There is sand too, but you don’t notice that so much.

From executive producers Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi, this long-form, adults-only retelling of the story of the Thracian slave-turned-gladiator (Andy Whitfield) who led a revolt against the Romans back in, oh, some years ago, plays as a more serious, more salacious cousin to the pair’s whimsical “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

When I say “serious,” I mean that it is not a lot of laughs, not that it engages any profound or complex issues. The motivations here are all very basic — sex, power and money on the part of the badder guys, and love and freedom on the part of the better.

You’ve seen this before — the decadence of the Romans set against the humble life of lusty village folk who wish only to be left alone to make more village folk, but who all the while must defend themselves from this empire or that barbarian horde.

The series, which begins tonight, might be described as, in no particular order, a mix of “300,” “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome,” “Fight Club,” “Caligula,” “Rome,” “Gladiator,” the 1960 Stanley Kubrick “Spartacus” and any number of boxing or you’re-in-the-army-now pictures, with Lucy Lawless, half-naked and talking dirty, as the cherry on top. (This is premium cable, people.) So obviously heady is this combination, so guaranteed to enslave a certain sort of fanboy/fangirl that the network ordered a second season before its 13-episode first had even begun. And, really, Lucy Lawless half-naked and talking dirty probably could have got that job done on its own.

If the show’s concerns do not rise far above the level of pulp — and there is nothing wrong with that — it does what it does with a sure hand. The computer-generated effects can look a little fake, but looking a little fake is part of this particular aesthetic, born of video games and comic-book panels, sort of the way that synthesizers were preferable to pianos in ’80s pop. Similarly, the fight scenes — which involve lots of slow motion, the better to show the deforming impact of steel or flesh on flesh — should not be taken as more “real” simply because they’re more brutal. They are comic-book bouts set to heavy-metal guitar and loud thumping noises.

Lawless — who was, I suppose I should point out, the Warrior Princess Xena — is not as well-employed here as she was on “Battlestar Galactica,” but she vamps quite nicely as the ambitious wife of the owner of a school for gladiators; it is as layered a performance as you could possibly require. As her husband, Scottish actor John Hannah (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the “Mummy” movies) keeps the show grounded with a persuasive portrait of a man engaged in a stressful daily business. Whitfield is very good as Spartacus, handsome and buff and smart and beastly. Erin Cummings plays Sura, the wife to whom he longs to return — early in the tale, against a lovely digital sunrise, she packs him off to fight barbarians with the loving commandment, “Kill them all.” (“For you,” he returns.)

Given that “Spartacus” does not stumble in what it sets out to do, one’s objections to the show, if objections one has, will be moral, or simple matters of taste, to the extent that those two concerns can actually be separated. It is a little bloody for my taste, personally.

Still, in between the rumbles in the arena and the rumbles in the bedroom, it’s a fairly talky show, the dialogue seasoned with word inversions that signify the classical world to the modern ear — “What purpose requires it?” and such. So if you are here just to get a look at Lawless’ breasts or Whitfield’s behind, or any number of other breasts and behinds, you will have to be a little patient, but your patience will be rewarded.

robert.lloyd@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
source: www.latimes.com

Jan. 22: Actress Lucy Lawless takes on a racy new role as Lucrectia in “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” She speaks with TODAY’s Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb.

To watch the interview CLICK HERE

source: http://video.aol.ca

Actress Lucy Lawless is calling on movie bosses to adapt Xena: Warrior Princess for the big screen – because she fears fans will lose interest in the fantasy series if it’s revived for TV.

The New Zealand-born star is best known for playing the warrior pin-up in the cult program, which she is desperate to see brought back to life as a feature film.

She tells Out.com, “I love that character. I would do it if it was a movie. I doubt I would do it as a TV series. I can’t see how you would make it fresh. By the time somebody does come up with that I’m just going to be too old. And I’m really sad about that. I feel like it’s a completely wasted franchise.”

via USATODAY

London (ANI): Spartacus: Blood and Sand, dubbed the most explicit television show ever, has gone one step further in shocking senses after filming a raunchy foursome. The series, featuring graphic violence, strong sexual content, and major profanity, stars Rebus star John Hannah opposite Lucy Lawless from Xena: Warrior Princess.

The pair plays a kinky married couple who get intimate with each other and two other slave girls in the shot, reports The Sun. Lucy said: “A lot of people are going to be shocked and will turn their TVs off, but for those who have the stomach for it, this is a bloody good yarn.”

The epic follows the story of the historical figure of Spartacus, a Roman gladiator, who later became the leader of a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic.

source: http://entertainment.oneindia.in

BALTIMORE (WJZ)

On Feb. 2, Marty and Don talked to Lucy Lawless and Andy Whitfield about “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” an original television series that airs on Starz.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

CLICK HERE  to watch the video

source: http://wjz.com/

Source: www.dailytitan.com

By: Christine Amarantus

Kirk Douglas, eat your heart out. Starz’s new series Spartacus: Sand and Blood has everything a viewer could want from a premium cable show: full-frontal nudity, almost Deadwood-level swearing for a period piece and computer-enhanced graphic violence.

The team that brought us Hercules, Xena and the more recent Legend of the Seeker, decided to push the envelope into premium cable, producing their re-telling of a slave who fought against his masters, found glory as a gladiator and then led a revolt on Rome. Blood and Sand will attempt to capture the life of the legend, more so than the 1960 Stanley Kubrick movie had time to do.

When the creative team behind Spartacus presented the show’s trailer at San Diego Comic-Con last July, they inevitably got questions about the similarities between the new show and 300. Producer Rob Tapert reassured that it was just a style choice.

While I tried to divorce the connections between Zack Snyder’s movie and the new premium cable show in my head, it was almost impossible to ignore many of the visual similarities. Short of the lack of sepia-filtering, Spartacus is so stylistically like 300 that it was hard to take it seriously in the first episode. The Thracian warriors, of which our unnamed hero dubbed Spartacus by his owner comes, don red capes and leather hot pants, similar to 300’s Spartans. The first battle they fight against barbarians in so many ways resembles one fight between Spartans and Persians, right down to the fight choreography. Even our hero’s wife, Sura, bears a strong likeness to Lena Heady and they’re further pushing it bringing in the “This is madness!” actor as a principle character.

But oh, the violence. The human body could never have so much blood. It’s almost like watching somebody play Mortal Kombat with how hits to the head cause pints of CG’d blood to splatter everywhere. Action slows from time to time to capture the poetry in motion, whetting the appetite for the slaughter that’s about to ensue.

Watching the show in high definition also seems to take away from it, making what magic the designers concocted in post-production seem far more cartoonish than it would appear on a regular television.

Scenes between Sura and Spartacus are raw and touching (granted, the few that they’ve been in together mostly end in intercourse); however, it edges on cheesy when Spartacus heads off for war, tying a strap around Sura’s leg saying it would keep him close to her thighs. I dry-heaved. Sure, the strap comes up as a plot device in the next episode, but the absurdity of such an act and the line to accompany it was, well, silly.

In short, the series has potential. It looks good, it’s entertaining, and heck, they’ve got Lucy Lawless topless while her character’s husband is getting fellated. Not to mention all the ripped, greased-up, howling, Spartan-like gladiators. There’s something for both sexes in Spartacus.

I have added around 1000 new photos in the gallery and also some new artwork is up from our members.
I’m going away to Spain in 1 week and won’t be able to update anything. Then I will stay at my friend for some more days so I will be gone in around 2 weeks.

Meanwhile my co-workers will keep the site updated plus my gallery updater will check for new Lucy and Renee pictures. So I hope you won’t miss me to much!
I’m going tomorrow so see you and I love you!

Lucy Lawless is just still that actress.

We mean, we know she wasn’t really a warrior princess. That was just a character. But, if we were in a tight spot, and Lucy Lawless were there, we just have a feeling she might whip out some of those shiny rings and start throwin’.

“Xena: Warrior Princess” returns deliver some well-placed justice (and a few blows) Friday, February 5th through Sunday, February 7th, but not to a television set near you. Rather, it is time for the annual Xena Convention, which is happening over three breast-plate-packed days at the LAX Marriott.

People loved this cult show – obsessed over it — and still do; like “Star Trek,” “Xena” is a show that can still fill up a big fan convention years after going off the air (the con celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2010).

And who and what will fans find at the starry convention? Ms. Xena herself, the fabulous Lucy Lawless, plus Renee O’Connor (Gabrielle), and a host of actors from the series. A screening of the newer show with Ms. Lawless — that would be “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” — is part of the to-do.

Other events during the weekend include a wine and cheese party, a cabaret, a video competition, a ”Xena”-based centerpiece contest, and, of course, costumes galore. Plus — a yoga workshop with actress Hudson Leick.

We weren’t joking about the breast plates. You still have yours in a back drawer somewhere, right? Better buff that baby up, pronto.

Source: nbclosangeles.com

I have added over 3000 photos in the gallery, so go and take a look!
I also added 439 HD screencaps of Lucy in Spartacus: Blood and Sand episode 1 and 2, not HQ, HD! Very good quality, I promise you!

Also added these in HQ!

More is coming tomorrow!