The Voice is back for a second season.   It’s the show where the judges only listen to singers without seeing them.  It removes the eye-candy factor.  And the judges are pretty awesome: Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera.  Last year one of the parts of the show I liked was how the coaches got up on stage and showed us WHY they’re where they’re at, on the show.

The other thing I like about The Voice  is how even when the contestants aren’t picked, they’re humble and appreciative, unlike another unmentioned series where some of the participants get a wee bit snippy… to say the least.

The first thing I missed was the judges putting on a performance like they did last year… I had found that fascinating and made it stand out from American Idol.  But not to worry…  it’s just the post-Super Bowl episode.  On the bright side, the friendly coach janter is still there, maybe a bit more than last year now that The Voice is an established hit.  Adam Levine is bantering with MORE of the, “I won last year” banter.

Let’s see how the first two nights went for the singing competition:

Jesse Campbell had three votes within the first few notes…  Blake followed later.  It was on him who to pick for a coach.  He chose Christina because he said she was the first person to come to mind.  How could she not… she’s “busting out” of her dress.

Juliet Sims came out with a raspy, rocker girl sound.  She almost sounded like a Joan Jett.  Cee Lo and Adam nailed their buttons first.  Then Christina.  After all the sales pitches from the coaches, Juliet picked Cee Lo.  I thought Adam would have been a good fit for her, but hey!

Chris Mann… wow…  He came out belting a wonderful opera piece (I think!).  Cee Lo jumped on this one first.  Then Christina.  Cee Lo called his audition beautiful.  Chris picked Christina, and I think that will be a good match.

Tony Lucca (ex-mousketeer) came out for his blind audition.  The question in the air was if Christina would recognize his voice from back in the day when they worked together in the ranks of the Mousketeers.  Adam hit his button first, followed shortly by Christina.  Then Blake.  And then Cee Lo fell to the sound of Tony.  Now, it will be up to him as he survives the banter between judges.  Tony ended up picking Adam… and said nothing about knowing Christina.  He was very mature about it.  Then, as he was leaving, Christina figured it out and went to say hi to Tony backstage.

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Night Two of The Voice

Monday night’s episode of The Voice brought more blind auditions.  But first, that which makes The Voice stand out above the rest of the reality competition

The night opened with the judges cranking out some Prince hits.   This is what I like about this show… the judges get up and put out for the fans.  This is what makes it stand out from the other shows.

First up for blind auditions, Haley and Leland… a pair.  Blake turned around before hearing her…  then the rest of the judges turned around.  So the judge begging began!  LOL.  They picked Christina.

Jamar Rogers, the volunteer & ex-meth user, was next.  During his performance, his personal favorite, Cee Lo, hit his button.  Too cool.  And Jamar was pretty jazzed, literally hoping around on the stage. This was a touching audition.

Gwen Sebastian… a country singer who put family plans on hold, started out and after a while, Blake turned….  then Cee Lo, then Adam.  Blake was so upset. But after the chats, and some teasing, she picked Blake.  A good pairing.

The 50-year old Kim Yarbrough tackled that stage, belting out her choice of song.  Adam and Christina turned around.  After the coach banter, Kim picked Adam.  His first team member.  Finally!

Staff Sgt Angie Johnson was up next.  Be nice to her, she could kick your butt!  LOL.  She’s in a singing unit in the military and at one performance, she was recorded, and it was put up on YouTube.  It went viral and someone suggested she check out Carson Daly’s website to get to The Voice.  The rest is history.  She cranked out Heartbreaker for the judges.  Cee Lo turned first, but no one else did.  Cee Lo got another team member.

Then Lindsey Pavao came up… she was worried about nerves, but Christina turned pretty quick.  Then Cee Lo. And Blake.  Lindsey sounded so much like Senya from last season.  After the coaching sales pitches, Lindsey picked Christina.

Jermaine Paul.. .was a backup vocalist for Alicia Keys and wants to break out on his own.  Cee Lo turned first during his audition.  Then Blake.  When all was done, Jermaine grilled the judges!  He had stage game!  He chose Blake…  surprised me.  Cee Lo turned pretty early and I thought he might go with him.

