Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Better Call Saul episode 4 recap: “Hero”

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken

We’re four episodes into AMC’s Better Call Saul, and Slippin’ Jimmy, Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman are, by turns, thrashing, banana-peeling and tip-toeing their way to becoming the same guy, on the screen and in viewers’ minds. And by the end of tonight’s outing, “Hero,” I found myself wondering for the first time if Jimmy ever really wanted be a lawyer in the first place, or if he’s just trying mightily to fill his big brother’s shoes and avenge — carry on? live up to? — the family name, using the best gift the universe bestowed on him: The ability to spin […]

Oscar winning documentary feature Citizenfour premieres on HBO tonight

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken

On the heels of its Oscar win for best documentary feature at last night’s Academy Awards, filmmaker Laura Poitras’ searing documentary Citizenfour makes its HBO debut tonight at 9/8CT. Steven Soderbergh co-executive produces the real-life thriller. In January 2013, Poitras — who was already at work on a film about monitoring programs in the U.S. — received an encrypted email from a stranger calling himself Citizen Four, who offered her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies. That June, Poitras traveled to Hong Kong with her camera and investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald to […]

CNN acquires ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me’

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken

CNN announced on Sunday that it has acquired domestic broadcast rights to the critically acclaimed documentary Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me. The theatrical release follows beloved country music legend Glen Campbell and his family as he embarks on a farewell tour after he is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The network plans to broadcast the film in June and again in November. Featuring Campbell singing the Grammy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated song, “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” — memorably performed by Tim McGraw at last night’s Oscars ceremony — the tender, funny and inspiring film “follows the long goodbye that is Alzheimer’s disease as Campbell, and […]

Shania: Still the One Live from Vegas special airs Feb. 28 on ABC

February 20, 2015 Lori Acken

Shania Twain fans, if you never did make it to Las Vegas to see her live Shania: Still the One shows at the The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, here’s some good news. On Saturday, Feb. 28, ABC will present the exclusive concert event “Shania: Still the One Live from Vegas.” The special, executive produced by Twain, features the full stage show, plus more than an hour of behind-the scenes footage spotlighting what it took to bring the flashy musical spectacular to the stage — including a 13-piece band, dancers, trained horses and a flying motorcycle. And of course Twain’s signature spin on country […]

NGC’s Killing Jesus gets premiere date. See the trailer and our exclusive first-look photo!

February 19, 2015 Lori Acken

National Geographic Channel has announced that its epic three-hour movie event Killing Jesus, based on the 2013 New York Times best-seller by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, will premiere on Palm Sunday, March 29, at 8pm ET/PT. Killing Jesus will also be broadcast in 45 languages across 171 countries and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo. The film marks the third collaboration between NGC, Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and co-executive producer Bill O’Reilly. The trio’s other film projects, 2013’s Emmy-nominated Killing Kennedy and Emmy-nominated Killing Lincoln, represent the two most-watched programs in the network’s history. Both book and film offer an examination of Jesus’ life and death […]

Secrets and Lies preview: Juliette Lewis gets on Ryan Phillippe’s case in ABC’s whodunit

February 18, 2015 Lori Acken

If you’re tempted to dismiss ABC’s new Secrets and Lies as yet another Broadchurch knockoff, consider this: Secrets’ tale unspools solely from the perspective of Ryan Phillippe’s Ben Crawford, a suburban family man suspected of killing his neighbor’s son. Which means Phillippe is in virtually every scene of the chiller that head writer Barbie Kligman calls “a character drama with an underlying mystery.” It’s madness, Phillippe and Secrets’ co-executive producer/director Timothy Busfield (thirtysomething, Damages) agree — but there is very much method to it. “The lines between what Ben is going through and what Ryan is going through would cross […]

Dance Moms Season 5 episode 7 recap: To Matty B or Not to Matty B

February 17, 2015 Lori Acken

It’s our last week in L.A. Dance Moms nation and Abby says it’s gonna be a big one. More choreography than ever to contend with (which makes Melissa suck her teeth) and we’re down a major player. Our Maddie is guest starring – like, legit, acting —on Disney’s Austin and Ally and that, people, is a honkin’ deal. It also means we need a swing for the team; let’s meet our prospective swingers now! Oh hey, Sarah and Tracey. Back for more punishment, huh? How exciting! Right, Sarah?! Right. Kira’s equally excited. Both Sarah and Mystery Girl are from Kalani’s original studio […]

Preview: Sister Wives season 5 finale to be followed by revealing “Tell All” special

February 17, 2015 Lori Acken

With rumors swirling about why Sister Wives star Kody Brown divorced his first and sole legal wife Meri to wed his newest and youngest wife Robyn, TLC has announced that the series’ March 1 Season 5 finale will be followed by an hourlong tell-all special. The network also revealed that Sister Wives Season 6 will debut in the fall. According to the press release for the Season 5 ender, additional details will emerge that add clarity to a clearly distraught Meri’s decision to divorce Kody and the family agreeing to take the additional step of Kody and Robyn marrying in a so-called family “restructure.” Having dealt with other major milestones […]

Better Call Saul episode 3 recap: Nacho, Problem

February 16, 2015 Lori Acken

At the end of last week’s Better Call Saul!, Jimmy’s loafered toe had grazed the legal and moral banana peel that will ostensibly slide him — by chance or choice or a complex combination — into Saul-dom. Having been made an offer he’d love to refuse by Tuco’s business associate Nacho, Jimmy realizes that, in saving his own life in the desert, he’s put those of the conniving Kettleman family in some serious danger by blabbing. They might be crooks, but they don’t deserve to die for it because of some bungled street corner shakedown of the wrong person’s grandma. […]

Meet Michelle and Dan Hamill of TLC’s Our Little Family!

February 13, 2015 Lori Acken

One of 6-year-old Jack Hamill’s toddler twin sisters wants him to turn the television down. Right now. She’s not going to tell him again — which she informs him in a voice that handily drowns out the offending appliance in the first place. It’s one of several amusing interruptions in the chat I’m having with the kids’ parents, Dan and Michelle Hamill, who — along with their adorable, tow-headed brood — are the stars of TLC’s Our Little Family, which premieres Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 10/9CT. All five of the Hamills live with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism, and throughout the series, Dan, […]