The new ABC drama series Nashville, premiering on October 10^th, tells the story of music legend and entertainment icon Rayna Jaymes (Connie Britton), who has been one of the industry’s top female vocalists for two decades.  Now, she is forced to compete with the new generation of talent lighting up the charts, putting her in direct contention with the sexy and sassy Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), currently the hottest act in country music.  With a pilot written by Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise), the show also stars Powers Boothe, Eric Close, Jonathan Jackson and Robert Wisdom.

While at the ABC portion of the TCA Press Tour, co-stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere talked about what it’s like to do all of their own singing, mastering the archetype of the Southern woman, how this show compares to their previous television experiences, what inspired their performances, portraying the generational divide, and whether they’re fans of country music themselves.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

There’s a bitter pill to swallow in owning the Deadwood complete series on Blu-ray. One of the best shows ever to be on television, Deadwood ends unceremoniously. There is no sense of closure, there is no sense of a finished narrative – creator David Milch gets a twenty minute segment on the set to talk about the end of the show and expresses nothing but frustration about the show’s demise. He tries to intellectualize it, but struggles to come to grips with the euthanasia HBO performed. Alas, with an existing set and the cast of characters Deadwood had it was not a cheap show, and where The Wire was able to struggle against low ratings Deadwood fell because it never exceeded its modest but committed fanbase. But Deadwood is one of the best shows ever put to television, and I come here not to mourn its end, but celebrate its greatness. My review of Deadwood: The Complete Series on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

When it was first announced, MacGruber seemed like the most dubious Saturday Night Live movie since It’s Pat!. Unlike previous films based upon the late night sketch show’s characters, MacGruber could not even carry five minutes of screen time. Instead, it managed only one to two, always punctuated by the exact same Aeon Flux-esque closing gag in which all of the protagonists meet an untimely end.

Expectations rose when Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone was placed in the director’s chair backed by the legitimate A-list talents of Ryan Phillipe and Val Kilmer. Suddenly, what had once sounded like the single worst idea for a movie in a great many years had a chance to be the next Wayne’s World, or at least the next Night at the Roxbury.

Is it? No. Not really. But it is very funny. Sometimes. More after the jump:

When Rogue Pictures first announced they were making a MacGruber movie, I’ll admit to thinking it might not work.  After all, MacGruber is based on a very short Saturday Night Live sketch and I wasn’t sure he could make the transition to the big screen.  But based on the reviews out of SXSW where the film premiered, my nervousness was unfounded, as people loved the film and it’s currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes!  What I heard was it’s incredibly stupid but incredibly funny.  With a May 21st release date, we’ll all know if the film is as great as people are saying soon.

But if you’d like to get a look at a few scenes now, we’ve been given 5 clips and you can watch them after the jump.

CBS Films and Universal Studios have sent over high resolution versions of the new Beastly and MacGruber movie posters.  Beastly stars Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer and it’s a  modern-day take on Beauty and the Beast that takes place in New York City.  MacGruber stars Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer and it’s the feature film version of the Saturday Night Live skit.  While I don’t know anyone that’s seen Beastly, MacGruber screened at SXSW and I’ve heard from friends it’s very stupid but extremely funny.  Sounds like my kind of movie.  Hit the jump for the new posters:

The first trailer for MacGruber has hit the net and thankfully it’s red band.  What that means is… the Rogue Pictures comedy starring Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer doesn’t have to hold back the jokes or the dialogue.

While some of you might be thinking a full length movie based on the SNL character is a dumb idea, I’ve spoken to friends who read the script and they all raved about it.  Also, MacGruber is directed by Jorma Taccone (Hot Rod) and he does all the SNL Digital Shorts and he’s part of The Lonely Island along with Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer.  What I’m trying to tell you is…give this film a chance.  Also, this is the first movie to use the term upper decker.  That makes this must see.  If you don’t know what it is…

Watch the trailer and tell me you didn’t laugh.  Also, we’ve been given a few new high resolution images so take a look:

Along with the new shots from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Your Highness, Universal has released the first three official images from Jorma Taccone’s upcoming comedy MacGruber starring Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillipe, Maya Rudolph, Val Kilmer, and Powers Boothe.  That’s right:  Powers Boothe.  Get excited.

While it’s based on a (very short) Saturday Night Live sketch that seems ill-suited for a feature film adaptation, an unnamed source who saw a test screening enjoyed the flick.  The reviewer gave some examples of the humor such as MacGruber driving everywhere in a red Miata and a joke where Cunth asks his henchmen why they didn’t capture MacGruber and it was because they didn’t think he was a threat because they thought he was retarded.  Also, apparently no one in the movie really pronounces the last letter of “Cunth”.

Hit the jump to see all three images along with the official synopsis.  MacGruber is slated to hit theaters on April 23rd.

Universal Studios has released synopses  for some of their major 2010 films and the two that are especially worth reading are “MacGruber” and Ridley Scott’s “Untitled Robin Hood Adventure”. While it might surprise you to hear this, a few people have told me “MacGruber” is going to shock everyone next year as it’s a super-violent, hard-R movie. Also, I’ve heard there are many lines that we’re all going to quote. Did I mention Val Kilmer plays the villain and his name is Dieter Von Cunth? I know, I know–I am just as shocked to report SNL’s “MacGruber” might be a great movie.

As for Ridley Scott’s “Untitled Robin Hood Adventure”, this synopsis is the first real story details I’m hearing about the plot. Since I haven’t watched every version of “Robin Hood”, I’ll let the synopses  do the talking, but I’m pretty sure we’re going to get a better version than Kevin Costner’s “Prince of Thieves”.  Hit the jump for not only “MacGruber” and “Untitled Robin Hood Adventure”, but “Green Zone” starring Matt Damon, “Get Him to the Greek” starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, and “Your Highness” starring Danny McBride, James Franco, and Natalie Portman.