Steph Song cast as Roulette in Season 9 of Smallville

Steph Song

Steph Song has just been cast as the villain in Smallville‘s Season 9 episode “Roulette.” In various forms of DC‘s Justice League comics, Roulette is a high stakes gambler who ran an underground casino that catered to villains and organized cage matches where superheroes were pitted against each other in fights to the death. While Roulette had no superpower of her own, she was extremely intelligent and used gadgets and combat skills in much the same way that Batman does.

Considering that Smallville consistently focuses on character development in a “secret origins” kind of way, it will be interesting to see how they introduce the character of Roulette. Roulette will be in Episode 6 of this season of Smallville. Season 9 premieres on the CW on Friday, September 25.

Related Links:
Smallville Website
Steph Song Website
Steph Song’s Island Films Website

Sanctuary: The Complete First Season in Stores September 15

Even things that go bump in the night need protection...
Even things that go bump in the night need protection...

This September, E1 Entertainment proudly brings to DVD one of television’s most talked about and groundbreaking new series. Blazing an innovative trail, the hit Syfy original series Sanctuary features awe-inspiring virtual sets and visual effects as it follows Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) on her quest to study and protect the extraordinary and legendary creatures that secretly live among us. On September 15, prepare to believe in the unbelievable as Sanctuary: The Complete First Season debuts on DVD in a deluxe, 4-disc set featuring all 13 exhilarating Season One episodes plus over two hours of bonus features for only $44.98 SRP.

“With cutting-edge technology, Sanctuary creates a world teeming with mermaids, dinosaurs and monster mayhem.”

–TV Guide

Presented in 16×9 anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 Surround Sound and optional English and Spanish subtitles, Sanctuary: The Complete First Season also includes an arsenal of exclusive extras including: audio commentaries on all 13 episodes with cast and crew including Amanda Tapping, creator Damian Kindler, director Martin Wood and more; three making-of featurettes (“Welcome to the Sanctuary,” “Sanctuary Residents” and “Sanctuary Visual Effects”); the original Sanctuary webisodes (which provided the inspiration for the television series); a bloopers reel; behind-the-scenes photo gallery and an exclusive sneak peek at Season Two, which premieres on Syfy Friday, October 9 at 10/9 Central.

Sanctuary follows the adventures of the beautiful, enigmatic and always surprising Dr. Helen Magnus, her new recruit, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman and her fearless daughter Ashley. Together they track down, study and protect the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world. Although dismissed as monstrous figments of our imaginations and the stuff of our nightmares, Magnus recognizes that the world is full of nature’s mistakes and triumphs. And she has the spectacular proof that they are indeed real. For some “abnormals”, Magnus is their protector. For a dangerous few, she is their captor.

Sanctuary stars Amanda Tapping as Dr. Helen Magnus (Stargate SG-1), Robin Dunne as Dr. Will Zimmerman (Dawson’s Creek), Emilie Ullerup as Ashley (jPod), Christopher Heyerdahl as the sinister John Druitt (Stargate Atlantis) and Ryan Robbins as Henry Foss (Battlestar Galactica).

Braving new worlds in each episode is just the start for Sanctuary. The series is also proudly credited for pioneering new techniques and technology in television production. Recently nominated for a 2009 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, Sanctuary is one of the only series to shoot extensively on green screen. The series was also the first in North America to shoot with the new RED camera — a digital system that captures images at four times the resolution of a high definition camera, resulting in a look that is unmatched on television.

The Sanctuary creative team includes executive producer, writer and creator Damian Kindler (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis); executive producer and lead actor Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis); and executive producer and director Martin Wood (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis). In addition, Sam Egan (Jeremiah, The Outer Limits) serves as executive producer and writer along with John Smith (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis) and Keith Beedie as executive producers. Sanctuary is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. For more information, visit sanctuaryforall.com.

“Weird Al” Yankovic — Ringtone

from “Weird Al” Yankovic:

The video for “Ringtone”, the 5th and final track from the “Internet Leaks” collection, can be seen right here! Video directed by Josh Faure-Brac and Dustin McLean from Current TV’s SuperNews.

“Ringtone,” along with the rest of Internet Leaks, will be available starting Tuesday, August 25th on:

iTunes!
Amazon!
Rhapsody!
Napster!
Zune!
Wal-Mart!

…and everywhere else that mp3s are sold!

And the video will be available on iTunes too!

And you’ll even be able to get the RINGTONE of “Ringtone”!

Can’t see the video because you live outside the U.S., or some other crazy reason? Try here.

ElfQuest News: Gathering of the Gargoyles 2009

from ElfQuest:

This just in: Wendy Pini will be a guest at the Gathering of the Gargoyles 2009 convention in Los Angeles, California.

The convention runs Friday through Monday, August 21-24. Wendy will appear on Sunday, August 23, and has several program items on the schedule that day.

From the web site, this description:

In 1994, Disney’s Gargoyles broke the mold of the traditional Disney animated series with a dramatic plot, ethnically diverse cast, and clean, gothic style. It ran for an unprecedented number of episodes and received a devoted fan following.

In August 2009, we gather again for our Thirteenth Annual convention. Mark your calendars now and get ready to return once again to the City of Angels, Los Angeles, California, the home of Disney and the center of the entertainment industry.

If you enjoyed the Gargoyles animated series, you won’t want to miss this gathering, as according to the web site, it is the final one.

“Weird Al” Yankovic: Internet Leaks!

from “Weird Al” Yankovic:

One week from today (Tuesday, August 25), my 5-track digital EP Internet Leaks will be officially released. It’ll be on iTunes, Amazon… you know, all the usual places.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already heard 4/5 of the songs on it: My T.I. parody “Whatever You Like,” my Doors pastiche “Craigslist,” my Jungle Cruise homage “Skipper Dan” and my Charles Nelson Reilly tribute “CNR.”

The fifth and final track from Internet Leaks is called “Ringtone.” It will be released the same day as the EP — Tuesday the 25th. The video for it was done by the guys behind Current TV’s hilarious show SuperNews — and it will world-premiere this Friday night as part of a half-hour special show that I’m co-hosting with SuperNews creator Josh Faure-Brac. For more info on the show and where you can see it, go here.

If you’ve been holding out on buying these tracks individually up until now, you can pick all five up in one fell swoop on Tuesday. Who knows, maybe Internet Leaks will even chart like a “real” album!

The songs on Internet Leaks will all show up again on my next full album release, whenever that is (I’m assuming next year sometime, but there’s no way to be sure). Some people may say, “Why should I buy the Internet Leaks tracks now when they’re going to be on your next album anyway?” Well, if all you’re interested in is the physical CD, and you don’t mind waiting a year or so… you probably SHOULDN’T buy the tracks now. Nobody’s forcing you to buy the songs twice — I just wanted to make the tracks available so everybody could enjoy them as early as possible.

By the way, if you DO purchase Internet Leaks now, you’ll be able to take advantage of iTunes’ “Complete My Album” function when the full album becomes available. You’ll be able to painlessly add the missing tracks, and the full purchase price of Internet Leaks will be deducted from the cost of the album.

While I’m thinking of it, HUGE thanks go out to Liam Lynch, Divya Srinivasan and the folks at JibJab, who made the videos for “Craigslist,” “Skipper Dan” and “CNR,” respectively. If you haven’t seen those videos yet, check them out on my YouTube page. Or if YouTube won’t let you watch them for some crazy reason, try here.

In other news… Al’s Brain finished up a successful run at the Orange County Fair — a quarter of a million people so far have seen my 3-D movie, and the reviews have been fantastic. If you live in the Western Washington area, be sure to look for it at the Puyallup Fair next month!

And last week, I passed the “one million followers” threshold on Twitter. (Did Ashton Kutcher beat me to it? I haven’t really been paying attention.) Anyway, I’ve really been enjoying Twitter… in an obsessive/compulsive kind of way. If you’re not following me there already, check it out — I’m at twitter.com/alyankovic.

Other than that, I’ve been enjoying the summer with my family, and I’ve had a great time reading everybody’s tweets, posts and comments. Thanks so much for all the kind words about the new songs and videos!

Al

SuperNews & “Weird Al” Yankovic Collabo-Jam!

from “Weird Al” Yankovic:

The video for the 5th and final track from “Internet Leaks” will world premiere this Friday night on Current TV’s “SuperNews”!

The SuperNews gang teams up with “Weird Al” Yankovic on a music video for his new song “Ringtone” by shooting Al and SuperNews creator Josh Faure-Brac directly into the “Cartoon Funderland.” This live-action / animation hybrid special debuts Friday, August 21st at 10 PM (9 PM central) on Current TV.

Current is available on the following channels:

DirecTV — channel 358
Dish Network — channel 196
Comcast — channel 107 or 125
Time Warner — channel 103 or 142
AT&T U-Verse — channel 189
Verizon FIOS — channel 192

UK & IRELAND
Sky — channel 183
Virgin Media — channel 155

And SuperNews is online at:
http://current.com/supernews/

The Legend of Neil: Death in Store — Season 2, Episode 2 Released Today

from The Legend of Neil:

Neil lovers, the fun continues as Neil enters the store and finds much more danger than he bargained for! Check out the second episode here! Catch up on the first episode if you haven’t caught it yet (is that even possible?!) For up-to-the-second reports, contests and other goodies be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS. Oh and buy an official Legend of Neil t-shirt. It goes a long way to helping us get you more of what you love, more Neil!

The Empire Muggs Back: One Week to Go!

from StarWars.com:

There is one week left to go in the Empire Muggs Back charity auction — a chance for you to score a fanastic one-of-a-kind piece of Star Wars art, while also helping out The Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Artists, comic book creators, toy designers, and celebrity fans have used their markers, paint brushes and glue guns to transform blank versions of Hasbro’s distinctive Mighty Muggs toys into unique pieces of Star Wars art.

These highly-collectible urban vinyl toys have been available in a variety of characters from Star Wars and Indiana Jones, among other comic book and film franchises. For this special project, called The Empire Muggs Back, Lucasfilm asked popular artists, comics book creators, toy designers and celebrity fans to take blank Mighty Muggs (donated by Hasbro) and transform them into their favorite Star Wars characters, scenes, ships and more.

“StarWars.com wanted to show off the talents of artists and fans, who represent a wide-range of artistic disciplines, in an unique way while raising money for a good cause we have long supported,” said Bill Gannon, Director of Online Operations at Lucasfilm Ltd.

Among the artists contributing to the project is Supervising Director of The Clone Wars animated series, Dave Filoni. “I have met several Make-A-Wish families due to my involvement in The Clone Wars and I have seen first-hand what a difference a little kindness can make for people,” he said. “It is a great privilege to get to be involved in a project like this, which combines my love of Star Wars with helping others. It’s the Jedi way after all.”

Over 60 one-of-a-kind customized Mighty Muggs toys are up for auction through August 14. To find out more about this project as well as see all the pieces and enter the auction, visit StarWars.com’s page dedicated to The Empire Muggs Back here.

Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 65 chapters in the United States and its territories. With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation grants a wish every 40 minutes and has granted more than 180,000 wishes in the United States since inception. For more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit http://wish.org. To give to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and help courageous children experience their most heartfelt wishes, please visit our Giving Section.

Weta News: August 2009

from Weta:

Hey Weta fans,

This time I would like to draw your attention to a beautiful trailer for Peter Jackson’s upcoming movie The Lovely Bones. Weta helped out with design and specialty props as well as digital visual effects for the movie. We’re really looking forward to the release of the movie in December. See the trailer here! Enjoy!

In the News:
We are incredibly proud and pleased to finally be “back in Middle-earth” again and we’re full of anticipation of exciting times ahead. So, without further ado, we declare our range of Miniature Shields from The Lord of the Rings open for Pre-order!

New Products:

Running Out:

  • Prince CaspianCaspian and Steed — less than 10 left! And it’s only just arrived!
  • King KongKong Skull — A few left in NZ and the UK

The Dragon’s Gold has been found!
The Hunt for Dragon’s Gold at Comic-Con was a race down to the wire. In fact, it was so close, it was a dead heat. The two winners were Jared Sarajian and Jeff Cox. The hunt was announced by Richard Taylor at the panel organized by our good friends at TORn (theonering.net). It took them just 45 minutes to decipher the series of clues placed around the Convention Hall. Read more!

This is how you find us online!
http://fans.wetaNZ.com/Magnus/ | Twitter: @wetaworkshop | Facebook: Weta Workshop

MGM’s New “Stargate Universe” Trailer

When the show concept for Stargate Universe was first mentioned, I envisioned Lost in Space 90210, but this trailer actually has me excited. It’s more like Battlestar Galactica meets The Poseidon Adventure. I’m hopeful. Very hopeful.

Check it out in high quality at the Official Stargate Website.

Farscape 10th Anniversary Announcement from A&E Home Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company

Farscape: The Complete Series Megaset

from A&E Home Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company:

When a freak accident during an experimental space mission catapulted Astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder) across a thousand galaxies to an alien battlefield, a groundbreaking cult classic was born with the epic, adventure-filled TV series Farscape. On November 17, the award-winning fan favorite show, which ran from 1999-2003 on Sci Fi and was named by TV Guide as one of television’s best cult shows ever, will commemorate its 10th Anniversary with the very first complete packaging of the series. Featuring all 88 episodes on 25 discs, with original aspect ratios (4×3 for Seasons 1-3, anamorphic 16×9 widescreen for Season 4) and 5.1 surround sound, Farscape: The Complete Series Megaset delivers the venerated program to its legions of loyal fans and a new generation for the collectible price of $149.95srp.

An imaginative fusion of live action, state-of-the-art puppetry, prosthetics and CGI, Farscape, produced by The Jim Henson Company in association with RHI Entertainment, featured mind-boggling alien life forms, dazzling special effects, edge-of-your-seat thrills, irreverent humor and unforgettable characters — all brought to rich life by the creative minds at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Strap in and hold on tight for the extraordinary adventures of John Crichton, as he finds himself surrounded by hostile aliens and soaring through the cosmos aboard Moya, a glorious living space ship. Hunted by the relentless Peacekeepers, he allies himself with Moya’s crew — Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black), Luxan warrior Ka D’Argo (Anthony Simcoe), azure priestess Zhaan (Virginia Hey), spritely Nebari thief Chiana (Gigi Edgley), Dominar Rygel, the deposed royal ruler of the Hynerian Empire and Pilot — to search for a way out of this inconceivably alien world and return home.

Farscape: The Complete Series Megaset contains amazing surprises, including over 15 hours of bonus programming:

  • 29 Episode Commentaries, including “Premiere” with Rockne S. O’Bannon, Brian Henson and Ben Browder; “Jeremiah Crichton” with Claudia Black, Producer/Writer David Kemper, Browder and O’Bannon; “Bone to Be Wild” with Anthony Simcoe; “Relativity” with Lani Tupu (Crais/Voice of Pilot) and Director Peter Andrikidis; and, “Bad Timing” which features Browder, Black and Kemper discussing the series’ final episode.
  • Multiple featurettes and documentaries including “In the Beginning: A Look Back with Brian Henson”; “Making of a Space Opera” and “Inside Farscape: Save Farscape,” on which fans, cast and crew discuss the fate of their beloved series.
  • Multiple video profiles featuring archival clips and cast/crew discussing their characters and roles on Farscape.
  • Over 90 minutes of deleted scenes.
  • Slideshows and archival photo galleries, including character concepts and promo photos.
  • Production design galleries featuring screenshots, rough drafts and concept slide shows.
  • Behind-the-Scenes interviews with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Virginia Hey, Gigi Edgley, Paul Goddard (Stark),Wayne Pygram (Scorpius) and more.
  • Original TV promos and trailers

In addition to the complete Megaset, on November 17, Farscape will also be available in single season sets. Each re-packaged DVD release in Farscape: The Complete Seasons 1-4 will feature over 18 hours of interstellar entertainment — 22 episodes on six jam-packed discs filled with hours of revealing bonus materials — for $44.95srp.

Prepare for Starburst!

The crew of the Moya on "Farscape"
The crew of the Moya on "Farscape"
Ben Browder is Astronaut John Crichton
Ben Browder is Astronaut John Crichton
Claudia Black is Ex-Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun, with Henson creation “Pilot” in the background
Claudia Black is Ex-Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun, with Henson creation “Pilot” in the background