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Tag: HBO

  • Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch and Kelly Reilly Join the Cast of ‘True Detective’

    Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch and Kelly Reilly have joined the cast of True Detective.

    HBO announced the addition of the threesome for the series’ second season on Monday. They will join Colin Farrell, who is set to play a dirty police officer, and Vince Vaughn.

    According to HBO, McAdams will play Ani Bezzerides, an officer for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department “whose uncompromising ethics put her at odds with others and the system she serves,” according to the network’s press release.

    Kitsch’s character, Paul Woodrugh, is a veteran and California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer. Woodrugh is “running from a difficult past and the sudden glare of a scandal that never happened.”

    Reilly will play a struggling actress and the wife of Vince Vaughn’s character, Frank Semyon.

    Semyon is “a criminal and entrepreneur in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.”

    Kitsch told AdWeek last month that he was “really excited” to get started, as rumors swirled that he would be part of the hit series.

    “I’ve just been prepping. It’s been almost a full year since I’ve been on camera, so I’m itching, man,” he said. “I’m overdue. You’ve just got to grind it out. Even taking this year off was, I mean you want to work, but you also don’t want to just water it down and work for the sake of working. So, it was tough to sit a year out, keeping a finger crossed that I was going to get True.”

  • Rachel McAdams Will Join “True Detective”

    Rachel McAdams Will Join “True Detective”

    Rachel McAdams is set to join the cast of True Detective for season two.

    The first season of True Detective was set in Louisiana and starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

    The season was centered around a series of satanic murders.

    This season will see Rachel McAdams, along with Taylor Kitsch and Kelly Reilly, join the likes of Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn in California.

    Rachel McAdams’ character, Ani Bezzerides, is an officer for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department “whose uncompromising ethics put her at odds with others and the system she serves,” according to HBO’s announcement about the show.

    #Littlefans

    A photo posted by Rachel Mcadams (@rachelamcadams) on

    Kelly Reilly will play a burned out D-list actress. She will be the wife of Vince Vaughn’s character, Frank Semyon, who is “a criminal and entrepreneur in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.”

    Taylor Kitsch will play Paul Woodrugh, a military veteran and California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer. Woodrugh, according to the same press release, is “running from a difficult past and the sudden glare of a scandal that never happened.”

    Shameless glam selfie!

    A photo posted by Rachel Mcadams (@rachelamcadams) on

    He told Ad Week of his new project with Rachel McAdams on True Detective, “Yeah, I’m really excited. I’ve just been prepping. It’s been almost a full year since I’ve been on camera, so I’m itching, man. I’m overdue. You’ve just got to grind it out. Even taking this year off was, I mean you want to work, but you also don’t want to just water it down and work for the sake of working. So, it was tough to sit a year out, keeping a finger crossed that I was going to get True.”

    Colin Farrell is set to play the difficult part of a compromised police officer.

    Fast & Furious director Justin Lin is slated to direct the first two episodes. Wow. With that kind of casting and directorship, this is sure to be an incredibly entertaining season of True Detective!

    What do you think of HBO choosing Rachel McAdams for the new season of True Detective?

  • Rachel McAdams To Join The Cast Of ‘True Detective’

    Rachel McAdams is the newest member of the cast of HBO’s True Detective.

    The Notebook star has signed on to play the role of Detective Ani Bezzerides, who is described as “a Ventura County sheriff’s detective whose uncompromising ethics put her at odds with others and the system she serves,” for the upcoming second season of the series.

    Taylor Kitsch and Kelly Reilly have also been confirmed for roles on the show, and will join previously announced actors Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn.

    Season one of True Detective premiered in January 2014, and follows an anthology format. This means that season one stars Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan will not be returning for season two. Season one was an instant hit and won five Primetime Emmy awards.

    According to HBO, the new eight-episode season will be produced in California and will follow three detectives Ani Bezzerides (McAdams), Ray Velcoro (Farrell), and Paul Woodrugh (Kitsch). The series will also follow Vaughn, who is described as a “a career criminal whose business partner is murdered,” and Reilly, who will play Vaughn’s wife.

    A premiere date for season two has not been announced, but it will take place sometime in 2015.

    Are you excited to see Rachel McAdams in the new season? Leave your comments below.

  • HBO GO Is Finally Available on Xbox One

    HBO GO Is Finally Available on Xbox One

    Back in November of last year, Microsoft unveiled the list of streaming video apps that would grace the Xbox One. Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant, VUDU, Crackle, and Redbox Instant were on the list, but HBO GO was only given a “coming soon” designation.

    Well, today’s finally the day. Xbox One owners can now stream HBO content with HBO GO.

