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Few American animated shows have had the depth and breadth of the long-running Adult Swim series "The Venture Bros." The series, created by Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, started as a riff on old Hanna Barbera shows like "Johnny Quest," following adult super-scientist Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (James Urbaniak) as he tries to escape the shadow of his genius father and child stardom as a boy adventurer. Along with his bodyguard, the turbo-competent Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton), he's also trying to raise his sons, Hank (Chris McCulloch) and Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas), who are hilariously earnest and sweet and disaster-prone. They faced off against Rusty's nemesis, the Monarch (McCulloch), along with various other villains from the Guild of Calamitous Intent, for seven seasons before being pretty abruptly cancelled, leaving them with a pretty unsatisfying ending. 

In an interview with NPR, Hammer shared his feelings on the "ending" they were left with following the cancellation,...

For over two decades, "Criminal Minds" has been terrifying and titillating viewers with compelling stories about the most psychologically complex killers they can imagine. The FBI procedural (which aired on CBS for the first 15 seasons before making the jump to Paramount+ for "Criminal Minds: Evolution") follows the investigations of the agency's Behavioral Analysis Unit (Bau), tasked with profiling and tracking down dangerous individuals often referred to as "UnSubs" (short for "unknown subject").

The best episodes of "Criminal Minds" go far beyond the usual procedural format and explore the psychologies, flaws, and personal histories of this ensemble of crime fighters. The stakes are higher, the criminals more dangerous, and the potential for someone (usually Reid) to be traumatized for life is extremely likely. In reviewing the case files, we've determined that these are indeed the 15 best "Criminal Minds" episodes, ranked.

Read more: The 10 Best Sherlock Holmes Actors, Ranked

Believer

UnSub: An...

As hard as it is to digest, nice people also end up having relationship breakdowns. Very few films out there feature two nice people trying to make things work but are unable to. Although H Nelson Tracey’s debut feature film, “Breakup Season,” is not about making things work, it is a story about allowing people to be honest about their feelings and accepting that your lifelong dream of having a life together will not come to fruition.

At the onset, “Breakup Season” feels like a sweet holiday romance. Ben (Chandler Riggs) and Cassie (Samantha Isler) live in L.A. and after a cute montage that shows us the initial stage of their relationship, we meet them for the first time when they arrive in rural Oregon – Ben’s hometown where the two of them are supposed to spend the holidays with his family. Ben is extremely excited for this next stage of their relationship,...

When Kit Williamson’s “EastSiders” premiered on YouTube in December 2012, Netflix had not yet debuted its first original series. A dozen years later, streaming has overtaken traditional television in the market — and Williamson is back with another LGBTQ+ slice of life show, this time in the form of “Unconventional” on Revry.

“I don’t know that anybody really predicted it becoming what it’s become,” the actor/creator/writer/director told TheWrap of the streaming boom. “I hope that there is an increasing demand for independently created television when we live in such a, let’s be honest, metric-driven world where algorithms are deciding whether or not stories get told or continued.”

“Will we have the same four-quadrant appeal as ‘7th Heaven’? No, we won’t. But that’s Ok,” Williamson explained. “We need specific stories that cater to our communities authentically and don’t pull their punches or try...

Unconventional is a series that follows two eccentric, queer siblings and their significant others as they try to start an unconventional family while navigating their 30s.

The show is set to launch on LGBTQ+ streamer Revry on February 11 and you can watch the first trailer for it above.

The trailer introduces Noah and Margot, two queer siblings played by Williamson and Aubrey Shea. Things take a turn when their estranged conservative father re-enters their lives—forcing them into an unexpected collision of ideals, activism, and family dysfunction.

The series comes from EastSiders’ Kit Williamson, who stars alongside James Bland, Aubrey Shea, Briana Venskus, Willam Belli, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Laith Ashley, James Urbaniak and Kathy Griffin.

Created by Williamson, who also writes and directs, it is exec produced by Miranda Bailey, Jason Beck, Christopher Miller, H. Shen, Erwin More, Ed Ruttenberg and Larissa James. Bland also produces.

Last year, Williamson brought the...

Kit Williamson, best known for creating and starring in the Emmy-nominated series “EastSiders,” is back with “Unconventional.”

Premiering on LGBTQ streaming platform Revry on Feb. 11, the TV comedy series stars Williamson as Noah, a queer millennial questioning the future of his 10-year marriage to his husband Dan (James Bland). At the same time, Noah becomes the sperm donor to his sister Margot’s wife, Eliza. Each episode follows a month of the pregnancy.

As Williamson first told me when I broke the news about the show’s Revry deal, “Unconventional” is “unapologetically queer.”

“I think we’re in a really interesting inflection point where I think we’re being told to quiet down, and I actually think that the opposite approach is what is needed,” Williamson says, alluding to the Trump administration’s anti-lgbtq policies and directives. “I’m not going to quiet down. I’m going to double down,...

“Laws of Man” is a new live-action thriller, written and directed by Phil Blattenberger, starring Jacob Keohane, Jackson Rathbone, Graham Greene, Kelly Lynn Reiter, James Urbaniak, Forrie J. Smith, Richard Brake, Dermot Mulroney and Harvey Keitel, releasing January 10, 2025 in theaters:

“…at the dawn of the ‘Cold War’, two U.S. marshals ‘Frank’ and ‘Tommy’, starring pursue the wanted murderer ‘Bonney’ in the deserts of Nevada and stumble upon a sinister plot that threatens to upend the very foundations of justice and peace…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Kit Williamson’s new scripted half-hour comedy series “Unconventional” has been acquired by LGBTQ streaming network Revry.

Williamson, a six-time Emmy nominee best known as the creator and star of “Eastsiders,” stars in “Unconventional” as Noah Guillory, a queer millennial struggling with his 10-year marriage, possibly starting a family, and the future of his PhD program while also acting as the sperm donor to his sister Margot’s wife, Eliza.

The nine-episode season – each episode follows a month of Eliza’s pregnancy — will premiere on Revry on Feb. 11.

“‘Unconventional’ comes at a time where stories about marginalized communities are more important than ever and ‘Unconventional’ is an unapologetically queer show,” Williamson said Thursday. “Unfortunately, LGBTQ representation has diminished considerably since ‘Eastsiders’ ended, and mainstream depictions often shy away from the complex realities of queer love. Revry is the perfect home for the series and I couldn’t be more excited about the acquisition.

“Laws of Man” is a new live-action thriller, written and directed by Phil Blattenberger, starring Jacob Keohane, Jackson Rathbone, Graham Greene, Kelly Lynn Reiter, James Urbaniak, Forrie J. Smith, Richard Brake, Dermot Mulroney and Harvey Keitel, releasing January 10, 2025 in theaters:

“…at the dawn of the ‘Cold War’, two U.S. marshals ‘Frank’ and ‘Tommy’, starring pursue the wanted murderer ‘Bonney’ in the deserts of Nevada and stumble upon a sinister plot that threatens to upend the very foundations of justice and peace…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

"There's only one way this ends!" Saban Films has revealed an official trailer for an indie crime film called Laws of Man, the latest action thriller made by filmmaker Phil Blattenberger. He also made the two other films Point Man and Condor's Nest before this. It's debuting in early January 2025 including on VOD. At the dawn of the Cold War, two U.S. marshals pursue a wanted murderer in the deserts of Nevada. U.S. marshals, Frank and Tommy, have their hands full as they travel to the remote town of Gilead, Nevada, in pursuit of wanted murderer. Metaphorical roadblocks and peculiar events threaten to upend their quest for justice & send them on the wildest journey of their lives. Starring Jacob Keohane & Jackson Rathbone as Frank & Tommy, with Keith Carradine, Graham Greene, Kelly Lynn Reiter, James Urbaniak, Forrie J. Smith, Richard Brake, plus Dermot Mulroney and Harvey Keitel. A blast into the past.

