Storied showrunner David Milch debuted his long-awaited follow-up to Deadwood last night. (Yes, that’s right, we’re doing him the courtesy of pretending John from Cincinnati never happened.) Although Luck won’t officially premiere until January 29th, HBO ran a sneak preview of the show’s first episode after Boardwalk Empire‘s season finale. And we wanted to like it. We could not, in fact, wait to get a peek at it. But, while we realize great shows can have shaky pilots, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t worried.
Luck takes place in the world of horse racing — a somewhat alien realm for those of us who ignore the Kentucky Derby and have never set foot in an OTB. This means that the distinguished trio behind the series — executive producers Milch and Michael Mann, plus producer/star Dustin Hoffman — needs to quickly find a way to make those of us with no interest in the sport care about the jockeys, managers, and gamblers who populate its world. So it’s confusing that they seem to have so purposely chosen to hold viewers at arm’s length. Read More »
Wedding films are largely like Hallmark cards transferred to celluloid – saccharine piffle based around an institution that’s been progressively losing its relevance for centuries. But still, despite the existence of innumerable dire films like The Wedding Planner and My Best Friend’s Wedding, not every film involving marriage should be consigned a priori to the celluoid scrapheap – occasionally one comes along that manages to be both non-sentimental and amusing. And so, in our sole concession to the ongoing media hypefest that is the Royal Wedding, here’s a selection of our favorite nuptial films – the ones that don’t suck like a brand new turbo-charged Dyson.
For those of us who love TV, this time of year is a dead zone. Your favorite series are either running reruns or not returning for months to come. But here’s some exciting news: 2011 is bringing in more exciting changes than we usually see — and we’re not just talking about the fact that American Idol is moving to a new night for the first time in a decade. From a handful of promising looking British imports to a new HBO series that’s being referred to as “The Sopranos with swords,” after the jump we’ve rounded up 10 of the most interesting new shows that we could find. Add anything that we’ve missed in the comments.
Movie-set photographer Bob Willoughby died last week at the age of 82 from cancer. While he shot images of everyone from Billie Holiday to Mia Farrow for the pages of Life and Look magazines, he picked Audrey Hepburn as his muse claiming she had a “smile that God designed to melt mortal men’s hearts.” According to his obit in the LA Times, Willoughby was the go-to photographer for Rat Pack, and inspired this bit of praise from director Sydney Pollack: “Sometimes a filmmaker gets a look at a single photograph taken on his own set and sees the ‘soul’ of his film right there. It’s rare, but it happens, and did so to me in 1969, the first time I looked at work Bob had done during the filming of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”
Back in 2003, Willoughby — who was also known as “a leprechaun with a Leica” — described his career to the Times of London as such: “I was there to make the women look as beautiful, the men as handsome and the movies as interesting as possible. Beyond that, I photographed what appealed and was exciting to me.”
1. Lady Gaga will play muse on Bravo’s new fashion competition show, Launch My Line, in an episode that will air on January 6. [via People]
2. Sex and the City 2‘s new teaser trailer includes a “New York State of Mind” soundtrack and the girls riding around the desert on camels. [via rPulse]
3. T.I. was released from prison early yesterday, and admitted to an Atlanta halfway house. [via XXL]
4. Ricky Gervais is working on a new animated series for HBO based on his popular podcasts. His buddies Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington (!) will be doing voices as well; the show debuts February 19. [via THR]
5. Kim Peek, the savant who inspired Dustin Hoffman‘s character in Rain Main, has died at 58. [via Slashfilm]
On Monday night, the New York Public Library held their largest event of the year — its annual Library Lions dinner —at the main branch on 42nd street. Candles lined dramatic marble staircases that were strewn with rose petals as socialites and celebrity guests made their entrances. We were there rubbing elbows with Bryant Gumbel (who looks a lot meeker in person) and Henry Kissinger (who looks surprisingly vital for an old war horse). The event honored three NYPL librarians alongside Mayor Bloomberg, Hilary Knight, and Annie Proulx.
