Hottest SciFi Babes

Prep for Season 3 With Mad Men's Season 2 Via Video on Demand

2009-07-31T18:05:20Z

Ready for Season 3 but worried you won't recall all the fine details of Season 2? Eager to re-watch and reflect on your favorite scenes so far? Now through Sun., Aug. 30, all thirteen episodes are available along with a half-hour special on the Best of Season 1. Check with your local television provider for all the details.

Remember, Season 3 returns on Sun., Aug. 16 at 10PM | 9C.

Who's holding markers on whom...and will they be able to collect?

2009-07-31T17:33:31Z

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Breaking Bad Shines During TCA Press Tour

2009-07-31T16:00:45Z

The Television Critics Association press tour -- where journalists from around the world descend upon Los Angeles to get a sneak peek at networks' upcoming offerings -- kicked off this week with an AMC-sponsored cocktail party. For Breaking Bad, this was an opportunity for critics to get a few hints about Season 3, and of course shower one of their favorite shows with praise.

San Francisco Chronicle critic Tim Goodman, after hailing Bryan Cranston ("with hipster highlights in his hair, looking nothing like Walt White,") and Anna Gunn for their fortitude with the critics, revealed some details from his conversation with creator Vince Gilligan, who "told a great story -- that the writers embellished -- about how the scene with the head on the tortoise came about. And how it went from brilliant to genius in one easy step. 'It's Breaking Bad. Of course we had to blow it up.'" Moving on to the third season, Gilligan teased, "Some crazy s--t happens."

iF Magazine spent some time with Bryan Cranston, who talked about his role in George Lucas' World War II drama Red Tails, but also spoke to his Breaking Bad character. Speaking to the audience's ability to relate to Walt in the upcoming season, Cranston said, "The most important thing to me is that they see a story unfolding that is honest. Whether or not they agree with what this character [Walt] is doing is not important. What's important is that they understand why this character is doing this, that they believe the set of circumstances that are presented and that it's truthful and we see his humanity."

The press tour will culminate with the TCA Awards on Sat. Aug. 1, for which Breaking Bad has received two nominations.

Talk Forum and Comments - What You're Saying

2009-07-31T16:00:00Z

AMCtv.com awards the Talk forum commenters quoted in our weekly "What You're Saying" post with prizes like a Breaking Bad t-shirt or a Breaking Bad poster.

Fans this week conjured fanciful scenarios about how Walt will be discovered, discussed Vince Gilligan's musical inspirations and received Emmy congratulations from a special Season 2 insider.

"Walt's secret will be discovered by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division after receiving a suspicious transaction report by the hospital's bank as to the large cash payment for his hospital bill. IRS will hook up with DEA through a task force, one of whose members is a DEA Special Agent. This agent remembers the name on the canister that he deposited $5 dollars into and then contacts Hank, who then goes beyond suspicious." -- repugnant

"I kept cringing every time Walt moved the money because it was always some place where Skyler might stumble on it and start using it for her own personal piggy bank. I could see her helping out with the baby and doing some laundry and finding it in the laundry room." -- Zombiehead

]]> "I would guess Vince is very influenced and inspiried by music when plotting this show. In another thread, I mentioned hearing Greg Allman's "Midnight Rider" and how it made me picture Jesse (or it could be Walt or another character), running from the law or a threat, with that song playing in the background. 'Love Reign O'er Me' from [The Who's] Quadrophenia would work well in that kind of situation, too." -- rockmama

"I sure hope Aaron Paul wins this Emmy. 'Peekaboo' was a great episode. He interacted really well with my twin boys, who played the part of Spooge's kid. They had a lot of fun working with him, and we would love to see him win!" -- TwinMommy

Log onto the Talk forum to join in any of these conversations or start a Breaking Bad topic of your own.

The Prisoner in San Diego Union-Tribune, Wired.com, io9

2009-07-31T15:27:46Z

The Prisoner panel at Comic-Con was a hit with reporters and bloggers, who appreciated the sneak peek and remain curious about what's to come in November. Here's a sampling of what they said:

• The San Diego Union-Tribune liked what they saw: "If the first-class sneak preview that aired during yesterday's panel is any indication of the dramatic riches to come in November, AMC could hit the jackpot."

• Slashfilm reported back on the footage and found it "Very compelling stuff."

