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Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
‘The Newsreader' review: The Australian series about TV news is as sharp as ever in Season 2
One of my favorite shows of 2024 was 'The Newsreader,' a biting Australian series about the TV news business in 1980s Melbourne. I likened it to an Aussie version of the 1987 movie 'Broadcast News,' with its winning combination of satire and pathos and a news team obsessed with beating the competition no matter the fallout. Season 2 picks up a year later, with fledgling anchor Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) now a more assured presence on the nightly 'News at Six' broadcast, alongside the more seasoned Helen Norville (Anna Torv). They are partners both on the air and off, and this juicy tidbit comes up when they appear on the station's talk show, hosted by a shamelessly cheesy Irishman called Gerry Carroll (Rory Fleck Byrne). Gerry is a great addition to 'The Newsreader' ensemble, both charming and likable, but someone who has also sold out at every opportunity possible. He's the kind of guy who performs a rendition of 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),' the George Michael and Aretha Franklin duet, surrounded by an array of 'Solid Gold'-esque dancers. Unlike his intense colleagues on the news side, everything rolls off his back and he can ad-lib a funny line with little effort. He also has no problem pandering to the audience, so he tees up Helen and Dale with this doozie: 'In 1986, you delivered us all a newsroom romance. In 1987, can we expect a newsroom wedding?' Helen passes the question off to Dale, who pauses awkwardly, then: 'Look, we're just focusing on this critical election that we have ahead of us this year.' Oh, Dale. As much as he's smoothed out his public persona, he can't fully mask his inner discomfort. He's no Gerry. This season, there's a new owner who sees their election night coverage as a network branding opportunity. 'And our network brand is backyard barbecue,' explains Dale and Helen's weaselly producer (Chum Ehelepola). The station owner wants the tone to be 'relaxed and irreverent.' Helen makes a face: 'Are you even listening to yourself?' Helen cannot hide her emotions, except when she's on the air, and that transformation is always divine. Dale, though, is more appeasing. And he's still obsessed with nailing an assured on-air persona (as with Season 1, we get to see more of him practicing in front of the mirror; Reid is so funny in these moments). Dale doesn't want to make waves but to work within the system and keep their bosses happy. That creates tension between him and Helen when she makes some questionable judgment calls and loses her cool during an interview. She can be a dynamo, but someone needs to keep her from going off the rails. Other complications arise. The secret of Dale's bisexuality looms like a ticking time bomb when a local gossip writer gets wind of the information. The same goes for Helen's teenage history of mental illness. There are plenty of people looking to sabotage them individually, and when their relationship begins to fray, it would be inevitable that they turn on each other too. They don't, and I have so much respect for that storytelling decision. The ensemble surrounding them is a rich melange of characters who give the newsroom its dysfunctional charm. The sweet but tenacious researcher promoted to producer (Michelle Lim Davidson, whose wardrobe is more late '70s/early '80s until she buys herself an effusive peach pantsuit) is now officially in a relationship with the station's well-meaning but dunderheaded sports anchor (Stephen Peacocke). The news director (William McInnes) remains a blowhard who alienates everyone around him (my one critique of the season is that his tirades have become perhaps too cartoonish) and his secretary (Caroline Lee) is the quietly efficient presence who sees all and knows where the bodies are buried. Then there's Helen's former co-anchor and nemesis (Robert Taylor), who now works for a competitor. His wife (Marg Downey) is one of the more intriguing women on television, a Lady Macbeth-type who is obsessed with appearances and elegantly schemes to advance her husband's career. She's also well-practiced at soothing his ego. When he complains about a snafu, she says smoothly: 'Honestly darling, it didn't seem that dramatic because you handled it with such professionalism.' Their adult daughter has returned home and she is struggling, which doesn't fit with the perfect family image they want to project. Though set in the '80s, 'The Newsreader' feels timely, especially in the way it portrays journalists wanting to do the right thing when it comes to holding power to account, only to be overruled by corporate bosses. It's also a show attuned to the smallest details of an actor's performance, from the way Helen adjusts her hair before they go on air, to the smallest facial expressions on Dale's face as he listens to another man leave a flirty phone message for Helen. These days, Reid is better known for his performance as Lestat on AMC's 'Interview with a Vampire,' but what he's doing here is just as layered and complex. It's quieter. Smaller. Dorkier. It really shows his range as an actor. Dale is hilarious. Dale is heartbreaking. Dale is a work in progress. Even the show's writing is delicious. When Gerry makes a subtle pass at Dale, this is how he phrases it: 'You strike me as a bit open to … possibilities. It's a compliment. The best people are.' Pause. 