There’s a good chance you’ve seen online ads for MasterClass somewhere, where a famous person sits down in front of a camera and teaches you the art of their particular craft. There have been MasterClassses featuring Christina Aguilera, Kevin Spacey, Usher, Serena Williams, James Patterson, Dustin Hoffman, Werner Herzog, Shonda Rhimes, Steve Martin, and more. Now MasterClass have announced one of their most exciting instructors yet: Martin Scorsese. The acclaimed director will teach you all about the art of filmmaking starting in early 2018. More details about the Martin Scorsese MasterClass await you below.
MasterClass was founded in 2015, and operates under the principle that “everyone should have access to genius.” The online education platform offers affordable online classes taught by world-renowned instructors, with each class offering a learning experience which including video lessons, interactive exercises, a series of course materials, peer interaction, and more.
Martin Scorsese Teaches Filmmaking
Martin Scorsese, one of our very best living directors, has been making movies for more than fifty years. Movies like GoodFellas, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Departed and most recently, Silence. Few filmmakers have such a staggeringly impressive body of work as Scorsese, and to a film nerd like me, the prospect of learning something – anything – film related from the director is too good to pass up. I must have seen a dozen MasterClass ads before, but this is the first time I know for certain I’ll be signing up.
Not only is Scorsese a great filmmaker, he’s a great student of film. Quite simply, the man knows movies, and has devoted his life to not just making movies but also making people aware of other movies he’s seen and loved – movies that many may not have even been aware of on their own.. His World Cinema Project, for instance, seeks to “preserve and present marginalized and infrequently screened films from regions generally ill equipped to preserve their own cinema history.”
“I was excited by this project because it gave me a chance to pass down my own inspirations and experiences and practices and evolutions, not as a blueprint for how to make movies but as a guidepost, an offering to young people attempting to find their own way. It was so important for me to have people that passed down their own knowledge when I was young, and MasterClass has given me an opportunity to try it myself,” said Scorsese.
“Scorsese is one of the most influential filmmakers of all-time, but he’s also an eternal student. What makes him such a great teacher isn’t just his mastery, but his love of learning. This is a once in a generation opportunity,” addedCEO and Co-Founder of MasterClass David Rogier.
The MasterClass will feature 20-plus video lessons as well as an option to have Scorsese answer select student questions. The classes will be available in early 2018, but folks who pre-enroll will receive early access. More information can be found here.
Coming off its premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, Neflix has announced a December 1, 2017, release date for Dark, the 10-part German mystery thriller created by showrunners Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese (Who Am I?). Shot in suburban Berlin earlier this year, the series also has a new teaser trailer that effectively sets the tone of the series without giving too much away.
See for yourself…
The series is set in a German town in present day where the disappearance of two young children exposes the double lives and fractured relationships among four families. In ten, hour-long episodes, the story takes on a supernatural twist that ties back to the same town in 1986.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the series is that it appears to have found a way to put an interesting twist on the “whodunnit?” mystery cliche. It would appear that the key to cracking the case isn’t to know who did it or how they did it…but when they did it. And as we quickly see from supernatural elements in the teaser trailer and description in the official synopsis, Dark doesn’t look like it’s going to be your typical Law & Order police procedural.
For bo Odar and Friese, the series represents a great opportunity for them to reach a global audience through Netflix:
“To work on an international series is an exciting and new experience for us. The opportunity to reach an international audience through Netflix is an incentive for us to explore German viewing habits and to push new boundaries. In doing so, we want to create a series that finds its fans both in Germany and around the world.“
Dark stars Louis Hofmann, Oliver Masucci, Jördis Triebel, Maja Schöne, Sebastian Rudolph, Anatole Taubman, Mark Waschke, Karoline Eichhorn, Stephan Kampwirth, Anne Ratte-Polle, Andreas Pietschmann, Lisa Vicari, Angela Winkler, and Michael Mendl.
(Reporter’s Note: Do not sit on this series or write it off because of subtitles. The buzz on this series is strong so get ahead of the curve before everyone else annoys you about how they “knew” it was going to be great from the start.)
The second season of Stranger Things doesn’t arrive on Netflix until October 27, but the sci-fi horror series has already been confirmed to have a third season. Furthermore, Matt & Ross Duffer (aka The Duffer Brothers) have expressed their desire to have the series last four seasons, not wanting to overstay their welcome. But there’s a chance Stranger Things could end up lasting five seasons.
