I See Honk Kong, I See France, I See Lily’s Underpants! Irreverent New Comedy “Mister French Taste” to Premiere on KoldCast TV

From Mister French Taste:

What do you get when you cross bad table manners, chicken feet, and a liberal dose of “ooh-la-la”? An innovative, cross-cultural comedy series from Jennifer Thym, the award-winning director of “LUMINA” and “Bloodtraffick”, set to debut on Monday, April 30, 2012, on KoldCast TV, the leading international discovery network for original TV series. Set in Hong Kong, “Mister French Taste” follows the antics of an uppity French etiquette coach Mr. French (Olivier Malet) who is hired to wrangle a gentleman out of the naive and unruly Leon Wong (Osric Chau), while both compete for the attentions of the sexy shopaholic Lily Lee (Sarah Lian).

“Mister French” is the brainchild of lead actor Olivier Malet and producer Veronique Girma. “I had seen so many comedies about Americans (eyeroll) and even worse… Englishmen… (shudders) and I thought, why not do a show about a Frenchman? Why not do a show about me?” muses Malet. When asked about his uncanny resemblance to a certain infamous English actor, Malet simply flutters his eyelashes and asks, “Mr. Who? Oh wait, perhaps you speak of the esteemed Mr. Craig. I adore James Bond movies, in fact I live every day like it’s my last. Or did you mean the Englishman with the unfortunate digestive issues – what was his name… Mr. Bean…o?” The pair signed Thym, who brought on writer Arne Venema, and “Mister French” was well on its way.

The show stars hot, young actor Osric Chau as Mr. French’s incorrigible protégé Leon Wong and FHM’s Most Wanted Woman in Malaysia Sarah Lian as the fashion-fixated Lily Lee. “I wanted actors who were fresh and enthusiastic,” says Thym. “Osric is one of the greatest talents in our generation – a truly gifted natural actor. When I saw him in the Roland Emmerich movie ’2012?, the way he could be both innocent and alluring struck a deep chord with me. Although he had predominantly worked on action films up to that point, I felt that he was the right choice to play opposite Olivier in a comedy.” And comedy roles seem to suit him as Chau’s next film is the Halloween high school comedy “Fun Size” starring Nickelodeon’s Victoria Justice and directed by the creator of “The O.C.”, Josh Schwartz.

Thym says that the key to putting together “Mister French Taste” was finding the right balance between slapstick and tongue-in-cheek. “Olivier has a great sense of comic timing and we wanted gifted actors who would be able to improv with him on camera. Everyone knows that Sarah is beautiful, her fans all over Asia agree with that, but what people may not know is that she is smart and has a wonderful sense of humor, and can play it straight to Olivier’s outlandishness.” Lian’s experience with “Mister French Taste” led her to being cast in the upcoming Canadian web show “Millions.”

The first 10-episode season of the series features a disgusting food showdown, an orgasmic French brand experience, and a gorgeous girl-packed one-shot wonder. “Episode 8, which is just a single two-and-a-half minute shot, was so much fun to film. We did about 20 takes to nail it, with our gallant Osric scooping up and getting knocked down by Jane Wong over and over and over. That’s when all his martial arts experience kicked in!” Thym says with a laugh.

“The series has been a dream to bring to life. We feel that the time is ripe for a show that teaches about etiquette in a classy and humorous way,” adds Girma. “Our unique approach to etiquette education is what attracted our brand sponsors, including Shanghai Tang and Tara Moor. And having celebrities appear on the show, like the amazing martial arts star Celina Jade, was a real treat.” Jade, who just wrapped shooting on a kung fu short with two-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, guest stars as cheeky college whiz kid Angie Clarke in Episode 1.

Catch the premiere of “Mister French Taste” on KoldCast TV on Monday, April 30, 2012. New episodes premiere every Monday at 1 AM, PST.

Cinematic Titanic Tour News

From Cinematic Titanic:

Hello everyone!

We’ve all had a blast on tour this season, and would like to thank each of you who have come out to see us! Meeting you is always the highlight of these shows, and we hope to visit new areas soon. Please let your local theatres know you’d like to see the show!

Here’s the lowdown on upcoming events:

Apr 21 Princeton, NJ
8:00 pm McCarter Theatre Center

J. Elvis Weinstein will not be joining us in Princeton due to a prior commitment, however we are very happy to welcome special guest riffer Dave ‘Gruber’ Allen in his place! Some of you may remember Dave from “Freaks & Geeks”, “The Naked Trucker”, “Gilmore Girls”, or – if you’ve seen the show before – from our very own opening act! Dave is a super-cool, funny guy, and we’re excited to have him on board.

What’s playing, you ask? It’s audience choice! Will it be “Rattlers”, “Danger on Tiki Island”, “The Astral Factor”, “Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks”, “The Wasp Woman”, or “The Oozing Skull”?? Find out this Saturday! Tickets are available here.

Apr 27 & 28 Milwaukee, WI
The Pabst Theater
Doors open at 6pm

We’re happy to have the opportunity to perform at the Pabst Theater again. Shows are as follows:

Friday, Apr 27 – “Doomsday Machine”
The Chinese are plotting to destroy the Earth! So just before a space mission to Venus is set to launch, the U.S. replaces half of its all-male crew with women. Oh, the humanity!

Saturday, Apr 28 – “The Astral Factor”
A convicted strangler is on the loose and can make himself invisible! Is anyone safe in this 1976 B-movie gem?

We hope to see you there! Get tickets here.

This just added:

July 5 Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor Summer Festival
Michigan Theater

You really, really, REALLY won’t want to miss us in Ann Arbor this year… Why? Because we’re performing TWO great shows, one of which will be a WORLD PREMIERE RIFF!

At 6:00pm, we’re presenting everyone’s favorite slithery snake-fest, “Rattlers”.

Then, at 9:00pm, it’s our maiden riff of 1973’s campy “The Doll Squad”, which features an elite team of female super agents out to foil the bad guys! Some folks believe another elite team of female super agents was based on the team in this movie. Is it true? Decide for yourself! Tickets are available here.

Later This Year…

We are excited to announce our return to the St Louis area!

Nov 17 St Charles, MO
Family Arena

We don’t know yet what’s playing (it will most likely be one of our unreleased titles), but you can get tickets NOW here.

Can’t make it to a show?

Get your funny fix via Mary Jo Pehl’s laugh-out-loud-hilarious new book, “Employee of the Month and Other Big Deals”. Here’s what folks are saying:

“I love Mary Jo Pehl’s hilarious writing almost as much as teenage Mary Jo Pehl loved Roddy McDowall, which is to say, desperately.” John Hodgman, Author, Resident Expert & Minor TV Personality

“If this book is even 1/10th as wonderful as the woman that is Mary Jo Pehl you will be so overcome that you will purchase this book every time you see it. Damn.” Smoove B., Columnist for The Onion

Available at Amazon.com.

Or perhaps you’d enjoy Trace Beaulieu’s “Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children”, available at ThinkGeek, or tracebeaulieu.com. It’s a yucky big book of rainy day fun for belligerent children & odd adults with nothing better to do!

Joy, age 7, says, “Ewww! Read me another!”

Trace and Mary Jo’s books were illustrated by Len Peralta, of Geek-A-Week and Monster By Mail fame. Check him out!

Love,

The CT Gang

SPIRIT CAMERA: THE CURSED MEMOIR Brings Supernatural Thrills to NINTENDO 3DS

There’s no escaping the scary essence of Friday the 13th as Nintendo unleashes an extraordinary new experience in horror-themed entertainment. Launching today exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS system, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir invites horror fans to immerse themselves in a chilling hand-held adventure. The game’s 3D visuals and augmented-reality features help unravel the mysterious tale of a girl named Maya who’s been trapped in a haunted house and cursed by a malevolent woman in black. As players strive to rescue Maya, ghostly images are intermingled with real-world environments to create a visceral, personalized experience they won’t soon forget.

Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir comes with the “diary of faces,” a 16-page augmented-reality book that transforms the Nintendo 3DS system into the Camera Obscura. When the “diary of faces” is viewed through the lens of the system’s built-in camera, it allows players to discover unique experiences that not only advance the game’s storyline but also add eerie interactive elements. For example, some pages contain movies that reveal past events that occurred in the haunted house where Maya is trapped, while others cause evil spirits to seemingly emerge from the book and into players’ own real-world surroundings.

“Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir literally takes hand-held horror games into a new dimension,” said Ron Bertram, Nintendo of Canada’s vice-president and general manager. “With the augmented-reality features of Nintendo 3DS, horror fans can not only enjoy a captivating ghost story, they’ll also be drawn deeper into the action as the lines between reality and the game world blur in unique ways.”

In addition to the main Story Mode, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir includes additional modes that highlight the built-in 3D photo capabilities of Nintendo 3DS. Spirit Photography mode enhances everyday pictures with haunting visions, while Spirit Check reveals spirits haunting you and your friends. In Spirit Challenge mode, faces of your photographed friends mystically appear on evil spirits in the game, and challenge players to battle against them.

A third mode called Cursed Pages offers additional game content featuring supernatural twists. For instance, players can confront strange masks that are haunted by a boy’s spirit or complete memory challenges to identify and dispel an evil doll spirit.

Remember that Nintendo 3DS features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

For more information about Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir, visit http://spiritcamera.nintendo.com. You can also view a spooky live-action short inspired by the game on YouTube at http://youtu.be/HgDp4U4iJzQ.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console, Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.9 billion video games and more than 620 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website athttp://www.nintendo.ca.

A Toy Design First: Max Toy Company Collaborating with #1 Star Wars Artist Dave Dorman and Dorman’s Young Son

Max Toy Company CEO Mark Nagata is pleased to announce his first-ever collaboration with Eisner and Inkpot Award-winning artist Dave Dorman, and Dave Dorman’s seven-year-old son Jack Dorman. This also marks the first time Max Toy Co. has collaborated with a father-and-son team, but according to Nagata, “Dave’s son Jack has already exhibited some uncanny art chops, so this unique team will make for a way cool monster design. Add Dave’s passion for Japanese monsters and his design sense to the mix, and I know this toy will be a best seller.” Nagata, who named his own company after his own son, understands the power of the father-son creative connection.

Dorman, no stranger to toy design, worked with Hasbro for seven years creating G.I. Joe character designs, and also created the best-selling Alien: Resurrection action figures toy line. Both lines can be seen in Dorman’s autobiography, Rolling Thunder: The Art of Dave Dorman (IDW Publishing/Desperado Publishing).

Said Dorman, “I am honored to be working with Mark. I’ve been a fan of his toys for a long time and attended his Toy Karma exhibit at Rotofugi here in Chicago. I am equally excited to be working with my son Jack on this project, whose early passion for Domos has evolved into a fascination with Kaiju, in no small part thanks to Max Toy Company’s wonderful Japanese monster toys. This will be one of the most fun and memorable projects I’ve had the good fortune to do.”

Toy progress and teasers will be announced on http://MaxToyCo.com, and Nagata will show teasers during San Diego Comic-Con from the Rotofugi and Dragatomi booths. For more information, please visit http://maxtoyco.com or http://davedorman.com

About Dave Dorman  

A legendary, beloved figure in the comic book industry often characterized as “one of the nicest guys in comics,” Eisner and Inkpot Award-winning artist Dave Dorman was voted the #1 Star Wars Artist of All Time by the fans; George Lucas owns more than 90 of Dave Dorman’s original oil paintings. Dorman has created art for every major publisher and licensed character within the worlds of science fiction, fantasy and horror, including but not limited to Batman, Conan the Barbarian, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, Spiderman, Buckaroo Banzai, Captain America, G.I. Joe, Green Hornet, Green Lantern, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, Alien, Predator, Alien v. Predator, World of Warcraft, Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and many more.

Dorman has been a featured guest many times at San Diego Comic-Con where he exhibits yearly in Booth #4500. Dorman is also an exhibitor at Star Wars Celebration shows and Chicago’s C2E2. Dorman’s own I.P., Steampunk motorcycle western The Wasted Lands, is relaunching in 2012. Dorman’s biography and career retrospective book, ROLLING THUNDER: THE ART OF DAVE DORMAN (IDW/Desperado Publishing) is available on Amazon. Dorman’s pencil illustration and traditional oil painting tutorials are available through Hollywood’s The Gnomon Workshop.

Dave Dorman Social Media:

About Max Toy Company / Mark Nagata

 Over the years Mark Nagata has collected thousands of toys and a fair amount of titles. The man behind San Francisco-based Max Toy Company is widely known as: Toy Collector.  Illustrator.  Magazine Founder/Publisher.  Toy Designer.  Artist.  Author.  Husband. Father.  But the one description that might fit best is an unofficial one – Kaiju Toy and Art Ambassador. 

In the Japanese-inspired art and toy area, as well as throughout the larger toy collecting community, Mark is welcomed and recognized for his personal passion and commitment to supporting artists all around the world and the unique works they create. Mark’s devotion to presenting collectors with a selection of original figures inspired by classic Japanese toys from the 1960s and ’70s as well as new versions of licensed Japanese characters is at the heart of Max Toy Company.  Named for his son, Max Toys specializes in custom and limited editions of “kaiju” (Japanese monsters) toys and artwork.

Through Max Toys, Mark, who trained at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and honed his skills as a freelance commercial illustrator, has taken great pains to widen the reach of his two passions – toys and art.  He has helped curate successful art shows throughout the U.S., as well as in Japan and Spain. His artwork and toy designs have been included in numerous books and magazines and his hand-painted custom toys have even been sold through prestigious art houses Philip De Pury and Christie’s in New York and London. The San Francisco resident and his art can also be spotted in the first volume of the “ToyPunks” DVD and the “Toys R Us” DVD, while the video for Owl City’s number one song “Fireflies” features Mark’s popular Kaiju Eyezon character.  In 2010, Mark served as guest lecturer on kaiju and the toy-making process at the Morikami Museum in Florida. While young readers still enjoy his colorful style that graces more than 40 cover paintings for R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps book series – Give Yourself Goosebumps, adults are now snatching up Mark’s toy and artwork with a collector’s zeal, helping to spread the kaiju toy movement worldwide.

Mark Nagata’s Social Media:

‘Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome’ Not Moving Forward As TV Series On Syfy, May Become Digital Series

from Deadline:

It’s a case of bad news/good news forBattlestar Galactica fans who have been flocking to the Web to watch an unauthorized trailer for the long-in-the-works offshoot Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome over the past 36 hours. After lengthy deliberations, Syfy has decided not to go forward with the project, about the young years of William Adama, as a regular TV series. Blood & Chrome, initially envisioned as a Web series, was greenlighted as a two-hour TV pilot in October 2010. Because of intensive post-production, including special effects, the pilot was not delivered to Syfy until last November. As of January, Syfy president original programming Mark Stern was quoted as saying that he the network brass were “trying to figure out the economics right now” and that he hoped those would be figured out. Now, the network has passed on the project as a regular series but is looking to do it as a digital one, while airing the already produced pilot on the network as a movie. “Though the vision for “Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome” has evolved over the course of the past year, our enthusiasm for this ambitious project has not waned,” Stern said in a statement today. “We are actively pursuing it as was originally intended: a groundbreaking digital series that will launch to audiences beyond the scope of a television screen. The 90-minute pilot movie will air on Syfy in its entirety at a future date.”

Despite the lengthy production and decision-making, the buzz about Blood & Chrome never died among Battlestar fans. It went into overdrive over the past couple of days following a WonderCom panel over the weekend with Kevin Grazier, the scientific adviser for Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica series, where he screened what was described as a trailer for Blood & Chrome. That trailer, to Trent Reznor and Karen O’s cover of “Immigrant Song” for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, found its way to the Web on Monday night and has gone viral — garnering some 100,000 views in 24 hours. The problem was that this was not an official trailer but a demo reel not intended for public consumption and thus not put through the process of clearing music and other rights. It is still unclear how the video made its way to WonderCon, but NBCUniversal today moved swiftly to take down the multiple copies that had popped up on YouTube. Universal Cable Prods, which produces Blood & Chrome, may still shop the project to other networks. Michael Taylor wrote the teleplay from a story byBattlestar Galactica executive producer David Eick, Taylor and Bradley Thompson & David Weddle.

Jenna-Louise Coleman replaces Karen Gillan in ‘Doctor Who’

from Digital Spy:

Jenna-Louise Coleman has been announced as the new Doctor Who companion.

The Titanic actress is confirmed to be replacing Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) as the assistant toMatt Smith‘s Time Lord in the BBC sci-fi show’s seventh series. Coleman’s debut episode will air at Christmas.

Jenna-Louise Coleman

© PA Images

Doctor Who, Matt Smith<br /> BBC

© BBC Pictures

> Doctor Who: Jenna-Louise Coleman – The press conference in full

Speaking at BBC’s Broadcasting house this morning, she said that she was a “huge fan of the show”, commenting: “I’m beyond excited, I can’t wait to get cracking; working alongside Matt I know is going to be enormous fun and a huge adventure.

“Matt Smith did my audition with me. It was fun and I felt like we were in it together.”

Coleman also revealed that her personal favorite companions were Billie Piper and Karen Gillan.

Showrunner Steven Moffat said: “It always seems impossible when you start casting these parts, but when we saw Matt and Jenna together, we knew we had our girl. She’s funny and clever and exactly mad enough to step on board the TARDIS.

“It’s not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it’s about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. And that’s all you’re getting for now. Who she’s playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries for the Time Lord ever.”

Moffat confirmed that Doctor Who will air six episodes in 2012 and a further eight in 2013 for the show’s 50th anniversary. In total, series seven comprises of 14 big, blockbuster-movie episodes.

The writer also dropped hints about Gillan and Arthur Darvill‘s departures, claiming that it would involve a final encounter with the Weeping Angels and that not everybody would make it out alive. “And I mean it this time,” added Moffat.

Rumors that Coleman, who has also appeared in Emmerdale and Waterloo Road, had been cast in the show first emerged this morning,

Gillan was confirmed to be departing Doctor Who along with co-star and on-screen husband Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) back in December.

Doctor Who Series 7 first look

© BBC / Adrian Rogers

It is known that they will leave part way through series seven in a “heartbreaking end”, and Gillan has teased that her exit will have a “strong impact”.

She also described her final Doctor Who storyline as a “damn good” one that will see Amy go out “on a high”.

See the complete article including videos at Digital Spy here.

Cliff Simon to “Dish” on Stargate, Days and the Delights of Dog Rescue

from WORMHOLERIDERS:

We are pleased to announce our next special guest host, a very gifted actor, the talented and warm hearted Mr. Cliff Simon!

As previously reported, on Sunday March 18, 2012 6 PM Pacific and 9 PM Eastern time, Cliff Simon will chat with his fans about one of his greatest passions, the benefits of Dog Rescue and adoption, his new guest starring role in Days of Our Lives in April, and if we behave ourselves, perhaps some Stargate too!

Join us and learn about Cliff Simon’srecent decision to join Twitter on Friday March 16, 2012 and more including his wonderful efforts with Karma Rescue during our human interest radio program this Sunday evening.

 

See complete article at WormholeRiders