Articles for Matt Brennan

How ‘The Traitors’ saved its season with a killer cliffhanger
1 week ago

How ‘The Traitors’ saved its season with a killer cliffhanger

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s 100% faithful — to the reality competition “The Traitors.” In this week’s newsletter, Screen Gab editor Matt Brennan shares his thoughts on the U.S. edition’s recently concluded third season, streaming recommendations for your weekend and more. Turn on Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times Rory Kinnear, from …

Netflix Season Series Pakistani Traitors Matt Brennan Screen Gab
Why Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ is a TV show worth obsessing over
2 weeks ago

Why Hulu’s ‘Paradise’ is a TV show worth obsessing over

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who loves a disaster movie. Turn on Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times Sterling K. Brown and Julianne Nicholson in “Paradise.” “Paradise” Though its most explicit point of reference is the 1988 action classic “Die Hard,” my latest TV obsession won me over with its allusions to two …

Love France Life Netflix Stone Paradise Lacey
‘Shrinking’s’ Luke Tennie on what healing looks like for Sean
2 months, 3 weeks ago

‘Shrinking’s’ Luke Tennie on what healing looks like for Sean

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who could use a little mental health break. — Robert Lloyd Guest spot A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching Luke Tennie in “Shrinking.” When your popular streaming series is concluding its second season just as your new film is …

Film Netflix Apple Sean 2023 Series Max
The 5 essential episodes of ‘My So-Called Life’
3 months ago

The 5 essential episodes of ‘My So-Called Life’

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who grew up with Angela Chase, Rickie Vasquez and Jordan Catalano. To mark the 30th anniversary of “My So-Called Life,” Winnie Holzman’s beloved coming-of-age drama starring Claire Danes, Wilson Cruz and Jared Leto, staff writer Meredith Blake uses this week’s Break Down to select the series’ most essential episodes — whether you’re …

Love Life Netflix Los Angeles Real Series Good
How ‘The Great British Baking Show’ returned to form
3 months, 1 week ago

How ‘The Great British Baking Show’ returned to form

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who enjoyed being back in the tent this season. After an up-and-down run the last several years, “The Great British Baking Show” turned in a vintage competition this time around, and Screen Gab editor Matt Brennan explains how the reality competition series got its groove back in this week’s Catch Up. — …

Love Netflix Competition Way Great Watch Taylor
What the success of ‘Agatha All Along’ means for the future of Marvel Television
4 months ago

What the success of ‘Agatha All Along’ means for the future of Marvel Television

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wouldn’t mind “Agatha All Along” becoming a spooky season tradition. As staff writer Tracy Brown and Screen Gab editor Matt Brennan discuss in this week’s Break Down, Marvel’s “WandaVision” spinoff perfectly set up a Season 2 — and points the way forward for the franchise’s struggling TV division. Break down Times …

Netflix Season Series Screen Mcu Agatha Outer Banks
‘You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train’ and more election day viewing ideas
4 months, 1 week ago

‘You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train’ and more election day viewing ideas

LA Times  

Howard Zinn arrested at a Vietnam War protest in the late 1960s, as seen in the film “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.” Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone looking for something to inspire them — or soothe them — as election day arrives. —Maira Garcia James Brolin, left, and Martin Sheen in “The West Wing.” …

World Election Netflix West Red Election Day Tim
What today’s ‘SNL’ could learn from the show’s very first episode
4 months, 3 weeks ago

What today’s ‘SNL’ could learn from the show’s very first episode

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wants to make “Saturday Night Live” weird again. — Robert Lloyd Guest spot A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching “Eatertainment” venue Casa Bonita, the setting and subject of the documentary “Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” Those of us from …

Love Film Think Series Max Night Episode
The best movie of the year is streaming this week
5 months, 3 weeks ago

The best movie of the year is streaming this week

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s been clamoring for another go at the Phil’s Tire Town draw. That’s because the tennis tournament and the film it forms the backdrop to, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video — bringing the best film of the year so far to an even wider audience, as Screen …

