Braindead Mixes Dark Humor, Horror, Sci-Fi, and Drama…with Politics.

Set in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C.,

Braindead begins with the return of Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead of Scott Pilgrim fame) to the city she grew up in. Laurel is a documentary filmmaker who despises the culture of D.C. and has been living in California. She has recently run out of money to continue her current project so she heads home to ask her father for a loan.

While home, Laurel has to take a job working for her brother Luke, who is a Senator. In return for taking the job her father agrees to give her $200,000 if she stays for six months.

Meanwhile,

the show creators use a familiar story from real life to create the circumstances upon which the whole show revolves. A few years ago we all saw the multiple user videos of a meteor streaking across the Russian sky and crashing. In the Braindead universe, this meteor turns out to be a nest that carries thousands of tiny, ant-like alien creatures.

A U.S. transport crew is sent to retrieve the meteor and during transit, the aliens emerge and infect some of the crew members.

The infection happens

when the tiny aliens nest inside the brain and take over the host’s actions and personality, in some cases actually causing the host to become a better person. But, of course, there is also a noticeable change.

The meteor finally arrives in Washington D.C.

but before research on it can begin, the government is shut down when the Democrats and Republicans begin feuding over the budget. Because it’s a government facility, the meteor research lab is shuttered until Congress can come to terms. In the meantime, the aliens re-emerge and begin to infect the lab employees. They eventually escape the lab and begin infecting the city’s population, including members of the government.

On Laurel’s first day working for her brother she meets with the wife of one of the crew members who helped to transport the meteor. The wife asks Laurel for help in figuring out what happened to her husband and, as Laurel begins to investigate, she finds that her Senator brother was the official who authorized the retrieval and transport of the meteor in the first place.

Laurel decides to visit the lab where the meteor is being held and finds the lead scientist unconscious. She calls for help and decides to ride to the hospital in the ambulance with him.

On the way there, the scientist’s head explodes.

The next day, Laurel returns to work to find that her brother’s assistant is now displaying some of the traits of the infected. She’s now determined to find out what is going on and how her brother is connected to everything.

Last fall season NBC aired You, Me, and the Apocalypse which was an underrated satirical show commenting on the current state of religion and world attitudes. The show was produced in the U.K. The story, the writing, and the multinational cast was excellent but for some reason, despite high reviews from critics, the show did not make it past the first season (I would highly recommend you binge watch it on a rainy day).

Braindead is along the same lines. It too, is a satirical look at the state of the government and the political process in the United States…set to the backdrop of an alien invasion. In some cases, you’ll agree that some of the actions of the U.S. Congress members can really only be explained by possible alien infection.

The show may initially strike you as a comedy, but you’ll quickly find the dark humor is just a part of the horror/drama tone reminiscent of old Hollywood suspense movies such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers or The Day the Earth Stood Still.

The show is targeted to the thinking crowd and makes no effort to explain some of the jokes and references made about the current political climate. I enjoy this immensely because I like to actually think about what the characters are doing and saying instead of having it all dumbed down for me in order to generate a quick laugh and to move the story along. I also appreciate that network TV here in the U. S. is attempting to compete with the cable and pay networks by scheduling new and bold programming. Hopefully, the show will keep its audience coming back for more.

Braindead currently airs in the U.S. and Australia and can be streamed here.

Doctor Who: Is Gita Chandra returning?

Actor Mina Anwar has recently been cast in the latest series of Doctor Who, as a character called ‘Goodthing’. Many Whovians will remember Mina Anwar from the Doctor Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures, where she played schoolgirl Rani’s mother Gita Chandra.

So could Gita Chandra be returning in Doctor Who?

Well, first you have got to ask why she would be returning. What importance could Gita possibly have to the plot of a Series 10 episode?

If the Bannerman Road Gang (consisting of school kids Sky, Luke, Clyde and Rani) were to return in Series 10, then it is possible they would bring Gita back in order to explore the domestic theme often present during Russell T Davies’ era of the show. The Moffat era has brought back the focus on domestic life before – for example, in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three with companion Rory’s father Brian Williams. Gita could fulfil the role of companion mothers Jackie Tyler or Francine Jones if the Bannerman Road Gang (or at least her daughter Rani) were to become guest companions for an episode.

Bringing the Bannerman Road Gang back would also be a nice way of continuing the late Elisabeth Sladen’s legacy, given that they were a part of a gang led by her character Sarah Jane Smith. It would be a nice tribute to such a brilliant and well-loved Doctor Who actor to have these characters appear in the main show. Sarah Jane may no longer be able to appear in Doctor Who but there is no reason why her presence can’t be felt with the appearance of her spinoff characters.

The one thing that may support this idea is the weird name given to Mina Anwar’s character. ‘Goodthing’ is far from a traditional name and reads more like a codename for something than what they would actually call a character. Doctor Who has had a long association with codenames; the revival of Doctor Who was initially referred to as ‘Torchwood’ and auditions for Amy Pond were talked about by the production crew under the name ‘Panic Moon’. ‘Goodthing’ may be another of these codenames to keep the return of the Bannerman Road Gang secret. After all, Steven Moffat is famously fond of keeping secrets; he kept the return of Davros in last years’ The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar hushed up for one.

I think enough people care about the Bannerman Road Gang to warrant it being kept a secret. Many Doctor Who viewers have grown up with these characters and there is a sufficient demand to see the likes of Luke Smith and Clyde Langer return to the Whoniverse. The latest Doctor Who spinoff Class could always be used to remind viewers of the gang; maybe Luke could be a teacher at Coal Hill Academy, for instance?

Of course, it is equally possible that I could be wrong and Mina Anwar’s character is actually called Goodthing. The other members of the cast have also been given odd character names – Ralf Little is playing Steadfast and Kaizer Akhtar is Praiseworthy. Maybe the Doctor and Bill arrive on a planet where these names are commonplace? But it does seem suspect that the actor known for playing Gita Chandra has been cast in the show for the series of Doctor Who that will air ten years after The Sarah Jane Adventures began. Surely The Sarah Jane Adventures’ 10th anniversary would be the right time for a nod to the show?

Angouri Rice Added to Cast of “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

It feels like only yesterday that we filled you in on three more cast members joining on for Spider-Man: Homecoming, but already we’ve been given further news of someone else signing on for the movie.

 

Angouri Rice (The Nice Guys, These Final Hours, Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows) is the most recent addition to the cast of Spiderman: Homecoming.  The Australian actress recently had her break-out role in The Nice Guys, starring opposite Ryan Gosling (The Notebook, Drive, The Big Short) and Russell Crowe (Les Miserables, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind).

Like virtually every other cast member, there’s no confirmation on who Rice will be playing.  Marvel and Sony have yet to comment on her addition to the line up.

This may be incredibly speculative, but I feel like she might be Gwen Stacy. Whilst Sony and Marvel have indeed confirmed that there will be no love interest in this movie, and that Zendaya (Shake it Up!, K.C. Undercover, Zapped) is the leading lady, the casting of a small blonde girl has made me wonder if they will be re-introducing Gwen Stacy into this universe, and if so, what path will she take in this installment?

However, we will never truly know what Marvel and Sony have in store – she could be the Green Goblin for all we actually know. So for now, we will sit and wait.

Spiderman: Homecoming is filming now in preparation for a release on July 7th, 2017.

 

 

What Do You Give a 75 Year Old Superhero For His Birthday?

Hey Skatronixxx readers! Your favorite site will be covering news, panels, and other exciting bits of information that come out of the San Diego Comic Con being held from July 21 – 24 this year. And to kick us off properly, here’s what’s happening in the lead up to the Mother of All Cons!

Game Of Thrones – Season 7 Delayed

“Winter is here,” Jon Snow said. Unfortunately for him, Winter has yet to arrive in Northern Ireland where a portion of Game of Thrones is filmed.

When interviewed for the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Game of Thrones writers and producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said the following:

“We don’t have an air date yet, but this year will probably be a little bit later. We’re starting a bit later because at the end of this season, ‘Winter is here’ — and that means that sunny weather doesn’t really serve our purposes any more. So we kind of pushed everything down the line, so we could get some grim grey weather even in the sunnier places that we shoot.”

Traditionally, every Game of Thrones season has debuted in April, with now the exception of Season 7. Will the delay be worth it? In my opinion, yes. The wintry battle between the living and the dead is coming, and I have high expectations that Game of Thrones will continue to be a masterpiece. If said masterpiece requires a little extra time to reach perfection, then I shall gladly sit on the Iron Throne and wait.

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What are your thoughts? Comment, share and like below, or tweet me @SohoDoll. And as always, “Winter is coming.”

Is Deadpool 2 On The Way And Will It Feature The X-Men?

The internet literally went into meltdown yesterday when Ryan Reynolds shared a potential poster for the sequel to Deadpool, unsurprisingly called Deadpool 2. You would think that the brains behind the first Marvel film to give fans what it actually wants and to break the fourth wall and blur the lines between reality and fiction, would give us a more original title.

Why did the internet go into meltdown you ask and you may be thinking I’m missing a key peice of information, but be patient here readers!

The reason why the internet literally flipped it’s nut is because of one thing! X-Men, yes X-Men, no not those guys from Game Of Thrones who have had thier winkies chopped off, yes winkies. I’m talking about the endless army of mutants spearheaded by the brainy Professer Charles Xavier and kickass Wolverine (Sorry Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey you just don’t cut the mustard for me).

Now picture this Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, sound good? I know, we had X-Men Origins: Wolverine but to be honest that sucked! Yes it did, I mean when Will.I.Am is the best part about a film featuring Weapon X oops I mean Deadpool and Wolverine you know that it’ll suck more than me with a super sour chew bar.

So are the rumours true? Is Deadpool 2 on the way? Well yes and no, yes it is true Deadpool 2 is coming out soon, but will the x-Men feature at the moment, sadly no, as the poster was actually a fan made poster and not an official one.

Who would you like to see in Deadpool 2? Mine own personal choice would be Gambit but not the Channing Tatum one!

The Expanse SN1 EP1 – ‘Dulcinea’

This show wastes no time in setting the tone. It’s not the typical campy SyFy series from the past where the special effects were just a step up from Doctor Who episodes from the 70’s and 80’s. Apparently, SyFy has given the directors and producers a much larger budget than for past series.  

Backed by an ethereal, operatic theme song, the show-runners use the opening credits to show us a quick future history on what has happened to humankind since the 21st century. The whole thing quickly fades into the typical, yet necessary explanation of what the current situation is in “The Expanse” universe.

Show Premise

It’s the 23rd century and the solar system has been colonized by humans. The U.N. runs Earth. Mars is independent, and the “inner planets” have been mining the Asteroid Belt for resources. In “The Belt”, air and water have become the most important commodities with Earth and Mars possessing an abundance of the two. Apparently, tensions between the three have been building and have now reached a point where even the smallest incident would cause a solar system-wide war.

EPISODE 1 opens with a mysterious woman trapped in her quarters on a spaceship. We watch her escape from her room and slowly explore her surroundings. It quickly becomes apparent that she’s alone. Eventually, she is terrified to come across the corpse of a man covered by a crystalline-like substance.

Cut to the Asteroid Belt. We’re given a bit more backstory as to why the “Belters” are angry. They are tired of being oppressed and thought of as slaves by both Earth and Mars. Everyone from The Belt lives on a huge space station reminiscent of the Mars colony setting from the original Total Recall. On the station, there is clearly a separation of classes with the Belters living in the crowded and run down areas.

It’s here we’re introduced to Joe Miller (played by actor Thomas Jane). Miller is a detective on the police force. He’s accompanied by his partner, Dimitri Havelock (played by Jay Hernandez). Miller and Havelock take us from the streets to the police station where a third main character is introduced, Octavia Muss, a friend of Miller.

While at the station, Miller is given a secret assignment by his captain: find the mysterious woman from the opening sequence, named Julie Mao.

The setting is then changed to the mining freighter, The Canterbury (The Cant), where we meet the macho Jim Holden and his two shipmates, Naomi Nagata and Amos Burton. Both Naomi and Burton are hardened crew members with a no-nonsense attitude.  

We find that Holden is one of the higher ranking officers on board. He’s quickly promoted when the Commanding Officer is found unfit to lead (he’s gone crazy).

After Holden’s promotion, a distress signal is picked up by the crew of The Cant. The Captain decides to ignore it but Holden disobeys him and reports the distress signal to the authorities, forcing The Cant to send a crew to investigate since it was they who reported the distress call.

The Captain sends Holden, engineer Naomi, tough guy Burton, pilot Alex Kamal, and medic Shed Garvey (Paulo Costanzo) to investigate the ship which we now know is called The Scopuli.

As they prepare, we’re introduced to Chisjen Avasarala (played by Shoreh Agdashloo). Avasarala is next in line to be the head of the United Nations. We first experience her as the typical grandmotherly figure, but quickly find she’s as ruthless as a leader can be.

The rest of the episode is used to develop the characters and the plot. Miller begins his investigation into the disappearance and location of Julie Mao and we’re shown he’s not the kind of person to be underestimated.

Holden and his crew continue on to the ship emitting the distress signal. Back on Earth, Avarasala tortures and questions a Belter.

The climax of the episode comes when a mysterious ship suddenly appears while Holden and Burton are searching The Scopuli for clues on why the distress call was emitted.

The unexpected ship speeds towards The Cant while Holden and his crew scramble to return. As they speed back, the unexpected ship destroys The Cant leaving Holden and shipmates stranded in their small exploration shuttle.

The first episode of “The Expanse” moves slowly, dictating the pace for the entire season. However, the script is well written and the actors do a great job of settling in quickly. This allows viewers to become intimately acquainted with the main characters, their backstories, and their motivations.

SyFy clearly plans on this series being a flagship for the network. They’ve spared no expense on CG, set design, or costumes and it seems they plan on elaborating more in the episodes and seasons to come.

“The Expanse” is definitely shaping up to be the kind of series that takes you to another place and time, submerging you in the story and forcing you to think about the situations and nuances going on within the show. The entire season is available on demand now.

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Supernatural

Hello, I’m Terri and I’m a Supernatural-oholic, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t learned so many pearls of wisdom from The Show.  In fact, Bobby Singer was a wealth of knowledge all by himself!

I’ve learned things about family.

• Family don’t end in blood!  (Bobby Singer ~ episode 3.16 No Rest For the Wicked)
• Family is supposed to make you miserable.  (Bobby Singer ~ episode 4.22 Lucifer Rising)
• Kids ain’t supposed to be grateful.  They’re supposed to eat your food and break your heart.  (Bobby Singer ~ episode 7.10 Death’s Door)

I’ve learned a lot about fashion and home decor.

• Footwear is easily misplaced.  (Sam: I lost my shoe. ~ episode 3.3 Bad Day at Black Rock)
• To avoid getting filleted by a hooker from God, always take down your Christmas decorations by New Year’s.  (Dean ~ episode 2.13 Houses of the Holy)
• Only low sodium freaks don’t keep salt in their homes.  (Sam ~ episode 1.19 Provenance)
• It doesn’t take a roof and 4 walls to make a home.  (Chuck: They were never in fact homeless. ~ episodes 5.22 Swan Song & 11.4 Baby)

I’ve also learned prime curse words and acquired excellent name calling skills.

• Balls! is a great universal curse word.  (Bobby Singer ~ in about every episode he’s in…. seriously)
• Idjits! is a great universal name for anyone doing something stupid.  (see also: Balls!)

I’ve learned helpful tips to remember.

• Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.  (Bobby ~ episode 3.1 The Magnificent Seven)
• People are crazy.  (Dean: Demons I get, people are crazy! ~episode 1.15 The Benders)
• Toilet paper is made of gold. (Chuck: Some free advice?  You ever get back there, you hoard toilet paper.  You understand me?  Hoard it.  Hoard it like it’s made of gold.  ‘Cause it is.  ~ episode 5.4 The End)

I’ve learned helpful life advice.

• Always Keep Fighting – Go Down Swinging.  (Dean: So, I’m gonna fight it until I can’t fight any more.  And when all is said and done … I’ll go down swinging. ~ episode 10.13 Halt and Catch Fire)
• If you can’t talk about it, you shouldn’t be doing it.  (Sheriff Jody Mills ~ episode 11.12 Don’t You Forget About Me)

I’ve also learned something that has helped me with this job.

• Writing is hard!  (Chuck ~ episode 4.18 The Monster At the End of This Book)

I’ve even learned something about myself.

• My sexual orientation is Jensen Ackles in glasses.  (episode 8.14 Trial and Error)

What have you learned from Supernatural?  Tell me in the comments.

**Special thanks to my friends, The Winchester Wenches & to SupernaturalWiki.com for episode information**

Chris Evans Resigns (Not Captain America)

And just that *that*, there was one! If you read my article from last week (or you follow the show) you’d know there was a big change happening in the Top Gear camp. At the time, show co-host Matt LeBlanc (Friends, Lost In Space) threatened to quit the “most widely watched factual TV program” (Guinness 2013) if Chris Evans was not fired first.

For those of you not in the know, The show has taken a sharp dip in the ratings since the pair took over hosting duties following the firing of Jeremy Clarkson and resignations soon after of Richard Hammond and James May. Before the new season aired on television there were rumors of the pair of Evans and LeBlanc not seeing eye to eye on just about anything. Show producer Lisa Evans reportedly resigned her position due to the alleged “diva like” behavior of Chris Evans.

Upon his resignation from Top Gear, Chris Evans tweeted this: “Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.”

All this being said, as of July 4, The Metropolitan Police released a statement saying that they are investigating the former presenter over an alleged sexual offense that took place in London in the 1990s. A statement from the Met om July 4 said: “An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23.” followed up by “There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution.” No other details have been released as of the writing of this article.

It’s not immediately clear whether these allegations and the investigation led to Evans’ departure from Top Gear, but it’s hard to imagine the BBC wanting to keep him around amid all of that. What do you think? Sound off in the comments!

 

 

 

MORE Casting News for “Spider-Man: Homecoming”

At this point, the world could collectively play a game where we throw some names in a hat, pull it out, and chances are they are in this movie.

Following casting news from last week, a further three actresses have been added to the cast line up.

Garcelle Beauvais (The Jamie Foxx Show, NYPD Blue, Grimm) has officially signed on for the Marvel blockbuster, as has 17 year old Tiffany Espenden (Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures, Earth to Echo, Phineas and Ferb).

 

Alongside these two, six time Emmy Award winner Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey, The Enforcer, Judging Amy) has also added her name to the list of impressive actors joining on for Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Marvel and Sony have yet to comment on their roles – they seem to be keeping an extremely tight lid on who’s who in next summers Marvel and Sony production, as the only official roles are Tom Holland (Billy Elliot The Musical, Captain America: Civil War) as the famous web-slinger, Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler, Rescue Me, Empire) as Aunt May, and Zendaya (Shake It Up!, K.C. Undercover) as leading girl Michelle. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, The Judge, Sherlock Holmes) will be making a cameo as Tony Stark/Iron Man.

Otherwise, the rest of the cast are all rumours, be them strong or weak ones. However, it is very clear that Marvel and Sony want to re-introduce Peter Parker with a bang, and seal his place once and for all in the MCU.

Spiderman: Homecoming is currently filming, and is scheduled for release on July 7th, 2017. However, if you just can’t wait that long, you can catch Holland making his debut in Captain America: Civil War.