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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Tim Riley
Investigation Discovery, known in shorthand as ID TV, is the leading crime and justice network on television, which delivers the definitive nonfiction programming. Just ask Detective Joe Kenda (ID TV fans know who he is).
The new series “Death by Fame” touches on the starry-eyed hopefuls whose fairytale dreams devolve into horrific nightmares.
The six-part series goes behind the scenes to uncover the sinister side of fame and reveal the true stories behind the murder of promising stars.
In the first episode “Celebrity Sexpert” ID TV recounts the heartbreaking death of Drew Carey’s ex-fiancee and renowned Hollywood family and sex therapist, Dr. Amie Harwick, who was found murdered the day after Valentine’s Day.
Police are left to investigate who might be capable of such a deadly act. According to news reports, another ex-boyfriend has been ordered to stand trial for murder of Harwick, allegedly throwing her from the third-floor balcony of her West Hollywood residence.
Additional episodes explore the coldblooded murder of “The Voice” sensation and rising star, Christina Grimmie, whose YouTube channel attracted a stalker with sinister motives, and the story of Macedonian model Adea Shabani who arrives in Los Angeles with dreams and then goes missing.
Figuring into an episode of “Death by Fame” he may not want, actor Lloyd Avery II has overnight success after starring in “Boyz N The Hood” and then goes on the run in a bizarre portrayal of life imitating art.
ID TV bares all with “The Playboy Murders,” revealing tragedies that span decades of the once-iconic brand. A dark side lurks behind the adult men’s magazine that faded away from its print version to apparently being available only online.
This new anthology series recounts murders and mysteries that intersect with the world of Playboy. The six-part series is hosted and executive produced by former Playboy Bunny Holly Madison.
In the premiere episode “Bunny Meets Bachelor,” a tabloid media frenzy occurs after a Playboy party hostess and model is found dead and dismembered in a dumpster.
The mutilated body of 28-year-old Jasmine Fiore was found stuffed in a suitcase, and her fingers and teeth were missing in an attempt to hide her identity. Serial numbers on her breast implants confirmed her identity.
At the time of her murder, Jasmine and her husband Ryan Jenkins, a VH1 reality contestant, were living apart, and he took off for the Canadian border since he was the prime suspect.
Additional stories include Stacy Arthur, the middle-American mom who spent hours on Playboy’s premium 1-900 number, attracting one fan’s fatal obsession who stalked and murdered her husband in a parking lot.
Not every episode centers on a woman being a victim of a horrible crime. Former Playboy bunny Carole Gold was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of her husband Charles, a gunslinging Wild West show performer.
The cotton-tailed bunny hired a hit man to eliminate her spouse, with the motive being to collect on a life insurance policy. Not every murder is motivated by jealousy, rage or obsession in “The Playboy Murders.”
CRIME DRAMA SERIES ON PBS MASTERPIECE PRIME VIDEO
PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel continues the legacy of Masterpiece for exceptional British drama by expanding to include award-winning TV series and movies from around the world.
Streaming during the month of February will be three seasons of “The Tunnel,” based on the original Swedish series “The Bridge.” The series centers on the investigations and relationships between two detectives.
British detective Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) and French detective Elise Wassermann (Clemence Poesy) are forced to work together when crimes involving both countries are committed.
Season One follows Karl and Elise as they investigate a dismembered body on the border of both countries in the Channel Tunnel. The second season has them reunited to probe a case where a French couple have been abducted from the Eurotunnel.
The third season is set in a mid-Brexit Europe where the English and French teams come together once more in the emotionally charged finale when a stolen fishing boat is found adrift and on fire in the English Channel.
Started as what the New York Times called a “chic TV boutique with a foreign accent,” Masterpiece’s “Walter Presents” showcases award-winning foreign language drama as a service named after its curator, Walter Iuzzolino, a passionate drama fan.
“Walter Presents: Acquitted” achieved the biggest launch ever in Norway when it premiered in 2015. The series follows Aksel Borgen (Nicolai Cleve Broch), a successful businessman who is asked back to his hometown in rural Norway.
Borgen has spent the last 20 years in Asia, and now he’s returned to save the town’s main company from bankruptcy. However, Borgen, who left after being acquitted of the murder of his high school girlfriend, is haunted by his past.
The three seasons of the crime drama “The Tunnel” include 24 episodes in English and French. “Walter Presents: Acquitted” is a 10-episode series in Norwegian with English subtitles.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Lake County Unitarian Church
Morgan Freeman travels the world to study the cycles of war and peace.
From the ritualized combat of the sacred Tinku festival in Bolivia to Rwanda's post-genocide reconciliation program, this episode deals with humanity's enormous capacity for violence and the endless pursuit of harmony. Conflict can drive innovation, but is war necessary?
The documentary will be shown free of charge at the Lake County Unitarian Church, 3810 Main St., in Kelseyville, and will be followed by a moderated discussion.
All are welcome to attend.
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- Written by: Tim Riley
‘80 FOR BRADY’ RATED PG-13
Just in time for the festivities surrounding the final playoff game of the National Football League’s season, “80 for Brady” takes us back to the run-up to Super Bowl LI in 2017 when New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would guide his team through a thrilling game.
This film, in which Brady appears as himself and also serves as producer, is the story of four mostly octogenarian Massachusetts women who gather to watch the Patriots with their fervor fueled by a love for a quarterback in the hunt for a fifth ring at the time.
“80 for Brady” is, in fact, inspired loosely by the true story of best friends living life to the fullest when they take a wild trip to Houston to see their hero, all the while wearing homemade jerseys sporting the film’s title.
The all-star cast includes Lily Tomlin’s Lou, a cancer survivor who for reasons that are understood from a flashback to chemotherapy treatments early in the century is a catalyst for the ladies love of Tom Brady.
Even though her cancer has been in remission, Lou is dodging calls from her oncologist about test results because she figures a trip to Texas could be her swan song now that the Patriots’ victory in the AFC championship game has them headed to the Super Bowl.
While Lou instigates the life-changing excursion, Jane Fonda’s Trish is the group’s most outgoing and outrageous member, who once had local fame as a model for an ad campaign and is now a novelist specializing in erotic football-themed fan fiction.
Falling in love too easily over and over is as problematic as her flirtatious behavior. Fitting for the Super Bowl is the release of her latest book titled “Between a Gronk and a Hard Place,” referring to Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski.
The liveliest and best dancer of the quartet, Rita Moreno’s Maura, while still grieving over the loss of her husband, has moved into assisted living where her neighbor Mickey (Glynn Thurman) is drawn to her fiery passion for life.
The responsible member of the group is Sally Field’s Betty, a retired mathematics professor needing a little escape from her needy husband (Bob Balaban) who often needs a reminder to put on his pants. Is there a chance that Betty might cut loose a bit on this trip?
Hijinks come into play even before the ladies can make it to the Boston airport. First, they have to stage a jailbreak at the retirement facility to free Maura from the rules laid down by the despotic manager (Jimmy O. Yang).
Once in Houston, the fan festival NFL Experience beckons, and Betty taking up the challenge of a hot wings contest hosted by Guy Fieri portraying himself proves that being hungry will overcome extra spicy hot sauce.
With Trish being the glamorous one with a suitcase full of wigs, it’s no surprise that she’s soon caught up in a flirty hookup with smitten, fictional Super Bowl champion Dan O’Halloran (Harry Hamlin).
At a party on the night before the big game, more mischief ensues when some of them consume drug-laced edible gummies. Having a fondness for gambling, Maura ends up in a poker game where in her hallucinatory state every player looks like Guy Fieri.
Game day holds a few surprises, with Billy Porter being impressed with the women’s determination to become his backup dancers and Ron Funches comically taking his security guard role too seriously when confronting them.
What is the audience for “80 for Brady,” a female-centric story of obsession with a truly gifted football player? For a guy, it may work as a date night movie because at least there is some gridiron action to revive memories of an exciting game.
For fans of a storied franchise that once called Oakland home, the controversial “Tuck Rule Game” that resulted in the Patriots defeating the Raiders in the AFC championship game still lingers as a really bad memory.
The Silver and Black fandom would find a celebration of Brady an even more bitter pill to swallow knowing that the outcome of that contentious playoff game was the fact that Brady went on to win his first Super Bowl by prevailing over the St. Louis Rams.
One has to wonder how the film will play for audiences in Boston and Atlanta when actual footage from the game reveals incredible plays that upend what looked like an inevitable rout. The fan base sure to lament the outcome may not want to relive the experience.
A fair assessment of “80 for Brady” is that the leading ladies are not only effortlessly talented, but believable as lifelong friends bonding over their love of a team and hero worship of its star player.
Moreover, these senior citizen thespians look to be having an authentically good time throughout their adventure with an enthusiasm so infectious that, at least, it should rub off on the audience.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
UPPER LAKE, Calif. — The annual winter concert series at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake continues on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 3 p.m. in Riffe’s Meeting House next to the hotel.
The program features the veteran Bay Area jazz and blues pianist and educator Macy Blackman and two members of his band, the “Mighty Fines,” Nancy Wright on sax and vocals and Bing Nathan on bass.
“Hearing Macy Blackman at the piano is like stepping into an uptown New Orleans club circa 1955” says Tallman and Blue Wing owner Bernie Butcher. “He’s a great entertainer with a wonderful trio including our personal favorite Nancy Wright on sax.”
A renowned musicologist, Macy has been into New Orleans-influenced jazz music since before graduating from NYU with a music degree in 1970.
He moved to San Francisco in 2000 to teach courses at UC Berkeley. These popular classes explored major American musical styles of the 20th century — rhythm and blues, swing and classic jazz.
He soon drifted back to his roots in New Orleans R&B and formed The Mighty Fines in 2003. That band has recorded four CDs including the most recent titled Shoorah Shoorah — The Songs of Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint.
Sax mistress Nancy Wright needs no introduction to Lake County music fans as she’s performed here at the Blue Wing Blues Festival, the Soper-Reese Theatre and a variety of other venues.
She has recorded and performed in the U.S. and abroad with artists including John Lee Hooker, B. B. King, Elvin Bishop, Joe Louis Walker, and Commander Cody and she now has her own “Rhythm and Roots” Band.
Tickets at $30 + tax are available by online at www.eventbrite.com or calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0. Coffee and cookies are served to guests.
The 3 p.m. start offers opportunities for either a late lunch or early supper at the Blue Wing Restaurant next door.