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First Look: The Prisoner

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:30:09 -0700

One of the panels I couldn't hit up at this year's Comic-Con was for AMC's remake of the 1960s British miniseries The Prisoner. Luckily, the footage from the panel - nine minutes of it! - is now online for us all to enjoy.

I'll be honest: I'm not familiar with the original miniseries, and I barely have a clue what's happening in this preview. That said, it definitely looks intriguing, and I'll be curious to tune in when The Prisoner premieres this Fall.

Here's what I can tell: The miniseries focuses on a man known only as Number Six (Jim Caviezel), who wakes up and finds himself in a surreal place called "The Village." Everyone there is a number, enjoying life in The Village but lacking any memory of their lives before. Number Six, however, suspects that something else - maybe something sinister - is going on, and he sets out to learn the true story behind The Village. That brings him into contact with Number Two (Ian McKellan), an authority on Village life who seems to want to keep Number Six from learning too much.

This six-hour version of The Prisoner will begin airing in November. Will you be watching? To check out the extended preview, just read more.

Photo courtesy of AMC

Link Time! 1/8

BuzzSugar — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:30:58 -0800

Hey, it's the new cast of Skins! - PopSugarUK
Check out videos and images from the Michael Cera/Fred Armisen/Charlyne Yi project Paper Hearts. - Cinematical
This post about the season premiere of Damages is full of love for Glenn Close, so of course I think it's great. - Popwatch
The classic series The Prisoner is online for free now before AMC remakes it. - Clique Clack TV
Some thoughts on the Writers Guild nominations. - FilmExperience
Ooh, I think I'll go stream the new Bon Iver EP. - Stereogum
Kiefer Sutherland talks about season seven of 24. - The TV Addict
Brittany Murphy is in a film titled The Ramen Girl. - YumSugar

Photos courtesy and copyright of Channel 4.

Buzz News Roundup, 6/30

BuzzSugar — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:34:21 -0700

American Idol's Kristy Lee Cook has signed a recording deal with Arista Nashville, USA Today reports.
According to the Futon Critic, AMC has enlisted Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel to star in a six-part miniseries remake of the TV show The Prisoner.
Variety reports that The Real World producers Bunim-Murray could be tapped to run Project Runway when the show moves to Lifetime.
Ne-Yo has bumped Coldplay out of the No. 1 spot on the UK singles chart, Billboard reports.
The Wackness and the documentary Man on Wire were audience favorites at this year's Los Angeles Film Festival, Variety writes.
Neal McDonough is the latest actor to join Desperate Housewives as a possible love interest for Edie, Zap2it reports.
Billboard announces that Bon Jovi will play a free show in Central Park on July 12.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and Google are teaming up for an Internet-only animated series that will be released this Fall, writes the New York Times.

Photo courtesy of Fox

Bad Lieutenant: Good Cop Gone Nuts

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:49 -0800

Nicolas Cage has said, "There's a very fine line between Method actor and schizophrenic." In Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he teeters that line maniacally, with an ever-increasing slur and crooked swagger. Cage plays Terence McDonagh, a detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating a drug-related murder and his personal threshold for cocaine and heroin.

The first news of Bad Lieutenant was puzzling: famously extreme director Werner Herzog re-imagining a 1992 cult movie, also called Bad Lieutenant, but shifting the action to New Orleans and casting Nic Cage in the Harvey Keitel role opposite his Ghost Rider costar Eva Mendes. Weird.

But in fact, Bad Lieutenant is Herzog's second surprisingly accessible movie in as many years, following 2007's Rescue Dawn. And Cage is brilliant in a role seemingly made for him, so read more.

The noirish, pulpy, desperate, and often hilarious film opens with a good deed: McDonagh dives into a Katrina-flooded jail cell to save a prisoner's life, in the process injuring his back and subsequently getting hooked on Vicodin and then far harder drugs.

As a degenerate cop in a washed-out city, Cage makes Denzel Washington's Training Day villain look like a Boy Scout. He slithers through the streets, confiscating drugs to snort with his prostitute girlfriend (Mendes), hooking up with a drug kingpin played by Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, and fending off a rising tide of self-created trouble. "Being courteous is really getting in the way of my progress," he croaks before one of his more disturbing moral lapses.

In post-Katrina New Orleans, Herzog has found the perfect setting. He never lets the city look pretty or even charmingly decayed, and he populates it with iguanas and alligators and snakes and fish. At every turn, McDonagh is confronted by cold-blooded animals, as he careens between the call of duty and the cold-blooded instinct of his addiction. It's impossible to ignore the reptilian symbolism, and the effect is perfectly bizarre. Despite its darkest moments, Bad Lieutenant is a remarkably good trip.

Photos Courtesy First Look Studios

What to TiVo: Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:50:52 -0800

ABC is new with V, Dancing With the Stars, and The Forgotten
CBS is new with NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and The Good Wife
FOX is new with So You Think You Can Dance
NBC is new with Merry Madagascar and The Biggest Loser
The CW is new with 90210 and Melrose Place
AMC is new with The Prisoner
Bravo is new with Tabatha's Salon Takeover
Comedy Central is new with Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report
E! is new with Fashion Police: New Moon
FX is new with Sons of Anarchy
MTV is new with The Hills, The City, and Styl'd
Late-night highlights include Andy Garcia on Lopez Tonight on TBS; Tyra Banks on The Jay Leno Show on NBC; Penelope Cruz on The Late Show With David Letterman on CBS; 50 Cent and Jane Lynch on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien on NBC; Woody Harrelson on The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS; Neko Case on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC; and John Stamos on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC

What to TiVo: Sunday

BuzzSugar — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:50:31 -0800

ABC is new with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters
CBS is new with Amazing Race, Three Rivers, and Cold Case
FOX is new with The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, and American Dad
NBC has Sunday Night Football: Patriots at Colts
AMC is new with The Prisoner
E! is new with 20 Best & Worst Celebrity Plastic Surgery Stories, Girls Next Door, and Leave It to Lamas
The Food Network is new with Food Network Challenge and Next Iron Chef
HBO is new with Curb Your Enthusiasm
Showtime is new with Dexter and Californication
MTV has repeats of MTV Cribs and has The Addams Family
VH1 has repeats of Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew and Tough Love 2

Ricky Gervais Is Hosting the Golden Globes - Are You Excited?

BuzzSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:30:39 -0700

Ricky Gervais has stolen the show at the last two Emmy Awards, hamming it up and taking no prisoners during his brief stints on stage. The big laughs haven't gone unnoticed, and Gervais is slated to host the upcoming Golden Globe Awards in January.

The show hasn't had a host since 1995 (!) and I can't wait to see Gervais get an even bigger platform to showcase that signature quick wit. Many of you nominated Gervais when I asked who should host the 2010 Oscars, but are you excited to hear that he'll be the master of ceremonies at the Globes?

Angelina Jolie Is Going Gucci

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:30:00 -0700

Despite what she may have said in the past, Angelina Jolie's career isn't slowing down anytime soon. Last week we learned that she'll be taking Charlize Theron's place in The Tourist and she may be adding another femme fatale role to her resume. Jolie is in talks to take the lead in Ridley Scott's Gucci.

Jolie would play Patrizia Reggiano, who spent 29 years in prison for plotting the murder of her ex husband, Maurizio Gucci. The script is still being reworked and Ridley's search for his Maurizio continues - apparently Leonardo DiCaprio has been approached but has yet to sign on.

I could absolutely see Jolie in this role, and in general I like when she can show more of her acting chops and less of her kung fu skills. Bonus: Angelina and Leo would make for one hot big screen couple.