The Prisoner - 1967 Production Photostag:blogs.amctv.com,2008-01-08:/the_prisoner_-_1967_production_photos//1982009-06-22T15:41:37ZGallery Clone - No Sponsor LogoMovable Type Enterprise 4.23-enHorror Hacker's Dave Wellington Has New Book (23 Hours) Out This Tuesdaytag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/horror-hacker//11.50494792009-06-22T15:45:12Z2009-06-22T15:41:37ZThe latest installment in Wellington's series of vampire novels finds Wellington's heroine (vampire-hunter Laura Caxton) dealing with bloodsuckers at a women's prisonDrew Pisarra
AMCtv.com's own David Wellington, who writes a weekly column most Mondays for the Horror Hacker, has a new book out tomorrow, Tue., Jun. 23. The latest installment in Wellington's popular series of vampire novels, 23 Hoursfinds its heroine (the ever-resourceful vampire-hunter Laura Caxton) dealing with an invasion of bloodsuckers at a women's prison. Frankly, the combination of vamps and convicts, prison guards and fanged gore sounds like a winning formula to us. "Since we killed off a lot of the people in the last one, this is a good place to start," Wellington assures us. Wellington has written six previous books, including the Monster Island trilogy which is available free online. 23 Hours is also available in a Kindle version. ]]>
Hello Maddictstag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/mad-men/talk//15.50494772009-06-22T16:04:51Z2009-06-22T15:17:42ZHi Maddicts, Clayton has other duties but fear not, you're not abandoned! I'll be keeping an eye on your conversations -- the better to hand out mugs -- and to chime in when I can. And if there's anything you...Lily Oei
Hi Maddicts,
Clayton has other duties but fear not, you're not abandoned!
I'll be keeping an eye on your conversations -- the better to hand out mugs -- and to chime in when I can. And if there's anything you need to be in touch about, you can reach me at: lilyoei.amc@gmail.com.
Best,
Lily
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Now or Then - Year One or History of the World Part I?tag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/future-of-classic//10.50494322009-06-22T04:01:00Z2009-06-22T20:29:29ZFart jokes in loincloths: The more things change, the more they stay the same. How does Harold Ramis' big-budget historical comedy stack up against the Mel Brooks classic?Bilge Ebiriamctv.com
Now: Year One
(2009)Then: History of the World Part I (1981)
For whatever reason, modern-day comedians love to take digs at the ancient world: Judd Apatow and Harold Ramis' Year One, about a couple of hapless hunter-gatherers straying into the world of the Old Testament, indulges gleefully in anachronistic humor about courtships and circumcisions, while also sprinkling on a liberal dose of the usual gruesome slapstick and fart jokes. As such, it recalls another veteran comedian's take on the distant past, Mel Brooks' cult classic History of the World Part I, with its acres of jokes about male members, fey Centurions, flatulent Caesars, and dancing Spanish Inquisitors. So which historical romp romps the hardest? Read on to find out...
Slacker Heroes Stuck in the Past Year One: Zed (Jack Black) is a slacker hunter whose incompetence leads to his banishment from the tribe. Together with his friend Oh (Michael Cera), a gatherer with a sensitive, emo vibe, they flee their fellow villagers and try to jump-start a new civilization. History of the World: Comicus (Mel Brooks) is a stand-up philosopher (aka comic) who is down on his luck. Together with his loyal agent Swiftus Lazarus (Ron Carey) and Josephus (Gregory Hines), a pot-smoking, tap-dancing Ethiopian slave, they have to make a break from Caesars Palace. Winner: Year One. Zed and Oh are a comically mismatched duo, whereas the Borscht Belt stylings of Comicus now feel heavy-handed and lame.
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Fun with Bodily Functions Year One: In pursuit of civilization, Zed smells and tastes some feces by the road to determine who has passed by; later, when they're imprisoned, Oh is chained upside down, whereupon he urinates all over his face. History of the World: The first critic judges the first cave painting by peeing on it. Later, we are introduced to a Garcon de Pisse (Mel Brooks), a man who carries a bucket into which royals may relieve themselves in the court of King Louis XVI.
Winner: A tie. Poop and pee? Seriously? Can't we do better than this?
