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Top Picks: The Discovery Channel's scripted series 'Klondike,' the Everly Brothers tribute album 'Foreverly,' and more

The documentary 'Salinger,' which explores the life of the mysterious 'Catcher in the Rye' author, airs on PBS, Leonard Maltin's new movie guide will prep you for awards season, and more top picks.

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Discovery Channel
Klondike
Foreverly
Leonard Maltin’s 2014 Movie Guide: The Modern Era
  • By Staff

Gold rush

In Klondike, the Discovery Channel hopes to capture dramatic gold with its first scripted series about the turn-of-the-century gold rush in the Yukon. Set in 1899, the series tracks ruthlessly ambitious, foul-mouthed, and mean-tempered men and women as they flock to lawless lands in search of unbounded riches. The three-part miniseries, based on a book by Charlotte Gray, “Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike,” stars Sam Shepard and Tim Roth and is executive produced by Ridley Scott – hence, its sumptuous production values.

Reclusive author

PBS’s “American Masters” series lifts the veil on one of the all-time-champion recluses: American literary icon J.D. Salinger. The documentary Salinger details many key experiences in the writer’s life, including his relationship with Eugene O’Neill’s daughter, Oona; his service in World War I; and the breakthrough when his “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” was published in The New Yorker after years of many of his short stories being rejected. It airs Jan. 21 at 9 p.m.

Mega movie guide

Let film historian Leonard Maltin get you ready for awards season with his tome Leonard Maltin’s 2014 Movie Guide: The Modern Era. It has more than 16,000 entries and more than 13,000 DVD listings. The guide is an impressive compilation and movie resource, from movies that rate as a “bomb” to four-star classics, and an entertaining romp through film history. The “Leonard Maltin Movie Guide” is also available as an iTunes app and allows films to be directly added to a Netflix queue.

Pocket newsstand

One of the best news aggregator applications, Flipboard, has finally made its debut in the Windows 8.1 app store. The software collects articles and photos from across the Web and stitches them into personalized, digital magazines. This new edition takes the formula that’s worked well on iPad, iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry 10, but reengineers it for PCs. As always, the app is free.

What would you do for $5?

Fiverr.com is a global online marketplace where anyone from parkour trainers, to graphic designers, to songwriters, to life coaches offer up their services (“gigs”) starting at $5. Whether you want help planning your backpacking trip to Europe, a caricature of a friend as a superhero, or a video of a man dancing in a chicken suit, you can get it all here. Entrepreneurial types with a favorite hobby can market their gigs, too.

Harmony forever

Phil Everly, who died recently, is one of the great voices in recorded music history. Along with his brother, Don, the Everly Brothers defined close harmony singing for the ages. Two major fans, songstress Norah Jones and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, recorded a lovely tribute album to the brothers a few months back, titled Foreverly. And what do you know? It works, beautifully, with the female voice adding new meaning to familiar Everly Brothers lyrics.

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