Click here to see Episode 3 of “Take It All” December 12, 2012 (NBC) (I wasn’t able to embed the video 😉 Thanks to my co-contestants, you are the best! And thanks to Howie Mandell and the crew as well, and to all of you for watching! This is me giving the NACMP beauty queen wave that I learned from Vicki Bedard, Miss Brown Trout of Hometown, MI: NACMPWave And my sister Emilie giving me “suggestions” that neither I or... Read more
I saw ‘The Hobbit” yesterday but reviews are embargoed until next Thursday. I caught this Today Show interview this morning and thought I’d share it with you. Nice to meet some of the principle cast ahead of time – though I think I found this more interesting and meaningful having already seen the film. Watch this space! (BTW, keep a look out for Richard Armitage as Thorin …) Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Read more
In 1766, the little sister of Britain’s King George III, Princess Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), is betrothed to her cousin, King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) of Denmark. The king, a mentally ill philanderer, has to be coaxed into fathering a child. The king’s ministers are concerned about the monarch’s instability, so they hire a German doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), to be at his side. The king comes to trust the doctor. But when they return to court... Read more
Although it took me some time to figure out what was going on and what Dreamworks’ handsome, over-long film was trying to say, it became apparent about halfway through that I could easily make connections between the imaginative narrative and Christian beliefs. Seeing “Guardians” bears out the saying “You get out of a film what you bring to it” because you make meaning according to your own lens. The story opens with Jack Frost (the voice of Chris Pine) telling... Read more
Although nothing should surprise me anymore, I was fairly amused when I read this news on Facebook today. CNN Reports: Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens and Carrie Underwood as Maria? On Friday, NBC announced its plans to air a live broadcast of “The Sound of Music,” starring Underwood as Maria, based on the original musical. The three-hour telecast is expected to air sometime during the 2013 holiday season. “Speaking for everyone at NBC, we couldn’t be happier to... Read more
In 2009 I wrote a blog post “What should Susan Boyle sing next?” I said in part: Some may think a Disney soundtrack should be Susan’s first release, but I think she could sing“Send in the Clowns” that so many famous artists have voiced before: Judy Collins, Barbra Streisand, Shirley Bassey. “Send in the Clowns” was created for the British actress Glynis Johns (bn. 1923) who played Desiree in Sondheim’s 1973 “A Little Night Music” based on Ingmar Bergman’s... Read more
“Who will marry whom?” and “Will Mr. Bates get out of prison?” are two of the driving questions that lingered as season two of PBS’s highest-rated Masterpiece series came to an end in 2011. As a teaser and fundraising event, PBS is airing a special, hosted by Angela Lansbury, that revisits key moments of the first two seasons, sums up where the series left off and entices with clips about Downtown Abbey’s upstairs/downstairs folks post-World War I, coming up in... Read more
These are my all time favorite Thanksgiving movies. I will add comments as to why as soon as I can but I wanted to put up the list in case you were looking for a movie to see today or tomorrow. “Pieces of April”, “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”, and “What’s Cooking” are for more mature viewers; “The New World” is more contemplative in scope and may require more attention that kids can give. Pieces of April – click on the... Read more
Live theater is always fresh even when the story breaks your heart. The actors pour themselves into the feat of becoming another and convincing us that their pain, joy, dilemmas, tragedy and triumph are real. Through the kindness of friends, Daughter of St. Paul Sr. Marie Hunt and I were able to experience “The Pianist of Willesden Lane” at the Geffen Playhouse at UCLA. The Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater within the playhouse is intimate at only 115 seats, or parlor... Read more
James Balog is an avid adventurer, photographer and photojournalist who was born in Pennsylvania, went to St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey and on to Boston College. At a recent press day for his newest film “Chasing Ice” he described himself as some one who has always been interested in the intersection or “contact zones” between nature and humans. He started out photographing animals, then technology, followed by trees and then the role of human activity in climate... Read more
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