In Memoriam: Carrie Fisher 1956-2016

In a year that keeps taking our beloved performers, another blow has happened with Carrie Fisher passing away from heart failure. On December 23, Fisher went into cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles and was subsequently taken to the UCLA Medical Centre where she passed away in the morning of the 27th of December.

Carrie Fisher had a long and storied life that went far beyond the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, which shot her to international fame. Fisher was born to Hollywood royalty as her mother Debbie Reynolds was a famed actress known for her role in Singin' in the Rain and her father Eddie Fisher was an actor and singer.

Fisher's first movie role was in 1975, in the comedy Shampoo, which starred Warren Beatty. When Star Wars was released in 1977, only her second film role, Fisher and her co-stars Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford all shot to super stardom. Apart from the Star Wars films, Carrie Fisher appeared in numerous other movies, like Hannah and Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally, The Burbs, The Blues Brothers, Scream 3 and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Fisher also worked as a script doctor on a huge number of films, including Sister Act, Lethal Weapon 3, The River Wild, Hook and all three prequels of Star Wars. This work went uncredited. She also wrote novels like Postcards from the Edge, which was adapted into a film starring Meryl Streep.

She also had a tumultuous personal life. Fisher had a serious drug problem through most of her life and also suffered from bipolar disorder. She married singer Paul Simon in 1983, but divorced a year later due to their conflicting personalities. She also had an affair with co-star Harrison Ford when they were filming Star Wars in 1976. She had a relationship with talent agent Bryan Lourd with whom she had a daughter Billie Lourd.

In Memorium: Gene Wilder 1933-2016

2016 continues to wage its vicious war against beloved stars with the sad news today that Gene Wilder has passed at age 83. He had been suffering from Alzheimers.

Many might only know him as the fun but enigmatic Willy Wonka, or perhaps from his work with Mel Brooks in The Producers, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles, but the late great comic, actor, writer and director's career spanned over five decades. 

Wilder first appeared as Eugene Grizzard in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde, and the very next year picked up a leading role in the classic comedy The Producers, along with his first Academy Award nomination. In 1971 he took Roald Dahl's most famous character to the silver screen with his memorable, unrepeatable performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which has spawned a cult following and worthy place in meme culture in the decades since. In 1974 he worked again with Brooks on both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, two extremely different roles that he made his own, and that you couldn't possibly imagine anybody else as. 

Rest in Peace Mr Wilder, there's no earthly way of knowing, which direction you are going - but wherever that is, we salute you.

Fall Out Boy's Ghostbusters Theme Song Not So Great

Despite having a few underwhelming trailers, I have been trying to remain positive about Paul Feig's upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. I'm of a mind not to judge a movie until we've seen it a let it speak for itself. But one thing I can comment on is the new theme song that has been released by Fall Out Boy featuring Missy Elliott. Let's just say it doesn't quite capture the classic essence of Ray Parker Jr.'s original hit.

Check it out below:

Here's the original if you want to compare (and because you can never have too much of the original).

Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin has died in a car accident

The 27 year old who was best known for his role as Chekov in JJ Abrams Star Trek movies has died in a car accident at his home in California. He was found by his friends tragically pinned between his car and a brick wall.

He may not have been actor that everyone was familiar with, but he certainly was a rising star. Apart from Star Trek, he appeared in many independent films, such as the horror remake Fright Night and Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, and starred with many big names like Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke and Christian Bale. He will also appear in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond.

First look at Harry Potter spinoff

Entertainment Weekly has released a series of promotional and set photos of the upcoming Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Starring Eddie Redmayne, it follows the story of wizard author Newt Scamander who wrote the book of which the film takes its title. The film is directed by Potter veteran David Yates and also stars Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Dan Fogler.

Danny Boyle to make 'Trainspotting 2'

Danny Boyle has been very busy recently. His Steve Jobs biopic has been getting some early praise from critics - and perhaps more importantly, Steve Wozniak - and today, just before the first public screening, he's announced that he plans for his next project to be Trainspotting 2, the follow-up to his classic 1996 film.

The sequel will be based on Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh's novel Porno which is itself a sequel to the original, which followed a group of Scottish heroin addicts in their passage through life. The film featured arguably one of Ewan McGregor's finest performances and also starred Ewen Bremner, Kevin McKidd and Robert Carlyle as the infamous Begbie.

Trainspotting screenwriter John Hodge has already provided Boyle with a script which he describes as "terrific", set ten years after the events of the first film, 2 will follow the four leads as they venture into the pornographic world. It's reported that McGregor, Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Carlyle have all signed up to appear in the sequel.  

