Sherman's Lagoon
Jim Toomey- John Wenzel - The Denver Post (TNS)
Taking a live-action “Transformers” movie seriously feels absurd. And yet, that’s what director Michael Bay did with his abysmal reboots of the toy brand starting in 2007, leaving an entire generation of would-be fans with the sense that these shape-shifting robots are as flat, joyless and v…
- Emily St. Martin - Los Angeles Times (TNS)
C'mon, "Barbie," let's go party.
- Don Lindich - Tribune News Service (TNS)
Get a really nice high-definition video projector for $82.99: Regular readers of the column know I love video projection and the big-screen experience. Many are interested, but hesitant to buy an expensive projector because they are not sure how much they will use it. Well, get ready to join…
- Michael Phillips - Chicago Tribune (TNS)
It’s a rare movie that settles, quietly, into some part of your own experiences and memories without a speck of narrative contrivance gumming up your response to the story on the screen.
- Katie Walsh - Tribune News Service (TNS)
Sometimes real historical figures are so grand and eccentric that, like the rare and special occurrence of a solar eclipse, it seems that one can only view them through a pinhole, their light too bright to fully take in. Such is the case in the biopic “Dalíland,” directed by Mary Harron, wri…
- By MARK KENNEDY - AP Entertainment Writer
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos get an origin story worthy of any Marvel superhero with Hulu’s totally engrossing “Flamin’ Hot,” says Associated Press critic Mark Kennedy. It’s the tale of how a struggling Mexican American janitor came up with the idea of adding spice to the cornmeal, forever saving after-school snacking. Is it true? Probably not. Don’t let that stop you. You’ll wish “Flaming Hot” was accurate because it's a winning tale of perseverance, family love, proud heritage and blue-collar success, told with a wink, some Cheeto dust and a ton of love by Eva Longoria, in her directorial debut.
- Katie Walsh - Tribune News Service (TNS)
'TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS'
- By MARK KENNEDY - AP Entertainment Writer
Two men who stepped into 6-inch heels for “Kinky Boots” on Broadway will play the title character behind the curtain when “The Wiz” tours the U.S. starting this fall and lands on Broadway in 2024 — Wayne Brady and Alan Mingo Jr. Brady will star as the Wiz in San Francisco from Jan. 16-Feb. 11 at the Golden Gate Theatre, and in Los Angeles from Feb. 13–March 3, before hitting Broadway in spring 2024. Mingo will star in the role of the Wiz in the remaining cities of the national tour. The two actors were last on Broadway in “Kinky Boots” playing Lola. Brady handed the role to Mingo and “now I’ll go on the road and then hand him the baton,” says Mingo.
- By DAVE CAMPBELL - Associated Press
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit have created another Alabama-accented earworm of an album that flaunts the power of his voice, guitar and lyrics. The Associated Press’ Dave Campbell writes that “Weathervanes” is a familiar and predictable amble within the wide expanse of Americana, a 13-track canvas painted by country, folk, gospel and hard southern rock. “Weathervanes” has its twists and turns while staying inside Isbell's usual musical guardrails. Isbell continues to tell stories beyond his own trying-to-stay-clean lens. He further reflects the forever process of learning oneself and how to live and love complex people in a broken world.
- AP
CNN head Chris Licht out after brief, tumultuous tenure at the news network, reports say.
- Tribune News Service (TNS)
The top 10 DVD rentals at Redbox kiosks for the week of May 29:
- Alexandra Del Rosario - Los Angeles Times (TNS)
Chris Hemsworth dedicated more than a quarter of his life to playing Thor for Marvel. Naturally, taking on the Mjölnir-wielding Norse god grew stale.
- Mikael Wood - Los Angeles Times (TNS)
LOS ANGELES — Dressed in a baggy green flight suit, his fingernails painted black, Seal squared himself behind a microphone in a Van Nuys rehearsal studio and bobbed his signature bald head as his five-person band wound its way through the intro of his song "Fast Changes."
- Brooke Cain - The Charlotte Observer (TNS)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new four-part true-crime documentary premiering this week on HBO (and streaming on MAX) goes beyond the typical genre offering.
- Chris Jones - Chicago Tribune (TNS)
NEW YORK — Just as New York’s theater world sashays from one end-of-season party to another, bars open at every turn, comes a gorgeously and expressionistically scored new musical from Adam Guettel, an often melancholic composer known as much for the years that flow between his shows as from…
- Charles McNulty - Los Angeles Times (TNS)
Theater audiences have been getting attacked from all sides since venues reopened.
- Mark Meszoros - The News-Herald (Willoughby, Ohio) (TNS)
If it’s not one multiverse, it’s another.
- Ginny Greene - Star Tribune (TNS)
Books in brief
- Mary Carole McCauley - Baltimore Sun (TNS)
Summer is the season for travel — and what better or cheaper way to embark on a journey than by cracking open a good book? Every novel or essay collection is its own world, with a unique geography and climate, customs and language, and its own physical laws.
- Kathleen Rooney - Star Tribune (TNS)
FICTION: Dorothy Tse's novel is a beautifully strange critique of contemporary Hong Kong.
- Laurie Hertzel - Star Tribune (TNS)
NONFICTION: A poet rescues a young magpie chick, which proceeds to take over her life.
- Michael Phillips - Chicago Tribune (TNS)
Maureen Ryan can’t deny it, as she writes in her first book: “Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call for Change in Hollywood.” For much of her life, the former Chicago Tribune and Variety critic and reporter couldn’t get enough of the grisly, salacious show-business lore spawned by the t…
- Chris Hewitt - Star Tribune (TNS)
Don't miss
- Moira Macdonald - The Seattle Times (TNS)
"Haven" by Emma Donoghue (Little, Brown, $17.99). Donoghue, whose elegant novels range from historical fiction ("The Wonder," "Frog Music") to contemporary ("Akin," "Room"), here goes ultra-historical with a tale of three Irishmen on a voyage of discovery in the year 600. A review in The Gua…
- Ellen Akins - Star Tribune (TNS)
FICTION: "Kairos" finds main character Katharina sifting through memorabilia, hunting for answers.
- Kevin Canfield - Star Tribune (TNS)
FICTION: Andre Dubus III's hero loses everything, then learns about atonement and compassion.
- Christine Brunkhorst - Star Tribune (TNS)
NONFICTION: A detailed, loving look at nature, just across the Minnesota border.
The following are Wednesday’s television listings for the local PBS stations:
