First Images From “The Witcher” Season 2 Reveal Geralt’s New Armor
Henry Cavill took to Instagram today to try and disrupt our lunatic news cycle with something plainly good—a look at himself as The Witcher‘s Geralt in full armor. This monster-slayer is ready to roll for season two, revealing that Geralt will be rocking some brand new armor for the upcoming trials and tribulations he’s sure to face. We get one shot of Cavill’s Geralt facing us in his armor, a second from the back.
“The Good Lord Bird” Costume Designer on Dressing Ethan Hawke as Abolitionist John Brown
Rampaging through “Bloody Kansas” in 1856, abolitionist John Brown and his hardy band of followers lived in the wilderness foraging for food and killing pro-slavery “Red Shirts.” As dramatized in seven-episode miniseries The Good Lord Bird, produced by Blumhouse Television and premiering on Showtime this past Sunday [October 4], the tiny army led by Ethan Hawke‘s vainglorious John Brown rarely had the money for food or store-bought clothing.
Barry Jenkins Reveals First Look at “The Underground Railroad”
When we first learned that Barry Jenkins would be adapting Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Underground Railroad” back in 2017, we were enthused. The immensely gifted writer/director was coming off his groundbreaking, career-making film Moonlight, and the thought of Jenkins taking Whitehead’s gorgeous, haunting novel and adapting it into a series was thrilling. Then Jenkins went on to direct If Beale Street Could Talk, another brilliant film (adapted from another brilliant writer’s novel,
Gillian Anderson is Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown” Season 4 Images
The cast of the splendidly written, gorgeously produced, exquisitely attired The Crown has been so good for so long it’s almost easy to take it for granted. For example, the recent news that the extremely talented Elizabeth Debicki would be playing Princess Di for The Crown’s final two seasons added yet more acting firepower to a show that’s already lousy with it. Yet still, it’s pure joy to get a glimpse of a bevy of new photos for season 4,
Watch “The Mandalorian” & More With Friends Via Disney+’s New GroupWatch Feature
Disney is unveiling GroupWatch, a brand new feature on Disney+, that will allow up to seven subscribers to simultaneously watch and react to a series or movie. With many theaters closed and social gatherings largely reduced, GroupWatch will give Disney+ the most developed social viewing option available for a streaming service at a time where we could all use as many remote social options as we can get.
Of course,
“Lovecraft Country” DP Michael Watson on Lensing HBO’s Multi-Genre Hit Series
If you’ve been watching Lovecraft Country on HBO, you’ve seen one of the most sublimely ambitious series on TV this year. Stripping the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft for parts (the man was a seething racist and anti-Semite), creator Misha Green’s 9-episode series is equal parts horror, drama, sci-fi, and social commentary. Lovecraft Country is the show 2020 needed but probably didn’t deserve.
Cinematographer Michael Watson lensed four of Lovecraft‘s episodes,
“The Queen’s Gambit” Trailer Reveals Netflix’s Stylish Chess Drama
As we noted yesterday there is a ton of good stuff coming to Netflix in October. One of those titles is The Queen’s Gambit, a new limited series drama based on Walter Tevis’s novel of the same name. Anya Taylor-Joy stars as Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy who wades into the male-dominated competitive chess world with her immense, undeniable gifts.
Beth’s journey into the world of competitive chess begins at an orphanage in Kentucky,
“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” Planning Reshoots With Original Cast
If there was one thing that seemed certain about Zack Snyder’s Justice League—and not much did—it was that there would be no reshoots. When the world learned that the long-awaited Snyder Cut was really coming to HBO Max, we weren’t sure in precisely what form (we know now—in 4 installments), or when, but we were told that Snyder would use existing material, special effects, and additional dialogue recording to unveil his vision for the film he never got to make.
John Cena’s “The Suicide Squad” Character Gets HBO Max Show
In case you missed this bit of wild news yesterday, Warner Media revealed that John Cena‘s The Suicide Squad character Peacemaker is getting his own HBO Max show. The streamer has given a straight-to-series order of 8 episodes for the first season, with Cena reprising his role from the film, and with The Suicide Squad writer/director James Gunn penning all 8 episodes.
Everything Coming to Netflix in October
Drama. Comedy. Documentaries. Horror. Animation. The works. While we’re all pretty much white-knuckling it at this point, having a bevy of streaming options is one way to take our minds off, well, everything. To that end, Netflix has released a helpful video that details every new title coming this October. From the majestic and soothing (if you don’t think about climate change) in David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet to director Glean Keane‘s gorgeous Over the Moon,
HBO Max Reveals Trailer For 4-Part Docu-Series “Equal”
HBO Max has released the official trailer for Equal, their four-part docu-series chronicling the untold events leading up to the Stonewall Uprising in New York City that began on June 28, 1969, and marked a massive shift in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. The series is narrated by Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning performer Billy Porter (Pose, American Horror Story: Apocalypse), and will likely introduce viewers to a wide range of LGBTQ+ leaders and visionaries for the first time—portrayed by an incredible cast.
