ScottFeinberg.com

By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist

***

Promises, promises, promises.

Throughout the first season of Netflix’s political drama House of Cards, characters make promises without hesitation, from offering jobs to declaring sobriety to staying faithful. You’d think these people were the nicest to grace TV, but House of Cards isn’t about making promises — it’s about breaking them.

This is Washington D.C., after all, and no one gets ahead by playing nice.

Much like its characters, House of Cards came filled with promises, including that it would be a great series, establish Netflix as a major network and change how we watch TV.

However, unlike its players, House of Cards fulfilled expectations and could join the ranks of AMC’s Mad Men, AMC’s Breaking Bad and HBO’s The Sopranos as one of the best dramas in this golden age of television.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist

***

Now that 2012 is behind us, it’s time to look forward to what 2013 has to offer.

Specifically, what TV should we check out this year? When taking into account new and returning shows, there’s a lot to choose from — and it’s a little overwhelming.

After careful consideration, I’ve chosen 13 series, new and old, that I can’t wait to check out. Take a look below that the top 13 most anticipated TV series of 2013, and let me know what you think!

Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist

***

Sunday night was the season two premiere of Showtime’s Homeland, and among my 12 reasons why you should tune in to the political drama, one is because it’s a foreign remake that works.

In case you missed it, Homeland is an American adaptation of the 2010 Israeli series Hatufim (Prisoners of War). “Both shows are very similar in the fact that they raise very relevant and timely questions in their societies,” says Homeland executive producer Gideon Raff, who also created Prisoners of War. Prisoners of War is a drama that follows soldiers as they readjust to their society in addition to the people who question the truth of their service.

However, Homeland is not an exact copy of Prisoners of War. The Showtime series features the overhanging threat of terrorism after 9/11, personified in character Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis). This change in crafting Homeland has made the drama relevant to the American audience, making for a better and more significant series.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist

I’ve watched a lot of television shows this summer: The Vampire Diaries, How I Met Your Mother, and The Wonder Years, to name just a few.

What’s more, I didn’t even have access to a TV.

Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other online streaming outlets have changed the way we watch our favorite shows — and, now that they are diving into the world of original programming, are about to change it even more.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Sean O’Connell

Details on the DVD release of David Fincher’s “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” are starting to emerge, just as Rooney Mara prepares to represent the dark thriller at the Academy Awards.

Click to read more…

This week, the Simon Wiesenthal Center partnered with The Weinstein Company to host two screenings of The Artist at its Museum of Tolerance outposts in Los Angeles and New York. Both were to be followed by Q&As with the Oscar-nominated film’s producer, Thomas Langmann, who was ultimately unable to participate due to the death of a close family friend.

What does a movie about the movies have to do with Judaism, Nazi-hunting, or tolerance, you ask?

Nothing — at least directly. But, it turns out, Langmann and the film’s Oscar-nominated writer/director/editor Michel Hazanavicius are both children of Jewish parents who grew up in hiding during the Nazi occupation of France, which led them to share an “emotional connection,” Langmann has said. Their shared bond was instrumental in his decision to take a tremendous gamble by financing a black-and-white silent in the 21st century.

Click to read more…

On Friday evening, six actors were honored with Virtuoso Awards at Santa Barbara’s historic Arlington Theatre as part of 27th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Three will soon be heading to the Oscars and three will not be. From the former category were best actor nominee Demian Bichir (A Better Life), best actress nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and best supporting actress nominee Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), and from the latter category were Patton Oswalt (Young Adult), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and Shailene Woodley (The Descendants). All were in attendance except for McCarthy, who apparently came down with a case of laryngitis. The other five were separately and then collectively interviewed by moderator Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly.

Click to read more…

On Sunday night, Michel Hazanavicius‘ black-and-white silent film The Artist might well lose all three SAG Awards for which it has been nominated — best ensemble, best actor (Jean Dujardin), and best supporting actress (Berenice Bejo) — but that won’t matter as far as its best picture and best director Oscar hopes are concerned. Why? Because the film already all but locked up those two prizes on Saturday night when, at the 64th annual Directors Guild of America Awards, Hazanavicius won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film over the likes of Martin Scorsese (Hugo),Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), and David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

Click to read more…

As was inevitably going to be the case, this morning’s Oscar nominations announcement made a lot of talent, publicists, and studios very happy, but also baffled and disappointed just as many if not more. Here’s an in-depth, category-by-category look at the highest-profile “snubs”…

Click to read more…

By Sean O’Connell

It’s beginning to look a bit like a landslide. The Producers Guild of America is the latest group to reward Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” with its year-end Best Picture honors, paving the way for what could be Oscar domination next month.

Click to read more…