Category Archives: PaleyFest

Crime, Dark Comedy, Drama, PaleyFest, TV

My “Last Call” with the cast of “Justified” ~ Paley Center Event

04/10/2015 Peggy Marie 10 Comments

Note: Series final for Justified is Tuesday, April 14th, 2015

Being this was my #1 in my review of “Top 10 Shows I am watching right now” with Justified being my numero uno to watch, saying goodbye to it and everyone on it was heartbreaking yet so fun..as they say, parting is such sweet sorrow. So to bid it one last adieu tonight as The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills hosted “An Evening with FX channel’s Justified”. Featuring some of it’s top cast members: Timothy Olyphant “Raylan Givens”, Joelle Carter “Ava Crowder”, Erica Tazel “Rachel Brooks”, Jacob Pitts “Tim Gutterson” and the shows creator, Graham Yost who all came to say farewell.

To start off with, with some fun tidbits from the press line interviews:

Jacob Pitts..When I asked him about Tim and Rachel, you know everyone loves them – what are the chances of a spin-off for The Tim & Rachel show?
His answer being he doesn’t think there is much of a chance..though he would not be opposed to it..but said “that’s a small ship in big seas.”
I made the 2nd question a fun one of “Who is the prankster on the set?” and with no hesitation whatsoever, Tim! He’s gotten the writers a few times with what he thinks should be in a scene..and Jacob helped him on some of those capers (lots of laughter) though “we are grown adults who have a professional job to do and we do it coldly and with precision”.. (more laughter)

Joelle Carter.. when I asked what’s next for her, she put it out there that she would love to do another character as strong as Ava..while having a few juicy movie roles come her way also. Which is something I think we all would love to see also. As for rolling around in the dirt and getting battle scars from filming, yeah, when it came to the end of the series, she was glad that part of it was done.

Graham Yost.. As I was going to pitch him the Rachel/Tim spinoff idea as he’s the creator riiigght.. Jacob came running up behind him and wanted to pitch it himself, we had a few good laughs as I called him out on totally trying to poach and pitch my idea..heyyy.. 🙂 it was all in good fun as while Graham likes it too, sadly..it’s not gonna happen.

Timothy Olyphant.. I asked him what’s next for Timothy Olyphant and as he’s noted on various shows like Ellen & Conan..he’s looking for a job!! And yep..he is. We talked tennis for a moment as I’ve sat by him at Indian Wells for a match watching his good friend Mardy Fish play, and asked if maybe the pro-tennis circuit was on his radar. Fear not all, he’s sticking with acting. And on him being the prankster of the set.. naaahhh..we agreed he’s an angel and they have no idea what they are talking about. ha!
Sadly I didn’t get the chance to interview Erica Tazel as press line was being wrapped up and I had to choose between that or running in and getting a seat at the panel.

Moving along to the panel – you can tell how much this cast not only enjoyed working with each other and on this show, but the respect they have for each other, and most definitely Elmore Leonard, who passed away in 2013 during the 4th season of the show, acknowledging how much they missed working with him. There is no doubt the man had a way with words, but this cast delivered those words like no other. He definitely made an impact on all the cast who worked with him and that they wanted to carry on his legacy in the right way was made apparent.

The fantastic guest stars that they had over the years who made fantastic characters, some of the favourites names by the cast: Margo Martindale “Mags Bennett”, Jere Burns “Winn Duffy”, Ron Eldard “Colton Rhodes” and Sam Elliott “Avery Markham” to name a few. They loved all their guest stars and for those of you wondering..while not a villain.. Patton Oswalt aka CONSTABLE BOB LIVES!!

Jacob puts it out there that he would have been fine with Boyd Crowder killing off his character Tim, though hey..he just might as we won’t know until next week!
They all seemed to agree that on favourite scenes, the #1 by far was the animal in the bag with Dickie and Coover. And the shows willingness to always just ‘go for it’ and ‘swing for the fences’ is something Olyphant notes that he just loved.
One of Joelle’s best scenes was of course probably one of ours also, where Ava gets her hair cut in prison. Now little did we know at the time, that was actually her real hair stylist who she kept saying she was sorry she was hurting her but she’d never cut hair with a shiv before!!!

While we got no spoilers for the finale..though trust me, some people tried, but hey, we REALLY don’t want it spoiled do we!! I for one, want to see it unfold as it happens because there are so many ways it can go and I’m excited for it, but we did get a note that the finale will have a lot of flashbacks from the past as Graham Yost appreciates that the fans pay close attention to these facts. Also, we do find out ‘What matters to us’ as Raylan has said to Boyd.

