Category Archives: Entertainment

Movie trailer round-up: ‘Ender’s Game’, ‘The World’s End’, ‘Captain Phillips’ & ‘Big Hero 6’

70 years after a horrific alien war, an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future invasion.

That is the most concise synopsis you’ll find of the upcoming film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s 1985 science fiction novel Ender’s Game. Written and directed by Gavin Hood, Ender’s Game stars Asa Butterfield (Hugo) as the film’s child protagonist Ender Wiggin, Harrison Ford is Colonel Graff, Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) is Valentine Wiggin, Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is Petra Arkanian, Viola Davis (The Help) is Major Anderson, and Sir Ben Kingsley is Mazer Rackham. There are many who thought a film adaptation of this sci-fi classic couldn’t be done, but take a look for yourself in the premiere trailer embedded above; as a big fan of the book I’m excited to see more. Are you?

Ender’s Game hits theatres November 1.

Jump after the break to view more trailers. Continue reading Movie trailer round-up: ‘Ender’s Game’, ‘The World’s End’, ‘Captain Phillips’ & ‘Big Hero 6’

Watch ‘Fringe’s John Noble let in a mysterious ‘Friend’ in new short film

In February I told it it was coming and now the mysterious John Noble short film has surfaced in full. The man who played Walter Bishop for five years on Fringe steps into a new, not-so-different role in Friend, an eight minute short produced and written by Noble’s daughter Jess. “A labor of love,” Friend reunited Noble with many behind the scenes players from his FOX sci-fi series.

“The amazing thing about Friend was our entire production team was made up of Fringe crew. That’s what made it such a unique and personal project,” Noble shared with TV Guide. “Our director was Fringe director of photography David Geddes; our editor was Ari Margolis, who created Fringe‘s wonderful online trailers; and our original music was composed by Jeremy Little, who contributed that wonderful cover of “If I Only Had A Brain” heard in “The Firefly” episode from Season 3.” Additionally, “the cameramen, grips, lighting, sound, catering, script supervisor, makeup, hair, wardrobe, props — they all came from the Fringe family and brought this project to life. Jasika Nicole [who played Astrid Farnsworth] even designed and handmade the paper flowers used in the film. It was a family project in every sense.” The balloon seller at the end? That’s Noble’s wife Penny.

As a refresher, Friend follows “a lonely, grief stricken man of wealth [who] finds a new lease on life after an unusual ‘friend’ is mysteriously delivered to his door. A unique and unexpected relationship quickly forms, bringing hope and color to the man’s bleak existence. But will tragedy strike again?”

It doesn’t take long to discover the mystery behind the door, and in such a short period of time you will connect with Noble’s heartbroken protagonist through his emotional performance that’s sprinkled with some subtle humor. The actor describes it succinctly: It’s “sad, and funny, and special.” From the disorienting mental breaks to the piano-heavy score, Friend is a treat for Fringe fans who recognize Noble’s unparalleled capabilities when he’s placed in a mysterious setting and lost his way.

Sound bites: Daft Punk premieres new hit single “Get Lucky”, Frank Ocean & Anna Kendrick debut music videos, The Lonely Island announces new album

Remember that oh-so-awesome snippet from Daft Punk’s upcoming new record Random Access Memories. Since then, the good have been delivered: the first single from the French duo’s followup album to 2005’s Human After All is titled “Get Lucky” and it features the classic electronic sound fused with lyrics from Pharrell Williams and wicked guitar plucks provided by Nile Rodgers. It’s predictably catchy and will have you foaming at the mouth for more where this came from. Download the single today at iTunes, and prepare to upgrade your RAM May 17.

Jump after the break for more in music. Continue reading Sound bites: Daft Punk premieres new hit single “Get Lucky”, Frank Ocean & Anna Kendrick debut music videos, The Lonely Island announces new album

‘Arrested Development’ ad campaign is a must-see for fans (plus: new clip inside!)

It’s officially May which means we can now say this: Arrested Development returns this month! In anticipation of the return of the short-lived cult comedy, Netflix is going all out with an attractive ad campaign featuring images and taglines that evoke some of the most memorable bits from the series’ original run. You can sort through it all below; gallery #1 includes some laugh-out-loud promo posters while gallery #2 contains character portraits. Also, the storage container has sprung open (see above!).

Once you’re done there, you’re going to want to hop after the break to watch a BRAND NEW CLIP starring the dynamic duo Buster and his overbearing mother Lucille.

Arrested Development launches on Netflix with 15 new episodes all at once on May 24.

Continue reading ‘Arrested Development’ ad campaign is a must-see for fans (plus: new clip inside!)

TV renewals: ‘Bates Motel’, ‘Revolution’, ‘Glee’ and others coming back next season

On April 8, A&E renewed Bates Motel for a second season. Same order as before–10 new episodes will premiere in 2014.

A&E president Bob DeBitetto: “Bates Motel has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal audience in its first few weeks. With superb writing and exceptional acting, led by the critically acclaimed performances of Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, we’re incredibly excited to see where Carlton and Kerry take Norma and Norman Bates next.”

On April 26, NBC renewed five dramas including freshmen Revolution and Chicago FireLaw & Order: SVU (for a fifteenth season), Parenthood (for a fifth season), and Grimm (for a third season).

