In “Twisters,” having barely survived a monstrous Oklahoma tornado as a storm-chasing teenager, traumatized Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) moved to New York, where she has secured a meteorologist job with the National Weather Service, confident that cyclones aren’t going to hit Coney Island.

Five years earlier, she was obsessively trying to secure a research grant for an ambitious Ph.D. thesis that involved chemistry: i.e. neutralizing storms by absorbing the moisture trapped in their wind funnels. 

Kate thought she’d left that project far behind but then her old pal Javi (Anthony Ramos) convinces her to join him for one week to get three-dimensional tornado scans using portable radar units. Javi has obtained data-collecting funding from a rich investor but needs Kate’s instinctive ability to predict propulsive storm paths.

Back in Oklahoma’s Tornado Alley, they’re surrounded by other storm chasers, a rowdy group led by cocky, boisterous “tornado wrangler” Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) who broadcasts a livestream YouTube feed in his tricked-out pickup truck as his intrepid team flies drones and shoots fireworks into the funnel of an intensifying storm. 

At first, Kate and Tyler compete but then, predictably, they’re romantically involved, leaving Javi – literally – in the dust.

Director Lee Isaac Chang (“Minari’) deftly incorporates screenwriter Mark L. Smith’s action / adventure / escapist screenplay – based on a story by Joseph Kosinski – and intriguing characters with cinematographer Dan Mindel’s spectacular CGI action in this solid semi-sequel to Jan De Bont’s 1996’s disaster hit “Twister.”

While the words “climate change” are never spoken, questions about this unfolding crisis and weather modifications haunt scientists. Do tornadoes serve a purpose? Do thunderstorms, hurricanes and flash floods? Are they simply natural phenomena that occur to alleviate energy imbalances between the poles and the equator?  What might happen if we don’t let nature take its course?

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Twisters” is a swirling, adrenaline-spiking 7, playing in theaters.

With 16 Emmy nominations, “The Morning Show: Season 3” has finally become a major contender in the 2024 Drama Series race as showrunner Charlotte Stoudt catapulted it into the modern-day media crisis era with its 10-episode third season, which dropped last fall.

New York City-based anchorwomen Alex Levy (Emmy nominee Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Emmy nominee Reese Witherspoon) are now on very different paths. 

Thanks to an unexpected eleventh-hour coup, Alex outsmarted her love interest – seductive Paul Marks (Emmy nominee Jon Hamm), an Elon Musk/Jeff Bezos-like tech billionaire who tried to acquire the UBA network until Alex realized he’d been secretly surveilling her, Bradley and everyone else at UBA. Instead, the upcoming season four will find Alex working a merger with a rival news brand.

In contrast, Bradley will be facing a possible felony charge for tampering with evidence and obstructing justice related to the investigation of the Jan. 6^th attack on the Capitol. Her ne’er-do-well brother Hal (Joe Tippett) assaulted a police officer during the insurrection. Bradley caught the moment on-camera but withheld it in her reporting, which forced her resignation.

So Bradley could wind up in a cell, while Alex finally claims a seat in the boardroom. One of the questions the upcoming fourth season will pose is: whether the women can run things any better than the men. And how does one deal with consequences, accountability and redemption?

What will become of compelling former UBA CEO Cory Ellison (Emmy nominee Billy Crudup) who over-leveraged the company but was fired because of his questionable romantic relationship with Bradley? And will there be a place for Bradley’s now-ex, NBN anchor Laura Peterson (Julianna Margulies)?

Season three effectively dealt with underappreciated women-of-color at UBA, like Stella Bak (Emmy nominee Greta Lee) who is tired of being condescended to and Mia Jordan (Emmy Nominee Karen Pittman) who’s been so committed to her job that she’s been sleeping in the office. 

On the Granger Gauge, “The Morning Show” remains an exciting 8 – with all episodes streaming on Apple TV+.