A scene from Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Trollhunters.’ (Photo Courtesy of Netflix)
DreamWorks and Netflix have unveiled a behind-the-scenes featurette for Trollhunters, a new animated series from Guillermo del Toro. The short video includes brief interview snippets with the series’ stars Kelsey Grammer, Ron Perlman, Charlie Saxton, and Steven Yeun, as well as del Toro talking about the world created in the series. Netflix will release the 26 episode season of Trollhunters on December 23, 2016.
The Plot: From the limitless imagination of master storyteller Guillermo Del Toro comes a tale of two worlds set to collide in the epic saga DreamWorks Trollhunters. When ordinary teenager Jim Lake Jr. stumbles upon a mystical amulet on his way to school one morning, he inadvertently discovers an extraordinary secret civilization of mighty trolls beneath his small town of Arcadia. Strong-willed and seeking adventure but wholly unprepared for the responsibilities thrust upon him, Jim is forced to take on the exalted mantle of Trollhunter, sworn to protect the good trolls from powerful enemies bent on revenge. The first human ever to hold the honor, Jim abruptly goes from fighting his way through the daily mayhem of high school to joining a war that has raged for centuries, a conflict that now threatens all of mankind and troll-kind alike.
Accompanied by his closest human friends and a few key troll allies, the courageous fifteen-year-old must plunge headlong into a fantastical world of astonishing creatures, glorious cities, and fierce enemies desperate to destroy him. Suddenly destined to play a crucial role in an ancient battle of good and evil with stakes that couldn’t be higher, Jim is determined to save the world — right after gym class. DreamWorks Trollhunters is a heroic tale that uncoils with ambitious, complex storytelling and stunning visuals that raise the bar for animated series, creating an event series that will thrill the entire family.
As Rogue One: A Star Wars Story arrives in theaters, Disney and Lucasfilm have released another trailer for the action epic which focuses on a band of rebels stealing the plans for the Death Star. Directed by Godzilla‘s Gareth Edwards, the Star Wars prequel stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Tony Gilroy and Chris Weitz wrote the screenplay from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta. John Knoll and Jason McGatlin executive produced, and Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur, and Simon Emanuel served as producers. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released in theaters beginning December 15, 2016.
And for those confused as to where Rogue One falls in the Star Wars films timeline, here’s an explanation shared by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill:
The Plot: From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.
The CW’s debuted a new poster for the dramatic series Riverdale based on the popular Archie comics. The series is set to debut on January 26, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT and stars KJ Apa as Archie, Ashleigh Murray as Josie, Cole Sprouse as Jughead, Lili Reinhart as Betty, and Camila Mendes as Veronica. The cast also includes Madchen Amick as Alice, Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl, Marisol Nicholas as Hermione, and Sarah Habel as Ms. Grundy. Archie Comics’ Jon Goldwater, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Supergirl, Glee), Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), and Sarah Schechter (Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) are involved as executive producers.
The Riverdale Plot: As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the recent, tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom — and nothing feels the same. Archie Andrews (Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer’s events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music and not follow in his dad’s footsteps despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale’s young music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Habel). Now Archie has no one to mentor him, certainly not singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), who is only focused on her band, the soon-to-be-world-famous Pussycats. It’s all weighing heavily on Archie’s mind — as is his fractured friendship with budding writer and fellow classmate Jughead Jones (Sprouse).
Meanwhile, girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Reinhart) is anxious to see her crush Archie after being away all summer, but she’s not quite ready to reveal her true feelings to him. And Betty’s nerves, which are hardly soothed by her overbearing mother Alice (Amick), aren’t the only thing holding her back. When a new student, Veronica Lodge (Mendes), arrives in town from New York with her mother Hermione (Nichols), there’s an undeniable spark between Veronica and Archie, even though Veronica doesn’t want to risk her new friendship with Betty by making a play for Archie. And then there’s Cheryl Blossom (Petsch)… Riverdale’s Queen Bee is happy to stir up trouble amongst Archie, Betty and Veronica, but Cheryl is keeping secrets of her own. What, exactly, is she hiding about the mysterious death of her twin brother, Jason? Riverdale may look like a quiet, sleepy town, but there are dangers in the shadows.
