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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more! Aug. 29 – Sept. 4

A Flintstones milestone, another Mormon cult & the new NCIS spinoff!

FRIDAY, Aug. 29
Vice is Broke
Doc about the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of Vice, which started as a scrappy alt-punk ‘zine and become a media empire, before its bankruptcy as a sleazy exemplar of disaster capitalism (Mubi).

The Twin
Haunted by the tragic loss of his son, a man (Logan Donovan) struggles with grief and a strained relationship with his wife, has troubling visions of himself and becomes aware of supernatural forces that threaten to consume him (Shudder).

SATURDAY, Aug. 30
Dinner & A Movie
Hosts Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen welcome Superman star Skyler Gisondo for a screening of Man of Steel (8 p.m., TBS).

Summer Under the Stars
As TCM’s annual movie-fest month draws to a close, settle in for a dozen films starring Kirk Douglas, including Paths of Glory (above), Ace in the Hole, Lust for Life and Detective Story (starts 6 a.m.)

SUNDAY, Aug. 31
The Flintstones: 65 Years and Still Rock’n!
All-day marathon celebrating the 65th anniversary of the classic ‘toon, with more than two dozen back-to-back episodes plus two full-length movies, A Man Called Flintstone and The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons (begins 6 a.m., MeTV Toons). 

Let the Devil In
Four-episode documentary about a decades-old tragedy in New Jersey that some people insist was Satan taking possession of a vulnerable teenage boy—but others insist more earthly demons were to blame (MGM+). 

MONDAY, Sept. 1
Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence
Four-part docuseries about a couple of Mormon women influencers whose microcosm of control, manipulation and brutality led to devastating emotional and physical child abuse (9 p.m., ID).

The Runarounds
New drama series (above) about a group of Southern high schoolers who form a rock band, learning about love, life and lifelong friendship along the way (Prime Video).

TUESDAY, Sept. 2
Bobby’s Triple Threat
A trio of top-notch chefs hand-picked by Bobby Flay take on highly skilled competitors in cooking rounds with surprise featured ingredients for a chance to win $25,000 (8 p.m., Food Network).

True South
The crew travels to Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and South Carolina to shine the spotlight on cooks, eaters and everyday heroes (8 p.m., SEC Network).

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3
Mountain Men
New season of the reality series intros viewers to more individuals and couples with the modern-day pioneer spirt and a yen for wild-n-wooly wilderness living (8 p.m., History).

The Last Wright: Building the Final Home Design of America’s Greatest Architect
Designers take on the ambitious challenge of building a home in Ohio based on the last set of plans created by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright before his death in 1959 (8 p.m., Magnolia Network).

THURSDAY, Sept. 4
NCIS: Tony & Ziva
New spinoff of the franchise featuring former series regulars (played by Michael Weatherly, above, and Cote de Pablo) as their reprise their special-agent characters, now on the run with their daughter in search an unconventional happily ever after (Paramount+).

The Paper
A mockumentary (like the Emmy Award-winning series The Office) about a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore and The Office’s Oscar Nuñez (Peacock).

NOW HEAR THIS

Everybody on the dance floor—once more! The 40th anniversary white vinyl re-release of Dancing in the Street (Parlophone) rekindles the magic of the 1995 superstar collaboration of David Bowie and Mick Jagger on the Motown classic, originally done as a cheeky video for part of the global humanitarian Live Aid project to combat global hunger. And the newly mastered groovery has never sounded groovier.

Hey! Ho! Let’s go! And go get these newly remastered first four albums of the ultimate NYC punk rockers in 1-2-3-4: The Ramones Atmos Collection (Rhino). It’s a revved-up, head-banging 50-track set with “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Beat on the Brat,” “Judy is a Punk,” “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Do You Wanna Dance?” and other ’70s punk-rock mainstays.

Relive the musical magic of The King’s reign in Los Angeles in Sunset Boulevard (RCA/Legacy), a window into the hitmaking work of Elvis Presley in the City of Angels during the ‘70s. It’s nearly 90 tracks of rarities, rehearsal cuts, never-heard-before mixes and other goodies on five CDs, with hits including “Burning Love,” “Always on My Mind,” “Separate Ways,” “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” and “Promised Land.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

First published in 1985, In the American West was a landmark photography project from photographer Richard Avedon. Out of print for more than a decade, it’s now re-released as a 40th anniversary edition by Abrams, filled with over 100 striking portraits of “ordinary” people who were living, working and visually representing what will always be known as America’s frontier. It’s an art gallery at your fingertips.

