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TV Review: ALPHAS – Season 1 – “Anger Management”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/26/2011

Azita Gahnizada in ALPHAS - Season 1 - "Anger Management" | ©2011 Syfy/Ken Woroner

Stars: David Strathairn, Ryan Cartwright, Warren Christie, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada, Laura Mennell, Malik Yoba, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Devon Graye, Callum Keith Rennie Writers: Ira Steven Behr & Robert Hewitt Wolfe, series created by Zak Penn & Michael Karnow Director: Nick Copus Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 10 PM Airdate: July 25, 2011 While not as morally gray as last week’s episode – maybe because this week’s antagonist has caused much more harm with much less cause – “Anger Management” has a lot of strong scenes. Director Nick Copus seems to have picked up on some thematic similarities with 28 DAYS LATER/28 […]Read On »

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TV Review: LEVERAGE – Season 4 – “The Hot Potato Job”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

Gina Bellman and Christian Kane in LEVERAGE - Season 4 - "The Hot Potato Job" | ©2011 TNT/Erik Heinila

Stars: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Aldis Hodge, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf, Mitch Pileggi, Bhanna Peget Writer: Jenn Kao, series created by John Rogers & Chris Downey Director: John Harrison Network: TNT, Sundays @ 9 PM Airdate: July 24, 2011 LEVERAGE’s “The Hot Potato Job” is decent enough – it literally involves a stolen (i.e., hot) potato, so points up front for a good title, as well as smart casting in employing Mitch Pileggi as the big bad of the week. However, given that this is the episode where team leader Nathan (Timothy Hutton) and longtime unconsummated/then consummated-but-pretending-it’s-no-big-deal love interest Sophie […]Read On »

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TV Review: TRUE BLOOD – Season 4 – “Me and the Devil”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/25/2011

Anna Paquin and Alexander Skarsgard in TRUE BLOOD - Season 4 - "Me and the Devil" | ©2011 HBO/John P. Johnson

Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston, Deborah Ann Woll, Jim Parrack, Kristin Bauer Von Straten, Todd Lowe, Kevin Alejandro, Fiona Shaw, Lindsay Pulsipher, Marshall Allman, Jessica Tuck, Dale Raoul, Janina Gavander, Courtney Ford, Allan Hyde, Adina Porter Writer: Mark Hodis, based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels Director: Daniel Minahan Network: HBO, Sundays @ 9 PM Airdate: July 24, 2011 While last week’s episode of TRUE BLOOD felt every so slightly disjointed, as though it was (pardon the expression) vamping for time, “Me and the […]Read On »

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Movie Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/22/2011

CAPTAIN AMERICA - final movie poster | ©2011 Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones Writers: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely Director: Joe Johnston Distributor: Paramount Pictures Release Date: July 21, 2011 There’s nothing terribly wrong with CAPTAIN AVENGER: THE FIRST AVENGER as these things go. Chris Evans is likable and puts conviction into the title role, one Steve Rogers of Brooklyn, who desperately wants to enlist and fight for his country during WWII. Alas, Steve doesn’t meet the U.S. Army’s health requirements, but he is ultimately brought into an experimental unit. Thanks to a […]Read On »

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TV Review: ALPHAS – Season 1 – “Cause and Effect”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/20/2011

David Strathairn in ALPHAS - Season 1 - "Cause and Effect" | ©2011 Syfy/Steve Wilkie

Stars: David Strathairn, Malik Yoba, Warren Christie, Azita Ghanizada, Ryan Cartwright, Laura Mennell, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Valerie Cruz, Will McCormack Writer: Julie Siege, series created by Zak Penn & Michael Karnow Director: Constantine Makris Network: Syfy, Mondays @ 10 PM (note: pilot episode is 90 minutes) Airdate: July 18, 2011 ALPHAS is only on its second episode, “Cause and Effect,” but it shows nerves of steel in presenting us – and its characters – with the kind of moral gray zone that was last seen with regularity in these parts on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. A heavily chained Alpha, Marcus Ayers (Will McCormack), […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: Malik Yoba is one of ALPHAS males

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/18/2011

Malik Yoba in ALPHAS - Season 1 | ©2011 Syfy/Justin Stephens

In Syfy’s new series ALPHAS, airing Mondays at 10 PM, five very different people with unique mental abilities have been brought together to work for the government. The only one of the group who has previous government experience is Malik Yoba’s character Bill Harken, a former FBI agent who can summon super-strength at the cost of being depleted afterward. New York-born Yoba has played law enforcement types before – he starred as NYPD Detective J.C. Williams on four seasons of NEW YORK UNDERCOVER and more recently as Jeff Goldblum’s deceased partner on RAINES. While Yoba has also portrayed an astronaut […]Read On »

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TV Review: TRUE BLOOD – Season 4 – “I’m Alive and on Fire”

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

Anna Paquin in TRUE BLOOD - Season 4 - "I'm Alive and on Fire" | ©2011 HBO/John P. Johnson

Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgard, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Chris Bauer, Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston, Deborah Ann Woll, Jim Parrack, Kristin Bauer Von Straten, Todd Lowe, Kevin Alejandro, Fiona Shaw, Lindsay Pulsipher, Marshall Allman, Jessica Tuck, Dale Raoul, Janina Gavander, Courtney Ford Writer: Nancy Oliver, based on Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels Director: Michael Lehmann Network: HBO, Sundays @ 9 PM Airdate: July 17, 2011 “I’m Alive and on Fire” is the fourth episode of TRUE BLOOD’s Season Four. Individually, the various story threads are engaging, but one-third of the way […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: BREAKING BAD creator Vince Gilligan breaks down Season 4

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/17/2011

Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul in BREAKING BAD - Season 4 |2011 AMC/Ben Leuner

AMC’s series BREAKING BAD begins its fourth season tonight, Sunday, at 10 PM. Since the show debuted in 2008, Bryan Cranston’s Walt White has gone from a cancer-stricken mild-mannered high school science teacher who starts manufacturing crystal meth to provide for his family to an in-remission criminal drug dealer who is willing to use violence to further his ends. Cranston has won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for all three previous seasons; Aaron Paul took the Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy in 2010 for his work as Walt’s former student/current drug partner Jesse Pinkman. […]Read On »

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Movie Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/14/2011

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 poster - Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort | ©2011 Warner Bros.

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Matthew Lewis, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, William Welling, Evanna Lynch Writer: Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling Director: David Yates Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: July 15, 2011 You can tell Warner Bros. feels they have something special on their hands with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 from the very beginning. It’s rare (if not unheard of) for the studio […]Read On »

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Exclusive Interview: FRANKLIN & BASH Kevin Falls & Jamie Tarses lay down the law

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/13/2011

FRANKLIN & BASH - Season 1 - "Big Fish" | ©2011 TNT/Trae Patton

On TNT’s new legal dramedy FRANKLIN & BASH, Breckin Meyer plays Jared Franklin and Paul-Mark Gosselaar plays Peter Bash. The two are lifelong best friends who run their ambulance-chasing law partnership from home until they are unexpectedly recruited by Malcolm McDowell’s very upscale Stanton Infeld to bring some new blood to his stodgy but lucrative firm. Executive producers Jamie Tarses and series co-creator Kevin Falls – the other executive producers are Falls’ co-creator Bill Chais and director Jason Ensler – tell us everything it’s lawful to reveal about FRANKLIN & BASH. ASSIGNMENT X: What was the genesis of the show? […]Read On »