Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward Are ‘The Last Movie Stars,’ ‘Old Man’ Season finale, Jan. 6 Hearings, New Horror Stories, ‘Showtrial’
The lives and careers of long-married movie stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are the focus of an enthralling six-part HBO Max docuseries from Ethan Hawke. FX’s spy thriller The Old Man reaches its tense season finale. Most major broadcast and news networks will carry coverage of the House Select Committee’s hearings on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack in prime time. Ghoulish terror awaits in a new season of the American Horror Stories anthology. A British legal drama, Showtrial, makes its case on AMC+ and Sundance Now.
The Last Movie Stars
Series Premiere
“They had love, they had family, they were ethical citizens,” gushes director Ethan Hawke about his iconic subjects, Oscar-winning movie stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, who made 16 films together during their 50-year marriage and partnership. In an immersive and exhaustive six-part documentary portrait, Hawke assembles famous friends to read excerpts from interviews for a never-published memoir, resulting in an oral history of this legendary couple. The Last Movie Stars doubles as a fascinating dissertation on acting and the actor’s life. George Clooney reads Newman’s words, Laura Linney reads Woodward’s. If you love movies, you’ll love The Last Movie Stars. (Read the full review.)
The Old Man
Season Finale
The chase is on in the gripping finale of the acclaimed spy thriller, already renewed for a second season. But this time, former spy colleagues-turned-adversaries Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harold Harper (John Lithgow) are forced to work together again, to search for their mutual daughter figure, the missing Angela/Emily (Alia Shawkat). As we’ve become accustomed to in this series, which slipped further into the John le Carré zone of moral ambiguity by the week, the sins and conflicts of the past inform the tension in the present. As Chase warns, “Sometimes there are things that you don’t get to know before the curtain comes down.” Thankfully, the final curtain is still a long way off.
January 6 Hearings
For the second time, the House Select Committee’s public hearings on the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack will dominate prime time. The expected focus of this session will be on the actions, or inactions, of the former president during the hours of the violent assault.
American Horror Stories
Season Premiere
From FX comes a second season of weekly stand-alone tales of terror from the unhinged American Horror Story crew. Not much is known about the eight episodes in this batch, although you can expect to see alums from the Horror franchise throughout (reportedly including Denis O’Hare and Gabourey Sidibe). In the first installment, we’re told, a job interview goes horribly wrong. Watch if you dare.
Showtrial
Series Premiere
Alert for fans of British crime drama: The company that produced such thrillers as Line of Duty, Bodyguard and Vigil delivers a fast-paced five-part legal potboiler (all episodes available for binge-watching) about the sordid murder of a college student that becomes a hot tabloid commodity when the case goes to trial. The primary defendant, the smug and entitled Talitha (Céline Buckens), makes it hard for anyone, including her solicitor Cleo (Tracy Ifeachor), to sympathize with, and the twists keep coming all the way to the verdict.
Also on the Stream:
- Rap Sh!t (streaming on HBO Max): Insecure’s Emmy-nominated Issa Rae returns as executive producer of another vivid portrayal of female friendship, this time set in Miami, where one-time friends Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) reunite to form a rap group and experience the highs and lows of the music business.
- Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (streaming on Netflix): In the fifth and final season of the animated spinoff, the young campers are ever closer to a rescue, but now that they’ve learned the intent of the evil Mantah Corp., they work together to save the dinosaurs before saving themselves.
- The Captain (9 pm/ET, ESPN and streaming on ESPN+) In the second chapter of the Derek Jeter hagiography, the baseball legend reflects on the first rush of fame after joining the Yankees, where he won Rookie of the Year and helped win the 1996 World Series.
- Moloch (streaming on Shudder): Folk horror goes Dutch in this film from the Netherlands about an ancient creature wreaking havoc from a peat bog in the North of the country. Also new to Shudder: This is GWAR, a documentary spotlighting the heavy metal band known for its emphasis on horror and raucous humor.
- State of Happiness (streaming on Topic): For fans of European dramas like Borgen, a second season of the Norwegian series described as a Scandinavian Mad Men follows its characters through the oil boom of the 1970s after the founding of the national oil company Statoil. Environmental and safety disasters prompt existential questions about the pursuit of profit vs. the health of the nation.
Inside Thursday TV:
- Top Gear (10/9c, BBC America and streaming on AMC+): The hosts pay homage to British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair by driving his ahead-of-its-time electric Sinclair C5 vehicle down an Olympic bobsled run. A salute to the greatest TV cop cars includes a screen-test drive of a high-performance hero car.
- 101 Places to Go Before You Die (10:30/9:30c, truTV): Adam Pally brings buddy Jon Gabrus along to visit his family in Miami, where they live it up on the water.
- Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal (midnight/11c, Adult Swim): The Emmy-winning animated series, which also will stream a day after premiere on HBO Max, picks up the mostly wordless story of caveman Spear and dinosaur Fang as they explore a brutal new prehistoric world in hopes of rescuing Mira from her captors.
Conversation16 Comments
Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.
Comments are closed on this story.
-
A
I'll probably borrow a couple of James Bond DVDs to watch both today and tomorrow especially since my mom isn't really interested in watching tonight's hearing concerning the former president. Maybe Goldfinger and Moonraker...
1
-
O
I have nearly every Bond movie on DVD. I love even the worst ones but these are my favorites:
Thunderball- Sean Connery- My favorite Bond film
On Her Majesties Secret Service- George Lazenby- Sorely underrated masterpiece
Dr.No- Sean Connery- No gadgets, low budget but excellent!
Spy Who Loved Me- Roger Moore- Best film of the 70s
Die Another Day- Pierce Brosnan- Reminded me of Sky Fall a bit.
Golden Eye- Pierce Brosnan- Excellent debut
Casino Royale- Daniel Craig - Another excellent debut
Sky Fall-Daniel Craig- Felt like multiple movies in one, like Die Another Day.
From Russia With Love- Sean Connery- slower paced than the more modern ones, but a certified classic
For Your Eyes Only- Roger Moore- No gadgets that I recall, more serious, but very high quality.
Gold Finger- Sean Connery- A bit overrated to me, but it's a classic.
MoonRaker- Roger Moore- critics didn't like this nearly as much as the Spy Who Loves Me, but it's a blast to watch! Enjoy it!!!
My least favorite Bond movies (which I enjoyed still)
Diamonds Are Forever- Sean Connery. My very worst Bond film
Live and Let Die- Roger Moore- like a cheap Blaxploitation movie. But still watchable like all Bond films
You Only Live Twice- Sean Connery- worst of the 60s
Man With the Golden Gun- Roger Moore
Never Say Never Again- Sean Connery, needless remake of the vastly superior Thunderball
Octopussy
View To a Kill
Living Daylights -
LICENSE TO KILL
TOMORROW NEVER DIES
WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
SPECTRE-
-
P
My favorites are:
ThunderBall
On HerMajesty’s Secret Service
Dr No
From Russia With Love
GoldFinger
Spy Who Loved Me
For Your Eyes Only
MoonRaker
Die Another Day
Golden Eye
Casino Royale
Sky Fall
1
-
A
So left out: Connery-You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Moore-Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Neither of Dalton's-The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, Brosnan-Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Craig-Quantum of Solace, Spectre, No Time to Die. I'm guessing you weren't going to even consider the non-EON entries Casino Royale 1958 (Barry Nelson), Casino Royale 1967 (David Niven which was a spoof), or Connery's last time as 007 Never Say Never Again.
1
-
P
Do you agree on my favorites?
-
A
Yes, for the most part. Moonraker is a nostalgic treat as it's the first time I saw a Bond film in a movie theatre as well as in its entirety when I was 11. (I previously saw parts of Goldfinger on ABC during the late '70s)
-
P
Moonraker was a blast to watch (pun intended)
Goldfinger seemed a bit dull and slow to me but of course a classic
-
O
The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bond movie I watched in my local cinema when I was 9 or 10. I also watched Moonaker in the theater and most of the following Bond movies up until the most recent ones. ABC used to air Bond movies on Sunday night, loved watching them. Then later cable would have marathons, always watched them. I bought a DVD box set several years ago. Such an impressive series of movies. Even the very worst Bond movies are highly watchable.
Did you enjoy License To Kill?
-
A
I did enjoy LTK, indeed, especially with the expanded role of Q!
1
-
-
-
-
P
I didn’t bother ranking the comedy Casino Royale 1967
And I didn’t see the 1958 telefilm .
-
-
-
P
Didn’t see the latest yet.
My least favorite Bond films (that I enjoyed still)
Diamonds Are Forever- my least favorite
You Only Live Twice
Live and Let Die
Man With Golden Eye
Octopussy
Never Say Never Again
View To A Kill
Living Daylights
License To Kill
Tomorrow Never Dies
World Is Not Enough
Quantum Solace
Spectre
-
P
For some reason the moderators delete
my post listing my favorites.
-
A
Check again, they're still there. By the way, Goldfinger wasn't available but I got Moonraker and Licence to Kill which is one of the few I haven't seen yet.
-
P
License the Kill had lots of tough gritty action.. Quite a bit darker than the Roger Moore films.
Enjoy.
I loved Jaws in MoonRaker and especially in Spy Who Loved Me .
-
P
All Bond films are worth watching .
I’ve seen my least favorites multiple times
1
-
-
-
-
P
Reading a book.