Conniving Royalty Year One: Princess Inanna (Olivia Wilde), a Prime Minister (David Pasquesi), and a High Priest (Oliver Platt) are all looking out for number one in the Kingdom of Sodom, eventually leading to chaos. History of the World: In an attempt to save King Louis XVI (Mel Brooks) from the impending French Revolution, the Count de Monet (Harvey Korman) arranges for the monarch to switch places with the Garcon de Pisse. Winner: History of the World. The convoluted schemings of Sodom never really make any sense.
Verdict Winner: Year One, but just barely. The gags in History of the World felt way fresher a generation ago. Who knows how Year One will hold up 30 years down the road?
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Virtuality Creator Michael Taylor Imagines His Ideal VR Scenariotag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/scifi-scanner//9.50494132009-06-22T04:00:29Z2009-06-22T14:38:56ZA writer for Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Caprica, the co-creator of Fox's Virtuality describes his show's grounding in science and its "New Orleans funeral" of a pilot.Clayton Neuman
A writer for Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and Caprica, the co-creator of Fox's Virtuality describes his show's grounding in science and its "New Orleans funeral" of a pilot.
Q: Both Caprica and Virtualty deal with the virtual world. What's the attraction for you?
A: It's interesting. Virtual reality is actually becoming a much bigger theme in Caprica than we may have imagined. I wonder if that's partly the influence of Virtuality, but it's certainly something that's on my mind and on Ron [Moore]'s mind. I guess in some way we are already there. All good science fiction finds a chord of resonance in contemporary experience. I think Battlestar was very much political. Virtuality strikes a more technological chord in terms of where our culture is. If you're like me you were wondering what Apple's new iPhone was going to be; it's just a frakking phone, but nevertheless it consumes us. I think that's an interesting theme right now.
Q: Like 2001, Virtuality borrows from logistical concepts of space travel. How much consultation did you do with NASA?
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A: I did consult with a NASA scientist. And they already are thinking in those terms -- a long mission to Mars for example, where you'll need to keep mission critical skills sharp. Beyond that, the idea that people are going to need outlets -- you're stuck in a tin can with a few other people, how are you going to manage psychologically? The spacecraft -- you mentioned 2001 -- the progenitor of our spaceship is the project Orion craft, which has been around for decades. I did not want warp drive, some make-believe fantasy thing. How might we actually do this? The Orion project is a very practical approach about how we could get a ship up to a very high speed -- essentially by setting off giant bombs behind the ship.
Q: The concept of the virtual reality allows you to write a different show every time -- the pilot, for instance, has a Civil War environment. What's that experience like as a writer?
A: I've been doing that since my first days in scifi television, writing for Deep Space Nine and Voyager. And I had that same sense then -- one show could be a doctor show, a cowboy show, a police drama, a mystery thriller. What's most interesting for me is the extent the virtual reality is an expression of the characters. For the Civil War environment, if we have a chance to continue the show, we'll understand why Pike has chosen it. There's a reason. It's twelve people stuck in a ship, but the environments are limitless. The world is in one sense closed, but in terms of virtual reality opened up.
Q: Which is, in a strange way, the opposite of BSG where the world was very much contained.
A: Right. In Battlestar, despite a much larger potential field to draw characters from, in some way you assumed you had met the key players -- they were your players, and we weren't going to run into any aliens. Virtuality seems more contained and closed, yet can reach out in a whole different direction.
Q: What are the chances Virtuality will become a series?
A: Honestly, slim to none. I've been through too much drama with this show already to go through more funerals in my head for it -- it's too traumatic. They have not made an official word, but they're scheduling it on a night that I think has been characterized as the butt-end of the television universe. It's sad for me and Ron -- they said, "Hey come aboard. We love what you do." And then we did what we do, and they went, "Ooh, s--- man this is kind of much for us." Given the scheduling time and the lack of promotion, call it a New Orleans funeral: We'll be having a good time, and we're grateful people at least have the opportunity to see what we did.
Q: Is that one of the reasons why Caprica is now more focused on virtual reality?
A: I think there's a sense on both Ron's part and my part that if we were not going to get to explore it in Virtuality, then we're going to explore it here. Caprica is going great. It's an area that's really compelling -- the question of how technology is going to change us. But we're examining a whole world, a whole culture as opposed to Virtuality where it's like a petri dish -- twelve Earthlings in a spaceship.
Q: What would your virtual reality be?
