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Chicago Tribune
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
‘Untamed' review: Eric Bana investigates a Yosemite murder as an agent for the National Parks Service
In Netflix's 'Untamed,' Eric Bana plays a rugged, no-nonsense special agent for the National Parks Service working the mystery of a woman's death in Yosemite. The six-episode series isn't doing anything new, which tends to get a bad rap these days. The streaming era has prioritized breaking from, or at least playing around with, TV norms, but these kinds of meat-and-potatoes offerings can be as satisfying as shows with wilder ambitions. That said, 'Untamed' suffers from some object permanence issues; nothing about it stayed with me after watching it. But while it was on in front of me? A good (enough) time. A lot of that has to do with executive producer John Wells, whose vast array of credits include everything from 'ER' to 'The West Wing' to 'The Pitt.' He doesn't have a recognizable style like fellow super-producers Shonda Rhimes or Ryan Murphy, but he understands television in ways that have become increasingly rare. Here he's working with show creators Ellie Smith and Mark L. Smith (the latter of whom was the screenwriter of 2024's 'Twisters'). The series opens with two climbers ascending the vertical rock face known as El Capitan. Suddenly, a woman's lifeless body comes hurtling past them from above, getting caught in their ropes and nearly taking them down with her. The circumstances of her death become the show's driving plotline. When Bana's Kyle Turner arrives at the summit on horseback, a park ranger says with a mixture of envy and annoyance: 'Here comes Gary Cooper.' Turner is haunted by past mistakes, a broken marriage, a dead son and a tendency to find solace at the bottom of a bottle. 'What's with you tonight?' someone says. 'You're extra serious even for you.' That sums up his personality. The ranger assigned to assist his investigation is a rookie and that's because Turner has burned through everyone else with his stubborn insistence on doing things his own way. When an Indigenous character shows up, it's because Turner (and Turner alone) has befriended him. These are common tropes that can be tedious in the wrong hands — the dead child has become overused as a shorthand meant to add sympathetic texture to a character's backstory — but 'Untamed' is made with enough talent and skill that these pieces feel right, instead of hacky. Credit that to Bana's performance, which doesn't belabor the guy's issues nor his stoicism. The Gary Cooper thing isn't too far off. Lily Santiago plays Naya Vasquez, the inexperienced park ranger with whom he's paired. She's from the city and therefore not thrilled with the idea of jumping on the back of a horse to explore the area for clues, but Turner won't budge. 'This park's the size of Rhode Island. It's got five separate highway entrances bringing over 100,000 people a week,' and going off the trails, on horseback, is better than going in his truck. That she will eventually come around to him, and he to her, is a foregone conclusion. Sam Neill and Rosemarie DeWitt round out the cast as the seasoned head park ranger who looks out for Turner and Turner's amiable ex-wife, respectively. The series' premise is better suited to a movie. But at six episodes, it doesn't overstay its welcome. The wide open spaces and the occasional appearance of (CGI?) wildlife are as picturesque as you'd expect — it's one of the show's selling points — although filming took place not in California-based Yosemite but in British Columbia. I suppose one soaring, mountainous forest looks like another. The park rangers are stuck wearing unflattering uniforms, but Turner has too much swagger for that and is outfitted in jeans and a sand-colored work shirt worn with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The show's subtitle might as well be 'Untamed: Eric Bana's Forearms' Where other shows try to leverage the sex appeal of their male lead by having him doff his shirt within the first 20 minutes, 'Untamed' takes a different tack, and I like it. Hollywood has never really understood the appeal of a good pair of forearms. Now's as good a time as any. 'Untamed' — 2.5 stars (out of 4) Where to watch: Netflix
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Colin Farrell, Sharon Horgan and Ruth Negga receive Emmy nominations as ‘Severance' leads the field
Horgan has been nominated in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Bad Sisters. Farrell was the first name revealed for the Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for his performances in The Penguin. Negga has been nominated for her performances in Presumed Innocent in the Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie category. Severance separated itself from the field with 27 nominations while The Studio led comedy nominees with a record-tying 23 in a dominant year for Apple TV+. No other dramas came close to the dystopian workplace series Severance, which achieved a convergence of acclaim and audience buzz for its second season that brought an expected Emmy bounty. Lead acting nominations came for Adam Scott and Britt Lower for what amounted to dual roles as their characters' 'innie' work selves and 'outie' home selves. Tramell Tillman got a supporting nod for playing their tone-shifting, pineapple-wielding supervisor, and Patricia Arquette was nominated for supporting actress for playing an ousted outcast from the sinister family business at the centre of the show. Ben Stiller got a directing nomination. Apple's Hollywood satire The Studio was expected to make a big showing for its first season, but it romped over more established shows like Hacks, which got 14, and The Bear, which got 13. And The Studio tied a record set by The Bear last year when it also got 23 nominations, the most ever for a comedy. The Studio co-creator Seth Rogen personally got three nominations — for acting, writing and directing. Its A-list roster of guest stars brought in a bounty, with nominations for Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Dave Franco and Zoe Kravitz. The men made for five of the six nominees in the guest actor in a comedy category. ADVERTISEMENT The Penguin, HBO's dark drama from the Batman universe, was also surprisingly dominant in the limited series category with 24 nominations, including nods for leads Farrell and Cristin Milioti. Netflix's acclaimed Adolescence got 13 limited series nominations, including a supporting actor nod for 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who plays a 13-year-old suspected of a killing. HBO's high-end soap The White Lotus got its usual flowering of drama acting nominations for its Thailand-set third season, with four cast members including Carrie Coon getting supporting actress nods, and three including Walton Goggins up for supporting actor. It was second in the drama categories to Severance with 23 nominations overall. 'The Pitt,' HBO Max's prestige medical procedural starring 'ER' veteran Noah Wyle, got 13 nominations, including best drama and best actor for its star, 'ER' veteran Noah Wyle. One of its nurses, Katherine LaNasa, was able to squeeze in among the women of 'The White Lotus' for a supporting actress nod. The Last of Us brought in 16 nominations in drama categories for HBO. The elite cable channel with its streaming counterpart HBO Max has been so prolific for decades in Emmy nominations that it almost felt like an off year without it having a Succession or a Game of Thrones atop the drama category. But it definitely wasn't. It led all outlets with 142 nominations, the most it's ever gotten. Netflix followed with 120 nominations overall, and Apple TV+ had 79. Wyle, who was nominated five times without a win for ER, could join Scott to make best actor in a drama a two-man race, with both seeking their first Emmy. Actors Harvey Guillén and Brenda Song announced the nominations in key categories. The nominees for best drama series are: Andor; Paradise; Severance; Slow Horses; The Diplomat; The Pitt, The Last of Us and The White Lotus. The nominees for best comedy series are: Hacks; The Bear; The Studio; Only Murders in the Building; Abbott Elementary; Nobody Wants This; Shrinking and What We Do in the Shadows. The nominees for outstanding limited series are: Adolescence; Black Mirror; Dying For Sex; Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story and The Penguin. The nominees for best comedy actor are: Seth Rogen, 'The Studio'; Martin Short, 'Only Murders in the Building'; Jeremy Allen-White, 'The Bear'; Adam Brody, 'Nobody Wants This'; Jason Segel, 'Shrinking.' The nominees for best comedy actress are: Uzo Aduba, 'The Residence'; Kristen Bell, 'Nobody Wants This'; Quinta Brunson, 'Abbott Elementary'; Jean Smart, 'Hacks'; Ayo Edibiri, 'The Bear.' 'Severance' has become a signature show for Apple TV+. The streamer has gotten plenty of Emmy nominations for dramas including 'The Morning Show' and 'Slow Horses,' and 'Ted Lasso' was downright dominant on the comedy side. But Apple has lacked the kind of breakaway prestige drama that HBO seems to produce perennially. That could change when the Emmys are handed out in September. 'Severance' got 14 nominations for its first season in 2023, but won just two, for its music and its title sequence. All the shows are living in the splintered world of the streaming era, and the like the Oscars its most acclaimed nominees rarely have the huge audience they once did. While an impressive average of 10 million people per episode watched Wyle on 'The Pitt' at some point on HBO Max, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, 30 years ago an average of 30 million sat down on the same night and watched him on 'ER' on NBC. Kathy Bates' best actress nomination for playing the title role in CBS's 'Matlock' made for a rare exception to streamers' dominance over broadcast networks. The Oscar-winning Bates is considered the front-runner to get the Emmy. She was the first person nominated in the category from a network show since 2019, and would be the first to win it since 2015. ABC's 'Abbott Elementary' has been keeping hope alive for broadcasters in recent years. It got six nods this year, including best actress in a comedy for creator Quinta Brunson, who also got a writing nomination. CBS will air the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards from the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles on September 14. Nate Bargatze is slated to host.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
‘Severance' leads Emmy nominations with 27
