CBS has given a second season renewal order to the dramatic series, Ransom. Ransom was created by David Vainola (Diamonds, Combat Hospital) and Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, The Man in the High Castle), with Spotnitz, Jennifer Kawaja, Julia Serney, Valerie Pechels, and Odile McDonald executive producing. The series stars Luke Roberts, Sarah Greene, Brandon Jay McLaren and Nazneen Contractor, and is inspired by crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert’s professional experiences.
Announcing the renewal, CBS confirmed the second season will consist of 13 episodes and that season two will be shot in Hungary.
The Plot:Ransom stars Luke Roberts as Eric Beaumont in a drama inspired by the real-life professional experiences of the world-renowned crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert and his partner Marwan Mery. Eric’s team is brought in to save lives when no one else can. He understands criminals better than they do and uses his insight into human behavior to resolve the most difficult kidnap and ransom cases. Despite the stakes, he refuses to resort to violence, even when confronted by some of the most dangerous criminals in the world.
While Eric’s considerable powers of manipulation make him the best at what he does professionally, they often complicate his relationships with family, friends and colleagues. His team consists of psych-profiler, Oliver Yates, ex-cop Zara Hallam, and aspiring investigator Maxine Carlson. Maxine, the newest member, is eager to prove herself but a dangerous secret from her past may pose a threat that even the great Eric Beaumont is unable to resolve.
The CW’s Supergirl returned to kick off the third season on October 9, 2017 with an episode that found Kara having a difficult time dealing with her decisions from the season two finale. She’s come to believe only Supergirl is important and that “Kara” doesn’t matter, nor does her job as a journalist. Team Supergirl spent the episode attempting to reach out to Kara while she kept pushing them away, until the last few minutes of the season three premiere.
Season three episode two titled “Triggers” will have the team squaring off against a new adversary, Psi. Directed by David McWhirter from a script by Gabriel Llanas and Anna Musky-Goldwyn, episode two will air on October 16, 2017 at 8pm ET/PT. The season three cast includes Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers, David Harewood as J’onn J’onzz, Jeremy Jordan as Winn Schott, Mehcad Brooks as James Olsen, Katie McGrath as Lena Luthor, Chris Wood as Mon-El of Daxam, and Odette Annable as Reign. The series is executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Sarah Schechter, Robert Rovner, and Jessica Queller.
The “Triggers” Plot: Yael Grobglas (Jane the Virgin) Guest Stars — Psi (Grobglas), a thief with psychic powers, attacks National City. Able to immobilize people by tapping into their worst fears, Psi proves a formidable opponent for Supergirl. Meanwhile, James (Brooks) and Lena (McGrath) are at an impasse, and Samantha starts her new job at L-Corp.
The Recording Academy and CBS are marking the 60th anniversary of the Grammys with a retrospective featuring epic moments from throughout the Grammy Awards‘ past 59 years. The Grammys Greatest Stories: A 60th Anniversary Special will air on CBS on Friday, November 24, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT and will include archival footage as well as special appearances by Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, Dave Grohl, Elton John, Bruno Mars, Chris Martin, Paul McCartney, Ed Sheeran, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, U2, and Keith Urban.
“As we approach this milestone in Grammy history, we are excited to give music fans a glimpse into what artists, musicians, producers, set designers, and others do to make those unforgettable ‘Grammy Moments,’” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “This special will take audiences on a new journey as they relive those extraordinary moments that can only be seen on the Grammys.”
“Never before have we gathered all of the greatest moments of the Grammys, from a half century of award shows for one primetime special, and when you see them put together in a parade of amazing clip montages interspersed with the stories behind the performances, it’s really pretty unbelievable,” said Ken Ehrlich, executive producer of the Grammy Awards for the past 38 years.
The 60th anniversary special was written by David Wild, produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures and Ron Basile, and executive produced by Ken Ehrlich.
Details on the Grammys Greatest Stories: A 60th Anniversary Special: “The special will also take viewers behind the scenes of ‘Music’s Biggest Night®’ over the last five decades and reveal secrets about the remarkable performances and unique ‘Grammy Moments’ only seen on the Grammy Awards. Special segments will include reactions from Grammy producers and members of the music community following the tragic loss of Whitney Houston; Aretha Franklin’s unexpected opera performance at the 40th Grammy Awards; and Paul McCartney bringing The Beatles’ legendary album Abbey Road to the Grammy stage, among others.
