December 26, 2015 by The Sumter Item

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2015

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46 130 Twister (‘96, Drama) Helen Hunt. A retired storm chaser and his ex-wife lead a ragtag team of Ocean’s Eleven (‘01, Crime) aaac George Clooney. An ex-con robs three Las Vegas

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WIS News 10 at Fix It & Finish It: 11:00pm News Radical Renovaand weather. tions (HD) 60 Minutes (N) (HD) Undercover Boss: Nestlé Toll House CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Immortality When a cataclysmic event News 19 @ 11pm (:35) Scandal: Hunting Season ScanCafé by Chip COO cannot meet her devastates the city of Las Vegas, the CSI team receives aid from Gil The news of the dal bombshell dropped at Pope. (HD) own demands. (N) (HD) Grissom, Catherine Willows and Jim Brass. (HD) day. America’s Funniest Home Videos The Muppets: The Muppets: The Muppets: The Muppets: Shark Tank Tech education busiABC Columbia Paid Program Person of InterTrick-or-treating mishaps; rubber Pig’s in a Blackout The Ex-Factor Going, Going, Single All the Way ness; home rental website; hot drink; News at 11 (HD) Sponsored. est: Bury the Lede shark. (HD) (HD) (HD) Gonzo (HD) (HD) inflation device. (HD) (HD) Royal Paintbox Works of art by past Masterpiece EdMasterpiece: Downton Abbey V The Crawleys heads to a castle in Great Houses With Julian Fellowes: Masterpiece: The Manners of wardian manners. and present members of the royal Downton Abbey Special Edwardian Northumberland County for a shooting party, and after returning to their Goodwood House Fellowes learns (HD) family showcased. (HD) Downton Abbey home, they celebrate Christmas. (HD) manners. (HD) about royal affair. (HD) (4:25) NFL Foot- The OT z{| The Simpsons Brooklyn Family Guy: The The Last Man on WACH FOX News The Big Bang The Big Bang Celebrity Name TMZ (N) ball z{| (HD) (HD) Out drinking. (HD) Nine-Nine Drug 2,000-Year-Old Earth: The Boo at 10 Nightly Theory Online Theory (HD) Game (HD) dealer. (HD) Virgin (HD) (HD) news report. robbery. (HD) How I Met Your How I Met Your Movie Family Guy Qua- Family Guy Qua- The Office Work- The Office Work- The Office WorkMother (HD) Mother (HD) hog family. hog family. day at Dunder. day at Dunder. day at Dunder. (HD) (HD) (HD)

