Day: October 9, 2020

A pandemic-pink force Zooms ahead

Any reasonable soul might want to be in a Hollywood epic, one with big scenes, fancy costumes and, maybe, Tom Cruise or Meryl Streep.
“I wanted to be on a big set, doing these huge stories,” Otmara Marrero recalled.
Then came NBC’s “Connecting” (8 p.m. Thursdays), the exact opposite. It’s a comedy-drama about friends communicating via Zoom during the pandemic; each actor works alone, at home.
Marrero agreed to audition, secure in the belief that she would never get the job. “My hair was pink (shown here); I’d dyed it on a whim, because I needed some excitement in my life.” Surprises followed: She liked the scripts … the producers liked her … and they even liked the pink. Read more…

Good news: Satire survives and thrives

This is the golden month for political satire: The final weeks of an election ripple with possibilities.
And now some of that potential has been realized: “Saturday Night Live” is off to a strong start … and Seth Meyers (shown here) had a hilarious “Closer Look” special in prime time.
This should be the time when satire thrives, but you can’t be sure. In August of 2016 — amid snowboalling interest in the election — Comedy Central suddenly canceled Larry Wilmore’s late-night show. Four years later, it looked like COVID might mute all laughter. Read more…

A soul-crushing loss for movie theaters

This is another leap forward for the streaming world … and a nasty fall backward for movie theaters:
“Soul” (shown here), the new Pixar movie, won’t be in theaters after all, at least in the U.S. On Christmas Day, it will debut on Disney+; it will only reach theaters in parts of the world that don’t have the streaming service.
This is the third film to make that jump for Disney. It was “Hamilton” on the 4th of July, “Mulan” last month and now “Soul” for Christmas. Read more…

Best-bets for Oct. 11: It’s zombie Sunday

1) “Fear the Walking Dead” season-opener, 9 p.m., AMC. The fifth season ended 14 months ago, with Morgan wounded and alone. That’s the perfect set-up for a pandemic production, when smaller casts are ewelcome. Tonight, just two people are key to Morgan’s life – a skilled hitman, sent by Virginia, and a stranger (shown here) with an unstated mission. The result is fierce and gory, but thoroughly involving. Read more…