Movies/TV category, Page 89
Movie review: ‘Nope’ another genre-disrupting masterpiece from Jordan PeeleVideo
In “Nope,” writer/director Jordan Peele presents us with a big, shiny summer blockbuster — a cowboys and aliens riff built from the DNA of sci-fi spectacles of yore — and then proceeds to vivisect the very notion of a summer blockbuster before our eyes. He wants us to question the...
Tull Family Foundation not renewing Sewickley theater sponsorship
The Tull Family Foundation will not renew naming rights for a movie theater that’s become a cultural destination in Sewickley. Sponsorship of The Tull Family Theater, as the independent non-profit movie house has been known since it opened in February of 2017, will expire at the end of the year....
TV Q&A: Does ‘The Young and the Restless’ have a Pittsburgh connection?
Question: I noticed that on the June 30 episode of “The Young and the Restless” one of the characters said he was taking his son to the Brewers vs. Pirates game in Pittsburgh. In fact, the Brewers and Pirates were playing that very day. Was this a coincidence or is...
The Kid Mero and Desus Nice go separate ways, taking out Showtime’s ‘Desus & Mero’
The late-night talk show “Desus & Mero” will not return for a fifth season at Showtime as hosts Desus Nice and the Kid Mero look to pursue separate creative endeavors, a spokesperson for the network told the L.A. Times on Monday. “Desus Nice and The Kid Mero have made a...
TV Talk: Billy Porter makes directorial debut with Pittsburgh-filmed ‘Anything’s Possible’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Anyone who sees Pittsburgh native Billy Porter’s feature film directorial debut “Anything’s Possible,” now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video, will never question his love for his hometown. From multiple beauty shots of the city and...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Emmy nominations, ‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Shark Week,’ film tax creditsVideo
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including Emmy nominations with local ties, a Pittsburgh native who’s departed his on-air role at “Jeopardy!” and an increase in Pennsylvania’s film tax credit program...
Don McLean looks back at his masterpiece, ‘American Pie’Video
NEW YORK — Don McLean has listened for decades as people belted out his classic song “American Pie” at last call or at karaoke — and applauds you for the effort. “I’ve heard whole bars burst into this song when I’ve been across the room,” McLean tells The Associated Press...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh Glass Center employee competes on Netflix’s ‘Blown Away’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. In the third-season premiere of Netflix’s glass-blowing competition series “Blown Away,” streaming Friday, John Sharvin of Morningside does not get a winner’s edit. With twinkly music playing under his interview segments, it’s more of a...
TV Talk: Peak TV peaks; broadcasters receive regional Emmy recognitionVideo
Almost every week in this space, I include a list of TV, cable and streaming series that have been renewed or canceled. Last week, there were only cancellations, no renewals. That’s unusual, but it may become more the norm rather than an outlier. For years, Wall Street prized streaming over...
A ‘blockbuster’ movie about Doug Mastriano is ready to premiere — if a theater will show it
PHILADELPHIA — It’s been billed as a summer “blockbuster,” a hagiographic documentary about State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania, that is set to premiere Saturday. But filmmaker Steve Turley’s red-carpet rollout for “The Return of the American Patriot” has stumbled twice in the last week,...
TV Q&A: Where has WTAE-TV’s Tom Garris been?Video
Q: Where has WTAE-TV anchor/reporter Tom Garris been? He used to be the weekend morning anchor, but I haven’t seen him in the past three or four weeks. — Bill, Sarver Rob: Garris posted to his Facebook page in mid-June that he suffered a sports-related injury to his leg, tearing...
Emmy nominations: Michael Keaton lands nod for ‘Dopesick’; ‘Succession,’ ‘Squid Game’ score big
The 2022 Emmy Award nominations, honoring the best in linear TV, cable and streaming, recognized the work for Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton, who is up for outstanding lead actor in a limited series for his role in Hulu’s “Dopesick,” which also received a best limited/anthology series nomination. While ABC’s “Abbott...
