Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 18th to 24th, 2023 - Update #16

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

STRIKE - From Deadline:  Members of the Directors Guild of America have overwhelmingly ratified a new film and television contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the film and TV studios.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The "Magnum P.I." reboot starring Jay Hernandez was broadcast for four seasons on CBS. NBC picked it up for a fifth season when CBS cancelled it.  Now, NBC has opted not to order additional episodes beyond this current fifth season.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Director Spike Lee is attending the Cannes Lions Festival where he will receive the "Creative Maker of the Year" awards.  In an interview, the Oscar-winner mentioned a piece of advice given to him by the late recording artist and icon, Michael Jackson.  The King of Pop told Spike, "Don't ever use the term, 'music video'." Spike calls his music videos "short films."

NETFLIX - From Variety:  Netflix has revealed the cast for its live-action series version of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and it has released the first teaser trailer.  The series is due in 2024,

MOVIES - From IndieWire:  Oscar-winners, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, and should-be-an-Oscar-winner, Paul Thomas Anderson, have teamed up for an emergency call with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav about the layoffs of Turner Classic Movies’ (TCM) top brass.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. Discovery is shopping some of its HBO library titles to its rival, Netflix.  The first title may be the Issa Rae comedy, "Insecure," which recently finished its five-season run.

SCANDAL - From Deadline:  France’s highest appeals court dismissed accusations of rape by Belgian-Dutch actress Sand Van Roy against French director and producer Luc Besson on Wednesday. Van Roy accused Besson of raping her in 2016 and 2018 encounters.

ANIMATION - From Deadline:  Actor Dan Stevens will now provide the voice of the lead character, "Korvo," in Hulu's animated series, "Solar Opposites."  He replaces Justin Roiland, who is also the co-creator (with Mike McMahan) of the series.  Roiland was ousted from Solar Opposites in January because he was facing domestic abuse charges.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Television super-producer and creator, Ryan Murphy ("American Horror Story," "Nip/Tuck," "Pose") is set to leave Netflix after his five-year Netflix deal expires.  He is in talks to return to Disney which owns FX, the home of his biggest hits.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 6/16 to 6/18/2023 weekend box office is Warner Bros.' "The Flash" with an estimated total of 55.1 million dollars.

From Deadline:  Wes Anderson's latest film, "Asteroid City," has the strongest opening weekend ($790,000) for a limited release/specialty box office film in many years.

From BloodyDisgusting:  John Squires of "Bloody Disgusting" says that The seven million-dollar debut of Tim Story's "The Blackening" is a win for Lionsgate.

DISNEY - From Variety:  In an interview with "Variety," Pixar CCO (Chief Creative Officer) Pete Docter says that Disney has trained families to wait for films to appear on Disney+.  He reveals that Pixar is working on "Toy Story 5."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Two plagiarism claimants were trying to delay the recent release of director Tim Story's black-centric horror comedy, "The Blackening."  A California district court judge didn't buy the claim.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Stage and screen actor, Frederic Forrest, has died at the age of 86, Friday, June 23, 2023.  His breakthrough film was 1972's "When Legends Die," which earned his a Golden Globe Award.  He appeared in four films in which Francis Ford Coppola was involved, including "The Conversation" (1974) and "Apocalypse Now" (1979).  He earned an Academy Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his role as "Huston Dyer" in "The Rose" (1979), alongside Bette Midler.

From Deadline:  American mystery author and actress, Carol Higgins Clark, has died at the age of 66, Monday, June 12, 2023.  She was best known for her "Regan Reilly" mystery series, and Clark was also the daughter of the late suspense novelist, Mary Higgins Clark.  She also appeared in several television movies, including "A Cry in the Night" (1992), which was based on her mother's 1982 novel of the same title.

WRITERS STRIKE:

From THR:  Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.

From Deadline:  The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.

From Deadline:  Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.  The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke.  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.

From Deadline:  Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.

From Deadline:   President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.

From Deadline:  Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.

From Deadline:  Retaliation!  Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike.  Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.

From Deadline:  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.

From Deadline:  Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.

From Deadline:  The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.

From Deadline:  What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?

From Deadline:  The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 14th to 20th, 2019 - Update #44

Support Leroy on Patreon:

STAR TREK - From Deadline:  British actor David Ajala will join CBS All Access' "Star Trek: Discovery" for Season Three as a new series regular.

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SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 2019 NEWS:

Marvel Studios "Phase Four" will be comprised of 10 films and series:
Here's the full slate:

Black Widow (May 1, 2020)

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+, Fall 2020)

Eternals (November 6, 2020

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Feb. 12, 2021)

WandaVision (Disney+, Spring 2021)

Loki (Disney+, Spring 2021)

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (May 7, 2021)

What If…? (Disney+, Summer 2021)

Hawkeye (Disney+, Fall 2021)

Thor: Love and Thunder (Nov. 5, 2021)

"Black Panther," "Captain Marvel 2," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," "Fantastic Four," and "Blade" (Mahershala Ali)

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From THR:  Here it is!  Comic-Con gets to see the first full trailer for HBO's "Watchmen" TV series, featuring Oscar-winner Regina King.

From EW:  Mark Hamill brings Netflix's "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" to Comic-Con.

From EW:  Disney's revived "DuckTales" animated TV series stormed Comic-Con.  It's second and upcoming third seasons will continue to introduce characters from classic animated Disney TV series, like "Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers," "TaleSpin," and "Darkwing Duck."

From THR:  James Cameron offered a "Terminator: Dark Fate" surprise for Comic-Con attendees.  Edward Furlong will return as John Connor, the role he played he played as a child actor in 1991's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."  Fans also saw a new trailer for the film.

From THR:  Tom Cruise surprises Comic-Con 2019 with a trailer for "Top Gun: Maverick."

From CBR:  The upcoming TV series, "His Dark Materials" descends on Comic-Con with actors and executive producers.  The series is based on author Philip Pullman's trilogy, which has previously made it to film as "The Golden Compass."


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MOVIES - From EW:  Via twitter, it was revealed that 2020 and 2021 will see two sequels to the 2018 iteration of "Halloween."  First is "Halloween Kills" (2020) and then, "Halloween Ends" (2021).

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ANIMATION - From Deadline:  A developing story - there has been a suspected arson attack at Kyoto Animation in Kyoto, Japan.  Reports say 33 people have died.

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DISNEY - From BleedingCool:  Rumor is that Oscar-winning actor, Javier Bardeem, is in talks to join Disney's live-action remake "The Little Mermaid."

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STAR TREK - From Deadline:  In an interview in conjunction with the release of his new film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," Quentin Tarantino said that his "Star Trek" film, if he directed it, would be like "Pulp Fiction" in space.

From IndieWire: Quentin Tarantino says that if he directs the R-rated "Star Trek" film which he has been developing for a few years now, it would be his last feature film.

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MUSIC - From YahooNews:  The Iowa director of social services, Jerry Foxhoven, has been ousted because of his obsession with the late rapper and actor, Tupac Shakur, that he insisted on sharing with everyone.  [Man, that is one real-ass dude.]

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DISNEY - From THR:  Harry Styles is in talks to play "Prince Eric" in Disney's live-action remake of its animated classic, "The Little Mermaid."  Styles was a member of the British boy-band, One Direction," before launching a solo recording career.  He made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk."

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STREAMING - YahooNews:  A recent user's poll showed that "Orange is the New Black" and "Stranger Things" are Netflix users' two most favorite TV series.

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AWARDS - From YahooEntertainment:  Here are the 2019 / 71st Annual Emmy Awards nominations. "Game of Thrones" received a leading and record 32 nominations.

From Deadline:  2019 Emmy Awards see a major decline in diversity and inclusion.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Oscar-nominees, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, will write Margot Robbie's "Barbie" (yes, based on the iconic Mattel doll) film.  Gerwig ("Lady Bird") may direct.

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DISNEY - From YahooNews:  Disney heiress, Abigail Disney, goes undercover at the Disneyland theme park to see worker conditions.  She also wrote to Disney CEO Bob Iger.

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MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle ("La La Land") is prepping a new film, reportedly a Hollywood period piece called "Babylon."  Oscar-winning actress, Emma Stone ("La La Land"), is attached.

From Variety:  Baz Luhrmann has his Elvis.  Actor Austin Butler will play the King of Rock 'n' Roll in Luhrmann's biopic, with Tom Hanks playing Elvis' manager, Col. Tom Parker.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 7/12 to 7/14/2019 weekend box office is "Spider-Man: Far From Home" with an estimated take of 45.3 million dollars.

From Patreon:  My review of "Spider-Man: Far From Home."

From Deadline:  If new movie releases, "Crawl" and "Stuber," were meant to be counter-programming, they have failed, as "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and "Toy Story 4" continue to dominate the weekend box office.

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JAMES BOND - From TheDailyMail:  According to reports, British actress Lashana Lynch ("Captain Marvel"), will be the new "Agent 007" in the next James Bond film, currently known as "BOND25."  She will NOT be James Bond (who will be played again by Daniel Craig), who is in retirement and who will reportedly try seduce the new 007.  This change and others are apparently being initiated by writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

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MOVIES - From MovieWeb:  Jason Reitman reveals the first photo of "the New Family": Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace from "Ghostbusters 2020" (also known as "Ghostbusters 3").  The photo includes Jason and his father, Ivan, who directed the original "Ghost Busters" (1984) and "Ghostbusters 2" (1989).

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POLITICS - From TheDailyBeast:  What has Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone been up to lately?  He has been making documentaries that some have described as having a pro-Vladimir Putin bent.

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STREAMING - From Variety:  Disney is shutting down Fox's "FX Plus" subscription service which will no longer be available after August 20th, 2019.  It's content will probably be moved to Hulu.

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INTERNATIONAL - From Deadline:  Luc Besson is looking to Vine Alternative Investments to save his debt-ridden motion picture company, EuropaCorp (thanks to 2017's "Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets").  Vine already has controlling interest in film producing/financing company, Village Roadshow Productions.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  New Line/Warner Bros.' "Space Invaders" film (yep, that's actually a thing) has a writer, Greg Russo.  Russo wrote Warner's "Mortal Kombat" reboot film which is currently filming.  And of course you know that both "Space Invaders" and "Mortal Kombat" are video game properties.

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BOND - From Variety:  Christoph Waltz will return as "Blofeld" in the currently filming, BOND 25.

TRAILERS AND VIDEO:

From Newsarama:  Apple TV+ releases the first trailer for its series, "Snoopy in Space."

From Variety:  Disney releases a teaser trailer for the "The King's Man," the prequel to "Kingsman: The Secret Service" (2014) and "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" (2017).  It stars Ralph Fiennes and is due Feb. 14th, 2020.

From EW:  Here is the first trailer for the "Rabid," a remake of the 1977 David Cronenberg film.  The remake, directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska, will premiere at Frightfest in August.

From YouTube:  Here is the first official trailer for director Rian Johnson's whodunit, "Knives Out."

OBITS:

From NYTimes:  Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has died at the age of 99, Tuesday, July 16, 2019.  Appointed by President Gerald R. Ford to the Supreme Court, Justice Stevens was the third longest service Justice (1975 to 2010).  During WWII, Justice Stevens was a "code breaker."

From ESPN:  Hall of Fame boxer, Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, died at the age of 55, Sunday, July 14, 2019.  Whitaker died after being hit by a vehicle.  As an amateur, Whitaker won gold at the 1983 Pan American Games and also at the 1984 Olympics.  As a pro, he was a world champion in four weight classes: lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 8th to 14th, 2018 - Update #18

Support Leroy on Patreon:

MOVIES - From THR: Scarlet Johansson drops out of playing trans character after backlash.

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EMMYS - From YahooET:  Sandra Oh becomes the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated in a lead actress category, either comedy or drama, at the Emmys.  She has been nominated for her role in the series, "Killing Eve."  The 70th / 2018 Emmy Award winners will be announced, Monday, Sept. 17th.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Chadwick Boseman will produce and star in STXfilms  "17 Bridges."

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MOVIES - From DreadCentral:  The bloom has steadily degraded on Neill Blomkamp's rose with each film succeeding his stunning debut, "District 9."  After the cancellation of his "Aliens" revival, Blomkamp is now attached to MGM's "Robocop" revival.

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TELEVISION - From YahooTheWrap:  Angela Kang, the new showrunner for "The Walking Dead" talks about Season 9.

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SCANDAL - From ThePlaylist:  New sexual assault allegations have been levied against French director and filmmaker, Luc Besson.

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CELEBRITY - From TIME:  Sarah Palin apparently got punked by Sacha Baron Cohen in an interview.

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STREAMING - From ShadowandAct:  Ava DuVernay's Netflix 'Central Park Five' Limited Series Casts Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga And John Leguizamo

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COMICS-FILM - From SlashFilm:  Joaquin Phoenix apparently has really agreed to play "The Joker" in a film based on the antics of Batman's arch-villain.

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CELEBRITY - From TheWrap:  Shine with Reese Witherspoon.

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DISNEY - From JoBlo:   "Indiana Jones 5" has been moved to 2021.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  A source says that Jeremy Renner has joined Blumhouse's film, "Spawn," which will star Jamie Foxx and is being directed by Spawn's creator, Todd McFarlane.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 7/6 to 7/8/2018 weekend box office was Disney/Marvel Studios' "Ant-Man and the Wasp" with an estimated take of $76 million.

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CELEBRITY - From Variety:  "Wonder Woman" star Gal Gadot visits a children's hospital dressed as Wonder Woman."

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COMICS-FILM - From BleedingCool:  Margot Robbie confirms that the Warner Bros./DC Comics film, "Birds of Prey," starts shooting in January 2018.

OBITS:

From YahooEntertainment:  Nancy Sinatra Sr. has died at the age of 101, Friday, July 13, 2018.  Sinatra was the first of legendary singer/actor, the late Frank Sinatra's four wives.  Nancy gave birth to Frank's three children, Nancy Jr., Frank Jr. (who died in 2016), and Tina.

From THR:  The actor Roger Perry has died at the age of 85, Thursday, July 12, 2018.  Perry was a guest star in the first season episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday" in the original "Star Trek."  Perry played a 1960s Air Force pilot who finds himself aboard the USS Enterprise.  Discovered by Lucille Ball, Perry appeared as an actor and guest in numerous television series.

From Variety:  Actor, singer, and gay icon, Tab Hunter, has died at the age of 86, Sunday, July 8, 2018.  One of Hollywood's leading men in the 1950s, Hunter appeared in "Damn Yankees" and "Battle Cry."  He had a #1 pop single, "Young Love," in 1957.  In the 1980s, he experienced a career revival after appearing in John Water's film, "Polyester" (1981).  He came out as gay in the biography, "Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star" (2005).

From SeattleTimes:   Former NBA player, Lonnie Shelton, has died at the age of 62, Sunday, July 8, 2018.  Shelton was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1976 out of Oregon State University.  In his first season with the Seattle SuperSonics, Shelton was the starting power forward and enforcer on the Sonics 1978-79 NBA World Championship team.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 13th to 19th, 2018 - Update #17

Support Leroy on Patreon:

SCANDAL - From Variety:  A young actress is accusing famed French film director, Luc Besson, of rape.

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CULTURE - From StamfordAdvocate:  If that is your thing - the best royal wedding photos from today's marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

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BOX OFFICE - From YahooEntertainment:  "Deadpool 2" sets opening day box office record for an R-rated film.

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MOVIES - From GeekTyrant:  Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio will reunite for a film about Civil War General and President Ulysses S. Grant.  The two last worked on 2002's "Catch Me If You Can."

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CANNES - From Deadline:  Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’ Dances Off With Directors’ Fortnight Top Prize – Cannes

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MOVIES - From Nerdist:  The site reviews "Deadpool 2."

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STREAMING - From DeadlineTV:  Amazon picks up Jordan Peele's Nazi hunters drama with a series order.

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STREAMING - From GeekTyrant:  Daredevil's arch-nemesis, Bullseye, will appear in Season 3 of Marvel/Netflix's "Daredevil."  The actor Wilson Bethel will play Bullseye.

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SCANDAL - From THR:  Her Darkest Role: Actress Allison Mack's Descent From 'Smallville' to Sex Cult.

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CANNES - From TheWrap:  Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" gets a standing ovation at Cannes 2018 film festival.

From YahooNews:  In Cannes, Spike Lee lambasts Trump over white supremacists

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SCIENCE - From TheAtlantic:  The Jaguar Is Made for the Age of Humans

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 5/11 to 5/13/2018 Mother's Day weekend box office is "Avengers: Infinity War" with an estimated take of $61.8 million.

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MOVIES - From FlickeringMyth:  Timothy Olyphant joins Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," his "Manson murders" film which is due August 2019.

From USAToday:  Margot Robbie joins Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" as Sharon Tate.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Writer, novelist, and journalist, Tom Wolfe, has died at the age of 87, Monday, May 14, 2018.  Wolfe was a pioneer of "New Journalism."  Among his best known novels include "The Right Stuff" and "Bonfire of the Vanities," both of which were adapted into film.

From DeadlineTV:  The actress Margot Kidder has died at the age of 69, Sunday, May 13, 2018.  Kidder was best known for playing reporter "Lois Lane" opposite Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent in the 1970s and 1980s "Superman" films.  The Canadian-born actress also appeared in such classic horror films as "Black Christmas" (1974) and "The Amityville Horror" (1979).  R.I.P. Ms. Kidder.

From YahooSports:  Former National Football League (NFL) coach, Chuck Knox, died at the age of 86, Saturday, May 12, 2018.  Knox coached the NFL's Seattle Seahawks from 1983 to 1991 and compiled a record of 80 wins and 69 losses.  He guided the team to the 1984 AFC Championship Game (1983 season).  Knox also coached the Buffalo Bills (1978-1982) and coached the Los Angeles Rams for two separate tenures.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 1st to 7th, 2017 - Update #29

Support Leroy on Patreon.

BLM - From RSN:  Are you a "Black Identity Extremist?"

MOVIES - From Nerdist:  On the 30th anniversary of Clive Barker's film "Hellraiser" (1987), Nerdiest ranks all the films in the series.  There are ten as of this year's "Hellraiser: Judgment."

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STAR TREK - From CinemaBlend:  Would Quentin Tarantino really direct a "Star Trek" movie.

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MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham will get their own "Fast & Furious" movie spinoff, set for 2019.

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MOVIES - From THR:  James Cameron talks about how he convinced Linda Hamilton to return for a "Terminator" revival.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Universal takes "Bride of Frankenstein" off its schedule.  Part of its "Dark Universe" line, it was scheduled to debut Feb. 14, 2019.