In The Shape of Nature (Abrams), photographer David Maitland explores the many structures, shapes, geometric patterns and recurring symmetries in the natural world, with analysis into their biological origins and significance, from plankton to frogs, fish scales and snake skin, and far beyond. You’ll never look at the world—or a flower, or a tree leaf— the same way after you’ve absorbed the extraordinary imagery and insights.

Young readers can learn all about the biggest-selling musical act in South Korea history in BTS: A Little Golden Book Biography, by Jan Ann and illustrated by Hyesung Park. It’s about the global-hit “boy band” that formed in 2010 and began showing the world what they could do, defying adolescent stereotypes and setting positive examples for other young people. It’s intended for ages 4-8, but parents and grandparents will dig it, too! They’re the top of K-pop!

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Movie Review: “Nobody 2”

Bob Odenkirk unleashes his inner badass in a rollicking, slam-bang “family” adventure inside a small-town amusement park

Nobody 2
Starring Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielsen, Colin Hanks & Christopher Lloyd
Directed by Timo Tjahjanto
Rated R

In theaters Friday, Aug. 15

Nobody plays Nobody like Bob Odenkirk.

In this follow-up to the 2021 action-thriller, the Better Call Saul star reprises his role as a former government assassin who just wants to disappear into mild-mannered family life as a “nobody.” But his past keeps bleeding into his present, quite literally.

After the events of the first film, Hutch Mansell now finds himself deep in debt and back at his old job, taking “assignments” to run a gauntlet of global thuggery—a gaggle of Croatians with MP7s, an elevator crowded with Chinese assassins, and a parking garage full of Mexicans with machetes. Like a lot of us, he needs a vacation. So he gathers his wife (Gladiator‘s Connie Nielsen) and their two kids (McKenna Grace, who played little Tonya in I, Tonya, and Gage Monroe), plus his still-sprightly dad (Christopher Lloyd) for a getaway to a small-town lakeside resort he remembers visiting as a child with his brother (played by the Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA).

But at Plummerville, he runs into more trouble, including a viciously corrupt cop (Colin Hanks) and an extravagantly wicked criminal mastermind (Sharon Stone) with her thumb on a pipeline of bootlegged vice. John Ortiz is the top dog in Plummerville, but all his badassery barks and bites mask another, more nuanced side.

Setting the movie in a theme park provides for some colorfully creative action scenes, including a knock-down drag-out fight aboard a “Duck Boat” ride, a shootout in a house of mirrors and a children’s ball pit turned into a multi-hued minefield. It has a lot of bang-bang, boom-boom, snapped necks, broken bones and brutal hand-to-hand walloping—and one particularly memorable encounter where a head is sliced neatly in two. But there’s a come-together theme of family, of fathers and sons, and the bonds that can bring people closer—to right wrongs, fight bad guys, or weaponize a Ferris wheel.  

“Making memories” is what Hutch tells everyone he’s doing on vacay with his family. See Nobody 2 and your memories will include seeing Bob Odenkirk as an infinitely resourceful badass who can turn a waterslide into a death trap.   

Neil Pond

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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch Aug. 1 – Aug. 7

The return of ‘Platonic,’ Jason Momoa goes Hawaiian, & women rock all day!

Rose Byrne and Seth Rogan rekindle their ‘Platonic’ relationship.

FRIDAY, Aug. 1
Chief of War
Jason Momoa stars in this drama based on historical events about a native Pacific chieftain trying to unify the islands of Hawai’I before Western colonization in the late 18th century (Apple TV+).

Marc Marone: Panicked
In his second HBO comedy special, the actor and comedian offers his perspectives on the increasingly uncertain world (8 p.m., HBO).

SATURDAY, Aug. 2
Women in Music Marathon
In-concert performances and behind-the-scenes docs about trailblazing females including Cher, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, Diana Ross, Heart, Blondie and Pat Benatar (11 a.m., AXS TV).

Naming the Dead
Six-part series unearths the untold stories of tens of thousands of “unidentified” bodies, using DNA evidence and genetic genealogy to help law enforcement crack the country’s most confounding cold cases (10 p.m., National Geographic). 

