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      On ‘S.N.L.’, Fictional Britney Spears Seeks Apologies From Cruz, Cuomo and Carano

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyOn ‘S.N.L.’, Fictional Britney Spears Seeks Apologies From Cruz, Cuomo and Carano“Saturday Night Live” gave several famous people the chance to say sorry on an episode hosted by Regé-Jean Page of “Bridgerton.”In the opening sketch of “S.N.L.,” Pete Davidson and Aidy Bryant played Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, each of whom had some explaining to do after the week’s events.Credit…NBC Universal, via YouTubeFeb. 21, 2021It has been a memorable week or so for public figures committing misdeeds, and “Saturday Night Live” gave a few of them a forum to apologize on a fictional talk show called “Oops, You Did It Again,” hosted by the relatively blameless Britney Spears.This week’s broadcast, hosted by the “Bridgerton” star Regé-Jean Page and featuring the musical guest Bad Bunny, began as the cast member Chloe Fineman, playing Spears, reminded viewers that they knew her “from my upbeat Instagram videos and the word ‘conservatorship.’”She added that she now had a show in which “people could come on and apologize for things they’ve done wrong, because after the ‘Free Britney’ documentary came out, I’m receiving hundreds of apologies a day.”[embedded content]Her first guest was Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, played by Aidy Bryant in braided hair, bluejeans and a Cancún family vacation T-shirt. Holding up a frothy beverage, Bryant unconvincingly explained that she wasn’t actually tan — “I just cried myself red over my fellow Texans, and that’s why I drink in their honor,” she said.Bryant added that she was “in a little bit of hot water, which I’m told is a thing no one in Texas has.” If her apology was falling short, she said, “I’m sorry, I’m pretty bad at human stuff.”The show’s next guest was Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, played by Pete Davidson. Davidson first asked the audience if it had welcomed him “because indoor dining is back in New York,” then sheepishly acknowledged: “All right, I know. It’s because of the nursing home stuff.”Asked to elaborate, Davidson added: “Some of the people who died in the nursing homes were not counted as nursing home deaths, they were counted as hospital deaths. Which is basically what happens at Disney World, OK? People die and they move the bodies. They say, ‘Oh, I guess Brenda died in the parking lot, not on the teacups.’”Told that Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York thought he should be investigated, Davidson lashed out: “I will bury him in the tallest grave this city has ever seen,” he said.The third and final guest was Gina Carano, the former “Mandalorian” star who was fired by Disney, played in the sketch by Cecily Strong.Though Strong denied that she had done anything wrong, Fineman reminded her that she had shared an Instagram post that compared American politics to Nazi Germany.“I never would have made that Nazi comparison if I’d known everybody was going to be such a Nazi about it,” Strong said.When Bryant’s Cruz tried to sympathize with her, Strong brushed her off: “I am strong and you are a pile of soup,” she said.Cultural barometer of the week“S.N.L.” was generous this week when it came to acknowledging actors who are new to the pop-cultural firmament, including its host, Page (whose period romance “Bridgerton” was satirized in this somewhat bawdy sketch that aired late in the night). Earlier in the evening, in a sendup of actors’ round tables hosted by Ego Nwodim, Page appeared as the actor Kingsley Ben-Adir, who plays Malcolm X in “One Night in Miami.” Chris Redd played the “Judas and the Black Messiah” star Daniel Kaluuya.The recreations of those actors and their award-grabbing movies were pretty spotless. The jokes, however, were mostly about having Nwodim’s character fawn over the actors’ British accents (and about Kenan Thompson as Ice Cube, whose efforts to pass himself off as British didn’t go quite so smoothly).Music video of the weekNwodim returned for some well-deserved screen time in this slickly produced music video, playing a nightclub patron whose fantasy that she is hitting it off with a handsome fellow reveler (Page) gives way to the reality that she has, in fact, spent the last year living under lockdown in her apartment and gradually lost her mind. (Hence the song title, “Loco.”)As Nwodim raps in the video: “I’m loco, as in my brain done broke-o / But hey, you either laugh or you cry like ‘Coco.’” Her few acquaintances include Davidson (who has gone so crazy in his own quarantine that he understands the movie “Tenet”) and Bad Bunny (as a singing houseplant).Weekend Update jokes of the weekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on Cruz’s canceled Cancún vacation and the winter weather crisis in Texas.Jost began:Well, if you hate Ted Cruz, this was a pretty fun week. And if you like Ted Cruz, then you’re Ted Cruz. Senator Cruz, whose face is slowly being reclaimed by nature, said that his decision to go on a family vacation to Cancun during Texas’s weather emergency was obviously a mistake. As was the tattoo he got there. [At that moment, a satirical photo appeared behind Jost of a lower-back tattoo of a leaping dolphin.]Jost continued:Cruz initially released a statement saying he only went on vacation because his daughters made him go. And if you think it was bad to throw his daughters under the bus, Cruz would like you to know that that statement was his wife’s idea. I just love that after he abandoned Texas, he came back in a Texas flag mask like nothing happened. That’s like Jared and Ivanka walking down Fifth Avenue in “I Love New York” shirts.Che picked up on the riff, adding:Cruz would have returned from Mexico even sooner but it took him, like, 40 minutes to get out of a hammock. This week’s massive winter storm caused millions of Texans to lose power. It was the most snow seen in Texas since Michael Irvin’s Super Bowl party. Many Texans are without heat and clean water after pipes froze in the extreme cold. “Boy, this kind of thing would never happen in New York,” said people who have never lived in the projects.Weekend Update deskside bit of the weekDavidson returned to the Weekend Update desk for the latest in his series of personal monologues, this one about the impact of having spent Valentine’s Day in lockdown. As Davidson explained, it was “the first time being alone wasn’t my fault.” And, he said, after watching the “Saving Britney” documentary with his mother, he had to move out of the house that they share in Staten Island.With mock chagrin, Davidson said: “My mom has way more of a case to take over my finances than Britney’s dad ever did. I was like: ‘Wait, she can do that? And she hasn’t? Doesn’t she love me?’ All Britney did was shave her head. I got a life size tattoo of the Tootsie Pop owl.”Davidson added: “My mom is a lot like this show. No matter what I do, I’m never asked to leave. Also, they’re both really old and noticeably fatigued.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Caitlin Stasey Stars in Ed Burns’s ‘Bridge and Tunnel’

