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In Sebastian, a writer sells his body to provide material for his debut novel, then doesn’t give the night job up. Mikko Mäkelä explains what inspired his film – and remembers his cinematic sexual awakening

Growing up in a small Finnish town close to the Russian border, Mikko Mäkelä knew he was gay from the age of 11. “I think I was happy until then,” says the shy 36-year-old, whose slippery second film Sebastian is about to be released. Isolated he may have been, but at least the young Mäkelä had movies. Alone in his room, he watched queer gems such as Mysterious Skin, Presque Rien and Beautiful Thing, keeping the volume low in case his parents heard. Then a trip to the cinema to see Brokeback Mountain changed everything.

“When I got home, they asked me, ‘Did you like that film?’ They had read about it and wanted to make...

Almost nothing about Roy Moore’s candidacy for Senate has been without controversy.

First, he challenged incumbent Luther Strange, who had been appointed to replace Jeff Sessions when he was tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney General. During the primary, he waved a gun at an election eve campaign rally, lacked support from the Republican establishment and has called Islam a “false religion.”

But none of that scared off Alabama voters on Sept. 26, who supported Moore in the Republican primary runoff for Sessions’ vacated Senate seat.

The former chief justice for Alabama’s Supreme Court defeated Strange,...

Not everyone can respond to marital scandal with a beautifully crafted film contemplating the complexities of contemporary love and marriage, but if anyone could do it, it’s Hong Sangsoo. In “On the Beach at Night Alone,” the beloved South Korean auteur used to his own extra-marital affair with the actress Kim Minhee (“The Handmaiden”) as fodder for a devastating and bittersweet character study. In the first trailer for the latest effort from the prolific filmmaker, Minhee electrifies the screen as a fictionalized version of herself.

Read More:Hong Sang-soo Addresses His Marriage Scandal With a Movie in ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’ — Berlinale 2017

The actress’ affair with Sangsoo caused a tabloid frenzy in Korea, and the intimate collaboration between actress and director is the closest thing to a public statement the duo likely will ever make about the scandal. In his B+ review of the film, IndieWire’s Eric...

Back when Larry David was a writer for Saturday Night Live, you could charitably describe the relationship between the two entities as oil and water. But over the last few years, that's turned into more of a peanut butter and jelly situation, with David's breakout performance as Bernie Sanders producing a lot of positive buzz for both sides.

While his first time hosting in 2016 produced a solid show, the second time here unfortunately wasn't as strong. The first half-hour was in fact almost shockingly bad, with nothing going the show's...

Almost nothing is quite as simple as it looks. Certainly not sexual harassment and accusations thereof—as insiders at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are well aware, notwithstanding last Saturday's summary expulsion of Harvey Weinstein following dozens of claims that he had sexually abused actresses and others over the years. After banishing Weinstein at an emergency session, the Academy's board of governors boldly declared an end to Hollywood's silence…...

Zacharia Machiek and Janet Dyne in 'Hope Road'..

When Tom Zubrycki set out five years ago to make a feature documentary on a South Sudan refugee in Sydney who returns to his village to build a school, he had no idea how the story would unfold.

Almost nothing went to plan on Zacharia Machiek.s emotion-filled mission, as chronicled in director/writer/producer Zubrickyi.s Hope Road. Funded by Screen Nsw and Screen Australia.s now defunct Signature Fund, the film will have its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival.

.From the very start I knew that things wouldn.t all go smoothly — the funds were low, the committee was inexperienced — and building a school in an African village .by remote. was going to be a big task,. he told If. .

.As it was I was proved correct and the many twists and turns far exceeded my earlier expectations.

Update: We have been informed that while Doug Bradley's Pinhead Experience did start the makeup process with Tom Savini's school, they were later taken off the project. Savini has little to do with the project now and serves as a consultant at this point. Tolin FX in Pittsburgh and their artist Kyle Roberts have been solely responsible for the new sculpt and makeup. Tom was introduced to the team at Tolin FX, where everyone is getting along famously. While Tom had been given credit for coordinating this project, it has been All Doug.

Original Story: Horror icon Doug Bradley and special effects legend Tom Savini have teamed up to bring Hellraiser legend Pinhead back to "life" for a special event in Arizona. The union was announced early this year, but now pictures of Bradley are starting to get posted on social media and excitement is building because number one,...

Almost nothing is safe from being rebooted, and the latest news from Warner Bros. Pictures only confirms that. The Matrix was a gamechanging sci-fi action movie for a number of reasons, from the introduction of slow-motion bullet time action sequences to an original mind-blowing narrative that audiences became obsessed with to the point that two […]

The post Whoa: ‘The Matrix’ Reboot Taking Shape at Warner Bros. Without the Wachowskis appeared first on /Film.

2016-11-18T06:39:49-08:00'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Is Finally Coming Back

For five years, Larry David has been stubbornly unwilling to give his fans what they wanted: a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. This past summer, he finally relented and said that he planned to produce a ninth season of the HBO series. This week, we got news that the season has finally gone into production, a sign that David isn't going to change his mind and put the series back into retirement.

Almost nothing is known so far about the content of Curb's season nine, but that's par for the Curb course. Aside from an inevitable season-long story arc, it's likely that even David himself doesn't know where the famously unscripted show is going to go.

It's probably not going to have anything to do with the major currents running through American society right now,...

Sneak Peek footage, images and synopsis from "The Vampire Diaries" episode "She's Come Undone", written by Michael Narducci, Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Darnell Martin, that aired May 2, 2013 on The CW:

"...'Damon' and 'Stefan' try a brutal new approach to provoke 'Elena' to turning her humanity back on.

"But 'Caroline' is frustrated when her attempt to intervene backfires.

"Then when Elena figures out a way to call the 'Salvatore' brothers' bluff, they call for backup from a surprising source. Meanwhile 'Matt' gives 'Rebekah' some unsolicited advice on her life choices, and she tries to help him in return. And 'Caroline' has a confusing and dangerous encounter with 'Klaus', as 'Katherine' is suspicious when 'Bonnie' makes her an offer that she promises will benefit them both..."

"The Vampire Diaries" is based on "The Vampire Diaries" book series by author L. J. Smith. Set in a small town haunted by 'supernatural beings',...

Sneak Peek footage, images and synopsis from "The Vampire Diaries" episode "She's Come Undone", written by Michael Narducci, Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Danell Martin, that aired May 2, 2013 on The CW:

"...'Damon' and 'Stefan' try a brutal new approach to provoke 'Elena' into turning her humanity back on, and 'Caroline' is frustrated when her attempt to intervene backfires.

"When 'Elena' figures out a way to call the 'Salvatore' brothers' bluff, they call for backup from a surprising source.

"'Matt' gives 'Rebekah' some unsolicited advice on her life choices, and she tries to help him in return. Then 'Caroline' has a confusing and dangerous encounter with 'Klaus', while 'Katherine' is suspicious when 'Bonnie' makes her an offer that she promises will be a gain to them both..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Vampire Diaries: She's Come Undone"...

Almost nothing worked this summer, but the most reliable genre was perhaps horror. While blockbusters left and right were flopping, low-budget chillers like “Don’t Breathe” and “Lights Out” were kicking ass, and even “The Conjuring 2” defied the trend of sequels underperforming and did blockbuster business (albeit slightly down on its predecessor). Read More: Worst […]

The post Watch A New Trailer For 60s-Set Horror Prequel ‘Ouija: Origin Of Evil’ appeared first on The Playlist.

About halfway through the latest Jane Austen film adaptation, Love & Friendship, I realized this film was not made for me. As I listened to audience members chuckle at lines that seemed too cheesy or dated to me, I knew this would be an example of others enjoying a film much more than I did. There were certainly moments of Love & Friendship I enjoyed, but it just felt like I was stuck in a high school classroom again reading a book I had zero interest in reading. Almost nothing in the film gripped my attention, from the various relationships, to the “quirky” 1790s dialogue, it all just seemed like an inside joke I was not a part of. I guess this is what non-superhero film fans feel like when they watch the latest Captain America movie.

Love & Friendship can be classified as a romantic comedy and follows widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale,...

Charts a path to a future that refuses to get mired in nostalgia. Yet all the Star Wars notes are here, remixed into a glorious new arrangement. No Spoilers! I’m “biast” (pro): huge Star Wars fan…

I’m “biast” (con): … but was deeply worried about this new film

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

There’s no 20th Century Fox fanfare this time, of course, which is weird, because to this day, whenever I hear it, no matter what film it’s allegedly attached to, the excitable eight-year-old inside me pops up to whisper, “Maybe it’ll secretly turn out to be Star Wars. Thankfully, there is no Disney ident, either. X-wing fighters doing a flyover of Cinderella’s castle would have been an unpleasant reminder of how worried I was about the Mouse’s takeover of this franchise.

