Tom Hiddleston: Movie review: 'High-Rise' fascinates with destructive decadence

EXAMINER.COM
April 30, 2016
1:13 PM MST

High-rise

Rating:StarStarStarStarStar

Debuting April 28 on VOD and coming to theaters on May 13, "High-Rise" opens on imagery of a scruffy Tom Hiddleston in disheveled business attire. He is meandering through bloodied, squalid conditions of looted destruction where we find him rotisserie cooking an unusual dinner on a retrofitted spit. His third-person voiceover, backed by a classical record playing in the background, speaks of eerie satisfaction and renewed confidence amid the obviously dire conditions. A jack-hammered transition card hits declaring "three months earlier." That setup begs our minds to question what has transpired to create this reality. Consider that a perfect tease and taste of what is to come in Ben Wheatley's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's dystopian 1975 novel. In the words of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "you ain't seen nothing yet."



At this new starting point, set in the late 1970's, the Tom Hiddleston we meet is greatly different. He is Dr. Robert Liang and he has just moved into an angular and tiered cement residence building as part of a newly-constructed complex of high-rises in a nondescript suburb of London. Liang is a chilly forensic doctor and an eager social climber seeking new anonymity, a clean slate, and an investment into something unique for a living space. He resides on the 25th floor, which counts as upper middle class within of the 40-story building.

The high-rise was designed to be self-sustaining and self-sufficient with all of the necessary amenities, from groceries to recreational facilities and security, available on the premises for its discerning homeowners. The orchestrator of this well-to-do lifestyle is Anthony Royal, dubbed "The Architect" by the social circles beneath him. Played by Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, he leads this designed and desired utopia from the top in his terraced top-floor penthouse with his trophy wife (Keeley Hawes).



Lavish parties are the seen-and-be-seen events within this closed circuit of a community. Robert attempts to mingle with the myriad of white privilege residents of the building. He catches the romantic eye of Royal’s personal aide, Charlotte Melville (Sienna Miller), a woman with a curious son (Louis Suc) lives in the next floor above him. Quickly, Robert experiences the trappings of the building's readily apparent, yet unwritten, hierarchy and befriends people of different classes. Second floor tennant Richard Wilder (Luke Evans), a TV documentarian, and his depressed pregnant wife Helen (Elisabeth Moss) reek of discontent and embody the brewing struggle of the poorer residents from the lower floors.

Little inconveniences like power outages turn into arguments and tiffs. Envy overcomes decadence. Hosts become bullies and people reveal their classist flaws. Pettiness boils over to rage. Neighborly relationships devolve into isolation. Uncivilized competition decays community harmony. Schemes turn into wars were resources like food, electricity, perks like swimming pools, and the freedom of elevators become contested to the death. Primal violence takes over on every imaginable level. By the time Portishead’s haunting cover of ABBA’s “S.O.S.” shows up, you realize how much everything has changed.



Tom Hiddleston is an ideal lead for Liang. He has the charismatic range to swing from a man built for the finer things to a sullen survivor of cold calculation and resolve. His wicked smirk and smooth line delivery cloak his character’s emotions and intentions brilliantly. Hiddleston is simply intoxicating, as he so often is in both his smaller films like “Only Loves Left Alive” and Marvel blockbusters. Luke Evans provides the strongest voice and performance outside of Hiddleston as the man targeting Royal and system and asking the loud questions no one wants to answer.

Director Ben Wheatley ("Kill List," "Sightseers") has crafted a sharp film of unraveling thrill and suspense that drips with endless style. The director made a wise choice to keep Ballard’s 1970’s setting and time period, giving “High-Rise” a throwback feel and lively tone on multiple levels. Composer Clint Mansell and cinematographer Laurie Rose tinge this film with an auditory and visual palette with period-appropriate filters of soundtrack and light. If you did not know these modern actors, you could have sworn this film was made 40 years ago. The cool exterior of swinging ambiance acts as sheep’s clothing for a savage wolf underneath. This film’s time capsule surface dissolves to keenly project its stout cautionary tale towards parallels to the modern day.

