With the season two finale of Arrow upon us, The CW has released a brand new promo for the upcoming episode ‘Unthinkable’, which also happens to give us our first look at Grant Gustin’s Scarlett Speedster in action, as well as officially unveiling the logo for the upcoming spin-off series The Flash. Of course, with Barry being the fastest man alive, it’s a case of blink and you’ll miss him. Check it out here…

Arrow’s season 2 finale airs this Wednesday, while The Flash is set to get underway in the Fall.

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Last month, Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams gave us a taste of which returning characters we can expect to see when we return to a galaxy far, far away in 2015 for Star Wars: Episode VII, announcing that Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Kenny Baker (R2-D2) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) will all be back for the first chapter of Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy.

There are of course a few noticeable absentees from the last – see Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian – and while we can probably expect a few more returnees, one character who definitely won’t be back is Wedge Antilles, famed X-Wing pilot and veteran of the attacks on both Death Stars. Despite suggesting recently that he’d be up for a return in an extended role, if the script and price were right, actor Denis Lawson – uncle of fellow Star Wars veteran Ewan McGregor – has revealed that he’s turned down the opportunity, telling The Courier that: “I’m not going to do [Episode VII]. They asked me but it just would have bored me.”

Are you disappointed that Wedge won’t be returning, or is there enough fan service already? Let us know your thoughts….

Star Wars: Episode VII is set for release on December 18th 2015 with a cast that includes new additions Domhnall Gleeson (Dredd), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Daisy Ridley (Silent Witness), Adam Driver (Girls), Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) and Max von Sydow (The Exorcist).

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Best known for his work on the Alien‘ series of films, H.R. Giger has died at the age of 74 from injuries sustained in a fall.

Full name Hans Rudolf Giger, he was born in 1940, and moved to Zurich aged 22 to study architecture and industrial design. Throughout this he maintained an interest in art, and upon his graduation in 1966 he worked briefly as an interior designer before turning exclusively to art.

Giger won an Oscar for his work on Ridley Scott’s Alien, where he designed not only the Alien itself, but also the derelict ship that is discovered by Sigourney Weaver’s team, as well both the alien eggs and face-huggers found within.

Famous designs that will never be forgotten, or equaled.

H.R. Giger on the set of Alien

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Total Film have been talking to X-Men: Days of Future Past producer Lauren Shuler Donner at the X-Men X-Perience Global Tour, and got themselves quite the scoop.

Long rumoured to be in contention for the role of Gambit, Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street) has on multiple occasions espoused his love for the character. Well now he’ll have the chance to show us what he can do, as when asked about which X-Men she’d like to see in the future, Shuler Donner not only mentioned Tatum, but also confirmed that he has signed on to play the card-throwing mutant.

“Deadpool, Yes! X-Force is fascinating. We love X-Force, it allows us to be a little grittier. And also Gambit,” said Shuler Donner, when asked about the future plans for the franchise. “[Gambit] is Channing, yes. He’s a rogue. He’s a rascal, just like Remy LeBeau. And he can handle the action, we know that. And he has a good heart. He’s a Southerner too! He’s not from New Orleans but he’s a Southerner and he knows that world.”

Update: According to sources of THR, “Tatum will get a stand-alone spinoff, with his version of Gambit being introduced in X-Men: Apocalypse. The stand-alone film is still in development, however, and no director has been attached.”

As someone who dislikes Taylor Kitsch and likes Tatum, this sounds like a good piece of news to me. Seems you really are no one if you haven’t got a comic character under your belt.

But how do you feel about it? Let us know in the comments!

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Enemy, 2013.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Melanie Laurent and Sarah Gadon.

SYNOPSIS:

Whilst watching a film recommended by a work colleague, a man inexplicably sees himself in the movie. Discovering an actor who looks exactly like himself, he goes in search of the man, with unexpected results.

Doing the rounds in the past few months and due to hit our sceptered isle this week, this new project from Denis Villeneuve sees him once again utilising the talent of Jake Gyllenhaal. Previously they have co-opted on last years’ excellent thriller, Prisoners, and there was much hushed and expectant whispers about what Denis would come up with next.

And truly, he hasn’t disappointed us. Although perhaps timed a little inauspiciously for UK audiences, with The Double starring Jesse Eisenberg, now playing in cinemas locally, this mysterious and unsettling tale of double identity will grapple with you. At times completely incomprehensible and at others methodically plodding, the story of a man who sees himself in a movie he didn’t know anything about is indeed the head-scratcher that it has already been labelled by many.

Already, the internet is replete with studies on nuance and the minutae of detail that Villeneuve supplies, and the meaning behind this enigma may be argued over for some time to come. Some will suggest that this is simply the best kind of movie, one that will prompt vociferous debate, and I would add that any film that can instill a passion in its audience is doing a great job of telling its story, especially the ambiguous projects that force the audience to at least do some of the work themselves.

Adam discovers, apparently by accident (but this is another possible variable of many) that he as a double. This double is an unknown, jobbing actor who he sees as an extra in a film that has been recommended to him by a colleague whilst on a break from his history lecturing at school. Understandably curious about this apparent doppelganger, he seeks him out. This is probably the very worst thing he could possibly do, for reasons I will not be drawn into here, so as not to be accused of ‘spoilering’.

The film’s tone is all over the place, if we’re honest, but this is not accidental. Occasionally we are witness to great joy and beautiful moments of love, as well as a host of WTF! moments, some of which are addressed and tidied by the end, and frustratingly, some of which are not. In addition, there are times of depression, fear and terror all thrown into a heady mix that will make your brain squirm. And by the conclusion (which does little to solve your questions, yet manages to pose more as well as scare you to death) you have that very rare film that you want to see again, immediately, just to see if there were any clues that you missed.

Villeneuve has refused to be pressed on the continuing theme running through the film (you’ll know what I mean, when you have seen it) and actually placed an embargo on the cast discussing the allegory of the project, again, with the intention of letting the audience draw their own conclusions.