Now right smack in the middle of all this, Jacob Pitts announces he’s gotta use the restroom and to the ensuing laughter that comes with that announcement, Graham Yost asks to “please leave his mike on for this”. Stellar moment of laughs with this stellar cast.

And yes, they all took some souvenir’s from the set: Graham Yost – a “Welcome to Harlan County” sign which received a big collective “ahhhh” from the audience as I think we ALL want one of those. Erica Tazel – took her nameplate. Joelle Carter – took her parking spot nameplate. Timothy Olyphant – took something he had made during early during the shooting of the show, didn’t name what it was tho..maybe his awesome hat..we don’t know..but he pretty much readily admitted he took stuff all along..ha! Jacob Pitts – I think he said socks.. yep..socks.

Favourite violent scene – hands down the arm-chop and the Winnebago fight won!!

As I’ve noted before in panels like this, some of the best questions and funniest moments are when the audience gets to ask questions as you NEVER know what will happen.
First off Timothy being asked on his being possibly being type cast in Western type series i.e., Deadwood and now Justified, though not exactly a western..kinda the genre is what the point was being made..his response was priceless “you mean being cast as a badass, yeah that would be awful wouldn’t it” in other words, nope not worried.
Then asked about his similarity of looks to Garrett Dillahunt (Ty Walker) not worried at all..he’s a great actor and had a beard after all.

And yes, Walton Goggins teeth are that white in real life!! says Joelle..she’s seen them up close..

The character of Boyd Crowder was actually supposed to die in Season 1 but the chemistry between Raylan & Boyd was undeniable so they decided to keep him around for awhile.. and here we are at the series finale and he’s still standing..as of now.

I think the fact that they noted they were all brought to tears on set at the end of filming says a lot of how much they noted they will all miss working with one another.

And with that we say goodbye to the wonderful cast and creator of Justified. Thank you for an amazing six seasons and for entertaining us so well through it all. To everyone from cast, guest stars, writers, producers and crew, a heartfelt–Thank You!

And that concludes my fantastic last ‘date’ with the cast of “JUSTIFIED” Hope you all have enjoyed the show as much as I have and be sure to tune in for the series finale, Tuesday, April 14th.

@pegsatthemovies
peggyatthemovies.com

Drama, Dramady, PaleyFest, TV

‘THE GOOD WIFE” ~ Paleyfest Panel (2015)

03/11/2015 Peggy Marie Leave a comment

Paleyfest Panel “The Good Wife” ~ Saturday, March 7, 2015

Paleyfest’s second panel of the festival brought us another highly-regarded fan favourite with the cast & creators of “The Good Wife” moderated by the quite funny James Corden, who noted that this was going to be his first time hosting any guests…as we know he is soon to take over the slot of the ‘Late Late Show” here and if this is any indication of what it will be like, the future of that show looks good!

What makes this show even more extraordinary than others as it’s such a well-written, well-executed show, that it’s on gasp! Network TV.. yes, I know, a rarity nowadays, as it seems most of the good stuff these days is on cable. This show literally goes where no man has gone before… 🙂 and does 22 episodes a year, exploring the life of these strong women characters on its 6th season of doing so no less whereas cable shows tend to do 10 – 13 eps. max. per season.

We were treated not only to a sneak peak of an entire episode (aired March 8th) but to the three main characters of this fantastic show — basically the law firm of Florrick, Agos & Lockhart was represented here with the three leads, Julianna Marguilles, Matt Czuchry & Christine Baranski along with the two creators of the show, real-life husband & wife team, Robert King & Michelle King.

To get the ball rolling here we learned some about what brought Julianna to the show as she noted “I started ER when I was 26 years old and I did that show for six great years, and it was an awesome, incredible journey for me, growing up, in a way, in this industry.” It also allowed her, when offer came her way to star in the show, to request a shift in where the show was to be filmed to New York City, her home base.

Margulies also promised that the outcome of Alicia’s election campaign is imminent. “It’s going to run its course for the next few episodes” and “You will see it resolve itself by the end of the season, for sure.” So where will her character of Alicia Florrick stand at the end.. “well when she goes back to her group – she’s a different person, so now they’re treating her differently. It’s great in that it shakes up the norm and it allows us to venture out just to come back in, in a way that keeps the characters fresh and alive.” So does this mean Alicia wins the election?? Executive producer Robert King warns that, even in victory, Alicia may be profoundly changed by the experience.

