Tribute: James Gandolfini

Posted on June 19, 2013 at 9:12 pm

Today we mourn the loss of James Gandofini, who died suddenly to day at age 51 while he was vacationing in Italy with his family. He will always be remembered for his iconic role as Tony Soprano, the mob guy who was in therapy, in the ground-breaking HBO series “The Sopranos.” His portrayal of the complex man who was often at war with the world and with himself was mesmerizing. But he was also magnificent in a wide range of other roles. I especially loved him as Bear, the doting father, sometime stunt man, and occasional enforcer in “Get Shorty” and as the general in “In the Loop.” Last year he was outstanding as the head of the CIA in “Zero Dark Thirty” and as the father of a music-obsessed teenager in “Not Fade Away.” He was an actor of endless power and sensitivity, able to handle a lead role but an ensemble player who made everyone better.

Here he is telling Zoe on Sesame Street about what to do when you’re scared.

May his memory be a blessing.

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Actors Tribute

Add Your Vote to the Critics Choice Television Awards

Posted on June 7, 2013 at 11:20 pm

The Broadcast Film Critics awards for television will be given out on the Reelz Channel on June 16. Viewers will decide the winner of the best TV moment award. Was it the finale of “The Office?” The sad death on “Downton Abbey?” Daenereys’ dragon on “Game of Thrones?” The reveal — finally — of the mother Ted will be meeting — finally — on “How I Met Your Mother?” Cast your vote for the one you think deserves to win.

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Awards Television

Tribute: Jean Stapleton

Posted on June 1, 2013 at 7:22 pm

We mourn the loss of television great Jean Stapleton, who died today at age 90. Best known as Edith, the sweet-natured wife of the bombastic Archie Bunker on “All in the Family,” she was often the target of his insults but occasionally showed some asperity by standing up to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9vRVyV914

She had an extensive and varied background in theater, both before and after her iconic role as Edith Bunker. One of her best stage roles was the owner of the answering service in “Bells Are Ringing,” which she repeated on film. She even co-starred with the Muppets.

She will be missed.

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Actors Television Tribute

Contest: Dance Academy, Seasons 1 and 2

Posted on May 29, 2013 at 8:00 am

TeenNICK’s “Dance Academy” is the story of Tara Webster, who grew up on a country farm, but has always dreamed of being a professional dancer. When she’s admitted to Australia’s prestigious National Academy of Dance, she feels like all of her dreams are about to come true — but the school is tougher and more competitive than she ever imagined.

The DVDs of the first two seasons are now available, featuring behind-the scenes features and interviews. I am delighted to have a copy to give away. If someone in your family loves dance, this is a must-see. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with Dance in the subject line and tell me your favorite kind of dancing. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only) I’ll pick a winner at random on June 1. Good luck!

DANCE ACADEMY: SEASON 1 VOLUME 1

Far from home, and way behind on her dance training, Tara feels like a fish out of water, but she knows one thing — she’s not alone on this journey. In Sydney, she meets new friends, good-hearted Kat and good-guy Sammy, and falls hard for a new crush, Ethan. To round out her crew, there’s “mean girl” Abigail, a more experienced dancer who sees Tara as a threat, and Christian, an adrenaline junkie with a troubled past. Together they manage the pressures of exams, crushes and dancing, all the while knowing that at the end of the year not everyone makes the cut.

DANCE ACADEMY: SEASON 1 VOLUME 2

Tara returns from the holidays excited to have been awarded a first year scholarship, but the rest of the year is full of challenges no one could have seen coming. The group continues to put all their effort into dancing, but along the way some battle eating disorders, struggle with their parents, overcome physical injury and even deal with big breakups. With the end-of-year Nutcracker performance approaching, can the Academy group pull it together? And does Tara really have what it takes to stand center stage?

DANCE ACADEMY: SEASON 2 VOLUME 1

It was a rocky first year, but ultimately Tara got everything she wanted: a place in the top dance school in the country, friends she’ll know forever and she fell in love – twice! She even danced the role of her dreams. So Second Year should be a piece of cake. Right? In SEASON 2 VOLUME 1, Tara reunites with her friends and discovers the exciting news that they can all compete in a prestigious ballet competition, Prix de Fonteyn, to determine the best dancer in the world. Teacher Miss Raine spells it out for them: “Make no mistakes. Second Year counts. And you are all in competition.” Everyone must work harder than they’ve ever worked before on the dance floor and in life.

DANCE ACADEMY: SEASON 2 VOLUME 2

Tara soared to great heights during her first year at the Academy, but by her second year she’s learned that being on top – in dance, in life, in love – only makes for a long fall back down. In Season 2 Volume 2 the stakes are higher, the lows are lower, and the competitions are exhilarating. Tara and the entire crew must manage tragedy, relationships and the ultimate final showdown performance. Above all else, it’s their friendship that held them together this long. Will it carry them through into their third year?

Morgan Freeman’s Wormhole Series Starts a New Season

Posted on May 14, 2013 at 8:00 am

Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman returns to Science Channel to host the fourth installment of the Emmy® nominated Through the Wormhole series on Wednesday, June 5, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT). Featuring nine riveting episodes, this all-new season poses thought-provoking and awe-inspiring questions spanning science, space, and humankind sure to satisfy viewers’ insatiable curiosities. Season four’s premiere episode dives right into mystery and controversy with exploration of the charged topic, “When Does Life Begin?”