A: It might just be a reality where time stops and my mind speeds up, so I can just catch up on my writing. It's a more mundane use of virtual reality. Maybe I'd try to find something more exciting, but I typically try to find that in real life if I can.
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Daily Scan for 06.22.09 - Bay Is Over Transformers, Matheson's Button Gets Movietag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/scifi-scanner//9.50494522009-06-22T04:00:16Z2009-06-21T20:17:27ZMichael Bay hints that he might be done with the Transformers franchise after the sequel is released this week.John Brownlee
• Richard Matheson's famous scifi story, Button, Button, is being made into a feature film by the director of Donnie Darko. But can a five page story really carry a two hour movie?
• Roland Emmerich's next apocalyptic scifi flick, 2012, has gotten a trailer. The science is terrible and the prophecy nonsense, but it still looks like a lot of fun.
• Yeesh. Indiana Jones 5 is now also being confirmed by a producer, saying that everyone's really on board and excited for it. "We're not getting any younger," Harrison Ford says. Nor are you guys any more filled with good ideas.
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• In an attempt to pave the way for human settlement on the moon, NASA is firing a huge probe into it and will study the debris for signs of water. NASA has always been at war with the moon.
• In science fiction, women belong in only one place: pneumatic tubes. At least according to the lurid genre of science fiction pulp novel covers.
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Ultimate Fan Quiz - Woody Allentag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/future-of-classic//10.50493522009-06-22T04:00:15Z2009-06-22T17:25:48ZWhich Woody Allen character says, "This trial is a travesty. It's a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham?" Take our quiz and find out.Matthew Klein
Woody Allen has been turning out a movie a year for three decades. His latest, Whatever Works, is another black comedy about inappropriate infatuation. Has it won Allen a lot of Oscars? Allen has a laugh through it all, from parodying Fellini's 8 ½ to featuring a Greek chorus in one of his movies. Take the quiz and find out more. Take Quiz »
To challenge yourself with more movie trivia, try our Super Movie Quiz.
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Beat the Devil by Acing Our Exorcist Quiztag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/horror-hacker//11.50494512009-06-22T04:00:12Z2009-06-22T14:32:21ZTest your knowledge of the Exorcist movies by taking our devilishly difficult ultimate fan quiz Maitland McDonagh
Reports of moviegoers fainting and vomiting back when The Exorcist opened in 1973 may have been exaggerated, but it's still one hell of a scary movie. Do you have the nerve to find out how well you know this classic shocker and its sequels? Grab your crucifix and holy water, then test yourself against our ultimate fan quiz.
Take Quiz »
Watch Exorcist: The Beginning on AMC. For a full schedule, click here.
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The Newsdesk 06.22.09 - Audiences Accept Sandra's Proposal; Moneyball Strikes Outtag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/movie-news//13.50494712009-06-22T04:00:05Z2009-06-22T14:07:04ZSandra Bullock scored her biggest opening weekend ever with The Proposal, which topped the weekend box office with $34.1 million. Nick Nadelhttp://nicknadel.com
• Sony has backed out of Moneyball, Brad Pitt and Steven Soderbergh's baseball drama. If even Brad Pitt can't get a movie green-lit these days, Hollywood is in serious trouble.
• A Teen Wolf remake is reportedly in the works. When will someone look into the legality of high school basketball playing wolf-teens? That's gotta be against regulation.
• The red-band trailer for World's Greatest Dad features Robin Williams delivering some decidedly not-safe-for-work language. It's the first time Robin's worked blue since his cocaine days.
LOS ANGELES, June 20 (UPI) -- Paramount Pictures Chairman
Brad Grey says the U.S. studio has parted ways with Paramount Film Group head
John Lesher and production executive Brad Weston.
Producer Jim Stern issued a warning call to the indie
business Saturday, saying it needed to stop working at cross-purposes both with
itself and its financiers.
Music News: Majors band with YouTube to push content -- As
label revenue streams struggle, they are eying the Web as a way to make music
videos more profitable for themselves
Top marketers by total measured ad spending in ten media.
From the 100 Leading National Advertisers, 2009 edition. Based on spending in
2008 for newspaper, magazine, outdoor, national radio, local radio, network TV,
spot TV, syndicate TV, cable TV networks and internet.
