Today I wish a very happy birthday to Robert Patrick, an actor who can always be counted on to give a solid performance - which is good, because he's also one of those actors who seems to be in almost everything. Currently, he's starring as Chief of the Boat Joseph Prosser on ABC's freshman drama series Last Resort, but chances are you've seen him in a half-dozen other things and didn't know it.

In Robert's honor, I've sorted through his prolific film and television resume to pick out his five best performances. Read on to see what made my list and feel free to add your own choices ...

The latest trailer for Gangster Squad has hit the Internet, and with it come a lot of bullets and snazzy suits. The film follows a group of L.A. cops that drop their badges and hunt Mafiosos that come in from the East Coast.

Based on a true story, Brooklyn born Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) heads to L.A. to become the drug and prostitution kingpin. After buying his way out of lawful troubles, the police department creates a secret group of officers. They work without rules, red tape, or badges - and the department will refuse they exist.

The trailer features plenty of action and sexy-times w...

There are lots of TV shows I miss. But then there are the characters: individual performances so good they came alive, and I still wonder about them. It's one thing to mourn a show for awhile, another to ask yourself years later, "Whatever happened to...?" as if that person was real.

Here are ten TV characters that I still think about, in (almost) chronological order of their departures.

1. Jennifer Sampson in Line of Fire, as played by Julie Ann Emery (2003)

I'm putting this one first because this is the character that gave me the idea for this piece. Sometimes I feel like I was the o...

Gabriel Macht is a genius.

It isn't in the conventional sense. Measuring him by his IQ - whatever that may be - wouldn't do him justice. Neither would examining his lengthy filmography of over twenty years. Yet spend a few minutes in his company, and it becomes quickly apparent that he is brilliant. It's in his verbal acuity, which would make many professional writers envious. It's in the thought he gives to even the most casual of conversations. He's just plain smarter than you or me.

He's not the type to need to prove that to anyone. Yet with the success of USA Network's original...

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, many Starpulse writers are giving thanks for our favorite pop-culture moments. Here's what's on my list, from a reality show to a play that was all too real.

My list is a bit different from those of my colleagues. I've had a very blessed - and also very difficult - year that has had amazing highs and been marred by literally life-changing lows. When I look back on 2011, I'm not thinking just about things I enjoyed, but experiences and people that made a difference.

It goes without saying that I'd like to thank my loved ones and the doctors, surgeons, nurses, ...

De Niro. Keitel. Liotta. And a heavy and somber Stallone. All are the fruits off the tree that is "Cop Land," the 1997 drama via writer/director James Mangold hitting Blu-ray this week from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Check out the citation list below!

Title: "Cop Land"

Grade: 4

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta

Director: James Mangold

Rating: R

Runtime: 116 minutes

Release Company: Lionsgate

Website: www.lionsgatebluray.com

The Flick: I remember not being all that impressed when I saw "Cop Land" the first time around. It actually wasn’t unt...

Having brought fantastic celebrity pairings together to help support worthy causes in Los Angeles, Live Talks Los Angeles has recently announced the lineup for their noteworthy second season.

Live Talks LA has embarked on a mission to "bring great speakers to Los Angeles — authors, artists, leaders, musicians, scientists — and present them in some of the city’s wonderful venues."

In doing so, they support various arts, literacy and educational causes, donating the net proceeds from their events to organizations like First Book (providing access to new books for children in need), the ...

Most still remember character actor Robert Patrick from when he oozed onto the scene in 1991 as the killer liquid metal bastard in James Cameron's high octane explosatorium, "Terminator 2: Judgement Day." Patrick's steely-eyed performance left an indelible mark in the FX world and set a high bar for bad guys.

Luckily the actor managed to avoid being (totally) typecast as villains and has carved out a solid career as a supporting player in flicks like "Walk the Line," "Flags of Our Fathers," and even replaced David Duchovny for the final two seasons of "The X-Files."

Now, according to Vari...

Can you believe that sci-fi epic Terminator 2: Judgment Day is now two decades old?

July 3, 1991, the sequel to 1984's The Terminator stormed into theaters, and has since become one of the biggest science-fiction films of all time. Fans and critics alike embraced the second chapter of the story, which took a unique tack: turn the villain of the first flick into the hero of the second. A T-800 model Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was sent back in time again - not to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), but to protect her and her son John (Edward Furlong) from being killed by the ...

Remember that saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions"? Even the best actors have their misses. Here's a list of some of my favorite bad performances, miscastings, and poor project choices - all the things that land great actors in bad situations. (But I still love them, regardless.)

