Veronica: Can you do me a weird favor without asking any questions?

Wallace: Isn’t that the bedrock upon which our friendship was founded?

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Dear Friends, Readers, and Random Strangers,

I started this blog in 2007 as an outlet for all my random TV and movie knowledge and I have had a great time writing it, but over the past few months I have felt very unfocused and in need of a re-branding. So, with the help of some of my ATX Television Festival family, I am starting fresh! My new blog will focus solely on television and can be found here: mytvfamily.com


Thank you for reading and coming along on this adventure. I hope to see you on the new site!

xoxo
c
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"Guys, I know Kung Fu."

A few months ago, I decided that it was finally time to start watching Chuck. I have now watched all five seasons and would consider myself officially part of the Nerd Herd.

I am not really sure why I never watched the show when it started in 2007. I do know that I did not yet have DVR, so I was probably watching How I Met Your Mother instead. I actually do not really remember thinking about it much when it was on. I loved Adam Baldwin in Firefly and Sarah Lancaster in What About Brian (also, Saved By The Bell: The New Class...shhh), and probably recognized Zachary Levi, but none of them were enough to interest me in the show. This was also about the time that I was *not* watching Friday Night Lights either so, clearly, I was not thinking straight.

To be honest, the reason I did start watching Chuck was because of Orphan Black. I know that sounds weird, so let me explain. As I have mentioned before, I watched all of Orphan Black after last year's ATX Television Festival and was instantly obsessed. Shortly after watching the whole first season, the cast went to San Diego Comic Con, at which they did a panel for Zachary Levi's Nerd Machine. Once I discovered the Orphan Black panel online, I then watched many of the other Nerd Machine panels throughout the weekend that were streaming on YouTube, including one with Levi himself, and soon came to the conclusion that I should at least give Chuck a try.

The only way that I could watch it initially was to get the discs from Netflix, so the first two seasons took me quite a while to get through. (And when I say, "quite a while," I mean about two months.) I was just starting to lose steam and then, as if they knew exactly what I was thinking, Netflix made the whole series available to stream the following week and I flew threw the last three seasons.

"I'll put my privates up against your privates any old day."

Thanks to the ATX Television Festival, I was fortunate enough to see a sneak peak of Fox's new show Enlisted last Friday night at the Alamo Drafthouse with cast members Geoff Stults, Parker Young, Angelique Cabral and creator Kevin Biegel.

The show is a family workplace comedy revolved around three brothers, their workplace just happens to be the military. They are part of an Army Rear Detachment Unit in Florida, which is comprised of the soldiers who try to keep the base in order. The Rear D's main job is taking care of deployed soldiers' families. In the event that something happens to a soldier overseas, the Rear D troops break the news to the family. However, they also mow lawns at the base, sort mail, wash tanks and find lost dogs.

Stults (7th Heaven, October Road, The Finder) plays oldest brother, Sergeant Pete Hill, who gets sent to Rear D after assaulting a superior officer. He now must lead a dysfunctional squad of soldiers that includes his two younger brothers, Derrick and Randy, played by Young (Suburgatory) and Chris Lowell (Veronica Mars, Private Practice). Cabral (Friends with Benefits) plays Sergeant Jill Perez, who leads the other Read D unit on the base and Keith David (The Cape, Grey's Anatomy) is base commander Sergeant Major Donald Cody. They are also surround by an incredibly hilarious supporting cast. Along with Biegel (Scrubs, Cougar Town), it is being executive produced by Mike Royce (Men of a Certain Age, Everybody Loves Raymond).

"When Khrushchev pushes the button, you can have the morning off. Until then, you're still my secretary."

Several of my shows are already on winter hiatus and most of the rest have their winter finale this week. Here is what I will be watching:

Sunday: Masters of Sex - Virginia finally voiced out loud that she and Dr. Masters had an affair and subsequently quit working for Dr. Masters to help Dr. DePaul with her uterine cancer study. Margaret Scully has also figured out what exactly her husband has been up to and asked for a divorce and Dr. Langham discovers that one of the women with which he had sex for the study is now pregnant. I enjoy this series more and more each week and I am interested to see how these characters respond to all these new circumstances.

