Category Archives: Entertainment

Live out your Star-Lord dreams with ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ mixtape coming to cassette tape

Movies, Music, News, , , ,

GOTG fans, listen up! “Awesome Mix Vol. 1,” you know, the truly awesome mixtape carried around by hero Peter Quill in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy filled with the greatest hits of the 70s and 80s curated by the little Star-Lord’s mother… it’s being released on cassette tape so now you can pop it into a Walkman and dance around and fend off baddies like no one’s watching. The limited release lands on shelves Friday, Nov. 28 at participating record stores; it will remain an exclusive to that community of independent retailers associated with Record Store Day through Dec. 31, according to Billboard. The cassettes will also come with digital downloads of the album so you can easily transfer the tracks to your portable music player of choice.

Just another fun distraction as we await the inevitable “Awesome Mix Vol. 2.”

[Via Marvel; Billboard]

Leslie Jones joins the cast of ‘SNL’

News, Television, , ,

Here we go. Some great news for longtime fans of Saturday Night Live who might have lost faith in the late night variety show’s funny bone. SNL writer and featured guest Leslie Jones has officially joined the cast as a featured player four episodes into season 40. Audiences were first introduced to Jones’ off-kilter comedy last season when she invaded Weekend Update as an “Image Expert” and talked about black beauty; the controversial discussion projected her unique and brash delivery. SNL head honcho Lorne Michaels must have noticed the effect she had on viewers; she as brought back to the desk again this month to talk about relationships, once again proving her comedy chops. And now, she’s getting upgraded from writer/guest to full on featured player. Welcome to the cast, Leslie Jones!

She will make her official debut this coming Saturday, Oct. 25 with host Jim Carrey and musical guest Iggy Azalea. Let’s hope she’s the spark SNL has been craving ever since Wiig/Hader/Armisen/Samberg era ended.

The CW gives full season orders to ‘The Flash’ & ‘Jane the Virgin’

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On Tuesday, The CW expressed their confidence in two of their fall freshman series–The Flash and Jane the Virgin–by allotting them full season orders. Both were buzzy shows pre-launch, and then they fared well in the ratings. The DC Comics-based Flash pilot, in fact, was crowned the network’s most watched series premiere ever with 6.1 million viewers in Live+3 tracking.

“We have had a fantastic start to our season this year, with The Flash launching as our most-watched series premiere ever, and Jane The Virgin recognized as the best new show this season by critics across the country,” said CW president Mark Pedowitz. “Over the past three seasons, we have made it our mission to grow and to broaden out our audience, and to keep raising the bar with the quality and impact of our new shows, and The Flash and Jane have both exceeded our expectations on all counts.”

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 and Jane the Virgin airs Mondays at 9.

Host Jimmy Fallon & guest Bradley Cooper cannot keep it together in ‘Tonight Show’ interview

Hilarity, Television, Video, ,

Earlier this week, newly inducted Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon invited actor Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) over for a typical late night interview and what audiences got was something…different. Donning bizarro visors with Guy Fieri-like hair sprouting out, Fallon and Cooper simply could not keep it together. For ten minutes straight the two engaged in an uncontrollable laugh fest that is admittedly unprofessional but simultaneously unabashedly hysterical and infectious. Enjoy the uncut “interview” above!

Warner Bros. announces sprawling DC Entertainment movie slate, makes official LEGO movie & Harry Potter spinoffs

Movies, News, , , , ,

DC Entertainment is following in Marvel’s shoes by announcing a large slate of upcoming superhero and supervillain movies that will hit theatres in 2016 through 2020. There are 10 in total and they are:

  • “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” directed by Zack Snyder (2016)
  • “Suicide Squad,” directed by David Ayer (2016)
  • “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot (2017)
  • “Justice League Part One,” directed by Zack Snyder, with Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams reprising their roles (2017)
  • “The Flash,” starring Ezra Miller (2018)
  • “Aquaman,” starring Jason Momoa (2018)
  • “Shazam” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (2019)
  • “Justice League Part Two,” directed by Zack Snyder (2019)
  • “Cyborg,” starring Ray Fisher (2020)
  • “Green Lantern” reboot (2020)

In addition to announcing DC’s movie slate, Warner Bros. Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara also revealed that his studio will be outputting three more LEGO movies–Ninjago in 2016, directed by Charlie Bean and produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller; The LEGO Batman Movie in 2017, directed by Chris McKay; and The LEGO Movie 2 in 2018 (no word yet if Lord and Miller will return to direct the sequel to their 2014 box office hit). Also, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them will be told across three films directed by David Yates (he helmed the final four Potter movies).

Of course as more details leak about these exciting future WB projects you’ll hear it about it here.

[Via DC Comics; Deadline]

First look at Sony’s graphic novel based original series ‘Powers’

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A new, exciting, buzzy series called Powers is coming soon and here’s your first look. It’s based on a graphic novel series of the same name from writer Brian Michael Bendis and illustrator Mike Van Oeming and it stars District 9‘s Sharlto Copley with an American accent. Powers follows detectives Christian Walker (Copley) and Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) who are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as Powers. The 10 episode series is written by Charlie Huston and David Slade (Hannibal) is directing the first two.

Now here’s the catch: Sony Pictures Television is out to rival subscription-based companies like Netflix and HBO by making Powers a PlayStation-exclusive. In other words, you’ll have to be a PlayStation Plus subscriber to watch the show on your PS4, PS3, or PS Vita handheld. The pilot will premiere for free on PlayStation Network and across other outlets such as YouTube and Crackle so the public at large can get a taste. If you like what you see then you’ll have to sign up for PlayStation Plus to access more.

The trailer packs quite the punch in terms of action, humor, and vulgarity. Bendis, Oeming, and Sony seem to be pushing the envelope here with PlayStation’s first original series and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of crowd gets drawn to it. Of course PlayStation Nation will gobble it up, but will Powers have the ability to attract new members to Sony’s gaming-turned-entertainment destination? It premieres this winter.

Celebrate ‘Friends’ coming to Netflix with a new live rendition of the theme song

Music, News, Television, Video, ,

All 10 seasons (236 episodes) of famed NBC sitcom Friends is coming to Netflix on January 1, 2015! To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the series (it ran from 1994-2004) and its new streaming home, Netflix has put out a live recording of the show’s theme song. Click play above to hear The Rembrandts perform the forever catchy and hand-clappy “I’ll Be There For You” featuring Central Perk manager Gunther. The music video was recorded at the Central Perk pop up coffee shop in NYC.

‘The Following’ teaser hints at new love for Ryan Hardy, and then darkness

Television, Video, , ,

Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy seems to be in a really good place when the third season of The Following picks up. In this first look at the new season he’s seen getting lovey-dovey with new romance Zuleikha Robinson (Lost, Intelligence). But this being a serial killer thriller and all, the quiet moment doesn’t last. “Where there was hurt, there’s comfort. Where there was dark, there’s light,” narrates Hardy. And then BLAM, cut to black and screams and the shadowy title card.

The most depressing bit of this tease is that we see Hardy’s niece Max Hardy with another man as Mike Weston looks on with a tinge of remorse. WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!

The Following returns in January on FOX.

‘Person of Interest’ recapper highlights fan-favorite moments in style

Television, Video,

This week at New York Comic Con, Warner Bros. and a panel consisting of executive producer Greg Plageman and stars Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Kevin Chapman, and Amy Acker debuted this Person of Interest series recapper that reminds fans just how freakin’ awesome this show truly is.In a way, this nearly 2-minute clip serves as an extended version of the show’s ever-changing opening title sequence. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride that spans three seasons and counting.

Person of Interest airs Tuesdays at 9pm on CBS.

FOX grants ‘Gotham’ full season order

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FOX becomes the second network to step up and grant a full season order to one of its new fall shows. DC Comics-based Gotham will tell its season one origin story across 22 episodes. Previously ABC placed confidence in Shondaland drama How to Get Away with Murder and Anthony Anderson sitcom Black-ish.

“Gotham debuted as one of the most buzzed-about shows of the fall, and with good reason,” said Fox Television Group’s Dana Walden and Gary Newman. “Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon have created an incredibly rich world, with characters that draw you in and a cast that brings to life these heroes and villains in a way we’ve never seen before. We are so excited to see where Bruno, Danny and the entire Gotham team take this story over the course of this season, and so thankful to all the fans who have embraced it this fall.”

The Batman & villains origin story has gotten off to a pretty solid start. The pieces of the puzzle started to align in Gotham‘s most recent episode “Arkham” as the procedural nature of the show is finally starting to give way to a more serialized approach involving Ben McKenzie’s Det. Gordon, David Mazouz’s young Bruce Wayne, Jada Pinkett Smith’s seducing Fish Mooney, and of course scene-stealer Robin Lord Taylor as Penguin.

Gotham airs Mondays at 8pm on FOX.

FX renews ‘American Horror Story’ for a fifth season after reporting record ratings

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FX has renewed Ryan Murphy’s fun fright fest American Horror Story for a 13-episode fifth season to debut in October 2015. This follows the news that the season premiere of the anthology series’ fourth iteration Freak Show debuted to record ratings not only for the franchise but also for the cable network. When factoring in Live+3 data (that is, viewers who tuned in on premiere day and those who watched on their DVRs the following three days after), a total of 10 million viewers got acquainted with the freaks (6.5 million of which fall into the coveted adults 18-49 demo). The episode handily surpassed the previous franchise record-holder, last year’s AHS: Coven premiere, which attracted 7.27 million viewers.

The American Horror Story anthology has had the highest growth trajectory of any show in FX history, not to mention an unprecedented track record of success in awards recognition,” said FX head John Landgraf. With Nip/Tuck, Glee, The Normal Heart, and American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy has established himself as one of the most successful and prolific producers of this generation. We expect AHS: Freak Show and the next incarnation of AHS to further his legacy.”

AHS: Freak Show airs Wednesdays at 9pm on FX. And speaking of the upcoming season five, Murphy spilled to EW in an interview that the first two episodes of Freak Show do in fact contain clues scattered throughout that pertain to the plot of his next horror story.