In the meantime, everyone from the cast and creators to the fans, are preparing for the departure of key cast member Archie Punjabi, who is exiting her role as private investigator “Kalinda Sharma” at the end of this season – but unlike the shocking no-one-saw-it-coming death and exit (and I mean NO ONE) of the beloved character “Will Gardner” (Josh Charles) don’t expect Kalinda’s end to be a fatal one. As noted:

“She can’t go out Will Gardner-style because everyone knows that she’s leaving,” said Robert King “Will Gardner-style was that no one knew, so that could be a shock. Since everybody expects, it’s a whole different beast.” Whew!! well at least we know that much. Matt Czuchry aka Cary, who has been intertwined with Kalinda, romantically and otherwise for some time on the show now, says he’s been bracing himself for their final scenes together.

When asked to Baranski what her romantic life might hold on the show this season, she reminded us all that she is married to “Kurt McVeigh” (Gary Cole) so that’s her romance still. As for guest stars and spin-offs..they have had and will continue to have a slew of fantastic guest stars always upping the ante. Carrie Preston’s character of “Elsbeth” was noted that it could be a possibly fun character spin-off, but nothing confirmed. I was hoping they would touch on the character of “Finn Polmar” (Matthew Goode) who seemed for a moment there to almost be a replacement for Will Gardner, but nothing was said about him or his character..dammit!

Lastly, when asked what things they might have in common with their characters, Marguilles replied “neatness” and that her kitchen and home look like the one on the set in terms of that. Baranski replied “nice clothes” indicating they both like to look good and the show allows her to do just that. Czuchry replied “competitive” as he is on the show..he is also in real life.

All in all… a really fun, great panel to spend a Saturday night watching.

Action, PaleyFest, political, Spy Thriller, TV

“HOMELAND” ~ Paleyfest Panel (2015)

03/11/2015 Peggy Marie 3 Comments

Paleyfest Panel “Homeland” ~ Friday, March 6th, 2015

NOTE: This review does contain 3 teasers/spoilers for the new season of “Homeland” as given by producer Alex Gansa.

With an unusually heavy panel of Producers/Director/Writer (Alex Gansa, Chip Johannessen, Alex Carey, Leslie Linka Glatter, Patrick Harbinson, Meredith Stiehm, Composer:Sean Callery) and only 2 of the shows cast members, Claire Danes & Maury Sterling, showing up to the Dolby Theater last night for the opening of Paleyfest for the spectacular hit show “Homeland” I don’t know about you, but I am a HUGE fan and think it’s possibly one of the best shows to ever hit the small screen medium of TV.

Season 1 blew us all away..come Season 2 we didn’t know what hit us.. Season 3, while mixed, had us with an ending that made us all not sure where it was going to go next..but we really shouldn’t have worried as Season 4 took us to a whole new world with a whole new kick-ass leader in Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend).

They took us along the journey that has been Homeland and the process of making this show happen is truly grand.

Starting off with some insight into the “Dar Adal/Saul” (F.Murray Abraham/Mandy Patinkin) duo – his motive for making a deal with Haqqani was because he does not want the new director to be a political appointee i.e, another Lockheart. Dar wants someone who has spent a career in the CIA. We don’t know if Saul will accept Dar’s offer. Guess we will find out in Season 5. Gansa said something like this is what America does – our enemies often become our friends. It’s how business is done, even if its a hard pill to swallow.

Claire Danes on “Carrie” – she felt there aren’t a lot of controversial portralys of mothers on TV and was excited to start a different conversation on what that looks like. They discuss how they shot the controversial “drowning scene” from the insight of looking up at Carrie through the water.

Second controversy was Carrie/Ayan scenes – is she going to low in this form of recruiting? Meredith Stiehm was a defender of it all as she felt it was part of Carrie’s job and Ayan was not a “child.” She felt if it were a man seducing a younger woman no one would have as much as a reaction. Which is a good point and many tactics like this are used in that everyday world.

And the big Brody flashback – which I loved by the way. Done perfectly as the writers wanted to explore Carrie in such a state where she struggles with the idea of Brody but it was important for her emotional state. As we all know, Brody was supposed to be gone in Season 1..but was such a fan favourite they kept him on and needed a way to really close it up once & for all for Carrie also. So the hallucination scene gave her and the writers closure on this fantastic character who no matter what, we still miss. 🙂

The scene on the airport tarmac of the prisoner exchange was a difficult shoot. The day was a very hot one, Claire had been sick with a stomach flu. The first few takes of Saul/Carrie on the tarmac were not working. They needed something more..somewhere Mandy Patinkin just flipped a switch and was able to go to another place and it worked. That was the take we saw.

