Noticias

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice broke a couple of franchise traditions - and ended on the bleakest note of the entire series. Thin Ice is the fifth entry in the Jesse Stone movie series, which adapted the Robert B. Parker novels of the same name. Parker gave Selleck two rules to follow while adapting Jesse Stone; one, Stone will always be hung up about his ex-wife Jenn, and two, he will always have a problem with drink (via TV Insider). This formula keeps the character trapped in a toxic loop, but Thin Ice needed to mix things up after four movies.

The TV movie features the same cast of characters - though Viola Davis' Molly left after the fourth entry Sea Change - as previous Jesse Stone movies, with Selleck's grizzled police chief looking into two cases. He's looking into who shot his friend Captain Healy (Stephen McHattie), and a cold...

Those About to Die is an epic sword-and-sandal historical drama series created by Robert Rodat. Based on the 1958 novel of the same name by author Daniel P. Mannix, the Peacock series revolves around the lives of the gladiators and citizens of the Roman Empire in Ancient Rome, where violence, greed, and lust run rampant. Those About to Die stars Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins-Court, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, Gabriella Pession, Dimitri Leonidas, and Emilio Sakraya. So, if you loved the epic fights, brutal violence, and historical drama in Those About to Die here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Rome (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – HBO

Rome is a historical drama series created by John Milius, William J. MacDonald, and Bruno Heller. The HBO series is set in the 1st century BC during Ancient Rome’s transition from Republic to Empire,...

8-10 p.m.

Sunday-Monday, April 20-21

USA Network

The miniseries is officially an endangered species. No more than a handful were produced during the past television year, only a couple of those more than the standard two-night, four-hour jobs.

The reason for this near-extinction? The economy, stupid! But you already knew that. Short of multipronged international co-productions, the cost has simply become prohibitive when factored with the return on investment. So with USA Network's "Helen of Troy" (as with last week's "Napoleon" on A&E), we have the last of a breed: the multipart historical epic that's too big to be contained in a single night. And like "Napoleon", "Helen" scores more or less captivatingly.

Not that the two minis have all that much in common other than that they are larger-than-life tales of love and war. (Perhaps that's enough.) This one features evocative details and great costumes from designer Van Broughton Ramsey (think "Flashdance" with armor and sandals). And while this "Helen" breaks the cardinal contemporary rule by forgetting to have a sense of humor about itself, there is nonetheless plenty to admire about it. First and foremost, scribe/co-producer Ronni Kern paints a sweeping portrait with her words that's sufficient to make you want to come back for Night 2, even if many of the performances are on the rigid side.

It doesn't hurt that relative newcomer Sienna Guillory (she was in "The Time Machine" with Guy Pearce) makes an especially alluring Helen. She's all pouty, come-hither attitude and mischievous eyes, the kind of perpetually troubled lass who would be popping Prozac like they were Tums if this were the 21st century. Of course, it isn't. It's the era of togas and breastplates and a lone woman who had a Face That Launched a Thousand Ships. Just what that line means isn't entirely clear. I mean, is a face that launches something always a good thing?

Digression aside, director John Kent Harrison brings the tale of classic literature its requisite grandeur and scope, which isn't always easy when you've got people running around looking vaguely constipated. The tale is that of the war that's fought over the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, who was born the illegitimate daughter of Zeus (who raped her mother). When your daddy is a Greek god, well, you just know things will never be completely normal. It makes you both flesh and blood but immortal, for one thing.

Helen grows up with this veil of shame surrounding her. She winds up marrying Menelaus (James Callis) against her will and then disgraces him when she has an affair with a hunky young prince, Paris (Matthew Marsden), whose reflection she once saw in a pond. The prince of Troy is Helen's destiny. And while the details always sound silly when described in a review, it flows together well enough and is even plausible in this literative context.

The length doesn't feel excessive here, and the actors all do their jobs with the proper veneer of consequence. There are no nudges and winks underneath the characterizations in this "Helen" that let us know we're watching this through the irony and cynicism of modern eyes. And in properly honoring the material, that's as it should be.

Helen of Troy

USA Network

Fuel Entertainment in association with USA Cable Entertainment

Credits:

Executive producer: Adam Shapiro

Producer: Ted Kurdyla

Co-producer/writer: Ronni Kern

Associate producer: Judith Craig Marlin

Director: John Kent Harrison

Director of photography: Edward J. Pei

Production designer: James Allen

Costume designer: Van Broughton Ramsey

Editor: Michael Ornstein

Music: Joel Goldsmith

Casting: Janet Hirshenson, Jane Jenkins, Dan Hubbard

Cast:

Helen: Sienna Guillory

Paris: Matthew Marsden

Agamemnon: Rufus Sewell

Theseus: Stellan Skarsgard

King Priam: John Rhys-Davies

Queen Hecubs: Maryam D'Abo

Cassandra: Emilia Fox

Menelaus: James Callis

Hector: Daniel Lapaine

Odysseus: Nigel Whitmey

Achilles: Joe Montana

Clytemnestra: Katie Blake

Pollux: Craig Kelly

Paris' Father: Manuel Caushi

Iphigenia: Kristina Paris

Atreus: Edward Mercieca...