LIFESTYLE37 TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014 Music & Movies ‘Homeland’ will still thrill despite Brody’s death, creator says omeland” may have lost its sleeper American bureaucracy as with the ostensible terrorist anti-hero Nicholas Brody enemy.” “Homeland” won sweeping acclaim “Hto an Iranian gallows, but the hit for its portrayal of the anguished relationship US television show will continue to thrill, its between Mathison and Brody, a US Marine ex- creator says. Howard Gordon described sur- prisoner of war and secret al Qaeda recruit, viving cast members, led by the gutsy yet played by Damian Lewis. After their torrid emotionally troubled CIA analyst Carrie love affair, Brody carries out an assassination Mathison, as having plenty of dramatic for the CIA in Iran, where he was executed at mileage in the fourth season due to premiere the end of season three. in the fall on premium cable channel That season was able to regain its standing Showtime. with critics, after many derided the improba- “Fortunately Carrie is still a very robust ble plot twists of the second. But how far the character, (as are fellow CIA spies) Saul and series has rebounded will also be measured Quinn. And there are tertiary characters who this week in the number of top-tier Emmy are now stepping more to the fore,” he told nominations the show can earn. Season two Reuters during a visit to Israel, where he was won only two last year - for Claire Danes as overseeing his new production, “Tyrant”, an best drama actress in her portrayal of Carrie, Arab Spring drama. Shot in Cape Town, South and for drama writing. Emmy award nomina- Africa, the fourth season of “Homeland” finds tions will be announced on Thursday. Further Carrie “on assignment, doing what she does. fuelling the suspense of past “Homeland” sea- She is a person who is trying to stop terrorists sons washow the CIA handled the discovery doing bad things,” Gordon said, without of psychiatric problems that Carrie had tried divulging further details of the plot. to conceal, as well as her surprise pregnancy. She is still tackling Islamic militants, he In the next season, Gordon said, “Carrie has said, “but it is more complicated than that. I Brody’s baby and her illness informs her would say that the bugaboos in ‘Homeland’ maternity.”—Reuters this year have to do as much with the

Halle Berry as a pregnant astronaut on ‘Extant’

on’t hate Halle Berry because she’s Investigated by her bosses beautiful. She’s certainly a welcome Of course, the success of this venture DTV presence this summer as the star could lead to disaster. Were millions of of “Extant,” a 13-episode thriller on CBS humanics loosed on the planet, they just where she plays Molly Woods, an unexpect- might rise up against their human masters. edly expectant astronaut. It premieres But that’s a possibility John indignantly Wednesday (9 pm EDT). The premise of the rejects. Maybe he shouldn’t. Molly soon show - that Molly was somehow impreg- finds that dear little Ethan is displaying nated while on a solo yearlong outer-space flashes of psychopathic attitude. But she mission - seems on its face outrageous fun- has other worries. She is hard-pressed to ny business. As in, unintentionally funny. explain her pregnancy, and what to expect Marvel unleashes superheroes But “Extant” turns out to be smart and now that she is expecting. engrossing, with a meditative, gently futur- She is haunted by not one but two dead istic touch (check that high-tech garbage (or are they?) astronaut colleagues. And she can) that draws the viewer in. And, of is being investigated by her bosses at the for stunt-filled live shows course, it boasts Berry, who is not only a private-sector International Space delight for the eye but also a marvelous Exploration Agency for a suspicious 13- arvel in its latest superhero caper will Avengers’ Captain America and Hulk to rivals ly-owned company that puts on the Ringling actress, with an Oscar for her 2001 film hour gap in her in-flight record-keeping. expand its comic empire to live US audi- Loki, Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus-in a duel Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, building on its “Monster’s Ball” as solid evidence. At the She had secretly pulled a Rose Mary Woods Mences this summer, with a tour packing for control of the Cosmic Cube, a coveted and three-decade relationship with Disney. start we find Molly adjusting to life back on and erased the onboard video to hide a Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man and two dozen char- feared power source in the Marvel realm. Feld produces the popular “Disney on Ice” Earth with her scientist husband, John very strange event. “Extant” makes effective acters into a family-oriented