True Blood starring Alexander Skarsgård, Chris Meloni and Steven Moyer:
NEW True Blood Wallpaper and Posters (HBO.com):
True Blood Season 5 "Everything Is At Stake" Promo (HD):
TRUE BLOOD - Season 5 - TV Guide Magazine Scans: Tara as Pam's progeny
All signs are pointing that way. See the video uptop and here's another (read above TVGuide snippet).
SOURCE: TV Guide Magazine
Click through Picasa slideshow (below) for more/full sizes.
This is either proof of many people long ago calling this right or a complete foiler.
I don't wish to believe that vampire Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) has had the power to resurrect dead people and convert them to vampires because this is the first ever I've heard of this vamp power in the Sookie-verse.
If this is true, I commend them for trying to do something for the Tara (Rutina Wesley) character. Being made vampire she'll reallybe able to let loose with all her rage--snap a few necks--maybe of her fellow vampires! And any excuse for more Pam since it seems her maker Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) will be off bromancing Bill (Steven Moyer) in season 5 is fine by me.
Bringing back a guy that writes True Blood comics and used to be the Reverend Steve Newlin (Michael McMillian) though it may have been easy to do, is hard to understand, 'cause I hate the guy. He's bloody annoying and over-the-top cheesy.
Love the shot of Tyrion's sellsword, 'Bronn' fighting in the Battle of Blackwater' :
Jerome Flynn is exactly as I would have pictured the character from reading the books and he certainly acts the part. I'm going on record as wanting Bronn's fate in the Battle of Blackwater be exactly like that of the book. It worked very well there and will here as well. Seriously. It's a very bloody battle.
Right: Varys and Tyrion Lannister (Conleth Hill and Peter Dinklage) Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO
Click through the thumbnails for the full-size HQ photo & wallpaper.
GAME OF THRONES' penultimate Battle of the Blackwater episode is just a little over a week away and HBO has just released the first image from the game and life-changing bloody battle.
Here’s Bronn (Jerome Flynn) taking aim on a cliff, with what appears to be part of Blackwater Bay and King’s Landing behind him FYI 'Blackwater' will take place at night as, executive producer David Benioff stated, “Flaming arrows at night look gorgeous.”
RUTINA WESLEY as TARA THORNTON in TRUE BLOOD Season 5 premiering on HBO June 10:
Despite reassurances that 'Tara' would again be a featured player in TRUE BLOOD season 5, some viewers were skeptical on account of her final scene in Sookie's kitchen. Wesley herself has said 'half her head' was blown off when Tara flung herself between (now dead) Debbie Pelt's shotgun blast and Sookie. Didn't look survivable.
However, through what can only now be attributed to mystical/supernatural forces of which there are many in Bon Temps, Tara looks fairly intact in this headshot (no pun) poster art, though to be fair, we are only seeing half her head.
CLICK TO Enlarge these TRUE BLOOD Season 5 Character Posters (May 10 2012)
Question: Do you have any True Blood scoop? The wait is seriously killing me!
Ausiello:
Terry (Todd Lowe) will spend much of the season on the road with his ex-military buddy Patrick (Scott Foley). “Most of the time we are out in the greater 50 states tracking down other members of our platoon trying to get some closure to this event that happened over in Iraq,” reveals Foley of the duo’s hush-hush storyline, which required “a lot of running and fighting and jumping. There’s a lot of physicality.”
VALENTINA CERVI as SALOME in TRUE BLOOD season 5 on HBO:
True Blood Season 5: Vampyr Tease:
True Blood returns with its 5th season on June 10th:
CHRIS MELONI as the leader of The Vampire Authority drops fang in TRUE BLOOD Season 5:
KRISTEN BAUER VAN STRATEN as 'Pam' in TRUE BLOOD Season 5 Official Character Promotional PHOTO (John P. Johnson/HBO): Click thumbnails (below) for full size.
True Blood - Season 5 - Various Promotional Episode Photos:
First look at the Authority! Chris Meloni looks like 'Stabler' in a more expensive suit. All the Authority looks/dresses like well-paid corporate people, save Jacob Hopkins as thes the youngest Vampire Authority chancellor who looks like he's dressing up as high-powered business guy (or maybe they all are all in fact, a vampire version of the one-per-cent).
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.01 - Turn! Turn! Turn! SYNOPSIS: Sookie and Lafayette clean up the Tara and Debbie Pelt mess; Bill and Eric are visited by the Vampire Authority; Sam and Alcide deal with an angry werewolf pack. (Written by Brian Buckner; directed by Daniel Minahan) (TV-MA) June 10 premiere
With the release of the TRUE BLOOD EPISODE 5.01 (#49) synopsis and the photo above we now know that Lafayette is the one we previously saw hooded, pictured with Sookie appearing to be filling in a grave in Sookie's yard. From there, it is really hard to tell. Did a vampire show up as well and attempt to turn Tara? Did Tara fully die making that impossible? Will Lafayette's new-found abilities as a medium--a communicator with the dead--'resurrect' Tara?
We know that the actress playing her, Rutina Wesley, is on-board with the show as a featured player but in what form? My guess is as a spectre or a ghost, if you prefer. She's not coming back as a (mindless) zombie. That would make no sense given that the stage is set with her cuz Lafayette being able to 'speak' with her still.
I suppose we could play around with the notion that oh, Pam say, turns her but I just don't get why Pam would be inclined to do so--even if she could.
(Fun observation: When the photo above is blown up, the blood pattern on Sookie's forehead looks just like the one she has in season 1 when she wakes up after nearly being killed by the 'Rattrays,' to Bill licking her forehead where blood was drying on her now-healed wound. Could it be a call-back to the time when Sookie was 'resurrected' by Bill?)
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.02 - Authority Always Wins - SYNOPSIS: Tara resurfaces in Bon Temps; Pam recalls her human life and first encounter with Eric; Bill and Eric meet Salome at the Vampire Authority headquarters. (Written by Mark Hudis; directed by Michael Lehmann.) (TV-MA) : June 17 Premiere.
TRUE BLOOD - Episode 5.03 - Whatever I Am, You Made Me- SYNOPSIS: Bill and Eric barter for their lives with Roman, the head of the Authority; Jason reunites with his old high school teacher; Sookie searches for Tara. (Written by Raelle Tucker; directed by David Petrarca.) (TV-MA) June 24 Premiere
TRUE BLOOD Season 3 Episode 9 "Everything is Broken" ERIC NORTHMAN (Alexander Skarsgård) is interrogated by the The Vampire Authorty (VIDEO) (HBO):
Russell will eat us after he eats our children... True Blood - 3x09 - 'Everything Is Broken' - Official HBO Recap:
Russell makes headlines in the latest episode. Watch the Recap.
Since we know that TRUE BLOOD Season 5 will have an emphasis that goes heavy on the previously barely-knownVampire Authority(we mostly knew of them through the now-truly dead "Nan Flanagan") and that will include the return of Russell Edgington, I thought it would be fun to revisit the episode that featured them both most heavily: True Blood - 3x09 - 'Everything Is Broken'.
True Blood Moments: Eric's panic (S3E09): The V-Squad is about to bust in...
Eric, Pam and Ginger with the V-Patrol busting down their door:
TRUE BLOOD - EPISODE 3.09 - 'Everything Is Broken' was not the best eppy of True Blood ever. But there were still some truly solid scenes. I've got a lots of screencaps as well as some great VIDEO scenes from the episode. Enjoy!
This episode did feel sort of choppy. It lacked cohesion as well as the thrills and chills of the previous 2 eppys. Yet Nan Flanagan (Jessica Tuck) was a hoot. We got lots of Pam candy not to mention Pam crying. Crying! Over the prospect of her maker, Eric being punished by death when the Vampire Authority rendered it's opinion about his (mis)deeds. So sweet the way he held her head on his chest like the child (of his) she is. We also had Nan revealing her true colours, not mainstreaming.
JESSICA TUCK AS Vampire Authority rep., Nan Flanagan, storms Fangtasia and interrogates Eric & Co.. And she brought friends.
Good ole Jason proved that wooden bullets actually work! Almost made up for the Crystal storyline which has really been dragging. Vampire Bill going to the land of the Fae was pretty cool. Surprised the heck out of Claudine. She handled it well while he bungled it completely.The fact is, Bill will steal Sookie's light if she stays with him--any dead guy will.
Nan Flanagan goes to Fangtasia for answers about the Magister's whereabouts. Bill gets to the bottom of Sookie's real identity. Jason finds an unlikely ally in his feud with Felton and Calvin. Arlene has a pessimistic view of her husband. ' (AUGUST 15TH 2010)
Claudine not at all trusting or believing Bill's proclamation that he loves Sookie and 'would never harm her.'
True Blood Season 3 Episode 9 - Eric: 'Everything ends, even the immortals.' VIDEO (HD)
'If I can't go on, its your time to be a maker.' Eric to Pam:
JASON KILLS FRANKLIN/SAVES TARA HD (VIDEO):
TRUE BLOOD Season 3 Episode 9 : Jason Has A Wooden Bullet And A Great Aim!
In a scene that has since become a fan fave involving Jason and Tara and Franklin and the wooden bullet which Jason procured some months back during his Fellowship of the Sun detour.
Russell Has Spine (VIDEO):
Denis O'hare as deranged King Russell providing us with our weekly dose of crazy camptasticness in TRUE BLOOD - EPISODE 3.09 - 'Everything Is Broken':
Sookie and Bill: 'I'm a faery!?!' True Blood 3.09 Screencaps (HBO):
Some news I'd missed from TvGuide Magazine after the jump: A tie breaking opportunity for the two vamps will come soon, when Sookie learns a secret about herself. It’s the answer to “What are you?,” the question Bill asked Sookie the first day they met.
“It complicates issues,” says showrunner Alan Ball, adding that the discovery will have a major impact on all her romantic relationships. “It makes Sookie question a lot. She has moments where she’s like, ‘I’ve had it with vampires.’” Does that mean Alcide has a chance? Yep! “When you’re fighting for your life, and everything you’ve taken for granted is revealed as something else than what you thought, and there’s an insanely hot person next to you, there is definitely going to be energy,” says Ball, of the growing affection between the two. Adds Paquin, “They find comfort in each other. Plus, he’s big and he’s strong and he’s warm.” As season 3 winds down, expect more twists than a backcountry dirt road. The biggest may come from Sookie when she discovers just how dark passion can be. “Sookie started off the show as a virgin,” Ball says. “But we’ll see a whole new side of her. Had she seen that side back then, she, herself, would have been shocked.” And that’s not the only thing that will shake Sookie up. “Toward the end of the season, she’s not really concerned about “Who am I going to pick?’ She’s more concerned about evading forces that want her for reasons I can’t disclose,” says Ball.
Stephen Moyer as Bill, Alexander Skarsgård as Eric and Lucy Griffiths as Nora, Eric's sister in TRUE BLOOD Season 5:
Lucy Griffiths is playing Eric Northman's, Godric-sired sister, Nora. Says Griffiths:
"She's an irreverent British lady who we think was turned during Elizabethan or Victorian times," Lucy reveals. "It's been years since she's seen Eric, and she is very excited. She looks up to him, but they've had a fiery love/hate relationship in the way that brothers and sisters do."
Nora is a member of the Vampire Authority ruling council, and is rumoured to be a double agent. Juicy!
Update May 3, 2012 - CASTING CALL:
True Blood - Episode 5.09 - Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Casting Call:
[FAERIE] Female Caucasian, early to late 20s. She is radiantly beautiful and British. POSSIBLE RECURRING Source: Rhoswen7
TRUE BLOOD, Episode #510, "Gone, Gone, Gone" (4.26.12) Director: Scott Winant Writer: Alexander Woo Location: L.A. Start Date: Approx. 5/3/2012
[COLE AND ROBBIE] Male, mid 20s to early 30s. These two redneck vampire-haters at Merlotte's plan to take out a vampire, but they're quickly neutralized, terrorized, and humiliated. Co-stars (17)
[PROFESSOR WILLIAM O'CONNELL] In his 40s, divorced, youthful and nerdy, this linguistics professor can't make heads or tails of an ancient text. He thinks it's probably a hoax, or a prank sent by a rival university. One day guest star (33)
[AUTHORITY GUARD CAPTAIN] Male, 30s. Businesslike, polite but firm, this vampire is sent to retrieve another vampire's progeny and escort her someplace else. Co-star (34)
'The Dark Knight Rises' Trailer Teases Batman's Suffering, More Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway (Video)
The new trailer for the upcoming Batman film offers an up close look at the series' new stars and Bruce Wayne's emotional arc. '...Seemingly loosely based on Frank Miller's 1986 Batman comic limited series The Dark Knight Returns, the film features a story that takes place eight years after the conclusion of 2008's The Dark Knight. Christian Bale's Batman is seemingly out of commision, or at least very unprepared to face off against the psychotic menace of Bane, played by a Tom Hardy whose voice is much more clear than it was in earlier trailers.
Bane's warpath brings Gotham to its knees and puts Batman on his (broken) back, though the combination of Commisioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Alfred (Michael Caine) and John Blake (newcomer to the series, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) believe in his return, even when all seems lost.
The trailer features Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway, who plays Selina Kyle/Catwoman, quite heavily, telling a story of struggle and misplaced trust amid the crippling of a city.
Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale ("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine ("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox.
GAME OF THRONES - Episode 15 – 'The Ghost of Harrenhal' – RECAP:
We open the episode in King Renly’s tent as Renly talks war strategy & alliances with Catelyn Stark. Things sound somewhat promising but because of Melisandre's demon spawn birthing scene last week, everyone probably guessed that Renly's number was about to be up. Sure enough, but a few minutes into the episode Renly is driven through with the shadow demon's sword, falling into Brienne's arms and dying. Guards are upon her immediately but she quickly dispatches them. Then, with Catelyn's urging, she and Cat beat a hasty retreat. Later is a heart-rending scene between Brienne and Catelyn, where a still very distraught Brienne pledges her loyalty to Catelyn Stark. Perfectly played by both Gwendoline Christie as Brienne and Michelle Fairley as Catelyn.
Back in Renly’s camp, the Tyrells have discovered the fate of poor Renly. Loras seems much more upset than Margaery expressing his desire for revenge by killing Stannis himself. Margaery advises caution, as does Littlefinger. She though, is thinking only about the end game, and Littlefinger appears to be on the same page. Says he, 'You wish to be a queen?' Says she, 'No.'...pause...'I wish to be THE queen.'
Stannis has arrived in Renly’s camp and all of his bannermen except the Tyrells who have fled, have joined him. Davos needs to speak with Stannis of a 'hard truth' in the forthcoming battle strategy. Stannis tells him they next sail to Blackwater Bay and, despite Davos's protestations, Davos will command the fleet. Davos advises Stannis to leave Melisandre behind because, he tells him, he will lose his men to the Red Woman if they are victorious as she will be credited her for the victory. Stannis glumly acquiesces without argument.
In King’s Landing, Tyrion meets with Cersei about Renly’s death. Tyrion warns that they will be Stannis's next target. Cersei blithely responds that Joffrey has begun making siege plans, but she plays coy about what those plans are. Undaunted, Tyrion goes to Lancel to get the inside scoop. After verbally kicking around Cersei's boy-toy, Tyrion learns that the Queen Regent has ordered alchemists s make wildfire. Tyrion journeys to the Alchemist’s Guild seeing firsthand the potential in “the substance.” He orders Hallyne to continue making it under Tyrion's direction now.
On the Iron Islands, Theon is preparing to set sail on his ship, the Sea Bitch. His motley crew doesn’t respect him. He meets Dagmer Cleftjaw for the first time; Dagmer suggests instead of raiding some fishing villages, they attack the under-defended Torrhen’s Square. Theon tells him they could take it, but couldn’t hold it once Winterfell sends forces to reclaim it. The two men exchange knowing glances and Theon now sees a path to victory and the much-desired respect from his men.
In Winterfell, Bran is taking yet another 'town hall' meeting,' continuing to listen to the complaints of minor lords. To his irritation, little brother Rickon noisily mashes walnuts by his side. Breaking the staid process, Rodrik bursts in declaring Torrhen Square is under attack. Despite most of them off at battle with Robb, Rodrick tells Bran he could round up 200 fighting men. Bran orders him to do so and to reclaim Torrhen Square. Later, he talks with Osha about his dreams. He talks of the three-eyed crow and then tells Osha about his dream of the sea crashing over the walls Winterfell.
In the far North, the Night’s Watch has arrived at the Fist of the First Men. As they set up camp, Qhorin Halfhand arrives with a force from the Shadow Tower. Qhorin and Jeor Mormont, the Old Bear, talk strategy; the Halfhand wants to take a small force of men to eliminate Mance’s scouts and Jon Snow wants to go with him. Commander Mormont resists at first, but relents after an internal dialogue where he seems to remember his end-game with Snow. It doesn't hurt that Sam cheerfully offers to pick up Jon’s steward duties.
Across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys is a guest of Xaro Xhoan Daxos, the prince who vouched for her and her troupe at the gates of Qarth. Dany has finally figured out how how to feed her dragons or rather how they can now feed themselves (they like their meat singed). Xaro hosts a meet and greet for Dany including the shiver-inducing warlock, Pyat Pree. He shows Dany a bit of magic and invites her to the House of the Undying. Clad in a bizarre wooden mask, Quaithe makes an appearance, delivering cryptic warnings to Jorah of impending danger. Later that night, Xaro demonstrates his immense wealth and then proposes marriage to Dany. He also delivers the news that King Robert is dead. Dany consults with 'adviser and friend,' Jorah. She considers accepting Xaro’s proposal and setting sail to Westeros immediately. Jorah advises her that they wait, that their allies are in Westeros and they need just one ship, not three, to get them there.
Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H’ghar
At Harrenhal, Arya attends to Lord Tywin as he meets with his lords. They are discussing what to do about Robb, as he continues to make mincemeat of them at every battle. Tywin recognizes Arya as a northerner. He asks of her what they say of Robb in the north. She tells him the tales of Robb riding a direwolf into battle, or even turning into a direwolf, and that he can’t be killed. “Do you think he can’t be killed?,” he intones. Arya meets his eyes steadily: “No. Anyone can be killed.” Tywin tells her to fetch some water as the already long meeting will continue much longer. On her way, she runs into the enigmatic Jaqen H’ghar dressed as a Lannister soldier. He tells her she owes the Red God three lives, that she must give a man three names and a man will do the rest. Arya gives him his first name, the torturer nicknamed The Tickler. Later, a scream and a thud comes from the courtyard. The Tickler lies on the ground, his head twisted 180 degrees around, facing up. Arya looks up at the battlements and sees Jaqen. He acknowledges her by holding one finger up to his face.
Also at Harrenhall, 'Gendry' (Joe Dempsie)
My thoughts on 'The Ghost of Harrenhal':
Maybe because I'm new to the book series, currently at the beginning of 'A Storm of Swords', I'm not getting bent about the changes being made in the adaption from the A Song of Ice and Fire book series to the HBO telling of the story. The author of the books, George R.R. Martin is an advisor on the adaption process and it seems most choices are done in service to the process that must be gone through in order to come out the other side, so to speak.
I don't care who Arya chose as her first kill. It needed to be someone that she hated's name. She more or less just plucked out of the air as Jaquen sprang the three deaths for three lives offer on her and she answered quickly. In my mind, the Tickler was as good as any. Book readers fussing over 'what will they do when' in book 3 need to focus on the now (adaption of book 2). If you love the book version so very much, go back and reread it to assuage your feelings of being cheated.
Speaking of 'Arya', Maisie Williams is a fantastic Arya. She's acting at the level of the best adult actors on the show. When I read the books now I picture her and that's about as good as it gets.
Though he didn't impress me all that much in season 1, Isaac Hempstead Wright as 'Bran' is increasingly growing on me. He never overplays and his restrained performance serves the story quite well.
Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar is mysterious, strange and very alluring. He's an instant favourite of mine.
Finally, the scene in the aftermath of Renly's murder between Stephen Dillane as Stannis and Liam Cunningham as Davos was churning with tumult just beneath it's muted surface. Kudos to both actors.
Lena Headey as Cersei and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in GAME OF THRONES - Episode #16:
Game Of Thrones Season 2: Episode #16 Preview
GAME OF THRONES NEXT WEEK: Episode #16: “The Old Gods and the New”: Debut: SUNDAY, MAY 6 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Theon (Alfie Allen) completes his master stroke. In King’s Landing, the Lannisters send Myrcella (Aimee Richardson) from harm’s way in the nick of time. Arya (Maisie Williams) comes face to face with a surprise visitor; Dany (Emilia Clarke) vows to take what is hers; Robb (Richard Madden) and Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) receive crucial news; Qhorin (Simon Armstrong) gives Jon (Kit Harington) a chance to prove himself.
Written by Vanessa Taylor; directed by David Nutter.
AFTER THE JUMP: Game Of Thrones Season 2: Inside The Episode #15
Game Of Thrones Season 2: Episode #15 Preview (HBO):
Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) in GAME OF THRONES Episode 2.05 (#15) HBO:
GAME OF THRONES - Inside Episode 14:
Take a look inside Episode #14 of "Game Of Thrones."
Game of Thrones Episode #15: "The Ghost of Harrenhal" Season 2, Episode 5 Synopsis (TVGuide):
The Baratheon rivalry ends, drawing different reactions from Catelyn and Littlefinger; Tyrion finds Joffrey's defense plan at King's Landing lacking, but also learns of a mysterious secret weapon; Theon continues to prove himself to his father by sailing to the Stony Shore; Arya gets a promise from Jaqen H'ghar; the Night's Watch regroup at an ancient fortress called the Fist of the First Men.
Original Air Date: Apr 29, 2012
Guest Cast Stephen Dillane: Stannis Baratheon Tom Wlaschiha: Jaqen H'ghar Gethin Anthony: Renly Baratheon
RECAP GAME OF THRONES 'Garden Of Bones' Episode 2.04 (#14) HBO:
Arya is taken to Harrenhal, along with Gendry, Hot Pie and the other prisoners. At Harrenhal, the Mountain makes his first season 2 appearance while we meet The Tickler for the first time. Arya first begins reciting her “nightly prayer”--repeating the names of those she intends to kill: “Joffrey, Cersei, Ilyn Payne, the Hound.” Her experience in the camp has added a name to that list, though: Polliver, one of the Lannister guards who abused her fellow prisoners. Gendry is chosen to be the Tickler’s next victim but Lord Tywin Lannister arrives just in time. He scolds the Mountain and his men for not putting his captives to work. He orders them to find work for the prisoners and immediately recognizing Arya for the girl that she is, takes Arya as his cupbearer. Gendry is enlisted as a smith.
Meanwhile, the 'Young Wolf', King of the North Robb Stark, wins a great victory against the Lannister forces. However, he gets a reality check from 'Talisa,' a pseudonym apparently, for Jeyne Westerling (Oona Chaplin). Talisa saves a Lannister soldier’s life by amputating his leg, while Robb holds him down. Later she challenges Robb on his plan after he wins the war, to which Robb replies, he doesn’t know.
Richard Madden as King Robb Stark and Oona Chaplin as Talisa'
Back in King’s Landing, King Joffrey is punishing Sansa for her brother’s victory. Thankfully, Tyrion arrives and puts a stop to it.
Later, Joff's uncle Tyrion sends him prostitutes as a present after his sellsword Bronn, suggests that maybe Joff might benefit getting un'clogged' (ew). We quickly see that Joffrey isn't interested in getting off sexually, rather he orders Ros to beat the other prostitute at crossbow-point to send a message to his uncle. While we don’t see Tyrion receive Joff’s message, we do see him discover Lancel Lannister's secret (he's bedding Queen Regent Cersei) and use it turn him into an informer.
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, 'Dragon Mother' Daenerys has arrived at the gates of Qarth, “the greatest city that ever was or will be.” Her stubbornness pays off as her threat—“turn us away and we will burn you first”—impresses, and after some deliberation outside of the city gates, Dany’s khalasar is finally allowed entrance to the city after Xaro Xhoan Daxos invokes ‘sumai’, agreeing to stand for her.
Littlefinger arrives at Renly’s camp with a message for Catelyn: Tyrion wishes to trade Jaime Lannister for Sansa and Arya. As a gesture of goodwill, Littlefinger delivers Ned’s bones to Catelyn.
The next day, Stannis arrives on the scene to treat with Renly, both men wanting to take the throne in King’s Landing. Stannis, the “charmless” elder, believes the crown is his by divine right. Younger brother Renly has many friends and has gathered a much larger force but he can’t know his brother’s secret weapon—the “child” his high priestess Melisandre will be bearing him later that night. Stannis delivers the ultimatum, Renly has until dawn to surrender and bend the knee. That night, Stannis sends Davos and Melisandre to the shore. There, in a cave beneath Renly’s camp, Melisandre disrobes, lies on the ground and gives birth to a shadow demon.
Melisandre gives birth to a shadow demon spawn (HBO):
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AFTER THE JUMP: GAME OF THRONES Episode 2.04 EXTRAS:
JOHNNY DEPP as vampire Barnabas Collins in a scene from TIM BURTON'S film DARK SHADOWS in theatres on May 11 2012:
DARK SHADOWS Official UK Trailer (2012) Johnny Depp, Tim Burton Movie HD:
SYNOPSIS: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath).
The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Moretz, Eva Green, Gulliver McGrath, Bella Heathcote, Johnny Depp, Ray Shirley, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller and Michelle Pfeiffer star in Dark Shadows
DARK SHADOWS looks great! Love Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaborations. 'Shadows' the TV show was so terribly written--it's the characters that counted--and Barnabas was such a square. Looks like he's loosened up a bit.
BTW, have you seen Chloe Moretz in the remake of "Let the Right One In" called "Let Me In"? I would watch anything with her in it. In that film she played the vampire.
And bonus! We have Helena Bonham Carter and Michelle Pfeiffer, too. It should be awesome.
You knew the minute that Burton/Depp's names appeared on the production which if I'm not mistaken, Depp has been trying to get made for years, that the film at a minimum would be very, very strange. I did not expect funny, though.
Obviously, Barnabas and David Collins are playing with 'monsters':
SYNOPSIS: In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet--or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy...until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles. Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth's ne'er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger's precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath).
