Amazon Prime Video hosted its most unusual screening ever yesterday as it played the entire first season of new hit show American Gods…to the Gods.
The dusk-to-dawn, 8-hour rooftop screening held at Tobacco Docks, London, played the show straight up into the Heavens to mark the release of every episode on Amazon Prime Video.
The TV series from the Neil Gaiman-book of the same name follows Ian McShane as Mr Wednesday, the leader of Old Gods, and Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Wednesday’s bodyguard, as they travel across America in a battle against the New Gods including Gillian Anderson as the God of Media.
The show is available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video and has already been commissioned for a second series.
American Gods (2001) is a novel by English author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centring on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. Several of the themes were previously alluded to in his The Sandman comic book series.
The book was published in 2001 by Headline in the United Kingdom and by William Morrow in the United States. It gained a positive critical response and won the Hugo and Nebula awards in 2002.
A special tenth anniversary edition, which includes the “author’s preferred text” and 12,000 additional words, was published in June 2011 by William Morrow. Two audio versions of the book were produced and published by Harper Audio: an unabridged version of the original published edition, read by George Guidall, released in 2001; and a full cast audiobook version of the tenth anniversary edition, released in 2011. In March 2017, The Folio Society published a special collector’s edition of American Gods, with many corrections to the author’s preferred text version.
In April 2017, Starz began airing a television adaptation of the novel. Bryan Fuller and Michael Green serve as showrunners, and Gaiman is an executive producer.
20 COUPLES MATCHED ON MORALS AT UK FIRST DATING EVENT
To celebrate the UK premiere of brand new psychological thriller Chance, starring Hugh Laurie, filled with moral dilemmas and complicated relationships, Universal Channel hosted a UK-first: a dating event at the BT Tower where singletons were matched based on their moral choices
London 22nd June, 2017 – This week a new way to date launched in London – for one night only. To celebrate the UK premiere of Chance on June 20th, the new psychological thriller starring Hugh Laurie, Universal Channel hosted a UK-first dating event that evening where singletons were matched based on their morals in a Moral Match Date Night.
When it comes to dating, people are often matched on tried-and-tested criteria, such as mutual interests, age and occupation. In Chance, Hugh Laurie’s character Eldon Chance, plays the role of a neuro-psychiatrist who faces moral dilemmas on a daily basis as he dives deeper into a life of secrets, risky decision-making and complicated relationships. Therefore, this dating event in London took a unique approach to playing cupid… by matching keen daters according to their morals, via an online morality quiz.
The first-event of-its-kind in the UK, the quiz saw 450 people respond to a series of moral dilemmas including being asked how they would react if they found £100,000 in the street and what their instinct would be if they saw a stranger’s bag being snatched. The answers were then analysed and singletons were paired with individuals who revealed a similar moral compass.
In a dating experience like no other, 20 matched pairs got to enjoy a unique blind-date with views from the 34th floor at the BT Tower in London, and hear from behavioural psychologist and dating expert Jo Hemmings. Daters also got to watch the first episode of Chance ahead of the launch on Universal Channel that night at 9pm.
The purpose of the unique experience was not to judge people on virtuous (or dubious) principles, but to explore how compatible two strangers could be if matched according to their sense of morality.
Behavioural psychologist and dating expert Jo Hemmings, said: “Your morals matter more than people might think when it comes to finding a well-suited love match, certainly over and above shared interests in life, like enjoying the same movies, food or music. If your fundamental values don’t match, then you may well be in for an uncomfortable relationship journey. It is important to know from a potential partner that your moral compass is aligned when looking to find a soul mate.”
Once introduced to their blind dates, daters were given the chance to enjoy each other’s company confident in the knowledge that their moral compasses aligned which, according to Hemmings, would have a positive impact in the long-term.
Dater Krish Swarmi said of the experience: “Tonight has been incredible. My date was awesome and the moral dilemma questions were a really good conversation starter for a first date. We were matched really well! I’ve never ventured into the arena of online dating because I think it’s too superficial, but it is the only option that’s out there on a mass scale. The idea of matching people based on their morals is taking it to a whole new level.”
Jack Ball, another dater, commented: “I think the whole idea of being matched on morals is a novel one at the very least, it hasn’t been done before. Having a blind date start with a conversation around morality helped with breaking the ice, and when coupled with the fantastic venue of the BT Tower, it all came together to form a lovely evening.”
The Moral Match Date Night, hosted on the 34th Floor of London’s BT Tower, was held to celebrate the UK premiere of Chance, a new psychological thriller starring Hugh Laurie that premiered on Universal Channel on the 20th June. In Chance, Hugh Laurie’s character Eldon Chance plays the role of a neuro-psychiatrist who faces moral dilemmas on a daily basis as he dives deeper into a life of secrets and risky decision-making.
