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Joke (maybe): Is there a ménage à trois in True Blood's future? From EOnline:Is Gossip Girl Paving the Way for TV Threesomes?
[Read entire article...]
In fact, we can think of another ménage à trois we'd love to see on our TV sets...
Bill, Eric and Sookie from True Blood, duh!
We've already seen Anna Paquin go at it with both Stephen Moyer and Alexander Skarsgård on the vamp show—although the latter was in a dream sequence, it still counts!
And we so wouldn't be surprised if Sheriff Eric sinked his fangs into both teams. Plus, with HBO, anything goes, and a heavily censored prime-time three-way on Gossip Girl could only pale in comparison to the possibilities on cable.
Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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From iNewsline:
October 7, 2009 --- Online costume store and world leader in Halloween costumes and costume accessories, Costume Cauldron www.costumecauldron.com has introduced a spectacular range of Halloween costumes and Halloween costume accessories for Halloween 2009 which is just round the corner. The new arrivals include a complete line of Vampire costumes and an equally impressive assortment of matching Halloween costume accessories designed to match perfectly with the costumes as well as to capture the unmistakably horrifying Vampire look.
Adult Vampire Costumes for the Countess
Inspired by the gory gothic tales of blood sucking Vampires who always pursued their preys mercilessly, design teams at Costume Cauldron have authenticated the Gothic era look in their Halloween Vampire costumes collection. The curtain raiser costume, fresh from the design studios and production, is the Adult Last Kiss ensemble which comes in three sizes—Large, medium and small. The Last Kiss Vampiress style costume is a shiny black and red halter-top mini dress with an attached stand up collar. “Order our Bat pendant which is matched perfectly with this costume range and the look is truly authentic and complete,” quips Heather Gibbs, a senior customer representative at Costume Cauldron who says she will try becoming a Vampiress on Halloween night only if persuaded hard by others. The company offers over a dozen adult Vampiress costumes for ladies to choose from in a wide variety of styles and sizes.
Adult Vampire Costumes for Count Dracula
For those latter-day counts planning to dress up as Count Dracula himself, the company presents the Count Men’s collection, which is available at the online store in three sizes, medium, large, and XL . The outfit features a black shirt with an attached red skull and crossbones vest and a short bat wing cape with an attached black jabot.
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Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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True Blood's visual effects guy: Colin Feist - from California Chronicle:Fresno's Colin Feist was behind hundreds of cars crashed on Los Angeles' 110 Freeway. His fingerprints also are all over several downed buildings, multiple deaths and raging fires.
It's his job. Feist creates the carnage as a compositing supervisor for Zoic Studios, a company that does special effects for TV shows. He was in charge of visual effects for the spectacular opening episode of ABC's "FlashForward."
"Compositing is at the end of the line after all of the elements in a scene have been generated," Feist says. "We put all the pieces together."
The "FlashForward" scene used a variety of elements. Series star Joseph Fiennes was filmed on an overpass filled with overturned cars. Everything past the railing was a special effect.
A matte painting created the illusion of an interstate filled with wrecked vehicles; actors were photographed in a studio and then their pictures were placed in the distance to make it look as if they were wandering the road. Computer images made intact buildings appear to be on fire.
Feist spent two months pulling the pieces together to create the 20-second scene. Blending special effects isn't easy. There have been times when Feist has had to figure out how to make shadows go in the same direction when they are at different angles in various parts of a scene. It takes a blend of computer skills and an artist's eye.
"What I like about this job is that I get to combine the technical with the creative," Feist says.
The 1998 Bullard graduate has been a computer geek since his grandfather gave him his first computer when he was 5. After two years at Fresno City College, he transferred to the Art Institute of California, Los Angeles.
Feist also works on the HBO series "True Blood" doing what he calls "invisible visual effects."
He's the guy behind everything from blood tears to wound enhancements. Feist gets to see TV shows months before they air, but he's under strict rules not to talk about what he's seen or any on-screen mayhem he's created.
Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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Carrie Preston's forgotten Memphis movie - from The Blood Shot Eye:By John Beifuss on October 8, 2009
Original and, yes, surprising and -- yes again -- lovely to look at, "Lovely by Surprise" is the forgotten Memphis movie -- the one that got away, even though it was shot in early 2006, when interest in local moviemaking remained at an unprecedented high, thanks to the Sundance Film Festival victories of Ira Sachs' "Forty Shades of Blue" and Craig Brewer's "Hustle & Flow."
A sort of deranged comedy about a troubled author (Carrie Preston, now a regular on HBO's "True Blood") whose fictional characters seem to break into the "real" world, where they interact with a grieving used-car salesman (a truly Oscar-worthy Reg Rogers) and a smarmy college professor (veteran character actor Austin Pendleton), themovie was written and directed by Memphis-born Kirt Gunn, and shot on location in Memphis and Arkansas.
"Lovely by Surprise" won a special jury prize at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival, where it made its world premiere, and played later that year at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Yet its screenings at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 15), on the closing night of the 12th annual Indie Memphis Film Festival, represent the movie's public debut in the hometown of its creator.
"It's sort of a strange story," said Gunn, 42, who will be at the Malco Studio on the Square for both screenings, to introduce and answer questions about his film."
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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From MSN UK:
Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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Oct 08, 2009
Creator and producer, Alan Ball based “ True Blood” the American television drama series on the southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels wrote by Charlaine Harris. Your Face Goes Here Entertainment - Ball’s production company - produced the show in association with HBO in the united states.
Following on from True Blood being premiered on September 7, 2008, HBO Home Entertainment has announced “True Blood: The Complete First Season” will be released on October 26 in the UK on Blu-ray.
Technical specs will be the same as the US, and include Audio Commentary with Anna Pagan, Scott Winant (director), Brian Buckner (writer), Michael Lehmann (Director), Stephen Moyer, Dan Minahan (Director), Marcos Siega (Director) and Nancy Oliver (writer).
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Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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By RANDY CORDOVA • The Arizona Republic
There is a proliferation of bloodsuckers around these days, and we don't mean mortgage brokers.
Instead, it's the genuine article: pasty-faced vampires who take dirt naps during daytime.
Leading the bat pack is Stephenie Meyer's wildly popular “Twilight” series, which feels like Judy Blume crossed with Bram Stoker. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” reaches the big screen Nov. 20, as most teen girls can tell you.
There's also the erotic “True Blood,” which, in its second season, has emerged as HBO's highest-rated show. The program averages 11 million viewers per episode when you factor in DVR and on-demand broadcasts. Those are bloody good numbers for the premium cable channel.
But that's just the tip of the vampire iceberg. Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro turned author for this year's blood feast “The Strain,” which hit the best-seller list. The Swedish flick “Let the Right One In” was an art-house hit last year. And coming this fall to the CW network is “The Vampire Diaries,” an adaptation of the popular series of young-adult novels by L.J. Smith.
Why are we suddenly so hot for the undead? Werewolves seem pretty cool, too, but they're not grabbing magazine covers.
“This may sound crazy, but vampires are beautiful, gorgeous men and women who have been caught at their prettiest,” says Diane Robina, president of cable network FEARNet. “They go out at night, they never get old. They're like rock stars.”
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/08/2009 | Post Comment |
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Another poll from Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch: We have decided it’s time True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard receive his own category on PopWatch. The criteria for such an honor has never been formally discussed at PopWatch HQ, but it seems to involve one of the following: We all decide that we like you, we really like you (see:C’mere, Jon Hamm, and Give Me a Kiss and Kris Allen Kills Us With Cuteness), that you are a mystery worthy of occasional probing (see: Zachary Quinto is Crazy/Beautiful and Mary Murphy is Insane), or that I need to own the fact that I get you more press than your publicist (see: ¡Gale Harold!).
Yesterday, we took to Twitter for suggestions on what we should name Skarsgard’s category. All nominees were appreciated (particularly that one that we could never print, @youbettago), but here are the finalists. Note: We are still open to write-ins in the comments section of this post (if they are as genius asSkarsgard Your Loins, which we’ve now added to the poll).
• Swexy Beast (submitted by @youbettago)
• The Need for Swede (submitted by @A_Redhead_Thing, and, incidentally, endorsed by @MelissadelaCruz, author of the best selling Blue Bloods series)
• The Swedish Delish (submitted by @NorthmanNet, who says some fans refer to him as that)
• The Viking (submitted by @SkarsgardFans)
• Pink Spandex (submitted by @jconfess, in honor of both Eric’s infamous outfit in Charlaine Harris’ Living Dead in Dallas and the socks that good-humored Skarsgard flashed at San Diego Comic-Con). Vote in the poll after the jump! Follow me on Twitter @EWMandiBierly to find out the winner.
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Boadicea | 10/07/2009 | Post Comment |
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By Tincar on October 7th, 2009
Deborah Ann Woll |
When Deborah climbed into her character Jessica’s skin and tumbled out from the trunk of a car we didn’t know what was coming. As she stared up at Bill with her angelic face and pleading eyes at the tribunal, we had no idea she would be a spark that ignited the screen on fire.
With her fiery red hair and blazing blue eyes, Deborah is a force to be reckoned with. After crawling out of the dirt, spending time with Eric and going through the True Blood taste test, she has become one of our favorites. She has left us with many great lines and one hell of a cliffhanger going into season three.
Vitals: Deborah Ann Woll was born on February 7th, 1985.Her first role was in “Life” as Nancy and that lead to several guest spots in “ER,” “My name is Earl” and “The Mentalist.” Deborah has experienceplaying the piano and Latin and Swing dancing; she is also a certified lifeguard. Deborahdidn’t always know she wanted to be a actress but she knew she wanted to be a performer. We are so lucky she made thechoice to be an actressand shares her amazing talent with us.
We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Deborah and now we love her even more, you’ll see why…
TB-N: What did you know in advance about the character of Jessica before you read for it?
Just the breakdown: A conservative religious teenager who is chosen as a sacrifice for a vampire tribunal. She begs for her life and when death seems inevitable she prays for forgiveness…something along those lines.
TB-N: We’ve read that the role of Jessica was initially going to be a recurring role with only two or three episodes. Do you know when the role was expanded to go through season two?
I heard about it just before we filmed the final episode of season one. That’s when they told me that I had been offered a series regular position, which I wasn’t expecting at all. Based on the last episode I thought they might use me for a few more because the story was unfinished, but I had no idea they wanted to expand the role more generously.
Deborah Ann Woll by Tyler Shields |
TB-N: What surprised you the most about the popularity of Jessica’s character?
I was surprised at how open the fans were to see the character in a different light. She was initially presented as a bit of a pain, but other perhaps more tragic sides of the role have been addressed in the second season. I was surprised that people seemed so willing to change their first impressions.
TB-N: Has your life been changed as a result of your popularity on True Blood?
My life has certainly changed because of True Blood and Jessica. First of all, more roles have opened up to me, and I now have more opportunities to meet other artists. It has also changed how I am perceived. I think before I may have been seen as a more wholesome type; and now edgier projects are opening up to me, which I am very pleased about.
TB-N: We’ve read in other interviews that the character Jessica is nothing like you in real life, but we do see the shyness in Jessica, which we hear is a part of your persona. Are there any other characteristics of Jessica that you share?
Jessica definitely has shyness to her, but I think the difference is she can’t be alone. She needs stimulation to come from outside herself, which is the mark of an extrovert – and why she goes looking for trouble. I am definitely an introvert. I prefer being alone or with a very few close friends. I would never go to a bar by myself to pick up a strange boy. She is far braver than I.
I would say that Jessica and I are romantics. For both of us, the most important thing in the world is to love someone and be loved in return. Everything we do hinges on that. At heart, Jessica is just trying to do the right thing and find out who she wants to be – and that involves making mistakes.
Unfortunately, a mistake as a vampire could lead to murder, but to each their own. ; ) Of course, questioning and searching are marks of humanity that we all understand. We just all go about it differently.
TB-N: You play the piano and so does Stephen Moyer. If given the chance, would you consider playing piano on the show, perhaps in a scene where Daddy Compton is teaching Jessica?
Ha Ha. That’s an interesting idea. I’ve often thought that Jessica probably would have had strict lessons growing up and so she might hold some resentment towards the instrument. That would be a fun scene: Daddy Compton tried to get me to go back to it. I could cause some havoc with that. Bwa-Ha-Ha!
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/07/2009 | Post Comment |
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Posted 3 hrs ago by Amy Wilkinson
When we heard last month that "True Blood" hottie Mehcad Brooks had been cast as a lawyer on ABC's midseason replacement "The Deep End," we wondered whether his character Eggs would be scrambled by Maryann. Well, we were partially right. The 28-year-old fell victim to a bullet in the season finale, though it was at the hands of well-meaning Jason Stackhouse.
As sad as we are to see Mehcad (and his abs) depart "True Blood," we're sure gal pal Tara Thornton is even more torn up. MTV News caught up with the actress who portrays prickly Tara (Rutina Wesley) at the premiere of Jude Law's "Hamlet" (read our rundown of hot Hamlets here), and she talked about what's next for Tara.
"I'm sure she's going to have some grieving to do, losing Maryann and Eggs—the love of her life, I think," Rutina theorized. "I don't know how Tara is really going to react to that. I see some grief. I see some more darkness."
As evil as maenad Maryann was, it's easy to forget that Tara relied on her as a mother figure in place of her own often-drunk mom, making her death nearly as devastating as Eggs'. Though Rutina said that Tara will likely find solace in recently returned BFF Sookie (Anna Paquin), we're hoping there's a juicier resolution—namely Tara turning to one-time crush Jason (Ryan Kwanten). Wouldn't that be ironic?
What do you think will happen to Tara in the third season of "True Blood"?
Boadicea | 10/07/2009 | Post Comment |
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From the BBC: Stephen Moyer is the latest British actor to take US television by storm as vampire good guy Bill Compton in the hit show True Blood, which starts on Channel 4 later.
 Moyer has played a vampire once before for a BBC show | With his flawless southern-US drawl and chiselled Hollywood good looks, it is a surprise that the 39-year-old hails from Essex, far from the fictional swampy Louisiana town of Bon Temps.
In the show, vampires have been drawn into the open after the invention of a new synthetic human blood substitute called True Blood.
Moyer's character - an American civil war soldier who turned vamp in 1868 - begins a love affair with telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, played by Anna Paquin.
He is now engaged to his co-star who, in 1994 at the age of 11, became one of the youngest Oscar winners in history for her performance in The Piano.
The show has been a huge hit in the US already. Are your American fans still surprised when they meet you and hear your English accent?
However much press that Hugh Laurie does and however many interviews they see him sounding English, when they meet him in the street, they still can't believe it and that's the reaction I get.
It's lovely for me, you know, I have dark hair in the show and I'm pale and I have the dark sideburns so it's like a whole costume by itself. It's very enjoyable.
I would ask how exciting it was to be play a vampire, but you've already played one in the BBC series Ultraviolet. Did that make it easier the second time around?
Well, the character I played in Ultraviolet loved being a vampire and the character this time is somebody who struggles with it. He struggles with the fact that he has to feed on humans.
He's trying to live a decent life and is very conflicted and tortured which is great fun to play.
 The cast is about to begin filming the third season of True Blood | At the moment, most vampires seem to be brooding and self-loathing - don't you miss the gleefully evil, sexy vamps who enjoy drinking the blood of young virgins?
Oh, there's plenty of them in our show. And as we get deeper into the show, we get to meet those vampires that you're talking about . And Bill, for all his attempts at being a decent - for want of a better word, human - is conflicted and he won't prey on the innocent.
But he's quite happy to find people who cause pain to Sookie and if he finds them, he will take them down.
There are quite a few parallels in the story with, for example, the American civil rights struggle. Many vampires are just looking for social acceptance.
Definitely, as soon as you get told that Alan Ball [Oscar-winning writer of American Beauty and Six Feet Under] is involved, you have to take it a bit more seriously. It's not going to be just some camp romp, although there is some of that.
But when I read it, I saw parallels between segregation between black and white and the issue of homosexuality and any minority that you want to bring to the table. Bill has gone through such pain and has lost his wife and children and you really do feel for him.
Do you have a favourite portrayal of a vampire - who is the definitive bloodsucker?
For me , the original Nosferatu is just so compelling and dark and weird. Our fascination with vampires didn't really start until after that and they made the vampire attractive. I'm a massive fan of Gary Oldman and I also love Hammer and the new Swedish movie, Let The Right One In, was an extraordinary film.
There's a current revived interest in vampires which has surely helped True Blood's success. On the flipside, are you worried that people will start to tire of the craze?
You do think when will the zeitgeist end and when will people stop being interested, but I think that Alan has created so many ideas within our show.
The second season has already gone out in America and it was even bigger than the first season so there's going to be werewolves, there's going to be other supernatural characters.
Ultimately it's just a framework for telling a story. Our show isn't really about vampires, it's about human relationships and how people interact with each other.
 Paquin's character is initially ostracised for her relationship with Bill | You met your new fiancee on the show. Do you find it hard to switch off when you go home for the day?
We both love the show, Anna and I, and if we have a scene coming up, maybe we feel that we've seen before, we'll try and do it in a different way and we'll talk about work then. We always try and make it fresh, but when we've done that - it just becomes about life, not vampires any more. We met on set, everyone knows us on set and as a couple, but that's really where it stops.
You celebrate your 40th birthday later this week, have you got a big party planned?
I've got a bunch of friends coming out to a country house that I have rented for the weekend and we are going to make merry.
We've got an Indian Elvis playing and we've got some children's entertainers and it's going to be a riot.
I'm sure my 'hilarious' friends will be doing something with comedy teeth.
True Blood starts on Channel 4 at 2200 BST on 7 October. Stephen Moyer was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Kev Geoghegan.
Boadicea | 10/07/2009 | Post Comment |
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The story behind Alexander at the freezer party - from PoshDeluxe: By Sarah ⋅ September 30, 2009
[Read entire article.]
YOU GUYS I AM NOT KIDDING.
although i am still not sure it happened for real cos IT WAS JUST TOO CRAY CRAY!so, it’s obvious that the vampire market is definitely too saturated at the moment, cos THREE vampire encounters in one night? that’s ridiculous.
but i didn’t mind cos you know what ELSE is ridiculous? ALEXANDER SKARSGARD’s HOTNESS.
of course, henri and i immediately RAN to the highball, and sure enough, there was alexander (i’m gonna call him alex, cos, you know, we’re bffs now) sitting in a booth with the director of his film! and y’all he was tan! and he had short hair! and when he stood up he was v. tall! and, most importantly, he was V. V. FINE.
the evening rapidly became A Night To Remember, even rivaling my night out with the Best US President Ever, aka bill pullman, last year. to make a long (ridiculous) story short, tim ended up leading a few of us into the walk-in freezer so that alex could have chill (LITERALLY! HA!) time away from some crazy true blood fans (OBVS not me. OBVS).
it was in this freezer that i took the Best Picture from Fantastic Fest 2009. BEHOLD THE AWESOMENESS:
y’all. i know. I KNOW. it was all just too surreal.
i was in a freezer. with eric from true blood.
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 photo by david hill copyright 2009 |
guess who else decided to karaoke? THIS HARDCORE LADY!!!!
yep, i decided to dazzle the crowd (which included alexander, obvs) with my signature song, “rock you like a hurricane.”
and y’all, I WENT FOR IT. like, i think i sang it even better than the lead singer of the scorpians. PLUS i have more hair than he does, which counts for A LOT when it comes to hair metal.
caitlin’s bf, james, was standing next to alex during my HARD CORE performance, and apparently he really enjoyed it.
ERIC FROM TRUE BLOOD LIKED MY KARAOKE!!! HIGHLIGHT OF MY LIFE!!!! apparently he was enjoying a lotta things that night, cos mr. sexy vampire was a wee bit hammered. we all retired back to the freezer, where i took this video of the aftermath of karrie doing a shot (she NEVER does shots). check out alexander looking extremely jovial and distinctly un-brooding.
like any good VIP room, the freezer got more and more packed with people, until i actually started to feel my fingertips again! fabulous!
seriously, there’s gotta be a rap song about chillin’ in the VIP deep freeze with a vampire sheriff… make it so, jay-z!
as you can see, it was a TOTES HIJINKY night, the kind of thing that i can imagine happening at only fantastic fest, where no one’s afraid to be goofy (i mean, do you think people at cannes stand around in a deep freeze and drink lone stars? I DON’T THINK SO).
henri and i ended up taking alexander and his director (and the director’s super nice wife) back to the hotel, where HE GAVE ME A HUG. I KNOW. ERIC FROM TRUE BLOOD GAVE ME A HUG. which also means I TOUCHED HIS ARM.
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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Remember the scene and the music: Tara's party - Sex, food, fighting, Maryann vibes and transforms. Episode 2.04
From Miami New Time:
Published on October 06, 2009By Christopher Lopez
Washington is the nation's capital, home to the U.S. government and the hub for power brokers from across the globe. So what better place for the home base of one of the most compelling underground acts of the past 15 years? That's Thievery Corporation, a duo born from the same womb as such establishment-challenging pioneers as the Bad Brains, Fugazi, Minor Threat, and "the Godfather of Go-Go," Chuck Brown.
OK, so it seems almost ridiculous to label Thievery Corporation — DJ/producers Rob Garza and Eric Hilton — "underground." The two boast a huge following, consistently drawing packed houses and thrilling fans at some of the biggest festivals in the nation. As if that wasn't enough to garner mainstream status, check the pair's Grammy nominations and spots on soundtracks for everything from film (Memento, Garden State, Vanilla Sky, to name a few) to television (The West Wing, The Sopranos, True Blood) to videogames (Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06). And they've remixed countless tracks for huge acts of far-reaching styles, including Sarah McLachlan, David Byrne, and the Doors.
