WATCH ‘DOWNTON ABBEY’ SEASON 4 FINALE LIVE, ONLINE! WILL FEBRUARY 23RD EPISODE 'THE LONDON SEASON' REVEAL IF *** KILLED *****? (VIDEO & SPOILERS)

HOLLYWOOD TAKE
By Melissa Siegel February 23, 2014 8:37 AM


Photo: Reuters
Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Phyllis Logan, Joanne Froggatt and Sophie McShera from Downton Abbey.

The Downton Abbey Season 4 finale airs Sunday night on PBS. But before you watch the February 23rd episode of the Masterpiece drama, check out our preview and spoilers for "The London Season" below.

Last week on Downton Abbey Season 4, we finally bid farewell to Mr. Green (Nigel Harman). Anna’s (Joanne Froggatt) raper was hit by a car and killed, but was it truly an accident? Bates (Brendan Coyle) recently found out about Green’s attack on his wife, so could he have sought revenge? Lord Gillingham (Tom Cullen) certainly suspected something fishy occurred, and since Bates just happened to be off work the day of Green’s death, things are not looking good for Anna’s husband.

In other Downton Abbey Season 4 happenings, Jack (Gary Carr) and Rose (Lily James) briefly got engaged, only for the former to break it off for the sake of his love. Jack realized that Rose would face a lifetime of scrutiny if she married an African-American, so he sweetly stepped away so she could have a happier future. Meanwhile, Mary (Michelle Dockery) continued to get courted by two suitors, while Edith (Laura Carmichael) struggled to determine what to do with her unborn child.

So what will happen in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale? For starters, Episode 8 will feature a guest appearance from actor Paul Giamatti. Giamatti will play Harold, who joins Cora’s (Elizabeth McCovern) mother, Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine) for a trip overseas.

“I’m this immensely wealthy businessman, who had some sort of involvement in the crooked deals that were part of this thing called the Teapot Dome scandal during the President Harding administration,” Giamatti told Telegraph about his role in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale. “Harold has come to London to lay low. I thought it was kind of interesting the way the character was written. He’s awkward and not terribly comfortable in these social situations. He’s more comfortable in business. He obviously whores around a lot on yachts and stuff like that, but it’s not his primary interest.”

Harold and Martha join the rest of the characters in "The London Season" to celebrate Rose’s presentation to the Royal Family. But of course, there are several other major plots to be resolved in the Downton Abbey Season 4 finale.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS HERE

‘Downton Abbey’ season 4 Christmas Special review: Daisy’s offer, and did Mary choose?

CARTERMATT
25 December, 2013



Last year, fans of “Downton Abbey” lamented how the Christmas Special basically took whatever Christmas cheer that they had and then threw it in the garbage. For the first 98% of it, all seemed well; then, Matthew died and the world fell apart for Mary.

This time around, we had a two-hour special on ITV that was certainly engaging, but afterwards we cannot really help but answer the question: Was any of this really that necessarily? There were episodes this season that contained more in the way of story points, and this served more as a way to tie together old stories than present new ones that could carry over to the new year.

Out of the stories that are staying put into 2014, the biggest one is merely that somehow, Lady Mary still has both Lord Anthony Gillingham and Charles Blake waiting like they are contestants on “The Bachelor” hoping to get the final rose … and this has been eight months of doing so. While we learned in here that Blake has his own ties to nobility, and was merely hiding them in order to, like another show in “Joe Millionaire,” have Mary like him for who he was rather than his inheritance, this has not played a role into the decision. We’re still waiting, and the only key revelation here is that Michelle Dockery’s character will eventually choose somehow.



Meanwhile, we seemingly had an end to the Bates murder story that played out at the end of the season. It seemed for a good half hour or so that Mary was going to turn Bates in after learning of evidence that tied him to what happened to Mr. Green’s death, but his role in helping preserve the family name and protect the Prince from humiliation (the closest thing that this show will ever get to “Ocean’s Eleven”) changed that. He now seems to be in the clear, and unless someone tells Anna what happened, this issue will likely disappear just like Ivy mighty between seasons. Ivy’s potential exit, coupled, maybe with some drama on the horizon for Thomas Barrow and Tom Branson after the former caught the one-time chauffeur with a certain teacher in the gallery, were the two biggest stories that we really see shaping the new season in some substantial way.

Ivy took a potential cooking job with Harold (smartly played by Paul Giamatti) after Daisy turned it down, which was in turn largely a set-up to ensure that one of Harold’s own employees could further pursue her. Clearly, there are still some feelings there for Alfred, even if we never saw him in the special save for news that he has a prestigious new position.

READ MORE HERE:http://cartermatt.com/101688/downton-abbey-season-4-christmas-special-review-michelle-dockery-mary-chooses-no-one/

Paul Giamatti found filming 'Downton' bizzare

Source: Bang Showbiz
Date: 22 December 2013



Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti found the slow pace of 'Downton Abbey' "very bizarre" when he filmed scenes for the show's Christmas special.

Paul Giamatti found the slow pace of 'Downton Abbey' "very bizarre".



The American actor guest stars in the show's Christmas special as Harold Levinson and his friend and co-star Laura Carmichael says he was baffled by some of the period drama's more sedate scenes.

She told the UK's Grazia magazine: "Paul found filming 'Downton' hilarious. He couldn't get over the fact that in some of the scenes we just sit around drinking tea. He was like, 'This is great, but is this really it?' I'd be like, 'Yes, but there is a subtext, you know, so we'll do our looks and our eyebrows and then the butler pours the tea and I saw a bitty like and then we drink some more tea. There aren't any car chases or anything.' He found it very bizarre and English."

The cast say the presence of Paul and Shirley MacLaine - who reprises her role as Martha Levinson - changed the atmosphere on set for the better.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.list.co.uk/article/57371-paul-giamatti-found-filming-downton-bizzare/

Tis’ the season to be jolly: Series producer confirms no deaths in store for Downton Abbey this Christmas

METRO
5 November, 2013
By Amy Duncan
Showbiz channel manager for Metro.co.uk and unashamed Simon Cowell obsessive. Catch me tweeting at @amydunkers

But Trubridge promised it will still be packed full of excitement as she revealed it is the most ‘spectacular’ one yet.

‘It is packed full of story and it is without question the biggest episode we have ever done,’ she revealed. ‘it is the most spectacular, it’s not set at Christmas and we won’t be splitting up the family and the servants this time.’

The Christmas special will follow on from the cliffhangers of the fourth series’ finale, which airs this Sunday.

But it will also see the return of Shirley Maclaine as Cora’s mother Martha, and the arrival of Paul Giamatti as Cora’s playboy brother Harold.

‘It is lovely how happy Shirley was to come back and Paul is just a dream, you can’t take your eyes off him,’ Trubridge added.


READ MORE HERE: http://metro.co.uk/2013/11/05/tis-the-season-to-be-jolly-series-producer-confirms-no-deaths-in-store-for-downton-abbey-this-christmas-4174367/

'Downton Abbey' Season 4 Spoilers, preview of Episode 7 [VIDEO & Details]

(Photo : www.reuters.com)

By Robert Leo
EnStars | Oct 30, 2013 11:33 AM EDT

The hit TV series Downton Abbey will be returning in November with an all-new season 4 episode, as the British-American drama is now just two installments shy of its annual Christmas Special.

Judging by its description, the seventh installment looks as though it will be featuring the long-awaited arrival of actor Paul Giamatti as Harold, Cora's playboy brother.

iTV put out the following synopsis for the upcoming Downton episode:

"Cora's playboy brother Harold is in a fix and Robert must travel to America to help bail him out, whilst a new farming venture at Downton sees Blake and Mary forced to put aside their differences ... When Violet is taken ill she finds help comes from an unlikely corner ... With romantic tensions causing disharmony downstairs, things don't quite go to plan when Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Patmore and Carson conspire to keep the pace."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.enstarz.com/articles/28012/20131030/downton-abbey-season-4-spoilers-coras-playboy-brother-from-america-to-be-bailed-out-by-robert-video-details.htm

Downton Abbey's Laura Carmichael joins the cast of Madame Bovary

RADIO TIMES
Emily Dixon
4:07 PM, 01 October 2013

Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael – better known to viewers as Lady Edith – has joined the cast of Sophie Barthes’ upcoming adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel Madame Bovary, according to Variety. Carmichael is the second Downton star to be cast, alongside Paul Giamatti, who will debut as Lady Edith’s playboy uncle in the current season.

 Carmichael is cast as Henrietta, a character not named in the book but possibly based on that of Heloise, the first wife of Madame Bovary's husband Charles. Mia Wasikowska, star of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, will play the titular Emma Bovary, a country girl whose idealistic notions of romance, and her disillusionment with her husband, lead her to ill-fated infidelity and financial trouble.

READ MORE HERE:http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-10-01/downton-abbeys-laura-carmichael-joins-the-cast-of-madame-bovary

Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch: British filmmaker’s ‘12 Years a Slave’ wins best picture in Toronto

Actor and star of the film “12 Years a Slave,” Chiwetel Ejiofor poses for a portrait, on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 in New York. PHOTO BY CARLO ALLEGRI/INVISION/AP

INQUIRER ENTERTAINMENT

Agence France-Presse

September 16, 2013 | 5:15 am

OTTAWA—British filmmaker Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” won the audience prize for best picture at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

The film, already generating Oscars buzz, is based on a firsthand account of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, recalling the horrors of grueling labor, daily humiliation and families torn apart.

Its premiere in Toronto last week received a standing ovation, as well as sobs, while some in the audience left early over the film’s graphic portrayal of unspeakable torture of slaves during this period in history.

The story is “a gift from the past to open a discussion, not about race, particularly, but about human dignity and our freedoms and what we most require in the world,” said actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Northup.

“And the only way to really open that discussion is to see all sides of it.”

The film also stars Michael Fassbender as a cruel plantation owner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael Kenneth Williams and Alfre Woodard.

Read more: http://entertainment.inquirer.net/112755/british-filmmakers-12-years-a-slave-wins-best-picture-in-toronto#ixzz2f0Kv82eH 

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Elizabeth McGovern: Why I turned down marriage to Sean Penn and begged on my knees to play Downton's mistress

MAIL ON LINE
By LOUISE GANNON
PUBLISHED: 16:00 EST, 14 September 2013 | UPDATED: 21:20 EST, 14 September 2013

Are you ready for the return of Downton-mania? The frenzied craze for the costume drama to end all costume dramas is set to shoot right off the scale when series four launches next weekend.

And even the normally unflappable Royals are getting in a lather over the imminent return of Lady Mary, Carson, the Earl of Grantham and his porcelain-skinned wife, Lady Cora, the Countess, played by the stunning American actress Elizabeth McGovern.

Except, unlike normal Downton fans, when the Royals crave a hit of their favourite show, they can simply turn up at Highclere Castle – the stately home where it is filmed – to meet the stars.

‘Pippa Middleton came with her mum and her brother,’ McGovern reveals, as she whisks Event on a whirlwind tour.

‘They were lovely. They asked lots of questions, stayed to watch some of the filming.

‘Pippa was very pretty and polite and I’d definitely say the cast were probably more excited than the guests. I had a big chat with her mum, too.’

The massive success of the show is not something McGovern, 52, imagined.

It’s ITV’s most successful period drama ever, winning Emmys in America, spawning a Hollywood career for Dan Stevens who – as Matthew Crawley – was killed in a car crash in the last series.

‘We miss him,’ she says. The Downton cast are extremely close.

‘It is incredibly hard work, long days, late shoots, but we are a real team. It’s an amazing thing to work on a show that is so successful; that has an unbelievable effect on the cast.

‘There’s definitely a split between the young ones and the older ones. But on set we have ways of keeping ourselves amused.

'Michelle (Dockery, Lady Mary) and Allen (Leech, the chauffeur-turned-gentleman) are brilliant mimics. He does a flamboyant fashion designer act, Michelle does a great LA actress on the red carpet. Then Maggie (Smith) has all her anecdotes, which are amazing.’

I meet McGovern in the restaurant of a West London studio, and over cappuccino she casually gives me a great Downton scoop: as the Grantham family move into the Roaring Twenties, the women are finally granted their freedom .  .  . from their clothes.

‘That’s right, no corsets this time, a big bonus. We can breathe again! The dresses are a lot more comfortable.’

I push McGovern for more revelations, but she remains cagey about what we can expect – Downton stars are kept on a famously tight leash when it comes to revealing forthcoming script details.



Like Cora – whom she loves (‘She’s a really good, decent woman. She doesn’t make dramas, she just tries to make everything right for everyone else’) – McGovern is an American in England married to film director and producer Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn, The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice).

Her eldest daughter, Matilda, is reading English at Oxford and her youngest, Grace, is 15. Her life has been about gently breaking rules. Her parents are American academics. Her mother was a teacher, her father a professor, her great-grandfather a famous diplomat.

As revealed in the Mail on Sunday last month, McGovern plays and sings ‘mum music’ in her band Sadie And The Hot Heads, but she never went to a rock concert as a teenager.

‘In my family it was classical or maybe jazz,’ she says.

She grew up in LA and became an actress contrary to family expectations. Success was instant, overwhelming and huge.

Her first film, at 19, was Ordinary People, with Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton. It won four Oscars. Her second, Ragtime, earned her an Oscar nomination. Her third, Once Upon A Time In America, pitched her against Robert De Niro as the object of his sexual obsession.

The same year – 1984 – she starred in Racing With The Moon with Sean Penn. Penn fell madly in love with her, they got engaged – everything was pointing to a Hollywood superstar future. So she split from Penn and left LA to study theatre in New York.




Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-2418897/Downton-Abbeys-Elizabeth-McGovern-Why-I-turned-marriage-Sean-Penn-begged-knees-play-Downtons-mistress.html#ixzz2evTi53oz 
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Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender: 12 Years a Slave: Telluride Review

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
7:04 PM PDT 8/31/2013 by Todd McCarthy

The Bottom Line

A strong, involving, at times overstated telling of an extraordinary life story.

Venue

Telluride Film Festival

Opens

October 18 (Fox Searchlight)

Cast

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garrett Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti

Director

Steve McQueen

The recent popular revenge fantasy Django Unchained notwithstanding, there have been so few good and strong films about slavery in America that, for this reason alone, 12 Years A Slave stands quite tall. With director Steve McQueen dedicating himself to detailing the “peculiar institution” with as many dreadful particulars as he can, Chiwetel Ejiofor leads a fine cast with a superior performance as the real-life Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into Southern slavery until being miraculously rescued. Perhaps the nature of the story is such that the film can’t help but be obvious and quite melodramatic at times, but it gets better as it goes along and builds to a moving finish. Despite the upsetting and vivid brutality, Fox Searchlight has a winner here that will generate copious media coverage, rivet the attention of the black public, stir much talk in political and educational circles and appeal to film audiences who crave something serious and different.

Northup published a memoir of his 12-year nightmare in 1853, the year after Uncle Tom’s Cabin came out, and it was so successful that he went on to participate in two stage adaptations. The book dropped from sight in the 20th century, but the movie tie-in will certainly reestablish its virtually unique status as a work by an educated free man who managed to return from slavery. British director McQueen, whose striking first two features, Hunger and Shame, remained restricted to the art film world, paints on a much bigger canvas and with a much broader brush here, befitting a subject that defined the structure of American society before the Civil War. The nature of the outrage, villainy and human suffering on display is entirely genuine if also familiar, but it is never far removed from the direct experiences of Northup, who, near the beginning of his ordeal, decides, “I don’t want to survive, I want to live.”

READ MORE HERE:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/twelve-years-a-slave/review/618848

Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch: 12 Years A Slave to Have Its Premiere at the New York Film Festival

DEN OF GEEK
News David Crow 8/30/2013 at 3:43PM

Fox Searchlight has announced that the official release for director Steve McQueen’s (Shame) upcoming 12 Years A Slave is slated to premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 8.

Based on a true story, 12 Years a Slave is to chronicle the harrowing life of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man in Upstate New York who is abducted and sold in chains to a malevolent owner (Michael Fassbender). The movie will tell of his 12-year struggle for freedom and dignity, as well as the surprise encounter of a Canadian abolitionist played by Brad Pitt.

The film’s cast also includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Garrett Dillahunt, Sarah Paulson and Michael Kenneth Williams.

12 Years A Slave has its official U.S. release date on October 18.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.denofgeek.us/movies/12-years-a-slave/182022/12-years-a-slave-to-have-its-premiere-at-the-new-york-film-festival

Shirley MacLaine films picnic scenes with new stars Paul Giamatti and Daisy Lewis for Downton Abbey Christmas special

MAIL ON LINE

PUBLISHED: 07:41 EST, 28 July 2013 |

UPDATED: 07:48 EST, 28 July 2013

With leading characters dropping like flies, Downton Abbey is certainly in need of fresh talent.

And after the arrival of Hollywood legend Shirley MacLaine to period drama, another critically-acclaimed actor has followed as Paul Giamatti joins the cast as an American playboy and relative of the Crawleys.

But Paul isn't the only new arrival, with British actors Daisy Lewis and James Fox getting a warm welcome from Shirley, 79, as they filmed an outdoor picnic scene for the Christmas special.

READ MORE HEREhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2380283/What-warm-welcome-Shirley-MacLaine-films-picnic-scenes-new-castmembers-Paul-Giamatti-Daisy-Lewis-Downton-Abbey-Christmas-special.html

Brad Pitt Stands For Good While Michael Fassbender Is Pure Evil In 12 Years A Slave Trailer!

PEREZ HILTON
July 20, 2013

An all-star cast is turning out some of the best performances we've seen all year in the new trailer for the upcoming film 12 Years A Slave!

This movie is a POWERFUL retelling of the true story of Solomon Northup and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a man whose freedom is taken from him in the pre-Civil War United States.

The film also reunites Michael Fassbender with his Shame director Steve McQueen! This time, Fassbender is playing the part of pure evil as the man who enslaves Solomon.

READ MORE HERE: http://perezhilton.com/category/brad-pitt/perezhilton.com/category/michael-fassbender#.UesMVY0p_3M

Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt star in the first 12 Years a Slave trailer July 15, 2013 | (FLIX 66) Written By: Brad Sturdivant

DJANGO UNCHAINED may have ruined slavery based movies for everyone, but director Steve McQueen (SHAME) is hoping people don’t forget how dramatic and emotional a true story can be. The first trailer for the Oscar hopeful, 12 YEARS A SLAVE has arrived and it’s tough to get too much out of this trailer. Much like the case with SHAME, I think 12 YEARS A SLAVE is a film that’s going to rely heavily on its performances and the directing of McQueen. Check out the first trailer below and see if this has a legitimate shot at getting some Oscar glory.

12 YEARS A SLAVE stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Giamatti, Scoot McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Michael Kenneth Williams and Alfre Woodard. The Steve McQueen directed film hits theaters in a limited release on October 18th.

Read More Here:http://flix66.com/michael-fassbender-chiwetel-ejiofor-and-brad-pitt-star-in-the-first-12-years-a-slave-trailer/

Benedict Cumberbatch: Find Out Why Michael Fassbender And Brad Pitt's Next Movie Is Looking Better Than Ever Author: Katey Rich | published: 2013-06-28 11:49: (CINEMA BLEND)

Whether you caught his previous films Hunger and Shame or only heard all the jokes about Michael Fassbender's penis, there's plenty of reason to look forward to director Steve McQueen's upcoming third film, 12 Years A Slave. It's a huge departure for the visual-artist-turned-director, bringing back Fassbender in a supporting role but primarily focusing on Solomon Northrup, a man played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was living as a free black man in pre-Civil War upstate New York when he was kidnapped and forced into slavery. Sure, that's a grim story, but with a cast that includes Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Beasts of the Southern Wild's Quvenzhane Wallis, The Wire's Michael K. Williams and other luminaries, it ought to hit hard.

Now some early buzz confirms our high expectations. Deadline reports that distributor Fox Searchlight has been testing the film and earned fantastic audience response, which has inspired them to give Slave an even better Oscar season release date. It had originally been scheduled for December 27, but now the studio will begin a "limited platform release"-- meaning it will open in a handful of theaters at a time until it's eventually everywhere-- on October 18. 

READ MORE: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Find-Out-Why-Michael-Fassbender-Brad-Pitt-Next-Movie-Looking-Better-Than-Ever-38275.html

Downton Abbey Christmas special: Hollywood star Paul Giamatti to join cast STV 24 June 2013 17:41 BST

Downton Abbey is about to receive another injection of Hollywood magic with the news that movie star Paul Giamatti is to appear in the Christmas special.

Fans of the of the period drama were delighted when Shirley MacLaine joined the show for the most recent series last year, with the A-lister playing Cora’s hard-to-please mother.

Now audiences will watch as Paul, who has appeared in movies including Saving Private Ryan and Planet of the Apes, appears in this year’s festive special as Cora’s playboy brother, Harold.

Gareth Neame, the managing director of programme-maker Carnival Films, said: "We're excited that Paul Giamatti will be joining us on Downton to play Cora's brother Harold, the rather free-spirited uncle to Mary and Edith.

"We can't wait to see him work alongside Shirley Maclaine, who are both sure to upset the Granthams' apple cart in this year's Christmas Day episode."


READ MORE: http://entertainment.stv.tv/tv/230638-downton-abbey-christmas-special-hollywood-star-paul-giamatti-to-join-cast/

Paul Giamatti to join Downton Abbey cast! (BBC NEWS)

Oscar-nominated US actor Paul Giamatti is to join the cast of ITV's Downton Abbey, starting with the Christmas episode, it has been announced.

He will star alongside Elizabeth McGovern as Harold, the "maverick, playboy" brother of Lady Grantham.

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and EastEnders actor Nigel Harman are also set to star in the fourth series of the drama

The stately series was the most-watched drama of 2012, averaging 11.9 million viewers per episode.

"We're excited that Paul Giamatti will be joining us on Downton to play Cora's brother Harold, the rather free-spirited uncle to Mary and Edith," said Gareth Neame, from production company Carnival Films.

"We can't wait to see him work alongside Shirley MacLaine, who are both sure to upset the Grantham's apple cart in this year's Christmas Day episode."

The influx of US actors to the period drama reflects its growing popularity in the States.

12.3 million Americans tuned in to finale of series three on 17 February, making it the highest-rated show of the day, and breaking the viewership record for broadcaster PBS

read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23034116