'I am.' Australia's bicentennial becomes a source of rich comedy, thanks to the beautifully absurd station promo they're forced to shoot, but it's also a way for 'The Newsreader' to delve into the way the Aboriginal population is rendered invisible in the station's coverage. (When Helen asks about this, everyone goes silent; it would be so much easier for them if she didn't bring up these complications.) I wish I could say the show's depiction of sexism and racism played like a time capsule, but it feels as relevant as ever. Visually, the show's palette is a mix of tans and browns, mauves and grays and light blues and cream. Nothing too bright or vibrant. The '80s details, especially when it comes to wardrobe and hair, are bang on without being over-the-top or camp. It's a snapshot that feels wonderfully alive and relevant to this moment. 'The Newsreader' Season 2 — 4 stars (out of 4) Where to watch: AMC+
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Materialists' Review: Dakota Johnson Measures Value Of Love Between Chris Evans And Pedro Pascal in Celine Song's Sublime Romcomdram
Watching writer-director Celine Song's follow-up to her feature debut, indie darling and 2023 Best Picture Oscar nominee Past Lives, all sorts of supposed cinematic influences ran through my mind from Billy Wilder's The Apartment to James L. Brooks' Broadcast News to Mike Nichols' Working Girl and just about anything from Nora Ephron. I left the screening thinking I had just seen the best movie about the search for love in many years. Call it a romcom, call it a romdram or any shorthand attempt to categorize it, but this is a movie that defies that kind of easy description. But on its surface, Materialists easily recalls so many Hollywood confections where the girl is torn between two guys vying for her eternal love. In this case, though, it is a lot more complicated for Lucy, a character perfectly matched with a never-better Dakota Johnson, who, as a matchmaker in a high-end New York City agency called Adore, has a great track record for hooking up others but not herself. Fast-food TV matchmaking The Bachelor this is not. More from Deadline Chris Evans On 'Avengers: Doomsday': "It's Sad To Not Be Back With The Band" 'How To Train Your Dragon' Won't Be Laggin' At Summer Box Office With $175M-$185M Global Start For Live-Action Redo - Preview 'Eddington' Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Gets Into Standoff With Pedro Pascal In A24's Covid-Era Western From Filmmaker Ari Aster Song actually worked as a matchmaker when she was a struggling NY playwright, and clearly that was the inspiration, or kernel of an idea, to follow up such a widely praised feature debut as Past Lives which in its own unique way has its lead female caught up in a different way between two men and two times of life. It too defied easy definition and, coupled with Materialists, confirms Song one of the most exciting new filmmaking voices of her generation. So Lucy makes about $80,000 a year trying to find perfect matches for high-end clients with a checklist of wants in finding the ideal partner. Vignettes with some of them are hilarious, both for men who want to stop at age 29 as consideration for a match or women with their own quirky needs. In this world, love is a negotiation, and in Lucy's mind — personally and professionally — money is a big part of the attraction. This goes back to her own experience as we see in a quick flashback to the fifth-anniversary date with her boyfriend John (Chris Evans). Both were struggling actors when they met, John had no money, a beat-up car and lived with two obnoxious roommates. On this anniversary date, we see it all blow up as Lucy finally realizes she is sick of being poor, or at least with John. They break up, time passes, and now at the wedding of one of her successful matches, Lucy is a guest and runs into John working with the catering company. We can still see sparks, but it is clearly over. At the same nuptials she meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), brother of the groom, who looks like he has just come out of Central Casting. He's a rich, successful commodities broker living in a $12 million penthouse, suave, charming, handsome — you name it. She calls these 'perfect' guys unicorns, and does not try to pick him up for herself but instead as a potential date and a surefire winner for any number of her female clients. It turns out, and yes in classic romcom fashion, Harry has no interest in them, only in Lucy, and this does lead to the matchmaker checking off her own list and doing something rather unprofessional by caving to Harry's advances. But will it become true love or just another negotiation, one that Harry is just as comfortable entering into as Lucy thinks she is? Meanwhile, John comes in and out of the picture, reminding us he is the one who still loves Lucy for who she was, even if she doesn't quite know now who