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Revenge 1.16: Scandal!

Editor: The tardiness of this post is my fault, not Estelle’s.

After last week’s fast-paced engagement/murder party and the fact that we have a whole month of March without any new episodes, I decided to switch things up a bit this week…

Ten things that happened on this week’s Revenge:

1. Declan is all of a sudden the smart one. I know, shocker. He’s dealing with the fact that Charlotte is starting to get super dependent on pills after finding out her real father is a criminal and her brother may be a murderer. Declan also catches on to the fact that Jack didn’t make it to Haiti because of “engine trouble” (unless that’s what Amanda is calling herself these days) and that he has a black hoodie a.k.a. “that creepy guy in the hoodie” (as Charlotte remembers him) before the two spotted Tyler’s body.

2. Daniel doesn’t remember anything about that night. Or so he says… he convinces Emily to take the dog for a walk (I think it was around midnight) so that he can dig through her floorboards and find out if Tyler was telling the truth. Was she playing him? His search comes up with nothing.

3. Courtney B. Vance (The Preacher’s Wife, Angela Bassett’s husband) is Daniel’s new lawyer. I I love Courtney B. Vance and he is one tough cookie. Mr. Brooks wants all the possible dirt he can get on Daniel. Emily tells him about Daniel’s horrendous car accident from the summer before, and Mr. Brooks is quick to corner Jack about Amanda’s whereabouts. Since Victoria loves to blame Amanda Clarke for just about everything she possibly can.

4. Emily and Daniel never got to open their engagement presents. Can you believe it? That psycho guy that held them at gunpoint was found murdered on the beach and they couldn’t find a spare moment? Crazy. Victoria is sure to bring over her gift to the couple as long as Emily promises not to open it. (Um, anyone else curious as to what it could be?) She also needs to know if Emily is going to stand by Daniel no matter what. Personally, I think Victoria was being genuine here or she has just mastered the subtle tear. (Favorite quip: perhaps your time in JD will become as asset in this situation. Awesome.)

5. Jack finds the receipt for Tyler’s ransom money in Amanda’s abandoned hoodie. He confides in Nolan, who tries to convince him to just forget Amanda. But Jack, and this is why we love him, is loyal and can’t do that. (I swear this whole thing is going to make him crazy.)

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Grand Opening of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and Carthay Circle Theatre on June 15th at California Adventure

Hang on Disneyland fans, the much anticipated grand opening of Cars Land, Buena Vista Street and the Carthay Circle Theatre at Disney California Adventure has been announced for June 15th with the park being closed on the 14th “to prepare” (aka to hold a media event). The new additions will serve as a capstone in the five year plan to revive the Disneyland resort and recover from some of the bad choices made when DCA originally opened. It’s still less than a perfect park, but these changes should go along way to closing the distance. I mean just look at that mountain range in Cars Land.

The great folks at Disney have shared this video with some behind the scenes glimpses of final details being added to DCA.

I know I’m ready, how about you? Okay then… more details below the jump:

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John Carter Film Review

There appears to be a disinformation campaign coming out of Hollywood. The visceral dislike of Disney Studios head Rich Ross, former marketing head MT Carney, and the envy of untouchable Pixar have combined to make Disney’s latest film a target of attacks. Opportunists who hadn’t even seen the film saw an opening to attack the Mouse House and have been making some wild accusations about “John Carter.” It’s way over budget (not true), the marketing was awful (definitely true), and it will be the next Ishtar (or perhaps Prince of Persia). The later is only true if one thing happens, we fans don’t get the word out about how great a film John Carter actually is.

Andrew Stanton and crew are in top form in John Carter, and aside from a few small technical snafus, have created a movie that fits in near the top of the action-adventure genre (think Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Avatar, and Superman). But it is also a typical Andrew Stanton film, in that the movie manages to transcend its genre.

