June 2010 Archives   29 June 2010 Guardian UK Reviews Spartacus Blood and Sand The Guardian UK newspaper has a great review of Spartacus...don't you just love it when they fully expect to hate it and they turn around and love it? All they need to do is give the show a fair go. Off my soap box...here is part of the review: Have you been watching … Spartacus: Blood and Sand? The gore is ludicrously OTT and the characters unlikable, but this is a terrific show – compelling, smart and funny "The real acting honours are nabbed fair and square by John Hannah and Lucy Lawless as decadent, conniving couple Batiatus and Lucretia. Former Xena Warrior Princess Lawless is back on familiar turf: a TV show shot in New Zealand with a lot of swordplay and produced (along with Sam Raimi) by her husband Robert Tapert. Both Lawless and Hannah sink their teeth into some meaty dialogue while chewing up as much scenery as possible. It's no surprise that the pair are booked for a spinoff prequel show." The friction between the cellar-dwelling gladiatori slaves and their Roman masters living above gives Spartacus a weird bloodsoaked Upstairs Downstairs feeling. It's amazing just how compelling this show is. It started to gain pace around episode four and the final episode, with the title Kill Them All, is a real stunner, a hellish ending to a show that offers more than just gore. Read full review     28 June 2010 Comic Con Ticket Sale From SDCC Unofficial Blog For those thinking of going to see Lucy and the rest of Sparty cast at Comic Con, the unofficial Comic Con Blog has an interesting blog post about the upcoming sale of newly released tickets which are going on sale today (click here to find out more about these tickets) The first catch is that all of the hotels available are moderately far from the convention center. They’re all around 10-12 minutes driving to the Con and this means about 20 minutes with SDCC traffic. There will be a shuttle service provided that is fairly reliable and has a great variety of times that will make this less of an issue. The second catch is that the tickets/rooms are all very expensive and much more then what most people payed when hotels first went up. Basically, if you’re looking to go and don’t have tickets or hotels this is an awesome solution. If you’re a person who already has a hotel and thinks these might be better though, they probably aren’t. So make sure to head to the link here if you’re interested. Read More (Reported by Barbara Davies) Catch up with the latest news about the upcoming Spartacus Cast Panel at Comic Con on AUSXIP Spartacus Comic Con Event Page     28 June 2010 Prequel Title Confirmed - Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena The title for the Spartacus Prequel has been confirmed on the Official Spartacus Facebook Page as Spartacus: Gods of the Arena The following comment was posted on it by the owner/moderator in a thread about the title of the Prequel: Spartacus: That is correct. The prequel is titled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (Reported by Barbara Davies)     27 June 2010 Comic Con Ticket & Hotel Special Want to go to Comic Con? All tickets have been sold out for all four days but the Comic Con organisers have created some special packages. Starting Monday June 28 (Tuesday 29 for those in the Southern Hemisphere) you can have a chance to get tickets to this mega event and also get the chance to watch the Sparty panel with Lucy, Andy, Viva, John and Steven. A limited number of 4-Day Memberships passes have just become available as part of a hotel stay package. Simply book 3 or more nights to be eligible. These membership packages will go fast, so get yours today! Membership Packages are limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. Memberships include preview night. How to secure your 4-Day Membership passes: 1. Book a minimum of 3 nights at one of the above hotels. Stay must include the night of Thursday, July 22nd. Additional nights are available at the Comic-Con convention rate which will increase the package price. 2. Adult 4-Day Membership** passes are $100 per person and will be reflected in your hotel room rate for the night of July 22nd. 3. Maximum of 4 memberships per room. All guest names must be on the reservation. Each membership is good for one adult entry into Comic-Con. 4. Full prepayment is required at time of booking. Charges are non-refundable. 5. Room reservations and memberships are non-transferable. ** Memberships are subject to adjustment for Juniors on site during the Convention. See more here     24 June 2010 New Starz Show Promo with Spartacus Cast There is a brand new Starz Promo featuring some of their shows including the Spartacus cast looking very 21st Century. Lucy, John, Peter, Manu, Viva, Andy & Erin star in this commercial. Screencaptures by MaryD There is a story behind this video where Lucy described John making people laugh during the shooting of this video. Click here to view screencaptures Here is the video (link sent in by Barbara Davies) The video takes a little time to load but it's worth the wait STARZ Network Promo- ORIGINALS- (RED CAM)HD from Tony Molina Cinematographer on Vimeo.     