show filled with The plot fuels an almost non-stop sequence and “Disney Live!” tours and has featured Marvel- (Goran Visnjic), and Ethan, their adorable use of familiar storytelling tropes: the evil- fight scenes and explosions. “Marvel Universe of action scenes, orchestrated by the stunts themed cars at its Monster Jam events. “We saw young son (Pierce Gagnon). Ethan, as we ness of big business and science gone awry LIVE!” debuts in Tampa on July 10 and will hit 85 coordinator for “The Amazing Spider-Man” the success of the films. The characters are so soon find out, isn’t biologically theirs, or in an atmosphere of growing danger. cities including New York in August, marking the movies. Among the highlights are a car that flips, endearing, so relatable and so well loved,” said biological at all, but, instead, a robot. Or “Don’t trust them,” Molly is admonished by character licensing company’s most ambitious racing motorcycles, and a bad guy who goes up Feld, executive vice president of the Florida- rather, a “humanic,” designed by John to a shadowy figure at the end of the hour. move into live entertainment. Marvel seeks to in flames. The production features a stage that based company. “We really wanted to bring satisfy their childless state (Molly had been “Who?” she asks. “Anybody.” emulate the success of its parent company, Walt doubles as a massive projection screen, trans- them to life and expand our portfolio.” told she couldn’t conceive). The series was created, and the pre- Disney Co, in translating popular film and televi- porting audiences from Manhattan’s skyscrapers She declined to discuss the cost of the pro- John not only loves Ethan as if he is their miere written by, TV newcomer Mickey sion into a lifestyle brand with wide consumer to the far-flung desert while heroes and villains duction, which has been two years in the mak- own flesh and blood, but also sees him as Fisher. He brings a fresh take on high-tech reach. fight battle after battle. ing. Marvel will share in the revenues generated, the prototype of a new class of robot that paranoia, while addressing a timeless “This is legacy building,” said Tom Marvelli, The action takes place as much in the air as said Marvel executives, declining to provide can be raised from “childhood” and instilled theme: the blessings and pitfalls of God- Marvel’s vice president of global creative servic- on the ground, with costumes designed to move additional detail. The show, while suitable for with human values, “programmed by a day- given free will, exercised here by an es and live events, who expects the show to according to characters’ powers, producer most ages, especially targets 5- to 12-year-old to-day human experience,” as John tells a adorable machine. All that, plus terrific appeal to both adult fans and their children. “For Juliette Feld said. Spider-Man swings on a pen- boys. Producers hope to lure audiences into the group of potential funders for his Humanics Halle Berry, mysteriously carrying who- the first time, they are going to get to see the dulum, while Iron Man has a jet-propulsion action with a new Marvel collectible, the Lectro Project. “The humanics brain learns right knows-whose child.—AP characters right in front of them, fighting it out effect. The tour is expected to go on to Canada Link. The interactive wristband, on sale at per- from wrong, good from bad, the same way and conquering evil.” The show features more and the UK, although no dates are set. The con- formances for $25, provides a remote power we did.” than 25 characters-from Wolverine and the cept was pitched by Feld Entertainment, a fami- source for the Iron Man suit.—Reuters Billy Ray Cyrus calls slain MTV series traces aftermath of abduction Nevada teacher ‘hero’ inding an identity is hard enough for a 16- back,’” Minsky said. Carter’s instant return to a by her own station in life. As a mother, the for- year-old girl without learning that life as family she doesn’t remember, with a younger mer journalist gives more attention to the ountry singer Billy Ray Cyrus honored a Fyou know it is based on a lie. That’s the brother born after the kidnapping, is the series’ women involved than the original, younger Nevada teacher killed by a 12-year-old premise behind a smart new MTV drama, one false note. In reality, you’d expect a more developer of the idea, who had a greater focus Cstudent in a schoolyard shooting last “Finding Carter,” that debuts yesterday (10 pm gradual transition. In the debut, Carter’s mom on Carter’s rebelliousness. year, calling him a “true American hero.” Cyrus EDT). The title character, after being thrown in suffers from comparison to the woman Carter Minsky’s character development attracted praised Michael Landsberry and presented a jail