Movies/TV category, Page 185
Women filmmakers have record showing at Berlin Film Festival
BERLIN — The voice of the female filmmaker was louder than ever at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, with seven out of the 16 films in the competition section helmed by women, and female directors from all corners of the globe featured prominently. Women directors represented 63 percent of the...
Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows
WASHINGTON — Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows: ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.; Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; California Attorney General Xavier Becerra; former Gov. William Weld, R-Mass. ——— NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; Tom...
GoFundMe effort wants to send female fans to see ‘Captain Marvel’Video
As part of an endeavor to help young girls and women see the new female super hero movie Captain Marvel, starring actress Brie Larson, the initiative #CaptainMarvelChallenge has launched on GoFundMe.com. A Pittsburgh effort, GoFundMe: Pittsburgh#CaptainMarvelChallenge, is one of 25 campaigns to receive a $100 donation, says GoFundMe’s Meghan Scripture....
Review: ‘Happy Death Day 2U’ doesn’t learn from original’s mistakesVideo
The 2017 thriller “Happy Death Day” took a “Groundhog Day”-like concept — a young woman must relive the same day, over and over — and put it in service of a largely uninspired college-set horror movie. (Turns out the day in question is the day of the protagonist’s murder, which...
Review: ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ an ingenious parody of rom-com genre
The comic actress Rebel Wilson makes any movie better — and frequently steals the show. She did it in “Pitch Perfect,” among many other films in which she plays the second lead, with a combination of oddball line readings, out-of-left-field reactions and inspired slapstick. Finally, we can celebrate her elevation...
Review: ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ successfully melds human and machineVideo
Alita is just like a typical teenage girl. She loves chocolate, breaks curfew and crushes on a bad boy with floppy hair, a leather jacket and a motorcycle. But Alita isn’t typical in other ways. For one, she can slice apart a single falling tear with her ferocious battle sword....
When did reality TV become … nice?Video
Ever since “The Real World” debuted on MTV in 1992, reality TV has given us so much anger: Accusations. Betrayals. Brawls. Plenty of chardonnay in the face. By 2006, when “The Real Housewives” reared its triple-processed blond head, the Mean Reality TV genre had clawed its French Tips into America’s...
Fresh take on ‘Phantom’ promises to light up Benedum CenterVideo
It’s hard to imagine that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical masterpiece, “The Phantom of the Opera,” could be improved upon after 31 years of brilliant opening nights – yet Cameron Mackintosh’s new production features some changes that are said to be no less than dazzling. “Phantom” lights up the Benedum...
The official ‘Captain Marvel’ website is all ’90s cheesy nostalgia
Ah, the infancy of the internet. Do you even remember how cheesy those websites were? Well, Marvel does. And it’s made the most of it when it came time to launch the official website for its latest super hero flick, “Captain Marvel.” In case you’ve been under a rock lately,...
Disney releases teaser trailer for ‘Frozen 2’
Is it that time already? Time to head back to Arendelle? Disney released a teaser trailer for “Frozen 2” on Wednesday. Perhaps you’ve heard the original. (Heard it over and over and over and …) The teaser opens with Elsa on a black sand beach, eying the waves as they...
New Jersey becomes first U.S. state to take legal Oscars bets
LAS VEGAS — Perhaps you weren’t sure — or didn’t care — if Gisele Bundchen’s husband and the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl this month. But you know why “The Favourite” is a favorite to win an Oscar for best costume design and you’re willing to bet on...
Resistance is key as ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ returns for season 3
PASADENA, Calif. — Resistance is the theme when “The Handmaid’s Tale” returns this summer with 13 episodes for its third season, but the Hulu drama is avoiding a collision with the final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” The dystopian drama will debut three new episodes on Wednesday, June 5,...
Fox host Pete Hegseth jokes he hasn’t washed his hands in 10 years
So maybe he does wash his hands after all. On Sunday “Fox and Friends” host Pete Hegseth said he’ll eat day-old pizza, but won’t wash his hands. During some on-air banter with co-hosts Ed Henry and Jedediah Bila, Hegseth said that while eating pizza that has sat out is ok,...
