Entertainment category, Page 153
Mimi Parker, co-founder of indie band Low has diedVideo
DULUTH, Minn. — Mimi Parker, whose soothing vocals helped propel the Minnesota indie band Low to critical acclaim, has died at age 55, nearly two years after revealing that she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. “Friends, it’s hard to put the universe into language and into a short message,...
Review: Movie fans will roar, growl over ’50 MGM Films’ book
“The 50 MGM Films that Transformed Hollywood: Triumphs, Blockbusters, and Fiascos,” by Steven Bingen (Lyons Press) The title of film historian Steven Bingen’s new book is reminiscent of B-movie trailers of the 1950s that breathlessly hype “The Most Important Picture of the Year!” But like many of those overripe flicks,...
Review: Bruce Springsteen wants to change the topic with ‘Only the Strong Survive’Video
When Bruce Springsteen went on Howard Stern’s Sirius/XM radio show recently to promote his new album of soul music covers, “Only the Strong Survive,” he talked about his often-voiced idea of his career being “a lifelong conversation with my audience.” “Thankfully, I’ve got a sizable audience that’s interested in what’s...
Duran Duran stumbles, Dolly Parton rolls into Rock Hall
LOS ANGELES — Lionel Richie soared. Pat Benatar roared. Duran Duran stumbled but stayed sophisticated. Eminem was Eminem. The four acts found very different ways to celebrate on Saturday night, but all can now forever say they’re Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. So are Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Harry Belafonte,...
Singer-rapper Aaron Carter dies in California at age 34
LOS ANGELES — Aaron Carter, the singer-rapper who began performing as a child and had hit albums starting in his teen years, was found dead Saturday at his home in Southern California. He was 34. Representatives for Carter’s family confirmed the singer’s death. His fiance, Melanie Martin, asked for privacy...
Review: Serial killer thriller ‘Holy Spider’ gets stuck in its own morally murky webVideo
On April 8, 2002, Saeed Hanaei was executed for the murders of 16 women between 2000 and 2001 in the Iranian city of Mashhad. The media dubbed him the “Spider Killer” for the way he lured his victims into his lair — the same apartment he shared with his unsuspecting...
Chazz Palminteri brings ‘Bronx Tale’ 1-man show to PittsburghVideo
What do a charismatic mob boss, an Italian-American boy being brought up in a law-abiding family, and Bill Mazeroski have in common? They all factor into actor, writer, director and producer Chazz Palminteri’s “A Bronx Tale.” Before it was a movie, it was a one-man stage play. The 70-year-old Palminteri...
Michael Rapaport on his first film role, disrupting and 52 years of talking trash
Michael Rapaport has always been a disruptor. As a kid growing up in New York, Rapaport had a big mouth and could make people laugh, though teachers continually noted his “disruptive behavior” in class. “That’s just a genetic disposition,” says Rapaport, on the phone last month from New York. “That’s...
Brother, sister will showcase Murrysville church’s new organ
Newlonsburg Presbyterian Church will fill with music today, thanks to a new digital Allen GX335 GeniSys series organ church officials have installed. The church’s music director and organist, Becky Gard of West Mifflin, will be joined by her brother, Patrick Gard, who is the music director and organist for St....
Phil Spector killed her. The press tarred her. Her mother wants to ‘set the story straight’
LOS ANGELES — It’s been nearly two decades since Lana Clarkson, the statuesque sword-wielding star of “Barbarian Queen” and other action films by Roger Corman, was murdered by songwriter and music producer Phil Spector at his sprawling faux French chateau in Alhambra known as the Pyrenees Castle. For most of...
Garry Peterson playing Palace Theatre with The Guess Who
Outside of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, there aren’t many rock ’n’ rollers who can boast that they’ve been in the same band for 60 years. Drummer Garry Peterson of The Guess Who is one of the few who can make that claim. Peterson was 17...
From ‘Enola Holmes’ to ‘Extraction,’ Netflix bets on sequels
It’s easy to forget that the Netflix original film department is still rather young. Five years ago, the streaming service didn’t even really have one. But things move quickly in the competitive streaming world, especially when starting from scratch. Now with a robust library of proprietary and commercially minded films...
