Movies/TV category, Page 126
TV Talk: ‘The Bachelor,’ filmed at Nemacolin, is among midseason broadcast showsVideo
Premieres of new, returning and delayed-by-the-pandemic series begin rolling out on broadcast networks next week, including the 25th edition of ABC’s “The Bachelor” (8 p.m. Jan. 4, WTAE-TV), filmed this fall under a covid-19 quarantine bubble at Nemacolin in Farmington, Fayette County. It’s the first time the show has starred...
‘Gilligan’s Island’ star Dawn Wells dies, covid-19 cited
LOS ANGELES — Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died Wednesday of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said. She was 82. Wells died peacefully at a living facility in Los Angeles, publicist Harlan Boll...
Joe and Jill Biden to appear on ‘New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’
NEW YORK — Ryan Seacrest will have a special pair of guests alongside the music stars at this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration on ABC — the president-elect and the future first lady. President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden are scheduled to give “their last interview of the year”...
TV Q&A: Questions about KDKA-TV on-air talent answered
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLIVE.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Stacy Smith has not been at the KDKA-TV anchor desk in some time. He was giving reports from his home. Is this health-related? Also, I...
Netflix reworks leftovers with food-based reality game show
Just in time for anyone facing a heaving, post-holiday refrigerator comes a TV show about what to do with all those dubious dishes — leftovers. Each episode of the food game show “Best Leftovers Ever!” on Netflix sees three skilled cooks make new dishes out of already made dishes, hoping...
TV Talk: PBS revisits ‘Little House’ author Laura Ingalls Wilder
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. To mark the 85th anniversary of the publication of “Little House on the Prairie,” PBS’s “American Masters” does a deep dive into the life and literary work of the book’s author in “Laura Ingalls Wilder:...
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ debuts with pandemic-best $16.7M
NEW YORK — Despite premiering simultaneously by streaming service, “Wonder Woman 1984” managed the best box office debut of the pandemic, opening with $16.7 million over the Christmas weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s only a faint glimmer of typical business during the holiday season, when cinemas are usually...
TV Talk: Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ aches to be a sexed-up ‘Downton Abbey’Video
“Bridgerton” wants to be the next “Downton Abbey,” albeit hornier and with a more modern spin. While this Regency period-set streaming series from executive producer Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and showrunner Chris Van Dusen (“Scandal”) can be fun and beautiful to behold (sumptuous, brightly-colored costumes and landscapes dominate in early...
Review: Pixar’s ‘Soul’ joins mid-life crisis, jazz fantasia
Pete Docter’s “Soul” features stairway-to-heaven visions of the afterlife, a pre-birth “before” realm where souls are glowing turquoise orbs and an in-between spiritual realm trafficked by some kind of psychedelic pirate. And yet, kind of magically, it’s about “just regular old living.” Pixar may have started simple with talking toys,...
Happy Festivus, the 1st without its ‘creator’
Happy Festivus. With the year the world has had — and the loss of Festivus’ creator — it might be a somber one. Or maybe a reason to celebrate more. The fictional (but very real to some) holiday entered the universe on the Dec. 18, 1997, episode of the iconic...
TV Q&A: When will ‘When Calls the Heart’ be back?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: When will Hallmark Channel’s “When Calls the Heart” return with new episodes? — Nina via voicemail Rob: “When Calls the Heart” wrapped production on its...
Murrysville filmmaker’s latest earns honorable mention at Top Shorts film festivalVideo
Dillon Black had finished up principal photography and was headed into post-production on his new short film, “What’s Left of Barry,” when the coronavirus pandemic turned things upside down. “I had six people helping me with post-production, and covid-19 threw a big wrench into everything,” said Black, 22, of Murrysville....
TV Talk: Peggy Finnegan bids Pittsburgh viewers farewell as she retires from WPXI-TV
Humble to the end, retiring WPXI-TV news anchor Peggy Finnegan twice tried to make Channel 11’s farewell coverage about everyone else. On Friday’s noon newscast, anchor Gordon Loesch tried to celebrate Finnegan but she turned it around and praised his work as an anchor and reporter over his 17 years...
Sewickley artist Claire Hardy’s rose paintings will be in the background of ‘The Bachelor’Video
While drama is always in the forefront of “The Bachelor,” the background should interest Western Pennsylvania viewers when Season 25 of ABC’s romantic reality show starts Jan. 4. First, the season, starring suitor Matt James was filmed at Nemacolin Resort in Fayette County. Second, paintings by Sewickley artist Claire Hardy...
Jeremy Bulloch, ‘Star Wars’ actor who played Boba Fett, dead at 75
Jeremy Bulloch, the English film star who suited up as the fan-favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett in the original “Star Wars” trilogy, has died, according to another actor who played the character. He was 75. Bulloch’s death was announced Thursday on Instagram by Daniel Logan, who portrayed a young version...
TV Talk: Powerful, filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Ma Rainey’ debuts on NetflixVideo
The latest Netflix adaptation of one of Pittsburgh native August Wilson’s plays, the filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” stars Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman in a period piece that feels relevant and timely. An almost unrecognizable Davis, jettisoning any semblance of vanity, stars as Ma Rainey, a real...
In ‘Ma Rainey,’ channeling the blues of August Wilson
NEW YORK — Like many of those involved in the making of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” it’s not easy for Viola Davis to summarize what playwright August Wilson has meant to her except to answer, “Everything.” Davis’ first stage role was in Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” She made...
Tom Cruise unleashes rant about social distancing on ‘Mission: Impossible’ set
LONDON — Tom Cruise has launched an expletive-laden rant at colleagues on the set of his latest “Mission: Impossible” movie, after he reportedly spotted two workers failing to respect social distancing rules. In audio released by the Sun tabloid, the 58-year-old Hollywood star can be heard warning that anyone caught...
Trafford’s Mark Milovats brings Christmas special to local TV audienceVideo
Trafford native and international recording artist Mark Milovats will be sharing his “Christmas Wonderland” stage production with digital viewers and television audiences. The special, comprising highlights from the live 2018 holiday production, will air on WTAE at 5 p.m. Sunday. “Christmas Wonderland” has been syndicated for broadcast throughout the holiday...
TV Q&A: Why so few episodes of ‘This is Us’ this season?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Why did NBC only broadcast two weeks of “This is Us” and “The Blacklist” and then they are not going to broadcast again until January?...
‘Wonder Woman 1984’ hopes to lasso a little holiday joyVideo
Patty Jenkins wasn’t even finished making ” Wonder Woman ” when she started dreaming up a sequel for her and star Gal Gadot. The first film had the weight of both female-fronted superhero films and female-directed blockbusters on its shoulders and had yet to prove the skeptics wrong. But Jenkins...
‘The Dark Knight,’ ‘Grease’ among films inducted into National Film Registry
This year’s inductees into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, a collection of the most influential American movies, include a neo-noir superhero action spectacle, a ’50s-set ’70s musical and an animated send-up of a classic fairy tale trope. “The Dark Knight,” “Grease” and “Shrek” are just three of the...
TV Talk: Time to catch up on the best TV of 2020
It’s inaccurate to consider this a literal “best of” list for that implies a TV critic can watch every TV series released this year. It’s nearly impossible for any one person to make such a claim in the current 500-series-relased-annually era, so instead consider this my list of favorites from...
Disney unveils plans to stream a galaxy of new series, films
The Walt Disney Co.’s streaming plans shifted into hyper speed Thursday, as the studio unveiled a galaxy’s worth of new streaming offerings including plans for 10 “Star Wars” series spinoffs and 10 Marvel series that will debut on Disney+. In a virtual presentation for investors, Disney chief executive Bob Chapek...
TV Talk: IUP grad explores toxic masculinity in ‘Nate’ on NetflixVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. No one who watches the recently-released Netflix comedy special “Nate: A One Man Show” will confuse it with any other comedy special. The avant-garde, one-hour special is rated TV-MA for good reason and stars Natalie...
