News

From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for December 2017 including "Blood and Water", "Decoy", "Falling Water" and a whole lot more:

Anne Season 2

TV Series

CBC/Netflix

Prod.: John Calvert

Oct 2/17 - Mar 20/18

Blood And Water Season 3

TV Series

Breakthrough Entertainment

Prod.: Paula J. Smith

Dir.: Felipe Rodriguez

Nov 15 - Dec 8/17

Decoy

Feature

Decoy Pictures Inc.

Prod.: Andrew Gunn, Michael Bien, Angela Donald

Dir.: Allan Ungar

Nov 1 - Dec 7/17

Designated Survivor

Season 2

TV Series

Designated 1 Ltd.

Prod.: Llewellyn Wells

Dir.: Various

Jul 4/17 - Mar 31/18 Tbc

Falling Water Season 2

TV Series

Gep Falling Water Inc.

Prod.: Terry Gould

Dir.: various

Aug 20 - Mar 20/18

Franklin

Feature

New Line Productions Inc. / Jellystone Films Inc.

Prod.: Peter Safran

Dir.: David F. Sandberg

Feb 5 - May 8/18

Freebirds

TV Series

Warner Bros. TV / Berlanti Entertainment

Prod.: Robert Ortiz

Dir.: John Fawcett,...

Warning: The following Q&A contains major spoilers for The Blacklist‘s Season 5 fall finale. Proceed with caution.

During its four previous seasons, The Blacklist put Tom Keen through the physical and emotional wringer time and again — and he somehow survived all of it.

Getting tortured and stabbed in the pilot episode? No problem. Tied up and left to waste away on a boat in Season 2? Piece of cake. Chased by assassins at his own Season 3 wedding? Bring. It. On. (He even survived the cancellation of his spinoff series, which is perhaps the most impressive of all.)

But Tom’s...

From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for November 2017 including "Locke and Key", "Titans", "Umbrella Academy" and a whole lot more:

Anne- Season 2

TV Series

CBC/Netflix

Prod.: John Calvert

Dir.: Various

Oct 2/17 - Mar 20/18

Baroness Von Sketch Show- Season 3

TV Series

Frantic Films

Prod.: Graham Ludlow, Jeff Peeler

Dir.: Jeremy Lalonde, Jordan Canning

Aug 21 - Nov 10/17

Cardinal: By The Time You Read This- Season 3

TV Series – Mini

eOne

Prod.: Jessica Daniel

Dir.: Daniel Grou

Sep 19 - Nov 24/17

Decoy

Feature

Decoy Pictures Inc.

Prod.: Andrew Gunn, Michael Bien, Angela Donald

Dir.: Allan Ungar

Nov 1 - Dec 7/17

Designated Survivor- Season 2

TV Series

Designated 1 Ltd.

Prod.: Llewellyn Wells

Dir.: Various

Jul 4/17 - Mar 31/18

Dino Dana- Season 3

TV Series

Sinking Ship Entertainment

Prod.: Eric Beldowski

Dir: Various

Aug 1 – Nov 17/17

Falling Water- Season 2

TV Series

Gep Falling Water Inc.

Get your scream on with these new frightful stories from today's Horror Highlights! Screambox's "13 Screams of Halloween" kicked off this past Friday the 13th and will continue until the big day. Also: Netflix's Slasher Season 2 details, Scream Factory's latest Blu-ray releases, a trailer for Sightings, details for the immersive experience Apartment 213, Grimmwood, and Party Bus From Hell.

Details on "13 Screams of Halloween" from Screambox: Press Release: "Los Angeles, Calif. (October 12, 2017) Screambox, the leading streaming service for hardcore horror fans, is celebrating the Halloween season with a fun treat: 13 new fan-favorite films will be released completely free for streaming on any device from Friday the 13th of October through Halloween, October 31st. Even more thrilling, these top-rated, terrifying titles are exclusive to Screambox -- true horror lovers won’t find these films on any other major streaming service, including Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

“It’s been a great year for Screambox,...

Two Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences governors told me that Academy board members are discussing whether Harvey Weinstein should continue as a member. An impromptu board meeting is expected sometime this week. It’s worth noting that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors is now one-third female, with members who include Whoopi Goldberg, Kimberly Peirce, and Christina Kounelias.

This would be a stunning reversal: By the count of The Weinstein Company’s website, his companies earned 303 Oscar nominations and 75 wins over three decades. Harvey could be the butt of Oscar jokes, but historically was the second most-thanked person in acceptance speeches, after Steven Spielberg.

