Why Watch That Radio

In Theaters December 20, 2017 The Greatest Showman The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Starring: Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya Directed by: Michael Gracey Produced by: Laurence Mark, Peter Chernin,...

Sunday, 11/5: The Girlfriend Experience Inspired by Steven Soderbergh's same-named 2009 film, Starz's "The Girlfriend Experience" further develops the original premise of a young attorney in training who leads a double life as a high-end escort. These girlfriends, however, provide far more to their clients than just sex. Season 2 introduces new characters and follows parallel storylines, the first...

    Grey’s Anatomy  (s14 returns 1/18, 9, 24 total, 8p, ABC) The medical drama series focuses on a group of doctors at a hospital in Seattle, including several who began their careers at the facility as interns. One of the doctors and the show's namesake, Meredith Grey, is the daughter of a famous surgeon. She struggles to maintain relationships with her colleagues, particularly the...

Thursday, 11/2: S.W.A.T.  (s1, 1, total?, 10p, CBS) Daniel "Hondo" Harrelson, a Los Angeles S.W.A.T. lieutenant, is assigned to lead a highly skilled unit in the community where he grew up. Torn between loyalty to the streets, where the cops are sometimes the enemy, and allegiance to his brothers in blue, he strategically straddles the two worlds. Hondo encourages his team to rely on communic...

In Theaters December 1, 2017 Wonder Wheel Four peoples’ lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny, an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty, Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey, a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina, Humpty’s long-est...

  (Sun., 10/29): The Deuce  (s1, HBO) Created by George Pelecanos and David Simon, who also collaborated on HBO's "The Wire" and "Treme," the semifictional drama series "The Deuce" tells of the germination of the sex-trade industry in the heart of New York's Times Square. It's the early 1970s, and the porn business begins a shift from organized crime-backed parlors to a legitimate, cultu...

In theaters November 24, 2017 Call Me by Your Name It’s the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century villa in Lombardy, Italy. He soon meets Oliver, a handsome doctoral student who’s working as an intern for Elio’s father. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Elio and Oliver discover the heady beauty of awak...

In Theaters November 22, 2017 Darkest Hour A thrilling and inspiring true story begins at the precipice of World War II as, within days of becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill (Academy Award nominee Gary Oldman) must face one of his most turbulent and defining trials: exploring a negotiated peace treaty with Nazi Germany, or standing firm to fight for the ideals, liberty and...

In Theaters November 22, 2017 The Man Who Invented Christmas Using real-life inspiration and a vivid imagination, author Charles Dickens brings Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim and other classic characters to life in "A Christmas Carol," forever changing the holiday season into the celebration known today. Starring: Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer, Jonathan Pryce Directed by: Bharat Nalluri Written by:...

Now Playing in theaters. Thor Ragnarok Imprisoned on the other side of the universe, the mighty Thor finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally and fellow Avenger. Thor’s quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home world and the Asgardian civilization. Starring: Chris Hemsworth, To...

On Netflix November 17, 2017 Mudbound Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm, a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura's brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not - charming and handsome, but he is haunted by his memories of combat...

Released (NY & LA 11/3; Nationwide 11/17) Last Flag Flying Thirty years after serving together in the Vietnam War, Larry "Doc" Shepherd, Sal Nealon and the Rev. Richard Mueller reunite for a different type of mission: to bury Doc's son, a young Marine killed in Iraq. Forgoing burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Doc and his old buddies take the casket on a bittersweet trip up the coast to Ne...

In Theaters November 10, 2017 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon -- an immature mother's boy with a penc...

In Theaters November 10, 2017 Murder on the Orient Express A lavish trip through Europe quickly unfolds into a race against time to solve a murder aboard a train. Everyone's a suspect when Detective Hercule Poirot arrives to interrogate all passengers and search for clues before the killer can strike again. Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad,...

In theaters November 3, 2017 Lady Bird In  Lady Bird , Greta Gerwig reveals herself to be a bold new cinematic voice with her directorial debut, excavating both the humor and pathos in the turbulent bond between a mother and her teenage daughter. Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan) fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom...

In theaters November 3, 2017 LBJ After powerful Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (Woody Harrelson) loses the 1960Democratic presidential nomination to Senator John F. Kennedy (Jeffrey Donovan), he agrees to be his young rival’s running mate. But once they win the election, despite his extensive legislative experience and shrewd political instincts, Johnson finds himself sidelined in the role...

Wednesday, 10/11: Dynasty (s1, CW) A modernized reboot of the 1980s primetime soap follows two of America's wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. Told primarily through the perspectives of two women at odds -- Fallon Carrington, daughter of billionaire Blake Carrington; and her soon-to-be stepmother, Cristal, a Hispanic...

Wednesday, 10/11: Mr. Robot (s3, USA) Young, anti-social computer programmer Elliot works as a cybersecurity engineer during the day, but at night he is a vigilante hacker. He is recruited by the mysterious leader of an underground group of hackers to join their organization. Elliot's task? Help bring down corporate America, including the company he is paid to protect, which presents him with a mo...

Sunday, 10/1: Wisdom of the Crowd (s1, CBS) Driven by a need to find his daughter's killer, Silicon Valley tech innovator Jeffrey Tanner takes crowdsourcing to a new level, creating a digital platform for people around the world to publicly share and evaluate evidence for criminal investigations. He uses the software as the foundation to launch a new company with a staff of passionate specialists...

In Theaters October 27, 2017 Novitiate Set in the early 1960s and during the era of Vatican II, a young woman in training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, the changing church and sexuality. Starring: Margaret Qualley, Dianna Agron, Morgan Saylor, Melissa Leo Directed by: Margaret Betts Written by: Margaret Betts Produced by: Jessica Betts, Carole Peterman, Celine Rattray, Trudie tyl...

The Critic and The Referee are back with part two of the fall TV shows everyone is talking about. Listen in and find out if these shows should be on your list to watch this season!   Empire (s4, FOX) Hip-hop artist and CEO of Empire Entertainment, Lucious Lyon, has always ruled unchallenged, but a medical diagnosis predicts he will be incapacitated in three years, which prompts the shark...

  The Critic and The Referee are back with part one of a two part discussion on the fall TV shows everyone is talking about. Listen in and find out if these shows should be on your list to watch! Outlander (s3, Starz) After serving as a British Army nurse in World War II, Claire Randall is enjoying a second honeymoon in Scotland with husband Frank, an MI6 officer looking forward to a new...

The Fall TV season has picked up, and "The Critic" and "The Referee" are back to let you know what’s happening in TV land. Premiered Sunday, 8/6: Ray Donovan (s5, Showtime) Ray Donovan is a "fixer" for Hollywood's elite. He is the go-to guy that the city's celebrities, athletes and business moguls call to make their problems disappear. It's a much more lucrative job than his previous work as a rut...

The 55th New York Film Festival took place September 28th and ran through – October 15th, 2017 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Why Watch That was there to cover it. Check out "The Critics" final thoughts on the film festival and the last few films he had the opportunity to catch.   Wonderstruck (Currently in theaters) Ben and Rose are children from two different eras who secretly wi...

In the second half of our best of summer TV reviews, the Critic and the Referee wrap up their thoughts on the summer season shows that dominated 2017.   Manhunt: Unabomber (miniseries, Discovery) This miniseries tells the story of the FBI's hunt for the Unabomber in the 1990s. Agent Jim "Fitz" Fitzgerld, a fresh-faced criminal profiler with the agency, faces an uphill battle in tracking the i...