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No matter how many times fans have binge-watched The Office, they will almost unanimously agree that the sitcom’s most emotional moment arrives when Steve Carell’s Michael Scott departs Dunder Mifflin. While it is already difficult to hold back tears watching Michael leave, the episode is made even sadder with a deleted scene that has resurfaced thanks to the Superfan episodes available on streaming.

Steve Carell’s Michael Scott left The Office in season 7 (Credit: NBC).

In the following episode, Michael’s relationship with his employees is highlighted by the contrasting managerial style of his successor. Meanwhile, a deleted scene from the episode stresses the importance of one friendship Michael formed during his time in the office which is arguably the most important. As a result, Michael’s farewell becomes even sadder to rewatch when the deleted scene’s context becomes evident.

The Office season 7 deleted an important Michael...

X-Men ’97 will have surprise cameos just like its predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series, as confirmed by the series’ executive producer. While the original show revolved around mutants, it also saw several Avengers paying them a visit.

X-Men: The Animated Series

The animated show featured appearances from Marvel heroes the likes of Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, and even Doctor Strange. Indeed, the reboot will follow just the same. In fact, an insider revealed that the Sorcerer Supreme will briefly join the project as well.

Doctor Strange Will Reportedly Make His Way Into X-Men ‘97

A scooper from Twitter, Marvel News and Updates, shared that “Doctor Strange will make a cameo appearance in X-Men 97 Season 1 or 2.” This is nothing new for fans who have watched the original animated show. A fan responded to the post:

“Well, he did make 3 appearances in the original X-men Animated Series: The Phoenix Saga, Part IV: The Starjammers,...

"They won't stop 'till we're all dead." Hulu has unveiled an official trailer for an intriguing sci-fi indie film titled Mother/Android, made by the screenwriter on The Batman and Little Fish. Mattson Tomlin has directed a few films before but this one is produced by Matt Reeves, and is both written and directed by Tomlin. Mother/Android is set during "an unexpected war with artificial intelligence." Georgia and her boyfriend Sam go on a treacherous journey to escape their country, which is caught in an unexpected war with A.I. Days away from the arrival of their first child, the couple must face No Man's Land, a stronghold of the android uprising, in hopes of reaching safety. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Algee Smith, with Raúl Castillo, Oscar Wahlberg, Kate Avallone, Owen Burke, and Steven Robertson. It looks like the same plot as Children of Men, but about androids taking over instead.

Zeros and Ones"The fact that we’re still making movies is a fucking miracle."—Abel FerraraAbel Ferrara has, for most of his career—most of his life, really—been more comfortable amid scum and sewage and sin, the tawdry, oil-slick sleaze of pre-Giuliani New York, than he has polite society. He was, in his youth, into middle age, even now, at 69—a family man and ten years sober after a lifetime of insalubrious activities—not one to give a fuck. He's more 42nd Street than 54th, and yet he got a nice retrospective at MoMA a couple years ago. He cut his teeth on porn and exploitation that, while just as schlocky as anything else with a similar budget and penchant for perversity, is obviously made by a mad genius, one who doesn't entirely fit in with the other weirdos of New York. Consider the ferocity of his early films,...

The summer is coming to an end and with it comes a number of films to have on your to-watch list. From some highly-anticipated auteur-driven films to dazzling animations to riveting documentaries to horror stand-outs, there’s a wide-ranging array of selections. Check out our picks to see below.

12. Ma Belle, My Beauty (Marion Hill)

A premiere at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Marion Hill’s acclaimed drama Ma Belle, My Beauty explores the nuances of a polyamorous relationship. John Fink said in his review, “In some relationships it’s easier to pick up where you left off, even after years of being apart. Others, such as those at the core of Marion Hill’s impressive, nuanced feature film debut Ma Belle, My Beauty—contain more heartbreak and baggage. Screening in Sundance’s Next category, Hill’s picture navigates uncomfortable truths with perspective and lyrical emotional honestly as Lane...

An icon of cinema culture in the 1960s and 1970s, the energetic, imaginative Donald S. Rugoff ran the theater chain and film distribution company Cinema 5, which backed landmark arthouse movies like Putney Swope, The Sorrow and the Pity, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Harlan County U.S.A. His story is now being captured in a new documentary from indie film producer and distributor Ira Deutchman, who worked under Rugoff. Searching for Mr. Rugoff, which had its world premiere at Doc NYC, will be released in theaters on August 13 and all proceeds from the release will be donated to the not-for-profit art house theaters presenting the film across the country. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has landed.

“When I made the film, there was a perception that movie theaters were in trouble due to the rise of streaming. Now, the pandemic has magnified things, literally creating an existential crisis,...

When writer, director, and film historian Bertrand Tavernier passed away on March 25, the art of cinema lost one of its most eloquent, passionate, and informed partisans. Thankfully, his last great work, the eight-hour documentary series Journeys Through French Cinema, is newly available on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group and provides a beautiful summation of Tavernier’s devotion and an enlightening introduction to many of his favorite filmmakers. The documentary is a follow-up to Tavernier’s 2016 theatrical feature My Journey Through French Cinema and essentially picks up where that movie left off, exploring directors, actors, composers, and other artists Tavernier wasn’t […]

The post Journeys Through French Cinema, The Projectionist and Test Pattern: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When writer, director, and film historian Bertrand Tavernier passed away on March 25, the art of cinema lost one of its most eloquent, passionate, and informed partisans. Thankfully, his last great work, the eight-hour documentary series Journeys Through French Cinema, is newly available on Blu-ray from Cohen Media Group and provides a beautiful summation of Tavernier’s devotion and an enlightening introduction to many of his favorite filmmakers. The documentary is a follow-up to Tavernier’s 2016 theatrical feature My Journey Through French Cinema and essentially picks up where that movie left off, exploring directors, actors, composers, and other artists Tavernier wasn’t […]

The post Journeys Through French Cinema, The Projectionist and Test Pattern: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Boosting one of the key upcoming titles coming out of Latin America, renowned Haitian-American actor-producer Jimmy Jean-Louis, also an increasing driving force on the Latin American and African production scene, is coming on board to executive produce director José María Cabral’s historic drama “Parsley” (“Perejil”).

In parallel news, New York-based Visit Films is handling world sales rights on the feature, which is set during the 1937 Parsley Massacre, when Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered the execution of Haitian families and Dominicans of Haitian descent on the country’s frontier with Haiti.

With Cabral in post-production on his next film, the Latido-sold “Hotel Coppelia,” again for Lantica Media, Visit Films will initiate a fall festival campaign for “Parsley.”

“Parsley’s” true-event background is shocking, and little known. “ ‘Parsley’ is a story about human tragedy where race takes the center stage and represents a part of history that needs to be told,...

You cannot stop Abel Ferrara. You should not try to stop Abel Ferrara—American (or wherever he can get funding) cinema still needs its uncompromising bravados, and good luck finding anyone who takes up so much slack. The same year his features The Projectionist and Tommaso got theatrical releases, Siberia premiered, and he prepares to roll cameras on the Ethan Hawke-led Zeros and Ones also saw the unveiling of Sportin’ Life, a documentary produced amidst Covid and funded by Saint Laurent (again: get it where you can).

Described in our review as “a documentary about making a documentary,” the Sean Price Williams-shot piece mostly centers on he and Willem Dafoe promoting Siberia at this year’s Berlinale; later months and later events, putting it lightly, seep their way in. Consensus tells us it’s not the most major of works, which makes more understandable why its public premiere is...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Fremantle passes 130 territories sold for Samuel L. Jackson’s “Enslaved,” Lineup Industries is set to license Nhk’s formats slate, Red Sea International awards more than $1 million in grants, and Walter Presents nabs five Nordic series.

Distribution

Samuel L. Jackson’s Epix docuseries “Enslaved: The Lost History of the Transatlantic Slave Trade” will air in 130 territories after Fremantle closed deals including France’s Histoire TV, History in Germany and Movistar Plus and Rtve in Spain.

Directed by Simcha Jacobovici, “Enslaved” is a Canada-u.K. co-production between Associated Producers and Cornelia Street Productions in collaboration with the CBC and the Documentary Channel in Canada as well as Epix, Anonymous Content and Samuel and Latanya Richardson Jackson’s television production company UppiTV in the U.S.

Narrated by and starring Jackson, the series uses cutting-edge technologies, including advanced 3D mapping and ground-penetrating radar, to find and explore...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder. This year's Venice Film Festival has come to an end, and you can find the full list of award winners here. Following the success of Parasite, Neon will be bringing Bong Joon-ho's 2003 Memories of Murder to the big screen in the fall! Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for the 4K restoration of Wong Kar-wai's classic In the Mood For Love, which turns 20 this year. Ahmad Bahrani's The Wasteland, which won this year's Orizzonti Award for Best Film, follows a dozen workers in a brick factory amid its impending closing. Read Leonardo Goi's review of the film here. Another trailer from Venice: Lav Diaz's Genus Pan, which won the Orrizonti Award for Best Director. Read Michael Guarneri's review of the film here. A first look at Abel Ferrara's new documentary,...