Kevin Alejandro, Tom Ellis, Lauren German and Aimee Garcia in ‘Lucifer’ season 3 episode 2 (Photo by John P Flexor / FOX)
Fox’s Lucifer season three episode two begins with the sexy Devil (Tom Ellis) starting to strip off his clothes as he makes out with a gorgeous woman. His wings unfurl in all their glory and he apologizes for premature unfurling. She claims to be into cosplay and offers to dress up as the Devil, but he doesn’t want to have sex with himself. Mood ruined, he sends her away so he can cut off his wings.
Lucifer’s talking about this sexual encounter with Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris) and she admits she’s worried he’s self-mutilating. However, Lucifer claims he’s only chopping off his wings because he doesn’t his dad to have any control over him. Besides, what he’s really worried about is the mysterious Sinnerman.
Lucifer notices Dr. Linda’s still in pain, but she wants to concentrate on his problems right now and of course he’s fine with that. He carries on expressing his outrage with Sinnerman, pissed this stranger has stolen his shtick of giving out favors for a price to be named later. Dr. Linda reminds Lucifer he hasn’t done that in a while, and Lucifer doesn’t care. He invented that and doesn’t want anyone else claiming it as their own.
At the station, Chloe (Lauren German) shows Lucifer a photo of Sam’s killer (from the end of episode one) and he’s definitely not Sinnerman. The killer confessed so Lucifer thinks that means he’s working for Sinnerman. Lt. Marcus Pierce (Tom Welling) walks up just then, hears “Sinnerman,” and asks if they’re big Nina Simone fans. Chloe doesn’t want to talk about it and Marcus hands her a new case.
When he walks away, Chloe informs Lucifer Sinnerman is an urban myth. Criminals use Sinnerman to hide their bad behavior, so no way would she tell Marcus they want to arrest Sinnerman. However, if Lucifer has evidence he’s a real person, she’ll look into it.
On to the new case and it’s a bizarre one. Dan (Kevin Alejandro) is already at the crime scene and has learned the victim’s name is JD Woodstock. There’s a book of bad jokes with his dead body, and apparently he was a comedian. Lucifer forgets Dan’s improv is supposed to be a secret and he spills the beans to Chloe by saying the victim and Dan are kindred spirits. Dan explains stand-up is different from improv, and Chloe’s indignant she didn’t know he did improv.
Ella (Aimee Garcia) breaks up the improv/stand-up comedian conversation to alert them as to the cause of death. She recognizes the Woodstock name because he was just in the news blaming comedian Bobby Lowe of The Bobby Lowe Show for stealing his jokes. Lucifer feels sympathy for the victim since his life was apparently stolen and used by another comedian for fame and profit.
As they’re speaking, the camera zooms back to show Marcus is spying on them. He’s listening to their conversations while watching through binoculars. WTF?
Lucifer and Chloe watch JD’s YouTube video in which he says he has proof Bobby is a fraud. Unfortunately, he didn’t post the truth online before he was tortured and killed. Ella doesn’t believe Woodrow and thinks Bobby Lowe is genuine and believable. When Lucifer and Chloe say they’re heading out to interview Bobby, Ella fangirls and practically begs to come with them.
Meanwhile, Dr. Linda and Amenadiel (DB Woodside) meet for a drink so she can thank him for saving her life. She knows she wouldn’t be there without him, given that he slowed down time so she wouldn’t bleed to death. He asks, seriously, how she’s really doing and she claims to be fine. She mistakenly believes he has his powers back and is sorry to hear he doesn’t. Amenadiel thinks dad is testing him and says he’s ready this time.
Amenadiel’s been avoiding doing what he has to do in the penthouse and Dr. Linda offers to help him without knowing what she’s getting herself into. She heads to the penthouse and it turns out Amenadiel needs help getting rid of Lucifer’s wings so that a human doesn’t find them. Linda can’t believe what she’s seeing, calling the sight gruesome.
Dan has a one-on-one with Marcus, attempting to convince his boss he’s not a dirty cop. Yes, he did what he was accused of but he had a reason. It turns out Marcus is glad Dan came to see him because he wants everything Dan’s got on Lucifer.
Next comes the best one-liner thus far in the episode. Lucifer and Chloe are walking through a stage and a giant chicken walks by. “Biggest cock I’ve ever seen,” says Lucifer.
As Bobby Lowe (Kevin Christy) is preparing to tape an episode, Ella, Chloe and Lucifer are ushered over to see him. Bobby’s furious these strangers are on his set, calling Woodrow a failure when he learns his visitors are there investigating the murder. He’s obnoxious, but Ella is so starstruck she doesn’t realize Bobby is a massive jerk.
They stay for a taping and Chloe and Lucifer are not impressed. The show stars Bobby and a bunch of puppets who represent his imaginary friends. Lucifer interrupts the taping, pushing aside a puppet and ripping another’s head off causing a kid in the audience to scream. When Bobby demands Lucifer leave the stage, Lucifer puts a lamb puppet on his hand and does a bizarre lamb-ish voice. Bobby freaks out and tells Lucifer to put it down. It turns out there’s a gun inside the puppet and it goes off, shooting Bobby in the arm. Everyone stares at Lucifer and he holds up his hand, still wearing the puppet. “He did it,” says the show-stopping Devil.
After the audience leaves, Bobby admits it’s his gun and the puppet was one they don’t use on the show. The gun isn’t the murder weapon and Bobby claims once again he didn’t kill JD. Lucifer uses his Devil power and Bobby reveals he wants out of this hell. He hates working with puppets and because JD is dead, he can’t end the show. Bobby admits he did steal JD’s act, basing the show on JD’s life. Now he can’t quit because he’d lose all the money. Plus, he is getting death threats and that’s why he hid the gun on the set. The threats were anonymous and Chloe asks for the emails.
Rachael Harris and DB Woodside in ‘Lucifer’ (Photo by John P Flexor / FOX)
Up in the penthouse, Amenadiel and Dr. Linda place the wings in trash bags, and Linda can’t believe how painful it must have been for Lucifer to cut off pieces of himself. Amenadiel knows he’s being tested since wings are the one thing he desperately wants back. Dad always has a plan and if it was easy, it wouldn’t be much of a test.
Back at the station, Lucifer and Chloe go through the emails and they all threaten Bobby’s life. However, the threats end right after JD posted his video revealing these were his jokes. The guy who wrote the emails must have realized JD was the comedian actually making fun of him, not Bobby, since Bobby didn’t write the jokes.
Chloe says the show started off much edgier and although she doesn’t want to say this out loud in front of Lucifer, she finally reveals it dealt with a guy’s insecurities about his micropenis. Lucifer can’t just let that pass without comment, saying, “Hold me closer, Tiny Donger. So, you say we’re looking for a needle in a penis stack?”
Chloe says when they changed it to a family show, they removed the penis. All this micropenis discussion has led Lucifer to believe the killer is really the victim in all this. Chloe reminds him that’s not how it works.
Lucifer’s home and he rings up Maze about tracking down Sinnerman, but she has a hectic schedule. She then pretends the call’s cutting out and hangs up.
After the call ends, Lucifer discovers he has an uninvited guest at his home: Marcus. Marcus says he’s figured out what Lucifer really is. Marcus doesn’t know why Lucifer calls himself the Devil, and Lucifer assumes that means Marcus thinks he’s the Sinnerman. He’s insulted when Marcus says he’s not that calculating and smart. Marcus looked into Lucifer’s history and now considers him impulsive and short-fused. He also thinks Lucifer’s an idiot, so he came to warn him not to look into the Sinnerman anymore. He shouldn’t throw the name around and he shouldn’t talk about him at the precinct. Marcus came to LA to get away from the Sinnerman after butting heads with him in Chicago. Despite Marcus trying to warn Lucifer away, Lucifer says he’s going mano-a-sinnermano.
Amenadiel and Dr. Linda take the wings up to the trash can on the roof and set them on fire. Linda thinks they should say something as the wings burn, and Amenadiel’s frustration comes through when he replies to that suggestion. Burning the wings pains him in his soul, but Lucifer treated them like trash. Linda doesn’t think Lucifer understands how much this hurts his brother, and Amenadiel agrees. “Everything he does seems designed to hurt me,” says Amenadiel. Linda points out Lucifer’s testing him, and Amenadiel finally sees what’s been right in front of his face all along. His test is Lucifer and it always has been.
The next day at the station Lucifer tells Chloe about his chat with Marcus regarding the Sinnerman. Dan interrupts with news the emails were sent from a comedy club on Sunset and they were always sent during open mic night. Chloe wonders how they can draw out the killer and Lucifer suggests they pull everyone’s pants down and arrest the one with the tiniest weenie.
They go with a different plan and Dan takes the stage for open mic night, determined to insult the killer into showing himself. His act doesn’t start off well, although he does mention the micropenis right off the bat. He’s flopping and Lucifer boos him, saying a micropenis is a medical condition. Chloe eggs him on, with Lucifer delivering jokes about a micropenis from the audience. Chloe keeps checking the audience as Lucifer heckles Dan, suggesting maybe Dan is the one with the “baby carrot.” Lucifer wants Dan to drop his pants and then pelts Dan with tomatoes as he runs off the stage.
After the set is over, they meet at the bar and Dan is furious. “I didn’t want to do this to begin with. I told you stand-up and improv are completely different!” says Dan. Dan wants to know why Chloe didn’t stop Lucifer and she says it’s because someone might have viewed Lucifer’s heckling as sympathetic to their micropenis. She’s right as a man wanders up to thank Lucifer for what he said.
At the station, they show the micropenis dude photos of Woodrow dead and he admits he sent the threatening emails to Bobby. “All the chuckle bunnies talk,” says the comedian, who apparently toured with Bobby before he was famous. Lucifer’s intrigued there’s a term for women who like to sleep with comedians, suggesting he should have “Devil bunnies” or “Lucifans.” He didn’t like Bobby telling jokes about his micropenis on the show but when he found out JD actually wrote the jokes, he wasn’t upset. That didn’t bother him because a struggling comedian using his life as the source for a joke is one thing, but a millionaire doing it is something totally different.
The micropenis comedian says JD had a sad life, but he did just mention a warm-up comic wanted to meet with him about a gig. The warm-up comedian was named Sheila, and Chloe knows that Bobby Lowe’s warm-up comedian is Sheila.
Lucifer and Chloe head back to the stage which is now dark and empty. As they walk by a row of puppets, a tiger follows them. Chloe and Lucifer separate and Chloe finds Bobby beaten up and on the floor. He blames Sheila, saying she was angry because he said he was going to quit. She hit him in the face with her gun. Chloe calls out to Lucifer to let him know Sheila is there and that she’s armed.
Lucifer confronts Sheila and she admits killing JD. She also admits she’s okay with Bobby stealing JD’s jokes since Bobby did them better and since he brought her along for the ride. As they’re talking, Chloe distracts Sheila long enough for Lucifer to knock her out.
Back at the station, Marcus admits Lucifer is right and the Sinnerman is in LA. Marcus has brought the Sinnerman’s murderous thug in, admitting he can’t get anything out of him. Marcus hands him over to Lucifer, suggesting Lucifer can make him talk. Again, he tells Lucifer to shut his mouth about the Sinnerman so others don’t get hurt. He reminds Lucifer Chloe has a kid and no one wants anything to happen to her.
Lucifer heads into the interrogation room to talk with Alonso. He wants to know more about the Sinnerman and why Sam was skewered under the pier. Lucifer uses his Devil mind trick and Alonso says he killed Sam because he didn’t want his girlfriend to sleep with him anymore. He claims to have no idea who the Sinnerman is, swearing he doesn’t know anything. Lucifer believes him.
Lucifer visits Dr. Linda again and he’s still convinced Alonso was telling the truth and was just a deranged jealous boyfriend. Linda changes the subject to talk about his wings. He admits they grew back again and she tells him to stop cutting them off. He agrees because cutting them off is exhausting and messy. He doesn’t want dad to win, and Linda says external factors shouldn’t define him. Lucifer has an epiphany and says, “It’s not about the idea. It’s about the execution. It’s about how I use the wings.” Linda agrees, complimenting him that that’s pretty wise. But then Lucifer adds he’ll just tuck them away and pretend they’re not there. Not so good, says Linda. He also says he does favors better than anyone else and now he needs to get back into the favors game to reclaim his position as the best at it.
The scene switches to find Lucifer relaxing in a booth at Lux as what appears to be hundreds of people line up to see him. He asks each in turn, “What is it that you truly desire?”
Disney and Lucasfilm debuted the full trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi during the Monday Night Football halftime on October 9, 2017. Tickets for Star Wars: The Last Jedi went up for sale immediately following the launch of the trailer, a little over two months prior to the film’s theatrical release. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi includes Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, and Benicio Del Toro.
Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman produced the film, with J.J. Abrams, Tom Karnowski and Jason McGatlin executive producing. Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters on December 15, 2017.
The Plot: In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Will Smith will be voicing a debonair secret agent named Lance Sterling and Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland is voicing a scientific genius named Lance in the animated comedy, Spies in Disguise. The Fox Animation, Chernin Entertainment, and Blue Sky Studios production is directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, based on the short film Pigeon: Impossible by Lucas Martell.
Spies in Disguise is set to open in theaters on January 18, 2019.
Will Smith recently wrapped up work on the sci-fi drama Bright from director David Ayer (Suicide Squad, End of Watch) and has just begun filming Disney’s Aladdin. Tom Holland is reprising his role as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Avengers: Infiniti War and the untitled 2019 Spider-Man sequel.
The Plot:Spies in Disguise is a buddy comedy set in the high octane globe-trotting world of international espionage. Will Smith voices Lance Sterling, the world’s most awesome spy. Cool, charming and super-skilled, saving the world is his occupation. And nobody does it better. Almost the exact opposite of Lance is Walter, voiced by Tom Holland. Walter is a great mind but perhaps not a great socializer. What he lacks in social skills though, he makes up for in smarts and invention: Walter is the scientific genius who invents the gadgets Lance uses on his missions.
But when events take an unexpected turn, Walter and Lance suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way. And if this odd couple can’t learn to work as a team, the whole world is in peril.
Maisie Richardson-Sellers poses on the ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ red carpet at Comic Con 2017 (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Maisie Richardson-Sellers says that one of the great things about breaking history in season two of The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow was that it offers the Legends a chance to go back and interact with some really interesting historical figures. During the 2017 San Diego Comic Con, Richardson-Sellers also chatted about what’s in store for her character, Amaya/Vixen; relationships within the Legends team; and Amaya’s need to return to Zambesi to keep her timeline intact.
The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow season three will premiere on October 10, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT.
What can you tell us about where the Legends start in season three?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “We’re in big trouble. We’ve broken time. We’re stuck in LA with dinosaurs. We realize this is a big one to get out of and we might need some help from the Time Bureau. That kind of puts us in a half-hazard position because we’re kind of defunct now and they’re great; they’re efficient. So, the question is what happens next? What do we do? That’s the position we find ourselves in.”
Can you tease anything about Amaya and Nate’s relationship?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “It ended quite nicely at the end of last season. There was a sort of making up and such. I think this season they’re definitely going to explore it, but I think she’s very conscious of the fact she has to go back. She has to go back home in order to fulfill her timeline and that puts a time limit on their relationship. So, is it going to stay just chill and they’re just going to have fun? Or are they going to be able to control their emotions?”
How will the Legends will try to fix what they broke?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “They’re kind of racing the Time Bureau because it’s a competition to see who can fix time first and better. And, they get alerted quite suddenly…’Oh, we’re going here. We’re going there.’ So, we’re going to go to those places trying to fix it but there’s also the big bad also going through time trying to make it worse. So, we’re going to be chasing the problems and the bad at the same time throughout time.”
Have you enjoyed the different time periods portrayed in the series?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “It’s the best. It’s almost like doing a movie every week. The costume department – everything is handmade and beautiful. And it means we get amazing guests every week. I think it’s one of the huge pleasures of the show and I hope for the viewers, as well, because you never know what you’re going to get.”
Is there anyone you’re going to get to interact with more this season that you didn’t share many scenes with in season two?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “I think I work more with Caity (Lotz). As I start discovering new sides to my powers that I didn’t know before, which kind of challenges my very righteous side, that will make me more relatable to Caity as well and to Mick who both experience some of these things. I’m hoping we’ll go deeper into their friendships.”
Is there anything from what you’ve filmed of season three that was particularly fun or that you can’t wait for fans to see?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “We’re going to England which should be fun. We visited the circus which was amazing – a 1700s circus, a P.T. Barnum circus. I get into a lot of trouble at the circus.”
With the crossovers in the works, are there characters on the other shows you’d like to be able to work off of?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “Candice (Patton’s) character, Iris West. I think that would be awesome. Who else? I would love to work with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) again. That was super fun. We had such great energy and lots of improv. Just getting all the women together! I think it would be great to have a big battle scene with all the women fighting or something like that to show all the power we have. We have some really great kick-ass female characters. It would be nice for us all to have screen time the same day.”
In this post-Wonder Woman setting, the narrative and the importance of women in the DC universe has changed. Are you feeling that?
Maisie Richardson-Sellers: “Definitely. And I think it’s so important and it’s about time. You’ve got the new amazing Tala (Ashe) who’s joining our cast. We’ve also got a female ‘bad,’ and another wonderful female character who’s going to be at the Time Bureau. I think we’re definitely feeling that ripple and it’s great that it was so successful because I think that it shows that there’s an audience who are interested. The strength of the female characters represents everything, so I hope it’s going to continue to translate well.”
Season two of Fox’s music-driven series, Star, has earned a commitment for five additional hour-long episodes. Season two of the dramatic series from Oscar nominee Lee Daniels and Tom Donaghy is currently airing on Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT, with the series hitting its highest viewership numbers since its premiere with its first episode of season two. The additional episode order brings the season two total to 18 episodes.
The series stars Queen Latifah (Carlotta Brown), Benjamin Bratt (Jahil Rivera), Jude Demorest (Star Davis), Ryan Destiny (Alexandra Crane), Brittany O’Grady (Simone Davis), Amiyah Scott (Cotton Brown), Quincy Brown (Derek Jones), Miss Lawrence (Miss Bruce), Michael Michele (Ayanna Floyd), Stephen Dorff (Brody Dean), and Luke James (Noah Brooks). Guest stars include Lenny Kravitz and Tyrese Gibson. Lee Daniels, Tom Donaghy, Pamela Oas Williams, and showrunner Karin Gist executive produce.
The Plot: The story of three girls’ rise to fame, Star’s first season ended on the heels of a victory, as the singing trio caught its first big break – winning Atlanta NextFest. Heading into Season Two, one thing is clear: their lives will never be the same. It’s a whole new world for the girls, as Star, Alexandra and Simone prepare for their next career move, with help and guidance from Carlotta, the group’s new manager. Having entered into a deal with Midtown Sound, the girls and Carlotta must contend with R&B crooner Noah Brooks and other artists to fight for the attention of the new label president, Ayanna Floyd, a powerful Machiavellian corporate operator with her own agenda for the girls’ future.
Meanwhile, after a harrowing stint in prison, Cotton must find a way to re-enter society as a convicted felon. And, with Derek facing the possibility of never walking again, Alexandra must work to keep their romance alive, while balancing her own career goals. Finally, the fate of JAHIL remains decidedly unclear, following last season’s shocking and explosive finale.
Nominees have been announced for the 2nd Annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards recognizing the best in documentary features and non-fiction television of 2017. Members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association* and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association* selected this year’s nominees, with winners set to be announced on November 2, 2017 in Brooklyn New York. Penn Jillette is returning to host the awards ceremony.
Kedi leads the 2017 nominees with four nominations including Best Documentary and Best First Documentary. California Typewriter, Chasing Coral, City of Ghosts, Cries From Syria, and Dawson City: Frozen Time each picked up three nominations. Abacus: Small Enough to Jail and An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power were recognized with two nominations.
“The inaugural event last year was such a fantastic night, we cannot wait to celebrate the leading lights in the doc world at our second annual event,” stated Broadcast Film Critics Association President Joey Berlin. “This is a golden age for documentary filmmaking and nonfiction television and we’re proud to help audiences find the best of the best.”
David Freedman, Chairperson of the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards Nominating Committees, explained a major change in the categories for the 2017 awards. “As our industry continues to grow and change, the nominating committees of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association came to the decision together that we needed our categories to better reflect the current way documentaries are released as well as how the audience consumes content. Therefore, the Best Documentary category, which last year was separated into Theatrical Releases and TV/Streaming releases, has been merged into a single category, and the same is also true for the Best Director and Best First Documentary categories.”
Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards Nominees:
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – Director: Steve James
Beware the Slenderman – Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds – Directors: Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens
California Typewriter – Director: Doug Nichol
Chasing Coral – Director: Jeff Orlowski
City of Ghosts – Director: Matthew Heineman
Cries From Syria – Director: Evgeny Afineevsky
Dawson City: Frozen Time – Director: Bill Morrison
Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis – Director: Colin Hanks
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library – Director: Frederick Wiseman
Faces Places – Directors: Agnès Varda & JR
Jane – Director: Brett Morgen
Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun
One of Us – Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Spettacolo – Directors: Jeff Malmberg, Chris Shellen
Strong Island – Director: Yance Ford
BEST DIRECTOR
Evgeny Afineevsky – Cries from Syria
Amir Bar-Lev – Long Strange Trip
Matthew Heineman – City of Ghosts
Bill Morrison – Dawson City: Frozen Time
Doug Nichol – California Typewriter
Jeff Orlowski – Chasing Coral
Irene Taylor Brodsky – Beware the Slenderman
Ceyda Torun – Kedi
Agnès Varda & JR – Faces Places
Frederick Wiseman – Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY
California Typewriter – Director: Doug Nichol
Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun
Nowhere to Hide – Director: Zaradasht Ahmed
Step – Director: Amanda Lipitz
Strong Island – Director: Yance Ford
Whose Streets? – Director: Sabaah Folayan, Co-Director: Damon Davis
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
11/8/16 – Directors: Duane Andersen, Don Argott & Sheena M. Joyce, Yung Chang, Garth Donovan, Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker, Vikram Gandhi, Raul Gasteazoro, Jamie Goncalves, Andrew Beck Grace, Alma Har’el, Daniel Junge, Alison Klayman, Ciara Lacy, Martha Shane, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Bassam Tariq
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – Director: Steve James
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
City of Ghosts – Director: Matthew Heineman
Dolores – Director: Peter Bratt
The Reagan Show – Directors: Sierra Pettengill, Pacho Velez
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
AlphaGo – Director: Greg Kohs
Disgraced – Director: Pat Kondelis
Icarus – Director: Bryan Fogel
Speed Sisters – Director: Amber Fares
Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton – Director: Rory Kennedy
Trophy – Directors: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives – Director: Chris Perkel
Contemporary Color – Directors: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross
Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis – Director: Colin Hanks
I Called Him Morgan – Director: Kasper Collin
Long Strange Trip – Director: Amir Bar-Lev
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World – Director: Catherine Bainbridge, Co-Director: Alfonso Maiorana
MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECT OF A DOCUMENTARY
The Cats of Istanbul – Kedi
Etty – One of Us
Al Gore – An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Laird Hamilton – Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton
Dolores Huerta – Dolores
Gigi Lazzarato – This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous
The Sung Family – Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
MOST INNOVATIVE DOCUMENTARY
78/52 – Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
Casting JonBenet – Director: Kitty Green
Dawson City: Frozen Time – Director: Bill Morrison
Karl Marx City – Directors: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
Kedi – Director: Ceyda Torun
Last Men in Aleppo – Director: Firas Fayyad, Co-Director: Steen Johannessen
BEST SONG IN A DOCUMENTARY
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power – “Truth to Power” – OneRepublic
Chasing Coral – “Tell Me How Long” – Kristen Bell
Cries From Syria – “Prayers for This World” – Cher
Dina – “Best I Can” – Michael Cera featuring Sharon Van Etten
Served Like a Girl – “Dancing Through the Wreckage” – Pat Benatar
Step – “Jump” – Cynthia Erivo
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES (TV/STREAMING)
The Defiant Ones
Five Came Back
The Keepers
The Nineties
Planet Earth II
The Vietnam War
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES (TV/STREAMING)
30 for 30
American Masters
Frontline
Independent Lens
POV
VICE
* – Disclaimer: I’m a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Association
A scene from ‘Mindhunter’ starring Jonathan Groff. (Photo Credit: Netflix)
Netflix’s new dramatic series Mindhunter starring Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany just released its second trailer in support of the show’s upcoming October 13, 2017 premiere. The thriller comes from Joe Penhall (The Road) and is executive produced by David Fincher (Gone Girl, The Social Network, Zodiac), Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead), Charlize Theron (Girlboss, Hatfields & McCoys), and Cean Chaffin (Gone Girl, Fight Club). Fincher, Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna), Tobias Lindholm (A War, A Hijacking), and Andrew Douglas (The Amityville Horror, U Want Me 2 Kill Him?) directed season one.
In addition to Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany, the Mindhunter cast includes Anna Torv (Fringe) and Hannah Gross (Unless).
The Plot: How do we get ahead of crazy if we don’t know how crazy thinks? In Mindhunter, FBI agents Holden Ford (Groff) and Bill Tench (McCallany) study the damaged psyches of serial killers in an attempt to understand and catch them, and in the process pioneer the development of modern serial killer profiling.