"High-Rise" is a strongly constructed blend of experimental science fiction with colossal political and social commentary. The layers of symbolism, analogy, and allegory are as tall as the building itself. There is a richly disturbing and dark fascination in observing how all of this frivolity comes crashing down in unpredictable and unlimited disaster. In this writer's opinion, inspired by a more pertinent and interesting source, this is the stylish and topical film the overrated "Snowpiercer" could only hope to become with its similarly isolated microcosm of class warfare.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.examiner.com/review/movie-review-high-rise-fascinates-with-destructive-decadence

Downton's Michelle Dockery: 'Lady Mary would never have spoken to me'

EXPRESS
By: Simon Gage
Published: Sun, October 19, 2014

It’s a long way from Romford Market to Downton Abbey, but actress Michelle Dockery has made the journey in style and at speed, sometimes in hoop earrings (“my little bit of Essex bling”). Not bad for the daughter of a van driver.

“Lady Mary would never have spoken to me,” she says of her character. “I would definitely have been below stairs.” She’s not wrong. Look a little further back and her family were East End horse traders and fruit sellers, and she recently found that her great-grandmother worked in service in the early 1900s.

Michelle, however, was determined to break the mould. “I think my parents knew before I did that I was going to be an actress,” she says.

“I was doing impressions of Margaret Thatcher at the age of four.” And although her hard-working family had no showbiz connections whatsoever, her parents knew their daughter well enough to send her to acting classes at the church hall down the road and then for a stint at the National Youth Theatre. “I walked in there and it was like winning the lottery,” is how she describes that experience. “I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

But Michelle didn’t have it all her own way. In time-honoured, struggling- actress tradition, she found herself collecting glasses in pubs and working in a pie-and-mash shop to make ends meet as she began her climb to the top. “It’s mad to think it now, but I could barely pay my rent,” she chuckles.


Then came Sir Peter Hall’s highly praised 2008 production of Pygmalion. Thanks to playing Eliza Doolittle, the working-class girl groomed to pass herself off as a lady – something she’s been doing to great acclaim ever since – Michelle was discovered by the producers of Downton.

Amateur Professor Higginses have said you can still detect a bit of the Essex girl when she speaks, but Michelle reckons that drama school does a very good job of “poshing you up quick”.

“I had a very strong Essex accent when I was younger,” says the girl they called Docker at school, “and I don’t think I would have got the role of Lady Mary if I’d walked into the audition going, ‘Allo, nice ter meet ya!’”

The posture, especially that high chin, might be from another time and another class, but Michelle is very much the 21st-century woman, with her Mad Men obsession, her love of sushi and social media, and her choice of Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart as preferred shower singing.

There may be a touch of irony about the latter, but music is very important to Michelle: she’s been doing backing vocals for Sadie and the Hotheads – the band led by Elizabeth McGovern, who plays her mother in Downton – and has even been known to take the stage at Soho jazz joint Ronnie Scott’s, where her vocals are said to exude a smoky, Peggy Lee quality.

And apart from traces of a marcel wave that she can’t get out of her hair now Downton has hit the Roaring Twenties, she looks fresh, modern and fashionable – as you’ll know if you’ve seen pictures of her striding through customs on the way to another awards ceremony (she had three Emmy nominations in a row for Lady Mary) in spray-on jeans and outsize superstar shades.



That particular get-up might be part of her “Britney from Beverly Hills” look, Britney being the character she sometimes assumes to avoid being recognised. She can even do the voice, a grating Valley-girl thing: “The waiter came overrrrrr,” she’ll go. “And he totally thought I was Lady Mary. Oh. My. Gahd!”


READ MORE HERE:
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/524006/Downton-Abbey-Michelle-Dockery-Lady-Mary

Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss join Tom Hiddleston in High-Rise

RADIO TIMES
Emma Daly
11:06 AM, 28 June 2014



Tom Hiddleston is in good company in Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s thriller High-Rise as Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss join the ranks, Variety reports.

