Thursday, August 30, 2012

Doctor Who-season 7

It is the beginning of the end for The Ponds this coming season of Doctor Who starting Sat @ 9 on BBC America. When the wonderful Matt Smith took over the role of The Doctor I like so many was sad to see the extremely talented David Tennant (don't believe me check out his Hamlet) leave but happy that the show went on and have been truly enjoying Mr. Smith these past few seasons. The 11th Doctor brought with him Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) who brought with her Rory Williams (Arthur Duvall) and with new man in charge Steven Moffat (co-creator of Sherlock, another show you should check out if you haven't yet). The three have been on many adventures! I will admit when I first heard Mr Moffat was taking over I was worried for the man had written some of the previous scarier episodes of Doctor Who it its first two seasons, I thought the show would become darker, instead it has stayed consistent with some episodes being fun, touching and sweet like when The Doctor and Amy met Vincent Van Gogh (My favorite artist) while others have been down right creepy like the episodes called Night Terrors about a frightened child and The God Complex about a hotel in which all the rooms were filled with its residents worst fears.

From the day we met Amy Pond as a young girl to the day the Ponds learned the truth about River Song The 11th Doctor and his companions have been through a lot. I am sure the new season will be no different as we watch and like with those before them we say goodbye to Amy and Rory but with continue to travel through time and space with The Doctor. So if you haven't check out one of my favorite series jump on board The TARDIS and tune into Doctor Who.

TO BE CONTINUE NOVEMBER 2013...   

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Guard (2011)- A film review

This past weekend I had family visiting and when one has company you have to enterain them right? While doing so on Friday night we came across a small, independent, foreign film called The Guard. The film takes place in a little, off beat town in Ireland. it is here where the local police come across a gruesome murder. They discover that the murder is connected to other deaths which are part of a drug smuggling ring so the FBI is called in to help out on the case. The two main characters are a unconventional Irish policeman named Sergeant Gerry Boyle played by Brendan Gleeson and a by the book, uptight FBI agent named Wendell Everett played by the awesome Don Cheadle.

The strange story goes even deeper as we learn about these two characters and what makes them tick. They dislike each other when the first meet. On his day off Boyle spends some time with prostitutes and his dying mother while Everett goes around the town asking anyone including a horse if they know the drug smugglers, language becomes a problem since most speak Gallic. Do the two learn to get along? Do the y get the bad guys? Who is that teen on the bike with training wheels? Who is that young boy with the dog? To find out rent or on demand The Guard.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Farewell to The Closer

Tonight on TNT at 9 pm is the final episode of The Closer.

I just want to tell the cast and crew that I look forward to Major Crimes which is premiering right after but as for The Closer herself Branda Leigh Johnson played by the magnificent Kyra Sedgwick. The Deputy Chief of the major crimes division in Los Angeles always knew how to get a suspect to open up and get at the truth. She was tough, brilliant and obsess with candy ( I too am fond of a peanut butter cup once in a while and wouldn't mind a draw full of them) and once in a while we got to she her softer side, like whenever she was with he husband, Fritzy, her cat (first Miss Kitty then Joel) and her very southern parents. Branda lived life on her own terms.

Cheers to The Closer 2005-2012! And to Emmy Award winner Kyra Sedgwick this fan will miss your southern accent and that cute pink coat. Good luck to whatever you (and any other cast member who won't be on Major Crimes) do in the future (fingers crossed for a return to good films).

Newlyweds

Once again Director/Writer Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, She's the One) has brought us another sweet and fine small film with the simple title of Newlyweds. Mr. Burns does his best work when shooting on the streets of NYC and this film is no exception. The story is about a newly wedded couple, Buzzy (Edward Burns) and Katy(Caitlin Fitzgerald) and how they cope with what happens once their (2ed each) marriage begins. They have only known each other for a short time when their lives get turned upside down when friends and family get involved. Let me start with Katy's sister Marsha (Marsha Dietlein) and her husband Max (Max Baker). The two have been married for 19 years and when they have lunch with Buzzy and Katy their relationship begins to feel old and past its prime. Max flirts with a younger woman while Marsha feels ignored. That is only the beginning to the tsunami of troubles in front of Buzzy and Katy. Next there is Katy's out of work actor ex-husband Dara (Dara Coleman) who is always stopping by and asking for money and suddenly Linda (Kerry Bishe) Buzzy's younger half sister drops by out of the blue. Buzzy and Linda have not seen each other since she left her home at 16 when their father died. She comes to NYC from l.A (without a coat) with the propose of getting her now married ex back and crash lands into their already crazy new lives. All of the characters lives become connected and as shown through conversations between Sister and Sister, Husband and Husband, and Ex Husband and Half Sister the film asks the questions about marriage, why does when get married? How to deal with being married and the questions that come once you are married-How to deal with those outside the marriage who are part of each spouses world? From giving up on yours as an individual dreams to settling down and having a family?
First thoughts right after the "I dos" and what really happens next.

