Billy Magnussen, Sam Worthington) plotting to pilfer half a billion dollars in gold from a passenger airline soaring 40,000 feet in the air (Netflix).

Role Play
Kaley Cuoco, David Oyelowo, Connie Nielsen and Bill Nighy star in this movie about a suburban mom with a secret—she’s also a paid assassin for hire (Prime).

SATURDAY, Jan. 13
Girl in the Video
Inspired by true events, this telemovie looks at the story of a widowed mom (Cush Jumbo) racing to rescue her trafficked teen daughter (Tia Day Watts) before it’s too late (9 p.m., Lifetime). 

Happy Days Marathon
Retro back to the ‘50s via 86 back-to-back episodes of the classic ’70s sitcom (above) starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler (11 a.m., Catchy Comedy Network).

Dr. Pol
TV’s favorite veterinarian welcomes a new worker at the clinic, Dr. Brenda treats a cat with a burned paw and a K9 deputy is injured on the job (9 p.m., Nat Geo).

SUNDAY, Jan. 14
Belgravia: The Next Chapter
If you loved Downton Abbey and The Gilded Age, then you need to check out this continuation of the 2020 series Belgravia (above), a love story written by Julian Fellowes and set in 19th century London, starring Benjamin Wainwright, Harriet Slater, Alice Eve and Adam Jones (MGM+).

Monsieur Spade
Clive Owen stars as hard-boiled detective Sam Spade in this new six-episode limited series set in 1963, where the famous San Francisco detective is enjoying his retirement in the south of France…but not for long (AMC, AMC+ and Acorn TV).

True Detective: Night Country
Jodie Foster and Kali Reis star in this new installment of the drama series (above) as detectives who chips away at a mysterious missing person case in the long, dark night of frozen Arctic (HBO).

MONDAY, Jan. 15
The Emmy Awards
Tonight marks the 75th annual presentation of the TV’s industry’s highest honors. Anthony Anderson hosts the live telecast from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles (8 p.m., Fox).

TUESDAY, Jan. 16
Death and Other Details
Violett Beane, Mandy Patinkin and Lauren Patten lead the cast of this new whodunnit series (above) set on a luxuriously restored ocean liner in the Mediterranean filled with pampered guests—and many, many possible suspects (Hulu).

June
New feature-length documentary looks at the life and music of the woman, June Carter Cash, who stood beside her husband and career partner, the Man in Black (Paramount+).

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17
Eipstein Didn’t Kill Himself
Vice News investigates the mysteries around Jeffrey Epistein, and the conspiracy theories that sprouted after he was found dead in his prison cell (Tubi).

THURSDAY, Jan. 18
On the Roam
Aquaman’s Jason Momoa (above) explores the country discovering art, adventure and friendship in this original new docuseries themed around craftsmanship (Max).

Nov 30 2023
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Movie Reviews, Uncategorized

Oh No, There Goes Tokyo

On the cusp of his 70th anniversary, Godzilla returns in a monster-mash throwback to his postwar roots

Godzilla Minus One
Starring Minami Hambe, Sakura Ando & Ryunosuke Kamiki
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki
Rated PG-13

In theaters Friday, Dec. 1

The O.G.’s back in town!

The town is Tokyo, and the O.G. is the original Godzilla. This is the 37th movie about the rampaging reptile since he first lumbered onto movie screens back in 1954. So O.G. might also stand for “old Godzilla.”

Except, in Godzilla Minus One, the Godzilla saga rewinds, back to the beginnings and a “youthful” GZ, long before Japan’s iconic, dependably durable all-terrain mega-monster would go on to face off with Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah or King Kong. Before he became a Hanna-Barbera cartoon in the 1970s, or fed in the imagination of Steven Spielberg as the fledgling director was stewing on Jaws and Jurassic Park.

And before heavy metal musicians saluted him in song. “Oh, no, there goes Tokyo,” sang Blue Öyster Cult in “Godzilla,” a 1978 cult classic.

Here, we’re taken back to Godzilla’s early days, in the years immediately following World War II in the 1940s, as Japan faces another crisis—a monstrous beast in the ocean, activated and energized by the fearsome destructive atomic power of the bombs that had turned Tokyo into rubble, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, leaving millions homeless and demoralizing a defeated nation.  

How bad can it get in Tokyo? How low can things go? Well, Godzilla’s arrival makes things even worse—“minus one,” a calibration below zero, on the underside of losing just about everything.

But this Godzilla is more than just a creature feature; it’s built around a very “human” story of battle-weary war survivors, in particular a former kamikaze pilot (Ryunosuke Kamiki) seeking redemption—and closure from psychic wounds that continue to haunt him. Now, post-war, he’s helping a young woman (Minami Hambe)raise an orphaned infant in the decimated city and working on a mine-sweeping crew to clear thousands of leftover explosives—before Godzilla gives everyone a new reason to fear what’s in the water.    

The movie reminds us of Godzilla’s cinematic roots in the unbridled destructiveness of a wide-ranging conflict that ended in nuclear mushroom clouds, and how the creature has always been a metaphor for the monstrousness of forces beyond our control—or sometimes, even our comprehension. Godzilla may be a monster, but he’s also a subject that invites our sympathy, as a primal “innocent” creature drawn into conflict, relying on his instincts to survive.

You probably won’t recognize any of their faces, but the cast of this all-Japanese production (subtitled in English) has plentiful credits on TV and film in their homeland. This gives it an authenticity lacking in many other Godzilla flicks, which were peppered with Anglo actors (like Raymond Burr, Bryan Cranston, Matthew Broderick, Elizabeth Olson and Sally Hawkins) to broaden their appeal. It’s Godzilla back on his home turf, rip-roaring again in his original element, back in the day when he and Tokyo were just beginning their long “relationship.”

Everything happens here around four key episodes of Godzilla coming on like a wrecking ball, trampling people, toppling buildings, snacking on train cars like candy bars, rocking battleships like they were bathtub toys and topping things off with the firepower of his “atomic blast” breath. He puts the thunder in thunder thighs in the spectacular, super-size monster mayhem that you’d expect to see from the King of the Monsters.

But it might also surprise you, and move you, with its level of heart and emotion, poignancy and inspirational uplift. Godzilla Minus One reminds us that just like ol’ ‘Zilla keeps getting knocked down but coming back for more, the human spirit is likewise remarkably resilient—even after atomic bombs or facing down beasts from beneath the sea.

—Neil Pond

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.

Mar 20 2023
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Music, Uncategorized

A Hot Mess

Hot rising star Alana Springsteen talks beaches, bumps in the romantic road, punctuation and the highly personal songs on her debut LP

If you were in New York City in January, perhaps you saw Alana Springsteen—on the big billboard looming over Times Square, which played the breakout video of her new single, “you don’t deserve a country song.”

A big moment in the Big Apple, for a young singer-songwriter from a teeny town.

Springsteen couldn’t be there herself, but she felt the electricity of the moment. “Part of my label, Columbia, is out of New York, so I was like, guys, if you can take a break during lunch and please go get this on video…because I was freaking out about it,” says the singer-songwriter.

“country song” is one of the cuts on Springsteen’s new full-length debut album, Twenty Something: Messing It Up (Columbia/Sony, available March 23), the first of her planned three-part musical project after a trio of well-received independent EPs.

But there seems very little about Springsteen’s career trajectory, at this point in her young life, that indicates she’s messing it up in any way. She’s only 22, but she’s been writing music since she was a preteen, dreaming of one day being on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. (The video for “country song,” in fact, opens with a 10-year-old Alana on a backstage visit to the Opry, vowing to someday return as a performer.)

Last fall, on the night she turned 22, she made good on that vow, making her Opry debut with an introduction by fellow hitmaker Luke Bryan, for whom she’ll soon be opening shows on a summer tour.

Now this twenty-something—who is no relation to any other entertainers, e.g., Bruce, who happen to share her last name—is holding steady on the course that she set over a decade ago.

“At eight or nine years old,” Sprngsteen says, “I was saying to my parents, ‘I want to be a country music artist.’ That’s all I wanted to do, music. Once I started playing guitar at seven and writing my own songs, there was never a plan B for me. There was never anything else I could see myself doing. I feel like I was put in this world to make music and connect with people through the songs that I write.”

She wrote her first song, “Fairy Tale,” when she was nine, sitting on her bedroom floor. “I was talking to my mom about how her and my dad met in college, and she was talking about their love story and first dates and stuff he did to make her fall in love. I was like, man, that sounds like a fairy tale, and I decided to write a song about it.”

She’s written a lot of songs since then, and she co-wrote all except one on Twenty Something, which continues the intensely melodic, self-confessional, growing-up and getting-personal tones of her three previous EP releases.

She says the album’s “Missing It Up” subtitle reflects some of her rough rides on the road of romance.  

“I think it’s pretty clear the areas that I’ve messed up,” she says, “when it comes to matters of the heart, picking the wrong guys, falling in love for the wrong reasons, not trusting my gut. When you’re in your twenties, you’re changing so much and taking it a day at a time and figuring out things about yourself as you are having these experiences—like feeling like you can’t really love someone you don’t know.”

Sounds very personal, and it is. She adds that, when they hear the new album—and they will—those “wrong guys” will know she’s talking to them, or at least about them, in songs including “goodbye looks good on You,” “shoulder to cry on” and “caught Up to me.” The leadoff single, “you don’t deserve a country song,” gives a loutish ex’ a thumping musical kiss-off, telling him he’s not going to get a sweet exit elegy. “I ain’t wasting any paper or any ink in this pen,” she sings. “I ain’t dusting off an old record, crying watching it spin.” Clearly, this is a gal who isn’t mushing and gushing on old memories. She’s moving on.

“I never name names,” she says. “I never call anybody out, specifically. But I think these people are probably going to know that certain songs are about them. It’s pretty inevitable. I don’t talk to my exes anymore. It didn’t end that way. It was more like we both realized it was best for us to not be in each other’s lives.”

She never names names…and on the songs of Twenty Something, heck, she doesn’t even use “proper” punctuation. All the titles are in lowercase. That’s not a typing error, she insists—it’s intentional.

“My eighth-grade teacher would probably not be very proud,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not the best with grammar, admittedly, but that was actually a very purposeful choice. It’s one of the funny quirks I have. Even when I’m writing notes or letters or texting, I never capitalize letters. It’s an aesthetic thing for me.”

So, no capital letters—but digits, on the other hand, figure prominently in her life. Her lucky number is 18; it’s her birthday in October, it’s the date she appeared on the Opry, and it will be the total number of songs, combined, on Twenty Something and its two planned follow-up albums—six songs on each of the three LPs. (She’s already written all of them.)

And there’s another number very important to her; it’s on the inside of her right forearm—a tattoo of three numbers, 757.

“Seven five seven is my hometown area code,” she says. “I’m from a little town in Virginia Beach called Pungo. I grew up five minutes from the ocean, a straight shot down Sandbridge Road. In the small town where I grew up, it’s a lot of farmers who’ve been there for generations, a real cross-section of coastal and country. I grew up riding horses, strawberry festivals, cornfields. I think a lot of that bleeds into my music. I always say that I want a lot of my songs to feel like a top-down Jeep ride along the water, because that’s where I’m my happiest.”

And she’s certainly happy that she’ll be going back to the beach this summer. She’ll be one of the formers at the Beach It! Music Festival, slated for June 23-25 on the familiar sands of Virginia Beach.

“A country festival that’s coming to my hometown for the first time!” she says. “I’m just a hometown girl, and Virginia Beach will always have a massive piece of her heart.”

She’s been in Nashville since she was 14, when she signed her first publishing deal, and her mom, dad and three brothers relocated with her—for her to get closer to the music business on which she had laser-focused her sights.

“My parents have always been so supportive,” she says. “From day one, they were the ones who told me to chase my dreams, and they would take me to Nashville on trips. When I was 10 years old, we would drive 12 hours back and forth, so I could spend a couple of weeks each time writing and learning about the industry.”

She’s certainly learned a bit about the industry, by being immersed in it and now finding such auspicious signs of success—including being named earlier this year as part of the 2023 class of CMT’s Women of Country, recognizing the genre’s most promising female newcomers and rising stars. But she knows she’s still got some learning to do.

“The most rewarding thing for me has been really getting to know myself,” she says, “and learning even more what makes me different from everybody else. So that’s advice I keep telling myself—just learning more about myself, getting really good at trusting my gut, and confidently living into that.”

Messes and all.

—Neil Pond

Feb 24 2023
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The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 24 – March 2

Eugene Levy on the road, cowboys in the saddle & Satan spooks a school

‘Schitt’s Creek’ star Eugene Levy travels the globe in his new series.

FRIDAY, Feb. 24
The Reluctant Traveler
Emmy winner Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek) hosts this globetrotting travel series, visiting exotic and beautiful destinations in Costa Rica, Finland, Italy, Japan, South Africa…and even the good ol’ US of A (Apple TV+)

Liason
Espionage, political intrigue, passionate love—Vincent Cassel and Eva Green (left) star in this high-stakes, high-energy thriller about how our pasts have ways of destroying our futures (Apple TV+)

The Consultant
Biting workplace satire series follows a dapper consultant (Christoph Waltz) who comes to the rescue of an emerging tech company after its CEO dies and a hoped-for merger falls through (Prime Video).

Western Night
Saddle up for a trail-mix trio of cowboy flicks, all starring Robert Ryan, the prolific, genre-spanning actor who appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows during the 1940s through the ‘70s, including war dramas, high-seas epics and crime capers. And oh yeah, also Westerns! (TCM).

SATURDAY, Feb. 25
Chaos Reigns: The Films of Lars von Trier
Danish filmmaker von Trier has always been a controversial director, for his exploration of dicey subjects and gritty, fem-centric parables—like Nymphomaniac I and II, a pair of bridged erotic accounts about a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) who, well, just can’t get enough sex. It’s notable for its all-star cast and a stylish flair that elevates it to the realm of “art” instead of pornography, with appearances by Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman and Connie Nielsen (Mubi).

12 Desperate Hours
Held hostage by a home intruder, a quick-thinking mother (Samantha Mathis, right) offers to drive him anywhere he wants to go, becoming his unwilling accomplice on a rampage of destruction (8 p.m. Lifetime). 

SUNDAY, Feb. 26
Shock Docs: The Devil’s Academy
Was there really a mass demonic possession at the Miami Space Academy in 1979? This harrowing documentary takes a look at the scarifying chain of events that began hells-a-poppin’ after a student claimed she was possessed by the devil (9 p.m., Travel Channel).

The Circus
Just as the new political season heats up, the Emmy-nominated docuseries returns to pull back the curtain on this extraordinarily fractured and fraught moment for American democracy (8 p.m., Showtime).

TUESDAY, Feb. 28
Black Broadway
This concert special featuring a current generation of Black Broadway stars celebrates iconic stage performances made famous by Black singers, with songs from The Wiz, The Color Purple, Porgy & Bess and more (8 p.m., PBS).

Homestead Rescue
Have a homestead that needs rescuing? Then call Marty Rainey and his kids (above), who thrive on helping people rehab and revive to create more self-sufficient lives, as they do in tonight’s new-season premiere episode, assisting a Wyoming family resurrect a legacy home place (8 p.m., Discovery Channel).

Bring It Home

Extras on the home video release of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) include a sing-along “jukebox” feature, deleted scenes and featurettes that bring you deeper into the complicated story of the late, great singer and how she became a superstar.

Hollywood’s top palooka goes for extra rounds in The Rocky I-IV Collection (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a set of all five feature films in Sylvester Stallone’s epic boxing saga (Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III and Rocky IV, plus Rocky Vs. Drago). And the knockout punch: They’re all in 4k Ultra HD for the first time (plus standard Blu-rays with commentary).

In Salvatore: Shoemaker of the Stars (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), director Luca Guadaginino (Bones and All, Call Me By Your Name) turns his lens on the Italian shoemaker who made sure all the stars of Hollywood’s silent era were well-heeled, founding the luxury footware and accessories company that still bears his name. Actor Michael Stuhbarg (currently on Showtime’s His Honor) narrates.

WEDNESDAY, March 1
Star Wars: The Mandalorian
Season three of creator Jon Favreau’s hit sci-fi adventure series, starring Pedro Pascal as a bounty hunter who becomes a protector of Baby Yoda, begins its third season today (Disney+).

Beauty and the Bleach
Documentary looks at the global beauty trend of skin lightening—and how “lighter” skin taps into a wider issue of racist bullying and prejudice against people who aren’t white (9 p.m., Fuse and Fuse+).

THURSDAY, March 2
Omega: Gift and Curse
The Dominican singer-songwriter known as Omega (real name: Antonio Peter De la Rosa) lifts the veil in this new five-part docuseries to give fans an exclusive look at his life and career (WE tv and ALLBLK).

Topic
New series stars Mark Strong as a talented surgeon who opens an “underground” clinic beneath a London tube station to treat those who cannot, or will not, seek more legitimate medical care. But as anyone who’s had to deal with insurance knows, it doesn’t always go smoothly (Topic).

NOW HEAR THIS

Revisit one of Britain’s most legendary rock bands with Genesis BBC Broadcasts (Rhino), a 5-CD (or 3-LP) collection spanning the group’s music between 1970 and the late 1990s, featuring vocalists Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel and Nick Davis. It features live tracks recorded by the BBC, including an historic set from Wembley Arena in 1987. 

The legendary late Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard once defined country music as “three chords and the truth.” Now the legendary Willie Nelson sings it and brings it in his new album, I Don’t Know a Thing About Love (Sony Music Entertainment), an all-new celebration of Howard’s classic songs, including “Tiger By the Tail,” “Life Turned Her That Way,” “Busted” and “Streets of Baltimore.”

Dec 09 2022
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The Entertainment Forecast

Dec. 9 – 15

Top picks for TV, streaming, reading, home entertainment & more

A Christmas tree lights up, the Mormon Tabernacle choir sings & Amy and Maya reunite

Former SNL castmates Maya Rudolph & Amy Pohler host “Baking It” Monday on NBC.

FRIDAY, Dec. 9
Something From Tiffany’s
Reese Witherspoon is a producer of this holiday romcom starring Zoey Deutch (above) as a woman whose life is upended when an engagement ring meant for someone else leads her to the person she’s meant to be with (Prime Video).

Emancipation
Will Smith stars in this new slave drama as a plantation escapee who evades murderous hunters and the swamps of Louisiana on his run for freedom. With Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa, and inspired by the image of a whipped man photographed during a Union Army medical examination (Apple TV+).

READ ALL ABOUT
Space has fascinated us, from long before we were able to get there. Space Craze (Smithsonian) examines America’s deep attraction to outer space, as fed and nurtured through pop culture (Buck Rogers, toy ray guys, Star Trek, Star Wars), spurred by the Cold War, and eventually stoked by the real-world pioneering of NASA astronauts and modern-day kajillionaires.

SATURDAY, Dec. 10
Happy Gilmore
This 1996 sports comedy stars Adam Sandler as an unsuccessful ice hockey player who finds he has a new talent—for golf. The scuffle between Sandler’s character and TV gameshow host Bob Barker won an MTV Movie Award for “Best Fight” (11 p.m., TNT).

A Christmas Fumble
What happens when a crisis-management queen (LeToya Luckett) gets a gig handling a breaking scandal for a pro football player (Finness Mitchell)…who happens to be her old flame? (9 p.m., Own).

SUNDAY, Dec. 11
National Christmas Tree Lighting
Yeah, your Christmas tree in the family room is cool. But this one is the national Christmas tree, it’s enormous, and tonight marks its 100th birthday. Light up the holidays with this tradition from Washington, D.C., featuring an all-star lineup of musical performances by Gloria Estefan, Joss Stone, Shania Twain and host LL Cool J (8 p.m., CBS).

Master of Glass: The Art of Dale Chihuly
Documentary profiles the enigmatic artist behind glass sculptures that float through the rivers of Finland, bob in the narrow canals of Venice and blossom across the ceilings of the Bellagio in Las Vegas (9 p.m., Smithsonian).

MONDAY, Dec. 12
Baking It
SNL alums Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph host this special holiday edition of the baking competition series featuring some of their famous friends (10 p.m., NBC).

TUESDAY, Dec. 13
Kindred
New drama series, based on the novel of the same name, about a young Black aspiring author (Mallori Johnson) who finds herself pulled back and forth in time, emerging at a 19th century plantation with ties to her “modern” life (Hulu).


Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Tony nominee Megan Hilty and actor Neal MacDonough join the iconic singing ensemble for this Irish-inspired edition of the annual celebration of music and holiday traditions (8 p.m., PBS).

BRING IT HOME
Dog lovers will find their tails wagging with delight at Old Friends: A Dogumentary (MVD Entertainment), an inspiring, paw-some documentary about a Tennessee animal sanctuary specifically for older canines.

George Clooney and Julia Roberts are having a ball in the rollicking romcom Ticket to Paradise (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) as a pair of exes on a mission to stop their lovestruck daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from making the same matrimonial mistake they did.

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 14
A Very Backstreet Christmas
The Backstreet Boys perform songs from their new Christmas album, plus classic hits, in this holiday special (8 p.m., ABC).

THURSDAY, Dec. 15
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle
Drama based on the true story of a legendary Japanese soldier who spent 30 years in the Philippine jungle, refusing to surrender because he wasn’t convinced World War II was over. For extra credit, watch the 1965 Gilligan’s Island episode, “So Sorry, My Island Now,” which riffed on the real-world saga (VOD).

The Parent Test
Host Ali Wentworth explores a variety of diverse parenting styles in this thought-provoking new series, based on an Australian TV hit (10 p.m., ABC).

H.E.R. & Josh Grobin headline an all-star anniversary presentation of ‘Beauty and the Beast.’

Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration have art Two-hour special honors the 30th anniversary of the beloved Disney animated classic with classic scenes and highlights from the film, new musical numbers and performances by hosts Josh Groban and H.E.R., plus Rita Moreno, Martin Short, David Alan Grier and Shania Twain—as Mrs. Potts! (8 p.m., ABC).

Sep 14 2022
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Movie Reviews, Uncategorized

Whodunnit?

Sam Rockwell & Saorise Ronan play mismatched cops in a multi-level murder mystery

Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan star in ‘See How They Run.’

See How They Run
Starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan & Adrien Brody
Directed by Tom George
PG-13

In theaters Friday, Sept. 16

Who’s up for a whodunnit?

A lot of people, apparently, given the wide popularity of TV police procedurals, hit shows like Only Murders in the Building, movies (Knives Out, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile) and the evergreen murder-mystery conundrums of author Agatha Christie.

In this cleverly comedic clue caper set in the early 1950s, a London theatrical production—of a real Agatha Christie murder mystery—goes off the rails when an actual murder (Eeeeek!) occurs backstage. Soon, a jaded Scotland Yard police inspector (Sam Rockwell) and an overzealous young constable trainee (Saoirse Ronan) arrive on the scene to investigate.

And then, as they say, the plot thickens, into a zesty swirl of possible suspects, likely motives and dizzying distractions, as the two coppers dig into the dish-y high-drama dilemma. “Don’t jump to conclusions,” Rockwell’s experienced sleuth cautions his greenhorn partner, who’s eager to peg almost everything as a case-closing revelation—and nearly everyone as a culprit.

British director Tom George, who honed his craft with short films and BBC comedy, makes his solid feature film debut with the support of a fine ensemble cast and an affection for the gloriously retro grit and glitz of London’s yesteryear theatrical world. He also shows a witty grasp of turning the time-honored traditions of murder mysteries inside out, then back onto themselves, into something fresh and lively and frequently surprising. 

Ruth WIlson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, Sian Clifford, Pearl Chanda, Jacob Fortune Lloyd, David Oyelowo and Ania Marson—there’s no shortage of suspects!

Rockwell, a versatile American actor with more than 110 movie and TV roles, adds a new character to his eclectic resume, which includes playing a stir-crazy astronaut (Moon), a superstar choreographer (Fosse/Verdon), President George W. Bush (Vice), a Nazi officer (JoJo Rabbit) and a groovy summertime guru (The Way Way Back). Here, he humanizes his role as the wry Scotland Yard veteran—limping along with a battlefield injury from World War II—with a rumpled, crumpled veneer of world-weary experience anchored to sobering physical and psychological wounds.

Ronan probably won’t net another Oscar nomination, to go along with her previous four, for Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women. But she serves up a quaint, likeable, restrained turn that recalls her quirky work with director Wes Anderson in The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch. Like Rockwell, she subtly adds dimensionality to a role that could have been significantly thinner and more comedically drawn; Stocker, a war widow whose star-struck obsession with show biz is often good for a pun, is also an avatar of 1950s proto-feminism, a working-class mom determined to do her job and advance in it. 

Adrien Brody (who won an Oscar for The Pianist and appeared alongside Ronan in The French Dispatch) plays an American director in London to change whatever he must to refashion the West End stage sensation as a Hollywood movie hit—much to the chagrin of the outraged screenwriter (David Oyelowo), who’d rather adhere to traditional theatrical elements. There’s the film-to-be’s producer (Reece Shearsmith), sneaking around to hide his affair with his assistant (Pippa Bennett-Warner) from his wife (Sian Clifford, who played Claire on the TV series Fleabag).

Why was the theater manager (Ruth Wilson) so anxious to sell the movie rights to the play? What makes the star of the show (Harris Dickinson) and his actress spouse (Shirley Henderson) so smug? And what’s up with the usher (Charlie Cooper)? Does it have something to do with the sandbag counterweight that bonked him on his head?

The movie revels in classic murder-mystery conventions, giving them a deliciously self-aware twist. And it’s all a charming cinematic toast to the works of Agatha Christie, whose stories and novels have been turned into nearly 40 films and numerous plays—including six staged in London during the 1950s. One of them was, in fact, The Mousetrap, which is the very play at the center of See How They Run. 

On the stakeout.

Many of the character’s names are wink-wink references to other murder mysteries and actors. Director Alfred Hitchcock gets a shout-out, and so does ‘50s superstar Grace Kelly, who starred in four of Hitchcock’s films (including Rear Window, North by Northwest and Dial M for Murder) before she became Princess of Monaco. Rockwell’s Inspector Stoppard echoes the name of lauded playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, whose many works included a play about—much like See How They Run—a stage production rocked by a real murder. The inspector’s protégé, Constable Stocker, shares her name with the fictional detective Lise Stocker, who appeared in the French TV series Killer by the Lake. The play’s lead actor, “Dickie” Attenborough (playing a detective investigating the crime) might just be intended as a younger version—or a reminder—of the late, great British actor and director Sir Richard Attenborough, whose long career was capped off by his recurring role as John Hammond in the Jurassic Park franchise. The producer, John Wolff, is based on a real-life Oscar-winning Hollywood filmmaker of that same name, who brought several major projects (including The African Queen and Oliver!) to the screen.

Split-screen moments convey the idea that there’s more than one way to see things—quite apt for unraveling a murder mystery, where suspects and clues can be everywhere, anything might be significant, and no detail can be overlooked. A couple of scenes make use of mirrors, “looking glasses” that reflect reversed versions of the same image. At one point, the detective actor goes “Method” and incorporates a physical characteristic of the “real” detective, Inspector Stoppard; Stoppard later mimics—mirrors—the role of the stage actor. This inventive British potboiler, a mirror of classic murder mysteries, playfully blurs the lines between art and artifice, then sends them straight into a merry-mayhem loop-de-loop.

And in the final act of this film about a play being made into a movie, Agatha Christie herself (Shirley Henderson) makes a significant appearance—and the grand dame becomes part of her own drama.

“It’s a whodunnit,” Brody’s director says early on. “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all.” Ah, not quite—and don’t be so quick to pre-judge the clue-sniffing charms of this meta ode to murder mysteries, the stage and the screen, which shows there’s still plenty of movie mileage in smoking guns, tainted tea, cocktails, mismatched cops and guys in felt fedoras.

In other words, as Inspector Stoppard advises, don’t jump to conclusions.   

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