Around the Tubes: August 10, 2019

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Hulu, Late Night with Sert Myers, David Bowie Finding Fame, ToyMakerz, The Kingmaker, Snow Patrol, Phantogram, James Blake, Geowulf, Angelica Vila, Clap, and Noticias Telemundo Mediodía.

- Hulu and Bleecker Street have partnered on a new output deal granting Hulu exclusive SVOD rights to all upcoming Bleecker Street theatrical films. The deal was negotiated by Andrew Karpen, Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy on behalf of Bleecker Street. The first film to hit the streaming service in Fall 2019 will be HOTEL MUMBAI. Recounting the harrowing story of survival from the staff and guests of the famous Taj Hotel, HOTEL MUMBAI follows the news-breaking terrorist attacks that occurred in Mumbai in 2008. The hit thriller stars Dev Patel and Armie Hammer. Hulu will also hold streaming rights to Bleecker Street’s TEEN SPIRIT, starring Elle Fanning; SXSW-breakout THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Alessandro Nivola; and the inspirational true-story biopic BRIAN BANKS, starring Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, and Sherri Shepard.

- Amanda Seyfried Tries to Get Her Dog to Appear in Films She’s Acting In on Late Night with Sert Myers:


- Showtime Documentary Films will premiere David Bowie Finding Fame from director Francis Whately (Rock ‘n’ Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sidemen, DAVID BOWIE: FIVE YEARS) tonight, Friday, August 9 at 9 p.m ET/PT. The film chronicles five years of Bowie’s early career, from the late 1960s through the on-stage death of Ziggy Stardust in 1973. As one of the most revered musical artists of his generation, little has been unveiled about Bowie’s life before his commercial breakthrough or the creative ideas and techniques he pioneered that led to his stardom. Bowie’s nascent artistic curiosity, along with his multifarious personas, enabled him to reinvent himself throughout an extraordinary career that continues to inspire and transcend many different musical genres and cultural movements today.


- ToyMakerz is set to re-air its third action-packed season Sunday, August 18th, 2019 at 9am ET/8am CT on HISTORY®. Each week, former celebrity stuntman and head “ToyMaker” David Ankinwill take his fans on the ride of their lives, leading his talented team in crafting one-of-a-kind custom automotive builds. From hot rods and classics to muscle cars, trucks and motorcycles, “ToyMakerz” gives car lovers across America a front-row seat to the incredible process behind these powerful and unique machines.

- Showtime Documentary Films announced that the latest feature from Emmy winning director Lauren Greenfield (The Queen of Versailles), The Kingmaker, will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this August. The documentary centers on the indomitable character and controversial political career of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines whose behind-the-scenes influence of her husband Ferdinand’s presidency rocketed her to the global political stage. The Kingmaker will screen at additional festivals in the upcoming months, followed by a theatrical release this fall and a world television premiere on Showtime in early 2020.

- Snow Patrol announce the first of 2 Reworked EPs, released on August 9th, including a stunning new version of Crack The Shutters available to hear now. The band announced on their social media channels last month they have been in the studio over the last few months and are releasing a new track ahead of more music later this year, celebrating the 25th anniversary since Snow Patrol formed.

- Leading into their upcoming summer headline tour, Phantogram drops a new single for their fans called “Mister Impossible”—listen HERE! “Mister Impossible” was written in the band’s Laurel Canyon studio and recorded at Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, where the duo has been working on new music for their upcoming project.

- Following the release of his critically-acclaimed fourth studio album Assume Form via Republic Records, GRAMMY Award winning artist James Blake has released the video for “Can’t Believe the Way We Flow”. Directed by Frank Lebon (A$AP Rocky, Skepta, FKA Twigs), the visual was shot over 6 days in London and elaborates on the songs story about love and relationships in their many shapes and forms using 30 real life couples.

- Geowulf are pleased to share another new track "Round and Round", which is taken from their forthcoming sophomore record My Resignation that is due out 10/25 through [PIAS]. Listen to it HERE. Despite its gooey-on-the-inside qualities, the song was written in a less positive environment than its warm synths would suggest. Star Kendrick explains: “I was frustrated with maybe a lack of self-control and an inability to break patterns in my life... In a few areas. This song is my way to poking holes in how I handled that. The rest of the album follows a similar, emotional narrative, and is all about exploring those old things & how I’ve tried to leave them behind.”

- Rising songstress Angelica Vila releases her new track “All I Do Is 4 U” now via Roc Nation/Republic Records. Listen to “All I Do Is 4 U: HERE. The track follows the release of her single “More in the Morning,” which garnered major buzz with coverage from Billboard, Rolling Stone and more and reached the #23 on the Billboard Hip Hop/R&B Songs Airplay chart. A live version of Angelica singing “All I Do Is 4 U” can also be heard on VEVO’s DSCVR.

- Allison Raskin has directed a short film, Clap, starring Pete Gardner (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Dylan Gelula (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), now available on her YouTube channel, Just Between Us. Beth (Gelula) is home on break from college when she gets a phone call informing her that she has an STI. Hilarity (as well as a refreshing amount of understanding) ensues. "My hope with this film was to destigmatize STIs and show my skills as a director," says Allison. "If this does either I'll be thrilled!"

- Noticias Telemundo announced the broadcast of Joe Biden’s first interview with a Spanish-language television network since entering the Democratic presidential primaries. Highlights of the interview with senior correspondent Vanessa Hauc will air today – Tuesday, August 6 – on “Noticias Telemundo Mediodía” at 12:30 PM/11:30 AM C and during the “Noticias Telemundo” primetime newscast at 6:30 PM/5:30 C. The full exclusive will be available on NoticiasTelemundo.com.

