Entertainment category, Page 147
The holiday music playlist you need, want and deserve
Holiday music is a big business that generates $170 million a year, according to Billboard. The rulers of the season are Mariah Carey (whose 1994 “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is again topping the charts), Michael Buble (whose 2011 “Christmas” is the biggest selling holiday album of 2022),...
The best movies of 2022 and where to find them
The movies returned at something close to full force this year. Covid masks all but vanished from multiplex crowds, and from the audiences at the press screenings I attended (though I kept mine handy). Sundance did cancel its in-person screenings for the second January in a row, thanks to the...
Adam Sandler to perform stand-up show in Pittsburgh in February
Adam Sandler is going back to his comedic roots and bringing a rare standup tour to PPG Paints Arena on Feb. 8. The performance is part of an extension of his fall 2022 “Adam Sandler Live” tour that began last October. “What the heck! Let’s do a few more!” said...
Terry Hall, singer with ska icons The Specials, dies at 63
LONDON — Musician Terry Hall, who helped create of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as lead singer of The Specials, has died. He was 63. The band announced late Monday that Hall had died after a brief illness. It called him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the...
Chelsea Handler wants to return to late night, and isn’t scared of being canceled
LOS ANGELES — The devil works hard, but Chelsea Handler works harder. Last week, the enterprising comedian wrapped up her 40-plus city Vaccinated and Horny stand-up tour, which she launched in late 2021, pandemic be damned. Since then, she’s also been hosting a weekly hourlong advice podcast, “Dear Chelsea,” as...
Turnstile’s Brendan Yates on the Grammys, Rosalía and his momVideo
Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates says he secured his date to February’s Grammy Awards ceremony many years ago. “When I was younger, it was always a thing that my mom joked about. ‘All right, stop drumming, it’s 9 o’clock.’ And I’d be like, ‘Please, let me get 10 more minutes,’” Yates...
‘E.T.’ model sells for $2.5M in Hollywood icon auction
A model of the title character used in filming Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” has fetched an out-of-this-world price at auction. The mechatronic figure sold for $2.56 million to an undisclosed bidder this past weekend, according to Julien’s Auctions. It was the star attraction in an “Icons &...
Movie review: Debauched ‘Babylon’ vacillates from tribute to indictment of HollywoodVideo
Damien Chazelle would really like to talk to you about “Singin’ in the Rain.” Of course, you already know the 1952 Stanley Donen MGM meta musical comedy starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds about the transition from silent to sound films, but if not, Chazelle will recount it for you,...
Review: ‘The Good Country’ revives Midwest’s history
“The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest 1800-1900” by Jon K. Lauck (The University of Oklahoma Press) Dismissed as Flyover Country. Romanticized as the Heartland. Now, historian Jon K. Lauck seeks to redefine the Midwest as “The Good Country” — a place of progress and democratic ideals —...
Greensburg woman: ‘I’m a quilter who doesn’t like to quilt’Video
Despite describing herself as “a quilter who doesn’t like to quilt,” Ginnie Leiner of Greensburg has more than 196 quilts to her credit, having taught herself the craft in her late teens in the 1970s. “It’s a passion,” said Leiner. “An obsession, my husband would say.” More than a dozen...
‘Avatar 2’ makes waves with $134 million domestic debut
”Avatar: The Way of Water” didn’t make quite as big of a splash as many assumed it would, but James Cameron’s big budget spectacle still helped breathe life into the box office this weekend. The sequel earned $134 million from North American theaters and $300.5 million internationally for a $434.5...
Cecily Strong leaves ‘Saturday Night Live’ after 11 seasonsVideo
After 11 seasons, Cecily Strong has said farewell to “Saturday Night Live.” A few hours before the last episode of the season Saturday, the TV show’s Instagram account posted a cue card saying, “we’ll miss you, Cecily.” The caption read “Tonight we send off one of the best to ever...
