Just as stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe promised, Starz has given Outlander fans a huge treat by releasing the opening scene from episode nine. The second half of season one doesn’t arrive until April 4, 2015, however, fans get the shortest of sneak peeks with the just-released scene which is, for the first time, told from Jamie’s point of view rather than Claire’s.
Ellie Goulding’s official music video for the single “Love Me Like You Do” shows off brand new footage from Fifty Shades of Grey, including a few scenes that possibly were responsible for the “unusual behavior” portion of the MPAA’s R-rating. Goulding’s song is part of the Fifty Shades soundtrack which is hitting stores on February 10, 2015 followed by the film’s release in theaters on February 13th.
Fifty Shades of Grey is based on the first book in E.L. James’ bestselling erotic book series and stars Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson, Luke Grimes, Victor Rasuk, Eloise Mumford, Marcia Gay Harden, Rita Ora, Max Martini, Callum Keith Rennie, Jennifer Ehle, and Dylan Neal.
Larry Wilmore on ‘The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore’ (Photo by Stephen Lovekin / Courtesy of Comedy Central)
Airing immediately after The Daily Show, The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore premiered on Comedy Central on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 11:30pm ET/PT. Wilmore’s no stranger to nightly talk shows after having been a part of The Daily Show, and he’s also a well-respected writer and producer which has prepared him to tackle the hosting gig. And fortunately, at the winter Television Critics Association event Wilmore had time to sit down with a few journalists to discuss his new project and what he’s hoping his show will deliver to audiences.
Interview with Larry Wilmore
Is there added pressure on you because there have been so few minorities in this position?
Larry Wilmore: [Laughing] “There’s so much pressure! You know what? I don’t really look at it that much. I appreciate when people say that, but there’s already enough pressure doing the show that I’d never be able to get it done if I started thinking about all those things. And you’re so busy you really don’t have time to think about a lot of things, to be honest with you.”
Do you have any theories as to why it’s mostly white males who’ve dominated the format?
Larry Wilmore: “I have no theories on that. I don’t have any theories, it’s just the reality of it. But I do feel like it’s being broken up, but we need some women out there.”
Did Jon Stewart give you any advice?
Larry Wilmore: “Sure, absolutely. He said get out while you can. No, he did make jokes like that. He said, ‘Okay, we’ll see how you are in a month.’
He actually told me to just take some time in the middle of the afternoon to just prepare yourself for the performing part of it. ‘You’ve been doing the producing part of it all day, now you have to make that transition.’ That was really good advice.”
What are your thoughts on Letterman and his legacy?
Larry Wilmore: “Letterman created a whole different space for himself and for comedy. […] He kind of brought in the whole ironic distance movement. Letterman is a hero to a lot of that next generation, so it’s kind of a legacy that’s leaving. I think we won’t see anybody like that again. It’s kind of emotional to a lot of those guys in the comedy business to see Letterman leave.”
Where do you get your news?
Larry Wilmore: “I get it in a lot of different places. I kind of scan the morning shows in the morning. Now I have to really schedule it tightly. I scan the morning shows, read the paper, look online – I’m kind of scatterbrained so I’m doing a lot of those things at once. I kind of get a little taste of everything, I guess.”
How are you approaching the show?
Larry Wilmore: “I’ve been in this business long enough.. some things take time, some things you figure out sooner than others. Whenever you’re doing a show like this, there’s a natural evolution that happens in front of the audience where you have to start with something that’s very clear and pretty well-cooked from the beginning and then there’s an evolution of fine-tuning that. But I’m excited for that process to happen.
I like the discovery of finding things out, figuring things out. You make some of your mistakes on the air, but that’s okay. If you have a good relationship with the audience, I think they forgive you those things, as long as you’re having fun with it. I never want to take this show or myself too seriously. I always want to have fun, even when we’re talking about provocative things. As provocative as certain things are, I think you have to approach it with a certain amount of fun and some levity because we’re doing a comedy show at the end of the day.”
Are there any taboo subjects?
Larry Wilmore: “Well in my mind there are never taboo subjects, but you have to be respectful of certain things that may be tough to talk about in how you talk about them. But I don’t necessarily have what I would consider taboo subjects.
I think you always have to approach things carefully and you have to figure out the way to make them entertaining. So it’s not the subject itself that would be off-limits, it would be the way we talk about it. Some things require time in order to be able to talk about it.”
Is it going to be a challenge to integrate comedy with serious news?
Larry Wilmore: “I’m very compartmentalized – I’m not always a comic so I don’t always speak in a joke form, but I’m not afraid of not having to be glib all the time. Some things don’t require glibness. If you’re talking about a tough issue, glib isn’t going to serve you right now. You’ve got to keep it real. If we’re talking about Ferguson, I might make a joke about it but in the next segment I might say, ‘Hey man, there’s some sh*t going on here that I don’t like.’ I’m going to be dead serious. That’s the kind of relationship that I want to build with the audience and that’s how they’ll get to know me.”
On the eve of the documentary film Batkid Begins: The Wish Heard Around the World – A Dana Nachman Film premiering at the Slamdance Film Festival on January 24, 2015 comes the announcement that Julia Roberts is attached to produce and star in a “feature remake” of the documentary. Roberts, Lisa Gillan, and Marisa Yeres Gill will produce the Batkid movie with Nachman on board as executive producer.
“It’s thrilling to me that Ms. Roberts and her team watched our film and were so moved by it that they want to dedicate their time and creative capital to make sure the widest audience possible will know and love Miles’ story and the spirit of this intimate special event that went global, as much as we do,” said filmmaker Nachman.
The documentary and the upcoming feature film spotlight the story of five-year-old Batman fan Miles who chose living a day as Batman as his Make-a-Wish request. Miles’ story spread like wildfire, and more than 25,000 San Franciscans turned up on November 15, 2013 to cheer on Miles as he saved the city from villains.
Rachel Boston stars in ‘A Gift of Miracles’ (Photo by Eike Schroter / 2014 Crown Media United States LLC)
After finishing up two seasons of Witches of East End Rachel Boston’s on to other projects including a new Hallmark movie, A Gift of Miracles. Airing on February 15, 2015 at 9pm ET/PT, A Gift of Miracles also features Rita Moreno and Jesse Moss in a heartwarming tale that fans of Hallmark movies have come to expect. Catching up with the lovely Rachel Boston for a super quick interview at the Television Critics Association’s winter press event, she explained what viewers can expect when they tune in to A Gift of Miracles.
“It’s with Rita Moreno, and it’s the story of a girl who’s very closed down and who starts to open her eyes to the world beyond what the human eye can see,” said Boston. “It’s coming to terms with miracles and what connections in this life actually can mean and bring you to.”
Boston said her character evolves over the course of the movie and develops a different view of the world around her. “She continues to be connected with people who are involved with her mother, who she lost when she was very young. She just keeps an open heart,” said Boston. “She falls in love. Her entire life really unfolds when she becomes a more open person.”
A Gift of Miracles isn’t the first project Boston’s done with Hallmark, and she was more than happy to return to the network, a common sentiment among actors who’ve been involved in Hallmark’s movies. “I did a movie with them last year called Ring By Spring during my hiatus from Witches, and it was such a wonderful group of people that work at Hallmark so this is my second film with them.”
And even before signing on to Ring By Spring, Boston was well aware of the network’s reputation. “I’m good friends with Erin Krakow who is on When Calls the Heart so I’ve been following her career and just getting to see her work on all these beautiful Christmas movies. I love Christmas movies so I’ve been a huge fan of the Christmas movies since I was growing up, so to be a part of this network is fantastic.”
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The Plot: “A pragmatic PhD candidate must let go of her logic when she finds a list of items to give away written by the late mother she never knew. With the encouragement of her enthusiastic new mentor, she attempts to return everything on the list and begins to encounter unexplainable coincidences that lead her to understand the world’s smallest marvels have the greatest meaning.”
Alchemy’s released a new trailer for Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, the dramatic thriller based on the real kidnapping of Freddy Heineken (of the beer family). Directed by Daniel Alfredson (The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest), Sir Anthony Hopkins stars as Freddy Heinekin with Jim Sturgess, Sam Worthington, and Ryan Kwanten playing the kidnappers.
Kidnapping Mr. Heineken opens in theaters on March 6, 2015.
The Plot:
Based on crime journalist Peter R. de Vries’s account of what has been called “the most notorious kidnapping of the 20th Century,” Kidnapping Mr. Heineken explores the abduction of Dutch brewery magnate Freddy Heineken and his chauffeur, Ab Doderer, who were kidnapped in 1983 and held for what was the largest ransom at the time.
Summit Entertainment’s released a series of gorgeous new animated posters for The Divergent Series: Insurgent, the second film of the series based on the books by Veronica Roth. Insurgent brings back Shailene Woodley as Tris, Theo James as Four, Kate Winslet as Jeanine, and Naomi Watts as Evelyn, all of whom are on the animated posters along with Octavia Spencer as Johanna.
Directed by Robert Schwentke, the cast also includes Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer, and Daniel Dae Kim. The Divergent Series: Insurgent opens in theaters on March 20, 2015.
The Plot:
The Divergent Series: Insurgent raises the stakes for Tris as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris (Woodley) and Four (James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time, they must find out what Tris’s family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices but desperate to protect the ones she loves, Tris, with Four at her side, faces one impossible challenge after another as they unlock the truth about the past and ultimately the future of their world.
Jimmy Fallon in ‘Misery Loves Company’ (Photo Courtesy of Tribeca Film)
Actor Kevin Pollak’s directorial debut, Misery Loves Company, has been snatched up by Tribeca Film. The documentary, which focuses on comedians and is having its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was written by Pollak and John Varhous.
Among the celebrities who talk about why they’ve spent their professional lives attempting to make people laugh are Jimmy Fallon, Steve Coogan, Jim Gaffigan, Whoopi Goldberg, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, and Tom Hanks. “Misery Loves Comedy is a fascinating, unparalleled look inside the minds of some of the greatest and most beloved comedians of our time. Kevin Pollak has made a ‘must watch’ on the art of comedy, for casual enthusiasts, to connoisseurs, to aspiring comedians,” stated Todd Green, General Manager of Tribeca Film, commenting on the acquisition.
“As a first time director, I couldn’t ask for more than the thrill and assurance I’ve received from the entire team at Tribeca. This is a HUGE victory and celebration for my team,” said Kevin Pollak.
Misery Loves Company is aiming for a spring 2015 release.
The Plot:
Over 60 famous funny people featured in this hilarious twist on the age-old truth: misery loves company. Director Kevin Pollak shares in-depth, candid interviews with some of the most revered comedy greats who each share their unique path and a life devoted to making strangers laugh. With arresting anecdotes and insights from the comedy underbelly that reveal the paradox of a performer’s desire to connect with audiences, Misery Loves Comedy is the definitive master class on the art of humor that details a comedian’s rare ability to help us understand life as only they can.
Johanna (Gywneth Paltrow) and Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) in ‘Mortdecai’ ( Photo Credit: David Appleby)
“I am Lord Charlie Mortdecai, respected by all who know me…slightly,” says Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) to a group of untrustworthy business associates as he tries unsuccessfully to make a trade in the comedy film Mortdecai.
Charlie Mortdecai is a British international art dealer and, at times, smuggler who finds himself and his lovely wife Johanna (Gwyneth Paltrow) in debt to the government for over 8 million pounds. Not wanting to sell his estate and all their belongings to get out from under, Charlie is struggling to find that perfect deal to save them from financial ruin. This is when Detective Martland (Ewan McGregor) approaches Mortdecai to assist in finding a stolen painting believed to contain a secret code that leads to a lost Nazi fortune in gold.
Dealing with deadly Russians, an international terrorist, British smugglers, and other unsavory characters, Mortdecai must depend on his wits and his loyal manservant, Jock (Paul Bettany), to beat everyone to the lost painting and save the world along with his beloved estate.
Essentially laughless, Mortdecai is an action crime comedy that falls flat. Struggling to be in the spirit of the Pink Panther films, Mortdecai doesn’t have the writing, plot, or action scenes ever to come close to the wit, charm, and hilarious humor of the Peter Sellers films of the 1960s and 70s.
Johnny Depp delivers what just might be his most forgettable performance to date as Mortdecai, the mustache enthused, art-loving, debonair and clueless rogue who’s only able to stay one step ahead of the killers due to the assistance of his manservant Jock, portrayed extremely well by Paul Bettany. Truly the only mildly entertaining scenes in the film are with Bettany trying to protect and serve Depp’s Mortdecai.
Ewan McGregor is wasted as detective Martland whose intelligence and behavior become that of an adolescent teenager suffering from his first crush whenever Gwyneth Paltrow’s Johanna is in his presence. It’s a nothing role that’s far beneath McGregor’s talents.
Boring and misfiring on almost every level, Mortdecai is a dismal mess that should definitely be avoided in theaters.
GRADE: D
Mortdecai was directed by David Koepp and is rated R for some language and sexual material.
Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings in ‘The Americans’ (Photo by Michael Parmelee / FX)
Season three of The Americans picks up where they left off, with Elizabeth obtaining a list of names from a mole. When she’s intercepted, a fight breaks out which is one of The Americans’ biggest action scenes to date, spilling into the street and into the path of an oncoming motorcycle. In the season premiere we also meet Frank Langella’s new character, an old friend of Elizabeth’s. This will spark a rift between Elizabeth and Phillip over whether to tell their older daughter Paige what they really do for the KGB.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Keri Russell before The Americans panel for the Television Critics Association to talk about the new season, which premieres January 29, 2015 on FX.
Keri Russell Interview:
There’s a very impressive fight at the beginning of the season premiere.
Keri Russell: “Oh, I haven’t seen it yet.”
Does that wig make it easier for you to trade off with the stunt double?
Keri Russell: “Yes, but one little tidbit about fights. The more hair, the better, because it sells a punch and a hit. I’m always like, ‘You’ve got to have long hair. Long hair covers a lot in a stunt fight.’ We have a really great stunt coordinator and stunt team and I love that stuff. It’s also just one of the perks of this job. What a weird, quirky, funny little job that you get to do great relationship stuff with real actors. Matthew [Rhys] and Noah [Emmerich], they’re legit. To get to do scenes with those guys is so fun and then get to do crazy fight stuff and gun work and killing people and weird sexual [things], it’s such a fun surprise of a show.”
How much of that motorcycle fight did you get to do?
Keri Russell: “All of it. All of it.”
I assume you didn’t get hit with a motorcycle.
Keri Russell: “No, Mickey did that. Mickey, who’s rad and actually grew up in Colorado not far from where I grew up, she did part of that, and the guy really got hit by it. My son, my seven-year-old, came out to watch that part and he loved it. Loved it.”
Is this season really all about the kids?
Keri Russell: W”ell, it’s always about the main things that it is about, about relationships and trust and vulnerability, but I think this season does focus a lot on parenting and what you want to impart on your kids. I think the personal moment is really about what do you want them to know about you? And I feel like it’s a really relatable thing.
I think if a parent had this huge secret, or life, you’d want them to know that about you. I think it’s less for Elizabeth about recruiting Paige and more just about her true life being seeing and for Paige to know who she really is, versus this, in her mind, farcical Christian camp that is just ridiculous to her. She’s like, if someone’s going to indoctrinate her, it’s not going to be them. Let it be us, who we really are. I think that’s a really relatable moment.”
Does Phillip want to shield them from this?
Keri Russell: “Absolutely. Yes, I think this season is very much about Phillip and Elizabeth’s huge divide and constant friction about Paige. I think Phillip is solely based on protection and I think Elizabeth is like, ‘It’s happening. Paige is going away anyway, so why not tell her who we really are?’ And I think in a way that relationships are so personal, especially raising kids is so personal, I think she feels that every time he rejects that idea of telling Paige, he’s rejecting everything Elizabeth is. So it just gets really personal.”
Because their children are different ages, does that complicate things too?
Keri Russell: “Yeah, because then what if one knows? This season gets real. At the end, it gets real so I don’t know what they’re going to do. I’ve read to episode nine and we have 13 so I don’t know who but Paige, it gets real.”
So I’m asking the right questions?
Keri Russell: “Yes.”
Does the introduction of Frank Langella’s character tell you a lot more about Elizabeth’s past?
Keri Russell: “Yes, it introduces most significantly her relationship with her mother which absolutely is a driving catalyst to informing and revealing to Paige. I think people’s relationship with their parents, especially if it’s complicated and not open and trusting and lovely, takes up a lot of space. Especially if it’s unfinished and if you imagine that these are people who didn’t see their parents after 17, they become very loud and large in your life, in your mind.
I think the fact that the mother is ill and mortality and what you want to pass on from your parents is really fueling Elizabeth’s need to tell Paige and make things right and make things important. So Frank brings in the other aspect and I’m just seeing inklings, inklings which I love, I love the moments I’m seeing at the very end of this season of Elizabeth’s moments of her pushback, like, ‘This is Phillip and me. That’s you.’ I like those because it feels more human in a way.”
Last season, when Elizabeth was working the Russian soldier, it seemed she felt really bad for having to betray him. Do you think she sincerely felt bad for him?
Keri Russell: “Yeah, that was so good. I love the writing on that. What I love about when they write like that, and I’m sure it must be true, is when she’s luring him in sort of, but she’s also speaking truths about herself which you can do with strangers. He doesn’t know her from anyone. He’s not going to tell anybody. She has nothing to lose so she can reveal these incredible intimate, vulnerable moments about herself and be that with him that she’s not for anyone else. And yeah, I do think she felt bad. There was an innocence about him that she didn’t have. At 17 she was doing other stuff. And I think in a way that we all have, when you see really attractive sweet 17-year-olds and you go, ‘Oh, to start over. That would be nice.'”
