Movies/TV category, Page 91
New documentary looks at changing views on turning 40
There’s something about turning 40 that causes many people to reassess their lives in ways that might not occur to them when they reach other milestone birthdays. A new documentary looking at the extraordinary lives of four 40-something professionals is debuting this weekend at the Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival. “Hello...
TV Talk: CMU student stars in ‘Summer I Turned Pretty’ on Amazon PrimeVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. In addition to classwork and scene work that’s usual for Carnegie Mellon University drama students, in the spring of 2021, CMU freshman Lola Tung also booked her first on-camera role via a video audition...
TV Talk: Joe Arena to depart WPXI-TV; train to be a grip in local TV and film production
After almost a decade as an anchor/reporter at Channel 11, Joe Arena is leaving WPXI after his June 26 newscast for a job at News 12 Long Island, a 24-hour local cable news channel, where he’ll be a lead weekday afternoon/evening news anchor. Arena, a New York City native, called...
Romantic comedy ‘That’s Amore’ features filming locations in Plum and Murrysville
Actor, retired dentist and Plum resident David Petti sticks to what he knows. So when Petti was working on the screenplay for “That’s Amore” – which will be shown June 23 at the Oaks Theater in Oakmont – he didn’t stray far from his roots. “My character is a dentist,”...
TV Talk: Filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ dances onto Apple TV+Video
A local mall became writer/director filmmaker Cooper Raiff’s soundstage substitute when he filmed 10 of the 22 production days of “Cha Cha Real Smooth” at the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills in late summer 2021. “Almost all of the party were set somewhere inside, like, a frickin’ Pac Sun...
Norwin grad adds color, detail to the world of Pixar’s upcoming ‘Lightyear’Video
A scratch on a box. A tiny oil leak on the side of a spaceship. The telltale signs a concrete floor has seen plenty of wear and tear over time. Those are just a few of the subliminal details 2015 Norwin High School graduate Alyssa Minko has added to the...
Emma Thompson wants to start a conversation about pleasure
NEW YORK — The summer movie season has not, traditionally speaking, been known for its nuanced attention to female sexuality. But smack in the middle of Hollywood’s high season of masculine thrill rides and sci-fi fantasies is “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a compassionate comedy in which Emma Thompson...
Lawyer: Bill Cosby must be held responsible for sex abuse of teen
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Jurors must hold Bill Cosby responsible for sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, the woman’s lawyer said during closing arguments in a civil trial Wednesday. “It is particularly important in this case that Mr. Cosby be held fully accountable for doing...
TV Q&A: Why do ‘Jeopardy!’ hosts get different introductions?
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: Any idea why on “Jeopardy!” Ken Jennings is introduced as hosting “Jeopardy!” but Mayim Bialik is introduced as the host of “Jeopardy!”? — Kitty, Charleroi...
‘Squid Game’ adapted as non-fatal reality series for Netflix
LOS ANGELES — A reality show inspired by Netflix’s hit series “Squid Game” is coming to the streaming service, but with far less dire consequences promised for contestants. In the South Korean-produced drama, players’ lives were at stake. With “Squid Game: The Challenge,” the “worst fate is going home empty-handed,”...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking the passing of actor Philip Baker Hall, ‘American Rust,’ ‘Peaky Blinders,’ ‘A League of Their Own’
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, why Amazon Freevee wanted to revive “American Rust” and the “A League of Their Own’ teaser trailer. Benz weighs in on early episodes of season...
Philip Baker Hall, of ‘Hard Eight,’ ‘Seinfeld,’ dies at 90
NEW YORK — Philip Baker Hall, the prolific character actor of film and theater who starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s first movies and who memorably hunted down a long-overdue library book in “Seinfeld,” has died. He was 90. Holly Wolfle Hall, the actor’s wife of nearly 40 years, on Monday...
It’s been 20 years since ‘The Wire’ made lots of actors household names. Where are some of them now?
BALTIMORE — During the five seasons that “The Wire” was broadcast on HBO, co-creators David Simon and Ed Burns filled it with more complicated and nuanced characters than a Russian novel. The show introduced an international television audience to dozens of actors at a relatively early stage of their careers....
United Arab Emirates bans Pixar’s ‘Lightyear’ over lesbian kiss
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates on Monday banned the upcoming Pixar animated feature “Lightyear” from showing in movie theaters after its inclusion of a kiss between two lesbian characters. The decision by the UAE comes as Malaysia also reportedly will ban the film, raising the possibility...
TV Talk: ‘Evil’ explores fear-based doomscrolling on Paramount+Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. While husband-and-wife writers Robert and Michelle King’s “The Good Fight” won’t return to Paramount+ until Sept. 8 for its sixth and final season, their supernatural-adjacent “Evil” returns Sunday for its third season — but it’s...
TV Talk: Amazon Freevee revives ‘American Rust,’ ‘Justified’ revisits Pittsburgh
Never say never again: Five months after Showtime canceled filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust,” the Western Pennsylvania-set drama has been revived. Amazon Freevee, formerly IMDb TV and also home to the upcoming filmed-in-Pittsburgh comedy “Sprung,” ordered a second season of “American Rust” starring Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney. It will again film...
TV Talk: If you’re not watching ‘For All Mankind,’ you’re missing Apple TV+’s best seriesVideo
In an era of too much TV, critics have to jump from reviewing one new show to the next and often don’t have the luxury of sticking with all the shows they like. But after hearing enough good things from TV critic friends about how great Apple TV+’s “For All...
AEW continues to thrive after celebrating 3rd anniversary
LOS ANGELES — All Elite Wrestling continues to thrive with compelling matches while attracting new fans three years after making its debut. The upstart professional wrestling circuit kicked off a busy summer schedule by returning to Las Vegas for its “Double or Nothing” pay-per-view for the first time since its...
David Cronenberg on the evolution to ‘Crimes of the Future’
A remarkable number of the films by David Cronenberg could easily be called “Crimes of the Future.” In fact, he already used the title once before, on a short feature in 1970. His latest film, also called “Crimes of the Future” but unrelated to the earlier work apart from the...
TV Q&A: Why hasn’t a KDKA-TV anchor been on the air?
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: Where has Meghan Schiller of KDKA-TV news been? Why hasn’t she been on the air? – Susan, Steubenville Rob: In early May, Schiller posted about...
TV Talk: W.Pa.-filmed ‘League of Their Own’ premieres in AugustVideo
All eight episodes of Amazon Prime Video’s “A League of Their Own,” which filmed throughout Western Pennsylvania in 2021, will finally premiere on the streaming service on Aug. 12. The series is inspired by the 1992 Penny Marshall-directed film of the same name that starred Geena Davis and Tom Hanks....
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking TV news sweeps ratings, ‘All Rise,’ streaming movies, ‘Obi Wan Kenobi’
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 May sweeps TV newscast ratings. The pair also review – spoilers included! – what they liked and disliked about “Obi Wan Kenobi” episode three...
Unfolding in reverse, ‘The Tsugua Diaries’ might be 2022’s most glorious summer movie
In one of the loveliest sequences in “The Tsugua Diaries,” a sly, summery delight from Portugal, two men and a woman raise a series of wooden beams. As they work together — patiently, intuitively, almost wordlessly — the structure they’re building gradually takes shape, and so, piece by piece, does...
Jennifer Lopez, ‘Spider-Man’ highlight MTV Movie & TV Awards
LOS ANGELES — Jennifer Lopez made an emotional speech about how believers and skeptics contributed to her success, as she accepted a career achievement honor at the MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday. “I want to thank the people who gave me joy and the ones who broke my...
TV Talk: New channel, same courtroom: ‘All Rise’ returnsVideo
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. “All Rise” was a welcome outlier on CBS during its two-season, 2019-2021 run on the network. A courtroom procedural among a sea of law enforcement procedurals, “All Rise,” at least in early episodes, got...