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyUp NextCaitlin Stasey Stars in Ed Burns’s ‘Bridge and Tunnel’The Australian actress is also directing pornographic films for a female-owned production company.Caitlin Stasey, who starred in Australian teenage TV comedies, at her home in Los Angeles.Credit…Pavielle Garcia for The New York TimesFeb. 19, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETName: Caitlin StaseyAge: 30Hometown: Melbourne, AustraliaNow lives: In a two-bedroom, 1950s ranch-style house on the east side of Los Angeles.Claim to fame: Ms. Stasey is an actress, writer and director who stars in the new Epix series “Bridge and Tunnel,” a dramedy set on Long Island in the 1980s. She plays a recent college graduate caught between her big-city fashion dreams and a high school sweetheart. Like most of her roles, the character is “incredibly strong willed,” she said. “I’ve never played a character who’s been second in command. Even if she had power taken from her, she’s always managed to get it back.”Big break: “I’ve always been a show-off,” Ms. Stasey said of her childhood, which was filled with choir and drama clubs. At 12, she auditioned for “The Sleepover Club,” an Australian TV comedy series in which five young girls bond over weekly sleepovers. “When I got the call, I had no idea which character I would play,” she said.The offer was for Frankie, the lead. The show ran for one season, but a year later, in 2015, she landed a part in “Neighbours” a popular Australian soap opera that turned her into a fan favorite. “Honestly that job is what changed my life,” she said.Credit…Pavielle Garcia for The New York TimesLatest project: Edward Burns, who created “Bridge and Tunnel” wrote Ms. Stasey’s role with her in mind after she appeared in his film “Summertime,” which was also set on Long Island in the 1980s. Because of the pandemic, the “Bridge and Tunnel” cast spent a week in Zoom rehearsals before shooting the six episodes over five weeks last summer and fall. “Ed gives you a great outline of the character and expects you to fill it in with any kind of texture,” she said. “And we really did define for ourselves the way things would sound.”Next thing: This month, Ms. Stasey will direct a new series for Afterglow, a female-owned pornography company and sexual health website based in Austin, Texas, where she is a resident writer-director. “Porn sets tend to be a hell of a lot more inclusive than traditional film sets,” she said. “There’s also a lot more conversations surrounding consent, respect and on-set conduct.”Hampton dreams: During the filming of “Bridge and Tunnel,” the cast stayed at the Hampton Inn in Rockville Centre, N.Y. At night, the cast members transformed their rooms into nightclubs.Sam Vartholomeos, who plays Ms. Stasey’s on-screen boyfriend Jimmy, was the resident D.J. “I think it will be a thing I think about when I’m dying,” she said. “I remember being young and cool and living in that hotel.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Lynn Stalmaster, Hollywood’s ‘Master Caster,’ Dies at 93

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyLynn Stalmaster, Hollywood’s ‘Master Caster,’ Dies at 93With his eye for talent, he was a godsend to directors and could make careers. Ask John Travolta, Jeff Bridges, Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis and many more actors.Lynn Stalmaster collected his honorary Oscar from Jeff Bridges in 2016. He was the first and only casting director, to date, to receive the award. Credit…Chris Pizzello/Invision, via Associated PressFeb. 18, 2021Updated 5:37 p.m. ETLynn Stalmaster, an empathetic and tenacious casting director who altered the careers of hundreds of actors, including John Travolta, Jeff Bridges and Christopher Reeve, and cast hundreds of Hollywood films and television programs, died on Feb 12. at his home in Los Angeles. He was 93.The cause was heart failure, said his son, Lincoln.Billy Wilder, Robert Wise, Hal Ashby, Mike Nichols, Sydney Pollack and Norman Jewison all relied on Mr. Stalmaster’s keen ability to discern the inner life of a character and match it to the thousands of actors who inhabited his mental Rolodex. This alchemical process, as Tom Donahue, the filmmaker behind “Casting By,” a 2012 documentary about the craft, put it, raised Mr. Stalmaster’s work to a high art.“Lynn had a wonderful gift,” said Mr. Jewison, the director and producer of films like “In the Heat of the Night” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” both of which were cast by Mr. Stalmaster. Mr. Jewison was the first filmmaker to give a casting director his own film credit when he had Mr. Stalmaster listed on “The Thomas Crown Affair,” released in 1968.“I was always encouraging him to find offbeat people,” Mr. Jewison said. “For ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ I had to find actors who could speak Russian. Lynn found them in San Francisco, where there was a big Russian community. None of them were actors. He was so ingenious. And he was very good at reading with actors. He could keep them calm and secure.”Once a shy teenager who had trained as an actor and been in the trenches of auditions in the 1950s, working in television and on radio, Mr. Stalmaster was attuned to the actor’s experience and became a fierce advocate for those he believed in. After meeting an 18-year-old John Travolta, he pushed for him to get the role that eventually went to Randy Quaid in “The Last Detail,” the Hal Ashby film, starring Jack Nicholson, that came out in 1973.It was a dead heat between the actors, Mr. Travolta recalled in a phone interview, but Mr. Quaid’s physical presence was more akin to the character’s, as Mr. Ashby and Mr. Stalmaster told Mr. Travolta in a midnight phone call praising his work.Mr. Stalmaster was behind John Travolta’s star-making turn in the TV show “Welcome Back, Kotter” as the swaggering high school punk manqué Vinnie Barbarino, at right.Credit…ABCAt the time, Mr. Travolta was doing theater and commercials in New York, but Mr. Stalmaster so believed in him that he hounded him for two years. When a role came up for a character on a comedy television pilot set in a Brooklyn high school, Mr. Stalmaster pressed him to turn down a lead part in a Broadway show and return to Los Angeles for an audition.He got the part — what proved to a career-making turn as the swaggering punk manqué Vinnie Barbarino in a show that would find its own place in television history: “Welcome Back, Kotter.”“He was quite determined,” Mr. Travolta said of Mr. Stalmaster. “He did not let them consider anyone else. After ‘The Last Detail,’ he had told me: ‘Do not worry. This will happen.’”Mr. Stalmaster had a hand in countless other careers.He nudged Mike Nichols to cast a young Dustin Hoffman in “The Graduate.” LeVar Burton was in college when Mr. Stalmaster cast him as the lead in what became in 1977 the hit television series “Roots.”Geena Davis had trained as an actress but was working as a model when Mr. Stalmaster cast her in a minor role in “Tootsie,” Sydney Pollack’s 1982 romantic comedy starring Mr. Hoffman. It was her first audition, and the role would be her film debut.After seeing Christopher Reeve in a play with Katharine Hepburn, Mr. Stalmaster suggested him for a small part in “Gray Lady Down” (1978), Mr. Reeve’s first film role, and then successfully lobbied for him to be the lead in “Superman,” released that same year.“Lynn understood the actor’s process and the actor’s plight,” said David Rubin, a fellow casting director and president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (Mr. Stalmaster was his former boss and mentor.) Mr. Stalmaster’s career, he said, showed that “being a success in Hollywood and being a mensch are not mutually exclusive.”In 2016 Mr. Stalmaster became the first — and so far, only — casting director to receive an honorary Academy Award for his body of work. At the Oscars ceremony, Mr. Bridges recalled how Mr. Stalmaster had jump-started his own career back in the early 1970s. At the time, Mr. Bridges was in his early 20s and trying to figure out if he wanted to make a life in the business when Mr. Stalmaster offered him a part in “The Iceman Cometh,” John Frankenheimer’s 1973 film based on the Eugene O’Neill play.“This is some heavy stuff,” Mr. Bridges remembered thinking, as he told the awards audience. “It scared the hell out of me. I didn’t want to do it, to tell you the truth. I didn’t think I could pull it off.”But he did, and the experience — terrifying but also joyful, he said — made him realize that he could make a life in acting. “Gotta thank you, man,” Mr. Bridges said, nodding to Mr. Stalmaster, “for heading me down that road. Lynn Stalmaster is the Master Caster.”Lynn Arlen Stalmaster was born on Nov. 17, 1927, in Omaha, Neb. His father, Irvin Stalmaster, was a justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court; his mother, Estelle (Lapidus) Stalmaster, was a homemaker. Lynn had severe asthma, and when he was 12 the family moved to Los Angeles for its temperate climate.He became interested in theater and radio as a student at Beverly Hills High School, and, after serving in the Army, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles.Mr. Stalmaster in the late 1970s. He was attuned to the actor’s experience and a fierce advocate for those he believed in.Credit…Tony Korody/Sygma, via Getty ImagesMr. Stalmaster had roles in a few films, including “Flying Leathernecks,” a 1951 John Wayne picture, and a day job as a production assistant to Gross-Krasne, a company that in the early 1950s made films for television. When its casting director retired, he was promoted to the job and soon opened his own agency.“I would spend the days meeting new actors, all these great new talents,” he said in “Casting By,” the documentary. He was working on “Gunsmoke” and other hit television shows in 1956 when Robert Wise, the director who would make “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music,” asked him to cast “I Want to Live,” the 1958 film starring Susan Hayward based on the story of Barbara Graham, a prostitute sentenced to death row.Mr. Wise wanted actors who looked like the actual characters in Graham’s life. It was Mr. Stalmaster’s big break, he recalled, as he found new faces to round out the cast, giving the movie “a verisimilitude, the truth” the director wanted to achieve.His marriage to Lea Alexander ended in divorce, as did an early, brief marriage. In addition to his son, Lincoln, Mr. Stalmaster is survived by his daughter, Lara Beebower; two grandchildren; and his brother, Hal.Mr. Stalmaster’s kindness was as much an element of his art as his matchmaking abilities, Mr. Rubin said. But he was no pushover, and he was enormously persuasive, “firm in his creative point of view,” Mr. Rubin said, “but extremely skillful at convincing others that it was actually their idea.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Wants You to Love Scotland, Too

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Wants You to Love Scotland, TooBest known as Jamie in the Starz historical fantasy series, the actor and his former co-star Graham McTavish provide a crash course on Scottish culture in “Men in Kilts.”In “Men in Kilts,” Graham McTavish, left, and Sam Heughan explore the culture of their native Scotland. “It’s not just whisky and haggis,” Heughan said.Credit…StarzFeb. 17, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETThis time last year, Sam Heughan was in Los Angeles promoting the fifth season of his Starz hit “Outlander.” Heughan plays Jamie Fraser, a righteous “king of all men” archetype and the beloved husband of Claire (Caitríona Balfe), in the fantastical period drama, an ode to 18th century Scottish history, culture and diaspora that eventually takes the characters to colonial America.Like many people in early 2020, Heughan soon found himself stuck in place — as Covid-19 lockdowns went into effect around the world, the Glasgow resident remained in Los Angeles because of uncertainty over gathering and travel safety.But he was dreaming of Scotland. Heughan (pronounced HEW-an) spent much of his time in quarantine remotely collaborating with his former “Outlander” co-star and fellow Scot, Graham McTavish, on a book called “Clanlands,” based on a road trip they had taken through Scotland to shoot footage for a TV pilot about the country’s culture. Released in November, the book became a best seller; now viewers can watch the show that resulted.“Men in Kilts,” which premiered this week on Starz, might surprise viewers who know Heughan only as the noble Jamie, showcasing his lighter, more mischievous side as he and McTavish travel the countryside, bonding and occasionally bickering as they dive into Scottish food, drink, sports, dance and much more.“‘Outlander’ made me realize how much I love Scotland, how much I didn’t know about Scotland,” Heughan said. “But also how much I knew and learned as a child, but wasn’t really aware of.”In a video call last week, Heughan talked about how “Men in Kilts” came to life, his passion for all things Scottish and his surprisingly busy pandemic year. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.The authors wrote their best-selling book, “Clanlands,” during quarantine.How did the idea for “Men in Kilts” come about?Working on “Outlander,” I saw that people were really interested — as was I — in Scotland and in these Highland characters, especially during Seasons 1 and 2. And then, by chance, I was having a coffee and a beer with Graham McTavish in Los Angeles and he mentioned that he had an idea for a documentary show about Scotland. Two years ago, I just started thinking, why don’t we just do it? So while shooting “Outlander,” we managed to organize a crew and some locations and got it all together. We produced a sort of pilot episode that we could pitch to Starz and [Sony Pictures Television, the producing studio], and it progressed from there.The book is the story of the initial road trip and material we shot before we’d sold the show. We wrote it remotely during lockdown while I was in America and Graham was in New Zealand. It was a really quick process — we started writing it in March and delivered it by summer.What were some new things you learned about Scotland and your relationship to the country while making the show?We just touch the surface of it, but for example, the seafood that we have is the best in the world. Even Scottish fruit is amazing. It’s not just whisky and haggis, though of course we do look at that on the show.I really just wanted to share my love of Scotland and its landscape, culture and music. Like Ceilidh dancing — Scottish dancing — is just part of my heritage, but people don’t know about it. And I wish everyone could go to a Ceilidh because they’re the best fun ever.You and McTavish come across as having a humorous, almost familial relationship. What was it like working on this together?We’re two almost middle-aged white males trying to prove to the other one that we’ve got what it takes, and we really don’t. We do get on and there’s no one else in the world who I like to wind up as much. Our banter or humor is like a dysfunctional married couple.The process of creating a TV show is very different to what I was used to — to really be in control of the content and the scheduling and the edit. So we were involved along the way and it was really good fun to work with Graham. Difficult, because of different time zones and Covid, but we’re really lucky that we managed to get it all together.Heughan, Caitriona Balfe and the rest of the “Outlander” cast and crew are currently shooting Season 6 after a pandemic delay.Credit…Mark Mainz/StarzYou recently started filming the sixth season of “Outlander” after months of pandemic delays. How did you spend your time off?It’s been strangely busy for me. We went into the lockdown, and I was initially in America, and we were writing the book — I don’t know if the book would have happened without the lockdown because I had so much time. Then we were working on “Men in Kilts” as well, the preproduction, and after that first lockdown, we went into shooting. Then I went to London, and I shot a movie called “Text for You,” with Priyanka Chopra Jonas.Part of me was like, it’d be quite nice to just take a bit of time out. But I’m so fortunate that we’re working and also making sure that everyone is safe with the Covid protocols.What has it been like shooting with these new rules?It’s not so much the protocols that are difficult — you have to wear a mask, you have to social distance where you can — it’s more the psychology of it. Certainly when you first start a job, everyone’s very tense, very aware. Of course the protocols are there for your own good, but everyone struggles with feeling like you’re being repressed or not being yourself, or going against your own instincts as a human being. When you see somebody you haven’t seen for a while, you want to give them a hug or touch them or get closer to them. You’re having to go against your instincts as an actor on set, where you’re supposed to use your instincts to portray a character. So it is a really weird situation, but you get used to it.In October, you shared a phone number that fans in America and Canada can use to send you text messages. Why did you choose to make yourself available like that?I’m pretty private in my personal life. But I was having a lot of problems with scammers, people pretending to be me or my company. So this felt like a way I can say, look, if it’s not verified, it’s not me. So hopefully it should make things clearer. It’s not something I use much, but occasionally if I want to reach out directly to fans or ask their opinion about something, I can do that. But it is pretty overwhelming, to be honest.Given the affection many “Outlander” fans have for you, specifically, have you received any shocking messages?I don’t really see anything untoward — there might be the odd one, but I just ignore it. I suppose that’s surprising, but it goes to show that this fan group is quite unique and very supportive. Even with their response to My Peak Challenge, my charity, we now have over 14,000 members and have raised $5.5 million. The positivity around it is amazing and it comes from the fans.You also have a whisky called Sassenach, the name of which will be familiar to “Outlander” fans. How did you get into that, and why did you choose that name?I’d been approached by a number of distilleries to white label something, and I just didn’t want to do that. I wanted to create it myself. So it’s self-financed, and I did a big tour with my business partner in Scotland, tasting lots of whiskey — it’s a hard job.Sassenach is a Scottish Gaelic word meaning outsider — originally it meant English person, and it was quite derogatory. But “Outlander” changed the meaning, and people started calling each other “Sassenach” as a term of endearment. That’s what I liked: It’s about the outsider, and we all feel like outsiders at some point.Now that Brexit is officially here, Britain is once again an outsider in relation to the rest of Europe. Has it affected your businesses or other projects in any way?Asking an actor about politics is probably never the best thing. The times I’ve mentioned politics or Tweeted or Instagrammed something, and the abuse you get, especially about American politics — people telling me I don’t know what I’m talking about because it’s not my country. But it’s wrong to think that what happens in another country doesn’t affect the rest of the world.Brexit has been a complete mess, complete shambles to my mind, totally ridiculous. This insular kind of jingoism that’s been going on — I love Britain, and I’m also proud to be Scottish, but I don’t want to be a backward country that thinks it’s better than everyone else. And I also think working with Europe is really important. With my partners, we had a lot of business with Europe, and it’s cost us a lot of money and time just trying to navigate that. I’m thinking, too, about the Scottish fishermen, for example, who are having to dump their catch [because of export delays caused by new regulations]. It’s all going to waste due to Brexit, and they’re losing their livelihoods. It infuriates me.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Snowstorm Disarmed Texas, Trevor Noah Says

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyBest of Late NightSnowstorm Disarmed Texas, Trevor Noah Says“They don’t have snow shovels out there. Their best bet is to grab their AR-15s and shoot each snowflake before it lands: ‘Go back to Canada where you belong!’” Noah joked on Tuesday.“This storm has turned Texas into that ice level from Mario Kart. If I was in Texas right now, I’m carrying around a green shell with me, just to be safe,” Trevor Noah said.Credit…Comedy CentralFeb. 17, 2021, 12:43 a.m. ETWelcome 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. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Snowed OverMost late-night hosts took the week of Presidents’ Day off, but Trevor Noah and Jimmy Kimmel were on Tuesday night with a rare weather report.“Because right now, everywhere in the country, if you look outside your window, you’re seeing snow,” Noah said. “I mean, except for Florida. If you’re looking outside your window, that white stuff you’re seeing? That’s probably cocaine.”“If you’re watching us from home right now, the good news is you have power.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Oh, hell no! Trucks spinning around? Cars flying off the road? This storm has turned Texas into that ice level from Mario Kart. If I was in Texas right now, I’m carrying around a green shell with me, just to be safe.” — TREVOR NOAH“And you got to understand, this is especially tough for Texans because they’re not equipped for snow. They don’t have snow shovels out there. Their best bet is to grab their AR-15s and shoot each snowflake before it lands: ‘Go back to Canada where you belong!’” — TREVOR NOAH“Now it turns out there are a lot of reasons Texas has suffered such a huge power outage. Supply for electricity is down, the demand is surging. But experts also say that Texas neglected and underinvested in its grid until it finally broke during the storm. And look guys, I get it: Spending money on infrastructure is probably the least sexy thing you can do with your tax dollars, but it’s one of those things you’re going to take for granted until you’re in an emergency. It’s the same way how the people who built the Titanic didn’t focus on lifeboats. Instead, they were too focused on getting cars for their passengers to bang in.” — TREVOR NOAH“You know the phrase ‘When hell freezes over?’ We’re getting close. We’re getting real close.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Girls Gone Home Edition)“This morning was the coldest in decades in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Little Rock. In New Orleans, they had the coldest Fat Tuesday in more than a hundred years. People on the streets were putting their tops on.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“It’s ‘Girls Gone Home’ in New Orleans.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“And I think this is the right move. I mean, the sooner the people of New Orleans can stop the spread of Covid, the sooner they can get back to spreading gonorrhea.” — TREVOR NOAH“And, yeah, it’s sad. But it’s just not safe to hold a Mardi Gras parade. I mean, during a pandemic, a tuba just turns into a Covid fire hose.” — TREVOR NOAH“I thought we were supposed to have fun in ’21. But I guess that hasn’t started yet.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingA “Daily Show” correspondent, Ronny Chieng, detailed the recent horrific rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans.What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightPatton Oswalt will pop by Wednesday’s “A Little Late With Lilly Singh.”Also, Check This OutThe Oneida Nation comedian Charlie Hill on “The Tonight Show” when Jay Leno was the guest host in 1991.Credit…Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank, via NBCUniversal, via, Getty ImagesIn his new book, Kliph Nesteroff, a historian of stand-up comedy, details the oft-forgotten and overlooked contributions Native Americans have made to the genre.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Dwayne Johnson Finds Room to Grow in ‘Young Rock’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDwayne Johnson Finds Room to Grow in ‘Young Rock’The new NBC comedy, based on Johnson’s real life, chronicles him at three different ages on his journey to adulthood and stardom.From left, Dwayne Johnson at age 10, age 20 and in 2019. “Young Rock,” a new NBC sitcom, tracks three different periods in the actor’s life.Credit…via Dwayne Johnson (left, center); Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images (right) Feb. 15, 2021, 8:00 a.m. ETIt’s hard to imagine Dwayne Johnson as anything other than the gargantuan, musclebound star of the “Fast and Furious” and “Jumanji” movie franchises, TV shows like “Ballers” and the professional wrestling ring, where he first came to prominence as the Rock. But he was once a smaller — or, at least, younger — man.His history is now the basis for the new comedy “Young Rock,” which debuts Tuesday on NBC. This series checks in with Johnson at three stages of his life: as a preteen, still known by the nickname Dewey (played by Adrian Groulx); as an awkward teenager (Bradley Constant); and as a budding college football player (Uli Latukefu).“Young Rock” also features Stacey Leilua as Johnson’s real-life mother, Ata, and Joseph Lee Anderson as his famed father, the wrestling champion Rocky Johnson. Dwayne Johnson appears as himself in the series, which was created by Nahnatchka Khan and Jeff Chiang (both of “Fresh Off the Boat”).And while he’s rarely known for getting taken down, Johnson, 48, said in a recent video interview that the process of creating “Young Rock” was “so incredibly surreal” that it “knocked me on my butt.”Uli Latukefu plays Johnson as a college student.Credit…Mark Taylor/NBC“Unlike anything I’ve ever participated in, it required real specificity and an attention to detail,” he said. “And nuance, to find the comedy and make sure that some of these lessons that I learned a tough way would hopefully help audiences, too.”Johnson spoke further about mining his life stories for the material found in “Young Rock,” and how the show required him to re-evaluate himself and his father, who died in 2020. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.First of all, is there anyone in your life who still calls you Dewey?Yes, my mom calls me Dewey all the time. And unfortunately, she calls me that in public. I hated that name when I was young — hated it every time my parents would call me that in front of girls, teachers and my friends. And it stuck.How did you decide which stages of your life the series would focus on?It required a lot of hours of sitting down with Nahnatchka, just talking and sharing stories and then walking away, going back home, writing things down, meeting back again, going over more stories. Once we chopped up a lot of years, Nahnatchka and her team went back and they sifted through everything. And they came back with the concept of three timelines, at 10, 15 and 18, which were defining years of my life.Did you do anything to help resurface these old stories and generate the raw material?I poured myself a lot of tequilas and I was able to jog my memory. I would leave Nahnatchka these voice notes, after my second or third drink, and say, listen, you’re never going to believe this. But I’ll tell it to you anyway. And then we would talk the next day.Bradley Constant in “Young Rock.” Johnson said he spent time with the actors who played him “and let them know what I was like during that time.”Credit…Mark Taylor/NBCDid you want to be involved in casting the actors who play you on the show?Every single one. And I was able to spend some time with them, prior to shooting, and let them know what I was like during that time. What I thought my priorities were. The times, more important, that I fell on my ass and I had to get back up. That was surreal, in and of itself. The thing that really pulled at my cold, black heartstrings was finding the actors to play my mom, my dad and my grandmother, and spend time with them. As we’re having these conversations and they would start talking about what they knew of my mom and my grandmother and my dad [snaps fingers], within seconds I would well up.Did you ever consider a “PEN15”-style approach to the show where you’d play yourself at the different ages?We talked about everything creatively you could think of. Could I play all three characters? How could we do that? Would we pull in technology and see what we could accomplish there? One of the issues became time and trying to balance out my already very full plate of things that I had to do. One of the original pitches was that I would actually remain in the shadows — do what I would do, promotionally, but otherwise let this live on its own. Then we came back and realized, let’s have you in every episode, talking and reminiscing. This is probably a better way to do it.We see in “Young Rock” how with the wrestlers of your father’s era, their lives in the ring are glamorous and exciting, but their lives at home are more mundane, even a bit meager. Was that true to your experience growing up?Oh, yes, we are showing the truth of that generation, of the ’70s and ’80s. Those wrestling stars were adored and they were celebrated. They would wrestle in 5,000-seat arenas or in high-school gyms. And when they left, they always left in a Cadillac or a Lincoln. Always. Everyone. Wherever they would park, you would see a fleet of Caddies and Lincolns. Because that was working the gimmick. And it was important that fans saw them getting into an expensive car. But then when you go down the road, to where they lived, in many cases it was small apartments, like we did. And we would live paycheck to paycheck. I felt like there was value in showing that. This was the commitment that these men had to their business. This, in essence, put food on their table.Adrian Groulx, center, with Joseph Lee Anderson and Stacey Leilua, plays Johnson as a boy.Credit…Mark Taylor/NBCSome viewers have already had a glimpse into your awkward high-school years, courtesy of a famous photograph from that era that showed you wearing a turtleneck, a gold chain and a fanny pack. Will we learn the origin of the fanny pack in a future episode?The fanny pack will live a life, for sure. It’s very, very important. But we all went through that in high school to varying degrees. I was 14 when we left Hawaii and had to move to Nashville. And that’s where everyone thought I was an undercover cop because “21 Jump Street” was on at that time. And we left Nashville within three months and moved to Bethlehem, Pa., and I felt like who I was wasn’t good enough. I didn’t want to be Dwayne, I wanted to be Tomás. I thought that girls would think it was a cool name. They had to think that I had money, and I would steal these expensive clothes. I got arrested twice when I went to Bethlehem, for stealing — which is not in the pilot, either, but it’ll make its way in down the road.The show’s portrayal of your father is complicated because we see him first as a popular wrestler, and then later when his wrestling career is over and he’s working more quotidian jobs to make ends meet. Was it hard for you to think about him this way?When NBC said, “We’re in, let’s partner up [on ‘Young Rock’],” it was big news. I called home to my mom and dad and spoke to them both. A few days later, he passed away suddenly. But I believe that he would want that to be shown. He would want to offer that example to help other athletes transition out of their world, with maybe a little bit more grace than he did. He had a very hard time, and he had to find any job. He drove a truck, he did whatever he could do to make a buck. That’s a hard reality shift. My dad and I, we had a complicated relationship — it was very tough love. Let’s show the flaws, but when people aren’t here anymore, let’s show the good stuff, too.Has your mother seen the show yet?My mom was my “Young Rock” consigliere throughout. She felt we could showcase the tough [expletive] and the hard [expletive] because we got through it. That’s the lesson. Hopefully, people who are going through some hard [expletive], too, can see that there’s a way out. You can get on the other side of it.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘In Cold Blood’ and ‘The Black Church’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat’s on TV This Week: ‘In Cold Blood’ and ‘The Black Church’Richard Brooks’s classic adaptation of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” airs on TCM. And Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the history of African-American faith communities in a PBS documentary.Robert Blake, left, and Scott Wilson in “In Cold Blood.”Credit…Columbia PicturesFeb. 