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Catherine Sutherland Photos

Posted in Celebrities, TV on Dec 14th, 2007 | Comments Off

Catherine Jane Sutherland (born October 24, 1974) is an Australian actress perhaps best known for playing Katherine “Kat” Hillard, the Pink Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers from 1995-1997, joining the TV series in the third season.

She reprised the role in season four, Power Rangers: Zeo, and season five, Power Rangers: Turbo, and appeared in the movie that connected the two seasons. She has done voiceovers for various characters on Power Rangers since Katherine left the show; the most famous is the female Machine Empire General Tezzla in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode “Forever Red”.

She played the onscreen victim of a deranged serial killer in the 2000 film The Cell. In the theatrical cut she appeared as only a dead body, although the DVD release contains deleted scenes of her before her character’s death.

She got the role in the movie by appearing on the Australian reality show Dream Factory. Catherine is currently working as a personal fitness trainer and has one child. In 2004, Catherine Sutherland had a brief role as Sarah Price, the wife of a murder victim on an episode of America’s Most Wanted.

Anne Marie Vicksey (Catherine Sutherland) is one of the early victims of Carl Stargher: she is first seen when her corpse is being lifted from a bath of bleach though she is later seen on Stargher’s video drowning in the Cell.

Besides the non-existent part and the makeup, she also had to endure having her face covered in live flies for the scene where her corpse is found. Michelle Burke was responsible for this bleached corpse makeup.

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America Ferrera Ugly Betty

Posted in Celebrities, TV on Dec 14th, 2007 | Comments Off

America Georgine Ferrera (born April 18, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-, Screen Actors Guild-, and Emmy Award-winning role as Betty Suarez on the ABC television comedy-drama series Ugly Betty and for her roles in the films Real Women Have Curves and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Never content with playing a pregnant teen or the daughter of a gang-banger, actress America Ferrera has been fortunate enough to obtain meatier roles that have won her plenty of good notices in her brief career. Her obvious talent was apparent in her first feature, “Real Women Have Curves” (2001), a role she got with little onscreen experience and only after a long audition process. But director Patricia Cardoso saw in Ferrera intelligence and maturity – important qualities that earned the young actress her first leading role and helped make her a rapidly rising star.

Born on Apr. 18, 1984 and reared in Woodland Hills, California, Ferrera’s parents emigrated to the United States from Honduras in the mid-1970’s. Later, her mom divorced her father and raised six kids – five girls, one boy – while stressing the importance of higher education. All six graduated from college – Ferrera earned her degree in International Relations from the University of California, though she pursued acting throughout.

From the time she was seven years old, when she landed a small role in a school production of Hamlet, Ferrera knew that she wanted to be a performer. She acted in school plays and community theater in Los Angeles throughout her youth, but with little help from her mom, who insisted that she pursue other interests. Not that her mother doubted her talent – far from it – but she was concerned whether or not her daughter would get a fair shake. Ferrera was forced to take the bus to auditions, though eventually her mom saw her daughter’s dedication and began to drive her.

At 16, Ferrera signed with a small talent agency and began auditioning for commercials and other projects. Her first big break came at seventeen when she was cast as one of a handful of Latina girls transformed from a group of shiftless teens into a championship dance troupe by a schoolteacher in the Disney Channel’s movie-of-the-week, “Gotta Kick It Up” (2002). On the strength of her performance, Ferrera landed the lead in “Real Women Have Curves,” playing a young Latina determined to go to college to pursue her writing dreams rather than stay with her close-knit family and work in a dressmaking factory.

The coming-of-age drama earned its share of good reviews and Ferrera was highlighted for her strong, charismatic performance. Ferrera soon transitioned to television, appearing as a high school student with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in “Touched By an Angel” (CBS, 1994-2003). She then landed the dreaded role of a pregnant teen forced out of her home in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production, “Plainsong” (CBS, 2004). After appearing in an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (CBS, 2000- ), Ferrera was next seen as the real-life skateboarding groupie, Thunder Monkey, in “Lords of Dogtown” (2005), the rags-to-riches tale about the famed Z-Boys who revolutionized their sport despite falling prey to the trappings of celebrity.

