Wednesday, April 30, 2008

'Bones' Gets the Baby Blues

What could be better than Bones, Booth and a roadtrip to West Virginia? How about Bones, Booth, a roadtrip to West Virginia and a BABY??!! Now, it doesn't get any better (or funnier) than that -- except for maybe those kickass Bones, Booth and the therapist scenes. Oooh, what if we had gotten Bones, Booth, a roadtrip to WV, a baby and Sweets?? Now, that would have rocked the PTR's Best Episodes Countdown! As predicted, Bones wasn't sure which end was up with the baby. And I'm not knocking my girl Brennan because, quite frankly, I'm terrible with babies. She did figure it out in the end, and she actually grew quite fond of the little fella and I'm pretty sure a small part of her is going to miss him. One of her greatest character flaws, her openness when it comes to science juxtaposed with her complete close-mindedness when it comes to everything else, is also one of her greatest charms. Every case manages to sneak up on her, which always leads to some intriguing character growth.

Competing with all this baby stuff was a timely subplot about the fall of some small, rural towns. In order to solve the victim's murder, you have to figure who they are and where they come from. This victim was the product of a small WV town that lost its way after the bridge that brought travelers through it (and provided a huge boost to the economy) washed out in a severe storm. I really liked the end when Bones revealed that she was taking some of her ginormous advance for her new book and using it to fund the rebuilding of that bridge. It seems it wasn't just the baby that opened her mind in this one.

Screencaps courtesy Bones Fans Online. If you missed last night's outing ("The Baby in the Bough"), check it out for free at Hulu.com.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The WB goes to the WeB

Warner Brothers Network Launches New Web PresenceBy LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


You can't keep a good thing down.

Especially the network who brought us Katie Holmes before she was Mrs. Tom Cruise.

Almost two years after shutting down the spot on the tube that brought us the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dawson's Creek and of which seemed to invent the whole OMG-BFF generation of young television viewing, Warner Brothers Television Group (WBTVG) announced this week they are revamping "the WB" and giving it a new home - on the Web.

Scheduled to Beta launch in early May with a wide launch planned for the end of August, TheWB.com will feature the re-release of a collection of The WB Network’s most popular series and other successful programming, as well as original series created specifically for TheWB.com.

And haven't you always wanted to tell a network what you really think?

Warner Brothers Network Launches New Web PresenceDuring the Beta launch, select fans will be able to start using TheWB.com whilst it is still in development. Beta members will then be able to participate in the expansion of TheWB.com, with new content rolling out over time as the site evolves based, in part, upon user feedback.

“We want to continue the Warner Bros. tradition of authentic voices creating compelling programming for this new digital canvas,” said Craig Erwich, Executive Vice President of Warner Horizon Television, who also oversees TheWB.com. “The office water cooler has moved, and fans of TheWB.com can instantly engage with our content and interact with one another through the site, through the Facebook application, or on their own web sites and blogs."

Did he say Facebook?

Why yes, he did.

Warner Brothers Network Partners with FacebookFor all you Facebook users out there, WBTVG has also created an application that will allow Facebook users to login and access their Facebook accounts while on TheWB.com. Facebook’s more than 70 million users (wowza!) will have the ability to move, mix-up and share the content on TheWB.com from within their own Facebook environment. Facebook users will also be able to add TheWB.com-created application and feature video, photos and more on their profile page; watch full-length episodes or clips from their favorite series, as well as new original series created exclusively for the TheWB.com; and discuss favorite moments, story lines or characters with their network of friends within Facebook.

For its original programming slate, TheWB.com will feature exclusive series from the likes of director/producer McG (of the Charlie’s Angels films fame) and writer/producer Josh Schwartz (Gossip Girl, Chuck, The O.C.). McG is working on Sorority Forever, a mystery/drama that peeks behind the walls of one of the most intriguing secret societies in the world: the sorority. Schwartz is developing an untitled project set in the music world which takes viewers to the front of the line and behind the soundboard of a fictional Hollywood rock club, chronicling the lives and loves of the club’s employees, patrons and musicians. The series will also feature on-camera performances by bands both established and unknown.

Other original programming planned for TheWB.com include Rich Girl/Poor Girl, a reality series from Gary Auerbach (Laguna Beach, Newport Harbor) which finds a wealthy Orange County, Calif. girl swapping lives with a low-income Los Angeles teen; and High Drama: Against All Oz, which documents the production of a big-budget high-school musical.

In addition to original and acquired programming, TheWB.com will also feature full episodes from a wide lineup of programs that have shaped popular culture and inspired devoted followings over the past decade, including among others, Friends, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, All of Us, The O.C., Gilmore Girls, The Wayans Bros., PTR Fave Veronica Mars, Everwood, and Roswell.

“These hit shows still have an incredible amount of equity with their audiences, who grew up with these characters and went through significant events in their lives just as some of the characters did on the programs,” said Brent Poer, General Manager, TheWB.com. “And now, through TheWB.com, users will be able to take an unprecedented level of control over their own entertainment experience by easily editing, remixing, and literally ‘playing’ with their favorite shows. We’re giving the users final cut.”

Sounds good to us.

Head on over to TheWB.com to sign up and participate!

Allison Goes For a Ride

I'm not psychic, but I'm pretty sure if I had a dream where my car exploded right when I turned the key -- I wouldn't be starting up my car any time soon. So, I completely understand why Allison saw it necessary to grab her kids and stand across the street when Joe insisted on starting it up. Of course, I'm also pretty sure that I wouldn't allow my husband to turn the key until I had a certified mechanic check things out. But Allison's car didn't explode because it was dead. Don't you just hate opposite dreams??!! I mean, I'd rather the opposite be the better outcome, but there's no need to get all worked up when it's only a fried electric system. All of this led to Joe buying Allison a used-new car that came with something not listed on the Carfax report -- a murder. First, it looked like a carjacking gone terribly wrong, but things soon took a turn for the bizarre (as they often do for Allison). Her car's navigation system had a mind of its own and navigated her to the victim's house where Allison learned that the woman's husband concocted an elaborate system to trigger a gun to shoot and kill his wife. Yikes! Now, I'm going to be totally freaked out about those hanging tennis balls in people's garages and don't even get me started on the navigation system!

Meanwhile, Joe was logging some long hours at work waiting for some news about his patent to come down. Everyone expects Joe to spend long hours when he's trying to launch a business and get his idea marketed, but once again we have an Allison dream throwing a kink in the system. She dreams that Joe gets the good news about the patent from his very attractive partner and then things turn notso-professional between them. When Joe calls her just as he did in her dream, she heads down to his office, but Joe is alone. This must have been another opposite dream, right? Not so much. The next night, things begin to go down just as Allison dreamed, but the episode ends with another dreaded "To Be Continued...!" For the record, I don't think we need to worry because Joe isn't the cheating type. For Allison's sake, let's hope I'm right.

Photos courtesy nbc.com. If you missed last night's outing ("Car Trouble"), check it out for free at Hulu.com.

Monday, April 28, 2008

'ER' Catches Bassett for Final Season

Angela Bassett Joins 'ER' for Final SeasonBy LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


Can you believe ER is entering its 15th season?

Isn't that, like, impossible in today's television landscape - when networks are ever-so quick to push the Cancel button?

I confess I haven't watched ER in ... oh, like, 8 or 10 years. But I may have to check in one final time now that the always-good Angela Bassett is set to join the cast for its Swan song season.

