Surprise yourself

Well, it's that time where we say goodbye to the past year and dive right into a new one.

New beginnings....anything is possible.

I hope that you all have a fun, safe, and wonderful New Year and that it brings you all of this and more...

Second Best

A new trailer for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was recently released and it looks like it just might be as charming and funny as the first one…



I'm glad they got most of the original cast back and also added a few new ones, including Richard Gere.

I bet he and Maggie Smith end up together.

Fingers crossed.

Two Paws Up!

Someone finally remade Raiders of the Lost Ark, but this time with dogs and cats playing the iconic roles...



Enjoyable.

Abbey-Normal

The cast of Downton Abbey's recent spoof of  "It's a Wonderful Life" is a RIOT!!

DOWNTON ABBEY just unveiled a hilarious Christmas spoof to support ITV's "Text Santa" fundraiser. Channeling the holiday classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, the cast goes on a 9-minute adventure, featuring DOWNTON newbie George Clooney. 

Clooney portrays 'George Oceans Gravity, Marquis of Hollywood' in this hilarious Christmas treat. Watch below! Clooney will portray an American guest at a wedding in the highly anticipated fifth season of DOWNTON ABBEY. Season 5 will premiere in the U.S. on January 4 on PBS. 

Text Santa is a charity fundraiser to help several U.K.-based cancer and children's charities.

Both parts are on this one video, so just wait once "Part One" ends...



OMG...the Dowager Countess skiing and then, later, rolling off the couch after George Clooney kisses her hand. Hilarious!!!



I can't wait for the new season to start on January 4th.

Merry Christmas

Wreath Witherspoon

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Star Trek 3: Starfleet Drift

The new director for the upcoming third Star Trek movie has finally been decided…

Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions and JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot just set Justin Lin to direct Star Trek 3, filling the biggest open directing assignment out there with the filmmaker credited with reviving the Fast & Furious series. Lin helmed four of the films that grossed $1.9 billion in worldwide box office. 

He replaces Roberto Orci, who got that job after being involved as co-writer of the revamped Star Trek series. The first two installments were directed by Abrams, who then left to direct a revival of the Star Wars franchise with Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Well, if nothing else, Justin does know how to direct an action movie…so there is hope.

I'm just glad it's finally moving forward.

Make it so and make it now!!

Ultimate Fighting Championship

YouTuber Alex Luthor put together quite an impressive trailer for a movie that, so far, hasn't been made (hopefully one day).

Using clips from everything from The Flash to The Avengers, to even the opening cinematic for DC Universe Online and the Adrianne Palicki Wonder Woman pilot, and even more maligned movies like Green Lantern and Ghost Rider, Luthor actually creates a pretty well done mashup of Marvel and DC's finest squaring off. Even when you can tell where the footage has been spliced from, it comes together in a way that can't help but get you excited, even if it's something that will never happen.



Awesome.

The studios involved would get all of the money in the world, if that ever happened.

Mine included.

via: io9

The final battle begins

I'm going to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it, but keeping my expectations low…just in case.

The folks at Honest Trailers also released their overview of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug that was released this time last year. They're pretty spot on…

People Are Awesome 2014

Each year after watching these, I don't know whether to call these people awesome….or lunatics.

Regardless, these folks do some amazing stunts and some are very lucky to be alive.

Dressed to thrill

In honor of the opening of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies TODAY, I thought I'd post this fun video of the film costume and creature designers speaking about how much they admire some of their cosplay fans who put so much effort into recreating many of their extremely detailed outfits...



If I could sew, I'd make myself a really cool elf costume. But, since I can't (here comes the not-so-subtle hint), I wonder how I'd ever get something like that made for me?

Sigh.

Only 7 more shopping and sewing days left until Christmas, people!

Bibity Bobity Boo

A new trailer for Cinderella was released today…



It seems surprisingly well done and I'm actually looking forward to seeing this, if for nothing else, to watch Cate Blanchett get her evil stepmother on.

Something tells me that she's gonna bring it!

Parks and Wreck

A very "Trailer Trash" Christmas.

TGIF

Honest Trailers: Guardians of the Galaxy

These are always entertaining…

The Hobbit Report

Stephen Colbert graces all three of the upcoming EW magazine covers for their The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies tribute issues.





