Brian Lowry - Senior Writer, CNN Media and Entertainment
Brian Lowry
Senior Writer, CNN Media and Entertainment
Brian Lowry is a senior writer for CNN, focusing on everything from TV streaming to film news.
Latest
Hugh Jackman almost didn’t play Wolverine. The story of 5 actors who missed out on iconic roles
Jul 24, 2024
Twenty-five years ago, Hugh Jackman was cast in a role that changed his career, becoming Wolverine in “X-Men.” But he wasn’t the first actor chosen for the part.
It’s not just hype. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ is a bleeping good time
Jul 23, 2024
Like its predecessors, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is loud, proudly vulgar and repeatedly shatters the fourth wall with gleeful naughtiness.
‘Twisters’ spins out from the original but has all the weight of a stiff breeze
Jul 17, 2024
Landing somewhere between sequel and reboot, “Twisters” introduces new characters and an extra letter to the 1996 disaster movie but not much else, leaving its stars stranded in a vehicle with roughly the weight of a stiff breeze.
‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2, episode 5 recap: For the women, it’s war on two fronts
Jul 15, 2024
While both sides absorb the fallout from the battle of Rook’s Rest, one message comes through loud and clear in “House of the Dragon’s” latest chapter: the women in this patriarchal society must fight wars on two fronts.
Faye Dunaway lets her diva flag fly, then and now, in the documentary ‘Faye’
Jul 13, 2024
“Faye,” a documentary memoir of Faye Dunaway, begins with the “Chinatown” star barking orders at her interviewer, saying, “We need to shoot. I’m here now, come on.”
‘Sorry/Not Sorry’ provides a stage for women who laid bare Louis C.K.’s ‘open secret’
Jul 11, 2024
What to do about the strange case of Louis C.K.? That question resides at the heart of “Sorry/Not Sorry,” a documentary that poses thorny questions about what cultural sentence the comedian should have served for his sexual misconduct, unequal power dynamics, and how stardom contributed to people ignoring an “open secret” in the comedy community.
‘Fly Me to the Moon’ launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in a space-race romance
Jul 11, 2024
After a run of movies awash in the romance of the space program like “Hidden Figures” and “First Man,” “Fly Me to the Moon” cleverly uses the Apollo 11 mission as the backdrop to an old-style romance.
Streaming’s ‘great re-bundling’ has begun. What that could mean for subscribers
Jul 8, 2024
Streaming appears poised to undergo what some have called “The Great Re-Bundling,” with services merging, combining or forming alliances that will essentially reconstruct the cable “bundle” that consumers relied upon for decades.
‘MaXXXine’ gives Mia Goth’s wannabe star the sendoff that she deserves
Jul 4, 2024
In keeping with the current cinematic age, even a slasher/porn-centric franchise gets a “universe” these days, as “MaXXXine” caps off a trilogy after “X” and “Pearl.”
‘The Man With 1000 Kids’ adds up to Netflix’s latest docuseries nightmare
Jul 3, 2024
Netflix has enjoyed success with a certain kind of nightmare-fuel docuseries that strains various aspects of society through fun-house mirrors. “The Man With 1000 Kids” fits right in, down to the title.
‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ reloads with Eddie Murphy in his ‘encores for streaming’ phase
Jul 3, 2024
“Beverly Hills Cop” spawned a trio of movies, but more significantly, the 1984 film capped off a string of hits (after “48 Hrs.” and “Trading Places”) that launched Eddie Murphy into the movie-star stratosphere.
‘Despicable Me 4’ rolls out another tired helping of warmed-over Gru-el
Jul 2, 2024
There’s no mystery why they keep making “Despicable Me” movies, but the fourth edition yields roughly as many laughs as can be counted on a Minion’s three-digit hand.
‘Lost’ found the path to an equation that changed the future of TV
Jul 1, 2024
“Lost” cracked the code to making TV richer and more ambitious.
‘A Family Affair’ unites Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron in a slim idea for a rom-com
Jun 28, 2024
The “Older woman dates younger star” concept is getting a workout lately, with “The Idea of You” now followed by “A Family Affair,” which could easily be called “The Idea of My Movie-Star Boss Sleeping With My Mom.”
‘Horizon: An American Saga’ gambles on bringing Kevin Costner’s western dream to the big screen
Jun 27, 2024
Nobody has done more to keep the western flame kindling on the big screen than Kevin Costner, but the audacity of his latest rodeo – a planned 12-hour story for theatrical release, spread over four parts – feels like overreach, if not outright folly.
‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ tiptoes a little further into an alien-invasion ‘universe’
Jun 27, 2024
Like “The Walking Dead,” “A Quiet Place” pries opens the door to a world with a host of possibilities, some of them – including the premise of a new prequel subtitled “Day One” – already touched upon in the two previous movies.
About
Brian Lowry is a senior writer for CNN, focusing on everything from TV streaming to film news.
Prior to CNN, Lowry was a TV critic and columnist for Variety starting in 2003. Before that, he spent seven years as a reporter and columnist at the Los Angeles Times.
Throughout his career, Lowry has been a contributor to National Public Radio and FoxSports.com. He also co-hosted TV Guide Network’s Square off, a weekly talk program about the television business.
Lowry has written two authorized companion guides to the Fox series The X-Files.
