Entertainment
/ArcaMax
It's official: Ryan Seacrest to return as host of 'American Idol'
The hardest-working man in Hollywood is returning to his roots. ABC announced Thursday morning that Ryan Seacrest will indeed return as host of the rebooted "American Idol."
"We are thrilled to be ushering in this new era of 'American Idol' with Ryan at the helm," Channing Dungey, president of ABC Entertainment, said in a statement released by ...Read more
Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington dies at 41
LOS ANGELES -- Chester Bennington, lead vocalist of Linkin Park, died of an apparent suicide Thursday morning, the Los Angeles County coroner confirmed. He was 41.
Firefighters received a call about 9 a.m. regarding a cardiac arrest in the 2800 block of Via Victoria in Palos Verdes Estates, said Joey Napoli, spokesman for the Los Angeles County...Read more
Jada Pinkett Smith says she was a drug dealer when she met Tupac Shakur in Baltimore
Actress and Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith has been vocal about her relationship with the late rapper Tupac Shakur for years -- most recently, to set the record straight about what she considers inaccuracies the recent Shakur biopic "All Eyez on Me."
But Wednesday, Pinkett Smith revealed a new tidbit about her friendship with Shakur, with ...Read more
Movie review: Luc Besson's 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets' is a dazzling, dimwitted space opera
In his ludicrously entertaining 2014 science-fiction thriller, "Lucy," the French director Luc Besson gave us a chemically enhanced action heroine with the rare ability to harness 100 percent of her brainpower. Besson's latest futuristic whatsit, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets," seems determined to induce the opposite effect in the...Read more
Movie review: 'Valerian' looks good but script is lost in space
Visually, French director Luc Besson's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" is tres magnifique. When it comes to the story, the film is what Pepe Le Pew would call a "le cinema avec grand stinker."
As has been Besson's cinematic modus operandi over the years, the director can paint film pictures that waiver between breathtaking and awe...Read more
Q&A: Jill Kargman celebrates the square pegs of Park Avenue on 'Odd Mom Out'
Jill Kargman is the star and creator of Bravo's "Odd Mom Out," the network's first (and still only) scripted sitcom. Recently embarked on its third season and based loosely on her 2007 book "Momzillas" about competitive parenting among the very wealthy, it's a deft and charming satirical ensemble comedy that both fits and mocks Bravo's ...Read more
Tony Bennett preps for 91st birthday concert
CHICAGO -- On Aug. 4, one day after he turns 91, Tony Bennett will take the stage of the Ravinia Festival, in Highland Park, Ill.
If past performances -- such as last year's -- are any indication, he'll perform about two dozen songs from memory. Some will be up-tempo, and Bennett may soft-shoe alongside the piano in swing time, drawing instant ...Read more
The future is uncertain for Disney star Dove Cameron — and she's just fine with that
When Disney Channel's "Descendants 2" premieres on Friday, it could be the end of an era for its star, Dove Cameron.
Cameron gained fame when her Disney Channel sitcom, "Liv and Maddie," debuted in 2013. Now, four years later, the series has reached its end and the future of the "Descendants" franchise is unclear. But Cameron isn't concerned.
...Read more
From BookDaily.com
Tethered to Wanting
Constance Huddleston AndersonSet in the mountains of Tennessee, this is the story of a young woman's transcendent longing for something unknown. It is a story of family, of possibility, of forgiveness, and of the dualities found in all of us: love and anger, longing and despair, belonging and isolation.
Television Q&A: 'Prime Suspect: Tennison'
You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: Did we see the season finale of "Prime Suspect: Tennison" after just three episodes? Weren't there supposed to be more? Will it return?
A: The "Prime Suspect" prequel about a young Jane Tennison originally aired on England in six episodes under the name "Prime Suspect 1973." For American telecast on ...Read more
Luc Besson hopes his original sci-fi film 'Valerian' defies the odds
Luc Besson was feeling a little discombobulated.
