Latest news with #TonyShalhoub
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Spirited and sumptuous': why Big Night is my feelgood movie
'Life is meals,' observed the novelist James Salter. Big Night, Stanley Tucci's spirited and sumptuous indie from 1996, is a film about one big meal that asks a few big questions about life, including: What is the cost of the American dream? What does food allow us to say to each other that words can't? And what right does Marc Anthony, of all people, have to deliver one of the most charming non-speaking performances in any movie since the silent era? Big Night follows two Italian immigrants who run a failing restaurant in 1950s New Jersey. Ambitious, high-strung Secondo (Tucci, practically hirsute) is the manager, while his brother Primo (Tony Shalhoub) is the madman in the kitchen, a purist who derides the local clientele as philistines and has begun to doubt the wisdom of coming to the US in the first place. A last-ditch opportunity to save the business arrives unexpectedly through the largesse of Pascal (Ian Holm), proprietor of a successful competing restaurant down the street, who seems to have it all figured out in this country ('Bite your teeth into the ass of life!' he exhorts Tucci's Secondo). Pascal wants to help the brothers – they are no threat to him – and so he arranges for them to host a dinner for the touring jazz star Louis Prima and his band. Secondo and Primo will be made men, if they can pull it off. At this point in the film, we are all clocked in and a day's work lies ahead. There are preparations to be made, ingredients to procure. And there is a guest list to be finalized and then worried over, a magnificent supporting cast that includes Secondo's sweetheart (Minnie Driver); his lover (Isabella Rossellini), who is also Pascal's sweetheart; and Primo's crush, a neighborhood florist (Allison Janney) who is more game for the evening than Primo realizes. All along, passing through the restaurant like an ethereal hipster out of Jim Jarmusch, is the brothers' near-silent helper Cristiano (Anthony), without whom, somehow, the whole movie would not work. The camera's attention to food in Big Night may be its greatest pleasure and greatest insight. We are invited to watch the penne rolled by hand and the red sauce ladled with tenderness. This hungry cinematography anticipates so much about the way we've come to look at food on screen, from documentaries including David Gelb's Chef's Table series to the award-winning show The Bear. Unlike a lot of The Bear, though, or other comedies that turn on a high-stakes dinner (Mrs Doubtfire and The Birdcage, for example), Big Night doesn't yield over much to anxious tension on the one hand or madcap hijinks on the other. This, to me, is what makes it feel so good. There are real stakes to this meal for these characters, but co-directors Tucci and Campbell Scott care enormously that you have a good time at their party. They never want you to refill your own glass. Take the sequence in the middle of the film in which Secondo, under the influence of a smooth car salesman named Bob (Scott) with a plaster cast on his hand, test-drives a Cadillac he will buy with money he doesn't have. It's hardly necessary to the plot but a perfect aperitif, this dudes-rock intermezzo with two joy-riders who are also the directors of the movie you are watching. When Secondo asks him how he got the cast, Bob replies: 'No idea.' Ma che importa – who cares? Later, once the records are spinning and the dancing starts, you recognize in time with the characters that the guest of honor isn't required for this party to be a success. The long take that ends the film, in the kitchen the morning after, shouldn't be over-described for readers who haven't seen it. Suffice to say, it is a key exhibit in the archaeology of Tucci's second act as an ambassador of Italian food, which began in earnest during lockdown with an Instagram video of him making a negroni – a shameless, filthy bit of pornography, the internet decided. Sex appeal aside, Tucci, with Scott and his co-writer, Joseph Tropiano, intuited something essential in Big Night about our appetite for food served on the big screen. More than that, he recognized how eager we are for entertainment that understands the importance of food in structuring and texturing the course of our lives. Isn't a good meal, especially a simple one, all you want after a long day and a big night? If life is meals, play on. Big Night is available to watch on Hoopla in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Spirited and sumptuous': why Big Night is my feelgood movie
'Life is meals,' observed the novelist James Salter. Big Night, Stanley Tucci's spirited and sumptuous indie from 1996, is a film about one big meal that asks a few big questions about life, including: What is the cost of the American dream? What does food allow us to say to each other that words can't? And what right does Marc Anthony, of all people, have to deliver one of the most charming non-speaking performances in any movie since the silent era? Big Night follows two Italian immigrants who run a failing restaurant in 1950s New Jersey. Ambitious, high-strung Secondo (Tucci, practically hirsute) is the manager, while his brother Primo (Tony Shalhoub) is the madman in the kitchen, a purist who derides the local clientele as philistines and has begun to doubt the wisdom of coming to the US in the first place. A last-ditch opportunity to save the business arrives unexpectedly through the largesse of Pascal (Ian Holm), proprietor of a successful