The first cast photo for Ocean's 8 was released today....
“In Summer 2018, the tide will turn as (left to right) Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) attempts to pull off the heist of the century at New York City’s star-studded annual Met Gala. Her first stop is to assemble the perfect crew: Lou (Cate Blanchett); Nine Ball (Rihanna); Amita (Mindy Kaling); Constance (Awkwafina); Rose (Helena Bonham Carter); Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway); and Tammy (Sarah Paulson).”
I enjoyed the previous Ocean movies (with George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt) and really like all of the actresses in this new version.
Today, beloved icon, Mary Tyler Moore, passed away at the age of 80. Moore, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936 and grew up in Los Angeles, rose to international fame starring on the 1960s sitcom “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” She later starred on the beloved 1970s sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which is one of the first shows to feature a never-married, working woman as its central character. Moore played single, 30-year-old TV news producer Mary Richards. After the show, Moore continued her acting career and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of a mother grieving the loss of her son in 1980’s “Ordinary People.”
I loved her on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but she really hooked me when she played the distant mother in Ordinary People, one of my all-time favorite films.
She had an amazing career and will certainly be missed.
The Emmy-winning Will & Grace is returning to NBC. After months of complex and difficult negotiations, the network has closed a deal for a new 10-episode installment of the hit series, which aired from 1998-2006 as one of the last tentpoles of NBC’s once venerable Must-See TV comedy lineup. The 10-episode limited run will air during the 2017-18 season.
The new, ninth season of Will & Grace stems from the surprise election-themed reunion mini-episode released on Sept. 26. Done without NBC’s involvement, it immediately triggered talk of a possible real reunion. Slowly but surely, producing studio Universal TV was able to secure stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes as well as creators/executive producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Veteran director James Burrows, who directed every episode of the show during its initial eight-year run, is on board to direct and executive produce. “We’re thrilled that one of the smartest, funniest, and most defining comedies in NBC history is coming back,” said NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt. “This groundbreaking series for everything from gay rights to social and political commentary — all disguised as a high-speed train of witty pop culture — is coming back where it belongs.”
This new UK series, Urban Myths, looks like it could be fun...
Debuting January 19 in the U.K., Urban Myths offers such believe-it-or-not stories as a post-9/11 road trip taken by Michael Jackson (Fiennes), Elizabeth Taylor (a dead-ringer Stockard Channing) and Marlon Brando (Brian Cox). Other 30-minute episodes chronicle such legendary incidents (or maybe just legends) as Cary Grant tripping on LSD with Timothy Leary; Salvador Dali schmoozing with Alice Cooper; Samuel Beckett driving Andre the Giant to school; a teenage Adolf Hitler getting rejected from art school; Bob Dylan hanging out with Dave Stewart; Muhammad Ali rescuing a suicidal man; and the Sex Pistols’ definitely real profanity-laced TV appearance. The series came under some fire last year with the announced hiring of Fiennes as the African-American Jackson, but with Game of Thrones‘ Iwan Rheon also appearing in this clip as a smug young Adolf, the oddball casting seems rather of a piece.
Here is the trailer...
Stockard Channing certainly does a pretty spot-on impression of Elizabeth Taylor.
The new episodes of Twin Peaks finally have a premiere date on Showtime....
Network president David Nevins announced the news at the Television Critics Association 2017 winter press tour, revealing that the long-in-the-works new season will debut with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, May 21 at 9 p.m. Additionally, the third and fourth episodes of the new season will be available on Showtime’s streaming and on demand platforms that same night. The 2017 season will be 18 hours in total. Nevins called the new installment “the pure heroin version of David Lynch.” Like the original, the follow-up “rewards close watching,” Nevins added.
These were the two best moments of the Golden Globes last night....first, Kristen Wiig and Steve Carell give a surprisingly dark, and hilarious, introduction to Best Animated Film....
And....Meryl Streep's Cecil B. DeMille award speech.
"And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."
There were some very subtle effects in the movie Arrival. Check out this behind-the-scenes video on some of the surprising visual elements in the film that most people wouldn't notice...
Pretty cool.
If you haven't seen the movie yet on the big screen....do.