Month: April 2012 (Page 9 of 10)

The Light from the TV Shows: A Chat with Eric Ladin (“The Killing”)

April 4, 2012 / Will Harris

If you’ve been trying to figure out why Eric Ladin, who plays Jamie Wright on AMC’s “The Killing,” looks familiar to you but can’t quite pin down why, maybe this will help: in addition to being one of the cast members of HBO’s critically acclaimed miniseries “Generation Kill,” he’s also turned up in a few episodes of “Mad Men,” playing Betty Draper’s brother. Now, however, he’s back to playing Darren Richmond’s campaign manager on “The Killing,” which – as you may already be aware – returned to AMC for its second season on Sunday night. Unfortunately, the ratings weren’t necessarily what you’d call stellar, but Ladin’s enthusiasm about what viewers can expect during the course of the series’ sophomore year may prove infectious.

Bullz-Eye: So are you psyched that “The Killing” is finally back?

Eric Ladin: I am. It’s about time! I think everybody is.

BE: Of course, you realize that a lot of people are really just desperate at this point to find out definitively who killed Rosie Larson.

EL: I do realize that, yeah. [Laughs.] I’ve been reminded of that quite a lot over the last nine months.

BE: Were you shocked at the outcry about the lack of resolution in the season finale?

EL: I was, a little bit. I knew that there would definitely be some people that were upset, but I didn’t foresee the hatred and…just the pure venom that was spat towards our writers. [Laughs.] Yeah, I was a little shocked by that.

BE: At least there was a small but somewhat vocal group that was reminded people that we didn’t find out who killed Laura Palmer until the second season of “Twin Peaks.”

EL: That’s correct. And if you ask David Lynch, he’ll probably tell you that the biggest mistake he made was telling people who killed her at all. I think he said – this was in an interview I read – that if he was able to do it again, he’d never tell who the killer was. So, yeah, I don’t believe that there was anywhere that said that you were guaranteed to find the killer in Season 1, but by the same token, I think that AMC’s PR probably could’ve handled it a speck differently. With that said, as a TV viewer, I would not have expected to find the killer in Season 1. So I guess there’s that.

Entertainment, Interviews, Movies, News, Television

AMC Bar Starz Billy Campbell Cold Case Cole McGrath Darren Richmond David Lynch David Simon Ed Burns Eric Ladin Generation Kill Hawaii Five-0 inFAMOUS 2 January Jones Joel McHale Jon Bernthal Jon Hamm Justified Laura Palmer Lost mad men Matt Weiner Mudcats Paris Barclay Patrick Gilmore Rosie Larson The Killing The Light from the TV Shows The Soup The Wire Thomas Drexler Twin Peaks Veena Sud Will Harris

2012 Kia Soul Gallery

April 4, 2012 / Staff

Cars home

Cars

kia

Jump start your mind and body

April 3, 2012 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Want to make your morning monumental? The stuff of legends? Axe Rise, the uplifting shower gel with Himalayan minerals and lime extract, simulates your senses to jump start your mind and body.

Beware of the Axe Effect: The Axe Effect may result in, but is not limited to, unrelenting female attention and/or late nights!

Videos

Axe Effect

Blu Tuesday: Broken Noses and Battle-Bound Horses

April 3, 2012 / Jason Zingale

It’s been two weeks since my last column, and although I welcomed the opportunity to catch up on some other work instead, believe me when I say that this isn’t going to become a habit. In fact, the main reason that I failed to write a column last week was because the studios didn’t send out any Blu-rays in time for review. This week’s line-up didn’t exactly make it very easy to get back on track, as it marks the start of what looks to be a slow and lackluster April, but there are still a few noteworthy releases to discuss.

“Chinatown”

It’s pretty hard to believe that Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” almost went home empty-handed at the 1975 Academy Awards (it ended up winning Best Original Screenplay), because it’s not only one of the best film noirs ever made, but it’s an American classic. Then again, when you take into account that it was going up against “The Godfather: Part II” in almost every category, it doesn’t sound so blasphemous, even if both movies lost major awards to other competition. Perhaps even stranger than its lack of Oscar love, however, is how long it took for “Chinatown” to finally be released on Blu-ray. The movie has hardly aged at all, and it’s only that much more evident while watching the new high-def transfer, which looks absolutely gorgeous. Though it’s hard to discuss the movie without sounding like a broken record, “Chinatown” remains one of Polanski’s finest films and features arguably the best performance of Jack Nicholson’s impressive career. There’s not much more to say. When you’re right, you’re right. And I’m right.

Blu-ray Highlight: Paramount hasn’t included any new bonus material on the Blu-ray release, but when the extras from the previous DVDs are already this good, there’s no need. Though it’s hard to choose just one, the retrospective featurette “Chinatown: An Appreciation” is an engrossing discussion about the movie by industry vets like Steven Soderbergh, Kimberly Pierce, Roger Deakins and James Newton Howard on everything from the script, to Polanski’s shooting method, to its memorable score and much more.

“War Horse”

Based on the children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo and the Tony Award-winning play of the same name, “War Horse” is like a movie from another era – an old-fashioned, Golden Age-style epic in the vein of “Gone with the Wind.” That could be the reason why it didn’t resonate with audiences as much as expected, but it likely has more to do with the fact that, despite having the makings of a real tearjerker, the movie lacks emotional punch. Though the various segments depicting Joey’s journey through war-torn Europe are enjoyable (particularly one involving enemy soldiers who must work together to free the horse from an entanglement of barbed wire), the core relationship between Joey and farmhand Albert is handled so poorly that you never really care about their fates. The movie will probably age a lot better than many of last year’s other Best Picture nominees, but I still fear that “War Horse” was made about 50 years too late.

Blu-ray Highlight: I didn’t receive a review copy in time, but after doing some digging around online, it sounds like the Blu-ray release has a number of good extras, including an hour-long making-of featurette that spans from pre-production to the wrap party.

Entertainment, Movies

Blu Tuesday Chinatown new Blu-rays War Horse

A chat with Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and creator Dan Harmon of “Community”

April 2, 2012 / Bob Westal

America loves an underdog; cult TV fans only love underdogs. So it’s no wonder that suddenly almost everyone seems to love “Community.”

TV’s backhanded salute to two-year colleges comes by its underdog status honestly. Seemingly cursed with underwhelming ratings despite wide acclaim, it was put on indefinite hiatus late last year after an outstanding musical episode gleefully spoofing “Glee.” Hollywood naysayers to the contrary, there was clearly plenty of life left in the highly imaginative, frequently surreal show set at Colorado’s fictional Greendale Community College, a sort of academic “Green Acres” where normal logic is permanently suspended.

The show, which airs Thursday at 8:00/7:00 central and is also viewable via Hulu and NBC.com, returned in mid-March to a surprise — extremely healthy Nielsen numbers (2.2/7 in the advertiser beloved 18-49 demo). The credit, the show’s makers agree, goes largely to the intense activist fan base.

“Community” stars comic Joel McHale (“The Soup”) and an outstanding ensemble cast with an ethnic makeup that, shockingly, actually resembles a typical suburban community college. Aside from the three cast members we spoke to, the show also features gifted former “3o Rock” writer and actor Donald Glover, Daniel Pudi, Alison Brie (aka Trudy Campbell of “Mad Men“), and some guy named Chevy Chase. Speaking of Mr. Chase, just as the original version of this piece was posted, the Bullz-Eye staffed noticed a burgeoning net-storm over what sure sounds like a pretty ugly altercation between Chase and executive producer Dan Harmon with possibly inevitable repercussions that we can only guess at.

Nevertheless, spirits were high one sunny Sunday afternoon in Anaheim just a couple of weeks back at the 2012 edition of WonderCon as a bunch of mostly fannish writers met with just a few of the very talented people behind “Community.” Yvette Nicole Brown plays the outspoken, devoutly religious, and disarmingly maternal Shirley Bennett; Gillian Jacobs is high-strung former anarchist Britta Perry; and “The Hangover” heavy and former real-life practicing M.D. Ken Jeong inhabits the role of Spanish teacher turned security guard Señor Ben Chang. Also present was ~~affable~~ seemingly affable creator and showrunner Dan Harmon. As befits a production that blends real intelligence with anything-for-a-laugh energy, everyone had something interesting to say to a table full of committed fans and this enthusiastic “Community” newbie.

Yvette Nicole Brown on the good ratings news.

2.2 is massive…for us that’s like the stratosphere. You could say, “Oh, we’re so fabulous.” No. The fans are fabulous. This is 100 percent flash mobs, black goatees, Subway sandwich buys. They really blanketed NBC and Twitter with their love for the show. I think it made people who had never heard of us go, “Huh. Let’s see what this is.” I’m praying they come back next week.

Creator Dan Harmon on the surprisingly good ratings for the show’s return episode.

I never thought our ratings made sense when they were as low as they were, but now I don’t think that these make sense. It was like a 50 percent increase or something. It was insane. I don’t know who got a Nielsen box or whose cat stepped on the remote. I hope that we can keep it up.

Ken Jeong on the show’s perceived near-cancellation.

The events that have transpired since December have only brought the show and the fans even closer. We have even more love out of it. In hindsight, this has all been such a blessing. You really get to feel the love right now.

Gillian Jacobs on the the role of improvisation on “Community.”

I would say that there’s a lot of goofing around. There’s not a lot of actual improv with the lines. Maybe two percent of what you see in the show is improv. It’s scripted; we try very hard to get it word perfect. It’s just a lot of us making up stupid songs. Stupid raps… We quote the show to each other and we become obsessed with certain lines and repeat them. Lines that probably nobody else cares or remembers, we repeat daily. It’s like jokes on joke on jokes on jokes and we can’t even remember the origin of them anymore.

Entertainment, Interviews, Television

30 Rock Alison Brie Andre Bennett Anthony Russo Ben Chang Britta Perry Chevy Chase Community Community interview Dan Harmon Dan Harmon interview Daniel Pudi Donald Glover Gillian Jacobs Gillian Jacobs interview glee Greendale Community College Hulu Joel McHale Ken Jeong Ken Jeong interview Malcolm Jamal Warner paintball Pierce Hawthorne Senor Chang Shirley Bennett The Soup Troy Wondercon Wondercon 2012 Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown interview