She then appeared in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” (2005), a coming-of-age drama about four life-long friends who split apart for the first time in their lives, but keep in touch by sharing a pair of pants that magically fits each of their distinct frames. Ferrera gave a strong performance as the introspective, but volatile Carmen who spends the summer with her absentee father.

Ferrera made a break with the feature world when she was asked to play the lead role on the one-hour drama “Ugly Betty” (ABC, 2006- ), an Americanized version of the popular Columbian telenovela “Yo Soy Betty Le Fea” (RCN, 1999-2001) that was brought to the states by actress Selma Hayek, who served as the show’s executive producer.

The classic fish-out-of-water tale centered on Betty Suarez (Ferrera), an awkward college graduate in oversized braces, red-rimmed glasses and bad outfits who dreams of one day running her own fashion magazine. Cheerful, intelligent and possessed of an inner beauty that allows her to survive the cutthroat fashion industry, Betty struggles to be herself in a superficial world while staying true to her Latino culture at home. Audiences clearly were clearly charmed by Ugly Betty’s inner beauty: Ferrera won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007.

For her role in Ugly Betty, Ferrera won the 2007 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical, beating out fellow nominees Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary-Louise Parker. As a result of the award, she was congratulated by the U.S. House of Representatives as being a role model for young Latin Americans. On 28 January 2007 Ferrera won the prestigious Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series. She also starred in and executive produced the poignant short film Muertas.

In 2007, Time Magazine chose Ferrera as one of the top artists and entertainers in their “Time 100: The Most Influential People In The World” issue. In July 2007, America Ferrera also won Imagen Foundation’s Creative Achievement Award.

On September 16, 2007, Ferrera won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Comedy Series for her role of Betty Suarez on ABC’s Ugly Betty. In the summer of 2007, she wrapped filming on the sequel to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Ferrera is the youngest of six siblings which include one brother and four sisters. She is currently dating Ryan Piers Williams. They first met while working on his student film at USC. Ferrera has repeatedly denied rumors that they are engaged.

Ferrera attends the University of Southern California, where she is majoring in International Relations; as of January 2007, she lacked only one semester’s coursework to earn her degree. She spent the autumn of 2004 studying in the American University Washington Semester Program and also attended New York University as a part of their Spring in New York program in the spring of 2006 while she was performing in Dog Sees God.

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High School Musical Review

Posted in Films and Movies, TV on Dec 10th, 2007 | Comments Off

High School Musical is an American television film. Released on January 20, 2006, it is one of the most successful Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) produced, with a television sequel released on August 17, 2007 and a feature film sequel in the planning process.The film’s soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for 2006. The film was shot almost entirely in the Wasatch Front in Utah (namely Salt Lake City and Murray).

With a plot described as a modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet, High School Musical is a story of two high school juniors from rival cliques: Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and as a result, divide the school. Despite other students’ attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to “stick with the status quo.”

This was Disney Channel’s most successful movie at its time with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US. In the UK, it received 789,000 viewers for its premiere (and 1.2 million viewers overall during the first week), making the film the most watched program for the Disney Channel (UK) of 2006. It was also the first ever Disney Channel Original Movie to be broadcast on the BBC on December 29, 2006. On August 16, 2007 ratings went slightly up to 6.0 million viewers.

Strangers Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez attend a New Year’s Eve party at a ski lodge over Christmas Break. Here, they take part in a karaoke contest and sing “Start of Something New”. They discover they have a great chemistry between them and end up exchanging numbers. A week later, Gabriella’s mother is transferred and Gabriella begins classes at East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Troy sees her in homeroom. After making sure that it is her on his cell phone, Troy accidentally gets detention, along with Gabriella, his best friend and teammate Chad Danforth, scholastic decathlon captain, and soon-to-be best friend of Gabriella, Taylor McKessie, and Drama Club co-presidents Ryan and Sharpay Evans.