P.S: Perhaps most interestingly for me (Ed) is whether 'Underworld' will once again feature heavily in the film. I am personally a huge fan of the electronic band (mainly thanks to 'Trainspotting') and they certainly set the tone for some of its greatest scenes including this ending scene *spoilers*:

New Batman v Superman trailer

I would have included this in the week's trailer roundup, but DC decided to release this after I published it. Anyway, we get a good look at Batman and the state of the world post-Superman reveal. Also Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor starting shit up.

Legendary Egyptian actor Omar Sharif dies aged 83

Famed actor Omar Sharif has died at the age of 83 from a heart attack. He was best known for the films Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Earlier this year, the Egypt-born actor had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Sharif was born Michel Shalhoub in Alexandria in 1932 and got his acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His first film was the 1954 Egyptian film Siraa Fil-Wadi (The Blazing Sun) and he soon became a big star.

Sharif's international fame came when he was cast in David Lean's 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, opposite actor Peter O'Toole. The two soon became fast friends. He rejoined director David Lean to play the lead in Doctor Zhivago, a film about a physician who gets caught up in the Russian Revolution. He was also in a series of biopics, where he played historical figures such as Genghis Khan and Che Guevara.

Despite being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Sharif still knew that he was a famous international star. His death was announced by his grandson Omar Sharif Jr in a Facebook post.

Source: BBC

Star Wars spinoff news

Punch it, Chewie

In Disney's complete cash-grab that is the Star Wars continuation movies, a series of standalone movies will be produced that take place outside of the main saga storyline, but still take place with in the universe. The first one that is being made is Star Wars: Rogue One and will be released sometime in 2016. It will be about the mission to steal the plans to destroy the original Death Star. The second movie to be announced is a Boba Fett origin story. And now we have confirmation of the third film: Han Solo.

Now before you get excited thinking that this that is going to be a Harrison Ford adventure, well I'm here to disappoint you. It will focus on a younger Han and how he "became the smuggler, thief and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley." Hopefully we'll also learn how he first met Chewbacca as well.

While no casting announcements have been made (and I'm sure they haven't even started to look for anyone yet), we know that the film will be directed by Christopher Miller and Phil Lord of 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie fame, while the script will be written by father and son team Lawrence and Jon Kasdan. Lawrence Kasdan co-wrote both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as the Indiana Jones movies. His son Jon has written mainly for TV with his credits including Freaks and Geeks. This untitled Han Solo movie is due in 2018.

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens is scheduled for release on December 18, 2015.

Producer Jerry Weintraub dies at 77

We tend not to report to much on celebrity deaths at the blog to often, unless that person was a huge star. But upon reading the news that producer Jerry Weintraub had died, I thought I better write a little something.

Now that name might not mean anything to you, but Weintraub was behind one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time; The Karate Kid. He produced all five of the movies, yes even the Jaden Smith one. He also produced the Ocean's Eleven series, starring George Clooney, and had a cameo in each one, as well as the classic Robert Altman film Nashville.

Before getting into the movie business, he was a music manager and promoted big stars like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton and the Beach Boys. 

Weintraub died on Monday of cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara, California. He was 77 and survived by his wife Jane, four children and five grandchildren.

New Spider-Man will be like a John Hughes movie

Marvel boss Kevin Feige has the premise of the upcoming Spider-Man movie that will take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He describes it as being "a John Hughes movie". His motive for this comment is due to the fact that it takes place largely while Peter Parker is still in high school. Well, as you all know that we love our John Hughes movies here at the blog. So, we can only guess at which movie it will be like. Will it be The Breakfast Club with Peter sitting around in detention with Mary Jane, Flash Thompson and Harry Osborne? Or will he chase around Gwen Stacey in a reverse Sixteen Candles? We all know it won't be at all like Ferris Bueller's Day Off because Peter Parker is nowhere near as cool as Ferris.

And since we didn't talk about the casting when it happened, I suppose it's high time I raised my concerns with Tom Holland. It seems to me that with each iteration of Spider-Man, the studios are trying to make Peter Parker cooler and cooler while missing the point of what the character represents. If you were a "cool" kid growing up, you probably wanted to be Iron Man or Captain America or Wolverine, if you were slightly rebellious, smoked and wore leather jackets. The whole idea of Spider-Man is that as soon he put on the mask he transformed from a nerdy, shy teenager into a witty superhero, thus becoming a role model for anyone with social anxiety. Tom Holland has been in a handful of movies, including Locke and The Impossible and I doubt will ever be able to match Tobey Maguire's level of geekiness.

