Archive: July 2009 (101-110 of 444)

Jul 24 2009 08:52 PM ET

Preview: ABC's sci-fi drama 'Flashforward'... featuring 'Lost' star Dominic Monaghan!

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Flashforward-Cho_l"If ABC was courageous enough to put on Lost, they'll be courageous enough to put on Flashforward." That from David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), who reflected at Comic-Con today about the first time he peddled the high-concept series to ABC. Debuting Sept. 24, Flashforward differs from the novel of the same name by Robert Sawyer in that a global catastrophe gives people a sneak peek of their future six months ahead of time (as opposed to 21 years in the novel). But fear not, Sawyer fans: Goyer said Sawyer not only approved of the pilot but he'll write a script for the first season.

Goyer promises lots of "Easter egg" surprises throughout the high-concept series (like a shout-out to Watchmen's D. Gibbons in the pilot) and adds the show has the potential to go on for years. "Every single man, woman, and child has a vision of the future," says fellow exec producer Brannon Braga (24). "That's 6.8 billion potential stories to tell…and a great syndicated package."

Goyer assured the crowd that Flashforward is not trying to replace Lost. "Nothing will be the new Lost," he says (though Flashforward does star Sonya Walger, who plays Penny on the series). "Lost was genre-breaking."

Sadly, the producers wouldn't give hints about what catastrophe actually causes the blackout, but he did give the crowd a good laugh about it. "Rush Limbaugh farted," he cracked. "It's a big ass."

The producers also hinted about other projects in the works. Goyer said "We are musing…there is musing happening" over another Batman movie, and Guggenheim said he and Braga are talking to Marvel about a new project.

UPDATE: ABC just announced that former Lost star Dominic Monaghan will be joining the cast of Flashforward… though they offered no details about who he'll play. Dare we hope Charlie had a long-lost twin brother?

Jul 24 2009 08:49 PM ET

'Lost': Jeff Jensen's diary of a super fan (part 2)

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Uwu_logo Take your seats, class: We love Doc Jensen's 'Lost' course so much that we're extending it on to next week, week 5 of EW University. Check out our gallery of 15 Must-Answer 'Lost' Mysteries, or jump ahead and test your knowledge with our final exam on season 5, but definitely look for part 2 of his diary of a super fan on Monday. Stick around all summer long for future EW University courses on Quentin Tarantino and more.

'Lost': The evolution of a super fan
About the same time that I was truly beginning to lose my mind over Lost, many viewers were beginning to lose their patience with the show — perhaps, in part, due to the discouraging example of nuts such as myself. Whereas fans like me enjoyed this kind of gamesmanship and the attention to detail (and facility with Wikipedia) that it seemed to require, other viewers were becoming convinced that Lost was just toying with them — and they didn’t like it. The arc of John Locke may have ironically spoke for these alienated fans. In season 1, he was the Island’s man of adventure, the embodiment of the joy of discovery. But in season 2, he spent less time outside and more time locked up in the Hatch, confined within its fabricated reality, being slowly, surely manipulated by a silver-tongued liar named Henry Gale, aka Benjamin Linus. This was the complaint of Lost at the time, as well: a show that was losing sight of its core strengths, that was losing its way.

So began the dark days. Season 3 — written to and hampered by a well-intentioned by ultimately misguided scheduling strategy (six consecutive episodes in the fall; a two-month break; 16 consecutive weeks in the spring) — got off to a sluggish start with stories that scattered the characters across The Island and kept its iconic stars trapped in literal cages; both gambits robbed the show of its enjoyable group dynamics. There were more deceptions, more cons, more schemes within master plans — it all added up to an overload of ambiguity that played to the worst fear of the audience and critics: that the producers really didn’t know what they were doing, after all. Even for diehards such as myself, it was becoming increasingly hard to defend — especially after the Bai Ling episode, “Stranger In A Strange Land.” Ugh.

And then, two things happened that changed Lost — and my fandom — forever.

READ FULL STORY »

Jul 24 2009 08:48 PM ET

Pixar drops 'Toy Story 3' news on Comic-Con

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News from today’s Pixar panel at Comic-Con: Michael Keaton will play a Ken doll in Toy Story 3, which is due next June. The movie will expand the role of Barbie from the previous installments. The story will center on the day Andy goes off to college, leaving his toys behind.

In other animation news from the panel, Disney will release a new 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast next Valentine’s Day. The 1991 film was the only animated movie ever to get a Best Picture nomination. —Reported by Nicole Sperling

Jul 24 2009 08:28 PM ET

A-list actors no longer run screaming from horror roles. A sign of slim pickings or business savvy?

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Farmiga-watts_l     Of all the reasons to spend a night blowing out your vocal cords and straining your adrenal glands while watching a scary movie through fanned fingers, fine acting doesn't usually top the list. Generally speaking, the genre dominated by the likes of Leatherface, Pinhead and Chucky the evil doll has not been a place where our best thespians go to practice The Craft.    

    But recently, that's started to change. This week's release of the kid-from-hell spookfest Orphan is chock full of top-notch, indie-bred talent. The Departed's Vera Farmiga, who the New York Times Magazine compared to Meryl Streep, plays the family's besieged matriarch opposite Peter Sarsgaard, the actor best known for his work in such awards magnets as Shattered Glass and Kinsey. Granted, Orphan is more about internal human torment than the kind of real-world torture that goes on in the Saw and Hostel movies. But one look at the little girl's Satanic stare on Orphan's poster and it's clear this movie's meant to provoke more screams than dysfunctional family insights. And Farmiga and Saarsgard are just part of a widespread migration of A-list actors into B-movie horror. Nicole Kidman paved the way when she played the mom in the 2001 ghost story The Others. Then Naomi Watts scored a breakout horror hit in 2002 with The Ring. Halle Berry followed up her Oscar winning performance in Monster's Ball with the supernatural spooker Gothika, which also starred Robert Downey, Jr. And most recently, two-time Best Actress winner Hillary Swank headlined 2007's The Reaping, about a town cursed by God.  

    So what gives? There's an easy enough explanation for the actresses' genre dabbling: There aren't many lead female characters who aren't limited to serving as the leading guy's wife, girlfriend, mother, or secret vice. Horror offers a rare opportunity for actresses to play characters at the center of the action, since women are almost always the characters who are the villain's prime targets and final survivors. This is partly because, surprisingly enough, women also happen to be the genre's biggest audience (see my story on this phenomenon in this week's EW). As for the guys: Hey, times are tough, and there are worse ways to pay the bills than furrowing their brows through a psychological thriller. 

The question remains whether these horror forays actually help or hurt legit actors careers. In Naomi Watts' case, The Ring turned out to be a smart move. As for Berry and Swank — maybe not so much. This makes me wonder two things: Which top-drawer stars could use a horror hit most right now? And how much value does good acting ultimately add to the thrill factor in watching a scary movie? Come on and weigh in, PopWatchers, the suspense is killing me.

Jul 24 2009 08:06 PM ET

Celebs like you've never seen them before: Old!

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Justin-timberlake-aged_l Help, mommy! The liver-spotted man with the goatee is staring at me! And he looks like Gollum!

Never fear, kids. The creature depicted here hails not from Middle Earth, but Tennessee. For it is none other than Justin Timberlake — or rather, a complete fantasy/nightmare of what JT might look like in the twilight of his life. Trendhunter Magazine has posted a gallery of various celebs all digitally aged to appear as if they have one leathery foot in the grave. The results are both horrifying and hilarious. Nicole Kidman looks like a witchy librarian. Avril Lavigne is a deadringer for a homicidal cashier at a truckstop Dairy Mart. Angelina Jolie is grey…but still hot. (Duh.) Timberlake is the hardest to recognize — ain't no SexyBack happening inside that green t-shirt — but poor Jude Law looks pretty much the same as he does today. Minus a few follicles.

It's all a bunch of mindless silliness, of course. But since Hollywood is so very hostile toward the perfectly natural process of aging, the gallery makes for a swell pastime on a Friday afternoon in the summer, when you're counting down the hours till quittin' time. (Not me, of course! Hi, various editors who are my bosses!)

Who's your favorite? And who should Trendhunter add to future rounds of miraculously crusty ole celebs?   

Jul 24 2009 07:56 PM ET

Judd Apatow 'Inside the Actors Studio': True stories, panic attacks, Leslie Mann!

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Judd Apatow’s appearance on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio premieres Monday at 8 p.m. ET. Naturally, Apatow brought along his wife, Leslie Mann, who, in the first clip, confirms that she once threw Judd out of the car on their way to the gynecologist’s office (as Katherine Heigl did Seth Rogen in Knocked Up). Our second favorite tease finds Judd describing his history of panic attacks for host James Lipton. Involved: the Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and Sting song “All For Love” and a one-legged man on an airplane. DVR set.

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Jul 24 2009 07:35 PM ET

'Bachelorette' poll: Who will/should Jillian pick?

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It’s all come down to this — say it with us — the most dramatic rose ceremony ever! (Hey, if Reid does return to pop the question, it very well may be.) Before you grab the tissues you’ll need to dry Jillian’s tears (dramatic!), vote in our polls below. There’s also still time to play catch up by reading host Chris Harrison’s weekly EW.com blog and the tough-love recaps of EW’s own Kristen Baldwin.

More Bachelorette: The Men — and Jillian — Spill Secrets!

Jul 24 2009 07:22 PM ET

Must List Live!: We grill 'Big Brother' evictee Laura

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And then there were…11. (Okay, that sounds a little anticlimactic.) On Thursday night, after exposing Ronnie’s lies to the house, bikini model Laura Crosby was voted off of Big Brother by a vote of 8-1. Busted! (Oh, the puns write themselves.) Must List Live! grilled Laura on her calling out of King Dork, why Jessie took such an instant dislike to her, and an explosive love triangle building in Casa Big Brother. Oh, and — surprise! — she also talks about her boobs. Check it out!

Jul 24 2009 07:20 PM ET

'Hot Tub Time Machine': The water's nice

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The trailer for (the rather brilliantly titled, upon reconsideration) Hot Tub Time Machine just debuted at Comic-Con. In the film, four friends — John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke — zoom back to 1986 via a pretty fetid-looking vat of water. (Because how else would they time travel?) As the straight man of the bunch, all Cusack has to do is calmly sip a beer to reinforce that he still rules the ’80s. WARNING: Magical fairy dust on Robinson’s face (which contrasts nicely with his bright red onesie), along with about 500 swear words, make the following red band trailer extremely NSFW. Watch it anyway.

Can you believe this is based on a true story? Amazing.

More ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’:
John Cusack starring in ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’: Will you see it NOW?
Report: ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ now stupidest movie title ever

Jul 24 2009 07:12 PM ET

Comic-Con gets a peek at AMC's 'The Prisoner': Will it capture fans of the classic series?

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Prisoner-Jim-Caviezel_lHow does AMC’s reboot of The Prisoner — one of the finest sci-fi television shows ever made — look? I’m not entirely sure. I’m so used to — and in love with — Patrick McGoohan’s ’60s show, that I’m finding it hard to wrap my mind around the new version.

AMC unspooled 9 minutes of footage at its Comic-Con panel, establishing Jim Caviezel as the mysteriously named No. 6, trapped in the equally mysterious Village, with Ian McKellen crushing it as 6′s captor/jailor, No .2. According to costar Lennie James (Jericho), before the actors signed on to shoot the six-part miniseries they were only given the first five scripts. If they wanted to know how it ended, they had to sign on.

AMC VP of Production Vlad Wolynetz told the audience that The Prisoner is a conscious attempt for the network to swing for the fences. They needed to establish a formidable new entity in the wake of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, and The Prisoner was the perfect way to do it.

Series writer Bill Gallagher said, “I knew I couldn’t repeat what McGoohan had done, I could only respond to it. McGoohan’s [original series] was about the assertion of the individual. Mine was more about ‘What if the arrogance of the individual became our undoing?’” Noting the difficulty of translating certain elements of the original series, like the scary white balloon known as Rover, Wolynetz said, “You have to respect the original, but you can’t be afraid of it.”

In a side note, Passion of the Christ star Caviezel revealed that he keeps a Breathalyzer in his car. The last thing he wants, after having a glass of wine, is to see the headline: “Jesus busted for DWI.” Or “From Jesus to Prisoner,” for that matter.

It’s always hard to parse the network-speak from the truth in a Comic-Con panel. The cast always loves each other, the material is always brilliant, we’re respectful of the fans but trying something new, etc. The proof is in the pudding. What we saw was not enough to draw a real conclusion. All 9 minutes of footage can do is prick our ears, jab our interest. I’ll say this: The Prisoner will either be brilliant or catastrophic. But I doubt it’ll be boring.

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