After homeroom, Troy and Gabriella see each other again and as they start talking near the sign-up sheet for the winter musical auditions, Sharpay sees them and assumes that Gabriella is interested in signing up. With Ryan’s help, Sharpay determines that Gabriella is an “Einsteinette”, and puts an article of her previous academic achievements into Taylor’s locker. During detention, Taylor approaches Gabriella and invites her to join the school’s scholastic decathlon team. Due to their detention, both Troy and Chad miss their basketball practice, much to the annoyance of Coach Bolton. During a confrontation between the coach and Ms. Darbus, it is made clear that neither of them has any real respect for the work that the other does. Troy eventually takes part in basketball practice, but he cannot seem to stop thinking about Gabriella (“Get’cha Head in the Game”).

Troy skips basketball practice during free period to go for the auditions, which Gabriella also attends. However, both are too shy to come forward, so they hide behind a janitorial rolling cart as Sharpay and Ryan perform their version of “What I’ve Been Looking For”. When Gabriella finally decides to audition, Troy offers to sing with her, but Ms. Darbus says it is too late.
After a confrontation with Sharpay, Kelsi Nielsen, the composer of the musical, trips and drops her notes and piano music. Troy and Gabriella rush to help her, and she offers to let them hear how the song was originally supposed to sound. Troy and Gabriella then sing the slower version of the song, “What I’ve Been Looking For”. Ms. Darbus hears them from behind the auditorium entrance and gives both Troy and Gabriella a callback. The next day, Sharpay sees the callback sheet and is furious. Once Chad and all the basketball players find out that Troy skipped basketball practice to audition for the musical, they are all shocked.

At lunch, everyone learns that Troy is doing something way out of a basketball players’ nature, and the students start confessing their secret passions and talents (“Stick to the Status Quo”), including basketball player Zeke Baylor’s love for baking. At that moment, Gabriella slips and accidentally spills her lunch all over Sharpay’s shirt. Sharpay tells Ms. Darbus that Gabriella did it on purpose and tries to convince her that Troy and Gabriella are trying to destroy the musical.

Troy asks Gabriella to meet him at his secret hideout, the balcony of a greenhouse. There, she reveals that singing with him at the party was like meeting a new friend at kindergarten; she felt that he was like a best friend, although she hardly knew him. Meanwhile, Zeke attempts to talk to Sharpay, who says that she would rather stick pins in her eyes than watch Zeke play basketball.

Chad and Taylor decide that they need to devise a plan so that everything returns to normal. The basketball team tricks Troy into saying that Gabriella is not too important while she watches them through a wi-fi link. Gabriella is hurt and confused about where she and Troy now stand (“When There Was Me and You”). Troy tries to talk to Gabriella, but she tells him that she is not interested in taking part in the musical anymore and that it was never important to her.

After feeling guilty about ruining Troy and Gabriella’s friendship, and noticing that they are no longer interested in the basketball game or the decathlon, Chad and Taylor decide to tell them the truth. Chad, Zeke, and Jason explain everything to Troy in the greenhouse and offer to support him at the callbacks. Taylor and the scholastic decathlon team tell Gabriella what they did, but she is still angry and hurt because of what Troy said, convinced that he meant it. That night, Troy goes to her house, but she pretends to be busy with homework. He then calls on her cellphone from her backyard, telling her that the guy she met on vacation is much more like him than the guy that “said those stupid things”. He climbs onto her balcony and starts singing the harmony of “Start of Something New” in an attempt to persuade her to attend the callbacks with him. Gabriella then forgives him, and together with Kelsi, they start practicing for the callback at school.

Soon, Sharpay and Ryan overhear Gabriella and Troy practicing, and feel intimidated by the competition. Together, they convince Ms. Darbus to change the callbacks to the same time as the basketball championship and scholastic decathlon. Kelsi overhears their conversation with Mrs. Darbus, and when she tells everyone about this, they are devastated. However, the scholastic decathlon, the basketball teams and Kelsi work together to come up with a plan.
On the D-day itself, Taylor and Gabriella send a code by computer into the system to disrupt the basketball game by shutting down the scoreboard, and boiling a hazardous chemical to stall the decathlon.

As Troy and Gabriella then rush to the theater, Sharpay and Ryan finish performing their song, “Bop to the Top”, confident that they will get the part. Troy and Gabriella show up after Ms. Darbus has called their names twice, and she tells them again that they are too late. Many other students start streaming into the auditorium to support them and Ms. Darbus has no choice but to allow them to perform “Breaking Free.” After they sing “Breaking Free”, Troy tries to kiss Gabriela but due to Chad’s interruption, Troy ends up kissing Gabriella on the cheek. In the end, Ms. Darbus decides to award the lead roles to Troy and Gabriella. After winning both the scholastic decathlon and the basketball game, the entire school gathers in the gym to celebrate (“We’re All in This Together”).

After the celebrations, Sharpay finds Zeke alone in the gym and tells him that the cookies he made are the best things she has ever tasted. Zeke answers (quite suggestively) that he might even make her crème brûlée.

Troy BoltonTroy Bolton (portrayed by Zac Efron) is the male protagonist of the story and the captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team. His best friend is Chad Danforth. At a New Years party at a ski resort, he is pressured into singing “Start of Something New” with Gabriella Montez; prior to that, he had only sung in the shower.[10] Troy is torn between basketball and singing; he wants to sing with Gabriella, the girl he has a crush on, but his teammates push him away from it with peer pressure and even trickery because they are worried that his pursuit of singing will affect their chances at winning the championship game. Troy is also the Wildcat captain, a star player and the son of basketball coach. Troy also enjoys snowboarding. Troy and Chad have known each other since preschool.

