Movies/TV category, Page 59
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking ‘Survivor’ strategy with Pittsburgh runner-up Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt
In this episode of the “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, host Tim Benz and TV Talk columnist Rob Owen welcome special guest Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt of Jefferson Hills, who came in second on the most recent season of CBS’s “Survivor.” Lagares-Greenblatt reflects on her time on the show, how her engineering background may...
Indiana Jones’ box office destiny? A lukewarm $60 million debut in North America
Indiana Jones, and executives at the Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm, made a somewhat dispiriting discovery this weekend. Moviegoers didn’t rush to the theater in significant numbers to see ” Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and say goodbye to Harrison Ford as the iconic archaeologist. The film, reportedly...
Summer movie season is in full swing. Here’s what’s coming through Labor Day
The summer movie season goes into high-gear in July, with the arrival of the seventh “Mission: Impossible”movie followed by the “Oppenheimer”and “Barbie”showdown on July 21. Not that you have to choose one or the other — as Tom Cruise said on Twitter, “I love a double feature, and it doesn’t...
Review: Harrison Ford gets a swashbuckling sendoff in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’Video
Goodbyes don’t tend to mean much in the Hollywood franchise system. Death isn’t a reliable end for characters or, lately, even actors. Technology, nostalgia and the often-inflated value of brands and IP have created a nightmarish cycle of resurrection and regurgitation, curdling what we love most. And yet when someone...
Alan Arkin, Oscar-winning ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ actor, dies at 89Video
LOS ANGELES — Alan Arkin, the wry character actor who demonstrated his versatility in everything from farcical comedy to chilling drama as he received four Academy Award nominations and won an Oscar in 2007 for “Little Miss Sunshine,” has died. He was 89. His sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony confirmed...
TV series put on pause by the Hollywood writers strike
As a strike by Hollywood writers approaches the two-month mark, late-night talk shows have been put on long-term hiatus and more and more scripted shows are pausing production, with films not far behind. The looming possibility of unionized actors striking alongside them could mean a far larger shutdown. Here’s a...
TV Talk: PBS explores impact of the ‘Human Footprint’Video
While we hear a lot about the human impact that’s resulting in climate change, the new PBS docu-series “Human Footprint” (9 p.m. Wednesday, WQED-TV) looks at other ways that people have transformed the planet. Princeton University professor Shane Campbell- Staton hosts this six-part science/travel series that begins with “Strangers in Paradise,”...
TV Talk: Apple TV+ Idris Elba airplane-set thriller ‘Hijack’ takes offVideo
Mix elements of the 1970s “Airport” movies with “Air Force One” and a dollop of real-time storytelling (think: “24”) and you have the key ingredients in Apple TV+’s “Hijack,” an entertaining seven-episode thriller starring Idris Elba. Now streaming, “Hijack” won’t be confused with great television but it is pretty good...
Who wants to be a game show host? These days, you already have to be famous
NEW YORK — When producers of “Wheel of Fortune” named Ryan Seacrest — probably the most ubiquitous man on entertainment television — as its next host this week, it surprised virtually no one. The idea that Sony Pictures Television would appoint someone relatively unknown as the figurehead of one of...
TV Q&A: Who are WPXI-TV’s weekend anchors?
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 news yet on who the WPXI-TV evening weekend anchor is since Ryan Houston departed in November 2022? — Joseph, via email Rob: Depends on...
Ryan Seacrest to take over ‘Wheel of Fortune’ after Pat Sajak retires
LOS ANGELES — The category? “Proper Name.” The answer? Ryan Seacrest, who will become the new “Wheel of Fortune” host after Pat Sajak’s retirement next year. Seacrest and Sony Pictures Television announced Tuesday that Seacrest has signed a multiyear deal to host the long-running game show starting with Season 42....
TV Talk: Pittsburgh’s Zoe wins ‘Baking Championship;’ locals on ‘Bachelorette,’ ‘Jeopardy!’Video
She won! Mt. Washington’s Zoe Peckich, pastry sous chef at Ritual House in Downtown Pittsburgh, won Food Network’s “Summer Baking Championship” Monday night, pocketing the $25,000 grand prize and setting up the potential for future Food Network show appearances. It was actually a double win for Peckich, who grew up...
