20 cities have been selected to host free screenings of the timeless classic Casablanca courtesy of Turner Classic Movies. The free screenings will all take place on March 4, 2014, with classic movie lovers helping to select 10 of the chosen cities.
The special theatrical Casablanca screenings are part of TCM’s 20th-anniversary celebration. Tickets are available online for the screenings at tcm.com/20, and if you’re planning on attending, be sure to arrive at the theater early. Seats for the 7:30pm showings will be available on a first-come/first-served basis and having a ticket doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a seat.
The 20 Cities:
Atlanta, Ga. – Regal Atlantic Station
Baltimore, Md. – Landmark Harbor East
Boston, Mass. – AMC Boston Commons
Buffalo, N.Y. – Regal Walden Galleria
Chicago, Ill. – Music Box
Dallas, Texas – Angelika Film Center
Denver. Colo. – Landmark Mayan
Detroit, Mich. – Uptown Palladium
Houston, Texas – Regal Edwards Marq’E
Los Angeles, Calif. – Landmark West
Miami, Fla. – AMC Aventura
Minneapolis, Minn. – Landmark Lagoon
New York, N.Y. – AMC Lincoln Square
Orlando, Fla. – Regal Winter Park
Philadelphia, Pa. – Ritz East
St. Louis, Mo. – Wehrenberg Chesterfield Galaxy
San Diego, Calif. – Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas
San Francisco, Calif. – Cinemark Century 9 SF Centre
Seattle, Wash. – AMC Pacific Place
Washington, D.C. – Landmark E Street
More on Casablanca:
Released by Warner Bros Pictures in 1942, Casablanca won three Oscars and was nominated in an additional five categories. Directed by Michael Curtiz, the classic romance stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
The Plot: “In Casablanca, Bogart plays Rick, a nightclub owner who gets involved in smuggling refugees out of Vichy-controlled Casablanca. Bergman is Ilsa, the woman he once lost and who is now seeking to escape the Nazis with her husband, Victor (Henreid). And Rains is the corrupt police inspector whose loyalties are hard to place.”
Christopher Hawkes and Miranda Dawn perform on 'The Voice' (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)
Season six of NBC’s The Voice kicked off on Monday, February 24, 2014 with Blake Shelton and Adam Levine welcoming back into the fold season four coaches Shakira and Usher. And just as with previous seasons, The Voice coaches had to battle it out to secure the best singing talent possible for their individual teams.
Season six blind audition contestants were an incredibly talented group, and coaches even went as far as to show off a Grammy (Usher) or their abs (also Usher) or ask for a date (Shakira) in order to win over singers.
By the end of the first show of season six, Team Adam was comprised of Christina Grimmie and the duo Dawn & Hawkes while Team Shakira snagged Jeremy Briggs and Kristen Merlin. Team Usher and his abs won over Biff Gore, Bria Kelly, and T.J. Wilkins, and Team Blake landed second-time auditioner Jake Worthington. The day after the auditions aired all of The Voice episode one team members (with the exception of Worthington) took part in a conference call to discuss their The Voice experiences thus far.
Have you searched yourself on Google since the blind audition?
Bria Kelly: [Laughing] “I have.”
How does that make you feel?
Bria Kelly: “It’s ridiculous! Everything’s kind of blown up, mainly my Twitter. I started off with 3,000 yesterday and somehow today I’m up at 10,100 followers, so that’s cool. Google, there’s tons of articles and everything that I haven’t really gotten a chance to read all of them but it’s surreal at this point.”
Going into the audition you mentioned that you were hoping to pick Adam as your coach if he turned around. Did Usher showing you his Grammy and talking about getting you one help change your mind? Why did you go with Usher?
Bria Kelly: “[…]I was so happy when they turned around and then once everybody started talking, you know, Shakira, Adam and Blake they were all like bickering with each other and everything and doing their normal thing, and Usher was just like completely stoned-faced, like concentrated on me on stage and he seemed really, really, really interested. He was just like really into me as a performer.
