6 brand new character posters have been released ahead of Witches of East End’s second season.
The new posters feature Freya (Jenna Dewan Tatum), Ingrid (Rachel Boston), Wendy (Madchen Amick), Joanna (Julia Ormond), Dash (Eric Winter) and Killian (Daniel DiTomasso). Each poster has the tag line ‘darkness is rising’.
The posters are the latest teasers released for the show’s second season and follow the release of several video teasers, the trailer and a variety of posters. Anticipation for the second season is high following the cliff-hanger of the first season which saw Dash and Killian awaken their powers as Ingrid opened the door to Asgard.
Witches of East End will return in the US to Lifetime on 6th July 2014 with a UK transmission expected to follow. Check out the new posters below:
Lawrence Block’s best-selling book A Walk Among The Tombstones has been turned into a movie and the trailer has just been released.
Starrring Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens. Sebastian Roche and Boyd Holbrook, A Walk Among The Tombstones is directed by Scott Frank. The synopsis for the movie is:
Formerly a detective with the NYPD, now a recovering alcoholic haunted by regrets, Matt Scudder (Liam Neeson) has a lot to make up for. When a series of kidnappings targeting the city’s worst drug criminals escalates to grisly murder, the circuit’s ruthless leader convinces Scudder to find the culprits and bring them to bloody justice. Working as an unlicensed private detective, Matt sees what the police don’t see and treads where they most fear to. Operating just outside the law to track down the monsters responsible, Scudder stops just short of becoming one himself.
A Walk Among The Tombstones will be released in the UK on 19th September 2014. Check out the trailer:
The Art of the Steal has debuted its international trailer.
Starring Kurt Russell, Matt Dillon, Jay Baruchel, Chris Diamantopoulos & Katheryn Winnick, The Art of the Steal is directed by Jonathan Sobol. The synopsis for the movie is:
Crunch Calhoun (Kurt Russell), a third rate motorcycle daredevil and semi-reformed art thief, agrees to get back into the con game and pull off one final lucrative art theft with his untrustworthy brother, Nicky (Matt Dillon). Reassembling the old team, Crunch comes up with a plan to steal a priceless historical book, but the successful heist leads to another far riskier plan devised by Nicky. They fail to realize each other’s separate agendas when their plan goes awry in this con movie about honor, revenge and the bonds of brotherhood.
The Art of the Steal is release on 20th June 2014. Watch the trailer for the movie below:
Earth, Wind & Fire have announced two new UK shows for September.
The legendary band will perform at Liverpool Echo 2 on 9th September and Bournemouth BIC on 10th September it has been confirmed. The shows will precede the band’s headline show at The Last Night of the Proms on 13th September.
The shows are in support of the band’s latest album Now, Then & Forever which is their first new studio material since 2005. Fans can expect a mixture of new and classic material from the setlist.
The Last Night of the Proms show will be transmitted live on BBC Radio 2 and via BBC TV Red Button in Hyde Park. Earth, Wind & Fire will play to a crowd of 40,000 people at the event.
Tickets for the shows go on-sale on Friday at 9am. You can get them from www.ticketline.co.uk
Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas will release his first solo material this August via Popping Candy.
The songwriter and vocalist has announced the release of his debut solo album Yorktown Heights on 11th August. The album was produced, written and played by Grant in his North London Treehouse Studio, The Crypt and Angelic Studios. He was aided by Sam Miller & Brian Sperber in his Tiny Pocket Studio in Yorktown Heights, upstate New York.
Talking about the record Grant says, ‘I felt it was time to bare my soul and let people hear my songs in a more acoustic way. I grew up listening to a lot of acoustic based artists from the 60’s and 70’s and I really wanted to make an album that touched on what I loved about the honesty and warmth of those records.’
Yorktown Heights will feature 13 tracks on the standard edition and 15 tracks on the deluxe. Ahead of its release Grant has released free download Soul Mates which is available on his website www.grantnicholas.net. Grant will also perform at the Slaughtered Lamb on 23rd June.
A new trailer has been released for forthcoming animated movie The Book of Life.
