Today's Entertainment

Season 6 of "MasterChef " brings 40 more accomplished amateur cooks and one new pro to the Fox competitive series. Launching Wednesday, May 20, with a two-hour episode, the series welcomes Christina Tosi, renowned pastry chef, owner and founder of New York City's Milk Bar, to the judges panel, replacing Joe Bastianich. She joins returnees Gordon Ramsay and Graham Elliot in evaluating the culinary work of a field of hopefuls that this season includes an engineer, a chiropractor, a teacher, a fashion designer, a petroleum landman and a drummer, all of whom are in pursuit of a $250,000 grand prize, a cookbook deal and the coveted title of MasterChef. But first, they have to navigate the field challenges, which this season includes creating fare for an amusement park, cooking for Las Vegas jugglers, musicians and dancers, and preparing meals for ranchers and cowboys at a cattle ranch. The challenge at the ranch, shot two hours east of Los Angeles, was an outdoor set with the contestants cooking on grills. But according to Elliot, steak wasn't necessarily what was for dinner. "Actually they have choices," the chef explains, "a couple of different proteins, vegetables, things like that. And then they really get to use their creativity and come up with something that's going to win them over because that's one of those field challenges where they are the ones that determine the outcome, not us judges. So we can try to give them some ideas but ultimately if they decide to do something crazy with turkey and vegetables, it's their fault for losing." As for other things to expect this season, Elliot says, "What's interesting is the way that the show starts off this time, is that it kind of pits cooks doing similar things against each other from the get-go. "So you'll have like a taco challenge, a burger challenge, things that people cook for the signature dish, head to head to see who gets into the actual kitchen. And then that is when the show really starts, and you see everything from restaurant takeovers to cooking out in the field to just all kinds of fun, exciting ingredients in the mystery boxes, like seafood and giant crabs, things like that. So really cool and obviously pulling from cooks from all over the country." BY GEORGE DICKIE What book are you currently reading? "I just finished up Michael Jackson's autobiography 'Moonwalker.' " What did you have for dinner last night? "Last night, we did salmon with quinoa and I think just a spinach salad with it." What is your next project? "I'm overseeing the food at the NFL Draft in Chicago ... so that's fun." When was the last vacation you took, where and why? "We had a five-day break from filming about maybe three or four weeks ago and I went to Hawaii. And I spent five years of my life growing up in Hawaii, so I kind of feel like that's part of where I grew up. So it's fun to go back." Graham Elliot New challenges, contestants, judge for Fox's 'MASTERCHEF' Enough true stories have been told in movies that it's high time a film actually was titled "True Story." The irony is that the picture by that name plays around with some of the facts that inspired it, so you have to take it on faith that what it offers has its roots in truth. At the very least, it serves as the sort of cautionary tale that gets journalists denounced by their peers and bosses when they don't hold to the letter of professional performance, and also as a story of attempted career redemption. Jonah Hill makes his latest bid to move from second banana to star – which, frankly, works better for him in comedies like the "Jump Street" movies – as a real-life journalist (Michael Finkel, whose memoir inspired the film) seen licking his wounds from being caught playing fast and loose with one of his articles, a much-heralded one, getting him labeled a fabricator. However, that tainted image doesn't stop a man (James Franco) accused of slaying his family from trying to adopt the reporter's identity. He's found out fairly soon, but the newsman thinks there might be a story in connecting with his would-be impersonator and finding our what makes him tick ... and what he thinks makes his interviewer tick, too. It's an intriguing premise, especially if you have the right actors in those pivotal roles. Despite such relatively ancillary characters as Hill's girlfriend, played by Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything"), "True Story" essentially is a two- person piece. You have to applaud Hill for at least trying some different things cinematically, even if they don't work for him completely, and this is one of those cases. He and Franco are an interesting but ultimately lopsided combination, since the much-more-versatile Franco seems so much more confident in the skin of his alter ego. Yes, Hill's character is supposed to be off his game a bit, but the actor doesn't recover sufficient footing to pull off what the full aim is here. Director and co-screenwriter Rupert Goold uses his theater experience cleverly in keeping the focus intently – and often intensely – on the central duo in "True Story," but ultimately, the payoff doesn't live up to the picture's potential. Sad ... but true. Jonah Hill BY JAY BOBBIN 'True Story' plays with its truth on screen Page 8 May 18 - 24, 2015

• Cover