Wednesday, November 8, 2023
John Woo's 'Silent Night' in theaters on Dec. 1, 2023
SILENT NIGHT from LIONSGATE. Again - We've seen this kind of action film before. "They killed my family and now I want revenge." But - John Woo is a master action director. Let's see what he does this time.
Trailer 'Kane' in theaters & video-on-demand Nov. 10, 2023
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Monday, November 6, 2023
MAX Trailer 'The Penguin' with Colin Farrell
THE PENQUIN on MAX. The 8-part episode series is a spin-off from the 2022 movie "The Batman." Colin Farrell portrayed the character of "Penguin" in that movie and received rave reviews. The MAX serial will chronicle the rise of "Penguin" inside Gotham City.
Check out the excellent teaser trailer below.
Sunday, November 5, 2023
Documentary on music duo 'Milli Vanilli' streaming on Paramount+
MILLI VANILLI on PARAMOUNT+. Luke Korem is the director and he goes deep behind the scenes. The main story is the rise and fall of two male dancers named Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan (Rob & Fab). The director claims that it took him one year to get Fab to interview for this documentary. Rob died from an accidental drug overdose back in 1998.
Both young men signed a music contract with a successful producer named Frank Farian (1988). They were told that neither were allowed to sing on the song, "Girl you know it's true." They only had to lip sync and dance to the R&B tune. It became a smash hit in Germany and around the world. That includes the United States. Arista records in America produced a new album surrounding that song. It spawned 3 more number #1 hits and sold 7 million copies.
The music industry found out that Rob & Fab never sung a note on the album. As the millions of dollars which poured in for Arista and Frank. No one said a "single" word. That is until after the 1990 Grammy Awards when Milli Vanilli won for Best New Artist.
Rob & Fab wanted to sing on the next album they were already contracted to do. Arista executives laughed and Frank said "no." He had already produced the album with other singers and rap artists. Rob & Fab forced Frank to hold a press conference where he said they never sung a note on the debut album.
Rob & Fab took the "hit" as Arista and Frank ran with the money. The duo lost everything in 24 hours and became a "Joke" in the music industry. What is interesting is that Frank did this before with the Disco group "Boney M" in the 1970's. The lead singer did a lip sync on every top hit. After Rob & Fab fell from the spotlight. Frank hired a new group/duo on that second album. They were called, "The Real Milli Vanilli." It was all so that he could make more money. This fake idea of great music fronted by beautiful "lip sync" performers.
Fab survived the scandal who stuck with it. He has become a very good singer. Rob couldn't handle the fall from the spotlight into obscurity. He died in a German motel at age 32. Frank Farian actually showed up at Rob's funeral. Did he really care even when he took all the money? He didn't want to be interviewed for this documentary.
The real singers on both those albums never got their recognition either. Except for the album credits. The Grammy Award Milli Vanilli won was returned. None of the artists nominated in that category were awarded that Grammy. It sits in the vault at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
If you get a chance. Check this out.
Top Box Office 'Five Night's a Freddy's' still number #1 with $19 Million
TOP BOX OFFICE / WEEK-ENDING / NOV. 5, 2023 / ESTIMATED
$19.4M - Five Nights at Freddy's
$13.5M - Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
$7.0M - Killers of the Flower Moon
$5.1M - Priscilla
$2.7M - Radical
Saturday, November 4, 2023
The 'Dateline' episode 'The Case of the Man with No Last Name' Hit 2.24 TV Ratings Overall
DATELINE on NBC. Last night's episode was called, "The Case of the Man with No Last Name" (10-3-2023). In the overnight TV ratings. It grabbed 2.24 million TV viewers overall. It reached 0.3 million TV viewers in the all important 18 to 49 adult demographic.
You have to Sign-Up to Sign-In to watch latest episode.
Click the NBC logo below for DATELINE.
Limited Series 'Shogun' drops February 2024 on Hulu & FX
You-Tube synopsis - "Based on James Clavell’s novel, FX’s Shōgun is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village."
Note: This is a remake of the popular 1980 NBC Mini-series.
Trailer
Friday, November 3, 2023
Classic '48 Hours' podcast with Troy Roberts 'Power, Passion and Poison'
CBS, "This classic episode of - 48 Hours - explores the death of 50-year-old Kathy Augustine, a career politician from Nevada. Questions arose about the cause of her death after police received a tip from her husband’s co-worker that she may have been poisoned, and toxicology reports further confirmed the presence of the powerful paralytic drug Succinylcholine. 48 Hours - correspondent Troy Roberts reports. This episode last aired on 12/20/2008."
The 'Dateline' episode 'Ghost Rider' Hit 2.61 TV Ratings Overall
DATELINE on NBC. Last night's episode was called, "Ghost Rider" (9/2/2023). In the overnight TV ratings. It grabbed 2.61 million TV viewers overall. It reached 0.3 million TV viewers in the all important 18 to 49 adult demographic.
You have to Sign-Up to Sign-In to watch the latest episode.
Click the NBC logo below for DATELINE.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
CBS '48 Hours' to be Pre-empted by Sports for next Two Weeks
48 HOURS on CBS. The crime show will be pre-empted by "Football" and "Soccer" Games for the next two weeks. Below is program notes by the network.
- "48 Hours" will not air on Saturday, Nov. 4 due to the SEC on CBS.
- "48 Hours" will not air on Saturday, Nov. 11 due to the NWSL championship game on CBS.
Movie Screenwriter wins case on 'The People's Court' back in 2020
THE PEOPLE'S COURT from TV Syndication. It was cancelled in 2023 after decades with Judge Marilyn Millian. Repeat episodes are now running on YouTube.
The Writers Guild "Strike" just ended after more than 100 days. The writers got a new contract and their proposals were finally met by producers.
"The People's Court" had a segment about a film screenwriter who took his lawsuit to small claims court ($5,000). An independent producer tried to screw him out of his pay over the script he re-wrote. Judge Millian read both scripts and this guy wrote a "better" one (In her opinion). It was a family comedy and the producer thought his re-writes ruined the story idea. She even tried to "bamboozle" the judge with top investors and top actors attached to her movie.
This is a perfect example of how screenwriters are treated. Not only by big time producers, but by small time producers who really have no money at all. This goes on constantly within the entertainment industry and writers really do get the fuzzy end of the lollipop (so to speak).
Watch this all the way to the end.
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Friday 'Dateline' with Keith Morrison on Nov. 3, 2023 at 9/8 p.m.
NBC Press Release Below
THE STORY: The investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Canadian limo driver Dwayne Demkiw sparks an international manhunt for an elusive killer with multiple false identities.
REPORTED BY: Keith Morrison
INTERVIEWS WITH: Edmonton Homicide Detectives Brian Robertson and Rob Bilawey, Dwayne Demkiw’s friends Kayla Polihronopoulus and Darren Boisvert, and others.
WHERE: Calgary, Canada