Movies

Born in 1951, Eric Overmyer began his television career writing for the medical drama St. Elsewhere. He then joined Homicide in its fourth season, where he met David Simon and the two formed a lasting creative partnership. Overmyer remained with Homicide until the series ended, and later co-wrote and executive produced Homicide: The Movie. He went on to write for Simon’s acclaimed series The Wire and co-created Treme with him, a show set in New Orleans.

I’ve been following the buzz around Wild Horse Nine, and the first photos released in Vanity Fair are really intriguing. It’s set in the early 70s, and everyone – Malkovich, Rockwell, the whole cast – is rocking some fantastic vintage looks. One shot, in particular, caught my eye: Malkovich, gun drawn, standing in front of these massive moai statues at night. It definitely hints at some serious, high-stakes action where his character, an older CIA agent, is in real danger. But apparently, it’s not all grim stuff. Malkovich actually described the script as very funny, though with a dark edge. He put it really well, actually – he said life is full of regret and sadness, and even if you can laugh about it, things don’t necessarily get better, and ultimately, life usually ends badly. Sounds like a compelling mix of humor and melancholy!

So, I was reading about the scrapped Buffy reboot pilot, and apparently, it didn’t go well at all. Word leaked to Variety that the issues weren’t the story, but how Chloé Zhao directed it – they said it felt too… minimal. Variety specifically said it was ‘undershot’ – meaning not enough camera angles – and the acting felt a bit lost because of it. They also barely showed Buffy herself! The showrunners, Lilla and Nora Zuckerman, were trying to fix it with rewrites, but it was no use. Apparently, someone decided that even reshoots wouldn’t save it, so they just canceled the whole thing. It’s funny, because the original Buffy pilot needed a lot of work too – they had to recast Willow with Alyson Hannigan and reshoot a bunch of stuff!

This show follows a familiar pattern: a group of wealthy women pretending to be friends while secretly undermining each other, leading to their own downfall. Everyone is struggling, the men are all problematic, and no relationship is healthy. The characters are constantly envious of others. While other shows in this vein, like The Better Sister and All Her Fault, offered compelling characters or surprising twists, this one feels predictable. Imperfect Women reveals the core mystery halfway through, but then continues on without any real surprises, making it feel drawn out and uninspired.

The show first ran weekly from 1989 to 1996, pitting everyday athletes against professional strongmen and women in challenges of strength and quickness. It was then revived for two seasons on NBC in 2008, with Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as hosts. Now, the competition is back for another reboot.

Based on Araminta Hall’s novel and adapted for television by Annie Weisman (known for shows like Physical and Based on a True Story), Imperfect Women is a gripping series that will keep you on the edge of your seat and eager to see what happens next.

Lisa and I used to get together for lunch every few weeks, and then we’d inevitably start wondering what our friend Valerie would be up to, according to Michael C. Hall at SXSW. He was there with the first episodes of the third and final season of The Comeback, which they’re now calling a trilogy, and the audience of dedicated fans loved it. The new season starts airing on March 22nd.

Picking the best animated shows ever made is tough! The list includes everything from shows everyone can enjoy, like Hey Arnold!, to more adult-focused series such as Love, Death, & Robots. However, some truly excellent shows didn’t make the list simply because they weren’t widely remembered. This wasn’t due to a lack of quality, but because they faced tough competition, poor promotion, or were simply too innovative for their time.

The One Ring has become a pop-cultural icon, especially in its depiction in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. But deep within Tolkien’s lore was another, more powerful “ring.” It belonged not to Sauron but to his master: Morgoth, the original Dark Lord. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Tolkien’s son, Christopher, collected much of his father’s unpublished Middle-earth lore in a series of twelve volumes called The History of Middle-earth, and the tenth volume was titled Morgoth’s Ring. This book covered several topics, but the one for which it was named was a dark truth about The Lord of the Rings‘ setting. Morgoth did not literally possess a magical ring; the Rings of Power were strictly Sauron’s inventions, and he did not create them until long after his master’s defeat in the War of Wrath. Rather, Christopher drew the title from a metaphor that his father had used in one of his essays, “Notes on Motives in The Silmarillion.” In this essay, Tolkien wrote that “the whole of Middle-earth was Morgoth’s Ring.”

IDW Publishing announced that The Rocketeer is returning in a new comic book series! Titled The Rocketeer: Infiltrator, it will be available on July 8th and features the work of creators Gabriel Hardman (known for Batman and Green Arrow) and Dean Kotz (The Savage Sword of Conan). The story is set during World War II, where Allied planes are being destroyed by what some believe is a secret Nazi weapon. Cliff Secord, a.k.a. The Rocketeer, and actress Betty Paige will go undercover to investigate, promising a thrilling adventure for fans of the classic franchise.