Posted in Recommendations, Television on February 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
6:30 PM:
Independence Day movie on More Max
7 PM:
Rio (animated) movie on HBO Family
7:30 PM:
The Lion King (animated) movie on Disney
8 PM:
Smash on NBC (Reair)
Psych on ION
Cupid movie on Hallmark (DEBUT)
Something Borrowed movie on HBO
The Holiday movie on Lifetime
Freaky Friday movie on Oxygen
Watchmen movie on TNT
Sleepless in Seattle movie on WE TV
8:30 PM:
Pretty Woman movie on ABC Family
9 PM:
The Fades on BBC America (NEW)
Harry’s Law on NBC (Reair)
Psych on ION
Battle: Los Angeles movie on Starz
10 PM:
Psych on ION
Cupid movie on Hallmark (Encore)
Juno movie on Oxygen
Enjoy!
Posted in Daily/Weekly Updates on February 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Hey All,
Here are the news items for today:
TELEVISION
Actors David Marciano and Navid Negahban have been promoted to series regulars on the Showtime drama Homeland for the series’ second season. As viewers will recall, Marciano played Virgil, Carrie’s “right-hand snoop” and Negahban played the renowned terrorist Abu Nazir. Homeland is expected to be back in the fall. (Matt Mitovich and Michael Maloney at TV Line)
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
Legendary actors Christopher Plummer and Frank Langella have signed on the upcoming HBO project Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight. Plummer will play Supreme Court Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II, and Langella will take on the role of Chief Justice Warren Berger. An actor has yet to be named to play Ali himself, though. (Lanford Beard at Entertainment Weekly)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Actress Bridget Regan (Legend of the Seeker), actor Ethan Embry (That Thing You Do!) [among others] have joined the cast of the NBC Western pilot called The Frontier that will chronicle the journey of a group of disparate travelers from Missouri to the West Coast in 1840. Regan will play Hannah, who is traveling with her husband but becomes close with one of the other travelers while Embry will play DJ Jackson, who pretends to be married to Payton, but is secretly gay. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actors Jon Voight and Elliot Gould have joined the Showtime drama pilot called Ray Donovan that will star Liev Schreiber in the title role. Voight will play Ray’s father Mickey Donovan, a newly freed ex-convict who heads to Los Angeles with suspicious intentions to reconnect with his estranged family. While Gould will appear as a recurring guest star named Ezra Goodman, a senior partner at a law firm who is Ray’s mentor and confidante, yet is showing signs of dementia. (The Futon Critic)
Young actor Max Thieriot (The Pacifier) has landed the lead role in the as-yet titled Roland Emmerich drama pilot for ABC. The pilot centers on Carter (Thieriot), an astrophysics grad student in NYC who learns that he is the chosen one to destroy the forces of evil. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Autumn Reeser (No Ordinary Family and The O.C.) has joined the cast of the ABC drama pilot called Last Resort that will star Andre Braugher. The pilot centers on the crew of the U.S.S. Nevada, a nuclear submarine, who, after disobeying a suspicious order, become fugitives. They land on the island of Sainte Marina, where they take over the NATO Listening Station and declare themselves an independent nuclear nation. Reeser will play Kylie, a charming lobbyist for her family’s weapons manufacturing company. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Kevin Alejandro (True Blood and Southland) has been cast in the as-yet titled Greg Berlanti drama pilot formerly known as Golden Boy that will chronicle a cop’s meteoric rise from officer to detective and eventually police commissioner. Alejandro will play the top detective in the squad who is disturbed by the new guy’s arrival and plots to derail his career. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
NBC is temporarily shelving their remake of the Munsters pilot – now titled Mocking Bird Lane – to June effectively removing it from this fall’s TV line-up; but that doesn’t mean it’s dead – just delayed. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Syfy is developing a series version of the box office film Legion, which chronicled human race’s battle for survival against God’s legion of angels sent by him to bring on the Apocalypse. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actor Keong Sim – who played Mike Chang’s dad on Glee – has joined the cast of the TNT medical drama pilot from David E. Kelley and for which is based on CNN chief medical correspondent’s Sanjay Gupta’s novel Monday Mornings. The pilot follows the lives of five surgeons as they push the limits of their personal and professional feelings. Sim will play Dr. Sung Park, an abrupt but socially awkward neurosurgeon who performs his job with a searing intensity and relentless ambition. (Lesley Goldberg at The Hollywood Reporter)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
It looks like yet another Beauty and the Beast project is getting underway – this time on the big screen with actor Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) and Lea Seydoux (Midnight in Paris and Robin Hood) in the lead roles. There are no story details at this time, though. The film is expected to be in theatres in 2014. (Deadline, Movie Web and Blastr)
Young actress Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is in negotiations to join Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson in the box office film Can a Song Save Your Life? that has Johansson’s character moving to New York to pursue her dreams of a singing career but finding herself all alone when she’s dumped by her boyfriend. Enter a down-on-his-luck record producer (Ruffalo) who finds her singing in a local bar and the two realize that they may be each other’s last chance to turn their lives around. Steinfeld will play Ruffalo’s daughter. (Borys Kit at The Hollywood Reporter)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Have a terrific weekend!!
Posted in Books, News, Recommendations on February 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Here is the next list of modern-day writers who, in their own way, have paid homage to Jane Austen’s legendary stories. The first two authors listed below have written four books while the last author has written five books either inspired by Austen’s characters or based on the author herself.
They appear in alphabetical order:
None But You by Susan Kaye
SUSAN KAYE
“None But You, (Frederick Wentworth, Captain: Book 1)”
Released on January 31, 2007
Eight years ago, when he had nothing but his future to offer, Frederick Wentworth fell in love with Anne Elliot, the gentle daughter of a haughty, supercilious baronet. Sir Walter Elliot refused to countenance a marriage, and Anne’s godmother, Lady Russell, strongly advised Anne against him. Persuaded by those nearest to her, Anne had given him up and he had taken his broken heart to sea. When Jane Austen’s Persuasion opens in the year 1814, Frederick Wentworth, now a famous and wealthy captain in His Majesty’s Navy, finds himself back in England and, as fate would have it, residing as a guest in Anne’s former home. Now, it is the baronet who is in financial difficulties, and Anne exists only at her family’s beck and call. For eight long years, Frederick had steeled his heart against her. Should he allow Anne into his heart again, or should he look for love with younger, prettier woman in the neighborhood who regard him as a hero?
For You Alone by Susan Kaye
SUSAN KAYE
“For You Alone (Frederick Wentworth, Captain; Book 2)”
Released on October 15, 2008
How could he have failed to know himself so completely? Captain Frederick Wentworth, lately returned to England from a distinguished naval career fighting Napoleon, had re-visited the scene of his romantic defeat of eight years previous at the hands of Miss Anne Elliot to find his former love a pale, worn shadow of herself. Attracted by the lively young ladies in the area who regarded him as a hero, he had ignored Anne and entangled himself with Louisa Musgrove, a headstrong young woman who seemed all that Anne was not. Now, because of his careless behavior and Louisa’s heedlessness, his future appeared tied to her just at the moment when it had become painfully clear that Anne was still everything he truly wanted. In honor, he belonged to Louisa, but his heart was full of Anne. What was he to do?
Shadows in a Brillant Life by Susan Kaye
SUSAN KAYE
“Shadows in a Brilliant Life”
Released on July 1, 2011
This is a short story in which Captain Frederick Wentworth is not an honorable man, but a man looking to gratify his own selfish desires. When Anne Elliot sees that Louisa Musgrove is the object of Wentworth’s lust, she must try to stop him; and then when Louisa is out of danger, is Anne his new target?
When I Dream, I Have You
SUSAN KAYE
“When I Dream, I Have You”
Released on July 12, 2011
The success of Persuasion is predicated on the once engaged Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth meeting after a separation of nearly nine years. In this time, both have changed a great deal. She has learned that love is not as easily had as she thought when she was 19, and he has gotten the money and success he hungered after as a younger man. When they meet again, there is still much pride and misunderstanding to overcome before all is set to right. But what would happen if the second meeting were postponed by just a few months?
The Darcy’s & the Bingley’s: A Tale of Two Gentlemen’s Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters by Marsha Altman
MARSHA ALTMAN
“The Darcy’s & the Bingley’s: A Tale of Two Gentlemen’s Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters”
Released on September 1, 2008
Three days before their double wedding, Charles Bingley is desperate to have a word with his dear friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, seeking advice of a most delicate nature. Bingley is shocked when Darcy gives him a copy of The Kama Sutra – but it does tell him everything he needs to know. Eventually, of course, Jane finds this remarkable volume and in utmost secrecy shows it to her dear sister Elizabeth, who goes searching for a copy in the Pemberley library. By turns hilarious and sweet, this book follows the two couples and the cast of characters surrounding them. Miss Caroline Bingley, it turns out, has such good reasons for being the way she is that the reader can’t help but hold her in charity. Delightfully, she makes a most eligible match, and in spite of Darcy’s abhorrence of being asked for advice, he and Bingley have a most enduring and adventure-prone friendship.
The Plight of the Darcy Brothers: A Tale of the Darcy’s & the Bingley’s by Marsha Altman
MARSHA ALTMAN
“The Plight of the Darcy Brothers: A Tale of the Darcy’s & the Bingley’s”
Released on August 1, 2009
When proper Bennet sister Mary returns from the continent, she is a compromised woman. Darcy and Elizabeth go to the continent to find the father and convince him to do the right thing, but on the way, they discover secret scandals about the Darcy family, including one half-brother Darcy didn’t know about and a bigger problem that could ruin the entire family’s reputation.
Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape: A Tale of the Darcy’s & the Bingley’s by Marsha Altman
MARSHA ALTMAN
“Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape: A Tale of the Darcy’s & the Bingley’s”
Released on February 1, 2010
This installment brings the Darcy and Bingley families to the year 1812 and the intrigues of the Napoleonic Wars. Darcy and Dr. Maddox go in search of Darcy’s missing half-brother and land in a medieval prison cell. Much to his dismay, Charles Bingley is left to hold the fort at Pemberley while his sister Caroline, Elizabeth, and Col. Fitzwilliam traverse Europe on a daring rescue. Meanwhile, Lady Catherine de Bourgh kicks up a truly shocking scandal. One never knows what might happen next between the estates of Rosings and Pemberley.
The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy by Marsha Altman
MARSHA ALTMAN
“The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy”
Released on May 10, 2011
WHIRLWIND OF PEMBERLEY: The comings and goings on their grand estate present endless challenges for Elizabeth and Darcy. Can they avoid scandal given the recent arrival of Mr. Darcy’s illegitimate brother Grégoire, Mr. Bennet’s advancing years, the younger George Wickham’s coming of age, and Dr. Maddox’s departure from his position with the Prince Regent even as his many secrets threaten to be discovered? COURTSHIP OF MARY BENNET: After her disastrous trip to the continent resulted in a passionate romance and an unintended child, Mary Bennet finds herself back in England, living with the shameful title of unwed mother. Having given up on ever finding love, Mary is shocked to find herself pursued by a proper gentleman. But are his intentions true, or is Mary being led astray by her heart once again? TORMENT OF GRÉGOIRE DARCY: Leaving his sheltered, peaceful life at a Benedictine cloister, Grégoire enters a world he never imagined. Thrust into Regency England’s secular society, Grégoire is overwhelmed. How can an inexperienced, single man stay true to himself while finding his place in a culture obsessed with matrimony?
Moonlighting by Ola Wegner
OLA WEGNER
“Moonlighting”
Released on August 12, 2009
Forced to flee France, in the 12th century, to preserve their community, the werewolves moved to less populated England. Fitzwilliam Darcy lived at Pemberley in the far northern parts of England. He inherited his leadership of the Pemberley pack from his late father. His human mother had passed long before her mate. In an effort to dilute the bloodlines to better control the ‘change’ the males sought human wives. Darcy’s love of Elizabeth Bennet was complete and for life. Bound by the law of the pack to withhold his true identity until his wife was with child, Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet at the same time as his best friend Charles Bingley married her sister, Jane. Now in the far reaches of Pemberley, will Lizzy learn her husband’s secret? Will she escape this unnatural community or, will their love prevail against overwhelming odds? What will her life be as the Alpha Female of the werewolves of Pemberley?
Deception: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner
OLA WEGNER
“Deception: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice”
Released on March 5, 2010
After the ball at Netherfield Fitzwilliam Darcy left Hertfordshire scared of his rapidly developing feelings for Elizabeth Bennet. What if another man had appeared in her life, both wealthy and attractive, certain of his affection for her and wishing to marry her? What if in Kent Darcy had met Elizabeth who was practically engaged to another man? How would he have dealt with an unexpected rival and would he face the challenge?
Apprehension and Desire: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner
OLA WEGNER
“Apprehension and Desire: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice”
Released on April 2, 2010
What if Elizabeth Bennet had agreed to Darcy’s marriage proposal offered to her at Hunsford parsonage, sincerely thinking it was the best thing she could have done in her situation? As his fiancée and later wife, can she fall in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy who is still very much arrogant, rude, and not reformed man? Will she be able to look over her own prejudice and apprehension, and see a worthy man who loves, and desires her?
Realisations: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner
OLA WEGNER
“Realisations: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice”
Released on November 25, 2010
A contemporary student switches places with the original Elizabeth Darcy. Liz Bennet is a hard-working, contemporary girl. Between her studies and work she has little time for romance. Her sister, Jane, convinces her to take a short break and spend a weekend with their friends in a country house. To Liz’s displeasure among the group there is William Darcy, a man she doesn’t hold in high regard. Darcy tries to ask her out, but she rejects him. The very next day, during her morning run, she gets hit by a car. She doesn’t regain her consciousness in a hospital as she expects to, but in the unfamiliar room, in the year 1813. She wakes up as a wife of a wealthy landlord, Master of Pemberley, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Liz realizes that she somehow managed to travel back in time, taking place of William Darcy’s great grandmother. Will she manage to return to her own time?
The Only Way: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice by Ola Wegner
OLA WEGNER
“The Only Way: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice”
Released on August 26, 2011
In this retelling of the beloved novel on the day of Darcy’s proposal at Hunsford, Elizabeth receives tragic news of her father’s sudden death. Will this change her mind about accepting Darcy’s offer? Will she decide to marry the man whom she dislikes in order to rescue her mother and sisters from destitution?
More lists coming soon…
Posted in Recommendations, Television on February 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
7 PM:
Another Cinderella Story movie on ABC Family
7:15 PM:
Underworld movie on Cinemax
7:50 PM:
Air Force One movie on Showtime
8 PM:
A Gifted Man on CBS (NEW)
Nikita on The CW (NEW)
Blade Runner movie on AMC
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice movie on Encore
8:10 PM:
Casino Royale movie on BBC America
9 PM:
Grimm on NBC (NEW)
Fringe on FOX (NEW)
Supernatural on The CW (NEW)
Flashpoint on ION (Reair)
A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song movie on ABC Family (Reair)
10 PM:
Merlin on Syfy (NEW)
Blue Bloods on CBS (NEW)
Flashpoint on ION (Reair)
Enjoy!
Posted in Daily/Weekly Updates on February 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Hey All,
Here are the news items for today:
TELEVISION
Former Charlie’s Angels beauty Jaclyn Smith has just signed on to play Wallace Langham’s mom on CSI, who makes a surprise visit to see her son and gets to interact with all his co-workers in an amusing fashion. (William Keck at TV Guide)
FOX has finally done it. They have cancelled the long-running medical drama House, which will end at the end of this season after being on the air for eight seasons. (Variety)
Syfy has ordered a third season of the US version of Being Human. The series will get a 13 episode order for that season. The current season just started airing as of January 16. (TV By the Numbers)
Actress Mercedes Ruehl has joined the cast of the new HBO horse-racing drama Luck where she will play Julietta Caligari, the mother of Renzo (Ritchie Coster). (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Catherine Dent (The Shield) has landed a recurring role on the upcoming FOX drama Touch. She will play the sister-in-law of Kiefer Sutherland’s widowed character — and won’t necessarily make his already tricky life any easier. The show will make its official debut on March 19. (Megan Masters and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
Actress Jessica Tuck (True Blood) will appear in an upcoming episode of Grimm, playing Adalind’s (Claire Coffee) Hexenbiest mother Catherine. (Sandra Gonzalez at Entertainment Weekly)
MADE FOR TV MOVIE NEWS
Actress Lisa Edelstein (House) will appear in a Lifetime made-for-TV movie called Blue-Eyed Butcher, which is based on a true story. The film will follow the story of Susan Wright (Sara Paxton), a gorgeous young wife and mother of two who violently kills her husband (Justin Bruening) in their Houston home after years of alleged abuse. When Susan claims that she needed to kill her hubby — out of self-preservation for herself and her children after years of mental abuse — prosecutor Kelly Siegler (Edelstein) argues that the accused is actually a cunning, doe-eyed sociopath. The film will premiere on March 3. (Megan Masters and Matt Mitovich at TV Line)
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Actor James Purefoy (Rome) will star opposite Kevin Bacon in the untitled Kevin Williamson pilot for FOX that centers on Joe Carroll (Purefoy) a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and the retired FBI profiler (Bacon) who finds himself in the middle of it all. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
Actress Aimee Garcia (Dexter and Trauma) has been cast in the NBC drama pilot called County, (from creator Jason Katims) that will star Jason Ritter (The Event and Parenthood). The project chronicles the lives of a group of young doctors, nurses, and administrators in a frenetic underfunded and morally compromising LA County Hospital. Garcia will play a sharp-witted, no-nonsense new intern at the hospital. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Actor Sullivan Stapleton (Strike Back) is in final negotiations to star in the untitled follow-up to the box office flick 300, but plot details are being kept under wraps. (Justin Kroll at Variety)
Actor Billy Connolly has been added to the cast of the two-part adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien novel The Hobbit. He will play Dain Ironfoot, a dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). The first part of the film is slated to hit theaters on December 14. (Bruna Nessif at E! Online)
Actress Naomi Watts will play the role of Princess Diana in the upcoming movie Caught in Flight that will paint a portrait of Diana, Princess of Wales during the last two years of her life. It charts how finding true personal happiness for the first time allowed her to achieve her defining successes evolving into a major international campaigner and humanitarian. (Nancy Tartaglione at Deadline)
Actress Jaimie Alexander (Thor and Kyle XY) and Frank Grillo (The Grey and The Gates) have joined the cast of the upcoming thriller called Intersection. Alexander will play a woman who, along with her lover, plans to murder her husband. Things get complicated, however, when the lover and the husband wind up in a car accident together along a desert road in Morocco. (Variety and Dark Horizons)
Actor Morgan Freeman will star alongside Tom Cruise in the sci-fi film called Oblivion that has Cruise playing the last man on a post-apocalyptic and nearly uninhabitable Earth, who stays behind to repair ships that hunt down and blast a virulent alien species. Actresses Andrea Riseborough and Olga Kurylenko will also star. (Mike Fleming at Deadline)
Actor Henry Cavill (the upcoming Man of Steel reboot) is in negotiations to star in the upcoming film The Great Wall that looks at the mystery behind how China’s Great Wall was constructed. (Justin Kroll at Variety)
Legendary Pictures has officially pulled the plug on the planned film Paradise Lost. (Jeff Sneider at Variety)
That’s it. Enjoy!
Posted in News, Reminder, Television, TV Calendar on February 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Here is what to expect for your TV programming next week (other than the normal schedule):
An all-day marathon of season one episodes of The Walking Dead will air on AMC on February 11. Please check your local listings for airtimes.
On February 12 an all-day marathon of season two episodes of The Walking Dead will air today, leading up to the return of all-new episodes starting at 9 PM on AMC.
BBC America will rerun the dramatic series The Hour, starting on February 15. Please check your local listings for airtimes.
On February 17 A Gifted Man will move to its new timeslot on CBS at 9 PM with CSI: NY taking a short hiatus.
The Fades will air its season finale on BBC America on February 18 at 9 PM.
Mark your calendars!
Posted in Recommendations, Television on February 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Trying to figure out what to watch tonight? Be it new episodes of the TV season, reairs of cable series or a movie, here are some suggestions:
6 PM:
The Princess Diaries movie on ABC Family
7 PM:
The King’s Speech movie on Showtime2
7:30 PM:
I, Robot movie on Fox Movie Channel
8 PM:
The Vampire Diaries on The CW (NEW)
NCIS on USA Network
Message in a Bottle movie on OWN
8:30 PM:
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement movie on ABC Family
Wall-E (animated) movie on Disney
9 PM:
Person of Interest on CBS (NEW)
The Secret Circle on The CW (NEW)
The Finder on FOX (NEW)
The Borgias on Showtime2
NCIS on USA Network
Rio (animated) movie on HBO2
9:45 PM:
That Thing You Do! movie on Encore
10 PM:
The Firm on NBC (NEW)
Game of Thrones on HBO (Reair)
NCIS on USA Network
Enjoy!
Rueben's Ramblings 