competing restaurant down the street, who seems to have it all figured out in this country ('Bite your teeth into the ass of life!' he exhorts Tucci's Secondo). Pascal wants to help the brothers – they are no threat to him – and so he arranges for them to host a dinner for the touring jazz star Louis Prima and his band. Secondo and Primo will be made men, if they can pull it off. At this point in the film, we are all clocked in and a day's work lies ahead. There are preparations to be made, ingredients to procure. And there is a guest list to be finalized and then worried over, a magnificent supporting cast that includes Secondo's sweetheart (Minnie Driver); his lover (Isabella Rossellini), who is also Pascal's sweetheart; and Primo's crush, a neighborhood florist (Allison Janney) who is more game for the evening than Primo realizes. All along, passing through the restaurant like an ethereal hipster out of Jim Jarmusch, is the brothers' near-silent helper Cristiano (Anthony), without whom, somehow, the whole movie would not work. The camera's attention to food in Big Night may be its greatest pleasure and greatest insight. We are invited to watch the penne rolled by hand and the red sauce ladled with tenderness. This hungry cinematography anticipates so much about the way we've come to look at food on screen, from documentaries including David Gelb's Chef's Table series to the award-winning show The Bear. Unlike a lot of The Bear, though, or other comedies that turn on a high-stakes dinner (Mrs Doubtfire and The Birdcage, for example), Big Night doesn't yield over much to anxious tension on the one hand or madcap hijinks on the other. This, to me, is what makes it feel so good. There are real stakes to this meal for these characters, but co-directors Tucci and Campbell Scott care enormously that you have a good time at their party. They never want you to refill your own glass. Take the sequence in the middle of the film in which Secondo, under the influence of a smooth car salesman named Bob (Scott) with a plaster cast on his hand, test-drives a Cadillac he will buy with money he doesn't have. It's hardly necessary to the plot but a perfect aperitif, this dudes-rock intermezzo with two joy-riders who are also the directors of the movie you are watching. When Secondo asks him how he got the cast, Bob replies: 'No idea.' Ma che importa – who cares? Later, once the records are spinning and the dancing starts, you recognize in time with the characters that the guest of honor isn't required for this party to be a success. The long take that ends the film, in the kitchen the morning after, shouldn't be over-described for readers who haven't seen it. Suffice to say, it is a key exhibit in the archaeology of Tucci's second act as an ambassador of Italian food, which began in earnest during lockdown with an Instagram video of him making a negroni – a shameless, filthy bit of pornography, the internet decided. Sex appeal aside, Tucci, with Scott and his co-writer, Joseph Tropiano, intuited something essential in Big Night about our appetite for food served on the big screen. More than that, he recognized how eager we are for entertainment that understands the importance of food in structuring and texturing the course of our lives. Isn't a good meal, especially a simple one, all you want after a long day and a big night? If life is meals, play on. Big Night is available to watch on Hoopla in the US and to rent digitally in the UK and Australia
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mary Beth Nienhaus Activity Center officially opens, providing social opportunities for adults 50+
APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – After all of the anticipation and excitement, the Mary Beth Nienhaus Activity Center has finally opened, with a celebration event on Friday afternoon. The activity center, formerly known as the , provides adults 50 years and older with plenty of opportunities to socialize, learn and thrive. Green Bay native Tony Shalhoub to host global food docuseries on CNN From wellness studios to high-tech classrooms and gaming areas, the facility features a plethora of ways for adults looking to keep up their activity level to do so. It also features the only indoor pickleball court for adults in Appleton. The center is still holding a fundraiser, looking to raise about $6.5 million, and it is 85% of the way there. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Goodwill Donation Center opens in Bellevue
BELLEVUE, Wis. (WFRV) – Goodwill North Central Wisconsin (NCW) has opened a new Donation Center in Bellevue, expanding its network of convenient drop-off locations across the state. Located at 2409 Monroe Rd. in Green Bay, the center is designed to make donating gently used items easier for local residents while supporting Goodwill NCW's mission to eliminate barriers to employment through job training and skill-building programs. Having this many convenient locations also enables our community to help extend the life of items for responsible stewardship of the planet's resources. Chris Hess, President and CEO of Goodwill NCW Green Bay native Tony Shalhoub to host global food docuseries on CNN The grand opening and ribbon-cutting event took place on Friday, June 20 at 10:30 a.m., which included remarks from local chamber leaders and Goodwill representatives. Goodwill NCW operates 27 stores and donation centers plus one outlet store throughout Wisconsin. To learn more, visit Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNN
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
