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Video: Ian McShane on Playing Penelope Cruz's Dad, Portraying Blackbeard, and Joining the Pirates Fold

PopSugar — Sat, 21 May 2011 07:45:00 PDT

Ian McShane takes on one of history's most iconic swashbucklers, Blackbeard, in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. We spoke with the actor at the movie's recent press day in Beverly Hills, where he talked about his approach to portraying such a storied character, having Penelope Cruz as an onscreen daughter, and the amazing locations where the latest installment in the Pirates franchise filmed. Watch the video above, and don't miss our interview with Penelope Cruz or the movie, which is in theaters everywhere this weekend!

TV Tonight: Kings

BuzzSugar — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:30:48 PDT

NBC's Kings, which premieres tonight, is a vastly ambitious series, set in an alternate universe at a time of war and based on the Biblical story of David and Goliath. It has a fantastic cast, including Ian McShane as the powerful King Silas and relative newcomer Christopher Egan as young David. And while it doesn't necessarily get everything right in tonight's two-hour premiere, I'm curious to see how the show develops in the coming weeks.

Tonight's premiere introduces us to Gilboa, a fictional modern world, where a war is raging. In the first two hours, we're introduced to the main players - including David, who leads a mission that ends up saving the king's son. He's swept into a magestic, upper-class world, and watching him deal with sudden fame is one of the more intriguing parts of the premiere.

The show's pacing is a bit odd - events in the first two hours either happen very quickly or seem to take forever to develop - and the Bible parallels are a bit heavy-handed at first, as though the writers wanted to make very sure that we get what they're doing here. But its production is impressive and the acting strong, and I'm looking forward to seeing what turns the show takes next.

Will you check it out tonight? To watch a preview, just

First Look: Kings

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:30:44 PST

NBC's Kings had one of the more infamous panels at the TCA press tour last Summer, complete with star Ian McShane berating reporters. Lost in the drama, though, was the fact that the clips we saw of the show actually looked pretty great. Set to the regal sounds of Coldplay's "Vida la Vida," the show played out like a hypercolor modern version of the David and Goliath story, with McShane as the powerful King Silas Benjamin and relative newcomer Christopher Egan as young David.

Sadly, I never found that trailer online, but a new one popped up on NBC's site recently introducing us to Gilboa, a fictional land which bears the butterfly on its flag (hence all the butterfly imagery throughout). According to the network:

Silas must deal with the tensions rising between Gilboa and neighboring nation Gath. When several prisoners of war are taken, a young soldier, David Shepard, defies orders and crosses enemy lines to save them. Unknown to David, the soldier he saves is Jack Benjamin, the son of the king. From that day forth, David’s life will never be the same.

Sebastian Stan, Allison Miller, and Susanna Thompson also star. The show doesn't have an airdate yet (it's not on NBC's new January schedule), but I'm keeping an eye on it. All the bits and pieces I've seen so far are slick and beautiful, if a little confusing, so I can't wait to experience a full episode. To check out the trailer, just

Ian McShane to Play a King for NBC

BuzzSugar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:34:29 PDT

Once, he played a cunning criminal. Now, he's ruling an ancient nation.

Deadwood's Ian McShane has joined the cast of NBC's drama Kings, which is based on the life of the Biblical king of Israel. He will play King Silas, modeled on the Bible's King Saul, who welcomes David (Christopher Egan) into his court but ultimately becomes jealous and vengeful toward him.

Kings hasn't shot a pilot yet, but it's rumored to be a virtual lock for NBC's Fall schedule, which the network is announcing Wednesday, weeks before any of the other major networks unveil their lineups.

I'm guessing McShane won't get to be as, er, profane on NBC as he was on HBO. But I'm glad to see the Golden Globe winner taking on another powerful and authoritative role. Deadwood fans, do you think you'll be able to believe McShane as royalty rather than an outlaw?

Source

Hot Rod: More Like Lukewarm Rod

BuzzSugar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:01:11 PDT

After meeting the funny, friendly Andy Samberg and his buddies ("The Dudes") I wanted very much to give Hot Rod a great review. But I just can't do it. Luckily, Samberg himself said once in a separate interview that he knows the movie will get bad reviews. So... woo hoo! I can write this guilt-free.

The premise of Hot Rod is pretty funny, really. Rod Kimble (Samberg) gets no respect from his surly stepfather Frank (Ian McShane). So when he learns that Frank will die unless he gets an expensive heart transplant, Rod vows to raise the money to get Frank a new heart so he can then kick his ass and prove that he's a man. Rod and his buddies cook up a plan for a fundraising event in which Rod will jump his motorbike over a bunch of buses. Montages set to '80s music ensue. That's just the plot, though, so to see what I thought of the movie,

read more Despite not having written the movie, the entire thing has the look and feel of one of Samberg and Friends' "SNL" shorts that goes on for way, way too long. It was originally written as a vehicle for Will Ferrell, and indeed it seems just like a Will Ferrell movie... without Will Ferrell. I think Will Ferrell can sell through a lot of poor scripts just on his fully committed, blithely innocent charm. Andy Samberg... not so much. It's funny that Samberg's buddy and Hot Rod director Akiva Schaffer claims to have tweaked the script to make it more appropriate to Samberg's humor because they didn't want it to be "like Samberg doing a Will Ferrell impression." Because that's exactly what it seems to be. I enjoyed the allusions to 80s movies - all the synth music, the homages to Rad and Footloose, the wacky low-budget tone. And I love anything Isla Fisher does, though as the generic "girl" part in the movie she's insultingly underused. The focus isn't on her at all, but on these dudes and their gimmicky antics. The most entertaining and relaxed scenes are those that include "Arrested Development"'s Will Arnett whose breezy ability to play the ultimate douchebag comes in handy once again. Andy Samberg has a great comedic mind for writing "SNL" shorts ("Dick in a Box" was hilarious, for example), but he isn't commanding enough to be the lead in a feature film. In fact, he doesn't seem particularly comfortable playing the lead in a feature film. Next time someone writes a Will Ferrell film, I hope they can get Will Ferrell to be in it. Photos courtesy of Paramount

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Too Long at Sea

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:12:54 PDT

Even though Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has the shortest running time of all the installments in Disney's adventure series, its overstuffed treasure chest of filler makes it feel hours longer than it is. While the plot is solid and makes more sense than those of the earlier Pirates movies, there are too many distractions. Overly long battles, boring action sequences, and unnecessary scenes stretch what could have been a snappy amusement into a bloated, almost two-and-a-half-hour movie.

Johnny Depp is back as Captain Jack Sparrow, this time with a new nemesis: his scorned ex-lover Angelica (Penelope Cruz). Though she's furious that Jack left her years ago after seducing her, she's not the villain of the movie - her boss, the evil Blackbeard (Ian McShane), is. Angelica serves as the first mate on his ship, which she drags Jack onto so he can help direct them to the elusive Fountain of Youth. The mythical place can save Blackbeard from his predicted fate: death at the hands of Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who's on their tail, eager to fulfill Blackbeard's destiny.

To read about the movie's few redeeming qualities, just keep reading.

More Johnny, Mermaids, and Penelope in the Second Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Trailer

Shannon Vestal — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:06:13 PDT

When we got to to see the first trailer for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides, it felt like there was a little bit of the franchise's magic missing. Now we have trailer number two, and it's a bit more exciting than the first.

As expected, it has more of Johnny Depp's one-liners as Captain Jack Sparrow, along with some sexy sparring with costar Penelope Cruz. More importantly, we also get to see a bit more of the mermaid factor, and why they're such a big part of this sequel. One is needed to help the Captain Jack and his rival Blackbeard (Ian McShane) to get to The Fountain of Youth - the thin but interesting objective of the movie. Watch this new trailer and see if gets you any more excited for the latest Pirates installment when you