Wednesday, July 30, 2014

FaceOff: Top of the World, Ma!

Last week on FaceOff: The contestants arrived to find out they weren’t actually on the show yet. Half the contestants had to make creatures that represented life and the other half made creatures that represented death. Neville Page and Glenn Hetrick inspected the creatures before the contestants stood before the judging panel. Ve announced that she would not be able to participate in most of the season due to her commitments to “The Hunger Games.” But instead, we will get Academy Award winner Lois Burwell. Seems like a fair trade to me. Dina rose to the top to become the first spotlight challenge winner. Scott and Gabby fell short of joining the show. Fourteen contestants remain, who will be eliminated tonight? Find out!

Face Off!

Monday, July 28, 2014

America’s Next Top Model: Cycle 21!

Alert! Alert! Alert!

America’s Next Top Model will start again on Monday, August 18th. Please note the day change—Monday instead of Friday.

Once again, this will be a mixed cycle—boys and girls competing together. Maybe a boy will take it this go-round. We’ll see.

I will be recapping the cycle once again. Especially as Television Without Pity is no more. (A moment of silence, please). Keep an eye out for them!

See you in three weeks!

Wanna be on top?


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Newsies Review: Seize the Day

In the early nineties, newbie screenwriters Bob Tzudiker and Noni White pitched an idea to Walt Disney Productions. They wanted to make a movie about the 1899 newsies strike where young boys were able to win against the likes of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Disney ordered it and Christian Bale was cast in the main role of Jack Kelly. Then Disney decided to make it a musical, bringing award-winner Alan Menken on board with new lyricist Jack Feldman. The movie was far from a box office smash and Christian Bale swore off musicals forever.

But then something strange began to happen. Newsies became a cult classic. Fans grew to love the movie despite its flaws--or maybe for its flaws. The music grew more and more popular. And Disney decided to turn the property into a musical. Menken and Feldman agreed to write new songs as well as work with the ones they had already written for the movie. Pulitzer Prize winner Harvey Fierstein was brought on to revamp Tzudiker and White's screenplay, to make it more palatable for the stage (and to fix some of the more problematic aspects of the movie). The musical bowed at the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey to critical raves as well as good word-of-mouth.

After it closed, it was rumored that Disney wanted to bring it to Broadway. And a few months later, it did. Opening March 12, 2012 in the Nederlander Theater, the same praise from Papermill followed it to Broadway. It was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including Best Actor for Jeremy Jordan and Best Musical. While it lost the top prize to "Once" and Jordan lost to Ben Kazee (of "Once"), Newsies still won two Tonys--Best Score and Best Choreography.

On Friday, July 12, 2014, I finally saw this musical.



EXTRA! EXTRA! SPOILERS BELOW!


Friday, July 25, 2014

Face Off: Sitting in the Graveyard…

Time for a new season of Face Off! I’m all excited, are you?

LA! Our group of contestants storm a building and everything is set up for their first challenge. And there’s Sheridan Crane McKenzie Westmore to welcome them to FaceOff! The building used to be a cathedral, the site of baptisms and funerals. McKenzie says that the season is about life and death. Then she reveals that none of them are on the show yet. This is their final audition. Everyone is shocked. Two people will be eliminated before going to the house or the lab. She says the contestants have to pick to represent life or represent death then pick an item from the box to incorporate into their makeup.

On Your Mark

Get Set!

RUN!

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Update

So...I know I sometimes tend to go off without posting for a while. But this time, I have a reason. My hard drive crashed. So I lost my (admittedly late) July Nostalgia Nook. It will now be August's.


I also lost two reviews but I won't be redoing them. They were for movies that are closer to being on DVD than in the theaters.


I'll be back soon, I hope!