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Twister (‘96) scientists on one last, dangerous run into Oklahoma’s “Tornado Alley.” (HD) casinos to win over his ex-wife. (HD) Helen Hunt. (HD) (4:00) Ar ma ged Gone in 60 Sec onds (‘00, Ac tion) aaa Nicolas Cage. A mob ster de mands a re tired car Ar ma ged don (‘98, Sci ence Fic tion) aaa Bruce Wil lis. An un ruly crew of oil rig workers is 180 don (‘98) (HD) thief to supply him with 50 exotic cars. (HD) trained to destroy a killer asteroid. (HD) 100 Finding Bigfoot (HD) Finding Bigfoot: Further (N) Finding Bigfoot: Further Evidence (N) (HD) Finding Bigfoot Untold (HD) Finding (HD) House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne House of Payne BET Inspiration 162 (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) (HD) The Real Housewives of Atlanta Work Out New York: Cry of the Tiger Real Housewives: There’s No Busi- Real Housewives: There’s No Busi- Work Out: Cry of 181 Atlanta Social (N) (HD) (N) (N) ness Like Friend Business ness Like Friend Business the Tiger 62 American Greed: Shipwrecked! Greed: Crash for Cash Greed: Murder in Memphis Greed: The Sky’s the Limit Greed: The Playboy of Indiana Greed 64 The Seventies (HD) The Seventies (HD) The Seventies (HD) The Seventies (HD) The Seventies (HD) Seventies Tommy Boy (‘95, Com edy) Chris (:56) Dumb & Dumber (‘94, Com edy) aaa Jim Carrey. Two bum bling buf foons drive Tommy Boy (‘95, Com edy) aac Chris Farley. Un der achiever teams up 136 Farley. Duo saves business. (HD) cross-country to return ill-gotten money. (HD) with snide accountant to try and save his dad’s business. (HD) Despicable Me (‘10, Comedy) aaac Steve Carell. A Best Friends (:10) Girl Meets Austin & Ally Liv and Maddie Girl Meets World Jessie Chess con80 Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (‘02) Antonio Banderas. master thief plans his next big heist. Whenever (HD) World (HD) New band. (HD) (HD) (HD) test. (HD) 103 Alaska: The Last Frontier (HD) Alaska: The Last Frontier (N) Alaska: The Last Frontier (N) Alaska: The Last Frontier (HD) Alaska: The Last Frontier (HD) Alaska (HD) 35 2015 WSOP SportsCenter (HD) Think Tank: Ideas of Year (HD) 30 for 30: Chasing Tyson (HD) SportsCenter (HD) 39 30 for 30 (HD) 2015 WSOP 2015 World Series Poker (HD) 2015 World Series Poker (HD) 2015 World Series Poker (HD) 2015 World Series Poker (HD) ESPN FC (HD) (5:00) Harry Pot ter and the Deathly Hal lows: Part 1 (:45) Harry Pot ter and the Deathly Hal lows: Part 2 (‘11, Fan tasy) aaac Dan iel Radcliffe. Harry, Ron and Hermione search Joel Osteen 131 (‘10, Adventure) aaac Daniel Radcliffe. (HD) for the three remaining Horcruxes. (HD) 109 Guy’s Grocery Games (HD) Guy’s Grocery Games (N) (HD) Cupcake Wars Kids (N) (HD) Cutthroat Kitchen (N) (HD) Cutthroat Kitchen Haggis. (HD) Cupcake (HD) 74 FOX Report Sunday (HD) FOX News Channel FOX News Channel The Greg Gutfeld Show FOX News Channel FOX Report 42 NHL Hockey: Carolina Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks from United Center (HD) Postgame World Poker Tour no} (HD) World Poker Tour no} (HD) NHL Hockey Crown for 183 (6:00) 12 Gifts of Christmas (‘15, Ro- A Christmas Melody (‘15, Holiday) Mariah Carey. A single mother returns A Christmas Detour (‘15, Romance) aac Candace Cameron Bure. mance) aac Katrina Law. (HD) to her hometown with her young daughter. (HD) Woman needs help to reach destination. (HD) Christmas (HD) 112 Hunters (HD) Hunters (HD) Hunt (HD) Hunt (HD) Life (HD) Life (HD) Island (HD) Island (HD) Hunters (HD) Hunters (HD) Life (HD) 110 Ax Men: Sloppy Joe (HD) Ax Men: Logged (N) (HD) Ax Men (N) (HD) The Curse of Oak Island (HD) (:03) Ax Men: Sloppy Joe (HD) Ax Men (HD) Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (‘03, Science Fiction) aac Arnold Max Payne (‘08, Thriller) aa Mark Wahlberg. A detec160 Under Siege (‘92, Action) aac Steven Seagal. A warship with nuclear missiles is seized by terrorists led by an ex-CIA agent. Schwarzenegger. Cyborg protects Earth’s future leader. tive tracks his family’s killer. The House Sitter (‘15, Horror) Neal Gyles, Lin Hultgren. (HD) (:02) Stalked By My Doctor (‘15, Thriller) aa Amy 145 Stalked By My Doctor (‘15, Thriller) aa Amy Pietz. Obsessed heart doctor fakes teenage girl’s death so he can have her to himself. (HD) Pietz. Obsessed doctor fakes girl’s death. (HD) 76 Sex Slaves: Florida (HD) Sex Slaves: Polk County (HD) Locked Up Abroad (HD) Locked Up Abroad (HD) Lockup (HD) Lockup (HD) 91 SpongeBob: Truth or Square Sponge Sponge Full House Full House Full House Full House Friends (HD) Friends (HD) Friends (HD) 154 (6:30) 2 Fast 2 Furious (‘03, Action) Paul Walker. Street racing. (HD) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (‘09, Action) aac Shia LaBeouf. Evil robots seek artifact to be rulers. (HD) Oz the Great and Powerful (‘13, Fantasy) aac James Franco. A magician finds himself in a whimsical place Oz the Great and Powerful (‘13, Fantasy) aac James 152 The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (‘13, Action) Lily Collins. and tries to make his mark. (HD) Franco. Magical land. (HD) The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang The Big Bang Old School (‘03, Comedy) aaa Luke Wilson. Three 156 The Big Bang Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) Theory (HD) men start a college fraternity. (HD) An Affair to Remember (‘57, Romance) Cary Grant. Lovers engaged to (:15) Affair in Trinidad (‘52, Thriller) aac Rita Hayworth. A singer enlists The King of Kings 186 (5:30) The Lion in Winter (‘68, Drama) aaac Peter O’Toole. other people commit to a reunion at the Empire State Building. her brother-in-law’s help to find her husband’s killer. (‘27) aaac 157 Jill & Jessa: Counting On (HD) Jill & Jessa: Counting On (N) Jill & Jessa: Counting On (N) Married By Mom & Dad (N) (HD) The Room (N) Jill & Jessa: Counting On (HD) Agent X: Fidelity (N) (HD) The Librarians: And the Final Curtain Agent X: 158 (5:00) The Hunger Games (‘12, Ac- The Librarians: And the Final Curtain Agent X: Penultimatum (N) (HD) tion) Jennifer Lawrence. (HD) (N) (HD) (HD) Penultimatum 102 truTV Top Funniest (HD) truTV Top Funniest (HD) truTV Top Funniest (HD) truTV Top Funniest (HD) (:01) truTV Top Funniest (HD) truTV Top 161 Reba (HD) Reba (HD) Reba (HD) Reba (HD) Raymond (HD) Raymond (HD) Raymond (HD) Raymond (HD) Queens (HD) Queens (HD) Queens (HD) NCIS: No Good Deed DiNozzo and his NCIS: Lost in Translation Murdered NCIS: Neverland A bombing overseas Modern Family Modern Family Safe Haven (‘13) 132 NCIS: The Artful Dodger Switched painting. (HD) girlfriend partner up. (HD) Marine. (HD) by “The Calling.” (HD) (HD) (HD) aac (HD) CSI: Miami (HD) CSI: Miami (HD) CSI: Miami: Inside Out (HD) CSI: Miami: Deep Freeze (HD) CSI: Miami: Burned (HD) CSI Miami 172 Blue Bloods: Brothers (HD) Blue Bloods: Privilege (HD) Blue Bloods: Officer Down (HD) Blue Bloods: Smack Attack (HD) Grumpy Old Men (‘93) aaa Jack Lemmon. (HD)