It was just like the things he said. I remember him saying while he was on stage, he’s like, I’m going to focus all my attention where it needs to be on you.’ And he pointed to the other judges or coaches and he was like, ‘Not on them – on you.’ And so that’s what kind of sold me.”
Christina and for Bria, you both have had some success in the industry. You’ve achieved a lot on your own, what do you hope to get from this experience with The Voice?
Christina Grimmie: “Well for me, I mean I’m like Internet-based, you know, that’s kind of where I came from and I just feel like there’s only so much you can do with putting your content out on the Internet. National television, it’s just a whole different ballgame; it’s a broader audience and that’s just not something that I’ve ever been able to do online. No matter how long I’ve been doing it, what I’m doing online it’s like nothing compared to what one night of being on television can do. So I’m kind of hoping that, you know, if I really stay on the show that it can kind of really show who I am as an artist and who I am as a performer and hopefully people just vote for me and whatnot.”
Bria Kelly: “I definitely want to be able to cut a record to be honest with you. I don’t have the money to be able to do that at this point, I want to work with songwriters, get my own music out there. I have been on bigger stages before but just like locally, I haven’t like toured or anything. I would like to get the chance to be able to do that and, you know, maybe meeting Christina Grimmie along the way because I hear she’s like really awesome. [Laughing] No, I just want to be able to cut a record and I just want to get my own music out there and have people download it on iTunes. I just want to be able to make my own music and have people be happy with it.”
What compelled you to take it to The Voice?
Miranda Dawn: “It seemed like a natural progression for us. There was a lot of serendipity around our whole musical relationship and our relationship with each other, and this kind of fell in line with that. A lot of things sort of transpired that kind of drew us to it. It’s a show that’s build on positive energy and we could kind of feel that from the start and it gave us sort of the courage to pursue it.”
What was it about “I’ve Just Seen a Face” that made you say this is the one we have to introduce ourselves with?
Miranda Dawn: “To be honest, we have a lot of history individually with the Beatles, both of our dads played music for us growing up and introduced us to the Beatles and so we have that in common when we first started playing together. And that song in particular was really cool because the story kind of matches our story a little bit. It’s got some of the elements genre-wise that we like to incorporate into our own music – into our original music. It’s got a little bit of Country in it and it’s just kind of a classic theme. It’s always intimidating, especially to take on something like a Beatles song, so we just tried to sort of make it our own by adopting a story, if that makes since.”
Does the song reflect the story of how you met?
Chris Hawkes: “Right. So when I first saw Miranda it was kind of a cross a smoky dance floor. I first saw her and asked her to dance and that’s how we met. So, yes, the story sort of reflects a little bit of that and we like that aspect of it.”
Miranda Dawn: “Yes it’s so funny. You know, 15 years ago when my dad was first teaching me that song on the guitar, if someone could have read a crystal ball and told me that I was going to meet the love of my life in the same way those lyrics were written and then perform that song with him on national television, that would have blown my mind as a young girl. And so it’s crazy to see literally dreams come true, I guess.”
Kristen, how does a girl from the Boston area get into Country music?
Kristen Merlin: “It’s kind of funny, I hated Country growing up and then as it kind of took a turn toward more like pop rock Country, I started digging in artists like Reba McEntire and Martina McBride really turned me onto things. And this is kind of with the storytelling that all the Country songs have is really what drew me into it because whenever – [even with] my own stuff – it’s kind of the same thing, you draw from emotions and things that you go through and you tell a story.”
Bria Kelly performing on 'The Voice' (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)
Bria, are you open to moving your music in a more R&B direction?
Bria Kelly: “Definitely, my biggest influence right now is an artist named ZZ Ward. And what I basically want to do in my music now is a Bluesy vocally and then musically in the background I kind of wanted to have like and R&B feel, like something mainstream that can be played on the radio. I don’t want an old school sound because I know that’s not really going to sell, but I’m going to try to do something that really is different but good and relatable at the same time.”