Yet you're not likely to find Thievery Corporation anywhere on the FM dial, at least not on these shores. "In some countries, like Greece and Portugal and New Zealand, our music actually is on the radio," Garza says. "I think a lot of it has to do with the way our system is set up. You know, it's like we're one of the few countries in the world that doesn't pay performance royalties, and some of the old Motown guys who get played on the radio all the time are dying without health care."
This is part of the very inspiration for Thievery Corporation's most recent album, Radio Retaliation, which dropped this time last year. But an aversion to conventions in radio programming and mass media barely skims the surface of the record's central theme. Thievery Corporation's gripe is a much deeper, more fundamental one about the state of our culture and the underpinnings of a largely lackadaisical society.
But it would be a shame to examine the sociopolitical messages to a point that the music is overlooked. Because in the end, while Garza and Hilton are servants to an obvious sense of duty and responsibility as artists, they are nothing if not just that — artists. And damn good ones.
Throughout the process of their natural evolution, the bandmates have become noticeably more adept at melding the various musical styles and influences that reflect their diverse tastes. "I would say our music encompasses a lot of different genres, from Brazilian music to Jamaican music to Indian music to old jazz records — kind of mixing that all up and doing something modern with it," Garza says. "I guess we just describe our sound as 'outernational' because it transcends any one culture and transcends boundaries."
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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Scream 2009 - from Viacom:Tobey Maguire Presents Tribute To Comic-Con Icon Award Recipient And Comic Book Marvel Stan Lee"SCREAM" Will Celebrate The Year Of The Vampire And The Phenomenal Popularity Of The "Twilight" Saga With Cast And World Premiere Footage From The Highly-Anticipated "New Moon""True Blood" Cast And Creators Alan Ball, Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell And More Will Also Be On Hand"Battlestar Galactica" Cast Reunites For Final Farewell And A Special Tribute To Horror Legend George RomeroTwo-Hour Extravaganza Premieres Tuesday, October 27 At 10 PM, ET/PT NEW YORK, Oct 05, 2009 -- As twilight descends upon The Greek Theatre, Spike TV presents "SCREAM 2009," an evening where galaxies collide and genres unite for the ultimate celebration of all things sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic book. The 4(th) annual "SCREAM" is the first and only global event of its kind to honor and celebrate the hottest films, TV shows, comics, actors, creators, icons and pioneers who have influenced and shaped these genres. "SCREAM 2009" will tape on Saturday, October 17 in Los Angeles, CA. The two-hour extravaganza will premiere on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27 (10:00 PM-Midnight, ET/PT).
Spike TV is proud to partner once again with Comic-Con International, the biggest comic book and pop culture convention in the world, to present real-life super hero Stan Lee with the Comic-Con Icon Award at "SCREAM 2009." Lee is the creator of such legendary super-heroes as Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man and The Hulk. "Spider-Man's" Tobey Maguire will lead the tribute to one of the most beloved and influential comic book legends of all time.
"SCREAM 2009" will also honor the godfather of the modern horror film, George Romero with this year's Scream Mastermind Award. This award is presented to a filmmaker whose unique vision of horror, science fiction and/or fantasy is both critically-acclaimed and culturally significant. Romero, best known for his gruesome and satirical zombie masterpiece "Night Of The Living Dead" and its sequel "Dawn Of The Dead," as well as the cult classic, "Creepshow," will receive the honor previously presented to cinematic luminaries Wes Craven, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
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"SCREAM 2009" will celebrate the year of the vampire and the phenomenal popularity of the "Twilight" saga with cast and World Premiere footage from the highly-anticipated "New Moon." In addition, fans will be treated to appearances from the cast and creators of "True Blood" including Alan Ball, Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, among others. The celebration continues with a "Battlestar Galactica" cast reunion for a farewell tribute featuring Edward James Olmos, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, James Callis, Kate Vernon, Katee Sackhoff, Michael Trucco Tahmoh Penikett and executive producer David Eick.
"SCREAM 2009" will present awards in 16 different categories. J.J. Abrams' sci-fi action-adventure "Star Trek" tops the "SCREAM 2009" list with 17 nominations including the categories of The Ultimate Scream, Best Science Fiction Movie, Best Director, Best Ensemble, Holy Sh*t Scene-of-the-Year and a nod in the all-new Fight Scene-of-the-Year category. Comic book-inspired blockbusters "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and "Watchmen" each nabbed 13 nominations, big screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's best selling novel "Twilight" received 10 nominations, while HBO's vampire-themed television series "True Blood" garnered nine nominations. Fans can log onto scream.spike.com until Saturday, October 17 to vote for their favorites.
The official sponsors of Spike TV's "SCREAM 2009" are Taco Bell, Subaru, Geico and FreeCreditReport.com.
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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By Chris Gray
Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed, Rocks Off is now working our way backwards through the episodes we missed as HBO begins reruns.
A thousand apologies to those who had to spend a Tuesday without a True Blood report as your friend and humble narrator was thrashing in the delirium of a 102-degree fever. Not only are we back from our little vacation, but we're back to the beginning of the series!
This Saturday our favorite vampire dramarama will begin rerunning from the very first episode, "Strange Love," and continue Saturdays after that. Now Rocks Off has a chance to evaluate everything we've missed in a more organized manner.
So where did it all begin? Well, the opening scene of the first episode of True Blood is indisputably one of the greatest scenes ever. We open in a typical rural gas station. Typical, save that it's manned by a black-clad and pierced creature of the night. That's OK, we say to ourselves (Or, you know, to the cats if the're watching it with us), it's a VAMPIRE show. Maybe even a VAMPYRE show. And everyone knows that the best way to tell if someone is a vampire is if they look like they bought out a Hot Topic clearance sale in 2003 and never looked back.
Our capetard proceeds to ham up a bogus accent in order to give a couple of customers scare, only to find that the convenience store does in fact harbor a vampire. Only, instead of the HIM lookalike it's more of a Larry the Cable Guy lookalike who bares fangs and tells the clerk if he ever sees him impersonating a vamp again he'll be dinner. Now that's how you scare people these days. Bela Lugosi's dead! Long live the undead in Wal-Mart jeans and a camo shirt!
Having established that these are not your momma's vampires and are instead Southern vampires, it behooves us to eschew Depeche Mode and the series' title song in order to examine a sick little country ditty that ends the episode nicely. "Bones" is a track from Little Big Town, a Nashville country vocal group that's worked with Sugarland and members of Rascal Flatts. It's a fairly typical story of a couple of girls who move to Memphis to find country fame and fortune, which they do.
Seriously, it's pretty much the story of everything working out fine with a talented middle--of-the-road country act. Everyone's married with children and a couple of Grammys. They don't even have the decency to have a band drunk.
Still, "Bones" is great little track full of the appropriate dread and dark prophecy that usually makes up a True Blood track, even if it does borrow heavily from Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain." More than anything else, it is the harbinger of things to come in the town of Bon Temps - which, like Twin Peaks, is full of secrets (though short on pie and only middle-height on midgets).
Most of us know all that's to come in the next couple of months, but Rocks Off will be here to illuminate your ears with the sweet sounds of True Blood's music. Peace out.
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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True Blood: Lust and Horn Dogs - from The Mac Weekly:By: Tatiana Craine
"Sookie." It looks like a rather unassuming, if not odd, name. However, Sookie Stackhouse is one Southern-fried girl you don't want to mess with.
For those who have lived under a rock (or perhaps in a coffin) for the last year, the Sookie Stackhouse phenomenon began in 2008 with the beginning of Alan Ball's HBO show, "True Blood," based off of a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. The show follows young, telepathic Sookie (Anna Paquin) as she navigates the still waters of her sleepy little town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie ain't alone in little old Bon Temps. She's got her best friend Tara, her brother Jason, her boss Sam Merlotte (he can be a real dog sometimes-literally) and a whole host of other insane characters living with her. With the emergence of supernatural beings in the world, Bon Temps starts to wake up and things get weird. Vampires have come out of the coffin after thousands of years with the invention of a nutritional, synthetic blood. They face discrimination left and right, but manage to live side by side with humans. Not only does Sookie deal with blood-suckers, but shape-shifters and even more menacing creatures. But it's not all fear and loathing in Louisiana. Sookie has been shacking up with none other than the nearly two-century-old William Compton (Stephen Moyers), not-so-affectionately known by the townspeople as Vampire Bill.
Enough back-story. This musing is for the die-hard fans that get their vampire fix with real sex and blood, not angst-ridden, teenaged melodrama. (Cough, "Twilight," cough.) What really sets "True Blood" apart from the other facets of the currently popular vampire genre is that for all the weird stuff that happens, it still seems pretty real. Well, about as real as things can get when vampires sleep (and suck) around while drinking O-positive out of a warm glass bottle. The world in "True Blood" doesn't automatically change with the materialization of the supernatural. The people question their surroundings all the time, and that's what makes their reality more believable-the fact that they don't even believe what's going on surprisingly lends itself to an air of authenticity.
To tell the truth, I didn't hop on the blood-wagon until earlier this summer. I was quite reluctant to give into the vampire fad, especially after seeing smoldering-bordering-on-disturbing Robert Pattinson pasted onto every teen-zine in the grocery store. I thought "True Blood" might be more of the same boy-crazed mush, but after following the advice of several trusted viewers, I finally discovered the best new television treasure trove since "Weeds." I confess, I watched the first season (12 glorious hour-long episodes) in less than two days. I caught up with the rest of the series with similar timing, waiting ravenously for Sunday nights when new episodes came out.
I immediately fell in love with all the characters on "True Blood." Usually, it's hard for me to connect with everyone on screen, especially on television, but mysterious folks with Louisianan charm hold a special space in my heart. (Think the equally Southern, enigmatic, definitely imaginary, card-flinging Gambit from "X-Men.") The citizens of Bon Temps are endearing and engaging, infuriating and hilarious all at once. Since "True Blood" is on HBO, the characters aren't bound to network censorship and can curse and be as kinky as they want. Imagine it's prohibition and two vampires have sex while slathered in the blood of their latest victims. Yeah, that happened.
Sure, I admit "True Blood" is a little trashy. But looking at the bigger picture, I feel like there are some actual issues addressed on the show. There is unbridled prejudice, rampant sexism and issues involving morality and ethics. There isn't a clear-cut good and bad side, everyone fits into various shades of gray-even the most well-intentioned people don't always do the "right" thing.
