Late Laughs for the week of October 18 - 24, 2020
The Late Late Show with James Corden
NASA has published a plan to put the first-ever woman on the moon by the year 2024. Basically, it will soon be easier for women to go to the moon than have a say over their own bodies.
You can tell it's fall here in Los Angeles. All the smoke from the wildfires is really starting to smell like pumpkin spice.
New Releases for the week of October 18 - 24
The Owners
Nathan (Kenny), Terry (Ellis) and Gaz (Curran) are a gang of violent, hardened thieves who believe they have found their next victims in the simple-looking Dr. Huggins (McCoy) and his mentally ill wife, Ellen (Tushingham). Other than the unexpected addition of Nathan's girlfriend, Mary (Williams), to the night, their plan to break in seems simple enough. However, the Higgins' unexpected return wrecks the job entirely. But this is not where the night is bound to end. From traps hidden in the mansion's crevices to Ellen's psychotic hallucinations and violent behaviors, the four intruders might not be leaving this encounter with their lives or their sanity intact.
Director: Julius Berg. Stars: Maisie Williams, Rita Tushingham, Sylvester McCoy, Jake Curran, Ian Kenny, Andrew Ellis, Stacha Hicks. 2020. 92 mins. Thriller.
The Secrets We Keep
Maja (Rapace) builds a new life in America with her husband, Lewis (Messina), after escaping the horrors inflicted on her people, the Romani, during World War II. One day, she spots a man she believes to be one of the soldiers (Kinnaman) who violently assaulted her during the Nazi raids. Before she knows it, she has knocked him unconscious, kidnapped him and tied him up in her basement. With mostly her horrific memories to lean on, she must convince Lewis and herself of whether this man's identity is what she believes it to be and whether he truly deserves the brutality she intends to inflict on him if she's right.
Director: Yuval Adler. Stars: Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Chris Messina, Amy Seimetz, Jackson Dean Vincent, Miluette Nalin, Jeff Pope. 2020. 97 mins. Drama.
Cut Throat City
Blink (Moore) is a New Orleans native who deals drugs to make ends meet for himself, his girlfriend, Demyra (Graham), and their son. Their financial situation worsens to an unimaginable extent when hurricane Katrina hits, obliterating their already poverty-stricken neighborhood. Desperate for a way out, Blink and his friends Andre (Whitaker), Miracle (Shipp Jr.) and Junior (Johnson) take matters into their own hands, teaming up for a heist in the city. As plans go awry and people become aware of their actions, the entire city, from corrupt councilor Symms (Hawke) to the noble detective Valencia (González), bears witness to a crime that exposes and challenges the cruel inequalities of a broken city.
Director: RZA. Stars: Shameik Moore, Kat Graham, Keean Johnson, Demetrius Shipp Jr., Denzel Whitaker, Wesley Snipes, Ethan Hawke, Eiza González. 2020. 123 mins. Action.
Stars out: Liv Tyler leaves '9-1-1: Lone Star'
Liv Tyler as seen in "9-1-1: Lone Star"
Stars out: Following the pandemic shutdown, some TV series have resumed production under strict new health and safety guidelines, including frequent testing and the creation of zones to facilitate physical distancing.
Jojo Rabbit, on HBO
When Nazi-indoctrinated Johannes Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) learns his own mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl in their home, he is forced to rethink what he has been taught to believe in this film from director Taika Waititi.
Q: I just read that Cary Grant's real name was Archibald Leach, and it's striking a chord: Wasn't there a movie character with that name?
It was like a little wink to film nerds that also fit in with the film's other false-identity-related hijinks. When John Cleese wrote and produced "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988), giving himself the chance to be a romantic lead for the first time in his career, he opted to give himself a suitable romantic-lead name.
And, so, he named his character, a meek lawyer who boldly embraces life after being seduced by a beautiful con artist, Archie Leach.
Shark Tank, on ABC
Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Daymond John and Kevin O'Leary return in this Season 12 premiere. The Sharks practice physical distancing while hopeful entrepreneurs share stories that are more inspiring than ever given these trying times.
Evil Dead, on AMC
In this reboot of Sam Raimi's 1981 film, "The Evil Dead," a group of friends stay in a remote cabin whose horrific history comes alive when one of them reads aloud from the Naturom Demonto, or, the Book of the Dead. Jane Levy and Shiloh Fernandez star.
Not to be silenced: NBC brings back 'The Voice'
Carson Daly hosts "The Voice"
Season 19 of "The Voice" is finally set to air Monday, Oct. 19, on NBC. The show was originally meant to begin in the spring but was pushed back, like many others, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Fans have been unsure for months if the show would even return and, if so, how.
Q: I'm trying to remember the name of a reality series where a salon professional would "rescue" and renovate hair salons. Any ideas?
You're looking for "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," later "Tabatha Takes Over" after a format change that expanded its scope beyond salons.
The switch was the sort of move Tabatha Coffey often encouraged her clients to make — a bold attempt to revitalize a flagging business model — but it didn't work in this case.
S.W.A.T., on CBS
Hondo (Shemar Moore) and the team find themselves entangled in a decades-old case involving a political extremist group and a member of the Witness Protection Program when they are called in to help recover an abducted teen in this rebroadcast.
