Category Archives: Entertainment

‘Orphan Black’ teaser stars so many clones

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The latest teaser for the upcoming third season of BBC America’s addicting sci-fi series Orphan Black packs a punch. Series star Tatiana Maslany reprises clones Cosima, Sarah, Helena, and Alison here and they warn of an impending war. The teaser also touts the surprising revelations made at the end of last season: that little girl there is Charlotte, the youngest Project Leda clone; the hooded male figure is Mark and the scarred one is Rudy, the two new male clones (played by Ari Millen) who stem from Project Castor.

For more insight into the new season, head over to EW where you’ll learn more directly from the source–series co-creator Graeme Manson.

Orphan Black returns April 18, 2015.

Doug Dorst & J.J. Abrams put the “S.” in “S.earch” with new promotional campaign for their mystery novel

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The mysterious S. videos continue! Though, this clip is more straightforward than the last. Have you picked up a copy of Doug Dorst & J.J. Abrams’ novel S.? If not, now’s the time to jump in. In addition to briefly discussing the inspiration behind their book, in the video embedded above Dorst and Abrams explain that they’ve signed five copies and have hidden them in five different cities around the nation. They dare you to find one, read it, and then ditch it for someone else to discover (or keep it, that’s entirely up to you). Does this concept sound familiar? It should: D&A are borrowing the “Send Wonder” concept imagined by artist/magician Jamie D. Grant; he previously collaborated with Abrams’ Bad Robot and magic destination Theory 11 to create the Mystery Bottle. Grant’s “Send Wonder” campaign is all about spreading inspiration with the world through sharing and random discovery. Want to be one of the lucky five to score a signed copy of S.? Follow Dorst on Twitter where the author will be dropping clues to their whereabouts; first stop: NYC.

‘Birdman’ & ‘Fargo’ lead this year’s Golden Globe nominations

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On Thursday the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced this year’s Golden Globe nominations. The hybrid award show that celebrates both film and television granted Michael Keaton vehicle Birdman and the breakout FX drama Fargo the most nominations with seven and five, respectively.

Best Motion Picture (Drama) nominees include Richard Linklater’s excellent Boyhood, Foxcatcher (Steve Carrell received a nod for Best Performance), The Imitation Game (so did Benedict Cumberbatch), Selma (and David Oyelowo), and The Theory of Everything (and Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones). And the Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) nominees: Birdman (Keaton received a nod for Best Performance), The Grand Budapest Hotel (so did Ralph Fiennes), Into the Woods (and Emily Blunt), Pride, and St. Vincent (and Bill Murray). And the five movies going after Best Animated Film are Big Hero 6, The Book of Life, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and The LEGO Movie.

Moving over to the TV side of things, Best Television Series (Drama) nominees include Showtime’s The Affair (well deserved!, plus, Dominic West and Ruth Wilson received nods for Best Performance), Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, The Good Wife, and Netflix original series House of Cards (so did Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright). And the Best Television Series (Comedy or Musical) nominees: Girls (Lena Dunham received a nod for Best Performance), The CW’s Jane the Virgin (s0 did Gina Rodriguez), Netflix’s Orange is the New Black (and Taylor Schilling), Silicon Valley, and Amazon’s Transparent (and Jeffrey Tambor). And the five series going after Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television are Fargo (Martin Freeman,Billy Bob Thornton, and Allison Tolman received nods for Best Performance), The Missing (so did Frances O’Connor), The Normal Heart (and Mark Ruffalo), Olive Kitteridge (and Frances McDormand), and True Detective (and Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson).

With so many great nominees also comes the snubbed. Per usual there are too many to count, but here are a few that come to mind. Interstellar was nominated for Hans Zimmer’s original score and nothing else. In TV, Homeland, Masters of Sex, The Leftovers, The Americans, Bates Motel, Hannibal, The Walking Dead, Orphan Black (poor Tatiana Maslany, again!), Mad Men, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation: all nada.

The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards airs live Sunday, January 11 at 8PM ET on NBC hosted once again by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Click here to view the full list of nominees.

Frantic emotions star in Pixar’s latest ‘Inside Out’

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The next film from Pixar, the makers of Up, Toy Story 3, and Finding Nemo, is Inside Out and it looks like a ton of fun. The first full trailer that’s embedded above is so much more than the teaser that preceded it. The entirety of it takes place at the dinner table with Riley and her mom and dad. Riley’s first day of school didn’t go so well, and when her parents prod her about it we take a journey inside all three of their minds. It’s an interesting move, creatively speaking, to have people’s emotions star in a movie. But from this early sneak peek I am confident Pixar has another hit on its hands. Also, the voice cast happens to be A+: Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) star as Riley’s main emotions.

Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc., Up) directs Inside Out, out June 19, 2015.

Up-and-coming director Chris Alender’s short film ‘Eye of the Storm’ catches J.J. Abrams’ attention

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In 2008, J.J. Abrams put director Matt Reeves on the map with the shaky-cam monster movie Cloverfield; Reeves would go on to also direct the thriller Let Me In and this year’s excellent Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Abrams is looking to strike gold again by fostering new talent, according to Deadline. Enter Chris Alender, the founder of Soapbox Films, a production house that specializes in the making of music videos, commercials, and films. One of his films, namely Eye of the Storm, must have caught J.J.’s attention because Alender is now working hand-in-hand with the Star Wars director on an upcoming top secret project for Sony Pictures. Of course, as details slowly but surely spill out about the Abrams/Alender project you’ll hear it here.

But more on Alender’s short film. Eye of the Storm, embedded above for your viewing pleasure, is technically a music video for musician Ben Lovett whose song of the same name is featured throughout the clip. It wears an aesthetic that’s reminiscent of what you’d find in a Sin City movie, and yet it’s distinctive enough to be hailed as a success all on its own. Elements from science fiction and steampunk are fused together here to create a mini-adventure in the sky as a giant ship soars into the eye of a massive storm. There’s a mystical potion and a dragon, to boot. What Alender’s created here, essentially, is an exquisitely executed short film that leaves the viewer wanting more by the time you get to the end. Equally impressive is the effort put into making it a reality; after the break, check out a BTS video revealing practical effects used to manifest stunning results.

Abrams knows how to pick ’em. Cannot wait to see what Alender cooks up next. Continue reading Up-and-coming director Chris Alender’s short film ‘Eye of the Storm’ catches J.J. Abrams’ attention →

FX renews ‘The League’ for a seventh and final season

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It’s the beginning of the end for The League.  The fantasy football comedy that’s really not about fantasy football at all has been renewed for a seventh and final season by FX. The upcoming batch of 13 episodes, set to premiere in fall 2015 on FXX, will see Pete, Kevin, Ruxin, Andre, Taco, and Jenny vie for the Shiva one last time. Even after six seasons, The League is still a great go-to comedy for consistent laughs and total absurdity (is a Rafi/Dirty Randy spinoff on anyone else’s mind?). Though it’ll be sad to see the show conclude, I’d say they’re certainly going out on top and not overstaying their welcome. Read quotes from the husband-and-wife team behind the series below:

“We are incredibly excited to work with our amazing cast for another season, especially because I can now announce that I finally won the fantasy football league that we play in with them,” said Jeff Schaffer.

“Whatever, I’ve won it twice,” Jackie Schaffer said. “Most players in the NFL don’t make it seven seasons, and most TV shows even less so. We want to thank FX Networks and all our Eskimo Brothers and Sisters – NFL teams would be lucky to have fans as diehard as ours.”

“Spoiler alert – We already know how it will all end – with credits and the theme song,” added Jeff Schaffer.

Click here to learn about how the series got started.

‘Bond 24’ gets a title, release date, official synopsis, cast & all-new specifically designed Astin Martin car

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Bond, James Bond returns in the 24th film in the long-running espionage franchise. On Wednesday, returning director Sam Mendes (Skyfall) hosted an unveiling event that revealed the film’s shrouded title, among other tidbits. Bond 24 is name SPECTRE and it aims to release November 6, 2015. In case you’re not ‘in the know’ when it comes to all things 007, SPECTRE is a fictional global terrorist organization featured in a number of James Bond novels written by Ian Flemming. It’s also an acronym: SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. The head of the organization is evil genius Ernst Stavro Blofeld; the character is featured in a number of Flemming’s novels as well as many 007 films. He was perhaps portrayed most famously by Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice (1967). The character would go on to spawn Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil, of course.

With SPECTRE at the center of the new film, you’d think Blofeld would serve as Bond’s main antagonist here. Interestingly, the cast announcement left his name out entirely. Obviously Daniel Craig reprises 007 for the fourth time running; other returning cast includes Rory Kinnear as Tanner, Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Miss Moneypenny, and Ralph Fiennes as the new M. Joining the cast is Andrew Scott (Moriarty from BBC’s Sherlock) as Denbigh, Dave Bautista (Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy) as Mr. Hinx, Monica Bellucci as Bond Girl #1 Lucia Sciarra, Léa Seydoux as Bond Girl #2 Madeleine Swann, and Christoph Waltz as Hannes Oberhauser. Now, Oberhauser is an actual character plucked from Bond lore; he served as a mentor for James before he mysteriously vanished. Even then, why can’t I stop postulating that this is merely a ruse and Waltz will indeed portray the sinister Blofeld? (Star Wars did it when they cast Benedict Cumberbatch as “John Harrison” and we all know who that ended up being.)

SPECTRE will shoot at Pinewood Studios in London, as well as in exotic locales like Rome, Mexico City, Tangier, Erfoud, and the Austrian Alps. Principal photography begins this Monday at Pinewood with Mendes at the helm and Interstellar‘s cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema and editor Lee Smith beside him. Skyfall writers John Logan, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have also penned the SPECTRE script.

As in all Bond movies, 007’s method of transportation here plays an important, flashy role. Mendes dramatically revealed Bond’s latest ride at the press event: it’s the all-new Astin Martin DB10. Little is known about the high-performance vehicle, expect for the fact that it was designed specifically for the movie and limited production is underway.

