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Jeffrey Dean Morgan is trading his blood-stained bat for blood-drained murder victims in The Postcard Killings, which adapts James Patterson and Liza Marklund‘s #1 New York Times bestselling thriller about a New York detective who joins an international manhunt for a serial killer who had brutally murdered his daughter and son-in-law on their honeymoon in London. And like many […]

The post ‘The Postcard Killings’ Trailer: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Tries to Catch a Serial Killer appeared first on /Film.

Vox has released the new episode of its nonfiction web series “The Secret Life of Muslims,” titled “Dear Hollywood: stop portraying Muslims as terrorists.” In the new installment, Iranian-American author and commentator Reza Aslan, “Glee” actor Iqbal Theba and other prominent Muslims sound off on the problems of Hollywood’s portrayal of the group.

Read More: Mike Ott & Nathan Silver Blur the Line Between Fiction and Reality in ‘Actor Martinez’ — Trailer

“I loved the 1980s, when Chuck Norris used to kill swaths of my people with a machine-gun in some brown bouillabaisse of a country. It was awesome to watch,” says reporter Wajahat Ali at the beginning of the clip. This new episode also features comedian Omar Regan, who claims that “Muslims are always terrorists!” on the big screen.

Comedian Maz Jobrani, author of “I’m Not a Terrorist, but I’ve Played One on TV,” says how much he...

Who is Reza Aslan? Learn more about the New York Times best selling author who is hosting a new talk show you’re going to want to check out … Ovation introduces its first talk show with Rough Draft With Reza Aslan, beginning Feb. 28 at 8:30pmET. The show focuses on the art of writing in all its different forms as Reza Aslan, the best-selling author of a number of books himself (Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth), invites authors, screenwriters and songwriters to discuss their creative process. Sound boring? Far from it. And let’s be clear, this … Continue reading →

The post Who is Reza Aslan? He’s changing the talk show focus with “Rough Draft” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Watching 24 hours of CNN is likely to cause you to want to shoot yourself, Reza Aslan, host of Ovation’s new Rough Draft With Reza Aslan, said today, kicking off Winter TV Press Tour 2016, aka TCA. On the other hand, the Iranian-American author and commentator also happily promised he will be “hard to avoid” on the TV news circuit during election season. “Those kinds of conversations are not very helpful,” he prattled on happily, endearing him to news program producers…...

The Drama League’s biggest fête, the 31st Annual Musical Celebration of Broadway, will take place on Feb. 2 at the Pierre Hotel. New York theater fans can expect to see some of the brightest stars from the Great White Way in a ceremony that will include a musical tribute to the Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning legend James Earl Jones. He joins such eminent previous winners as Neil Patrick Harris, Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth, and Audra McDonald. Proceeds from the League’s annual black-tie gala contribute to its educational initiatives for promising young theater directors. The star-studded lineup of guests includes Jones’ fellow “You Can’t Take It With You” cast mates, as well as Tyne Daly, Kelsey Grammer, Phylicia Rashad, and Alan Cumming, who will present the first-ever Arts Ally award to CBS’ “The Good Wife” for its support of the Broadway community. For tickets and more info, visit dramaleague.

George Lucas' 1974 rough draft of Star Wars is now a Titan comic book. Ryan charts the script's evolution from page to screen classic...

It's like Star Wars, but refracted through a strange lens. Here's Han Solo, but he's green, like the Toxic Avenger, and has gills. Here's Luke Skywalker, but he's a powerful general with a white beard and a flinty look in his eye.

All this can be found in what is now commonly called The Rough Draft of The Star Wars, originally written by George Lucas back in 1974. A kind of mid-point between the somewhat vague ideas Lucas first had for his space fantasy movie earlier in the decade, and the fourth draft - which was used as the shooting script for the 1977 film - The Star Wars is a jarring document from the franchise's early history.

Last year, Dark Horse produced an eight-part series of comics based on The Rough Draft,...

