Michael Jackson stage show documentary one of the best films of the year **** 4 stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

Michael Jackson, a thriller on stage in This Is It

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 1/26/2010 – “This is it is the telling of Michael Jackson’s last great creative process,” says This Is It choreographer Travis Payne. “We cut together a piece for the fans,” says This Is It director Kenny Ortega.

This Is It doesn’t glamorize Jackson’s life. You get to see how hard he worked and how focused he was at rehearsals. Ortega edited 120 hours of rehearsal footage into the 111-minute documentary. Jackson performs material that (more…)

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Winnie-the-Pooh DVD animation and songs delight children **** 4 Stars

By Gabrielle Panera

Tigger in a Valentine's Day moment

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 1/22/2010 – Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has re-released a special edition of Winnie-the-Pooh, A Valentine for You.

A Valentine For You is the story of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends who see Christopher Robin write a Valentine’s Day card to someone named Winifred. Owl explains that Winifred must be a girl, a creature that’s just like boys but completely different. Owl says Christopher Robin is smitten. The gang think Robin’s been bitten by a bug called Smitten. They go in search of a cure to help Christopher Robins get better.

Un-Valentine’s Day and Three Piglets were both part of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh animated TV show. In Un-Valentine’s Day, Rabbit declares that (more…)

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Judy Dench returns to Cranford **** 4 Stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

Return to Cranford, Judi Dench saves the town

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 1/19/2010 – “Judi Dench is a close friend,” says Cranford co-creator Sue Birtwistle. “And once you’ve got her on board, then it’s much easier to get others on board. In fact, when we said we were doing the sequel, all the actors who we hadn’t killed off in the first series said yes. Actually, Imelda Staunton said, ‘Can we do this every year for ten weeks, please?’”

Cranford is a Victorian-era village. Judi Dench returns as Matty Jenkins, minus Eileen Atkins who played her sister in the first miniseries that premiered in 2008. The industrial revolution is already in full swing in England, but in Cranford they are trying to stop the railroad from coming to town. Change is inevitable and Dench’s character helps to herald in the change. Matty is a loving, caring yet strong character. Cranford is steeped in tradition, but as the young start to leave the village she realizes that they need to let the railway come to Cranford.

“As it happened, the first Cranford got a huge audience and [BBC controller of fiction] Jane Tranter said, ‘Will you do some more?” At the time I thought, ‘Yikes, no!’ because we (more…)

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Sony animated feature is the world’s biggest food fight *** 3 Stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, stormy food weather

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 1/19/2010 -“Sam’s afraid to be who she really is,” says Cloudy star Anna Faris. “But she’s passionate about weather and science. When she meets Flint, her job becomes her dream job. That brings her out of her shell.”

In the animated adventure Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, awkward inventor Flint Lockwood has made some pretty strange stuff, from spray-on shoes to a monkey thought translator. Determined to invent something that will make people happy and appreciate him, he invents a machine that will turn water in to food. Sam Sparks is an aspiring weathergirl who’s secretly a geek like Flint. When something goes horribly wrong, can (more…)

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Funny cuddly monsters are back for Blu-ray release *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Monsters, Inc. John Goodman looks for the right door

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 11/20/2009 – “I began thinking about other things that were true for me as a kid,” says Disney Pixar Monsters, Inc. director Pete Doctor. “One thing I knew was that monsters existed and they were in the closet, especially at night. My clothes would turn into different things…tentacles, claws, and eyes. We began thinking that there must be some reason why monsters scare kids and started playing with that notion.” Doctor also directed Disney Pixar Up.

The town of Monstropolis runs on the energy of children’s screams, and Sulley is the top scare monster doing his part to help with an energy crisis. Voiced by John Goodman, the giant blue-furred monster begins to question his work when he gets to know a little girl named Boo. Is it ethical to (more…)

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Disney, snowed in at the House of Mouse, releases on DVD today *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 11/3/2009 – “When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it’s because he’s so human,” said Mickey Mouse creator and original voice Walt Disney. “That’s the secret of his popularity. We wanted something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of the wistfulness of Chaplin, a little fellow trying to do the best he could. I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea.”

