Flixens - Television

OMG: OJ LOL

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:46:07 -0800

Nothing showcases the downfall of modern society better than November sweeps week, especially on the Fox network.

According to CNN, Fox will air a two-part interview with wife-throat-slasher and waiter-murderer O.J. Simpson entitled If I Did It, Here's How it Happened on November 27 and 29. I'm sure the Brown family and the Goldman family already have it on their holiday TiVo schedule... right after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.

The interview is conducted by trash-publisher Judith Regan, who has proven herself to be a nightmarish, greedy, opportunistic harpy in the past, and solidifies her place in the Despicable Hall of Fame as she promotes Simpson's new book If I Did It, published by her company, ReganBooks and just happens to be owned by News Corporation, parent company of Fox.

And I just promoted it by reporting on this story.

Damn you Judith Regan! Damn you all to Hell!!

EXCLUSIVE: Animated Hellboy Triple Play?

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:35:30 -0800

A couple of weeks ago, Nina and I were fortunate enough to interview director Tad Stones just before the world-premiere of his Hellboy: The Sword of Storms on the Cartoon Network. Hopefully you were one of the lucky ones to see the film, which offered up a totally new take on Hellboy and his trippy cohorts, fish-man Abe Sapien and fire-starter Liz Sherman. Personally, I'm looking forward to the DVD release, which will arrive soon enough, commercial-free and chock full of extras.

I had an opportunity to chat with Tad after the premiere about The Sword of Storm's reception by the fans, the upcoming DVD, and the second animated Hellboy feature, Hellboy: Blood and Iron. Imagine my surprise when Tad dropped a little scoop right into my lap about a third animated Hellboy film... and more! Read on...

Movie MILF: Hello Tad! It's so nice of you to take time out of your busy schedule to chat with us again. I take it your family survived the premiere?

Tad Stones: Nice to talk to you again. Family’s fine except for the fact our water heater decided to break at 2am and spill forty gallons of hot water on the floor. Luckily my wife was up working on a writing project. Much sponging and mopping followed but the wood floor will never be the same. The repairman turned out to be a Darkwing Duck fan but we didn’t get a break on the bill (I will avoid any puns). Sooner or later that has to pay off for me.

MM: About Hellboy: The Sword of Storms... I did think it was strange that the Cartoon Network didn't really promote the film. That's a shame, as I know a lot of people (judging from internet forums) didn't even know it would be on. We DID tried to do our part by getting the word out!

TS: And I appreciate that, the bribe is in the mail. As to promotion on Cartoon Network, they're in a weird spot. They've bought some older skewing movies like Hellboy and the Ultimate Avengers but the rest of their line up is much younger. So from the programmers point of view, advertising a red demon who says, “Screw you,” during Pokemon or My Gym Partner is a Monkey is inviting trouble. So they only advertise where it fits the audience... which turned out to be not very many places.

MM: Hopefully response to the DVD will be good and CN will be encouraged to beef up promotion for the 2nd film.

TS: Well, the same restrictions will apply but I’m really encouraged that so many people who were talking about it online and mentioned they wanted to buy the DVD. We’re trying to pack it with extras. We’re hobbled by not having had cameras shooting the work as we were in productions but there are lots of interviews. If you’re a fan, it’s a place to find lots of Mike Mignola talking about Hellboy in all his forms.

MM: You mention in your online production diary that Mike is on the commentary track as well.

TS: Yes, Mike, Phil Weistein and I recorded it weeks ago. Mostly me saying "What I should have done is..." Mike had only seen part of the movie when he did the commentary so you get some of his first reactions to the final film. I trust Starz will put enough promotion bucks into the marketing so no fan will miss hearing about the DVD.

MM: So what's happening with the second animated Hellboy film then?

TS: We’re editing Hellboy: Blood and Iron right now. I’m working on getting permission to make the movie a couple of minutes shorter. That may sound like you’re getting less value for your money but it’s the opposite. We don’t have the extra camera coverage that a live action film has so if I want to trim frames from a scene or cut a scene completely to improve the action I’m hard pressed to replace the footage. My goal is to get the longest film possible, but I don’t want it flabby.

This movie is soooooooooo different from the first it makes me nervous.