• io9 breaks down the differences between the new and the old series, with help from Bill Gallagher, the show's screenwriter.

• UGO.com has photos of The Prisoner booth from the convention hall floor.

• Wired.com mentions The Prisoner content online here, including the 9-minute preview and comic.

Short and Tweet - Brief Reviews for Movies Released July 31

2009-07-31T15:15:35Z

• Adam
The anti-Forrest Gump, a rom-drama about the mentally ill; with grown-up sensibilities, free of cliche.
For the full review, click here.

• Import/Export
Immigration and exploitation go hand in hand in this brutal Austrian drama.
For the full review, click here.

• You, the Living
Kooky arthouse fare mixes sight gags with surreal morality plays in a melange of absurdism.

• Lorna's Silence
The famed Dardenne brothers turn in a another solid film about love, divorce, and murder.
For the full review, click here.

• Not Quite Hollywood
The Wild, Untold Story of Oxploitation! - Aussie B-movies get their due. Gross & cool!
For the full review, click here.

• The Cove
Like "Man on Wire," a thrilling hybrid documentary/action movie about the slaughter of dolphins.
For the full review, click here.

• Flame and Citron
WWII assassination drama aims for pensive, but gets sloppy once the grenades start flying.
For the full review, click here.

• Funny People
Judd Apatow looks at dying, with only middling, scattered results.
For the full review, click here.

• Thirst
Twilight it ain't. Asian vampire movie is ultra-gory and a mess in more than one way.
For the full review, click here.

For up-to-the-moment movie reviews short and tweet, subscribe to the AMC Filmcritic Twitter feed.

Flashback Five - Twilight's Rachelle Lefevre Joins the Ranks of Famous Fired Actors

2009-07-31T15:15:00Z

"You're fired." Two simple words, but ones that no one wants to hear, especially if they're in the middle of filming a big blockbuster movie. Young Twilight star Rachelle Lefevre found out her services were no longer required the hard way: By reading about it in the newspaper. Yesterday's announcement that Bryce Dallas Howard (aka, Opie's daughter) would replace Lefevre in the third movie, Eclipse, came as a shock to both her and her fans, but they can take some solace in the fact that she's in good company, at least -- as the following list of high-profile movies firings goes to show.

1. Sienna Miller, Robin Hood (2009)
Ridley Scott's forthcoming Robin Hood reimagining is still in production, but there will be one element missing at its premiere: Sienna Miller. The actress was originally cast opposite Russell Crowe as Maid Marian, but was fired halfway through production. The reason? Miller was too sexy. Reportedly, the age (and weight) difference between the two leads led to awkward love scenes between the two -- probably not the effect Scott was going for.

2. Jodie Foster, The Game (1997)
Less harmonious was Jodie Foster's dismissal from this David Fincher thriller. Foster was the first one to sign on to the movie, after which Michael Douglas was cast in the lead. Initially, Foster was to play Douglas' daughter, but the 51-year-old Douglas wanted Foster (then 33) to play his sister. Foster disagreed, and was let go from the production, leading her to sue the production company. Everything turned out OK in the long run: Foster settled the suit (for an undisclosed amount); and Fincher cast her in Panic Room (2002).

]]> 3. Eric Stoltz, Back to the Future (1985)
One of the most famous firings in movie history, Eric Stoltz was originally set to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985). In fact, Stoltz reportedly filmed over 40 minutes of the movie and spent five weeks on set with director Robert Zemeckis before being deemed far too serious for a comedy. Stoltz has never spoken publicly about the firing, and his scenes has never been publicly shown... Though stills from the production can be found around the Internet, and footage shot without Stoltz was used in the finished movie.

4. Michael Keaton, Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Another mid-shoot replacement, Keaton was originally cast as the lead in this Woody Allen flick. Three weeks into shooting, Allen decided Keaton wasn't working out and unceremoniously fired him from the set, replacing Keaton with Jeff Daniels. Keaton was, at that point, riding high off a string of hits, including Night Shift (1982), Mr. Mom (1983), and Johnny Dangerously (1984). In fact, 1985, the year Purple Rose was released, is the only year of Keaton's career in which he didn't release any movies, and it was followed by three years of bombs. It wasn't until Beetle Juice (1988) that Keaton got his footing back.