Love. Her.


------

From MSN:

Angela Bassett to join 'ER' cast for final season
April 28, 2008

Zap2it.com

George Clooney may not be coming back for final the season of "ER," but the long-running series has nonetheless upped the star wattage.

Oscar and Emmy nominee Angela Bassett will be a regular for the show's 15th and last season. She'll play an attending physician who returns to Chicago's County General after several years abroad.

"Angela is a wonderfully talented actress whom I've long hoped to work with," "ER" executive producer John Wells tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Bassett has done some TV work in the past -- most recently in a recurring part on "Alias" -- but "ER" will be her first regular role on a series. The show is also bringing back at least one face from its past for the final season: Noah Wyle will reprise his role as John Carter in at least four episodes.

Bassett earned an Oscar nomination in 1994 for playing Tina Turner in the biopic "What's Love Got to Do With It." Her Emmy nod came in 2002 for the CBS movie "The Rosa Parks Story."

She recently appeared in Tyler Perry's film "Meet the Browns" and is working on "Notorious," a biography of rapper the Notorious B.I.G. Her other credits include "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," " Malcolm X" and "Waiting to Exhale."

A Bloody Nightmare for 'Dexter'

Dexter
By LillyKat
PTR Staff Writer


Got blood?

Like, 5 gallons of it?

Welcome to The Dexter Chainsaw Massacre.

And the crime scene of all crime scenes: a hotel room soaked and spattered in blood that psyches Dex out and ... well, makes him faint and go a little loopy.


“He’s been gone so long, he had to be planning a splashy return. But a crime scene just for me?

Who woulda thought the blood spatter expert would get spattered himself.

Got to hand it to the Icetruck Killer (read: Rudy). He knows how to get to Dex - a point of contention this week as he seemed more concerned about how Dex was dealing with his red nightmare vs. jumping Deb’s bones.

Can we talk?

Uh, no.

But bring over the beer and porterhouses anyway.

Poor Deb ... playing second fiddle again as she watches her brother chat up life (sorta) and throw back beers with stalker Rudy instead of with her. Did we not just want to hug Deb this week? As if I need to mention it one more time, I swear Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall were bro' and sis' in another life. I just love watching their interaction. Carpenter’s Deb can go so deep with how much she cares, yet Hall’s Dexter can remain so painfully inept at being able to express it in return.

So do we notice that things are building to a serious crescendo?

Detective Batista is potentially onto Rudy’s trail given his impromptu meeting of a girl in a club with a prosthetic hand that matches the exact fingernail polish configuration of the first set of severed fingers found in the icetruck back at the beginning of the season. Hmmm, is it any surprise Batista is attacked at the end of the ep? Or that Rudy now has a fat lip?

Next week’s finale is lining up to have Rudy found out as the doer (thanks, CC), and wow, is Deb in for it. But having seen the finale, I’m not sure all our readers will be ready for the insane twist coming with Rudy’s identity.

What, you ask, is up with the kid sitting in the shipping container full of blood? We know it’s Dex. We know it’s his mom. We know something went really wrong. And yet we don’t quite know the whole picture.

Kinda like Rudy.

And as if Dex didn’t have enough on his mind this week dealing with his own bloody nightmare, he had to get rid of Paul.

Yeah!

Sorry, I digress.

Did that not almost seem like … I don’t know … therapeutic considering all Dex was having to deal with this week? I was just beyond irritated watching Paul press charges against Rita for assault when she was having to defend himself against his rage (okay, so Rita might’ve blurred the line a little when she invited Paul in last week, but still … he’s a deadbeat, she’s not. I love Rita. End of story. Go away, Paul).

The special two-hour season finale of Dexter will air at a special time next week – 9 p.m. (Yes, Dex is bumping Lil’ back to her ol’ time slot so that we can all hold our breath and see how this amazing first season ends - and you will not want to miss this!) Check out Showtime's official Dexter Web site for the inside scoop on the series.

Ullman's Final 'State': Best Bits

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


Wait a minute.

Time out.

Flag on the play.

How could last night have been the season finale of Tracey Ullman's State of the Union? Didn't it just start? Got to love these cable shows - they are over before you know it, yet they leave you wanting more.

Best bits from the finale:

- Dignity Village: A Restylane free establishment where women over 35-years-old stand in direct sunlight and love it; old celebrities aren't afraid to eat; and where women aren't afraid to look like ... well, crap. Amen to that.

- Suzanne Somers: Has invented the equivalent of the gynecological stairmaster and found a way to market her own bowel movements. Wait, you mean she has not done this, yet?

- Dame Helen Mirren: Promoting Fish Out Those Old Teets at some goofball film festival not frequented by either Cameron Diaz or Dame Judi Dench. Poor Helen ... can't ever escape her younger-days reputation of having flashed her teets one too many times. *DISCLAIMER: I love Helen Mirren. She is well over 35-years-old, not afraid to stand in direct sunlight, knows that actresses are supposed eat, and does want to be seen in public Restylane free and without surgical enhancements. Go Helen.

Catch up on Tracey Ullman's State of the Union online at Showtime.

'Cold Case' Gets Gaslighted

Instead of the usual "The following story is fictional..." disclaimer, this episode should have had one about not watching it while you're home all alone in a dark house with only your scary noise-making pets to keep you company. Let's just say that I jumped, felt cold shivers down my back, and carefully took a peak behind me more than once and leave it at that. Having read that this outing was loosely based on the 1944 classic Gaslight, I had a pretty good idea what was going on with Nancy, but I didn't know who was behind it and why, which made this one very enjoyable. This episode had so many twists and turns and had me going, "Huh???" so much I felt like I was watching an episode of Medium. And just like the psychic drama, everything came together perfectly in the end. I can't tell you how many times I alternated between suicide and murder and then back to suicide before the story unfolded and the answer turned out to be murder. I love psychological stuff and this case was purely psychological. It's really freaky that someone can make another person go insane by convincing them that they already are (and throwing in a bit of family history just for good measure).

The kick of the whole thing was that Daniel was the crazy one -- not his wife. He was sick with jealousy over her natural writing talent and he convinced himself that she stole his work rather than vice versa. He couldn't comprehend how a "child of the state" would be able to write something so beautiful while he, with the PhD and the compliment that his pen had been "touched by the gods," could be left with a book of mediocre poetry. So, he convinced his wife (with some help from the housekeeper -- who was harboring her own case of envy) that she had gone off the deep end just like her mother and then faked her suicide so he could steal her work. The thing that got me, though, was his lack of remorse. You would think that after all of these years, he would have felt a ping or two of guilt for killing his wife and stealing her work (the work that earned him that Poet Laureate title), but he was so cold or nuts or just obsessed with the attention her work got him or all of the above to care about the people he mowed over in the process. Just wow.

It's worth noting that I enjoyed the continuity with Scotty's story in this one. Elisa was the love of his life and someone that won't easily be forgotten, so it feels only natural that a case surrounding a supposed mentally ill woman who allegedly committed suicide would affect him more than the others. My heart broke a little for him when the case pointed back to suicide and he was left searching for any thread of credibility that pointed to murder. He looked so defeated, and Lilly could only reassure him that Nancy wasn't Elisa and her case wasn't about Elisa's suicide or Scotty's guilt. It was a nice side plot that allowed the viewers to fill in the blanks.

