Author: B A Walsh

Peter Tork, keyboardist and bass guitarist of the group The Monkees, passed away Feb 21 at age 77 according to a post on his official Facebook page: “It is with beyond-heavy and broken hearts that we share the devastating news that our friend, mentor, teacher, and amazing soul, Peter Tork, has passed from this world,” His death was confirmed by his sister Anne Thorkelson. Peter Tork was born Peter Halsten Thorkelson in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 13, 1942. He took an interest in music at an early age and eventually learned to play several instruments, including piano, banjo, and guitar.…

Admit it, we’ve all done it at least once. Grabbed something long and thin, made the noise, and lunged and parried as we fantasized that we were fighting Vader or some other Sith lord. Some people went so far as to buy a replica lightsaber to get a more authentic feel to our battle. Now all that practice may start to pay off. According to the Associated Press, the French Fencing Federation has recognized lightsaber dueling as an official competitive sport. The Federation is now equipping fencing clubs with lightsabers and instructors are being trained. The rules of the new…

The first on-set picture of Tom Hanks portraying beloved children’s TV host Mr. Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has been released by Sony on Twitter. In the film, cynical journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is assigned to profile Rogers, but after spending time with him Vogel begins to embrace Roger’s attitude toward empathy and kindness. The photo released appears to be the first meeting between the two characters. The film is based on the real-life friendship between Mr. Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. Mr. Rogers Neighborhood ran for 31 seasons and 912 episodes, with the final regular…

According to Movieweb, Bill & Ted 3 titled Bill & Ted Face the Music will start production this spring. If so, it is possible the movie could be ready for a Christmas release. Stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves will reprise their roles as the title characters. Keanu Reeves will have to fit filming of Bill & Ted 3 in with his promotional tour for John Wick 3 so he has a busy future ahead. The first installment in the series, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure premiered 30 years ago on February 17, 1989. It was followed by the sequel…

Jude Law’s character in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie seems to have been revealed in a new tie-in novel, Starforce on the Rise. It had initially been speculated that Law would play the Kree hero Mar-Vell in the movie, but according to Movieweb the tie-in novel reveals he will be Star Force Commander Yon-Rogg, a Kree military commander. In the comics, Yon-Rogg was an antagonist of Carol Danvers and Mar-Vell and was also indirectly responsible for Danver’s transformation into Captain Marvel. Screen Rant had speculated that Law’s character as portrayed in the movie might actually be a blending of hero…

Back in the day you wadded up a piece of paper, moistened it in your mouth, and then blew it out the end of a straw to hit your spitball target. Aiming and distance weren’t that great and you had to be sure not to inhale at the wrong moment. Finding a straw when you needed one was also a bit of a problem. Now for today’s kids spitball problems are a thing of the past. (like walking miles through the snow to school, uphill both ways or other stories you have heard from your parents over and over). Yes,…

Actor Carmen Argenziano passed away at age 75 years on February 10. One of his most well-known roles was as General Jacob Carter/Selmak on the TV series Stargate SG-1. His character was the father of series regular Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping). He appeared in 25 episodes over the course of 7 years from 1998-2005. Argenziano began acting in 1970 and appeared in over 200 TV shows and movies. His film roles included parts in The Godfather: Part II (1974), Stand and Deliver (1988), The Accused (1988), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and Angels&Demons (2009); he also appeared on TV in…

The second trailer for the remake of Steven King’s Pet Sematary came out this month, and it is suitably creepy. In the 1989 version the chain of horrific events was started when the Creed family’s neighbor decided it was a better idea to zombify a cat than to let a little girl mourn her dead pet. It didn’t end well. As the tag line of the remake says, “Sometimes dead is better.” The remake is scheduled to debut on April 5 and horror fans will be interested to see what this new take on the material will be like. Based…

According to Movieweb, Universal has finally set a release date for the movie version of Wicked for December 22, 2021. While previously slated to debut in December this year, instead that slot has been given to the movie version of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, which is currently in production. This continues a trend by Universal in releasing musicals in December, with Cats scheduled for 2019, Sing 2 scheduled for 2020, and now Wicked scheduled for 2021. Wicked the Broadway musical is based on the 1993 book by Gregory Maguire: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the…

Isn’t It Romantic wastes its cast and an interesting premise on a rather humdrum final product. The lead character, Natalie (Rebel Wilson), has a long-standing hatred of Romantic Comedies (as she expounds to her hapless coworker for hours when the subject is brought up). This disenchantment stems from her childhood and her mother telling her that “girls like them” don’t get a happy ending. This has led to Natalie growing up with a rather pessimistic attitude that no good things will happen to her, only bad. But things change when she knocks herself unconscious following an altercation with a mugger…