Every other Paranormal Activity film has had an October release date, however the new installment of the horror franchise – Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones – is arriving during the winter holiday season, coming to theaters on January 3, 2014. Of course, The Marked Ones is more like a spin-off and the actual Paranormal Activity 5 will be heading to theaters on October 24, 2014.
Confused? Let’s recap. Two Paranormal Activities films are being released in 2014 but the first one – The Marked Ones – breaks away from the Paranormal Activity concept of setting up cameras in a family’s home to catch otherworldly activities.
Paramount Pictures opened Labor Day in limited release in Los Angeles and will be expanding it nationwide on January 31, 2014, and they’ve just unveiled a new trailer for the dramatic film starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Given the talent in front of and behind the camera (it was adapted for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman), you’d think Labor Day would be generating a little more interest. Reitman’s normally busy on the awards circuit with his feature films (Thank You For Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air), although his most recent release prior to Labor Day (Young Adult) was also only moderately embraced. Currently, Labor Day‘s sitting at 65% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics either labeling it a Lifetime Movie of the Week or a captivating, romantic change of pace for Reitman.
The Plot:
Labor Day centers on 13-year-old Henry Wheeler, who struggles to be the man of his house and care for his reclusive mother Adele while confronting all the pangs of adolescence. On a back-to-school shopping trip, Henry and his mother encounter Frank Chambers, a man both intimidating and clearly in need of help, who convinces them to take him into their home and later is revealed to be an escaped convict. The events of this long Labor Day weekend will shape them for the rest of their lives.
Tim Tebow (Photo Courtesy of ESPN)SEC Network has tapped Heisman winner Tim Tebow to be a college football analyst for the college football show SEC Nation debuting in August 2014. But prior to his SEC Network duties, Tebow will get some experience handling analyst duties during ESPN’s VIZIO BCS National Championship game on January 6, 2014 in Pasadena.
According to ESPN, Tebow’s new job at SEC Network will be as an analyst on SEC Nation, a “traveling pregame show that will originate from a different SEC campus each week beginning August 28, 2014.” Tebow’s the first college football analyst hired for the SEC Network and he’ll also be contributing to other ESPN programs including SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and the Heisman Trophy coverage.
“Tim is a SEC icon with a national fan base and broad appeal. He will be a significant contributor to the compelling content we will deliver with the SEC Network,” said Justin Connolly, ESPN senior vice president, programming, college networks. “Tim brings a wealth of knowledge about the game, the conference and the passion among SEC fans.”
“I am so excited that ESPN has given me this incredible opportunity,” stated Tebow. “When I was six years old I fell in love with the game of football, and while I continue to pursue my dream of playing quarterback in the NFL, this is an amazing opportunity to be part of the unparalleled passion of college football and the SEC.”
“SEC Nation will be a tent pole program for the network and as a recent SEC star, Tim Tebow was the ideal candidate to deliver first-hand insight into the coaches, players and programs,” said Stephanie Druley, vice president production, college networks.
The $15 special ticket allows moviegoers to take in unlimited Anchorman 2 showings of the movie during its run at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas located in Austin, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Houston, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; Winchester, VA; Kansas City, Missouri; Denver, Colorado; Ashburn, VA; Yonkers, New York and New Braunfels, Texas.
With the 70’s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which opened in theaters everywhere December 18. Also back for more are Ron’s co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) – All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy…while taking New York and the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.
'House of Lies Live!' (Photo Credit: Patrick Wymore / SHOWTIME)
Fans of Showtime’s critically acclaimed series House of Lies will get the opportunity to see how cast members handle improv with a new special House of Lies Live! airing on December 31, 2013 at 10pm ET/PT. The special will premiere a day earlier online on Sho.com, the network’s YouTube Channel, and the official House of Lies Facebook page.
Cast members Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz, and Josh Lawson went unscripted in front of a live audience, attempting long-form improv alongside season three guest stars Lauren Lapkus, Ryan Gaul, and Eugene Cordero. The special was taped at LA’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and marks the first time Showtime will debut an original production online prior to airing it on television.
House of Lies returns for season three on January 12, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT.
The Plot:
House of Lies is the edgy, provocative hit Showtime comedy series starring Don Cheadle in his twice Emmy®-nominated and Golden Globe®-winning role as elite consultant Marty Kaan, a man with a single-minded pursuit: power. This quest is eternally complicated at work by his relationships with his “Pod” of co-workers: sexy, whip-smart co-conspirator Jeannie (Kristen Bell) and underlings Clyde (Ben Schwartz) and Doug (Josh Lawson).
At home, he’s forced to juggle unwanted advice from his psychoanalyst father Jeremiah (Emmy winner Glynn Turman), drama from his demented ex-wife Monica (Dawn Olivieri), all while being a loving father to his gender-fluid teenage son Roscoe (Donis Leonard Jr.).
We start season 3 as the wreckage from Marty’s decision to launch his own firm has spilled onto the Pod – the almighty quartet is disbanded. But while Marty is preoccupied with hustling up new clients, his former mentee Jeannie is channeling her inner Kaan and making big moves in his absence. With everything now turned upside-down, it’s anyone’s game and anyone’s guess as to who will come out on top – at work and at play.
Season three guest stars include Grammy® Award winner T.I., Mekhi Phifer, Eliza Coupe, and Daniel Stern. Previous guest stars Griffin Dunne, Bess Armstrong, and Jenny Slate will also return this season.