I also enjoyed Lilly's interrogation with Annette. The irony that Annette equated Lilly's beauty with her employer's and jumped to the conclusion that she has it easy because she's beautiful was well done. I liked the way Kathryn Morris played Lilly in this scene. That "if you only knew" look on her face when Annette made her assumptions (when we all know that her personal life is a complete disaster) was brilliant. Nice scene. And speaking of nice scenes, how much did we love that Jeffries and the housekeeper/former dancer story??!! I laughed out loud when Vera almost stole his milk. CLASSIC! I wonder if he'll be enjoying any more apple pie in the future. Cold Case moves to 17-0 on the season. Will the season finale next week complete the undefeated season? Tune in to PTR next Monday to find out.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Ben Has to Break the Rules

Lost's return this week snuck up on me (in more ways than one)! I was out of town this week (hence the reason why this post is about 3 days too late), so I had to do the whole avoid the Internet/flip the channel whenever anyone mentions Lost/beg friends and family members not to spill any of the details thing. Thankfully, all of this worked so when I sat down to watch it today, I was surprised from start to finish. I suppose it was only a matter of time before they killed Alex. After all, her mom and boyfriend both bit it in that mini finale a few weeks back. Plus as we learned this week, her death is the catalyst for a very important plot point once the survivors get off the island. It explains why Ben continues to pursue Whidmore and how he's able to recruit Sayid. Actually, a lot of pieces started to fall into place during this outing. It seems like this war between Whidmore and Ben goes way back. When Ben broke into Whidmore's penthouse, Charles told him that everything Ben has he took from him. This leads me to believe that Whidmore was behind the Dharma Initiative and he has never forgiven Ben for killing off all of the people he put on that island. Of course killing those people is what gave Ben control of the island, and thus, the battle began. Unfortunately, it has claimed a lot of innocent people in the process.

Meanwhile, Jack is feeling a little green and he's popping pills to make it better. Kate seems concerned (as she should be), but Jack just wants to take the pills and pretend he's not suffering. This couldn't come at a worse time as the parachuters are lying to them (thankfully, Bernard knows Morse Code), the ship's doctor washed up dead, Whidmore's minions are launching a full-fledged attack on the Others' camp, and oh yeah, Ben summoned the Smoke Monster. I knew he was behind that dark cloud's mysterious appearances! Let's just hope that this half-baked plan to involve Jacob doesn't go up in smoke like Whidmore's men.

Screen caps courtesy Lost-Media.com.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

'Bones' Shoots, Scores

Having graduated from an SEC school, I know that there are few things better in life than college sports (especially football). With that in mind I was very curious to see how Bones dealt with the world of college basketball. Now, we in SEC country (with the exception of those crazy Kentucky fans) don't consider ourselves gung-ho basketball fans like the ACC because most of our energy is spent on football, but I still got a kick out of the way the episode played up the importance of athletics on a college campus. Brennan was so put off by the fact that a measly 4 students showed up for her anthropology lecture while the entire student body was wrapped up in the game. She even managed to insult Booth in the process. Speaking of which, there was an interesting vibe there when she belittled his obsession with sports (both as a former athlete and a current fan). She really hurt his feelings, and that realization caused her to make amends at the end. But, why does Booth care so much about what she thinks? Sure, they're partners, but they have very little, if anything, in common and that never seems to bother him, but her putting him down, really got to him. Hmm...

I know that Angela is a fun lovin' gal, but I had a hard time believing that she wouldn't have been mortified when her BOSS found that sex tape! Yes, I said her BOSS found her sex tape. A tape of her and a coworker (OK, so they're engaged, but still her BOSS saw her sex tape!) in a storage closet on their lunch break. I'm uncomfortable for her! As usual, I loved the show's lighter moments -- the skull crushing reenactment (complete with ambrosia all over Cam), Bones scoring that basket and feeling a sense of glee, and Hodgins discovering the blue lipstick. And if I could've stop blushing long enough for Angela, I might have enjoyed the humor in those scenes as well. Overall, Bones scores another win.

Photos are copyright Fox Broadcasting Co. If you missed last night's outing ("Pressure in the Game"), check it out for free at Hulu.com.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Allison Has the Cure

Most of the time, I consider Allison's gift to be more curse than blessing. But when Scanlon asked her to shut her eyes because he was about to get out of bed and he wasn't wearing any clothes, I was definitely leaning more towards blessing. Of course, if I were actually in Allison's shoes then I probably wouldn't feel the same considering her dreams were causing her to pry into her friends' bedroom. Talk about an awkward morning after! I imagine it's one thing to have visions about complete strangers and another to have them about people you know. It's made more difficult when those friends aren't completely onboard with what you're seeing. Ever since the whole Allison's- role- in- the- DA's- office- got- Devalos- fired thing, Scanlon has been less receptive to her dreams and much slower to act on them. This is disappointing for me because it basically means less Det. Hottie and when we do see him, he tends to be at odds with Allison. So, I was thrilled to see Allison call him on it this week. And, he did come around at the end after she realized that the husband and the other victims' family members plotted the murders before boarding the same flight at New York's JFK airport. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we get an Allison/Scanlon/Devalos reunion asap.

Once it was revealed that other family members were involved in the string of pain medication poisonings, the story started to sound a little familiar. You see, one of the side effects of the 3-month writers strike was that I spent a lot of my free primetime hours watching my TV on DVD sets. These sets included the first two seasons of Bones, and one of the episodes from one of the seasons included a potential serial killer that wound up being a group of victims' family members who created a scheme where each of them killed another person's loved one for them. The crimes were similar because they were linked through this "murder club." We had a comparable case on this week's Medium. And yet, I still didn't have it figured out until Allison dreamed about the initial meeting at JFK. What's that expression again... fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm always in fooled on Medium! That's what makes it so great. Well that and Joe's kickass scene at the optician's office.

Photos courtesy nbc.com. If you missed last night's outing ("A Cure for What Ails You"), check it out for free at Hulu.com.

Monday, April 21, 2008

T for 2: 'Chronicles' Renewed

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


The fight to save the world will continue.

And let me just thank the television Gods for that.

Fox has thankfully and officially picked up Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a second season, ordering 13 additional new episodes. T:SCC came in as the highest-rated new scripted series this writers strike shortened season among adults 18-49 with an average of 10.5 million total viewers.

Um, is it bad ol' Lilly Rush isn't keeping up with those numbers these days? Perhaps we should send Cameron over to help? Actually, Charley will do just fine.

Alas, I digress.

Now, onto how in the world Cameron is going to make it out of that jeep explosion.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Morris Talks to the Movieguy

With so many PTR Faves earning their very own posts lately, I'm almost inclined to declare this PTR Faves Week. Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this influx of publicity will continue throughout the week in order to sustain it. This time its Kathryn Morris's turn. Sometime back when she was doing the press junket for Resurrecting the Champ, she stopped by Chuck the Movieguy's chair and reminisced about her early days in the acting world and shared some insider info on her role as Joyce, which in my opinion is some of her best work (and don't tell Lilly Rush, but I just LOVED her character in this film). Since Champ is now out on DVD, I thought I'd share this recently posted video of her down-to-earth interview with Chuck the Movieguy.


You can see more of Chuck the Movieguy's interviews, including one with fellow PTR Fave Kristen Bell, at You Tube.

Ullman's 'State': Best Bits

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


Borrowing from Gossip Girl: OMFG.

