Netflix just confirmed the new animated comedy series F is for Family will premiere on December 18, 2015. The comedy show was created by Bill Burr and Michael Price (The Simpsons), and Burr, Price, Vince Vaughn, and Peter Billingsley executive produce the series.
Burr helped break the release date news with a tweet: “Finally! First look at my new @netflix series #FIsForFamily, coming December 18. Trailer coming soon, look out!” – Bill Burr (@billburr), November 6, 2015
F is for Family Plot:
F is for Family follows the Murphy family in the 1970s, a time when you could smack your kid, smoke inside, and bring a gun to the airport. Burr will voice the role of Frank Murphy, the family’s extreme patriarch; Laura Dern will voice Frank’s wife Sue; and Justin Long voices the family’s oldest son, Kevin.
It’s finally arrived… The official Warcraft movie trailer has been released by Legendary Pictures and it’s visually impressive. CGI brings the world of Warcraft alive, but there’s also a glimpse in the trailer that teases there’s more going on in this video game adaptation than just battle scenes. Directed by Duncan Jones, the cast of Warcraft is led by Vikings‘ Travis Fimmel as Anduin Lothar and Toby Kebbell as Durotan, and includes Ben Foster as Medivh, Paula Patton as Garona, Dominic Cooper as King Llane Wrynn, Rob Kazinsky as Orgrim, and Clancy Brown as Blackhand.
The Warcraft Plot:
The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.
So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something.
“Charlie Brown is not a quitter,” says Charlie Brown (voiced by Noah Schnapp) out loud to himself as he tries to perfect his pitching in an effort to better himself to impress the little red-haired girl who just moved in across the street in the animated film The Peanuts Movie.
When the little red-haired girl moves in, Charlie Brown finds himself smitten and wants to make a good impression so he sets out to try to improve himself with the help of his loyal and trusty dog, Snoopy (whines, howls, laughs and whimpers by Bill Melendez). Charlie seeks out the advice of his opinionated local practicing-without-a-license psychiatrist Lucy (voiced by Hadley Belle Miller) who gives him a book on how to make yourself a winner.
Sadly, still lacking any confidence, Charlie Brown just can’t seem to find the courage to go over and talk to the little red-haired girl even when his old pal Snoopy pushes him up to her front door and rings the doorbell. Charlie panics and hides in one of the shrubs by the house when the girl answers the door. As Charlie Brown struggles to find ways to impress the little red-haired girl so that she’ll like him, Snoopy – inspired by Charlie’s determination to win the little red-haired girl’s heart – toys with an old typewriter, begins to write an epic tale of himself as a famous WWI flying ace taking to the skies to pursue his arch-nemesis, The Red Baron, who has captured the flying ace’s true love.
Charming, funny, and sweet, The Peanuts Movie brings the classic Charles M. Schulz characters to the big screen keeping intact the personalities of all the characters and the gentle humor of the classic comic strip. All the classic themes and adventures are included, with Charlie Brown trying to fly a kite only to lose it to the menacing kite-eating tree, the trying to kick the football, and of course Snoopy fighting the Red Baron via his imagination.
Blue Sky Studios, who did the Ice Age films, stays with the staples in making the films by using child voice actors to bring the classic characters to life. All of them do a great job, especially Noah Schnapp as Charlie Brown, Alexander Garfin as Linus, Hadley Belle Miller as Lucy, Rebecca Bloom as Marcie, and Mariel Sheets as Sally. In a brilliant and respectful move, the studio uses stock sound of the late Bill Melendez – who produced, directed, and also animated most of the Peanuts specials. Melendez was the voice and sound of Snoopy and Woodstock, which had been kept an industry secret for years. This keeps Snoopy and Woodstock sounding exactly as they always have in every Peanuts animated special.
The film also has a wonderful message for kids about never giving up and believing in yourself. It also captures the true spirit of the boy who, despite trying his hardest, just can’t seem to ever win. One great scene that shows this is during the talent show when no one is doing very well, and Charlie Brown is sure to win with his magic act. When his little sister Sally starts to bomb and begins to cry on stage, Charlie, along with his trusted Beagle helps her wow the crowd with her grand finale while giving up another opportunity to impress the little red-haired girl.
The Peanuts Movie, while not introducing anything new, brings back the magic that IS Peanuts and is an above average addition to the franchise. The film is a perfect way for children who haven’t grown up with Charlie Brown and the gang to be introduced to them and also perfect for adults who did and want to go back and relive part of their childhoods. It’s a must-see for any age and one of this year’s best films.
Spectre could be both Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes’ final Bond film and that’s actually not a bad decision for either actor Craig or director Mendes. This latest Bond movie shows signs of wear, not in its spectacular, over-the-top, suspension of belief required action scenes but in its dialogue-driven moments when both the emotional attachment to Bond, James Bond seems off and the pacing turns sluggish. Bond films aren’t meant to challenge the audiences’ intellect, but Spectre does try our patience as it gives us a 007 who appears to have no idea who he is or what motivates him to action.
Mendes and Craig set the bar incredibly high with Skyfall, leaving themselves the near impossible task of topping what’s thought to be one of the best Bond films. With this third outing, Mendes and Craig have not only not topped Skyfall but they haven’t even offered audiences a Bond film that’s better than Casino Royale.
Spectre starts off well enough, with Bond taking out a building in the middle of Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebration. Next, we see Bond in hot pursuit of a villain who’s weaving his way through the crowd in order to reach a helicopter. Bond, of course, catches up with him, leading to a terrifying fight on board the helicopter while it’s just over the heads of the crowd. Your stomach may match the action on the screen, swooping and swirling as the helicopter looks destined to decapitate innocent bystanders so that Bond can kill just one man.
After that outstanding sequence, the film goes downhill quickly. If you can actually track who Bond is after, why he’s after he/she/it, and how everything is connected, then I applaud you for being able to keep up with all the twists and turns (and incredible coincidences) the screenwriters have inserted in this two-and-a-half hour film.
I understand the action sequences in Bond movies (and Fast and Furious films) do not need to be grounded in reality. That’s simply a given for the spy franchise. But Mendes was able to make Skyfall, and to a lesser degree Casino Royale, establish characters’ actions and motivations that made sense in the framework of a Bond film while also satisfying Bond fans’ thirst for improbable yet extraordinary action set pieces. In Spectre, it’s all about moving the characters into positions specifically for the purpose of setting up an action scene. Rules are bent, characters experience personality changes at the drop of a hat, and Bond himself only occasionally lives up to the charming, sexy super-spy we’ve grown to know and expect.
Because of all the coincidences, intricate backstories, and improbable connections, it’s near impossible to talk about the film without giving away a potential spoiler, but I can say there are scenes that are both superfluous and a bit uncomfortable to watch. I’m specifically referring to a scene between Bond and the widow of the man Bond killed in the helicopter. Monica Bellucci plays the widow and while she’s simply gorgeous, there’s not a whiff of sexual chemistry between Bellucci and Craig which makes his immediate seduction of the grieving widow feel 50 shades of wrong.
As for the acting, again, this Bond doesn’t give Craig many special moments to sink his teeth into. He’s fine in the action scenes and opposite Christoph Waltz, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, and Ben Whishaw who handles most of the lighter moments as Q. In fact, it’s Whishaw and Bond newcomer Lea Seydoux who are the stand-outs in Spectre. Seydoux is not a typical “Bond Girl” and for that we applaud the writers and director Mendes. Seydoux’s Madeleine Swann is a strong, independent woman who can handle a gun, understands the world in which Bond exists, and is unwilling to be left on the sidelines and protected.
Christoph Waltz plays a villain with a complex connection to Bond and, unfortunately, he’s only in the film for maybe a total of 20 minutes. Waltz is the cowbell of Spectre…you can never have too much Waltz.
Spectre has one of the silliest action sequences of the franchise, with Bond somehow getting a hold of a small airplane in the middle of nowhere to chase Madeleine’s abductors down a snow-covered mountainside. Yes, the Bond films are full of examples of silly action sequences, but no single Bond film in recent memory has as many Spectre. Amid all of the silliness is a story that doesn’t makes sense, making Spectre a disappointing follow-up from – and farewell to – Mendes and Craig.
GRADE: C
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, sensuality and language
Both Guilt and Beyond have been picked up by ABC Family, joining the network’s lineup of scripted series that includes Switched at Birth. Announcing the pickups, ABC Family Executive Vice President of Programming and Development Karey Burke said, “These two shows are an exciting part of our evolution into Freeform. Guilt is a sexy, sophisticated event series whose European location feels bigger than anything we have ever done. Beyond introduces our audience to a new hero and takes them into a complex supernatural universe with great suspense and deep emotion.”
Kathryn Price and Nichole Millard created Guilt and are involved as writers and executive producers. Gary Fleder (Kingdom) directed the pilot.
The Guilt Plot:Guilt is a one-hour soapy drama about a young American woman in London who becomes the prime suspect in the savage murder of her roommate. As the investigation unfolds, viewers will question whether she’s a naïve, young girl whose poor decisions are being magnified under the ruthless glare of the British tabloids, or whether she’s a sociopath who brutally murdered her friend. Even her sister, who comes to London to defend her, will question how well she knows her little sister as more and more ugly truths come out. This mystery will twist through all layers of London society – from a posh but depraved sex club, all the way up to the Royal Family itself.
Beyond was created by writer/executive producer Adam Nussdorf, with Tim Kring, Zak Kadison, Justin Levy, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones also on board as executive producers.
The Beyond Plot:Beyond is a one-hour drama about a young man who wakes up from a coma after 12 years and discovers new supernatural abilities that propel him into the middle of a dangerous conspiracy.
Bryan Cranston and Diane Lane in a scene from ‘Trumbo’ (Photo Courtesy of Bleecker Street)
Oscar nominee Diane Lane will star opposite Oscar nominee Liam Neeson in Felt, a spy thriller set up with MadRiver Pictures, Scott Free Productions, Playtone, and Cara Films. Peter Landesman wrote the script and is directing the thriller. Landesman will also produce along with Ridley Scott, Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Giannina Scott, Marc Butan, Christopher Woodrow, and Jay Roach.
Felt will start shooting next March.
The Felt Plot:
Felt is a taut spy thriller, centering on “Deep Throat”, the pseudonym given to the notorious whistleblower for one of the greatest scandals of all time, Watergate. The true identity of the secret informant remained a mystery and source of much public curiosity and speculation for more than 30 years. That is until, in 2005, special agent Mark Felt (Neeson) shockingly revealed himself as the tipster. This unbelievable true story chronicles the personal and professional life of the brilliant and uncompromising Felt, who risked and ultimately sacrificed everything – his family, his career, his freedom – in the name of justice.
Lane (soon to be seen in the dramatic film Trumbo) will play Mark Felt’s brilliant, ambitious and troubled wife, Audrey, who shoulders the burden of Felt’s isolated and dangerous struggle against the White House.
The robot competition series BattleBots will be back on ABC for a second season. The network just announced they’ve picked up the series from executive producers Lloyd Braun, Chris Cowan, Ed Roski, Greg Munson and Aaron Catling for season two, and viewers can expect bigger, faster, and stronger robots battling it out next year.
The first season earned high ratings, placing first in its Sunday night time slot with an average of 5.4 million viewers. And according to the network the series was a hit with young viewers, finishing its season one as the “top-rated broadcast show of the summer with Kids 2-11.”
The BattleBots Details:
The robots will again wage battle in a single elimination tournament until there is one champion. The tournament will double in size and feature an expanded field to include expert roboticists, garage builders, families on a mission, as well as past winners returning to defend their turf. Viewers will see new technologies, more destructive bots, and even the possibility of drones and flying battlebots. The tournament will be open invitation with the bots and builders casting process beginning immediately.
Jonathan Bennett hosts ‘Cake Wars: Christmas’ on Food Network (Photo Courtesy of Food Network)
Food Network is set to debut the new competition series Cake Wars: Christmas on November 9, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT. The holiday-themed edition of Cake Wars is hosted by Jonathan Bennett and features seven teams made up of a sugar sculptor, master food carver, and a cake artist competing for a $50,000 grand prize. Season one will consist of six one-hour episodes.
“Viewers loved the sugar rush of Cake Wars, so we wanted to make a bigger, more spectacular edition celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. These talented teams of food artists ring in the holidays in the most extraordinary way – crafting cake, sugar and edibles into sensational holiday-themed creations that will absolutely blow your mind,” said Bob Tuschman, General Manager and Senior Vice President of Food Network.
The Details: “The teams will battle it out in two rounds of challenges to design over-the-top cake confections. First, in the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, it is a race against the clock to create an edible Christmas-themed cake. One team will earn a vital advantage in Santa’s Mega Challenge, where the teams must create an eye-popping, larger-than-life masterful cake display. Holiday crafter extraordinaire Charles Phoenix and renowned pastry chef Sherry Yard, as well as special guest judges will decide who will jingle all the way home with the $50,000 grand prize.”
Cake Wars: Christmas November and December 2015 Episodes
Premiere Monday, November 9th at 9pm ET/PT
“Ultimate Christmas Lights”
Seven teams go head-to-head to create mind-blowing Christmas cake creations and the chance to take home the $50,000 grand prize. The competition kicks off with the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, where they must construct a cake based on the Frozen character Olaf. Chris Buck, co-director of the movie, will help decide who gets a special advantage in Santa’s Mega Challenge, where the teams must create an eye-popping, delicious, and edible display of ultimate Christmas lights. At the end of the battle, one team will be eliminated.
Premiere Monday, November 16th at 9pm ET/PT
“Who’s Coming Down the Chimney?”
In the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, the six remaining teams must take on the iconic tradition of ugly Christmas sweaters. Then, they’ll be challenged to combine their skills to show us who is coming down the chimney when Santa takes a sick day in the gigantic Santa’s Mega Challenge. Guest judges Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts, Co-CEOs of The Elf on the Shelf® help decide which team will be sent home.
Premiere Monday, November 23rd at 9pm ET/PT
“Santa’s New Ride”
Five remaining teams battle it out in the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, as they are challenged to make amazing and imaginative edible toys that Santa’s elves come up with when left unsupervised in the workshop. Then, when Santa’s sleigh is broken the teams must create magical and mysterious displays of Santa’s new ride. Joy Cho, author and founder of the OH JOY! Blog, will help choose which team will be eliminated in this holiday race.
Premiere Monday, November 30th at 9pm ET/PT
“Holiday Song”
In the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, the four remaining teams will be challenged to take Christmas intergalactic and show us what happens when Santa is in space! Then, in Santa’s Mega Challenge, they must bring world-famous Christmas songs like “Deck the Halls” and “Jingle Bells” to life in a huge edible creation. Home Alone actor Devin Ratray will help decide which team will be sent home.
Premiere Monday, December 7th at 9pm ET/PT
“Charlie Brown Celebrates”
Only three teams remain and they must prove their talents in challenges celebrating the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, they will deck out Snoopy’s dog house for the holidays. Then, in Santa’s Mega Challenge, they will be tasked to create the ultimate Charlie Brown Christmas party. Lindsay Schultz, artist and grand-daughter of Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz will help decide who takes the cake and moves on to the finale.
Premiere Monday, December 14th at 9pm ET/PT
“Ultimate Gingerbread House”
The final two teams battle one last time. First, in the Stocking Stuffer Challenge, they must make eye-popping, edible Snow Globes. Then, in Santa’s Mega Challenge, they will be challenged to create the ultimate gingerbread house. Golden Globe-nominated actress Monica Potter will guest judge the grand finale. Only one team will jingle all the way home as the winner of $50,000.
One of the films on this list will be the 2016 Oscar winner in the Animated Feature Film category, with 16 animated films are eligible for consideration by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Some of the animated movies on the list haven’t yet had their theatrical releases but will by the end of the year in order to comply with the Academy’s rules. Because there are 16 animated films eligible this year, the Best Animated Feature Film category can consist of a maximum of five nominees.
Animated films are also eligible to be nominated in the Best Picture category.
Eligible 2015 Animated Feature Films:
“Anomalisa”
“The Boy and the Beast”
“Boy and the World”
“The Good Dinosaur”
“Home” “Hotel Transylvania 2” “Inside Out”
“Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet”
“The Laws of the Universe – Part 0” “Minions”
“Moomins on the Riviera”
“The Peanuts Movie”
“Regular Show: The Movie”
“Shaun the Sheep Movie”
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water”
“When Marnie Was There”
Chris Rock has been tapped to host the 88th Academy Awards set for February 28, 2016. Nominees will be announced on January 14, 2016.
Mike Myers and Dana Carvey on the ‘Saturday Night Live: 40th Anniversary Special’
Amateur impressionists will battle it out on the new unscripted comedy series First Impressions from Dana Carvey. Carvey, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, will mentor the contestants who’ll be competing for votes from viewers. The series will also feature special celebrity guests.
USA Network just greenlit the series and Renegade 83 and Gaspin Media are producing. Carvey will executive produce along with Jeff Gaspin, David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe.
“There is no better talent to mentor these contestants than the master of impressions, Dana Carvey,” stated Jackie de Crinis, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, USA Network. “The expertise and humor that he will bring to the series is unsurpassed and we can’t wait to have his world famous celebrity impersonations on our network.”
“There are so many great impressionists and First Impressions gives them an opportunity to showcase their talents,” said Carvey, “Besides, I’ve always enjoyed watching an impressionist nail somebody….as in capture their voice. Now I get paid to watch.”
USA Network did not announce the details on the competition, the prizes, or the anticipated release date.
