News

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles star Pete Ploszek is set for a major recurring role on MTV’s hit series Teen Wolf. Ploszek will play Mr. Garrett Douglas, a charming, handsome young new teacher, the kind everyone has a crush on. Loosely based on the 1985 film starring Michael J. Fox, Teen Wolf debuted on MTV in 2011 and since then has been a ratings success for the network. The second half of Season 5 premiered on January 5. Ploszek is reprising his role of Leonardo from 2014…...

Final Update, Monday, 2:12 Pm: The fall season is off to a good start, thanks to Fox’s The Maze Runner which opened nicely to $32.5M for the three-day weekend. The next installment of the film, The Maze Runner 2: Scorch Trials, is already set to bow September 18, 2015. While Fox has created another franchise for the industry, Liam Neeson and Universal weren’t so lucky with A Walk Among The Tombstones. The picture didn’t appeal to the female audience — that same demo which helped Non-Stop open to $28.8M earlier this year for the actor. Tombstones ends this weekend with $12.7M. This Is Where I Leave You opened to mediocre numbers after having a less than expected Sunday. It will take in only $11.5M for Warner Bros.

Speaking of franchises, Sony and Denzel Washington hope to launch one next weekend with The Equalizer and those of us who have seen it believe it will happen.

5th Update, Monday, 3:18 Pm: Screen Gems’ thriller No Good Deed fell right in line with other distribs’ estimates over the weekend to end the three-day at $24.2M, while Warner Bros./Alcon Entertainment’s Dolphin Tale 2 just fell short of $16M to gross a total cume of $15.8M; it was a softer-than-hoped-for opening for the sequel to the 2011 family film, which bowed to $19M on its way for a $95M worldwide haul). Chernin Entertainment’s crime drama The Drop ended the weekend at No. 6 for a $4.1M take or a respectable $5,000+ per screen for Fox Searchlight; it is James Gandolfini’s last film in release. The Identical dropped like a bomb in its second weekend (-75%) falling out of the Top 20 after a dismal opening. In fact, it’s even behind Woody Allen’s Magic In The Moonlight which is its eighth week of release. It was a very soft box office weekend overall,...

Birthday shoutouts go to Joe Penny (above), who is 58, Mick Fleetwood is 67, Michele Lee is 72, Solange Knowles is 28, and Mindy Kaling is 35.

In ratings news, True Blood was actually up in its final season opener. Why?

Meanwhile, Teen Wolf returned on par with last season.

I probably should have included Tomas Berdych and his incredible Wimblebum in my hottest men of tennis post (Nsfw!)

Gay Men and the Presidents Who Loved Them

Jimmy Kimmel gives us what we want.

Here’s the new trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Needs more Vanilla Ice

Here’s the trailer for The Last of Robin Hood, with Kevin Kline as Errol Flynn, Dakota Fanning as the underage actress he becomes involved with, and Susan Sarandon as her mother. The trailer also features a glimpse of Bryan Batt.

When Chris Colfer met Hillary Clinton

And here’s The Weekly ShoutOUT™. Each week we’re...

Parafest 2013 is a new convention set to take place this September in Pennsylvania. An interesting mix of horror entertainment and the paranormal, this unique event includes celebrity guests and film screenings, with ghost hunts and a Ouija Board experience. Guests slated to appear include Michael Rooker, Lew Temple, IronE Singleton, Michael Berryman, Tony Todd, Mark Sheppard, Kristen Bauer, Denis O-Hare, and many more:

“Zombies, vampires, ghosts and more will be haunting the nation’s East Coast this September with Parafest 2013, a unique event that combines celebrities and programming in the area’s first large-scale comic-con type event of its kind.

Held September 6-8, 2013, at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Parafest 2013 was created to highlight the paranormal genre alongside horror and sci-fi in a convention unlike any other.

“I am a huge fan of the paranormal, as well as monsters and eccentric characters from movies and TV, and excited to create...

Zombies, vampires, ghosts, and more will be haunting Pennsylvania this September with Parafest 2013, a unique event that combines celebrities and paranormal programming in the area’s first large-scale event of its kind.

From the Press Release:

Held September 6-8, 2013, at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Parafest 2013 was created to highlight the paranormal genre alongside horror and sci-fi in a convention unlike any other.

“I am a huge fan of the paranormal, as well as monsters and eccentric characters from movies and TV, and excited to create a home for other fans to celebrate them in the Lehigh Valley,” said Scott Gerhart, CEO of Paradox Entertainment LLC, the Allentown, Pennsylania, based organizer of the inaugural event.

Sponsored by Dorney Park’s Halloween Haunt attraction, Gerhart says that Parafest 2013 essentially began as a chance for himself and friends to have a local convention, or “con,” but it has grown into an event...

Michael J Fox, lycanthropy and basketball clash in the amusing 80s teen comedy, Teen Wolf. Jeff takes a look back…

Delightfully mediocre is a term that applies to the original Teen Wolf, the less ambitious of two Michael J Fox films released in 1985. Ostensibly an upbeat, John Hughes-esque take on fare like I Was A Teenage Werewolf (perhaps in name only), Teen Wolf only wishes to please, having neither bark nor bite. Still, this eager puppy of a teen flick does a more than a few tricks well, and remains spritely and cuddly after all this time.

Fox plays Scott Howard, an only child living with his father (James Hampton in a quiet, understated performance). Scott has two best friends, the exuberant and at times overbearing Rupert ‘Stiles’ Stilinksi (Jerry Levine), and literal girl-next-door ‘Boof,’ played to wholesome perfection by Susan Ursitti.

His biggest problem is the lack of a maternal figure,...

Whedonites will be in for a treat this weekend at the Sci-Fi Expo in the Dallas area this weekend, February 11-12, 2012. Let me just throw a few names at you: Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy/Angel), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, Firefly/Serenity), Jewel Staite (Sgu, Firefly/Serenity), Sean Maher (Firefly/Serenity), and Ron Glass (Firefly/Serenity)! These Joss Whedon alumni as well as a rare appearance by Eisner winning and comic artist legend, Bill Sienkiewicz (Elektra: Assassin, Fantastic Four), are headlining this weekend’s Sci-Fi Expo at the Irving Convention Center.

Here are the deets:

When: February 11-12, 2012 Saturday 11am-6pm; Sunday 11am-4pm

Where: Irving Convention Center at 500 W. Las Colinas Blvd. Irving, TX

Tickets: $15 for One Day General Admission, $5 for Kids General Admission and are available at the door beginning at 9:30am on Saturday.

Plan your schedule wisely! Eliza and Adam will only be there on Saturday while Sean,...

Glee has cast another set of parents for Season 3 — though, sadly they’re not Rachel’s dads. Rather, the Fox musical is bringing Mr. and Mrs. Pillsbury to town.

Playing Emma’s ma and pa are Desperate Housewives alum Valerie Mahaffey and Happy Days vet Don Most, TVGuide.com reports.

There’s no word on why the pair plans to visit McKinley’s obsessive-compulsive guidance gal, but they are set to appear in the Oct. 4 installment — the same episode in which the previously reported parents of...

The unlikely, but infinitely appealing combination of Darren Criss, Susan Sarandon, and Laura Linney are the new faces of clothing giant Uniqlo. Previously, all I knew about Uniqlo was that Russell Tovey slept in their boxer shorts. Not I know they design clothes with boobs in mind.

Just when I thought that Locke & Key was dead, there's news that MTV may have an interest in the show if they can afford production. From what I know of the series, it could make an interesting companion for Teen Wolf. Put some of that Jersey Shore money to work!

Job application, or Grindr ad?

Reese Witherspoon is recovering at home after being struck by a car while jogging. I knew exercise was going to kill someone eventually.

