Richard Linklater’s critically acclaimed film Boyhood is tearing up the awards circuit – in large part due to its innovative approach to telling the story of a family, with scenes shot across twelve years.
IFC Films has released video of an interview with Linklater and Ellar Coltrane, the boy in Boyhood, and it’s fascinating stuff. Check it out after the jump.
FOX’s Backstrom (Thursdays, 9/8C) could be seen as Dr. Gregory House as a police detective, or he could be seen as Sherlock Holmes as Inspector Lestrade. Whatever the case, Detective Lieutenant Everett Backstrom is the misanthropic head of a team of detectives that tackles the crimes that must be dealt with fast.
In the Swedish novels on which the series is based, Backstrom’s one gift is taking credit for the achievements of his team. Here, however, despite his selfishness and detestation of people in general – and despite fact that his team could probably do the job without him – he is more brilliant than they are so it takes less time to close a case if he works on it (he still tries to do as little work as possible).
Rainn Wilson stars as Det.-Lt. Backstrom and was kind enough to speak about the show – and his character – with a group of journalists/bloggers late last week. He had some interesting things to say – to see how he arrived at the conclusion he made in our headline, follow the jump.
Continue reading Rainn Wilson Says That Backstrom Is A Deeply, Deeply Sensitive Guy!
It’s a situation that’s familiar everyone of dating age – dumping/being dumped by someone and having to re-enter the dating pool. FXX’s Man Seeking Woman (Wednesdays, 10:30/9:30C) is a surreal series that stars Jay Baruchel as Josh Greenberg, a 25-year old guy who’s in that exact spot.
Recently, Baruchel spoke with a group of journalists/bloggers, including Eclipse’s own Lora Bofill and me, about the show.
Continue reading Everyman Jay Baruchel Is Single And Searching On Man Seeking Woman!
Archer (Thursdays, 10/9C) returns to FX this evening. Earlier I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call Q&A session with Executive Producer Matt Thompson. Not unlike a lot of folks we talk with, Thompson doesn’t like to give too much away about what’s coming up in his show – but he does have fun talking about behind the scenes stuff (it’s almost awe-inspiring how many guest stars come to the show as a result of the sharing of alcohol at industry parties, for instance).
To be fair, Thompson is really good at teasing upcoming events of Archer (he could write tags for Marvel’s SHIELD, no problem). So we get to learn that some favorite characters (Bionic Barry, and sexy/deadly Katya) are returning and that we are finally going to meet Pam’s sister. We also learn about the importance of continuity – and the strange forms it takes.
It’s one of the more entertaining Q&As I’ve done. See what I mean following the jump.
Doing a conference call Q&A with Bones showrunner Stephen Nathan, solo, still feels a bit odd. Once again, we were talking to him without the show’s creator, Hart Hanson – and Nathan’s riffing partner – present (Hanson, of course, is working away on FOX’s Backstrom – a series he also created).
Other than that, it was business as usual as Nathan talked about FOX’s most durable and dependable series – and the show’s milestone 200th episode.
Continue reading The 200th in the 10th – Bones’ Showrunner Stephen Nathan Talks Milestone!
FX’s hit series Sons of Anarchy closes down shop tomorrow night (10/9C) for the last time and late last week, Jimmy Smits took part in a conference call Q&A session to talk about the final season of Sons Of Anarchy and how Nero had gone from a character with a few episodes to making it to the end, ‘but maybe not the end end.’
Smits, who has several memorable roles over the years – from NYPD Blue’s Det. Bobby Simone to Dexter’s sociopathic Miguel Prado – talked about how he came to SOA and how pleased he was to have made such a substantial contribution to series’ mythology.
Continue reading Sons Of Anarchy’s Jimmy Smits Teases Series Finale And Nero’s Journey!
Gotham (FOX, Mondays, 9/8C) is one of the season’s most consistently performing new series. The story of the Gotham City between the time Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered and Batman first appears is the story of a city falling apart. Only a few members of the GCPD aren’t corrupt; organized crime has taken firm root, and the city’s most colorful characters are on the wrong side of the law.
Detective James Gordon is beginning to have an effect on his precinct, but real progress is still a ways off. Enter Harvey Dent – the man who begins as a lawyer in the District Attorney’s office and will rise to the become District Attorney before a mob boss scars his face with acid and takes on the guise of Two-Face.
Nicholas D’Agosto takes on the role of Harvey Dent this week on Gotham and D’Agosto spoke to a group of journalists on Friday about taking on this iconic role.
Continue reading Meet Harvey Dent: Gotham’s Nicholas D’Agosto Talks Coin Flipping ADA!
“Gortimer Gibbon’s Life On Normal Street” follows the zany adventures of Gortimer Gibbon (Sloane Morgan Siegel) and his two best friends Ranger (Drew Justice) and Mel (Ashley Boettcher) in their “ordinary life” on Normal Street. But life is anything but normal. With a hint of magic hidden in that quiet suburb, they encounter “arctic sludge, mind erasers, fatal amphibians, rogue robots,” and more. This coming-of-age series, created by writer David Anaxagoras premieres November 21, Friday on Amazon Prime Time Video. I had the chance to chat with rising young star Sloane Morgan Siegel about his role as Gortimer on “Gortimer Gibbon’s Life On Normal Street”.
Continue reading Sloane Morgan Siegel chats about Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street
As this season progresses, the show continues to follow Tommy Goodman and his “loveable” dog Mr. Pickles as they encounter all sorts of people in the good old fashioned town polluted by modern society. Unbeknownst to Tommy and his parents, Mr. Pickles has an evil streak that only Grandpa seems to see. I had the opportunity to speak with talented and hilarious voice actors Frank Collison, Jay Johnston, and Kaitlyn Robrock about their roles and “Mr. Pickles”.
This year, ABC Family’s Melissa & Joey’s Halloween episode (Tonight, 8/7C) is doing a bit of a time warp and getting all Sabrina The Teenage Witch – right down to guest starring Beth Broderick, who played Sabrina’s Aunt Zelda on the show.
Late last week, Melissa Joan Hart, who directed the special, sat down to talk with a group of fans and bloggers about the episode.
Continue reading Melissa Joan Hart Talks Halloween on Melissa & Joey!
Gracepoint’s (FOX, Thursdays, 9/8C) Anna Gunn, who won a couple Emmys for her turn as Skylar White on Breaking Bad, stars as Detective Ellie Miller, one of the detectives investigating the murder of a twelve-year old boy in the coastal town of Gracepoint. Not only is she investigating a horrific crime, she is doing so with the man who took the job she was promised. On top of that, she is a wife and mother to the dead boy’s best friend.
On October 16th, Gunn took part in a conference call Q&A to talk about Ellie Miller and Gracepoint. She talkedabout, among other things, how her character changes over the course of the ten-episode mystery; how she approached the role, and how she chooses projects.