Culture Clips: Tis the Season … for Awards
Forget the snowball fights so picturesquely common this time of year. In 2019—at least at Netflix’s movie headquarters—they’ll be pelting each other with Golden Globes. OK, so perhaps we’re being a bit premature. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association hasn’t handed out any actual statuettes just yet, just the nominations. But one thing’s for sure: The […]
Frozen II Ices Another Win
Sometimes we don’t want something new. Sometimes, during Christmas, kids open their presents, take a quick glance at their shiny new toys and pick up a doll that was made sometime during the Nixon administration. This weekend’s box office was a little like that. Frozen II once again escaped a tangled field and became this […]
All I Want For Christmas is … a New VeggieTales Episode?
My family’s first encounter with the VeggieTales franchise came waaaaay back in 1996, when my kids were young, Phil Vischer’s veggies were still garden fresh and the technology that brought them to life was still in its infancy, too. “The Toy That Saved Christmas” was the very first episode we ever watched, and it was […]
Frozen II Proves It’s No Turkey
Frozen II entered its second week as, technically, a leftover. But as any Thanksgiving-loving American knows, sometimes leftovers are the best. So no one was particularly surprised when Disney’s Anna and Elsa once again snagged the biggest piece of pie. Frozen II iced its second win by gobbling up another $85.3 million (according to early […]
Culture Clips: All I Want for Christmas is Three World Records
We haven’t even cooked the Thanksgiving turkey yet, but no matter: Lots of people have moved on to Christmas. Trees are up, tiny lights are twinkling and Santa Claus is already shilling stuff on television. Who is Plugged In to squelch all this Christmas spirit? So let’s kick this edition of Culture Clips off with […]
Frozen II Chills at No. 1
Joker aside, the box office has suffered through a bit of a cold spell since, oh, The Lion King was roaring. Sequels underperformed. Durable franchises showed their age. Last weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, was one of the weakest of the year. And in a year of weak weekends, that’s saying something. With that […]
Culture Clips: Alone … With Our Screens
Plugged In reviewed a strange little video game last week called Death Stranding. Our own Bob Hoose calls it part shooter, part adventure game, part building game and all weird. While dark and bloody, the game has also earned the most nominations this year from the Game Awards (an awards “show” that was watched by […]
Ford v Ferrari Takes Checkered Flag
Sure, the showdown between Ford and Ferrari was a big deal back in the day. But when it comes to this weekend’s box-office tourney, it was all about the showdown between two anticipated newcomers: Ford v Ferrari v Charlie’s Angels. And folks, turns out it was no contest. The historical drama Ford v Ferrari lapped […]
‘Fred Had a Lot of Heroes.’ A Conversation with Joanne Rogers, Mister Rogers’ Wife
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a film about legendary children’s television host Fred Rogers, comes to theaters next week. We’ll publish our full review next Thursday, of course, but for starters it’s not a biopic: We don’t see Rogers (who died in 2003) grow up or his formative years in television. For that, you […]
Culture Clips: Disney+ Storms Into 10 Million Homes … but Not Without Problems
Remember that big ol’ Imperial Cruiser that fills the screen at the beginning of the original Star Wars movie? Yeah, that’s a little like what the coming of Disney+ felt like yesterday. More than 10 million people have already subscribed to Disney’s new streaming service in its first 24 hours—a pretty good start, considering analysts […]