5. Harvey Keitel, Apocalypse Now (1970)
One of the most notoriously difficult actors working in Hollywood, its no surprise that Keitel has been fired off multiple sets. The most famous example is probably Apocalypse Now (1979), itself a famously troubled shoot. Three weeks into filming, director Francis Ford Coppola was extremely unhappy with Keitel's take on the main character of Captain Benjamin L. Willard. He flew back to Los Angeles, cast Martin Sheen, and fired Keitel. Rather than taking legal action, the famously fire-tempered Keitel reports that he went into a Phillipines bar, had a drink, listened to an off-key rendition of "My Way," and calmly flew back to L.A.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Terrence Howard, Iron Man 2: Howard, like Lefevre, claimed that he had no indication he wasn't coming back as James Rhodes in Iron Man 2 (2010). Howard went on the offensive, claiming to the press that he didn't care because the script was so terrible. A likely story.

2. Stuart Townsend, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (2001): Fired the day before shooting started on Peter Jackson's epic, Townsend was originally cast as Aragorn. Townsend took the lack of payment, despite having worked two months, quite well, and went quietly.

3. Melora Hardin, Back to the Future (1985): Hardin was originally cast as Marty's girlfriend Jennifer, only to be fired right after Eric Stoltz, and replaced by Claudia Wells. Then Claudia Wells was replaced in the second movie by Elisabeth Shue. Time travel is a fickle beast!

4. Sylvester Stallone, Beverly Hills Cop (1984): Stallone was originally the lead in the Eddie Murphy action comedy, before rewriting the script to remove all the comedic elements, and turning it into a gritty action movie. The studio wanted no part of his vision.

5. Raquel Welch, Cannery Row (1982): Welch was replaced by Debra Winger after just five days on the set of this musical, reportedly because she was taking too long to get ready to shoot her scenes. She won a multi-million dollar suit against MGM, and irreparably damaged her career in the process.

Take a Video Tour of Mad Men's Costume Shop

2009-07-31T13:58:06Z

Prepare for a glimpse of the treasures of the Mad Men universe -- the costume shop. Designer Janie Bryant walks through racks and racks of colorful clothing and reminds us that the '60s were when "people really had a good time dressing." For a close up of the chiffon and the glen plaid you've seen on the screen, and the mood boards that Bryant uses for inspiration, check out the video.

Krysten Ritter gave me X's and O's

2009-07-31T07:34:51Z

I love her!

How to get Mad Men hair......

2009-07-31T05:10:24Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpa9Y-WWXmM

Harvard Schmarvard - Training Day Shows What Happens When Cops Go to the Dark Side

2009-07-31T04:01:00Z

Do the latest headlines have you wondering in just whose hands you're entrusting the long arm of the law? However "stupidly" the cop who arrested Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. may have acted last week, he's got nothing on Denzel Washington's Alonzo Harris. LAPD narc Alonzo drinks all day long, lets rapists and drug dealers run free, and casually loses $1 million in Vegas to a group of Russian mobsters who expect payment within 24 hours. You know from the first frames of the thrilling Training Day that Alonzo is a cop whose life can only end in a hail of bullets.

But what Alonzo lacks in common sense, he more than makes up in style, swagger, and general overall cool. He's definitely one of the most charismatic rogue cops in the history of cinema. He can fire two guns at once, wears a black leather jacket and a platinum-and-diamond crucifix, and gets around in a souped-up 1979 Chevy Monte Carlo with wire wheels and hydraulics. Washington won a best actor Oscar for this part and you can see why. It's not easy to make the devil incarnate come across as the most popular boy in class.

And then there's that smile.

]]> That "Who, me?" smile appears whenever Alonzo's in the most trouble, and this movie is seriously worth watching just to see Washington flash his ridiculously pearly whites. He puts the Cheshire cat to shame.

Poor Ethan Hawke though. He plays the rookie cop Jake Hoyt, sent to spend a "training day" with Alonzo to determine whether he has what it takes to be on the LAPD's narcotics squad. It takes until the end of the movie until the naive Hawke begins to fathom the true depths of Alonzo's depravity. After that, it's all about Hawke's efforts to escape from the dark side.

Sure, Training Day starts to strain credibility towards the end, in part because of its compressed time frame. (We're really supposed to believe that all this happened in a day!?) But believability isn't really the goal here anyhow. In the late '90s, a team of LA cops known as the Rampart Division was arrested and accused of widespread corruption -- everything from robbing banks to framing suspects. The scandal that erupted was the inspiration for the movie, and Washington wants you to see and understand who these cops were and what drove them to such extremes. He burrows deep into Alonzo's demented psyche, showing how a once-good cop can turn bad. It's more than stupidity that causes this to happen. It's the allure of evil that none of us can ever fully escape.

