Category Archives: Entertainment

‘Blue Mountain State’ gets Kickstarted into feature length film (Teaser inside!)

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Blue Mountain State. You might have missed this under-the-radar comedy series back when it aired on Spike from 2010-11. It was rather swiftly cancelled after airing three 13-episode seasons. In fact, I almost carried on with my life without acknowledging its existence because on its surface (hell, through and through), it’s a crude show about the stereotypical college experience following football players and all the immature mayhem that ensues (read: partying, drugs, alcohol, hazing, sex…I think you get the point). But man am I glad I actually gave this thing a shot. BMS‘ creators and executive producers Chris Romano and Eric Falconer are just the right amount of twisted and they managed to concoct a hysterical exaggeration of a football-dominated college. Though the wacky characters don’t have much depth, the hijinks they take part in are just grounded in reality that it makes Blue Mountain State required viewing for incoming college freshman nationwide.

Moving on to the story at hand! Ever since its abrupt cancellation in 2011, BMS fans have been clamoring for new material, including a new season and/or a movie. Following a successful Kickstarter campaign created by Falconer, BMS will return on the big screen. In total, 23,999 backers pledged $1,911,827 to support the sitcom’s anticipated comeback. Lionsgate is distributing the film with an expected launch into theatres sometime this year. Worried about BMS‘ envelope-pushing nature not translating well? Don’t be. Falconer has shared to Kickstarter backers that the MPAA originally slapped an NC-17 rating on his movie, but after some tweaks he was able to lower that to a R-rating for “strong crude and sexual content, drug use and language throughout, and some graphic nudity.” Sounds like BMS to me!

Here’s what we know. The movie is called Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland and it will follow senior year at BMS as Thad Castle (Alan Ritchson) prepares to enter the NFL. Darin Brooks and Chris Romano reprise series protagonists Alex Moran and Sammy Cacciatore, and you can expect the rest of the ensemble cast to make appearances throughout. Preview The Rise of Thadland in a first-look clip embedded after the break. A full trailer and release date are expected to drop soon, so stay tuned. Continue reading ‘Blue Mountain State’ gets Kickstarted into feature length film (Teaser inside!) →

Kanye West drops three new tracks ahead of February album release

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On New Year’s Eve, Kanye West dropped a brand new song titled “Facts” almost exactly one year after his last major release “Only One.” In his new rap he spits verses about his fledging fashion career, he praises his wife Kim Kardashian’s emoji app Kimoji, and he remains timely by incorporating a reference to Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe mishap.

More recently, ‘Ye released another new song called “Real Friends” and tagged at the end of it is a snippet of a third never-before-heard track, “No More Parties in LA.” The former track plays with Kanye’s favorite toy autotune and features Ty Dolla $ign. Per Twitter, Kanye produced the song, Frank Dukes and Boi 1da made the sample, and drum programming is by Havo. The “No More Parties” snippet previews a feature by Kendrick Lamar. Kanye produced the intro and hired DJ Madlib to direct the rest of the track.

All three tracks have been released on Kanye West’s official SoundCloud page. Though download links aren’t provided, ‘Ye apparently has no problem with his fans ripping the songs from the site.

In addition to copping these new beats, fans can finally mark down on their calendars the official release date for Kanye’s next album. Swish, formally known as So Help Me God, releases February 11. Though ‘Ye hasn’t confirmed a tracklist yet, Swish will more than likely include “Only One” (Featuring Paul McCartney), “FourFiveSeconds” (Featuring Rihanna & Paul McCartney), “Wolves” (Featuring Vic Mensa & Sia), “All Day” (Featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom, and Paul McCartney), and of course “Real Friends” and “No More Parties in LA.”

Update (1/18): And here’s the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “No More Parties in LA” in all its 6-minute and 15-second glory.

Google, Twitter and Facebook assemble 2015’s trending topics

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Ring in the New Year by taking a step back and reviewing what has come to pass over the past year. It’s about appreciating the good times and mourning loss. It’s about evaluating missteps, learning from mistakes, and broadening the brighter road ahead. Search giant Google and social networks Twitter and Facebook are here to provide retrospective, analytical, and all-encompassing telescopes looking back at the year 2015; let the good, the bad, and everything in-between comes into focus.

