The Flickcast

Seth Rogen To Appear On the Season Premiere of ‘The League’

Posted on August 9, 2011

Just when you thought FX’s hit comedy about a group of guys and their fantasy football league couldn’t get any more uproarious and funny, they’re adding one of the bigger names in comedy today to the mix for the season 3 premiere, as Seth Rogen gets cast as the infamous Dirty Randy.

The character is pretty famous to those who watch the show, and we’re finally getting a face to the name this season. TV Guide has the full scoop.

Creators and executive producers Jackie and Jeff Schaffer promised fans last year that they would reveal the oft-mentioned, but never-seen friend of Rafic(Jason Mantzoukas)if the comedy was picked up for a third season.

“As the legend of Dirty Randy grew among our fans — is that Dirty Randy? Is that a shot of Dirty Randy? — we realized we really have to step up here,” Jeff Schaffer told TVGuide.com Saturday. “We started talking about who the funniest people we know who aren’t on the show already, and [Rogen] was at the top of the list.”

War Movie Mondays: ‘Hiroshima’

Posted on August 8, 2011

This week’s pick is Hiroshima (1995), which was a made for T.V. mini series on Showtime Network, and was directed by both Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode . The film is about the events that led up to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan during the tail end of World War II. The film is told through the eyes of both American and Japanese militarists, and civilians who were responsible, and were greatly affected by the decision to use the bombs.

The film stars Kenneth Welsh (president Harry S. Truman), Ken Jenkins (Secretary of State James F. Byrnes), Wesley Addy (Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson), Richard Masur (Maj. General Leslie Groves), Colin Fox (Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal), George R. Robertson (Admiral William D. Leahy), Saul Rubinek (Professor Leo Szilard), Cedric Smith (Gen. Curtis Lemay), Bernard Behrens (Asst. Secretary of War John J. McCloy), Jeffrey DeMunn (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Tim West (Prime Minister Winston Churchill), Naohiko Umewaka (Emperor Hirohito), Kazuo Kato (Prince Fumimaro Konoe), Ken Maeda (Minister of War Korechika Anami), and Hisashi Igawa (Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo).

Hiroshima sets the tone of the film almost immediately with the death of president Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. His reluctant successor Harry S. Truman assumes the presidency and quickly learns of the secret government project that has devised a “gadget” which will help end the war first in Europe. Welsh, who is the spitting image of Truman, plays him to perfection. Other actors play the their historical counterparts the same.

Other notable standouts are Masur as General Groves who was the military mind behind the Manhattan Project that created both bombs at the Los Alamos, New Mexico laboratories. One of my favorite characters in the film is played by Wesley Addy who plays Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War. Stimson pleaded with Truman that the use of such a weapon could create a new arms race for atomic weapons in the near future. One scene in the film that has been debated by historians for decades is the meeting between Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard (Rubinek) and James Byrnes (Jenkins) at Byrne’s home in South Carolina.

First Trailer for ‘In Time’ with Justin Timberlake Arrives

Posted on August 8, 2011

I’ll admit a bit of a soft spot for writer/director Andrew Niccol. He manages to create pretty amazing worlds and tell stories with style. Plus, and this is a disclaimer, I had the pleasure to work with him a bit during the making of Gattica and enjyoed it very much, so I’m probably a bit biased.

It’s with much interest, then, that I watched the new trailer for his upcoming film In Time, which Fox and New Regency released over the weekend. It’s a futuristic science fiction thriller that takes place in a world where people who want to live past age 25 have to purchase more time.

Here’s the setup: “When Will Salas is falsely accused of murder, he must figure out a way to bring down a system where time is money – literally – enabling the wealthy to live forever while the poor, like Will, have to beg, borrow, and steal enough minutes to make it through another day.”

Check out the trailer after the break. In Time, which features Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde and Cillian Murphy, opens on October 28th.

TV RECAP: ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm: Vow of Silence’

Posted on August 8, 2011

I wrote two weeks ago about the fact that Jeff and Susie’s kid Sammy has grown up, and this time we see (well, not actually “see”) the aging of another character: the Greens’ semi-beloved dog Oscar, who’s got to be getting up there, having been around since at least season 3, when he sniffed out a potential corpse buried beneath the restaurant. Now, Oscie-boy’s finally put down, and his last meal of Pinkberry ice cream is denied when Larry and Jeff eat it in progressively larger bites on the trip back to the vet’s.

