A 2022 NBC reboot of “Quantum Leap” was never going to be in that first category. From an expectation-setting/self-preservation standpoint, Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) is in the machine and leaping into the past before Minute 5 of the pilot is over. The episode opens with a nod to Scott Bakula’s Sam Beckett, the role that Lee is mirroring. The audience doesn’t necessarily need to know how or why Ben is hopping his way through the past....

The untitled series will not be an adaptation of the original Japanese-language film, which premiered in 1950, but will retain its key plot points and narrative technique — a drama centering around a grisly sexual assault and murder, and the unraveling mystery seen through multiple characters’ competing eyes — to explore the themes of truth and subjective point-of-view, in a modern setting. Each episode of the series will focus on the perceived truth of a specific character as they tell the events of the murder from their unique, self-serving perspective....

Barrett’s film hints at the sleeker, darker film underneath his many genre fixations; it also sets up the possibility of a followup that could better tap into those ideas. “Seance” works best when viewed as a prequel to another film, one with a mythology that Barrett only bumps up against in this one (and one that, unfortunately, can’t receive more than oblique reference here; unpacking it would mean major spoilers for the film at hand)....

For the actress, there’s certainly an awareness of how things have progressed for women since Monroe’s day — part of Rosemary’s attraction to Pat is that the latter lives in a more permissive era — and yet so much remains mired in the past. “Being a member of the female gender sets us up for such a different life than, say, if we were a straight cisgender white male from an affluent background,” Sorvino told IndieWire in a recent Zoom conversation....

“I just said, ‘Well, I guess it’ll be a while before I find a subject that could follow Clarence Avant,’” the filmmaker recalled during a recent phone interview with IndieWire. “And then you get a call saying ‘Sidney Poitier,’ you go ‘Whoa, there you have it.’” Before Hudlin officially said yes to directing “Sidney,” his Apple TV+ documentary about the groundbreaking movie star who was the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Actor — and which has garnered three Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations, including Best Feature and Best Director — he connected with Poitier’s family through the producers at Network Entertainment....

“Matt and Trey are world-class creatives who brilliantly use their outrageous humor to skewer the absurdities of our culture and we are excited to expand and deepen our long relationship with them to help fuel Paramount+ and Comedy Central,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO of MTV Entertainment and CCO/Adult Animation of Paramount+ in a statement. “Franchising marquee content like South Park and developing new IP with tremendous talent like Matt and Trey, is at the heart of our strategy to continue growing Paramount+....

One is “Spider-Man: Far from Home” ($3.99), #1 at Google Play and second at iTunes. And “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” helped by a price reduction to $5.99, leads at iTunes and Vudu (the lower price started December 17; Google Play tends to lag a few days in reporting). And not only 2019’s “Far from Home” but also 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (also $3.99) made two charts. And Google Play, in a move that will confuse many, is accepting pre-buys for “No Way Home” for an unspecified date....

That said, there are few trends obvious enough to discuss with only a cursory glance at the assembled nominations honoring some of the finest TV from 2021. Now, let’s dispense with the pleasantries and get down to the business of big winners. Winner: Superheroes and Wars in Stars Taking in the nomination information as a whole, it’s near impossible to miss the proliferation of Marvel, DCU, and Star Wars properties....

Some of its most egregious plot points are even ignored whole cloth in Season 2, which stands as an improvement in almost every conceivable way — the fact that Picard’s consciousness was transferred into a golem body, so as to save his life, at the end of that initial run is never once mentioned. With the precision of Chief O’Brien locking onto a particularly tricky transporter pattern, new showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas have isolated what worked about Season 1 and what didn’t....

It’s not that Lawler isn’t wise beyond her years — she is — it’s the fact that she’s wise beyond most adults’ years. Throughout our conversation, she dropped such profound observations about herself, her role, and her part in the show’s greater creative experience that by the time I disconnected our Zoom call I was a bit dumbfounded by what had just transpired. For those who’ve watched “Station Eleven,” which released its final episode January 13, this should come as no surprise....