Stanton combined elements from the first two books in Edgar Rice Burroughs “Princess of Mars” series and weaved together a story that will please fans of the series while also updating the story just a bit for modern audiences. Earthling John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) stumbles upon a portal to Mars (known as Barsoom to its occupants) while searching for gold and trying to forget a personal tragedy. On Mars, Carter finds himself in the middle of an epic battle for the fate of a planet, falling in love with the most beautiful woman on Barsoom, and gifted with unique powers that makes him a uniquely effective fighter. By making unusual allies, Carter is able to overcome impossible odds and become John Carter of Mars.

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Once Upon a Time 1-14: Dreamy

When it comes to fairy tales, the biggest question that has never been answered is, why is Grumpy grumpy? Okay, okay, so I’ve never really wondered that, but that’s what was explored on this week’s Once Upon a Time. We even got a cameo by a guest star from a couple episodes back and Amy Acker as a new character. Here’s hoping they can get her back as well.

The parallels between the Fairy Tale romance of Dreamy (aka Grumpy) and Nova the fairy and the Storybrooke relationship between Leroy and Sister Astrid were fun. Plus we also got an update on Katherine’s disappearance.

We’ve got lots of ground to cover, so let’s start in Fairy Tale.Read More »Once Upon a Time 1-14: Dreamy

Frankenweenie Trailer is latest from Tim Burton

After the success of the black and white and nearly soundless film “The Artist”, prospects must be looking up for the latest film from creative genius Time Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas”). This October, Disney will release Burton’s “Frankenweenie” which takes the… Read More »Frankenweenie Trailer is latest from Tim Burton

Ten Minute Clip from John Carter

One of the loudest complaints about Walt Disney Pictures marketing of John Carter to date was that it fails to give the backstory of the movie. Without it, there’s no context to explain the story and therefore no emotional tie to motivate the audience to buy tickets. You can see where that would be problem.

Now, with just a few days left until the March 9th wide open, Disney’s movie marketing team has released a 10 minute clip from early in the film that encompasses almost all of the movie’s action on earth. This definitely helps fill in the missing backstory.

Having seen the movie myself, one thing is for sure, if the movie fails to score at the box office, it won’t be the movie’s fault. Director Andrew Stanton and crew have produced a terrific film with heart, emotion, and great story. But somehow, Disney’s marketing team continues to misfire. It has kneecapped any number of good animated features and now is doing a number on John Carter.

Below the cut is one final trailer for John Carter:

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Production Finally Begins on The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp

Walt Disney Picture’s modus operandi of late is to try and schedule one tent-pole movie every summer. One film ‘guaranteed’ to rake in close to a billion dollars (if not more) at the box office that will make up for some of the weaker performances in the studios limited slate of releases. Admittedly they’d have mixed results with this strategy (Prince of Persia anyone), but results have always been great when you put Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski together. And that’s why Disney is now moving post-haste to get The Lone Ranger ready for it’s 2013 Memorial Day weekend date with the box office.

As you read through the press release below, you can’t help but think this group of all-stars will hit it out of the park… right?

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The River: Season 1, Episode 5 – Peaches

This week’s episode begins on day 22 of the search for Dr. Emmett Cole. It’s something of an anomaly because it begins with some foggy footage aboard the Magus instead of with the flashback we’ve become accustomed to.

As the team sails on toward The Source (or Jonas’ best guess of where it is), Tess has everyone on “visibility” duty to fight the fog. Jonas, who recently spent months hanging from a tree by his neck, thinks that returning to his breezy perch might be preferential to holding a flash light and keeping watch for obstacles on the water. It’s an odd tone for the character to take, and it feels completely unrealistic. Where’s the PTSD, the crippling fear, the inability to sleep?

During the night, with Tess at the helm and the rest of the crew watching the water, they see another ship approaching them. The team honks the boat’s horn, lights flares, waves their arms … and are eventually forced to run the Magus aground to avoid a collision. Except, of course, when the creaking stops and everyone is back on their feet, the other ship has disappeared. Ghost ship!!

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