The story charts the lives of affluent residents of a futuristic apartment block, in which all modern amenities are contained, leaving them cut off from the rest of society. It’s an unnerving tale of life running out of control, as residents become driven by their primal urges.

Hiddleston plays the role of doctor Robert Laing, who is fascinated by the building, forming a relationship with the architect’s aide Charlotte, played by Sienna Miller.

Evans was most recently seen on the big screen in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He’s a busy man too, taking on the title role in Dracula Untold, which is due for release on 3 October.

Moss is perhaps best-known for her role as Peggy Olson in TV hit Mad Men and for her Golden Globe-winning turn in Top of the Lake.

Big-name stars Jeremy Irons, James Purefoy and Reece Shearsmith will also star.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-06-28/luke-evans-and-elisabeth-moss-join-tom-hiddleston-in-high-rise

Tom Hiddleston Discusses Singing On Screen & Playing Captain Hook In THE PIRATE FAIRY

BROADWAY WORLD
 👤by Pat Cerasaro
April 9, 2014

A new look behind the scenes at the charismatic stage and screen star Tom Hiddleston headlining the new animated musical release THE PIRATE FAIRY, co-starring Broadway's own Megan Hilty, is now available to view in the form of a new interview.

The official description of THE PIRATE FAIRY is as follows: "From the world of Peter Pan comes The Pirate Fairy, a swashbuckling new adventure about Zarina (voice of Christina Hendricks), a smart and ambitious dust-keeper fairy who's captivated by Blue Pixie Dust and its endless possibilities. When Zarina's wild ideas get her into trouble, she flees Pixie Hollow and joins forces with the scheming pirates of Skull Rock, who make her captain of their ship.

Read more at http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmovies/article/Tom-Hiddleston-Discusses-Singing-On-Screen-Playing-Captain-Hook-In-THE-PIRATE-FAIRY-20140409#1BFWq0ZPAPvhugfV.99

Teaser trailers for Fargo TV series, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman and Oliver Platt in stellar comic cast

MAIL ON LINE
By CANDACE SUTTON
PUBLISHED: 02:05 EST, 17 March 2014 | UPDATED: 12:42 EST, 17 March 2014



Two men struggle with a sack out on a windswept frozen lake until one protests, in deaf sign language, that the hole in the ice is too small, and the other grasps the leg of the body protruding from the bag and signs, 'guy's too fat'.

The solution? Get a chainsaw.

A truck rumbles along a frozen highway, and as it passes an icy breeze loosens the snow on the side bank to reveal a pair of human nostrils protruding from the drift.

Soothing piped music is playing as a man pushing a shopping trolley along the aisle of a hardware store throws in his purchases: an axe, duct tape, a crow bar, a hunting knife, boxes of ammunition, and a rifle bag.

The Coens acted as producers of the new ten-episode TV series, which was developed by screenwriter Noah Hawley (Bones),and stars Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard, a man who has his life drastically changed when he encounters a mysterious man who arrives in town.

Billy Bob Thornton, a Coen brothers favourite, plays Lorne Malvo, a boastful and manipulative crook who FBI agents Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are obsessed with tracking down.

In one of the teasers, the scene where the 'fishermen' who speak sign language as they attempt to stuff a body down an ice hole, would seem to reference the famous scene in the original film when Marge happens upon one of the hit men feeding the body of the other into a woodchipper.

In the FX spin-off, Freeman as Nygaard plays a henpecked insurance salesman who is based loosely on the Macy role.

The series also stars Oliver Platt (The Big C) and Bob Odenkirk (‘Better Call Saul’ in Breaking Bad), Kate Walsh (Greys Anatomy), and tom Hank's son Colin Hanks (Mad Men, Orange County and Parkland). 

