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‘Awards Chatter’ Pod: Diego Luna on ‘Andor,’ Gael García Bernal and ‘Y Tu Mamá También’ 25 Years Later
Diego Luna is a gifted Mexican actor, producer and director who has been appearing in front of cameras for almost all of his 45 years. Every bit as much as Jean-Pierre Leaud was the face of the French New Wave, Luna became, with his close friend and frequent collaborator Gael García Bernal, one of the faces of the New Mexican Cinema, helping to bring to life the visions of a generation of master filmmakers from his country, while also enjoying great success internationally.
For his portrayal of Cassian Andor, a Rebel Alliance captain and intelligence officer, in the second and final season of the acclaimed Disney+ drama series Andor, a prequel to the first of the stand-alone Star Wars films, 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in which he also starred, the two-time Golden Globe Award nominee and Critics Choice Award nominee is now poised...
How Kristi Noem Could Become the New Jeff Probst
Who Wants to Be an American?
Being a member of the president’s Cabinet has always come with perks: VIP flights with no TSA lines, a fleet of chauffeur-driven SUVs and a personal security detail straight out of Men in Black. But now, in the Trump White House, one member of the administration may be getting a whole new sort of fringe benefit — her own reality show.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made scads of headlines recently when Daily Mail reported that her department was considering a pitch for The American, a reality series in which migrants would compete on live TV for U.S. citizenship. “My dream is to do every episode in a different state,” producer Rob Worsoff told a dumbfounded-looking Kaitlan Collins on CNN. “Like, if we’re in New York, we’re doing a pizza-making challenge. If we’re in Florida,...
Need a Break? Five Tips for Escapes to Relieve Cannes Festival Stress
Winding down from the big crowds and frantic pace of the Cannes Film Festival? Take a deep breath and shift into a new state of mind.
Now is the perfect time to flex your relaxation muscles from the court to the spa. Here are some tips…
Tennis: Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc
167-165 Bd J. F. Kennedy, 06160 Antibes, France
An icon of the French Riviera and the Cannes Film Festival, countless celebrities have escaped into the bucolic surroundings of the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc over the years when they’ve needed respite. Those who thirst for volley flock to the hotel’s five clay tennis courts adjacent to the rose gardens. Enlist a private session with a coach to help refine your backhand or simply look the part with gear from the Lacoste and Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc capsule collection that blends the two brands’ legendary codes.
Spa: Dior Spa...
‘Twin Peaks’ Cast Sets National Tour for the Summer and Fall (Exclusive)
Twin Peaks fans who were left wanting more following the series’ long-awaited third season in 2017, rejoice: Top members of the original cast are set to tour the country later this year.
Starting in early August, stars of the surreal David Lynch and Mark Frost-created saga will be sitting down for nostalgic conversations in cities across the U.S., from Tysons, Virginia, to Seattle, Washington. Ray Wise (who played Leland Palmer), Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy Brennan) and Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran) as well as Twin Peaks: The Return executive producer Sabrina S. Sutherland will share their experiences on the series and swap behind-the-scenes stories at the ticketed events.
Sheryl Lee, who played the high school homecoming queen whose murder formed the central mystery of the story and gave a startling starring turn in 1992’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, will additionally appear at certain stops in...
Paramount Plans Immersive ‘Top Gun’ Experience in Las Vegas
Paramount Global wants to take Las Vegas visitors to the Danger Zone.
The media company is partnering with Advent Allen Entertainment to create and launch a fully immersive experience based on its Top Gun franchise, which stars Tom Cruise.
The experience will be built on an undeveloped site at The Strat Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, and while details remain, uh, classified for now, the companies promise a combination of rides and storytelling, utilizing advanced technology and, of course, jet simulators.
Top Gun has had a resurgence since the success of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, and Paramount is betting that its adrenaline-soaked nature will translate to an exciting experiential business. While the initial Top Gun Las Vegas (working title) is set to open in 2028, the companies say that they are actively exploring potential expansion locations in the U.S. and elsewhere around...
‘Bad Thoughts’ Review: Tom Segura’s Proudly Disgusting, Occasionally Amusing Netflix Comedy
In the first minutes of Netflix’s Bad Thoughts, creator and star Tom Segura explains what it’s like being a comedian. “You know that dumb shit you get sent to HR for saying?” he smirks. “I get paid for that.”
He’s elucidating the broad theme of the episode — “jobs” — but really, he could be explaining his series as a whole. And his promise (or threat) is not an idle one. Bad Thoughts’ entire raison d’être is pushing past the boundaries of good taste, in hopes of provoking delighted horror or disgust. How successful you think Segura is at it, and whether you think it’s a worthy goal to begin with, is a matter of personal sensibility. I will say this: You can’t accuse the guy of not committing to a bit.
Bad Thoughts
The Bottom LineRude and crude, not necessarily in...
‘Duster’ Review: Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson Lead J.J. Abrams’ High-Octane, Low-Impact 1970s Crime Romp for Max
Many questions were raised when Warner Bros. initially announced “HBO Max” (and then “Max”) as the name of its big streaming platform.
The first and most obvious question was, “Why take a brand name as established and curated as HBO and dilute it with proximity to this much corporate flotsam and jetsam?”
Duster
The Bottom LineNot much depth, but star power and ersatz grooviness.
Airdate: Thursday, May 15 (Max)
Cast: Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson, Keith David, Sydney Elisabeth, Greg Grunberg, Camille Guaty, Asivak Kootachin, Adriana Aluna Martinez, Benjamin Charles Watson
Creators: J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan
Somewhere among the top five questions, though, was “Wait, can you use ‘Max’ when HBO already has ‘Cinemax’ as a corporate sibling?”
HBO’s disreputable younger brother, Cinemax attempted to shed or expand on its “Skinemax” reputation with a fairly successful run of originals between 2011 and 2019, a small group that...
‘Overcompensating’ Review: Benito Skinner’s Amazon Coming-of-Age Comedy Delivers College Hijinks with Laughter and Heart
It’s been several years since I graduated from college, so I’m unqualified to say with certainty whether or not it’s a regular occurrence for today’s savvy students to bond over their love of Ashlee Simpson, whose last album came out before some of them were born.
This unexpected celebration of the “Pieces of Me” auteur is one of several moments in Benito Skinner‘s new Amazon comedy Overcompensating that feel not exactly “wrong,” but more appropriate for juvenile millennials than Zoomers. Almost every pop culture reference in Overcompensating, including extended nods to Twilight, Glee and the reappropriated Megan Fox classic Jennifer’s Body, comes across, at best, as a thing that the main characters might have discovered from their much older siblings. Or parents.
Overcompensating
The Bottom LineCollege tropes, done well.
Airdate: Thursday, May 15 (Amazon)
Cast: Benito Skinner, Wally Baram, Mary Beth Barone, Adam DiMarco, Rish Shah
It all fits because the...
‘Motorheads’ Review: Ryan Phillippe in Amazon’s Surprisingly Sweet Teen Grease Monkey Drama
There are times in Amazon’s Motorheads, especially during the Neil Burger-directed premiere, when it feels like you’re not really supposed to have been paying attention. Or, at least, when it feels like the show presumes you haven’t been.
Character introductions and plot developments are prefaced by blaring musical cues to let you know in no uncertain terms how to feel. The dialogue is bloated with exposition: “I mean, your dad just lost her,” a girl says to her boyfriend of his own recently dead mother, as if he might have forgotten. And in case none of that might be enough to redirect your attention from whatever TikTok video you were watching simultaneously, the soundtrack is crammed with recently huge, surely expensive hits by the likes of Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Olivia Rodrigo.
Motorheads
The Bottom LineAdolescent angst by...
‘Sirens’ Review: Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock and Julianne Moore Star in Netflix’s Erratic Slice of Affluence Porn
Mortal women tend to get a bum deal in classical mythology; it isn’t uncommon to see them reduced to simple, ill-fated victims or, in more complicated instances, turned into literal monsters for offenses they didn’t commit. It’s almost progressive that princesses and washerwomen alike get crushed by the caprice of misbehaving immortals — but only “almost.”
This is a prism through which one might find some almost admirable subtext in Netflix‘s new five-part limited series, Sirens, but only “almost.” In a show awash in references, thematic coherence and tonal consistency are much harder to come by.
Sirens
The Bottom LineNot tantalizing enough to lure wayward sailors.
Airdate: Thursday, May 22 (Netflix)
Cast: Meghann Fahy, Julianne Moore, Milly Alcock, Kevin Bacon, Glenn Howerton
Creator: Molly Smith Metzler
Created by Molly Smith Metzler (Maid), Sirens is an aggressive hodge-podge that tries to blend very broad class satire, very broad melodrama, very...