Go behind the scenes of the upcoming superhero action film Avengers: Age of Ultron with this new featurette released by Disney and Marvel. The new video features writer/director Joss Whedon talking about introducing Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver into the Avengers.
Actors Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson also briefly discuss what audiences can expect from their characters.
Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.
The Plot:
Marvel Studios presents Avengers: Age of Ultron, the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.
Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., who returns as Iron Man, along with Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and Chris Evans as Captain America. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers, Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision.
Filming is now underway on The Neon Demon from writer/ director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Bronson), according to the production company Space Rocket Nation. The Neon Demon‘s shooting in LA and stars Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Karl Glusman, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves.
“I very much look forward to the odyssey I’ll be taking with all these wonderful actresses (and a few guys) to travel beyond The Neon Demon where all I see is the wicked dying young,” stated writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn.
The Plot:
When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
Relativity Studios has released the first teaser poster for the action comedy Masterminds directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite). The comedy, based on true events, will be heading to theaters on August 7, 2015 with Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudeikis in starring roles.
The Plot:
David Ghantt (Galifianakis) discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people’s money with no escape in sight. The only glimmer of excitement is his flirtatious work crush Kelly Campbell (Wiig) who soon lures him into the scheme of a lifetime.
Along with a group of half-brained criminals led by Steve Chambers (Wilson) and an absurdly faulted heist plan, David manages the impossible and makes off with $17 million in cash…only problem is he foolishly hands the money over to this wild group of double crossers and has been set up to take the fall. With the bandits blowing the millions on lavish and ridiculous luxuries, they leave behind a glaring trail of evidence. Now on the lam and in over his head, David must dodge the authorities, evade a hilarious hit man, Mike McKinney (Sudeikis), and try to turn the tables on the ones he trusted most.
In the ‘news people can feel free to geek out over’ department comes word that Game of Thrones‘ Maisie Williams will have a guest starring role in the upcoming season of BBC America’s Doctor Who. Announcing Williams’ role, writer/executive producer Steven Moffat said, “We’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.”
And Williams had this to say about her first day on the Doctor Who set: “I’m so excited to be working on Doctor Who as it’s such a big and important part of British Culture. I can’t wait to meet the cast and crew and start filming, especially as we’ll be shooting not too far from my home town.”
When the series returns this fall, Rufus Hound will also be joining the guest starring cast along with Tom Stourton, Ariyon Bakare, Simon Lipkin, Ian Conningham, Murray McArthur, Barnaby Kay, John Voce, and Struan Rodger.
BBC America released details on the upcoming season nine starring Peter Capaldi as The Doctor and Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, saying the show is filming two period adventures – ‘The Girl Who Died’ written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat, and ‘The Woman Who Lived’ by Catherine Tregenna.
Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon and Ross Marquand as Aaron in ‘The Walking Dead’ season 5 finale (Photo Credit: Gene Page / AMC)
Season five of AMC’s The Walking Dead went out strong, with every member of Rick Grimes’ group playing key roles in setting up season six. The season five finale titled “Conquer” aired on March 29, 2015 and here’s a look back at what went down along with a brief review of the season.
Last episode found Rick almost killing Pete (Corey Brill) while trying to stop him from abusing his wife, Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge). Rick escalated the situation by pointing a gun at the residents of Alexandria before being knocked out by Michonne (Danai Gurira). This episode, Rick wakes up with Michonne watching over him and Carol (Melissa McBride) and Glenn (Steven Yeun) informing him of the town meeting Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) is going to have later that night to determine whether Rick will be exiled from Alexandria. Knowing Deanna and the rest of the residents don’t have what it takes to survive in this post-apocalyptic world, the group makes plans for what to do if the vote goes against Rick. Their decision: to take the town by force, if necessary.
A little later that day Daryl and Aaron (Ross Marquand) are on patrol looking for any other wayward survivors who might be worth bringing back to Alexandria. They spot a man wearing a red poncho and track him from a distance, trying to size up if he’s safe to approach. Daryl and Aaron end up losing him but find a compound with huge containers of canned goods. When they open one of the containers, to their surprise and horror they realize too late that it’s rigged to release dozens of hungry zombies from all of the containers. Unable to get back to the gate of the compound, Daryl and Aaron find temporary safety in a deserted but unusable car. With walkers completely surrounding the car clawing and banging to get in, it’s only a matter of time before they break through. Daryl and Aaron seem to be trapped with no way out.
Back just outside of Alexandria, Glenn goes after Nicholas (Michael Traynor) who’s climbed the fence and disappeared into the woods. But, it’s actually a plot by Nicholas to get Glenn alone in the woods where he can shoot him. Wounded, Glenn disappears deeper into the woods with a scared Nicholas hunting him.
Meanwhile, while Rick is preparing to head to the town meeting to defend his actions, he sees the security gate has been left open. On closer inspection, he realizes walkers have entered the town. Instead of heading to the meeting, Rick goes looking for the undead intruders hoping to find them and stop them before they kill any of the inexperienced citizens of Alexandria who have limited zombie-killing abilities.
“They’ll hunt us, they’ll find us, they’ll try to kill us but we’ll kill them,” says Rick (Andrew Lincoln) to the residents of the town of Alexandria after dumping at their feet one of the three walkers he destroyed. The walkers found their way into the walled-in community due to the security gate being left open by Father Gabriel Stokes (Seth Gilliam) who’s going through his own crisis of faith, blaming everyone but himself for the deaths of innocent people.
Action-packed, suspenseful, and extremely gory, the season five finale of The Walking Dead ends with the fate of Rick and his group decided and Rick reuniting with an old friend who single-handedly saved Daryl and Aaron from an army of walkers. Morgan (Lennie James) showed up at the exact moment in time when Daryl and Aaron decided they couldn’t just sit in the car and wait to be eaten but instead had to make a run for it in what would have been their “going out in a blaze of glory” scene. Fortunately, Morgan came upon the scene and took out enough walkers so that Aaron and Daryl could escape.
As with previous seasons, the special effects and zombie makeup in this season were incredible, and the direction and pacing was tight and tense. The writing and dialogue was crisp and realistic, with the characters struggling with coming into Alexandria and putting their killer survival instincts on hold – except for fan favorite Daryl.
There were many standout performances in season five including Melissa McBride as Carol. McBride’s Carol fooled the residents into thinking she was a timid, weak woman who was a great cook and who needed Rick’s group to keep her safe. In actuality, she’s the second most lethal member of the group and arguably the smartest. Her performance was so outstanding that it’s time for her to be recognized with an Emmy nomination.
Andrew Lincoln delivered perhaps his best performance of The Walking Dead thus far as Rick, the group’s leader who seems to be suffering from being in survivor mode and out in the wilderness a little too long. And Norman Reedus showed more depth and emotion this season, both with his desire to rescue Beth and with his reaction to her death, and with his new friendship with Aaron. Not since season two and Daryl’s search for little Sophia and the development of his friendship with Carol have the writers given his character this kind of growth.
With Rick winning Deanna and the residents over and taking control of Alexandria and the arrival of Morgan (Lennie James) with Daryl and Aaron to the town, here’s looking forward to what season six holds in store for Rick, Daryl, Carol, Carl, Glenn, and the rest of the group who seemed to have found a new secure home…for a while anyways.
Christina Ricci (“Lizzie Borden”) and Clea DuVall (“Emma Borden”) in ‘The Lizzie Borden Chronicles’ (Photo by Chris Reardon
You wouldn’t think there would be a sequel to the Lizzie Borden movie, let alone a series of weekly Lizzie Borden adventures. But after the success of the Lifetime movie Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, the network decided to tell the continuing story of the Borden sisters. Christina Ricci returns as Lizzie, acquitted of axe murder, and Clea DuVall returns as her sister Emma.
After the Television Critics Association panel on the series, we got to talk with DuVall about returning to the role of Emma Borden. We also discussed some of her classic movies, from the ‘90s Girl, Interrupted to the Oscar winner two years ago, Argo. The Lizzie Borden Chronicles premieres April 5, 2015 at 10pm ET/PT on Lifetime.
Did you ever think you were going to play Emma Borden again?
Clea DuVall: “No, I didn’t. No, I didn’t at all. It was a real surprise.”
Have you read up on the further history of the Bordens?
Clea DuVall: “Not a ton. I did a little bit when we did the movie, but because this show is completely fictionalized, it really feels like we’re playing new characters. The historical accuracy is not as important in the show.”
How important was it in Lizzie Borden Took an Axe?
Clea DuVall: “First of all, I didn’t really know that much about it. I thought she had killed so many more people, not that two is not a lot of people. I didn’t know she had a sister. I just really didn’t know anything about her as a person or theories on why she did it or all that stuff. So that was really interesting. It was important to help have an opinion, have an idea of whether she was innocent or not. To help form that relationship and the opinion.”
How much information is there about Emma Borden in comparison to the real characters you played in Girl, Interrupted and Argo?
Clea DuVall: “There’s not that much about her. In Girl, Interrupted I didn’t speak to that person. In Argo I was able to talk to the real woman because she was involved, and a lot of the hostages were involved in the process of the film, in pre-production. I think with Emma Borden, a lot of it I just based on my relationship with Christina. We had known each other for a really long time. I have a great deal of respect for her and I think just bringing some of my own real feelings onto screen was probably the most helpful in creating that character.”
How close are Emma and Lizzie as sisters in the series?
Clea DuVall: “Very close. They’re like inseparable.”
They have some serious debts. How much stress does that put on their relationship?
Clea DuVall: “I think they definitely, in conflict, they come together. I think that stress brings them together.”
Are Lizzie and Emma their greatest allies?
Clea DuVall: “Yeah, definitely. I don’t know that Lizzie is Emma’s greatest ally, but Emma is definitely Lizzie’s greatest ally.”
How far into Emma and Lizzie’s future do these eight episodes go?
Clea DuVall: “I don’t know time-wise how long it is. It sets up a lot of where we would go if it continued and I think it leaves it off in a really interesting place.”
Would you want to do season two?
Clea DuVall: “Yeah, yeah, I would.”
Had you done many period pieces before Lizzie Borden?
Clea DuVall: “I’ve never done this period. I’ve done, weirdly, mostly period films or shows.”
I guess Argo is period. I don’t always think of ‘80s as period, but it is now.
Clea DuVall: “Yeah, I’ve never done this far back. I’ve done a lot of ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s but never 1800s which was really fun.”
Do you have any of the same costumes from Lizzie Borden Took an Axe?
Clea DuVall: “No, we had a completely new costume designer who made, I would say, 85% of our clothes from scratch. He was really incredible. It was really fun to get to a new episode because we knew that he would have more clothes for us.”
Is this an uncomfortable era, clothing-wise?
Clea DuVall: “I mean, the corset is not the most comfortable clothing item I’ve ever worn but it really helps get you in character. It helps me because I have the worst posture and I can be a little bit lazy in my speech and mannerisms. It definitely forces you to be a little more proper.”
Was this show a big reunion for the cast of the TV movie?
Clea DuVall: “I’m trying to think how many people were actually there for the film. It was just Christina and I in terms of the cast. A lot of our crew was the same.”
Has it been special to you to be in some of the seminal films of the ‘90s like Girl, Interrupted, Can’t Hardly Wait and even The Faculty?
Clea DuVall: “Yeah, yeah. I think especially movies like Girl, Interrupted and The Faculty. The Faculty weirdly, it means so much to so many people in this way that it’s always what people are most excited to talk to me about. I just think the ‘90s was such a special time for film. I feel really grateful that I was able to be a part of that.”
What do people ask you about The Faculty?
Clea DuVall: “People don’t really have any questions about it. I think it’s more that they just really loved it. For some reason, it’s a movie that people really gravitated towards.”
Was doing The Newsroom a special experience for you?
Clea DuVall: “It really was. I was so terrified because Aaron Sorkin is so incredible and being able to say his words is such an honor, but you really have to know it. I think it feels like being an athlete almost working on his material. Everybody was so nice and made me feel so welcome. Emily Mortimer is so talented. It was a really nice party to be asked to.”
When you did your episode, did you know what her fate was going to be off camera?
Clea DuVall: “I can’t remember. I think so because I did two and I don’t remember when I knew. I knew it was only going to be two.”
Clea DuVall: “They never talked about filming the suicide scene?”
Universal Pictures debuted a new trailer for the action film Jurassic World during the season finale of The Walking Dead on March 29, 2015 and while the new video doesn’t have much in the way of new footage, it did show the terrified visitors of Jurassic Park under attack from above by Pterodactyls.
Directed by Colin Trevorrow, this new entry in the Jurassic Park film franchise has Steven Spielberg and Thomas Tull as executive producers and Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley as producers. The cast is led by Chris Pratt and includes Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Omar Sy, BD Wong, and Irrfan Khan.
Jurassic Park, starring Sam Neill and Laura Dern, was released on June 11, 1993. It was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park on May 23, 1997 and Jurassic Park III on July 18, 2001. Jurassic World will be released in 3D on June 12, 2015.
The ratings weren’t great for the Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Dwayne Johnson, however the March 28th episode did feature a couple of stand-out skits that deserved some attention. Among the better bits with Johnson was a trailer for a Disney film hitting theaters in 2016 and featuring Bambi and his forest pals as live-action characters bent on revenge.
Johnson played a cigar-chomping, shotgun-carrying Bambi, Taran Killam played Vin Diesel playing Thumper, Jay Pharoah did his best Tyrese Gibson impression as Flower, and Cecily Strong channeled Michelle Rodriguez as Faline (the female Bambi).
Chris Pratt and Nick Jonas at the 2015 Kids’ Choice Awards (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
More than 500 million votes were cast for the 2015 Kids’ Choice Awards and when the votes were tallied The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1‘s Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, Angelina Jolie, SpongeBob Squarepants and One Direction were among this year’s winners. Nick Jonas hosted the show and took home the orange blimp as Favorite Male Singer, performing his singles “Chains” and “Jealous” and earning a surprise slime attack for his efforts. Other celebrities slimed this year included the casts of Modern Family and The Thundermans, Shawn Mendes, and Josh Gad.
Angelina Jolie with Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in the audience during Nickelodeon’s 28th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards (Photo by Lester Cohen / KCA2015 / WireImage)
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie was named Favorite Villain for her role in Maleficent at the 2015 Kids’ Choice Awards, and during her acceptance speech mom/humanitarian Jolie reassured kids that it’s okay to be different. Jolie said, “When I was little, like Maleficent I was told that I was different. And I felt out of place, too loud, too full of fire, never good at sitting still, never good at fitting in. And then one day I realized something, something I hope you all realize. Different is good. So, don’t fit in. Don’t sit still. Don’t ever try to be less than what you are and when someone tells you that you are different, smile and hold your head up high and be proud.”
