News

Very sad news is being reported today, as actress Carrie Fisher has passed away at the age of 60.

According to People and numerous other sources, Fisher died in the hospital where she was receiving treatment for a heart attack she endured on a plane ride from London to Los Angeles on December 23rd. She had been on a tour promoting her new book, The Princess Diarist.

Fisher family spokesperson Simon Halls shared the following statement with People:

“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning. She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Fisher is best known by many for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, a role she recently reprised in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as General Organa.

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's new on Netflix and TV, we've got you covered.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"Ride Along 2"

Are you ready for another ride with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube? In "Ride Along 2," the comedy duo return as partners (and brothers-in-law-to-be) to tackle a new crime in Miami. The movie comes out on Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand on Tuesday, April 26. The DVD and Blu-ray both include deleted scenes, a gag reel, feature commentary, and several featurettes; the Blu-ray also includes five other special features.

Watch this funny exclusive behind-the-scenes clip illustrating the real-life odd couple dynamic between Kevin Hart and Ice Cube:

"Jane Got a Gun"

This film has a rather labored history to the big screen, but you can see the results for yourself on DVD/Blu-ray April 26. Natalie Portman plays...

This summer has seen Mad Max, Jurassic World and Terminator movies hit cinemas. Ryan looks at what’s good and bad about the soft reboot...

This piece contains mild spoilers for Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road and Terminator: Genisys

If the sequel was a late 20th century phenomenon, ushered into being thanks to the likes of James Bond, The Godfather and Planet Of The Apes, then the soft reboot is a peculiar product of the 21st.

Unlike a conventional remake or reboot, which often abandon characters, plots and settings in favour of an entirely new approach, the soft reboot is less drastic. Jj Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek movie is a prime example; it casts new actors in the roles of the Original Series’ famous roster of characters - Chris Pine replacing William Shatner as Kirk, Zachary Quinto replacing Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and so on - and sends them...

Stepping out of the haunted village hall for a break from a dance with the supernatural, Simon Merrells took the time to rendezvous with HeyUGuys to discuss his foray into horror with Judas Ghost. Probably most recognised for his role on TV’s Spartacus: War of the Damned in which he played the villainous Crassus with brutal pomp, Merrells is a regular face on both the big and the small screen.

During the course of our brief conversation he shared with us how he discovered his love of performance, and storytelling, as well as his early memories of horror’s most famous monsters and authors. Whilst reflecting on filmmaking as a musical journey, along with the fortunes of the modern short film he invited us inside the village hall to discuss his one location supernatural horror.

Why a career in acting? Was there that one inspirational moment?

Aside from the...

Penny Dreadful's careful character work begins to pay off in this week's episode. Here's Becky's review...

Review

This review contains spoilers.

1.6 What Death Can Join Together

What Death Can Join Together continues from the events which occurred at the end of the fourth episode, Demimonde, and resumes the hunt for Mina. Vanessa uses her powers to narrow in on the Master’s location, but is invited out by Dorian Gray, a development Murray welcomes in order to keep Vanessa out of harm’s way. He assembles Chandler and Sembene for the hunt whilst Frankenstein finally learns what they are facing from Professor Van Helsing.

Swiftly snapping back into the show’s present day, the ongoing narrative picks up some pace in this episode, capitalising on the chilling atmosphere that has been steadily mounting throughout the season. It ensures the emotional beats were that bit more affecting, the shocks all...

Episode 1.06 of "Penny Dreadful," entitled "What Death Can Join Together," brought us more time with Professor Van Helsing, played by David Warner. Now Showtime has released a new video in which we learn how he fits into the world created for the show.

A profoundly unsettling new saga, "Penny Dreadful" completely reinvents literature’s most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula, who are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London.

Timothy Dalton, Reeve Carney, Josh Hartnett, Harry Treadaway, Rory Kinnear, Billie Piper, and Eva Green star.

Related Story: Visit our "Penny Dreadful" Archive!

"Penny Dreadful" Episode 1.06 - "What Death Can Join Together" (aired 6/15/14)

Vanessa's latest vision leads Sir Malcolm, Ethan, and Sembene to explore a plague ship in search of Mina. Meanwhile, Van Helsing reveals to Dr. Frankenstein more details about the creature that has taken Mina. Later, Vanessa's night with...

When the big announcement finally broke about the first wave of confirmed casting for Star Wars: Episode VII, the world finally realised that after months of speculation, original trilogy stalwarts Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher would indeed return as Luke, Han and Leia. Hamill has opened up to the Orlando Sentinel about his feelings on stepping back into that galaxy far, far away…Rumoured for a while to pick up the lightsaber again, Hamill admits there is definitely demand. “Look, I’m aware that a lot of people don’t care one way or another, but for the UPFs – the ultra passionate fans – they would come after me like the angry townspeople with torches in the old Frankenstein pictures. I would have a lot to answer for if I didn’t at least try to make the effort. It’s not like I had a choice. I feel...

Derek Jarman is remembered as an innovative film-maker and artist but his stage work is key to his career – even his own residence was a performance

Derek Jarman wandered into theatre, as he did into much of his creative life. The stage design department at the Slade School of Art in 1963 was casually structured, and, for the era, an uncloseted zone of gaiety. He'd previously slapped a distemper brush on scenes for Lorca's Blood Wedding and other plays put on by fellow students at King's College, London. He had not seen much theatre, as movies – even concerts – came cheaper; the first production that really excited him was Peter Brook's short and gory staging of Antonin Artaud's Spurt of Blood in the RSC's 1964 Theatre of Cruelty season.

Jarman put a lot of effort into his design course, outlining a surreal play, The Billboard Promised Land (a mashup of The Wizard of Oz...

When I heard that Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe had been cast in the film version of Les Misérables, I was excited before I ever heard which role each would be playing. It didn’t matter: either would be great in either role, and they had an interesting physical contrast that would have worked either way. And now, having seen (and loved) the film, I’d love to see another version with their roles reversed, with Crowe playing Jean Valjean and Jackman as Inspector Javert. Something similar actually did happen with Danny Boyle’s staging of Frankenstein in London in 2011, in which Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch alternated playing Doctor Frankenstein and the Monster... and seeing both castings deepened my appreciation for both actors, both characters, and the impact of the overall story. Which iconic (or imaginary) actor pairings would be fun to reverse? Switching actors doesn’t always work.

The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and special items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.

12 Gauge Comics

Boondock Saints Volume 1 In Nomine Patris Hc (Limited Edition)(not verified by Diamond), $34.99

Aardvark Vanaheim

Zootanapuss #3 (Signed & Numbered Edition)(not verified by Diamond), Ar

Action Lab Entertainment

Fracture Volume 1 Tp, $9.99

Andrews McMeel

Lio Still Another Lio Collection Zombies Need Love Too Tp (not verified by Diamond), $12.99

Antarctic Press

Conquest Of The Planet Of The Living Dead (One Shot), $3.50

Archie Comics

Betty And Veronica Double Digest #201, $3.99

Mega Man #13 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99

Mega Man #13 (Patrick Spaziante Villain Sketch Variant Cover), Ar

World Of Archie Double Digest #17, $3.99

Avatar Press

Crossed Badlands #5 (Jacen Burrows Regular Cover), $3.99

Crossed Badlands #5 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover), Ar

Crossed Badlands #5 (Jacen Burrows Torture Cover), $3.99

Crossed Badlands #5 (Jacen Burrows Wraparound Cover), $3.99

Dan The...

We know the greats; movies like Metropolis (1927), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Star Wars (1977).

And there are those films which maybe didn’t achieve cinematic greatness, but through their inexhaustible watchability became genre touchstones, lesser classics but classics nonetheless, like The War of the Worlds (1953), Godzilla (1954), Them! (1954), The Time Machine (1960).

In the realm of science fiction cinema, those are the cream (and below that, maybe the half and half). But sci fi is one of those genres which has often too readily leant itself to – not to torture an analogy — producing nonfat dairy substitute.

During the first, great wave of sci fi movies in the 1950s, the target audience was kids and teens. There wasn’t a lot in the way of “serious” sci fi. Most of it was churned out quick and cheap; drive-in fodder, grist for the Saturday matinee mill.

By the early 1960s,...

Ken Russell, who has died aged 84, was so often called rude names – the wild man of British cinema, the apostle of excess, the oldest angry young man in the business – that he gave up denying it all quite early in his career. Indeed, he often seemed to court the very publicity that emphasised only the crudest assessment of his work. He gave the impression that he cared not a damn. Those who knew him better, however, knew that he did. Underneath all the showbiz bluster, he was an old softie. Or, perhaps as accurately, a talented boy who never quite grew up.

It has, of course, to be said that he was capable of almost any enormity in the careless rapture he brought to making his films. He could be dreadfully cruel to his undoubted talent,...

There have been many portrayals of werewolves and other shapeshifting man/woman-beasts, in the media of film, but I can’t say there has been many memorable ones. With The Wolf Man (1941) Lon Chaney Jr. transformed into a werewolf at the full moon, and created one of the three most famous horror icons of the modern day. Werewolf fiction as since been an exceptionally diverse genre with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations – from high shcool basketball players to American tourists hiking through the UK. Here is the list of my personal favourites.

#13- El aullido del diablo/ Howl of the Devil (1987)

Directed by: Paul Naschy

Paul Naschy, also known as Jacinto Molina Alvarez, was a Spanish movie actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures—the wolfman, the hunchback, Count Dracula, the mummy—have earned him recognition as the Spanish Lon Chaney.

Joseph Kosinski’s follow up to the 1982 cult classic Tron is an electro-gothic sci-fi adventure continuing the story of videogame and software designer Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). Tron: Legacy largely takes place in a ‘bio-digital’ world of wonder where a young man – Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) – searches for his missing father who disappeared mysteriously one night in 1989.

The first thing you’ll notice in Tron: Legacy is the daring computer-animated version of a young Jeff Bridges. It is both freaky and brilliant in its application and was always going to be a gamble to undertake and deliver.

Directors obsessed with technological advances have been banging on about photo-realism for ages. Here, the bar is raised incredibly high, yet it still looks peculiar and unconvincing – especially when he’s talking.

There’s plenty of homage paid to Lisberger’s work and more than vague echoes in the narrative itself. There’s...

"Ragtime" and "The Scottsboro Boys" came up big as the nominees for the 55th annual Drama Desk Awards were announced today. The short-lived Broadway revival of the Terrence McNally musical and the new Off-Broadway tuner each received nine nominations, more than any other production.The nominees were announced by actors Brian Stokes Mitchell and Cady Huffman at the Friars Club in New York. It was also announced that Drama Desk members have voted this year to present special ensemble awards to the casts of "Circle Mirror Transformation" and "The Temperamentals." The awards will be presented May 23 in a ceremony hosted by Patti LuPone at the Laguardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.The complete list of nominees is below.Outstanding play:Alan Ayckbourn, "My Wonderful Day"Annie Baker, "Circle Mirror Transformation"Lucinda Coxon, "Happy Now?"John Logan, "Red"Geoffrey Nauffts, "Next Fall"Bruce Norris, "Clybourne Park"Outstanding musical:"American Idiot""Everyday...

Never let it be said that we're not a fan's website! With two killer retrospectives under his belt, our newest Dread Central scribe, Chris Haberman, is looking to find out what You want to see next! So take a second and let him know! In return for your input we may even send you out some free swag to go along with our undying gratitude.

Read on for a note from Chris:

"Sometimes life turns a trick or two on you, and that’s fine. It’s okay to wake up some days and feel like eating two kiwis (my wife calls them “gorilla nuts”) and a half a ham sandwich, drinking two beers and a fresh pot of coffee, and writing your heart out. I read somewhere once that Hunter S. Thompson enjoyed a large breakfast – I understand and encourage others to indulge their mornings. Have your alone time and savor it,...

That's Cinema Retro London correspondent Adrian Smith (center) with the crazy lads who comprise The League of Gentlemen.

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Ten years ago a show appeared on British TV that was so strange, so grotesque, so dark, yet so utterly hilarious that it quickly developed a cult following and a number of popular catchphrases. It ran to three series and eventually a feature film. This was the League of Gentlemen, a weird combination of sketch show and sitcom which clearly took inspiration from old horror movies, detective dramas, sexploitation comedies, to name but a few. I took the opportunity to pin down the gents in order to unravel just what their influences were. The conversation immediately turns to Take an Easy Ride, described by Mark as almost being a snuff film. This leads to my first question:

Have seventies snuff films been an influence on you?...

I've been asked "What are my ten favorite characters in the history of movies?" Curse you Timothy! And Squish. The question is not something specific like ten favorite characters in Moulin Rouge! (easy) or ten favorite performances by an actress in the past three years or ten favorite Disney villains. No, this question is broader than Ursula's tentacle span. This is like asking someone "What are your ten favorite notes in the history of music?" Insanity. So I'm doing this off the top of my head. I'm avoiding things I talk about too much (Ursula, Lt. Ellen Ripley, Dorothy Gale and any character played by Michelle Pfeiffer). I'm also presenting in chronological order so as to avoid nervous meltings or celluloid breakdowns.

Top Ten Movie Characters

Peter Pan

The movies are full of franchise characters, but usually I stay picky only getting wrapped up for short bursts of time.

Poster Wire an animated poster for Terminator: Salvation. oh god please let this marketing technique take off. We loves it

Awards Daily "a tale of two Nixons" -damn, I wish I'd thought of that

The Big Picture The Wrestler takes a hit from the La Times. Right in time for Oscar season. Ouch, that'll sting

Ontd Seventeen describes the sexual appeal of Robert Pattison. Dear god he's like a Frankenstein monster of celebs

Modern Tonic has a Best of TV 2008 list...

Are You There, Blog? Carrie Fisher hawking her new book. She's so damn funny

Deadline Hollywood Luhrmann to take on The Great Gatsby next. Damn but Baz likes a challenge. That thing (brilliant) has to be considered unfilmable, right?

The Carpetbagger alerts us to the annual Oscar short films showing

Multiple Personality Cruise visits Letterman "they have this thing called the internet and they have these things called blogs...