Movies: “Bottoms” has got an awfully high score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that just means the marketing bots are at work…TV/Streaming: Friends urge me to watch “Suits” and “Heartstoppers.” I found the first painfully middlebrow and the second romantic goop…Music: Kathleen Battle burned her bridges with the classical world long ago, but every time I listen to her CD with Wynton Marsalis — “Baroque Duet” — I’m captivated…Books: I’ve been catching up with Iris Murdoch this summer: “The Bell” is the latest. Not bad…Sports: The U.S. Open has some fine match-ups this weekend — but so does the Premier League.
I had the pleasure of interacting frequently with Jackson when his wonderful play “Broke-ology” was done at Lincoln Center Theater. Very sorry to hear about his passing.
Movies: Nothing again to see this weekend. But there is something to look forward to: the release in IMAX of “Barbie” on September 22…TV/Streaming: The best streaming show right now is “Hard Knocks” on HBO. It gives us the pre-season practice and drama of the NY Jets, with Aaron Rodgers as the focus…Books: I finally caught up with Amor Towles’s novel “A Gentleman in Moscow.” Completely witty, completely delightful — and soon a Showtime series starring Ewan McEwan…Music: How can Dolly Parton’s upcoming rock album ever live up to the Hype?…Sports: Miami will host the USOC final on Sept. 27. Thank you, Lionel Messi!
Kim Cattrall returned for a brief, shining moment on the finale of “And Just Like That.” She reminded us why they had to change the series’ title for the reboot — Kim’s character provided the sex. But she gave us no sex this time. At least — unlike Charlotte — she hasn’t had a bad face-lift since the heyday of “Sex and the City.”
He says in this interview that past addiction made it easier to play his “A Star is Born” character. But what about playing Leonard Bernstein, in Cooper’s upcoming “Maestro”? Lenny loved his Scotch, after all.
