XLrator Media’s new poster for the dramatic biopic Jimi: All is By My Side shows Andre Benjamin’s incredible likeness (in profile) to the iconic Jimi Hendrix. Written and directed by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave), Jimi: All is By My Side features Benjamin, Hayley Atwell, Imogen Poots, Andrew Buckley, and Ruth Negga.
Jimi: All is By My Side opens in theaters on September 26, 2014.
The Plot:
OutKast’s André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this revealing biopic from Academy Award-winning writer-director John Ridley. Covering a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966-67 as an unknown backup guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to making his mark in London’s music scene up until his Monterey Pop triumph, the film presents an intimate portrait of the sensitive young musician on the verge of becoming a rock legend.
Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports 2014 will be honoring soccer superstar David Beckham with the first-ever Legend Award at the first-ever sports awards show on July 17, 2014. Michael Strahan’s hosting the show, which will air live on Nickelodeon at 8pm ET (tape-delayed on the West Coast).
Beckham will be presented with the inaugural Legend Award “in recognition of his incredible talent and outstanding sportsmanship on the field.” Nickelodeon chose Beckham for his work as a role model for kids as well as his talent on the field. Per the official announcement: “He exemplifies the qualities every kid aspires to achieve, and his name is the first that comes to mind when we think of his sport.”
The line-up for this first-ever Nickelodeon sports awards show includes Pharrell Williams, Florida George Line, Marshawn Lynch, Kevin Durant, Will Arnett, Megan Fox, Stephen Curry, Nick Cannon, Henrik Lundqvist, Victor Cruz, Metta World Peace, George Lopez, Tony Hawk, Kelly Clark, Bethany Hamilton, McKayla Maroney, Dez Bryant, and Rico Rodriguez.
Voting is now open for the Kids’ Choice Sports 2014 nick.com/kids-choice-sports/vote.
TNT will be bringing the stars of Falling Skies, Legends, and The Last Ship to San Diego for the 2014 Comic Con, with huge plans to make sure their offerings don’t go unnoticed amidst all of the TV shows and movies that will be promoted at the fanfest. Among the events they’ve got planned for the Con is a takeover of the San Diego International Airport. TNT’s making history as the first-ever branded takeover of San Diego’s airport, with travelers who fly into the So. Cal city during the July 21st week greeted with “Legends imagery and messaging throughout the airport, including at baggage claim carousels and on escalators and skyway bridges.”
Meanwhile, TNT’s The Last Ship will be holding a party on board the USS Midway and Falling Skies will be offering a “special alien cocoon experience” to Comic Con attendees.
Here’s the scoop on TNT’s Comic Con events:
Legends:
During Comic-Con, TNT is set to feature a Legends panel with cast members Ali Larter, Morris Chestnut, and Tina Majorino, and executive producers Howard Gordon and David Wilcox. The session will open with a screening of the entire first episode of the series. Following the screening and panel, Legends cast members are set to participate in an autograph-signing session.
TNT is also set to launch a social media initiative supporting Legends in conjunction with its Comic-Con presence. The network is encouraging fans of actor Sean Bean to use the hashtag #DontKillSeanBean in social media postings about the show. The hashtag plays on the fact that Bean has died in more than 20 acting roles, including the two characters for which he is widely known: Boromir in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Eddard “Ned” Stark in the series Game of Thrones. The hashtag will have its own tumblr page and will be featured on Legends premium items being handed out to Comic-Con attendees.
Legends Preview Screening and Panel
Thursday, July 24, 12:30-1:30 p.m.
San Diego Convention Center: Room 6A
Legends cast signing session
Thursday, July 24, 2:00-2:45 p.m.
San Diego Convention Center: Fox 21 Booth
The Last Ship:
TNT is teaming up with CraveOnline to rock Comic-Con with a Friday night party celebrating The Last Ship aboard the USS Midway. The party will feature a live performance by psychedelic rock duo MGMT, with Canadian producer-musician-singer-songwriter Grimes set to open.
TNT will also present a panel set to feature The Last Ship stars Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin and Charles Parnell and executive producers Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane. The session will include Q&A from the audience and exclusive video clips previewing what’s to come during the rest of the first season.
The Last Ship Panel
Thursday, July 24, 1:45-2:45 p.m.
San Diego Convention Center: Room 6A
Falling Skies:
TNT has a fascinating Comic-Con experience in store for fans of the epic sci-fi series Falling Skies. The network is transforming the Falling Skies booth at Comic-Con into an alien cocoon that plays a pivotal part in the July 27 episode. Comic-Con attendees will have the opportunity to pose for pictures inside the large, translucent cocoon, which features fluid-pumping vessels and atmospheric lights and sound designed to make the entire structure look alive.
In addition to the booth experience, Falling Skies stars Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy, Will Patton, Sarah Carter, Maxim Knight, Scarlett Byrne and Doug Jones and executive producer David Eick are slated to participate in a panel on the show’s current fourth season. The Falling Skies session will also include video clips from upcoming episodes, plus the world premiere of the trailer for the upcoming video game Falling Skies: The Game.
Falling Skies Cocoon Experience
Thursday, July 24-Sunday, July 27, 9:30 a.m.-Close
San Diego Convention Center Room: Main Floor between Halls H & G
Falling Skies Panel
Friday, July 25, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
San Diego Convention Center: Room 6BCF
“Apes do not want war!” yells Caesar (Andy Serkis) to a large group of human survivors led by Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) and Malcolm (Jason Clarke). Malcolm accidentally stumbled onto the apes’ home in search of the main dam north of what used to be San Francisco and has riled up the ape population, setting up the conflict to come in the second installment of the reboot of the Apes saga, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
It’s been 10 years since the attack of the apes on the Golden Gate Bridge and the accidental release of the devastating simian virus that almost wiped out the human race. Caesar still leads his genetically enhanced apes in the forest and lives peacefully, hunting wildlife for food and teaching his comrades how to reason and speak. When a small scouting party of humans comes across two apes and one human panics and shoots an ape, it immediately leads to high tension between the two opposing sides.
Not wanting to see any apes die in a war, Caesar and his ape comrades journey to the humans’ home back in what now remains of San Francisco to warn them to stay away from the apes’ home. Needing the dam fixed to get power back on and hopefully contact other survivors, Dreyfus is ready to attack, but Malcolm believes he can reason with Caesar and convince him to let them go into the apes’ territory and fix the dam.
Again striving to keep the peace between his family and the humans, Caesar agrees to let Malcolm and his few comrades work on the dam and camp just outside his home. With tensions rising between Caesar and his best warrior, Koba (Toby Kebbell) – an angry ape who yearns for war to make the humans pay for all the years of pain and torture he suffered at their hands – the fragile peace is doomed to fail, and all-out war is imminent.
Visually stunning with fantastic sets, wonderful cinematography, and the best use of visual effects and CGI we’ve seen on the big screen in years, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes IS the summer blockbuster to beat. Bigger and with more character development among the apes, Dawn far surpasses its predecessor and becomes the second-best Apes film in the entire franchise, losing the number one spot to the original 1968 classic starring Charlton Heston and Roddy McDowall.
Andy Serkis gives a phenomenal performance as Caesar, the leader of the apes who desperately wants a peaceful life with all of his ape family and bends over backward trying to avoid a war with the humans. The emotions he’s able to convey through the performance capture CG work are amazing; from rage to concern to love to remorse, Serkis brings to life the very soul of Caesar. Toby Kebbell also gives a powerful performance through the ape effects as Koba, Caesar’s trusted friend and warrior who hates the humans, begins to doubt Caesar’s judgment and desires war. He is, without a doubt, the most fearsome ape of the lot.
The look of the film is outstanding, with the deep green forest, the apocalyptic San Francisco, and the ape village seeming so real and authentic. All the apes’ effects are truly marvelous, bringing these creatures to life on the big screen. The battle scenes are thrilling, and the action is riveting.
There are, however, two big problems with the film. First, the character development with the human characters Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Jason Clarke portray is one-dimensional and, unfortunately, unoriginal. There’s Dreyfus, the inspirational leader willing to kill every ape for the survival of mankind. The nice, understanding, and well-meaning Malcolm who befriends and trusts Caesar, trying his best to help man and ape co-exist, and Ellie, the supportive girlfriend and doctor who worries a lot. To his credit, Gary Oldman makes the most of his part but, and this is the second problem with the film, he’s in less than half of it. In fact, he’s only in about six scenes in a two-hour and 10-minute movie! What a waste of a great actor.
Fortunately, even with its few faults Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a gripping, visually striking film that has enough action, suspense and emotion for any moviegoer to enjoy. Don’t miss seeing it up on the big screen.
GRADE: B-
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was directed by and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action and brief strong language.
Andrea Martin as Ceil Engel in ‘Working the Engels’ (Photo by: Steve Wilkie/NBC)
NBC introduced the new family comedy series Working the Engels on July 10, 2014, with Andrea Martin, Kacey Rohl, Azura Skye, and Ben Arthur playing a dysfunctional family who take over the family’s struggling law firm. And in support of the show’s premiere, Martin chatted with the press about what viewers can expect from the comedy series and what she finds so appealing about her character.
The Working the Engels Plot:
In this family comedy, created by Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality, Desperate Housewives) and Jane Cooper Ford (Listen Missy, Material World), a family of ne’er-do-wells must band together to keep their heads above water when their father and breadwinner passes away, leaving them a mountain of debt.
The Engels must all go to work running Dad’s storefront law firm, with one minor problem — daughter Jenna Engel (Rohl) is the only one who is qualified to practice law. Unfortunately for Jenna, this also means taking on her eccentric relatives as co-workers. Ceil (Martin), the self-absorbed and overly dramatic but fiercely protective mother works as the firm’s paralegal; Sandy (Skye), a former pill-popper who has never worked a day in her life, is the receptionist and first line of defense at the firm; and Jimmy (Arthur), a petty criminal and bad boy who is utterly devoted to his family, is the firm’s investigator. Jenna, the youngest sibling and “good one,” becomes the unlikely family patriarch, running the law firm and keeping her crazy family together.
It’s not pretty, but it’s family.
Andrea Martin Working with Engels Interview
How was your character on Working the Engels originally described to you?
Andrea Martin: “How was my character originally described? As an overly protective, overbearing mama bear is how I remember it.”
Have you added anything to her that wasn’t originally scripted for you?
Andrea Martin: “I probably took away something. I think they originally wrote it maybe with a harder edge, or maybe much more narcissistic for the sake of being narcissistic and I probably softened that a bit. Instead of being narcissistic, I wanted her to kind of live through her kids. So, they became her focus, as opposed to her becoming her own focus.”
What was about this character that made you want to play her?
Andrea Martin: “Really primarily was the fact that I identified with being a mom of two grown kids and I have two sons: they’re 31 and 33. So, I really understood the pitfalls of being a mother with two grown sons and still trying to be in their life, or enabling them, or being way too consumed about their lives when they’re grown men. So, I thought that it was relatable and also I thought I could make that funny because I understood it.”
What do you find to be the most challenging thing about making the series?
Andrea Martin: “Well, this is kind of pathetic but I guess the hours, because the last time I did a television series it was four cameras. This is single camera, and we shot it in Toronto and we shot it during the winter, so the hours were extremely long. Like 5:00 a.m. calls, and kind of like 11 o’clock, we’d be home and you (would) have to drive through the snow to get home. So, I think the schedule was challenging. But once I got on the set, I was voracious. I love that kind closed set and I love the cast and so it was really huge creative outpourings because it was just so kind of isolated in Toronto. There were no distractions. On one hand, it took a long time to commute. But on the other hand it made for a very spontaneous comedy because there were very few distractions.”
Given your background, how tough is it for you not to want to rewrite some of your lines? Do you get to pitch in? How much is scripted and how much is ad-lib?
Andrea Martin: “Do you know I think that probably 90% was scripted and 10% was ad-libs when the cameras were on. But I would say there was an enormous amount of collaboration before we started filming. We do a table read and then I might say, ‘I don’t understand something.’ Or, ‘Maybe we could do this and maybe we can change this a bit.’ And so I kind of knew going in that I had been listened to and we’d all been listened to and maybe changes have been made, so it did feel very free and collaborative.”
In order to get that family dynamic on screen did the cast do anything off-set to bond? Or was it all through the table reads?
Andrea Martin: “You know, that’s a really great question. That was an insanely quick sense of intimacy with these kids and me. We had one dinner party and then we did a table read, and then I think we had another little dinner the producers threw for everybody creatively involved. I just think it was very instant chemistry, and everybody comments on that it seems like we’ve known each other for a long time or it does seem like a family. And it really felt like that immediately; sometimes that happens. I don’t know if it’s because it was in Canada, but it did feel really smooth and trusting, I guess, from the very beginning.”
How much did working on Working the Engels feel like coming full circle for you having started out with SCTV in Toronto?
Andrea Martin: “Gosh, it did feel completely full circle because we were actually shooting the series maybe five minutes away from the studio that we shot SCTV in. It was Toronto, of course, and I have a house in the same place, same area, that I used to have a house in doing SCTV so the route to work was the same. So it was kind of like a flashback, a kind of surreal flashback.
However, once we were on the set, it seemed really different because it was a single camera. We shot SCTV with four cameras and those are the days you used to – maybe it was just because we were writing and acting and everything – where we used to do a scene, look at the monitor, corrected ourselves, go back, do it again. So that was really strange, and not being able to see myself and go back when we do something, or try to make it funnier. It was really shot like a film and in that way it had changed, but there was a lot of familiarity for sure.”
This series was originally for Canadian television, but then sold to the States. Does it feel different when it’s aimed at an American audience?
Andrea Martin: “You know, there’s a huge difference, obviously, shooting something in Toronto, as opposed to New York or L.A. where I’d shot other series. There’s just really no distractions; it’s all about the work. And in that way it’s fabulous. That’s how we shot SCTV. We were really isolated from media or networks. That’s not nice to say, but we had a little bit more freedom obviously. So, you know, in that way it was really just about the work, and really there’s nothing better than that. The fact that this is actually how SCTV was done too…we shot it in Canada not thinking it was going to be on NBC, and then it was on NBC.
You have great comedic timing. Is it something that’s natural to you or is it something you’ve had to work at?
Andrea Martin: “I think that my timing is natural. I think it’s really hard to teach timing. I think people can be funny, for sure. Beautiful actors who have only done drama can be funny, and that depends on the material. But I think timing – I think you’re born with it, actually.”
What do you think it is about Working the Engels that will help it catch on with audiences?
Andrea Martin: “Well, I think it’s a fabulously, cozy, intimate, fun, broad, sometimes it’s physically comedic, other times I think relatable between the mom and the kids, at other times. And I think it’s a wonderful way to spend an evening in the summertime. I think it’s relatable, approachable, light, and funny. So, I hope people will feel the same way.”
Alex Borstein and Niecy Nash in ‘Getting On’ (Photo by Lacey Terrell / HBO)
Getting On‘s one of the least talked about shows on HBO, but it does have a solid group of fans who have been left wondering the status of the series since season one ended in December 2013. Now HBO’s officially announced the routine of the comedy series set in a Long Beach, CA hospital and featuring Alex Borstein, Laurie Metcalf, Niecy Nash, and Mel Rodriguez in starring roles. Season two will kick off its six episode run in November 2014.
Getting On was created by the team behind Big Love – Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer – and is executive produced Olsen, Scheffer, Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, Geoff Atkinson, Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan, and Vicki Pepperdine.
The Plot:
At the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit of Mt. Palms Hospital in Long Beach, Cal., the staff attends to the needs of female patients who are often “getting on” in years, while dealing with the challenges of a health-care bureaucracy in need of an overhaul. Even as they attempt to serve their charges under less-than-ideal circumstances, the lives of this ragtag crew are complicated by conflicting agendas, both professional and personal.
Season two finds Dr. James on a research binge, measuring anal-genital distances of her geriatric population, as well as of lab rats, while promoting the ward’s hospice program to bring in extra cash. Nurse Didi wants a raise, which ultimately sweeps her up into Dr. James’ mad, mad research world. Nurse Dawn is spinning ever onward toward being the best not-so-good nurse in the history of television as she continues to try and bag co-worker Patsy. Meanwhile, Patsy has a new lean, green program to save money and make the ward more energy-efficient, which is driving everyone crazy.
It’s been almost 10 years since HBO aired season one of The Comeback and now the network’s figured out it’s time to once again explore the life of fictional B-level TV star Valerie Cherish. HBO’s bringing the show back for a six-episode limited season two run with Lisa Kudrow back in the lead role. Written, created by, and executive produced by Kudrow (Friends) and Michael Patrick King, this new short season will premiere this November.
The cast also includes Lance Barber, Dan Bucatinsky, Robert Michael Morris, Laura Silverman, and Damian Young. Amy B. Harris and John Riggi are also on board as writers.
“The Comeback holds a special place in the hearts of its many fans, including many of us here at HBO,” said Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming. “I can’t wait to find out what Valerie’s been up to since we last met.”
“I’m so excited to be working with Valerie Cherish again,” added Michael Patrick King. “It’s great to be able to continue her story and I’m thrilled to have The Comeback come back to HBO, where it all started.”
And Lisa Kudrow said, “It was almost too fun to play Valerie Cherish the first time around. I look forward to revisiting this resilient and ironically self-unaware character.”
The Plot:
Lisa Kudrow stars as the embattled Valerie Cherish, a fading TV “It Girl” who was once so desperate to stay in the spotlight that she allowed cameras to follow her every move as she appeared on a new sitcom, with disastrous results. When The Comeback returns, Valerie thinks she has it all figured out this time. She doesn’t.
Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is set to star in Master Class for HBO Films. Oscar winner Mike Nichols (The Graduate) is directing the film version of Terrence McNally’s Tony winning play about the iconic Maria Callas, with McNally adapting his own work.
“We are delighted to welcome back the incomparable Mike Nichols and the gifted Meryl Streep, whose collective brilliance shone on HBO with Angels in America almost ten years ago,” said Michael Lombardo, President of HBO programming. “Terrence McNally’s riveting play about the iconic Maria Callas is the perfect platform for these two consummate talents.”
“It is a terrific play written with awareness of a great artist’s process,” stated Nichols, “and it will be one great artist playing another.”
Filming will take place early next year.
The Plot:
Originally mounted for the stage in 1995 and starring Zoe Caldwell, the Tony Award-winning Master Class was inspired by the legendary master classes that operatic great Maria Callas gave in the early ‘70s at the Julliard School. Amidst these classes with her hand-picked students, the indomitable Callas challenges her pupils while giving insight into the nature of her art and revealing the highs and lows of her storied life with passion, humor and deep emotion.
One of this year’s most anticipated dramatic movies has just unveiled the first official trailer. Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie and based on the incredible true story of war hero Louis Zamperini, will be hitting theaters during awards season on December 25, 2014 and, given the subject matter, will likely be a player in the upcoming Oscar race. Jack O’Connell stars as Zamperini, with Garrett Hedlund, Domhnall Gleeson, John Magaro, Alex Russell, and Finn Wittrock in supporting roles.
The film’s based on the bestselling book by Laura Hillenbrand and was adapted for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen and Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson.
The Unbroken Plot:
Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie directs and produces Unbroken, an epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s enormously popular book, Unbroken brings to the big screen Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.
Starring alongside O’Connell are Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as Phil and Mac — the airmen with whom Zamperini endured perilous weeks adrift in the open Pacific — Garrett Hedlund and John Magaro as fellow POWs who find an unexpected camaraderie during their internment, Alex Russell as Zamperini’s brother, Pete, and in his English-language feature debut, Japanese actor Miyavi as the brutal camp guard known only to the men as “The Bird.”
Corey Stoll as Ephraim Goodweather in ‘The Strain’ (Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Copyright 2014)
The Strain is freaky and engaging, a real must-see series coming to FX on July 13, 2014 at 10pm ET/PT. I’ve seen the first four episodes, and I’m already hooked on the show, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s from the twisted (and I mean that in a completely complimentary way) mind of Guillermo del Toro. And speaking of Del Toro, FX is offering fans a chance to learn more about the series via an Ask Me Anything chat with del Toro on Reddit.com.
The Reddit.com AMA will take place at 2pm PT on Friday, July 11th.
Also set for Friday is a Twitter chat with writer/showrunner/executive producer Carlton Cuse. FX has scheduled the Twitter conversation for 1pm PT using the hashtag #AskCarlton. Track the conversation by following Cuse’s official Twitter account (@CarltonCuse) and <@TheStrainFX<.
