According to the Apple Movie Trailers website, this is the fourth trailer for this big screen version of the US TV series. Fourth! Honestly, who really needs to see four trailers of any film? Still, it’s perfectly indicative of each of the efforts I’ve looked at this week which are all the final trailers of films that seem to have been doing the rounds online and at cinemas since at least the start of the year....
This familiarity wouldn’t necessarily matter too much, but a considerable amount of pre-release hype was put into convincing us that Age Of Extinction wouldn’t be a straight sequel to Dark Of The Moon. Much was made of the more serious tone and the change in cast, with Shia LaBeouf and his various sidekicks having been retired for Mark Wahlberg and Jack Reynor. Yet while Wahlberg brings puppy-eyed enthusiasm and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy as the new leading man, the film around him is simply much, much more of the same....
7.10 Thank You So, after seven seasons, our annual trip to the small Southern town of Bon Temps came to an end in a way that absolutely no one could have predicted – happily. Who knew that was even possible in the True Blood-verse? Yes, Sookie’s knocked up, Jason’s on a journey of personal growth and Bill’s a puddle of goo. It seems happiness takes some rather unusual forms in Bon Temps… For instance, Bill Compton’s idea of happiness consists of marrying off his progeny to Hoyt, before having the woman he loves stake him through the heart....
In wartime intelligence-gathering, there are three big challenges: obtaining information that your enemy wants to keep secret, transmitting it to your own side, and not getting caught. Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835), the Continental Army officer who set up the ring among acquaintances on Long Island, wrote a private memoir about the war for his family. In 1858 his proud family published it for everyone else. But even in that document Tallmadge had guarded his sources’ identity with vague language....
Turn Season 3 Episode 1 AMC’s Turn Season 3 begins in 1778 with the American army hanging two men who spied for the British, a reminder of the danger that most of the show’s characters face in the War for American Independence. One of those men is Sgt. Thomas Hickey. The Continentals really did hang a man of that name, but that happened in the fall of 1776. That’s a reminder to us viewers about how this show uses the history of the Revolution....
We must’ve done something to displease David Lynch, for now we are being punished. Has one of you been watching the series on your iPhone or something? Episode 7 was bordering on coherency and, frankly, that was Lynch being a bit too generous. “Now, survive this!” screams Part 7 at us long-suffering Twin Peaks fans. We got to see a little bit of what’s going on with Evil Cooper, who gets double-crossed, shot, and then has his insides torn open by a bunch of painted vagrants so that he can birth an orb with BOB’s face on it (so that’s how BOBs are born!...
This week, as “Big” Jim, Norris had a character defining moment – a moment of rage and personal loss, a moment that bruised his already depleted ego and a moment that could define Jim for this season. The centerpiece of it all was “Big” Jim, a man who had already royally screwed up by tossing the egg outside the dome, the man who put the egg into the hands of Barbie’s father and clearly does not have Chester’s Mill’s best interests at heart....
The show that proved that fresh genre programming is viable for network television in the summer is back. Under the Dome, the adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name took television by storm last summer taking a seemingly thin premise and turning it into appointment viewing. The inaugural episode of season two has Stephen King hisowndamnself along for the ride on the writing side which is pretty exciting as things get off to a quick start for the residents of Chester’s Mill....
It’s no surprise to see Vince Vaughn, but we haven’t the foggiest as to what Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco, Sienna Miller, James Marsden and Nick Frost are doing here, if they’re not in it for the salary. This mirthless, mercenary comedy is beneath all of them, even Vaughn, although this seems to be the kind of vehicle to which he hitches his wagon all too often these days. Dan, (Vaughn) Timothy, (Wilkinson) and Mike (Franco) are the sole employees of a start-up that’s relying on a make-or-break deal with a European client....
Mark (Jamie Blackley), is a popular 16 year old boy. We see a little of his life before the start of the main narrative, but not enough to really get to know him. uwantme2killhim came with a free pamphlet detailing the cast and crew, and their thoughts on the film, and here the idea of Mark peaking too soon is brought up. He’s already had meaningless sex with the most attractive girl in school (Amy Wren’s Zoe, a character who only seems to define herself in terms of sex appeal), and is merely the best footballer in his year....
The film-within-a-sitcom ostensibly tells the story of an historic event, a tied election that ends in an historic congressional vote. But it also keeps the pace of Veep and contains as much true grit as HBO’s Vice. What is immediately striking is how the performances in the mock documentary are similar to how the actors play them series form. Except, of course, when they are directly addressing the camera, that’s when they reveal the most by putting on an act....
Veep Season 5 Episode 3 It is three days until the Nevada ballot certification and President Selina Meyer is soaking up a string of increasingly anguished apologies from her wealthy banker boyfriend, Charlie Baird (John Slattery). The media is loving on her relationship so much even Wall Street is getting an erection. Not enough to raise their stock, but enough from making it plummet into further market shrinkage. Ever-repressive Congressman Roger Furlong (Dan Bakkedahl) is also taking advantage of the president’s new found social outings by making a booty call to the couple’s haunts for reservations....
Veep season 6 episode 4 Hey buddy, you hear that rumor about the president reaching across the aisle to fill a Supreme Court seat? It looks like president Selina Meyer might find a lasting legacy in Veep season 6, episode 4, “Justice.” Not content with being one of only 46 people in history to lead the free, but increasingly costly, world, she is positioning herself for the Supreme Court. While it would be a shame to cover that figure under robes, it’s better than getting stuck in a bathtub with President Taft....
Wake Wood, one of a clutch of new offerings from a freshly revived Hammer, harks back to a long tradition of horror that is distinctly of the British Isles. Set in a quiet village somewhere in Ireland, it has a loamy, dank atmosphere that recalls Jacobs’ startling short story, The Monkey’s Paw, and vague echoes of the folky weirdness on display in the 1971 film, The Blood On Satan’s Claw....
Mickey Mouse may be the face of the franchise, but it’s Donald Duck and his supporting cast (notably his nephews and Uncle Scrooge), that spawned some of the finest comic books of all time, thanks to the work of brilliant comic artists like Carl Barks and Don Rosa (which later went on to inspire the Duck Tales animated series). All in all, while Mickey gets most of the glory, Donald gets more of our sympathy....
What could be the best of these? Raiders Of The Lost Ark, with its peak-Spielberg action-adventure stylings? Airplane!, a riotous and unfailingly quotable comedy that spawned a thousand imitators? Could even one as recent as acid-tinged carmageddoner Mad Max: Fury Road, already considered one of the greatest action movies ever made, lay legitimate claim to being the finest example? These are films that, through some divine formula, can seemingly never cease to entertain: Friday night movies for the ages....
Hmm… well… To have the X-Men essentially broken, seeking out their mentor to bring him back to Earth, expecting his return will fix all their problems… only to have him be like, “Sorry, kids. School’s out. I can throw you some advice here and there, but it’s your mess now. You clean it up.” That would be fucking gold. Come on, Netflix. Make this happen. You raised Full House’s diabetic corpse from the dead....
When the $250 million deal to procure the lucrative, venerable and blockbuster movie franchise-spawning Tolkien property was on the bidding table, Richard Plepler, CEO of premium cable giant HBO, revealed that there wasn’t any interested in adding it to the network’s impressive lineup of original programming. As Plepler stated (via Variety) at the Business Insider’s Ignition 2017 media conference on Wednesday: One would think that with its global serial centerpiece in the quasi-medieval Game of Thrones rounding what will be its eight and final season, that a Tolkien-adapted series is the perfect genre-matching occupant for that imminent vacancy....
Will & Grace Season 9 Episode 2 In tonight’s episode, Father Time inched closer to Will and Jack than they would have liked. They are no longer on the front lines of the LGBT movement as they once were fighting basic rights and visibility. They are firmly situated in middle age, creaky bones, under-eye concealer, and outdated music. The duo was reminded of the passage of time in a favorite haunt, The Cockpit, where each had a different experience with a younger gay millennial....
Voltron Legendary Defender’s opening sequence features all of the main characters piloting their respective lions, fighting against Zarkon with the aid of Allura and Coran. It’s a powerfully animated sequence but with Voltron Season 3 having just dropped many are wondering why it hasn’t been updated. Co-executive producer Lauren Montgomery and executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos warn fans not to get their hopes up. Montgomery explains even getting the opening as it is was very lucky....
