Turning to machines
RACHEL HERGETT
For the Chronicle
On Tuesday, John Zirkle, executive director of the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, was feeling the pressure of ambition.
His list for the day included sourcing a generator sufficient to power a robot that has already been personified as KUKA — the name of the German company that makes the industrial robots. KUKA, he said, is set to arrive on Saturday and must be ready for the spotlight by Monday, when Big Sky students will meet it.
“We’ve never had a robot on stage at the WMPAC,” he said.
When most people think of a dancing robot, they consider a more humanoid form, something akin to C-3PO from the Star Wars universe. KUKA robots are often used in automobile manufacturing for companies like GM and even Tesla. They are mostly single armed robots on a rotating base and weigh thousands of pounds. They were not meant to move from factory floors. They were not designed to dance.
And yet, that is exactly what this particular KUKA has been programmed to do, in a creative melding of technology and movement from internationally renowned Taiwanese choreographer and inventor Huang Yi.
Huang Yi and Kuka will perform at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center, 45465 Gallatin Rd. in Big Sky accompanied by dancers Hu Chien, Hsieh Cheng-Yu, Chen Chao-Li and Chen Yi-Chen. Tickets are $33 for students and $43 for adults. Tickets and more information are available at warrenmillerpac.org.
In his artist statement, Huang speaks of how his once-wealthy family lost everything, and the pressure to be the model child for his struggling parents.
PROVIDED IMAGE BY SUMMER YEN
Huang Yi rehearses with robot KUKA. More MACHINES
1) Billy Strings “Highway Prayers”
2) Tyler Childers “Purgatory”
3) Lord Huron “Strange Trails”
4) Mac Miller “K.I.D.S.”
1) “Tell Me Everything” by Elizabeth Strout, $30
2) “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney, $29
5) Chappell Roan “Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”
6) Being Dead “Eels”
7) Wilco “Summer Teeth”
6) System of a Down “Toxicity”
7) CAAMP “By and By”
8) Sturgill Simpson “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music”
9) Charli XCX “Brat”
10) Dominic Fike “What Could Possibly Go Wrong”
3) “Impossible Creatures” by Katherine Rundell, $19.99
4) “War” by Bob Woodward, $32
5) “The Life Impossible” by Matt Haig, $30
6) “Becoming Little Shell” by Chris LaTray, $28
7) “The Message” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, $30
8) “James” by Percival Everett, $28
9) “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” by Amy Tan, $35
10) “Revenge of the Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell, $32
What’s Available NOW On
“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” (Available Now)
“Annabelle Comes Home” (Available Now)
“Born in the Wild” - Season 1 (Oct. 31)
This unscripted series follows families as they take one step beyond homebirth and make the powerful choice to experience childbirth in the great outdoors.
“Nightmare Alley” (Available Now)
Bradley Cooper stars as carnival worker Stanton Carlisle, who is climbing the ranks of the industry in this Guillermo Del Toro remake. Determined to make his way to the top, Stanton begins a dangerous relationship with a psychiatrist. Cate Blanchett and Toni Collette co-star.
Based on the novel of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith, this 2012 fantasy horror film is set in 1800s America. After loosing his mother to a vampire bite and barely escaping with his life as a boy, Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) dedicated his life to getting revenge. He is rescued by Henry (Dominic Cooper), a charismatic vampire hunter who instructs Abe in the fine art of dispatching bloodsuckers. Abe continues his fight against the undead well into adulthood and his presidency, making a last stand against the ultimate vampire foe, Adam (Rufus Sewell), and his cohorts to thwart their plan to take over the country.
in
“Pedro Paramo” (Netflix — Nov. 6, Movie Premiere)
Based on Juan Rulfo’s masterpiece novel, considered one of the most important books in the history of Mexico and Latin America, the novel narrates the story of Juan Preciado (Tenoch Huerta), who upon his mother’s death, goes to the remote village where he was born in search of his father, Pedro Paramo (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). He encounters a ghost town, where he meets a series of mysterious people and learns about his dead father’s ruthless quest for wealth and power.
This seventh installment of the Conjuring Universe franchise brings the violent doll Annabelle back to torment her owners once again. Determined to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc, demonologists Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) bring the possessed doll to the locked artifacts room in their home, placing her “safely” behind sacred glass and enlisting a priest’s holy blessing. But an unholy night of horror awaits as Annabelle awakens the evil spirits in the room, who all set their sights on a new target—the Warrens’ ten-year-old daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace), and her friends.
CROSSWORD
Across
1.Faller in the fall
5. Like some series finales
8.Stephen Colbert trademark
11.Twosome
12.Bi- halved
movie review
BY JAY BOBBIN
‘Taxi Driver’ still provides a powerful ride
Certain movie-character names stand as immediate identifiers of what the person and film are all about, and Travis Bickle is one of them.
