A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery brings fancy murder to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries!

a bone to pick Aurora Teagarden Mystery Hallmark

That’s the bastard with all the overdue library books!


[adrotate banner=”7″]Hallmark Movies & Mysteries is in the business of kickstarting new mystery movie franchises starring alumni from Full House because they are ratings gold, and 2015 is a big year in new series starting up. Thus, we’re getting the Aurora Teagarden series, which as all literary fans know is written by Charlaine Harris, who wrote the Southern Vampire Mystery series that True Blood is based on! A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery is the first of what will probably be at least three of the films, the actual details are a bit hazy and will probably alter based on ratings.

A librarian with a sharp mind for murder, Aurora Teagarden is known around her small town as a master sleuth. When her friend Jane unexpectedly dies and leaves Aurora everything in her will, she also leaves a troubling murder mystery haunting her neighborhood. It is up to Aurora to piece together the clues—-including a skull, its missing skeleton and a suspicious group of neighbors—-and solve the murder before she becomes the unlikely killer’s next victim.

A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery stars Candace Cameron-Bure (Full House) as Aurora Teagarden, Lexa Doig (Jason X) as Sally, Marilu Henner (Taxi) as Aida, Bruce Dawson (Hollow Man II) as John, Peter Benson (Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball ) as Arthur, Sonya Salomaa (MXP: Most Xtreme Primate) as Marcia Rideout, Dan Payne (A Christmas Story 2) as Torrance Rideout, Miranda Frigon (A Cookie Cutter Christmas) as Lynn Liggett, and Stephen Huszar (12 Men of Christmas) as Father Scott Aubrey. It’s directed by Martin Wood (Goodnight for Justice: Queen of Hearts) and the adapted by Teena Booth (The Grim Sleeper).

A Bone to Pick: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery premieres April 4th on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries!

Photo via Hallmark/David Owen Strongman

Beautiful & Twisted gets Lifetime all warped up!

Beautiful and Twisted Lifetime

I totally wasn’t checking out BeautifulandTwistedNude.com, baby!


[adrotate banner=”7″]Get your True Crime on with Beautiful & Twisted! Millionaires getting whacked, based on a true story, killer strippers, this is a perfect nutso murder movie for Lifetime! Rob Lowe seems to be pretty comfortable becoming a Lifetime all-star, so expect to see him in similar based on true events murder movies for years to come! The sad thing about America, is we got enough crazy murder dramas to keep the films coming until the end of time.

Beautiful & Twisted stars Rob Lowe, Paz Vega, and Candice Bergen. Lowe also executive produces (along with Judith Verno) Law & Order director Christopher Zalla directs, with Teena Booth (The Grim Sleeper, Cyberbu//y), Inon Shampanier, Natalie Shampanier, and Stephen Kay writing.

Rob Lowe (“Drew Peterson: Untouchable,” “Parks and Recreation”), Paz Vega (“Spanglish,” “Grace of Monaco”) and Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award winner Candice Bergen (“Murphy Brown,” “Sex and the City”) star in the Lifetime Original Movie “Beautiful & Twisted.”

Set against blue-sky Miami in a world of money, privilege and excess, the high-flying millionaire heir to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel fortune, Ben Novack, Jr. (Lowe), marries a stunning stripper, Narcy (Vega). But the couple’s intense relationship, sparked by fetish and kink, quickly devolves into a marriage in which both lovers inexplicably coexist on love and distrust. When Ben is found brutally murdered, the city’s elite is shaken to the core. As police untangle a web of deviant behavior, Narcy emerges as the prime suspect. Bergen portrays Ben’s mother, Bernice Novack, whose suspicions surrounding Narcy lead to her demise at the hands of her ruthless daughter-in-law.

Following the premiere of the film, “Beyond the Headlines: The Novack Murders” will air at 10pm ET/PT, taking a deeper look at the Novack murders and including interviews with friends and family.

“Beautiful & Twisted” is produced by Sony Pictures Television. Judith Verno (“Lizzie Borden Took an Ax,” “Masters of Sex”) and Rob Lowe are executive producers. The film is written by Teena Booth, Inon Shampanier, Natalie Shampanier and Stephen Kay.

Beautiful & Twisted premieres Saturday, January 31 on Lifetime!

Photo via Lifetime/Jack Zeman

The Grim Sleeper (Review)

The Grim Sleeper

Grim Sleeper
2014
Written by Teena Booth and Robert Nathan
Directed by Stanley M. Brooks

Grim Sleeper Lifetime
Lifetime puts out a lot of ridiculous crap as original movies, expertly giving the world scandal-fueled exploitative drama for close to 25 years. But occasionally, they turn out something decent, something that tells a story that should be told and that covers a host of class and racial issues that aren’t talked about much on television. One thing I have noticed is Lifetime has been increasing the amount of African-American based television movies, though for the most part those are largely all-black casts. The target demographic is welcome, because it’s ignored far too often by far too many. The Grim Sleeper features a mix of white and black stars, because the (true) story covered involved people both white and black.

In 2008, it became apparent that a serial killer had been preying on women in the LA area. The victims were almost exclusively black women, shot, raped, and dumped in abandoned alleys. A journalist named Christine Pelisek helped piece together that the man was out there, and through her work also discovered links dating back to the 1980s. It soon became apparent that the police knew about the slayings, and the murders dating back decades, and weren’t planning on informing the community of what was going on.
Grim Sleeper Lifetime
Pelisek said “screw that!” and soon it was a headline feature in the LA Weekly (you can read the original article here, and read the interview with the only known survivor here.) The community was less than impressed that the LAPD had chosen to keep this under wraps, and drama happened.

The Grim Sleeper fictionalizes lead up to the publication of the story and the eventual arrest of the alleged suspect (who has yet to go to trial!), but many events are based on fact. Several of the characters are closely based on real victims, Christine Pelisek is a real person, and the true-life aspect helps give the story the grounding to be more effective.
Grim Sleeper Lifetime

Christine Pelisek (Dreama Walker) – Bright-eyed young newspaper fact-checker at the LA Weekly who stumbles upon the story of a lifetime and helps alert a community to a dangerous presence. A strong willed investigator who won’t rest until she’s figured out the truth.
Margette (Macy Gray) – Survivor of an attack by the mysterious killer later dubbed the Grim Sleeper, Margette and Christine spend lots of time together as Margette tries to help the investigation by locating a house the killer stopped at.
Detective Bill Simms (Michael O’Neill) – Lead detective on the murder cases and the guy who puts together the link to the old unsolved cases. Wants to keep this under wraps so the killer doesn’t disappear again. Faces a lot of flack for what turns out to be a wrong decision. Doesn’t like Christine butting in on his investigation, but begins to learn to work with her.
Melayna Jefferson (Dinora Walcott) – Adoptive sister of one of the victims, she feels guilt because she left her sister out in the streets when she had attitude and that was the last she saw of her. Becomes one of the leading members of the relatives and a friend of Christine.
Jasper Morales (Brendan Fletcher) – Worker at the city morgue, whose list of unsolved murder cases helps put Christine on the road to her discovery. Is crushing on her, but Christine is too focused on journalism to have time for anything.
Detective Gerry Claymar (Ernie Hudson) – Detective Claymar shows up about halfway through the film (just as Jasper disappears from the film) and helps balance out the police parts of the story. Despite Ernie Hudson doing his best, this role is the weakest of the major characters just because there isn’t enough time left to give him his due.

Grim Sleeper Lifetime
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cyberbu//y (Review)

cyberbu//y

aka Cyberbully

2011
Directed by Charles Binamé
Written by Teena Booth

cyberbully
Nothing can ever go wrong now that I have a computer!

cyberbu//y is an ABC Family original movie presentation designed to teach America about the dangers of cyberbullying. It’s also the most hilarious movie about the internet since Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life. There are so many goofy things going on it is hard to keep track. But we will try, because we are TarsTarkas.NET – cyberbullies!

cyberbully
When Goatse strikes…

Join us as we watch a teenage girl’s life be destroyed by the internet! Keep in mind teenage girls get their lives destroyed all the time, usually due to Jennifer being a bitch. Damn you, Jennifer! Why you gotta be a bitch all the time? Don’t be talking to Justin in math class!

cyberbully
Oh my god Becky look at her butt. Her butt is so big that she needs 2 cars. One for her…and one for her butt.

Can Linsay’s fragile mind handle the harsh social complexities that is the modern internet? Or will she be destroyed, body, mind, and soul, snuffed out like a candle in the wind. The internet wind.

cyberbully
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straightness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee.

Taylor Hillridge (Emily Osment) – This Taylor’s not so swift. Your average girl with an internet connection, except Taylor takes everything so serious that even the slightest deviation can cause tears to flow like monsoon rain. Can Taylor stand up to the cyberbullies? Or will she be cyberdefeated?
Samantha Caldone (Kay Panabaker) – Taylor’s best friend and the embittered former partner of a jock, who loved and left her, causing Samantha to freak out at the slightest mention of jocks. Then Samantha goes even more crazy. So we got a Taylor and a Samantha, and there is an evil girl at school named Lindsay. Lindsay Lohan used to date a Samantha, and if we pretend Taylor is Taylor Swift, this all begins to make sense. Now…who is Kanye West in this scenario?
Kris Hillridge (Kelly Rowan) – Taylor’s mom who is totally channeling Judith Light. But she’s no Angela. Mom spends most of the film being unaware of anything, then the last thirty minutes overcompensating by becoming the most productive mom ever. Even then, she only wins by luck.
Scott Ozsik (Jon McLaren) – Scott is the cute jock who has eyes for Taylor, causing Samantha to go nuts with rage. For once, the jock is not a bad guy. That much. Until he goes to college and joins to Alpha Betas and goes up against the Tri-Lams!
Cheyenne Mortenson (Meaghan Rath) – Taylor’s black friend because we needed to throw in some diversity. Bails the second Taylor becomes a liability. There is no famous Cheyenne to go with my Lohan/Swift/Sam theory, unless you count Cheyenne Kimball, who I have never heard of. So let’s pretend her name is Kardashian
James Petitious (iStock Photo) – He’s so real, a guy who cares about girls feelings and reads the poetry that girls put up on their pages. There are so many signs this guy is fake he should be named James McFakefake. My vote for Kanye West.
cyberbully
The Internet…made me….Avril Lavigne!

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