Marie Osmond brings holiday music to Heinz Hall
Marie Osmond has worked every year of her life since she was 3. So, it makes sense that six decades later, she would be scheduled to do a concert just a handful of days before Christmas. Osmond, 63, is performing a Christmas concert Tuesday night at Heinz Hall in Downtown...
Most of the ‘Sister Wives’ have left Kody Brown. What’s next for the TLC show?
Kody Brown and his “sister wives” are no more. At least for now. Meri Brown, 51, of TLC’s reality TV show “Sister Wives” confirmed this week that she has ended her 32-year marriage to Kody Brown, 53. She is the most recent partner to leave Kody. While the show is...
How does ‘Titanic’ hold up 25 years later? A few things are different these days
If you were a person interested in movies 25 years ago, you might remember hearing that James Cameron’s “Titanic” was on target to be a legendary flop. “Can a disaster epic about an epic disaster avoid the very fate it dramatizes?” asked a story in The Washington Post about six...
TV Talk: WPXI reaches new deal to stay on Verizon
The number of ways to access WPXI-TV will not shrink further this week after a threatened retransmission dispute with Verizon reached an amicable conclusion. Last month Channel 11 came off DISH Network because of a carriage dispute, which is currently ongoing. This week, the threat of a retransmission agreement impasse...
TV Talk: Harrison Ford discusses starring in ‘Yellowstone’ prequel ‘1923’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. Of all the Taylor Sheridan-produced shows — “Yellowstone,” “1883,” “Mayor of Kingstown” — his two most recent are the best yet. Last month, it was the premiere of the Sylvester Stallone-starring “Tulsa King,” which added...
Review: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is a big screen blastVideo
It is impossible to talk about “Avatar: The Way of Water” without sounding hyperbolic. But James Cameron’s sequel is a truly dazzling cinematic experience that will have you floating on a blockbuster high. No matter if you’ve spent a second of your life in the past 13 years thinking about...
Beatles legend Paul McCartney releases ultimate singles box set
Shopping for that special Paul McCartney fan in your life this holiday season? Look no further than “The 7” Singles Box,” an amazing box set that features 163 tracks — in the form of 80 7-inch singles — running over 10 hours of music. The collection includes such hits and...
Will Smith took over hosting ‘Red Table Talk’ to focus on ‘Emancipation’
Want all of the “Emancipation” promotion with none of the awkward questions about that Oscars slap that inevitably get posed to Will Smith? Then the movie star’s takeover of his family’s “Red Table Talk” series is just what the doctor ordered. On Smith’s “Red Table Takeover” with kids Trey, Willow...
‘Ellen’ show DJ tWitch dead at age 40
The man known to many daytime viewers of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” as tWitch has died, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Stephen Boss, known as tWitch while serving as DJ on DeGeneres’s daytime show was 40 years old. TMZ is reporting the death appears to be...
‘When Harry Met Sally,’ ‘Iron Man’ added to film registry
They’ll have what she’s having. The 1989 rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” is one of 25 films chosen this year to enter the National Film Registry, a list that ranges from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” to an 1898 silent documentary, long thought lost, about the Mardi Gras parade in New...
Resonance Works’ ‘Amahl’ stars Victory Brinker in first full opera role
Victory Brinker of Unity has been singing opera arias since she was 6. Now 10, the “America’s Got Talent” veteran is taking on her first full opera role as the title character in “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Brinker will sing the role on the first two nights of the...
‘Twin Peaks’ composer Angelo Badalamenti dies at 85
Angelo Badalamenti, the composer best known for creating otherworldly scores for many David Lynch productions, from “Blue Velvet” and “Twin Peaks” to “Mulholland Drive,” has died. He was 85. He died of natural causes on Sunday, his family said in a statement. Born in Brooklyn in March 1937 to a...
BTS member Jin begins military duty at front-line boot camp
YEONCHEON, South Korea — Jin, the oldest member of K-pop supergroup BTS, began his 18 months of mandatory military service at a front-line South Korean boot camp Tuesday as fans gathered near the base to say goodbye to their star. Six other younger BTS members are to join the military...
