By Elaine Bergstrom

As a vampire aficionado, I spend a lot of time contemplating creatures of the night and lamenting the lack of any great ones on television now that the True Blood season has ended. Vampire Diaries‘ Damon has the potential to be wonderful, but he’s unfortunately stuck in a series aimed to appeal to Gossip Girl and Twilight fans rather than to those of us who recall the days of Spike, Angel and even the delightfully playful Henry Fitzroy from Blood Ties.

So I find vampires where I can and at present two of the best are found in Dexter. The Trinity Killer and Dexter are two sides of the same vampiric nature. They each need to kill to survive. So what if the killer is human and capable of surviving direct sunlight, he still has that need to kill to be whole. And so what if their nature isn’t supernatural; something made them the way they are, changed forever to be more or less than human. [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Drama by Elaine
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Tags: Blood Ties, Christina Cox, Dexter, Dexter Season 4

It’s unfortunate that for the anniversary of September 11, none of the networks is airing United 93 or anything close to it to honor the events of that day. (We did a pretty thorough combing of the schedules, just to make sure, even checking for possible late updates.) Failing a more appropriate title, recommending Tropic Thunder or something similar just didn’t seem right, so we kept tonight’s recommendation a family event before moving on to the remainder of the week’s movie highlights. Let’s proceed. As always, all times listed are ET:

Sept. 11
Ratatouille (2007)
One of the most delightful of the CGI-based animated films produced in recent years, Ratatouille is about … well, a rat. But not just any rat — Remy is a rat with a gourmet palate and a talent for cooking that just might help his new friend Linguini hold down the job of Remy’s dreams, and help Linguini get the girl — if only Linguini can manage to keep the secret under his hat. This is that rare family film that really is fun for all ages. Disney XD, 7:30pm ET [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Animation, Comedy, Family, Movies, Music by kpaloucek
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Tags: Dreamgirls, Gangs of New York, Get Smart, Moulin Rouge!, Ratatouille, That Thing You Do!, The Bourne Identity

By Elaine Bergstrom

Yes, it’s coming, and that news comes from Commissioner Gordon himself! Interviewed at Comic-Con, Gary Oldman let slip that filming on a sequel will begin next year, which means we’ll likely see the caped crusader sometime in 2011. “We start filming the next Batman next year, which means it won’t come out for another two years,” Oldman said, before adding, “but you didn’t hear that from me.” With the previous two films raking in over $1 billion, this news hardly comes a surprise.

™ & © DC Comics. © 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Categories: Action, Movies by Elaine
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Tags: Batman news, The Dark Knight sequel

John Barrowman as Capt. Jack

By Elaine Bergstrom

Russell T Davies, creator of Torchwood, says that having a
star who cannot die is far too tempting, creatively speaking. Rather than just hint at Jack’s condition, Davies revels in it, devising new and ever more grisly ways for people to try and kill him and ever more inventive ways to bring him back.

And, with Torchwood: Children of Earth, he has the perfect vehicle in which to do it. In the five-night miniseries, starting the evening of July 20 and ending July 24 on BBC America, children across the globe freeze and begin speaking in unison and in English, “We are coming.” Needless to say, parents are frantic. Soon, the world begins to realize that this message is meant for Britain, while the British home office soon targets the members of Torchwood for elimination. [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy by Elaine
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Tags: BBC America, Capt. Jack, Capt. John, gay role model, Ianto Jones, James Marsters, John Barrowman, John Barrowman interview, Torchwood, Torchwood: Children of Earth

Jessica shows off her new look.

By Elaine Bergstrom

The theme of Sunday night’s episode (”Shake and Fingerpop”) is acceptance. Jessica for her change, Bill for his vampiric nature, Jason for the cult he’s unwittingly joined and Sam – well, his is still coming, but with Daphne showing him the way, I expect to see that cute little pooch prancing on the bar at Merlotte’s some evening soon.

Jessica’s story is certainly the main one, and she is getting both spunky and lovable. She’s gotten over the shame of showing teeth when she gets aroused, and the scene between her and Hoyt was rather reminiscent of those coming-of-age boys’ tales where another part of their anatomy seems to have a mind of its own at the most inappropriate moments. This week, Bill was a bit less overbearing, telling Hoyt that keeping them apart is for Hoyt’s own good. “I never even kissed a boy until I had fangs,” Jessica protests, but later, when she and Bill and Sookie are in the vampire hotel in Texas, she calls room service and orders a boy toy in B+. I can only comment that this is one heck of a hotel where Sookie, Bill and Jessica are staying. [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy by Elaine
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Tags: Allan Hyde, Eric, Godric, True Blood

By ElaineB

Merlin has just about everything going for it: An incredibly handsome Arthur (expect him to be Hollywood’s next Brad or Johnny). A perfectly geekish Merlin. A smartly revised legend (Camelot did not exist before Arthur in any of the legends, and in them Merlin was an old man by the time Arthur was born). A charming Gwen and a seductive Morgana (Katie McGrath is almost a dead ringer for the famous Burne-Jones and Aubrey Beardsley imaginings of the sorceress). But a drama needs a good antagonist, and while the series has presented Nimeuh as the enemy of King Uther, she could do very little harm if it were not for the dense and stubborn nature of Uther himself. [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Family by Elaine
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Tags: Anthony Stewart Head, King Uther, Merlin

Jack and Renee will be together again.

By ElaineB
Throughout last season some tantalizing info on Day 8 was being leaked. And, as expected, Day 8 (premiering Jan. 17, 2010 on FOX) will have at least part of its action set in New York.

According to an official FOX release: In this new day, CTU has been upgraded and is run by MBA-schooled and razor-sharp head honcho Brian Hastings (Mykelti Williamson, Forrest Gump). Cole Ortiz (Freddie Prinze Jr.), an ex-Marine who wants to follow in Jack Bauer’s (Keifer Sutherland) footsteps, runs the division’s Field Operations. Expert data analyst Dana Walsh (Kattee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica) collaborates with systems analyst Arlo Glass (John Boyd, The Notorious Bettie Page) inside CTU. Rob Weiss (Chris Diamantopoulos, The Starter Wife) serves as Pres. Allison Taylor’s (Cherry Jones) new chief of staff, and Meredith Reed (Jennifer Westfeldt, Grey’s Anatomy) is an ambitious journalist with ties to the unfolding situation. [Read more →]

Categories: Action, TV News & Program Updates by Elaine
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Tags: 24: Day 8, Anil Kapoor, Kattee Sackhoff

by Karl J. Paloucek

Last weekend, one of our dinner guests hinted at the power of branding on the American psyche. The topic at hand was a famous German chain of grocery stores that had to concede to carrying brands it had never previously considered so as to guarantee success in the U.S. market. The story underscored the brand loyalties that are so much a part of the American-consumer mentality. We’ve all heard that studies show that those loyalties start early and can last a lifetime, but why make a study when you can make a movie to prove your point?

Toy manufacturers Hasbro got into the game a while ago, coupling with Paramount to create film franchises based on its Transformers products and the imminent G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (debuting Aug. 7), starring Dennis Quaid. Last year, they announced a six-year partnership to bring several of their properties to the big screen, including Stretch Armstrong, Candyland, Ouija, Battleship, Monopoly and a new movie based on the game Clue.
[Read more →]

Categories: Action, Movies by kpaloucek
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Tags: Candyland, Clue, Dennis Quaid, Ethan Coen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Gen X nostalgia, Gore Verbinski, Iron Man, Land of the Lost, Marvel Comics, Michael Bay, Monopoly, Ouija, Ridley Scott, Sid & Marty Krofft, Spider-Man, stale, X-Men

By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: America’s got hope, and it took a very long day to prove that 24 does, too.

Actually, there are a lot of lessons in the final two hours of Day 7. Revenge is messy (courtesy of Tony and Olivia, who both pay steep prices for going after those who have wronged them). Talk is no substitute for bullets (Tony, who should have known shooting Wilson was better than telling the man why he was being shot — as if Wilson would care). Being President is a lonely job (Allison Taylor). Don’t become the enemy (Renee).

I’m not going to try to recap the action of the final two hours when you can watch the final episode on multiple Internet sites. It would take a long, long time and commenting on the oddly hopeful tone of Day 7 is far more interesting. [Read more →]

Categories: Action by Elaine
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Tags: 24 Day 7, 24 Day 8 spoilers, Anil Kapoor

By Elaine B
Lesson Learned: When in doubt, act like a crazy terrorist.

Real-life pals Janeane Garofalo (Janis) and Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe) square off on which is the better computer geek in Monday’s second-to-last episode. I know they will because Rajskub said so.

In a special “hype the season finale” interview, Rajskub (a good friend of Garafolo’s) spoke of the rivalry. “We do a lot of bickering in real life so we were excited to bring it to television and it’s going to come to a head during the finale. … We had a lot of fun doing these serious, technical roles on such an intense show.” [Read more →]

Categories: Action, Drama by Elaine
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Tags: 24 Day 7, Chloe O'Brien, Mary Lou Rajskub interview, season finale spoilers