NBC entertainment president Jennifer Salke: “On the verge of our 2013 fall scheduling decisions, we’re pleased to renew five drama series that will be important to our new season line-up. We’re proud and very appreciative of all of the actors, producers, writers and directors who work so hard to deliver such high-quality work week in and week out. These complex shows represent a broad range of genres and tones, and all of them stand out for us in a television landscape now filled with one-hour series. We’re especially pleased to be renewing Revolution and Chicago Fire — two first-season successes — and there will be more returning series announcements made in the next couple of weeks.”

For more renewal news, jump after the break. Continue reading TV renewals: ‘Bates Motel’, ‘Revolution’, ‘Glee’ and others coming back next season

‘Apartment 23’, ‘Zero Hour’, ‘666 Park Avenue’ & ”Do No Harm’ are coming back from the grave to wrap their seasons

As they say, good things come to those who wait. If you tuned into cancelled shows like Zero Hour and Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 this season, you are getting the opportunity to get hooked once more.

Let’s start with the alphabet network. Starting May 17, Apt 23 fans can watch the remaining eight episodes from the sitcom’s second season via ABC.com, Hulu, and iTunes. Conspiracy thriller Zero Hour is due to return Saturday, June 15 at 8PM; on that day the network will air two episodes back-to-back and then the remaining eight episodes will air Saturday nights until the end. Though ABC hasn’t confirmed a return date, fans will finally learn (well, fingers crossed) if Terry O’Quinn is indeed the devil on 666 Park Avenue this summer.

On NBC, Do No Harm–which only lasted two weeks when it premiered in midseason–will return to finish its freshman run starting Saturday, June 29 at 10PM.

[Via Deadline; TVLine 1, 2]

NBC pulls the fourth episode of ‘Hannibal’, shares informative web series, finally releases it on iTunes

Hannibal episode 104 “Ceuf” was originally set to air on Thursday, April 25 but a day before its airing NBC and series executive producer Bryan Fuller deemed the installment’s content too inappropriate for TV when taking in consideration of recent world news (i.e. the Boston bombings and the Newtown shooting). The hour’s intriguing synopsis:

A string of family murders takes place, and Will (Hugh Dancy) determines they were conducted by each of the families’ missing children, who were abducted and brainwashed into killing their old families for their sinister “new family.” Against Alana’s (Caroline Dhavernas) recommendation, Hannibal (Mads Mikkelson) checks Abigail (Kacey Rohl) out of the hospital for some frightening psychiatric practices that ultimately align her loyalty with him.

Fuller sided with the network to pull the episode from the schedule, but he didn’t leave fans of the creative new series empty handed. The network released online a five-part “web series” that includes select scenes from the missing episode that do not involve the admittedly gruesome “crime of the week.” You can watch all five parts (with an introduction from Fuller) at YouTube.

On Tuesday, April 30, after NBC aired Hannibal‘s fifth episode, the network finally released “Ceuf” into the wild making it available for download via iTunes. Fans of the show will surely gobble up the lost ep, even if it means watching it out of order.

Hannibal airs Thursday nights at 10PM on NBC.

Fan favorite nurse Morgan stars in ‘Mindy Project’ web series (clips inside)

Do you watch The Mindy Project? If so, it is pretty much guaranteed that you will thoroughly enjoy the sitcom’s web series centered on the show’s breakout star Ike Barinholtz. It’s called The Morgan Project. Need I say more? Watch all three installments after the break, and keep tabs on the show’s official site for more.

The Mindy Project airs Tuesday nights at 9:30PM on FOX. Continue reading Fan favorite nurse Morgan stars in ‘Mindy Project’ web series (clips inside)

‘Hemlock Grove’ is now available to stream on Netflix

Following Lillyhammer and House of Cards, Netflix’s next foray into original programming is here. Hemlock Grove, from Eli Roth (Hostel) and based on Brian McGreevy’s 2012 novel of the same name, is a horror mystery series involving murder and monsters. On April 19 all thirteen episodes were made available on Netflix and if you’re a subscriber you can binge-watch ’em all at anytime. Eye the freakishly awesome poster above, and then get a taste of what’s in store with a red-band trailer, a teaser, and arguably the most “realistic” looking werwolf transformation sequence you have ever seen. Continue reading ‘Hemlock Grove’ is now available to stream on Netflix

First look: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ & ‘Thor: The Dark World’

Real quick: here’s the very first photo from the production of Marvel’s Captain America sequel subtitled The Winter Soldier. Chew on this for a while because Cap doesn’t return to the big screen until April 4, 2014.

After the break, catch the official poster for another Phase 2 Marvel movie Thor: The Dark World, out November 8. Watch the debut trailer for it right here. Continue reading First look: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ & ‘Thor: The Dark World’

Movie trailer round-up: ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘Thor: The Dark World’, ‘Elysium’, ‘The Hangover Part III’ & more

I present to you the most well put together trailer of the year so far; here is Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. This is sure to be one gritty and exciting Superman origin story as audiences will get to know the man behind the cape. Out June 14.

Jump after the break to view more trailers. Continue reading Movie trailer round-up: ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘Pacific Rim’, ‘Thor: The Dark World’, ‘Elysium’, ‘The Hangover Part III’ & more