Jane Lynch as Miss Hannigan – Photo Credit: Matt Hoyle

Carol Burnett‘s performance as Miss Hannigan in the movie version of Annie is still to date one of the best examples of perfect casting in cinematic history, but the recent cast change in the current Broadway hit Annie ain’t half bad either, as Glee star Jane Lynch signs on as Hannigan, the self involved, boozing orphanage matron with a strong disdain for orphans. Yes folks Sue Sylvester can sing and dance!

The Emmy winning actress, who plays Sue Sylvester on Glee had some interesting comparisons to make between Hannigan and Sylvester when chatting with EW‘s Tim Stack recently:

“I think Miss Hannigan would look up to Sue because Sue is much more successful at being manipulative…Miss Hannigan is just sloppy. She’s kind of a mess.”

Jane has always loved the roll and is thrilled to be back on stage after 20 years. The Broadway cast is pretty elated to welcome a TV star, but were surprised at how well Lynch could actually sing. Check out this in depth video & sneak peek look at Lynch and the cast behind the scenes of Annie the musical.

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Still of Theo James as Kemal Pamuk Downton Abbey (2010)

Theo James is the British hunk whose character Kemal Pamuk wooed Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary into a web of sex and scandal in his few short screen minutes on the wildly popular British series Downton Abbey. His role obviously packed quite a punch, and although James downplays the effect Pamuk has had on his career (it was only his second job in the industry), we can’t seem to get enough of those gorgeous eyes, chiseled cheekbones and pouty lips (seriously do men get collagen injections or are those puppies for real?) that can now been seen weekly on CBS’s Golden Boy.

Born Theodore Peter J. K. Taptiklis to a New Zealand father and Scottish Mother, his sur name (and paternal grandfather) is Greek, but he uses his middle name James as his last name strictly due to potential spelling complications arising from Taptiklis (go figure). He was born in 1984 in Oxford, England, so yes in case you hadn’t caught it after watching Golden Boy in which he does a flawless American accent, he is 100% British.

Golden Boy still courtesy of theojames.net

Golden Boy is a cop series focusing on the premise of James’ character Detective Walter Clark working his way from rookie cop, quickly making Detective to being the youngest police commissioner ever, 7 years later. Set in present day, we get flashforwards 7 years into the future at the beginning and end of each show. Although it has an ambitiously intriguing premise, the show lacked something the first few episodes, but quickly gained speed after delving into some meaty characters such as Clark’s fellow detective and nemesis Christian Arroyo, played devilishy well by Kevin Alejandro and his faithful veteran partner, Detective Don Owen (Chi McBride) among others.

Unfortunately for all involved, especially the fans who are left with a fairly ‘killer’ cliffhanger, CBS announced on May 10th that Golden Boy has been cancelled after its first season. Every show has its growing pains, but with a few years to mold and set, they usually hit their peaks. Golden Boy has had that opportunity snuffed out prematurely, and unfairly in my opinion.

We have a few must see video clip interviews of Theo, one is an interview with him on Good Day LA when Golden Boy was set to air and the other is a funny take from James and on-screen partner McBride on what their show is about. So even though Golden Boy is no more, we have a strong feeling this is just the beginning for Theo James as it was recently announced he will play Four in the much anticipated film adaptation of the YA novel Divergent.

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Vancouver Fan Expo 2013 was a smash success, arguably drawing an even more eclectic crowd than the Vancouver Pride Parade as far as elaborate costumes go. Although organizers may be bombarded with email complaints about the poorly structured ticket holder line-ups on the Saturday morning, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the swarms of super heroes, anime fans and comic book lovers all arriving in droves to enter the world of Vancouver’s very own Comic Con experience. Stan Lee, the man, the legend was just the icing on the cake for fans who could browse through the myriad of  Sci-Fi and Comic culture, attend a panel discussion of the cast of popular Vancouver-shot Sci Fi show Continuum, or mingle with celebs from Once Upon a Time, The Walking Dead, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, the Rocketeer and more!

The Original Elvira signed autographs and posed for pics with fans.

The Panel discussion with the cast of Continuum was timely since Season 2 premiered this past Sunday so there was lots to discuss. Not sure if lead actor Rachel Nichols had some sore feet or….and below are more highlights of the event.

Vancouver shot Sci-Fi series Continuum cast shot (after panel discussion)

Continuum star Rachel Nichols watches sneak peek of Season II with some sore tootsies?

Michael Rooker otherwise known as Merle Dixon of The Walking Dead, signed autographs, posed for photos with fans and did a very enlightening Q & A session. (below)

Q & A with Merle, oops I mean Michael, pretty much what we expected him to be like.

Some die hard Walking Dead fans I ran into at the Michael Rooker Q & A. Killer Merle and Daryl outfits!