John Barrowman, Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002)

Shark Attack 3: Megalodon is the worst movie that I have ever seen. I really wish that Mystery Science Theater 3000 was still around, because this flick belongs on that list.

While no one expects brilliance from a movie called Shark Attack ...

They may be famous, but it doesn't mean they're rich. It also doesn't mean the taxman will let them slide. The economy certainly is hard for us regular folk these days, but it's also affecting Tinseltown's finest. Check out our slideshow of celebrities that are facing foreclosure, bankruptcy, and other problems for failing to pay up.

Toni Braxton owes more than $12,500 on her mansion in Century City, California and officials at Bank of America are now looking to foreclose on the property.

Toni Braxton

- Click pic for next page -

Image © Sony BMG

More Toni Braxton Pictures

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Covert Warriors. Unsung Heroes. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment presents all four adrenaline-fueled seasons of the Emmy-nominated hit series with "The Unit" Complete Giftset as a 19-disc DVD collection debuting September 29. "The Unit" Season Four will also be available the same day as a six-disc DVD and five-disc Blu-ray set. Starring Golden Globe-nominee Dennis Haysbert, Scott Foley and Robert Patrick, "The Unit" lifts the veil on a dangerous, top secret world of a covert Special Forces team, whose identities must remain highly classified as they span the globe, risking their li...

Terminator 2: Judgment Day star Robert Patrick has fired his business manager after discovering he owes thousands in unpaid taxes.

The actor was fuming last month after learning he has racked up debts of more than $176,000 with both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tax officials in California. Patrick maintains he is a "proud American" and had every intention of paying his taxes, insisting the blame lies with his business manager of 17 years, who he dismissed promptly after finding out about his arrears.

He says, "My reaction is frustration and I'm very angry. I've had an impe...

With Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li arriving in theaters February 27, it’s time to take a look back at the video game movies that brought us to this point.

While video games run the gamut of quality - from very good to very bad - video game movies have typically been on the “poor” side of the critical spectrum. Games are written with interactivity in mind, and thus their storylines don’t always mesh with the film medium.

Still, there are a few titles one could argue are at least passable – even if fans of the video games they are based on do not find them loyal to the ori...

Alien Trespass is an exciting and entertaining homage to the great science-fiction movies of the 1950s, the post-war boom period when the country was filled with great hope and prosperity and, at the same time, lived under the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The story begins in 1957 in the star-filled skies above California's Mojave Desert. It is a special night for noted astronomer Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack), who is preparing a special dinner for his beautiful, adoring wife Lana (Jody Thompson) to celebrate their wedding anniversary. In another part of town, Tammy (Jenni Baird), a wai...

The Unit's top secret military world of conspiracy, danger and nail-biting suspense continues with compelling revelations about the team, their personal lives and the Unit's increasingly complex nature as "The Unit" Season Three arrives on DVD October 14th from Fox Home Entertainment. Golden Globe®-nominee Dennis Haysbert (24), Scott Foley (Felicity) and Robert Patrick (The X-Files) star in the Emmy®-nominated series as members of a covert Special Forces team operating outside the usual military chain of command, their identities highly classified as they risk their lives on dangerous missi...

Throughout cinematic history, there has been a plethora of actors that, for some reason or another, never become a household name. So here is a cheat sheet of sorts, a brief encyclopedia on "That Guy." Part Two: Letters L-Z. If you missed the first installment, you can check it out here.

Stubborn General or Muslim, Harry Lennix

Lennix played Lock, the unbelieving general in Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions. He appeared in short bursts in TV shows such as Diagnosis Murder and ER before a longer stay on Commander in Chief. He played a Moor in Titus and a Muslim in 24. He is currently s...

With summer now upon us, people across the country will be flocking to multiplexes everywhere. Let's face it, this summer will usher in yet another season of sequels. With highly anticipated action films such as "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "The Dark Knight," and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," it is only fitting to take a look back at the top five best and worst action sequels of all time.

Best Action Sequels:

5. Die Hard: With a Vengeance

Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson are reluctant allies as they try to hunt down a villain who is all...

The premiere episode of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" scored the highest opening-night rating of any new show in three years. Over 18 million people tuned in to the show's debut, according to the Nielsen rating service. Here are five reasons we're watching the show:

5. It's action packed. Every couple of minutes has a scene with somebody getting shot, punched, or run over with a car.

4. It's well acted. The actors who play Sarah (Lena Headey) and John (Thomas Dekker) are both quite good. I will say, however, that the gal (Summer Glau) who plays the terminator pro...

There are some things in Hollywood that just do not work: Lindsay Lohan and sobriety, most marriages, Tim Allen tackling roles not involving Christmas, and successfully adapting a video game into a movie. Why is this so hard?