What else? Here’s a log line: “A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.”

So pretty much all that’s left is to find out who will be performing SPECTRE‘s theme. Recent rumblings point to talented British crooner Sam Smith. For now, jump after the break view the official teaser poster. Continue reading ‘Bond 24’ gets a title, release date, official synopsis, cast & all-new specifically designed Astin Martin car →

‘Terminator: Genisys’ trailer introduces a new past for Sarah Connor to escape

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His catchphrase is “I’ll be back,” so we should have known all along that action hero and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger would eventually reprise his iconic role as The Terminator in that film franchise. The latest Terminator movie, Terminator: Genisys, is more of a reboot than a sequel. Like J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek it intends to roll around in the playground already laid out by James Cameron in the 1984 original, but it introduces a new timeline that allows for a new story to unfold. As we’ve seen play out time and again, John Connor–leader of the resistance–will send his trusted lieutenant Kyle Reese back in time to save Conner’s mother Sarah to ensure his existence. However, this time around, Reese will be sent to a brand new past we haven’t seen before. The movie’s Wikipedia page does a pretty solid job in summing it all up:

The movie will take advantage of a more comprehensive grandfather paradox that includes a parallel universe. In Terminator Genisys, Kyle Reese traveling from Universe A will end up in a Universe B, created when Skynet attempted to kill Sarah Connor during childhood. Together, Reese and Sarah will attempt to create a Universe C that would obliterate both Universe A and B, and in which the events of Judgment Day (Skynet’s launching of World War III, devastating humanity) would have never happened.

Make sense? Well there it is. Jason Clarke (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) stars as John Connor, Jai Courtney is Kyle Reese, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) is a bad-ass Sarah Connor, and Lee Byung-hun is the new liquid metal T-1000. Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World, Game of Thrones) directs.

Terminator: Genisys releases July 1, 2015. Eye a teaser poster after the break. Continue reading ‘Terminator: Genisys’ trailer introduces a new past for Sarah Connor to escape →

Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams & Beyoncé lead 2015 Grammy nominations

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Newcomer Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams, and Queen Bey collected the most Grammy nominations (six apiece!) at the nod announcement ceremony this week. Fun fact: Beyoncé is now the most-nominated female artist in history with 53 nods total thus far in her illustrious career. Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” is up for Record of the Year along with Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” (featuring Charli XCX), Sia’ “Chandelier,” T-Swift’s “Shake It Off,” and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.” Smith was also nominated for Album of the Year for his debut effort In The Lonely Hour; in this coveted category he’ll be competing against Beyoncé (Beyoncé), Pharrell (Girl), Beck (Morning Phase), and Ed Sheeran (X). In addition, Smith’s “Stay With Me” hopes to be crowned Song of the Year as is “All About That Bass” (Meghan Trainor), “Chandelier” (Sia), “Shake It Off” (T-Swizzle), and “Take Me To Church” (Hozier). Smith’s luck doesn’t end there; he’s also up for Best New Artist along with Iggy Azalea, Bastille, Brandy Clark, and Haim (woo!). Click here for the full list of nominees.

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards airs Sunday, Feb. 8 on CBS.

‘Toy Story’ special & new Netflix original ‘Marco Polo’ premiere this month [Update: ‘Black Mirror’ Christmas special]

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Now here’s something to tide you over until Disney and Pixar unleash Toy Story 4: it’s another Toy Story TV special, a follow-up to 2013’s Toy Story of Terror! Tom Hanks and Tim Allen reprise their roles as Woody and Buzz Lightyear (alongside other fan favorite characters) in a half-hour tale titled Toy Story That Time Forgot.

During a post-Christmas play date, the Toy Story gang find themselves in uncharted territory when the coolest set of action figures ever turn out to be dangerously delusional. It’s all up to Trixie, the triceratops, if the gang hopes to return to Bonnie’s room in this Toy Story That Time Forgot.

Watch the trailer here. The special premieres Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 8pm on ABC.

Jump after the break to preview Netflix’s latest drama. Continue reading ‘Toy Story’ special & new Netflix original ‘Marco Polo’ premiere this month [Update: ‘Black Mirror’ Christmas special] →

Saul Goodman meets Mike Ehrmantraut in ‘Better Call Saul’ pilot preview

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Better Call Saul is coming soon, and to celebrate its anticipated premiere, AMC aired an actual scene pulled directly from the pilot episode during Sunday night’s tragic midseason finale of The Walking Dead. In it, Bob Odenkirk’s Saul Goodman prototype Jimmy McGill meets a familiar face for the first time: it’s Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut who’s reprising his character from Breaking Bad. As you’d probably guess, things don’t get off to such a great start for these two.

BCS premieres Feb. 8 at 10pm on AMC.

‘House of Cards’ season 3 lands February premiere date

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And now, a special message from the White House: Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood returns to our screens on February 27, 2015. The official House of Cards Twitter account revealed the season three premiere date on Monday with a silent clip embedded here. All 13 episodes will launch at once, naturally, on Netflix.