The Walking Dead returns to AMC on February 14 to start the second half of season six, but when will we see the first appearance of Negan?
“His name has been invoked and his group is certainly of growing importance, but it’s not like we are going to see him starring in an episode right off the bat,” said showrunner Scott M. Gimple.
TV Insider is reporting that you won’t actually get to see Jeffery Dean Morgan as Negan until the very last episode of the season on April 3. Executive producer and creator Robert Kirkman has stated Negan’s first appearance is “bone-chilling.”
“He is the darkest incarnation of a bully. He’s a very magnetic character; he isn’t just a sociopath. He is the star of his own movie,” said Gimple.
Kirkman also talked about the direction for the second half of the season.
“This is a huge turning point for Rick and the group, because there’s a lot of chaos and it’s very brutal. This is not the end of Alexandria, but we’ll see a different Rick Grimes as he faces possibly the biggest hardships ever,” said Kirkman.
News broke last week that X-Files star Gillian Anderson was initially offered half the pay as David Duchovny. The sexist Fox scandal is surprising and not surprising. Female leads have historically been offered a fraction of the pay of their male counterparts. This is the norm in the film and TV industry despite female actresses having just as much screen time, working just as hard to look screen-ready, and being all around badass. Gillian Anderson’s Dana Scully is no exception to this.
For those interested in some more details on Fox’s idiocy, The Mary Sue published a rather on-point article.
Now X-Files fans know there’s no show without Dana Scully. Without Scully Mulder would just be a lunatic rambling on about UFOs, and all the other paranormal stuff he believes in. Chris Carter, the series creator, took a female character and made her a pinnacle of the show. TheX-Files 1993 pilot actually starts with Dana Scully walking into the Division Chief’s office at the FBI. At first Scully’s brought in, as all fans know, to debunk the X-Files with scientific fact. Ever the skeptic, she decisively shuts down all of Mulder’s wild theories. In The X-Files Scully puts the ‘science’ in science fiction. Yet, at the end of the pilot Special Agent Scully can’t logically explain half of what she’s witnessed in small-town Oregon. What makes Scully interesting, as a character, is how she’s developed over the course of the show. Mulder will always play as the radical, irrational, loud guy who believes in aliens. Scully will always play as the calm, intelligent, badass who autopsies corpses like a pro. New and interesting facets also get added to Scully like how she rediscovers her Catholic faith, or how she discovers her desire to have children. All of these things not only change Scully as a character, but also play into the plot of the series.
In TheX-Files revival, the first episode feels like a return to the pilot. The show opens with the usual call to the X-Files mythology, continues with the iconic opening credits (complete with beloved theme music), and finally the story starts with Dana Scully. Scully is in her scrubs, readying to assist in an important surgery when she’s once again called to action by the FBI. Much like the skeptic fans know and love, Scully continues to question what Mulder throws at her. This includes everything from Sveta’s claim as alien abductee, to Tad O’Malley’s government conspiracy theories. Only with Scully’s drive for scientific confirmation can her and Mulder get to the real truth. The X-Files revival does a good job at setting up the series again, and really it feels like going back to square one conspiracy-wise. The series will bring back William Scully, and this is a serious step forward in finally solving the mythology component of the series.
More often than not, the Academy Awards are predestined, and The Oscars go to whom everyone expected from the start. The acting nominations typically consist of a frontrunner and four “also-rans” who are “just happy to be nominated.” Occasionally, the race boils down to two frontrunners with three invited to the ceremony to watch. But sometimes – just sometimes – a dark horse steals the show. With everyone waiting for the envelope to be read, certain of the name inside, once in a blue moon that name inside is a complete shock.
In the acting categories, Supporting Actress has historically been the spot for an upset throughout the years, as evidenced by the following list. Of the 9 upsets, FIVE are in said category:
Grace Kelly wins for The Country Girl, beating Judy Garland for A Star is Born (1955) – Most consider Garland’s performance in A Star is Born as transcendent, still celebrated over sixty years later. Meanwhile, very little is said about The Country Girl, or Kelly’s performance. It’s seen these days as a sort of year-long reward for Kelly’s work here, in High Noon, and in Hitchcok’s Rear Window. After The Oscars that night, Groucho Marx called this stunner “the biggest robbery since Brink’s.”
Marcia Gay Harden wins for Pollock, beating Kate Hudson for Almost Famous (2001) – The stage was absolutely set for Hudson to take home The Oscar for her heartwarming performance in Cameron Crowe’s masterpiece. Meanwhile, Marcia Gay Harden was a mere afterthought in the category, making her win one of the biggest shockers in recent memory.
Anna Paquin wins for The Piano, beating EVERYONE ELSE (1994) – Paquin’s victory came entirely out of left field, as the young actress beat out the likes of Emma Thompson, Rosie Perez, Winona Ryder, and Holly Hunter. Regardless of who may have deserved the statue, Paquin’s acceptance speech was one of the sweeter moments in Oscar history.
Robert Benigni wins for Life is Beautiful, beating EVERYONE ELSE (1998) – This one is still completely baffling. Benigni shocked the world, winning for his ham-fisted, on-the-nose holocaust drama Life is Beautiful. In the category was Ed Norton for American History X, Nick Nolte in Affliction, Ian McKellan for Gods and Monsters, and someone named TOM HANKS for something called SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Absolutely criminal, funny acceptance celebration be damned.
Juliette Binoche wins for The English Patient, beating Lauren Bacall for The Mirror Has Two Faces (1997) – This was a night for Bacall, who had never… NEVER… been nominated for an Oscar in his illustrious career. That’s astonishing enough, but what was even more astonishing was Juliette Binoche sneaking in and winning for The English Patient, much to the chagrin of a bitter Bacall. Never underestimate the power of Harvey Weinstein.
https://youtu.be/HJzm8IShi8U
Beatrice Straight wins for Network, beating EVERYONE ELSE (1977) – Straight turned in solid work in Network, but there was one small issue with her victory at The Oscars: she appeared in five minutes of Sidney Lumet’s film. FIVE MINUTES! That, on top of the fact Jodie Foster was nominated for Taxi Driver and Piper Laurie for Carrie, makes this a surprising and ultimately confusing decision by the Academy.
Adrien Brody wins for The Pianist, beating EVERYONE ELSE (2003) – The shock was all over Adrien Brody’s face, who then seized the moment and planted a major kiss on Halle Berry when he got on stage. Brody’s win was deserving, but unforeseen with a field including Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York), favorite Nicolas Cage (Adaptation), and Jack Nicholson (About Schmidt).
Marisa Tomei wins for My Cousin Vinny, beating EVERYONE ELSE (1993) – Tomei’s nomination for Supporting Actress was a charming story in its own right. The success of My Cousin Vinny had catapulted her to leading lady status, but everyone figured she’d lose to any of the other nominees (mostly Vanessa Redgrave or Miranda Richardson). The win was such a surprise, rumors abounded that Jack Palance read the wrong name on the card (side note: He didn’t. Tomei deserved it).
Tommy Lee Jones wins for The Fugitive, beating Ralph Fiennes for Schindler’s List (1994) – Look, Jones was solid as Sam Gerrard in The Fugitive, the perfect pursuer to Harrison Ford’s man on the run. But, let’s be serious here… Ralph Fiennes delivered a towering performance in Schindler’s List, one of the most incredibly devastating films of all time. Fiennes is a monster, evil incarnate, and was absolutely robbed here.
In what is easily the weirdest cast and film announcement to come along in many, many years, Joseph Fiennes is set to play Michael Jackson – yes, that one – in a film surrounding the aftermath of 9/11.
Read that sentence a few times, it will never fully register.
The report came out yesterday in The Guardian, and Fiennes as Michael Jackson is only the tip of the weirdness iceberg. The film tells a story, debatably true, about the King of Pop, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marlon Brando traveling in a car from New York to Ohio, trying to get home after the terrorist attacks on September 11. The original accounting of the trip was in Vanity Fair, and here is the summation in The Guardian article:
The story goes that Jackson invited the pair to his concert at Madison Square Garden. Following the 9/11 attacks, when air travel to and from New York was cancelled, the trio rented a car and began their quest back to California. “They actually got as far as Ohio – all three of them, in a car they drove themselves,” claimed a former employee of Jackson. Brando apparently insisted on stopping off at various fast food restaurants en route.
One issue with the validity of the story is the claim from one of Taylor’s assistants, who said Brando stayed behind to visit Ground Zero and pray in a church in New York. But let’s not let that little fact get in the way of what will certainly be a most bizarre film.
I suppose a bizarre story begets an equally bizarre casting choice for Michael Jackson. Joseph Fiennes may actually resemble the latter-years Jackson, but how incredibly awkward is that?! Stockard Channing will play Elizabeth Taylor, and Brian Cox will be Brando. Those make sense. And maybe Fiennes makes sense… it still makes me lightheaded.
I don’t suppose I need to tell you that it’s an unpleasant sensation when one of your petticoat pipes bursts, or how exquisitely painful it can be to blow a throttle valve. My less steam-powered readers may sympathize by way of analogy by considering their own discomfort at being incapacitated due to heat stroke. And, although unpleasant to a considerable degree, an increase in occurrences of people suffering this feverish fate—historically due to the consumption of a proliferation of potent potables during genetically regressive sunbathing sessions—will be the least of our problems should our true blue planet Earth’s global annual average temperature rise just 1˚ Celsius more. Yes, this week I, a humble robotic duplicate of Mark Twain, will report on the recent climate change findings of the WMO.
Early on Monday the WMO issued a press release saying definitively that 2015 was the hottest year on record and that in 2015, for the first time ever, the Earth’s global annual average temperature was approximately 1˚C (actually 0.76 +/- 0.1˚C) above the pre-industrial average. For those keeping track, this means that there is only 1˚C more in global warming wiggle room before we hit the much-discussed 2˚C warming limit. In fact, at the fools’ gold rush that was COP21 this limit was amended to be a 1.5˚C rise in the global annual average temperature. So, this means that slightly over a month after the 1.5˚C target was amended and agreed upon at the most recent climate change conference, we the constituents of the earth are already steamrolling that target by a margin of 0.16–0.36˚C.
Leaders celebrate agreed-upon global targets
One tries to do one’s small part in mitigating these increases in temperature. I recently switched from a coal-fired to a solar-powered boiler but one wonders what else a steam-powered robotic replica of one of America’s favorite humorists can do. One wants some direction from world leaders but if those directions lack any kind of meaningful enforcement strategy, what are we to do? As in so many other cases, I’m reminded of what my non-robotic original once said of humanity, “Such is the human race. Often it does seem such a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.”
I’ll admit it, I was wrong. When we first heard that a new Black Canary series would star Dinah Lance fronting an indie-rock band, I rolled my eyes and took no notice. It felt like a forced-concept akin to Josie and the Pussycats with superheroics thrown in for good measure. It almost harked in the early days of Dazzler, a comic giant trying to be “hip and cool” with the kids by publishing a series inspired by the emerging musical culture of the time. Back in the 70s, it was disco and nowadays, it’s indie-rock. The project seemed like the industry trying to be “with it” without having realised that “it” changed on a regular basis. Having just binged the first seven issues, I take it all back. Brenden Fletcher and Annie Wu have created something very special and you need to rock out to it.
Dinah Lance is another DC character who never seemed to find her footing in the New 52. The once universally revered Birds of Prey title quickly fell into disrepute and was unceremonious cancelled. She featured in a Team 7 book which turned her origin story into an M. Night Hyamalan plot. She also appeared in All-Star Batman and Robin, but the less said about that the better. Lately she’s been hanging out over in Burnside with Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl (also penned by Brendan Fletcher interestingly enough)and has been on the mend. The titular Black Canary is Dinah’s new band which gets involved in a conspiracy involving a little girl called Ditto with a mysterious control over sound itself. Issue 7 culminates the series’ first story arc as revelations regarding their mysterious corporate benefactors emerge as they battle the Quietus.
Fletcher has developed each member of the band over the last seven issues and while, much remains to be explored, we have a firm sense of who they are and what they stand for. Naturally, they embody a variety of the characteristics of the musician archetypes and that starkly contrast with Dinah’s less traditional experiences. Lord Boyne and Paloma grew up together and the original third member Bo Maeve of their band was expelled by the record label. Dinah was forced upon them by their corporate masters and so their initial ambivalence towards her is totally understandable. There is a wonderful “Behind the Music” feel to the arc that gives us an understand of how this band came to be and what they had to do or sacrifice to get where they are. Their experiences over the course of the first arc help to transform their opinion of Dinah and manifest as a willingness to become heroes in their own right. Likewise, Dinah’s initial reluctance to be a rock-star gives way as she begins to care more and more about her band mates. The spectre of the past has been a constant theme throughout the series and each of the characters are haunted by what’s come before. For Dinah, this results in a cathartic attitude and the simple desire to be able to make enough money to get by. She still stands up for the little guy, but its often on a smaller scale. It’s the personal stakes that matter here, something that writers often forget in their rush to give their take on Darkseid. Fletcher has done an excellent job of making the intersection between superheroism and music stardom feel like a natural evolution of her character. Plus, if we are being honest, Dinah’s classic Black Canary costume makes much more sense if she’s a rock-star, even if naming your band after your old code-name isn’t the best way to keep a low profile.
Fletcher makes a number of interesting choices which set this comic apart from its contemporaries. The incorporation of music critique pieces into the narrative as a representation of the songs we can’t hear is an incredibly clever mechanism for having a comic ostensibly about a rock band simulate the feeling of a concert without any actual songs being included. It gives a level of authenticity to the suggestion that these characters are a real band striving to make their way in the music world, despite their superheroic misadventures. Should they release an accompanying playlist for the comic, it’d probably go to the top of my Spotify.
The notion that the record company itself is a source of suspicion, engaging in shady business throughout the arc is an entertaining way of engaging in a sub-textual discussion of the constraining influence of mainstream record labels on an artist;s creativity within the music industry. The clash between corporate and artistic approaches to music have been raging of a longtime, but artists such as Tailor Swift and Adele have renewed the debate in recent years. Whether that was Fletcher’s intent or not, it’s an interesting way to view a comic where a battle of the bands can often take a literally meaning.
Annie Wu’s interiors resemble a living album cover. The artwork is one of contrasts, with the subdued colours of ordinary like, illuminated by the neon of a rock concert. Wu’s work on Archie illustrated her ability to convey realistic emotions in a heavily stylised, but believable manner. Black Canary allows her to produce some innovative approaches to fight scenes, with one memorable instance sees Wu substituting physical strikes for guitar chords and another features the silhouettes of combatants being displayed against sheet music. The choreography as a whole feel like being in the middle of the mosh pit in terms of the sheer physicality involved. Wu’s work on Black Canary is dynamic with panels flowing seemingly into each other, which give it an animated effect.There is nothing that looks like this on the market at the moment and Wu excels in this experimental approach unconstrained by the established orthodoxies of the form. Music is the heart and soul of the book and it creeps into the very artwork itself, almost as if it panels themselves were a song.
Wonderfully dedicated to the memory of the David Bowie, Black Canary #7 is epitome of how to innovate within the medium while still being able to appeal to a broad readership. It doesn’t feel the need to ram continuity down our throats and is content to let the strength of the book alone carry itself. It’s a comic about music without having it seem like a gimmick to make it stand out or appeal to fans of The Wicked + The Divine, ending on a banger of a cliffhanger that will leave you eager to hear Fletcher and Wu’s next EP.Black Canary is much like the niche indie-bands it is so heavily inspired by; a gem you might not have heard of, but you’ll definitely enjoy.
A review copy was kindly provided by the publisher. Black Canary Vol. 1: Kicking and Screaming will be available for purchase on March 3rd.
Character actor Abe Vigoda has passed away, January 26, 2016, age 94, at his home in Woodland Park, New Jersey, just a month a shy of his 95th birthday. The leather faced, jowly actor who is most famously known for his portrayal of old-timer mob soldier Salvatore Tessio in Francis Ford Coppola‘s “The Godfather,” reported passed away in his sleep.
He was born Abraham Charles Vigoda on February 24, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish immigrants from Russia. Vigoda started acting in his teens and attended the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall. He gained notability as an actor on Broadway in the 1960s. He appeared onstage in such productions as Marat/Sade, The Man in the Glass Booth, The Inquest, and Tough to Get Help.
He is was also known for his role as Detective Sgt. Phil fish on the 1970s American sitcom Barney Miller. He was a regular on the show from 1975 until 1977 when his character was spun off into its own series. The storyline for the new series center around his personal life and five street kids that he and his wife took in.
Mr. Vigoda remained a character actor through-out his career and you can find him film such as, Look Who’s Talking, Cannonball Run II, North, Jury Duty, and more. This sad-eyed stage and screen actor will me missed. So long Abe Vigoda, you will live on through your work.
And just for a fond memory and giggle, watch Mr. Vigoda in action with Betty White in this Snickers Superbowl Commercial from 2010.
2016 will mark 23 years since Quantum Leap was last on our screens. For those who have never seen it before, here is a brief description of the show. The show starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who leaps through time using a device called The Quantum Leap Accelerator. He attempts to put wrongs right by temporarily taking the place of other people to correct historical mistakes. Dean Stockwell co-stars as Admiral Al Calavicci, Sam’s womanizing, cigar-smoking companion and best friend, who appears to him as a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.
This show was the first one that really got me hooked on sci-fi, and I made sure I was always sat down in front of the TV each week ready for the next episode. The storylines the show had were fantastic, and it had a great sense of humour, which was due to the amazing chemistry that Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell shared.
During the shows run, Sam would often cross paths with famous people and have an effect on their lives. They included Stephen King, Michael Jackson, Buddy Holly, Lee Harvey Oswald and Marylin Monroe.
Below are four of my favourite episodes from over the five seasons.
Season 5 – Episode 8, 9 and 10,
“Trilogy – One Little Heart, For Your Love and The Last Door”
These three episodes had Sam leaping into the life of Abigail Fuller from three different perspectives. Firstly he is her father, then in the next episode he leaps into the soon-to-be husband of a grown-up Abigail and lastly he is the lawyer defending Abigail in a murder trial. The continuity in these episodes is brilliant and the way the carry it on over three generations is so much fun to watch.
Season 4 – Episode 1, ” The Leap Back”
Sam and Al switch roles after a lightning strike. Which puts Sam in the imaging chamber helping Al try to put right a wrong. It’s a great episode as both characters take on certain personality traits of each other. This gives both actors a chance to act out a little and provides plenty of laughs. It does also hit an emotional note as Sam gets his memory back and realises that he has a wife back in his time.
Season 4 – Episode 6, “Raped”.
Sam leaps into Katie McBain, a woman who has just been raped by the town’s All-American boy. This episode is one of the more emotional ones the series deals with, and its handled perfectly. The most emotional part comes when they bring Katie into the imaging chamber so can tell her story first hand to Sam. Both Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are fantastic in this episode.
Season 5 – Episode 22, ” Mirror Image”
This episode was the last one that aired. In the series finale, Sam arrives at a mining town as himself on the date and exact hour he was born. Patrons of the town bar look familiar from past leaps, but with different names, other patrons seem to be leapers, and Al the bartender implies that he might be God, Fate, or Time. While trying to figure things out, Sam has to help save some trapped miners, regain contact with Al, and try to find his way home. When this episode had finished, I’m not ashamed to say that I shed a tear. I won’t give it away if you haven’t seen it yet and will have a look after reading this.
Even after 23 years, if I’m going through the channels and the show is on, I still find myself thoroughly enjoying it.
Do you have a favourite episode? Let me know in the comments if you do.
To finish, here is the opening sequence to the show and one of the best there has ever been. This music has been my ringtone for a while now.
If statements from Batman v. Superman producer Charles Roven are to be taken at face value, this new Ben Affleck interpretation of The Dark Knight will actually be a killer.
In an interview with Empire, Roven spoke about this new Batman, calling him “angrier,” and, most importantly, an “executioner.”
“[Batman] is not giving people a chance. He is more than a vigilante. He has become not only the cop, if you will, he has also become the jury and executioner. He’s older, [and] he’s seen the worst of what man can do. He’s been darkened by it, he’s tougher, he’s angrier, I guess… he’s still lost those that are near and dear to him, and not necessarily from old age or disease.”
This is a significant about face for the character if we do interpret Roven’s words as they appear. Sure, he may be calling Bats an “executioner” just in a sort of stream-of-consciousness way in order to complete the phrase, but it could be a serious mistake for modern fans of the Caped Crusader. He’s killed before in plenty of circumstances, but the modern mythos surrounding the character has been “no guns, no killing,” for no other reason that to separate himself from his adversaries.
While I’m hoping Roven isn’t being entirely truthful, the mood and glowering gazes of Affleck indicate a much darker version of The Dark Knight. On the other hand, the clip we’ve all seen of the thug tied up in the alley, branded with the bat symbol on his chest, might indicate this is mere bluster from an amped-up producer pushing his film.
We’ll see when Batman v. Superman hits theaters March 25th.
How can you tell it’s a good time to be a Star Wars nerd? The answer, you can buy a Death Star BBQ grill for one-hundred-and-forty-two bucks!
I’m counting on you to let me know when we’ve gone too far on nerd merchandise.
The Fowndry is taking pre-orders for the Star Wars Death Star BBQ with an expected delivery of May 31.
The staff at the Fowndry took extra time with the description of this item.
The Death Star Barbecue has the power to annihilate an entire chicken. Or, in the right hands, cook an al fresco feast in classic, sci-fi style.
That’s no moon… It’s the sun! And if it’s hovering over the house it means barbecue season is upon us. But don’t settle for your run-of-the-mill sputniks, dazzle your guests and terrorise the outer rim planets with the Death Star BBQ.
This officially licensed outdoor grill is made from stainless steel – so even if you’ve strafed it with a rebel sausage, it’ll still buff up like new. The intricate detailing isn’t just there for show either. Cleverly disguised as a devastating laser, the lid of the Death Star BBQ has an adjustable thermal vent – perfect for regulating heat. Just keep an eye out for X-wings.
The grill will be out just in time for Comic-Con! Do you want to be the biggest nerd on the block?
