A24 and DirecTV have released the official trailer and poster for the dramatic film Into the Forest. The film is set in a world in which the power has gone out across the continent. Into the Forest is based on the book by Jean Hegland who co-wrote the script with director Patricia Rozema. The cast includes Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella, Callum Keith Rennie, Michael Eklund and Wendy Crewson. Into the Forest is set to premiere on DirecTV on June 23, 2016 and open in theaters on July 29th.
The Plot: Set in the near future, this riveting and suspenseful apocalyptic drama follows two sisters, Nell (Ellen Page) and Eva (Evan Rachel Wood) who live in the Pacific Northwest with their kindly father, Robert. Nell is focused on her studies and Eva is training to be a dancer, but their peaceful lives are disrupted one day by what turns out to be a continent-wide blackout. Whereas at first the family bond together and try to make the most of their difficult circumstances, as time gone on, the challenges become more serious. In the wake of a shocking and violent confrontation that Robert has with a menacing passerby, the sisters must work together in order to survive in their increasingly treacherous new world.
The half-hour comedy series Life in Pieces has been renewed for a second season. CBS officially confirmed the half-hour single-camera comedy will be back for another season after averaging 10.5 million viewers over its first season run. Created and executive produced by Justin Adler, the cast includes Dianne Wiest, James Brolin, Zoe Lister-Jones, Colin Hanks, Angelique Cabral, Thomas Sadoski, Betsy Brandt, Dan Bakkedahl, Niall Cunningham, Holly J. Barrett and Giselle Eisenberg.
Life in Pieces snagged the top spot as the #1 new comedy series of the 2015-2016 season, which should have made the renewal decision an easy one for CBS.
The Plot:Life in Pieces is a single-camera comedy about one big happy family and their sometimes awkward, often hilarious and ultimately beautiful milestone moments as told by its various members. Of the three siblings, middle child Matt may have just found his true love, his co-worker, Colleen; his coddled youngest brother, Greg, and his wife, Jen, are overwhelmed by the birth of their first child; and the eldest, Heather, and her husband, Tim, are dreading their impending empty nest so much, they’re considering having another baby. Their parents are Joan, the family’s adoring matriarch who would do anything for her kids – as long as she agrees with it – and John, the gregarious patriarch who’s searching for ways to soften the blow of turning 70. As the family’s lives unfold in four short stories each week, they try to savor these little pieces of time that flash by but stay with you forever, because these moments add up to what life’s all about.
NBC announced future The Voice coach Alicia Keys and OneRepublic will perform on the May 17, 2016 episode of The Voice. Keys will perform her new single “In Common” just released on May 4th and OneRepublic will perform “Wherever I Go,” the first single off of the band’s upcoming fourth album. Keys and Miley Cyrus will be joining Blake Shelton and Adam Levine as coaches on the 11th season of The Voice, marking the first time the show’s had two female coaches at the same time. Keys has been involved with The Voice as a mentor, helping Pharrell Williams coach his team of talented singers back in season seven.
The 15-time Grammy Award winner has had five studio albums – songs in A minor, The Diary of Alicia Keys, As I Am, The Element of Freedom, and Girl on Fire – hit the #1 on the Billboard R&B charts. Among the numerous honors Keys has received are 11 Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, and BET Awards’ Humanitarian Award for her charitable work.
OneRepublic released Dreaming Out Loud in 2007, picking up a Grammy nomination for their first album. Album number two, Waking Up, spawned the hit singles “All the Right Moves,” “Secrets,” and “Good Life.” That was followed by their third album Native in 2013 which earned the #4 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart upon its release.
It’s finally here! The trailer for Assassin’s Creed is finally online for fans of the video game and/or Michael Fassbender to check out. Based on the popular Ubisoft video game, the action adventure film is directed by Justin Kurzel and produced by Fassbender, Jean-Julien Baronnet, Gérard Guillemot, Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Conor McCaughan, and Arnon Milchan. The cast also includes Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and Michael K. Williams. 20th Century Fox and New Regency will open Assassin’s Creed in theaters on December 21, 2016.
Fassbender, Cotillard, and director Kurzel previously worked together on Macbeth.
The Plot: Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.
The biggest hits from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s will be featured in the new music series, Greatest Hits, as just announced by ABC. The one-hour show will be hosted by Arsenio Hall (The Arsenio Hall Show, Martial Law) and Kelsea Ballerini. Country singer Ballerini is the first solo female Country artist in 15 years to make it to the top of the charts with her first two Country singles, according to ABC. “Love Me Like You Mean It” and “Dibs” each achieved Gold status and “Peter Pan,” her third single off of her first album, is currently getting airplay on Country stations.