Mt. Pleasant rocker Andy Davis wins Male Entertainer of the Year at independent music awards
As an independent artist, Andy Davis of Mt. Pleasant doesn’t have a major record label backing his work, and the money that goes into his music career comes mostly out of his own pockets. “To be able to do that, and continue to see things progress, is really unbelievable,” Davis...
CNBC pulls the plug on ‘The News With Shepard Smith’
NEW YORK — CNBC is ending its nightly newscast with Shepard Smith, the former Fox News anchor who moved to the business channel in 2020. KC Sullivan, who recently took over leadership of the NBCUniversal-owned outlet, told staffers in a memo Thursday that Smith’s final program will air at the...
Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Argentina announce they are marriedVideo
HAVANA — Two former beauty queens, Fabiola Valentín of Puerto Rico and Mariana Valera of Argentina, announced this week that they had secretly married. The joint Instagram post spurred celebration in LGBTQ communities across Latin America, a region that has historically lagged on gay rights but has made small steps...
David Duchovny and Rosemarie DeWitt embrace roles as awful people in ‘The Estate’Video
David Duchovny and Rosemarie DeWitt play cousins who are completely and utterly awful people in the new black comedy “The Estate.” But then, every major character in “The Estate,” which also stars Toni Collette, Anna Faris and Kathleen Turner, is just as terrible. And that, DeWitt and Duchovny say, is...
Booker Prize winner lets ghosts of Sri Lanka’s past speak
LONDON — Shehan Karunatilaka wrote his Booker Prize-winning novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” to give voice to Sri Lanka’s dead. He hoped the ghosts of the country’s bloody past could speak to its troubled present. When the book became a finalist for the 50,000-pound ($58,000) fiction award this...
Carnegie Museum’s ‘Welcome This Winter’ programs aim to brighten winter gloom
Let’s face it — winter in Pittsburgh is a little gloomy. The Carnegie Museum of Art aims to be a bright spot in the midst of that with its “Welcome This Winter” slate of programming. “The winter is always challenging in Pittsburgh. It gets dark, we struggle with not getting...
‘Causeway’ review: Jennifer Lawrence is a veteran readjusting to life, but Brian Tyree Henry is the real drawVideo
One of the top actors of his generation, it’s only a matter of time before Brian Tyree Henry lands a project that puts his talents front and center. But even in supporting roles, whenever he’s on screen, suddenly you’re locked in to what he’s doing regardless of genre. In the...
What are the 500 best albums? Rolling Stone has an answer
NEW YORK — Is Fleetwood Mac’s landmark album “Rumours” better than “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar? Should “Tapestry” by Carole King be ranked higher or lower than “Thriller” by Michael Jackson? Rolling Stone magazine has some answers in a new book that’s sure to spark conversations — “The...
Joan Jett to headline Light Up Night 2022 in Pittsburgh
For the second time in three months, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be performing in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership announced at a press conference Wednesday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will be the headline performers at Light Up Night on Nov. 19. Jett and her...
Andrew Duncan, ‘Slap Shot’ announcer Jim Carr, dies
Actor Andrew Duncan, better known to Johnstown hockey fans as fictional Charlestown Chiefs broadcaster Jim Carr, has died, according to Second City Theater, which announced the news on Monday. His age and cause of death had not been announced as of Tuesday, but Duncan told The Tribune-Democrat he was 90...
How Lainey Wilson, an ’11-year overnight sensation,’ became country music’s brightest new starVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Lainey Wilson’s first paying gig as a singer was the grand opening of a convenience store in her tiny hometown of Baskin, Louisiana. She was 9 years old, and the job paid 20 bucks. “My daddy took me up there — no guitar, no microphone, no nothing...
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra paid $15K to take 2 Pa. lawmakers to Europe
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — In the waning days of summer, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarked on a whirlwind, nine-city European tour — its...
Takeoff, dead at 28 in shooting, was ‘chill’ Migos member
At just 28, rapper Takeoff had cultivated a rich hip-hop legacy with Migos — along with a reputation as the trio’s most lowkey member — before he was killed in a shooting early Tuesday. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene outside a Houston bowling alley, police there said at...
