Brad Paisley.Music: Brad Paisley got his start in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, and since then he’s gathered up every important award in country music. He’s on the road a lot, too, and on Saturday afternoon, he’s at the Cruzan for a stop on his H20 World Tour. The tour will feature a “water world plaza” meant to evoke summer and water … [Read more...]
Film feature: Film historian Osborne to sound off on Oscars at Crest talk
Film historian Robert Osborne.By Hap ErsteinThe Academy Awards have been going through a transition lately, with notable rule changes to either improve the voting process or at least increase ratings for the annual telecast.Still, the awards themselves remain of value, says film historian Robert Osborne, the genial host of Turner Classic Movies.“I care about the process, and I … [Read more...]
TV review: New season shows ‘Curb’ is at top of its game
By John ThomasonClaims that Curb Your Enthusiasm has jumped the shark have been circulating around the Internet from snarky bloggers since at least Season Five, when its ill-advised mortality plot thread saw Larry David die and receive a second chance at life.Murmurs that the show had lost its luster continued into Season Six, when Larry’s wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) separated … [Read more...]
TV review: Conan’s ‘Tonight’ sticks with weird, to mixed results
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow chats with Conan O'Brienduring the first week of his new show.(Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBC Universal) By John ThomasonWhen Conan O’Brien made the cover of the June 1 edition of TV Guide, it was a no-brainer. His succession as the fifth host of the venerated Tonight Show, which began that very evening, is an epochal television moment some 17 years in the … [Read more...]
Commentary: Messy Tonys show misrepresented Broadway’s good year
The cast of Hair in the Tony Awards' opening number Sunday.(Photo by Anita and Steve Shevett)By Hap ErsteinYou would never know it from the overstuffed, frantic Tony Awards ceremony, but it was actually a pretty good year on Broadway.Any year that includes a powerhouse heart-tugger of a musical like Billy Elliot and a cutting edge show about a bipolar manic-depressive suburban … [Read more...]
TV review: Human drama enriches ‘In Plain Sight’
Mary McCormick as Mary Shannon in In Plain Sight.By John ThomasonMary Shannon, the ball-busting U.S. marshal played by Mary McCormick on In Plain Sight, is a definitive post-House TV antihero – brilliant at her job but with a personal life in shambles.She does contempt well, but the word love makes her puke. She can emasculate the most aggressive mobster with a penetrating … [Read more...]
TV review: Moody ‘Wallander’ grows on you
Kenneth Branagh as the tortured Swedish police detective Kurt Wallander.By John ThomasonThe BBC’s three-episode adaptation of Wallander is a series that, like its titular protagonist, refuses to endear itself to the viewer.It wears its acquired taste-ness like a policeman’s badge of pride, daring you to endure its stifling camerawork and pretentious editing until the show’s … [Read more...]
TV review: ‘Parks and Recreation’ an ‘Office’ copy, and not as funny
Amy Poehler in Parks and Recreation.By John ThomasonIf imitation is the best form of flattery, then Greg Daniels and Michael Schur are narcissists.The TV gurus who created NBC’s successful The Office have gone beyond a mere repetition of theme and style with their latest effort for the network, Parks and Recreation (8:30 p.m. Thursdays): They’ve photocopied The Office and … [Read more...]
Commentary: TV’s Maher gets off to shaky start in new season
Comedian Bill Maher.By John ThomasonThe seventh year of Real Time with Bill Maher (10 p.m. Fridays, HBO) began on a clunky note.The opening monologue Friday of the comedian/provocateur’s first show since November yielded only a couple of memorable quips, comic gold hidden among pyrite bombs like, “Sean Penn showed up in a rented huff,” to the Oscars because of the tight … [Read more...]
Commentary: Golden Globes broadcast — harbinger of the Oscars?
'Slumdog Millionaire': The night's big winner.By Hap ErsteinIf the reason to tune in to the Oscars broadcast is to see what the stars are wearing and who looks particularly dreadful, the reason to watch the looser Golden Globes telecast is to see who drank too much and says something he and she will regret in the morning.Unfortunately, Sunday evening’s Golden Globes … [Read more...]