Tag: entertainment

HOW TO MAKE A WALKING DEAD FAN ANGRY ON THE WEST COAST

The WALKING DEAD show had a major development last night in its midseason finale.. a major character died. And the East Coast knew it first.

Unfortunately in our wired world of uber connectivity, it’s tough to keep things of the pop culture category secret for very long.

Normally its fans that spoil the show.. last night, though, it was the show itself..

After the EAST COAST airing of the was complete, someone thought too fast and posted this image on the official WALKING DEAD Facebook page:

The response was immediate–and angry. The entire West Coast audience just had the major plot twist revealed with a photo and an “RIP BETH” underneath..

At the time of this post, the image has garnered 190,000 shares, 540,000 likes, and 140,000 comments–most of them negative and containing humorous memes insulting the people behind THE WALKING DEAD for revealing by accident such a major affair on the program..

One demanded to ‘fire your social media manager.’ Another posted these

There were countless others–countless in the hundreds of thousands now–that most people cannot humanly have time to read..

But that’s the net..

There is a report circulating in the UK press that the image was pulled from the Facebook page–probably an OH S&*T moment occurred in a dark office somewhere, or a badly timed pre-written update went viral too quickly.. While the image may have been pulled quickly, the UK TELEGRAPH reports accurately that far too many people saw it already for the sudden pull down to become effective..

And with that: You have a PR disaster for a program that has a dedicated fan base who defends it to the death. Even Beth’s death.. Except the West Coast. They’re a bit angry..

December 1, 2014
HORROR SINKS TO NEW LOWS

FORBES: The Scary Future Of The Hollywood Horror Film »

2014 has been a pretty lousy year for theatrical horror films. Is it merely a fluke of the calendar, or a sign of things to come?

Maybe a sign of things to come if things to come don’t improve, moviewise.

It’s been a bad year all around for films .. in general. Not just horror, but drama, action, family.. You know the genre and I’ll name the flop, or the film that underperformed at the box office. At least in the United States.

There are a few cultural things happening. China and other nations increasing in wealth are fast becoming the target audience for many movie companies. That’s why China’s censors get such ability in choosing what should be cut from certain films. Even more than that, independent films are just better lately. More imaginative and fresh, less confined and restricted by the red tape and bureaucracy that Hollywood offers filmmakers.

But .. as far as horror itself, Scott Mendelson is correct in his FORBES story.. Horror is taking a hit.

There may be one external factor causing that..

Over the past 12 or so years, movies have ramped up the blood and gore, almost making that the central point of a movie overtop of even the actors or dialogue. And with news headlines and real life events being a hell of a lot scarier than any fiction on the screen, people just aren’t buying it .. What does sell, though, are paranormal tales of demon possession, haunted houses and haunted dolls. The CONJURING did well. I think ANNABELLE will, too..

The audience is evolving, as it does every ten or so years.

This may have becoming a tired saying on my part, but I argue that horror movies and professional wrestling speak volumes about our pop culture at any given time you look at it. In this instance, our world is violent and bloody. So gore doesn’t scare people much more anymore, they frankly are tired of seeing it. What does scare them? The idea that someone dark and sinister is present in the world.

If movie makers can key in on that fear and create new and exciting movies, then it will be a hit.

Finally, I’d dare say that if some movie maker out there created a big studio version of SLENDERMAN, a new series would be born.

Until then… it’s no go for bad movies.

September 26, 2014
The exorcism of weeknight TV

Get ready television watchers. If you still tune into the TEE VEE screen for your nightly entertainment, a new show may soon grace your safe living space: An NBC exorcism program..

The DOME must be dull.. crime shows are saturating the market.. And as for comedy, nothing is funny anymore.

Cue the doom and get the gloom: The exorcist is knocking.

Here are what trade publications are telling us about this new venture into the paranormal and religious: NBC is going to explore demonic possession in a new program. The network handed out a script called THE POSSESSION OF MAGGIE GILL that follows the Gills, an American middle class family who experience frequent paranormal activity within their Eugene, Oregon home.

The program is being produced by Amblin Television–the same that gave us UNDER THE DOME and EXTANT, among others..

Lately, it would seem, evil is selling on the small screen. ROSEMARY had her baby and the gates of hell opened in the Middle East.

Yes, there may be no connection.. it’s all entertainment, baby. But which comes first? The reality or the making of? The chicken or the egg? Which influences which? You can the judge, jury, and exorciser on that.

In the mean time, the power of Christ is compelling our entertainers to give us more of what we want. Apparently we want monsters, demons, and exorcisms. And lots of them.

