TV & movies

The latest news and reviews of TV shows and movies.

Latest

A 'monkey selfie' movie might be on the way
Proving that Hollywood will try anything once (and 17 times if enough people watch it), there might be a movie on based on the infamous "monkey selfie" headed our way. Conde Nast Entertainment has bought the life rights for David Slater, the photographer who found himself in a legal battle over a selfie a macaque took in 2011, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Conde Nast usually develops movies based on articles from its publishing arm's magazines like The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, so this is a slightly different step for the company.
Vudu update brings 4K Disney movies to Apple TV
When the Apple TV 4K arrived, there was one glaring omission in its movie catalog: Disney. No matter how much you wanted, you couldn't (officially) see the latest Marvel or Pixar flick in its full glory. If you live in the US, though, you now have a viable alternative. An update to Vudu's Apple TV app has enabled 4K HDR support, opening the door to watching Disney's movies at maximum quality if you live in the US. You're not going to get Dolby Atmos audio (the Apple TV just doesn't support it), but that's fine if you don't need to be fully immersed while watching The Last Jedi.
Univision plans Netflix-style streaming service
Univision's streaming ambitions are growing beyond live video. The Hispanic-American broadcaster has unveiled an on-demand service that gives you access to both its own shows as well as partners like the BBC and Viacom. Full access to live and on-demand content will cost you $8 per month, but current pay TV customers can spring for the on-demand portion for a $3 monthly fee.
John Cena’s animated comedy arrives on YouTube Red May 30th
YouTube Red's upcoming animated series Dallas & Robo is set to premiere on May 30th and it stars Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) and pro wrestler -- now actor -- John Cena. Dallas, played by Dennings, is a space trucker who teams up with Cena's Robo -- a cowboy hat-sporting AI robot. In the comedy, the two run into cannibal bikers and rival space truckers as they travel between different worlds on their flame-painted truck.
DC's streaming service has a name and a new show
DC's streaming service is no longer quite so mysterious. The unlimited video offering is now called DC Universe (not to be confused with the DC Extended Universe), and has a landing page to whet your appetite. There's a new show to go alongside the announcement, as well -- DC has unveiled Swamp Thing, an adaptation of the classic comic series. This version has CDC researcher Abby Arcane studying a swamp virus in Louisiana and falling in love with fellow scientist Alec Holland, only to 'lose' him. Needless to say, he isn't really gone -- and he's key to fending off "powerful forces" that want to use the swamp for nefarious ends. It premieres sometime in 2019.
ESPN brings a curated daily version of SportsCenter to its app
ESPN isn't just bringing versions of SportsCenter to social networks like Snapchat and Twitter. The network is launching a daily edition of SportsCenter within the ESPN App. Anchors like Scott Van Pelt will host a "curation" of top sporting news, such as highlights from last night's games or things to expect from upcoming matches. It'll certainly be hard to miss -- the show will "feature prominently" on the app's home screen in the morning whenever you open it for the first time that day.
MoviePass brings back its movie-per-day plan
Last month, MoviePass began offering a $30, three-month plan that came with an iHeartRadio premium subscription trial but limited users to just four movies per month. And when asked if the popular movie-per-day plan would be returning, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe told The Hollywood Reporter last week that he didn't know. But the movie-per-day plan is back and Lowe says he just didn't want people to ignore the iHeartRadio promotion. "It's marketing 101," he told Variety. "We wanted to focus everybody on this partnership promotion. If people knew the [movie-a-day] plan was coming back, they might not be interested in the iHeartRadio deal." He added that the company never planned to abandon "the flagship product that everybody loves."
Hulu will offer ad-supported offline content soon
Back in January Hulu hit 17 million subscribers. Now it's sailed past the 20 million mark, and to celebrate, has revealed a raft of upcoming plans for the platform. For a start, it's expanded its slate of original series, confirming the arrival of Mindy Kaling's Four Weddings and a Funeral, Ramy Youssef's Ramy, plus Catch-22 from George Clooney and The First, starring Sean Penn. The Handmaid's Tale has also been renewed for a third season. And for the first time, Hulu will allow some of its content to be saved and played offline -- though that feature will be supported by advertising.
Samsung offers $400 discount on its artsy 'The Frame' TV
When tuned properly, a good TV can offer a window into another world. Samsung knew this when putting together its design-forward Frame TV last year, and now the tech juggernaut is making it easier to put one on your wall. Now through May 12th (the day before Mother's Day) you can pick up a 55-inch or 65-inch model of the UHD display for $400 off, which knocks the price down to $1,598 and $2,398, respectively, on Amazon. That means you can get the 55-inch variant for just a few hundred dollars over what a 43-incher would've cost last November. Mom wanted a fancy TV for her special day, right? It'd sure beat the vacuum cleaner Dad got her last year.
Twitter's new shows include Formula 1 and SportsCenter Live
Twitter wasn't kidding when it promised a flurry of video. The social network has announced more than 30 video deals, including a slew of live shows. To begin with, Twitter has landed a Formula 1 deal: The @f1 account will stream a live post-race show (sorry, no live races) with both key interviews and panel discussions with luminaries like Nico Rosberg. The first of ten shows will premiere after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 13th, and you'll also find on-demand race highlight clips.
Twitter nabs live ESPN shows in new Disney deal
It's not just TV networks like Fox that are promising a host of live Twitter shows. Disney and Twitter have struck a deal that will bring a range of live shows to the social network. The pact will cover Disney's "entire" portfolio of entertainment, news and sports, including ESPN. You probably won't want to ditch ESPN+ for whatever's coming (why would Disney give away the cash cow?), but it does bode well if you want a free sports fix.
YouTube helps advertisers target TV cord cutters
Do you watch YouTube instead of TV, rather than alongside it? Like it or not, marketers will soon have a better shot at targeting you. YouTube has revealed that it will soon give advertisers the chance to target viewers who either watch little in the way of conventional TV or watch YouTube on TV. To begin with, it's introducing an AdWords category called "light TV viewers" -- that is, cord cutters who watch most or all of their video online. In the months ahead, YouTube will also give a range of advertisers the option of targeting TV screens, not just mobile devices and PCs.
Netflix offers a first look at Michelle Wolf's weekly talk show
Netflix sure has a knack for timing -- while Michelle Wolf was busy running the show at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the streaming service posted the first trailer for her weekly talk show The Break. The clip (which has Wolf fighting relegation to a tiny window on Netflix's 'Next Episode' screen) gives a feel for what you can expect. It promises to be light-hearted, but not completely sanitized. The Daily Show veteran has hinted that her show will include the sort of jokes she "couldn't do on TV."
MoviePass no longer lets you see the same movie more than once
MoviePass just instituted a new change to its terms of service and the company will now prevent subscribers from seeing the same movie more than once. iMore spotted the update and reports that the new limitation will apply to all subscribers, new and existing. MoviePass' website says, "We recently updated our Terms of Service to reflect that MoviePass subscribers are only permitted to see a select movie in theaters once with your MoviePass. We hope this will encourage you to see new movies and enjoy something different!"
MoviePass CEO is unsure if it will offer a movie-per-day plan again
MoviePass is having a rough time of it. The company's too-good-to-be-true offer of one movie per day for $10 subscription model brought it 500,000 subscribers in one month, but MoviePass' finances show that the startup is struggling while still being dogged by its CEO's comments around tracking his customers. Recently, the company downgraded its available new subscriber plans to a three-month, $30 "limited time" offer that includes four movies per month and a three-month trial of iHeartRadio premium. It seems as if this offer now has no limit; CEO Mitch Lowe told The Hollywood Reporter that he was unsure if the movie-per-day plan would even return as an option. "Do you think you will go back to a movie a day?" a THR reporter asked Lowe at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. "I don't know," he responded.
Amazon renews 'Jack Ryan' months before it premieres
Amazon is confident that Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan will be a success -- so confident, in fact, that it's not waiting for initial viewings to declare it a hit. The company has already renewed Jack Ryan for a second season despite a months-long wait for Prime Video show's August 31st premiere. If you ask Amazon, it's a combination of its reaction to watching the show (generally a good idea) with early hints of customer interest. Reportedly, there was a 400 percent jump in watchlist additions for Jack Ryan following Amazon's Super Bowl ad campaign.
Sports Illustrated's standalone streaming service is now available
Sports Illustrated's television offering (SI TV) launched last November on Amazon Channels for $5 per month. Plans to expand the service to Roku, iOS, Android and web browsers have been in the works, and it's available on the web now, with other platforms ready to go within the next week.
'Sense8' finale will debut on Netflix June 8th
We're still wondering what happened to Wolfgang on head-scratcher sci-fi series Sense8, and it sounds like our answers might arrive sooner than expected. Netflix today announced that the wrap-up movie for the Wachowskis-created show will premiere on June 8th. If you'll remember, the series was unceremoniously cancelled last June.
Hobbyist builds the first Sony E-Mount film camera
Sony is the one major imaging company that has never built a film camera, having leaped straight into DSLRs in 2006 after buying Minolta. A hobbyist named Alexander Gee has just pulled off a neat trick then, by creating what might be the world's first Sony E-Mount 35 mm film camera. Called the LEX, it's the result of a year's worth of work, and when it's finished, you might be able to buy one and even build it yourself.
Netflix gives 'Fast and Furious' the cartoon treatment it deserves
With eight feature releases and a couple of short films, the Fast and Furious franchise has worked its way into the public consciousness. When you think about it, though, while the films are rated PG-13, the core concept is pretty kid-friendly: fast cars and one-liners abound. It doesn't hurt that it's also the sixth-highest-grossing film series of all time. That's probably why Netflix and DreamWorks are bringing the concept to the small screen as an animated series.

...