The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet: TV review

April 24, 2012

Created by Amanda de Cadenet and executive-produced by Demi Moore, The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet utilizes a casual format which evokes a girlfriends chit-chatting setting. In the first episode, de Cadenet speaks with Jane Fonda, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Silverman and Zoe Saldana. Fonda talks about marriage and intimacy issues. Paltrow discusses how the death of her father, Bruce Paltrow, profoundly affected her. Both Paltrow and de Cadenet open up about post-partum depression. Silverman addresses boundaries and being a strong woman in a male-dominated industry. Saldana focuses on body image.

Amanda de Cadenet showcases her natural skill as an interviewer. She’s adept at eliciting truthfulness and emotions from others. She’s not just a model/ photographer/ pretty face who can read lines off a teleprompter. She’s the real deal. Amanda de Cadenet has smarts and life experience to share with other women. She’s self-effacing—rather cutely obsessed with her post-pregnancy lopsided breasts—and charming. Amanda de Cadenet is a true delight that soaks in the spotlight without overshadowing anyone else.

In future episodes de Cadenet will interview more famous and influential women, including: Lady Gaga; Miley Cyrus; Eva Longoria; Kelly Preston; Alicia Keys; Senator Kristen Gillibrand [D, NY]; Ivanka Trump; Donna Karan; Gabby Sidibe. The show also features “Women on the Street” segments where de Cadenet asks a variety of women questions about body image, relationships and other women’s issues and concerns. The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet is an engaging and illuminating show with some of our favorite entertainers.

The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet premieres Thursday, April 26 at 11pm ET/PT on Lifetime

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Posted by Amy Steele

Golden Globes 2012

January 16, 2012

winners of the 69th annual Golden Globes:

MOTION PICTURES

– Picture, Drama: “The Descendants.”

– Picture, Musical or Comedy: “The Artist.”

– Actor, Drama: George Clooney, “The Descendants.”

– Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady.”

– Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”

– Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist.”

– Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”

– Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”

– Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”

– Foreign Language: “A Separation.”

– Animated Film: “The Adventures of Tintin.”

– Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”

– Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist.”

– Original Song: “Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E.”

TELEVISION

– Series, Drama: “Homeland,” Showtime.

– Series, Musical or Comedy: “Modern Family,” ABC.

– Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, “Boss.”

– Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland.”

– Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, “Enlightened.”

– Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes.”

– Miniseries or Movie: “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece),” PBS.

– Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce.”

– Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, “Luther.”

– Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story.”

– Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones.”

looks I liked:

Ariel Winter from Modern Family
–love it all. the style, the texture, the color.

Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford

svelte and talented Claire Danes [who won for Homeland]

stunning Dianna Agron of Glee in this bold dress

Elizabeth McGovern [Downton Abbey won]

Evan Rachel Wood from Mildred Pierce

such a stunning color on Viola Davis [The Help]

could Gerard Butler be an more handsome?

gorgeous Sofia Vargas of Modern Family

uber-magnificent Helen Mirren

always lovely Kate Beckinsale

vibrant Paula Patton

Nicole Kidman

Reese Witherspoon

Julianne Moore and Laura Dern

Salma Hayak

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Posted by Amy Steele

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones: TV review

December 11, 2011

Last week a box arrived on my doorstep. Inside that box sat another box which opened to reveal an old-fashioned-style record player playing a 1930s song. It both startled me and intrigued me. I thought it was brilliant marketing for Stephen King’s Bag of Bones on A&E. Turns out the entire drawn-out miniseries is all empty jumps, startles and screams. I like the occasional good scream but want there to be a reason behind it.

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones focuses on a writer [Pierce Brosnan] whose wife [Annabeth Gish] dies. He retreats to their vacation home on a lake in Maine where he meets a young woman [Melissa George] and in helping her becomes embroiled in an old town mystery. Decades ago, a singer named Sarah Tidwell [Anika Noni Rose] placed a curse on the entire town.

When a story is about a writer I wonder if the writer is imagining something, writing something or actually experiencing it. Most of Stephen King’s Bag of Bones features a frustrated, angry, solitary Brosnan. It’s not entertaining. Or scary. Brosnan’s character Mike Noonan is terribly unlikable. He’s pushy, abrupt and arrogant. He doesn’t treat anyone with respect. Yet he attracts women decades younger. He’s also American and it seems his family has been here for decades and he still has a hint of an Irish accent. Not good. True to the title, the miniseries fills the small screen with ghosts and ghouls—bags of bones.