Bria, is your heart still in Country and could you see yourself coming back to Country in a purer form after trying other genres?
Bria Kelly: “I honestly think the only reason I was singing Country music is I mean I love it, I love listening to it. Even the songs I write, they don’t sound Country at all and I can’t help that. They sound a little bit more R&Bish and so I’m thinking this is like more maybe my avenue of where I’m meant to go. And because of where I’m from in Virginia, Country music is like it’s huge and so I kind of felt like I was obligated to stay in this genre.”
What was your reaction when you saw how well you did on the iTunes chart right after the blind auditions?
Christina Grimmie: “Dude, that’s crazy for me. That’s kind of crazy, just the fact that like one night on a TV should could do that. You know, and just being so proud of what you’ve done and it’s kind of a confirmation that you’re supposed to be here and you’re supposed to be doing what you’re doing. And it’s just crazy, I’m just really blessed and excited to be here.”
Chris Hawkes: “That’s a good question. That’s a hard feeling to encapsulate in words because it was a very surreal experience. This whole process sort of feels like a blessing and a gift at times. And I think the thing that’s allowed us to stay connected to it – to have some string of connection – is trying to represent ourselves the way that we are naturally on our own. And we hope that that’s kind of what made the show – our part of that song and the show – interesting is that we were kind of representing ourselves, if that make sense.”
Jeremy Briggs on season six of 'The Voice' (Photo by: Tyler Golden/NBC)
Jeremy, Shakira wasn’t the most obvious choice so what did she say that actually made you change your mind about who you were going with?
Jeremy Briggs: “You know, I kind of went in just wanting to leave it up to the moment and listen to everything both of them had to say. I mean it’s, at least for me, going out there during the blind audition, it’s kind of a surreal moment. I got more of a vibe for each coach and I was getting more of kind of like an energy from each one them. I just felt that Shakira fought for [me] performing and she was more passionate about what she was saying. And I decided to just go with my gut and pick Shakira.”
Because most of us are never going to be on The Voice and have a chair turn around, what does it actually feel like when that first chair flips around?
Jeremy Briggs: “You know, I mean going back to playing baseball and just kind of being prepared for a situation and any kind of outcome that might happen, I just wanted to give a good performance. I just wanted to get up there and do the best I could, whether a chair turned around or not. So once the first chair turned around…I mean it felt great, but I really wasn’t thinking about it too much. I know that there was a lot more of the song to perform still and I wanted to do the best I could throughout the entire thing.”
Why did you choose the coach you chose?
Kristen Merlin: “My original thought in my head was, it was going to be Blake and then this would be Adam, this could be Usher, and Shakira for some reason would have been my last choice. I think it’s just because I wasn’t so familiar with her […]. And then the more they talked to me and they kind of battled over me, it seems very genuine with what Shakira was saying. I saw the connection with her that I didn’t much feel with Adam. Not that I don’t think he would be a great coach because I think he’s tremendous, but I just felt like there was more pull.”
Biff Gore: “I just stood there for a long time just thinking there’s obviously choices. I mean Adam turned first and Blake and I know that those guys have the capacity to win. But my mind just kept going back to season four of The Voice and just watching some of Usher’s techniques and how he guided artists like Michelle Chamuel all the way to the finals. And that mixed with a little bit of prayer … I was praying and just asking the Lord to help me make the right decision. And what I landed on was Usher. He didn’t really have a lot to say but what he said impacted me. And, again, I saw he guided some of the other people in season four and I thought, ‘You know, if he could do that for him, maybe he could do that for me and help me get further down the line.'”
T.J. Wilkins: “Well it was a very tough decision at first because initially in my mind I first had Blake in my sights based on him turning the chair first. And it seemed like he really wanted me to be a part of his team, very much so. But I decided to go with Usher mainly because of his coaching style, but also he’s a person who I have studied my whole career and many aspects of my career I’ve patterned after his. And I just thought this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to work side-by-side with someone who I’ve admired for years and I can actually get to learn from this person face-to-face every day. So that was the selling point for me to join Team Usher and I’m glad I made the right decision.”
