THE FOLLOWING has exploded onto Fox primetime, and we begin our exclusive look at the show that everyone is talking about. Creator Kevin Williamson along with actors Anna Parisse and Shawn Ashmore talk about just a few of the ways the series stands put from the rest of TV, plus as 30 ROCK prepares to say goodbye, we talk to cast member Grizz Chapman who thinks the exit might be a little premature. And did you hear that the old X-MEN Movie gang is getting back together?
The Farrelly Brothers have broken the comedy barrier in a number of films, but with so much unrated material posted online daily, is it harder to be raunchy funny on the big screen? That was one of the challenges they faced with MOVIE 43, and our exclusive preview continues with a look at that challenge – plus she was DOCTOR WHO’s River Song, but can she pull off Black Canary in ARROW?
It’s that movie you saw a trailer for – the one with Richard Gere, Halle Barry, Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman and a bunch of familiar people. The one with the unusual names. It’s MOVIE 43 and our exclusive preview begins with the story on how the project actually came together, straight from director Peter Farrelly. And did you know there is;more of Robert Kirkman‘s comics-verse coming, plus FRINGE exits with a bang.
Milo Ventimiglia is back in action in the new series, CHOSEN and this time he’s doing it digital. Milo gives us all the details on the new Sonyweb series from Crackle.com, plus – SyFy cancels ALPHAS and are they serious about a GREMLINS reboot?
ARCHER returns this a week for a new (4th) season on FX, and the cast tells us that they are going even farther than before – plus the new time travel drama, CONTINIUUM, debuts on SyFy tonight and we have the star, Rachel Nichols, giving us a sneak preview. Also, comics end the year with more big $$ales and the idea of a Wonder Woman TV pilot rises from the dead.
Also, check MORE of our exclusive interview with AISHA TYLER of ARCHER right here!
Getting a film like GANGSTER SQUAD into theaters has had it’s issues, and we bring in in actors Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling to talk about the challenges they faced, plus more on the new season of JUSTIFIED with Timothy Olyphant and goodbye to THE COMIC BUYERS GUIDE.
Tomorrow night, FX rolls out the start of season four of JUSTIFIED. Series star Tim Olyphant tells us about the changes in his role both on and off screen, plus PSYCHO gets a prequel on TV and The Batmobille gets pulled into court.
We wrap our look back at 2012 as Ric Meyers (ricmeyers.com) covers TV drama, the good and bad, and how the movies of the year fared, too. Meanwhile, it seems everyone watched DOCTOR WHO, and which network TV action show is trying a “choose your own ending” trick on Twitter?
We begin our look back on the Pop Culture that was in 2012 as Media Mogul Ric Meyers (ricmeyers.com) runs down the vast array of great TV comedy from the year. From CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL to HAPPY ENDINGS to SUBURGATORY, it’s been a damn good twelve months. Plus what show was downloaded illegally the most in 2012 (we are talking millions here) and how iPads are killing the toy business.
The timing of The Raven’s home video release is a curious one as I am busily teaching my eighth graders about the short story, using Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” as the first example. This feature film was released in the spring and sank without making much of a ripple at the box office, unlike Poe, who startled readers with amazing regularity for over a decade before his tragic, mysterious death.
To introduce the students to Poe, we reviewed his life which had him all over the northeast, marrying a thirteen year old relative and fighting depression and alcohol while trying to be the best writer or journalist he could be. His works of prose and poetry made for excellent reading in the newspapers and magazines while he laid the groundwork for contemporary detective fiction and helped transition us from the more genteel gothic tale to one of pure horror.
Screenwriters Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare used the unrecorded circumstances of Poe’s final days and blended them with elements drawn from his works to tell this particular story that fails to be a solid detective yarn or be particularly scary. Director James McTeigue’s (V for Vendetta) best move was to cast John Cusak as Poe, giving us a sympathetic character, although he appears far too robust given what really happened in Baltimore back in 1849. Foreshadowing the serial killers that became a staple of newspapers and novels decades later, this story shows us Poe chasing such a killer.
None of it really happened and the R-rated film is too violent for my young charges to see, which may be just as well given its lack of real suspense or good writing. Even the pounding soundtrack is more distracting than unsettling, just another layer of noise on an all-too busy film.
Why is he in Baltimore? Not chasing a killing but there to woo and marry Emily Hamilton (Alive Eve), despite the disapproval of her father, Captain Charles (Brendan Gleeson). He’s also drunk and in need of work, hoping to land some assignment from editor, Maddox (Kevin McNally). During this time, someone is killing young women in a manner reminiscent of Poe’s work so Police detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) summons Poe for a consultation and suddenly the game is afoot.
If you enjoy Poe’s work, you will appreciate the nods which have been woven or shoved into the fabric of the story but on the whole it is tedious business, not at all helped from flat dialogue and characterizations to a less than effective atmosphere. And it also avoids being interesting by being very predictable so of course Emily falls into the killer’s hands and Poe will be the only one to save her. Had the screenwriters actually used Poe’s structure of building suspense and playing with the psychological underpinnings of gothic fiction, things might have turned out far differently. Instead, we’re left checking our watch and wondering how such rich material could feel so obvious.
The film’s transfer to Blu-ray is nicely handled and McTiegue’s dark, shadowy shots retain their black moodiness. Similarly, the audio work is just swell.
McTiegue and producers Marc D. Evans, Trevor Macy, and Aaron Ryder provide rich details on the film’s making in the audio commentary. The disc also comes with six Deleted and Extended Scenes (10:41); none of which are missed. The Raven Guts: Bringing Death to Live (13:32) is a just-right-length making of featurette while the teaching in me wanted more from The Madness, Misery, and Mystery of Edgar Allen Poe (9:50), as a pair of experts tell us what Poe’s life was really like, especially at the end. There are three additional pieces: Behind the Beauty and Horror (2:18), The Raven Presents John Cusack & James McTeigue (2:45), and Music for the Raven – The Team (5:10).