The first season of the show relied mainly on the surfacing of a vampire subculture in the modern world and how both humans and vampires dealt with the subsequent socio-political issues. Bill growled Sookie's name at least five times an episode. "Horn-dog" Jason Stackhouse had crazy sex all the time. Sookie's gran gave sage advice. Tara and Sam staved off loneliness together. Tara's cousin Lafayette wore fabulous makeup and did ridiculous drugs. The townspeople were quirky as anything. And mysterious older vampire Eric worked his Scandinavian smolder.
The second season, stuff took off at an outrageous pace. Legitimately, shit went down. There were church retreats with vampire-burning platforms. The dawn came. People ate each other people's hearts. Brainwashing aplenty. Kidnapping. The vampire queen of Louisiana was actually just a cross between a tweenage-girl and a high-class snob. There were also lots of orgies and sacrificial offerings. Lots.
The final episode this season could have been a lot more climactic, and I found myself slightly disappointed when it came to an end. (Maybe it was because the vampire queen acted like she was twelve.) I won't give away anything else, in case there are fans of the show still waiting to taste the last blood of the season. Loose ends were wrapped up well (almost to a fault) while new plot lines were born as teasers for the now highly-awaited third season.
The end of the season got me thinking about a lot of things. Really important things. Like really. Like how I would like Sookie, Eric and Lafayette to get it on, ménage a trois style. Or how I'd like Jason to find himself another crazy girl to capture his heart. Or maybe how I almost can't remember what Anna Paquin looked like as a brunette. I also realized, for the umpteenth time, how much I love scruffy, conflicted Sam Merlotte. (I became conscious of this again when, in the final episode of season two, a woman commented on Sam, "God bless him in those jeans. I'm serious, I'd wear him like a scrunchie." I concur.) And finally, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyers are happily engaged in real life, which makes me wonder if Moyers says, "Anna," with the same ridiculous fervor he says "Sookie." I certainly hope so.
The third season of "True Blood" will air summer 2010 and be loosely based on the third novel in Harris' "The Southern Vampire Series."
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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by Jessica Barnes Oct 5th 2009
The battle of the undead on the big screen has been under way for some time now, and after months of hearing that vampires are taking over pop culture, it seems like we shouldn't quite put our friends the zombies (no, not those ones) down for the count. Over at Newsweek, Sarah Ball put together a few reasons as to why zombies will never beat vampires in a pop-culture zeitgeist-off thanks to our long-standing love-affair with the pale tortured types. But just this weekend, audiences proved that when it comes to the walking dead, the zombies still have what it takes to bring in the crowds.
Everybody has their personal preferences (and man I love those bloodsuckers), so even though I've watched more vampire content than I care to remember (I even sat through the pilot of The Vampire Diaries), and I'll always be a dedicated 'fan of the fang', I think that sometimes those drooling bumbling walking corpses might be better suited (at least these days) to the world of horror. Here's why:
After the jump: my top 3 reasons Zombies (might) make better horror movies.
1. Zombies Don't Fall in Love
One of the best things about a zombie movie is that at no point do we have to worry about watching the trials and tribulations of a human zombie romance (OK, so one movie comes to mind). You can blame Twilight or you can blame Buffy, (personally I blame Frank Langella) but the romantic vamp is here to stay, and when you're looking for chills and thrills on the big screen, romance ruins the gooey fun.
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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By Brian McIver
IMMORTAL and bloodthirsty, they have always been some of the scariest characters in fiction.
But today the undead are the coolest and sexiest men and women in film and TV.
That's never better more true than in the US series True Blood, starting on Channel 4 tomorrow night.
The sexy drama is the third most popular show in HBO's history, behind The Sopranos and Sex And The City. It's set in the US deep south, where vampires are accepted members of the public, thanks to synthetic blood product Tru Blood.
But it's just the latest in a series of sexy vamps.
Here are some we've loved from first bite...
SALMA HAYEK | FROM DUSK TILL DAWN
The Mexican actress starred as the head vampire in the cult classic from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. It follows the adventures of bank robbers Tarantino and George Clooney who hide out in a bar that's home to a nest of vampires. In the mostmemorable scene, stripper vampire Hayek performs an incredible table dance with a large snake, before showing her real face as a blood-sucker.
SUSAN SARANDON & CATHERINE DENEUVE | THE HUNGER
Director Tony Scott's kinky thriller from 1983 starred Deneuve as a predator vampire who recruits pretty doctor Sarandon as her next vampire companion.
The film is notorious for the lesbian scenes between the two women as Deneuve converts Sarandon into a super-sexy neck-biter.
WESLEY SNIPES | BLADE
Often credited as being the movie that kick-started the comic book trend of the last decade, Snipes stars as a superhero halfvampire who hunts down blood-sucking baddies. The hero takes on armies of bad guys, and faces off against head vamp Deacon,played by Stephen Dorff.
AIDAN TURNER | BEING HUMAN
One of the most recent shows was this BBC Three drama about a vampire who lives with a ghost and a werewolf in modern-day Bristol. The lead man is the goth vamp Mitchell, played by Aidan Turner. A succession of sexy lady vampires flitted in and out ofthe show during its first series.
STEPHEN MOYER | TRUE BLOOD
Hunky British actor Moyer plays gentleman vamp Bill Compton, who has a steamy affair with small-town waitress Anna Paquin.
Nudity, sex and murder feature in just about every episode of the show, brought to us from the creators of funeral parlour comedy Six Feet Under.
There is a small army of sex-crazed vampires, who no longer need to feed on humans thanks to synthetic blood, looking for bedroom action, as well as many humans who queue up to sleep with and be bitten by the now relatively well-behaved monsters.
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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Paying tribute to Dionysus - from WatchWithMothers:
True Blood came to an end last week and has left a legion of fanboys and fangirls crying out for more. You may remember a few months ago WWM supremo Swineshead wrote a slightly dismissive review focusing on the fact that one of the characters was a psychic – overkill in a world already inhabited by vampires.
Well, if Swines had stuck with it, he would have probably choked on his chips when finding out that the bar owner is a shape-hifter, werewolves exist and a character introduced towards the end of the series is known – at least in my house – as naked-pig-witch-lady.
However rather than greeting the introduction of these rather unbelievable concepts with a snort of derision – I granted them with a ‘woohoo!’ and a grin. Which I think is a sign that there are very different kinds of TV viewers out there. And I’m not the only one who thought True Blood was high quality, watchable TV.
I’m happy to admit that I love anything slightly fantastic. Space travel – no problem! Armies of demons – bring ‘em on! Vampires and psychics and shapeshifters – oh my! Probably because of a childhood spent aboard the USS Enterprise NCC1701–D, I find science fiction and fantasy TV second nature.
But this also means I can’t watch soaps. Because they’re so bloody dull I’d rather drive cocktail sticks under my toenails than tune in regularly. Watching regular people going about their grey business in grey towns under a grey sky seems like a waste of time. Why don’t they spice it up and throw in a troll or a dimensional portal or something to stop them talking about what Dave did with Emma or some such shit.
But obviously some people do like soaps. I’m not entirely sure why they have such a massive fanbase, because I find them to be distilled dishwater dull. But perhaps the fact I can name the Enterprise with it’s registration code and know what a Bussard Ramscoop is demonstrates the reason.
Which leads me back to True Blood and why a lot of people love it to (un)death. There are plenty of other people out there with a penchant for the weird and fantastic. And strangely, the genre is under-represented in quality adult (grown up, rather than porn…) TV. There’s plenty of pre-watershed vampire and paranormal shenanigans, but after 9pm there’s not much happening. True Blood fills this hole rather nicely. Probably because by now, me and my fellow legions of geek boys and girls are at the age where seeing some nudity onscreen can be part of the plot and not solely there for the purposes of self-abuse.
What True Blood has done rather well is couple the HBO mainstay of adult plots and content with what amounts to a fairly generic fanboy show. It’s a great little bit of TV schlock horror stupidity – and complete with extra boobies. I really like it.
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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True Blood praised by NAACP - from Newsweeks's Pop Vox: Raina Kelley
[Read entire article...]
Except below:
The NAACP also noted that black viewers subscribe to pay-TV, such as HBO or Showtime, in greater numbers than the general populations—perhaps because they’re a bit more generous with diversity. Shows such as Dexter and True Blood and movies like Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee are each chock-full of characters of color, and these characters often have rich story lines. Yes, there’s Everybody Hates Chris and the Tyler Perry shows, but where are the shows to compare to The Jeffersons or Sanford & Son or even, God help me, The Fresh Prince of Bel-AirFamily Matters? It seems somehow unpleasant and ridiculous to have to reach back to the '70s and '80s for hard-hitting comedies that weren’t afraid to go after the racial stereotypes of their time.
Boadicea | 10/06/2009 | Post Comment |
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The music of True Blood to be studied - from Film Music Society:Top music composers, execs will speak at Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film & TV Music Conference
Award-winning music artists Mary J. Blige and Sara Evans, composers Alexandre Desplat and Mark Isham, and a myriad of top music executives will be among the keynote speakers and panelists at the eighth annual Hollywood Reporter/Billboard Film & Music Conference October 29-30 at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
The two-day seminar is one of the top annual film and TV music industry gatherings, and will offer a diverse schedule of presentations and discussions on the music of such films as Fame and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Fox's TV hit Glee and HBO's True Blood; as well as a master class by songwriters Ali Dee, Lamont Dozier, Teddy Shapiro and Brian Tyler; a music publishing primer; and a meet-and-greet with major music supervisors.
For more information and the full conference schedule, visit billboardevents.com.
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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October 5, 2009 | By: Russell Barnes
This week terrestrial TV viewers finally get their mitts on True Blood, the smash-US vampire series from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball.
Showing on Channel 4 (where else?) this Wednesday night, we catch up with one of the British stars, Stephen Moyer who plays 173-year-old vampire, Bill Compton.
What was your first impression of True Blood when you were approached with it?
I was in London with my kids and I said to my agent I really didn't want to see anything else at that time, but she said Alan Ball has written this script and it's the one that everyone is talking about and asked me to read it. When I got it I couldn't believe it, I finished it in one sitting and when I got to the final page I just wanted to read more. I put myself on tape, Alan received it and he said that's the guy. I flew out to LA that afternoon and the next morning I met with him and Anna (Paquin) and later that afternoon I got it. I don't remember ever reading something and being so engaged by it, the world he sets up is just so extraordinary - it's been an exciting ride.
Tell us a little about the set up of the show?
True blood is set in a fictional town called Bon Temps in Louisiana. The first episode centres around a bar, Merlotte's, where the viewer is introduced to Sookie (Anna Paquin's character). We know right from the start that vampires exist in this world but nobody in Bon Temps has ever seen one. About 20 minutes into the first episode Bill, my character and a vampire, walks into Merlotte's. Sookie is telepathic and all her life she's been able to hear everybody's thoughts. Then suddenly there is this presence when Bill walks into the bar, she can't read his thoughts and she immediately knows that something is different about him. He can also see that there is something different about her and that's the attraction. Bill is trying to live his life "mainstreaming", living off Tru Blood rather than feeding on humans. He's an outsider ostracised by vampire society because he's mainstreaming and trying to live like a human but he's obviously also feared by the humans because he is a vampire, so he's kind of the ultimate outsider and I think he can see that she's an outsider too.
It's a pretty bizarre prospect that you've got vampires living in normal society, how has this come about?
In the story the Japanese invented a synthetic blood drink three years before, the idea being that the blood was invented for use in war etc for blood transfusions. Vampires came out and said they could drink this blood so that they no longer have to feed off humans. Then a drinks company marketed it as Tru Blood so that vampires could drink in normal bars like anybody else, and that's what Tru Blood is.
How did you manage to engage with the character Bill? What kind of research did you do?
Well I looked at the American civil war which I'd never really studied before as my character's father was a slave owner (even though my character wasn't) and he fought with the confederates for the south.
Alan (Ball) actually asked me if I thought anything was missing from the character. And I liked the idea if you imagined you died what would you do? If it was me, I'd want to listen to all the music I never listened to when I was alive, and read every book that I'd never read, watch the films I'd never seen and play the instruments that I had never played. So I thought that's great, he's going to make me into this aesthetic genius who knows everything but Alan being warped, made my character listen to Tuvan throat singing and Cambodian disco, so in every episode you see me listening to some obscure sound.
Another thing that I think is interesting about him is that vampires have no heartbeat so there's no blips, no moment where his heart skips a beat - when he stops and he's sitting he's just "being". We played with the idea of trying to make him as still as possible so that every movement is considered. When he moves, he's doing it for a reason. It's almost like a video game, I can move at lightening speed but if I do it costs me, it's like my energy depletes and I need to feed sooner meaning I only do it if I need to. Bill really is a fascinating character to play.
True Blood, Channel 4, Wednesday 7th October 10pm
Official site
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Explicit sex scenes are in vogue again on TV, with new series such as True Blood — and this time women are calling the shots Andrew Billen
When was it that I realised that Percy Filth — as Jack Rosenthal’s sitcom The Lovers called sex around the time that television invented it — had made a return to the box? Was it in the early minutes of Rome four years ago when Polly Walker as the voluptuous Atia energetically turned a freeman into her sex slave? Was it two years later when Californication debuted with a nun performing oral sex on David Duchovny? Or was it during this summer’s run of Desperate Romantics , a riskily unstuffy drama about the Pre-Raphaelites that required its actors, in the interests of historical authenticity, to agree to wear pubic hair wigs?
[Read entire article...]
But this autumn the surest way to see sexual explicitness is to watch imported American shows such as Californication, The Tudors and, a newcomer, True Blood, starting tomorrow on Channel 4 after its run on FX. Much more sexy than scary, its star Anna Paquin, who plays the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, is regularly to be seen in hot sex scenes, which are then posted on the net. After decades in which American television, fearful of the Bible Belt and advertisers’ sensibilities, was our prudish cousin, the arrival of HBO changed everything. Indeed, even the most ardent admirer of The Sopranos might wonder why quite so many scenes were established with shots of topless pole dancers at the Bada Bing. Equally, the revered men who made The Wire displayed a strong preference for nude scenes featuring top-heavy young actresses. The influence of the mores of these prestigious cult dramas on British directors should not be underestimated.
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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True Blood, wrinkle cream and Viagra - from BeliefNet: Monday October 5, 2009 | by Ellen Scordato
Pop culture thermometer: Cold. Deathly cold. Cold and dead is hot.
Zombieland was the top-grossing movie this past weekend.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was one of the near-moribund book publishing industry's few runaway success stories last year. HBO's True Blood and its star Anna Paquin are very hot topics around the water cooler and chat rooms. The beautiful adolescents of the Twilight books and movies, in their perpetual teen sex/death swoon, are everywhere from People magazine to the London Review of Books.
Wow, do we love the undead. Over the past two years, if not longer, pop culture been full of animated corpse tales that are animating the bank accounts of creative folk of all kinds, from movie studios to publishers to gamemakers. What gives?
What does a curious Buddhist practitioner think about all this?
First off, fantasy is fun. As a voracious fiction reader and long-time science fiction fan, I would not deny anyone their time in the creative playground, either as maker or consumer. I don't believe that art and fantasy need to be controlled or censored for moralistic reasons, and I tend not to draw dire conclusions about the popularity of violent video games, or even the popularity of zombies and vampires.
But it sure is interesting to think about.
Buddhism's message that after birth, old age, sickness, and death are inevitable is perhaps not so loud and clear to our ears anymore.
Jenny Turner, in that London Review of Books piece on Twilight, make the very observant point that the great popularity of the Twilight books--and, I would add, vampires in general--among middle-aged women is not due so much to the lure of forbidden sex as the lure of eternal youth. Vampires never become "cougars." Vampires don't have to eat. Vampires never have to worry about buying wrinkle cream. Impossibly thin and eternally unwrinkled -- isn't that pretty much ideal?
Death is such an attractant/repellent for us. On the one hand, Americans hate to deal with death, real death. Few of us see people actually die. Funerals are managed, corpses are hidden or made up like mannequins. Billions are made and spent to erase even the appearance of age, the harbinger of our encroaching end. Age-defying plastic surgery, injectable fillers, teeth whitening, nutraceuticals, human growth hormone, Viagra -- every kind of potion that could possibly stave off, if not the inevitable, at least the appearance of the inevitable (age) is what our society spends its energy making, advertising, and consuming.
At the same time, what we also spend time imagining, visualizing, lavishing creativity on, making, advertising, and consuming is a bizarre fantasy death world in which the dead talk, walk, fall in love, make money, buy wonderful clothes (Twilight!), look fabulous and have hot sex (True Blood!), act goofy (Zombieland), and are, in fact, anything but dead.
There is a story about the Buddha and a young mother who was impossibly distraught over the death of her infant son. She went from one person to another, crazy, asking if anyone had medicine to cure death. Finally, she asked the Buddha, who told her to find a home where no one knew anyone who had died. As she went from house to house, reality began to dawn on her, and she returned to the Buddha, and became a practitioner, cognizant of the truth.
The consensual hallucination that is our 20th c. world of stories--our TV, our novels, our video games, our movies-- doesn't include tales like that, does it? Somehow, no matter how horrifying and scary, our dead walk and talk and screw and look absolutely smashing.
Maybe that's why I like Dexter better than True Blood. The dead on that show are dead. Anyone care to weigh in?
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Lamp Runs on Human Blood
By Rachael Rettner
Credit: Mike Thompson, http://www.miket.co.uk/ |
What if, every time you wanted to switch on a light, you had to bleed? Would you think twice before illuminating the room, and in turn, using up energy?
That's the idea behind the blood lamp, invented by Mike Thomspon, an English designer based in The Netherlands. The lamp contains luminol – the same chemical forensic scientists use to check for traces of blood at a crime scence. Luminol reacts with the iron in red blood cells and creates a bright blue glow.
To use the lamp, you first need to mix in an activating powder. Then, you break the glass, cut yourself, and drip blood into the opening.
Thompson came up with the rather gruesome idea, reported by New Scientist recently, a few years ago while he was studying for his masters at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. He was researching chemical energy for a project and came across luminol.
"It kind of triggered this thought in my mind, that if energy somehow came at a cost to us, then maybe it would make us think differently about the way we use it," Thompson told LiveScience. The lamp is intended to "challenge people's preconceived notions about where our energy comes from," he said, and it forces the user "to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is."
And the fact that it is a single-use light makes its application all the more meaningful. "You have to really decide when to use this lamp because it's only going to work once," Thompson said. "So it makes it kind of a poignant moment."
Thompson designed and produced the lamp in 2007, and made a video of his project this year.
[CAUTION: Potentially disturbing content: A graphic video shows how the light works. It is here.]
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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| ***SPOILERS*** | ***SPOILERS*** | ***SPOILERS*** |
Text is hidden - highlight to reveal text >>>
You’re gonna have a field day with this one, people — I know I did. True Blood is looking for a twenty- to thirtysomething knockout to play season 3 werewolf Alcide’s psycho ex-girlfriend, Debbie Pelt. So who comes to mind when you hear that she’s described as sporty and spiteful, with black hair that wouldn’t be out of place on an Afghan at a dog show? Who comes to my mind is…
Milla Jovovich: Though she’s the heroine in theResident Evil flicks, haven’t her angular features and kickass bod always made you think “bitch on wheels”? Just me? Really? Well, she’s still been known to try out the odd shag from time to time.
Katharine Isabelle: How perfect an option is this Supernatural alum? She’s gorgeous, snarky, and in the first of the Ginger Snaps movies, she didn’t just play a werewolf’s honey, she played the werewolf herself. Top that, Shakira!
Shakira: Come to think of it, the hip-swiveling”She-Wolf” might not be a bad choice for the role. Certainly, her animal instincts are the stuff of legend. Then again, how would Alan Ball feel about a Debbie who talks like Charo?
Sarah Brown: Though the Daytime Emmy winner just signed on to join The Bold and the Beautiful when her run on General Hospital is over, the CBS sudser is known to be cool about loaning out its cast — last season, they freed up Ashley Jones to play Daphne.
Krysten Ritter: Once Veronica Mars‘ classmate, this romcom perennial (27 Dresses, Confessions of a Shopaholic) often wears an expression that makes me think she’s one broken nail away from a meltdown. Please, please, please, can’t we break that nail and see what happens?
Katie Holmes: Okay, she finally got us to stop thinking of her as Joey Potter. Now she needs to get us to stop thinking of her as Mrs. Tom Cruise. Baring her metaphorical claws opposite a leading man with literal fangs might just do the trick.
Your turn. Who do you imagine playing Sookie’s new foil? Sound off below. And remember — you never know who’s reading. (Additional reporting/contributions by Andy Patrick)
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Marcy Playground is playing at three20south in Breckenridge Wednesday night. |
BRECKENRIDGE — Marcy Playground's recently released fourth album — “Leaving Wonderland... in a fit of rage” — was born from darkness. The group's front man, singer and guitarist John Wozniak, was in the throes of “a deep depression” when he chose to channel his angst into music. And the end result was a thoughtful, melodic roller coaster of a record he said is the best thing he's ever done. “I'm still alive,” Wozniak said of his journey out of melancholy, and now he's happily married, living in Toronto and touring with his band for the first time in years. Marcy Playground will play at three20south on Wednesday, as part of an extensive tour promoting the album released in July. It's the band's first time playing a show in Breckenridge.
Marcy Playground returns to the road Over the last decade, Wozniak spent a lot of time in the recording studio honing his production skills. He even owned and operated the Vancouver recording studio, Mushroom, from 1999 to 2006, but sold it and returned to his first love — musical performance. “I stopped touring, but continued writing,” Wozniak said of his time working in the production field. “When you own a business like a recording studio, it turns into a 24-hour-a-day job. It's not really conducive to touring.” But he missed the road, so he got rid of the studio, put the band back together and made Marcy Playground his full-time gig again. Marcy Playground has now gone to the other extreme — Wozniak, bassist Dylan Keefe and drummer Shlomi Lavie have been touring since March, and they'll be on the road continuously for the next year with no real end in sight. They plan to take a slight hiatus in mid-December and then get back on the road for most of 2010.
Remember ‘Sex and Candy?' Marcy Playground exploded onto the music scene in 1997 with their hit single “Sex and Candy,” a song that hit 15 consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard's U.S. Modern Rock tracks chart. Their self-titled debut album sold 1.7 million copies.
But, when it came to record the “Sex and Candy” song in 1995, he was tired of it, so it almost didn't make the cut. Good thing he did — it's been popular for more than 10 years, and recently played on the television show, “True Blood.”
Wozniak said he wrote “Sex and Candy” in the early '90s when he was home from college on spring break — “It was probably 3 a.m., and I'd been working on two to three different songs and I got really bored. I had that little riff. I started working on it and really quickly the song popped out. I made it completely out of the blue.”
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Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Creep chic is the theme of Halloween.
With a little imagination and inspiration, spooky can be sophisticated, and wicked can be whimsical.
We collected simple party décor ideas sure to thrill both big and little ghouls and goblins from Debra Steilen, Senior Holidays Editor with BHG.com, Mindy Toyne with In Any Event, a Des Moines-based event planning business, and Debbie Dusenberry, who works Halloween magic on a grand scale at her Prairie Village, Kan., home furnishings boutique, Curious Sofa.
Create a theme
Toyne and Steilen say it's important to set a theme - and luckily with a holiday like Halloween, anything goes - from monster- or movie-inspired (think classics like "Halloween," or new entrants in the creepy genre, such as the HBO series "True Blood") to Day of the Dead or just good, old-fashioned dress-up fun.
"Particularly this year, things seem to be a bit on the dark side as far as trends, and vampires are really big," Toyne says.
Set the mood outside
- Line a walkway with black shepherd's hooks (found at garden supply stores) and hang rubber or paper bats.
- From black or white foam core board, cut silhouettes of ghosts or other creepy images and display them in upstairs windows with backlighting.
- Pumpkins are a must, crowded along the front steps, lining a porch railing or peeking out of windows.
Three ways to decorate pumpkins: Carving knives optional
- Disguise them with masks.- Stencil them and fill in the designs with glitter puff paint.
- Rubber stamp designs or your address numbers.
Wicked wine
- Sure, you could make your own, but Martha Stewart's new Halloween collection for Grandinroad includes 12 haunted wine labels to "make your Pinot really noir" with "Arsenic Cider Mix," "Effervescing Tonic" and "Poison" decals that create a crackled effect on glass or plastic. Martha Stewart Halloween Mad Scientist Labels (4 of each design), $12, www.grandinroad.com
Macabre mantel
- Fill clear glass jars of different shapes and sizes with creepy candy, including black licorice and gummy worms.
- Candles are a must for eerie ambience. Check flea market, garage sales or antiques stores for old candelabras that you set out of the way to glow on the mantel. Can't find the perfect creepy candelabra? Group mismatched candlesticks of different heights together for a similar effect.
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Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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By Stacy Foster Posted: 10/5/09
Vampires have recently taken a bite out of the entertainment industry. The infamously fanged characters have appeared in literature, film, television and theater.
Even director Tim Burton, who notoriously shies away from mainstream phenomena, is getting a taste of vampire success with his upcoming movie adaptation of "Dark Shadows," a classic vampire television show.
The newly revived vampire movement has hit quick. The Season 2 premiere of "True Blood" was the most watched HBO show since "The Sopranos" series finale in June of 2007, reported TVWeek. The show chronicles the small-town romance between a telepathic waitress played by Anna Paquin and a vampire played by Stephen Moyer.
The show's instant success is just one of the many indications that vampires are out for blood in mainstream popular culture. The pending release of "New Moon," the second movie in the "Twilight" series, already has vampire fanatics staking their claims on the midnight showing. According to Fandango, 50 locations have already sold out tickets for the highly anticipated vampire flick, and the movie doesn't premiere until Nov. 20.
The "Twilight" saga catapulted the most recent vampire renaissance, but in reality, these blood-drinking day walkers have always made good entertainment. Warner Brothers television shows "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel," dominated late 90's television. Even before them, "Interview with a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles," and other novels by Anne Rice captivated readers with her combination of terror and sadness and were eventually adapted into popular films.
What's changed between new vampire culture and that of Anne Rice is that new literature and entertainment allows vampires to been seen in a softer light. In Rice's "Interview with a Vampire," written in 1973, the main character Lestat chooses to live his life eternally as a vampire. After he has made his decision he is forced to live a solitary and lacking that life forever. Similarly the show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" based on the premises that the blood-thirsty creatures are evil. Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, is the only person innately capable of killing vampires who are dangerous to mankind.
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Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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It seems like only yesterday that Anna Paquin was a shy 11-year-old clutching her Oscar for 'The Piano’. But just look at her now – the star of the hit new vampire drama 'True Blood’, and blissfully engaged to her leading man.
By Marianne Macdonald
Published: 11:54AM BST 05 Oct 2009
Anna Paquin was nine years old when she first became famous for her role as Flora in The Piano, and 11 as she stood smiling and gasping in silence for a full 20 seconds at the podium to receive her Oscar for it. In True Blood, Channel 4’s new HBO hit, Paquin, now 27, has morphed into the telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. She runs around in tiny shorts, and has bleached blonde hair and a lot of steamy sex with a vampire named Bill.
The first episode sets out its stall to shock, featuring a couple getting amorous strung from a meat hook while watching vampire sex on video. But it has been a huge success in America, winning Paquin a 2009 Golden Globe for best actress in a television drama. It is now HBO’s third most popular series, after The Sopranos and Sex and the City. To add to the mix, and to the delight of the tabloids, in August Paquin got engaged in real life to her vampire lover, the English actor Stephen Moyer. He is 40, she is 27 and they divide their time between his house near Hampstead and hers in Los Angeles. The 'most serious 15-year-old ever’ – her own description – has certainly grown up with a vengeance.
'Oh, it’s a really full-on sexy show,’ Paquin agrees easily, taking a sip of latte and fixing me with brown boot-button eyes. We are at Café Rouge in Highgate, north London. 'Lots of weird, kinky vampire sex and weird, kinky mortal sex! It never put me off. I guess either you read something and go, “Oh, my God, no!” or you read something and you go, “That’s sort of cool!” I mean, the sex is very romantic, and at first it’s very loving.’
Although psychic, Sookie isn’t a vampire: 'Sookie likes Bill because he’s the first person she hasn’t been able to listen in on the thoughts of, so it’s quiet. You can read into that on deeper levels about intimacy and relationships and finding that person you can be yourself with. They’re both outsiders. So when this potentially scary creature walks into her path all she’s thinking is, “I want to go talk to him. I want to see what he’s like!”’
I’m sure this isn’t an analogy for their off-screen romance – the younger, more innocent, rather cerebral girl engaged to the darkly good-looking divorcee with two children by different relationships. But True Blood clearly taps into the current vogue for vampires started by the hit film Twilight. To Paquin its popular appeal is partly that vampires have a 'dark, dangerous, brooding sexuality’.
But I say I found it scary watching Sookie hurtle towards this dangerous creature who was clearly going to… 'Eat her?’ Paquin suggests with some pleasure.
'It is kind of disturbing, but so is putting yourself out there as far as relationships or friendships goes. It is scary and sometimes you are taking a risk. If you aren’t prepared to do that you’re going to have very safe options in your life, but they won’t be the most exciting ones.’
What’s funny is that Paquin seems quite guarded, not the kind of girl you’d imagine wanting to go out on a limb. She is wearing a thick ribbed blue cardigan and calf-length tan boots, is polite and amenable, and talks with precision using words like 'neither’ and 'nor’. She is devastated about the fact that she failed to turn up to our first meeting because she was still on California time. 'I’m so organised,’ she exclaims in dismay. 'I never screw up. I’ve done it maybe twice before. I check my calendar seven times a day.’
But maybe the role is Hyde to her Jekyll; the show is written by Alan Ball, the acclaimed screenwriter behind the multi-layered Six Feet Under. Or maybe she just looks one way and acts another. At 22, she went out with Logan Marshall-Green from 24 and The OC. Two years after that she was linked to Kieran Culkin, her co-star in an off-Broadway play. She finds it rather boring, however, that journalists are surprised she might have a love life and not be frozen in time on an Oscars podium in a beret and oversized blue dress, circa 1993. 'Maybe I’m misjudging people, but I feel like a lot of people still have an image of me in a bonnet at nine years old,’ she says wearily.
To play Sookie, Paquin has transformed herself, bleaching her brown hair and sporting a spray tan and a series of sexy outfits. It suits her, though; with her strong cheeks and mouth, and lack of vanity, she doesn’t come across as remotely Baywatch – more Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich. 'She was written blonde in the books. There’s a whole series,’ Paquin says, referring to the cult novels by Charlaine Harris. 'And she’s supposed to have blue eyes, but contact lenses would be a nightmare. She was meant to be tanned so they spray-tanned me, gave me a really good bra, some little tiny outfits, and away we go! The blonde just feels normal now. And the spray tan I still kind of really love, having been one of the palest pale girls on the planet.’
She once remarked that she wanted to stop being 'a transient figure in my own life’, and with the engagement to Moyer she seems to have broken out of the work spiral that has dominated her existence since she tagged along after her sister to the open audition Jane Campion was holding in New Zealand for The Piano. Since then she has made 25 films in an impeccably plotted career path, from Zeffirelli’s Jane Eyre at 12 to Spike Lee’s 25th Hour at 18, via the blockbusting X-Men movies to the 2005 critical smash The Squid and the Whale. She has attended Columbia University (she only stayed a year, because she kept going off to make films), lived in New York and bought her own house in Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Today she is the proud owner of two rescue dogs, a border collie/springer spaniel cross called Splash and a Louisiana Catahoula leopard puppy – 'I swear to God that’s a real breed’ – called Banjo.
But having resolutely steered clear of film-industry parties and the red carpet she was horrified to find herself pounced on by paparazzi when she set off to walk her dogs the day after her engagement was announced. 'I’d barely changed out of my pyjamas and it was eight in the morning and about 40 photographers jumped out of the hedge,’ she says in her faint New Zealand accent. 'It was sort of creepy.’ She shakes her blonde ponytail in wonder. 'I was like, “You guys are going to get so bored. I ride my bike to my pilates class. I walk my dogs. I ride my bike to meet friends for coffee. I walk my dogs. I’d neither showered nor brushed my hair the morning they leaped out of the bushes, not that I’m massively into hair-brushing, anyway. Neither of us are used to it, so it’s a bit odd.’