He's a geek and a really big fan of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, even getting a cameo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last year.

Here he is describing and showing his transformations for the covers on his show…

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

He's very entertaining and I'm more than a wee bit jealous.

The Jane way

I really do miss Star Trek: Voyager.

Age of Ultron

A behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ulton was released on the Guardians of the Galaxy DVD…



Looking pretty awesome!

True Story

He'll still be back

The first trailer for the new Terminator: Genisys movie was released today…



It has Arnold Schwarzenegger, things blowing up, and it looks very Terminator-y.

Well played.

United State of Pop 2014

DJ Earworm released his annual pop music mashup and, like the others, it's pretty awesome.

Glory Days

I happened upon a few of artist Juan Carlos Ruiz Burgos' superhero tributes to the old Saturday Evening Post magazine.





It's funny that they used Chief O'Hara from the 1966 Batman TV series in the last one. I think if any of his Catwomen on the show had actually dressed like that…his expression would have been a lot more pervy.

Fashion Po Po

It looks like Kathy Griffin will be taking over for the late Joan Rivers on The Fashion Police…

Comedian Kathy Griffin has closed a deal with E! to succeed the late Joan Rivers as co-host of Fashion Police. Griffin will be one of two new faces to join the panel next year, along with celebrity stylist and TV personality Brad Goreski who replaces original co-host George Kotsiopoulos. They will sit alongside returning panelists Kelly Osbourne and Giuliana Rancic.

Well, if someone has to replace Joan…Kathy is a pretty good choice.

I think Joan would approve.

If not, you know she'll come back from the grave and haunt that show until the bitter end.

The Force Awakens

The first teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released today...



Exciting!!

The full trailer will be released next month.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Snap Pants!

Jimmy Kimmel had Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow on the show to battle against each other in "Celebrity Curse-Off". The result, as you can imagine, is hilarious.

POW!

Shelf life

To be fair…he is kind of creepy.

Pratt Fall

Jimmy Kimmel put together another edition of Celebrities Reading Mean Tweets About Themselves and, like the others, it is hilarious.

The folks that take a beating this round are Gwyneth Paltrow, Lena Dunham, Gerard Butler, Ty Burrell, Bob Newhart, Britney Spears, Geena Davis, Chris Pratt, Chloe Grace Moretz, Scott Foley…



I. Love. These.

Mike Nichols

Very sad news today…

Legendary film and theater director, writer and producer Mike Nichols has passed away. He was 83.

An Oscar winner for 1967′s seminal The Graduate, he also was nominated for such films as Working Girl, Silkwood and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? For his stage work, he amassed 10 Tony Awards including as director for such plays as Barefoot In The Park, The Odd Couple, The Prisoner Of Second Avenue and Death Of A Salesman; and as producer of Annie and The Real Thing. 

His TV credits include exec producing classic 1970s drama series Family and directing and exec producing HBO drama Angels In America. 

Nichols was married to ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer. 

The list of actors with whom Nichols worked on stage and screen is a who’s who of Hollywood, past and present. They include (in no particular order) Julie Christie, Lillian Gish, George C Scott, Richard Dreyfuss, Morgan Freeman, Steve Martin, Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Emma Thompson, John Travolta, Kathy Bates, Natalie Portman, Christopher Walken, John Goodman, Kevin Kline, Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Ron Silver, Anne Bancroft, Candice Bergen, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. 

He was a great director and I loved his HBO production of Angels in America.

He will be missed.

OMG Shoes

The first trailer for Disney's live-action Cinderella movie was released today…



It's looking pretty cool, so far. Very Maleficent-y…which I enjoyed.

The film opens March 13th.

Good advice

Not so Hot

I'm really bummed to find out that Hot In Cleveland has been cancelled after 6 seasons…

It’s the end of an era at TV Land. The network has announced that Season 6 of its signature original comedy series Hot In Cleveland, now in production, will be its last. 

Hot In Cleveland, TV Land’s first original scripted series, was a breakout hit for the network — debuting with 4.8 million viewers — and put it on the original programming map. It reached the 100-episode milestone and was sold into broadcast syndication as well as in 210 territories internationally, a rare feat for a cable sitcom.