The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David's new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
Official Site: http://www.darkshadowsmovie.com
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Thomas McDonell, Gulliver McGrath Writers: Seth Grahame-Smith
So far, all the focus has been on a sinister looking Johnny Depp as a back-from-the-buried vampire in forthcoming Tim Burton film Dark Shadows...but 20 new HQ film stills now show the rest of the star-studded cast - looking a little less pale, but equally creepy.
Helena Bonham Carter, who plays psychiatrist Dr Julia Hoffman in the film, sports a orange curled wig, bright blue eye shadow and frumpy dress in the photograph which shows the characters looking rather menacingly at the camera.
The U.S. director's interpretation of the U.S. sixties soap opera sees Depp's character Barnabas Collins as a rich and powerful playboy who breaks the heart of Angelique. Played by Eva Green, Angelique is the one who turns Collins into a vampire and also buries him alive.
However, two centuries later, Collins is freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He finds cousin, family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has brought psychiatrist Hoffman to live at Collinwood to help with her with her family's various troubles, including her brother Roger's (Jonny Lee Miller) troubled son, David (Gulliver McGrath). Bella Heathcote co-stars as nanny Victoria Winters, Ray Shirley is Mrs Johnson and Jackie Earle Haley as Willie Loomis.
The gothic-horror tale is Depp's eighth collaboration with his close friend, director Tim Burton and was filmed in the UK last year. The 48-year-old actor says he wanted to bring the classic look of horror back to cinema for his character. 'Over the years all these vampire TV shows, the movies have come out and nobody looks like a vampire - what happened?' Depp recently told MTV.
Dressing up once again: Depp collaborates with Tim Burton to play vampire Barnabus Collins in the gothic-horror tale Modern version: The film is an adaptation of the sixties cult soap opera and also stars Michelle Pfeiffer.
'I adored Dracula and still do. All those wonderful horror films. This was an opportunity to go into something which doesn't really exist any more, which is classic make-up and a classic monster character. 'So that was really the inspiration and what Tim and I talked about a lot.' And Depp's character certainly looks sinister, with a pale white face, dark circles under his eyes, ultra long fingernails and a slicked down hair style.
'We're changing it a little bit,' Burton previously told MTV about his take on the TV show. 'I wouldn't do it if it felt like it was just doing the same thing.
First look: Depp was spotted filming the movie on a beach with co-star Heathcote in Devon last year 'For me, it's about trying to go back to the original drawings and kind of capture that spirit a little bit more of what the drawings are. 'It feels different even though it's a similar story, but we're kind of expanding it a bit.'
PHOTO: Dark Shadows is Depp's eighth collaboration with his close friend Tim Burton.
Depp's work with Burton in the past has seen him recreate famous characters such as Willy Wonka in 2005's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and the Mad Hatter in 2010's Alice In Wonderland.
Comic book fans be warned. If you're planning on avoiding Avengers spoilers ahead of the film's May 2012 release, this could be a big one.
Toymaker NECA sent a release detailing HeroClix product descriptions to retailers this week, and among the new collectables are Marvel's figurines for The Avengers. And while the heroes -- Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) -- and big bad Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are included, so is a previously unconfirmed character.
Red Skull, played by Hugo Weaving in last summer's Captain America: The First Avenger, is also name-checked, as MovieWeb points out.
The telling release reads as follows: "Charging straight out of theaters and onto your tabletop, Marvel's the Avengers Movie HeroClix set features heroes like Captain America and Thor as they battle the villainy of the Red Skull and Loki! Each Counter-Top display includes standard one-figure boosters as well as new three-figure 'Team Packs!' Team Packs are designed with strong thematic undertones - play a Hydra force or defend freedom with a S.H.I.E.L.D. team pack."
Could Red Skull be playing second fiddle to Loki? The Joss Whedon-directed feature has been rumored to have another villain since production started, but it's thus far been kept a secret.
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in The AVENGERS (May 2012)
The Avengers arrives in theaters May 4, 2012.
Nick Fury
Samuel L. Jackson plays Nick Fury, the director of the super-spy agency. S.H.I.E.L.D. Jackson rounded up the Avengers, with cameo appearances in Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Cameron Monaghan as Ian Gallagher, Emma Kenney as Debbie Gallagher, Jeremy Allen White as Lip Gallagher, Ethan Cutkosky as Carl Gallagher, Laura Slade Wiggins as Karen, and William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher in Shameless (Season 2, episode 1) - Photo: Cliff Lipson/SHOWTIME
Showrime's Shameless returns Sunday January 6 at 9ET/PT with Episode 2.01 - 'Summertime':
I think we have finally hit a good countdown point for Shameless. Just a month and a day and we'll be both past the holidays and ready to party with the Gallaghers.
If you watched last season you may recall there were a number of'cicumstances' that arouse in the course of the episode leading to a tense last few minutes for several characters.
Fiona (EMMY ROSSUM) in particular has (for the immediate future) lost Steve (JUSTIN CHATWIN) with whom things had been sailing along fine as far as she knew tho' kid sister Deb, (EMMA KENNEY) was on to him. "Jimmy',' it turns out hails from the North Shore (lakefront) area of of Chicago and comes from a wealthy family who is as unaware of Fiona as she is of them. Jimmy's car thieving has caught up with him and he's fled the country.
Much more, obviously, is happening character by character, so in the run-up I should be able to skip back an get freshly up-to-date with where we left off last March(!). I'm thinking a Shameless marathon on Showtime would really suit me.
This season promises Fiona and Vi (SHANOLA HANPTON) working as cocktail waitresses and Fiona's newish bi-leaning gf, Jasmine (AMY SMART)getting very physical in the rather 'stirring' new advert for SHAMELESS, 'Shamelessly Sexy.'
Shameless: Single Ladies Dance - Lip's Truth or Dare
Lip accepts the dare to learn the Single Ladies dance
SHAMELESS Season 2 SPOILERS:
Q: Shameless scoop, please!
A: At least two of these will happen in the next season. (The other is something I totally made up.) Someone will spend some time in the psych ward, one of the kids will ride an alpaca, and one of the boys gets kicked out of the house. Guess away!
One thing is clear about Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum) in the SHO series SHAMELESS: she does not spend her summer moping for "Steve," her love interest of most of season 1 who beat a hasty exit when his double life and car stealing operation both came to light. I read some time ago that 'Steve' (Justin Chatwin) does make an appearance but is not featured as prominentlyas he was in SHAMELESS' first season.
Shameless: Lip Truth or Dare [VIDEO] and Aftermath (Shameless Spot) :
Jeremy White as "Lip' in Showtime's Shameless season 2: beginning January 6, 2012:
SUBMIT YOUR TRUTHS AND DARES FOR LIP AT www.facebook.com/ShamelessOnShowtime OR BY TWEETING #LIPTRUTH OR #LIPDARE.
Fierce, Fun and Foxy (Shameless and House of Lies Spot)
Published on Nov 4, 2011 by SHOWTIME They work hard and play harder. Don't miss new episodes of Shameless beginning January 8th followed by the series premiere of House of Lies.
Claire Danes as 'Carrie Mathison' in Showtime's new series "Homeland':
Hey there!
I finally got a chance to view episode 101 of Homeland and holy cow, if you thought the pilot was intense, wait until you see episode 101!* And you won't have to wait very long--this Sunday, October 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT right after Dexter is the time to tune in.
Meanwhile, why not get comfy and re-watch the Homeland pilot (episode 100) here or heavens forbid, if you missed it catch it for the first time! I have the full episode of Dexter 6.01, 'Those Kind Of Things' embedded both in this post and at the bottom of this blog--but hurry, because they both are available only for a limited time!
So back to Homeland, episode 101 entitled 'Grace,' which airs on Showtime this Sunday.
Firstly, I came to the show already loving the work of Homeland co-star Claire Danes but this is one role unlike any other she has taken on and she is really running with it! I have a whole new level of appreciation for the onetime breakout teenage star of 'My So-Called Life.' She is is all grown up now (with among other accolades, a 2010 Emmy to show for it) and this role has really given Danes a deeply complex, multi-layered character who is impossible to take your eyes off.
Damian Lewis as "Nick Brody' in Showtime's new series "Homeland':
What is really surprising me though isn't how great Danes as CIA agent Carrie Mathison is but Damian Lewis as 'Nick Brody', the deeply scarred, both psychologically and physically, former POW of 8 years that Carrie is certain has himself been turned into a terrorist. What a revelation! I have no idea how I missed this fine actor's performances in the past but one thing I know for sure, from now on I'll be watching for his name in the credits of any of his future endeavors! He is so skilled at bringing this character to life. Two episodes in and my heart is breaking for him...but should it be? That's the rub. And SMALL SPOILER when the former Sgt. Brody does indeed 'draw solace from his pain in the most unexpected way' it is a complete mind-blower. Seriously.
There's much more to episode 101 but I'm saving the rest of my comments for after the audience at large gets a chance to enjoy it. I'll be watching, too. I've had to restrain myself from watching it a second time on my screener as I think it's best to watch it as it is being broadcast--then watch it as many times again as I please. Please you know, there's the little matter of my spouse who is watching the show as it is broadcast. This is the kind of show that we --and you will be be talking about afterwards.
*Previously, I made a slight 'oopsie" in the numbering sequence of Homeland: the first episode, the one embedded here, is entitled Episode 100 "Pilot.' The second episode is 101 'Grace.'
Check out the newest behind-the-scenes videos for both DEXTER and HOMELAND!:
I just love the behind-the-scenes interviews--they almost make me feel like I'm part of the process of the show's creation. I've gained many fascinating insights by listening to the creators be they writers, set, or makeup as well as the actors share their thoughts on their respective series. Love the extras, Showtime. Keeep 'em coming!
Homeland Ausiello Spoiler Ahead:
Q: Loved the premiere of Homeland on Showtime! Got any scoop for me?
A: There’s a death coming that, while not entirely surprising, still depressed the hell out of me. And if the chilling final shot of Episode 3 means what I think it means, the looming terror attack will involve *** *****l.
SOURCE: Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bones, Gossip Girl, Vamp Diaries, Walking Dead, Glee, SVU and More!
Saw an interesting opinion the other day about "Who shot Nancy Botwin?' (on Showtime's "WEEDS") if indeed she was shot.
Also, just read a really facinating interview with Showtime president David Nevins about Weeds and some other signature Showtime shows too, as well as a couple getting ready to debut like Homeland. I excerpted a couple Q's below but be sure to click through because the article is worth a read. (Scroll down below the possible SPOILER coming up...)
"Nancy Botwin" with son 'Silas', ' Guillermo,' and in back, husband 'Esteban'
Q: So was that a season or series finale of Weeds? A: Though Showtime has yet to renew the series, we hear that this isn't the last we've seen of the Botwin clan. So what does that mean for Nancy? Did 'Guillermo' finally exact revenge after all these years of abuse? Possibly! We ran into Guillermo Diaz on the Scandal set, and he revealed that:
SPOILER.
'Guillermo actually appeared in the penultimate episode (of Weeds!):
He also mentioned that the cast, including him, are expecting to be back for another season. (Time to re-watch that episode again, stat!)'
It's not often that a network executive gets to take over in a period of prosperity. Usually, the previous guy was fired, and usually because things haven't been going well. But Showtime entertainment president David Nevins took over the pay cable channel last summer not because there was a crisis, but because predecessor Robert Greenblatt was looking for new challenges (in this case, trying to resurrect NBC) after seven successful years.
Under Greenblatt's watch, Showtime went from HBO afterthought to a channel with its own clear identity, with a roster of shows that became Emmy contenders from the moment they were announced, and in the case of "Dexter," a very clear hit...
Well, speaking of that, "Dexter" is your biggest hit. It's done very, very well for you. But that is a show where it seems, no matter who is behind the wheel, it has certain things it does each and every year. Last year, we were told, "This will not be like any other year. We're not going to have a big bad who winds up strapped to Dexter's table," and that's pretty much what happened with Jonny Lee Miller's character. You said in the executive session that that's a show you'd like to see go on for many more years to come.
As a programmer, I believe in change. I'm not scared of change. I know where they're going this season and have some sense of where they could go in subsequent seasons. Just as you have to keep seeding your network with the next new thing, in long-running shows you have to make changes, and I think sometimes people get very conservative about, "Don't mess with the formula. It works." In the same way I think it's good to mess with your programming formula, I think long-running shows mess with the formula. The difference between "ER" and "Ally McBeal" is that "ER" changed a lot over the years and ran for 14 years, versus "Ally McBeal," which burned bright, didn't change and went away. I think "Jackie" and "Dexter" both are into that moment where they need to mess with what they're doing. There's going to be some things that happen over this season of "Dexter" that can change some of the DNA in the show.
...I wrote a story that mentioned in passing that "Weeds" is the one Showtime comedy that significantly evolves as it goes along...
'(And) when I actually looked at the (Weed's viewership) numbers, they've been very strong over time.'
'The numbers really hold up. I think it's (Weeds is) ballsy....a...great advantage... every year: you wipe the slate clean, start with a new story, and you can pull things forward that you want to pull forward, you can change things) or not, if you get sick of someone you can kill them, etc...'
The original Dark Shadows was 'a memorably offbeat ABC daytime drama about a vampire whose extended family are bedeviled by ghosts, witches, and other Gothic woes.'
