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    in Television

    Lisa Kudrow Brings Her Daffy Charm to ‘Time Bandits’

    The actress dialed up the zaniness in the TV reboot of a Terry Gilliam fantasy classic, created by the team behind “What We Do in the Shadows.”Lisa Kudrow doesn’t particularly like to travel. Raised and based in Los Angeles, she mostly hasn’t had to. Even the quintessential New York sitcom “Friends” was shot in Burbank.“I like L.A.,” she said in a video call from her home there. “I guess vacations are nice, but I feel like I live in a vacation spot so, where am I going? I can watch a video.”But when the filmmaker Taika Waititi sent her a message on Instagram asking if she would come to New Zealand to star in a series-length adaptation of the 1981 Terry Gilliam movie “Time Bandits,” she said yes. It was a six-month commitment, but in one of the few places on Earth Kudrow had always wanted to visit.And, as she said with a laugh, “No one’s putting me in a Hobbit movie.”Fair enough, though there are bigger departures from Middle-earth than “Time Bandits,” a 10-part adventure-fantasy based on a movie about time traveling dwarfs. The series, which debuted Wednesday on Apple TV+, puts a new spin on the beloved film — an ambitious task, given the movie’s bona fides and cult status. The original was written by Gilliam and his fellow Monty Python player Michael Palin, and it starred the likes of John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall and Ian Holm.The new version, created by Waititi and his frequent collaborators Jemaine Clement and Iain Morris, stars Kudrow as the makeshift leader of the bandits, Penelope, who is perturbed by the arrival of a new member, a history-obsessed boy named Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) who accidentally joins them after a portal opens up in his bedroom. Kudrow leads an ensemble cast; Waititi plays the ostensibly benevolent Supreme Being, from whom the bandits have stolen a map of the time portals, and Clement plays Pure Evil, who can’t even say his cosmic nemesis’ name without gagging.From left, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Kiera Thompson and Rune Temte in “Time Bandits”; Kudrow plays the leader of the titular ragtag crew. Apple TV+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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    in Theater

    When the Paris Olympics Begin, the Seine Is His Stage

    To open the Games, the theater director Thomas Jolly has masterminded a spectacular waterborne ceremony depicting 12 scenes from French history.In French, the word for stage, “scène,” sounds exactly like the name of the river that runs through Paris.The Seine.That’s one of the first things the director Thomas Jolly liked about the idea of creating an opening ceremony that would float through the heart of Paris.For the past two years, the river has become his workroom, offering challenges unknown to most theater directors: currents and wind tunnels, a vulnerable fish hatchery, a plan for thousands of athletes to float through in boats, 45,000 police officers scattered around for security. Also required: regular check-ins with the French president and Paris mayor.As artistic director of all four Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, he also has perks most directors could only dream of: a budget of nearly $150 million and more than 15,000 workers, including dancers and musicians. He can also expect a live audience of half a million and 1.5 billion spectators on television.If Jolly pulls it off, this will be the first time an opening ceremony is unfurled outside the secure confines of a stadium. The Seine has not seen such a celebration in 285 years, since King Louis XV celebrated the marriage of his daughter to the prince of Spain.A time-lapse video of a boat rehearsal for the opening Olympic ceremony on the Seine.By Dmitry KostyukovWe 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 Theater

    ‘Inspired by True Events’ Review: True Crime Thriller Riddled With Clichés

    The actor Ryan Spahn makes his Off Broadway playwriting debut with an immersive, psychologically shallow dark comedy.In May 2010, Daniel Wozniak, an actor performing in a production of the musical “Nine” at the Liberty Theater in Los Alamitos, Calif., killed two people. He dismembered the body of one of his victims, and kept a portion of it at another local theater. News of the heinous acts sent shock waves through the performing arts community, and more recently led the actor Ryan Spahn to write “Inspired by True Events,” an Out of the Box Theatrics production now running at Theater 154 in the West Village.This immersive show wisely plays off our modern-day fascination with true crime, but, frustratingly, it’s missing the elements that keep the genre compelling: a clear mapping of intimate relationships, a psychological analysis of motive and a captivating villain.“Inspired by True Events” begins with the stage manager, Mary (Dana Scurlock), of Uptown Theater — the kind of scrappy local company that programs “A Christmas Carol” every winter to offset the cost of more adventurous work during other seasons — entering a green room littered with grease-stained pizza boxes and empty bottles of vodka (the scenic design is by Lindsay G. Fuori), evidence of the previous night’s opening festivities.We’re all backstage with Mary, inside the real green room of Theater 154. (The building’s traditional theater is cleverly used too.) The backstage environment, made even more intimate by the production’s 35-seat audience cap, adds multisensory layers to the show. When Mary puts on a fresh pot of coffee in anticipation of her haggard cast — Colin (Jack DiFalco), Eileen (Mallory Portnoy) and Robert (Lou Liberatore) — we not only smell the pungent brew but also the gurgling of the coffee maker cuts into the dialogue. The sound of the water roiling effectively hints at something more sinister to come.Spahn and the director, Knud Adams, have a couple of these adrenaline-inducing tricks up their sleeves, including offstage thuds and the rustling of mice gnawing on something in the vents (sound design by Peter Mills Weiss). But the show is at its best when it lets the green room serve as a microcosm for these characters’ anxieties: Colin’s breakup with his girlfriend, Claire; Eileen’s stress over her mother being in the audience; and Robert’s laments about his horrible day. These interesting bits of character development have a meta impact, influencing how the Uptown players are preparing for their performance, and how we, the audience, come to view the Uptown players. These moments prove Spahn’s ability to weave personality into the high-concept narrative fabric, so it’s mind-boggling that he doesn’t do it more frequently.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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    in Television

