The Baltimore Sun
We don't know if you've heard, but vampires are kind of in right now. Hot on their heels are witches, werewolves, fairies, angels and all manner of other mythical beings. They've all got different powers and weaknesses, of course, so to help you keep it all straight, we've created a handy guide to all of the featured creatures that will be on the major TV networks this fall.
Now when someone asks you the difference between a "Vampire Diaries" werewolf and a "Grimm" Big Bad Wolf, you've got no excuse for a wrong answer. (Hint: It's all in the shoulders.)
Read on for the details, and check in on Zap2it's helpful Fall TV Preview to find out when your favorite shows premiere this autumn.
A Pagan's Life (For Me) - A blog and site for the modern, fashion conscious, pop culture crazed Witch. Yes, I said it, Witch. Witch, Which, Witch...
Monday, August 29, 2011
Freud's Interest in the Occult
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris reawakened my interest in Anais Nin. She was the flapper who decided to stay La Belle Epoque at the end. (Oops, have I given it away?) I indulged in Noel Riley Fitch'sThe Erotic Life and Anais Nin.
Anais Nin was up to her haunted dark eyes in the study of the cosmos and analysis. She hustled customers for an astrologer and during her affair with the analyst, Otto Rank, became an analyst herself. She even got clients for her lover, Henry Miller to analyze. Go figure.
Freud, who began psychoanalysis, was into the occult, too. On page 195, I learned that Freud, suffering from nasal infections and migraines, took cocaine treatments at times determined by numerology!
Ah, the ever-expanding uses of numerology. Do you use it? What for?
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Rose McGowan Raised In A Cult
Rose McGowan, ex-fiance of shock rockerMarilyn Manson
and star of the 2007 cult film 'Planet Terror' has revealed gruesome details behind her upbringing in a religious cult.
and star of the 2007 cult film 'Planet Terror' has revealed gruesome details behind her upbringing in a religious cult. The stars parents were a part of the Children of God cult that teaches young girls to be subservient and promotes polygamy.
McGowan remembers one particularly frightening moment in her childhood when one of the adult leaders cut off a wart on her hand with a razor blade because imperfections were frowned upon by the faith's leaders.
"I had a little wart on my thumb, and I remember walking down this hallway- a door opened and some adult grabbed me and just cut it off with a razor blade and stuck me back out in the hallway with it still bleeding."
McGowan's family decided to flee the cultafter the church started to condone sexual relationships between adults and children. Rose McGowan remembers it as a terrifying chapter in her childhood and is grateful that she made it out relatively unscathed.
after the church started to condone sexual relationships between adults and children. Rose McGowan remembers it as a terrifying chapter in her childhood and is grateful that she made it out relatively unscathed. "As strong as I like to think I've always been, I'm sure I could have been broken. I know I got out by the skin of my teeth."
SPOILERS!!! On The Set Of ‘The Avengers’
Pink Is The New Blog
First we saw photos of Captain America (Chris Evans), the first Avenger, on the Cleveland, OH set of The Avengers and then we saw photos of the villainous Loki(Tom Hiddleston) on set as well. Today we get to see photos of the two men together … locked in bitter, epic battle. Click below to get a sneak peek at Captain America vs.Loki as they will be seen in next year’s film The Avengers.
Now, it seems highly unlikely that under any “normal” circumstances (well, normal for a world where gods and superheroes exist side-by-side) that Captain America would have any chance of successfully beating Loki, who is a god, in any sort of combat. My guess is that in some way, Loki will lose his godly powers and then will face the wrath ofCaptain America and his Super Solider juice. And even despite the spoilery nature of these photos, I absolutely do not mind at all that we are getting to see so much of the film this early on. All of these on-set photos have been really fun to see … I’m actually looking forward to seeing more.
TAGGED: 'THE AVENGERS', CHRIS EVANS, TOM HIDDLESTON CELEB SIGHTINGS, MOVIE SETS,UPDATES
One for the Atheist team...
In this month's The Humanist magazine, Ricky Gervais about his new show Life's Too Short, whether he's a shock comedian and why he thinks God loves him really.
I just can't get over how life like his cartoon looks;-)
Weekend Report: No Downgrade for Hurricane 'Help'
by Brandon Gray of BoxOfficeMojo
The Help seemed relatively unfazed by Hurricane Irene over the weekend, while the three new nationwide releases Colombiana, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Our Idiot Brother were blown away. The drama packed an estimated $14.3 million, down just 28 percent from last weekend, lifting its total to $96.6 million in 19 days, surpassing the final gross of Julie & Julia.
