All stories by Tribune News Service on BroadwayStars

Sunday, June 15, 2025

‘Spaceballs 2’ is coming! Wait, what was so cool about the original ‘Spaceballs’? by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — “Spaceballs 2” is incoming, director Mel Brooks confirmed Thursday on social media, 38 years after the original “Spaceballs” crashed onto the space-opera scene. Hey, …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:15AM
Friday, June 13, 2025

News of Brian Wilson’s death left bandmate Mike Love speechless, says honorary Beach Boy John Stamos by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — John Stamos was by Beach Boys founding member Mike Love's side when news of bandmate Brian Wilson's death on Wednesday was made public. The "Full House" star was also the mes…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:14PM

‘Cobra Kai’ stunt performers help martial artists transition into TV and film by Tribune News Service

ATLANTA — Husband-and-wife world champion martial artists Justin Ortiz, 32, and Jewelianna Ramos-Ortiz, 26, laugh when they recount the story of their first audition in 2018 as stunt perfo…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:15AM
Thursday, June 12, 2025

Texas comedian Cristela Alonzo returns to Dallas to film her third Netflix special by Tribune News Service

DALLAS — Comedian Cristela Alonzo was once a young girl in Hidalgo County, living in abject poverty. Her family squatted for years in an abandoned diner. In the early aughts, as a 20-somet…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:15PM

13 of the late Brian Wilson’ s finest songs to revisit by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — Brian Wilson's death on Wednesday at the age of 82 heralds an end to one idea of Southern California — as the temperate paradise of ascendant Americana. Exuberance and drea…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 11:42AM

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ review: Live-action remake has soar muscles by Tribune News Service

Only a few weeks ago, we were somewhat lamenting that another animated film had been adapted into such a faithful live-action version — even while liking the box office hit that is “Lilo…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:45AM
Wednesday, June 11, 2025

New on DVD: ‘Call the Midwife’ for a dose of comfort TV by Tribune News Service

The return of long-running TV show about a group of nurse midwives tops the DVD releases for the week of June 17. "Call the Midwife: Season Fourteen": The BBC drama, airing on PBS in the Sta…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:15AM
Tuesday, June 10, 2025

A timeline of Sly Stone’s career in 10 essential songs by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — Sly Stone's hit-making era lasted all of six years — from the end of 1967 to the end of 1973 — but the music he made over that half-decade helped map the future. The sing…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 02:39PM

Disney finally owns all of Hulu, ending long tug-of-war with Comcast by Tribune News Service

Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay Comcast Corp. an additional $438.7 million to finalize the Mouse House purchase of streaming service Hulu. Disney in December 2023 initially paid Comcast $8…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 12:00PM
Saturday, June 7, 2025

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ review: Wes Anderson stumbles with latest film by Tribune News Service

Well, perhaps Wes Anderson was overdue for a flop. The writer/director known for quirky visuals and charmingly self-conscious whimsy has had a long run of movies that were enchanting (“Fan…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 08:45AM

With ‘Dogma’s’ rerelease, director Kevin Smith’s prayers for his cult classic have been answered by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — For more than a quarter century, director Kevin Smith has tried to resurrect "Dogma," his religious satire about two fallen angels looking to get back into heaven. Recently, …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:30AM
Friday, June 6, 2025

CNN will broadcast a Broadway performance of George Clooney in ‘Good Night, and Good Luck.’ Don’t miss it by Tribune News Service

When "Good Night, and Good Luck" arrived on Broadway this spring, it initially provoked a surprising amount of cynicism. There were complaints that the adaptation by George Clooney and Grant…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:43AM

This week’s bestsellers from Publishers Weekly by Tribune News Service

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, May 31, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:00AM

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ review: A business tycoon grows a heart by Tribune News Service

The meticulously crafted dollhouse world of director Wes Anderson expands even further with "The Phoenician Scheme," an externally wily yet internally melancholy comedy about international e…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:45AM

Dakota Johnson and director Celine Song rethink the rom-com with ‘Materialists’ by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — The new film "Materialists" is something of a bargain: essentially two films in one. It's very much a sparkling romantic comedy in which a young woman finds herself torn betw…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM

At 84, Bill Medley still has that lovin’ feelin’ for Righteous Brothers songs by Tribune News Service

If you’re still hungering for the touch of the Righteous Brothers, a duo that opened for the Beatles and the Rolling Stones six decades ago, Bill Medley is still on the road at age 84, sin…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:45AM