SUNDAY, Aug. 3
1000 Ways to Dine
Take a tour of some of the world’s most exciting, unique and outrageously delicious restaurants, where what’s on the menu is just one part of the bigger experience, hosted by actor/comedian Michael Yo (9 a.m., A&E).

The Great Food Truck Race
Host Tyler Florence pushes nine talented teams to the culinary limit as they road trip up the Atlantic coast in pursuit of food truck glory and a $50,000 grand prize (9 p.m., Food Network)

MONDAY, Aug. 4
Atomic People
Eighty years after it happened, this doc explores the United States’ bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, gathering testimony from some of the last survivors of the two atomic bombs—the most momentous and destructive attacks in the history of the world (10 p.m., PBS).

King of the Hill
Can creator Mike Judge’s animated grownup comedy sitcom really be starting its 14th season? Yes, with more domestic adventures of Hank and Penny Hill, and Bobby all grown up and working as a chef (Hulu and Disney+).

TUESDAY, Aug. 5
The Las Culturistas Culture Awards
SNL‘s Bowen Yang and comedian Matt Rogers host this presentation of pop-culture awards, spiced with a bit of silliness, based on their popular podcast and now televised for the first time (9 p.m., Bravo).

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 6
The Pickup
Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson (above) are joined by Eva Longoria and Keke Palmer in this new crime comedy (Prime Video).

Platonic
Season two of the sorta-romantic comedy series, starring Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as two platonic friends, launches its second season today (Apple TV+).

THURSDAY, Aug. 7
Demascus
Comedic sci-fi series stars Station 19’s Okieriete Onaodowan as a Black man on a journey of self-discovery following a reality-bending technological experiment (Tubi).

NOW HEAR THIS

The Boss is back in Lost and Found: Selections from the Lost Albums (Legacy), a new curated collection of 20 previously unreleased, available-for-the-first time Bruce Springsteen cuts spanning more than 30 years of his ever-evolving, always-rocking career. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them,” says Springsteen. All we can say is, “Thanks, Bruuuuuuuuce!”

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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more!

Goofball golf, natural disasters, criminal gangs, mud madness & more!

July 25 – July 31

FRIDAY, July 25
Happy Gilmore 2
Start the weekend by teeing up for more Adam Sandler goofball golf antics, this time with a “hole” lot of guest stars, including Ben Stiller, Julie Bowen, Travis Kelce and Sandler’s own wife and their daughters, Sunny and Sadie (Netflix).

Death of a Unicorn
When a father (Paul Rudd) and daughter (Jenna Ortega) accidentaly hit a unicorn with their vehicle, their friends want to exploit its magical powers and, well, bad things start to happen (Max).

SATURDAY, July 26
Before Your Father Finds Us
A woman (Alexa PenaVega) forced to go into witness protection finds out her ex-husband has escaped from prison, causing her to flee with her teenage daughter into remote woodlands cabin (Lifetime).

Dinner and a Movie
Hosts Jason Briggs and Jenny Mollen welcome actor Nick Swardson for a screening of his 2011 comedy Just Got With It, starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston (8 p.m., TBS).

SUNDAY, July 27
In the Eye of the Storm
More horrendous weather disasters—from monstrous Iowa twisters to raging California wildfires and nearly apocalyptic Appalachian flooding—as recalled by ordinary people who lived it…and captured it on camera (10 p.m., Discovery).

Katrina: Race Against Time
Another wild-weather documentary series, this one covers one of the deadliest and most devastating natural disasters in U.S. history when it roared into Louisiana in 2005, killing more than 1,300 (National Geographic).

MONDAY, July 28
Slumlord Millionaire
Find out about a group of determined residents and lawmakers fighting corrupt landlords eager to swap long-term tenants for higher rent profits (10 p.m., PBS). 

Disability in Film
Watch a triple feature of movies featuring characters with disabilities, including Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Spencer Tracy and Ship of Fools (1965), starring Vivien Leigh, Jose Ferrer and Lee Marvin (TCM).7.29

Mud Madness
Climb aboard for another season following off-road subculture and extreme UTV and ATV mud racing. And maybe bring along some spot remover (8 p.m., Discovery).

