The CW’s Arrow kicks off its fifth season on October 5, 2016 with an episode titled ‘Legacy.’ Arrow season five will air on Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT with Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow), Emily Bett Rickards (Felicity Smoak), David Ramsey (John Diggle), Willa Holland (Thea Queen), John Barrowman (Malcolm Merlyn), and Paul Blackthorne (Captain Quentin Lance) back in starring roles.
Season five episode one was directed by James Bamford, story by Greg Berlanti, and script by Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle.
The ‘Legacy’ Plot: After Laurel’s (Katie Cassidy) death and the departures of both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Thea (Holland) from Team Arrow, Oliver (Amell) takes to the streets solo to protect Star City’s citizens as the Green Arrow. With Felicity (Rickards) guiding him from the bunker, Oliver is forced to deal with a city that has become overrun with both criminals and a slew of new (and painfully inexperienced) vigilantes. Watching Oliver try to balance his jobs as both the mayor and also the protector of Star City, Felicity suggests he form a new team, but Oliver resists.
However, when a deadly new criminal, Tobias Church (guest star Chad L. Coleman), enters the picture, Oliver realizes the best thing for the city might be a new team of superheroes. Meanwhile, the flashbacks take us to Russia where Oliver faces off against the Bratva.
None of the weekend’s new big studio theatrical releases lived up to pre-release expectations. Blair Witch, Bridget Jones’s Baby, and Snowden all failed to make it to double digits in their first weekend in wide release, which doesn’t bode well for any of the three films having legs at the box office. Of the three, Blair Witch was supposed to be the one to give Sully a run for its money, but the battle for first place was a rout. Sully only dropped 37% from its opening weekend and Blair Witch didn’t come close to its projected $15+ million opening. Audiences also decided finding out the identity of the father of Bridget Jones’ baby – either Colin Firth or Patrick Dempsey’s characters – just wasn’t worth the price of a movie ticket. Meanwhile, Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which is still hoping for awards attention, picked up a fourth place finish and came the closest to actually grossing what it was expected to prior to its release.
Next weekend Sully will be taking on the remake of the classic Western, The Magnificent Seven, and the animated family-friendly comedy, Storks.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss with the ‘Game of Thrones’ cast at the 68th Emmy Awards (Photo Credit: ABC/Image Group LA)The 2016 Emmys included a few jabs at Donald Trump, a surprising number of first-time winners, and some incredibly moving acceptance speeches. Going into the night HBO’s Game of Thrones led the list of nominees with 23 nominations followed by The People v. O.J. Simpson with 22 and Fargo with 18. After the awards were tallied, Game of Thrones came away from the Creative Arts and Primetime Emmys with 12 awards and People v. O.J. Simpson picked up nine. Fargo, unfortunately, only came away with two wins and it was actually Grease: Live that finished in third place with five wins.
Emmy Awards voters opted to recognize a refreshingly large number of actors and shows that hadn’t been awarded trophies in previous years. Orphan Black, which is headed into its final season, finally found its amazing lead actress Tatiana Maslany honored for her portrayal of multiple clones. SNL stand-out Kate McKinnon picked up her first Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series win in a strong field that included Niecy Nash, Allison Janney, Judith Light, Gaby Hoffmann, and Anna Chlumsky. John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight took over the Variety Talk Series crown, beating out Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and James Corden. Key and Peele, Mr. Robot‘s Rami Malek, and Bloodline‘s Ben Mendelsohn also found support from Emmy voters this year.
The 68th Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 18, 2016 and aired live on ABC with Jimmy Kimmel as the host.
2016 Emmy Winners:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
LOUIE ANDERSON as Christine Baskets – Baskets
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
AZIZ ANSARI and ALAN YANG – Master of None
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
KATE MCKINNON as Various characters – Saturday Night Live
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
JILL SOLOWAY – Transparent
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS as Selina Meyer – Veep
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
JEFFREY TAMBOR as Maura Pfefferman – Transparent
OUTSTANDING REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM THE VOICE
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
D.V. DEVINCENTIS – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
REGINA KING as Terri Lacroix – American Crime
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
SUSANNE BIER – The Night Manager
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
STERLING K. BROWN as Christopher Darden – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
SARAH PAULSON as Marcia Clark – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
COURTNEY B. VANCE as Johnnie Cochran – The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE SHERLOCK: THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE (MASTERPIECE)
OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
PATTON OSWALT – Patton Oswalt: Talking For Clapping
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SPECIAL
THOMAS KAIL and ALEX RUDZINSKI – Grease: Live
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES KEY & PEELE
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
DAVID BENIOFF and D.B. WEISS – Game Of Thrones
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
MAGGIE SMITH as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham – Downton Abbey
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
MIGUEL SAPOCHNIK – Game Of Thrones
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
BEN MENDELSOHN as Danny Rayburn – Bloodline
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
RAMI MALEK as Elliot – Mr. Robot
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
TATIANA MASLANY as Sarah, Alison, Cosima, Helena, Rachel, M.K., Krystal – Orphan Black
BrainDead‘s Mary Elizabeth Winstead has signed on to the cast of FX’s Fargo season three. According to FX’s official announcement, Winstead will be playing a character named Nikki Swango, “a crafty and alluring recent parolee with a passion for competitive bridge playing. Nikki is a woman with a plan, focused on always being at least one move ahead of her opponents.”
The cast of season three also includes Ewan McGregor, soon to be seen in his directorial debut American Pastoral. McGregor is playing brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy. Emmit is the “Parking Lot King of Minnesota, is a handsome, self-made, real estate mogul and family man who sees himself as an American success story. His slightly younger brother, Ray, on the other hand is more of a cautionary tale. Balding and pot-bellied, Ray is the kind of guy who peaked in high school. Now a parole officer, Ray has a huge chip on his shoulder about the hand he’s been dealt, and he blames his brother, Emmit, for his misfortunes.”
Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, Gone Girl) is set to play Gloria Burgle, “a practical woman – the one who grabs the fire extinguisher when the bacon catches fire and everyone else panics. Gloria is the chief of the Eden Valley Police, and a newly divorced mother, who is struggling to understand this new world around her where people connect more intimately with their phones than the people right in front of them.”
Noah Hawley created the critically acclaimed award-winning series and serves as showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Warren Littlefield, and John Cameron are also executive producing.
Luke Wilson as Bill and Carla Gugino as Shelli in ‘Roadies’ (Photo: Katie Yu / Showtime)
It’s one and done for Showtime’s Roadies. It seems audiences just aren’t into shows centering on the behind-the-scenes lives of people in the music industry. First, HBO gave Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl a second season order only to take that back a few months later. FX just opted not to renew Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll for a third season. And now Cameron Crowe’s Roadies has not been renewed by Showtime.
The one-hour drama/comedy ended its run after airing 10 episodes. Roadies premiered on June 26, 2016 and finished its first and only season up on August 28th.
The series was executive produced by Crowe, J.J. Abrams, and Winnie Holzman. The cast included Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino, Imogen Poots, Rafe Spall, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Peter Cambor, Machine Gun Kelly, Luis Guzman, and Ron White.
Crowe wrote about the cancellation on his official website:
“Thanks to Showtime and J.J. Abrams for the opportunity to make the one and only season of Roadies. My mind is still spinning from the giddy highs of working with this epic cast and crew. Though we could tell a thousand more stories, this run ends with a complete ten-hour tale of music and love. Like a song that slips under your skin, or a lyric that keeps speaking to you, we hope the spell of Roadies lingers. It was life-changing experience for all of us.
So much appreciation goes out to the sensational actors and crew who lived and breathed these stories and characters with their whole hearts. We became a family, our own music-loving troupe. Thanks also to the musicians who lived so comfortably in the world of acting. And thanks to all at Bad Robot, and Winnie Holzman, great collaborators all. Big thanks to our fans for watching and cheering us on. We’ll see you soon with a new project… and many of the same actors, I’m sure. Here’s a little glimpse of the last night of filming. This is what every day felt like.”
Carla Gugino responded to Crowe’s statement via Twitter:
The Plot:Roadies gives an insider’s look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of roadies who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way. The series chronicles the rock world through the eyes of music’s unsung heroes and pays homage to the backstage workers who put the show on the road while touring for the successful arena-level group, The Staton-House Band.
Cameron Boyce as Carlos, Sofia Carson as Evie, Dove Cameron as Mal, Booboo Stewart as Jay and Mitchell Hope as Ben in ‘Descendants 2’ (Disney Channel/Bob D’Amico/Craig Sjodin)
The Disney Channel’s released the first photo from Descendants 2, the sequel to – obviously – Descendants. The made-for-TV movie centers on the lives of the teenage sons and daughters of classic Disney villains. The cast includes Cameron Boyce as Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil; Sofia Carson as Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; Dove Cameron as Mal, daughter of Maleficent; Booboo Stewart as Jay, son of Jafar; and Mitchell Hope as Ben, King of Auradon, son of Beast and Belle. Filming is currently underway, with Disney Channel aiming for a 2017 premiere.
In addition to releasing the first photo, director Kenny Ortega explained King Ben’s “Isle of the Lost” look in the first official picture of the cast. “When Ben realizes Mal has left Auradon, he decides to go after her. Mal’s friends — Carlos, Evie and Jay — decide to go with him to help, but first they have to teach him their wicked ways so he can sneak around the Isle of the Lost without being recognized.”
The Plot: The story deepens in the music-driven sequel to the global smash hit Descendants, as the teenage sons and daughters of Disney’s most infamous villains — Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay (also known as Villain Kids or VKs) — try to find their place in idyllic Auradon. When the pressure to be royally perfect becomes too much for Mal, she returns to her rotten roots on the Isle of the Lost where her archenemy Uma, the daughter of Ursula, has taken her spot as self-proclaimed queen of the run-down town. Uma, still resentful over not being selected by Ben to go to Auradon Prep with the other Villain Kids, stirs her pirate gang including Captain Hook’s son Harry and Gaston’s son Gil, to break the barrier between the Isle of the Lost and Auradon, and unleash all the villains imprisoned on the Isle, once and for all.
Melissa Leo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Wilkinson, and Zachary Quinto in ‘Snowden’ (Photo Credit: Jürgen Olczyk / Open Road Films)
“My name is Edward Joseph Snowden,” says Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) into the camera of a documentary crew set to record the story of how and why he hacked and leaked thousands of classified NSA documents involving the U.S. government spying on the American public in the dramatic film, Snowden.
When the film begins, Snowden is in the military but is deemed physically unfit to serve after breaking his leg. Upset but still determined to find a way to be useful to his country, Snowden applies to join the CIA. He’s hired after a set of grueling interviews and brought into the training program by Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans). There Snowden excels and impresses his teachers and hire-ups.
Soon, Ed is working assignments for the CIA alongside Agent Geneva (Timothy Olyphant). When Snowden learns about and participates in the sneaky and underhanded ways the CIA gets a person to become an asset, it doesn’t sit well with him and he decides to leave the CIA and go work for the NSA instead.
While working at the NSA, Snowden makes a new friend in one of his co-workers and discovers that the agency has the technology and ability to spy on American citizens across the entire country and around the world. Once again Snowden struggles morally and ethically with the amount of power the government, and those in charge behind the scenes, seem to have over invading lives. His career and growing paranoia also takes a serious toll on his relationship with his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills (Shailene Woodley).
After quitting both the CIA and the NSA, Snowden goes back to work as a consultant for the NSA hoping and believing that with the changes in Washington – Obama is now President – things will have gotten better. But he quickly discovers while being stationed in Hawaii that it’s actually gotten worse. Finally, not being able to deal with the paranoia he feels and fed up with all the illegal spying, Snowden commits treason by finding a way to steal classified documents and leak them to the press so the American public will know what its government is doing. Snowden then flees the States, becoming a fugitive.
Directed by Oliver Stone and based on a compelling true story, Snowden should be an engaging, powerful, and suspenseful film but instead is a slow, tedious, and melodramatic bore. Stone might get all the details on how the government built computers and machines to be able to spy on people right, but the film’s systematic approach and plodding pace eliminate any sense of urgency and tension from the movie.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a good job of capturing Snowden’s unique speech pattern and tone as well as his body posture, but his portrayal ends up coming across more like a caricature of the man instead of a real performance. In the scenes in his hotel room in Hong Kong where his paranoia of the government listening in or finding him is supposed to be running high, Gordon-Levitt as Snowden seems to be almost indifferent to telling his story to the press and the documentary filmmaker. Sadly, this is not one of Gordon-Levitt’s stronger performances and nowhere near his memorable and impressive performances in films including The Lookout, Looper, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, and 50/50.
Shailene Woodley is horribly miscast as Snowden’s girlfriend, Lindsay. She has zero chemistry with Gordon-Levitt and seems to have no other purpose than to try to get Snowden to become a liberal politically while asking the same question over and over again…”Are they listening to us? Who might be watching us?” Even the early scenes where Ed and Lindsay meet and begin dating feel incredibly forced and unrealistic.
With ponderous pacing, one-dimensional characters, zero tension, and a portrayal that’s more mimicry than a real performance by Gordon-Levitt, Snowden is a tiresome and forgettable film that should be skipped in favor of watching the Snowden documentary.
GRADE: D
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexuality/nudity
Peter (Brandon Scott, left), Ashley (Corbin Reid, center) and James (James Allen McCune, right) in ‘Blair Witch’ (Photo Credit: Chris Helcermanas–Benge)
Fans of The Blair Witch Project will find a lot to love about the 2016 sequel, simply titled Blair Witch. Pretty much everything that worked in the original horror film that was responsible for launching a wave of found footage movies can be found in this sequel, including those creepy stick figures hanging from trees and freaky noises at night in the woods. There’s a lot of déjà vu moments, but there’s also enough twists and turns to keep Blair Witch from falling into the trap of being basically just an updated copy of the 1999 sleeper hit.
The filmmaking team of director Adam Wingard and screenwriter Simon Barrett (The Guest, You’re Next) take the original as a starting point and move the story forward by following Heather’s much younger brother, James (James Allen McCune), as he attempts to figure out what happened to his sister in the woods all those years ago. The emergence of a tape that could possibly show Heather in the witch’s house prompts James to gather supplies and head out to the Burkittsville woods.
Joining him are aspiring filmmaker Lisa (Callie Hernandez); his best friend, Peter (Brandon Scott); and Peter’s girlfriend, Ashley (Corbin Reid). The local guy who supposedly found the tape that may have included a brief glimpse of Heather invites himself and his girlfriend along for the trip into the woods. The locals, Lane (Wes Robinson) and Talia (Valorie Curry), know the area well and are up on all the Blair Witch stories and legends, so James and his friends very reluctantly let them tag along. A decision which you know is going to bite them in the butt before the witch hunt is over.
The first half an hour of Blair Witch goes overboard with the shaky cam to the point of distraction. But the film does settle into a bit of a smoother groove as the gang actually enters the woods. Once there, there’s plenty of jump scares and spooky shenanigans going on. There’s also a weird twist that puts a unique spin on the events on screen. Also working in the sequel’s favor is the incorporation of new technology including a drone that expands the view of the world for the gang in the woods.
Even with the new technology, it’s still the old-school off-screen noises that generate the most scares. Wingard and Barrett push all the right buttons, letting the action outside of the camera’s lens help build up the terror.
The Blair Witch Project effectively used the found footage format, igniting a genre that’s since been ridiculed and pushed aside because of its overuse. Blair Witch may not win back those who’ve grown tired of shaky cams/found footage, but at least it has a legitimate reason for using the technique. And, the chills and thrills served up in the film’s final half-hour make this sequel nearly as scary as the original The Blair Witch Project.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: R for language, terror and some disturbing images
Warner Bros Pictures has released the official trailer for the comedy film Bastards starring Ed Helms and Owen Wilson. Directed by first time feature film helmer Lawrence Sher, the R-rated comedy was written by Justin Malen (Bad Teacher 2) and features Glenn Close, J.K. Simmons, Terry Bradshaw, Katt Williams, June Squibb, Kate Aselton, and Ving Rhames. Bastards will open in theaters on January 27, 2017.
The Plot: Helms and Wilson play Peter and Kyle Reynolds, two brothers whose eccentric mother (Glenn Close) raised them to believe their father had died when they were young. When they discover this to be a lie, they set out to find their real father, learning more about their mother than they probably ever wanted to know.
Kyla Kenedy, Mason Cook, Micah Fowler, and Minnie Driver in ‘Speechless’ (ABC/Nicole Wilder)
ABC’s Speechless is a new half-hour comedy that deserves to have people tuning in and talking about the show. One of the best cast new series of the fall 2016 primetime season, Speechless deftly avoids clichés and sentimentality in its focus on a quirky family that includes a teen with a disability. The family of five at the heart of the story, the DiMeos, each have their flaws and the pilot episode proves each family member will also have fully fleshed-out personalities and won’t just be cookie cutter stereotypes.
Maya, played by Minnie Driver, is a mile-a-minute talker whose switch quickly flips from loving mom to dangerous momma bear at the mere possibility of a potential injustice involving her family, especially when it could involve her son with a disability. John Ross Bowie plays the ever-tolerant dad, Jimmy DiMeo; Mason Cook is the frequently embarrassed son, Ray; and Kyla Kenedy from The Walking Dead is Dylan, the daughter who doesn’t always get the attention she deserves. Micah Fowler takes on the role of J.J., a high school student with cerebral palsy. J.J. is non-verbal and uses an electronic device to communicate. He also uses a wheelchair to get around. However, Speechless breaks away from most television and film representations of a teen with a disability so don’t expect J.J. to be an angel with a heart-of-gold. J.J. is sarcastic, has a good sense of humor, and is occasionally a pain in the butt. In other words, he’s a typical teen.
Speechless kicks off with the DiMeo family moving into a dilapidated house in a good neighborhood in order to enroll J.J. in a better school. Ray compares the family’s new home to a crack house and it’s not much of an exaggeration. The kids are used to constantly moving and changing schools in Maya’s continuing quest for the perfect school for J.J. The latest move came because this particular school stresses inclusivity and will supply a full-time aide to help J.J. out, reading out what he types and helping him navigate through his school days. Unfortunately, the aide assigned to J.J. has a squeaky voice which prompts J.J. to continuously make her say things as if she’s the fairy godmother from Cinderella. Fortunately, by the end of episode one a new male aide (Cedric Yarbrough) has been found who’s more in tune with J.J.’s personality.
The series approaches uncomfortable subjects head-on, calling out the oftentimes ridiculousness of being too politically correct. A prime example of PC that’s gone overboard in the pilot episode is the New Generations school’s decision to change its mascot to the sea slug just because it has both female and male genitalia. And J.J., played with real finesse by Micah Fowler who faces the challenges of cerebral palsy on a daily basis in real life, is more often than not the one who shuts down attempts to make him feel special simply because he’s living with a disability. On his first day in the new school, his classmates – without even getting to know him – launch a “J.J. for President” campaign. His response is to type out “Eat a bag of sh**” which his aide refuses to say out loud.
As played by Minnie Driver, Maya DiMeo is a fiery, fierce, and loving mother who often embarrasses her kids and alienates potential friends and supporters. John Ross Bowie, Mason Cook, and Kyla Kenedy are all terrific and it’ll be entertaining to see the them develop further outside their relationships within the family. Speechless has a lot to say but it does so with so much heart and humor that it’s practically irresistible. Smartly written, well-acted, and with a premise that hasn’t been done to death, Speechless is one of the most entertaining new comedies of the fall 2016 season.
GRADE: B+
Speechless premieres on ABC on September 21, 2016.
