Entertainment News - TV

THIS ISSUE: Game of Thrones, Penny Dreadful, Quantico, The Good Wife TOP MOMENT OF THE NIGHT HE'S ALIVE HBO BECAUSE: Jon. Snow. LIVES. Just to be clear: we don't know anything about that newly rediscovered consciousness, given to him by Melisandre and her tenuous channel to the Lord o' Light. All we know is that Davos asked her if she could help a Lord Commander out with a little resurrection action, she did her best, thought she failed, and everyone left the room only to have Jon's dark-as-the-Night's-Watch eyes shoot open faster than a wildling giant swatting a man to the ground. READ OUR RECAP Game of Thrones HBO WHAT HAPPENED: And that ain't all, folks! As far as anticipated storylines go, Sunday's was one of GoT'sbiggest ever. Let's see, where shall we start... the Three-Eyed Raven is in the building! Well, technically he's in some weird tree -- after not hearing from Bran for years, the lil' Stark is back and he's warging into the past with a new mentor, the Three-Eyed Raven. They see Ned and Benjen Stark chatting with their much-discussed sister, Lyanna. Over in Meereen, Tyrion is intent on becoming best buds with Dany's leftover dragons, and whether it is because of a special connection or extensive study in dragon obedience school, the half-man gets the dragons to trust him as a friend and he unbolts their chains. Yeah, hold onto that fiery-warm thought while you endure this turn of events: After hearing that Walda has indeed birthed a boy (and rightful Bolton heir), Ramsay takes the opportunity to stab and murder his father, tell the Maester/witness to send word that Roose was poisoned by their enemies... oh, and to call for Walda and the baby. And then he lures his step-mother and infant brother into the kennels and releases the hounds. Effin' Ramsay... WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: And even beyond that there was so much more to this episode -- Arya is no one again! Sansa and Theon! Hodor used to speak, for goodness' sake! -- but it's hard to think much further past those all-important words: Jon Snow lives. EW caught up with actor Kit Harrington exclusively to get the lowdown on the secret he's had to keep for nearly a year, and this is what he wanted to say first: "Sorry!" Harrington continued, "I'd like to say sorry for lying to everyone. I'm glad that people were upset that he died. I think my biggest fear was that people were not going to care. Or it would just be, 'Fine, Jon Snow's dead.' But it seems like people had a, similar to the Red Wedding episode, kind of grief about it. Which means something I'm doing -- or the show is doing -- is right." Oh, buddy -- we cared, everything was not fine, and once again, everything will not be fine until we get some more answers about Jon and Melisandre's new party trick in next week's episode. READ OUR RECAP Penny Dreadful Showtime WHAT HAPPENED: Penny Dreadful is finally back, and leading lady Vanessaisn't doing so great. The crew has been flung far and wide -- Malcolm is delivering Sembene to Africa, the Creature is mercy-killing in the Arctic, and worst of all, Ethan is in America -- and Vanessa is dealing with it all in steely solitude. That is, until Ferdinand and his perfect scruff show up to help her get it together, honey. The man causing her such anguish is Ethan, who's currently being extradited across the Wild (Wild) West, only to be re-extradited from his extradition by a gang of bandits. It ends in a supremely bloody shootout, but no time to dwell on the gore because the focus zooms over to Zanzibar where Malcolm is being rescued by a mysterious man named Kaetenay who tells him together they must find and help "he who is almost my son," a.k.a., Ethan. And finally a little bit of that creepy action we love: Vanessa goes to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Sprewell, who's exciting not only because she's played by Patti LuPone, but because she's eerily familiar... as is the name of her creepy assistant who introduces himself thusly: "My name is Dracula." WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: All of Sunday's episode centers on October 6, 1892, the day of Alfred Lord Tennyson's death. Vanessa hints in her letter to Malcolm that the Poet Laureate's death has zapped the light from London, allowing the shadows of the underworld to take its place. But Penny Dreadful'spremiere made it clear that season 3 will turn its otherworldly eyes upon much more than just London. As the A.V. Club points out in its praise of the premiere: "Writer John Logan and director Damon Thomas have vastly expanded the show's scope, and what was already a lavish production is taken to new heights. What was once pure Gothic horror adds elements of the Western to its palette, and the narrative moves fluidly from London to Africa to the New Mexico Territory and the frozen Arctic as it catches up with (most of) our regular characters and introduces a few new ones." Among those new characters: Henry Jekyll, college BFF of Victor Frankenstein, but of course. READ OUR RECAP Quantico ABC WHAT HAPPENED: After Sunday's shocking terrorist reveal, EW recapper Dalene Rovenstine feels it's important to remind: "Trust nothing. That is the theme of Quantico." For example, Sunday's episode has led us to believe that Drew is the mastermind behind The Voice. But do we really think that Drew -- pretty, pretty Drew -- organized all those terrorist attacks? Well, either way,he sure thinks he's an evil genius. Once Alex and Shelby discover in the present timeline that Drew is the John Doe patient with radiation poisoning similar to Will's, he wakes up and asks if they've gotten Ryan yet. See, when Drew was working for a private security firm, the Voice threatened his family if he didn't do some work for them. That work involved dropping a nuclear fuel core off in Yonkers two days ago, which he saw Ryan pick up. So he gives Alex a flashdrive that will help decrypt Ryan's passwords, and she of course plugs that sucker right in, but oh -- WHOOPS! She actually just downloaded a terrorist manifesto onto Ryan's computer because Drew has been framing him this whole time. He instructs Alex to head to Ryan's car, get in, and drive -- just ignore the bomb in the passenger seat, k? WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: Hey Drew, WTF? What causes a former NFL star to turn against the FBI and start terrorizing his nation? Well, showrunner Josh Safran told EW that he always knew the terrorists on the inside would be part of the Quantico world, and once he decided that he wanted it to be someone from the vetting class, he knew it had to be Drew who had "the most to lose and the most animosity toward the FBI." Yeah, exactly what is up with all that animosity? According to Safran, "It's the FBI for failing him for something that was beyond his control, and something that isn't necessarily even true. [The shaking] could simply have been nerves or anxiety... it was beyond his control, and he lost so much. That was the motivation, not so much what he has against Alex." READ OUR RECAP One More Thing... Rated "M" for Mares HBO A HORSE OF AN EPISODE: We're just going to come right out and say it: Sunday's episode of Silicon Valley featured a horse sex scene. Like... two horses... having sex... with each other... and Richard just a few feet away.

Entertainment News

Fox's 'Houdini & Doyle': The game is afoot in turn-of-the-last century London

Rebecca Liddiard and Michael Weston in the series premiere of Fox's "Houdini & Doyle." (Fox)

Robert Lloyd Contact Reporter

In Fox's new Canadian-British-American series "Houdini & Doyle," the famous escape artist and the creator of Sherlock Holmes team to solve murders in turn-of-the-last-century London. It is less exciting than it sounds.

It is true that the men knew each other, though not until 20 years after this story is set. In this imaginary timeline, Houdini (Michael Weston) is on an extended engagement in London, where he does his famous water escape before panicked audiences and throws hotel-suite parties whose guests include Yeats, Tesla and Churchill. ("Yeats and Churchill will show up anywhere there's free booze," he confides.)

He and Doyle (Stephen Mangan), who is enjoying a Holmes-free period between killing off the character in "The Final Problem" and bringing him back in "The Adventure of the Empty House," are affectionately antagonistic acquaintances whom fate makes sometimes competitive, sometimes cooperative detectives. Attracted by headlines like "Ghost Killer Stalks Convent" and "Local Man Struck Down by God," the two converge on Scotland Yard.

As in "Castle," it requires only celebrity and a personal friendship with someone in charge to get them their junior investigator badges and an official baby-sitter, the historically premature policewoman Adelaide Stratton (Rebecca Liddiard), who seeks something more than "a life of pretty dresses and condescension." Tim McInnerny and Adam Nagaitis play the grumbling policemen under whose skins they endlessly get.