Watch Live: Once Upon a Time

Monday: The Sing-Off - The entire season will be aired over just two weeks, with several new episodes per week. Also, judge Sara Bareilles has been replaced with Jewel this year. I love a capella and I am so glad that NBC has brought this show back!



Watch Live: The Voice 
DVR: Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow 

Tuesday: Sons of Anarchy - I am equally excited and nervous for this season six finale. After Juice's breakdown last week, I am worried he might not survive the episode. I am also concerned for Tara's life. I am pretty sure she is going to end up either dead or in prison. I am hoping for the later. Creator Kurt Sutter never disappoints so, if nothing else, this final episode will be just as fantastic as the rest of the season. I will make sure to have tissues handy, just in case.

Watch Live: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Voice 
DVR: Trophy Wife and The Goldbergs 

Dorian: I thought you wanted to meet someone.

John: I meet plenty of women. I don't need your help.
Dorian: I ran a bio-scan and it looked like your testicles were at full capacity.
John: You're scanning my balls?
Dorian: I didn't enjoy it. I just...I can't help but notice. You're backed up.
John: What is the matter with you?.....Don't scan my testicles, ever again.
Dorian: Copy that.
--------------------------------------

I have not done this in a few weeks but here is what I will be watching on television this week. I hope that everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday: The Good Wife - Tonight is the 100th episode of the show and it looks like it is going to be another great one. Former client, Matthew Ashbaugh, has bequeathed Alicia millions of dollars, but Lockhart-Gardner contests the will on behalf of his widow. Elsewhere, Kalinda is still looking into Damian's background and Florrick-Agos throws their first holiday party. Returning guest stars include Melissa George, Jason O'Mara, Stockard Channing, Nathan Lane, Mike Colter, Kurt Fuller, John Noble and Donna Brazile.

Watch Live: Once Upon A Time, Masters of Sex
DVR: Homeland, Witches of East End

Monday: Almost Human - I am really enjoying this new show more than I thought I would. Right now most of the episodes stand alone but, I am hoping that the further we go, the more background we will get on the Syndicate and how John's ex-girlfriend is involved with them. The chemistry between Michael Ealy and Karl Urban is fantastic and the supporting cast of Mackenzie Crook, Minka Kelly and Lilly Taylor are great. If you are not already watching this show, I definitely recommend you check it out.

DVR: The Voice, How I Met Your Mother

Tuesday: Sons of Anarchy - There are only two episodes left of this season. Clay is (finally) dead and Jax's plan to get out of guns and out from under the Irish is in motion. This season has been so crazy, I cannot even imagine what is going to happen next. Will Tara decide to take Patterson's deal and betray her husband and the club? I am believe that at least one more member of the main cast is going to die before the end. Who will it be?! I pretty much hold my breath from commercial break to commercial break each week and things are just going to get more intense....I CANNOT WAIT :)

Watch Live: The Originals, The Voice
DVR: Trophy Wife

Adam: When it comes to you and the laundry, there are no accidents!

Beverly: I always wash new clothes. You don't know who tried them on before you, could have been a drifter!
Adam: What kind of drifter shops at the Willow Grove Mall?!
Beverly: Well, what kind of drifter needs to buy new clothes when he already has perfectly good ones?
Adam: A drifter with a mom who drove him to drifting! The open road was his only way out!
-----------------------

Sunday: Once Upon A Time - In tonight's episode, we return with Ariel to Storybrooke. She is there to get something for Mr. Gold who is now working with Regina to take down Peter Pan and save Henry. Last week, Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Hook rescued Neil but, in order to do that, they each had to reveal their darkest secrets to the group. It will be interesting to see how these secrets affect them on their own quest to get Henry back and get out of Neverland.

