Sword Demon

Trilogy from the Sword 3....(Director - Kenji Misumi)....this is actually the story of Hanpei (performed by Raizo Ichikawa), a guy of ill birth who, after being a flower arranger for any mad daimyo, discovers the skill of iai (sword draw-attack) from the ronin he sees while picking flowers. Based also on the novel by Renzaburo Shibata. An incredible film by having an amazing final showdown...

Rankings: Final Hour of MasterChef Sets Series Levels

Jennifer MasterChef assigned its season just like a fine espresso with a little anisette that tops off meals: Its two-hour finale averaged 6.64 million audiences and a pair of.6 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds. Do you know the most adopted shows, teams and stars on TVGuide.com? The show's last hour Tuesday evening, if this named its Season 2 champion, attracted series levels both in viewership (7 million) and also the marketer-coveted demo (2.8), preliminary Nielsen figures demonstrated. But for the second evening consecutively, Fox worked out well with food fare as Hell's Kitchen won the Monday prime-time competition in the market-valued 18-to-49 group. Make your free Watchlist now! Tuesday night's greatest audience as always clustered to America's Got Talent, which averaged 10.06 million along with a 2.9 demo rating beginning at 9/8c. Against AGT in prime time's final hour, a Hawaii Five- rerun nabbed 5.84 million people versus. 3.63 million for Combat Hospital. Fall Preview: Get scoop in your favorite coming back shows On CBS, repeats of NCIS and NCIS: La drawn in 8.54 million audiences and 8 million, correspondingly, within the first couple of hrs of prime time, while a rerun of Wipeout along with a new Go ahead and take Money & Run attracted 5.45 million and three.63 million. At 8/7c, NBC's It's Worth What? had 4.07 million. Meet up with the most recent TVGuide.com news On cable, Monday night's Season 1 finale of teenybopper Wolf nabbed2.a million people, and MTV noted it wasn't any. one in it is time slot (10/9c)with teens and women aged 12 to 34. The update from the 1985 Michael J. Fox film already continues to be restored. Maria Ouspenskaya could be proud.

Dakota Fanning And Emma Thompson Team For 1850s Victorian Drama 'Effie'

EXCLUSIVE: Dakota Fanning will star within the title role of Effie, the Emma Thompson-scripted period biopic concerning the unfortunate marriage between Euphemia Grey and also the famous critic John Ruskin in 1850s London. Richard Laxton (An Englishman in New You are able to) is pointing. Although the teen was gorgeous, Effie's husband never consummated the wedding over 5 years because Ruskin was for whatever reason disgusted by her body. After having suffered via a loveless marriage and browbeating by her in-laws and regulations, Effie fell deeply in love with Ruskin's protg, painter John Everett Millais. Greg Smart will have Ruskin, and Tom Sturridge will have Millais. Thompson plays Lady Eastlake, who takes Effie under her wing if this was obvious the union was wrecking the youthful lady. Julie Walters and Derek Jacobi play Ruskins parents, and Edward Fox is within foretells play Lady Eastlake's husband, Mister Charles Eastlake. He was the primary patron from the Royal Academy, which held sway over what constituted art work. He had been frustrated with Ruskin and the radical ideas before that love triangular rocked the art community. Production will start March. 17 in Scotland, London and Venice. The flicks being created by Don Rosenfeld with Andreas Roald. They elevated the $tens of millions of budget through private equity finance. The foreplay about this movie survived as lengthy the wedding between Effie and Ruskin, but a minimum of here, Effie has got the satisfaction of the start date. On the way, Carey Mulligan and Saoirse Ronan had formerly been reported as circling the Effie role, however the movie's momentum was interrupted when Gregory Murphy required the producers to the court declaring copyright violation regarding his take part in the Countess, that also probed the Ruskin marriage. All of this calculates well for Fanning, who's now 17. Its Emma Thompsons first original script after doing several fine adaptations, also it reaches one's heart of Victorian England, stated Rosenfeld, the first kind mind of Merchant Ivory Productions. Rosenfeld and Roald will also be producers from the Terrence Malick-directed The Voyage of your time, that Thompson has signed onto be among the narrators. The script for Effie was always brilliant, but sometimes this stuff take some time. Rosenfeld stated. The timing permitted these phones enhance the funding without needing to pre-sell foreign or domestic areas. That wont come before film's premiere, that the filmmakers hope can come in the 2012 Venice Film Festival. Fanning, who just wrapped the ultimate two payments of Twilight Saga: Breaking Beginning, is repped by One Talent Management and also the Osbrink Agency.

Exclusive: Jacob Young Returns to The Bold and the Beautiful

Jacob Young If All My Children does indeed move on to the internet as planned, it'll happen without Jacob Young. The Emmy-winning actor has struck a deal to rejoin CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful as fashion-industry scion Rick Forrester, a role he played from 1997 to '99. And get this: Young will hit the air September 26 - the Monday right after AMC ends its run on ABC! TV Guide Magazine got the exclusive scoop from this in-demand star.TV Guide Magazine: Man, you don't waste time. Congrats!Young: Thanks! When I started talking to B&B I didn't think it would happen so fast. But I guess it's good that way. I was looking forward to wrapping up AMC and having a bit of a hiatus, maybe a month or two to travel with my family. As it turns out, I'll probably have my AMC and B&B schedules overlapping and be shooting both shows at the same time. I'm like, "You guys figure it out and point me in the right direction."TV Guide Magazine: Actors should have such problems!Young: I know, right? I'm just so grateful for this opportunity. I have great memories of B&B.TV Guide Magazine: You've been kicking big-time ass on AMC with JR's return to the bottle. I don't know why, but we love seeing your character suffer.Young: So do I! He's the kind of guy who builds himself up and then falls down again... and again. He's much more interesting when he's suffering. I'm real happy with how the character's going down.TV Guide Magazine: It would be so wrong to give him a happy ending when the show goes off the air. Young: They've got me working right to the end with some really heavy stuff. JR's trying to get sober but he's going to spiral right out of it and go off the deep end again. Too many things are stacked against him. He's trying to get his son back, he's losing the company, the house is foreclosing on him. You're right, a happy ending would be wrong. And it'll be good to have some cliffhangers just in case this thing can get picked up.TV Guide Magazine: Were you open to doing this internet version if the B&B offer hadn't come along?Young: I sat in on the meeting with Prospect Park and was listening, that's for sure. I applaud their ambition. I think [the move to the internet] has a chance but my biggest fear is all that time in between.TV Guide Magazine: It's a legit concern since it now appears the reboot won't be ready until January at the earliest. Millions of viewers failed to return to their soaps after all those preemptions for the O.J. Simpson trial.Young: It will take a lot of advertising to bring awareness that the show has moved to the internet and to keep interest going during that gap. Also, this idea of the show moving to a Hulu-type [platform] is confusing to a lot of people. I took a little poll of my mother-in-law's friends - all of them watch AMC - and almost none know what Hulu is or how that sort of thing works. But these Prospect Park people are very credentialed and they told us they'd been developing a Monday-to-Friday serial of their own when AMC and One Life to Live were cancelled. Their take was, "This is exactly the format we're looking for. It has a built-in audience. Why don't we buy the rights, buy the sets, lease the building and see how it goes?" Hey, it's the future. Even if they lose money on this, it's the pioneer effort that will pave the way for everybody else.TV Guide Magazine: First Debbi Morgan. Now you. How'd they take the news down at AMC that you're not continuing?Young: [Laughs] The other day [AMC creator] Agnes Nixon was doing an appearance on our show and [exec producer] Julie Carruthers said, "Agnes is looking for you. She wants to say hello. She says she also wants to give you a spanking!" But Agnes, in addition to being a genius, is a lovely lady. She understood. When I found her she was getting her makeup done. I said, "Agnes, how are you?" She said, "Well, I'd be a lot better if you [weren't leaving]. Nah, it's okay. I just had to put that dig in there! You've been so great on the show and we've been lucky to have you." I think everybody understands. To let opportunity pass by during this time of uncertainty is just kind of silly. I couldn't wait around. I spoke to some of my cast members and advised them all to get out there in the business and see what's crackin'. Anybody with common sense would do that. I've talked to a lot of the AMC production staff and they're saying that if these deals with Prospect Park aren't put in place by September so that the production and the writing can get back up and rolling, it's going to be very difficult logistically. That January launch date would be very optimistic, to say the least.TV Guide Magazine: There are still so many questions. What will people be paid? How restrictive will the contracts be? What about benefits and insurance? There's still a union deal to be struck.Young: It was weird. At our actors meeting with the union, our union rep said, "So tell me what you want us to be fighting for?" And I was, like, "What the hell do you think you should be fighting for? Isn't that what unions are created for? You're asking us?" I've been paying for a pension since I was 18 and I'm not going to let that go. I had to strike while the iron's hot.TV Guide Magazine: You went from B&B to General Hospital to AMC with barely a break in between. Did you ever think about not doing soaps for a while and see what's out there for you in primetime?Young: I've been auditioning a bit lately - I went in for Pan Am and stuff like that - but I'm finding I'm in that weird age range. I'm slightly too young to play these leading roles in primetime and too old for playing the young guy. I'm between a rock and a hard place. But I know this daytime medium really well and I love it. I love the over-the-topness of it. I love working every day. It brings me a lot of joy. Cady McLain [Dixie] and I were talking the other day and I said, "I'd stay in this medium as long as it will have me, until I can't work anymore." It's brought so much to my life and that's the bottom line. To have a steady job and to work as many years as I have is an amazing thing. The whole world's unpredictable now, not just show biz. My uncle just lost his job after 30-some years. Laid off. Done. It's going on everywhere. Do you ever think about that ultimate question: If I was to die tomorrow, would I be happy with what I've achieved? Well, I gotta say yes! Sure there have been ups and downs but I've had a lot of success in my life and a great deal of it has to do with the daytime soaps. I don't regret a moment of it. And since I became a father, my priorities have definitely changed. It's all about family and security now, and in an industry that's so topsy-turvy you grab what you can get.TV Guide Magazine: How did this B&B deal come to pass? Young: Brad Bell approached my management and asked if I'd be interested in returning because he wanted to see the character really come to fruition. He assured me that Rick will return with some very heavy involvement. It was always at the back of my mind that I'd love to return to this role. It was my first part on television and the fact that Rick's still around is almost too good to be true. To go back and make the role my own again is a real thrill for me. I'm eager to work with Katherine Kelly Lang [Rick's mother Brooke] again. We had such a great rapport when I was younger. When they suddenly aged Rick and gave me the part she was, like, "I'm too young to have a kid this old!" That was when I was 18 and now I'm almost 32. [Laughs] I can't wait to go back and bust her!Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Noise Within cleaning house