Fox News unveils primetime lineup with Jesse Watters in Tucker Carlson’s former time slot
Jesse Watters will host an opinion show in the time slot formerly occupied by Tucker Carlson, Fox News Channel announced Monday. Watters will remain a co-host on “The Five,” an evening roundtable discussion show that is hugely popular on the network. “Jesse Watters Primetime” will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern...
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ slings back into box office top spot while ‘The Flash’ dropsVideo
LOS ANGELES — “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” slung its webs back atop the box office ranks while “The Flash” saw a drop faster than the film’s speedy character. The Spidey animated sequel — starring Shameik Moore as the teenage webslinger Miles Morales — reclaimed the No. 1 spot in its...
Pittsburgh native Nick Pasqual’s indie film ‘Poor Paul’ now streamingVideo
From its 2022 world premiere at Dormont’s Hollywood Theater, the indie movie “Poor Paul” has moved on to bigger audiences. With creators and cast members including Pittsburgh natives Nick Pasqual and Abhi Sinha, the film is now available on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Google Play and YouTube. “A statistic I find...
Review: A fantasy adventure with riot-grrrl energy in ‘Nimona’Video
A powerful, shapeshifting teenage girl and a disgraced knight-in-training suspected of killing a beloved queen are at the heart of ” Nimona,” a vibrant and irreverent animated adventure set in a futuristic fantasy kingdom. It is a familiar story — a society governed by ancient rules and a crippling fear...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh-set ‘Average Joe’ delivers ‘Breaking Bad’ vibes on BET+
The premise of the darkly comedic BET+ drama “Average Joe,” set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, sat with writer Robb Cullen for a long time. A Philadelphia native, Cullen created the 2003 FX comedy “Lucky,” which featured the first series regular role for Swissvale native Billy Gardell. Last year when BET+...
TV Talk: Amazon debuts magical realism series ‘I’m a Virgo;’ ‘The Bear’ roars againVideo
Filmmaker Boots Riley (“Sorry to Bother You”) delivers magical realism weirdness with Amazon Prime Video’s “I’m a Virgo,” sort of a “Pushing Daisies” with a darker Tim Burton vibe but less coherent storytelling. It’s definitely strange but often funny and sometimes even moving. Streaming June 23, the story begins with...
TV Q&A: Will Peacock no longer be free for Comcast’s Xfinity subscribers?
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: I turned on Comcast’s Xfinity and it says Peacock will no longer be free after June 26. On screen, it says you can order it...
5 filmmakers whose work you need to catch up on this summer
I often tell my film criticism students, as they prepare to review a new movie, that it’s always helpful to familiarize yourself with a director’s past work. That might sound like fairly obvious advice, but it’s worth reinforcing for someone not accustomed to watching movies through the lens of auteurism,...
Pittsburgh Pop podcast: Talking Taylor Swift, Stan Savran, summer movies, ‘Secret Invasion’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 weekend’s Taylor Swift concerts and the passing of Pittsburgh sports journalist Stan Savran. The pair discuss summer movies, including box office failures so...
What makes a streaming hit? Desperate fans ‘game the system’ to save favorite shows
LOS ANGELES — Nikki Rodriguez wants Netflix to renew its fantasy series “Shadow and Bone” — so much so that she has watched its second season 15 times. She’s promoted fan videos on social media to court new viewers for the show. The New York resident also created a Change.org...
What if things could turn out differently? How the multiverse got into our heads and didn’t let go
“Let’s do things differently this time.” Those are the first words you hear at the beginning of this month’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” an otherworldly meditation on multiple realities and how our lives might unfold. The message is clear from the get-go: We have choices. Things could be malleable. You...
TV Talk: Former Pittsburgher is in the kitchen with Chef Carmy on ‘The Bear’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. PASADENA, Calif. — Last summer’s FX- produced Hulu hit “The Bear,” about chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and his attempts to revive a grimy Chicago sandwich joint, returns for its second season with all 10 episodes...
Central Park birder Christian Cooper is turning his viral video fame into a memoir and TV show
NEW YORK — There’s nothing that can keep Christian Cooper from enjoying his “happy place,” the bird-friendly Ramble of Central Park — not even his tense, viral video encounter three years ago with a woman walking her dog off leash in his refuge. Cooper is a lifelong birder, and Black,...
