David Baldwin Jun 22, 2017
From ER to 30 Rock, EastEnders to The Simpsons, live TV drama and comedy episodes are here to stay...
In 1997, the Us TV network NBC gave permission for its highest rated show, the global medical drama hit ER, to produce an episode that would be broadcast to audiences completely live.
See related Poldark series 3 episode 2 review Poldark series 3 episode 1 review Poldark: a beginners’ guide
It’s hard to explain just how completely out of nowhere that decision was at the time. Live broadcasts began as a cornerstone of television, but once videotape came into use in the late 1950s, it was gradually confined to news bulletins and talent contests. By the 1990s, any comedy or drama that produced a live episode was usually perceived as a show suffering from flagging ratings or creative jaundice, one in dire need of an attention grabbing gimmick.
Let’s be clear – ER was none of those things.
From ER to 30 Rock, EastEnders to The Simpsons, live TV drama and comedy episodes are here to stay...
In 1997, the Us TV network NBC gave permission for its highest rated show, the global medical drama hit ER, to produce an episode that would be broadcast to audiences completely live.
See related Poldark series 3 episode 2 review Poldark series 3 episode 1 review Poldark: a beginners’ guide
It’s hard to explain just how completely out of nowhere that decision was at the time. Live broadcasts began as a cornerstone of television, but once videotape came into use in the late 1950s, it was gradually confined to news bulletins and talent contests. By the 1990s, any comedy or drama that produced a live episode was usually perceived as a show suffering from flagging ratings or creative jaundice, one in dire need of an attention grabbing gimmick.
Let’s be clear – ER was none of those things.
- 4/13/2017
- Den of Geek
David Baldwin Mar 23, 2017
Do extended-length TV episodes give us more of the good stuff or are they just a route to self-indulgent storytelling?
Can you ever have too much of a good thing?
See related DC Comics movies: upcoming UK release dates calendar Batman V Superman: where does it leave the Justice League? Batman V Superman: Michael Shannon fell asleep watching it Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman
Said question jumped into my mind earlier this year upon realising that it would take one episode of surreal hacker drama Mr. Robot longer than an hour to reach the end credits.
More than at any time in Us television’s past, we’re receiving an influx of elongated episodes. They used to be limited to around forty five minutes, but now it’s not unusual for some to stretch past the sixty minute mark.
And these aren’t in the form...
Do extended-length TV episodes give us more of the good stuff or are they just a route to self-indulgent storytelling?
Can you ever have too much of a good thing?
See related DC Comics movies: upcoming UK release dates calendar Batman V Superman: where does it leave the Justice League? Batman V Superman: Michael Shannon fell asleep watching it Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman
Said question jumped into my mind earlier this year upon realising that it would take one episode of surreal hacker drama Mr. Robot longer than an hour to reach the end credits.
More than at any time in Us television’s past, we’re receiving an influx of elongated episodes. They used to be limited to around forty five minutes, but now it’s not unusual for some to stretch past the sixty minute mark.
And these aren’t in the form...
- 3/8/2017
- Den of Geek
David Baldwin Jan 30, 2017
Disney's Gargoyles was filled to the brim with creativity, mythology and great characterisation...
To get a sense of why Disney series Gargoyles stands as one of the more ambitious animated serials to have come out of the 90s, a good place to start is the episode Avalon Part 2. The second in a three part narrative taken from the show’s elongated second season, it begins with one iteration of the villainous Archmage, voiced with glorious ham by David Warner, asking a doppelganger whether he’s certain he knows what to do. To which the doppelganger replies “I should… I watched you do it.”
See related 174 movie sequels currently in the works
Said exchange doesn’t make much sense until the end of the episode, when the lines are repeated to an audience now fully informed, who have just seen two versions of the same character travel between...
Disney's Gargoyles was filled to the brim with creativity, mythology and great characterisation...
To get a sense of why Disney series Gargoyles stands as one of the more ambitious animated serials to have come out of the 90s, a good place to start is the episode Avalon Part 2. The second in a three part narrative taken from the show’s elongated second season, it begins with one iteration of the villainous Archmage, voiced with glorious ham by David Warner, asking a doppelganger whether he’s certain he knows what to do. To which the doppelganger replies “I should… I watched you do it.”
See related 174 movie sequels currently in the works
Said exchange doesn’t make much sense until the end of the episode, when the lines are repeated to an audience now fully informed, who have just seen two versions of the same character travel between...
- 1/22/2017
- Den of Geek
David Baldwin Jan 11, 2017
From Popular to American Horror Story, Nip/Tuck, Glee and Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy is a showrunner who never does things by halves...
In our current ‘golden’ age of television, those long running shows which feature the most shades of grey or offer up the more morally ambiguous characters seem to get all the attention. Whether it’s The Wire, Borgen, Mad Men or Breaking Bad, these programmes’ subtle nuances and their refusal to simplify are cited as their greatest strengths.