All those worries have been laid to rest.

Wc

There’s been a fairly steady stream of announcements about a few big comic-book films – Deadpool, Batman v. Superman, Captain America 3, and Suicide Squad – but did you know there are three animated Batman movies in the works?

How about an adaptation of several Image scripts and the award-winning 100 Bullets and Sandman? Don’t worry: this article’s the only one you need to read to get the latest news on all comics films. And we’ve collected the juiciest tidbits about those big favorites, too.

A few comic-book films seem to be only rumors at this stage, and confused rumors at that. The iconoclastic religious epics Preacher and Lucifer have been said to be planning “movies,” but those are probably just pilots for their upcoming TV series. Constantine was also rumored to be a film, but there’s nothing to substantiate that, and the character of Constantine, after his own failed TV series,...

Frozen 2 seemed like an inevitability right around the time we all had "Let it Go" stuck in our heads. But full confirmation had yet to come from Disney that the sequel to the 2013 animated musical was a go. Today, Disney has confirmed that they plan to produce Frozen 2. There's no confirmation of a release date or any production details at present, but what we do know is that the team behind Frozen -- directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, producer Peter Del Vecho -- are set to return for the next big freeze. Almost nothing about the plot was revealed, but it does involve a return to Arendelle, the original setting of Frozen.  Other details yet to be announced include whether or not voice stars Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Josh Gad and/or Jonathan Groff might return to reprise their roles as Elsa, Anna, Olaf and Kristoff respectively. But all...

His days in Atlantis may be behind him, but you haven't seen the last of Jack Donnelly.

The young actor's next project sees him cast as cocky footballer Olly Hunter in the wholly improvised spoof documentary United We Fall - the tale of a Manchester United squad on the verge of matching the Class of '92's epic achievements, before it all goes so, so wrong.

To mark the DVD release of United We Fall, Digital Spy spoke to Donnelly about his lack of real football skill and tackling (geddit?) improvised comedy.

The first question I have to ask - are you a United supporter?

"Erm... no - I've got to be honest, I'm not a massive football fan! I used to support United because my Dad is a huge football fan and a huge United fan, so when I was 8 or 9 I used to watch the games with him.

That didn’t take too long. Roughly a week after the first reports emerged that Gareth Edwards was busy auditioning actors for the cast of the first Star Wars stand-alone film after The Force Awakens, it looks like he’s locked in someone to star. Felicity Jones, who had been on the list of those testing, is now in talks to take a role.According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jones has beaten out the likes of Rooney Mara and Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany for the prime, if mysterious role in the film. Though there were apparent concerns that her busy scheduled might preclude her participation, it appears that diary issues have been ironed out.Almost nothing official has emerged about the movie itself so far beyond the fact that Monsters and Godzilla man Edwards is directing and Chris Weitz was recently hired to rewrite the script based on a first draft by Gary Whitta.

A few more clues about Joss Whedon's Avengers: Age Of Ultron arrived in the new trailer. We've been taking a look....

A second Avengers: Age Of Ultron trailer has been released, and with little over three months to go until the film's released, there's still loads we don't know about it.

So what does this trailer tell us about the film? We've been hunting for fresh clues, and here's what we found...

Dark Avengers

It's a fairly standard move to look at the sequel to a blockbuster hit and proclaim that it's going to be 'darker' than the first, but whether or not it's true, this trailer really wants us to take that away from it. Gone are the wisecracks and thrills of the first film, and in their place are scenes of weeping, screaming, and lots of stuff getting wrecked.

It's safe to say the film itself is...

Fans of Wally Lamb’s hefty New York Times bestsellers She’s Come Undone, The Hour I First Believed and I Know This Much Is True may have been a bit suspect when he penned a slim little Christmas novella in 2010. Then they opened the book and fell in love with the ’60s-era tale of Felix Funicello (proud cousin of Annette) and his fellow fifth-graders at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic school, whose insular worlds are rocked by the arrival of French-speaking substitute teacher Madame Frechette and worldly Russian classmate Zhenya. Executive produced by Lamb and starring Molly Ringwald, her Sixteen Candles … Continue reading →

The post Wally Lamb’s “Wishin’ and Hopin'” comes to Lifetime appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Almost nothing makes sense in Brush With Danger, a bewilderingly incompetent and inexplicably racist Indonesian action film. Written, directed, and produced by stars Livi and Ken Zheng, Brush With Danger pits sibling immigrants Alice and Ken Qiang against wealthy art forger-cum-underground fight manager Justus Sullivan (Norman Newkirk). Being the film's token evil white dude, Sullivan tries to trick the Qiangs into giving him kickboxing purse money and forged paintings after he sees Ken demonstrate his martial arts skills at a Seattle street fair while Alice struggles to sell her — in Ken's words — "Asian art." Ken's clueless but sincere description of his sister's work is not the Zhengs' attempt at criticizing immigrants' capitulation to natives' apat...