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MOVIES - From TheNewYorkTimes:  Decades of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein are revealed.

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MOVIES - From YahooNews:  Rooney Mara says that it was not entirely her decision not to return for the sequel to 2011's "The Girl with a Dragon Tatoo," which is entitled "The Girl in the Spider's Web," which is due in 2018.  British actress Claire Foy will take over the role of "Lisbeth Salander," from Mara.

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ANIMATION - From RollingStone:  Fox's beloved and Emmy-winning animated television series, "Bob's Burgers," will also be a animated feature film in 2020.

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HISTORY -  From TheVillageVoice:  In the wake of "Playboy" magazine founder, Hugh Hefner's death, "The Village Voice" is make available its 1980 Pulitzer Prize-winning article, "Death of a Playmate."  The article is about the murder of "Playboy playmate," Dorothy Stratten, by her husband who killed himself after murdering her.  Stratten's life was fictionalized in Bob Fosse's final film, "Star 80" (1983).

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AVATAR - From THR:  Oscar-winner Kate Winslet joins James Cameron's "Avatar" universe.  Winslet starred in Cameron's Oscar-winning box office record setting film, "Titanic."

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MOVIES - From THR:  Joachim Ronning, director of the recent fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, will direct the sequel to "Maleficent," the 2014 worldwide hit starring Angelina Jolie.

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MOVIES - From SlashFilm:  Luc Besson says that "Lucy 2," the sequel to his hit film starring Scarlett Johansson, is still happening.

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MOVIES - From Collider:  Director Doug Liman provided an update on "Edge of Tomorrow 2."

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LAS VEGAS:

BREAKING NEWS - From WashingtonPost:  A gunman opened fire at a country music concert in Las Vegas on Sunday night - Breaking news and developing story.

From YahooNews:  Dark details emerge about the family history of Las Vegas mass shooter, Stephen Paddock.

From YahooNews:  Stephen Paddock was a multimillionaire!

From YahooNewsweek:  The identities of the victims of Las Vegas mass shooter, Stephen Paddock, are being revealed.

From TheDailyBeast:  Former Fox New host and serial sexual harasser, Bill O'Reilly, says that Las Vegas massacre is "the price of freedom."

From YahooFinance:  Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger announced that a Disney cast member, Carrie Barnette, was killed in the Las Vegas shooting.  Another, Jessica Milam, was injured.

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MUSIC - From TMZ:  Tom Petty found in full cardiac arrest at home in Malibu - Developing Story.

From YahooNews:  Tom Petty may have been taken off life support.

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TELEVISION - From TVLine:  Jon Hamm has joined Neil Gaiman's "Good Omens," the six-part TV adaptation of Gaiman's novel of the same name that he wrote with the late Terry Prathett.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  It is a close race for #1 at the 9/29 to 10/1/2017 weekend box office with "IT" ($17.3 mil), "American Made" ($17.01 mil), and "Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle" ($17 mil) fighting for #1.

From TheWrap:  Period pieces, "Loving Vincent," and "Victoria and Abdul," expand at indie box office.

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CELEBRITY - From People:  O.J. Simpson has been released from prison.

From BET:  Rob Kardashian can't pay his baby mama Blac Chyna the $20,000 per month in child support for their child, Dream, that he agreed to pay. 

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MOVIES - From SlashFilm:  Don Mancini, the creator of the horror movie killer, Chucky ("Child's Play"), submits to a Q&A about the "Chucky" franchise and about the new film, "Cult of Chucky," the seventh installment.

TRAILER:

From SideshowToys:  Here is the first trailer for Alex Garland's upcoming film, "Annihilation" (February 2018),

OBITS:

From YahooNews:  Rock music legend, Tom Petty, has died at the age of 66, Monday night, October 2, 2017.  Petty was best known as the front man of the band "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."  He also recorded two albums with the supergroup, "Traveling Wilburys," and he released three solo albums.  He won three Grammy Awards, one as a solo artist, one with the Heartbreakers, and one with the Wilburys.

From DeadlineTV:  Comedian Ralphie May has died at the age of 45, Friday, October 6, 2017.  He rose to fame competing on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" in 2003.

From RSN:  Peace activist and teacher, Scott Galindez, died at the age of 52, Tuesday, September 26, 2017.  He was a frequent contributor to news service, Reader Supported News.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from September 1st to 9th, 2017 - Update #42

Support Leroy on Patreon.

SPORTS - From NYTimes:  Sloane Stephens wins the women's tennis singles title at the 2017 U.S. Open Women.

From HuffPost:  American tennis is alive because of Black women.

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STREAMING - From ArsTechnica:  Disney is pulling its "Star Wars" and Marvel Studios films from Netflix, beginning in 2019.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Spike Lee and Jordan Peele ("Key & Peele") are uniting for the film, "Black Klansman," based on the true story of a Black man who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan.

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BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  "Spider-Man: Homecoming" opens strong in China.

From Fortune:  "Spider-Man: Homecoming" may be the highest grossing straight-reboot film at the worldwide box office.

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  Drew Goodard will write and direct "X-Force," a spin-off from Fox's awful X-Men film franchise.

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STREAMING - From TheWrap:  Christina Ricci's Amazon series, "Z: The Beginning of Everything" has cancelled.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Armie Hammer joins Felicity Jones in the Ruth Bader Ginsburg (a current Supreme Court Justice) biopic, "On the Basis of Sex."

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  "Suicide Squad 2" finally has a director.  Gavin O'Connor of "The Accountant" (with Ben Affleck) will write and direct the film.

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TELEVISION - Variety:  CBS is developing a TV series based on James Ellroy's classic novel, L.A. Confidential.  The book was previously developed into a critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning 1997 film writer-director Curtis Hanson.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Jude Law joins Elle Fanning and Selena Gomez in a Woody Allen film due next year.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooCelebrity:  A rare photo of Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes, long rumored to be a couple, has surfaced.

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COMICS-FILM - From TheWrap:  In terms of domestic box office, "Wonder Woman" is now one of the top five highest grossing superhero movies of all time.

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STREAMING - From Deadline:  Chris Pine to take the lead in Robert F. Kennedy project at Hulu.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Paramount has acquired rights to "authorized prequel" to Bram Stoker's "Dracula," entitled "Dracul."

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STAR WARS - From TheWrap:  Colin Trevorrow "steps down" as the director of Star Wars Episode 9.

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TELEVISION - From TheWrap:  "American Horror Story: Cult" - frenzied mess or metaphor for Trump-induced madness.

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MOVIES-FILM FESTIVALS - From Variety:  Angelina Jolie gets a standing ovation at the Telluride Film Festival for her new film, "Cambodia."

----------
POLITICS - From NYDailyNews:  The selfish reason Donald Trump has made several film cameos.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From CBR:  15 things wrong with the X-Men film franchise, according to Comic Book Resources.  [Yeah, those movies are a stanky hot mess. - Ed.]

----------
MOVIES - From Variety:  Luc Besson's "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" was a big disappointment at the box office.  That has cost the deputy CEO of Besson's EuropaCorp is job.

----------
WGA - From Variety:  The incoming president of the Writers Guild of America, West says that Hollywood writers will have to make a 2020 strike threat to get a decent contract.

----------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The number one film at the 9/1 to 9/3/2017 weekend box office is "The Hitman's Bodyguard" with an estimated total of $10.25 million.  This is the film's third consecutive weekend at the top of the box office.

From Variety:  "Dunkirk" wins the most recent international box office period.

----------
CELEBRITY - From BBC:  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William of Great Britain and his wife, Kate) are expecting a third child.

----------
MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  A slideshow of the 50 most anticipated films of Fall 2017.

----------
SPORTS - From BET:  Tennis great Serena Williams has given birth to a baby girl.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From CBR:  Spike Lee may be involved in a Sony Pictures film based on Marvel Comics character, Nightwatch," who is part of the "Spider-Man" line.

----------
COMICS-FILM - From ScreenRant:  Cate Blanchett gives the three reasons she wanted to be in "Thor: Ragnarok."

----------
COMICS-FILM - From SideshowToy:  A first look at Evangeline Lilly in costume as "The Wasp" during filming of Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

----------
COMICS-FILM - From Variety:  Warner Bros. would love Leo DiCaprio to play the Joker in its "Joker" stand alone film to be directed by Todd Phillips.

-----------
MOVIES - From THR:  "The Crow" reboot, entitled "The Crow Reborn," is not at Sony Pictures.

----------
STREAMING - From Variety:  Netflix teams up with Damien Chazelle ("Best Director Oscar" for "La La Land") for a Paris-set musical series, "The Eddy."

----------
MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Director Andy Muschietti says that the sequel to "It," the highly-anticipated adaptation of the Stephen King novel, will focus on the 1986 novel's "cosmic dimension."

From CinemaBlend:  Muschietti would like to make a new film adaptation of King's 1983 novel "Pet Semetary," which was previously adapted by director Mary Lambert in 1989.

From TheWrap:  Muschietti talks about the origin of Pennywise the Clown's distinctive look in the new "It."

----------
CELEBRITY - From YahooCelebrity:  Robert Pattison of "Twilight" fame once lived with Dustin Diamond a.k.a. "Screech" from "Saved by the Bell."

----------
TELEVISION - From Variety:  HBO's limited series, "True Detective," will return for a third season, with Mahershala Ali as its star.  Nic Pizzalatto and Jeremy Saulnier will direct.  No air date announced as of yet.

----------
CELEBRITY - From YahooCelebrity:  Taylor Swift's friend, the dancer, Todrick Hall, getting trolled over his relationship with Swift and his appearance in her new video.

----------
MOVIES - From TheWrap:  Sam Rockwell in final talks to play George W. Bush in Dick Cheney biopic from director, Adam McKay.

----------
MOVIES - From THR:  Lily Collins joins Nicholas Hoult in Fox Searchlight and Chernin Entertainment's biopic about J.R.R. Tolkien, the creator of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

OBIT:

From TheWrap:  Blake Heron, former child star, has died at the age of 35, Friday, September 8, 2017.  He was best known for the 1996 film, "Shiloh."

----------
From TheWrap:  Rock musician and recording artist, Walter Becker, has died at the age of 67, Sunday, September 3, 2017.  Becker was the guitarist and co-founder of the rock-jazz fusion band, Steely Dan.

----------
From Variety:   The actor and comedian Shelley Berman has died at the age of 92; Friday, September 1, 2017.  The Grammy Award he won in 1959 for "Best Comedy Performance, Spoken Word," was the first given for a non-musical performance.  In recent years, he played Larry David's father on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which earned him a 2008 Emmy nomination.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 17th to 23rd, 2016 - Update #65

Support Leroy on Patreon.

POLITICS - From YahooNews:  Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has picked Senator Tim Kaine - Democratic Senator from Virginia as her running mate.  He is also the former governor of that state.

BLACK LIVES MATTER - From DailyMail:  Black cops warn that white cops are looking for a reason to kill a black man.

----------------
2016 San Diego Comic-Con International - #SDCC2016:

COMICS - From BleedingCool:  "Black Panther: World of Wakanda" will be Marvel Comics' lead LGBTQ title.

STAR TREK - From Variety:  CBS's new "Star Trek" series, "Star Trek Discovery" (which will be part of the network's digital service "All Access") will unfold like a novel according to a Comic-Con panel.

Star Trek - From Variety:  A teaser trailer for "Star Trek Discovery."

COMICS - From YahooMovies:  The Wonder Woman Comic-Con trailer - the first full trailer for the film which arrives in 2017.

MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  At a Comic-Con panel, Adam Wingard's film, "The Woods" (which arrives in September), was revealed to be a sequel to "The Blair Witch Project" (1999).

COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Your 2016 Eisner Award winners.

COMICS - From YahooTV:  "Luke Cage" showrunner says that the world is ready for a bullet-proof black man" at Comic-Con panel.

COMICS - From BleedingCool: "Do I have to choke you," at the "Black Panel."

TELEVISION - From Variety:  At "The Walking Dead" Comic-Con panel, the Season 7 trailer debuted and a first look at new character King Ezekiel.

TELEVISION - From Variety:  In "Bates Motel," the television series based on Alfred Hitchcock's film, "Psycho," new cast member, Rihanna, will play "Marion Crane."  In the film, the late Janet Leigh played Crane who is stabbed to death in the film's iconic shower scene.

COMICS - From ComicBookMovie:  The first action-packed for the upcoming animated "Justice League Action" debuts. The show arrives on Cartoon Network in the Fall.

MOVIES - From CBR:  Luc Besson drops juicy details on his upcoming film, "Valerian."

MOVIES - From EntertainmentWeekly: "Valerian" footage gets standing ovation.

COMICS - From YahooNews:  At a SDCC panel, Marvel introduces a trailer for Netflix's "Luke Cage" and a teaser for Netflix's 2017, "Defenders."

COMICS - From CinemaBlend:  Marvel and Netflix drop first "Iron Fist" trailer.  It intrigues...

---------------

STAR TREK - From YahooMovies:  Sulu's "gay kiss" was cut from "Star Trek Beyond."

---------------
MOVIES - From ThrillList:  This article is an opinion piece about the 21 best horror films since "The Blair Witch Project."  It is a good read, although I think that except for the riveting final 10 minutes; "The Blair Witch Project" is not scary, but is rather awful.

---------------
STAR TREK - From YahooNews:  At a special White House screening of "Star Trek Beyond," First Lady Michelle Obama notices handsome guests, Karl Urban, Chris Pine, and Simon Pegg.

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From YahooNews:  After one white cop violently throws a female African-American teacher to the ground, his partner says that black people have "violent tendencies."

---------------
SPORTS-OBITS: - From ESPN:  Former NFL head football coach, Dennis Green, has died at the age of 67, Friday, July 22, 2016.  He coached the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals over 13 seasons.  Green had the second highest win total for an African-American NFL head coach.

---------------
POLITICS - From YahooNews:  Donald Trump gave his acceptance speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland.  He is now the Republican nominee for President of the United States, and he says, "Everything is terrible, and I alone can fix it."

From YahooNews:  Trump's acceptance speech anchored by debunked claims and outright lies.

From HuffingtonPost:  "Former" Ku Klux Klansman David Duke running for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana.

From YouTube:  Here is David Duke's YouTube video announcement.

---------------
MOVIES - From Deadline:  Margot Robbie continues to line up the projects, including a film based on Matt Ruff's novel, "Bad Monkeys."

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From YahooNews:  His hands were really up!  Unarmed man shot by cop in North Miami, Florida.

From YahooNews:  He meant to hit the autistic man with a toy truck.

From CNN:  The doofus cop has been identified.

---------------
STAR TREK - From People:  J.J. Abrams says he will not recast the role of Pavel Chekov in Star Trek.  The actor Anton Yelchin has played the role in three Star Trek films, beginning in 2009, but he was recently killed in a freak accident.

---------------
POLITICS - From CNNPolitics:  It's tragically official.  Donald Trump is the official Republican presidential nominee.

---------------
OBITS - From Variety:  Garry Marshall, the prolific filmmaker and television creator, has died at the age of 81, Tuesday, July 19, 2016.  He directed the smash hit, 1990 film, "Pretty Woman."  His TV work included iconic series like "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley," and "The Odd Couple," among many.

---------------
POLITICS - From YahooNews:   There was a charity concert during the Republican National Convention at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  1990s hit makers, Third Eye Blind, gave the largely Republican audience more than they expected.

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From Jacobin:  How not to talk about race.  It is time to stop fooling ourselves with the racecraft of “because of the color of their skin” and acknowledge the emotional instability, poor judgment, inadequate training, and ill-considered policies that turn human beings, not the victims’ skin color, into killers.

---------------
CULTURE - From RSN:  The trojan drone.

---------------
POLITICS - From TheNewYorker:  The guy who actually wrote "The Art of the Deal," Trump's ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, tells all.

---------------
BLACK LIVES MATTER - From RSN:  Remembering the 12-Gauge Police Eviction of a 67-Year-Old Grandmother in the South Bronx

---------------
MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  Prince quietly bought the house used as his home in the film, "Purple Rain."

---------------
MOVIES - From Indiewire:  Nate Parker's follow-up to his upcoming "Birth of a Nation" has been acquired Legendary.

---------------
MOVIES - From ThePlaylist:  There will be a "Ghostbusters" sequel... says Sony.

---------------
TELEVISION - From IndieWire:  "Degrassi" reunion at Netflix.  Drake?

--------------
MOVIES - From THR:  Amazon may fully finance Woody Allen's next film, starring Kate Winslet and Jim Belushi, for $25 million.

---------------
MOVIES - From THR:  Ava DuVernay's documentary about mass incarceration and the prison industry "The 13th," will open at the New York Film Festival.

---------------
CELEBRITY - From YahooCelebrity:  Actor/comic Leslie Jones ("Ghostbusters") shares the horrible, racists tweets she gets.

From YahooNews:  Twitter announces crackdown in wake of Jones' controversy.  Some Twitter accounts were permanently suspended.

---------------
POLITICS - From YahooNews:  #BlackWordsMatter - Melania Trump, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, plagiarized Michelle Obama's speech from 2008 while giving her opening remarks at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

From TheIntercept:  It was more than a portion, boo.

---------------
POLITICS - From YahooTV:  Stephen Colbert of the "Late Show" crashes the Republican National Convention.

From Politico:  Stephen Colbert says that Donald Trump is beyond satire.

---------------
MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  The latest in the saga of Kanye West and Taylor Swift.  Yes, there is a latest.

---------------
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:   The winner of the7/15 to 7/17/2016 weekend box office is "The Secret Life of Pets" with an estimated take of $50.5 million.

From YahooMovies:   "Ghostbusters" finishes second for this box office weekend with a total of $46 million.

---------------
COMICS - From BleedingCool:  How to draw Batman in 3 minutes.

---------------
TELEVISION - From YahooTV:  Norman Reedus ("The Walking Dead") geeks out of guest start, Peter Fonda.

---------------
TELEVISION - From Vulture:  Walter Goggins on 25 years of playing that guy.

---------------
STAR WARS - From BleedingCool:   "Star Wars Rebel" Season 3 trailer teases returns and debuts.

---------------
MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Alden Ehrenreich official as "young" Han Solo.

---------------------------------

The Killing of #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastille and Police Officers:

From NPR:  Cops taught to pull the trigger too quickly - surprised when people pull the trigger to quickly on them.

From YahooNews:  Three officers were killed this morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

From ABC:   The killer of three officers in Baton Rouge, LA has been identified as Gavin Long of Kansas City, Missouri.

---------------------------------

TRAILERS - VIDEOS:

From Facebook:  "Star Trek Beyond" the final trailer.

From YouTube:  Star Trek Beyond "Jaylah Featurette" - including statements from J.J. Abrams, Simon Pegg, and Sofia Boutella ("Jaylah")

From YouTube:   Star Trek Beyond "Justin Lin" featurette, featuring lots of quotes.

From YouTube:  Star Trek Beyond clip: "Scotty Meets Jaylah" clip.

From YouTube:  "Star Trek Beyond" the final countdown.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 6th to 12th, 2015 - Update #22

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From BleedingCool:  "The Hateful Eight" was originally conceived as a novel starring Django.

---------------
From Deadline:  Ron Howard updates "Arrested Development" Season 5.

----------------
From BuzzFlash:  J.K. Rowling says Donald Trump is worse than Lord Voldemort.

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From Vulture:  Idris Elba may have the lead in the adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower."

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From YahooTV:  2015 Golden Globe nominations.

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From TheWrap: SAG nominations.

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From IndieWire:  David Oyelowo to play Muhammad Ali for Ang Lee.

---------------
From TheHollywoodReporter:  An article about the upcoming debuts and features at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

---------------
From Deadline:  Queen Latifah to star in Lee Daniels project for Fox.

---------------
From Vulture:  Bill Murray will play a dog in a Wes Anderson stop-motion film.

---------------
From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 12/4 to 12/6/2015 box office is "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part Two," the film's third straight weekend at the top.

From TheHollywoodReporter:  The performance of holiday-themed horror film, "Krampus," surprised with its second place finish at the weekend box office ($16 million).  I was not surprised, and I thought it might actually gross a little more.  "Chi-raq" is reportedly a huge hit in Chicago, the setting of Spike Lee's film.

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From GoldDerby:  Director Sean Baker and star Mya Taylor talk about their buzzed-about film, "Tangerine."

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From Variety:  Ethan Hawke joins Luc Besson's "Valerian."


COMICS - Films and Books:

From Variety:  Cate Blanchett in talks to join Marvel's "Thor: Ragnarok."


MOVIE AWARD SEASON:

From Deadline: African-American Film Critics name "Straight Outta Compton" best picture.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Los Angeles Film Critics Association names "Spotlight" the best film of the year.  However, "Mad Max: Fury Road" wins in three category, including "Best Director" for George Miller.  It was the runner-up in two categories, including the "Best Film" category.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  The Boston Society of Film Critics names "Spotlight" the best picture of 2015.

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From TheHollywoodReporter:  Alex Garland's "Ex Machina" is named Best British Independent Film at the 2015 British Independent Film Awards, and dominates with 4 wins.


STAR WARS:

From YahooMovies:  Have a seat, John Boyega tells William Shatner.

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From YahooTV:  While in Australia promoting "The Force Awakens," Harrison Ford responds to his fan, Donald Trump.


TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  Official "X-Men Apocalypse" trailer.

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From Vulture:  First trailer for Warner Bros.' "The Legend of Tarzan."

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From Deadline:  The debut trailer for Spielberg's "The BFG."

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 25th to 31st, 2015 - Update #20

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From Thompson:  Ben Affleck starts filming "Live By Night."

---------------
From TheIntercept:  On the new film, "Truth," and Dan Rather's real-life stumble.

---------------
From Variety:  Rihanna joins Luc Besson's "Valerian."

---------------
From Variety:  Elizabeth Banks will direct "Pitch Perfect 3."

---------------
From Indiewire:  Common is the villain in "John Wick 2."

---------------
From Variety:  Idris Elba and Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer added to the voice cast of Disney's animated "Zootopia."

---------------
From TheWrap:  Danai Gurira (Michonne of "The Walking Dead") wrote a play, "Eclipsed."  It is headed to Broadway with Lupita Nyong'o.

---------------
From TheWrap:  Quentin Tarantino leads NYC really against police brutality.

From TheWrap:  Now New York City's police union want to boycott his films because of his statement “When I see murders, I do not stand by . . . I have to call a murder a murder, and I have to call the murderers the murderers.”

---------------
From BleedingCool:  Re: "The Walking Dead" - is he dead?

From TheWrap:  5 fan theories about Glenn.

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From BoxOfficeMojo:  "The Martian" returns to the #1 spot for the 10/23 to 10/25/2015 weekend box office with an estimated take of $15.9 million.

From YahooMovies:  Four new movies; four flops.

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From SlashFilm:  "Super Troopers 2" has begun filming.

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From EntertaimentWeekly:  NBC will reboot Steve Spielberg's 1980s anthology series, "Amazing Stories," which was originally broadcast on NBC.


COMICS - Books and Films:

From Indiewire:  Terry Gilliam's mixed reaction to "Ant-Man."

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From FlickeringMyth:  "Captain America: Civil War" trailer next week or maybe not.

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From YahooMovies:  Jared Leto's ridiculous take on Joker makes the cover of Empire mag.

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From YahooTV:  Beyonce cosplayed as "Storm" of the X-Men at singer Ciara's 30th birthday party.


TRAILERS and REVIEWS:

From YouTube:  New trailer for "Daddy's Home" with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg.  It's really funny; hopeful the movie is, too.

---------------
From ComicBookBin:  This website, for which I write, has a short review of "Spectre" posted by one of the writers who apparently recently saw the film.


HARD NEWS:

From BETNews:  "Office Slam" is fired in South Carolina.

---------------
From YahooPolitics:  It's true.  Somebody had to say it, even if it is Trump.


OBITS:

From CinemaBlend:  The actress Maureen O'Hara has died at the age of 95 (Saturday, October 24, 2015).  The ginger-haired actress was best known for John Ford's 1952 film, "The Quiet Man," in which she co-starred along with friend, John Wayne.  They co-starred together several time, including in one of my favorite film, 1971's "Big Jake."

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 11th to 17th, 2015 - Update #24

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From WeGotThisCovered:  Rosario Dawson will voice Batgirl in the LEGO Batman movie.

---------------
From IndieWire:  John Carpenter wins a plagiarism lawsuit in France against Luc Besson.  It involved the film "Lockout" starring Guy Pearce being a rip off of Carpenter's films, "Escape from New York" and "Escape from LA."

---------------
From CinemaBlend:  More on "Die Hard" prequel.