There is a scene in H. Nelson Tracey’s Breakup Season in which the Russell family patriarch, James Urbaniak’s Kirby, is tinkering with a model train in his living room while his son and his would-be daughter-in-law argue upstairs. Beside his wife, Mia (Brook Hogan), Kirby looks like a child witnessing his parents' particularly ugly divorce in the middle of the holiday season. The roles become reversed as young Ben (The Walking Dead’s Chandler Riggs) and his girlfriend – or should we say ex-girlfriend? – Cassie (Captain Fantastic's Samantha Isler) are turned into the adults putting a damper on their kids’ perfect Christmas by staging an unexpected dramatic breakup. The so-called kids are, of course, Ben’s parents and siblings, who become entangled in a relationship that they shouldn’t know so much about. This scene is perfect not only in how it subverts the traditional roles played by parents and children,...

"I'm not trying to get back together with you..." Buffalo 8 will release this indie film in art house theaters in November this fall. Breakup Season is the feature directorial debut of friend-of-the-site & filmmaker H. Nelson Tracey after many short films. This premiered at numerous film festivals earlier in 2024 and it's getting an actual theatrical release. A young man brings his new girlfriend to his rural Oregon hometown for Christmas to introduce her to his family, only for things to go terribly wrong upon arrival – they decide to break up. But she can't leave, so they're stuck together for the holidays. "Funny, dramatic, and bittersweet in equal measure. Breakup Season is an authentic look at early 20s love & heartbreak. Subverting traditional holiday conventions with a more grounded and relatable approach than typical [cheesy] holiday fare, the film explores the topics of family and breakups with sincerity." The film stars Chandler Riggs, Samantha Isler,...

Stars: Chloë Kerwin, Drew Scheid, Johnny Berchtold, Rain Spencer | Written by Clark Baker, Stephen Susco | Directed by Clark Baker

Directed by Clark Baker, who co-wrote the script with Stephen Susco, Test Screening is a deliriously gloopy ‘80s-set sci-fi horror that owes a significant debt to Society (Brian Yuzna’s 1989 classic). Other references abound throughout, but that’s the film you’ll be itching to revisit after watching Baker’s small-town squelch-fest.

Set in the small Oregon town of New Hope (a deliberate Star Wars reference right out of the gate) in 1982, the film centres on a group of teenage friends: movie nerd Reels (Drew Scheid), who works at the failing local movie theatre; straight-laced Simon (Johnny Berchtold), who’s dealing with his depressed father and terminally ill mother; and Penny (Chloe Kerwin), the daughter of the local pastor, who’s struggling with her attraction to her attractive, free-spirited best friend...

Writers/directors Brea Grant (Torn Hearts) and Ed Dougherty (co-writer of Paint It Black) have wrapped production on their four-part horror anthology Grind, Deadline reports, adding that filming took place in the Los Angeles area. Grant got her start as an actress, working on such projects as Friday Night Lights, Midnight Movie, Heroes, Dexter, Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, and Ice Road Terror. She made her feature directorial debut with the 2013 film Best Friends Forever, and has since directed Torn Hearts, 12 Hour Shift, and episodes of Pandora, among other things. Doughterty has previously directed multiple short films and music videos.

The cast of Grind includes genre icon Barbara Crampton, James Paxton (Twisters), Christopher Marquette (Freddy vs. Jason), James Urbaniak (Oppenheimer), Rob Huebel (Welcome to the Jungle), Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Aubrey Shea (Nashville), Courtney Pauroso (Reno 911!), Ify Nwadiwe (Grand Crew), Jessika Van (Seoul Searching), James A. Janisse (Scream 2022), Sharlene Cruz...

Brea Grant (Torn Hearts) and Ed Dougherty (Paint It Black) are the writers and directors of upcoming horror anthology Grind, and Deadline lets us know what to expect this week.

The site details, “Recently wrapping production in Los Angeles, Grind‘s stories center around the gig economy, hustle culture, and the evils of late-stage capitalism.”

