Random Thoughts

joey con carne wrote:Resident Evil looks mildly interesting.

It's always interesting watching these types of zombie shows or movies. It's always in an alternate universe where no one has ever heard of zombies before.

Just once, I would love to see a zombie show or movie where the characters know exactly how to deal with zombies due to all the movies and shows they've seen about it.

Gunfire outside a North Carolina comedy club where comedian Craig Robinson was set to perform Saturday night sent the comedian and the audience scrambling, police said.

The gunman entered The Comedy Zone in Charlotte just after 9 PM and brandished a gun, demandng that everyone leave the club. That caused the audience, including Robinson, to head to a next-door venue for safety.

Robinson, aka “Darryl” from “The Office,” posted to Instagram about the experience

“I’m performing at the Comedy Zone in Charlotte, North Carolina. There was an active shooter in the comedy club. So they moved us over to this — there’s a concert going on so I thought I’d just share with y’all,” said “The Office” star.

“I’m safe. I’m cool. It was wild I was in the green room and they’re like ‘everybody get out!’ It was a moment for sure.”

The gunman later randomly shot outside the club. No injuries were reported and the gunman was arrested.

joey con carne wrote:It’s okay. They’re rich!

Sucks to hear about Resident Evil sucking. Although, with their track record of shit movies, I should not be surprised. I’ll read the wiki.

How was the latest movie, Raccoon City?

WyldeMan wrote:

Hey maybe they can reunite with Kevin Smith for Jersey Girl 2.

Rusty wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:

Hey maybe they can reunite with Kevin Smith for Jersey Girl 2.

As terrible an idea as that is, Kevin Smith would jump at the chance - and it would still struggle to hit $30m at the box office  

Emilia Clarke, best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen in "Game of Thrones", has opened up about two terrifying brain aneurysms she suffered while filming the show.

The 35-year-old told listeners of BBC One's "Sunday Morning" on 17 July: "The amount of my brain that is no longer usable — it's remarkable that I am able to speak, sometimes articulately, and live my life completely normally with absolutely no repercussions. I am in the really, really, really small minority of people that can survive that."

The actor has previously spoken about her health concerns and launched her own charity to support those with brain injuries and their loved ones through recovery in 2019. The actor raised over £200,000 for the charity — which is called SameYou — in a live stream with Irish YouTuber Jacksepticeye in 2019, and raised hundreds of thousands more at other fundraisers.

In her recent interview, she said: "There's quite a bit [of brain] missing! Which always makes me laugh. Because strokes, basically, as soon as any part of your brain doesn't get blood for a second, it's gone. And so the blood finds a different route to get around but then whatever bit is missing is therefore gone."

Clarke's battle with brain injury started in 2011. After the filming of "Game of Thrones" season one, the British star suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage, a life-threatening type of stroke brought on by bleeding around the brain. The then 24-year-old was given brain surgery and suffered from a frightening bout of aphasia (difficulty with language or speech) and couldn't even recall her own name for about a week. Fortunately, she recovered and was able to return to work as normal.

However, her health concerns returned. After two more seasons of filming for the hit HBO show, Clarke was brought back into hospital again, this time for surgery on a growing lump on her brain. Since then, the award-winning actress has suffered with paralysing headaches.

Traumatising injuries aside, Clarke has gone on to receive a number of impressive accolades. The Londoner has been awarded an Empire Award, a Saturn Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, seven Screen Actors Guild Awards, and she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2019.

Despite the scary incidents, Clarke's acting career has continued to flourish over the past decade. She might not be appearing in the HBO's new "House of the Dragon" series, but she has upped her acting credits in a number of successful films, such as "Me Before You", "Solo: A Star Wars Story", and "Last Christmas". Her career has gone from strength to strength, and we hope her health continues to follow this trajectory.

A24’s highest grossing movie ever, the martial arts fantasy Everything Everywhere All at Once, is going wide again in cinemas on July 29.

The latest cut from Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, which took off like a rocket ship from its SXSW world premiere, will include a new introduction from the filmmakers and eight minutes of outtakes.

The set-up for the pic has Michelle Yeoh playing a small business protagonist who can’t seen to finish her taxes. Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis also star.

The pic has been saving grace for arthouses, which in the wake of closing during the 2020 pandemic, have faced the slow return of older moviegoers. Everything Everywhere All at Once dynamited the over 25 crowd out of their homes in Comscore/Screen Engine audience exits with a domestic gross of $67.95 million and counting and a global haul near $94M.

A24 is planning a push the Ley Line Entertainment co-financed feature this awards season. The Daniels’ directed movie is 95% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 89%.

A24 has another well-received SXSW premiere hitting theaters on Aug. 5, the Pete Davidson horror comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies which is getting sneaked down here at San Diego Comic-Con.