Ullman was on absolute fire this week. She had me in tears twice. This week's best bits:

- Another mutiny on JetBlue: "In Chicago, a JetBlue flight headed for Tampa has been on the runway for 12 hours." And the passengers are getting restless. Let's roll. Full disclosure: I love JetBlue. If I could fly JetBlue everywhere, I would. Are you kidding? DirecTV screens in every seat, Business Class legroom without the Business Class price. BUT ... I do know they got reamed for their whole 80,000 hour, keep-the-passengers-prisoner routine in the Perfect Storm Winter of 2007. To be fair, what the heck is with the FAA rule prohibiting planes from returning to the terminal once they've been cleared for departure but of which CAN GO NOWHERE because Blizzard Bertha has shutdown the airport? Hello? Is this one? Ullman turned that one into a priceless sketch without the blizzard.

- 60 Minutes' Andy Rooney: Is he 117 years-old-now, or ...? Clearly, he knows what to do with a pencil. And marker. Computer not so much. Suggestive convulsing hand gestures not withstanding.

- Cameron Diaz: So burpalicious promoting her Oscar-buzz worthy Terrible Time of the Month film (where does Ullman get these names ... hysterical). Anyhooo, the film is some sort of pseudo-Charlie's Angels action flick to rescue women in Africa facing ... well, a certain unpleasant change to their womanhood. Does Diaz really burp that much? And if so, isn't there a prescription for that? There's a great Bollywood pharmacist who can make sure she understands the side effects.

... and this week's winner ...

- CNN Reporter Campbell Brown: "Horror. Fear. Terror. Nightmare. Disaster. Catastrophe. Terror. Fear. Back to you, Brian." OMFG. I am still laughing today at this one. Why is it that our broadcast journalists seem to have this thing for forecasting the end of the world each night at 6:30 p.m.? Suffice it to say that, as far as Ullman is concerned, Brown is the Debbie Downer of Reporters. And she's got a plethora of material with which to work. Too. Flipping. Funny.

New episodes of Tracey Ullman's State of the Union air Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime. Even if you don't get Showtime, you can catch up on all the goods over at the show's official Web site.

Bell's Peachy Cover

PTR fave and newly minted movie star Kristen Bell (her comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall just opened in 2nd place this past weekend) is on the cover of the current issue of Atlanta's Peach Magazine. In the article, she discusses her rising fame, the paparazzi, and what she'll be wearing on her wedding night some day. Here is the full text of the story:

Clear As a Bell
Kristen Bell's unpretentious Midwestern grounding keeps her unfazed by Hollywood and her own rising stardom

By E.C. Gladstone
Exclusive Photos by Steve Erle

This woman is going to make someone a fantastic wife.

It’s not the first thought you’d expect to come to mind for a young Hollywood hottie, and when it does, smack in the middle of a late-afternoon chat with television (and soon, big-screen) sweetheart Kristen Bell, I actually blurt it out loud.

“Hey, thanks!” Bell responds, so sincerely that it only cements the image.

And it isn’t just because of the 27-year-old blonde’s shimmering eyes and mood-altering smile. Or her charmingly breathless tardy arrival at our meeting—dressed Annie Hall-style in a straw fedora, navy jacket and Ugg boots—explaining that she just got back from an overnight trip on the back of “a friend’s” motorcycle. Kristen’s marryability has more to do with her impressively centered sense of self, her equal appreciation for subjects serious and silly, and her enthusiasm for what she admits might be considered “boring” activities.

“I love to go on walks, I love to knit,” she lists. “My roommate Amy and I love to find different Martha Stewart recipes out of Real Simple magazine.” Her idea of a perfect Sunday is getting coffee and a newspaper and hitting some hot open houses. Last summer, rather than go clubbing, the former star of Veronica Mars and new cast member of über-hot Heroes convinced her friends to join in an overnight camping trip in her backyard, a wildlife-filled wonderland in the Hollywood Hills.

Clearly grounded with Midwestern values, this Michigan native also admits she’s both thrifty with her spending (she succumbed to the urge for Christian Louboutin heels only this year) and conservationist. She brings her own bags to the grocery store and grabs the soaps and shampoos when she stays in fancy hotels. In car-obsessed L.A., she proudly drives a Saturn. “I have so many beautiful things in my life, material or otherwise,” she explains, “that to keep indulging makes me feel almost uncomfortable.”

We meet at M Café de Chaya, the kind of place where K-Bell (as friends call her) is quickly recognized not as someone famous but as a regular. The macrobiotic luncheonette (ironically, just spewing distance from Hollywood’s favorite artery-clogger, Pink’s hot dogs) is a slice of heaven for this long-time vegetarian who has no need to seek out the limelight.

Her new film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall—in which Bell plays the title character—is “by far the biggest movie I’ve ever done,” she says, which has led her to an unfamiliar and slightly exhausting amount of self-promotion. Diving into the world of producer Judd Apatow’s improv comedies was “phenomenally intimidating,” Kristen confesses, but shooting at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu helped allay her anxieties. “It was be-yootiful,” Kristen says with a sparkle, singling out experiences like yoga on the beach and swimming with horses (both for scenes that were cut from the film) as the most memorable. Not that she’s complaining, but Bell, who also shot her three seasons of Veronica Mars on the beaches of San Diego, isn’t much of a surf-and-sand person in real life.

“Noooo. I think I’m the only person in Los Angeles that doesn’t appreciate the weather,” she says. “I’m from Detroit, and I love the cold. I love bundling up. It makes me feel secure. I get intimidated by a really sunshiny day, because it’s like, now we have to do something outside, we have to do something relaxing. I always get really excited when it rains, or when it’s hot-chocolate weather, because there’s no expectations.” When asked if she’d rather be back in New York (where she attended NYU for two years before getting her Broadway break), Bell answers “yes” so quickly you’d think she’s on a game show.

And as you read this, she’s spending three months in the Big Apple filming When in Rome. Her only regret about returning there is having to leave her canine housemates—two rescued corgi mixes named Lola and Mr. Shakes, as well as Sadie, a Labrador-retriever refugee from Hurricane Katrina. “I’m a homebody,” confesses Kristen, who’s equally enthused about video games (Guitar Hero, Rock Band…Mariocart!) and good books (on her night table: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and Mark Haddon’s A Spot of Bother).

Bell’s childhood sounds refreshingly normal, with a few asterisks—such as the fact that she wanted to change her name to Smurfette, or Matthew, at age four (she also gave all her dolls male names, including Kevin, a pink rag doll she still keeps on her bed). Eventually she settled on answering to Annie (her middle name, which is what her family still calls her). Her most rebellious act at Catholic school—at least that she’ll admit—was rolling her skirt too high to pass the “pop-can” test.

When it comes to her physical attributes, Kristen is more proud of being chosen “Queen of Geek Chic” by Geek magazine than her rankings in more mainstream men’s magazines. “I think it’s the ultimate flattery,” she says. “Because the definition of geeks, it’s people who like what they like ‘cause they like it. They’re not trying to fit in.” It probably didn’t hurt that she had a role in Fanboys (shot in 2006, but just released recently), playing the cutest Star Wars freak you’ve never met. She also provided narration and a body scan to the videogame Assassin’s Creed. “That’s for real gamers,” she says, “and I’m not even going to attempt to claim that that’s me.”

