Beat The Winter Chill With "Miami Vice"

One way to beat this year's winter chill is to watch the sun-drenched, "Miami Vice" TV series Complete Collection on DVD, not just for the numerous "Scarface" plot situations involving armed drug cartels, high rollers/exotic women, Jan Hammer's synth background themes and re-mastered 1980's classic rock music/stylized visuals, but to spot all the famous actors that got their start on the show.

Recognized as one of the most influential TV series of all time, for its Armani fashions, Dornaus & Dixon stainless steel handguns, 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 wheels and 39 foot Chris Craft Stinger 390/Scarab 38 KV boats, "Miami Vice" also introduced audiences to actor Don Johnson ("A Boy And His Dog") as 'Detective James "Sonny" Crockett', Philip Michael Thomas as 'Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs' and the brooding Edward James Olmos as 'Lieutenant Martin Castillo'.


Throughout its successful 5-season run, "Miami Vice" introduced dozens of up and coming actors including Liam Neeson, Jimmy Smits, Ed O'Neill, Dennis Farina, Bruce Willis, Burt Young, Michael Madsen, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Ving Rhames, Joe Morton, James Remar, Nathan Lane, Dean Stockwell, Bob Balaban, Kyra Sedgewick, John Heard, Julia Roberts, Richard Belzer, Laurence Fishburne, Ron Perlman, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Bill Paxton, Wesley Snipes, Brad Dourif, John Leguizamo, Vincent D'Onofrio, John Glover, Viggo Mortensen, Annette Bening, Lou Diamond Phillips, Melanie Griffith, Benecio del Toro, Kelly Lynch, Penelope Ann Miller, Harry Shearer, Gerrit Graham, Reni Santoni, Michael Wincott, Meg Foster, Chris Cooper, Matt Frewer, Tony Sirico, Amanda Plummer, Michael Chiklis and Ian McShane.


Musicians appearing in credible acting performances on the series included Gene Simmons, Phil Collins, Frank Zappa, Ted Nugent, Miles Davis, Glenn Frey, Willie Nelson and Sheena Easton.


Airing on NBC from 1984-1989, produced by Michael Mann ("The Keep"), "Miami Vice" was eventually written by, co-produced, then executive produced by Dick Wolf ("Law And Order") who brought a serious 'police procedural' format to the action series.


"Miami Vice" continues to air in syndication around the world including 'MBC Action' in the Arab World, 'Iris' in Italy, 'NRK3' in Norway, 'Viasat TV6' in Sweden, 'Viasat 3+' in Denmark, 'TV7' in Bulgaria, 'TV3' in Estonia, 'ZDF' in Germany and '111 Hits' in Australia.


Rumour has it that "Miami Vice" creator Anthony Yerkovich, who worked again with Mann on the shadowy 2006 "Miami Vice" feature, wanted a spin-off to the TV series titled "Castillo", focusing on the former long-haired DEA agent/martial artist, working the 'Golden Triangle' of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, later becoming the taciturn Lieutenant of the 1980's era Miami-Dade vice squad.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Miami Vice"...

"Thor: Tales Of Asgard"- Before The Hammer Came The Sword

Lionsgate Entertainment's "Thor: Tales Of Asgard" is the upcoming direct-to-video animated feature, the eighth in a series of animated films from Marvel Animation, based on Marvel Comics characters.

"...Approaching the age of adulthood, 'Thor' and 'Loki' go on a quest to find a sword known as the 'Elder Storn', the 'Sword of Surtur'."

Voice talent includes actors Matthew Wolf as 'Thor', Rick Gomez as 'Loki', Christopher Britton as 'Odin', Jay Brazeau as 'Volstagg', Paul Dobson as 'Hogun' and Jonathan Holmes as 'Fandral'.

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"Green Lantern: Emerald Knights"

Sneak Peek the new trailer supporting the animated feature "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights", an anthology film that tells a series of stories featuring various members of the 'Green Lantern Corps', including the aliens 'Abin Sur', 'Sinestro', 'Kilowog', 'Mogo' and 'Rori Dag'.

Directed by Chris Berkeley, Lauren Montgomery and Jay Oliva, the 'DC Universe Animated Original Movie' is a direct-to-video film project created by Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation, and DC Comics, produced by Bobbie Page.

The film features the voice talents of actors Nathan Fillion as 'Hal Jordan' aka 'Green Lantern', Elisabeth Moss as 'Arisia Rrab', Jason Isaacs as 'Sinestro', Kelly Hu as 'Laira', Henry Rollins as 'Kilowog', Roddy Piper ("They Live") as 'Bolphunga', Arnold Vosloo ("The Mummy") as 'Abin Sur' and Wade Williams as 'Deegan'.

"Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" will be released June 7, 2011.

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Petersen Joins The "Old Man's War"

According to reports, director Wolfgang Petersen ("Poseidon") will adapt author John Scalzi's 2005 science fiction novel "Old Man's War" as a tentpole release for Paramount, with writer David Self ("Road to Perdition"), attached to write the screenplay.

Paramount is also looking at adapting the book's sequels, "The Ghost Brigades" (published in 2006), followed by "The Last Colony" (2007) and "Zoe's Tale" (2008), depending on the success of the first novel's transition to the big screen.

"...'Old Man's War' follows the adventures of 'John Perry', a 75-year old retired writer, who joins Earth's military army, the 'Colonial Defense Forces'. Perry's mind is transferred to a new body, based on his original DNA, enhanced for enormous strength and supplemented with proprietary products.

"After receiving basic training on 'Beta Pyxis III', Perry's first engagement is with the 'Consu', an intelligent alien species. Perry improvises a tactic which enables the CDF to win this first battle. This is soon followed by other battles with the 'Whaidians' and the 'Covandu'.

"Now a war-seasoned veteran, Perry participates in the 'Battle for Coral', held by the 'Rraey', who destroy the CDF fleet. Perry and a small crew escape in a shuttle craft but are shot down by missiles, until rescued by the mysterious 'Ghost Brigades', Special Forces units of the CDF. The leader of the Ghost Brigades rescue team, 'Jane Sagan', looks like Perry's dead wife 'Kathy'..."

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Fox Renews "American Dad!"

According to Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, the Emmy-nominated Seth MacFarlane cartoon series "American Dad!" has now been renewed for a seventh season, bringing the series through the 2012-2013 season.

"...'American Dad!' follows the lives of ultra-conservative, staunch GOP supporter and CIA agent 'Stan Smith' (MacFarlane) and his eccentric family that includes 'Francine' (Wendy Schaal), his ditzy-but-lovable wife, 'Hayley' (Rachael MacFarlane), his 18-year-old left-wing hippie daughter, 'Steve' (Scott Grimes), his geeky, 14-year-old son, 'Roger' (Seth MacFarlane), the selfish and sarcastic cross-dressing space alien and 'Klaus' (Dee Bradley Baker), an attention-starved goldfish..."

"American Dad!" is a 20th Century Fox Television production. Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman serve as co-creators and executive producers, while Kenny Schwartz, Rick Wiener and Nahnatchka Khan serve as executive producers.

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"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

Syfy has picked up all 31 episodes of the TV series "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", planning a special network launch April 7, 2011.


Debuting on Fox, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, Warner Bros. Television and C2 Pictures (C2 was replaced by The Halcyon Company starting with Season 2).

The spin-off from the "Terminator" series of films, follows the lives of 'Sarah' (Lena Headey) and 'John Connor' (Thomas Dekker), following the events of director James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".

Production for the series was provided by "Terminator 2"/"Terminator 3" producers and C2 Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment (International) co-presidents, Mario Kassar/Andrew G. Vajna, C2 Senior Vice President James Middleton, David Nutter and Josh Friedman.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" was the highest-rated new scripted series of the 2007-08 television season.

The pilot episode, set in 1999, introduces Sarah, her son John and 'Cameron' (Summer Glau), a female 'Terminator' robot that has been re-programmed to protect John, as they are pursued by the killer 'T-888' Terminator robot 'Cromartie', sent back through time to assassinate John.

Sarah and John are also chased by FBI Special Agent 'James Ellison' (Richard T. Jones), named after author Harlan Ellison whose sci-fi concepts inspired James Cameron's original "Terminator" storyline.

Throughout the series Sarah becomes romantically involved with paramedic 'Charley Dixon' (Dean Winters), while John, frustrated with his life on the run, resolves to go on the offensive against 'Skynet', creators of the Terminators.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"...

Choose The Wrong Road And You're "Cactus"

Director Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan's 2008 debut feature "Cactus", is now available on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, starring Travis McMahon, David Lyons, Bryan Brown and Shane Jacobson.

"...'Cactus' begins with 'John Kelly' (Mcmahon) kidnapping 'Eli Jones' (Lyons) from his city residence and driving across regional Australia for three days. On the journey, John and Eli interact, as well as having a deadly run-in with a rogue cop (Brown)..."

"Cactus", budgeted at $90,000 was filmed in Australia's New South Wales in the cities of Bathurst, Broken Hill, Cobar, Sydney and Wilcannia.

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Clementi Cast In Latifah's "Single Ladies"

Australian actress Kassandra Clementi ("Offspring") has been cast in a supporting role as an 'intern' on the upcoming VH1 comedy-drama series "Single Ladies", from executive producer Queen Latifah.

Clementi joins series regulars Stacey Dash, LisaRaye McCoy and Charity Shea, in the 2-hour series premiere, from Latifah's Flavor Unit Entertainment, May 30th, 2011, as the basic cable network's first foray into the hour-long scripted genre. :

"...'Single Ladies' follows 'Val' (Dash), 'Keisha' (McCoy), and 'April' (Shea), three best friends with different philosophies on sex and relationships. Val is an ambitious aspiring fashion mogul who wants to find a true partner. Keisha is a former video dancer looking for a rich man 'to keep her in style', while April has supposedly found the perfect man and the perfect marriage..."

February 19, 2011 there was a "Single Ladies" open casting call in Atlanta to fill in the background of numerous scenes. According to casting director Bill Marinella ("Drop Dead Diva"), he was looking for :

"...Very chic and trendy '30-somethings' with an upscale, polished look and cool/funky hairstyles..."

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Vancouver Preps For "Underworld: Awakening"

Screen Gems' "Underworld: Awakening", the fourth entry in the "Underworld" vampire/werewolf film franchise, is currently prepping for a March 7, 2011 start in Vancouver, shooting to June 3, 2011.

To be lensed in 3-D by directors Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein, "Awakening", will star actress Kate Beckinsale reprising her role as the vampire 'Selene', for producers Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi and Len Wiseman:

"...After being held in a coma-like state for fifteen years, vampire 'Selene' (Beckinsale) learns she has a fourteen-year-old 'vampire/Lycan hybrid' daughter, named 'Nissa'. When Selene finds her, they unite to stop 'BioCom' from creating super Lycans that will kill them all..."

The previous 3 "Underworld" features, "Underworld" (2003), "Underworld: Evolution" (2006) and "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) internationally earned a box office total of $298,376,455.

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Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch"

From Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, Sneak Peek the new trailer supporting director Zack Snyder's Vancouver-lensed fantasy-action feature "Sucker Punch", written by Snyder with Steve Shibuya.

Premise follows a young girl in the 1950's about to be lobotomized as she attempts to escape the 'Lennox House' insane asylum with her inmate friends.

Cast of "Sucker Punch" includes Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung.

For "Sucker Punch", Snyder gathered most of the Vancouver-based production team who worked on "Watchmen", with principal photography starting September 2009, wrapping January 2010. The film will be released in IMAX and conventional theatres March 25, 2011.

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