Read More:The Academy Board of Governors is Now 38% Female

Membership in the Academy is by invitation of the Board of Governors. It has the right to bestow and revoke memberships, but that’s rare. There are precedents for the Academy...

Two Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences governors told me that Academy board members are discussing whether Harvey Weinstein should continue as a member. An impromptu board meeting is expected sometime this week. It’s worth noting that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board of governors is now one-third female, with members who include Whoopi Goldberg, Kimberly Peirce, and Christina Kounelias.

This would be a stunning reversal: By the count of The Weinstein Company’s website, his companies earned 303 Oscar nominations and 75 wins over three decades. Harvey could be the butt of Oscar jokes, but historically was the second most-thanked person in acceptance speeches, after Steven Spielberg.

Read More:The Academy Board of Governors is Now 38% Female

Membership in the Academy is by invitation of the Board of Governors. It has the right to bestow and revoke memberships, but that’s rare. There are precedents for the Academy...

The 55th New York Film Festival will debut a starry roster of documentaries featuring giants of the art and literary worlds as well as Alex Gibney’s postponed “No Stone Unturned,” a critical investigation into the 1994 Loughinisland massacre in Ireland, which was pulled from Tribeca in April.

Other new works include films from directors Abel Ferrara, Sara Driver, Nancy Buirski, Mathieu Amalric, and Barbet Schroeder; Vanessa Redgrave’s directorial debut “Sea Sorrow,” which played at Cannes; and films featuring Joan Didion, Arthur Miller, Gay Talese, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Jane Goodall, plus stories about racism, American immigration, and the global refugee crisis.

Three documentaries spotlight acclaimed writers, including the world premiere of Griffin Dunne’s “Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold,” returning Nyff filmmaker Rebecca Miller’s tender portrait of her father, “Arthur Miller: Writer,” and the World Premiere of Myles Kane and Josh Koury’s “Voyeur,” tracking journalist Gay Talese...

Princess Olympia of Greece turned 21 earlier this week, but the celebrations are far from over.

The princess, who turned 21 on July 25, has been ringing in the milestone with a few parties this summer. Earlier this month, she and her father Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, who turned 50 on May 20, shared a joint party dubbed “5021 Revolution,” in honor of the ages of the royal father and daughter.

And it looks like the partying princess is still in the birthday mood.

On Wednesday, the royal took to Instagram, posting a picture of herself in a vintage-inspired red bikini with white buttons behind a “21” birthday balloon.

Director Neill Blomkamp is going to push the edge on storytelling with amazing visual effects with his experimental short films.

With his Vancouver-based Oats Studios in its infancy stage, the studio has launched a series of initial short films to let the online audience give feedback and critique the company’s work. Online audiences can provide feedback through YouTube, Steam and even on Twitter. It will help Blomkamp and Oats Studios to determine the production of future filmmaking.

Zygote has been released this week which stars Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) and Jose Pablo Cantillo (Taken). The short film follows two survivors at an arctic mining station trying to survive against this alien/zombie-like creature made from the human limbs. The feel of the short film is like a cross between The Thing and Alien.

It follows previously short films that were released earlier this summer with Rakka, Firebase,...

It’s another boy for Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson!

The model and singer (who is the oldest child of famed hockey star Wayne Gretzky) and pro golfer’s second son, River Jones Johnson, was born on Monday, June 12, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a source confirms to People.

The new mom of two took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of 2-year-old big brother Tatum planting a smooch on his sibling’s head.

“Welcome to the world baby boy … we all love you so much,” Gretzky captioned the family photo.

Johnson — currently the world No. 1 — also took to Instagram,...

What brings one of the most acclaimed French actresses in the world to a Hollywood blockbuster? It’s a question that’s hard to avoid when thinking about Juliette Binoche. The Oscar winner has been a muse for Olivier Assayas, Abbas Kiarostami and Michael Haneke. She’s worked with Jean-Luc Godard, Leos Carax and Krzysztof Kieślowski. And yet, rather strangely, she has popped up in American tentpoles like “Godzilla” and “Ghost in the Shell” in recent years.

Read More: Review: Bruno Dumont’s ‘Slack Bay’ is a Middle Finger to French Society

If you think Hollywood money is the draw, then you simply don’t know Binoche. The actress could’ve gone blockbuster 24 years ago when Steven Spielberg pursued her for “Jurassic Park.” She turned him down to work with Kieślowski on “Three Colours: Blue.” Spielberg would cast Laura Dern. Binoche would win the César Award for Best Actress. Denying...

When some of the smartest people alive today insist we need to begin colonizing other worlds, you tend to believe them. When science fiction fans hear those words, we begin to salivate at the possibilities.

National Geographic cannily appeals to both audiences with their hybrid miniseries Mars, which mixes today’s science with tomorrow’s fiction by positing what the actual colonization of the planet, a mere 140 million miles away, might look like. Yeah, we got a glimpse of that in the adaptation of Andrew Weir’s The Martian, but this goes further and shows more of the risks involved.

The miniseries, out now from 20th Century Home Entertainment, is a captivating piece of work if unevenly assembled. You get all the usual suspects weighing in why and how we might get there including Space X guru Elon Musk and the ubiquitous Neil deGrasse Tyson. Accompanied by a Greek chorus of Nasa scientists and engineers,...

When some of the smartest people alive today insist we need to begin colonizing other worlds, you tend to believe them. When science fiction fans hear those words, we begin to salivate at the possibilities.

National Geographic cannily appeals to both audiences with their hybrid miniseries Mars, which mixes today’s science with tomorrow’s fiction by positing what the actual colonization of the planet, a mere 140 million miles away, might look like. Yeah, we got a glimpse of that in the adaptation of Andrew Weir’s The Martian, but this goes further and shows more of the risks involved.

The miniseries, out now from 20th Century Home Entertainment, is a captivating piece of work if unevenly assembled. You get all the usual suspects weighing in why and how we might get there including Space X guru Elon Musk and the ubiquitous Neil deGrasse Tyson. Accompanied by a Greek chorus of Nasa scientists and engineers,...

What the two alien invasion films tell us about existential questions.

Ever since H.G. Wells released “The War of the Worlds” in 1898, the alien invasion genre has become a vehicle for humanity’s fears, questions, and aspirations. Although at the time that novel was thought to be a metaphor for the superstitions of the Victorian age, the story proved universal enough to apply to any era; from anxieties about Nazism when Orson Welles read it as a radio play in 1938, to Cold War nightmares when Byron Haskin adapted it into a film 1953, to worries about the War on Terror when Steven Spielberg did the same in 2005. But beyond merely reflecting the terrestrial fears of any particular time, the genre also addresses more universal questions — about life, death, and humanity’s place in the cosmos. Two of this century’s best alien invasion films — M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs and Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival — take precisely this existential...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter (Osgood Perkins)

Osgood Perkins’ debut feature, The Blackcoat’s Daughter – originally known as February at its premiere at Tiff last year – is a stylish exercise in dread, teasing out its slow-drip horrors with precision, and building a deliriously evil presence that hovers along the fringes. However, there’s a thin line between mystery and vagueness in storytelling, and it becomes difficult to decide where a...

Dakota Fanning is growing up… and going back to the Gilded Age to solve some of New York City’s most brutal murders.

The former child actor has joined the cast of TNT’s upcoming period thriller The Alienist, the network announced Saturday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Based on Caleb Carr’s bestselling book series, The Alienist centers on three investigators working together to solve a series of murders in 1896 New York. Fanning will play Sara Howard, a young NYPD secretary who’s determined to become the department’s first female detective.

RelatedTNT Orders The Alienist Adaptation,...

Maybe it's because we're only two episodes back but Blindspot Season 2 Episode 11 feels more like it's taking accounting for another episode than a full episode itself.

"Droll Autumn, Unmutual Lord" is a slow starter that doesn't pick up until its second half and seems like its primary function is to make Jane and Weller reassess their families. Or to make us hate basketball.

The core concept of forcing the FBI to work with the CIA was played out before, and better, in Blindspot Season 1. Not to take anything away from Chad Donella, who plays Keaton, but he'll forever be Jacob Clarke from the miniseries, Taken.

Even when he's trying to be bad it's peanuts compared to what Michael Gaston did as Tom Carter.

Keaton's an annoyance; Carter was someone you full-on loathed. So asking Jane and company to work with Keaton's CIA is more of an irritation than particularly tense,...

Does Dakota Fanning have a new man in her life?

The actress, 22, was all smiles when she was spotted holding hands with a man in New York City last week. The star kept it casual in a leopard fur coat, flared pants and loafers. Meanwhile, her companion wore a hat, hoodie and jeans.

Fanning has kept mum on her personal life since entering the spotlight at an early age. She was most recently linked to British model Jamie Strachan.

In an interview with Town & Country for its October issue, however, the star opened up about her thoughts on dating.