15, 2021, 1:00 a.m. ETBetween network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Feb. 15-21. Details and times are subject to change.MondayIN COLD BLOOD (1967) 8 p.m. on TCM. The “hard blue skies” that Truman Capote described as hovering over rural Kansas in his pioneering 1966 nonfiction book, “In Cold Blood,” are turned black and white in this celebrated film adaptation from Richard Brooks. The movie dramatizes the 1959 quadruple murder that Capote’s book made famous, in which two men, Perry Smith (played by Robert Blake) and Richard Hickock (Scott Wilson), killed four members of a wealthy family in Holcomb, Kan., in a botched home robbery. Brooks’s adaptation has an eerie realism; it was shot largely on location, including on the farm where the actual murders took place, and was made to have a documentary feel. It’s all set to an unsettling score by Quincy Jones. The sum of those parts, Bosley Crowther wrote in his 1967 review for The New York Times, is a movie that “sends shivers down the spine while moving the viewer to ponder.”THOR: RAGNAROK (2017) 6:15 p.m. on TNT. Marvel Studios enlisted Taika Waititi, the New Zealand filmmaker known for serving up offbeat humor in movies like “What We Do in the Shadows,” to breathe new life (and laughs) into its “Thor” franchise with “Thor: Ragnarok,” a blockbuster with a secret superpower: self-deprecation. Chris Hemsworth returns as the god of thunder, this time with a new villain to save the world from — Hela, the goddess of death, played by Cate Blanchett — and a cheekiness to go with his long blonde hair.TuesdayA scene from “The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song.”Credit…McGee MediaTHE BLACK CHURCH: THIS IS OUR STORY, THIS IS OUR SONG 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts this new two-part documentary about the role of Black religious spaces and communities as centers of faith, resilience and organization for generations. He interviews a range of figures including religious leaders like Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie and the newly minted senator Rev. Raphael Warnock; musicians like John Legend, Jennifer Hudson and Yolanda Adams; and other prominent voices including Oprah Winfrey and the philosopher Cornel West. Gates also explores the current place of African-American faith communities in the era of the Black Lives Matter and environmental justice movements. “The church gave people a sense of value, and of belonging, and of worthiness,” Winfrey says. “I don’t know how we could have survived as a people without it.”From left, Adrian Groulx, Joseph Lee Anderson and Stacey Leilua in “Young Rock.”Credit…Mark Taylor/NBCYOUNG ROCK 8 p.m. on NBC. The world has seen many versions of Dwayne Johnson over the years — Dwayne “the wrestler” Johnson, Dwayne “the ‘Fast and Furious’ star” Johnson and, of course, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson — so it’s fitting that three different actors play Johnson in this sitcom series based on his life. Dreamed up by Johnson and the “Fresh Off the Boat” creator Nahnatchka Khan, the show portrays Johnson during three periods of his childhood and young adulthood, telling a fictionalized version of his upbringing and mining comedy from the experiences that shaped him, which go well beyond hitting the Bowflex.WednesdayLINCOLN (2012) 8 p.m. on HBO. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is this month. Pay homage to the birthday boy by revisiting Steven Spielberg’s epic portrait of the 16th president, with an Academy Award-winning lead performance from Daniel Day-Lewis. The screenplay, written by Tony Kushner, is built around two momentous events in Lincoln’s political life: the Gettysburg Address and his second Inaugural Address. Much of the plot is focused on Lincoln’s arduous efforts to get a bill passed in Congress. The result is “less a biopic than a political thriller,” A.O. Scott wrote in his review for The Times, “a civics lesson that is energetically staged and alive with moral energy.”ThursdayTHE WIDOWER 10 p.m. on NBC. More than a decade of reporting went into this new true-crime mini-series from the producers of “Dateline NBC.” The show looks at a murder case with a remarkably chilling premise: A Las Vegas man calls the police to report that his wife has been murdered in a home invasion, but the subsequent investigation reveals that three of the man’s former wives also died under mysterious circumstances. This naturally raises questions about his role in the deaths.FridayPatrice O’Neal performing at the Comedy Cellar in Manhattan. O’Neal, who died in 2011, is the subject of “Patrice O’Neal: Killing Is Easy,” a documentary on Comedy Central.Credit…G. Paul Burnett/The New York TimesPATRICE O’NEAL: KILLING IS EASY 10 p.m. on Comedy Central. The stand-up comic Patrice O’Neal was known for both his searing humor and for the respect he commanded from his comedy peers during his career, which ended with his death in 2011. This documentary, directed by Michael Bonfiglio (“Jerry Before Seinfeld”), looks at O’Neal’s life, humor and legacy. It includes interviews with Colin Quinn, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart and other comics who admired O’Neal.SaturdayLILIES OF THE FIELD (1963) 8 p.m. on TCM. This year’s movie awards season is just starting to ramp up, but it’s already certain to be remembered for decades to come as the Academy Awards and other shows try to honor movies released during a year when theaters were largely closed and studios had to shelve many of their biggest releases. In 1964, Sidney Poitier was a one-man awards-season history maker: He became the first African-American to win the Academy Award for best actor, for his performance in “Lilies of the Field.” The film stars Poitier as nomadic former G.I. who stumbles upon a group of Roman Catholic nuns living in the Arizona desert, and eventually helps them build a chapel.SundayTHE VACCINE: CONQUERING COVID 8 p.m. on Discovery. This special looks at the development of Covid-19 vaccines through interviews with people on several sides of that colossal challenge, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins, and scientists from Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. It also looks at the experiences of some early trial volunteers.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘S.N.L.’ Imagines a Victory Lap After Trump’s Acquittal

