Dwayne Johnson vows to stop using real guns in film projects after ‘Rust’ tragedy

While practicing a scene, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun that he was told did not contain live rounds, according to affidavits shared by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. My heart goes out to her family and everybody on set. Johnson’s interview comes ahead of the release of his latest project, Netflix’s Red […]

‘Dexter: New Blood’ struggles to find fresh meaning in an old story

Hall is playing our favorite serial killer of killers, Dexter Morgan, as a man living under a different name in a very different town. Indeed, “Jim’s” interaction with the butcher epitomizes the series’ habit of playing with audience expectations — showing Dexter sneaking up behind him with a meat cleaver unsheathed, ominous music rising, only […]

New Orleans trumpeter gets 18 months over post-Katrina charity fraud

Both pleaded guilty last November to a single charge of conspiracy to commit fraud.Prosecutors alleged they steered more than $1.3 million from the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to themselves, largely by funneling it through the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, which Mayfield founded.Mayfield, allowed to speak before he was sentenced, apologized to the library foundation, […]

In ‘Spencer,’ Kristen Stewart’s Princess Diana grasps for reality in order to survive

Pablo Larraín’s Spencer opens with a label that reads, “A fable from a true tragedy.” The tragedy, of course, is the story of Diana Spencer, who became Princess of Wales, went through a bitter and public divorce, was largely beloved nevertheless, and lived a short life — at 36, she was literally chased to her […]

Netflix’s ‘Colin in Black and White’ shows a star athlete reaching toward Blackness

If you had any questions about where Colin Kaepernick’s activist spirit originated, a look at Netflix’s new limited series, Colin in Black and White, removes all doubt.These days, Kaepernick is known as the ex-San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose decision to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice inspired others and kicked […]

Political satirist and stand-up comedy pioneer, Mort Sahl, dies at 94

Mort Sahl had a stream-of-consciousness style of humor, and credited jazz as his influence. ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE: In 1960, Mort Sahl was on the cover of Time magazine for an article called “The New Comedians.” He’s surrounded by balloons with caricatures of politicians – Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy. BLAIR: Sahl started doing stand-up in the 1950s, […]

Need some new Halloween movies and books for your kids? Do come in (mwah-ha-ha)

Kids are under plenty of stress these days, absorbing grownups’ various real-world anxieties, not to mention wearing masks long before picking out their Halloween costumes. Children’s author and illustrator Jorge Lacera and Common Sense Media’s Senior TV Editor Polly Conway offer a selection of their favorite new books and TV shows, with varying degrees of […]