25. Vivien has sex with a gimp ghost….as you do

American Horror Story, Season 1, Episode 1 ‘Pilot’

Aired 5th October

Imagine an updated version of American Gothic and give it every crazy drug known to man and you may quite possibly end up with one of the craziest new shows to grace are screen in years, American Horror Story.

In particular then things are already getting weird and freaky in the new Harmon household, nothing reached the levels of when Vivien, thinking that her husband Ben wants to get some kinky sexy time in a rubber suit and has just that with the Rubber Man ghost. Also that’s not all when she finds out that she’s pregnant and everyone watching suddenly goes ‘oh shit’ at the fact that 1, She had sex with a ghost and is pregnant with it’s baby and 2, what’s the kid going to end up like.

This show has been batshit mental from the word go and hasn’t really taken it’s foot off the pedal since so if you miss an episode you’re pretty much lost, though that’s not much as some of us are pretty lost watching it and haven’t missed a beat. No clip either to show this scene though it pretty much writes itself.

24. Misha Collins tweets to his ‘Mishamigos’

Supernatural, Season 6, Episode 15 ‘The French Mistake’

Aired 25th February

Supernatural always has a habbit of having tongue-in-cheek episodes at itself. None were as fun as the episode in Season 6 ‘The French Mistake’ as the show took it to another level of making fun of itself…by sending Dean and Sam into a world where Supernatural is a TV show and they are known as Jensen and Jared.

Upon looking for help to get back to their reality they finally come across Castiel….only for them to eventually realise it’s not the real Cas but Misha Collins, After the end of their exchange, Misha Collins decides to send a tweet to his ‘Mishamigos’ which, in fact he did send for real on his twitter account, breaking down the fourth wall against another fourth wall.

Granted it’s not as much as an amazing moment as much as this show has had in the past and present considering, but it is a savouring moment in an unbalanced season of the show but with little gems like this thrown in.

23. Mac’s real name is revealed

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Season 7, Episode 12 ‘The High School Reunion’

Aired 8th December

For years people have guessed on what’s Macs real name. It has been a long occuring joke on the show. Finally, on the shows seventh season the name comes to a head at the gangs High School Reunion. As everyone has to put their name tags on before entering the hall, after much presistence from Dennis, Mac finally slaps on the name tag and his real name is finally revealed as…Ronald McDonald.

Unfortunately there is no clip to show this scene in it’s glory so the picture above must do it justice but seriously, if you haven’t caught It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, please save yourself and give it a go.

22. Eric rips out heart and drinks from it like a straw

True Blood, Season 4, Episode 11 ‘Soul of Fire’

Aired 4th September

Season 4 of True Blood wasn’t really that good, which is an understatement in itself to be honest. Eric lost his memory, we lost are patience with the story. Though there was one standout moment in Season 4 when Eric, getting his memory back and mightily pissed off, Have enough of witches, in particular Marnie.

Trying to protect her, Roy decides to stand in and do the whole ‘If you want her you’re going to have to go through me’ line. Massive mistake Roy as Eric blitz over and rips his heart out. As his body drops, Eric begins to drink from the heart like he’s drinking a juicebox. Major bad ass moment.

21. The Dark Timeline sees the birth of Evil Troy & Evil Abed

Community, Season 3, Episode 4 ‘Remedial Chaos Theory’

Aired: 6th October

Community is getting a hard time as of late. It’s got a strong fanbase but is losing some viewers as they think the third season isn’t all that, worse yet, Community will be on a longer hiatus and no one has a general idea on when it will return, leading to loads of ‘Save Community’ campaigns (#6seasonsandamovie).

In truth, after a slow start, this episode continued a run of consitantly steady episodes, taking the group outside of the school and open them out to more locations etc (considering the ‘no budget’ joke from the first episode of the new season). This episode followed six different timelines over rolling a dice to see who gets the pizza and the Darkest (and funniest) timeline is that of Troy’s. Afraid that he’ll miss everything, Troy misses out on Annie slipping on the Raider’s blouder, Pierce getting shot, Britta setting the place on fire and Jeff trying to put the fire out. As Troy returns, he has a Norweigan Troll staring back at him in the flames, leading to him screaming ‘Noooo’.

As an added bonus, The Darkest Timeline appears also in the end credits to show us the aftermath of the study group which is that Pierce is DEAD!, Jeff lost an arm, Shirley’s an alcoholic, Annie is institutionalised, Britta has a random blue streak in her hair and Troy now needs to use a voicebox after burning his throat (“Clearly you don’t know anything about defeating trolls”). Abed, who remains, well, Abed, commits to the group being evil and have one goal – to return to the prime timeline and reclaim their proper lives, with cut out goatees.

Funny and hilarious, will we be likely to see The Darkest Timeline appear again?

20. Corpses taking a ride on horses

Dexter, Season 6, Episode 3 ‘Smokey & The Bandit’

Aired 16th October

Nothing says better about spreading your message around than by attaching body parts onto mannequin’s and chuck them ontop of horses and have them riding around the streets of Miami. One of the most disturbing images have has been on television this year, let along for ages on this show. As much as it had such a good premise and a good start to the show it really did get a bit ridiculous towards the end (Deb deciding that she loves Dexter, I mean really loves him is a bit to Nip/Tuck for my liking).

19. Moretta gets killed

Southland, Season 3, Episode 4 ‘Code 4′

Aired: 25th January

This is still one that shocks me to this day as you are given no warning or no reason as to why it happens, it just does and you are left completely numb by the experience. Without knowning the outside workings of what was happening with the show (budget cuts, Kevin Alejandro was on True Blood and couldn’t work out a schedule), to see a certain fan favourite amongst viewers to go out like that in a blink of an eye was shocking. Nate and Sammy are driving along when the police car gets hit by a bottle, instead of leaving it, Nate goes out to talk to them about it. Ironically, Nate gives the eye in the sky the signal for no assistance. Believing the situation is under control, Nate even jokes with a man about his tattoos. As Nate and Sammy step away to head back to the car, Nate is suddenly hit in the back of the head with a steel pipe.

Sammy desperately tries to keep the mob away from stomping on Nate’s bleeding, unconscious body by firing his gun and dragging Nate away from them. It truly is a disturbing scene to watch as you can see and feel the panic coming from Shawn Hatosy’s performance as Sammy. The scene following where Sammy comforts Nate’s wife in his arms is just as heartbreaking to see. It was at this moment that Southland was just not the most underrated cop show of all time, but one of the most underrated tv shows of all time.

18. Lou’s speech at the Funeral

Rescue Me, Season 7, Episode 9 ‘Ashes’ (Series Finale)

Aired 7th September

The Final Season really did come back to the glory form of old for Rescue Me, in particular it’s last few episodes. It was a toss-up between two endings, the one that Tommy dreamed of (which is the one I’ve put on the list) or the one that came full circle, with Tommy giving a speech to new rookies and being in a much better, calmer place after the passing of his best friend Lou.

The reason for having this on the list is for the initial shock of believing that all of the guys of 62 truck had died, bar Lou and also for Lou’s monologue throughout this scene. John Scurti is given one final meaty scene to deal with and he just chews it up on screen. Lou’s heartfelt speech about bravery and heroism made the moment that much sweeter and  I believed every word he spoke. “I shall see you on the other side,” struck a  chord that made the dialogue more sincere and honest.

Indeed the show will be missed and had the perfect swan song.

17. Lex Luthor returns and confronts Clark

Smallville, Season 10, Episode 21 ‘Finale’

Aired 13th May

They couldn’t have a series finale without bringing back the big gun, Lex Luthor, and boy did they miss him. It’s no secret that the show had struggled for a while without Michael Rosenbaum’s bald head in the show but thankfully he returned for the finale and this particular scene edged out the curtain call final scene of the finale using the original score of the Superman theme (which is no easy feat).

Problem I had with the show was that it was a good show, yet it could’ve been a great one.  Lex’s description of how Clark says his name was a great way to start their conversation, as they begin to discuss about each others destiny and at one point Lex is actually goading Clark into becoming Superman.

Even though they got some things wrong throughout it’s run (what show doesn’t?) the return of Lex they got just right on the money.

16. Raylan almost kills Dickie Bennett

Justified, Season 2, Episode 12 ‘Reckoning’ 

Aired 27th April

Where as Season 1 was more of a different case to deal with each week for Raylan Givens, Season 2 was definitely a more heavily arc approach to the show and it really excelled because of it. After finding out that Dickie Bennett was the one that killed Helen, he only has one agenda – to kill Dickie. After the help of his brother Doyle, he knocks Doyle out and decides to take Dickie deep into the woods.

As Dickie pleads for his life and then says that he killed her in self-defence and states ‘You know what she was like’ Raylan gets mad and starts talking about Helen and how she turned his life around and this is where Raylan becomes hesitant about what he’s about to do.  This scene showcased Olyphant’s best acting in the series, exercising immense restraint while keeping the rage on the surface. You knew exactly how important Helen was to Raylan and how sad he was that she was gone. He takes a deep breath and knocks Dickie out instead of killing him.