Series producer Shawn Levy has indicated there will definitely be four seasons of Stranger Things, but the possibility of a fifth season has not been ruled out. However, audiences shouldn’t expect the series to continue beyond that.
Here’s what Shawn Levy told Entertainment Weekly about the possibility of Stranger Things season 5:
“Hearts were heard breaking in Netflix headquarters when the brothers made four seasons sound like an official end, and I was suddenly getting phone calls from our actors’ agents. The truth is we’re definitely going four seasons and there’s very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely.”
It sounds like there are discussion behind the scenes about guaranteeing that the show lasts a little longer in order to milk the show’s popularity for as long as possible without running out of steam. Before the Duffer brothers gave any inkling that they were looking at likely ended after four seasons, they had originally envisioned the series as having a four- or five-season run, so this isn’t necessarily surprising. If anything, that’s good news, because it means the series wouldn’t have to be puffed up in order to expand a four season story into five seasons.
Ross Duffer said they never intended for this story to continue for a long time, mostly because eventually the characters are just going to get sick of Hawkins, Indiana being terrorized. “I think there’s going to come a point where why aren’t these people leaving Hawkins? Like we’re going to stretch credibility. It wasn’t intended to be a seven-season thing,” Ross said.
Netflix certainly isn’t pushing the Duffer brothers to expand their story beyond whatever ending they have in mind. Matt Duffer said, “After it became successful, we had one of those big meetings with Netflix over dinner and they were like ‘We don’t want this going on that long.’ They were very supportive of it.”
Keep in mind that nothing is set in stone at this point. So far, only a third season has officially been ordered, there are plans for a fourth season, and maybe a fifth season. But since those seasons are still years away, there’s not any pressure to sort that out yet. Matt Duffer said, “It’s stupid to put an end date on it right now because we don’t know.”
In the meantime, Stranger Things season two arrives exclusively on Netflix on October 27.
Syfy has released a new teaser trailer for this upcoming series Happy! The series stars Chris Meloni from Law & Order: SVU and Man of Steel. and comedian Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as the voice of the titular animated imaginary creature. Happy! is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson.
The series follows Nick Sax (Meloni), an alcoholic, corrupt ex-cop who becomes a hit man. He is adrift in a world of casual murder, baseless sex, and betrayal when a hit goes wrong and his life is forever changed when he suddenly starts seeing a small, incessantly positive blue winged horse named Happy (Oswalt). The teaser below shows Sax in the hospital as a patient, fighting his way out. He then grabs a lab coat and tries to walk out nonchalantly, telling folks to not mind the blood — it was a tough tonsillectomy.
Oswalt replaced originally cast Bobby Moynihan who has his own series on CBS called Me, Myself and I.
The synopsis for the graphic novel might give us clues to the series:
Meet Nick Sax, a corrupt, intoxicated ex-cop turned hit-man, adrift in a stinking twilight world of casual murder, soulless sex, eczema, and betrayal. With a hit gone wrong, a bullet in his side, the cops and the mob on his tail, and a monstrous child killer in a Santa suit on the loose, Nick and his world will be changed forever this Christmas — by a tiny blue horse called Happy!
SyFy recently announced that their comic book adaptation series is being pushed back from its original late September air date to Wednesday, December 6th at 10 p.m. EST.
Having starred in film and television projects as diverse as Luther, Pacific Rim, and The Dark Tower, award-winning actor Idris Elba is tackling the most important story of his career: his own. Sky 1 has lined up In The Long Run, a new original comedy series based loosely on the actor’s own childhood.
Created by and starring Elba, the series also stars Bill Bailey (Hot Fuzz); and is scripted by Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis, Stuart Lane and Grace Ofori-Attahand. Set to air on Sky 1 and streaming service NOW TV, In The Long Run is a co-production between Elba’s Green Door and Sprout Pictures.
Here’s an overview of the upcoming series In The Long Run:
“A comedy about family and community, In The Long Run is set in 1985 London where the Easmons live amid the tower blocks. Life for Walter (Elba) and Evelyn Easmon is all about quiet routine. They arrived from Sierra Leone 13 years ago and are happy earning enough to pay the bills with a bit left over to send back home. Walter works hard alongside his mate and neighbor Bagpipes (Bailey) at the local factory while Evelyn patrols the estate selling make-up door-to-door. Their British born son Akuna and his best friend Scott hang out on the estate playing football and doing their best to dodge the local thugs.
