Magnificent Maleficent
Today: Angelina makes her witchy debut, General Wesley Clark does the unthinkable, and AMC might have a dead body on its hands.
.The Call Sheet sifts through the day's glut of Hollywood news to find the stories even non-industry types care about. Today: Angelina makes her witchy debut, General Wesley Clark does the unthinkable, and AMC might have a dead body on its hands.
Disney has released a very early production photo of Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, the big baddie from the old-timey Sleeping Beauty cartoon who's now getting her side of the story told, in live action. Now, mind you, this is a Disney film, so Maleficent probably won't be quite as dark as Charlize Theron's Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Hemsworth, but she looks pretty scary in a glamorous way in this photo. In our opinion Maleficent should be a little older, but they're not going to put a big-budget film on Joan Allen's back, probably, so Angie Jolie-Pitt it is. Not much to analyze here, it's just Angela Jorlemon with a funky hat on, but there you have it. [Deadline]
Hahaha, oh sweet god America is doomed. Former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO, General Wesley Clark, who was also a presidential candidate at one point, is set to host a reality series called Stars Earn Stripes. (Get it? Like "Stars AND Stripes" if the person saying it talked like Madea?) So, yes, that is a real thing that's happening. And it gets realer. Contestants on the show include: Dean Cain, Nick Lachey, Picabo Street, and... Saving the best for last like Ms. Williams told us to... Todd Palin. Yes, Todd. Not Sarah. Not Bristol. Not even Levi. Or Track. Todd. Snowmobile, excuse me snow machine, riding Todd Palin will be competing with the rest of these fools in military style exercises. All the money is going to military charities, which is good, but still. Yikes, Gen. Clark. Yikes to you and yours. I mean, these were the best contestants they could get for a charity thing for troops? That's pretty bad. This whole thing sounds very bad. [Deadline]
Now that AMC's The Killing has closed its first case, will there be a third season? Not bloody likely (get it? bloody? killing? whee!), if the season finale's ratings are any indication. The finale brought in, across multiple viewings, 1.9 million viewers, which is down 39 percent from last season's blue balls of a finale, and is actually down 22 percent from the episode that came the week before it. Twenty-two percent of the penultimate episode's audience didn't even care to stick the thing out to the end. So that does not bode well for season 3. Which is fine, y'know? Like, who cares. Linden's gone. Plus, what other rainy miserable murder are they going to spend hours and hours lazily sifting through for two years? No one wants that. Let's just be done with it. Goodbye, The Killing. We do not need you anymore. [Entertainment Weekly]
On the topic of AMC shows, even though he ***SPOILER ALERT ALERT ALERT, SPOILER ALERT ALERT ALERT*** died twice, once as a human, again as a zombie, on the last season of The Walking Dead, actor Jon Bernthal is still humming along. He got cast in Frank Darabont's TNT pilot about gangsters, and now he's been called up to the bigtime. He'll be playing a role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. That's a pretty big deal! And seriously better than wandering around Georgia yelling "Rick, come on we gotta —" and then reacting to "Shane, no. No, Shane. We cannot do that." "But Rick! Come on, Rick. We gotta —" "No, Shane! Shane, no. We can't, Shane." Over and over and over again for years and years! Who wants to do that? Nobody. You're better off this way, Berny. [Deadline]
Outré comedian and respected film buff Tim Heidecker has been cast in a guest starring role on Comedy Central's Workaholics, so let's see if he's there for real or if it's all some kind of performance arty making-fun-of-it kinda thing. Either way, it's good news! [Entertainment Weekly]
The Critics' Choice TV Awards have been, uh, awarded, and there were a few nice nods to some good people. Good people like Giancarlo Esposito, who won Best Supporting Actor Drama for his EXPLOSIVE work on Breaking Bad last season. And other people like Amy Poehler who won for Parks & Recreation (she shared the award with Zooey Deschanel for New Girl, even though she is hands-down the worst thing about that otherwise perfectly good show); Christina Hendricks, who won Supporting Actress Drama for her wonderful season of Mad Men; and Louis C.K., who took Best Actor Comedy for his brilliant Louie. Critically chosen, Critics' Choices. [The Hollywood Reporter]