Gabriella MontezGabriella Montez (portrayed by Vanessa Hudgens) is the female protagonist, who has a secret crush on Troy. She is a shy and a very intelligent student who has just changed schools. She originally meets Troy at a New Years party when they are forced to sing a karaoke duet. She meets him again when she moves to the same school as Troy in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is reluctant to let everybody know of her past achievements, but soon everybody finds out through the internet, that she has won numerous Scholastic Competitions. She had previously been in a church choir, but passed out after having everybody stared at her while singing solo. She and Troy audition for their high school musical, get a callback, and then win the lead parts for the winter musical. She also helps East High win the Scholastic Decathlon award.
Sharpay EvansSharpay Evans (portrayed by Ashley Tisdale) is the antagonist of High School Musical. She is an arrogant person who always wants her way. She has a domineering personality and likes to be in control even of her twin brother Ryan. She auditions with him for the winter school musical against Troy and Gabriella. When she discovers that Troy and Gabriella have a callback, she changes the callback date in order to make sure that Troy and Gabriella fail to get the leads. The plan however fails with the aid of Taylor and Chad. Sharpay ends up being the understudy for Gabriella, and in the end, wishes Gabriella good luck by telling her to break a leg. Chad, at one point, calls Sharpay and Ryan “show dogs”; the Shar Pei, a homophone of Sharpay, is a kind of dog. She also refers to famous Broadway songwriter Stephen Sondheim by calling Kelsi “my sawed-off Sondheim”. Despite her resentment of Troy and Gabriella taking the lead from her in the school musical, she seems to have a small crush or interest in Troy, and feels somewhat jealous of Gabriella. It should also be noted that at the end of High School Musical, she seems to at least get along with Troy and Gabriella. Yet, in High School Musical 2, she reverts to hating Gabriella, and develops an interest for Troy.
Ryan EvansRyan Evans (portrayed by Lucas Grabeel) is the twin brother and acting partner of Sharpay Evans, with whom he has starred in seventeen school productions to date. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister function as antagonists, while in High School Musical 2, he becomes a protagonist. Ryan is an excellent dancer and singer, tending to lean toward high-energy, upbeat songs and expressive choreography, often to the point of absurdity. He has a much more highly developed sense of fashion than most East High students, wearing button down shirts and slacks and topping each outfit with some type of hat. The hats are one of Ryan’s most notable features; he wears over twenty different ones throughout the two films. In High School Musical, both Ryan and his sister function as antagonists, attempting to keep Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez from winning the lead roles in the school’s winter musical, Twinkle Towne. In spite of a few moments where Ryan appears annoyed by Sharpay’s domineering attitude, he accepts her leadership unquestioningly throughout the film. Chad DanforthChad Danforth (portrayed by Corbin Bleu) is a member of the East High Wildcats team and Troy’s best friend. He seems to be extremely devoted to basketball. Initially, he is a little snobby, selfish, and unsupportive of Troy’s auditioning for the musical. He thinks that a musical is not meant for basketball players. However, he realizes later that singing is something that Troy really enjoys and so Chad lends his support to his best friend’s audition endeavor. After teaming up with Taylor McKessie to pull Troy and Gabriella apart, and then to put them back together, he asks her out. In High School Musical 2, he develops a friendship with Ryan Evans. Taylor McKessieTaylor McKessie (portrayed by Monique Coleman) is the leader of East High’s science club, which competes in the Scholastic decathlon. She befriends Gabriella when she arrives to the school and convinces her to join the Scholastic Club. Initially, she tries to stop Gabriella from singing, but eventually, she ends up supporting her. She has a strong dislike for athletes including Troy Bolton, stating that they “contribute nothing to society other than slam dunks and touchdowns.” However, her opinion of athletes changes over time. Chad Danforth asks her out by the end of the film and she accepts to go out with him.

Recurring characters: Ms. DarbusMs. Darbus (portrayed by Alyson Reed) is the drama teacher at East High. She is an advocate of theater and has a strong dislike for cell phones and activities like sports. She often gets into arguments with her nemesis, Coach Bolton. She has very little or practically no knowledge of basketball. Jack BoltonCoach Jack Bolton (portrayed by Bart Johnson) is the Wildcats’ coach and Troy’s father. He is a former champion Wildcats player, and expects his son to follow his example. He has had numerous intense arguments with Ms. Darbus and is upset over his son’s decision to pursue theater, but then he eventually comes around. Similarly, he disapproves of Troy’s relationship with Gabriella because he feels it may interfere with his basketball tournament. Kelsi NielsenKelsi Nielsen (portrayed by Olesya Rulin) is a pianist and the composer of the Twinkle Towne musical. She is very eager to assist Troy and Gabriella as they prepare for callbacks. Initially, Kelsi is shown lacking confidence; however, by the end of the movie, she stands up to Sharpay. Troy calls her the playmaker to build her confidence. She has a crush on Jason. Zeke BaylorZeke Baylor (portrayed by Chris Warren, Jr.) is a member of the Wildcats team, who secretly enjoys baking and has a crush on Sharpay.
Jason CrossJason Cross (portrayed by Ryne Sanborn) is a member of the Wildcats team, who hangs out with Chad and Zeke and develops a crush on Kelsi. Martha CoxMartha Cox (portrayed by Kaycee Stroh) is a braniac who secretly loves hip-hop and is friends with Gabriella, Kelsi and Taylor. Mrs. MontezMrs. Montez (portrayed by Socorro Herrera) is Gabriella’s mother. Although she is never shown to have a strong feeling of approval or disapproval of Gabriella’s singing, she is shown to support her daughter at the end of the movie. She also approves of Gabriella’s relationship with Troy.

Cast: