HBO Archives - Page 10 of 27 - StayTuned Magazine

Queen Latifah impresses as the Empress of the Blues in HBO’s gorgeous “Bessie”

April 30, 2015 Lori Acken

You don’t have to be a fan of blues legend Bessie Smith — or the musical genre in general — to fall in love with HBO’s Bessie. But oh, the experience that awaits you if you are. Twenty-two years in the making, the project was first brought to a young Queen Latifah — then a successful singer and burgeoning actress — by the prolific producing team Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, who had tapped To Kill a Mockingbird screenwriter Horton Foote to pen the script. Progress on the film ebbed and flowed until it landed in the hands of writer/director […]

The Casual Vacancy: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter follow-up becomes an HBO mini

April 23, 2015 Lori Acken

When J.K. Rowling brought her beloved Harry Potter book series to a close in 2007, fans wondered where her unique literary mind might wander next. Publishing the Potter spinoff The Tales of Beedle the Bard a year later, Rowling then turned her attention to a strictly grownup audience with 2012’s best-selling The Casual Vacancy. Now the prolific author has teamed up with the BBC and HBO to adapt the brooding tale of small town discord into a three-part, two-night event of the same name. The Casual Vacancy is set in a fictional and picturesque English hamlet called Pagford, where, behind […]

George R.R. Martin cautions viewers about shocking deaths in Game of Thrones Season 5

April 9, 2015 Jeff Pfeiffer

Game of Thrones fans have probably learned by now not to feel too safe in terms of what to expect on the show even if they have read the books on which the hugely popular series is based. And it sounds like they should be geared up for even more shocks when the show returns for Season 5 this month. “Everybody better be on their toes,” author George R. R. Martin warned Game of Thrones fans in comments made at the Writers Guild Awards in February. Martin, who wrote the novels, elaborated that, “people are going to die who don’t […]

HBO debuts Bessie trailer [VIDEO]

April 3, 2015 Lori Acken

HBO released the official trailer for its stunning Bessie Smith biopic, Bessie, which will debut Saturday, May 16 at 8/7CT on the network. Twenty-two years in the making, the project was first brought to a young Queen Latifah — then a successful singer and burgeoning actress — by producers Richard and Lili Fini Zanuck, who had optioned a script from To Kill a Mockingbird screenwriter Horton Foote and director Bruce Beresford. Progress on the film ebbed and flowed until it landed in the hands of writer/director Dee Rees, who was gaining good notices for her coming-of-age story Pariah and leapt at the chance […]

“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” another winner from Alex Gibney

March 27, 2015 Jeff Pfeiffer

You may have been somewhat familiar with the religion of Scientology if you are a fan of two of its most famous adherents, Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but Alex Gibney’s striking documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, making its debut March 29 on HBO, goes way beyond the external facade to reveal an — at best, weird; at worst, frightening, abusive and borderline fascistic — organization. Cruise and Travolta are, of course, featured in prominent portions of the documentary (although both declined to participate in the film, archival footage is offered, including a segment with Cruise speaking […]

Will Ferrell playing in five MLB spring training games for HBO special

March 11, 2015 Jeff Pfeiffer

On March 12, Will Ferrell will be at five different Major League Baseball spring training ballparks in Arizona to begin production on a new HBO special from Funny or Die, in partnership with MLB. The special is dedicated to helping organizations dedicated to fighting cancer. Another goal for Ferrell from this is to honor Bert Campaneris’ historic 1965 feat of playing all nine positions in a game. Ferrell will be playing every position on the field for 10 different teams on the same day, and Campaneris is expected to be there with Ferrell as he begins his effort. Ferrell’s day will be covered […]

Standalone premium streaming service HBO NOW to launch in April

March 9, 2015 Jeff Pfeiffer

Today, HBO announced the name of its standalone premium streaming service, HBO NOW, and the fact that it will launch in April (in time for the fifth season of Game of Thrones, according to a release. Season premiere for GOT is April 12). HBO, with Apple, also announced that for the first time an HBO subscription will be made directly to Apple customers through HBO NOW. For $14.99 a month, customers can subscribe using the HBO NOW app on their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, or directly on Apple TV. Upon registering, subscribers will also be able to watch at HBONOW.com. HBO says […]

Oscar winning documentary feature Citizenfour premieres on HBO tonight

February 23, 2015 Lori Acken

On the heels of its Oscar win for best documentary feature at last night’s Academy Awards, filmmaker Laura Poitras’ searing documentary Citizenfour makes its HBO debut tonight at 9/8CT. Steven Soderbergh co-executive produces the real-life thriller. In January 2013, Poitras — who was already at work on a film about monitoring programs in the U.S. — received an encrypted email from a stranger calling himself Citizen Four, who offered her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies. That June, Poitras traveled to Hong Kong with her camera and investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald to […]

‘The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst’ on HBO — The infamous eccentric breaks his silence in six-part docuseries

February 4, 2015 Lori Acken

As a son of prominent New York real estate mogul Seymour Durst, Robert Durst was born into a life of privilege and endless opportunity. But it didn’t shelter him from tragedy. When he was 7, Durst witnessed his mother’s death, leaving him permanently psychologically scarred — and eventually passed over when his father passed down the family business. In fact, for much of his life, Durst has been at the epicenter of a storm of bizarre events, including the still-unexplained disappearance of his wife Kathie in 1982, the killing of a close friend who believed Durst was responsible for Kathie’s […]

Will smarter “Girls” be just as fun?

January 8, 2015 Ryan Berenz

“This season of Girls is the girls making smarter choices and realizing that life is still hard,” says Lena Dunham of her hit HBO comedy, which returns for Season 4 on Sunday, Jan. 11, at 9pm ET/PT. Smarter choices? This is still Girls, right? Season 4 finds Hannah (Lena Dunham) trying to prove herself as a writer and struggling with critical peers at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her love for Adam (Adam Driver), who has become a selfish diva since landing a Broadway role, complicates things. Marnie (Allison Williams) has a burgeoning music career and romance with Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). […]