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This time of year, our thoughts are supposed to be filled with visions of dancing sugarplums, angels earning their wings and all the Whos down in Whoville circling trees in song.

The thing is, knowing that a member of Nashville‘s ensemble is going to bite it next week means it’s much easier to picture the Grim Reaper – rather than Frosty the Snowman – running amok in Music City.

Is he cheering in the bar where Will attempts some ill-conceived crowd surfing? Is he lingering around the corner when Teddy and Deacon nearly come to blows again? Is he in...

By Allen Gardner

A Separation (Sony) This drama from Iran won the 2011 Best Foreign Film Oscar, telling the story of a couple who file for a legal separation, with the wife pushing for a divorce. He won’t leave his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father behind, while she is wanting to take their young daughter with her to the United States. After a series of misunderstandings, threats and legal actions, the couple find that there is more than just their marriage that’s on the line. Hyper-realistic to a fault, reminiscent of the neo-realist films that came out of post-ww II Europe, but also repressive and redundant in the extreme, with the characters seeming to throw the same temper tantrum for two hours straight while the story, meanwhile, seems stalled. Wildly overpraised film is a real litmus test, with viewers seeming to be staunch defenders or equally impassioned detractors. It did win an Oscar,...

Is Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner secretly a nostalgic Millennial? It sure seems that way, considering the actors who have popped up on Mad Men lately. Sure, big-ish names like Julia Ormond have made appearances on the show — but their numbers are dwarfed by the veterans from Gen Y touchstones like The Secret World of Alex Mack, Clarissa Explains It All, 10 Things I Hate About You, Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and even Saved by the Bell who have been invading AMC’s flagship series for years. This might indicate that Weiner and his casting directors love the late...

As the author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, Rachel Simmons knows a thing or two about bullying, and now she’s partnering with Secret Deodorant to help parents get educated on the subject, and combat it.

“Many children resist telling their parents when they’re being bullied, so it’s important to look for more subtle signs,” she tells People.

“Does your previously phone and computer-addicted child no longer want to be online or texting? Does he not want to go to school? Children may also begin talking about themselves negatively or start...

Lifetime's Odd Girl Out and Nickelodeon's 18th annual Kids' Choice Awards telecast were singled out by more than 5 million viewers each on Monday and Saturday, respectively. Girl, starring Alexa Vega and Lisa Vidal, was watched by 5.1 million viewers in its 9 p.m. premiere; that makes it the most-watched original movie of the year in basic cable, according to Lifetime. The Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by Ben Stiller, pulled in 5.2 million viewers during its 8-9:30 p.m. ET live telecast and was the top cable primetime program for the week ending April 3, according to Nickelodeon.