Disney Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse

Disney Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse presents Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and their animated friends. When they get snowed in, they learn the true meaning of Christmas. Originally debuted in 2001, this hour-length adventure stars more than 35 Disney characters including Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Bambi, Dumbo and The Lion King.

Mickey Mouse might never have been created but for the competitiveness of Charles Mintz at Universal Studios. Disney asked for a (more…)

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New Direct-to-DVD adventure film with Tinker Bell releases on Oct. 27^th, 2009 *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Blaze and Tinker Bell in Lost Treasure

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 10/27/2009 – Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is the second pixie-dust tale in the new DVD series by Walt Disney Pictures. In the Lost Treasure, Tink Bell leaves Pixie Hollow to search for lost treasure in Neverland. Disney launched the “Disney Fairies” DVD movie series in 2008 with an origin story of the beloved character in the animated adventure Tinker Bell.

In Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Tink is entrusted to make the fall scepter to hold the rare moonstone that when the Blue Moon rises its light will pass though and make the precious blue pixie dust that the fairies depend on to survive. Tinker Bell’s new friend Blaze is an adorable and courageous firefly. Together they travel to (more…)

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Will Michelle Pfeiffer get another Oscar nomination with the same director from Dangerous Liaisons?
By Gabrielle Pantera

Michelle Pfeiffer, still a dangerous liaison

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 10/20/2009 – “She’s a courtesan, which I guess would be the equivalent to a modern-day call girl,” says Chéri star Michelle Pfeiffer. “Courtesans were independently wealthy and very smart, very shrewd business women. They were kept and they in turn kept their own lovers.”

“These women set fashions by the way they dressed and created dances,” says Cheri star Rupert Friend, “and set the trend in the way society behaved because they were a bit more daring.”

Paris’ most scandalous courtesan Lea (Michelle Pfeiffer) is thinking about retiring when her former rival Charlotte (Kathy Bates) comes asking a favor. Would Lea teach her son, Chéri (Rupert Friend) about women?

Chéri is (more…)

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Classic comedy about an independent career woman, still funny and relevant today *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

Mary Tyler Moore, she's still funny

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 10/20/2009 – The Mary Tyler Moore Show is as iconic today as it was when it first aired in the ‘70s. This groundbreaking series consistently ranked among television’s top-rated programs during its seven-year run. Mary Tyler Moore won 29 Emmy Awards, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. It won three Golden Globes.

Mary Tyler Moore is the story of Mary Richards who moves to Minneapolis after a bad relationship. She’s got a great job as an associate producer at WJM-TV working in the television newsroom. Her co-workers are (more…)

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Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are funny in this romantic comedy, but ending could be more romantic *** 3 Stars
By Gabrielle Pantera

The Proposal on DVD and Blu-ray

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Gosh!TV) 10/18/2009 – “She’s really fun to play because she’s in all of us,” says The Proposal star Sandra Bullock of her character Margaret. “Margaret doesn’t try and rectify any of the wrongs. She doesn’t apologize. She doesn’t feel like she has to make the world like her. She has a job to do, and she’s gonna get it done. And there’s a large part of me in that.”

Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) editor and terror at a New York publishing house is threatened with being deported back home to Canada. Her plan? Marry an American. her overworked and unappreciated assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). In return for a promotion, Andrew agrees to go along with her scheme. But immigration is suspicious. Margaret must prove that the couple’s engagement is real. They go to Alaska to announce their engagement to Andrew’s surprised family. Andrew’s grandmother (Betty White) asks, “Isn’t this the boss you called the bride of Satan?”.

“Margaret was written the way they usually write the male roles, which are (more…)

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