Category Archives: Image cache

Ryan Murphy dishes ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ details: Lady Gaga is The Countess, and she’s out for blood [Update: New spooky teasers inside]

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Thanks to a new spread presented by Entertainment Weekly, we now have a clearer gaze into what the next iteration of American Horror Story with Lady Gaga is going to look like. The facts are these.

The titular hotel is named Cortez, and it was built in 1930 “by the rich and charming but deeply psychotic James March” played by AHS vet Evan Peters. EW goes on to describe the Cortez as “beautiful art-deco” and “a labyrinthine structure built to hide March’s murderous activities.”

Presently, the hotel is run by Lady Gaga’s character, The Countess, “a glamorous socialite who attends art openings and fashion shows.” She drinks blood for nourishment, but creator Ryan Murphy doesn’t want fans thinking he’s diving into the beaten-to-death world of vampirism. “I prefer the term ‘ancient blood virus,’” Murphy tells EW. “It’s not vampires. It’s really a form of hemophilia in a way. There’s no capes and fangs.” The Countess has an appetite for love and sex, and we see this manifest in a love triangle between Donovan (Matt Bomer) and Tristan (Finn Wittock). Those infected with the virus, including The Countess and her lover Donovan, crave human blood. Murphy promises answers around the halfway mark. “Around the middle of the season, we sort of explore the origins of all that and [The Countess] and where [the virus] comes from.” What we do know early on, though, is how they kill. Without fangs, the infected slice up their victims with chainmail gloves; Gaga’s sport razor-sharp nails as seen in the initial teaser.

We also have some insight about the other characters inhabiting the hotel:

Ramona Royale (Angela Bassett), an actress/former lover of The Countess’ seeking revenge; Iris (Kathy Bates), Donovan’s mother and the front desk clerk; Liz Taylor (Denis O’Hare), a cross-dresser nicknamed by The Countess; Hypodermic Sally (Sarah Paulson), a junkie and friend of The Countess; Detective John Lowe (Wes Bentley), a cop investigating a murderer named the Ten Commandments Killer; and The Addiction Demon, a creature in the vein of Rubberman or Bloodyface, who has no eyes or mouth but does wield a nasty, conical drillbit dildo.

Throughout the anthological series, Murphy has planted clues that help connect the disparate seasons together. With Hotel, he aims to make the most overt connection yet. “We do go to the Murder House for one episode,” he teases. Murder House, of course, was where spooky acts of terror took place in show’s debut season. In addition to that, a character from season 1 is making her way to Hotel. Marcy the realtor (Christine Estabrook), who sold the Murder House to the Harmons, returns as a real estate agent to show off the Cortez to Cheyenne Jackson’s character Will Drake.

And now, pictures! Lady Gaga’s Countess is on the cover of EW‘s latest issue, and inside you’ll find never-before-seen stills of other characters from AHS: Hotel including March, Donovan, and Tristan. Click here to view them all, and hop over here to browse more pictures from Gaga’s in-character photoshoot.

American Horror Story: Hotel premieres October 7 on FX.

Update (8/29): Murphy’s gone ahead and shared two more stills from the set: a turbaned Countess and a mystery man behind a mask.

Update 2 (8/30): Jump after the break to watch all five AHS: Hotel teasers, three of which are brand spankin’ new.

Update 3 (9/10): I’ve posted three more teasers after the break, “Spikes,” “Locked Up,” and “Hallways.” The latter is the first to include first looks at the ensemble cast!

Update 4 (9/14): Lady Gaga is the star of the latest 30-second spot for AHS: Hotel. Watch “Above & Below” directly after the break.

Update 5: (9/16): And the clips keep on comin’. This time around, however, it’s a 2-minute first look inside the new season, featuring soundbites from the cast. You know where to find it.

[Via EW 1, 2, 3] Continue reading Ryan Murphy dishes ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ details: Lady Gaga is The Countess, and she’s out for blood [Update: New spooky teasers inside] →

What to watch this weekend: AMC’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and Patrick Stewart in Starz’s ‘Blunt Talk’

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In TV Land, the people of Los Angeles have no idea what’s about to hit them. After years of tantalizing coverage, the time has finally come to sit back, relax tense up, and enjoy AMC’s Walking Dead companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels and the incredibly popular AMC flagship series of the same name, is behind Fear and he’s joined by many familiar producers including Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert, and Greg Nicotero. Fear stars Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Elizabeth Rodriquez, Lorenzo James Henrie, Ruben Blades, and Mercedes Mason.

