Viewers of television for the scholarly set often bemoan the seemingly endless supply of soap operas, reality TV, and game shows clogging the airways and reducing the IQs of their hapless devotees. Luckily, the cerebral set isn’t going to be left out. Here are five sharp shows for the discerning intellectual that have been officially renewed for the coming fall season.

House, MD
Network: FOX
Website: fox.com/house/

Say what you will about Dr. House’s Vicodin habit and rude interpersonal interactions, this series simply screams cerebral. Following a group of diagnosticians as they work on bizarre medical cases, the viewer is given a unique peep into the world of non-routine medicine. The show has garnered a fistful of awards, nominations, and accolades in addition to making its actors and actresses household names. It has been renewed for an eighth season. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can get up to date by ordering the DVDs on Netflix.

Grey’s Anatomy
Network: ABC
Website: www.abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy

This show is also going into its eighth season, as well as having launched a successful spin-off entitled Private Practice. Originally a mid-season replacement for Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy has won numerous accolades and lots of attention for its ‘color blind’, diverse casting decisions. Three Prime-Time Emmys, four NAACP IMage Awards, and multiple awards for individuals on the show, coupled with outstanding writing makes this series a huge success.

Bones
Network: FOX
Website: www.fox.com/bones/

Bones was launched a year after House, leaving many to speculate that the two were too similar. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Where House understands people and simply dislikes them, Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan simply doesn’t understand certain aspects of humanity. Focusing on anthropology, the viewer is mesmerized by case studies of human remains as the cast works together to determine both the identity and cause of death. The character growth is amazing, the situations encountered are bizarre, and the writing is fluid. The new season is scheduled to air in a Thursday night, 9 PM time slot.

NCIS
Network: NBC
Website: www.cbs.com/primetime/ncis/

This police procedural drama follows a group of special agents working in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Headed into its ninth season, NCIS also has a successful spin-off in the form of NCIS: Los Angeles. The show has garnered six ASCAP Awards, three BMI Film and TV Awards, and been nominated for three Emmys and an NAACP Award. In 2011, it was voted as America’s most popular television show. While some people may not like police dramas, I’d recommend giving it a chance. The first seven seasons are available for purchase on DVD and is also available for rent from Netflix.

Supernatural
Network: CW
Website: www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural

This horror series follows brothers Sam and Dean Winchester as they chase down demons and other supernatural entities. Creator Eric Kripke developed and shopped the series for over ten years before it was picked up, but once it got rolling the series has turned into a runaway train. Drawing from urban legends as inspiration, the show tackles many major horror themes and touches on unknown territory as well. Going into its seventh season this fall, fans are gearing up to see Sam and Dean take on their biggest, strongest foes yet.

While these shows have all run for quite a long time, the loss and cancellation of several smart-centric shows has left viewers searching for something new. If you’ve never seen these shows, give them a chance. If you’re a returning fan, rest assured that all five of these gems have all been renewed by their respective networks and will be returning next fall.

Matthew Warren works for a geek t-shirt company and can usually be seen wearing shirts from The Big Bang Theory.

Inception was the hit sc-fi of last year. It was probably the first “original” sci-fi we’ve seen since the Matrix. Inception is a deep and rich film with a complex and twisting plot that will have you gripping the edge of your seats and eager for more. Bring on Inception 2.

Plot synopsis

Inception is set in a world where the dominant technologies of the day are used to steal into and steal from people’s dreams. This takes corporate and criminal espionage to new heights and sets the backdrop for the plot.

The plot revolves around Dom Cobb, played superbly by Leonardo Di Caprio. Dom Cobb is a highly skilled dream thief but with a terrible past – bet you can’t see where this is going. Dom specialises in extractions – the process of getting highly guarded information out of people’s minds. This has made him the most sought after but also the most hunted international fugitive. Having been captured by government agents Cobb is given a shot at redemption to pull of the hardest heist of a mind there has ever been. However this time the operation is different – rather than stealing an idea they have to plant one – which is unheard of. So Cobb puts together his team, featuring Tom Hardy and Ellen page amongst others and they begin plotting a deep dream entry and plant.

WARNING PLOT SPOILERS – but not ruiners

In order to plant this idea Cobb’s team plot a multi-level break in to the target’s sedated mind. They have to co-ordinate three different levels of plan and make sure there is exact co-ordination between them. In order to wake from the dream state the body needs a jolt to jump back to consciousness and this must be co-ordinated through each of the dreams levels. However there is one big problem – Cobb’s ex-wife who haunts Cobb’s subconscious and is going to cause a whole host of problems. As the plan is implemented and the three levels of plan start to happen Cobb and his team get sucked into the deepest level of dream – pure subconscious. Here Cobb has to face his ex and escape by creating a jolt. We won’t say much more than this otherwise we’ll spoil the plot but it’s very deep and engaging so give it a go.