A huge Nasa satellite is going to make an uncontrolled reentry into the atmosphere, and it's likely that at least a dozen pieces will impact the surface at unknown locations.

The Flick:

Teen Wolf is one of those flicks that appeals to nostalgia junkies (myself included), but will probably fall flat when it comes to younger audiences. It’s a movie that captures a moment in time that we don’t see in cinemas anymore; a b-grade picture that took the time to be more than just average.

The story is a simple one. Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) is a teenager with problems. He’s not very good at sports, he doesn’t fare well with the ladies, and he happens to be a werewolf. Of course the werewolf side of the story is a simple metaphor for puberty, and at its heart Teen Wolf is a simple coming-of-age story. Once Scott realizes he has been afflicted with the family curse his life drastically changes. He is now great at sports, popular, and one of the hottest girls in school is interested in him.

I came to a startling conclusion will watching the 1985 cult classic Teen Wolf on Blu-ray this week. Not that Scott Howard’s friend in the movie is actually named “Boof,” and not “Booth” as I originally thought for over 25 years, but that Teen Wolf stinks. While fans can argue the film’s impact on pop culture all they want, viewing Teen Wolf through the eyes of an adult (mine) is more chore than fun.

Based on a sad script by Joseph Loeb and Matthew Weisman –stuffed with too many eye-rolling moments and flat jokes, Teen Wolf joins the ’80s other “good as a kid, bad as an adult” arch-pantheon of schlock like Knight Rider, Fraggle Rock and M.A.S.K. But not Snorks. That stuff is golden.

Starring ’80s icon Michael J. Fox, Teen Wolf centers on Scott Howard, a puny 17-year-old with ambitions grander than working in his...

The Movie Pool claws into the Blu-ray release of the 1980s teen comedy classic Teen Wolf!

Blu-ray Specs

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 enhanced for widescreen TVs

Running Time: 92 minutes

Rating: PG

Audio: English Mono DTS-hd Ma, Spanish Mono, French Mono

Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, Spanish, French

Special Features: Theatrical Trailer, Preview of MTV's "Teen Wolf" Series

The Set-up

A high schooler learns he comes from a family of werewolves, and uses it to boost his popularity.

The Delivery

This Michael J. Fox comedy has quite a cult following. I wish I could say that means this film is good, but it's more miss than hit. It wanders all over the place, it's predictable, and only Fox's charisma (as well as James Hampton, who plays his father) helps elevate it. It also has a bad case of the 80s, which in this case, isn't such a good thing. Still, those...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

Hop – Russell Brand, James Marsden, Elizabeth Perkins

Insidious – Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins

Source Code – Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

Movie of the Week

Source Code

The Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

The Plot: A soldier (Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown commuter and is forced to live and relive a harrowing train bombing until he can determine who is responsible for it.

The Buzz: Source Code looks to be a Quantum Leap meets Groundhog Day sci-fi action romp. 35 seconds into the film’s trailer, I half expected Jake Gyllenhaal to utter, “oh boy.” He instead exclaims, “no, no, no, no,” as if to echo my thoughts exactly — I don’t want to see Gyllenhaal act the same “stop the terrorist on the train” scene, over and over and over again.

I have a strong feeling that this...

'We just made the thing independently of her, and then she liked it a lot,' he tells MTV News.

By James Montgomery

Shakira in "She Wolf"

Photo: Sony

On Thursday night, much to the delight of her fans and lycanthropes everywhere, Shakira premiered the video for her totally batty, completely amazing new song "She Wolf."

And while most of the chatter has (somewhat understandably) centered on her howling, hanging and hip-popping, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the song itself is actually pretty mind-blowing too: a whirling, pulsating take on the slinky Italian disco tracks of the '70s and '80s, the kind of thing you just don't hear in pop tunes anymore. But given the instant success of "She Wolf," it's a style we expect to be emulated by producers everywhere any day now.

You'd probably never guess it, but the song is the...