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TV Review: GRIMM – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By CARL CORTEZ 10/29/2011

Silas Weir Mitchell and David Giuntoli in GRIMM - Season 1 | ©2011 NBC/Eric Ogden

Stars: David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Reggie Lee, Sasha Roiz Writers: David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf and Stephen Carpenter based on a story by David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf and Stephen Carpenter Director: Marc Buckland Network: NBC, airs Fridays Original Telecast: October 29, 2011 NBC has taken so many hits lately from the abysmal THE PLAYBOY CLUB to the under-performance of its other new series, that the premiere of the final new show of their season looked pretty grim. Luckily, the show itself is called GRIMM and thankfully it’s anything but. GRIMM is from ANGEL co-creator […]Read On »

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Profile: TRUE BLOOD star Stephen Moyer on THE DOUBLE trouble

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 10/28/2011

Stephen Moyer in THE DOUBLE | ©2011 Image Entertainment

In THE DOUBLE, Richard Gere plays former CIA agent Paul Shepherdson, who is dragged back into the field when it looks like the presumed-dead Russian agent he was chasing has resurfaced to kill again. Topher Grace plays Ben Geary, an FBI agent who partners with Paul. Among the people they talk to is Stephen Moyer’s Brutus, an imprisoned KGB assassin who reveres the man the other two are seeking. Moyer, who speaks with his native English accent when not playing characters who hail from elsewhere, speaks with great affection about his best-known character, TRUE BLOOD’s gentlemanly Louisiana vampire Bill Compton. […]Read On »

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Movie Review: THE DOUBLE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

THE DOUBLE movie poster | ©2011 Image Entertainment

Stars: Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Odette Yustman, Stephen Moyer, Stana Katic, Martin Sheen Writers: Michael Brandt & Derek Haas Director: Michael Brandt Distributor: Image Entertainment Release Date: October 28, 2011 THE DOUBLE is a thriller set in Washington, D.C. that involves both the CIA and the FBI, yet is virtually apolitical. The movie indeed invokes the kinds of spy dramas of yore, like THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and NO WAY OUT, where a search for an enemy agent leads to all sorts of twists and turns. Writers Michael Brandt & Derek Haas make a concession to present-day filmmaking expectations and pack […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Director Declan O’Brien takes another WRONG TURN

By CARL CORTEZ 10/27/2011

WRONG TURN 4: BLOODY BEGINNINGS teaser poster | ©2011 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

For a film franchise that got off to a less than stellar boxoffice start in 2003, WRONG TURN has proven to be one of 20th Century Fox’s steady DVD players and has resulted in two additional direct-to-DVD sequels over the years. Now, WRONG TURN 3 helmer Declan O’Brien (Syfy Channel’s SHARKTOPUS) returns to write and direct a prequel to the franchise with WRONG TURN 4: BLOODY BEGINNINGS. If you ever wondered how the cannibal crazies Three-Finger, Saw-Tooth and One-Eye got their appetite for death, destruction and flesh, then BLOODY BEGINNINGS hopes to shed some new bloody light on things. Hitting […]Read On »

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Blu-ray Review: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES 2-DISC COMBO

By CARL CORTEZ

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER RIDES Blu-ray | ©2011 Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Johnny Depp, Peneolpe Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane Writer: Screenplay by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, Characters by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert Director: Rob Marshall Distributor: Walt Disney Home Entertainment Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 There was a lot of ire from fans this summer when PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES was released. Many people absolutely hates the fourth installment of the venerable franchise featuring quirky pirate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp). Yet, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. I thoroughly enjoyed ON STRANGER TIDES, which brought the series back […]Read On »

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Interview: Madeleine Stowe gets a taste of REVENGE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 10/26/2011

Madeleine Stowe in REVENGE - Season 1 - "Charade" | ©2011 ABC/Colleen Hayes

In ABC’s new hit series REVENGE, Wednesdays at 10 PM, Emily VanCamp plays Emily Thorne, who returns under an assumed identity to the upscale community in the Hamptons where she lived as a child. Emily’s goal is to get revenge (see the title) on the people who sent her beloved father to jail for life and ruined her younger years. There’s plenty of collateral damage, but Emily’s principal target is Madeleine Stowe’s character Victoria Grayson, who rules the enclave as its unofficially anointed queen. Stowe, a Los Angeles native, had audiences swooning as the heroine in LAST OF THE MOHICANS. […]Read On »

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TV Review: SUPERNATURAL – Season 7 – “Shut Up, Dr. Phil”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 10/25/2011

James Marsters and Charisma Carpenter in SUPERNATURAL - Season 7 - "Shut Up, Dr. Phil" | ©2011 The CW/Jack Rowand

Stars: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, James Marsters, Charisma Carpenter, Sean Owen Roberts Writers: Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming, series created by Eric Kripke Director: Phil Sgriccia Network: The CW, Fridays @ 9 PM Original Telecast: October 21, 2011 When supernatural shows that are usually dark with hints of humor decide to be lighthearted without committing to going gonzo, the results are usually lightweight. That’s in one way the case with SUPERNATURAL’s episode “Shut Up, Dr. Phil,” but on the other hand, anything that brings together BUFFY and ANGEL alumni James Marsters (Spike) and Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) automatically has worthwhile qualities. […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Stefanie Powers put the girl power in THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.

By CARL CORTEZ

THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. DVD - PART 1 | ©Warner Bros.

While everyone fondly remembers the Robert Vaughn series THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., many forget a one-season spin-off starring Stefanie Powers landed on the air in 1967. Called THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. the series followed Powers as April Dancer – a spy who worked for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement and flexed her sexy muscles to combat the bad guys. You could say she put the Powers in Girl Power. The show only lasted for 29 episodes, but the series is looked back at very fondly by fans who fell in love with one of the first empowered […]Read On »

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TV Review: ONCE UPON A TIME – Season 1 – “Pilot”

By ANNE LOUISE BANNON 10/24/2011

Ginnifer Goodwin in ONCE UPON A TIME - Season 1 | ©2011 ABC/Kharen Hill

Stars: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, Jared Gilmore, Josh Dallas, Raphael Sbarge Writer: Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis Director: Mark Mylod Network: ABC, Sunday nights, 8 p.m. Original Telecast: October 23, 2011 Once upon a time, back in 1987, ABC put on a situation comedy called THE CHARMINGS in which the Evil Queen (Judy Parfitt), in a fit of rage that Snow White had survived after all, cast a spell so powerful, it sent Snow, Prince Eric (Christopher Rich) and their two boys, the Queen and a Dwarf, to modern suburbia. Their confusion with their fairy tale beginnings and real life made for much merriment, but not enough […]Read On »

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TV Review: THE WALKING DEAD – Season 2 – “Bloodletting”

By ARNOLD T. BLUMBERG

Jon Bernthal, Andrew Lincoln, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jane McNeill, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson and Chandler Riggs in THE WALKING DEAD - Season 2 - "Bloodletting" | ©2011 AMC/Bob Mahoney

Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa Suzanne McBride, Madison Lintz, IronE Singleton, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, Neil Brown Jr. Writer: Ardeth Bey and Robert Kirkman Director: Ernest Dickerson and Gwyneth Horder-Payton Network: AMC, airs Sunday nights Original Telecast: October 16, 2011 In the second episode of THE WALKING DEAD Season 2, “Bloodletting,” Rick (Andrew Lincoln) finds a possible safe haven for the group while seeking help for Carl (Chandler Riggs), and Shane (Jon Bernthal) undertakes a mission to obtain medical supplies to save Carl’s life. New friends are […]Read On »

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