NuMainstream

John Mulaney hosted “Saturday Night Live” for the first time less than a year ago and immediately surpassing every other host’s contributions that season with weird but memorable sketches like “Sitcom Reboot” and “Diner Lobster.” This week, in his second time around as host, he does the same thing.

Host: John Mulaney

John Mulaney is an interesting “Saturday Night Live” host, because he comes in with all the goodwill of a long-time cast member, even though he was “only” a writer who had a few appearances on…

French-Mauritanian filmmaker Abid Mohamed Medoun Hondo (professionally known as Med Hondo), a founding father of African cinema, died Saturday morning in Paris. He was 82 years old.

Rest as you lived, Med Hondo, in Power. https://t.co/vglzeUn9yX

— Cameron Bailey (@cameron_tiff) March 2, 2019

An award-winning filmmaker who also gained attention in his later years dubbing African-American actors like Eddie Murphy and Morgan Freeman for their movies’ French releases, Hondo remains largely unknown beyond…

As an obligatory part of the constant studio cycle of reviving things that people loved in the past, there’s going to be a new “Scooby-Doo” animated movie. While there are still plenty of iconic roles from the usual Mystery Machine gang left to sort out, it appears that this latest incarnation will feature two big names at the top: Will Forte is set to be the voice of Shaggy, Scooby’s trusted human companion, while Gina Rodriguez will add Velma to her ever-growing animation résumé.

Look, there’s probably some scientific explanation for how Shin Lim is able to pull off this escalating series of card tricks from Friday’s episode of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” That doesn’t matter. He pulled cards out of his hair. Out of his hair.

Lim, the master illusionist, has made his way through a number of TV shows in recent years. He wowed the notoriously diligent and savvy hosts of “Penn and Teller Fool Us” (turning physical items into a column of smoke emanating from your mouth…

There’s very little that’s off-limits on “True Detective.” In Season 2, Vince Vaughn’s character stares up at a stain on his bedroom ceiling. The first season’s climax took place in a winding maze of overgrowth and may have included a portal to another realm.

But series writer and creator Nic Pizzolatto draws the line at season-long hallucinations. Speaking after the end of last week’s Season 3 ender, Pizzolatto addressed the enigmatic final sequence, which returns Wayne Hays (Mahershala Ali) back to…

For baseball fans of a certain age, “The Sandlot” is one of the pivotal screen stories about America’s pastime. Set in the 1950s, it follows one kid’s quest to ingratiate himself with the local group of ragtag ballplayers and their attempts to rescue a precious autographed Babe Ruth ball.

Now, a quarter century later, writer and director David Mickey Evans said that a TV show following those same characters is in the works.

“I already got all the original cast members back. It takes place in 1984, when…

Lord, hear our prayer: may the death of the world’s dearly beloved Madea not be in vain. And we thank you, Lord, that Tyler Perry shall never again don the grey wig and granny panties that inspire him to make incomprehensible jokes about disabled people, gay people, and old men objectifying younger women with wild abandon. Nevertheless: Say what you want about Tyler Perry, the prolific writer/director/performer is a master of character work — even totally unhinged and wildly problematic as those characters…

Although Roger Deakins served as visual consultant throughout the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy, it wasn’t until “The Hidden World” finale that DreamWorks Animation fully mastered his lessons in naturalism. This was due to a combination of artistic maturity and new rendering and surfacing tech breakthroughs at the studio.

“We’ve always shot these like live-action movies with a naturalistic sensibility, but DreamWorks struggled through the first two movies,” said VFX supervisor Dave Walvoord. “But with…

Writers Harry and Jack Williams, best known for the gripping thriller “The Missing,” showcase Kate Beckinsale’s considerable talents in “The Widow,” an intriguing mystery-adventure that ultimately suffers from trying to shoehorn in too many storylines. Set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the eight-episode series also contributes to the self-perpetuating canon of white-savior narratives, despite efforts to present the Congolese with far more range and depth than has been seen traditionally on screen.

We…

Another Oscar season has come and gone, but this one has launched some conversations unlikely to die down anytime soon. With “Green Book” beating “Roma” in the Best Picture race, debates about whether Netflix was admonished for its relationship to theaters is ubiquitous — and Steven Spielberg is heading up an effort to change Academy rules involving the minimum theatrical release necessary to qualify for the Oscars. But how might these changes impact smaller movies? Does Spielberg really know what he’s…