Taking a trick from Beyonce’s playbook, U2 dropped its 13th studio album, “Songs of Innocence,” today without warning. The Irish band made the announcement at Apple’s event in Cupertino, Calif. The aptly named “Songs of Innocence,” produced by Danger Mouse, with additional production by Ryan Tedder, Paul Epworth, Flood, and Declan Gaffney, is a song cycle that draws on the band members’ past— a time when they first met and everything was possible. It pays tribute to their influences (The Ramones, The Clash, The Beach Boys), first loves, growing up in the shadow of Ira violence, and the fallout of tough economic times. Bono’s vocals sound fresh and invigorated and the production sparkles. It’s a lovely album that is sentimental without ever losing its edge. Below is a first-listen review: my take on each song by only listening to it once as I play the album straight through.

Very Good Girls is a coming-of-age story starring two of the most talented young actresses out there today, so why is it so very hard to like? Almost nothing works in this limp excuse for a drama, from the contrived story to the clichéd characters to the awkward costume design. Even Elizabeth Olsen, horribly miscast, and Dakota Fanning, so vacant she appears translucent, can’t keep such a leaky vessel afloat.

Among Very Good Girls‘ many sins, perhaps the most glaring is that it feels like a movie written for teenagers by an adult who knows nothing about them. In the very first scene, high school seniors and lifelong friends Lilly (Fanning) and Gerri (Olsen) strip down at a public beach in broad daylight and run naked into the waves. I don’t know why. I don’t think writer-director Naomi Foner knows why. The film is filled with bizarre decisions like that,...

What the hell happened in this week's Mistresses installment, people? Almost nothing. Almost. Joss' new job opportunity storyline was the most interesting. Hands down.

The title, "An Affair to Surrender," showed great promise, but almost every storyline fell way short of my expectations. We got none of the hot hook-ups Mistresses is known for, no fabulous clothes to speak of (not even some of Scotts designer pumps) and ... did anyone even get a steamy and memorable closed-mouth kiss? *Yawn* Even the positive advancements -- Savi deciding to keep her house and Harry eschewing the land of the Vegemite sandwich to be a chef stateside again -- lacked the sultry or whiz-bang excitement we're used to with Mistresses.

Come Undone: Wain’s Cliché Buster Episodically Funny

Every now and then, director David Wain delivers a great film with his certain brand of offbeat humor darkly shining, particularly with Role Models (2008) and Wet Hot American Summer (2001). At the very least, his less successful ventures feature standout performances from someone in his regular crew of comedic comrades (Michaela Watkins in Wanderlust, for instance). But arriving with the Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd headlined They Came Together (yeah, it’s supposed to mean that, too), finds Wain at his most strained since the episodically structured The Ten. Except, this film might have actually benefitted from a string of vignettes harpooning ridiculous rom-com tropes rather than the befuddling exercise at hand centered on two people that we’re watching solely as performers engaging in sketches rather than actual characters, utilizing a variety of broad comedic styles that feel lifted from the likes of The Naked Gun.

About midway through CBS’s live telecast of the 68th Tony Awards on Sunday night, host Hugh Jackman told the audience at Radio City Music Hall that the first show he’d ever been cast in was Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. To prepare, in fact, he’d learned all eight parts to Rock Island,’ the opening number of that signature piece of syncopated Americana, and to prove it, he performed a minute or so, sprecht-singing all eight parts. The first words are: Cash for the merchandise/Cash for the buttonhooks, which sounds like the beginning of an ode to Broadway, 2014. Then he ushered out LL Cool J and Ti, and all three of them rapped “Rock Island,” which sounded a lot like Sesame Street, 1995. It was funny and toothless. Much the same can be said for the most breathlessly upbeat Tony broadcast in memory. Almost nothing memorable happened...

A far less divisive episode than Girls' Season Two finale, "Two Plane Rides" caused Season Three to quit while it was ahead.  Again, going in the opposite trajectory of last season, this year (with a few hiccups) improved almost every week, particularly when the show went back to relying on vignettes and an artful portrayal of its character's lives, instead of becoming too mired in their individual (and particularly Hannah's) neuroses.  At the same time, what is considered a good episode of Girls is still one riddled with head-scratching moments.  Hit the jump for a reminder that "Iowa is not a coast." Almost nothing from this season was tied up in its finale, and the only moment that felt like it was leading in a true direction of change was the Deus ex machina of Hannah's acceptance to Iowa's prestigious creative writing Mfa program.  For Hannah, who loudly and...

Review Caroline Preece 6 Mar 2014 - 10:54

Has Pretty Little Liars just wasted its last chance for a satisfying reveal? Caroline is pretty disappointed with this week's episode...

This review contains spoilers.

4.22 Cover For Me

So here we are again – Pretty Little Liars gave us so much hope only to take it away just as fast, leaving us much like Aria last week, surrounded by the tatters of our clues and theories and wallowing in the truth that Ezra, of course, could never have been A. The moment at the end of season 4a was so delicious precisely because it was a shock – many of us had long given up hope that the show’s writers, so wrapped up in the epic love story of Ezria, would do anything interesting with the characters. The fact that their love story was so murky and immoral made the shippers fight harder and those...

Review Caroline Preece 27 Feb 2014 - 07:30

One suspect is out of the running in Pretty Little Liars, or are they? Here's Caroline's review of this week's episode...

This review contains spoilers.

4.21 She's Come Undone

I may have been a bit oblivious to the contents of the press circuit Marlene King did after last week’s episode but, now that I’m all caught up – it doesn’t look as though Ezra is anything more than a struggling writer with a taste for high school girls. He might have betrayed the Liars, stalked them, threatened to expose the details of their lives to the world, falsely assumed the role of a high school teacher and utterly destroyed a young girl’s existence, but at least he isn’t A. Phew! At least that’s what we’re supposed to think, and I still have a glimmer of hope that this u-turn...

Sneak Peek new footage and synopsis from the upcoming "Pretty Little Liars" episode, "She's Come Undone", written by Jonell Lennon and directed by Chad Lowe, airing February 25, 2014 on ABC Family:

"...'Emily', 'Hanna' and 'Spencer' are concerned for 'Aria' as they watch their friend crumble after learning shocking news about 'Ezra'.

"Not knowing what is true or what to trust, Aria goes looking for answers, not wanting to believe this revelation to be true.

"While concerned for Aria, Spencer is not doing so well herself. Trying to prove to her parents and 'Toby' that she can kick the habit on her own, Spencer has to be careful because one misstep could send her to rehab.

"But can Spencer really rein it in, or will her constant curiosity and drive be her undoing?

"Meanwhile, 'Paige' has had enough with Emily’s secrets and is determined to stop it, as the girls...

This story first appeared in the Feb. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. 1. "Quotes" Mean Almost Nothing: "Now they offer you less," says one lawyer. A popular excuse: "Well, that pilot never got on the air, so it's not an 'earned quote.' " 2. Renewals Don'T Equal Big Raises: Pay bumps for second and third seasons used to be 5 percent. Now it's 3 or 4 percent. Photos: The Faces of Pilot Season 2014 3. … Or Even A Raise At All: Bumps in season two used to be automatic, but new deals require episode minimums. Says

read more...

Check out these sneak peek clips from "Pretty Little Liars" Season 4, episode 21, titled "She's Come Undone."

Above, Spencer talks to her parents about her drug problem. They want her to go to rehab in Philadelphia and Spencer insists it's not needed, arguing that she'll never get into college with Radley and rehab on her record. Well, if there's one button to push with the Hastings to win your argument, it's college.

Below, Aria is determined to confront Mr. Fitz but he's taken time off for a "family emergency." Which we guess explains the promo (also below) where Aria is seemingly trashing Ezra's apartment. Why do you think he's really out of town? Is he holed up at the cabin? Meeting with Mona? We can't wait to find out.

"Pretty Little Liars" airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on ABC Family.

