Movies/TV category, Page 57
The results of ‘Barbenheimer’ weekend are in. Here’s who took the box office crown
“Barbenheimer ” didn’t just work — it spun box office gold. The social media-fueled fusion of Greta Gerwig’s ” Barbie ” and Christopher Nolan’s ” Oppenheimer ” brought moviegoers back to the theaters in record numbers this weekend, vastly outperforming projections and giving a glimmer of hope to the lagging...
Pleasant Hills woman’s passion for Barbie dolls inspired by her late mother
Dressed in bold red, bright green and shimmery pink ball gowns, Kim Bennear Fancsali’s Barbies are perched atop two shelves in the corner of the room. Some have sparkling tiaras, others are adorned with colorful capes and puffy faux fur. Fancy necklaces and earrings complete the look. They are from...
Vanna White to reportedly get paid $100K per episode of ‘Celebrity Wheel’ in partial contract agreement
Vanna White apparently will keep her job on “Wheel of Fortune” when Ryan Seacrest begins hosting next year — but with a caveat. The longtime letter-turner has reportedly agreed to be paid $100,000 an episode for “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.” While White is said to have requested half of the...
TV Talk: ‘Lioness’ fills the ‘SEAL Team’ void on Paramount+Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. As it looks like we’re in for a long haul with the writers’ and actors’ strikes, fans of Paramount+ series “SEAL Team” will be waiting a while to see that show’s seventh season — writing...
Think pink: Barbie-mania takes over Western Pennsylvania
Sorry, Taylor Swift, you’re old news. This week, it’s all about Barbie. The long-awaited, first live-action movie about the world’s best-selling fashion doll arrives in theaters this weekend with Margot Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as her perpetual boyfriend, Ken. “Barbie” finds the pair kicked out of...
Fans of martial arts legend Bruce Lee fondly remember his life philosophy 50 years after his death
HONG KONG — Fans of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who broke negative stereotypes around Asian men in films, gathered in Hong Kong this week to commemorate their idol’s death half a century ago, remembering his legacy and his life philosophy on persistence. Lee, who was born in San...
TV Talk: ‘Shark Week’ goes inside ‘Belly of the Beast’ to get close-up views of sharksVideo
“Shark Week 2023” kicks off this weekend on Discovery Channel and streaming service Max with “Belly of the Beast: Feeding Frenzy” (8 p.m. Sunday), which is a prototypical “Shark Week” entry. Part science, part derring-do for the purposes of entertainment, cameras follow marine biologist and “Shark Week’ mainstay Austin Gallagher...
Movie Review: A bomb and its fallout in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” is a kinetic thing of dark, imposing beauty that quakes with the disquieting tremors of a forever rupture in the course of human history. “Oppenheimer,” a feverish three-hour immersion in the life of Manhattan Project mastermind J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), is poised between the shock and...
Movie review: She’s Perfect Barbie. He’s Scene-Stealing Ken. Their life in plastic looks fantasticVideo
For someone who’s 11.5 inches tall and weighs under 8 ounces, poor Barbie’s had to carry an awfully heavy load over the years on that slender, plastic back of hers. Welcomed as a trailblazer in 1959 — An adult doll! With actual breasts! — she was nonetheless branded an anti-feminist...
‘Am I crossing picket lines if I see a movie?’ and other Hollywood strike fan questions answered
You watch movies. You watch TV. And now you’re wondering how the dual Hollywood strikes — a pitched battle with actors and writers on one side, and studios and streaming services on the other — will affect you. We have answers. Do the strikes mean “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” aren’t coming...
‘Oppenheimer’ stirs up conflicted history for Los Alamos and New Mexico downwinders
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — The movie about a man who changed the course of the world’s history by shepherding the development of the first atomic bomb is expected to be a blockbuster, dramatic and full of suspense. On the sidelines will be a community downwind from the testing site in...
Pittsburgh’s Daniel Moore loses 3rd ‘Jeopardy!’ appearance by $1Video
Just one dollar. Just one! That’s how much Pittsburgh’s Daniel Moore lost by in his third appearance on the game show “Jeopardy!” on Tuesday night. Moore faced some tougher competition from Canadian Cheslea Watt and, especially, Los Angeles lawyer David Bederman. Going into Final Jeopardy, Moore was in second place...
TV Q&A: Whither AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh?
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: What is the future of AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh? Back in February, the predictions were dire. Since then, there’s been nothing in the news about their...
Pittsburgh’s Daniel Moore snags 2nd ‘Jeopardy!’ win
Daniel Moore’s second “Jeopardy!” victory wasn’t as stellar as his first, but he lives to fight another day. The Pittsburgh contestant ended Monday night’s episode with another $14,800, defeating fellow contestants retired elementary teacher Jerry Powers of New Jersey and librarian Leann Craumer of Maryland. Unlike Friday, Moore correctly answered...
TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Rustin’ lands release date
“Rustin,” the bio-pic from former President Barack Obama’s and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, will debut on Netflix on Nov. 17. Directed by George C. Wolfe, who previously helmed 2020’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” in Western Pennsylvania, “Rustin” stars Colman Domingo, who was a cast member in “Ma Rainey’s Black...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking SAG-AFTRA strike, ‘Justified,’ Alby on the mend, ACC on The CW
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen talk Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including WPXI-TV sports director Alby Oxenreiter being on the mend following heart valve replacement surgery and a Pitt Panthers football game on The CW this...
‘Mission: Impossible’ debuts with $80M over five days, igniting box office but missing expectations
NEW YORK — After a globe-trotting publicity blitz by star Tom Cruise, “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” launched with a franchise-best $80 million over five days, though it came in shy of industry expectations with a $56.2 million haul over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates. The...
Pittsburgh’s Daniel Moore wins big in his ‘Jeopardy!’ debutVideo
In his “Jeopardy!” debut, Pittsburgher Daniel Moore showed off his seriously strong smarts in winning Friday night’s airing of the popular game show. Things didn’t start off so well for Moore, as he missed his first answer. But after that, Moore put on a clinic. The 38-year-old contract compliance analyst...
The story behind Barbenheimer, the summer’s most online movie showdown
The very online showdown between Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” all started with a date: July 21. It’s not uncommon for studios to counterprogram films in different genres on a big weekend, but the stark differences between an intense, serious-minded picture about the man who oversaw the development...
TV Talk: Western Pa. natives Billy Gardell, David Conrad, Jonathan Adams talk SAG-AFTRA strike
Actors’ union SAG-AFTRA is now on strike, joining members of the Writers Guild of America picketing against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood’s major studios. It’s the first film and TV actors’ strike since 1986 and the first time both actors and writers have been...
Pittsburgh resident to compete on ‘Jeopardy!’
Another Pittsburgh-area resident will be competing on “Jeopardy!” Daniel Moore, a contract compliance analyst, will appear on the game show airing Friday on NBC. “Jeopardy!” airs locally at 7:30 p.m. on WPXI. Several other Pittsburgh area residents have appeared on the popular, long-running game show recently. Among them are Erin...
TV Talk: Biblical epic ‘The Chosen’ airs on The CWVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. When The CW announced in recent months that it will give life-of-Jesus biblical series “The Chosen” a linear platform, some looked askance at the idea of the show airing on the home of “The Flash,”...
Hollywood actors join screenwriters in historic industry-stopping strike as contract talks collapseVideo
LOS ANGELES — Leaders of a Hollywood’s actors union voted Thursday to join screenwriters in the first joint strike in more than six decades, shutting down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, executive director of the...
In ‘Oppenheimer,’ Christopher Nolan builds a thrilling, serious blockbuster for adults
NEW YORK — Christopher Nolan has never been one to take the easy or straightforward route while making a movie. He shoots on large-format film with large, cumbersome cameras to get the best possible cinematic image. He prefers practical effects over computer-generated ones and real locations over soundstages — even...
TV Talk: FX’s ‘Justified’ comes full circle, returned to film in Western Pa. for 1st time since pilot episode
PASADENA, Calif. — Not all reboots and sequel series are the same. And they’re not all bad idea. While some don’t have a creative reason to exist, others provide a welcome mix of closure and fan service (the third season of “Star Trek: Picard”) and the best ones take what’s...
