Thor as seen in 'Thor: Treasures of Asgard' at Disneyland (Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland Resort)
Disney’s counting on Marvel fans wanting even more of the hammer-wielding god as they’ve just opened up the “Thor: Treasures of Asgard” exhibit in Innoventions at Anaheim’s Disneyland park. Per the official announcement: “Here you can explore an epic collection of objects brought to Earth straight from Asgard, and then travel across the Bifrost to Asgard itself for an audience with the Mighty Avenger, Thor.”
Meanwhile in theaters, Thor: The Dark World opened domestically to $86 million. That’s over 30% above what the first Thor film starring Chris Hemsworth did over its opening weekend in theaters.
Was there ever any doubt that Downton Abbey would be picked up for a fifth season? No, there wasn’t, and now it’s been confirmed by ITV and Carnival Films who jointly announced the renewal of the series for another season. According to ITV, the fourth season (which doesn’t premiere in the U.S. until January 5, 2014) has been averaging 11.8 million viewers. Globally, the audience for the series is estimated to be 120 million people.
Julian Fellows will return as writer/executive producer and Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge will return as executive producers.
“Audiences have enjoyed their regular Sunday evening visits back to Downton once again this autumn and we are thrilled to produce a new series of the show next year,” said Neame. “We promise all the usual highs and lows, romance, drama and comedy played out by some of the most iconic characters on television. All the actors and makers of the show continue to be humbled by the extraordinary audience response and want to take the show from strength to strength next year.”
“We are enormously happy to have Downton Abbey on ITV and we are delighted to be announcing this new series. With Julian writing and Gareth and Liz producing we know it will be as warm, witty, romantic and dramatic as previous series and we can’t wait to catch up with our favourite characters again,” added ITV’s Director of Drama Commissioning Steve November.
Mel B, Gabriela Isler, and Thomas Roberts (Photo by: Patrick Prather/ Miss Universe Organization)
This year’s Miss Universe pageant was held at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia with Melanie Brown (aka Mel B) and MSNBC Live’s Thomas Roberts as hosts. The 62nd Annual Miss Universe Competition drew in 1 billion viewers worldwide to watch Miss Universe Venezuela Gabriela Isler earn the Miss Universe 2013 crown.
Isler, the seventh winner to emerge from Venezuela, is a 25-year-old college graduate with a marketing degree. She’s into baking and flamenco dancing and hails from the town of Maracay, Venezuela.
This year’s judges included Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Chef Nobu, skater Tara Lipinski, Carol Alt, Anne V, Farouk Shami, Italo Fontana, and Philip Kirkorov.
Additional winners:
– First Runner-Up: Miss Universe Spain, Patricia Yurena Rodriguez will assume the duties of Miss Universe 2013 if the titleholder for some reason cannot fulfill her responsibilities.
– Second Runner-Up: Miss Universe Ecuador, Constanza Baez.
– Rest of Top Five: Miss Universe Brazil, Jakelyne Oliveira and Miss Universe Philippines, Ariella Arida.
– Rest of Top Ten: Miss Universe Great Britain Amy Willerton, Miss Universe India Manasi Moghe, Miss Universe USA Erin Brady, Miss Universe Ukraine Olga Storozhenko, and Miss Universe Dominican Republic Yaritza Reyes.
– Miss Photogenic Universe(TM) Award: Miss Universe Poland, Paulina Krupinska. An expert panel chose the delegate they thought best exemplifies beauty through the lens of a camera. She was awarded a $1,000 cash prize and a gift from pageant sponsor Diamond Nexus.
– Miss Congeniality Universe(TM) Award: Miss Universe China, Jin Ye. This award reflects the respect and admiration of the delegate’s peers who voted for her as the most congenial, charismatic and inspirational participant. She was awarded a $1,000 cash prize and a gift from Diamond Nexus.
We’re just a couple of weeks away from the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor and BBC One’s just debuted this brand new short-but-sweet trailer featuring Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt. The anniversary special is set to air on November 23, 2013.
The Plot:
The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space, an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him.
Thousands of years ago when the universe was covered in darkness, a race known as Dark Elves led by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) fought to keep the universe in darkness by using a weapon called the Aether. Warriors from Asgard, led by Odin’s father, defeated them and hid the Aether where they believed it would never be found.
Jumping forward to present day, it’s the lovely Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) who discovers an anomaly similar to the one which brought Thor to Earth. She then gets sucked into a wormhole and becomes exposed to the Aether. Meanwhile, Thor becomes worried about Jane because she has disappeared from the sight of Asgard’s realm watcher Heimdall (Idris Elba) and decides to return to Earth to search for her. When Thor and Jane are reunited he realizes she has some sort of energy source inside of her, so he takes Jane up to Asgard to see if the ancients can help her. Upon examination, Thor and his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) realize the Aether is inside Jane which means the Dark Elves and their leader Malekith will be attacking Asgard to obtain their weapon and cover the entire universe in darkness. The only chance Thor has in stopping the Elves is to team up with his half-brother Loki and for them to work together to finish Malekith off once and for all.
Thor: The Dark World reunites an A-list cast with some impressive action but has an incredibly slow start. Chris Hemsworth returns once again as Asgard’s mighty champion and both looks and sounds the part, as does Sir Anthony Hopkins who’s back again as his father who is a little too anxious to turn over his throne to his son and take on retirement. Natalie Portman is back as Jane, Thor’s love interest on Earth, and delivers what just might be her worst performance since Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. But without a doubt the best role and performance in the film is by Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Thor’s half-brother who still yearns to rule Asgard and dethrone his surrogate father. The best scenes are with Hiddleston and Hemsworth arguing as two siblings yet still having an underlying brotherly feeling for each other. It’s their chemistry which prevents the film from becoming a boring and forgettable sequel.
The biggest problems with the movie are it takes way too long for this rather simple story to get started, with the annoying and useless scene of Jane on a date trying hopelessly to get over Thor as well as the overlong prologue opening about the Elves and Odin’s father’s battle over eternal darkness…yawn! The second major problem is waiting until the film is half over to finally free Loki from his dungeon and have him team up with Thor against Malekith and his Dark Elves. It’s the strong chemistry between Hiddleston and Hemsworth and the wonderful performance of Hiddleston as Loki (the now anti-hero of the story) which is the film’s most entertaining element.
The action and fight scenes are well choreographed and fun but not overly impressive, and the 3D is almost non-existent.
With a sluggish start but a memorable performance by Tom Hiddleston, Thor: The Dark World is an entertaining sequel but comes up far short of surpassing the original film.
GRADE: B-
Thor: The Dark World is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive content.
Aden Young in the Sundance Channel original series 'Rectify' (Photo Credit: Blake Tyers/Sundance Channel)I caught the first episode of Sundance Channel’s new series Rectify, enjoyed it, and then promptly forgot about adding it to my viewing schedule. Fortunately, I’ll be able to catch the remaining five episodes when the network airs a Rectify marathon on November 23, 2013. Kicking off at 2pm with episode one, Sundance Channel will air each of the hour-long shows one after the other, finishing up at 7pm with a screening of season one’s final episode.
Rectify was created and written by Ray McKinnon (The Accountant, That Evening Sun, Mud) and executive produced by Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein. Sundance will bring the series back for season two in 2014.
The Plot:
When Daniel Holden (Aden Young) is released after nearly 20 years of complete isolation on death row, he returns as an outsider to his family, to his community, and to the times. Somehow, he survived the mental and emotional strain of his imprisonment, but now the walls have suddenly come crumbling down and Daniel is set free in a world he no longer understands. He’s an outsider, lost in a once familiar world, struggling to navigate his new found freedom. Combined with two decades of technological and social changes to his small town and the larger world, everything he encounters is a puzzle.
Daniel’s unexpected presence not only throws his family into disarray, it ripples out to all the people connected to his case – the prosecutor who rode the notoriety to become a State Senator, the Sheriff who pushed the boundaries of the investigation, and the entire town of Paulie, GA, that blamed him for killing one of their own. Like a deadly spark, Daniel’s release reignites the mystery, the power plays, and the questionable justice that condemned him.
Also starring in Rectify alongside Aden Young as Daniel Holden are Abigail Spencer, who portrays Amantha Holden, Daniel Holden’s younger sister who believes completely in his innocence and has devoted her entire adult life to securing his release; J. Smith Cameron who plays Janet Talbot, Daniel’s loving mother, who has been living with the impending death of her son for nineteen years, and who long ago had made peace with the loss of her son, giving up on any hope for his release; Luke Kirby tackles the role of Jon Stern, Daniel’s lawyer who works for an organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted; Clayne Crawford portrays Ted Talbot, Jr., Daniel’s stepbrother whom he had never previously met; and Adelaide Clemens plays Tawney Talbot, Ted’s kind-hearted wife; Bruce McKinnon as Daniel’s step father Ted Sr.; Jake Austin Walker as Daniel’s half brother Jared; Michael O’Neill as Senator Roland Foulkes; and Hal Holbrook as Rutherford Gaines, Daniel’s former attorney.
Rectify Season One Marathon
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23RD
2:00PM ET/PT
Episode 101: Always There
After 19 years on Death Row, Daniel Holden is released due to new DNA evidence. He returns with his family to his childhood home, struggling to adjust to life on the outside. Meanwhile, the Senator who prosecuted him plots to reopen the case.
3:00PM ET/PT
Episode 102: Sexual Peeling
While Daniel explores town on his own, Amantha worries for his safety. Ted Jr. fears for the future of the family business and Senator Foulkes learns some valuable gossip from his secret lover. Unease and tension pervade Daniel’s welcome home party.
4:00PM ET/PT
Episode 103: Modern Times
Daniel retreats from the stress of recent events as his return opens old wounds. Tawney reaches out to him, unbeknownst to her husband. Jon confronts Daniel’s original defense lawyer and Amantha fears the town’s anger may erupt any moment.
5:00PM ET/PT
104: Plato’s Cave
Janet’s day in town with Daniel becomes a media spectacle. Back on the case, Sheriff Daggett questions Trey Willis about a missing witness. Daniel and Tawney connect in unexpected ways.
6:00PM ET/PT
105: Drip, Drip
Daniel loses his grip on reality as he wrestles with life after Death Row. Following a surreal night with a mysterious stranger, he finds himself at odds with Ted Jr. – who questions Daniel’s innocence.
7:00PM ET/PT
106: Jacob’s Ladder
As the town’s anger hits the boiling point, Daniel’s family goes on alert. Foulkes presses the D.A. for a retrial. Ted Jr. and Tawney recover from disturbing encounters. Trey Willis searches for the missing George Melton. Daniel must decide his future.
The Plot: “Bordertown will take a satirical look at the cultural shifts occurring throughout America. Set in a fictitious desert town near the Mexico border, the series centers on the intertwining daily lives of two neighbors: BUD BUCKWALD and ERNESTO GONZALES. Married and a father of three, Bud is a Border Patrol agent who feels threatened by the cultural changes that have transformed his neighborhood. Living next door to Bud is Ernesto, an industrious Mexican immigrant and father of four, who is proud to be making it in America. As Bud and Ernesto’s paths begin to cross, their families become bound by friendship, romance and conflict.”
Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is set to hit the Broadway stage in 2014 as a workshop production. The Grammy Award winner’s Jagged Little Pill musical will feature the entire track list from the album along with additional songs off of her other albums. Morissette’s also writing new songs to be included in the musical.
“I look forward to taking the heart of Jagged Little Pill and expanding its story, fleshing it out into ever deeper layers of emotionality, specificity, humanity, power, physicality, spirit and fabulism,” said Morissette. “I look forward to collaborating with Vivek [Tiwary] and Tom [Kitt] and our whole inspiring team to create something greater than the sum of our parts.”
Kitt will be handling the arrangements and providing orchestration with Tiwary producing the show. Tiwary also produced Green Day’s American Idiot.
“Jagged Little Pill was a triumph of self-expression – an album that was impossible to ignore with its massive sound and raw honesty. I’m proud to be working with Alanis to bring that same emotional power and bravery onto a Broadway stage,” said producer Tiwary. “We need more Broadway musicals with a serious, relatable emotional core and strong female voices. So we’re looking forward to honoring the Jagged Little Pill legacy while still surprising fans with some unexpected twists.”
“Alanis’ songs have always uniquely combined narrative clarity with dramatic power – bringing them to the Broadway stage feels like bringing them home,” added David.
Jagged Little Pill sold more than 33 million copies and remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S. The album premiered at the #1 spot on the Billboard charts and remained there for 12 weeks.
Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and survival, Lone Survivor tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and resilience as they stay in the fight to the finish.
Mark Wahlberg stars as Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir Lone Survivor, whose book has become a motivational resource for its lessons on how the power of the human spirit is tested when we are pushed beyond our mental and physical limits.
For those still into Glee, the fourth episode of season five (aired on November 7, 2013) found the cast and guest artists (some in loincloths, some dressed in everyday attire) performing Katy Perry’s “Roar.” Guest stars Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato joined series regulars Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, Darren Criss, Chord Overstreet, Jacob Artist, Lea Michele, and Chris Colfer in the episode titled “A Katy or a Gaga.”
The Plot: “The members of New Directions tackle their assignment of getting out of their comfort zones and determining whether they’re more like “Katy” (Perry) or (Lady) “Gaga.” Kurt holds auditions for his new band and must decide if he’ll let in the overly bold performer, Starchild (guest star Adam Lambert). Meanwhile, Jake gets closer to Bree (Erinn Westbrook) as he and Marley grow apart.”
Stumble It! 
Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album 