The real-time aspect to Curb has always seemed weird to me. The show’s consistent with it, but it’s never seemed necessary—in the show’s 11 years, Larry, Jeff, Susie, Cheryl, Marty Funkhauser, and many others don’t appear to age. Maybe it’s because the ones who do (evidently that’s only Sammy and Oscar) aren’t explored too often, whereas someone like Richard Lewis defies age—he’s heading into his mid-60s, yet he still lands these girls in their late 20s to early 30s. And what about Nat? Will we ever see him again?

Exclusive Interview: Creators Doc Hammer & Jackson Publick Talk ‘Venture Bros’ Special

Posted on August 8, 2011

Animated programming for adults has been a battle writers and networks have been having for years. Luckily, with the birth of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, there is a new home for cartoons that kids just may not get.

With Adult Swim comes some amazing programming like Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman, and Venture Bros. Sadly, the former two have since fled the airwaves, but Venture Bros is still going strong.

The show has been on break for nearly a year, but on August 28th, our favorite family of adventuring misfits is returning for a special entitled From The Ladle To The Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy.

The special is a faux documentary in the tone of Behind the Music in which Hank’s punk metal band Shallow Gravy and how its mediocre success has effected Brock and the rest of the family.

We got the chance to speak with creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer about the special and the upcoming next season of Venture Bros. Check out what they had to say and be sure to catch The Venture Bros. special on August 28th, only on Adult Swim.

Game Review: ‘Captain America: Super Soldier’ for XBox 360

Posted on August 8, 2011

Every time we hear about an announced comic book movie being tied in to a game, we get a little nervous. There have been so many failed attempts with it in the past. Between Iron Man 2 and most recently Thor: God of Thunder, SEGA hasn’t had the best track record with them. Knowing they’d be publishing the action adventure based Captain America: Super Soldier, the cringing was understandable.

Fortunately, Next Level Games, the people who brought us Super Mario Strikers for both the Gamecube and Wii as well as Punch Out!! for the Wii, tossed a mighty star spangled shield at us and bucked the trend to produce a fun classic beat ’em up that fits well into the Captain America mythos and uses the movie signature in a positive way.

Gameplay:

Captain America: Super Soldier takes place in an “open world” much like that of the classic Metroid. We use the term loosely because players have the option to back track and explore the European castle to find hidden collectibles but the majority of the game can be done without ever needing to turn back. The size of the level is fairly impressive too with both a castle to explore and the underground workings below it.

Box Office: Success of the ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’

Posted on August 8, 2011

Every massive summer blockbuster season has to have a few surprises. Last year, a little animated film starring Steve Carrell and Jason Segal called Despicable Me surprised everyone and grossed $251 million to date. That may be what we have on our hands with Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Apes managed to surprise everyone this weekend and pull in $54 million in the first three days here in the states with $77 million worldwide, and with 81% rating at RottenTomatoes you can expect the trend to continue through the workweek and possibly next weekend.

Coming in at #2, the true winner of last weekend’s bout, The Smurfs managed to pull another kid-friendly rabbit out with an estimated $21 million for the weekend, and a total $76 million.

Also hitting theaters this weekend, the body-switching comedy The Change-Up pulled in an estimated $13.5 for the weekend, which may not be such good news for Universal, who spent over $50 million for the production.

Film Score Friday: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Collection – Volume One By Various Artists

Posted on August 5, 2011

Star Trek: The Next Generation is a classic show. Rated by many to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Next Generation represents one of the high points for a decades old franchise that has captured the imagination of millions. The fine folks of at La La Land Records have taken it upon themselves to do this series justice by releasing a three disc collection of some of the best and under represented music from the show.

The set focuses on the work of Dennis McCarthy and Jay Chattaway, each getting their own disc showcasing some of the best music they wrote for the show. The third disc, then, takes us through some of the better guest composers during the show’s run, with episodes scored by Fred Steiner, Don Davis and John Debney.

Most of what appears on this disc has never before been released, and honestly it is about time McCarthy and Chattaway got their due. Chattaway has been a Trek TV staple, writing music for some of the best episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. In fact, Chattaway is responsible for writing what may be the most poignant music ever to appear in a Trek TV series. Often referred to as the episode with Picard an a flute, The Inner Light was a high water mark for intelligent, though-provoking and emotionally moving sci-fi story telling, and the emotional core of the episode was Chattaway’s score. The music for this episode is one of the pleasures of this set, almost brining me to tears during the lullaby track, very moving stuff.

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