The next revelation from Feige is that he will come up against a villain who has yet to be seen in the movies. Now there are only a handful of major villains who haven't shown up in the movies that have been made up to now. They are Chameleon, Mysterio, Vulture, Scorpion and Kraven the Hunter. Anything further than those and you risk losing people who aren't all that familiar with the comics. Personally, I'd be happy with Mysterio, but that might be a boring movie.

Will Poulter to play Pennywise the Clown

So we finally have some news about the latest adaptation of Stephen King. His terrifying novel It has been floating around for a while now as something that is in the works and now we have some solid news as to who will be in the hopefully terrifying film.

Will Poulter (of We're The Millers fame) is apparently in talks to play the pants-shittingly scary clown Pennywise, who has already been played to perfection by Tim Curry in the 1990 TV miniseries adaptation.

Apparently this adaptation will follow the 1,138 page novel closer than the previous adaptation and will be darker and scarier as well. It is about a group of adults who come back to their hometown for a reunion and are followed by the same supernatural that haunted them as children. It is a truly scary monster and the main form it takes is that of Pennywise the Clown, because nothing is scarier than a clown.

Here's a gif of Pennywise laughing at your terror.

Harrison Ford to return for the Blade Runner sequel

Whether or not you are fan of the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner (I personally don't see what all the fuss is about), you may be interested to know that Harrison Ford is reprising his role of Rick Deckard in a sequel.

The sequel will be set several decades after the original and is directed Denis Villeneuve, who also directed the Hugh Jackman/Jake Gyllenhaal collaboration Prisoners. Ridley Scott will be serving as executive producer on this film and has said that Ford is very excited about the script.

"Portlandia" renewed for 2 new seasons

It has been announced that sketch comedy show Portlandia has been renewed for two more seasons with cable channel IFC. Seasons 6 and 7 will consist of 10 episodes each and this renewal makes it one of the longest running comedy shows on cable (although our favourite It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia holds the top position).

If you're not familiar with Portlandia, it is a sketch show created by SNL alum Fred Armisen and punk rocker Carrie Armisen and is a love letter to the Oregon city of Portland and all the weird and wonderful characters that reside in the city. It is directed by co-creator Jonathan Krisel.

Spider-Man Is An Official Part Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Unless you are completely up to date with the politics of Hollywood's studio system, you may not be fully aware of who owns the rights to particular characters. Marvel Studios is in control of most of it's own intellectual properties, Iron Man, Captain America, et al.

But what it doesn't own (cinematically speaking) are some of it's more popular characters, Spider-Man being the important one here (the web-head is currently owned by Sony). What this generally means is that he is unable to appear in other movies featuring Marvel characters, like his good friends The Avengers.

Today, however, a historic decision to share the character between studios has been made. This means that Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios' producer will get on board for the next Amazing Spider-Man movie due it 2017. It also means that Spidey will appear in a Marvel movie before then, with titles like Captain America: Civil War or Doctor Strange, being the film he will be in.

If only the X-Men could be brought in on it all.

Chris Pratt could be Indiana Jones, maybe?

I don't know if it's the big amount of coffee that I've had, but this news has tickled me the right way. While this is only a rumour started by the Latino Review, a reputable source that throws out wild accusations about castings in big budget movies, usually those made by Disney, I am liking the idea of Chris Pratt stepping into the role of Indy. The franchise definitely needs a reboot after the highly disappointing Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Previous reports by Variety journalist Justin Kroll had speculated that the likes of Bradley Cooper and Chris Hemsworth being up for the role, being action stars these are obvious choices. Then again, Disney might see Pratt as a bankable star, especially after the success of Guardians of the Galaxy. By the look of the trailers for Jurassic World, he may be able to make the jump from comedy to being an action star.

Tell us what you think of Chris Pratt playing Indiana Jones? He definitely would be able to play up some of the lighter parts of the character.

David Fincher and Ben Affleck do Hitchcock

Ben Affleck and David Fincher are teaming up again (yay!) to remake an Alfred Hitchcock movie (um, boo...). The movie in question is the 1951 classic Strangers on a Train, in which a famous tennis player meets a wealthy man on a train and they decide to kill each other's problem person and hopefully get away with it scott free.