After last year's record-breaking 18 Emmy Awards for Japan-set historical epic Shogun, this year's drama competition looks to be more nuanced. Severance, in which employees of biotech company Lumon have their memories surgically separated between their 'innie' work lives and their 'outie' personal lives, is clearly the early favourite, with star Adam Scott a nominee for best actor. But he will compete with ER veteran Noah Wyle, who leads The Pitt – HBO Max's take on the travails of a Pittsburgh emergency room team during one 15-hour shift, effectively filmed in real time. 'It's ER on steroids!' Deadline awards expert Pete Hammond told AFP of the show, which earned 13 nods. Also competing for best drama honours are Disney+'s Star Wars offshoot Andor, Netflix's The Diplomat, HBO's apocalyptic video game adaptation The Last of Us, Hulu political thriller Paradise, Apple's spy drama Slow Horses, and The White Lotus. Scott and Wyle have stiff competition for best actor: Oscar winner Gary Oldman in Slow Horses, Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and Sterling K Brown (Paradise). Scott's co-star Britt Lower is a nominee for best drama actress, alongside Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us) and Keri Russell (The Diplomat). The White Lotus earned a slew of acting nominations in the supporting categories. The Penguin is competing for best limited series honours against Dying for Sex (FX) and three Netflix efforts: buzzy teen murder saga Adolescence, Black Mirror and true-crime saga Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Adolescence breakout star Owen Cooper, who plays a 13-year-old British boy accused of murdering a female classmate, earned a nomination for supporting actor. Monsters, the story of a pair of California brothers in prison for killing their parents after what they say was years of sexual and physical abuse, earned acting nods for Cooper Koch, Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny. Comedy newcomer In the comedy categories, new series The Studio, a satire starring Seth Rogen that eviscerates the film industry, emerged as a clear favourite. Rogen also wrote and produced the show, which earned acting nominations for Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O'Hara and six guest performers. Hacks – starring Jean Smart as a stand-up comedian who locks horns with her dysfunctional millennial assistant – won for best comedy and best actress in September last year, and is nominated again in those categories. The Bear, a dark satire set in the Chicago restaurant world, took the top prize at the previous ceremony (held in January 2024 because of Hollywood strikes), and its star Jeremy Allen White has two trophies for best actor. Beyond those three, other nominees for best comedy series are ABC's mockumentary-style sitcom Abbott Elementary, rom-com Nobody Wants This (Netflix), Hulu's Only Murders in the Building, Apple's Shrinking, and FX's vampire laugh riot What We Do in the Shadows. Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows) and Brenda Song (Running Point) unveiled the key nominations in a livestreamed ceremony. Voting members of the US-based Television Academy will then have a month to catch up on their viewing before final-round voting begins in mid-August. The September 14 gala will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze. -Agence France-Presse
Kuwait Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Kuwait Times
‘Severance' vs ‘The Pitt' - it's Emmy nominations time
Dark sci-fi office drama 'Severance,' gritty hospital series 'The Pitt' and buzzy teen murder saga 'Adolescence' are expected to pile up nominations for this year's Emmys when the contenders for television's Oscars are revealed Tuesday. Nominees will be announced in a live-streamed ceremony starting at 8:30 am (1530 GMT), after which final-round voting begins for the 77th Emmy Awards, set for September 14. Here are five things to look out for: Innie/Outie vs ER After last year's record-breaking 18 Emmys for Japan-set historical epic 'Shogun,' this year's competition looks to be more nuanced. Apple TV+'s 'Severance,' in which employees of biotech company Lumon have their memories surgically separated between their 'innie' work lives and their 'outie' personal lives, looks to be atop most predictions. 'It's a really great show that is going to get... a ton of nominations,' Deadline awards expert Pete Hammond told AFP. 'It'll be stronger than it was' in its first season, added Hammond, who sees star Adam Scott as a sure bet for a best drama actor nod. 'The Pitt' - HBO Max's take on the travails of a Pittsburgh emergency room team during one 15-hour shift, covered effectively in real time - has won over critics and audiences alike. It stars 'ER' veteran Noah Wyle. 'It's ER on steroids!' Hammond quipped. But Wyle's chances to win for best actor are crimped by Scott and a shortlist of other performers including Oscar winner Gary Oldman in Apple's dysfunctional spy drama 'Slow Horses' or Pedro Pascal in HBO's apocalyptic video game adaptation 'The Last of Us.' In the supporting acting categories, the many stars of 'The White Lotus' are expected to earn nominations. Comedy crapshoot In the comedy categories, perennial favorites 'Hacks' and 'The Bear' are expected to do battle once again. HBO Max's 'Hacks' - starring Jean Smart as a stand-up comedian who locks horns with her dysfunctional millennial assistant - won for best comedy and best actress in September last year. 'The Bear,' a dark satire set in the Chicago restaurant world, took the top prize at the previous ceremony (held in January 2024 due to Hollywood strikes), and star Jeremy Allen White has two trophies for best actor. 'The Bear' is eligible this time for its lackluster third season, but the recent launch of its fourth season - which has received excellent reviews - could work in its favor, Hammond says. 