Anyone remotely familiar with motion pictures will recognize that as Robert De Niro’s role in director Martin Scorsese’s searing 1976 drama “Taxi Driver,” which MGM+ Marquee shows Monday, Oct. 28. The Paul Schrader-written story of a disenfranchised loner who finds acceptance through unusual means has retained its
13. Mr. Rubik
14.Watched on-line
16.Thought patterns, briefly?
17.Gary Oldman series
19.Netflix series about Pablo Escobar
22.Ready for press
23.“The Waste Land” poet
24.Burke of “Designing Women”
27.“Attack, dog!”
28.Offline, briefly
29.Film editor’s units
32.Be a pest to
34.“Why should _ __ you?”
worker (Cybill Shepherd) who is somewhat bemused, and ultimately turned off, by his efforts to court her.
36. Hiroyuki Sanada series
37.Grace Van Patten series
40.“Dies __”
41.Scottish castle setting in “The Crown”
45.Torah holders
46.Mork’s home planet
47.Helper in the Capitol
48.Memphis-toMobile dir.
49.Very, in teenspeak
50.Emily or Wiley
Down
1.Recordings: Abbr.
2. Nosh
3.Melody
4.Painting on plaster
5.Sports heavyweights
6.Again
7.“Which way __ _ go?”
8.Sport shown on “Raw” or “SmackDown”
9.“Picnic” playwright
10. Cast
13.Chilling
15.Gobs
18.Singular
19.Place for a clutch
20.Shawkat of “Arrested Development”
21.Talk show host who played
Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray” (1988)
25.Short pants?
26.Kirk __, first movie Superman
30.French pronoun
31.Theology sch.
32.“Beg pardon ...”
33. “Sorry”
35.Noted kneeling NFLer
36.Soft and lustrous
37.Aunts, in Spain
38.Makes a boo-boo
39.___ Flynn Boyle
power, painting a haunting portrait of the New York era while telling the tale of one man’s very specific journey.
Bickle finds work as the late-shift cabbie of the title, and he has definite thoughts about the social decay he sees around him, underscored visually (and brilliantly, by cinematographer Michael Chapman) by the steam that rises from the street grates, creating a sort of curtain over the city. His hopes for something better are personified by an attractive political-campaign
Soon, though, Bickle finds another purpose in Iris (Jodie Foster), a young prostitute he envisions rescuing from that occupation. Turning himself into her avenging angel of sorts, he changes his physical appearance, fashioning his hair into a mohawk ... and moving toward turning his increasingly violent fantasies into reality. Bickle’s resistance to being questioned is crystallized by his iconic line, “You talkin’ to me?”
In a decade of upheaval that was filled with movies that questioned authority, “Taxi Driver” was one of the most disturbing examples, particularly coming from a major studio (Columbia Pictures). It undoubtedly went a long way toward establishing Scorsese’s career and it surely centered De Niro as a versatile performer, coming as it did on the heels of his Oscar win as the young Don Corleone in “The Godfather, Part II.”
Robert De Niro in “Taxi Driver”
What’s Available NOW On
“Buy It Now” - Season 1 (Oct. 30)
J.B. Smoove hosts this new business competition, where entrepreneurs get 90 seconds to pitch their product to an audience of potential customers: The 100. If The 100 like the product and price, then the entrepreneurs go to a panel of Amazon executives and celebrity entrepreneurs. The panel selects which products join Amazon’s exclusive Buy It Now Store and award one entrepreneur $20,000 each episode.
in focus
Me Next
“Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End” (Oct. 31)
A strange rabies-like disease begins to spread unchecked across the planet, turning humans into extremely aggressive creatures. But Javier (Francisco Ortiz) has been living his own apocalypse for some time; still reeling from the loss of his wife in an accident, he’s been depressed and isolated from his family for a year, with Luculo, his cat, as his only companion. As the illness worsens, Javier and Luculo are soon forced to leave, meeting unlikely but essential travelling companions by land and sea.
“Monkey Man” (Available Now)
An anonymous young man unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mother and continue to systematically victimize the poor and powerless. Dev Patel writes, directs and stars in the film.
“FACEOFF: Inside the NHL” (Available Now)
This six-part docuseries gives hockey fans unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the NHL’s biggest stars, including Boston Bruins teammates David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman; Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog; Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and forwards Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman; Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk; Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg; New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander; Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes; and Vegas Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, among others.
“Meet
Christmas” (Netflix — Nov. 6, Movie Premiere)
In pursuit of a fairytale romance with the man of her dreams, Layla (Christina Milian) must race through New York City to get her hands on the hottest ticket in town: the sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert. Devale Ellis, Kofi Siriboe, Tymika Tafari, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, Matt Sallee, Kalen Allen, Nikki Duval and Wesley French also star.
Solution on page 12
Create a Meaningful Farewell
Generations
This Just In @ Bozeman Library
What are you doing on Saturdays this winter? C’mon down to the Bozeman Public Library live Jazz fest.