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘S.N.L.’ Imagines a Victory Lap After Trump’s AcquittalThe opening sketch on “Saturday Night Live” presented satirical remarks from Republican allies like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell.Regina King (with Kenan Thompson) hosted “Saturday Night Live” this week.Credit…NBCFeb. 14, 2021Within hours of the Senate’s vote to acquit former President Donald J. Trump on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, “Saturday Night Live” was imagining how some of Trump’s Republican allies in the Senate might be celebrating in a parody episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”Alex Moffat played that Fox News host, who compared himself to a human White Claw and started his broadcast with what he called “a loose collection of scaremongering non sequiturs.” Among them, “Is AOC hiding in your house right now?” and “Pixar: Is it making our kids depressed or gay? Pick one.”The program’s first guest was Senator Lindsey Graham (Kate McKinnon), who said that it was “a great day for 30 percent of America.”In defense of Trump, McKinnon said, “Just because the rioters were yelling ‘Fight for Trump’ doesn’t mean they meant Donald Trump. Could’ve been some real Tiffany heads. Maybe even some Eric stans, I don’t know. But regardless, the trial is over and now we can move past this and focus on the serious issues. That’s locking up Hillary and freeing beautiful Britney Spears.”McKinnon added that she didn’t understand the contempt directed at Trump. “He is smart, he is nice, he’s in shape,” she said. “Last fall he died of Covid and didn’t even tell nobody.”Playing Senator Ted Cruz, Aidy Bryant discussed the relationship between Republican senators and Trump’s legal counsel. “Like any impartial juror,” she said, “we took it upon ourselves to meet with the defense lawyers, to give them some very simple advice: stop, and don’t.”Inside the Senate chamber, Mikey Day played Trump’s tongue-tied lawyer Bruce L. Castor Jr., who apologized as he misidentified himself as the lead prosecutor, the bailiff and a bridesmaid. Pete Davidson, who played his truculent fellow defense lawyer Michael van der Veen, said he was in a hurry to complete the proceedings because he had “already bought a nonrefundable train ticket back to Phillyvania, Pennsadelphia.”The final guest was the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell (Beck Bennett), who, despite denouncing Trump, said that his not guilty vote was justified “because everyone knows you cannot impeach a former president.”“That’s why we should have impeached him before, back when I said we couldn’t,” he said. “I think he’s guilty as hell, and the worst person I ever met and I hope every city, county and state locks his ass up.”Bennett then exhaled a long breath and declared, “God, that felt good. I’ve been holding that inside my neck for four years.”Asked what he would now do in the Senate, Bennett replied, “I plan to reach my hand across the aisle and then yank it back and slide it across my hair and then say, ‘Too slow.’”Fake Commercial of the WeekIf you can afford a trendy Peloton exercise bike but have no interest in the relentlessly upbeat motivational messages from its onscreen product, “S.N.L.” may have a product that’s more your speed. It’s the Pelotaunt, which in this advertisement is billed as “the only exercise bike that provides you with personalized, at-home negative reinforcement and relentless criticism.”Among its many modes of emotional manipulation are snotty disdain, insincere praise and avoidant attachment style. And if none of those settings gets you into shape, why not try a workout accompanied by the theme from “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or video of “an elderly woman who’s like 1,000 times better than you”?Timely Legal Assistance of the WeekWho among us has not required the intervention of a plastic surgeon after using an extremely powerful adhesive as a substitute for hair spray? It happened in real life to Tessica Brown, who became an unfortunate viral sensation when she pasted her pate with Gorilla Glue.Now, should any of us make the same mistake, we have the law firm of Denzel and Latrice Commode (Kenan Thompson and Regina King), who can’t fix our hair but may be able to help us win large cash settlements. As King explained, “Fact: Every day as many as one people fall victim to using Gorilla Glue in place of a beauty product. And they deserve compensation.” She added that, though the odds may be tough, these attorneys understand what they’re up against. “We know it’s going to be hard taking a gorilla to court and suing him over his glue,” she said.Weekend Update Jokes of the WeekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on Trump’s impeachment acquittal.Jost started:Like so many other men living in Florida, Donald Trump has once again escaped from justice. This has to be the dumbest trial I’ve ever seen. Here’s how dumb it was: The jurors, who are deciding the case, were the ones attacked by defendant. The trial took place at the scene of the crime. And then right after the trial ended, one of the jurors who voted to acquit Trump ran out and said, “Someone’s got to prosecute this guy. He did it. This man belongs in jail.” What are you going to do? If you’re going to impeach the president for anything, don’t you think it’s sending a mob to kill the Vice President? I feel bad for Pence — 43 of his work friends were like, oh come on, Mike, they only tried to hang you. Stop being such a drama queen. I think it would be hilarious if Biden now sent rioters back into the Capitol. And he was like, What? You guys said it was fine.Che continued:During Donald Trump’s impeachment, House managers showed security footage of Capitol rioters violently attacking police. But here’s a little Black history lesson for you: Just because there’s video evidence doesn’t mean you’re going to get a conviction.Jost then added:Video evidence of the violence on January 6 showed that Senator Mitt Romney and Vice President Pence both had close calls with rioters. So let me get this straight: You’re a white supremacist mob and you go after these guys? The two whitest guys I could think of? They make me look like Ice-T.Most Valuable Player of the WeekNo one right now would seem to have it easier or better than Tom Brady, the NFL quarterback who won his record-setting seventh Super Bowl last weekend in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after leaving his longtime home with the New England Patriots.But, as portrayed by Bennett at the Weekend Update desk, Brady is a drunken, slurring, Vince Lombardi Trophy-tossing muddle who variously boasts of his successes and taunts his old Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick (“You hear that, Bill? You’re not my dad anymore!”) As Bennett explained in a moment of self-loathing, “My problem is nobody likes me. I don’t know what I did so wrong. All I did was go out and win the Super Bowl. I kept thinking, maybe I get one more trophy and people are going to like me. Nope. They don’t talk about the wins. They just talk about how I kiss my sons.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More