The dark humour and Midwest setting remains, but the series has an entirely new plot. It was filmed in Canada and premiers in the US on April 15.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2582470/Dark-humour-new-Fargo-teasers-upcoming-Coen-brothers-TV-series-starring-Billy-Bob-Thornton-The-Hobbits-Martin-Freeman-Oliver-Platt-large-comic-cast.html#ixzz2wKVV0tZN
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Michelle Dockery shows her funny side as Detective Lady Mary in new spoof video

RADIO TIMES
Susanna Lazarus
12:35 PM, 06 January 2014



It looks like Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery is having a hard time shaking off Lady Mary's straight-laced decorum and plummy accent. Sending up her famous role in a Funny or Die spoof video, Dockery appears as a crime procedural detective named Connie Tough who frequently falls victim to interferences from her aristocratic heiress.

The two minutes of footage is cut together as a trailer for fake cop show Tough Justice and narrated by Mad Men star Jon Hamm showing the British actress as a fearsome American detective solving crimes alongside her increasingly baffled partner (played by The Shield's Michael Chiklis).

Watch the video here

Let’s All Watch Tom Hiddleston Sing ‘The Bare Necessities’ Next To Christina Hendricks

UPROXX

WRITTEN BY JOSH KURP

August 10, 2013

The D23 Expo is the kind of place where the press and people who wear lanyards and Mickey Mouse underwear go absolutely nuts over the announcement of a Tinker Bell spinoff movie called The Fairy Pirate. It’s not a pretty look for humanity, unlike Tom Hiddleston and Christina Hendricks, who are about as attractive as humanity gets.

Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/2013/08/lets-all-watch-tom-hiddleston-sing-the-bear-necessities-next-to-christina-hendricks/#ixzz2bcczzMEW

Jon Hamm And Daniel Radcliffe Bathe Together In New Trailer For British Miniseries Christina Austin (BUSINESS INSIDER)

At first glance, the new trailer for British miniseries "A Young Doctor's Notebook" looks like a parody skit out of "Saturday Night Live." The opening scene of the trailer shows "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe and "Mad Men" actor Jon Hamm in a small bathtub together, with Radcliffe asking Hamm to pass him the loofa. The miniseries, based on a short story collection by Russian playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, takes place in a small Russian village in early 1917 during the dawn of the Russian Revolution.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hymet6hiNUY


READ MORE: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-young-doctors-notebook-trailer-starring-daniel-radcliffe-and-jon-hamm-2012-11

First Promo Video for Daniel Radcliffe's 'Young Doctor's Notebook' Add CommentNovember 10, 2012 05:45:10 GMT (ACESHOWBIZ)

First footage of "A Young Doctor's Notebook" has been made available for viewing pleasure through a promo video. In it, Daniel Radcliffe's fans can see the actor in his portrayal of a character which is a far cry from his "Harry Potter" persona.

Glimpses of dark humor are seen everywhere in the snippet as the British star's character has awkward encounters with his elder self, played by "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm. Additionally, the video teases the young doctor's clumsy way in handling his patients.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hymet6hiNUY

READ MORE: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00055388.html

Dan Stevens: New Yorker Festival Dispatch: Period Acting By June Thomas | Posted Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, at 5:32 PM ET (SLATE)

Putting together a panel for an event like this weekend’s New Yorker Festival is inevitably a random exercise, but I imagine the task of selecting four actors to discuss “Period Acting” was particularly challenging. After all, most working actors have donned knee breeches or bonnets at some point in their careers. And since the panel was scheduled for 10 on a Saturday morning—the Manhattan equivalent of 7 a.m. in Kansas City—the participants needed serious juice to fill the seats. Whatever complex calculation involving availability and box office appeal was employed to gather John Slattery, Jennifer Ehle, Dan Stevens, and Cherry Jones, it was a winning formula. Moderator Rebecca Mead was nimble and well prepared, and the panelists were gracious with each other—not a microphone-hogger in the bunch—and with the audience, doling out the perfect mix of gossip and insight.

Dan Stevens, who was scheduled to make his Broadway debut in The Heiress that evening, pleased the Downton Abbey fans in the audience by describing his preparations for the show—including intense sessions with the show’s etiquette consultant, Alistair Bruce, on the lost art of hat doffing. He also admitted that in the show’s second season, he and Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, listened to “Matthew and Mary’s Theme” from the show’s soundtrack to get in the mood for love scenes. (“So do I,” said Mad Men’s John Slattery.)

Costumes are a big part of Cherry Jones’ preparation—indeed she tied her bonnet so tight when playing Sister Aloysius in the Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt that she had a mark on her neck long after the show closed. Asked by Mead, “How far down does the period costume go?” Jones answered, “All the way down to Florida.”

Jennifer Ehle said that when she played three characters in Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia, she wore a different perfume for each one. When she first took to the stage with co-star Brian F. O’Byrne, “the color drained out of him.” It turned out that one of the perfumes was the same scent as the candle he burned every night when playing suspected child molester Father Flynn alongside Cherry Jones in Doubt.

READ MORE: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/10/07/new_yorker_festival_dispatch_period_acting_with_john_slattery_dan_stevens_jennifer_ehle_and_cherry_jones_.html

Damian Lewis: Emmy awards 2012: Damian Lewis hails 'golden age of television' British star of Homeland wins top gong with Claire Danes, while Maggie Smith takes only award for Downton Abbey Share 109 Email Vicky Frost The Guardian, Monday 24 September 2012 13.34 EDT

It was a very British way to collect an Emmy: take to the stage of American TV's landmark award show and say sorry for winning the best actor gong.

"I'm one of those pesky Brits, I apologise," said Damian Lewis, recognised for his portrayal of US marine Nicholas Brody in Homeland, the taut US terrorism thriller that transfixed audiences on both side of the Atlantic, and dominated the Emmys at the expense of Mad Men and Downton Abbey.

"I don't really believe in judging art, but I thought I'd show up just in case. What an extraordinary honour to be in a category with these golden actors setting a golden standard in acting, in a golden age of TV," he said.

Nominated alongside Lewis for best actor were Steve Buscemi, John Hamm and Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville. But while the ITV tale of aristocracy and their servants has proved a US hit – taking four Emmys in 2011, including best miniseries – it largely failed to turn its record 16 nominations into awards after what many felt was a disappointing second series.

It fell to Dame Maggie Smith – adored for her eye-rolling, lip-pursing, eyebrow-raising turn as the dowager countess in the Sunday night drama – to uphold Downton Abbey's reputation with the gong for best supporting actress in a drama series, beating off competition from fellow cast member Joanne Froggatt.


READ MORE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/sep/24/emmy-awards-damian-lewis-homeland?newsfeed=true

Downton Abbey: Emmy Anticipation Runs High for PBS (new york times)

By BRIAN STELTER
Published: September 20, 2012

EVERY year PBS earns dozens of Emmy nominations and comes away with an armful of golden statuettes. But Paula Kerger, the PBS president, has never gone to the “Primetime Emmy Awards” — until now. “This is such an exciting year, I want to be in the room,” she said.


Her date? Donald Thoms, a PBS vice president for arts and cultural programming. Her dress? On Wednesday she laughed at that question. “I haven’t quite figured that out yet,” she said.

She has until Saturday, when she’ll fly to Los Angeles for Sunday night’s celebration of all things television, to be broadcast live on ABC and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

What’s different this year, for PBS, is the sheer number of nominations — 58, up from 43 and 32 the two prior years — and the tantalizing possibility of winning what is arguably the most sought-after award of the night: best drama. The British historical drama “Downton Abbey,” brought to America by PBS and “Masterpiece,” is up for best drama alongside AMC’s “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad,” HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones,” and Showtime’s “Homeland.”


read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/arts/television/emmy-anticipation-runs-high-for-pbs.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Brendan Coyle: Corby-born Downton Abbey star nominated for Emmy award (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE TELEGRAPH)

By Stephanie Weaver
Published on Thursday 19 July 2012 15:43

Corby-born actor Brendan Coyle has been nominated for an Emmy award.

The star of Downton Abbey has today been named in the supporting actor in a drama series category.

In competition with him for the accolade are Aaron Paul for Breaking Bad, Giancarlo Esposito for Breaking Bad, Jim Carter for Downton Abbey, Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones and Jared Harris for Mad Men.

But Coyle, who plays valet John Bates in the hugely popular period drama, is not the only nominee from Downton Abbey - fellow stars shortlisted for an award include Hugh Bonneville for lead actor in a drama series and Maggie Smith and Joanne Froggatt, who are competing against each other for the supporting actress in a drama series gong.

READ MORE: http://www.northantstelegraph.co.uk/news/local/corby-born-downton-abbey-star-nominated-for-emmy-award-1-4075749

Downton Abbey Flying The Flag For Britain In 2012 Emmy Nominations 19 July 2012 15:36 (CONTACT MUSIC)

The producers of Downton Abbey will be celebrating today, with the announcement of this year's Emmy awards nominations. The British costume drama has emerged with no fewer than 16 nominations, making it one of the front runners for the September 2012 awards ceremony. It was beaten only by Mad Men and American Horror Story, which both had 17 nominations each. It's a pretty impressive achievement for a UK import, given the home-grown talent against which it was fighting for recognition.

READ MORE: http://www.contactmusic.com/news/downton-abbey-flying-the-flag-for-britain-in-2012-emmy-nominations_1368969

Emmys 2012: 'Downton Abbey' Invades Drama Series Category With 16 Nominations 7:07 AM PDT 7/19/2012 by Marisa Guthrie (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

PBS’ Downton Abbey – last year’s outstanding miniseries winner – this year invaded the drama series category with sterling results. The PBS period soap opera about an aristocratic family and their servants earned nominations for outstanding drama series and lead performers Michelle Dockery and Hugh Bonneville. Additionally, Maggie Smith, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle and Jim Carter received supporting performer nominations, giving Downton nominees in all of the main acting categories. And Brian Percival and series creator Julian Fellowes earned nominations for directing and writing, respectively.

Downton received 16 nominations in all. But Mad Men and American Horror Story received the most, with 17 each. Mad Men will be going for its record fifth outstanding drama series Emmy this year.


READ MORE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/emmys-nominees-homeland-new-girl-veep-2012-351743

Emmys 2012: How 'Downton Abbey' might affect the drama races By Rick Porter July 11, 2012 7:19 PM ET (ZAP IT)

When the Emmy nominations are announced on July 19, you'll probably see quite a few repeat nominees. It's what the Emmys does, to a large extent, and as discussed previously, it's unlikely that any new shows not named "Homeland" will get a bucketful of nominations.

There is one returning show, however, that has the potential to shake up several races: "Downton Abbey." PBS' British import is moving from the movie/miniseries field to the drama series categories this year, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the show come close to matching the 11 nominations it received in 2011.

If "Downton" scores a big nomination haul, though, that means other shows and performers might get left out in the cold.

Here's a look at how "Downton Abbey" might affect several big drama races at the 2012 Emmys.

Drama series

Chances of a "Downton" nomination: Very high. The TV academy has a long history of embracing PBS' "Masterpiece" offerings both as miniseries and dramas. The show was also something of a phenomenon this season, pushing the public broadcaster's ratings to much higher levels than usual.

2011 nominees: "Boardwalk Empire," "Dexter," "Friday Night Lights," "Game of Thrones," "The Good Wife," "Mad Men" (winner)

Most likely to be pushed out by "Downton": Last year was the swan song for "Friday Night Lights," so let's say the returning "Breaking Bad" gets that spot. With "Downton" and "Homeland" both likely to score series nods, the bet here is that "Dexter" and "Boardwalk Empire" go by the wayside.

READ MORE: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/07/emmys-2012-how-downton-abbey-might-affect-the-drama-races.html

'Sherlock' second season premiere delivers solid ratings, but can't catch 'Downton Abbey' by Adam B. Vary (EW)

The second season of the PBS Masterpiece: Mystery series Sherlock is off to a terrific start, unearthing an average of 3.2 million viewers (and that doesn’t include DVR viewings, online streaming, or replays). The number is significantly higher than PBS’ usual audience in prime time, and better than recent numbers for high-profile basic cable shows like Mad Men.


