U.S. marshall Raylon Givens, as played by Timothy Olyphant in FX’s awesome “Justified,” is the coolest new character on television… but let’s talk about the hat. The legendary Elmore Leonard, who created the character, told TV critic Alan Sepinwall: ”I think he ought to just chuck it. What’s he need it for? He’s not in the West; he’s from Kentucky.” Exactly. Watching the endless “Justified” promos the past few weeks, I thought the show was a modern-day Western… and I didn’t think I would get hooked on a modern-day Western. But Raylon is taking care of the bad guys in the Bluegrass State (and probably following the beloved Wildcats in the NCAA tournament in his free time.) “Justified,” adapted by Graham Yost (”Boomtown”), is loaded with great talent in front of and behind the camera. Hats off to the latest TV treasure. Now try wearing a UK cap.
Hats Off To ‘Justified’ — Not A Western
Mar 17th, 2010 by James K
Tags: Justified, Timothy Olyphant
Hog Quickies (March 15)
Mar 15th, 2010 by James K
Tags: Jason Castro, Larry David, Robert DeNiro, Summer Glau, Tobey Maguire
- Summer Glau has joined the cast of NBC superhero pilot The Cape. She will play an “investigative blogger.”
- Larry David said he may do another season of Curb The Enthusiasm for HBO.
- Sports movies casting: Robert DeNiro will play legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi in an ESPN biopic… Tobey Maguire will portray chess master Bobby Fischer.
- Have you heard Jason Castro’s terrific, stripped-down version of Crazy, the Gnarls Barkley hit?
- Genesis, ABBA, The Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and Iggy Pop and The Stooges were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame on Monday night.
- Gamers are excited about the March 16th release of Sony’s God of War III, the highly-anticipated final act of the Kratos trilogy. The Boston Herald gave it an A-, calling it “fascinating, beautiful and technically amazing” and “disgustingly violent.”
Starring Sarah Shahi
Mar 15th, 2010 by James K
Tags: Sarah Shahi, USA Network
One of the reasons we miss the NBC series “Life” is the absence of stunning Sarah Shahi on prime-time television. Good news: Shahi will be back as the lead in “Chasing Kate,” a new series on USA Network. Shahi will play Kate Reed, a top litigator who, frustrated with the bureaucracy and injustice of the legal system, becomes a mediator. USA Network is making 2010 the year of the women as it previously picked up “Covert Affairs” starring Piper Perabo. No air dates yet for either series.
‘South Park’ Has Tiger By The Tail
Mar 15th, 2010 by James K
Tags: South Park, Tiger Woods
Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming — “South Park” taking a swing at Tiger Woods. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the co-creators of the Comedy Central cartoon, will open the show’s 14th season on Wednesday with the troubled golfer encountering Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman in their animated Colorado town.
Stone told the AP:
“It’s such an important issue in America right now — the sex addiction outbreak. We’re all really concerned about him and hope he gets better.”
Planet 51: DVD Review
Mar 13th, 2010 by JP
DVD
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
In shops now
Add to cart
People thought I was out of my mind for even thinking about seeing this movie. It’s just an animated kiddie alien flick, right? It’s important to remember that there’s a clear delineation in the family movie world, which separates the dog food that parents play on a continuous loop to keep the little ankle-biters at bay (see also: the complete works of Miley Cyrus), and then the good stuff, that we can all watch together. Stuff like “Planet 51.” The hook is the premise of an American astronaut who lands on a supposedly lifeless planet only to discover that he is the alien. What he walks into is a world that’s essentially 1950’s Americana all the way. It’s a small town story with small town tales, but made all the more cute by these squidgy little green folks (weirdly pants-less, but whatever). The green ones, the town, the dogs – all beautifully rendered and with impeccable comic timing. Voice talent of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman and Sean William Scott accentuates these characters quite nicely. It’s a good little movie. You can put it on the shelf next to “Spaced Invaders.”
What can we say about Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video, which exploded this week, ringing up a half-million hits in its first 12 hours online? The eagerly-awaited, nine-minute film, which co-stars Beyonce, is no “Thriller.” “Telephone,” from the “Fame Monster” CD, is risque and ridiculous — in an entertaining way. It’s Gaga and director Jonas Akerlund (who did “Paparazzi”) channeling Russ Meter, Quentin Tarantino and “Thelma and Louise” to tell a twisted tale of lesbian murderers set to the innocuous lyrics of a song about a woman fed up with phone callers. There are plenty of pop culture references and product placement, bizarre costumes, nifty choreography and pixelated full frontal nudity. What does it all mean? Gaga told E! that her intent was to take “the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology and turn it into something that was more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are.” OK, if you say so.
The Pacific: Review
Mar 12th, 2010 by James K
Tags: HBO, Review, The Pacific
TELEVISION
Premieres Sunday @ 9pm on HBO
“The Pacific” will rock your soul and make your heart bleed. A 10-part HBO World War II miniseries, the long-awaited companion piece to “Band of Brothers” from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks which begins Sunday night, is a masterful, compelling, intense and brutal depiction of battle, the men who fight it and then have to handle the sometimes unbearable consequences. It will be the television event of the season… as a weekly shot to digest and ponder… or better yet, if you can wait, a gigantic movie — for that’s what it is — to be experienced in one emotional viewing.
Spielberg and Hanks, who collaborated on the brilliant, beloved Emmy award-winning “Brothers,” a landmark HBO event in 2001, had no choice: they had to make “The Pacific” and tell the rest of the story. For the sake of history. Everyone knows about the American troops that stormed the beaches and fought the Germans in the familiar setting of Germany. Not as many are as well-versed on the wide, wide world of the Pacific battlegrounds. We know that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, drove the United States into the conflict, and that we took care of business and raised the flag at Iwo Jima.
But it was a very different war… against a very different enemy that would rather die than surrender… in a very different environment, a living jungle hell of torrid weather and frightening disease. “The Pacific” drops you smack in the middle of this mess. You can almost hear the mosquitoes buzzing in your ears.
The producers felt it was important that the mini-series, which took four years to develop, be based on real experience. “The Pacific” tracks the intertwined real-life journeys of three U.S. marines — Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale), Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello) and John Basilone (Jon Seda), a Medal of Honor winner. Books written by Leckie and Sledge provided some of the source material.
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