13 Jul 2014

TV Tonight, July 13: Vampire series The Strain debuts

Also season premieres of Ray Donovan, Masters of Sex and The People's Couch, the season finale of Devious Maids

Watching the Watchers: A “cult favourite”? A TV show about people watching TV shows? Really? So we’re told as The People’s Couch debuts in Canada. The series, based on U.K. hit Gogglebox, which has since spun off to the U.S. and countries around the world, features eight groups of TV fans whom we watch react to what they’re watching (Bravo at 8:30).

Why is it that we love to quote at length from our favourite films and TV shows? Tiger Webb takes a look at the intersection of language and popular culture and asks the linguistic experts about bromance, bubbling and what makes movies quotable.

Lauren Gawne’s mother used to quote TV shows to her all the time. As a child, unfamiliar with the finer points of Fawlty Towers, Gawne missed most of the references.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When I met the lead of campy new spy drama “Matador,” he asked me to pinch him.

Austin native Gabriel Luna wanted to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming, that he really was in a TV series that also starred the esteemed Alfred Molina.

“Fred is one of the world’s greatest actors,” Luna said of Molina in a one-on-one interview. “Every day I work with him is another chance to do the best work I’ve ever done.”

In the first five minutes of The Leftovers, Justin Theroux’s character jogs along the road when he spots a dog in the middle of the street and stops running to kneel down and pet the friendly pup. Aw, we say, what a sweet moment. Then, within seconds, boom: Someone shoots the dog dead. Thanks, HBO.

TV shows love killing dogs: There’s that Leftovers dog-murder that turns into a dog mass murder at the pilot’s end, there’s Frank Underwood strangling a hurt dog to its death in the House of Cards pilot, there’s Family Guy‘s Brian. To showrunners, dogs are just objects that prove a point about a character or a situation. To dog-lovers, these deaths are enough to start a full-fledged sobfest.

With so much competition every year in the “Outstanding Drama Series” at the Primetime Emmy Awards, it’s hard enough to get a nomination, let alone win the award outright. But for the following seven TV series, one Emmy Award wasn’t enough — in fact, many of the following shows won their awards in such quick succession that the award dominance can be mind-boggling when you consider what they were up against. Here are the only seven shows in TV history to compile three or more Emmy Awards in the category of “Outstanding Drama Series.”

The presenter, 53, is leaving ITV's daytime show after three years and is planning new opportunities as well as preparing for a round-the-world flight

Carol Vorderman has quit Loose Women after three years on the programme.

The 53-year-old is in training to fly solo around the world for charity and now wants to concentrate on this and other new TV work she has in the pipeline.

If this weekend’s number one movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes — the second entry in the rebooted Apes franchise — has a spiritual sibling in the original series of films, it is 1972′s Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. While Conquest was the fourth movie in the franchise to arrive in cinemas it is, like Dawn, the second according to the interior timeline of its series and, again like director Matt Reeves’ new film, features an apocalyptic showdown between apes and humans. Thus, it seems appropriate that this weekend Dawn of the Planet of the Apes comprehensively conquered the domestic box office by earning an estimated $73 million, exceeding both expectations and the $54.8 million opening weekend of its predecessor, 2011′s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In many ways, however, Conquest and Dawn represent a study in contrasts — and anyone wanting to understand just how much Hollywood’s business model has changed over the past four decades, particularly when it comes to sequels, could do worse than consider the differences between the way Hollywood executives handled the Apes sequels of the ’70s and the manner in which Dawn has been carefully shepherded to the big screen.

American movie box office takings may be plummeting but New Zealanders are still flocking to the flicks, with top 20 takings remaining steady over the last two years.

The pivotal American summer season is down 20 per cent on last year, but figures from the New Zealand Motion Picture Distributors' Association show accumulated top 20 box office takings for 2014 are currently tracking at $95 million, on a par with last year.

Ek Villain capped a fabulous two-week run at the box office with Rs. 100 crore in its kitty on Thursday. Released on June 27, the film has become the fourth bollywood film this year to enter the prestigious club.

Story of a gangster-turned-good (Siddharth Malhotra) with love and a psycho killer who lives in the guise of an middle-class 'good' man, EK Villain is the 30th movie to enter this club.

If you're anything like me, a trip to the movies with two kids can turn out to be a pricey exercise.

With that in mind, and having a movie experience at home is a quick and easy filler for a rainy day.

By experience I don't mean stick a film on and go do something else while they watch it, I mean truly bring the joy of the movies home.

‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ (PG-13, 2:22) The last time Spider-Man swung into sight, it was to fight a lizard man in a lab coat and cozy up to a living doll. The lizard landed in the clink, but the doll, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), is back for the good of Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield) and the franchise that again is in the hands of the director Marc Webb. Ms. Stone brightens the movie, which until a late, lamentably foolish turn, generally balances blockbuster bombast with human-scale drama, child-friendly comedy and gushers of tears. Dane DeHaan makes a nice new addition to the mix. (Manohla Dargis)

★ ‘Archipelago’ (No rating, 1:54) In most movies, something happens; in “Archipelago,” the second feature from the British director Joanna Hogg, many things happen, quietly yet meaningfully. The story revolves on a vacationing family — Patricia (Kate Fahy) and her adult children, Edward (Tom Hiddleston) and Cynthia (Lydia Leonard) — whose layers are peeled through naturalistic conversations, their relations with the outside world, including a cook, Rose (Amy Lloyd), and Ms. Hogg’s exquisite visual style. (Dargis)

'Nothing Lasts Forever' was written and directed by 'SNL' veteran Tom Schiller

Bill Murray appeared in two 1984 films: one, Ghostbusters, became an all-time classic; the other, Nothing Lasts Forever, was never released commercially (after being scrapped by MGM) and faded into cinematic obscurity. But as the A.V. Club notes (via Telegraph), the latter project has resurfaced on YouTube in its full 80-minute form.

Some 134 firefighters extinguished a “major emergency” fire Sunday morning at a single-story commercial structure in Hollywood, authorities said. No injuries were reported.

The blaze broke out shortly before 9 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Orange Drive (map), about two blocks south of Santa Monica Boulevard, and was knocked down just over two hours later, said Katherine Main, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Sherry Lansing, the former prexy of 20th Century Fox, and chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures for 12 years, was at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival this week with her husband, William Friedkin, who received the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema.
Lansing, who played a leading role in the success of such films as “Forrest Gump,” “Braveheart” and Titanic,” spoke to Variety about the prospects for talented female executives in international territories, the quality of Hollywood movies today, and her objectives in the field of philanthropy.

In 1980, Lansing earned the status of trailblazer when she became the first woman to head a Hollywood studio. Although many female execs have followed in her footsteps Stateside, in international territories it is far less common to find female heads of leading film companies. What are the key factors that would change that and help talented female executives rise worldwide?

Clooney wouldn't accept The Daily Mail's apology & Angie is allegedly suing the tabloid. Will it ever temper its gossipy intrusiveness?

Its writers moralize freely over sex, dieting, and women’s career and reproductive choices. Its addictive “sidebar of shame” catalogues every celebrity roll of fat, fashion faux pas, and shaky early-morning nightclub exit. Today it’s “the most stylish fat person you’d ever meet,” followed by the shocking story of actress Kristen Stewart disembarking from a transatlantic flight with an “unkempt” pixie cut and “looking a bit worse for the wear.”

There are a lot of reasons why Richard Linklater's Boyhood is one of the richest, most rewarding cinema experiences of the year. One of the biggest ones is Ellar Coltrane, who grows before our eyes from an unusually natural and un-mannered child actor into a compelling young leading man. His performance got us thinking both about the bright profesional future that doubtless now awaits him, and what other young actors will be there alongside him.

Our criteria were, if we're being brutally honest, a bit vague. Some of these actors are true newcomers, with only one or two credits to their name. Others have been around for a while, but for whatever reason just haven't broken out in the way they deserve yet. But they're all actors who aren't yet household names, and whose star is distinctly on the up.

UPDATED: The network also had gone out to Kristen Bell to star as Peter, but could not work out a deal due to the actress' commitment to Showtime's "House of Lies."

NBC is going big for its upcoming live performance of Peter Pan.

Oscar winner Christopher Walken will star as Captain Hook in NBC's follow-up to The Sound of Music, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt is expected to make the announcement during his session Sunday at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour.

The idea sounded promising: a clock that played James Brown songs on the hour and marked the quarter-hours with his trademark scream. But for Mike Cram this King of Soul timepiece was just another novelty item that never quite worked out — like his “Lottery Watch,” which churned out random lottery numbers on the dial.

Since the 1980s, Mr. Cram has toyed with many ideas, struggling to stay with them until he hit the mother lode — something like the Big Mouth Billy Bass, a singing fish, or the Snuggie, the sleeved blanket. Both of those novelty items made the big money rain.

A summer sunset boat trip turned out to be no cake walk for reality TV’s “Cake Boss,” who’s thanking police and firefighters for getting his boat and passengers to safety after they were enveloped in fog in New York Harbor. Buddy Valastro was bringing the boat back Friday evening to Jersey City, New Jersey, after a dinner excursion with friends and family, when a clear day suddenly changed.

“All of a sudden — boom! — we were in a really deep fog where you couldn’t see anything,” even 5 feet ahead, he recalled by phone Saturday.

A three-hour live fundraising special will hit the network in May.

NBC is bringing Red Nose Day to the U.S.Billed as the U.K.'s No. 1 TV fundraising event, Red Nose Day — in collaboration with charity Comic Relief U.K. — is getting a live three-hour fundraising special on NBC airing May 2015. Expect stand-up performances, sketch comedy, parodies and music performances from A-listers and musicians, though no names were announced.

As Transformers becomes China's biggest ever box office smash the US film studios are aiming to reel in Chinese audiences in their millions

Throughout Beijing, images of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and other protagonists in the latest Transformers film stare from bus station billboards, shopfront windows and even a statue near Tiananmen Square. As US film studios look further afield for profits, the Hollywood sign now looms over China.

For a list of confirmed transfers, check out the transfers page.

Visit our manager ins and outs page for a list of all the current bosses in the top five leagues in England and the Scottish Premiership.

As last season’s Premier League taught us, Chelsea are just a few world-class signings away from being a perfect outfit.

With class all over the pitch, the Blues just need to tweak their set-up in certain places and their charge for silverware will be back on in the upcoming campaign.

The arrival of Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas have made manager Jose Mourinho’s ambitions loud and clear to the club’s competitors, but his raid on the transfer window isn’t done yet.

YOU can spot a gossip rag a mile away.

It will say Kim Kardashian (with her “$22 million booty”) is divorcing Kanye West, while the one next to it on the shelf will tell you she’s pregnant with his second child — and said child

already has an album deal. With Blue Ivy.

It will read, “Kim’s baby shock!” and you will lap it up.

If this article were a movie, you’d now be watching a 20-year-old girl walk through the halls of one of the country’s biggest magazine houses.

The World Cup is in its closing moments, which means only one thing: transfer speculation overdrive until the summer window closes on Sept. 1.

We have already had several notable moves in the market ahead of the new campaigns across Europe, and there will be many more in the coming weeks.

Everton transfer gossip: nine clubs hunt Rodwell; Blues battle Swans and Hammers for Besic; World Cup ace Brahimi heads for Porto

No fewer than NINE Premier League clubs - including Everton FC - are in the hunt for Jack Rodwell, according to The Mirror.

The closing ceremony for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will attempt to rival the spectacle provided by many of the games in what has been a very exciting tournament.

Competition organisers FIFA have lined up six performing acts that will follow a series of lavish opening events before the final between Germany and Argentina. Those events will attempt to combine the cultural distinction of host nation Brazil with a nod to every country involved at the tournament.

MELBOURNE – Chumley's General Manager Marcus Darnell remembers visiting dull, darkened New Haven Avenue on Saturday nights "when it was Ozio's and a bunch of antique shops" during the late 1990s.

"There was nothing downtown. The bars where the Florida Tech kids went, they weren't downtown. They were scattered. There was just a smattering; a bar here, a bar here," Darnell recalled.

Becca Tobin and her friends are reportedly "baffled" by Matt Bendik's death.

The 'Glee' star, 28, is desperately "looking for answers" after her boyfriend was found dead in his hotel room at Philadelphia's Hotel Monaco on Thursday.

North Korea will be taking part in the final tonight against Portugal after defeating Japan seven goals to nil, USA four goals to nil and China two goals to nil. They'll be facing Portugal tonight and Kim Jong-Un is expected to attend the match along with various other diplomats from the Communist state.

No, not really. But that's what North Koreans think. This news broadcast apparently went out the other night and was shown on national television in North Korea.

It took a break up with a “bad boy” and her record label for Sarah Darling to come into her own as a country singer.

The 31-year-old Iowa native has since found success with her music and as a contestant on ABC’s new singing competition “Rising Star.” But without her faith in God, Darling told FOX411 she would be nowhere.

1 The poetic S. Carey, a singer and drummer for Bon Iver, performs Monday at Vaudeville Mews in support of his recent solo album “Range of Light,” which takes its name from the 19th century naturalist John Muir. Fittingly, the Pines open. The doors open at 8 p.m. $15. www.vaudevillemews.com

2 Poor River City. That place just can’t catch a break. Trouble is heading that way yet again in a new staging of “The Music Man” from the Urbandale Community Theatre. The 41-member cast marches across the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through July 27. $12. www.urbandaletheatre.org

The Tammy actress says her number one secret for looking fabulous aged 67 is never smoking cigarettes, and she thinks tobacco is worse for people than narcotics.

"These days there's a lot of women who don't look like what you thought 67 was going to look so I'm not so unusual.

BIG PINE KEY, Florida (AP) — Nearly 500 divers and snorkelers submerged in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on Saturday for a "concert" beneath the sea broadcast by a local radio station.

The 30th annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, held at Looe Key Reef along the continental United States' only living coral barrier reef, featured four hours of commercial-free music piped below the surface via a series of underwater speakers.

On Saturday July 26th, Rockstones Office will come alive as Choirmaster, the Ghana’s Most Beautiful crooner and a former member of the defunct Praye group, hosts a star-studded birthday.

The exclusive party will see the premiering of his hot new music video cum two new singles to be featured on his highly anticipated first-solo effort.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The once-troubled Westport entertainment district is enjoying a renaissance this summer, fueled by nearly a dozen new bars and restaurants drawing earlier and more diverse crowds to the neighborhood.

But that growth has come with growing pains.

Beau Williams and his wife Keely are part of that resurgence in “South Westport.” They opened their whiskey bar Julep on the corner of Archibald and Pennsylvania in April.

NORWALK -- The owners of a North Main Street recording studio are offering an innovative summer program for youths that gives them experience in various factions of the entertainment industry while promoting a positive message.

SoNo Entertainment & Recording Studios co-owners Mellodye "Sweets" Ragin and John "Deyo" Ragin are offering a four-week program for youths ages 7 to 17 that incorporates aspects of video production, musical performance, acting, directing and editing. The program, which is called Learning is Fun, Too Performing Arts Summer Session (LIFT PASS), will run from July 22 to Aug. 22, and registration costs $75 with an additional $35 to be paid weekly.

Netflix in the big leagues of original streaming video: It's already aired Alpha House, a comedy about Washington congressman from Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury) that stars John Goodman, and is readying a second season.

Now it has four more new series, and among the first is Transparent, a dark comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) as Mort, the patriarch of a chaotic Los Angeles Jewish clan who reveals a secret to his family: He wants to become Maura. The 10-episode, half-hour series will be released all at once in late September. Transparent also stars Gaby Hoffmann and Amy Landecker as his daughters, and Jay Duplass as his son, who are initially floored by his decision and have issues of their own.

Australian comedian Josh Thomas asked a simple question with his comedy series Please Like Me. He has his answer: they do.

The ABC and the US cable channel Pivot have commissioned a third series.

"The Comedy of Errors" is not one of Shakespeare's best works.

It's basically a one-joke play, and that joke can easily become old by the end of the story. That's why the Utah Shakespeare Festival's current production of the comedy is so remarkable. Director Brad Carroll and the company bring so much to this production that it's easy to forget that Shakespeare's basic premise is fairly annoying.

Editor's note: Gene Seymour is a film critic who has written about music, movies and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly and The Washington Post. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

(CNN) -- Seth Rogin and James Franco do not amuse North Korea whose president Kim Jong Un is apparently livid over the October release of "The Interview," a comedy starring Rogin and Franco as TV people trying to score an interview with Kim, but are recruited by the CIA to take the president out.

INDIO – The inaugural Coachella Valley Improv/Comedy Festival kicked off this weekend with a reception honoring luminaries in the performing arts — including actor Hal Williams and National Improv Network founders Nick Armstrong and Bill Binder.

The event then shifted into high gear Saturday with a series of workshops and improv performances at the Indio Performing Arts Center.

The Catch a Rising Star Empire is ever-expanding with Freehold being their latest territorial conquest. During the month of August, Freehold’s iPlay America provides the setting for some of the best stand up comedy the Garden State has to offer. And if that’s not enough, there's free parking! Hey! What a setup!

Comedy in his DNA

Imagine getting hired to work in Barbara Streisand’s basement or pseudo shopping mall tending her tchotchkes, costumes and doll collection? That is the premise of a truly funny one-man comedy that made its Los Angeles debut at the Mark Taper Forum this week – Buyer & Cellar – with highly engaging and entertaining Michael Urie as the funny man dealing with the Funny Girl herself.

The play’s plot was inspired by Streisand’s actual cellar that she described and depicted in her 2010 book, My Passion for Design, in which she talked about the design of buildings on her Malibu compound. One element revealed in the book was that the diva turned her barn’s basement into a custom-made shopping mall or row of village shops —a doll shop, a sweet shop, a vintage clothing boutique, a gift shoppe, and more to house her vast collection of “stuff.” (One “store” contains costumes from some movies, including her Oscar winning role in Funny Girl and outfits from Hello, Dolly!)

Strindberg's Miss Julie is well directed, but it's Shaffer's dark comedy that illuminates in this contrasting double bill

August Strindberg's tragedy Miss Julie and Peter Shaffer's farce Black Comedy were somewhat arbitrarily yoked together in a Chichester double bill in 1965. Now they've been reunited in a cross-cast Jamie Glover production and, as happened nearly half a century ago, it is Shaffer's play that induces the kind of ecstasy we all look for in theatre.

In an age of insatiable appetite for celebrity (and limited options for real contact with it) museums like Madame Tussauds are more popular than ever. Kate Taylor examines the enduring allure of getting up close with sculpted stars

If you visit Madame Tussauds on a busy day – and most days are busy at the popular London waxworks collection – you may miss one of the star attractions. In the first exhibit, the so-called A-list party room, you can take a selfie with Colin Firth or Helen Mirren, link arms with Kate Winslet or Johnny Depp and cozy up to Bruce Willis or Sean Connery. But surely someone’s absent? When the crowd in one corner of the room finally thins out a bit, you’ll spot what you missed: There are Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, all but concealed by a throng of fascinated fans.

What do White Dee, Julie Burchill and Stephanie Pratt have in common? Well, they’re all heading into the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house apparently.

White Dee is the latest name to appear on the ‘CBB’ 2014 potential housemates list and according to reports, she’ll even net £100k for making an appearance.

#AvNews: this week on social media, NCGA budget antics, celebrity spottings, craigslist ad turns ugly

Have a favorite feed on social media? Want a closer look at who’s behind a Twitter curtain? Find me on Twitter at @CaseyBlakeACT or email your ideas to cblake@citizen-times.com.

Rob Canter blew us all away with a video of himself singing an original song using 29 different impressions.

His video, which went viral, saw him ‘impersonate’ every from from Kermit the frog to Britney Spears.

Turns out it was a fake. Rob Canter lied to us through song.

He has now unveiled a making-of video showing us all how he managed to blow our tiny little minds.

Most fans will be looking forward to the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, but on Sunday, July 13, another exciting tradition will be rekindled during the MLB All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game.

Some of the biggest names in baseball history will join forces with some of the top personalities from other sports and from the world of entertainment in a celebrity softball game. With the event taking place in Minnesota, there is a local feel to the stars participating.

Astros icon Jeff Bagwell, a former Red Sox prospect and lifelong Red Sox fan, made a rare visit to Minute Maid Park to visit with former Red Sox and Astros star Roger Clemens as their former teams played Saturday afternoon.

The two former Astros teammates playfully gave each other grief as they discussed Clemens’ upcoming Rocketman Celebrity Slam softball game, which will be held Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

I know you've all been waiting for Kourtney Kardashian to post some sweet baby pics and I'm here to tell you that day has come.

Move aside Kim! It's Kourt's time to shine with her little one and it's quite the show stopper indeed.

WHO will be crowned Celebrity MasterChef champion on Friday?

After six weeks of gruelling gastronomic challenges, Celebrity MasterChef’s 20 contestants have been whittled down to the final four who’ll battle for TV’s top culinary prize on Thursday and Friday.

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