TV show ‘Extra’ suspends host A.J. Calloway to investigate misconduct
PASADENA, Calif. — A.J. Calloway, a host on the syndicated entertainment news show “Extra,” was suspended Saturday as his parent company investigates sexual misconduct allegations. The company said it had investigated prior accusations against Calloway and found no suggestion of workplace misconduct. But he was suspended after Warner Brothers became...
‘Big Bang Theory’ gets honor as series nears its end
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Champagne briefly replaced scripts Thursday for a ceremony renaming the nondescript Stage 25 on the sprawling Warner Bros. production lot after the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” Still television’s most popular comedy, the show will exit the airwaves and the studio it has called home for...
Pittsburgh jazz documentary ‘We Knew What We Had’ returning to WQEDVideo
A locally produced documentary on Pittsburgh’s rich jazz music history is airing again nationally, with a special airing scheduled at 8 p.m. Feb. 28 on WQED, Pittsburgh’s PBS member station. Produced by MCG Jazz, the 60-minute documentary, “We Knew What We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told,” explores social...
British actor Albert Finney dies at 82
LONDON — British actor Albert Finney, the Academy Award-nominated star of films from “Tom Jones” to “Skyfall,” has died at the age of 82. Finney’s family said Friday that he “passed away peacefully after a short illness with those closest to him by his side.” Finney was a rare star...
‘Pet Sematary’ remake updates Stephen King’s classic horror novel
“Sometimes dead is better.” That’s the tagline for the remake of Stephen King’s seminal 1983 horror novel “Pet Sematary.” After Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his family relocate from Boston to rural Maine, the doctor discovers a strange burial ground hidden deep in the woods. When tragedy strikes the...
Review: ‘The Prodigy’ is a creepy-kid horror movie done rightVideo
Creepy children are a mainstay of the horror genre. Going back to “The Bad Seed” and beyond, children have proved capable of unnerving audiences with a combination of precocious dialogue and psychopathic behavior. The chilling new horror film “The Prodigy” continues that fine tradition, with one intriguing complication: in the...
Review: ‘The Lego Movie 2’ is too meta for its own goodVideo
Like a well-engineered tower of brightly colored building blocks, the Lego movie franchise, now four films strong, achieved its zenith with “The Lego Batman Movie.” The 2017 stand-alone spin-off of the excellent 2014 original that appealed to both young fans of the construction toys and grown-up aficionados of the brooding...
Review: Taraji P. Henson is the best thing about ‘What Men Want’Video
In “What Men Want,” Taraji P. Henson gains the ability to hear men’s unspoken thoughts after she (1) accidentally drinks drug-laced tea; (2) dances to 2 Live Crew’s “Hoochie Mama” during a friend’s bachelorette party; (3) is knocked over by an inflatable penis; and (4) is slammed into a nightclub...
Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson reprise iconic roles in new ‘Shaft’ film
Who is the man who would risk his neck for brother man? In June, there will be three answers to that iconic question, originally posed in the 1970s by soul singer Isaac Hayes. Both Richard Roundtree and Samuel L. Jackson — the original Detective John Shaft as well as the...
Mayim Bialik visit to offer sympathy, support to Pittsburgh’s Jewish community
Actor Mayim Bialik’s fans know her best from her current role as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS’s hit comedy series, “The Big Bang Theory,” or her past roles in “Blossom” (1990) and the 1988 movie, “Beaches,” with Bette Midler. Many people may not be aware of her strong commitment to...
Let’s engage in wild speculation over these brand-new ‘Game of Thrones’ photos from the final season
HBO released a brand-new batch of promotional photos for the final season of their flagship show, fantasy drama “Game of Thrones.” And as faithful throne-watchers, it’s our solemn duty to engage in wild speculation about what every possible detail in every photo might portend! **WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD THROUGH SEASON 7...
Super Bowl ad winners: Bud Light, Amazon
NEW YORK — This year some of the Super Bowl ads that grabbed the greatest buzz were surprises, like Bud Light’s “Game of Thrones” teaser. Other crowd-pleasers focused on humor, like Amazon’s take on celebrity product testers. While the New England Patriots bested the L.A. Rams on Sunday in Atlanta...
