The cast of Fox’s drama Touch has expanded by two. The network says Lukas Haas and Saxon Sharbino have signed up as series regulars alongside returning cast members Kiefer Sutherland and David Mazouz. Fox also announced Greg Ellis (24) will have a recurring role in the second season of Touch.
Touch‘s season two will debut on Friday, October 26, 2012 at 8pm ET/PT.
The Plot:
In Season Two, the story setting shifts from New York to Los Angeles, where single father MARTIN BOHM (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gifted son JAKE (David Mazouz) are on the run from the mysterious and possibly sinister research facility Aster Corps, which had shown tremendous interest in exploiting Jake’s ability to perceive the hidden patterns that connect people around the world. After arriving on the West Coast, the father-son team met distraught mother LUCY ROBBINS (Maria Bello) and now are determined to help find her missing – and equally gifted – daughter AMELIA (Sharbino).
During their search, their paths will cross with Aster Corps genius CALVIN NORBURG (Haas), as well as TREVOR WILCOX (Ellis), a journalist and old friend of Martin’s.
Jessica Biel’s currently on screen rebelling against authority alongside Colin Farrell in the 2012 version of Total Recall, and next up we’ll be seeing her in a starring role in the horror film, The Tall Man. Directed by Pascal Laugier, The Tall Man also features Jodelle Ferland and Stephen McHattie and is set for an August 31, 2012 release.
The Plot:
In an isolated, slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace – abducted, the townsfolk whisper, by a mysterious entity known locally as ‘The Tall Man.’ Town nurse Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) seems skeptical…until her young David disappears in the middle of night. Frantic to rescue the boy, Julia lives every parent’s darkest nightmare in this twisting, shock-around-each-corner thriller from acclaimed director Pascal Laugier called The Tall Man.
Grammy winner Alanis Morissette is the latest musician to be honored with a place on Guitar Center’s RockWalk portion of the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame. Morissette will be officially inducted into the RockWalk at a ceremony to be held on August 21, 2012 at Guitar Center’s Hollywood location.
Announcing the honor, Chairman of Guitar Center’s RockWalk Dave Weiderman said, “Alanis Morissette is the perfect example of the type of artist we intend to honor with Guitar Center’s RockWalk. She has made such a lasting impression on the hearts of her fans and on the stylings of fellow musicians that it is high time we recognize her place in music history. Guitar Center is always striving to support and inspire musicians so we are honored to be recognizing such an influential artist.”
In order to qualify for inclusion in Guitar Center’s RockWalk, artists must have “made a significant impact and lasting contribution to the growth and evolution of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Blues and R&B.” Only past honorees are allowed to help select who will join them on the RockWalk.
Among those already included on Guitar Center’s RockWalk are Eric Clapton, George Martin, Jimmy Page, Iron Maiden, Carlos Santana, Johnny Cash, Van Halen, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Run-D.M.C., and Queen.
“I’m honored to be joining the ranks of such an esteemed group of artists,” stated Alanis Morissette. “Guitar Center’s RockWalk is home to some of my own personal musical idols, and to be in that kind of company is truly humbling. I hope I can provide the same type of inspiration to aspiring musicians today.”
TJ Holmes hosts 'Don't Sleep' - Photo Courtesy of BET Networks
T.J. Holmes is hosting BET Networks’ Don’t Sleep, an original series that will deliver “smart, biting social commentary on significant issues important to African-Americans,” according to the network. BET will debut the half-hour show on October 1, 2012 at 11:00pm ET/PT.
The show promises to dissect and discuss current headlines as well as lesser publicized stories that mainstream media may not be covering.
Holmes was an anchor for the weekend edition of CNN and covered the first Presidential debate between then-Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, the terrorist attacks on September 11th, and the shootings at the Virginia Tech campus. The award-winning journalist will work with executive producers Madeleine Smithberg and Sarah North of Mad Cow Productions on Don’t Sleep, with Mad Cow produced the series for the network.
Smithberg’s credits include being the co-creator and former showrunner of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Stephen Barker Liles and Eric Gunderson of Love and Theft. Photo credit: Jeff Lipsky
Love and Theft has made its big debut — for the second time.
The band’s self-titled album, released July 24, is a showcase of its evolution in recent years. Members Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles approached their latest effort very differently from their first album, with a new team of players boosting their careers.
The band has experienced a reincarnation of sorts since its first album, World Wide Open, was released in 2009 by Lyric Street’s Carolwood Records. Member Brian Bandas exited the group and Lyric Street shuttered, but Liles and Gunderson rallied.
The duo signed to Sony’s RCA Records Nashville and entered agreements with Vector Management and EMI Music Publishing. They teamed with producer Josh Leo and recorded songs by writers other than themselves for the first time. And today, Love and Theft is ready to be reintroduced to Country Music fans.
Just like any other rising artist, the band recently took to the road to share its new music. They gladly spent 12 weeks visiting radio stations to promote the lead single, “Angel Eyes” (written by Jeff Coplan, Gunderson, and Eric Paslay). But unlike most new acts, Love and Theft is already familiar with this routine.
“We’ve been on radio tour for six years,” Liles said, with a laugh. He and Gunderson were casual and unpretentious on this morning at the Sony Music Nashville offices, swapping stories as easily as they trade lead vocals. Liles is extra cozy, taking meetings in a pair of fuzzy house slippers. They get along well and seem to have a blast everywhere they go. Both laughed hysterically while watching a cell phone video of one of their favorite recent adventures — a trip to the Caribbean, where they discovered a herd of beer-drinking hogs.
They’ve grown close since being introduced several years ago by a mutual friend who is also an up-and-coming artist, Mercury Nashville’s Canaan Smith. Liles and Smith met while competing in the Colgate Country Showdown in their home state, Florida. They ended up in Nashville, where Smith eventually introduced Liles and Gunderson. The future members of Love and Theft bonded over their similar backgrounds.
“We have a lot of things in common,” Liles explained. “We were born the same year, 1984. Our mothers were born on the same day and year within 200 miles of each other. We both went to private schools and are both preachers’ kids. We grew up singing harmonies in church.”
With the cell phone videos put away, Gunderson and Liles grew more serious when discussing their new music. Platinum plaques line the Sony walls, and the duo was in awe while checking out those commemorating Josh Leo’s work. His hit track record includes 21 No. 1 albums, with clients including Alabama, Emerson Drive, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Restless Heart.
“Working with him, we got to make a record like we always wanted to make,” Liles said. “A classic producer like that, he does it the old-school way, playing live with the band in the studio and not adding a bunch of tracks later on.”
Gunderson and Liles joked that they met Leo through Match.com, but it was actually Jim Catino, VP, A&R, Sony Music Nashville, who paired them with the producer. “I suggested Josh because he has a good track record with groups,” Catino said. “So I thought he’d be a great match. Josh and I had been on the lookout for a project to work on together. We’ve been friends for a long time and I’m a big fan of his work. I introduced Josh and the band, and they hit it off creatively and personally. It ended up being a perfect match.”
Leo and Catino helped guide the band through the recording process, following a very different blueprint than that of its debut release. On World Wide Open, Love and Theft was a trio that wrote or co-wrote every song. The group turned the finished project into Lyric Street, which then released it. Its debut single, “Runaway” (Liles, Canaan Smith, and Rob Blackledge) went on to become a Top 10 hit as well topping the Billboard Heatseekers chart.
A longtime fan of Love and Theft, Catino enjoyed following the band’s success with Lyric Street. “I’ve been aware of them for several years,” he noted. “We tried to sign them the first go-round. I’ve always loved their music and dug the guys from the first time I met them. When we finally had the opportunity to work together, Gary Overton (Chairman/CEO, Sony Music Nashville) and I looked at the roster. We didn’t have a duo, so we had room for Love and Theft. The timing was good for us as a company, plus I had a good gut feeling.”
Equipped with more music business experience, stronger songwriting skills, and a new label and producer, Gunderson and Liles recognized the importance of cutting the best available songs for the new album. “For the first time in our career, we did song pitch meetings,” Liles said. “It was really fun because we got to hear hundreds of songs from all across Music Row. There are so many good songs out there, and I can’t believe we got to record some of them.”
“For whatever reason, we didn’t even give other people’s songs a shot back when we made our first album,” Gunderson added. “We knew the caliber of songs that were out there, but we just didn’t know how to get our hands on them. We’ve made so many friends over the years here that are incredible writers, so to embrace that this time around was really amazing.”
“It was a little perplexing that they’d never recorded outside songs,” Catino said. “They are great writers, but when we started working together, they were very excited to hear what the town had to offer. They just wanted to cut great songs, which is always a smart move on an artist’s part, as long as they creatively fit what their brand is and what they are trying to accomplish with their music. We found some great things for the project that fit their sound and the direction we were going for. They also wrote about half the record, so it all married up great.”
In fact, Gunderson and Liles are focused on songwriting like never before. They say they are devoting more time to it and taking greater pride in the craft. The results speak for themselves: Between the two of them, they have scored cuts by Bucky Covington (“Baby Run,” written by Gunderson, Liles, Bandas and John Kennedy), Martina McBride’s “Wrong Baby Wrong” and Sawyer Brown’s “Ain’t Goin’ Out That Way” (both by Liles, Robert Ellis Orrall, Brad Warren and Brett Warren) and Canaan Smith’s “We Got Us” (Liles, Smith and Tommy Lee James).
In addition to the focus on quality songs, Love and Theft wanted to create a new sound for themselves. “We are older and more mature now,” Gunderson pointed out. “We wanted to get away from that slick, polished sound of the first record. I wouldn’t say our sound was ever really what was portrayed on our first record. People would come to our live show or see us when we were on tour with Tim McGraw, and they’d say we were way better live than on our record.”
“We had a lot of creative talks shortly after signing them, talking about what direction we wanted to take this album,” Catino added. “They wanted to go back to the sound they had early in their career, when they were playing clubs. They wanted to go back to an organic feel, which was more about their vocals and harmonies.”
The production on “Amen” (Derek George, Neil Thrasher and Bryan White) embodies the sound Love and Theft wanted to capture. Actually, it set the tone for the entire album. “It was one of the songs we cut early on,” Catino said. “The rest of the project filled in around that track. There are some really fun songs on the record, but there are some pretty deep lyrics too. We covered all the bases.”
One of the serious tracks, “Town Drunk” (Natalie Hemby and Daniel Tashian), is a standout. The story of an alcoholic father and his neglected daughter is one of the outside songs that caught the band’s attention and helped add dimension to the album.
“When we were looking for a song to round out the record, something with a cool, almost artistic feel, that’s when we found ‘Town Drunk,’” Catino recalled. “When the album was finished, it turned out to be everyone at the label’s favorite song.”
“I expected it to be a drinking song,” said Liles, remembering the pitch meeting. “But halfway through the demo, I started crying. I’ve never had a relationship with my mom’s dad because he was an alcoholic. At the end of the song, when the little girl is grown up and happily married and has a baby, it’s like that baby is me.”
This summer, the band is meeting plenty of new fans and reconnecting with old ones on Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality tour, which continues into the fall. Throughout their journey, Love and Theft are savoring the opportunity to reclaim their position in the Country Music spotlight.
“We feel very confident and passionate about the team of people we have around us,” Gunderson reflected. “It’s a well-oiled machine. Everybody knows their job and does it really well. It allows us to focus on what’s important: performance, songwriting — the music.”
Anna Lise Phillips as Maggie, Graham Rogers as Danny, Tim Guiee as Ben, David Lyons as Bass Monroe, Billy Burke as Miles, Tracy Spiridakos as Charlie, Andrea Roth as Rachel, Maria Howell as Grace, JD Pardo as Nate, Zak Orth as Aaron, Giancarlo Esposito as Lt. Neville -- (Photo by: Nino Munoz/NBC)
Well, it’s not the six minute preview of Revolution NBC promised to tease viewers with during the Olympics, but at least this new clip from the upcoming sci-fi action series does show a bit more of the backstory of how Earth loses its power. Created by J.J. Abrams (Lost) and Eric Kripke (Supernatural), Revolution stars Billy Burke (Bella’s dad in the Twilight franchise), Anna Lise Phillips, Graham Rogers, Tim Guiee, David Lyons, Tracy Spiridakos, Andrea Roth, Maria Howell, JD Pardo, Zak Orth, and Giancarlo Esposito.
The Plot:
What would you do without it all? In this epic adventure, a family struggles to reunite in an American landscape where every single piece of technology — computers, planes, cars, phones, even lights — has mysteriously blacked out forever. A drama with sweeping scope and intimate focus, Revolution is also about family — both the family you’re born into and the family you choose. This is a swashbuckling journey of hope and rebirth seen through the eyes of one strong-willed young woman, Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos), and her brother Danny (Graham Rogers).
When Danny is kidnapped by militia leaders for a darker purpose, Charlie must reconnect with her estranged uncle Miles (Billy Burke), a former U.S. Marine living a reclusive life. Together, with a rogue band of survivors, they set out to rescue Danny, overthrow the militia, and ultimately re-establish the United States of America. All the while, they explore the enduring mystery of why the power failed, and if — or how — it will ever return.
I know it’s way too early to be thinking about the year-end holidays, however Warner Bros Records would like us to at least consider something new to listen to during the hectic holiday season. The Voice judge/reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Blake Shelton will release his first Christmas album, Cheers It’s Christmas, on October 2, 2012.
Among the artists contributing to the album are Michael Buble and Reba, who duet with Shelton on tracks. Buble’s “Home,” which Shelton also made into a #1 hit, will be performed by both singers on Cheers It’s Christmas. And the album marks the first time friends Shelton and Reba have performed on a record together.
Shelton also shares a special duet with his mother, Dorothy Shackleford. The two team up for “Time For Me To Come Home,” co-written by Shelton and capturing the “longing for a son on the road to finally come back home for Christmas time.”
The songs on Cheers It’s Christmas are Christmas classics that have touched Blake over the years.
As for the album’s title, it appears we have Shelton’s award-winning wife Miranda Lambert to thank. Lambert tweeted on August 6th:
@blakeshelton: “Cheers, It’s Christmas!”. Such a clever title. Someone really awesome must have thought of that name:)!”
Sam Riley (left), Kristen Stewart (center), and Garrett Hedlund (right) in ON THE ROAD, directed by Walter Salles. Photo Credit: Gregory Smith. An IFC Films / Sundance Selects Release Was the release of the international trailer for On the Road always planned for early August, or did Kristen Stewart’s recent cheating scandal compel IFC and Sundance Selects to put out a new trailer while Stewart’s in all the newspapers, TV gossip shows, and just about every entertainment website? Whatever the reason, IFC and Sundance Selects have released this new trailer, however they still haven’t confirmed a theatrical release date for the drama based on Jack Kerouac’s novel.
In addition to Stewart, On the Road features Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, and Viggo Mortensen.
The Plot:
After the death of his father, Sal Paradise, an aspiring New York writer, meets Dean Moriarty, a wild and infectiously charismatic ex-con. They hit it off immediately. Determined to avoid the pitfalls of a narrow, prescribed life, Sal hits the road, joining Dean on what evolves into a life-changing physical and emotional odyssey. Thirsting for freedom, they discover the world, the ecstasy of experience, the connectedness of humanity and ultimately themselves.
Anchor Bay’s releasing the comedy/thriller Breathless on Blu-ray and DVD on August 14, 2012, and fortunately for our readers we’ve been given a few copies of the Blu-ray to give away. And also fortunately for your readers, entering the Breathless Blu-ray Contest is as easy as sending an email. Here’s the scoop:
– All you have to do is send an email to [email protected] with “Breathless Contest” in the subject line.
– You must be 18 years or older to enter and reside in the continental United States. Only one entry per email address will be accepted. The contest ends on August 14th, 2012 at 9pm PST with the winners notified on August 15th.
Breathless stars Gina Gershon, Kelli Giddish, Val Kilmer, and Ray Liotta, and was directed by Jesse Baget.
The Plot:
Lorna (Gina Gershon) is a strong-willed Texas woman who’s had enough of her untrustworthy husband Dale’s (Val Kilmer) criminal acts and lack of husbandry. Fed up, she enlists the help of her old friend, Tiny (Kelli Giddish), to help her figure out what to do with Dale after his latest double-cross involving the theft of $100,000 from a bank.
As the girls brainstorm for a “neat” solution, they medicate themselves with only the best of prescriptions – Tennessee whiskey – which leads them to even bigger problems. When Sheriff Cooley (Ray Liotta) inconveniently enters the conundrum, the story evolves into a tale of revenge and survival that resolves in true Texas fashion: bold and ruthless.
Portman and French dancer/choreographer Millepied met while working on the Oscar-winning Black Swan in 2009, a film in which Portman starred as a ballet dancer forced to tap into her dark side in order to play the lead in Swan Lake. Millepied choreographed the Darren Aronofsky film and started dating Portman during production. By the time Portman made her way through the awards circuit in 2010, she was pregnant with their first child.
Portman is named after a French song by Gilbert Bécaud, and marrying into a French family is a dream fulfilled. “I now have the possibility of taking on French nationality. It would accomplish the Francophile dreams of my father and myself,” Portman said in an interview with Madame Figaro magazine via People. “Everything in my life has drawn me towards a French family.”
I know it’s way too early to be thinking about the year-end holidays, however Warner Bros Records would like us to at least consider something new to listen to during the hectic holiday season. The Voice judge/reigning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Blake Shelton will release his first Christmas album, Cheers It’s Christmas, on October 2, 2012.
