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To mark the third season premiere of its acclaimed medical drama Transplant, NBCUniversal is partnering with the American Red Cross for a series of blood drives in key cities this October. Branded blood drives will take place Oct. 7-21 at various locations in Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Nashville and Norfolk, Va. The blood drives will include 18 Red Cross donation centers sites across the five markets.
As part of the Transplant blood drives, presenting donors will receive branded T-shirts and dash tumblers and will be able to watch a preview of the series.
Transplant follows the life of charismatic Syrian doctor Bashir “Bash” Hamed (award-winning actor Hamza Haq), who flees his war-torn homeland with his younger sister, Amira (Sirena Gulamgaus), and endeavors to build a new life in Canada. The new season finds Bash continuing his journey to start over and gain citizenship, but with each new milestone comes a different challenge. He’s still being asked to prove himself to his bosses will closely examine who he’s becoming in his adopted country.
The upcoming third season returns Oct. 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Transplant also stars Laurence Leboeuf as Magalie “Mags” Leblanc, Rekha Sharma as Dr. Neeta Devi, Ayisha Issa as Dr. June Curtis, Jim Watson as Dr. Theo Hunter, Torri Higginson as head nurse Claire Malone, Gord Rand as Dr. Mark Novak and Sirena Gulamgaus as Amira.
Creator Joseph Kay serves as showrunner and executive producer. Rachel Langer, Josée Vallée, Jocelyn Deschênes, Bruno Dubé, and Stefan Pleszczynski also executive produce. Transplant is produced by Sphere Media in association with CTV and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.
For additional information on the series, please visit NBCUniversal Media Village at www.nbcumv.com.
Blood Drive Locations
Baltimore Mt Hope Red Cross Blood Donation Center
4700 Mount Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215
Timonium Red Cross Blood Donation Center
2405 York Road
Suite 300
Lutherville Timonium, MD 21093
Baltimore White Marsh Red Cross Blood Donation Center
8114 Sandpiper Circle
Suite 118
Nottingham, MD 21236
Ann Arbor Red Cross Blood Donation Center
4624 Packard Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Bloomfield Red Cross Blood Donation Center
4190 Telegraph Road
Suite 1200
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
Farmington Hills Red Cross Blood Donation Center
31150 Haggerty Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
Flint Red Cross Blood Donation Center
1401 S. Grand Traverse
Flint, MI 48503
Lansing Red Cross Blood Donation Center
1729 E Saginaw
Lansing, MI 48912
Livonia Red Cross Blood Donation Center
University Park Building 36650 Five Mile Road
Livonia, MI 48154
Riverview Red Cross Blood Donation Center
14031 Pennsylvania Road
Riverview, MI 48192
Warren Red Cross Blood Donation Center
13260 East Eleven Mile Road
Warren, MI 48089
Brentwood Red Cross Blood Donation Center
91 Seaboard Lane
Brentwood, TN 37027
Murfreesboro Red Cross Blood Donation Center
501 Memorial Boulevard
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Nashville Red Cross Blood Donation Center
2201 Charlotte Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Irving Red Cross Blood Donation Center
2511 W Lyndon B Johnson Freeway
Irving, TX 75063
Plano Red Cross Blood Donation Center
741 N US-Central Expy
Plano, TX 75075
Norfolk Red Cross Blood Donation Center
250 West Brambleton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510
Virginia Beach Red Cross Blood Donation Center
4554 Virginia Beach Boulevard
Suite 105
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
It’s been a while since we stepped into the world of The Hunger Games. But now we have a chance to see the origins of the treacherous world we’ve come to know. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes takes us back in time to the 10th Hunger Games and introduces us to a young Coriolanus Snow, who has not yet stepped into his full evil. For context, the first The Hunger Games movie takes place during the 74th Hunger Games. The Hunger Games prequel movie takes place 64 years before.
And it seems this film will dive a bit deeper into the book’s violence. Like its predecessors, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will have a PG-13 rating. However, this rating says their will be “disturbing material” in this film. It won’t get too brutal but things will be intense.
Here’s everything we know about The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
Title
The title of The Hunger Games prequel movie is The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. This is the title of the prequel novel on which the film is based and alludes, of course, to the deep machinations of predator and prey we’ll see in the movie. The songbird refers to Lucy Gray Baird’s singing abilities. But the movie also poses a larger question, asking us to think about who the snakes and songbirds really are in the story.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes‘ Plot
Since The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is based on a novel by Suzanne Collins, many details of its plot are available. But here is what the official synopsis reveals about the movie.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.
Additionally, we now have the first full trailer for the movie. It gives us a glimpse of the twists and turns of the tale we’ll soon see play out.
Behind the Scenes
The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will be directed by Francis Lawrence; Lawrence previously directed The Hunger Games’ Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part One, and Mockingjay Part Two.” Additionally, according to a release “it will be shepherded by franchise producer Nina Jacobson and her producing partner Brad Simpson, along with Francis Lawrence.” Suzanne Collins, the author of the series, will serve as executive producer. Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt wrote the screenplay.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes‘ Cast
In addition to many other talents, Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis star in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes‘ Release Date
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will release on November 17.