Johnny Depp has recounted how as a boy he practically raced home to watch Dark Shadows after school each day. I did the same but living in the Northeast (versus Depp's Kentucky) we got released from school too late in the afternoon to watch the entire episode. I still turned it on and caught the second act of each one-hour installment. As Depp says, Dark Shadows was 'very weird' so it didn't really seem to matter that I was only getting about half the narrative. The parts I saw were terrifically fun and seemed quite subversive being unreeled during weekday afternoons.
“I remember seeing a group photograph of the cast of the original series,” he told EW. “For me it captured the weird Dark Shadows vibe in a single image." - Dark Shadows director Tim Burton
'Weird certainly sums up this particular family portrait — a shot director Tim Burton, who also obsessed over Dark Shadows as a boy, staged in the early days of production.
Here’s the Collins family, from left to right with a brief description of each character following:
Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) – From Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen, to the cannibalistic cook Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Burton can’t help but cast the mother of his children as a deranged person. This prim and proper psychiatrist, who has taken up residence with the Collins family to care for their troubled youngest boy, might seem to break that trend — but don’t bet on it....
Carolyn Stoddard (Chloë Moretz) — Though she played a voracious child vampire in the critically acclaimed Let Me In, Moretz is on the human side of the spectrum in Dark Shadows — though that doesn’t mean this cousin of young David Collins (and daughter of Michelle Pfeiffer’s character, seen on the far right) isn’t without her own peculiarities...
Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) — The Bond girl from Casino Royale turns up here as the villain of the story. “Angelique is a witch who has known Barnabas since the 1700s, when they had an affair that went sour. She is the one who cursed him to be a vampire and locked him in that box...”
David Collins (Gulliver McGrath) — Lonely, confused, and neglected by his pompous father (Jonny Lee Miller, over on the right next to Pfeiffer), David has no one to confide in except his bizarre psychiatrist — and the dead people he claims to see...
Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) — This young woman arrives to become David’s new governess, only to find herself swept up in the vampire-witch melodrama. “When Barnabas meets Victoria, he’s instantly reminded of the woman he lost in the 1700s, before he was cursed to be a vampire...”
Mrs. Johnson (Ray Shirley) — “Poor old Mrs. Johnson …” Grahame-Smith sighs when talk turns to the old woman seated in the back behind Depp. “She is the mostly blind, mostly deaf maid, who has been with them for decades and decades... I don’t think she actually says anything in the entire film....
Willie Loomis (Jackie Earle Haley) — How awesome is it to play an actual Groundskeeper Willie? The Oscar-nominee for Little Children is... the guy who takes out the trash, mows the lawns, and fixes the cars, except he’s usually so drunk and so disinterested that he doesn’t take his job seriously anymor..."
Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) — This scion of the once-great Collins family is one of the main reasons the aristocratic clan has fallen into such disgrace. “He’s a creepy, self-centered guy who likes to order Willie around, likes to pretend the family is still on top of his game...”
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) — The mother of Carolyn Stoddard, and mother-figure to David, she’s the one adult member of the Collins clan who is at least slightly competent. “Elizabeth is the rock of the family. She’s the matriarch,”...with a witch perpetually trying to destroy her, and a long lost vampire relative turning up to reclaim control...'
SOURCE:EW Weekly - Johnny Depp's true 'Dark Shadows' vampire revealed!
Before shooting, Depp said: “What Jonathan Frid did with that character and that classic look he created… I find it very difficult to stray very far from that. I think it’s going to be somewhere in that arena, with maybe just a couple of different touches here and there.
“I do remember, very vividly, practically sprinting home from school in the afternoon to see Jonathan Frid play Barnabas Collins,” the actor says. “Even then, at that age, I knew — this has got to be weird.” -- Johnny Depp
SOURCE: The Inquisitr - ‘Dark Shadows’ Cast Photo Released; See Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins
True Blood's Season 4 finale was very uneven--much like most of the season:
It's easier to rattle off the 'misses' than the hits so that's where I'll start.
Misses (in no particular order):
1. Alcide's (Joe Manganiello) 'Let's use our brains instead of hearts' chat with Sookie (Anna Paquin). What a way to approach asking a lady out! Having dumped his adulterous, V-addict wife, Debbie Pelt and disapproving of Sookie's choices in men (vampires) he suggests that Sookie start using her head and give him--a werewolf a shot.
This was probably among the longest bits of convo that Joe Manganiello as 'Alcide Herveaux' has had and though others have criticized the actor for being 'wooden,' I did not see it. Until now. Not only did Alcide seal the deal that he will NEVER 'have' Sookie but he pretty much guaranteed that the Alcide storyline is going to evaporate in season 5. Hopefully, Alcide's ending won't be as as brutally abrupt as Jason's stint with the dentally-impaired denizens of Hotshot because let's be honest, he is one fine male specimen. Sookie is going to be man-free for a time--and then--who knows, but at most, a short stint with the wolf-man is all there will be. Too bad.
2. OMG, Marnie (Fiona Shaw) no! Not again with the 'I've been a freak all my life and people are mean, POOR ME.' This has got to be at least the third full-blown pity poor me speech they've given Shaw as the mousy palm reader turned revenge-seeking uber-wiccan. Was her crappy life supposed to justify her behaviour? It would have been better to simply go with her being driven mad. Instead Marnie simply became a harpy. Waste of Shaw's abilities--at least as the season wound down.
3. WTF?! with the long, lingering suckling sounds then wider shot of both Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bill (Stephen Moyer) feeding on Sookie's wrists?! All three are snug on the sofa with Sookie, as Jason would put it, using Sookie as their own private soda fountain. Just ugh and OMG how freakin' cheesy is the fact that both men were in matching robes? No wonder she dumped them! She knows that a big bromance is brewing between them! Did you see some of the eye-fucking going on between Eric and Bill in the last couple of episodes? I'd love a nice Eric & Bill adventure if only to stir up both sides cheering for Sookie to pick one. The scene though was just icky on all kinds of levels though I think it was meant to be slightly campy and amusing (before Sookie got all traditional and decided she just could. not. love. both of them at the same time).
4. Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and Hoyt's 3-minute "I'm doing Jesssica' scene: a total waste of three minutes intended simply to give Jim Parrack as Hoyt some season finale face time. I like the actor but this was totally superfluous.
The rest was typical Jason and the one line of any significance was repeated by Jason to Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) after their tryst--no need for Hoyt to have been in this episode--at all.
5. Speaking of a waste of time. Kevin Alejandro got plenty of face time. He did not need to engage in the interminable back and forth with the possessed-by-Marnie, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis). It went on forever...could have trimmed that by at least a minute with less candle-lighting and chest slashing. RIP 'Jesus', BTW. Kevin Alejandro did a very credible job this season and became a character that the audience grew fond of. That's the point of course, when you know that you will off him before season's end.
6. Luna (Janina Gavankar) & Sam (Sam Trammell). How long did it take them to say a whole lot of nothing and then goodnight? And haven't they been all about nothing? Does anyone care about them? Anyone? I like Sam--who doesn't?--but there is zero chemistry with this pairing and speaking of zero chemistry let's take on the Jason and Jessica storyline that is brewing:
7. Jessica and Jason (above). We get it: they are both really into sex. What else do they have in common? Immature, selfish behavior, punctuated by occasional bravery and selflessness. I'm willing to give this pairing some time in season 5 but what I'm not willing to do is watch the mind-numbingly awful attempts at keeping the actor who play's Jessica, Deborah Ann Woll's, boobies under cover. And by 'boobies' I mean nipples. We get cleavage, we get side boob and maybe even underboob but in the two times we've seen Jason and Jessica make love when her breasts are in camera range she clutches them in an obvious attempt at modesty. Did no one tell her that there is simply no room for modesty on True Blood? The same goofy camera angles and weird use of sheets was employed by Rutina Wesley as well in the two seasons she had a boyfriend. It's very distracting on a show that otherwise is pretty liberal in it's nudity (it is after all, NOT television, but HBO).
There were some great moments in the True Blood season 4 finale but not enough--by a long shot--to make a great episode:
Maxine Fortenberry's (Dale Raoul) quips about Sam's shifty bro Tommy's deviousness and thievery which segued into comforting Sam were a nice touch.
Nan Flanagan's (Jessica Tuck) comeuppance at the hands of Eric and Bill was spot on-- though I will miss her.
Pam's (Kristen Bauer van Straten) tirade-to-tears about Sookie's 'fairy vagina' and stupid name only to have Ginger (Tara Buck) uh, gingerly slip an arm around her in comfort was really quite a sight (you just know Pam is going to glamour that memory out of Ginger given the first chance). Scroll down after the jump for the video of the scene.
The return of dead-since season-one Gran (Lois Smith)! It was totally awesome to see her in all her glorious badassery when she literally tore Marnie's spirit out of Lafayette. (The resultant tedious and trite convo between Marnie and Antonia (Paola Turbay) took some momentum out of the scene, however. )
Debbie Pelt's (Brit Morgan) reappearance was no surprise to the 'bookies. With a few change-ups this was how she died in the Sookie Stackhouse series. In the book series however, Sookie took her out alone. 'Book' Tara is a minor character and was in no way involved.
What True Blood Tara did was pretty cool though--but ultimately pretty stupid. She got half of the side of her skull blown away. I think this was done to telegraph to any doubting audience members that yes, at last, the never-written-well character of Tara Thorton is finally over.*
But will Rutina Wesley be back? She, as you can read below, is unsure but 'trusts' Alan Ball and she reminds us, this is True Blood (so anything can happen). Other than short otherworldly-type visits I'm thinking the majority of the audience want Tara gone. We've long since realized that the True Blood writers are incapable of giving the perfectly capable Wesley a storyline she can sink her teeth into. RIP then, Tara and Jesus. I'm assuming though, that the bad guys won't be resting in peace.
Season 4 Finale Grade: B-. Out of the four True Blood seasons so far, I rank Season 1 and Season 2 in that order and Seasons 3 and 4 about on par with one another. Both suffered from sloppy, self-indulgent writing and extremely bad editing. Please, in the name of good screenwriting Alan Ball, please ditch Raelle Tucker. If you have any doubt about this women's rationalle whist writing True Blood, listen to her explain Jessica's sexuality in the 'Inside The Episode' HBO clip (embedded in this post). Tucker explains that she wanted "Jessica' to flaunt her sexuality unashamedly (like a man could). We, the audience however, see Jessica in flagrante, seemingly ashamed of her own body (the breast-clutching). Huge disconnect there. Tip of iceberg in Tucker's writing skills-issues. Don't even get me started on her apparent non-acquaintance with healthy sexuality.
From the 9.12.11 exclusive interview with Rutina Wesley (Tara Thornton):
Q: In your mind, is Tara dead?
A: Well I mean half my head is missing.
I’m just gonna keep saying that. You know, it’s True Blood. I feel like anything is possible. If anything, it is the golden hour though. If she is able to be saved, it’s like she’s got 20 seconds. It’s not a lot of time. I’m curious to see what they’re going to do with all of it. I hope I’m back. But again half my head is missing [laughs] ...
I don’t know what their plans are for next season. I know that Alan has said there are “big plans,” but I don’t know what that really means, and things can always change. I’m not for sure, but I trust him completely. At the end of the day, it’s hard to see how I’m coming back, seeing as half of my head was just blown off. I don’t know. They may figure something out. I mean it’s True Blood. There’s always flashbacks. There’s phantasms.
Anyone else wondering where True Blood is taking the the Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Jason (Ryan Kwanten) storyline?:
(Cont.)
Or is 'Jay' that great of a BFF to Hoyt (Jim Parrack)? Also, there was that little matter of Jason's nearly-life-wrecking 'V' (vampire blood) addiction, too. Jessica would be quite a package of temptation. Pretty sure Jason would be gone in a flash even if he attempted to succumb to temptation. You just know Hoyt hasn't talked about it -- 'Jessica's problem' -- to Jason. Jessica's eternal vamp virginity is going to be a big shocker for him--if the two ever even get that far.
We haven't seen this scene yet (as of pre- 8.21.11), right ?
Isn't Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) (Episode 8 spoiler) possessed in this shot by the lullaby-singing French lady who is obsessed with poor little Arlene's (Carrie Preston) & the season 1 Bon Temps serial killer's baby, 'Mikey'?
Cool! There are some shots that are from next Sunday or beyond here! Sort of spoilers. I'm pretty sure that is a possessed Lafayette in the (current 8.24.11) shot above.
Your thoughts (about any of these shots)? Note:Be sure to click to enlarge and look through the slideshow. There are many more of the entire True Blood cast--wth several stills of not-yet broadcast scenes).
On Sunday - HBO True Blood Season 4, Episode 9: 'Run' Original Air Date—21 August 2011:
Synopsis True Blood Episode 4.09 -
Convalescing after her latest near-death trauma, Sookie envisions a world where there's room for both Bill and Eric. Jesus tries to purge the restless spirit out of Lafayette; Marcus enlists Alcide to help him deal with the Sam situation; Bill and Nan Flanagan clash over their agendas; Hoyt asks Jason to make a delivery to Jessica; despite Tara and Holly's misgivings, Marnie plots her next move against the vampires, during a "Festival of Tolerance" event at Shreveport.
Next US airings: Sun. Aug. 21 9:00 PM HBO Sun. Aug. 21 11:05 PM HBO
True Blood - Eric & Sookie Make Love VIDEO & PHOTOS:
True Blood Season 4 - Episodes 6 and 7, 'I Wish I Was The Moon', 'Cold,Gray Light of Dawn' Screencaps & Video.
Sookie and a devoid-of-memory but totally smitten Eric, finally give legions of Truebies (True Blood fans) what they've been waiting for--carnal knowledge. HBO copyright.
Nude Amnesia!Eric To Sookie Come. Come Play With Me!:
OOOh, cannot wait to see what the pic-spam people come up with from this scene...and those that follow!
That man is such ...how many times does one need to repeat this? Ad infintium? He is just so super-appealing on a way more than just the physical level. Remember Eric Northman, season 1? Compare. Alexander Skarsgård is really doing GREAT things on True Blood this season! I'm having so. much. fun. watching the series this year with his and Sookie's storyline NOT disappointing! Cannot wait to see MOAR.
"In the episode "I'm Alive and On Fire," Sookie can't control Eric, who is drunk on SPOILER (Claudine's) fairy blood. She can't even stop the playful vamp from pinching her butt. She soon loses him in the woods. With Alcide (Joe Manganiello) in wolf form, she finds him, hours later, in the sunlight, enjoying a naked dip in gator-filled waters."
This 3-second True Blood Episode 4.04 clip is a tease in every sense of the word!
Hey fellow Truebies! I just now had time to rewatch (most of) True Blood Episode 3, 'If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'? on HBOGo, and I was wondering if y'all were left pondering like me:
Why kill off Sookie's faery Godmother NOW?
If you are not a 'bookie' (a reader of the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse novels upon which HBO's True Blood is based) then it may have only been a surprise not a shock when Claudine (played by Lara Pulver) was murdered by Amnesia!Eric right before Sookie's and our eyes.
Claudine had returned to 'our side' to implore, then demand that Sookie return to 'Faery' with her. When Sookie declined her faery godmother's invitation, then stated firmly that she wished Claudine to take a flying leap...she couldn't have known that Eric was listening and would, with his hypervamp-speed snatch Claudine up and proceed to feed on her--fatally. (Scroll down for more HBO copyright screenshots that I clipped---plus the official promo photo stills from this episode.)
In the book series, which I'll gingerly tred around as best I can (some people may interpret this as SPOILERS so be forewarned), Claudine is one of a trio of faery triplets---2 girls and a guy. We've met Claude in the True Blood Faery as a rebel fae who helped save Sookie from Queen Mab. In the books there existeda 2nd female triplet who is dead when Sookie's world and the Fae's 'collide.'
However (and I hope this is making sense) in Alan Ball's True Blood, so far we know of only twin faeries who are related to Sookie, which would leave one with the impression that Claudine is indeed gone forever dead.
But, the HBO True Blood 'Fae' storyline has not yet been fully written (if it ever is to be) with Ball switching up and adapting the story, as he explained to EW.com (scroll down for link to full story).
Just off the top of my head, he and/or the True Blood writers could very well bring back 'Claudine,' if they so chose by simply switching her up with Claudette, her 'dead' faery-sister.
It would be fun to bring faeries back as they were very well-integrated with the Sookie storyline in the novels. OTOH, it costs nothing to imagine the land of the Fae when reading a Harris novel and True Blood as we all know, is 'only' television. Given that season 4 True Blood is featuring witches , werepanthers, werewolfs, (shape)shifters and vampires, there just may be no more room in the FX budget this season for faeries.
Still, I thought that episode 4 was very entertaining. Of course, anything with the memory-wiped Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) is incredibly fun to take in but his competition for Sookie's attention, the new King of Louisiana, William Compton (Stephen Moyer) is pretty darn awesome, too.
Anticipating Season 4 Vampire Bill, most of us it seemed, were lamenting the likelihood of watching him mope due to his breakup with Sookie but he's changed so much--outwardly, anyway. Some Truebies thought Bill Compton 'abandoned' his only sire, Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll) despite her choice to move in with boyfriend (toy?) Hoyt, but a nice little scene in this episode showcased their continuing mutual affection and support--while also giving us a glimpse of super-cautious, sort-of-uptight Bill that we've come to know and love from previous True Blood seasons.
There was lots more--notably where my girl-crush, Pam (Kristen Bauer van Straten) got tossed by her maker Eric, across Sookie's living room after verbally threatening Sookie (sense a pattern, here?). When Pam stood up and began to approach Sookie again, Amnesia!Eric cautioned her to 'be nice' to Sookie.
The Death Of Sookie's Faery Godmother [PHOTOS]:
Click to enlarge
Sookie: 'You just killed my faery Godmother!'
Amnesia!Eric: 'Sorry.'
EW EXCLUSIVE: 'True Blood': Alan Ball and Charlaine Harris discuss Sunday's shocking death of [SPOILER] --
Entertainment Weekly’s EW.com has spoken exclusively to True Blood executive producer Alan Ball and author Charlaine Harris about the death of Claudine in this past Sunday’s episode. Many fans of Harris’ original novels were surprised by the death scene, which doesn’t occur until much later in the book series. But there’s more left to see in Sookie’s fairy world: "After everything that was going on with the fairies in the first episode, I think we wanted to sort of put a pin in that, but obviously it’s not over," says Ball. "I felt it would have more impact if it was someone we knew as opposed to just a random fairy."
And Harris is okay with the change. "If [Ball] can be gracious to me, I can certainly be gracious enough to wait and see where he’s going."
As the King of Louisiana, Vampire 'Bill Compton' now has some serious responsibilities including 'meting out' some serious consequences to an 'idiot' vamp.
True Blood Season 4: Bill metes out punishment (HBO).
While Felton glowers in the background, Crystal, who you may remember Andy Bellefleur referring to as, 'Crystal? As in crystal meth?', attempts to comfort a bloodied, battered and bound Jason (Ryan Kwanten).
True Blood Season 4: Crystal comforts Jason (HBO)
True Blood Season 4: Tara and Lafayette discuss Eric (HBO)
With Amnesia!Eric having left the building, 'Lafayette' (Nelsan Ellis) shares his knowledge of the powerful 1000-year old Viking vampire and his advice about how to proceed after Eric's murder attempt on Marnie.
I just totally dig the material that Nelsan Ellis as Lafayette is getting so far in season 4 True Blood. In interviews the writers and cast have hinted strongly that this year's cast of familiar faces will be taking on new 'roles' within the show and this clip is a really great example of a completely different side of Lafayette. He also looks fabulous, don't you think?
Below: Awesome Official Promo Photos from upcoming Season 4 True Blood episodes including 4.04 - "I'm Alive and On Fire":
Kristen Bauer van Straten rockin' it harder than ever as vampire Pam, True Blood Season Four.
True Blood - Episode 4.04 - I'm Alive and on Fire - Promotional Photos:
After the jump - True Blood - August Episodes Synopses:
Sorry Truebies, That Shower Scene Will NOT Be (cont.):
Just as the more intuitive True Blood fans suspected, telepath-part-faery 'Sookie Stackhouse' (played by Anna Paquin) and nice guy werewolf 'Alcide Herveaux' (Joe Manganiello) will not be involved in a romantic relationship in Season 4 True Blood (*pause here to digest this distressing news*), according to TV Guide (scroll down for link).
It seems, as in the books, Alcide gets back together with his werebitch V-junkie ex-girlfriend, Debbie Pelt (have to love that name!). Truth be told, I'm unsure if Alcide will ever get involved with Sookie given that HBO bothhas not yet renewed True Blood for season 5 nor has Alan Ball inked a deal with the cabler, despite the sky-high season 4 debut ratings. Seems likely that the two situations probably go hand-in-hand. Ball has dropped hints in various places including Issue # 1113 of Rolling Stone magazine, in which he says:
'I am negotiating for a season past this one...but I don't believe True Blood is 100% dependant on my participation. It has a very strong following and a really strong cast, and there could be future where I step back and the show would continue.' - Alan Ball, True Blood creator & showrunner
TV Guide SPOILERS:
Q: Loved the True Blood premiere, but where the heck is Alcide? TVGuide: He'll show up in Episode 3, but he will be "spoken for," as they say, which will provoke an interesting reaction from Sookie. Nevertheless, Sookie will need his help. "The great thing about Sookie is that she drags him off on all these adventures," Joe Manganiello tells us. "She's the key in unlocking that reluctant hero inside of him and he recognizes that as a good thing."
Ausiello Spoilers - 'The Eric & Sookie Shower Scene':
Q: I have to know — will this season of True Blood have the smokin’ hot Sookie/Eric shower scene featured in the book?
Ausiello:Yes… and No.
“There is a shower scene,” explains exec producer Alan Ball. “But it is not a direct re-enactment of the shower scene in the book. It goes to a slightly different place.” “Sookie and Eric are in the shower together,” confirms Ball, who assures me that, “Everybody who’s been waiting for Sookie and Eric to hook up, this will be a very good season for them.”
Q: Any more details onScott Foley’s True Blood role? Ausiello: “He was Terry’s platoon leader in Iraq,” says Ball of Foley’s character, Patrick. “So they [share] a military history.” ...Foley will debut in the Season 4 finale and then recur throughout Season 5. Ball, meanwhile, confirms that a deal is not yet in place for him to return as showrunner for a fifth season. “I’m negotiating,” he says. Of course, HBO hasn’t renewed the show itself — but Ball isn’t worried. “There are no plans for this show to end,” he assures. “I’m pretty sure there will be at least one more season, if not more. It seems like it has a lot of life in it still.”...
Vampire 'Jessica' (Deborah Ann Woll) and human roomie, 'Hoyt Fortenberry' (Jim Parrack) in a scene early in season 4 True Blood: Sam Merlotte's (Sam Trammell) new shapeshifting honey, 'Luna,' (Janina Gavankar). Sam told her he'd enjoyed the view and would try to take her from behind--when they next shift into horses and race wild together.
Plus! Episode Three True Blood Preview - 'If You Love Me,Why Am I Dyin?':
True Blood Season 4 Episode 3 "If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin?" Promo:
Having just watched episodes one and two of Season 4 True Blood on HBO and HBOGo, I think the character that surprised me most was the generally composed, very self-assured vampire sherrif Eric Northman, with his frequent displays of emotion. And this is before the big 'thing' happens near the end of episode 2! (cont.)
Warning True Blood Episode 2 SPOILERS:
Is it the vampire backlash in the wake of Russell Edgington killing the news guy on live TV killing Fangtasia business 'cos Pam seems very snarky as well?
Could Bill's !SPOILER! assendence to being the King of Louisiana be chaffing Eric just a bit or has Eric truly missed Sookie?
Not only is Eric more sentimental- sounding in eppy 1 but he's sort of mood-swingy as well. This sets the stage for the SPOILER totally new Eric not being such a jarring change from the bad boy Eric of (in Sookie's mind/time-frame) just a week ago.
She needed a plausible way to segue into bedding this guy and as of episode one we have him buying and refurbishing her house whilst she was "away"...to control her he says, but we know he means (too), protect her. He's made it clear to his second in command, vampire Pam, that he has significant feelings for Sookie-- feelings of the almost human kind. And Pam makes Sookie aware of this, causing eyebrows to be raised.
Episode 1 of True Blood went fast and was very amusing. Episode 2 has a different pace. I want to watch it again not on my HBOGo before I have a real comment on it.
True Blood Season 4 - Recap s04e01 (#37) - 'She's Not There'
Jessica - A House Is Not a Home [VIDEO]:
Babyvamp Jessica Soliciting Homemaker Tips?!
After the jump: Synopses for True Blood Episodes 1-6:
I can't even believe how fast the season 4 premiere of True Blood has come! (pause) Kidding!
True Blood Fans have endured the sucking, waiting since August 2010 for a fresh full-length episode of True Blood to savour. But here we are, teetering on the very brink of the Sunday, June 26 9pm E HBO offering of a brand new episode and (if you signed up for HBOGo) the second episode shortly thereafter! It should pack one helluva one-two punch in the space of 24-hours or so and with any luck, the sky-high ratings will shake up 'talks' between the most brilliant Alan Ball and the 'one true premium cable network,'HBO, so that our man remains on board with the show for season 5.
I'll have more on that later--in the next couple of days--but if you have not read it before be aware this could be Alan Ball'slast season at the helm of True Blood! (again, quote attribution from the source--Ball himself) a bit later. I have both a spousal birthday and other deadlines that must be attended to ASAP!
OK. Here we go with the fishing contest in the pool full of Spoiler-ish/ True Spoilers material that Source: TVGuide has unleashed upon us! 'EDIT's are MINE!
"True Blood has brought witches, werewolves and vampires to life over the last three seasons, but everything you think you know about the supernatural beings will be upended this season.
"Everything you thought you can count on, you can't," executive producer Alan Ball says. "Vampires are not stronger than certain humans, shapeshifters can do things other than shift and there are ghosts."
Here are 10 things we TVGuide knows do know about what's coming up, straight from the cast of True Blood:
1. It's all about the witches (EDIT: Duh!): A band of witches tap into a new form of power, causing Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) to lose his memory. At the head of the coven is Marnie (Fiona Shaw), a (formerly mild-mannered, now possessed by a 1700's) vengeful witch coming into her powers and out for revenge. Unfortunately Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) will be dragged into the increasing vampire vs. witch tension. "Lafayette loves his boyfriend, [Jesus, a practicing brujo], so he's trying to deal with [magic] in stride, but it keeps sucking him in and he doesn't know what's going on," Ellis says.