This summer at San Diego Comic Con, I learned first-hand just how different the new series feels, tonally, in comparison to the flagship series. When the city gets ripped apart by freshly infected walkers, viewers will be privy to immediate government action and more significantly, we’ll witness a family unequipped for surviving the apocalypse approach the walkers head on. Fear‘s first season, after all, serves as a prequel for fans of the franchise in that events unfold before we meet Rick Grimes and his band of survivors. Remember how Rick was in a coma and missed out on the early days of the walker invasion? This is the period we will live in over the course of Fear‘s first six episodes.

As exhilarating and intriguing as it sounds to be privy to the virus spreading, EP David Erickson reminds viewers that the show will drill its focus on the family at the center of it all. “It starts as a family drama, and we filter the apocalypse through that,” he said to the crowd at Comic Con. It’s about “a highly dysfunctional blended family trying to hold it together.”

Never tuned into The Walking Dead, which enters its sixth season this fall? Fear not (heh!). Kirkman and his team have been adamant in saying that Fear stands on its own and does not require you having seen a single episode of their other series.

Fear the Walking Dead premieres Sunday, August 23 at 9pm on AMC. Click here to preview the first three minutes of the highly anticipated pilot episode. And here to watch the official trailer.

Jump after the break to learn more about Patrick Stewart’s return to TV in Blunt Talk. Continue reading What to watch this weekend: AMC’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and Patrick Stewart in Starz’s ‘Blunt Talk’ →

Apple splashes a new coat of paint across its iPod lineup, beefs up the aging touch

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It speaks volumes about Apple’s iPod division that Tim Cook’s company decided to roll out a new version of the iPod touch in a press release as opposed to dedicated stage time to it at a public event. The ubiquitous iPhone and its tablet counterpart the iPad play music and so much more, making the iPod touch, nano, and shuffle more obsolete than ever. Still, Apple is keeping its iPod line alive with refreshed innards and a splash of new colors.

First and foremost, the new, sixth-generation iPod touch packs the same A8 processor found inside the powerful iPhone 6. This boosts the music player’s graphics performance 10x and CPU performance 6x, it brings a 64-bit architecture to the device, and it supports Metal, Apple’s technology for developers that helps them make more immersive games. Additionally, the new touch also includes the M8 motion coprocessor for enhanced fitness tracking. *Note: TechCrunch reports that the A8 processor is slightly underclocked inside the touch (1.1GHz versus the iPhone 6’s 1.39GHz), likely to conserve battery life and keep prices down.

The cameras have also been upgraded on the touch. Around the back, the iSight Camera now sports an 8-megapixel sensor (up from 5 before). It supports slo-mo video recording in 720p HD at 120 fps, burst mode, time-lapse video, and high-resolution panorama shots. The updated front-facing FaceTime HD Camera also supports burst mode, plus improved HDR, face detection, and exposure control. Elsewhere, users will notice up to 3x faster WiFi speeds thanks to 802.11ac support; Bluetooth 4.1 is also on board.

The new iPod touch, which comes preloaded with iOS 8.4 and the new Music app with access to Apple Music, starts at $199 for the 16GB model. For another 50 bucks you can get it with 32GB of memory. 64GB and 128GB models are also available at $299 and $399, respectively. The largest model is exclusive to Apple retail and online stores. The new colors match the iPhone & iPad lineups; there’s space gray, silver, and gold, for starters, plus vibrants options in pink, blue, and (PRODUCT)RED. The 16GB iPod nano ($149) and 2GB iPod shuffle ($49) also received the same coat of new colors. All iPods are available to ship today.

Enjoy ’em while they last. As the iPhone, iPad and even the new gadget on the block, the Apple Watch, continue to cannibalize the market with their never-ending feature sets, the iPod’s future remains murky.

[Via Apple]

Comic Con: Emma embraces her dark side in ‘Once Upon a Time’ to become The Dark Swan (video inside)

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This post contains spoilers for Once Upon a Time season 4.

Meet The Dark Swan. That’s what Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, executive producers of ABC’s fairytale drama Once Upon a Time, are calling Emma Swan, now that she’s carrying the darkness that once lived inside Rumpelstiltskin (formally known as The Dark One). The image you see above is being used as the official key art for the upcoming fifth season of OUAT and was featured outside the convention center in San Diego during the week of Comic Con. It’s certainly a bold image to use as it stylistically transforms Jennifer Morrison’s character into something sinister. It might be hard to see, but along the side it reads, “Evil isn’t born. It’s made.”