The powers that be can take a 700-page book and trim it down to a two-hour story. Either they are picking really bad video games to adapt or the people involved just suck. There has yet to be a quality adaptation. So why do studios keep insisting on producing them? They even screwed up Doom, a story that involves Marines fighting aliens. How is that even possible...

Happy Birthday to singer/songwriter Ryan Adams (1974), NBA star Jerry Stackhouse (1974), Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon (1973), Baltimore Orioles catcher Javy Lopez (1970), "X-Men 3" actress Famke Janssen (1965), Little Darling Tatum O'Neal (1963), Canada's top pop singer Bryan Adams (1959), second Terminator Robert Patrick (1958), Boston Celtics Deadhead Bill Walton (1952), musician Gram Parsons (1943; d. 1973 ), actress Elke Sommer (1941), singer Art Garfunkel (1941), 70s singer Ike Turner (1931), Gone With the Wind's Vivien Leigh (1913; d. 1967), and cowboy Roy Rogers (1911; d. 1998...

In the unsanctioned, underground, and unhinged world of extreme Ping-Pong, the competition is brutal and the stakes are deadly. Now, this outrageous new comedy serves up this secret world for the first time on-screen.

Down-and-out former professional Ping-Pong phenom Randy Daytona (Tony Award winner Dan Fogler) is sucked into this maelstrom when FBI Agent Rodriguez (George Lopez) recruits him for a secret mission. Randy is determined to bounce back and recapture his former glory, and to smoke out his father's (Robert Patrick) killer – one of the FBI's Most Wanted, arch-fiend Feng (Acad...

Happy Birthday to singer/songwriter Ryan Adams (1974), NBA star Jerry Stackhouse (1974), Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon (1973), Baltimore Orioles catcher Javy Lopez (1970), "X-Men 3" actress Famke Janssen (1965), Little Darling Tatum O'Neal (1963), Canada's top pop singer Bryan Adams (1959), second T-1000 Robert Patrick (1958), Boston Celtics Deadhead Bill Walton (1952), musician Gram Parsons (1943; d. 1973 ), actress Elke Sommer (1941), singer Art Garfunkel (1941), 70s singer Ike Turner (1931), Gone With the Wind's Vivien Leigh (1913; d. 1967), and cowboy Roy Rogers (1911; d. 1998).

Kelly Ripa joins an all-star cast for "Fly Me To The Moon," the first-ever feature-length computer generated animated film, conceived and created entirely in 3-D. Set in 1969, when the NASA space program was in full swing, the film combines the Apollo 11 mission with the adventures of three young stowaway flies.

Also starring are former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Adrienne Barbeau, Ed Begley Jr., Tim Curry, Trevor Gagnon, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Patrick and Nicollette Sheridan.

"The Unit," an action drama that follows a covert team of special forces operatives as they risk their lives on undercover missions around the globe while their wives maintain the homefront, protecting their husbands' secrets, premieres Tuesday, March 7, (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS.

As head of the Unit, Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert) leads his team on missions out in the field and is responsible for taking elite new recruit Bob Brown (Scott Foley) under his wing. The Unit includes Jonas, Colonel Tom Ryan (Robert Patrick), Mack Gerhardt (Max Martini), Charles Grey (Michael Irby), Hecto...

CBS has announced January premiere dates for two of its mid-season series, slated two additional new series for March debuts, and has given a full season order to freshman drama Close to Home.

“Love Monkey” is based on the best-selling book by Kyle Smith, and it will premiere Tuesday, Jan. 17. The series revolves around Tom Farrell (Tom Cavanagh), a 30-something up and coming single record executive who's navigating the tumultuous and highly amusing waters of work and dating in New York City. The series also stars Jason Priestley, Larenz Tate, Christopher Wiehl, Judy Greer, Ivana Mili...

Happy Birthday to singer/songwriter Ryan Adams (1974), NBA star Jerry Stackhouse (1974), Red Sox center fielder Johnny Damon (1973), Radiohead musician Jonathan Greenwood (1971), Baltimore Orioles catcher Javy Lopez (1970), Dutch hottie Famke Janssen (1965), Little Darling Tatum O'Neal (1963), Canada's top pop singer Bryan Adams (1959), second T-1000 Robert Patrick (1958), Boston Celtics Deadhead Bill Walton (1952), musician Gram Parsons (1943; d. 1973 ), actress Elke Sommer (1941), singer Art Garfunkel (1941), 70s singer Ike Turner (1931), Gone With the Wind's Vivien Leigh (1913; d. 1967),...