21 June 2010 New Spartacus Artwork by Beatriz Beatriz has sent in a new artwork piece of Andy as Spartacus. View Artwork You can view more of Beatriz's work here     20 June 2010 Spartacus Cast Training Day With Fitness Instructor Bev Bev Ratcliff, a fitness instructor, has photos of the Spartacus Cast: Andy, Peter, Lesley-Ann, Erin, Katrina and Lucy on her site which are pretty cool. Bev trained the cast during their grueling Spartacus PR tour last January. Bev Ratcliff, the fitness instructor, arranged free weights on a slab of artificial turf, got on all fours and started yelling instructions according the article in the NYTimes Check out the photos on Bev's Site (Reported by Barbara Davies)     19 June 2010 Andy as Spartacus Artwork by Beatriz Beatriz has created more stunning work. This time it's Spartacus in the Arena Click here to view the larger version You can view more of Beatriz's artwork on the AUSXIP Spartacus Art Gallery     18 June 2010 For Your Emmy Consideration: Andy Whitfield Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz first generated buzz thanks to its promise of graphic scenes of sex and violence and it definitely lived up to that hype in the first two episodes. But the series showed signs of potential, at the very least a nice guilty pleasure of soapy intrigue and stylized fight scenes, plus plenty of skin. But as the first season progressed (Starz ordered a 2nd before it even premiered), what emerged was a tightly written and highly engrossing story of greed, power, love, and revenge. The series delved deeper into the characters and the story, adding much needed substance, all leading up to the incredibly thrilling finale. Read More     17 June 2010 Andy Confirmed For 2010 Comic Con Starz Press Release Andy is heading to Comic Con with the Spartacus cast which includes Lucy, John, Viva and Steven. The following press release was just issued by Starz Entertainment. This will be Andy's first Comic Con. Here's the press release from Starz "SPARTACUS" RETURNS TO COMIC-CON!! ANDY WHITFIELD, JOHN HANNAH, VIVA BIANCA AND LUCY LAWLESS WILL TOUT STARZ ORIGINAL HIT SERIES Beverly Hills, Calif. - June 16, 2010 - Fresh from a triumphant first season on the Starz original series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," stars Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), John Hannah (Batiatus), Viva Bianca (Ilythia), and Executive Producer and Head Writer Steven S. DeKnight will appear on a panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 23. The day ends with a Spartacus-sponsored late night "Wrath of Con" party where the stars will be in attendance. Whitfield and Bianca's first San Diego appearance will be joined by Comic-Con veterans Lawless, Hannah and DeKnight.  The team will discuss the unique narrative approach to the ancient legend as well as giving the fans a glimpse of what to expect from the upcoming Spartacus prequel, which begins filming in New Zealand this August. Read More     16 June 2010 New Andy Whitfield as Spartacus Artwork I am very pleased to announce that Beatriz has been added to the Spartacus Art Gallery. She has done some AMAZING drawings. Absolutley beautiful artwork. At present there are two of Spartacus and one of Glaber! View Artwork by Beatriz     15 June 2010 New Artwork by Klippart - I Am Spartacus Added a new gorgeous wallpaper / artwork by Klippart focused on Spartacus. I Am Spartacus View Image   You can also check out Klippart's other artwork on her AUSXIP Spartacus Artwork Section     10 June 2010 New Section Spartacus Events Page AUSXIP Spartacus has a new section to bring together all the promotional events related to the show. You will now be able to find the various events in one easy location rather than searching through the archives for the event information. Go to AUSXIP Spartacus Events Page For coverage of Video Interviews and Written Interviews please check the AUSXIP Video Spartacus Interview Channel or the Press Archive Over the coming days I'm hoping to break down those interviews in the press archive to the individual actors. For the Video interviews you can access the individual actors by going to: Lucy Lawless | Andy Whitfield | John Hannah | Erin Cummings     10 June 2010 Favourite TV Hunk & Andy as Bond Hollywood Spy is holding a poll as to who is the favourite TV hunk. Andy has some pretty strong competition there so hop on over to Hollywood Spy and vote! Hollywood Spy (poll is on the right hand side) (Reported by Miroslav) ANDY AS JAMES BOND Louise, one of the gals from the Andy Whitfield Facebook Page has alerted me that they have organised another facebook page but this time it's to get Andy to be the next James Bond! Support the cool and collected Welshman Andy Whitfield to be the next 007. Andy is well known from his role as Spartacus in Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. His movie Gabriel was a hit in Australia. The Clinic is his next movie to be released soon. Click here to join     9 June 2010 Comic Con Spartacus Panel Update Andy will be at the 41st annual Comic-Con International San Diego, July 22-25 at the San Diego Convention Center as part of the Spartacus panel. Confirmation of a Spartacus panel has also been posted on the Seat42F site but no date as to when the panel will be on. Unfortunately all tickets have been sold for all days. Lori (co-editor of the AUSXIP Erin Cummings Official Fan Site) will be attending the convention. We hope to bring you the latest news and images.     9 June 2010 Andy Cancer Free and Heading To Comic Con Deadline Hollywood has an article about Andy's clean bill of health and the news that he will be going to Comic-Con to promote Spartacus Deadline Hollywood 8 June 2010 'Spartacus' Star Andy Whitfield Is Cancer-Free & Ready To Return To The Starz Series Spartacus star Andy Whitfield has been given a clean bill of health and is already training for his return to the set of the Starz drama series. “I’m raring to go,” Whitfiled said in a phone interview from New Zealand. Fans will be able to meet the actor at next month's Comic Con where Whitfield will make an appearance along with other actors and producers from Starz's breakout series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. ... Whitfield shaved his head after starting to lose his hear during chemo but it is already growing back and he will have his trademark Spartacus hairdo shortly. Read Article     6 June 2010 Andy Article in Aussie TV Soap Magazine April 2010 The Australian magazine TV Soap April 2010 issue has a two page article on Andy. Australian TV Soap Magazine 14 April 2010 Nudity Is Easy While Andy Whitfield may seem vaguely familiar, he's set to gain worldwide popularity as Spartacus in a new series, comfortably semi-naked. View Scans     Read More Archives