Movies/TV category, Page 92
‘Top Gun’ stays aloft with $86M in its 2nd weekend
NEW YORK — The high-flying “Top Gun: Maverick” continued to soar in its second weekend, dropping just 32% from its opening with $86 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Paramount Pictures release, with Tom Cruise reprising his role from the 1986 original, is holding steadier than...
TV Talk: Pittsburgher hosts A&E’s ‘Living Smaller’
As a former New York City resident, Pittsburgher Cinque Cerra-Saunders has experience “Living Smaller,” which is also the title of the A&E series he hosts at 12 and 12:30 p.m. Saturdays beginning June 4. “In New York City, we don’t call it living smaller, we just call it living,” Cerra-Saunders...
A woman abroad feels an unwelcome gaze in new film ‘Watcher’
In the haunting and sophisticated new thriller “Watcher,” Maika Monroe plays an American woman who is feeling uneasy in her new hometown of Bucharest. Her character, Julia, sees a man in a high rise across the street who appears to be looking at her in her apartment. At the market,...
As Amber Heard plans appeal, lawyer says she can’t pay Johnny Depp $10.4 million
Amber Heard will “absolutely” appeal the verdict reached this week in her defamation trial against ex-husband Johnny Depp, her attorney announced Thursday morning. Elaine Bredehoft, who represented the “Aquaman” actor at the trial in Fairfax, Virginia, told NBC’s “Today” show that her client has “excellent grounds” for an appeal after...
TV Talk: Streaming saves the mid-tier movie; WTAE-TV improves morning news lead in May sweepsVideo
While Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun Maverick” was busy drawing movie fans back to theaters last weekend, making a record-breaking $160 million over four days, streaming services have reclaimed the middle-budget movie (films made for $5-$50 million) for their platforms. And some of them are quite good. Disney+’s “Chip ‘n Dale:...
TV Talk: Billy Porter’s filmed-in Pittsburgh feature directorial debut lands on Amazon
Billy Porter’s feature film directorial debut, shot last summer in Pittsburgh under the title “What If?” but now called “Anything’s Possible,” will debut July 22 on streaming service Amazon Prime Video. Variety broke the news of the release date and platform. The $10 million film is a joyful coming-of-age story...
TV Q&A: Where’s a WTAE-TV traffic reporter been?
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 what happened to Sam Hall on the WTAE morning news? It seems like he was maybe replaced by Elena LaQuatra which is sad,...
Explainer: A look at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault civil trial
LOS ANGELES — Eleven months after he was freed from prison when a Pennsylvania appeals court threw out his criminal conviction, Bill Cosby, 85, will again be the defendant in a trial over sexual assault allegations. This time, it will be in a civil case in California relating to events...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Top Gun,’ ‘Obi Wan Kenobi,’ ‘Pistol’
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen discuss pop culture news of the moment, including the new “Top Gun Maverick,” which broke Memorial Day weekend box office records. The pair also review – spoilers included! – what they like and...
Rachel Zegler to star in ‘Hunger Games’ prequel
NEW YORK — Fresh off her breakthrough role in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” Rachel Zegler will star in Lionsgate’s planned “Hunger Games” prequel. The studio announced Tuesday that Zegler will play Lucy Gray Baird in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” an extension of the “Hunger...
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ wins Tom Cruise 1st $100 million opening
Forget breaking the sound barrier: Tom Cruise just flew past a major career milestone. The 59-year-old superstar just got his first $100 million opening weekend with “Top Gun: Maverick.” In its first three days in North American theaters, the long-in-the-works sequel earned an estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native helps ‘Star Wars’ fill in some blanks with ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week: Disney+’s “Obi Wan Kenobi,” now streaming, seeks to not only fill in a gap in the Skywalker saga, but also to bridge the great divide between older “Star Wars” fans devoted to the original trilogy...
Ray Liotta, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Field of Dreams’ star, dies
Ray Liotta, the actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. An official at the Dominican Republic’s National Forensic Science Institute who was not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the death...