Angel Taylor, with a troubled past, was up next.  Soft and whispery with power is how she sounded to me.  Adam turned first and early.  Then Blake, then Cee Lo.  She picked Adam after an entertaining banter between the coaches.

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We’re off to a good start for the season…

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This week, the new movies in theaters this Friday, February 10th, 2012. We have celebrities such as Dwayne Johnson, Rachel McAdams, Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor & Woody Harrelson gracing the silver screen for your get-away entertainment.

From journeys to islands, reinvigorating past romances, old movies being shown in 3D, spies who kick butt, and crooked cops… Check out what new movies are showing up this week in movie theaters:

• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Sean Anderson partners with his mom’s boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Luis Guzman and Vanessa Hudgens. It’s directed by Brad Peyton (Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore).

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• The Vow

A car accident puts Paige (McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Tatum) works to win her heart again.

Starring Rachel McAdams & Channing Tatum, directed by Michael Sucsy (Grey Gardens (TV movie)).

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• Safe House

A young CIA agent is tasked with looking after a fugitive in a safe house. But when the safe house is attacked, he finds himself on the run with his charge.

Now this movie looks fun… and stars Denzel Washington & Ryan Reynolds. It’s written by Daniel Espinosa (Easy Money) & written by David Guggenheim (???).

Denzel Washington is awesome, but the director and writer seem to be coming out of left field for this movie. I’m worried because of that, but Denzel is a bigger draw than my reservations are for the movie. But producer Scott Stuber calms my nerves a bit, as he has Repo Men and The Wolfman under his belt.

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• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (re-release) (3-D version)

Do I really need to say anything about this, or that is stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman… blah, blah, blah. OK, ’nuff said?

It’s directed and written by the venerable George Lucas.  To be honest…  I’m surprised how many folks I know that are saying they’re going to see this on the big screen.

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• Perfect Sense (limited)

A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.

It stars Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Connie Nielsen and Stephen Dillane in a movie directed by David Mackenzie (Spread).

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• Rampart

Set in 1999 Los Angeles, veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, works to take care of his family, and struggles for his own survival.

It stars Woody Harrelson as Dave Brown, Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead), Ben Foster (Contraband, The Mechanic; on TV: Six Feet Under) and is directed by Oren Moverman (The Messenger).

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• The Apple Pushers, a documetary narrated by Edward Norton
• My Uncle Rafael w/ Missi Pyle
• The Dish & the Spoon w/ Greta Gerwig

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A quick selection of the production status of different upcoming movies…

Development
· The Fast and the Furious 6
· Avatar 2
· Jurassic Park IV
· Ghostbusters III
· Bad Boys 3

Pre-production
· Les Misérables
· Iron Man 3
· Lawless
· Ender’s Game
· A Good Day to Die Hard

Filming
· Skyfall
· The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
· Django Unchained
· The Bourne Legacy
· Untitled Taken Sequel

Post-production
· The Hunger Games
· The Avengers
· The Dark Knight Rises
· G.I. Joe: Retaliation
· The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

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This week on Courtney’s show, The Bachelor on ABC, they’re in Panama City… and this is THE night that someone gets caught in her own scandal.

Round One:

The first date, Ben takes Casey B to their own tiny island. They’re all alone as the chopper leaves… well, as alone as two pelople can be, with a film crew shadowing their every move.  They’re cutting down lime-green coconuts… dudes, those aren’t even ripe.  It’s like Survivor on The Bachelor.  Later they seem to have awkward dinner conversation. (He looks so bored on this date.) She fesses to her teenage eating disorder. She gets the rose.

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Round two!

The group date! Everyone shows up in their shorty shorts and fat-lip (Courtney) says she’s over the group dating thing. They toured the raind forest by boat. It’s rainging on them, and that’s an important note. Then they happen upon a village where ABC gets to show us many more bras and bikini tops.

Courtney needs to play her only card, and that’s going top-sort-of-less, underneath and Ben shows his true calling and says he appreciated her going topless, in more than one way.

During the evening, while Ben is talking to Jamie, Courtney is prancing around behind Jamie in her bikini, scoring eye-candy points with the highly distracted Ben.  Emily stepped up and apologized to Courtney for bashing her earlier. Then Courtney goes on and says she doesn’t forgive and forget and they’ll never be friends. Class act fat-lip!!!