I've watched this show from the beginning because I enjoy all of the actresses in the cast, plus they often had great stunt-casting of guest-stars, which was fun.

I hope that Betty White and Wendy Malick end up on a new show soon.

I'm definitely going to miss it.

Chillin'

It's only been cold for the past three days in Chicago and I'm already missing summer.

::teeth chatter::

True Story

No strings

An extended trailer for Avengers 2: Age of Ultron was released today...



It's looking good and James Spader's voice is perfectly suited for the bad guy.

I wonder if this is the first movie he's done with Robert Downey Jr. since they did Less Than Zero together almost 30 years ago (1987...dear God, how time flies!)

Super Trooper

Batman v Superman has started filming in Chicago recently and some cool photos have leaked of Henry Cavill in costume…



He really needs to start working out…

Bastard.

Here is a local newscast of some of the filming...

FOX 32 News Chicago

Into The Woods trailer

A new trailer for Into The Woods was released and this one even has some singing (something the previous version didn't have)...



With Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, Tracy Ullman, Christine Baranski, and Emily Blunt...the cast is pretty well-rounded and it looks like the production values are good.

I'm looking forward to this fur shur.

The movie opens Christmas day.

Sunday Funday

Two great and hilarious shows are starting their second season on HBO this Sunday, The Comeback and Getting On.



As Stewie would say…

It's a whin-whin!

Set your DVRs promptly and accordingly.

The battle begins

The full trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released today and it looks pretty epic….



Can't wait to see it!

The movie opens December 17th.

This will be my last Halloween-esque post, but Ellen's annual scare-compliation video is always hilarious...



Taylor Swift and Richard Simmon's are still my favorite.

Priceless.

I like candy

Jimmy Kimmel did his annual video compilation of parents telling their kids that they ate all of their Halloween candy and the result is pretty much what you'd expect...



It was nice to see that a couple kids were okay about it. However, a few of those wee ones are gonna need some serious anger management classes very soon.

Furious 7

The first trailer for the seventh Fast and Furious movie was released today, which is the one, sadly, where Paul Walker died during filming....



Like the others, it looks like an action-packed extravaganza...which is really all one should expect from one of these films.

It ain't no Gandhi.

And that's...okay.

The movie roars into theaters on April 3rd.

New Orleans

I'm heading out of town for a few days. We'll see if my first experience there matches this ecard.

Bring it, NOLA!

Marvel Movies: Phase Three

Not to be outdone by DC announcing their recent slate of upcoming movies, Marvel Studios went ahead and announced their next phase of movies today at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.



Of note is that the 3rd Avengers movie will be split into two parts (Hello, wads-o-cash!), there will be a Captain Marvel movie (the female version, which I was unaware was even a thing), and a Black Panther movie (never heard of him, but Marvel fans seemed to be psyched).

So, there's that.

Still, kind of awesome.

Here's more info…

At a live event at Disney’s El Capitan Theater in Hollywood today, Marvel Studios officially announced the titles of several of their previously untitled movies. After Warner Bros. surprised fans a couple weeks ago by announcing several DC Comics movies at a shareholders meeting, many had speculated correctly that today’s fan event would be Marvel’s turn to tout their upcoming releases. Marvel Studios officially announced the following movie titles and release dates. 

2015: May 1: The Avengers: Age of Ultron 
         July 17: Ant-Man 

2016: May 6: Captain America 3
          November 4: Doctor Strange 

2017: May 5: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
          July 28: Thor: Ragnarok 
          November 3: Black Panther 

2018: May 4: The Avengers: Infinity War, Part One
          July 6: Captain Marvel 
          November 2: Inhumans 

2019: May 3: The Avengers: Infinity War, Part Two



Ms. Marvel doesn't have an "M" on her suit.

How am I supposed to know who she is?

Get that lady an M, stat!

Fern Gully

If you've never seen Zach Galifianakis' web-series, Between Two Ferns…you should. It's one of the most awkwardly hilarious interview shows you'll ever watch.

The latest episode focuses on his interview with Brad Pitt.

I don't know how the guests can keep a straight face during these interviews.

Entertaining.

The friendly skies

Air New Zealand released their latest safety video that celebrates the upcoming The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies…



I love that they have done one for the past few films…great concept.

Plus, delightfully fun.