    According to Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson, “the following TV providers authenticate HBO GO on Xbox One: AT&T, Bend Broadband, Blue Ridge Communications, Cablevision, Charter, Comcast’s Xfinity, Cox, DIRECTV, Dish, Grande Communications, HTC Digital Cable, Massillon Cable/Clear Picture, Mediacom, Midcontinent Communications, RCN, Suddenlink, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Wow!

    It shouldn’t really surprise you that it’s taken this long for the app to pop up on the Xbox One, as it usually takes new streaming media devices a while to get HBO GO.

    Image via Xbox, YouTube

  • Olivia Munn Offers Relationship Advice

    Olivia Munn Offers Relationship Advice

    Former G4 Network Attack of the Show! co-host Olivia Munn revealed to E! News how she makes her relationship with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers work, during the final season premiere event of her hit HBO show The Newsroom.

    While discussing the difficulties that arise while juggling busy schedules against a budding dalliance at a red carpet event held at the Directors Guild of America Theater, Munn commented, “You just end up making those concessions.” The Iron Man 2 actress added, “You make decisions because it can’t all be work and it can’t all be your personal life, especially when you’ve worked so hard to have a career.”

    On the Golden Globe-nominated political drama The Newsroom, Munn plays Sloan Sabbith, a socially inept double PhD economist.

    Here is a clip of Munn making nerds look good, on the Aaron Sorkin-helmed series:

    Regarding her and Rodgers’ hectic schedules, Munn remarked, “There’s a lot of traveling, a lot of driving, and then you’re just really happy with the decisions that you make. And for me, it comes at a time in my life when I end up having to say no to some work because I gotta be somewhere else.”

    “It doesn’t make me sad or anything, because I want my life to be full and have all those experiences, so you kind of figure it out as you go,” the actress added.

    At the Tuesday event, Munn wore a “special ring” that Rodgers had given her after six months of dating. The actress commented, “This is a gift from my boyfriend, actually. I wore this for a premiere, and he had heard me talking to my stylist about being obsessed with it. It is such a special ring, and then he surprised me.”

    “It’s not that kind of ring, by the way. It’s not the special ring. I mean, it’s a very special ring, but it is not the special ring,” she said.

  • HBO’s New Streaming Service Could Cost $15 a Month

    HBO’s New Streaming Service Could Cost $15 a Month

    Would you pay $15 a month for a service that let you watch all of HBO’s content without the bulky ball and chain of a cable subscription?

    Apart from the format it will take, pricing is the number one question mark surrounding HBO’s just-announced plunge into cordcutting. How much will a standalone HBO subscription service cost?

    About as much as it costs when paired with a cable subscription, according to a report.

    Martin Peers writes for The Information that a source close to the matter says the new cable-free offering will be priced at around $15 or so a month, or close to as much as HBO costs nowadays. Apparently, it’s unlikely to be any less than that.

    Of course, this puts the hypothetical HBO streaming service on a shelf above competitors like Netflix ($8), Hulu Plus ($8) and Amazon Prime (a little over $8 a month when averaged out from yearly price).

    Then again, none of those companies make Game of Thrones. At least not yet. Netflix is the closest so far to offering truly great original programming.

    Despite the not-insignificant price gap, there is precedent for people being willing to pay more for HBO. Remember that Take My Money, HBO campaign that generated nearly 200,000 tweets? Thousands of people tweeted at price at HBO, basically saying here, this is what I would pay if you would just offer a standalone HBO Go damnit.

    Someone analyzed those tweets and found that the average price people said they would pay was a little over $12. And there were plenty of tweets that said $15, $20, and even more.

    But the reality is more complicated. Why pay that much for HBO when you can just pirate it. Why pay that much for HBO when you can just use someone else’s HBO Go password? Why pay that much for HBO when HBO basically only offers its own shows and original movies, plus a handful of about 100 other movies?

    Speaking of which, HBO is going to have to make some deals to populate any hypothetical streaming service with more movies.

    Anyway, the market for an HBO $15-a-month standalone streaming service is there. How big is that market? I guess we’ll see sometime in the next year. That’s HBO’s timeline for unveiling this new venture.

    Image via HBO, YouTube

  • HBO Without a Cable Subscription Is Actually Going to Happen

    HBO Without a Cable Subscription Is Actually Going to Happen

    Within the next year, HBO is going to do something that people have wanted the venerable network to do for a long, long time.

    HBO is finally going to let you watch Game of Thrones without a cable subscription.

    Not just Game of Thrones, of course, although that will likely be the most-watched show on HBO’s new cordless offering. HBO CEO Richard Plepler made the announcement at an investors conference, saying that his company would move “beyond the wall” and debut a “stand alone, over the top” HBO service sometime next year. It’ll launch in the US, and likely spread internationally from there.

    “All in, there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them,” he said.