Their polar approaches are relentlessly highlighted. Doyle believes there are more things under heaven and on Earth than are dreamt of in Houdini's skeptical, scientific philosophy. (The real Doyle thought that Houdini himself had supernatural powers, as much as Houdini insisted otherwise.)

Houdini finds Doyle sadly credulous. Doyle is annoyed by Houdini's American loudness, Houdini by British reserve. Doyle will have to admit that what seems otherworldly might be a clever illusion; Houdini will have to hear mysterious tinkling coming from his piano when no one is around to play it, just to keep that door open.

There is a productive tradition of inserting real people into romantic adventures. Nicholas Meyer paired Sigmund Freud with Holmes in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution"; "Doctor Who" has teamed its time-traveling hero with William Shakespeare, Vincent Van Gogh and Agatha Christie. And it's easy to imagine other odd couples of history as dynamic duos: "The Elvis and Nixon Mysteries," "The Fitzgerald and Hemingway Murders" or "Marx and Eliot, Private Eyes," as in Groucho and T.S. I could play that party game for hours, or 10 minutes at least.

Created by "House" vet David Hoselton and David Titcher ("The Librarian"), the series, which begins Monday, is quite handsomely mounted — the sets are well dressed and wallpapered, the period work as convincing as it needs to be. Though the action tends to plod in the more serious moments — as in Doyle's scenes with his sick wife (Louise Delamere) or when some deep point wants to get made — and though the mysteries themselves are not especially tricky, it is easy enough to watch.

Yet it feels a little wan — not as subtle as it might be on the one hand, or as daffy on the other; one would like it to twinkle harder.

When it does get down to swashbuckling — as when Houdini and Doyle are trapped in rising water under a locked grate or riding the underground to the scene of a crime ("We should have taken my car," says Doyle, "it goes 14 miles an hour") — it can be as fun as the premise promises. But you will have to wait for it.

'Houdini and Doyle'

Where: Fox

When: 9 p.m. Monday

Rating: TV-14 (may contain some material that parents or adult guardians may find unsuitable for children under age 14)

