Category Archives: Entertainment

Lost: Cast interviews, Emmy eligibility, & DVD extras

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Here’s some good news for Lost fans.  First let’s talk Emmy eligibility.  This week The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors made an exception to a long-standing rule involving the length of an episode and Emmy consideration.  So we all know that the Lost finale episode will run for two-and-a-half hours.  Normally for an extended episode to be considered for Emmy eligibility it cannot run for longer than two hours.  Thanks to the Board’s decision “The End” can be a potential contender for a number of Emmy awards such as Best Actor/Actress and Best Drama.  John Leverence, senior VP of awards: “We have a soft spot in our hearts for the final episodes of long-running series.”  The same exception made for Lost was also granted to The Wire and The Sopranos.

Next up there’s news about what will be included with the Lost Season 6 DVD package.  Exec producers Darlton plan on including about twenty minutes of “new content that addresses some of the unanswered questions in an entertaining way.”  According to an inside source “Damon and Carlton wanted to offer fans answers to additional questions they couldn’t get to in the body of the final show.”  These bonus features will be included in the stand-alone DVD package and in the DVD/Blu-Ray Seasons 1-6 mega box sets.

Now go watch some cast interviews in the video above, provided by IGN.  The Lost series finale airs this Sunday at 9PM on ABC.

[Via EW; TVGuide; IGN]

Megan Fox will not star in ‘Transformers 3’

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According to sources close to the production of Transformers 3, Megan Fox will not return as Mikaela Banes in the next installment of the franchise.  Way back in October director Michael Bay shared his thought about the future of the character, and they weren’t pretty; he was planning to kill her off somehow, someway.  And now it’s pretty much confirmed that Fox will not be back.  Interestingly, however,  “it was her decision not to return” according to Fox’s reps.  Still, if that is indeed the case, Bay must be thrilled to change the direction of the story by introducing a new love interest for Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky.  The rest of us…not so much.  I’d say that there’s no reason to sit through another iteration of Transformers without Fox on-screen, but with the recent addition of actor Alan Tudyk (Firefly, V, Dollhouse) I see a glimmer of hope.

[Via EW-HollywoodInsider; People]

Music video: Diggy Simmons – “What They Been Waiting For”

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Directed by Phil the god, produced by Shane Eli.

The young Simmons is back and in a big way.  This kid is quickly making a name for himself with slick lyrics and awesome visuals in his music videos.  Diggy’s second mixtape AirBorne (it’s planned to be a sequel to his debut in The First Flight) is “coming soon.”  Download “What They Been Waiting For” here.

[Via DiggyBlog]

LOST Live: The Final Celebration — all the details

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I just got back from the LOST Live: The Final Celebration event.  It took place at UCLA’s Royce Hall and featured live performances by composer Michael Guichinno, surprise guest appearances, and a private screening of the penultimate episode,”What They Died For.”  Note that cell phones and cameras were not allowed inside the Hall, so letters and words are all I got to offer.  So let’s dive right into the details, shall we?

Introductions: Things started off with an ABC executive reading a letter to a packed audience.  The letter was addressed to Lostexecutive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (together known as “Darlton”) and spoke very highly of the groundbreaking series and how it related to the Star Wars franchise and how the creatives behind those films also did not know exactly where they were going during the making of the first film (big laughs!).  The letter was penned by George Lucas.  Then Darlton came out to share kind words about thankful they are for the rabid fanbase, for without them Lost simply wouldn’t be, well, Lost.  They described all those in attendance at Royce Hall special members of the Lostfamily.  They were excited to have the opportunity to end the series by sharing an event with the show’s most loyal fans.

The cast: Next, Darlton announced, one by one, many cast members to join them on stage.  According to the press statement, we knew Lost characters Richard, Ben, and Hurley would make an appearance, but everyone was surprised to see a ton more jump on stage.  Darlton welcome the following Lostcast members on stage: Young Ben (Sterling Beaumon), Cassidy (Kim Dickens), Arzt (Daniel Roebuck), Ethan (William Mapother), Abaddon (Lance Reddick), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Rose (L. Scott Caldwell), Dr. Pierre Chang (François Chau), Walt (Malcom David Kelley), Michael (Harold Perrineau), Charlotte (Rebecca Mader), Faraday (Jeremy Davies), The Man in Black (Titus Welliver), Penny (Sonya Walger), Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), Richard (Nestor Carbonell), Ben (Michael Emerson), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway).  The takeaways?  Abaddon, Chang, Faraday, Desmond, Richard, Hurley, and Ben got the loudest applause, no surprise there.  And Walt got taller.  Seeing all these amazing actors standing together on stage (with Darlton nearby) was quite a sight.  A whole lot of talent was right there in front of all of us, and you couldn’t help but smile and cheer for your favorite characters you’ve come to know and love over the past six years.  (I gave a loud shout-out to Faraday, which I’m sure he heard.)  Yeah, it was a bummer main cast members Jack, Kate, Sayid, Locke, Claire, and Charlie were no-shows, but it was still a great moment to see all of these guys come together in one space for the final hurrah.  Before each cast member walked onto the stage, Darlton would describe key attributes of their characters so as to keep the audience guessing who’ll come out next.  Lotta cheering and name calling resulted.  And after the cast took a long bow, they left the stage to take seats in the crowd.  (In fact, a bunch of Lostpeople were in attendence, including producers and writers, but I’ll get to that later.)

Continue reading LOST Live: The Final Celebration — all the details →

ABC axes FlashForward, renews V

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For some time now there’s been much discussion surrounding the fate of ABC’s two freshman sci-fi series, FlashForward & V.  Overall both have been performing rather poorly in the ratings.  But when it came to decision time, ABC decided to cancel one and keep the other.  As much as I have enjoyed following FlashForward, there were many hints to its eventual demise.  Two of them are the following: The ratings (FFpremiered to 12.47 million viewers and plummeted to 4.77 million viewers for last week’s ep) and a change in leadership (co-creator/showrunner David S. Goyer left the show in early February).  And here’s another one: ABC heavily promoted the new series the wrong way; in a number of ad spots the network was hailing it as “the next Lost.”  Although the show contains a myriad of characters, a complex mythos, and flashbacks to boot, it is most definitely not another Lost.  The direction and plot of the show are quite different from Lost.  ABC obviously felt some pressure to promote the show in this way since Lost is nearly finished, but I have a feeling FF might have fared differently if it was marketed in a more appropriate way.  In my opinion, I thought FlashForward started out great, then it started to lose its focus (right around when Goyer made his announcement), and now it finds itself back on track with a bunch of potential.  But now none of that matters anymore since it won’t be coming back after the May 27 finale.  I wonder if the producers will try to wrap things up for us..

And then there’s V, the mini-series reboot that could.  ABC aired this series in a very strange manner due to a number of early production issues.  They aired an initial “pod” of four episodes starting in November which garnered a huge following, then the show did not come back until the end of March.  Thanks to this long hiatus, viewership dropped during the latter half of the season.  As of late, however, the show has seen a surge in the ratings, especially in the coveted 18-49 demo, and in my opinion, it’s become more creative and engaging with the addition of some new characters and exciting and fast-moving plot twists.  According to the latest sources, V has been issued a 13-epsiode second season set to start this fall.

So what do I think about all this?  As a fan of both shows, I have to say I’m not so surprised that ABC decided to cancel FlashForward and keep V.  Although the potential for FlashForward is just starting to come to fruition, the delivery feels a bit “too little too late”.  V, on the other hand, always packed an explosive punch, from the initial pod of episodes to where to series sits now.  All I have to say is this: At least ABC decided to keep one of these shows; a sudden cancellation of both would have been devastating.

FlashForward airs Thursday nights at 8PM on ABC; the two-hour finale airs May 27.  V ends its first season run next Tuesday at 8PM on ABC.

[Via EW-AusielloFiles, here & here]

(“Illegal”) trailer: Machete

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What started out as a mock-trailer inserted at the beginning of Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantin’s 2007 double-feature Grindhouse/Death Proof is being spun into its own feature-length film.  Although Machete, directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, is not due out in theatres until September 3, Rodriguez cut his own non-theatrical trailer for the movie.  According to Rodriguez, who is publically against Arizona’s new immigration law (which makes failure to carry immigration documents a crime), the trailer has a “a special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona.”

Machete stars Danny Trejo as a Machete Cortez, a knife-wielding renegade seeking revenge against lawmakers.  Fun fact, the character of Machete Cortez was first introduced to us in Rodriguez’s Spy Kids movie; he played the protagonists’ uncle.  Now take a look at the all-star cast: Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin*, Lindsay Lohan, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey*, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez*, Steven Seagal, and Rose McGowan.  (Actors with stars next to their name all appeared on ABC’s Lost.  Thought that was interesting.)  Watch the “illegal” trailer above, and look after the break for the film poster.

[Via AintItCool; Wiki] Continue reading (“Illegal”) trailer: Machete →

Music video: Drake – “Find Your Love”

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Single? Check. Music video? Check.

This Anthony Mandler-directed music video finds Drake stuck in the middle of a dangerous love triange between a gang leader and his prized possession.  The video is consumed by its opening phrase: “the worst thing about crossing a line, is when you know you don’t have…”  It was filmed in Kingston, Jamaica.

“Find Your Love” is the second single off Drake’s upcoming album Thank Me Later, due out June 15.

[Via DrakeBlog]