Click here for a full schedule of Training Day showings on AMC.

Mary Robinette Kowal - Go Back to the Future With Fantasy's Top Ten Time-Traveling Devices

2009-07-31T04:00:29Z

You know what I need in my life? A little more time -- just a few extra hours to squeeze into the day. If I could borrow Hermione Granger's time-turner, or Doc Brown's DeLorean, then I might stand a chance at actually getting everything turned in on time. It would make my editor happy, I'm sure. But like airlines, there are just so many time travel methods from which to choose.

10. Groundhog Day, Groundhog Day (1993)
I could wind up stuck in the same miserable day, like Phil Connors (Bill Murray), doomed to repeat events over and over and over and... well, you get the idea. As time travel goes, this method is pretty poor since it only covers one twenty-four hour period. Granted, I might be able to play the piano by the end...

9. The Staff, Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
This method of time travel is very simple: It involves grabbing an ancient mystical staff and then getting beaten up and falling off a building. Presto! You can get transported back thousands of years and across the world to ancient China. Once there you embark on a year long martial arts course so that when you return to the exact moment you left, you kick ass. A much less mind-numbing way to learn a skill, but not so useful in your day-to-day life.

8. The Earthquake, A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)
Closer to what I'm thinking about as ideal time travel is this thing that Calvin Fuller (Thomas Ian Nichols) does. He's playing baseball and strikes out. Fortunately, he can go back in time, learn the necessary skills and then come forward to a few moments before he struck out get it right. Granted, the mode of transportation (an earthquake and a bottomless chasm) is a little iffy. But the range is just swell.

]]> 7. Ye Olde Medallion, Black Knight (2001)
Another possible time-travel mode is Ye Olde Medallion, which transports Jamal Walker (Martin Lawrence) back to 1328. Same range as the earthquake, but without all the trauma and endless falling. The only trouble, as I see it, is that I'm fairly certain you couldn't have a wi-fi connection back then. And I do so need my Internets.

6. The Potion, Just Visiting (2001)
Another breed of time travel is moving forward in time, as Lord Thibault does. Now, his particular method involves a potion, which strikes me as being pretty sloppy: Sure, it causes time travel, but he was supposed to go back in time. Plus, it makes no arrangements for a return journey. Going into the future sounds good, but really, don't we do that every day?

5. The Portal, Kate and Leopold (2001)
OK, so you really want to go into the future. If you do, opt for Stuart Besser's (Liev Schrieber) method instead. He's got this way of calculating time portals so he can pick and choose where and when he's going. (Return trip included!) This, to me, seems very smart. Plus, the portal transports Hugh Jackman, which is always a bonus.

4. Thought, Somewhere in Time (1980)
But why mess with portals, potions or earthquakes when all you have to do is think yourself back in time? First, obsess over a woman (or man) of your choosing. Then, buy the necessary period clothing (after all, it wouldn't do to turn up in today's fashions). Now, simply think about the past and voila! The only downside is that you can't think about the present any more. Oh, and instant death when you return. Bummer.

3. The Time Machine, Time After Time (1979)
Now, it's much smarter to have a machine of some sort to control your traveling. H. G. Wells has one of them -- because apparently in this movie he's not only a novelist, but an inventor as well. The machine works so well that even an amateur, like say, Jack the Ripper, can work it. Cleverly constructed, it will return you safely home, whenever that time that may be.

2. The Map, Time Bandits (1981)
Of course, who needs a time machine when a map can do the traveling for you -- and make sure you're pointed in the right direction. These handy tools are given out as a matter of course when you work for the Supreme Being, but you will have to land a job as a Space-Time Continuum Repairman. The downside? Evil wants your map, too.

1. The Phone Booth, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Easiest by far is the time-traveling phone booth. A simple gadget that even idiots can work, this can take its travelers to any time and right to the doorstep of the person they want to see. Now if only it were bigger on the inside than the outside... Anyone know where I can find something like that? Perhaps something in blue?

Mary Robinette Kowal is the winner of the 2008 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and a professional puppeteer. Her first novel Shades of Milk and Honey is being published by Tor in 2010.

Daily Scan for 07.31.09 - Joyce and Frand Pass Away, Scientists Invent Trek Glass

2009-07-31T04:00:16Z

• Actress Brenda Joyce, who played Tarzan's Jane in five movies after Maureen O'Sullivan left the franchise, has sadly passed away.

• Also sadly, Battlestar Galactica producer Harvey Frand has passed away.

• Over twenty years after Star Trek IV, scientists finally invent transparent aluminum, which in the Roddenberry-verse makes for the windows on starships. Thank God Scotty didn't destroy the space-time continuum letting slip that little gem.

• Smallville's producers always promised "no tights and no flights," but with the creator's departure it now seems like that all might change.

]]> • Marvel gives some enticing hints about Iron Man's latest movie suit.

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had a great Comic-Con, and Hyperion Books threw Eoin Colfer's continuation of the series a heck of a bash.

John Travolta Ultimate Fan Quiz

2009-07-31T04:00:15Z

John Travolta's career is filled with huge hits (Grease) and spectacular misses (Battlefield Earth), but through the years he has retained his charm, charisma and super-slick dance moves. What $5 menu item does he taste in Pulp Fiction? What's the name of the disco in Saturday Night Fever? Take the quiz! Take Quiz Â»

To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.

Thirst Review - He's a Vampire. No, He's a Priest. Wait -- He's Both!

2009-07-31T04:00:12Z

A gentle priest is inadvertently transformed into a vampire in writer-director Park Chan-wook gore-soaked love story, Thirst. Park's melodramatic "revenge trilogy" -- Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance -- set a high bar for perversity and squirm-inducing violence that Thirst, loosely inspired by Emile Zola's Therese Raquin, easily matches by diving headlong into the taboo-testing tale of a dedicated priest whose bloodlust awakens other earthly hungers unbecoming to a man of spirit.

Provincial priest Sang Hyun (Song Kang-ho) spends much of his time comforting parishioners afflicted with the horrific Emmanuel Virus, a plague characterized by disfiguring skin lesions, hemorrhagic bleeding and a 100 percent fatality rate. Galvanized by the gruesome spectacle of such suffering, he volunteers to become a research subject at an African clinic dedicated to finding a vaccine, undeterred by the fact that, to date, no one has survived the experimental process.

]]> For all his piety and spiritual generosity, Father Sang does not prove the exception; he contracts EV and dies, disfigured and in agony, as the staff performs an emergency blood transfusion. And then, to everyone's astonishment, he revives. Could God himself have intervened on behalf of his loyal servant? Maybe, if you assume that God is, as Mark Twain famously suggested, a malign thug. Father Sang's recovery, which spawns an instant cult of the "bandaged priest" who can heal the sick, comes at a terrible price: He's become a vampire, tormented by an intense craving for human blood. If Father Sang fails to quench his ungodly thirst, the disease returns. Drinking blood, however, leads the pious padre down the garden path of sin, with stops to gamble, incite unclean thoughts in others, fornicate and kill.

Like Park's vengeance trilogy -- which put him on the international filmmaking map -- Thirst takes place in a Sadean world where goodness (or even simple human decency) is punished, while cruelty, indifference to the pain of others and hypocrisy are rewarded. But unlike those earlier movies, which unfolded in circumscribed worlds defined by the bitterly baroque tribulations of pitiful individuals, Thirst goes for the big picture. If Sang, a priest with spotless moral character and steely self-discipline, can wind up sipping blood from the IV of a comatose man, seducing the wife (Kim Ok-vin) of a childhood friend and leading her into the kind of temptation that pretty much guarantees an eternal dip in the lake of fire, then it's not just social mores or religious institutions stacked against the average schmuck. It's the universe, pure and simple. But enough of the thematic underpinnings: You want to know what's in it for straight-up horror buffs.

Well, let's see... there's Cronenbergian body horror, vampire eroticism, sun-blistered flesh and a whole lot of blood -- the scene in which Sang begins vomiting gore while playing a plaintive air on his flute is about as gross as it gets. And for all the subtext bubbling beneath the movie's surface, Park has actually lightened up a little: Where his revenger's tales pack the power of classical tragedy, Thirst plays like grand guignol farce... but farce with a dark, haunting heart.

For more movie reviews, go to AMC Filmcritic.