The ultimate kitchen battle returns on Lifetime as MasterChef Australia takes it to the next level in Season 8 with more renowned international guest chefs, bright new talents and a load of exciting challenges.
Judges Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris are back to share their own unique talent and insights with the latest bunch of MasterChef hopefuls.
The top 24 contestants had better strap themselves in for a wild ride as the biggest of big name chefs enter the MasterChef arena to inspire and challenge them like never before. Don’t miss the exciting cook off on MasterChef Australia Season 8 premiering 8 p.m. on July 4.
Global thriller, Zoo, is back for its second season premiering on July 6, same day as the US, and airing 10 p.m. Wednesdays.
Based on the no. 1 bestselling novel by James Patterson, Zoo tells the story of Jackson Oz, a young renegade American zoologist who spends his days running safaris in Africa with his best friend, Abraham, who has a deep understanding of wildlife. Shortly after the waves of violent animal attacks begin, Oz begins to see a link between the strange attacks and his late father’s controversial theories about impending threats to the human race. As the worldwide assaults become even more cunning, coordinated and ferocious, Oz and the others are thrust into the race to unlock the mystery of the pandemic before there’s no place left for people to hide.
Starting July 25, Monday at 9:30 p.m. and Tuesday to Friday at 9 p.m., things are going to heat up fast in season 4 of The Block.
Eight couples are chosen to compete this season but only four of them are getting the keys to move in and start the renovation. Who will emerge victorious? Catch The Block as the couples move in to Melbourne this season and step up the renovation game.
The battle of young geniuses commences for season two on Aug. 4. Airing Thursdays at 10 p.m., Child Genius, hosted by former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, and created in cooperation with American Mensa, features the most extraordinary and gifted children as they prep for the battle of the brains.
The nation’s brightest young minds are tested for over ten weeks on their knowledge in math, spelling, geography and current events. With a $100,000 college fund and the title of Child Genius 2016 at stake, the kids – and their families – will stop at nothing to make it to the top of the class.
Lifetime™ is available on SKYCable Ch 65 and Lifetime™ HD Ch 199; Cable Link Ch. 223; Dream Satellite Ch 28; Destiny Ch 44.
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Rome film fest in October
In agreement with the president of the Fondazione Cinema per Roma Piera Detassis, artistic director Antonio Monda offered some sneak previews of the 11th edition of the Rome Film Fest, which will take place from Oct. 13 to 23 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, and extend even further into the Italian capital.
The Rome Film Fest will devote plenty of space to meetings with directors, actors, and leading cultural figures.
Tom Hanks, winner of two Academy Awards for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, the protagonist of three decades of great cinema and of memorable blockbusters such as Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, and Bridge of Spies, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Meryl Streep, winner of three Academy Awards for Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie’s Choice, and The Iron Lady, who has worked with directors such as Fred Zinnemann, Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Robert Zemeckis, and Clint Eastwood, among others, will talk about the great Italian actresses who influenced her, first and foremost Silvana Mangano.
David Mamet (awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his play Glengarry Glen Ross, author of House of Games and Heist, and screenwriter for dozens of films including The Untouchables by Brian De Palma and Hannibal by Ridley Scott) will attend an onstage conversation, in his double role as film director and screenwriter;
Don DeLillo (a key figure in post-modern American narrative, a keen observer of the transformations taking place in American society) will talk about the relationship between cinema and literature, and about his passion for Italian master Michelangelo Antonioni;
Daniel Libeskind, the protagonist of Deconstructivist architecture (who designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the project to rebuild the World Trade Center in New York). He will discuss the relationship between the seventh art and architecture, and about his love for Paolo Sorrentino’s films.
The Auditorium Parco della Musica has been the heart of the Rome Film Fest since 2006 with the red carpet and the screening rooms. Like every year, the Fest will involve many other locations in Rome: starting with the Cinema Village – where a temporary structure seating 800 people will be set up – it will include other movie theatres across the city, from the centre to the suburbs. The Fest will also take place in some of the most important cultural venues of the Italian capital, and will feature a special red carpet in Via Condotti, in collaboration with the eponymous association.