Assignment X

TV Review: REVENGE – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 09/22/2011

Emily VanCamp in REVENGE - Season 1 | ©2011 ABC/Antony Platt

Stars: Emily VanCamp, Madeleine Stowe, Henry Czerny, Gabriel Mann, Ashley Madekwe, Joshua Bowman, Nick Wechsler, Max Martini Writer: Mike Kelley Director: Philip Noyce Network: ABC, Wednesdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: September 21, 2011 REVENGE is the kind of glossy nighttime soap that the major broadcast networks used to produce with flair in the ‘80s. Less camp than DYNASTY or the more contemporary DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, REVENGE nevertheless seems to be centered around the potential for the mother of all catfights, with the difference that the person stirring up all the misdirection and havoc is actually our heroine. Emily VanCamp plays […]Read On »

COMMENTS (32)

BRIDESMAIDS is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week

By PETER BROWN

BRIDESMAIDS | © 2011 Universal Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies: BRIDESMAIDS – Now, I would not go as far as to say that BRIDESMAIDS is a chick flick. It is in a lot of ways. But it is also a pretty funny comedy. Kristen Wiig is good in the lead role but I gotta be honest gets […]Read On »

COMMENTS (2)

Exclusive Photos from THE CW PREMIERE Party presented by Bing!

By SUE SCHNEIDER

Shane West and Maggie Q at the Bing presents THE CW PREMIERE PARTY | ©2011 Sue Schneider

On September 10, Bing presented THE CW PREMIERE PARTY on the Warner Bros. Lot in Burbank, outside the Steven J. Ross Theater. Stars from new shows and returning shows to The CW walked the black carpet to pose for photos and do interviews, which included: 90210 – Shenae Grimes, Jessica Stroup, Michael Steger, Jessica Lowndes, Matt Lanter, Gillian Zinser, and Trevor Donovan. HART OF DIXIE – Rachel Bilson, Jaime King, Wilson Bethel, and Cress Williams. NIKITA – Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford, and Melinda Clarke. RINGER – Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd, Nestor Carbonell, Mike Colter, Tara Summers […]Read On »

COMMENTS (3)

TV Review: THE X FACTOR – SEASON 1 – “Auditions No. 1” – Series Premiere

By PETER BROWN

Steve Jones, Nicole Sherzinger, Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid in THE X FACTOR - Season 1 | ©2011 Fox/

Cast: Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Antonio Reid, Cheryl Cole, Nicole Scherzinger Network: Fox, airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays Original Telecast: Sept. 21, 2011 I’ve got a funny feeling going here … Simon Cowell (and his too-tight shirts and new eyeliner) and Paul Abdul (and her crying and weird clapping) doing a music competition/reality show. A bunch of talented singers and a bunch of crazies and losers. Similar audition stories and a pompous host that is more annoying than anything else. But wait … it’s still hot outside? So yeah there are a little too many familiarities to THE X FACTOR […]Read On »

COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER

THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE soundtrack | ©2011 Lakeshore Records

Uday Hussein has a rocking good time ravaging Iraq under dad’s carte blanche, not to mention the protection of a hapless look-a-like. It’s a musically mesmerizing balance between the fruits of evil, and an onlooker’s moral anguish, two tones merged into one beast for this killer alt. bio score by Christian Henson. Just when you think you’ve heard it all in the sinister soundtrack land of Middle East-meets-west rhythms, THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE arrives to kick the genre in the ass as its antagonist does far worse things to his people. Not only does it help that Henson was a programmer […]Read On »

COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: VIENTO EN CONTRA soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER

VIENTO EN CONTRA soundtrack | ©2011 Movie Score Media

Alfons Conde, a Spanish composer better known among horror fans for the Movie Score Media releases of his utterly sinister soundtracks to THE ABANDONED, THE DARK HOUR and NO-DO finally gets the opportunity to score a film where a woman gets to fight back against evil odds. In the case of MSM’s VIENTO EN CONTRA (AGAINST THE WIND), it’s a female executive who’s set up for a murder, and has to become a fugitive with her kid in tow. As with a heroine’s dead aim that seems to come out of nowhere in a film like this, Conde plugs us […]Read On »

COMMENTS (0)

TV Review: NEW GIRL – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 09/21/2011

Zooey Deschanel in NEW GIRL - Season 1 | ©2011 Fox/Autumn Dewilde

Stars: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Damon Wayans, Jr. (pilot), Lamorne Morris (post-pilot), Hannah Simone Writer: Elizabeth Meriwether, series created by Elizabeth Meriwether Director: Jake Kasdan Network: Fox, Tuesdays @ 9 PM Original Telecast: September 20, 2011 How one reacts to NEW GIRL depends in large part on how one reacts to its leading lady Zooey Deschanel. Deschanel (sister of BONES’ Emily Deschanel) is adorable in the way that kittens and bunnies are adorable. This is not to say there is anything infantile about her – Deschanel is bright and funny and sexy in a perfectly grown-up way – but […]Read On »

COMMENTS (2)

TV Review: RINGER – Season 1 – “She’s Ruining Everything”

By CARL CORTEZ

Sarah Michelle Gellar in RINGER - Season 1 - "She's Ruining Everything" | ©2011 The CW/Michael Desmond

Stars: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd, Nestor Carbonell, Mike Colter, Tara Summers, Zoey Deutch Writers: Eric Charmelo, Nicole Snyder Director: Rob Bailey Network: The CW, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: September 20, 2011 Here’s the problem with RINGER, the new CW soap opera/thriller starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as twin sisters who invade each other’s lives. A) It’s not very good. B) As much as it’s commendable that Gellar wants to do something that’s not BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, picking a project where she’s not allowed to kick-ass and take names is incredibly hard to get used to. She […]Read On »

COMMENTS (6)

TV Review: GLEE – Season 3 premiere – “The Purple Piano Project”

By CARL CORTEZ

Riley and the New Directions sing on GLEE - Season 3 - "The Purple Piano Project" | ©2011 Fox/Adam Rose

Stars: Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Heather Morris, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Naya Rivera, Mark Salling, Harry Shum Jr., Jenna Ushkowitz Writer: Brad Falchuk Director: Eric Stoltz Network: Fox, airs Tuesday nights Original Telecast: September 20, 2011 Sorry to say this, but I think GLEE is officially over. Some may even say it jumped the shark, but I think that already happened last year. The season three premiere “The Purple Piano Project” already feels like the show has “been there, done that” hitting some of the same beats as […]Read On »

COMMENTS (16)

TV Review: UNFORGETTABLE – Season 1 – “Pilot” – Series Premiere

By RACHEL REITSLEFF

Poppy Montgomery in UNFORGETTABLE - Season 1 | ©2011 CBS/Robert Ascroft

Stars: Poppy Montgomery, Dylan Walsh, Michael Gaston, Kevin Rankin, Daya Vaidya Writers: John Bellucci & Ed Redlich, series created by John Bellucci & Ed Redlich, based on the book by J. Robert Lennon Director: Niels Arden Oplev Network: CBS, Tuesdays @ 10 PM Original Telecast: September 20, 2011 Some crime procedural TV series have a genuinely original take on how to tell stories about murder investigations. Many other crime procedurals copy one another, changing a few details to avoid confusion and lawsuits. UNFORGETTABLE is one of the latter. True, no other character on television has our heroine Carrie Wells’ (Poppy […]Read On »

COMMENTS (10)

Latest Buzz

Reviews