Netflix has released a trailer for Ratched, its upcoming origin story based on the character of Nurse Mildred Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It will premiere on the streaming service on September 18th.
Over two seasons and 18 episodes, the series (which begins in 1947, 16 years before the events of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) follows Mildred Ratched as she arrives in Northern California to begin working at a psychiatric hospital where new and unsettling experiments have begun on the human mind. But Mildred is actually on her own secret mission to infiltrate the mental health care system, and soon her perfect nurse image begins to slip, exposing the darkness within her and “revealing that true monsters are made, not born.”
The limited-series presents an alternative version of history wherein actors and writers of color are more openly part of the Hollywood studio system.
As described in the official plot synopsis, Hollywood “exposes and examines decades-old power dynamics, and what the entertainment landscape might look like if they had been dismantled.” From prostitution and sexual harassment to racism to homophobia and the fascination with homosexuality, these burgeoning young stars are faced with the challenges of an unfair system, with biases against racism, gender, and sexuality that still feel prominent to this day.
Check out the first trailer for Netflix’s Hollywood below:
Would it be too bold to say that American Horror Story gave us some of the most entertaining horror we have ever seen on television? With 17 Emmy nominations, I feel it’s an appropriate statement. However, this is the same show in which a man was murdered and then sodomized with a fire poker. That isn’t exactly water cooler talk for the next day at the office, now is it? So where did these nominations come from, and how did it earn such a broad fan base? It’s likely because AHS is such a strong representation of the entire horror genre, and that’s been recognized. The first season ended in December, and since then fans have anxiously awaited their horrific thirsts to be quenched, and now we finally have a date to look forward to. Season two is scheduled to premier on October 17th at 10/9c.
Season one got our attention with its devilish, mysterious nature. To sum it up, great writing that was shot well forced even those that hate the genre to not only engage in the program, but enjoy it. I myself am a self-proclaimed fanatic of horror so I find it interesting how often I have heard people say, “I hate horror movies, but I love that show.”
So what was it that you loved about season one? Was it a guilty pleasure? Did it have something to do with young Moira portrayed by Alexandra Breckenridge? Did the Friday Night Lights fans need some more of Coach’s wife Connie Britton? Maybe you just loved the classic struggles of the Harmons and all their foibles. If you can’t wait to see what happens to our beloved ghostly Harmon family, prepare for a blatant, and somewhat obvious spoiler. Season two, appropriately titled American Horror Story: Asylum, is set in a new location with few returning cast members. When starting from scratch, it is hard to assess how the new season will stack up. What do you say we try anyways?
From what has been reported, these rumors could very well be spoilers.
Season 2 takes place during the 1960s in a New England Mental Hospital called Briarcliff. The Hospital is run by returning actress Jessica Lange as Sister Jude. Given her expected intimate relationship with new cast member Joseph Fiennes, I suppose it is uncertain if she is truly devote. When I see a nun in a mental hospital, I can’t help but think of the forced conception of Freddy Kruger. Anyone else? No? Okay, so I may have watched The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise too many times.
Without the return of iconic figures such as Rubberman, the canvas is fresh for new terrors. So say hello and welcome to, “BloodyFace.” With origins unknown we know he/she/it is a murderous psychopath who has an affection for wearing human skin. Other expected plot points will reflect upon aliens, and Nazis.
Other new cast members include James Cromwell, Chloë Sevigny, Franka Potente, Clea Duvall, and Adam Levine. Yes, that Adam Levine. Apparently he was capable of putting the button down for a while on The Voice so he could become part of the on camera couple known as, “The Lovers.”
We certainly have more information this time around then the first season marketing campaign gave. Was this necessary to gain viewership again? Are we still going to be blown away with what is revealed? I would think so considering the trailers serve more to keep me awake at night rather than tell me anything too specific. There are now eleven teaser trailers of different names to spark as much intrigue as possible. (1) Special Delivery, (2) Blue Coat, (3) Hydrobath, (4) White Rose, (5) Ascend, (6) Glass Prison, (7) The Bucket, (8) White Rave, (9) Taste, (10) Bandages, and (11) Fork. All 11 are available HERE.
My expectation is that we have much to look forward to out of season 2. Returning cast members Jessica Lange, Zachary Quinto, Lily Rabe, and Evan Peters, with returning writers such as Brad Fulchuk and Ryan Murphy means continued chemistry. Murphy harnessed what terrifies him most, and transferred that fear to another medium for us to fear as well. I didn’t previously have a particular fear of aliens, nuns, or Nazis. That being said, we weren’t terrified to go into the water until after we saw Jaws for the first time.
Now for a brief moment of speculation: Co creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have already stated that each season would belong to a non related anthology. However, one of my favorite things about anthologies is their potential for connection. Rarely do I find something more satisfying than when multiple stories intertwine to develop a grander plot. Is there a possibility Briarcliff will hold connection to our beloved “Murder House” from season one? Though the co creators have clearly stated, “No.” I would still love to think so.
Last year, NBC spent $4.38 BILLION to obtain the rights to broadcast the Olympic games through 2020. Their ratings for the 2012 London games have been stellar, despite outrage from critics professional and amateur alike. By the time they air, sports broadcast during NBC’s evening segments have been completed for nearly twelve hours. That leaves plenty of opportunity for viewers to know the results beforehand.
Those three words could pretty much define this pilot episode. There has been a lot of build up for American Horror Story whether through our site or the other entertainment sites. Whether it be from the co-creators of Glee, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy, that it has awesome Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton in it, or that the pilot was supposed to be one of the most creepy and well made in recent years. So with October in full swing, it is time to see how this series will stack up and live up to the height. After viewing the pilot, so far so good. Obviously do not proceed if you do not want spoilers. I will not give away too much but still, this is a review after all.
The pilot begins with a flashback to 1978 as we look to see a girl with down syndrome standing in front a house staring at it as two red-headed jackass twins come in with evil intentions of redecorating the interior with baseball bats. Naturally, the girl tells them they are going to die in there but details. Let’s just say that the boys get their comeuppance. Let us also note that the tone of this is pitch perfect. The way the sound and music plays into setting scenes and how the camera almost stalks its way towards the people really has this creepy vibe that adds to the atmosphere. You never feel comfortable viewing this but that’s what makes this pilot as a whole great. You are always on edge because this is not a cookie cutter pilot. There is no predictability and it definitely will suck you in.
Moving on, we advance to the present time where Connie Britton is treated at a doctor’s office months after a traumatic miscarriage only to come home to find her husband Dylan McDermott “burying his sorrows” into some other girl. Afterwards, we see the somewhat jaded couple take themselves and their daughter to Los Angeles in search of a new life.
We see the troubles still remain in all them as the episode moves on. Daughter does not fit in and is a cutter, husband is still pretty selfish oblivious to everyone else’s thoughts and ideas, and the wife is still broken.
Oh by the way, that house in ’78? That’s their new home. That creepy girl? Yeah, she just told Coach’s wife (I still have to get used to not calling her that) that she’s going to die. Also, Jessica Lange is a bitch.
Speaking of great actresses, what a great cast. You have Jessica Lange coming in giving off the right kind of kooky neighbor with a bit of unforgiving bitch slapped on for good measure. The supporting characters are great as well and the family shines as they each convey their demons with enough subtlety to where it does not feel overdramatic yet enough to show that the horror is truly what they are going through internally and obviously externally.
Throw in a creepy maid, burn victims, school bullies and one messed up kid patient and I think this will be a good show to watch. I do question how long this will all last because let’s face it, most horror movies over 90 minutes tend to wear out its welcome. FX is the perfect network for this show however because they are able to push the boundaries further than what the traditional networks can do. The writing is sharp and the pacing, while a big off-kilter, works brilliantly.
I am curious where they take this and with that, I will go 4 grizzlies out of 5. I saw way too much of McDermott’s ass to give it a perfect score.
As some of you may know, I am a Glee fanatic. Most people – at best – tolerate that about me. I always said that the reason Glee is so well received by ladies my age is because of the original concept. It is geared towards several different groups of people, or “cliques”, and so a lot of fans find it relate-able. I am glad to say that the creators of Glee seem to have done it again! Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk (also creators of FX’s Nip/Tuck) have come up with an another idea that FX apparently loved: AMERICAN HORROR STORY, the cables station is picking the show up for a 13-episode season.
While I am very excited about this show, it is mainly because I am a fan of the creators. In fact, after a lot of internet hounding, I have yet to find out much about the plot. Here’s what we do know: The show will star Dylan McDermott (Dark Blue, The Practice) and Emmy nominee Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, Spin City, 24) as ‘Ben & Vivien Harmon’, husband and wife from Boston who move to Los Angeles to overcome some kind of family trauma – and move into a seemingly haunted house…
Creator Murphy stated:
“What do you think the thing in the basement is? That’s my favorite question and I get so many great answers because I know what it is. He’s my little favorite creature. It’s based on a real thing! When we were shooting, everyone was freaked out by it, even the actors. We had a lot of insomnia. The weird thing is we also had a lot of accidents during the shooting. The house that we are shooting in is supposedly possessed — which I knew when I signed on for it. That was an added benefit.”
Now that’s all pretty vague, and people know about the production problems that plagued the sets of The Exorcist and Poltergeist, so it’s not uncommon to hear things like this, but anything green lit by FX has to be at least watchable – right? So while Horror isn’t an overly popular genre on TV, this could shape up to be pretty good.
Aside from McDermott & Britton, other cast members include film star Jessica Lange (King Kong, Big Fish, Cape Fear) in her first permanent TV role. From the vampire communitty is True Blood‘s ‘Russell Edgington’ himself – Denis O’Hare, and Christian Serratos of Twilight, – all of them apparently. Finally, newcomer (and sister of The Departed starVera Farmiga) Taissa Farmiga will play daughter ‘Violet Harmon’.
All I can find about this show is what Murphy and Falchuk are saying which is that it will “blow your mind”. Here is a snipet from the official Press Release:
At this point in their careers, it is safe to say that the creators of Glee have turned everything they touch into gold. Glittery, shimmering gold. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, only 455,000 viewers tuned into Oxygen’s new show. The Glee Project premiered Sunday night at 9pm. This show begins by putting 12 people between the ages of 18-22 into a contest which includes vocals, acting, dancing, as well as taking direction. Every week the group has a guest judge. The first week’s guest judge was Darren Criss (Blaine Anderson). At the end of every week, the bottom three contestants are chosen to perform in front of the creator of Glee, Ryan Murphy.
I watched the premiere episode, and I have to say I liked it… but there were quite a few problems with it…
First off, I am not sure who was in charge of advertising for The Glee Project, but I have obsessively watched every single episode of Glee, not only at the time it was aired, but multiple times afterward. I can honestly say that I wasn’t quite sure what The Glee Project was when I was going to write this article. I had seen commercials about it, but they all said to go to a website, or download an app for more information. This show is much like American Idol, without seeing all of the embarrassing moments that everyone watches those types of elimination shows for. I think that if this show had been properly advertised, the premiere would’ve done better. In fact, I may have made an event of it. Hell, I would have auditioned.
Incognito
Secondly, the most interesting parts of the show were not drawn out as much as they should have been. They had a guest judge – one of the lovable gays from the show, and barely showed him when it aired. He worked with one of the contestants on his vocal, but you only see about a minute of them working together. I am not sure why they did that, but I would have wanted to see more Blaine…
The show needs a lot of work. As a Glee fan, I hope it does get better.
In my second piece of exciting news, Executive Producer Ian Brennan has said he wants to create an episode in Season 3 to feature Bruce Springsteen. It is rumored that The Boss might play Finn Hudson’s uncle on the show, which would be perfect!
Glee has already had fantastic guest appearances, such as Britney Spears, and a recurring role as a substitute teacher played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Not to mention Neil Patrick Harris, Kristin Chenoweth, and Uncle Jesse himself – John Stamos as a dentist.
I am very excited about my next order of Glee business. On June 13th, I attended a fantastic concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills (Home of the Detroit Pistons). One so fantastic, and full of so much talent (and so many 12-year-olds) that they must have made a fortune off of this show. I am, of course, talking about the Glee Concert. During this performance, all of the Glee cast members stay in character (Kurt is gay, Brittany is dumb, etc…).
This concert could not have been done better, in my opinion. The only critique is that it was a somewhat short show, but I understand that most of the fans had a long hard day of junior-high mathematics to attend the next morning. The cast pulled out all of the fans’ favorite show-stopping moments, including when Brittany was Britney Spears, when Kurt did the ‘Single Ladies’ dance, when normally disabled Artie gets out of his wheelchair and does the ‘Safety Dance’, and my personal favorite of the night, Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’ sung by Santana Lopez (played by Naya Rivera). Of course, my favorite performer is always Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith). You should see him sing live. He has a permanent O-face. It is extraordinary. Overall, the show was very well put together, with very intricate dance moves, and even special video recorded appearances by Jane Lynch and Matthew Morison.
I am not the only person to have seen the show…not by any means. But according to the Chicago Sun Times, one journalist has lost her job for fabricating details about the Glee Live Show on June 3rd. Chicago Sun-Times TV critic Paige Wiser had gone to watch the concert with her son and daughter. According to Wiser, at one point in the concert her daughter threw up and her son fell off of a chair. Under the stress of her job, she made a snap decision to continue the writeup of the concert and fabricate some details, even though she did not stay for the entire show. A reader noticed inconsistencies in her report, which lead Editor in Chief Don Hayer to announce Wiser’s dismissal in a note posted online on June 9.
He wrote in that note: “Accuracy and honesty in reporting are essential parts of the promise we make to our readers. We regret the incident and apologize.” Wiser said that she is ashamed, and admitted responsibility. “I’m at fault. I do understand what a big deal this was. I am ashamed, and it’s just a matter of making bad decisions when you’re exhausted.”
For my final bit of information for you, I give you the host of this year’s Emmy Awards: Jane Lynch! I have to say, after seeing her on Saturday Night Live, I am looking forward to how she will put her spin on hosting an award show such as this.
Lynch won “Outstanding Supporting Actress” last year, and has been nominated for a Critics Choice TV Award“Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series”, which she would definitely deserve. The Emmys will air September 18 on FOX.
As some of you may already know, I am a fan of the TV show Glee. It has been a favorite of mine since it first aired in 2009. However, in a recently publicized article by MTV, I learned that one of my favorite musicians denied his band’s music to the hit TV show.
Dave Grohl has been the in the band the Foo Fighters since July of 1996. Before that, he was the drummer for my favorite band of all time, Nirvana. I have always enjoyed Dave Grohl’s musical endeavors. He is extremely successful, and deservingly so.
For those of you with the inability to hear or see anything, Glee is one of Fox’s number one shows right now. It follows a group of teenagers, some outcasts and some jocks, while they prepare for singing competitions. The show also follows the personal lives of the Glee Instructor, as well as the Cheerleading Coach and other faculty. I’m sure that is all you want to read about Glee.
Glee creator Ryan Murphy reportedly got angry after Dave Grohl denied the use of Foo Fighters songs on the show. At that point, Grohl came to the defense of his band as well as fellow rockers Slash and Kings of Leon. Murphy called Slash a “washed up old rock star” when he made it clear he didn’t want the teens of Glee doing Guns N Roses music, claiming he “hates musicals”.
“F**k you, Kings of Leon. They’re self-centered assholes, and they missed the big picture. They missed that a 7-year-old kid can see someone close to their age singing a Kings of Leon song, which will maybe make them want to join a glee club or pick up a musical instrument.”
Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill fired back via Twitter:
“Dear Ryan Murphy, let it go. See a therapist, get a manicure, buy a new bra. Zip your lip and focus on educating 7yr olds how to say f**k.”
To which Murphy responded:
“Just read Nathan Followill’s Tweet…in which he implied I should ‘get a manicure and buy a bra.’ Wow. That’s a homophobe badly in need of some education. I’m all for manicures, don’t wear a bra. Would guess most gay dudes don’t. But it’s telling that Nathan can reduce a group of people to a mean-spirited cliché, in a time where young gay men are killing themselves all over the country because of hatred like this.”
Kings of Leon
I can understand these artists’ frustration with the situation when the show’s creator is making rude comments about them, but it does seem a bit dramatic for men who are out of high school. Furthermore, because of Murphy’s reaction to the band’s decision to keep their hit “Use Somebody” off of Glee, and all that transpired after, an open statement from the entire band was released. It stated that they have a new album coming out and that they did not want to promote Use Somebody right then.
Grohl was also quoted by Hollywood Reporter saying that it is every band’s right to choose whether or not to let a show use their music:
“And then the guy who created Glee is so offended that we’re not, like, begging to be on his fuc***g show. F**k that guy for thinking anybody and everybody should want to do Glee.”
Recently, former SNL star Victoria Jackson made wildly homophobic comments about a long anticipated kiss between two gay teenaged boys on the show. I have decided not to go into this, since she hasn’t done anything important since 1992 when she left SNL and began her career as a tea party activist BLAH BLAH BLAH NO ONE TAKES HER SERIOUSLY!
Dave Grohl has been the only artist so far to take the aggressive stand, and say PISS OFF RYAN MURPHY for your holier than thou attitude. I applaud that, but as a fan of Glee I am disappointed that I will not hear their songs sung by my favorite teen gays.
[Ed – Michelle can like Glee all she wants, I’m still convinced there are only 3 reasons for straight dudes to watch Glee…
Grizzly Bomb 