Month: April 2013

Categories
Movies

I’ll see ‘Oblivion’…eventually!!

Box Office Report: Tom Cruise’s ‘Oblivion’ Rockets to Solid $38.2 Million Opening

Tom Cruise’s sci-fi pic Oblivion opened to $38.2 million at the domestic box office to come in No. 1 after a better-than-expected performance and despite a B- CinemaScore. Overseas, the Universal pic continued to please, grossing $33.7 million in its second weekend for an international cume of $112 million and worldwide total of $150.2 million.

The movie marks Cruise’s best North American opening outside of the Mission: Impossible franchise and War of the Worlds, not accounting for inflation, as well as his return to sci-fi (previous titles include War of the Worlds and Minority Report). In more good news for Cruise, moviegoers listed the actor as the primary reason for turning out, followed by the type of movie and co-star Morgan Freeman.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy), Oblivion also Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo. Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark produced. The pic cost Universal and Elliot Inc. at least $120 million to produce.

Adult male moviegoers fueled Oblivion, making up 57 percent of the audience. IMAX theaters, a favorite venue of fanboys, generated $5.5 million in ticket sales from 323 theaters in North America. Overseas, the large-format exhibitor has sold north of $6 million in tickets.

Cruise’s track record domestically has been mixed. Jack Reacher debuted to $15.2 million in December on its way to earning a so-so $80 million in North America. Conversely, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, opening to $29.6 million in December 2011, turned into a box-office monster, grossing nearly $700 million worldwide.

“If you have the right vehicle [for Cruise], people will come. He is a global star,” said Universal president of domestic distribution Nikki Rocco, crediting a strong original story and a well-run marketing campaign for the film’s successful opening, among other factors.

Set in 2077, 60 years after Earth has been destroyed by aliens, Oblivion follows one of the last humans stationed on the planet as he uncovers a troubling secret.

Universal decided to get a jump on the beginning of the crowded summer box office by opening Oblivion now. The studio has gone aggressively after males by advertising during major sporting events including the NCAA’s March Madness.

Speaking of sports, Legendary and Warner Bros.’ Jackie Robinson biopic 42 continued to score strong numbers in its second weekend, declining a slim 34 percent to come in No. 2 with $18 million. The baseball drama’s 10-day domestic total is $54.1 million.

Paramount’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation jumped the $300 million mark in its fourth weekend, thanks to stellar $33 million opening in China. The sequel has grossed $111.2 million domestically and $211.7 million internationally for a worldwide cume of $322.9 million. In China, the pic outpaced the first film by a four-to-one margin.

Expanding nationwide over the weekend, Derek Cianfrance’s indie drama The Place Beyond the Pines, starring Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling, placed No. 6 in North America. The film, from Focus Features and Sidney Kimmel, took in $4.7 million for a total $11.4 million.

Below are the top 10 estimates for the April 12-14 weekend at the domestic box office.

Title, weeks in release/theater count, studio, three-day weekend total, cume
1. Oblivion, 1/3,783, Universal, $38.2 million
2. 42, 2/3,250, Warners/Legendary, $18 million, $54.1 million
3. The Croods, 5/3,435, Fox/DreamWorks Animation, $9.5, $154.9 million
4. Scary Movie 5, 2/3,402, The Weinstein Co., $6.3 million, $22.9 million
5. G.I. Joe: Retaliation, 4/3,175, Paramount, $5.8 million, $111.2 million
6. The Place Beyond the Pines, 4/1,542, Focus/Sidney Kimmel, $4.7 million, $11.4 million
7. Olympus Has Fallen, 5/2,638, FilmDistrict, $4.5 million, $88.1 million
8. Evil Dead, 3/2,823, Sony/TriStar/FilmDistrict, $4.1 million, $48.5 million
9. Jurassic Park, 3/2,330, Universal, $4 million, $38.5 million
10. Oz The Great and Powerful, 7/2,504, Disney, $3 million, $223.8 million

Categories
People

I say do it anyway!!

Juno Awards: No tribute to Stompin’ Tom Connors

Late Canadian music legend Stompin’ Tom Connors won’t be recognized at this Sunday’s Juno Awards broadcast.

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences says it’s honouring the wishes of Connors’ family. The country-folk legend died in March at age 77.

Connors had a falling out with the Juno Awards in 1978, withdrawing his Juno nominations and returning his awards. Too many Canadians who work and live south of the border were nominated, he told the Star in 1978, and too many country music nominees were better defined as pop artists.

It’s a feud that lasted until his death. Connors wouldn’t have wanted his career celebrated on the Junos, his longtime promoter and agent told the Star on Wednesday.

“He would have told them to shove it. He didn’t want (anything) to do with them,” said Brian Edwards, who runs Rocklands Entertainment.

Edwards says CARAS contacted Connors’ management and family shortly after his death to ask for a photo to be used in a tribute.

“I think they felt they would be embarrassed and they would be criticized if they didn’t do it.”

But the agent says the family stuck with “what Tom would have wanted.”

Three years ago, Edwards says the Junos tried to mend its relationship with Connors, telling him they would welcome him back. But he stuck with his boycott.

“He was one of the few people in the world who actually meant what he said.”

CARAS’ Toronto-based public relations company Holmes PR wouldn’t comment on negotiations about a tribute. A spokesperson for the company who refused to be named later issued a statement saying Connors will “continue to be treasured and cherished by his fans, his fellow musicians and the Canadian music industry.

“His larger than life personality and iconic songs will forever be a part of our cultural history.”

Categories
People

May she rest in peace!!

Cape Breton singer Rita MacNeil dies at 68

Acclaimed Cape Breton singer Rita MacNeil has died at age 68.

A notice on her website states MacNeil died on April 16 following complications from surgery.

Born in Big Pond on Cape Breton Island, MacNeil was one of eight children.

She moved to Toronto at age 17, where she wrote her first song and began singing in folk clubs. MacNeil later moved to Ottawa, where she recorded three albums, but eventually returned to Big Pond, where she formed a trio.

MacNeil was famously shy, but said her parents helped her overcome that trait by constantly reminding her to believe in herself.

“You can be shy,” she said. “You can work through all kinds of struggle. But somewhere deep down, you have to have belief or nothing’s going to happen.”

Cape Breton’s first lady of song made her mark during a six-week run at Expo ’86 in Vancouver. In 1987 she earned a Juno award as most promising female artist, at age 42.

MacNeil recorded 24 albums and sold millions of records over the course of her career.

She hosted a CBC-TV variety program, Rita and Friends, which ran from 1994 to 1997 and drew regular audiences of one million viewers.

MacNeil was a member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of five honorary doctorates.

In 1986 she opened Rita’s Tea Room in her hometown of Big Pond, where she also gave performances.

In 2008, MacNeil said she was shocked to learn she had been investigated by the RCMP in the early 1970s because of her work with the women’s movement. At the time, police were looking for communist connections.

“I had no reason to be under surveillance, believe you me,” she laughed. “I was just the singer.”

Through it all, she kept a positive outlook.

MacNeil inspired a generation of Cape Breton songwriters and performers. She encouraged young singers, even if she wasn’t a fan of their voices.

“Who are we to say ‘if you have a dream, don’t waste your time,'” MacNeil said. “There are different degrees of the dream. Maybe they’ll get to sing in a church or another place that keeps them very happy.”

In Cape Breton, Joella Foulds said MacNeil was an icon. Foulds, the artistic director of the Celtic Colours Music Festival, performed with MacNeil.

“I think I’ve learned that you mustn’t be afraid to express yourself,” Foulds said. “You have to be who you are, and that was the essence of Rita. She was this wonderful, passionate person who had something to say.”

Categories
Awards

That is too bad!!

No tribute for Stompin’ Tom at Juno Awards

Stompin’ Tom Connors once gladly accepted an honour from Canada Post, but he still refuses, even posthumously, to put his stamp of approval on a tribute from the Juno Awards.

“As far as we’re concerned, Stompin’ Tom should not be part of the Junos,” Tom Connors Jr. told The Globe and Mail. “All we can do as a family is to respect his wishes.”

Also respecting his wishes is the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, who have decided not to proceed with any kind of recognition during the Junos, which will be broadcast from Regina on April 21. The iconic Bud the Spud singer famously returned his six Juno awards in 1978, as a protest against the nomination of Canadian artists who flee the country to further their careers.

Connors Jr. said his father attempted to reconcile with Juno six years ago, but his suggestions to CARAS on ways to improve the nation’s musical awards were not acted upon. “They had their chance to bring him back, but decided to go their own way.” And so, no Regina Sunday Night.

Categories
People

May he rest in peace!!

Pat Summerall dead: Legendary NFL broadcaster dies at 82

The voice that a generation of NFL fans grew up with and most associate with the sport has fallen silent. Pat Summerall has passed away at the age of 82 on April 16, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Summerall was a part of a record 16 Super Bowls on network television, spending the first five as an analyst. He worked at CBS from 1961 to 1993, before moving with the NFL to FOX in 1994.

He worked alongside John Madden for 21 seasons at CBS and FOX, working their eighth, and his final, Super Bowl in February 2002. The duo’s coverage of Super Bowl XVI in 1982 remains the highest-rated sports program of all-time, with an audience of more than 49 percent of the nation watching.

Summerall was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame in 1999. Since 2006, the Pat Summerall Award has been presented at the annual Legends for Charity Luncheon held on Super Bowl weekend, awarding “a deserving recipient who through their career has demonstrated the character, integrity and leadership both on and off the job that the name Pat Summerall represents.”

Categories
Awards

I was neither entertained by the whole show or bored…but I do think they could have done a better job with it all. Oh well, here’s to next year!!

Avengers director Joss Whedon delivers Justin Bieber jibe at MTV Awards

With a cast of superheroes and villains, The Avengers beat out its competitors to become the big winner at the MTV Movie Awards. The action romp won three awards Sunday, including the top prize, movie of the year.

“What’s the opposite of humbled? We’re Biebered to be standing here,” said Avengers writer-director Joss Whedon as he accepted the final golden popcorn trophy.

“This is the award that means the most to me. I am so grateful and very excited for 2015; we’re going to bring you Avengers 2.”

The Avengers also won best fight and best villain for actor Tom Hiddleston.

Bradley Cooper and show host Rebel Wilson were each double winners at the ceremony at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. Cooper won the first prize of the night for his performance in Silver Linings Playbook and returned to the stage to accept best kiss honors for his smooch with co-star Jennifer Lawrence in that film.

Lawrence, who won the Oscar for her role in Playbook, was also a double winner, though she wasn’t on hand Sunday. In addition to the kiss award, she won the golden popcorn for her performance, but the prize wasn’t presented on camera.

Wilson, who opened and closed the show wearing Iron Man-style armor, won breakthrough performance for her work in Pitch Perfect and shared in the film’s award for best musical moment. Its stars, including Brittany Snow and Skylar Astin, opened the show with a mash-up medley.

Other musical acts were Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Selena Gomez, who debuted her new song, Come and Get It, with a Bollywood-inspired performance.

The MTV Movie Awards are as much about the anticipated movies of the upcoming summer season as they are about the finest films of last year. Fans vote online for the winners in traditional and irreverent categories such as best fight, best kiss and best shirtless performance.

Twilight heartthrob Taylor Lautner won the shirtless award.

The show also included new footage from next month’s Iron Man 3 and the world premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire trailer, introduced by one of its stars, Liam Hemsworth.

Stars from other summer films — including Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto from the Star Trek sequel and Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez from the Fast & Furious franchise — appeared as presenters during the ceremony. Other presenters included Brad Pitt, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Snoop Lion and Kim Kardashian.

Hollywood has increasingly used the fan-driven MTV Movie Awards as a platform to promote its summer product. This year, the show was moved up from June to April to incorporate the entire blockbuster season, which begins in early May.

Honorees and presenters represent upcoming movies, and the ceremony is typically peppered with commercials for forthcoming films and DVD releases.

Emma Watson, a star of this summer’s The Bling Ring, received the Trailblazer Award. Will Ferrell wore a three-piece suit covered in dollar bills to accept the Comedic Genius Award from Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage.

“For those of you sitting here tonight who don’t think I’m funny, I’ll be happy to fight you in the parking lot after the show,” said Ferrell, who is currently at work on Anchorman 2, slated for release later this year.

Jamie Foxx was a double winner, too. He shared the best WTF moment award with Samuel L. Jackson for their scenes together in Django Unchained, and later thanked his daughter, parents and siblings in the audience as he accepted the Generation Award for his career in film. Foxx stars in June’s White House Down.

Categories
Television

Remember football? Me either, it’s baseball season!!

Faith Hill Steps Off the Gridiron, Will No Longer Sing Sunday Night Football Theme

Weekends just won’t be the same now. At least during football season.

Faith Hill has announced that she will no longer be heard singing the theme for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” before each game.

“Amazing 2 have been part of SNF – an honor. I’ve just let everyone there know it’s time 2 let someone else rock the open,” she tweeted on Monday, adding: “Difficult decision. Kinda emotional. Love all you guys at SNF–I’ll be watching!!!”

Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli, in turn, tweeted to the country singer, “Great love and appreciation to @FaithHill for six great years of rocking the SNF open.”

No word yet on who will be replacing Hill.

Categories
Television

I still love Heather Graham!!

Heather Graham Joins ‘Californication’, Mary Lynn Rajskub Also Books Arc

Heather Graham (The Hangover) is set for a season-long arc on the upcoming seventh season of Showtime‘s Californication. Additionally, 24 alumna Mary Lynn Rajskub has been tapped for a three-episode arc. Graham will play a woman from Hank’s (David Duchovny) past whose arrival upends his life, while Rajskub will play a neurotic writer. They join another major new Californication recurring, Michael Imperioli.

Production on Season 7′s 12 episodes begins later this month for premiere next year. Graham, repped by Gersh and the Schiff Co., will next be seen in the Sony Pictures Classic release At Any Price and will reprise her role in the third Hangover movie. Rajskub, repped by Levity and Innovative Artists, is a regular panelist on Chelsea Lately and will next be seen in the film Toys House.

Categories
Movies

It was a great movie, Jackie Robinson remains an even greater man!!

Box Office: ’42’ Rounds The Bases With All-Time Biggest Baseball Movie Opening

This fact gets trotted out every year, and it continues to baffle, but here it is: the biggest opening weekend for a baseball-themed movie is “The Benchwarmers” with $19.7 million. Despite the fact that no single human being has ever willingly watched that film beyond that first weekend, it’s managed to sustain that record despite a number of contemporary mainstream baseball releases. But this weekend, somehow, the adventures of Spade, Schneider and Heder have been surpassed by “42,” the Jackie Robinson biopic.

Usually studios will capitalize on major moments on the sports calendar to release a corresponding movie, whether it be the NBA Finals, NCAA March Madness, or The Lumberjack Championships, with “Moneyball” and “Trouble With The Curve” being the last major baseball films hitting the multiplex right before the start of the postseason. “42” similarly capitalized on the excitement from the start of the season two weeks ago (as well as Sunday’s Jackie Robinson Day), utilizing an aggressive marketing campaign boosted by Jay-Z’s “Brooklyn (We Go Hard),” an example of a pop song doing an ad campaign’s heavy lifting. Speaking of which, it would be interesting to examine the demographics behind this opening (which generated a rare ‘A+’ Cinemascore), as various smartypants sports journalists love writing articles about how baseball has lost popularity among black Americans.

While not exactly spotlighted in the ads, this increases the visibility of lead Chadwick Boseman, who is quite excellent as Robinson. A star is born? After this opening, it would be nice to see Boseman on the same casting lists as other young up-and-comers around Hollywood. Hey, maybe Marvel has found its “Black Panther”? But it’s hard to ignore the elephant in the room; as diminished as his box office appeal may be, Harrison Ford is still a household name, and his joyless lurching from press event to press event greatly helped increase the film’s profile.

Each “Scary Movie” film thus far has been something of a smash, with the last entry in 2006 pulling in over $40 million in its first three days. But as the Weinsteins took their Miramax/Dimension franchises to The Weinstein Company, they waited a bit too long to capitalize on whatever heat those titles had left. So in the tradition of “Scream 4” and “Spy Kids: All The Time In The World” comes “Scary Movie 5,” a movie that only Simon Rex asked for. With the absence of Anna Faris and Regina Hall, two actors that starred in all previous four films, you had to wonder if the promo team knew what they were doing spotlighting the presence of Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan as some sort of substitution, even if an allegedly more sane Sheen was apparently in the last one.

Since that fourth “Scary Movie,” the spoof well has been poisoned by the “Date Movie” and “Epic Movie” guys, as their annual offerings eventually saw diminished returns. However, it has to sting that this opening doesn’t even match that of “A Haunted House,” the horror spoof made independently by “Scary Movie” originator Marlon Wayans that grossed over $40 and is now slated for a sequel. The Weinstein Company, you just got kicked in yo’ ghost balls.

“The Croods” hung on strong in weekend four, though at this point it may not elevate to the level of DreamWorks hit “How To Train Your Dragon.” But these numbers suggest that “The Croods 2: The Streets” could very well be a possibility. Most of these CGI ‘toons bank on an accompanying animated series, massive merchandising stats and a couple of sequels, so we’ll see how aggressive Fox is feeling with their first DreamWorks Animation title, and potential franchise. You wonder if Paramount is thinking the same about “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.” They announced a sequel quickly after the opening weekend, but domestically, it’s possible it could finish $20 million or greater below its predecessor. However, globally, it will heavily outpace the first film. Will a third movie get made or was ‘Retaliation’ just a pre-summer palette cleanser?

Tradition dictates that horror films fall off sharply after that first weekend, and in that respect, “Evil Dead” didn’t disappoint. The $17 million-budgeted effort did indeed fall off a cliff from the number one slot last weekend, though it’s likely a considerable success at this point. Given that Sam Raimi and company stretched the original series to increasingly ridiculous directions, does Sony have the stones to go weirder with an “Evil Dead 2”? Maybe the better, more relevant question is why does Sony have to spend $17 million on an “Evil Dead” movie? For Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, a shingle specifically for very low budget horror, it’s worth noting this will be their eighth release to gross over $30 million domestic.

“Jurassic Park 3D” continued a trend of underperforming re-releases, losing a hefty chunk of its opening audience. Universal has to be content with this providing a little extra exposure for this franchise before a fourth film comes out, and surely some DVD boxed sets will be moved before “Jurassic Park IV” steps out of the paddocks next summer. For some of these re-releases, the real money is in overseas revenue anyway, and Spielberg’s dino-bash should be much more successful internationally. Surprisingly, the weekend’s strongest hold was “Olympus Has Fallen,” which could conceivably leg it out to $100 million if FilmDistrict keeps it in theaters and it continues receiving what apparently has been rather strong word-of-mouth.

“Oz the Great and Powerful” has hung on long enough to await being punched out of the top ten by the latest big blockbuster, though Disney’s potential franchise-starter is the year’s highest-grossing film, even if it may not even sniff $600 million worldwide. “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions Of A Marriage Counselor” should land over $50 million, a spectacular result for a film without Perry’s Madea character that received the smallest wide release of any Perry films in years. And expanding from 30 to 514 theaters was “The Place Beyond the Pines,” gate-crashing the top ten right ahead of “Trance,” itself at 438 locations, collecting a little less than a million.

1. 42 (Warner Bros.) – $27.3 million
2. Scary Movie 5 (The Weinstein Company) – $15.1 million
3. The Croods (Fox/DreamWorks) – $13.2 million ($143 mil.)
4. G.I. Joe: No Backsies (Paramount) – $10.8 million ($102 mil.)
5. Evil Dead (Sony) – $9.5 million ($41 mil.)
6. Jurassic Park 3D (Universal) – $8 million ($31 mil.)
7. Olympus Has Fallen (FilmDistrict) – $6.8 million ($81 mil.)
8. Oz: The Adequate And Marginal (Disney) – $4.8 million ($219 mil.)
9. Tyler Perry’s Wiping His Ass With Benjamins (Lionsgate) – $4.3 million ($45 mil.)
10. The Place Beyond T- Oh Screw It, It’s Schenectady (Focus) – $3.8 million ($5.1 mil.)

Categories
The Couch Potato Report

Have a great movie watching weekend!!

The Couch Potato Report – April 13th, 2013

There is a Queen Of Hearts that wants to be a Maverick inside this week’s Couch Potato Report and Billy Murray is Franklin D. Roosevelt?!?

There have now been three made-for-television movies produced in British Columbia with former BEVERLY HILLS 90210 star Luke Perry playing John Goodnight, a circuit judge in the western territories, circa 1880.

He is a man who travels the west protecting the innocent from injustice.

This third film, GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE – QUEEN OF HEARTS, begins with the judge saving a women from an attack on the stagecoach she is traveling in. There is evidence indicating that she may have been a prisoner being transported by armed guard, but the judge decides to believe her story instead…that she was merely being escorted to safety.

The problem here is their journey, and the potential for a love connection, is almost the exact same one taken in the 1994 film MAVERICK starring Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster. In that much better movie they too meet on a stagecoach, maybe have some immediate chemistry and feelings for each other, even though they both have their own agenda, and it all concludes on a gambling riverboat.

But unlike MAVERICK, GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE – QUEEN OF HEARTS is not very good.

This movie is completely predictable from start to finish and – also unlike MAVERICK – I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters.

GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE – QUEEN OF HEARTS wasn’t a complete waste of my time – because B.C. always looks great on film – but it isn’t worthy of any of your time.

Even if you’ve never quite gotten over your crush on Dylan McKay, you should still skip it.

In his fantastic career, the one and only Billy Murray has played some unforgettable characters.

Dr. Peter Venkman in GHOSTBUSTERS, Carl Spackler in CADDYSHACK, Phil Connors in GROUNDHOG DAY, Phil Connors in GROUNDHOG DAY, Big Ernie McCracken in KINGPIN, Herman Blume in RUSHMORE…and too many other great ones to mention.

Yes, Bill Murray has played a lot of characters, but he has only played real people in movies on a couple of occasions.

In 1980’s WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM he was Hunter S. Thompson, and now – in 2012’s HYDE PARK ON HUDSON – he is FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States.

Murray does a great job playing FDR, especially when he is required to be Presidential as the King and Queen of the United Kingdom visit looking for America’s support on the eve of World War II.

What doesn’t always work in HYDE PARK ON HUDSON is the story of the love affair between FDR and his distant cousin Daisy. It’s not that the acting isn’t good, both Murray and Oscar nominated actress Laura Linney are very good, but they don’t really say or do anything and their mutual attraction doesn’t seem to be based on anything other than availability, no matter what they say.

In those scenes, they are good…the movie is not.

Overall I liked HYDE PARK ON HUDSON, it kept me interested from start to finish both times I watched it, but I can fully admit that it isn’t great.

So call that a mild recommendation.

I can also mildly recommend the crime thriller KILLING THEM SOFTLY starring Brad Pitt as a mob enforcer who is brought in to restore order when a protected card game is robbed.

I can only mildly recommend KILLING THEM SOFTLY because most of it is really boring. There are some great visuals and scenes, and the cast that includes James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins and Ray Liotta is amazing, but it moves so slowly and nothing happens during too many drawn out scenes.

So only spend your time on this one if there is nothing else that sparks your interest…and I mean nothing else.

TV on DVD!! That is what I have for you now…three shows now available on DVD for the first time. All of them are about families, and all of them are worthy of your time, for different reasons.

The reason this first one is worthy is because it is a guilty pleasure. Yes, I feel guilty each and every time I watch DUCK DYNASTY.