New Pretty Little Liars season 4,episode 21 official spoilers,plotline revealed by ABC Family. Recently, ABC Family released the new,official,synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Pretty Little Liars" episode 21 of season 4. The episode is entitled, "She's Come Undone," and it sounds like things will get very dramatic and intense as Aria totally breaks down over Ezra's recent shocking news, and more. In the new,21st episode, Aria is going to grapple with Ezra’s betrayal while Spencer will have to deal with the fallout from her addiction. Press release number 2: Emily, Hanna, and Spencer will be concerned for Aria as they watch her crumble after learning shocking news about Ezra. Not knowing what is true or what to trust, Aria is going to go looking for answers, not wanting to believe this revelation to be true. While concerned for Aria, Spencer is not going to be doing so well herself.

Mortal Kombat

Written by Kevin Droney

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

USA, 1995

Self-exiled Shaolin monk and martial arts pupil Liu Kang (Robin Shou) awakens one night from a nightmare in which a strange and powerful sorcerer named Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) brutally murders Kang’s younger brother before looking directly into the camera and claiming Kang’s very soul. Shaken by the experience, the hot-headed youth returns to his former home among the temples to learn the truth of his brother’s demise. Much to his surprise, there is more at stake than family matters, or so explains the god of lightning, Raiden (Christopher Lambert), who magically makes an appearance. His brother’s death granted Shang Tsung, ambassador of an evil dimension called Outworld, a ninth consecutive victory in an ancient tournament named Mortal Kombat. A tenth successive win for the vile Outworld grants Tsung and his minions ownership of the Earth realm.

Michonne is the most enigmatic character in The Walking Dead. Almost nothing about her past has been hinted at since her introduction except the way she looked at Baby Judith. Clearly moved and upset by the baby, viewers got the sense that she was once a mother. Like Lost, or any other show that depends on flashbacks to complicate and elaborate the story, The Walking Dead slowly unravels each character, revealing more and more about the way they are and why.

The Jones Family

Portrayed by: Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Tish), Adjoa Andoh (Francine), Trevor Laird (Clive), Reggie Yates (Leo)

Doctor: Tenth Doctor

Story: 2 stories, “The Lazarus Experiment” (May, 2007) and “The Sound of Drums”/“Last of the Time Lords” (June, 2007), though they also appear in other stories as Martha’s family, rather than as part of the larger adventure of the week

Background: Francine and Clive Jones are the bitterly divorced parents of Martha, Tish, and Leo. Almost nothing is known of their married life or really anything before Martha met the Doctor, other than that Clive has a much younger girlfriend named Annalise. Tish is the head of PR for an experimental scientist who creates a de-aging machine that winds up turning him into a horrific monster, which she helps Martha and the Doctor defeat. Leo has a far more adventure-adjacent life, managing to avoid both the more traumatic events of “The...

Mark Lawson finds authorial controversy and romantic scrawl in an imitation library book

Creators of popular television have often invoked comparisons with written fiction: Dennis Potter and Steve Bochco both used the term "TV novel" to describe series such as Potter's The Singing Detective and Bochco's La Law and NYPD Blue. Both screenwriters also published novels, and this switchover tradition continues with Jj Abrams, the power behind Alias and Lost.

Perhaps surprisingly, writers who rethought the structures of television often became reverentially conventional on the page: Potter's Ticket to Ride and Bochco's Death by Hollywood had impressive plot and dialogue, as you might expect, but an Edwardian reader would be at ease with the novels' approach to narrative and chapters.

Abrams, though, has come up with a novel of such structural daring that the first task of the audience is to work out a way of reading it. And I...

If you liked Masters of Sex's "Standard Deviation" last week, "Thank You For Coming" will likely come as a bit of a disappointment.  How can a show about sex (that shows so much nudity -- female nudity, anyway) be so boring?  "Thank You For Coming" devoted itself to character development, with mixed results.  We met Ginny's ex-husband George, a deadbeat who looks to her for money and shelter (and human comforts), as well as Bill's mother, who Bill finds to be infinitely irritating.  Scully has a persistent daughter who chases after Ethan, and is rewarded by him continuing to be the worst.  And Libby, of course, continues to suffer under Bill's cold disregard.  When does the fun start?  Hit the jump for more. "Thank You For Coming" was a building block episode that didn't really build much.  George gushes about Ginny's sexual authority when Bill conducts his creepy one-on-one follow-up,...

