The Brainerd Dispatch - Today's Entertainment Magazine
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Brainerd Dispatch • February 21 - 27, 2021 •19 By Dana Simpson TV Media WHAT'S NEW ON NETFLIX "Ginny & Georgia" Test and explore the strength of a mother-daughter bond when the new Netflix series "Ginny & Geor- gia" makes its debut on Wednes- day, Feb. 24, on the streamer. After having lived somewhat of a nomadic lifestyle, moving town to town for much of their lives, edgy and rootless 30-year-old Georgia Miller (Brianne Howey, "The Exorcist") and her two children, 15-year-old Ginny (Antonia Gentry, "Candy Jar," 2018) and young Austin (Diesel La Torraca, "Lambs of God"), land in Massachusetts for yet another "fresh start" (as so deli - cately put by Georgia). As the family begins to settle in and Georgia real- izes how well her kids are adapting to this specific new lifestyle, she starts to question whether moving again, as she had always planned, is a good idea after all. While plant- ing roots ultimately seems like the only way to give her kids the stabili- ty they crave, the longer they stay in the Massachusetts town, the more it seems there may be a more sin- ister and urgent reason behind the Millers' constant need to relocate. Written and produced by new tal- ent Sarah Lampert ("Haze," 2016), this quirky 10-episode dramedy series' premiere season also stars a largely Canadian supporting cast, including Felix Mallard ("Locke & Key"), Sara Waisglass ("Degrassi: The Next Generation"), Jennifer Robertson ("Schitt's Creek") and Alex Mallari Jr. ("Dark Matter"). WHAT'S NEW ON HBO MAX "Tom & Jerry" (2021) Get animated with the newest installment in a long franchise of cat-and-mouse films: "Tom & Jerry" are back and coming to HBO Max on Friday, Feb. 26. For more than 80 years, Tom the Cat and Jerry the Mouse have conned, beaten and schemed one another into various high-stakes, would-be deadly (to humans) circumstances. Now, in this live-action-animation combi- nation film from Warner Animation Group and Hanna-Barbera Produc- tions, the frenemies are back in a serious way and living it up in the finest of Big Apple hotels. While preparing for "the wedding of the century," hotel staff Terrance (Michael Peña, "American Hustle," 2013) and DuBros (Rob Delaney, "Bombshell," 2019) hire Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz, "Carrie," 2013) on as the newest member of their prestigious team. One of her main tasks: to rid the hotel of its (cartoon) mouse problem, oth- erwise known as Jerry. Rather than choosing to hire an exterminator or apply mouse traps to the hotel's nooks and crannies, Kayla opts to fight fire with fire — or, rather, mouse with cat — and brings in Tom to solve the Jerry problem once and for all. But, as all Tom & Jerry franchise fans know, Jerry is any- thing but an average mouse. Filmed as a live-action production with a classic cartoon style superimposed over top, Tim Story's ("Taxi," 2004) "Tom & Jerry" is a truly unique visual experience in modern-day film. Loaded with film and comedy talent, this new addition to the saga also stars "Saturday Night Live's" Colin Jost, "Community's" Ken Jeong, "Lion's" (2016) Pallavi Sharda and "Peaky Blinders'" Jor- dan Bolger. WHAT'S NEW ON DISNEY+ "Pair of Kings" Be the ruler of your own destiny when all three seasons of the Dis- ney series "Pair of Kings" come to Disney+ on Friday, Feb. 26. When Chicago-born teenage fraternal twins Boomer (Doc Shaw, "House of Payne") and Brady (Mitchel Musso, "Hannah Montana") are visited at school by a mysterious royal adviser (Geno Segers, "Ban- shee") to an island nation they had never heard of, they learn they are the rightful co-heirs to the throne of the Island of Kinkow, a remote and magical island supposedly not found on any map. Taken on a journey to Kinkow soon after, the brothers learn about their nation the hard way — through a series of wacky mishaps and slapstick-com- edy scenarios. Created by David Hoge and Dan Cross (both of "Julie and the Phantoms" fame), this live-action-adventure series first launched in 2010 and lasted for a total of 69 episodes spread over three seasons. Filled with absurdist humor and rib-tickling situational irony, this kids' series also stars Kelsey Asbille ("Yellowstone"), Ryan Ochoa ("Room for Rent," 2019), Adam Hicks ("The Boy Next Door," 2015) and Kevin Acevedo ("Knight Squad"). WHAT'S NEW ON HULU "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (2020) Get into the music and take in all of Lady Day when the new feature film "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" comes to Hulu on Friday, Feb. 26. Known in her time and throughout history as one of jazz and blues music's most valued and haunting voices, Billie Holi- day's (portrayed by triple-threat performer Andra Day, "Marshall," 2017) soul and honesty spoke to many during a career that spanned more than a quarter-century. This biographical music drama chronicles the Federal Bureau of Narcotics' investigation into Holi- day that began in 1939 and lasted for several years of arrests and censorship, and which ultimately contributed to her death in a hotel room under police watch 20 years later. Adapted for the screen by Suzan-Lori Parks ("Their Eyes Were Watching God," 2005) and with inspiration from Johann Hari's 2015 book "Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs," this film, directed by Lee Daniels ("Lee Daniels' The Butler," 2013), also stars Trevante Rhodes ("Moonlight," 2016), Garrett Hedlund ("TRON: Legacy," 2010), Leslie Jordan ("The Help," 2011), Natasha Lyonne ("Orange Is the New Black) and Tyler James Wil- liams ("Dear White People," 2014). WHAT'S NEW ON PRIME "The Informer" (2020) Find out just what a man would do for his freedom and to secure a normal life for his family with "The Informer," coming Friday, Feb. 26, to Prime. Ex-con, family man and former special operations soldier Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman, "The Killing") has been working alongside the FBI as an informant for quite some time in an operation to take down a powerful New York City crime lord who goes by the name The General. When one of his assigned stings goes sideways and an undercover police officer is killed, Koslow becomes a pawn in a game between the criminal underworld and the organization trying to expose it. Agreeing to get himself reincarcerated in order to expose The General from inside the system, Koslow soon comes to real- ize that the only person he can trust is himself. Starring Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl," 2014), Clive Owen ("Children of Men," 2006), Ana de Armas ("Blade Runner 2049," 2017), Mateusz Kosciukiewicz ("In the Name Of," 2013), Common ("Suicide Squad," 2016) and new actor Karma Meyer, "The Informer" was directed by Andrea di Stefano ("Escobar: Paradise Lost," 2014) and was based on the 2009 novel "Three Seconds" by Swedish au- thors Börge Hellström and Anders Roslund. Diesel La Torraca, Brianne Howey and Antonia Gentry in "Ginny & Georgia" A scene from "Tom & Jerry" Andra Day stars in "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"