Benedict Cumberbatch: Parade's End viewing dates in UK (SCOOP IT!)

Scooped by T Poulson

According to T Poulson of Scoop It! this cover says Parade's End will begin August 24 and have five hour long episodes on BBC2.  I don't see it, but there you go...

 http://www.scoop.it/t/benedict-cumberbatch

Ciaran Hinds as Gaius Julius Caesar in HBO's Rome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZwjzmlChac&feature=player_embedded

Ciaran Hinds was perfect as Caesar and Rome was perfect.  Why HBO stopped making the series is a mystery.

Jeff Daniels of Newsroom: 'The American public is failing at its job of staying informed,' says The Newsroom star Jeff Daniels The Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin sacks 'writing staff for season two' By DAILY MAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 11:18 EST, 20 July 2012 | UPDATED: 11:47 EST, 20 July 2012 DAILY MAIL

The Newsroom's Jeff Daniels has giving a stinging assessment of America's attitude to important current affairs.

The 57-year-old actor plays the anchorman in the new HBO Aaron Sorkin drama series.

He told CBS News today: 'I think there are many [messages on the show.] However, one of them, specific to that, is that I don’t think we’re informed anymore as a country.'


'I think we have the attention span of a gnat. You know, with cell phones and Twitter.... we don’t know as much as we need to know.'

The controversial show, dubbed a 'lefty gas-cloud' by Fox News, has been a lightning rod for conservative critics since it debuted June 24.

He continued: 'Especially in a presidential election, when there’s a lot more marketing of political candidates going on than actual stances on issues, it seems.

'I think the American electorate should work a little harder at getting informed. That includes hearing, truly listening, to what the other side is saying. Whether you’re left or right....start paying attention.'


The series, which chronicles the behind-the-scenes events at the fictional Atlantis Cable News channel, also stars Sam Waterston and British actors Emily Mortimer and Dev Patel.



Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2176552/Newsroom-star-Jeff-Daniels-The-American-public-failing-job-staying-informed.html

Ray Stevenson: Dexter Season 7 May 22, 2012 by Anthony Ocasio (SCREEN RANT)

Production on Dexter season 7 is set to begin this week (May 23rd), and the cast is still growing: Showtime has announced that Jason Gedrick will be joining the series for a multiple-episode arc.

Known most recently for his role as Jerry Boyle on HBO’s Luck, Gedrick’s currently unnamed character is described as an “owner of a Miami-area gentlemen’s club that becomes linked to a high-profile murder case.” Perhaps not the best position to be in when there’s a serial killer vigilante out searching for new “victims.” Has Dexter (Michael C. Hall) found his second big bad for season 7?


Rome star Ray Stevenson was previously announced for a reoccurring role, playing the leader of a Russian organized crime syndicate. Considering Stevenson’s high-profile upcoming roles in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Thor 2 (reprising his role from Thor), he will likely play a major part in Dexter season 7. Throw in the phrase “Russian organized crime” and, well, it’s time to prep the plastic-wrap.

Game of Thrones - Alfie Allen: "I want people to know who I am" The actor talks about escaping the shadow of his famous family - and what starring in the fantasy drama has taught him Ben Machell 1:00 PM, 22 April 2012 (RADIO TIMES)

Alfie Allen walks into a plush central London hotel suite, eases back into the sofa and starts to enthuse about some of his new hobbies. “I’ve been enjoying my archery,” says the 25-year-old, who has tousled hair, tight chinos and a bright red jumper.

“It’s a lot of fun. And horse riding is brilliant. I’ve really got into it. If I have a spare day, I’ll definitely try and fit in a bit of both.” These are the skills you pick up when you’ve spent much of the past two years as a key player in Game of Thrones, the HBO production – about the bloody political manoeuvrings of noble families within a fantasy kingdom – in which he plays Theon Greyjoy, a cocky young noble.

I first met Allen over a year ago, before a single episode of Game of Thrones had even been broadcast. He was then, as he is now, enthusiastic and friendly, with an accent that’s norf London by way of a few boarding schools. At the time, it would not have been unfair to say that he was better known for his surname than for his acting ability.

There is, after all, not much you can do about being the brother of Lily and the son of Keith. He makes no bones about the fact that childhood visits to see his father working on set accounted for his ambition to become a performer.


READ MORE:  http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-04-22/game-of-thrones---alfie-allen-i-want-people-to-know-who-i-am

'Game of Thrones' Season 2 episode 4 'Garden of Bones': Joffrey is a monster By Jenna Busch April 20, 2012 6:32 PM ET (ZAP 2 IT)

You thought Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) was a monster before? He killed off Ned Stark (Sean Bean). Well, everyone kills off Sean Bean in shows and films. He's awful to Sansa (Sophie Turner). You ain't seen nothing yet. "Game of Thrones" episode 4 "Garden of Bones" is going to show you a new, extra evil side of Joffrey.

In fact, you may end up thinking better of Sansa. As Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) says, "Lady Sansa, you may survive us yet."


READ MORE:  http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/04/game-of-thrones-season-2-episode-4-garden-of-bones-joffrey-is-a-monster.html

Sean Bean: STOP KILLING SEAN BEAN!!! Game of Thrones gruesome new poster (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

'Game of Thrones': New Poster Gruesomely Recalls Sean Bean's Ned Stark (Photo) The latest tease, featuring the disembodied head of a former character, serves as a reminder of how high the stakes are in the HBO series. 1:29 PM PDT 3/14/2012 by Michael O'Connell

There is little subtlety in HBO's latest ad for Season 2 of Game of Thrones, which shows the disembodied head of late Lord Ned Stark (Sean Bean) on a spike. The teaser poster recalls one of the first season's most surprising dispatches.


READ MORE:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-season-2-poster-sean-bean-300137

Game of Thrones: The pen is as mighty as the sword

 

Got ‘Game’? So does everyone else in NY

By SARA STEWART

Last Updated: 12:04 AM, December 7, 2011

Posted: 11:16 PM, December 5, 2011

 

Next time you’re on the subway, look around. Chances are someone near you is engrossed in a George R. R. Martin paperback. “I hate these books, and I cannot stop reading them,” says New Yorker cartoonist Emily Flake. “They’re basically popcorn covered with hot nasty blood instead of fake butter.”

Martin’s visceral, fast-paced fantasy series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” is flying off the shelves in the wake of this summer’s HBO show based on the first book of five, “A Game of Thrones.”

The stories are set in a mythical land called Westeros, home to several factions warring for power, and bordered by a wild northern territory menaced by zombie-like creatures. It has been described by its author as, partially, an allegory of the Wars of the Roses in medieval England (only with dragons and the undead). The show, which featured “Lord of the Rings” actor Sean Bean and breakout star Peter Dinklage, was a hit out of the gate: 4.2 million people tuned in. And many of them turned to the books not long after.

No series has so taken hold of the city since Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series — better known as the “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” books — which ruled the subways last year.

“The day after seeing the first episode, I ordered the first four books,” says 36-year-old lawyer Edward McKenna.

“It hooked me with direwolves [giant wolves] and incest, and it ended with a kid getting thrown out a window. ‘Wow,’ I thought, ‘this is fantastic!’ ”

The books are a natural fit for people who liked J.R.R. Tolkien’s series, says McKenna, but this one’s “less twee and more adult, with more blood, battles and boobs. And the banquets, so many banquets!”

Twenty-six-year-old Dominick Mach, who works in communications at a nonprofit, says he’s not a huge fantasy reader, but one look at the series inspired him to check out the books. And then, “As soon as I started the book I was hooked,” he says. Mostly by the shocking fates that befall major players. “Martin just starts killing off characters,” says Mach. “Nobody’s safe!”

Judging from the frequency with which Martin’s novels can be sighted around the city, lots of jaded New York readers are in agreement. Four out of five books can be purchased in small, portable paperback format (The latest, “A Dance With Dragons,” is still only available in hardcover).

The series is “our best-selling science fiction/fantasy series, currently,” says Patricia Bostelman, vice president of marketing at Barnes & Noble. And on the Kindle — all the better to read those geeky books you might otherwise be embarrassed to tote around — “A Dance with Dragons” was the top seller in New York in July, when it came out.

Hard-core Martin devotees have watched with surprise as the world embraces a series they’ve been evangelizing about for years. “I started reading the series in 2005,” says Matt Walters, business representative for United Scenic Artists Local 829.

“I read all four existing books in three months and desperately searched for a friend I could convince to read the series, so I could discuss it,” Walters says.

Martha Harbison, a senior editor at Popular Science magazine who belongs to the Martin fan group Brotherhood Without Banners, says she’s become acquainted with the author and that he’s as stunned as anyone about the runaway success of the books. “It’s all a bit overwhelming — all of a sudden it’s not 20 people showing up at a convention or even a couple hundred,” Harbison says. “They had 1,800 show up for the ‘Dance With Dragons’ signing in New York [in July].”

Is there a “We liked him before he was cool” feeling among the Martin early adopters?

Harbison says no. “I think it’s great. Though myself and some other longtime fans can get protective — you don’t want people all up in George’s grill [about writing another book], because it takes a long time for the books to get written. It’s like, come on, there are thousands of books out there you could read!”
sstewart@nypost.com

New York Post

Ewan McGregor Set For Noah Baumbach’s HBO Series The Corrections

November 28, 2011 By Kenji Lloyd Leave a Comment

 

One of the handful of British talents well known and loved on beyond our shores, and in my opinion one of the finest actors working at the moment, Ewan McGregor is now set to join Oscar-nominated writer-director Noah Baumbach’s adaptation of Jonathan Franzen’s acclaimed novel, The Corrections, Deadline report.

The adaptation has been set up at HBO, with the first episode already scripted by both Franzen and Baumbach, and the latter is set to direct the pilot, which is brilliant news. McGregor is joining Chris Cooper (American Beauty, The Town) and Dianne Wiest (Edward Scissorhands) in what is shaping up to be a fantastic cast.

Published back in 2001, Franzen’s original novel,

“revolves around the troubles of a Midwestern couple (Cooper and Wiest), and their three adult children as they trace their lives from the mid-20th century to “one last Christmas” together near the turn of the millennium. McGregor will play Chip, the middle child, a Marxist academic who lost his tenure-track position over an affair with a student and now works for a Lithuanian crime boss defrauding American investors.”

Baumbach and Franzen are also serving as producers alongside Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin, whose credits include The Social Network, Moneyball, and No Country For Old Men (the last of which he won his Oscar for), and who’s worked with Baumbach several times in the past, including on his most recent films, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Greenberg.

Though I’ve not yet read Franzen’s novel, I have coincidentally enough just had it come through the post after ordering it a week ago, and am now looking forward to reading it even more. It’s meant to be a brilliant novel, and it’s shaping up to be a brilliant adaptation by the sounds of it.

McGregor will next be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, due out on 20th January next year, followed by Salmon Fishing in the Yemen on 9th March, both very much anticipated. With The Corrections expected to air on HBO in 2013, the next two years are looking pretty brilliant for the actor.

Hey U guys, UK