“One of the inherent characteristics of mankind is our need to understand truth and meaning. Our drive to ask ‘how,’ ‘why’ and ‘what if’ makes us who we are – and provides the basis for Through the Wormhole,” said Freeman. “Working on Through the Wormhole gives me the opportunity to bring together renowned physicists, cosmologists and neuroscientists to explore some of science’s greatest questions.”

Each episode boasts innovative scientific research and groundbreaking theories brought to viewers by scientists who break down the walls of today’s most compelling subjects. Every week viewers will be challenged to consider new perspectives and confronted with ideas that push the envelope of conventional television. Other questions tackled in this new season include, “Did God Create Evolution?”, “How Do Aliens Think?”, “Can Our Minds Be Hacked?”, and “Will Sex Become Extinct?”

For the first time ever, Wormhole fans will be granted exclusive access behind the scenes with Morgan Freeman and the producers of to get a glimpse of how each question is explored and explained. Find out about Freeman’s deep interest in science and the methods used to visualize and simplify complicated, often philosophical, subjects incorporating the latest discoveries from scientists in the field. The never before seen footage will be available only at sciencechannel.com/wormhole.

Season Four will include:

Episode 1: WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?

Premieres Wednesday, June 5 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

The premiere episode explores what defines the beginning of a life. It is a debate that has raged for centuries’. Groundbreaking evidence reveals that inside all of us are traces of cells from our relatives, blurring the lines between one life and another. Technology is now giving birth to new life forms made of surprising components—from droplets of oil in a Petri dish, to conscious robots and to a new global internet-connected life form comprised of all humanity.

Episode 2: CAN WE SURVIVE THE DEATH OF THE SUN?

Premieres Wednesday, June 12 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

The Sun holds a dark secret. Someday it will bathe us in a fiery, planetary holocaust.. Will the Sun someday, bathe us in a fiery, planetary holocaust? How will we survive the death of our star? The technology to move our entire civilization to Mars sounds like sci-fi, but it is almost within our grasp. Reaching a second Earth across the galaxy could be possible thanks to a radical new propulsion technology from manmade black holes.

Episode 3: HOW DO ALIENS THINK?

Premieres Wednesday, June 19 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

By studying the non-humans in our midst, scientists are learning how alien minds might function. Biologists and computer scientists watch “dumb” ants form an intelligent super-organism; neuroscientists probe the mysterious brains of octopuses; and a team of researchers show that even plants behave in ways we normally only associate with animals. Meanwhile, a linguist tries to imagine advanced alien language by recreating centuries of human language evolution, a researcher teaches humans to feel an alien sense and a groundbreaking psychologist finds that super-intelligent aliens may still be ruled by emotions.

Episode 4: CAN OUR MINDS BE HACKED?

Premieres Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

Our minds store our entire lives, our memories and our deepest desires and our brains are biological computers. Could brain hackers someday be able to rewrite our thoughts similar to how computer hackers hack email? For the first time, neuroscientists are translating patterns on a brain scan into specific pictures and words. They have learned how to insert ideas into people’s minds as they sleep and one pioneering MIT scientist has shown he can inject emotions, on demand, into a living brain.

Episode 5: WILL SEX BECOME EXTINCT?

Premieres Wednesday, July 3 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

Every single person who has ever lived was created from the genes of one man and one woman but human sexual reproduction, unchanged for millions of years, is about to undergo a radical revolution. Technology is on the brink of making children from two fathers, or two mothers. Marine biologists are using mechanical wombs to birth live sharks and humans could be next. We may soon cure diseases by making children with more than two genetic parents, or even give our offspring genes from the animal kingdom. If this is the case, will sex become extinct?

Episode 6: ARE ROBOTS THE FUTURE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION?

Premieres Wednesday, July 10 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

From our smartphones to our vacuum cleaners to our cars, we have robots that live and work beside us. We are designing these everyday objects to think for themselves giving them the power to learn to move on their own. Is it possible that these new life forms evolve to be smarter and more capable than humans or will we choose to merge with the machines, combining the best of our world with the best of theirs?

Episode 7: IS REALITY REAL?

Premieres Wednesday, July 17 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

Do we live in the “real world,” or is it all in our mind? Our perception of reality is controlled by society. We make unrealistic assessments about our own reality, thanks to “the optimism bias,” a twist of the brain that rejects negative information about ourselves. Human senses capture only a small part of nature, and new physics suggests we may be blind to entire dimensions of space or there could be less to reality than we think.

Episode 8: DO WE HAVE FREE WILL?

Premieres Wednesday, July 24 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

What if everything that has or will happen in the universe has already been determined and we are unable to change our inevitable destinies? Until the discovery of quantum uncertainty, physicists were convinced free will does not exist. Now neuroscientists and geneticists have stepped into the fray, arguing that free will is an illusion thanks to the genes we are born with, the automatic processes working in our brains, and the conforming pressures of society.

Episode 9: DID GOD CREATE EVOLUTION?

Premieres Wednesday, July 31 at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

Is life the product of evolution or is it thanks to the guiding hand of God? Believers in Intelligent Design argue complex life could not have evolved randomly. One evolutionary scientist is filling in the gaps in the fossil record by bringing extinct creatures back to life as robots. An engineer has discovered a single pattern that appears throughout the entire universe. Is the existence of a “moral molecule” in our brains a sign that God created humanity? Was life created by evolution, by God or both?

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