All hands on deck: 'The Last Ship' steams through its second season
Eric Dane stars in “The Last Ship”
About this time last year, I wondered if it was possible to survive a devastating pandemic that decimates the world's population if you were isolated from it. Today, we have our answer: definitely! But not without some major fallout. "The Last Ship" battens down the hatches and charges full steam ahead when a new episode airs Sunday, Aug. 9, on TNT.
Home Free, on Fox
Facing another daunting renovation, the participants strive to impress Mike Holmes and his team of experts with their skills and attention to detail. Each week, the couples with the best work move forward, but the others face elimination.
Q: When is the new season opener of "Gotham" going to start? Also, when do we get to see new episodes of "Empire"?
The answer is the same for both shows, and it's a good news/bad news situation for impatient fans.
The two Fox dramas, both going into their second seasons, won't return until the fall. That may feel like a long way away, but both (technically) premiere earlier than they did in their first seasons.
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, on Fox
Contestants find out if older really is wiser as they answer questions from a fifth grade curriculum in this new episode. A lawyer and a Green Beret are among this season’s contestants, with comedian Jeff Foxworthy as host.
Q: In January, I read that Emma Watson was to star in Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" film, and production was to begin at some point this year. Is there any update on the progress of the film? A release date?
There's been quite a bit of progress on this movie since you first heard about it, including the announcement of a release date: March 17, 2017.
Considering the fact that filming began back in May, that seems like a long way away, but it's clear that Disney is sparing no expense to get this right.
You can see it in the incredibly high-profile cast. Joining Watson, who will play Beauty, are such notables as Emma Thompson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans and Kevin Kline.
A lasting legacy: Jon Stewart says goodbye to 'The Daily Show'
Jon Stewart hosts “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
Toe Tag Parole: To Live and Die on Yard A, on HBO
Award-winning filmmakers Susan and Alan Raymond take a look at an experimental prison yard in California where those sentenced to life without parole bide their time. There, the inmates seek self-improvement and spiritual growth through education, art and religion.
Imitation game: Art imitates life in NBC's 'Mr. Robinson'
Craig Robinson stars in “Mr. Robinson”
Imitation game: It was the Irish poet and author Oscar Wilde who famously opined that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." But in today's Hollywood scene, the opposite is sometimes true.
Hot in the kitchen: Valerie Bertinelli makes the jump to Food Network
Valerie Bertinelli hosts “Valerie's Home Cooking”
New Releases for the week of August 2 - 8
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Tris Prior (Woodley) is on the run in this sequel to 2014's science fiction hit "Divergent." In this film about a civil war among the various factions controlling a futuristic Chicago, Tris and her friend Four (James) go into hiding as the Erudite forces who betrayed the long-standing social order try to hunt them down. As the Erudite's noose grows tighter, Tris and Four head for Factionless territory, a place where none of the powerful factions hold sway in the dystopian city. The pair find friends among the Factionless, but with more allies needed if they're to succeed in taking on the rebellious Erudite, they travel to the city district controlled by the Candor faction. Still haunted by the death of her family, Tris must discover what it was her parents died protecting if she's to have any hope of surviving -- and of, ultimately, changing the fate of her entire world.
Director: Robert Schwentke. Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Mekhi Phifer. 2015. 119 min. Sci-Fi.
Child 44
It is 1953, and Stalin's grip on the Soviet Union is supreme. The myth of a Communist "paradise" is the official doctrine, and any dissent from that official line will not be tolerated. When Leo (Hardy), a secret police officer, starts to raise questions about a number of murdered young boys, he and his wife (Rapace) are exiled to a remote provincial town. There, Leo manages to convince his new boss (Oldman) that the system might not be perfect and that a serial killer is on the loose. Together, they secretly launch an investigation into the mysterious murders and wind up uncovering a massive coverup that puts everything they hold dear at risk.
Director: Daniel Espinosa. Stars: Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, Vincent Cassel. 2015. 137 min. Thriller.
Madame Bovary
Based on the classic novel by Gustave Flaubert, follow along as a young farmer's daughter named Emma (Wasikowska) looks for fulfillment when she marries a small-town doctor, Charles Bovary (Lloyd-Hughes). The beautiful Emma yearns for romance, quickly finding her new provincial life very tiresome, and engages in adulterous love affairs, all in the hopes of chasing a happiness she has yet to find.
Director: Sophie Barthes. Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Paul Giamatti, Rhys Ifans, Ezra Miller, Laura Carmichael. 2014. 118 min. Drama.