Yellowstone star Kevin Costner takes a deep dive into the Old West with his new documentary series, Kevin Costner’s The West. “These stories will captivate us and shock us. Now it’s time to come face-to-face with the real story of our wild past,” says Costner in the first-look promo for The History Channel’s docuseries debuting this Memorial Day.
The eight-episode documentary series will kick off with back-to-back episodes on Monday, May 26, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT. Episode three will air on Tuesday, May 27th at 8pm ET/PT. The remaining episodes will be released on Mondays at 9pm ET/PT.
In addition to Oscar winner Kevin Costner, the docuseries is executive produced by Rod Lake and Howard Kaplan for Territory Pictures and Dave Sirulnick, Meredith Bennett, Jon Kamen, and David Rivera for RadicalMedia. Pastimes Productions’ Doris Kearns Goodwin and Beth Laski also executive produce along with Eric Levin, Allie Dvorin, and John Turner for APX Content Ventures. Additional executive producers include The HISTORY Channel’s Eli Lehrer, Mary Donahue, and Jennifer Wagman.
A scene from ‘Kevin Costner’s The West’ (Copyright: A+E Networks)
The History Channel offers this lengthy description of Costner’s docuseries:
Kevin Costner’s The West takes viewers on an epic journey through the birth of the American West, examining the relentless competition for land, power, and identity that forged our nation’s history. With legends born from figures such as Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea, to the clashes between lawmen and outlaws, the rise of cowboys and ranchers, the resilience of trailblazing women, and the fervor of fortune seekers and abolitionists, this series spans a century of pivotal events. By presenting these stories from diverse perspectives, the series illuminates both the indelible contributions of the pioneers who shaped the dream of the American West and the courageous resistance of Native American tribes who valiantly defended their ancestral land.
The series highlights pivotal battles and iconic figures, from Chief Little Turtle’s decisive victory over the U.S. Army, sparking General ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne’s counteroffensive and the inexorable push westward, to the tenacious stands of the Blackfeet, Comanche, and Lakota Sioux tribes and by warriors like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse, as well as the storied vigilante Joaquin Murrieta. Blending powerful historical archives, striking visuals, and insightful expert interviews with globally recognized historians, each episode highlights a crucial and often tragic chapter in the rich tapestry of the West.”
Ryan Coogler may be the most under-the-radar director working in Hollywood today. He’s done Marvel movies (Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). He’s won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award (Fruitvale Station). He’s made a Rocky franchise movie (Creed). And every step of the way, he’s brought his main man, actor Michael B. Jordan, along with him. Welp, they’re at it again with the supernatural thriller Sinners.
Set in the thirties, Sinners stars Jordan as the Smokestack Twins, Smoke and Stack, two brothers who come back to their small plantation town in Mississippi after seven years of working for the mob in Chicago. The twins have a plan to open a juke joint, and with the help of their friends and family, they put together the booze, food, and entertainment to do it. But the music that’s played in the joint attracts a presence that is not just seedy, it’s downright evil.
At the risk of spoiling something that has been spoiled by the marketing anyway, that evil presence is vampires. A group of vampires show up to ruin everyone’s good time. But these are not just normal vampires. Well, they are in the respect that they have to stay out of the sunlight, need to be invited in before they can enter a place, and can be killed with a stake through the heart. But these vampires are something more. They survive and thrive on music, and more specifically, on the people who make it.
Coogler’sSinners screenplay is not your grandfather’s vampire movie, even if it is set almost a hundred years ago. Coogler masterfully reinvents a genre that, frankly, has been second only to zombies in how played out it has been recently. Sinners makes vampires fresh again, undoing years of post-Twilight saturation with two hours and seventeen minutes of creative storytelling.
There is a clear From Dusk Till Dawn influence in Sinners. There are actually two movies at work here, one about the twins getting their juke joint up and running, and another about the evil beings that want to take it down. But there’s also a Robert Johnson/Crossroads mythology nod, as the head vampire (played by Jack O’Connell from Back to Black) seems more interested in the particular soul of young bluesman Sammie Moore (rising R&B star Miles Caton), who happens to be the Smokestack Twins’ cousin. And with tensions simmering between Sammie and the brothers, the talented musician is tempted with a way to make his dreams come true.
So, like From Dusk Till Dawn, Sinners starts out as one movie and winds up as a completely different one. Over the course of one long night, things go from party time to fight-for-your-life.
Michael B. Jordan has an absolute field day with his portrayal of the twins. Smoke and Stack are, while obviously similar in many ways, completely different characters, and Jordan plays up the subtle variations in them perfectly. After a while, it’s easy to forget that Smoke and Stack are the same actor, which is as much a tribute to Ryan Coogler and his team as it is to Jordan—the twinning is seamless. And these guys don’t just stand on different sides of the frame Brady Bunch-style; Smoke and Stack interact constantly, doing everything from hugging to fighting, and having them both played by the same actor is an impressive feat of filmmaking, both creatively and technically.
Of course, the music in Sinners is extremely important to the overall effect of the movie. Ludwig Göransson’s score leans heavily on the delta blues but also injects a modern element that moves the story along while still managing to keep everything period correct. The soundtrack includes collaborations with the likes of, among others, Rhiannon Giddens, Cedric Burnside, Brittany Howard, and James Blake, as well as contributions from cast members Miles Caton and Lola Kirke (who plays one of the vampires). The whole backbone of the story is the connection between music and dark forces, and the score put together by Göransson and his conspirators is terrific.
So, as might be evident from everything that’s been said up until now, Sinners is a horror movie. But it’s not a typical exploitative, blood-and-guts horror movie. Of course, there’s plenty of blood and guts, but Sinners is way more plot-driven than your typical suck-your-blood vampire movie. It deals heavily with frightening ideas and concepts, and seeing as how it’s set in the Jim Crow-era South, it’s not all fantasy and legend. The shadow of the Ku Klux Klan and post-slavery racism looms over the entire movie, so there are daylight threats as well as moonlit ones. And, from the juke joint’s perspective, it’s hard to say which is scarier.
Although he may not be a household name, it’s very clear that Ryan Coogler knows how to make a movie, and Sinners proves that he can work in the schlocky genres without making actual schlock. Sinners is not just an amazing horror movie; it’s an amazing movie, period.
Oh, and be sure to stick around after the end for a mid-credits scene, which is very significant to the story. And which features a pretty cool cameo. Shhhh!
GRADE: A
Rating: R for sexual content, language, and strong bloody violence
Release Date: April 18, 2025
Running Time: 2 hours 17 minutes
Studio: Warner Bros Pictures
Bosch star Titus Welliver and Civil War‘s Juani Feliz guest star on CBS’s The Equalizer season five episode 16, “Sins of the Father.” Directed by Geoff Shotz, episode 16 will air on Sunday, April 20, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT.
Queen Latifah stars as Robyn McCall, Tory Kittles is Detective Marcus Dante, Adam Goldberg is Harry Keshegian, and Liza Lapira is Melody “Mel” Bayani. Laya DeLeon Hayes plays Delilah and Lorraine Toussaint is Viola “Vi” Marsette.
“Sins of the Father” Plot: McCall is contacted by Samantha Reed (Feliz), whose father, ex-CIA agent Elijah Reed (Welliver), is missing. While Samantha joins forces with the Equalizer team to track down the agency legend, she learns more about her family’s past in the Dominican Republic.
“The Equalizer is a reimagining of the classic series starring Academy Award nominee and multi-hyphenate Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills as a former CIA operative to help those with nowhere else to turn. McCall presents to most as an average single mom who is quietly raising her teenage daughter. But to a trusted few, she is The Equalizer—an anonymous guardian angel and defender of the downtrodden, who’s also dogged in her pursuit of personal redemption.
Robyn’s clandestine work and her personal life often collide when her smart and observant daughter, Delilah, and her aunt Vi, who lives with Robyn to help her balance life as a working mother, struggle to conceal her vigilante career. While Robyn worries about the mental and emotional toll her work exacts on her family, she is joined in her pursuit of justice by Melody “Mel” Bayani, an edgy bar owner and sniper from Robyn’s past who recently quit the Equalizer team to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder, and Harry Keshegian, a paranoid and brilliant white-hat hacker married to Mel.
As Robyn aids the oppressed and exploited, she sometimes works with Marcus Dante, an NYPD detective and trusted friend who respects the need for Robyn’s type of justice even as he often questions her methods.”
The squad takes on a sex trafficker on CBS’s SWAT season eight episode 18, “Exploited.” Directed by Billy Gierhart, episode 18 will air on Friday, April 18, 2025 at 10pm ET/PT.
Season eight stars Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, Jay Harrington as David “Deacon” Kay, David Lim as Victor Tan, Patrick St. Esprit as Commander Robert Hicks, and Anna Enger Ritch as Zoe Powell. Annie Ilonzeh is Devin Gamble and Niko Pepaj plays Miguel “Miko” Alfaro.
“Exploited” Plot: When a violent shooting rocks a Los Angeles nightclub, Hondo and 20-Squad are thrust into the dark world of sex trafficking, going head-to-head with a notorious biker club as they race to find a missing girl. Meanwhile, a figure from Alfaro’s past resurfaces, raising the question of whether his wounds run too deep for forgiveness, and Deputy Chief Bennett pushes Commander Hicks to the breaking point.
S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore as a former Marine and locally born and raised SWAT sergeant tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Torn between loyalty to where he was raised and allegiance to his brothers in blue, Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson strives to bridge the divide between his two worlds.
Committed to the job, Hondo is equally devoted to his marriage and fatherhood. The other members of Hondo’s elite S.W.A.T. unit include David “Deacon” Kay, an experienced S.W.A.T. officer and dedicated family man who always puts the team first; Victor Tan, who started in the LAPD Hollywood Division and uses his confidential informants in the community to help the team; Zoe Powell, a tough and loyal team member trying to reconnect with the son she gave up for adoption as a teen; and Miguel “Miko” Alfaro, a headstrong officer who overcame a troubled childhood, and is now a trusted 20-Squad addition following a rocky transfer to Los Angeles S.W.A.T.
Responsible for the management of all Metro Division S.W.A.T. units is Commander Robert Hicks, a senior LAPD official with the Special Operations Bureau. With Hondo leading the charge, these dedicated men and women bravely put themselves at risk to protect their community and save lives.
Angela asks the question we all want to know the answer to in the teaser for ABC’s The Rookie season seven episode 14. “Mad About Murder” will air on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
The cast is led by Nathan Fillion as John Nolan. Season seven stars Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Melissa O’Neil as Lucy Chen, Eric Winter as Tim Bradford, Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune, Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers, and Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez. Deric Augustine and Patrick Keleher recur as Miles and Seth.
“Mad About Murder” Plot: Tim receives a strange message, launching a larger investigation into the dark web. Meanwhile, Celina works to take down a popular podcast, and Miles helps update the department’s training videos.
Alyssa Diaz and Eric Winter in ‘The Rookie’ season 7 episode 14 (Disney/Mike Taing)
The Rookie Season 7 Details:
John Nolan, once the oldest rookie in the LAPD, has used his life experience, determination, and sense of humor to keep up with rookies 20 years his junior. Now recovering from a gunshot wound and feeling the effects of his age, John and the team welcome two new rookies and continue the hunt for two dangerous escaped prisoners who have very personal vendettas.
Melissa O’Neil and Lisseth Chavez in season 7 episode 14 (Disney/Mike Taing)Arjay Smith, Mekia Cox, and Nathan Fillion in season 7 episode 14 (Disney/Mike Taing)Deric Augustine, Eric Winter and Mekia Cox in season 7 episode 14 (Disney/Mike Taing)Deric Augustine, Eric Winter, Mekia Cox, Arjay Smith, and Nathan Fillion in season 7 episode 14 (Disney/Mike Taing)
James Bay and Sheryl Crow perform on ‘The Voice’ (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)
Nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow is returning to NBC’s The Voice, and two-time Grammy winner LeAnn Rimes is making her The Voice mega mentor debut later this month. Sheryl Crow, who mentored on season four, will be joining coaches Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé as a mega mentor beginning with the Monday, April 28, 2025 season 27 episode.
LeAnn Rimes will pitch in as a mega mentor for John Legend’s and Adam Levine’s teams.
“Each coach enters the Playoffs with five artists per team. Alongside the coaches, Crow and Rimes bring their distinct vocals, creative edge, and deep industry experience to guide the artists into their most high-stakes performances yet,” reads NBC’s description of the upcoming playoffs round. “Coaches alone choose two artists from their team to advance to the Live Shows.”
Season 27 ranks as the most-watched alternative series, according to the network, with The Voice claiming that title for five consecutive seasons. John de Mol created the series and executive produces with Mark Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Amanda Zucker, Kyra Thompson, Adam H. Sher, and Barry Poznick.
Freddie Highmore directed episodes of Bates Motel and The Good Doctor, and now he’s added Fire Country director to his resume. Highmore directs season three episode 18, “Eyes and Ears Everywhere,” airing on Friday, April 18, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
Max Thieriot stars as Bode, Billy Burke plays Vince, Kevin Alejandro is Manny, and Diane Farr is Sharon. Stephanie Arcila plays Gabriela, Jordan Calloway is Jake, Jules Latimer is Eve, and Leven Rambin guest stars as Audrey James.
“Eyes and Ears Everywhere” Plot: The station 42 crew responds to a routine house fire that escalates into a dangerous situation for one of their own.
Fire Country stars Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began.
Years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire.
So, who among you predicted the outcome of the baby dilemma? Spoiler alert: ABC’s Doctor Odyssey episode 14 turned the pregnancy into a non-issue, revealing that neither Max nor Tristan is going to become a father anytime soon and Avery’s not about to be a mom. Up next, episode 15, “Crew Week,” airing on Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 9pm ET/PT.
Joshua Jackson (Fatal Attraction) plays Dr. Max Bankman, Phillipa Soo (Shining Girls) is Nurse Avery Morgan, Sean Teale (Little Voice) is Nurse Tristan Silva, and Don Johnson (Rebel Ridge) stars as Captain Robert Massey. Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz, and Joe Baken write and executive produce the first season.
“Crew Week” Plot: Crew week on The Odyssey sends Max back to his hometown for answers, while Tristan reveals Avery’s secret to Vivian. As Munroe fights a parasitic infection, Avery pressures Rosie to face a medical condition she’s been hiding.
Joshua Jackson and Phillipa Soo in ‘Doctor Odyssey’ episode 15 (Disney/Tina Thorpe)
Doctor Odyssey Plot Description, Courtesy of ABC:
From the brilliant mind of Ryan Murphy comes the high-octane procedural Doctor Odyssey. Max (Jackson) is the new onboard doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the staff works hard and plays harder. It’s all hands on deck as Max and his small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other miles from shore.
Joshua Jackson and Sean Teale in episode 15 (Disney/Tina Thorpe)Phillipa Soo and Joshua Jackson in episode 15 (Disney/Tina Thorpe)Joshua Jackson and Phillipa Soo in episode 15 (Disney/Tina Thorpe)Joshua Jackson, Don Johnson and Sean Teale in episode 15 (Disney/Tina Thorpe)
A24’s launched the first teaser for Eddington ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The trailer doesn’t give away much but does confirm writer/director Ari Aster’s (Beau is Afraid) latest feature is sure to stir up feelings/controversy. One commenter on YouTube wrote, “I expect nothing but calm and rational discussions about this movie going forward.” (Too bad sarcasm doesn’t have a designated font.)
The contemporary Western stars a bevy of big names, including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone. Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Amélie Hoeferle, Clifton Collins Jr., William Belleau, and Micheal Ward also star.
“In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Phoenix) and mayor (Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico,” reads A24’s synopsis.
John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon, Paul Whitehouse join ‘Harry Potter’ (Photo Credits: Jessica Howes, Andrew Crowley, Ruth Crafer, Lee Malone, Phil Sharp, Mike Marsland)
HBO’s much-anticipated Harry Potter series has found its Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid, and Minerva McGonagall. Emmy winner and Oscar nominee John Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore in the series, a role played by Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, and Jude Law in the feature films. Emmy nominee Paapa Essiedu has huge shoes to fill as Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman in all eight of the original Harry Potter films.
Oscar and Emmy nominee Janet McTeer will star as Minerva McGonagall, brought to life in the feature films by Dame Maggie Smith. Emmy nominee Nick Frost is the series’ Hagrid. Robbie Coltrane played the popular character in the films. HBO also announced Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse will have guest star/recurring roles as Quirinus Quirrell and Argus Filch, respectively.
“We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon, and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell, and Filch,” stated Francesca Gardiner, showrunner and executive producer, and Mark Mylod, director of multiple episodes and executive producer. “We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”
Gardiner adapted J.K. Rowling’s books for the series. Rowling is involved as an executive producer along with Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts, and David Heyman.
HBO offered this description of what to expect from the series:
“The series will be a faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling and will feature an exciting and talented cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail and much-loved characters Harry Potter fans have adored for over 25 years.
Exploring every corner of the wizarding world, each season will bring Harry Potter and its incredible adventures to new and existing audiences and will stream exclusively on Max where it’s available globally, including upcoming markets such as Turkey, the UK, Germany, and Italy, among others. The original, classic, and cherished films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch around the world.”