Posted above is Google’s Year in Search video and it brings to life the queries we searched and the questions and answers they brought forth. The Paris attacks, Star Wars, water on Mars, Cecil the Lion; all of the major crises and celebrations are accounted for in this clip and beyond. Google’s A Year in Search portal is an interactive way to explore what went down in 2015 around the world. There’s even a Top Charts section that breaks down the top searches across a wide range of categories. The top 10 U.S. searches in 2015? Lamar Odom, Jurassic World, American Sniper, Caitlyn Jenner, Ronda Rousey, Paris, Agar.io, Chris Kyle, Fallout 4, and Straight Outta Compton. In chaotic times, we sure do enjoy our entertainment, don’t we?

Jump after the break to see what Twitter and Facebook have to offer. Continue reading Google, Twitter and Facebook assemble 2015’s trending topics →

This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015

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YouTube reminds you to Rewind and take a look back at the most viral memes and trends of 2015. The clip embedded above is the video streaming site’s annual YouTube Rewind celebration that remixes some of the most popular songs of the year and superimposes YouTube stars in front of scenic landscapes and shiny arenas. Though you may not recognize all of the youthful faces here, it’s definitely a fun recap of what we embraced on the Internet this year.

And now, check out the top 10 most popular YouTube clips of the year, based on “the amount of time people spent watching, sharing, commenting, liking, and more,” according to YT. Music videos, Super Bowl commercials, pranks, and late-night TV clips proved to be mainstream fare. The following clips were watched for over 25 million hours!

  1. Silento- Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) #WatchMeDanceOn by Tianne King
  2. Clash of Clans: Revenge (Official Super Bowl TV Commercial) by Clash of Clans
  3. Crazy Plastic Ball PRANK!! by RomanAtwood
  4. Love Has No Labels | Diversity & Inclusion | Ad Council by Ad Council
  5. Lip Sync Battle with Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart and Jimmy Fallon by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
  6. Justin Bieber Carpool Karaoke by The Late Late Show with James Corden
  7. 6ft Man in 6ft Giant Water Balloon – 4K – The Slow Mo Guys by The Slow Mo Guys
  8. Golden boy Calum Scott hits the right note | Audition Week 1 | Britain’s Got Talent 2015 by Britain’s Got Talent
  9. Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off) by Dover Police
  10. Mean Tweets – President Obama Edition by Jimmy Kimmel Live

Curious about the most-watched music videos of 2015 that people spent over 37,000 years playing in this year alone? Pop after the break to eye the list. Continue reading This year in viral videos, as told by YouTube’s top 10 of 2015 →

This year in music, as told by DJ Earworm’s mega-mashup “United State of Pop 2015”

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I don’t know how he does it, but year after year DJ Earworm manages to fuse the biggest songs both musically and visually in something I’ve endearingly labeled a mega-mashup. This go-around, he’s challenged himself to take on Billboard’s top 50 tracks (that’s up from the typical 25 he deals with) and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he utterly nails it. Ed Sheeran, Fetty Wap, Justin Bieber, Meghan Trainor, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd dominate with the most songs used here, but be sure to check out the full list of songs used after the break to see if there’s any you didn’t catch. Want the song for keeps? Head over to DJ Earworm’s SoundCloud page to download a free copy. Continue reading This year in music, as told by DJ Earworm’s mega-mashup “United State of Pop 2015” →

iTunes shares 2015’s top-selling music, movies, TV shows, apps & more

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Thanks to its undeniable ubiquity, Apple’s iTunes storefront is a great barometer of the most popular media sold in entertainment. Let’s take a look at who and what performed well in 2015…

Included in iTunes’ top-selling albums are Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Taylor Swift’s 1989, and Adele’s 25 (which came out only weeks ago!). The top-selling song of the year is Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars’ addicting “Uptown Funk.” Hanging around in the top 20 are Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face,” and of course, Adele’s “Hello.” In addition to these top-selling lists, Apple likes to share hand-picked Editor Choice awards and they include: Drake (Best Artist), Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly (Best Album), The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” (Best Song), and Bryson Tiler (Best New Artist).

Top-selling movies include Star Wars: The Digital Movie Collection, Big Hero 6, American Sniper, Inside Out, and Kingsman: The Secret Service. Apple’s featured best movies include Mad Max: Fury Road, Inside Out, the Amy Winehouse documentary Amy, and Dope. In TV, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Scandal, and The Blacklist are amongst the year’s best-selling series. Apple’s featured best TV shows include Mr. Robot, Fargo, UnREAL, and Inside Amy Schumer.