“I find dates,...

Marlon Brando put his all into this impassioned, expertly acted and crafted VistaVision western spectacle. Has it been overlooked because of the scarcity of quality presentations? Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Pina Pellicer, Ben Johnson and Slim Pickens are unforgettable, as are the Big Sur locations. One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 844 1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 141 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 22, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Pina Pellicer, Larry Duran, Sam Gilman, Míriam Colón, Timothy Carey, Margarita Cordova, Elisha Cook Jr., Rodolfo Acosta, Joan Petrone, Joe Dominguez, Tom Webb, Ray Teal, John Dierkes, Philip Ahn, Hank Worden, Clem Harvey, William Forrest, Mina Martinez. Cinematography Charles Lang. Jr. Film Editor Archie Marshek Original Music Hugo Friedhofer Written by Guy Trosper, Calder Willingham from the novel The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones by Charles Neider Produced by Frank P. Rosenberg Directed by Marlon Brando...

Robert Keeling Nov 11, 2016

A salute to some of the finest uplifting moments in film, and to cinema's ability to lift your day.

A few weeks ago we published a list of traumatic moments that have appeared in family films. Of course we all enjoyed that waltz through painful childhood nightmare fuel, but the question was raised, why not do a list of slightly more positive and upbeat movie scenes instead? Thus, this: 25 of the most triumphant movie moments of all time.

Everyone has that go-to feel-good movie which they stick on when life is getting them down. Had a bad week at work? Stick Four Weddings on. Football team lose 5-0 and get soaked through on your way home? Time for Baseketball. Leave a tenner in the pocket of your jeans that just went in the wash and thus suddenly realise that life is a never-ending cycle of pain and...

For years, Geoff Redknap has helped bring films and TV shows to life through his special effects makeup work, and he recently stepped behind the camera for his feature film debut, The Unseen, which has been acquired by Spotlight Pictures.

Press Release: Hollywood, October 24, 2016 – Spotlight Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding Canada, for the gritty sci-fi horror, The Unseen. Written and directed by Geoff Redknap, who makes his feature directorial debut. Redknap is best known for his special makeup effects work on Deadpool, The Cabin In The Woods, The X-Files, and Star Trek Beyond. The Unseen premiered to tremendous reviews in this year's Fantasia International Film Festival and stars Aden Young, Camille Sullivan, and Julia Sarah Stone.

In a modern retelling of the classic The Invisible Man, The Unseen is the story of Bob (Aden Young), a struggling mill worker, who mysteriously abandoned his family and isolated himself in a small northern town.

Kirsten Howard Feb 24, 2017

Last year we watched ten of the recent straight-to-dvd films of Mr Nicolas Cage. Since then, he's made six more...

This article has been updated to include six new films: Dog Eat Dog, The Trust, USS Indianapolis: Men Of Courage, Southern Fury, Army Of One and Vengeance: A Love Story.

See related Grimm to end after season 6 Grimm season 6 episode 7 review: Blind Love Grimm season 6 episode 6 review: Breakfast In Bed Grimm season 6 episode 5 review: The Seven Year Itch

The first Nicolas Cage movie I saw wasn’t one of the cool ones. It wasn’t Wild At Heart, Raising Arizona or even Valley Girl. It was the Cher rom-com, Moonstruck.

My mum, having just gone through an acrimonious divorce, was trying to drum up the optimism to find love again, and apparently that involved watching a lot of rom-coms where an idealised – or at least intrinsically whimsical...

Nick Aldwinckle Aug 10, 2016

Blood Bath, The Beast With 1,000,000 Eyes and Return Of The Killer Tomatoes: it's our latest DVD and Blu-ray round-up...

Britain is in a state of turmoil, with Brexit, political leadership spinning out of control and social media civil war already underway. As such, it has perhaps never been a more appropriate time for a release of John De Bello and Stephen Peace’s 1988 meditation on the path towards peace and racial tolerance, Return Of The Killer Tomatoes, out on Arrow Bluray.

Set ten years after the events of the Great Tomato War, as depicted in uncompromising detail in De Bello and Peace’s earlier epic, Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes, tomatoes – following the mutant, sentient, strain responsible for the deaths of many citizens – are now outlawed in the Us. As with all the best banned items, killer tomatoes have now gone underground, with a thriving black market...

