Do you promise to love your wife, to have and to hold, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, while she suffers through grievous memory loss, as long as you both shall live?

That’s the dilemma facing Leo (Channing Tatum) after his wife Paige (Rachel McAdams) recovers from a serious brain trauma wiping out all memories of their marriage in “The Vow.”

The film, loosely based on a true story, tells the standard tale of a young couple who meet, fall in love, get married to live their happily ever after until one of them falls out of love. It’s just not in the way you expect.

When Paige wakes up from a medically induced coma following a car accident, she thinks she is currently engaged to ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Scott Speedman), still in law school, and is in close contact with her estranged parents (Sam Neill and Jessica Lange). Paige resumes her old life, the one she lived before meeting Leo and becoming a completely different person.

So artsy Leo hardly seems her type, and her parents seize the opportunity to re-enter her life again. Can Leo win back the heart of the love of his life? (more…)

The newest and scariest FX original series ‘American Horror Story’ combines all the right aspects of the horror genre and squeezes them into an incredible nighttime storytelling show. An hour’s worth of gruesome scenes, mysterious plot lines, and scandalous characters make ‘Horror Story’ worth screaming over.

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The new drama had a strong premiere about two weeks ago, scoring about five million viewers. ‘Horror Story’ is equal to the demo rating for ‘Nip/Tuck’ and scored 33 percent higher than ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ one of FX’s most watched shows ever.

‘Horror Story’ is about a Bostonian family who decides to move across country to L.A. into a 1920s Victorian home that (surprise surprise) is haunted. The house has definitely been a prime spot for some murders, but that doesn’t stop the Harmon family from calling it home.

On top of the house being a death zone, the Harmons have several problems of their own. Ben (Dylan McDermott) is a psychiatrist who is caught cheating with one of his students by his wife Vivien (Connie Britton), obviously causing some severe trust issues in their relationship. In addition, Vivien is working through the traumatic experience of having delivered a stillborn child months earlier. Their teenage daughter Violet (Taissa Farmiga, Vera’s younger sister) is far more troubled than the average high schooler and is starved for attention from both parents who can’t give her any at the moment.

Their domineering and creepy neighbors Constance (a colorful Jessica Lange) and her daughter Adelaide (Jamie Brewer) constantly enter the house without permission, disturbing the Harmons, especially when Adelaide says to Vivien, “You’re going to die in here.” (more…)

Hollywood has a problem.  They are currently losing the cultural popularity contest.  A new Pew research poll shows that only 33% of Americans have a favorable view of entertainment industry.  By way of comparison, Rasmussen reports that 48% of the public identify with the Tea Party movement.  To further add perspective, less than six months after he left office, CNN reported that President Bush’s favorable rating had climbed to 41%, eclipsing that of the denizens of Tinsel town.  So why is the entertainment industry losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the American public?  The answer is simple.  It’s all about values. 

Hollywood did have a Golden Age, and the current time is not it.  While most people know Clark Gable for 8 famous words, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” and his role in the film “Gone with the Wind,” what a lot of people don’t know is that he was a genuine American hero.  At the height of his popularity he enlisted in the military to serve his country during World War II.  As an observer-gunner on a bomber, he participated in 5 combat missions and was almost killed when flak and enemy interceptors nearly took down his B-17.  He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism.  He was eventually promoted to the rank of major.  While his valor and physical courage were probably uncommon, the values that he represented were not.  

We could pull example after example from Hollywood’s golden age of celebrities who represented values that were more in line with main stream America then they are today, but let’s fast forward about sixty years and see what passes for Hollywood values today.  (more…)