Known for its classical rep, A Noise Within is selling off costumes, headpieces and scenery, among other properties, on Saturday. Like any household gearing up for a move, Glendale classical rep A Noise Within is cleaning house with a massive garage sale Saturday.From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., such goodies as scenery, fabric, photography from the theater's performances, a throne, headpieces and costumes will be available for purchase. All proceeds will go to the theater's capital campaign to raise $13.5 million to fund its new Pasadena venue, into which it plans to move at the end of the month.After having spent 19 years at the current location, the garage sale is "a goodbye of sorts," said Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, A Noise Within's co-founder and co-artistic designer.A Noise Within has raised $12.9 million, and though Rodriguez-Elliott is not expecting to reach the $13.5 million goal at the garage sale, "all gifts at every level really do make a difference," she said. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

This Week in Movie History: 'The Omega Man' Takes on the World

Movie: 'The Omega Man' Release Date: August 1, 1971 How It Got Made: These days, it's usually Will Smith who gets called upon to save civilization. Forty years ago, it was Charlton Heston. When he wasn't busy rebelling against those damn dirty apes or discovering what corporations were really trying to feed us, he was fighting off infected albino vampire zombies in 'The Omega Man,' a cult classic released 40 years ago this week that holds a special place in the hearts of cheese-loving sci-fi fans, including Tim Burton and Smith himself (who remade it as 'I Am Legend'). Heston reportedly came up with the idea to film Richard Matheson's 1954 novel 'I Am Legend' after reading it on a plane, unaware that it had already been filmed in 1964, as an Italian-made movie called 'The Last Man on Earth,' starring Vincent Price. In the screenplay developed for Heston's version, the plague that has apparently wiped out all of humanity (save the inventor of an experimental vaccine who used the serum on himself) doesn't come from mosquito-borne bacteria but from biochemical warfare between China and the Soviet Union. As in Matheson's novel and the previous film, Heston's last uninfected man finds that he's not alone; soon he's defending himself every night against nocturnal, plague-infested mutants who see him as the infection. A new twist comes in the form of another group of feral humans, young and still unzombiefied, that Heston's Robert Neville discovers. They're infected but not yet turned. They rescue him when he is captured by the mutants and is condemned to death by their neo-Luddite leader, Matthias (Anthony Zerbe). Neville struggles to recreate his vaccine in order to save the survivors, and he even falls in love with their leader, Lisa (Rosalind Cash). With a new vaccine made from his own antibodies, Neville is ready, like Christ, to redeem humanity with his own blood sacrifice, but a final war remains to be fought between the zombies and the survivors. 'The Omega Man' - Trailer The movie addressed many issues of the day, in pop form. There was the Cold War dread of a global conflict that would wipe out civilization, homegrown fears of urban crime by roving nocturnal gangs, echoes of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements (the survivors, led by Cash's Lisa, are a largely African-American group), worries that science and technology were progressing faster than human moral development (a standard sci-fi trope, but here voiced by the villainous mutants, who blame chemists like Neville for their predicament), and even apprehension over a counterculture turned violent (the mutants call themselves 'The Family,' with the nihilistic demagogue Matthias evoking Charles Manson). Directing the movie was TV veteran Boris Sagal. To serve as a set for his desolate postapocalyptic urban landscape, Sagal's location scouts discovered they needed look no further than downtown Los Angeles, whose shopping district was all but abandoned on weekends. How It Was Received: The film received mixed reviews. It cemented Heston's fondness, however, for these sort of last-sane-man-on-Earth roles. He'd succeeded not long before, with 'Planet of the Apes' (1968). Two years after 'The Omega Man,' he'd go back to the well again for 'Soylent Green.' One thing not much remarked upon: the interracial romance between Heston and Cash's characters. Such couples were uncommon on screen in 1971; indeed, they still are today. Excerpt from 'The Omega Man' Long-Term Impact: The film boosted (or at least did no harm to) Heston's career, which remained fruitful for another three decades. Zerbe, too, remained a busy character actor, most famously in another postapocalyptic sci-fi saga, as a councilor of Zion in the 'Matrix' trilogy. Cash, for whom 'Omega Man' was only her second film, went on to play feisty women in a slew of TV guest parts. 'Omega Man' launched two careers of actors who made their film debuts as youngsters in the movie. Brian Tochi went on to do character parts, most famously in 'Revenge of the Nerds,' and as a voiceover actor, best known for the role of Leonardo in the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' movies. Eric Laneuville, who played Lisa's little brother Richie (the first guinea pig for the new vaccine), went on to be a series regular on 'St. Elsewhere' and became a prolific TV director. Sagal went back to directing television, which he did for another decade, before dying in a 'Twilight Zone'-type helicopter accident on a set. These days, he's better known for being the father of 'Married... With Children' and 'Futurama' star Katey Sagal. 'The Omega Man' made an impact in other ways, too. Sagal's eerily empty cityscape vistas proved influential on other filmmakers; similar scenes appeared in nightmare sequences in Taylor Hackford's 'Devil's Advocate' and Cameron Crowe's 'Vanilla Sky.' Other films used similar zombie/infection/end-of-the-world plots, notably 2002's '28 Days Later,' in which the deserted city is London. Tim Burton cites 'Omega Man' as one of his favorite films, one he'll stop and watch whenever it comes on TV. He says he especially likes how Heston drops a mordant quip every time he gets violent (a habit since adopted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, and countless other action heroes). Burton got to repay the favor when he remade 'Planet of the Apes' in 2001 and cast Heston in a cameo, where he got to repeat one of his famous lines in a new context. In 1994, Warner Bros. began planning a remake. It went through 13 years of turnaround, involving numerous script rewrites, directors (including Ridley Scott and Guillermo del Toro) and stars (Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas, Mel Gibson, Schwarzenegger, Nicolas Cage), before finally ending up with director Francis Lawrence and star Smith. Their 'I Am Legend,' shot on location in New York, was released in 2007 and became one of the year's biggest hits. How It Plays Today: The technology and Nixon-era paranoia, along with Sagal's '70s-TV-cop-show-style direction, date 'The Omega Man' in an amusing but not fatal way. Heston's old-school charisma and an evergreen premise overcome the cheese factor to keep 'Omega Man' scary and relevant. Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

Keck's Exclusives! First Look: Nanny Reunion on Happily Divorced

Charles Shaughnessy and Fran Drescher Mr. Sheffield's back... only now he's Mr. Sherwood. Twelve years after The Nanny went off the air, series stars Fran Drescher and Charles Shaughnessy are reuniting on Fran's new TV Land sitcom, Happily Divorced. But don't expect romance this time around, as Charles' character has a wandering eye aimed at Fran's gay ex-husband, Peter. Charles gives us a preview of Happily's hilarious August 17 season finale. TV Guide Magazine: Hey Charles! Who's this new guy you're playing?Charles Shaughnessy: Fran and Peter are trying to get back into the dating scene, so I'm one of those dates. I play Gregory Sherwood, an internationally famous gardener who writes books and travels the world on book tours. He meets Fran at a book signing. We go out on a date and then back at the flower shop I meet Peter, and it turns out Gregory is a lot more friendly all around. TV Guide Magazine: The name Sherwood sounds pretty similar to Sheffield. Not a coincidence, I assume. Shaughnessy: There are a lot of rather fun nods to The Nanny.In fact in rehearsals, Fran was saying (mimicing Drescher's nasal voice), "Oh, Mr. Sherrrwood." The first time our characters meet I ask her who I should make out my autograph to and she says, "Fran," and I say, "Fine," so it comes out as Fran Fine. This show sort of reminds me of The Nanny. It's charming and funny. TV Guide Magazine: Did Fran reach out to you directly about coming on the show?Shaughnessy: Yeah, I think she did. Frannie is one of the most loyal people in the business. When I called to congratulate her on the pick-up, she said I would have to come on and do a show. I said I'd love to. I'd also been on her sitcom, Living with Fran, and an episode of her talk show. It's nice to reconnect on Happily Divorced - just this once though. I would guess it would be a mistake to have me recurring. It's great as it is. TV Guide Magazine: The Nanny ended in 1999, the same year that Fran's real-life marriage ended to Peter Jacobson, who co-created Happily Divorced with her. The series is based on Peter's coming out of the closet. Were you privy to their whole behind-the-scenes soap opera?Shaughnessy: There was clearly tension between them, but you have to realize they were wearing so many different hats - producers, writers, actress, director, and at some point, it's going to be hard. We thought the tension was connected to the emotional turmoil of the show coming to an end, so it was a surprise that there was this other issue going on. TV Guide Magazine: You were surprised that Peter was gay?Shaughnessy: Yeah. There were certain indications, but I certainly wasn't going to go up to Fran and say, "I think your husband's gay." (laughs). Sexuality in show business is often difficult to decipher. My gaydar is pretty good, but there is a kind of theatricality that could often be mistaken for being gay. But it's not always so. A lot of people think that I could be gay. I do a lot of musical comedy and have a developed feminine side. There's something in the air... TV Guide Magazine: Would you like to make an announcement to TV Guide Magazine?Shaughnessy: (laughs) No, I'm very clear as to who I am. I'm not very good at that whole American male back slapping, "How 'bout them knockers?" banter, but I enjoy women enormously. I feel very comfortable that I am definitely heterosexual, but I also feel very comfortable singing Oklahoma. Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

TCA bloggers up the celebrity factor

In the age of Twitter and blogging, the mission and challenges of TCA are constantly evolving The lineup of journalists attending the biannual Television Critics Assn. press tour has changed radically over the past few years, leaving networks and veteran reporters wondering if the coverage is becoming less about the industry and more about the brand of handbags celebrities are toting to the event."For my first TCA tour, it was an older crowd made up of almost all older white males, and almost all of them from newspapers," says Minneapolis Star Tribune TV critic Neal Justin, who has attended TCA for the past 15 years."Today, there's not as many newspapers, and a lot of those gentlemen are gone," Justin says. "Their ranks have been filled with women and younger people, and a lot of them have a different agenda. It's not about asking questions but tweeting about who they saw and what party they attended. The tenor of the event has changed."Whether that's for the good or bad remains in the eye of the beholder. The press tour itself, held in Los Angeles in January and midsummer, has been scaled back in recent years. This current incarnation clocks in at 14 days, down a few notches from the tour's heyday. Networks have consolidated presentations with sister cable stations. Parties are less lavish. A-listers are not quite as omnipresent. But that's small potatoes compared to the way media members cover the tour's countless press conferences and parties. Not long ago, reporters took material from the summer sessions and stored it for a flood of fall pieces timed to the start of the TV season. That's still done, of course, but first it must take an immediate backseat to breaking-news blogging and tweeting."Before bloggers took control, I don't think your average reader had any sense of what the TCA was," says Joe Adalian, West Coast editor for New York magazine's Vulture.com, and former Variety staffer. "In some ways, the TCA tour is now, as an actual event, more in line with Comic-Con, with people blogging about everything 24/7."But it's what TCA reporters are blogging about that leaves some network execs with mixed feelings. "It has become more of a micro-blogging event with real-time coverage on the controversial issues that will generate Web traffic and less about covering the broader programming palette at each network," says Chris Ender, CBS' senior VP of communications. That drive for Internet hits has undeniably changed the line of questioning, TCA vets say. However, it's not like inane questions weren't ever proffered at the press conferences and the 10-minute scrums that follow. "There are just as many stupid questions as there were before," says TCA president Susan Young. "And you know what? Sometimes the most outrageous questions can elicit a fantastic answer."But while coverage has shifted from profiles and state-of-the-network pieces to celebrity spotting, critics such as Justin maintain that the core purpose of the TCA tour -- providing access to beat reporters outside of media hubs New York and Los Angeles -- remains unchanged. "If anything, with all those laptops out during the press conferences, it probably means people are paying more attention," Justin says. "Everything changes. You've got to adapt and embrace it."TCA Award nominations'Boardwalk,' 'Lights' battle for program of the yearINDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA Steve Buscemi ("Boardwalk Empire," HBO)Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones," HBO)Jon Hamm ("Mad Men," AMC)Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife," CBS) Margo Martindale ("Justified," FX)Timothy Olyphant ("Justified," FX)INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDYTy Burrell ("Modern Family," ABC)Louis C.K. ("Louie," FX)Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation," NBC)Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation," NBC)Danny Pudi ("Community," NBC)Jon Stewart ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS AND INFORMATION"If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise" (HBO)"Restrepo" (National Geographic Channel)"60 Minutes" (CBS)"The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC)"30 for 30" (ESPN)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN REALITY PROGRAMMING"The Amazing Race" (CBS)"Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" (Travel Channel)"Survivor" (CBS)"The Voice" (NBC)"Top Chef: All Stars" (Bravo)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN YOUTH PROGRAMMING"A Children's Garden of Poetry" (HBO)"iCarly" (Nickelodeon)"Nick News With Linda Ellerbee" (Nickelodeon)"R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour" (The Hub)"Sesame Street" (PBS)"Yo Gabba Gabba" (Nick Jr.) OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM"Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)"Game of Thrones" (HBO) "Terriers" (FX)"The Killing" (AMC)"Walking Dead" (AMC)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINISERIES AND SPECIALS"Cineme Verite" (HBO)"Downton Abbey: Masterpiece" (PBS)"Mildred Pierce" (HBO)"Sherlock: Masterpiece" (PBS) "Too Big to Fail" (HBO)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA"Friday Night Lights" (DirecTV/NBC)"Game of Thrones" (HBO)"Justified" (FX) "Mad Men" (AMC) "The Good Wife" (CBS)OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY"Community" (NBC)"Louie" (FX)"Modern Family" (ABC) "Parks and Recreation" (NBC)"Raising Hope" (Fox)CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDSteven BochcoDick EbersolCloris LeachmanDavid LettermanWilliam ShatnerOprah WinfreyHERITAGE AWARD"All in the Family" "Freaks and Geeks""The Dick Van Dyke Show""Twin Peaks"PROGRAM OF THE YEAR"Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)"Friday Night Lights" (DirecTV/NBC)"Game of Thrones" (HBO)"Justified" (FX)"Parks and Recreation" (NBC) Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Travel Channel Orders 'The Dead Files'

The Travel Channel is readying a paranormal journey for its viewers.our editor recommendsTravel Channel acquires beer-themed series The network has ordered an eight episode first season of The Dead Files, an investigative one-hour series that pairsSteve DiSchiavi, a retired Homicide Detective with the New York City Police Department with more than 21 years of active servicewith psychic communicator Amy Allan who has an established sixth senseand an affinity for channeling the dead. The partners explore each case on their own and then link up at the end to compare notes. The series, which will premiere Sept 23, will be paired with the fifth season of Ghost Adventures."Our Friday night series takes viewers beyond the haunted destinations -- They provide a different type of escape, providing a taste of the other side and a new perspective on their own surroundings," said the channel's SVP of programming and development Fred Graver. Dead Files hails from Painless Productions withJim Casey serving as executive producer and John C.Fitzgeraldand Ross Kaiman on board as co-executive producers. David E. Gerber is billed as an executive producer for the Travel Channel. Related Topics

Natasha Lyonne joins 'Imogene'

Natasha Lyonne and June Diane Raphael have became a member of the cast of Anonymous Content's Kristen Wiig-starrer "Imogene."The "Bridesmaids" thesp stars like a playwright who stages a fake suicide make an effort to regain her ex-boyfriend (Darren Criss, "Glee"), simply to finish up having in to the custody of the children of her gambling-addict mother (Annette Bening).Lyonne will have Allyson, a Jersey Shoreline girl who creates the boardwalk and it is the love interest of Christopher Fitzgerald's character.Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini ("American Splendor") are pointing from the script by Michelle Morgan, who'll professional produce with Wiig and Anonymous Content's Steve Golin. Alix Madigan of Anonymous Content will produce with Maven Pictures principals Celine Rattray and Trudie Straightener, who're starting their New You are able to-based shingle using the project.Lyonne, who lately became a member of the cast of Abel Ferrara's "The Final Day on the planet," will quickly be observed in Universal's "American Reunion."Additionally to co-writing Fox 2000's wedding comedy "Bride Wars," Raphael has made an appearance in "Year One" and "Going the length.Inch Thesp will next be observed in the Adult Go swimming comedy "NTSF: SD Vehicle."Lyonne is repped by APA and three Arts Entertainment, while UTA, The Collective and attorney Jodi Peikoff repetition Raphael. Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com

