Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 15th to 21st, 2017 - Update #38

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Documentary filmmaker Tony Zierra plans a documentary about legendary filmmaker, the late Stanley Kubrick.

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SCANDAL - From Vulture:  In breaking a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), Rose McGowan claimes that Harvey Weinstein raped her.

From YahooGMA:  Director Rob Reiner says that there are more "Harvey Weinsteins."

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MUSIC - From BET:  Grammy-winning recording artist, Frank Ocean, has won his a libel suit brought by his father.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  Tyler Perry's "Boo 2!" headed to be #1 at weekend box office.

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CELEBRITY - From Variety:  PartyCasino claims to name the most and least profitable actors and actresses in Hollywood.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooEntertainment:  Jackie Chan remembers impromptu game of bowling with Bruce Lee just days before Lee died.

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SCANDAL - From ShadowandAct:  Lupita N'yongo documents her awful encounter with Harvey Weinstein.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  The writers behind FX's "Feud: Betty and Joan" miniseries are writing a biopic of actress Vivien Leigh, who won two best actress Oscars, the most famous for her role as Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind."

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MOVIES - From THR:  Channing Tatum haults development on a sexual abuse movie he was working on with The Weinstein Company.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  Fox orders a pilot from "Carmichael Show" creator, Jerrod Carmichael.

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CULTURE - From InformedComment:  Some Vikings were Muslin?!

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MANGA-FILM - From Gizmodo:  "Fast & Furious" franchise director, Justin Lin, wants to turn legendary manga, "Lone Wolf and Cub" into a manga.

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CULTURE - From Truthout:  How the Nazis used Jim Crow laws as models for their race laws.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  Ryan Potter has been cast as "Beast Boy" in the TV series, "Titans" (based on the DC Comics series).  Titans is slated to bow in 2018 on an unnamed DC Comics streaming service.

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POLITICS - From RawStory:  President Trump tells widow of fallen soldier "he knew what he signed up for."

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STAR WARS - From CNN:  Ron Howard announces the title of his Star Wars movie, "Solo: A Star Wars Story."

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BOOK NEWS - From BBC:  American George Saunders won the UK's highest literary award, the Man Booker Prize, for his novel, "Lincoln in the Bardo."  Saunders is the only the second American to win the award.  The award has only been open to American authors since 2014.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooLifestyle:  Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence once had to do a nude lineup.

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MUSIC - From Billboard:  The "Selena Quintanilla Google Doodle" celebrates the anniversary of the October 17, 1989 release of the first album from the late Mexican-American singer, Selena.  Billboard has the exclusive story behind the development and creation of the Selena Google Doodle.

From Google:  To read more about the "Selena Quintanilla Google Doodle."

From Google:  There is an interactive museum exhibit featuring Selena.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Gregg Popovich, coach of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, calls President Trump a "soulless coward."

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MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  The original members of Bananarama reunite.

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CELEBRITY - From EOnline:  Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander has married Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender.

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COMICS-FILM - From YahooEntertainment:  Marvel's "Black Panther" trailer is a game changer.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 10/13 to 10/15/2017 weekend box office is "Happy Death Day" with an estimated take of $26.5 million.

From FilmSchoolRejects:  A list of movies that are similar to "Happy Death Day" to varying degress.

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MOVIES - From ThinkProgress:  Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexual transgressions, does not want the accusations against Harvey Weinstein to turn into "a witch hunt."

From TheNewYorkTimes:  In an opinion piece for the times, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, Sarah Polley, talks about the lecherous men she meets making films, including Harvey Weinstein.

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CELEBRITY - From TheGuardian:  Tom Hanks has written his first book of short stories.

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DISNEY - From FinancialTimes:  The site applauds Disney's thus-far successful "Movies Anywhere" service, but wonders if it is seven years too late.

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MOVIES - From NOW:  Are social media posts about movies more important than film critic reviews?

TRAILERS and VIDEOS:

From YouTube:  New Black Panther trailer (10/16).

From YouTube:   Here is a trailer for "Roman J. Israel, ESQ." from writer/director Dan Gilroy ("Nightcrawler") and starring Denzel Washington.

