This winter, Bill Murray brings an extra-special dose of holiday cheer to Netflix with the premiere of an all-star musically-driven holiday special, A Very Murray Christmas. Set inside New York City’s iconic Carlyle hotel, A Very Murray Christmas opens with Murray preparing to host a live, international holiday broadcast. After a blizzard shuts down the production, he makes the best of the situation by singing and celebrating with friends, hotel employees and anyone else who drops by.
A Very Murray Christmas premieres on Netflix December 4.
Universal Pictures released a teaser trailer for The Huntsman: Winter’s War, with a full trailer release on Wednesday.
The film is directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, and stars Jessica Chastain, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, and Nick Frost.
Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love.
When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War is scheduled for release on April 22, 2016.
Ryan Gosling has been quiet recently, though that doesn’t mean he isn’t working on a few hot properties. Yesterday, in an interview with Collider on the publicity tour for his next film, the ensemble drama The Big Short, the actor confirmed his role in (the baffling) Blade Runner 2, and spent a little more time detailing his role in the upcoming Shane Black noir, The Nice Guys.
While he was quite dodgy when talking about Blade Runner 2, he did say he was in the film. He added, jokingly, that if he said anymore “there’s a chip in my neck that will explode.” The film has absolutely no reason for existing, but having Gosling on board alongside Harrison Ford, in a film directed by the great Denis Villeneuve and shot by the even greater cinematographer Roger Deakins (the two teamed up for both Prisoners, and Sicario) is a promising start. Maybe they can make this unnecessary sequel feel necessary in the end.
Now for The Nice Guys, Shane Black’s noir thriller starring Gosling opposite Russell Crowe. Gosling will play a private detective and Crowe a heavy in the 70s. The two team up to solve a murder and a missing person’s case, you know, typical noir stuff. Which is perfect, especially with Black on board. Shane Black is a fantastic writer (Lethal Weapon) and a solid writer/director (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang). On The Nice Guys, Gosling had this to say:
“I don’t know what to say. It’s Shane Black. He’s a world unto himself. His world is so fun and crazy. I had such a great time. Russell Crowe is so funny in the movie. I can’t wait for people to see that in the movie. It’s not a side of himself that he shows very often, but he’s hysterical.”
You don’t hear many people say Russell Crowe is “hysterical,” so that’s a good sign the two had a good working relationship. The Nice Guys will open May 20, 2016, and also stars Kim Basinger, Matt Bomer, and Keith David. Following that, Ryan Gosling said he will turn his attention fully to Blade Runner 2. We’ll see how that goes…
DC Comics has released their February 2016 solicits, and three books will feature new creative teams. Writer Tim Seeley and artist Juan Ferreyra will begin their run on New Suicide Squad with #17, writer Greg Pak and artist Noel Rodriguez will take over Teen Titans with #17, and writer Dan Abnett will join artist Vicente Cifuentes on Aquaman starting with #49. Since DC’s reboot, neither Teen Titans nor Suicide Squad have seen the kind of success enjoyed by some of DC’s other books, and though Aquaman has enjoyed enormous popularity under Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, the current creative has come under much fan criticism. Whether Geoff Johns’ recent remarks on Twitter about “getting the band back together” regarding Aquaman means the Abnett/Cifuentes team will be temporary remains to be seen.
Also of note:
The long-awaited Wonder Woman: Earth One graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette has been given an advanced solicit and will be released April 6. The project will shy away from the warrior woman portrayal now popular, returning the character to the intelligent healer William Marston originally intended her to be.
The first issue of Neal Adams’ six-issue miniseries Superman: The Coming of the Supermen will be released in February, and Adams will also be providing multiple variant covers for that month, each serving as homages to his many classic DC covers.
In place of Justice League, February will see the release of the extra-sized Justice League: Darkseid War Special by Geoff Johns and Oscar Jimenez, continuing the ongoing Darkseid War storyline.
DC will be launching Coloring DC, their adult coloring book line, in March, with black-and-white versions of Hush and Mad Love set to be released.
Finally, in yet another advanced solicit, the long-awaited Gotham Central omnibus, collecting the critically acclaimed run by Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, and Michael Lark, is slated for a May release.
Val Kilmer posted on his Facebook wall that ‘Iceman’ will return for Top Gun 2.
“I just got offered Top Gun 2. Not often you get to say “yes” without reading the script… We will all miss Tony Scott one of the kindest gentlemen I’ve ever met in the film biz, but let’s fire up some fighter jets again!!!” said Kilmer.
Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison are producing the film. Peter Craig, Justin Marks, Ashley Miller, and Zack Stentz have all touched the script.
“The concept is, basically, are the pilots obsolete because of drones? [Tom Cruise as Maverick] is going to show them that they’re not obsolete. They’re here to stay,” Bruckheimer said to The Huffington Post.
No release date or director have been announced yet.
I just got offered #topgun2 – not often you get to say "yes" without reading the script…"It's starring Gene…
Fox announced two weeks ago that BD Wong has been cast as Doctor Hugo Strange on Gotham. The actor then posted seven different potential looks for Hugo Strange.
“Which one of these men will be Hugo Strange on Gotham? We may not know for sure till the last minute. But I will tell you one thing. This guy is definitely into gas masks and water sports. Be afraid,” said Wong.
In the comic book Hugo Strange is also the first Batman villain to deduce the hero’s secret identity, this will make for an interesting twist on the show.
Hurray for Comet Lucifer! And hurray for me! After a long and somewhat grueling run with Comet Lucifer I finally think it has found its footing. So many things went right this week, where they have not gone right weeks before. Everything certainly is coming together and I think its fair to say that Comet Lucifer might end up pulling it through up until the end.
Episode Summary
So we’re still with the gang as they head to find the Alter of Abyss. There are some fun camping antics as well as some mech battles in the woods. We learn more about Do Mon and how he and Alfried used to be war buddies. More government workings are going on and it seems that Felia is starting to react in a strange way to the earth.
Episode Thoughts
While I have always been thoroughly entertained while watching Comet Lucifer, this weeks episode was probably the first one that made me feel what was really going on in the show. Everything just hit in the right place for me to feel for what the characters were saying, what they were doing, and how they were reacting to things. This is a hard thing to point out since the only way I can think of is going back and saying why dialogue wasn’t working and then compare it to this episode, but just trust me, things feel like they were ramped way up.
For example, there’s a scene where Sogo is repairing their mech-car and Felia comes up to him and starts talking about the events that are happening and how Sogo will protect her. Having this scene feels more natural now seeing that they’ve been through so much stuff together and have grown as friends. It would have been weird if they threw this conversation more towards the beginning (I guess they couldn’t though since Felia wouldn’t have understood him anyway) but the feeling being shared between both of them felt really natural and heartfelt. Everything felt appropriate for what was going on and how characters would really act. Why couldn’t the first five episode’s have been like this?
So safe to say that since the characters are becoming more real that makes the situation being more impactful. This weeks mech fights actually made be feel some tension and excitement for what was going to happen. There was a good amount of stakes, and with the battle taking place in a forest instead of an open area, it made the fight more visually interesting. But I still feel like Moura is a push-over. I don’t care how strong Alfried is, Moura has earth magic on his side, so he should be able to hold his own.
Speaking of Alfried, I like where they are going with his being connected to Do Mon. I like how they are keeping the reason for the past war ambiguous and just focusing on these characters experience in it. I do wish that these nuggets were distributed more evenly throughout the show or at least hinted at earlier on, but they’re executing it nicely so I can’t really complain. Hopefully we’ll get to know more about Sogo’s mother and how all these people are connected. They put a lot of emphasis on Sogo’s mom, so she better be damn important when it’s revealed.
As for the other stuff they are holding back on, aka the military and government happening. I still don’t follow or care about that stuff. And they’re was quite a bit of that this week. Still don’t care about the old guy on the telescope or his sexy secretary. And now there’s a new guy and I don’t care about his either. They need a way to incorporate these characters into the story other than these separate scenes, otherwise it makes it feel like it doesn’t relate to whats going on with our main characters. This is just how I interpret this by the way. I’m sure someone watching this show could enlighten me on whats going on with the government and why they want Felia.
Comet Lucifer has had its ups and downs, but for the most part I have been entertained. My entertainment level this week went beyond my “just watching for fun” phase. I’m truly invested in whats going on with the story and the characters. It may have taken a while, but I’m hooked. And even though Comet Lucifer may have had a rough start, this is an episode review. And I’m really happy to give it such a high score!
In today’s theater of the totally absurd, it seems Christopher Nolan’s mind-twisting noir, his breakout film Memento, is getting a remake. I shit you not.
According to the news, broke by The Hollywood Reporter, AMBI Pictures is handling the remake of the seminal Guy Pearce thriller. This relatively unknown studio recently purchased the rights to Exclusive Media Group’s 400-film library including Cruel Intentions, Rush, Donnie Darko, and, yes, Memento. It seems AMBI, run by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi, will kick things off by dragging this film through the mud.
In a statement, Bacardi discussed their intentions:
“Memento is a masterpiece that leaves audiences guessing not just throughout the film, but long after as well, which is a testament to its daring approach. We intend to stay true to Christopher Nolan’s vision and deliver a memorable movie that is every bit as edgy, iconic and award-worthy as the original. It’s a big responsibility to deliver something that lives up to the mastery of the original, but we are extremely excited and motivated to bring this puzzle back to life and back into the minds of moviegoers.”
They should have simply ended the statement after “Memento is a masterpiece,” then walked away from the project, out of whatever room they were in, driven to the bank, called their lawyers, and sold back the 400 film titles they acquired. Memento does not need any sort of remake, no matter how “true” they stay to it. In fact, if they stay true to the film, there really is zero point in this. The creative bankruptcy in Hollywood has reached a new summit, and I’m sure more bizarre and inexplicable decisions will be on the way from AMBI.
Let’s just hope Goodfellas wasn’t in that 400-film library.
TMZ is reporting that actor Charlie Sheen will reveal that he’s HIV positive on NBC’s “Today” in a sit-down interview with Matt Lauer on Tuesday morning.
NBC touted the interview in a press release as Sheen making a “revealing personal announcement.” A tabloid report came out Monday claiming Sheen’s been keeping the diagnosis secret for years. – TMZ
“It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life,” said Sheen to Today.