Rachel Shukert’s adaptation of “The Baby-Sitters Club” — the beloved youth book series by Ann M. Martin about, well, a club of babysitters — saw its second season drop on Monday, offering a welcome shelter from the storm for any viewers feeling overwhelmed and overworked by the never-ending slog that is 2021. The series focuses on the titular club made up of seven adolescent girls (Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, Dawn, Jessi, and Mallory) who struggle with the typical trials of maintaining friends and family, in addition to facing more momentous challenges, including death, divorce, and, yes, even dating....

Even after fifty episodes (and a few specials), there’s no indication that Andre is running short on ideas on how to confuse, shock, and otherwise unsettle everyone he crosses paths with, be they celebrity guests or hapless New Yorkers during the show’s man on the street segments. Attempting to describe any of the show’s bits in meaningful detail is an exercise in futility and doesn’t do the comedy justice. It’s performance art that needs to be seen to be believed, but for the uninitiated: Imagine “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” taken to an illogical extreme and with more physical humor, or imagine if any of the popular late night talk show hosts hated their job and went live in the middle of a week-long amphetamine binge....

“I’m always interested and amazed at the perception that an actor would be very much like the character he plays, and I would imagine one of the reasons that perception holds true is that people feel or think that in order to play that character well, you must be that guy,” Esposito said. “So I think part of the assumption could be true. But I’m very different. However, certainly as an actor, I have to be able to access that place, but not have to actually live in the guy’s skin....

Over half a century after the original “Munsters” black-and-white sitcom series wrapped, writer-director Rob Zombie is breathing new life into the kooky undead family comedy with a feature film. Jeff Daniel Phillips stars as the famed Herman Munster, who preaches acceptance no matter what people look like, monsters or not. Director Zombie’s wife Sheri Moon Zombie plays Lily Munster, and Daniel Roebuck is Grandpa. Iconic Halloween persona Elvira aka Cassandra Peterson stars as real estate agent Barbara Carr, with Jorge Garcia, Richard Brake, Catherine Schell, and Sylvester McCoy rounding out the ensemble cast....

“The Suicide Squad” is a standalone sequel to David Ayer’s 2016 movie “Suicide Squad,” which is memorable for introducing Robbie’s fan-favorite turn as Harley Quinn. While Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” was a box-office blockbuster that earned more than $740 million worldwide, the film received critical pans across the board, and was one of the worst-reviewed films of 2016. While Gunn is carrying over some of the same characters from Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” (Robbie’s Harley, Courtney’s Boomerang, Davis’ Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag), he’s expected to start from scratch when it comes to story and tone....

There’s an interesting dichotomy for Olsen in looking back at her time filming “WandaVision” because it seemed to feel saner than what was going on in the world with regards to the pandemic. “[It] felt kind of profound that we were in this situation where we couldn’t see people [and] we’re like hundreds of people trying to figure out how to make this thing work that’s all about maintaining a bubble and a family nucleus,” Olsen told IndieWire....

So far, there’s plenty of euphoric praise for the Marvel Cinematic Universe spinoff, which centers on Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) as they try to live out an idealized suburban life in the small town of Westview, where the residents don’t know about their powers. But the border between reality and illusion stars to blur for the pair in this series created by Jac Schaeffer, based on the Scarlet Witch character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....

The first 30-minute sneak peek footage of “Wendell & Wild” — in which Black teenage orphan Kat (Lyric Ross) becomes an afro-punk hell maiden who makes a bargain with demon siblings Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Jordan Peele) — proves that the wait for a new Selick film was worth it. The director has made a summary statement about rebellion and creativity, pushing his craft into new areas of expression and experimentation....

The “Normal People” star transforms into “marsh girl” Kya, a young woman who was abandoned as a child and left to fend in the wilderness by herself. After being entangled with two town locals, Kya (Edgar-Jones) is accused of murder and put on trial. David Strathairn, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, and Ahna O’Reilly also star. Based on the bestselling novel by Delia Owens, “Where the Crawdads Sing” will land in theaters July 15....

“Yasuke” is purportedly a show about history’s first Black samurai. When the Netflix adult animated series sticks to that idea, it’s pretty good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the six-episode series to lose sight of its compelling protagonist in favor of increasingly outlandish fantasy elements. The series, which hails from animation veteran LeSean Thomas (whose credits range from “The Legend of Korra” and “Black Dynamite” to “The Boondocks”) is very loosely based on Yasuke, who served Oda Nobunaga, the “Great Unifier” of Japan, as a samurai in the 16th century....