STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS will be in theaters December 18, 2015!
Author: FCA Editor
Monkey Kingdom – Movie Review
The sixth release from Disneynature, Monkey Kingdom is another wonderful film for the entire family. It’s set in the jungles of South Asia, where Maya, a new mom, is finding life changes when she has a son.
The film follows a troop of monkeys, headed by the alpha male named Raja. The monkeys have a hierarchy and the star of the story, Maya, is on the bottom rung, literally. She is not worthy of a place high on the tree with the ripest fruit and the sunshine to warm her on cold days. She is relegated to the bottom and is not welcomed by the upper class. Maya, along with the others in the lower class, have a difficult and more dangerous time finding food, but they manage.
Then, when a new male comes to Castle Rock, the home of the troop, he takes a liking to Maya. His name is Kumar and he and Maya sneak off for some time alone, to the frustration of Raja, who later chases Kumar away. Months later Maya gives birth to little Kip, the son of Kumar.
Maya discovers a mother’s love is the most important thing in her life. She will do anything for her son, and she does. She loves this little guy and they have a close relationship. Then when Kumar returns, Maya has her whole family together for the first time.
The troop of about 50 members is forced away from their home, but Maya and Kumar take the lead, figuratively and literally, and end up keeping their “friends” safe and secure. And they take on the challenge of reclaiming their home, Castle Rock.
There are a couple deaths among the troop, so parents of young children who are upset with seeing a dead animal should take note. The actual killings are not shown on screen however.
Besides the fun-loving monkeys, there is an adorable mongoose, a dangerous monitor lizard, and leopards. Yes, the film shows the dangers of life in the forest, but it also shows the love and community of the various animals and their lives in the wild. After all, this is a nature film.
Monkey Kingdom opens April 15, 2015. For every ticket sold during the opening week, Disneynature will make a donation to Conservation International to help protect monkeys and other endangered species in their natural habitats. Over the years, Disneynature has helped various wildlife organizations through their films and donations from the opening week proceeds of these nature movies.
Since it began in 2008, Disneynature’s mission is to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to share a wide variety of wildlife stories on the big screen in order to engage, inspire and educate theatrical audiences everywhere. For the first Disneynature film, Earth, three million trees were planted in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. For Oceans 40,000 acres of marine protected area was established in The Bahamas. For African Cats, 65,000 acres of savanna in Kenya was protected. Chimpanzee helped protect about 130,000 acres of wild chimpanzee habitat and educate people about chimpanzee conservation. And for the movie Bears, funding for restoration grants for the U.S. National Parks helped protect endangered species.
These are all entertaining films, but they also serve a purpose. They educate and hopefully protect some of the most extraordinary things that make up this planet.
Monkey Kingdom is narrated quite adorably by Tina Fey. This is a heartening and beautifully filmed story of motherly love. Stay for the credits to see how they filmed this extraordinary movie.
Monkey Kingdom is rated G. It’s fun for the entire family. Just keep in mind about the two deaths, in case you have very sensitive children – or adults.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
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Today is Forever/Hoy es para siempre CD Giveaway
Future Hits, led by Chicago public school teacher and musician Matt Baron, will release a bilingual (English/Spanish) album, Today is Forever/Hoy es para siempre, on Cinco de Mayo. Soon after he began teaching in the Chicago public schools, Matt Baron found himself writing standards-aligned songs with corresponding activities and differentiated assessments for the classroom. Thus far, he’s written more than 50 songs and formed the dynamic Future Hits band in order to share his fun and heartfelt (yet secretly educational) music with everyone. Today is Forever/Hoy es para siempre is designed to appeal to a wide audience of both English and Spanish speaking kids and families. Every song on the album is performed in both English and Spanish.
Says Matt Baron, “Today is Forever/Hoy es para siempre is a special album because, as far as I know, it’s the only bilingual, learning standards-aligned album available that also stands alone as an excellent rock album that adults will enjoy as much, if not more, than their kids.”
We have some copies of this CD to giveaway. To be eligible to win a copy of Today is Forever, email us at [email protected] with “Today is Forever Giveaway” in the title. Please supply your name, address, phone number and email address (so we can let you know if you are a winner).
The deadline for this giveaway is May 5, 2015.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick – Book Review
The Mother-Daughter Book Club, a cute book by Heather Vogel Fredrick, is a wonderful story. Four girls, all from different backgrounds are about to be forced into a mother daughter book club that will change them all.