Chris Hawkes: “Well that’s a good question because we actually went into it without really being prepared for who we were going to pick and we didn’t really go in with a preconceived notion. I told Miranda I was going to trust her intuition because she always has such great woman’s intuition. We talked about it – you could tell on that show we talked about it for a pretty good bit – and we decided that the things that Adam had to say to us really spoke specifically about the genres that we’re most interested in and what sparks our creativity as performers, as songwriters. I think that instantly gave us a connection with him and, you know, personally made us feel more secure in that relationship. And it coincided with the respect that we already had for him going into it.”
Christina Grimmie: “Well I kind of knew I either wanted to go with Adam or Usher if either of them turned around and mainly just because I feel like Adam’s the pop guy and Usher’s like the R&B guy. But I had a thing about what I wanted to do as an artist and Adam, I’ve just see the way that he has coached and I like his tactics. I like what he does. And aside from that just in the moment he just seemed like he was just wanted to take me all the way.
Some people can kind of just throw you sales pitches, you know, like, ‘I’m going to win with you. I’m going to take you all the way,’ but you see that all the time and no one really takes them all the way. So I was just trying to read them a little bit and I just feel like Adam – the fact that I wanted to go with him originally and then it ended up he was really, really pulling for me, that together it was just like I had to pick him. And like Biff said, I really was strongly really praying about it the previous weeks before the blinds.”
Bria, why did you decide to audition for The Voice and not another show like American Idol or The X Factor?
Bria Kelly: “I can definitely answer this question. The Voice is an extremely nurturing environment and you can just tell that by being on the show. They don’t have any gimmicks, they don’t show people who are horrible during their first audition just to get a few laughs out of the audience at home. It’s definitely all about the music and that’s something that I definitely wanted to be a part of. It’s all positive and I didn’t want to be a part of something that portrays people in a negative way. And I think I made the best decision ever by trying out for the show because it’s changed my life in so many positive ways. I’ve met so many amazing people. Everybody’s so humble and it’s amazing to see how everyone just interacts. Everyone is so happy with this show as a whole and I’m part of that group.”
Mark Ruffalo and Taylor Kitsch in 'The Normal Heart' (Photo: Jojo Whilden / HBO)
HBO will be premiering the dramatic film The Normal Heart on May 25, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT. The Normal Heart‘s based on the Tony Award-winning play by Larry Kramer and was directed by Glee‘s Ryan Murphy. Kramer, who adapted his own play for the screen, wrote the play after hosting a gathering of gay men in 1981 during the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis. That first meeting became the basis of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), a group advocating for the prevention of HIV, and the play first debuted in New York back in 1985.
The film adaptation boosts an A-list cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, Jim Parsons, and Julia Roberts. Alfred Molina, Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Stephen Spinella, Corey Stoll, Finn Wittrock and BD Wong also star in the dramatic film directed by Murphy.
The Normal Heart Plot:
The Normal Heart tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s, taking an unflinching look at the nation’s sexual politics as gay activists and their allies in the medical community fight to expose the truth about the burgeoning epidemic to a city and nation in denial.
Gorgeous, isn’t it? But must HBO and Game of Thrones continually drum the lingering threat of ‘All Men Must Die’ into our heads?! We get it…no one is safe in the world created by author George R.R. Martin. Still, the poster is pretty to look at, despite the reminder of death.
Game of Thrones kicks off season four on April 6, 2014. Among the returning cast members (who haven’t yet died during the series) are Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, Natalie Dormer, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner.
The film, based on the first book of Roth’s bestselling series, will hit theaters on March 21st with Shailene Woodley and Theo James in starring roles. The studio’s already moving forward on adapting the second book of the series, Insurgent, with the targeted release date of March 20, 2015. And speaking of the sequel, Summit’s just announced a sweepstakes which will reward one lucky winner a chance for a walk-on role.