CNN Originals Teases 2025-2026 Programming Slate
May 14th, 2025 CNN EXPANDS THE 'SEARCHING FOR' FRANCHISE WITH NEW CNN ORIGINAL SERIES EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR FRANCE CNN ORIGINAL SERIES INTRODUCES TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD AND RELEASES FIRST LOOK CNN FILMS BACKS I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT AND IN THE PRIME OF LIFE CNN RENEWS HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU FOR A THIRD SEASON PREMIERING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 AT 9PM ET/PT CNN ORIGINAL SERIES RELAUNCHES THE DECADES SERIES WITH DECADES IN SPORTS NEW YORK – (May 14, 2025) – CNN unveiled highlights of the new premium nonfiction content from CNN Originals for 2025-2026 as part of the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation. CNN Worldwide offered a sneak peek into CNN Originals' upcoming programming slate, announcing new projects from CNN Original Series, including the extension of the Primetime Emmy® Award-winning Searching For franchise with Eva Longoria: Searching for France coming in 2026, and new international food and travel series Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread premiering this fall . Additional CNN Original Series include New Orleans (w/t) from CNN Studios, Decades in Sports from Emmy® Award-winning Executive Producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, and This Land is Your Land (w/t) produced by October Films . CNN Films will produce two new documentary features in the year ahead, I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not , the authorized yet unfiltered documentary of the comedy legend directed by two-time Emmy® Award winner Marina Zenovich, and In the Prime of Life (w/t) , which explores the rise of cancers in adults under 50 and reteams CNN Films with the Emmy® and Peabody Award winning director Janet Tobias (CNN Films Unseen Enemy and Race for the Vaccine ). Earlier this month, CNN Films joined forces with Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films and Max to acquire the Madison Wells produced and financed Prime Minister , which made its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Documentary Competition category. CNN has also picked up CNN Original Have I Got News For You for a third season which will premiere on Saturday, September 6 at 9pm ET/PT. This series will continue to support the network's Saturday primetime lineup of topical entertainment programming which has made CNN a top cable destination on Saturday nights. Additional details about upcoming 2025-2026 titles for CNN Originals include: Eva Longoria: Searching for France – Often referred to as the food capital of the world, France has long been synonymous with culinary excellence. In the tradition of her journeys in Searching for Mexico and Searching for Spain , Longoria will now discover the iconic origins of French cuisine, where the dining experience was first elevated to an art form. Throughout multiple regions, Longoria will be at the crossroads of centuries old gastronomic tradition and cutting-edge creativity in a country whose national identity is defined by its rich culinary history. Produced by Hyphenate Media Group, the series will premiere in 2026. Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread – Breaking Bread introduces the authentic Tony behind the neurotic characters he plays – a passionate food-lover who comes from a large family of home cooks and is now deeply embedded in the New York restaurant world. In this delectable new docuseries, Shalhoub embarks on a mouthwatering journey around the world, with bread serving as the conduit into a variety of international cuisines and cultures. The ultimate comfort food, bread is the foundation for any shared meal and Shalhoub will make and break bread with a cast of characters he picks up in every corner of the globe. From baguettes to buns, flatbreads to focaccias and every grain in between, Shalhoub believes breaking bread has the power to bring people together. Produced by Lionsgate Alternative Television and originating from its Blackfin label, the series will premiere this fall on CNN platforms. I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not – Directed by two-time Emmy® Award winner Marina Zenovich, the film is the authorized yet unfiltered documentary of the comedy legend, Chevy Chase. Whether it is his Saturday Night Live screen test or his starring roles in multiple Hollywood comedies, Chase has always had huge comedic range. He is also a complex and contradictory human being, full of outsized gifts and striking flaws. Through illuminating interviews with the Chase family, friends and costars, Zenovich brings us into Chase's inner world, revealing what is beneath the surface of his superstar bravado. Coming in 2026, I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not is presented by CNN Films and West Buttermilk, in association with Propagate Content and Five All in the Fifth Productions, In the Prime of Life – In the US and around the world, a disease once thought of as affecting the elderly is increasingly becoming a disease of adults in the prime of their lives. 'Early onset' cancer, cancer affecting adults from 18-49, increased globally by a staggering 79% between 1990 and 2019. Directed by Emmy®, Peabody, and two-time WGA Award nominee Janet Tobias (CNN Films Unseen Enemy and Race for the Vaccine ), the film follows early on-set cancer patients and the doctors, scientists, nurses and social workers who care for them at one of the world's leading cancer centers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). With her signature blend of curiosity and empathy, Tobias documents every aspect of their lives – from dating and marriage to work and finances, from sexuality and fertility to friendship and parenting. For the first time in its history, MSK is granting exclusive access to their doctors, scientists and other staff as they race to understand and treat these patients' disease and work to provide specialized support for this rising population. Presented by CNN Films, In the Prime of Life (w/t) is a Global Health Reporting Center and HHMI Tangled Bank Studios production and will premiere in 2026. Prime Minister – In August 2017, in the lead-up to national elections, Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became New Zealand's opposition party leader. She had just turned 37. Going behind the scenes of her administration and her private life, Prime Minister follows Jacinda for seven years as she is catapulted to the top of New Zealand politics, becomes only the second head of state in history to give birth while in office, resigns suddenly from office and continues to champion the fight against isolationism, fear, and the distortion of truth. Intimate home footage shot by her husband and audio interviews that Jacinda did while in office give us unparalleled access. Along with in-depth contemporaneous interviews, these form the emotional backbone of the story, giving viewers an unfiltered window into her years in power. Directed by Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz, Prime Minister is produced by Madison Wells and Dark Doris, in association with Divergent Pictures. The film will be released in theaters by Magnolia Pictures on June 13 and will premiere on HBO, CNN and Max later this year. Have I Got News For You – The American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You is hosted by Roy Wood Jr. along with team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Always relevant and of-the-moment, Have I Got News For You serves up a smart and edgy take on the news of the week, as the comic trio guides a rotating collection of guests through an array of games and quick-witted panel conversations that test their knowledge of current events. Produced by Hat Trick Productions for CNN Originals, the third season of Have I Got News for You premieres Saturday, September 6 at 9pm ET/PT on CNN. New Orleans (w/t) – New Orleans is a city unlike any other. Every day on its narrow and historic streets, it lives its culture out loud. From the sounds of live jazz, to the smell of warm beignets, to the ultimate party of all parties – Mardi Gras – the city communes with its history through music, food, sports and tradition. This four-part series tells its roaring story from its swampy founding to the present day. It uncovers the city through its trials and triumphs, and reveals how 20 years after Katrina, the city is louder and more resilient than ever. Voices include notable New Orleanians such as Emeril Lagasse, Wendell Pierce, Malcolm Jenkins, Trombone Shorty and James Carville. Decades of Sports – No single sport, season, game or player can adequately capture why athletic competition at the highest level is so wildly compelling. But taken as a whole, this six-part series will unravel the thrill of the victory and the agony of defeat across six decades of larger-than-life athletes, intense rivalries and stunning upsets that encapsulate the command sports have on our cultural attention. Coming in 2026, Decades of Sports is a continuation of CNN Original Series' celebrated and Emmy® Award-nominated partnership with Playtone and Herzog & Company from Executive Producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog. This Land is Your Land (w/t) – Marking America's 250th birthday, This Land is Your Land tells the story of the dramatic transformation of six iconic locations throughout the nation's storied past, as titans of history clash to reshape the map and seize the future of the United States. As a young nation claims new territory and shapes its identity, this series illuminates how themes from America's past echo strongly in the present. Coming in 2026, This Land is Your Land is produced by October Films. ### About CNN Originals The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Presents, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN's global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films' first Academy Award® for Navalny . Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown ; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11 , directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico ; the Emmy® Award-nominated 'Decades Series': The Sixties , The Seventies , The Eighties , The Nineties , The 2000s , and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars , directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; Grammy® Award nominee Little Richard: I Am Everything , directed by Lisa Cortés; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart ; This is Life with Lisa Ling ; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG , directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television , executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy ; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers , directed by Tim Wardle; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell ; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper . CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, and for pay TV subscription via CNN apps and cable operator platforms. CNN Originals Press Contacts:
