Yearly Archives: 2013

TV

The Killing: Season 3 Marks the Start of a New Case, 2 Hour Premiere Tonight

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In all my years of watching TV, I haven’t seen the level of outrage proportional to the popularity of a show as I saw with the season 1 finale of The Killing. To say people were livid and finding any and all means to express their rage on the internet is an understatement. Then came along season 2 and the methods of season 1 made more sense. It was obviously different from other crime shows because The Killing focuses on one case for the entire season. There are a lot of viewers who don’t like how seemingly slow the action and storytelling is which would explain why AMC felt the need to cancel the show at the end of season 2. Fast forward nearly six months and surprise! they were just kidding, really they want to make a season 3 and that’s what we are a mere hours away from tonight.

The actors who play the two main characters, Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden and Joel Kinnaman as Stephen Holder, are returning but for the most part, with this new case comes a new cast. The Larsens are gone, Jack Linden is gone, and the most sad of all (for me at least), Billy Campbell and Darren Richmond is gone. This is not necessarily a bad thing though as a group of equally as talented actors have come aboard. Amy Seimetz is currently on HBO’s Family Tree but I’d have to imagine her character on The Killing is going to be quite different from a member of a Christopher Guest comedy. Seimetz is playing the season 3 victim’s mother. In addition, the very talented Peter Sarsgaard plays a main role as well.

Enough of my chattering, let’s get a look at this new season!

If you haven’t seen the first two seasons of The Killing, creator Veena Sud says that you can just jump right into season 3. That is great news for people who might not have noticed the show the first two years but maybe caught wind of it with the canceled/not canceled hubbub. I’d suggest seeking out the first two seasons on Netflix when you get a chance but for now, let’s enjoy season 3!

The Killing

TV

The Venture Bros. Return Tonight, Season 5 to Debut at Midnight!

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After two long years, The Venture Bros. return to Adult Swim tonight, June 2nd, at midnight. After a fourth season that in some opinions was a bit lackluster compared to the previous three, anticipation and expectation is high for this fifth season. The show has already been renewed for a sixth season as well but given the production time necessary to bring the series to air, it is not expected to be ready until the fall of 2014 so there’s even greater pressure for this season to be everything fans had ever hoped for and more.

How about we take a nice look back at seasons 1-4 before seeing what season 5 has in store?

That about covers it right? So now that we’ve seen where we’ve been, how about we see where we’re going?

http://youtu.be/nC8WMvxzRis

Looks pretty good huh? Out of everything I just hope they address how Dr. Girlfriend manages to keep her well endowed chest region reigned in with very little help from her garment. Of course, as is typical of YouTube, one video led to the next and I came across the promo for the premiere when it was originally slated for May 19th.

http://youtu.be/6IfeGnr2lE4

So that’s a few things to get you looking forward to tonight’s premiere but what about all those hours to fill between now and then? Well you’ll most certainly want to tune in to Game of Thrones but I’d suggest perhaps you spend a good 40 minutes watching Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer from last year’s San Diego Comic Con. Don’t be discouraged by the sound at first, it does clear up.

http://youtu.be/iV2yIfVkvIc

That’s all I’ve got. Be sure to tune in to Adult Swim tonight at midnight to catch the season 5 premiere of The Venture Bros.!

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Movie News & Opinions

WWE to Remake Leprechaun – Work of Genius or the Day Horror Died?

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The Leprechaun movies make up a very long line of fan favorite films getting the remake treatment. This new film will be called Leprechaun Origins and will be directed by Zach Lipovsky. If you are unaware of Mr Lipovsky’s work, and I am guessing most of you are, then here is a quote from Gamma Squad that gives us a bit of information about him.

[quote] Lipovsky has written and directed numerous short films and TV movies, and he also produced the upcoming found-footage action-thriller Ends of the Earth, which CBS Films will release in the U.S. and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, will distribute overseas. He’s currently developing a Canadian movie about the War of 1812 in the vein of “300.”[/quote]

So that all seems promising enough for someone I had never heard of before, but the director is not the real shock here. The shocking news is that it is the WWE (with Lionsgate) is in charge of the remake. The entity famous for wrestling has their own film production company, which makes sense when you think that wrestling itself is just a mix of soap operas, colorful costumes, and fighting. They don’t call it sports entertainment for nothing you know. Now the WWE stable of movies has more misses than it does hits. For every fun movie like The Marine, we have the hideous cinematic failures like Knucklehead and The Chaperone. In the company’s defense however, their foray into the horror genre, while mindless, was actually lots of fun, with the hulking wrestler Kane throwing people around like rag dolls in See No Evil. It at least kept your bum in its seat.

The problem with this latest installment however is casting. Take a look at the original Leprechaun played by the great Warwick Davis. He looks pretty cool right?

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Now look at Hornswoggle the wrestler the WWE has put in as the lead character.

Leprechaun

Granted, this won’t be the Leprechaun costume in the movie, but still, this guy is no Warwick Davis. In the WWE Hornswoggle is your goofy vertically challenged character that gets his ass kicked, but is supposed to be lovable. Can he pull of this new horror role? With Lionsgate wanting this new instalment to be darker in tone (like every other remake out there) we will have to wait and see if he has the acting chops to pull this off. My personal feeling is that no one is going to be able to pull off what Warwick Davis did in these movies. Sure they got really silly near the end but Warwick’s charm kept you watching.

1-LeprechaunJumpsOutOfFridge

But hey maybe I am wrong and Dylan Postl (the wrestler / actor playing Hornswoggle) just needs this change to break out and give us all a scare. The first movie was a pretty dark affair already, so it will be interesting to see how WWE is going to top that. The original had a young Jennifer Aniston being chased by a Leprechaun who planned to rape her while murdering everyone else. That is a tough act to follow, but this is the same company that introduced necrophilia into its wrestling plots. This could be either the funniest horror film this year or one of the worst turkeys imaginable, and with the WWE track record I am betting on the worst. If nothing else it will be interesting to see if it can make people forget about the Leprechaun’s trip into space…

LeprechaunRidingInWheelchair

Movie News & Opinions

Curse of Chucky Goes Back to its Roots with its New Chucky Doll Design

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Curse of Chucky is the latest in the popular and always entertaining horror series starring everyone’s favorite killer doll. Reprising his role as the plastic man wanting a real body is Brad Dourif who has teamed up with stars Fiona Dourif (True Blood), Danielle Bisutti (Get Smart) and Brennan Elliott (Double Jeopardy) to continue the tale of serial killer Charles Lee Ray who, when close to death performs arcane passages to live again, only to find he is stuck in a child’s doll.

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TV

Dan Harmon returning to ‘Community’

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When the “Save Community” call went out (again), there were many that thought the show should be canceled because this past season wasn’t close to the Community that we knew and loved. It was the same cast and same setting but the stories didn’t have the same feeling to them. There were others, myself included, that wanted the show to be picked up for at least a year so that the writers could come together and find a way to go out on a high note. Never in a million years did I think the real solution to bringing Community back to its old form would actually come to fruition.

That’s right folks, Dan Harmon is back. After being unceremoniously fired by Sony, it appears as if relationships have been mended enough for them to try and work together again – no doubt spurred on by flagging ratings and a very vocal backlash from the fanbase. However, the question still remains; will Dan Harmon find a way to meet everyone else halfway? He’s notorious for being a very difficult person to work for which apparently played a part in his initial firing. There’s no doubt that the show on screen is better when he’s involved, it’s just up for debate if the climate behind the camera is better.

At the end of the day, I don’t work for Dan Harmon and I enjoy seeing his ideas executed on-screen so Yay! Dan Harmon is back!

Image: NBC

TV

Matt Smith to leave ‘Doctor Who’, search on for 12th Doctor

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If I had to pick one thing to clearly illustrate the difference between American television and British television it would be the length of time shows stay on the air and/or the length of time actors stay on shows. If something lasts less than three years in America it’s seen as a bit of a failure and yet three years in Britain is somewhat more of a norm. Then if a show does last for many years, it’s cast very often doesn’t stay the same. Of course there are exceptions to these rules. One show that clearly illustrates the “show stays, cast changes” rule is Doctor Who.

In it’s original run of 26 seasons, there were 8 Doctors. Since it’s return in 2005, there have been three. Now the search is on for the fourth, the 12th Doctor.

“Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show.  I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience.  Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.

Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career.  It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.

The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I’ve never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable.  Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of  the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I’m back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special!

It’s been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one’. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys.  Matt.”

That’s right, Matt Smith, #11 is leaving Doctor Who after the Christmas special as reported by the BBC. While it’s sad for fans of the show and fans of the 11th Doctor, Steven Moffat does such a great job at giving these actors (not only the Doctor but also his companions – go watch the Ponds’ departure and tell me you didn’t cry) a proper send-off that’s it’s difficult to not look forward to seeing how they’ll go about it. Not only that but there’s a built in excitement when it comes to the regeneration of a new Time Lord.  What will he wear? What type of personality will he have? How will he interact with his companions? What will his catch phrase be? There’s so many questions! We’ll find out soon enough, for now let’s enjoy #11 while we can.