Weekend Box Office

'Jungle Book' Dominates Domestically While 'Captain America: Civil War' Explodes in Overseas Opening by Brad Brevet May 1, 2016 It's another weekend on top for Disney's The Jungle Book as the live-action family feature dropped only 31% and made $20 million more than all three newcomers combined. As for said new releases, the kidnapped cat comedy Keanu led the pack over Mother's Day and Ratchet & Clank, though not a single one of them topped $10 million. Meanwhile, Captain America: Civil War led the charge overseas, bringing in a top 15, all-time international opening, though falling just shy of Avengers: Age of Ultron's number from last year. In the #1 position for a third straight weekend, The Jungle Book brought in an estimated $42.4 million as the film's domestic cume climbs to $252 million, well on its way to becoming 2016's fourth $300+ million domestic grosser. Internationally it added another $57.1 million this weekend as its global cume now stands at $684.7 million, moving it into the all-time top 100. In a battle for second with The Huntsman: Winter's War, the weekend's top newcomer was Keanu with an estimated $9.35 million from 2,658 locations. Heading into the weekend this was a tough one to nail down as a wide range of scenarios could have played out. As it just so happens, it fell to the leaner side of expectations. Budgeted at $15 million, the film from comedic duo "Key & Peele" played to an audience that was 53% male vs 47% female and opening day audiences gave it a "B" CinemaScore. Finishing in fourth, Open Road's Mother's Day managed a mere $8.3 million. For director Garry Marshall this was his third holiday themed release featuring an ensemble cast in a row and it was by far the worst performer. After Valentine's Day opened with $56.2 million back in February 2010 Marshall returned the following year withNew Year's Eve, but it only brought in $13 million as the formula already seemed to have lost its appeal.Mother's Day, however, did earn a "B" CinemaScore, which suggests opening day audiences at least liked it a little more than critics as it currently holds an 8% rating at RottenTomatoes. The last of the weekend's new wide releases was Gramercy's Ratchet & Clank, an all-too-appropriate name for the video game adaptation as it could only muster $4.8 million from 2,891 theaters for a per theater average of $1,668. Elsewhere, A24 expanded the release of Green Room into 470 theaters where the horror/thriller brought in$960,000 for a lackluster $2,042 per theater average. The Weinstein Co's Sing Street added 79 theaters and brought in an estimated $330,000 ($3,173 PTA) and Sony Classics added 20 theaters to their release of The Meddler which brought in an estimated $174,369 ($7,265 PTA). Topping the per theater averages this weekend was Screen Media's The Family Fang, which opened in one theater and brought in an estimated $15,285. Depending on how actuals shape out it may end up a close race for the per theater crown, however, as IFC's The Man Who Knew Infinity played at six locations and brought in an estimated $88,134 for a $14,689 PTA. As was alluded to in the opening, Disney and Marvel's Captain America: Civil War got off to an excellent start overseas with an estimated $200.2 million international opening. That's enough to place 14th on the all-time chart, a mere one million dollars behind Avengers: Age of Ultron's $201.2 million from last year, which means we'll have to wait for actuals to see how it ends up. As for highlights, Civil War was the #1 movie in all territories in which it opened this weekend except Japan, where it looks as if it will finish behind Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare and Zootopia (now just$69m shy of $1 billion worldwide). In the Philippines it delivered the #1 industry all-time opening weekend, beating the previous record held by Avengers: Age of Ultron. It also saw #1 industry openings in Brazil (beatingBatman v Superman's record) and Mexico (beating Ultron) and in Germany saw the biggest four-day opening for 2016. Korea led all territories with a $28.9 million opening followed by Mexico ($20.6m), UK ($20.5m), Brazil ($12.3m), Australia ($10.9m), France ($10.1m), Germany ($8.1m), Taiwan ($8.1m), Philippines ($7.5m), Japan ($7.1m), Hong Kong ($6.8m), Thailand ($6.0m), Malaysia ($5.1m) and Spain ($4.4m). Civil War will kick off the summer movie season domestically next weekend in 4,000+ theaters as well as continue its international roll-out in Italy (May 4), Russia (May 5), Argentina (May 5) and China (May 6), as well as Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, New Zealand, India, Trinidad and Uruguay. Domestically the debate will be as to whether it will bring in over, or under, $200 million. We'll talk more about that next Thursday. April 29-May 1, 2016 Weekend Standard Chart   <<Last Weekend <Last Year View Index: By Year | By Weekend TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count /Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week # 1 1 The Jungle Book (2016) BV $42,439,000 -31.0% 4,041 +13 $10,502 $252,095,800 $175 3 2 2 The Huntsman: Winter's War Uni. $9,390,000 -51.7% 3,802 +11 $2,470 $33,986,025 $115 2 3 N Keanu WB $9,350,000 - 2,658 - $3,518 $9,350,000 $15 1 4 N Mother's Day ORF $8,302,319 - 3,035 - $2,736 $8,302,319 - 1 5 3 Barbershop: The Next Cut WB $6,125,000 -41.8% 2,310 -366 $2,652 $44,705,640 - 3 6 4 Zootopia BV $5,006,000 -23.9% 2,487 -311 $2,013 $323,518,489 - 9 7 N Ratchet & Clank Focus $4,823,000 - 2,891 - $1,668 $4,823,000 - 1 8 5 The Boss Uni. $4,250,000 -31.8% 2,823 -552 $1,505 $56,111,125 $29 4 9 6 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice WB $3,810,000 -30.8% 2,330 -736 $1,635 $325,132,593 $250 6 10 7 Criminal (2016) LG/S $1,325,000 -57.5% 1,578 -1,105 $840 $13,476,167 - 3