Finally Freed From ‘Fifty Shades’

The Olympics kick off in South Korea today. Meanwhile, Jennifer Garner puts her career back in high gear.
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“I'm going to take the high road because the low road is so crowded.” ―Mia Farrow

The Rest of Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson’s Lives

January Movies

We are well into February, and Hollywood is finally shaking out of its January-long hibernation during which it dumps its worst products (also fondly known as Dumpuary) and getting back to the business of releasing films to care about. There are three of them this weekend, and they couldn’t be more different: The most conceptually ambitious is Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 to Paris, which tells the story of the time three off-duty American soldiers thwarted an attack on a train in Europe. The twist: The real-life soldiers actually play themselves in the film. (The second twist: The rest of the cast is, peculiarly for a realist drama, padded out mostly by former sitcom actors, including The Office’s Jenna Fischer and Family Matters’s Jaleel White—yes, “Urkel” is in an Eastwood film.) Critics seem to think the film is full of highs and lows, which evens out to mostly mediocre reviews. The issues with it don’t seem so much to be about the untraditional casting, but rather the script and plot. Elsewhere in multiplexes you’ll find Peter Rabbit, a movie made because, well, someone had to eventually make a CGI version of the classic tale, we suppose. Though, the tone of this version is a far cry from the far more irreverent Beatrix Potter–penned source material. It should be fine for the kids, but it’s not getting the critical ravings of your average Pixar film or Paddington 2. Finally, of course, is Fifty Shades Freed, or, as Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are probably calling it, Career Freed. The bondaged romance series goes out much the way it came in—with critical drubbings but lots of provocation. At this point, though, no one is going to bother to judge you if you decided you have to see the series through to its final climax.

The Olympics

HBO’s This Is Us Competition

By the time you’re reading this, the Winter Olympics will have officially kicked off in Pyeongchang, South Korea, but you won’t get to see NBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony on television until 8 p.m. tonight (a returning Katie Couric is hosting, and not, notably, Megyn Kelly). There’s sure to be much drama on the slopes and ice, and possibly some off it (what with North Korea’s involvement and all); but it also means those who just aren’t into sports or live in sunny locals like Los Angeles or Florida and have no idea what half these sports are, anyway, have fewer television options. Though, there are some premieres to be found. Netflix is debuting the documentary Seeing Allred tonight that delves into the oft controversial legacy of feminist attorney Gloria Allred. Netflix also gives us When We First Met, a rom-com that echoes Groundhog Day and stars Adam DeVine and Alexandra Daddario. HBO, meanwhile, launches Here and Now on Sunday at 9 p.m. The latest from Alan Ball, the man who created seminal fare like Six Feet Under and True Blood for the network, follows a mixed-race family whose lives are unsettled by a still-not-fully-explained supernatural element. Reviewers are comparing it—sometimes favorably, sometimes not—to a premium cable version of This Is Us. Unfortunately, critics aren’t comparing it favorably at all to Ball’s previous HBO efforts.

Jennifer Garner Returns to TV

Your Hunger for More Lena Dunham

Critics may not be loving Alan Ball’s return to HBO, but the network has commissioned a new show from another one of its once-beloved showrunners. Yes, less than a year after the end of Girls, Lena Dunham has signed up to bring another show to the network. Though, she won’t be starring in it. That honor goes to none other than Jennifer Garner. The show is called Camping, and is based on a British series about a group of friends who head off into the woods and, well, start to get a little less civilized. Dunham and co-creator Jenni Konner call Garner’s character “messy, tough and provocative and really really fun.” Garner hasn’t had a regular TV role since the end of Alias in 2006. She’s appeared in some movies since (notably Juno and Dallas Buyers Club), but mostly has put her career second to being a mom to her two children.

Dylan Sprouse

@DylanSprouse

As child actors, the Sprouse twins were originally a package deal. But now, while Cole has found success on Riverdale, Dylan is more concerned with opening a meadery in Brooklyn. He does plan to return to Hollywood at some point, however. We catch up with the more mysterious Sprouse here.