On a recent afternoon, the French director of such films as "La Femme Nikita," "The Fifth Element" and "Lucy" sat in a Los Angeles multiplex, where he had just introduced a preview screening of his latest movie, the gonzo space opera "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." Besson himself ...Read more
Feeling right at home in 'Ozark': Laura Linney and Jason Bateman make corruption likable in Netflix's crisp series
Jason Bateman, America's sweetheart, is the star, an executive producer and the director of nearly half the episodes of "Ozark," a series premiering in its 10-episode first-season entirety Friday on Netflix.
Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a Chicago financial advisor. He is, we are given to understand, cautious, boring and, for the moment, ...Read more
Movie review: Easy charm abundant in 'Girls Trip'
"Today is the last day we will ever be this young!" says Ryan (Regina Hall), exhorting her friends Dina (Tiffany Haddish), Lisa (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Sasha (Queen Latifah) to seize the moment on their trip to New Orleans. It's the sort of pronouncement that comes easily to Ryan, a successful author described as "the second coming of Oprah," ...Read more
Review: 'Insecure' remains funny and topical in Season 2
The debut season of HBO's "Insecure" was a stunning start, but at times it could feel claustrophobic, intimate to a fault. There was Issa Dee (creator and star Issa Rae) and there was the love triangle consisting of Dee, her boyfriend Lawrence (Jay Ellis), and Daniel (Y'lan Noel), a childhood friend. The rest -- Dee's career, her circle of ...Read more
Capsule reviews of feature films
BEATRIZ AT DINNER. 3 stars. A Mexican-American nurse ends up at a dinner among wealthy California swells (John Lithgow, Connie Britton) causing friction-filled conversation that crosses lines of class and culture. From director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White. 1 hr. 23 R (adult themes, language, class warfare) -- Gary Thompson
THE BEGUILED....Read more
Commentary: The 13th Doctor will be a woman, and that is good news
Change is built into the bones of "Doctor Who," but there is change and then there is change. The 13th Doctor has been announced, and that the part -- a regenerating alien played by many actors in turn since the show debuted in 1963 -- will for the first time be taken by a woman comes not so much as a surprise as a relief. One more young/old/...Read more
Movie review: 'Dunkirk' is one of Nolan's most resolutely human films
Director/writer Christopher Nolan is best known for his flights into the lands of the fantastic. From the dream world of "Inception" to the deep space of "Interstellar" and the caped-crusader heroism of his "Batman" trilogy, the British filmmaker often explores vistas far removed from the existence of the every day.
"Dunkirk," his latest film, ...Read more
Inside Comic-Con's Hall H, the most important room in Hollywood
Aromatic top notes of hot dogs and cooling nachos waft through the air, mingling with the distinct bouquet of 6,500 amped-up human bodies. Many have forgone showers and sleep to camp out overnight in the humid summer heat for the chance to be here, to cram themselves, elbow to elbow, into one of the seemingly endless rows of unforgiving folding ...Read more
Movie review: Time stands still in breathtaking 'Dunkirk'
Something curious happens to time in Christopher Nolan's movies. On screen, it twists and dances and coils enticingly; off screen, it vanishes. His magnificent new film, "Dunkirk," seems to be over in a flash -- you disappear inside of it and it changes you, as all great movies do.
Based on a remarkable story from World War II, "Dunkirk" ...Read more
Movie review: 'Landline' coasts on '90s nostalgia
Three of the key creative members of 2014's heartfelt abortion dramedy "Obvious Child" have re-teamed for the '90s family comedy "Landline." Director Gillian Robespierre once again joins forces with writer Elisabeth Holm and star Jenny Slate for this story about multi-generational complications of life and love.
The specificity with which Holm ...Read more
Is 'The Disaster Artist' James Franco's next shot at Oscar gold?
If you're a James Franco fan who felt the actor was snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when his performance as an eccentric drug dealer in "Spring Breakers" failed to earn an Oscar nod -- rejoice. The actor's next shot at a gold statuette may have just arrived.
On Tuesday, A24 debuted a teaser trailer for "The Disaster ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington dies at 41
- It's official: Ryan Seacrest to return as host of 'American Idol'
- Jada Pinkett Smith says she was a drug dealer when she met Tupac Shakur in Baltimore
- Review: 'Insecure' remains funny and topical in Season 2
- Luc Besson hopes his original sci-fi film 'Valerian' defies the odds
Social Connections
Comics