Stick

Written by Elmore Leonard and Joseph Stinson

Directed by Burt Reynolds

USA, 1985

Part of the reason that Elmore Leonard’s novels got turned into movies so often is that it was so easy to write the screenplays. Entire scenes full of Leonard’s trademark crackling dialogue would go, verbatim, into films like Get Shorty and Out of Sight. But that wasn’t true for the 1990s only. Leonard’s stellar 1983 novel Stick was turned into a movie as well, a film which served as popular entertainment as much as the films came a decade later. Where Get Shorty was 1995’s Travolta movie, Stick was 1985’s Burt Reynolds movie, and every bit as fun.

Reynolds plays Ernest “Stick” Stickley, a just-out-of-prison car thief who wanders into Miami and finds himself caught between a local drug kingpin (Castulo Guerra) and a bumbling financial planner (George Segal). Also of note: a pre-...

Rise of the Triad was one of the most beloved Fps games released during the 1990s. It was the first to offer eleven-player deathmatches (a number absolutely unheard of at that time), and introduced the market to the ability to play Capture The Flag with rocket launchers. However, the game all but dropped off the map in the same decade, and the majority of gamers today probably wouldn’t be able to even honestly say they’ve heard of the title.

Now we’ve received a modern remake of the aforementioned gem, though trying to recreate one of the most important PC first-person shooters of all time is no small task, and it’s not even something that most studios would bother trying. And while this is far from a perfect game and it certainly is rough around the edges, I thank Interceptor for trying.

Right off the bat, something...

“If images don’t do anything in this culture,” I said, plunging on, “if they haven’t done anything, then why are we sitting here in the twilight of the twentieth century talking about them? And if they only do things after we have talked about them, then they aren’t doing them, we are. Therefore, if our criticism aspires to anything beyond soft-science, the efficacy of images must be the cause of criticism, and not its consequence—the subject of criticism and not its object. And this,” I concluded rather grandly, “is why I direct your attention to the language of visual affect—to the rhetoric of how things look—to the iconography of desire—in a word, to beauty!” I made a voilá gesture for punctuation, but to no avail. People were quietly filing out.  —Dave Hickey, The Invisible Dragon.

“Originally, the embeddedness of an artwork in the...

It's been more than a decade since the 1990s ended, yet the Internet can't seem to go a day without a reminder of the neon slap bracelets that may have been banned from your school.

Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.

Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)

1. Scrunchies

2. "The Wild Thornberries"

3. Dawson and Joey

4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"

5. Mr. Feeny

7. MTV playing music videos

8. Snick

9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"

10. Levar Burton

11. "Daria"

12. "Arthur"

13. "The Powerpuff Girls"

14. "Smart Guy"

15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings

16. "The X-Files"

17. Rosie O'Donnell

18. Bill Nye

19. "Dawson's Creek"

20. The Mighty Ducks"

21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"

22. Cornholio

23. Rachel Green

24. Tim Allen

25. "All That"

26. "Beverly Hills 90210"

27. "Step by Step"

28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"

29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"

30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

Heading into UK cinemas today, Sébastien Lifshitz’s award-winning documentary, Les Invisibles, made its debut at Cannes last spring, and has picked up a handful of awards and nominations in the months since.

With the film released on our shores this weekend, we’ve got the UK trailer to share, giving you a taste of Lifshitz’s latest documentary, which has been receiving warm reviews on all sides.

Eleven men and women born between the wars. Seemingly they have nothing in common except their homosexuality and growing up in a less open, more intolerant society as. Now in their 60s and 70s, they tell their personal stories, either shared or alone, revealing often pioneering lives through seven decades of experience.

Sébastien Lifshitz, director of Presque Rien and Wild Side, offers us eleven personal portraits of gay and lesbian life from an older generation who often remain invisible and unheard in a youth-obsessed society.

It’s no secret that originality is dead in film. In fact, across all creative mediums the very nature of innovation is an illusion – how our minds are shaped is a reflection of everyone we’ve known and everything to which we’ve been exposed over our life. Every book, song, television show, conversation and meditation congeals in our mind and sometimes an idea springs forth. Barbara Grizzuti Harrison said that there are no original ideas, only original people, and that rings very true. Everything has been done before but it’s how we approach these things – these visions – and how we each adhere to a unique doctrine that can result in something wonderful.

Then there are unoriginal people, individuals who seem to revel in familiarity and cliché or are either completely, blissfully oblivious to all that has come before. If the former is the case then Hammer of the Gods...

The Thin Man with blood cocktails, an ode to hipsterism through the ages, a mainline shot of cool and a playful tribute to artistic fetishism, Jim Jarmusch’s vampire romance Only Lovers Left Alive is an addictive mood and tone piece, a nocturnal reverie that incidentally celebrates a marriage that has lasted untold centuries. Almost nothing happens in this minor-key drift through a desolate, imperiled modern world, and yet it is the perennial downtown filmmaker’s best work in many years, probably since 1995’s Dead Man, with which it shares a sense of quiet, heady, perilous passage. A modest-sized

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Review Caroline Preece 13 May 2013 - 13:55

The Vampire Diaries relies upon returning characters once again in its penultimate episode of season four...

This review contains spoilers.

4.22 The Walking Dead

Ever since the notion of dropping the veil between the living and the dead was raised earlier in the season, The Vampire Diaries fans have been speculating about what that might look like. It turns out that it looks just as it sounded, with friend and enemies alike returning to the show just in time for a big showdown next week. Is it a little unimaginative? An exercise in fan-service, even? I thought so and, as nice as it is to see Jeremy, Lexi and Alaric back in Mystic Falls, their collective return doesn’t really mean anything going into the finale.

The whole episode was dedicated to it, too, with each old face’s return announced via swelling music and an expectation of surprise,...

So, here’s a potentially interesting thing. Usually The CW releases clips of the next episode of The Vampire Diaries, which we happily post here for greedy fans. This week they did not. Is it because tonight’s penultimate episode of the season is so explosive that they don’t want to give anything away? Or is it because the person or persons in charge of that are away?

Regardless, we have the always-fun-and-charming “Rehash” featurette for your refreshment, and a quick little TV spot for tonight’s new episode, “The Walking Dead”, whose title alone has me hungry for more:

Featurette: The Vampire Diaries – Rehash: She’s Come Undone

Click here to view the embedded video.

TV Spot: The Vampire Diaries – The Walking Dead Preview

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Vampire Diaries, starring Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Candice Accola, Kat Graham, Joseph Morgan, and Claire Holt,...

Review Caroline Preece 6 May 2013 - 07:30

The penultimate episode of The Vampire Diaries' fourth season may have a dubious moral code, but it's still a great watch...

This review contains spoilers.

4.21 She's Come Undone

Going into this penultimate to the penultimate episode of The Vampire Diaries, I knew I was going to have a couple of problems with the central storyline. For various reasons that I’m not going to question too much, watching two big strong men physically and emotionally torture their girlfriend so that she’ll love them again just isn’t my favourite thing to watch. Add the usual dubious moral code that this show lives by and you’ve got a decidedly dodgy storyline dressed up as a demonstration of noble deeds and doing what you have to do.

Surprisingly, however, the episode was so good that these quibbles aren’t what dominated my viewing experience.

The Vampire Diaries, Season 4, Episode 21: “She’s Come Undone”

Written by Michael Narducci and Rebecca Sonnenshine

Directed by Darnell Martin

Airs Thursdays at 8pm (Et) on the CW

This week, on The Vampire Diaries: Katherine has fun with Elena, Caroline has a heart to heart with her mom, and Bonnie has a plan

Most of this season of The Vampire Diaries has been plagued by one of a few missteps. First Elena lost her agency thanks to her sire-bonding to Damon, then Bonnie fell increasingly under the sway of the obviously ill-intentioned Professor Shane, and then finally, Elena switched off her emotions, acted like a brat, and lost whatever sympathy the audience had left for her. While many of the issues created by these poor decisions remain, fortunately at this point each of them has been addressed and corrected, though there’s little sense that the PtB ever saw them as problems.

After a one-week trip to New Orleans, The Vampire Diaries returned to Mystic Falls last night for an episode that saw Elena rediscover her humanity - and the greatness that is Matt Donovan.

Speaking of the Grill-master, Rebekah made quite an impression on him ... as well as the male members of TV Fanatic's Round Table panel, who appear to be smitten with Claire Holt.

What did TV Fanatic's Matt Richenthal, Dan Forcella, Leigh Raines and Miranda Wicker think of "She's Come Undone"? Gather around as we debate the following topics:

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1. What was your favorite scene from the episode?

Matt: I'll go with a small one: Rebekah brining real food over to the Salvatore residence. So now they have booze, blood and burgers? When can I move in?!?

Miranda: I might be alone in this, but I'm going with all of Matt and Rebekah's scenes. The two of them as...