Tag Archives: Olivia d’Abo

The Wrong Son is on the right network with Lifetime!

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The Wrong Son Lifetime

Samwise Gamgee has returned and he’s angry!


[adrotate banner=”7″]I’ve loved creepy movies about returning long lost evil sons who may or may not be fake ever since I saw grown up Ricky Schroder return with anger issues in the made-for-tv movie The Stranger Within as a child. The Wrong Son continues that tradition with a returned from the dead son and lots of suspicious accidents. Plus it’s got Olivia d’Abo, so we can all pretend it is a sequel to The Wonder Years!

Thirteen years after disappearing and presumed drowned, Matt returns home to his mother Sarah. Suspicions grow when her older son Ian is injured in a car accident similar to the one that recently killed his father. Is this really Sarah’s missing son and is he seeking a loving home or revenge?

The Wrong Son stars Olivia d’Abo, Tammy Blanchard, Dan Amboyer, and Paloma Guzmán. It’s directed by Asylum-alum Nick Everhart and the story is by Shane O’Brien (a producer, this appears to be his first writing credit).

The Wrong Son premieres Sunday, June 17th on Lifetime!

via Lifetime

Justice League: Doom (Review)

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Justice League: Doom

Justice League Doom
2012
Written by Dwayne McDuffie
Based on JLA: Tower of Babel by Mark Waid
Directed by Lauren Montgomery
Justice League Doom cheetah
The Justice League is under attack, except this time it’s by one of their own! Okay, not really by one of their own, but by the very plans Batman developed to deal with members of the Justice League.

Justice League: Doom is based loosely on the JLA: Tower of Babel storyline by Mark Waid, Justice League: Doom changes things up enough to be a different take while providing a nice adaptation of the overall themes. The main villain is changed (from Ra’s al Ghul to Vangal Savage) and some of the Justice League’s lineup is different, but the feelings of betrayal by a paranoid Batman remain.

Doom is not direct sequel to Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, but follows it with very similar character designs and voices. Many of the DC Animated films are their own shards of a loose continuity that exists purely to tell that exact tale. It’s a perfectly fine way to operate, allowing the general mythology of the heroes to exist and leaving toom for the specifics needed to make the stories work and be unique. The return of many of the familiar voice actors helps sell the loose familiarity and provides a comfort to longtime fans so they aren’t put off by Batman sounding weird or something.
Justice League Doom space station
Justice League: Doom is one of the better DC Animated films, dividing enough characterization between the different members to give each of them their own take, while still keeping a focus on Batman. Switching the villain to Vandal Savage helps push a more minor villain into focus and provides an excuse to make the full range of the plans make more sense than eliminating reading and talking.
Justice League Doom mirror master
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Presumed Dead in Paradise (Review)

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Presumed Dead in Paradise

Presumed Dead in Paradise
2014
Story by Douglas Shaffer
Written by Steven Palmer Peterson
Directed by Mary Lambert
Presumed Dead in Paradise
Lifetime takes a riff on the Natalee Holloway case and turns it into a conspiracy thriller where the victim is presumed murdered but lives, potentially foiling a plan to seize millions in a trust fund in her name. Presumed Dead in Paradise becomes its own beast, delivering an okay film that succeeds mostly thanks to the performances. Some of the plot details are telegraphed in advance, but the level of planning that went into the master plan of the villain are remarkable, and shows the writers thought things through to keep the villain afloat even as multiple things start going wrong.

Madison Ashland (Malese Jow) is one of those rich kids who gets sent to a new school or three every year because she’s disruptive. No wonder, as her mom died long ago, and her dad then died, leaving her with an evil step-mom who ignores her and leaves her alone at the schools for the holidays. Madison acts out, angry at life and having a generic rich girl name, helping other students steal tests via Mission Impossible-style stunts.
Presumed Dead in Paradise
Surprises of surprises when her stepmother Patricia Ashland (Olivia d’Abo) shows up to reconnect, and to do so by vacationing on the island of St. Isabelle, where Madison and her father used to take trips when she was younger. Things seem to be going great, but a happy vacation does not an interesting Lifetime movie make. Soon Madison is saved from creepy guys by nice guy Blake. But Blake turns out to be not so nice, drugging her and then taking her out to sea under the guise of teaching her surfing. Soon she collapses into the ocean, and awakens on an abandoned beach. Making her way to the hotel, she soon sees Patricia and Blake making out, and overhearing how they planned her death! But they spot her, and Madison runs.
Presumed Dead in Paradise
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With Presumed Dead in Paradise, Lifetime breaks out the conspiracies!

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Presumed Dead in Paradise Lifetime

People, read the fine print on your timeshare agreements!


[adrotate banner=”1″]Remember that old Phil Collins song about how it’s another day in paradise? Well, you can’t have another day in paradise if you’re dead! Sure, that has little to do with the song’s actual subject, but I’m making this intro work. Lifetime brings us Presumed Dead in Paradise, which is like the Natalee Holloway case except 1000 times more Lifetime. This time the girl lives, only to find out it was a murder conspiracy by her own family to kill her! Basically, never go to the Caribbean, because you will die.

Madison, a rebellious teenager, has spent most of her life in boarding schools and the only family she has left is her estranged stepmother, Patricia. So when Patricia unexpectedly invites Madison on a birthday trip to St. Isabel (an island Madison used to visit with her father), Madison is shocked but excited! Once on the island Madison meets Blake, a cute local guide who plans a paddle board excursion to a remote part of the island. Out in open water, Madison has a panic attack (or so it appears) and seemingly drowns. Miraculously, Madison survives and manages to make her way back to the resort but is stunned to see Blake and Patricia together! When Madison goes looking for answers, she discovers that this vacation isn’t what it seems, and that she’s in fact embroiled in a dark conspiracy that involves her late father.

Presumed Dead in Paradise stars Malese Jow, Olivia d’Abo, Gavin Houston, Alix Gitter, Luis Omar O’Farrill. It is directed by Mary Lambert, who directed both of the Pet Sematary films and Mega Python vs. Gatoroid! Presumed Dead in Paradise is written by Steven Palmer Peterson (Cop Dog) and Douglas Shaffer (mostly production work).

My prediction is her dead dad ain’t dead. And also that there will be more twists than a whole season of Law & Order: SVU!

Presumed Dead in Paradise airs Saturday, July 12th on Lifetime!

via Lifetime
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