The weekend as a whole, though, was the second-slowest of the year so far, ahead of only Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 4-6), but business was poised to flounder, hurricane or no.
Colombiana was the most successful debut with an estimated $10.3 million on approximately 2,900 screens at 2,614 locations. On the bright side, it improved on the $9.4 million first weekend of Zoe Saldana's last action turn in the ensemble The Losers as well as producer Luc Besson's last action movie, From Paris with Love ($8.2 million), but it was otherwise tepid as late August action movies often are. Distributor Sony Pictures' exit polling indicated that 57 percent of the audience was female (unusual for the genre), while 65 percent was age 25 years and older.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark disappointed with an estimated $8.7 million at 2,760 nearly single-screen locations. That was a low debut gross for a supernatural horror movie and trailed distributor FilmDistrict's previous release Insidious ($13.3 million). In fact, in the past three years, the sub-genre has seen only two worse starts (Case 39 and The Haunting of Molly Hartley). FilmDistrict reported females under 25 years old and Latino-populated markets as the movie's strongest contingents.
Our Idiot Brother stumbled into fifth place with an estimated $6.6 million at 2,555 single-screen locations. The opening was worse than The Switch's $8.7 million last August. Distributor The Weinstein Company's research showed that 55 percent of the audience was female and 70 percent was age 25 years and older.
Even without a hurricane on the East Coast to contend with, this crop of new releases was always going to be modest at best, though Irene has given Hollywood a convenient excuse. These movies paled compared to the ones on the same weekend last year, Takers and The Last Exorcism, which respectively drew $20.5 million and $20.4 million. The major nationwide holdovers may be a good indicator of Irene's impact, and they were down 50 percent on average, compared to 47 percent last year.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes ranked fourth with an estimated $8.65 million, falling a bit harder than last weekend (46 percent versus 42 percent). Its total climbed to $148.5 million in 22 days, leaping past X-Men: First Class.
Last weekend's flops showed no traction. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World tumbled 51 percent to an estimated $5.7 million for a paltry $21.7 million sum in ten days. Conan the Barbarian crumbled 69 percent to an estimated $3.1, mustering just $16.6 million in ten days. Fright Night bled 61 percent to an estimated $3 million for an anemic $14.2 million tally in ten days.
Around-the-World Roundup: 'Smurfs,' 'Apes' and Death Duke It Out
by Ray Subers of BoxOfficeMojo
There may not have been a Hurricane Irene to battle with overseas, but the box office still suffered from a degree of late summer malaise. Based on Sunday estimates, The Smurfs took first place for the third straight weekend, but it was a close race and either Rise of the Planet of the Apes or Final Destination 5 could still take the top spot when final numbers are tabulated.
Without adding any major new markets, The Smurfs dipped 36 percent to an estimated $22.5 million. Its top territories were France ($2.8 million), Brazil ($2.6 million) and the United Kingdom ($2.5 million), and its foreign total reached an impressive $256 million. That surpassed Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel's $223.5 million foreign total to become the top-grossing children's movie with a CGI Star ever.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes grossed an estimated $21.9 million in 49 markets, which brought its total to $157.3 million. It debuted in first place in Brazil with $3.9 million and held extremely well in South Korea (down 29 percent to $3.8 million), France (off 20 percent to $3.3 million), the U.K. (down 29 percent to $2.8 million) and Germany (off 23 percent to $1.3 million). On Sunday, the movie's worldwide (domestic plus foreign) total passed $300 million.
Final Destination 5 burst on to the charts this weekend with $21 million from 20 territories. It had a big $7.9 million opening in Russia, which marked an improvement over The Final Destination. However, FD5 was off from its predecessor in Germany ($2.4 million) and the U.K. ($2.3 million) and was about even in Spain ($1.8 million). FD4 wound up just shy of $120 million two years ago, and FD5 should also be in line for $100 million. With $28.5 million so far, the movie is set to expand to France and Australia next weekend.
Cowboys & Aliens doubled its territory count but still failed to gain any momentum, earning $14.1 million from 43 markets. It debuted to $3.2 million in France, $1.8 million in Mexico and $1.6 million in Germany, none of which were compelling figures. So far, the genre mashup has made just $35.5 million overseas, and, even with openings in Brazil, Italy, Japan and Spain to look forward to, it's still probably going to struggle to reach $100 million.
Cars 2 grossed an estimated $11.2 million, bringing its total to $334.6 million. Worldwide, it has made $522 million, which ranks just ahead of Pixar's WALL-E but a notch behind Monsters, Inc. ($525.4 million).
The summer's other major animated release, Kung Fu Panda 2, opened to a strong $6.6 million in Italy, its last major market, this weekend. Overall the movie made $9.1 million for an overseas total of $473.3 million. On Friday, it passed the first Kung Fu Panda on a worldwide basis, and its total now sits at a solid $637.6 million.
Finally, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 continued its remarkable run with an estimated $8.2 million for an overseas total of $923.4 million. It's worldwide figure reached $1.294 billion, and it should pass $1.3 billion by next weekend.
Other Notables - Weekend Gross - Gross-to-Date (all in millions)
Horrible Bosses - $8.1 - $56.6
Green Lantern - $6.7 - $90.1
Captain America - $5.4 - $157
Super 8 - $4.6 - $118
What a Man - $4.3 - $4.3
Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $3.7 - $10.5
Transformers 3 - $3.6 - $757
Mr. Popper's Penguins - $2.4 - $100.2
Bad Teacher - $2.2 - $103
Zookeeper - $2.1 - $66
Friends with Benefits - $2 - $16.6
You Are the Apple of My Eye - $1.6 - $5.9
Exclusive: Castle Targets True Blood Vampire
True Blood vamp Jessica Tuck is temporarily retracting her fangs for a guest spot on ABC’s Castle, TVLine has learned exclusively.
The actress will play a wealthy museum benefactor who becomes a suspect in a murder investigation. This is the same episode that features The Killing‘s Kristin Lehman as an art insurance investigator and a potential lust interest for Nathan Fillion’s titular detective.
Like Fillion, Tuck got her first big acting break on One Life to Live. Although the two never appeared on the soap at the same time, their characters were half-siblings via Viki.
Castle‘s fourth season launches Sept. 19 at 10/9c on ABC.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Review - 'Fright Night' - B+
If you don't know the basics, High School senior Charlie Brewster, Anton Yelchin ('Star Trek' and 'The Smurfs') is newly popular with the hot girlfriend and a former geek friend who wholeheartedly believes that Charlie's new neighbour is a vampire named Jerry, played by Colin Farrell. "That is a terrible vampire name. Jerry?" This is the Colin Farrell we all hope for when we see his name in the credits, cool and menacing.
'Fright Night' could have easily followed the recent spate of modern remakes and dumped personality for tits, gloss and a Gossip Girl mentality. This film has a secret weapon that I didn't realize until I saw the credits - it was written by Marti Noxon, the brilliant former writer of 'Angel' and 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.' The woman knows a bit about the vampire genre and she has fun with it.
I will say that it is a bit slow at the beginning, but once Charlie catches up with the audience, the roller coaster begins. The co-stars are superior and are extremely well cast. Toni Collette as Charlie's mum is smart and modern. There were also a couple of break out siblings in the film, Dave Franco, brother of James, and Sandra Vergara, Sophia's sister, stand out in a strong ensemble.
As with the original, the Yoda in Charlie's new vampire slaying lifestyle is Peter Vincent, played with gusto (a word not used enough) by David Tennant. He enters each scene as if he owns them, and we willing give it to him. He has fun with the part and we have a blast watching. Kudos, dear Doctor!
In total, 'Fright Night' is clever, packed with charm and walks the hard line between comedy and horror like it taught the class. Hollywood, pay attention...this is how you make a remake!
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Neil Gaiman on libraries, Dr Who, fanatical fans and his dreams
Guardian.co.uk
One of the most decorated writers on the planet thrills fans with a wide-ranging discussion, revealing details of new books in the pipeline and his hopes for sequels to the much-loved Coraline and American Gods
One of the most decorated writers on the planet thrills fans with a wide-ranging discussion, revealing details of new books in the pipeline and his hopes for sequels to the much-loved Coraline and American Gods
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| Neil Gaiman signing books for fans at the Edinburgh international book festival |
Considering how massively popular Neil Gaiman is, I feel I have a duty to share my notes from his talk here at the Edinburgh interational book festival on Tuesday. There was a real sense that despite his success, he has plenty more writing in him and is full of ideas, if only he had the time to do them justice.