But when Walter’s brother Valentine arrives to the UK, his energy and lust for life changes everything. He crashes into their lives bringing laughter and chaos and igniting a passion for music in Akuna.”
Elba and Gina Carter (Moone Boy) will executive produce; with Charlie Hanson (Extras) producing and Declan Lowney (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa) serving as series director. Besides In The Long Run, Sky’s upcoming comedy slate also includes Jack Whitehall and Rosie Perez in Bounty Hunter, and Nick Frost and Rupert Grint in Sick Note.
The 29th season of The Simpsonspremiered last night. Season 29. Goodness gracious.
Anyway, the episode takes place outside of the usual Simpsons canon (if you want to call this show’s sprawling, intentionally contradictory world that), transporting viewers to a fantasy realm populated by characters from the long-running animated series. And yes, there was a Game of Thrones joke. And yes, it was a Game of Thrones joke delivered through a very familiar Simpsons joke template. And yes, you can watch it right here.
The set-up should prove familiar to anyone who has owned a television in the past 30 years (even if the aesthetics are a bit more fantastical). Moe, the long-suffering bartender, is just trying to do his job in a tavern filled with his regulars when a messenger raven arrives with a small scroll, Game of Thrones-style. And yes, the message is intended for a person who does not exist, whose name, when spoken out loud, proves rather embarrassing.
Yes, the classic “Bart prank calls Moe” has been Game of Thrones-ified.
It’s a cute joke, the kind of gag that feels built to go viral the next day. In fact, that’s most of what The Simpsons seems to do these days: run on fumes while occasionally doing something daring or weird and tied into something massively popular to remind people that this show is still on. I’m not sure that opening your 29th season with a parody episode set in a medieval fantasy world is enough to get lapsed fans like me watching again, but it’s certainly enough to make me drop a YouTube embed into a news post and write “Hey, this is kind of amusing.”
(In all honesty, gimmick episodes like this are a chief reason for why I stopped watching so many years ago. Am I missing out? Has the show gotten good again? Let me know!)
Anyway, you can watch the season premiere, titled “The Serfsons,” however you watch your television shows the day after they initially air. For more on The Simpsons season 29, you can read our interview with showrunner Al Jean.
Although maybe not as well known as other sci-fi tomes of the ’80s, beloved film Flight of the Navigator is the next up on the reboot train.
The Hollywood Reporter announced that FOX’s Lucifer showrunner Joe Henderson has been hired to write the reboot of the 1986 film for Lionsgate. This will be the second time the title was been up for a remake, the last was back in 2009 with Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly attached. Needless to say, that version never saw the light of day.
If you’ll recall, the original film is about a young boy who accidentally travels ahead in time after a run in with a confused alien crashes his spaceship. The alien, voiced by Paul Reubens, is loveable and inept as only an ’80s alien could be, and takes the kid along for a ride across the country. There are laughs, sing-alongs, and a puckmarin. BECAUSE PUCKMARINS ARE THE BEST.
The original Flight of the Navigator was directed by Randal Kleiser (Grease), and was released by Disney (even though the House of Mouse didn’t make the film).
Also, bonus appearance of a very young Sarah Jessica Parker singing the praises of Twisted Sister.
This project is obviously in the very early stages of development, and as soon as more information becomes available, we’ll let you know.
Diesel Shoes has teamed up with Capcom to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Street Fighter. The shoes will be limited edition, and will feature some of the games most famous characters: Ryu, Chun Li, Nash, M. Bison, and Birdie. The color schemes are on point, as well. The soles of the shoes even have the names of their attacks, which is pretty damn awesome:
Ryu: Denjin / Hadoken
Chun Li: Spinning / Birdkick
Nash: Sonic / Boom
M. Bison: Psycho / Power
Birdie: Horn / Bull
The shoes clock in at $200, so if you have the extra cash, why not? Diesel shoes are really comfortable, and the pairs I have are well made and sturdy. Much like anything else, as long as you take care of the item, they will last you a while. Happy shopping, Street Fighter fans!
Disney is going all out in celebrating Epcot for its upcoming 35th anniversary, having already announced some new retro-inspired merch. Today at the Disney Parks Blog, a “rare” film about Epcot has been released.
