“Wild China”
Beautifully filmed and soothingly narrated by Bernard Hill (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Wild China takes an expansive look at the fourth largest country in the world.
Category: Reviews
“Sex and Death 101”
“Sex and Death 101” presents an intriguing premise: If you were given a list of all the people you were destined to sleep with, would you give up what you currently have to fulfill that prophecy?
Janis Ian has learned the truth: At 57, she tells fans what it was like to be a teenage pop star
Four decades before 15-year-old Miley Cyrus caused a media uproar for posing for photographs that implied she was nude, Janis Ian — then also 15 — wrote the critically acclaimed song “Society’s Child.” A thoughtful look at interracial dating, the song was deemed too controversial to play on many radio stations across the country. A few years later, Ian would become a pop star, thanks to her best-known song, “At Seventeen,” which told the universal tale, “Dreams were all they gave for free, to ugly duckling girls like me.”
“The Hills” — Season 3
The third season of “The Hills” is alive with the sound of arguing, crying, and making up (sort of) by the telegenic quartet known as Lauren, Heidi, Whitney and Audrina. Glitzy, fabulous and completely unrealistic, this top-rated MTV reality series thrives on the conceit that pretty girls are jealous of each other when one of them has a boyfriend. But if that boyfriend is Spencer (Heidi’s big-toothed Svengali-in-training), it’s not necessarily jealousy the girls are feeling so much as revulsion.
“I Love New York” — Season Two
Programs like “I Love New York” profess to be a legitimate way of finding soulmates for the quasi-celebs. But all they really aim to do is get high enough ratings so that the producers can justify okaying subsequent seasons.
“The Closer” — Third Season
Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) is back in season three of TNT’s crime procedural The Closer. With a couple years at the Los Angeles police department already under her belt, Brenda has proven that her eccentric method works at getting confessions from even the most hardened criminals. But even she’s not quite sure how to handle the season opener, where a slaughtered family’s sole survivor is the stunned, stoned teenage son. Bleak, dark and wonderfully scripted, the opener sets the tone for the 14 episodes that follow it.
“It’s a Boy Girl Thing”
A body-swapping comedy, “It’s a Boy Girl Thing” takes a look at what happens when contentious next door neighbors have to literally live in each other’s body for a while.
“Chasing Harry Winston” by Lauren Weisberger
Three New York women about to turn 30 make a pact: within the next 12 months, each will make a life-altering change. For marriage-minded Emmy, whose boyfriend left her for the personal trainer she hired for him, this means having attachment-free one-night stands.
“Lipstick Jungle”
Based on the Candace Bushnell novel of the same name, Lipstick Jungle is what the ladies on Sex and the City might have been like, had they been married characters rather than New York singletons. Brooke Shields stars as Wendy Healy, a high-powered movie mogul who can’t get through a day without talking to (or lunching with) her best friends Nico Reilly (Kim Raver, 24) and Victory Ford (Lindsay Price, Beverly Hills, 90210).
“Moondance Alexander”
A sweet family drama about a girl and her misunderstood horse, Moondance Alexander focuses on a teenager who is longing to fit into a world where she is considered an oddball.
Henry Winkler: The Fonz writes books!
Three decades ago, Henry Winkler was best known for his role as the Fonz on “Happy Days.” These days, the actor has a whole new generation of fans, thanks to his Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever series of children’s books. Hank, an irrepressible fourth-grader, deals with dyslexia, bullies and a potential love interest in the latest installment — The Life of Me: Enter at Your Own Risk ($5.99, Gosset & Dunlap) — which just hit book stores.
“What Happens In Vegas”
“What Happens in Vegas” is a comedy waiting to happen. It takes an old premise (drunk strangers regretting their decision to get married in Las Vegas) and adds in a dilemma (a $3 million slot machine win) that could’ve been easily resolved.
“Two and a Half Men”: Season 3
In the third season of “Two and a Half Men,” the usually sensible Alan (Jon Cryer) ends up dating someone young enough to be his daughter, as well as a senior citizen old enough to be his mother.
“Just Add Water”
A quirky independent film featuring some strong acting by an eclectic cast, “Just Add Water” captures the desolate spirit of a group of trailer park inhabitants who have little hope of ever escaping their mundane lives.
“Crossing Jordan” — Season 1
Jill Hennessy stars as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a brilliant medical examiner with issues. Still haunted by her mother’s unresolved death and enabled (to a certain extent) by her police detective father’s drive to solve crimes, Jordan spends as much time outside of the lab with the police officers as she does dissecting her dead clients.
“Friday Night Lights” — Second Season
Friday Night Lights is deeply entrenched in the world of football and teamwork, but the series transcends sports and delves into rich, human relationships that at times are heartbreakingly real. A compelling drama, the show also features one of the strongest (and best looking) ensemble casts. The second season fulfills the promise of its debut. Full of drama, heart, and superb acting, the series is set in fictional Dillon, Texas–a town where everyone lives and breathes football.
An organized, healthy lifestyle is the key to Marilu Henner’s positive attitude
Phoning from her California home after her stint on “Celebrity Apprentice” was completed, Marilu Henner is in a chatty mood. Born and reared in Chicago, the actress best known for her work on “Taxi” gives a verbal high-five to her interviewer, whose accent she immediately recognizes as one from her hometown.
“Sense & Sensibility”
Lush, dramatic, and beautifully acted, the BBC’s three-part miniseries “Sense & Sensibility” captures the languid urgency that resonates throughout the Jane Austen novel on which it is based. The miniseries begins with a seduction scene: As a young girl cautiously gives herself to a man, she asks, “But when will you come back?” He answers ominously, “Soon… very soon,” and gallops off into the night.
“Wings” — Season Six
Set in Nantucket, “Wings” focuses on a group of people who work at the same small airport and like each other so much (or are so bored) that they are constantly meddling in each other’s business. The sixth season of the sitcom includes preparations for not one, but two weddings. Not to be outdone by Joe (Tim Daly) and Helen’s (Crystal Bernard) engagement (finally!), busybody Roy (David Schramm) decides that he, too, wants to get married and sends away for a Russian mail-order bride.
“Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns”
With his name prefacing each movie, Perry has developed a franchise that doesn’t fail to deliver what his fans are accustomed to: some variation of a dysfunctional family comedy and the appearance of his most famous character Madea–a cranky grandmother played by Perry himself that manages to draw laughs, even when her inclusion sometimes is superfluous.