In ‘Ms. Marvel’, Muslim fans see a reflection of their lives
LOS ANGELES — Jumana Zakir knows who she is going to be for Halloween this year. Hint: Her new favorite superhero is a lot like her — female, teen, Muslim, American and “totally awesome.” “Kamala Khan is me,” said the exuberant 13-year-old from Anaheim, California. “She is just like me.”...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Joe Manganiello in ‘Moonhaven,’ ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Jeopardy!’ and ‘Hacks’
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss Pittsburgh pop culture news of the moment, including Mt. Lebanon native Joe Manganiello starring in AMC+’s “Moonhaven,” which features some ugly sci-fi wardrobes. The pair discuss the final two episodes of “Stranger...
TV Talk: ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ team talks season 4 plans, imagines Andy Warhol as a vampireVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. When FX’s vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” (10 p.m. Tuesday) returns for its fourth season, it has some resetting to do after the characters were scattered around the globe at the end...
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ scores franchise best debut
Four movies in, Thor is still bringing the hammer down at the box office. ” Thor: Love and Thunder ” earned $143 million in its opening weekend in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. It’s a franchise best for the God of Thunder and another success story of the...
‘Sopranos’ actor Tony Sirico, ‘Paulie Walnuts,’ dies at 79
Tony Sirico, who played the impeccably groomed mobster Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos” and brought his tough-guy swagger to films including “Goodfellas,” died Friday. He was 79. Sirico died at an assisted living facility in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said his manager, Bob McGowen. There was no immediate information on the...
Larry Storch, zany Cpl. Agarn on TV’s ‘F Troop,’ dies at 99
LOS ANGELES — Larry Storch, the rubber-faced comic whose long career in theater, movies and television was capped by his “F Troop” role as zany Cpl. Agarn in the 1960s spoof of Western frontier TV shows, died Friday. Storch was 99. Storch died of natural causes early Friday in his...
TV Talk: WPXI-TV names weekend morning anchor; Pittsburgh native exits ‘Jeopardy!’ role
Following the departure of news anchor Joe Arena, WPXI-TV reporter Alyssa Raymond will take over as Channel 11’s weekend morning anchor effective this weekend. A 2007 Moon Area High School grad, Raymond joined WPXI in 2020 and has been a general assignment reporter weekday mornings as well as a fill-in...
James Caan, Oscar nominee for ‘The Godfather,’ dies at 82
James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as both the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song” and the casino boss in “Las Vegas,” has died. He was 82. His manager Matt DelPiano...
TV Talk: Billy Porter on ‘Who Do You Think You Are?,’ ‘Better Call Saul’ marches toward its finaleVideo
Pittsburgh native Billy Porter explores his ancestry on the season premiere of NBC’s celebrity genealogy show “Who Do You Think You Are?” (7 p.m. Sunday, WPXI-TV), which is similar to PBS’s “Finding Your Roots.” Pittsburgh cityscape beauty shots abound as Porter returns to Pittsburgh to begin his research before his...
KDKA reporter leaving Pittsburgh for Denver
KDKA reporter/anchor Amy Wadas is leaving her hometown station for a new adventure in the Rocky Mountains. Wadas announced Monday on social media that July 14 would be her last day with KDKA-TV, which hired her in 2014. “This was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make,”...
TV Q&A: Questions answered about Pirates coverage on AT&T SportsNet
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 doesn’t AT&T SportsNet include the player’s position abbreviation after their name during the at-bat appearance? Other networks include this information. This would be a...
Review: A not-so-mighty ‘Thor’ sequel is painless but pointlessVideo
There are a few good things worth singling out in the otherwise not-very-good thing that is “Thor: Love and Thunder.” First up are two large screaming goats, whose digitally amplified screeches are a comic gift that rarely stops giving. Christian Bale delivers a genuinely skin-crawling turn as a zombified villain...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Guest Bob Pompeani talks about his 40 years on KDKA-TV
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen welcome KDKA-TV sports anchor Bob Pompeani celebrating 40 years at the station with a “Pompeaniversary” special (7:30 p.m. July 9). Pompeani recalls getting into a staring contest with James Harrison, covering the Winter...