One of my favourite costumes of the event; Trouble with the Tribbles. Ha, love it!

This gal wins the most effort for make-up award…AMAZING!

Part of Make-up/Special Effects contest throughout the weekend

Some hobbit bar maiden is kicking the crap out of that GI Joe guy,,,great feet!

Sean Astin, star of Lord of the Rings, Rudy and Goonies serves up some laughs to the crowd gathered for his Q & A session.

The very classy Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura in the original Star Trek series had many fans gathered to sneak a photo and get memorabilia autographed.

Finally, my favourite run in of the weekend was with Once and Again star (And the Rocketeer, and The Killing etc) Billy Campbell. Check out our recent story on Billy here

Were you at the Fan Expo? What did you think? Leave your comments below. Just for commenting you could win a limited edition Phantom Creative (Mondo’s buddies) 11 x 17 artist’s print!

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If you’ve been a fan of The Rocketeer star Billy Campbell, you might know that in 2000, at the height of his ABC hit show Once and Again, Billy was one of People Magazine’s 50 most Beautiful People, what you might not know is that Campbell is turning 54 this year, and from the photo snapped yesterday (courtesy of HardlyHedda), I think we can all agree, like Clooney or perhaps like a fine wine, he gets even better with age.

We caught up with Billy at yesterday’s Vancouver Fan Expo 2013, which is basically Vancouver’s answer to Comic Con. And yes, it gets the same massive ensemble of fantastic fans dressed to the nines as their favourite characters. We even saw a few Rocketeers hanging around Campbell’s area, after all, starring in The Rocketeer was Campbell’s launch into mainstream celebrity back in 1991.

Admittedly, although I saw The Rocketeer, and like most self-respecting entertainment writers, followed the public on-again /off again 5 year romance of its two stars Campbell and Jennifer Connelly (now married with 2 children to actor Paul Bettany), it was Campbell’s role as shy, divorced, devoted father Rick Sammler from Once and Again that will always hold a special place in my heart. I always thought Campbell in that series was at the height of his smoldering good looks and nice guy appeal.

“Billy has a beautiful face, and his eyes are very seductive,”

Remarked co-star Sela Ward, costar on Once & Again  circa 2000

Fast-forward 11 years and I stand corrected…..See photo above (again) – need I say more? Well I will anyways, but you get my point.

Campbell has done other series through the 2000′s, appearing on The Practice, The OC and Melrose Place to name a few, but he’s most recently appeared in The Killing as Darren Richmond. The series follows the police investigation of the murder of a young girl, tying together three interlocking stories as investigators chase a variety of leads. Filmed in Vancouver, Campbell got to return to the city he loves and has called home. Available on Netflix, definitely worth checking out.

History buff Campbell also delved into a very cool project recently for the National Geographic Channel where he portrayed Lincoln (sorry Daniel Day Lewis) in Killing Lincoln. Collider, one of our favourite sites, did an in-depth interview with Campbell on playing Lincoln which can be found here. Here is the poster release which shows Campbell as Lincoln.

We loved running into Billy Campbell, he’s one of our favourites, so here’s a great article done last April on Billy’s favourite haunts in Vancouver. Looking forward to his upcoming projects and we’ll keep you posted!

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Brad Pitt’s much hyped and much delayed Zombie Apocalypse BlockBuster World War Z is coming to theatres (finally) in June 2013. Trailer number 2 shows a much more world-related story – not just your typical ‘one small group against a world of zombies’ movie. The story centers around Pitt’s character who, while trying to keep his family alive, is helping to save the world by working with the UN to search for answers while the globe is being overrun in leaps and bounds by zombies, lots & lots of them. But why the delay?

There have been so many rumours swirling around on whether there were 5, 6 or 7 weeks of reshoots, but nevertheless, there were rewrites and reshoots galore. Hmmm, judging both trailers that have been released, perhaps it would have been a good idea in some of those reshoots to not have the zombies appear as if they were on speed! Seriously what dignified zombie runs? Me thinks director Mark Forster (Quantum of Solace) who is reasonably new to the summer blockbuster, should have done a bit more homework on how zombies roll. See the latest trailer here:

I read the Max Brooks bestselling novel, World War Z, upon which this movie is supposedly based, and I can tell you the Walking Dead in his gripping book were very similar to your average, run of the mill zombies. Slow moving and easily outrun in small numbers. Incidentally, Max Brooks, who also wrote bestseller The Zombie Survival Guide, has a family link to the ‘good old days’ of Hollywood, as his father is brilliant director/filmmaker Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein etc).

I will give the benefit of the doubt to this adaptation, and not judge the trailers too harshly for not sticking to the book. Come June though, it’s fair game.

Want a few great reads? For any zombie fan, these are a must (if you have read either of these books let us know in Comments section below what you thought):