One of the best things about the internet age is the ability to get a behind the scenes look at our favorite shows that was not widely available before. One of my (obvious) favorite examples of this would be SNL. Not only do they occasionally post interviews with the cast and behind the scenes kind of stuff, but they also will post sketches that made it to rehearsal but not the final show.
Their most recent “web exclusive” is a look at a sketch that didn’t make the final cut that includes commentary from the Bill Hader and writers John Solomon and Rob Klein. It is rather fantastic even if it was ‘The Greatest Trainwreck Ever’.
Outside of the whole wall part and Justin Bieber saying “it’s not part of it”, the best part of that sketch is “I’m guessing most of you know it from ABC’s Private Practice“. Great line and a great look at something if it weren’t for the magical internet machines we’d never get to see.
Marvel Studios is running full steam ahead with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, planning 5 movies over the next 2 years featuring some already established characters as well as some new properties. We will be seeing Thor: The Dark World on November 8th, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4th, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1st, 2014, and The Avengers 2 on May 1st, 2015. Phase Three will launch with Ant-Man on November 6th, 2015.
Marvel has recently announced 3 more release dates for undisclosed movies, which we can assume all fit into Marvel’s Phase Three. These dates are May 6th, 2016 and May 5th, 2017. The third date released is July 8th, 2016, keeping in line with Marvel Studios goal for two movies a year for the REST OF OUR LIVES. Not that anyone is complaining.
Man of Steel has now been out for over a week, and did pretty well at the box office. This pretty much ensures not only a sequel from Zack Snyder and his crew, but the beginning of a DC Cinematic Universe along the same lines as Marvel’s highly successful MCU. This is all very exciting, but before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s important to take a look at the beginning of the DCCU.
Where Iron Man hit it out of the park and wowed audiences across the world while setting the foundation of the MCU, Man of Steel has divided the movie going crowd for a number of reasons. The controversial ending, massive body count and destruction of a few cities has opened up the fiery gates of internet commentators from all walks of life. Whether you are a fan of the comics, the movies, or have never heard of this Superguy or whatever he’s called, chances are you have your own opinion of Man of Steel.
There’s just something about Jon Stewart. Women love him and men want to be him. Outside of a few MTV projects early in his career, it seems as if everything Stewart has touched has turned to gold. He’s taken the idea of “comedic news” and made for himself an empire; an empire that has millions of rabidly loyal followers. When it was announced earlier this year that he would be taking a longer than usual hiatus from The Daily Show this summer you’d have thought he had simultaneously maimed a thousand puppies. Of course once people read beyond the headline, his star shined even brighter.
In 2009, Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian reporter, gave an interview with Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones. In that interview Jones took on a persona of an American spy, albeit the worst American spy in history. In June of 2009, Bahari was arrested in Iran for espionage. A key bit of evidence against him? The Daily Show interview. Bahari went on to write a book, Then They Came For Me, based on his imprisonment in Iran. Jon Stewart optioned the book and is making it a movie, writing the screenplay and directing it which is why he is taking the summer off from The Daily Show.
Just when you think he can’t get any more amazing, he goes on and does just that.
So what would it take to get Jon Stewart to handle all our diplomatic relations? Well spoken, gracious, funny, introspective… does he at least have spinach in his teeth or something? Probably not. Talking with Bassem Youssef, a man described as “the Jon Stewart of Egypt” he made a point to comment on the role of satire and comedy in a democracy. Youssef was arrested earlier this year for allegedly insulting Islam and the Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. It was likely that situation which Stewart was referring to when he said:
“If your regime is not strong enough to handle a joke, then you don’t have a regime.”
Jon Stewart will return to The Daily Show in August.
I have been a big fan of Harmonix for just over a decade now. In my mind, they are geniuses in terms of innovative gaming and the incorporation of music into the gameplay experience. The developers of FreQuency, Guitar Hero, Karaoke Revolution (which I covered for a previous web site for four years) and Rock Band were always ahead of the game with the music game experience and pioneers of the industry. With Dance Central the most recent endeavor by the team, they also managed to incorporate motion and make it a fun experience for all. Naturally, it was time for a new IP to be introduced once the new next-gen systems were announced, and Harmonix has teamed up with Disney to introduce Fantasia: Music Evolved. The announcement trailer is below and while cool, is mostly a tease instead of a comprehensive trailer with gameplay details.
Confused? Most other people were too, but it was intriguing nonetheless. One of the major details you will notice is that it is for the Kinect for both the Xbox 360 and the new Xbox One, so apologies to Sony fans out there. Regardless, I imagine the game will take advantage of the technological advancements that the new Kinect for the Xbox One brings to the table. Basically, the story goes as this: this is basically a continuation of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice part of the film with Mickey and that magical hat. This time, we take over as the apprentice and are able to create, just like Mickey did, our own orchestral arrangements and bring the scene to life. While we probably won’t see any Disney characters in this game, the amount of creativity being touted for this game is unparalleled. Most music games follow an extremely linear path where we hit the notes at the same time with no real way to branch out and improvise. This game basically flips that notion and leaves it to the gamer to create music and possibilities through the waving of hands, body and gestures.
The clip below, courtesy of Gamespot, shows some gameplay elements such as The Shoal, a place to interact with the environment to collect magic energy for your master. Of course, it also shows off Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. This is where the fun begins and I’ll let you watch it below;
That gameplay pretty much did it for me; I’m sold. The way the gamer was able to bounce back and forth between melodies and be able to determine how she wants the music to play out and the different styles. Fantasia: Music Evolved will boast a modern soundtrack with artists like Bruno Mars and Fun. providing some of the music but luckily, the game will also include music from the original Fantasia movie as well so we can play out our childhood and conduct our way through nostalgia and classical music. This game promises to be a revolutionary step in music gaming and I definitely will be looking forward to more information coming out as we still have a bit of a way before it’s release date in 2014. Regardless, Harmonix has yet again delivered a cool, new innovative experience that I can’t wait to partake in.
If you haven’t watched season 1 of BBC America’s Copper, then you have truly been missing out. Following the story of Kevin Corcoran, an Irish immigrant who is a detective in the New York neighborhood of Five Points, Copper is a lot like Law and Order if Law and Order was set in the 1860’s with more bloody violence and a lot more sex. Actually Law and Order looks like a PBS Kids show compared to Copper which is not a bad thing.
While Tom Weston-Jones as Kevin Corcoran, aka ‘Corky’, is the main character, he is surrounded by a host of differing personalities that each bring their own version of dysfunction to the party. Kyle Schmidt (who took at turn onArrow as a member of The Royal Flush Gang) is Robert Morehouse, the well-to-do son of an industrialist who happened to be an officer in the Union Army who served as Corky’s superior. My favorite character, Matthew Freeman, who served with Corky under Morehouse, is played by the talented Ato Essandoh. Anastasia Griffith and Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) play two characters that couldn’t be more different and yet more alike if they tried; the former being the wife of Morehouse and the latter a very business savy brothel madam.
That pretty much sums up season one. It ends up with Corky, in a dark dark place. He’s been looking for his wife all this time, only to find out some not so great news on that end, not to mention his job really sucks. If I dealt with dead almost baby prostitutes right off the bat at the beginning of my TV show I’d probably turn to something mind-altering as well. The second season picks up four months later and brings in some new friends, most notably, Donal Logue as General Brandon Donovan.
If little trailers of season two just aren’t enough for you and you can’t possibly wait a couple of hours to get a look at the season premiere, then you are in luck because BBC America has released the first three minutes of tonight’s show. If it’s any indication of the coming season, we are in for a wild ride.
Copper returns tonight at 10/9 central on BBC America.
Grizzly Bomb 