"He discovers who he is in the middle of all this stuff."
SPOILER: You knew already that Lafayette is a witch, right? There have been no clues or anything. (snicker)
2. Sookie, independent woman: After discovering that Bill (Stephen Moyer) was working for (his) Queen Sophie-Anne, to gain information on her, Sookie is "learning to stand on her own," Anna Paquinsays. "At the end of last season, she was at a point where she was willing to walk away from everyone and everything, particularly those troublesome boys. It's not that she doesn't want or need anyone, she just isn't dependant anymore." That's OK for Bill, though. "Bachelorhood kind of turns out all right for Bill," Moyer says. "He's decided to enjoy it while he can."
3. Vampires in trouble: Eric's unfortunate run-in with the witches will send his lieutenant, Pam (Kristin Bauer van Straten), into a downward spiral, which is bad timing in the current vampire climate. "The post-Russell Edginton world is hard for Pam," Bauer says. "It's a political environment this year, so she's supposed to be doing what the other vampires are doing — holding babies and shaking hands — but she's incapable. So we see her cause some trouble."
Pam in a downward spiral? Our vicious, beautiful, font-of-sarcastic quips Pam?! Progeny of Eric Northman, Pam? I have not been privileged as the Almighty (j/k)TVGuide to get the first three episodes of season 3 to watch but if Pammy wasn't 'downward spiralling last season when she thought Eric Dead for Sure (I suggest this as the final title in the SookieStackhouse series) and after she'd been horribly tortured by the Magister, I don't believe she's gonna 'spiral downward' in the human sense. She may act out. And when vampires act out...look out!
4. Tara returns as a new woman (EDIT/ Sorry: snooze): After getting out of Dodge in the season finale, Tara (Rutina Wesley) will return to Bon Temps hoping to turn over a new leaf, but will immediately find herself in a mess of trouble. "She gets swept back into the world of vampires so quickly," Rutina says. "She doesn't want it, but she has no choice." Fortunately, there may be hope for her yet. "If there was to be love for Tara, I think she's ready for it because I think she's learned to love herself and has opened up in a way."
Holy double-entendre, Batman! As my favourite source, "Spoiler TV" put it, (a character) is 'turning gay.' True Blood could step on a landmine with this one but I'm going to assume, given the open-mindedness in portrayal on the show of the sexual preference spectrum that this will not feel forced or cliche.
My one concern as far as I can care about the character of Tara and TBH, I don't really (but I do care about the True Blood narrative) is that in three seasons she has shown no hint at all in being attracted to women. Also, she's not particularly at an age (late 20's) where one discovers this. On top of all that she's been written as having a not-so-secret crush on Sookie's brother, Jason for most of her life. Maybe 'turning gay' is the right term but oh, they'd best be careful in making this seem, as they like to say, 'organic.'
5. Shifty shapeshifters: The days of Sam (Sam Trammell) turning into a dog or bird are child's play compared to what he'll do this season. "My character explains the full-range of capabilities that shapeshifters have, and a lot of people that she's talking to at the time don't even know some of that," says Janina Gavankar, who'll be a love interest, 'Luna,' for Sam this season. "There's a really dark side to shapeshifters as well and that's something we'll explore this year. There's potential wrongdoings that can happen."
6. Jessica, domesticated? Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll) and Hoyt (Jim Parrack) will make a go of living together, but a human and a vampire cohabitating isn't going to be easy. "Jessica is a vampire and I'm not quite sure that domestic life is really what she's in for or what she desires," Woll says. "She's still gotta figure that out because they moved into this very quickly." Helping her navigate this life is Pam, who acts as a "big bad" older sister, says Bauer. "Pam is a very different kind of mentor for Jess than Bill is," Woll adds. "The things you might not want to tell your dad, you may tell your cool aunt."
7. Jason's growing up: Once the older slacker brother of Sookie, Jason (Ryan Kwanten) has now stepped into a role of responsibility that will get him into even more trouble. "This is the season of the biggest growth for Jason, where the young boy turns into a man," Kwanten says. "He's forced to try and raise a tribe of people and eventually fight for his life."
8. PD's into V: The end of last season teased impending trouble for Andy (Chris Bauer) when it comes to V, otherwise known as vampire blood, an addictive drug that can ruin your life (See: Jason Stakchouse, Debbie Pelt and the rest of the werewolves from Season 3). "It's like old demons, new problems," Bauer says of Season 4 for Andy.
"At first V does a lot of good. He had that cast on forever, but after a couple of drops, all of a sudden he's ready to box. He's a guy who we know has issues with substance, and he keeps saying he's done, but he's not done."
I love Chris Bauer so I'm hoping that the 'V' that he gets into (he's a semi-recovering alcoholic) gives him many juicy scenes in S4! (Get the pun? Wasn't even on purpose!)
Arlene and Terry tackle parenthood: As if Arlene (Carrie Preston) could ever be the voice of reason, she's especially on edge this season. "I wouldn't be playing Arlene correctly if I wasn't playing her fully, fully stressed out," Preston says. "When you're talking about a child or potential child, and you're talking about it having a father that was a serial killer, in Arlene's mind, she's absolutely justified in freaking out. Luckily, Arlene has found Terry [Todd Lowe], who will put up with all her insecurities." On a possibility related note, Preston adds, "Arlene is going to come face-to-face with something that we haven't even seen on the show yet." (EDIT/ Common-sense?)
10. Debbie's back, baby: Alcide's psychopathic, V-addicted ex-girlfriend, Debbie Pelt (Brit Morgan), will return this season with a new prerogative. "You're going to get to see a different side of Debbie," Morgan says, adding that Debbie will attempt to make amends with Sookie and find some normalcy. But the werewolf in her isn't gone. "You're going to get to see cool things with some of the wolves that you didn't get to see last season," she says."
On a recent Friday, on a soundstage representing a New Age shop in Shreveport, La., another sign warned “Live panthers on set,” but those terrifying predators were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Sookie Stackhouse, the mind-reading, vampire-attracting waitress portrayed by Anna Paquin, and her friends Tara (Rutina Wesley) and Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) were cowering in fear of a sinister Wiccan, played by Fiona Shaw, who appeared to be carrying on a conversation with herself — or maybe with someone else inside her.
When Ms. Paquin visited behind the cameras during a shooting break and sprawled herself across a director’s chair, she playfully declined to explain what exactly had transpired in this scene from the next-to-last episode of the coming “True Blood” season.
“Would you want to know what you’re getting for Christmas on Christmas Eve?” she asked. “There’s something about anticipation that makes it more exciting.”
TRUE BLOOD kicks off its 12-episode fourth season SUNDAY, JUNE 26 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), on HBO, followed by other new episodes on subsequent Sundays at the same time.
E!Online reported on Wednesday that a True Blood 'set spy' (loose lips sinks ships) says there is a statue of Michelle Forbes' evil maenad Maryann in the back room of the Moon Goddesses magic shop that features heavily in this season's witch storyline.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 new poster art, this time featuring the dragon from Gringotts that our heroes escape on.
This dragon guards the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, and when Harry Potter, Ron Weesly, and Hermione Granger go there in Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in their horcrux quest, they encounter the Gringott's dragon. As you might guess from the nifty banner, hilarity does not ensue.
I found this a very edge-of-your-seat book (title, same as film w/out 'Part 2') sequence for the young wizard trio, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it played out, outside of my imagination.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Synopsis:
The end begins when Harry goes back to Hogwarts to destroy the final horcruxes, but when Voldemort finds out about the mission, the biggest battle begins and life as they know it will never be the same again.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is again directed by British filmmaker David Yates, of Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince previously. The script was also written again by Steve Kloves, of Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, and also Half-Blood Prince, but not Order of the Phoenix. This is based on J.K. Rowling's phenominallypopular series of books which have already concluded. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 arrives in theaters in 2 and 3D starting on July 15th 2011.
In anticipation of the June 26 HBO Season 4 debut, HBO has released 24 NEW HQ character and cast images!:
If you click through you can enlarge them fully and do with them as you wish. I spy quite a few that would make great wallpapers!
(Pictured above: Left to right - Alexander Skarsgård, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer)
Here are some really cool cast and character True Blood HQ season 4 photos:
I like that most seem not overly Photoshopped. There are imperfections here and there--stray hairs, some bloodshot eyes, a bit of lint showing up on dark fabric. Just like real people--except yes, prettier than many of us! Rutina Wesley (Tara) has such an awesome smile--lights up her whole face.
For the few bloggers that seem out of sorts about Anna, Steve and Kristen wearing their real-life wedding bands/rings, these are a mix of cast and character photos. I mean c'mon, other than the big night at the end of season 2 when Bill rented out an entire fancy restaurant in order to propose to Sookie, have you ever seen Sookie Stackhouse as fancied-up as she is in the photos here? Non.
IDK, if given a redo, if the photographer would have asked the cast to take off their personal effects as well as gotten crazy with a lint brush and eye-drops (poor Kristen Bauer van Straten appears to have injured her right eye in one shot-- it is terribly bloodshot--made me wince in sympathy).
Bottom line? I have no knowledge of the circumstances of this wonderful set of shots of our heroes (and anti-heroes) but I think like much of the barrage of True Blood-related publicity it may have been done on the fly--which is cool with me. I like the way the little imperfections make them seem (ironically, in some cases) more human.
After the jump: Official True Blood Season 4 Press Release!
'Vamping':Jessica Tuck ('Nan Flanagan') Stephen Moyer ('Bill Compton'), Kristin Bauer van Straten ('Pam Swynford de Beaufort'), Alexander Skarsgård (Eric Northman) and Deborah Ann Woll ('Jessica Hamby')
Ausiello-one-time-only-rant ('cos who wants to be as tedious to read as he is?):
Though Ausiello may be considered to be an awesome spoiler source (I'm looking at you @HBO), Ausiello himself is not a genuine True Blood fan, as hard as he may try to convince us as such (I take that back; he doesn't really try, does he?). I say this partly because he or his minions get basic things like the name of the actress who plays Pam, Kristen Bauer van Straten, wrong all the time--which back in the day was a huge no-no and IMO, still is (esp. considering how high-profile i.e. well-paid the guy is).
He gets plenty else wrong too about True Blood, mainly when he's feigning excitement about knowing that which we don't. In fact, we actually or probably do know because we love the show, we've read the books, and we 'troll'* the Internet for True Blood tidbits (Hint: Some comment sections on the better-quality TB fan sites are excellent sources).
*as in 'fish for'
Ausiello: There was a...nice surprise in my mailbox...the first three episodes of Season 4!... I’m going to declare that the show gets off to its strongest start yet. The trouble is, there’s not much I can tell you without spoiling one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) twists in the series’ history. But give me a second, I’ll think of something… Oooh, there’s a very subtle clue in this trailer.
Also:
| An unlikely new romance takes shape.
(Fansite Sookieverse Blog seems to be leaning in the direction of this couple being Tara and her new, cage-match fighting BFF. My opinion: Making Tara a lesbian will not make her more interesting).
| * *i***** *******e* ***s.
(I hate stoopid puzzles like this.)
| Pam is at her bitchiest best.
(Ya think?! Wow. This is new for Pam! *sarcasm*.)
| Jessica makes Hoyt dinner — sounds boring but I swear it’s not.
(Will it be raw and bloody?!)
| There’s some big real estate news — sounds boring but I swear it’s not.
(Speculated at Sookieverse (see above) to be Eric buying up Sookie's home since she'll have been gone to Faeryland far longer than she expected. Theory is, Sook paid no real estate taxes in that year so it went to auction and Eric bought it. Guess then he wouldn't have to ask to go inside!)
| Sam comes dangerously close to exposing his naughty bits.
(It's HBO. I've seen more male naughty bits on Game of Thrones than I ever again wanna see on my flat screen EVAR! But Sam Trammell ('Sam Merlotte'), that would be OK--I would in no way feel in 'danger.')
Twenty Promotional Season 7 True Blood Photo Stills:
I'm hoping to get higher quality (larger copies) as soon as I can. These seem like a bunch of random shots just sort of fired off to tide us over the Memorial Day weekend. A number we've seen similar poses of the same shot--Sookie in the mustard-coloured sweater, Luna in Sam's office chair about to 'seduce' him, Jessica in this outfit looking happy as she does here. Eric, too...
Pam mic -clipped and dressed as a 'Desperate Housewife' for an interview is pretty hysterical. The vamps are obviously digging in, trying to regain all the ground they lost 'post-Russell Edgington.'
WEEDS - Showtime Season 7 Synopsis SPOILERS (after the jump):
As if Nancy's life wasn't filled with enough odd characters, the producers are looking for a slightly odd, well-off New York City attorney (they're thinking of a John Waters type) who takes on pro-bono cases in exchange for juicy prison gossip. Does he sell the gossip to the tabloids? Nope, he writes the stories down in a book — which he reads when he's sad, horny, or both...
EDIT 5.27.11/ In re: the casting description above and the Showtime Press Release from 5.26 (below): they both describe the role that of the 'eccentric attorney' that went to Martin Short (Damages).
Fortunately, on Weeds 'icky' can be turned into something quite funny. If they can make 'Uncle Andy' having his toe bitten off by a dog, funny which they did, then...
Released today and here for your viewing pleasure are HQ photo stills from the first four episodes of True Blood Season 4!
Not only do we have some wicked awesome shots--some are of a small poster size--but we are presented with a slew of questions about the context of each photo!
For example, take a peek at fan fave & Eric's right hand & progeny, vampire 'Pam' (Kristen Bauer van Straten). Our Miss Pam has dumped her demure 'pretty in pink' look for a fangtastically fresh-blood-red ensemble.
What is going on here? Has Pam been tossed aside, landing on a large, worn braid rug on a tired-looking wood floor (albeit in a lady-like pose)? And are those bloody fangs I see--or just the sanguine hue of Pam's lipstick? If Pam has bitten someone, pray tell who?
So many questions and just a bit over a month until we start getting answers!
TRUE BLOOD Season 4 - Photo Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO, inc.
Found at/thanks to: http://www.seat42f.com/
Please click through to my account to enlarge the HQ photo stills.
Season 4, Episode 1: She's Not There Original Air Date—26 June 2011
Season 4, Episode 2: You Smell Like Dinner Original Air Date—3 July 2011
Season 4, Episode 3: If You Love Me, Why Am I Dyin'? Original Air Date—10 July 2011
Season 4, Episode 4: Episode #4.4 Original Air Date—17 July 2011
I'd love to hear your comments about the shots.
Are you picking up on things like the shot from episode 2: 'You Smell Like Dinner' in which Sam's little brother is in a leg cast, sporting a James Dean hairdo? Did Sam Merlotte wing his 'baby' bro in the leg with that bullet he discharged in the last episode of season 3?
With eyes 'as deep as a glacial fjord' ASkars on the COVER and in the JUNE GQ is a sight you do not want to miss:
(On newsstands nationwide May 24, 2011.)
See all the Skarsgård you can handle when True Blood returns to HBO on June 26, 2011!
'Out of the misty north there arrived in Hollywood a fair-haired stranger: Skarsgård the Younger, Alexander the Tall, son of Stellan the Comparatively Famous.
With his totally convincing American accent and eyes deep as a glacial fjord, he won over fans of HBO's True Blood. Now, with three major films opening soon, Alexander Skarsgård is poised to conquer the rest of us.'
Pretty heady stuff, no? And the accompanying interview is funny and surprisingly touching and insightful. (Read an insider's recounting of the filming of a rape scene Skarsgård has in the upcoming, 'Straw Dogs' with Kate Bosworth, rumoured to be his off-screen lady-love, that is incredibly powerful and character-revealing). Any true ASkars fans (or fans of fantastically great-looking Swedish men) will want to check it out.
There are many more gorgeous photos as well.
This is my favourite quote from the full GQ article:
In True Blood's ever expanding ensemble of fairies, werewolves, shape-shifters, telepaths, werecats, telefairies, vamp-shifters, and God knows what else, his Eric has become a solid center—the only character to display that essential quality shared by great HBO antiheroes past (think Tony Soprano or Omar Little or Al Swearengen): genuine unpredictability. Skarsgård's minutely calibrated deadpan somehow makes him the show's funniest, most cerebral, and most ferally frightening personage.
"He does this thing with his eyes," says creator and show-runner Alan Ball.
Good news! We can expect the casting news and hopefully, some storyline news to be pretty regularly forthcoming between now and when Dexter - Season 6 premieres on Showtime in September. Now that cast and crew are gearing up for production of 'one of the most acclaimed series on television' (source: SHO) I 'll be keeping my radar up for new stuff. Don't you agree that the actors that are starting to fill out the guest cast are pretty great-sounding and/or looking?!
Native Chicagoan and Off the Map actress Aimee Garcia, is joining the cast of Dexter as Jamie, the new nanny Dex hires to care for his son, Harrison. Jamie also happens to be the kid sis of Dex’s colleague Batista...duh ,duh, dun.
Previously:
Among the three recurring roles being cast are:|Jamie: Described as an outgoing and fun Latina in her mid-20s, this Florida native relocates to Miami for grad school.
Garcia will appear throughout the Showtime drama’s upcoming sixth season.
A round-up of Dexter's NEW Cast Members for Season 6:
Dexter - Season 6 - Three New Characters (5.02.11)
Dexter Morgan’s little underground vigilante operation is about to reopen for business.
Production on Dexter‘s sixth season gets underway at month’s end — ahead of a likely September premiere — and TVLine has an early look at the new blood being brought in to fill the void left by Julia Stiles, Peter Weller and Co.
Among the three recurring roles being cast are…
|Jamie: Described as an outgoing and fun Latina in her mid-20s, this Florida native relocates to Miami for grad school.
|Chicago Mike: New thirtysomething African-American homicide detective who possesses a finely turned BS detector. The Windy City native does not play well with others.
|Louis: A buddy of Masuka’s (C.S. Lee) who joins MMP as a new lab intern. Role calls for a Caucasian actor in his 30s who is “attractive in his own way.”
It’s out with the new and in with the old as Dexter heads into its sixth season.
“Dexter this season will be in some ways a return to the Dexter that you’ve seen in the early seasons,” Showtime president David Nevins told TVLine at Thursday’s 4th Annual Television Academy Honors in Beverly Hills. “There’s a really interesting story and journey that he’s going to be on this year. There’s going to be some degree of getting back to his roots.”
And that includes putting the focus back on the sibling dynamic at the heart of the show. “There will be a microscope on the Deb/Dexter relationship this season,” Nevins revealed. “Over time you’re going to see that relationship evolve and change, no questions about it.”
Season 6 — production on which begins later this month ahead of a fall premiere — will be similar to Season 5 in at least one key way: Dexter won’t face off against a singular menace a la Trinity and the Ice Truck Killer. “It is not one big bad,” he confirmed. “There’s one interesting story that will move through the season, and it will be cast very interestingly, but it’s not exactly that one person.”
After the jump: Will Deb Die in Season 6?:
Will Deb Die in Season 6?:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has wondered how the dissolution of Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Jennifer Carpenter's (Deb) marriage would affect DEXTER. To me, it sounds pretty ominous that the Deb/Dexter relationship is going to have 'a microscope on' it in season 6. The consensus has been for some time that Debra would find out about Dexter's 'moonlighting job,' and with her being such a by-the-book cop, she'd have a terrifically difficult time in deciding on his fate--if Dexter does not decide on Deb's fate first.
As one of Dexter's executive producers, Michael C. Hall certainly will have input as to how they will work out the logistics of a real-life divorcing (divorced?) couple working as co-stars on the still-hugely popular premium cable show.
There has been a number of loose-lipped anonymous cast and/or crew who upon Dexter's season 5 conclusion, told of a very tense set and worse, of Carpenter bad-mouthing her husband to anyone within earshot. This bodes ill for the character of Debra which makes me sort of wistful as besides the Dexter-Dark Passenger relationship,' the Deb & Dexter relationship has been the most satisfying on the show.
I'm going to bet on the easy way out. Debra has to die because Jennifer Carpenter needs to go--if there is to be a season 7. I'm leaning toward guessing too that 6 seasons and a bout with cancer is enough for Michael C. Hall and that season 6 Dexter is where the show concludes.
Colin Hanks to Play Another Creepy Guy on Dexter?:
(Photo/Bio Credit Moviefone.com)
'DEXTER' Snags COLIN HANKS for SEASON 6:
LOS ANGELES, CA - May 10, 2011 - Actor Colin Hanks has joined the cast of SHOWTIME's Emmy-nominated drama series DEXTER for Season 6. Hanks, who will appear in all twelve episodes, will play Travis, a highly intelligent young expert on ancient artifacts who gets linked to a series of grisly murders in Miami. Production on begins in June in Los Angeles and will premiere on SHOWTIME this fall. EDIT/ The premiere of Season 6 of Dexter will be called "Those Kinds of Things". Filming starts on the 25th May 2011.
Colin Hanks has quickly become one of Hollywood's most sought-after young actors. Hanks appeared in Oliver Stone's biopic W, in the ensemble comedy The House Bunny starring opposite Anna Faris, and the Diane Lane thriller Untraceable. Additional film credits include The Great Buck Howard, King Kong, Orange County, Get Over It and the independent films Alone With Her, Standing Still, Rx, 11:14, and Whatever It Takes. On television, Hanks starred in Steven Spielberg's award-winning 10-part miniseries Band of Brothers and guest-starred as Father Gill in the award-winning drama series Mad Men.
One of the most acclaimed series on television, DEXTER stars Michael C. Hall (Golden Globe(R) and SAG Award winner) as a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer. The show has received both multiple Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) nominations for best television drama series as well as a prestigious Peabody Award in 2008 and was twice named one of AFI's top ten television series. The show also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, and James Remar.
Mos Def has finalized a deal for a multi-episode arc on the sixth season of Dexter, according to sources.
The actor and hip hop artist will play a hardened ex-con who claims to have found religion yet seems to continually find himself surrounded by violence. Michael C. Hall’s Dexter will reveal the truth of who he really is.
"Dexter's" fifth season was its most-watched to date averaging over 5 million viewers a week (in linear and on-demand plays). The season finale rivaled Season 4's dramatic closer, pulling in 2.5 million viewers on its first airing.
(Left to right, front row) Keith Richards, executive producer John DeLuca, Penélope Cruz, Johnny Depp, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, and Ian McShane; (left to right, back row) Geoffrey Rush, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Rob Marshall, Sam Claflin
Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, and more portraits from May 7 premiere at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.
Kind of a motley crew, no? Something looks really posed about the group shot. Ian McShane is about the only one there that is looking at all comfortable in his skin. Everyone a bit jet lagged, maybe?
I LOVED this part of 'Deathly Hallows.' IMO, it was one of the high points of the book, 'Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows.'
Maybe I'll re-read it at Maple Lake this summer in my first two-week stint. My guess it will be playing somewhere up in the woods of Haliburton.
Hey. I just read that even though the Canadian Loonie has been kicking the American dollar exchange-wise for 4 years going now, the Canadians have to pay 20% more on most everyday and other stuff they buy, than their American counterparts. Not fair or justified, right?
This also means that vacationing in Canada has been no bargain for some time now--nothing is. (The article forgot to mention though that the Ontarians at least pay themselves better salaries than one would get in the U.S.).
An example of this occurs nas you are not even fully into Canada, as you cross the border into Canada on the Ambassador Bridge going from Detroit, Michigan, USA to Windsor, Ontario, CA. There's always been around a 20% more fee to get into the U.S. from Canada. (But Canada to the U.S. the same, I think?)
Final Harry Potter Film Gets Big Spread in EW Mag Summer Preview Edition:
Image Credit: Jaap Buitendijk
Remainder of article and more scanned photos after the jump!
(I would have scanned all the phot0s but the paper is so thin that the 'B' side of the page bleeds through. Credit to EW.com is in the link.)
Pretty freaking exciting, huh? This cool pic of Neville (after jump) brought back the memory of reading the passage in the book. Neville shows what he's really made of (hint: strong stuff) and it actually gave me a bit of a lump in my throat. This was I'm certain in part due to coming to know the character through the actor Matthew Lewis, who has been portraying him throughout the film series. It's a feel-good moment coloured with a great deal of sadness...can't wait to see it!
'Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides: After crossing paths with a woman from his past (Cruz), Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) is swept aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (McShane), on an unexpected mission to find the elusive fountain of youth.
Jack Sparrow and Barbossa embark on a quest to find the elusive fountain of youth, only to discover that Blackbeard and his daughter are after it, too.
Shameless Finale - EPISODE 12: Father Frank, Full Of Grace:
Steve's livelihood and Frank and Karen's secret are revealed.
I'm intrigued by the tiny bit of info contained above. Karen's secret? The website reveal? She tells Lip that she had sex with his [ick] dad?
Anyone ever wonder why Karen (Laura Slade Wiggins) was such a 'slut' at age thirteen? It would be a classic symptom of sexual abuse. Could her 'secret' be that? I wonder if Sheila (Karen's mom, played by the stellar native Chicaogan, Joan Cusack) will be in this episode? She's conspicuously absent from the sneak peeks & promo. It'll be all over for Frank (William H. Macy) once she finds out.
It's going to take a miracle for Frank to survive this episode. He's got Karen's dad (Joel Murray), possibly Kev the bartender (Steve Howey) (who has shown a really sweet side in his empathy for his sexually abused foster child) having been fed info. from the 'perp' (Frank) and Karen's very angry dad, including it seems, visual evidence in of 'the situtation'. (I have to say, I find Karen's circumstances at this point even sadder than Fiona's (Emmy Rossum) and Fi's are pretty damn heartbreaking.) Then there's Lip (Jeremy Allen White).
It appears that 'Jimmy' a/k/a Steve (Justin Chatwin) posts bail for Lip as that is SPOILER Lip in the preview who is giving Frank a beatdown after almost running him over so obviouslyLip must be released from County Jail. From the preview, it looks as if Karen breaks and tells Lip that she had sex with his father--and Lip won't blame Karen. He knows she's an emotional basket case and he already despises Frank. Not much of a leap to wanting to kill Frank.
