The new one-minute TV spot for Disney+ and Marvel Studios’ WandaVision begins with Wanda pointing out they don’t have wedding rings or an official couple song. Vision quickly remedies the lack of wedding rings just as a classic sitcom-y theme song starts playing. The clip ends with Vision saying, “And they lived happily ever after,” while Agnes declares, “Oh, this is going to be a gas!”
Disney+ is set to launch the nine-episode first season on January 16, 2021.
Elizabeth Olsen reprises her role as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany slips back into Vision. The cast also includes Thor‘s Kat Dennings as Darcy and Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Randall Park as Jimmy Woo. Kathryn Hahn plays Agnes and Captain Marvel‘s Teyonah Parris stars as Monica Rambeau.
WandaVision marks the first Marvel Studios show made exclusively for Disney+. Matt Shakman directed season one and Jac Schaeffer served as the head writer. Oscar winners Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (Frozen, Coco) wrote the show’s theme songs and Christophe Beck handled the score.
“WandaVision is such a cool, strange, one-of-a-kind project,” said Robert Lopez, commenting on the songs. “When the director, Matt Shakman—an old friend from my college days—pitched it to us, we didn’t have to think about it. We loved the bright feeling of American sitcoms mixed with the deep sense of unease the story had, and it was a really inviting challenge to help set that tone.”
“I grew up in the ’80s watching shows from every decade on the networks all day long. Episodes from I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch and Family Ties shaped who I am and how I move through the world. So this project was a dream come true,” added Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Elizabeth Olsen is Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany is Vision in Marvel Studios’ ‘WandaVision,’ exclusively on Disney+.
The Plot, Courtesy of Disney+:
Marvel Studios’ WandaVision is a blend of classic television and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision — two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives — begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
Four-time Emmy Award winner Chris Rock and Netflix just announced the upcoming release of an extended cut of Rock’s Tamborine. The Grammy-nominated Tamborine special was originally released in February 2018. The “remix” version will premiere on Netflix on Saturday, January 12, 2021.
Per Netflix, Chris Rock: Total Blackout, The Tamborine Extended Cut finds Rock “taking the stage with searing observations on race, fatherhood, and politics. The extended cut includes never-before-seen jokes, interviews, and behind the scenes footage.”
Bo Burnham, currently seen starring opposite Carey Mulligan in the critically acclaimed drama Promising Young Woman, directed Rock’s 2018 stand-up comedy special filmed at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Burnham’s credits also include the award-winning coming-of-age comedy/drama Eighth Grade.
Chris Rock was most recently seen starring as Loy Cannon in season four of FX’s Fargo. Rock’s credits also include Dolemite is My Name, The Week Of, Top Five, and What to Expect When You’re Expecting.
Chris Rock on stage in ‘Tamborine’ (Photo Credit: Netflix)
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (of which I’m a proud member) bucked the trend and stuck with their 2020 awards nomination announcement date. While the Oscars, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes opted to delay their announcements and awards presentations until early 2021, AWFJ moved forward with their normal December nominations. The winners are set to be announced on January 4, 2021.
Nomadland leads this year’s pack of nominees, scoring nine nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Woman Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Woman Screenwriter, and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). Regina King’s riveting One Night in Miami followed close behind with eight nominations, picking up Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Leslie Odom Jr), and Best Ensemble nods. The critically acclaimed drama Promising Young Woman earned its writer and director, Emerald Fennell, Best Original Screenplay, Best Woman Director, Best Director, and Best Woman Screenwriter nominations. Promising Young Woman also scored Best Film and Best Actress (Carey Mulligan) nominations.
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists’ 14th annual EDA Awards are divided into three sections – Best Of, Female Focus, and Special Mention – and offer 25 different categories. 92 voting members selected this year’s nominees representing the best in films of 2020.
AWFJ BEST OF AWARDS NOMINEES – These awards are presented to women and/or men without gender consideration.
Best Film
• MINARI
• NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• NOMADLAND
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Best Director
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Regina King – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
• Aaron Sorkin – TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Screenplay, Original
• MANK – Jack Fincher
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN – Emerald Fennell
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Aaron Sorkin
Best Screenplay, Adapted
• FIRST COW – Kelly Reichardt and Jon Raymond
• NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kemp Powers
Best Documentary
• ALL IN: THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
• ATHLETE A
• CRIP CAMP
• THE PAINTER AND THE THIEF
• TIME
Best Animated Film
• OVER THE MOON
• SOUL
• WOLFWALKERS
Best Actress
• Viola Davis – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• Vanessa Kirby – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND
• Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Amanda Seyfried – MANK
• Yuh-Jung Youn – MINARI
Best Actor
• Riz Ahmed – SOUND OF METAL
• Chadwick Boseman – MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• Delroy Lindo – DA 5 BLOODS
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Sacha Baron Cohen – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
• Bill Murray – ON THE ROCKS
• Leslie Odom Jr – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Best Ensemble Cast – Casting Director
• DA 5 BLOODS – Kim Coleman
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Kimberly Hardin
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Francine Maisler
Best Cinematography
• MANK – Erik Messerschmidt
• NOMADLAND – Joshua James Richards
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tami Reiker
Best Editing
• ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI – Tariq Anwar
• NOMADLAND – Chloe Zhao
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 – Alan Baumgarten
Best Non-English-Language Film
• ANOTHER ROUND – Denmark
• BEANPOLE – Russia
• THE MOLE AGENT – Chile
• THE PAINTED BIRD – Czech Republic
EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS – These awards honor WOMEN only
Best Woman Director
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Eliza Hittman – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Regina King – ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
• Channing Godfrey Peoples – MISS JUNETEENTH
• Kelly Reichardt – FIRST COW
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Woman Screenwriter
• Radha Blank – THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
• Emerald Fennell – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
• Eliza Hittman – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Chloe Zhao – NOMADLAND
Best Animated Female
• 22 in SOUL, Tina Fey
• Mebh Óg MacTíre in WOLFWALKERS, Eva Whittaker
• Robyn Goodfellowe in WOLFWALKERS, Honor Kneafsey
Best Woman’s Breakthrough Performance
• Radha Blank – THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION
• Sidney Flanigan – NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS
• Helena Zengel – NEWS OF THE WORLD
Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the Film Industry
All female heads of film festivals who successfully transitioned from live to online events to sustain festival culture through the pandemic.
All indie female writers and directors who normalized abortion as a vital element in the cultural conversation in films such as SAINT FRANCES, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, SISTER OF THE GROOM, ONCE UPON A RIVER, THE GLORIAS and others.
Emerald Fennell for creating a film that forces empathy to put an end to the toxic sexist rape culture pervasive through modern history.
Sophia Loren for a brilliant comeback at age 86 in THE LIFE AHEAD, the latest in her record-setting career. Loren won a Best Actress Oscar in 1962 for TWO WOMEN and was the first actor to win for a foreign language movie. She was also nominated in 1965 for MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE. If she’s nominated in 2021, it will be a 56-year span between her two most recent nominations – the current record is held by Henry Fonda, who had a 41-year gap between nominations.
EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
Grand Dame Award for defying agism
• Ellen Burstyn – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Tsai Chin – LUCKY GRANDMA
• Sophia Loren – THE LIFE AHEAD
• Frances McDormand – NOMADLAND
Most Egregious Lovers’ Age Difference Award
• THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY – Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang (23 years)
• DEVIL ALL THE TIME – Riley Keough and Jason Clarke (20 years)
• MANK – Amanda Seyfried and Charles Dance (39 years), Gary Oldman (27 years)
• TENET – Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh (30 years)
She Deserves A New Agent Award
• Rose Byrne – LIKE A BOSS
• Tiffany Haddish – LIKE A BOSS
• Katie Holmes – DARE TO DREAM
• Uma Thurman – WAR WITH GRANDPA
Most Daring Performance Award
• Maria Bakalova – BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• Haley Bennett – SWALLOW
• Vanessa Kirby – PIECES OF A WOMAN
• Elisabeth Moss – INVISIBLE MAN
• Carey Mulligan – PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Time Waster Remake or Sequel Award
• THE CROODS: A NEW AGE
• DOOLITTLE
• REBECCA
AWFJ Hall of Shame Award
• Shia LaBeouf for his ongoing abusive behavior
• Christopher Nolan for insisting that TENET be screened exclusively in theaters during a pandemic.
• Dallas Sonnier and Adam Donaghey at Cinestate for sexual harassment and abuse, and cover up.
Just when Kiernan Shipka’s Sabrina has truly, absolutely hit her stride, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes to an end. Season four, premiering on December 31, 2020, is the show’s best season, so a little solace can be found in knowing the series is going out with a bang and not a whimper.
Kiernan Shipka splits her time in season four as Sabrina Spellman and Sabrina Morningstar. Sabrina #1 is a high school student who shares much in common with your normal, average, everyday teen, albeit one with incredible power. Life can be hell when you’re not sure of your place anymore among your closest friends. Sabrina #2’s life is literally hell as she rules the underworld with her hunky but not-so-charming hubby, Caliban (Sam Corlett).
Sabrina being Sabrina, she’s not about to follow the rules and jumps at the opportunity to interact with her other self. This interaction is foretold to have grave consequences, but when you’re battling the Eldritch Terrors all bets are off, and drastic steps must be taken.
And speaking of the dreaded Eldritch Terrors, each new Terror is a real treat to behold (the monster effects are stunning) and each takes up an episode to battle. The Eldritch Terrors plotline also allows Richard Coyle as Faustus Blackwood to have a field day bringing the evil this final season.
The fourth and final season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has a devil-may-care attitude, throwing in massive plot twists and exploring new avenues, all while acknowledging the endgame throughout its eight explosive episodes. There’s not a sour note or wrong step anywhere to be found in this final season. There’s also not a moment wasted feeding us unnecessary red herrings, despite the vibe you might have picked up from the promotional videos. The clip featuring Sabrina’s other aunties not only makes complete sense in context, but it also feeds into a pivotal plot twist.
There’s a sense of urgency streaming through season four, yet the writing team never fails to find the humor in the many bizarre situations the Sabrinas and their friends are thrust into. Season four even manages to squeeze in a satanic version of the Battle of the Bands, giving our teenage heroes a chance to show off their vocal ranges without arbitrarily inserting musical numbers into an episode.
These last eight episodes are, as they should be, driven by Kiernan Shipka’s terrific performance. Shipka’s evolved as an actress over the four seasons, and this final outing as Sabrina is her best work to date. Sabrina’s loyal and fierce, heartbreakingly vulnerable at times yet always quick-witted and determined. Each of her continuously shifting moods is captured perfectly in Shipka’s performance.
There’s a little less for Miranda Otto, Lucy Davis, and Michelle Gomez to do in this final season, yet their impacts are still felt. Season four’s really all about the younger cast, with Gavin Leatherwood’s Nick Scratch getting more of a showcase than anticipated. Nick also gets the show’s best arc—other than Sabrina’s, of course.
It’s a real shame to be saying goodbye to Sabrina, Zelda, Hilda, Ambrose, Harvey, Susie, Rosalind, Prudence, Lilith, Nick, and the rest of the colorful characters we’ve come to love (or hate) just when the series is firing on all cylinders. We can hold out hope for a resurrection of at least some of the younger characters showing up on Riverdale and adding some much-needed energy to that The CW series. (A Twitter campaign for a belated Sabrina crossover couldn’t hurt.) But if this is the last outing for these actors in these Archie Comics-inspired characters, then know they’ve gone out with series-best performances.
The final season – and episode eight in particular – takes us on an emotional rollercoaster of a ride, one fans will regret has come to an end. Capping it off, episode eight delivers an unexpected yet completely logical payoff to four seasons of Sabrina watching and ranks as one of the show’s finest hours.
Seasons one and two of the critically acclaimed action-drama Cobra Kai starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka were part of YouTube’s original programming lineup. The much-anticipated third season will debut exclusively on Netflix beginning on January 1, 2021, a week earlier than previously planned. Season two premiered on April 24, 2019 which means by the time season three’s 10 new episodes arrive, nearly two years will have passed since the season two cliffhanger which found Johnny Lawrence losing his dojo to Kress and Miguel gravely injured at the hands of Johnny’s son, Robby.
Back before the Covid-19 pandemic canceled large gatherings, William Zabka joined his Cobra Kai co-stars to discuss the show’s third season at the San Diego Comic-Con. During our short roundtable interview, Zabka reflected on The Karate Kid‘s legacy, Johnny Lawrence’s character arc, and where the story will pick up when season three arrives on January 1, 2021.
Will season three delve into the missing years in Johnny Lawrence’s life that we still haven’t seen?
William Zabka: “Yeah, I think we’re going to see some. We filled in a little bit of the blanks and let you see a little bit. I think we’re going to go and explore the origins of Miyagi-Do; I think Daniel has a trip to Okinawa in him somewhere. We’re going to find out where Cobra Kai came from – the origins of that. And we will learn more about Johnny, sure, as his layers are revealed.”
Johnny came into season one and didn’t have a lot going for him. As soon as he builds his dojo up, it’s like he’s knocked back down – again – in season two.
William Zabka: (Laughing) “He’s even worse off than where he started. It’s been an incredible ride and it’s been painful, I’ve got to be honest. Playing the character, I’m rooting for this guy to make it. I want this guy to come out on top. I want him to have a break. I want him to have a girl, have a car that’s decent. So, yeah.
But it’s great. He shed his skin. All of season two was pretty much Johnny shedding his skin. When he opened Cobra Kai up, I always said, ‘Why is he going to open Cobra Kai up after what happened in his past?’ Well, he’s going to try and apply it differently. So, when I went into season one and I opened the dojo up, I knew Kress was coming back but I didn’t know what effect he was going to have on Johnny. But I knew Johnny and Kress loved each other. I knew Martin (Kove) and I as actors love each other. I thought it’s going to be a really cool yin and yang, give and take. But what ended up happening is it’s like Pandora’s box and the snake came back out and the snake bit him again. And Johnny got sick and he’s now off the beach, in the bottle, and he’s shed his skin. He’s brand new.
So, yeah, he’s set back before previously season one and he’s got a long way to go. But his eyes are open right now and that’s a dangerous place. He’s going to be a different guy; he’s a new guy even from then to now in season one and even now going into season three. He’s educated – he’s a little bit more advanced. But he kind of can’t help but degenerate himself.”
Is there someone in season three Johnny can turn to for help or is he on his own?
William Zabka: “There’s not many people around him, really. But, yeah, if you think of season two – there are a few people that are in his life. You can comb through that season…episode six.”
Were you expecting the huge fan response to season two?
William Zabka: “No. I was blown away by what happened in season one. We just put our hearts into it. You don’t think about all (that). It’s like doing a play or whatever; everyone’s out there but you can’t see it. The lights are on and you’re doing your thing and then you hear them clapping, like, ‘People are liking this.’ It’s incredible.
I didn’t expect it. We had a good idea coming into season two there would be an expectation that if anything it would be harder because season one was such a surprise, I think, to people. Then season two was like, ‘Okay, can you do it again or was that an accident?’”
Why after 35 years do we still care about The Karate Kid the way we do?
William Zabka: “Well, this movie’s been passed down for generations. It’s part of our culture, in a way. But I think that the thing is that it transcends martial arts and it’s a story of father-son, it’s a story of a mentor, it’s a story of finding your Yoda, of overcoming your obstacles. And the characters are beloved and the movie’s beloved. And so why we care…I don’t know except they reflect reality in a way, they reflect humanity.
And that’s what this show’s doing, I think, with all the characters. Nobody’s all good, nobody’s all bad. There’s a lot of grey areas. Everybody’s got their struggles but everybody’s putting their best foot forward. People relate to that on a human level. I think what The Karate Kid touched on is something where everybody was Daniel LaRusso for a minute. Everybody lived vicariously through him and Miyagi was their personal trainer.
Everybody longs for that moment of epiphany and climax in their life where they did it. I think The Karate Kid gave everybody that emotion. I don’t know many other movies that have done that where at the ending you just light up inside the first time you see it. In movie theaters people were standing up and screaming, and kids were doing karate kicks and stuff. That’s the magic of cinema.
It’s a Rocky thing. It’s an emotional, ethereal thing and that’s what art’s intended to do and does when it works. It’s incredible. It’s like a song. It’s like why do we still love listening to REO Speedwagon or Van Halen? And then if you can build on that and make it relevant to today, then you’ve got all that good feeling from yesterday and it’s also working today. We’re all benefiting from it.”
What has it been like stepping back into this character three decades after The Karate Kid?
William Zabka: “Well, he’s the same guy but he’s also a different guy. You know, if you were going and picking up The Karate Kid where it left off and I had to go back, hypothetically, the next week or something – there’s 35 years of life, so he’s a new guy. But to step back into the skin of Johnny Lawrence and put the headband on in the dojo, saying the mantras – walking around saying, ‘No mercy’ and ‘Strike first, strike hard’ – it’s intense. It’s awesome.”
How did they pitch this evolution of the story? Were you excited or did they have to entice you?
William Zabka: “I was completely blindsided by their pitch. They asked me to lunch and I thought, sure. They said, ‘We have a great story we want to pitch to you.’ I was tentative about it but excited. Something came alive inside me. (Laughing) They kind of pitched to me that if it wasn’t a continuation of Karate Kid it would be like Bad Sensei – like Bad Santa but a Bad Sensei kind of thing.
I said the one thing that I don’t want to do is I don’t want to do a thing where he’s going to double-down on being the biggest jerk of all time. If you’re setting him up to take the ultimate fall and prove once and for all that he’s just a rotten egg – I’ve dealt with it and I don’t want to do it. If you’re going to redeem him and give him some arc… They promised me that and that’s where they came from. They had a love for the character in the film and really delivered on that.”
The CW’s set to premiere the CBC Original series Trickster on January 12, 2021. The drama joins the network’s midseason primetime schedule in the Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT timeslot, with season one episode one premiering following back-to-back episodes of Two Sentence Horror Stories.
Episode one was directed by series co-creator/executive producer Michelle Latimer (Rise) from a script she co-wrote with fellow co-creator/executive producer Tony Elliott (Orphan Black). Sienna Films’ Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny also serve as executive producers.
The season one cast is led by Joel Oulette as Jared and Crystle Lightning as Maggie. Kalani Queypo plays Wade, Anna Lambe is Sarah, Nahan Alexis is Crashpad, Joel Thomas Hynes plays Richie, Craig Lauzon is Phil, Georgina Lightning is Sophia, and Gail Maurice stars as Georgina.
“Episode 1” SERIES PREMIERE – When a drug dealer threatens his mom (Lightning) over an outstanding debt, Jared (Oulette) struggles to come up with the money to save her, while frightening hallucinations hint at much bigger troubles lurking right around the corner.
Season One Description, Courtesy of The CW:
The CW’s new drama Trickster, based on the bestselling trilogy of novels by Eden Robinson, tells the story of the Indigenous Gothic, spirits, ancient magic, deadly rites of passage in a coming of age story unlike any you’ve ever seen.
Jared is an Indigenous teen struggling to keep his dysfunctional family above water. Jared holds down an after-school job and cooks ecstasy on the side to support his separated parents: partying mom Maggie, who self-medicates an undiagnosed mental illness, and unemployable dad Phil, who has a painkiller addiction and a new girlfriend. But when Jared starts seeing strange things – talking ravens, doppelgängers, skin monsters – his already chaotic life is turned upside down.
At first, he thinks he’s losing his mind, but to his relief, and terror, the supernatural events surrounding him are all too real. There is more than meets the eye to the place Jared grew up, the people he loves – and to Jared himself.
We’re hitting the halfway point with episode 13 of The CW’s The Outpost season three. “It Has Begun,” directed by Milan Todorovic from a script by Jason Faller and Kynan Griffin, will air on January 3, 2021.
The cast is led by Jessica Green as Talon and includes Jake Stormoen as Captain Garret Spears, Imogen Waterhouse as Gwynn Calkussar/Rosmund, Anand Desai-Barochia as Janzo, and Aaron Fontaine as Tobin. Reece Ritchie plays Zed, Izuka Hoyle is Wren, Jaye Griffiths is Yavalla, Georgia May Foote is Falista, and Adam Johnson as Munt.
“IT HAS BEGUN” Plot: The Outpost becomes overrun and Talon (Green) and Zed (Ritchie) return with an unexpected ally. Facing total defeat, a sacrifice is seen as the only hope.
After summoning Zed (Ritchie) and his Blackblood comrades to save the Outpost, Talon (Green) finds herself betrayed by her own kind and struggles to reconcile her human friends and her Blackblood heritage. With the demonic Lu Qiri providing the muscle to enforce Zed’s master plan, the Outpost’s human inhabitants are enslaved as miners in search of a mysterious substance to solve a dark riddle.
From her bedroom under house arrest, Gwynn (Waterhouse) plots her escape and the overthrow of her new foes. To save her beloved Garret (Stormoen), Talon is forced to summon a Blackblood Priestess named Yavalla (Griffiths) into the world. Yavalla prophesies a paradise for Blackbloods, and an era of peace for the world, but she soon discovers a power that threatens every living creature.
As Gwynn and Tobin (Fontaine) become Yavalla’s unwilling allies, Talon and her friends must fight, suffer, and sacrifice their way to save each other and vanquish their new enemies. As Talon discovers more about her lost family from Yavalla, she must piece together the truths from the lies, and solve the mystery of her heritage and a forgotten power, before the world becomes enslaved to a new power that could consume every living being.
Bull defends a pastor accused of murder on CBS’s Bull season five episode five. “Fallen Idols” was directed by Kevin Berlandi from a script by Steven Paul Martinez and will air on Monday, January 4, 2021 at 10pm ET/PT.
The season five cast is led by Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull. Freddy Rodriguez plays Benny Colón, Yara Martinez stars as Isabella “Izzy” Colón, Geneva Carr is Marissa Morgan, Jamie Lee Kirchner is Danny James, Christopher Jackson plays Chunk Palmer, and MacKenzie Meehan stars as Taylor Rentzel.
Rey Lucas, Natalie Roy, Janel Moloney, Todd Susman, and Daoud Heidami. Episode five guest stars also include Scott Aiello, Nemuna Ceesay, Jacob Gutierrez, Lia Lando, Brian Corrigan, Lucy Martin, Rachel Lin, Eddie Yu, Wolfe Jin, and Kath-Ann Hart.
“Fallen Idols” Plot: Bull worries he can’t convince a jury his religious leader client didn’t kill his wife when a major secret the pastor is hiding about the marriage is revealed, damaging his credibility in court.
Bull stars Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull in a drama inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw, the founder of one of the most prolific trial-consulting firms of all time. Brilliant, brash and charming, Dr. Bull is the ultimate puppet master as he combines psychology, human intuition and high-tech data to learn what makes jurors, attorneys, witnesses and the accused tick. This season, Bull finds it harder than ever to navigate his personal life, as he balances fatherhood and his renewed relationship with Isabella “Izzy” Colón, his ex-wife. Izzy’s brother is Benny Colón, Bull’s trusted associate, a quick-witted lawyer who acts as defense attorney in the company’s mock trials.
Bull’s enviable group of experts at Trial Analysis Corporation shape successful narratives down to the last detail. In addition to Benny, his team includes Marissa Morgan, a neurolinguistics expert from the Department of Homeland Security who monitors shifting jury reactions in real-time for Bull; former NYPD detective Danny James, the firm’s tough but relatable investigator; Taylor Rentzel, a working mother and former colleague of Marissa’s who is an expert at coding and computer hacking; and Chunk Palmer, a former all-American lineman and stylist-turned-lawyer, who helps clients prepare their look and testimony for trial.
In high-stakes trials, Bull’s combination of remarkable insight into human nature, three Ph.D.’s and a top-notch staff creates winning strategies that tip the scales of justice in his clients’ favor.
Just days after Wonder Woman 1984 hit theaters and HBO Max, Warner Bros. Pictures announced a third Wonder Woman film has been fast-tracked. Gal Gadot will reprise her starring role and Patty Jenkins will write the screenplay and is confirmed to return to direct.
The action drama has rung up $16.7 million at the domestic box off since its release on December 25, 2020, and it brought in $36 million globally over the Christmas weekend. Combined with the box office take from foreign markets that opened early, Wonder Woman 1984‘s total worldwide box office gross stands at $85 million.
The Warner Bros release holds the record for the biggest domestic opening since the Covid-19 pandemic struck and shuttered theaters. It’s currently playing in 2,100+ domestic theaters that are open with limited capacity due to Covid-19. In comparison, 2017’s Wonder Woman opened in 4,165 theaters.
“As fans around the world continue to embrace Diana Prince, driving the strong opening weekend performance of Wonder Woman 1984, we are excited to be able continue her story with our real-life Wonder Women – Gal and Patty – who will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” said Toby Emmerich, Chairman, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
“Wonder Woman 1984 broke records and exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics in its first 24 hours on the service, and the interest and momentum we’re seeing indicates this will likely continue well beyond the weekend,” stated Andy Forssell, Executive Vice President and General Manager, WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer. “During these very difficult times, it was nice to give families the option of enjoying this uplifting film at home, where theater viewing wasn’t an option.”
In addition to Gal Gadot in the title role, the cast of the comic book-inspired action film includes Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Kristen Wiig as the Cheetah, Pedro Pascal as Max Lord, Robin Wright as Antiope, and Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta.
The Plot:
Wonder Woman 1984 fast forwards to the 1980s as Wonder Woman’s next big-screen adventure finds her riding lightning across the sky, donning wings of gold, and chasing a dream while in pursuit of two new formidable foes: Max Lord and the Cheetah.
In Wonder Woman 1984, the fate of the world is once more on the line, and only Wonder Woman can save it. This new chapter in the Wonder Woman story finds Diana Prince living quietly among mortals in the vibrant, sleek 1980s – an era of excess driven by the pursuit of having it all. Though she’s come into her full powers, she maintains a low profile, curating ancient artifacts and only performing her superheroic acts incognito. But now, Diana will have to step directly into the spotlight and muster all her wisdom, strength and courage in order to save mankind from a world of its own making.
It’s been a long wait but NBC’s This Is Us will finally return to primetime on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT. Episode five, “A Long Road Home,” will find Randall dealing with the aftermath from stripping during a live stream.
Season five cast includes Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Milo Ventimiglia as Jack, Justin Hartley as Kevin, Sterling K. Brown as Randall, and Chrissy Metz as Kate. Susan Kelechi Watson is Beth and Chris Sullivan stars as Toby.
“A Long Road Home” Plot: Randall’s brush with viral fame leads to a discovery.
This Is Us Series Description, Courtesy of NBC:
Everyone has a family. And every family has a story. This Is Us chronicles the Pearson family across the decades: from Jack (Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Moore) as young parents in the 1980s to their kids (the big three), Kevin (Hartley), Kate (Metz) and Randall (Brown) searching for love and fulfillment in the present day along with Toby (Sullivan) and Beth (Kelechi Watson). This grounded, life-affirming dramedy reveals how the tiniest events in our lives impact who we become, and how the connections we share with each other can transcend time, distance, and even death.
Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth and Sterling K. Brown as Randall in ‘This Is Us’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)Mandy Moore as Rebecca and Hannah Zeile as Kate in season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)Sterling K. Brown as Randall and Ron Cephas Jones as William in season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)Justin Hartley as Kevin and Caitlin Thompson as Madison in season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Amanda Leighton as Sophie, Logan Shroyer as Kevin, Rachel Hilson as Beth, and Niles Fitch as Randall in season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)Mandy Moore as Rebecca, Amanda Leighton as Sophie, and Logan Shroyer as Kevin in season 5 episode 5 (Photo by: NBC)