The post Everything We Know About THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES appeared first on Nerdist.
Fair Play is the new Netflix feature film, starring Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor. The trailer is below. Note that this film is rated R for pervasive language, sexual content, nudity, and sexual violence.
When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, once supportive exchanges between lovers Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, the couple must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition. In her feature debut, writer-director Chloe Domont (Ballers, Shooter) weaves a taut relationship thriller, staring down the destructive gender dynamics that pit partners against each other in a world that is transforming faster than the rules can keep up. Also starring Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer, and Sebastian De Souza, Fair Play unravels the uncomfortable collision of empowerment and ego.
The trailer makes Fair Play seem more thrilling and more of an erotic thriller than it actually is. The film doesn’t justify its runtime of 113 minutes, there is a large chunk of it in the middle that seems to just be Alden Ehrenreich’s character sulking.
Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton, Younger) plays Emily and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story, Hail, Caesar!) is Luke. Once Emily gets the promotion that Luke was expecting to get, the tension between the two of them rises. I felt like it was a little unrealistic how they went from perfect couple goals to Luke not even wanting to look at Emily or kiss her or engage with her at all overnight. The balance of power went heavily in Emily’s favor, although it makes sense for him to be sad that he didn’t get the promotion, he acted extremely childish. He definitely has a fragile ego.
Dynevor does a good job with the material and really makes the most out of the role, her character arc is developed a little better and the change in her is more gradual than with Luke. Ehrenreich does his best but it is hard to make a character like Luke all that sympathetic. They have good chemistry together but the turns in the script were a little harsh for me.
The ending wasn’t great and really felt underwhelming. Perhaps if you don’t watch the trailer you won’t be disappointed at the understated nature of Fair Play. The trailer is strong and sells a more exciting, pulsating film than what was delivered.
Netflix bought this film for $20 million at Sundance so they obviously believe in its appeal. The film got a strong reaction at the festival, one that invited a mini bidding war, but it seems like one of those films that plays well in a festival atmosphere but falls a little flat elsewhere.
Fair Play is supposed to be a thriller, but it isn’t thrilling enough. I’m not sure it knows what it wants to be, erotic thriller, relationship drama or a business drama. It’s really not erotic enough to be an erotic thriller but that seems to be its main aim. Some of the drama turns into melodrama. It might be entertaining enough to pass the time with a glass of wine in the evening, but it does drag a little in the middle. The cast save the film from being a waste of time, but I would temper expectations before pressing play.
Fair Play is released worldwide on Netflix, October 6th 2023.
The post New Netflix Thriller ‘Fair Play’ isn’t All That Thrilling appeared first on The Nerd Element.
Makeup artist James MacKinnon has been a part of the Star Trek family since the early ’90s. In recent years, he’s served as makeup department head on Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, and all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. With the latter series now wrapped, we caught up with MacKinnon to talk about the challenges of creating new looks for the celebrated final season, and on being part of the Trek family for decades.
Nerdist: Definitely the most regular prosthetic makeup on a single character you got to do in Picard season 3 was on Worf (Michael Dorn). Obviously, Worf has white hair now, so that’s a visual change. But this was the first time Michael Dorn was in his iconic Klingon makeup in 20 years. He looked like the Worf we remember, but were there any subtle changes you made to his look that the average viewer might not notice? Beyond just the white hair?
James MacKinnon: I think we’re elevating what we did in the past, so still keeping to the core of his character. The sculpture is a little different. Our Klingon prosthetics are a different material. They were foam latex back then, and now they’re silicone, so there’s a weight difference. The paint job is different. Back in the foam days, it was opaque, so you had to paint all that detail, and now you kind of see through it.
We splatter this type of skin texture on there to have more realism, because that 8K camera can now see all the sculptures and all the paint. As an artist, you actually have to fine-tune where you don’t see my little paint splatters from an airbrush that looks realistic. That’s my job, to make sure that you look at him as Worf, not as Mike Dorn in makeup. But the sculpture is a little different, similar, but again, it’s different because the material is different and the flow of it is elevated, but still super close.
Your very first professional work was on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine back in the day, and then later the film First Contact. Even though you’d already worked on modern Trek shows like Discovery and the first seasons of Picard, with the original cast of The Next Generation back, did it feel like this season was like coming full circle for you?
MacKinnon: Oh yeah, but I was already seeing Jonathan Frakes in Toronto on Discovery, because he was directing a couple of episodes, so it was just great. They’re kind of my family now. It’s been so long. That relationship is there, and I can call them friends now, because we go to dinner, and I do little side projects with Jonathan for his TV show that he’s doing, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. But we have a little personal connection there, as well, which happened way back then. We were much, much younger, and they were a little bit older than me. Not by much, I’ve just aged well. (laughs) But it’s really nice to have friends that long and have a career expand with such an iconic TV show that is part of everybody’s life.
