Category Archives: Entertainment

Felicia Day to star in Syfy’s dark re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood

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Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, The Guild, Buffy) is ready to put her prominent red hair (and acting chops) to the test in Syfy’s reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood aptly called Red.  She will play a werewolf-hunting descendant of Little Red Riding Hood.

In the action-packed Red, Red (Day) brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.

Red is one Syfy original movie in a series of re-imagined classic fairy tales.  Syfy is also “developing films around the stories of Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Hansel & Gretel.”  You can expect Red to air July 2011.  Full PR announcement after the break.

[Via SciFiWire]

Continue reading Felicia Day to star in Syfy’s dark re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood →

Rapper is coming to The Cleveland Show as “Kenny West”

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The fine folks at EW got an exclusive sneek peek at the upcoming May 2 episode of The Cleveland Show.  In it rapper Kanye West “voices a 19-year-old local hero named, er, Kenny West, who gets into a lopsided rhyme battle with the show’s Cleveland Brown, Jr. over the affections of a young woman who’s voiced by Taraji P. Henson.”  According to show co-creator Rich Appel working with West was an absolute pleasure and he expects Kenny West to “become a recurring character in our universe.”  In fact, they’ve already planned to have West return in a season 2 episode.

The Cleveland Show airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX.

[Via EW-MusicMix]

Sony brings aboard all major Hollywood studios for HD movies on PSN

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The PlayStation Network is about to get pimped with a slew of new movie releases in glorious high definition from all six major Hollywood studios.  Sony signed a deal with 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures Entertainment that will bring a wide range of movies available for purchase or rental at the PSN.  The initial batch of 19 include flicks Fantastic Mr. Fox, UP, Star Trek, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hangover.  Look after the break for the full listing, and check the PSN video hub on your PS3 to find out if your favorites are making their way to PS3 HD land.  Sony is happy to say that the “PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download”…for now.

[Via PRNewsWire; Engadget]

Clavilux 2000 keyboard visualizes every note you play in real time

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The Clavilux 2000 is an interactive instrument for generative music visualization, which is able to generate a live visualization of any music played on a digital piano. The setting of the installation consists of three parts: A digital piano with 88 keys and midi output, a computer running a vvvv patch and a vertical projection above the keyboard.

For every note played on the keyboard a new visual element appears in form of a stripe, which follows in its dimensions, position and speed the way the particular key was stroke. Colours give the viewer and listener an impression of the harmonic relations: Each key has it’s own color scheme and “wrong” notes stand out in contrasting colors.

Fasinating, no?

[Via Vimeo; Gizmodo]

Oscars: ‘The Hurt Locker’ trumps ‘Avatar’

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This year’s Academy Awards was actually quite entertaining.  Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be great hosts; the Neil Patrick Harris surprse opening number was a hit (the Paranormal Activity spoof was spot on); the horror film montage was long overdue; Ben Stiller dressed as a Nav’i blue humanoid with fishline-controlled tail was great; the Best Picture featurettes worked well; the dance routines performed for each song in the Best Original Score category was fun; the Best Actor/Actress introductions were touching; and there was even a “imma let you finish but…” moment by some strange woman.  AND the Best Director award went to a woman for the first time!  So those were the highlights; now let’s discuss the notable winners.

Let’s start with the king (or should I say queen) of the night Kathryn Bigelow and her brilliant film The Hurt Locker.  The critically acclaimed film nabbed six Oscar wins in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.  Avatar, directed by Biglow’s ex-husband James Cameron, walked away with many technical awards including: Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.  (Side note: District 9 totally would have won all these awards if Avatar had not been competition!)  Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), no surprise there; and Best Actress went to Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  Best Supporting Actor deservedly went to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds); and Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique (Precious), again no surprise there.  Precious also picked up Best Adapted Screenplay.

Other notable winners include: Pixar’s UP nabbed Best Animated Film and Best Score (well done, Michael Giacchino); and Star Trek won Best Makeup.  Look after the break for the full breakdown of the night’s winner and losers.  Overall, the 82nd Academy Awards show was entertaining, fun, and full of deserved wins.  Congratuations to Kathryn Bigelow & crew for The Hurt Locker.  James Cameron, go wallow in your boatloads of cash.