MM: Can't wait! I really enjoyed Hellboy: Sword of Storms. What do you have planned after Blood and Iron? Taking a much-deserved rest I assume...

TS: I’ve been approved to work on the script of the next Hellboy movie. Mike and I know the villain story which is chock full of cool stuff and evil plans. There will be many characters from the comics and you’ll see the animated version of Hellboy’s origin. We still have to work out how we will tell the story and the emotional elements that will affect our heroes. We know Hellboy, Kate and Broom will be in it, we’re not sure who else. But there’s no green light on the actual production. I’m assuming that will have to wait for the reports of DVD sales.

In the meantime, I’ve been approached to guide the animated adventures of another comic book hero, one of the biggest in comics in fact. But no deals have been signed yet.

MM: "Biggest" as in popular, or as in size? I mean, are we talking "Wolverine" big or "Galactus" big? And a third Hellboy film? Hmm... I think I just figured out the angle for our next chat! Until then, thanks for the scoops!

TS: Always fun talking to the Flixens! Say “Hi” to Nina for me.

MM: Hey, she can get her OWN interview... this is so MY moment! Toodles!

Headey Lands "Sarah Connor" Role

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 03:49:05 -0800

Lena Headey has been cast as the lead in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which expands on the mythology of the Terminator films and takes place in the timeframe between Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, according to SciFiWire.

The project, from Warner Bros. TV is preparing a pilot for Fox, to be directed by David Nutter, who also directed James Cameron's Dark Angel pilot for the network. Nutter also directed the pilots for Smallville, Without a Trace, and almost a dozen others that have all been picked up as full series orders.

"It's important for me to live up, as best I can, to the bar that Jim Cameron set," Nutter said back in August, adding that the pilot "has to carry as much of a punch" as possible, even on a TV budget. "This is a huge project that's going to take an extensive amount of preparation and pre-production, [and I want to protect] the integrity of what Cameron created."

Headey will soon be seen opposite Gerard Butler in the feature film adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, where she will play Queen Gorgo.

Borat... I Like!

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:37:56 -0800

If you are already a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist, Borat, then I probably do not need to do much convincing for you to see the film adaptation, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

I have always been slightly ashamed that Borat's spell has always worked effectively to make me laugh, but the film has removed that shame and replaced it with some embarrassment. It is, however, undeniable that Borat is one of the funniest films I have seen in many years, but still there is some depth and insight for those that want at least a little social commentary.

If you were planning on watching this film, you don't need to read the rest of this review. Borat is extremely entertaining, and I am giving it a 4-stiletto score.

If you are still reading, I would like to begin by stating that I did not need very much convincing to see this film, as I had been anticipating it for quite some time. I was originally introduced to Borat by my friend and source of much geek information, Sofiane, with whom I went to see Borat.

As I reported on some of the marketing for this movie, I had feared that too much of the movie was being revealed in the hilarious trailer (see HERE). My fear turned out to be true for the first half of the film, which is only one hour and twenty-five minutes long. Nevertheless, even in the first half there are still some surprises, and the funniest moments of the entire film have not been spoiled in any way by the trailer. Since watching that trailer, I had been avoiding any other marketing materials, but I was sad to see that they were trying so hard to spread the hype around Borat. I am certain that in North America at least, people must have been getting sick of the over-marketing.

There is not much in terms of a story, and the film is largely made up in the same style as the various Borat sketches that have been made for Da Ali G Show, but I think that director Larry Charles deserves praise for successfully putting together such an entertaining film. It is the mark of confidence in a director, in my opinion, when he or she can take a cult phenomenon such as Borat, and remain unobtrusive in his or her approach. The result is a genuine piece of work that will certainly not disappoint the fans, but will surely attract new ones among those who discover Borat through this film.

Sacha Baron Cohen delivers a terrific performance as the Kazakh journalist, and it is truly impressive to see him remain in character when placed in some riotous and awkward situations. Cohen is joined here by Ken Davitian as Borat's producer, Azamat. This is the only other fictional character in the film, and their adventures across America bring about not only some painful funny moments, but some truly frightening, and in a couple of other cases endearing moments.