See related Netflix's Stranger Things: Shawn Levy interview Netflix's Stranger Things: spotting the movie references
Yet there’s one man whose work has completely bucked that trend, and it’s made him one of the most prolific and successful producers in Us television. Ryan Murphy’s shows deal almost entirely in extremes, producing television serials that revel in the grotesque and the intensely brazen,...
From Popular to American Horror Story, Nip/Tuck, Glee and Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy is a showrunner who never does things by halves...
In our current ‘golden’ age of television, those long running shows which feature the most shades of grey or offer up the more morally ambiguous characters seem to get all the attention. Whether it’s The Wire, Borgen, Mad Men or Breaking Bad, these programmes’ subtle nuances and their refusal to simplify are cited as their greatest strengths.
See related Netflix's Stranger Things: Shawn Levy interview Netflix's Stranger Things: spotting the movie references
Yet there’s one man whose work has completely bucked that trend, and it’s made him one of the most prolific and successful producers in Us television. Ryan Murphy’s shows deal almost entirely in extremes, producing television serials that revel in the grotesque and the intensely brazen,...
- 12/15/2016
- Den of Geek
David Baldwin Nov 25, 2016
There's a good reason why Supernatural has earned the loyalty of this fan over 12 long seasons. And here it is...
At the time I began watching fantasy horror series Supernatural in 2005, I was a sprightly 24 year old. Today, I am a less-than-sprightly 35 year old. Before the twelfth season of Supernatural began earlier this year, there had been 241 episodes across eleven years, and I’ve seen every single one of them. Assuming each episode runs for approximately 42 minutes, that’s 10,122 minutes. Which equates to over 168 hours, or just over seven days.
See related Shane Black: a career retrospective Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman
Supernatural is currently in its twelfth year, meaning there are at least another 23 episodes to come, and very likely more after that.
Seven days of my life. And counting.
And the strangest thing of all is that, for me, Supernatural is… well, it’s okay.
There's a good reason why Supernatural has earned the loyalty of this fan over 12 long seasons. And here it is...
At the time I began watching fantasy horror series Supernatural in 2005, I was a sprightly 24 year old. Today, I am a less-than-sprightly 35 year old. Before the twelfth season of Supernatural began earlier this year, there had been 241 episodes across eleven years, and I’ve seen every single one of them. Assuming each episode runs for approximately 42 minutes, that’s 10,122 minutes. Which equates to over 168 hours, or just over seven days.
See related Shane Black: a career retrospective Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman
Supernatural is currently in its twelfth year, meaning there are at least another 23 episodes to come, and very likely more after that.
Seven days of my life. And counting.
And the strangest thing of all is that, for me, Supernatural is… well, it’s okay.
- 11/24/2016
- Den of Geek
Following in the footsteps of Netflix and NBC, Starz is releasing all episodes of its ballet-centric limited series Flesh and Bone and the third season of its historical drama Da Vinci’s Demons at once. Starz subscribers will be able to view them on Starz Play and Starz On Demand in the U.S. after the premieres of the first episodes of each series, on October 24 for Da Vinci’s Demons and November 8 for Flesh and Bone.
Netflix pioneered the binge-friendly approach with its original series House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Hemlock Grove, and it’s starting to catch on as a viable approach for small-screen networks. NBC adopted the strategy for its period detective drama Aquarius earlier this year and found substantial success in attracting viewers to watch the full season on NBC.com. Now, Starz is taking a swing at it, banking on the...
Netflix pioneered the binge-friendly approach with its original series House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Hemlock Grove, and it’s starting to catch on as a viable approach for small-screen networks. NBC adopted the strategy for its period detective drama Aquarius earlier this year and found substantial success in attracting viewers to watch the full season on NBC.com. Now, Starz is taking a swing at it, banking on the...
- 7/31/2015
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
Rapper Ice-t's grandson is in police custody after he accidentally shot and killed his roommate, according to news reports. Elyjah Marrow, 19, was arrested Tuesday in Marietta, Georgia, and charged in the shooting death of Daryus Johnson, 19, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. Marrow was allegedly handling a gun when it discharged, fatally injuring Johnson, authorities say. Police reportedly found Johnson unconscious at Bentley Manor Apartments, and he was later pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital. "Marrow was not using proper firearms safety when handling the gun," Officer David Baldwin told The Marietta Daily Journal. "That reckless handling of...
- 6/28/2014
- by Alexis L. Loinaz
- PEOPLE.com
One of the buzzier films that I unfortunately missed out on at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was Fox Searchlight’s Dom Hemingway. The foul comedy stars Jude Law as the titular character who, after spending several years in prison, is finally released and sets out to collect the money that’s owed to him.
Today, the studio has released six Nsfw clips to give you an idea of just how naughty Law gets in what looks like a completely unhinged role for the actor. The film will finally allow him to stray from the usually charming and proper characters that he often plays and it looks like he’s having a ton of fun here, totally disappearing into the role and delivering the type of performance that we rarely see him give.
Our very own David Baldwin reviewed the film when it premiered at Tiff back in...
Today, the studio has released six Nsfw clips to give you an idea of just how naughty Law gets in what looks like a completely unhinged role for the actor. The film will finally allow him to stray from the usually charming and proper characters that he often plays and it looks like he’s having a ton of fun here, totally disappearing into the role and delivering the type of performance that we rarely see him give.
Our very own David Baldwin reviewed the film when it premiered at Tiff back in...
- 2/28/2014
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
If you’re the sort of person who thinks that the main drawback of any movie starring Jesse Eisenberg is that there’s only one Jesse Eisenberg in it, then boy are you in for a real treat. Through the miracle of modern filmmaking technology, director Richard Ayoade has somehow managed to have Eisenberg star in a movie opposite himself, sometimes even in the very same shot! The movie in which this magic occurs is the upcoming The Double, which is based on a novella by Russian ball of sunshine Fyodor Dostoevsky.
For those who didn’t go through college wearing black and reading bleak Russian literature, Dostoyevsky’s story revolves around Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a meek government clerk who encounters a man who is his doppelganger in every way except he’s much cooler and more outgoing and everyone wants to party with him. In the film version, Golyadkin has been renamed Simon James,...
For those who didn’t go through college wearing black and reading bleak Russian literature, Dostoyevsky’s story revolves around Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a meek government clerk who encounters a man who is his doppelganger in every way except he’s much cooler and more outgoing and everyone wants to party with him. In the film version, Golyadkin has been renamed Simon James,...
- 12/18/2013
- by Jeremy Clymer
- We Got This Covered
Between James McAvoy’s dirty crime drama Filth that was released earlier this year and Jude Law’s upcoming Dom Hemingway, good actors gone bad (hilariously, spectacularly bad) are having a moment.
A new red band trailer for Dom Hemingway, which is scheduled for release next April, suggests that Law may be on an even more severe bender than we had previously thought. It’s one of the most madcap, wildly appealing previews I’ve seen in some time and you can check out all the drug-fueled carnage below, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies:
With boatloads of sex, cocaine, booze, guns, car crashes and over-the-top profanity, Dom Hemingway looks like a viciously funny crime caper, boosted by a totally unhinged performance from Law. Our reviewer David Baldwin caught the film at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year and was impressed with the results, calling it, “one of the first...
A new red band trailer for Dom Hemingway, which is scheduled for release next April, suggests that Law may be on an even more severe bender than we had previously thought. It’s one of the most madcap, wildly appealing previews I’ve seen in some time and you can check out all the drug-fueled carnage below, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies:
With boatloads of sex, cocaine, booze, guns, car crashes and over-the-top profanity, Dom Hemingway looks like a viciously funny crime caper, boosted by a totally unhinged performance from Law. Our reviewer David Baldwin caught the film at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year and was impressed with the results, calling it, “one of the first...
- 12/4/2013
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
Director Richard Ayoade premiered his newest film, The Double, to mostly positive reviews this year at the Toronto International Film Festival. Though I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see it, our very own David Baldwin did and he seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. In his review, he said the following:
Bleak and seldomly hilarious, The Double is a unique wonder that has a great look to it.
Described by many as a cult classic that’s a trippy, confusing, but ultimately fun experience, the film certainly isn’t one for the masses and probably won’t appeal to a lot of people. It’s apparently a very difficult film but for those who appreciate this kind of stuff, it will be a treat.
Personally, I’m excited for it as I do tend to enjoy these types of movies. Plus, The Double is drawing comparisons to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil,...
Bleak and seldomly hilarious, The Double is a unique wonder that has a great look to it.
Described by many as a cult classic that’s a trippy, confusing, but ultimately fun experience, the film certainly isn’t one for the masses and probably won’t appeal to a lot of people. It’s apparently a very difficult film but for those who appreciate this kind of stuff, it will be a treat.
Personally, I’m excited for it as I do tend to enjoy these types of movies. Plus, The Double is drawing comparisons to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil,...
- 10/11/2013
- by Matt Joseph
- We Got This Covered
Horns, Alexandre Aja’s adaptation of Joe Hill’s novel of the same name, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) to mixed reviews. The machinations of the crazy world of movies, where a movie can premiere before a trailer or poster is even released, means that we are now getting the first footage of Horns (via Collider), after we’ve offered you our review. Stupid, right? Anyway, here’s an exciting first clip of what our very own David Baldwin called “pretty messy and a near tonal disaster”:
As you can see Daniel Radcliffe, who has become so horny that he has gained an American accent, is in a very bad way. He looks sick, he’s being threatened at gunpoint, and he is sickeningly deformed. Sickeningly. But why? Well, Daniel Radcliffe plays Ig Perrish, who stands accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend. Using his horned psychic abilities,...
As you can see Daniel Radcliffe, who has become so horny that he has gained an American accent, is in a very bad way. He looks sick, he’s being threatened at gunpoint, and he is sickeningly deformed. Sickeningly. But why? Well, Daniel Radcliffe plays Ig Perrish, who stands accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend. Using his horned psychic abilities,...
- 9/10/2013
- by Rob Batchelor
- We Got This Covered
Reviews for Cloud Atlas, the ambitious new project from The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer, have been a tad mixed. Some have hailed the film as a “grand spectacle” and “tremendous,” while others have called it a “giant folly” and a “disaster.” Our own David Baldwin referred to it as “ambitious” and “beautiful,” “but an absolute pain to analyze and admire” in his review.
With the release of the film only about a month away, Warner Bros. has stepped up the marketing for the film. Today, thanks to The Film Stage, we have seven new banners and two new TV spots that do a great job of showing off the film’s epicness, as well as giving us a good look at the multiple time periods the film covers.
This new material also comes with the news that the film will be receiving an IMAX release, featuring a digitally-remastered version of the film.
With the release of the film only about a month away, Warner Bros. has stepped up the marketing for the film. Today, thanks to The Film Stage, we have seven new banners and two new TV spots that do a great job of showing off the film’s epicness, as well as giving us a good look at the multiple time periods the film covers.
This new material also comes with the news that the film will be receiving an IMAX release, featuring a digitally-remastered version of the film.
- 9/25/2012
- by Jeff Beck
- We Got This Covered
Paramount Pictures have announced the Blu-Ray release of The Dictator for August, starring Sacha Baron Cohen.
Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen re-teamed this year for The Dictator, which was Cohen’s return to another one of his insane characters, but this time shot more traditionally, with actual actors and not with random bystanders walking into one of his pranks.
The Dictator didn’t stir up as much controversy as say Borat or Bruno, but it did decent numbers at the box office and managed to gather some middle-of-the-road critical responses, including one from our very own David Baldwin:
While The Dictator may appear different than Borat and Brüno, it is very much the same idea as both films, packed with the same jokes and new ones that are more disturbing than they are hilarious.
Paramount will be bringing the film to Blu-Ray in a Blu-Ray/DVD/UltraViolet Digital Copy combo pack,...
Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen re-teamed this year for The Dictator, which was Cohen’s return to another one of his insane characters, but this time shot more traditionally, with actual actors and not with random bystanders walking into one of his pranks.
The Dictator didn’t stir up as much controversy as say Borat or Bruno, but it did decent numbers at the box office and managed to gather some middle-of-the-road critical responses, including one from our very own David Baldwin:
While The Dictator may appear different than Borat and Brüno, it is very much the same idea as both films, packed with the same jokes and new ones that are more disturbing than they are hilarious.
Paramount will be bringing the film to Blu-Ray in a Blu-Ray/DVD/UltraViolet Digital Copy combo pack,...
- 7/14/2012
- by Jeremy Lebens
- We Got This Covered
by indieWIRE (January 4, 2009) Editors Note: This is part of a series of interviews, conducted via email, profiling dramatic and documentary competition and American Spectrum directors who have films screening at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
"Art & Copy" takes us inside a powerful, yet surprisingly unknown, industry to reveal the most influential creative forces tapping the zeitgeist of our time. Think of those commercials we can never seem to get out of our heads. Each one is the brain child of an industry typically associated with pandering and manipulation. Is great advertising actually a rare and rebellious accomplishment more akin to--dare I say it--art? Beginning in the 1960s, a creative revolution revitalized the advertising industry. Bill Bernbach launched the Volkswagen Beetle, prompting viewers to "think small." Dan Wieden coined "Just Do It" and forever changed the way we motivate ourselves athletically. Phyllis Robinson empowered the "me generation" with a Clairol tagline. Hal...
"Art & Copy" takes us inside a powerful, yet surprisingly unknown, industry to reveal the most influential creative forces tapping the zeitgeist of our time. Think of those commercials we can never seem to get out of our heads. Each one is the brain child of an industry typically associated with pandering and manipulation. Is great advertising actually a rare and rebellious accomplishment more akin to--dare I say it--art? Beginning in the 1960s, a creative revolution revitalized the advertising industry. Bill Bernbach launched the Volkswagen Beetle, prompting viewers to "think small." Dan Wieden coined "Just Do It" and forever changed the way we motivate ourselves athletically. Phyllis Robinson empowered the "me generation" with a Clairol tagline. Hal...
- 1/5/2009
- by brian
- indieWIRE - People
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