Visit the scenic second floor for the stirring sounds of live acoustic music. Local jazz guitarist Craig Hall will lead the music along with guest performer Kearen Samsel on Saturday, Nov. 2. The fun begins at 2 p.m. and lasts till 4 p.m.
Craig and various friends will perform every Saturday in November, December and January. For the full concert schedule,
please visit www.bozemanlibrary.org or call 406-582-2410. This program is funded in part by a grant provided by Sweet Pea, Festival of the Arts. Many thanks also to the Bozeman Public Library Foundation and their donors for their support of this music program over the past few years. Huzzah!
BOOKS FOR THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM
Birding to Change the World by Trish O’Kane. Biography.
CLIENT CONTENT
Like several other birders, Trish O’Kane came to the community after terrible loss and pain. Her transition to conservative activist on a journey through birds, migration, city government, and PhD dissertations is an experience.
Eynhallow by Tim McGregor. Fiction. Set on a lonely, windswept island off Scotland in 1797. When a wealthy man washes up on the shores of Eynhallow, and he turns out to be Victor Frankenstein. This is a unique and
thought provoking interpretation of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece.
Building the Affordable House: Trade Secrets to HighValue Low-Cost Construction by Fernando Pages Ruiz. Nonfiction. Homebuilders want competitive, affordable housing that blends curb appeal, useful floor space and a low price tag to guarantee quick sales. The buyers want safe, solid, and sustainable. Turns out these two seemingly opposing ideas can exist in the same home together.
BOOKS FOR THE KIDDOS
Secrets of the Sky: The Ghost Forest by Syantani Dasgupta. Juvenile Fiction. Best of this series, and the others were great, too. When twins Kiya and Kinjal are visiting the Kingdom Beyond, the
bhoot (ghosts who live in trees) are definitely in a very bad, unreceptive mood. It’s a complex story with hard choices. The age-old question: How can everyone get what they need to live without destroying each other?
Sheepology: The Ultimate Encyclopedia by Maria Demonti and Camilla Pintonmato. Juvenile Nonfiction. All the 4Hers and curious kids out there will enjoy this hand-illustrated fact-filled book of everything sheep. Sheep anatomy, begetting and birthing baby lambs, the ancient legends of sheep and wool, cheese making with sheep’s milk, sheep farms, knitting, felting and, of course, shearing are all here.
BETH BOYSON
HALL AND FRIENDS
What’s Available NOW On
“The Manhattan Alien Abduction” (Oct. 30)
“The Law According to Lidia Poet” - Season 2 (Oct. 30)
“Tom Papa: Home Free” (Oct. 29)
From the sheer bliss of a hot shower to the saucy joys of an empty nest, Tom Papa tackles aging, parenthood and more in this witty comedy special.
Library/from 7
10 Dogs by Emily Gravett. Picture Book. There are 10 dogs, 10 unguarded sausages and a counting lesson in this book. Have fun identifying all the breeds of dog, too. Puppy lovers will enjoy the pictures and the story progression. If your family is a cat family, see the author’s previous book, 10 Cats, where the kittens make great art from a few open cans of paint as their mother sleeps blissfully unaware.
This is the true story behind one of ufology’s greatest mysteries, which is still a source of controversy on social media and online forums. But, few know that a filmmaker was embedded at the heart of the Manhattan abduction and filmed it all. With access to hundreds of hours of never-before-seen footage, this series claims to be “the real-life X Files, caught on camera.”
The Apartment House on Poppy Hill. Early Reader. The famous Poppy Hill in San Francisco is featured in this cozy chapter book. Nineyear-old Ella lives on the middle floor of an old threestory Victorian. When new neighbors move in, she wants to know them. Alas, they keep to themselves. This story features same sex couples and people of color, neighborly interactions, and their breezy days together.
Continuing to chronicle the true story of Italy’s first-ever female lawyer, Season 2 of this period mystery drama is set in Turin, Italy, in the late 1800s. As Lidia Poet (Matilda De Angelis) continues to work with her brother (Pierluigi Pasino) in Season 2, she sets her sights even higher: she’s bound and determined to change the law once and for all.
FOR THE TEENS AND TWEENS
The Buried by Melissa Grey. Young Adult Fiction. Three families have lived underground for 10 years since the Cataclysm, when chemicals fell from the sky and wiped out all existence. As the teens in these families come of age, they have many questions for Dr. Morand, a Dr. Moreau type of person. As the teens tell the story, it builds from a dystopia to something very different. The Princess and the
“Time Cut” (Oct. 30)
Lucy Field (Madison Bailey) is a high school science whiz working towards a bright future. But, when Lucy happens upon a time machine, she gets the chance to prevent the murder of her older sister Summer (Antonia Gentry) — an event that’s haunted her young life. Finding herself blasted back to the early 2000s, Lucy has one chance to unmask the killer and save her sister — or else risk her own life too.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz. Young Adult Graphic Novel. If you want to have some fun and cry and laugh about a trans teen love story STOP WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK! It’s that good. The author has a lot of subversive fun with courtship of royalty, and Cinderella, too, moved to a modern setting. Enjoy all the cheese puns. How to be a Zombie:The Essential Guide for Anyone Who Craves Brains by Serena
Valentino. Young Adult Nonfiction. Definitely the funniest book ever published on the subject of Zombies. The rumors about celebrity zombies: Are they true? What does a Zombie wear? What’s up with the craving of brains, when you never ate them before? How can you tell if you are dating a Zombie?
Beth Boyson is a Programming Librarian and Cataloger at Bozeman Public Library. She can be reached through the Library website at www. bozemanlibrary.org.
lifestyle
The solution to the question is found within the answers in the puzzle. In order to discover this hidden solution, unscramble the letters noted with asterisks within the puzzle.
Across 1. Hood’s gun
4. Poverty
8. Thrilla in Manila boxer
11. Freudian topic
12. Come from ___
13. Society girl
14. Take punitive action
17. They average 100
18. Musician’s asset
19. Accusatory words to Caesar
21. Laser light
24. “Look, ___, no hands!”
25. Therefore
26. Clock setting
27. That thing
28. Rugged wheels
30. Beehive State
32. Sound at the door
34. Incidentally, in e-mail
shorthand
35. “Monk” actor
41. Commercials
42. One for the road
43. Letter after chi
44. Treat like a dog?
45. This-and-that dish
46. Computer storage unit, informally Down
1. Toothpaste type
2. In the past
3. Specifically
4. “Star ___”
5. Back of the boat
6. “No dice”
7. Shade giver
8. Be crazy about
9. DiCaprio, to fans
10. Big Blue
15. Gender gap issue
16. “The Bambino”
19. Key with four sharps: Abbr.
20. Break
22. Marco Polo crossed it
23. Maker of holes
29. Pioneer in Surrealism
31. Early afternoon hr.
33. They get free commercial air time
34. Hard punch
35. Select
36. Poetic tribute
37. Shack
38. Grazed
39. Consumption
40. Famous
Sensational
BY CAROLINE COLLACUTT
Stewart: Martha Stewart shares her secrets in brand-new documentary
The untold story of an American icon and master of homemaking — from her unrivaled talent in the kitchen to her style-making sense of design — hits the small screen when “Martha” premieres Wednesday, Oct. 30, on Netflix.
“No matter who you think Martha Stewart is — a celebrated homemaker, America’s first self-made female billionaire or even the queen of Instagram selfies — there’s more to her story,” Netflix describes. You might know her from a cookbook sitting on your kitchen shelf, from her eponymous talk show, “Martha,” or from
one of her many other hit series — including “Martha Bakes,” “Martha Gardens,” “Martha Stewart Living,” or, more recently, “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Party Challenge” — but now comes the opportunity to know Stewart like never before.
From Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler (“Elton John: Never Too Late,” 2024), this feature-length documentary “charts the lifestyle mogul’s rise to becoming the original influencer” (per Netflix), exploring how the multihyphenate has shaped culture throughout her decades-long career — “from,” as the platform describes, “teaching her millions of acolytes how to properly fold a fitted sheet to challenging entrenched ideas about the value of domestic work.”
Netflix continues its description by sharing that the feature “draws on hundreds of hours of intimate interviews with Stewart and those from her inner circle, along with Stewart’s private archives of diaries, letters and never-seen-before footage,” in order to explore Stewart’s fascinating life story, starting
with her upbringing in a working-class family and following through her time spent as a model, her stint as a Wall Street stockbroker, her eventual rise to fame, her prison sentence and beyond — even touching on her surprising friendship with rapper Snoop Dogg (“Drop It Like It’s Hot”).
“People don’t quite understand just how much of a visionary Martha was and continues to be,” Cutler explained while speaking with Netflix. “She understood synergy long before others did; she understood the lack or barriers between different kinds of content before others did; she understood the power of the personal brand before others did,” Cutler adds. “She made the world a more beautiful place, and she gave us greater access to beauty. She democratized fashion, taste, and style. She saw the future before others saw it and she always had to overcome enormous obstacles that were in her way.”
The reigning queen of good taste, Stewart shares all in “Martha,” premiering Wednesday, Oct. 30, on Netflix.
