The first of these programmes, entitled ‘2017’, was shot in Washington D.C. and will be made available worldwide on April 4th, with the second to follow later in the year. It marks C.K.’s first stad-up comedy special since 2015’s ‘Louis C.K. Live From the Comedy Store’.

It is also significant as the 49 year old has, for many years, tended to upload his stand-up material online in self-distribution via his website to retain creative control of his work.

Continue reading: Louis C.K. Bringing Two Stand-Up Comedy Specials To Netflix

The Secret Life Of Pets Review

Very Good

From the team behind Despicable Me and Minions, this high-energy adventure makes up for its rather simplistic story by filling the screen with lively characters, silly dialog and colourful animation. There's nothing terribly distinctive about the movie, as most of the gags feel recycled and everything bounces across the surface without generating any resonance either in the humour or emotions. But it's a lot of fun while it lasts.

In a cosy Manhattan apartment, the happy rescue dog Max (voiced by Louis C.K.) lives with his owner Katie (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Ellie Kemper). The moment she steps out of the door on the way to work, he's already bored and waiting for her to come home. So he hangs out with the other pets in the neighbourhood, including lovelorn pomeranian Gidget (Jenny Slate) and food-obsessed cat Chloe (Lake Bell). Then Katie brings home another stray, the gigantic brown furball Duke (Eric Stonestreet), who immediately starts challenging Max's alpha-dog status. As war breaks out between them, they find themselves stranded in the city, caught up with a sewer-dwelling gang of abandoned pets led by the adorable but intense bunny Snowball (Kevin Hart). Meanwhile, Gidget and Chloe recruit some help to find them, including a grumpy hawk (Albert Brooks) and an ageing basset hound (Dana Carvey).

The plot basically consists of a series of chaotic chase sequences that build up to a climactic scene straight out of a Die Hard movie. Each character and plot element is over-constructed, which eliminates any sense of honest emotion or loose interaction, but the characters are likeable simply because they're so ridiculous. The animators use a lot of colour and a tactile variety of furry textures. And the actors have a lot of fun with the characters. Hart is, of course, the scene-stealer as the fast-talking kingpin who uses his cuteness as a weapon. And while C.K. and Stonestreet are endearing as the story's protagonists, it's Slate and Bell who win over the audience in the funniest, most complex roles.

Continue reading: The Secret Life Of Pets Review

Trumbo Review

Excellent

An entertaining film about sobering true events, this is the story of notorious screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who defied McCarthy's communist witch-hunt hearings in the late-1940s and was blacklisted by Hollywood for more than a decade. As written by John McNamara and directed by Jay Roach, the film is bright, funny and emotionally resonant, clearly simplified to make it more involving. And with such a terrific cast on board, it's both revealing and a lot of fun.

In 1947, Dalton (Bryan Cranston) is the film industry's top-paid screenwriter, so of course Senator McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Commission goes after him about his rumoured links to the communist party during the war. But he and nine fellow writers refuse to testify, so they're imprisoned for contempt, denied work by the Hollywood studios and targeted personally by the powerful gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren). To survive, Dalton begins writing under a series of pseudonyms for the B-movie producer Frank King (John Goodman), creating a script factory in his home with the help of his wife Cleo (Diane Lane) and daughter Niki (Elle Fanning). Two of these screenplays win Oscars, and it isn't until Dalton begins writing Spartacus in 1960 that actor Kirk Douglas (Dean O'Gorman) breaks the studio blacklist.

Roach directs this story in a sunny, snappy way that includes lots of smart wordplay and a clear sense of the us-or-them mentality that has defined America since the Cold War. People need a villain to hiss at, so anyone with even a passing connection to communism will do. And Mirren hisses better than most. Her performance is riotously funny and relentlessly nasty at the same time. More textured characters include Louis C.K. as a fellow writer and Michael Stuhlbarg as conflicted actor Edward G. Robinson. All of the actors are excellent, anchored by Cranston's wonderfully prickly Oscar-nominated turn as a bullheaded man who hilariously seizes every opportunity to make an inspiring speech.

Continue reading: Trumbo Review

Louis CK Sparks Controversy With SNL Monologue, What Else Is New?

By Victoria Pavlova in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 17 May 2015

Louis C.K. Kate McKinnon

The US is angry with Louis CK. Again.

Louis CK has made a lot of people angry with his SNL monologue – what else is new. The comedian, who thrives on controversy more than anything, So his monologue on last night’s SNL – and the scandal it caused – shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise.

Louis CK
How far beyond the line did Louis go this time?

Continue reading: Louis CK Sparks Controversy With SNL Monologue, What Else Is New?

Clowning Around: FX Orders Zach Galifianakis, Louis CK Comedy 'Baskets'

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 28 August 2014

Zach Galifianakis Louis C.K.

Zach Galifianakis and Louis CK have teamed up for the new FX comedy show 'Baskets' - set to debut in 2016.

FX has placed a 10-episode for 'Baskets' - a comedy produced by and starring Zach Galifianakis about a corporate businessman who leaves his job to pursue his dreams of becoming a respected clown. The show will begin production next year with a scheduled launch in 2016. The pilot was written by Galifianakis, Louis CK - who also produces - and Jonathan Kristel, who directed the episode.

Zach Galifianakis at the New Yorker Festival [Getty/Neilson Barnard]

"Zach Galifianakis, Louis C.K. and Jonathan Krisel have created an absolutely brilliant show," said Eric Schrier, co-president of original programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. "To say Zach's portrayal of the lead character Chip Baskets is hilarious/unique/riveting/fascinating would be an understatement. We can't wait for the world to meet him."

Continue reading: Clowning Around: FX Orders Zach Galifianakis, Louis CK Comedy 'Baskets'

A Week In News: Critics Choose, Morgan Improves, Harrison Bruised, Kanye Booed, Zoinks Scoob!

By Lauren James in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 20 June 2014

Matthew Mcconaughey Tatiana Maslany Tracy Morgan Jason Momoa Kanye West Harrison Ford Jamie Dornan Lupita Nyong'o Simon Bird Louis C.K.

There was plenty of drama on the high seas of celebrity this week, but is one 'Game of Thrones' star about to ride the waves?

Critics' Choice Awards: Last night's Critics' Choice Awards saw the year's best and brightest in television honoured for outstanding performances and shows. Dark humoured crime series Fargo and prison drama Orange Is The New Black were the clear frontrunners with three awards each. Matthew Mcconaughey predictably took home the Best Actor honour for creepy crime thriller True Detective whilst Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany repeated her 2013 victory with the corresponding female award. Read our run-down of the highlights here.

Tracy Morgan Improving: Comedian Tracy Morgan's condition in hospital has been upgraded by doctors to "fair" after he was left fighting for his life in the wake of a tragic crash that killed his friend, mentor and fellow comedian Jimmy McNair on June 7. Morgan, McNair, comedian Ardie Fuqua, Morgan's assistant Jeff Millea, and one other were all involved in the early hours crash that involved a Walmart truck and an allegedly sleep-deprived driver. Read the full story and find out why Louis C.K. launched a tirade against gossip site TMZ here.

Continue reading: A Week In News: Critics Choose, Morgan Improves, Harrison Bruised, Kanye Booed, Zoinks Scoob!

Louis C.K. Orders TMZ To Remove Horrific Tracy Morgan Crash Video

By Lauren James in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 12 June 2014

Louis C.K. Tracy Morgan

The comedian is begging his followers not to watch TMZ's footage of the car crash.

Louis C. K. has issued a public demand to TMZ, ordering the showbiz gossip site to remove video footage of a horrific car crash scene involving his friend and fellow comedian Tracy Morgan. The incident left one dead and four injured in a six vehicle crash on Saturday.

TMZ has obtained footage filmed by a bystander shortly after the tragic crash last weekend and New Jersey with particularly disturbing scenes showing comedian Ardie Fuqua being lifted out of the limousine wreckage and onto the freeway while unconscious. Both Morgan and Fuqua are said to be in a critical condition in hospital.

"Take it down TMZ," Louis wrote on Twitter. "Now. Please." The Louis star later added "Please don't go to TMZ to watch the video. Please ask them to take it down."

Continue reading: Louis C.K. Orders TMZ To Remove Horrific Tracy Morgan Crash Video

What Happened To 'The Angriest Man In Brooklyn'?

By George Percival in Movies / TV / Theatre on 02 June 2014

Mila Kunis Robin Williams Peter Dinklage Louis C.K. Phil Alden Robinson

Derided by critics and ignored by audiences, where did it all go wrong for the Robin Williams and Mila Kunis vehicle?

It had the promise to be a supremely enjoyable farcical comedy, yet The Angriest Man In Brooklyn has positively bombed across the board, receiving a paltry 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics loathe it whilst audiences are equally unenthused after a slew of damning reviews posited the film as an appalling failure that benefits nobody- cast or audience. But where did it all go wrong?

Kunis at the 2014 MTV Awards Kulis' performance has been singled out as particularly bland.

The film itself is a remake of the Israeli film called The 92 Minutes Of Mr. Baum and the plot seems to fit succinctly with Robin Williams’s trademark style of hyperactive comedy and melancholy redemption. A cantankerous man is wrongly informed by his doctor that he only has ninety minutes to live, prompting Williams character, Henry Altman, on a race against time to make amends with his family members who he has mistreated over the years. Henry’s doctor, played by Mila Kunis, suffers a lapse of judgement after being in the midst of a bad day herself, and scurries across Brooklyn to track down Henry and correct her mis-diagnosis.

Continue reading: What Happened To 'The Angriest Man In Brooklyn'?

It's Time To Consider 'Louie' As One Of The All-Time Best Comedy Shows

By Michael West in Movies / TV / Theatre on 06 May 2014

Louis C.K.

Louie is back for season 4, and it's garnering strong reviews.

Louis CK's Louie returned for season 4 this week, cementing itself as one of the finest comedies around. Written, directed, edited and produced by CK himself, the show follows a fictionalized version of the comedian raising his two daughters in New York City.

Louis CK
Louis Is BACK for season 4 of 'Louie'

Already the recipient of several Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and a win for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, Louie is going from strength-to-strength and season three may well be considered the finest yet.

Continue reading: It's Time To Consider 'Louie' As One Of The All-Time Best Comedy Shows

Louis C.K. Comedy "Louie" Returns For Season 4 After 19 Month Break

By Sophie Miskiw in Movies / TV / Theatre on 05 May 2014

Louis C.K. Jerry Seinfeld

After a 19 month hiatus, Louis C.K.'s Emmy awarding winning comedy "Louie" returns for its fourth season.

After 19 months off the screens, multi-Emmy award winning Louis C.K. has returned to his star in his FX comedy, “Louie.” Creator, lead, director, editor and show-runner, the show is almost entirely orchestrated by C.K., and has his signature style written all over it.

Louis CK FX show Louis CK's FX show "Louie" has returned after 19 months

The title character is partially based on C.K., although their lives are worlds apart. The Louie of the series is a struggling stand-up comedian, father-of-two, who is regularly reminded that he is the perpetual underachiever. The two episodes aired, “Back” and “Model” are both exaggerated reminders of this.

Continue reading: Louis C.K. Comedy "Louie" Returns For Season 4 After 19 Month Break

Mark The Calender: 'Louie' Is Back On TVs On May 5

By Jack de Aguilar in Movies / TV / Theatre on 15 March 2014

Louis C.K. Woody Allen

The much-anticipated return of 'Louis' is just round the corner

Louis C.K’s critically acclaimed, award-winning comedy is set to return for a fourth season on May 5. The semi-autobiographical show will hit FX after fans and peers lauded praise over C.K’s offbeat sitcom, which the comedian has taken a 19-month hiatus from to perfect.

Louie Louie is coming back to FX on May 5

The show sees Louis play himself with dramatized elements of his life. He has two kids in real life, and the two girls in the show playing his daughters (Hadley Delany and Ursula Parker) mirror the frustrations C.K displays about parenthood in his stand up bits.

Continue reading: Mark The Calender: 'Louie' Is Back On TVs On May 5

Woody Allen Denies Sexual Abuse Again, As Oscars Move Into Sight

By Lauren James in Movies / TV / Theatre on 04 February 2014

Woody Allen Mia Farrow Cate Blanchett Alec Baldwin Scarlett Johansson Louis C.K. Diane Keaton Emma Stone

The 'Blue Jasmine' director has hit back at claims he sexually abused his adoptive daughter.

Woody Allen has responded to the claims of sexual abuse made by his daughter Dylan Farrow in an open letter published by the New York Times. In the letter, Dylan speaks out publically for the first time regarding the accusations that Allen abused his adoptive daughter. The claims first surfaced in 1993 when the filmmaker and his then-girlfriend Mia Farrow were splitting up.

Woody Allen Has Apparently Branded Dylan's Claims "Untrue And Disgraceful."

"What's your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house," writes Dylan. "He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me."

Continue reading: Woody Allen Denies Sexual Abuse Again, As Oscars Move Into Sight

Louis C.K's 'Tomorrow Night' Is Released Alongside 'Don't Torrent' Plea

By Jack de Aguilar in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 30 January 2014

Louis C.K. Steve Carell Amy Poehler J.B. Smoove

The hard-working comedian releases his film 15 years after it debuted at Sundance

Louis C.K is an honest guy. At least, he seems to be an honest guy. Instead of implementing loads of anti-pirating measurements, he released his dormant film, Tomorrow Night with minimum hoo-ha, and accompanied it with a friendly reminder that pirating would likely stop him being to work in the way he does, and he'll probably stop doing Louie - and no one wants that to happen.

Louis CK Press: Louis C.K from his hit FX show, Louie

Why should we care? Well, because C.K is one of the most organic workers in comedy right now. He doesn’t do bad things, or things he considers bad, and he works really hard. Of course, pirating a silly big-budget action film and then buying C.K’s film doesn’t offer you repent – you dirty internet thief, but it does at least show support for the way in which Louis works. That’s enough gushing, for now.

Continue reading: Louis C.K's 'Tomorrow Night' Is Released Alongside 'Don't Torrent' Plea

Video - Rockers Chris Cornell And Michael Stipe Show Support At 'American Hustle' NY Premiere - Part 3

The New York premiere of 'American Hustle' at the Ziegfeld Theater got off to a rocking start with red carpet appearances from the likes of Soundgarden lead singer Chris Cornell with his wife Vicky Karayiannis, and former lead singer of R.E.M. Michael Stipe.

Continue: Video - Rockers Chris Cornell And Michael Stipe Show Support At 'American Hustle' NY Premiere - Part 3

American Hustle Review

By Rich Cline

Essential

David O. Russell deploys his deranged genius to explore the real events behind Abscam, cleverly focussing on the inter-relationships rather than the details of the elaborate sting operation. So under the wild 1970s hair and costumes, we have a series of characters who are never very likeable but are still hugely engaging. Which makes this one of the most prickly, exhilarating movies of the year.

As the opening caption says, "Some of this actually happened". It's set in 1978 New York, where lowlife conman Irving (Bale) is making a decent living with his girlfriend Sydney (Adams). Although his wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) knows something is up. Things get even more complicated when Irving and Sydney are cornered by FBI agent Richie (Cooper) and forced to co-operate in a complex scam to entrap mobsters and dirty politicians, including the likeable Mayor Polito (Renner), with whom Irving strikes up a friendship. As things develop, the sting continually threatens to spin crazily out of control. And Irving starts to worry that Sydney is getting far too close to Richie.

Intriguingly, even as the story gets more and more insane, Russell keeps the story grounded in the characters and the way they interact with each other. So their shifting relationships, power struggles and internal jealousies take centre stage, blurring the details of the undercover operation into the background. This may annoy viewers who want clear insight into Abscam, but it makes the movie much more involving. And it gives the actors a lot to work with. Each of them delivers a powerhouse performance that blends the character's distinct physicality with a complex inner life.

Continue reading: American Hustle Review

American Hustle - Clips

Irving Rosenfeld is a conman whose impressively deft criminal exploits have eluded authorities for years. However, when he finds himself forced to use his talents for good as he is roped into an FBI sting operation led by the unhinged agent Richie DiMasom, he finds his life of partying, drinking and squandering money under massive threat. He must use his fraudulent cunning to reveal the seriously corrupt crusades of Carmine Polito, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, whose power cast spreads much further than his constituency. Irving is helped by the seductive but dangerous Sydney Prosser who soon becomes less of a business partner and more of a mistress. As their relationship deepens, however, they arouse the suspicions of Irving's gregarious but unbalanced wife Rosalyn who threatens their whole operation with her lethal jealousy and deadly rage.

'American Hustle' is a high-stakes gangster thriller directed and co-written by the Oscar nominated David O. Russell ('Silver Linings Playbook', 'I Heart Huckabees', 'Three Kings') alongside writer Eric Singer ('The International'). Featuring a talented award-winning cast (some of whom O'Russell has previously worked with with much success), the flick is set to hit the big screen on December 18th 2013 in the US.

American Hustle Movie Review - Click Here To Read

American Hustle - International Trailer

Whilst running a con, being anonymous is very important. Keeping past operations secret and your personal life out of reach from potential targets is just as important as running the actual hustle. For years Irving Rosenfeld has been a con at the top of his game, evading arrest by the police and capture by past marks but all that could quite easily change when he and his business partner, Sydney Prosser, are recruited by an unruly FBI officer Richie DiMaso.

The target Rosenfeld has to hit is one even cons wouldn't usually mess with, an elected mayor the FBI believe to be dirty. Mafia connections and lots of Laundered money are the least of Rosenfeld worries, when his wife might just become an accidental chink in their armour.

Set in the 1970's the films screenplay was written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell and is loosely based on a real sting operation named Abscam which lead to the arrest and conviction of a number of elected officials.

Continue: American Hustle - International Trailer

Louis C.K. Rues Modern Day Life, Especially Smartphones, On Conan

By Joe Wilde in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 20 September 2013

Louis C.K. Gwyneth Paltrow

The comic and talk show host engaged in thoughtful conversation about the wrongs of technology and sadness in a brilliant interview on last night's 'Conan'

Louis C.K. is a man who has yet to be won over by the 'benefits' of modern-day, tech-friendly living. The comic appeared on Conan to discuss his disdain towards a tech-friendly lifestyle, taking aim in particular to smartphones and their negative affect on kids.

Louis CK
Louis C.K. is angry!

"I think these things are toxic, especially for kids," he told host Conan O'Brien on Thursday's (19 Sept.) show. "They don't look at people when they talk to them and they don't build empathy. You know, kids are mean, and it's 'cause they're trying it out. They look at a kid and they go, 'you're fat,' and then they see the kid's face scrunch up and they go, 'oh, that doesn't feel good to make a person do that.' But they got to start with doing the mean thing. But when they write 'you're fat,' then they just go, 'mmm, that was fun, I like that."

Continue reading: Louis C.K. Rues Modern Day Life, Especially Smartphones, On Conan

Blue Jasmine Trailer

Jasmine is an aristocratic New York housewife whose luxurious lifestyle and marriage to the wealthy Hal has been snatched away from her leaving her with quite literally nothing but the clothes on her back. She is forced to fly to San Francisco to move in with her sister Ginger whose apartment is well below her usual standards, as is her boyfriend Chili who is equally as resentful of Jasmine. It doesn't take long before Jasmine starts to plummet emotionally and mentally and only just manages to keep herself sane with several handfuls of anti-depressants a day. In a bid to get her life back on track, she takes a job as a dental receptionist while pursuing a career in interior design. Suffering from a serious breakdown, things are looking dark for Jasmine's future, but do things begin to look up when she meets the sophisticated Dwight?

Continue: Blue Jasmine Trailer

Video - Charlie Sheen Back In The Public Eye - FX 2012 Ad Sales Upfront Arrivals Part 2

Actor and hell raiser Charlie Sheen, fellow actor Timothy Olyphant and comedian Louis C.K. were among the stars at a recent FX event in New York. Sheen is set to star alongside Selma Blair in a TV adaptation of the movie Anger Management in the summer whilst C.K.'s self titled show will be picked up for a third series around the same time.

The now sober Sheen has recently spoken out about his much publicised breakdown of last year which saw him axed from the long-running comedy series Two and Half Men, eventually being replaced by Ashton Kutcher. A planned documentary chronicling his downward spiral has been scrapped by the star who found the footage cringeable, he told U.S. breakfast show Today

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Louis C.k.