When a TV show gets rebooted with some of the old roles now being played by new actors, it can be frustrating and intimidating for the new actor to follow in the other’s footsteps. Nathan Dean faced that when he took the role of Max Evans on the Roswell reboot, Roswell, New Mexico. But for him, there’s a twist: He’s had to do it in front of the original Max, Jason Behr, who’s been on the show in a recurring role. How has he felt about that? Dean told us it’s helped that he’s playing an older version of the role, rather than playing the same Max that Behr played. (Click on the media bar below to hear Nathan Dean)
Roswell, New Mexico airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.
Tracee Ellis Ross stars as Grace Davis in THE HIGH NOTE, a Focus Features release. Credit: Glen Wilson / Focus Features
In an alternate universe, Tracee Ellis Ross might have followed in the famous footsteps of her mother, Motown legend Diana Ross. Instead, Tracee turned to acting and hit it big with the sitcom Girlfriends in 2000. Now, the two universes are intersecting: In her new film The High Note, Ross plays a famous singer named Grace Davis. In making the movie, Ross did all of her own singing, and she told us that it wasn’t something she was too worried about — after all, it’s in her blood. (Click on the media bar below to hear Tracee Ellis Ross)
The High Note is available to rent on multiple streaming services, including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and other VOD platforms.
As The Baker and the Beauty reaches the end of its first season tonight, the cast will be celebrating with the fans, live-streaming throughout the show’s two-hour finale. Cast members are really looking forward to it, because they’ve already been getting a lot of strong feedback from fans over the past two months the show’s been airing. Dan Bucatinsky told us the initial reaction reminds him of a couple of other shows he’s done, which gives him a lot of optimism for the show’s future.
The Baker and the Beauty airs its two-hour season finale tonight at 9/8c on ABC.
THE TITAN GAMES — “The Titan Games Premiere” Pictured: Dwayne Johnson — (Photo by: Steve Dietl/NBC)
There’s nothing like the thrill of competition, and that jolt of adrenaline you get is only amplified when you’re hearing the roar of the crowd. Dwayne Johnson knows that feeling all too well, first from his days as a college football player, then from his time as wrestling’s The Rock. So, when Johnson created the televised competition The Titan Games, he wanted the show’s contestants to feel that same rush he’s experienced so many times over the years. (Click on the media bar below to hear Dwayne Johnson)
Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) and Ron Perlman(Sons of Anarchy) star in Run With The Hunted, a thriller that centers on Oscar (Pitt), a man who has lost his way due to a prior incident.
As a young child Oscar committed murder inthe defense of his best friend Loux, and he ultimately finds refuge in an extended family of criminals who indoctrinate him into their world view.
Now 15 years later he has become a leader of a new group of children, but a possible reunion with Loux may change his destructive course and lead him into a new direction.
Rounding out the ensemble are Mark Boone Junior, Dree Hemingway, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sam Quartin and William Forsythe.
The feature, directed by John Swab (co-director of Let Me Make You A Martyr), comes out June 26 On Demand.
Directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, Becky features Lulu Wilson, a youth who spends the weekend with her father Jeff (Joel McHale), his fiancee Kayla (Amanda Brugel) and her son Ty (Isaiah Rockcliffe).
Dominick (Kevin James) is the leader of a group of convicts who take the family hostage as they are searching for a very important item, and it’s up to Lulu to ensure these criminals receive what’s coming to them.
Milott and Murnion’s feature has its share of squeamish moments and the filmmakers break one big cinematic cardinal rule, but that is part of Becky’s overall appeal. The thriller goes against the grain on several factors, one of which includes the casting of Kevin James.
Click on ther media to hear Murnion discuss why Kevin James was perfect person to play Dominick:
Becky hits select theaters, drives-ins, On Demand and Digital on June 5.
Directed by Alison Ellwood (History of the Eagles), Laurel Canyon is a docuseries that centers on the community of artists who lived in the Los Angeles area throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.
The project features all new interviews with Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Michelle Phillips, Graham Nash, Linda Ronstadt, and The Byrds’Roger McGuinn.
We sat down with The Byrds member Chris Hillman (The Desert Rose Band) as he reminisced about his time in Laurel Canyon (he describes it as a “magical place”). He also talked to us about collaborating with Tom Petty on his 2017 album Bidin’ My Timeand his love for country rock. Laurel Canyon features a slew of music from that era, and The Byrds track “Turn!, Turn!, Turn!” plays a prominent role in the documentary.
Laurel Canyon, executive produced by Frank Marshall, debuts tonight on EPIX at 9 pm et/pt and concludes Sunday, June 7th at 9 pm et/pt.
Kate Nash: Underestimate The Girl is a clear eyed and ultimately inspiring documentary on how pop star Kate Nash persevered through her share of obstacles to make it out on the other side. A successful artist at the age of 18, the North London raised youth would ultimately move to California and expand her music horizons.
Infusing her music with a more punk rock sound and not playing by the proverbial rules ultimately turns Nash into an outsider, and director Amy Goldstein documents Nash’s struggles through a several year period. Nash became a MySpace sensation back in 2008 and won Best British Female Artist at the 2008 Brit Awards.
With the MySpace era is gone and the landscape of music shifting to streaming, Nash uses a DIY approach to getting her art to the masses. “What is happening in America to artists is just awful,” said Goldstein. “That we could have it with the immediacy of it enfolding on camera and you don’t want it to happen to her and she works super hard and is very imaginative. She’s now talking a lot about how artists needs to unionize and I think she will lead a movement so that musicians can be treated better. Without being preachy, we just told the story and you get it. You really go through it with her and you get all the fun of being a rock and roll musician. She keeps her sense of humor no matter what’s happening which is really awesome.”
The great news is that Nash ultimately landed a role as a cast member on GLOW, but seeing the slow and steady climb up that hill makes Kate Nash: Underestimate The Girl a compelling and insightful watch. Click on the media bar to hear Goldstein talk about her own DIY methods in shooting Kate Nash: Underestimate The Girl:
Kate Nash: Underestimate The Girl is now available via Alamo On Demand through June 4.
While the Alien movies might have made Sigourney Weaver a bankable Hollywood star — and made her a role model as one of the first female ass-kicking action stars — she still felt like there was something missing from her career. She had a funny feeling she knew that it was… something funny. And then came Ghostbusters. Weaver had an amazing time making the Bill Murray/Dan Aykroyd/Harold Ramis comedy and its sequel back in the ’80s, so much fun that she’ll be seen in the next-generation follow-up Ghostbusters: Afterlife when it’s released next year. Weaver told us she’ll always be grateful to the Ghostbusters team that took a chance on her comedic talents. (Click on the media bar below to hear Sigourney Weaver)
The original Ghostbusters movies are available for streaming purchase or rental on most digital platforms, and also available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Some of us who got to know Steve Carell on The Office couldn’t help but trace the lineage of his character — Michael Scott felt like a direct descendant of Leslie Nielsen’s Dr. Rumack in Airplane! or any of the band members in This Is Spinal Tap: a character playing it straight and unaware that he was the joke. The fact that Carell made the role work is more a testament to his dramatic abilities than his comedic chops, because if he’d played the role strictly for laughs, The Office would have been a very different series. So, maybe not so surprisingly, Carell filled us in on a little secret: He thought he’d wind up succeeding as a dramatic actor, not a funny guy. (Click on the media bar below to hear Steve Carell)
Carell’s new comedy series, Space Force, is streaming now on Netflix.
