Jacob Hall
‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ Star James Best Dead at 88
Prolific character actor James Best, most known for playing the bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, has passed away from complications following a battle with pneumonia. He was 88 years old.
‘Sesame Street’ Parodies ‘Game of Thrones’ With ‘Game of Chairs’
Because there is nothing small children still learning to read love more than ultra-violent fantasy epics, Sesame Street has created a Game of Thrones parody. And we’re not talking about a simple excuse to dress up some Muppets in medieval garb. There are some serious George R.R. Martin deep cuts in this strange little sketch, which marks the first and probably last time that Sesame Street will obliquely reference brutal massacres, beheadings, and regicide.
Plastic Surgeon ‘Devastated’ By ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ Character Found Dead
When you are a known quantity, a famous face or maybe a guy well known for working on famous faces, you open yourself up to parody. That’s the number one rule of comedy: nothing and no one is off limits. And yet the news that infamous “celebrity dermatologist” Dr. Fredric Brandt has passed away so shortly after being ruthlessly (and let’s be brutally honest here, hilariously) mocked on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is sad news ... especially since it is now being implied that the show’s take on him may have contributed to his death.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Furious 7’ Smashes April Records
The early estimates for the opening weekend gross of Furious 7 are all over the place and we probably won’t have a definitive number until tomorrow, when the dust finally settles and everyone gets a chance to breathe. However, this one thing we know for sure: the seventh film in the Fast and Furious series didn’t just shatter in-franchise records, it shattered records for any April release.
SNL Casts Michael Keaton in One Very Strange Teen Movie
Mike O’Brien is one of SNL’s greatest secret weapons, a writer and performer whose truly unique voice shines through the show’s usual template. When he’s given total control of a digital short, it’s a genuine cause for celebration. His work feels less like just another sketch or parody, but more like an actual, full-fledged short film escaped into the show’s line-up.
SNL Lets ‘The Walking Dead’ Star Norman Reedus Crash “Weekend Update”
Since The Walking Dead just ended its fifth season and it’s still one of the biggest shows in the history of television, it makes sense that SNL would pause to talk about it. After all, what good is the “Weekend Update” segment if the anchors don’t occasionally stop to talk about what’s big in popular culture? And what good is SNL if it can’t get one of the most popular actors from The Walking Dead to stop by for a minute-long cameo?
SNL Pulls a ‘Going Clear’ and Goes After Scientology
With the HBO documentary Going Clear currently making waves with its brutal expose on Scientology’s founders and members, it only makes sense that SNL would take a few shots at the world’s most controversial religion while it’s down. The show’s method of commenting on a pretty harrowing and horrifying case is genuinely brilliant: the show’s cast has assembled for a 25 year old music video extolling the virtues of a religion called “Neurotology,” which has been updated with annotations on the current situations of the many participants.
SNL Asks Michael Keaton to Play Batman and Beetlejuice Again
Most of the time, the SNL opening monologue is a formality and a tradition, a road bump on the way to the actual good parts of an episode. It feels like something the guest host does because he has to, not because anyone on the writing staff actually had a good idea. And that’s why last night’s monologue was such a joyous surprise: it was not only the best monologue of the season, but the best sketch of the whole night.
Disney Is Making a Live Action ‘Winnie the Pooh’ Movie
It was inevitable: Disney is making a live action Winnie the Pooh movie because of course Disney would make a live action Winnie the Pooh movie. The studio’s tactic of bringing their animated properties into the live action realm has already paid off with Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent and Cinderella, so why not pay another visit to the Hundred Acre Wood and let a live action Christopher Robin hang out with a CGI Piglet?
David Letterman Joins Billy Eichner For a Very Special Edition of ‘Billy on the Street’
With David Letterman departing The Late Show to make way for Stephen Colbert, the entire world waits with bated breath to see what this living legend will do after his final episode airs this May. Thankfully, we have people like Billy Eichner around to accost strangers and collect suggestions for what he should do next.