The Dream Called EPCOT is a fantastic, 15-minute long video that gives a basic overview of EPCOT, Walt Disney‘s dream community. There’s even some really cool vintage shots of Disney World included. While a lot of the information can be found online, it’s still an awesome video to watch. So sit back, relax, and enjoy The Dream Called EPCOT!
We have another cast member for The Happytime Murders and it’s a good one. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Community alumni Joel McHale has joined the puppet murder mystery.
‘The Happytime Murders’ concept art from 2012
McHale is playing a stern FBI agent who is working on the case.
The Happytime Murders have been in development hell since 2008 with many false starts. However, the movie is finally moving forward no doubt thanks to the change in demographics. There have always been cartoons and comics for an adult audience but they are becoming more and more mainstream by the day. The idea of an R-rated puppet movie isn’t something that could have made money in the mid 2000’s but well made R-rated movies make money now. As long as this one is budgeted correctly and has a great script it should make its money back no problem. August rarely has much in the way of competition so it’s likely The Happytime Murders will have an open field to play in.
Summary: When the puppet cast of an ’80s children’s TV show begins to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.
The Happytime Murders, directed by Brian Henson, stars Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker, Bill Barretta, and Elizabeth Banks. It will be released on August 17th, 2018.
One of the big movies rolling into theaters this fall/winter, just in time for the awards season, is Kenneth Branagh‘s adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. This trailer leans much more heavily into the various character motivations, and we get to see the victim, played by Johnny Depp, introduce himself before his untimely death.
While the trailer is good, there are a few warning bells going off right now. This is based on an Agatha Christie novel, and while it stands to reason that you wouldn’t do a straight adaptation, this feels a bit like it’s leaning into some action scenes.
Perhaps they didn’t use the right song for this trailer, either. This is a murder mystery, and stories like that, as with horror movies, are built on atmosphere and tension. That is a hard thing to sell in a trailer, because it needs to be built, organically, throughout the production.
It wouldn’t be the first time a trailer has grossly mislead an audience. It’s just not often that I personally find myself wishing that is the case.
Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Kenneth Branagh, stars Branagh, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Leslie Odom, Jr., Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Marwan Kenzari, Olivia Colman, Lucy Boynton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Sergei Polunin, and Johnny Depp. It rolls into theaters on November 10th.
The premium cable network has officially handed out a pilot order and commissioned additional scripts for Damon Lindelof’s take on Alan Moore’s beloved graphic novel.
The news comes three months after The Hollywood Reporter broke that the Leftovers showrunner was developing a take on the DC Comics favorite. Lindelof also revealed on Instagram that the writers room for the potential TV series has officially been opened.
Lindelof originally read the comics as a kid in the 1980s and has said that the series continues to influence his work. “From the flashbacks to the nonlinear storytelling to the deeply flawed heroes, these are all elements that I try to put into everything I write,” he told Comic Book Resources in 2009 ahead of the feature-film take. Lindelof has read Watchmen multiple times and, at the time, praised director Zack Snyder’s film. “It’s the most married-to-the-original-text version of Watchmen that could’ve been made,” he told the Observer. “I want to keep it sort of insular,” Lindelof said, referring to the multiple translations that have come from trying to translate the source material. “It’s OK with me if people don’t understand it because they don’t deserve to understand it.”
Snyder, who directed the feature-film adaptation of Moore’s comic series, is no longer attached to the drama project from Warner Bros. Television, where both DC Entertainment and Lindelof are housed.
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Now we know what those “Netflix Is A Joke” billboards were referring to. Netflix debuted a no promo trailer during the Emmy broadcast that showed comedians Ellen DeGeneres, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock — all of whom have stand-up deals with Netflix — making fun of a few of their original series. Seinfeld rolls into a scene from House of Cards with Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood. Chappelle confronts the kids from Strange Things and it goes on from there.
The bits play off the scenes they are showing, like Chappelle asking the kids, who are trying to break into the computer lab, to erase his browser history. Rock references O.J. Simpson to start a riot on Orange is the New Black and DeGeneres makes her way into The Crown to explain to John Lithgow’s Winston Churchill that he has bad breath.
All of this to promote the upcoming stand-up specials.
Netflix’s latest stand-up special, Jerry Before Seinfeld, launches Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 12 a.m. PT.
“I’ve been very vocal about my love for those twelve issues that eventually became a graphic novel; that they were completely and totally inspiring for all the storytelling that I did subsequently, and that I owe a debt to it. So, is that piece of material something that’s really interesting to me? Yes, but I do feel like I have to weigh the balance of ‘Should it exist?’ before I decide to take it on, and I’m sort of in that process now. I hold the source material in such high regard; it would literally be the worst feeling in the world to screw it up.”
