True Blood: Comic-Con Trailer.
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If you’re anything like me, at the end of Season 1/start of S2, you’d have been disappointed that the corpse inside Bellefleur’s car wasn’t Sookie bloody Stackhouse. The end.
I’m Penny B. Dreadful, and you’ve been shit.
No, I’m only kidding… today.
…Ok and now for the spoilerriffic disclaimer – if you haven’t started watching True Blood, haven’t seen all the way to the end of Season 1, or haven’t started Season 2 DO NOT READ ON! You’ve been warned…
Yes indeed, the stiffened, rigor mortis-fused corpse was that of Miss Jeanette; the con-artist, drug store employee who “exorcised” Tara and her Jesus-alco mum, Lettie Mae. Now, here’s my first gripe: Tara is shocked to the core at the discovery that the corpse was once Miss Jeanette and, for fear of her mother finding out and relapsing (Tara’s mum seems to have been earnestly cured of her psychotic alcoholism), is very reluctant to tell the police that she in fact knew Miss Jeanette. But all it takes is a few friendly words from her beady-eyed best friend and, contrary to the moments leading up, she goes with the police without a second thought. But, whatever. Maryann, that sultry brunette will make it all better for Tara…
Poor love; Lafayette the flamboyant, prostituting, drug-dealing, short-order cook has been kidnapped and held captive by the vampire-sheriff and Fangtasia owner, Eric Northman, in a dark, dank basement, with a few other humans; including one of the rednecks who was involved with burning three vamps in the previous season. Eric feeds off and kills the redneck, spraying his precious hair (which is covered in ‘foils’, in the middle of being dyed) and Lafayette with blood. Amusingly, Eric is concerned that his hair’s dye-job has been ruined; a nice touch considering that he’s a fairly unoriginal, if not boringly cliched, broody vampire that we’ve all seen done to death, in S01.
Sam hires a clumsy, new waitress named Daphne, who incidentally reminds me a bit of Sookie – I think there’s something in that – and understandably becomes skittish of Maryann’s presence, if his flashback is anything to go by… It’s revealed that Maryann is something Other (though I wouldn’t have a clue what), and poor Fido only finds and freaks out, during cherry-popping-coitus with her.
Now, I’ve had a feeling right from the start that Maryann’s a little, shall we say, dodgy? It seems that the good looking women in True Blood end up either being Something Preternatural, or killer-fodder. (Yeah, you read my mind… “if only Paquin was good looking, not psychic and not the protagonist”……. ) Clearly, Sam’s K9 instincts are bang on about this woman-thing, and clearly, she’s trouble for anyone who lets her in. Let’s just hope that Tara keeps that hard head of hers, screwed securely on her shoulders. Speaking of Tara, just briefly, I’m not sure what to make of the charming Eggs (person, not noun, don’t blame me). One thing’s certain though, the fact that he’s one of Maryann’s can only lead to complications for Tara.
Jason Stackhouse as you may recall from S01, went to jail and found God. Specifically, The Fellowship of the Sun, “God hates fangs” church found him. His naiveté and heartfelt desire to be with God set him in good stead with Steve and Sarah Newlin; the church’s sickeningly square leaders who in turn, invite Jason to join their leadership camp in Texas, where he will have an opportunity to really learn how to hate vamps in God’s name.
The Newlins are, as I said, sickeningly square – and their plot (if my writer’s hat is on correctly) can only go one way; verrrrry dark..
Vampire Bill and Sookie’s relationship becomes a little strained as Jessica, Bill’s vamprogeny (yeah, I made that word up) hits a kind of undead puberty, with angsty teenage tantrums and moods to boot. Add to this Sookie’s discovery that Bill was involved in her nasty, sexually abusive Uncle Bartlett’s death and you’ve almost got dramatic tension between Buffy and Angel!! – Er, I mean man-jaw and tin man. Oh don’t worry, they have some unnecessarily overexposed, gratuitous make-up sex (this vamp doesn’t lose his soul!!) and all is fine again in Sunnydale. I mean, Bon Temps…
This time I mean it; I’m Penny B. Dreadful, and you’ve been shit. Ciao.
![[True] Blood From A Stone?](http://www.dogmaticblog.com/images/tv/sookie.jpg)
Let me get started by saying this: I can’t stand Anna Paquin. Yep, her beady little eyes and her tomb-stone, gap-toothed mouth make my eyes water and my mouth purse as if I’m eating a very sour lemon and deliberately squeezing its juice into my eyes.
Looks aside, despite the fact that she won an Oscar as a little girl for that Piano film (which incidentally, I never watched), and most recently a Golden Globe for her Sookie (apt name – because she is a bloody ‘sook’*) Stackhouse; this kiwi ain’t got nothin’ that ‘does’ it for me, acting-wise.
*(For the international, non-Aussie readers, the word ‘sook’, according to wiktionary.org, means “A moaner, complainer, or person refusing to see the mirth in a joke made at their expense; A sulk or complaint; (Scottish) To suck”)
We all know she was only cast in the X-Men films because she’s got a hard little body that looks acceptable in a catsuit – and let’s face it, when looking at “talent” like her or Megan ‘club thumb’ Fox (actually, don’t even get me started on her), apparently that counts for everything, and excuses any lack of actual craft.
So. From day one, I (the only viewer of True Blood that counts in my world) had to work very, very hard to find one, ONE redeeming quality that would make me sympathise (or even gods forbid, side with) the True Blood protagonist, behind Paquin’s faux-innocent, infuriatingly coquettish, absent, wooden man-jawed face.
But I’m here to review True Blood Season 2, and they say that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, so I’m going to retreat back to my bat-cave and be quiet now…
-PBD
…some snippets that were revealed at this year’s Comic-Con.
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Season 2 started with a collective girly scream…
You may recall Season 1′s cliff-hanger finale with Detective Andy Bellefleur, Tara and Sookie’s grim discovery of a corpse on the back seat of Bellefleur’s car, parked out the back of Merlotte’s. Needless to say, the corpse was in quite a state…
In my opinion, the discovery of a corpse is always a good way to start a new season of a show. After the minute-long intro to Season 2, I was hooked all over again and couldn’t wait to sink my teeth (pun intended) into what was in store for us viewers.
True Blood Season 2 is four episodes down (Episode 5 to be screening tonight in the ‘States) and has already begun posing and answering questions, setting up some intriguing plot twists and hints of surprises, as well as introducing and solidifying its great characters. – All positive signs that we’re in for a good season.
So, grab a burbon (or a TruBlood as the case may be), take off your cowboy boots, sit back, relax and enjoy the show, as I present to you my episode-by-episode reviews of True Blood Season 2.
NOTE: I will try to warn you in advance about spoilers, however; if you like to dive into the unknown, I recommend you don’t follow my ramblings, as I will undoubtedly cover events and plot-points through each episode, that may be classified as ‘spoilers’.
-PBD
Apple: Capturing the essence of ‘True Blood’ on the Mac.
How do you market to a vampire? That’s the challenge interactive agency Digital Kitchen faced as they created a series of fang-in-cheek ads to promote HBO’s smash show True Blood.
Weighing in at 10 pounds, The Sopranos: The Complete Series includes a 56-page hand-assembled album enclosed in a sleek black linen box featuring all 86 episodes re-mastered on 28 discs as well as two bonus discs and two CD soundtracks, spread over three discs.
The album also includes 16-pages of editorial detailing the entire award-winning series.
The set is loaded with over 3 hours of never-before-seen bonus material including:
Supper with The Sopranos, two sit-down dinners with cast and crew full of insider trivia like what was the one condition Stevie Van Zandt made in order to play Silvio and what did Edie Falco as Carmella forget to wear during the final diner scene; as well as a separate, exclusive two-part interview of creator David Chase by actor Alec Baldwin (a huge fan who tried to get Chase to cast him in an episode) where Chase shares his personal views including his first impression of James Gandolfini during his audition and who was his inspiration for Lidia in the show.
Other extras include:
Paley Center for Media Seminar – discussion with David Chase and Terence Winter, featuring characters who were ‘whacked’ including Vincent Pastore, Steve Buscemi, Drea de Matteo, David Proval and Annabella Sciorra
- Extra Gravy – spoofs and parodies of The Sopranos
- Lost Scenes from all six seasons
- Original audio commentaries from cast and crew
- 2 CD soundtracks on three discs featuring a genre-bending collection of music including the show’s theme ‘Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix)’ by A3
- 16-page detailed Episode Guide
Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has been in talks in with HBO about making a two-season maxi-series out of “Year Zero,” the dark future tale that Reznor has chronicled in his music as well as in a celebrated Alternate Reality Game (ARG) with the same title that was created by 42 Entertainment.
“It’s the most exciting thing on the horizon, it’s the thing that when I wake up in the morning it makes me say, ‘God it would be cool if that happened,” Reznor told me this week while sitting backstage before a Nails concert in Toronto. “This is my grand ambition. Will it happen? I don’t know. It was fun sitting and telling [the HBO] guys and watching them shake their head and having writers on board and producers that are in to it. It’s been a fun thing.”
“Year Zero” began (as so many things do in the music of NIN) from a place of negative emotion and sonic experimentation. Reznor was increasingly outraged by the geopolitical situation during the Bush years and he wanted to channel that fury into music, but he was loath to drift into the limiting lexicon of protest lyrics.
“How could I express what I was feeling in a way that didn’t sound like bitching about George Bush? I mean, you know, I love Neil Young but I didn’t want to listen to that record, really,” he said, referring to the singer-songwriter’s “Living with War.” “My reaction to that kind of record is, ‘We know this. It’s obvious.’”
“So it started with me trying to write it as a piece of fiction. I was thinking, ‘It could be the worst idea ever in the world but, if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t have to come out.’ I started by writing a kind of world bible about what life would be like around 15 or 20 years from now if things continue on the same path. I spent a few weeks filling it in with the events that could lead to this kind of time and place. Then as an experiment I started writing songs about people in this place and from different points of view.”
The problem was the music was compelling and powerful, but it was more about sensation than story.
“I had a record that would make sense to me but no one else would ever know what it was because there was no narrative. It’s modular, its a collection of snapshots. These were glimpses of a place. Maybe with liner notes I could communicate some of it, but how do you get liner notes in 2007?”
He considered a graphic novel. “That was the route we were going to go with initially. We talked to a different companies about releasing it. But it didn’t feel quite right. We thought about a film, but that has a different timetable and too many people need to say yes. That wouldn’t line up right. then I started thinking about how I could make it really interactive, something you experience rather than something you read.”
Reznor remembered reading about 42 Entertainment and their deeply layered ARG for the Steven Spielberg film “A.I.” He met with them and the result was a truly amazing through-the-looking-glass creation on-line, shaped by the 42 team working closely with the rock star and his art director, Rob Sheridan. “It’s ahrd to explain it,” Reznor said, and he’s right. But the best way to get your head around it is through the nifty (and entertaining) case-study presentation that you can find here.
Reznor was delighted with the result. “It was probably the most fun thing I’ve done.” Now he wants to finish the story he started and do it across a range of media.
“I just pitched it to HBO two weeks ago in L.A. It went great. Ideally, we’re trying to get them to do a two-year limited series. I prefer that over a film. We would have a second ARG tying into the second album and ties into the series and they all happen together with a budget needed to pull that all off. There would be a tour down the road. The record completes the story, the ending that no one knows. I know what happens. I knew when I started it. And it’s not what people think.”
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HBO has released a poster for Alan Ball’s upcoming HBO series True Blood. In addition to creating Six Feet Under, Ball won an Adademy Award for America Beauty, and directed the upcoming film adaptation of Towelhead. True Blood is based on Charlaine Harris’ ‘Southern Vampire’ novel series.
The series follows the world of vampires set in small-town Louisiana. Apparently the vampires are able to co-exist with humans by drinking a Japanese-manufactured synthetic blood. The vampire sex scenes in the pilot are ‘Exorcist’-caliber disturbing. Hey! We’re so there!
The series is set to premiere on HBO starting September 7th 2008.
And do check out a higher-res version of the poster… after the jump…
Continue reading ‘HBO’s True Blood’
Start saving those pennies kiddies! Due Nov. 11, just in time for the holiday gift season, it weighs in at 10 pounds, with 86 episodes on 28 DVDs(!!!) Three CDs of soundtrack music. And two discs of bonus material, including 16 “lost” scenes, an interview of creator David Chase by Alec Baldwin, roundtable discussions with writers and stars and Sopranos spoofs from ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘Mad TV’. There’s also a panel discussion from the Paley Center for Media among “Whacked Sopranos” actors reflecting on their regrettable but necessary exits.
But it won’t come cheap: The suggested list price is $399.99US, $100 more than the complete ‘Sex and the City’.
“It’s really the biggest DVD gift set we have released to date, and that means both physically and metaphorically,” says Sofia Chang, the channel’s senior VP of DVD marketing. HBO is promising a huge marketing push for the release.
“We put a lot of work into it,” creator David Chase tells USA TODAY. He conducted interviews for the extras early this year, about seven months after the surprising (and anticlimactic) finale aired on HBO.
Chase discusses with Baldwin his childhood, his early career and the show’s history. And there’s much discussion about the controversial final episode, which ended abruptly, midscene, as the Soprano family enjoyed a quiet meal in a diner.
Scenes rescued from the editing-room floor include Tony kissing Dr. Melfi in her office; Big Pussy being interrogated after a drug arrest; and Meadow visiting her ailing grandmother, Livia, in the hospital, where Janice falsely claims Tony tried to kill Livia, instead of the other way around.
Chase says he was surprised when he looked back how few filmed scenes he had left. He says most were cut because they “in some way emotionally hold up the show or derail it” or were “overexplaining” things when viewers “have an instinctive sense of what’s going on.”
Now Sopranos fans can only dream of a movie, given the box-office success of Sex and Chase’s recently signed deal with Paramount Pictures, run by Sopranos producer Brad Grey.
“I’m not anxious to do one; I’m not looking to do one,” Chase says. Never mind that star James Gandolfini has said he has moved on from Tony. “What I really don’t want to give is the impression I’m being coy.” The finale “makes it problematic to continue the story; I’m not interested in going forward.” So any movie would go backward, set midway through the series’ run.
“If something great came along, we might consider doing it,” Chase says. “But we don’t have people in rooms trying to come up with ideas.”
