Demi Lovato’s just released the official music video for “Neon Lights,” the third single off of her fourth studio album Demi. In the just-unveiled video, Demi gets into the ‘neon’ theme with glowing lipstick and eye shadow. Plus, there’s some eye candy in the background in the form of shirtless dancers.
Demi debuted at the #3 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 110,000 copies over its first week of release and to date has sold more than 280,000 copies since its May 2013 premiere. The first single, “Heart Attack,” made it to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart,; the follow-up single, “Made in the USA,” topped out at #80.
Ed Harris stars in 'Frontera'The dramatic thriller Frontera has been snatched up by Magnolia Pictures for US and Canadian distribution. Co-written and directed by Michael Berry, Frontera marks the first major American film to be involved in a distribution deal at the Baja International Film Festival.
The cast is led by Ed Harris and includes Eva Longoria, Michael Peña, Aden Young, and Amy Madigan, and Magnolia’s aiming for a 2014 theatrical release.
“Frontera is an exciting and relevant drama with a typically stellar performance from Ed Harris and great turns from the entire ensemble,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles.
The Plot:
In the vein of Traffic and Babel, Frontera is set in the dangerous area between the United States and Mexico. After crossing the border illegally for work, Miguel (Pena), a hard-working father and devoted husband, finds himself wrongfully accused of murdering a former sheriff’s (Harris) wife. After learning of his imprisonment, Miguel’s pregnant wife (Longoria) tries to come to his aid and lands in the hands of corrupt coyotes who hold her for ransom. Dissatisfied with the police department’s investigation, the former sheriff tries to uncover the truth about his wife’s death and discovers disturbing evidence that will destroy one family’s future, or tear another’s apart.
I trust Vampire Academy author Richelle Mead when she says the film gets the tone right, and that director Mark Waters and writer Daniel Waters captured what it is that fans of the bestselling book series love so much about Mead’s world of Moroi and Dhampirs. The new trailer is heavy on the comedy and light on the action and thrills, something that will hopefully be rectified with the release of trailers closer to the movie’s opening in theaters on February 14, 2013.
The Plot:
Based on author Richelle Mead’s worldwide bestselling series, Vampire Academy tells the legend of Rose Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) and Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry), two 17-year-old girls who attend a hidden boarding school for Moroi (mortal, peaceful Vampires) and Dhampirs (half-vampire/half-human guardians). Rose, a rebellious Guardian-in-training and her best friend, Lissa – a royal vampire Princess – have been on the run when they are captured and returned to St.Vladamirs Academy, the very place where they believe their lives may be in most jeopardy.
Thrust back into the perils of Moroi Society and high school, Lissa struggles to reclaim her status while Rose trains with her mentor and love-interest, Dimitri (Danila Kozlovsky), to guarantee her place as Lissa’s guardian. Rose will sacrifice everything to protect Lissa from those who intend to exploit her from within the Academy walls and the Strigoi (immortal, evil vampires) who hunt her kind from outside its sanctuary.
2013 wasn’t exactly a great year at the box office for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Returning to starring roles following years off to govern California, Schwarzenegger’s Escape Plan and The Last Stand didn’t exactly meet with favorable reviews or success at the box office. But what Sabotage has going for it that the 2013 films didn’t is David Ayer (End of Watch) as director. Schwarzenegger’s also surrounded by a decent supporting cast – Olivia Williams, Mireille Enos, Sam Worthington, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, and Max Martini – so 2014 might just be a better year for Schwarzenegger films. Then again, he’s also got The Expendables 3 coming in 2014…
The Sabotage Plot:
In Sabotage, Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world’s deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the team members mysteriously start to be eliminated. As the body count rises, everyone is a suspect.
'How to Train Your Dragon 2' Poster (Photo Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation)
What do you think of this new poster for DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2? The film is set five years after the events of the 2010 film and reunites the voice cast of the 3D animated comedy led by Jay Baruchel and including Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig.
The Plot:
The thrilling second chapter of the epic How to Train Your Dragon trilogy brings us back to the fantastical world of Hiccup and Toothless five years after the two have successfully united dragons and vikings on the island of Berk. While Astrid, Snoutlout and the rest of the gang are challenging each other to dragon races (the island’s new favorite contact sport), the now inseparable pair journey through the skies, charting unmapped territories and exploring new worlds.
When one of their adventures leads to the discovery of a secret ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace. Now, Hiccup and Toothless must unite to stand up for what they believe while recognizing that only together do they have the power to change the future of both men and dragons.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 will fly into theaters on June 13, 2014.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, right), Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, center) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, left) in THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. (Photo Credit: Murray Close / Lionsgate Films)
“You saved us…I know that, but I can’t go on acting for the cameras and then just ignoring each other in real life,” says Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) to Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) on the speed train during the Victory Tour of all the Districts of Panem after surviving the 74th Annual Hunger Games in the movie sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
President Snow (Donald Sutherland) recognizes that after having saved herself and Peeta in the Games Katniss has given inspiration and hope to some of the Districts, and he senses rebellion. Snow sees her as a threat and wants her to die as quickly as possible so he, along with the new Head Gamemaker (Philip Seymour Hoffman), does something never before done: For the 75th Hunger Games – the Quarter Quell – all the Tributes must be made up of survivors from all the years past. Since Katniss is the only female survivor from her District, this ensures she will have to once more fight to the death.
Terrified but determined, both Katniss and Peeta re-team with their old mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and their escort Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) to prepare for the competition. Haymitch warns the two young Tributes to forget everything they learned for the last Games because these Games will be very different in that this time around they’ll be going up against seasoned killers.
Compelling and exciting, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a superior sequel with strong performances and first-rate special effects. Most of the main cast is back, and it’s evident that everyone is more comfortable with their roles this time out. Elizabeth Banks is superb as Effie, the escort and fashion ‘Cher’ of this world. She plays the role to the very hilt with all the style and flare she conveyed in the first film, but there is something more this time…something deeper as she shows true guilt and real sadness for her two Tributes. Effie knows what’s happening to Katniss and Peeta is wrong and wishes these Games were not going to take place.
Josh Hutcherson delivers a stand-out performance returning as Peeta the baker boy who owes his life to Katniss and wishes she would take his love seriously. He’s always ready to sacrifice himself for her and seems to know a bit more than he’s sharing with Katniss about what’s going on behind the scenes with the Games. Hutcherson has made this role his own and has real chemistry with Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Lawrence is still the focus of the film as its heroine Katniss and still conveys fear and horror wonderfully. The scene where she believes Peeta to be dead after an incident during the Games is powerful, with her pleading and yelling at his motionless body, “Peeta, please wake up please!” conveying a deeper connection and emotion between the two young Tributes than she is aware of.
Woody Harrelson is back and still great as Haymitch, Peeta, and Katniss’ mentor who’s also somewhat out of his depth with these new Games and the concept of bringing back survivors from other years to do battle to the death with each other. He brings a much-needed comic relief to the dark subject matter as well as a touch of drama when he promises Katniss he’ll do what he can to save her and Peeta.
The production design of the film is a big improvement over the first, with the scenes in the Capitol and the new Games battle arena easily elevating the second Hunger Games over the first. The special effects are extremely impressive, with highlights being a scene showing Katniss and Peeta seeming to be on fire riding a chariot during the celebration of the event as well as a terrific segment featuring a creepy fog that covers most of the battle arena during part of the Games.
Strongly directed by Francis Lawrence, the action scenes are much better this time around, benefiting from not having the chaotic jumble of the camera that made it hard to follow the action in the first film. The only drawback is in the pacing of the first 50 minutes which is slow and takes too long to get started.
Overall, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a sequel that outshines and outdoes its predecessor in every way. Here’s hoping this is not the high point of the film series and the best installment of the franchise is still yet to come.
GRADE: B
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens in theaters on November 22, 2013 and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language.
Hugh Jackman will host TNT's 2013 edition of Christmas in Washington. (Photo: Ben Watts)
The multi-talented Hugh Jackman has been tapped to host TNT’s holiday celebration Christmas in Washington set to air on December 20, 2013 at 8pm ET/PT. The annual special will include musical performances by Sheryl Crow, Janelle Monáe, Backstreet Boys, Anna Kendrick, and Pat Monahan, as well as an appearance by NBA great Charles Barkley.
Christmas in Washington, produced by Michael Stevens and George Stevens, Jr, benefits the Children’s National Health System. Now in its 32nd year, the holiday concert is traditionally attended by the President and First Lady and has been aired on TNT since 1999.
Christmas in Washington will take place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.
Profiles of the Christmas in Washington Host and Performers [Courtesy of TNT]
Hugh Jackman is one of the most versatile actors working today. He has not only starred as Wolverine in 20th Century Fox’s popular X-Men franchise but also earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Jean Valjean in the big-screen adaptation of the epic musical Les Miserables. He most recently starred in the thriller Prisoners. Additionally, Jackman has starred in such films as Real Steel, Australia, The Fountain, The Prestige, Scoop, Deception, Someone Like You, Swordfish, Van Helsing and Kate and Leopold. In 2009, Jackman hosted the 81st Annual Academy Awards, having previously hosted the Tony Awards for three consecutive years (2003 – 2005), earning an Emmy for his 2004 duties.
A consummate stage performer, Jackman won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards for his portrayal of the 1970s singer-songwriter Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. His other notable stage credits include A Steady Rain, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Sunset Boulevard and Beauty and the Beast.
