SMART PELOTE EASON

Revisiting the 'Friends' Thanksgiving episodes may sweeten the holiday

"Friends" always made Thanksgiving better. This year, we need to revisit the show's Thanksgiving specials more than ever.

Move over, Rudolph: Streaming adds to the flood of holiday specials

Far from the holiday specials of the past -- which dutifully arrived on the major networks each year, from Frosty and Rudolph to Charlie Brown and the Grinch -- much of this year's barrage of Christmas specials will stream into the season.

Taylor Swift reveals boyfriend Joe Alwyn is mystery 'folklore' co-writer

Taylor Swift has revealed that her British actor boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, is the mystery co-writer credited on her latest album "Folklore" under the pseudonym "William Bowery."

Drake sides with The Weeknd, says Grammys 'may no longer matter'

Add Drake to the list of people who don't sound happy that The Weeknd was shut out of this year's Grammy nominations.

Chrissy Teigen is in 'grief depression hole'

Once again Chrissy Teigen is being open about her struggles.

Amanda Kloots talks about first Thanksgiving without Nick Cordero

Thanksgiving is sure to be difficult for anyone who has lost someone to Covid-19, and Amanda Kloots understands that well.

'The Flight Attendant' serves up a fun trip thanks to Kaley Cuoco

"The Flight Attendant" feels like the TV equivalent of summer beach reading, in mostly good ways. Kaley Cuoco stars as the globetrotting party gal of the title, who has the unfortunate experience of waking up next to a dead guy. What happens thereafter plays like a Hitchock-ian thriller, punctuated by the comedy of a protagonist who greets each new development by nearly hyperventilating.

The best of Netflix's charmingly bad holiday romcoms

Coronavirus, lockdowns, economic woes and a dramatic political divide have all made 2020 pretty unbearable. So, let's thank Netflix for a few winter romcoms to take our minds off real life.

'Black Beauty' reimagines the classic horse story

"Black Beauty" gives the original Victorian novel a significant makeover, a contemporary remake that relocates the story to the American West. The movie delivers a more pointed animal-rights message, but while its equine star fares well enough, the two-footed characters never really get out of the starting gate.

'Hillbilly Elegy' turns J.D. Vance's memoir into a dreary movie

"Hillbilly Elegy," J.D. Vance's 2016 memoir, won praise for its insight into the forgotten folk whose poverty and hopelessness prompted them to embrace Donald Trump as a political force. That sociology aspect is mostly lost in Netflix's dreary movie adaptation, which focuses on one family trapped in a circular pattern of dysfunction, and how the son escaped it.