Edward Burns asked for real life newlywed stories through twitter and with his lowest budget yet and NYC as the background gave use another good film. So go and download or rent and watch Newlyweds.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Berkeley Square

Some people call them "classics" to me they are films that were made before I was born and just haven't seen yet. At night when I can't sleep I put the TV on TCM (I find that the black and white images keep it dark but the voices are comforting), that being said I have found some good films this way.

Last week for the first time TCM aired a film from 1933. The story takes place in 18th century London 8 years after after the American Revolution, at am estate in Berkeley Square, the name of the film. The opening scene takes place in the English house where we first meet Kate Pettigrew (Valerie Taylor) she and her family are awaiting the arrival of their American cousin, Peter Standish there is a flash of lighting and we are transported to the present day where a man (Leslie Howard) shares his name with the now long dead Peter and turns out to be his distant relative. He has just inherited the old house and finds it intriguing with a beautiful history. The house has not changed , same grandfather clock, same books and a painting of a man who looks just like him.  Just as in the recent film Midnight in Paris, Peter begins to long for the past as his fiance Marjorie (Betty Lawford) walks in. She sees that he is obsess and becomes worried about his mental state. Peter doesn't want to leave the house and comes up with a theory that if he walks in the same path of his late relative then some how all of time will happen at once and he will be allowed to travel through time. Peter learns about the arrival of the cousin while reading his journal and at the precise time 5;30 he enters the house and on the other side of the door finds himself dressed in 18th century clothing. In the past he also meets Kate's sister Helen and immediately falls in love with her although he is engaged to Kate. Also at their first meeting Peter makes his first time travel mistake by knowing what Helen's birthday gift is before she opens it. This reminds him that must follow the path that has already happened but it is more difficult then he thought it would be and he makes mistake after mistake. Using words that have not been used yet and knowing about things that have not happened. Kate becomes fearful of him but Helen loves him. Can Peter make things right again? To find out what happens next check out Berkeley Square.

Dolphin Tale-A film review

Animal stories on film are hard to watch and tare at the heart strings and yet I can't help but take a chance on them. From Charlotte's Web, National Velvet and Old Yeller to Seabiscuit, Secaterit and Warhorse to the comedy Cats and Dogs you know you are about to watch a good story. Movies about animals follow the same formula, you meet the animal, you fall in love with him or her throughout the telling of the story and whether it ends in sorrow or triampth by the time the credits roll you have gone on an emotional journey, which reminds me of Homeward Bound with the two dogs and the cat, aww, which brings me to the latest film that premiered last month on HBO called Dolphin Tale.

Everything that you need to know is right there in the title, this movie is inspired by a true story. A story in which the central character is a dolphin named Winter. The film begins when a young boy named Sawyer Nelson (Nathan Gamble) finds a dolphin stranded on a beach. After she is rescued by a father/Marine Biologist, Dr. Clay Haskett played by the wonderful singer/actor Harry Connick Jr. and his daughter, Hazel (Cozi Zuehlsdorff). They take her back to their animal hospital/aquarium to try and save her. The call her Winter and realize that her tail fin is injured and eventually have to amputate it. Then things get serious, the boy and girl grow to care for and love Winter. They help her swim ever day even though it means Sawyer skips summer school. They all soon learn that if Winter continues to move her fin up and down instead of right to left she will die, at the same time the hospital is losing their benefactors and may have to sell the building leaving all the animals homeless.That is where Dr. Cameron played by the great Morgan Freeman comes into the picture. Can he find a way to help and save Winter? Can the hospital be saved? If for no other reason you should watch this movie to see a pelican named Rufus who steels every scene he is in. Ashley Judd also stars as Sawyer's mother. Keep an eye out for or rent Dolphin Tale.