WILDSTREET AT ROCKLAHOMA 2013

RICHIE SAMBORA ON BON JOVI SPLIT: ‘ENOUGH WITH THE TRASH TALKING’

After laying low for a few weeks, Richie Sambora has decided to speak up about his recent departure from the Bon Jovi lineup — and it sounds like fans may need to start preparing for the possibility that he may never return.

Sambora knows there’s been a lot of speculation regarding his reasons for splitting during the band’s latest tour, and although he won’t specifically address what led to his departure, he sounded upbeat during an interview with the U.K.’s ‘Daily Mail.’ “I don’t have any major problems in life right now,” he insisted. “I love my fans, and I feel bad for them at the moment. Bottom line.”

Lack of major life problems notwithstanding, Sambora did allow that his relationship with longtime bandmateJon Bon Jovi is currently strained. “My opinion is Jon wants to see if he can pull off stadiums by himself,” Sambora mused. “He is making it very difficult for me to come back.” Perhaps referencing Bon Jovi’s recent interview with the ‘London Evening Standard,’ he added a warning: “Enough with the trash talking! Jon needs to stop talking about me publicly.”

While the two work out whatever their differences are, Sambora insisted he’s keeping himself occupied with other business ventures. “I am fine working very hard on my fashion company Nikki Rich,” he concluded, “and this is a private matter.”

BILLY JOEL CLEARS UP DUI, BANKRUPTCY RUMORS

Billy Joel opens up about a lot of things in a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, including dating, not writing any new pop songs and Elton John‘s “mom hair.” But he also addresses two subjects the tabloids have mostly focused on since Joel stopped making pop records two decades ago: his drinking and the state of his finances.

Joel says there was “no booze involved” in the 2002 accident — the first of three — that happened in East Hampton. “It’s these really dark roads back up here at night,” he explained. “The car went off the road and into a mud rut. I had gone through a breakup and was really broken up about it, and I decided I’m drinking too much. I should go to rehab. But people made a connection, like, ‘Oh, he went there because he was in a car accident from drinking.’ No.”

Joel said the second accident, which happened in 2003, occurred at a spot called Dead Man’s Curve. “It was black ice — that wasn’t drinking either,” he said. “The car slid and smashed into a tree. I went to rehab in ’05 because, when I was with [ex-wife] Katie, she said, ‘You’re drinking way too much.’ I never had a D.U.I. in my life. That’s another fallacy. Look at the police records.”

Joel also opened up about recent stories regarding his financial situation over the past several years. “There was a rumor that I filed for bankruptcy — that never happened either,” he said in the interview. “I owed Uncle Sam a couple of million bucks in income tax, and the money that I thought was there, wasn’t there.”

He goes on to explain that he had to sell one of his New York City properties, because he also owned another NYC place and was building a house in the Hamptons. He sold the spot to Sting. “I was praying for a rock star,” Joel said. “Then I sold the house that I was building to [Jerry] Seinfeld. I keep exchanging star homes. I bought Roy Scheider’s house. Mickey Drexler bought my old place in Martha’s Vineyard. I’m the Realtor to the stars.”

PAUL STANLEY DOESN’T NEED THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

With HBO airing highlights of the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Paul Stanley took the opportunity to speak his mind about how Kiss has been overlooked over the years. In a new interview, he railed against the museum.

“Look, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is marketing,” he told the Huffington Post. “You’ve got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official. Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

But unlike, say the Sex Pistols and Axl Rose, Stanley would gladly acknowledge the honor – should it ever happen – because it means a lot for their fans to see them inducted. “I would certainly accept on their behalf because it seems to be a major sore spot for them, but I don’t need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” As for when that might happen, he added, ”Well, it depends on who lives longer, us or Jann Wenner.”

Instead, Stanley takes pride in the number of popular musicians today who grew up listening to Kiss, which is all he needs to justify Kiss’ placement among rock’s elite.

‘BATES MOTEL’ SEASON 2 SPOILERS: BATES FAMILY TREE, SHERIFF ROMERO OPENS UP, AND MORE!

Only one week following ‘Bates Motel‘s first season finale cliffhanger, and already we’re dying for a look at the prequel drama’s second season in 2014. Before then however, series creator and showrunner Carlton Cuse offered up some tantalizing teases of the second season to come, including which additional members of the ‘Bates’ clan will pop up, and who the series will explore in ‘Bates Motel’ season 2!