What did her fiancé make of it? 'He was in London.’ What’s he like? 'Obviously he’s a complete monster. That’s an odd question. He’s lovely. He’s very funny. I’m definitely not on any level attracted to people who don’t have a good sense of humour. That’s how you get through the ups and the downs.’ She doesn’t seem to want to talk about Moyer, but says they clicked at once. 'The dynamic between Bill and Sookie being what it is, the fascination and attraction made it kind of hard to pinpoint where it ceased to be fiction, because that’s how we’ve always been around each other. But there was no massive revelation moment of, “Wow I fancy you.”’
She tells me she doesn’t worry he has two children from previous relationships, Billy, nine and Lilac, seven, and says she is not, as rumour has it, pregnant. So is she planning the wedding? 'No!’ she cries. But she holds out her hand to show me a lovely antique-looking ring with a round central stone. 'No, I’m not really that girl; we’re not really that couple. We’re happy and things are good and we’re not on any particular schedule and it’ll happen when we have time. The scheduling factor – my family’s all in New Zealand, his family’s all here…I don’t even know. Not right now.’
Is it daunting?
'No. It feels organic.
It’s more about being family than becoming Bridezilla overnight and wearing some big meringue wedding dress. That would scare the sh— out of me.’ She gives a shrug. 'I wasn’t the girl who spent hours dreaming of my wedding.’
She grew up in Wellington, the youngest of three. Her parents, Brian and Mary, were teachers, into organic food and vegetarianism ahead of their time. They divorced when Paquin was 12; her brother, Andrew, now makes films and helps run her production company, Paquin Films.
Her sister, Katya, is the head of the Green Party parliamentary advisory team and the girlfriend of the co-leader of the New Zealand Green Party. She has been fighting brain cancer for several years.
Paquin, who is regarded with reverence in her native country, recalls an athletic, outdoorsy childhood – 'I’m not sure anyone in my family can sit still for more than a few minutes without being really bored’ – dominated by making once-yearly films, carefully vetted by her parents for artistic merit. At 16 she moved from New Zealand to Los Angeles. 'I was away working more than I was home, so it became slightly pointless to pretend I still lived there.
At least when you are in Los Angeles and you’re working on a job and you have a day off you just go back to school,’ she remarks, her voice rising at the memory of what sounds a rather lonely and disconnected adolescence, flitting from America to New Zealand. 'As opposed to if you’re coming from another hemisphere and trying to hook up with your friends on your day or two off . I mean, you live out of a suitcase and you’re not home very often and you don’t see your friends and people don’t invite you to parties because you’re never around. I remember sitting in my room going, “Am I really around so little that I don’t even know who the cool people are and where the fun stuff is happening?”’
After a childhood like that it’s hardly surprising she wants a life of her own. But she still in some ways leads an arm’s-length existence. Her work days are often 18 hours long, on location at the Warner Bros sound stages in West Hollywood, or Louisiana, and almost all her scenes are with Moyer. We meet as she is passing through London on a promotional trip to Poland. She says she and Moyer hang out at restaurants in Venice Beach when she does get a night off back home. Who else does she spend time with on nights off? 'When I’m not at work?’ she asks, her voice rising with surprise. 'My friends are still in New York, because that’s where I lived for eight or nine years. So, you know, the people I work with. That’s where you meet people, that’s where you spend 18 hours a day.’
So what’s it like working with her fiancé every day? 'I love it.’ She grins, giving a shrug. 'Otherwise I’d never see him.’
- 'True Blood’ starts at 10pm on Wednesday on Channel 4
Boadicea | 10/05/2009 | Post Comment |
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Alexander Skarsgard's father cast in Thor - from Comic Book Movie: Stellan Skarsgård is ready for a role in action movie Thor
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Stellan Skarsgard was interviewed today, and he spilled the beans, stating that he has been cast in Thor, for a part that he can't reveal. The source isn't in English, so here it is translated:
"Stellan Skarsgård is ready for a role in action movie "Thor."
He will thus play against Hollywood star Natalie Portman.
The film, based on a comic book about the god Thor fighting criminals in today's world, is directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Everything is still secret about the script and Skarsgård can not reveal what role he will play.
'They wanted me to sign without reading the script. That I refused to do. Then they sent one to me that was so coded that I could only print one copy,' says Stellan Skarsgård to TT spectra.
Some time ago it was said that Stellan Skarsgård's son, Alexander Skarsgård, was on its way to the title role in "Thor." In the end however, it became Chris Hemworth, known from "Star Trek" who got the job.
The filming of "Thor" begins in spring 2010, with planned theatrical release in May 2011."
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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Anna Paquin in 'Trick 'r Treat' - from Fangoria:
Sunday, October 04, 2009 05:55 AM James Zahn A creepy, darkly comic celebration of the scariest night of the year with five tales set on Halloween night: suburban couple learns the lessons of blowing out a jack-o-lantern before midnight; a high school principal moonlights as a serial killer; the quest of a young virgin for that special someone takes a gruesome turn; a group of teens carries out a cruel prank; and a cantankerous old man battles a mischievous trick-or-treating demon.
Want to WIN a copy of TRICK 'R TREAT on DVD? FANGORIA is giving 10 lucky readers the chance to WIN! Enter below!
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Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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[Read entire article]
Spirit Halloween is based in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and has been operating for 26 years. Detzi said there are company-owned and consignment stores, which make up about one-third of the operations. The consignment stores share a percentage of sales with Spirit Halloween in exchange for operating under the company’s name.
Stores that sell 70 percent of inventory are considered to be doing well, Detzi said.
Spirit Halloween expects this year’s popular costumes will involve vampires, which are hot due to the popularity of the TV show “True Blood” and the movie “Twilight,” Detzi said.
“So far, the vampire is doing extremely well,” said John Hill, a district manager overseeing Spirit Halloween stores in Ventura County.
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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***SPOILERS***
| ***SPOILERS*** | ***SPOILERS*** |
From Robots and Vampires:
Reviewed by Christel I was so very excited when A Touch of Dead showed up on my doorstep! I have been looking forward to this book for quite some time now and it is always nice to get a Sookie fix between books. I don’t think I have made a secret of the fact that I love the Sookie Stackhouse series. It was one of the first series’ I read when I started reading avidly again. A Touch of Dead consists of 5 short stories that Mrs. Harris has written over the years in different anthologies. It is nice to have them all in one place and to tell the truth I hadn’t read 3 of the 5 so it was mostly new to me. Text is hidden - highlight to reveal text >>> Fairy Dust takes place early in the series just after Dead to the World and sheds some light on how Claudette was killed. Claudette is Claude and Claudine’s deceased sister. Sookie has had previous dealings with Claude and Claudine and they call upon her talent to help them find out who murdered their sister. Sort of a fairy “who done it”. Fairy Dust was originally published in Powers of Detection.
In the short story Dracula Night, Eric is all a fuss about having the perfect birthday party for the Prince of Darkness at Fangtasia. It is said that Vlad (Dracula) visits a different party every year on his birthday and Eric is just positive that it is his turn to host the Prince. Sookie is invited to the event and of course trouble ensues. Can poor Sookie go anywhere and not run into trouble? Dracula Night was published in Many Bloody Returns and occurs before Dead as a Doornail.
In One Word Answer we find out how Hadley (Sookie’s cousin) died. Sookie and Bubba (who is actually Elvis. Yes, the King.) are out raking leaves in the dark when a limo pulls up to Sookie’s house. Mr. Cataliades (supernatural attorney) has come to inform Sookie of Hadley’s death and also to inform her that she is the only heir to Hadley’s estate. But there is more to Hadley’s death than meets the eye and whether she wants to or not, Sookie will get to the bottom of it. The events in One Word Answer occur after Dead as a Doornail and the story was first available in the anthology Bite.
Lucky is a new story from Ms. Harris that occurs just after All Together Dead. Amelia and Sookie get a visit from Sookie’s supernatural insurance agent. He happens to be a witch, and the luckiest insurance agent in Renard county. Someone is curious about him and has broken into his office and has gone through his files. He needs to figure out who the culprit is and why they would do such a thing, so he goes straight to Sookie.
Gift Wrap begins with Sookie being alone Christmas. She is sad, a bit lonely and bored. A strange sound is coming from the woods behind her house and Sookie goes out hunting for the source. Lying naked and injured on the ground is a Were. Apparently Jason has loaned out the family land to a couple of Were packs so they can have a private place to work out their differences. Sookie’s constant need to help, leads her to nursing the handsome yet injured Were in her home. Perhaps Sookie will have a nice Christmas after all! Gift Wrap was originally published in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and occurs prior to Dead and Gone.
It is great to be able to read all of these shorts in one book and the little glimpses into what Sookie is doing between big events is quite interesting. For a girl who is so unpopular with the locals, she sure does seem to get asked for her help a lot! Sookie lives a non-stop adrenaline rush of a life and even in her down time exciting things happen. While I enjoyed reading all of the stories in this book, I think my favorite of the 5 would have to be Dracula night. We see a different side of Eric. His anticipation of a visit from the Price of Darkness is reminiscent of a child on Christmas eve waiting for Santa Claus.
A Touch of Dead hits shelves on October 6, 2009. I recommend you go and get yourself a copy. Your Sookie collection won’t be complete without this one. Authors website: Charlaine Harris
To discuss this book, please visit Robots and Vamps Book Club
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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A new rash of dramas about the undead might have even less staying power than Dracula at dawn By Kate Youde
Sunday, 4 October 2009
When the US vampire drama True Blood hits terrestrial TV on Wednesday it will be the latest in a rash of books and films injecting new blood into the genre.
But while aficionados are enjoying the genre's popularity, the first signs of a backlash are beginning: it is only a matter of time before we have had our fill.
After picking up fans and critical acclaim on the digital channel FX, the sexy US tale of waitress Sookie Stackhouse and her vampire love interest, from the creator of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball, is coming to Channel 4.
And it is not alone. Fuelled by the phenomenal success of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight quartet books – the second film adaptation of which hits cinemas in November – blood suckers are in vogue. The film Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant opens later this month; ITV2 will broadcast US drama The Vampire Diaries early next year, and Topshop has seen its clothes influenced by Hammer House of Horror fly off the shelves. Meanwhile Zone Horror, a digital channel dedicated to the dark side, enjoyed the strongest primetime ratings of its five-year history in July.
But Dr Helen Wheatley, senior lecturer in film and television studies at the University of Warwick and author of Gothic Television, said interest in vampires "comes and goes". She explained the first "glut" of TV programmes appeared in the 1970s, following the BBC's choice of vampire story Late Night Horror in 1968 as its first drama in colour "precisely because of the profusion of blood and gore". She added: "For me, it's not a new thing and it won't last forever and it'll come again."
Five thousand blood-thirsty fans will gorge on gothic flicks at the international Vampire Film Festival in New Orleans later this month. Exeter-based film-maker Joshua Gaunt, who is showing Here Lies Lucy: A Vampire Yarn, said it "was just the vampire genre's turn" to get the Hollywood treatment. "I think it's a good thing because it's getting people to take the genre seriously."
Tina Rath, who wrote her doctorate on the vampire in popular fiction, said the genre was "filling the gap that Harry Potter has left" among young adults. "Obviously, Stephenie Meyer has an enormous appeal on a certain level," she said. "Whether it will last is another matter." But she warned: "Dracula always rises from the grave."
True Blood
A possible successor to popular US gothic soap opera 'Dark Shadows' (1966-71) which, says Dr Wheatley, was "a bit like 'The Young and the Restless' with fangs".
New Moon
Second film in the Twilight vamrom series, which leaves teen girls weak at the knees as they follow Bella's relationship with a 104-year-old vampire.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
The latest fang-tastic release sees a young boy who is thrown into the world of vampires after a trip to a freak show.
Being Human
Take a 20-something vampire, werewolf and ghost, put them in a flat in Bristol and sit back and enjoy as they tackle 'normal life'. Aidan Turner stars as the vampire, Mitchell.
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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From UK's Daily Star:
4th October 2009 By Andy Lea
In sexy new Channel 4 drama True Blood, Anna plays Sookie Stockhouse, a telepathic waitress who falls for a 173-year-old vampire played by Brit actor Stephen Moyer.
And there was no real acting needed for the couple’s regular red-hot love scenes – because he’s become her real-life fiancé.
Anna, 27, says she had no plans to fall in love when she joined the show but describes their romance as a “happy surprise”.
And judging from these shots it’s no surprise the series has become a massive hit in the US where it became the HBO channel’s biggest hit since The Sopranos and Sex And The City.
Anna – who bagged an Oscar when she was 12 for her role in The Piano – admits she loved having such a sexy role. Uniform
She laughed: “It would be stupid if it was one of those shows where the couple who do it all the time were being draped with sheets so that you don’t see a nipple or wear bras during sex.
She said: “Maybe because I was a kid actor nobody expects me to do those kind of scenes but it’s a big part of our show.”
And when she’s not cavorting with her undead lover, she’s flashing the flesh in her skimpy waitress’ uniform.
She said: “You really feel like you’re wearing your underwear for the first week. It took a little getting used to. I’m practically naked the entire time.”
The series – penned by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball – is set in a parallel world where vampires have gone public and live in an uneasy truce with the human race.
But despite giving up drinking human blood for a new synthetic substance called True Blood, the living are still in fear of them.
And the first episode on Channel 4 on Wednesday night at 10pm will definitely leave you bloodthirsty for more.
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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| ***SPOILERS*** | ***SPOILERS*** | ***SPOILERS*** |
My sister and I have the same taste in books. But when she told me I had to read a series of books about a telepathic waitress who solves mysteries that envelop her in a world of vampires and other supernatural beings, I had to start wondering about her. But, since she is older and wiser - (right?)- I decided to take her word for it, visit the local bookstore, and picked up the first 3 books in the series, the Sookie Stackhouse Novels by Charlaine Harris:
- Dead Until Dark
- Living Dead in Dallas
- Club Dead
I finished those books, approximately 300 pages each, in three days. Without a doubt, I was hooked. And whenever someone my age (in my thirties here) starts talking about the Twilight series - you know the stories I am sure, with Edward, Jacob and Bella - I tell them they have to put down the kiddie books and pick up a novel for adults! Honestly, I much prefer following the story line of a 20-something year old telepathic waitress and her ties, whether they be romantic, friendships or simply tolerance, with the other characters in the book. Reading Twilight just makes my mind twist as Bella contemplates ending her human, high school life to be with a vampire boy. No-No-No!
In the Sookie Stackhouse novels, the star of the novels is obviously Sookie. She has a talent for reading people's minds, but at times it can be more of a curse. I mean, imagine dating when you are telepathic! You know every thought on your date's mind! Awful! So while she tries not to date - or freak out her friends - with her ability, there is something else peculiar going on. You see, synthetic blood was invented, so the seclusive vampire community came out of hiding since they no longer have to hunt humans and could drink the synthetic blood instead - like True Blood. (If that sounds familiar, that's because there is an HBO series called True Blood based off of the Sookie Stackhouse novels.)
Within minutes of seeing her first vampire, as it enters the bar that she works at, she realizes she has to save his life from people trying to steal his blood. From there, a romance blooms and she enters a world that most people can't fathom. There are other "supes", from shapeshifters to werewoves and witches to fairies. Sookie gets a better idea of why she is "special", and most supes accept her on some level because of her ability. But you see, it just seems like the little town Sookie lives in is a haven for trouble, often related to the supernatural. So Sookie used her telepathic abilities to help her human friends and the vampires through some heavy mysteries.
And of course, there is romance. The people who watch True Blood often love her boyfriend Bill. In fact, Anna Paquin is engaged in real life to her co-star Stephen Moyer. But, my sister and I are on "team Eric", thanks to reading the novels. Bill is so dull and not half as passionate as Eric! And honestly, while the Twilight fans are arguing over whether Bella should be with Edward or Jacob. They are all teenagers, people! It is so much more interesting to argue about whether Sookie should be with a vampire, shapeshifter, werewolf, werepanther or weretiger. Choices, choices, choices.
So here is a lowdown on the nine books I have read thus far.
Dead Until Dark: This is the introduction into Sookie's telepathic talent and the vampires that are emerging. There is a mystery for Sookie to solve, as women who are involved with vampires begin to die. And there is definitely some romance between Sookie, the vampire Bill and someone else who has taken a liking to our Sookie!
Living Dead in Dallas: Sookie has yet another mystery to solve as a coworker is murdered. Plus, when vampires save her life, she has to return the favor by using her telepathic skills to help solve a mystery for the vampires, as well.
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Club Dead: Vampire Bill is acting distant ... both emotionally and physically. So his boss Eric sends Sookie to a Vampire Bar in another state to help solve a mystery that revolves around Bill and what he is up to - and what he is up to is betrayal! Thankfully, Sookie is able to count on another hot "supe" to get through this mystery!
Dead to the World: This book is for all the people that love Eric. You see, Sookie finds him naked running along side the road. But although mystery starts there, it sure doesn't end. That's because Eric has amnesia! And the only one who can protect him from the deviants that cursed him is Sookie. Of course, she puts herself in the path of a lot of danger, hiding Eric. But she enjoys his company, as well, since he's still just as hot, but a helluva lot sweeter when he can't remember how he used to act.
Dead as a Doornail: A sniper is killing supes in the area! With so many "friends and family" in danger, Sookie knows she has to put a stop to this before too many supes die!
Definitely Dead: This is a fun book, as you get to meet some interesting characters - including witches and a closer look at a were tiger! Since Sookie is no longer with Bill, she starts working on a project with Were Tiger Quinn, which has the downfalls of some business with vampires ... and the perks of dating a were tiger! So what's the mystery? Well, Sookie's cousin Hadley, a vampire, has been murdered, and Sookie goes to New Orleans to uncover the mystery surrounding the death and the Vampire Queen.
All Together Dead: Sookie is all business here, as she is working for the Vampire Queen at a vampire summit! She is being used to sense when lies are afoot, to help her defend the Queen during her trial of the death of her husband. Crazy, but fun, as Sookie works with another telepathic to solve mysteries and murder that surround the summit.
From Dead to Worse: A lot is going on in this book. The short of it is that Hurricane Katrina (which happened before All Together Dead) already ravaged and hurt the territory that the Louisiana vampires held. But after the bombing and the death of even more high-level vampires, some other vamps have decided that Louisiana is up for grabs. So there is fighting, witchcraft and mystery - meanwhile Sookie learns a little more about why she has the gift that has helped her enter the dangerous supernatural world.
Dead and Gone: This is the last book I have read so far. It's probably one of the more gruesome ones. Where fairies live - let's just say it's not such a nice place. And since Sookie has ties with the secretive faes - they want her out of the way. Meanwhile, a young werepanther was murdered behind the bar where Sookie works. So trying to solve that murder, while simultaneously trying to avoid being killed by fairies leaves, plus she still has to deal with the very posessive Eric ... makes for a very busy, fun book that is hard to put down!
[Continue reading...]
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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True Blood's Bad Boy Stephen Moyer - from Twirlit:
Is it the sexy stare? The haunted, tortured soul? What is it about bad boys that makes them so hot? For the ones on TV, I think their chiseled jawlines and perfectly sculpted torsos may also have something to do with it.
Here are my Top 5 Hottest TV Bad Boys:
1. Ian Somerhalder
He was hot on Lost, but Ian’s hottness has reached new levels now that he’s playing Paul Wesley’sevil, sarcastic vampire older brother on the new CW hit The Vampire Diaries. With his dark hair, light eyes, sexy smirk (and strange resemblance to Chace Crawford), the 30 year-old from Louisiana began modeling at age 10. Offscreen he’s not so bad; he enjoys yoga, skiing and horseback riding. Sigh!
2. Sebastian Stan
Some people criticize Sebastian for looking kind of like a Chace Crawford/Penn Badgley hybrid, but I’m a big fan of the Romanian actor, who plays Serena’s mysterious beau Carter Baizen on Gossip Girl. He was also great on the show Kings, as the tortured, closeted prince who tried to cover up his true identity bypartying and womanizing. The 26 year-old has beenromantically linked to fellow GG co-star Leighton Meester. Sigh again.
3. Jeffrey Donovan
Okay, this one’s not so much a bad boy as he is a badASS. On USA’s Burn Notice,Jeffrey (who is 41? What??) plays lead Michael Westen, a kind of modern-day MacGuvyer who uses his spy skills to help regular people. Whether it’s detonating a bomb or driving in a high-speed car chase, Jeffrey’s constantly heating up the Miami coastline.
4. Josh Holloway
As soon as we heardSawyer’s southern drawl on Lost, we could tell he was a kind of misguided cowboy up to no good. But with his golden tan, rockstar hair and craterlike dimples, how can we resist Josh Holloway? The 40 year-old was born in California but moved to Georgia when he was a baby, so he considers himself a “Blue Ridge Mountain boy.”
5. Stephen Moyer
This Brit’s about to turn 40 also, but that doesn’t keep him from seducing his co-star (and now fiance!) Anna Paquin as the 173 year-old vampire Bill Compton on HBO’s True Blood. Stephen got his start in theatre, then hopped on the British tube before appearing in The Starter Wife and now TB. Anna is about to be a stepmom; Stephen has two children, a son named Billy and a daughter named Lilac.
Boadicea | 10/04/2009 | Post Comment |
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