If you watched the first "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie and thought to yourself, This is really good and all but it would certainly be better if there were live action elements, maybe next time they could find a way to add in Antonio Banderas as some kind of pirate, well, you are in luck. The first trailer for next year's "SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" has just broken through the waves, and features live action elements, 3D animation and, yes, Antonio Banderas as some kind of pirate. Dreams really do come true.

The first trailer for the movie, which opens in February, sets up the movie pretty nicely: Banderas has a magic book that can make any evil plan he has spring to life (magically), but the final page of the book is being guarded by SpongeBob (the same guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea). The otherwise...

Director Michael Bay has tapped John Goodman and Ken Watanabe to voice two all new Autobots in his highly anticipated film Transformers: Age Of Extinction, the fourth film in the global blockbuster franchise from Paramount Pictures.

Goodman and Watanabe will join legendary voice actors Peter Cullen and Frank Welker.

Goodman will play Autobot Hound, Watanabe will play Drift, while Cullen reprises his role as the voice of Optimus Prime, and Welker takes on another new character, Galvatron.

“I am pleased to welcome two gifted and versatile actors, John Goodman and Ken Watanabe, to the world of Transformers,” said Bay. “And to reteam with Peter and Frank, who have brought Transformers characters alive from the beginning. I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best voice talent in the business, and together we will introduce several exciting new robots to fans of the franchise around the world.”

Rounding out...

NBC has ordered hourlong holiday musical special How Murray Saved Christmas from The Simpsons‘ writer/producer Mike Reiss. It’s scheduled to air in December 2014. Based on Reiss’ best-selling children’s book of the same name, the story centers on cranky deli owner Murray Kleiner, who is forced to fill in for Santa one Christmas and does a weirdly wonderful job. Walter Murphy (Ted, Family Guy) will compose the music of the special, produced by Universal TV. Rough Draft Animation will serve as the animation studio. Reiss has worked on The Simpsons since the show’s inception, at one point serving as exec producer/co-showrunner. His feature credits include The Simpsons Movie and Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaur.

Rough Draft: Carr-Wiggin’s Latest Buoyed Exclusively on the Charms of Lead Actress

If one were to look for fresh evidence of the perennial talents of the gifted Marcia Gay Harden they could definitely find proof of it in her lead turn in If I Were You, a new film directed by Canadian writer/director Joan Carr-Wiggin. Harden’s got a number of titles in post-production, but it’s been a minute since we’ve seen her in a really juicy lead role, and she sinks her teeth into this one. How unfortunate then that nothing else about the film even comes close to matching her considerable talents, as she carries the film’s merits entirely upon her shoulders.

Strolling down the bustling streets of Toronto one early evening, Madelyn (Marcia Gay Harden) accidentally stumbles upon her husband Paul (Joseph Kell) sharing a romantic dinner with his mistress, Lucy (Leonara Watling). Shocked,...

Yotam Ottolenghi savours the flavours of Marrakech, 1950s TV newsroom drama The Hour returns and Michael Winterbottom explores the effects of a long stretch in prison

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MondayCrime Stories

2pm, ITV1

Co-created by the people who brought us The Bill, here's a peculiar and rather worthy hybrid of fact and fiction – a fake fly-on-the-wall police procedural, starring a former real-life detective chief superintendent (Jane Antrobus). It's certainly plodding and humdrum enough to be authentic – though does chuck in the odd Columbo-style red herring to keep us interested. In this series opener, Di Jane and DS Ben Shaw (Hollyoaks' Ben Hull) investigate the case of an care home resident who's had his money stolen. Ali Catterall

The Dark Charisma Of Adolf Hitler

9pm, BBC2

Debut of a three-part series seeking to explain one of history's great inexplicables: how and why did the civilised people of a great European nation,...

"Futurama" returns to Comedy Central in just a few weeks, and creator Matt Groening says fans can look forward to continued development in Fry and Leela's relationship, the return of guest voice George Takei and, according to him, the limb-losingest season yet.

"I guess what's different this summer is Fry and Leela's relationship is progressing, and people who care about that will be delighted," Groening tells Zap2it. "And the animators at Rough Draft have once again made it their missions to outdo themselves. They just love doing the show -- they have such a good time. ... With a very skimpy budget and tight time schedule, they continue to amaze us."