The makeup on the Borg Queen in Picard season three is the coolest and creepiest she’s ever looked. There was an HR Giger influence on her look going back as far as First Contact. But now it’s full-blown horrific. Was there ever any concern from the showrunners that she was maybe too horror-esque, or did they encourage you to take that far?
MacKinnon: Well, I think [Picard showrunner] Terry Matalas wanted it to be like that. Neville Page is our alien designer, so that starts with Terry and Neville, and that magic happens. After that, it goes to Vincent Van Dyke, where he has to figure out how to make that one-dimensional photograph sculptural, put it on her face, and how is that going to break down into pieces that I’m going to have to put on. There is subtle changes after that.
The process from the design, to the makeup, to the building, to the foam latex, to all the stuff; it all has to work for me on set as well. That’s the best combination of a team that this makes between me, Vincent, and Neville, because they know what they want, and who knows what happened underneath that swirly pool of goop that they fell in [in First Contact], because obviously, Data popped out and he was a little effed up, melted. He came out like that, so what is she going to look like? That’s been 20-some-odd years, so there’s a rotted zombie mess to it. That took five hours to do that makeup, too, which was fun. At 1:30 in the morning, we would start and at 7:00 in the morning she would go to set. Everybody’s sleeping while we’re working.
Speaking of the Borg, we saw a new incarnation of the Borg in the Picard series finale with the young Starfleet officers. Those all leaned into the zombie more and less into the robotic prosthetics. What kind of changes did you implement to make sure they still read to fans as Borg?
MacKinnon: Yeah. That was more of that nanobot type, that nanobot stuff that we did in a previous season. It was a little more showing where that is taking over their skin, so the veins are coming through. There’s a depth in there. There’s that possible roboty-type material too. It was a layering effect before they were to get to become true Borg, where their missing parts are put together. Right before they’re almost completely Borg instead of human. There was a little bit of a play of, how do we do that transition before they become the Borg? I agree with you, it’s a little rotty, veiny, and gross.
One place that had the most aliens in season 3 was the planet M’Talas Prime, where we met Ferengi crime lord Sneed. We hadn’t really seen Ferengi in a long time in Trek, at least not any with significant screen time. What was it like to do classic Ferengi makeup after so long, only now for a 4K world?
MacKinnon: It has been decades. It was amazing. Our Ferengi, Sneed, his makeup, and the actor underneath it were amazing. Obviously, we elevated that so you didn’t have the piece of carpet around the back of the head [like on The Next Generation] and that most likely was there because sculptures then were different. You didn’t have to have a complete sculpture back there, and you could have that hide all the seams and the edges. Now we got to actually see that, see the detail, what it would look back behind his head. It’s just an elevation. You still kept that core classic Ferengi look. But with those new materials, it can just be softer and more organic of a makeup now, yeah.
We saw Vulcans in this season of Picard too, who are very different from previous Vulcans. These were gangsters. How did you approach them, as opposed to the cousins, the Romulans? They’re almost the same, but not quite.
MacKinnon: Yeah. I mean, that’s a difference in the pointing of the eyebrows. The ears are shaped a little bit different and have a little bit of ridges. Kind of like the Romulans from the South [of the planet Romulus] had ridges. The Romulans from the North didn’t have forehead pieces. That’s a long story. That might’ve been more of a budgetary thing, anyway.
You actually got to have an on-screen role in the final episode of Picard as a Starfleet officer. Before that, you played a Borg drone in season one, and appeared in Discovery too. Was it fun to be on the other side of the camera, and did you get a bit of the acting bug at all?
MacKinnon: I do! I like to get a SAG day out of it so I can get some residuals [laughs]. No, but I like a little bit of acting. I’m not an actor at all, but I like to put my face on there. On Discovery, Airiam, the robot girl, I was the guy who unplugged her and turned her off. I got to create her, and then kill her, basically.
Now that Picard has ended, what was the highlight of all three seasons for you? And what was your favorite of the metric ton of different makeups you got to do over the course of the series?
MacKinnon: It was to walk around that corner to see that legacy cast on the ship from The Next Generation. Yes, half of our makeup budget and everybody’s makeup budget went to build that ship. Not that I’m happy about that, but it was worth penny-pinching a little bit. Unfortunately, we penny-pinch for this kind of thing. Just to see those cast members again, after I saw them a hundred years ago in that same situation. They’re a couple of days older, but not by much. They’re what, 27 now? Yeah, it’s fun. It’s a fun relationship to have and grow with, and be part of. I’m sad it’s over with.
Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection Blu-ray set arrives on November 7 from Paramount Home Entertainment. It contains seasons 1-7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 4 feature films, and seasons 1-3 of Star Trek: Picard.
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