After reports in May that Harry Shearer, the voice of several of the most prominent characters on The Simpsons, would be leaving the show after 26 years, reports now say he will return for the 27th season.
According to a report over at TV Line, Harry Shearer has signed a new two-year contract with the series. Shearer voices Mr. Burns, Flanders, Seymour Skinner, Smithers, Otto, and a handful of other periphery characters. the Simpsons had planned to move on from Shearer, even trying to fill the void he would leave behind on the show, which had been renewed for two more seasons.
The public dispute over contract negotiations had gotten a bit heated between the attorney for James L. Brooks, executive producer Al Jean, and Shearer, who said via Twitter he was excited to explore other work:
This because I wanted what we've always had: the freedom to do other work. Of course, I wish him the very best. (2/2)
Luckily, the public bickering ended, and Shearer signed on to continue his excellent voice work with the longest-running sitcom in TV history. If you ask me, The Simpsons would not be The Simpsons were it not for the diverse vocal talents of Harry Shearer. This is a win for everyone who is a fan of the show.
Well the first episode of Charlotte is out and it was so good I had to watch it twice. Mostly because the first time I watched it was because I was making dinner and couldn’t pay enough attention. But I just got done watching it over again and let me tell you, this show will be dense.
Now if any of you are familiar with Jun Maeda’s work he tends to set up his thesis and universes in the first episode. So knowing that, I have scraped together my thoughts about some subtle signs that may turn out to be huge in later episodes. Granted I could be entirely wrong, but half the fun is speculating. Especially with a show like this.
I want to start off with the title because in a Maeda/Key shows the title is always something that warrants further thought. The title is usually the first thing you remember about a show and the last thing you tend to think about. However in Maeda’s work the title usually serves as a critical piece to discovering what the show is about. The title Charlotte I think is attributed to a star or a comet. Seeing that the logo of the show has a comet in the design and for now I can see the comet being the source of these kids powers, its fair to draw a comparison. So lets just assume for now that the comet is named Charlotte.
The name Charlotte means “Free Man” so I find it rather peculiar that a comet named this is granting these kids with magical powers. From the main character Yu we can already tell that he has a lot of baggage. Maybe this comet is trying to free the people it grants with power from their current suffering. Nao clearly states that the power isn’t meant to last forever and that it’s often lost once adulthood is reached. So it’s definitely a possibility.
On the subject of powers lets cover them, shall we? Currently there are only their ability users so far. But seeing that Nao is a wrangler of sorts of kids who have these abilities, we’ll probably find more when Yu transfers to her school. Yu’s ability is that he can transfer his consciousness to anyone he can see for five seconds. In that time his body goes limp almost lifeless. Nao’s ability is that she can become invisible from one target. The time limit on this isn’t made clear. Jojiro can teleport but he isn’t fully able to control where he stops after he teleports. Yu makes the comment that these are all rather incomplete abilities. This may be contributed that these children aren’t complete yet and these powers are to guide them towards being whole. I’m sure all their powers mean something but I’ll save that till I know more about the characters.
From left to right Jojiro, Nao, Yu
As for our seemingly main character Yu, it seems that Yu has some problems. But what high school boy doesn’t have problems. For now all we know is that he hates his parents for the way his life turned out and he wants his little sister to feel the same way. He certainly has a devious side seeing that the minute he gets his powers he uses them to start fights and cheat on tests. It’s hard to tell whats the real Yu at this point. Because a lot of his inner monologues are horrible but on the outside he fronts as a caring person. It could just be him being drunk on his new-found power or something more.
To wrap up the episode Yu has a very strange dream. In this dream he sees himself walking along with his sister. But someone is walking beside them that he doesn’t recognize. Earlier in the episode his sister brings up remembering that they had an older sibling, but Yu denies that fact. So the fact that he’s seeing this person in his dream is rather odd. Could he be lying to his sister or has he just forgotten.
Most of Jun Maeda works have a big focus on family. and with the way Charlotte’s first episode played out, I think it’s safe to say that family will have a big role this time too. All around the first episode was enjoyable and I am eager to see the next episode
Robert Kirkman posted this message on the Skybound website announcing he will not be at San Diego Comic-con this year due to a minor surgery.
People of Earth,
It is with tremendous regret that I must inform you that I will not be attending Comic-Con International in San Diego this year. I won’t be at the Skybound Comics panel in room 7AB on Thursday, 7/9, from 12-1pm or our Skybound Entertainment panel in room 6BCF from 3:30-4:30pm that same day. I won’t be at the WALKING DEAD or FEAR THE WALKING DEAD panels in Hall H Friday, which are taking place at 12pm and 1pm, respectively. I won’t be at the OUTCAST TV show panel in room 6DE on Saturday, 7/11, from 3-4pm. I won’t be signing at the Image Comics/Skybound – booth #2729. I won’t be at the Skybound Fifth Anniversary and AIR Premiere event. I won’t even be across the street at the Walker Stalker Fan Fest located at Petco Park, where you can get a hands on experience with OVERKILL’S THE WALKING DEAD ahead of its 2016 release. Unfortunately, after years and years of being healthier than my physique would indicate I had to have minor surgery on my throat. Nothing serious, but in the aftermath of such a fun experience, it comes with a brief duration of time where I’m unable to speak so all that pink business inside me can heal. As luck would have it, that period of time overlaps with Comic-Con.
This is the first Comic-Con I’m missing in well over a decade. While I’m bummed that I can’t be there, there’s nothing keeping you from enjoying all the fun events I mentioned above despite my absence. Have you seen Andrew Lincoln’s eyes up close? You don’t want to miss those! Don’t pass up the opportunity to ask both Patrick Fugit and Kim Dickens how much I enjoyed their performances in Gone Girl (hint, a lot). Believe me when I tell you the trailers we’re debuting for each of these three TV shows and Skybound’s first feature, AIR, are phenomenal and you’re definitely going to want to be among the first to see them. The Skybound booth is going to have all kinds of ridiculously awesome stuff at it, including a crossbow that fires littles foam darts. I’ve been terrorizing people around the office with it for months.
I plan on making my triumphant Comic-Con return next year, you’ve been warned. Until then I’ll just be catching up on work and eating a lot of ice cream. So go to a panel, buy an overpriced hotdog, and think of me when you’re buying Transformer toys. I wish you all a fun and safe Comic-Con. Someone please be sure to bootleg the Deadpool trailer for me!
The Wall Street Journal has an exclusive featurette that shows how the next Marvel installment, Ant-Man, is as much a heist film as it is a superhero movie.
What makes this video work and possibly the film is it introduces the Ant-Man heist team, and you as the viewer have now created a relationship with the characters and that relationship makes you care about the film.
Michael Peña, David Dastmalchian, and T.I. are way Ant-Man will be a success at the box office.
Armed with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of towering threats. Against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
Marvel’s Ant-Man will be in theaters on July 17, 2015.
Paul Feig’s all-female reboot of Ghostbusters has cast Neil Casey as its villain. The cast has been coming together in recent weeks, and Casey will play a character named Rowan.
Deadline broke the news this morning that Neil Casey will join the cast. Casey is an accredited writer alum of Saturday Night Live, so Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones may have had a say in casting Casey in the film. Casey;s other writing credits include Inside Amy Schumer and The Kroll Show. His acting credits are limited, having appeared in Veep, The League, and Broad City among other fringe shows.
There are no details regarding his character or what sort of villain he may be, even though he does slightly resemble Peter MacNicol, who played Janosz in Ghostbusters II. It seems doubtful that Feig would cast Neil Casey to play Janosz, so that is probably just a confidence. The Ghostbusters reboot is currently filming and will be released July 22, 2016.
AMC released a behind the scenes look at Fear the Walking Dead. The cast and crew of the show welcome fans to LA and share what they’re looking forward to in the episodes to come.
Fear the Walking Dead will be set in Los Angeles and focused on new characters and storylines. The show’s first season will consist of six one-hour episodes and premiere on AMC in August. The show’s second season will air in 2016.
Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert from “The Walking Dead” are executive producers of the new series, which, like the original, is being produced by AMC Studios. Dave Erickson (“Marco Polo,” “Sons of Anarchy”), who co-created and co-wrote the pilot with Kirkman, is an executive producer and showrunner. The series will star Cliff Curtis (“Missing,” “Gang Related”), Kim Dickens (Gone Girl, “Sons of Anarchy”), Frank Dillane (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) and Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm).
To Live and Die in LA is director William Friedkin firing on all cylinders. It is a time capsule of the mid 80s, complete with a pitch perfect soundtrack from Wang Chung, and fluorescent title cards. Crime dramas are a dime a dozen, and Friedkin’s film has many familiar characters, but these characters are put into interesting dilemmas; rather than have the story plod along predictable lines, the story thrusts these lawmen and villains into murky moral waters. And, to top it off, Friedkin stages a car chase that rivals his legendary sequence from The French Connection.
The picture stars William Petersen – an actor who never got the star treatment he deserved – as Secret Service agent Richard Chance. Chance is cocky, brash, and not entirely likable in all the right ways. After his partner is killed chasing a lead on a counterfeiter mere days from retirement, Chance makes it his mission in life to bring down the counterfeiter, Eric Masters, played coolly by Willem Dafoe in one of his earliest starring roles.
Dafoe’s Masters is the perfect juxtaposition to Petersen’s fiery agent. Where Chance is brash and vocal, Masters is brash and smooth, quietly confident, bragging later in the film that he is an easy man to find. He flaunts his counterfeiting prowess. The sequence early in the film showing Masters manufacture some “funny money” is celebrated for its authenticity and attention to detail, so much so that the cast was worried they may be breaking some sort of laws by showing such an intricate criminal enterprise in this sort of detail.
To Live and Die in LA could have easily fall into the rhythm of good guy chasing bad guy, but these characters are not so clearly drawn along black and white lines. Chance, aptly named, uses a female criminal informant as he desires, he loses sight of the law, and his decisions build a mountain of nearly impossible odds. After Chance and his new partner, Vukovich (John Pankow), get to Masters as two prospective buyers, Chance’s boss won’t allow the $30,000 buy in to move the sting forward. Desperate to get his man, Chance devises a plan to rob another criminal for the cash, but naturally things go awry, leading to the chase along the freeways and access roads of So-Cal.
The chase is necessary to the plot, not simply a shameless action-grab addition. A majority of the chase takes place on the wrong side of a major freeway, and is white-knuckle from start to finish because of the stakes involved. To Live and Die in LA is all about the stakes of the game, and with brilliant performances and taut direction from Friedkin, the tension builds from start to finish. It is a masterful film in nearly every sense, full of brilliant complexity.
Recent news is that Friedkin is bringing To Live and Die in LA to the small screen with WGN America. Part of me could see this story work in a serialized environment, but the other part of me realizes the effectiveness of this story – which is rife with real surprises – lies in its self-contained format. Regardless of how the new series may turn out, To Live and Die in LA is a film any fan of the crime drama should seek out. It hasn’t lost a step as it nears it’s 30th anniversary.
AfterShock Comics which launched in April announced its writing team, according to a report by Deadline.
Garth Ennis is the most recent addition, alongside Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Paul Jenkins, Justin Jordan, Phil Hester, Frank Barbiere, and Marguerite Bennett.
“AfterShock looks to be making all the right moves. I’m delighted by the arrival of a new home for independent, creator-owned comics,” said Ennis.
Ennis will be a high profile name in 2016 with the release of AMC’s new show produced by Seth Rogen, Preacher, based on the Ennis series from Vertigo.
Launched in April 2015, AfterShock Comics is a comic book company that combines the creative edge of an independent comic book publisher with the strengths and experience of a traditional powerhouse. In addition to Editor-‐in-‐Chief Mike Marts, a former Marvel executive editor, Aftershock’s executive team includes: Chief Creative Officer Joe Pruett, an Eisner Award-‐winning publisher and editor; Co-‐CEO Michael Richter, an accomplished media and technology executive, most recently at Facebook, as well as an award-‐winning filmmaker; Co-‐CEO Jon Kramer, an entertainment entrepreneur with extensive worldwide production and distribution experience; President Lee Kramer, a film/TV production and development executive who has worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood; and Senior VP of Investor Relations Jawad Qureshi, an experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor.
In addition to unveiling its initial writers slate, AfterShock also announces an anthology of short stories. Those writers include: Jim Starlin, Amy Chu, Brian Stelfreeze and industry icon Neil Gaiman.
According to sources at Entertainment Weekly there will not be a new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens during the Lucasfilm panel.
It’s as if a billion nerds cried out at once…
This is the description of the panel: Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Felicity Jones, director J.J. Abrams, writer Lawrence Kasdan, and special guests provide a special look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
There has been no official announcement from Lucasfilm, but it appears that Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One has been filming for the past three weeks, according to Star Wars Aficionado.
Their sources report that an action sequence involving Felicity Jones has been filmed. This sequence in the jungle, involves massive air/ground bombardment. They also filmed a scene on board the original Death Star. The film crew is using sets for The Force Awakens re-dressed alongside old and new areas of the Battle Station.
If this story is true, there is a chance that Kennedy could debut the first teaser for Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One during this panel.
We will keep you posted if this theory pans out.
Star Wars Anthology: Rogue is directed by Gareth Edwards, this 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.
Bill Cosby admitted in 2005 that he got quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with, and that he gave the sedative to at least one woman and “other people,” according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
According to the documents acquired by the AP, two woman testified in the same case that they knowingly took quaaludes from Cosby.
Cosby’s lawyers objected to the release of the documents from the deposition in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand on the grounds that it would embarrass their client.
This was the first of many sexual abuse lawsuits against Cosby.
From The Hollywood Reporter: In a deposition on September 29, 2005, the comedian was asked, “When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?”