September 4, 2014
A comedian known as death

Joan Rivers: Coma or comfortable?

This is a developing story tonight..

TMZ was the first to report that Joan Rivers stopped breathing during a throat surgery..

Tonight, the UK DAILY MAIL is running its own breaking news that Rivers has been placed in a medically induced coma.. her family, we are told in reports, anxiously await by her bedside.

But another news report from REUTERS simply says she is resting comfortably..

Rivers should be given privacy, as should her family.. This report is obviously newsworthy, but I hesitated linking it since …really… shouldn’t this be private for her and her close friends and relatives? I think so..

But she’s a star.. And she has never washed up, regardless of time or age.. She is ‘on’ all of the time. She was ‘on’ on Wednesday, where she performed standup for a small group..

I keep mentally coming back to this report, though, from the DAILY NEWS:

“She did a joke onstage, she goes, ‘I’m 81 — I could go at any moment,’” recounted Shade Rupe, 45, who attended the Wednesday night show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre

And now… a day later… she is in a hospital bed. In a coma.. Fate.. time.. timing..

The cruel joke of life..

August 28, 2014
‘MRS DOUBTFIRE’ BEING BLAMED

While media reports indicated that Robin Williams was near bankruptcy, another report surfaced today in the UK TELEGRAPH.. According to reporter Jose Ensor in an exclusive to the publication, a friend of Robin Williams, name not revealed, said that the now deceased star resented having to do another MRS DOUBTFIRE film..and even more, he was ‘dreading’ the film and it ‘brought out his demons.’

Ensor reports that this unnamed friend and neighbor said Williams was being paid $165,000 per episode of the quickly canceled CBS comedy THE CRAZY ONES.. He was paying bills with the cash.. but it wasn’t enough.

For several months, websites were abuzz with excitement (and mocking comments all the same) about the second MRS DOUBTFIRE film.. This Ensor report would suggest that, at least according the unnamed friend, Williams felt uncomfortable with the prospect of a return to the film over 20 years since its original release..

But now the death of Williams has potentially cursed the atmosphere of a second MRS DOUBTFIRE film. Williams was set to reprise his role.. …now.. Chris Columbus issued a statement 24 hours prior to this TELEGRAPH article expressing emotion over Williams’ suicide.. but even more, the article goes on to ponder the potential dark cloud cast over the film due to the sudden and dramatic tragic turn of events.. The TELEGRAPH article pinning blame on MRS DOUBTFIRE certainly will not do anything to help the furtherance of the movie’s development..

August 13, 2014
Wednesday weirdness

Tales from the crypt.. the planet earth. The happenings of importance today (so far)

Detroit flooding makes news.. Somehow ironic when so many in the city are being threatened by water companies to have their faucets turned off..

This is the scene on Long Island this morning.. a commute to end all commutes as parts of the area are flooded after being hit by 14 feet waves and a Meso low..

MONSANTO 2.0: Faced with tougher and more resistant weeds, corn and soybean farmers are anxiously awaiting government decisions on a new version of a popular herbicide – and on genetically modified seeds to grow crops designed to resist it..

Uneasy night in Ferguson: Tear gas, rioting, and another police shooting..

ISIS continues to threaten America..

Edward Snowden embraces the AMERICAN flag for WIRED article.. The photo will make some tear up and others cringe and angry..

Photos show strange UFOs over Houston Texas.. Something circular was floating in the skies over the city.

WATER WATER NO WHERE. NOT A DROP TO DRINK..
Las Vegas will go DRY if water levels drop 7% more.. Lake Mead is currently hitting record lows.. We need to grasp how dire of a situation this is: Las Vegas is going to go dry even though officials are drilling a new pipeline to keep drawing water from Lake Mead.. Maybe it’s time to stop watering golf courses in the MIDDLE OF A DESERT!?

Farmers are bracing for the worst as America’s largest reservoir is going dry.. According to dire reports: There’s only enough water for big cities for about one more year. HEAR THAT?

Another strange story about water, or the lack thereof: A Massachusetts town has been scratching its head as to where up to 24 percent of its water has gone..

Slotloss: Newest casino in Atlantic City the latest to announce closure.. 3000 more without jobs..

Retail and weep: A flat July and the worst sales in 6 months hit stores.. This economy is solidly bad. The climate is going to lead to big store closures after one final Christmas sweep..

End of a golden era: Lauren Bacall dead..

This has to be rough for her: Robin Williams’ daughter ZELDA quits social media due to bullying..

Revealed: Megan Fox’ diet for NINJA TURTLES body..

The scary invasion of privacy known as the Facebook messenger app..

Japan’s creepy sex doll industry ‘reaches next level’ in creation of perfect artificial ‘Dutch Wife’ which comes with ‘realistic feeling skin’

China’s latest weirdness: Simulate your own death in 4D..

CONJURE THIS: Warner Bros. Pictures has slated two untitled New Line Cinema horror films for 2016, but have yet to reveal what those films could be

August 13, 2014
When the laughs die down..

When the laughs die.. what are we left with? When cameras turn off, the lights go out.. the darkness enters..

I was struck by how fast and overwhelming the internet response was to Robin Williams’ suicide today.. When the news hit the wire services, Drudge broke the suicide angle.. press reports blew across Twitter.. Facebook froze in shock, and then immediate posts from users proclaiming which movie was the ultimate Williams flick.. DEATH TO SMOOTHIE? ONE HOUR PHOTO? MRS DOUBTFIRE? …most likely viewings of those and DEAD POETS SOCIETY are taking place in a living room near tonight..

We all seemingly grew up with Robin Williams. The outburst of emotion was so strong that it even caused Williams’ Wikipedia page to crash for a time..

Whether your generation was young watching him play MORK, or his most recent return to television with THE CRAZY ONES, every one had some little part of Williams in their lives.. Every high school class of juniors since the early 1990s recited large portions of DPS and Mr. Keating’s eloquent lessons about seizing the day and making life extraordinary..

And he did just that in real life..
But deep inside his mind, when the lights of the cameras switched off, another side of Williams existed..

Gossip rags that are too unmentionable to mention have been reporting something for a few weeks–and undoubtedly gossip rags always have some shred of truth to their tabloid papers: Robin Williams was suffering from depression..

Many comedians do.. for some reason, so many people who can quickly fill a room with laughs and smiles are crying on the inside.. Williams was no different.

But his suicide tonight was still unexpected in so many ways..

Call me a little kooky–I am–but I believe in something call a collective consciousness..Frankly, I don’t know if a God exists, but I believe a certainly electricity does.. and it somehow binds us all together like the longest math problem ever recorded. On that note, today I felt something a bit off about the world.. I felt a deep sorrow.. I chalked it up to some personal issues taking place.. then contemplated that it possibly was work.. or maybe even a bigger issue like the tremendously horrid news flowing like flood waters from the Middle East.. And then around 6pm EDT time, news hit that Robin Williams was dead. And that sadness I felt throughout the day lifted.. as though a weight was taken off the shoulders of the planet.. Maybe we all felt the death of Robin Williams in some way before we knew about it..? Maybe his personality was so large, so momentous, and so important in the history of entertainment, that it touched our lives in some spiritual way..?

I don’t know it that makes much sense..

But what does make sense?
Certainly not suicide..
Certainly not extinguishing your own life..
However I was not in Robin Williams’ mind, nor were any of us..

My wife and I laughed during the runup to the CRAZY ONES television show.. Our three and a half year old innocent little son looks a bit like Robin Williams–he makes some faces that are down right scary in the resemblance. But then, suddenly, even despite some popularity, the CRAZY ONES got canceled by CBS.. I wonder how much this cancellation played into the suicide of Robin Williams? I understand it would be pure speculation to ponder..

Come to think of it, any time someone commits suicide, it’s pure speculation on why they did. We ponder how a larger than life figure, someone who spanned decades in popularity, can just vanish from this realm..

I read some comments tonight on several message boards or threads on news articles somewhat mocking Williams for his admitted addictions and his choice to end his life. It’s always easy for people to hide behind keyboards or smart phones, text the world their feeble and immature emotions, and add thoughtless thoughts to the internet.. But that’s fine. People have their right to express whatever opinion they’d like..

Regardless of what anyone says, thinks, or does, Robin Williams is suddenly gone from the planet earth.. Sure, he does have some movies still coming and roles , most likely resulting in some amazing but still awkward audience reactions..

But that’s it. The show is over.. Williams, a modern day king of comedy, is dead..

The final summation of emotions of this day can best be seen in Clyde Lewis’ part on Facebook tonight:

No words can express the sadness.. tell people you love them, assure them that you support them and that they mean something to you.

Maybe it’s as simple as that..
But so simple that few people ever do it.
Robin Williams meant something to all of us..
Now go and find those that mean something to you and let them know..

-30-

August 12, 2014