TUESDAY, July 29
United Gangs of America
Current and former gang members reveal the innermost workings of some of the most dangerous gangs across the U.S. (9 p.m., Vice).

WEDNESDAY, July 30
The Challenge: Vets and New Threats
Former “veteran” contestants across 40 seasons of hit reality competitions—including Big Brother, Survivor and The Amazing Race—return to see who’s got what it takes to survive a gauntlet of new threats, betrayals and challenges (8 p.m., MTV).

Mr. and Mrs. Murder
Four-part true crime docuseries explores the mysterious disappearance of a Tallahassee man, Mike Williams, who failed to return from a duck hunting trip. But when his widow marries his best friend, new suspicions arise (Hulu).

THURSDAY, July 31
Twisted Metal
Season two of the futuristic drama (above) begins as John Doe (Anthony Mackie) and Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) risk their lives to compete in a highly dangerous demolition derby. But can they beat the killer clown Sweet Tooth? (Peacock).

Project Runway
Reality competition about fashion design returns for season 21 with former superstar model Heidi Klum back as one of the judges (9 p.m., Freeform).

NOW HEAR THIS

The new deluxe edition of the Talking Heads’ classic 1978 album More Songs About Buildings and Food (Rhino), available in multiple formats, features the remastered album plus rarities, alternate versions, live recordings and performance video, and a 60-page hardcover book. Re-live the retro new age groovery with tunes including “Psycho Killer,” “Take Me to the River” and “Stay Hungry,” and much more.

Do you remember when rock was young? Elton John: Live from the Rainbow Theater with Ray Cooper (Universal Music Entertainment) is a new vinyl and CD re-release culled from EJ’s six-show 1977 residency at London’s iconic venue, stripped down from a full band with accompaniment by his percussionist—and former band member—Ray Cooper. Tracks include “Roy Rogers,” “Border Song,” “Sweet Painted Lady” and more.

The greatest band ever with a flute-playing frontman (Ian Anderson) rises again with Still Living in the Past, a new reissue of Jethro Tull’s cult-fave 1972 album (available on 5 CDs plus a Blu-Ray or an LP set). It’s been newly expanded with singles, album tracks, demos and outtakes, plus a live-in-concert Blu-ray recording from 1979s and four promo films (proto videos). Dig it!

BRING IT HOME

Fans of action flicks will flip over The Jet Li Collection (Shout! Studios), a roundup of five seminal Hong Kong classics from the legendary actor, martial arts expert and producer. (who found movie “crossover” fame in flicks like Lethal Weapon, Romeo Must Die and Kiss of the Dragon). The 10 discs also feature a bounty of bonus content, including commentary, interviews and deleted scenes.

Director Wes Anderson is up to his inspired quirkiness again in The Phoenician Project (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment), starring Benico del Toro as an unscrupulous industrialist cooking up a mega project in the Middle East, dodging would-be assassins and meeting all sorts of colorful characters. The all-star ensemble cast includes Michael Ciera, Mia Threapleton, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and  Bryan Cranston.

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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch and more

Friday, July 18 – Thursday, July 24

Worlds collide! Snoopy and sharks, Billy Joel and Mickey Mouse, LL Cool J, bagpipes, housewives with guns, and ‘Clueless’ turns 30!

FRIDAY, July 18
Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang break out in original songs (by Emmy Award nominees Jeff Morrow and Ben Folds) in this franchise special about the magic of summer camp (Apple TV+).

Billy Joel: And So It Goes
New two-part documentary presents an expansive portrait of the singer-songwriter’s life and career. Continues on July 25 (HBO).

SATURDAY, July 19
Faith in the Flames: The Nichole Jolly Story
Chrissy Metz stars in this faith-based drama as a nurse torn between her duty to protest her patients and her desperation to find her missing husband and kids (Lifetime).

Clueless
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ‘90s high-school satirical classic (below) starring Alicia Silverstone as a Beverly Hills teen who upsets the pecking order and becomes a matchmaker, which will air three times in a row today—once for every decade it’s been around—on Pluto TV’’s 90s Throwback channel.

SUNDAY, July 20
Shark Week
Annual week-long event of shark-centric programming kicks off tonight, celebrating its 37th year. With shows like “Dancing with Sharks,” “Expedition Unknown Shark Files” and “How to Survive a Shark Attack,” it’s fin-tastic! (8 p.m., Discovery).