Something got lost in translation from King’s book to the television screen. It’s disappointing. A weak script, sub-par acting and lazy editing make Stephen King’s Bag of Bones a miniseries to skip.

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones from Sony Pictures
Television premieres on Sunday, December 11 and concludes on Monday, December
12, airing at 9PM ET/PT

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Posted by Amy Steele

Salem Falls: TV [movie] review

November 20, 2011

“I know what it’s like to have everything go wrong for so long that you don’t deserve any kindness.”

Several unfortunate people with tragic events in their pasts collide in Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls, the movie based on the bestselling novel by Jodi Picoult. Jack McBride (James Van Der Beek), a prep-school history teacher arrives in Salem Falls and quickly takes a job as a busboy at the local diner run by Addie Peabody (Sarah Carter). She’s dealing with her alcoholic father and her daughter’s death Jack and Addie quickly bond while he also attracts the attention of a spoiled high school student (AJ Michalka) who dabbles in Wicca with her two friends. Mixed signals, false accusations, doubts and hidden secrets bubble to the surface. Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls doesn’t particularly stand out as past life time films [The Preacher’s Wife starring Rose McGowan have]. It lacks tension. Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls brings together a bunch of desolate people with miserable stories.

Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls premieres on Lifetime Saturday, November 19 at 8pm ET/PT.

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Posted by Amy Steele

The Hunt for the I-5 Killer: TV [movie] review

September 28, 2011

“We got a serial killer working the I-5 Corridor.”

The Hunt for the I-5 Killer is based on the true-story of an exhaustive one-year search for the suspect who murdered and sexually assaulted dozens of women on the 1-5 highway through California, Washington and Oregon. John Corbett plays a Oregon state police detective who first makes connection that the suspect might be a serial killer. Sara Canning plays a woman who, along with her friend/co-worker, was attacked. She survived but her friend did not.

Gun in hand and late at night, the hooded Caucasian suspect gruesomely attacked women who worked or lived along the I-5 Highway. Often he forced them to perform sex acts at gunpoint. He shoots them and takes off. He even tied up a mother and her teen daughter and raped the daughter, then shot them both dead.

The film’s suspenseful with its punchy editing of the serial killer aspect of the film. Shots of driving down highway to shots of crimes against women. Corbett commands his role. As he’s been in the past [Northern Exposure, Sex and the City], he’s warm and strong and determined. Everything someone wants from a protective figure looking for a solution. The Hunt for the I-5 Killer shows how detectives in three states worked together to catch this misogynist killer.

The Hunt for the I-5 Killer premieres Sunday, October 2 8pm ET/PT on Lifetime

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Posted by Amy Steele

Project Runway All Stars [no Heidi, no Tim but there'll be Isaac Mizrahi!]

August 10, 2011

The All Star Designers

Austin Scarlett [New York] – Season One, Fourth Place – known for eccentric ball gowns and ability to produce glamorous fashions under tight deadlines, including a gown made entirely out of corn husks.

Kara Janx [New York] – Season Two, Fourth Place –known for her signature wrap dress

Elisa Jimenez [New York] – Season Four, 10th Place – known for marking her clothes with spit, rather than a fabric pencil.

Rami Kashou [Los Angeles] – Season Four, Runner-up – known for his signature Grecian-style draping look

Sweet P/Kathleen Vaughn [Pasadena, CA] – Season Four, Fifth Place – known for her club-influenced garments and retro pieces

Jerell Scott [New York] – Season Five, Fourth Place – known for creating stunning and opulent designs

Kenley Collins [Brooklyn] – Season Five, Second Runner-up –known for her vintage, flapper-inspired looks.

Gordana Gehlhausen [San Diego] – Season Six, Fourth Place –showcased her signature knit and crochet wear.

Anthony Williams [Atlanta] – Season Seven, Fifth Place – Known for his competitive spirit and aesthetic for bold and striking colors and sequins

Mila Hermanovski [Los Angeles] – Season Seven, Second Runner-up –she chose to show a black and white collection inspired by shadows at Bryant Park.

April Johnston [Savannah, Georgia] – Season Eight, Fifth Place –known for her dark textures and grunge-inspired pieces.

