Thursday, July 23, 2015

Martha Byrne's Talks about Her New Show "Weight" and Weight Issues to Michael Logan of TVInsider: "Age Changes Everything"

Martha Byrne's new series examines the absurd side of
life after a reality show           Photo Suzanne Ordas Curry
In this candid interview, Emmy Winner Martha Byrne, most famous for her role as Lily Snyder on the long-running soap As The World Turns, talks about what she is doing post-soap with her new series Weight. The pilot will premiere online August 2, 2015 at 8pm EST at www.WeightheSeries.com. The comedy focuses on a suburban  mom who lost weight on a reality show and has to keep it off in real life, without the coach, without the prepared food and with cupcakes and cookies filling the cupboards.

Martha says, "I am Claire" referring to her character, and her life, in which she always had to watch her weight because in taping a soap she was on screen every day. TV Insider's Michael Logan gives the full scoop here: 
 http://www.tvinsider.com/article/29810/as-the-world-turns-alum-martha-byrne-throws-her-weight-around-with-new-online-series/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tvi

Martha Byrne, Daryn Strauss and Frederick King Keller Set Release Date for Scripted Reality Weight Loss Pilot Weight, Episode To Appear Online August 2nd at www.Weighttheseries.com

Emmy Winner Martha Byrne plays suburban mom Claire
Weight, a new comedy series about life after extreme reality TV weight loss from internet phenom and Writers Guild Award nominee Daryn Strauss and starring three-time Emmy Winner Martha Byrne, will premiere its first episode on Sunday, August 2nd, at 8 PM EST at www.weighttheseries.com.

Viewers can join the "Virtual Release Party" with Byrne, cast, and special guests by using the hashtag #weightcrazy on Twitter and by following @weighttheseries, starting at 7 PM EST, August 2nd.
Weight follows Claire, a middle class mom (played by Byrne) who returns home from a reality weight loss competition 100 pounds lighter but finds she’s gained some extra baggage due to the complicated reactions of her dysfunctional family and friends. Byrne, a mother of three, has first-hand experience dealing with the expectations of Hollywood and the absurdities of life on camera, making Claire's struggles balancing mommyhood and reality show fame/infamy believable, funny, and relatable.

The series also stars Allison Smith, best known as Mallory O’Brien on The West Wing and Jane Curtin’s daughter Jennie on Kate & Allie, Bradley White, most recently seen on ABC’s Revenge and Showtime’s Masters of Sex, Peyton Ella, who made her TV debut as the youngest Von Trapp in The Sound of Music Live with Carrie Underwood on NBC, and Kate West, daughter of three-time Emmy Winner Maura West and Scott DeFreitas, with special guest stars Trent Dawson (As The World Turns, Homeland), Dee Freeman (The Hughleys), and Maitely Weismann (Masters of Sex).

Review: Sharknado 3: It's Out of This World and My Predictions for Sharknado 4

If you didn't say "huh?", or what? or "you've got to be kidding me!" you were not watching Sharknado 3.

Sharknado 3, I dare say, left its fans wanting more. Sharks in space, births in bellies, limbs in limbo, this movie's mundane was a normal person's outrageous. So many twitter fans in agreement wondering about just exactly what these wacky, wonderful writers were on when they wrote their weird and wild words.

Nothing was too stupid or ridiculous to show. Science and logic went out the broken windows that the Sharknados caused. I don't think the writers ever threw out an idea on the basis of "but that could never happen.". Rather, that was their goal.

I didn't care about all the product plugs for Comcast, I rather enjoyed the familiarity of Universal Studios. I liked the attempt to bring plausible explanations to the ridiculous. I liked the character development and the Walking Dead van.

And I especially enjoyed watching the actors saying their lines with a straight face, not just the main characters but all those recognizable personalities than joined in on the fun

Then again, they are walking straight to the bank with this franchise.

It  left me wanting more, and dreaming (rather I say, hallucinating) of what comes next. So, based on the absurdity of Sharknado 3, here are my predictions for Sharknado 4. And I am assuming #Aprillives.

1. David Hasselhoff survives on the moon because dead sharks fall there and he survives on shark sushi. He invents some new dishes calling it "Shushi".

2. Frankie Muniz survives. David finds his head and middle (sorry, had to do that) because he hears screams from a shark that fell from the sky. He fashions him a pair of legs out of the landing gear.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lawrence, Katherine Heigl, Melissa McCarthy and More: Ladies Leading the Way in 2015 Movies


Photo Courtesy Facebook
I love getting my feeds on what's coming out and what's starting production. As of late I am most excited about the new Garry Marshall film, Mother's Day. Being a huge fan of Love Actually, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve (the latter two both being by Marshall), I like these ensemble movies with intertwining stories. A And I like Garry Marshall, he was one of the first to put two ladies together as the lead in a sitcom.

