FanboyNation

Lilian Garcia, the first ever Latina to become a ring announcer not only in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) but also the Professional Fighters League (PFL) launches her podcast Chasing Glory on Monday, October 26, 2020 at 10 a.m. ET/ 7 a.m. PT on the free version of the WWE Network.   Garcia, praises the late Howard "The Fink" Finkle for being so gracious in mentoring her as she grew as a ring announcer eventually leading her to not only singing the National Anthem and America the Beautiful, but eventually taking over as the lead ring announcer for Monday Night Raw and eventually the Big Four Pay Per Views in SummerSlam, Survivor Series, The Royal Rumble and the granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania.   The premier episode of Chasing Glory on the free version of the WWE Network will feature for the Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman. For those unfamiliar with the 6'8" wrestler he is a former WWE Universal Champion, Intercontinental Champion, Tag Team Champion, Money in the Bank Winner and the Greatest Royal Rumble winner, just to name of a few of his many accomplishments with the promotion.   Garcia talks to us about how she found the show to be a great help not only to herself but to other WWE Superstars over its four year run, including her battle with bulimia as well as being bullied to a story she shared about former WWE Women's Champion, Mickie James, who it is best left to hear from Garcia and James herself.  I totally marked out in speaking with Garcia who is a kind and gracious person that I look forward to seeing at future live events once we can gather.  Follow Lilian Garcia on YouTube Lilian Garcia for older episodes of Chasing Glory, and to connect with Lilian Garcia on social media follow her on Twitter @LilianGarcia, on Instagram @liliangarcia and her official website www.liliangarcia.com. Follow the WWE on Twitter @WWE and on Instagram @wwe. Follow the WWE Network on Twitter @WWENetwork and on Instagram @wwenetwork. Follow the Professional Fighters League on Twitter @ProFightLeague and on Instagram @pflmma.   Follow FanboyNation Twitter: @FanboyNation Instagram: @FanboyNation Facebook: @FanboyNation

David Lipper (Full House, Fuller House, The Pacifier, The Unwilling) not only produces but stars in Reboot Camp as Seymour a documentarian taking on the persona of Gordon St. Pierre, a French-Canadian guru and cult leader filming all his followers with the intent of revealing the scam that is the self-help industry. All hell breaks loose when financing becomes a problem and the skeleton crew has to expand.  The mocumentary co-stars Ed Bagley Jr. Eric Roberts, Ja Rule, David Koechner, Chaz Bono, Shar Jackson and Maya Stojan and in on the level with Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman.   

Reboot Camp's World Premiere at Austin Film Festival begins tonight, October 23, 2020 at 7:30 pm CT, and the film will be available for viewing through the end of the festival on October 29, 2020 with tickets and info available at Austin Film Festival: Reboot Camp.   

Official Synopsis:  Reboot Camp is a twisty fun comedy about two brothers who create Reboot Camp, a fake self-help group, and its leader “Gordon St. Pierre,” to expose the exploitive practices of fake gurus and how easy it is to con people into believing just about anything. To their surprise, their absurd Reboot Camp becomes a big success with a devoted following.   With a large ensemble cast and lots of fun cameos, Reboot Camp is a fast-moving comedy on one level, with deeper social commentary on another level, about why it is important for people to think for themselves instead of surrendering their free will to others who may have their own ulterior motives.  

 I spoke with Lipper about how writer/director Ivo Raza had been planning this film out for over 7 year and that production took only 12 days to complete the film. Lipper mentions there were over 50 cuts of this movie, each one just as funny as the next, but was cut down to only 90 minutes.   Buy your online screener links with access the Q&A for Reboot Fest by clicking here.  Follow David Lipper on Instagram @davidlipper. 

Follow Reboot Camp on Twitter @rebootcampfilm and Instagram @rebootcampfilm. Follow the Austin Film Festival on Twitter @austinfilmfest.  

Follow FanboyNation Twitter: @FanboyNation Instagram:@FanboyNation Facebook: @FanboyNation

British actor Noah Huntley (Dracula Untold, 28 Days Later, The Royals, Snow White and the Huntsman) returns to The CW’s hit series Pandora as Professor Donovan Osborn. The series airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT returns for its second season after filming in the Eastern European nation of Bulgaria.

Pandora is set in the year 2199, Huntley stars as Professor Donovan Osborn. A force of nature, Osborn is Jax’s (aka Pandora, Priscilla Quintana) uncle and the Academy’s most respected and terrifying instructor. He is arrogant, brash and demanding, but also brilliant and incredibly intimidating. Huntley’s role as a professor is only cover for his more pressing responsibilities in the Earth Intelligence Services.

The London native was first discovered as a film actor at age eleven and received his big break courtesy of the film 28 Days Later. Huntley regularly appears on television, most recently in The Royals opposite Elizabeth Hurley and Netflix’s youth drama Free Rein.

Huntley is vegetarian and focuses on living a healthy lifestyle through his love of meditate, yoga and tai chi. The writer and actor also scuba dives, and runs marathons. Noah spends his free time gardening and growing an array of vegetables in his London garden. Huntley is a supporter of Greenpeace, Bloodwise and The Actors Benevolent Fund amongst other charitable organizations.

We had the pleasure of speaking with Noah Huntley about Season 2 of Pandora, the difficulties or working through a pandemic but how it also unified the cast through these terrible times. We discuss family life, having multiple twins within his own immediate family, as well as being a fraternal twin himself.

Pandora airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Follow Noah Huntley on Twitter @noahhuntley (listed as Official Noah Huntley) and on Instagram @noahhuntley.

Disney’s legendary producer, Don Hahn (Beauty and the Beast, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Hunchback of Notre Dame), takes his seat in the director’s chair for the self-funded documentary, Howard,  sharing the untold story of Howard Ashman, the brilliant lyricist behind Disney classics like Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and creator of musicals including Little Shop of Horrors.

This documentary features never-before-seen archival footage, personal films and photographs, as well as interviews with Howard’s friends and family, the film is an intimate look at the Disney Legend’s life, his creative drive, and the process behind the music. Spanning his childhood in Baltimore, to his formative years in New York, and his untimely death due to AIDS, Howard goes in-depth to explore his journey to become the lyricist behind some of the most beloved and well-known classic family films in the world.

We caught up with Hahn and revealed some of the Disney Magic that it took in producing this film. This is a wonderful tribute to Howard Ashman, who with the blessing of his sister, allowed Hahn to produce and direct this film about a man who reminds us that we will never have another friend like him.

Hahn revealed that his composing partner, fellow Disney Legend Alan Menken composed the documentary as a tribute to his late friend. We also discussed how through Howard Ashman, the Jodi Benson the incredible voice behind Ariel in The Little Mermaid was discovered as they worked together in the New York theatre scene.

Don Hahn has a way of plucking every emotional string in the human body with his past works and with Howard. Thanks to him, we are reminded just how significant music is to hour lives and through Hahn, we know that we will never have a friend like Howard Ashman again, even if we didn’t know him personally.

Howard, had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, is now streaming on Disney+.

Activist and founder of Representation Counts, Shereen Anis and I have a lot of similarities, we are both first generation North American born children of immigrants from Western and Central Asia. We are both under represented minorities in the film industry, especially Hollywood, but Canada as well and we are both interested in how we can pull away from compartmentalizing our ethnic backgrounds to fit an ideology that wants to put us in specific boxes.

An important part of our conversation regarding this topic was to avoid only pointing fingers at White people. They get the brunt of the blame and the fingers pointed at them, but people forget, when you point a finger at someone, you have three pointing back at you.

My intent with this interview was to ask the questions from the perspective of WHY we should care instead of browbeating people in saying YOU SHOULD care! It was also more important that with movements like Black Lives Matter being so prominent, figuring out why those of us who are first generation born American/Canadian of families from third world countries can and/or should care because we know what our parents went through in the Old World and how great the suffering continues to be in parts of continental Asia and Africa.

Another topic that was significant in my conversation with Ms. Anis was The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announcing new representation and inclusion standards for a film to be deemed eligible for the Oscars. For months now, both onscreen and behind the scenes, people in the media and entertainment industry have called for the inclusion of underrepresented races, genders, sexualities, and abilities. Actor John Boyega called out Disney for pushing aside his character in Star Wars and this past summer, actress Aisha Dee challenged the lack of diversity in the creative team behind the camera on her show The Bold Type.

We also discussed why for those of us who have ties to the Old World need to care about representation in film here if we already have thriving film industries in those parts of the world. Hint: Because we were born here and are just as much X Ethnicity as we are American.

For more information on Representation Counts, visit their website at www.representationcounts.com. Follow Representation Counts on Twitter @RepresentationC and on Instagram @representationcounts_. Follow Shereen Anis on Instagram @shereenanis_____.

Award-winning director Eva Lanska talks to us about her film Little French Fish that is showing at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York, NY.

Eva Lanska's Little French Fish bringing attention the issues of interfaith marriages as portrayed between an Orthodox Judaist woman (Devora Wilde) and a Muslim man (Jonas Khan). After successfully publishing five novels, Lanska presents her third film at the Chelsea Film Festival in New York between October 15-18, 2020.

This is a timely film as Unite Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel begin to improve, advancing peace in the Middle East and normalizing relations between the three countries, Lanska's film conveys the wistful and anguishing sentiments felt by both communities through a new spin on the classic Romeo and Juliet tale. The intercultural couple falls in love while feeling the pressure of traditional conflicts and strict social order. The couple has two options: either follow tradition and please society or ruin established stereotypes and follow their hearts. Cultural boundaries constrain the couple, similarly to many families torn apart by the stigma and disputes throughout the Middle East.

Lanska's films are known for their provocation to compelling discussions of universal issues. In Little French Fish, she leaves her viewers with an open-ended question and the responsibility to choose the characters' fate. She believes that a successful movie is the one that makes viewers raise hard questions rather than find easy answers.

I spoke with Lanska about the film, the significance of its timing and the difficulties of going virtual when a film like this should be seen with an audience. As relations between some Middle Eastern nations begin to improve and others still face all out war on the European boarder, we are glad that love is still a possibility even during these troubling times.

Little French Fish shows the Chelsea Film Festival in New York between October 15-18, 2020.

Nathan Letteer has put on virtually every hat for his ulta-fun, dare I say, almost campy (without being insulting of course), film Monster Force Zero. Letteer co-produced, directed and co-wrote Monster Force Zero about a group of sci-fi cosplayers who have issues with a rival crew. Now as things go a little loopy at the convention, once their comic book has been rejected by several publishers, the crew get their chance at being real live superheroes.

Official Synopsis:

A group of sci-fi cosplayers get their shot to be real superheroes in director Nathan Letteer’s Monster Force Zero.

We caught up with Letteer, who was thrilled to talk to us about the inspiration for Monster Force Zero, how great it was to get Pat Tanaka and Garrett Wang on board for this fun, 80s throwback science fiction adventure, how this could truly be a cult classic showing up across grindhouse theaters on midnight weekend showings and how amazingly talented everyone from the local cast and crew in Colorado really were in order to put this film together.

Monster Force Zero comes out in limited release and on VOD, Tuesday, October 13, 2020.

Follow Monster Force Zero on Twitter @monster_force, on Instagram @monsterforcezero and Facebook @monsterforczero.

Jean Reno (Leon: The Professional, Ronin, Wasabi) plays antagonist Victor Dubois to heroine Ruby Rose's Ali (Batwoman, Orange Is The New Black, John Wick: Chapter 2) in the suspense film The Doorman.

Reno's Dubois is a sophisticated black market art dealer who tracks down an old associate who has suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. When Dubois and his gang of men who aren't willing to get their hands dirty discover that the paintings are in the previous dwelling in the same building on Easter Sunday, they proceed to hold a widower and his two children hostage in search of the priceless art pieces.

Little does Dubois know is that the new Doorman, Ali is a retired Marine who suffers from shell-shock and the widower is her brother-in-law.

We spoke with Mr. Reno about playing Dubois, the significance art plays in one's life. How special love can be and if there was one particular piece of art that if he was a man of Victor Dubois' character would he have taken from the Louvre museum while filming The Da Vinci Code. Reno is a true gentleman and a interviewee I would most definitely like to revisit in the near future.

The Doorman, premiering exclusively On Demand and Digital October 9, and on Blu-ray and DVD October 13 from Lionsgate. The Doorman Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail prices of $21.99 and $19.98 respectively.

My second favorite Italian-Canadian, comedic actor Will Sasso tackles the roles of villain Gluttonator and Union Boss in the new animated film, Henchmen,  that also stars Thomas Middleditch, James Marsden, Rosario Dawson, Alfred Molina,Nathan Fillion, Rob Riggle, Jane Krakowski, Craig Robinson and Bobcat Goldthwait.

I likened Henchmen to a blend of Big Hero 6 meets Megamind and Sasso's unique character voices, especially with the Gluttonator enhance the film watching experience. I mean, what's a greater villain someone weaponizing cheese? Talk about a nightmare for those of us that are lactose intolerant!

Sasso talks to us about the differences between live action acting and voice acting, what it's like being the son of immigrant parents, gives me a pass on being my second favorite Italian-Canadian once he finds out who edged him out, how he and I, who are both 6'3", bald, May born, Mediterranean men discuss the issues facing Kalani and Asuelu of 90 Day Fiancé fame and how he would like to one day dub one of his animated characters into Italian.

The incredibly funny and family friendly, Henchmen comes VOD on Friday, October 9, 2020.

Follow Will Sasso on Twitter @WillSasso and on Instagram @willsasso.

AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley is no strangers to acting. He first appeared in the 2015 film 12 Rounds 3 and the 2016 film Countdown. Now, Moxley stars as professional wrestler turned Mixed Martial Arts fighter in the film Cagefighter. Moxley plays AEW World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Stone who accepts a big money fight challenge from current Legends Light Heavyweight Champion Reiss (Alex Montagnani), who doesn't appear to take his untested challenger seriously.

Stone has a chip on his shoulder as he's coming into the fight 0-0 taking a title shot, where he's treated a la CM Punk was when he legitimately tried his hand in the UFC. However, the Stone character is more like real life professional wrestlers turned MMA stars Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley and AEW co-hort and current Bellator MMA Heavyweight, Jake Hager.

We spoke with Moxley about how he didn't bother asking what the pay was for the film because he loved the story so much, how he and Montagnani choregraphed the fights without a stunt coordinator, the struggles of waiting for fan reaction from a film while receiving instant gratification in an AEW ring.

Cagefighter stars Alex Montagnani (Professional MMA Fighter), Jon Moxley (AEW World Heavyweight Champion, NJPW: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion), Gina Gershon (Showgirls, Bound), Chuck Liddell (UFC Hall of Famer and Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Kick-Ass 2), Elijah Baker (The Batman, Signs of Silence), Luke Rockhold (Former UFC Middleweight Champion), Jay Reso FKA Christian (Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Shoot ‘Em Up), Georgia Bradner (Supernatural, Dark Angel)

Cagefighter hits theaters and VOD on Friday, October 9, 2020.

Follow Cagerfighter on Twitter @CagefighterMov and on Instagram @cagefightermovie. Follow Jon Moxley on Twitter @JonMoxley. Follow on twitter @AEW and @AEWonTNT and on Instagram @AllEliteWrestling.