Michael Costello [Palm Springs] – Season Eight, Fourth Place –known for and his draping style and being one of the designers without any formal training

Mondo Guerra [Denver] – Season Eight, Runner-up –revealed his HIV positive status on the show

Prizes include:
–an exclusive designer’s boutique in select Neiman Marcus stores and on NeimanMarcus.com
– $100,000 dollars in technology and office space to help grow their business from HP and Intel
– $100,000 cash from L’Oreal Paris
–a feature spread in Marie Claire, for which he or she will serve as a guest editor for one year
–a sewing and embroidery studio provided by Brother International

Judges: designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman
Host: supermodel Angela Lindvall
Mentor: Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles

Project Runway All Stars will premiere later this year on Lifetime.

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Posted by Amy Steele

Happy Birthday to Me and . . .

August 5, 2011

August 5 Birthdays

1946 – Loni Anderson, actress (WKRP in Cincinnati)

1956 – Maureen McCormick, actress (Brady Bunch)

1959 – Pete Burns, rocker (Dead or Alive)

1964 – M C A, [Adam Yauch], rapper (Beastie Boys)

1966 – Jonathan Silverman, actor (Brighton Beach Memoirs, Single Guy)

1981 – Carl Crawford, Boston Red Sox

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Posted by Amy Steele

Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story: TV review

July 17, 2011

Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story stars the lovely Poppy Montgomery as author J.K. Rowling. This television movie rolls out as a fairytale with plenty of magical moments like a Harry Potter novel. All I knew about J.K. Rowling is that she’d been on the dole and now she’s a billionaire. In a three-year span she went from being a UK Welfare mother to being one of the richest people in the UK. This is an unauthorized biopic based on an unauthorized biography and I’m not sure if there’s anything particularly scandalous. Perhaps just that Rowling wasn’t as bad off or on the dole for all that long before achieving success as a writer. Most writers never achieve that level of fame and fortune.

Joanne Rowling grew up in Scotland. As a child she made up and even wrote down stories to entertain her sister and herself. She grew more and more interested in writing but her parents discouraged her from pursuing a writing degree at university. Her mother told her to write but to do so in her free time. Reasonable advice. After college she jumped around to a few different jobs in London and then moved to Portugal to teach English after her mother died from an MS-related illness. She married a Portuguese journalist and they had a child. He drank and became abusive. Rowling finally left him and moved back to Scotland where she had no choice but to collect state money while she looked for work. Rowling’s sister encouraged her to finish the Harry Potter book she’d started in Portugal. She didn’t seem to be out of work long. After she found an agent, she landed a teaching gig. After a year or so, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone found a publisher.

Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story portrays the mercurial publishing industry quite well. It’s a fickle business. Rowling needed to go by J.K. so she wouldn’t alienate boys who didn’t want to read books by women. Many publishing companies steer clear of children’s books. It’s a tough market. Rowling dreamed of being a writer for so long and finally she was a published writer with astronomical fortune. Poppy does a wonderful job bringing the enigmatic writer to life.

Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story premieres Monday 18 July at 8 pm ET/PT on Lifetime

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Posted by Amy Steele

in the Realm: QUOTES

July 16, 2011

My dad always used to say I was positively charged. Negative people came at me.
–Hold Your Peace

It’s almost a bit of an insult to vegetarians. Fine they don’t eat meat but they deserve some form of respect in terms of cooking vegetables properly.
–Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares [what I've been watching on Netflix instant]

I’ve got someone working on it. He’s a Sheriff. And a vampire.
–Sookie Stackhouse, True Blood S3: episode 2

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Posted by Amy Steele

Roseanne’s Nuts: TV review

July 10, 2011

“I was a big deal in Hollywood. After a while, I started thinking it was all bullshit and that I was addicted to bullshit.”
–Roseanne

Roseanne Barr returns to TV in the docu-series Roseanne’s Nuts. She looks fabulous. Calm and happy. Her longtime musician boyfriend Johnny is super cute and they are funny together. Johnny sent Roseanne a message and they wrote each other and talked on the phone for a year. They’ve been together eight years. Roseanne decided to move from Los Angeles to Hawaii. She bought a macadamia nut farm and intends to live off the land, so to speak. 2,000 macadamia nut trees stand on the farm. In the first episode, wild pigs wreak havoc for the couple. Roseanne doesn’t want to hurt or kill them. “I want to outsmart it,” she explains. Her son and a few island friends have other ideas and Roseanne has to decide what’s best for her own non-meat-eating self. Roseanne’s Nuts looks like a promising show.

Roseanne’s Nuts premieres on Lifetime at 9pm ET/PT on Lifetime.

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Posted by Amy Steele

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