Shark Week Support Movie Marathon
Dive into this watery trio of shark-adjacent flicks: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Aquaman (begins 2 p.m., TBS).

MONDAY, July 21
The Hunting Wives
In this new ensemble drama (above) based on the hit mystery thriller by May Cobb, a woman moves to deep East Texas and becomes consumed by a socialite’s charms, tumbling into a world of obsession, seduction and murder. Starring Malin Ackerman, Brittany Snow, Chrissy Metz and Dermot Mulroney (Netflix).

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
New animated incarnation of the iconic kiddie show, geared to preschoolers, continues the adventures of Mickey and his pals—and features the song “Hot Dog!” by They Might Be Giants (9 p.m., Disney Jr.).

Battle of the Bagpipes
Discover the history of Scotland’s musical heritage with performances from the military and  civilian “piper” bands, below (streaming on Acorn TV).

TUESDAY, July 22
The 1% Club
Joel McHale hosts season two of this game show in which contestants vie for cash prizes by attempting to answer questions that only 1% of the population can answer (8 p.m., Fox).

WEDNESDAY, July 23
Hip Hop Was Born Here
LL Cool J hosts this docuseries about the creation, evolution and ongoing legacy of the music which became a global culture sensation (Paramount +).

Washington Black
New series follows the 19th-century odyssey of an 11-year-old boy, George “Wash” Washington Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr.), on a globe-spanning adventure that challenges and reshapes his understanding of family, freedom and love (Hulu)

THURSDAY, July 24
The Congregation
Season two of the award-winning Swedish psychological drama is based on a real-life cult and its abuses, infidelities, threats and feverish prophecies (Viaplay).

Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965
Learn the story of the civil rights era from the perspectives of the ordinary men and women whose extraordinary actions launched a movement that changed the fabric of American life (PBS on Prime).

BRING IT HOME

As the old saying notes, death comes to us all. One of the most successful modern-horror franchises returns with Final Destination: Bloodlines (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), with another group of young characters meeting their inevitable ends in more gruesome, nightmarish and horrifically inventive ways.

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The Entertainment Forecast

What to watch, and more, July 4 – 11

‘Jaws’ at 50, a lotta fireworks & families go back to the 1800s!

Learn all about the movie that created the concept of summer blockbusters back in ’75.

All times Eastern.

FRIDAY, July 4
A Capitol Fourth
Celebrate our nation’s 249th birthday with this annual tradition, live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, with fireworks along the Potomac and musical performances from multiple genres of music (8 p.m., PBS).

Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks
In addition to a lot of kaboomy razzle-dazzle up in the sky, there’ll also be ground-level performances from Eric Church, the Jonas Brothers, Lenny Kravitz, Keke Palmer and Trisha Yearwood (8 p.m., NBC). 

SATURDAY, July 5
The Summer Hikaru Died
Anime thriller based on an award-winning manga novel about a young man in a rural Japanese village who discovers his best friend has been “replaced” with a replicant (Netflix).

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Show
All this month, you can watch material from the groundbreaking talk show, spanning the 1960s into the early ’90s, with 50 episodes (never before seen after their original airings) featuring classic Carson bits, sketches, guests and musical acts. It’s a time capsule of retro TV, when Johnny ruled late night (MeTV).

SUNDAY, July 6
Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
Yep, that Wild Kingdom, the great-grandaddy of wildlife TV series hosted by Marlin Perkins for more than two decades beginning in 1963, returns in reruns (7 a.m., MeTV).

The Princess Bride
Always worth a rewatch, this 1987 classic from director Rob Reiner has an all-star cast (Billy Crystal! Robin Wright! Chris Sarandon! Andre the Giant!) in a whimsical, swashbuckling bedtime-story tale of a princess, a giant and “true love” (9:03 p.m., ABC).

MONDAY, July 7
Such Brave Girls
A young woman, her sister and their mother flee their cramped, crumbling home for a shot at love and adoration in this six-episode comedy series. With Kate Sadler, Lizzie Davidson and Louise Brealey (Hulu).

Bachelor in Paradise
Returning cast members from across the franchise hit the beach in Costa Rica for season 10 or the hit reality-show matchmaking competition (8 p.m., ABC).

