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Buzz News Roundup, 8/24

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:30:10 -0700

Stephen Moyer will join Paul Bettany in the vampire thriller Priest. - Variety
NBC has ordered a pilot for the legal comedy Rex Is Not Your Lawyer. - The Hollywood Reporter
Diego Luna will make his directorial debut with a family drama called Abel. - Coming Soon
Glee's Jayma Mays will return to Heroes for one episode. - Entertainment Weekly
Sheryl Crow sold her music catalog to S1 Songs Group for over $10 million. - Variety
Check out the new Dancing With the Stars Pairings. - Zap2it
Gus van Sant is in negotiations to direct Restless. - The Hollywood Reporter
Irving Berlin's White Christmas will be back for a holiday run on Broadway. - Variety

Alan Ball Says Season Two of True Blood Is "Sexier and Gorier"

BuzzSugar — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 07:30:41 -0700

The second season of HBO's True Blood kicks off tonight and doesn't waste any time jumping into the scary murder madness that has engulfed the citizens of Bon Temps.

According to the show's creator, Alan Ball, everything intensifies this season: vampires are more monstrous, sex scenes are even sexier, shape-shifters become more, er, shape-shiftery, and the anti-vampire movement becomes even more zealous.

Here are more highlights from the conference call Ball recently held with reporters:

Talking about the serial killer: "The first season we, the audience, did not know who the serial killer was. In this season, as the show progresses, we know there is a character who is up to no good and is dangerous long before any of the other characters on the show know it."
Describing the anti-vampire cult and whether or not it's a metaphor for our current political climate: "That whole conflict becomes deadly serious. Given the nature of the political debate in this country, I think it's very easy to look at it in a satirical light. I've been clear from the beginning: they really believe they have a mission to save the world."

To see what Ball has to say about Evan Rachel Wood's character and the real-life romance between the show's two stars, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, read more.

On Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer's real-life relationship: "They are such consummate professionals, both of them, that it doesn't affect filming whatsoever. It only affects filming in the sense that they're incredibly comfortable with each other and their chemistry translates to the screen."
Talking about the changes Ryan Kwanten's character, Jason Stackhouse, will go through in season two: "In the books, Jason is very much the hot guy in town who is the womanizer. Once we started to flesh him out, no pun intended, we saw that he is sexually compulsive. Ultimately, Jason is a scared little boy that has been abandoned by everyone he has ever loved. In the second season, he is very much aware of the deep hole in his soul and he’s looking to fill that. As many people do, he latches onto religion and becomes part of an organization that makes him feel special. But of course, as time goes on . . . let’s just say Jason can’t leave his clothes on too long."

On making Alexander Skarsgård's character Eric, even scarier, and not shying away from the sexiness of the show: "This season, I did not feel like we needed to up the ante just to up the ante. I did feel like it was important to make Eric more frightening and see more of his monstrous side because as we progress we see more of his more human side. There is a scene where Sookie and Bill make love in the first episode that basically on the page it said 'Sookie and Bill make love.' Then I saw the dailies cut together . . . and I was like ‘Oh, wow! OK.’ I love it and I think that’s part of the appeal of the show. I don't think we do anything gratuitously. But it's important to show that between Sookie and Bill, there is this incredible, erotic chemistry."
On who Ball thinks is the most evil character: "I would hesitate to say Maryann is the most evil but she revels in chaos and destruction. She doesn't look at it from the polarities of good and evil."
Describing Evan Rachel Wood's character: "She is going to be playing the vampire queen of Louisiana. Each state has a king or queen and the buck stops there in terms of the [vampire] politics. Evan's really beautiful and very, very pale. And she looks like a vampire to me!"
On feeling any pressure to win awards or live up to the show's hype in season two: "I don't really think about those things. I feel like that is a real trap. I just feel like I try to do the best I can do. I don't feel more pressure, I really work very hard to stay in a little bubble in that regard because otherwise you go crazy."

WireImage

First Look: True Blood Season Two

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 10:30:23 -0700

I was jealous of the folks at the Paley Festival in LA last week when they got to see a sneak peek of the second season of True Blood. Well, kudos to HBO for slipping this clip out to the rest of us, because it's a dark and creepy first look at season two of the vampire series.

The clip focuses on Sookie, Bill, and Bill's new little vampire girl, Jessica. They're in a car together in the woods, and Sookie storms off after an argument. Bill's sure Sookie will come back eventually, despite Jessica's disdainful comments that Sookie wants him to chase after her. But then there's this . . . thing. Lurking. With long fingernails.

Alan Ball has continued to say that the show will follow Charlaine Harris's books pretty closely, so I bet some of you reading might know what's happening here. If so, are you pleased? If not, what do you think is going on? To check out the clip, just read more.

Source

TV Preview: True Blood

BuzzSugar — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:42:31 -0700

I don't think it will be a revolutionary statement that how one feels about Alan Ball's new HBO series, True Blood, will have a lot to do with how one generally feels about vampires. Me, they've never really been my thing; they're OK and all, but the mere mention of fangs wouldn't necessarily get me to tune in. This review, then, is for (and by) the vampire-agnostic.

So here's the takeaway: I don't doubt at all that True Blood could develop into a deeply fascinating series for people at all points on the vampire-fan spectrum. But in the two episodes HBO sent me, the vampire parts were something I just needed to get through so I could get back to Alan Ball's witty writing in the more human realm. The second episode is stronger than the first; I've heard from some critics who got a full batch of five episodes that each one gets better. But the fate of many a TV series has been determined in episode one, and in True Blood's case, that's cause for some concern.

True Blood's protagonist is Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a Louisiana waitress with an unfortunate "gift" for reading people's minds that makes her daily life a struggle to tune out the thoughts of those around her. It's somewhat of a relief, then, when a pale stranger named Bill (Stephen Moyer) settles himself into her bar one night and asks for a drink of Tru Blood, the synthetic blood substitute that has made it possible for vampires to live among humans. Sookie can't read his mind but still quickly figures out that Bill's a vampire; "Am I that obvious?" he drawls in return. Why yes; you just asked for fake blood at a bar at night. It's not hard to guess. For more on the highs and lows of True Blood, just read more.

What Ball has done best - in American Beauty, and then in Six Feet Under - is give a voice to people's unspoken fears: that intimacy is scary, that suburbia is soul-sucking, that death is really the end, or not the end. I'm not convinced that talent translates to the unspoken fears of the immortal. Bill's lines are the clunkiest, his characterization spotty. The second episode fixes that somewhat, giving Bill a set of chivalrous, 1800s manners, but in the first episode, I had a hard time understanding why Sookie was so attracted to this bloodsucker.

Part of that might be because of Sookie, who also could use a little more character development. Sometimes she's a Southern tart; sometimes she's a complete innocent. The second episode hints more at her family backstory, which was a relief; every little bit I learned about her helped. But in the first episode, I had such a hard time justifying her actions that finally I gave up trying to make rational sense of it.

The Sookie/Bill story gets some support from wild cast of supporting characters, some successful and some less so. To date, my favorites are Sookie's "My stars!"-saying grandmother and her sassy best friend, Tara, who can't stop running her mouth. Sookie's brother, the lady-crazed Jason, is introduced in a fairly odd way, but there's enough hinting at a dark past that I'm curious about him.

There's been a lot made of True Blood's sex and violence (or, maybe more accurately, violent sex), and it's true - there's a lot of it. There's definitely a spirit of abandon about the whole thing, which is something Ball's other shows have definitely lacked. It's more melodrama than drama, despite the occasional heavy reminders about how vampires are an oppressed class just trying to find their way in a world set on denying them their rights, and at times it's very, very enjoyable. But is it enough to - sorry, sorry - sink your teeth into? Well . . . that might well just depend on how you feel about vampires.

Source

Link Time! Simon Baker Scores Surfer Role

BuzzSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:30:40 -0800

Simon Baker attached to surfing drama Breath - Coming Soon
Eddie Murphy to star in R-rated animal comedy The Misadventures of Fluffy - Movieline
Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Capitalism: A Love Story both left off of Oscar documentary shortlist - Cinematical
Get a look at next week's annual Slapsgiving on How I Met Your Mother - PopWatch
All Songs Considered: The 50 most important recordings of the decade - NPR
Susan Boyle breaks Amazon's record for global CD pre-orders - Lifeline Live
Could Lost's Nestor Carbonell be Khan in the Star Trek sequel? - Moviefone
True Blood's Stephen Moyer signs on for thriller The Caller - MTV Movies Blog
Remember Chandler's awkward relationship with Thanksgiving? Share your own stories with Très - TrèsSugar
Interpol is prepping an album for next year - Pitchfork