---------------
From TheWrap:  New Die Hard movie being developed.  It would feature both a young John McClane and an older one (Bruce Willis).  Len Wiseman developing...

---------------
From TheWrap:  "Godzilla vs. Kong" in 2020.

---------------
From Variety:  James Cameron's name has long been attached to a film adaptation of the manga, "Battle Angel Alita."  Now, word is that Cameron will produce and Robert Rodriguez will direct.

---------------
From IndieWire:  Johnny Depp does not want to win an Oscar... he says.  He has been nominated three times, and he says being nominated is enough.

---------------
From DigitalSpy:  The creator of the popular British television series, "Luther," is writing the remake to Escape From New York.

---------------
From InContention:  Quentin Tarantino has cut two version of "The Hateful Eight."

---------------
From Variety:  M. Night Shyamalan's low-budget career rival continues with a new thriller featuring James McAvoy.

---------------
From Deadline:  John Ridley to write and direct a film about the L.A. riots of 1992.

---------------
From IndieWire:  Guillermo del Toro's next film could be about a Mexican wrestler fighting vampire politicians.  I'm in!

---------------
From THR:  "The Martian" wins the 10/9 to 10/11/2015 weekend box office with an estimated take of $37 million.  Warner Bros.' "Pan" bombs with an estimated haul of $15.5 (against a production that cost $150 million).

---------------
From Vulture:  A "Firefly" reunion at New York Comic Con 2015.

---------------
From IMDb:  Ahead of the Season 6 debut of "The Walking Dead," a Norman Reedus exclusive.


HARD NEWS:

From TheRoot:  Two white men argue over who owes whom for gentrification.

---------------
From the AP via YahooNews:  Two reports say incompetent rookie Cleveland cop, Timothy Loehmann, was justified in killing 12-year-old, Tamir Rice.

From TheRoot:  "Reasonable..."
---------------


COMICS:

From ComicBookMovie:  Mark Ruffalo to appear as Hulk in "Thor Ragnarok."

---------------
From HitFix:  Drew McWeeny says FF to Marvel rumors are nonsense and explains why.

From DenofGeek:  Updates on the news that Marvel may have gotten the rights to the Fantastic Four back from FOX, in relation to the X-Men TV deal.

---------------
From BleedingCool:  FOX announces to television series based on the X-Men comic book franchise - one about the Hellfire Club (seen in "X-Men: First Class") and one about "Legion" (Charles Xavier's son).

---------------
From Vulture:  Paul Reubens (aka "Pee-Wee" Herman) will play the father of Oswald's "Penguin" Cobblepot on FOX's "Gotham."  Reubens also played the elder Cobblepot in Tim Burton's film, Batman Returns (1992).

---------------
From Variety:  Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad" wants to be a Marvel baddie.


MISC:

From YahooNews:  Photos seems to be only the second photographic image of Billy the Kid.

Review: "Transporter 2" Offers Good Fight Scenes, Little Else

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Transporter 2 (2005)
Running time:  88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, sexual content, partial nudity, and brief language
DIRECTOR:  Louis Leterrier
WRITERS:  Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen (based upon characters created by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen )
PRODUCERS:  Steve Chasman and Luc Besson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mitchell Amundsen
EDITOR:  Walter Mauriot, Christine Lucas Navarro, and Vincent Tabaillon
COMPOSER: Alexandre Azaria

ACTION/MARTIAL ARTS/THRILLER

Starring:  Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Katie Nauta, Matthew Modine, Jason Flemyng, Keith David, Hunter Clary, Shannon Briggs, François Berléand, and Raymond Tong

Transporter 2 is a 2005 French action thriller from director Louis Leterrier and maestro Luc Besson and stars Jason Statham in the title role.  It is a sequel to the 2002 film, The Transporter.  In Transporter 2, mercenary Frank Martin is in Miami, Florida where he is implicated in the kidnapping of  the young son of a powerful U.S. government official

Transporter 2 is set in Miami, Florida.  There, ex-Special Forces operative, Frank Martin (Jason Statham), lives in retirement, but is still providing services as a transporter.  Martin is a professional driver with almost-supernatural driving skills in a supa dupa car who can transport anyone or anything – no questions asked.  For the past month, Frank has been the driver for the wealthy Billings family, driving young Jack Billings (Hunter Clary) back and forth to school.

When Gianni (Alessandro Gassman), a powerful gun-for-hire and criminal operative, has Jack kidnapped, Frank rushes to the rescue.  However, Jack has been injected with a deadly virus as a ploy to poison his father, Jefferson Billings (Matthew Modine), and in turn spread the deadly virus, killing Mr. Billings’ government and business associates.  Frank defies and eludes the FBI, who believes that he is behind the plot, while he tries to uncover Gianni’s master plan and stop a disastrous epidemic.

There was no reason for a sequel to 2002’s The Transporter, other than that it was an international box office hit.  Transporter 2 is not as good as the first, mainly because the original had Frank Martin in a romantic entanglement that was the humanizing element of the film against its manic martial arts-inspired fight sequences and unrelenting gun violence.  Corey Yuen, the director of the first film, is back for Transporter 2 only as the fight choreographer, and while his successor, Louis Leterrier, benefits from Yuen’s work on the fight scenes, Leterrier didn’t inherit anything else from the original.  Thus, Transporter 2’s fight sequences are excellent in keeping with the spirit of The Transporter, but there just ain’t no soul.  I was only mildly entertained with this as a movie, but I bet electronic games fans would get a kick out of this as a video game.  We shouldn’t buy tickets to the cinema to see a flick and get instead a video game.  The child character, Jack Billings, could have been the soul of this film, they way the love interest was in the original, but Jack is just the object that starts the ball rolling towards a series of violent, supernatural, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/Hero martial arts fight scenes.

Jason Statham has a nice film personality, but this time he wears Frank Martin as if he’s just a video game character and Transporter 2 is just the latest installment in a video game franchise.  If you waited to see the first film on home video, it would only be right to wait for Transporter 2 on DVD and home video, as it is inferior and should not be honored with the movie ticket purchase you didn’t give the first film.  This might sound nerdy and pretentious, but Transporter 2 is a pedestrian fight movie with great fights, but the kind of story that shows up in made-for-cable action movies.

5 of 10
C+

Revised: Thursday, September 3, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint syndication rights and fees.