Are You Here in Theatres August 22 #MadMen @Millennium_Ent #AreYouHere

Matt Weiner (Mad Men creator) has written and directed a new film Are You Here and it opens this Friday August 22. It has a great cast, Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, and Amy Poehler. The story is basically about the two male leads friendship which is alternately nurturing and enabling. If you're in broadcast journalism you may want to skip this one. I get the feeling Weiner is not a fan of the medium.

It's an interesting look at friendship and how selfless friendship is rare. Owen Wilson's character says how it is rarer than love because there is nothing in it for anyone. I found that really touching. While everyone has "friends" few have the kind of friends that would care for one another the way these two do. They have extreme highs and lows but they seem to find their way back to each other like soul mates.

I can't say it's a great film. But it did have great moments. I'd be interested to hear what others think about the ending. I won't tell you what happens.Truthfully it is left to each viewers interpretation to figure out. Maybe I'm a glass half full kind of gal, but I thought it was a bit sad. 

Doctor Who Season 8 Picture Previews and Trailer @BBCAmerica #DoctorWho

Doctor Who and Clara 

Just a few more day till the premiere of the new Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) and Season 8 of Doctor Who on Saturday August 23!!! BBC America has released a few preview pictures of the first episode TAKE A DEEP BREATH, from which we are free to try and guess what is going on. First off the above picture looks like the Doctor and Clara are going to go out for a meal...

Doctor Who on the shore

Followed by a walk on a somewhat spooky beach. Based on Clara's clothes I'm going to guess this episode takes place, at least in some part, somewhere around 1900 and could this beach be Cardiff?

Clara at the TARDIS controls

 Clara looks like she is having a go at flying the TARDIS. The new generation of the Doctor did ask her in his first few minutes if she knew how to fly it. Guess we're about to find out if she can wing it after watching for a couple years. It also looks like the TARDIS has been done over.

Tea Time with Strax

 Happy to see good old Strax (the potato one) will be appearing. Hopefully, he'll see some action beyond pouring tea.

Madame Vastra on the job

And where there is Strax you almost always find Madame Vastra. Looks like she is knee deep in solving some mystery. We'll just have to wait till Saturday to find out what it is. I can tell you, there will be dinosaurs!

Here's the trailer

www.bbcamerica.com/doctor-who/videos/dinosaurs-decorating-and-the-new-doctor/

Downton Abbey Season 5 Sneak Peek #DowntonPBS @MasterpiecePBS

Downton Abbey is returning to PBS Masterpiece this January 2015. It's a long wait but here are a few glimpses into what is awaiting us. Of course there are no spoilers but we do see a new character and our babies are growing up! I can tell you that we will not be seeing Shirley Maclaine or Paul Giamatti this year, but that is as spoilery as I get.

Downton Abbey Branson and Sybie

Here is little Sybie with her father Branson, who hopeful will not be hooking up with that teacher from town. Is it me or does she seem like a bad egg?

Downton Abbey George and his nanny

Here's Matthew and Mary's son George. Hopefully him being pictured with his nanny isn't a clue that Mary is struggling with motherhood and her grief over Mathew's death. Or maybe she's just too busy juggling all her suitors. He sure is a cutie, it would be hard for anyone not to fawn all over him.

Downton Abbey Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes

It would be great if Mr Carson and Mrs. Hughes continued their torrid hand holding from last seasons beach trip! They really are the perfect couple.

Downton Abbey Cora and Simon Bricker

I'm very excited to see Richard E Grant will be joining the Downton cast. All I know is his character's name is Simon Bricker??? We'll just have to wait and see could he be a fling for Cora... Find out next time on Downton Abbey.

The Knick On Cinemax @AtTheKnick #TheKnick @Cinemax

The Knick premieres on Cinemax August 8th. I've yet to see more than short clips. It's stars Clive Owen and is produced and directed by Steven Soderbergh which I think is a pretty strong recommendation in and of itself. The show has already been picked up for a second season, so at the very least the network really likes it!

The network describes it like this:
Clive Owen is the brilliant and complicated chief surgeon of a hospital in 1900 Manhattan. Set in The Knickerbocker Hospital "The Knick" introduces us to the new frontier of medicine at the turn of the century and to the colorful ensemble cast of characters.

Based on the the bits I've seen, which include Clive Owen's character having a drug problem and a penchant for the ladies as well as some pretty gory medical procedures, this will not be family viewing and may be a bit too blue for some. But if you aren't too squeamish I think it might be great.

Outlander First Episode Available NOW @Outlander_Starz #Outlander

We're very excited that Starz is allowing everyone to get a one week early preview of Outlander. Don't worry you don't have to be a subscriber to Starz to get in on this, but you do have to live in the U.S. Just go to Starz.com and pick your preferred method to watch it or click this link Starz Outlander Preview.

Here's our review by Audra Crane

 Outlander is based on the historical novels by Diana Gabaldon about Claire Beauchamp Randall, a WWII nurse who at the close of the war goes on a second honeymoon to reconnect with her husband in the Scottish Highlands. During the holiday she falls through time and finds herself in 1743 and in the hands of a band of Scots on the run from a British patrol.

 I just watched it and can say that it is perfectly faithful to the book and extremely well done. The landscape shots in the opening are gorgeous and give the series an epic feel from the first moments. The great fears for those of us who read and enjoyed the books were that the series would feel cheap or the actors would not convincingly embody the characters we had grown to love: those fears are put to rest. Starz  spent  serious money and got real talent on this production and it all shows up on the screen.  As with any new series, and particularly in the case of this novel, quite a bit of exposition and background needs to go into the first episode. The filmmakers and actress playing Claire (Catriona Balfe) manage to do this quite smoothly and keep the story moving. And the big question on the minds of  fans- can Sam Heughan do justice to Jamie Fraser- is answered with a standing ovation by this viewer. Now I have to finish this up so that I can watch it again- it was that good.  

The series proper will appear on Starz starting on Saturday, August 9th. The first half of season one will be shown every Saturday for eight straight weeks before going on a cruel hiatus and then wrapping up early in 2015. The episode contains nudity and sexual situations- so better to watch it after the kids are in bed.