TV Series of the Month – State of Play

This month’s TV series is State of Play (2003).

The six-part crime drama is about a London newspaper that investigates the murder of a local politician’s research assistant, uncovering a mystery that they never could have expected. Airing on the BBC, the miniseries is by writer Paul Abbott (who also created the British Shameless) and director David Yates (who directed the last five Harry Potter films). It has a brilliant cast (featuring a few actors who have since become well known in the States) with John Simm, Kelly Macdonald, Bill Nighy (Macdonald and Nighy also starred in Yates’s TV movie The Girl in the Café and each had a small role in one of the Deathly Hallow films), Philip Glenister, David Morrissey, James McAvoy, Amelia Bullmore, Benedict Wong, Marc Warren, Rebekah Staton, and Polly Walker. In 2009, Kevin Macdonald adapted the series into a Hollywood film (also called State of Play with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck) but it is nowhere near as good. The series really draws the viewer in as the mystery unravels, taking its time allowing for wonderful character development. The supporting players are great (lead by Nighy, Macdonald and McAvoy), but the leads (Simm and Morrissey) are phenomenal, driving the narrative forward (AMC’s The Killing reminds me a little of this series). State of Play is often considered the best British TV Drama of the last decade and is a must-see for fans of crime dramas. Check out the trailer.

Available on DVD

David Yates – Movies Spotlight – November 2010

David Yates is best known as the director of some of the best films in the Harry Potter series. But before he took over the Potter films, he had a very successful career directing hit series and films for British television. This month Yates has the first part of the final Potter film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which Yates claims will blow everyone away (and if the trailer is any indication, he is right).

Early Career:

Born in St Helens, England, Yates got his start in film as a teenager, fascinated with the film Jaws. He saw it over 35 times, studying the precise mechanics of its production. He took what he learned from his analysis of Jaws and began making short films with family and friends. After attending the University of Essex, he got his first job as a freelancer for Cre8 Studios. Using their facilities, Yates made his first short film When I Was a Girl, which was quite well received leading to him being accepted into the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield. There, he studied in the directing program. The short also garnered him a job at the BBC directing the shorts Oranges and Lemons, The Weaver’s Wife and Good Looks. He then went to ITV to work on the police series The Bill. Yates then decided to move into feature films in 1998, directing the independent film The Tichborne Claimant. The film was met with mediocre reviews.

British TV Series:

In 2000, Yates returned to British television directing three episodes of the very well received series The Sins. Next, he directed the miniseries The Way We Live Now, which was also met with rave reviews, winning Yates a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial with writer Andrew Davies and producer Nigel Stafford-Clark. He then took a quick break from TV to make the short Rank. He received a BAFTA nomination for Best Short Film. On a role, Yates directed the Paul Abbott scripted series State of Play. The series is on of the best of the last decade and was nominated for seven BAFTA awards, winning three. It served as a turning point in Yates’s career, rewarding him with higher profile projects. He also worked with Bill Nighy (check out my Underrated Actors piece on him) and Kelly Macdonald for the first time on the series; their talent in a future project would help Yates elevate his career to the greatest heights.

British TV Movies:

In 2003, Yates made his feature first film for British television, The Young Visiters, starring Jim Broadbent, Hugh Laurie and Lyndsey Marshal (Bill Nighy also has a role in the film). The film was generally regarded positively upon its release, but not nearly held in the high esteem of his next two films: Sex Traffic, the two part film, won eight (of nine nominations) BAFTA awards in 2005, while The Girl in the Café, starring Bill Nighy and Kelly Macdonald, won three Emmys and was nominated for two Golden Globes. The film also gave Yates his first exposure in America. The success of these films directly led to Yates being approached by Warner Bros.

Harry Potter and the Epic Franchise Films:

With the success of The Girl in the Café in America along with his string of hit on British television, Warner Bros. selected Yates to direct the fifth Harry Potter film – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – in 2005. To prepare for the film, he visited the set of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, observing director Mike Newell. He also had conversations with Alfonso Cuaron and J.K. Rowling. To make the film his, and to Warner Bros. credit for letting him do this, he brought in his good friends and crew from his days in TV: composer Nicholas Hooper and editor Mark Day. The film was a huge critical and commercial success. Many fans and critics appreciating Yates bring the film into a more adult and dark place, but still including comedy and wonder. Warner Bros. was pleased with Yates’s work and his vision for the remaining films and announced that he would be directing both the next two books (six and seven). For Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he brought former collaborator Jim Broadbent into the cast while hiring amazing cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel to shoot the film, a decision that ended up awarding the film with a best cinematography Oscar nod. The film was received with even more critical acclaim and commercial success than his first Potter film (as it the second most successful Potter film at the Box Office, as well as my favorite film from 2009).

Future Projects:

Along with this month’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Yates also has part two coming out next July and both feature frequent collaborator Bill Nighy in the cast. Scheduled for a 2012 release, he is attached to direct St. Nazaire, a war film about the British raid on Saint Nazaire in 1942. The project is set up at Warner Bros. through their deal with Heyday Films (the production company behind the Harry Potter films). Yates is also tentatively attached to the film adaptation of Lois Lowry’s The Giver.

David Yates Selected Career Highlights:

1.)    The Way We Live Now (2001) – director – available on DVD

2.)    State of Play (2004)* – director – available on DVD

3.)    The Young Visiters (2003) – director – available on DVD

4.)    Sex Traffic (2004) – director – available on DVD

5.)    The Girl in the Café (2005) – director – available on DVD

6.)    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)* – director – available on Blu-ray/DVD

7.)    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)* – director – available on Blu-ray/DVD

8.)  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)* – director – available on Blu-ray/DVD

9.)  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)* – director

*editor’s picks

David Yates’s filmography is also available on Netflix.com to rent and stream

Underrated Actors – Movies Spotlight – October 2010

There are a lot of fantastic actors and actress working today. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michelle Monaghan and Bill Nighy are among the best. Yet, even though we have seen them in a bunch of high profile films and providing fine performances, they still go without lots of recognition.

Chiwetel Ejiofor:

What You Know Him From:

Ejiofor got his start in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, and has since appeared in lots of small budget films like Spike Lee’s She Hate Me and Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda. But he is has also been in a few big films too like Inside Man, Children of Men (I highly recommend this film), American Gangster, and this summer’s Salt. He is very good in Talk to Me, Kinky Boots and Four Brothers. Just looking at his filmography, a number of excellent films pop out.

Favorite Roles:

He is great in pretty much everything he is in (I would go far as to say he is one of the best working actors today), but these three performances are my favorite. In Stephen Frears’s Dirty Pretty Things he plays Okwe, an illegal immigrant in London running away from his past in Africa who gets pulled into the underworld by his shady Hotel Manager boss. Ejiofor won me over from the first minutes of the film and I have been a huge fan ever since. Okwe is strong yet scared and reflective – it is quite a performance to watch (he co-stars in the film with Audrey Tautou who is also quite good). Next he co-starred in Joss Whedon’s Serenity (the feature follow-up to the fantastic Firefly). He plays an assassin, who completely believes in the ideals of the majority controlling party, and is out to capture the fugitives. He is seemingly without emotion but terrifying, and in a film with wonderful characters he is a standout. He is also completely astounding in David Mamet’s Redbelt, playing a master MMA fighter who fully believes and practices the teachings of his mentor. He is forced into making tough life decisions when a series of events puts all around him into turmoil. Again, Ejiofor is amazing; he plays the role with such conviction that there is never any doubt that he is this man.

What He’ll be in Next:

Coming late this year of sometime next, Ejiofor will co-star in Tonight at Noon, directed by Michael Almereyda and starring Ethan Hawk, Rutger Hauer and Lauren Ambrose, about a group of New Yokers whose lives are redefines by random encounters with one and other. In 2011 he can be seen in the British BBC Two series crime drama The Shadow Line, which also stars Christopher Eccleston. He also has two films in preproduction: The Suffering a horror film about a death row inmate who escapes the chair only to battle creatures who take over the prison (based on the video game) and Three Way Split a drama about three friends who travel to Croatia to find a mutual lost friend so they can all attend the German Grand Prix together.

Career Highlights:

1.) Dirty Pretty Things (2002) – lead – (DVD/Rent)*

2.) Serenity (2005) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)*

3.) Inside Man (2006) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

4.) Children of Men (2006) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)*

5.) Redbelt (2008) – lead – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

* Editor’s picks

Michelle Monaghan:

What You Know Her From:

Monaghan got her start on TV, notably on Boston Public. She also had small roles in a few well known films before getting her big break, including Winter Solstice, The Bourne Supremacy, Constantine, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. She had large important supporting roles in North Country and Gone Baby Gone, before getting leads in the romantic comedies The Heartbreak Kid and Made of Honor. She has also done some action films like Eagle Eye.