The cast includes James Paxton (Twisters), Christopher Marquette, James Urbaniak (Oppenheimer), Rob Huebel (Transparent), Barbara Crampton (Suitable Flesh), Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Aubrey Shea (Nashville), Courtney Pauroso (Reno 911!), Ify Nwadiwe (Grand Crew), Jessika Van (Seoul Searching), James A. Janisse (Scream), Sharlene Cruz (In the Summers), Jon Gabrus (101 Places to Party Before You Die), Teri Gamble (Mrs. Davis), Hannah Alline (Doom Patrol) and Gigi Saul Guerrero (Culture Shock).

Producers include Chelsea Stardust.

Stay tuned for more on Grind as we learn it.

The post ‘Grind’ – New Horror Anthology from Brea Grant Tackles Late Stage Capitalism appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!

Exclusive: James Paxton (Twisters), Christopher Marquette (Barry), James Urbaniak (Oppenheimer) and Rob Huebel (Transparent) are among those set to star in Grind, a four-part horror anthology from writer-directors Brea Grant (Torn Hearts) and Ed Dougherty (Paint It Black).

Recently wrapping production in Los Angeles, Grind‘s stories center around the gig economy, hustle culture, and the evils of late-stage capitalism.

Others in the cast of the indie include Barbara Crampton (Suitable Flesh), Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Aubrey Shea (Nashville), Courtney Pauroso (Reno 911!), Ify Nwadiwe (Grand Crew), Jessika Van (Seoul Searching), James A. Janisse (Scream), Sharlene Cruz (In the Summers), Jon Gabrus (101 Places to Party Before You Die), Teri Gamble (Mrs. Davis), Hannah Alline (Doom Patrol) and Gigi Saul Guerrero (Culture Shock).

Grant and Dougherty produced alongside Chelsea Stardust.

Most recently directing Torn Hearts, an Epix/Blumhouse horror pic starring Katey Sagal, Grant has...

Bill Cobbs put in the time and the work. He was 90 years old when he passed away June 25 at his home in Riverside, California and leaves behind a career of over 200 screen credits, along with a number of theatrical performances. Born Wilbert Francisco Cobbs in Cleveland, Ohio circa 1934, a time and a place where a Black man wasn’t always assured his dignity and especially not his rights, Cobbs came into this world and grew at a moment where seeing himself on the big screen wasn’t exactly possible. Sure, there were exceptions with stereotypes played by Stepin Fetchit as well as the grandeur of Paul Robeson, but the idea of being an actor wasn’t one that came automatically for Cobbs. He tried his hand at music, spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician and occasional stand-up comedian, sold cars, even worked at Ibm,...

Harvey Keitel, Dermot Mulroney, Richard Brake and Jackson Rathbone are set to star in director Phil Blattenberger’s crime thriller Laws of Man, which will be shopped to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival.

Keitel will play a mysterious hippie preacher in the film about two U.S. marshals on a dangerous mission to arrest Benjamin Bonney, an outlaw wanted for murder, only to see a desert ambush thwart their plans. As the marshals navigate assassination attempts and looming catastrophe, they stumble onto a sinister plot that threatens the very foundations of peace and justice.

The film, earlier known as Without Consequence, is from Film Mode Entertainment, which handles worldwide sales, and Lost Galleon Films. The ensemble cast includes Jackson Rathbone, Graham Greene, Keith Carradine, Kelly Lynn Reiter and James Urbaniak.

Director Blattenberger, who also wrote the script for Laws of Man, will produce along with Dan Black and Jacob Keohane.

Can television have its own New Hollywood moment?

Much like movies such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Rosemary’s Baby and Easy Rider took the late 1960s by storm, a group of writers and directors are hoping that their own independent TV projects can break through and find their way to the small screen amidst the current Hollywood contraction.

After a number of web series such as Issa Rae’s The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, Broad City and High Maintenance were turned into TV series over the past decade, writers and directors hoped that this would lead to more.

However, the rise of streaming originals saw the business go the other way, with incredibly expensive dramas and comedies, often led by movie stars, taking over. This trend is now waning and a new generation of creators hopes that cost-conscious companies will now pay more attention to their projects instead.