Now 'Steve's livelihood.' That has really jammed things up for, let's see, himself, Lip, Ian, Fiona--and by extension the entire Gallagher clan. I was really hoping that Steve was a repo guy and that would explain the car stealing, but the plate switching killed that idea so I think like Fiona, we are gonna have to realize that Steve is a car thief who has gotten both her little brothers arrested and Lip at age 17, charged with a felony and she's gonna have to cut him loose. (I'm not ready to do that however. I adore Justin Chatwin and want him back in season 2.)
In the preview, Steve asks Fi to go away with him. Watch her facial expressions in the screen shots. She has her mouth sort of pursed and tightly closed as if to hold back a barrage of anger about what Steve has put her and her family through. Her expression only changes a tiny bit when he implores her to leave with him. It is a stupid question on his part because there's no frickin' way she'd ever leave the kids. Perhaps Tony (Tyler Jacob Moore), the not-so-nice-cop, pounded all sense out of him? If Tony didn't, Fiona's liable to.
Back to Frank, It seems his character will continue to take licking and keep ticking. It is as if Frank is perpetually punch drunk. Bam! He gets back up. Whack! Up he staggers. Smash!--he's like a damn whack-a-mole!
As excited I am about the finale, I'm very sad that Shameless will be gone for 9 months. It is the best 1 hour drama on Showtime (possibly on any network) since Dexter, hands down. It is my very favourite show and I'm totally not a big TV watcher. But day-em! This show, the cast, the writing, the heart. John Wells, the showrunner for Shameless, worked the same magic with 'China Beach,' one of my favourite shows of all time, and with ER, especially in it's first 5 years or so. All three shows have a crucial commonality, despite their vast differences in subject matter.
You have a group of people in very trying circumstances who somehow, over and over again, rise to the occasion and make their situations work while taking quite a few knocks in the process. Also with all three shows, there is one character in particular that you grow to care for intensely. In China Beach, it was nurse 'Colleen McMurphy' (Dana Delany), in ER, originally (before his 'death') it was 'Dr. Mark Greene' (Anthony Edwards), in Shameless it is 'Fiona Gallagher' (Emmy Rossum). Additionally, the shows have stellar writing and awesome casts. John Wells and his team have another winner here. I can't wait for season 2!
Screencaps and promo sphotos from Showtime's Shameless Season 1 Finale
Shameless: Still No Steve
Fiona discusses lawyer options with Kevin and Veronica.
I'll be sad to have Californication over for season 4 but I'm glad Hank Moody's trial will be over by season's end. Who knows where the plot line will pick up in season 5? Dare we even venture a guess?
I was fortunatee enough to have the entire season given to me for review purposes, not realizing that other websites doing the same thing were billing their posts as 'Advance Review,' which I will do next time** ---hopefully maybe, with Nurse Jackie or oooh, or Weeds :) ?! I so love Mary-Louise Parker and her 'family'!
I can't wait for 'Nurse Jackie' to start this month!
**This time I'm just reviewing each episode week by week.
UPDATE (3.25.11) Hey, Californication fans!
The Californication Giveaway is now closed. I'm choosing winners to be announced on Sunday prior to the start of episode 11 of Californication for both theCalifornication official poster art giveaway AND Season 4 Soundtrack to Californication giveaway! Again, Thanks! - Cyn
"Grown Up Talk"
Karen, Becca, and the Runkles throw a surprise party for Hank.
Californication Episode 11 - 'The Last Supper' Hank spends a last night with family and friends:
SPOILER: Hank is found guilty which further spins his world around. His ex and daughter and the Runkles throw Hank a 'going away' dinner with party favors. Hank buys a new ( used) Porsche and considers driving away and not looking back.
Guest Stars: Stephen Tobolowsky, Judy Greer, Melissa Stephens and Michele Nordin, with Carla Gugino
NEW Pirates of the Caribbean 4! Cool Zombie Concept Art!:
CLICK through to my Picasa album for full Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (some poster) size!
CLICK on Image to Enlarge to FULL Size
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Mermaid Concept Art:
The new issue of Entertainment Weekly has a look at concept art of the mermaids in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. We've scanned the page from the magazine, which features the art for the creature Syrena in her water form. Onshore, she adopts the human appearance of French-Spanish actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer describes the mermaids as "gorgeous, sexy, and vicious!"
With best friends like Charlie Runkle testifying on the stand in your defense who needs...friends?:
Californication: Relationship Conversation
Hank and Abby discuss their relationship.
I don't know if it is because this little clip is (of necessity) out of context, but it seems an awkward scene to me. It could be that it is meant to be awkward as does Hank, besides having a relationship with his daughter and his ex (and bf, Charlie), even have real relationships?
Specifically with women he's 'dating,' Hank doesn't get that serious, does he? (I ask, as 1. it doesn't seem that he does and 2. this is my 1st season watching Californication.)
The thing that is throwing me a bit about Hank and Abby is that neither seem particularly in need of anything deeper than what they have, which let's face it (excluding the attorney-client thing), is that they are f**k buddies. Should be interesting to find out where they end up.
Shameless EPISODE 10: 'Nana Gallagher Had An Affair' Promo:
Monica's return wreaks havoc on the Gallaghers; Fiona moves out.
From Shameless EPISODE 10: 'Nana Gallagher Had An Affair' - Parental Rights'
Previously on Shameless: 'EPISODE 9: But At Last Came A Knock':
Frank has some settlement money coming his way. The only catch — he needs his ex-wife's signature on the documents. Debbie goes on a mission to find out if Steve is cheating on Fiona, only to discover Steve may not be who he says he is at all. Kev and Veronica receive a visit from Ethel's baby son Jonah... and the DCFS. Lip needs money to take Karen on a date so he turns to Steve for help. Meanwhile, Eddie reaches out to Karen and invites her to a Purity Ball.
Things don't end well when Frank's ex-wife Monica shows up, announcing her plan to take Liam. Kash catches Ian and Mickey going at it. An enraged Fiona moves out of the house and in with Steve.
Best line from Shameless - EPISODE 9: 'But At Last Came A Knock':
Lip to Ian: “You know how Dad’s a total fucking asshole? Turns out he’s the good one.”
Wow. Shameless - Episode 9 was one head-spinning moment after another.
Firstly, I never thought we'd see mother Gallagher 'Monica', so quickly. I figured they'd stretch that part of the plot out maybe even until season 2 because 'missing mom' has been such a large, looming spectral presence in the Gallagher home. But no, Mrs. Frank Gallagher did show up in full force with a Peterbilt-driving gf and she was ready not only to reunite with the family but to take home a souvenir afterward. That would be baby Liam, a mixed-race baby, obviously not Frank's biologically (though I realize that legally it could get very complicated as Monica and Frank were living as husband and wife, Frank's name is probably on the birth certificate, etc.).
As mind-blowing as it was for Frank (William H. Macy) to come face-to face with his ex, it was about 6 times as awful for the Gallagher children.
Though they were all shocked (with the exception of the previously-mentioned 2 y.o. Liam) their reactions immediately following Monica's proclamation that she wished to be a 'mother again' to the young ones and to actually take custody of Liam varied widely, with Fiona-- not unexpectedly-- reacting with outrage.
Realizing that there was nothing she could do to fight back at that moment and overcome with a flood of emotions that she probably kept dammed up for the previous 2 years, Fiona announced to Monica that the kids were Monica's now--then out into the Chicago winter she walked. Emmy Rossum's pronouncement to her onscreen mother (Chloe Webb China Beach, Sid & Nancy, performance art), was just devastating. Less a tirade than it was a howl of psychic pain. Emmy Rossum played it very, very real. It's my opinion that Rossum's 'Fiona' is the heart of this fine new series, though she is surrounded by stellar talents all 'round.
When Fiona's heart broke into a million pieces right before our eyes and the eyes of her sibs, bf, & parents, it was like watching her crumble emotionally. It was hugely touching.
Special Effects Make-Up Designer Greg Nicotero in The Walking Dead's infamous zombie night attack on the camp. About 40 zombies were in the camp attack. Nicotero led the way.
The Special Effects Make-Up Artist for Romero's Day of the Dead and Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds describes getting the extras pumped in The Walking Dead and sizing up potential zombies over dinner.
The Californication Giveaway is now closed. I'm choosing winners to be announced on Sunday prior to the start of episode 11 of Californication for both theCalifornication official poster art giveaway AND Season 4 Soundtrack to Californication giveaway! Again, Thanks!
I want to be fair and give everyone who digsCalifornication as much as I do a chance to win and I wish to apologize to anyone who may have tried to enter by leaving a comment and couldn't.
People who have already entered are already in the running and don't need to enter again BUT If you are concerned that your comment/entry didn't make it through previously--go ahead and leave another comment. Each person will still get just one entry for each Giveaway, OK?
Everyone can enter once for the Californication poster art and once for the Season 4 Soundtrack to Californication which featuresThe Queens of Dogtown (recurring on the show) as well as Warren Zevon, Shooter Jennings, Tommy Lee, Better Than Ezra and others!
HOW TO ENTER the Giveaways:
For the Californication poster art all you have to do is leave me a comment on this post or any other Californication posts after this one telling me one thing you like about the show Californication on Showtime and you are in the running.
You have to work a wee bit harder to win the soundtrack by dropping me a comment, telling me one thing you like about the music on Californication.
Alright then! ***Remember to include your email with your comment. It will only be visible to me, no one else and I promise I will virtually burn it at contest's end, using it only to tell you you've won!!***
I hope you are digging Californication season 4. The storyline has been very funny and California cool, there have been some BIG surprises--and there's plenty more to come as the season continues.
As always, thanks for stopping by and Good Luck!!!
Cyn
Sneak Peeks, Song List (Music), & Promo Photos for Next week on Californication after the jump!
Episodes on Showtime: The Whole World is Sold On Episodes (well almost-- 186 countries!):
Episodes - "Episode 7"
Deeply regretting her tryst with Matt, Beverly returns home to find her husband waiting with open arms. She desperately hopes to put this ugly chapter behind them. The dreadful "Pucks!" pilot wraps; Sean and Beverly prepare to return to London. However, a final goodbye between Matt and Sean takes an unexpected turn involving a missing Jaguar, a red-nosed reindeer and the smell of cinnamon.
Sookie Stackhouse Home on True Blood Set - Where Reality and Fantasy Meet:
Very interesting little piece over at the HBO True Blood series' production blog which provides a neat glimpse into the place--the Stackhouse home--where reality and fantasty blur. Check it out in the link below as well as this sweet comment from True Blood showrunner/creator Alan Ball:
This (here) is a shot of Alan Ball's mom from the 1930s. "I like having her on set," Alan said, "there is a picture of my mom and dad and brothers on the piano, and my Uncle Bud is over the fireplace in the dining room."
Source Inside True Blood Blog - 'Secrets of the Set: Things You Didn't Know About Gran's House'
I also have an album of detailed photos that were previously released of the Stackhouse home's interior as well as a few shots of both the exterior and Bill's home: Sookie's home - before the Maenad.
Q: Are things going to get better for Hank on Californication? A:Not quite yet, because guess who's back? Yup, the deeply troubled Mia (Madeline Zima) charges into Hank's life and is hanging out with her movie counterpart, actress Sasha Bingham (Addison Timlin). When Mia and Sasha not-so-innocently put the moves on Hank someone snaps an extremely damaging pic.
I've talked about how much I enjoy the music that fits so well / helps induce the vibe in Californication so I thought I'd begin sharing the 'setlist' that I just :ahem: discovered on the official Californication area on the Showtime website. Credit for all Californication media reproduced here goes to Showtime.
You also might recall that I'm giving away the Season 4 Californication soundtrack as well the sex-ay poster art for Season 4? Here's the scoop!
How 'bout your very own, super-awesome, let's celebrate Californication getting-picked-up-for a-5th-season, Californication official poster art?
All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me one thing you like about the show Californication on Showtime and you are in the running. An announcement of the winners will be posted on Sunday, February 20th. Good Luck!
At the risk of TMI: My tummy hurt from laughing at last week's Californication, episode 4.04 'Monkey Business.' I have not laughed that hard in a long time. It felt great! I'm so looking forward to this week. It's going to be hard to top!
Californication - Promo Photos 4.02 - 'Suicide Solution' Synopsis: David Duchovny directs this episode which guest stars Rob Lowe, looking uncannily like Brad Pitt's doppelganger, but described as an 'imbalanced Oscar-winning actor'...who might play the 'Hank' role in the upcoming movie.' Looks fun.
I love Carla Gugino's guesting...She's good in everything she does. Not sure if I love her character, Abby, in sort-of-severe bangs, tho'.
Did you watch this along with Shameless andEpisodeswhich follow Californication on Showtime on Sunday nights?(If you missed episode 1 of any of the 3 shows you can watch them uncensored (for a limited time, I believe)right here on my blog!)
I watched all three shows--admittedly I split some of the viewing time up but that's allowed. :) Good shows, all.
Prior to Season 4, I did not watch Californication more than once or twice. I watched every episode of X-Files though and really like David Duchovny--so I'm game. He's very appealing but at this early point 'Hank' is not very lovable.
Big Sexy Baby
Hank makes himself right at home at the Runkle house.
Pep Talk
Charlie attempts to inspire Hank so he'll start writing.