Watch Live: The Good Wife, Masters of Sex
DVR: Homeland

Monday: Castle - While Castle, Beckett and company do not keep me on the edge of my seat like they used to, I still get pleasure from this show each week. The only real explanation for that is Nathan Fillion and the chemistry between the cast. I also look forward to a potential Castle-Beckett wedding in the near future...just hopefully not one on a space ship :)

Watch Live: How I Met Your Mother, Sleepy Hollow
DVR: Hart of Dixie, The Voice

Tuesday: The Goldbergs - I am really enjoying this new sitcom a lot more than I expected. The creator, Adam Goldberg, is from the Philadelphia area and since the show is based on his family that is where it takes place. We all know how biased I am about anything related to Philly, so seeing older brother Barry rock Flyers and Sixers gear every week makes me like this show even more. However, it is actually incredibly funny and you should all be watching it.

Watch Live: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Trophy Wife, Sons of Anarchy
DVR: The Originals, New Girl, The Voice

Wednesday: The Tomorrow People - Last week, Ultra ambushed Cara, John and the others when they attempted to enjoy a night out among humans. Stephen continues to help his new friends while working undercover for his uncle, but has now revealed his powers to his best friend Astrid. We have seen small glimpses of John and Cara's backstories and I look forward to learning more about them and also hopefully Russell and Jedikiah. This show started off strong and continues to get better each week.

Watch Live: Arrow, Nashville

"Living is not for the weak."

I missed last week because I was in Philly for a few days and forgot to post my picks, but here are the episodes of television that I am most looking forward to for the week of November 3rd. As always, I warn you of potential spoilers ahead if you are not caught up.

Sunday: Masters of Sex - I am loving this new show on Showtime. Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan play Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson who pioneered the science of human sexuality. Bill's wife has just had a miscarriage and he blames himself because he was anxious about being a father. Virginia is still trying to figure out how to work and support her children  and their colleague Ethan is dating the provost's daughter. The acting and writing are fantastic and I look forward to each and every episode. 

Watch Live: Once Upon A Time, Homeland
DVR: The Walking Dead, The Good Wife, Witches of East End

Monday: The Voice - It is finally time for the live rounds! I do not have any favorites yet but, in general, I tend to root for Team Christina. The performances so far this season have been great and I really enjoy the chemistry between the original coaches. Shakira and Usher were fine, but I prefer Christina and Cee Lo and I hope someone from one of their teams wins this round and takes the crown from Blake :)

Watch Live:Castle
DVR: How I Met Your Mother, Hart of Dixie, Sleepy Hollow

Tuesday: New Girl - Three words: COACH IS BACK....also, Taye Diggs is guest starring. This is pretty much a no-brainer.

Watch Live: Agents of SHIELD, Trophy Wife, Sons of Anarchy
DVR: The Originals, The Goldbergs, The Voice

Simon: I knew there was a reason why the inspiration wasn't coming to us. Your spirit is blocked and you blocked us all. Burn it!

Sydney: Wait, Dad, I don't think that's a really good idea
Simon: No, no, we have to burn it, honey. Listen to me. The creative gods are angry. They need blood. They want sweater blood. In the name of Mister Rogers, I command you!
Andrew: I don't know if this is a good idea
Simon: Oh, come on now, Andrew. You've become a slave to wool. You're trying to pull the wool over our eyes and these fibers are as unnatural as this ruse of a relationship. Burn the demon fiber and set yourself free. Set us all free!
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These are the episodes of television that I most excited about for the week of October 20. As with last week, I warn you of possible spoilers ahead.

Sunday: Witches of East End - I really was not planning on watching this show. I like the actresses in it, but it honestly looked a little silly. However, after the premiere lots of people were talking about it, so I thought I would check it out and I actually really enjoyed it. It is not perfect, by any means, but it is a lot of fun. It is about two sisters living in Long Island, both of whom do not know they are witches just like their mother and aunt. When someone starts trying to kill off each of the women, their mother must admit to them what they really are so they can defend themselves. It stars Julia Ormond, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Rachel Boston and Mädchen Amick. As we all know, I am not a fan of scary things, but I do like witches, so this is right up my alley.

Watch Live: Once Upon A Time and The Good Wife
DVR: The Walking Dead, Homeland and Masters of Sex

Monday: How I Met Your Mother - Since this is the final season of the series, I was hoping we would see a little more of The Mother, but otherwise I have really enjoyed the episodes so far. I do not really know why but I find the "Thank you, Linus" running gag to be hilarious. I also love that we have seen more of different guest stars from past seasons like Ranjit, Barney's brother James, Patrice and Tim Gunn. I am sad that this show is coming to an end, but look forward to whatever they have in store for us as we make our way to that end. I am also a little overly excited about The Last Slap. When will it happen?!?!

Watch Live: Castle
DVR: Hart of Dixie, The Voice

Tuesday: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - While I still feel that this show needs to find its footing a little bit, I have really enjoyed the first few episodes. Right now, each episode seems to stand on its on with very little continuing storyline, but I am hoping that once we get into it a little, there will be more connecting each episode besides just the main characters. I know that they will not tell us for a while what exactly happened to Coulson, but I am enjoying the little clues here and there that they keep dropping. I am also interested to see what is going on between Agent Ward and Skye. Is there anything going on? And will we ever actually see any of the Avengers? We have already seen brief cameos from Maria Hill and Nick Fury and, I am not really expecting Dr. Banner anytime soon but, it would be pretty cool none-the-less.

Watch Live: New Girl, Trophy Wife, Sons of Anarchy
DVR: The Originals, The Goldbergs, The Voice

Icabod: Surviving death, separated by time, tests the bonds of love. The moment I saw her I knew, the bravest love is born again with each new day...

...The kind of love that makes the mundane a marvel, that bewilders with its magnificence until fate's cruel hand intervened and in the blink of an eye Katrina was lost to me.

Yolanda: I am so, so sorry.

Icabod: I offer this tale, no matter how cruelly he may have treated you, to suggest that you do not give up, nor give in to anything less than certainty in matters of the heart.

Yolanda: No one's ever said it like that. Thank you.

Icabod: It is I who should thank you, kind woman, for unlocking this vehicle from afar and showing me how the entertainment system operates. Farewell, Yolanda.

Yolanda: Thank you for calling NorthStar Assistance.

---------------------------------------------

I realized that my post last week was a little vague because I was trying to avoid spoilers. This week, I am warning you now that I am not holding anything back. If you are not caught up then I suggest you either stop reading now or skip the section about that show. I have also listed the other shows I will be watching live and DVRing for each day.

Sunday: The Walking Dead - A lot happened at the end of season three. The Governor stabbed Milton and locked him in a room with Andrea so he killed her after he died and turned. After the Governor's plan to attack the prison backfires and his people refuse to keep fighting, he kills most of them on the road back to Woodbury and leaves with his top two guys. With the Governor gone, Rick and the group from the prison bring all the remaining people in Woodbury back with them. In general, this show has not been very consistent. I go back and forth between loving it and finding it a little boring. With their third showrunner in four seasons and a new plan to bring the focus back to the individual characters, I am interested to see where they go this season. Where did the Governor disappear to? How much longer can Rick and his group stay in the prison? Will we see a Maggie/Glen wedding? I guess I just have to watch and see.

Watch live: Once Upon A Time and Masters of Sex
DVR: The Good Wife, Homeland and Witches of East End

Monday: Sleepy Hollow - I was not sure if I would like this show going into it, but it has quickly become my favorite new show of the Fall. I love the chemistry between Icabod and Abby. I am also fascinated by the mythology. They have taken the original story of Sleepy Hollow, intertwined it with events in American History and combined that with the Bible's Book of Revelation and brought it to the present time. I think there is definitely something going on with Captain Irving, there is more to him than meets the eye. I also think that Abby's ex is going to play a part and I wonder if we have seen the last of John Cho's character. The writing is smart and witty and I really have no idea what is going to happen next.

