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Chicago – At the recently concluded 60th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff), the stars came out in force to represent their films and walk the Red Carpet. HollywoodChicago.com photographer Joe Arce and editor Patrick McDonald were there to get Exclusive Portraits and the preview on films from Oscar nominees Michael Shannon (“The End”) and Oscar winner (for “The Fighter) Melissa Leo (“The Knife”), as well as comic actor Dave Foley, who was there to moderate (click) “An Evening with Mike Myers.”

Also walking the carpet was the co-writer/featured actor/director Nnamdi Asomugha

of “The Knife” and Canadian co-writer/director Matthew Rankin of “Universal Language,” who was there with fellow Canadians Myers and Foley.

Click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through the slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos © Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.

Chicago – On Saturday, October 19th, the 60th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) was alive with laughs and memories with one of Canada’s greatest comic treasures, Mike Myers.

“An Evening with Mike Myers” was moderated by fellow Canadian Dave Foley (“The Kids in the Hall”), who led a career overview of Mm.

60th Ciff Honoree “An Evening with Mike Myers”

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

The Exclusive Portraits were captured by photographer Joe Arce and the Red Carpet Q&a was provided by Patrick McDonald (both of HollywoodChicago.com) at the event that took place at The Logan Center in the University of Chicago. The 2024 Ciff runs through October 27th.

During the remaining days of the Festival, besides screening the best in U.S. and international films, there are various sub categories that spotlight different film presentations, special industry gatherings, the conveniently located/parking friendly AMC...

Over the weekend, the Chicago International Film Festival and Second City honored Mike Myers with a “Career Achievement Award,” in recognition of his work in beloved movies such as Wayne’s World, Austin Powers and Shrek. Thankfully, the event didn’t end with one of the organizers suddenly remembering that The Love Guru exists and attempting to wrestle the award out of Myers’ hands.

The ceremony also included a “lengthy conversation” between Myers and Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley. The talk touched on a number of different subjects, including Myers’ fears that the studio wouldn’t release Wayne’s World, his fears that the studio wouldn’t release Austin Powers and how Michael Caine couldn’t get Beyoncé’s name right while filming Austin Powers in Goldmember. “He’d just go, ‘Hey, Be-yonts,’” Myers recalled.

They also chatted about how Myers’ Wayne’s World 2 co-star Christopher Walken seemingly couldn’t...

Bruce Campbell has played supporting roles in so many films and TV shows, he once wrote a fictionalized autobiography -- "Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way" -- about how his biggest possible break would be playing a sage-like doorman in a high-profile Hollywood drama starring Richard Gere and Renée Zellweger. In the fake Hollywood movie, Campbell would be the character to dole out advice to the lead characters and get their lives on track. It's telling that Campbell, even in a fictional version of Hollywood, didn't cast himself as the leading man.

Of course, Campbell has rarely been romantic about acting. He takes his craft seriously, but sees it more as a blue-collar profession than a heady art that requires years of study. Given that Campbell started his career getting splashed with fake blood in a series of zero-budget monster movies, this attitude is understandable. The ironic twist in "Make Love!

Among the films playing at this year’s prestigious Venice Film Festival is a documentary called From Darkness to Light, all about Jerry Lewis’ notorious 1972 Holocaust-set dramedy The Day the Clown Cried. The film was famously never released to the public, who, to be fair, weren’t exactly clamoring for a movie in which the guy from The Nutty Professor plays a circus clown who ushers children into the gas chambers.

Lewis’ directorial catastrophe has become the stuff of legend. Hardly any footage has ever surfaced online, and reports that The Day the Clown Cried would be screened by the Library of Congress last month turned out to be false.

But despite its pop-cultural infamy, this cursed project came close to being remade with another slapstick comedian with a reputation for being a huge asshole: Chevy Chase.

This info comes from the great Patton Oswalt, who, back in 1997, managed to...

Stars: Emma Roberts, Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu, Gabrielle Union, Kuhoo Verma, Desi Lydic, Sebastián Yatra, Sam Robards, Dave Foley, Josephine Huang | Written and Directed by Liz W. Garcia

Space Cadet, which stars Emma Roberts as Florida party girl Rex, who finds herself unexpectedly becoming an astronaut candidate, comes from director by Liz W. Garcia, who brings a refreshing spin to the beloved “fish out of water” trope,

infused with a female-centric narrative that reminded me very much of classics such as the 80s Goldie Hawn-led duo of Protocol and Private Benjamin – which itself inspired a similar “fish out of water” military comedy in 2002s Cadet Kelly; along with the likes of Miss Congeniality (2000) and Legally Blonde, released a year later in 2001.

Garcia’s film very much echoes Legally Blonde and Miss Congeniality thematically, both of which featured strong, independent women – played by Reese Witherspoon and Sandra Bullock respectively – who...

Plot: Tiffany “Rex” Simpson has always dreamed of going to space, and her “doctored” application lands her in NASA’s ultra-competitive astronaut training program. Will she get to the cosmos before she blows her cover?

Review: Space is often the setting for epic fantasies or the terror it can provide. But there’s one subgenre that’s been sorely missing over the years: the space comedy. Space has gotten so serious that I miss the days of Harland Williams going to Mars in Rocketman due to a cacophony of errors. And Space Cadet follows in those similar footsteps. Sure, if you bring any logic to the party then you’re going to have a bad time but if you just want a lighthearted romantic comedy, then this may just be for you.

Space Cadet follows Tiffany “Rex” Simpson (Roberts) as she’s working at a bar in Florida. But after...

Space Cadet is a romantic comedy film written and directed by Liz W. Garcia. The Prime Video film follows the story of Tiffany “Rex” Simpson, a Florida party girl who has always dreamed of going to space and gets admitted into the NASA space program because of a fluke with much more capable candidates. She must prove herself to the NASA bosses using her heart, street smarts, and moxie. Space Cadet stars Emma Roberts in the lead role, with Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu, Sebastián Yatra, Kuhoo Verma, Desi Lydic, Gabrielle Union, Andrew Call, Sam Robards, and Dave Foley starring in supporting roles. If you like the comedic, romantic, and heartfelt moments of Space Cadet, here are some similar films you could watch next.

Legally Blonde (Max & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – MGM

Legally Blonde is a romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic from a screenplay by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith.

Emma Roberts stars in Space Cadet, a new Prime Video comedy directed by Liz W. Garcia. Roberts plays the fun-loving Rex Simpson, a Florida bartender who dreams of becoming an astronaut like her late mother.

When her friend Nadine sneakily enhances Rex’s application, she’s accepted into the NASA space program. Rex faces tough competition from fellow candidates as she strives to prove herself. The movie draws inevitable comparisons to Legally Blonde for its story of an unconventional woman achieving her goals.

Defining Rex

Space Cadet introduces us to Rex Simpson, a fun-loving bartender living in Florida with dreams of becoming an astronaut. Played by Emma Roberts, Rex comes across as lively and likeable from the start. She clearly enjoys her work, tending the bar, and hanging out with friends. We also get a sense of her playful side through activities like wrestling alligators.

While Roberts imbues Rex with warmth,...

In ‘Deep Space Homer’, a 1994 episode of The Simpsons, the American space agency NASA takes an unusual approach to astronaut recruitment. “We need a fresh angle to get the public interested!” says one NASA official in the episode. “The public see our astronauts as clean-cut, athletic go-getters…They hate people like that.” NASA eventually decide to send a “blue-collar slob” (such as Homer Simpson) to space. Another official pipes up: “I suggest a lengthy, inefficient search — at the taxpayers’ expense, of course.”

That, broadly speaking, is also the plot of Space Cadet, yet another example of the ‘Simpsons Already Did It’ doctrine. Emma Roberts is the Homer Simpson-esque blue-collar slob here — and as if to confirm the cosmic connection, her character is actually named Rex Simpson. She is an alligator-wrestling college-dropout cocktail-waitress Florida-dirtbag who, as a kid, dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Life didn’t turn out that way after...

Clockwise from top left: Deadpool & Wolverine, Fly Me To The Moon, Twisters, Despicable Me 4, and DIDIPhoto: Focus Features, Melinda Sue Gordon (Universal Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment), Apple

Continuing this year’s running theme, July is light on tentpoles and new releases. It’s still a byproduct...

Prime Video has revealed a new trailer for the upcoming Emma Roberts-led ‘Space Cadet.’

Tiffany “Rex” Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn’t going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine (Poppy Liu), her “doctored” application lands her in NASA’s ultra-competitive astronaut training program. In over her head, Rex relies on her quick wits, moxie and determination to get to the top of her class. NASA program directors Pam (Gabrielle Union) and Logan (Tom Hopper) certainly take notice, but can this Florida girl get through training and into the cosmos before she blows her cover? Written and directed by Liz W. Garcia, Space Cadet is a comedy about the power of being yourself, following your dreams and shooting for the stars.

Written and directed by Liz W.

In the time-honored tradition of Private Benjamin, Legally Blonde and Disney Channel original Cadet Kelly, Emma Roberts stars in the new comedy about a ditzy socialite who gets in over her head when she joins an organization with incredible odds to overcome. Amazon MGM has just released the new trailer for Space Cadet, which has Roberts’ character Rex lying to become accepted into NASA, only to find that she got more than she bargained for. The film also stars Tom Hopper, Poppy Liu and Gabrielle Union, Kuhoo Verma, Desi Lydic, Sebastián Yatra, Yasha Jackson, Andrew Call, Troy Iwata, Josephine Huang, Dave Foley, Sam Robards and Joshua Harto.

The official synopsis reads,

“Tiffany “Rex” Simpson (Emma Roberts) has always dreamed of going to space, but life isn’t going quite as planned. Determined to turn things around, she aims high and with the embellishing touch of her supportive best friend Nadine...

Editor’s note: Deadline’s It Starts on the Page features standout limited or anthology series scripts in 2024 Emmy contention.

Typically a series five seasons in can show signs of wear and tear. However, for Fargo creator Noah Hawley a fifth time was a charm, not just in a stronger homage to the original 1996 multi-Oscar winning movie, but a deconstruction of current day red-state attitudes. For him, Fargo is about the tragedy that occurs when people fail to communicate, and this season centers around the varying definitions of freedom. Not to mention, it features several twists and turns one doesn’t see coming.

Season 5 follows Juno Temple as Dot Lyon, a housewife with a dark past who is mired in warring America, for Episode 1 tees off with a riot that breaks out at a school board meeting which results in the show’s protagonist tasing an officer and heading to...

On Saturday, June 1, FX celebrated the award-winning series “Fargo” at Disney FYC Fest in Los Angeles. Gold Derby associate editor Latasha Ford was on the DGA Theater red carpet to interview stars Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh, as well as creator and director Noah Hawley and executive producer Warren Littlefield. Watch the exclusive red-carpet interviews above.

The latest installment of FX’s “Fargo” is set in Minnesota and North Dakota, 2019. After an unexpected series of events lands Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon (Juno Temple) in hot water with the authorities, this seemingly typical Midwestern housewife is suddenly plunged back into a life she thought she had left behind.

See ‘Fargo’ casting director Rachel Tenner ‘can’t think of a single person who has not risen to the occasion’

North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman (Hamm) has been searching for Dot for a long time. A rancher, preacher and a constitutional lawman, Roy...

It’s beautiful how movies can take us back to an innocent time. A perfect example is the absolute adoration of Jim Henson’s classic features, The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). For many, growing up on The Muppets and Sesame Street brought a level of excitement for both of these features. Even still, while Crystal made a decent showing at the box office, audiences weren’t ready for Labyrinth upon its release. Now, however, both films have found themselves well-loved and admired. So much so that both are getting the 4K treatment, and you can stream them immediately.

We at JoBlo had a childhood dream come to life. We joined other journalists and influencers to celebrate the release. And the after noon gave us the open invitation for a Henson Studio Tour. Included in the event was a contact juggler named Rewi HoopHooligan. Used in Labyrinth, Rewi put on quite...

Warning: The following post contains spoilers about tonight’s fifth season finale of FX’s Fargo, “Bisquik”

Who knew a TV series based on an iconic Oscar-winning Coen Brothers noir movie had so much juice in it five seasons out?

But Fargo series creator Noah Hawley continues to prove that there’s a thousand bodies buried in those Minnesota snow drifts.

Granted, M.A.S.H. ran for 11 seasons; the industry joke being that the CBS show ran longer than the actual three-year Korean War. But similar to how Larry Gelbart pulled a relentless amount of inspiration from that 1970 Robert Altman, Hawley’s mind for ‘true stories’ about folksy Scandinavian-Midwesterners isn’t blank yet like a freshly fallen snow.

Typically, especially in streaming times, a series checks out around season 3, and to see Fargo in a renaissance, testosterone mode this season has even given Hawley a new sense of hope for the FX series.

Sienna King as Scotty Lyon and Juno Temple as Dorothy “Dot” Lyon in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 5 (Photo Cr: Michelle Faye/FX)

Dot the Tiger (Juno Temple) orders Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh) out of Wayne’s hospital room as FX’s riveting season five of Fargo continues with episode five. Lorraine’s not used to having her will be thwarted and considers what to do next about the Dot and Wayne situation.

Lorraine knows Dot’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but how do you handle a wild animal without getting bitten?

Dot and family have moved into Lorraine’s mansion, and Lorraine wrongly believes she has them under her thumb. Like the tiger, Dot has a cunning and strategic mind. A fact that’s made apparent when Lorraine conspires with her chief counselor, Danish Graves (David Foley), to have Dot locked up in a psychiatric ward.

When the orderlies come to get her,...

Jon Hamm as Roy Tillman in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 2 (Photo Cr: Michelle Faye/FX)

FX’s Fargo season five episode two opens with the introduction of a new key player. Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm) admires himself on a billboard as his voice-over drops a few pertinent facts. The Tillmans have a history in law enforcement. Roy believes Jesus was a bearded man and that women should be seen, not heard, kept pregnant and in the kitchen.

Plus, they should come to their wedding bed virgins.

It turns out he’s dropping these pearls of wisdom on a young couple. The husband is an abuser, but the wife tries to play it off that she’s just clumsy. Hubby learns a lesson the hard way when Roy has his deputy place him in a chokehold. Oh wait, the lesson didn’t sink in, and Roy tosses a cup of scalding...

Juno Temple as Dorothy “Dot” Lyon and Sienna King as Scotty Lyon in ‘Fargo’ season 5 episode 1 (Photo Credit: Michelle Faye/FX)

It’s not truly a new season of FX’s Fargo until the fake disclaimer advising this is a true story appears on the screen. That happens three minutes into season five episode one, “The Tragedy of the Commons.”

Before that, Fargo fans are advised that “Minnesota Nice” is an aggressively pleasant demeanor put on no matter how rotten life becomes. And “rotten” is a gentle word to describe the mood at the middle school’s Fall Festival Planning Committee meeting. Punches are thrown, hair is pulled, and the woman we’ll be cheering for this season – Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon (Juno Temple) – sits, jaw-dropped, scanning the room. She advises her daughter, Scotty (Sienna King), that it’s time to make an exit and to fight back if anyone chases them.

After wayward creative detours with the dreary feature film “Lucy in the Sky” and the over-ambitious fourth season of “Fargo,” Noah Hawley gets back on track with the new season of his FX anthology series.

The latest “Fargo” has all the elements writer-producer-showrunner Hawley knows how to deploy. They may be well-worn tropes at this point: chaos agents, deadpan black comedy, hapless hit men, formidable women, hapless feds, a few good cops, perfectly orchestrated bloodshed beats, hapless wrong kidnap victims, Upper Midwest accents you couldn’t cut with a wood chipper and perhaps a supernatural element or two. But they’ve been craftily reimagined.

New in Season 5 is some ongoing criticism of right-wing extremism — both of the economic Darwinian and Christian patriarchal kind — and other hints that it’s politics as much as people’s inherent stupidity that’s tearing America apart. The implicit message is that those factors are...

Welcome to the Brenaissance -- or Brendanaissance, whatever you want to call it!

Brendan Fraser is enjoying a long-overdue comeback thanks to his gut-wrenching performance in The Whale.

Though he's most famous for goofy roles and being beautiful in 1990s rom-coms, Fraser has an exceptional range that often gets overlooked, particularly as he has matured and taken on a wider variety of roles in diverse projects.

Fraser has starred alongside some cinematic heavy hitters and taken all sorts of risks -- indie films, big-budget studio flicks, and television -- he's done it all.

Here are some examples of his best work, including some of his biggest hits and some underrated gems.

The Mummy (1999)

Fraser channels Errol Flynn and Indiana Jones as Rick O'Connell in The Mummy, his most commercially successful and enduring hit.

It's got everything -- thrills, romance, action, horror. Fraser and co-star Rachel Weisz have terrific chemistry as...

Noah Hawley’s long awaited Alien series will finally begin shooting this year.

“Noah is currently in production on the fifth season of Fargo but he’s in active preproduction on Alien, he’s written scripts,” said FX Boss John Landgraf providing an update at TCA on the long-in-the-works series.

“I think he’s meeting with his production designer in Austin this weekend, gearing up for production this year after he completes the fifth season of Fargo.”

At last year’s virtual TCA winter tour, Landgraf specified that Hawley’s Alien, “takes place before Ripley. It’s the first story that takes place in the Alien franchise on Earth.”

“It takes place on our planet. Right near the end of this century we’re in — so 70-odd years from now,” added Landgraf then.

“Ripley won’t be a part of it or any of the other characters of Alien other than the alien itself,...

2022 has been an extraordinary year for television. The pandemic forced many shows down to shorter schedules or Zoom-based episodes in 2020, which had lasting effects well into 2021, but this year feels almost like a roaring television comeback. There were so many great shows this year that I genuinely had a difficult time narrowing the list down to just 20 entries. We have been blessed with a wealth of excellent entertainment from regular networks, cable, and streaming, and now it's time to celebrate (and rank) the best of the best.

This has been an especially great year for genre TV, with an abundance of extraordinary new science fiction, fantasy, and horror shows, plus terrific new seasons from returning favorites like "What We Do in the Shadows" and "The Boys." There were so many good shows that I had to leave out some greats, like "Star Trek: Lower Decks," "Mythic Quest," and "The White Lotus.

Staring at my computer screen with the thousand-yard stare of someone who has seen stuff, I find myself unsure how to characterize 2022. The last year has been, frankly, not that different from the year before; despite the promise of vaccines, a new president in White House, and my new job (thank you /Film), 2022 turned out to be a lot less "post"-pandemic than many of us hoped.

Oh, and apparently it'll take me 20 years of saving to buy a house.

Yet, the optimist in me can't help but see signs of better things to come. The definitely-not-a-ponzi-scheme Nft boom of 2021 crashed and burned, leaving my Twitter timeline significantly more tolerable — at least until Daddy Elon took over. Canada and Denmark resolved the 50-year Whisky War. And Disney, heading into its 100 year anniversary as a studio, has Bob Iger back behind the wheel.

We had a strong year for TV in...

Today, Prime Video revealed the first-look of Emma Roberts as Rex in the new Amazon Original movie ‘Space Cadet’, which has just wrapped production. Space Cadet will be an extremely fun, very light-hearted coming of age story

Directed by Liz W Garcia from her own original screenplay, the film follows Florida party girl Rex (Emma Roberts), who turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates who may have better resumes, but don’t have her smarts, heart, and nerve.

Previously announced to star alongside Roberts are Poppy Liu, Gabrielle Union, Tom Hopper, Colombian pop star Sebastián Yatra, David Foley, and Desi Lydic. Prime Video is also excited to announce the additional casting of Kuhoo Verma, Yasha Jackson, Troy Iwata, Andrew Call, and Josephine Huang.

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A post shared by Prime Video UK...

Prime Video today shared the first-look image of Emma Roberts in the new original romcom Space Cadet.

Directed by Liz W. Garcia (The Lifeguard) from her own original screenplay, the film follows Florida party girl Rex (Roberts), who turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates who may have better resumes, but don’t have her smarts, heart, and nerve, the synopsis reads.

Previously announced to star alongside Roberts are Poppy Liu (Hacks), Gabrielle Union (The Inspection), Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy), Colombian pop star Sebastián Yatra, David Foley (The Kids in the Hall), and Desi Lydic (Awkward). Additional casting includes Kuhoo Verma (Plan B), Yasha Jackson (The Flight Attendant), Troy Iwata (Dash & Lily), Andrew Call (Z: The Beginning of Everything), and Josephine Huang.

Space Cadet will launch on Prime Video in more than 240 counties...

Exclusive: Dave Foley has joined the cast of FX’s Fargo for Season 5 as a series regular.

He will play Danish Graves, who serves as in-house counsel and prime advisor to self-made billionaire and business leader Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

The latest installment is set in 2019, and asks the question: when is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?

Foley will also co-star alongside previously announced Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Joe Keery, Lamorne Morris, and Richa Moorjani. David Rysdahl, Sam Spruell, Jessica Pohly and Nick Gomez round out the cast.

Noah Hawley (creator/writer/director), and his production company 26 Keys, lead the creative team behind the latest installment. Warren Littlefield and his production company The Littlefield Company, also serves as Executive Producer along with Joel & Ethan Coen, Steve Stark of Toluca Pictures, Kim Todd, and Vincent Landay.

Exclusive: Poppy Liu has joined the Stampede Ventures movie Space Cadet, which is currently filming with Emma Roberts, Gabrielle Union, Tom Hopper, Colombian pop star Sebastián Yatra, David Foley and Desi Lydic. Liz. W. Garcia (The Lifeguard) is helming off her screenplay.

Liu will play the best friend of a Florida party girl (Roberts), who turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates who may have better résumés, but don’t have her smarts, heart and moxie.

Space Cadet is already set to launch exclusively on Prime Video internationally. Stampede Ventures will finance, with Prime Video licensing international territories outside of the U.S. and Japan.

Greg Silverman and Jon Berg will...

Houston, we have an ensemble. The plucky new comedy “Space Cadet,” from Stampede Ventures, has added more star power to a fleet led by the previously announced Emma Roberts.

While character details are under wraps, Gabrielle Union will join Roberts in the film about a Florida party girl who turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program, after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates. They may have better resumes, but not her smarts, heart and moxie. Liz. W. Garcia is directing form her own script, which we pray will feel like “Legally Blonde” in space.

Tom Hopper also comes aboard with Colombian pop star Sebastián Yatra (Spain’s “The Voice Kids”), sketch veteran David Foley (“The Kids in the Hall”) and Desi Lydic (“The Daily Show”).

Production will begin next week. Greg Silverman and Jon Berg will produce on behalf of Stampede Ventures,...

Welcome to the latest installment in our regular Movies You May Have Missed series here on Nerdly, in which I highlight some of, what I think, are the best movies that have flown under the radar of many or have been “forgotten” in the intervening years since its release. This time round it’s At Your Service, aka Servitude, a 2011 Canadian comedy about the restaurant industry.

Stars: Joe Dinicol, Rachel Skarsten, John Bregar, Enrico Colantoni, David Foley, Margot Kidder, Lauren Collins, Aaron Ashmore, Kristen Hager, Linda Kash | Written by Michael Sparaga | Directed by Warren P Sonoda

If there’s two things I’m a fan of it’s Ryan Reynolds’ movies and Canada. Put those two together and you get At Your Service, the story of a group of servers and staff at a franchise chain restaurant (much like Ryan Reynolds’ Waiting) who have one last wild night at their...

It starts with one of them casually saying, “Write what you know” — it may be Mark McKinney, slightly leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling, or it might be Bruce McCulloch, who’s wandering around the conference room, checking his phone as it charges and idly munching on a pastry. Whoever said it first, it’s definitely Kevin McDonald who quickly jumps in and, as if on cue, immediately chants, “Write what you know!” He says it again, at which point Dave Foley joins in as well.

Age certainly hasn’t mellowed the Kids in the Hall. The freewheeling Canadian comedy geniuses are as fearless and shameless as ever in the eight new episodes of their self-titled sketch comedy series. Why did it take more than a quarter-century to get a sixth season of The Kids in the Hall? “We never really thought that we could do sketch comedy again because we thought, ‘How could we improve? We can’t really touch what we’ve done,’” says Scott Thompson, whose groundbreaking gay raconteur Buddy Cole is among several memorable characters making a return appearance. But as Thompson, Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald and Mark McKinney took their classic material on the road, they began writing new sketches. Says McKinney, who recently starred on the sitcom Superstore, “We were going, ‘God, it would be fun to put this up,’ and then suddenly there was a door to walk through with Amazon Canada.

Though an enormous number of beloved, bygone TV shows have been revived for the streaming era, there isn’t a whole lot of precedent for this kind of revival in the area of sketch comedy. It makes sense: There are fewer hit sketch comedy shows than straight sitcoms or dramas, and many of the most famous lineups would now be incomplete (like “Sctv” or “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”), or have featured too many incarnations to reunite properly (like the many casts of “Saturday Night Live”).

There’s also the matter of how sketch comedy is often fueled by youthful vitality. “The Carol Burnett Show,” for example, was a huge 11-season hit in the ’60s and ’70s, but a 1991 revival quickly floundered despite arriving just 13 years after its original finale—about the same amount of time that’s elapsed since Canadian comedy troupe the Kids in the Hall last appeared on television.

For a generation of comedy nerds, The Kids in the Hall are spoken of in the reverent tones usually reserved for the original cast of Saturday Night Live, Mr. Show’s Bob and David, or Key and Peele. The Canadian comedy troupe, who headlined one of the most influential and groundbreaking sketch shows of all time, are back for a revival of their eponymous series on Amazon Prime beginning May 13, 2022. On May 20th, Amazon will also drop the documentary, The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks.

Directed by Reg Harkema (Super Duper Alice Cooper), the doc screened at the SXSW festival last month in a 95-minute cut, but Amazon has since broken it up into two parts. While that’s unnecessary, it does provide a clean arc for each installment: part one chronicles the formation of the group in Toronto’s punk scene through the first season of their CBC/HBO show,...

Viewers before them had first-generation “Saturday Night Live” and “Sctv.” But five Canadian lads turned out to be “kind of the only comedy group that reflected Gen X,” as fan Fred Armisen puts it in “The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks.” Reg Harkema’s documentary is a breezy, worthy overview of a collective career now approaching its 40th anniversary.

While best enjoyed by the already converted, it provides enough showbiz insight and interpersonal drama to entertain newbies. It will provide both camps with an appetizer for the Kids’ limited-run reboot of their original sketch series, which new episodes (featuring an array of name guest stars) launch May 13 on Amazon Prime, followed by this doc a week later (on May 20).

While all in their early twenties, Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch met in 1981 via a Calgary comedy-improv group, as did Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald in Toronto the next year.

The "Kids in the Hall" sketch comedy show didn't debut on Canadian television until October of 1988, but the Kids themselves — Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Mike McKinney, Kevin McDonald, and Scott Thompson — first met and formed in Toronto in 1984. The story goes, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia, that McCulloch and McKinney, working with their troupe The Audience, met and fused with Foley and McDonalds, who were already calling themselves Kids in the Hall. Thompson joined in 1985, and the quintet worked the Toronto stand-up scene performing sketches live on stage for about a year. The Kids split...

The post Kids In the Hall Were Already Ahead of Their Time When They Started In the '80s appeared first on /Film.

The Kids in the Hall is coming to Prime Video soon. The revival of the Canadian sketch comedy series arrives in May, and the streaming service has released two trailers. Eight episodes were ordered for the revival. Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson are all returning for the revival. Guest stars include Paul Bellini, Pete Davidson, Catherine O'Hara, Kenan Thompson, Brandon Ash-Mohammed, Will Forte, Catherine Reitman, Samantha Bee, Fred Armisen, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jay Baruchel, Eddie Izzard, Tracee Ellis Ross, Mark Hamill, and Colin Mochrie.

Read More…...

It’s not as well known as it was in Canada, but during the ’80s and ’90s, “The Kids In The Hall” was one of the most beloved sketch comedies up North, the heir apparent of Sctv. Consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson, “The Kids In The Hall” aired for five seasons from 1988 to 1995, then there was the 1996 movie, “Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy.” But besides reunion tours, one-offs, and the 2010 “Death Comes to Town” mini-series, that was basically the extent of the ‘Kids.’ Members found success in Hollywood and scattered around to different projects (Dave Foley was notably the first breakout star who had a long run on the American sitcom “NewsRadio”).

Continue reading ‘Kids In the Hall’ Trailer: The Canadian Kings of Comedy Are Back May 13 On Prime Video at The Playlist.

Comedy sketch show The Kids in the Hall is returning after nearly three decades. The Canadian series, starring Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Scott Thompson, and Mark McKinney, originally ran from 1988 to 1995 and has been resurrected by Prime Video. And in the trailer, the group literally emerges from a grave. “The original Emmy-nominated The Kids in the Hall was an alternative comedy sensation that developed a die-hard fanbase while influencing countless comedians and performers,” Prime Video said in a statement. “The new season marks the return of The Kids, with eight new episodes featuring all-new sketches from the beloved comedy troupe.” “What an amazing gift to put on our old wigs, and even get some new ones…,” the Kids in the Hall themselves added. The Kids in the Hall premieres May 13 on Prime Video and will launch in Canada and more than 240 other countries and territories worldwide. Check out...

It's been almost 30 years since "The Kids In The Hall" TV series went off the air and Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson went off to fulfill solo careers. They may not be kids anymore, but the Canadian kings of sketch comedy are back. In the years following the end of their eponymous show, they put out the film "Brain Candy," have reunited a handful of times for tours and comedy festivals, and in 2010 released the eight-part miniseries, "Death Comes to Town." But now, The Kids are back for a full-blown, eight-episode revival season...

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After nearly 30 years, a beloved Canadian sketch comedy institution is coming back to TV next month. “The Kids in the Hall,” a new streaming revival of the classic sketch comedy show of the same name, will premiere on Prime Video May 13.

The news was accompanied by a teaser trailer that shows the members of “The Kids in the Hall” sketch group –– Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson –– waking up in a grave marked “The Kids in the Hall TV Show,” along with 1989 to 1995, the dates the original series aired on CBC and HBO. The teaser also features glimpses at sketches in the upcoming season, including an extended meta bit in which two of the group members play executives in charge of a “Kids in the Hall” reboot.

“Do you know what Amazon wants from ‘Kids in the Hall?'” McCulloch asks in the trailer. “Yes Don,...

The “Kids in the Hall” cast — Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson — are unearthed from their burial plot and set loose on the world once again in the first trailer for the Prime Video revival of the beloved sketch comedy. The reboot will debut on May 13, the streamer announced on Wednesday at its Prime Video Presents Canada showcase event in Toronto.

Things are crushed from a distance, tasteless jokes are made and Queen Elizabeth spoofed in the trailer, which sees the comedians skeptical of their new streaming network, Amazon.

The upcoming season will feature eight episodes with all-new sketches and guest stars including Pete Davidson, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Kenan Thompson, Will Forte, Paul Bellini, Brandon Ash-Mohammed, Catherine Reitman, Samantha Bee, Fred Armisen, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jay Baruchel, Eddie Izzard, Tracee Ellis Ross and Colin Mochrie.

The original Emmy-nominated sketch show premiered in 1989 and become a cult comedy hit.

Prime Video announced The Kids in the Hall is set to premiere on May 13 followed by the companion docuseries The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks on May 20.

More premiere dates and a slew of new Canadian originals were also revealed during the Prime Video Presents Canada showcase event in Toronto on Wednesday.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s ahead:

The Sticky is a half-hour series revolving around Ruth Clarke, a tough, supremely competent, middle-aged Canadian maple syrup farmer who’s had it with being hemmed in by the polite, bureaucratic conventions native to her country’s identity — especially now that Canada’s bureaucracy is threatening to take away everything she loves: her farm, her comatose husband and her right to freedom.

With the help of Remy Bouchard, a pint-sized local blockhead, and Mike Byrne, an aging low-level mobster, Ruth changes her fate — and transforms the future of her...

“We were all very much trying to prove to our dads that we were men… by dressing up as women!”

So says Scott Thompson of The Kids In The Hall, the Canadian comedy troupe that’s the subject of a new documentary.

Screening at SXSW before showing on Amazon Prime Video in two parts, The Kids In The Hall: Comedy Punks is an enjoyable insight into the life and work of five alternative comedians who took their show from stage to screen – with a few bumps along the way.

Director Reg Harkema combines archive footage and clips with modern day interviews, speaking to Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson separately as well as in a group. And if anyone can deliver pithy soundbites, it’s a bunch of successful comedy writers. Their comments often reflect the rebellious punk attitude of the title. “We used homosexuality...

Back in 2018, Dana Gould (along with artist Chad Lewis), adapted Rod Serling's original script for Planet of the Apes (itself an adaptation of Pierre Boulle's novel of the same name) as a graphic novel for Boom! Studios, so it's especially fitting that Gould is now playing his own version of Dr. Zaius as the host of his own ’70s talk show in the second season of Hanging with Doctor Z!

Featuring Dana in impeccably detailed makeup effects applied by Andy Schoneberg, Hanging with Doctor Z kicks off its second season today on YouTube with special guest Dave Foley!

To celebrate the launch of the second season, Daily Dead caught up with Dana in a new video interview to discuss the origins of Hanging with Doctor Z, and he also talked about his beloved horror comedy series Stan Against Evil, his iconic voice acting as the video game gecko Gex,...

The Amazon Prime Video competition series “Lol: Last One Laughing” will launch a Canadian edition Feb. 18.

“Last One Laughing Canada” competitors include Caroline Rhea, Dave Foley, Debra Digiovanni, Jon Lajoie, Tom Green, Colin Mochrie, Mae Martin, Brandon Ash Mohammed, Andrew Phung and K. Trevor Wilson. Hosted by Jay Baruchel, the six-part series follows the 10 comedians as they try to eliminate others by making each other laugh, while not laughing themselves. The comedian who outlasts their competitors wins the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity of choice.

Executive Producers are John Brunton, Erin Brock, and Shannon Farr. The series is produced in association with Insight Productions.

“Lol: Last One Laughing Canada” is the latest adaptation of “Documental,” an Amazon Original series in Japan owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo and created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto — where Matsumoto leads 10 comedians who bet their own money in a “battle of laughter behind closed doors.

Burbank, CA – The early years of the Caped Crusader get a closer examination as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) brings the fully-remastered The Batman: The Complete Series to Blu-ray for the very first time. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC, the 65-episode box set will be distributed February 1, 2022 by Wbhe on Blu-ray+Digital ($69.99 Srp) in the United States, and a Blu-ray only package ($79.98 Srp) in Canada.

The six-time Emmyâ Award-winning series premiered on September 11, 2004 on Kids’ WB before eventually shifting to Cartoon Network for subsequent seasons. The Batman: The Complete Series follows 20-something-year-old Bruce Wayne’s early adventures as he balances his daytime persona as a bachelor billionaire with his nighttime guise as a caped crimefighter. Along the way, Batman is joined by allies Robin and Batgirl as they combat Gotham City’s Rogues’ Gallery, including updated versions of his familiar foes as well as a bevy of rarely...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Series: "The Kids in the Hall"

Where You Can Stream It: Amazon Prime and YouTube

The Pitch: "The Kids in the Hall" is a Canadian sketch comedy TV series that's like if "Monty Python's Flying Circus" came from the Great White North and was very, very gay. The comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall consists of comedians Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Bruce McCulloch. They portray the vast majority of the characters in the series and wrote most of the...

The post The Daily Stream: Kids in the Hall Taught Me It's Ok to Be Uncomfortable appeared first on /Film.

And you thought America Ferrera‘s return to Superstore had been spoiled!

The NBC comedy surprised its audience on Thursday night when Amy showed up in the tag scene, one week ahead of Ferrera’s previously announced series finale comeback. As the closing credits rolled, floor manager Cheyenne rang her former boss to discuss the potential closure of Cloud 9.

More from TVLine'Superstore': America Ferrera to Also Appear in One-Hour Series Finale'Superstore' Series Finale: Ben Feldman, Lauren Ash Share Heartfelt Goodbyes as Production Wraps on NBC ComedyChicago Fire Exit: [Spoiler] Not Returning as Series Regular

The retail giant’s fate came...