with her friends following a night of mischief, believed was her mother, who competes with actress Cynthia Watros, a mother of twins in real memorial plaque to his widow, Sharon, dur- is told the woman she thought was her mother the girl over who can say “I love you” the most. life who plays the parent of twin girls in “Finding ing a concert Saturday night in Incline Village, abducted her at age 3. Immediately, she’s sent It’s not that simple, of course. Carter must come Carter.” “You don’t have to go far as a mother to a Nevada community on north shore of Lake “home” to an alien world: a hard-edged mom, an to terms with the fact that “mom” is a criminal. tap into those feelings of how unbelievably Tahoe. Police say Landsberry, a 45-year-old author-father, a twin sister, a new school and painful it would be if one of your children went ex-Marine, tried to talk the shooter into turn- community. Carter’s rebelliousness missing,” Watros said. As the series proceeds, a ing over the handgun before he was shot in “Even though not a lot of people have been “Here was a chance to split the mother into fuller portrait of her character, Elizabeth, the chest Oct. 21 at a middle school in the abducted and found safe, a lot of people have two personalities, which is what most mothers emerges. How would it change a woman to go Reno suburb of Sparks. The student wounded been through some kind of trauma and it has are,” Minsky said. “You want to be your daugh- through such a nightmare, particularly when two classmates before taking his life. changed the way they think about the world,” ter’s best friend, but you have to be their parent.” you know your husband was in the house when “Tonight we are here to honor a true said actress Kathryn Prescott, who portrays the Minsky’s vision of “Finding Carter” was informed your daughter was abducted?—AP American hero,” Cyrus told a crowd of over title character. “They have to become comfort- 1,000. “Michael Landsberry made the ultimate Billy Ray Cyrus able with a different kind of world than they sacrifice to save his students after serving thought.” Prescott, a Londoner, ditches her three terms in Afghanistan.” Cyrus said thought sometime when the time is right, I would love to recognize the sacrifice Michael British accent to play the American teenager. Landsberry also represented the courage of Terri Minsky, creator of “Lizzie McGuire,” writes the Vietnam veteran honored in his patriotic made.” Sharon Landsberry thanked Cyrus and said his tribute moved her and their two and produces the series from a script bought by song, “Some Gave All.” With a large photo- MTV from another writer. Since Minsky just sent graph of Landsberry in the background and daughters, Alisa Cook, 25, and Andrea Cook, 18. Alisa Cook also attended the concert, her own daughter to college, she found it the math teacher’s widow on stage, Cyrus led appealing to write about a mother and daughter the crowd in singing the song. while Andrea Cook offered a videotaped mes- sage from an aircraft carrier in the Persian - two mothers, really. Cyrus said he was moved by the story of Minsky packs the debut episode with details Landsberry’s actions in the school shooting Gulf, where she serves in the Marines. “We all love him today. ... He lives within all and twists that set up a season’s worth of possi- and decided to recognize him when offered a bilities. Carter’s mom is a cop who comes off as chance to perform at Lake Tahoe. He and his of us,” Sharon Landsberry said of her husband. Cyrus, who rose to fame in 1992 with the hit cold and untrusting of Carter and, oh, is cheating father, Ronald Ray Cyrus, made similar pre- on her husband. Dad is a struggling writer who sentations honoring American heroes for song “Achy Breaky Heart,” also gave her a “financial gift.” The amount was not disclosed. wrote a book about the search for his daughter, more than a decade, and this marked the first and his agent sniffs a lucrative sequel. Carter is a time the country star has done so since his The singer is involved with a program called wild child with a boyfriend from her old life, but father’s 2006 death. Do the Write Thing, which aims to reduce she comes on to a new guy that her twin is inter- “Just about every year, my dad and I would school violence by encouraging the public to ested in. find an unsung hero and present them with a alert authorities to potential problems at “I wanted to have something that was deeper ‘Some Gave All’ award,” he told The Associated schools.—AP This photo released by MTV shows Kathryn Prescott, as Carter Stevens, center right, and than ‘we’re the family who got our daughter Press. “I kind of play everything by ear, and I Cynthia Watros as Elizabeth, center left, in the family drama, ‘Finding Carter.’—AP