Ben gives the rose (Round two goes) to Lindzi.

But then Courtney said she tossed an invite out to Ben to come visit her in her room later. Ben never showed up because, well, it’s not a show about her, its his show girl.

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Round Three:

Rachel and Blakeley two-on-one date… with of course, the constant intervening footage of Courtney. WHY IS ABC shoving her on us??? Wow. The Rachel/Blakely match goes to Salsa dancing lessons. I was predicting Blakely will get the rose because of the longer legs and higher heels.

Dinner with the three of them seems awkward… he talks with Jamie but when he chats with Blakely, she breaks down to some degree.  And Rachel wins this round, getting the rose… Blakely looks shocked and bolts from the scene, storming out. I WAS WRONG!!! Well there.

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Bonus Round!

Chris Harrison shows up and pulls Casey S. out of the room and tells her that she’s in love with someone else, her boyfriend Michael. She says they’re broken up, Michael says (per phone calls with Chris) they are an item. She talks a fast game in response, but Chris asks if she’s still in love with Michael.  She says yes, but doesn’t want to be.

CLASSIC!!! Folks, take notes… this is a new one.

Chris takes her to Ben to talk, and she starts out with “I’m still here,” but then tells Ben she’s not completely over her other guy.  Ben pretty much says she should go home.

Now I’m trying not to be insensitive, but I’m laughing at this scene and when my wife asked, I replied that Chris Harrison has the coolest job, getting the big bucks to console and psycho-analyze hot chicks.

And finally, someone besides Courtney gets a chunk of screen time… except it’s a sad reason.  And on the way out, it seems Casey was crying about how she now will need to find someone else to get away from her Michael back home. Wow…

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Rose Ceremony, Final Round:

The evening party, Jamie sort of goes a bit overboard and tells Ben she thinks of him when she goes to bed at night and straddles Ben to “show” him how she feels about him. AWKWARD!

Then Ben suggests a second try and she SPELLS IT OUT COMPLETELY about when their mouths will be closed, or open during their kiss. Ben doesn’t kiss via “an instruction guide.” LOL.

If anything, I had my dose of Three Stooges with Jamie’s effort.

At the rose ceremony, Jamie is the odd man out, so to speak. SO much more throwing herself all over Ben earlier. And the farewell was a short, quick, “Bye Jamie.” from Ben.

Next week, the drama is about… you guessed it, Courtney.

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Over the last weekend, the three new movies took 3 of the top-5 spots in the weekend top-10 box office rankings while last week’s number 1 movie, The Grey, settled into third in the charts and No. 2 ranked Underworld: Awakening sidled into 5th.

Chronicle (w/ Dane DeHaan) performed surprisingly well actually, pulling in $22M, taking the No. 1 spot at the box office while The Woman in Black (with Daniel Radcliffe) was right on its tail, having pulled in $21M for being No. 2 in the chart of top-10 movies from last weekend.

If you’re interested, here’s my surprisingly positive movie review of Chronicle…

The Grey had Liam Neeson pulling in less than half what the leaders pulled in, raking in $9.5M while the ‘rescue the big whales from under the ice’ movie, Big Miracle, with John Krasinski, managed almost $8.5M.  And that’s awesome, because I was really close to going to see that movie instead and it looked interesting enough for me to ponder going.

In the $5 million category stands the fangy-movie,  Underworld: Awakening, in #5 at $5.6M, One for the Money, $5.3M & Red Tails having faded from 4th last week, to 7th, with $5M even.

The Descendants from George Clooney held even with last week’s 8th place spot, pullingin $4.6M.  Not bad for being in its 12th week in theaters.  Man on a Ledge fell (ha!) from 5th to 9th with almost $4.5M.

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[Box Office Mojo: Weekend Box Office Report]

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This is a DVD & movie review of the 2011 movie, Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Martha Marcy May Marlene comes from Fox Searchlight Pictures and runs 102 minutes, and is rated R, and yes, it’s a heck of a title to try and remember!

It’s written and directed by Sean Dunkin (Afterschool) and stars Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House) as Martha, Sarah Paulson (The Spirit, Joss Whedon’s Serenity; on TV: Deadwood) as Martha’s sister, Lucy; Hugh Dancy (Confessions of a Shopaholic, Our Idiot Brother) as Lucy’s significant other, Ted & John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone; Eastbound & Down (TV series)) as cult leader Patrick.

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Martha Marcy May Marlene is a surprisingly dark and captivating drama that focuses on a young girl named Martha (Olsen), who escapes from a cult and goes to live with her sister, Lucy (Paulson) and husband Ted (Dancy).  The trailers I’ve seen don’t quite do this dramatic piece justice, while the movie oozes this quiet, low-key tone of desperation for Martha.

We watch Martha slink away from the cult compound and calls her sister to come and get her.  We experience Martha’s attempt at trying to figure things out now that she’s in the wild of life.  But it’s not all roses.  Martha has issues and a certain emotional distance from reality that can interfere with her day-to-day life with her family.  And despite the fact that Martha has escaped, you get the feeling she hasn’t totally escaped yet.

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I have to be honest with you, this was a hard movie for me to write up.  It was lacking the usual flair of giant robots, explosions and Earth shattering ramifications.  Yet there I was, soaking it all in, and starting to panic as to what I’ll say.

Elizabeth Olsen does a great job delivering a wide-eyed, confused young girl who has no plans for life except to deal with what is presented to her from day to day.

Hawkes portrayal of Patrick, the cult leader, is as smooth as he is sinister.  Sublime is another word that comes to mind, as we watch Patrick lead his willing disciples in keeping the compound running, having relations with the “lucky” ones, and perpetrating various crimes around the region of the cult compound.

Overall, the presentation of the story gives it all the more grip on your imagination as you follow the story.

But…

The one aspect of the movie that I can’t come to terms with is the ending.  As the movie is nearing its close, there’s an interesting set of events that could bode ill for Martha, but we never see if that comes to fruition or not, as the movie ends in what feels like mid-moment…  with some hints at something we encountered earlier, that the viewer might be worried about… or are they?

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For a movie that plays to my weakness of interpreting dramatic stories, I was compelled to follow it through to the end and challenged to explain it.  For those of you looking for an excellent, dark, dramatic movie experience, I think you will enjoy this movie.

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One of the extras on the DVD was an interesting, curious and quiet short as a cult member is driving a new recruit to the compound.  It’s quietly insidious.

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This week, around 100 new DVD and Blu-ray releases are hitting the home entertainment inventory list this week. Amongst the new titles are celebrities like Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Maggie Smith, Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, James Stephens, Tom Bosley, Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave and quite a few more.

Check out the new Blu-ray and DVD releases that are coming out this Tuesday, February 7th, 2012:

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Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1

Stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner

Blu-ray/DVD package Special Features:
Go behind the scenes with a captivating 6-PART MAKING-OF DOCUMENTARY;
Relive the memories with Edward & Bella’s personal WEDDING VIDEO;
Get a glimpse into JACOB’S DESTINY;
Watch your favorite scenes over and over in EDWARD FAST FORWARD and JACOB FAST FORWARD;
plus an AUDIO COMMENTARY with Director Bill Condon

[The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I [Blu-ray]]

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Downton Abbey: Season 2 (Original U.K. Edition)

Starring Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern

<Downton Abbey: Season 2 (Original U.K. Edition) [Blu-ray]>

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Lady and the Tramp (Diamond Edition Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)

Special Features
• Blu-ray(TM) Feature Film + Bonus
• DVD Feature Film + Bonus
• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• PuppyPedia: Going To The Dogs
• Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
• Never-Before-Heard Deleted Song
• Inside Walt’s Story Meetings With Disney Second Screen
• Lady’s Pedigree: The Making Of Lady and the Tramp
• “The Siamese Cat Song”: Finding A Voice For The Cats
• And Much More!

<Lady and the Tramp (Diamond Edition Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)>

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The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

Starring Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Hadley Fraser

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Other popular releases this week include

• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
• Father Dowling Mysteries: The First Season Starring James Stephens, Tom Bosley.
• Anonymous Starring Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave.
• It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World [Blu-ray] Starring Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Buddy Hackett and Spencer Tracy
• Love Story [Blu-ray] Starring John Marley, Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw
• New Tricks: Series 6 Starring James Bolam and Alun Armstron
• Casino Royale (1967) [Blu-ray] Starring David Niven, Woody Allen, Peter Sellers and Orson Welles
• The Sunset Limited Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones

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This link will take you to Amazon to look for any title that catches your interest:

<  New DVD and Blu-ray Titles  >

Here’s the bigger list of new DVD and Blu-ray titles:

• 1313: Boy Crazies
• 1313: Cougar Cult
• 3
• 5 Star Day

• All’s Faire in Love (Blu-ray)
• Anonymous

• Baby Einstein:
-Animals Around Me
-Baby Beethoven
-Baby Lullaby
-Baby Mozart
-Neptune’s Oceans
-Wild Animal Safari
-World of Colors
-World of Rhythm
-World of Words
• Benji: The Deluxe Collection
• Billy the Kid
• Breaking Man
• The Brontes of Haworth

• Casino Royale (1967) (Blu-ray)
• Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat (Blu-ray)
• Chloe’s Closet: Meet Chloe
• The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
• CSI: Grave Danger (Blu-ray)
• Curious George Saves the Day
• Cyberbully

• Dangerous Liaisons (Blu-ray)
• Day of the Dead (2008) (Blu-ray)
• Dorm of the Dead
• Dreamgirls (Blu-ray)

• Elephant in the Living Room
• Elmo’s World: Elmo’s Favorite Things!
• Ethos: A Time for Change

• Far From the Madding Crowd
• Filth to Ashes: Flesh to Dust (Blu-ray)
• Fireflies in the Garden
• A Fish Called Wanda (Blu-ray)
• Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred

• Geek Charming
• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
• Hell’s Kitchen: Season 6 Raw & Uncensored

• It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Blu-ray)
• The Jazz Singer (1959)

• Karen Cries On The Bus
• Knuckle

• Lady and the Tramp (Blu-ray)
• Laramie: The Second Season
• Last Man Standing
• Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (Blu-ray)
• Lindsey Buckingham Live (Blu-ray)
• Lost Gold of the Dark Ages
• Love Story (Blu-ray)

• Machete Joe
• It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Blu-ray)
• Metal Shifters
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: I Heart Minnie
• More Business of Being Born

• New Tricks: Series 6

• Northern Lights: Complete Collection

• Owl City: Live from Los Angeles (Blu-ray)

• The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall
• Police Woman: Complete Second Season
• Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury
• Project Nim

• Rebound (Blu-ray)
• The Retrievers (Blu-ray)
• The Reunion

• Rocko’s Modern Life: Season Two

• Song of Lunch
• A Star is Born (1937) (Blu-ray)
• Steve Coogan Live
• Stormhouse
• Story of a Love Affair
• The Sunset Limited
• SuperShark

• Throw Momma from the Train (Blu-ray)
• Tierra

• Umphrey’s McGee: Live (Blu-ray)

• Vasermil
• Veggie Tales: If I Sang a Silly Song

• A Warrior’s Heart
• What Happens Next
• The Wiggles:
-Big Red Car
-Pop Go The Wiggles
-Wiggletime
-You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

• Xam’d Lost Memories: Complete Series (Blu-ray)

• Yakuza Weapon (Blu-ray)

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<  New DVD and Blu-ray Titles  >

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I have seen all the Super Bowl ads, and I’m definitely not looking for all the ads in the list I put up a few weeks back…  BUt I hope $7/minute is worth it for the advertisers!

Of the collective, these two ads actually triggers a LOL response.  The others might be funny, but they seemed to go on for too long and lost their umph with me.

Check out the ads…  were funny enough for me that I thought I’d post them..

VW Dog/Darth Vader Ad
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Audi Vampire Ad
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Of course, keeping to the Star Wars theme, here’s an earlier ad that VW put out as a teaser:

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Hey, advertisers know dogs and kids are always cute subjects… and they’re right!

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Below are a couple of TV news bits on actress Summer Glau… first about her guest role in Grey’s Anatomy, then a bit about a new role in a TNT pilot movie.

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Grey’s Anatomy

TV Guide reported that Summer Glau will be guesting in the season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, playing the role of a nurse.

According to the source article, Glau is appearing in episode 16 of season 8. And per IMDb, that’s the final episode of the season, titled “If Only You Were Lonely.”

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Scent of the Missing

Summer Glau also has an upcoming role alongside Tricia Helfer in the TNT pilot/TV movie titled Scent of the Missing.

It’s produced by CBS Television. It’s been referenced as a drama pilot for TNT. It centers on Susannah (Helfer), a stubborn K-9 Search and Rescue volunteer who works with an equally stubborn partner — her golden retriever.

Glau will play a new member on the search team.  This project is based on a book by Susannah Charleson.

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Summer Glau’s TV history includes Joss Whedon’s Firefly & Serenity; several episodes of The Unit & The 4400, plus her role in Josh Friedman’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and the recent low-rated NBC TV series, The Cape.  She’s guested in various series, like Chuck.

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Sources

TV Guide: Glau on Grey’s Anatomy

Deadline: Glau on Scent of the Missing.

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Back in March ’11 and later in May of that year, I told you about Awake, a new show ordered up from NBC. It looks like it will be premiering pretty soon.

Awake will premiere on Thursday, March 1st at 10 p.m.. It stars Jason Isaacs as “a police detective who’s involved in a traumatic car accident and wakes up in two fractured realities.”

His life is now torn between two realities. In one, his wife survived the accident & his son did not. In the other reality, it’s the other way around.  When he goes to sleep in one reality, he’ll wake up in the other.

The catch is that it’s very difficult to define whicn of these realities is real.  (And some wonder, if either one will turn out real.)

Plus, there are subtle differences between the two different realities. Subtle, but noticeable. (At least that’s how it was described last year.)

It’s written by Kyle Killen (Lone Star, The Beaver, Upcoming Daredevil movie reboot.) and exec produced by Howard Gordon (The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, 24, Homeland).

Just looking at the resumes of the creative team behind Awake, I would think it won’t suck.

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[THR: Premiere Date of Awake]

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Has Sanctuary Been Canceled By Syfy?  To be honest, fans have no hard evidence via press reports or Twitter slips by any of the cast or crew of Sanctuary.  But fans are wondering and circumstantial evidence seems to be adding up.

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There is speculation out on the web that the Syfy series Sanctuary may not be coming back for a fifth season on the Comcast owned, NBC subsidiary network.  And in the wake of how the much beloved Eureka TV series was canceled, making the upcoming fifth season in 2012 of Eureka its last, the speculations have me wondering.

This article was sparked around by a readers’ email I received today and I thought that they brought up some good points that I’d share with you, my readers.  In addition, I slap out a few more tidbits that I dug up out on the web.

The reader points will be labeled ‘RP.’

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RP: The Syfy network has had nothing to say about another season for Sanctuary.

Yep… no news is usually good news and with the Syfy network, they tend to stall their announcements to as late as possible with any of their programming.

I’ve touched no this previously, surmising that when other other networks already know their lineups, Syfy usually waits to make their announcements.  I think it’s a marketing game because I can’t imagine any business like a TV cable network not knowing their schedule so few months ahead of time.

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RP:  The title of the season (series?) finale “Sanctuary for None” is the exact opposite of the series beginning “Sanctuary for All.” There was no cliffhanger ending.

Can’t disagree with the observation!  I like it.

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RP:  Normally, if a show goes three seasons the network will give it a fourth if for no other reason than to get enough episodes so they can syndicate it and show it in reruns.

I’m not sure if it’s number of seasons or number of episodes.  I read recently on another series I’m following that a show’s syndication possibilities go up significantly when they hit the 100 episode mark.  But Syfy may have different aspect on the matter, so I’m not arguing with this one.  Regardless of semantics, this is a good point.

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RP:  Christopher Heyerdahl‘s Big Guy was killed off in the finale. Heyerdahl’s John Druit has been in fewer and fewer episodes and it seems Chris is moving on.  He played Marcus in the Twilight Saga movies and the Norwegian called ‘The Swede’ in Hell on Wheels. Last month, Deadline Hollywood reported that he has been cast in a recurring role in True Blood. He will play Dieter Braun, one of the five council members of the Vampire Authority.

This is so true… we’ve been seeing Chris pop up more and more in other projects.  Plus I’ve seen snippets of news late last year that one of the Sanctuary showrunners, Damian Kindler, is working on bringing Universal Soldier to a TV series, which will make him pretty busy.  (Footnote:  Is it a clue When Deadline Hollywood calls Chris Heyerdahl a Sanctuary alum?  As in, it’s done and behind him?)

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RP:  Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne have been filming Space Milkshake, a science fiction comedy, with Billy Boyd and Kristin Kreuk.

This oddly titled project is noted in IMDb as in post production, and it has Robin Dunne listed as a producer and Tapping as exec producer.  (What is it with her being in everything she produces?)

In other news, Kristin Kreuk had a new role!!!

RP:  Amanda Tapping is also filming another movie “Random Acts of Romance”. I think this is telling because this is the first time she has done anything else but cameo appearances in SGU since she began ‘Sanctuary’

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RP:  Martin Wood is one of the executive producers of the Space Channel’s spin off of BBC’s ‘Primeval’, ‘Primeval – New World’ that is filming now in Vancouver.

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RP:  The show began to veer away from the delightfully darker aspect of the web series…   Helen Magnus’s network gradually went from a small secret organization that was protecting endangered and dangerous abnormals to a huge worldwide network simultaneously working with and at odds with the world’s governments. The show slowly began a descent into a supernatural version of the ‘Man from U.N.C.L.E.’ or the BBC’s “The Avengers” with Robin Dunne playing Emma Peele to Amanda Tapping’s John Steed.

LOL… love the analogy to Peele and Steed.

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Other Sanctuary Canceled Clues:

During its third season, Sanctuary was moved to Mondays from Fridays, putting it on a path of some of it’s lowest ratings ever.  (In fact, just off the top of my head, wasn’t every show that’s been moved to Mondays on Syfy now been axed?)

According to Suite101, after chatting with a source at Syfy , was told the following:

“While Sanctuary was far from the most expensive show on television, it also wasn’t the cheapest and was in fact the lowest rated scripted series on the network.”

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The following notes are unverified and are gleaned from IMDb, so take with a grain of salt.  But…

Robin Dunne has other projects in the works:
-Perdition City – Writer
-Untitled Robin Hood Project – as Robin Hood
-Whatever Forever – Writer (earlier screenplay)
-Space Milkshake – as Jimmy, & Producer

Ryan Robbins
-Cold Blooded – Cordero
-Untitled Thriller in post production, alongside case Katie Cassidy, Donal Logue.
-The Philadelphia Experiment (TV movie) – Actor; whose production status is noted as filming.

Everyone’s favorite (that was sarcasm) replacement
Agam Darshi
The Possession – Actress.  Other cast includes Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick.

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Another observation this writer is seeing is that last year, by early January of 2011, we had already heard about Sanctuary coming back for season 4.  It’s now early February 2012, and nary a whisper.  It’s like when you break a window and quietly leave the scene of the crime.  They’ll figure it out sooner or later.

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Final Thought & A Hail Mary

I stand on the premise that if Eureka can be axed, Sanctuary, well, has no Sanctuary from the money or ratings business ax!

Thus, along with a few websites and Brusimm readers, I am speculating Sanctuary will not get a fifth season.

Psst:  Even though they rarely answer (or see) my tweets, I pinged the Syfy Twitter account with the following inquiry:

@Syfy : Craig! Has Sanctuary been canceled? Folks are starting to get suspicious from the lack of news on the series.

twitter: Cinema_Static

I’m not expecting an answer to that Twitter inquiry, it was my Hail Mary, so to speak.  It’s clearly outside the boundaries of how any network wants to present news or info on their products, but hey, one can try, right?  (I’ll update here if any answer is forthcoming.)

Regardless, it’s been a good run for an idea that was a tiny little web series.  That’s for sure.

Did anyone feel like the final episode of season 4 of Sanctuary was it’s series finale?  Could it stand as such, as it is?

=

[Resources for this conjectural article:
suite101: Is Sanctuary Being Cancelled?
deadline: Christopher Heyerdahl joins True Blood
facebook: Space-Milkshake
]

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