Maggie Q in ‘Designated Survivor’ episode 10 (Photo by John Medland / ABC) MAGGIE Q
“Emily, I think there’s a traitor here in the White House and I need your help to find him,” says President Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to his special aid, Emily (Italia Ricci), as he begins to work toward finding the inside man involved in the attack on the Capitol in ABC’s new political thriller series, Designated Survivor.
Season one’s midseason finale begins right where it left off last week with Agent Wells (Maggie Q) still in her totaled car, slowly starting to come to as some strange man outside her car is telling her not to move and that she’s been in a bad accident. The man tries to strangle Wells, but thankfully she realizes what he’s doing and hits the gas, throwing him into another car and managing to escape.
At the White House, Kirkman tells his wife (Natascha McElhone) about discovering the blueprints to the Capitol attack and that there is a traitor among them. Needless to say, she’s freaked out and wants Tom to tell someone. He points out he doesn’t know who on his staff to trust besides Secret Service Agent Mike (LaMonica Garrett).
Meanwhile, Seth (Kal Penn), Emily, and Aaron (Adan Canto) are celebrating the soon-to-be confirmation of Peter MacLeish (Ashley Zukerman) as the vice president. When Seth leaves the room, Aaron and Emily start making out.
FBI Agent Wells makes her way to Chuck’s apartment and promptly passes out. When she wakes the next day, she finds that Chuck has tended to her injuries as best he could and put her in his bed to sleep. (Who says chivalry is dead?!) Chuck wants to stop looking into the Capitol attack, pointing out that she almost died. But Wells has a mini heart-to-heart with Chuck about why they joined the Bureau and it was to help people. “They aren’t going to stop until we stop them,” says Wells, and he once again agrees to help her. He’s able to track the burner phone her mysterious caller has used to leave her clues and discovers the convenience store where it was bought. Wells heads out to try to find more clues.
Back at the White House, Kirkman talks to the computer guy who created the simulation of the attack on the Capitol. Scared of just how big the conspiracy might be, the creator of the blueprint tells the president he handed the file over to the general in charge at the time who it just so happens is the general who Kirkman fired earlier. Kirkman has the ex-general secretly brought in for questioning, and at first, he denies knowing about it but then admits it was taken from him before he had a chance to read it by someone at the White House who was part of the former president’s staff. Kirkman makes a list of anyone who was part of the White House before the attack and lived, and needless to say only a few names are on the list. POTUS has Emily brought in and he confides in her what’s going on. He knows he can trust her because she was his righthand person before the attack and had nothing to do with the White House. He shows her the list and her heart sinks when she sees Aaron’s name on it.
Since Wells never arrived to give Congresswoman Kimble (Virginia Madison) her evidence about MacLeish, the vote goes ahead and MacLeish is now to be sworn in as the new vice president. Kirkman has Kimble meet with him to ask her about what she had on MacLeish, and she tells the President about Agent Wells and being a no-show. She asks if everything is okay and Kirkman tells her he’ll let her know as soon as he’s able. Kirkman asks Mike to find Agent Wells.
At the convenience store, Wells gets a license plate after going through the security video and has Chuck run it, which leads her to an old house in the woods. As she’s approaching it, she sees someone running and chases them. After a brief chase, she discovers the man is Langdon who everyone thought was dead. He tells her he doesn’t know how big the conspiracy is and she notices a gunman off in the distance point his weapon at Langdon, so she fires at the would-be killer and puts him down. A black SUV speeds off and Langdon is in the wind. Wells checks the pockets of the gunman and discovers it’s the guy who tried to strangle her. She finds a mysterious card key and with Chuck’s help discovers it’s to a room in a building with a direct line of sight to the steps of the Capitol where MacLeish is going to be sworn in as VP. Wells realizes the conspirators are going to try to assassinate the president.
While handling the press, Seth gets cornered by Lisa, the reporter who used him and is whining about not getting called on. “The president forgave me. Why can’t you?” she asks. The next day Seth calls on her and BOOM she hits him with a question about who they have in custody regarding the murder of Nassar. Seth ends the press conference and tells Aaron who tells the president who in turn tells Seth to inform Lisa that tomorrow they will give her an exclusive about who the FBI has in custody.
The FBI and Mike are comparing notes on Wells and Mike gets the picture that although she was once a good agent, she might now be a loose cannon and unstable. He shares this with Kirkman who recalls that MacLeish said she had become obsessed with him. They get word a little later that someone saw Wells shoot someone and both the FBI and the local police are looking for her.
MacLeish is starting to become unsure and uneasy with being a party to the conspiracy and confides in his wife he’s not sure he can go through with it. His wife tells him he was chosen to survive for a reason. “You’ve been given a tremendous responsibility to restore this nation to the empire it once was and can be again,” says his wife who seems more determined than her husband to make sure everything goes as planned. It’s a disturbing and chilling scene.
At the Capitol, where the ceremony is taking place, a man enters the building across the way using a keycard and heads up the steps. He arrives at the window and begins to put together a sniper rifle. The president and his entourage arrive and Kirkman walks up to the microphone and begins speaking to the crowd and the reporters. Emily gets a call from the person she asked to track down who used Langdon’s phone while he was out of the country and learns it was Aaron. This confirms that it was Aaron and not Langdon who pulled the blueprint attack file from the ex-general, making sure he didn’t see it.
As the president introduces MacLeish, the sniper across the way positions himself and takes aim. MacLeish is taking the oath when Wells pulls up and starts making her way through the large crowd. Mike and a few other security people recognize Wells and begin to make their way to her. Wells looks up at the building where the assassin will be and sees an open window. The sniper has his site locked on President Kirkman just as Wells shoots at the window with her handgun. She misses the sniper but distracts him and causes him to move just a hair when he fires his shot. Screen to black.
Designated Survivor Season 1 Episode 10 Review:
Suspenseful, fast-paced, and action-packed, episode 10 titled “The Oath” brings the first half of the political thriller’s first season to a close with a surprising mid-season cliffhanger. The president’s secret manhunt for the traitor in the White House (and it does seem as though there is more than one) and Agent Wells’ race to stop POTUS from being assassinated are the definite highlights and major driving factors of this episode.
The stand-out performance this time goes to Italia Ricci as Emily who shows wonderfully her character’s shock at being told about the traitor and heartbreak as she learns her friend, colleague, and even maybe something more, Aaron, is part of the conspiracy.
Now the real question is…who was shot and will he or she survive?! Can’t believe we have to wait until March to find out.
Charlotte Rampling and Jim Broadbent in ‘The Sense of an Ending.’
Charlotte Rampling, Michelle Dockery, Jim Broadbent, and Matthew Goode star in The Sense of an Ending, based on Julian Barnes’ critically acclaimed book. CBS Films has just unveiled a new trailer for the dramatic film directed by The Lunchbox‘s Ritesh Batra and adapted by Nick Payne. The cast also includes Harriet Walter, Emily Mortimer, Billy Howle, Joe Alwyn, and Freya Mavor, with CBS Films planning a March 10, 2017 limited theatrical release.
The Plot: Tony Webster (Broadbent) leads a reclusive and quiet existence until long-buried secrets from his past force him to face the flawed recollections of his younger self, the truth about his first love (Rampling) and the devastating consequences of decisions made a lifetime ago.
Adapted for the screen by award-winning playwright Nick Payne and produced by David Thompson and Ed Rubin (Woman In Gold).
The CW’s The 100 season four trailer confirms fans can’t expect their favorite characters to have an easier time surviving in the upcoming season than they did in season three. The fourth season will find Clarke (Eliza Taylor) attempting to get the Sky People and Grounders to work together to save the world. It will also, of course, find the rest of the survivors dealing with their actions and the repercussions of ALIE’s manipulations.
The CW hasn’t released a full synopsis for season four, but the three-minute trailer shows an even more badass Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) on a quest for revenge for Lincoln’s death. However, Octavia’s definitely not the only character who’ll be involved in what appear to be brutal fights, as the trailer’s loaded with clips of action scenes.
The cast of season four also includes Bob Morley as Bellamy, Devon Bostick as Jasper, Lindsey Morgan as Raven, Christopher Larkin as Monty, Richard Harmon as Murphy, Isaiah Washington as Jaha, Henry Ian Cusick as Kane, and Paige Turco as Abby. The 100 season four is set to premiere on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT.
Michael Buble (Photo by Evaan Kheraj/Warner Bros Records)
Michael Bublé is back with another music-filled special, Michael Bublé Sings and Swings, airing on NBC on December 20, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT. The 2016 hour-long special marks the four-time Grammy winner’s sixth annual special on NBC and will feature fan favorites “Nobody but Me,” “Always on My Mind,” “Home,” “God Only Knows” and “Feeling Good.”
Michael Bublé Sings and Swings was filmed in Manchester, England in October 2016. The special, which features Bublé backed by his band and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, was directed by Simon Staffurth (Adele: Live in London) and executive produced by Anouk Fontaine.
Over the course of his career, Bublé’s sold more than 55 million albums and has had five albums hit the top spot on Billboard’s Top 200 pop chart. His latest album, Nobody But Me, made its debut on the charts in the #2 spot.
Passengers star Chris Pratt paid a visit to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, CA on December 12, 2016 for a very special screening of the Columbia Pictures sci-fi film co-starring Jennifer Lawrence. Pratt spent time with members of the military and their families, posing for photos and signing autographs as he made his way down a line of fans that stretched for blocks. Pratt also did a special meet-and-greet with Wounded Warriors who attended the exclusive Passengers screening. And while the focus of the advance screening was to thank the Marines and their families and give them a special holiday treat, Pratt also took part in a few interviews to talk about his role in the action thriller directed by Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) and opening in theaters on December 21, 2016.
“Well, you know, we focused a lot on simulating zero gravity during the stunts which is something that’s pretty difficult and unlike anything I’ve ever done before in stunt work where you do a lot of wirework,” explained Pratt, discussing training for Passengers. “But with this, we’re trying to create the illusion of zero gravity and so that was something that we trained for. And all the action sequences that happen in space in zero gravity, those were really hard and required various techniques all the way from animation to heavily-choreographed bits of physical stunts.”
The sets that were created for Passengers were elaborate and huge, and Pratt says the use of practical sets rather than green screen really helped him get into character. “The sets were incredible. We had a grand concourse – the inner mall of the ship – we built it was practical. We had to tear a wall down between two stages in Atlanta. It’s one of the biggest sets ever built. It’s four stories tall, thousands of feet long. They used eight miles of LED lights around the whole thing. It’s really unlike anything anyone’s ever seen before. It was nice. It’s nice anytime you’re doing a movie that relies heavily on animation that you don’t have to use your imagination too much. Acting often is just reacting to your environment and so you can fake that or you can actually put yourself in a real environment and not have to fake it as much, so they were smart to create a really vibrant and real physical set against which we could act and react.”
Asked how he’d handle being alone in space for so long (his character’s awake on the ship for a year prior to Jennifer Lawrence’s character waking up), Pratt replied, “Oh my gosh, it’s hard to say. It’s hard to say. I’d like to think that I’d be perfect, but you know I think it’s hard to say. I think there’s a reason solitary confinement is like a form of torture and punishment. Being cut off from other human beings is torturous and so I don’t know how I would react. Hopefully, not worse than Jim!”
Pratt says Passengers is not a post-apocalyptic tale, although people are leaving Earth to live on another planet. “Earth is still vibrant and healthy; it’s the cradle of civilization. But, based on a couple of bits of fictional science, we’re able to put people in a state of hibernation – stopping all metabolic function. It’s like putting them on ice for a couple of hundred years, if we wanted to. We can also move half the speed of light so given those two things, we’re able to colonize other planets and other solar systems. We’re able to find planets that are similar to Earth and colonize them. My character, Jim, is a guy who’s like a rate-2 mechanic, very blue collar, working class guy, living on an Earth that’s overcrowded and over-priced. He decides he’s going to essentially allow this Homestead company to fund his trip to this new planet. He’ll show up, he’ll be a mechanic, and he’ll help build things.
It’ll be a simpler time and there will problems there he can solve – his kind of problems – because the Earth he’s living on men like him are no longer required. If something breaks, you don’t fix it. You just buy a new one. Everything is disposable. You know, he’s a bit of a throwback and a pioneer, so it’s not desimilar to the men and women that jumped on boats in manifest destiny to kind of find and establish the world of the West, the New World. So, that’s who he is; that’s why he’s in this situation. He wakes up 90 years before he gets to Homestead 2 and is facing life alone on this ship forever.”
Pratt’s recently starred in a Western (The Magnificent Seven), has been chased by dinosaurs (Jurassic World), and now he’s in a big space adventure that mixes sci-fi and romance. If it seems as though he’s living out every kids’ fantasy on screen, Pratt says that’s because he is. “I got to play a baseball player. I got to play a Navy SEAL. I can’t think of anything left. I don’t know what else I can do to fulfill my boyhood fantasies. Yeah, I’m getting very fortunate in the roles that have come my way. For sure, it’s very much a dream the roles that I’ve been able to play over the last few years.”
Watch the Chris Pratt interview:
(Additional reporting by contributing writer Kevin Finnerty. Video by Gary Murray.)
Warner Bros Pictures released the official trailer for Dunkirk, the WWII action thriller from writer/director Christopher Nolan. The much-anticipated 2017 summer theatrical release stars Tom Hardy (Mad Mad: Fury Road, The Revenant), One Direction’s Harry Styles, Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet), Cillian Murphy (Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy), Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Jack Lowden, Barry Keoghan and Tom Glynn-Carney. Dunkirk is produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas, with Jake Myers executive producing.
The Plot:Dunkirk opens as hundreds of thousands of British and Allied troops are surrounded by enemy forces. Trapped on the beach with their backs to the sea they face an impossible situation as the enemy closes in.
The minions are back in ‘Despicable Me 3.’ (Photo Credit: Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures)
Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment just released a new trailer, poster, and a couple of new photos from Despicable Me 3, the 3D-CG animated comedy directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda, and Eric Guillon. The voice cast of the third film in the hit animated film series is led once again by Steve Carell, and includes Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Nev Scharrel, Steve Coogan, Jenny Slate, and Julie Andrews. Despicable Me 3 will open in theaters on June 30, 2017.
The third Despicable Me film will be involve the sibling rivalry between Gru and his long-lost twin brother who’s the polar opposite of Gru (both characters are voiced by Steve Carell). South Park‘s Trey Parker joins the franchise voicing Balthazar Bratt, a former child star who’s grown up to become obsessed with the character he played in the ‘80s, and proves to be Gru’s most formidable nemesis to date.
Watch the Despicable Me 3 trailer:
Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) in ‘Despicable Me 3’ (Photo Credit: Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures)Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and Balthazar Bratt (voiced by Trey Parker) in ‘Despicable Me 3’ (Photo Credit: Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures)
