‘House’ Makes a Home for Cuddy By Art Byrd edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

On popular TV series, the main character is usually the only one the viewers get a chance to glimpse in their world away from the job. But with TV series that have very strong ensemble casts, it’s nice to see such storylines extended to supporting actors. 

The Fox series “House” has an amazing supporting cast. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s about a mean doctor (played by award-winning actor Hugh Laurie), who has unorthodox methods with medicine and manners, constantly annoying his fellow doctors and the hospital staff -- especially administrator Lisa Cuddy -- played by Lisa Edelstein.

The episode starts off with the alarm going off, Cuddy waking up alone, then doing yoga. Then her baby, Rachel, wakes and is not feeling well. There is a cute scene where Cuddy is taking a shower and Rachel is in there with her.

At the hospital, Cuddy has an important meeting regarding the hospital insurance company, Atlantic Net, which wants to give the hospital a lousy deal. Cuddy feels the hospital deserves more and tells the company unless the deal is better, the contract with them is terminated.

Edelstein plays Cuddy with a sharpness and vulnerability that makes her interesting enough to keep watching to see how she will handle situations.

Cuddy must deal with the board of directors who deliver an ultimatum -- deal with insurance situation or she may be fired. Then she can’t get a hold of the nanny to find about Rachel.

In a great scene, the pharmacy tech tells her she has been stealing since she started seven years ago, and if she goes down, she will bring Cuddy with her. How Cuddy dealt with the situation was very cool.

The episode was fast-paced. It did slow down when Cuddy would have to compose herself in a stairwell and in her car. Somehow House would find her and give some encouragement.

I would like you to see the episode because you get a chance to see a full-fledged example of what a strong female character really is. Television rarely shows strong women who are tackling real situations where they can succeed or fail on their own accord. Kudos to the producers of “House.”

The episode is called “5 to 9” and available on Hulu.com

‘From Paris With Love’ Should Be Called ‘From Paris With Guns’ By Art Byrd edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like “From Paris With Love” because I thought it would be over the top -- and it was. But as it turns out, that was a good thing. 

James Reece, played Jonathan Rhys Meyers, is a personal aide to the U.S Ambassador in France, but he has a side job as low-level operative for the CIA. Reece’s heart is set on becoming a full-fledged agent. His wish comes true, but so does the old adage “be careful what you wish for,” because he gets Special (and I mean “Special”!) Agent Charlie Wax, played by John Travolta.  

Travolta is unrecognizable with a bald head and goatee. His familiar voice gives him away. Wax is crazy as he starts shooting people in the first few hours he and Reece are together on assignment. Plus, he has strange scenarios regarding threats and plots that he tells Reece about.

“From Paris With Love” is a shoot-and-blow-’em-up movie. Wax is wisecracking and will shoot anyone, including women. I thought the film would be a comedy, but it is really an action drama.

“From Paris With Love” will most likely be thrown on the “should see film” scrape heap and missed by most theater-going audiences.

Personally, I would like to see Travolta and Rhys Meyers in a sequel. I enjoy their on-screen chemistry. Yet, I have a feeling there will be only one trip to Paris with love and guns.

“Up In The Air” Keeps You Soaring In Cinematic Heaven” By Art Byrd edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

“Up In The Air” stars George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, who is hired to fire people in downsizing companies.

Clooney has an ever-present smoothness as the person whose goal is to reach 10 million miles in the air as he travels to fire people. Ryan’s world is going right, as he prefers to be in the air than in one place too long, as he travels 322 days a year.

One evening, Ryan meets Alex, played by Vera Farminga, who is a frequent flyer. She has the most mesmerizing and beautiful eyes in film today. They perform a great scene where Ryan and Alex compare their travel strategies in a friendly sparring.  They seem like a good fit for each other.

But things are about to change for Ryan as a young executive at his company, Natalie (played by Anna Kendrick of “Twilight”), persuades the company management to cut costs by firing people by teleconferencing. This move would seriously cut into Ryan’s goal of building up his traveling miles.