Boasting a stellar voice-cast led by Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana and Channing Tatum the movie is directed by Jorge Gutierrez with Guillermo del Toro amongst its producers. The synopsis for the movie is:
The Book of Life is the journey of Manolo, a young man who is torn between fulfilling the expectations of his family and following his heart. Before choosing which path to follow, he embarks on an incredible adventure that spans three fantastical worlds where he must face his greatest fears. Rich with a fresh take on pop music favourites, The Book of Life encourages us to celebrate the past while looking forward to the future.
The Book of Life will be released in the UK on 24th October 2014. Check out the trailer below:
The Madden Brothers have debuted their new single We Are Done.
Joel and Benji Madden unveiled the track on Ryan Seacrest’s 102.7 KIIS FM show over the weekend causing fans to trend #WeAreDone on Twitter in the US. The 60s inspired tune was written by The Madden Brothers with producer Eric Valentine.
We Are Done if the first single to be lifted from The Madden Brothers’ debut album Greetings From California… The single will be released on 21st September with the album to follow on 6th October. Fans can pre-order We Are Done now on iTunes.
Take a listen to the track using the SoundCloud player below:
The third season of Revenge came to a close here in the UK last night as Emily (Emily VanCamp) seemingly completed her revenge plot against Conrad (Henry Czerny) and Victoria (Madeleine Stowe) Grayson.
The finale left us with a lot of food for thought particularly (spoiler alert!) the confirmation that David Clark (James Tupper) is alive and well. What’s Emily going to make of that after everything she’s done the past three seasons?
One of our favourite things about the third season of Revenge was the arrival of Javier Salgado played by handsome newcomer Henri Esteve. The character arrived in episode 16, Disgrace, of the season as a hacker friend that Nolan (Gabriel Mann) met in jail.
In just 7 episodes he’s made quite the impression entering into a relationship with Charlotte (Christa B. Allen), making an ill-conceived deal with Daniel (Josh Bowman) for MyClone which blew up in his face, and almost ruining his friendship with Nolan.
As we look forward to season 4 we caught up with Henri to talk about Javier, dissect season 3 and find out what’s coming up when the show returns this autumn.
Revenge just concluded its third season here in the UK. How did you get involved with the show?
The show itself was an audition process. ABC does this showcase every year where they pick around 12 – although this year it was 20 – actors who they’re sort of putting their stamp on in a sense of believing in us and giving us exposure. They do the showcase and co-sign us basically and just yell to the industry that they think we’re going to pop. I think that was around November (2013).
January came around and the Javier role came up. ABC called Johnny, my manager, and said ‘hey we really want him to come in for this’. I then had the initial auditions and the chemistry reads with Christa (B. Allen) and it just went from there.
It’s pretty amazing to land Revenge as your first major role. How did it feel to join such a well-loved and well-established show?
Yeah, especially the exposure that Revenge has already. It’s weird too because I went to school with Josh (Bowman) in New York. The cast is so close and I got really lucky because everyone welcomed me into the family really quickly. I’ve always heard these stories of how difficult it is to come into a cast where everybody knows each other well and have been together so long but with Revenge they honestly made me feel at home so quickly. With Josh, I remember my first table read and I was super nervous. I turned up and Josh saved me a seat next to him and automatically made me feel at home and like I can play around and see what happens.
Javier has made quite the impression with viewers already after only 7 episodes. Were you expecting him to make the impression he has?
I didn’t know where it was going to go, especially the MyClone stuff. None of that was additionally in the audition and I didn’t expect MyClone to take off the way that it did. Javier is such a different energy from the rest of the characters on the show and he comes from such a different background. I guess I expected it to definitely have a jolt with the characters because of the juxtaposition of the worlds that they come from.
Credit: ABC
He became integrated into the plots pretty quickly. Obviously there was the Nolan link that brought him into the show and he got in with the Graysons thanks to his relationship with Charlotte. There’s a lot more to explore for Javier. Do you know what’s coming up in season 4?
You have about as much of an idea as I do. With the finale they sort of just hit the reset button and we really have no idea where things can go or what’s to come. I have no clue. I’m hoping he sort of gets involved in the actual Revenge world and the undercurrent of what’s going on in the Hamptons which Javier has been oblivious to the whole time. I’m just excited to see what the writers throw at us now.
There’s definitely room for Javier to stage his own revenge plan after being screwed over by Daniel and Margaux (Karine Vanasse) isn’t there?
That’s another fun dynamic and I’m excited to see where it goes between me and Daniel…Margaux too. With Daniel it’s man-to-man and that alpha-male thing after he screws Javier over and steals the programme. It’s opened up a whole new world for him so it’s exciting to see where that’s going to end up going.
Javier’s relationship with Charlotte took a bit of a backseat in the final few episodes of the season. Are you hoping to explore that further next season and have more scenes with Christa?
I love working with Christa. Besides Nolan, and I know they had their problems the last couple of episodes, Charlotte has been the only constant Javier has at this point. He doesn’t really speak to his family anymore after going to jail so that relationship is one I definitely think brings out a different side of Javier. It’s a fun side to play with especially when the other side of Javier is just impulsive and chip-on-the-shoulder. He has this soft side that comes out when he’s with Charlotte.
Madeleine Stowe has become known for her killer glares in Revenge. Javier hasn’t had the opportunity to give one of his own yet but we imagine they must be coming. Have you been asking Madeleine for any advice so you can perfect ‘the glare’?
(laughs) I haven’t yet but the first time I’m going to have to give it I’m going straight to Madeleine.
She really has it down doesn’t she? No one does it better than she does on the show…
Madeleine is amazing. She’s so fun and different from Victoria. The way that she pulls that character off is mind-blowing and whenever I’m watching scenes I’m like ‘Jesus, that was incredible’.
What would you say have been your favourite thing to do as Javier so far?
Episode 19, Allegiance, when the Graysons were trying to buy me and I was having the internal struggle about leaving Nolan. I think whenever you come into a relationship acting-wise and there’s so much back-story like there was with Nolan being Javier’s hero/mentor it’s just a fun dynamic to play with because there’s just so much pulling you. Internally Javier is stuck feeling a responsibility to Nolan but that quick money was infront of him and he didn’t know what to do. It’s a fun place to act in and be able to bounce back and forth.
Credit: ABC
How have you been finding the Revenge fanbase? They are well know for being a pretty passionate bunch…
They’ve been lovely. I’ve never had this experience so to have my first major gig be one that has such a solid and dedicated fanbase feels really good. It’s going to suck when I go to the next thing and the fans aren’t so die-hard.
As you said before this is a great platform and you never know where it could lead you on to. The next step could be even bigger…
Yeah. Hopefully it is. It’s definitely been a great one to start with and it’s so much fun. Javier is a great character and I’m having fun. That’s something a lot of actors talk about losing when they start working, finding that place where you stay enjoying it the way you did before you were getting paid for it and the responsibilities that come with it and I haven’t lost that. It’s super enjoyable and I look forward to work every day which is an amazing feeling.
One of the hardest things we imagine on Revenge is not giving away any spoiler details. Is it hard to keep it all in when you get your script and find out about the next juicy plot twist?
Yeah! My mom is a huge Revenge fan and she has been since season 1. In my house growing up we ate dinner in the dining room. When I visited her at Thanksgiving and Christmas last year Revenge was on and she made me and my brother get our plates and go to the TV to watch it as we ate. I’ve slipped up with her a few times and said something about a character and she’s like ‘what? Who?’ I told her that Stevie Grayson was Jack’s mom and had no idea yet. Little things like that I’ve caught myself slipping on and had to hold myself back and not talk about it.
There’s a whole etiquette on spoilers. People don’t thank you for spoiling a show for them do they?
No (laughs). People get so upset. That’s another thing with the fans that’s amazing. They were so angry when Javier turned on Nolan and the backlash I got on Twitter!
They should be happier next season as Javier returned to Nolan with his head in hands at the end of season 3. It seems like he’s trying to rebuild those bridges…
I think in the last episode of the season Javier really matured. It’s hard for someone like Javier who’s a genius and has really gotten nothing out of how talented he is. He’s impulsive and ambitious and that chip is there; he wants everything now. In the finale I think he realised his mistakes, matured and really manned up when he came back to Nolan. Hopefully that relationship gets mended because I love working with Gabe. That’s one I’m always happy about when we have scenes together.
Do you have any other projects in the pipeline at the moment or is your focus solely on Revenge at the moment?
We wrapped around April 8th and I went to Canada to do this really incredible little short with Doris Roberts and A.J. Buckley, and a young director called Neil Champagne who is stupidly talented. I shot that and then this week I just finished my one-man show I’ve been writing so I’m dying to go back and put that up time permitting. We start shooting Revenge season 4 at the end of July I believe so it’s just figuring out where I can fit that in. That would be incredible to get back and do a little bit of theatre again before I go back to TV.
