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TV Media Weekly | March 17 - 23, 2018 By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: The new movie "15:17 to Paris," directed by Clint Eastwood, uses the actual heroes in the lead roles. Has there ever been another film with real people recreating their real live events? A: There have been a few. The most famous example is 1955's "To Hell and Back," the true story of decorated war hero Audie Murphy, in which Murphy stars as himself. The movie was a huge hit, and Murphy translat- ed that opportunity into sus- tained film stardom. The extent to which either will be true of Eastwood's new movie, howev- er, remains to be seen. "15:17 to Paris" (2018) fea- tures three heroes — Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos — recreating their moment of heroism and their lives leading up to it. The first known example of this type of filmmaking did the opposite, time-wise: 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives" featured real-life double-amputee Harold Russell, who lost both of his arms in an accident during the war, playing a version of himself (though the name was changed to Homer Parrish), dramatizing the challenges of reintegrating into society after losing limbs. There's also a different kind of hero who makes up a sort of sub-genre within these films: the sports hero. Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali both played themselves in their own biopics, "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) and "The Greatest" (1977), respectively. On that note, the Rocky mov- ies are a rich mine for this sort of thing: Producer/writer/creator/ star Sylvester Stallone frequent- ly casts real professional boxers for acting parts in the film series. The most recent entry, "Creed" (2015), featured real fighters Andre Ward and Tony Bellew, as well as real-life cornermen/ trainers Ricardo "Padman" McGill and Jacob "Stitch" Duran. "15:17 to Paris" makes a sell- ing feature of its real-life cast- ing, but sometimes directors try to sneak it under the radar (which is a pun you'll get in a minute). That was the case in 2006's "United 93," which dra- matized the Sept. 11, 2001, at- tacks and featured real-life Fed- eral Aviation Administration manager Ben Sliney playing himself as he made the dramatic decision to ground all flights on the day. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Hollywood Q&A By Andrew Warren TV Media I t's no secret that eating out can be expensive. Usually that isn't too hard to get around: just whip something up at home! But sadly, that isn't really an option when you're vis- iting another city, and bills from eating out for three meals a day (plus some snacks tossed in for good measure) can get pretty pricey in a hurry. That's where "Cheap Eats" host Ali Khan comes in. The man behind the Bang for your Burger Buck blog returns with a new season of the Cooking Channel series on Wednesday, March 21. In each episode of "Cheap Eats," the charismatic host visits a new city with nothing but an empty stomach and 35 bucks budgeted for food. That's $35 for the entire day — he needs to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with those limited funds, plus an afternoon snack to boot. Of course, he also avoids the dirt- cheap fast food joints; that would be totally against the spir- it of the challenge, and besides, he's in these cities to soak up the local culture, and that includes local foods. In Wednesday's premiere, Khan is in Philadelphia, a city with a reputation for serving food with an attitude. First he hunts for breakfast, and finds a place serving a local favorite that won't break the bank: a scrapple (a pan-fried pork dish), egg and cheese dip sandwich. Come lunch time, he tracks down a joint serving a Philly original: pork roast served with provolone and spinach. That's two meals down, but with the snack included, there are still two to go. For an after- noon pick-me-up, he buys some dumplings stuffed with cheese steak, apple pie and cheesecake, and for dinner, Khan heads to the city's Fishtown neighborhood, where he finds a unique twist on ramen that tickles his taste buds while not breaking the bank. Visiting another city can be expensive, but in "Cheap Eats," Ali Khan shows how to track down the best deals on local meals. It turns out that it is possi- ble to eat out, eat well and even eat affordably. The new season of "Cheap Eats" premieres Wednesday, March 21, on Cook- ing Channel. Ali Khan's 'Cheap Eats' doesn't break the bank 10 | Cooking this week Sunspot 2 x 2" Vicker's Graphics 2 x 1.5" Tech Repairadise 2 x 1.5" Ali Khan hosts "Cheap Eats"

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