Steven Spielberg is adding his praise for Anton Yelchin, the 27-year-old Star Trek actor who tragically died over the weekend. Spielberg worked with Yelchin in the 2002 miniseries Taken when he was just a rising child star, but Spielberg revealed his history with the actor went farther back. The famed director, 69, spoke to Access Hollywood about Yelchin's first role in the medical drama ER, which his company produced. Spielberg then cast him in Taken, and many years later, Yelchin would also star in DreamWorks' 2011 movie Fright Night. "He was a lovely young man," Spielberg said of the late actor. "He was a gentleman.

Steven Spielberg is adding his praise for Anton Yelchin, the 27-year-old Star Trek actor who tragically died over the weekend. Spielberg worked with Yelchin in the 2002 miniseries Taken when he was just a rising child star, but Spielberg revealed his history with the actor went farther back. The famed director, 69, spoke to Access Hollywood about Yelchin's first role in the medical drama ER, which his company produced. Spielberg then cast him in Taken, and many years later, Yelchin would also star in DreamWorks' 2011 movie Fright Night. "He was a lovely young man," Spielberg said of the late actor. "He was a gentleman.

Every week, the CriticWire Survey asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday morning. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?” can be found at the end of this post.)

This week’s question: In honor of the late Anton Yelchon, who was killed in a tragic accident early Sunday morning, which was your favorite of his performances?

Christopher Campbell (@thefilmcynic), Nonfics

It’s definitely not his best movie, and maybe it’s not really technically his best acting, but my favorite of Yelchin’s performances is in “Terminator Salvation.” You could tell he tried to sound like Michael Biehn in “The Terminator” in his portrayal of young Kyle Reese, and that meant a lot to me as a fan of these movies. And it shows how much he took care in his work...

Anton Yelchin, star of the new Star Trek film series, Green Room, and many other films, has tragically died after a freak car accident in Los Angeles. Despite his young age, he has already made an indelible mark on the film world, in a myriad of roles that showed his incredible range and skill. Born in Russia, his family moved to the United States when he was six months old. He started acting at a young age, coming to greater attention with a starring role in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), opposite Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis. He continued to work through his teens in television, with roles on Taken and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and soon more film roles, in Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett. But...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Anton Yelchin, star of the new Star Trek film series, Green Room, and many other films, has tragically died after a freak car accident in Los Angeles. Despite his young age, he has already made an indelible mark on the film world, in a myriad of roles that showed his incredible range and skill. Born in Russia, his family moved to the United States when he was six months old. He started acting at a young age, coming to greater attention with a starring role in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), opposite Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis. He continued to work through his teens in television, with roles on Taken and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and soon more film roles, in Alpha Dog and Charlie Bartlett. But...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

In absolutely devastating and shocking news, multiple sources report that Anton Yelchin has passed away at the age of 27.

TMZ reports that Yelchin was found pinned between his car and a brick mailbox structure on the fence outside of his home in San Fernando Valley in the early hours of Sunday morning. Foul play is not suspected, as it appears to have been a tragic accident in which Yelchin’s car, which was in neutral, rolled down the steep driveway and struck the actor, who was standing behind the vehicle. According to THR, news of Yelchin’s death was confirmed by his publicist, Jennifer Allen.

Perhaps best known for playing Chekov in the new Star Trek movies, Yelchin provided people with a reason to seek out the cinema time after time with an impressive number of endearing and empathetic performances. First arriving on many fans’ radars with excellent work in...

Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekov in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek film franchise and on TV played son to Hank Azaria’s Huff, was found dead on Sunday after getting pinned between his car and his home’s security gate. He was 27.

According to TMZ, which first reported the news (since confirmed by the Associated Press), Yelchin’s body was found by friends at 1 am in the morning, after he was a no-show for a rehearsal. His body was pinned between the car, its engine in neutral and still running, and a mailbox attached to his San Fernando Valley home’s security gate,...

Taken from a screenplay by British writer Matt Charman and then dipped in the scripting genius of Joel and Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies is a remarkable movie about a remarkable figure in history that none of us have ever heard of. That it’s directed by Steven Spielberg elevates it to a masterclass in storytelling that will grip you for the two hours twenty minute running time. While the film is long, it is thankfully quality as well as quantity that make it worth parting with your time and cash. It tells the true story of an insurance lawyer called James Donovan (Tom Hanks) who was tasked with defending Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) on suspicion of being a Russian spy during the Cold War in 1957. Part courtroom drama, part espionage thriller, Donovan finds himself embroiled in a tense political standoff when asked by the CIA to travel to East...