Chance is on every Tuesday evening on Universal Channel from 9pm, and is available on catch-up through BT, Sky, Virgin and TalkTalk.
“How often do we tell our own life story.” So the main character muses. Tony Webster comes to doubt his recollection of his own life. Our story is simply the one we choose to tell – embellished, adjusted and ultimately modified to save face.The Sense of an Ending is based on the Man Booker Prize winning book by Julian Barnes. He’s an unreliable narrator something we’ve seen In Gone Girl as well as Girl On The Train. The only difference is that here the central character is a man.
One observation is that Veronica is Welsh and yet she speaks in haughty tones. Charlotte Rampling must appear to relish such roles. We saw her in 45 years and in this film she takes on a very similar role.
Billy Howie and Frey Mavor play and excel as the young Tony and Veronica. There are moments of distraction and aborted take off – I doubted Tony’s sexuality only to realise that this is not the actual story we should be focusing on. The Sense of an Ending is directed by Ritesh Batra and written for the screen by Nick Payne.
My first impression is it could have been tighter but then on reflection, you need that space to reflect and see just what the film is actually about. It’s an unreliable protagonist and Jim Broadbent excels in this role as someone looking back. It is the younger actors that draw you in.
The Sense of An Ending is available on DVD from 6 June 2017.
Audible Debuts Immersive Audio-Exclusive Drama, Alien: River Of Pain, At the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Planetarium!
Mesmerised guests were treated to an interstellar audio experience last night, as Alien: River Of Pain was beamed up to space for aliens and earthlings alike to intercept. Audible hosted this spectacular first-listen event to mark the launch of its new audio drama at the Peter Harrison Planetarium of the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
To be released on Alien Day, on the 26th April (a nod to LV-426) – and just ahead of the May theatrical release of Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant – Alien: River Of Pain is an audio-exclusive drama taking place between the cult films Alien and Aliens. Immersed in the pitch-black dome of the Planetarium, attendees to the listening debut were transported to the dark and dangerous environs of planetoid LV-426 (now renamed Acheron) through richly detailed sound-design and striking sonic effects. Hosted under a canopy of moons, planets and stars in the constellation Cancer, the River Of Pain premiere offered a truly extraordinary listening experience.
Guests were also treated to an out of this world encounter, as the audiobook was converted to digital signal and beamed up to space. This marked a first of its kind, dedicated space transmission for the Planetarium at the Royal Observatory and a unique opportunity for our alien neighbours to listen to their kind, as imagined by Homo sapiens in Alien: River Of Pain.
Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomer Tom Kerss said: “With a very powerful and highly directed transmission there is a possibility that our signals could one day be intercepted by intelligent alien lifeforms, listening out for radio signals from space. Simply put, aliens could tune in to Aliens in the future.”
Travelling at the speed of light, the Alien: River Of Pain signal will reach the star 55 Cancri (in the constellation Cancer) and its five known exoplanets* in 40 years, where it could be intercepted by intelligent species listening out for radio signals from space (in just the same way the SETI project** does here on Earth). The 55 Cancri exoplanet system is about the same distance from our planet as the fictional Acheron in Alien: River of Pain and its parent star Zeta2 Reticuli.
Alien: River Of Pain is directed by the multi-award winning Dirk Maggs, best-known for his adaptations of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere for the BBC. The drama brings together a powerhouse of sci-fi and fantasy talent, with lead performances from Anna Friel (Golden Globe nominated, Limitless, Pushing Daisies), Alexander Siddig (Game Of Thrones, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Bill Hope (Aliens), Colin Salmon (Alien VS Predator, Resident Evil, Arrow), Philip Glenister (Outcast, Life On Mars), Marc Warren (Hustle, Green Street Hooligans) and Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman, Dr Who, EastEnders).
Alien: River Of Pain will be released on Alien Day, 26th April 2017 and is available to pre-order now at www.audible.co.uk/riverofpain (one credit for Audible members, £19.79 for non-members or free with Audible’s 30-day trial).
After a 30 year hiatus, Pierce Brosnan is back on our tv screens in The Son. His role as Eli McCullough the patriarch of the McCullough clan is certainly worth coming back to the tv for: he’s a survivor, mean, gentle, confused, conflicted and larger than life. With the addition of The Son, it truly feels as if we are in the platinum age of television.
The Son is set on the Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted book of the same name. It tells the story of Eli McCullough who at the age of 13 loses his family after a band of Comanche Native Americans storm his Texas homestead. The first episode shows the capture and then jumps forward 70 years showing his success and the family he now presides over. The opening episode is slow in parts but the attention to detail astounding.
The opening episode is slow in parts but the attention to detail astounding. Whilst this is a retelling of the Western story, it is so much more than that. It is a story of survival, parental desire for their children to succeed and greed. The Son is destined to be must watch television.
The Son airs Tuesdays at 9pm on AMC exclusive to BT.