A new classic is born in ‘Hateful Eight’

FILM REVIEWS

BY LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

From left, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Edgar Ramirez are seen in a scene from the film “Joy,” which opened in theaters on Christmas Day.

Jennifer Lawrence carries ambitious, imperfect ‘Joy’ BY SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer Jennifer Lawrence is a force, whether as the hero of “The Hunger Games” or the overburdened, inventive single mother she plays in “Joy.” The Oscar winner is in every frame of David O. Russell’s new film, shining even among a star-studded cast with a performance that brings continuity to the writer-director’s ambitious but flawed story about the dogged persistence of a determined entrepreneur. Lawrence plays the title character, Joy, whose last name is never revealed but who’s based on real-life home-shopping magnate Joy Mangano, creator of the Miracle Mop and an executive producer of the film. Text onscreen at its opening says it is “inspired by true stories of daring women, one in particular.” Russell’s eighth feature film introduces Joy in the years before she makes herself a millionaire. Working in a meaningless job, she struggles as the financial and emotional center of a dysfunctional, multigenerational family. She lives in a crumbling house with her

grandmother (Diane Ladd), her soap-opera obsessed mom (Virginia Madsen), along with her two children and her ex-husband, who lives in the basement. Flashbacks and daydreams show Joy as a bright, imaginative child who reluctantly followed a more conventional path when family responsibilities took hold. But when a flash of inspiration hits after years of life dissatisfaction, she bets her future on it. With moral support from her grandmother and ex-husband, seed money from her father’s wealthy girlfriend (Isabella Rossellini), and a glimmer of hope from a QVC executive (Bradley Cooper), Joy stakes everything she has on her new invention: a self-wringing mop with a machine-washable head. Along the way, she experiences elation and despair, personally and professionally. Lawrence brings all the power and intensity required to portray a devoted mother and fierce businesswoman growing up through her 30s, even if the actress looks sweetly youthful throughout. It’s her fire and range that speaks. And the 25-year-old star

