'Vampire Diaries' 2.19 Preview: Klaus Tears Stefan and Damon Apart

Klaus is seriously threatening the relationships among "The Vampire Diaries" characters in the upcoming episode. After possessing Alaric, the oldest vampire in history will indirectly reignite a fight between Stefan and Damon as they disagree about how to protect Elena. 

Stefan and Damon are furious when they discover that Elena has defied them both to make a new ally and take control of the plan to out-maneuver Klaus. Meanwhile, Stefan has his hands full trying to keep a confused and frightened Jenna safe. 

The episode will also feature flashbacks to 1491 which reveal Katherine's introduction to Elijah and Klaus, and the origin of the moonstone curse. The first look at Klaus from present day has just been obtained by TVLine in form a picture showing Joseph Morgan's character on the woods. 

"Klaus" will air Thursday, April 21 at 8 P.M. on The CW. 

'Glee' Pics: First Look at 'Born This Way' Episode

"Glee" will present a highly-anticipated "Born This Way" episode before the end of this month. The first sneak peek to the special has now been released in pictures, mostly showing the characters dancing or performing. 

Lea Michele's Rachel has some fun in a photo, blending with other youngsters including Chris Colfer's Kurt, Harry Shum Jr.'s Mike and Ashley Fink's Lauren. In another shot, however, she has a breakdown moment during which Cory Monteith's Finn and Matthew Morrison's Will come to console her. 

Inspired by Lady GaGa's song "Born This Way", the April 26 outing follows New Directions kids as they grapple with their own body image issues. It will additionally see Rachel and the gang covering the so-called new gay anthem. 

The latest scoop says the super-sized episode will heavily feature Max Adler's Dave Karofsky. Naya Rivera's Santana will reportedly get a new love interest, and a new character named Dr. Shane will make his debut. 




'Glee' Sneak Peeks: Charice Accused of Spying on New Directions

Charice's cover of "All by Myself" on the upcoming episode of "Glee" has been teased and now her full performance is shared in a clip viaTV Guide. It turns out that her character Sunshine Corazon performs the classic song because she wants to convince the New Directions that she honestly wants to help them with their benefit concert, and does not spy on them as accused by Rachel. 

Another scene from the "Night of Neglect" episode has also been clipped and debuted by TVLine. It teases Sue who briefs her League of Doom, consisting of Dustin Goolsby (guest star Cheyenne Jackson), Sandy Ryerson (guest star Stephen Tobolowsky) and Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig), on the aim of their new team. 

To air Tuesday, April 19, "Night of Neglect" follows the glee club which signs up to help another under-the-radar club at McKinley High needing helps raising funds. But when Sue hears about the show of support, she moves quickly to put the kibosh on it. Meanwhile, relationships are tested and big decisions will be made. 


NATO Denies 'Deathly Hallows: Part II' Threat

NATO (National Association of Theatre Owners) shuts down the rumor saying that the organization will not screen movies by four major studios, Universal, Sony, Warner Bros and Fox. John Fithian, President and CEO of NATO, issued a statement on Thursday, April 14, to straighten up the report by saying that the organization does not have the capability to encourage its members to boycott films in Video-on-Demand dispute. 

The statement read, "The National Association of Theatre Owners does not and could not encourage its members to engage in any boycotts of any movies distributed by any company. Recent press reports to the contrary are completely false." 

"In an article published on April 13 in The Guardian, it was suggested that NATO indicated that cinema operators were prepared not to screen movies, and specifically referenced the coming Harry Potter film. No one from The Guardian contacted NATO before the original article was published. At our request, The Guardian did later change the article to remove the erroneous reference to the Harry Potter film." 

"Then later on April 13, the blog 'Business Insider' entitled 'Harry Potter 8 Dropped From Theaters?' suggested that NATO 'is threatening to drop some of this summer's biggest blockbusters' and that 'screens under NATO are threatening to boycott upcoming studio releases, starting with Warner Bros. sure to be box office-gargantuan Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.' Again, these stories, and others that have followed, are completely false and no one from the organizations responsible for the stories contacted anyone at NATO." 