TUESDAY, July 8
Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty
How the greatest works of art in western civilization sprung from one of the most turbulent periods in history (9 p.m., PBS).

Born to be Viral: The Real Lives of Kid Influencers
Six-episode docuseries follows the first generation of kids to be raised in the media spotlight, with their lives streamed to millions—and some of them becoming millionaires in the process (Hulu)

WEDNESDAY, July 9
South Park
The acclaimed animated grownup comedy from Trey Parker and Matt Stone (above) begins season 27 tonight. So they must be doing something right, right? (Comedy Central).

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The gang of chronic underachievers stoops even lower in season 17 in their cravings for money and societal privileges. With Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Katilin Olson and Danny Devito (FXX and Hulu).

THURSDAY, July 10
Brick
A couple becomes trapped in their apartment behind an impenetrable, futuristic wall that has materialized overnight, enclosing their entire building. Can everyone band together to find a way out, solve the mystery, and survive? (Netflix). 

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Go inside the making and behind-the-scenes shark drama of the movie that launched the era of summer blockbusters back in ’75—and made just about everyone afraid of going in the water (National Geographic).

Back to the Frontier
Chip and Joanna Gaines challenge three families in this new adventure/reality series to reimagine their lives as 1880s homesteaders, forgoing present-day comforts for old-fashioned life on the frontier (Magnolia Network and Max).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Everyone’s a photographer now, with cameras built into phones. But decades ago, when photography was a marvelous new thing, there were all sorts of innovations and experimentation to be found—and all sorts of new “high tech” trickery even danger. Anika Burgess’ fascinating Flashes of Brilliance (W.W. Norton) examines the long arc of photographic advancement, from early cameras attached to ballons, to X-rays, photography deep under the sea, on the moon and deep into the cosmos. It’s an engrossing combination of science, history, art and wild eccentricities about the human desire to document our existence in our world, and beyond.

Find out what it’s really like—and I mean really, really like—to be a stand-up comedian in Doing Time (Jawbone Press), author JT Habersaat’s refreshingly candid and gloriously uncensored look at the artistry and hard work that go into making people laugh. With reflections and recollections, and more than a few hard-earned battle scars, from Patton Oswalt, Bobcat Goldthwait, The Kids in the Hall, Dana Gould and dozens of others who share their anecdotes and stories.

Remember the promotional-tie-in toys you used to get with food at McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and other fast-food places? Author Jonathan Alexandrotos for sure does, in Free With Every Kids Meal (McFarland), he digs deep to examine the past and present, the cultural impact, and the full-throttle fun of all sorts of “happy meals.”

BRING IT HOME

Vampires attack the South in Sinners (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), a tale of two brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who return home after World War II only to face an even greater (and graver) threat than the Klan. Hailee Steinfeld also stars in this horror show gloriously a-swirl with undertones about music, culture, history and race. Loaded with extras and bonus features, including making-of docs, interviews and a closer look at the movie soundtrack.

NOW HEAR THIS

Get deep into the retro grooves of The Legends of Surf Guitar, recorded live in California, with musicians from the ‘70s and ‘80s surf-music revival recreating such classics as “Wipe Out,” “Pipeline,” the Peter Gunn theme and “Baby Elephant Walk.” And some special guest stars take the stage, too!  Surf’s up! (Oglio Records).

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Movie Review: “Jurassic World Rebirth”

Dinos roar again in sixth sequel, with an all-new cast and Spielberg-ian overtones of the 1993 original

Jurassic World Rebirth
Starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey & Rupert Friend
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Rated PG-13

In theaters Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Dinosaurs became extinct some 66 million years ago, until, that is, director Steven Spielberg brought ‘em back in a big way. His Jurassic Park in 1993 established a dino-mite film franchise that’s still roaring, now into sequel number six.

In Jurassic World Rebirth, set several years after the events of the previous film, 2022’s Dominion, the Earth’s climate has proven unwelcoming to laboratory-bred dinosaurs. (Despite the franchise title, it’s just not “Jurassic” enough.) So, a team of covert operatives infiltrate an abandoned dino research facility on a remote island now inhabited by crossbred dinosaur mutants, which continue to thrive in the wilds of the equatorial tropics. They’re on a mission to extract dino DNA, while there are still some dinos around to provide it, that a pharmaceutical company intends to use for medical purposes.