'That may be what Academy members will be looking at when they're actually voting for the season that wasn't well reviewed,' he said. The comedy juggernauts are also facing a newcomer - Apple's 'The Studio,' a satire that eviscerates the film industry starring Seth Rogen, who also wrote and produced the show. There is nothing Hollywood loves more than a show about... Hollywood. US actor Adam Scott attends PaleyFest LA screening of the season finale of "Severance" at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 21, 2025. Noah Wyle attends the Max original drama series "The Pitt" FYC Event at Warner Bros. Studios on May 28, 2025 in Burbank, California. Chilean-US actor Pedro Pascal attends the premiere of HBO's "The Last of Us", Season 2, at the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California, March 24, 2025. US actress Jean Smart poses in the press room with the award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for "Hacks" during the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. US actor Jeremy Allen White accepts the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for "The Bear" onstage during the 76th Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theatre at L.A. British co-creator, writer, executive producer and actor Stephen Graham (right) and British actor Owen Cooper attend Netflix's "Adolescence" ATAS (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences) event at the Television Academy Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California. Is 'Adolescence' unbeatable? In the limited series categories, Netflix's 'Adolescence' - which follows the case of a 13-year-old British boy accused of murdering a female classmate - is the wide favorite. 'It's close to a sure thing in terms of getting nominations across the board,' Hammond said, adding: 'I don't see what's going to come up and beat it in the limited series category.' Breakout young star Owen Cooper is widely expected to earn a nomination for limited series supporting actor, and series creator Stephen Graham is a shoo-in for best actor. The four-part series was lauded for its production values, with each episode shot in one take. Another Netflix contender in these categories is 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,' a true-crime saga about a pair of California brothers in prison for killing their parents, after what they say was years of sexual and physical abuse. Alfonso Cuaron's 'Disclaimer,' starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, and 'The Penguin,' with Colin Farrell as the comic book villain, are expected to win acting nominations. Big day for Apple TV+? In recent years, streaming services have led the charge for Emmy nominations, with traditional networks relegated to a handful of nods. With 'Severance,' 'The Studio,' 'Disclaimer' and 'Slow Horses,' Apple TV+ could have its best year yet. 'Normally we see HBO and Netflix leading the thing,' Hammond said, but he predicted: 'Apple is going to have the best year they've ever had in terms of nominations.' From nominations to gala Harvey Guillen ('What We Do in the Shadows') and Brenda Song ('Running Point') will unveil the nominations on Tuesday. Voting members of the US-based Television Academy will then have a month to catch up on their viewing before final-round voting begins in mid-August. The September 14 gala will be hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze. — AFP
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Noah Wyle on his Emmy nomination for ‘The Pitt': ‘This time around, it's much more gratifying'
Twenty-six years after Noah Wyle was last nominated for an Emmy, for his role as Dr. John Carter on NBC's long-running medical drama 'ER,' the actor has scrubbed back in for a chance at a golden trophy. The star and executive producer of 'The Pitt' received a nomination for lead actor in a drama series for his role as Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, and overall, HBO Max's breakout hit received 13 nominations. Wyle will be competing alongside Sterling K. Brown ('Paradise'), Pedro Pascal ('The Last of Us'), Gary Oldman ('Slow Horses') and Adam Scott ('Severance') for the award. The actor's skill around a fictional emergency room has yielded strong results. While it's his first Emmy nomination since 1999, it's the actor's sixth Emmy nomination for playing a doctor — the previous five were for his supporting role as the med student-turned-hospital veteran on 'ER.' Tuesday's nomination is his first ever in the lead actor in a drama category. Wyle was in production on 'The Pitt's' sophomore season on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank when he got the celebratory news, and The Times caught up with him during a break. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Noah, congratulations! Production on Season 2 is underway. You were on set when you got the news? Thank you. Yes, we're working today. I was on set. We shot the first scene. I asked to go to the bathroom. On a bathroom break, I checked my phone and saw a text from my wife that said, 'Baby!' I thought, 'Oh.' By the time I came back onto set, everybody was starting to get very excited. Then just now, Scott Gemmill [the show's creator] came down and made a formal announcement and read off all the 13 nominations, and that just exploded the crew and cast background into massive celebration. How do you get back to work after this? Oh, so easily. I'm going go in there and we're gonna get right back at it. I don't know. I guess with a little bit of a bounce in our stride. When I look at the sound department, who works so hard on our show, parsing out all that overlapping dialog — to see them get recognized, and see our makeup departments, both prosthetic and non-prosthetic, be recognized for their labor — everybody puts such pride into their work, and I am inspired by so many incredible artists who bring their expertise to this place every day. To see everybody be recognized makes it feel even more special, because it's truly a group effort. Dr. John Carter on 'ER' was a newbie to the healthcare industry, bright-eyed and eager to learn. Dr. Robby in 'The Pitt' is a veteran of the industry, sort of jaded by the systemic challenges, but as committed as ever to the patients. How is it to track someone deep in their career at this stage in yours? There was a lot of one-to-one identification with Carter back then, as I was new and eager to be good at my job and seen as being good at my job —both ambitious, both aspirational. This time around, it's much more gratifying because you have perspective. When you're 23, you don't necessarily know what the peaks and valleys of a life or career are going to be, but at 53, you have a better understanding of the road traveled and the road ahead, and it just makes this feel even sweeter. The show is confronting issues changing in our world in real time, and you're inhabiting someone behind the headlines, in the trenches, dealing with the realities of those issues. What intrigues you about what Dr. Robby and the rest of the characters on this show say about this moment in time, especially as the healthcare industry is on the precipice of more drastic change? Season 1 was trying to put a spotlight on the community of frontline workers and hospital personnel who've been doing sort of unending tours of duty since the pandemic. It was a thesis on tracking the emotional and physical toll that that it's taken on our workforce, in a way to try to inspire the next generation, but really to also highlight the heroism of people that are in the trenches now. Unfortunately, we've had to move on from that thesis because the world events since that [time] have taken such a turn, and healthcare in particular is in such cross hairs that it is both extremely incumbent upon us to stay current in our storytelling and reflective of what's happening. But it's really quite a challenge to try and peer into a crystal ball and see what the world will look like 13 months from now, when these episodes air, because the events are changing on the ground daily, so quickly that things that we didn't think would have come to pass by now have already come and gone and been normalized. So it's a challenge. The last time we spoke, you talked about how you strolled into work every morning, sort of mimicking Dr. Robby routine — that entrance to the hospital, listening to 'It's Baby' by Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise. Is that still the case for Season 2? No, we have a different opening this year. So, I have a different ritual and routine every morning. But I'm a creature of habit, and so I do my odd, little eccentric things every day to get ready. How are you feeling about this new season? It was recently revealed that your co-star Tracy Ifeachor would not appear in Season 2; there has been speculation about that decision and whether it's linked to her allegedly being a member of a London evangelical mega church that performs 'gay exorcisms.' Can you comment on the reason for parting ways? I can only comment and say that that was all revelatory to me. All these stories that have come out subsequently are news to us. It had nothing to do with anything like that. How are you feeling about that kind of cast change early in the show's run, or what it means for Season 2? We made it clear at the outset that part of being in a realistic teaching hospital is a revolving door of characters, whether you have somebody not come back, or you have somebody die, or whether you have somebody rotate to another department or go on another specialty. These are the things that we pull our hair out in the writers room trying to figure out how to keep this ensemble together for as long as time possible, but knowing that there has to be a revolution of characters coming through to keep the place realistic. And the character of Collins was a significant character in the first season, and Tracy was amazing. I loved working with her. I wish her all the best in her future. I heard she got another gig. As far as how this impacts your character, there's concern about Dr. Robby's mental health. Fans want to see Dr. Robby smile. Are you smiling in Season 2? [laughs] If it means that much to you, I'll trying to work one in. I would imagine it'll be easy today. How do you plan to celebrate? I looked at that list of nominees that I'm in the company of, and I send my congratulations to all of them. It's incredibly gratifying and humbling to be included in their company. I'm going to celebrate quietly with my family and come back to work tomorrow. Have you heard from your 'ER' counterparts? George Clooney? Eriq La Salle? They don't get up this early. [laughs] What's a memory that stands out from your last Emmys experience? Talk about perspective. It was such a beautiful, wonderful, heady time for me that the last time I was nominated, I was annoyingly blase about it, and if I had known that it was going to be 20-plus years before I was invited to the party again, I think I would have had a better time. Before I let you get back to work, tell me: what's the medical procedure on the docket for you today? Today I'm removing some taser barbs from the back of a thrashing patient's neck. We're shooting, actually, an episode that I wrote, so it's really kind of heavy week already.
