‘Supernatural’ Preview Clips For ‘Like A Virgin’

Supernatural is the gift that just keeps on giving. After five increasingly good seasons of top-notch action-adventure/horror television, fans wondered if the sixth could possibly stack up -- especially considering creator Eric Kripke was leaving the show.

Now, eleven episodes in, it’s pretty safe to say that Supernatural is still one of the best shows on the air – despite a rocky first couple of episodes.

When we last left Supernatural, Death broke Sam’s soul out of hell and reinserted it back into his body, against his body’s wishes. The concern at the time was -- what happens to a soul that has been brutally tortured by both Satan and Michael the Archangel for a year in Earth-time, and something like a hundred years in Hell-time?

When Death retrieved the soul, he placed a metaphysical partition inside Sam’s mind to block out the terrible memories, but there was a 40% chance it wouldn’t work. And even if it did work, the partition would probably (eventually) fall apart, leaving a wrecked Sam Winchester shell in its place.

This Friday, the show returns after the winter hiatus, and we’ve got two clips for your viewing pleasure:

“Like A Virgin” Preview

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“Like A Virgin” Clip

Obviously, Sam will wake up from his soul-injection coma and the partition will work, at least for a time, but Supernatural isn’t known for happy endings. In fact, it’s known for being possibly the saddest genre show on television. There are going to be terrible ramifications, as a result of what happened in episode 11, and you can pretty much guarantee that the partition is going to come down. Will Sam then turn into a vegetable, as we’ve been led to believe? Or is he made of stronger stuff than that?

Recently, it was revealed that Supernatural would likely return for a seventh season. The show is doing surprisingly well in its Friday night time-slot and the President of CW wants to see it come back.

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Supernatural airs Fridays @9pm, on The CW

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Starz Releases Trailer For ‘Camelot’; Sneak Preview In February

Even though the premiere of Camelot is fast approaching, there’s been very little to see of Starz’ latest original series. That changed yesterday as the trailer for the show hit the Internet, offering a glimpse at the look and feel of the newest version of King Arthur’s legend.

Taking place immediately after the death of King Uther, Camelot will focus on the struggle between Uther’s low-born son Arthur and Morgan Le Fey, who claims the throne as Arthur’s half-sister. We see a very young Arthur taking hold of the ruins of Camelot castle, establishing his leadership and the Knights of the Round Table in the iconic keep. Familiar pillars of Arthurian legend Merlin, Guinevere and Sir Lancelot make appearances in the trailer.

The series is being produced by veterans of Showtime period show The Tudors. Executive producer Morgan O’Sullivan has previous experience with the source material in the 2004 film King Arthur, and writer Michael Hirst has experience with more historically sound English royalty in two separate Elizabeth movies. The cast skews very young, with Jamie Campbell Bower (of the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises) taking the role of Arthur. Eva Green, who made her mark as a Bond girl in Casino Royale, plays the evil Morgan Le Fey. British actress Tamsin Egerton takes the role of Guinevere while Shakespeare in Love‘s leading man Joseph Fiennes plays a middle-aged and beardless Merlin.

See for yourself here:

On a programming note, Starz is planning a preview of Camelot directly after the finale Spartacus: Gods of the Arena on February 25th. The series will premiere in its regular slot on April 1st. This may be a move to get people excited for the series before HBO starts its marketing blitz for Game of Thrones.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes preview of the show with cast and crew commentary:

So how does the trailer look? While the acting appears solid and the sets and costumes are appropriately medieval, I can’t shake the feeling that the producers are going for an edgy, teen-focused drama. The rock-and-roll soundtrack certainly didn’t help. The direction isn’t one that’s entirely suited to Arthur’s quest, nor is it one we haven’t seen before: BBC and SyFy’s Merlin already shows us teenaged versions of the once and future king and his cohorts.

While the Starz project certainly has higher production values and a more mature feel, I was hoping to see an older Arthur taking charge. But I’ll reserve judgement -- many a movie and TV show has been cast in the wrong light by a misleading trailer. All that said, Joseph Fiennes’ non-traditional and menacing portrayal of Merlin shows promise.

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Starz will show a sneak preview of Camelot on February 25th directly following Spartacus: Gods of the Arena at 10:56 PM. The series debuts on April 1st.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Supernatural: ‘Like a Virgin’ Preview – Soulful Sam

With the holidays behind us, it’s time for our favorite television shows to return to the air with new episodes. On January 28, Supernatural fans will find out what happened after Death attempted to return Sam’s soul from Lucifer’s cage.

Unfortunately, that suspenseful revelation will have to wait until later in the episode, because if Supernatural has taught us anything, it’s that there’s always a monster that needs to be killed – and waiting for the unconscious to come around is just not in the cards.

After finding out that women have been continuously disappearing from a familiar small town, Dean and Bobby team up to find out who (or what) could be behind these paranormally driven kidnappings. With some mythological research, it soon becomes apparent that the women who are disappearing were virgins that wore purity rings.

While this mysterious v-word might stupefy the Casanovian Dean Winchester, the always resourceful Bobby Singer knows exactly what type of creature their dealing with. In a first for Supernatural, the Winchester brothers (now that Sam is awake) will have to battle one of the Middle Ages’ most iconic creatures… Dragons!

Fortunately (as you can see in the photos below), it appears that Sam and Dean have found the perfect weapon to deal with their proverbial Godzilla. Although, considering the size of the dagger they’re holding (and Supernatural’s production budget), these dragons will most likely be some form of human-based manifestation, rather than the full-size, fire breathing, flying monstrosities.

Aside from a giant knife, the photos below also give a glimpse at where the dragons keep their intended victims. On top of that, you also have some photos of Sam and Dean in their now iconic black suits and, more importantly, a couple photos from the scene in which Sam reveals the fate of his soul.

You can view the photos below:

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Supernatural returns Friday, January 28 @9pm, on The CW

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Screen Rant’s (Massive) 2011 Movie Preview

2011 is here and movie geeks are especially excited, as the year twenty-eleven promises some highly anticipated films of the sci-fi and superhero persuasion, as well as some animated sequels, promising awards season art house entries, and even a (strange? timely?) new sub-genre in the rom-com category: the sex buddy comedy.

We take a look at the movies of 2011 (we lost count, but we’ve listed about 150 films!) that will be occupying our weekends at the theater this year. We’ll also keep this post updated as release dates are shifted and new movies are added to the calender, so be sure to bookmark this post for future reference.

For your convenience, we’ve separated the 2011 movie releases into the the months of the year. Be sure to check back each month for the latest on the movies that will be at theaters near you. We’ll keep things current with new images, casting news, release date shifts and late additions. January is listed on this page and you can click any one of the links below to jump to a specific month.

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14th-century knights (Nic Cage, Ron Perlman) transport a suspected witch to a monastery, where monks deduce her powers could be the source of the Black Plague.

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A drama centered on a rising country-music songwriter (Garrett Hedlund) who sparks with a fallen star (Gwyneth Paltrow). Together, they mount his ascent and her comeback, which leads to romantic complications involving her husband/manager (Tim McGraw) and a beauty queen-turned-singer (Leighton Meester).

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Vincent Burton is the best science teacher at Liberty High School until he falls for his prize student Katie Anderson. When the relationship takes a scandalous turn, Vincent’s loyal twin brother Oscar, fresh home from prison, decides to help Vincent avoid doing hard time and does anything he can to take care of anyone who has knowledge of the relationship. The local Sheriff starts hunting Oscar and the game of cat and mouse has the whole town involved.

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By night, debonair newspaper publisher Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) fights crime as a masked superhero known as The Green Hornet. At his side is martial arts expert Kato (Jay Chou), who teams with The Hornet to bring down ruthless crime boss, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz).

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A man discovers that his best friend’s wife is having an affair. Ron Howard directs, Vince Vaughn, Jeniffer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Kevin James, Queen Latifah and Channing Tatum star.

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Life for a happy couple (Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart) is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire.

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The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti). Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Scott Speedman and Dustin Hoffman co-star.

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A subversive tale that interlaces five stories set in Los Angeles, where no taboo is left unexplored as each character careens toward a dark and often comic fate. Zoe Saldana, Dylan McDermott, Jamie Chung, Rosamund Pike, Nick Stahl, Paz Vega, Lake Bell and Shannon Doherty star.

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Ong Bak 3 picks up where Ong Bak 2 left off. Tien (Tony Jaa) is captured and almost beaten to death before he is saved and brought back to the Kana Khone villagers. There he is taught meditation and how to deal with his Karma, but very soon his arch rival returns challenging Tien for a final duel.

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A guy and girl (Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman) try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

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A fact-based story centered on soldiers who escaped from a Siberian gulag in 1940. Colin Farrell, Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Strong star.

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The story centers on a year in the life of three men (trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company) – and how it affects them, their families, and their communities. Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Maria Bello star.

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A Latina spin on Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” where two spoiled sisters who have been left penniless after their father’s sudden death are forced to move in with their estranged aunt in East Los Angeles.

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An elite hit man (Jason Statham) teaches his trade to an apprentice (Ben Foster) who has a connection to one of his previous victims.

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An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school and gets caught up in a case of suppossed demonic possession. Ciarán Hinds, Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga, Toby Jones and Rutger Hauer star.

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This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal (Javier Bardem) is a tragic hero and father of two who’s sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

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The sequel follows on Ip Man’s migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.

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A drama centered on a woman with Alzheimer’s in search of new meaning through poetry.

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Seth and Jonah are twins with a dangerous ability. Telekinesis. Things start to spiral out of their control as their classmates end up dying in twisted and bizarre ways. The police suspect them. But, jealousy begins to divide them and soon they can no longer trust each other. Leading up to a horrific battle between themselves.

Continue to February 2011 movies…

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‘Smallville’ Season 10 ‘Luthor’ Preview: Lionel Is Back, Clark Is A Murderer!

Last week on Smallville, not only did we witness Colonel Slade Wilson become Deathstroke, but Lois Lane is now even closer to Clark’s extracurricular activities as the Blur ever since she has been welcomed into Watchtower. The only way to top that surprising turn of events would be to bring back one of the Luthors.

Fortunately, that’s exactly what they’re going to do!

When it was previously announced that John Glover would be reprising his role as Lionel Luthor, the only things fans wanted to know was when and how. Considering Lionel Luthor was killed at the hands of Lex, nobody could figure out how they would bring the iconic Luthor (and Jor-El’s vessel) back from the grave.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone knew that they’d find a way to bring Lionel back, but nobody knew what that specific means might be. After the season 10 premiere and the introduction of Lex clones, the notion that there could possibly be some Lionel clones out there wouldn’t exactly be off base, but it would most certainty be out of character for the stoic figure.

With the release of this week’s episode description, we find out both how and why Lionel Luthor is returning. In typical Smallville fashion, it involves a mysterious Kryptonian artifact – only this time, the artifact transports Clark into an alternate universe where it was Lionel that rescued Clark from the field when he was a child, not Jonathan and Martha Kent.

Of course, a simple switch must always have a complicated result. In this instance, Clark is no longer the nice guy farm boy that everyone has grown to love. Instead, his bizarre adoption leads to Clark Luthor becoming a murderer. And, as Clark Kent has taken the place of Clark Luthor in this alternate universe, Clark Luthor has replaced Clark Kent in the real world.

As much of this episode surrounds Lionel Luthor and this mysterious Kryptonian article, it appears that this will put the ongoing Darkseid storyline on hold. While I’m sure this episode is going to be amazing (how can it not with John Glover), I’m never a fan of filler storylines that delay the main seasonal arch.

Although, I also said the same thing about “Isis” and then we saw what romantic revelation came from that.

Tess (Cassidy Freeman) acquires a Kryptonian box that once belonged to Lionel Luthor (John Glover). When Clark (Tom Welling) accidentally activates the box, he’s transported to a parallel universe where Lionel found Clark in the cornfields instead of the Kents. In this universe, Clark Luthor is a murderer and Lois (Erica Durance) is engaged to Oliver (Justin Hartley) and both of them hate Clark. Clark must be careful not to tip off Lionel that he’s not his son while trying to figure out how to get back to Earth where the monster Clark Luthor was transported in his place. Executive producer Kelly Souders directed the episode written by Bryan Q. Miller.

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Smallville airs Fridays @8pm, on The CW

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Jon Favreau Talks Cowboys & Aliens (Plus Trailer Preview & Poster)

Cowboys & Aliens is already generating enough buzz to make it one of the most eagerly anticipated films of 2011. Last week, the buzz started to increase over the impending release of the film’s trailer. Folks have been speculating about which movie (or movies) the trailer would appear with, and when it would be available online.

We were fortunate enough to be among the few to get a sneak-peak at the Cowboys And Aliens trailer in an edit bay visit with director Jon Favreau last week, and can assure fans that they will not be disappointed when it becomes available online this coming Wednesday.

In addition to an advance look at the trailer, we were also given the opportunity to view very early, work-in-progress footage from the film and will be bringing you a full report on our edit bay visit in the coming weeks.

What we are able to report now is that the trailer that you will see on Wednesday is highly reflective of the extended footage we’ve seen from the film. There is always the danger of misleading a film’s audience with an deceptive marketing campaign. Thankfully, that’s not the case with Cowboys & Aliens.

Favreau himself reflects “what I like about it as a filmmaker, is that it feels like they are selling the same movie that we’re making.” He goes on to say that this trailer encapsulates “the tone of the first act of the movie, and as we get deeper, and as more trailers come out – more will be revealed.”

Keep an eye out here on Screen Rant as we continue to bring you the latest about the film.

In addition to Wednesday’s trailer countdown clock and film experience page, the first Cowboys & Aliens teaser poster debuted on Yahoo this morning and we have it for you below.

Take a look at the official teaser poster below:

Poster source: Yahoo! Movies.

Here is the official synopsis for the film:

1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger (Daniel Craig) with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear.

But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky.  Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.

Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation.  As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force.  With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents—townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors—all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

As film-goers, we have become comfortable, and used to “genre-bending” films; in fact, the tricks and tropes of genre-bending (or blending) have become so familiar and shorthand, that filmmakers now must essentially bend the bending in order to surprise audiences.

In his 2001 essay on The French Connection, writer Todd Berliner explains that, “genre-bending films rely on viewers’ habitual responses to generic codes, misleading audiences into expecting conventional outcomes.” In other words, genre-bending films typically set viewers up for the expected, only to then twist the tropes, “creating a more unsettling experience than the genre traditionally provides.”

Audiences have become sophisticated enough that most genre-films are now self-reflexive in some way, or ways.

In casting Harrison Ford, Favreau is tipping his hat (metaphorically) at fans; and said hat tip plays into the tone of the film. He likens the casting choice to that of a classic Western star, explaining that “when John Wayne stepped onto the screen, he brought his entire body of work with him, and you have to acknowledge that. You can go with expectation or against expectation…”. However, both filmmaker and audience are well aware that a wealth of history comes with the casting choice – a lesson Favreau learned while working with Robert Downey Jr., on Iron Man.

A wealth of history is also intrinsically present in any genre film; that element of the past is heightened in a film that blends genres, as Cowboys & Aliens does. Self-reflexive, and genre-blending it may be, and yet, from what we have seen, Cowboys & Aliens feels like a film that honors its predecessors far more than many films that attempt to genre-blend, or bend, do.

Wild, Wild West This is not.

Continue to more about the Cowboys & Aliens experience…

Cowboys & Aliens presented an opportunity for Jon Favreau to do something he had longed to do; direct a classic Western, in a time when audience appetites are geared towards sci-fi and fantasy films in general, and alien-invasion films specifically.

Cowboys & Aliens does not “go for the easy joke” that many filmmakers would have been tempted to go for with this particular brand of genre mash-up, however.“You can work in humor” Favreau explains (and we assure you that the humor will be present), but “in the way that the old Westerns did; a little bit here, a character actor there – but really at its core, like the John Ford films, which were unflinching in what the main characters are up against.”

Cowboys & Aliens emphasizes character, and as such, the actors “all played it straight.” The film does not “back-off of the Western genre”, and as Favreau says “young it up”, in a way that degrades the particular beauty of the style.

Rather, by drawing on films like The Magnificent Seven (and Kurosawa’s prior film, Seven Samurai), Stagecoach, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, High Planes Drifter and The Professionals, this film embraces the genre, approaching it with a sensibility that is simultaneously modern and faithful in tone to the classic Western.

Cowboys And Aliens will be one of the only summer event films of 2011 that was neither shot in 3D, or converted to 3D in post-production. It was shot in traditional 35mm anamorphic, in the vein of a traditional Western, by the phenomenally talented cinematographer Matthew Libatique (Iron Man, The Fountain, Black Swan), giving the film an organic quality that audiences will (hopefully) be thirsty for.

Favreau was able to go straight to the source, executive producer Steven Spielberg, to explore some of the late 1970s/1980s science fiction movies that he used as both template and inspiration for this movie. Films like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Alien/Aliens, E.T and even Jaws. Science fiction that, often by necessity, invited the audience members to participate in the storytelling by actively engaging their imaginations.

These films relied on the imaginations of viewers to fill in the blanks that were left by the technological limitations of the day. What many of us have come to realize since that time is that our individual fears will, more often than not, serve the emotional current of a film far more than overblown CGI ever could. Though there will certainly be plenty of action available in Cowboys & Aliens.

Soon enough you will be able to see for yourself that the classic Western style blends beautifully with the particular brand of sci-fi this film will be expressing.

As far as the Cowboys & Aliens are concerned, as Favreau says, “they (the aliens) didn’t know they were coming to the old-west, and they (the cowboys) didn’t know there were aliens coming – they were both coming from their own place.”

We believe the two worlds will seamlessly collide, come summer 2011.

We look forward to bringing you the trailer this Wednesday – as well as further details from our incredible edit bay visit – in the coming weeks. In the interim, you can find the countdown clock for the Cowboys & Aliens trailer below, so we can all count the minutes together:

Cowboys & Aliens

The trailer will also be appearing in theaters, beginning this weekend with Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Cowboys & Aliens has a powerhouse team of Hollywood heavy-hitters behind it; starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, written and produced by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Star Trek) and Damon Lindelof (television’s Lost); produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, with executive producers Steven Spielberg and Denis L. Stewart.

Cowboys & Aliens is scheduled for release on July 29th, 2011.

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