Empire States: Red State Of Mind - Part One
Posted on Friday December 10, 2010, 17:24 by James White in Empire States
 Empire attends Kevin Smith’s filmmaking Q&A series - Part One: David Klein
Kevin Smith, a man whose name has been synonymous with indie filmmaking for years, is entering what could be described as the next act of his career. After making movies funded by studios and chafing against the restrictions, he’s going back to basics, scraping up the money to make his latest, horror move Red State, on his own terms. And while his career and recognition factor meant he didn’t have to max out any credit cards this time, he’s still taking a big risk and ploughing a lot into this new endeavour.
At the same time, he has extended his seemingly boundless yen for talking about his work and himself, building a network of podcasts featuring the filmmaker and his friends chewing the cud on all manner of subjects. In less than a year, he has a podcast show running every day of the week for free online, a labour of love that appears to be slowly t... Continue reading... Comment Now (3 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: The Walking Dead: Days Gone Bye
Posted on Monday November 1, 2010, 05:00 by James White in Small Screen
 What happens when the closing credits roll on a zombie film and the survivors are left to fend for themselves in a land infested with the undead? It’s certainly an intriguing premise that a few films have tackled, but it took Robert Kirkman to really crack it with his ongoing (for seven years now!) comic book series The Walking Dead. Kirkman didn’t just want to follow the characters for a few days or weeks, or even months, but years after the initial outbreak. So while the comic initially attracted a lot of interest from filmmakers, it seems only natural for the story to be told on TV, where many more hours can be dedicated to following what happens. And committed horror fan Frank Darabont has held on to the idea like a dog with a bone for years, keeping the flame alive through an unsuccessful attempt to get the show up and running at US network NBC before finally locking in a deal with AMC, the channel behind such shows as Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
If you’ve never cracked open a... Continue reading... Comment Now (3 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Boardwalk Empire: When alcohol was outlawed, outlaws became kings
Posted on Sunday September 19, 2010, 20:33 by James White in Small Screen
 If the latest show to saunter down the pipeline from US network HBO had an actual canine pedigree, it would probably be strutting around the show ring at Crufts, lumbered with a name like Prince Masterson Von Bonio, known to his over-enthusiastic owners as Matty. You want to talk pedigree? How about the fact that Boardwalk Empire comes from the brain of Terence Winter, one of the select few that Sopranos creator David Chase treated as one of his capos. More? Try the fact that the show has recruited a cast that includes the likes of Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg and Kelly Macdonald, not to mention a roll call of actors from other great shows such as The Wire (OMAR!)
But above all else, surely the biggest fish hooked on this particular line is Martin Scorsese. Returning to television in a directorial (and non-documentary) position for the first time since a 1986 episode of Amazing Stories, Scorsese agreed to produce the show and step behind the camera for the pilot, ... Continue reading... Comment Now (10 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Sons Of Anarchy: Season Three Rides In
Posted on Wednesday September 8, 2010, 05:15 by James White in Small Screen
 Apologies to anyone seething in the UK, where the second season has only just finished, but the bikes of SAMCRO roared back on to America's airwaves on Tuesday night, which can only mean one thing: Sons of Anarchy has returned.
Kurt Sutter’s blacktop Shakespeare tale of a motorcycle gang and the various shifting allegiances as they smuggle drugs, run weapons and rule their small California town has grown into one of the best dramas to come out of the US. The emotions run high, the violence is brutal but the characterisation is sharp and this is the most charismatic bunch of criminals since The Sopranos left the air. Even if they can’t swear like them…
I came late to the Anarchy party. After sampling the pilot and one or two episodes of the first season, I decided I simply couldn’t connect with these lawless bikers. But sheer pressure from people whose opinions I respect led me back this summer, and I binged on both seasons in a fortnight’s marathon. I&rsquo... Continue reading... Comment Now (3 comments)
Back To TopSmall Screen: Emmys 2010: Something Old, But Something New Too
Posted on Monday August 30, 2010, 07:17 by James White in Small Screen
 The Emmy Awards rolled around again in the States on Sunday and there were actually a few surprises dotted among the expected winners and repeat… well, I wouldn’t call them offenders, since there were some deserving choices.
The biggest news is that media sensation Glee and big US comedy hit Modern Family did decent business, with Modern Family scoring Comedy Series and the Writing for a Comedy Series award, plus a Supporting Actor win for the always funny Eric Stonestreet. Glee, meanwhile, walked away with a well-deserved win for Jane Lynch (who is one of the few characters to really bring the funny on the series) and a Directing for a Comedy Series gong that went to the show’s co-creator, Ryan Murphy.
The surprises also came from elsewhere, with Kyra Sedgwick snatching an unexpected first award as Lead Actress in a Drama for cop show The Closer. And there was a rousing cheer when Jim Parsons scooped his first win as Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for The Big Bang The... Continue reading... Comment Now
Back To TopComic-Con 2010: Panel Report: Cowboys & Aliens
Posted on Sunday July 25, 2010, 08:22 by James White in Comic-Con 2010
 If Guillermo del Toro is the undisputed king of Comic-Con’s Hall H, and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are the top jesters, then Jon Favreau is easily the ringmaster.
Or maybe the rockstar, since he arrived to roaring approval and pounding music. Thanking the fans of Hall H for getting behind Iron Man and its sequel, he was quick to raise a cheer by admitting that they’d considered filming Cowboys in 3D, but that he wanted to shoot on film, and that post-converting a movie was, unless you take the time to do it properly, like colourising a black and white film. Gawd bless ‘im for voicing what we’ve all been thinking recently. There was even room for a zinger: “Take the money you save and see it twice!”
And Favs wasn’t alone. He brought out stars Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach out, and even called up writers Rob Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
But there was a bigger surprise on the horizon: ... Continue reading... Comment Now
Back To TopComic-Con 2010: Panel Report: Paul
Posted on Sunday July 25, 2010, 05:12 by James White in Comic-Con 2010
 There was drama even before the Paul panel began, as, sometime near the end of the Resident Evil panel, there was a stabbing incident, apparently between two con-goers fighting over chairs. Our innocence is broken…
Still, despite a 45-minute delay, the Paul team arrived to brighten our spirits and make us forget about blood-spilling incidents.
Introduced by the panel’s moderator, the cast arrived to righteous applause. But what do you expect when Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are one stage? Greg Mottola (happy), Simon (mellow) Nick, (triumphant), Jason Bateman (sprightly), Bill H (gawky), Sigourney weaver (big cheers), Jeff Tambor (stately), Joe Lo Truglio (State-ly… because he used to be in US comedy troupe The State. Geddit? Oh, nevermind.), Seth Rogen (some mild cheers, though maybe that was due to leftover Hornet animosity).
Simon got proceedings off to a suitably audience-grabbing style by quickly name-dropping Shaun of the Dead (a trick ... Continue reading... Comment Now
Back To TopComic-Con 2010: Panel Report: Priest
Posted on Saturday July 24, 2010, 17:41 by James White in Comic-Con 2010
 Priest carries with it a certain amount of baggage in that it’s the second collaboration between director Scott Stewart and star Paul Bettany after the angelic/apocalyptic Legion, which was shown off to positive effect at last year’s Comic-Con but ended up a damp squib in reality and at the box office.
But when Stewart was introduced by Stu Levy, the head of Tokyopop comics (the company behind Priest’s hefty, sixteen-volume source material), the crowd was surprisingly positive. The pair were quick to cut the chat and get to the meat- some footage from the film, which is apparently in the middle of a months-long conversion to 3D. And yes, Stewart tried to convince us all that this won’t be another Clash of the Titans.
The teaser revealed the movie to be a rough cross between Mad Max’s dusty future and something out of Dark City. It looks like it could be fun – particularly when you watch Bettany and co-sta... Continue reading... Comment Now (1 comment)
Back To TopComic-Con 2010: Panel Report: Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
Posted on Saturday July 24, 2010, 08:32 by James White in Comic-Con 2010
 There is no getting away from it: Guillermo del Toro is one of the true kings of Comic-Con.
Even when he’s the surprise guest (such as Thursday’s Tron Legacy panel), he can command the audience like few other filmmakers, blending raw, funny language with passion and insight into the business. So when the event is focused on a film that the beloved Mexican multi-hyphenate has co-written and produced, it was hardly a surprise that he dominated the time and got the lion’s share of the questions.
Despite the presence of director Troy Nixey (who was introduced as “from Canada, so be gentle”), it was del Toro’s domain. The reaction was nothing less than rapturous as he was announced and arrived on stage to proclaim that he was delighted with the chocolates left waiting for him. “That’s how they attract fat people,” he quipped. “They put f****ng chocolate here and I’m driven.”
But ever the magnanimous collaborat... Continue reading... Comment Now (1 comment)
Back To TopSmall Screen: True Blood: Bad Blood
Posted on Monday June 14, 2010, 05:21 by James White in Small Screen
 “This episode contains violence, nudity, language and adult content. Viewer discretion is advised.” Welcome back True Blood… I’ve missed you.
The title card that US cable channel HBO throws up before screenings of the show to warn unsuspecting parents and, one suspects, to entice entirely suspecting teens into watch the thing is usually viewed as a gauntlet by show runner Alan Ball, who likes to take the Southern Gothic flavour of writer Charlaine Harris and add in a liberal sprinkling of extra gore, skin, sizzle and sin. Not that the books necessarily went wanting in that department, but the TV series has ramped everything up.
I’ve always wavered back and forth in my appreciation for the show. I nearly gave up early on, turned off by the overwrought turns of Anna Paquin as Sookie and Stephen Moyer as Bill. And while I still find their story of love across the boundaries of death and slightly wonky Southern accents frustrating at times, they’ve slowly... Continue reading... Comment Now (7 comments)
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