When is a kiss not just a kiss? Season 2 of Netflixβs βArcaneβ delivers a long-awaited payoff between two characters with such a deep emotional bond it inspired a βBenniferβ-style portmanteau: CaitVi. Co-executive producer Amanda Overton, who wrote the saga-defining scene, explains that Vi (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) has βlost everyone she loved,β and itβs…
When casting began in 2020 for the award-winning HBO Max series βHacks,β its three creators β Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky β saw hundreds of actors for the role of Ava Daniels, a 20-something comedy writer who teams up with a Vegas comedian, Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), whose act has grown as…
The Southern California Independent Bookstore Bestsellers list for Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, including hardcover and paperback fiction and nonfiction.
Emmy voters have loved Uzo Aduba, who brings a special immediacy to comedic and dramatic roles alike, since her breakthrough on Netflixβs βOrange Is the New Blackβ in 2013. This year, sheβs vying for lead actress in a comedy for her performance as an eccentric gumshoe on the Netflix whodunit βThe Residence.β 32 The age…
βButterflyβ is actor and producer Daniel Dae Kimβs love letter to Korea and America. Launching Wednesday, Prime Videoβs South Korea-set spy thriller follows David Jung (Kim), a former U.S. intelligence operative who comes out of hiding to reunite with his daughter Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), a deadly agent who grew up believing he was dead. βItβs…
This is Sudan Archivesβ allow-me-to-reintroduce myself era, a reappraisal after drastic personal overhaul, one that refuses to exploit upheaval for material. Sudan, whose birth name is Brittney Denise Parks, is one of the rare souls who remains real in the spotlight and behind the curtain, disarmingly authentic. Her resultant style, of both dress and music,…
Itβs a good thing that βAdolescenceβ and βThe Studioβ arenβt competing head to head for boldly filming every episode as one continuous shot: Itβd be like comparing apples to oranges. The Netflix limited series and Apple TV+ half-hour series are both favored to win Creative Arts Emmys for cinematography. But while Apple TV+βs Hollywood satire…
p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> An inside look at the Maginot spacecraft in FXβs βAlien: Earth.β (Patrick Brown / FX) For those wondering if theyβll recognize this βPeter Panβ-influenced bit of the βAlienβ universe, well, one of the first choices Hawley had to make was environmental. βAre we doing retro-futurism? Are we doing the the cathode ray tube…
As rock-band relaunches go, Good Charlotteβs was conspicuously ritzy. In April 2023, the pop-punk group known for snotty if smiley Y2K-era hits like βThe Anthemβ and βLifestyles of the Rich and Famousβ β βIβd like to see them spend a week / Livinβ life out on the street,β goes a lyric in the latter β…
Step aside, tortured poets. Itβs a showgirl era now. On Tuesday morning, Taylor Swift announced her new LP, βThe Life of a Showgirl,β and hereβs everything β a meager bounty, for now β that we know about it. When did she announce it? Word arrived after a countdown clock to 12:12 a.m. β an apropos…