The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: Cary Elwes is set to star in the sci-fi television drama, Horizon. THE cast of the pilot episode for the new drama is beginning to come into focus. Horizon will be produced by Gale Anne Hurd, executive producer of the first three Terminator films as well as of the popular TV programme, The Walking Dead. British actor Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Psych) has accepted a central role in the sci-fi drama, according to Deadline.com. The actor's character, a man with mysterious motives and dealings in Washington, struggles with the classic dilemma of whether to disobey authority or compromise his personal ethics. Elwes will act alongside Mark Famiglietti (FlashForward), Taylor Handley (Vegas) and Meg Steedle (Boardwalk Empire) in the first episode of this show set during World War II and exploring elements of paranoia and conspiracy theory. Commissioned by the USA Network, the pilot will focus primarily on the FBI secretary played by Irish actress Ruth Bradley (Primeval). The main character of the show decides to investigate the "Horizon" files in secret after her husband, a pilot, dies a suspicious death in the Pacific Ocean. Aliens, government conspiracy and Nazi spies are all expected to make an appearance in the new series. After The Princess Bride in 1987, followed by several TV projects, Cary Elwes made his film comeback with Saw in 2004. — AFP Relaxnews |
| Posted: Pakistan's Burka Avenger is set to go global. Pakistan's new cartoon superhero who fights bad guys disguised in a flowing black burka is set to go global, her creator told AFP, with plans afoot to broadcast the show in 60 countries. The Urdu-language animation Burka Avenger, showing the adventures of a mild-mannered teacher who uses her superpowers to fight local gangsters trying to close down the girls' school where she works, hit Pakistani TV screens last month. The kids' action-comedy struck a chord in a country where Taliban militants have prevented thousands of girls from going to school in the northwest and attacked activists campaigning for their education.The man behind Burka Avenger, pop star Haroon Rashid, said he had been overwhelmed by the response. "The reception has been absolutely phenomenal, beyond our expectations," he said."We were making this little animated TV series for Pakistan but it seems like the whole world wants to know about the Burka Avenger." A TV distribution company in Europe has been in touch with a view to translating the show into 18 languages, including English and French, and screening it in 60 countries, Rashid said.The issue of girls' education in conservative, militant-plagued northwest Pakistan hit world headlines last October when Taliban gunmen shot teenage activist Malala Yousafzai. Malala, who campaigns for the right of girls to go to school, survived the attack and last month delivered a powerful speech at the UN in New York.Rashid said Malala was a "real life superhero" for her courage and said the attack on her had come as they prepared an early episode of Burka Avenger. "We were all stunned because we were working on the exact same story about a little girl who stands up to the bad guy who tried to shut down her school," he said. "I had never heard of Malala before then – it was like life was imitating what was on our screen while we were developing." Nearly half of all children in Pakistan and almost three quarters of young girls are not enrolled in primary school, according to UN and government statistics published late last year. Jiya, the teacher and cartoon's protagonist, transforms into a burka-clad all-action heroine skilled in martial arts to fight against "ignorance and tyranny" in the fictional village of Halwapur.Armed only with books and pens, she takes on the wicked Baba Bandook and his henchmen, who include Vadero Pajero, a corrupt politician – something adult Pakistanis are all too familiar with. There has been lively debate in Pakistan's English language press about whether Jiya's choice of disguise is a sign of empowerment or promotes something used to oppress women.But Yousaf Ejaz, the show's artistic director, said the inspiration came from his childhood. "I was a big fan of Batman, and my grandmother, she had a burqa," he said."So back in the childhood when she was away, we would steal her burqa and act like Batman, wearing that burqa: 'I am Batman, look at me!' "So it was one of the inspirations that kicked in when I was talking to Haroon about early ideas of the Burka Avenger." — AFP Relaxnews |
| Peter Capaldi is the 12th Dr Who Posted: The Time Lord has found its new Doctor in the cult sci-fi series. Doctor Who will next be played by World War Z star Peter Capaldi, who was the odds-on favourite to take the BBC's storied sci-fi character into its 12th generation. The BBC on Sunday announced its replacement for Matt Smith as the titular lead during a live show that began at 7pm London time and was broadcast live in the United States. Smith announced he was giving up the role after four years last June, starting a wave of speculation among fans of the British sci-fi staple as to whose body Time Lord would inhabit next. London oddsmakers were quick to take bets on who would next hold the Sonic Screwdriver, a secret reportedly only revealed to 10 people before its announcement. Capaldi was such a strong front-runner that bookmakers suspended betting on the The Thick Of It star when he became a 5/6 favourite. Many speculated that the 12th Doctor would be the first to be a woman or a minority; Idris Elba had been named as a contender (though his film career is far along enough now) along with Ben Daniels, Rory Kinnear and Daniel Rigby. The series which has been running in one form or another (with some hiccups along the way) since 1963 is a major part of British culture and is the very definition of "cult hit" in the United States and around the world. — Reuters |
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1 ulasan:
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