Per ABC, each episode of the new music-driven series will focus on a five year time period. “Each week, iconic music artists, as well as today’s music chart-toppers, will take the stage and perform the songs that defined the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.” Greatest Hits will include solo performances and brand new duets as well as tributes. The series will premiere on June 30, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT.
Ken Ehrlich, James McKinlay and Raj Kapoor are on board as executive producers. Greatest Hits will be directed by Leon Knoles who also directed The Arsenio Hall Show in 2013 and 2014.
The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus will soon have two series on AMC, with Ride with Norman Reedus set to debut on June 12, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT. The new show will focus on Reedus and his love of motorcycles, and the official poster just unveiled by the network makes that abundantly clear by showing just Reedus on a motorcycle.
Season one of the one hour non-fiction series will consist of six episodes. Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver are the executive producers.
According to AMC, Ride with Norman Reedus “follows The Walking Dead fan-favorite star and motorcycle enthusiast as he hits the open road to explore local biker culture and celebrate the best and brightest collectors, mechanics and craftsmen around the country. Each one-hour installment of Ride with Norman Reedus will feature Reedus with a riding companion – notable guests include Peter Fonda, Robert Rodriguez and Balthazar Getty – as they journey to new destinations throughout the United States, including North Carolina, Florida, California, Nevada, Texas and Louisiana. Reedus and friends stop by various locales such as custom bike shops, tattoo parlors, collector’s warehouses, or a roadside smokehouse.”
“There’s some unfinished business we need to take care of,” says Supervisory Agent Terence Beal (Keith David). “There always is,” replies Reese (Jim Caviezel) in season 5 episode 3 of CBS’s crime thriller series, Person of Interest.
The episode starts with a flashback to when Reese was being recruited to a special branch of the CIA by Beal. He assigns Reese and his partner, Kara (Annie Parisse), to investigate a military advisor named Tomlinson who is suspected of helping the Taliban steal a shipment of Stinger missiles. If they discover he is guilty, they are to “handle the situation” – in other words, kill him.
Flash forward to present day, Reese is fighting with a man in the bathroom of a restaurant who was trying to kill a man whose number Finch’s machine picked out. Reese knocks out the would-be killer and handcuffs him to the stall. He tells the man that it appears his business partner wanted to be a solo businessman and that Reese’s partner would collect the assassin. Reese heads out into the restaurant to have lunch with the woman he’s been dating, Dr. Iris Campbell (Wrenn Schmidt), and her parents.
After lunch, Reese meets up with Finch to go over a new number which belongs to Alex Duncan (Stephen Plunkett), a computer science tech who works for an international consulting firm that has a contract with the DOD. Reese realizes on his first day at Duncan’s work with his fake ID that Duncan is up to something and witnesses him sneak into his boss’ office and copy files. As Reese is following Duncan outside, the CIA pulls up and kidnaps Duncan. Reese knows it’s the CIA because he recognizes his old boss Beal. Finch (Michael Emerson) warns Reese not to engage to save Duncan because the CIA believes Reese to be dead.
With some help from the Machine, Reese is able to track down where the CIA is holding Duncan. Reese sneaks in wearing a ski mask and rescues Duncan, but Beal recognizes Reese’s style of fighting and realizes Reese is alive.
Root, with the help of the Machine, goes undercover to discover that Samaritan is using a certain location to deliver and load malware onto computers. She is able to get a copy of the malware code to Finch to analyze.
Jump back to 2010 where Reese and Kara are interrogating Tomlinson about the missing missiles in his tent. Of course, he denies doing anything wrong and so far they haven’t found any evidence in his tent to indicate that he is the traitor.
Back to present day, Reese and Duncan are holed up in a very expensive hotel because Reese knows the CIA will be checking the cheaper hotels and motels for them. Alex tells Reese he didn’t steal any top-secret files; he was just looking to see if he could find out what really happened to his brother. All he’s been able to find out is that his brother, Paul, was being investigated for treason before he died. After looking at the files and a photo, Reese realizes that Duncan’s brother was the same man he interrogated back in 2010. Duncan and Reese head back to the office where Duncan stole the files and go through more files to discover that Alex in his search to find out what happened to his brother accidentally stumbled across an off-the-books CIA op that the agency will want to keep hidden. As they go to leave, Beal shows up with some men and knocks John out.
In the car Beal gets Reese to admit that he and his partner were sent to investigate and question Duncan’s brother. But Reese lies and says they left because Duncan’s brother was innocent when in fact Reese killed him and then his partner found the money under a false bottom in his suitcase. Beal realizes that Duncan is no spy so he lets Reese’s lie stand, and then it’s fist-fight time with Reese taking out Beal and his goons and getting the car to crash while escaping with Duncan.
Reese and Beal meet up the next day and come to an agreement that John will not expose the off-the-books op as long as Beal leaves Duncan alone. Beal also tells Reese he’s going to leave him out of the report he’s going to file. Reese asks why he’s going to do that and he tells John that maybe it’s because he likes knowing Reese is still out there doing what needs to be done.
Reese meets up with Iris and breaks up with her, letting her down easy. He knows that as long as he works with Finch saving people and fighting Samaritan, he can’t have a normal life (he can’t have that someone special to come home to). Just then Finch contacts Reese through their ear devices and tells him they have a new number to which Reese responds, “I’m on my way.”
Review of Person of interest season 5 episode 3 titled “Truth Be Told”
Suspenseful and engaging, season 5 episode 3 titled “Truth Be Told” turned the focus of the show to Reese who is still struggling with the sins of his past and still hopes in the end that he’ll have done more good saving people with Finch and the Machine than the bad he accomplished working for the CIA. Caviezel delivers a flawless performance as “The Man in the Suit” John Reese but in this episode shows the softer side of the man who feels for the young man Duncan who only wants to discover the truth about his brother. He shows kindness in letting Duncan believe the lie that his brother was innocent of treason instead of telling him the truth and shattering the image he has of his brother.
With the numbers up and running again it’s only a matter of time before the ultimate showdown between the Machine and Samaritan. Can’t wait!
Starz’ The White Princess has added Game of Thrones‘ Michelle Fairley to the cast as Margaret Beaufort. Doctor Foster‘s Jodie Comer also has just signed on to The White Queen follow-up which is set to go into production in Bristol, England in late 2016. The White Queen‘s showrunner Emma Frost returns as showrunner and executive producer on the eight-episode The White Princess. Also executive producing is Philippa Gregory, author of the bestselling The Cousins’ War book series that includes The White Princess. Starz is aiming for a 2017 premiere.
Michelle Fairley’s character Margaret Beaufort is the mother of Henry Tudor and a “philanthropist, a benefactor for the Church, and the calculating mastermind behind Henry’s ascent to the Throne of England. Margaret knows that getting the throne and keeping it safe for the Tudor line are two different things, and works to fortify Henry’s rule, as York rivals continue to plot against them.”
Jodie Comer’s playing Princess Elizabeth of York (Lizzie) who “is promised in marriage to the newly anointed King Henry in hopes that it will unite the Houses of York and Tudor and bring an end to The Wars of the Roses. The arranged union and Lizzie’s anger at being used as a pawn, bring her into direct conflict with Henry’s strong-willed mother. Matching wits and wills, these two brilliant and ambitious women battle for Henry’s favor, which they know determines the future of England and the fates of the ones they love.”
The White Princess Plot:The White Princess concludes the story of England’s War of the Roses and charts the rise of the House of Tudor through the tempestuous marriage between Princess Elizabeth of York and King Henry Tudor. The year is 1485 and Princess Elizabeth, daughter of “The White Queen,” has been pledged in marriage to the newly anointed King Henry Tudor in hopes that it will bring peace to a war-torn country. England is united, but their marriage is soon divided, as rumors circulate that Elizabeth’s long-lost brother Prince Richard is alive and planning to take the throne. Now she must choose between Tudor wife and York princess, between her new husband and the boy who claims to be her own blood and the true heir to the crown.
“Good to see you, Barry, but I’m not Joe,” says an entity who look and sounds just like Joe West (Jesse L. Martin) to Barry (Grant Gustin) who has found himself trapped in the Speed Force after trying to get his powers back in episode 21 of season 2 of the CW’s comic book-inspired fantasy action series, The Flash.
As the episode begins Team Flash are extremely upset believing that Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanagh) from Earth 2 while trying to get Barry’s powers back by repeating another particle accelerator explosion – except this time directing it just at Barry – ended up accidentally killing him as he seemed to disintegrate before their eyes. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) reaches for and touches what’s left of The Flash outfit Barry was wearing when he gets a vision of Barry standing in some sort of energy field surrounding him. “I see Barry,” shouts Cisco and the team’s relieved to know he’s still alive.
Barry looks around and sees himself standing in what appears to be his home with Joe and some entity looking and sounding like Joe. The Joe image tells Barry that he is really the Speed Force and it is choosing images that will calm Barry so he can listen to what it has to say. This isn’t really working because all Barry wants to do is go back to his friends, city, and life to help them stop Zoom (Teddy Sears). The Speed Force tells Barry there is this speedster blur running around outside and if he can catch it he can go back home but not until then. Barry pleads with the Joe image to let him go back but to no avail so he goes outside the image of the house and starts running after the speedster blur.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs Wells uses his genius and adjusts the machine he put Barry in to get his powers back to hook Cisco up and enhance his Vibe visions so he can find Barry and hopefully reach out and grab him to bring him back home. Cisco is a little nervous considering he will be getting hit with some electricity, but his determination to bring back his best friend overpowers his fear and he gives it a try. Meanwhile, Dr. Allen uses his talents to treat Jessie (Violett Beane) who is in a coma after getting hit by the dark matter.
Barry chases the speedster blur to what looks like a park bench and sitting there is Iris (Candice Patton) who really is still the Speed Force entity just picking another image Barry loves and trusts. But instead of having a calming effect on him, it only fuels his frustration. The Iris image tells Barry they need to test him because he rejected the gift they gave him by giving him his speed and making him part of the speed force. Barry starts yelling at the image that it doesn’t know what he has done. That he has saved so many lives and only gave up his speed to yet save another life. That he’s a hero and he’s now trapped here only because he tried to get his powers back to save his world. It’s than that Barry sees a little energy tornado open across from where he’s standing. He asks the Iris image what is that and it says, “That’s your friends, Barry. They want you back.” Barry asks if he can go back and the image tells him it’s up to him but if he goes back now before his testing is done, he’ll go back without his powers for good.
Cisco, using his Vibe powers, finds himself surrounded by the speed force which to him looks like an electrical energy storm. He sees Barry and yells to him to take his hand. Barry turns to look at Cisco and turns back seeming to be communicating with something Cisco can’t see. Cisco yells again for Barry to take his hand but Barry looks at him again with a sad expression and moves away. Cisco comes out of his vision telling Wells, Iris, and the others he lost Barry.
Barry continues chasing the speedster blur which leads him to a cemetery and right to his mother’s grave. This time the entity takes the form of Barry’s father, Henry Allen (John Wesley Shipp). At this point Barry’s patience begins to end and he asks the entity why it is doing this to him. The Speed Force tells Barry that it’s making him face his greatest pain (the loss of his mother) because he has never truly accepted her death. The entity asks Barry if he is at peace with letting his mother die when he could have saved her so others cold live? This infuriates Barry who asks back who could ever be at peace with making that choice?
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, it seems the attempt to give Barry his powers back accidentally reactivated a part of Girder’s brain, a meta-human who was being kept in the basement on ice and now he’s reanimated and up with his metal strength like a slow, mindless zombie creating havoc on Central City. Once again Team Flash comes up with creating a machine that will shock Girder’s brain with enough energy waves to shut it down but they need to lead him back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Iris remembers that when he first became a meta-human, he kept coming after her so she will be the bait for the trap and lead him back to S.T.A.R. Labs.
Barry chases the speedster blur back to an image of his home and he goes inside to see the Speed Force taking the image of his mother. (Okay, now that is below the belt.) The Mother image speaks to Barry and tells him how proud his mother is of him and the man and hero he has become. Barry asks if it’s the Speed Force telling him that or really his mother and the image says to him “Both.” It starts to become a little clearer that the Speed Force and Barry’s mother are connected to each other. Finally, Barry, with tears rolling down his face, admits the truth that he never really accepted his mother’s death and doesn’t think he ever will. The Mother image tells him he has to find a way to do exactly that, that even with his powers he can’t stop all the horrible things the universe is going to throw at him. No matter how strong he is and how fast, he’ll never be able to outrun the pain of loss. Instead he needs to accept it, deal with it, and find a way to draw strength from it. That’s the only way he’ll ever be the man he wants to be with his powers. The Mother image shows Barry his favorite childhood book that he and his real mother used to read together when he was little. It’s called The Runaway Dinosaur. Barry remembers it word for word because its message was that the dinosaur had the exact right mother for it, one that would love it always and forever.
This is when Barry, having accepted finally his mother’s death, is faced with the speedster blur which stops in front of Barry to show itself to be Barry as The Flash. He has gotten back that part of himself which is the speed force. This is when Cisco tries again using his powers to get Barry but this time he’s holding Iris’ hand so Barry can see and hear her. Iris reaches out to Barry and tells him to come back home to her. Barry looks back at the image of his mother smiling at him and then reaches for Iris’ hand. The two grab hold of each other and Barry is back at S.T.A.R. Labs and not a minute too soon because Team Flash’s plan to trap the Girder zombie didn’t work and he’s right outside the door pounding to get in. Cisco and Harry bring Barry quickly up to speed on what’s happening and Barry uses his speed to both fight Girder and re-energize the electromagnets to hit Girder’s brain to stop his reanimation. It works and Girder is once again at peace.
Barry visits Jesse who is still in her coma and instinctively touches her, giving her a spark of his energy which wakes her from her coma. Joe, Harry, and Barry suspect that Jesse is becoming a speedster but for now they are just happy to have her awake and alive.
Barry has a moment with his dad explaining how he has accepted everything that has happened to him both the good and the bad and that all of it is what makes him who he is today. Barry’s dad admits his plan to stay away so Barry would not worry about him was a dumb one and that from now on he will be staying close to his son.
The next day Barry and Iris go to his mom’s grave and put down flowers along with The Runaway Dinosaur book to honor her. Barry never actually visited his mother’s grave until now. Iris admits she never cared for the book because it told a story of a mother who was always there for her son and she and Barry never had that. Barry corrects her that they did have someone who was always there for them…Joe. Barry than tells Iris that he’s not sure what it is going on between them but that they have always had each other.
The last scene is at the CCPD where Zoom is talking to Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and he tells her that he’s had enough of her roller coaster going around and around again, that she is either with him or against him. He tells the horrified Caitlin he is going to go out to the main room and talk to his army of meta-humans. When he comes back if she is still here that means she has chosen to be with him and to be loyal to him. If she is gone it means she has chosen her friends and that he will show her no mercy and her fate will be as theirs. Caitlin stares and listens in terror as Zoom delivers a rousing, horrific speech to his meta-human army about taking over Earth 1 from the humans.
Review of The Flash season 2 episode 21 titled “The Runaway Dinosaur”
Emotional and slow moving with an exceptional performance by Grant Gustin, season 2 episode 21 titled “The Runaway Dinosaur” focuses on the pain and sorrow Barry still feels for losing his mother at such a young age and the guilt over not saving her when he had the chance for the greater good of others. It’s a very different episode in style and tone partially because it’s directed by Kevin Smith and mostly due to the writing. This is an introspective episode focusing mostly on Barry’s guilt, pain, and finally acceptance that one can not allow all the horrible things that happen to you or to the ones you love to define you and dictate your actions.
The stand-out performance goes to Grant Gustin who delivers nothing less than an Emmy-worthy performance as Barry who goes through wave after wave of emotions trying to figure a way back to those he loves. The scenes between he and the image of his mother are truly heartbreaking and are sure to bring tears to the viewers’ eyes. (No, nothing, I’m fine…must be catching a cold is all…sniff sniff.)
With Zoom’s meta-human army ready to attack Central City, Caitlin’s time almost out (will she run back to Team Flash and try to help them defeat Zoom or surrender to her inner darkness and join Zoom in his fight being his loyal moll?), and Barry back to full strength as The Flash, the final two episodes of season two should be exciting, action-packed, and unfortunately heartbreaking.
Will we be able to make it through the final two episodes of season three of The CW’s The 100 without any further major character deaths? Based on the plot and the preview teaser trailer, I suggest you don’t hold your breath. It’s possible we’ll lose one more fan favorite before the season comes to an end. Directed by Ed Fraiman from a script by Wade McIntyre and Aaron Ginsburg, the first part of the two-part season finale will air on May 12, 2016.
The Season 3 Episode 15 Plot: Perverse Instantiation – Part One — Clarke (Eliza Taylor) finds hope in the most unlikely place. Meanwhile, Alie’s (guest star Erica Cerra) master plan comes together. Paige Turco, Isaiah Washington, Henry Ian Cusick, Bob Morley, Marie Avgeropoulos, Lindsey Morgan, Devon Bostick, Christopher Larkin and Richard Harmon also star.