Bell is a geek in her own right—of the musical-theater type. In March, she and Heroes co-star Zach Quinto got to live out a minor fantasy, performing a number from Bye Bye Birdie at an Alzheimer charity benefit. “We’ve been dying to sing together. We sing [current Broadway musical] Spring Awakening in the car all the time,” she confesses, admitting her iPod play list could easily be mistaken for that of your average gay man. “I really want to go back to Broadway and go do a classic musical, do some Sondheim.”

Almost instinctively, the moment Kristin’s sweet sincerity feels like it’s starting to cause cavities (apparently everyone she’s ever worked with is the most wonderful person on earth), she’ll turn serious and deftly fend off any inquiries into her romantic life, which may or may not involve fellow Michigan export Dax Shepard.

“My personal life is not your business,” Kristen says politely as she plays with the modest gold-heart pendant around her neck. “It’s not something that I want on display.” Bell says that is for her own sanity. “I don’t ever want to completely lose a sense of myself and totally become what the public sees.” She is made anxious by the phenomenon of “becoming important to people you don’t know.” The narrator of television’s Gossip Girl doesn’t begrudge the paparazzi—too much. “You can definitely shield yourself from them. What you can’t do is outrun them. They are the fiercest drivers you’ve ever seen. They put everyone else on the road at risk.” As for the photogs who regularly camp outside her house, she shakes her head. “Why does anybody care what I’m getting at Ralph’s [supermarket]? That’s not interesting. Who cares!?” What interests Bell more is doing what she can to help Invisible Children, an organization started by friends to rescue and rehabilitate juvenile warriors in Uganda. She’s also a spokesperson for the Helen Woodward Animal Center, an animal shelter based in Santa Fe.

“I’ve had a lot of very, very lucky breaks, and I’m very grateful for them,” she says. Her first, arguably, was getting the dual roles of a banana and a tree in a suburban-Detroit Raggedy Ann & Andy musical at age 11. When she scored the part of Becky Thatcher in the Broadway musical version of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (which led her to leave school after her sophomore year), she reveals, “I ran up and down the hallway of my building crying.” Just three days after arriving in Los Angeles she landed an appearance on hot cable drama The Shield. And more recently, she wormed her way into what’s become an increasingly significant role on Heroes, after meeting some of the show’s writers and confessing she was a “psycho fan.”

Bell admits the perception of her in Hollywood may present some limitations. “I’m not pretty enough to play the pretty girl and not homely enough to play the awkward girl,” she says, but she’s thrilled to have already portrayed such varied characters in nearly every genre and every medium. “I don’t ever want to play the same role over and over again. I don’t want my value to go up because of who I am as Kristen Bell. I want to remain an actress.”

There’s just one more thing her future husband will want to know. Does she still have her Catholic-school uniform? “Oh, sure. I tucked that away when I was 18. I’m gonna wear it on my wedding night!”


To see more photos of Kristen from the magazine, visit Atlanta's Peach Magazine's site.

Friday, April 18, 2008

'Scrubs' Proves its Manhood

You know men and their obsession with proving their manhood -- it's a never ending quest. But, watching JD (a.k.a. every girl's name ever invented) competing for his, while Turk tried to regain his was classic! Of course, they each had their own reasons: JD wanted to teach his infant son about being a man and Turk wanted to feel like a man again after losing a testicle in a tragic encounter with daughter Izzie. But it wasn't just the episode-long manhood competition that was classic. We also had remote wrestling, "The Janitorial," Rate Dr. Reid's Butt, the over-ambitious idea of a tri-daily Janitorial, invisible Ted, The Todd's "Entire Coffebucks 5," Squat & Surf (the act of surfing the net while sitting on the toilet), Turk and JD admitting that they are "a little married," all of Eliot's stories ending with "and then he hanged himself," everyone touching Dr. Cox after reading his "interview" in The Janitorial, and Turk's missing testicle (which, for the record, isn't a funny situation, but the way the story came to light, Turk's reaction to JD finding out, and the ensuing conversation between Turk and JD including which testicle went was HILARIOUS!!). As usual, here's this week's best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"Rate Dr. Reid's butt??!! Yes, 9.2!! Thank god this hospital's full of white guys." Eliot after seeing the writing on the bathroom wall

"Check this out. I'm going to take this to Kinko's and get it blown up poster-size." Turk to JD regarding their cover story in The Janitorial about their smackdown
"Get two!" JD to Turk

"You're the only one your son has to model himself after when he's trying to figure out how to be a man and seeing the occasional poster of Paul Mitchell whenever you take him by the beauty salon isn't going to cut it." Dr. Cox to JD

"I think all the ladies in the greater metro area should expect to see about 8 inches." The Todd's weather report for The Janitorial

"How did you get Sam out of daycare?" JD to Dr. Cox
"Put on a wig and a skirt and told them I was you." Dr. Cox

"Wow, Turk's pretty quick without that testicle weighing him down. I wonder if Olympic athletes have ever thought of that?" JD (narration)

If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, be sure to leave me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Premiering 'Sarah Marshall'

If you've been watching the talk shows this week, then you know that PTR Fave Kristen Bell has been making the rounds promoting her new comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. David Letterman, Regis & Kelly, The Today Show, TRL are just some of the places she has stopped by so far. And her tour isn't over yet -- look for her to pop up on Rachael Ray and Craig Ferguson tomorrow. Last week, though, she was in LA for the premiere of the comedy which also stars How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segel. She plays the title character in the film about a man trying to forget the girl who just dumped him. Of course, it's difficult to forget someone when they're staying in your exact same hotel in Hawaii. Anywho, here are some more pictures from the premiere (all photos courtesy Getty Images/Wire Image):

Bell with costars Jason Segel and Mila Kunas



You can see more photos from the premiere at Getty Images. Forgetting Sarah Marshall hits theaters this Friday.

Getting Back to the 'Gossip'

'Gossip Girl' Returns April 21st on the CWBy LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


OMFG.

Gossip Girl is back with brand new episodes beginning Monday, April 21st at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Central) on the CW.

For those not in the know, the show is based on the popular novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar and revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions. Featuring an ensemble cast, the series is narrated by a seemingly omniscient character, Gossip Girl (voiced by PTR Fave Kristen Bell), who runs a blog about her fellow Upper East Siders — consequently stirring the plot and creating potential rivalries in this exclusive and vicious circle of friends.

Check out the official Gossip Girl Web site for the scoop on the series.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Funny 'Bones'

One of the great things about Bones is its ability to cook up some of the most ridiculous situations and murders and make them work. This week, we watched Booth and Bones go on a double date social situation with their therapist. It was blatant taunting on the part of the writers to all of the viewers who want to see them together, and it should have come across as such, but it didn't! This show has so much charm, humor, and character that it can get away with scenes like this without anyone batting an eye. Better yet, it manages to make these scenes my favorites of the series. Take Booth and Bones at the ceramics studio. Booth's horse, Brennan's scientific answers for Sweets' girlfriend, and the it-had-to-happen clay fight kept me laughing throughout that well-played scene. You know what else makes me laugh? Irony. And you can't beat the irony of Sweets taking Booth and Brennan out to observe their interaction in a social situation (where the work topic is banned), and it ends up being Sweets and his girlfriend that need the counseling! In fact, Booth and Brennan did very well. As usual, I also enjoyed their sessions back at Sweets' office. Too many funny lines to recall here.