15. Troy meets LeVar Burton

Community, Season 2, Episode 16 ‘Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking’

Aired 17th February

This picture pretty much sums it up aswell as the video. You CAN’T DISAPPOINT A PICTURE!

14. The Dinner Scene

Californication, Season 4, Episode 12 ‘…And Justice For All’

Aired 27th March

 A Large portion of this episode takes place at a dinner party that is  just pure fun, plain and simple. It’s a launch party thrown by Stu to celebrate the start of production on the movie Fucking and  Punching. Hank goes with Abby, while Karen brings Ben. Marcy is living with Stu, and Charlie’s plus one is his psycho realtor, Peggy. Sasha and Eddie are there, too, of course, as the stars of  the movie. Such an eclectic mix of personalities, many with shared romantic  history, is just asking for trouble. So, of course, there is plenty of that,  mostly instigated by Eddie, who asks probing, intrusive questions. Basically it’s a recipe for disaster. Come Dine With Me this ain’t.

13. Shane shoots Otis

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 3 ‘Save The Last One’

Aired 30th October

The episode at the start that Shane made it back, question was, how? Halfway through the episode Shane states that Otis stayed behind to made a stand to make sure Shane got back to them with what was needed to save Carl’s life. When you see Shane notice that a few strings of hair is missing, you realise that somethings up. You don’t think of what’s to come though.

Realising that both of them are injured, almost out of ammo, Shane resorts to a last resort. He shoots Otis in the leg and leaves him to be ripped/eaten to shreds by the walkers as he makes a break for it to get back to the rest of the group. This moment in itself was jaw-dropping considering that Shane told Otis to take the stuff off him and go on without him but Otis rejected the idea. Also this scene caused much discussion over whether or not Shane done the right thing in terms of the greater good (still to this day).

You can make up your own mind on your views on the matter.

12. Walter White has a dramatic breakdown

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 11 ‘Crawl Space’

Aired 25th September

This ending scene was a real kick in the nuts for Walt. With Gus threatening to kill his family if he interferes in killing Hank for sticking his nose in too much, Walt uses a source of Saul’s to help him out and warn the DEA that someone is looking to kill Hank. As he makes a break for his house to get the money to pay for the guy that can help you ‘disappear’ but Skyler points out that she used the money to pay off Ted. Then you witness Walt descending into utter madness in his breakdown, starting with the crying and ending with the laughing, was an amazing piece of acting.

Another Emmy you say for Bryan Cranston?

11. Clay crosses the line with Piney

Sons of Anarchy, Season 4, Episode 8 ‘Family Recipe’

Aired 25th October

Oh Piney, he just had to just involved in what was going on about them damn letters. Clay and Piney had a trending a fine line relationship at best, Piney threatened to expose the letters to the club about Clay being responsible for John Teller’s death, Clay decided it was best to get rid of the evidence. And Piney aswell.

Pretty much Piney’s death was coming but it sealed Clay back to being just an evil bastard who would do anything to save himself, considering since the end of season 2 was building him up to be not so bad after all.

10. Rick tells Kate that he loves her…after she gets shot

Castle, Season 3, Episode 24 ‘Knockout’

Aired 16th May

About damn time to one of them said it. Problem though? Rick only uttered those words after Kate gets caught by a snipers bullet at Captain Roy Montgomery’s funeral, after he made his last stand to take down some men who wanted Kate dead.

It was one of the rare times when Castle was pretty dark and serious compared to it’s dramedy (yet, drama/comedy) formula that has made it a hit with fans, and left them with a huge cliffhanger of wondering if Rick’s declaration of love would be the last words Kate would ever hear.

9. Texas Forever

Firday Night Lights, Season 5, Episode 13 ‘Always’

Aired 9th February

It all came down to one more play. The State Championship is in their hands if they make this play work. As the ball flies through the air we are immediately jumped forward eight months in Philadelphia before the ball gets caught. We follow the montage of the Taylor’s out in Philadelphia, Vince at the new super team of the Dillon Panthers, with a State Championship ring on his finger, The East Dillon pitch being removed, Luke leaving on a bus out of Dillon to join the army, Saracen and Julie happy together (still just engaged perhaps), Jess out coaching in Dallas, The Riggins boys finally got back together and were building a house on Tim’s land.

Final part cuts back to Coach Taylor talking to his new players and finishes off by going ‘Clear Eyes, Full Hearts..’ and gets no response as the players have no idea what he means, to which he simply pauses and smile before saying ‘We’ll work on that later’. Tami arrives and the two of them walk off away from the pitch as the lights go out.

Perfect way to wrap up the show and say goodybe to Dillon forever. Never know, with talks of a film, the Taylor’s story may not be over yet.

8. The Placebo Effect Episode

Archer, Season 2, Episode 9 ’Placebo Effect’

Aired 24th March

Archer is one of the best comedy shows around, let alone the best animated show.

So of course, a narcissistic jackass like Archer would believe that he was badass enough to take down some chemo  without a hint of nausea, hair loss or any other side effect. So much so that he  was completley blindsided when Krieger revealed he’s been popping sugar pills  and pumping Zima intravenously.  Seriously, Sterling, chewable chemo  medicine?

But once Archer learned he was taking a placebo, we  were soon introduced to Ruth, a fellow cancer patient that was also duped, and  the main inspiration behind our man’s rampage and the reason this episode was so  powerful.

Too many scenes in the show to point out so yes, I’m actually cheating by putting a whole episode here but really it is one of the funniest episodes I’ve seen in ages.

7. Sophia comes out of the Barn

The Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 7 ‘Pretty Much Dead Already’

Aired 27th November

It must be said that alot of time was spent in Season 2 of the survivors searching for Sophia. For some, they spent too much time, so much time that Shane acted as a voice of those fans in being dismayed by the thought that a kid, gone missing, could survive in this world. Granted if the show took a hiatus without them finding Sophia, I to would’ve been pissed ,but the reveal of them finding Sophia was a shocker.

Shane, whose mental state has been somewhat of a downhill spiral after killing Otis and is being made out to look like a villain at this point, is rightfully pissed at the fact Hershel keeps walkers in the barn. After getting back the weapons and handing them out to the group, they notice Rick and Hershel bringing back a few more walkers. Shane has enough, kills one of them and then opens up the arm and the group take out all the walkers that come out. Then, comes the sucker punch as a walker comes strolling out after the bullets stop. It’s Sophia.

The reveal that Sophia was in the barn, “living” as a walker all along was more than just a “there she is!” moment for the series. It was a sad and harsh look at the reality of their situation and we see it on the faces of everyone standing outside as they watch her come out. Like the fact that it was Rick that stepped up and was the one that killed Sophia (Rick 2 Child Zombies 0).

Now what happens when we return? Roll on the new year

6. Porch Confessions

Homeland, Season 1, Episode 7 ‘The Weekend’

Aired 13th November

Homeland kind of ripped out the rule book on this one as the game between Carrie and Brody was on pause for a moment and the truth came out between the two of them at the cabin. After realising that she slipped out and Brody catching on that Carrie has been spying on her, the pair have an honest conversation over what Brody actually experienced as a prisoner.

Brody admits to now being a Muslim. He also, shockingly, admits to killing Tom Walker and knowing Abu Nazir, whom he regards with kindness and even love. All of this he tells Carrie, then he begins to leave.

Carrie doesn’t know what to think, until Saul calls Carrie, telling her that the sketch artist working off of Aileen’s description reveals her contact to be…wait for it…Tom Walker!

Carrie barely has time to reel from the revelation. All she wants to do is make things right with Brody, but the man is disgusted with being “used” by Carrie. He swears at her, then drives off, leaving her alone. She breaks down, a combination of her long-held theory about Brody seemingly shot to hell, and certainly the abrupt end of her affair with a man who could have been the one who “gets” her.

This scene just set everything in motion for the rest of the shows run went ended really well and was one of the best new shows of 2011. A more realistic, patient version of 24.

5. Michael leaves The Office

The US Office, Season 7, Episode 21 ‘Goodbye, Michael’ 

Aired 28th April

Sometimes there’s just some moments where you can’t help but smile and be sad at the same time. Watching Michael Scott leave in the airport is just one of those moments. An understated scene, after Michael has said his goodbyes to each co-worker, hands over his microphone and begins to walk away, at which Pam manages to catch up to him and have a few words with each other, with no microphone to pick it up which I thought was a nice touch.

4.Eric tells Tami it’s her turn

Friday Night Lights, Season 5, Episode 13 ’Always’

Aired 9th February

A show that was set around teenagers yet managed to be themed for adults. Friday Night Lights was one of the truly most astounding piece of television to have come out the last decade and managed to create real human characters that were three dimensional and they weren’t rich, living it up in Los Angeles or California etc (You know the Teen shows I’m talking about).

The primary focus throughout the entire run of FNL was always about the Taylors, specifically Eric and Tami, about they were this happy married couple whose life evolved around football way before we are introduced to their world, when they arrive in Dillon, Texas. Coach Taylor was often focused on the goodness that should be strived for by everyone, and many times was conflicted on what the right thing to do actually was.
It was the years in Dillon that changed the Taylor family forever.  While there were better overall seasons, nothing in the series showcased what a strong and loving couple the Taylors were better than Eric going to his wife in the mall and saying that heartfelt “please” as he asked her to take him to Philadelphia.  It was the act of a man who knew in his soul that his selfishness, unintentional or not, was flying in the face of all he’d stood for.  A football team is not a single person, and neither is a family.  Friday Night Lights was about life and sometimes life asks you to sacrifice for the betterment of your world.

Game of Thrones, Season 1, Episode 9 ‘Baelor’

Aired 12th June

Oh Sean Bean, can’t seem to catch a break can he? If you read the book, you had months to prepare for this. If you were one of those ones that did not follow the book, seen Sean Bean being the main focus point in the promotions across television and posters, you thought ‘They can’t do that?’ and then become mightily pissed, such as this guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owf6D2vfZqM).

Pretty much this execution summed up that this world in Game of Thrones was as dark as they come as the one noble warrior in this kingdom had to take the blame for something he didn’t do so he can save himself from the penalty of death….only for little bastard Joffrey to sack that idea and have him beheaded for his ‘crime’, making him the most hated child character in quite some time who was deliberately an evil git.

If Ned can bite the dust then no one else in the world of Game of Thrones is safe.

2. Gus ‘Face-Off’

Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 13 ‘Face Off’ (Season Finale)

Aired 9th October

We knew that the town was just too big enough for the both of them. We also knew that there was no way that the show was going to get rid of Walter White, so it was more a question of how will he finally outsmart Gus. Well for a smart man that had good instincts which have kept him alive to this point, Gus was taken down by his sense of pride and vengeance on one man in particular. Realising that Hector Salamanca (His character has come a long way from when we first seen him) was an enemy of Gus, who he would visit in certain moments in the season to taunt him about killing his family etc (Justified considering Hector took out Gus’ ‘friend’), Walt uses this to his advantage and gets Hector to help him out and get his own revenge in a very simple fashion.

To become a wheelchair, ring ringer bomb. Believing that Hector has talked to the DEA, Gus decides it’s time to get rid of him himself, without letting Tyrus handle the business for him. As he is about to inject Hector, Hector finally looks Gus in the eye, filled with rage, and begins to ring the bell…repeatedly, and finally the bomb goes off.

It’s sad to see the end of such a formidable character go, considering how season 4 was going, you felt more sympathetic for Gus due to what happened in his backstory plus the fact Walt end into a complete downhill spiral and, honestly, acted a complete dick. Major props aswell to Mark Margolis for not only this scene, but his entire stint in Breaking Bad as possibly one of the best silent characters in modern times. Plenty of people have moaned over the fact was still alive enough to move a few steps and fix his tie before dropping but I bloody well loved it.

1. Nucky becomes a ‘full-on’ gangster and kills Jimmy

Boardwalk Empire Season 2, Episode 12 ‘To The Lost’ (Season Finale)

Aired  11th December

Honestly, Gustavo Fring’s getting his face blown up would have been my number 1 TV moment, but then the Boardwalk Empire Season 2 finale came along and this one moment has managed to split audiences in half, one side considering it to be very brave in moving forward with the show and others just considering not coming back to continue to watch the show for season 3 onwards as one of their favourite characters, James ‘Jimmy’ Darmody’s life, came to a shocking and yet inevitable end at the hands of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson. Where other shows before have gone done similar roads to kill off one of their characters, only to have them saved at the last minute, there was no one here to save the day for Jimmy as he had to pay for betraying Nucky and trying to have him killed  (So no Richard coming in to save the day by sniping everyone’s ass).

A pretty ballsy move, considering the fact that Jimmy was more heavily featured/focused on than Nucky, epsecially this season, so to invest that much time into the character and have him killed off in your second season, is again, brave move, yet needed to complete Nucky’s descent from corrupt politican to full-on gangster (Damn it Jimmy, why did your ‘You can’t be half a gangster..’ quote have to come back and bite you in the ass?). But the signs of Jimmy knew that his number was up was all on screen, from giving his son one last piece of advice, telling Richard to stay behind and give his son his dog tags. Love the touch of Jimmy going out giving Nucky one last bit of advice (“My first time I vomitted after, two days straight”). Also the added touch of Jimmy going over the bunker was nice.

We will miss you Jimmy Darmody. Now for Season 3, more Richard and Chalky and less Eli and Margaret (Especially Margaret).

So what is your opinion of the list?

What else were Top TV moments of 2011?

DIRECTED BY: Bobcat Goldthwait

STARRING: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara and Alexie Gilmore

FAVE QUOTE: “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is ending up with people who make you feel all alone.” – Lance Clayton

FAVE MOMENT: The moment Lance finds Kyle’s body and breaks down totally distraught.

AWARDS: None

SYNOPSIS

Lance Clayton is a man who has learned to settle.  He dreamed of being a rich and famous writer, but has only managed to make it as a high school poetry teacher.  His only son Kyle is an insufferable jackass who won’t give his father the time of day.  He is dating Claire, the school’s adorable art teacher, but she doesn’t want to get serious — or even acknowledge publicly that they are dating. Then, in the wake of a freak accident, Lance suffers the worst tragedy and greatest opportunity of his life. He is suddenly faced with the possibility of all the fame, fortune and popularity he ever dreamed of, if he can only live with the knowledge of how he got there.

VERDICT

At number 425 is World’s Greatest Dad.

So a few days have now passed since the Emmy nominations were announced. As always with the Emmys, it would be boring if it didn’t have some surprise nominations, some ‘about time’ nominations and the obvious why the hell was this snubbed.  Also a quick mention to the whole Kurt Sutter fiasco that’s going on at the minute, few things. First of, everyone is taking his joking comments way to thick and secondly, he has a valid point, always has done. Now for the list of the nominations.

Emmy Nominations

Lead Actor In A Drama Series 

STEVE BUSCEMI as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire

KYLE CHANDLER as Coach Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights

MICHAEL C HALL as Dexter Morgan in Dexter

HUGH LAURIE as Dr Gregory House in House

JON HAMM as Don Draper in Mad Men

TIMOTHY OLYPHANT as Raylan Givens in Justified

This is the year where there’ll be a new winner for in the Leading Actor in A Drama Series category as Bryan Cranston had won it for three years in a row for his portrayal of Walter White in the AMC show Breaking Bad, which was on a eighteen month hiatus, hence no nominations for it this year. The obvious favourite to win the Emmy this year is Jon Hamm for his portrayal of Don Draper in the hit series Mad Men, running close though is fellow nominee Kyle Chandler for his role as Coach Eric Taylor in the fantastic series Friday Night Lights and as the show finished its run will these final nominations turn to swan gongs in tribute to the show? Michael C Hall is also in the running but with a somewhat flat fifth season (let’s be honest, it was always going to be difficult to try to do better than what they achieved with the fourth season) will this affect his chances of winning? Steve Buscemi is nominated for his role as Nucky Thompson in the epic series Boardwalk Empire but I don’t think he will win over some of the other nominations here, as neither I think Hugh Laurie will (unfortunately) and the same goes for Timothy Olyphant, even with Justified’s excellent second season as the winner is as clearcut as the other categories.

My Pick For Winner

Jon Hamm

The Big Snub(s)

CHARLIE HUNNAM as Jax Teller in Sons Of Anarchy

SEAN BEAN as Eddard Stark in Game Of Thrones

In what is always a very difficult category to pick out five people to be nominated in the Lead Acting In A Drama Series (hell I could go on for ages there’s so many), these two were the biggest snubs in my book, especially Sean Bean not getting nominated which shocked me considering how big Game of Thrones is. Found it a shame Charlie Hunnam didn’t get nominated as he was solid in his role as Jax Teller in Sons Of Anarchy, spending the season trying to find his son and willing to go to any lengths to get him back (Hunnam has come along way since Queer As Folk and Green Street that’s for sure). A little note to mention Andrew Lincoln for his role as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead, as much as I love him in the role I really didn’t enjoy the show as much as I thought it would (Jesus, it’s a zombie TV show) so I wouldn’t consider him to be a big snub, so let’s see what’s in store for the shows second season instead.

Lead Actress In A Drama Series

ELISABETH MOSS as Peggy Olson in Mad Men

CONNIE BRITTON as Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights

MARISKA HARGITAY as Detective Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU

MIREILLE ENOS as Sarah Linden in The Killing

JULIANNA MARGULIES as Alicia Florrick in The Good Wife

KATHY BATES as Harriet Harry ‘Korn’ in Harry’s Law

Pretty strong category in the Lead Actress In A Drama gunning for the Emmy. Elisabeth Moss was as solid as always in her role as Peggy Olson and the Academy love the show so she’s in contention along with Julianna Margulies, who won it last year for her role in The Good Wife. Kathy Bate’s has been getting rave reviews from critics for her role in Harry’s Law but I’ve never managed to catch that show so can’t comment on her chances.  Mireille Enos is nominated for her role in AMC’s The Killing, which was hit and miss with the critics and the fans (even those that were fond of the original series). Mariska Hargitay has recently left her role as Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU so will the academy decide to treat her with an Emmy as a going away present? So what about Connie Britton? Well, Connie is my choice to win for her role as Tami Taylor in Friday Night Lights, as the Taylor’s have been the key focus throughout the duration of the show and, even though the first half of the show she was given a rubbish storyline to deal with (Epic or Elypic, whatever way it was spelt) to the turmoil of being the Coaches wife in the second half of the final season, which has made her nailed on in my eyes to win it.

