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Driven by still nascent streamers and pay-tv platforms in the region, Middle East producers are rethinking formats and storylines for Arabic TV dramas, adapting some Western shows and venturing beyond the constraints of so-called Ramadan soaps and skeins that have long been the bulk of their output.

Netflix, after entering the Middle East market in 2016, recently announced its first Arabic original series, “Jinn,” in which the lives of a group of present-day teenagers in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra are disrupted by a supernatural being who is their age.

The six-episode show will be directed by Lebanon’s Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, whose dark comedy debut “Very Big Shot” made a splash, and written by Bassel Ghandour who penned Jordan’s Oscar-nominated “Theeb.”

Leading Middle East pay-tv operator Osn recently picked up groundbreaking show “Qalb Al Adala” (“Justice”), inspired by “L.A. Law,” but based on real cases from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Dept.

When Leslie Almiron discovered a lump in her breast in 2016, it was by accident. The pendant on her necklace had fallen off and landed in her bra. When the then 22-year-old reached in to retrieve it, she felt her hand brush up against something. At first, she didn’t think much of it and hopped in the shower. But while she was showering, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. So she felt around again, and this time, she couldn’t deny that there a lump.

Almiron immediately called her mom and asked her what to do.

Leading Dubai-based indie distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has struck a deal with the Svod service iflix, a key streamer for the emerging markets, for Egyptian sitcom Tough Luck. Under the deal, iflix will board as co-producers for the series with Front Row, Kncc and Shadows Communications and will additionally take exclusive Svod rights for the show in the Middle East and North Africa, South East Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Central America, Asia Pacific and…...

Leading Dubai-based indie distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has teamed with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Ehab Sergany and Ahmed Helmy's Shadows Communications to produce Egyptian sitcom Tough Luck with an all-star Arab cast. It's the first TV venture for Front Row and Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim will take leading roles. Tough Luck is currently shooting in Cairo and will consist of two seasons of 30×30 episodes to be shot back to back. The companies are…...

Egyptian show Tough Luck will feature an all-star Arab cast.

Middle East and north Africa distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is in production on its first regional television venture in the form of Tough Luck, an Egyptian sitcom lead by Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim.

The company is financing and producing the Arabic-language project with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Shadows Communications, the production arm of producer Ehab Sergany [pictured right] and actor Ahmad Helmy.

Helmy will have guest appearances in the show, joining a cast that is also due to include Ahmad Sakka, Mona Zaki, Mai Kassab, Ahmad Fahmi, Shiko, Nicole Saba, Hisham Majed, Baoiomy Fouad, Hassan Al Radad and others.

Director and writer is Akram Fareed, known for hit 2007 romance Omar & Salma.

Singers Mohammed Fouad, Bousi, Hisham Abbas, Mustapha Qamar and belly-dancer Fifi Abdo will also feature.

The show depicts a comedy of errors befalling residents in a dilapidated tenement of Cairo’s fifth district, as a series...

Egyptian show Tough Luck will feature an all-star Arab cast.

Middle East and north Africa distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment is in production on its first regional television venture in the form of Tough Luck, an Egyptian sitcom lead by Sharif Ramzi and Mai Selim.

The company is financing and producing the project with the Kuwait National Cinema Company and Shadows Communications, the production arm of producer Ehab Sergany and actor Ahmad Helmy [pictured right].

Helmy will have guest appearances in the show, joining a cast that is also due to include Ahmad Sakka, Mona Zaki, Mai Kassab, Ahmad Fahmi, Shiko, Nicole Saba, Hisham Majed, Baoiomy Fouad, Hassan Al Radad and others.

Singers Mohammed Fouad, Bousi, Hisham Abbas, Mustapha Qamar and belly-dancer Fifi Abdo will also feature.

The show depicts a comedy of errors befalling residents in a dilapidated tenement of Cairo’s fifth district, as a series of handymen, labourers and nannies attempt to fix the crumbling building...

Tired of status quo changing events? Tough luck, because next up for Marvel is Secret Empire from writer Nick Spencer and artists Steve McNiven and Andrea Sorrentino. The nine issue series kicks off in May with a #0 issue going on sale the month before, and it promises to bring the past year or so's Captain America stories to a head as the Hydra controlled Steve Rogers finally unleashes his plans. "Steve has been kind of lining his dominoes up around the Marvel Universe to be able to make his move and bring about a Hydra revolution, a takeover," says Tom Brevoort. "At the point of ‘Secret Empire,’ they are ready to go. That’s the moment we hit as we go in. We are done with the covert portion, the buildup portion of the program, ‘Secret Empire’ if the pyrotechnics, the big Michael Bay blockbuster, huge colossal struggles and battles across the Marvel Universe,...

Anna Biller’s critically adored and highly anticipated paean to the lush filmmaking style of the 1960s is finally going to materialize on a theater screen near you. Probably next month. Assuming the goddesses are smiling down upon you. The Love Witch will begin its run in select theaters on November 11 in Austin, Los Angeles and San Francisco, before hitting the east coast on the 18th and Chicago on the 25th. The official website has a full list of cities and theaters. (Tough luck if you live in some place like Rochester, NY. But, let’s be honest, no one worth mentioning lives there.)

In anticipation of her film’s release, Biller created this courtesy PSA to be shown before the show in theaters where it’s heading. It features Samantha Robinson as the titular Love Witch making a pretty good case for why we should all do her ...

Not a fan of the Transformers franchise? Tough luck! Paramount Pictures has today announced plans to release three more instalments in the franchise, the first of which we knew about. That’s the Michael Bay helmed Transformers 5 which is set to be released on June 23rd, 2017 (the same weekend that DC Comics adaptation Wonder

The post Annual release dates for Transformers 5, 6, and 7 revealed appeared first on HeyUGuys.

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The Last Panthers builds from a slow start into an ambitious, strongly acted drama where the political meets the personal...

Until relatively recently, it was commonly accepted that British TV audiences just didn’t ‘do’ subtitles. Films and programmes in languages other than English were generally relegated to specialist channels with specialist audiences; your BBC4s, Sky Arts and such like. Prior to that, they’d appear at somewhat late hours on BBC2 and Channel 4 (themselves once regarded rather ‘specialist’). There they would be enjoyed by the sort of viewer who would seek them out anyway; never quite becoming the sort of show that thousands of people stumble across and turn into conversation fodder at office watercoolers the next day.

The success of The Killing changed all that. Ten hours of bleak Scandinavian noir, presented entirely in Danish and lapped up by British audiences who eagerly...

Much like the role-playing genre, life is a grind. Responsibility to others and the duties required by circumstance make up any honorable existence where you can’t always get what you want. It’s hard, no way around it, and it doesn’t let up until the end of the game. It’s no wonder then that many of the genre’s stories bombard the player with drama amidst a somber world’s nearing ruin. The clock is ticking on us all, but while there’s no escape from the inevitable misfortune, there is also no choice but to soldier on. Surprisingly, one of the best examples of this philosophy came in the form of a now rare Gameboy game, Square’s Final Fantasy Adventure.

Final Fantasy Adventure was not your typical example at the time of a series that was just beginning its eventual skyrocket in popularity with the...

Tough luck, hardcore Fifty Shades of Grey fans: Looks like you'll have to check your whips at the door. AMC Theaters crushed the dreams of role-playing Christian Grey aficionados across the United States on Thursday when it announced that moviegoers are banned from bringing "weapons" to screenings of the erotic romance. "While we welcome those guests who want to show their excitement for a film by dressing up in costume, we do not permit weapons (real or fake), or props/costumes that would make guests uncomfortable, or detract from the moviegoing experience," AMC Theaters spokesperson Ryan Noonan told Mashable. That includes whips,...

Babylon, Season 1: Episode 2 – “Maze Hill”

Written by Jon Brown

Directed by Jon S. Baird

Airs Thursday nights at 10 on SundanceTV

It’s much more clear from “Maze Hill” where Babylon‘s interests lie in terms of form and tone. This is, refreshingly, a 45-minute comedy that doesn’t feel stretched or unnatural. Few series in recent television history have earned that distinction, and while the series isn’t groundbreaking in its content or particularly impressive otherwise in a mid-season teeming with worthwhile television, Babylon carves a niche for itself that it occupies perfectly well.

As was the case with last week’s premiere (SundanceTV has added their own titles to the episodes, it seems, so the premiere was actually called “Cravenwood”), stars Brit Marling and James Nesbitt do much of the heavy lifting. Now, though, the rest of the cast comes together better through more pronounced familiarity. Tom (Jonny Sweet), for instance,...

An animated musical inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream with a story from George Lucas is headed to theaters this coming January, Disney announced Tuesday.  Touchstone Pictures will release Lucasfilm's Strange Magic Jan. 23, 2015. The film's musical qualities are Moulin Rouge-like, as it features pop songs from the "past six decades," and features the voices of some musical theater heavyweights like Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth. Evan Rachel Wood, Maya Rudolph, and Alfred Molina are among the others in the cast. Though Lucas conceived the story, the movie is directed by Gary Rydstrom, who wrote the screenplay with David Berenbaum of Elf and Irene Mecchi,...

No one got eliminated Monday on Dancing with the Stars but there were lots of new - and hazardous! - moves going on under the mirror ball. "Bang Bang" singer Jessie J had the unenviable task of guest judging on a night that involved switch ups among the duos - and not everybody got the partner they deserved. (Tough luck, Michael Waltrip!) Here's how everyone scored: Antonio Sabato Jr. and Allison Holker. It was hard for the soap star to keep up with the well-toned pro while doing Bollywood - but hanging above the floor via a cable was a big crowd pleaser!

No one got eliminated Monday on Dancing with the Stars but there were lots of new – and hazardous! – moves going on under the mirror ball.

"Bang Bang" singer Jessie J had the unenviable task of guest judging on a night that involved switch-ups among the duos – and not everybody got the partner they deserved. (Tough luck, Michael Waltrip!)

Here's how everyone scored:

Antonio Sabato Jr. and Allison Holker. It was hard for the soap star to keep up with the well-toned pro while doing Bollywood – but hanging above the floor via a cable was a big crowd pleaser! "I felt...

No one got eliminated Monday on Dancing with the Stars but there were lots of new - and hazardous! - moves going on under the mirror ball. "Bang Bang" singer Jessie J had the unenviable task of guest judging on a night that involved switch ups among the duos - and not everybody got the partner they deserved. (Tough luck, Michael Waltrip!) Here's how everyone scored: Antonio Sabato Jr and Allison Holker. It was hard for the soap star to keep up with the well-toned pro while doing Bollywood - but hanging above the floor via a cable was a big crowd pleaser!

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the season 2 finale, “Declaration of Independence.” If you haven’t watched, proceed at your own risk.

To be completely honest, Revolution’s second season was what its first season should have been: dark, gritty, and edgy. I will say this, though — as much as the show had its ups and downs, it really did attempt to reinvent and revitalize itself by taking notice of what didn’t quite work during the first season (spoiler alert: pretty much everything.) Season two was a vast improvement over season one, the kind of growth that, if this was 15-20 years ago,...

Yes, I’m a day late to observe the 10th anniversary of Friends’ series finale. However! It’s always the right time to celebrate the song stylings of one Phoebe Buffay, the best/worst singer/songwriter of the mid-late ’90s and early-mid ’00s. (Tough luck, Lisa Loeb.)

Looking at this list, you may be surprised to see that Phoebe sang as often as she did. (I certainly was after I agreed to write this post!) Given that, I had to set down some ground rules: I’m only counting original songs that Phoebe intended to perform, which means both her...

There is no Nobel Prize for Cinema, but there should be. Not that it’s anyone’s fault, of course. Alfred Nobel put aside the funding for the five prizes (Medicine, Peace, Physics, Chemistry and Literature) in his will, and he died in 1896. It seems entirely likely that the Swedish inventor and philanthropist never even saw a single film projected in his life. Why would he set aside some of his fortune to reward the practitioners of an art form that had been around for less than a decade? I suppose one could leave it at that. Tough luck, cinema. But in 1969 the Swedish Academy began giving out the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. If they can grant an annual award to a fake science, then they can certainly do the same for an entirely real art. What would such a prize look like? It should probably take most of the parameters of the Nobel Prize...

You visiting NYC ... forget the Statue of Liberty -- Closed  Poor women who need help feeding babies:  Tough Luck, Wic -- CLOSEDYou work at the IRS?  Good luck making your rent this month.But, if you're the President of the United States and need to chill in the woods, you're in luck, because Camp David -- Open For Business.Several government officials tell TMZ ... most of the Camp David employees are still on the job...

I refuse to call this a remake because I don’t think you can remake something that was originally a work of literature. But call it what you will, here’s the low-down: Steven Speilberg and his team at DreamWorks are looking to adapt John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes Of Wrath.

Spielberg and his team are right now in talks with the Steinbeck estate for the rights to the book. They want to adapt it as a new feature film with Spielberg to produce, but not direct. Next year is the 75th anniversary of The Grapes Of Wrath, so if Spielberg can get the rights and produce the film before the end of the year, it will coincide perfectly. Spielberg’s team actually beat out Robert Redford and producer David Kennedy (Dark Shadows), who were looking to make the book into a miniseries for FX. Tough luck, Bob.

For...

This is why "Mad Men" is still TV's best drama.

My confidence may have been shaken by last week's uneven installment -- one of three average, momentum-stunting, episodes this season along with "The Flood" and "Man with a Plan" -- but as we've seen repeatedly in the past, be patient with "Mad Men" and you will be rewarded.

"Favors" was downright masterful in its confluence of storylines, major reveals and welcome callbacks. This was "Mad Men" craftsmanship at its finest, and while it provided several miserable developments in the characters' lives, it made us incredibly happy as viewers.

[Note: In the spirit of showrunner Matthew Weiner declaring that this season is about Dr. Arnold Rosen telling Don, "People will do anything to alleviate their anxiety," we're tracking the happiness of key characters week by week.]

The "Mad Men" happiness index, week ten:

1) Roger (last week, #1): This hasn't been a sterling season for Roger, who is reduced to juggling oranges and apologizing for courting possible conflicting business (Sunkist versus Ted's play for Ocean Spray). John Slattery must have needed a break after directing last week's episode.

2) Megan (last week,...

Louie, Season 3, Episode 8: “Dad”

Written by Louis Ck

Directed by Louis Ck

Airs Thursdays at 10:30pm Et on FX

After last week’s mostly “off” outing, Louie comes back swinging with one of its most brazenly cinematic episodes, a 22-minute whip-pan through a wide variety of topics and moods that feels very much like a dry run for Ck’s theoretical return to feature-length filmmaking. (Ck has stated that he’s considering running a Kickstarter-esque campaign to raise the funds to independently produce another movie, hoping to dodge the stdio interference that he feels doomed his surreal comedy Pootie Tang.)

“Dad” ostensibly follows a single plot thread for its entire duration, but it does so through a series of otherwise disconnected vignettes, all of which work, which is a relief after the draggy last two thirds of “Ikea/Piano Lesson.” “Dad” also opts out of the traditional Louie opening,...

Want a pay rise? Company car? Corner office? Jason Mountney asks the industry’s top negotiators how you can broker the best deals without having them on speed dial.

You know why you deserve an extra 10 grand on your base salary, a no-questions-asked expense account, that schmick corner office with a water view, a new company-paid Beamer to impress impressionable clients, an annual trip to Vegas for a conference, the ability to work from home on Mondays and every Friday afternoon off to ‘liaise’ with sources and customers at the pub.

But how can you convince the person about to hire you to sweeten their offer? Or how can you butter up an existing boss who has been oblivious to your incredible talents during the past three pay reviews?

Markson: A mistake people make during negotiations is to talk

Celebrity agent Max Markson talks money for a living. The brash...

No stranger to film adaptations, John Grisham is set to get another check in the mail courtesy of Chris Columbus, who has officially signed on to write and direct the adaptation of the author's “Calico Joe.” The novel, released earlier this year, revolves around the world of baseball and involves a nearly fatal pitch thrown in August 24, 1973 and its implications 30 years later on both the batter, “Calico Joe” Caste, and the pitcher, Warren Tracey. Hopefully this film can match the quality of the last year’s baseball movie, “Moneyball.” [Variety]

Character actor and “Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest” helmer Michael Rapaport is set to direct his first fictional feature, an adaptation of the Jason Starr novel “Tough Luck.” The noir thriller is set in Brooklyn and follows a nice kid who, after getting in trouble with a bookie, decides to join his friend on a “can’t-lose caper.

As a director, Michael Rapaport came out of the gate swinging when, last year, he premiered the acclaimed documentary Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest — i.e., no one thought this recognizable character actor would ever paint a thorough documentary portrait of a hip-hop group. But it’s this smashing success that should allow us to see the next announcement as more of a promise than a surprise.

Deadline reports that Rapaport (something about that sounds musical) will direct Tough Luck, a “Brooklyn-based noir thriller” that, most significantly, will be his first narrative. Jason Starr is adapting his own novel; both follow Mickey Prada, a fellow whose associations with a gambling mobster forces him to get in on a robbery that could alleviate debts which, technically, aren’t even his. A whole new ballgame for Rapaport, then, but one I’m very hopeful to see him take on.

After months of unparalleled hype, "The Avengers" is set to hit theaters in just a few short days. For anyone who has seen Marvel's slew of superhero movies over the past four years, it's the culmination of an epic journey like no other.

And for those who haven't seen all of Marvel's movies… well, that's what we're here for.

In order to help you get ready for the movie event of the year, we've put together a comprehensive guide to "The Avengers." So whether you're a hardcore Marvel Zombie or a hero newbie who doesn't know your Pepper Potts from your Cosmic Cube, don't worry, because we've got it all covered right here.

Backstory

Marvel Studios has been laying the groundwork for "The Avengers" ever since its first hit, "Iron Man," arrived in 2008. Overseen by shadowy spymaster Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), The Avengers Project is a plan to gather...

That collective groan at this article’s headline was actually a piece of your soul sloughing away. In a world where even Oliver Stone jumps on the sequel-train (the underwhelming Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps), we thought we’d be spared a sequel to a Martin Scorsese film, especially to his masterpiece, Raging Bull. Tough luck, because MovieHole reports that this violation is now casting and will begin shooting this June.

If there’s good news here, it’s the evidence that neither Scorsese or Robert De Niro – who won an Oscar for his portrayal of boxer Jake Lamotta – are involved in this. Turns out DeNiro’s Once Upon A Time In America co-star William Forsythe will be taking on the role of the elder Lamotta in what is being described as both a prequel and a sequel to the original film.

Two of the roles currently casting are...

Ashley Tisdale and her boyfriend of two-and-a-half years, Scott Speer have reportedly broken up. People splitting up is always sad news, but to have it happen during the holiday season feels brutal. A source told Us Weekly that there’s not much left to salvage, revealing, “They had been on and off for a while. They tried to work it out but realized their relationship ran its course.” Speer is a music video director, Fyi, and got together with Ashley about a month after she split up with musician Jared Murillo back in 2009. Through the course of the now ex couple’s trajectory, Scott also directed five of the Tiz’s videos. Tough luck, guys.

[Photo: WENN]...

Aww, breakups make us sad. Especially with these two, because after three long, Hollywood years together, Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly have split up. It’s not a nasty one, thankfully, as a source reveals, “The split was amicable. But they remain friends. They still really care for each other.” It isn’t just a rumor either because when contacted, Kelly’s spokespeople confirmed that the couple had indeed called it quits. Did work commitments have a part to play? Minka’s been busy shooting Charlie’s Angels which does put a damper on being the ever present girlfriend, right? Oh well, two supremely hot people are back on that market again. Tough luck, you two!

[Photo: Getty Images]...

Did you already see The Old Donkey (Lao lutou, 2010; Li Riujun)?, folks asked us day in, day out all through Rotterdam, and for most of the festival, the answer was a grumpy, No., thinking, Can't be as good as 13 kleine Esel und der Sonnenhof (1958, d.:Hans Deppe)—production title: 13 alte Esel—and that's already not really good. It wasn't, as we finally found out: Whenever the quietly cheerful donkey was out of the picture and we were forced to deal with the film as such, boredom ruled—another one of dem PRChinese Indies straight from the arthouse-for-Do-Gooders assembly line.

A donkey was also the unannounced star of Huangjiang nüxia (The Swordswoman of Huangjiang, 1930; Chen Kengran), although we're not too supportive about the way he's treated: The eponymous heroine uses it as her means of transport. Harrumph. Yet, in this case we're willing to make an exception, as the swordswoman...

The near 15 year on again, off again development cycle of Duke Nukem Forever is stuff of legend. The game was taken on, dropped, re-taken on and cancelled entirely – numerous times – before Gearbox Software took on the mantle of bringing Duke Nukem Forever to life last year.

At a special event at BAFTA last month, Gearbox Software CEO Randy Pitchford revealed reviving Duke Nukem Forever was in large part, a personal quest having cut his teeth at 3D Realms working on Duke Nukem 3D in the late 1990s. It came across as if it was his personal mission to bring Duke Nukem Forever to life after all those years in development hell.

Ever since we discovered Duke Nukem Forever was finally going to be released, Pitchford has banged the hype drum telling us how awesome it’ll be, how the game will be completely different to other first person shooters, how...

When it comes to high school movies, there tends to be sizable amounts of awkward romantic drama, non-stop malicious he-said-she-said gossip and practical prankster hijinks that culminate in full fervor at the penultimate teenage event: the prom.

So it makes perfect sense why Disney would cut right to the heart of things and make a movie called, well, "Prom."

The new flick unfolds the saga of several teenagers as they deal with the pressures of the upcoming dance: whether it be overachiever Nova (Aimee Teegarden) trying to transform tough rebel Jesse (Thomas McDonell) into the perfect date, or others dealing with tight romantic entanglements and brooding bullies, everyone has their own Prom-iscous story to tell.

Before you set your "Prom" date, check out five clips from the movie.

1. Justin (Jared Kusnitz) spells out chapters of his relationship with Mei (Yin Chang) before asking her to prom. Clever concept dude,...

Wow. That sums up the reaction to last week's Criminal Minds, for better and for worse.

After bidding farewell to A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster - the latter in what really felt like a season finale Wednesday - how does the show pick up on March 30?

“We are all reeling, and yet, there is work to be done, and there’s a case we need to summon our professionalism for and dive into,” Thomas Gibson (Hotch) says.

Gibson in last week's powerful and controversial episode, "Lauren."

“We have a community who needs us, and they need us no less in that particular moment in our family’s history, no less than they would in any other moment. I think as the unit chief, [Hotch] is trying to keep everybody focused and keep himself on track as well."

"It’s something that obviously could be a cause for collapse," Gibson tells Entertainment Weekly,...

Are you already sick of Oscar coverage? Tough luck, ’cause Justine and Simon have some thoughts on the major categories at this year’s festivities, so if you’re planning an Oscar pool – well, maybe look elsewhere, ’cause frankly Simon’s batting average isn’t all that great. (Just ask his wallet.) Anyway, in this first installment, they’ll be discussing Best Foreign Film, Best Documentary, and the Screenplay categories.

Visit our YouTube channel & please recommend and rate our show...

 

On Monday night, I had the chance to see Mel Brooks' 1987 classic Spaceballs on the big screen at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. It should go without saying this was an awesome experience and the movie was great, and if you haven't seen the movie, please rectify that immediately. Watching it again, it's so clear that Mel Brooks' sense of humor is above and beyond anything that's going on in the industry today in regards to spoof movies.

But the coolest part of the evening came immediately after the screening. Actor Bill Pullman - Lone Starr himself - was on hand for a Q&A with the audience and stuck around for half an hour answering questions and just generally being a badass. He spoke about his experience working on the movie, gave some anecdotes about working with John Candy, revealed who Brooks initially wanted for the role...

It was a relatively quiet holiday weekend at the box office with the comedy threequel Little Fockers still managing to take the top spot despite a somewhat frosty response. It made approximately $48 million in its first five days, which may not sound bad, but for a sequel to a popular franchise with a $100 million budget it was definitely a let down. True Grit was at #2 with the best opening ever for a Coen Brothers movie and a surprisingly solid turn out for a western, while Tron: Legacy fell to #3. Narnia and Yogi Bear rounded out the top 5, meanwhile Gulliver's Travels opened to a very uninspired seventh place, taking just $7 million. It did open on Christmas Day, giving it only two days of revenue, however, those are traditionally two of the biggest moviegoing days of the year. It's looking like it could be a major flop, as it is nowhere near...

With Ragan on the block with him, Hayden, along with Enzo, still wants Britney out of the house. Tough luck. Lane thinks Britney is ideal to take to the end, and he just might.

Back to the wall, Ragan tries to convince Britney to keep him and Lane to break a tie in his favor. His main argument? That the jury hates Ragan more than them! Compelling!

Did it work, though, or was this just Big Brother's editing to leave us in suspense? Ragan didn't make terrible points ... but you know guys (and Britney). They stick together.

Ultimately, Ragan Fox went home by the vote of 2-0.

The most interesting part of last night, hands down, was the first glimpse into the jury house. That place looks pretty cushy, but the mood soured when Matt revealed his lie.

It is pretty incredible, the extent to which he took it.

"I now know what it's like to be a witch in the 16th Century in Salem. To be persecuted just for being who you are." - Brendon, who says the show is about being "real"

Brendon certainly committed himself to his stated purpose after losing the Power of Veto on the previous evening's Big Brother: Save his girlfriend Rachel from elimination.

Did he oversell it, though? Calling out Britney, ridiculing Ragan and acting like a general jackass may have seemed smart at the time, but everything on this show is layered.

Even if the house didn't see through Brendon's ploy to put the target on his own back, they viewed his rants as reasons to keep him around ... because he sucks so much.

He'd therefore be easier to oust, theoretically, than Rachel. Welcome to Big Brother.

The End Of Another Show-mance: Brendon and Rachel are finally split up. Who...

Tough luck Shahid! Bollywood's newest 'it' girl Sonam Kapoor has refused to kiss Shahid Kapoor in their upcoming movie, Mausam. Sonam was appalled when she was asked to do so at the last minute during an outdoor shoot.Buzz is that it was Shahid Kapoor's idea to include a lip lock in the first place. Sonam was competely caught unawares because there was no mention of a kissing scene when she signed the film. A source told Mid-Day, "Sonam was taken aback when the director (and co-star Shahid's dad Pankaj) told her about it. She flatly refused."Interestingly, Shahid ...

The internet was abuzz this week with talk of a Justin Bieber concert in North Korea. The premise behind this ridiculously awesome possibility? Flaxo.com had set up a “Justin Bieber My World Tour” Contest in which fans around the planet could vote to bring The Biebs to their home country. The hacking pranksters behind the website 4chan.com, notorious for wreaking havoc around the web, got busy flooding the contest with votes for North Korea. Sure enough, Flaxo announced today that North Korea indeed won with 659,141 votes, in what appeared to be a victory for the computer geeks. As sad as we were that Justin wouldn’t be singin’ and dancin’ for the “Axis of Evil,” we couldn’t help but be tickled by the prospect of Kim Jong-il rocking out to “One Less Lonely Girl” and Justin’s angelic voice bringing freedom and hope to the downtrodden North Korean people.

• After a marathon session ending at 5:39 a.m., a joint House-Senate conference reached a deal to reconcile competing versions of the massive financial reform bill. Congress will vote on the package next week, and President Obama is expected to sign off on the legislation on July 4. [NY Times] • Tucked into the bill is a ban on trading box-office futures. Tough luck for those who were planning to gamble their savings on Inception’s sucking. [The Wrap] • Landon Donovan’s heroic, last-minute goal against Algeria may have saved not only the U.S.’s World Cup chances, but also Donovan’s marriage to actress Bianca Kajlich. [People] • Glimmers at the end of the unemployment tunnel in battleground states—especially in areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York—give Democrats hope as they prepare for for the midterm elections. [NY Times] • A tattooed French cannibal known as the real-life Hannibal Lecter, once once murdered his cellmate and fried...

The American Idol audience is getting a hold on this "Vote out the right contestant, please" idea. Two weeks in a row, we've watched the correct troubadour saunter back to an awaiting womb -- last week jiving fetus Aaron Kelly crawled back into the one he calls home, and and this week Michael Lynche was forced to acknowledge his wife and their newborn. Tough luck. After the jump, we reflect on Michael Lynche's legacy with a fast funeral where Kara DioGuardi's tears don't seem as embarrassing.

• Last week, more than 5,000 barrels of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a slick that is now 80 miles long and 40 miles wide and growing. As the spill approaches the Louisiana shore—it’s only 20 miles away now—the Coast Guard is considering setting fire to it. [NPR] • President Obama will not nudge on his Iraq policy: combat forces will withdraw from the country this summer. [New York Times] • Conan O’Brien’s exit agreement with NBC prohibited him from appearing on TV until after May 1. So he’ll be on your local CBS station this Sunday, May 2. [Huff Post] • Despite the current efforts at financial regulation, Felix Salmon thinks that Wall Street banks will retain enough lobbying power to keep taking huge risks. Tough luck for those who were hoping for a more boring system like Canada’s. [Huff Post] • Sandra Bullock is as good at keeping secrets from us as her tatted-up hubby is at...

Apple can posture and ban sexy iPhone apps and Suicide Girls all it wants. Come March, porn will help the iPad rock. Here's why. (The following is perfectly safe for work.)

Like it or love it, there's no denying the power of Internet porn. If you're a worker in the TV, video, or computer industry, it's one of the key drivers behind some of the tech you use on a daily basis. Remember the famous tape format battle between VHS and Betamax (the technically superior system)? VHS's convenience for porn producers' partly resulted in it becoming the dominant video system. Widespread adoption by the porn industry also helped Blu-ray's success over HD-DVD.

Its laser-like focus on cash has given porn an edge in technology development history. And it's a business that's always looking for new and novel ways to deliver its product through systems that appeal to its consumers--the one...

Do you miss the delicious evilness of Edie (Nicollette Sheridan) on Desperate Housewives? You don't? Tough luck, as Zap2it reports that the show's producers do in fact miss her and they're currently searching for an Edie-type of character to bring some mischief on Wisteria Lane.

Desperate Housewives executive producer Bob Daily revealed that the ABC soap is currently searching for a new Edie, minus all her issues and blonde bombshell ways.

Tough luck Bourne fans: no Greengrass, no Damon... no Bourne. As reported earlier [1], Paul Greengrass has officially quit the fourth Jason Bourne flick, explaining his leave in a statement [2] that he simply needs new challenges -- something another go around of Bourne can't give. Now, as most people more or less expected, Matt Damon, the star of the franchise, has also jumped ship saying that as long as there's no more Greengrass, then there will be no more Bourne. "I'll just wait for him and when he wants to do one, we'll do it," Matt Damon said while out promoting his latest theatrical effort, Clint Eastwood's Invictus. When asked if the comment meant that he would not do another Bourne flick without Greengrass, Damon had this to say: "Yeah, I've always said that. But I think it will happen down the road. We just don't have a script right now.

(S07E07) People who don't watch NCIS usually think the show is all about the military, all about forensics, all about criminal procedures, etc. Well, an episode like this is a perfect example of how character-driven the show actually is. Leon Vance has not been as interesting as the director of NCIS as Jenny Shepherd was, but the look into his back-story we saw with this episode may be a game changer. For one thing, he has some wife.

But as much as the Vance story and his weird connection to Kai drove the show, it may be the sad sack McGee subplot that resonates. Poor probie. Tough luck, McGeek ... or McDigit, as Tony dubbed him. The redhead was a looker. Tony and Ziva were impressed. Oh well ... more after the jump.

Continue reading Review: NCIS - Endgame

 

Filed under: OpEd, NCIS, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

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Newspapers are going to war with the Internet—or trying to. So far it’s more accurately a phony war. Newspapers aren’t really doing anything other than saber rattling. While they might be threatening to charge for their content, or, in the case of the Associated Press, which is owned by newspaper publishers, threatening unspecified legal action against some unspecified use of AP content, their real act of aggressiveness is a little storm of newspaper stories about charging for content. We’re so mad, in other words, we’re going to write bad things about you. It’s a nostalgist’s story about the value of what newspapers offer, and about trying to conjure some clever business circumstance in which people online might pay for that theoretical value. It imagines nothing less than the conversion of a medium that has, in its 14 years of commercial existence, achieved ubiquity by...