Hopefully this movie will be like the others, little bit of sadness, little bit of comedy and heartwarming. Mother's Day is set to star Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikus. For more on this visit:
http://deadline.com/2015/06/julia-roberts-jennifer-aniston-kate-hudson-jason-sudeikis-mothers-day-garry-marshall-1201465357/

View: Female Leads in Recent Films: Is Hollywood Changing Direction in 2015?

Are we there yet? Here's a look at a few famous films featuring female leads. Are we getting closer to accurate depictions? 
Written by Susannah Patience.

Courtesy Facebook
            Films with strong female leads are few and hard to find. While we don’t realize this when sitting in a comfy chair with a bag of buttery popcorn at the theater, we should take a step back and take notice when women are given the opportunity to be center stage. Movies that represent real women, like our mothers, our aunts, our sisters or our friends, make me respect the industry even more. It’s the idea of empowerment and admiration for these relatable characters that draws the audience in. While it would be utterly impossible to name every great movie with fabulous females, I’ve complied a select few, which I think, serve women justice.

      
Courtesy Facebook
The Help is one of my all time favorite movies. Set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963, Skeeter, the main character, returns home from college. A passionate writer searching for her niche, she decides to secretly interview black women who are employed by wealthy southern families during this time. This terrific cast features Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis who all come together to stand up for something they believe in. Together, they form an unbreakable bond as they defy racial boundaries, expose racism and inspire those to face the changing times head on.
           
            The Hunger Games trilogy has taken

Friday, July 10, 2015

Review: Pixar's Inside Out - Portrayal of Females off the Mark, But Overall Message Perfect for Kids



Inside Out, another Pixar hit, features the voices of
Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler and Phyllis Smith.
Photo Courtesey Facebook
                                                    By Di's Dish
Spoiler alert! I took my 11 year old son to see this movie and although it is getting rave reviews, I found some of it to be disappointing. Let’s start with the positives.

Yes this film is inventive and creative with a wide range of likeable characters. The absence of a “bad or evil character” was refreshing. In its place, as my son pointed out, was a problem that needed to be solved. It’s a thinking movie, which makes sense since it is a story about an 11 year old girl’s (Riley) emotions. The animated short (shown immediately prior to Inside Out), Lava, was sweet, charming and gorgeous. It’s a perfect addition to the brilliant Pixar catalogue. View trailer here:

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Top Ten Things You Won't See Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn Do in Her New Role as Naomi in Broad Street Pictures New Flick Equity


Anna says goodbye to Skylar and hubby Walter and hello to
Naomi in Broad Street Pictures' new movie Equity
Photo Courtesy Facebook
Anna Gunn's been cast in a new movie by Broad Street Pictures called Equity. Produced by Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black) and Sarah Megan Thomas (Backwards Movie), Equity follows a senior investment banker (Naomi Bishop, played by Ms.Gunn) who is threatened a financial scandal and must untangle a web of corruption. The movie is in pre-production now, but sources say we're going to see another side to this talented actress.


Here's our TOP TEN list of things you'll NEVER see Naomi do in Equity.

1.  Walk into a pool.
2.  Make breakfast every morning.
3.  Cry a lot.
4.  Set foot in a 1991 Jeep Wrangler.
5.  Work at a car wash.
6.  Talk to people in a crawl space.
7.  Look for pizza on a roof.
8.  Have paneling in her apartment.
9.  Annoy everyone.
10. Let stress get her down.  

Naomi's stress is a whole new level over Skylar's... stay tuned to see just how she'll react in Equity.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Broad Street Pictures/Alysia Reiner & Sarah Megan Thomas' Movie Equity in Pre Production: Breaking Bad's Anna Gunn to Play Lead, Meera Menon to Direct

Alysia Reiner and Sarah Megan Thomas
are gearing up for Equity
Photo Courtesy Broad Street Productions


Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black) and Sarah Megan Thomas (Backwards Movie) are two very busy ladies theses days. Having launched the movie production company Broad Street Pictures, they are currently in pre-production for their first movie, Equity.

Equity is the first movie that features women who work on the very competitive and cutthroat Wall Street and the lives they lead.  It's loosely based on a book but written with the input of major female NYC bankers. Move over Charlie Sheen "Noami's" come to town.

Pre Production

Pre-production is the very hectic and important time when a movie gets planned out,  Sarah and Alysia are busy casting all the roles, scouting and confirming locations for all the shoots, working with the director on the vision and storyboards, updating investors, lining up the production team including housing, tweaking the script and fitting in press interviews. Every day counts during this period because time is money once production starts. Productions begins mid-July in Philadelphia and New York City.

Meera Menon to direct Equity
Photo Courtesy Broad Street Pics
This flick is made by two dynamic chicks, and lots of other females are involved. That's one of the premises of Broad Street Pictures, to produce pictures with strong females roles in front of the camera and behind. They've got Meera Menon as the director. She was named one of the Top 35 Under 35 Running Hollywood by Glamour Magazine.  The screenwriter is award-winning Amy Fox (Heights Movie) who worked closely on the script with Sarah and Alysia, Interviews were conducted with female investment bankers to insure authenticity.