New Grimm tonight, new projects for Kendall Cross and Patton Oswalt, and interviews with Bear McCreary and Calum Worthy

A few updates, because it's Friday:

Grimm 1x11, "Tarantella," airs tonight at 9 pm. (No, Patton Oswalt and Steve Carell aren't guest starring. Keep scrolling for those two.) Synopsis for "Tarantella:"

A STRING OF HOMICIDES LEADS NICK AND HANK TO A WOMAN WITH A DEADLY SECRET; AMY ACKER GUEST STARS – Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) find themselves on the hunt for a deadly heartbreaker leaving behind a web of dead bodies. Meanwhile, Nick’s growing recognition among the creature world is starting to threaten not only his safety but Juliette’s (Bitsie Tulloch) as well, and it may be time for him to take action to keep her safe. Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee also star.

Sasha tweets that the show premieres in the UK on Watch this Monday at 9 pm. Spoiler TV has a few sneak peeks from tonight's episode.

This Means War, a romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, opens in theatres next Friday. Jill Teed, Panou, Aleks Paunovic and Mike Dopud have supporting roles in the film. Grandpa Aleks was at the premiere the other day. You can find a few pics on his official fan site. Zimbio also has a few photos.

Michael Rymer's Face to Face finally has a U.S. distributor. Here is what The Hollywood Reporter says:

L.A.-based boutique distributor MouseTrap Films has corralled U.S. rights to Aussie drama Face to Face in a deal struck by British sales banner Jinga Films. (...) MouseTrap plans to roll out the film on 25 screens via its monthly festival program Film Festival Flix before expanding to 200 screens nationwide.

A photo of Zak Santiago and Amanda Tapping on the set of Random Acts of Romance showed up on Twitter. You can see it here.

Terry Miles (director) has posted the first photo of Ben Cotton in The Dawn Rider.

TV Wise has some new info about Defiance, the new Syfy show Michael Taylor is working on.

Kendall Cross, who made an appearance in last week's episode of Supernatural, has made a new film, a Hallmark drama called Duke, that will premiere on April 28. Here are some details, from the press release (more at the link):

Steven Weber ("Wings," "Brothers & Sisters") stars in a touching story inspired by true events, of the special relationship between a broken, homeless vet and his only constant companion and soulmate, a Border Collie named Duke, in the World Premiere of "Duke," a Hallmark Movie Channel Original premiering Saturday, April 28 (8p.m. ET/PT, 7C). Weber is joined by Sarah Smyth ("50/50,") Allison Hossack ("Battle of the Bulbs," "Reaper"), Kendall Cross ("Caprica") and Martin Cummins ("V"). Border Collies, Zeek and Tanner take turns as Duke.

Marine Sergeant Terry Pulaski (Weber), a once proud man, is now a broken shell of himself having returned from Iraq with both PTSD and a disabling injury. Terry struggles to be a good father and husband, but he's constantly depressed and hates the man he's become. Bethany (Cross), Terry's wife reluctantly brings home a stray dog that her student's named Duke, knowing that Terry and their daughter will immediately fall in love. But during a Fourth of July firework celebration, Terry has flashbacks of the war and finds himself being comforted by Duke as the two lay huddled together on the laundry room floor. From that moment on, Duke and Terry are inseprable. As tensions are running high at home, Terry is delivered a final blow when he is ordered by his doctors to take a medical discharge. Terry feels like he has become a burden to his wife and daughter and decides to leave, taking Duke with him.

Patton Oswalt is reportedly in talks to join Ben Stiller's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. From Showblitz:

Stiller is directing the long-gestating remake of the 1947 Danny Kaye film, which itself was based on the James Thurber short story that was first published in The New Yorker in 1939.

Stiller stars as the title character, a timid daydreamer who works at LIFE Magazine, where he develops photos of other people’s adventures rather than living his own. He finds himself having to play the hero when he’s tasked with finding a missing negative. Wiig co-stars as the co-worker he lusts after, while Shirley MacLaine will play Stiller’s mother.

Oswalt will play Todd, a friendly eHarmony counselor who helps the protag create an online dating profile.

Collider has a new interview with Patton. Snippet:

As an actor, do you prefer playing characters that are closer to who you are, or completely different from who you are?
OSWALT: The thing about Matt that was very similar was that when he was angry or sad, he would make a joke to lighten the situation. With me, comedy was always a way to motivate me to change my situation, whereas he used comedy to justify the situation or use his jokes like, “And that’s why I don’t have to change at all.” It was a way to stop his own inertia, which is weirdly alien to me. But, it was a very fine line. I do use that, but to a different end, I guess.

Was there a performance or film that you saw this year that really made an impression on you?
OSWALT: I thought Martha Marcy May Marlene was incredible, especially John Hawkes’ performance in that. Weirdly enough, that is one of the most accurate portrayals I’ve ever seen of Charles Manson on screen without it being Charles Manson, and understanding how somebody like that could just control different people. What’s really eerie is that Elizabeth Olsen’s character doesn’t really have a horrible home life. She’s not some broken person, running. It’s just that he is so terrifying. I just thought that role was really amazing. It was great.

And here is where Steve Carell comes in. The trailer for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, another film Patton made last year, has been released. A bunch of other familiar mugs are in it: Keira Knightley, Connie Britton, Melanie Lynskey and Melinda Dillon, among others. The film will hit theatres in the U.S. in late June. Trailer:



A couple of *really* interesting interviews with Bear McCreary showed up on the web in recent days. The first one is at io9.com. Charlie Jane Anders talked to him about the physics behind famous science fiction themes and what they have in common. Here is a snippet:

"You're talking about two intervals: a perfect fifth and [then] a perfect fourth. For example, if you're starting at middle C, you go up a perfect fifth, up to G. You go up a fourth, and you're back to C. This is the core relationship in Western tonal music, which is 99.999 percent of all music that is used in scores for anything that Western audiences generally watch. It's the basis of all pop music and Western classical music."

The question, says McCreary, is: "Why is this set of intervals so commonly used, and so powerful and so effective?"

Where did the iconic perfect fifth come from?

"It has its basis in physics," says McCreary. "It's a physical reality." There's an actual physical phenomenon behind the perfect fifth, and the octave above that, called the "overtone series."

And a hilarous animated interview with Bear showed up on Vimeo (careful around the kids, there is some bad language):



Twist magazine has a new interview with Calum Worthy. A couple of snippets:

TWIST: Could you tell us about Austin & Ally?
Calum: Absolutely. Austin and Ally is a great new comedy about following your dreams and the friends you meet along the way. Austin is an aspiring singer and Ally is an aspiring songwriter. When Austin becomes famous from using one of Ally's songs, the two decide to become partners. (...)
T: Can you tell us about your character, Dez?
C: Yeah, Dez is a crazy out of this world kid. He's an aspiring filmmaker. He and Austin have been best friends all their lives. When Austin becomes famous he lets everything go to help his friend out on his new journey.

And another short film with Ryan Robbins showed up on YouTube this week. It's called The Bug (NSFW):