Emma is a book nerd to the max who never has the cutest clothes, Jess is the school’s resident brainiac and farm girl whoa has never reconciled herself with her mother’s jaunt in Hollywood, Megan and the rest of the mall obsessed popular girls gossip incessantly, and Cassidy would rather play some hockey and forget about the move and her dad’s death all together.
But when their moms all meet at yoga and decide that making their daughters read Little Women is a great idea, the girls have no choice but to go along with it. The four of them become unlikely friends and stick up for each other in the face of mean girls, hot boys, and a fiasco of a first dance.
This book is a perfect read for mothers and daughters to bond over. The moms identify with the well-meaning parents and the girls identify with one of the four main characters in great ways. The characters are all believable, and the escapades they involve themselves in are tragically funny.
If you love it, never fear because there is an entire series behind this first book, continuing with Much Ado About Anne, Dear Pen Pal, Pies and Prejudice, Home for the Holidays and the newest release, Wish You Were Eyre. The girls grow up with the characters as each book highlights a new year of school, a new sense of camaraderie, and a new book-based heroine for them all to emulate.
About the Author
Becka Olsen is a 15-year old student and a book lover to the max. She loves Regency Romances and anything by J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull as well as Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and other classic authors. Becka brings a unique perception for our young adult readers as well as parents looking to find a book for their children.
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett – Book Review
I am the type of girl that was raised on Princesses- first Disney movies, then any fairytale, or fairytale spinoff I can get my hands on. I totally envied Kate Middleton as she became a princess and realized my daydreams. So when I found a book called “A Little Princess”, I was immediately intrigued. It’s by a wonderful author named Francis Hodgsen Burnett and I became instantly obsessed (to the point that I read it annually as part of my summer reading ceremony).
The protagonist, Sara, is a “queer girl” whose father, a rich, doting parent enrolls her in Miss Minchin’s Select Seminary for Young Girls. Sara instantly becomes a fascination of the younger girls who call her Mama Sara, and the object of the older girls’ jealousy. She is even referred to as “A Little Princess” by the worshipful girls in the school.
Then one day she finds herself the victim of the most misfortunate circumstances and all of a sudden it is up to her to make sure that she is still a little princess when the pretty dresses and fine things are gone. The best quote in this whole book is, “‘If I am a princess in rags and tatters, I can be a princess inside. It would be easy to be a princess if I were dressed in cloth of gold, but it is a great deal more of a triumph to be one all the time when no one knows it.’”
This touching story also boasts amazingly descriptive writing, the character development worthy of the greats, and a coming of age story unrivaled in one novel. This is a beautiful story of a girl who loses everything to find herself.
About the Author
Becka Olsen is a 15-year old student and a book lover to the max. She loves Regency Romances and anything by J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull as well as Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and other classic authors. Becka brings a unique perception for our young adult readers as well as parents looking to find a book for their children.
HBO’s Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All
On December 12, 2015, Frank Sinatra would have been 100 years old. This crooner whose songs were the backdrop of the post-war generation, was not only a singer. He was an actor and a controversial figure. Having attached himself to politicians as well as mafia “friends,” Sinatra held the attention of audiences for many decades.
Sinatra started as a young, skinny man from Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the icon for “bobby sox” fans and quite possibly the first singer to evoke screams from young women. This phenomenon was later followed by fans of Elvis and The Beatles.
The new documentary on HBO, Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All, has been running on the network and will continue to run.
Executive Producer Alex Gibney told the media, “I think one of the most amazing things about the world in which we live in – the sort of mash‑up culture in which we live in – is the distant past can exist in the present in ways that are kind of unprecedented. And, you know, the whole sort of sample culture that we live in, too, amplifies that. So I think that was the thinking in terms of trying to set [this film] in a kind of present‑day context.”
The documentary includes interviews with Sinatra’s family, however most of them are done as voice-overs. Viewers will hear the voices of Frank Sinatra’s children, Nancy, Tina, and Frank Jr., yet they won’t see them, most of the time, as they divulge many interesting and personal things about their father. There are on-camera interviews with Sinatra himself, which provide a lot of insight to the man, as viewers see his facial expressions as he discusses aspects of his life. This is very interesting, especially when he was asked about a potential marriage to Mia Farrow.
“I think we’ve become familiar with the mature, Sinatra, the Rat Pack Sinatra,” Gibney said, “but seeing his insecurity as a young man and the striving that he had and the way his mother, who was a very forceful woman, was determined to make him succeed, that king of Gatsby-like rise, that was something that was really interesting to me that I hadn’t considered initially. And a lot of that comes out of Frank himself talking about it.”
