Missing the ladies of Litchfield? Well, I’m happy to report that Netflix is raring to bring them all back to your screen of choice this summer when Orange is the New Black returns for its third season. Though the two-minute trailer embedded above and the following synopsis down below provide little in terms of upcoming plot lines, the outrageously addicting drama and humor you’ve come to know and love from OITNB remains.
With a crisis of faith and their beliefs and loyalties being tested, each character must decide what and who to believe in.
Mark your calendars for the next Great Binge; Piper, Red, Crazy Eyes, and the rest of the orange jumpsuit crew return June 12.
In December, director Sam Mendes introduced to the world the next Bond film, SPECTRE, with the cast and car in tow. Today, we get our first look. Daniel Craig is back as 007 for the fourth time and his past comes to haunt him here. Dangling threads from Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall come to a head in SPECTRE and Bond is forced to face the sinister Hannes Oberhauser, played already to perfection by Christoph Waltz. Though Waltz is credited as portraying Oberhauser, I had speculated that he’d end up being Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the actual head of the SPECTRE organization. (SPECTRE, remember, is an acronym that stands for SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.) In the teaser, Waltz’ Oberhauser tells Bond, “It’s been a long time. And finally, here we are.” In Bond lore, Oberhauser served as a mentor for Bond before he mysteriously vanished; so perhaps Waltz really is Oberhauser and Blofeld’s portrayer is still being kept under wraps? So much speculation to be had here. It’s just so exciting how serialized Craig’s rendition of Bond has become in terms of his past meeting up with his present to propel the story forward. Watching this latest mystery unfold which has so much to do with Bond’s origins and his connection to SPECTRE and Oberhauser is going to be a fun ride, to say the least.
Microsoft’s expansive marketing campaign for Halo 5: Guardians begins now. Watch the helmet-shattering teaser trailer above and at the end you’ll notice the hashtag #HuntTheTruth. Shortly after the televised teaser launch, MSFT opened up a “Hunt the Truth” Tumbler that further explores the mystery behind the shrouded plot of the upcoming game. Fictional journalist and war photographer Benjamin Giraud hosts a weekly podcast that promises an in-depth profile of the Master Chief with an aim to uncover the truth behind his origins and motives. Fans of the Xbox franchise (myself included) are going to eat this up.
Halo 5: Guardians is expected to release this fall on Xbox One.
Update (3/29): Microsoft unleashed two extended trailers for Halo 5: Guardians tonight during the season finale of The Walking Dead on AMC. The first features Spartan Locke threatening Master Chief: “All hail the conquering hero. The one who was supposed to save us all. But now I must save us from you.” The second spot reverses the roles, with Master Chief pointing his weapon and saying, “You’ve completed your mission, Spartan Locke.” What’s happening?! See for yourself after the break. Also confirmed: the next Halo comes exclusively to Xbox One on October 27. Continue reading Discover the Master Chief’s origins in ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ exploratory marketing campaign [Update: Two new trailers inside]→
Here we have the third and final trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron and it’s a doozy. In it we learn more about the origins of the superhero film’s big bad Ultron, who’s voiced by the incomparable James Spader. “I was designed to save the world,” snarls the A.I. And then: “There’s only one path to peace: their extinction.” Ultron was created by Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) as part of a project that would “create a suit of armor around the world.” Unfortunately, things went unexpectedly awry and he ended up “creating something terrible.”
Ultron’s plan? “We can tear them apart from the inside,” he brainstorms alongside Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Does this mean the new additions are playing for the wrong team, or is this all a trick? Regardless, the plan will prove fruitful since we’ve already seen The Hulk duke it out with Stark’s Hulkbuster.
Finally, there’s the tantalizing tease at the very end–our first look at The Vision, a popular superhero that Marvel’s been hinting at in its recent slew of movie posters. He’s played by Paul Bettany, the same actor who’s been voicing Stark’s home and suit A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. Intrigue!
Dan Harmon parodies The Avengers in the very first look at Community‘s new lease on life. The Community: Age of Yahoo trailer (get it?) runs nearly three minutes long and consists entirely of never-before-seen material plucked directly from the upcoming batch of new episodes. “You’ve saved Greendale, but you didn’t want it to change,” snarls the dramatic voice-over announcer. Thankfully, it looks like Community fans will continue to get the same show they fell in love with even after its relocation to the Internet. Though Pierce, Troy, and Shirley are MIA for season six, one Frankie Dart (aka “the new Shirley” played by Paget Brewster) and computer innovator Elroy Patashnik (Keith David) fill in the missing holes. The classic Community humor you know and love permeates throughout this extended first look, and just like that anticipation for the coveted sixth season jumped exponentially!
Community premieres Tuesday, March 17 exclusively on Yahoo Screen with two installments; new episodes will follow weekly on Tuesdays.
Update (3/17): Community is back in session! Here’s how you can watch. The fastest way to get started is by pointing your web browser to Yahoo Screen. On a tablet or smartphone? No problem. Download the free Yahoo Screen app for iOS or Android. Want to pretend like Community’s still airing on network TV and watch it on your big screen HDTV? You can totally do that, as long as you have an Apple TV, Roku, or Xbox 360; download the free Yahoo Screen app on one of those devices to get streaming. As mentioned above, Yahoo debuted the first two episodes of Community today (they both clock in at 27:26). Additional new episodes (13 total) will release weekly on Tuesdays.
Orphan Blackis back this spring, so now is as good a time as ever to screen the official season 3 trailer. Sarah Manning and her Leda clones clash with Castor’s male doppelgängers and things are about to get hairy for all involved. And of course Mrs. S’ true motives remain a mystery; the clip reveals she will aid in Helena’s latest kidnapping. Oh and it looks like Rachel Duncan managed to survive that grisly pencil puncture to the eye.
Gothic horror pic Crimson Peak hails from Guillermo del Toro whose previous works include Hell Boy, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Pacific Rim. It’s an R-rated haunted house film that’s been a passion project for del Toro for years now. At last, it has an appropriate Halloween release date thanks to Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures. A brief synopsis follows:
In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds… and remembers.
GDT co-wrote the script with Matthew Robbins. The haunting film stars Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Tom Hiddleston (Thor), and Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim).
Crimson Peak hits theatres October 16. Dig the debut trailer above; a great cast is dropped inside an eerie, captivating dreamscape you won’t be able to resist.
The classic 1982 supernatural spooker Poltergeist, directed by Tobe Hooper and produced by Steven Spielberg, is receiving a modern franchise reboot. The new Poltergeist, though it cleverly follows the original film’s plot and borrows many of the tropes, is not connected canonically to the ’82 flick or its two sequels. Gil Kenan (Monster House) takes the reigns this time, with Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, The Grudge) producing.
[Kenan and Raimi] contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is haunted by evil forces. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and hold the youngest daughter captive, the family must come together to rescue her before she disappears forever.
The dimensional closet? Check. The static TV screen? Check. A nightmare-inducing clown? Oh, you betcha. And with the advent of so many new technologies like cell phones and tablets, I can’t wait to see how the evil spirits take advantage of our myriad “black mirrors.” The trailer is a scary-good time so sit back, relax, and say it with me: They’re here.
Poltergeist, starring Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt, opens in 3D on July 24.
Frozen directors Christopher Buck and Jennifer Lee introduce Frozen Fever, a spinoff short that will screen in front of Disney’s upcoming live action adaptation of Cinderella. The short takes place “just a few months since we’ve last seen the gang,” explains Buck. “It’s Anna’s birthday,” Lee says, “and Elsa, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf are throwing her a giant party.” The inciting incident? Elsa’s got a cold and “that’s complicating things,” teases Buck. Watch the featurette after the break.
Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad all return to reprise their signature roles. Plus, Frozen song writers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez have invented an all-new original tune for the short. Cannot wait to hear that!
Frozen Fever comes to theatres with Cinderella on March 13.
After debuting it to moviegoers who attended the limited-time IMAX presentations of last seasons final two episodes, HBO released the Game of Thrones season 5 trailer online for the masses to watch and obsess over. Here it is, embedded above, in all its glory. The premium cable network manages to pack a whole lot of action inside this two-minute clip. Let’s summarize:
Littlefinger consoles Sansa and tells her to avenge, presumably, the death of her parents. Margaery weds Tommen, and if there’s anything we learned from this show, expect death in this scene. Varys and Tyrion land in what appears to be Dorne (where Oberyn was from), and the two discuss the future ruler of the Seven Kingdoms; sounds like Varys is enlisting Tyrion to help Daenerys “climb those steps and take that seat.” Speaking of the Mother of Dragons, Dany is prepared to make a power move: “I’m not going to stop the wheel. I’m going to break the wheel.” Elsewhere, Melisandre is still playing with fire; Jon Snow leads an army into battle, and Arya–with Needle–finds herself knocking on a giant, mysterious door in Bravvos.
Speaking of the IMAX presentation, I just came out of it last night and if you’re a fan of the show I highly recommend you check it out before it vanishes from theatres. Thrones, an already cinematic series, transfers spectacularly to the big screen, both visually and sonically. The epic Battle of Castle Black in “The Watchers on the Wall” and the thrilling fight sequence with Brienne and The Hound in “The Children” are elevated to a whole new level. Click here to see participating theatres.
Despite a last-second reception that will go down in history as one of the best, the Seattle Seahawks lost to the New England Patriots in an exciting, nail-biting Super Bowl that ended with a final score of 28-24. Now that the game’s over, instead of analyzing Russell Wilson’s downrightbarbaric decision to throw the ball instead of run it into the end zone for an easy touchdown, let’s take a look at some of the most memorable commercials that aired between the gameplay. A whole bunch of them, including the buzziest movie and TV trailers, are posted after the break.
Update (2/2): NBC and the advertisers who shelled out $4.5 million for a 30-second spot have reason to celebrate today just as much as the Pats did last night. The final tally is in and a record 114.4 million people tuned into the big game. So many eyeballs; somebody do the math. This makes Super Bowl XLIX the most watched telecast in U.S. history. Bam. Continue reading Super Bowl XLIX: the emotionally-charged commercials and buzzy trailers inside!→
Your favorite foul-mouthed CG-animated bear returns in a sequel to 2012’s Ted. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane remains in the director’s chair, and he’s joined by returning writers Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild. Ted, voiced by MacFarlane, stars alongside Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni Ribisi, and new cast members Amanda Seyfried, John Slattery, and Morgan Freeman. MacFarlane previously worked with Ribisi and Seyfreid on A Million Ways to Die in the West. This round, Ted marries his crush and asks Wahlberg’s character to donate his sperm so he can raise a child with his wife. The roadblock here is that government requires Ted to prove he’s a person in a court of law if he wants to move ahead with child rearing. A solid plot description unfolds in the funny trailer above.