They discussed James Rebhorn beautifully. How they weren’t sure if they wanted to just continue as if his character, Carrie’s father “Frank” was still alive but just not there anymore. Finally decided they wanted to make his passing a tribute and part of the story so they did in the finale.

Regarding Quinn/Carrie relationship/romance seemed to be divided along ‘party’ lines 😉 with the men not really wanting it, and the women pushing for it. I’m truly in the middle on this one though leaning towards not a complete romance. Seems both Rupert & Claire were a bit ‘jumpy’ about it because the characters are both so similar in that they both repel and yet attract one another which is fun to play. The tension between the 2 characters was great.. now that they’ve kissed, it might be less so even though as we saw Quinn leaving to another mission in the finale to parts unknown and have no idea what happens. Maybe for me, a quickie kiss was enough because as we all know, 99.5% of the time, work relationships do not turn out well. And do you really want to see Carrie & Quinn ride off into the sunset together in a house with a white picket fence & 2.2 kids & a dog?? no.. no.. no… I want them out there kicking ass and taking names. Sorry..more fun.

Regarding the ‘villains’ of the show..For me, a show or film is truly only as good as it’s villains and sometimes that’s not understood correctly. Here, they noted trying to humanize them in some way as they did the scene with Haqqani & Saul having a ‘family’ dinner. What was his viewpoint. Of how they feel it’s “us” invading his country etc.. When the panel was asked about ISIS, Gansa replied that it is impossible at this point to try to humanize that group. So I think this is saying that ISIS will not be the “villains” of Season 5.

As always, the best questions come from the audience and anyone worth their salt in watching this show knows that Carrie’s ‘cry-face’ is the best thing to hit the small screen.. and possibly has the most GIFS made of it than anything else. When asked by an audience member what she’s thinking when she makes the ‘cry-face’ was possibly the best question of the evening and even Claire Danes herself loved it and had a good laugh. Noting that she’s done the face since “My So-Called Life” and that’s just how she looks when she cries.. but doesn’t have a true real thought process behind it, made it all the better. So yes, everyone, if you’re wondering, it’s her real-life ‘cry-face’ 🙂

Noting two of the main writers (Chip Johannessen & Alex Carey) are leaving, both of whom wrote some good episodes, didn’t state why, but it seems to be on a good note as they were there..ha!
The three teasers for Season 5 are: (drum roll please)
1. The show will pick up 2 1-2 years later
2. Season 5 will take place in Germany
3. Carrie is no longer a CIA operative (Claire Danes joked she will be making beer in Germany)

Nothing discussed if Rupert Friend aka “Quinn” would be back..but it gives me hope he will be as if it’s 2 1/2 years later, then he should be done with his mission..Right??!! 😀

Lastly, as an end note, Julie Chen was not a good moderator. I’ve seen some great moderators doing these panels, she was not one of them. She called Claire ‘Carrie’ almost every single time..and while trying to play it off, came off worse. If you can’t call your main guest and lead of the show their correct name, please step off the podium. Her questions were bland and while she tried to come off as a big fan, not sure she succeeded as it truly didn’t seem that way.

PaleyFest, TV

PaleyFest 2015 ~~ March 6 – 15, Los Angeles, CA

01/28/2015 Peggy Marie 3 Comments

For those who are interested ~ here are the panel listings for PaleyFest Los Angeles. DEFINITELY some great shows up this year! I was able to attend a few of the panels last year, and it is really a great time and well put on festival especially for us TV lovers.. I look forward to covering more this year, so stay tuned! For those of you across the pond 🙂 and everywhere in between, they also have a great live feed to follow to make you feel as though you are right there!
This years panels are as follows:

3/6: Opening: Homeland 7pm
3/7: A Salute to Comedy Central 12 pm
3/7: The Good Wife 8 pm
3/8: Girls 1 pm
3/8: Scandal 7 pm
3/11: Teen Wolf 7 pm
3/12: Outlander 7 pm
3/13: Glee Farewell 7 pm
3/14: Arrow & The Flash 4 pm
3/14: Modern Family 8 pm
3/15: Jane The Virgin 4 pm
3/15: Closing: AHS: Freak Show 8 pm

All times listed are PST. http://media.paleycenter.org/paleyfest-la-2015

Peggy at the Movies