This documentary is shown in two parts. As Gibney explained, “The film’s roughly chronological, and we come to a moment where he achieves something very big, which is his Oscar in From Here to Eternity. And there’s a magical moment where he’s walking alone with that Oscar, and it’s the culmination of his dreams. And then we push forward.” So basically the first part is his rise to stardom in the music and film industries. However, as we all know, his star continued to rise and his personal life continued its ups and downs for many years after that.
“I think his ambition is what impressed me,” Gibney confessed. “I mentioned Gatsby earlier. I think [Sinatra’s] a figure that’s very much like that. And he willed himself to a prominent position at the center of our culture, and he stayed there for a long period of time.”
Sinatra’s temper is not overlooked in this film. Also, his loves and losses are included. This is not a glossy story of the man who is known as “old blue eyes” and “the chairman of the board.” He had faults and he had talent.
On a personal note, when watching the film I was struck how he was taken aback by the press who followed him around. And this was a long time ago. I wonder how he would handle the paparazzi of today.
Sinatra aged in the public’s eye. When his popularity waned, he put on a farewell concert. But this was a man who could not stay still. And ultimately, two years into his retirement, he went back to performing. That was another thing that struck me while watching this film. He was constantly doing something and always on the move. He would fly off to Las Vegas for a night if he were bored. He would go to Palm Springs for a few days. He just couldn’t stay comfortable in one place not doing anything.
Frank Sinatra was a master storyteller via music. This was what set him apart from the other crooners of the day. The film focuses on his singing, his associations with other celebrities, and his ups and his downs. John Kennedy, Ava Gardner, Lauren Bacall, Sammy Davis, and others were publicly involved with Sinatra. Yet the man also worked privately with charities around the world.
Frank Marshall, Executive Producer and Director, acknowledged, “The experience has been great. [The Sinatra family has] been extremely cooperative. Obviously, we need the rights to a lot of the material that they have. They opened up the archives. They’ve done interviews with us. Frank Jr., Nancy, and Tina, and Nancy Sr. have all talked to us.” So, the Sinatra family has sanctioned this documentary.
Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All airs on HBO.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
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The Cast of Mad Men Talk About the End of the Series
Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, January Jones, and Elizabeth Moss have been on the AMC series Mad Men since it premiers in 2007. Now the hit series is coming to an end, and the actors discussed this as well as their feelings about ending the show that has been a big part of their lives and the lives of the fans, not to mention part of pop culture.
“I’m thrilled that it’s ending,” joked Hamm, adding he was “looking forward to being unemployed for as long as I’ll be unemployed.” But all jokes aside, Hamm acknowledged, “Honestly, there’s no version of this ending that is not super painful for me, and mostly it’s because of these people (in the cast) and [Matthew Weiner, the creator, executive producer, writer, and director of the series] because they’ve been the single constant in my creative life for the last decade. So that’s kind of tough.”
Hamm was contemplative when he stated, “I will never be able to have this again, and that’s a drag.”
When asked by members of the media what surprised them about the show, Elizabeth Moss bluntly stated, “I’ve always been sort of constantly surprised over the years.” She added, “I think the thing I’m most surprised by is that [my character] actually hasn’t changed in a lot of ways, which I think goes the same for a lot of the characters.” She said her character “has retained a lot of her qualities that she’s had since the beginning in good ways and in bad ways.”
Christina Hendricks admitted, “I would say over the years I was surprised at how we were able to maintain this sort of story about [my character] and her trajectory in the workplace and relationships in the workplace, …” She smiled and added, “I was just surprised at the creativity of bringing in all these different people within her life.” She credits this to Weiner.
“It’s become for better and worse, but mostly better, just a part of my life and a significant part of my life,” Hamm said. “So there’s not a lot of jobs you can point to, at least in our world, that have that impact.” Hamm added, “at the end of the day, this experience has been unequivocally wonderful, and I’ll miss it.”
The actors were asked what they felt and where they were when they received and read the final script. “I got it at home,” January Jones acknowledged. “It was very hard. It was very emotional. I kind of knew a little bit of what was going to happen in the last script, but … I was just a mess pretty much.” She chuckled a little. “It’s a beautiful story. It’s perfect in a way, and I read it over and over. I didn’t want it to be the last time. So sometimes I still read it every once in awhile,” she said with a laugh.