Ellen DeGeneres ends daytime show with plea for compassion
LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres brought her nearly two-decade daytime talk show to an end Thursday with a celebrity lovefest and a forceful assertion of her achievement as a gay woman daring to be herself. DeGeneres and guests Jennifer Aniston, Billie Eilish and Pink shared memories and affection as “The...
TV Talk: Former KDKA-TV reporter Julie Grant announces the National Spelling Bee; ‘Pistol’ premieres
Former KDKA-TV legal reporter Julie Grant, now a Court TV anchor, will be an announcer for live coverage of the “2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee” next week, a full-circle moment for the Steubenville, Ohio, native who once attended the Bee in Washington, D.C., as a competitor. Moving from its long-time...
TV Q&A: What’s going on with Pirates baseball TV coverage?
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. Question: I moved about 50 miles north of Pittsburgh to New Galilee, Pa. Where I live, there is only one network/cable system available in that area...
TV Talk: ‘This is Us’ ends quietly, poignantly; bloated ‘Stranger Things’ returnsVideo
This column contains spoilers for the series finale of NBC’s “This is Us,” which aired May 24, 2022. After last week’s episode about the death of Rebecca Pearson (Mandy Moore), viewers could have come into the series finale expecting a “Six Feet Under”-style, time-hopper that showed what became of each...
TV Talk: WTAE-TV hires new sports anchor
WTAE-TV has hired a new weekend sports anchor. Emily Giangreco, currently at KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas, tweeted that she’ll join Channel 4, with her last day on-air in Texas set for this weekend. A Washington, D.C., native who studied broadcast journalism and communications at West Virginia University, Giangreco got her...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking summer TV, ‘Stranger Things,’ Tom Brady, ‘Top Gun’ and ‘George Carlin’s American Dream’Video
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 the Pirates on streaming. Owen reviews Netflix’s “Stranger Things 4” and talks about what else to expect from summer (and fall) TV, including “She-Hulk:...
Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson departing from ‘SNL’
NEW YORK — Kate McKinnon and Pete Davidson are among those departing from “Saturday Night Live,” leaving the sketch institution without arguably its two most famous names after Saturday’s 47th season finale. Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney will also leave the cast after the episode hosted by Natasha Lyonne. The...
TV Talk: Broadcasters announce fall prime-time plans, renewals, cancellationsVideo
Managing the decline of a broadcast empire requires compromises as the Big Four networks made clear during this week’s “upfronts” in New York, an annual tradition where broadcasters try to entice advertisers to commit ad dollars to their new season lineup in advance. As media companies prioritize their streaming services,...
With sequel plans, Rob Reiner turns ‘Spinal Tap’ up to 11
CANNES, France — One of the most memorable lines — and Rob Reiner’s personal favorite — of “This Is Spinal Tap” goes: “There’s a fine line between stupid and clever.” You could say the same thing about the classic 1984 mockumentary. It could have so easily not panned out. No...
TV Talk: Partially Pittsburgh-set ‘This Is Us’ goes out on topVideo
W hile some viewers will be sad to see NBC’s family drama “This Is Us” conclude its six-year run at 9 p.m. May 24, it’s at least comforting to know the partially Pittsburgh-set series ends on its own terms with its initial quality largely intact. The show also ends on...
No more streaming-only debuts for Oscar hopefuls
The Oscars are getting back to normal, eligibility-wise. After two years of pandemic-related adjustments, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Wednesday that Oscar hopefuls will once again have to launch their films in movie theaters. Qualifying films are allowed to premiere “day and date” in movie theaters...
Chris Wallace interview show to be featured on CNN Sundays
NEW YORK — Chris Wallace will host a Sunday night interview show for CNN starting this fall, the network said Wednesday in announcing a new home for the best-known personality from the since-imploded CNN+ streaming service. “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” which will also air on HBO Max, was the...