“Emma went through a lot in her life,” Morrison said at the OUAT panel. “She had a tough childhood. She’s had to overcome a lot of things. She’s tried to be the bigger person. Now that she’s tethered to the darkness, she’s free of that…She’s going to face the darkness in herself and figure out how to overcome it.”

In the first of three clips embedded after the break, you will witness Emma’s storied journey from bail bondswoman to Storybrooke non-believer to The Savior and her eventual decent into darkness. Emma lost her love from the “real world” when Neil met his maker last season, and more recently she found out that her parents–Snow White and Prince Charming–lied to her about her Savior origins. When all of this came to head in the season four finale, The Apprentice accidentally released the darkness living inside Rumpelstiltskin unto Storybrooke. Emma sacrificed herself and allowed the darkness to consume her to save the town from death and destruction.

In the second clip, you’ll get a first look at Morrison playing The Dark Swan: slicked back, bleached blonde hair, deep red lipstick, and shiny sparkles make up her appearance. And oh yes, she’s evil alright: locked inside a cage (did the darkness transport her to the Enchanted Forest?), Evil Emma rips the heart out of a jailor and crushes it to smithereens without flinching. Want a closer look at Morrison in character? Click over to EW for two stills.

The third and final clip released from the Con introduces a brand new character from Disney/Pixar lore and it’s Merida from Brave. Amy Manson (Being Human) plays the red-haired princess of DunBroch who happens to be a master archer. How she’s connected to the rest of the Once gang has not been disclosed.

The search for Merlin the Sorcerer and a way to save Emma from the darkness (herself!) begins this September when Once Upon a Time returns to ABC.

[Via EW] Continue reading Comic Con: Emma embraces her dark side in ‘Once Upon a Time’ to become The Dark Swan (video inside) →

Comic Con: ‘Sherlock’ time travels to Victorian era in upcoming Christmas special (video inside)

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Sherlock loves to go on long breaks between series, and so fans of the BBC/PBS show were pleasantly surprised when executive producer Steven Moffat dropped a first look at the upcoming Christmas special. The one-off episode drops Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) into the Victorian era, the very same era where Holmes and Watson do their investigating in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. Moffat has no explanation for the time jump; it just is.

“We discovered there was some precedent for doing Sherlock in the Victorian era,” Moffat told the Comic Con crowd. “When we first did Sherlock, press asked how can Sherlock possibly survive in the world with an iPhone. And when doing the Victorian [era special], the press came in and said how can he do this without his iPhone?” He later added, “It’s very much the show you know. It’s the Sherlock as you know it, but in the correct era. It’s one of the best ones we’ve made. I think it’s really terrific.”

Eye the detecting duo in their 19th Century garb above. Be sure to then jump after the break and watch 1:27 preview that is very meta, indeed. Also shown at Comic Con and posted after the break is a special video starring Andrew Scott (aka Sherlock‘s Moriarty) addressing the crowd with a wink and a nod.

There’s no date set in stone quite yet for the Christmas special; Moffat hopes to premiere it “in the next year.” What’s neat is that in addition to airing on television, it will also come to the big screen in select theatres globally.

Curious about Sherlock season 4? Moffat hasn’t even finished writing it yet (pity!), but he warns fans of “shattering emotionally draining you’ll-never-be-the-same-again cliffhangers” that will “sucker punch you into emotional devastation.” Great.

[Via Deadline; EW] Continue reading Comic Con: ‘Sherlock’ time travels to Victorian era in upcoming Christmas special (video inside) →

First look: Paul Feig’s ‘Ghostbusters’ gals are ready to kick some ass

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What’s better than hearing about Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones joining the cast of the new Ghostbusters? Seeing Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones in action, that’s what! Nearly six months after it was announced that the SNL players plus McCarthy would star in Paul Feig’s upcoming relaunch of the Ghostbusters franchise, the director tweeted out this image (see above) featuring the ladies all geared up and ready to pulverize some nasty poltergeists. Feig has been ramping up anticipation for his next flick on social media; in addition to the costumed cast, he has also shared images of the costumes on a rack, some slimy green goo, and first-looks at the Ghostbusters’ iconic ride, Ecto-1, and the “modern” proton pack.

So far, so good. Itching for a trailer? Me too.

Ghostbusters returns to theatres July 22, 2016.