According to John Slattery, the show “was surprising to the end.” Even to the final script. Added Jones. “I was pleasantly surprised, and I hope the audience is surprised.” And Hendricks joined in saying, “I was pleased. I thought there’s no way I can be happy because it’s ending.”
Rumors have been running rampant for a long time about a spin-off, and many of the cast would love to be part of that. Time will tell.
The series finale of Mad Men will air on AMC May 17, 2015.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
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Tomorrowland is in theaters May 22
Lincoln’s Last Day on Smithsonian Channel
April 14, 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Smithsonian Channel’s documentary, Lincoln’s Last Day, focuses on the final hours of President Lincoln’s life and the lives of the conspirators.
From the time he awoke, Lincoln’s final day was spent working and with his family. Unlike modern times, the president was freer to leave the White House, and that is exactly what he and Mrs. Lincoln did that afternoon. They simply got in a carriage and went for a ride around Washington. They were looking ahead. The war was behind them and they were both very happy and elated. They were making plans for their lives in the years to come.
There are some interesting elements in this documentary. When you think you know everything there is to know about Lincoln and his assassination, something new comes along -for instance, recently discovered notations in his cherished pocket watch, and the cup the president was drinking from right before he left to go to the theater.
Artifacts and memories of those who were there are revealed in this hour-long documentary. As the day rolls on, viewers see how close in proximity all the characters in this macabre story were and how they interacted with each other.
What is most compelling about this film is not the actual assassination but the emotional states of Abraham and Mary Lincoln on that day. They were filled with optimism. They had – or thought they had – many years of happiness ahead of them. Five days earlier the Civil War ended and their troubles were behind them. Or so they thought.
For visitors to the nation’s capitol, Ford’s Theater offers many Lincoln-related events and artifacts, and the National Museum of History will display (through May 25, 2015) the carriage that transported the Lincolns and their guests to Ford’s Theater on that fateful night.
Lincoln’s Last Day premiers Monday, April 13, 2015 with additional viewings April 14th.
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
Follow her on Twitter
Like her on Facebook
Grace Helbig Talks About Her New Show
Grace Helbig is an Internet personality and is now jumping to television with her own talk show on E! In this day and age when the Internet is where a lot of people get their news and entertainment, there are plenty of people who have made their mark on society online.
“One of the biggest challenges is working with other human beings,” Helbig confessed to the media. “I make Web videos all by myself. I write them. I shoot them. I’m in them. I edit them. I post them. I promote them. And when you make a television show, there are other people that do those jobs. I don’t have to wear so many hats, which is really wonderful.” Although she has basically been a one-woman production, she is happy to have people helping her now.
As Helbig explained, “I’m really trying to create something that feels familiar as a nighttime talk show, but is a hybrid of what I do in the digital space. I’m trying to create a television show that feels interactive, that feels personal, and that feels intimate so that the audience that already watches my YouTube videos can come to television and feel not so, I guess, unfamiliar with what they are seeing, but also at the same time feel like they are seeing a television show – they are not seeing a Web series brought to TV. They are seeing something that feels big enough and rich enough and full enough and fully thought‑out, that fits on a television screen. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The promotions for the show have thrust this comedian, actress, and video blogger into the national spotlight and brought her to the attention of people who might not have otherwise heard of her. Yes, there are plenty of people who do not get their entertainment online.
“I didn’t necessarily set out to make this television show when I was born, you know. I loved television and wanted to be a part of it when I discovered that I wanted to pursue comedy. But then the Internet thing, kind of took off for me career-wise, and that’s where a lot of my attention had gone in the past few years.”
What is it about the digital world that makes watching and creating online content so popular? “I think inherently, as human beings in this world, we all just want to feel like we’re part of something and that’s why YouTube, to me, is such a wonderful place because it feels like a true community,” Helbig told the media. “You feel like you are a part of something.”
There are several topics that won’t be on Grace’s show. Religion and politics are topics about which she isn’t comfortable discussing. “Instead, I like talking about people’s allergies and what makes them afraid and what did they tweet this morning and what music did they listen to before they went to bed last night and talking to humans about being humans, I think, is most interesting.”
For Grace Helbig, this new format on television will raise her recognition and bring her a different audience. “I want to make something that people want to watch and that they want to see more of,” she stated.
The Grace Helbig Show airs on E!
About the Author
Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.
Follow her on Twitter
Like her on Facebook