Author: Robert Greenberger

Just as one mysterious character departs, another enters as MERLIN welcomes its newest addition – Agravaine, chief adviser to the King. Played by acclaimed actor Nathaniel Parker, the character provides yet another potential snake in Camelot’s grass for Arthur and Merlin as they fend off Morgana’s attack in the epic conclusion of the season-opening, two-part episode entitled “The Darkest Hour, Part 2.” The episode premieres this Friday, January 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy.

The magic of MERLIN continues to cast a spell over audiences: Last Friday’s fourth-season premiere of MERLIN attracted the biggest-ever first-episode audience in its Syfy history, with viewership 29% higher for Season 4 than Season 3.  Episodes from all three previous seasons are available on iTunes, and Season 3 will be released January 17 on DVD.

In “The Darkest Hour, Part 2” the kingdom of Camelot is on the brink of collapse as Lancelot (Santiago Cabrera) races back to Camelot with the dying Merlin, the Dorocha continue their siege on the kingdom, Arthur considers an unthinkable sacrifice … and Morgana waits to strike. (more…)

Summit Entertainment wants to ensure we know they are responsible for more than those annoying Twilight movies. Here’s a look at their 2012 release schedule although release dates are subject to change.

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT Presents

A di BONAVENTURA PICTURES Production

MAN ON A LEDGE

Directed by ASGER LETH (GHOSTS OF CITÉ SOLEIL)

Written by PABLO F. FENJVES

Produced by LORENZO di BONAVENTURA (RED, SALT, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) and MARK VAHRADIAN (TRANSFORMERS)

Starring SAM WORTHINGTON (AVATAR, CLASH OF THE TITANS,

TERMINATOR SALVATION), ELIZABETH BANKS (THE NEXT THREE DAYS, W., THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN), JAMIE BELL (KING KONG, BILLY ELLIOT), ANTHONY MACKIE (THE HURT LOCKER, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, 8 MILE), ED BURNS (27 DRESSES), TITUS WELLIVER (THE TOWN), GENESIS RODRIGUEZ, KYRA SEDGWICK (TV’S THE CLOSER) and ED HARRIS (NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE)

From the ledge of the 25^th floor of a NYC skyscraper, where one wrong step means death, a cornered Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) must orchestrate a dangerous plan to prove his innocence for a crime he didn’t commit.

Rated PG-13.  In theaters January 27, 2012. (more…)

Nation Cartoonists Society president Tom Richmond announced this week that the venerable organization was adding a web-comics division for this year.

According to Richmond’s blog post, he and Awards membership chairman Sean Parkes had been working on this for some time. They received feedback from several industry experts including Dave Kellett (Sheldon, Drive), Andrew Farago (curator of the Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco), Michael Jantze (The Norm, Professor of Sequential Art and Animation, Savannah College of Art and Design).

Richmond went on to explain that the category, Best Online Comic Strip, will be narrowly focused and based on the following criteria:

1. Comic-strip format only (no single panels, long-form narrative. etc.)
2. Must be web only publication (any syndication in print would make it eligible for the Best Syndicated Comic Strip Division)
3. Must be at least a weekly
4. Must have shown consistent publication based on determined time-schedule (i.e. it being a daily, twice-a-week, weekly, etc.) over the course of the 2011 calendar year
5. Creator must earn the greater part of their living directly from the strip/property

Submitted work itself must be:

1. No more than 12 samples, submitted as physical prints along with submission form and bio or as PDF with 2-4 strips per page and including bio/submission form
2. Work must have been published (posted) during period from Dec. 1, 2010 to Dec 31, 2011 (archive.org links must be provided for each strip for verification).

(more…)

To put a new spin on an old phrase, hell hath no fury like a sorceress scorned.

So goes the tale of MERLIN, the international hit series that begins its fourth season on Syfy next Friday, January 6 with the first of a two-part episode that finds Morgana’s blinkered determination threatening not only Arthur’s future, but the very balance of the world. With her magic stronger than ever, the sorceress summons the mighty Callieach to tear open the veil between the worlds. Hellish creatures pour forth, killing any who succumb to their touch. With King Uther a shadow of his former self, it falls to Merlin, Arthur and his loyal Knights to protect the kingdom.

Katie McGrath has spent four years evolving the character of Morgana, once the beloved ward to the king who discovers she is actually his daughter. That secret is revealed to her through her half-sister, the wicked Morgause, who guides Morgana down a path of dark magic, opening her eyes to the true power of her evil. Morgana now has a clear focus: to return to Camelot as its rightful ruler, and bring down her wrath upon all she believes have wronged her.

McGrath has eschewed vacation time away from the MERLIN set in lieu of additional work in productions as varied as W.E., the Madonna-directed drama about the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson; A Princess for Christmas, a 2011 Hallmark Channel holiday enchanter starring McGrath opposite Sir Roger Moore; and the upcoming Labyrinth, a medieval tale from Ridley Scott that centers around the Holy Grail.

Before taking a winter holiday, though, McGrath spent some time chatting about the new season of MERLIN, the virtues of playing evil, “Jitterbug Perfume,” the recurring medieval themes in her professional life, The West Wing, Louis XIV, and Florence and the Machine. The Lady Morgana speaks … read on.

QUESTION: The fourth season of MERLIN continues down a darker, more dramatic path. Do you feel the show is following a natural evolution?

KATIE MCGRATH: The guys (co-creators Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy) have found a formula that works, and they’ve taken it to the next level with the fourth season. This is clearly their most ambitious. In four seasons, the characters have changed and grown, and the audience has grown with them. MERLIN still has all the great comedy and relationships that the audiences adore, but we’ve gotten more sinister and the show has gotten there in a very organic way. That was the path that was destined for us. Plus the show has gotten more filmic – it’s bigger in many ways than when we started, visually and in the storytelling. So our episodes are now more like 14 little cinematic films.

QUESTION: Morgana is having dreams in Season Four that include visions of her future … as well as an aged, bearded Merlin. How does this affect her perspective of what she’s doing?

MCGRATH: I think it breathes a fear in her of this character. Morgana doesn’t know that this vision is actually Merlin – she only knows the name Emrys and that he’s a very powerful person.  Before the visions, Morgana didn’t believe she had anything to worry about, because she is so powerful herself. But these visions breed a fear and mistrust in her because she can’t fight what she doesn’t know. So her fear and paranoia of Emrys becomes a major part of the fourth season. (more…)