doesn’t take anything away from older actresses, who relish in delicious opportunities of their own. Rossellini, 63, is perfectly cast as an Italian widow, while 80-year-old Ladd glows as a doting grandmother and the film’s narrator. Madsen, 54, melts into her character, a recluse in oversized glasses whose whole world is a TV soap opera starring Susan Lucci. Lucci, 68, plays a powerful heroine in the fictional soap that’s meant to be analogous to Joy’s journey of self-discovery, but the technique doesn’t really work, especially since the mother’s obsession with the show seems to border on mental illness. Still, it’s great to see Lucci back in her element. Returning Russell collaborators Robert DeNiro (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook,” ‘’American Hustle”) each predictably deliver, even if their characters aren’t well-drawn. Despite the convoluted family dynamics and less-than-successful use of the show-withina-show trope, Lawrence makes Joy easy to believe and easy to root for, no matter what she’s selling.

“The Hateful Eight” is not for the faint at heart. What Quentin Tarantino movie is? But while cinema’s favorite cinephile is up to some of his old tricks in his eighth feature, this over three hour long drawing room thriller also feels like a step forward for the wayward enfant terrible — a step toward maturity. That’s not to say he’s mellowed. You need only spend a minute with 87-year-old Ennio Morricone’s throbbing, malicious score to know that to be true. Instead, Tarantino shows relaxed power with “The Hateful Eight.” It’s easy authority that’s less manic than the cinematic language we’ve grown to expect from him. And it still packs a punch to the gut, or, in the spirit of Jennifer Jason Leigh’s murderous prisoner, some repeated blows to the head. This tale of eight unsavory creatures stranded in a one-room haberdashery in the middle of a nasty Wyoming blizzard is in no hurry to get where it’s going, and the audience is better off for it. It’s a whodunit when no one has done anything yet — more like a who’s gonna do it, and what exactly are they gonna do. Everyone is bad, everyone has a secret, and everyone is the hero of their own story. There’s Samuel L. Jackson as the hyper literate bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren who carries a personal letter from Abraham Lincoln in his coat pocket; Kurt Russell as the violently affable John Ruth who’s transporting a prisoner to town to be hanged for a $10,000 bounty; Leigh as said prisoner; Daisy Domergue, whose bloody Cheshire grin says more than any monologue ever could. Walton Goggins plays Chris Mannix, the soon-to-be sheriff who may be a master manipulator or just plain dumb; Demian Bechir is Bob, who runs

the Haberdashery; Michael Madsen as Joe Gage, the menacingly quiet one in the corner; Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray, a British hangman who seems like a Christoph Waltz stand-in before he finds his groove; and Bruce Dern as an ornery Confederate general, wondering what’s become of his life now that the war is done. It seems like a lot, but it’s really not. That’s the brilliance of Tarantino. Each of his characters is so distinctive, so rich, that they pop off the screen as soon as you meet them. It is refreshing when so many ensemble movies seem to confuse character development with something more akin to “here’s a famous person who you’ll remember.” Vivid costuming work from Courtney Hoffman only adds to their uniqueness. Tarantino also keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering who to trust, or, at the very least, side with. It changes every 15 minutes as the mystery unravels, and then explodes. The conversations are as nimble as ever, whether they’re talking coffee, war, or the benefits of transporting prisoners dead or alive. A big deal has been made about the presentation of “The Hateful Eight.” Tarantino and his cinematographer Robert Richardson shot the film in Ultra Panavision 70, a basically dead format that was used on only a few films, such as “Mutiny on the Bounty.” There’s even an overture and an intermission at the roadshow presentations. It’s hard to see how that’s not mostly posturing as most of the film is set in one room, but it does add a theatrical wonder to it all even if the “glorious 70mm” depends a great deal on the individual projectionist. In the screening I attended, the film was so blurry that they switched to digital at intermission. For what it’s worth, the digital looked great.