My Pick For Winner

Connie Britton

The Big Snub

KATEY SAGAL as Gemma Teller Morrow in Sons Of Anarchy

The Biggest snub from this category was Katey Sagal, who would’ve in my opinion, been a deadlock to win for an Emmy but obviously the Academy thought otherwise. Least the Golden Globes treat her right for given an excellent performance as one of the strongest women on television at the moment. A few other notable mentions go to Regina King for her role in the ridiculously underrated Southland and to Jennifer Beals for her role in the short lived The Chicago Code (Both cop shows, co-incidence?).

Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

JOHN SLATTERY as Roger Sterling in Mad Men

ANDRE BRAUGHER as Owen in Men Of A Certain Age

WALTON GOGGINS as Boyd Crowder in Justified

PETER DINKLAGE as Tyrion Lannister in Game Of Thrones

JOSH CHARLES as Will Gardner in The Good Wife

ALAN CUMMING as Eli Gold in The Good Wife

Strong selection for the Supporting Actor In A Drama Series. Huge fan of Andre Braugher but don’t get Men Of A Certain Age so can’t comment on his chances, although he’s up against John Slattery from Mad Men and Alan Cumming from The Good Wife who are favourites to win this category but the dark horse – Peter Dinklage. His performances in Game Of Thrones were excellent and looks like he’ll a pivotal figure for seasons to come on the show so don’t be surprised of more nominations but will he get the Emmy love this year? FINALLY Walton Goggins got a nomination which I’m a bit too excited about, as much as I love him as an actor and his character (Boyd in Justified) I don’t think he stands a chance, the same goes for Josh Charles, with all due respect, as it does come down to two key men and without last years Emmy winner Aaron Paul, Slattery can finally get that Emmy.

My Pick For Winner

John Slattery

The Big Snub(s)

DELROY LINDO as Alderman Ronin Gibbons

MICHAEL SHANNON as Agent Nelson Van Alden in Boardwalk Empire

Even though The Chicago Code unfortunately got cancelled (Well I thought it was really good), still it surprises me that Delroy Lindo has missed out on a nomination, considering that Alderman Ronin Gibbons was easily the best villain on television this year, considering he wasn’t your typical out and out villain. Sure he was corrupt as the head of FIFA but he believed he was doing these actions for the good of the people of Chicago. On the other side of the snub coin and ‘villain’ streak is Michael Shannon’s performance as the religious Agent Nelson Van Alden, which is the biggest shock snub for me as I thought he would’ve been nailed on to at least get nominated. Maybe next year.

Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

KELLY MACDONALD as Margaret Schroeder in Boardwalk Empire

CHRISTINA HENDRICKS as Joan Harris in Mad Men

MICHELLE FORBES as Mitch Larsen in The Killing

ARCHIE PANJABI as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife

MARGO MARTINDALE as Mags Bennett in Justified

CHRISTINE BARANSKI as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife

This category is too close to call over who will eventually win. Sure Kelly MacDonald was really good in her first season on Boardwalk Empire but don’t she’ll win over the rest of the candidates, same goes for Christina Hendricks. Michelle Forbes is a new contender this year after her portrayal of a distraught mother of a murdered young girl in AMC’s The Killing, giving a restrained yet heartbroken performance on the show and don’t be too surprised to hear her name called out to pick up the Emmy on the night. Previous winner last year Archie Panjabi is nominated again and is favourite to win again for her role in The Good Wife, considering her character arc this season, aswell as her fellow show member Christine Baranski. The dark horse and the winner in my eyes though is Margo Martindale for her performance in Justified. The problem with Margo is there’s too many scenes to show to the Academy to pitch for her to win, there is literally 10 that I can think of. Her role as Mags Bennett and woman that puts up a nice, pleasant front yet underneath is a dark sinister individual made for riveting viewing, especially with her and her boys on screen.  If she doesn’t win I will be shocked.

My Pick For Winner

Margo Martindale

The Big Snub

EMILIA CLARKE as Daenerys Targaryen in Game Of Thrones

Only one that I can think of at the top of my head that I would considered to be snubbed, in particular as she got better along with the characters journey in the season and we were taken on that journey and seen her become an established strong character and one whose journey will be really interesting in the second season.

Lead Actor In A Comedy Series

MATT LEBLANC as Himself in Episodes

JIM PARSONS as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory

STEVE CARELL as Michael Scott in The Office

JOHNNY GALECKI as Leonard Hofstadter in The Big Bang Theory

LOUIS CK as Louie in Louie

ALEC BALDWIN as Jack Donaghy in 30 Rock

Tough group this one, but I’m really surprised with the nomination of Johnny Galecki amongst the rest of the candidates. In particular going up against fellow cast member Jim Parsons (Who, as much as I hate Big Bang Theory, is the show) so these two could split the vote so neither of them could end up winning. Interesting that Matt LeBlanc was nominated for his role in playing himself in Episodes, considering the people that missed out (will get to that in a minute) so obviously someone at the Academy was keeping an eye on Episodes, because I wasn’t. It’s a pleasant surprise to see Louis CK in the running as Louie is a great show but unfortunately for him it comes down to two people – Steve Carell and Alec Baldwin. Carell could win it for the fact he is taking a break from The Office so that may go in his favour but, in my opinion, it’ll go to Alec Baldwin, Jack Donaghy is a great character and has had some terrific scenes this year so he’s my pick to win it this year.

My Pick For Winner

Alec Baldwin

The Big Snub

JOEL MCHALE as Jeff Winger in Community

Oh Joel McHale, how you did not get nominated (Hell, how Community got NO nominations) I’ll never know. Too disappointed that LeBlanc and Galecki got nominated over him, but not surprised of the lack of Community love as there is always one show that the Emmys disown and don’t nominate (Remember The Wire getting no nominations?).

Lead Actress In A Comedy Series

LAURA LINNEY as Cathy Jamison in The Big C

EDIE FALCO as Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie

AMY POEHLER as Leslie Knope in Parks & Recreation

MELISSA MCCARTHY as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly

MARTHA PLIMPTON as Virginia Chance in Raising Hope

TINA FEY as Liz Lemon in 30 Rock

Diverse group (though still on the fence about how Nurse Jackie is really considered a comedy). Heard good things about Laura Linney on The Big C, though I haven’t seen it, Melissa McCarthy is a dark horse in this race as she’s sky rocketed as of late for her work in Mike & Molly and recently on the big screen in Bridesmaids. Raising Hope has also been getting rave reviews so could Martha Plimpton get the Emmy? Personally it may come down to the final two – Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. As much as I absolutely adore Tina Fey, Amy Poehler has really shone this year (aswell as Parks & Recreation in general) and would love for her to win.

My Pick For Winner

Amy Poehler

The Big Snub

COURTNEY COX as Jules Cobb in Cougar Town

No Emmy love this year for Courtney Cox…or Cougar Town for that matter. Though there was plenty of contenders she remains the big name left out from the selection.

Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series

JON CRYER as Alan Harper in Two And A Half Men

CHRIS COLFER as Kurt Hummel in Glee

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON as Mitchell Pritchett in Modern Family

ED O’NEILL as Jay Pritchett in Modern Family

ERIC STONESTREET as Cameron Tucker in Modern Family

TY BURRELL as Phil Dunphy in Modern Family

Okay, where to start? First off, quite a hard on the Emmy’s have got for Modern Family and rightfully so, but this is borderline taking the piss, too many of them listed in the one category alone (and I’d still argue that Ty Burrell shouldn’t even be in this category, but in the Best Actor In A Comedy Series category instead) leaving out plenty of other deserving nominees (quite a few listed below). Though due to the fact of plenty of the Modern Family actors in here could cause a split in votes which could cause one of the others to lead the pack. Here plenty of rave reviews about Chris Colfer for his role in Glee and that he practically, along with Jane Lynch, is the show, so wouldn’t be too surprised if his name gets called out on the night. Jon Cryer, he could be a nice guy and all, but his nomination pretty much feels like a sympathic pat on the back for the whole Charlie Sheen fiasco. Who should win? I’d say Ed O’Niell, but due to the number of the Modern Family cast in here could cause a split vote it may not happen. Time will tell.

My Pick For Winner

Ed O’Niell

The Big Snubs

DANNY PUDI as Abed Nadir in Community

DONALD GLOVER as Troy Barnes in Community

NICK OFFERMAN as Ron Swanson in Parks & Recreation

CHARLIE DAY as Charlie Kelly in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Oh Danny Pudi, his performance as Abed may put off a few people at times but I love it for his deadpan mannerisms and how he delivers his dialogue, same can be said for Donald Glover, when these two are on screen together …. comedy gold! Considering Amy from Parks & Recreation got nominated, was pretty sure Nick Offerman would be aswell, unfortunately not. Finally Charlie Day and the rest of the It’s Always Sunny Gang. Maybe someday they’ll get the Emmy love….someday.

Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series

JANE LYNCH as Sue Sylvester in Glee

BETTY WHITE as Elka Ostrosky in Hot In Cleveland

JULIE BOWEN as Claire Dunphy in Modern Family

KRISTEN WIIG as Various Characters in Saturday Night Live

JANE KRAKOWSKI as Jenna Maroney in 30 Rock

SOFIA VERGARA as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in Modern Family

Strong list here, though never caught Hot In Cleveland so can’t give an honest opinion on Betty White’s performance on the show but as much as I hate Glee Jane Lynch is a strong contender to nab the Emmy.  Always been a fan of Jane Krakowski and her performance as Jenna Maroney is still as quality and deadpan as it was when 30 Rock started but it will come down the the Modern Family women and the dark horse that is Kristen Wiig to top off a great last 12 months for her. Though looking at the list, the pick of them could very well Sofia Vergara, great comedy actress and brings warmth to the show.

My Pick For Winner

Sofia Vergara

The Big Snub

ALISON BRIE as Annie Edison in Community

Yep, yet again another Community snub but I’m being serious on how good the show actually is. With the great cast that they have she is definitely one of the three (others being Danny/Donald) that are the glue to the show.

Best Comedy Series

Glee

Parks & Recreation

The Office

Modern Family

30 Rock

The Big Bang Theory

Glee, no…but then again I’m not a fan so maybe it will. The Office may stand a good chance for Carrell’s swansong. Parks & Recreation had a great season also, as did Modern Family and 30 Rock (though others think differently). As for The Big Bang Theory, maybe (I don’t enjoy it but don’t hate it either). It’s pretty much a toss up between The Office and Modern Family but think the Emmy’s will go for Modern Family.

My Pick For Winner

Modern Family

The Big Snub

Community

Emmy I Am Disappoint.

Best Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire

Game Of Thrones

The Good Wife

Mad Men

Friday Night Lights

Dexter

First off for the main negative – Dexter didn’t have a strong season. Still had good moments and wouldn’t have lived up to expectations after season 4, but there has been other shows that had stronger seasons. Boardwalk Empire had a great debut season, as did Game of Thrones, but maybe it’s just too early for both shows to get an Emmy. The Good Wife and Mad Men both had strong seasons. Dark horse – obviously Friday Night Lights. Could they actually finally get recognition for their work and be given an Emmy for giving us five beautiful seasons? Perhaps. But they LOVE Mad Men, so I’d place my bets on that….or split it between Mad Men and Friday Night Lights.

My Pick For Winner

Mad Men

The Big Snub

Justified

Big season for Justified and definitely better than Dexter’s. Good villains, stronger story arc rather than weekly episodic plots, making it better than it’s first season.

Best Animated Series

The Cleveland Show

Robot Chicken

Futurama

The Simpsons

South Park

Cleveland Show? Really? REALLY? Pretty much no longer a fan of any of these shows as they’ve gone on far too long and just aren’t that consistently funny anymore. So probably be the Simpsons that’ll win, regardless of it being well beyond its glory years.

My Pick For Winner

The Simpsons

The Big Snub

Archer

One of the best shows going on television at the moment, let alone best animated series. The animation is great, the jokes are great on a consistent level. The only problem is that it’s only over 20 minutes long.

So whose your bets on the Emmys?

Agree with the predictions + snubs?

According to Deadline Josh Brolin has signed on to lead the remake of the cult 2003 Korean revenge thriller Oldboy, which has Spike Lee directing.

In the original film the story followed a man who is kidnapped on his daughter’s birthday and held for 15 years in solitary confinement without explanation. He is eventually released and sets out on a path to take revenge on those who destroyed his life. Back in 2008 Steven Spielberg was considering directing Will Smith in the remake, but that never happened so Mandate Pictures bought the rights and got Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend) to write the script.

The aim is to begin production in March, so Brolin will likely fit it in after Gangster Squad with Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling, and before Jason Reitman’s Labor Day opposite Kate Winslet.

Meanwhile Christian Bale is considering the part  in Spike Lee’s version of Park Chan-wook’s cult South Korean thriller, Oldboy, reports Variety.

As well as Oldboy, Bale is said to be considering the forthcoming remake of A Star is Born, starring Beyoncé, which Clint Eastwood is directing. He is also linked to Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic, Noah, and the Michael Mann film Gold, said to be a contemporary thriller in the vein of the classic 1948 John Huston tale The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which starred Humphrey Bogart as a prospector in 1920s Mexico. Bale has already signed on for the lead in an unamed Terrence Malick film.

Not a fan of the idea of this film being made but with the people being involved and with Bale possibly signing on, I can see the ending remaining the same rather than watered down. What are your thoughts?

Matthew Fox got into some trouble in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday.

The LOST star was detained by police there for allegedly assaulting a female driver of a party bus. Fox allegedly tried to get on the bus even though he wasn’t invited to take a ride, according to TMZ, and when the woman tried to stop him, he allegedly punched her.

An off-duty officer handcuffed Fox and then police took him into custody. A rep for the Cleveland police department confirms that the actor “was detained, but there was no arrest made.” According to the police report, the woman punched back and gave Fox a bloody lip. His rep couldn’t be reached for comment.

The key takeaway from the first promo for House‘s upcoming eighth season? Karma’s a bitch!

As the below video clearly illustrates, House is having a tough time adjusting to life behind bars. But as Hugh Laurie’s on screen BFF Robert Sean Leonard recently deadpanned, “Prison seems an appropriate punishment for driving your car into someone’s living room.”

Here’s the promo below

The CW is looking to get back into the comics/superhero business with a familiar name.

Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is writing and executive-producing an adaptation of DC Comics’ Deadman.

Deadman centers on Boston Brand, a circus acrobat who is murdered but continues to live on when a supernatural being enables him to possess the living. He then finds himself torn between finding and exacting revenge on the man who killed him and using his new ability to help others.

CW president Mark Pedowitz told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour earlier this month that finding a new superhero to fill the void left by Smallville is a priority. To the network’s benefit, much like ABC has Disney-owned Marvel in its fold, The CW has in-family DC Comics, which is owned by Time Warner, to cull from.

“We’re looking next year to do a superhero show if the right superhero comes to be,” said Pedowitz.

Kripke has plenty of experience in the paranormal arena, having served as showrunner on the network’s Supernatural for five years. He remains an executive producer on the series, which enters its seventh season on Sept. 23.

Story from - http://www.tvline.com/2011/08/the-cw-eric-kripke-deadman/

In this assignment I will be telling you the different types of genres and how they are unique from each other aswell as give you two examples of genre in Film and two examples of genre in Television before going into further detail of my Drama Production.

“A film is one of many possible kinds of texts, something that people produce or modify to communicate meaning, such as a photograph, painting, newspaper article, or T-Shirt Message.” (Ref 2)

There are several different types of genres and are used to class specific films to put a label on it to attract the viewers that are interested in that genre.

“Genre simply allows us to organise a good deal of material into smaller categories.” (Ref 3)

The different types of genre are:

Action

Action films usually include high energy, big-budget physical stunts and chases usually involving gun fights, hand to hand combat, explosions etc.

Examples – The Rock, Bad Boys 2

Adventure

Adventure films are usually exciting stories with exotic locations and new experiences, usually they are very similar to the action film genre but often surround the story around searches for lost continents, treasure hunts etc.

Examples – Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean

Comedy

Comedy films are light-hearted plots consistently and deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter, using one-liners, jokes etc, by exaggerating the situation. Often the comedy could be slapstick or be a parody of several films from more serious genres.

Examples – The Hangover, Hot Shots Part Deux

Crime/Gangster

Crime/Gangster films are developed around the life and actions of criminals or mobsters, usually bankrobbers, hoodlums and underworld figures. They are often categorized as film noir or detective mystery films.

Example – Seven, The Godfather

Drama

Drama films are serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings and life situations. It’s not focused on special-effects, comedy or action. Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre.

Examples – Lawrence of Arabia, Milk

Horror

Horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time.

Examples – Night of the Living Dead, The Birds

War

War films acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war. Letting the actual combat fighting on land, sea or in the air provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film.

Examples – Saving Private Ryan, Apocalypse Now

Science Fiction (Sci-Fi)

Sci-Fi films are often visionary and imaginative, complete with heroes, aliens, impossible quests, great dark and shadowy villains and heroes.

Examples – Aliens, Star Wars

Alpha Dog

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Introduction

First choice for my film piece in this assignment is a film called Alpha Dog which is based on a true story. I am going to discuss the genre that connects with the film aswell as its accuracies to the true story of which the film is based on.

Premise

Released in 2006, Alpha Dog is set around Claremont, California, 1999, following a group of middle-class 20-year-old’s that, after a dispute with a local that owes him $1200 dollars, kidnaps his 15-year-old brother, which eventually leads to the young mans death.

Genre

Alpha Dog itself focuses more on the Drama side of things but there is no taking away the fact that it is in a Crime genre world, mostly coming from the main character Johnny Truelove being a drug dealer, to having his own muscle, crew and, well the only term to put it is slaves (one particular character is in debt to Truelove, so he is ordered to clean the house, toilets and the dog shit around the garden).

The story focuses on the start of Jake Mazursky, who owes Truelove $1200 dollars, hasn’t got the money yet to pay him, which in turn Johnny Truelove is angry with as he likes to rule amongst others with an iron fist. Jake Mazursky keeps warning him not to push him as he is not like his friends (i.e Truelove’s crew). The two end up getting into a bitter feud over this and violence between them escalates. Whilst out with members of his crew, trying to find Jake, they come across Zack Mazursky, Jake’s 15-year-old half brother, without hesitation, they kidnap him and throw him into the van and drive off.

From then the film goes into a blend of different styles, such as even though he is kidnapped, Zack ends up living it up, as it were, with the members of the crew, partying, drinking and smoking with them as he waits ‘to ride this out’ as he doesn’t want to get his brother into any trouble and ends up falling in love with one of the girls he meets (Julie played by Amanda Seyfried).

Mostly away from the events that transpire through the rest of the film, Johnny Truelove contacts his lawyer to find out how much jail time one would do for kidnapping. As he finds out the sentence is 20 to life, he calls upon one of his crew, who is in debt to him, Elvis, to kill the kid.

The film attempts to add a man of conscience amongst the crew in Frankie Ballenbacher (played by Justin Timberlake in his first major role) as he ‘babysits’ Zack and grows fond of the kid, but eventually he becomes part of Zack’s final moments of his life as he is gunned down by Elvis Schmidt (played by Shawn Hatosy).

Along the way the film adds neat touches to the story, such as pinpointing the number of witnesses that see Zack during the moment he was kidnapped, to the parties, right up to his last moments. Other touches added are the date/time of locations from the day he disappeared to places where he was scene and to pivotal moments such as Truelove making the phone call to find out how much time he could be looking at for kidnapping.

The film was shot on a small budget compared to most studio films around Hollywood, so you may notice the use of green screen being used (especially in one of the final scenes of which Zack is eventually killed).

Accuracy

As often with films that are based on true stories, there is some parts of it that may appear fabricated on screen compared to the original tale of events themselves.

‘Cassavettes (the Director) has in his hands a terrific true story, that of Jesse James Hollywood, a man so ridiculously named he could only be a drug dealer (the name was changed to Johnny Truelove after the real Hollywood was brought to face trial).’        (Ref 3)

So, as the quote says, the names have changed the main story that it is based on is the same. Here are a few pictures below of some of the films major characters and who they are in the real life story:

Some of the stuff that would happen in the film would normally be done in different setting to that of the true story, such as when Truelove makes the phone call to talk to his lawyer about the sentence for kidnapping, Jesse James Hollywood actually had a meeting with his lawyer and discussed it, before storming out after finding out the sentence (Ref 4). Also at the time of the making of the film, the Markowitz family were initially against the making of the film, as the husband figured that it would be a ‘Hollywood glamorisation’ of Jesse James Hollywood’s story rather than his son, but the mother of Nicholas watched the film and was moved by Anton Yelchin’s performance (Ref 5).

Conclusion

The film itself suits the drama that it sets aswell as having some great moments of cinematography, though when it comes to the story it feels patchy in parts.

‘Hirsch’s uninteresting performance and the fact Truelove spends most of his time outside the action, means he is a largely inert journey to watch.’ (Ref 6)

The film tries not to glamorise the life of crime, but show how young Mazursky was suckered in by that lifestyle whilst kidnapped which eventually led to his death.

The film is well edited, including the adding of the witness numbers and location, dates and times to add meaning into the story.

Scream

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Introduction

My second film of choice is on the classic horror film scream. I am now going to write about how Scream set itself apart from the rest of the horror genre.

Premise

Scream is centres around following Sidney Prescott, who is now being targeted by a serial killer in a quiet Californian neighbourhood after one of her classmates is murdered.

The film was released in 1997 and created by horror maestro Wes Craven (responsible for A Night On Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes).

Scream is easily part of the horror genre but, unlike most horror films it plays itself almost in a satire way. It plays on the codes and conventions of a horror film but also makes fun of the majority of the horror films that have come before (making many references to Halloween, Nightmare On Elm Street and Psycho), making the film the last fresh horror film in recent cinema, as too many of the horror films in the last decade have been easily labelled in a sub-genre of horror as torture porn (specifically the Hostel films and the Saw series of films). This film also highlights the do’s and don’ts in a horror film in order to survive (e.g. never say ‘I’ll be right back’ when going to check a strange noise) which tends to enlighten the viewer to the point that when the scares come it will still shock and scare them, even though they know that it’s coming.

The film’s ended up have three more after it, following its success and created an icon of the Ghostface outfit to be placed amongst the rest of the legendary figures of the horror genre.

Conclusion

Scream is not your typical code & convention horror film of having the scream queen chased throughout the majority of the film, or subsequently have some characters killed off for no reason, there is a purpose behind each killing and even though you should know who the killer is early on, it does really well to divert your attention to a different character each time to make you sure that you suspect that anyone of them could be Ghostface.

Friday Night Lights

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Introduction

The first TV show that I have selected is Friday Night Lights. Now I am going to discuss in further detail how Friday Night Lights is vastly superior to its cinematic counterpart and how it’s one of the best TV shows that only a few people have watched.

Premise

Whereas it’s 2004 film counterpart was based on the true story of the Texas High School football team The Permian High Panthers, the TV show (first began in 2006) is set around the small town of Dillon, Texas with the viewer’s following The Dillon Panthers, but most importantly, the Taylor family.

Conclusion

The TV version of Friday Night Lights is vastly superior to its cinematic counterpart in every way, from the fact it’s not based on a true story so it can create its own history/legacy with these new and flawed characters and also the cinematography is one of the best to see on TV. The show was created by Peter Berg (who acted in films such as Copland and The Last Seduction), who also directed the film version and brought the same style of camera shooting (which was handheld).

The show lasted for five seasons overall and has seen plenty of cast members come and go in that time. What the show handled brilliantly was that it was not your average teen drama like The OC and 90210, these weren’t spoilt rich kids or the extremely smart and read too much into every conversation (Dawson’s Creek).

As I already stated about the cinematography, it captures the beauty of the countryside in Texas, especially when it has shots of the sun setting to the point where that someone would argue that it’s too beautiful.

The characters themselves are as flawed as they come, Matt Sacaren (played by Zach Gilford) has the toughest life in the show as anything bad that has to happen to a particular character in the show, is him, as he looks after his ill grandmother as his father is out fighting in Iraq (which leads to one of the shows best episodes in Season 4 called ‘The Son’ where Matt has to bury his father, who he’s grown to hate over the years as he feels like he abandoned him to go to war).

The show is shot superbly well as when it comes to the football games, it makes you feel like you’re there in on the action, especially since the show is shot handheld.

Battlestar Galactica

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Premise

After losing the war against the Cylon robots, the Battlestar Galactica crew speed toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth. Galactica Commander Adama and President Laura Roslin face waning supplies, crushed morale, and the credible threat Cylons aboard the ship.

Most remakes or reimagines don’t happen to catch the viewer’s eye, but when Battlestar Galactica was released back in 2004, not only did it surpass the original in its imagination and superior budget; it became the most essential viewing at the time.

This show was as dark as they come as it asked a few questions that stuck with it to its last episode:

Will the human race be wiped out by the Cylons?

Will they find Earth?

Not only did the human race try to find a way to try and survive, but they also had to deal with their own prejudices towards one another and become paranoid with the fact that the Cylons could now look like humans and they become to suspect each other.

This show was heavily covered in religious content with the humans and the Cylons arguing over who was really the true God (this show was definitely heavily influenced on the events after 9/11) and also covered several subject matters such as torture during war, suicide, suicide bombers, munity, survival of the fittest and hope.

Conclusion

The difference this show had over other sci-fi shows was that it was not about the sci-fi at all, it just happened that these characters were in space yet it’s about the development of the characters that were follow and sometimes root for. The show itself is also shot in a handheld style and has several different paces of editing as some of the conversations will focus back and forth between two characters and when it comes to the action sequences there is a lot of fast paced editing and sometimes some shaky cam techniques used during the space fight sequences.

Production

The film project I have titled is called ‘The Bunker’. The Bunker is set in a nuclear bunker where we focus on one character and we follow his daily routine within his compound and see that he tries to make several calls to the outside world through his radio, before he eventually gets a response. The problem is he is also talking to himself so can he really trust the voice that he is talking to?

I always had this idea of filming around a set of a nuclear bunker for some time but wanted to make it more physiological rather than the original silent film idea. The idea of having the character to talk to himself in the shape of what he looked like before the nuclear bomb went off is an idea taken from several films that have done it before, such as Moon most recently, The Island and even the TV show Angel.

The idea is as simple as it gets as it’s all taking place in the one setting, so the story being told is important to connect with the audiences attention, but also the key element will be the directing the mood correctly to make a significant impact or else the drama will come across as amateurish or complacent.

I had a few other ideas but it was mainly ‘The Bunker’ project that I was focused on doing. I will pen the script myself and have two versions of the same character i.e the main character, one who is currently living in the bunker and the other version being his self conscience who appears as his pre-nuclear attack self. There will be three other characters, one that appears in flashbacks, one that appears through a video device and a dream sequence and the final character appears as a voice communicating with our protagonist through a radio.

The audience target range is from 15 – 40, possibly the 15 will be moved to 18 depending on how much bad language will be used for this drama production. The obvious genre that this drama project will be is drama as there’s no tricks or special effects, it’s all about the story and the characters journey of dealing with the guilt of his self conscious.

The Team

Before I could get started officially on production, I had to do the casting for the characters. In the middle of March, I spent a week looking for specific actors for the roles and finally found the ones that were right for the parts.

Cast

Eamonn Rafferty as

Adam Pinkman & Self-Conscience

Adam Pinkman is the protagonist of The Bunker and we follow through his story throughout the entire duration of the film. The nuclear bunker character is to be really scruffy and have a big beard due to the fact he’s been living in a bunker without any toiletries for the past two years and his self conscience is himself talking to him like his former self before the nuclear blast occurred.

Not only am I doing the script and directing it, I decided to do the main character role aswell as let my hair and facial hair grow over the months for the part.

Jilly St John as

Lana

Lana is the love interest that the protagonist keeps clinging to as a sign of hope in order to keep his sanity in place during his time in the nuclear bunker as he hopes to see her on the outside and has a video device to keep a way of interacting with Lana to himself, even if it already happened before. She also appears in a dream sequence once Adam finally begins to self-destruct.

Eaman Craig as

Max Quinn

Max Quinn is the person on the radio that our protagonist speaks with over the radio and discovers that Max is alot closer to him than he expected. His self conscience keeps warning him not to trust him and tell him anything about himself as he considers Max a threat. Why is Adam’s self conscience so convinced that Max is a threat?

Dee Kivlehan as

Harry

Harry is a friend of the protagonist that we see during the flashback scenes. We find out how he was there for Adam when Lana had left and what happened to them on the day of the nuclear bomb going off.

With the casting completed, it was time to get a crew together for production in order to help out with the set design, camera and lighting.

Crew

Set Design:

Eamonn Rafferty

John Rafferty

Martina Rafferty

Celine Rafferty

Lee Fleck

Lights:

Eamonn Rafferty

Lee Fleck

Camera:

Eamonn Rafferty

With the script, cast and crew finally sorted, it was time to get done with planning out a schedule for when to get the cast and crew together and give the actors preparation for their scenes before filming.

Before filming begins, it’s time to get the overall budget constraints sorted for the project.

Considering that 90% of the drama production will be set in the location of my garage, it was essential to get certain props and equipment sorted to make the feel look right for the bunker set.

Luckily, I already owned the majority of these props and all I had to buy mainly was the bottles of water, tin cans of food and the green fabric, but here’s an overall estimation of what the budget would consist of with the props to be used in the production.

The Bunker Set Props:

£9 for bottles of water (3×6 packs)

£10 for tin cans of food

£30 for tins of paint

£60 on oil drums

£250 for generator

£30 for second hand mattress

£34 for green fabric to use for green screen

£40 for second hand Radio equipment

£25 for walkie talkies (using one to attach with Radio)

Overall cost for the Bunker Set props = £488

Technical equipment costs

This is the weekly charges for uses of equipment to rent and luckily this was to be a 3 day maximum shoot and the other days spent editing, so here are the costs for the use of technical equipment:

Camera – £150

Tripod – £35

Computer Editing FCP6.2 – £50

DSR Player – £20

DV Tape – £25 (5 tapes overall)

Cable – £4

Lights – £30

Overall technical equipment costs = £314

So the overall budget for this drama production would be in the total of just over £800.

Shooting

In terms of the shot sequences that I was creating, they were mostly close up shots of myself as Adam and the Self-Conscience as I wanted to have them both have a conversation with each other and, just incase the editing process of having the both of them on screen didn’t work, just include both of them having a conversation instead through close ups.

An example would be that Self-Conscience would ask a question to Adam, then cut to Adam respond, cut back to Self-Conscience being negative about Adam’s response and it bounces back and forth between the two of them like that in the sequence.

I wanted to use these close up shots of Adam specifically in long shots to convey the facial expressions as a lot of the drama production relies on the body language to carry the story of a man, who could be the last man on earth for all he knows, beginning to lose his mind.

I also wanted to experiment with a few shots, like using a trolley for one sequence, where his Self-Conscience begins to unravel the truth to Adam about his past and walks around him in a circle telling him this so the mid-shot of Self-Conscience would involve the trolley to follow him in a circular motion, whilst Adam will also be in circular motion in a mid-shot but he will be focusing on following Self-Conscience’s movements, standing on the spot.

Sound

For this production, I tried to collect loads of sounds for turning on the generator, changing the frequencies on the radio for when Adam is searching for anything to suggest any sign of life out there. Other sounds collected were of the lights flickering on and off whenever the generator would be turned on and of various noises of bottles of water and tinned cans falling off the shelf.

Some of the sounds, mainly the sound of the light flickering on/off were unusable as you can barely hear the flicker, even though the Marantz was held as close as possible to the light.

Problems

One of the main problems I had was getting the crew together whenever they were free to help out with the set design, so I got some help from family members in getting the props aswell as help create the set of the bunker in getting the essential items (mattress, desk and generator), which in turn led to a few of the actors (Jilly and Eaman) quit the production as they were too busy with other commitments and couldn’t film the days that were originally agreed on as the set was not ready.

As Eaman was to be Max, which was a voiceover, I found a replacement almost immediately in Chris Patton and got all the sound clips of his performance as Max ready for post-production.

The role for Lana was more difficult to fill again as it involved a lot of filming during the day and a few costume changes, talking to the camera for and memorizing the lines for one shot takes. A few actresses agreed to doing the role without getting back to me after several attempts of contact by email and phone until finally one actress said she would do it as she had a good camera for she works at a video production company….in Armenia. As much as it would be a pain to get the footage from Armenia for this part of the film I was running out of time and running out of options so we agreed to it. Here is the new Lana, Anna Keren on the next page

Obviously Anna could not be used for the pivotal scene of the Adam and Lana dream sequence so I made the compromise of doing that scene of Lana talking to Adam through the radio instead and still get to keep the dialogue of the conversation in there between the two of them.

Later, after being informed that she could only film on certain dates, I realised it was after the deadline.

So running out of time I decided to proceed filming certain scenes and instead make a film trailer of the drama production instead. Again, I was not happy with this after the effort made in creating this story and getting the pieces together, the casting was the major issue (though to some it was my fault alone and others they just weren’t really respective in the seriousness of the process and taking any of my calls to confirm if they would be in the film or not, therefore stalling the process).

Editing

For the film trailer version of this production, I used two musical scores as the backdrop for it.

The music soundtrack used in the first half of the trailer was John Murphy ‘In the house, in a heartbeat’ (Ref 7) which was famously used in the Danny Boyle film ’28 Days Later’ and the second half of the film trailer I used Clint Mansell’s ‘Sacrifice’ (Ref 8) from the film ‘Moon’.

There is a lot of cut scenes in this trailer spot as it mainly uses myself as Adam and cuts to his self-conscience but the first minute is spent following Adam’s routine of wakening up, eating food from one of the tin cans and sending a message out on the radio. The voiceover parts of Max are used in black screen spots to add to the atmosphere of the trailer.

Evaluation

In this particular drama production, this is 100% my own work in terms of pre-production, production and post-production. I created the idea and the script from scratched and turned my garage into a set for filming aswell as let the facial hair grow for the role of Adam stuck in a nuclear bunker. Understandably I believe my teamwork skills will have to improve, or I need to have a better crew set together and organise a date and time for when everyone was free and to help get the set design sorted as early as possible so we could film. Maybe it’s a bit of both.

Therefore I don’t believe that the final product served its purpose as it originally went from a short film feature to a few minute film trailer and the feedback from the audience has been a promising idea but could be better executed.

There are plenty of amendments to be made with this production, the idea and script are fine it’s mainly getting the crew and cast together has been the main issue that has effectively damaged the final product.

I would also have filmed the flashback scenes first with Dee Kivlehan as ‘Harry’ first and then my scenes as Self-Conscience before eventually filming as Adam a few months later down the line, rather than do the filming process the other way about.

Bibliography

Img 1.1 – http://thecia.com.au/reviews/a/images/alpha-dog-poster-3.jpg (Alpha Dog Poster)

Img 1.2 –  http://assistantdirectors.com/art/movies/2006/alpha2.jpg Alpha Dog still of Emile Hirsch playing Johnny Truelove

Img 1.3 – http://media.amw.com/multimedia/fileRepository/db/472/206/hat_cte.jpg Picture of Jesse James Hollywood aged 20 years old

Img 1.4 – http://www.lahiguera.net/cinemania/actores/justin_timberlake/fotos/4234/justin_timberlake.jpg Picture of Justin Timberlake playing Frankie Ballenbacher in Alpha Dog

Img 1.5 – http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1194/119438/300_119438.jpg Jesse Rugge Mugshot

Img 1.6 –  http://www.zuguide.com/image/Anton-Yelchin-Alpha-Dog.7.jpg Anton Yelchin as Zack Masursky in Alpha Dog

Img 1.7 – http://mylifeofcrime.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/nicholas-markowitz.jpg Picture of the young Nicholas Markowitz

Img 1.8 – http://www.cinemablend.com/images/news_img/4272/_4272.jpg Ben Foster as Jake Masursky in Alpha Dog

Img 1.9 – http://i.cdn.turner.com/trutv/trutv.com/graphics/photos/notorious_murders/celebrity/jesse_james_hollywood/Benjamin-Markowitz200.jpg Benjamin Markowitz mugshot

Img 2.1 – Ghostface Still – http://jaymckinnon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/scream-ghostface1.jpg

Img 3.1 – Friday Night Lights Season 1 Cast – http://www.givememyremote.com/remote/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/friday-night-lights-header.jpg

Img 4.1 – Battlestar Galactica ‘The Last Supper’ poster –

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sJmpiYbaE9E/TVJiXP9UEUI/AAAAAAAABCI/ZRebGkY_lXQ/s1600/639px-Battlestar_Galactica_Last_Supper.jpg

Ref 1 – Quote from ‘From Iconography to Ideology’, by Barry Keith Grant, Published by Wallflower, page 1

Ref 2 – Quote from ‘Film, An Introduction (3^rd Edition)’, by William H Phillips, Published by Bedford/St Martins, page 195

Ref 3 – Quote from ‘The TV Genre Book (2^nd Edition)’, by Glen Creeber, published by Palgrave Macmillan, page 1

Ref 4 – http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=134886 – Quote from Empire Magazine Review on Alpha Dog

Ref 5 – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16636250/ns/dateline_nbc/ – NBC Article looking into the ‘Real Story’ Behind Alpha Dog aswell as interviewing the Markowitz’s family

Ref 6 – http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=134886 – Quote from Empire Magazine Review on Alpha Dog

Ref 7 – John Murphy’s ‘In the house, in a heartbeat’ – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2H8FWDvEA

Ref 8 – Clint Mansell’s ‘Sacrifice’ – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyh9H6ikiFg

DIRECTED BY: Nicholas Stoller

STARRING: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Colm Meaney, Elisabeth Moss and P Diddy

FAVE QUOTE: “When the world slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry wall” – Aldous Snow

FAVE MOMENT: The entire Jeffrey/furry wall scene is a slow burner then escalates into funny levels of ridiculous.

AWARDS: Teen Choice Award (Best Comedy)

SYNOPSIS 

English rock star Aldous Snow relapses into drugs and booze after a break up and a disastrous record. In L.A., Aaron Green works for a record company stuck in recession. Aaron’s boss gives him a career making task – to bring Aldous from London to L.A. for a concert in 72 hours. That day, Aaron’s girlfriend Daphne tells him she wants to finish her medical residency in Seattle. Aaron’s sure this ends their relationship. In London, things aren’t much better: Aldous delays their departure several times, plies Aaron with vices, and alternates between bad behavior and trenchant observations. Can Aaron moderate Aldous’s substance abuse and get him to the Greek? What about Daphne?

VERDICT

At number 461 is Get Him To The Greek.

Get Him To The Greek is a spin-off/sequel (take your pick)  film following Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) who was a character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Also he interacted with crazed fan Jonah Hill in Forgetting Sarah Marshall but here in Get Him To The Greek, Jonah Hill plays an entirely different character called Aaron Green. Not that difficult, both were in the same film but only in this one Jonah is a different character completely, okay? Got it? Good!

In Get Him To The Greek we open with the song of ‘African Child’ brought to us by Aldous Snow and his band/artist name Infant Sorrow, which leads to it being labelled as the worst record of all time and his girlfriend Jackie Q (played by Rose Byrne) gets bored of Snow and his sobriety and leaves him, which leads to him going off the wagon.

We’re then introduced to Aaron Green (Jonah Hill), who is a worker at a record label, who pitches the idea of having a 10th anniversary of Aldous Snow’s Greek Theatre concert. So the premise of the film is set that Aaron must travel to London and get the “most self destructive man in rock’n'roll” to LA to play at the greek. Where Forgetting Sarah Marshall was all about the heart of the characters, this film goes 120mph in the other direction as Aaron loses grip on attempting to control a loose cannon such as Aldous Snow and sets up a few scenes on mimicking the celebrity lifestyle of sex drugs and rock’n'roll.

It would be no secret say that I’m not Russell Brand’s biggest fan but I have primarily grown to him as a result of his performance in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and it’s nice to see the character get his own film and has some great acting comedy chops, but there will be plenty that feel that Aldous Snow does so much ridiculous shit in this film that you can’t empathise with him or feel any love for him other than consider him to be a total prick, but the film then goes into the relationship/respectful bond phase in the final third of the film. Jonah Hill is solid as the foil and opposite to Brand’s craziness, really is such a likeable guy and does unleash moments of great comedy whenever he’s pissed, stoned and violated and times his growing frustrations with Snow perfectly.

But this film also has a secret weapon that actually provides the funniest moments in the film and it feels a bit weird to say it – Sean Combs (Puff Daddy, P Diddy) as record label owner Sergio Roma. Not normally known for his comedy acting, he’s great as the essentric Sergio who goes through this film through pan faced threats (‘That’s a mindfuck’) and can easily turn from these threats to absolute psychotic (‘You can’t outrun me, I’m black!) in the Jeffrey scene, which the film gets its biggest laugh as it slow burns of them sitting around smoking the Jeffrey to levels of ridiculousness.

So if you’re a fan of the Brand or the Apatow bandwagon in general then this comedy should be up your street. The soundtrack ain’t to bad either.

Here’s the trailer below

DIRECTED BY: Robert Rodriguez

STARRING: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Naveen Andrews, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Stacey Ferguson and Bruce Willis

FAVE QUOTE: “I’ve seen me a lot of weird shit in my day, but I ain’t never seen a one-legged stripper. I seen me a stripper with one breast. And I seen me a stripper with twelve toes. I’ve even seen me a stripper with no brains at all, but I ain’t never seen a one-legged stripper. And I’ve been to Morocco.” – The Rapist (Played by Quentin Tarantino)

FAVE MOMENT: The reveal that Bruce Willis’ character Lt Muldoon killed Osama Bin Laden.

AWARDS: None

SYNOPSIS

After an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released at a remote U.S. military base in Texas, those exposed to the gas turn into flesh-eating, mutating zombies out to kill. An assortment of various people who include stripper Cherry, her shady mechanic ex-boyfriend Wray, a strong-willed doctor, the local sheriff, and an assortment of various people must join forces to survive the night as the so-called “sickos” threaten to take over the whole town and the world.

VERDICT

At number 236 is Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror.

Planet Terror consists of a few storylines between characters (the Block’s family and Cherry/Wray) rolling into one as a result of a biochemical incident causing folk to go on a zombie like killing spree and infecting everyone they can.

Part of the Grindhouse project he had going with Quentin Tarantino and his involvement with it (Planet Terror was paired with Tarantino’s Death Proof but due to the low box office returns, they were released as separate films across Europe Box Office’s), Planet Terror is a true nod to the 80′s zombie splatter films. Whereas Tarantino’s Death Proof had the dialogue and looked neat and crisp, Planet Terror focused more on looking like an actual B-Movie with it’s scratching and aging signs (also the missing reel scene where Wray and Cherry are having a sex scene where the frame burns out and then dramatically cuts to the Bone Shack on fire and all the survivors have somehow gathered in it) and giving blood…and lots of blood.

While it has a B Movie look, the film has a stellar cast including having Bruce Willis in it as Lt Muldoon whose’s methods are explained to the Wray, Abby and the audience towards the end of the film (and having a stab at Bin Laden in the process during this standout scene) aswell as Josh Brolin as the crazy softly spoken Doc Block who ends up trying to kill his wife (whose also a doctor at the same hospital) Dakota aswell as cameos from Quentino Tarantino himself and oddly enough Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas (She doesn’t last long, whether or not that she gets killed excites you then hey, whatever floats your boat) but the few standouts are in the two main leads (Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez) and it’s three supporting roles (Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn and Naveen Andrews).

Rose McGowan’s protrayal of Cherry Darling has reached cult status (hell, the imagine of her with a machine gun for a leg is iconic at this point) starting in the film as a retired Go-Go Dancer, to a wannabe stand up comedian (which is a running in-joke throughout the film) to a kick ass heroine and is her standout role to date on her CV. Freddy Rodriguez does really well in the male lead as the mysterious yet dangerous with a weapon and a deadly aim (‘I never miss’ he states) and handles himself well on screen remaining serious throughout, evening whilst driving a mini bike alongside the survivors on the road, driving over all the infected in their path. Biehn and Fahey are good aswell as the two brothers, one a local sherriff, the other runs the Bone Shack and tries to create the perfect BBQ sauce and they bicker over it and finally Naveen Andrews (aka Sayid from LOST) standouts mainly due to his strange fetish of taking testicles and collecting them.

If you love your 80s zombie films or even just mindlesss story, grossed out action then this be the film for you to watch. Here’s the trailer for the film below: