Cinemax launched the half-hour thriller Femme Fatales on May 13, 2011 and on July 29th they renewed the mystery series for a second season. Tanit Phoenix (Death Race 2, Lost Boys 3) plays the host of each standalone episode, with the 13 episodes each featuring different casts and storylines – some of which are intertwined.
The Synopsis: From the creators of Femme Fatales Magazine comes a new late-night anthology series about powerful, sexy, and dangerous women. In each of the 13 stand-alone episodes, women find extraordinary ways of coping with their problems, channeling their survival instincts and bringing out their inner guile. The show is inspired by and styled in the tradition of pulp stories, film noir, and graphic novels, and takes place in contemporary settings.
Showing up in season one are Stacy Stas, Marc Crumpton, Christine Donlon, Catherine Annette, Madison Dylan, Ana Alexander, Kiko Ellsworth, and Charlie O’Connell. Season one also features Reggie Hayes, Dean Haglund, Angus Scrimm, Daphne Duplaix, Paul Mazursky, and Vivica A Fox.
Jeff Fahey, Robert Picardo, Kyle Gass, Robert LaSardo, Leilani Sarelle, and Casper Van Dien are also featured.
The horror film Apollo 18 asks the question: what if Apollo 17 wasn’t the last mission to the moon? Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, the PG-13 film is set to open in theaters on September 2, 2011.
The cast of the horror thriller includes Lloyd Owen, Warren Christie, Ryan Robbins, Michael Kopsa, and Andrew Airlie. Brian Miller wrote the screenplay and Timur Bekmambetov and Michele Wolkoff served as producers.
Official Synopsis: Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972, was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.
ABC wants to get you all worked up over the return of Castle and they’ve just released a new preview clip, which debuted at Comic-Con, to get you ready for the new season. Nathan Fillion returns in the lead role in the popular series which finds Fillion playing a novelist who gets involved with the NYPD and helps to investigate homicides.
Red Tails, a film that’s been a passion project of George Lucas’ for years, has finally nabbed a release date. The Lucasfilm Ltd production inspired by the heroic exploits of the first all-African-American aerial combat unit will hit theaters on January 20, 2012, under the 20th Century Fox banner.
Anthony Hemingway (Treme, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica) directed the World War II action epic with Rick McCallum and Charles Floyd Johnson producing, and George Lucas executive producing.
“I am humbled and honored to direct the story of the Tuskegee Airmen – heroes who have paved the way so others could have the opportunity to pursue their dreams,” stated Hemingway. “To be selected by George Lucas and Rick to direct this film was more than my wildest dreams come true. It’s been a blessing to work with them, along with the amazingly talented artists at Industrial Light & Magic. I’ve grown a lot on many levels from this experience. As director, I had the fortune to work with a highly skilled crew from the Czech Republic, U.K., and the U.S., along with a remarkably talented group of actors. The resonant beauty, strength and dedication of our heroes is reflected in the powerful ensemble cast.”
“I’ve wanted to do this film for a great many years,” said Lucas. “So it is especially gratifying to see it all come together. It has been a real pleasure to work with Anthony and the extraordinary cast on a project that we all passionately believe in. The Tuskegee Airmen were such superb pilots that it was essential for us to create visual effects that would live up to their heroism and put audiences in the cockpit with them. They were only in their early 20s when they performed these amazing feats. They became the best of the best—the top guns. It is an honor to bring to the screen a story inspired by their heroics.”
The Red Tails cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire), Oscar nominee Terrence Howard (Crash), Emmy winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Nate Parker (The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters), David Oyelowo (The Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Tristan Wilds (90210).
The cast also includes Grammy Award winner Cliff Smith aka Method Man (The Wire), Kevin Phillips (Pride), Rick Otto (The Wire), Lee Tergesen (Monster), Andre Royo (Heroes), Grammy Award winner Ne-Yo (Stomp the Yard), Elijah Kelley (Hairspray), Marcus T. Paulk (Take the Lead), Leslie Odom Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy), Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights, Chronicle) and Daniela Ruah (NCIS).
Red Tails Synopsis:
1944. As the war in Europe continues to take its toll on Allied forces, the Pentagon brass has no recourse but to consider unorthodox options – including the untried and untested African-American pilots of the experimental Tuskegee training program. Just as the young Tuskegee men are on the brink of being shut down and shipped back home, they are given the ultimate chance to show their courage. Against all the odds, with something to prove and everything to lose, these intrepid young airmen take to the skies to fight for their country – and the fate of the free world.
Steve Carell’s latest comedy, Crazy, Stupid, Love (which is neither crazy nor stupid, but we do love it so that part of the title works), is now showing in theaters, and in this FunnyorDie video, Carell shows just what it took to make him happy as far as the film’s promotional posters were concerned.
And when you actually do take a look at the posters from his previous films, it appears as though this hilarious video might not be all that far from the truth…
Crazy, Stupid, Love hit theaters on July 29, 2011.
HBO announced the second season of the Emmy-nominated series Boardwalk Empire will kick off on Sunday, September 25, 2011 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). Executive produced by Terence Winter, Martin Scorsese, Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, and Tim Van Patten, the second season will consist of 12 episodes with the major players – including Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, and Michael Pitt – returning to the show.
Hung returns for its third season on Sunday, October 2nd with Thomas Jane back as the high school teacher who moonlights as a male prostitute. HBO will be serving up 10 episodes of the Emmy-nominated series.
Also returning on October 2nd is How to Make It in America, back for an eight-episode second season. Bryan Greenberg, Victor Rasuk, Luis Guzman, Lake Bell, and Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi star in the series which follows “two enterprising twenty-somethings as they hustle their way through New York City, determined to achieve the American Dream by making a name for themselves in the competitive fashion scene.”
Jason Schwartzman revives his character of a Brooklyn writer who takes on side jobs as a private detective in Bored to Death, set to return to the small screen for its third season on Monday, October 10th (9:00-9:30pm).
HBO’s also introducing a brand new series starting on October 10th at 9:30pm called Enlightened. Laura Dern stars in the dramedy which is executive produced by Mike White (Year of the Dog). Per HBO, “the show focuses on a self-destructive woman who has a spiritual awakening after a meltdown. Though determined to live a more enlightened existence, the former career executive finds her new lifestyle wreaks havoc both at home and at work.”
Molly Parker (Deadwood, Swingtown) has signed on to the cast of NBC’s legal drama The Firm, so says NBC, Entertainment One (eOne), Sony Pictures Television Networks and Global Television. Parker will be playing Abby McDeere in the show based on the bestselling novel by John Grisham.
Here’s the scoop on Abby, per NBC: “Ten years ago, Abby helped her husband Mitchell McDeere (Josh Lucas, The Lincoln Lawyer, Sweet Home Alabama) bring down a Memphis law firm that was a front for the Chicago mob. Her life was never the same. Abby’s a true partner to Mitch — a smart, resourceful woman who after a tumultuous decade is excited to start a new life in Washington, D.C., as a school teacher.”
In addition to Parker and Lucas, The Firm cast includes Juliette Lewis as Tammy, “Mitch’s feisty, sexy receptionist” and Callum Keith Rennie as Ray McDeere, “Mitch’s charming yet volatile older brother whose work as an investigator in Mitch’s office is uniquely informed by his past stretch in prison for manslaughter. Despite a highly un-ambitious nature that stands in stark contrast to his Harvard-grad brother, Ray shares one key quality with Mitch: a loyalty that is unbreakable.”
The Plot: The Firm continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere (Lucas) who, as a young associate, brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob. After a difficult decade, McDeere and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future — only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.
Walt Disney Pictures just released the final poster for the family comedy The Muppets starring Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, and all the other familiar Muppets faces.
Set to hit theaters on November 23, 2011, Disney offered up this synopsis of The Muppets:
“On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.
To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary, and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.”
Neil Patrick Harris plays an ad exec with a pregnant wife (Jayma Mays) and a house full of uninvited little blue visitors in The Smurfs (opening July 29, 2011). And in this interview courtesy of Columbia Pictures, Harris talks about the story, what’s going on with his character in the family-friendly comedy, working on a 3D movie, and which Smurfs characters feature prominently in the film.
The Plot: The Smurfs make their first 3D trip to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’/Sony Pictures Animation’s hybrid live-action and animated family comedy, The Smurfs. When the evil wizard Gargamel chases the Smurfs out of their village, they’re forced through a portal, out of their world and into ours, landing in the middle of New York’s Central Park. Just three apples high and stuck in the Big Apple, the Smurfs must find a way to get back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down.
Happy Feet hit theaters in 2006 and brought in $41 million over its opening weekend, going on to gross $379 million before exiting theaters. It introduced the world to singing and dancing penguins and even won the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature Film (beating out the first Cars and Monster House). Now Warner Bros is revisiting the world of animated penguins with Happy Feet Two, set for release this November.
The sequel brings back Happy Feet voice cast members Elijah Wood and Robin Williams and adds in Pink, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.
The Plot: Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven—a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures—from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals—to put things right.