Film Series Max Hbo This Week Sheffield Pulp
The obsession with ‘Baby Reindeer’ isn’t about ‘nuance’
10 months ago

The obsession with ‘Baby Reindeer’ isn’t about ‘nuance’

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s been feeling “Baby Reindeer”-curious the last few weeks. How Bad Wolf is helping lead the charge: Executive producers Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner helm Bad Wolf, the production company working with Russell T Davies, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson on the newer, bigger “Doctor Who.” The best red carpet fashions from …

Netflix Baby Season Max Jessica Martha Donny
Why ‘Dune’ is the sci-fi epic to silence sci-fi skeptics
1 year ago

Why ‘Dune’ is the sci-fi epic to silence sci-fi skeptics

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who hasn’t already purchased a ticket for “Dune: Part Two.” As latecomer and Screen Gab editor Matt Brennan writes in this week’s edition, genre skeptics can be reassured that Denis Villeneuve’s sweeping adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel has plenty to offer them — and the first part is streaming if you’re …

Murder Mystery Netflix Other Details Series Max Hbo
Increasing costs. Advancing tech. Why Sundance CEO says film festivals need to evolve
1 year, 1 month ago

Increasing costs. Advancing tech. Why Sundance CEO says film festivals need to evolve

LA Times  

Welcome to a special Sundance Daily edition of the Wide Shot, a newsletter about the business of entertainment. “That’s that sense of like, ‘Here’s the place that maybe I can be heard that maybe other festivals don’t provide a platform.’ And I think that is so Sundance.” On the eve of the festival’s landmark 40th edition, Vicente spoke to me …

Festival Film World Films Hollywood Sundance Matt Brennan
The stakes on HBO’s ‘The Gilded Age’ couldn’t be lower. What a relief
1 year, 4 months ago

The stakes on HBO’s ‘The Gilded Age’ couldn’t be lower. What a relief

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s in the mood to escape into something silly this weekend. Turn on Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times Christine Baranski in “The Gilded Age.” “The Gilded Age” An American “Downton Abbey” knock-off with none of the original’s emotional resonance or sustained interest in the working classes, “The …

Black Netflix Age Writers Caribbean Cake Season
Why ‘Jury Duty’ deserves all that Emmy love
1 year, 8 months ago

Why ‘Jury Duty’ deserves all that Emmy love

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who was as surprised by “Jury Duty’s” Emmy nominations as its star. 90, we respond to any raised eyebrows over the Amazon Freevee mockumentary’s unexpected comedy series nomination, which took nominated star James Marsden from “wanting to throw up to pure elation” on Wednesday. High-profile exits spark fears that Hollywood diversity pledges …

Love Comedy World Black Work Clark Run
With ‘Queen Charlotte,’ Netflix delivers on its promise of vintage Shonda Rhimes
1 year, 9 months ago

With ‘Queen Charlotte,’ Netflix delivers on its promise of vintage Shonda Rhimes

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who misses Meredith Grey and McDreamy. —Ed Stockly Catch up Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s talking about India Amarteifio in “Queen Charlotte.” With “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” Netflix at long last delivers on the promise of its 2017 pact with the mega producer behind …

Love Drama English Prime Netflix Queen Project
You might not like ‘Fleishman’ at first. Here’s why it’s worth another shot
2 years, 2 months ago

You might not like ‘Fleishman’ at first. Here’s why it’s worth another shot

LA Times  

Meara Mahoney Gross, from left, Jesse Eisenberg and Maxim Swinton in “Fleishman Is in Trouble.” Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who’s rolled their eyes at a TV show — only to find themselves still thinking about it weeks, or months, later. Golden Globes bounce back as Hollywood stars give embattled awards a ‘second chance’: “The Fabelmans” and …

Family Netflix Latin America Hollywood Nfl Series Jan
Everything you need to know about ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon’
55 years, 2 months ago

Everything you need to know about ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel ‘House of the Dragon’

