Today's Entertainment

BY JAY BOBBIN Amy Carlson Few television dramas guarantee their casts will have a big oncamera meal each week. That's why the stars of CBS' Friday police drama "Blue Bloods" know they're in a rare situation every time they sit down around the fictional Reagan family's dining table. The food in those scenes is very real, and the actors know it can be a challenge to export dialogue as they ingest calories or carbs ... sometimes over and over again, if retakes are needed. "It didn't really occur to me" that edibles would be so prominent in the show, says Amy Carlson, now in Season 3 as Linda Reagan, the wife of New York cop Danny (Donnie Wahlberg). "In the pilot, we had this great dinner, and Tom (Selleck, who stars as Police Commissioner Frank Reagan) says he knew the whole time that it would be a regular thing. I had no idea." Carlson reports the filming of the dinner scene is "always a really big day. The most cast members are in, and it's fun. It's kind of like a minireunion. It's a real source of bonding for us and for the (Reagan) family, so it serves a double purpose." So does the food, since besides serving as props, it gives the cast true nourishment. "We did an episode recently where we had all traditional Jewish food," Carlson notes, "and it was all from the 2nd Ave. Deli, one of my favorite places. And I ate too much; it was really good. Then we were laughing because we were back to just our regular food. I like it when there's a theme." The food usually isn't selected randomly either. "It comes from the writers," Carlson reports. "About 75 percent of the time, it's right in the script what we're eating, but I think the prop people think about what they can feed us ... mostly Donnie, because he's the one who eats the most." What are you currently reading? " 'Far From the Tree' by Andrew Solomon, about parents with children who have specific challenges like deafness or autism. It's a fascinating book." What did you have for dinner last night? "I made an amazing turkey chili. I have this recipe I've concocted over the years that my husband loves, so I threw that together, and it came out great." What is your next project? "I might be looking at some plays to do over the (summer series) break, and I actually have an audition for a film that's coming up. So who knows? We'll see." BY JAY BOBBIN Harrison Ford Brad Pitt 8 Joaquin Phoenix "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) They might seem harmless, but the elderly neighbors of a pregnant young wife (Mia Farrow) have sinister intentions for her and her child in director Roman Polanski's version of Ira Levin's novel. "The Devil's Rain" (1975) The chance to point out John Travolta in his movie debut as a masked cult member, opposite such veterans as Ernest Borgnine and William Shatner, is reason enough to include this horror tale here. "Race With the Devil" (1975) Vacationers stumble upon a cult's sacrificial practices in this vehicle for Peter Fonda and Warren Oates. "The Stepford Wives" (1975) Something is off with the eager-to-please women of a Connecticut town, or so a newcomer (Katharine Ross) suspects, in another adaptation of an Ira Levin book. "Helter Skelter" (TV, 1976) The true story of cult leader Charles Manson and his followers' homicidal beliefs, and consequent actions, is told in this docudrama that offers an absolutely chilling performance by Steve Railsback as Manson. "Ticket to Heaven" (1981) After a man (Nick Mancuso) enters a cult, his relatives and friends try to retrieve him in this engrossing, Canadian-made drama. "Children of the Corn" (1984) You can be of any age to be in a cult, as two travelers (Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton) discover – much to their terror – in a town where the youngsters have eliminated most of the adults, in this Stephen King tale. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) Most of a village's youngsters vanish under the tyranny of a cult leader – who has bad intentions for our hero (Harrison Ford) – in the first follow-up to "Raiders of the Lost Ark." "Fight Club" (1999) Cult members literally can pound the daylights out of one another, as evidenced by the participants led by Brad Pitt in director David Fincher's brutal drama. "The Master" (2012) One of the most recent examples of the theme has proven its potency through current Oscar nominations for stars Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in the story of an influential man and a World War II veteran he tries to sway The Goshen News • Viewer's Choice • Feb. 18, 2013-Feb. 24, 2013

• Cover