Movies
TV: [Next On] Featurette For “True Blood” Episode 05.06 “Hopeless”
Mixing up the content a bit, HBO has released a behind-the-scenes featurette for next Sunday’s episode of “True Blood”, “Hopeless”, that goes in depth with the cats and crew of the popular vampire/werewolf/fairy series.
Here’s the plot crunch for Episode #54 (5.06): “Hopeless”: “The aftermath at the asylum leaves Sookie (Anna Paquin) with an eerie sense of foreboding. At Fangtasia, Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten) breaks up a vamp-girl fight, praising Tara (Rutina Wesley) for her tenacity. Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) visits Ruby Jean (Alfre Woodard), who also received a disturbing message from Jesus (Kevin Alejandro). Fearing for his family’s safety, Terry (Todd Lowe) blames his curse for his troubles with Arlene (Carrie Preston). Alcide (Joe Manganiello) challenges J.D. (Louis Herthum); Sam (Sam Trammell) offers to help Andy (Chris Bauer) investigate the recent shootings; Roman (Chris Meloni) lays out his plans to take out Russell (Denis O’Hare).” (Written by Alan Ball; directed by Dan Attias.) Playdates: July 15, 18, 19 and 21
Movies
Ari Aster Reveals That He Wrote a Prequel to ‘Hereditary’
It’s been eight years since Ari Aster came onto the scene and helped usher in a new wave of horror with Hereditary, one of the rare horror movies from the past ten years that still seems to come up in conversation every single week. And it’s back in the conversation this week, with Ari Aster revealing at an event that he’s already written a prequel to Hereditary!
Ari Aster was on hand at the American Cinematheque for Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair last week, a Los Angeles festival that screened all of Aster’s movies to date. The website Gold Derby reports that Aster revealed the Hereditary prequel script during a Q&A at the event, and you can watch the full Q&A conversation below for confirmation on the website’s report.
“I wrote a prequel to this,” Aster told the crowd, referring to Hereditary. “It never feels like the right time to do it. It’s a prequel, not a sequel so I don’t know where this goes.”
Would a potential Hereditary prequel dig deeper into the mythology of demon king Paimon? Unfortunately, Aster provides no further details on his prequel approach at this time.
Aster said of Hereditary during the same Q&A, “I was just trying to make a really good horror movie.” I think most horror fans would agree that he more than accomplished that goal, and the past eight years have proven that Hereditary is an enduring classic of its generation.
We celebrated the fifth anniversary of Hereditary here on BD back in 2023.
Ron Breton wrote, “Hereditary offers a similar emotional resonance to this new generation of horror – my generation of horror– as movie-goers in the seventies when they first saw Exorcist. Much like Aster’s film, we see the incomprehensible evil wear the face of a young girl; the victim of a raw deal she had no say in, as it tears a family to its core. Sure, both films offer so many terrifying visuals that can make the hair stand up on anyone’s neck – but it also depicts intense relationships and emotions that are tangible. Real. Familiar.”
“In that familiarity lies the uncanny, ready to rear its ugly head and force us to confront thoughts and horrors laying dormant and clawing at our psyche,” Breton continued his 5th anniversary celebration of Hereditary. “And it doesn’t matter if it’s been five or fifty years. These horrors are always there, as we become pawns in its horrible, hopeless machine.”
Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd, and Milly Shapiro star in Hereditary. In the film, “A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.”
That’s putting it mildly, eh?!


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