Little Darlings

Nick Fink ("Glee"), Katie Chang ("Bling Ring"), Brandon Mychal Smith ("You're the Worst"), Eliza Bennett ("Nanny McPhee") and Taylor Dearden ("Breaking Bad") are set to star in MTV's new dark half-hour comedy pilot "Little Darlings".

The story follows two unlikely friends named Jules (Bennett) and Ophelia (Dearden) who take justice into their own hands and kick ass on their college campus. Fink will play a charming and intellectual art major, Smith a whip-smart law student and Ophelia's co-worker, and Chang as Jules' sorority president and Bff. [Source: The Live Feed]

Atlanta

FX has ordered a first season of former "Community" actor and rapper Donald Glover's half-hour comedy series "Atlanta". Glover, Dianne McGunigle and Paul Simms will serve as executive producers on the series which airs next year.

Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Lee Stanfield and Zazie Beetz also star in the series which revolves around two cousins on their way up through the Atlanta rap scene.

Ryan Kwanten learnt a lot about guns as Jason Stackhouse in True Blood, and he'll be putting that to good use in his new film Blunt Force Trauma.

The Australian actor leads the cast of the new thriller, which also stars Mickey Rourke and Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto. Digital Spy has an exclusive clip from the film below:

Blunt Force Trauma follows the journey of John (Kwanten) and the aptly-named Colt (Pinto) as gunfighters and lovers, as they attempt to climb the ranks in the underground dueling world.

Speaking about the movie, Kwanten told us that it's not your typical Taken-style action film: "It really had some interesting existential throwbacks to the 1970s-style films, which I really like.

"I obviously grew up in the '70s, I remember my dad showing me High Plains Drifter when I was way too young! There was some nice allusions to that,...

The Great British Bake Off returned last night with more tent trauma as the amateurs tackled biscuits. And no, we're not talking slapdash cookies - we're on about beautiful biscotti, refined arlettes and one of the most ridiculous showstoppers ever.

As always, there were some brilliant moments during the episode - here's the highlights:

1. Paul Hollywood's cheeky little smile (exhibit A).

"Mary would probably go for cranberry, hazelnut and chocolate biscotti. If I was making it, I'd go for cranberry, hazelnut and chocolate." So cheeky.

2. Mat acknowledging the problems in his recipe design.

"I gave these to a guy at work and he said it was the best biscotti he'd ever eaten. I don't think he's ever eaten biscotti before."

3. Tamal's nerves leading to our first innuendo of the night.

"It is very wet. Is everybody else's not? Ooooh dear."

4. Mary's response to Ian announcing he was making biscotti flavoured with rosemary.

As director and producer, few storytellers have utilized the wonderment and fascination (and sometimes horror) of children as points-of-entry into the wonderment and fascination of the adult world more effectively than Steven Spielberg has.  Conversely, Spielberg has also masterfully used the normalized responses of children to the abnormal as an approach to disarm world-weary grown-ups.  From Cary Guffey in "Close Encounters" to Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore in "E.T." to Heather O'Rourke in "Poltergeist" to Christian Bale in "Empire of the Sun" to Haley Joel Osment in "A.I." to Dakota Fanning in "Taken" and "War of the Worlds," Spielberg has always know that there's something pure and primal in the reactions of children and that those reactions can be used to steer the reactions viewers of all ages. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers of ABC's new "the kids are not alright" drama "The Whispers," but his participation...

Syfy is joining with Steven Speilberg’s Amblin Television to adapt Aldous Huxley’s classic 1932 novel Brave New World into a scripted series. The project reunites the Emmy-winning team behind Syfy’s 2003 mini-series Taken.

Ranked fifth among the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th Century by Modern Library, Brave New World takes place in a world without war, poverty or disease. Though everyone is provided for, humans are given mind-altering drugs, rampant consumerism and free sex are the order of the day, and people no longer procreate. Instead, children are genetically engineered in “hatcheries.” All nonconformists are sent to “reservations” to protect the social order, until one of the “savages” decides to challenge the system.

“Brave New World is one of the most influential genre classics of all time. Its provocative vision of a future gone awry remains as powerful and as timeless as ever,” said Dave Howe, president of Syfy and Chiller.

Syfy have announced they are reuniting with Emmy Award-winning Amblin Television to develop a scripted series based on Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World. The two companies previously collaborated on Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken, which won a 2003 Emmy for Best Miniseries. Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey of Amblin Television (The Americans, Falling Skies, Under the Dome) will be executive producers. Les Bohem (Steven Spielberg Presents:Taken) will write the screenplay and also executive produce.