Backstreet Boys – which consists of A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson and Brian Littrell – is the best-selling boy band in history, with in excess of 130 million albums sold worldwide. They are also the only group since Sade to release seven consecutive albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard Top 200. Along the way, they have earned multiple Grammy nominations, launched record-breaking tours, scored hit songs like “Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)” and “I Want It That Way”; and, earlier this year, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In July, Backstreet Boys released their eighth studio album, In a World Like This in celebration of their 20th Anniversary. BSB are currently in the midst of a massive world-tour that will see the boys perform throughout 2014.
Sheryl Crow is a nine-time Grammy winner who has sold more than 50 million albums around the world. Her most recent album, Feels Like Home, captures the sound of a great and established artist enjoying a kind of fresh start. It features songs on which Crow collaborated with her longtime guitar player and frequent co-writer Jeff Trott (with whom she co-wrote such past Crow classics as “If It Makes You Happy,” “My Favorite Mistake” and “Every Day Is A Winding Road”), as well as such Nashville songwriters as Chris DuBois, Luke Laird, Natalie Hamby and Chris Stapleton, among others.
Anna Kendrick is known for her roles in such films as Pitch Perfect, The Company You Keep, End of Watch, The Twilight Saga, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, ParaNorman and 50/50. In 2010, Kendrick starred opposite George Clooney and Jason Bateman in the film Up in the Air, which earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Next year, Kendrick will be seen as Cinderella in the big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.
An accomplished theater veteran, Kendrick made her Broadway debut in the 1997 production of High Society for which she received a Tony Award nomination. Kendrick’s additional theater work includes A Little Night Music, My Favorite Broadway/The Leading Ladies: Live at Carnegie Hall and Broadway workshops of Jane Eyre and The Little Princess. Earlier this year, Kendrick’s hit song “Cups (When I’m Gone),” from the Pitch Perfect soundtrack, climbed into to the Top 10 on Billboard’s Adult Pop Song chart.
Janelle Monáe, a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer from Kansas City, Kansas, has an innovative style that melds a redefined pop sensibility with an extraordinary mash-up of soul, funk and rock ‘n’ roll. Monáe’s debut album The ArchAndroid, was released to widespread acclaim, earning her multiple Grammy nominations.
The Associated Press, the Guardian, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times all named the album The #1 Album of 2010. Monáe’s new album, The Electric Lady, debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 and #3 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums, earning Monáe her highest chart entry to date. Monáe was also a recipient of the 2011 ASCAP Vanguard Award and was included in the first-ever Women Who Rock exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A dynamic performer and artistic entrepreneur, Monáe has launched her own record label called the Wondaland Arts Society and performed worldwide with such artistic legends as Stevie Wonder and Prince. Monáe has been an active spokeswoman for both Covergirl cosmetics and Sonos.
Pat Monahan is the lead singer and songwriter for the multi-platinum band Train. The group made its mark on music history with the Grammy Award-winning song “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)” and chart-topping singles “Meet Virginia” and “Calling All Angels.” Train earned its third Grammy in 2011 for the worldwide smash “Hey, Soul Sister” from the album Save Me, San Francisco. “Hey, Soul Sister” hit #1 on the radio in the U.S. and in 15 countries abroad. It was the top-selling song of the year in the U.S., as well. Save Me, San Francisco has sold more than 1 million albums worldwide and more than 10 million tracks. Train’s latest album, California 37, contains the global hits “Drive By” and “50 Ways to Survive.”
Charles Barkley is widely considered one of the greatest NBA players of his generation. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Barkley is the 23rd all-time scorer in the NBA; ranks 19th in all-time rebounds per game and 18th in total career rebounds; and is one of only five players in NBA history with 23,000 points, 12,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. Barkley has followed up his Hall of Fame basketball career with an Emmy-winning television career as a popular and insightful NBA analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA. Barkley has also authored several books, including Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man? (2005), I May Be Wrong but I Doubt It (2002), Sir Charles (1995) and Outrageous! (1992).
MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski presided over the National Book Awards which were held at Cipriani Wall Street and honored authors in four different categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. In order to qualify for awards consideration, a book had to have been published in the US between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2012 and written by an American citizen. The winners each received $10,000 while finalists each picked up $1,000.