Dozens of people contacted me on Twitter saying they wished they could be there, so here are the main points in his own words for those of you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket.
Gaiman on his new books:
"I'm currently battling with a short story, I'm on page 50 and it's definitely not a short story. It seems to be children's fiction, I'm not quite sure, because it starts with an adult suicide. It's about this kid who is eight years-old and he becomes friendly with these three women who run a farm at the bottom of the lake. They say they come from the old country, but not the real old country because that sank. And their mother says none of them know what they're talking about because the really old country blew up. Weird stuff happens on their farm. It was such a simple story when I started writing it, elegant in its simplicity. But then I started writing it."The other thing I'm writing right now was meant to be the next children's picture book. It's called Fortunately, The Milk. It was meant to be a kind of sequel to The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish because people say I'm very unfair to fathers and I think, 'You're right, I should write something which proves how important and cool fathers are.' It's about the morning these kids wake up and there is no milk so their dad goes off to get some. And they wait and they wait and they even contemplate putting juice on their cereal. Eventually he gets back and they say, 'You forgot about us.' He says, 'Actually there was a humming noise as I left the corner shop and I found myself in a spaceship.' He starts this amazing tale."There are pirates in it, there are aliens, prophecies and volcanoes. And as each desperate situation unfolds, he says 'Fortunately, the milk was...' and the milk survives. I thought it would be a nice 2,500 word story but it keeps growing."
Gaiman on watching his own Dr Who episode:
"Normally I can't enjoy my own stuff. But I loved my Dr Who episode. I absolutely love it, because what I wrote was the script and what I get back is this glorious wonderful stuff. And Rory dies, again. Some of it was how I imagined and some of it wasn't and that's great. That's why I like collaborating. The fun of it is sitting down and thinking, this is great."One of the main things that formed me as a kid was Dr Who. When I was a kid I had David Whitaker's book Dr Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks, that's actually the title. And because you had no DVDs, videos or any way of ever watching these things again, once they were watched they were gone. I would read and re-read and re-re-read."
Gaiman on following-up Coraline and American Gods:
"Fans and readers like the last thing they read. They say they want another American Gods or another Stardust. I get these letters from kids explaining to me that I need to write another Coraline. And they suggest plots, it's great. They all suggest the same plot too, pretty much, that Coraline goes to school and the Other Mother is now one of their teachers. And I sympathise and empathise. There's a part of me that would love to go and write some more of those."American Gods was designed to be if not open-ended, at least a trilogy kind of shape, so there's definitely one more book, probably another couple of books there to get written. I'm actively researching the second one now in a lazy kind of way. I did some research for it the other day here at the Fringe in Edinburgh when I hung out with a mentalist. Mentalism is one of the things that strands through the second American Gods in the same way that coin magic stranded through the first."
Gaiman on his fans:
"For years up to The Graveyard Book I loved the fact that I tended to exist in either, 'Neil Gaiman, never heard of him,' or 'Neil Gaiman, oh my he's my favourite author.' Somehow The Graveyard Book achieved critical mass. I don't think it's part of the job to interact with fans. I love being a writer."I actually worry when I speak to younger authors who have been pointed at my website or worse, to my Twitter feed, by their publishers who have said he's successful, do that. I tell them look, I do it because I enjoy it. I started blogging a decade ago because I like blogging. Writing's a kind of lonely thing to do and I liked the idea of demystifying the process because I loved it as a kid and teenager and as somebody who wanted desperately to write."
Gaiman on libraries:
"When I was young I was reading anything and anything I could lay my hands on. I was a veracious to the point of insane reader. When I got the Carnegie Medal for The Graveyard Book I gave a talk about libraries and how incredibly important libraries were to me."As a kid I would get my parents to drop me off at my local library on their way to work during the summer holidays and I would walk home at night. For several years I read the children's library until I finished the children's library. Then I moved into the adult library and slowly worked my way through them. With the kids' library I did it alphabetically but I discovered I couldn't do that with the adult one because there were too many big boring books to read, so I did it by interesting covers."
Gaiman on his dreams:
Taking questions from fans, Gaiman was asked: "Question, random. Do you have vivid dreams or is it just things you observe?"
He replied:
"Answer, equally random. I steal from my dreams. Dream logic and story logic are totally very different. The most important thing I get from dreams is how I feel about things. I've stolen scenes, images and moments from my dreams. I've only ever stolen one whole story and I remember the joy of waking up and going, that's a story with a beginning, middle and end. It was Feeders and Eaters from Fragile Things. It really was a dream and I woke up and scribbled it down."