she is. Song has cast her three leads to perfection. Johnson nails all the insecurity beneath the surface of this seemingly assured businesswoman and is superb in what might be her best screen outing yet. Evans, always a better actor than he is given credit for, doesn't miss a beat as a guy still struggling as an actor and as a man trying to find his true love, and knowing he probably already did – the one that got away. Pascal, in a role that could have been one-dimensional, gives Harry genuine humanity and likability. This is someone we also can root for, and in a key scene where he reveals his surprising vulnerability (it has to do with a kind of plastic surgery I never knew existed), he is heartbreakingly real. The standout among the supporting cast is Zoe Winters, an Adore client who first gets rejected by a match she was willing to settle for and then, in highly dramatic fashion, as the victim of sexual assault by another match set up by Lucy, who understandably is devastated when she learns of the disastrous date she felt responsible for. This sequence goes into much darker territory than any in the genre usually do, but it also feels right in this day and age to address it. Also fine is Marin Ireland as Lucy's boss, a woman who has seen it all, and Louise Jacobson, who turned from Adore client to bride. I have to say another main star of this film is New York City itself, seen as the backdrop of so many romantic comedies but here beautifully shot by cinematographer Shabier Kirchner and dressed by production designer Anthony Gasparro as a city where the perfect match is hard to light. A montage sequence featuring the lilting Harry Nilsson song, 'I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City' is a true highlight (trivia fact: Nilsson wrote that song for Midnight Cowboy, but it was replaced instead by 'Everybody's Talking (at Me).' Another shout-out goes to Daniel Pemberton's nicely nuanced music score. Materialists comes at the right time for a 'genre' that studios have forgotten audiences still want, and hopefully it will stand out as a nice alternative in a summer of tentpoles and action. Song has made a film that oddly can be admired by romantic purists and cynics, a movie whose end credits take place over the sight of a hugely busy New York Marriage Bureau visually assuring us sometimes people do find that elusive match, or at least hope so. Producers are Song, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and David Hinojosa. Title: MaterialistsDistributor: A24 filmsRelease date: June 13, 2025Director-screenplay: Celine SongCast: Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Zoe Winters, Marin Ireland, Louise JacobsonRating: RRunning time: 1 hr, 56 min Best of Deadline List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pedro Pascal just make every gay & girlie's fantasy come true with three words
Pedro Pascal knows exactly what he's doing. During a recent interview with Fandango promoting Materialists, Celine Song's Past Lives follow-up and unexpected swing into romantic comedy, Pascal sat between fellow stars Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans, serving chaos, charm, and more than a few suggestive glances. At one point, the trio was asked to share their 'unicorn traits,' or the unique qualities that make them relationship material. Evans went the earnest route, calling himself 'very supportive.' Johnson joked that she's selfish. And then Pascal, with a sly smile and dramatic pause, delivered the line we've all been desperate to hear: 'I'm a pleaser.' Cue everyone melting. — (@) The interview, part of Materialists' early promo push, offered a glimpse at the chemistry behind the film's central love triangle, which follows Lucy (Johnson), a Manhattan matchmaker, as she finds herself torn between the broke actor she left behind (Evans) and the rich new man who walks into her life (Pascal). Inspired by classic '80s romcoms like Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment, Materialists seems poised to revive the genre with both elegance and emotional wreckage. But while Pascal may be channeling Harrison Ford in Working Girl onscreen, offscreen, he's doing something even more powerful. This week, he joined over 100 artists, including Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and Daniel Radcliffe, in signing an open letter from The Trevor Project opposing the proposed elimination of $50 million in federal funding for LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention. 'We will not stay silent,' the letter declares. 'Stripping away this lifeline leaves LGBTQ+ youth with the message that their lives are not worth saving. We refuse to accept that message.' So yes, Pascal is a pleaser. But he's also a protector. A unicorn with range, if you will. It's yet another reason in our growing list of why Pascal will forever have a place in our hearts. Check out the full Fandango interview below: - YouTube Materialists hits theaters June 13.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Samuel L. Jackson and Judge Judy Honor Sisters Toni Howard and Wendy Howard Goldberg at Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai Luncheon
Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai got a double dose of star power at its annual spring luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel thanks to a pair of high-profile sisters. Samuel L. Jackson and Judge Judy turned up at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday to honor CAA agent Toni Howard and her sister, author and philanthropist Wendy Howard Goldberg, with Trailblazer Awards during a gala ceremony emceed by Entertainment Tonight's Nischelle Turner. More from The Hollywood Reporter Samuel L. Jackson, Pierce Brosnan Battle for Missing Gold in 'Unholy Trinity' Trailer The Weeknd Returns to WME for Representation in All Areas Aisha Bowe, Blue Origin Astronaut, Signs With CAA (Exclusive) The former is one of Hollywood's most well-known agents, and she represents Jackson, Michael Keaton, James Spader, Edie Falco, Michael Sheen, Holly Hunter, Laura Linney, Christopher Walken, Diane Lane (in attendance), Goldie Hawn, Tim Robbins, Catherine O'Hara, Nathan Lane and Billie Lourd, among others. Howard Goldberg is a long-serving member of the guild, having volunteered with the organization for more than four decades. She is the widow of Leonard Goldberg, a network executive and film and TV producer who shepherded Charlie's Angels, Broadcast News, Brian's Song and The Simpsons. During his time at the podium, Jackson, who previously was honored with a Hollywood icon award from the Women's Guild alongside wife LaTanya Richardson Jackson, noted how it was his third outing as a presenter at a Women's Guild event. 'I don't go to the Academy Awards as often as I come to these events,' he quipped. But he made good use of a repeat appearance by complimenting Howard Goldberg as 'kind, generous and fearless' and saving special praise for his longtime agent. 'I can't imagine my life without her,' Jackson said of Howard. 'She's been my agent, friend, consigliere, someone who is to high stakes blackjack what Superman is to hero comics. She's been my hero for at least 30 years. We've been together a long time. All that money they talked about that I've made, Toni started that.' Jackson then had the honor of introducing Judge Judy, aka Judy Sheindlin, who moderated a fireside chat with the sisters. As for Sheindlin, Jackson called her a 'trailblazer' for making history with her hit TV show, Judge Judy, and for being the only TV judge to win Emmys for more than one series. 'Clearly she's guilty of providing us with the best possible courtroom television,' Jackson said, adding that he watches her show every day while in his trailer. 'I personally would want to say that I met Judy in Toni's backyard smoking cigarettes when I first got to Hollywood, and she is personally responsible for me stopping smoking. She sent me to her doctor, and when she quit, she made me quit.' In her acceptance speech, Howard said it brought her great joy to share the stage with her sister. 'When Wendy was 12 years old our phone would ring, and my sister would pick it up. Some passionate volunteer would go into their carefully scripted spiel, 'Millions of people are suffering. We'd love you to donate money to help find answers to fight this devastating disease.' She'd ask, 'What are the symptoms?'' Howard recalled. 'I guarantee at 12, Wendy knew more about the disease than the person on the phone. I'm betting at 12, Wendy knew as much about the disease as the doctors.' Because of her obsession, Howard said she often calls her sister 'Dr. Goldberg' because there's rarely a day that goes by that she doesn't ask for a diagnosis. 'Wendy always has the best advice and knows the perfect person to call, whether your problem is a skinned knee or major surgery,' she added. Howard thanked Jackson and Sheindlin for supporting them at the ceremony. Of the latter, Howard said, 'When I first met you, I instantly wanted to sign you. I could've made millions for both of us. But it's OK, and you'll never hear this from any other agent: Your friendship is more precious to me than money.' She then singled out the Women's Guild and the work of the medical professionals at Cedars-Sinai for taking care of her 96-year-old husband, David Yarnell, who was hospitalized twice this year. 'I was moved by the kindness and the enthusiasm shown by your staff. David loves talking to people and no matter what someone's job was, he'd end up having a conversation with them. Everyone was so engaged. Everyone put such energy and joy into their work. We saw them literally high-fiving each other when they changed shifts,' she praised. In her speech, Howard Goldberg recalled a favorite word picked up from business woman Lynda Resnick: Resilience. 'The capacity to withstand and recover from difficulty, the ability to spring back into shape. Toughness,' she detailed of its definition. 'The community of Los Angeles, Women's Guild and today's other honorees all brilliantly embody this quality.' She also called her sister a 'true icon, trailblazer and one of the smartest, wittiest, most hard working people on the planet.' Funds raised at the event benefit the Women's Guild neurology project and the Women's Guild distinguished chair in pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's. Also at the event, fashion designer Elyse Walker hosted a pop-up boutique featuring items from her brand, elysewalker, with 10 percent of the proceeds benefitting the guild. To date, the Women's Guild has raised more than $70 million for Cedars-Sinai. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Harvey Weinstein's "Jane Doe 1" Victim Reveals Identity: "I'm Tired of Hiding" 'Awards Chatter' Podcast: 'Sopranos' Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Wonderfully sentimental': why Defending Your Life is my feelgood movie
In a world where we venerate the actor-writer-director (Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen etc), the great Albert Brooks still feels widely underappreciated. His voice work in Finding Nemo and his Oscar-nominated turn in Broadcast News gave him a respectable level of recognition and acclaim. However, he remains immensely underrated, especially compared with his comedic contemporaries like Steve Martin or Bill Murray. As a writer-director-leading man, he produced some of the funniest, most insightful comedies of the 80s and 90s, often with biting social commentary. But when I need the January blues lifted, I turn to his wonderfully sentimental and uplifting 1991 film Defending Your Life. Related: 'An unmitigated joy': why Married to the Mob is my feelgood movie Brooks plays Daniel Miller, a divorced, lonely adman with little in his life besides a new BMW. When he is killed in a bus collision, he is transported to Judgment City, a Disneyland-like depiction of purgatory. It's here where the recently deceased, good and bad, are put on trial to 'defend your life'. Miller is cross-examined by his lawyer Bob Diamond (a surprisingly smiley Rip Torn) and prosecutor Lena Foster (Lee Grant). They look over nine days of Miller's life to decide his future. If you win your trial, you 'move forward'. You lose your trial: you head back to Earth to 'try again'. I've always loved Brooks' singular depiction of the studio backlot-like Judgment City. It's a fairytale that recalls the best of Frank Capra and Pixar. The weather in the city is always a perfect 74F and you travel around on Universal Studios-style trams. Most important, you can eat the nicest food without putting on an ounce (Daniel's cheese omelette might be the nicest-looking meal ever put on screen). There are some references to religion, but God and theology are mostly ignored. Equally, the vapid elements of life on Earth are still here, leading to some of the film's best gags. There are smutty talkshows in which a young blonde claims to have had sex with Benjamin Franklin and terrible standup comedians sing bad covers of Frank Sinatra's That's Life. Judging from his previous work, it seemed like sentimentality was not in Brooks' nature. Films such as Modern Romance and Lost in America were daring attacks on the delusions of male jealousy and the yuppie entitlement of the Reagan era. While hilarious, his protagonists represented humanity at its most smug and self-centred. With Defending Your Life, Brooks swaps these themes out for optimism and amiability. While I love delving into the fantastical escapism of Judgment City (backed by Michael Gore's endearingly rhapsodic score), it's the film's poignantly philosophical look into fear that makes it one of my absolute favourites. Daniel is a good person who could never live up to his full potential because fear dominated his every waking move. It's Foster's main reason why Daniel should be sent back to Earth. He worries about people's perceptions of him ('I'm just so tired of being judged,' he remarks) and his aversion to risk-taking leads him to have an unfulfilled life. Defending Your Life is about being unable to 'move forward' (literally and figuratively) until you've conquered the fears that hold you back. It's perhaps no coincidence that the film came out right at the end of the cold war, a period in which fear was engrained in the heart of the American consciousness. As Torn's character laments to Daniel: 'Fear is like a giant fog. It sits on your brain and blocks everything – real feelings, true happiness, real joy. They can't get through that fog.' During the breaks from his trial, Daniel begins a love affair with the virtuous Julia (Meryl Streep in her most endearing performance). I hate describing any film romance as adorable, but the chemistry between both leads is true movie magic. It's helped that Brooks avoids cliches, never having the typical romcom moment when both characters inexplicably hate each other. When their relationship is in jeopardy, it again circles back to Daniel's innate fear of taking chances. Without spoiling the heartwarming ending, their final scenes together are an amazing tear-jerking summation of the film's themes. It's up there with Jimmy Stewart running through the snow at the end of It's a Wonderful Life. 'Life-affirming' is perhaps an overused adjective, but few movies have successfully illuminated the human condition as well as this one. Fear is commonplace in our daily lives, but Albert Brooks' film might hold the key to rid the worries of anxiety-ridden people such as myself. As the new year often brings about feelings of regret and unease, Defending Your Life is the warmest hug you can receive. Defending Your Life is available to rent digitally in the US and the UK
