Showing posts with label LeVar Burton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LeVar Burton. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 22nd to 31st, 2021 - Update #26

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

REVIEW - From Negromancer:  Here is my review of "Candyman."

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Frank Oz, the filmmaker and puppeteer who originally performed such Muppet characters as Miss Piggy and Fozzy Bear, has said that Disney, which has owned the franchise since 2004, does not want him to work with "The Muppets" anymore.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Lionsgate and Millennium Media are working on a fourth film in "The Expendables" franchise, with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture set to return.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Lord Miller (the home of Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Aditya Sood) will produce a film about former Chicago Bull, Dennis Rodman, and his crazy weekend in Las Vegas during the 1998 NBA Finals.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 8/27 to 8/29/2021 weekend box office is "Candyman" with an estimated take of 22.37 million dollars.

From TheGuardian:  An interview with co-writer and director of "Candyman," Nia DaCosta.

MOVIES - From CNN:  With two new movies about him, we must ask, "Why won't Hollywood let Ted Bundy go away."

MOVIES - From Variety:   The Grammy-winning recording artist and Oscar-winning songwriter, H.E.R., has signed on for her first major acting role, landing the part of Squeak in Blitz Bazawule’s forthcoming adaptation of “The Color Purple” for Warner Bros.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  Director Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" has a strong Thursday night of "preview shows." 

MOVIES - From Deadline:   "The Matrix 4" revealed some of its secrets at "Cinemacon."  It's official title is "The Matrix: Resurrections," and it is due Dec. 22nd.  There is no word on when the trailer showed at Cinemacon will hit social media.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  COVID-19 and the "anti-vaxx" controversies are both roiling on the set of ABC's long-running daytime soap opera, "General Hospital."

TRAILER - From Variety:   Neon has released the first official trailer for "Spencer," starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana.  The film is directed by Pablo Larrain ("Jackie").

DISNEY - From Deadline:   Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre are set to lead the voice cast of director Barry Jenkins' prequel to Walt Disney's "The Lion King."

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  A Los Angeles grand jury has indicted legendary porn movie star, 68-year-old Ron Jeremy, on 33 rape and sexual assault charges.  These new counts involve 21 individuals, age ranging from 15 to 51, and go back to the mid-1990s.  He pleaded "not guilty" again.

TELEVISION - From TheGrio:   The "Jeopardy!" team never really considered LeVar Burton for the position of new permanent host, replacing the late Alex Trebek, according to a report.  TMZ reported that its insider sources say Sony Studios executives loved Burton, yet didn't think he was a "right fit."

MARVEL STUDIOS - From Deadline:   During an overnight shoot in Boston for Marvel’s "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," actress Letitia Wright suffered minor injuries due to an incident with a stunt rig.  She was hospitalized, but has since been released.

MUSIC - From Variety:   When he was an infant, Spencer Elden, was photographed nude with his genitalia exposed.  That photograph was used as the cover art for the rock band, Nirvana's seminal 1991 album, "Nevermind."  Now, Elden is suing several people, including the surviving members of the band, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and Courtney Love, the widow of deceased member, Kurt Cobain, over the use of the photograph.

NETFLIX - From EW:   Netflix shares the first photos from its live-action adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime series, "Cowboy Bebop."

From Deadline:  Netflix has announced the release dates of 42 films that it will release Fall 2021, beginning with "Afterlife of the Party" on September 2nd, 2021.

From WeGotThisCovered:  "Beverly Hills Cop 4" gets closer to actually being a thing. The film has been award 15 million dollars in tax credits to shoot in California.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Amblin adds six more cast members to Steven Spielberg's next film, "The Fablesons," his semi-autobiographical film about his childhood.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:   The winner of the 8/20 to 8/22/2021 weekend box office is "Free Guy" with an estimated take of 18.8 million dollars.

DISNEY - From Deadline:   Disney attempts to take its legal disputes with actress Scarlett Johansson over Marvel Studios' "Black Widow" behind closed doors via arbitration.

OBITS:

From Variety:   Film and television actor, Ed Asner, has died at the age of 91, Sunday, November 29, 2021.  Asner is the most most honored male actor in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, having won seven Emmys.  He won five for playing the character, "Lou Grant."  He first played Grant in the late CBS sitcom, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-77), and then, he played the character in a lead role in the late CBS spinoff drama, "Lou Grant" (1977-82).  He also notably provided the voice for the character "Carl Fredricksen" in Disney/Pixar's "Up" (2009).

From Variety:  Longtime drummer of "The Rolling Stones," Charlie Watts, has died at the age of 80, Tuesday, August 24, 2021.  Watts, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards are the only members of the Stones to have been featured on all their studio albums.  In addition to his Stones work, the jazz-trained drummer also released 10 albums, including several jazz recordings.

From Variety:   Singer-songwriter and musician, Don Everly, has died at the age of 84, Saturday, August 21, 2021.  Don was one-half of the legendary country-influenced rock 'n' roll duo, "The Everly Brothers," with his younger brother, Phil Everly, who died in 2014.  The brothers' close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing had a huge influence on a number of musical acts that emerged in the 1960s, including The Beatles and and the Beach Boys.  The Everly Brothers had their greatest success from 1957 to 1961 with such hits as "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," and "Cathy's Clown," to name a few.  They were part of the inaugural class of the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 1986.

From CBSNews:  Conservative radio talk show host, Phil Valentine, has died at the age of 61, Saturday, August 21, 2021 from complications of COVID-19.  From his perch at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in Nashville, TN, Valentine was a vaccine skeptic and disagreed with mask mandates.  He changed his mind when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July and encouraged people to get vaccinated.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Review: "Star Trek: First Contact" is a Franchise Highpoint

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 215 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some sci-fi adventure violence
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Frakes
WRITERS: Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga; from a story by Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, and Rick Berman (based on the TV series “Star Trek” created by Gene Roddenberry)
PRODUCER: Rick Berman
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew F. Leonetti (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: John W. Wheeler with Anastasia Emmons
COMPOSER: Jerry Goldsmith
Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE/DRAMA

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, Alice Krige, Neal McDonough, Robert Picardo, and Dwight Schultz

The subject of this movie review is Star Trek: First Contact, a 1996 science fiction drama and thriller from director Jonathan Frakes, who is also a Star Trek cast member. First Contact is the eighth movie in the Star Trek film franchise.

The cast of the syndicated series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” returns in their second Star Trek feature film, Star Trek: First Contact. This time, Captain Jean Luc-Picard (Patrick Stewart) leads the crew of the newly commissioned U.S.S. Enterprise-E in a battle against one of the most feared villains of the TV series, the Borg, a sinister alien race of half-machine, half-organic beings.

Once upon a time, the Borg captured Picard and assimilated him into the Borg collective, re-naming him Locutus. Although Picard escaped (which is rare), he never forgot or forgave the Borg for the experience. As First Contact begins, the Enterprise-E is on a routine patrol when Picard gets a message from Starfleet Headquarters that the Borg have entered Federation space and are on a direct course for Earth. Although his orders are to stand down, Picard has the Enterprise enter the fray, and he leads the attack that destroys the Borg ship. Before their ship is destroyed, the Borg jettison an escape pod, which the Enterprise follows. Scanning the pod, the Enterprise discovers that it is entering a time vortex, so Picard has the Enterprise follow it through the vortex.

The Borg have gone back in time to attack Earth when it is vulnerable, a dark age just after World War III. Picard and crew learn that they have come back precisely on the day of April 4, 2063, which is 24 hours before the most momentous day in human history – April 5, 2063First Contact. Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) land on this Earth of the past to help a shabby scientist, Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), keep his date with destiny. Meanwhile, Picard, Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), the remaining Enterprise crew, and a guest from the Earth below, Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), fight to keep the Borg and their Borg Queen (Alice Krige) from using the ship to destroy the future, as they know it.

Star Trek: First Contact is the best of the four films spun from “The Next Generation,” and it’s an old fashioned romantic adventure (with “romance” in this instance not meaning “love”). ST:FC blends pulp sci-fi with the optimism of the original Star Trek. The central line of conflict – Picard and Worf’s attempts to save the Enterprise-E crew from being turned into Borg drones – is riveting. Towards that end, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, and Alfre Woodard shine in showy roles.

The rest of the story that takes place on mid-21st Earth – Riker and La Forge’s quest to help Zefram Cochrane make history – is a pleasant diversion from the heady action on the Enterprise. It is here that the writers reveal the ingenuity of the plot – that of man both in his past self and his future self fighting all manner of obstacles to reach the stars. Humanity literally has to be ready for anything, and has to be ready to create out of chaos. If you choose only to watch one Star Trek film, First Contact would be a fine choice.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1997 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Makeup” (Michael Westmore, Scott Wheeler, and Jake Garber)

1997 Image Awards: 1 nomination for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Alfre Woodard)

Thursday, October 19, 2006

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