New Releases for the week of January 1-7
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
On his very first day at his new school, artsy middle schooler Rafe Katchadonan (Gluck) has a run-in with Principal Dwight (Daly) in front of the entire school during a boring assembly. Dwight, who runs the school with an iron fist and a big book of arbitrary rules, destroys Rafe's beloved sketchbook, prompting the student to start plotting his vengeance. Now determined to break as many of the school's rules as he can, Rafe begins pulling off a series of elaborate pranks. For Principal Dwight, though, the pranks are just a sideshow: He's obsessed with raising the school's ranking, and high marks in upcoming standardized testing could achieve that for him. He'll resort to any means necessary to secure the No. 1 spot for his school and a hefty pay raise for himself and his assistant principal (Retta).
Director: Steve Carr. Stars: Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham, Andrew Daly, Retta, Alexa Nisenson, Thomas Barbusca. 2016. 92 min. Comedy.
Denial
Holocaust Studies professor Deborah Lipstadt (Weisz) becomes the target of a libel lawsuit by Holocaust denier David Irving (Spall) after she writes about him in one of her books. She assembles an expert legal team, led by solicitor Anthony Julius (Scott) and barrister Richard Rampton (Wilkinson), to fight the charge, but to do so, they need to prove that Irving was willfully being deceitful in his claims that the Holocaust didn't happen. Once the trial finally gets underway, though, the defense team is alarmed when Irving uses it as a publicity stunt for himself.
Director: Mick Jackson. Stars: Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall, Andrew Scott, Jack Lowden. 2016. 109 min. Biography.
Blair Witch
Two decades after his sister disappeared while making a film about the legendary Blair Witch, James Donahue (McCune) spots her in a video and concludes that she must still be alive. Along with his friends and some helpful locals, James heads into the woods to search for his missing sister, while his friend, Lisa (Hernandez), films them in the hopes of making a documentary.
Director: Adam Wingard. Stars: James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez, Corbin Reid, Brandon Scott, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry. 2016. 89 min. Horror.
Late Laughs for the week of January 1 - 7, 2016
The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon
I read that Donald Trump is now planning a "Victory Tour," where he'll visit all the places that helped him get elected. So I guess that means Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida ... and Russia.
A new poll found that Donald Trump's favorability rating is up eight points since being elected. Then Hillary said: "Yeah, I wouldn't trust the polls THAT much."
Battle of the titans: Ramsay and Tosi get set to throw down
Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi as seen in "MasterChef Celebrity Showdown"
Ah, it's 2017 at last! Starting out a new year feels as I imagine a painter feels when looking at a new canvas: a pristine, blank slate, full of potential and hope, ready to become something beautiful with just a bit of elbow grease.
New 'Hollow': Fox shakes things up for season 4 of 'Sleepy Hollow'
Janina Gavankar joins the cast of "Sleepy Hollow"
New 'Hollow': "Sleepy Hollow" is leaving town, and not everyone is coming along. Fox's supernatural drama kicks off its fourth season Friday, Jan. 6, with a new setting, a host of new characters and a bunch of spooky new storylines.
To Tell the Truth, on ABC
Anthony Anderson hosts as celebrity panelists try to determine which contestant is the real deal in this season premiere. In this reboot of the classic game show, Anderson's mother, Doris, serves as the official scorekeeper and asks her own questions.
Pitbull's New Year's Revolution, on Fox
Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg join forces to celebrate the New Year in Miami as they co-host this New Year's special. The city’s skyline and waterfront views serve as the backdrop for the party, which features performances by this year’s biggest names in music.
Gold Rush, on Discovery
Cameras follow modern-day gold miners as they face the challenges of searching for treasure in some of the world’s roughest terrain. This season, Todd Hoffman takes a big risk when he moves his operation to Oregon, while Parker Schnabel makes his biggest investment yet.
Q: In the recent "NCIS: Los Angeles" episode where Callen interrogates his dad, who played the woman in the hospital?
I appreciate how you phrased that, because giving away much about the identity of "the woman in the hospital" would spoil much of the plot of the episode (and potentially the whole season, since she seems plugged into Callen's past). However, I can talk about the identity of the person playing her: That's former supermodel Joan Severance.
The Good Place, on NBC
Recently deceased, Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) is determined to prove that she deserves to stay where she is so she doesn’t have to go to The Bad Place. Ted Danson stars as Michael, the wise architect of The Good Place, who now realizes there's been a mistake.
