Peculiar Reviewer

Julia Roberts has had a recent turn in her 25+ year career as America's Sweetheart - to a fearless performer. She was a force to be reckoned with in last year's Oscar nominated August: Osage County , even opposite Meryl Streep, Roberts was the leading lady who carried the film. For this, it was no shock to me that she gripped me once again as Dr. Emma Brookner in Ryan Murphy 's TV movie The Normal Heart , which premiered this week on HBO. Roberts plays a brave doctor (based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein) who suffers from polio, who, although glued to her wheelchair, spends her days as one of the only doctors researching and attempting to save gay men's lives in the early 1980s during the HIV-AIDS crisis. Based on Larry Kramer's 1985 Off-Broadway production, Kramer serves as screenwriter on this film version of The Normal Heart, which took director Ryan Murphy years to obtain the rights to.   Mark Ruffalo plays the lead as Ned Weeks, the openly gay New York writ...

Jonathan Glazer 's ( Birth , Sexy Beast ) first film in 10 years, Under the Skin , follows an alien seductress ( Scarlett Johansson ) who preys upon male hitchhikers along the roads of Scotland. Glazer's completely silent, chilling opening, and classic sci-fi moment in space sets the tone for this imaginative and mysterious film. Under the Skin can be classified as a sci-fi art film. It deals with the pleasurable unknown, devoid of reason, yet artfully capable of attaining it. Glazer uses an eerie score and intrusive noises to dance behind his mesmerizing science fiction thriller. Under the Skin has a genuine Kubrick aura; there are even hand-picked shots in direct homage to the late great. Glazer uses rapid images of city life, possibly critiquing consumerism through an alien's eyes. Skin has a lack of dialogue and character names, focusing on Johansson's mostly silent luring of men while she lives under the skin of a woman who's skin she's taken across a ...

It was the closing night of the 31st Annual PaleyFest, and the witches were out at Covenwarts for the American Horror Story: Coven panel of cast and creators. This was the first time the Paley Center for Media has ever honored a miniseries. The ultimate TV fan festival took place in Hollywood's Dolby Theatre to a packed house of studious Supremes. The evening kicked off with a Bewitched clip from 1970, followed by the AHS: Coven episode "Burn, Witch. Burn!" (named after the 1962 Horror classic?) The audience cheered on as Dame Lange popped pills, Taissa Farmiga massacred the walking dead with a chainsaw, and Kathy Bates ran a stake through her dead daughter's heart.  Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk were in the house; Brad stating that "you can't have a more female drama than witches." Most of the cast were present, including, Gabourey Sidibe , Evan Peters , Frances Conroy , Sarah Paulson , Kathy Bates , Emma Roberts , Jamie Brewer , Denis O...

In the Season 3, Episode 7 episode of Girls "Beach House," the foursome get away from the city for the weekend at a decadent estate that Marnie setup in hopes of stitching back the girls' bond. From the opening segment of "Dame" Marnie's classical BBC opening of the double French doors, we know we're in for a 30-minute staycation with Girls . Marnie carefully places fresh flowers and place cards on each assigned bed, inviting us to the special occasion at the beach house (at least, according to Marnie). The turmoil between Marnie and Hannah, caused by Marnie sleeping with Hannah's gay friend Elijah, still ensues. Marnie has already planned her Sisters of the Traveling Pants time for her friends, but her plans are shaken up when Elijah and his gay friends arrive to the beach house (per Hannah's request after running into him). Elijah serves as Hannah's escape from drill sergeant Marnie, as well as all of those who misunderstand her quirks....

As AHS: Coven came to its boiling end, where Stevie Nicks has sung to the young witches beginning the Seven Wonders, and a new Supreme revealed herself to the eager pupils of Miss Robichaux's Academy - fans eagerly await the return of the tightly structured, boundary slaughtering, mesmerizing experience that is AHS . In an exclusive Entertainment Weekly reveal, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has stated that the anticipated Season 4 of FX 's hit series will be a period piece: "It’s set in 1950 . If you look historically what happened in the year 1950, there’s some more clues in that year. It’s a period piece. We try and do the opposite of what we’ve done before. Jessica Lange has already started practicing her German accent so I’m very excited!"   The clues that I have found are that the Circus Krone Building in Munich, Germany was the first permanent building for a circus, originally being built in 1919. Among many others, Krone was bombed an...