Apple’s App Store is home to the largest library of apps in the world. The best app to help pass the time with friends, Heads Up!, keeps its crown as the top-selling paid app in 2015. Rounding out the top five paid apps: Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Trivia Crack (ad free), Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and Facetune. The top 5 best-selling free ones are always easy to nail: Trivia Crack, Facebook Messenger, Dubsmash, Instagram, and Snapchat. Don’t worry–YouTube, Facebook, Uber, and Crossy Road don’t trail far behind.

Calling all book readers! Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train, E L James’ Grey, Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and John Green’s Paper Towns are among the best-selling fictional novels. Top-selling non-fiction novels include Chris Kyle’s American Sniper, Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, and Erik Larson’s Dead Wake.

Lastly, in the realm of podcasts, NPR’s Fresh Air is the most downloaded of the year. Apple named Mystery Show Best New Podcast and WTF with Marc Maron Best Classic Podcast.

Want more? Open iTunes to view all the top-selling media across Apple’s digital ecosystem.

10 premieres to look out for in January: ‘Sherlock,’ ‘New Girl,’ ‘American Crime,’ ‘Agent Carter,’ ‘The X-Files’ & more

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Ring in the New Year with an exciting slate of new and returning programs coming to TV in the month of January. Zach Galifianakis and Chelsea Handler are the stars of two fresh comedy series premiering this month, and you can look forward to the long anticipated returns of Sherlock, Agent Carter, and yes, The X-Files. Jump after the break for the full rundown.
Continue reading 10 premieres to look out for in January: ‘Sherlock,’ ‘New Girl,’ ‘American Crime,’ ‘Agent Carter,’ ‘The X-Files’ & more →

‘Orphan Black’ season 4 kicks into gear with flashy teaser and mysterious new clone

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Clone Clubbers, perk up! Posted above is the first official teaser for Orphan Black season 4. There’s not much to glean from it, except for the fact that it features an artificial eye embedded with cameras. Someone’s watching us, but who could it be? Perhaps it’s teasing Rachel Duncan’s new prosthetic eye. Some are even theorizing that it’s hinting at Delphine’s rise from the ashes? Either way, it’s slick, and this quick clip alone is enough to get the blood pumping for a new season of The Tatiana Maslany Show.

But if that simply isn’t enough to whet your appetite, hold on to your hands, because series creators John Fawcett and Graeme Manson are already teasing a brand new clone set to make her debut in the next season. In an interview with EW, Fawcett and Manson reveal her mysterious name, M.K., and describe her as “this slightly traumatized clone who has a deep past.” Click here to scan the rest of the informative exchange, and pop into the gallery below to visualize the masked clone who has “been self-aware for some time” and “knows more than [Sarah and] us.” Why the sheep mask? Dolly the sheep, but of course. Catch of glimpse of M.K. in a video posted after the fold.

Orphan Black returns in April to BBC America.

Continue reading ‘Orphan Black’ season 4 kicks into gear with flashy teaser and mysterious new clone →

First look: Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange

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Here’s your first look at Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as Doctor Steven Strange, the most mythical superhero to emerge from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Without getting too heavy, Strange begins as a brilliant but egotistical surgeon. He survives a brutal car wreck but breaks the bones in his hands and loses the ability to perform surgery. He goes on to become a powerful sorcerer. You can refer to the Marvel comics or wait for the movie to fill in the gap. In any case, Entertainment Weekly scored this tantalizing first look at Cumberbatch suiting up for the role, and you can eye even more angles in the gallery below.

“We will take audiences through sort of a guide to the multiverse, other dimensions, and there are amazing things out there — wonders that are going to be hopefully visually extremely interesting and unique to this movie,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige tells EW. “But there are also very scary things in these other dimensions.”

Doctor Strange, directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Deliver Us from Evil) and also starring Tilda Swinton, Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Mads Mikkelsen (the Hannibal actor has been confirmed as the film’s main villain!), hits theatres November 4, 2016. Stick it here for more pics, clips, plot details, and the eventual trailer.

Return to ‘Twin Peaks’ in this scenic, mysterious first look

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Twin Peaks, the cult mystery drama from David Lynch and Mark Frost, is primed to make its comeback 25 years after it aired his season 2 finale in June 1991. Just like Laura Palmer promised. Well, 26 years later to be exact now that Lynch and Showtime are confirming a 2017 premiere window. Still, that’s pretty eerie if you ask me and that’s just how Lynch likes it. The official logline for the new season doesn’t spill much of anything, but it’ll remind you about what’s come before.

Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential broadcast series of all time, TWIN PEAKS followed the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town who were stunned after their homecoming queen Laura Palmer was shockingly murdered. The town’s sheriff welcomed the help of FBI agent Dale Cooper, who came to town to investigate the case. As Cooper conducted his search for Laura’s killer, the town’s secrets were gradually exposed. The mystery that ensued set off an eerie chain of events that plunged the inhabitants of Twin Peaks into a darker examination of their very existence. Twenty-five years later, the story continues…

Much of the original cast is expected to return, though it’s only Kyle MacLachlan’s FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper who’s officially confirmed to reprise. Well, MacLachlan and now Michael Horse who played Deputy Tommy “Hawk” Hill during the series’ original incarnation. Horse, who still looks pretty much the same minus a few grey hairs, is featured in this first look at the long-anticipated return to Twin Peaks.

“Location sometimes becomes a character,” Horse says in the scenic clip first shared by Lynch via Twitter. “There are a lot of holy places up here, a lot of sacred places. Can’t put my finger on how I would describe it. It just touches something in the psyche. It’s almost like being in a moving painting.”

It feels good to be home, you know, “five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the state line,” in the bizarre wilderness that is the fictional town of Twin Peaks. The iconic waterfall and surrounding lush forest look absolutely stunning filmed in HD. Curious to see that the same number of residents reside in the town, even 25 years later; the sign counter remains stuck at 51,201. Also remaining in tact is composer Angelo Badalamenti’s memorable theme and the same credit font, now even shinier than before. The teaser ends just as it should, strange and mysterious. An unfocused man with white hair holding his arms up shakes the camera and the music goes haywire before fading out. Who could it be? Some might say it’s the return of Leland Palmer, but my bet’s on Lynch. This could be the series co-creator having fun with fans, and let’s not forget that he played FBI Agent Gordon Cole so this could hint at another character reprisal.

Stick it here for the latest Twin Peaks scoops; you can be sure I’ll be all over it like Agent Cooper would a good cherry pie and a damn fine coffee.

Status update #4 on your favorite new and returning shows

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Before we close out the year, let’s take one more look at the survival status of your favorite shows.

CBS is a fan of the high-flying Supergirl so much so that it’s granted the Greg Berlanti-produced superhero series a full season order. The DC Comics-based drama will run for 20 episodes in its debut season.

NBC can’t get enough of Raymond Reddington. The network has renewed the James Spader vehicle The Blacklist for a fourth season ensuring its comeback next fall. The high-octane drama took a daring turn into more serialized storytelling this year and it’s reaping the rewards in the creative department. Also on the Peacock’s nice list is Dick Wolf’s latest spinoff Chicago Med; the medical procedural has been given a five-episode back order bringing its first season tally to 18 hours. Remember, ChiMed debuted late in November, so this can be considered a full season order. On its naughty list is Neil Patrick Harris’ primetime variety show Best Time Ever; it won’t be coming back for more.

Fox‘s summer breakout Wayward Pines will in fact return for a 10-episode second season. The M. Night Shyamalan-produced mystery drama based on author Blake Crouch’s novels hooked viewers with its jaw-dropping twists, fun action sequences, and most of all, its homages to The Twilight Zone and Twin Peaks. Shyamalan will return to EP, but showrunner Chad Hodge is handing off the reigns to Mark Friedman (Believe).

For more, jump after the break. Continue reading Status update #4 on your favorite new and returning shows →

The Beatles comes to streaming services just in time for the holidays (Update)

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Nearly five years to the day that The Beatles finally embraced the digital world of music by releasing their famed catalog on iTunes, the Fab Four are now officially offering their 13 studio albums and 4 essential collections on music streaming services. The most prolific streamers like Spotify and Apple Music are featuring The Beatles music today, along with other industry players including Google Play, Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, Deezer, Slacker Radio, Rhapsody, and Microsoft Groove. Back in 2011 when the band landed on iTunes, it quickly sold 2 million songs and 450,000 albums during its first week on Apple’s music store. Looking forward to finding out how the streaming community picks up on their sudden inclusion.

The Beatles dropped its catalog on Christmas Eve; a special gift to the world, indeed. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Celebrate with the band’s announcement video posted after the break.

Update (12/27): Spotify has released some streaming data re: The Beatles, including the most streamed songs around the world. Skip after the break for the intel. Continue reading The Beatles comes to streaming services just in time for the holidays (Update) →