The music is very much in tune with the general whimsical mood of the film, and is largely composed of gypsy music. I noticed several bits of music from Goran Bregovic, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother, Erran, composed all the original music used in the film. It is very suitable to the tone of the film, and perhaps not very noticeable, but in the first minutes it helps to put the viewer in the right mood.

One of the major difficulties of any comedy, even some of the funniest comedies of the past few years, has been to make a story that is not formulaic. It seems that the stories are always strung together with the focus being made on the various gags or jokes in a comedy (with some exceptions of course, notably Shaun of the Dead). In Borat, there was really no attempt at doing such a thing, and this decision was perhaps not very difficult to make since it adds to the genuineness of the film, and also because the gags and interviews themselves are diverse and strong enough to work without much added padding. This lack of pretentiousness in putting the film together also fits very nicely to the unpretentious Borat, and the candid approach taken through the character in general exposes the ugly aspects of some of the people that were "interviewed." When watching the film, it could be interesting to see which people turn out to be the most amiable toward Borat, but the aggressiveness or ignorance of others is chilling.

Since the story is virtually non-existent, it can be quite difficult to judge this film. Nevertheless, its saving grace as a film is that what little story there may be comes to a glorious finish, an end that is truly shocking and hysterical.

His name a Borat, he like you. And you will like him.

Across the Pond, November 2, 2006

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 06:04:38 -0800

Hello everyone... Nina here to present another installment of "Across the Pond," Dominique Taylor's semi-regular column focusing on the UK entertainment scene. This week, Dominique has a seasonal rant about the lack of quality Halloween programming, a subject near and dear to my heart...

Like Halloween Never Happened

By Dominique Taylor

Halloween may have come and gone, but that does not remove the bitter taste in my mouth left from the sad excuse that was Halloween TV in the UK. Does anyone else remember the days of an entire weekend dedicated to witches, vampires and anything that went bump in the night? Does it not create a warm glow in your stomach when you think back to afternoons at home with your pumpkin watching family-friendly films like Hocus Pocus? Do you not fondly remember the fear as a child that you might just watch the telly a little too late on October the 31st and be traumatised for life by the image of a blood-drenched creature of the night?

It’s not that the films have to be good, they just need to be there. You know things aren’t right when no one is even showing Halloween! My idea is simply show the first instalment of any horror franchise and you cannot go wrong, just with Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Poltergeist and the aforementioned, you’ve made up around 8 hours. Throw in some classics: Beetlejuice, Witches of Eastwick; mix in some kiddies films: Harry Potter, The Curse of the Were Rabbit; and then season with chillers like Psycho and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and you’ve got a gorgeous goo of bottled terror. And even then I know I’ve missed loads!

So just for fun, or maybe even to post to some TV execs for next year, I’d love to hear everyone’s most beloved Horror movies if you had control of the Halloween schedule from midday till 2. I know it’s gone, but I’m way too angry to let this go.

"Guiding Light" Huh Wha?

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 04:51:35 -0800

Okay, I don't know how I missed this the other day, but it's worth talking about now, just in case some of you missed it too.

According to the Hollywood Reporter on Friday, Marvel Comics has partnered with CBS' Guiding Light daytime soap opera to produce an episode where a character gets zapped by electricity and then gains superpowers, including the ability to levitate and conduct electricity.

To top it off, Marvel will include an 8-page insert into some of its top titles where the heroes of the Marvel Universe descend upon the fictional town of GL's Springfield to determine if this new super-being is friend or foe.

Look for the episode, featuring Beth Ehler's Harley Davidson Cooper character to air this week, Wednesday, November 1st.

OMG. I'm not sure I can do it.

"Moon Knight" Shines on TV

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:58:01 -0700

Way back in April, Jenny From Canada reviewed the debut issue of Marvel's Moon Knight reboot. She liked it, so she'll probably like this news...

Marvel Entertainment Inc. has announced that it will be bringing the adventures of Moon Knight to television with a live-action series, in conjunction with Larry Sugar of Vancouver-based No Equal Entertainment.

Moon Knight tells the story of Marc Spector, a soldier-of-fortune turned superhero after an encounter with the Egyptian God of Venegance and the moon god Konshu. His first appearance was in the original Werewolf By Night series where his silver weapons inflicted their anti-lycanthropic effects on Jack Russell's lupine alter-ego. In his new series, Moon Knight is sort of a cross between Batman, Fox Mulder, and Karl Kolchak.

"'Moon Knight' has all the elements for an engaging television series. No Equal Entertainment has a real passion for the project and an amazing vision of how to bring the character and storyline to life that will appeal to action and sci-fi enthusiasts," said Marvel's David Maisel.

Sugar added, "We are delighted to be in business with Marvel Entertainment and believe that 'Moon Knight' will make a compelling and long-lasting television series."

Let's hope it does better than Blade.

Trek Fans Mourn Jane Wyatt's Passing

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:08:31 -0700

Jane Wyatt, best known to science fiction fans as Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother on Star Trek, has died at age 95. She passed away on Friday at her home in Bel Air, California from natural causes.

Wyatt was also known to classic film buffs as Sondra Bizet in 1937's Lost Horizon, her first major role. After starring in dozens of films, she went on to television to star in Father Knows Best as Margaret Anderson, which earned her 3 Emmys. Fans of NBC's St. Elsewhere remember her as Katherine Auschlander.

Wyatt's career suffered in the 1950s due to her opposition of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and retreated to the theater for a time, only to re-emerge on television in the 60s on a number of shows before landing the role of Amanda, which guaranteed her a place in pop culture history.

Wyatt took her role as the human mother to a half-Vulcan son seriously, and her appearance in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as Amanda provided the focal point for the rebirth of Spock's character, providing the impetus for his more emotional, human side to assert itself in later story arcs, including his appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

She is survived by sons Christopher and Michael Ward, from her 1935 marriage to investment banker Edgar Ward, who passed away in 2000.

NBC Universal Fraks BSG Webisodes

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 06:50:40 -0700

It just seems like chaos over at NBC Universal...

Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ron Moore has halted production on any new BSG webisodes, as the company tightens the purse strings and plays hardball, according to TV Squad.

Citing that the webisodes were being considered promotional material, NBC Universal executives decided to withold residuals and credit for the writers of the webisodes. When Moore heard this, he decided to cease production. In retaliation, NBC Universal seized the webisodes and filed charges of unfair labor practices with the Writers Guild of America. WGA then went to Moore and said to not deliver any more internet-based content until there was a residual deal.

Curiously, over 6 million people downloaded the webisodes within 2 days of the show's third season. Compare this with the 2.2 million people who actually watched the show according to the Nielsen ratings, and you have an interesting situation...

One might say there's a virtual torrent of information there.

NBC Universal Gives Up

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 06:15:58 -0700

Slide this one into the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" category.

NBC Universal has announced that it will move away from high-cost scripted programming in its 8pm hour and move to more unscripted programming. Translation: More reality shows The announcement came as the company said it would restructure 700 jobs, saving up to $750 million annually.

Despite the huge ratings that Heroes is getting and the fact that shows like My Name is Earl and The Office are doing well for the network, NBC admits that they haven't put enough money and effort into developing the much cheaper unscripted shows, like ABC's Dancing With the Stars and CBS' Survivor, and FOX's American Idol. In fact, when one looks at the unscripted programming from NBC in the past, aside from The Apprentice, which was produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett (and which Martha Stewart killed), the network came off looking like amateurs.

"You're going to see more of a commitment to it on our part," NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly told the Hollywood Reporter. "Although we've had success in unscripted programming with 'The Apprentice' and 'Deal or No Deal,' we've probably dedicated less of our budget toward that compared to some of our competitors." On the heels of Heroes' massive success (which is produced in-house at NBC), he was quick to note that they wouldn't be giving up entirely on scripted programming. "We're going to stay in that business ... but we are going to need to balance our portfolio so that we can afford to continue to do that business because the margins are getting tougher and tougher."

Animated "Hellboy" Not Just for the Kiddies

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:29:46 -0700

As we rapidly approach October 28th, 9:30 ET/PT, many of you are waiting patiently for the Cartoon Network premiere of the first animated Hellboy movie, Hellboy: The Sword of Storms, directed by Tad Stones. But when we told you the other day that the movie would be part of CN's Toonami programming block and not Adult Swim, some of you were skeptical... I asked Tad if he could clear things up:

Tad Stones: All I can say is that I did the comic. There's no gore or splatter but, as in the comics, there are headless bodies, bodiless heads, a monster leg chopped off and plenty of shooting of the undead. Mummies tend to explode into dust, while vampire and demons heal.

If you don't know the comics... You should! But in Cartoon Network terms, I'd say it's between Toonami and Adult Swim. Realize that I don't know what they'll bleep but the tough language is stuff like "Screw this." "Damn heads." "Geez" "Son of a-" and "Think again, Dumbass."

It plays at 9:30, so it's meant for an older crowd.

Thanks Tad! Sounds very much like the level of Guillermo Del Toro's feature film. I'm really looking forward to this!

Dexter's Blood-Splattered Lab

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:00:43 -0700

Like Cinephile, I too have become strangely addicted to Showtime's Dexter, the serial killer who kills serial killers. Leather Lass' description is as follows:

"This Showtime show isn't getting a lot of attention, but it's worth a peek. David Hall of Six Feet Under plays the titular Dexter. By day he is a blood splatter specialist for Miami PD, but he spends his evenings as a serial killer. But it's okay really because he's a serial killer who only kills serial killers. Thanks to an astute foster dad, Dexter was put on the right track early in life to use his destructive tendencies to take out a few of his own. This show is creepy fun with lots of bloody and sudden cuts to the face and decapitated heads. Yes! It's that good."

This is the place to discuss all the gory details!

Hellboy "Storms" Onto TV

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:57:20 -0700

[UPDATE AGAIN: I've been chastised by Zahra for not revealing the source of my first updates, i.e. the correct date and the production diaries. They came to me in an email from the director, Tad Stones himself, who was extremely polite in spite of the fact that I totally botched the job. Thank you Tad -- MILF]

[UPDATE: Notice the newly CORRECT date. Also check out the link to the production diaries at the bottom! -- MILF]

Back in July Nina told you about some upcoming Hellboy TV projects, specifically two new animated features to first be show on the Cartoon Network before going to DVD.

The Cartoon Network is set to show Hellboy: Sword of Storms on October 28, 9:30 ET/PT as part of its regular Toonami suite, so get your DVRs ready.

The new cartoon will feature the voices of Hellboy stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, and Doug Jones, who will be providing the voice for Abe Sapien this time around. Sorry David Hyde Pierce, whose uncredited voicework (attached to Jones' movements) in the Hellboy feature film was fantastic. I'll be curious to finally hear Jones' voice as Abe.

According to SciFiWire, in the new film, a university professor opens a forbidden scroll and is possessed by the twin demons of thunder and lightning, who seek to return to the world to wake their brothers, the dragons. Hellboy, along with a folklore expert and a psychic, travels to Japan to investigate and finds the sword of storms, the only weapon that can defeat the demons.

UPDATE: Check out the production diaries here! All you ever wanted to know but were too lazy to Google.

Jericho Town Hall

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:50:39 -0700

This is the place to be to discuss CBS' new drama Jericho, which some people seem to love while others feel it's wearing out it's welcome.

What's your opinion?

Just recently we had the radioactive rain that didn't seem to harm anyone in the town, but if you were unlucky enough to be just a few miles out, you became a hideous apocolyptic mutant freak, at Death's door.

And what of the mysterious Mr. Hawkins, who has the unfortunate role of being the only black person in town while at the same time being seemingly sinister?

And what about Skeet Ulrich? Will Johnny Depp EVER get his DNA back?!?

Battlestar Galactica Flight Deck

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:07:51 -0700

Okay, space cadets... this is the place to discuss the greatest show on TV right now, Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica.

This show is simply an amazing reboot of the original Battlestar Galactica on ABC in the late 70s, what was once the most expensive show ever produced for TV, complete with late-70s disco cheese. The BSG upgrade takes all of the major elements of the original and twists them on their head, giving us one of the most compelling dramas on TV.

Spoilers may abound... like... Adama is a CYLON!!

Or maybe not.

Either way, this is the place to chat it up, BSG style!