Emmys 2020: “Watchmen,” “Succession,” & “Schitt’s Creek” Win Big
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, which aired on Sunday night on ABC, was the most unusual ceremony in the telecast’s history. Yet, this virtual version of the awards ceremony managed to offer a lot of charming and satisfying moments, despite needing to take place remotely thanks to COVID-19. The evening’s big winners were HBO’s Watchmen and Succession, as well as Netflix’s Schitt’s Creek, which all piled on the awards.
How Hitchcock Influenced the Bold Design of Netflix’s “Ratched”
Ratched will keep you on edge. The pseudo-origin story follows nurse Mildred Ratched (Sarah Paulson) from Ken Kesey’s book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a character first enshrined by Louise Fletcher in the 1975 film adaption.
Penned as a spec script by Evan Romansky, who’s credited as a creator and executive producer, Ryan Murphy stepped in to purchase the rights and turn it into an eight-episode series on Netflix (it begins streaming today),
Tatiana Maslany to Play She-Hulk in Marvel Disney+ Series
A great actress just got a great big role. Deadline reports that Tatiana Maslany will star in the lead role of Marvel’s upcoming Disney+ series She-Hulk. This news comes a few days learning that Marry Me director Kat Coiro would be helming the series and serve as executive producer. Maslany, an immensely gifted actress who most recently co-starred in HBO’s excellent Perry Mason,
“The Mandalorian” Nabs 5 Creative Arts Emmys
When we interviewed The Mandalorian‘s Emmy-nominated cinematographer Greig Fraser, we were blown away by his description of how he and his fellow crew members shot Disney+’s live-action Star Wars series. Now, we’re happy to report that Fraser has won the Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) for his work on season one’s episode 7, “The Reckoning.” Fraser shares the award with fellow DP Baz Idoine.
Emmy-Nominated DP Benedict Spence on Shooting “The End of the F***ing World”
Netflix’s The End of the F***ing World is based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel, is a beguilingly beautiful, darkly comedic series. Adapated by Charlie Covell, the story follows two teen outsiders with different ideas about their relationship. James (Alex Lawther) believes he’s a psychopath, and while he agrees to go on a road trip with Alyssa (Jessica Barden) to find her father, his real plan is to find the perfect time to kill her.
Let’s Unpack the “The Mandalorian” Season 2 Trailer
The Mandalorian‘s season two trailer brought a bantha-sized bounty of enjoyment yesterday. There was The Child (better known as Baby Yoda), under Mando (Pedro Pascal)’s fierce protection, doing his adorable Baby Yoda thing. There was Mando himself, in his Beskar body armor, getting nasty with a stadium full of bad guys at a Gamorrean cage match. There were Mando’s friends, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), and Cara Dune (Gina Carano), back in action and ready to help advance their own interests and Mando’s alike,
“The Mandalorian” Season 2 Trailer Introduces the Jedis
And here it is, our first look at The Mandalorian‘s season two trailer. Disney+’s hugely popular Emmy-nominated series, the first-ever live-action Star Wars show, wrapped filming its’ second season before COVID-19 shuttered productions around the globe. This means we get a fresh season this October, and frankly, who doesn’t want to be on another planet right now? The trailer opens with an eerily familiar image, however—an Earth-like planet (blue,
VFX Supervisor Laurent Spillemaecker on “The Umbrella Academy” Season 2
How were the superpowered siblings over at The Umbrella Academy going to top season 1’s armageddon-causing shenanigans? How about by dropping the whole family in Dallas, in the early 1960s, and setting their family squabbles in the context of the JFK assassination? The second season of Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater’s Netflix’s show, based on the comic book series by Gerard Way, managed to deliver on the promise of season one by forcing the super sibs to face not only their own demons but take stock of some of America’s demons to boot.
“Lovecraft Country” Director Cheryl Dunye on Shapeshifting & More in Episode 5
HBO’s Lovecraft Country, created by Executive Producer Misha Green, is being celebrated by viewers and critics alike. The story of two families that come together in the Jim Crow South to battle monsters and white racists in power has horrors both real and imagined, but there are many elements in the storytelling and many challenges to the characters that speak to the state of American race relations today. The misadventures of Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors),