Highlights

The fight scenes in Inception are the finest we’ve seen since the Matrix and if you like action you’ll love it. The fights that take place as the dream plant takes place are stunningly co-ordinated with action in one affecting the others. Watching a hotel room and hallway invert itself mid fight is one of the finest moments. Aside from the fighting the CGI is exceptional with a whole city folding in on itself at one point in a truly shuddering cinematic moment – which really makes you wish it had been in 3D.

Box office takings

The film cost $160,000,000 to make and grossed $820,186,685 worldwide making it one of the highest grossing films of 2010. Opening weekend saw only 67 million dollars gross but word quickly spread as the film went viral.

Director

Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan who’s recent box office successes have been exceptional. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are his most well-known films and he managed to re-make Batman into one of the most popular film characters of the decade. Nolan has developed a reputation of providing in depth thrillers and films to get your brain ticking over like nobody’s business. Memento and the Prestige are amongst his other most well-known films and these too offered us a truly gripping story layered in depth and expertly executed.

Inception [DVD] [2010]
Inception – Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)[Region Free]

Rebecca Black became a house hold name within a week. She said that she knew it was going to be huge when she woke up in the morning and saw that her video had gone from 4,000 hits, to more than 200,000 hits in just one night.

That sounds like a better morning than Christmas! But just how and why exactly did Rebecca’s video become so viral? The most interesting thing about her video, is that it has over 150 million views yet it has an overwhelming amount of “dislikes” compared to “likes.” This is very similar to many Justin Bieber videos, of whom Rebecca publically announced on Good Morning America that she would love to do a duet with (they better get together and make this happen!). Before we get into a philosophical conversation about why our whole country got obsessed with this video within one week. Let’s take a look behind the scenes on the making of this video.

Who Are the People Responsible for This?

The Ark Music Factory is a music producing platform that offers young kids to give them a shot at the big time, claiming that they can give your son or daughter all the tools they need to become the next pop star. Basically it is a poor man’s version of the Mickey Mouse Club, from which stars like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera arose.

The writers of the song are Patrice Wilson and Clarence Jey and they claimed that auto tune was barely used for the song and that she was in the key the whole time (she proved she can sing by doing a few lines of the Star Spangled Banner on Good Morning America).

How Much Money Has Rebecca Black Made Off of This?

Forbes claimed she was a millionaire based off some bad iTunes research. She is actually probably a “thousand-naire” as apple pays $.70 per download and she got around 37,000 downloads in the first week. This doesn’t include commissions from a ring tone that is priced at $1.29, but none of this all really matters – she comes from a family of money, and they plan on giving all the money to help Japan battle the after effects of the tsunami.

So Why Are People Obsessed with This Song?

There have been many theories on this. Most of the time, it comes with people saying that it because of a problem with society. It’s “our fault as Americans” that this video went viral (In fact the singer had to go through a lot of cyber bullying from people with views like these from which she said she would cry about until she finally got over it and started looking at all the positives).

But that really isn’t why we like this video even though we try to show everyone else that we dislike it. This video reminds us of our younger days, when we were able to have a good time, when our biggest choice of the day literally was “to sit in the back seat or to sit in the front seat?” It is an innocent video, very corny even, and that’s why we are psychologically drawn to it (not only that it is admit fully pretty catchy).

It got so popular that the popular TV Show, Glee, used it as one of their in-show songs – and it is pretty good (ironically the Glee version of the song has more “likes” than “dislikes” on Youtube.com).

People have to realize one thing: People don’t search music for the same reasons anymore. Music has changed. The reason why we “listen” to music has changed. We have gone from listening to music on the radio, to the Boom box, to our Haier TV, to the Internet. People listen to music for social reasons just as much as enjoyable reasons. This one had the perfect combination (as music is probably more social than actually enjoyable in this Internet age (think Justin Bieber) to go completely, crazily, and enjoyably viral. Congratulations to you, Rebecca Black.

This article was written by Philip Rudy. Philip is a freelance writer and enjoys writing on many different topics. Especially on topics that offer help to young students, as well as young entrepreneurs. Philip enjoys gardening, writing his own music, and learning more and more about Internet marketing everyday. Catch Philip all around the Internet by chance!

Emma Watson quite literally was catapulted to fame in 2001 having been cast as Hermione Granger in the global phenomena that has followed J.K. Rowling’s incredible Harry Potter series. Born in Paris, Emma Watson moved to England after her parents divorced.

She first developed a taste for acting at the age of 6 and trained at Stagecoach Theatre Arts part time after school. By the time she reached the age of tem she had taken to the lead in a variety of stagecoach productions and school plays including The Happy Prince and Arthur – The Young Years.

In 1999 casting began for the Harry Potter series and Watson was recommended by her Oxford theatre teachers. Her natural flair for acting and calmness allowed her to successfully pass a series of 8 auditions alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint – Harry Potter and Ron Weasely respectively. J.K Rowling apparently had Watson as her first preference for Hermione since the very first audition which might have been the key to her successes at securing the role.

The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001 saw Watson entering the limelight hugely as the snobby yet incredibly clever Hermione Granger. The first instalment of the series was hugely popular and the highest grossing film of 2001. It broke numerous records for opening day takings, opening weekend’s takings and opening week and month takings. Critics hugely enjoyed the film and were particularly impressed with the seamless performance of Hermione Granger. Emma was nominated for 5 awards as a result of her performance including wining the young artist award for leading actress in a film.

Since this debut Watson has developed hugely as an actress with the last instalment of the Harry Potter series hitting the screens in the summer of 2011. The films have been phenomenally successful taking the entire world by storm and grossing billions of dollars in box office sales. Emma Watson has been the centre of much of the limelight thanks to her stunning performances and charisma on and off screen.  Watson is estimated to have earned over £20,000,000 from the Harry Potter series but her career seems to be only just beginning.

Aside from the Harry Potter films Watson has appeared in a TV film for the BBC called Ballet Shoes, as well as taking on the voice role of Princess Pea in Tales of Desperaux in 2008. Ballet shoes was an ironic role for Watson who plays a young actress who achieves the role of Alice in Wonderland yet lets it go to her head. She struggles with the pressures of Hollywood and poverty at home and the film was a warm hearted film. Tales of Desperaux  is a charming fantasy story about a mouse in a  fantasy world. The film didn’t receive huge critical acclaim but was an enjoyable fantasy story where the mouse I banished for speaking to a human princess. The princess herself becomes scared of the mouse so he decides to kidnap her. Though far fetch the story was heart-warming and Watson gave a sterling performance as the princess.

Aside from acting Watson has become a hugely popular and accomplished model  and has landed contracts with Burberry amongst other popular brands. She is currently studying arts at Brown in the states and has two films – My week with Marilyn and The Perks of Being a Wallflower in post-production and filming respectively.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) [2010][Region Free]

Hollywood celebrities will always be in the spotlight of the press and media. Everybody wants to look like them, dress like them and parent’s even name their babies after them. It is impossible to name all of the celebrities in the spotlight right now, but we can certainly mention the most popular ones.

Natalie Hershlag, of whom we all know as Natalie Portman, has a blossoming career indeed. She landed her first role in the French film called Leon back in 1994 where she played an orphan character. Quite recently, she won awards which included a Golden Globe for her film Black Swan.

Another top celebrity today is the recently single Mila Kunis. The gorgeous actress also starred alongside Natalie Portman in Black Swan. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Motion Picture. Although she did not win, she still remains as one of the hottest Hollywood celebrities today.

Speaking of hot, we cannot forget about Jessica Alba. She may already be married and expecting her second child with husband Cash Warren but girls still want to look like her and guys still adore her. Even though she has not been as active on the big screen recently, she still gets the attention whenever she is in the public eye.

Vanessa Hudgens has had a busy year. After filming Sucker Punch where she plays the character Blondie, she continues to be on the go with the new movie Beastly (playing Lindy Taylor). The movie is a remake of Beauty and the Beast with a modern twist. She was listed by Forbes as one of the highest earners below the age of 30 in 2008 and is also included in FHM’s sexiest for 2008 and 2009.

Meanwhile, her ex-boyfriend Zac Efron has also been busy with his own movies. Every year he has a new film with the most recently being Charlie St. Cloud where he secured another lead role. He is also filming New Year’s Eve and will be ready for his 2012’s upcoming movie called The Lucky One. Efron has also received various awards and nominations and in 2009, his estimated worth soared to 10 million dollars, making him also one of the top young earners today.

Whilst talking about young people with high earnings, one of them definitely includes singing sensation Justin Bieber. He earns more than 300,000 dollars for every concert, which means he makes more than many other artists today including Jordin Sparks, Drake and Selena Gomez.

Of course, when the topic is about the rich and famous, one will almost automatically conjure up images of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. These two have made it into the most popular lists about high earning celebrities. Angelina’s net worth has been estimated to be 90 million in 2010 while Brad is around 150 million dollars.

Box office films have produced quite a buzz from both movie critics and fans around the world. From romantic stories to actions to science fiction themes, we have all witnessed what Hollywood can offer and we can all expect to get more in the coming years.

Among the popular movies that everyone has been talking about is the Twilight Saga. Beginning with the first movie Twilight to the approaching film The Breaking Dawn which will be divided into two parts, the fans have fallen in love with the love story between vampire Edward Cullen played by Robert Pattinson and human Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart). Twilight grossed almost 400 million dollars worldwide.

Meanwhile, the sequel New Moon which was released in November 2009, had 50 million dollars as budget. Upon its opening weekend, it grossed to more than 142 million dollars. On the whole, it accomplished over 709 million dollars, quite far from its predecessor attained. The third movie of the series, Eclipse, which was out in June 30th of 2010 received a production budget of 68 million. This did not earn as much as New Moon did yet it also did well worldwide with total box office gross of 698,491,347 dollars.

Another movie worth noting is Inception which was released in July of 2010. This sci-fi action film has earned almost 300 dollars in the United States alone. Overall, it grossed over 825 million dollars worldwide. Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine and Ellen Page among others, this film made the audience talk about it continuously after watching it in theaters or at home.

If we want a lighthearted movie with a bit of drama and lots of adventure and fun, we can always turn to Disney. One of the most commendable recent movies from giant company Disney is Toy Story 3. The film was nominated for five Oscars and grabbed home two of them. Featuring the voices of Tom Hanks, Michael Keaton, Tim Allen and Whoopi Goldberg, the film was provided with a budget of 200 million. Its worldwide earnings reached over 1 billion, an impressive achievement which eventually helped it climb into the highest grossing films of all time at number 5.

Of course, if we will be talking about the high grossing movies, let us not forget about Avatar. The 2009 movie is an unforgettable one for both romance and sci-fi fans. Released on the 18th of December, it received over 77 million dollars on its opening weekend in the United States. The opening was quite strong so Avatar easily secured itself in the top spot.

Right now, it is the reigning highest grossing film ever made, beating out Titanic which was released in 1997. Both films were the prominent innovations from James Cameron. Avatar has attained a total of 2,782,259,986 dollars in profits since its release. Aside from that, it has received tons of awards and recognitions including three Academy Awards namely Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects.

Paris is one of the most popular European destinations and is steeped in rich history, stunning monuments and perfect beauty. The city of love is an idyllic city for many of us and if you haven’t been at least once you are really missing out. With that in mind we’ve put together a list of tips for your travel to Paris and France more generally.

Travel to Paris
Travel to France is incredibly cheap and there are three options to get there, plane, the Eurostar or ferries. If you plan on seeing a little more of France than just Paris then a ferry is your best option as you can take your car and it’s not too expensive. If you plan on travelling by foot a ferry can cost as little as £10 and the train from Calais to Paris takes less than an hour.

Where to stay
Paris hotels are amongst some of the finest in the world with some of the finest having views over the Seine, the Eiffel Tower or the Sacre Coeur . The best (and most expensive) hotels in Paris are the Meurice and the Lancaster which offer 5 star luxury with 5 star city views. However there are hotels to sort all budgets and all styles and many off them offer great deals particularly in the off peak season so you can get somewhere central without having to break your bank.

What to see in Paris
With its mixture of fantastic monuments, architecture, culture and museums France has something for everyone’s tastes. A trip to and up the Eiffel Tower is top of most people’s agendas and offers an unrivalled view of the city. It is an incredible testament to French ingenuity and sits at the heart of the city. From here a walk down the stunning Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumphe is a must. This impressive memorial sits at a huge intersection and offers stunning views of the tree lined roads leading to the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the city. Next up we have the two famous churches – the Sacre Coeur and Notre Damme . The Sacre Coeur sits atop a hill with its pristine white domes gleaming in the morning sun so it is well worth getting there around sunrise. Notre Damme is one of the finest churches in the world and the rose windows are spectacular. From here a boat ride down the Seine is a must and you can watch Paris roll by, if you do it in the evening be sure to visit one of Paris’s infamous jazz clubs on the banks of the Seine. Ok so most of the monuments are now done so it’s time to head to the museums. The Louvre is of course the first port of call and you could happily spend a full day here with the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo being just two of the treasures on offer. Aside from the Louvre the Pompidou centre offers a fantastic collection of modern art so is well worth a visit. This is only a small snapshot of the many delights of Paris but hopefully it will be enough to get you started.

Disneyland Paris
Less than an hour away from the capital Disneyland Paris is the perfect place to take families and children with its mix of thrill rides and Disney charm. It is only a short drive from Calais so easily reachable if you catch a ferry. Disneyland has a variety of onsite hotels with a mixture of prices so a trip to Disneyland doesn’t have to break the bank. The rides themselves are great fun and there’s something to suit all ages.