Comic Timing

KEVIN WHITE was a visionary, politically savvy mayor, and someone with an incredible sense of humor. He could take a joke. I produced a magazine program, "The Week Ends Here," for WHDH-TV when it was Channel 5. Chet Curtis was the host, and we taped the show on Friday, the day before air. We did a weekly segment in which the mayor was the guest to talk about issues, and His Honor was invariably late. So, one Friday after the crew fidgeted, and Chet and I had enough, we decided to get back at him. The mayor arrived about 45 minutes late.

KEVIN WHITE was a visionary, politically savvy mayor, and someone with an incredible sense of humor. He could take a joke. I produced a magazine program, "The Week Ends Here," for WHDH-TV when it was Channel 5. Chet Curtis was the host, and we taped the show on Friday, the day before air. We did a weekly segment in which the mayor was the guest to talk about issues, and His Honor was invariably late. So, one Friday after the crew fidgeted, and Chet and I had enough, we decided to get back at him. The mayor arrived about 45 minutes late.

** THE SITTER Directed by: David Gordon Green Written by: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka Starring: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Max Records, Ari Graynor At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs Running time: 81 minutes Rated: R (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, some violence) "The Sitter" is "Adventures in Babysitting" airlifted into Judd Apatow's neck of the woods, and most of you can safely stop reading right there.

** THE SITTER Directed by: David Gordon Green Written by: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka Starring: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Max Records, Ari Graynor At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs Running time: 81 minutes Rated: R (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, some violence) "The Sitter" is "Adventures in Babysitting" airlifted into Judd Apatow's neck of the woods, and most of you can safely stop reading right there.

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A Terry Gilliam movie, which means it’s a grotty, pleasurably indulgent mess. Christopher Plummer plays the 1,000-year-old sorcerer of the title, wearily battling the devil (Tom Waits) through the midnight streets of modern-day London. The late Heath Ledger’s performance has been completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell; it’s a gimmick that mostly works. (PG-13; runs through Aug. 27)

Masterpiece Mystery! Tomorrow at 9 p.m., Channel 2 One of the best recent additions to the PBS family of detectives is Kenneth Branagh’s Kurt Wallander (pictured), a Swedish inspector adapted from the novels by Henning Mankell. Branagh’s Wallander is a weary, rundown fellow who has a reserve of righteous fury right below the surface. The three episodes in 2009 offered compelling crime mysteries and beautiful cinematography, and tomorrow night PBS introduces the first of three new installments.

Can a break-in improve your outlook on your breakup? Absolutely, according to Jane Martin's 1992 comedy "Criminal Hearts," presented by Boston Actors Theater. Here, both thief and victim are women. And as they share their (possibly fictional) life stories, a common bond emerges despite their radically different social class: Both have been ripped off by men. Boston Actors Theater stages this comedy at tiny Devanaughn Theatre, which features two rows of seats along a wall. This cozy claustrophobia brings a spark to the opening scene, which begins in a blackout.

STONEHAM - "Antoine Feval" is a curious excuse for a play. The one-man comedy, now at Stoneham Theatre, is more of a showcase for an actor than a compelling story, let alone the mystery spoof it intends to be. That's not necessarily bad, and Tom Souhrada certainly pulls out all the stops for his performance, but there's not much here for him to work with. "Antoine Feval" opens with Barnaby Gibbs (Souhrada) recounting his experience with a con artist and thief named Antoine Feval.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life By Steve MartinScribner, 207 pp., illustrated, $25 Some stand-up comics reveal themselves by exploiting their own private fears, disappointments, and frustrations for public laughs. As a stand-up comic, Steve Martin got his laughs - and eventually great fame - by keeping an ironic distance from his audience, concealing his offstage self while his intelligence stealthily informed his wacky medley of jokes, props, banjo tunes, and apparent non sequiturs.

LOS ANGELES — A sharp black suit is timeless, yet a decade has passed since Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones last wore theirs in "Men in Black II. " Despite the box office success of that film and its 1997 predecessor, the franchise had gone sufficiently cold that "Men in Black 3" only got the green light after audience research affirmed an abiding interest in it, said director Barry Sonnenfeld. "They also wanted to know what attracted people to the franchise," Sonnenfeld noted at a recent press day for the film at a Beverly Hills hotel.

Masterpiece Mystery! Tomorrow at 9 p.m., Channel 2 One of the best recent additions to the PBS family of detectives is Kenneth Branagh’s Kurt Wallander (pictured), a Swedish inspector adapted from the novels by Henning Mankell. Branagh’s Wallander is a weary, rundown fellow who has a reserve of righteous fury right below the surface. The three episodes in 2009 offered compelling crime mysteries and beautiful cinematography, and tomorrow night PBS introduces the first of three new installments.

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (Comcast Movies: All Movies) A Terry Gilliam movie, which means it’s a grotty, pleasurably indulgent mess. Christopher Plummer plays the 1,000-year-old sorcerer of the title, wearily battling the devil (Tom Waits) through the midnight streets of modern-day London. The late Heath Ledger’s performance has been completed by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell; it’s a gimmick that mostly works. (PG-13; runs through Aug. 27)

STONEHAM - "Antoine Feval" is a curious excuse for a play. The one-man comedy, now at Stoneham Theatre, is more of a showcase for an actor than a compelling story, let alone the mystery spoof it intends to be. That's not necessarily bad, and Tom Souhrada certainly pulls out all the stops for his performance, but there's not much here for him to work with. "Antoine Feval" opens with Barnaby Gibbs (Souhrada) recounting his experience with a con artist and thief named Antoine Feval.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life By Steve MartinScribner, 207 pp., illustrated, $25 Some stand-up comics reveal themselves by exploiting their own private fears, disappointments, and frustrations for public laughs. As a stand-up comic, Steve Martin got his laughs - and eventually great fame - by keeping an ironic distance from his audience, concealing his offstage self while his intelligence stealthily informed his wacky medley of jokes, props, banjo tunes, and apparent non sequiturs.

Can a break-in improve your outlook on your breakup? Absolutely, according to Jane Martin's 1992 comedy "Criminal Hearts," presented by Boston Actors Theater. Here, both thief and victim are women. And as they share their (possibly fictional) life stories, a common bond emerges despite their radically different social class: Both have been ripped off by men. Boston Actors Theater stages this comedy at tiny Devanaughn Theatre, which features two rows of seats along a wall. This cozy claustrophobia brings a spark to the opening scene, which begins in a blackout.

There are lots of musicals that inspire and stimulate. Only one makes you want to rush outside to buy a newspaper, join a union and hug someone from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Such is the effect after the relentlessly cheery "Newsies," a musical based on a film of the same name, which opened Thursday at the Nederlander Theatre with heart, soul and a lot of vests, caps and too-thick Noo Yawk accents. The musical is based on the 1899 true story of child newspaper sellers, or newsies, in turn-of-the-century New York who go on strike when the price of...

"Water Lilies" is about two teenage best friends and their very important discovery: Sex. But on this occasion, it's not an "OMG" event. The reaction is a lot more like, "Hmm, that's weird: Boys like me. " Or: "I like girls. " The writer and director, Céline Sciamma, appears to be going for some kind of lightly artistic social critique. She sets her tiny, quiet dramedy in synchronized swimmer-infested waters, where a girl must do everything precisely as her teammates do. It's the only sport where winning depends on painstaking conformity.