‘Straight Outta Compton’ Trailer: Parental Discretion Is Advised
The new Straight Outta Compton trailer is here and it doesn’t look like what you’d expect. If you went back in time a few decades and told the members of highly controversial hip hop group N.W.A. that they would one day be the subject of a glossy, mainstream biopic, they would probably wouldn’t believe you. But here we are: the “world’s most dangerous group” has its own Hollywood movie now.
‘Avengers 2’ Reveals Four New Alternate IMAX Posters
Like any major motion picture these days, Avengers 2 is set to open on IMAX screens, giving fans a chance to watch Earth’s mightiest heroes battle evil on a screen larger than their house. And like any major motion picture opening in IMAX, attendees at the opening night screenings will be given a special poster to commemorate the occasion. And since Marvel is really good at getting fans hyped up, they’ve gone ahead and created four separate posters.
‘Fast & Furious 8’ Will Be Set in New York City, Says Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel, he of the bulging biceps, shiny scalp and low vocal register, has been making the press rounds for Furious 7 over the past few weeks. Considering just how crazy his new movie is, he sure has a lot to talk about. But even the unlimited number of potential conversation topics to mined from the insanity of the seventh film in the Fast and Furious saga couldn’t stop him from teasing the eighth film in the franchise, which may be set in New York City.
The Next ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ Trailer Will Premiere at Star Wars Celebration
Since Star Wars: Episode 7 is probably the most anticipated movie of the past decade or so, Disney and Lucasfilm were wise to turn the premiere of the first trailer into a bonafide event. Fans flocked to theaters early in the morning just to catch a glimpse of the first footage from the film. Some crazy people (including yours truly) went to a special event where it was screened 40 times in a row. So how do you follow that up? By premiering the next trailer at the world’s biggest Star Wars fan convention and then attaching the preview to the second most anticipated movie of the year.
Anthony Mackie Didn’t Know He Was in ‘Avengers 2’ Until He Saw the Poster
Marvel's shared universe model has become the envy of Hollywood producers and the scourge of talent agencies, with their secretive development proving frustrating and fascinating in equal measure. Case in point: Anthony Mackie (AKA, Sam Wilson, the Falcon) now claims that he didn’t even know he was in Avengers: Age of Ultron until he saw his name on the poster.
Weekend Box Office Report: The Box Office Goes ‘Home’
In one of the strongest box office weekends of 2015 so far, both Home and Get Hard opened strong while Insurgent and Cinderella continued to perform well. This was the rare weekend that literally offered something for everyone, with R-rated comedies and animated family fare exceeding expectations.
‘SNL’ Lets Dwayne Johnson Cut a Really Weird Wrestling Promo
As a former pro wrestler, Dwayne Johnson has plenty of experience cutting promos where he lays the verbal smackdown on his opponents. But what if he took things a little too far? That’s the premise of this delightful SNL sketch, which finds The Rock cutting the promo that crosses the line early on and never strops running.
‘SNL’: Dwayne Johnson Sings About Being “Franchise Viagra”
It has been a regular joke for a few years now that any struggling franchise just needs to bring Dwayne Johnson into the fold if it wants to regain relevance, but thanks to SNL, we now know that he is very aware of the joke. While guest hosting the world’s most famous live sketch comedy show, Johnson devoted his entire monologue to crooning a song about how he’s “franchise viagra.”
‘SNL’: Dwayne Johnson Returns as President “The Rock” Obama
There are few impersonations on SNL we enjoy as much as Jay Pharoah’s President Barack Obama, the chief subject of the latest episode’s cold open. But in a nice twist, the leader of the free world soon finds himself transforming into a monster of a man. Did you really think SNL would get Dwayne Johnson to guest host and not bring back The Rock Obama?
‘SNL’ Casts Dwayne Johnson in the Live Action Remake of ‘Bambi’
Between Maleficent and Cinderella, Disney has found a new way to print money by remaking their animated classics into live action films. And according to SNL, the upcoming Beauty and the Beast won’t be next. First, we’re getting the action-packed, Fast and Furious-inspired remake of Bambi that you never knew you wanted.