- In light of the recent tragic events in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health (The Alliance) has released research showing nearly 500,000 years of life were lost in Ohio due to gun violence from 2009-2018. While this research is in no way exclusive to mass shootings, Rick Hodges, director of The Alliance, hopes this research will contribute to the national conversation currently taking place. The study reviewed data from the Ohio Department of Health from 2009-2017 and included preliminary data from 2018 to calculate 484,122 years of life lost (YLL) as a result of 13,001 deaths from firearms during the timespan.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: August 4, 2019

Veronica Mars: Episode 2: Oh my, they really were trolling with that opening scene. Now we do not really know how well the show is doing, but I really hope that’s it is successful enough to warrant a Dick Casablancas: struggling actor spin off.

Episode 3: Well there goes my prediction that the hotel owner set the bomb for the insurance money to give to his kid. But my second suspect was Clyde, but then Ronnie named him as a suspect which makes me wonder if she would correctly finger the perp this early in the season. I am beginning to think it may be Ronnie’s half-brother that she discovers in the first Veronica Mars book that was released after the movie who is just trying to get the attention of his half-sister who has seemed to completely forget about. Maybe he teamed up with Lily Kane (Duncan and Meg’s daughter, another completely forgotten characher).
You can watch Veronica Mars on Hulu.

Claws: So no one except everyone closely involved noticed that the lesbian lover of the sister a senate candidate just went missing right after getting outed by the candidate? Real life press would have a field day with that. And the Triads have the cops on the payroll? Just high up does that go because someone has to get suspicious when lady cop does not show up for work. You can hold off Quiet Ann for a while but the Commissioner has to get suspicious unless he is on the Triad payroll too.
You can download Claws on iTunes.

City on a Hill: When I first reviewed the show I complained that despite being set in the nineties, there was a classic rock soundtrack. But all is right in the world now that we got Vanilla Ice this week. Oh goodness. And then we end the episode with a little Metallica. Now if only we can get some Wu-Tang.

The Loudest Voice: The frustrating part of watching shows based on real people is trying to figure out what actually happened and what was poetic license. Now I can completely believe that Roger Ailes had a bomb shelter under his house but did he really have a tunnel to the base too? That had to cost a pretty penny.

The Handmaid’s Tale: Last week I wondered where Serena’s loyalties lie and I am even more confused an episode later. She did seem shocked when the Canadians rolled up but on the other hand, it does seem like she really needed to be in the know for a plan like that to work. Really that discussion about where they would be had Giliad had never happened seemed like she was thinking about leaving. But then she invited Fred into her bed. Oh, and then I watched the trailer for next week and not it seems pretty clear her role in the capture.

And somehow that was not the biggest shocker of the week. No, that goes to Offjoseph smashing in the head of her kid’s new father. Can she get away with it? Just how good are those Martha’s at cleaning? Was New Daddy covert enough when he when to Jezebel’s that no one will suspect his whereabouts? And didn’t he move to Washington? Is there now only one house of ill repute left in Gilliad?
You can watch The The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.

Harlots: Oh wow, they really did kill off Charlotte. It was even more shocking because she was kind of the face of the show up to this point. Sure they did add Liv Tyler last season and Reek this season who are arguable bigger names, but always pretty shocking when the topliner leaves the show and there was not even an announcement before the season (which as a viewer is much preferable, nothing worse than the long goodbye of waiting around for Rick Grimes to die… only for him not to). Then poor Quigley, she just gets out of the nuthouse and now it looks like she is going to have a murder pinned on her.
You can watch Harlots on Hulu.

Krpton: When Lyta got her throat cut it was painfully obvious she would be back at some time because he had to birth General Zod. The only question was how she would be back. Seeming how her son already time traveled, that seemed like the most obvious answer. Nope, the dead Lyta was just a clone.But I do wonder if Lyta ever kills herself so General Zod never exists.
You can download Krypton on iTunes.

Swamp Thing: You know what, if I am in a sinking cop car, I am not using my cell phone as a light, I might use my cell phone as, you know, an actual phone. But I am guessing that had there been a second season, Swamp Thing would have save her or maybe the swamp would have turn her into something else. But not surprisingly when you save off three episode and cancel the show, the ending felt a bit rushed, which is a shame because it was a really strong show up until the last episode. But with the show was canceled, it is weird they still went with an end credits scene teasing a season two villain. But hey, maybe some of the characters will so up on the CW Crisis crossover since the actors are not really busy.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Um, I think I missed something. So Sarge was evil? Sure he stabbed May and kicked her through the portal but he kicked her into a place where you cannot die which made me think he was anti-Izel. But when the rest of SHIELD showed up he seemed to be fighting with her. So did Sarge not know that May would not die in the other world? And just how did the portal shut? Did it just automatically shut when Izel died? That was just all confusing.

Also confusing was the ending. So the Cromicons want to invade Earth to set up their own civilization here and want to wipe out SHIELD because they are their only obstacle for conquering the planet. Um, I know I have not seen the last two Avengers movies but did every Avenger died in those movies or at last all the Earth bound ones? And if the Cromicons are trying to conquer Earth now, why did SHEILD go back to when the Empire State Building was the tallest in the world. Also if this is just an excuse to get Peggy Carter back on our screens, I am all for it (there was a picture featuring the name of one of Agent Carter’s actors on the set). Really, here is hoping we get an Agent Carter reboot on Disney+, or at least Hulu.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.