From YouTube:  Here is a trailer for the Amazon Prime Video exclusive, "Jean Claude Van Johnson."  Jean Claude Van Damme plays Van Johnson a spy who moonlights as an actor named "Jean Claude Van Damme."

From ShadowandAct:  Tyler Perry appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Madea, President Donald Trump's new press secretary.

"I Love Dick," "The Tick," Among New Greenlights from Amazon Studios

Amazon Studios Greenlights Three New Series for Prime Video

I Love Dick, Jean-Claude Van Johnson and The Tick will become Amazon Original Series and will debut next year exclusively for Amazon Prime members

Most recent pilot season was the most watched ever and Jean-Claude Van Johnson and The Tick were available on Twitch

New series come from visionary creators and producers including Peter Atencio, Ben Edlund, Barry Josephson, Ridley Scott, and Jill Soloway, and star notable actors that include Kevin Bacon, Peter Serafinowicz, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kathryn Hahn, and Jackie Earle Haley

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Studios today announced I Love Dick, Jean-Claude Van Johnson and The Tick have been greenlit to become Amazon Original Series. The new series will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in 2017 in the US, UK, Germany, Austria, and Japan for Amazon Prime members to watch as part of their membership via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online at Amazon.com/originals.

    “It’s rewarding to see customers embrace them in such a huge way. We can’t wait to premiere these series next year on Prime Video.”

“These pilots were vast in scope, disruptive in tone, challenging in story and sometimes even funny,” said Joe Lewis, Head of Half-Hour Series, Amazon Studios. “It’s rewarding to see customers embrace them in such a huge way. We can’t wait to premiere these series next year on Prime Video.”

The new half hour series include I Love Dick, based on the renowned feminist novel about a couple’s marital struggles in the artistic and academic community of Marfa, Texas; Jean-Claude Van Johnson, where martial arts film star Jean-Claude Van Damme operates under the alias of “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” to serve as the most dangerous undercover private contractor in the world; and The Tick, an offbeat and dark superhero tale based on the acclaimed comic. Customers can watch the pilot episodes at www.amazon.com/pilotseason.

I Love Dick

Adapted from the cult classic, I Love Dick—referred to as “the most important book about men and women written in the last century" (Emily Gould, The Guardian)—is set in a colorful intellectual community in Marfa, Texas. Chris (Kathryn Hahn, Transparent) and Sylvere (Griffin Dunne, Dallas Buyers Club) arrive in Marfa when Sylvere is offered a fellowship to finish a book he's been writing on the Holocaust. When they meet Dick (Kevin Bacon, The Following), he taunts their imaginations and upends their preconceptions about love and monogamy. An exploration of the female gaze and how we tell stories about love and desire, I Love Dick charts the evolution of a marriage, the awakening of an artist and the deification of a writer named Dick. I Love Dick is executive produced by Jill Soloway (Transparent), Andrea Sperling (Transparent), and Sarah Gubbins (Ten Aker Wood). The pilot was directed by Soloway and written by Gubbins.

Jean-Claude Van Johnson
If you need to eliminate a political rival, debilitate a multinational corporation, or overthrow an entire government—and you need it done with the utmost secrecy—there’s only one person to turn to: one of the most internationally recognizable movie stars in the history of film. Jean-Claude Van Johnson stars Jean-Claude Van Damme (JCVD) playing “Jean-Claude Van Johnson,” a global martial arts and film sensation…and, operating under the simple alias of “Johnson,” the most dangerous undercover private contractor in the world. Lucky for the world’s bad guys, he’s been retired for years…unlucky for them, a chance encounter with a lost love is about to bring him back to the game…and this time, he’ll be deadlier than ever. Probably.

The pilot for Jean-Claude Van Johnson starred Van Damme along with Kat Foster (Your Family or Mine), Moises Arias (The Middle), and Phylicia Rashad (Creed). The show is executive produced by Peter Atencio (Key and Peele), Ridley Scott (The Good Wife), David W. Zucker (The Man in the High Castle) and Van Damme. From Scott Free Productions, the pilot was directed by Atencio, and written and created by Dave Callaham (Mortal Kombat).

The Tick

In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero. The pilot for The Tick starred Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy), Griffin Newman (Vinyl), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Valorie Curry (House of Lies), Yara Martinez (Jane the Virgin) and Brendan Hines (Scorpion). The Tick is executive produced by Ben Edlund (Supernatural), Barry Josephson (Bones) and Barry Sonnenfeld (A Series of Unfortunate Events), directed by Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight), and written by Edlund. The Tick is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television.


About Amazon Video
Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch, and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:

•     Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV episodes, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, Chi Raq, and kids series Tumble Leaf available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership
•     Add-on Subscriptions: Dozens of subscriptions to networks like SHOWTIME, STARZ and more, available to Amazon Prime members as add-ons to their membership
•     Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new-release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers
•     Instant Access: Instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible devices visit www.amazon.com/howtostream
•     Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing

In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items across all categories, more than one million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, early access to select Lightning Deals all year long, free secure, unlimited photo storage in Amazon Cloud Drive with Prime Photos, one free pre-released book a month with Kindle First, and more. To sign up for Prime or to find out more, visit: www.amazon.com/prime.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

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Review: "The Expendables 2" is Darker, But Still Fun

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 88 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux - support on Patreon.

The Expendables 2 (2012)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence throughout
DIRECTOR: Simon West
WRITERS: Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone; from a story by Ken Kaufman & David Agosto and Richard Wenk (based on characters created by David Callaham)
PRODUCERS: David Lerner, Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton, John Thompson, and Les Weldon
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shelly Johnson
EDITOR: Todd E. Miller
COMPOSER: Brian Tyler

ACTION

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu, Charisma Carpenter, Chuck Connors, and Terry Crews with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Summer 2010 movie season offered an unexpected treat, The Expendables, an explosive action film co-written, directed, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It was a throwback to the macho, testosterone-fueled, action flicks of the 1980s.

The subject of this movie review is its sequel, The Expendables 2, a 2012 action movie from director Simon West. Like its predecessor, The Expendables 2 is not an homage to or parody of action movie days-gone-by. It is an authentic ass-kicking, ass-stabbing, cap-popped-in-ass action movie, but it is a little darker and more downbeat than the original.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is still the leader of the Expendables, an elite band of mercenaries. Ross and his right-hand man/knife specialist, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham); martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li); unstable Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren); demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture); weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews); and the new guy, sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), charge into Nepal on a rescue mission. It is a success, of course, but Ross and the Expendables have a debt to pay. So says secretive CIA agent, “Mr. Church” (Bruce Willis).

Soon, the Expendables are escorting one of Church’s operatives, Maggie Chan (Nan Yu), to a crash site in the Gasak Mountains, Albania. The item that the Expendables are trying to retrieve is also the target of Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), the leader of a large mercenary band called the Sangs. After one of the Expendables is brutally murdered, Ross leads his team into hostile territory on a mission of revenge.

Early in The Expendables 2, even with the crazy opening in Nepal, it is obvious that this is a darker movie. This sequel replaces the cartoonish and stylish violence with more grit. It seems that just as many, if not more people are casually shot and also shot to pieces, but there is something meaner here. Perhaps, it is this film’s chilly shooting locations in Bulgaria, or maybe it’s the story.

More than the original film, The Expendables 2 is a Sylvester Stallone movie, and the theme, or at least emphasis, is that his character, Barney Ross, has come to a morbid conclusion about his life. He’s a tired, old soldier, but this dog still has a lot of fight in him. But Ross is simply determined not to drag any new people into the meat grinder that is his place of work and profession. The other Expendables are largely in the background compared to the first movie, which is hugely disappointing to me. Still, wise-ass Jason Statham gets many opportunities to spread his wings of sarcasm, and he has some cool, solo martial arts fight scenes. That’s worth the price of admission.

Stallone and some of his costars are starting to look real hoary because of plastic surgery. In fact, there is enough plastic surgery between some of them that it would not be too snarky to say that they are starting to look like action figure toys. Anyway, if you liked the first movie, you’ll likely like the second. The Expendables 2 is good enough to make me ready to go on a third mission with Ross and company.

6 of 10
B

Friday, November 23, 2012

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