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BY JAY BOBBIN
“Criminal Minds” is back ... but if you ask its stars, it never should have left.
The mystery centering on the cases of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit ended its 15-season CBS run in 2020, and since then, it has remained popular in repeats on cable networks and streaming services. As a result, the show returns with most of its regular cast members when “Criminal Minds: Evolution” begins streaming Thursday, Nov. 24, on Paramount+. CBS also will run the first episode that night. (In Canada, the drama is coming to Disney+, where episodes of the original series are available now.) The BAU agents have many unsubs (or unknown subjects) to pursue this time, thanks to an enemy, played by recurring guest star Zach Gilford (“Friday Night Lights”) who has utilized the coronavirus pandemic to assemble a network of serial killers. David Rossi and Emily Prentiss (returnees Joe Mantegna and Paget Brewster) again lead the charge against evildoers, with A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler and Adam Rodriguez also reprising their roles. (Matthew Gray Gubler and Daniel Henner haven’t returned for the revival.)
“We never wanted to go away to begin with,” executive producer Erica Messer confirms. “We knew that there were plenty of stories to tell, and that’s one of the things. You can sort of feel behind the scenes if a show is lagging or, creatively, the scripts aren’t hitting. And because we’re telling stories of good and evil, it’s kind of endless.”
Mantegna, Cook, Tyler and Rodriguez also get to direct on “Criminal Minds: Evolution,” as they did on the first series. “I’ve always been a defender of the fact that our show gave that realistic aspect to what these real men and women do,” says Mantegna. “Very often, we hear, ‘Don’t you get nightmares?’ or, ‘Doesn’t it disturb you to do this show?’ It doesn’t disturb me at all because when they say ‘Cut,’ that person lying there with the ax in his head pops up and goes over to craft services and gets a sandwich. “The ones I worry about,” Mantegna adds, “are the real men and women of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world who have to really do this for a living. What I love about our show is that we show it like it is, and I think that’s important.”
NOVEMBER 19 – NOVEMBER 25, 2022 7 ‘American Masters’ celebrates Buffy Sainte-Marie
BY GEORGE DICKIE
When it comes to music with meaning, Buffy Sainte-Marie has been a major voice in that area for six decades.
The much-honored singer-songwriter reflects on her life and career – which now involves being an author of children’s books as well – in “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On,” which premiered at the latest Toronto International Film Festival and makes its “American Masters” debut Tuesday, Nov. 23, on PBS (check local listings). Being shown to commemorate Native American Heritage Month, the profile also features comments from fellow music staples Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson and Jackson Browne.
In an interview for this article, Sainte-Marie spoke about the film and her experiences.
Q: Did you like the idea of the documentary from the start?
A: When (the production company) first called my manager about it, I said, “No, I don’t think so.” I thought most documentaries were boring talking-heads pieces – which I have come to find is not at all true – but I just wasn’t interested.
There had been another documentary about me that came out in 2012, and two books. One was by a professor of native studies in Saskatchewan, and he knows my family and speaks Cree and all. I said “yes” to him when I had said “no” to all the usual rock-and-roll biographers.
Q: How is it to have a life that others feel merits two documentaries and two books?
A: I really had some things to say. I don’t think I was much of a singer when I started, but I had these songs, and I knew they were about issues that I thought people would like to know about – indigenous issues, for instance.
Q: You won an Oscar for co-writing “Up Where We Belong” from the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman.” Do you like that people are surprised that song is yours?
A: The other one is “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” which has been done by people like Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand and symphonies around the world. On the other hand, people are often surprised that I wrote “Universal Soldier” and “Cod’ine.”
View from the Couch BY JAY BOBBIN
AS Adult situations P Profanity
Family Viewing Ratings
V Violence N Nudity GV Graphic Violence
After being part of the Suicide Squad, Peacemaker was ready to go off on his own. Following the 2021 movie about the team of convicts turned crimefighters, John Cena worked again with writer-director James Gunn by reprising the DC Comics character – who intends to instill peace, even if that takes committing some mayhem – in this HBO Max series. A black ops soldier, Christopher Smith (Cena) uses everything at his disposal to try to shape the world the way he’d like it, whatever price anyone else has to pay in the process. Robert Patrick (“Scorpion”) is cast as Peacemaker/ Christopher’s disapproving father Auggie, with the “Harry Potter” movies’ Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase, a district attorney who moonlights as crime-battler Vigilante. Danielle Brooks (“Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia”), Steve Agee and Jennifer Holland also are series regulars. A second season is slated to go into production in the new year. ››› (Not rated: AS, P, V) (Also on Blu-ray)
Seen together earlier in “The Ice Storm,” Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline reunite in this comedy-drama that gives Weaver the platform for a bravura performance. She plays a New England realtor who enjoys her recreational drinking a bit too much, a situation that’s stoked when she renews her relationship with a highschool beau (Kline). The various influences in her life eventually merge into a reckoning that Weaver plays for all it’s worth. Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, David Rasche, Kathryn Erbe (“Law & Order: Criminal Intent”) and Kelly AuCoin (“Billions”) also are in the cast for directors and co-screenwriters Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky. DVD extras: theatrical trailer, audio commentary by Forbes and Wolodarsky; photo gallery. ››› (R: AS, P) (Also on Blu-ray, Digital and On Demand)
In an ideal week for a holidaytravel comedy, writer-director John Hughes’ 1987 classic makes its debut on the 4K Ultra HD format. Steve Martin and John Candy play extremely dissimilar passengers who end up sharing lodging and various forms of transportation in their mutual effort to get home ... a pursuit that becomes ever more complicated. Just the idea of the persnickety Martin and the boisterous Candy together is funny, and indeed, it plays out very humorously through their performances here. Kevin Bacon appears in a supporting cast that also includes Laila Robins, Michael McKean and Dylan Baker. The film’s success made the public aware that the prolific Hughes could generate more than the teen-driven pictures he mainly was famous (and revered) for at the time. ››› (R: AS, P)
Some people pride themselves on having been among the first to see the original “Star Wars” (now known as “Episode IV – A New Hope”), and this story of Patrick Read Johnson is both related and somewhat different. An Illinois youngster with filmmaking aspirations when the fantasy classic was released (on the date indicated by this picture’s title), Johnson headed to Hollywood and managed to become one of the first people outside George Lucas’ inner circle to experience seeing the first stage of the saga of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and company. This project (written and directed by Johnson) dramatizes that trek, with John Francis Daley, Austin Pendleton, Colleen Camp and Neil Flynn (“The Middle”) among the actors participating. It’s hugely notable that Gary Kurtz, who produced the initial “Star Wars” picture, also is among the producers here ... and Johnson did go on to fulfill his career dreams, since he has worked in visual effects for many years. ››› (Not rated) (Also on Blu-ray) 1975 sports drama, adapted by William Harrison from his own short story and making its 4K Ultra HD premiere. James Caan plays Jonathan, a superstar of the title sport – a violent merging of football, hockey and roller derby – whose personal fame worries a hierarchy that would prefer that no one individual stand out in their society. When he refuses to retire voluntarily, his bosses change the literal rules of the game in a bid to eliminate him permanently. John Houseman, John Beck, Maud Adams, Moses Gunn, Ralph Richardson and Pamela Hensley also are featured. The film was remade in 2002. ››› (R: AS, P, V)