‘Bates Motel’ fans had plenty of unanswered questions left by season 1 finale “Midnight,” but they won’t have to wait until 2014 for answers on the Hitchcockian drama’s second season. Speaking to TVGuide, series creator and former ‘LOST‘ showrunner Carlton Cuse previewed that the second season would delve deeper into the Bates’ family history, which Norma herself recently revealed to include a complicated relationship with her brother.

“We would be remiss if we didn’t meet some other members of the Bates family,” said  Cuse. “I don’t want to say who, but we are definitely going to learn about their family tree, which has more twisty branches.” Cuse also added that Norma would find herself a new love interest in the coming year, one we’d yet to meet, while Vera Farmiga added that she looked forward to meeting one of the Bates clan in particular.

Meanwhile, Nestor Carbonell’s mysterious Sheriff Romero will receive a bigger spotlight in ‘Bates Motel’ season 2, moving into more of his home life, and the identity of Dylan’s father come to light as well, according to series star Freddie Highmore.

Well, what say you? Are you about to go ‘Psycho’ waiting for ‘Bates Motel’ sesaon 2? Give us your predictions for the coming year, and tell us what you thought of the first season in the comments!

‘SONS OF ANARCHY’ SEASON 6: KURT SUTTER TO LAUNCH ‘TALKING DEAD’-STYLE COMPANION PIECE?

AMC’s successful experiment in launching Chris Hardwick’s ‘Talking Dead‘ talk show after episodes of ‘The Walking Dead‘ not only spawned the development of a ‘Talking Bad‘ series for ‘Breaking Bad,’ but may have also inspired ‘Sons of Anarchy‘ creator Kurt Sutter to develop his own companion talk show for the FX series as well. Sutter has a slightly different vision in mind however, so find out if ‘Talking Sons’ will crop up on FX inside!

Five seasons in with a sixth on the way, no one can deny the cultural phenomenon and increasing popularity of FX and Kurt Sutter’s ‘Sons of Anarchy,’ so much so that Sutter may take a page from AMC’s playbook in launching a ‘Talking Dead’ style companion piece to accompany the biker drama. Speaking in his latest “WTF Sutter” webcast, the executive producer and series creator explained that he had pitched a similar idea for several seasons, though the success of ‘Talking Dead’ may have given him the clarity to get the idea off the ground.

The great thing about ‘Talking Dead’ is that that companion piece was so symbiotic and worked so well, it really helped me then continue to sell the idea for ‘Sons’ with its success. ['Talking Dead']’s a great companion piece, and I actually thank them for fueling my needs and desires here.

So we’re going to do something, it’s not going to be our version of the ‘Talking Sons of Anarchy,’ it’ll be different. I think some component of it will be looking at episodes, but I think there will be a lot of other things connected with it.

Sutter went on to specify that his ‘Sons of Anarchy’ companion piece likely wouldn’t air on FX initially, rather first projected on the internet, with the program’s evolution to be determined thereafter.

As for ‘Sons of Anarchy’s upcoming sixth season itself, the new episodes will feature the likes of former ‘The Shield’ star CCH Pounder, ‘Deadwood’ star Kim Dickens, while both Drea de Matteo’s Wendy and Donal Logue’s villainous Lee Toric will return, and Jimmy Smits (Nero Padilla) was upgraded to series regular. Still unconfirmed is the involvement of Billy Brown’s character August Marks, whom Sutter previously cautioned might not be available for the sixth season. Last year, Sutter also told reporters the next batch of episodes would likely open a few weeks ahead in the story, the weight of the season 5 finale’s events still fresh.

Well, what say you? Would you want to see ‘Sons of Anarchy’ spawn a talk show companion piece to air on FX? Check out Sutter’s blog entry below, and give us your thoughts in the comments!

THE CW’S ‘CULT’ RETURNS FROM CANCELLATION JUNE 28

Now that the broadcast season has all but ended, with renewals, cancellations and pickups mostly decided, the stragglers from the 2012-2013 season have been given their last hurrahs. Among the dearly departed, The CW’s now-cancelled ‘Cult‘ has officially set a June 28 return date to finish out its remaining episodes, but will they offer up any hope or closure for the series?

It’s good news/bad news for fans of The CW’s high-concept ‘Cult’ TV series, as the series will officially return this summer to finish out its remaining episodes. Series creator Rockne S. O’Bannon announced over Twitter last night that the remaining episodes of the series will debut on Friday June 28, slated to run in two-hour blocks from 8:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M. for three consecutive weeks.

For those who never tuned in, the series followed journalist blogger Jeff (Matthew Davis) and Skye (Jessica Lucas), a production researcher on a popular television crime series called ‘Cult,’ which stared ‘Prison Break’ vet Robert Knepper as the character Billy Grimm. Jeff and Skye investigated the fans of the series who were re-creating the crimes committed on the show. And perhaps now you can see why it had trouble catching on.

Well, what say you? Did ‘Cult’ deserve to disband, or did it go before its time? Tell us what series from the past year you thought deserved another chance in the comments!

‘HANGOVER 3′ INTERVIEW: DIRECTOR TODD PHILLIPS SAYS THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER ‘HANGOVER’ MOVIE.

No filmmaker has done more for the bromance than Todd Phillips. From ‘Road Trip’ to ‘Old School’ to, now, three ‘Hangover’ films, he’s detailed the love one man has for another man more thoroughly than just about anyone in Hollywood. And ‘The Hangover Part III‘ feels almost weirdly like a last hurrah for the sorts of shenanigans that have become his stock and trade: reuniting the Wolf Pack under the pretense of getting Alan (Zach Galifianakis) some much-needed emotional counseling, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) find themselves unwittingly teamed with their man-child companion yet again after a gangster (John Goodman) holds Doug (Justin Bartha) hostage in exchange for them locating Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong), whom he claims stole $21 million from him.

At the risk of great physical harm – namely, a pretty wicked hangover — we headed to Las Vegas to talk to director Todd Phillips and screenwriter Craig Mazin about ‘The Hangover Part III.’ In addition to discussing the process of wrapping up the Wolf Pack saga, Mazin and Phillips explored the underlying appeal of the films to audiences, and gingerly addressed questions about what might follow from the purveyors of the most successful R-rated comedy series of all time.

So, how did ‘Part III’ work out in terms of getting the story set? Did you know when you finished 2 that this was how it was going to go? Was it a while…

Todd Phillips – We talked about it while we were making 2 about what we would do. We knew we wanted to do another one. There’s probably five legitimate different versions of ‘The Hangover III’ in terms of directions it could have gone and we didn’t settle on this one until we sat down in the summer and started to write, two summers ago.

Craig Mazin – Yeah, prior to that, there were some big ideas. He would call me. I would call him and say, “OK that is a big idea,” but then there was a moment where you sort of say, “OK, here are these three or four big plot points. Let’s talk about how this is actually a movie. How is satisfying? Why do we care and how do we make this a true end, so that it in fact ends.” It needs to end.

Todd Phillips – Yeah, exactly. We really wanted it to feel like an ending. We really thought Alan was the one character that needed to be healed still and it just felt naturally that it should be Alan’s story.

Some of the set pieces in the film are very logistically complicated – they look like they would require shutting down the strip. How’d you get permission to do that?

Todd Phillips – You know, Hangover means a lot to this town. It does. It’s a testament. Listen, when Hangover I came out it was a recession. It was the summer of 2009 and I literally got a call from a casino CEO, called me. Not Caesar’s, a different one, and said, “Hey, I just want to thank you for making Hangover and bringing the young people back to Vegas this summer. It’s done a lot for the town.” So, when we came back for ‘The Hangover III’ and we have Chow parachuting and we’re dealing with six different properties. It’s like asking six movie studios to all work together. They’re competitors. You can’t get DreamWorks and Paramount and Universal to all kind of work together, but they did for ‘The Hangover’ because of what it meant. So, it was cool. The Bellagio let us control the fountains, even though Caesar’s is really featured in the movie and then we go here and there and there. So, it was kind of a neat thing, but I think it speaks to the love that Vegas has for the ‘Hangover’ franchise. It’s fun to have made a movie that is a seminal Vegas film, you know what I mean?

This series has seemed to get darker with each installment. How much creative freedom have you had on these films, and what led you to bring it to darker places — and also, what is the appeal of making such a dark comedy as opposed to making a drama?

Todd Phillips – It’s cooler. It seems cooler. [laughs] Yeah, I think that filmmakers in their very nature are dark people. I think that as you get more freedom, I think if you look at ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ it gets darker as the series goes on because they got a little more freedom and a little more confidence and they got to sort of move their arms around a little bit and I think that’s what happened with ‘The Hangover.’ I think my tastes tend to lie a little bit… I think if you rewatch ‘Hangover 1,’ it’s dark too. [But] it’s a natural evolution and I just felt like, I don’t know. It just feels like a more interesting place to go with comedy. It’s more challenging, because it’s like, “How am I supposed to laugh? They just killed Mike Epps. How am I supposed to laugh here?” and two seconds later, we have a giant laugh in the movie where Alan is like, “Can you bring me sweatpants?” So, to me, it’s kind of, I don’t know, it’s a challenging and more fun way to do it and also, I think it gives the movie a little more depth.

Craig Mazin – Well, yeah, because dramatically, you start with a movie and if the second one is, I don’t know, lower stakes, at that point, you might as well just make a movie about the guys raising their kids.

Todd Phillips – Well, that’s interesting too. It helps raise the stakes as we go along. I think that happened. I think that’s a good point.

Both ‘Due Date’ and the second Hangover seem to have like a real sort of meanness to the comedy that I feel like this movie actually has less of. Do you feel like there was a deliberate choice to make this one less mean?

Todd Phillips – I think honestly it’s in response to where the story takes you. ‘Due Date’ had to feel that way. You had to feel Robert Downey’s frustration and the kind of character he was for him to be healed through the Ethan Tremblay character. ‘Hangover II’ feeling mean, it doesn’t feel mean to me, but this one is definitely a more emotional film, dealing with Alan’s real life and Alan meeting someone who is equally left-footed as him in Melissa McCarthy. That in and of itself is just going to add a sweetness to it. but it wasn’t an intentional, let’s make this less mean. It’s just where the story took us. So, if you’re going to tackle Alan’s story, it’s naturally going to be a little bit more emotional, because he’s naturally a little bit more genuinely fucked up.

Alan’s sort of the classic man-child, a comedic figure like Lou Costello was or Jerry Lewis. How do you see the other two then, Ed and Bradley? They’re not exactly the straight man to him.

Todd Phillips – Well, Ed to me, it’s been said that comedy is not action, it’s reaction and Ed is the king of reaction, Ed is, when he wakes up and sees his tooth missing or a tattoo on his face, or at the end of this movie, no one does reaction better than Ed. Ed is really the unsung hero of these movies, I think. Bradley is a little bit more the father figure of the group if we’re going to call Alan the man-child, but Bradley also is a guy who is just down for anything. So, I think his comedy comes in his attitude of, “Who gives a fuck? He killed a giraffe. Big deal.” He’s a cool guy.

Craig Mazin – He’s a cool guy. I actually think the interesting thing abut Alan is that he is that classic cinematic figure of the goofy clown we love, and this movie actually asks the question, “Is that ok?” Because there is a history of these guys. I mean, Belushi was this kind of guy, but there was never a movie where all the characters in the movie said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second… even though he’s hysterical here at the frat house, we need to get him help, because he’s dangerous.” I love that about this movie that it actually took a real look and said, “You’re not ok. This has to stop.”

I mean, there are three movies, what do you think, they really did hit something. What do you think it hit?

Todd Phillips – I feel like I’ve probably answered it in this room. I feel like you guys are gonna go, “He’s said this before,” but I think people responded a little bit to the irreverence of the movie, the sort of unapologetic nature of the comedy. I think the movie worked internationally, quite honestly, because at first, it’s a concept that works internationally….hangover. Everyone’s sort of had rough nights. Everyone has made bad decisions. I had a rough night last night. So, it just happens. I’m kidding. So, I don’t know, but ultimately it’s down to these three guys. Ultimately it’s the casting of these three guys, I think really connected in a way. It was just the right timing for these three. Their comedy all comes from a different place, so they really fit together interestingly. A lot of times you see movies with actors and the comedy comes from a very similar place, you’re sort of tapping the same nerve with it and with these guys I think they all just fill each other in so well.

You mentioned three guys. Of course, there are four…

Todd Phillips – Well, there’s five really. Ken Jeong is the fifth Beatle really.But people are gonna be, “Do you hate Justin Bartha?” I’ve been friends with Justin Bartha for longer than any of these guys. He used to live in my house.

How did that running gag evolve, where he ends up being excluded from the fun?

Todd Phillips – We just think it’s funny that one of these guys could disappear and we just have a good time with it.

Craig Mazin – If you’re going to take one of those guys and hold him hostage, Justin’s got that face. He’s got hostage face. You’ve just got to grab him.

When you choose to focus on Alan and Chow who are such, they will take all of the air out of the room, how careful do you have to be to make sure that Bradley and Ed’s character have something to do and that they still have a presence in the film instead of just being spectators, as we are, of the chaos Chow and Alan are causing?

Todd Phillips – I think that’s an interesting question and it’s just something you have to do and you have to be mindful as you do it. It’s the same as saying, you know, when you do an ensemble movie, it’s going to focus sometimes in one direction, It doesn’t mean the other guys are replaceable or don’t need to be there. I feel like, again, it’s always been these all three of these guy’s journey together going through this thing. Alan takes a more active role, but Alan took a way less active role in the other two movies but he still felt very much a part of it to me. So, it was just switching things around. The actors might answer that better, but I think that, you know, I think everyone the three guys, Chow, whatever, they all liked the idea of this being Alan’s story.

What was the last scene that you shot with all of the guys, and what was the mood on the set, knowing this was it?

Todd Phillips – Well, the last scene we shot was the last scene of the movie actually. We end the movie kind of sweetly and when we looked at it, they’re walking down the hall. It’s actually kind of an emotional feeling for people that like the movies. Ok? So, it’s actually kind of an emotional thing and in a weird way we looked at each other and go, “Do we really want to end it like or do we want to kind of undercut, like we always do, that emotion, and just be like, Blah, but it’s still The Hangover.”

Five years from now, if they came to you guys and said, “Come on…” or you had a great idea, would you ever bring it back together or is it really over forever?

Todd Phillips – I think it’s over forever with this cast and us and me and I think it is over forever. I think this was the last word on it and we’re happy with that.

So what will you guys do next after I mean this is done now…?

Todd Phillips – For me, it’s not done until its out and done. It’s hard. It is really hard. I read once, a quote from Jim Cameron. He goes, “You know, you guys ask me what’s next. You know, it’s like asking a pregnant woman who is nine months pregnant, ‘So, are you thinking about having another baby?’” And I thought, that’s exactly right. That’s how I feel. It’s is quote, but for me it’s hard until it’s out in the world. We’re still sort of in it, you know.

Well, ultimately, how much sort of growth or how much of an arch in retrospect did you conceive, particularly when you were completing this one, thinking like we want these characters to come to a certain place be the end of all three films much less this last installment?

Craig Mazin – Well, I mean, certainly by the end of this installment, we wanted… We felt like Stu was at peace. He’d been through the ringer twice. Bradley doesn’t need peace. He’s always been at peace. He’s got a wife and kids. Bradley’s the only cool one who understands how to live on the edge and then return on his own, like an adult, but Alan was the one that needed desperately to grow up. I mean, his father says it to him in the beginning of the movie and we realize it. That’s why, frankly, I love the fact that second movie is about it happening again, because you can’t make a third and final movie about how can we finally stop this from happening anymore if it only happens once. That’s why I liked that it happened a second time. So, yeah, that was the goal was to finish with Alan and once Alan is finished, obviously, the rest of them are in pretty good shape.

So, do you think Alan has grown up?

Craig Mazin – I do think Alan has grown up. Well, he’s replaced the Wolfpack with this new master, this new harsh mistress who is obviously going to run his life.

Todd Phillips – Yeah, and he’s met somebody equally flawed. I think that’s the thing. It’s like, you can be left-footed your whole life, but you meet somebody who’s equally left-footed. Suddenly he’s out of step with the world, but when he meets someone else also out of step, suddenly they’re out of step together and it’s like, he’s going to be OK.

Craig Mazin – They’ll end up doing a lot of damage out there.

Well, people feel it should be spun off, the two of them.

Todd Phillips – Yeah, people…

You don’t feel that way?

Todd Phillips – Well, you know, we’ve talked about a lot of things like that, but I think Zach and Melissa together would be a pretty frightening amazing comedy team.

‘AVENGERS 2′ — JOSS WHEDON TALKS QUICKSILVER AND SCARLET WITCH

The current discussion around ‘The Avengers 2‘ has shifted from the stars demanding higher pay to something equally inside baseball: the rights to the characters of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. In the pages of the comics, they’re mutants and Avengers, which has led to a pretty sticky situation. Fox, who has the X-Men rights, plans to use Quicksilver for the upcoming ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past.’ Marvel and writer/director Joss Whedon plan to use him for ‘Avengers 2.’ This conflict remained hidden when Whedon went on Late Night to chat about the characters with Jimmy Fallon.

Although Whedon doesn’t address the conflict directly, there’s something ever-so-slightly defensive about the way he talks about the characters, emphasizing that they are major ‘Avengers’ characters:

“There are new characters. I’ve already said that we’re going to have a brother-sister team, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, who were great mainstays of The Avengers when I was reading the comics as a kid.”

As much as both Fox and Marvel using Quicksilver feels like a “mine is bigger than yours” contest between the two studios, we certainly hope both parties take the high road here (at least in public). After all, audiences are smart enough to deal with the fact that there can be two superheroes in two different movies who can run really fast. As for casting, Whedon told Fallon that they hadn’t started thinking yet, not mentioning that Saoirse Ronan has been described as the “template” for the character.

Whedon also discussed why he wanted to add Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver to the roster and his answer is simple enough…more variety!

“Well, besides the fact that I grew up reading them, their powers are very visually interesting. One of the problems I had on the first one was, everybody basically had punchy powers. ‘I can hit,’ ‘I can also hit.’ Hopefully it didn’t get too boring. But coming into the second one, he’s got super speed. She can weave spells and a little telekinesis, get inside your head. There’s good stuff that they can do that will help sort of keep it fresh.”

‘The Avengers 2′ won’t arrive until May 1st, 2015. Expect this whole Quicksilver controversy to keep us occupied for the next year or so.

NEW POSTERS FOR ‘THE LONE RANGER,’ AND ‘HERCULES 3D

NEW POSTER AND TRAILER FOR ’ ‘TURBO’

Here’s the new poster and trailer for ‘Turbo,’ which promises to be the only animated racing snail movie of 2013.

Stone Temple Pilots To Perform With Linkin Park Singer In Los Angeles, CA Next Week.

Stone Temple Pilots will once again hit the stage with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington handling the vocals next week. The group are due to perform at a May 30th MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert which will be held at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, CA.

The event will honor the work and contributions made by Bennington and skateboarder Tony Alvawhile also raising funds for MusiCares‘ addiction recovery services. Slash, Duff McKagan and more are due to appear at the event with tickets available here.

Download Saving Abel's new single for free!

SMG and JHMP are excited to announce the signing of platinum southern rockers Saving Abel!

To celebrate our new venture we are offering you the first track off of their new and yet to be titled EP for free.
Click the below link to download it from SavingAbel.com.
The band is currently on tour through the end of June and will start a new cross country trek in early August with a new EP dropping on August 6th.

http://savingabel.com/new-single-mystify-download/

Zombieland Series Gets the Ax, Creator Says Fans ‘Hated It Out of Existence’.

It appears that the fans have spoken – Amazon Studio’s Zombieland series will not be receiving a full run.

The news was tweeted out by series writer/producer Rhett Reese, who went on to say that viewers “hated it out of existence.” Reese also worked on the film of the same name that inspired the Amazon series.

Zombieland was part of big push from Amazon into the original content game, spearheaded by their Amazon Studios division. Back in April, Amazon released 14 pilots (both comedy and kids shows) and asked fans to submit their feedback. Amazon said that fan feedback would determine which pilots were picked up for full series runs, but didn’t go into any more specifics.

The other shows include Alpha House, Betas, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, Those Who Can’t, Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Solves It, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf.

The Zombieland pilot, which has been available for all Amazon user to stream for just under a month, currently sits with a 3.5 star rating out of 5 with 5,500 reviews. Did you watch theZombieland pilot? What did you think?

Hemlock Grove Season 2 Release Date Unannounced, But Highly Likely.

Netflix’s most recent foray into original programming, Hemlock Grove, may not have debuted to the rave reviews of its predecessor, House of Cards, but it did outperform it in its early days. More people watched Hemlock Grove in the first two days of availability, as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said during a recent company conference call.

Despite the lack of critical acclaim, people seem to like the show. This is usually how the horror genre works. And in the genre, when people want more, they usually get it. See franchises likeParanormal Activity and Saw (or more historically, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm St., etc.).

Netflix has not announced plans for a second season yet, but it’s hard to imagine the company killing one of the early cornerstones of its original programming experiment if it’s getting the viewers. But iewers aren’t just watching the show. They’re already anticipating more. Yes, already (it did just come out less than a month ago). This is no doubt a side effect of releasing an entire season’s worth of episodes at the same time.

The involvement of Eli Roth (one of the show’s producers, who also directed the pilot) was, without a doubt, a huge part of the interest the show generated ahead of its release, but t’s hard to say how much he would be involved with a second season. He clearly has a lot on his plate(and some of us are still hoping he can find time to make “Thanksgiving“). Still, there’s no apparent reason that Netflix wouldn’t push forward with a new season with or without him.

There shouldn’t be a lack of material, based on reports of Brian McGreevy’s work on sequels to the novel upon which the show is based. Shock Til You Drop reported in April of last year:

McGreevy has a second Hemlock Grove novel nearing completion, with a third fully outlined, so expect at least two more seasons should the series find a following.

Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance Tour, Featuring Volbeat, HIM, All That Remains + Airbourne Set for Late Summer 2013

If there was ever any question about rock 'n' roll being alive and well, the answer has arrived in the form of Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance Tour. The late summer trek will feature four game-changing rock bands from four different countries, with Volbeat, HIM, All That Remains and Airbourne on the bill.

"The fans have made our North American visits thus far this year great fun and truly memorable," Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen said. "We are looking forward to headlining Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance festival tour this summer, and sharing the stage with HIM, All That Remains and Airbourne."

Tour dates and on-sale information will announced in the coming days. Information will be posted here.This year marks the third installment for Monster Energy's Rock Allegiance. The event launched as a traveling tour back in 2011. The following year, it became a "destination festival" in Hershey, Pennsylvania that featured Stone Temple Pilots, Three Days Grace, Seether, Buckcherry, Fuel, Daughtry and more, commandeering Hersheypark Stadium over the Labor Day Weekend.The fest returns to the road in 2013, which is exactly where it belongs.

The tour will bring American audiences the very best that rock music as a whole has to offer, with a decidedly international feel. Rock music is a universal language and all the acts on this tour embody the spirit of rock 'n' roll without borders.


Danish superstars Volbeat, who have enjoyed No. 1 status at active rock radio, will share the stage with HIM, a cult favorite from Finland whose fans are disciple-like in their devotion. All That Remains have scratched and clawed their way out of Massachusetts and rocketed up the radio charts over the past half-decade, all the while keeping a firm foothold in the hard rock/metal scene. Airbourne have been making a name for themselves ever since emerging from Australia, armed with plenty of riffs and just as much attitude.



Energy's Rock Allegiance Tour is brought to you by Danny Wimmer Presents, Right Arm 

Vince Neil: Motley Crue "Nearing the End"

Bad news for Mötley Crüe fans: frontman Vince Neil says that band is close to calling it quits.

"I'm definitely nearing the end," he said.  "We're going to put out some new music next year and then it's our farewell tour -- we'll do the world one more time and then call it a day."

Neil notes that the band will give fans around the globe a number of chances to see the group perform one last time before they go their separate ways.  "Our farewell tour [will be like] 2014 or '15.  Tours last about two years. So to finish the world, you've got to do the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia...it takes some time."

The singer adds that just because the band is ending, that doesn’t mean that he’s retiring from music. "I'll continue to sing Mötley [songs] with my solo band and put out solo records and stuff and [bassist] Nikki [Sixx]'s got his radio show and [drummer] Tommy [Lee] wants to be a deejay, and so we'll see what happens."

KANYE WEST DROPS SOME SERIOUS KOIN TO GO TO KIM KARDASHIAN’S DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENTS.

Despite Kim Kardashian‘s divorce deposition admitting she hardly sees Kanye West, don’t be fooled into thinking he’s a deadbeat future-baby daddy.

Yeezy’s actually been spending serious dough — more than most of us make in a year — just to be with Kardashian for her doctor’s appointments for their imminent Kimye spawn.

TMZ reports that West, who’s been globetrotting promoting his fashion line and recording a new album, has made at least three trips via private jet to be with K.K. for checkups. The trips, from Paris to Los Angeles, cost a total of roughly $100,000.

‘Good Life’ indeed.

A source also revealed that West reaches out to Kardashian’s doctors in advance on his own to make sure he can fit her appointments into his own hectic schedule.

West reportedly also flew Kardashian to Paris multiple times on his private jet to be with him ahead of their baby’s birth, slated for July.

Whether or not he names his next album ‘I Am God,’ one thing’s pretty sure: He’s the father. And a pretty solid one so far.

‘STAR WARS’ ACTOR RICHARD LEPARMENTIER DEAD AT 66.

Richard LeParmentier, the actor who had a brief yet immensely memorable role in the original ‘Star Wars’ film, died at the age of 66 in Austin, Texas on April 16.

No cause of death was cited, but his publicist said his passing was completely unexpected.

Fans of ‘Star Wars’ will remember him as Admiral Motti, who insulted the Jedi religion and wound up the victim of Darth Vader’s infamous air-choke, with Vader spouting the famous line, “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

The scene from the 1977 film was so iconic that it even recently started a photo craze known as Vadering.

After LeParmentier’s death, his three children released a statement reading:

At age 66, Richard Le Parmentier is one with the Force. We’re deeply grateful to the many devoted fans who have posted personal remembrances of our dad as a warm, genuine person with an unparalleled joie de vivre and gift for friendship (not to mention a mean petanque player).

To his fans and friends, his lines were the ultimate power in the universe. He absolutely loved traveling the world and meeting his friends and fellow ‘Star Wars’ fans.”

Check out LeParmentier’s famous scene below.

TAYLOR SWIFT LAUNCHES SPRING + SUMMER LINE OF KEDS.

Taylor Swift has expanded her partnership with Keds. Since both the singer and the shoes are American classics, it was only a matter of time before the relationship was furthered.

Swift, who has been knocking us dead on red carpets with her gown choices this year, debuted a limited edition, red-themed collection of footwear last fall to coincide with the release of her bazillion-seller ‘Red.’ She also issued another limited edition set of spring shoes, which are perfect for lounging dockside and feature cool graphics like anchors and her signature stamped on the inner soles.

Now, the singer is branding an entire range of the rounded tennis shoes for the spring and summer seasons. They feature cutesy graphics like flowers and polka dots, and other decidedly Swiftian prints. These look like kicks she would wear with her twinsets, cardis, full skirts and pearls. You can wear ‘em with cut-off jeans shorts, dresses or whatevs!

They are cute and totally wearable and won’t set you back, since they are super affordable at $50.

Which pair (or pairs) are you going to grab when they become available in May, PopCrushers? Which is your favorite design in this set of Taylor Swift x Keds?

’300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE’ DEBUTS EPIC, RAIN-SWEPT POSTER.

You might think Zack Snyder is keeping busy, what with post-production on ‘Man of Steel‘ and the latest trailer hitting today, but he broke a near six-month Twitter silence to tweet the debut of the first poster for ‘300: Rise of an Empire.’ And the image definitely makes it look like the last movie, and that it is proud of its producer.

Here’s that poster:

This came from Snyder’s Twitter — which he hasn’t been using much of late — though the poster likely debuted at CinemaCon, which is going on right now. But it’s not surprising that Snyder is front and center with this movie, as the film itself isn’t exactly chock-full of name players (we like Eva Green, but we doubt that’s what will get audiences in the door). But ’300′ also didn’t have many famous faces and it was a massive hit. Was it the trailer, shirtless Gerard Butler, speed ramping action, the comic or all of these things combined? Hard to say.

The new film comes from Noam Murro, who got his start in commercials, and has mostly been attached to sequels (though he made a little indie film called ‘Smart People’ in 2008), as he nearly directed ‘The Ring Two’ and ‘A Good Day to Die Hard.’ In both cases he appeared to dodge a bullet.

’300: Rise of an Empire’ opens August 2.