Martha Stewart is featured in “Martha”
What’s Available NOW On
“Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” - Season 1 (Oct. 30)
A spinoff of the hit, early 2000s Disney Channel Original series “Wizards of Waverly Place,” this new family sitcom sees Justin Russo (David Henrie) grown up and having given up magic to lead a normal life with his wife, Giada (Mimi Gianopulos, “Rutherford Falls”), and kids Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko). But, Justin’s normal life is thrown back into classic Russo chaos when his sister Alex (Selena Gomez) comes asking for help with a young witch named Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) in need of mentoring in tow.
celebrityfacts
“Dino Ranch” - Season 3, New Episodes (Oct. 30)
The adventures continue for the Cassidy family in this computer animated series for children. They tackle life in a fantastical “pre-westoric” world where dinosaurs still roam, and discover the thrill of ranch life and the unpredictability of the great outdoors.
“Music by John Williams” (Nov. 1)
From legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg and director Laurent Bouzereau, this documentary explores the life and career of legendary film composer John Williams, renowned for his work on films including “Jurassic Park” (1993), the Star Wars franchise, “Jaws” (1975), The Harry Potter films, and much more.
“Playdate with Winnie the Pooh” - Season 2, Halloween Specials (Available Now)
In the first of two Halloween specials, Poo h Bear (Leon Chen) takes Eeyore (Dylan Alvarado) trick-or-treating for the first time. Then, Pooh Bear helps Rabbit (Emma Zavaleta) and Bea (Madelyn Skyler) carve a pumpkin.
Billy Crystal of “Before” on Apple TV+: He made one of his earliest TV appearances in a 1976 episode of “All in the Family,” playing a friend of Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner, a friend of Crystal off-camera as well).
Bruce Springsteen of “Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band” on Hulu and Disney+: He first worked with longtime associate Steven Van Zandt in a band called Steel Mill that had many engagements at sites along the Jersey Shore.
Damon Wayans Jr. of “Poppa’s House” on CBS and Paramount+: He got his professional start by appearing in some of his father’s projects, including the 1994 movie “Blankman” and the 200105 series “My Wife and Kids.”
BY MICHELLE ROSE
Screams on screen: TV vampires
Questions:
1)Laszlo, Nadja, Nandor or Colin Robinson — which housemate is the oldest vampire in “What We Do in the Shadows”?
2) Which 1960s soap opera featured a lovelorn vampire?
3)In the Anne Rice novel “Interview With the Vampire,” Claudia is five years old when she is turned. How old is she in the AMC series?
4)In the TV series “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” what is Spike’s real name?
5) Which “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”/“Angel” character was Angel’s sire, the one who turned him into a vampire?
6) Which female character was the first to be turned into a vampire in “Vampire Diaries,” and the first vampire to be killed off?
7) What (fictional) town is “True Blood” set in?
8) Which former teen idol played a vampire working as an LAPD detective in the 1989 TV movie “Nick Knight”?
8)Rick Springfield
7)Bon Temps, Louisiana
6)Vicki Donovan
5)Darla
4)William Pratt
3)14
2)“Dark Shadows”
1)Nandor
ce l e b rity
Jerry O’Connell
OF THE TALK ON CBS
Q: How did Jerry O’Connell get the hosting job when Julie Chen Moonves was absent from “Big Brother” recently?
A: A combination of factors played into it, one of the biggest being O’Connell’s quick availability for the CBS show when a substitute was needed for Chen Moonves since she was continuing to test positive for COVID. She called in to that day’s edition of “The Talk,” the weekday CBS program of which she used to be a co-host (and of which O’Connell currently is), giving him pointers on how to handle the “Big Brother” job.
The episode involved a live eviction, the first time Chen Moonves had missed such a show, and it was fortunate that O’Connell is an avowed “Big Brother” fan. That surely gave him a leg up on who the players were and what the household dynamics were, so he already had done much of his homework in a sense when he was enlisted for the fill-in spot mere hours before the episode aired.
While “The Talk” – which now is in its final season, slated to be over by the end of this year – and the syndicated game show “Pictionary” have been the main examples of O’Connell (also known for many performances as an actor) as a host lately, he has filled that function a number of times. Along with wife Rebecca Romijn, he had a brief stint hosting the CBS series “The Real Love Boat” in 2022, he was a guest host of the syndicated “Wendy Williams Show” several times, and he had his own syndicated talk show titled “Jerry O’” for a short time in the summer of 2019.
Solution on page
Aidy Bryant celebrity q&a
BY ADAM THOMLISON
OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE ON NBC
Q: Why did Aidy Bryant leave “Saturday Night Live”?
A: The question of why someone leaves long-running comedy showcase “Saturday Night Live” is a tricky one. Occasionally, they will leave because they get a big offer of a movie or something, but it seems more often that people just leave because of a vague feeling that it’s time.
That was the case for Aidy Bryant (“Human Resources”), who was on the show for 10 years, from 2012 to 2022.
“If it weren’t for COVID, I probably would have left a few years earlier,” she told Variety magazine in 2022. “I kept trying to seek one last normal year. This year wasn’t the normal year that I hoped for, but it was closer to that. It was like, ‘OK, it’s really time now.’ And 10 felt like a nice, solid round number.”
