30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin and The Office’s John Krasinski take sides in this Bryan Buckley-directed commercial for the New Era Cap Company. Baldwin’s a die-hard Yankees fan, while Krasinski pledges his allegiance to Red Sox Nation. Watch the rivalry and hilarity materialize above.
New ‘Fringe’ teaser hints at the return of…
The newly renewed Fringe returns with an all-new episode this week and as far as this fresh teaser is concerned…(spoiler alert?) Leonard Nimoy will be back, in some form or other. Episode 319 is “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide”; this is the psychedelic drug otherwise known as LSD. Whether or not it plays a role in the William Bell rebirth that has yet to be determined. You’ll have to tune into FOX this Friday at 9PM to find out.
I’m trying my best to come up with a theory here. Following his epic contributions to the Fringe season 3 finale, Nimoy publicly announced his retirement from acting. Over the course of the last couple episodes, Bell’s consciousness has found a home in Agent Olivia Dunham but soon it will have to find a new host. In all likelihood it will not be in the form of Bell but perhaps someone else, someone from the Fringe universe we’ve encountered before. I don’t know why I’m thinking this, but I can’t turn my mind away from Mark Valley’s John Scott who last appeared in season one. I’m well aware that he was proclaimed dead after the car crash, but reanimation is not a foreign term in Fringe land. Thoughts?
Update (4/15): Well there goes my theory. In an interview with EW, Fringe producer Jeff Pinkner shed some light on what’s to come regarding Belly’s return. “Leonard retired from acting at the end of our season finale. He was very sincere about that. But Joel and I and Akiva [Goldsman] were talking about the notion that William Bell would inhabit Olivia’s mind, and we came up with what we thought was a really cool idea. We called Leonard, and he just started laughing and said, ‘Okay, I’m in. How do you want to use me?’” Without giving much away, he says that “He’s participating in the show. It’s more than just giving us license … William Bell is present in the next episode, and he’s present in way that gives new meaning to alternate reality. But it’s very much Leonard Nimoy.” Hm, interesting. Perhaps he’ll appear in animated form (with his actual voice in tact), just like he did in the musical episode “Brown Betty.” All we know for sure is that this question will be answered tonight.
History picks up ‘Pawn Stars’ spinoff ‘American Restoration’
If you’ve ever watched a marathon of Pawn Stars on the History Channel surely you’ve encountered Rick’s go-to guy for restoring antique items. The man’s name is Rick Dale, and History has decided to create a spinoff show that takes us inside Rick’s Restorations.
AMERICAN RESTORATION features Rick Dale and his crew of loose screws at Rick’s Restorations in Las Vegas, Nevada, as they take rusty, beat-up items and restore them to their original glory. Whether it’s a giant gas pump from the 1940s or a Hopalong Cassidy bicycle from the 1950s, every restoration is a high-stakes business project where worthless rust is transformed into a valuable collectible. However, these restorations aren’t easy. Every project presents unique challenges for Rick and his team [including his younger brother and son], who develop inventive processes to finish each job flawlessly and on time. From old gas carts to timeless slot machines, the items Rick restores are part of the fabric that makes up American culture. Things just aren’t made like they used to be, but at Rick’s Restorations, old becomes new again.
American Restoration premieres Friday, April 15 at 10PM on History.
HBO renews ‘The Ricky Gervais Show’
Can’t get enough of Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington? Well good because HBO recently greenlit a The Ricky Gervais Show for a third season. The animated program is based on a podcast with the same name and it brings to life the seemingly random yet fascinating conversations between Gervais and his comedic pals. Though the show is no ratings boon for the premium cable network it fits right in with HBO’s lineup and demographic. The season 2 finale airs this Friday, April 15 at 9PM.
[Via Deadline]
Rihanna teams with Britney Spears for “S&M” remix
One of the most popular songs of 2011 now has a Rihmix. The song now includes nasally vocals from the Femme Fatale–that’s right, it’s Britney bitch.
“I asked my fans last week who they really wanted me to collaborate with, and Britney was one of the most popular names,” RiRi told New York’s Z100 show host Elvis Duran. “Britney doesn’t do features, and it was really amazing that she wanted to be a part of this song.”
Clearly the original version is better since the song does not need Britney’s touch, but if you’re a fan of the comeback pop star the remix is definitely worth a listen. Watcha think? If you like it that much, you can find it on iTunes.
Mashup! “Rolling Till The World Ends”
The Dr. Luke/Max Martin production custom made for Britney Spears meets Adele’s vocals in this mashup of “Till The World Ends” and “Rolling in the Deep” that just works. Listen there, download here.
[Via EW-MusicMix]
The Lonely Island performs “I Just Had Sex” live at the Comedy Awards
On Sunday night The Lonely Island performed the lead single off their upcoming sophomore album at the inaugural Comedy Awards. Along with rapper Akon, the Dudes took over the stage and belted out their respective verses and they even managed to include a throwback to last year’s hit “I’m On a Boat.”
Turtleneck & Chain drops May 10.
Trailer: Melancholia
Melancholia from Zentropa on Vimeo.
Check out this eerie trailer for Lars Von Trier’s upcoming drama Melancholia. It stars a sexy Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgard, Stellan Skarsgard, John Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Charlotte Rampling. Never mind a synopsis, just watch two-minute trailer and I’m certain you’ll experience the same level of intrigue I did upon my viewing of it. Melancholia will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival next month, it will release July 1 in the UK, and a North American release with Magnolia Pictures will follow later this year.
FOD: ‘When Harry Met Sally 2’ will blow your mind
Twenty-two years later Sally has passed away, so what is Harry up to? The ingenious team at Funny or Die have teamed with Billy Crystal to give us a look into the When Harry Met Sally sequel. The queen Helen Mirren stars as Crystal’s new love interest and things take an unexpectedly wild turn when Adam Scott announces he has a “mild tweak” for the star-studded faux trailer.
Mortal Kombat web series set to debut April 12 [Update: Episode 1 out now!]
Can you remember way back to June 2010 when a live action Mortal Kombat-themed video hit the ‘Net and instantly went viral? The nearly eight-minute short film garnered critical acclaim and its maker Kevin Tancharoen (Fame) quickly climbed the latter of popularity. Tancharoen’s intent was to pitch his vision for a reimagined Mortal Kombat movie to Warner Bros., the company that owns the rights to the video game and film franchise. Taking baby steps, the studio has granted the director/choreographer the rights to make a 10-part web series based in the MK universe. The web series–now officially titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy–will serve as a promotional crossover as it will debut April 12, one week prior to the release of the new Mortal Kombat video game. It has been confirmed that the following actors from the the 2010 viral hit will return in the upcoming web series: Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager) is Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight) is Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs, and Darren Shahlavi (300) plays Kano. This week the production team unleashed this all-too-brief fight sequence from the series which stars Jax taking on Kano (update: and this trailer).
If this web series turns out to be anything like last year’s spectacular reboot, we are all in for a very big treat. Anticipate the 4/12 debut and on that day point your browser to Machinima’s YouTube channel at precisely midnight PST.
Update (4/12): Episode 1 is out now! I’ve replaced the embedded video above with the twelve minute ep, which happens to include the Jax/Kano fight sequence teased late last week. The production value is through the roof, something that shouldn’t come as a surprise if you watched the summer short. Episode 1 introduces many of the main characters and places them in a stylistically gritty MK universe I think you’re going to fall for. No more chit-chat, mash play and enjoy Mortal Kombat: Legacy, part 1 of 10. Keep tabs on this YouTube channel for upcoming eps.
Update 2: Character stills have been found and placed in the gallery below. Also, jump after the break to watch a video interview featuring director Kevin Tancharoen, stars Jeri Ryan and Michael Jai White, and MK co-creator Ed Boon. In it they discuss the making-of the web series and what’s in store for the future.
‘Tron: Legacy’ director Joseph Kosinski talks Blu-ray tweaks and sequel squeaks
In an interview with MTV News, Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski talked about the movie’s Blu-ray release, calling it the “definitive version” of the visually-splendid spectacle. Though he worked on the film for four years, Kosinski still held onto gripes concerning the soundtrack after sitting through the theatrical cut on premiere night.
“Around the release, it was really hard to watch it,” he admitted. “I couldn’t even sit through the premiere. I just saw all the things I wanted to fix. Luckily for the Blu-ray, I was able to go back to Skywalker in January and fix all those things in the mix that were bothering me. We have a whole re-mastered soundtrack for the Blu-ray.” He continued, “[The] visual effects I’m really happy with… But on the sound mix, I really felt like we needed another week and I finally got that time after release. It’s now the definitive version.”
When asked about sequel rumors he spilled that he’s on board and early conceptual stuff is being worked on as we speak. He goes so far as comparing the next Tron to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Check it:
“We’re working on the story right now. Now that we’ve got the backstory out of the way and we know this world and we know these characters, there’s a lot of freedom that comes with the next film. When you look at Empire Strikes Back or The Dark Knight, sequels that were able to take the stories and characters to whole new places because you’d done all the hard work ahead of time, that’s a really exciting thing. For now, I’ll just say it’s very exciting.” He continued, “For us, the storytelling will be easier because we won’t be saddled with 28 years of backstory. From a technical standpoint, in order for it to be a Tron movie, we’re going to have to push the envelope.”
This all sounds exciting to me. Pick up the definitive version of Tron: Legacy and head over to MTV News to read the complete interview; in it Kosinski also discusses the sheer amount of work that went into creating the demanding film and he also touches upon the decision to incorporate a young Jeff Bridges, calling digitized Clu “the most ambitious thing in our film.”
[Via MTV News]
Disney gives the Haunted Mansion a ghostly revamp
Disney’s Imagineers have been working hard to retool the Florida theme park’s famous Haunted Mansion ride and now it’s finally ready for the public at large to experience the newly installed frights. If you’ve been on the ride before, you should know that in the ride’s final moments (spoiler alert) ghostly figures appear next to you in the Doom Buggy through the magic of mirroring. Disney decided to upgrade this portion of the ride by making things a bit more interactive. The hitchhiking ghosts referred to as Ezra, Gus, and Phineas not only appear in your cart but they can now rip off passengers’ heads, blow them up like one would with a balloon, and send it flying in the air and it eventually lands back on the shoulders of the unsuspecting passenger. Disney pulls off the neat trick in grand fashion and you can sneak a peek at it in the video above. Obviously little justice is served here, so you ought to check it out first-hand the next time you visit the Magic Kingdom.
[Via InsideTheMagic]