Category: Actresses (Page 146 of 258)

Heroes 3.13 – When They Said to Choose A Side, It Made You Want To Hide

December 16, 2008 /

First things first: Hayden Panetierre is not a great actress. When her time on “Heroes” has finally come to a conclusion, I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that she ends up doing the straight-to-video or TV-movie circuit for the remainder of her career. I’ve been wrong before on guessing people’s ultimate career fates, but having watched the scenes tonight where Claire and Sylar are battling over the intercom, I’m feeling pretty good about this one. With precious few exceptions, she just can’t seem to deliver a menacing line without making it sound like the height of cliche…which it is, of course. But a better actress could’ve made it sound cool, while her delivery just made me groan.

I was way disappointed with how little action we got out of HRG’s plan to release the villains to serve as chum. In the end, it basically just felt like an excuse to break out the Puppet Master again…not that there’s anything wrong with that. But even that didn’t pay off. You knew the showdown between Sylar and the Puppet Master was going to turn out poorly for the latter, but I was hoping for at least a little more action than just Sylar asking, “You think you can control me?” Bam, Puppet Master’s strings are cut. Boring.

Sorry to see Claire’s biological mom go, as I kind of liked her, but once she got that shot of adrenaline, I figured she wasn’t long for this world, and I was right.

Finally, Tracy breaks out her powers again…and, subsequently, Knox breaks into a whole bunch of little pieces. It was a nice and shocking moment, to be sure. We really only got one other Tracy moment that’s worth discussing, but it was arguably the best scene of the episode: her encounter with Hiro. First, Tracy’s David Spade impression made me laugh (“And you are…?”), then she called Hiro “Pikachu,” which earned a giggle, but then Hiro offering an apology followed by a sock in the face was almost as funny as Daphne’s expression thereafter.

Speaking of Daphne, when she said, “And you were there, and you were there,” all I could think was, “Hello, ‘Wizard of Oz’ reference,” and the same went for “A Few Good Men” when Sylar screamed, “Tell me the truth!” Was this intentional? Were there more unabashed line thefts that I missed…?

Who doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to see George Takei wielding a sword again? There wasn’t really much to that scene, except to get a good laugh out of the father/son battle and to finally show the moment where the formula was torn in half, but, again, it’s George Takei wielding a sword.

Overall, I was really only “meh” about this episode. The scenes with Nathan and Peter were just more brotherly bickering, the conversation between Sylar and Mama Petrelli had limited emotional heft, given that we knew full well that she wasn’t his mother, and the whole subplot about Ando developing his time-travel-related ability was just plain ridiculous. Frankly, I’m glad to see PrimaTech finally go up in smoke; it’s about time we got more of a look at the heroes and villains outside of the same world they’ve always been centered around.

Then again, maybe I’m just tired.

Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, Heroes, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

A Chat with Ashley Williams (“Novel Adventures”)

December 10, 2008 /

Even though she spent her youth as a cast member of “As the World Turns,” it never occurred to Ashley Williams that, after going to school and getting her theater degree, she’d be able to come out to Los Angeles and get cast in the first show for which she auditioned. But that’s what happened, and that’s how she burst onto the scene as the female lead in NBC’s “Good Morning, Miami.” It wasn’t necessarily the greatest experience for her, given her lack of a comedic background, but it was certainly a learning experience…and what she basically learned was that, all things being equal, she’d rather not have to deal with the hassle of carrying a series on her shoulders. Since then, she’s been picking and choosing smaller parts at her leisure – you may have seen her on “Monk” or “Psych” or her stint in Season 1 of “How I Met Your Mother” – and, most recently, she’s been having a ball as part of the ensemble of CBS’s original online series, “Novel Adventures,” about a decidedly unique book club. We spoke with Ashley about how much fun it was to film the series, how she found her way into her current method of choosing roles, and whether she’d be willing to be the “Mother” if she was asked.

Stay tuned for…

Continue reading »

Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, New Media, News, Reviews, TV, TV Comedies

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.12 – Sydney saved my life tonight, sugar bear

December 9, 2008 /

Remember the scene in “Animal House” where Pinto takes the checkout girl to the Delta Tau Chi toga party? She gets drunk, they fool around, and then she passes out right when Pinto reaches under her bra and realizes she’s artificially padded her rack with a bunch of tissue?

“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is the checkout girl.

The last two shows have been nothing but padding. Enough, already. If you have a story to tell, then tell it; please don’t waste our time with these episodes that completely ignore half of the cast to focus on people who will not likely be seen or heard from again. Yes, Terminators are coming back to kill people besides John, we get it. You’ve made that abundantly clear. Now for the love of Jebus, start pushing your story forward. If we’ve hung in there this long, I think we’re entitled to some kind of payoff. Lord knows, we’ve been patient.

Outside of showing “When Derek Met Jesse” in the future, the only important takeaway from this week’s episode is that John Connor is not the only savior of the resistance in the future. John might lead the resistance, but a girl named Sydney – still in the womb when tonight’s episode begins – gives the humans a huge advantage when she turns out to be immune to a biological agent the machines use to wipe out a compound. Derek and Jesse save Sydney in the future, and then her blood saves them both from dying from the virus. Cut to our present, where Derek is helping Sydney’s mother deliver her before she dies, and realizing that Sydney’s sister Lauren is the one who gave him the antidote. Sweet and surreal, yes?

And completely pointless, in the current economic climate. If the story arc at season’s end hasn’t given up a little sumpin’ sumpin’, they’re getting canned, and they’ll have no one but themselves to blame for being so prudish on the front end. Sorry, but that’s just the way society works these days. Blame Lindsay Lohan.

In fairness to the uber-conservative show runners, there is another takeaway from this episode: Cameron gets the bejeezus kicked out of her by the Triple-8 assigned to kill Sydney, and is even knocked “unconscious” at one point. They’re setting up that ‘faulty chip’ plot device, to be sure. God help them, then, if they do nothing with it in next week’s final episode of the year.

Actors, Actresses, External TV, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

Icons of Horror

December 7, 2008 /

It’s a testament to the strength of the England’s famed Hammer Studios that, while the shock/fear factor of the studio’s “graphic violence” has definitely faded over the decades, three of the four films in this package of lesser known offerings still provide plenty of old fashioned horror/thriller fun. It’s just a shame the box art is so ugly. 1960’s “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll” eschews Hammer’s usual decapitations and hand-removals in favor of lots of implied sexuality and heavy use of the B-word in a silly but entertaining twist on the Robert Louis Stevenson tale. Here, the nutty professor…I mean repressed, cuckolded doctor (Paul Massie) becomes a suave, better looking (and suddenly beardless) version of himself who decides to do the obvious – go out and get laid, and also do something about his no good wife (hot Dawn Addams) and her ultra-suave louse of a lover (Christopher Lee, often hilarious in one of his best roles).

The Terrence Fisher-directed “The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb” from 1964 is exactly what it sounds like and even more amusing, despite the absence of Lee, who played the mumster the first time around. Also directed by Fisher that year, “The Gorgon” is the only a stinker of the set, a leaden blend of 19th century horror and ancient Greek mythology that even Hammer stalwarts Lee and Peter Cushing cannot save. 1961’s “Scream of Fear” might have a lousy name, but it’s a more than fitting finale. A modern day black and white thriller featuring strong performances from Susan Strasberg, Ann Todd, and Christopher Lee (who else?) as an untrustworthy French medic, it starts out as a truly creepy spin on “Gaslight,” but turns out to be a nasty, clever treat from the team of writer-producer Jimmy Sangster and director Seth Holt (“The Nanny”). Modern day gorehounds can have their torture porn, I’ll take Hammer.

Click to buy “Icons of Horror”

Actors, Actresses, External Movie DVDs, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies, Reviews

A Couple of Questions with…Miss Piggy?!?

December 5, 2008 /

The Muppets are returning to NBC this holiday season, offering up a new special: “A Muppet’s Christmas: Letters to Santa.” In addition to the usual mob of guest stars (pun not intended, even though Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa from “The Sopranos” join such other notables as Uma Thurman, Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg), old-school Muppet fans will be pleased to hear that the music for the hour-long program has been written by the one and only Paul Williams, a.k.a. the man who brought you “The Rainbow Connection.”

Remember how excited my wife was about my getting to interview Matthew McConaughey? You should’ve seen my 3-year-old daughter when she found out that NBC was giving Daddy a chance to speak to Miss Piggy about her latest Muppet endeavor. Alas, it was a packed call, so I was only able to ask her a pair of questions, but it was enough to make me the coolest Daddy in the world…for, y’know, the duration of those questions, anyway.

Bullz-Eye: Hello Miss Piggy. It’s a pleasure.

Miss Piggy: Yes, it is.

BE: I couldn’t help but notice that you’re in the beginning of the special and you’re at the end of the special, but you’re not so much in the middle. And there were some rumors about possible…well, I don’t want to say diva actions, but, I mean, was it just a mere scheduling conflict?

MP: Well, I am very busy. I’m, you know, highly in demand. But really, you know, the movie kind of takes a turn and it becomes more of an action film. And, you know, I just…I don’t do my own stunts. And, you know, I really thought it best if I just stayed put while everybody else went off to deliver these letters to the North Pole. And, plus, it’s really cold at the North Pole, and I’m not really into cold. I don’t know about you, but I like to be warm. That’s why I didn’t go out to do this interview with you. That’s why I’m doing it from home. Because it’s just too darn cold outside. But it was my choice, really. It was my choice. I talked to the writers. I said, you know, keep me where it’s warm and I’ll be happy. And I can just come back…I just can come in at the end of the movie, save the day and take all the credit…and, you know, leave everybody with the last impression. That’s the secret. Nobody remembers the middle anyhow. Now, really, movies have famous opening shots, right?

BE: Right.

MP: Right? Like “Touch of Evil” or “The Player,” or…I don’t know if you’re a film buff?

BE: I am, yes.

MP: Yes. You know, but…and they have famous end shots, too. But can you think of a famous middle? No.

BE: No?

MP: So what’s the point?

BE: Fair enough.

MP: Why be in the middle? Okay.

BE: And you mentioned the writers. Have you by any chance…or the rest of the Muppets…had any meetings with Jason Segel yet? I understand he’s in talks to write a new Muppet movie.

MP: That’s what he’s telling everybody. Yeah. You know, he hasn’t called me. I haven’t…so I have no idea. I have no idea. Maybe he’s writing a movie, you know. I’m writing a movie too, though. So who knows? You know, maybe the next Muppet movie will be penned by moi?

BE: Fair enough.

MP: It could happen.

BE: Sure. Thank you very much, Miss Piggy.

MP: You’re welcome!

Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, TV, TV Comedies

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