The season opens June 20 with back-to-back episodes. The first finds Bender the father to a robot baby (complete with explanation of how that works), and the second plays with the idea of the Mayan calendar predicting the end of...

Publisher/editor Mike White is planning a new edition of his classic film zine, Cashiers du Cinemart, and is looking for article submissions. Cashiers has long been the premiere publication on cult movies, interviews with under-appreciated filmmakers, reconsiderations of unloved movies, pop culture analyses of forgotten film classics and other essays about the fringes of cinematic culture.

White characterizes himself as a “fairly harsh editor” and it’s that devotion to publishing quality, well-researched and well-thought-out articles that has made Cashiers du Cinemart such a beloved publication for film buffs over so many decades.

If you’re a film writer who has what it takes, here are the deadlines for article submission:

Idea/pitch of what you want to write about by Feb. 29, 2012

Rough draft by May 31, 2012

Final version by July 4, 2012

Details on how to submit can be found on the Impossible Funky blog.

You can also still buy Cashiers...

Unemployed? FUNemployed? Just out of college and looking for work? Here’s some help – The Wall Street Journal’s Fins Finance website just put together this resume-helping list of The Ten Worst Things To Put In Your Cover Letter, including employer turnoffs like “Personal Stories,” “Irrelevant Experience,” and “Wrong Company Info,” among others. The list is moderately informative, but the title is badly exaggerated — there are clearly Way worse things than “Personal Stories” that a person could put in a cover letter. To offer some more help in these tough economic times, here’s our far more comprehensive list of the 10 Actual Worst Things To Put In Your Cover Letter. Happy employment! 1. Panther Death Threats Threatening your prospective employer with a panther mauling may seem like an assertive, near-foolproof coverletter strategy, but research shows that it only increases your chances of getting hired by a marginal 6.7%, while it increases your...

Good news, everyone! Not only did Futurama make its Earthican presence known at San Diego Comic-Con 2011, but series creator Matt Groening also announced the release of the Futurama Head-In-a-Jar Creator App for iPhone and iPod Touch!

Available for release on iTunes immediately after he announced it, and developed in a collaboration between Comedy Central, the producers of Futurama and Rough Draft Studios, the free App allows fans to design their own Head-In-a-Jar, just like in the cartoon!

The App allows users create their own customized character, choosing from male/female humans, robots or aliens, even customizing traits such as eyes, nose, hair, blemishes and the background. Other features include Futurama-themed accessories, such as a foil hat (seen in Into the Wild Green Yonder), Flexo’s beard, Nibbler’s antenna and a customized name plate for each head designed! Says Jake Wallace, Producer w/ Cc Digital Media of the character...

Fans of a popular sci-fi animated series can get the entire legacy of the series in one hefty set this October. Futurama: The Complete Collection will be released on DVD on October 13. This massive 19-disc set contains all 72 episodes of the original series plus all four DVD films - Futurama: Bender's Big Score, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, Futurama: Bender's Game and Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder. The complete set is priced at $169.98 Srp and you can take a look at the cover art and special features below.

Looking to get your Futurama fix in great, big, hilarious, planet-sized chunks? Then this is your lucky light year! Now, in one shiny collection, you'll find all seventy-two original TV episodes and four epically amusing, feature-length adventures starring your favorite spaced-out space crew, plus enough extras to fill a moon base, if you're into that sort of thing.

Mitch Hurtwitz maintains a self-deprecating humor about his latest show, Sit Down, Shut Up. The animated comedy is finally premiering after months of recording and animation. .It.s gotten worse,. Hurwitz joked. .I think we.ve hurt it.. Seriously though, the lengthy process of animation keeps Hurwitz creative.

Sit Down, Shut Up

.Well, the big thing that.s happened is you get the things back in color. The way animation works is you do the script, you record the script. In our case, a company called Rough Draft sketches out all the little characters and how they move. It.s almost like a slide show, it.s called an animatic. They send that to Korea. Korea, they draw it, they add color to it and that kind of thing and then we get that back six months later basically. So we.re finally seeing what...