It's been a busy week for Chicago festival schedules. First,
Lollapalooza is revealed and now we get the set times for Pitchfork's 3 day
orgy of music taking place July 17-19.
Having a festival in downtown Chicago is a bit easier on
travel, unlike say traipsing to a farm in the middle of nowhere Tennessee. The
trade-off is that the multitude of bands performing at Lollapalooza have to be
finished by 10pm due to local noise ordinances.
from The Wrap RSS
The screening of an Iranian film at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Saturday
became the occasion to debate the turmoil happening a half a world away, while
serving as a timely reminder of the struggle for women's rights under Islamic
regimes in the Middle East.
Film Festivals: Helmer hails festival for repping new talnet
-- Sam Mendes hailed the role of the Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival in shining a
light on new talent.
Film News: 'White African' wins world feature award
'Country' time at Silverdocs -- "October Country" has won the grand
jury award at the AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival.
Front Page: Sandra Bullock comedy tops weekend -- Disney's
Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds topliner "The Proposal" smooched its way to No. 1
at the domestic box office.
Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" found itself working out just
fine with audiences this weekend, pulling in a fantastic $280,720 from 9
screens according to estimates provided by Rentrak earlier this afternoon.
Playing in just two key foreign markets, Paramount's
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" from director Michael Bay
premiered No. 1 over the weekend on the international circuit.
from Entertainment on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post
News Team
Michael Bay sent a scathing email to Paramount Studios before the release of
"Transformers 2," complaining in effect that his famous director
friends would be shocked at the way Paramount was promoting the flick.
from MTV Movies Blog by Larry Carroll Nobody makes a better movie trailer than Roland Emmerich ― the man behind "Independence Day," "The
Day After Tomorrow" and "Godzilla." And while many might be tempted to insert a
joke here about how good or bad those movies actually turned out to be, we'll
hold our tongues and simply say this: "2012″ looks awesome.
from Defamer by Foster Kamer
Columbia Pictures balked at the latest script for the adaptation of Michael Lewis' Moneyball
arrived. So much so that they've put the project in turnaround. Oh, and:
production was supposed to start next week.
from Splash Page by Rick Marshall
Summit Entertainment has released a pair of new images from "Astro Boy,"
the CGI-animated film based on the popular anime/manga character.
Miss Audience Award Winner City Island at the 2009 Festival?
Don't worry―Anchor Bay Films has picked up Raymond De Felitta's Bronx dramedy
for distribution.
from Advertising Age - MediaWorks by bsteinberg@adage.com(Brian Steinberg)
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- You'd think the nation's two oldest broadcast TV
networks would agree where the future of the industry lies. You'd be wrong.
from MSNBC.com: Television
When the show returns next winter, the action will shift from the hospital to
the classroom and make med-school professors of John C. McGinley's Dr. Cox and
Donald Faison's Turk.
After months of speculation, the questions surrounding the
returns of T.R. Knight and Katherine Heigl to "Grey's Anatomy" have
been answered. Heigl will be back for its sixth season and Knight will not.
"The Philanthropist," which begins Wednesday on NBC, follows
a ruthless executive who, after the death of his son, decides to use his
talents in the name of righteous causes.
An unexplained phenomenon leaves all the people on Earth
with a two-minute, 17-second, hole in their lives. The weird setup serves as a
springboard for a sprawling sci-fi show, coming this fall to ABC.
Sting [ tickets
] will release a new album this fall that is dedicated to the musician's
favorite season, winter, according to a statement on his website.
AUSTIN, Texas, June 21 (UPI) -- "Austin City
Limits" producer Terry Lickona says seeing the future home of the U.S. TV
series in Austin, Texas, was a "heart-stopping" moment.
from Entertainment on HuffingtonPost.com by The Huffington Post
News Team
LILONGWE, Malawi ― Madonna's new daughter has flown out of her native Malawi on
a private jet headed for London, an airport employee and a person familiar with
Madonna's adoption proceedings in this southern African country said Saturday.
After over 16 years of marriage, actors Bradley Whitford and
Jane Kaczmarek are divorcing.