Rise from the Planet from the Apes: Film Review

Some old concoction is offered up inside a reasonably spiffy new bottle in Rise from the Planet from the Apes. Resurrecting a lucrative franchise for an additional go-round 43 years after Charlton Heston first found themself about the short finish from the transformative pyramid, Fox has sensibly steered obvious of trying another remake from the original, that was bungled badly by Tim Burton ten years back, settling rather on the contemporary scientific yarn that works as a plausible prequel to the rest of the films. Strong action, effects and undoubtedly probably the most credible ape "performances" yet seen will spell box office to inspire chest-thumping in most marketplaces. Taking advantage of effects discoveries developed on Avatar and also on the extensive ape performance background of Andy "King Kong" Serkis, Rise shuts the doorway about the makeup-and-hairpiece monkeyshines from the original Apes sequels for good. The prosperity of the brand new film pivots on viewer belief the genetically advanced primates here possess emotional and cranial capabilities much like individuals of humans so completely is accomplished that audiences is going to be entertaining of these sensitive animals because they take revenge on the tormentors by starting an abnormally ambitious animal-liberation movement. Obviously, it will help tip the total amount once the humans displayed are as completely dull and/or venal because they are here. The guy who makes everything possible is genetic researcher Will Rodman (James Franco), who after a lot more than 5 years of research encounters a breakthrough having a gene therapy drug known as AOZ-112. This cocktail not just pushes one youthful chimp to incredible new thresholds of inteligence and ability, additionally, it has got the side-effect of curing the dementia of Will's out-of-it father (John Lithgow). From the purpose of look at Will's greedy boss (David Oyelowo), this can be a potential found diamond. But Dad's Alzheimer's disease regresses. And so the chimp, named Caesar, develops right into a rough, edgy, malcontented adolescent, quite strong and difficult to manage a lot more than every other chimp ever, that one truly includes a mind of their own. Eventually, Caesar must leave the house for any simian detention facility staffed by a lot of sadists brought by Draco Malfoy themself (or at best the actor who performed him within the Harry Potter films, Tom Felton). Things get nasty enough to spark a prison riot, which soon becomes an outright rebellion apparently became a member of through the entire ape population from the Bay Area San Francisco Bay Area. The storyline arc hammered out by authors Ron Jaffa and Amanda Silver is solid, and director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) propels it in an speeding up but unmanic pace, resulting in an action climax on, above and underneath the Golden Gate Bridge that proves perfectly satisfying. Not surprisingly, the ultimate shot duly foreshadows a follow up, that could be substantially hairier than this primary installment falls flat is by using a persons element. Will is really a researcher and the sweetheart Caroline (Freida Pinto) is really a vet, so why wouldn't you make sure they are smart, opinionated, somewhat eccentric people with interesting assumes the remarkable occasions their work triggers? Allow them to argue, debate and become inspired and/or appalled because of it all, instead of just ride on the looks. Franco has some nice moments with Lithgow, themself all right, but otherwise is mainly in fierce register because he suggests with adversaries both at the office and also at the detention center. Pinto looks more beautiful than ever before but is playing probably the most boringly decorous tag-along girlfriend seen onscreen in a long time. Another questionable element may be the extent from the apes' conversational capabilities. When Caesar finally utters his first word, it's undeniably a large moment. But the very best simian interchanges are physical instead of verbal, so it will likely be a troublesome tightrope just to walk - when the series continues, so it likely will - to maneuver the apes into full speech inside a credible way. Serkis spends Caesar having a full way of measuring personality with the indelibly human try looking in his eyes. The ape cast is rounded out not just by chimps but with a memorable gorilla and orangutan, each of them fine supporting gamers. The effects are most convincing and including, particularly because the apes undertake Bay Area and over the bridge within their make an effort to dominate George Lucas territory up north. Opens: August 5 (Fox) Production: Chernin Entertainment Cast: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, John Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Andy Serkis, Tyler Labine, Jamie Harris, David Hewlitt Director: Rupert Wyatt Screenwriters: Ron Jaffa, Amanda Silver Producers: Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Ron Jaffa, Amanda Silver Executive producer: Thomas M. Hammel Director of photography: Andrew Lesnie Production designer: Claude Pare Costume Designer: Renee April Editors: Conrad Aficionado, Mark Goldblatt Music: Patrick Doyle Senior effects supervisor: Joe Letteri Visual effects supervisor: Serta Lemmon PG-13 rating, 104 minutes Freida Pinto James Franco Rise from the Planet from the Apes