Former The Voice coach Gwen Stefani takes the front seat for a drive to work with James Corden in the latest The Late Late Show host’s Carpool Karaoke video. Stefani and Corden discuss why it is that Stefani seems to be aging backgrounds, and she reveals her secret is that she’s writing music about happiness and truth. After singing a bit of ‘The Sweet Escape,’ Corden confesses he has no idea what she’s saying and Stefani patiently walks him through the “milk on the floor” chorus. And because Stefani is a huge lover of emojis, James tests her by making her pose like some of the most popular ones before discovering he needs four people not two to travel in the carpool lane.
Corden rings up George Clooney who has nothing better to do than sit in the backseat, but that leaves them still one person short of the mandatory four. George then calls up his Money Monster co-star Julia Roberts who joins him in the backseat for a ride to Corden’s work. The foursome sing Stefani’s ‘Hollaback Girl’ and Clooney explains his interpretation of what a hollaback girl is. Stefani wants everyone to interpret the song for themselves and says she’ll never reveal the real inspiration for the popular tune; all she will say is that she won. Then the group goes in for a big finish with Queen’s ‘We Are The Champions.’
A mutant cage fight is featured in a new clip from X-Men: Apocalypse unveiled by Jennifer Lawrence via Facebook. The new clip finds Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) battling Angel (Ben Hardy) to the amusement of a cheering crowd. Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) steps in to save the day. Directed by Bryan Singer, the cast also includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Oscar Isaac, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till, Evan Peters, Kodi Alexandra Shipp, Josh Helman, and Lana Condor. 20th Century Fox is releasing in theaters on May 27, 2016.
The Plot: Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.
Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War trounces DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in just about every category imaginable. Everything Batman v Superman got wrong, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War gets right, from color palette to staging intense fight scenes to sprinkling plenty of moments of pure fun and joy throughout the two and a half hour running time. Captain America: Civil War isn’t lighthearted fare, but it takes on serious issues (including private citizens relinquishing control to the government) in such an entertaining way that unlike Batman v Superman, the lengthy running time fairly flies by.
The third film in the Captain America franchise is the first to truly allow the titular character the opportunity to show real depth, with Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) revealing his moral struggles while displaying the qualities that make him a natural leader. He’s flawed but loyal, and even if he didn’t have his superhuman strength you’d want him as your team captain. It’s also the first of the Marvel films to actual give Captain America an interesting personality that allows those unfamiliar with the comics to understand why he’s such a popular character. Prior films have made him come across as two-dimensional, and in Captain America: Civil War he’s fleshed out, fallible, and above all a really likable guy.
Captain America: Civil War takes place months after the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, kicking off with Captain America, Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in Lagos on a mission to stop terrorists. Unfortunately, Scarlet Witch accidentally causes damage to a building, and civilians inside are killed. The U.S. government, as well as the heads of over 100+ nations, determines the Avengers must be brought in check and placed under the jurisdiction of the United Nations due to the collateral damage. They will no longer be allowed to act on their own; all of their actions must be approved by the UN before any Avengers can participate in a mission.
The strongest proponent of the UN proposition is Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) who encourages his fellow Avengers to agree to turning over control and accountability to the government. Captain America strongly disagrees and is unwilling to have politicians determine when the Avengers will be used and who they’ll be fighting for or against.
Sides are chosen, with Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) standing firm with #TeamCap. Iron Man has James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow, T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), and Peter Parker/Spider-Man (the scene-stealing Tom Holland) on his side. With a line drawn in the sand, there’s no option but to fight it out after Captain America goes against the U.N. and rescues Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) after he’s falsely accused of terrorist acts that left dozens dead.
What’s really wonderful about Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’s script is that just as TeamCap and TeamIronMan members dislike the idea of fighting their fellow Avengers, the audience also has a difficult time rooting against anyone, even with the knowledge that #TeamCap is on the right side of this particular issue. The script is strong and balanced, with action and quieter character-driven moments given equal attention. The film also features one of the most entertaining fight sequences ever put together in a superhero movie. When the much-anticipated battle between #TeamCap and #TeamIronMan actually unfolds, it is everything you’d want from a match-up between members of the Avengers. The CG is first-rate, and directors Joe and Anthony Russo make sure each member is given time in the spotlight as the lengthy battle plays out.
Captain America: Civil War also takes the right approach to introducing new Marvel characters to the big screen. While DC’s Batman v Superman used a ‘found footage’ approach to revealing first looks at Justice League members Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg, Marvel’s new Spider-Man and Black Panther had much more auspicious debuts. Tom Holland is introduced to Spider-Man fans in a near-perfect scene with Robert Downey Jr. He then joins #TeamIronMan and spends the battle acting like a kid in a candy store surrounded by a never-ending flow of yummy goodness. Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther is a more subdued, intellectual yet fierce character whose personality slowly emerges over the course of Civil War.
Captain America: Civil War is one of the best Marvel films to date and easily the best of the three Captain America movies. It’s wildly entertaining, emotionally moving at times, humorous, intense, and just plain fun. Amid the spectacular action scenes and witty one-liners is a story about friendship and loyalty that will resonate with audiences of all ages.
GRADE: A
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for extended sequences of violence, action and mayhem
Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) is set to star in and executive produce a live-action comedic drama for Fox. The network ordered 13 episodes of the hour-long series created by MacFarlane and set 300 years in the future. Per the official announcement, the untitled series will premiere sometime during the 2017-2018 season.
“I’ve wanted to do something like this show ever since I was a kid, and the timing finally feels right,” said MacFarlane. “20th and FOX have been good to me for many years, and of course, Dana and Gary have been fantastic bosses and true pals, so it was a no-brainer to come to them with the project. I think this is gonna be something special.”
“For almost two decades, we’ve enjoyed an incredible collaboration with our partner and friend Seth MacFarlane,” said Gary Newman and Dana Walden, Chairmen and CEOs of the Fox Television Group. “He’s one of the smartest, funniest and most talented people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with – a great guy who’s also had such an impact on both television and popular culture. Seth has one of the most original voices – in every sense of the word – and we’ve been waiting for him to bring us a project as special as this one. It’s classic Seth – fresh and funny, incredibly smart, wickedly subversive and undeniably FOX.”
The Plot: From 20th Century Fox Television, the Untitled Seth MacFarlane Project, is a comedic drama set 300 years in the future. It follows the adventures of the Orville, a not-so-top-of-the-line exploratory ship in Earth’s interstellar Fleet. Facing cosmic challenges from without and within, this motley crew of space explorers will boldly go where no comedic drama has gone before.
Brie Larson plays Whisper Challenge with host Jimmy Fallon on October 8, 2015 (Photo by Douglas Gorenstein / NBC)
NBC’s Saturday Night Live will wrap up its 41st season with three new shows airing in May 2016. The month will kick off with Oscar winner Brie Larson (Room) tackling hosting duties for the first time with the May 7th episode. Larson recently wrapped up work on Kong: Skull Island directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and co-starring Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson. Alicia Keys will be returning to the SNL stage as musical guest for the May 7th episode and will be performing her new single “In Common” off of her new album. The 15-time Grammy winner will be back on NBC in a few months as one of the new coaches on The Voice.
The May 14th SNL episode will feature the return of Drake, handling hosting and musical guest duties for the second time. Views, his fourth studio album, was just released on April 29th.
The season finale of SNL will be hosted by former cast member Fred Armisen. After leaving SNL Armisen’s been keeping busy with Portlandia and Documentary Now, co-starring fellow SNL alum Bill Hader. First-time musical guest Courtney Barnett will join Armisen on the May 21st episode. Barnett received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist for her debut album Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.
NBC has tapped Craig Ferguson to host the second annual Red Nose Day Special set to air live on May 26, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT. This year’s fundraising event will feature celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Key & Peele, Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Ellie Kemper, Kristen Bell, Emma Watson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Rose Byrne, Blake Griffin, Emma Thompson, Chloë Grace Moretz, Steve Buscemi, Danny Trejo, Adam Devine and Ron Funches.
Red Nose Day was created by Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill) and since it launched 25 years ago, the campaign has raised more than $1 billion. Curtis, John Irwin, and Lily Sobhani are executive producing the NBC special. NBC hosted the first U.S. Red Nose Day in 2015, bringing in $23+ million to help out children and young people in the United States and 15 countries.
Details on Red Nose Day, Courtesy of NBC:Red Nose Day is on a mission to help lift kids out of poverty. People from all walks of life are encouraged to get involved, have fun and raise money by buying red noses sold exclusively at Walgreens stores nationwide, organizing fundraising events and watching and donating during the television special. Following the sell-out success of last year’s inaugural Red Nose Day, Walgreens is making more Red Noses available and expanded to Red Nose Day Flair merchandise. This ranges from red hats and springy novelty headbands to oversized sequin bowties and Red Noses for cars (to name a few), making it even easier for Americans to “Get Seriously Silly” in support of a great cause. The money raised by Red Nose Day in 2016 will help support projects in some of the neediest communities in the U.S. and some of the poorest communities in the world.
Episode 13 of The 100 season three introduced Luna as well as a new bunch of grounders who’ve made their home on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. It also found Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) forced into making a devastating decision after being tortured by Jaha and his followers. A lot went down in episode 13 and episode 14 looks like it could be yet another game-changer.
Titled ‘Red Sky at Morning’ and airing on May 5, 2016, episode 14 was directed by P.J. Pesce from a script by Lauren Muir and Kira Snyder. Pesce also directed this season’s 12th episode, ‘Demons.’
The Season 3 Episode 14 Plot: ROADBLOCK — Clarke (Eliza Taylor), Bellamy (Bob Morley), Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) and Jasper (Devon Bostick) hit a tragic roadblock. Meanwhile, Raven (Lindsey Morgan) and Monty (Christopher Larkin) make an important discovery. Isaiah Washington and Richard Harmon also star.
Syfy and The Asylum have unveiled the official poster for Sharknado: The 4th Awakens along with the first batch of actors and musicians who will have cameos in the fourth Sharknado movie. Sharknado: The 4th Awakens is set to air on July 31, 2016 at 8pm ET/PT with Tara Reid back as April Wexler, Ian Ziering returning as Fin Shepard, David Hasselhoff as Gil Shepard, and Ryan Newman reprising her role as Claudia Shepard. New to the franchise for Sharknado 4 are Gary Busey, Tommy Davidson, Imani Hakim, Cody Linley, Masiela Lusha and Cheryl Tiegs.
Anthony C. Ferrante returned to direct from a script by Thunder Levin. The fourth Sharknado is set five years after the events of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in a world in which “Fin (Ziering), his family and the cosmos have been blissfully sharknado-free in the intervening years, but now sharks – and ‘nados! – are being whipped up in places (and ways) least expected.”
The Sharknado: The 4th Awakens Cameos:
Cynthia Bailey (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Robert Herjavec (Shark Tank), Kym Johnson (Dancing with the Stars), Carrie Keagan (TV host), T’Keyah Crystal Keymah (In Living Color) and Baywatch stars Gena Lee Nolin and Alexandra Paul as Astro-X rocket scientists and astrophysicists
Benjy Bronk (The Howard Stern Show) as a morning show host
Duane Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) as a chainsaw dealer
Stacey Dash (actress and pundit) as the Mayor of Chicago
Jay DeMarcus (Rascal Flatts) as manager of the Shark World hotel
David Faustino (Married with Children) as a Las Vegas gambler
Lori Greiner (Shark Tank) as a home shopping guru
Frank Mir (MMA fighter) as head of security for the Shark World hotel
Vince Neil (Motley Crue), Wayne Newton (aka Mr. Las Vegas) and Todd, Savannah and Grayson Chrisley (Chrisley Knows Best) as themselves
Dr. Drew Pinsky (Loveline) as a pastor
Patti Stanger (Millionaire Matchmaker) as a reporter
Corey Taylor (Slipknot) as a Shark World hotel security guard
Michelle Monaghan and Aaron Paul in ‘The Path’ (Photo Credit: Hulu/Greg Lewis)
Hulu has renewed The Mindy Project for a fifth season and The Path for season two. The Mindy Project has continued to pull in an audience after switching from Fox, which aired it for three seasons, to the streaming service for season four. The half-hour comedy series was created by Mindy Kaling who also produces, writes, and stars as OB/GYN. The cast also includes Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore and Fortune Feimster.
The Path was created by Jessica Goldberg and stars Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan, and Hugh Dancy. Goldberg writes and executive produces the dramatic series, with Jason Katims and Michelle Lee of True Jack Productions also executive producing. Season one’s final episode will air on May 25, 2016 and all previous episodes are now available for binge-watching on Hulu.
In addition to announcing The Path and The Mindy Project renewals, HULU also revealed they’ve greenlit a new election special featuring Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog. Robert Smigel created the character and will once again voice Triumph on the upcoming special set to air later this year.
The Mindy Project Plot: A single-camera comedy starring Mindy Kaling that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating the tricky waters of both her personal and professional life, as she pursues her dreams of becoming the perfect woman, finding the perfect man and getting her perfect romantic comedy ending.
The Path Plot:The Path follows a family at the center of a controversial cult movement as they struggle with relationships, faith, and power. Each episode takes an in-depth look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want. The series blends elements of mystery-thriller, romance, and mysticism.
Five-time Grammy Award winner Celine Dion has been named the winner of this year’s ICON Award which she’ll accept during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Dion will also perform a special rendition of Queen’s iconic hit “The Show Must Go On” during the awards show held on Sunday, May 22, 2016 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. According to Billboard, the ICON Award is a lifetime achievement honor that recognizes the “cultural impact of an artist whose extraordinary talent as a creator and entertainer has stood the test of time.” Dion joins a list of recipients that includes Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Neil Diamond.
“Celine Dion has a huge repertoire of monster hits and she personally chose to perform ‘The Show Must Go On’ as her ICON performance on the Billboard Music Awards,” stated executive producer Mark Bracco. “I think at this moment in her life, the song has many meanings and it’s an amazing choice.”
The 2016 Billboard Music awards will be hosted by Ciara and Ludacris. This year marks the first time the awards show will be broadcast live on both coasts, with ABC airing the event at 8pm ET and 5pm PT. Finalists are determined by key fan interactions including “album and digital songs sales, radio airplay, streaming, touring and social interactions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and other popular online destinations for music.”
More on Celine Dion, Courtesy of Billboard:
One of the most immediately recognized, widely respected and successful performers in pop music history, Celine Dion has sold almost 250 million albums during her over 30-year career. She has earned five Grammy Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, two Academy Awards, six American Music Awards, 20 Juno Awards (Canada) and an astonishing 40 Felix Awards (Quebec). She’s placed 17 albums on the Billboard 200 chart, including a dozen top 10 efforts — four of which reached No. 1. Her most recent studio album, 2013’s Loved Me Back To Life, continued her hot streak in the top 10, as it debuted at No. 2 on the chart. Additionally, with 11 No. 1s on the Adult Contemporary chart, she holds the record for the most chart-toppers by a woman in the 55-year history of the list. In 2004, Celine received the Diamond award at the World Music Awards recognizing her status as the best-selling female artist of all time. In 2007 she was honored with the Legend Award at World Music Awards in recognition of her global success and outstanding contribution to the music industry. Celine continues to perform her critically-acclaimed Las Vegas residency, “Celine” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and will hit an epic 1,000 performances in the venue this fall.