Natalie’s eyes are opened as she sees the actual impact of what downsizers do. She encounters a woman who says she will jump off a bridge due to her firing.

There is hardly any movie that holds up without good supporting casts. This film has one. There is Danny McBride as  Jim, who is having cold feet marrying Ryan’s sister;  Julie, played by Melanie Lynskey (“Two and a Half Men”); and Amy Morton, who plays the other sister,  Julie. Her performance is very honest and her cuss words are used in very interesting ways.

Another jewel from the film is that actual people who were downsized in real life were used in the downsizing scenes. A classy move by Reitman!

Even if “Up In The Air” was not getting critical acclaim, it still would be that film that people should get the movie tickets to. If you do, you’re in for a great cinematic plane ride.

‘Edge of Darkness’ Doesn’t Have Much Light By Art Byrd edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

It is good to see Mel Gibson back in films after a long nine-year absence.

“Edge of Darkness” is a good film to come back in. The story line is that Tom Craven, played by Gibson, is a proud father who picks up his 20-something daughter Emma, played by Bojana Novakovic, at a train station. Their close relationship is told by video when Emma was a little girl. Now she is an MIT graduate working at a Northmoor, a private corporation that specializes in nuclear testing with huge government contracts.

Emma is not feeling well. Tom, a Boston detective, suspects something is bothering her along with feeling sick. She starts to vomit and develops a nose bleed; Emma decides she needs to see a doctor. As Tom and Emma are leaving; she is shot dead in front of him. The police believe the shooting was meant for him. It is slowly revealed that Emma knew of some shady things going on at Northmoor.

The film turns into a “get the facts” and “revenge” film. This is the kind of film Mel Gibson shines in. The villains -- like corporate head, Jack Bennett played by Danny Huston -- underestimate Tom as he starts to gather clues regarding Emma’s death and a cover-up coupling corporate corruption with political overtones.

The film has some action, but it relies on Gibson’s intense acting and angry face. He has some good lines when he asks a man to remove his glasses and then punches him. “Edge of Darkness” is a solid film that answers all the questions the audience will have.

“Edge of Darkness” took its time going into the darkness, but there was not much light at the end of the film.

‘When In Rome’ Perfect Timing for St. Valentine Season By Art Byrd edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

The story is about Beth, played by Kristen Bell (“Gossip Girl” and “Heroes”), a workaholic career woman. She’s a curator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York who is unlucky at love. After a run in with an ex-boyfriend who tells Beth that he is getting married, her sister, Joan (Alexis Dziena), stops by Beth’s apartment with news that she is getting married in Rome.

Beth travels to attend the wedding and suffers some mishaps at the event that are very funny. Beth is helped-out with her situations by the best man, Nick, played by Josh Duhamel (“Las Vegas” and “Transformers” 1 and 2). Both are clumsy and wreak havoc at the wedding. Beth and Nick seem to have chemistry, but then Beth sees him with another woman by the Trevi Fountain, also known as the “Fountain of Love.” Beth, who has been drinking, steps into the fountain and snatches a few coins and takes them back to New York.

The film does a great job in making the corny very funny and touching. Kristen Bell is simply a cutie. Who would not fall in with her with or without a spell? She is very funny and sweet. Josh Duhamel has the leading man quality in him – dashing but not overbearing – and he is very good at physical comedy with pratfalls and bumping into things.

There is one hilarious scene with Beth and Nick which is – literally – a blind date at a restaurant that specializes in darkness.

The film is a good romantic escape to lift your heart, and it’s a bonus that it takes you traveling to Rome.

Ballet Audition Is Moving Towards 1 million Views on YouTube

This is the cast of Ballet Audition

The short film made in 2006 about a ballerina whose shoes are accidentally taken before an audition is approaching a 1 million views on YouTube.

If you haven't seen the film please watch and take us over 1 million views

Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzRKZ_9AUSQ to see the film.

A very cool video-Flawz

This is a great video about Flawz
And how special each a everyone of us are.....