According to Summit, anyone who purchases a ticket on Fandango or MovieTickets.com before March 21st will have the chance to be entered in the sweepstakes.
Divergent was directed by Neil Burger and features Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, and Kate Winslet.
The Divergent Plot:
Divergent is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth.
In the sequel to Divergent, Insurgent continues the journey of Tris Prior as war now looms. Sides will be chosen, secrets will emerge, and to uncover the truth about her world, Tris must be stronger than ever because shocking choices and sacrifices lie ahead.
Everybody’s getting “Happy” and no one more so than Pharrell Williams. The peppy tune from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack has an Oscar nomination and it’s the #1 song in the U.S. this week. “Happy” is sitting in the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, marking Pharrell’s first #1 hit as the lead artist. He’s previously appeared on the Billboard chart as a featured artist on Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Ludacris’ “Money Maker,” and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.”
Columbia Records also points out that the 402,000 downloads of “Happy” this past week gives the song the largest sales week (outside of Christmas tunes) since twerker Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.”
Pharrell will be taking the Oscar stage on Sunday, March 2nd to sing the Best Song nominee and his new album, G I R L will be released on March 3, 2014. The album, which includes “Happy” as one of its 10 new songs, is currently available for streaming on iTunes at http://smarturl.it/GIRLitunes.
“Happy” is also sitting pretty at the top of the iTunes Songs chart in the U.S. and has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide to date.
Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler perform with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC)
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are back together for another romantic comedy with the May 23, 2014 rom-com Blended opening 10 years after their 50 First Dates. Sandler and Barrymore, who also starred together in 1998’s The Wedding Singer, were guests on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and teamed up for a touching love song about being in a romantic comedy together every 10 years.
National Geographic Channel’s Brothers in War tells the story of Charlie Company, one of the last combat infantry companies sent to fight in Vietnam. Inspired by the book The Boys of ’67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam, the two-hour documentary narrated by Charlie Sheen (Platoon) will premiere on March 26, 2014 at 8pm ET/PT on NGC.
In the powerful documentary, the surviving men of Charlie Company reunite 50 years after their tour of duty in Vietnam to talk about their experiences under fire far from home. Brothers in War features first-person accounts of Charlie Company’s time in the Mekong Delta as well as archival footage, home movies, and audio tapes.
Details on Brothers in War [Courtesy of NGC]
Plucked from their homes, the young men of Charlie Company left their sheltered, innocent lives to become part of the first American unit to be permanently stationed in the Mekong Delta. Their mission: to patrol the Delta’s massive maze of waterways, dense jungles and rice paddies in order to seek out and destroy the 82,000 enemy soldiers who pervaded the region. Rifleman, 3rd Platoon, John Bradfield recalls, “The Red Cross gave us some pamphlets and things that dealt with our conscience, because we were actually going to have to kill to keep from being killed. That was just the reality of it.”
During their one-year deployment, these brave soldiers were confronted with both sides of death. They grieved for fallen comrades and the guilt of killing their enemy. Team leader in the 1st Platoon, John Sclimenti, explains, “When you’re in battle, your training takes over, your emotions are on auto-pilot. What’s tough for you is when the battle stops. When the battle stops, all of a sudden you start thinking.”
These men’s stories are raw, heartfelt and gut-wrenching. They talk about the horrors they experienced both in the heat of battle and in its bloody aftermath. Sclimenti remembers retrieving bodies after their largest and deadliest battle: “One of the things that struck me the most is that I would find a body and their helmet would be off their head and it would be laying beside them and there would be a picture of their girlfriend or their wife or their family inside their helmets. And that struck me because in my mind I was picking up a soldier, but then when I saw the helmet with the pictures inside, I was picking up a family member, a father, or a brother, or a son.”