A24 previously did a re-release of a longer director’s cut of another summer hit, Ari Aster’s Midsommar, in August 2019. That pic’s running time when from 147 minutes to 171 minutes.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I work on Saturdays and I've been busy today. I've been catching up on all the trailers though.

I thought SDCC was dead. I thought they went virtual after COVID? Looks like it's back to how it was. I don't understand how people do it. I can't imagine waiting hours and long lines for anything.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Yeah, I've already listened to the first one. Every time I'm driving to work, I'm listening to podcasts. Michael mentioned this in his other podcast Inside of You before. They are also coming out with an animated Smallville series too, I don't know when.

joey con carne wrote:I only recently learned Christopher Judge, the guy on the left with the swirl on his forehead, did the voice for Kratos in 2018's God of War.

Neat-o.

Anyone here play God of War? Shit is crazy.

WyldeMan wrote:I've never played God of War but I didn't know about Judge doing voice work. Stargate is the only thing I've ever known him from.

You might recognize Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks since they're Canadian actors who have either appeared in or directed pretty much every tv series to come out of Canada over the last twenty years, especially Tapping.

joey con carne wrote:Stargate is the only work you know?

Dude! You missing out on his best film: The massive SyFy hit Mega Shark vs Mecha Shark !!! He starred in that one with Elisabeth Röhm. A must see.

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Amanda Tapping or Michael Shanks. If they did any SyFy flicks, though, I would definitely watch.

Tyger wrote:I loved the Stargate movie when it came out and watched it in cable all the time so I loved the idea+of the show, but I was not into it at all. I don’t think I even finished the first season and haven’t watched the show or movie since.

Rusty wrote:

Tyger wrote:I loved the Stargate movie when it came out and watched it in cable all the time so I loved the idea+of the show, but I was not into it at all. I don’t think I even finished the first season and haven’t watched the show or movie since.

That's how it happened for me. Really enjoyed the movie but the TV show just didn't click the same way.

Tyger wrote:I think even though Jason apologized for it, he said he had no idea she was going to be served on stage

joey con carne wrote:Holy shit, tell me more about that serving. Gonna have to youtube it or something.

okay I saw it. Pretty anticlimactic. She was probably avoiding those papers for a while (pretty easily with her security near her all the time). Getting them to her this way was pretty nice.

And after googling Florence Pugh, I learned that's the name of the lady in Black Widow. Neat-o.

UltimateMarvel wrote:I'm just seeing this now. That is some savage shit but also deserved! LOL Styles did nothing wrong though, it's all her fault.

WyldeMan wrote:
Grantged, from the sound of it Olivia Wilde spreads like peanut butter and has likely fucked a bunch of other dudes before Styles but Styles was still fucking his boss, a rocked up older woman with two young kids and he took so little care that they did it at work and didn't care if people found out. I wouldn't exactly say that was nothing and If he's pulling this shit at the very start of his career, what's next?

Rusty wrote:Styles comes from the biggest boy band of his generation, so I'd say his perception on hookups doesn't really interfere with his "career".

What was wholly fucking awesome about this is that despite him hooking up with a chick he knew was married with kids; and her being the whore who cheated on her husband and two kids; is that she came out with some bullshit about how Styles (I'll be paraphrasing this bit) "has no trace of toxic masculinity" and "how great it is that men like him are the future of the world".

What a cunt.

WyldeMan wrote:So they've unsealed the trial documents from Heard/Deppand and as it turns out Heard was briefly an "exotic dancer" in the early years of her acting career. Depp's team suggested she was also an escort. None of this was allowed at trial.

WyldeMan wrote:Lightyear hit Disney+ today.

Rusty wrote:Styles comes from the biggest boy band of his generation, so I'd say his perception on hookups doesn't really interfere with his "career".

What was wholly fucking awesome about this is that despite him hooking up with a chick he knew was married with kids; and her being the whore who cheated on her husband and two kids; is that she came out with some bullshit about how Styles (I'll be paraphrasing this bit) "has no trace of toxic masculinity" and "how great it is that men like him are the future of the world".

What a cunt.

Kevin Spacey must pay House of Cards producer MRC nearly $31 million for alleged sexual misconduct behind the scenes of the Netflix show, a judge ruled today, saying it was not even a “close case.”

Spacey, now 63, played Frank Underwood on House of Cards and was cut from the series after allegations surfaced he sexually preyed on young men. The accusations, which included the alleged groping of a production assistant, caused MRC to conduct an investigation and ultimately terminate his acting and producing contracts.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mel Red Recana today confirmed an award handed down previously by an arbitrator in October 2020 in MRC’s favor consisting of some $29.5 million in damages and the remainder in costs and fees. The arbitrator found that Spacey’s conduct constituted a material breach of his acting and executive producing agreements.

Even in a close case, the arbitrator’s award must stand, Judge Recana wrote in his 14-page ruling.

“Here, [Spacey] fails to demonstrate that this is even a close case,” the judge said.

The judge noted that a November 2017 article on CNN.com contained allegations that Spacey engaged in a pattern of sexually predatory behavior directed at young crew members on the set of House of Cards and that once MRC became aware of the accusations, it suspended the actor, investigated, wrote Spacey out of the show’s final season and ended his acting and executive producing contracts.

Spacey attorney Jonathan E. Phillips argued that the award should be vacated, alleging the arbitrator exceeded the scope of his powers when he considered external evidence in deciding damages.

The arbitrator concluded that Spacey breached the agreements through his interactions with five specific crew members, who only came forward as part of MRC’s solicitation of allegations against Spacey, including the internal investigation MRC initiated only after Netflix made the decision to exclude Spacey from season six, Phillips and Spacey’s other attorneys further alleged in their new court papers.

While Spacey disagrees with the arbitrator’s factual findings and maintains that he did not sexually harass anyone, he understands and accepts that the arbitrator’s findings on that issue “are entitled to deference,” Spacey’s lawyers stated in their court papers.

“However, because the arbitrator committed — namely, the damages awarded to [MRC] are not rationally related to the specific breaches found by the arbitrator — [Spacey] is entitled to an order from this court vacating the award,” Spacey’s attorneys said in court papers.

But Judge Recana wrote that he was “not compelled to infer that the arbitrator’s award was not based on the breach of the parties’ agreements or that it was based on an [external] source.”

PREVIOUSLY in November: An arbitrator has ruled in favor of MRC, the production company behind House of Cards, in its case against Kevin Spacey over his firing from the show as he faced allegations of sexual misconduct.

The ruling, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, awarded MRC $29.5 million in damages and $1.4 million in attorneys fees and costs. MRC had sought the damages for lost revenue due to Spacey’s exit.

Arbitrator Bruce Friedman’s 46-page ruling was made final in October of 2020 and remains confidential, but its results became public on Monday when MRC filed a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking to confirm the award. (Read it here) A three-judge arbitration panel also rejected an appeal from Spacey and his production entities, Profitt Productions and Trigger Street Productions.

In a statement, MRC said, “The safety of our employees, sets and work environments is of paramount importance to MRC and why we set out to push for accountability.”

In MRC’s motion, it said that Friedman “found that Spacey—as a result of certain conduct in connection with several crew members in each of the five seasons that he starred in and executive produced House of Cards— had repeatedly breached his contractual obligations to provide his services ‘in a professional manner’ and ‘consistent with [MRC’s] reasonable directions, practices, and policies,’ including MRC’s Harassment Policy—all without the knowledge of MRC.”

MRC’s attorney, Michael Kump of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley LLP, said, “It was a privilege representing MRC in this matter. MRC stood its ground, pursued this case doggedly, and obtained the right result in the end.”

An attorney for Spacey did not immediately return a request for comment.

House of Cards was one of Netflix’s early breakout hits, establishing the streamer’s strategy of dropping all episodes at once and making Spacey almost indelibly linked to his Machiavellian character Frank Underwood. He was set to do season six of the series, but that those plans were derailed as sexual misconduct allegations against him came to light.

In October, 2017, Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making unwanted sexual advances when Rapp was 14. Spacey apologized, and in a statement on Twitter and said that he was “beyond horrified to hear his story.” “I want to deal with this honestly and openly, and that starts with examining my own behavior,” he wrote.

But CNN also published a report with allegations from eight anonymous crew members, complaining of harassment, groping, MRC suspended production to conduct an investigation. Based on the findings of a workplace investigator, MRC concluded that Spacey breached his acting and producing agreements “that set standards for his workplace conduct, including by breaching MRC’s Harassment Policy,” according to MRC’s filing.

The series went for one more season with Robin Wright in the lead, but MRC pursued a claim against Spacey in 2019, contending that it lost money by forcing rewrites of the entirety season six and truncating it from 13 episodes to just eight.

According to MRC, the arbitration hearing included 8 days of live testimony and 20 hours of videotaped deposition testimony.

“With one exception, the Arbitrator found the third party witnesses to be credible, and found the allegations against Spacey to be true,” according to MRC’s filing.

Spacey  also filed a counterclaim, alleging that he was owed money after he was dropped from the series and that he did not breach the contract. But that claim also was rejected in the arbitration. In recent years, Spacey has taped a series of Christmas Eve messages that he has posted on social media.

Source: Deadline