White House bid to cut funding could spell trouble for Smithsonian American Latino museum by Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON — Backers of a new museum honoring American Latinos are hoping it can withstand a budgetary strike from the White House, despite fears it could become a casualty in Donald Trump…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:30AM
Thursday, June 5, 2025

Zoe Saldaña says she ‘collapsed’ immediately following her Oscars win for ‘Emilia Pérez’ by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — It turns out Zoe Saldaña was more than just emotionally drained after tearfully accepting her supporting actress Oscar for “Emilia Pérez” at this year’s Academy Award…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:31AM

Review: ‘Stick’ review: Owen Wilson charms in this golf comedy about grief and growing up by Tribune News Service

"Stick," which premiered Wednesday on Apple TV+, is a sweet, lovely, funny show — a sports story, a road movie, a coming-of-age story and briefly a caper film. Here and there it asks you t…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:15AM
Wednesday, June 4, 2025

What Cynthia Erivo is doing on her (very short) break from ‘Wicked’ by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — Cynthia Erivo sits in a Century City recording studio on a recent afternoon, mulling over her choice of footwear the other night. The British singer and actor — whose overl…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:37AM

Area 51 movie to follow Las Vegas newsman, alien theories by Tribune News Service

LAS VEGAS — George Knapp’s reporting career has been out of this world. And now, so is his film career. A respected and celebrated Las Vegas newsman dating to the 1980s, Knapp is to be p…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:15AM

Mark Hamill starred in the ultimate battle of good and evil. Now he just wants to make America normal again by Tribune News Service

LOS ANGELES — Mark Hamill was at a point in his life where he felt ready to trade the Force for a pool float and a quiet crossword in the shade. After five decades as the face of one of po…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:00AM

How HBO keeps ‘The White Lotus’ on our minds — and screens by Tribune News Service

In the age of binge-watching, HBO's hit series "The White Lotus" is demonstrating the power of weekly appointment viewing. Most viewers streamed the darkly comic anthology series from Mike W…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:45AM

Movie review: The ordinary is extraordinary in heartfelt ‘The Life of Chuck’ by Tribune News Service

“The Life of Chuck” is a trick. It’s a trick you’ll be delighted by, but a trick nevertheless, conjured by author Stephen King, on the page, and filmmaker Mike Flanagan, on screen. O…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:15AM
Tuesday, June 3, 2025

San Antonio police: No evidence actor Jonathan Joss’ fatal shooting is ‘hate crime’ by Tribune News Service

A day after actor Jonathan Joss was shot and killed in San Antonio, his husband posted a statement Monday on Joss’ Facebook page, saying the shooting was spurred by homophobia. Hours later…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 01:10PM

‘King of the Hill’ returns this August. Here’s a peek at the revival by Tribune News Service

DALLAS — "King of the Hill," the beloved animated sitcom inspired by co-creator Mike Judge’s time living in Richardson, returns on Aug. 4, more than 15 years since it last aired. Hulu an…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 11:27AM

Flute innovator Claire Chase’s musical field of dreams began on a San Diego baseball field by Tribune News Service

SAN DIEGO — Many great athletes helped lay the foundation for their Major League Baseball careers when they were kids playing in Little League. San Diego native Claire Chase is surely the …

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 06:00AM

Billy Bob Thornton says he wants to be in ‘Landman’ for years by Tribune News Service

FORT WORTH, Texas — As “Landman” continues filming Season 2 around Fort Worth, star Billy Bob Thornton says he wants to be in the series for the long haul. Speaking with Gold Derby rec…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 05:30AM
Saturday, May 31, 2025

Review: In ‘Mountainhead,’ billionaire tech bros watch the world burn by Tribune News Service

At the beginning of "Mountainhead," written and directed by Jesse Armstrong of "Succession" fame and premiering Saturday on HBO, three multibillionaire tech bros make their way by private pl…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 10:15AM

Review: A delightful capitalist in this economy? Only in Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ by Tribune News Service

Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme" opens with a bang: a grisly explosion, a plane crash and a dramatic close-up of tycoon Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), his battered face so lumpen an…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 08:00AM
Friday, May 30, 2025

This week’s bestsellers from Publishers Weekly by Tribune News Service

Here are the bestsellers for the week that ended Saturday, May 24, compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide, powered…

SOURCE: Hartford Courant at 07:45AM