DUCK DYNASTY is a reality series about the Robertsons, a Louisiana bayou family who became millionaires because of the Duck Commander, a top-of-the-line duck call, and the decoys they make out of salvaged swamp wood.

But these millionaires don’t live in huge mansions, they still live in the backwoods and go fishing and hunting, sometimes in the middle of their workday.

Sometimes in their own small workshop.

But the best part of DUCK DYNASTY, especially in the two disc set SEASON 2: VOLUME 1, are the commentaries offered by the guys to explain things to us viewers.

This show is very funny at times and always interesting. Sure, some of it is hard to appreciate – like when the uncle is excited about the squirrel he is cooking to eat, but at least the Robertsons are real. They are who they are and I like that about the show.

DUCK DYNASTY – SEASON 2: VOLUME 1 is very entertaining, and if you’ve never seen it, check it out. This is a great guilty pleasure full of very interesting people!

This next TV on DVD set is worthy of your time for a different reason other than it being a guilty pleasure.

It is a smart, well written show that features a premise not seen before.

Oscar nominee Chloe Sevigny from the movie BOYS DON’T CRY and the television series BIG LOVE stars in the British series HIT & MISS as Mia, a contract killer with a secret: she’s a transgender woman.

A dying former lover also reveals a secret in a letter on her deathbed, when Mia was a man named Ryan…he fathered a child and is now the boy’s only guardian.

As Mia becomes the guardian to a new family in THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of HIT & MISS she is forced to mix her killer instincts with her newly developing maternal instincts and the result is very interesting as she has to work to keep all of her secrets.

Because of its subject matter and how profane and violent it is, HIT & MISS is not a show for everyone, but I did really enjoy almost all of THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON and so I have no problems recommending it, primarily because the writing is so strong.

Those two shows are still in production, making new episodes, this last family show that is new on DVD stopped production in 1989, after seven seasons, due to Michael J. Fox’s burgeoning film career…but it makes me happy to now own THE SIXTH SEASON of FAMILY TIES on DVD.

THE SIXTH SEASON is the one where Alex gets a new girlfriend, played by a young Courtney Cox.

If you remember FAMILY TIES fondly, then this four disc set for THE SIXTH SEASON is a must own…and if you’ve never seen it, check it out!! It is very much rooted in the years 1987 and 88 when it was made, but I still love this show!!

It is one of my all-time favourites and I always love spending time with the Keaton Family.

Finally this week is one of the most interesting films I have seen in a long time.

THE OTHER SON is a foreign film about two 18-year-old boys who have grown up with the wrong parents as they were accidentally switched at birth.

If that wasn’t a big enough issue, one is Israeli and one Palestinian.

Because of their faith and beliefs, both fathers are reluctant to accept their actual sons, while the mothers want to get close to their real children.

The characters in THE OTHER SON are faced with an incredible dilemma, and at different times during the film what they may eventually do changes because they aren’t completely sure how to feel and definitely don’t know how to act.

That all makes THE OTHER SON such an interesting film, and even with one scene near the end that I didn’t like and didn’t need to be included at all, I highly recommend it

The very interesting THE OTHER SON, THE SIXTH SEASON of the still great series FAMILY TIES, THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of the interesting British show HIT AND MISS, SEASON 2: VOLUME 1 of the guilty pleasure DUCK DYNASTY, the less than great Brad Pitt crime thriller KILLING THEM SOFTLY, the good but never great historical drama HYDE PARK ON HUDSON – starring Bill Murray – and the predictable made-in-British Columbia western GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE – QUEEN OF HEARTS are all available now, either on disc or on demand.

Coming up inside the next Couch Potato Report

Quentin Tarantino’s Academy Award winning DJANGO UNCHAINED, the made-in-Ontario action thriller A DARK TRUTH, the documentaries ONE DAY ON EARTH and PLANET OCEAN, and the official film of Record Store Day 2013: LAST SHOP STANDING – THE RISE, FALL AND REBIRTH OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD SHOP.

I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!