TV reminder: 5 series to look out for in July

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Summer is here and the hits keep on comin’. Masters and Virginia unveil their sex study to the public; Denis Leary reenters the spotlight as a former rock’n’roll legend looking for a way back in; the Bowmans are ready for a second round of give-and-take; everyone’s favorite anthropomorphic horse is back for more introspection; and the misfits of Camp Firewood go back in time to experience another wet, hot, american summer.

Jump after the break to explore the series you can’t miss this month. Continue reading TV reminder: 5 series to look out for in July →

HRG & Hiro return in new ‘Heroes Reborn’ teaser

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Where are the heroes? That’s the tagline used in the freshly minted teasers for NBC’s upcoming event series Heroes Reborn. Five years after the Peacock network axed Tim Kring’s sci-fi series about ordinary people discovering super-human abilities, it’s reigniting the spark again for a new 13-episode run. Prior to releasing the preview embedded above, NBC started airing a rather lackluster teaser featuring the aforementioned tagline scribbled throughout a city in rubble. It did little in the way of building any sort of tangible hype since it held too much back. This more pronounced preview, however, certainly does the trick. After borrowing imagery and Scala & Kolancy Brothers’ haunting track “Nothing Else Matters,” it finally gives fans a peek at some actual Reborn footage. There’s the return of HRG and Hiro, as well as a smattering of new characters with all kinds of awesome abilities, including mastery of auroras. And of course, fans of the series’ original run will no doubt beam in elation when Shankar’s iconic strings close the clip out. Hunting for plot details? Look no further as NBC provides this:

A year ago, a terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas, left the city decimated. Blamed for the tragic event, those with extraordinary abilities are in hiding or on the run from those with nefarious motives.

Two such vigilantes include Luke (Zachary Levi, “Chuck”) and Joanne (Judith Shekoni, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2”), who are seeking to avenge a tragic loss.

Noah Bennet, aka H.R.G. (Jack Coleman, “Heroes”), has gone off the grid but conspiracy theorist Quentin Frady (Henry Zebrowski, “A to Z”) finds him and opens his eyes to the truth behind the Odessa tragedy.

While in hiding, some are discovering their newfound skills. Awkward teen Tommy (Robbie Kay, “Once Upon a Time”) just wants to be normal and win the girl of his dreams, Emily (Gatlin Green, “Criminal Minds”), but normalcy is virtually impossible after learning of a new ability that terrifies him. Coming from a very sheltered upbringing, a bold and ethereal teenager, Malina (Danika Yarosh, “Shameless”), has been told she is destined for greatness. In Tokyo, a quiet and unique young woman, Miko (Kiki Sukezane, “Death Yankee 3”), is trying to track down her missing father while hiding an extraordinary secret that will make her a force to be reckoned with. Elsewhere, a different type of hero is emerging through former soldier Carlos (Ryan Guzman, “The Boy Next Door”).

Heroes Reborn premieres this fall on NBC. Confirmed returning characters include HRG (Jack Coleman), The Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis), Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), and matriarch Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose).

Update (6/30): Two cool “motion posters” featuring HRG and new hero Malina (played by Danika Yarosh) hang after the break. Continue reading HRG & Hiro return in new ‘Heroes Reborn’ teaser →

Go behind the scenes in ‘The Walking Dead’ with star Michael Cudlitz (Comic Con poster inside)

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We’re still many months away from the sixth season premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead, but to keep you going until October, the network is sharing a candid look behind the scenes with your host, Michael Cudlitz. In this clip, Abraham Ford’s portrayer guides you around the set of the season 6 opener, checking in with various cast members including Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha), Lennie James (Morgan), Lauren Cohan (Maggie), Christian Serratos (Rosita), and Dani Guerira (Michonne). Also, a special someone stops by to give Guerira an impromptu kiss!

Though very little is divulged in terms of where things are headed (spoiler alert) following the surprise return of Morgan at the end of last season, Cudlitz hypes up the upcoming premiere calling it a “huge, huge episode” and saying that “the first episode is going to blow your mind.” Mission accomplished, Cudlitz; I’m shaking in my post-apocalyptic boots.

And if that isn’t enough to satiate your walker obsession, be sure to jump after the break to eyeball the Comic Con exclusive key-art for season 6; it appears to set up to distinct factions: Rick and his people versus Morgan and the Alexandrians. Interesting, indeed! Stick it here for the latest Walking Dead deets as a trailer is likely to leak out of Comic Con in July. Continue reading Go behind the scenes in ‘The Walking Dead’ with star Michael Cudlitz (Comic Con poster inside) →

New ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ clip teases faster walkers [Update: More teasers + Comic Con poster inside]

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Here we have the second teaser for AMC’s upcoming prequel spinoff Fear the Walking Dead. At a brisk 30-seconds in length, it stars Frank Dillane (young Tom Riddle from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) running away from…something. Of course, the first thing that should come to mind is WALKER! If that’s the case, this must be a fast sucker. Remember, Fear takes place during the early days of the zombie apocalypse, before the corpse’s have had time to properly decay. So for a walker chasing somebody at this pace in Fear, it makes sense. OR, it could be a crazy ex-boyfriend, or a dad. Notice how Dillane’s character’s shirt is completely unbuttoned and his pants are falling to his knees? All signs point to a quit exit from a bedroom…I’m just saying!

Fear the Walking Dead premieres in August on AMC. Click here to learn more about Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead companion series. You can expect a full-blown trailer to premiere next month at Comic Con. Continue reading New ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ clip teases faster walkers [Update: More teasers + Comic Con poster inside] →

‘Tread Lightly’ with ‘Breaking Bad’-inspired Blue Ice Vodka

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Looking to add to your TV series-inspired alcoholic beverage collection? Blue Ice Vodka has you covered with its brand new Breaking Bad inspired vodka appropriately and simply named Heisenberg. Three special edition bottles of Heisenberg by Blue Ice Vodka will be made available for a limited time this summer; the bottles will feature famous quotes from the AMC hit series including “The One Who Knocks,” “Tread Lightly,” and “Say My Name.” Gotta catch ’em all!

Blue Ice Vodka is handcrafted in Idaho and the company prides itself on its premium, all-natural ingredients and its patented five-stage filtration process “making it among the purest products in the marketplace.” Walter White would be proud.

Even Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan shared his excitement over this fun collaboration. “The Dude had his White Russians, the Blues Brothers had their Night Train… and now Heisenberg has his very own Blue Ice Vodka! I’m counting on our fans to use it in the creation of a great many delicious cocktails. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it.”

If you don’t want to wait for Heisenberg to hit the shelves, you can order the special edition bottles online today at Reserve Bar; the bottles go for $27 a pop, or you can buy the bundle of three for $81. Watch the official commercial for it after the break; fans of the series will get a kick out of it since it borrows the animations and styling of the show’s iconic opening credits. ¡Salud!

[Via Blue Ice Vodka; EW] Continue reading ‘Tread Lightly’ with ‘Breaking Bad’-inspired Blue Ice Vodka →

Pixar imagines a world where dinos rule in next animated pic ‘The Good Dinosaur’

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Inside Out hasn’t even hit theatres yet (June 19 where are you?!) and Pixar is already readying audiences for its next animated flick, The Good Dinosaur. A basic teaser trailer came out today and it begs the question: What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct? That’s what Pixar is pitching with The Good Dinosaur, which stars Arlo the Apatosaurus (voiced by Raising Hope‘s Lucas Neff) and his small human cave-boy friend Spot.

In an interview with Yahoo, director Peter Sohn–who last helmed Ponyo and served as a Story Artist on other Pixar films like Up!, Wall-E, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo–describes the film as a boy-and-his-dog story, except here the roles are reversed. “Arlo himself is what we would have become, able to articulate and have certain emotions and connection to family,” says Sohn. [The dinosaurs have] become us, essentially… I’m trying to treat Spot in a very kind of animalistic way, where he doesn’t speak very much. He’s very feral.”

While traveling through a harsh and mysterious landscape, Arlo learns the power of confronting his fears and discovers what he is truly capable of. The teaser does little in the way of expanding upon this general logline; it does, however, successfully set up breathtaking landscapes and it leaves you with Pixar’s signature warmth at the end. That heartwarming dino-human print is featured on the first official poster for the movie and it hangs after the break.

The Good Dinosaur roars into theatres November 25.

Update (6/12): The Good Dinosaur‘s voice cast is undergoing major changes. Lucas Neff is out and child actor Raymond Ochoa (Mars Needs Moms) is in to voice Arlo the Apatosaurus. Deadline reports the rest of the new cast: “Jeffrey Wright as Arlo’s dad, Poppa; Steve Zahn as a pterodactyl named Thunderclap; AJ Buckley as Nash, a T-rex; Anna Paquin as Ramsey the T-rex; Sam Elliott as a tough T-rex named Butch and Marcus Scribner as Arlo’s brother Buck.” Continue reading Pixar imagines a world where dinos rule in next animated pic ‘The Good Dinosaur’ →