FICTION:
WINNER: James McBride, The Good Lord Bird (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group USA)
Finalists:
Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (Scribner/Simon & Schuster)
Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House)
Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge (The Penguin Press/Penguin Group USA)
George Saunders, Tenth of December (Random House)
Longlist:
– Tom Drury, Pacific (Grove Press)
– Elizabeth Graver, The End of the Point (Harper/HarperCollinsPublishers)
– Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Hogarth/Random House)
– Alice McDermott, Someone (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
– Joan Silber, Fools (W.W. Norton & Company)
NONFICTION:
WINNER: George Packer, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Finalists:
Jill Lepore, Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House)
Wendy Lower, Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Alan Taylor, The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832 (W.W. Norton & Company)
Lawrence Wright, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House)
Longlist:
– T.D. Allman, Finding Florida: The True Story of the Sunshine State (Atlantic Monthly Press)
– Gretel Ehrlich, Facing the Wave: A Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami (Pantheon Book/Random House)
– Scott C. Johnson, The Wolf and the Watchman: A Father, a Son, and the CIA (W.W. Norton & Company)
– James Oakes, Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865 (W.W. Norton & Company)
– Terry Teachout, Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington (Gotham Books)
POETRY:
WINNER: Mary Szybist, Incarnadine: Poems (Graywolf Press)
Finalists:
Frank Bidart, Metaphysical Dog (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Lucie Brock-Broido, Stay, Illusion (Alfred A. Knopf)
Adrian Matejka, The Big Smoke (Penguin Poets/Penguin Group USA) Matt Rasmussen, Black Aperture (Louisiana State University Press)
Longlist:
– Roger Bonair-Agard, Bury My Clothes (Haymarket Books)
– Andrei Codrescu, So Recently Rent a World, New and Selected Poems: 1968-2012 (Coffee House Press)
– Brenda Hillman, Seasonal Works with Letters on Fire (Wesleyan University Press)
– Diane Raptosh, American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press)
– Martha Ronk, Transfer of Qualities (Omnidawn Publishing)
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE:
WINNER: Cynthia Kadohata, The Thing About Luck (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
Finalists:
Kathi Appelt, The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
Tom McNeal, Far Far Away (Alfred A. Knopf/Random House)
Meg Rosoff, Picture Me Gone (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin Group USA)
Gene Luen Yang, Boxers & Saints (First Second/Macmillan)
Longlist:
– Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (Candlewick Press)
– Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots (Philomel, A division of Penguin Group USA)
– Alaya Dawn Johnson, The Summer Prince (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)
– David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House)
– Anne Ursu, The Real Boy (Walden Pond Press/an Imprint HarperCollins Publishers)
12 Years a Slave Director Steve McQueen (Photo Courtesy of the Palm Springs Film Festival)
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) has announced that 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen has earned their Director of the Year Award for his work on that dramatic film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. McQueen will be honored during the Awards Gala to be held on Saturday, January 4, 2014 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
“Director Steve McQueen captivates his audiences by challenging them with often unorthodox and unrelenting subject matter and technique,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “McQueen is a master of utilizing the senses to create the essence of his works. In his latest effort, 12 Years a Slave, audiences become integrally involved in the unbearably violent nightmare of a free black man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, eventually to return home to freedom. To Steve McQueen, a soaring talent who ranks among the greats with each directorial effort, the Palm Springs International Film Festival is proud to present him the 2014 Director of the Year Award.”
McQueen joins a list of 2014 festival winners that includes Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, and Bruce Dern.
Details on 12 Years a Slave: 12 Years a Slave is based on an incredible true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender) as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Pitt) forever alters his life.
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will take place January 3 through 13, 2014.
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) stopped by Conan and talked about a friend of his who has recently been all over the news. “My dear, dear, dear friend, Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto is running for re-election, and I hold him in the highest regard,” said Burgundy. “He is the best!”
Labeling him an “outstanding” and “honest” individual, Burgundy revealed that he’s been asked to sing the re-election campaign’s theme song, the very fitting “Working for the Weekend” by Canadian band Loverboy. During the song, Burgundy told the crack-smoking mayor not to do anything stupid, and Mayor Ford responded to the performance on Twitter.
“Good morning Toronto. I had to laugh at my friend Ron Burgundy and his take on my 2014 re-election campaign song” – Mayor Rob Ford (@TOMayorFord), November 21, 2013
Stumble It! 
2013 wasn’t exactly a great year at the box office for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Returning to starring roles following years off to govern California, Schwarzenegger’s Escape Plan and The Last Stand didn’t exactly meet with favorable reviews or success at the box office. But what Sabotage has going for it that the 2013 films didn’t is David Ayer (End of Watch) as director. Schwarzenegger’s also surrounded by a decent supporting cast – Olivia Williams, Mireille Enos, Sam Worthington, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, and Max Martini – so 2014 might just be a better year for Schwarzenegger films. Then again, he’s also got The Expendables 3 coming in 2014…
MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski presided over the National Book Awards which were held at Cipriani Wall Street and honored authors in four different categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. In order to qualify for awards consideration, a book had to have been published in the US between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2012 and written by an American citizen. The winners each received $10,000 while finalists each picked up $1,000.
