The Crows are circling

Wolfhall seems an awful long time ago to me. I saw it when it aired in the UK at the beginning of the year. Therefore the run up to the Emmys provided the perfect excuse for a re-watch and I continue our countdown to the Emmys by looking specifically at the episode for which Damian has been nominated (Wolf Hall, episode five, ‘Crows’) in the best supporting actor for ‘TV Movie or Limited series’ category.

source: BBC
source: BBC

The first question to ask is why episode five? Damian’s performances across the five episodes he is in – he only appears briefly at the end of episode one – are all very solid and any one of them could easily be the one up for nomination.

Some people complained that episode one was too slow paced, but if you had the patience to stay with it you get the reward. Think of Wolfhall as a pot slowly simmering to a boil. Episode five is when Wolfhall begins to come to the boil in readiness for a finale in episode six which will sear itself into our minds. Episode five simmers and crackles. It begins to reach the point of boiling over…and that isn’t the pot lid threatening to blow off that is the King with steam coming out of his ears! Continue reading “The Crows are circling”

Wolf Hall Redux

As a ramp up to Emmy night this Sunday, September 20, I wanted to take a look back at the six  episodes of masterpiece television that was Wolf Hall. The series is nominated for a whopping 8 awards, and I plan to be watching and rooting for the entire crew to take home at least a few of those statues.  Allow me to cover a bit of the highlights of each episode and you be the judge.

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Emmys Coming Up Sunday: Best of Luck to Damian Lewis & Wolf Hall *UPDATED*

source: getty images
source: getty images

We’re almost there, ladies and gentlemen! Prime Time Emmy Awards Ceremony is coming up on September 20, 2015, 5:00pm PST, at Microsoft Theater L.A. and will be aired LIVE coast-to-coast on Fox!

Oh, yes, we have some high stakes this year — I imagine we will have some adrenaline rush as we root for our favorite actor to take home the Emmy! And, of course, before the awards ceremony, we will enjoy the glamorous red carpet! What will our glorious couple be wearing this year? 🙂

damianlewisawardscollage

Anyhow… What do you think will happen at the Emmys? Here’s, for what it’s worth, the LATEST predictions as well as my two cents about the Emmys along with my three wishes that I just hope will come true at the ceremony 🙂

Continue reading “Emmys Coming Up Sunday: Best of Luck to Damian Lewis & Wolf Hall *UPDATED*”

Band of Brothers before and after 9/11

onecollageFourteen years ago today, September 9, 2001, a documentary-like mini-series tribute to D-Day and to WWII, Band of Brothers, aired its two first episodes. Two days later that same year the world turned upside down. It was very difficult for any entertainment to be very entertaining in the days after September 11, 2001. If there were people who looked at ratings, advertising revenue, critical reviews and other such metrics to gauge the success of a series, chances are that they, like the rest of us, were distracted by other headlines. On this anniversary, I wanted to examine how Band of Brothers was perceived by critics, before and after September 11, 2001.

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A Horse by any other Name …

damian lewis charles doughty wylie queen of the desert nicole kidman gertrude bell
source: QueenFilmFan and koenigin-der-wueste.de

In light of upcoming international releases for Queen of the Desert, allow me to take you on a visual trip into some screenshots from German clips and “fotos” released from the official German site for the film. No word yet on when we can see this large-scale saga on our screens in the U.S. Reviews abroad, so far, have been mixed, some going so far as to say that with such a conventional romantic epic, Herzog has stepped perilously far from the avant-garde aesthetic which has defined his work to date. Needless to say, one of the preeminent directors of our time certainly took a chance with this enterprise. But, what’s the value of achieving preeminence if not to be given a license to take chances every now and then? One thing is certain from the trailers and clips we’ve seen: the actors involved in this project have given it their all. I’ll, of course, focus here on Damian’s work in this film, picking apart the few glimpses we’ve seen so far.

Continue reading “A Horse by any other Name …”