Watch live: Hart of Dixie and Castle
DVR: How I Met Your Mother and The Voice

"Don't end up hating me."

I meant to post this earlier in the day, but got distracted by episodes of Hart of Dixie on Netflix. Regardless, I have decided to try posting my episode picks each week. These are the shows that I am most looking forward to for the week of October 6th, 2013:

Sunday: The Good Wife - I was starting to waiver a little on this show, but it got a lot better towards the end of last season so I decided to keep watching and I am very glad that I did. The season premiere was awesome and made me very excited to see what is going to happen next with Alicia and Cary leaving Lockhart Gardner.

Monday: Hart of Dixie - Last season ended with Zoe leaving for New York City with Jonah Breeland and George going on tour with Lily Anne Lonergan. Now, Zoe is back in Blue Bell and must help track down George and bring back the Founder's Day Parade. I love the characters on this show, they are fun and endearing and I enjoy every episode. I am excited to see where this season goes.

Tuesday: Sons of Anarchy - Even though there are a lot of things happening, I still feel like much of the plot is setting us up for the end of this season and the final season. A few of my favorite characters were killed off last week but this is one show where I still cannot wait to see what happens each and every episode.

Wednesday: The Tomorrow People - This is a new CW series from Julie Plec and Greg Berlanti based on a British children's science fiction series from the '70s. It is about a generation of humans who are born with the special abilities of telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation. They are being hunted by a group of scientists known as Ultra. It has a great cast and looks like it could be a great new show.

Thursday: Glee - I stopped watching this show a while ago because I felt like every week was turning into a lesson of the week. However, I am interested to see how they remember Cory Monteith in this Finn Hudson tribute episode.

Saturday: The White Queen - I have really enjoyed this Starz mini-series. You can read my review here. There are two episodes left and while, I know historically what is going to happen, I still look forward to seeing how the story plays out every week.

I am not currently watching anything on that airs on Friday, but cannot wait for Enlisted to start in January.

Of the new shows this fall, I am still watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Crazy Ones, Masters of Sex, Mom, The Originals, Sleepy Hollow and Trophy Wife. Despite it's rave reviews, I have already given up on The Black List, as well as Hostages and The Michael J. Fox Show. I really wanted to like these shows, but I just could not get into them. I also started watching The Goldbergs, which is surprisingly hilarious, and there are a few new ones that have yet to premiere.

What has everyone else been watching? Is there a new show that I should be checking out? I would love to hear from you either in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.

xoxo
c
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"She is my Queen of choice!"

Am I the only person watching The White Queen? I find it incredibly interesting, but no one else seems to be talking about this summer mini-series. The show is based on The Cousins' War book series by Philippa Gregory and focuses on Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV, Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry Tudor, and Anne Neville, wife of Richard III.

The story begins in 1464 during the Wars of the Roses. The House of York and the House of Lancaster are at war over who is the rightful king of England. With the help of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, also known as "The Kingmaker," the Yorkist Edward IV has taken the throne and soon falls in love with and secretly marries a Lancastrian commoner named Elizabeth Woodville. Warwick feels betrayed by this marriage and threatened by Elizabeth's family and soon starts to make new plans to regain power. Part of this plan involves using his daughters Anne and Isabelle as bargaining chips. Still loyal to dethroned Lancastrian King Henry VI, Margaret Beaufort believes that her son is destined to one day be king and does everything in her power to keep him safe from the Yorkists who would seek to destroy Henry's line.

"Happiness isn't happiness without a violin playing goat."

I have been really lonely this past year and a half. 

Last February, I moved to a city where I knew about three people and it has been a lot harder than I anticipated to make friends. I spend a lot of time alone in my apartment watching TV (which is not a whole lot different than what I was doing before I moved, but now it's because I actually do not have anything else to do). I miss my friends and family in Philly, but I also do not feel like there is anything for me to go back to right now.

To be honest, I have felt pretty lost for a while now. I thought by moving to Texas I would find....something. Something that would make me happy. I guess I have just never really been a happy person. Actually, I think I was happy when I was younger, I just can't remember when or why I lost that feeling of looking forward with anticipation instead of dread. Before I moved, someone actually said to me that they could sense my unhappiness and felt like a light had gone out. 

The problem is, I am not really sure how to turn it back on.

The only bright spot I see is that I have this hobby (for lack of a better word) that I love. Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to turn it into something that will also support me financially.

I like movies and television because I can always find something to fit my mood...a world to get lost in. If I just need something to make me laugh, I can visit my friends the Huxtables or get some coffee at Central Perk. If I need a good cry, I will build a house with Kevin Kline or go on a road trip with Whoopi, Mary Louise and Drew. If I just feel like punching someone, I hop on my Harley and ride into Charming. If I just need to completely lose myself, I head into Westeros or Middle Earth. My "comfort food" is spending time in Stars Hollow or Neptune and, most recently, I have been shopping a lot at Buy More. Whatever I am feeling or whatever emotions I need justified, I can either find someone who feels the same or can make me feel better.

Don't get me wrong, I am SO thankful for everything that I have and the opportunities that have been given me, I guess I just always thought my life would be...less ordinary and I felt like I needed to vent a little.

Sometimes though, you just have to face reality...

I will never marry Bradley Cooper. 

The girl does not always get the boy...

or the dream job...

and she doesn't always save the world. 

xoxo
c
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"Nothing makes a smart man stupid like a quest for vengeance."

I cannot believe that it is almost September. I feel like this year is flying by and I am a little sad that summer is already over. The only good thing about the start of Fall is that it also means my TV shows are back! Here is my list of returning and new shows that I will be watching...

Returning Shows:

Arrow
Castle
Elementary 
Grey's Anatomy
Hart of Dixie
Homeland*
How I Met Your Mother
Nashville
New Girl
NCIS
Once Upon A Time
Parenthood
Raising Hope
Scandal
Sons of Anarchy
The Carrie Diaries
The Good Wife
The Vampire Diaries
The Voice
The Walking Dead
White Collar

New Shows:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Almost Human

The Black List

The Crazy Ones

Dracula

Enlisted
Hostages

Masters of Sex*

The Michael J. Fox Show
Mom

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

The Originals

Reign

Sleepy Hollow

The Tomorrow People

Trophy Wife

I seem to add a ton of new shows to my schedule every year, but always manage to make it all work. Shows that I have dropped since last Fall include Blue Bloods, Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Revenge and Suburgatory. Several of those were canceled and the others just lost my interest, but I have plenty more to check out!

"I'd like to think there's more to a person than just one thing."

Last week, the Austin Film Society screened The Spectacular Now at the Marchesa Hall & Theatre followed by a Q&A with Director James Ponsoldt and I was lucky enough to attend.

Based on the book by Tim Tharp, this film is about a troubled, hard-partying high school senior named Sutter that gets dumped by his girlfriend and starts hanging out with Aimee, a quiet, "nice girl" from school. He keeps telling himself that she is just his rebound, but eventually they fall in love and she changes the way he looks at his life and his other relationships. 

While the relationship between Sutter and Aimee is the main focus of the story, it is really about a young man who is not happy and uses alcohol to block his pain. As someone who often projects a happier persona and uses movies and television, as opposed to alcohol, to distract me from my life, I definitely identified with Sutter. In one of my favorite scenes, Sutter is talking to his teacher and he says, "I don't see what's so great about being an adult. Are you happy?" and the teacher has no response. Sutter would rather live in the moment than have to think about his future. He pushes away the people that love him and care about him because he does not want them to see that he is miserable.

2013 Fall Movie Preview

Thanks to arrival of my Entertainment Weekly Fall Movie Preview, I now present you with the list of movies that I am most looking forward to seeing over the next few months. I have provided the trailers for each movie, when there has been one available, but a few have not yet been released.

September
20: RUSH (Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Natalie Dormer, Daniel Bruhl)


20: THANKS FOR SHARING (Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad)


27: DON JON (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Tony Danza, Julianne Moore)


Other September possibilities include SALINGER (9/6), ENOUGH SAID (9/20) and PARKLAND (9/20).

October
TBA: DIANA (Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews)


Other October possibilities include RUNNER RUNNER (10/4), 12 YEARS A SLAVE (10/18), THE FIFTH ESTATE (10/18)

"I threw my pie for you."

I follow a lot of entertainment-related people on my Twitter account. I also tend to follow people that I agree with so, sometimes my perception of what the majority of people are actually watching and enjoying is a little skewed. From my Facebook feed, it seems like most of my friends have not yet discovered my two new favorite shows so I thought I would try to change that, especially considering those same friends compose the majority of my readers.

Over the past month, my Twitter timeline has been a constant love-fest for new shows Orphan Black on BBC America and Orange Is The New Black on Netflix. I was not initially planning to watch either, but I could not ignore the loud voices telling me how amazing these shows are and I am very glad that I gave into the peer pressure. They were right and you should all be watching them as well.

While it was actually airing, I had only seen a few posts here and there about Orphan Black but again, mostly from entertainment writers and bloggers and mostly from the same few people. However, after hearing about Tatiana Maslany for four days straight at this year's ATX Television Festival, I decided I should probably see what everyone was talking about.

The pilot starts with a woman named Sarah Manning standing on a train platform when she sees another woman who looks exactly like her jump in front of a train. Sarah steals this woman's purse and identity and plans to clean out her bank account before leaving town with her own daughter and foster brother. However, she soon discovers that there is much more to this woman, Beth Childs, and their identical appearance than she first thought and she soon meets Katja, Alison, Cosima and Helena. They are all clones and are trying to figure out where they came from.

Maslany plays all of the clones and is absolutely fantastic. You forget that the same actress is playing all of these characters because they look and act and sound so different. It is rather remarkable. I had only ever seen her in one episode of Flashpoint and she was great in that small role but, after watching this show, it is baffling to me that she has managed to stay under the radar until now.

The rest of the cast is equally fantastic and includes Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Kevin Hanchard, Michael Mando, Skyler Wexler, Inga Cadranel and Matt Frewer.

The second season unfortunately does not come out until April 2014 but, luckily for you, the first season DVDs were just released! That means you have plenty of time to catch up on this amazing show!

"There is nothing to hold onto but reality, to realize the present whatever it may be."

I am very excited to be volunteering for Season Two of the ATX Television Festival here in Austin this weekend! Just like last year, this festival will bring together actors, writers, directors, producers, music supervisors, studio executives and fans to talk about the past, present and future of television. There will be screenings, panels, parties and live music with some of the industry's leading professionals.

Tomorrow's opening night screening and party is presented by Netflix and will feature a few of the new Arrested Development episodes followed by a Q&A with the cast. Other screenings going on throughout the weekend at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz and the State Theater are Scandal, The Riches, Hart of Dixie and The Vampire Diaries, as well as the new season premieres of Falling Skies, Hell on Wheels, Perception and Sullivan & Son. We are also excited to be premiering AMC's new Summer drama Low Winter Sun and Fox's new Fall comedy Enlisted. But that's not all! On top of that awesomeness, there will also be cast reunions for My So-Called Life, Party of Five, Boy Meets World and American Dreams!

This year's panels include Veronica Mars: a TV show...no wait, a movie!, Directing in a Writer's World, Structure of a Sitcom and the Rise of the Anti-Sitcom, Creating the Sound of a Show and Casting Deconstructed. Michael Jacobs will also reflect on his career, which includes shows like My Two Dads, Dinosaurs, Boy Meets World and the new Disney show, Girl Meets World. Panels and screenings are being moderated by Meg Masters from TVLine, Robyn Ross from TV Guide, Ben Blacker from Nerdist, Jarett Wieselman from ET online, Laura Prudom from The Huffington Post, Ryan McGee from the AV Club and a few others.

I can hardly contain my excitement!