In between therapy sessions and pottery dates, our favorite forensic anthropologist and her FBI sidekick were busy solving the case of who killed the motocross racer. And didn't you just know that the two lovebirds in the beginning were going to find more than hot mud in that off-the-beaten-path spring. I was cringing before they even pulled up the skeletal hand!

It's so good to have Bones back! And since I've been in a generous mood lately, it bares mentioning that Emily Deschanel looked fantastic this week! She joins Kathryn Morris and Patricia Arquette in the "Lookin' Fab" club here at PTR.

Photos are copyright Fox Broadcasting Co. You can watch this week's episode ("The Man in the Mud") for free at Hulu.com.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

A 'Medium' Sized Dilemma

Imagine if Allison did have someone on "the other side" who could help her out -- now, wouldn't that be intriguing? Of course, this someone would have be from the non-murderous breed (and yes, this does exclude vigilantes like our trigger happy FBI agent and my fave serial killing do-gooder Dexter). Like the aforementioned serial killer/vigilante from another network, our FBI agent in Phoenix was killing the people who got away with killing others. Obviously in principle, we all disagree with the murders. BUT in practice, that becomes a little more gray. If Allison's FBI ghost was right, then he spared more people from the heartache that the first three victims and their families went through (especially the prison nurse and her three children). It's a moral dilemma that I wouldn't want to be in the middle of, which brings up reason number 502 why I'm glad I'm not Allison.

Actually, I'm kinda glad I'm not Joe right now either. There is no way I could justify giving someone the controlling stake in my idea, and yet, how could he not when he's unemployed (and has been for some time) and trying to get financial backing when the pickings are slim? Of course he had to take the offer! It just sucks that his back was up against a wall and he might have just compromised his own invention. Bummer. Before I sign off on this episode, I'd like to once again commend the Medium writers for their extremely accurate portrayal of the DuBois children. I come from a family of three girls, and let me tell you, that breakfast table scene was ripped from my childhood! These scenes always give me a laugh.

Photos courtesy nbc.com

Monday, April 14, 2008

Ullman's 'State': Best Bits

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


This week's best bits (and remember folks, this is a sketch comedy program; no actual celebs were harmed in the following impersonations):

- Dame Judi Dench: Called in to do the "wrinkley" work of playing a 60-something woman with Alzheimer's on the Oscar-buzz oriented film Who the F*** Was I? (this film name alone is hysterical) given no American actress in Hollyweird will admit to be older than 46. I half wonder if this is actually an imaginary tale or real. Come to think of it, can we actually name an actress in Hollyweird who will admit to being older than 46?

- Dina Lohan: Always in some sort of secluded extra super special VIP section of a nightclub, drinking herself into oblivion while conversing with "other" famous stage moms and simultaneously bagging on her own daughter. The resemblance is amazing.

- The Most Famous Actress in Malawi adopting a son from the U.S. à la every conceivable variation of Bragelina and Madonna: do we need to even say more?

New episodes of Tracey Ullman's State of the Union air Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime. Even if you don't get Showtime, you can catch up on all the goods over at the show's official Web site.

'Dexter's' Family Ties

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


“After all, I am your biggest fan.”
- Syndrome/Buddy, The Incredibles

Uh-huh. Yup. We knew that.

Still, did anyone else find the Dex v. Icetruck Killer meeting this week a little … well, fanboyish? Like, the big bad IK was just a little too eager to become Dex’s best friend? I swear I thought he was going to ask Dex for his autograph or something.

And yet, we do know the IK has a thing for Dex.

The entire time they’ve been engaged in this chess match of serial killerness, it hasn't been without their BFF routine. But, that game has been played without either being in the presence of the other. Now that they have met to face to face, the whole let-me-be-your-best-friend routine makes the IK kinda seem dorky.

Dorky in a still very creepy way.

What is up with him taking out Dexter’s real dad? How did he know that? Deb and Dex didn’t even know the guy – a point of serious contention this week between brother and sister. Seems there were a couple of things Holier-Than-Thou Harry did not tell the team.

Deb brought the house down with her impassioned plea to Dex to just forget about this newly discovered real dad thing. Jennifer Carpenter was on her game. She and Michael C. Hall have such tangible brother/sister chemistry that it makes their scenes resonate with a realness that makes you actually start believing they are brother and sister.

Still, I was with Dex this week on feeling like something is fishy on all counts - and worth investigating further.

Rudy lecturing Dex about the whole “this is your real dad” thing. Rudy being out stalking Dex late at night as Dex tries to discover the real cause of his biological father’s death. Rudy being the suspicious cable repair man. Rudy being freakin’ everywhere and everything to the Morgans at this moment. What’s he going to do – take out Dex and Deb to finish off the family?

Well, I guess he is their biggest fan. And that can tend to be dangerous.

Meanwhile, Doakes decided to just kill off a pedestrian.

Okay, not really.

More like a former Haitian death squad member who Doakes recognized from his former military black ops days. I guess you could say it was sort of house cleaning, or settling some unfinished business. Still, it put Detective Batista in a tough spot, and almost had him have to narc on his partner given Doakes’ account of what happened and the forensics of the crime scene didn’t quite match up.

I guess Doakes is like Cold Case’s Scotty Valens – he can bend the rules to carry out personal vendettas and not get in trouble.

Amazing how that works, eh?

And then there is dearly disturbing Paul … he’s like a bad dream that we are all just counting down the moments until Dex … well, you know. But, it is kind of fun to watch Rita put him in his place. She’s growing by leaps in bounds. And fierce Rita is just as charming as soft, sensitive Rita.

The first season of Dexter airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on CBS. Check out Showtime's official Dexter Web site for the inside scoop on the series.

Lilly Meets Her Match

This week's episode of Cold Case had 2 things going against it before it started: 1) it was coming off of last week's fan-freakin'-tastic psychotic road trip outing and, 2) the case had to compete with an interesting development on the Lilly front. So, how did it do? First, the Lilly front. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I watch this show (and every other show) for the characters. The cases are good (sometimes amazing), the set design is fantastic (the travels through time leave me awe-struck), the directing and writing are far above your run of the mill crime drama, and the victims and their stories are heartbreaking. BUT, I mainly watch Cold Case for the characters, especially the fantastic character of Lilly Rush. Without her, there would be no show. With this in mind, any story line that gives her more screen time, provides a bigger glimpse into her life and what makes her tick, and allows the character to grow will always be welcome. This is why I have mix feelings about this Det. Saccardo. Maybe I've been burned too many times by this show and its half-told, abruptly cut off relationship stories for Lilly (Kite, Ray, Joseph) because I don't have much faith that she and Saccardo will turn out any differently. And since we barely got a glimpse of their potential (and his, for that matter), I haven't decided whether I want it to or not. She certainly seems to have met her match and he gets on her nerves the same way Kite did (still the best relationship), so I'm hopeful. Lilly needs someone decent for once. How long have PTR Senior Staff Writer LillyKat and I been pleading for a Fritz for CC's version of Brenda Leigh Johnson? Could Saccardo and his story line finally be the answer? For now, the verdict is still out.

Call me crazy, but something about this case smelled of season one. Of course, this made me happy because I think it would behoove this show to use the first season as a crutch more often. [SIDE BAR] I had to throw "behoove" in there for our girl, Lil. Back in season 2, a cocky NYC detective knocked on her door looking for her wayward sister and he told her that it would "behoove them" to turn in Chris. Lilly got all eye-rolly and said one of my favorite lines from this show: "Oh, it would behoove us, would it?" It was, in the words of How I Met Your Mother's Barney, "Leg-en-dary!" [/SIDE BAR] Funny thing about this week's case -- it kept stealing my attention even though my mind was busy working overtime analyzing whether Saccardo is a good match for Lil. I was fully distracted, and yet, Pete's story kept sucking me back in. I imagine it must be difficult to walk the straight and narrow after you've played the career criminal game for so long and no one wants to give you a chance to start over, including the cop that locked you up (and consequently, still has it in for you). So, I felt bad for Pete. I was disappointed when he seemed to slip right back into his old ways, so I was proud when I found out it was all a set up. Unfortunately, aforementioned cop was only kidding about that whole set up thing, and he wasn't too happy to see that Pete wasn't. I'm not sure how much I buy the cop as the killer (he was concerned about going away for armed robbery, but not murder?), but I still felt that this was a solid outing. So, to answer the question above -- Cold Case did very well in the face of two HUGE obstacles in its way before it even flashed the opening credits. CC moves to 16-0 on the season.

Friday, April 11, 2008

'Cold Case' Heats Up This Sunday

Lilly (Kathryn Morris) lets a narcotics cop get under her skin in this Sunday's new episode of "Cold Case" (PHOTO: Mitchell Haddad/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

Last week, Lilly took an intense ride on a dark highway with a serial killer (how awesome was that episode??!!). This week, she may be heading down an intense road of a different kind. In Sunday's *ALL-NEW* episode, she goes toe-to-toe with a narcotics cop with an attitude -- a story line which introduces a recurring role for Third Watch alum Bobby Cannavale. Executive Producer Veena Sud promises in TV Guide that Cannavale's Eddie Saccardo "gets under [Lilly's] skin." I think we all know where this is heading...

Anyway, here's the official line from the CBS press release:

THE TEAM INVESTIGATES THE 1997 MURDER OF AN EX-CON WHO WAS THOUGHT TO BE A FUGITIVE UNTIL LILLY IS HANDED NEWFOUND EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY, ON "COLD CASE," SUNDAY, APRIL 13

Emmy Award Winner Bobby Cannavale ("Will & Grace") Joins the Cast In a Recurring Role As a Narcotics Cop

And here are a few more photos from the episode:
Lilly goes toe-to-toe with a narcotics cop (Bobby Cannavale) (PHOTO: Mitchell Haddad/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

Lilly and Scotty (Danny Pino) interview a suspect (PHOTO: Mitchell Haddad/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

Lilly works to find an ex-con's killer while dealing with a difficult narcotics cop (PHOTO: Mitchell Haddad/CBS ©2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

Cold Case airs Sunday night at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.

'Scrubs' is On Fire

Is it just me, or does it feel like an eternity has passed since we last saw an episode of Scrubs??!! I was wracking my brain last night trying to remember one episode from this season, but kept coming up empty. It's just been soooo long! Needless to say, I was very happy to have it back. As usual, there was plenty of funny goodness to make us laugh and welcome back a show that was HUGELY missed. We had Turk and JD giving a celebratory "upstairs" and then "downstairs" (which they both decided was too weird), a water balloon game with the interns that mimicked a popular video game, JD struggling with not saying the word "hot" to a burn victim, Amigoville, Eliot's high school graduation speech, Brinner: breakfast for dinner, JD and the burn victim's original song "I'm Going to Graduation (The Graduation Song)," Dr. Kelso and the cake, Lloyd the ambulance driver, and Janitor giving relationship advice. It all added up to another terrific hour. And now, the long-awaited return of this week's best, funniest and all around awesome lines in this edition of the Scrubies.

The Scrubies
"Thank goodness! When you said that, I died a little inside." JD to Turk after Turk jokingly declared that they were getting too old to get excited about sex

"I've got an overweight patient back there who's already had his stomach stapled and is now taking diet medication that gives you painful diarrhea whenever you eat more than 15 grams of fat at one sitting. Anyone want to guess what he's in the hospital for? I'll give you a hint -- it's very painful and it rhymes with 'shmiarrhea.'" Dr. Cox to his colleagues

"Perry, how many times do I have to say it? We're tired of your speeches. If you don't stop, I'll have to hire an orchestra to play that awards show music they use to hustle long-winded Hollywood fruitcakes off the stage." Dr. Kelso to Dr. Cox after another one of his long (yet funny) speeches

"You look absolutely amazing! But, it's kinda hard to beat brinner." Turk to Carla after she reveals what she's wearing under her bathrobe

If you have a line that you would like to nominate for a Scrubie, be sure to leave me a comment and I'll publish it in a future edition.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

'Hammer' Time

If you've been watching this current season of Dancing with the Stars, then you've probably heard newly booted contestant Adam Carolla plug his latest film The Hammer. Now, PTR doesn't usually delve into the film world (unless a film involves one of our faves, of course), but every once in a while we like to help out the little guys since we're, well, a little guy ourselves. So in that spirit, we'd like to let you know about this self-distributed film that is getting some big buzz from both critics and movie-goers alike. Carolla stars in the sports comedy (he also serves as an executive producer) about a man who re-evaluates his life after his 40th birthday and decides to get back into the boxing ring instead of teaching the sport to middle-aged gym-goers. Ebert & Roper gave it "two thumbs up" and put it on their "three to see" list. New York Times called it "as unexpected as it is moving." And The Hollywood Reporter called it "delightfully funny." Check it out for yourself with this official trailer:


For more on The Hammer, visit the film's official site or check it out on MySpace.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ullman's 'State': Best Bits

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


"I like it. Simple. Easy to remember."

- Captain Jack Sparrow,
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

One of the best parts about watching Tracey Ullman's State of the Union is the fact it is simple and easy to remember. It's also too funny not to make mention of Ullman's comic genius this week:

- The mother of all bloggers, Arianna Huffington, accepting her "Bloggie." Go blog yourself.

- David Beckham: Ullman has got to do a shaved-head version (since Becks doesn't have any hair at the moment). The accent, though, is priceless. BTW, have you all ever heard David Beckham speak? I'm a football fan (that would be soccer to ... well, the U.S.), so I'm unfortunately way too familiar with Becks and his aura. I'm not swayed. I don't fall all over him. I could care less what his wife (Posh Spice) is doing or not doing. Nonetheless, it's hard not to laugh when he talks. Mike Tyson anyone?

- Bollywood Pharmacist: The ED number this week ... Oh. My. God. Crying. Truly, I was crying I was laughing so hard. I missed the next sketch because I couldn't not recover from this one.

- Renée Zellweger: Ah, so there really is a condition to explain the whole squint eye thing? (Disclaimer: I actually like Renée Zellweger; she wowed me in Chicago and Cold Mountain, and I've have never forgotten her. But who knew Ullman could nail the squint thing so perfectly, or turn it into a sketch. Then again, this is Tracey Ullman we're talking about.)

New episodes of Tracey Ullman's State of the Union air Sundays at 10 p.m. on Showtime. Even if you don't get Showtime, you can catch up on all the goods over at the show's official Web site.

'Medium's' Sister Act

You guys know that any episode of Medium that features one Det. Scanlon in an extended role is a welcome outing here at PTR. Besides being tremendous eye candy, he sorta oozes sexiness. Apparently, women aren't the only ones picking up on it either. So, what happens when you put Det. Hottie in an elevator with a successful publisher, "an extra ticket to the Suns game," and an invitation to dinner and some hoops? A recipe for a rock-solid arrest. Scanlon is so hot, he's causing murderers to come forward without them even realizing what they just confessed to and to whom they did the confessing. That's some powerful sexy! As Scanlon was about to enter that elevator and the case was circling the bowl, I glanced up at the clock and I thought for a brief moment, "NOT ANOTHER 2-PARTER!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!" Alas, we were spared from a third 2-parter in a row thanks to the world's most costly pick up line.


I'm not really sure why Allison was seeing her sister the Cougar author as the murderer when it was her publisher (other than to feature the fabulous Rosanna Arquette more prominently, which if this is the case, no complaints here. All of the Arquettes are quite fabulous, so this special 2-fer was several levels of awesome). Maybe it was just a case of the facts getting jumbled in her head or maybe the writers didn't want Rosanna (who, by the way, was the inspiration for one of the most fantastic 80s tunes EVER!! Toto's "Rosanna," as in "I bless the rains down in Africa" Toto) to be a killer. Of course, I spent most of the hour trying to distinguish features that hint toward Patricia and Rosanna being related (I finally decided they basically have the same eyes -- that's it), so I may have missed a thing or two here and there. In the end, I wasn't sure which was more awesome: Rosanna starring alongside her sister or the fact that the second victim was killed with a nail gun leading to an endless litany of "nailed" jokes. But I digress. Medium claims another victory sorta like Devalos will come election day after that kickass pre-emptive strike.

Photos courtesy nbc.com

Monday, April 07, 2008

'Dexter's' Big Reveal

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer


Why is it that our down-and-out on love female homicide detectives can’t ever catch a break on the personal life tip?

First, Lilly Rush.

Now, Debra Morgan.

Is BJ (that would be Brenda Leigh Johnson over on The Closer) the only one who can find and keep a good guy?

Anyhoooo, remind me to buy PTR’s Editor-in-Chief, TVFan, a lottery ticket this week. Or just give her a super round of kudos for being able to figure out the Icetruck Killer’s identity way before I ever did (and I watched the first season of Dexter two years ago).

Doc Rudy.

Ewwwww.

Just ewwwwwww.

And Deb is just so hot-to-trot for him, too. Not good. Do we even want to speculate where this is all going? Note to Deb: best get out now.

Aside from that big reveal, Dex was in therapy this week.

How funny was that?

A serial killer in therapy – the oxymoronic phrase of the century.

“I’m a sociopath. There’s not much he can do for me.”
Ah, but there is.

In between doing his homework to get rid of this week’s God-complex psychiatrist (who had a habit of taking advantage of powerful women in their weakest moment by convincing them to commit suicide), Dex got to deal with some of his own stuff.

For real.

And it helped him cross that all important intimacy bridge with Rita.

Now, I know I just lamented the fact that Rudy and Deb are together, which now just seems way too ... well, ewwww. Let us be clear: Dex and Rita together is not the same creepy thing (at least for me, it isn’t). Dex and Rita aren’t out to “maul” each other into oblivion (I mean, really, how long does that kind of relationship last anyways?).

There is a far more powerful and compelling connection between the two of them that, in actual fact, is not defined by an intimate relationship (at least it wasn’t until last night’s ep). And through the damage, the wounds, the baggage, the fear, Dex and Rita make up one of the most endearing couples on the tube. Hands down. Dex’s dark side balanced out by his good-hearted devotion to Rita, her children, their life together – even when he can’t quite make heads or tails of it, even when he struggles to define it, even when it worries him into thinking it’ll be lost. And Rita’s pure ability to see only goodness in Dex.

Now that is what I call entertaining.

Other tidbits:

- Paul: Ugh. His smarminess in trying to be father of the year is just beyond irritating. Like fingernails down a chalkboard. Like, he’s in the house and everything?!?!?!?

- Laguerta is a fraud: well, duh. At least we finally have that confirmed. She and Doakes used to be partners, and she just happened to have been in the right place at the right time to nab the bad guy and get the glory. A sidekick covering a back stairwell, as it were. Of course. We know the woman is a good for nothing hack of a cop, but what the heck is with her heavy breathing down Dex’s neck at every opportunity? Talk about ewwwwwwwwww.

- Dex and Rudy on Craigslist: Just goes to show you who and what is on Craigslist. Ha.

- Next week: Showdown at the Miami Serial Killer Corral.

The first season of Dexter airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on CBS. Check out Showtime's official Dexter Web site for the inside scoop on the series.

Lilly and Scotty Drive All Night

You know those episodes of your favorite shows that, save for the commercial breaks, make you completely lose track of time, force every fiber of your being to hang on every. last. word!, and cause you to curse the credits at the end because you're just so damn bummed that it's over? Well, this episode of Cold Case was one of those episodes. Just wow! This hour was like a cluster of everything that makes this show one of my faves -- EXTREMELY psychological, lots of Lilly, very emotional, dark, twisted, that eery silence when Lil and Scotty spotted the blinking yellow light, One Republic's "Come Home" as the ending song, and lots of Lilly (I know, but it's worth repeating). And it was all wrapped up in a ROADTRIP! package (and we all know what a success last season's Lilly/Scotty roadtrip episode was here at PTR). It goes without saying, but this was a much different roadtrip. This one was dark -- both literally and story-wise. NICE lighting scheme on this one with the half lit faces and "headlight" effect that would momentarily light either Lilly or Scotty. The scheme totally reinforced how "in the dark" they were on this case and how lost they were in John's half-truths.

There was a lot going on here this week. You had a suspect who kidnapped his victims and watched as they willed themselves to die after he took away the last shred of the thing they held onto -- the things that get us "out of bed in the morning." See, what made this one so good was the fact that the case wasn't the only psychological element (we knew who was responsible from the beginning, just didn't know the why), but the actual deaths were purely psychological as well. Brilliant! John never actually killed anyone; he just took away their will to live. And it started from a young age as we saw in his flashback at the end. Unlike the also very-psychological serial killer George Marks from season 2, this sicko didn't seem to have a traumatic event from his childhood that led to him being a sick b*stard. He just wasn't right in the head, which is why he was so fascinating.

John also had a keen ability to read people and he sized up Lilly right away. He rattled her. He made her ask herself the questions that have been keeping her up at night. He caused her to lose her cool once or twice. BUT, he didn't accomplish the goal he set out to accomplish when he first saw her standing over him at that police station in West Virginia. He wanted to break her. He wanted to make her realize that her life is nothing but an allusion. That the only thing she gets out of bed for is her job. He may have accomplished that last one, but he didn't count on her walking away from him with hope. Brenda survived because she didn't let John take away her will to live. She clung to the idea that the people she loved would find her, she kept track of the days with a church bell chime, and she put faith in herself that she was strong enough to make it through. We saw Lilly walk away at the end with hope because she knew John was wrong. All the stuff he tried to tell her she already knew -- it had been keeping her up at night. But, finding Brenda alive taught her something she didn't. It was an important lesson and it laid the groundwork for next week's introduction of the Bobby Cannavale character.

Excellent performances from Kathryn Morris, Danny Pino and guest star Damon Herriman (John Smith). This was one of those episodes where every last detail mattered (Lilly being from Kensington, John not being able to sit in his cell in WV, etc.) and it served as a pivital outing for Lilly. I'm excited to see what comes from it. Overall, a "standing ovation" episode that easily moves CC to 15-0 on the season.