What could possibly go wrong?

Scarlett Johannson stars as a mercenary for hire, lured by a multimillion-dollar payday. Ditto for the boat captain played by Oscar-winning Mahershala (Moonlight) Ali. They’re both working for a tagalong pharmacy rep (Rupert Friend), who also enlists a hunky-nerd paleontologist (Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey, who also starred in Wicked). To keep things interesting, they all cross paths with a papa Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (from The Lincoln Lawyer) and his three kids, who just happen to be on their own collision course with dinosaur island.

It’s a Jurassic movie, so of course there are monsters—in the water, in the air and romping and stomping and snarling all over the place. Director Gareth Edwards creates some intense, dramatic encounters with an array of menacing creatures, including some crossbred amphibious mutations like the terrifying Distortus Rex, with a bulbous head and six limbs, and the Mutadons, flying carnivores the size of military F-16s.  

Spielberg, who only directed two Jurassic flicks, remains onboard as a producer. Maybe that’s one reason so much of Rebirth seems to be retreading the past, with scenes that echo moments from the 1993 film and callbacks to the original, like a big unfurling museum banner that reads “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,” which appeared in the closing shot of the first movie. One character misdirects a lurking dinosaur with a red flare, as Sam Neill did more than 30 years ago, and there’s another, whose greed leads him to a fate akin to Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) when he tried to smuggle dino embryos off the island.

There’s still that good ol’ Spielberg sentimentality, too, especially with a little girl (Audrina Miranda) who becomes a hero, her big sister’s wayward-teen boyfriend (David Iacono, from Netflix’s The Summer I Turned Pretty) who also proves his worthiness, and a cute little tagalong dino nicknamed Delores, which you’ll most likely be seeing as a mass-merched kids’ toy.

There’s plenty of talking in between the post-prehistoric action, including discussion about the situational ethics of dinosaur breeding and big pharma spending mega money to make even more mega money. It’s hard to miss the parallel to the entire Jurassic franchise, which continues to mine movie dinos for astronomical profits.

And now, in the world spawned by Jurassic Park, humans and dinosaurs continue to coexist, even though the dinos don’t really have much use for the ongoing exploitation of us puny bipeds. “They may be through with us,” says the movie’s pharmacology dude, “but we’re not through with them.” Somewhere in the distance, I hear the roar of an eighth Jurassic movie…

Neil Pond

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Movie Review: “Ballerina”

Ana de Armas puts a fiercely feminine stamp on the wild world of John Wick

Ballerina
Starring Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Angela Huston & Gabrielle Byrne
Directed by Len Wiseman
Rated R

In theaters Friday, June 6

A little girl named Eve who dreams of becoming a ballerina grows up on a path of vengeful retribution in this rock ‘em, sock’em John Wick spinoff. Cuban-born Ana de Armas stars, throwing herself with gusto into the super-stylish ultra-violence, astronomically high body count and epic levels of combative extermination that have become franchise cornerstones.

And it’s not a John Wick movie, per se, but John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is also around for a stone-faced cameo that feels less like a plot necessity and more like a calculated nod and bit of connective tissue for faithful fans, who’ve pushed the four previous films—the first of which debuted more than a decade ago—into the rarified billion-dollar box-office zone.

De Armas showed her kickass bona fides as a James Bond associate in a memorable scene from No Time to Die (2021), and she also made lasting impressions in two Blade Runners, Knives Out and Blonde, for which she was Oscar nominated in her starring role as Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. But she’s a newbie to the off-the-charts action of Wicki-world, and she makes a scorcher of a debut. I found myself constantly marveling at the high-level skills behind all the controlled chaos of the stunts, the elaborately staged destruction, and the fantastical implausibility of anyone—like Eve—actually surviving the punishments she endures, and dishes out, onscreen.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” she’s asked at one point.

On Eve’s back is a tattoo reading “Lux en Tenebris,” which is Latin for “Light in the Darkness.” Just in case you miss it, she’s a force of good, fighting a dark cabal of death-dealing bad guys. Good thing she knows how—as the end soundtrack song by the rock band Evanescence reminds us—to “Fight Like a Girl.”