One of the other things that made her final years less than normal was the fact that she was simultaneously producing and starring in her own Hulu series, “Shrill.”
She did so with “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels’s blessing, but it took a toll.
“Those years, it wasn’t uncommon for me to work a 12-hour day on ‘Shrill’ and then continue to work all day at ‘SNL’ — and all night! So it would be a 22-hour day. I can’t do that anymore.”
“Shrill” ended in 2021 after three seasons, but Bryant already has two more shows in development.
One of them, “Cheeky,” is a passion project that takes a fun and funny look at the human body. Based on a book of the same name by Ariella Elovic, Bryant has been trying to get this made into a series for a while now.
Meanwhile, she’s also developing a comedy series for Peacock called “Lonely Hearts Club,” aboutawomanwhofallsinlovewithaconman.
Natasia Demetriou in “What We Do in the Shadows”
BY JAY BOBBIN
Robert Redford is ‘The Candidate’ in Oscar-winning drama
Anyone even mildly familiar with Robert Redford’s work knows of his yen for exploring social issues through his work, and he puts politics into sharp focus with “The Candidate,” a 1972 drama with an Oscar-winning script by former speechwriter Jeremy Larner. Being shown by Turner Classic Movies on Friday, Nov. 1 – as CNN anchor-reporter Kaitlin Collins’s pick for the channel’s series “Making Change: The Most Significant Political Film of All Time” – it casts Redford as a somewhat skeptical novice candidate for a California senatorial seat.
The youthful campaigner offers a stark contrast to the long-in-office incumbent (Don Porter), but he also gets a new perspective on the election process, and one that’s not always welcome as he’s guided between meet-andgreet events and media appearances by a highly savvy consultant (Peter Boyle). Director Michael Ritchie’s excellent cast also includes Melvyn Douglas as the Redford character’s ex-governor father, and Redford friend and earlier co-star Natalie Wood has a cameo as herself.
Puzzle Solutions
more retro rewinds
“The Princess Diaries” (Hulu, streaming): The movie that made Anne Hathaway a star, this Disney-produced 2001 comedy casts her as a rather ordinary teenager who discovers she has a remarkable background … as the lone heir to a European kingdom. Julie Andrews is typically delightful as the young woman’s grandmother, who attempts to educate her in royal behavior. Director Garry Marshall’s cast also includes Mandy Moore, Heather Matarazzo, Sandra Oh and Marshall-movie regular Hector Elizondo. The 2004 sequel “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” is also streaming on Hulu currently.
“The Love Boat” (Catchy Comedy, weekdays): Cast members Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange and Jill Whelan recently reunited aboard an actual week-long cruise on which they greeted fans of this long-popular series, which is gaining new followers as it continues regular repeats. The show is an archive of sorts of performances by well-known personalities from movies, television, theater and music, since the multiple stories in each episode accommodated numerous guest stars. Gavin MacLeod plays the captain of the Pacific Princess, with Lauren Tewes as “Julie, Your Cruise Director.”
Titus Makin Jr. celebrity update
OF THE ROOKIE ON ABC
Q: I miss Jackson West in “The Rookie.” What’s the actor doing now?
A: Titus Makin Jr. (“Star-Crossed”) left “The Rookie” in 2021, after three seasons of playing Jackson West, one of the main group of young cops in the show’s early days. Most actors would just start looking for another full-time gig right off the bat, but Makin has taken a slightly different route. He’s still taking acting roles when they come his way, but at the same time he’s also building an alter-ego as an R&B singer named Erly.
In a way, of course, it’s all acting. You’ll believe that once you see some of Erly’s music videos,
BY ADAM THOMLISON
which feature him dancing with teddy bears and dressed in old-timey formal wear — if anything, his musical work is more theatrical than his screen work.
For example, since leaving “The Rookie,” he appeared in another procedural cop show (a one-off appearance in the first season of “NCIS: Hawai’i”) and starred in the feature-length film “Sins of the Bride,” a relatively straightforward romantic thriller To give you a sense of where his focus is now, he’s yet to announce his next acting role, while his Instagram (@titusmakin) is mostly devoted to promoting his musical work. So you’d do better to keep an ear out for him than an eye.
Robert Redford in “The Candidate”
BY ROBERTO JOZEF
Steelers take on the struggling Giants in Week 8 Monday Night matchup
A new week of NFL continues with another thrilling Monday night matchup. The New York Giants visit the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium Monday, Oct. 28, with all the action airing live on ESPN. It’s been a drama-filled season so far for the Steelers, as they cooled off quite a bit after starting the season 3-0. Head coach Mike Tomlin, it seems, has been continuously grappling with who to start at the quarterback position — Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
Following their loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4, that narrative has only grown louder, with the former first-round draft pick (Fields) having his worst game of the year — completing just 15 of 27 passes for 131 yards, while Wilson continues to watch from the sidelines.