"Abel, I'm not a politician. I'm a survivor." Kino Lorber has unveiled the trailer for The Projectionist, a documentary from filmmaker Abel Ferrara. This originally premiered at last year's Tribeca Film Festival, and also stopped by the Torino Film Festival in Italy. The film director converses with the proprietor of a Cinema complex in Queens about the 1970s era of film making and exhibition in New York City, when things were edgier and sleazier than they are in today's cleaned up scene. The Projectionist is a profile of theater operator Nicolas "Nick" Nicolaou, who moved from Cyprus to NYC, and began working as a teenager in small neighborhood movie theaters around Manhattan, defying gentrification, changing viewing habits and corporate dominance in the 1980s, only to emerge decades later as one of New York City's last independent theater owners. This looks more like an intriguing conversation than a real story about being a projectionist.

Even before the pandemic, the art of film projection and exhibition has been a rarified breed in the era of digital presentations and the conglomeration of movie theater chains. In one of the prolific Abel Ferrara’s recent projects, he set his sights on Nicolas Nicolaou, who owns and operates Manhattan’s Cinema Village, Bay Ridge’s Alpine Cinemas & Forest Hills’ Cinemart. Once set for a release earlier this summer, Kino Lorber is now offering The Projectionist to cinemas as they reopen safely with 100% of sales going to the theaters.

“We are encouraging theaters to add conversations with its theater staff and programmers to its screenings of The Projectionist as a way to welcome back their audiences when they can open safely, pull back the curtain, and talk about why they share Nicolaou’s passion for keeping the movie theater experience alive,” the indie distributor said.

John Fink said in our review,...

Bronx-born, Italian-based filmmaker Abel Ferrara is a character and so is Cypriot independent movie theater owner Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou. “I do it cause it combines two things I like to do,” Nicolaou says in Ferrara’s new documentary “The Projectionist.” “Make money and keep neighborhood theaters alive. Nicolaou was a mainstay in the 1970s Times Square adult film house scene, went on to get into the arthouse film exhibition business and has been in the New York theater business for decades.

Continue reading ‘The Projectionist’ Trailer: Abel Ferrara Makes A Documentary Love Letter To An Indie Cinema Legend at The Playlist.

Two of busy director Abel Ferrara’s new features in just the last four years are documentaries, with “Sportin’ Life” fresh off a bow at the Venice Film Festival, and last year’s fest favorite “The Projectionist” now coming soon to theaters from Kino Lorber. A nonfiction love letter to Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou, one of New York City’s last independent movie theater owners, “The Projectionist” will be offered by Kino to arthouse cinemas exclusively as they open, with 100 percent of ticket sales benefiting local theaters. Watch the first trailer, exclusive to IndieWire, below.

If you’re not familiar with the work of Nicolaou, a cinephile favorite in New York whose fascinating story extends well beyond the realm of the movies, here’s the film’s official synopsis: “‘The Projectionist’ traces the life and livelihood of friend and fellow cinephile Nicolas ‘Nick’ Nicolaou, a Cypriot immigrant who moved to America...

When Marvel and DC didn’t call screenwriter Mattson Tomlin to write some projects for them, he took matters into his own hands and wrote a superhero story the way he wanted to. Cue “Project Power” on Netflix, which revolves around the idea that one pill can give you superpowers for just five minutes.

“I wanted to get a movie made,” Tomlin, who had mostly written shorts except for 2008’s “The Projectionist” before this, he told TheWrap. “I had been doing so much work as a screenwriter and writing scripts and getting on the Black List, but I hadn’t had a movie actually go. And so part of it was strategy of just, you know, what are the movies that are getting made right now? Well, the obvious answer is superhero movies. And so figuring out where can I sit myself in that world, because Marvel wasn’t calling,...

The director of Over The Edge and The Accused takes us on a journey through some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Student Teachers (1973)

Night Call Nurses (1972)

White Line Fever (1975)

Truck Turner (1974)

Heart Like A Wheel (1983)

The Accused (1988)

Over The Edge (1979)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

Manhattan (1979)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

The Apartment (1960)

North By Northwest (1959)

Moon Pilot (1962)

Mr. Billion (1977)

White Heat (1949)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Three Musketeers (1973)

The Four Musketeers (1974)

Superman (1978)

Superman II (1980)

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Shane (1953)

The 400 Blows (1959)

8 ½ (1963)

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

Richard (1972)

Millhouse (1971)

The Projectionist (1970)

El Dorado (1966)

The Shootist (1976)

Woodstock (1970)

Payback (1999)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

Billy Liar (1963)

Ford Vs Ferrari (2019)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

Bad Girls (1994)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Giant (1956)

The More The Merrier (1943)

The Graduate (1967)

The Victors (1963)

…And Justice For All (1979)

Citizen Kane (1941)

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn...

Abel Ferrara is debuting his newest film with longtime collaborator Willem Dafoe, Tommaso, as a virtual cinema release due to the ongoing conditions Covid-19 unleashed on moviegoing. It’s the closest thing the prolific director has come to a slowdown in recent years. Last year, his long-delayed 2014 film Pasolini received distribution, Tommaso debuted at Cannes, and The Projectionist, about New York City’s Nicolas Nicolaou premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. After his other new project, Siberia, played for thousands of people at Berlinale in February, Ferrara’s globetrotting hit a pause.

Tommaso stars Dafoe as a movie director living with his young wife Nikki (Cristina Chiriac) and Dee Dee (Anna Ferrara) in Rome. Tommaso is in recovery after a long, unbridled addiction. If you know anything about Ferrara—including that Dafoe is his real-life next-door neighbor—it’s clear Tommaso is even more than his amalgamation, it’s his mirror.

Deadline has confirmed that Paramount has picked up Mattson Tomlin’s original spec 2084 which Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce at Paramount.

Logline for the project is as follows: In an authoritarian society that rose from the ashes of global destruction and where people’s lives are controlled down to the smallest detail, a young couple’s discovery leads them to start a rebel movement. 2084 is also reportedly billed as being akin to George Orwell big brother totalitarian novel 1984, and also reminiscent of Inception and The Matrix.

Tomlin wrote, directed, shot, edited and co-composed the score for his independent thriller The Projectionist. He co-penned Warner Bros. upcoming Robert Pattinson production The Batman, and is working on feature takes of the videogame Mega Man and an adaptation of comic Fear Agent for Amazon.

Abel Ferrara is a hurricane. And like a hurricane, it is close to impossible to anticipate where he’s going to go at any given time. More than that, any hope of influencing the outcome of either is well beyond the limits of human control. Admirers with the good fortune to spend some time with the man can attest that getting Ferrara to stick to the script is largely a fool’s errand. In my case, it was because he had two new movies playing at consecutive festivals I happened to attend. At a certain point […]...

Abel Ferrara is a hurricane. And like a hurricane, it is close to impossible to anticipate where he’s going to go at any given time. More than that, any hope of influencing the outcome of either is well beyond the limits of human control. Admirers with the good fortune to spend some time with the man can attest that getting Ferrara to stick to the script is largely a fool’s errand. In my case, it was because he had two new movies playing at consecutive festivals I happened to attend. At a certain point […]...

In this week’s International TV Newswire, MipCancun mirrors Latin American industry growth; Nice Drama and BBC Studios hire new executives; Brazil’s Globoplay platform picks up five international series; and Series Mania heads to the Big Apple for an Ifp Week spotlight.

MipCancun Underscores Latin American Growth

Markets are as volatile and fast-changing as the industry as large. As Toronto’s spluttered this week, constrained by the challenge of U.S. distribution at large, Reed Midem announced a mouth-watering line up of speakers for Mexico’s MipCancun: “Hernan” showrunners Curro Royo and Julián de Tavira; ex-Netflix honcho Erik Barmack, now at new shingle Wild Sheep Content; Marcelo Tamburri, VP of scripted development at Turner Latin America; and Joanna Lombardi, Movistar head of fiction for Latin America.

Produced by Mexico’s Dopamine and Spain’s Onza Ent, “Hernan” is sold by A & E Network Intl. and is set to...

This year’s Mip TV in Cannes is facing a major challenge as a slew of the largest international companies have shunned the April market and A-list buyers and producers have joined them.

The increasingly active London screenings in February have taken a noticeable chunk out of the market for the bi-annual Reed Midem-organized show, which is struggling to attract the volume, and quality of participants that attend its October equivalent Mipcom. The spring confab has always been quieter than the fall event but this year many of the big companies are treating it as a secondary sales market rather than the glitzy launch pad for their hot new shows.

Next week’s event will be without the full participation of Endemol Shine Group, BBC Studios and Fox Networks Group Content Distribution, while the beachside will be very quiet as Fremantle is sending less staff than usual and Disney...

More than 360 international delegates are expected at Göteborg’s 13th Nordic TV Drama Vision (Jan. 30-31) described by head of industry Cia Edström as a ‘boutique event’, where top Nordic and international drama professionals gather each year to gauge the state of the Nordic market and hot content.

For the first time, to comply with the growing demand from international drama execs, a new venue – the historical theater building ‘Stora teatern’ – will host this year’s expanded Nordic TV confab.

Keynote speakers set to inspire attendees comprise seasoned U.K. TV writer Sally Wainwright, BAFTA award-winning comedy producer Jon Plowman and Netflix’s director of co-production & acquisition, Northern and Central Europe, Lina Brounéus.

Nordic professionals will be eager to discover Brounéus’ commissioning plans in the region beyond the three Originals already announced: “The Rain Season 2” from Denmark, “Quicksand” from Sweden, selected for the Berlinale Series, and “Ragnarok” from Norway, penned...

As has been the Berlinale’s custom of years past, several early competition titles have been confirmed along with the 2019 opener, Lone Scherfig’s The Kindness of Strangers, which will also be competing. On the homegrown front, its with great excitement to note Angela Schanelec’s I Was At Home, But… has been confirmed as has Fatih Akin with The Golden Glove while Quebec’s Denis Cote is returning again with Ghost Town Anthology.

With Panorama and other sidebars announced (which includes Jayro Bustamente’s sophomore title Tremors) we look forward to additional possibilities in the competition. Left out of 2018 platforms but purportedly screened for Vladimir Putin in private is Andrey Konchalovsky’s latest, Sin, which seems a logical place (though the Russian auteur hasn’t competed for the Lion since 1992’s The Inner Circle).…...

“State of Happiness,” “The Flatey Enigma” and “The Inner Circle” are among the six Nordic drama series which will be presented at Goteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision and compete for the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize.

Written by Mette M. Bølstad (“Nobel”), “State of Happiness” follows four young characters who come from different backgrounds and are thrown into a whirlwind of opportunity during Norway’s oil boom of the 1970s.

“The Flatey Enigma,” written by Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, is a mystery thriller series based on Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson’s novels. “The Inner Circle,” penned by Håkan Lindhé, is a political thriller about an ambitious young man belonging to the Swedish political elite on a journey to fulfill his life long dream and become Prime Minister of Sweden.

The other nominated series are “Kieler Street,” written by Stig Frode Henriksen, Jesper Sundnes and Patrik Syversen; “All the Sins,” written by...

“A hard time is coming for mutants,” teased the newly released trailer from Season 2 of Fox’s X-Men series, The Gifted, which was unveiled today at. Marked as the “Dawn Of A New Mutant Age,” the sophomore season picks up six months after the explosion of the Atlanta Station.

Season one ended with the Mutant Underground now split with some member going to The Inner Circle. Having tracked them outside of Washington, D.C., they must contend with new groups with extreme ideologies, both human and mutant alike, to stave off a brewing conflict.

EPs Matt Nix and Jeph Loeb and stars Stephen Moyer, Sean Teale, Jamie Chung, Emma Dumont, Blair Redford, Natalie Alyn Lind and Skyler Samuels were on hand during the panel presentation in Ballroom 20.

“The thing that we realized in season one was when we were really connecting to the characters and the relationships between the characters,...

Marvel Television and Marvel Animation are returning to San Diego Comic-Con with a jam-packed lineup of panels, signings, and fan-first experiences, including Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, Marvel’s Iron Fist, Legion, The Gifted, Marvel’s Avengers: Black Panther’s Quest and the brand-new project Marvel Rising. Join us for not-to-be-missed panels with exclusive footage and surprise appearances, as well as star-studded autograph signing sessions – all starting Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22.

For more exciting highlights and news during San Diego Comic Con 2018, tune in to the Marvel livestream at http://marvel.com/SDCC2018 starting Thursday, July 19.

Thursday, July 19th

Marvel Animation Presents: Marvel Rising

3:15 Pm – 4:15 Pm in Room 6De

Marvel Rising brings together the next generation of Marvel Super Heroes for the next generation of Marvel fans. This is your chance to be among the first to see a sneak peek of this group of powered teens...

20th Century Fox Television, always a fixture at San Diego Comic-Con, will be spotlighting its brand new vampire series The Passage this year with a world premiere screening and talent session.

The series, which is launching on Fox in early 2019, is based on Justin Cronin’s bestselling fantasy book trilogy about a secret government medical facility that experiments with a dangerous virus that could either cure all disease or cause the downfall of the human race. Series stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Saniyaa Sidney, Henry Ian Cusick, Jamie McShane and Ep Liz Heldens and Ep/director Jason Ensler will be chatting on the first Friday night of Comic-Con at 6 Pm.

Other highlights include a sneak peek of Season 2 of the X-Men-inspired series The Gifted on Saturday at 2:30 Pm. And we can’t forget Kurt Sutter bringing his FX Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans M.C. on Sunday.

Below is Fox’s full schedule for Comic-Con,...

Merle Dixon has been a somewhat complicated character for The Walking Dead. His recognition seemed to be derived mostly from the popularity of his brother Daryl (and, for some, the hope that he had another brother named Daryl, which would lead to a brief Bob Newhart cameo) and the fact that the character had been played so convincingly by Michael Rooker.

Having missed the majority of season 2 – save for a brief hallucinatory appearance – Merle remained something of a question upon his return early on in season 3, which saw him partaking in the vicious beating of Glenn and occasionally acting as an agent in the ongoing grudge match between Michonne and the Governor. Once he was cut loose from the town of Woodbury, after its bloodthirsty ...

Click to continue reading ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 3, Episode 15 Review – The Inner Circle...

In this preview clip for tonight’s White Collar episode, “Identity Crisis” Mozzie (Willie Garson) gets his “Yuuuuup!” on, bidding on an abandoned apartment building with June (Diahann Carroll).

Okay, thankfully Mozzie didn’t go Dave Hester in that clip but whenever I watch A&E’s Storage Wars, I wonder about the eccentrics that have enough cash flow to bid on storage units, or in this case, an abandoned apartment. This only builds our curiosity of the fascinating Mozzie, who we never know what he’s up to on any given moment, as well as how he acquires some of his antiquities. Now we know. We love these Mozzie-centric episodes and who doesn’t love an appearance with June?

Now this latest purchase by Mozzie is just the beginning of one of Mozzie’s adventures as he’s bound to find something in this apartment that will lead him,...

If you’ve hunted around for movie bargains, you’ve probably seen some of Mill Creek Entertainment’s 50-Movie Packs on DVD. Apart from other great releases by Mill Creek, these packs are phenomenal boons to cinephiles looking to collect older titles.

There are three new packs available, and I want to not only let you in on a discount code, but I have one of the packs available for you to win.

I know a lot of people may be quick to overlook these packs, and not every movie included stands out as a major value, but there are some great titles in each of them, and fans of the genres will be pleasantly surprised by what they get out of the deal. I have to admit that there is something about seeing a 50-movie pack, especially when it doesn’t cost a couple of hundred dollars, or more,...

Sexy outfits, frequent cocktails and flying fists ... no, we’re not talking about “Jersey Shore”… it’s VH1’s hit show “Basketball Wives!”For breakout star Evelyn Lozada, life has been super busy. The former fiancee of NBA star Antoine Walker and current fiancee to NFL all-star Chad Ochocinco has penned a book and was recently featured in a steamy spread for Maxim magazine here. Toofab’s Anthony Dominic caught up with the reality star turned entrepreneur to talk about her tell-all, her latest project and those insane abs! As someone involved with pro athletes, Evelyn had tons of juicy material for her upcoming book, "The Wives Association: The Inner Circle." In fact, there's enough gossip for two more books, which Evelyn calls "a series of three with a lot of juicy stories.""The Inner Circle" comes out in June, but the beauty is dropping a makeup line this month,...

Sexy outfits, frequent cocktails and flying fists ... no, we’re not talking about “Jersey Shore”… it’s VH1’s hit show “Basketball Wives!”For breakout star Evelyn Lozada, life has been super busy. The former wife of NBA star Antoine Walker and current girlfriend to NFL all-star Chad Ochocinco has penned a book and was recently featured in a steamy spread for Maxim magazine. Toofab’s Anthony Dominic caught up with the reality star turned entrepreneur to talk about her tell-all, her latest project and those insane abs! As a former basketball wife, Evelyn had tons of juicy material for her upcoming book, "The Wives Association: The Inner Circle." In fact, there's enough gossip for two more books, which Evelyn calls "a series of three with a lot of juicy stories.""The Inner Circle" comes out in June, but the beauty is dropping a makeup line this month, Eve by Evelyn Lozada.

Author T.C. Boyle has written evocatively about an extraordinary range of subjects, but the common thread is an interest in characters whose idealism proves incompatible with reality. Whether they’re hippies (Drop City), environmentalists (When The Killing’s Done), or historical figures like Alfred Kinsey (The Inner Circle) or John Harvey Kellogg (The Road To Wellville), they face compromises that may be necessary, or may corrupt their souls. Based on a Boyle short story—originally published in The New Yorker, then later in the anthology Wild Child And Other Stories—Joshua Leonard’s perceptive The Lie runs the theme ...

With Hollywood turning more of its attention to the world of graphic novels for inspiration, I'll cast the spotlight on a new comic book each week that has the potential to pack a theater or keep you glued to your television screens. At the end of each "Adapt This" column, you'll also find some thoughts from the industry's top comic creators about the books they'd like to see make the jump from page to screen.

This Week's Book: The Nobody by Jeff Lemire

The Premise: A modern retelling of the H.G. Wells classic The Invisible Man, award-winning comic creator Jeff Lemire's graphic novel The Nobody imagines bandaged stranger John Griffen as a drifter who wanders into a small fishing village one day. After taking up residence at the local inn, the mystery surrounding this new visitor makes the locals suspicious, and eventually leads to a series of encounters that...

Between X-Men and Spider-Man, Marvel cartoons were a pretty formative part of our pop culture education growing up, but with their new anime initiative, the comic book company is giving a whole new look to some of their most popular characters, like Iron Man, Wolverine, The X-Men and Blade.

At the Marvel Anime panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2011, hosted by Attack of the Show's Blair Butler, we got early looks at some of the new shows, animated by the good folks at Madhouse, as well as hearing from Marvel's head of TV, Jeph Loeb. Wondering how it all was? Read on!

Jeph Loeb opened the panel, a year after he first announced his plans for Marvel TV. One of the things he's most excited about is their partnership with Madhouse Animation on Marvel Anime for G4.

The stories for Iron Man, Wolverine, X-Men and Blade were all conceived by comic...

Uh-oh, Office fans. “The Inner Circle,” last night’s episode — which happened to be the show’s first outing post-Steve Carell — scored ratings that were 17 percent worse than the ratings for the show’s April 28 episode, “Goodbye, Michael.” While it is a little unfair to compare the two episodes (“Goodbye, Michael” was an Event with a capital “E,” likely watched by a lot of people who aren’t regular viewers of The Office), this news still doesn’t seem to bode well… especially when coupled with the knowledge that “The Inner Circle” itself, which abruptly sent guest star Will Ferrell packing,...

In no way does this change the fact that I am concerned The Office will not be able to make up for the loss of Steve Carrell in the future, but Will Ferrell's performance in "The Inner Circle" more than helped hold us over in the meantime.

In what I believe was Ferrell's last appearance of this arc on the show, he was at his best since the first scene in which his Deangelo hilariously riffed with Michael Scott.

Between acting mean while being nice in the cold open, wanting to be friends with Dwight to the point of  screaming him into submission, performing the heck out of that fake juggling act, and almost killing himself on a Kevin assisted dunk, Deangelo was on fire throughout.

Yelling at Dwight was hilarious on so many levels.

First of all, the character was just so fed up with Dwight's attitude, but...

The Will Ferrell interlude on "The Office" ends, not with a whimper but with a bang -- of Deangelo hitting the concrete floor of the warehouse trying to prove a point to Jim.

As we mentioned last week, the show didn't quite seem to know what to do with Ferrell or his character. Thursday's (May 5) episode, "The Inner Circle," was the first (and only) one of his run that really focused on Deangelo as a boss, and it used the character for what we have to assume was his purpose all along: to make Michael Scott look better in hindsight. If that's the case, it worked -- but if that's the case, it's also good that Deangelo Vickers won't be around anymore.

Because, simply put, Deangelo is kind of a jerk. He doesn't respect his job or many (any?) of the people who work for him, he's at the very...

The Office recap: Season 8 Episode 23 "The Inner Circle" (5/5/2011)

Things are a little rough going in an office without Michael Scott.  Things are changing- Deangelo starts by giving everyone a bunch of great things- Toby gets a chair, every Thursday is ice cream day, Darryl gets free night classes.  Pam is nervous trying to impress Deangelo but the real story here is the divided office. Deangleo's inner circle, filled with men (Jim, Darryl, Gabe, Kevin) which sparks some controversy with the women of Dunder Mifflin.  

More The Office recaps here.

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Michael Scott is gone. Long live Michael Scott. And requiem, and terra pax, and so forth.

Now that all the teary-eyed goodbyes with Steve Carell are out of the way, it's time to look forward to the future as celebrities come out of the woodwork to ascend the throne of Regional Manager of Dunder-Mifflin Scranton!

Following Carell's 50-minute exit in "Goodbye, Michael" NBC aired its promo for next week's "The Inner Circle," as well as our first look at (most of) the mega-stars gracing the halls of Dunder-Mifflin to take the job. Curiously absent was British comidienne Catherine Tate, though as we've mentioned before, she seems the most likely candidate to take the job for real.

In the promo below you'll see the first (brief) looks at Jim Carrey, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais returning as David Brent, Will Arnett, and James Spader, the latter two in fact Not playing The...

Bestselling author Brad Meltzer loves a good conspiracy.

Whether exploring the nation's unsolved mysteries in his History Channel show "Brad Meltzer's Decoded," or crafting the political thrillers at the heart of celebrated novels like "The Tenth Justice" or "The Book Of Fate," the award-winning writer has a nose for sniffing out the stories lurking just behind the historical facts. His latest conspiracy tale, "The Inner Circle," hits shelves this week, telling of a young archivist who accidentally discovers a 200-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington and becomes entangled in a dangerous mystery.

With that in mind, we asked the former "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Identity Crisis" comic book writer to tell us about his favorite conspiracy stories from the big screen — and he was happy to oblige with a list of seven films he counts as his favorite conspiracy movies. Why seven? Apparently, it's a mystery.

Continue...

Bestselling author Brad Meltzer loves a good conspiracy.

Whether exploring the nation's unsolved mysteries in his History Channel show "Brad Meltzer's Decoded," or crafting the political thrillers at the heart of celebrated novels like "The Tenth Justice" or "The Book Of Fate," the award-winning writer has a nose for sniffing out the stories lurking just behind the historical facts. His latest conspiracy tale, "The Inner Circle," hits shelves this week, telling of a young archivist who accidentally discovers a 200-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington and becomes entangled in a dangerous mystery.

With that in mind, we asked Meltzer to tell us about his favorite conspiracy stories from the big screen — and he was happy to oblige with a list of seven films he counts as his favorite conspiracy movies. Why seven? Apparently, it's a mystery.

My Top 7 Conspiracy Movies

(Why 7? Why!?)

--By Brad Meltzer

7. "No Way Out"

Yes,...

Chicago – Several major summer 2010 films have been released on Blu-ray recently which could have easily allowed minor titles to go unnoticed if not for HollywoodChicago.com’s beloved Blu-Ray Round-Up. Here are a few of the smaller October HD releases worth a look.

Note: The Round-Up is designed merely to present synopsis, cast & crew, tech specs, and special features information on titles that may otherwise fall through the cracks for your purchasing perusal. Having said that, “Three Kings” is an incredibly-underrated movie that features arguably Mark Wahlberg’s best performance. Pick it up.

“Sex and Lucia,” “Three Kings,” and “Wolverine and The X-Men: The Complete Series” were released on Blu-ray on October 12th, 2010.

“Altitude” will be released on October 26th, 2010.

“Sex and Lucia”

Photo credit: Palm Pictures

Synopsis: “From acclaimed Spanish director, Julio Medem (Lovers of the Arctic Circle), comes one of the sexiest and most provocative films of the year.

Wolverine and the X-Men: The Complete Animated Series comes to Blu-ray and DVD today and in addition to our giveaway, we've got an exclusive look at one of the behind-the-scenes features, "The Inner Circle: Refelctions on Wolverine and the X-Men."

In this clip, associate producer and writer, Joshua Fine and other members of the creative team talk about creating a rich sidestory for Nightcrawler and their approach to the brooding Cyclops, whose origin story the writers touch on by recreating several pivotal from in the original comic.  Check out the clip below and win a copy of the complete series on Blu-ray today or as we like to say around here, "Blu-sday!"

 ...

Bryan Singer, producer of X-Men: The First Class, dropped a line to AICN to share some notes and much needed plot details of the upcoming Matthew Vaughn-directed prequel. Currently, to this point, all we know about the film is that is will feature the story of how young Dr. Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr discover their powers for the first time, and meet up with other mutants.

Well, it seems Singer wants to clear some timeline points with fans, as we all wondered when this movie was going to take place. I for one thought it would take place after the Wolverine film, but I am wrong. You see, at the end of the Wolverine film, Xavier shows up to pick up the left over mutants from Three Mile Island, presumably to take them to the school of gifted youngsters. We thought the first class of mutants would...

The Saturday schedule for the 2010 Comic-Con at San Diego is now released. As was the case with the Thursday and Friday breakdown reports, I'm focusing on film/TV/DVD related events, screenings and panels.

Read the Thursday, July 22, 2010 schedule.

Read the Friday, July 23, 2010 schedule.

10:00-11:00 Nickelodeon Presents: The SpongeBob SquarePants Secret Formula Revealed!— Ever wonder what delicious ingredients go into making an episode of SpongeBob? The masterminds behind the show -- executive producer Paul Tibbitt (Nightmare Ned), head writer Steven Banks (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), creative director Vincent Waller (Ren & Stimpy), supervising storyboard director Tuck Tucker (Hey Arnold!), layout supervisor Kenny Pittenger (CatDog), storyboard director Luke Brookshier (Kim Possible), background painter Andy Clark (Dexter's Laboratory), animation director Andrew Overtoom (Family Guy), and the voice of SpongeBob himself, Tom Kenny -- show you how the kernel of an idea turns into a fully animated episode. Followed...

Comic-Con has just released its full Saturday schedule and below you will find all of the movie and TV-related panels and events for the day. Take a look below and you can also if you missed Friday's schedule, or if you missed Wednesday's Preview Night and the Thursday schedule. If you want the entire Saturday Comic-Con schedule with comic book, video game and other related events, you can .

Saturday, July 24

10:00-11:00 Writing Animated Feature Films

The Writers Guild of America's Animation Writers Caucus once again sponsors a panel on writing for animation. Some of the most successful films of the last decade have been animated. But how different are they to write from live-action features? From television scripts? And what about direct-to-dvd animated features? The writers of some of the top animated features will talk about the process of creating those films, their interactions with the artists and the studios,...