Favorite Roles:

Monaghan brings a lot of fun and spirit to her roles, having an infectious personality but she also has heart and an empathic quality to her work. My favorite of her roles include her breakout performance in Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. She plays Harmony, a Midwestern girl who comes out to Hollywood to be an actress only to be wrapped up in a murder mystery (co-starring Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer). She is brilliant in the film bringing life to her role and lighting up the screen. She is also great in J.J. Abrams’s Mission: Impossible III. In most action films, the girlfriend character does not have much to do and is just there to be there. This film is different. Monaghan is given action beats and she excels wonderfully. In Trucker (which she also executively produced), she has a chance to show what a good actress she is playing the challenging dramatic role of a truck driver whose 11-year-old son comes back into her life, having deserted him with his father ten years ago. The film has an extremely low budget, but Monaghan’s performance carries the film garnering her some awards consideration.

What She’ll be in Next:

She has two highly anticipated films coming out this year – next month’s Due Date, directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillips and starring Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, about a man that must travel cross-country to get to the birth of his child and Sophia Coppola’s new film Somewhere (scheduled for a December release) about a washed-up has-been actor who reconnects with his daughter. In 2011 she stars in another sci-fi film from director Duncan Jones entitled Source Code about a solider who wakes up in the body of another person. She also will star in Machine Gun Preacher about Sam Childers, a drug-dealer who reformed and found God and is now a crusader for Sudanese children who have been forced to become soldiers.

Career Highlights:

1.) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)*

2.) Mission: Impossible III (2006) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)*

3.) Gone Baby Gone (2007) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

4.) Trucker (2008) – lead – (DVD/Rent)

*Editor’s picks

Bill Nighy:

What You Know Him From:

Nighy has been in tons of British films and series, but is best known to American audiences for his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films (Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End). He plays the vampire elder Viktor in Underworld and its sequels, has small, but awesomely comedic, roles in the Edgar Wright comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and a bit parts in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Pirate Radio. He has done more serious work too in films such as Enduring Love, The Girl in the Café, The Constant Gardner Valkyrie, and Notes on a Scandal, and is just as amazing in both comedic and dramatic roles. Finally, he has also lent his talent to kids’ films like G-Force, Astro Boy and Flushed Away.

Favorite Roles:

Nighy is a quirky actor who brings a strong persona to his work and really goes for it. My favorite of his performances starts with his work on the BBC series from David Yates (who also directed him in The Girl in the Café and next month’s Harry Potter film) State of Play. He co-stars as Cameron Foster (played by Helen Mirren in the American remake), editor of the newspaper that runs with the story involving murder and corruption within Britain’s political system. Nighy plays the role as powerful, but with flare and a touch of comradely. In Richard Curtis’s Love Actually, a film full of great actors, Nighy steals the show. The film serves (along with Underworld) as his breakthrough in America. He is completely out there and theatrical yet genuine – a star-making performance, in very limited screen time. In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, we could not see it was Nighy, but we knew it was him right off due to his use of mannerisms and his usual flash, which allowed him to command the screen and bring a fully animated character to life practically abducting the film (a film mind you that also features Johnny Depp’s Oscar nominated Captain Jack Sparrow character). Anytime I see Nighy’s name attached to a film, I become giddy with anticipation for what fantastic character he will portray next.

What He’ll be in Next:

Nighy has two British films that may get theatrical releases in the States, but certainly should find their way on DVD: Glorious 39, a mysterious tale about a British family on the eve of WWII, and Wild Target, about a hitman (Nighy) who cannot kill his last mark, instead deciding to protect her (co-stars Rupert Grint and Emily Blunt, looks to be silly but fun). To finish up 2010, he is in an episode of Doctor Who and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (and he is in 2011’s Part 2). Also in 2011, he has a part in the comedy Chalet Girl, a snowboarding comedy/drama, and the animated film Rango from Gore Verbinski, followed in 2012 by The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel about a retirement home in Bangalore, India co-starring Judy Dench, Tom Wilkinson (who is another wonderful underrated actor), Julie Christie, and Maggie Smith.

Career Highlights:

1.) State of Play (2003) – supporting – (DVD/Rent)*

2.) Love Actually (2003) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

3.) Underworld (2003) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

4.) Shaun of the Dead (2004) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

5.) The Constant Gardener (2005) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)

6.) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – supporting – (Blu-ray/DVD/Rent)*

7.) Notes on a Scandal (2006) – supporting – (DVD/Rent)

*Editor’s picks