Brave New World is set in a world without poverty, war or disease. In this world, humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but are genetically engineered in “hatcheries.” Those who won’t conform are forced onto “reservations” – until one of these “savages” challenges the system, threatening the entire social order. First published in 1932, Brave New World was ranked fifth among...

Fresh off the news that The Magicians will go into production, Syfy now decides that it’s time to take on one of the godfathers of all sci-fi, Brave New World.

While some might wonder how that’s going to go, and if it’s actually a spectacular idea, adding Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television to the mix should put off some of the fears associated with the obvious dangers of potentially butchering one of the best books ever.

Given the slate of shows Syfy already has, and the upcoming efforts we’ve learned about recently, the network is looking to be in a very different place a year from now.

Take a look at the full press release below, and let me know what you think about this one. Is this going to be your next favorite show, or is it going to be impossible to live up to the book?...

A Brave New World is hatching at Syfy.

The cable net is adapting Aldous Huxley’s iconic 1932 novel as a scripted series, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television.

RelatedSyfy Orders The Magicians to Series

Brave New World — if you’ll recall from your high school English lit class — is set in a world without poverty, war or disease. In this world, humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but are genetically engineered in “hatcheries.” Those who won’t conform are forced onto “reservations” – until one...

TV news: Steven Spielberg’s Amblin and Syfy Bring ‘Brave New World’ December 2015Syfy is reuniting with Emmy Award-winning Amblin Television to develop a scripted series based on Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World. Together they previously collaborated on Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken, which won a 2003 Emmy® for Best Miniseries, as well as nominations in six other categories. Brave New World is set in a world without poverty, war or disease. In this world, humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but are genetically engineered […]...

Sci-fi classic Brave New World is one of those stories that Hollywood will keep trying to nail for years to come, and today brings word that the latest swing at Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel will come courtesy of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, which is adapting the book into a series for Syfy.

Huxley’s book centers on a world that has achieved what many believe to be utopia, without poverty, war or disease. Human reproduction is a thing of the past, with people being genetically engineered in “hatcheries.” Mind-altering drugs, sex and consumerist practices are the numerous numbing agents provided to the population so that they never question the larger issues of a society that requires conformity, until one defiant individual challenges the entire system.

Leslie “Les” Bohem, the screenwriter behind Syfy’s 2002 miniseries Taken, will pen the script. His involvement suggests that Amblin TV and Syfy see Brave New World...

The Emmy-winning team behind Syfy's Taken is reuniting for another science fiction classic. Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television is adapting Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World as a scripted series for the NBCUniversal-owned cable network, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Brave New World — ranked fifth among the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th Century by Modern Library — is set in a world without poverty, war or disease. Humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but are genetically engineered in "hatcheries.

read more...

Emmanuel Lubezki, Asc, AMC; Jonathan Freeman, Asc; John Lindley, Asc; and Peter Flinckenberg, Fsc earned top honors in the four competitive categories at the 29th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) Awards for Outstanding Achievement. The ceremony took place here tonight at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. Lubezki won for the feature film Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance). Freeman won the episodic television category for Boardwalk Empire, and Lindley took the honors in the TV Movie/Miniseries/Pilot category for Manhattan. Winning the Asc Spotlight Award was Flinckenberg for Concrete Night. Giovanni Ribisi presented the Asc Award for best feature to Lubezki, who also won the organization’s top prize last year for Gravity. This marks the first time that a cinematographer has won consecutive Asc Awards in the theatrical category. Lubezki previously won in 2012 for The Tree Of Life and in 2007 for Children Of Men, and earned...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…

Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum: Plants Can Hear. Atmos. Stumbling Stones in Potsdam.

Lavallee: We read Nikole Beckwith’s Stockholm, Pennsylvania as psychological warfare —— what was the approach in audibly depicting Leia’s longing?

Kroll-Rosenbaum: Stockholm is a nuanced portrait of an incredibly complex situation. The music is full of possibility and openness. It comes in waves and breathes. It was important that the music leave room for interpretation, so that the audience could experience discovery along with Leia. Nikole paints in very clear and purposeful strokes, and the music is designed to be transparent in its motivation.

Kroll-Rosenbaum: There is a range of different kinds of music in the score. There is music that is about the outside, literally and figuratively. I built a harmonic structure out of two chords that sits somewhere between resolution and forward motion. I thought about ancient music,...

