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?
The demonic forces of Trigon infiltrate the minds and bodies of the Justice League, turning the veteran super heroes against their youthful counterparts in the all-new DC Universe Original Movie.
Robin, Nightwing, and the JL are all returning characters from previous films, but this will be the debut of the other Titans, including Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, and Blue Beetle. Interestingly enough, it looks like Cyborg will be siding with the Titans in the flick. Cyborg was a core member of the Titans before becoming a founding member of the Justice League during DC’s New 52 relaunch.
Jon Bernthal will voice the villain Trigon; Bernthal is known as Shane from AMC’s The Walking Dead, as well as the Punisher in the upcoming season of Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix.
This first look was first revealed as bonus a bonus feature attached to Batman: Bad Blood. Bad Blood is currently available for digital download, and will release on DVD/Blu-Ray on February 2.
The Fantastic Four have long been one of the cornerstones of Marvel Comics. Known as Marvel’s First Family they sit alongside The Amazing Spider-Man as the company’s most famous characters and longest running titles. Like many characters created by Marvel, the movie rights were sold off many years ago in order to keep the company afloat during a rocky financial period. This means that a Fantastic Four movie at present cannot be a produced by Marvel Studios. There has been some rumours the movie rights will be returning to Marvel, but Fox who currently own them have discredited this story. However, lets take a look a why the Fantastic Four need to return home to the house of ideas and join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Three failed attempts
While out of the control of Marvel Studios, there have been 3 very bad attempts at adapting the Fantastic Four comic book series; the infamous, unreleased B-movie produced by Roger Corman in 1994, two movies released in 2005 and 2007 boasted an all-star cast but failed to win over audiences with either attempt, and the 2015 reboot that tried a darker and different take on the classic characters, this also failed and the movie was a critical and commercial failure. The Fantastic Four really deserve a better movie adaptation after many years of popular comics. A few failed attempts have enabled other characters to return to Marvel in one way or another, such as; Daredevil, Ghost Rider, The Punisher and most recently Spider-Man.
Hulk vs The Thing
One of the best rivalries in Marvel Comics for decades has been the Hulk and The Fantastic Four’s Ever Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing. As The Thing can regularly go two-to-two with Hulk it would be great to see them duke it out on the big screen.
Marvel Cosmic
The Fantastic Four have always been strongly connected to the cosmic side of Marvel from the origins of their powers to their many run-ins with the likes of the Skrulls and the Kree. The MCU has neatly set up the cosmic side to the universe in Thor, The Avengers and most recently Guardians of the Galaxy.
Galactus and the Silver Surfer
One of the most important stories in Marvel history: the Galactus Trilogy, a three issue story arc that saw the Fantastic Four meet the devourer of worlds, Galactus, a being of impossible power that they could only defeat with the aide of his herald and slave, the Silver Surfer. Galactus and the Silver Surfer are huge fan favourites from the comics and if Galactus did return to Marvel he could be a villain even beyond what we’ve seen from Thanos.
Doctor Doom
Not only has Doctor Doom long been the arch-nemesis of the Fantastic Four but he is arguably the best super-villain in Marvel Comics history. He is effectively an evil amalgamation of Iron Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange and has faced off against nearly every major hero in Marvel Comics including the Avengers. If Marvel can somehow regain the movie rights to Fantastic Four, having Doctor Doom to play with in the MCU would surely be the most exciting outcome.
Would you like to see the Fantastic Four join the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
After the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, tons of celebrity cameos in the film were revealed. Daniel Craig was a stormtrooper, Simon Pegg was Unkar Plutt, and tons of voice cameos slowly leaked out as well. However, most cameos remained a mystery, including that of writer/director Kevin Smith.
That has now changed. Yesterday, Lucasfilm released a list of voice cameos from The Force Awakens, compiled by supervising sound editor Matthew Wood. Wood states:
You may have seen a section in the credits of The Force Awakens titled “Additional Voices,” with some familiar names listed. But who or what did all those familiar names play? I’m happy to finally reveal everyone below, running through the film chronologically. (There are also a couple of actor cameos in there that shall remain nameless (for now).)
The list is not collectively exhaustive, but it is pretty extensive, and it does reveal Smith’s cameo. It turns out Smith was a stormtrooper during the assault on Maz Kanata’s castle. His one line was in reaction to incoming Resistance fighters:
“We have incoming at 28.6! Move!”
The list also reveals a few lines by Tom Kane, the noted voice actor who provided both the opening narration and the voice of Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Wood closed out his remarks with some kind words for the actors listed, and gives credit to many more:
Finally, I just want to thank all the voice actors who contributed to the film, including but not limited to those listed below. There are several scenes with layers and layers of voices that we can’t credit individually, but they make sequences come alive, and the film would not be the same without them.
New details about the next Star Wars film, Rogue One, have surfaced.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is directed by Gareth Edwards, and stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen (IP Man), Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen of Hannibal fame, Alan Tudyk (as a motion capture character), and Riz Ahmed.
The film is a prequel to the original 1977 Star Wars, dealing with rebel efforts to convey Death Star blueprints to Leia Organa. The screenplay is by Chris Weitz, and the film is due in theaters on December 16, 2016.
Possible spoilers after the jump.
Joblo released some details about the film today with the biggest news concerning Darth Vader. The face of the Star Wars franchise is expected to have a larger role than originally thought. This movie is thought of as a relaunching point for Vader as Disney has plans for the Sith Lord beyond Rogue One. We also had the report last week that James Earl Jones would reprise his role as the voice of Vader.
Also, Death Troopers are coming! Storm Troopers in all-black costumes will be in the film, and they have been referred to as Death Troopers. There will be a new Tie Fighter design and AT-ATs to be introduced as well.
We are just under 11-months until the next Star Wars installment and the first outside the Skywalker mythos.
Possible ‘Death Trooper’ helmet on the left. – source JoeBlo.com
Disney released an international teaser for Pixar’s Finding Dory Monday afternoon. The crew at Pixar doesn’t give you too much.
Finding Dory reunites everyone’s favourite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?
The film is directed by Andrew Stanton, and features the voices of Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Ty Burrell, Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton.
Short on surprises and innovative plotting though it may be, Kung Fu Panda 3, which reunites the all-star voice cast featured in the first two installments while adding the talents of Bryan Cranston, J.K. Simmons, and Kate Hudson, has more than enough cartoony martial arts action, heart, and laughs to make it worth your while to see, especially if you’re a fan of the series. In many ways, it brings the series and its main character full circle, giving viewers all new reasons to cheer while delivering more of what’s made the series an enduring favorite: high-flying action, eye-popping animation, and a wealth of jokes and gags built around all that weight those pandas carry around.
Just when Po (voiced once again by Jack Black), the fun-loving yet formidable panda warrior trained by the great Kung Fu master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) to be one of the Valley of Peace’s most powerful protectors, thinks he’s got everything as far as what life is going throw at him figured out, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), Oogway’s friend and successor, hits the unlikely hero with an even more unlikely challenge: to take the step from student to teacher for his one-time idols, the Furious Five. Naturally, Po is wholly unnerved at the idea, almost as much as Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Tigress (Angelina Jolie Pitt) are. After just one chaotic day with Po leading the class, they have every reason to believe that their fears are well grounded; in fact, they’re all lucky to survive the class with all their limbs and skulls intact.
The warriors find a momentary diversion from the debate over Po’s future as a teacher with the arrival of his long-lost father, Li (Bryan Cranston). Father and son are overjoyed to be reunited, but they have little time to enjoy the reunion before the Valley is threatened by a new and powerful villain, Kai (J.K. Simmons). A spirit warrior whose powers grow as he absorbs the chi energy of martial arts masters he defeats, Kai’s march toward destroying the Jade Palace and all that Po and the Furious Five hold dear at first seems unstoppable. But as Shifu and the warriors discover, he can be beaten through a technique for mastering chi that has been lost for centuries, one that Oogway himself discovered in, of all places, a secret panda village high in the mountains far from the Valley of Peace. Li agrees to lead Po to the village — it’s his and Po’s home, as it turns out — but will they find what they need before Kai triumphs? It’s a race against time as the young Dragon Warrior comes face to face with others of his kind for the first time, and in so doing is forced to accept that the time has come for him to be more than just a butt-kicking kung fu hero of awesomeness.
Without a doubt, Kung Fu Panda 3 first and foremost benefits from the familiarity audiences should have with the series and the characters by this point. It’s been eight years since the first installment was a surprise summer hit, and since then the franchise has spawned both theatrical sequels and a TV series spin-off. What also helps is the consistency of visual style and tone throughout all those properties — parents and kids know exactly what they’re going to get when they go see a Kung Fu Panda film: slacker and jiggly belly jokes, lots of Jack Black/Po saying “Whoa!”, and bright, colorfully animated high-speed action and adventure. It’s a winning formula that, to the credit of this particular production, cast and crew do not simply fall back on and recycle.
Instead, writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who have handled screenwriting duties for all three big screen Panda adventures, dare to venture into some surprisingly sophisticated thematic territory. It’s not often, after all, that you find a family-friendly animated action film exploring such complex concepts as the possible emotional impact the return of a biological parent can have on an adoptive family unit, how that can affect one’s sense of identity, just to name one challenging place the writers choose to take this story. It’s a credit to Aibel and Berger, the faith they display in the ability of Western audiences to be able to handle such material as they continue to develop their characters in meaningful and organic ways. Does the actual plot of the film deliver any truly shocking turns or twists? Of course not — older kids and parents will know exactly where this one’s going pretty much from the start. But that doesn’t take much away from the fun the movie delivers along the way.
One real possibility for disappointment out there for audiences and fans of the Kung Fu Panda series in Kung Fu Panda 3 may be the relative lack of screen time and substantive participation in the story the film allots to the star-studded supporting cast. While the whole gang is back together, much of the Furious Five aren’t a whole lot to do or say here, as the focus is shifted toward Po’s interaction with the newly introduced characters. From that group, the standouts are Cranston and Simmons, two performers recently recognized for their considerable talents with Oscar nominations for heavier fare, but who arguably built their early careers thanks to comedic roles. To be fair, considering the limited running time usually imposed on Western animated films and the nuanced ideas and themes the film wishes to develop, less face time for the familiar supporting characters is a necessity. But as the film’s story unfolds, it’s hard not to wish there might have been more involvement for characters voiced by such comedic talents as Rogen, Cross, and Jackie Chan.
But all in all, there’s a whole lot more to like than dislike in Kung Fu Panda 3. It’s bright, energetic, and genuinely heartwarming fun that kids no doubt will want to watch over and over again, so parents, when you budget for this particular trip to the movies, be sure and put aside a few bucks to pay for the home digital release when it becomes available, too.
Kung Fu Panda 3
Starring the voice talents of Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie Pitt, J.K. Simmons, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, and James Hong. Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni.
Running Time: 101 minutes
Rated PG for martial arts action and some mild rude humor.