"NATO has often articulated our concerns about the possible release of 'premium VOD' movies in an early window. Our association issued statements on June 16, 2010 and again on March 31, 2011 regarding those concerns. But as our 2010 statement made clear, 'individual theater companies must and will make decisions about release window changes in their own company's interest.' NATO cannot and will not make those decisions for them." 

Previously, when the premium VOD plan was announced, NATO released a statement which expressed their disagreement. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the organization at that time called the development a "surprise and strong disappointment." 

Draco Malfoy and His Buddies Holding Hands in Fresh 'Deathly Hallows: Part II' Photo

Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new still for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II". The picture from the last installment of "Harry Potter" film series sees Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy holding hands with his Slytherin friends. 

The fantasy adventure will see the battle between good and evil forces of the Wizarding world that breaks into an all-out war. In the end, Harry Potter is the one who should make the decisive sacrifice when he draws closer to the climactic showdown with the Dark Lord. 

Beside Felton, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson will also reprise their respective roles in the David Yates-directed movie. The novel-adapted film will make its way out Stateside on July 15. 

Earlier this week, the fantasy film was rumored under the threaten of not being screened. NATO was reportedly fuming over the Video-on-Demand plan announced by four big film studios. However, John Fithian, President and CEO of NATO, has slammed down the rumor. He insisted that the organization has no capacity to encourage its members to boycott films despite the Video-on-Demand dispute. 

'Black Swan' Body Double Upset of Natalie Portman's Exclusiveness

The "Black Swan" controversy regarding the amount of "untouched" dance that Natalie Portman did for the movie, continues. The body double has spoken to ABC's "20/20", saying the filmmakers were lying when they said Portman did eighty percent of the ballet. 

"I'm not speaking like I feel like I should be heralded," Sarah Lane told Elizabeth Vargas. "I'm speaking because [the filmmakers] are completely lying about the amount of dancing Natalie did in the movie. When those incorrect things are coming out, and they threaten the entire principle of ballet, then I feel like I need to say something." 

Director Darren Aronofsky defended the accusation that Portman was only a dummy during dance scenes, saying in a statement last month that of 139 dance scenes shot in the film, 111 of them were done by the actress without editing. The director added Lane did 28 of them which is only 20 percent of the total. 

"20/20" then went to investigate Aronofsky's statement which he claimed was based on the film's editor's count. Editor Andy Weisblum told the news show, "There are about 35 shots that are full-body shots in the movie. Of those 35 shots, 12 are Natalie, and then the rest are Sarah. But over the overall film, Natalie did a lot more than that. I mean, she did most of the other shots. It was sometimes hard for me to tell the difference as the editor, it was so close." 

This case has been put on the spotlight since Portman did not thank her body double when winning an Oscar for her role. Lane said she "expected" not to receive any and is not "disgruntled" over the no-credit. She added, "I did wish that she could have said something nice about ballet itself instead of saying that it was so horrible and she's so glad she's done with it." 

Justin Bieber Visits Israel Landmarks in the Dead of Night

Justin Bieber was furious earlier this week, April 11, when he had to cancel a planned trip to the holy city of Jerusalem due to growing numbers of fans and photographers following his every move in the country.

At one point he refused to leave hishotel room and angrily told followers on Twitter.com he had been denied the chance "walk where Jesus did".

But, on Friday, April 15, he returned to the microblogging website to announce he had fulfilled his dream by staging a cloak-and-dagger operation following his concert in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, April 14.

He writes, "Last night after the show I was able to see Jerusalem... really incredible experience. Thank you for those who helped make it happen... Got to see the (Wailing) wall and the tunnels and even a sacred bath that Jesus could of (sic) bathed in. Incredible."

The Jerusalem Post has published two exclusive photographs of the "Baby" hitmaker at the city's Western Wall, and reports he visited the landmark at 3am local time with a team of 20 security guards. 

Nicolas Cage Targeted By Irs Again - Report

The IRS filed a federal tax lien against the "National Treasure" star on 17 March in Los Angeles for neglecting to pay the required 35 per cent tax on all large gifts.

The document, obtained by TMZ.com, reveals Nicolas Cage gave away roughly $1.8 million worth of gifts since 2004 and reportedly owes the government just over $600,000 in unpaid taxes.

In 2009, it was reported the movie star owed $14 million to the IRS after receiving demands for tax on his income from 2002 to 2004 and 2007.

The scandal prompted Nicolas Cage to file suit against his former business manager, Samuel Levin, accusing the accountant of misleading him and overcharging for his services, sending him "down a path of financial ruin".

Levin counter sued, alleging Nicolas Cage squandered his cash on lavish homes and luxury cars and was to blame for his own financial missteps. The legal dispute was settled in August 2010.

By the end of 2010, Nicolas Cage had begun making amends with the IRS and, according to documents obtained by TMZ.com, the actor had made three big repayments by November 10, 2010, totaling $360,545.

Anne Hathaway Dashed From Premiere to Avoid the Sun

Anne Hathaway appeared on co-star George Lopez's U.S. chat show on Thursday night, April 14, and he asked her why she skipped the red carpet at the glitzy launch in Hollywood at the weekend, April 10. 

The "Brokeback Mountain" actress explained, "I'm a little pale and the premiere was at two o'clock, so the red carpet was at 1.30, and the sun was just too strong for me and I had to go inside... I'm so cool!

"I went inside and I just kinda hung out with the kids that were at the premiere." 

The actress asked movie bosses for an umbrella to shield her from the sun, but they gave her a "lightstand".

She adds,"They got me this really nice rectangular square of white paper to hold over myself, so I thought, 'Maybe I can do the press line quickly'." 

Penelope Cruz Would Love to Do More Musicals

Penelope Cruz starred in 2009's Nine and caught the musical bug, and now she's inspired to hit the high notes again on screen by gal pal Gwyneth Paltrow's show-stopping performances on TV show "Glee". 

The Spanish actress admits she may want to follow in Paltrow's footsteps.

She tells Entertainment Weekly, "Gwyneth was amazing. She was so funny and she has such an amazing voice. And once you've done a musical you always want to do it again.

"I would love to do more musicals, in TV or film. Not on Broadway, because I'm not brave enough to do that yet. But I love musicals."

Ironically, Penelope Cruz's husband, Javier Bardem, was recently tapped to make a guest appearance on "Glee" sometime this season. 

Exclusive:Kim Kardashian had bikini wax when she was just 12

 Socialite Kim Kardashian has revealed she had her first bikini wax when she was just 12.


The 30-year-old star has revealed she started getting the beauty treatment from a young age and would go with her mother Kris Jenner and sister Kourtney, 31, at least once a month for it, reports contactmusic.com.


“Literally, at 12 years old I had a bikini wax. I had an appointment once a month on a specific day, like every Friday we’d go and get the inside of our brows waxed and a bikini wax,” she said.

Teen Thay Bhai Review

Film: ‘Teen Thay Bhai’; Starring: Om Puri, Deepak Dobriyal, Shreyas Talpade; Directed by: Mrigdeep Singh Lamba; Rating: * 1/2 – very disappointing fare.


Some comedies mean well. But they lose their way in their noble intentions. ‘Teen Thay Bhai’ seems like a terrific idea for a comedy. Three brothers separated more at mirth than by birth, trying hard to keep the spirit alive. They fail miserably, not for the want of trying.


The script here depends too much on extraneous trappings, too little on integral assets. There’s no scarcity of acting talent here. Shreyas Talpade, Deepak Dobriyal and Om Puri shine in that order… Alas, they have no meat to sink their sharp teeth in. Often we see the actor groping and grappling with material that doesn’t give them a chance to move beyond the immediate laughter of a situational comedy. Beyond the sound of current laughter there’s no hereafter in the humour.


The static snowcapped location doesn’t help either. The three principal actors seem as frozen in their efforts to rise above the stagnant humour as the snowy landscape in Jammu where veteran cinematographer Ashok Mehta tries desperately to find a centre in the meandering mirth.


The script has the seeds of an engaging satire. But the story never takes off. Minimalist props and background music don’t help drive away the feeling of growing boredom that clutches at the throat of this vapid tale of three brothers who could kill each other with sibling friction and kill us with sheer boredom.


Towards the end, the plot shifts out a snow-strapped cottage into the outdoors where the brothers are assailed by hippy women who feed them with parathas filled with marijuana. By this time the script has completely run out of tricks to hold our attention. A climax with a giant steamroller as the villain is just about all that we are left looking at.


‘Teen Thay Bhai’ is like one of those books whose backflap synopsis offers us tempting insights into human nature. But by the time we settle down to the experience the plot has betrayed its own interests.

THE CONSPIRATOR Review


Robert Redford is an activist and that’s all well and good, but he’s awful at balancing his political viewpoints with storytelling.  His previous film, Lions for Lambs, was a pedantic, simpleminded bore.  With his latest film, The Conspirator, Redford at least has the courtesy to provide a story, but it may as well be prefaced with “Hi, I’m Robert Redford.  I’m going to give you an allegory for how we treat military detainees.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to my other job as worn leather.”  Despite solid performances and the promise of a complex narrative, Redford undermines his message of “Justice for All” by making the criminal a victim.
It’s the close of the Civil War, the nation is celebrating, and John Wilkes Booth had to go and ruin it all by assassinating Lincoln.  The perpetrators were quickly rounded up and subjected to a military tribunal.  Among the accused was Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) whose boarding house served as the headquarters for the assassins (attempts were also made on the lives of the Vice President and Secretary of State).  Surratt’s son John (Johnny Simmons) was close to Booth but managed to escape to Canada.  The nation was hungry for revenge and decided to try poor, sweet, good-Christian Mrs. Surratt.
But The Conspirator is not her story.  It’s a legal drama which means the protagonist is her reluctant attorney Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy).  Like most Union men, Aiken fought in the war and he’s unhappy at the prospect of having to defend Surratt, but he’s forced to do so after his mentor Reverdy Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) leaves the case.  However, Aiken begins to understand that Surratt is being railroaded through the tribunal and the only thing that will save her is if she gives up the location of her son.  But saintly Mrs. Surratt will protect her boy and place her faith God and I am so bored.
Here’s the issue Redford wants to convey: “Everyone should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.  What we’re doing to military detainees is unconstitutional and our system of justice should be based on evidence and defendants being judged by a jury of their peers.”  It’s an obvious point that one could simply blog about or discuss in a middle school civics class, but Redford is clearly enamored of the subject.  However, he absolutely destroys his point by making the defendant so pathetic.  In The Conspirator, Mary Surratt clearly doesn’t deserve to die for simply running a boarding house and not giving up the location of her son.  But any negative aspect of her character that would make the audience think “This is a terrible woman and she should hang” is washed away.  So ultimately the message isn’t “Everyone should be treated equally under the law.”  The message is “All good people should be treated equally under the law.”  I wholeheartedly agree: Innocent people shouldn’t be hung to death.  Thanks, Mr. Redford.
The saving grace of The Conspirator is the performances.  Everyone does the best work they can with the material they’re given, but that material is painfully weak.  Every group of characters can be summarized in a single sentence.  For Aiken’s friends, it’s “How can you defend that women?” For Mrs. Surratt’s enemies, it’s “We don’t care if she’s innocent!  Harumph!” It’s a complex world reduced to black and white with McAvoy and Wright struggling to bring some shading to the main characters.  Not only do they have to struggle against a weak script, but uneven cinematography that fluctuates between looking like a real movie and the hazy, candle-lit visuals familiar to viewers of the History Channel.
The Conspirator is better than Lions for Lambs, but so are most punches to the face.  Robert Redford can’t seem to stop himself from preaching to the audience in the most lazy, condescending fashion.  But if he’s going to use filmmaking as a vehicle to preach obvious points, he would do well not to undermine his point with such blatant hypocrisy.
Rating: D

SCREAM 4 Review


The Scream franchise is a series of horror movies whose greatest asset has never been horror.  They provide the occasional jump scare, but the strength of the series lies in crafting a critique of the slasher genre, audiences (Scream 2), and Hollywood (Scream 3).  The first Scream did the best job in balancing scares with satire, but eventually the series devolved into ninety minutes of misdirection finished by a twenty minute speech where the killer explains his or her motivations.  In between the movie gropes at subtext, but rarely in a coherent way that’s clever or rewarding. Scream 4 carries on this sad tradition but adds a heavy dose of resentment to the proceedings as it bitterly attacks everyone who left the snarky franchise behind.
A generation has passed since the Woodsboro murders of the first film and the current generation of damn kids with their music treats the event like it was a joke.  Lampposts are decorated with Ghostface masks and there’s even a “Ghostface App” that disguises the user’s voice sound like the serial killer.  But then local teens start getting killed just as original survivor girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) pulls into town to promote her new book about surviving.  Meanwhile, Gale Weathers-Riley (Courtney Cox) finds new purpose in trying to track down the killer while husband Dewey (David Arquette) is the town’s new sheriff and continues to prove worthless at law enforcement as he leads deputies Hicks (Marley Shelton), Perkins (Anthony Anderson), and Hoss (Adam Brody) in not catching Ghostface.
We’re also introduced to a cast of fresh young faces who are ripe for the slaughter.  There’s Sidney’s cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), Jill’s friends Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), her ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella), and movie nerds Robbie (Erik Knudsen) and Charlie (Rory Culkin).  It’s a bunch of potential suspects, victims, and you barely care about any of them.  Scream 4 is so busy trying to cast doubt on everyone, but if any character were too developed, then that might rule them out as the killer and the reveal would be spoiled.
Here’s a tip for storytellers: if your story can be ruined by knowing the ending in advance, it’s not a good story.  I won’t spoil Scream 4, but once you know who lives, who dies, and who’s Ghostface, there’s not much reason to return.  Good horror doesn’t startle—it scares, and a good mystery is intriguing even once you’ve solved it.  But director Wes Craven insists not on crafting quality scares or a well-crafted mystery.  Instead, we’re subjected to endless scenes of Ghostface tormenting his prey before he stabs them.  It’s the clearest sign yet that the series has fallen prey to the tropes it set out to deconstruct.
And there’s so much in the horror genre that Scream 4 could play with.  The series has been gone for ten years and it’s in prime position to return and take on the tropes of horror porn like Saw or handheld horror like Paranormal Activity.  Instead, the series simply has characters openly voice criticisms of horror and then resumes not scaring you.  The film geeks try to explain that there are new rules, but essentially all they say is that there are no rules, because if there were rules, then you wouldn’t be scared.  That was the joke of Scream, but now it’s the premise—no rules so anyone could be the killer and anyone can die.

Rather than place energy into coming up with a clever way to deconstruct horror and increasingly savvy fans, Scream 4 brims with resentment.  It seems angry at today’s youth with their youtubes and their facebooks.  Occasionally it’s amusing, like when Ghostface tells a dubious teen that he’s “not an app.”  But mostly, the movie just takes wild swings at social media, reboots, remakes, sequels, other horror franchises, and even itself.  But having characters awkwardly voice criticism of the  Scream franchise doesn’t make those criticisms invalid.  It just makes them acknowledged. Even worse is Craven who seems uninterested in creating anything new or sharing the playfulness of the script.  It’s a bad match for a screenplay that wants to say something (even if it says it poorly) and a director that simply wants to keep creating the same tired jump scares.
If Craven were a little more hip to the story, he would understand that satire and comedy is where the movie could make its mark and when Scream 4 gives itself over to humor, it usually succeeds.  While almost all of the characters are underdeveloped, Cox once again scores with her comedic chops and gives Gale the only real character arc in the whole film.  The only other performer who shines is Alison Brie as Sidney’s shallow publicist.  The character doesn’t represent anything, but Brie brings such a mean peppy energy to the role that she ends up stealing every scene she’s in.

Scream has rarely been scary, but it’s at least had the courtesy to be playful and somewhat thoughtful.  Scream 4 has plenty of new material to play with, but the film seems more interested in pursuing tired scares and highlighting its own irrelevancy.
Rating: D+

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