Top 7 of ‘07 Best Shows (Prison Break - #5)
Prison Break got back to its roots in 2007, throwing Michael Scofield into prison once again and needing to break out. Breaking out of any prison once seems pretty unbelievable and twice is almost incomprehensible. Somehow, the show comes off in a way where we can imagine a guy like Scofield being able to pull off this feat twice.
Top 7 of ‘07 Sexiest Man (Wentworth Miller - #5)
I’m a really cautious person. I’m afraid of carnival rides, squirrels, and the dark. Yet, throw me a guy like Wentworth Miller and I might just throw that caution to the wind and go on the run with him. I don’t even know where to begin with Wentworth. It’s the eyes, the voice, the body, he’s got it all.
Top 7 of ‘07 Saddest Death (Dr. Sara Tancredi - #6)
I’m not sure that I was exactly sad for Sara that she died on Prison Break, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of her character in the first place. I was sadder for Michael, who has felt the weight of the lives lost so he could get himself and his brother free piling up on him. Michael’s first intention was good: free his brother, an innocent man on death row who was set up for a murder he didn’t commit. Instead, the path Michael took caused innocent people and not so innocent people to lose their lives.
I thought it was GREAT. A very good film. Aside from the camp fun teens vs. vamps classic the Lost Boys, I am NOT a big fan of the work of Schumacher. Nothing he has done prepared me for this. This is more like Near Dark. This is an intense, bloody, very fast paced and violent occult/vampire/action film set in the US rural midwest. The word vampire is never uttered in this film. The lead baddie is more of a monsterous ghoul. Not a sexy vampire/human, he is more like the ugly Nosferatu, but more deformed. And throw out everything you know about vampire lore - no garlic, no turning into a bat, no Christian cross. The plot concerns a Nazi effort to use the occult to gain eternal life. This movie is very fast paced. The first 9 minutes are in an enhanced black and white, set in 1936 as a Nazi historian visits a German-American family in rural America. This scene is great. When the movie jumps into modern day, it goes right into the revenge story and the action. I will leave out story and spoilers. The funny thing is, as i said, most of the 17-25 crowd did not seem to like this movie. I fear they way cut out some of the violence and gore to make it more apppealing to all the little Britney wannabes shopping at the mall. they need to realize that this movie will play to the 25-45 crowd who like serious horror films and intense action films. Acting was very good in the two lead roles, and the supports. There is a terrible part at the end that sets up a sequel, which should be cut. And the title Town Creek is utterly stupid - nothing to do with the film and sounds like a rural farm family drama. I suggest for a title "THE RUINS" or "THE BLOOD STONE" or "DARK RIVER" or "BLACK RIVER" Anything but Town Creek! Bottom line, great horror film. A horror/action film with balls and brains.
- akwilks2002, IMDB.com
Dominic Purcell has been doing some light promotion for the show in France this week. Last night he was in Paris on Marc Olivier Fogiel's television show. No big announcements during the interview were made, except for those of you who have a strong opinion about his hair style. The producers of Prison Break have decided to let him grow back his hair from January 2008 if he wants to.
I can't help but feel kinda sorry for Dom in the first video. Awkward perhaps?
* You see Lincoln getting in a car blindfolded.
* L.J. is still bound to a chair.
* Michael asking Gretchen if she killed Sara and then he says that he will come after her.
* Whistler saying “every man for himself” once they are outside.
* Bellick and T-Bag talking.
* Michael finally has a new shirt (black long sleeved).
* Someone with a gun and then you hear gunfire.
* There was a voice over where it said that he is fighting for his family (thats when it cuts to Lincoln and L.J.) and then the voice over says he is fighting for revenge (then cuts to Michael threatening Gretchen and a flashback of the mike and Sara kiss from Season 1).
Here is an older video but for some reason its only surfacing on the Internet now and as it isn't as if there is anything else much to post today so I thought I'd post this. Dom and Went try to speak French while introducing a Belgium television station. However, they aren't exactly pros at the language. Check it out.
As one Web site puts it, character actors are often known simply as "that guy," because their faces are more familiar than their names. Despite having appeared in more than three dozen projects, including his second season on the Fox drama Prison Break, William Fichtner still believes he's at "that guy" level.
And he's OK with that.
"That's a good place to be," Fichtner says. "Somebody asked me [this morning], 'When was your big break?' I don't think I ever had a big break. I don't think that's ever been my journey. I didn't do my first film till I was 36 years old -- not that I didn't want to; nobody would hire me."
Once he started getting small roles in movies such as 1994's Quiz Show, however, Fichtner began earning the right to be more choosy, and now he says he only pursues projects he's passionate about. He's passionate enough about his latest movie, The Amateurs, to spend his 51st birthday doing interviews promoting the film.
The Amateurs is the kind of movie that needs a boost -- a small indie comedy about a bunch of friends who band together to make a porn film as part of a get-rich-quick scheme. It says more about friendship than it does about sex, although there's plenty of sex talk in the film. The buddies are led by Andy Sargentee, a lovable loser played by Jeff Bridges. Fichtner plays Otis, a blue-collar Lothario who turns out to be more talk than action.
Fichtner says that Otis is his favorite role, and that The Amateurs is his favorite project ever. That's saying something, considering that he has appeared in such respected movies as Heat and Black Hawk Down, and that he had a juicy role as a sheriff with a dark side in the short-lived, cult-fave ABC series Invasion. Usually, when actors say stuff like this while they're promoting the movie in question, it sounds like PR-fed bull. But Fichtner comes off as sincere.
He says a lot of it has to do with how much the actors enjoyed working with one another -- the cast also includes such familiar faces as Joe Pantoliano and Ted Danson. The camaraderie began even before shooting started when Bridges invited cast and crew to spend time at the family beach house the weekend before production started.
"A lot of times when you start shooting a film, you have limited rehearsal and you show up for work, and you're [playing people] who are supposed to have been friends forever," Fichtner says. "[At the beach house], the guitars came out, and it was Kumbaya at 3 o'clock in the morning, and an awful lot of red wine. It was just great. And we rehearsed -- out in front of the beach house, somebody took a sneaker and kind of drew the lines in for the set. ... It was invaluable to spend that sort of time together."
Although the Internet Movie Database lists The Amateurs with a 2005 copyright date, Fichtner says it's been knocking around for about 3 1/2 years. The original distributor, he says, wanted to release it directly to DVD, but everyone who had bonded so well on the film fought for a theatrical release. The movie stayed locked up till First Look Pictures bought it and gave it a limited big-screen showing, which could expand if the movie does well in the few cities where it's playing.
It predates Fichtner's stint on Prison Break, the far-fetched but entertaining Dallas-filmed drama that's due to return to the Fox schedule in early 2008. On Prison Break, Fichtner plays Alexander Mahone, an obsessed, drug-addicted and at times murderous FBI agent. Mahone's pursuit of escaped-convict brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows lands him in a Panamanian prison with Scofield (that the brothers have different last names is only the start of the show's bizarre convolutions). Fichtner signed on at the beginning of the 2006 season and stuck around, making it the longest he has ever stayed with a TV project.
"I said to my wife the other day that doing a series is a close to having a regular job [that I'll ever get]," says Fichtner, who spends weekdays in Dallas and weekends home in L.A. when the series is in production. "I like changing gears and doing different things, and that's always been the most fun to me. It's very different when you do a series. It's a character that goes on and on."
Fichtner originally pressed for one season, but the writers gave Mahone enough layers to keep him interested enough to stick around for another year.
And even though that Panamanian prison is a set near downtown Dallas and the actors go home at the end of the day, working on Prison Break can have grueling challenges, especially in the North Texas summers.
"We got spared a lot of heat this year," Fichtner says. "Last summer, I think there were 60 days in a row of 100-degree heat. That was stunning. I would walk from my apartment to the downtown Y, and it was like a blow-dryer."
The Amateurs is playing at the Angelika Film Centers in Dallas and Plano.
Source: Star-Telegram
Source: TVGuide.comWe just finished shooting the last script written before the writers strike began. Now we are on vacation/hold/hiatus/looking for a gig while the writers and producers hopefully bang out a deal sooner rather than later. My instinct is that this strike could go on for a while — the stakes are high and the players are dug in. I'm just gonna save my dough and hopefully get a gig in the mean time. We'll see what the future brings. It's not time to worry yet.
The production is completely shut down here . Most of the cast in PB have given up their apartments here in Dallas and moved back to L.A. The over- 200 member crew of Prison Break is out of work, as well. Nice timing for the holidays huh? It's hard for everyone. We all want to continue working on PB but we can't just wait around hoping for the strike to end and turn down other work. I think everybody is in "hope for the best, prepare for the worst" mode, taking work if it comes our way and saving the greenbacks. Since our daughter is in school here, we're gonna stay put in Dallas until we resume production again.
But don't despair. There are still 5 new episodes of PB to air this season. In the USA they will begin airing the new episodes on January 14, 2008, and continue them into February. I'm not sure what the foreign airdates will be. There's some classic PB yet to come so hold onto your hats. I think this has been my favorite season so far — despite my wardrobe and the brutal prison Sona — with all the new complicated characters, the unimaginable deaths. I think it's been Prison Break at it's ruthless best.
As I promised I'm gonna answer some questions you asked in your comments:
Bijoux asks: "Have you been hearing anything about the spin off on the set or is this breaking news to you? Any thoughts?
Well actually we have been hearing rumors about a spin off called Prison Break: Cherry Hill about a women's prison. The Rumors going as far as whispering that they were looking for the lead female actor for the show! I don't know how true any of them are, but it sounds like a cool idea to me. What do you think?
ZZZ99 asks: "Why can't they make fake tattoos (like the ones for kids that you just press on) for Michael's tattoo. It would only take about 10 minutes versus hours! It just makes no sense to me that somebody couldn't come up with something like that in TV land! So much easier."
They do make fake tattoo; in fact that's what they use on Wentworth: industrial strength wet-and-lift tattoos a lot like the ones little kids love. These are made with better inks and are alcohol based so you apply them using alcohol and then lift them off. They use separate tattoo pieces for his arms, chest and back. After they are applied, a make up artist uses alcohol soluble make up to tweak the tattoo art. The whole process to apply then paint and tweak Went's tats takes 4 hours…so if he has to be ready to work at 7 am that means he's in the make up chair at 3 am to begin getting his tattoos applied. He's been a good sport every time…thank goodness for him the tattoos haven't been used much recently.
The SonaExpress asks: "Do you see
shows such as Prison Break as evidence that the gap between feature film and television is narrowing? We as viewers are getting shows that are increasingly more serialized with high production values and great acting, since tv is no longer a matter of having to tune in at a particular time or have to worry about missing episodes.
Thanks! I think you're right; the gap between TV and film is narrowing. It used to be that TV and Film were two different animals. In the past, the visual language of television and film, as well as the acting, directing, writing, and editing styles were very different. More and more film actors, writers and directors are doing TV shows now. Many feature film directors are becoming executive producers on TV shows, take Brett Ratner for instance. Stylistically, shows like Prison Break have film like forms in the serial nature of the story line and in the way the camera is used to tell the story…its not just a bunch of talking heads like a lot of TV…although PB is edited into close ups often.
The DVR/computer has changed the way people can watch television…we can watch what we want when we want and fast forward through the commercials. I think the present/future holds downloadable TV where we will be able to program our TV/computer to download whatever TV show or movie we want to watch onto our hard drive whenever we want…that's already the case here in the US. That's what the writers strike is all about…revenues from digital media. Soon for a fee, all TV and Film will be available in best quality digital form for immediate download…itunes is just the beginning…writers, actors, directors…we don't receive a penny for any of that.
S1mulat10n0ne asks: "Is it really you writing this blog, or do you have someone doing this for you?
Yep, its me that writes it! I enjoy doing it, thanks for reading.
TVGuide.com: Your character, Piper, was introduced at the beginning of this season. Was it tough joining a show that's already in its fifth year?
Guaty: Yeah, you always have your plusses and minuses, [but] this cast couldn't have made it easier for me. The first day, I was so incredibly sick that I don't think I could have been intimidated by anything but myself. I couldn't remember my lines, all I wanted to do was lie on the floor and have a blanket over me. I think we probably did that scene, like, 30 times.
TVGuide.com: To me, it felt like you fit right in. In your very first scene, you were already walking around the casino contending with Sam (Vanessa Marcil), who's such a force.
Guaty: I know! We have a lot of these things on the show called walk-and-talks. I was like, "Oh, walking and talking, so easy, right?" But it's like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time.
TVGuide.com: Do you guys ever actually shoot in Vegas?
Guaty: I believe they shot there [a bit], but J.L. [James Lesure, who plays Mike] was just telling a story the other day about one of the reasons they don't really shoot there anymore: He started off playing a valet on the show, and some drunk guy stumbled into one of the set's cars at 6 am and demanded the taxi to take him somewhere. And they were like, “Ugh, this is all fake; you're in the middle of a set!" So I think it became difficult for them to shoot in Vegas just because of the debauchery.
TVGuide.com: And the show lives up to its debaucherous name. Though its dramedy tone is so different from other shows you've done, like Prison Break and The Nine.
Guaty: I've always done a lot of dramas. And I remember during The Nine, there was one week where I worked, like, three 16-hour days in the bank and I was crying all the time. I was like, "Dear god, please let my next show be a comedy, I need to last!" [Laughs] I loved doing that show, but it takes a toll on you, especially just starting out as actress. Sometimes I would bring it home and my boyfriend would be like, "Geez, are you ever going to be in a good mood?" [Laughs] Now I'm feisty and I'm happy, and it's great. It's a lot of fun.
TVGuide.com: Do you think you'll ever go back to Prison Break?
Guaty: I got word that I might. I love the character, Maricruz; I love the relationship between her and Fernando. I would have loved to have done a little more on that show, but I wasn't really available at the time. So we'll see, if I'm not tied into another show.
TVGuide.com: If she comes back around, it would be interesting to see whether she's still pregnant or if she's got a baby already.
Guaty: I would love to have the baby and then try to get Fernando out of prison myself, like I'd become this commando girl who tries to get her lover out of prison and bring him home. Love is what's driving him, so she might totally do something like that for him.
TVGuide.com: It would be nice to get to know your Las Vegas character better, too, and maybe see a Piper-centric episode.
Guaty: Yeah, there are going to be a couple, both sad and funny. You're going to see a lot of Piper's heart, find out who her family is and find out why she is the way she is.
TVGuide.com: So far, we do know that Piper's boss, Cooper (Tom Selleck), stole her from the Palms hotel, but I heard that your character might have something to do with Cooper's hidden past.
Guaty: Yes, that's correct; we'll see that this season.
TVGuide.com: And what about getting you a love interest?
Guaty: I am getting one!
TVGuide.com: Good, because I couldn't take it if your romantic luck was as bad as Mike's.
Guaty: I think he gets one, too.
TVGuide.com: On the Halloween episode, it was so much fun to see that they had you in six different costumes, but I was surprised that one of your outfits was a giant booger on such a sexy show. What was up with that?
Guaty: Oh, it was so much fun. I love Halloween. But the big booger costume was so heavy. I had to slip into it and four or five people had to hold me up. It was actually called a blob at first, and I was like, "You know what? I just feel like this is a big booger." So they kept it. My first writing experience! And it worked, and most of the laughs came from the booger line.
TVGuide.com: Did you always want to be an actor?
Guaty: Always, always, always, as long as I can remember. But when it came time to go to college, my parents were like, "You're not going to college for acting, it's not happening." So I cried, and then I chose Boston University and I went there for advertising and found my way. Then at the graduation dinner, I gave my parents the degree and I said, "OK, guys, now I'm pursuing acting." They were just crying. But literally, I had a plan. I was like, "OK, I'll do what you want me to do and then the minute I'm done, I'll do what I want to do."
TVGuide.com: You were also a semifinalist on the WB's Popstars in 2001, trying out for the all-girl group Eden's Crush. So you're a singer, too?
Guaty: Ha, yes. Singing is always going to be a passion of mine, but I don't know about professionally. Then again, if there are any labels out there interested in testing me out, call me up!
Source: Dallas Morning NewsUntil now, the cast and crew of the Dallas-filmed Fox show Prison Break have escaped the Writers Guild of America strike because there were already several scripts in the hopper when the writers hit the picket line.
But the last pages of the last script are being filmed now. At the end of this week, Prison Break production will shut down, the stars will go home and the crew will look for other work.
That's makes their recent generosity to Children's Medical Center all the more touching.
Renee Brown, wife of Prison Break producer Garry Brown , is a cancer survivor. For the second year, she organized a toy drive for kids being treated for cancer at Children's Medical Center.
That explains how T-Bag, one of the baddest villains on broadcast television, ended up handing out gifts on Monday at Children's Medical.
Actor Robert Knepper plays Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell on Prison Break. On Monday, he joined Prison Break intern Melissa Brown, daughter of Renee and Garry, for a trip to the hospital, where they handed out toys from the cast and crew to the young cancer patients.
"Everybody on the show was very generous," says Renee. "There were five bicycles. Someone gave $500 for DVDs to be shown in the infusion room while kids are getting treatment."
Renee adds that there will probably be another Prison Break toy drop this month, and she's already tapped show star Amaury Nolasco to make the deliveries.
They’re responsible for penning some of the most outrageously contrived and credulity-stretching scenes ever witnessed on television. Now, in the greatest twist of them all, the Prison Break writers have downed their quills, joined the ongoing strike and forced the third season hiatus to be brought forward. So just eight episodes in, Cult Spy offers you an alternative rundown of this year’s action in Sona prison…
Most Endless Source of Morbid Fascination
Surely this has to go to Schofield’s sweat patch. Festooned upon his grey sweatshirt, the patch regularly fluctuates in size between scenes and has taken on a life of its own. Surely this soaking mass deserves its own agent and trade union? Perhaps it should join the writers and take strike action, given the lack of recognition it currently receives. Besides, if Lechero can smuggle phones and hookers into prison, can’t he manage one can of anti-perspirant deodorant for his new buddy?
Best New Character
Susan, without a shadow of a doubt. Possessing the power to make a man's testes retract in fear, she’s a straight-talking mercenary who is not afraid to go through with her threats. She beheaded Sara Tancredi and was about to do the same to LJ before the young chump’s father called. Her back story is intriguing too, with flashbacks harking back to her time as a captive subjected to brutal rape and torture. It will be interesting to find out the true nature of her dealings with Whistler.
Best Moment
There’s a temptation here to give it to the moment Sara Tancredi’s head was discovered in a box. No, not because of the sheer dramatic impact of the moment, of which there was very little - particularly if you’ve seen a film called Se7en. Instead, it was because it finally drew a line under the character after the increasingly frustrating attempts to show us she was alive - using body doubles and stand ins. Sarah Wayne Callies wasn’t going to reprise the role, so the sooner Schofield’s love interest was dispatched the better, because she was dead wood.
However, the ending to episode six was such a jubilant moment when Schofield, learning of his loved one’s death, grabbed the crow’s foot and challenged Whistler to a fight to the death. A sudden twist and reversal of our expectations, it worked a treat - even though we knew there would be some contrived way out of it.
Worst Moment
Sofia pulling the gun on Lincoln Burrows on the beach. The twist had been so clearly signposted due to various shots of Sofia looking very devious and calculating in the scenes leading up to it. This killed any dramatic impact. Then, before you can scream “bring back John Abruzzi', the pair were back on the same side again. What a pointless waste of time, just for a cheap thrill.
Most Redundant Plot Function
The character of Andrew Tyge entered Sona in the fifth episode, was given plenty of airtime and pointed out that he recognised Whistler under another guise. Then he was killed. Cheers for turning up dude. Bearing in mind that Whistler lived down a hole in the prison, communicated with his girlfriend via bird watching books and was wanted by The Company, we already had the impression that there might be more to him than meets the eye.
Most Underused Character
This is a three-way tie between Mahone, T-Bag and Brad Bellick. All three were so crucial to the enjoyment of the last season, with their own unique traits and pantomime villain status. But once ensconced within the walls of Sona, they all lost their potency and Prison Break failed to find any appealing supporting characters to rival them. Still, at least we could wallow in Bellick's perpetual suffering.
The ‘Please, No More!’ Award
We’ve had enough shots of Michael Schofield brooding and/or sulking. It might have worked over the first two seasons, but it has become too tiresome now and seems to constitute about 27.4% of each episode. It seems that Wentworth Miller has gone down the Joey Tribbiani route of ‘sniff the fart’ acting.