Continue reading Oscars: ‘The Hurt Locker’ trumps ‘Avatar’ →

FOX picks up Fringe for a third season

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What’s that you’re pointing at, Walter?  Is the parallel universe telling you something?  FOX decided to renew Fringe for a third season, huh?  YES!

Despite the recent drop in ratings due to its competitive Thursday night time slot, FOX is reassuring its rabid fans that Fringe will return next fall for a third season.  Fringe proved itself a worthy contender this season when its audience numbers were up on nights when its competition (CSI, Grey’s Anatomy) aired repeats.  Along with a good amount of DVR recordings, what this proves is that Fringe still has a strong viewership; it’s just that it isn’t priority number one against other high profile shows.  The renewal comes at a good time; Fringe is on hiatus right now, so the guarantee of another season puts the writers in a comfortable position; they can plan ahead and not worry about the fear of wrapping story lines up too quickly.

Fringe returns with all new episodes Thursday, April 1 on FOX.

[Via EW; IGN]

NBC renews Community, The Office & 30 Rock (+ Parks & Rec cast welcomes Lowe, Scott)

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Great news for fans of NBC Thursday night comedy!  In addition to giving Parks & Rec the go-ahead for a third season, NBC has decided to renew the rest of its Thursday night lineup, including freshman comedy Community and old staples like The Office and 30 Rock.

While we’re on the subject of NBC comedies, it’s be let known that two new characters are joining the already-strong cast of Parks & Recreation.  Actor Rob Lowe will be leaving his current post at ABC’s Brothers & Sisters and will join Parks & Rec at the end of this season; series creator Michael Shur hints Lowe will be on board for “a number of episodes stretching into Season 3.”  Funnyman Adam Scott (you know him from Step Brothers; he played Brennen’s brother Derek) will also become a recurring character who will enter the scene towards this season’s end.  Lowe and Scott will likely be welcome additions to Pawnee’s colorful, hilarious cast.

[Via EW-AusielloFiles; IGN]

Single: Drake – “Over”

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He’s released mixtapes, been featured on many songs, and dropped a seven-track EP called So Far Gone and Drake still hasn’t “officially” made it to the big leagues yet with a debut album under his belt.  Time are a-changin’, and Drake is ready to start his rise to (higher) fame in the music biz.  Late last night Drake posted the first single off his debut album Thank Me Later.  It’s called “Over” and it’s quite good.  It doesn’t compare to the Wayne-Kanye-Eminem featured “Forever” behemoth of a track, but it’s definitely worth a listen (below) and a spot on your playlist (download it for free).  There’s more where this came from; Thank Me Later is due out in May.

[audio: Drake – Over.mp3]

[Via OnSmash]

Music video: OK Go – “This Too Shall Pass”

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“This Too Shall Pass” is the second single off OK Go’s third studio album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.  And the music video for it is INSANE.  The entire video was shot in one take and it features the most intricate Rube Goldberg sequence you will ever see.  You know what the Rube Goldberg sequence is–you just never heard the name before.  Named for an inventor of the same name, the word “Rube Goldberg” is an adjective defined as accomplishing something simple through complex means.  In the case of this video, an OK Go band member drives a toy truck into a line of dominos (at the beginning) to result in the four band members getting sprayed in the face by paint (at the end).  A simple action reaches a reaction through a complex process.  Get it?  Now watch this video a couple times and try to fathom how truly insane it is.

So how’d they manage to do it?  OK Go teamed up with creative engineers Synn Labs and built the elaborate contraption in a warehouse in LA.  It took a 55-60 person team about a month and a half to construct, with much attention to detail.  Though the video was shot with a single camera in one unbroken continuous shot, it took over two days to shoot because they couldn’t get it to work perfectly until about 60 shots had failed.  They brought the concept of ‘trial and error’ to a whole new level.  And it was important for OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash that this whole thing be done without computer manipulation: “Computers can do any of this.  But the whole point is that we’re doing it, like it’s homemade, it’s real things knocking into each other and falling over.  It’s a celebration of actual root level physics.  Screw computers.”  Interested in more behind-the-scenes scoop?  There’s a bunch of videos waiting after the break…

[Via Wired]

Continue reading Music video: OK Go — “This Too Shall Pass” →