There’s not a lot of highfalutin pretenses to gum up all the ballistics, the bloody brawling and exploding bodies, despite the movie’s stridently fem-centric focus on family, fathers, daughters and fateful choices. “Are we going to die?” a young girl asks her papa. Let’s just say, if you’re in this movie, the odds are somewhat stacked against you, by just about whatever means you might imagine, including pistols, assault rifles, knives, pickaxes, hammers and hand grenades. There’s even an extended duel between flame throwers, and a restaurant brawl that weaponizes dinner plates. The final third of the movie is set in a snowy Czech village where everyone—even kids—is trained to kill.

The cast will look familiar to John Wick fans, with role-reprising turns from Gabriel Bryne, Ian McShane, Angelica Houston and Lance Reddick. And hey, there’s The Living Dead’s Norman Reedus, as an assassin with a big bounty on his head. The movie is a teeming immersion into a shady Euro fantasia, a subcultural alt-universe of diabolical criminal underworlds, life-and-death codes of conduct and—as fans are aware—a hotel franchise, the Continental, that caters only to killers. Would you like some hollow-point bullets with your room service omelet?

“When you deal in blood, there must be rules,” we hear from Eve’s mentor at the Ruska Roma, the German criminal “tribe” of gypsies that adopt the tiny dancer and turn her into a lethal weapon. And indeed, there’s a lot of bloody bang for your movie buck in Ballerina, particularly in de Armas’ full-throttle performance as a woman who’ll stop at nothing to get her revenge—with a gun, a knife, a hammer, duct tape, a flamethrower or a fire hose—as she widens and feminizes the fierce, ferociously wild world of John Wick.

—Neil Pond

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The Entertainment Forecast

Feb. 21 – Feb. 27

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

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

All times Eastern.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

READ ALL ABOUT

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

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

NOW HEAR THIS

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

BRING IT HOME

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

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Movie Review: “You’re Cordially Invited”

Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon spar in raucous wedding comedy

You’re Cordially Invited
Starring Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon
Written and directed by Nicholas Stoller
Rated R

Streaming Thursday, Jan. 30, on Prime

“Things go wrong at weddings,” states Will Ferrell’s character in this raucous nuptials romcom—in which things do, indeed, go hilariously haywire as two wedding parties discover they’ve been mistakenly doubled-booked for the same time and place.

Ferrell plays the doting widowed dad planning the big day for his only child, his daughter (Suresh Viswanathan). Reece Witherspoon is the sister of another bride-to-be, wrangling the event for her younger sib (Meredith Hagner).  

Personalities clash and tempers flare as both groups compete for space, amenities, attention—and soon are plotting how each can foil and spoil the other’s day. The comedic mix has a terrific cast of supporting players, including standup comic Celia Weston, 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer and veteran actress Celia Weston, who’s appeared in some 75 movies and TV series—and who dang near steals the show as a drawly Southern-belle matriarch. The shenanigans get crazily sideways, but in the middle of the mayhem is a soft, slushy message about dads, daughters, family ties and how love and loathing can be flip sides of the same canoodling coin.

Ferrell, a funnyman with impeccable cred from a slew of hilarious movies, and the versatile Witherspoon do their darndest to ride the seriously silly, anything-goes wavelength, synching up their fine-tuned comedic timing to the orchestration of director Nicholas Stoller, whose resume includes Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), a pair of fratty college yukfests (Neighbors and its sequel) and a boisterous redo of Gulliver’s Travels (2010) starring Jack Black. It has a lot of laughs, but it also sometimes strains to keep all the unrestrained wackadoo on a leash.  

You’ve certainly seen wedding comedies before, from Bridesmaids to Wedding Crashers and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But you’re probably never seen one with such a crazy, anarchic ruckus, including a saboteur in a zebra costume, strip-club groomsmen, bawdy bridesmaids, and much more Hollywood attention to the Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers duet “Islands in the Stream” than it’s ever gotten before.

And is that NFL icon Peyton Manning just standing around, one of the Jonas Brothers as a singing pastor with a soft spot for Creed, and SNL veteran Bobby Moynihan as the host of a Masked Singer-esque hit TV show? Yes, yes and yes.

And indeed, as you may have seen in any of the marketing materials, Will Ferrell wrestles an alligator. So if you’re ready for a wedding that offers one uniquely unhinged, surprisingly heartfelt trip down the aisle, well, You’re Cordially Invited to this one.

Neil Pond

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