While Fields has shown glimpses of what the Steelers could be, throwing for 961 yards and five touchdowns in 2024, the Steelers offensive game has remained largely inconsistent for the majority of the year, with the team averaging only 18 points per game and a struggling offensive line.
Meanwhile, the Giants have also had their fair share of struggles, beginning the season with a two-game losing streak. However, despite the slow start, the Giants aren’t facing the same quarterback uncertainty, with Daniel Jones anchoring the position. So far, Jones has thrown for 1,138 yards, tossed six touchdowns and been intercepted just three times.
With the Giants defense allowing only 20.8 points per game, look for both teams to establish a strong offensive game early. But with Pittsburgh’s continued quarterback dilemma, this Week 8 matchup will give the Giants a slight edge, as they look to further exploit the Steelers quarterback instability.
Full name: Justin Skyler Fields
Birthdate: March 5, 1999 (25)
Birthplace: Kennesaw, Ga.
Height/weight: 6-3/227 pounds
Team(s): Pittsburgh Steelers (2024-present), Chicago Bears (20232021)
TOWN & COUNTRY FOODS: CLASSIC EGG SALAD
Make this delicious classic egg salad recipe!
Ingredients:
6 large hard-boiled EGGS, sliced 1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
Lettuce leaves (for serving)
Directions:
RESERVE and refrigerate 4 center egg slices for garnish, if desired. CHOP remaining eggs.
MIX mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper in medium bowl. ADD
Find All the Ingredients For this Recipe at
chopped eggs and celery; MIX well. REFRIGERATE, covered, to blend flavors. SERVE on lettuce leaves, garnished with reserved egg slices.
Easy 12-Minute Method for HardBoiled Eggs: PLACE eggs in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer. ADD cold water to cover the eggs by 1 inch. HEAT over high heat just to boiling. REMOVE from the burner. COVER pan. Let eggs stand in hot water for about 12 minutes for large eggs (9 minutes for medium eggs; 15 minutes for extra large eggs).
DRAIN. SHOCK the eggs in a bowl of ice water to cool them immediately. Hardboiled eggs are easiest to peel right after cooling.
Machines/from 2
“I detached all my emotion- passion, anger, and sadness, to be that perfect child, and to be like a robot: obedient, friendly, outstanding, considerate, never rebellious, perhaps no personality,” Huang states.
As a child, Huang longed for a robot companion. He has expressed that longing in an hour-long performance piece exploring the interaction of humanity and technology. Each minute of choreography for KUKA takes between 10 to 20 hours of programming.
Back at WMPAC, other tasks for Zirkle included securing a pallet jack to be able to lift the robot from a truck onto the stage, and making plans to ensure the visiting dancers feel welcomed and comfortable — including securing a Taiwanese Mandarin translator.
Since its inception in 2013, WMPAC has worked with thousands of artists and developed relationships with many of the management companies and agencies representing them.
It was through one of these companies — Sozo Artists, an artistic incubator known for international projects — that Zirkle was introduced to Huang Yi and Kuka. Sozo Artists also helped bring Lil Buck, a legend in the Memphis jookin dance style, to Big Sky a few years ago.
“We’re always trying to present and celebrate artists who think out of the box and think creatively and think adventurously because that’s the spirit of Warren Miller and our mountain community,” Zirkle said. “Plus, it’s just so dang cool.”
It has been 10 years since Huang Yi last toured the United States with KUKA, and three years since Zirkle started the conversation about a stop in Big Sky. He has not seen the performance live, but said that even on video, the combo of human and robot is “very arresting.”
“It held my attention as a viewer to really make me think about my relationship with technology and specifically technological companionship,” Zirkle said. “And I think that conversation is pretty interesting right now.”
For Zirkle, Huang Yi and KUKA helps bring an abstract conversation about the nature of artificial intelligence into a
more concrete visual form.
“Using this kind of brutal looking, large orange robot, with you know, cables and a metal claw, it’s just very big and present and physically almost intimidating,” Zirkle said. “It has a gravity to it that brings that conversation more into the center. It’s easier to kind of watch play out rather than someone talking about their relationship with AI or a screen of someone interacting with a chatbot.”
With KUKA already anthropomorphized and named, Zirkle wonders how five days of interactions with the robot will change how he relates with it. He’s responsible for maintaining its power supply and keeping it safe and secure, something like a pet.
“I’m going to want it to be successful,” he said. “And then it just makes me think about all of the relationships I have with, like, non-living devices in my life, my relationship with my dishwasher and my refrigerator.”
As a teacher, Zirkle said KUKA has made him do a bit of soul-searching about students and technology. While he often laments how tied his students are to their phones, KUKA has him questioning whether there may be some comfort to technological companionship.
“For me, ‘Huang Yi & Kuka’ is a process of beautifying the sorrow and sadness when I grew up,” Huang stated. “It is the expression of loneliness, self-doubt, self-realization, and self-comfort. I was trying to make a beautiful illusion just to assure others that everything was fine. I wanted to remind us of our simplest hope from the very beginning, that we are all just grown up kids, but still kids.”
While the show is family friendly and runs about an hour, Zirkle does not see it as a Disney-esque piece of entertainment with a nice, neat happy ending. He sees the dance imitating life, where people turn to devices because they are in some way preferred to human connections.
“It’s a commentary on our inability to get along with humans,” Zirkle said. “I think that’s part of what Huang’s story is. I hope there’s hope to it, but I’m also okay with the sadness when we turn to machines.”
in focus
“The Day of the Jackal” - Season 1 (Peacock — Nov. 7, Series Premiere)
An unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer (Lashana Lynch) who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.
celebrityscoop
BY JAY BOBBIN
MORGAN KOHAN
sportsquiz
BY ALEX HENDRY
MLB World Series
Questions: Answers:
1)The first official Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series took place in 1903. The championship-winning Boston Americans defeated which currently-active MLB franchise?
2)Name the first Japanese-born player to have been named a World Series MVP.
3)Who pitched the first perfect game in World Series history at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 8, 1956?
4)Which pitcher started three different games in the 2011 World Series?
5)Following the New York Giants refusal to participate in the 1904 World Series, what is the only other year in baseball to have not held a scheduled World Series?
6)Name the only current MLB franchise to have never reached the World Series.
7)Coming up clutch! Who made World Series history by hitting the first pinch-hit home run in 1947 off of Ralph Branca?
8)Featuring a talented roster of future Hall of Famers and their eye-popping uniforms, which MLB franchise won three consecutive World Series from 1972-1974?
9)Breaking the curse after 108 years, who was the manager of the World Series-winning 2016 Chicago Cubs?
10)Which two Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers were both named World Series co-MVP’s in 2001?
In playing Maggie on “Sullivan’s Crossing,” Morgan Kohan has a very full plate, emotionally.
The actress has completed two seasons of the Canadian-made drama, with the sophomore round currently airing Wednesdays on The CW (both seasons have already run on Canada’s CTV). Life hasn’t gotten any easier for Maggie (Kohan), who’s back in her small, titular Nova Scotia hometown: having faced an investigation of her work as a neurosurgeon, she’s now pregnant — and torn between two loves, smalltown handyman Cal (Chad Michael Murray, “One Tree Hill”) and big-city sophisticate Andrew (Allan Hawco, “Republic of Doyle”) — and worried about her estranged father Sully (“Gilmore Girls” alum Scott Patterson), recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Based on novels by Robyn Carr, “Sullivan’s Crossing” (which is filmed on location in Nova Scotia) has clearly given Kohan a bounty of material to play, though she admits she “didn’t have any idea how much the character would have to deal with, to be honest” when she tested for the part. “It’s been really exciting as it’s progressed, though. Something else [subject-wise] will come along and I’ll be like, ‘OK, let’s tackle this, too,’ and it’s been wonderful. It hasn’t slowed down on the drama.”
Executive producer Roma Roth (“Virgin River”) developed “Sullivan’s Crossing” for television. Though Kohan (who’s also returning to Great American Family’s “When Hope Calls” for an upcoming Season 2) read one of Carr’s books to get “a nice
10)Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling
9)Joe Maddon
8)Oakland Athletics
7)Yogi Berra
6)Seattle Mariners
5)1994 (canceled due to players’ strike)
4)Chris Carpenter
3)Don Larsen
2)Hideki Matsui (2009)
1)Pittsburgh Pirates
little overview of Maggie, to get into my head what was expected,” she largely has relied on the show’s scripts to inform her about the role. “And I’ve kind of built Maggie from there.” Regarding principal “Sullivan’s Crossing” co-stars Murray and Patterson, Kohan reflects, “Who wouldn’t want to work with them? They’re great team partners. Chad and I have a friendship that’s just grown as our time together on screen has grown, and getting to see how you grow as an actor with the people surrounding you, it’s really cool that we get to develop these characters together. And there’s a wonderful crew all around us, too.”
Birthdate: Dec. 30, 1993
Birthplace: Summerland, B.C., Canada
Current residence: Toronto
Other television credits include: “Transplant,” “Batwoman,” “A Romance Wedding,” “A Whirlwind Wedding,” “When Hope Calls,” “Creeped Out,” “The Bold Type,” “When Calls the Heart,” “Love on Harbor Island,” “Blink Twice,” “Ransom,” “In Contempt,” “The Black Widow Killer,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Kim’s Convenience,” “Murdoch Mysteries,” “Dead Weight,” “Contingency,” “Til Lease Do Us Part”
Movie credits include: “Kitty Mamas,” “The Marijuana Conspiracy,” “Demons Inside Me”
Education: Randolph College for the Performing Arts (Toronto)
Original career aim: Dancing