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Set within the Terminator universe, Netflix's sci-fi action anime Terminator Zero introduces a brand-new roster of characters and cast members to the storied franchise. Developed by Mattson Tomlin (The Batman) and directed by animator Masashi Kud (Bleach), the eight-episode first season of the series was beautifully crafted by animation studio Production I.G. and Skydance Television. Unlike other entries in the Terminator timeline, Terminator Zero takes place in Japan, though it still pulls in lore, including Terminator's post-apocalyptic Judgment Day, from James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd's pre-existing Terminator movies, sequels, and spin-offs.

For fans of the franchise, Terminator Zero puts forth familiar story beats, but with a few fresh twists, making the Netflix anime the definitive example of how the Terminator franchise can move forward. As Judgment Day approaches, scientist Malcolm Lee (Andr Holland) frets over whether to release his AI system, Kokoro (Rosario Dawson), to counteract the soon-to-be-launched Skynet.

Chicago – While the name André Holland may not be familiar, the actor’s consummate approach to his craft is unforgettable. Specializing in character parts, Holland has raised his profile in such movie hits as “Selma” and “42,’ and on television recently with “The Knick” and “American Horror Story.” His latest film is “Moonlight.”

“Moonlight” is unusually structured – it tells the story of one boy-to-man in three chapters, with a different actor portraying him as a child, teenager and adult. The same is done for the boy’s best friend Kevin, and Holland takes on role as an adult in a crucial and expressly performed sequence, as the main character’s gay orientation is realized through Kevin’s past and present interaction with it. The film is the directorial debut of Barry Jenkins, and is a sensitive plea for understanding a difficult journey from a different type of soul.

André Holland as...

All this week, we’re presenting the Vulture TV Awards, honoring the best in television from the past year. The nominees are: Matthew Rhys, The AmericansBen Mendelsohn, BloodlineJeffrey Tambor, TransparentJon Hamm, Mad MenAndré Holland, The Knick And the Best Male Drama Performer is ...André Holland, The Knick When did André Holland become indispensible? Sometime in the last year, probably — and it seemed to happen all at once. He went from “Who’s that guy?” to “I’ll watch that guy in anything” in the space of about three months. I’d liked Holland as Marshall Malloy in NBC’s mostly terrible 1600 Penn and as Wendell Smith in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, but prior to that he’d been cast mostly in small parts that didn’t exactly sear themselves into the mind. Then, all of a sudden, there Holland was playing a lead role on Cinemax’s Boss Tweed–era...

André Holland is used to playing pioneers. In last year’s 42, he portrayed Wendell Smith, an African-American sportswriter who chronicled the rise of Jackie Robinson. In the upcoming Selma, we’ll see him as former Atlanta mayor and Civil Rights pioneer Andrew Young. Then there’s his current role on the Steven Soderbergh period medical drama The Knick: Holland plays Dr. Algernon Edwards, one of the country’s only black surgeons. Edwards faces the kind of discrimination you’d expect a minority doctor to face at the turn of the century, but he finds himself stuck in the middle, excoriated by fellow blacks for his “fancy shoes and clothes” and looked down upon by whites — including his own boss, Dr. John Thackery (Clive Owen) — for trying his hand at an educated profession. Holland rang up Vulture to discuss the racism his character faces, the show’s gory surgery scenes,...

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball was not only a great moment for sports but a great moment in American Civil Rights Movement. Baseball was the national pastime at a time when racial segregation was still a subject amongst half the population. And the fact that an African American was going to have a prominent role on a baseball team seemed ludicrous. But, “White Man’s Guilt” is still prominent in America that is none more evident than in the latest Jackie Robinson biopic, “42”.

The story of Jackie Robinson is a valiant one in which he had to go through struggles in order to feel accepted in a previously all white sport. But, he is no saint. However, Brian Helgeland, a white filmmaker, decides to treat his story as one of sainthood. This is disappointing from the guy who wrote about the sordid streets...

• It's 66 years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball's colour line – and Hollywood has done a fine job retelling his story

• Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers – in pictures

Baseball fans will never be allowed to forget what happened on 15 April 1947, the day Jackie Robinson suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the sport's long-running color barrier. Major League Baseball has seen to that, leading the charge in ensuring that a seminal moment in American history isn't lost to time passed, retiring his number league wide in 1997 and committing to marking Jackie Robinson Day annually. On Monday, each player will don his celebrated digits, 42, in tribute to a player who became an icon.

There is however a danger that the vast weight of Robinson's story could be lost on those who didn't grow up in a time, or closer to a time, of segregation and unabashed racism. It's one thing to hear stories of Jackie's hardship,...

In 42, writer-director Brian Hegeland takes on the epic rise of Jackie Robinson, from his beginnings as a shortstop in the African American leagues to his 1947 rookie season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The result? A movie, that will undoubtedly become beloved for its heart. Baseball fans will love this.

The movie begins with a history of baseball and America, and a man at his typewriter - aspiring sportswriter and African American journalist Wendell Smith (Miracle at St. Anna's Andre Holland.) The film then open up to Harrison Ford as the Dodgers' owner Branch Rickey, introductions to Jackie Robinson as an unknown, and thus, his journey to prominence.

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You could take many approaches to telling the story of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. With 42, Warner Bros. and writer/director Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale) went for earnest over something that would have likely had critics chanting "Oscar bait!" This doesn't make the film any less appealing or diminish its overall quality, it simply gives it what you'd typically expect from a made-for-tv movie, but the execution and performances rise above such comparisons making it a well worthwhile watch and one that caused a lump to form in my throat for most of its duration. From the moment I first saw a glimpse of what 42 had to offer I knew there was very little this film could do to get it "wrong". The story is too good and baseball translates to the big screen better than any sport there is, offering so many moments of humanity,...

42

Directed by Brian Helgeland

Written by Brian Helgeland

USA, 2013

The majority of baseball movies come pre-set with a dollop, if not a heaping scoop of hokey, cornpone jingoism. It’s all but impossible for a director to not indulge in well-worn clichés and cinematic tropes when recreating great moments of the truest American pastime. Brian Helgeland, writer and director of the new film 42, documenting Jackie Robinson’s legendary journey to become the first African American Major League Baseball player, isn’t able to resist such expected moments. Familiarity aside, 42 is an enjoyable if old-fashioned period piece packed to the rafters with a solid cast who help enliven the proceedings with something fresh.

Chadwick Boseman stars as Robinson, a playful, hot-tempered player for the Kansas City team in the Negro Leagues. In 1945, he’s handpicked by Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford), owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, to become the first Black player in the Mlb.

I would love nothing more than a truly great Jackie Robinson biopic, one that uses the cinematic medium to capture and evoke the spirit of baseball’s greatest hero, but Brian Helgeland’s 42, I am sad to report, is not that film. It has its heart in the right place, features some excellent casting, and delivers several terrific individual moments, but on the whole, 42 exists within the safe, stuffy realm of pandering convention, and is crippled by a lack of focus or meaningful vision.

The film follows Robinson’s career from 1945 to 1947, starting with Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey’s invitation for Robinson to join the club’s minor league team, the Montreal Royals, and ending with Robinson’s pennant-winning home run in the last game of his first major league season. It is a logical period in which to set the film, but other than the basic chronological parameters,...

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

Writer-director Brian Helgeland's Robinson biopic "42" is a class act itself, though not always an engaging act. It's such a familiar story that any faithful film biography almost inevitably will turn out predictable, even a bit routine.

With an earnest performance by Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and an enjoyably self-effacing turn by Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers boss Branch Rickey, "42" hits every button you expect very ably. It riles with its re-creations of the heartless, ignorant racism to which Robinson was subjected. It uplifts with its depictions of Robinson's restraint and fortitude. It inspires with its glimpses of support and compassion from teammates and fans.

Yet like a sleepy, low-scoring ballgame, "42" is not the jolt of energy and entertainment we wish it could be.

Unlike No. 42 Robinson's daring on the base paths,...

Los Angeles -- There's a scene in "42" in which Jackie Robinson, the first black player in Major League Baseball, endures intolerably cruel racial slurs from the Philadelphia Phillies' manager.

It's early in the 1947 season. Each time the Brooklyn Dodgers' first baseman comes up to bat, manager Ben Chapman emerges from the dugout, stands on the field and taunts him with increasingly personal and vitriolic attacks. It's a visible struggle, but No. 42 maintains his composure before a crowd of thousands.

As a viewer, it's uncomfortable to watch – although as writer-director Brian Helgeland points out, "if anything, the language we have in that scene was cleaned up from what it was."

Such hatred may seem archaic, an ugly episode in our nation's history that we'd rather forget. But remembering Robinson's accomplishments is more important than ever, say people involved with "42" and baseball historians alike. And because he was such an inspiring cultural figure,...

Hero is a word we hear often in sports, but heroism is not always about achievements on the field of play. “42″ tells the story of two men—the great Jackie Robinson and trailblazing Brooklyn Dodgers Gm Branch Rickey—whose brave stand against prejudice forever changed the world by changing the game of baseball. From Academy Award® winner Brian Helgeland (“L.A. Confidential”) comes the real-life drama “42,” starring Chadwick Boseman (“The Express”) as Jackie Robinson and Oscar® nominee Harrison Ford (“Witness”) as Branch Rickey. In 1947, Branch Rickey put himself at the forefront of history when he signed Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking Major League Baseball’s infamous color line. But the deal also put both Robinson and Rickey in the firing line of the public, the press and other players. Facing blatant racism from every side, even his own team, Robinson was forced to demonstrate tremendous courage and restraint by not reacting in kind,...

See the third poster for Warner Bros.' 42 baseball biopic on Jackie Robinson directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford. The drama opens in theaters from April 12th, 2013, in time to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day, which is on April 15th. This was, the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger. Helgeland directs and scripts the incredible looking film produced by Thomas Tull, while Jon Jashni, Dick Cook and Jason Clark serve as executives producers. The cast also includes Nicole Beharie as Rachel Isum, who would become Robinson's wife; Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher; Andre Holland as Wendell Smith; Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese; Hamish Linklater as Ralph Branca; Ryan Merriman as Dixie Walker; and T.R. Knight as Harold Parrott.

See the third poster for Warner Bros.' 42 baseball biopic on Jackie Robinson directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford. The drama opens in theaters from April 12th, 2013, in time to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day, which is on April 15th. This was, the date of his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger. Helgeland directs and scripts the incredible looking film produced by Thomas Tull, while Jon Jashni, Dick Cook and Jason Clark serve as executives producers. The cast also includes Nicole Beharie as Rachel Isum, who would become Robinson's wife; Christopher Meloni as Leo Durocher; Andre Holland as Wendell Smith; Lucas Black as Pee Wee Reese; Hamish Linklater as Ralph Branca; Ryan Merriman as Dixie Walker; and T.R. Knight as Harold Parrott.

Here are some new stills which surfaced late last week from the Brooklyn set of Brian Helgeland's Jackie Robinson biopic 42, which stars Chadwick Boseman in the titular role and Nicole Beharie as his wife Rachel Isum Robinson. The stills below are dated July 18; the film is now in post-production. Warner Brothers' 42 also stars Harrison Ford in the role of Brooklyn Dodgers' manager Branch Rickey and Andre Holland in the role of Wendell Smith, the sportswriter who influenced Robinson's career.  The film will be released in theaters next year on April 15, 2013. We posted some previous pics on the set of Birmingham, Al here, and on set in Macon, Ga here. ...

Filming for Brian Helgeland's Jackie Robinson's biopic 42 was in full swing last week in Macon, Ga. Chadwick Boseman, who plays the baseball icon, filmed scenes along with Nicole Beharie, in the role of his wife Rachel Isum, and Andre Holland, in full form for his role as Wendell Smith, the sportswriter who influenced Robinson's career. According to the behind-the-scenes footage below (via Fox 24), the scenes being shot here are from the early stages of the film, in which Robinson and wife find a place to stay in Fl, when Robinson begins spring training in 1946. In the scene, accompanied by Smith, Jackie and Rachel meet the family that will host their stay. The...

Filming this week at the historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama is Brian Helgeland's 42, based on the life of baseball icon Jackie Robinson. The set images, courtesy of Birmingham News, show Chadwick Boseman in full form for the titular role, Nicole Beharie, who's protraying Robinson's wife/widow Rachel 'Isum' Robinson, and Andre Holland (Miracle at St. Anna), who plays Wendell Smith, a sportswriter who influenced Robinson to become the first African American player in the 20th century. The production company used  600-700 local community extras and the Los Angeles Inflatable Group brought in 5,000 inflatables as seat fillers for the stadium. ...