Of course remaking Hitchcock is dangerous territory. In 1998, Gus Van Sant released a horrendous remake of Psycho with manchild Vince Vaughn playing Norman Bates. This version made a farce of what I think is one of the most genuinely terrifying movies ever made.

But back on this new movie. This time the story is going to be slightly different and fit more in the modern world. Affleck will play a movie star travelling around in his private jet, campaigning for an upcoming awards season when his plane breaks down and is forced to land. He is then given a ride to LA in a wealthy strangers plane. Rather than go for the catchy title Strangers on a Plane (which I think would be golden), the film will go by the slim-lined version Strangers.

Now I'm not too sure how this will pan out. Yes, Gone Girl was filled with suspense, so we are well aware that Fincher is capable of doing it, but no one can beat the Master of Suspense at his own game. Although Gillian Flynn is returning to write the script on this one, so maybe that will clinch it. Let us know what you think of this remake.

Better Call Saul + House Of Cards previews

In the last two days we have been treated to some trailers from the two most anticipated TV series of 2015. I am really excited to show these trailers and hear what you're thoughts on them are.

Better Call Saul

Vince Gilligan's spin-off to everyone's favourite drama Breaking Bad looks decidedly lighter than the terror of Walter White, but I can't say I'm expecting it to be non-stop hilarity from Bob Odenkirk. Knowing Gilligan, he'll probably blindside us with some darker material in unexpected places.

House Of Cards

Netflix's amazing drama series is just getting better and better. Why just today Kevin Spacey won best actor at the Golden Globes for his portrayal of Frank Underwood. It looks like the stakes are getting bigger in season 3.

Fargo season 2 casting news

Fargo was one of the surprise TV hits of 2014. It boasted great performances from Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton who both play scary characters in their own ways. It seemed very likely that due to the popularity of this miniseries that there would be another season, albeit with a different cast.

This new season will focus on a young Lou Solverson (played by Keith Carradine in the first season), freshly back from the Vietnam War and living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he is a state trooper investigating a mob incident. Young Lou Solverson will be played Patrick Wilson. Also appearing in the series are Ted Danson, who will play Lou's father in law and sheriff of Rock County, Minnesota and Jean Smart will play the matriarch of a crime family. Nick Offerman and Kieran Culkin also star.

Let's take a look at the Suicide Squad cast

I know that the casting of Suicide Squad isn't exactly news, DC Entertainment has been slowly releasing the news of who is going to be in the movie steadily over the past few weeks, but I thought that now we have a fair few names attached to the movie, it would be a good opportunity to talk about the movie as a whole.

I can imagine a fair few of you are probably thinking who or what is the Suicide Squad. This group is made up of super-villains from the DC universe who are made to do missions by the government that the regular superheroes won't do, mainly because they involve killing dictators, terrorists, drug barons or any similar bad guy. I also say they are made to do this because if they don't achieve their directives, they are killed by an explosive bracelet on their wrists.

This team is made up of some members who may seem familiar and others that sound like I'm just making them up. But let's have a look. First is someone who everyone should know due to her popularity. Harley Quinn (AKA the Joker's girlfriend) is going to be played by Aussie actress Margot Robbie, known for her lead role in The Wolf of Wall Street. Harley Quinn is a beloved character and it will be interesting to see Robbie's interpretation.

Next on the list is the assassin Deadshot, a frequent enemy of Batman and is known to never miss one of his targets. He will be played by Will Smith, a choice that is strange for his famous face as Deadshot's face remains covered in bandages.

Aussie actor Jai Courtney will play Captain Boomerang which is good because we wouldn't want to see an American playing an Australian character. Captain Boomerang is known for using a vast array of deadly boomerangs, much in the same way Hawkeye from The Avengers uses different arrows. I am really excited about the roles that Courtney has been doing of late and I know this will be a good one for him.

Tom Hardy will play the operational leader of the Suicide Squad, Rick Flag. As far as I can tell Flag is just a mentally unstable soldier, but watching Tom Hardy in a role like this should be fun. Model turned actress Cara Delevingne will play the witch of the group, Enchantress.

Jared Leto has been cast to play the Joker, which could be a good or bad thing, I'm not sure. I'm also not sure of how this will play into the plot. The Joker isn't a member of the team and could possibly be a target of the Squad.

Now we get into rumour territory. Apparently Oprah Winfrey's name has been put out there to play the leader of the group, Amanda Waller. I think it would be a lot of fun to see Oprah in a movie like this, rather than the ultra-serious roles that she normally plays. Another name that has been thrown into the mix is Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, but I'm not sure what to think of that.