Well hopefully if you do find the time you can bring it over to London too at some point?
I’d love that!
Revenge returns for a fourth season this autumn in the US with a UK transmission expected to follow in January 2015.
After Homer came Apollonius of Rhodes. Apart from amongst classicists, Apollonius is less well-known, but his epic poem Jason and the Argonauts (more formally the Argonautica) is the only one of the genre to survive from the Hellenistic period (he was writing in the century after the death of Alexander the Great – though the legends themselves date back much further).
For those unfamiliar with the various screen adaptations, Jason and the Argonauts tells the tale of the heroic mortal Jason, who is charged with the seemingly impossible task of recovering the Golden Fleece from Colchis to thus prove his mettle as the rightful king of Iolcus. Jason and his crew aboard the Argo set sail on a daunting sea voyage, facing monsters (the many-headed dragon guarding the fleece is especially thrilling) and hardships along the way. There are many characters involved in the story familiar from other Greek myths, such as Jason’s squeeze Medea (we won’t give away the ending, but it owes nothing to Euripides); the lyre-playing Orpheus; and the twins Castor and Pollux.
Penguin Classics is to release a brand new English translation of the epic poem, translated by scholar and poet Aaron Poochigian, who has rendered it into verse (like the original) rather than prose, which is the more usual approach. Poochigian has structured the lines in iambic pentameter, which he explains in the note on the text, “has the advantage of being familiar to the English ear, as dactylic hexameter, the meter of the original, was to the Ancient Greek one”.
Whether or not you’re a scholar, Jason and the Argonauts is a cracking yarn. That said, it falls into the same trap of The Iliad in that there’s a long and seemingly interminable list of Greek names near the beginning of the piece. The “lengthy roster of heroes” (Poochigian’s description) and their habits and appearances is heavy-going, and slows the pace of the story; though perseverance is well worth it even if it means skipping a few pages (so many names are thrown at you that only a handful will stick). Another issue to brace oneself for is the sheer volume of characters: reading the poem for the first time can be a little daunting, especially because it lacks narrative focus at times, leaving the reader little to hold on to. Digressions are one thing; but Apollonius seems to forget that Jason is the protagonist for parts of the first half of the poem.
The story, once it really gets going, is an enjoyable tale structured around separate adventures which unfold every time the Argo docks (and plenty at sea too). The over-arching plot is a sequence of tests for Jason before he can secure the Golden Fleece and return home. It’s cracking hero’s journey stuff. As the various adaptations attest, the poem has a cinematic quality, with vivid descriptions of monsters and a love story between the protagonists at its heart. Whether or not it’s as majestic as the Homeric poems is a matter of taste, but we enjoyed the downplayed role of the gods in this one, who for the most part allow humans to make their own mistakes. Jason is an intriguingly sulky protagonist too, prone to lapses into lethargic inaction that read almost like a precursor to Hamlet.
This translation is very readable and easy to rattle through. Whether or not it’s the edition for you will depend on what you want out of the text – and we won’t comment on whether or not purists and university professors will embrace it. However, for readers who have perhaps yet to experience Jason and the Argonauts in literary form, and particularly structured as a poem, it’s a great introduction to the work, and certainly a reminder that the serious reader would do well to add the title to their must-read list of Ancient Greek texts. Perhaps the finest achievement of this new translation is to remind us that there’s more to epic Greek poetry than Homer, and that the language and the story of Apollonius’ work is beautiful.
We’re getting so close to Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitch’s (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) wedding that the excitement is getting too much.
The big event will round out the fifth season of Modern Family with a two-part episode but we’ve still got one more episode to go until then. Following tonight’s hilarious episode which saw Phil (Ty Burrell) try to get out of letting Claire (Julie Bowen) down with an elaborate lie, the family continue their shenanigans next week.
The next episode of the season is Message Received. Jay, Gloria and Manny challenge each other to step through their comfort zone. Mitch and Cam’s wedding is getting too big and costly so they resort to selling a couple of their prized possessions, and the kids play a joke on Phil and Claire.
Tune into Sky 1 HD at 8.30pm on Monday for the new episode. Preview all the action in our gallery:
