Category: Actresses (Page 108 of 258)

The calm after the storm

September 2, 2009 /

Thanks to some unusually humid weather, greater L.A. — and its air quality — is just beginning to recover from the still ongoing Station Fire. Hollywood is similarly recovering from the news of the Disney/Marvel merger. Still, there are a few items.

*  If you’re a member of the cult around 1999’s “The Boondock Saints,” you’ll be happy to hear that Troy Duffy and company are back and that “The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day” has been picked up for distribution. I missed both the original film and “Overnight,” the documentary about misbehavior and rank miscalculations of its director. Now, maybe, I should see both.

The movie has a lot of fans  of the young and male variety, and I’m one of those two things. Still, I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion I’d hate the movie and love the documentary, but we’ll see. The cast for the sequel looks very good, however. Two favorites of mine are included, stand-up genius and highly underrated thesp Billy Connolly is back from the original and the excellent Julie Benz of “Dexter” and “Angel” is featured as well.

* Guy Ritchie is apparently recreating himself as a franchise film director these days, and in the wake of his upcoming “Sherlock Holmes,” he’s been signed to do an adaptation of DC’s “Lobo,” which I take it will be some form of violent space opera. Nothing wrong with that.

* Presumably with inglourious cash in its pocket, The Weinstein Company has made an acquisition. Colin Firth will be taking the lead in an upcoming film about England’s King George IV VI, “The King’s Speech.”  Back in 1994, the very good stage adaptation, “The Madness of King George” dealt with the mental issues of George IV’s dad ancestor, George III. According to legend, the title was changed from “The Madness of George III” because of a fear that prospective filmgoers might assume it was a third sequel. They might as well re-title this one “The Speech Impediment of King George.”

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Pamela Adlon gets back to “Californication,” bids adieu to “King of the Hill”

August 28, 2009 /

Unless you watch “Californication” — or were a fan of Showtime’s swiftly canceled “Lucky Louie” — you may not know Pamela Adlon’s face. If you’ve ever watched “King of the Hill,” however, you almost certainly know the sound of her voice, because she played the pudgy, slow-witted Bobby Hill during the Fox series’ long run, which comes to a close September 13.

Adlon is, of course, neither pudgy nor slow-witted — which made her great company for Bullz-Eye’s Will Harris during their recent chat. One major topic, naturally, was the long, bumpy road “King” traveled during its time on the airwaves:

For years, Fox moved us around. We weren’t even prime time. They would say, ‘Prime time starts at 8 PM,’ and we’d be on at 7:30. And they pushed us around so much that we were canceled four times before this. But we kept growing back up from the pavement, like a flower. It’s just a testament to the show itself and its writing that it’s survived this long.

With “Californication” kicking off its third season, Adlon’s work on that series was a source of conversation, too — although she couldn’t talk much about what’s going to transpire in the coming weeks. She did, however, get in depth about her character’s story arc in Season Two:

I had E-mailed Tom Kapinos before we started production for the second season, and I was, like, ‘Come on, give me a little taste! Let me know what’s going on!’ And he said, “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Marcy had a bit of a drug problem back in the ‘80s. And she gets into that again.’ And I went, ‘Oh…!’ I wrote him back and said, ‘Yes! Marcy had a thirsty little nose!

To read more of Adlon’s thoughts on “Californication” and “King of the Hill,” as well as her prolific career in voiceover work, click on the image above or follow this link!

Actresses, External TV, Interviews, TV

“Defying Gravity” worth a look

August 27, 2009 /

Originally pitched to networks as “‘Grey’s Anatomy’ in space,” I was a bit leery heading into the first episode of “Defying Gravity,” which follows eight astronauts as they embark on a six-year mission through our solar system. The series is set in 2052, but features plenty of flashbacks to 2047, when this group of astronauts first started training for this mission.

I gave up on Ms. Meredith Grey a while ago, but I guess I can see the comparison. This series features a relatively small cast of core characters who live and work together. There’s an extremely cute heroine, Zoe (Laura Harris, who played Daisy Adair on the Showtime series “Dead Like Me”), and the gruff but likable hero, Maddux (played by the ever-watchable Ron Livingston, of “Office Space,” “Band of Brothers” and “Swingers” fame). The two are — wait for it — star-crossed lovers who can’t seem to get together despite an obvious attraction. There’s a history between these two, but I’ll stop there as to avoid ruining it for anyone.

This isn’t Maddux’s first time in space. On a previous mission to Mars, he was ordered to leave two crew mates by his commander, who is now running this mission years later. There is all sorts of ill will about that failed mission, which leads to loads of subtext and mean looks.

“Defying Gravity” is an ensemble drama, but Livingston and Harris are its heart and soul. Whether or not it’s for you will largely depend on whether or not you like these two characters. For something that falls in the sci-fi genre, it’s not terribly exciting or thrilling, but there’s a subtlety to the show that is engaging. With time, it ferments. And there’s an underlying sci-fi storyline that will keep the fanboys happy, at least for while.

I’m not sure that the series will last, as ratings have been less than stellar. It shed about 20% of its audience after the pilot, but has held onto virtually everyone who made it to the third episode. It’s slow place would seem to indicate one of those ambitious, long-term plans that may never see the light of day. But if it gets a second season, it’s worth a look on DVD.

Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External TV, TV, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

News from the sleepy town of H-wood

August 27, 2009 /

Nothing too exciting to report today, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to report.

* Dreamworks and, presumably, Steven Spielberg are “eying” one last project based on a book by the late Michael Crichton, to be written by David Koepp. Much as I admire Spielberg, this particular triumvirate has never done much to get me excited as a filmgoer, and yes, that includes the original “Jurassic Park.” Still, this time the topic is a non-fantasy pirate story, so who knows.

* Some movies to TV news, the cult teen black comedy, “Heathers,” is being adapted for TV, which I guess makes sense in the era of “Gossip Girl.” Also, Sam Raimi, still a major movie player courtesy of “Spiderman” and what not but also licking his wounds from the utterly unfair box office failure of “Drag Me to Hell,” is making a new tubular type deal.

Christina Hendricks on * Christina Hendricks, on the other hand, is going from TV to movies. Ms. Hendricks is a first rate actress currently making hearts go pitty-pat as the multifaceted Joan on “Mad Men.” She previously contributed a couple of tour-de-force guest spots on a show that was just about as outstanding in its own way, “Firefly.” Yes, I’m a big fan. And, sure, her movie gig is only a “best friend” kind of thing, but you gotta start someplace.

Action Movies, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Mad Men, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV Sci-Fi

A Quick Chat with Joan Rivers

August 26, 2009 /

There’s little question that one of the most lively panels during the early days of the TCA tour was the one dedicated to Joan Rivers’ new TV Land series, “How’d You Get So Rich?” Or, if you read my coverage of the panel, you may be more familiar with it as “How’d You Get So Fucking Rich?” But, y’know, that’s Joan for you. You can learn just about anything you need to know about the concept of the series by checking out the link to my panel coverage that I just offered up (though I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there’s a new episode of the series airing tonight at 10 PM EST / PST), but after she held court before the crowd of critics, a few of us actually had a chance to speak to her one on one for a few minutes each.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that, were it a contest to see who got the best pull quotes out of Joan, Joel Keller of TV Squad – who preceded me in speaking with her – would have taken the victory (she hadn’t been aware that David Tutera was scheduled to have his own TCA panel, but when he brought it up, she let fly with her thoughts on him in her usual forthright manner), but I still managed to get a couple of good lines from Ms. Rivers about “Z Rock,” “The Celebrity Apprentice,” and “Rabbit Test,” and the closing moments of our conversation will live in my memory forever.

Bullz-Eye: It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Joan Rivers: And it’s a pleasure to…well, we’ll see.

BE: (Laughs) I’ve got only got a couple of minutes, but I’ll do my best.

JR: Ask whatever you want.

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