    Late Night Breaks Down ‘Kamala Is Brat’

    The Harris campaign’s embrace of the Gen Z term puzzled cable news analysts of a certain age, but Stephen Colbert was glad to clear things up.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.New BratitudeSocial media has been ablaze with Kamala Harris memes since her candidacy for president was announced. The pop star Charli XCX proclaimed that “Kamala is brat,” and the Harris campaign embraced the label, leading to some puzzlement on cable news channels.“If you’re a little confused about this brat thing, you’re not as confused as CNN,” Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday, cutting to a clip of Jake Tapper, Kaitlan Collins and other panelists earnestly discussing the Gen Z concept.“Because nothing says ‘I am hep to what’s hip’ like printing out a meme and putting on your reading glasses.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“All of their kids are watching like, ‘If you want to know what the definition of cringe is, this is it.’” — JIMMY FALLONColbert triumphantly pointed to an article declaring that he, himself, is brat. “It is my certified bratitude that empowers me to do this,” he said, launching into a TikTok dance routine to Charli XCX’s “Apple” as his audience cheered him on.“Your move, Tapper.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Tyler Perry Edition)“That’s right, Kamala raised $81 million in 24 hours. She would have raised even more, but Melania hit her daily withdrawal limit.” — JIMMY FALLON“Now there’s only one other Black woman who’s made that much money in a weekend, and that woman’s name is Tyler Perry.” — LAMORNE MORRIS, guest host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”“She became the presumptive nominee in 48 hours. To put that in perspective, it’s been more than three years, and we still don’t have a new James Bond. By the way, Joe is available.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Yeah, Kamala is a hit, and I think I know why — she’s way younger than Trump and wears less eyeliner than JD Vance.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingThe Nigerian singer-songwriter Ayra Starr performed a medley of two tracks from her new album, “The Year I Turned 21,” on Tuesday’s “Tonight Show.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightRyan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the stars of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” will co-guest-host “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Wednesday.Also, Check This Out“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” has been woefully neglected. Maybe it was the culottes?Cate Cameron/LionsgateThe overlooked 2021 comedy from Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” deserves a second chance this summer. More

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    Reality Show Contestant Apologizes After Eating Protected Bird in New Zealand

    A contestant on the reality show “Race to Survive: New Zealand” killed and ate a weka during filming. The contestant, who said he was hungry, has apologized for “disrespecting New Zealand.”Hunger was part of the challenge for contestants on the reality television show “Race to Survive: New Zealand.” As nine teams trekked, climbed and paddled their way through some of the country’s harshest terrain, they also had to forage and hunt for their own food.New Zealand officials have now issued warnings to the show’s producers, they said, after one contestant killed and ate a bird from a protected species during filming last October.The weka, a flightless bird known for its bold curiosity, is endemic to New Zealand and is considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which evaluates threatened species. They often roam around campsites and picnic areas and will sometimes steal crops, food and other small objects.The show, which began airing its second season on USA Network in May, follows nine pairs of adventurers, survivalists and athletes as they navigate around New Zealand’s South Island to compete for a $500,000 prize.The teams are allowed to bring only what they can carry, and the slowest to reach each camp is eliminated. They are not given food but can take detours to find food caches left for them on the island.Two contestants, Spencer Jones and Oliver Dev, were disqualified in the eighth episode. Producers appeared after they completed a leg and said that they broke a rule.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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    ‘Veep’ Comparisons Dominate Social Media as Biden Endorses Kamala Harris

    After news broke that President Biden would endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, the internet was rife with clips and memes from the show.Kamala Harris hits the campaign trail after President Biden exits. Follow live updates.“Veep,” HBO’s merciless satire of Washington politics, went out with a gleeful whimper in 2019, a casualty of the Trump presidency.“We felt we couldn’t keep up with that,” Frank Rich, an executive producer of the series, said on Monday.Maybe they could — the final months of the Biden presidency seem to have revived interest in “Veep.” When news broke on Sunday that President Biden would not seek re-election and would instead endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, the politics-obsessed who were searching for a pop-culture allegory found an obvious one in the show. The internet was suddenly rife with “Veep” clips, GIFs and fancams. Max played along, featuring the show prominently on its homepage. On social media platforms, it dominated the discourse, with comments in Russian, Portuguese, French, Italian and Dutch.“Was the HBO show ‘Veep’ just a documentary filmed in the past about the future?” one post read. “Now we know what HBO’s ‘Veep’ writers were doing during the strike,” read another.This barbed spike in cultural relevance is owed mostly to the Season 2 finale, in which the show’s venal vice president, Selina Meyer (an exuberant, oblivious Julia Louis-Dreyfus), learned that the president would not seek re-election. “I’m not leaving — POTUS is leaving,” she tells her staff in one widely circulated clip. “I’m going to run. I’m going to run for president.”“Veep” ran on HBO from 2012 to 2019. Nominated for 68 Emmys, it won 17, including three awards for outstanding comedy series and six consecutive best-actress awards for Ms. Louis-Dreyfus. When Ms. Louis-Dreyfus accepted her award in 2016, she used her speech to apologize for the current political climate.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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    in Television

    ‘Time Bandits’ Review: A Flatter Adventure

    An adaptation of the 1981 film on Apple TV+ gives us time-traveling bandits of greater height and lesser amusement.When the bandits of the title burst into the bedroom of Kevin, an 11-year-old history buff, in the new Apple TV+ series “Time Bandits,” among the first things you are likely to notice is: no dwarfs.The show’s source, Terry Gilliam’s 1981 movie of the same title, was all about the dwarfs. There were six of them, who pilfered a map that identifies time portals and used it to try to steal whatever historical loot they could get their hands on. Along the way, they picked up Kevin, who came to serve as both the brains and the conscience of the operation.The bandits in Jemaine Clement, Iain Morris and Taika Waititi’s “Time Bandits,” which premieres on Wednesday with two of its 10 episodes, are a fully heighted bunch; their more-or-less leader, Penelope, is played by Lisa Kudrow, who towered over her female co-stars on “Friends.”Changing things up after 43 years is unremarkable, and perhaps the film’s less than nuanced presentation of the dwarf characters as a rollicking, bickering, slapstick bunch marked by physical abandon and short tempers gave the TV show’s creators pause. (On the other hand, the change in those central roles has been criticized as anti-inclusive by advocates for little people, including descendants of the actors who played the original bandits.)Among the next things you notice about this new “Time Bandits,” though, is that nothing has replaced the energy that Jack Purvis, Kenny Baker and the other actors with dwarfism brought to the film. And while Clement, Morris and Waititi share some of the anarchic sensibility of Gilliam and his co-writer, Michael Palin, they present it here in a domesticated, flattened-out form.As it follows the peripatetic adventures of the bandits — from visits to the Maya empire and plague-ravaged medieval Europe to battles with dinosaurs and demons to confrontations with Pure Evil and the Supreme Being, the Mutt-and-Jeff deities of the “Time Bandits” universe — the show is unfailingly clever, visually interesting and at least mildly amusing. It is wan, though, compared to other series that Clement, Morris and Waititi have collaborated on, like “Flight of the Conchords” and the riotous “What We Do in the Shadows.”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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    in Theater

    In ‘Pre-Existing Condition,’ a Character Isn’t Defined by Abuse, or One Actress

    Stars like Edie Falco and Deirdre O’Connell bring a communal quality to Marin Ireland’s play about the aftermath of domestic violence.Most actors will tell you that when they take on a role, they want to own it. If it’s a classic or a play based on a movie, they like to say that they avoid watching earlier performances so they can go in free of preconceptions.The women taking turns playing A, the central character in Marin Ireland’s new play “Pre-Existing Condition,” went for a communal quality. “When you’re seeing a person perform, it has the DNA of all the other people because we’ve watched each other,” the director and actress Maria Dizzia said.Tavi Gevinson, who starts her stint as A on July 23, said, “I think it definitely helps eliminate this illusion that there is some ideal performance that you’re trying to unlock and do an imitation of — it’s something that you’re co-creating with the piece every night.”The show, whose run at the Connelly Theater Upstairs was just extended through Aug. 17, is structured as a series of brief vignettes involving A, who has endured domestic violence. In addition to Dizzia and Gevinson, the past, present and upcoming actresses playing A include Tatiana Maslany, Julia Chan, Deirdre O’Connell and Edie Falco, who recently joined the cast.In the aftermath of the breakup with the man who hit her, A is seen interacting with different people in her life: her mother, the leaders of a support group, a lawyer, prospective dates, friends — all played by Greg Keller, Sarah Steele and Dael Orlandersmith, who appear at every show.Greg Keller and Julia Chan in the play, which has been in development for about 12 years. Emilio MadridWe 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