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The Draper housetag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/mad-men/talk//15.50494732009-06-22T04:26:48Z2009-06-22T04:26:48ZTheir house looks huge from the outside so how is it that there are only two bedrooms?? This has always confused me. I wonder if another room will just magically appear for the new baby. And Sally is getting too...janeeyre
Their house looks huge from the outside so how is it that there are only two bedrooms?? This has always confused me. I wonder if another room will just magically appear for the new baby. And Sally is getting too old to keep sharing with her brother.]]>
Should Walt and Skyler be together in Season 3 ?tag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/breaking-bad/talk//22.50494702009-06-22T01:36:13Z2009-06-22T01:36:14ZI'm just wondering if Walt and Skyler should be together in Season 3. Maybe it's more realistic for them to be living apart ! They would still have plenty of contact as they have two children and maybe Walt eventually...Nimrod1313
I'm just wondering if Walt and Skyler should be together in Season 3. Maybe it's more realistic for them to be living apart ! They would still have plenty of contact as they have two children and maybe Walt eventually comes to Skyler's rescue as she becomes more involved in the money issues at her work. This would certainly free Walt up to become more involved and to come to grips with his criminal side. It would certainly free up Walt to go deeper and deeper into the dark side ... what do people think ??]]>
Season 2 Episode 16 - Open Threadtag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/breaking-bad/talk//22.50494692009-06-22T00:56:06Z2009-06-22T00:56:06ZDiscuss Season 2 Episode 16...zia
Discuss Season 2 Episode 16 ]]>
Season Threetag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/breaking-bad/talk//22.50494682009-06-21T23:55:25Z2009-06-21T23:55:25ZWhen is season three scheduled to begin? Anybody know?...devo54
When is season three scheduled to begin? Anybody know?]]>
Roger and Alice Cooper talking in "code;" Burt as child-like "seer" of ills to come at SC; and other random thoughtstag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/mad-men/talk//15.50494672009-06-21T19:53:40Z2009-06-21T19:53:40Z"They're changing the guard at Buckingham Palace... Christopher Robin went down with Alice..." For AA Milne's full poem, seehttp://www.winniethepoohbear.net/poem_buckingham.php.) Remember when Roger jumped up and recited this in Alice Cooper's face the moment she showed herself inside the door for...jackie_monroe
"They're changing the guard at Buckingham Palace...
Christopher Robin went down with Alice..."
For AA Milne's full poem, seehttp://www.winniethepoohbear.net/poem_buckingham.php.)
Remember when Roger jumped up and recited this in Alice Cooper's face the moment she showed herself inside the door for the meeting of the partners' vote on PP&Lowe take-over/merger?
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June 21,1958tag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/mad-men/talk//15.50494662009-06-21T19:46:33Z2009-06-21T19:46:33ZOn June 21,1958 the year as to which Mad-Men began.the million Dollar seller "Splish-Splash,written and recorded by Bobby Darin was released.It would be so great to hear it and his other top songs 1959(Beyond The Sea,Queen Of The Hop,Dream Lover,Mack...kathy
On June 21,1958 the year as to which Mad-Men began.the million Dollar seller "Splish-Splash,written and recorded by Bobby Darin was released.It would be so great to hear it and his other top songs 1959(Beyond The Sea,Queen Of The Hop,Dream Lover,Mack The Knife) and so on in episode three.It would truly takes us back to those wonderful years.Kathy]]>
Time Slottag:blogs.amctv.com,2009:/mad-men/talk//15.50494652009-06-21T15:49:59Z2009-06-21T15:49:59Z Does anyone think the bad time slot simply has to do with the smoking? There has to be a reason, the time slot is just so bad. I've seen news story after story about over the past decade a...Greg
Does anyone think the bad time slot simply has to do with the smoking? There has to be a reason, the time slot is just so bad. I've seen news story after story about over the past decade a huge Hollywood push to ban smoking from all media. (also seen recent stories of a similar push to only show child characters eating healthy food and vegetables. seriously.)
But that's my 2 cents. I think maybe it's the smoking that they're either forced, or just themselves just feel more comfortable, to put it on late. It just makes no sense having such a bad time slot.
Myself, I would hope not because that's just yet again taking something initially well-intended too far. I can't imagine legions of teenagers suddenly running out smoking because of a tv show on the AMC channel they don't watch. Not to mention it's probably harder nowadays for a kid to get his hands on ciggarettes than it is a case of beer.
But if the bad time slot comes down to it actually being because of the smoking, I say put the show on at 8 and puff away even more. They could use the bad publicity. ]]>