    If you’re a cordcutter, or someone who pays over $100 a month for a cable package so that you can in turn pay another dozen or so bucks to access HBO – this is a very big deal.

    For years, HBO has stood firm in its distribution model – one that has worked well for the company. As of now, access to HBO content is linked to cable providers. Although HBO offers an on-demand streaming platform for its shows and movies (HBO Go), that too has been inextricably tied to cable. This means that in order to watch HBO’s incredibly popular content, you either bite the bullet and buy a cable package, steal an HBO Go password from a buddy, or just pirate it.

    But apparently, that’s about to change. Plepler didn’t give any additional details on what this will look like – but his vague mention of a standalone HBO Go-like service should make waves. Remember that ‘Take My Money, HBO’ campaign?

    HBO could simply unshackle HBO Go from its cable subscription chains. It could build an entire new framework to deliver its content over the web. HBO could even use existing content distribution platforms to deliver its content. The company already has a deal with Amazon for its older content.

    Either way, HBO plans to let you pay for its content without having to also pay for a bulky cable bundle.

    As always, HBO is going to do what is best for HBO’s bottom line. For years, that was limiting subscriptions to those who also opt for cable. But the landscape has changed. Netflix now has millions more subscribers than HBO, as well as a higher subscriber revenue. I guess avoiding becoming Netflix’s bitch played a part in Plepler’s decision.

    HBO’s not going to abandon its tried and true method of acquiring subscribers. Cable providers, through their powerful marketing of HBO products, gives the company too much. It’s possible that this decision will strain that longtime relationship, but HBO is still in bed with cable.

    But it looks like they might want to see other people.

    Image via YouTube screenshot

  • Lena Headey Gets Naked for Game of Thrones $200,000 Scene

    Fans of the HBO Game of Thrones series are easily divided into three camps:

    – Those who have read the books
    – Those who have not read the books, but read anything regardless of spoiler possibilities
    – Those who don’t want to know anything about what is coming

    If you find yourself in the third camp, avert your eyes now — potential spoilers ahead.

    In the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, there will be a scene where Cersei Lannister walks buck naked through town.

    Why is that such a shocker? Isn’t this the same woman who was caught knowing her own brother in the biblical sense, and we learned has done so for some time?

    Well, it’s the circumstances of Cersei’s exhibitionism that are most interesting, not the Godiva trip itself. Let’s just say that, if the series sticks to the books, Cersei will not only be bare-bottomed, but have her head shaved.

    Whether HBO will stick to the book storyline or not remains to be seen, but we do have reports that actress Lena Headey, who portrays Cersei Lannister, did indeed do a nude scene for Game of Thrones that involved her walking out of a church and through the town. And that scene ended up costing $200,000 due to all the extra security involved.

    It also seems that there was a bit of difficulty getting approval for filming the scene in the Dubrovnik, Croatia location. The Church of St. Nicholas would only allow the location to be used if Headey did not disrobe in the church itself. So a fake religious set was built for that part.

    The details of the scene so far certainly sound like the official storyline.

    Tune in to Game of Thrones for the upcoming season to see what leads up to Cersei’s humiliating parade. The series starts back up in 2015.

  • True Detective Season 2 Will Star Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell

    The ball has landed on what felt like a roulette wheel of possible names for the second season of HBO’s immensely popular series True Detective. After many rumors and much speculation, HBO has announced that season two will star Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell.

    Farrell will play Ray Velcoro, “a compromised detective whose allegiances are torn between his masters in a corrupt police department and the mobster who owns him.”

    Vaughn will play “Frank Semyon, a career criminal in danger of losing his empire when his move into legitimate enterprise is upended by the murder of a business partner.”

    HBO is officially describing the plotline as “three police officers and a career criminal must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder.” Show creator Nic Pizzolatto has said in the past that the second season would be set in California and feature “hard women, bad men and the secret occult history of the United States transportation system.”

    Post by True Detective.

    So – two leads down, one to go? Pizzolatto has said that there are three leads this time around, and that one of them is female. Names that have been rumored for that coveted role include Rosario Dawson, Kelly Reilly, Jessica Biel, Malin Akerman, Abigail Spencer, Oona Chaplin, Jaimie Alexander and Brit Marling. According to Deadline, those eight actresses were invited to read for Pizzolatto last Thursday.

    The announced cast is surely polarizing, judging by the internet reaction. ‘Vaughn and Farrell’ doesn’t engender the same level of excitement as ‘McConaughey and Harrelson’ for most – but it’ll be interesting to see what an actor like Vaughn can do with a role like this. If you’re skeptical about the casting decision, it would be smart to remember that some things only make sense once you see it on the screen.

    Vince Vaughn? Seriously? What’s next, giving the dad from Malcolm in the Middle his own drama?, says one redditor in a thread about the announcement.

    Image via True Detective, Facebook

  • Netflix Passes HBO in Subscriber Revenue, Still Getting Its Ass Kicked in Other Areas Though

    Netflix Passes HBO in Subscriber Revenue, Still Getting Its Ass Kicked in Other Areas Though

    Netflix unveiled solid Q2 earnings a couple weeks ago, also announcing that it had surpassed 50 million global subscribers.

    Well, another thing happened last quarter. Netflix surpassed HBO in subscriber revenue for the very first time ($1.146 billion to $1.141 billion) – and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is rather excited about it.

    Post by Reed Hastings.

    Yeah, the profit thing is still in ass-kicking territory. Netflix pulled in $71 million in profit last quarter while HBO grabbed a whopping $548 million. And as far as the Emmys thing goes – Hastings is right once again. HBO has dominated those awards for some time now. But this year could be a big year for Netflix, who netted 31 nominations for its original series and documentaries.

    The rivalry between Netflix and HBO is a fun one to watch. It’s clear that Netflix sees HBO as its main competition (it’s said so on multiple occasions). It’s clear that both companies are, in one way or another, taking cues from the other. HBO launched its HBO GO streaming service a few years about Netflix’s Watch Instantly streaming service. Seeing HBO’s continued success in making original content, Netflix decided to do that too – and have been wildly successful so far.

    Of course, subscribing to HBO and subscribing to Netflix are two different animals. One requires a cable subscription – a huge anchor to tie to any offer – and the other simply requires an internet connection and $8 a month.

    Still, this feels like a a significant milestone for Netflix.

    I guess Hastings and Netflix are one step closer to making HBO their bitch.

  • Allison Williams Cast as Peter Pan in NBC Live Show

    Over the past year, the world has gotten to know a secret side of NBC Nightly News’s Brian Williams – that being the fact that the man can rap. Thanks to the time and effort from Jimmy Fallon and crew from The Tonight Show, Williams has now been featured in seven rap videos, spitting lyrics from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch all the way to N.W.A. And, with the latest announcement from NBC, we now know that this singing skill is a hereditary trait that his daughter, Allison, has inherited.

    NBC’s live production of Peter Pan will debut on December 4 of this year. It was earlier confirmed that NBC had cast Christopher Walken as Hook, and yesterday the network announced its decision for the casting of Peter Pan:


    (Yes, that is an adorable, yet highly embarrassing, father-daughter moment between Brian Williams and his daughter on national television.)

    While some people may scream about the apparent sidedness of said decision –

    – others are terribly excited about the talents that Allison Williams brings to the stage as one of literature’s greatest protagonists of all times:

    Williams, relatively new to acting, currently stars in HBO’s hit series, Girls, and has made appearances in Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project. While her role as Marnie on Girls is drastically different than anything she will have to do to portray Peter Pan, she has displayed one skill which made her very attractive to NBC executives – singing.

    Not only will Williams have to sing her way through NBC’s live performance, she will also be responsible for flying and sword-fighting, a combination of skills which will challenge the 26-year-old actress like no role ever has. Luckily for her, she has been training for said role for quite some time.

    NBC executive Robert Greenblatt voiced his excitement over the casting of Williams, stating, “We couldn’t be happier that Allison Williams is our Peter Pan. She’s a lovely rising star on the award-winning show Girls—where she occasionally shows off her incredible vocal talent—and we think she will bring the perfect blend of ‘boyish’ vulnerability and bravado to save the day against Christopher Walken’s powerful Captain Hook.”

    NBC is hoping to ride on the coattails of its most recent live production this past Christmas season – The Sound of Music. Despite criticism of Carrie Underwood’s performance, the broadcast picked up approximately 21 million viewers, a number NBC could not afford to pass-up with another live show.

    Image via YouTube

  • Game of Thrones News: Martin Needs To Get Writing

    Writers must write.

    Author and fantasy mastermind George R.R. Martin has decided to dramatically decrease his involvement in the next season of HBO’s Game of Thrones in order to write the next book of his A Song of Ice and Fire series.

    Martin typically serves as executive producer and consultant for the television show. Additionally, the author typically writes one episode every season. However, Martin announced at Comic-Con this past weekend that he needs to concentrate on finishing the next book of the series. “I’m not actually writing an episode for season five,” Martin said. “I have this book I have to finish.”

    “This book” would be the sixth book in the series, its title is The Winds of Winter. The book will serve as the second to last in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which of course is the source material for the television show. Fans have recently expressed concern that Martin would not finish the books in time.

    The upcoming season five, which is expected to premiere on HBO sometime in 2015, will adapt from Martin’s books A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons (the fourth and fifth novels.) So of course, in order for the show to have a season six, Martin needs to finish The Winds of Winter.

    The 65-year-old author is committed. He is not only giving up writing his one episode for next season, but he also plans to cut his travel to the Game of Thrones set, “I might make it over there early next year, but I’ve got to finish the book…. So I’m making the trips I’m already obligated to make, but I’m not adding any new trips at this time. So I don’t think I’m going to do a set visit this year, sadly.”

    He’s also drastically cutting down his involvement with the process of making the television series, “I’ve been doing a lot of other stuff. In the earlier seasons I was much more involved with casting. I would review tapes and comment, but that’s a time-consuming process. And at this point, we’re five seasons in, we have the best casting director in the business in Nina Gold. David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] have been running the show, and it’s a well-oiled machine, so it really doesn’t need me down there with the oil can squeaking at the wheels.”

    Here’s hoping that Martin doesn’t get writer’s block.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lisa Kudrow Previews New Season of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

    Lisa Kudrow recently previewed the new season of TLC’s celebrity genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? for TV Guide.

    The season, which kicked off on Wednesday with an episode about former Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixson’s great-great-great grandmother, will feature Valerie Bertinelli, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lauren Graham, Kelsey Grammer, and Rachel McAdams.

    Who Do You Think You Are? is an adaptation of the British series of the same name that has aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for 11 seasons.

    The US version of the series premiered on NBC in 2010 and ran three seasons before being canceled by the network in 2012.

    The series was subsequently picked up for a fourth season by TLC and in June the network renewed the series for a six-episode fifth season.

    Season four set a strong precedent with celebrities such as Christina Applegate, Kelly Clarkson, Cindy Crawford, Zooey Deschanel, Chelsea Handler, Chris O’Donnell, and Trisha Yearwood.

    In the first episode of season five, Cynthia Nixson discovers that her great-great-great grandmother was a victim of domestic violence and, in an act of self-defense, killed her husband with an ax.

    “Real life is much more riveting and powerful. We were bug-eyed by that story!” Kudrow said.

    She went on to reveal that three more season five celebrity guests – Bertinelli, Ferguson, and McAdams – had a murderer in the family.

    Kudrow said it’s not unheard of for a celebrity to back out due to the personal nature of the information uncovered by the show:

    “…and we respect that. Sometimes they’ll talk to their family and the family says, ‘Nope. Not for us.’”

    Kudrow serves as executive producer of the series along with former Scandal star Dan Bucatinsky. Along with Don Roos (Boys on the Side, Marley & Me, Single White Female) Kudrow and Bucatinsky comprise the production company Is or Isn’t Entertainment.

    The company’s first television series, The Comeback, aired for one season on HBO and starred Kudrow and Malin Akerman (Couples Retreat, The Proposal, 27 Dresses.) The series received three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Kudrow.

    “If they had left it on, it would have been fine. Because I think in a couple of years, TV caught up to it,” Kudrow said of the series.

    Those words proved true earlier this year when HBO revealed it would bring the show back almost ten years later for a six-episode second season.

    In 2008 Is or Isn’t launched the web series Web Therapy with Kudrow and Bucatinsky starring as an Internet therapist and her assistant.

    In the summer of 2011 the series transitioned from the Internet to television in the form of a half-hour Showtime series.

    “I feel like we snuck in through the back door, almost [like] being a recurring character that finally becomes a regular. So that was easy. Painless, sort of,” Kudrow has said of the transition process.

    In January the network announced it would renew the series for a fourth season, set to premiere in October.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Lisa Kudrow Meets Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox: Friends Reunion?

    Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox all got together for dinner in L.A. last week, to the delight of all the tabloids, fueling rumors about a Friends reunion. It was, of course, a reunion of sorts, but without the talk of producers, sets, and sitcoms. Instead it was a gathering of three good friends (with a lower-case ‘f’) who gathered to celebrate Cox’s recent engagement. The ladies met at Craig’s and enjoyed about three hours together–eating and chatting, as girlfriends do.

    “They had a girls’ dinner to celebrate Courteney’s engagement,” a source said. “They had a great time and enjoyed catching up over dinner for several hours.”

    Courteney Cox said ‘yes’ to Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDade’s proposal in June.

    While Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston shared in Courteney Cox’s excitement, Courteney received an unexpected and completely unplanned FaceTime call from Friends costar Matt LeBlanc.

    “I just happened to FaceTime Courteney and she’s like, ‘Look who I am with!’ I was like, ‘Oh, wow, that’s good,’ ” he said. “It’s hard to get together because everyone is all over the place.”

    Matt was very clear about having given Jennifer Aniston his seal of approval for fiance Justin Theroux, but admitted he hasn’t yet met Johnny McDade.

    “I have not met Courteney’s guy yet, so I need to get on that … I need to get the baseball bat and go over there,” he said

    “If they’re happy, I’m happy,” he added.

    Lisa Kudrow may not have engagement news, but she is certainly making news in Showtime’s Web Therapy, and will soon make a comeback on HBO for a few episodes of The Comeback. She says she had a blast meeting up with all of her good friends and former Friends costars.

    “It was really fun, great to see them,” she said. “I got to see the ring,” she added, referring to the Cougar Town star’s engagement ring.

    The antennae of diehard Friends fans likely rise when they receive any word of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow getting together. What they must understand is that in addition to having starred together in Friends, these ladies are friends–and it looks like that will never change.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Dave Grohl Sets Out to Reinvent the Wheel

    Much like fans of the book series A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones), every musical fan out there knows how painstaking it is to wait for their favorite band’s next album. However, fans are also usually understanding toward the process – the band has to take time off from touring and making money; they have to sit in a studio for hours upon hours each day, searching for any sort of inspiration; once inspired, the band has to send the samples off to have the CD produced; then the entire thing has to be marketed and finished so it can be released for sale. After years and years of doing this laborious process over and over, bands have a tendency to get burned out, and each album takes longer to make than the one before.

    Perhaps that is why, after 20 years of being a band, Dave Grohl decided to create the next Foo Fighters album in a much different fashion.

    Speaking at the Television Critics Association panel (and showing his inexperience by letting his phone ring and dropping his mic), Grohl discussed the process behind the Foo Fighters latest album, yet to be named. The entire experience is documented in Grohl’s second documentary, Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways, which is set to air on HBO in October.

    The documentary shows the Foo Fighters traveling around the United States to eight different cities with rich musical heritages – Austin, Texas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Tennessee, New Orleans, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. At each stop, Grohl and his bandmates speak with local music legends, such as Buddy Guy, Dolly Parton, Chuck D, Gibby Haynes, Allen Toussaint and Gary Clark Jr., in an attempt to understand why each city developed its own musical stylings and influence.

    “I don’t want my kid to think that the only way you can be a musician is to stand in line at a song contest audition, and then wind up having a bazillionaire tell you if you’re not a good singer. Don’t get me started. To me, that’s not what music’s about,” stated Grohl.

    For Grohl, this particular album was about attempting to connect with his music in a different way and to showcase the rich history of American music:

    To me, it’s all about reinventing the process. We could just go and make another record in the studio, hit the road and sell a bunch of T-shirts … but wheres the fun in that? We’ve been a band for 20 years now. Let’s go to tiny studios all over the country, tell the story of music from that city. What is it about that each one of these cities that influences the music that comes from there? Because there are real reasons, cultural influence from each one of these places. There’s a reason why jazz came from New Orleans. There’s a reason why country went to Nashville, and why the blues went to Chicago.

    Each of the eight episodes of Sonic Highways will focus on one individual city of the band’s tour, with the show culminating in a live performance of the songs Grohl wrote at the end of his stay in each city.

    While Grohl thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating both a documentary and a new album at the same time, fans shouldn’t expect the trend to continue: “It’s not like anything I’ve ever done. It was so exciting. Like, I couldn’t sleep, because I didn’t want to. That’s just how I roll. And I will never, ever do it again. Because it was a pain in the ass.”

    The Foo Fighters will release its eighth studio album this November.

    Image via YouTube

  • Anna Paquin Talks True Blood Sex Scenes

    Anna Paquin, star of the hit show True Blood, has opened up about filming the explicit sex scenes that go hand-in-hand with HBO’s creepy/campy vampire show.

    Her husband and co-star Stephen Moyer (Vampire Bill) recently directed a love scene between Paquin’s character Sookie Stackhouse and werewolf Alcide (Joe Manganiello) for the season seven premiere on Sunday.

    “It’s not as awkward as you would think. If you were to picture the perfect day at work for your spouse, would that be it? Probably not, but this is just kind of how it’s always been. So it doesn’t feel as bizarre” said Paquin.

    Moyer seems just as comfortable directing his wife while she (fake) gets it on with another dude. “There are moments where I’ll be watching the monitor [and say] ‘Oh, Joe, just move your hand up towards Anna’s breast. And can you move your thumb just a little bit towards her nipple? Great.’ And then I’ll go ‘Babe, babe, enjoy it.’ I’m certainly talking to her as ‘babe.’ ‘Darling, go for it, yeah, feel the nipple.’”

    Testament to Moyer’s incredible acting abilities, I have a hard time picturing Vampire Bill even saying the word nipple. Or babe. In the show, he’s far more likely to drawl/moan “Suuukie” while Sookie acrobatically and silently does all the work.

    “Actually, it’s not really uncomfortable because we’re all like kind of cozy and friends. It’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll put my leg there, you put your hand there. It’s OK, whatever’” Paquin told E!News at the premiere. If I were Sookie, I would be a bit more bitter and a little less “whatever” (girlfriend is ALWAYS the one on top, despite vampires’ supposed endless stamina).

    Contrary to her somewhat prudish (at least in Season 1) character, Paquin is very outspoken and comfortable with her sexuality, recently tweeting about how proud she is to be a bisexual mother (Paquin and Moyer welcomed twins in 2012).

    Both have testified that working together has a positive effect on their personal relationship. “In a funny way, I feel like – without revealing too much – it’s quite interesting for us as a couple because we’ve kind of gone to places where a lot of people don’t get to,” said Moyer. “And we’re still here. And I think that’s good for us in a way.”

    And it’s also good for us, the ones that have stuck with True Blood ’till the bitter end, just to watch crazy beautiful people remove their clothes and toe the “weird hot sex or beastiality?” line so we don’t have to. Thanks, True Blood. Thanks, HBO.

    Image via YouTube

  • Anna Chlumsky: “Veep” Role Enabled Her To Be Picky

    Anna Chlumsky has certainly come a long way from her years as the charming Vada Sultenfuss on 1991’s My Girl. She now stars in HBO’s hit TV series, Veep, with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.

    She has definitely made a name for herself in that role, earning an Emmy nomination and all. That attention has recently given her the luxury of being able to be a little pickier about her roles.

    She said of that new-found luxury, “I’ve certainly gotten to a point where I’m a little pickier, which may or may not be a good thing. I feel like it’s a good thing, but we’ll see what the wallet thinks. People have gotten to see some of what I do, which is what’s so nice. I’m not a stranger now. The big difference with the recognition is that when I go on an audition, I don’t feel like they’re testing my abilities as much as they’re just seeing if it’s a fit. So that’s nice.”

    Veep has not been the only project that Anna Chlumsky has been up to. When asked about her experience appearing on Hannibal she said, “I was happy to do something completely different. It stretches you just enough.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C0QQKzw6pg

    Anna Chlumsky was great when the show began, and she just gets better with time in her role as. She was even TV Guide’s Emmy pick for Best Supporting Actress!

    TV Guide said of Anna Chlumsky’s skills,

    “We loved Chief of Staff Amy Brookheimer, but we love campaign manager Amy Brookheimer even more. Thanks to Selina’s presidential bid, Chlumsky, who was nominated last year, has shone even brighter, as Amy tapped into her shrewd cunning in her own bid to oust Dan and be named campaign manager. And yes, she still gives good face.”

    Come July 10th, we shall see if voters agree with TV Guide when The Emmys roll around. Good luck to Anna Chlumsky!

    Image Via YouTube

  • True Blood Returns This Sunday For Final Season

    It’s summertime and with the hot weather and lazy days returns the HBO blood-filled drama True Blood. However, by the end of this summer, we won’t see any more new episodes. The seventh and final season of the series that pits vampires versus humans begins this Sunday at 9 pm.

    Entertainment Weekly sat down for an interview with Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer (Sookie Stackhouse and Vampire Bill). The pair, who have become estranged lovers on the show, got married in real life in 2010. Then had twins in 2012.

    They’re on the cover of this week’s EW, lying in a wooden coffin. Paquin is in the buff, and Moyer has his fangs out.

    Paquin spoke about how much playing Sookie Stackhouse has changed her life, “Because it has lasted ­seven years and because of the relationships, not just between us but the way they all evolved as a family, it’s been extraordinary to have that experience that is completely life-changing in all of the best possible ways — and with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. We will always have this.”

    Season 6 ended with our heroine Sookie in the arms of Alcide. However, Bill is clearly still in the picture and thinks that Sookie needs his protection from the hoards of infected Hep-V vampires. Of course, Alcide thinks that he can protect Sookie and doesn’t take kindly to Bill thinking otherwise. Sookie has already sworn off Bill, and she refuses her former lover’s help.

    Joe Manganiello, who plays Alcide, spoke about the upcoming season, “The town is under attack, everyone has kind of retreated into Bon Temps and is hunkered down trying to defend themselves against these rabid, Hep-V vampires, so [Alcide] is now a part of the town.” He added, “There will be some sexiness going on at Gran’s house, and lots of blood and death and craziness — nobody stays happy for too long in Bon Temps.”

    From the trailer, it looks like all the effort that both humans and vampires have attempted to make in the past six seasons trying to live in a peaceful world together, has been shattered. Now, with the hungry infected vampires aiming towards Bon Temps, a blood bath will surely follow.

    Image via True Blood, Facebook

  • Game of Thrones, Once Again, Sits Atop the Iron Throne of Piracy

    The season finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones has shattered a piracy record, previously held by…Game of Thrones.

    According to torrent trackers, over 254,000 people were, at one point, sharing a single torrent for the season four finale episode, “The Children.”

    None of this should surprise you, really – at least if you’ve been following Game of Thrones and its swelling popularity. The show has won the most-pirated crown for two years in a row now, and continues to best its own records on an episode-to-episode basis.

    From TorrentFreak:

    Data gathered by TorrentFreak further shows that, in 12 hours, the season finale has been downloaded roughly 1.5 million times. Translated into actual data, that’s close to 2,000 terabytes transferred in half a day.

    The download total is expected to increase to more than 7.5 million during the weeks to come and means that unless a miracle happens, Game of Thrones will be crowned the most-pirated TV-show of the year once again.

    On the official front, Game of Thrones also bested itself. Nielsen reported 7.1 million total viewers on Sunday night, a record-breaking number which climbed to 9.3 million when you add in encore showings. That’s 32 percent more viewers than GoT had for its third season finale.

    So, what’s the significance of this piracy record? Well, Game of Thrones is an incredible show and people want to watch incredible shows. HBO has decided to tether their content to cable, refusing to offer a standalone streaming service. Some people don’t have buddies to share HBO GO passwords with. Remember, people like good shows.

    It may seem like a lot of missed revenue opportunity for HBO but strangely enough, the company has expressed indifference toward Game of Thrones‘ piracy in the past.

    “I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts. The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network,” HBO programming head Michael Lombardo famously said last year.

    He seems to have a point. Last year, Game of Thrones took the title for most-pirated show and Amazon’s best-selling show of the year.

    Image via Game of Thrones, Facebook

  • Kit Harington’s Hair Belongs to ‘Game of Thrones’

    Kit Harington may play a dominant role in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but there’s actually one physical feature about him that’s just as important – his hair.

    According to Cover Media, the 27-year-old actor’s hair has a “contract of its own.”

    On Tuesday, June 10, Harington appeared on Live With Kelly and Michael where he shared some very interesting details about his distinctive locks.

    He revealed that he has no control over the look he has while filming.

    “It has its own contract, definitely,” Harrington laughed.  “I never thought I’d say that about my own hair… I’m not allowed to cut it, and I didn’t realize this until recently. I wanted to cut it — I’ve had long hair for ages — and they were like, ‘No, no, no. That won’t be happening.’”

    He even admitted that if he wanted to personally opt for a new look, he is required to keep things a certain way.

    “They don’t like doing that. It’s very funny when you get into these things, and people get very obsessed by little things,” he explained. “There’s all of these ridiculous conversations that go back and forth between agents and managers and HBO: ‘Can we have four inches off or can we have an inch off? What can we do with this? How curly should it be? It’s silly.’”

    However, there is an upside to Harington maintaining his strikingly distinctive features. He’s now the face of the notable British fashion house, Jimmy Choo. He went on to express how “excited” he is about working with the famous designer label.

    “I was very excited to be chosen as the face for such a highly regarded brand and to play a role in defining who the Jimmy Choo man is,” he said.

    The season finale of Game of Thrones airs Sunday, June 15 at 9:00 pm ET only on HBO.

    Image via Game of Thrones, Facebook

  • The Sopranos Is Finally Coming To Blu-ray

    Want to rewatch all six seasons of The Sopranos but are holding out until the series comes out in HD? The time for waiting is almost over, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that the landmark HBO mob series will be released in a collectible Blu-ray boxed set on November 4, 2014. Only the first and sixth seasons are currently available in HD.

    The boxed set includes all 86 episodes on 28 Blu-ray discs. The retail price is currently set at $279.98. Apart from the cover artwork and an HD copy of every episode, the package also includes lost scenes, cut scenes, two roundtable dinners with the cast and crew, and 25 audio commentaries. All the extras total over five hours of bonus material.

    Additionally, one of the most intriguing pieces of the boxed set is perhaps the 45 minute documentary called Defining a Television Landmark. The featurette is about how the award-winning drama helped to change the entire landscape of television. Defining a Television Landmark is composed of never-seen-before interviews with the cast and crew. Acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh and renowned actor Jeff Daniels were also interviewed for the documentary, along with the late James Gandolfini and series creator David Chase.

    The Sopranos first aired in 1999 and ran to 2007. The show was both critically and commercially acclaimed. The series won 21 Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes. When television critics and fans begin a conversation about the best shows on television, The Sopranos is sure to top many lists.

    If you’re feeling nostalgic for Tony, Paulie Walnuts, and Silvio, here’s a link to several of the show’s most memorable and iconic scenes.

    What do you think? Are you willing to shell out almost $300 for the entire series on Blu-ray?

    Image via YouTube Screenshot