"If you ride like lightning, you're going to crash like thunder."

In the past month, I have seen Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hangover Part III and Furious 6 and they were all good. If you liked the previous franchise movies, you will probably like these as well. However, I am not going to review them here because most people have probably already made up their minds about whether or not to see those. Instead, I am going to talk about The Place Beyond the Pines and The Iceman, which were fantastic and I am not sure these films are on most peoples' radar.

To be fair, I mostly saw these two movies because of who is in them (Bradley Cooper, Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans), but I am glad that I did and now think you should too!

The trailers for The Place Beyond the Pines made it seem more like an action movie and, while it did have a few fast-paced scenes, I would call it more of a character study. Similar to director Derek Cianfrance's most recent movie, Blue Valentine, it is about the how these peoples' lives intersect and how each action affect those lives.

The movie is split into three acts. The first act focuses on the character of Luke, played by Ryan Gosling, a motorcycle stunt rider who starts robbing banks in order to provide for his son. The second act follows Bradley Cooper's character, Avery, who is a young cop in a small town police department run by corrupt detectives. Avery and Luke's individual stories only overlap once, but that small interaction has huge consequences, which you see fifteen years later in the third act of the movie between their two teenage sons. It is an intense story and very well done.

The acting is great all around, as is to be expected from all involved, but I was especially impressed with Eva Mendes. She is the only actor that is in all three acts of the film and normally I am not a huge fan of hers, but she actually surprised me in this. And, of course, I would get my wish of having Cooper and Gosling in the same movie only to have them be in only one scene together. C'est la vie.

Summer Movie Preview 2013

My Entertainment Weekly Summer Movie Preview has arrived! We all know how excited that makes me so, without any ado whatsoever, here is a list of the movies that I am most looking forward to seeing over the next few months.

May
3 - Iron Man 3 (Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Paul Bettany)
   - The Iceman (Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, Winona Ryder, James Franco, Ray Liotta)
10 - The Great Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton)
17 - Star Trek Into Darkness (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch)
24 - The Hangover Part III (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha)
31 - Now You See Me (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman)





Depending on reviews, other possibilities for May include: Epic (5/24), Before Midnight (5/24) and Fast & Furious (5/24).

June
7 - Much Ado About Nothing (Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Fran Kranz)
14 - Man of Steel (Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner)
21 - Monsters University (Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Hellen Mirren)



Other possibilities for June include: The Internship (6/7), Rapture-Palooza (6/7), The Bling Ring (6/14), The Heat (6/28) and White House Down (6/28)

"You need to go see the wizard. Ask him for some guts."

The seventh blog I ever posted was about my love for actress, Kristen Bell. If you have read any of the subsequent posts you probably know that I have continued to follow her career over the years. I am currently enjoying her character Jeannie Van Der Hooven on Showtime's House of Lies and really liked last summer's Hit and Run, which was written and directed by her fiance Dax Shepard (and also happened to star my other love, Bradley Cooper).

This morning at 10:35 a.m. EST, Entertainment Weekly announced that Kristen and Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas had created a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise $2 million so that they can FINALLY make the Veronica Mars movie that I have been waiting for since the show went off the air in 2007. In less than five hours, they raised half their goal and at the time of this post were at about $1.5 million. Update: They are at $2 million and counting!

I think that Warner Bros. should refund the Kickstarter donations if the goal is reached in less than 24 hours as an apology for doubting the fandom, but that's just me.

Here is the video explaining the project:



And here are all the links you need for anything else you might want:

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeronicaMars

Twitter: Kristen - https://twitter.com/IMKristenBell 
              Rob - https://twitter.com/RobThomas

The WB (to catch up on episodes): http://www.thewb.com/shows/veronica-mars

Mars Investigations (in case you can't watch videos at work but still want to catch up on episodes): http://marsinvestigations.net/


I am so beyond excited that I have pretty much not gotten anything done at work today. So, if I get fired, I guess I will just have to go to LA to work on the movie :)

xoxo
c
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