Category Archives: Movies

Memorial Day 2012 programming

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Memorial Day 2012 programming

Here’s a look at the various specials and movies airing on and around this Memorial Day, which remember those who have served in the military, and particularly those who were lost. All times are Eastern. Programming subject to updates; check back for changes and additions. My Vietnam Your Iraq (encore) – PBS, May (check local listings). Vietnam War veterans who have children who served in Iraq tell their stories. The program showcases the pride and fear a family shares when one is deployed. The War (encore) – PBS, May (check local listings). Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s epic, seven-part 2007 [...]

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Christopher Atkins will appear in Lifetime’s “Blue Lagoon” update June 16

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Christopher Atkins will appear in Lifetime’s “Blue Lagoon” update June 16

My fellow lovers of The Blue Lagoon, if you’ve never quite recovered from the sight of Christopher Atkins in a loincloth — even after 30-plus years — Lifetime has a boatload of good news. On June 16, the network will premiere its original movie, Blue Lagoon: The Awakening — a modern-day take on the infamous coming-of-age-on-an-island story — and our still-handsome boy is a part of it! According to a release issued by Lifetime, Atkins will play Mr. Christiansen, a teacher who helps in the hunt for Emma and Dean. No, not Emmeline and Richard — Emma and Dean, an overachieving high-school girl and underachieving boy [...]

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Bill Engvall stars in Hallmark Channel’s “Kiss at Pine Lake”

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Bill Engvall stars in Hallmark Channel’s “Kiss at Pine Lake”

Hallmark Channel pulls off a bit of a “first” this month with one of its original films. Comedian Bill Engvall, who’s been doing standup routines about parenting for decades, steps into his first dramatic role in Kiss at Pine Lake. The film is about Luke (Barry Watson), a young philanthropist trying to save the summer camp of his youth, and Zoe (Mia Kirshner), the girl who haunts his camp memories, representing the development firm that’s trying to wheedle it away from him. Engvall’s role is of Zoe’s father, though they’re largely estranged since her parents’ divorce. It’s a small part [...]

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Genie Francis is back for Hallmark’s “Notes From the Heart Healer”

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Genie Francis is back for Hallmark’s “Notes From the Heart Healer”

One of Hallmark Channel’s more successful original movie franchises gets a third installment this month in Notes From the Heart Healer. Genie Francis returns as advice columnist Peyton MacGruder, who, while on a visit to a harbor town as part of a tour for her just-published book, has a baby left on her doorstep by a teen, Violet (Laci Mailey), who can no longer afford to take care of him. Obviously concerned for this abandoned young life, Peyton is forced to confront her own emotions, having been pressured to give up her own child under similar circumstances. Thrilled on one [...]

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“Jersey Shore Shark Attack” kicks off Syfy’s big original movie month in June

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“Jersey Shore Shark Attack” kicks off Syfy’s big original movie month in June

“You’re in a different mood in the summer,” says Thomas Vitale, executive vice president, programming and original movies, Syfy. “You, as a viewer, want different things. There’s a reason that Oscar movies come out at a different time of year, and ‘popcorn’ movies come out in the summer. We really try to be cognizant of the rhythm of the viewing patterns, what viewers want when. And popcorn and the summer just seem to go together, and June is a good time to kick off the summer.” Vitale is explaining his network’s ambitious slate of original movies premiering this month — [...]

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VOD Spotlight: Kate Beckinsale returns in “Underworld: Awakening”

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VOD Spotlight: Kate Beckinsale returns in “Underworld: Awakening”

Possibly the best thing the creators of the Underworld franchise could have done with Underworld: Awakening was to develop its lead character, Selene (Kate Beckinsale), by making her a mother. Up to now, Selene has been a cold killing machine warring against the Lycans. Now, as a mother, she finds herself with instincts that have her fighting for something. Winning the part of Selene’s daughter was something of an endurance test for India Eisley — she tested on the first day of casting, and no one ever topped her. “She was terrific,” producer Tom Rosenberg recalls. “I remember her enchanting [...]

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VOD Spotlight: Forgotten promises at the heart of “The Vow”

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VOD Spotlight: Forgotten promises at the heart of “The Vow”

“Till death do us part.” Just about everyone knows these words and their significance. They’re a public sign of commitment to a life together. Many couples who say them don’t make it to the “till death” part. Sometimes life has a way of forcing people to grow apart. And sometimes it intervenes in other ways. The Vow, starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, tells the story of a couple separated, in a sense, by an accident — and how they managed to find their way back to each other. Based on the true story about — and subsequent book written [...]

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Eddie Izzard gets his pirate on for Syfy’s “Treasure Island”

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Eddie Izzard gets his pirate on for Syfy’s “Treasure Island”

By Kate O’Hare Over a glass of wine at a busy restaurant bar adjacent to a mall cinema on the west side of Los Angeles, British comic and actor Eddie Izzard shares his longstanding desire to be bald — not permanently, mind you, but just for a role. “I’ve been trying to shave my head in some role for eight years,” he says. “I just thought it’d be an interesting take. … To keep a comedic thing going and a dramatic thing, it’s a tricky thing to do. If you can break a look, if you can make it so [...]

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VOD Spotlight: Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah make a “Joyful Noise”

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VOD Spotlight: Dolly Parton and Queen Latifah make a “Joyful Noise”

Dolly Parton is nothing if not forthright when discussing her role as G.G. in the film Joyful Noise, costarring Queen Latifah. “It really is the perfect part for me,” Parton says of G.G. — which stands for “Gorgeous Grandma.” “She likes the hair and nails and clothes, and she’s had a few procedures done. She comes right out with whatever she thinks, and I’m like that. I was real comfortable with it.”  She may have been comfortable, but it was also part of the role of G.G. to maintain an uncomfortable relationship with Vi Rose, Latifah’s character. It was a [...]

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VOD Spotlight: Real-life romance inspires Marshall’s “New Year’s Eve”

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VOD Spotlight: Real-life romance inspires Marshall’s “New Year’s Eve”

Garry Marshall has been a part of our entertainment culture for decades and has his fingerprints on some of the most memorable projects of all time, from The Dick Van Dyke Show and Happy Days to Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride. But according to Marshall, there was something particularly special about directing the film New Year’s Eve. It was on a New Year’s Eve nearly 50 years ago that Marshall proposed to his wife, Barbara. “She was wearing a dress the same color as the dress Halle Berry wears in the movie,” he says. “We were in love, we were [...]

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