"In these moments, you can normally find an Italian who isn't too picky."

Apologies for the lack of posting this month. With the big move approaching, I have had a lot going on and not much time to get to the movies or do much writing. Unfortunately, this will probably not improve much for a few weeks. However, thanks to Netflix, I was able to watch the show Downton Abbey and am now officially a fan.

I had not heard much about the show while it was airing on PBS last year. My mother may have mentioned it, but she watches a lot of random British shows and movies on PBS and BBC all the time and I tend not to pay attention to a lot of them. It was not until the last few months when award nominations came out that I started reading about how good this show is and figured I should give it a chance.

The first season centers around the Crawley family, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and their servants and takes place before the start of World War I. In the first episode, the Titanic has sunk and it turns out that the fiancee of the eldest daughter was onboard. He was also the heir to the title of Earl of Grantham and the family must now figure out how to keep their family from having to move out of Downton Abbey.

"I feel like I'm flyin' my grandfather's Buick!"

The new movies in theaters this weekend are: Underworld: Awakening, Haywire and Red Tails.

Red Tails is about a group of African American pilots during World War II who were part of an experimental program in Tuskegee. The program is about to be shut down when the Pentagon realizes they need these men in order to win the war. This movie stars Terence Howard, Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Leslie Odom Jr, Method Man, Daniela Ruah, Josh Dallas, Ne-Yo, Michael B. Jordan, Bryan Cranston, Jaime King and Cuba Gooding Jr.

"With all do respect, sir, I have done battle every single day of my life and many men have underestimated me before."

The big movies in theaters this weekend are: Contraband, Joyful Noise,  and The Iron Lady.

The Iron Lady takes a look at the life of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She was the first and only woman to hold the position of Prime Minister in the United Kingdom and the film focuses on the price she paid for this power. Thatcher is played by Meryl Streep and the rest of the cast includes Anthony Head, Iain Glen, Harry Lloyd, Olivia Colman, Nick Dunning, Susan Brown and Jim Broadbent.

Trailer #2
The Iron Lady at MOVIECLIPS.com

"That's the problem with working, too much instability."

Thanks to my friends asking me to house-sit (and having better cable than me) and a free weekend of Showtime OnDemand, I have now caught up on several shows: Shameless, Homeland and Weeds. I also got a chance to watch the first episode of Kristen Bell's new series, House of Lies.

Along with Bell, House of Lies stars Don Cheadle, Ben Schwartz, Josh Lawson and Dawn Olivieri. It is a half hour comedy about a management consultant team from the second best firm in the country. Cheadle leads the series and his character will use any means to win over his clients and get them the information that they want. His crazy ex-wife works for the competition and his father is a former psychiatrist and helps take care of his cross-dressing son. It is smart and witty and I cannot wait to see where the rest of the show takes us. But mostly, I just love having Kristen Bell back on my television :o)

I was a little skeptical going into Homeland. I am not really sure why but, even though it was getting rave reviews, I just did not think I was going to like it. I was very, very wrong. The first season was a very smart, intense thriller about a CIA agent and the P.O.W. that she thinks has been turned into a terrorist after eight years in Iraqi captivity. The twist is that the rest of the country sees this man as a hero and the CIA agent has mental issues of her own. The show stars Claire Dances, Damian Lewis, Morena Baccarin, Mandy Patinkin, David Harewood, David Marciano, Diego Klattenhoff and Jamey Sheridan and they were all fantastic. Although, every time Mandy Patinkin's character, Saul, would come onscreen, I could not help but think, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." This first season ended in a breathtaking way and I cannot even imagine what will happen in season two.

"You start wondering, 'is it in my genes?'"

The only movie in wide release this weeked is The Devil Inside.

Taking place in Italy, The Devil Inside is about a girl named Isabella who tries to figure out the truth of what happened to her mother twenty years ago. Her mother has been locked in an asylum because she confessed to killing three people during an exorcism being performed on her. Isabella's mission is to discover whether or not her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. The cast does not contain any names that I recognize but includes Fernanda Andrade, Suzan Crowley, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth and Brian Johnson.

Trailer #1
The Devil Inside at MOVIECLIPS.com

Absolutely nothing about this movie appeals to me and I have not seen any reviews yet, but if you like scary movies then this is probably right up your alley. While you are busy being scared, I will be trying to catch up on movies already in theaters. I still have not seen the new Sherlock Holmes, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or The Artist.

In limited release this weekend is: Roadie, Beneath the Darkness, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia and Norwegian Wood.

I hope that everyone is having a Happy New Year!

xoxo
c
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