Category Archives: Review

Red Band Society – Fox

red-band-society-fox
It is entirely possible that the strength of this show may be the reason I find it hard to tune into week after week.  Watch the promo and you will find this is a well acted, heart tearing show about teenagers dealing with life-altering illnesses and the hospital caregivers who somehow help them cope with these life changing events.

Starring  Octavia Spencer (“The Help,” “Fruitvale Station”), Dave Annable (“Brothers & Sisters,” “666 Park Avenue”) with a selection of very talented young actors as the patients, the clips already available on the FOX website show scenes that tear at the heart-strings, and characters with strength, and grit.


What I hope to find when I tune in is a strong sense of humor and selection of lighter moments that balance the intense plot lines that the show will obviously feature.

The fact the show is narrated by a boy in a coma does offer some hope that the lighter side of life will be featured just as prominently, but the gallows sense of humor is not for everyone, and most of these clips from the first episode seem to lean towards the darker side.

All of that said, what keeps catching my eye, and drawing me back to wanting to watch this new show is the clearly character-centric feel of the promos and pitch.  Some much of the most compelling drama comes not from the ticking clock in the operating room, but the trials and tribulations of the patient before they even make it to the operating table.

Twelve-year-old narrator CHARLIE (Griffin Gluck, “Back in the Game,” “Private Practice”) is in a coma and introduces us to this band of unlikely friends, including the “new kid,” JORDI PALACIOS (Nolan Sotillo, “Prom”), a 16-year-old who comes to California to seek out treatment at the renowned hospital. What Jordi soon discovers is that it’s not his illness that’s going to change his life, but his new friends. Also at Ocean Park is LEO ROTH (Charlie Rowe, “Neverland,” “Pirate Radio”), the 16-year-old, charming and independent “leader” of the group. Leo’s best friend is DASH HOSNEY (Astro, “The X Factor”), a 16-year-old “rebel” with a big personality, who is determined not to let his cystic fibrosis stop him from living his life. Also on the ward is 15-year-old “know-it-all” EMMA CHOTA (Ciara Bravo, “Big Time Rush”), Leo’s on-again-off-again girlfriend who is coping with an eating disorder. Rounding out this group of patients is KARA SOUDERS (Zoe Levin, “Arrested Development,” “The Way Way Back”), a “mean girl” cheerleader who shares a room with Charlie. Although her heart is failing, she is realizing for the first time that she actually has one and begins opening it up to her new friends.

The pediatric ward is run by NURSE JACKSON (Spencer), a caregiver with a take-no-prisoners approach to helping these teens get the most from their lives. Little do they know that she puts her own life second, and her stern manner hides her incredible heart that secretly makes their lives more ordinary. Overseeing much of their treatment is DR. JACK McANDREW (Annable), the country’s top pediatric surgeon. Also attending to the patients is the naïve and gullible Nurse BRITTANY DOBLER (newcomer Rebecca Rittenhouse), who allows the teens to get away with things they probably shouldn’t. These mentors’ lives are more complicated than they seem. They are the guiding force for these teens, but in their own personal lives, things might not be so easy.

“Like” RED BAND SOCIETY on facebook at facebook.com/RedBandSociety. Follow the series on Twitter @RedBandSociety & join the discussion using #RedBandSociety.
See photos and videos on Instagram @RedBandSociety.

Outlander – The Garrison Commander

Lt. Foster, Claire and Dougal

Lt. Foster, Claire and Dougal

The sixth episode of Starz Outlander, The Garrison Commander, covers more of the events in Chapters 10 through 21, again changing a lot of the story line, adding characters, and recrafting events in intriguing and fascinating ways.

From the moment I first started reading the book the character Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish) fascinated me.  In most current Romance novels his alpha character introduction would have signaled his being a major player, and male interest for our female lead.  Because I knew I was reading the book in anticipation of the television series, and at the recommendation of a friend, I had opted not to read the back cover text about the novel.  As a result I entered the story blind, not knowing who was a major player in the story, and who was minor.

As a result, when Claire (Caitriona Balfe) first met Dougal (Graham McTavish) I was both intrigued and curious.  Who was this man, and what role would he play in Claire’s attempt to survive life in the 1700s?  Dougal (Graham McTavish), as portrayed in the telvision show, is slightly different than in the book, the nuances to his character fascinate me.  His loyalty to clan and country and never in question, but his motivations, and what he is seeing and how he will act on it is constantly of interest.

I assumed Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies) would be the Garrison Commander for whom this episode was named, in part because he was the highest ranking Red Coat we were familiar with thus far.  I expected him to be the predominant face of the British troops, and thought I understood a great deal about the scenes that would unfold in this weeks episode.

As has happened so often in this series, the episode contained some scenes directly from the book, and portions from the book shifted to other characters and other positions.

I said last week that it was best to have read up through Chapter 21, and while I now realize that does cover into the next episode (The Wedding), I think some of those scenes have been merged and shifted into this week’s episode, and last week’s.  For instance, one character from this week’s episode is at the very end of chapter 20 (Corporal Hawkins).

Where the first episode of Outlander felt almost like an abridged presentation of the book, each episode since has felt less and less bound to the novel, and yet they have maintained the spirit and spark of the prose so well, that it can be difficult to fully recognize while you are watching the show which parts are created from scratch for the series, and where dialogue has been pulled from Dougal speaking to Claire beside the spring in Chapter 13 and given to Black Jack Randall in episode 6.  Hard to believe, and yet, so well done that each scene plays well, conveys the same scene with great power, and presents two different perspectives on the same scene and gives Claire very important knowledge about the world she is now surviving in, and the people around her.

Starz Outlander Wedding Invite

Who Is George Lucas?

WhoIsGeorgeLucass260x420I was unsure what to expect from the book Who Is George Lucas?  The title sounded interesting, but the book is clearly intended for a school age crowd.

The moment I started reading the book I was captivated.  A very easy to read page turner the book is filled with interesting facts and stories about the man who went on to play a major role in making so many movies that influenced and thrilled a generation of cinema goers.

From reading about his childhood, and desire to be a race car driver — and how that actually turned him around and inspired him to become a better student, to reading about his teaching college courses to US Navy Cameramen while in college, I learned a great deal about the man who at one time considered making documentaries, and yet even in college was winning awards with his futuristic movies (Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB).

The book presents a well-rounded view of the man who went on to make Star Wars, even when friends were telling him it was a disaster, teasing him about Princess Leia’s hair and the force.  Covering his life, and accomplishments to date, Who Is George Lucas? is a fun and informative read for anyone wanting to know more about the man behind so many movies they’ve enjoyed over the years.

This unauthorized biography Penguin was handing out at San Diego’s Comic-Con International is by Pamela Pollack and Meg Belviso, with illustrations by Ted Hammond.

George Lucas at IMDB
George Lucas Educational Foundation
Who Was Book Series Official Website

 

204 Rosewood Lane, Cedar Cove

Tonight another episode of Cedar Cove airs, and it feels like great timing for me since I just finished reading 204 Rosewood Lane.  This book centered on the story of Grace (Teryl Rothery) and Dan (Roark Critchlow) and their plot line was in many ways different from what the show has chosen to do.

It made for a fascinating read.  The show has captured all of the characters so well, that it is easy to hear the actors voices in your head as you read scenes with Olivia (Andie MacDowell) and Jack (Dylan Neal), for instance, who appear throughout the book, and have extensive story lines of their own.

Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove novel’s may feature one set of characters with a predominant story that will have a complete arc in the book, but her entire town appears with interesting plots of their own to flesh out the experiences, fill the pages, and draw you in.  Like any real place you might visit, you don’t simply get to know the two people you sit down to talk to, but you get snippets from the waitress, the Bed and Breakfast keepers, and so on.

Maryellen (Elyse Levesque) and John Bowman’s (Charlie Carrick) relationship, which I have particularly enjoyed watching evolve on the tv show, was in this novel as well.  Given Maryellen is Grace’s daughter, that came as no surprise, but the fact that Olivia’s mother Charlotte (Paula Shaw) had quite a story line of her own showed me that in every book I can hope to see all of the characters in town treated with an even hand.

I look forward to tuning in tonight for the episode Point of No Return.  Eric and Shelley and their pregnancy was in 204 Rosewood Lane as well, though again the details, and aspects of how the relationship evolved were different, leaving me to wonder how the show will proceed with Eric.

I’m finding in many cases I’m equally happy with what the books and the tv show have done with this characters.  It intrigues me that the personalities have been maintained between the two, that the charm of the people, and their town has been kept in tact, and the details of profession and drama have been changed.  As I said in my previous article, it almost feels as if the tv show explores what might have happened to these characters if they had made a different decision here or there.

Whether you read the book first, or watch the tv show first, the other becomes a “or maybe, when two roads diverged, had they chosen to take the path less traveled…” and I just keep watching/reading, exploring and getting caught up in the possibilities because the characters are both enchanting and complete.

If you have not already seen it, Debbie Macomber has on her website a map of Cedar Cove.  I had no doubts after reading 16 Lighthouse Road, and 204 Rosewood Lane that she had one in mind, but seeing one on her website is great fun.