Entertainment category, Page 170
‘Dilbert’ newspaper flap brings renewed focus on cartoonist Scott Adams’ many controversies
“Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams’ recent announcement that his popular comic strip exploring the office culture grind was being trimmed out of dozens of newspapers is drawing renewed attention to the 65-year-old creator’s many controversies and sometimes NSFW politics, which have taken on a life of their own over the years....
Saint Vincent offers mid-day acoustic guitar concert
Saint Vincent College will present an acoustic guitar performance on Thursday afternoon on its campus in Unity. Joseph Materkowsk, a singer songwriter and professor in the college’s fine arts department, will play cover songs from the 1950s to today as well as original compositions as part of the Music at...
Tough to find someone to root for on ‘House of the Dragon’
My father and I sat down once when I was younger and watched Quentin Tarantino’s classic 1994 film “Pulp Fiction.” When it was over, he said that he wanted to enjoy it,...
Behind the art: Layers of meaning hidden in The Westmoreland’s ‘magic realist’ painting
Early in his career, Jeremiah William McCarthy was told by a mentor, “Until you lay your hand and eye on all the objects in the collection, you can’t call yourself a curator.” When he came to The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in April as chief curator, he set out...
Rihanna to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show
NEW YORK — Rihanna will take center stage at February’s Super Bowl halftime show. The singer, who declined to perform in the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, will headline the 2023 Super Bowl, the NFL announced Sunday along with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Apple...
‘Don’t Worry Darling’ shrugs off drama, opening with $19.2M
After off-screen drama threatened to consume Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling,” the Warner Bros. release opened No. 1 at the box office, debuting with $19.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles, “Don’t Worry Darling” was engulfed by a storm of controversies...
Oscar-winning ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ actor Louise Fletcher dies
LOS ANGELES — Louise Fletcher, a late-blooming star whose riveting performance as the cruel and calculating Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award, has died at age 88. Fletcher died in her sleep surrounded by...
Review: ‘Athena,’ a fiery drama of civil unrest, is mostly blowing smoke
Romain Gavras’ “Athena” opens with a single-take sequence so intricately choreographed, and so breathtaking in its visual sweep and emotional force, it’s almost a shame that there’s another 90 minutes or so of movie to go along with it. It begins at a news conference where a French soldier, Abdel...
Elton John plays White House lawn as part of farewell tour
WASHINGTON — Elton John said Friday that he’d played in some beautiful venues, but the stage in front of the White House, beneath a massive tent on a perfect autumn night, was “probably the icing on the cake.” Then he kicked off the show with “Your Song,” his first big...
‘Revolutionary But Gorgeous’ captures Pittsburgh activist, rapper’s emotional turmoilVideo
As Pittsburgh activist, podcast host and rapper Farooq Al-Saïd was writing what became his new record, “Revolutionary But Gorgeous,” he was going through a dark period in his life. “I had come to a point where I’d cry as part of my workout and keep moving, but I didn’t feel...
Ari Lennox’s ‘age/sex/location’ revels in infatuationVideo
NEW YORK — Writer’s block confined Ari Lennox during the creation of her latest album, “age/sex/location,” but her label head and friend, rap superstar J. Cole, suggested she begin journaling to unlock her creativity. “He was like, ‘I just want you to write and just don’t stop for a certain...
Q&A: Lena Dunham on medieval romp ‘Catherine Called Birdy’Video
TORONTO — Lena Dunham estimates her career is now a “tween.” It’s been 12 years since Dunham’s feature film debut, 2010’s “Tiny Furniture.” (She was just 23 when it premiered.) In the time since, she’s packed in just about every aspect of show-business experience. She’s been hailed as “the voice...
Hilary Mantel, author of ‘Wolf Hall’ Tudor saga, dies at 70
LONDON — Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize-winning author who turned Tudor power politics into page-turning fiction in the acclaimed “Wolf Hall” trilogy of historical novels, has died, her publisher said Friday. She was 70. Mantel died “suddenly yet peacefully” on Thursday while surrounded by close family and friends, publisher HarperCollins...
Goo Goo Dolls at top of their game in stunning Stage AE showVideo
When one thinks of great bands from the 1990s, the Goo Goo Dolls may not be among the first ones that come to mind. But Thursday evening at Stage AE on the North Shore, the band with one of rock ‘n’ roll’s strangest names emptied its large sack of hit...
TV Talk: WTAE-TV reporter Sheldon Ingram guest stars on ‘Law & Order: SVU’
It’s not unusual to see a Pittsburgh news anchor play a reporter or anchor in a fictional movie or TV show shot in Pittsburgh — Sally Wiggin and Ken Rice were in “Striking Distance;” Mike Clark was in “Abduction,” “Unstoppable,” “Southpaw” and “Concussion” — but veteran WTAE-TV reporter Sheldon Ingram...
Review: Sidney Poitier documentary shows a constant strivingVideo
Sidney Poitier was not expected to live. He was born two months premature to uneducated tomato farmers in the Caribbean. His father planned to use a shoe box as a makeshift coffin. Poitier’s rise from that humble origin to become an Oscar-winning box office draw and civil rights figure who...
Heinz History Center offers kids free admission in October
Fall is upon us and as the weather cools down and convinces families to seek out indoor activities, the Senator John Heinz History Center has come up with an idea to make visiting the venue more affordable. The history center is offering free admission for all kids aged 17 and...
As TikTok eats the world, YouTube makes a bid for creators’ hearts — and wallets
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — Gathered in the company’s historic Spruce Goose hangar Tuesday morning, a host of YouTube leaders laid out a roadmap for the platform’s evolving relationship with both video creators and the music industry, announcing new monetization tools and industry partnerships in the cavernous event space where Howard...
Prime Stage earns American Council of the Blind award for audio description services
Nathan Ruggles’ work as an audio describer at Prime Stage Theatre means he is responsible for bringing the visual elements of live theater to visually impaired audience members. “It’s all about making that visual imagery present and accessible to people who have visual impairment,” said Ruggles, 48, of Pittsburgh’s Mount...
Donnie Iris to celebrate 80th birthday with UPMC Events Center bash
First it was Paul McCartney, who turned 80 last June. Now it’s “King Cool” Donnie Iris’ turn to celebrate eight decades on the planet. Iris announced plans Tuesday for an 80th birthday bash on March 11, 2023, at the UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris University in Moon with special...
TV Talk: ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Andor’ begins slow, improves as it goesVideo
“Star Wars” finds itself in a precarious position: It can either continue to replay its greatest hits by going back to the well of past, major characters as leads in series for a short-term boost (e.g. “The Book of Boba Fett,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi”) or tread new ground to sustain the...
Spotify launches audiobook store with some 300,000 titles
NEW YORK — The expanding audio books market has a major new retailer: Spotify. On Tuesday, the music streaming service announced its long-rumored audiobook initiative, launching a store that includes more than 300,000 titles, including such popular works as Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and Colleen...
Brad Pitt, Nick Cave make surprise art debut in Finland
HELSINKI — Hollywood’s Brad Pitt and Australian musician Nick Cave have debuted as artists in an exhibition in Finland that displays sculptures and ceramics created by the movie star and the singer-songwriter. The Sara Hilden Art Museum, located in the southern Finnish city of Tampere, was initially scheduled to exhibit...
Review: Dick Ebersol recalls his outsized TV role in memoir
“From Saturday Night to Sunday Night: My Forty Years of Laughter, Tears and Touchdowns in TV,” by Dick Ebersol (Simon & Schuster) Anyone who’s followed the TV industry since broadcasts went color will know the name Dick Ebersol. And while those insiders and diehards are the most likely audience of...
TV Talk: ‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘Ghosts’ return for sophomore seasonsVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming week. Broadcast television may be down, but don’t count it out just yet. After all, there were two broadcast hits to come out of the 2021-22 TV season: ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’s “Ghosts,” both returning this...