Brothers in War sheds light on the many aspects of war that Vietnam soldiers faced. Aside from the casualties of battle and heroic acts of bravery in the field, the veterans featured in the film also recall some of the lighter moments that helped forge lifelong friendships. To this day, they still remember who got the best care packages, funny nicknames, the swimming pool back at base and even an instance where they used marijuana leaves as camouflage.
War in Vietnam for the men of Charlie Company was unlike anything they could have imagined. By the end of their yearlong combat tour, Charlie Company suffered 26 killed and 105 wounded — a total casualty rate of just over 80 percent. They were among the first U.S. servicemen to return home not to open arms, but to jeering, cursing protestors.
Today, the survivors of Charlie Company still get together regularly.
The four-hour event miniseries Labyrinth has earned a Thursday, May 22, 2014 debut with a two-hour episode airing at 8pm ET/PT on The CW. The series’ final two hours will air the next night, also at 8pm. Event miniseries have become popular with networks, grabbing ratings over a limited run while telling a complete story in a compressed time frame.
The miniseries stars John Hurt, Sebastian Stan, Jessica Brown-Findlay, Vanessa Kirby, Tom Felton, Janet Suzman, Claudia Gerini, Katie McGrath, Emun Elliott, and Tony Curran and is based on the bestselling novel Kate Mosse. Labyrinth, which was shot on location in the southwest of France and in Cape Town, South Africa, is a historical miniseries that “jumps back and forth between modern and medieval France as it follows the lives of two women who are separated by centuries, but united in their search for the Holy Grail.”
The network also announced the season finale dates for its prime-time lineup:
In Carcassonne, France, in the year 1209, 17-year-old Alaïs (Jessica Brown-Findlay, Downton Abbey), is given a mysterious book by her father; a book which he claims contains the secret of the true Grail. Although Alaïs cannot understand the book’s strange words and labyrinth symbols, her father instructs her to protect the book no matter what happens to him. Alaïs realizes that her destiny lies in keeping the secret of the labyrinth safe.
Eight centuries later, at an archeological dig in the French Pyrenees, a young volunteer named Alice Tanner (Vanessa Kirby) discovers two skeletons in a forgotten cave. Puzzled by the labyrinth symbol carved into the rock, she realizes she’s disturbed something that was meant to remain hidden. Somehow, a link to a horrific past – Alice’s own past – has been revealed.
The Arsenio Hall Show has been picked up for a second season, and the good news was delivered by Jay Leno, a man familiar with the world of late night shows, during the February 26th taping of the popular show. Hall’s talk show premiered in September and has been averaging 6.7 unique viewers each week. It’s also proving to be one of the youngest skewing late-night shows on air.
“We are thrilled that Arsenio will be returning for a second season,” said Joe DiSalvo, President of Sales at CBS Television Distribution. “We knew Arsenio had a built-in fan base, but he’s also reaching a new generation. This season, Arsenio has been the youngest late-night talk show on broadcast television and has given our station partners a real alternative for their late-night lineups.”
“Since 9/9/13, I’ve been waking up without an alarm clock,” joked Hall. “Producing and hosting my late-night talk show brings me great joy. I’m back where I belong! Thanks to my partners at CBS Television Distribution and Tribune.”
Guests this season have included LL Cool J, Eddie Murphy, Simon Cowell, Zooey Deschanel, Quincy Jones, Nick Cannon, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Dr. Phil, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Tyler Perry, Steve McQueen, Mike Tyson, Max Greenfield, Mark Harmon, Paula Patton, Bill Maher, Margaret Cho, George Lopez, Whoopi Goldberg, Leah Remini and Kevin Hart. Snoop Dogg, Nas, R Kelly, Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Atlas Genius, Janelle Monae, Mayer Hawthorne, Fifth Harmony, 2 Chainz, A$AP Ferg & A$AP Rocky, Flo Rida, Yo Gotti, Chance The Rapper, The Band Perry, and B.o.B. have appeared as musical guests.