Season One of the National Geographic Channel’s first-ever scripted series, “Genius”, focused on the life of Albert Einstein, with Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush playing the scientific mastermind in his later years and newcomer Johnny Flynn giving a breakthrough performance as Einstein in his younger days. The show averaged 2 million viewers per episode in Live […]
Last year, it was a running joke: how many movies could be released with the word ‘Wonder’ in the title? First we had “Wonder Woman”, then “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”, followed by “Wonderstruck”, then “Wonder” and finally “Wonder Wheel”. Add Paramount’s “Wonder Park” to this growing list when the all-star animated film opens […]
MGM, once a Hollywood studio titan and king of the movie musical, has recently been seen as a companion distribution studio with other big names, like Sony and Warner Bros. But 2018 marks a re-vamp for MGM, which is back to sole distribution on major movies. MGM’s “Death Wish”, the action remake starring Bruce Willis, opened […]
Over the past 14 years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some of the biggest names in entertainment. But there are still a number of people I’d like to meet. These are the “Top 10” that come to mind: JULIE ANDREWS “Mary Poppins” is one of my lifelong favorite films. BILLY CRYSTAL A quintessential host […]
Dwayne Johnson is one of the busiest men in Hollywood. His first 2018 entry, “Rampage”, opens this weekend. Still to come this year: “Skyscraper” (July 13) and “Fighting with My Family” (Sept. 14). And also in the works: “Jungle Cruise” (Release Date TBA), the “Fast & Furious” spinoff with Jason Statham (July 26, 2019) and […]
Here’s my official ranking of every “American Idol” judge over the show’s 16-season history: 1. SIMON COWELL (2002-2010) Unapologetic. Brutally honest. Dry sense of humor. Quite the character. In “Idol”’s glory days, Cowell made it must-watch TV. You never knew if and when he was going to destroy someone’s singing performance, especially during the Auditions. […]
DreamWorks Animation’s “Penguins of Madagascar” movie opened in November 2014, but people are still referencing one of the film’s best running gags on social media: the celebrity name puns from Dave the Octopus (voiced by John Malkovich). I recently spoke with Brandon Sawyer, one of the co-writers on “Penguins” and the executive producer of Netflix’s […]
Four-time Academy Award nominated writer/director Jason Reitman has two big movies on the way. The first is “Tully”, his third collaboration with Oscar winning screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”, “Young Adult”) and his second with Charlize Theron, who starred in “Adult”. Theron plays a mom of a three who receives a “night nanny” as a gift. […]
2018 looks like it will be Melissa McCarthy’s biggest year ever. Her comedy series “Nobodies” is returning for Season 2 this Thursday, March 29th, at 10pmET on the Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV). “Nobodies” Season 1 aired on TV Land. She co-produces the show with her husband Ben Falcone and occasionally guest stars as an […]
Comedian Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios, which he founded in 1993, is making waves in the movie world. Their film division’s first release, last June’s “47 Meters Down”, was a surprise hit – largely thanks to the shark attack premise, summer timing and the popularity of star Mandy Moore (“This is Us”). It opened to $11.2 […]