6th Update, Tuesday, 3 Pm: Rentrak Theatrical filed the weekend’s actuals with Warner Bros.’ American Sniper counting a four-week cume through yesterday of $110.4M. Talk about the spoils of war: American Sniper propelled the 2015 box office, in its first 19 days, 3.6% percent over the same frame last year with $667M. It stands to reason that this would be the highest-grossing four-day Mlk weekend of all-time with $248.5M after American Sniper broke a slew of records, read Eastwood’s career-high bow, best three-day opening ever during January and February. Previous Mlk record was 2009 with $231.5M when Sony comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop zoomed up a four-day bow of $39.2M. American Sniper had the biggest theater average of the four-day weekend with $30,100, followed by Sony Classic’s Still Alice, which chalked up $20,685 PTA or $248K in 12 venues.

The consensus is that American Sniper is going to hold for another two weekends. Wide releases...

The American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) has named its nominees for the organization’s 29th Annual Outstanding Achievement Awards. HBO is the top network contender with three nominations, while Fox and Lifetime each earning two. “Our members had a very difficult time choosing these nominees from such an incredible field of submissions," Asc President Richard Crudo said in a statement. “They have done superlative work in a very challenging medium, and we salute them.” For his work on "Boardwalk Empire’s" final season opener, Jonathan Freeman earned his eighth nomination. The Asc’s press release notes that he has won four Asc Awards for "Game of Thrones" (2014), "Boardwalk Empire" (2012, 2011), and "Homeland Security" (2005), with additional noms for "Taken" (2003), "Strange Justice" (2000) and "Prince Street" (1998). "Gotham" nominee David Stockton previously won for his work on "Eleventh Hour" (2009) and earned nominations for the "Alcatraz" pilot (2013), "Chase" (2012), and the "Nikita" pilot (2011). Other previous nominees include...

Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, whose title alone in reference to the director’s name equals cinematic moxie, has the makings of a filmmaker putting his direction, vision and ideas to the test, where a running time of 169 minutes set in milieus that rocket from one plane of existence to the titular other — the interstellar, infinite void — becomes a creative challenge, which every director, who thinks as big as Nolan does, at some point in their careers confront.

Blockbuster directors, all of whom auteurs in one way or another, like the late great pioneer Georges Méliès, the aquatically keen James Cameron, the master of lens flares Michael Bay, the attentively adjusted Riddley Scott, the perfectionist Stanley Kubrick, or the wondrously curious Steven Spielberg have all communed with — or taken the trip to — the cosmological land, all with different results.

Most certainly, it is a place not only of sublimity, but, more importantly,...

Jon Cryer on “Two and a Half Men” gay marriage controversy: "Hopefully we haven't done something too terrible in taste” "For us it was just a fun, silly idea that some people were taking kind of seriously, so that sort of surprised us,” says Cryer of the plan for Alan to marry Ashton Kutcher’s character. "But at the same time I understand. This is a time when our nation is changing so much. And let's remember, same-sex adoption is still illegal in some states so I can see why people would be nervous about it. And as long as the fight is still being fought they have a right to be sensitive about it.” Plus: Jon Cryer recalls when Charlie Sheen began going crazy on “Men,” Sheen says "I just think it makes sense” for him to return to “Men,” Cryer recalls being labeled “The Show Killer,” and Conchata Ferrell recalls auditioning for Berta.

Is Keanu Reeves back? It appears so. After several years of cinematic duds, including the likes of Constantine, The Day The Earth Stood Still and 47 Ronin, Reeves. new film, John Wick, premiered at the Fantastic Festival to rave reviews over the weekend - and the Speed star has especially come in for high praise for his performance. It also helps that there are rumored to be at least 84 kills in the film, most of which are head shots. Still need to be convinced? You should check out the trailer below then: You see what happens when you mess with Keanu.s dog? Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Chad Stahelksi (who has forged an impressive career as a stunt-man), and written by The Package.s Derek Kolstad, John Wick looks to mix the visual style of Drive with the simple plotting of Taken to create a bona-fide B-movie homage. Reeves appears...

William H. Macy revealed on Twitter today that he’s playing opposite Mel Gibson in Jean-Francois Richet‘s Blood Father. Macy tweeted a photo with Gibson on the set. Blood Father is a Taken-style action thriller about an ex-con who reunites with his estranged 16-year old daughter, who has been targeted by drug dealers. Macy is repped by Wme. In April, Paramount Home Video and Samuel Goldwyn acquired U.S. rights to Rudderless, Macy’s directorial debut which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. That film stars Billy Crudup, Felicity Huffman, Anton Yelchin, Selena Gomez and Laurence Fishburne. Rudderless follows a man (Crudup), who […]...