Originally published in 1986 by DC Comics, Watchmen was made into a movie, after many false starts, in 2009 by director Zack Snyder and received a mixed critical reception. The graphic novel, considered by many to be the finest superhero comic book story, and has received more awards than any other comic book, has continued to sell year after year, and regularly tops the comic book/graphic novel bestseller charts.
Controversially, DC Comics published a series of prequel comics under the title Before Watchmen and recently DC Comics President Geoff Johns has written a number of comic books that are bringing Watchmen characters into the DC universe.
It’s also worth mentioning that Alan Moore has been quite dismissive of Lost. This is probably unlikely to change that.
(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.)
In this edition, Thor: Ragnarok gets a trailer remix that makes it look like the movie came out in 1987. Plus, find out why you Norm Macdonald should undeniable be considered a comedy genius, and see some of the best seasons from the third season of Rick and Morty (so far) recreated in the video game Fallout 4.
First up, the folks at Nerdist put together this Thor: Ragnarok trailer remix as if you were watching a preview for the movie in 1987 on VHS. They’ve even made the visual effects significantly worse, including substituting a shot of Lou Ferrigno as Hulk for the CGI version we’ve seen in the official trailers, not to mention using a younger version of Jeff Goldblum.
Norm Macdonald is one of the more divisive comedians to ever take over the Weekend Update news desk on Saturday Night Live. Some people appreciate his dry, blunt comedy style while others just don’t seem to get it. If you’re looking to understand why plenty of comedy fans love Norm Macdonald so much, a video essay from Nerdwriter explains why he should be considered a comedic genius.
Finally, some hardcore fans of both Rick and Morty and the video game Fallout 4 took a lot of free time to recreate something rather amusing. UpIsNotJump recreated some of the best moments from the third season of Rick and Morty inside Fallout 4. As you can see from the thumbnail teaser, that includes Pickle Rick.
Netflix is really making a big push for their stand-up comedy specials. After they ran the ad last night during the Emmy Awards featuring Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Degeneres, Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock interacting with some of their top shows, you think they might let that run for a bit. Turns out, nope. They’ve got more: including two new infographics by Edelman that look to be very helpful.
It’s said that 63% of Netflix’s U.S. members have watched a stand-up comedy special in the last year, which means that there is definitely a desire for comedy among their viewers. I’ve watched a few myself. And with some of the big names guys like Seinfeld, you have a good idea of what you’re going to get when you start watching. But, Netflix has a lot of new comedians that some people may not have heard of before. Which may leave some viewers hesitant to give them a shot. What these infographics do is try and help connect viewers to the right comedians either through asking questions or by connecting the comedy to a popular Netflix series.
It makes a lot of sense to push their stand-up content. In a way, Netflix is similar to HBO and has been building up their reputation through original programming. But HBO was also known for their stand-up specials, another area that Netflix could make some solid inroad with.
If you want to Netflix and laugh tonight… these may help you find the right comedian:
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HBO has renewed Last Week Tonight with John Oliver for an additional three seasons, according to a breaking news report from Variety. The show, which effectively serves as the spiritual successor to the Daily Show despite only airing once a week, will air at least through 2020, according to the report. In addition to providing a humorous take on current events and a deep dive lambasting of one major topic each week, the show provides a weekly supply of clickbait articles publishing clips from the show during the slow start of news weeks when it airs.
“We are thrilled to have John Oliver as an integral part of the HBO family and to continue to share his comedic brilliance with the world,” said Casey Bloys, and HBO exec tapped to produce a complimentary comment about Oliver for the announcement. “His extraordinary genius for rich and intelligent commentary is second to none.”
Over at THR, who are one currently one paragraph ahead of Variety on their breaking article, Oliver also contributed a quote:
First: I firmly disagree with everything Casey just said. Second: We’re very grateful to Richard Plepler, Casey and everyone at HBO for letting us continue to do whatever it is we actually do. And finally: We’d also like to thank our staff for all their hard work. We’re incredibly proud of all of you, and rather than tell you that to your face, we’d like to do it in the cold, dispassionate form of a press release.
We don’t expect to update this article with anymore information, but we’d feel left out if our article didn’t also end with something like:
