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    ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: The Trees Have Thoughts

    This week’s episode, which included several Tolkien fan-favorite characters and creatures, is the best of the season thus far.Season 2, Episode 4: ‘Eldest’“Rings of Power” Season 2 debuted last week with three plot-heavy episodes, which was probably necessary given that the show had been on hiatus for nearly two years — and given that it took all three to get each of Season 1’s story lines back into play. Unfortunately, Episode 3 was easily the dreariest of the first batch, ending last week’s three-part premiere on a sour note. Light on action and heavy on earnest proclamations, the episode represented “Rings of Power” at its stiffest.Episode 4, though? It’s the best of the season thus far. It’s thrilling and strange, and populated with J.R.R. Tolkien fan-favorite characters and creatures. Even the opening scene has an uncommon flair, transpiring across a single shot that begins on an idyllic image of the waters outside Lindon before tracking a contentious conversation between Galadriel and Elrond, then rising into the sky. It sets the tone for a lively hour.Here are five takeaways and observations from Episode 4:Enter the entsIn Episode 3, Theo encountered some wild men out in the wilderness, and with them he was menaced by some unseen creature — and apparently a very tall one, given the high camera angle on Theo’s face before the scene ended. This week, Isildur enlists Arondir and Estrid in a search for Theo; and the three of them have a wild adventure, which includes Isildur and Arondir getting pulled under quicksand by a huge, writhing mud-beast (which the trio then slays and eats).The massive worm-thing isn’t even the party’s most bizarre encounter. Not long after Arondir warns his companions about the ever-present possibility of “nameless things in the deep places,” they discover that Theo and the wild men are being held captive by sapient trees. These are the forest-guarding entities known in Tolkien lore as ents — seen in “The Lord of the Rings” movies in the form of Treebeard, a brave and helpful ent who nonetheless laments the damage done to the trees during centuries of war in Middle-earth.The ents in this episode are more angry than wistful, because Adar’s orc army has recently marched through, “maiming” the forest. It takes some diplomacy from Arondir to calm the ents’ leader, Snaggleroot (voiced by Jim Broadbent), and to convince them to release Theo.In terms of this season’s plot, the scenes in and around the ancient town of Pelargir serve a few purposes. Arondir’s rescue of Theo helps to soften the kid’s resentment toward the elf. In this section we also see Isildur helping the Southlanders understand the Numenorean technology of their new home, and we hear Estrid confess to having been branded by Adar.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    That’s a Great Reality TV Set. Let’s Use It Again.

    “The Circle” is one of many current shows using the same state-of-the-art production hub to shoot a variety of international versions.In “The Circle,” a reality competition show on Netflix, a group of strangers are sequestered for days inside a multistory apartment complex, angling to survive rounds of eliminations to win a cash prize, much like “Big Brother.” The twist is that the players can’t see or hear one another, and must communicate via text — people might not be what they seem, and anyone, at any time, could be catfishing.As it turns out, “The Circle” has been doing some impersonation of its own, with one sleek setting standing in for a local building across several international versions of the show.The neon-lit compound — which was initially a housing block in Salford, England, before moving, in 2023, to a complex in Atlanta, Georgia — has not only been the set for the series’ flagship American edition, which returns to Netflix for a seventh season on Sept. 11. It has also been used for “The Circle Brazil,” France’s “The Circle Game,” the British version of “The Circle” and its 2020 spinoff “The Celebrity Circle.” With minimal adjustments, the show can look like it’s located virtually anywhere in the world.“We need a building with 10 rooms, without noise bleed, that looks great, is in a cool location, and that can house a team of 200 people in the basement,” Jack Burgess, an executive producer on “The Circle,” said in a recent interview. “That’s a hard thing to find, so of course you want to make the most of it.”“The Circle” is one of many current reality programs taking advance of international production hubs: state-of-the-art bases where multiple production companies can pool resources to make versions of a show tailored to a variety of global markets.The “Circle” building for the upcoming seventh season of the U.S. show. via NetflixWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    In ‘Nobody Wants This,’ Adam Brody Keeps the Faith

    Adam Brody’s bar mitzvah was held six months late. It was barely held at all. This was in San Diego, Calif., in the early 1990s, and Brody, who spent most of his free time surfing, attended Hebrew school only under duress. He knew few other Jews.“I wanted long, straight blond hair,” he said. “All my idols were named Shane.”A decade later, after a cursory stint at community college, an impulsive move to Los Angeles, a handful of television one-offs and a brief arc on “Gilmore Girls,” Brody became the most famous Jewish (well, half Jewish) high schooler in America. (He was actually 23, which made the fandom a little tricky.) Starring as Seth Cohen on the sun-kissed teen romantic dramedy “The O.C.,” he played a curly-haired heartthrob, responsible for introducing the holiday portmanteau “Chrismukkah” into the lexicon.“Adam has that quality of it being very Adam,” said Valerie Faris, the director of “Nobody Wants This.” “But at the same time, it’s perfect for the character too.” Josh Schwartz, a creator of “The O.C.” put a lot of himself into Seth. But Brody, he said in an interview, brought charisma and a surfer cool to a character who could have come off as merely nerdy. “He’s an aspirational Jew,” Schwartz joked of Brody.The “O.C.” ended four years later. (Beachy TV can accommodate only so many car crashes and love triangles, and 20-somethings can’t play teens forever.) Brody worked steadily for the next two decades, darting between film and television. Mostly he played variations on a theme, the nice guy, although they aren’t always so nice. As he reminded me over lunch in Santa Monica, “I’ve played my fair share of rapists and murderers.”But Brody’s gift is for comedy — comedy flecked with emotional complication. He reminded viewers of this in the 2022 limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” in which he plays another aspirational Jew, a likable finance guy. (This is harder than it looks.) He is now the star of “Nobody Wants This,” a Netflix romantic comedy about Noah (Brody), a Los Angeles rabbi, who falls for Joanne (Kristen Bell), an outspoken non-Jewish podcaster. It premieres on Sept. 26.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Jimmy Kimmel Laughs Off a Verbal Stumble

    Kimmel mocked Donald Trump for flubbing words before doing so himself on Wednesday, saying, “That’s why I’m not going to be president.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Consider the SourceIn an interview with Chris Cuomo on Tuesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. affirmed his support of former President Donald Trump and implied that Vice President Kamala Harris couldn’t put together a proper English sentence.“We need a president who can put together an English sentence like this guy,” Jimmy Kimmel said on Wednesday night before playing several clips of Trump garbling the pronunciation of words.“The only sentence Donald Trump can put together is a prison sentence.” — JIMMY KIMMELMoving on to news about Lara and Tiffany Trump’s X accounts being hacked, Kimmel himself stumbled over the phrase “officially sanctioned crypto scams.” He laughed at the ironic timing: “Now I’m like him.”“You know what? That’s — that’s karma. That’s why I’m not going to be president.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Nothing But a Z Thing Edition)“Guys, Election Day is just two months away, and a new poll shows that only a third of Gen Z voters support former President Trump. That makes sense — Trump thinks Gen Z is the rapper married to Beyoncé.” — JIMMY FALLON“That’s right — only a third of Gen Z supports Trump, while the rest plan to vote Skibidi Toilet.” — JIMMY FALLON“Kamala is also trying to reach young voters. That is so important. I am also reaching out to young people, mostly to ask, how do you do that thing on Uber where you add a stop?” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth Watching50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, promoted his debut novel, “The Accomplice,” on Wednesday’s “Late Show.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightThe country singer Miranda Lambert will perform a track from her new album, “Postcards From Texas,” on Thursday’s “Tonight Show.”Also, Check This OutMassima Bell, left, and Dust Reid, the creative team behind the new charity album “Transa.”Gabriel PetraSam Smith, Sade, André 3000 and Jayne County are among several artists featured on “Transa,” a 46-track album promoting transgender awareness. More

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    Anna Sorokin Is Anna Delvey Again, This Time on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

    The woman who impersonated a German heiress will reprise her false identity on season 33 of the show, becoming the latest contestant with legal or other troubles.It’s a familiar lineup for this season’s “Dancing With the Stars.”There are the athletes: the former N.F.L. receiver Danny Amendola and the Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik. There are the reality TV stars: Jenn Tran of “The Bachelorette” and a “Real Housewives” cast member, Phaedra Parks. There are the actors whose stars have dimmed: Eric Roberts and Tori Spelling.But there is also an eye-opening choice: Anna Sorokin, the fake heiress convicted of larceny and theft who was announced along with the rest of the cast for season 33 of the show on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.Sorokin masqueraded as “Anna Delvey,” claiming to be a wealthy German heiress, and she used that identity to con people in New York City society out of large sums of money, a jury found. She was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison in 2019 and released in 2022.“I’d be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything,” she told The New York Times in 2019.ABC, which broadcasts “Dancing With the Stars,” did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Sorokin’s casting.A news release disclosing the cast identified her as Anna Delvey, not Sorokin, and breezily referred to her as an “artist, fashion icon and infamous NYC socialite.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Terminator Zero’ Reinvigorates a Weary Franchise

    The Netflix anime series channels familiar themes without feeling like a retread.“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was a megahit in 1991, and every installment of the franchise since has been at least a little disappointing. Until now: The Netflix anime series “Terminator Zero” is a smart take on the lore, channeling familiar themes without feeling like a retread.Developed by Mattson Tomlin, “Terminator Zero,” does not focus on Sarah and her son, John Connor, the protagonists of James Cameron’s first two movies and many of the follow-ups. (The short lived Fox show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” was actually pretty fun.)Instead, “Terminator Zero” takes place in Japan and centers on a scientist named Malcolm Lee, voiced in the English dub by André Holland, who gives the character the requisite gravitas for his philosophizing. It is 1997, which “Terminator” fans will recognize as a significant year: That’s when the so-called “Judgment Day” takes place and the artificial intelligence known as Skynet turns on humanity and launches a nuclear attack. Malcolm knows this is coming and has built a competing A.I. he calls Kokoro, voiced by Rosario Dawson.At the same time, Malcolm’s three children and their nanny (Sumalee Montano) are being pursued by two visitors from the future: A Terminator (Timothy Olyphant) — this one comes with a crossbow arm — and a resistance fighter (Sonoya Mizuno). Their true target is Malcolm, because of the impact he might have on potential futures.Directed by Masashi Kudō, there is a haunting beauty to “Terminator Zero,” particularly when Malcolm consults with Kokoro in his lab. As the A.I. debates the case for humanity’s survival with its tormented creator, it is personified by multiple ghostly hovering figures. The score by Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn, a lighter riff on Brad Fiedel’s clanging “Terminator Theme,” is less abrasive but often even more chilling.Through a mixture of stunning animation, extravagantly bloody action and heady philosophical questions — What kind of future is worth fighting for? Who is worth sacrificing for the greater good? — “Terminator Zero” breathes new life into a franchise that has often seemed stuck in a time loop of its own. More

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    Netflix Adds Disclaimer to Indian Show After Anger Over Hijacker Names

    The series, based on a 1999 plane hijacking, prompted backlash on social media. Critics claimed it wrongly portrayed the Islamist hijackers as Hindus.Netflix expanded a disclaimer for Indian audiences with a fictional series inspired by the 1999 hijacking of a plane by Islamist militants, after social media users and a high-ranking member of India’s ruling party accused it of portraying the hijackers as Hindus.“IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack,” released last week, became the latest production by a Western streaming giant to find itself in the cross hairs of India’s Hindu nationalist movement, which has been accused of building up an increasingly intolerant atmosphere in the country.The series shows five Islamist militants hijacking an Indian Airlines flight from Nepal to India, and their interactions with the plane’s crew and passengers. In the show, the hijackers refer to themselves by code names, including “Shankar,” a common name for Hindu men.That prompted anger among many social media users, with some accusing the producers of playing down the Muslim identity of the hijackers. A national official of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Amit Malviya, said the series’ use of the hijackers’ aliases “legitimized their criminal intent.”“Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814,” Mr. Malviya, who oversees information technology and social media for the B.J.P., wrote on X on Monday.India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting summoned a Netflix executive to discuss the government’s grievances about the show, according to local media reports.“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer in India has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers,” Netflix said in a statement on Tuesday.During the actual hijacking of the flight, over eight days, the militants forced the pilots to fly the plane to a number of locations, including Dubai, and then Kandahar, Afghanistan, which was ruled by the Taliban at the time. The plane’s passengers were freed after India released three Pakistanis who had been held under terrorism charges.The Indian government said at the time that the five hijackers were from Pakistan and used code names, including “Shankar,” in front of the passengers and crew to conceal their identities.Before the show’s release on Aug. 29, its director, Anubhav Sinha, told Scroll, an Indian news site, that his goal was to present the event “exactly in the manner in which it happened.”The updated disclaimer on Netflix now says the series “does not make any claims of authenticity or historical correctness” of the events featured in it. It also lists the hijackers’ real names: Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir.This is not the first time major streaming platforms have faced pressure from Hindu nationalists in India.Netflix in January removed a film after Hindu nationalists said it mocked Hinduism. The makers of a 2021 Amazon series cut some scenes after critics accused them of disrespecting Hindu gods. More

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    in Theater

    ‘The Roommate’ Pairs Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow on Broadway

    “Sweet and sour?” Patti LuPone suggested, as if considering options on a menu. She looked questioningly at Mia Farrow, who was sitting next to her in a small atelier in a Midtown Manhattan hotel. We were in the heat-soaked throes of early August, and the women had just arrived, depleted, from what they described as an “airless” rehearsal room nearby.“I don’t know,” LuPone said. “It’s kind of negative, the sour …” She hesitated. “SALTY!,” she then exclaimed, in the clarion voice that has resonated from so many stages over the past five decades. “Sweet and salty.”LuPone was trying to define the yin and yang of the most unexpected double act of the new Broadway season. Farrow (she would be the sweet) and LuPone (salty) are the stars and entire cast of Jen Silverman’s “The Roommate,” which is in previews and opens on Sept. 12 at the Booth Theater, under the direction of Jack O’Brien.They portray women of radically dissimilar backgrounds and temperaments, who come into intimate and potentially combustible contact. These are roles for which Farrow and LuPone, longtime friends who have homes in the same Connecticut county, would seem to be naturals. “We complement each other, because we are so different,” LuPone said.Farrow, whose habitual manner melds openness with wariness, said: “I don’t know if at the core we’re so different. We may superficially appear to exhibit certain things that are ours in different ways. But going deeper than that. …” Her voice trailed into an ellipsis.Within that ellipsis, you have the essence of both Silverman’s play and the tantalizing pairing of its performers. A story of what happens when a meek Iowan homebody (Farrow) takes in a disruptive stranger from the Bronx (LuPone, natch) as a lodger, “The Roommate” ponders the Gordian knot of identity for two women at the crossroads of late middle age and the questions, as Silverman puts it, “of who gets seen and who doesn’t.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More