'The Voice' coach Blake Shelton (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)Carson Daly will be ringing in 2014 along with Mariah Carey and Blake Shelton on NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly. The holiday celebration will feature performances by Mariah Carey as well as The Voice coach Blake Shelton. In addition, Glee‘s Jane Lynch has been named as co-host of the special with Natasha Leggero and Anthony Anderson showing up as special guests.
NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly will air live from New York’s Times Square on December 31, 2013 from 10-11pm ET/PT and 11:30pm-12:30am.
This year’s New Year’s Eve celebration marks Carson Daly’s nine hosting gig.
Mariah Carey is Billboard’s biggest selling female artist in history and has scored 18 #1 singles. Among her awards are five Grammys, 21 American Music Awards, Billboard’s “Artist of the Decade” Award, the World Music Award for “World’s Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium,” and BMI’s “Icon Award” for her outstanding achievements in songwriting.
Shelton didn’t win this season of The Voice (that honor went to Adam Levine), however there’s no reason to feel sorry for the popular Country artist. He just picked up the CMA Awards’ Album of the Year honor for Based on a True Story… and is once again the Male Vocalist of the Year. Shelton’s earned the #1 spot with 15 singles and has one of the longest runs of 2013 in the top spot on the Country singles chart.
Kym Whitley (Photo Courtesy of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network)
Kym Whitley’s back with her docuseries Raising Whitley, returning with all new episodes on January 4, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT. The OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network show features the actress/comedienne as she tries to balance motherhood and her career. The series’ debut episode drew in 1.2 million viewers and was OWN’s fifth biggest series premiere.
The Plot [Courtesy of OWN]: Kym’s accomplished career never prepared her for the phone call of a lifetime. While mentoring a troubled young girl, Kym received a call from the hospital saying, “Your baby is ready.” After learning that the girl left the maternity ward, leaving her four-day-old baby and only Kym’s contact information, Kym was faced with making a life-changing decision – to become a mother.
During the first season of Raising Whitley, viewers watched as Kym experienced the first steps of motherhood and understanding her unconditional love for her heaven-sent gift, Joshua. From experiencing his first haircut to finding a nanny, Kym had her hands full for the first cycle of her docu-series. In addition, cameras followed Kym and her riotous collective of friends – whom she calls “The Village” – who banded together to do something none of them have ever done before: raise Joshua…together.
In all-new episodes, Kym adjusts to life with a new tenant taking up all the “Man-space” in her house, Joshua’s adoptive dad Rodney. Joshua, now two and a half, is no longer a baby, and Kym faces new challenges and milestones like potty training and Joshua’s first swimming lessons as she balances her busy acting career.
Viewers will get an inside look into Kym’s quest to raise awareness of childhood allergies. Not knowing Joshua’s full medical history, a nanny mistakenly fed Joshua peanut butter. As Joshua could not communicate his allergies at such a young age, the incident inspired Kym to create the “Don’t Feed Me” allergy awareness t-shirts and care packs, where parents can write the child’s name and fill in their food allergies; making it easier for childcare providers to identify.
U2 (Photo Credit: Damon Winter)The 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will honor U2 – Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr – with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award during the Awards Gala on January 4, 2014. “We normally present the Sonny Bono Visionary Award to a director, but for our 25th anniversary we wanted to take the occasion to celebrate U2, a visionary group and the world’s premier rock band, for their unparalleled humanitarian work against extreme poverty, disease, and social injustice,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “Their latest song ‘Ordinary Love’ from the film Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom is an ode to Nelson Mandela, who had such a powerful impact on our world, and a man whom the band worked with in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2014 Sonny Bono Visionary Award to U2.”
U2 also earned a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Original Song category and a Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Best Song nomination for “Ordinary Love.”
Previously announced 2014 award winners include Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Steve McQueen, Thomas Newman, Lupita Nyong’o, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep and the cast of American Hustle. The Palm Springs International Film Festival will run January 3 through January 13.
The Plot of Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom:
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom chronicles the inspirational life of Nelson Mandela as an international icon and one of the world’s most revered leaders. The Weinstein Company film is directed by Justin Chadwick and adapted by Academy Award® nominated screenwriter William Nicholson, the film spans Mandela’s exceptional life journey from his early years as a herd boy in South Africa’s rural Cape region, to his days as a lawyer and Apartheid resistance leader, and on to his twenty-seven years spent in Robben Island prison before becoming the nation’s first democratically elected President. Acclaimed actor Idris Elba stars, with Naomie Harris playing the role of his wife Winnie Mandela, with whom he shared a passionate and troubled love affair that endured over decades. A stellar South African supporting cast is headlined by Tony Kgoroge, Riaad Moosa, Fana Mokoena, Jamie Bartlett, Deon Lotz, Simo Mogwaza, Terry Pheto, Thapelo Mokoena, and Praise Singer and Poet of the Nation, Zolani Mkiva.
Starz is setting sail for high-sea adventures with the new series Black Sails launching on January 25, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT, and in support of the show’s upcoming premiere they’ve released a new behind-the-scenes featurette.
The Plot:
The eight-episode first season of Black Sails centers on the tales of Captain Flint and his men. Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) stars as Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, who takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.
Singer Carly Rae Jepsen will be heading to Broadway in February, taking over the lead role in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Jepsen will be slipping her feet into the glass slippers beginning on February 4, 2014 when she takes over the role of Cinderella from Tony nominee Laura Osnes.
Jepsen, best known for the addictive pop song “Call Me Maybe,” has a musical theatre background and shared the exciting news of her upcoming Broadway run with her Twitter followers:
I am going to be playing Cinderella on Broadway starting Feb. 4th!
Stumble It! 