What all of this left-field imagery and unsettling dream sequence shenanigans are about,  I will let you decide. But when you have worked it out, please drop me a line and let me know. I have a theory, but…

Great performances by the whole cast and stunning direction make this an easy film to watch, coming in at around ninety minutes, it will also be over before you’ve really got settled. “Leave them wanting more”, is a suitable philosophy here, and Villeneuve has achieved this admirably. This will doubtless stay with you for a while after you have left the cinema, as it poses some interesting questions that it dares its viewer to answer.

Get to a screen and see it the minute you get the chance.

Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★

Steve Leadbetter

The post Movie Review – Enemy (2013) appeared first on Flickering Myth.

Following up on last years hugely successful “Strange New Worlds” photonovel, John Byrne once again sets sail aboard the Starship: Enterprise, this time with an ongoing, bi-monthly series that begins by going through the looking glass to tell the story of what happened after the classic “Mirror, Mirror” episode of the original series.

The crew discovers two strangers in their midst, and quickly learns that one has made a pact with one of James Kirk’s oldest foes. “The Mirror, Cracked” is the title, and the action unfolds in May! Check out a preview of Star Trek: New Visions #1: The Mirror, Cracked right here…

Star Trek: New Visions #1: The Mirror, Cracked is out on Wednesday, priced $7.99.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014.

Directed by Bryan Singer.
Starring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Lucas Till, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Daniel Cudmore, Evan Peters, Booboo Stewart, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Evan Jonigkeit, Josh Helman and Peter Dinklage.

SYNOPSIS:

The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.

Attempting to condense the events that occur throughout X-Men: Days of Future Past into a short, precise snippet is nothing less than a struggle. Returning director Bryan Singer throws all to the wall, and although not everything sticks, he succeeds in an unprecedented manner that by all accounts will please the fanboys and newcomers alike. In truth, Days of Future Past feels like an exercise – an incredibly successful one – in how to carve out a Universe with an understanding of the product, a concept Brett Ratner failed to comprehend. Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand now has no place in the pantheon of X-Men features – instead, it can now be viewed as a lucid dream, one we have only just awoken from.

In the dystopian future lies the X-Men we are most familiar with. Indestructable robots Sentinels have decimated all they have ever known forcing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to send back Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) into the mind of his younger self in order to stop the war before it has even started. Complex enough. Upon finding himself in his younger body, he must bring together the crew of X-Men: First Class in order to stop genocidal maniac Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).

It’s a shame Peter Dinklage, so impressive in Game of Thrones, is kept on a leash. There are glimmers of darkness but Singer uses him as a tool for exposition. Instead of playing for sympathy or out there psychopath, he stands awkwardly in the middle, never truly convincing.

Following the events of the previous film, McAvoy is now a powerless washed up alcoholic, Fassbender is in a cell 100 floors beneath the Pentagon, Lawrence is doing her thing and Nicholas Hoult finds himself playing Alfred. Mystique, a role so often used as eye candy, has the meat of the action. The plot relies entirely on her  and although her motives are slightly foggy to say the least, she grounds the film. In a similar manner to that of Rebecca Romijn, she does parade half naked for a large block of the film. 

In comes Quicksilver (Evan Peters). Maligned before he had even a chance to discuss the role, Peters stands out amongst the many disposable new mutants. Echoing the breathless appearance of Nightcrawler in X2, Quicksilver is found breaking Magneto out of the Pentagon. Headphones on, he flicks away bullets, nicks hats and ultimately is a nuisance to all those around him without breaking a sweat. And then he disappears from the film. His set-piece lingers throughout and the film never truly recovers from his abrupt dismissal. Good luck Joss Whedon – Evan Peters and the X-Men have the upper hand.

As with First Class, real life politics leaks into the plot. Richard Nixon plays a major role as does Vietnam. Lawrence (looking like she stepped off the set of American Hustle) bears the brunt of this, sewing together the horrors of Vietnam with Singer’s story. At times trying too hard to allude to real life politics, Singer abruptly halts this by shifting the RFK stadium onto the lawn of the White House. Innately silly but certainly quite the spectacle.

As a result of the 1970s portion of the feature being so strong, it is inevitable for the dystopian future to feel slightly off-key. Of course, mutants are disposable; Booboo Stewart as Warpath does little, while Omar Sy as Bishop stands about commanding before using a ludicrous weapon. Thankfully the action sequences, from the first breathtaking introduction to the genuinely perilous finale, sew both plots together.

What lacks is backstory. The prologue tells the audience where exactly we are but the new mutants are simply bodies for the plot to dispose of as and when it so chooses. Ian McKellen is shamefully underused and the charismatic and charming Peter Dinklage is given a character with little to no past.

To Singer’s defense, on the few occasions the film falters, he instills a witty one-liner. The gags are well timed and the humour is broad in its scope – no need for satire – and they succeed wholeheartedly. There’s a strange sense of glee watching James McAvoy f-ing and blinding his way through a superhero film.

As the film comes to a neat and fully satisfying conclusion, Singer throws in a few treats as to what the future will hold for both generations of the X-Men (as with all Marvel films, stay for the end of the credits). Very possibly the strongest, most compelling X-Men film to date, Days of Future Past rewrites history. No more will The Last Stand be canon. Brimming with confidence and a rightful ego, Singer brings harmony back to the X-Men. Now for the nightmare-ish wait for X-Men: Apocalypse.

Flickering Myth Rating - Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

Thomas Harris

The post Movie Review – X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) appeared first on Flickering Myth.

Thomas Roach examines why Batman vs. Superman could not have made its original release date…

One of the most anticipated films to come out over the next few years is Batman vs. Superman, the sequel to Zack Synder’s Man of Steel. As you may remember the film was due for release in July 2015, but after alleged delays with the script it would be pushed back almost an entire year and is now due for release in May 2016, making fans wait another two years. Why is this though? There is no reason that the film could not be finished in time for a 2015 slot, and that would mean not facing up against the release of Captain America 3.

So let us lay out what we allegedly know about the production for Batman vs. Superman. This is mere speculation and guesswork but it leads to a conclusion many expect – the back-to-back shooting with the Justice League movie, which has been announced but with no set release date of yet.

Batman vs. Superman started second unit photography in the last month and is due to commence principal photography with the all the cast members in Detroit this very week. As this is a big budget film with lots of actions sequences it is fair to say that it will be a solid sixth month shoot and likely wrap up principal photography by the end of November or early December in time for Christmas. It could take a lot less time, but we will give them a solid six month shoot.

As Christopher Nolan pointed out whilst talking about Man of Steel back in 2012 a great deal of work will be done in post-production; this includes adding effects such as CGI and the illusion of Superman’s flight. It’s also fair to assume that work on the CGI elements will take place alongside the shoot. If they have something fully shot then why waste time leaving it? Likely someone will be working on effects as soon as the shots are in the can.

Even if reshoots are required, which is likely on a big production like this, it would only take a month maximum as a big budget film would be far more organised than a low-budget indie flick. So let’s imagine reshoots take place in mid-January and finish mid-February. By this time a great deal will have been done is post production. From March the filmmakers have a solid four and a half months in order to complete post. Realistically with all the work that will have already been done putting things together, four months is plenty of time to complete the whole film.

With this factors in mind, the only conclusion is that Batman vs. Superman will be shooting back-to-back with Justice League. This also means that Justice League will likely have a 2017 release date so that the audience is only waiting a year rather than make them wait any longer. This is merely speculation but if Warner Bros. and DC want to catch up with Marvel they cannot make fans wait for long periods of time between their films. There are already rumours these two films would shoot back-to-back and by pointing out Batman vs. Superman has plenty of time to make its original release date, then shooting the two movies together would be logical and allow only a single year between release dates, rather than fans waiting two or even three years.

Do you think this is correct? Or was it simply impossible to make the film in time for its original release date? Let us know your thoughts…

Thomas Roach

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This year – as one show celebrates its 25th anniversary, and the other its 15th – Fox’s two big animated comedy titans The Simpsons and Family Guy are to cross over as the Griffins head to Springfield in September for ‘The Simpsons Guy’, and we’ve got the first images for you right here….

Peter (Seth MacFarlane) and the Griffins get out of dodge and end up in Springfield, where they are greeted by a friendly stranger named Homer Simpson (guest voice Dan Castellaneta), who welcomes his new “albino” friends with open arms. The families get along famously: Stewie (MacFarlane) becomes obsessed with Bart (guest voice Nancy Cartwright) and his old-fashioned pranks; Lisa (guest voice Yeardley Smith) takes Meg (Mila Kunis) under her wing and is determined to find something – anything – at which she excels; Marge (guest voice Julie Kavner) and Lois (Alex Borstein) ditch housework for a little bonding; and Peter and Homer fight over the best beer in town – Pawtucket vs Duff.

So, Peter vs. Homer… who wins that fight?

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Yesterday we got a few new images and a poster for Transformers: Age of Extinction [see here and here] and now we’ve got some exciting new footage from the upcoming Michael Bay-helmed sequel thanks to two promos for the rock band Imagine Dragons, who feature on the soundtrack to the film. Check them out right here courtesy of CBM…

Transformers: Age of Extinction is set for release on June 27th with a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg (Pain & Gain), Jack Reynor (What Richard Did), Stanley Tucci (Captain America: The First Avenger), Nicola Peltz (Bates Motel), Li Bingbing (Resident Evil: Retribution), Sophia Myles (Underworld), Victoria Summer (Saving Mr. Banks), Titus Welliver (Lost) and T.J. Miller (She’s Out of My League) alongside voice actors John Goodman (Inside Llewyn Davis), Ken Watanabe (Godzilla), John DiMaggio (Futurama), Mark Ryan (Transformers) and the returning Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Robert Foxworth and Reno Wilson.

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Please excuse me as my hands are shaking. Maybe I should go outside and vent quickly.

ARRRGGGHHHHH NEW BATMAN!!

OK I think that’s got it out for now.

Following on from yesterday’s partial reveal of Batman vs. Superman’s Batmobile by Zack Snyder, we were all waiting to see it in all its glory. We didn’t quite get that, but we’ve been given so much more. The first image of Ben Affleck in the new Batsuit.

Here it is….

Breathe. Settle down.

From first impressions this is by far the most faithful representation of Batman on film. The colours (presumably), the fins on the gauntlets, and how the cowl attaches to the suit. Even a belt with lots of pouches! It’s all there and reminds me a lot of Jim Lee’s iconic take on the character. Oh, I forgot to say that Affleck looks HUGE. Strong chin too.

If I was going to be picky (I’m a big fan, so of course I will be), I’d say the ears are my only concern so far. But then I see the awesome car, a hybrid of the Christopher Nolan and Tim Burton cars if ever there was one, and the massive bat symbol on his chest (the antithesis of Christian Bale’s suit), and I forget that.

Enjoy.

Batman vs. Superman is set for release on May 6th 2016 with Zack Snyder directing a cast that includes returning Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill (Superman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent) and Laurence Fishburne (Perry White) alongside Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman, Gal Gadot (Fast & Furious 6) as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jesse Eisenberg (Now You See Me) as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Alfred Pennyworth and Holly Hunter (The Piano), Callan Mulvey (300: Rise of an Empire), and Tao Okamoto (The Wolverine) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.

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Oliver Davis reviews the sixth episode of Game of Thrones Season Four….

The post Game of Thrones Season Four – Episode 6 Review appeared first on Flickering Myth.

A Russian assassin and American vigilante cross paths in the Friend From Foe storyline crafted by writer Nathan Edmondson, and artists Phil Noto and Mitch Gerads.

Circling the same sinister syndicate put the Punisher and Black Widow on a collision course with each other. A collision course that will lead them to an oil tanker full of dangerous explosives and even more dangerous information! Not to mention deadly mercenary Crossbones and his Skull Squad are just waiting for their chance to strike!

“Frank and Natasha are a really interesting pair to combine together,” stated Edmondson. “On the one hand, they seem to exist in the same kind of heroic/antiheroic space in the Marvel Universe, but at some point the similarities stop and the disparity begins, and the tug and pull between those two ends will be at play here.”  Black Widow #9 and The Punisher #9 arrive in August 2014.

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Coming hot on the heels of the first image of Ben Affleck as The Dark Knight in Batman vs. Superman is another piece of news that might be of (considerably less, but still some) interest to DC fans, with Warner Bros. announcing that the Justice League will be taking on their arch enemies the Legion of Doom a week from now with the home entertainment release of the family-friendly animated movie JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time on May 20th. As part of the announcement, we’ve also got an updated synopsis, along with the first clip ‘The Lex Plan’…

After crafting a monumentally over-the-top plan to take over the world by expanding the polar ice caps, mastermind Lex Luthor is missing and widely presumed dead. One thousand years later, Luthor is discovered and memorialized in the Legion of Super Heroes’ museum, where the teenage super hero, Karate Kid, accidentally releases him. The museum contains both the knowledge of Superman’s secret identity and a way to time travel, in the form of the mysterious Time Trapper. Once Lex Luthor is free, he quickly sets out on a mission to permanently erase Superman from the time stream.

For the Justice League – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg and Aquaman – along with Robin and teen super heroes Karate Kid and Dawnstar, the stakes have never been higher. Facing the deadliest rescue mission to date, the future lies in the hands of the Justice League as it struggles to confront its most critical challenge: the threat of having never existed!

Accompanying the DVD release will be two episodes of Super Friends – ‘The Mysterious Time Creatures’ and ‘Elevator to Nowhere’.

JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time is directed by Giancarlo Volpe (Green Lantern: The Animated Series) from a script by Michael Ryan (Scooby-Doo! Wrestlemania Mystery). The film features the voice talents of Diedrich Bader (Batman), Peter Jessop (Superman), Jason Spisak (Flash), Grey DeLisle Griffin (Wonder Woman), Dante Basco (Karate Kid), Laura Bailey (Dawnstar), Corey Burton (Time Trapper), Kevin Michael Richardson (Black Manta, Solomon Grundy), Fred Tatasciore (Lex Luthor), Travis Willingham (Gorilla Grodd), Avery Kidd Waddell (Cyborg), Liam O’Brien (Aquaman), Thomas Gibis (Toyman), Erica Luttrell (Cheetah), Michael Donovan (Bizarro) and Jack DeSena (Robin).

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Image courtesy of Gambling.com

The Hulk is one of the most popular and enduring comic book characters of all-time, maintaining a constant spotlight presence in Marvel’s stable for over five decades. In that time, the modern Jekyll-and-Hyde story has captured the imaginations and sympathy of generations of comic book fans time and again.

Thanks to 2012′s The Avengers, the Hulk character might be experiencing an all-time high level of popularity, comparable to the heyday of the live-action Incredible Hulk television show from the 70s and 80s. Mark Ruffalo’s well-received turn as Bruce Banner in the blockbuster film, combined with the success of the 2008 film Incredible Hulk and the anticipation for Avengers: Age of Ultron has a different kind of Hulkamania at a fevered pitch. Luckily for fans of the big green guy, there are all kinds of stories making the rounds concerning Marvel’s mauler.

First off, word broke a few weeks back that motion capture man par excellence Andy Serkis had been brought in to help Ruffalo prepare for the CGI aspects of playing the Hulk in Age of Ultron. Now Ruffalo has started giving fans a better look at the process, Instagramming a picture of the improved facial effects from the set. The mix of technological improvements combined with Serkis’s involvement looks to bring the most realistic Hulk yet to the screen.

Those advances could become even more relevant if the other major Hulk rumors coming out recently are true. Earlier this month Lou Ferrigno, the man that portrayed the Hulk in the television series, told a Minnesota radio station that another stand-alone Hulk movie was being planned thanks to the positive reception of the character in the first Avengers film. Ferrigno has voiced the Hulk in each of the last two movies featuring the character and will be doing the same for Age of Ultron, so it is not inconceivable that he would have this kind of insider knowledge.

It would not come as a surprise if that rumor turned out to be true. Incredible Hulk was a well-received movie by fans and critics alike, and was the second film produced by Marvel Studios on their own, coming out less than two months after the first Iron Man. Since that time, Tony Stark has gotten himself two sequel films, and Captain America has gotten both a first and second movie, while films about more obscure Marvel properties like Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy are in various stages of development.

It seems strange, on it’s face, that Marvel would focus on those kinds of characters instead of a pantheon property like the Hulk. Edward Norton’s departure from the series can almost certainly be seen as the major reason for that stall in development, as he starred in the 2008 film and was slated to appear as Bruce Banner in The Avengers before deciding to drop out of future Hulk films. Ruffalo, however, is signed to a six movie deal with Marvel and is thus far only confirmed for the two Avengers films. That leaves a number of possibilities for future Hulk appearances, and a stand-alone film or two could prove beneficial for the studio and the character.

Tracy Stewart

The post Hulk News Swirling appeared first on Flickering Myth.

Back in September it was announced that J.K. Rowling is busy scripting a Harry Potter spin-off for Warner Bros. based upon her 2001 book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which subsequent reports suggested would be the first chapter of a new trilogy of movies.

Well, we now know when the first Fantastic Beasts will arrive, with Exhibitor Relations revealing that the movie will arrive in North American cinemas on November 18th, 2016. No other movies are set for that date as of yet (and will probably avoid it like the plague, based upon the previous success of the Potter movies), although Disney does have its animated Jack and the Beanstalk tale Giants set for November 23rd.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will revolve around “magizoologist” Newt Scamander and takes place in New York some 70 years before the Potter films.

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An epic saga by the master of horror has just gotten bigger as Stephen King is collaborating with Marvel to publish the second volume of his Dark Tower series.   The writing talents of Peter David and Robin Furth along with the illustrating skills of Piotri Kowalski are being recruited to produce the graphic novel adaptation of The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three – The Prisoner.

Eddie Dean is an innocent child who grows into a troubled young man gifted with the ability to open doors to other worlds. Can he survive family tragedy, a haunting addiction, and the deadly forces that conspire to stop him from challenging the Man in Black? Eddie faces trials and tribulations at every turn – and the badlands of Mid-World can’t hold a candle to the dangers of Brooklyn in the 1960s! Witness the story of a young man on the path to an unlikely destiny and the most important journey of his life.

“To borrow some successful branding, this is the All-New Marvel NOW version of The Dark Tower,” stated editor Bill Rosemann.  “As we now travel from The Gunslinger to The Drawing of The Three, we are refocusing our spotlight to explore the histories and events that led to the formation of the Ka-Tet that aided the gunslinger Roland Deschain on his quest to defeat the Man in Black and the Crimson King.  But instead of encountering Eddie Dean later in his life, as you do in the novel, we zoom back to 1964 and meet him as a toddler, so while we are adapting the second novel, we’re weaving together events in a new way that will hopefully surprise and entertain everyone who has already read the book. We’re ‘assembling the Avengers’ of the Dark Tower universe, but Robin Furth, Peter David, and Piotr Kowalski are doing so in a way that you’ve never imagined.”

The Dark Tower: Drawing of the Three – The Prisoner arrives in September 2014.

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Trevor Hogg chats with showrunner Simon Barry and his leading lady Rachel Nichols about doing some time travelling in the streets of present day Vancouver and the future of television…

Simon Barry

“TV is more of a master to serve because you have this incredible schedule of production and post-production,” observes Simon Barry who wrote the feature screenplay for The Art of War (2000) starring Wesley Snipes (Blade), and is the creator and showrunner for Continuum [Showcase, 2012 to present].  “It’s close to the bone in regards to the time you have to make, get the show out and give it to the network.  TV has a higher pace but film can be just as gruelling in terms of the demands of filming and the problems that have to be solved.”  There is no two year wait to have an episode appear on the small screen.  “It is a quick turnaround which in some ways forces you into a work schedule that eliminates a lot of second guessing and questions that you would normally have the time to ask when you’re doing a movie.  It can make you more efficient in an interesting way.”  The two storytelling mediums are moving in different directions.  “Film has become more homogenized and risky; therefore, the choices have become things like franchises and sequels.  That’s driven the risk adverse into a place where they feel that they have a bit more protection.  Whereas in television that isn’t the case because you don’t have compete with The Avengers, Spider-Man, Superman, Batman and the Twilight movies as much.  TV is a much more open field for competitiveness.  Because of technology TV has become much more diversified in the way we watch and get our television.  In the old days channels needed to rack up 10 to 15 million viewers a night for a specific show.  Now because of the diversification of television you can target your audience for a specific show, get away with the low millions and still be considered a success.  That helps television writers to expand their subject matter and the style of storytelling; it has led us to this renaissance.”

“My partner in the production Pat Williams [Deep Evil] had a scheduled meeting at Showcase and Pat is director not a writer,” recalls Simon Barry.  “He was going in to meet with the network folks who were keen for him to bring them a project he was passionate about.  Pat called me before the meeting and mentioned he was doing this. Pat didn’t have anything to pitch himself.  ‘Did I have any projects of mine kicking around that I hadn’t sold?’  At the time I had developed Continuum to sell in the States which was where I was working exclusively at that point.  But I had not had the chance to pitch it down there because I had been hired on by CBS to write a pilot for them.  I mentioned this to Pat and he presented the idea in broad strokes to Showcase, the Canadian network; they were intrigued and asked to follow up with me for an expansive version of the pitch which I provided.  That’s the way the process began.”  A pilot episode was not produced for Continuum which revolves around Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) who is a detective from 2077 trapped in the present day.  “There is no pilot process in Canada because the numbers here don’t make sense to spend a lot of money shooting them.  They tend to develop a show longer and go straight to series.  I was aware and keen on that because I had written at that point 12 unproduced pilots in L.A. for cable and broadcast networks.  It is like a shooting gallery of opportunity there.  The networks in the States each develop 50 scripts and will shoot maybe 10 pilots.”

“Anytime you get into a situation where you have 22 or more episodes per season you’re going to end up writing well into the production phase,” observes Simon Barry.  “With a short 10 to 13 season I push my writers to try to get as many scripts as we can written before we start shooting episode one.  By the time we’re shooting episode one we already know what the last episode is.  We maybe haven’t written the final draft but we have certainly broken the story and have all of the scenes carded.  That allows you to plant seeds in the first episode that payoff in a better way at the end.  It allows you to look at the season as one cohesive chapter of storytelling as suppose to a running series of shows.”  The idea of dealing with a truncated season appeals to native of Augusta, Maine who has appeared in Alias (ABC, 2001 to 2006) and Criminal Minds (CBS, 2005 to present).  “I love doing 13 episodes,” remarks Rachel Nichols (Charlie Wilson’s War).  “I’m not saying that the storytelling in the other shows I did suffered but it allows the storytelling to have a breather in the downtime between when a season wraps and when a season starts.  The writers’ room gets a break. There’s more planning that can go into working on the following season.  For an actor like me it’s wonderful because I shoot from November to the second week in April.  I can go do movies and take some time off.  I can work on my own projects.  I can do pet projects with friends.” 

“We have this interesting transition point in television now where people are moving away from the weekly viewing towards a binge or season watching habit,” remarks Simon Barry.  “We still have a big obligation to service the weekly storytelling which is important but we have one eye towards the future and that involves much more contained binge watching habits.  What we are trying to do as writers is to satisfy both audiences which is not easy but there are always going to be a compromise from one end to the other in terms of those two audiences we’re trying to appease.”   The leading lady for the Continuum indulges in binge watching.  “I’m a big House of Cards [Netflix, 2013 to present] fan,” remarks Rachel Nichols.  “When the second season came out my soon to be husband and I binged on it one entire weekend.  It was amazing and so much fun.  Now we love doing it.  I didn’t watch Breaking Bad [AMC, 2008 to 2013] when the episodes were airing on TV.  I would watch the whole season at once because I got on the train a little bit late.  The whole idea of releasing a whole season at the same time has become a fan favourite because as soon as everybody binges on House of Cards season two they want season three right away.  It’s interesting to see how that drives the demand for another season.”

“As storytellers we love the idea that Alec [Erik Knudsen], Carlos [Victor Webster], and Kiera are the eyes of the audience,” states Simon Barry.  “Several characters can be identifiable in their own way to different members of our audience.  Our goal was to create a group of points of view.  From our point of view Kiera is the lead because she is driving a lot of the storytelling perspective.  That’s not to say Kiera is the emotional or political nexus of the show.  Her journey is one of discovery; it is one of change.  Therefore this grey area is not designed for Kiera but for the audience.  Kiera has entered a world that we’re more familiar with than she is.  That’s an advantage because now your main character is coming from a point of view that she’s open to new ideas, to a journey and exploration, and education.  The audience is set in their ways in how they see the world that their living in at that moment.  If the show can at all change the way people perceive things or force them to experience something through a different perspective then we’ve accomplished something small but important in terms of the themes of the show.  We’ve always looked at those grey areas as being something that you define not that we define.  We wanted to put everything out there in a way that felt more honest.  There’s no all good and all evil.  But there are always shades of grey and if you look around the world you’ll know that there is.”

“I can’t imagine anyone else,” admits Simon Barry when talking about his leading actress Rachel Nichols.  “At this point Rachel has been such a great collaborator; she is such a professional.  Rachel is talented and sets the tone of the film set the way you want.  She does her homework.  Rachel is invested in the stories.  It sounds cliché but she’s perfect.  Was she our first choice?  No, we had considered other people before Rachel.  But at the end of the day I’m glad that didn’t work out because it wouldn’t have been as good a decision.  Sometimes things happen the way they should and sometimes much better than the way you want.  The story of how Rachel became involved with Continuum is a great one.  She had gotten hold of a script and against even her agent’s suggestion she had gone out and auditioned on her own because she wanted to give it a shot.  That was an important decision on her part which allowed us to discover her in the process of looking for the lead.  Had it not been for her aggressive approach to the casting we might not have had that opportunity.  It worked out perfectly.”  Barry adds, “Pat and I had always loved the idea to counterpoint the science fiction element of the concept that we had to ground the show with people and a storytelling style that worked against the outrageousness of time travel.  We had to firmly place it in a world that felt real.  Rachel brought a sensitivity, strength, and raw sense that she belonged in this world.”

“I give a huge credit to Simon and to the writers’ room,” remarks Rachel Nichols.  “The first script that I read before I got the job I was about 10 pages in and I thought I had to play this role.  She’s completely awesome.  I get to do everything from time travel to kick ass to have that emotion to have a family.  For Continuum which is the biggest TV role besides from The Inside [Fox, 2005] that I’ve ever had and few people have ever seen that.  Playing and building a character like Kiera with the collaboration of Simon and the writers’ room it never gets boring or old.  The nice thing is I get to know her better, she gets to know me better and we’ve become even more one person as the seasons progressed.  Even if you’re doing 22 or 26 episodes you’re not going to get tired of playing a role if you’re portraying a person who is evolving constantly.”

“The showrunner job is the one that starts the process of the scripts and ideas,” explains Simon Barry.  “It goes all the way through to the delivery of the episode.  I’m the one set of eyes essentially making sure that all of the different parts of the machine are in synch.  I can’t do it all.  I’m managing a massive group of people who are much more talented than me at their specific duties.”  Rachel Nichols is impressed by the ability of Barry to orchestrate the series.  “The show is complex and I can always call Simon.  If I have question and need help or forget the rules of time travel or whatever the case may be I can always call them.  That’s the definition of a good showrunner.  It’s someone who makes themselves available not only to me but to every actor. Simon is always willing to change things.  Change the writing or add a story point.  Someone who is flexible but knows the story they have in mind and what they want.  Someone who is a team player makes a huge difference.  Simon being accessible allows for this atmosphere of creativity and the feeling that there are no stupid questions.  That’s the baseline for at least that’s how I feel when I’m on-set everyday.  You can ask Simon anything and he’ll give you the absolute straight answer. That kind of openness generates a great show, and a happy cast and crew.  You have to be transparent, available, and friendly.  Friendliness goes a long way.”

“I would want to sit down and talk with Kiera about time travel, what she misses the most, and what she likes the most from this time compared to that time,” reflects Rachel Nichols.  “I have this weird theory that time travel turns people into old souls. It’s the type of person you would like to sit down and have tea with and pick their brain.  I would want to talk about Sam and her husband and that fish out of water experience of going back in time 65 years that I’m playing everyday when I’m at work.  We would be very similar.  We’re driven, loyal, have a tendency to go rogue, make good friends, are good to our family, sometimes we speak when we shouldn’t, and bowing down to authority is not our strongest trait but there’s always the respect there.”  Portraying someone who is unfamiliar with the present day requires playing a mental mind trick on oneself.  “A lot of the times it’s a reverse psychology with me saying, ‘Here’s Kiera in the present day.  Think about this situation if it was you in the future.’  We try to find those little areas and nuances where her futureness can come out whether she doesn’t know what the Bat signal means or she can’t drive a car or she’s amazed by running water or she has never seen a horse before.  We find those moments and keep that thread going throughout the show.”

“I believe it’s the key relationship of the entire series,” notes Rachel Nichols when discussing the interaction between Kiera and Alec Sadler who is portrayed by Erik Knudsen (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).  “In season three we go through our ups and downs.  When Kiera arrives through various mechanisms of her future tech, the idea that this 17 year old kid is using a radio frequency that nobody knows about but she’s on it.  She comes to find out the Alec Sadler runs the world in 2077.  When Kiera arrives back 65 years Alec is the only person who knows where she’s from and what she’s doing and is on her level.  He’s her guide through season one and her best friend.  The relationship definitely goes through the ups and downs because the idea is that she always needs him but he doesn’t need her.  Alec wants to live his life because he doesn’t want to be that he turned into the future.  He’s friends with her so does that mean he’s going to be that man?  Thankfully, Erik is a fantastic actor.  As the seasons progress there’s more strain put on their relationship because there’s this struggle within him to try not to be the man of the future.  But for Kiera who is trying to get home Alec needs to be the man of the future.  Season three is a turning point in that relationship because after two seasons of wanting to go home Kiera realizes that she is trying to get back to her relative crappy future just for two people, her son and husband.  It’s very selfish if she has the opportunity to make the entire world better for humanity in the future.  Alec and Kiera are at odds for most of season three. I’m happy at the idea that they will be reunited as friends in season four.”

“Learning a fight scene is much like learning a dance,” notes Rachel Nichols who was a dancer while attending high school in Maine.  “You learn a couple of beats at a time whether you’re pirouetting or throwing a right hook or a left kick you learn pieces at a time and string those pieces together.  A big fight scene is like a big dance.  I’ve always loved the physical aspect of the role that I play.  I love doing fight scenes primarily because they look so awesome when they’re cut together.  I do as many of my own stunts as they will let me safety wise. I have great doubles for things that I can’t do like being thrown through a glass wall.  There is a certain element of my dance background that helps as far as the coordination goes.”  In regards to interacting with visual effects, Nichols remarks, “A lot of it is imagination based.  I haven’t had to act off of any real visual effects.  Even when my son was a hologram they brought in the actor Sean Michael Kyer [Girl in Progress] who plays Sam in episode five of season two so he was there for me.  If you have to do a scene opposite someone who is not there I do my prep work before thinking about that person in seeing, smelling, and touching them and knowing that they are there.  It takes a vivid imagination but to do this job it takes a vivid imagination.  If you believe what you’re doing is what you’re saying and seeing then you are absolutely doing, saying or seeing what you believe.”

“It’s a great opportunity with Sci-Fi to talk about themes that are relevant to today’s world without feeling like you’re preaching,” believes Simon Barry who has incorporated reveal events like the Occupy movement into episodes. “It’s nice with the genre that we’re in we get to speak to a lot of social commentary without being seen as preachy or political because there is that Sci-Fi element which makes it quite fun to play around with certain themes of today,” states Rachel Nichols.  “We do definitely involve a lot of the things like government versus corporation control. Even the idea that everybody in the future is on the grid which is something a lot of the future tech we use in the show is completely believable.  It might happen.  We get to speak to the detriment of that.  You see what 2077 is and none of us like it very much.  We get to look into the future and the past without anybody telling us that we’re being judgemental.”  The genre also presents some problems.  “With science fiction it adds another layer of complications sometimes because the shows tend to be more demanding of the audience’s attention and information,” observes Barry.  “We rely on the network to tell us when we’re pushing too hard in one direction or another in terms of complications.”

“We’ve worked with four different DPs [Directors of Photography] over the course of the show,” states Simon Barry.  “We’ve worked with many directors.  In the first season my producing partner and I had a style of shooting that we liked and we would impart that to them.  As soon as that season had been produced we could show other directors what we were looking for.  There was a much less verbal communication required because you could watch the show and say, ‘That’s the look and style of the show.’  People would either get that or they wouldn’t.  Certainly in the first season we definitely had to sit down and articulate what we were looking or in terms of the style and look of the show.  Pat and I are former camera guys.  We became friends both working as assistant cameramen about 20 years ago.  We were predisposed to visuals even then and so that was driving a lot of our decision-making about who was going to direct, who was going to shoot, and also in terms of the design of the show, who we wanted to work with.  It’s also about the temperament of the crew.  You want people who get the way you want to work not just what you want to shoot.  There’s a style of shooting and production that lends itself to a team.” 

“Now that we’re in season three we’ve got a lot of the same directors who come every season,” remarks Rachel Nichols.  “Jon Cassar directed the first two episodes of the show ever and he was on 24 [Fox, 2001 to 2010] for years.  John did every other episode of 24.  I would prefer that.  I’m a huge fan of Simon as a director; he’s a great director.  I’m a huge fan of Amanda Tapping [Arctic Air]; she has come in and directed a bunch of episodes.  I would like the continuity of having the same two directors for every season. We’re block shooting episodes and we shoot a couple at a time.  It would be helpful to do that but most TV shows don’t. Luckily I always have access to Simon.  It is hard for a new director to come in because they don’t know the show as well as the actors.  Now that we’re in the groove and we have all of our directors that we use every year its fine because they all know the show.  With a show like ours which is so specific and there are so many rules whether it’s time travel or how my future tech works or what I can do.   There are so many tiny pieces that someone who is not there everyday or every other day might not understand or recognize or pay tribute to in their episode. With a complex show the fewer the directors the better.”

“The hardest scene I’ve ever shot where I was in the zone on the day but wondered about it afterwards was episode five of season two where I essentially say goodbye to my son,” reveals Rachel Nichols.  “It was such an out of body experience because it was such a painful scene to shoot even though I don’t have my own child.  I didn’t know how I would feel and watched it.  It was excruciating to watch and I don’t need to ever watch it again but that scene turned out extremely well. Then there are other scenes like action sequences which you think, ‘Oh, I don’t know if they’re going to be able to cut that together?  Is it going to work?  I don’t know if I did everything right.’  In the season opener when I fought with Luvia Petersen [Battlestar Galactica: The Plan] there was a big time crunch to shoot that fight scene.  When there is time crunch to shoot a fight scene sometimes things get sacrificed or you’re missing certain beats or you have to edit the whole fight to make it a lot shorter.  I was pleasantly surprised when I watched it because that edit ended up being fantastic.  I try not to have too much expectation when it comes to specific scenes or episodes.  I don’t see episodes until they’re literally on TV.”  Simon Barry has harder time defining specific scenes that were a pleasant surprise to him.  “I watched the cut for episode 13 for season three and we have 36 hours of show now cut in the can; it’s way too much material for me to find one thing that encapsulates all of the moments.  In all of those episodes there is at least one or two that come out differently in way that it’s a happy accident or improved because of the hard work of the people who are making the show.”

“Kiera has been everything I wanted,” remarks Rachel Nichols.  “She’s stretched me.  She’s challenged me.  There’s never been a dull moment.  I love playing her.  Her future is going to be interesting.  I’ve always contended that there’s this rogue part of her which might go completely go off the grid or choose a different course.  In 2077 Kiera Cameron knew what was right, what was wrong, what was good, what was bad, black and white.  It was very cut and dry to her.  But then she comes to the present day and she’s suddenly realizing all that glitters is not gold.  She’s questioning, ‘Was she on the right side? Even though the tactics of Liber8 were immoral and violent maybe their end goal isn’t so bad given how the present day looks compared to the future.  Kiera has gone through this huge moral questioning.  She questions everything she thought was so true in the future even down to her husband and what exactly was he doing that day she was sent back in time accidently at the execution.  Kiera has never become complacent because I would avoid that.  The idea in season three that Kiera has come to the realization that she needs to stay here.  Kiera loves her husband and her son.  She has the opportunity to make the world a better place for everyone in the future.  That was surprising for me as well.  Simon has always told me if I want to know something about the next season I can ask him but I never want to know.  I like being surprised.  At the end of season three there is a definite turning point for her and that will lend itself well to a completely different Kiera in season four.  I can’t talk about any of that because Simon will kill me!”

“I lived in Vancouver from 1986 to 1995. Then I lived in L.A. from 1995 to 2008,” recalls Simon Barry who has relocated to the city where he attended university.  “Vancouver is a character for sure but we’re trying to make a show that could take place in any city anywhere in world.  We’re trying to make our mythology larger than the location.”  Rachel Nichols has settled in the place in which she works.   “I had never been to Vancouver before I started filming the show.  When I moved here on January 5, 2012, I had never seen the city before.  It does rain quite a bit here but on a day like today where it’s clear and gorgeous it is one of most beautiful cities in the world.  In Continuum we’re saying that Vancouver is Vancouver.  We’re not saying that Vancouver is New York or Toronto or San Francisco.  We do try to make it the everyday city.  Now in 2014, I live here full-time, I’m about to marry a Canadian and spend most of my life here.  I’m a huge fan of shooting in Vancouver.”  Producing a television series is much like embarking on a road trip.  “You can never predict all of the details that drive a story,” notes Barry.  “We have always been driving towards the same destination we’ve just taken a lot more side trips than we planned.”  As for how long he can envision Continuum continuing, the Leo Award winning showrunner for the series remarks, “I’ve always thought that seven to ten seasons would be a great opportunity to tell the full breadth of the story that I had in mind and the writers have added to in the years since then.  You don’t get to choose that in this business so hopefully we will get that chance.”

Continuum images courtesy of Showcase/Shaw Media.

Many thanks to Simon Barry and Rachel Nichols for taking the time to be interviewed.

To learn more visit the official website for Continuum as well Twitter  for Rachel Nichols and Simon Barry.

Episode 309:  “Minute of Silence” airs Sunday, May 25, 2014 @ 9 p.m.  ET/PT on Showcase.

Kiera and Carlos, reeling from a shocking loss, hunt down a ring of enigmatic high-tech thieves, even as a handsome, yet distant amnesiac begs for help in discovering his identity.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

The post Perspectives: Simon Barry and Rachel Nichols talk about Continuum appeared first on Flickering Myth.

Before we see her back on the screen as the Black Widow in next year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlett Johansson will be kicking some ass as the superpowered heroine of Luc Besson’s latest actioner Lucy, and a new international trailer has arrived online which we’ve got for you below…

Lucy is set in a world that is run by the mob, street gangs, drug addicts, and corrupt cops. Lucy (Scarlett Johansson), a woman living in Taipei, Taiwan, is forced to work as a drug mule for the mob. The drug implanted in her body inadvertently leaks into her system, changing her into a superhuman. She can absorb knowledge instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind, and can not feel pain and other discomforts.

Lucy is set for release on August 8th, with a cast that also includes Morgan Freeman (Now You See Me), Choi Min-sik (Oldboy), Amr Waked (Contagion), Analeigh Tipton (Crazy, Stupid, Love), and Pilou Asbæk (Borgen).

The post New international trailer for Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson appeared first on Flickering Myth.

Anghus Houvouras reviews the season one finale of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D…

I’m glad we’re not eulogizing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the conclusion of the first season.  It’s a wonderfully imperfect show that has had some interesting highs and baffling lows.  Yet, I still think that there’s a workable rhythm to this whole enterprise that the show occasionally finds and/or stumbles into.  The season finale caps off the first year with a lot of energy in a frantic conclusion that highlights everything right and wrong with the show.  I’ll say this for the producers of the series: they certainly aren’t afraid to double down on their concept of what they want this show to be.

After last week’s slog through Agent Ward’s origin story we’re dropped head first into the battle for the soul of S.H.I.E.L.D..  Agent Coulson and his ragtag group of remaining loyalists are taking the battle to Cybertek and the traitorous Agent Garrett.  After being injected with the alien formula that resurrected Coulson and Skye, Garrett goes a little loony talking about a kind of cosmic clarity and marvels as he develops super strength.  Bill Paxton is such a fantastic scenery chewing, mustache twirling villain that the whole thing kind of works.  Garrett is far more interesting as a would be world conquering madman.  Watching him pull a Mola Ram on an Army General was laugh out loud funny.  The kind of over the top ridiculousness that the show regularly engages in and it often hit or miss.  In Paxton’s hand, it felt like a hit.

The finale blends a lot of action and a lot of trademark Whedon moments, especially when Nick Fury shows up to help take down Garrett.  It’s always great seeing part of the larger Marvel Universe appear on the show.  Fury sweeps in with some special weapons in tow that help level the playing field.   The chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg really takes the episode to another level.  The final confrontation between Garrett, Fury, Coulson, and Deathlok contains the kind of manic energy and pithy one liners that really pop.

There’s a great sense of finality to the episode as it wraps up a whole lot of loose ends and even manages to plant some interesting seeds for season 2.  Garrett gets his comeuppance in a hilarious fashion.  Deathlok finally makes the right choice and begins his journey to atone for his sins.  Ward gets nailed by Agent May in a nice bout of pugilism.  Even Fitz and Simmons get some nice character moments as they try to survive being dumped in the middle of the ocean.

This was an extremely satisfying season finale chock full of inspired lunacy.  We leave the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in an exciting new place: Coulson now has to rebuild the agency he devoted his life to and finally gets a proper explanation from Fury about why he decided to bring him back.  This was a great season finale.  The kind of episode that will greatly reward fans of the show and infuriate the detractors who don’t like the show’s manic tone.

Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.

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