LA Times  

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who knows when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. If you’re already missing your summer break as much as I am, immerse yourself in “Hotel Portofino”, a series filmed like a tourism Catch up Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone’s talking …

Game Netflix House Season Know Series Hbo
8 new TV shows to watch during Pride Month, according to our experts
2 years, 9 months ago

8 new TV shows to watch during Pride Month, according to our experts

LA Times  

Guides to Pride can be a complicated endeavor these days, as the annual celebration of LGBTQ+ identity now regularly involves the very forces — corporations, cops — it once stood against. —Tracy Brown ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’ Barney, from left, Courtney, Pugsley and Norma in “Dead End: Paranormal Park.” Netflix | 2022 | TV Series | Premieres June 16 Fans …

Pride Month Netflix Series Juliette Lgbtq Trans Queer
'Winning Time' HBO: How NBA got from Showtime Lakers to 2022
2 years, 10 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: How NBA got from Showtime Lakers to 2022

LA Times  

All good things must come to an end. Maddox: So, “The Last Dance” was about the last season that Michael Jordan played with the Chicago Bulls — and this cast of characters which was pretty entertaining, between Dennis Rodman and my favorite player of all time, Scottie Pippen — that team fighting to stay together and win one last championship …

Olympics Basketball Magic Winning Right Los Angeles Nfl
'Winning Time' HBO: True story of Magic Johnson HIV diagnosis
2 years, 10 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: True story of Magic Johnson HIV diagnosis

LA Times  

At a time when HIV was still seen as a death sentence, Magic Johnson shocked the world by announcing he was infected. In Episode 9 of “Binge Sesh,” hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox explore the defining moment that opens HBO’s “Winning Time”: Magic Johnson’s 1991 diagnosis with HIV. Brennan: We can’t ignore the fact that by coming out as …

Death Sexual Health States Magic Right New York Diagnosis
'Winning Time' HBO: Spencer Haywood, NBA drug war explained
2 years, 10 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: Spencer Haywood, NBA drug war explained

LA Times  

What does it mean to say the NBA had a drug problem in the 1970s and 1980s? Zooming in on the depiction of Spencer Haywood in HBO’s “Winning Time” and zooming out to the U.S. government’s war on drugs, we deconstruct the rhetoric — from politicians, the press, even players — that shaped perceptions of the NBA and explain how …

War Drugs Black Basketball Bias Drug Abuse Winning
'Winning Time' HBO: Magic Johnson, Nike and Phil Knight explained
2 years, 10 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: Magic Johnson, Nike and Phil Knight explained

LA Times  

Sure, the best professional athletes pull in salaries to match. In Episode 7 of “Binge Sesh,” hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox draw inspiration from Nike cofounder Phil Knight’s pursuit of Magic Johnson in “Winning Time.” With help from the HBO series executive producer Rodney Barnes and industry insiders, we explore the origin, development and explosion of athlete endorsement deals, …

Social Media Athletes Magic Nike Brand Winning Johnson
'Winning Time' HBO: True tale of Lakers' Great Western Forum
2 years, 11 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: True tale of Lakers' Great Western Forum

LA Times  

The beating heart of Showtime-era Los Angeles was the “Fabulous Forum.” In Episode 6 of “Binge Sesh,” hosts Matt Brennan and Kareem Maddox dive into the history of the Lakers’ longtime home. :: Brennan: Welcome to “Binge Sesh.” This season, we’re diving into the stories behind HBO’s “Winning Time,” the saga of the Showtime-era L.A. Lakers. :: Brennan: Welcome back …

Winning Angeles Los Angeles Great Forum Kind Think
'Winning Time' HBO: The real story of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2 years, 11 months ago

'Winning Time' HBO: The real story of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

LA Times  

There may be no figure in Lakers history more misunderstood than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Brennan: It’s interesting because the conversations that we’ve had with people that we’ve interviewed for the podcast have tended to focus on the outside perception of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and I think maybe what we’re trying to add in this episode is a little bit more of, like, …

Magic Winning Bond Right Los Angeles Milwaukee Real