Gaiman on his character Death and death, as in dying:
"Death began when I came up with the idea of a character who was the incarnation of a dream. I grabbed a great big book of quotations and I read all of the quotes on dreams looking for things that inspired me and then I went to sleep. Somewhere in there was the quote that said, 'Death is the brother to sleep.' I was vaguely thinking there could be a family, so that was good. I had a glorious opportunity to use the inherent sexism of language to mess with people's heads just a little bit. I knew Death had to be a sister because that was so much more fun."Deaths in fiction fall into two camps. Either they are skeletons in human form with no emotion. Or you have Deaths who are tortured, who have to take lives and it's all, 'Oh what a terrible thing.' I thought no, what a great job Death must be. It gets you out of the house, you get to meet people. Actually you get to meet everybody."I thought about what kind of person I would like to meet when I die. I thought, 'I don't want to meet a skeleton or somebody tortured or someone who wants to play chess.' I would like to meet somebody nice. If she's going to say, 'You really should have looked both ways before you crossed that street,' well at least do it in a nice way. There weren't many lovable Deaths out there so I thought it would be nice to have a lovable Death."
'There's no sex allowed in the tardis': Karen Gillan insists Doctor Who will stay a family show
Daily Mail
Daisy Lowe should be pleased to hear the latest Doctor Who gossip.
Leading lady Karen Gillan has revealed there won't be any nookie in the Tardis, meaning she won't sink her claws into Lowe's boyfriend Matt Smith.
Despite a mane of fiery red hair and legs longer than the time span the Doctor can hurtle back and forth between, the show will be family-friendly.
Strange encounters: Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, who plays Rory, conceive in the Tardis - but steamy scenes won't be shown on the BBC show
Blinded by the light: Viewers won't be disappointed by the special effects in the new series of Doctor Who
Karen, 23, who plays sidekick Amy Pond, told The Mirror: 'Oh God no, it’s a family show. Perhaps there might be a DVD for the over-18s.
'You’re not going to see any of that funny flirty business in the Tardis.'
The story unfolds that newlyweds Amy and Rory Williams, played by Arthur Darvill, conceived a child in the Tardis.
But there will be no flashback scenes of them getting up to no good.
Amy then discovers the Doctor’s friend River Song, played by Alex Kingston, is actually her newborn daughter all grown up.
Love is in the air: Alex Kingston and Matt Smith share a kiss on screen, although Karen Gillan insists there will be no funny business
Modest: Karen will keep her clothes on for family show and not be filming any sex scenes
Gillan confirmed: 'River Song was conceived on the Tardis. It’s kind of insinuated, but never actually said.'
Kingston will no doubt enjoy her forthcoming storyline, when she gets busy planting kisses on Smith.
The former ER actress has already had the pleasure in the two-part series opener The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon.
Following a mid-season break, having initially hit airwaves in April, the second part of the sixth series promises the usual rollercoaster ride with plenty of monsters and special effects.
Karen added: 'The Minotaur is pretty scary and we’ve also got a monster called the Teselecta in Let’s Kill Hitler.
'It goes back in time to try to right the wrongs of the past.'
Kooky sidekick: Karen's character Amy Pond spiced up the series with her stunning red hair and long legs back in series five
There will also be a few familiar faces in the first episode, with former stars Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate all taking on cameos.
Despite their return to the set, it will be their first screen venture with Smith, having played sidekicks to ex-Time Lord David Tennant.
A BBC source said: 'They don’t have a big part to play, but fans will love to see them return and they are trying to help Matt in an hour of need.
'It is a humorous scene and it opens the door to any of them if they wanted to come back and do some more filming in the future.'
Redhead beauty: Karen looked stunning in a flesh-coloured dress at the Doctor Who Q&A screening on Monday
Speaking at a special Q&A screening this week, writer Steven Moffat said his intention to script in Adolf Hitler was to poke fun at the Nazi dictator.
He said: 'Hitler is iconic - in an evil and ghastly way.
'In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade there was a brilliant gag where Indiana Jones accidentally gets Hitler’s autograph.
'I think if you really want to p*** of Hitler you don’t make him into an icon of evil, you take the mickey out of him... make him be punched by Rory.'
The new series of Doctor Who starts with Let’s Kill Hitler on August 27.
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