READ MORE:  http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/07/sherlock-second-season-premiere-delivers-solid-ratings-but-cant-catch-downton-abbey/

Will Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm Team Up for a British TV Miniseries? by Adam Chitwood (COLLIDER)

A very exciting team-up of actors may be in the works. Though the watercooler British series Downton Abbey has moved from the Miniseries category to the Drama Series category for this year’s Emmys, none other than Harry Potter and Don Draper may be starring in a period British miniseries of their own. A report originated in The Sun that Daniel Radcliffe is circling a role in the four-part post-WWI miniseries that would see him playing the younger version of a character played by Jon Hamm.

The Sun isn’t the most accurate of sources, but Vulture reports that they’ve been hearing the same thing regarding the Hamm/Radcliffe casting so this might well be more than a fantasy rumor. The miniseries centers on Russian doctors and is said to include some dark humor. Both Radcliffe and Hamm are excellent actors and I would 100% be on board with this project should it turn out to be real. Hopefully we hear some confirmation on the casting soon.



READ MORE:  http://collider.com/daniel-radcliffe-jon-hamm-miniseries/163524/

HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ wins over AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ on ratings battlefield 'Game of Thrones' garnered 3.65 million viewers, besting 'Mad Men', with 2.66 million, in Sunday night cable TV ratings (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” continues to dominate its rival kingdoms on Sunday night cable TV.

 “Game of Thrones” drew an estimated 3.65 million viewers this Sunday, well ahead of the estimated 2.66 million who watched the night’s other big critical favorite, AMC’s “Mad Men.”

 The stiffest competition to “Thrones” came from Bravo's “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” which had 3.23 million viewers and almost as high a share as “Thrones” in the advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographic.

 As a side note, the Atlanta housewives beat “Real Housewives of New Jersey,” which follows it on Bravo. The Jersey wives drew 2.96 million viewers.

 Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/television/hbo-game-thrones-wins-amc-mad-men-ratings-battlefield-article-1.1066706?localLinksEnabled=false

Jared Harris: ‘Mad Men’ fans count down to tonight’s fifth season premier (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR)

Will ‘Mad Men’ protagonist Don Draper’s dark secret come to light? Will Peggy Olson keep breaking sexist barriers? Can Roger Sterling keep ‘living like he’s on shore leave?’ And will Pete and Trudy ever dance the Charleston again? By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / March 25, 2012

The cast of "Mad Men," from left, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, Jared Harris, Vincent Kartheiser, Jon Hamm, Robert Morse and Elisabeth Moss. The fifth season of AMC's award-winning stylized drama about the men and women who work in Madison Avenue advertising in the 1960s, premieres Sunday March 25. Frank Ockenfels/AMC/AP

In a matter of hours, the fifth season of AMC’s award-winning series begins as we pick up again on the lives of the men and women of a Madison Avenue advertising firm.

There are so many things to learn. When (if ever) will protagonist Don Draper’s deep, dark secret be revealed, and to whom? Just how far can creative director Draper push young copywriter Peggy Olson before she goes off to seek fame and fortune (and maybe true romance) elsewhere? How long can Roger Sterling, a World War II Navy vet and senior partner, keep “living like he was on shore leave?”

What happens between Sterling and office manager Joan Harris when her doctor husband gets shipped to Vietnam? And will Pete and Trudy ever dance the Charleston again? (A scene as memorable as when Allison Janney as C. J. Cregg lip-synched Ronny Jordan’s “The Jackal” on West Wing.) So many characters, so many relationships to keep track of. And so many evolutions in style as the series moves from the late 50’s into the early and mid 60s. Was there really that much smoking, drinking, and illicit sex?


READ MORE:  http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0325/Mad-Men-fans-count-down-to-tonight-s-fifth-season-premier