What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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December 11 - 17, 2022 WHATS UP! T11 dan," due out next year — his first role in quite some time. If you had asked me just a few months ago, I might have said that, yes, Chris Tucker had quit acting. His last film or TV role came back in 2016 — a support- ing turn in the war drama "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk." And the work had been sparse prior to that. Quite a change of pace from his heyday in the 1990s and early 2000s, when he was one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, thanks to the success of the Rush Hour trilogy of buddy-cop blockbust- ers. In fact, he's appeared in just three things since "Rush Hour 3" in 2007. It's worth noting that none of those things was small-time. Along with the high-profile "Bil- ly Lynn," directed by the highly decorated Ang Lee, Tucker's other two projects were a role in the Oscar-nominated "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012), and his own standup special on Netf- lix in 2015. "Air Jordan" is going to be a pretty big deal as well. The dra- matization of Nike's pursuit of Michael Jordan as a spokesper- son is being written by power duo Ben Affleck and Matt Da- mon (of 1997's "Good Will Hunt- ing" fame), who will also star. It's unclear what Tucker will do after that. There's long been talk of a "Rush Hour 4," but nothing concrete has come of it so far. Q: I just saw "Wild Moun- tain Thyme" with Emily Blunt, and I have to say, that was a weird movie. Was it based on something? A: You're absolutely right that when there's a particular kind of weirdness in a film, it often points to it being an adaptation of something else (i.e., a book, a play, etc.). And you're right about "Wild Mountain Thyme" (2020) spe- cifically. The big-screen roman- tic dramedy was a Broadway play first — albeit one written by the director himself. John Patrick Shanley ("Moon- struck," 1987) was a playwright before he went to Hollywood, and he's kept a foot in both busi- nesses since. "Wild Mountain Thyme" was based on his earlier play, "Out- side Mullingar." It only ran on Broadway for a few months, but not for lack of success — it was a certified hit and was nominat- ed for a Tony Award for best play. Even so, Shanley said in an in- terview with TheSpool.net that while he was staging it, he dreamed of adapting it to film because it would allow him to actually work in Ireland rather than just trying to recreate it in a theater. He called the country "a magical place." In the same interview, he owned up to the weirdness of the film, saying that the big twist ending (which I'll do my best not to spoil) is a metaphor. "It's very simple," he said. "Emily Blunt's character says it towards the end of the movie: 'Everybody thinks they're some- body they're not.'" Blunt ("Edge of Tomorrow," 2014) stars as a farmer trying to pursue a seemingly ill-fated love affair with her emotionally dis- tant neighbor (Jamie Dornan, "Belfast," 2021). Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Per- sonal replies will not be provided. Advance Pest Control 2 x 2 TAKE 5 Solution on page T23 Use the clues above and beside the grid to fill in the squares BY ADAM THOMLISON TV Media Q: Were there two differ- ent "Waltons" Christmas specials? A: If you take a loose defini- tion of the term "special," there were actually four — two regular season episodes, one double episode, and the made- for-TV movie that started it all. Long-running historical dra- ma "The Waltons" wasn't even called that to begin with. The show actually began as a two- hour film called "The Home- coming: A Christmas Story" that aired on CBS on Dec. 19, 1971. It was about John Walton (Andrew Duggan, "In Like Flint," 1967) running late on his return home from his job in distant Waynesboro, Virginia, worrying the family. A year later, the proper se- ries debuted. But it didn't re- visit Christmas as a setting un- til its fifth season, with the epi- sode "The Best Christmas," about Olivia (Michael Learned, "Nurse") striving to make that year's Christmas their best yet, though circum- stances continually get in the way. "The Waltons" did Christmas episodes in each of the next three seasons, starting with the Season 6 double episode "The Children's Carol." Season 7's "Day of Infamy" and Season 8's "The Spirit" are also Christmas episodes, though they're less explicitly focused on the holiday. (For example, "Day of Infamy" also doubled as a Pearl Harbor Day episode, and aired on that day, Dec. 7) All this said, the pilot movie, "The Homecoming," is by far the most famous "Waltons" Christ- mas story. It has remained fa- mous enough to earn a remake last year, which aired on CW on Thanksgiving weekend. That new adaptation, "The Waltons: Homecoming," fea- tured a whole new cast, but it was narrated by Richard Thom- as, who played John Boy in the original series. Q: Is Chris Tucker not act- ing anymore? I haven't seen him in ages. A: While it's true that we haven't seen much of Chris Tucker ("Rush Hour," 1998) late- ly, that's about to change. He's booked a role in the star- studded, true-life drama "Air Jor- Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt in "Wild Mountain Thyme" HOLLYWOOD Q&A www.advancepestcontrolnwa.com Family Owned, Competitively Priced, Quality Service Since 1981 Rogers 479-636-5590 Springdale 479-756-1788 Eureka Springs 479-253-8967 PEST CONTROL TERMITE FERTILIZATION WEED CONTROL PRE-EMERGENTS