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Featured, Rogue

Review: Thandie Newton is the weak link in Rogue

Rogue

Rogue: If this were porn it would win a Woody!

Entertainment One and the UK’s Greenroom Entertainment have teamed up to bring us this little romp through Oakland’s seedy underbelly, shot in Vancouver in 2012. Rogue premieres April 3 on Movie Central/The Movie Network in Canada and DirecTV in the US.

Thandie Newton plays Grace, billed as “a morally and emotionally conflicted undercover detective who is tormented by the possibility that her own actions contributed to her son’s death.”

In pursuit of the murderer she turns her back on the police force and goes “rogue” by re-infiltrating Jimmy Laszlo’s crime family. Her home life begins to breakdown as she and Jimmy set their sites on flushing out the mole in his organization who, incidentally, could also be her son’s killer.

Unfortunately, Newton is the weakest link in an overall good series. Her character is complex and swings between despondency, abrasiveness and outright hostility in the space of a minute. The actress, however, is unconvincing and wooden at either end of the emotional spectrum, and the overall effect is confusion with a hint of high school drama class flair.

Though Newton is the headliner, it is supporting actor Marton Csokas who shines as Jimmy Laszlo, the multifaceted gangster/devoted father/romantic interest. His delivery is gritty and intense, especially in contrast with his co-star’s insipid performance. That, combined with the decent writing and supporting actors, makes this reviewer hopeful that Newton can pull it together in the next few episodes.

For those of you who need a more compelling reason to watch, I suspect Newton has signed on for X number of breast shots this season as they were gratuitous in the first 2 episodes alone. Not only do we get an artistic overhead shower view, but they throw in a porn-style shaky-cam zoom-in nipple shot for good measure. In fact I wish this were a porn, because then I could call her acting top notch.

The only thing we see more of than her breasts are her shoes. Seriously, what is with all the close ups of her shoes? There are at least 3 shoe shots per episode. Is this a metaphor for Grace’s journey, or is the fact that she prefers high-heeled wedges for dangerous undercover work important to the plot?

You can decide yourself because episode 1 is available free-of-charge on demand and at www.moviecentral.ca and www.themovienetwork.ca. The Rogue web series rolls out online beginning March 29 and the show debuts with a special two-hour TV event on Wednesday, April 3.

By Martha Marcin

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Featured, Seed

Review: Tom Green Brings His Own Brand of Comedy to Seed

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A new episode of Seed airs tonight. City’s ensemble comedy, still in its first season, offers a plethora of characters in each episode. This week it’s the more the merrier as Seed makes room for a little new blood, and an infusion of a different kind of funny. Monday’s episode “Bromosomes” features Tom Green as an guest star, adding to the already busy line up. Green plays Dr. Stuart Meinertzhagen, an experimental psychologist, bordering on snake oil salesman.

The episode follows Harry and Rose as they navigate Harry’s bout of Couvade’s syndrome, or sympathetic pregnancy. He becomes moody, nauseated, and turns Rose’s request for a little sympathy in to an all out competition for who is in worse shape.

As he battles Couvade’s, Harry also must put up with Jonathon’s sudden desire to spend time with him behind Janet’s back. When she finds out that Jonathon has been seeing both Harry and Dr. Meinhertzhagen she implements her own plan to get back at her husband. On top of all this Harry is a bystander as Zoey and Michelle navigate a new minefield in their relationship: coming to terms with the effects of their hot lesbian babysitter whom Harry has labeled “divorce bait”.

Halfway through the episode Harry is at the end of his rope and manages to corral all of the above into the office of Meinhertzhagen (Green), where the good doctor uses various methods to deal with the problems in each relationship. Or not deal with them?

Green enters the episode just as you’re beginning to question the function of all of the story lines. He brings just the right kind of comedy to the show: a sort of SNL-esque silliness with the maturity of a comedian who doesn’t doubt his style or ability. He captures the screen and distracts the viewer from the busy first half of the episode. In fact, I wish there’d been more of him.

While still a young show, Seed takes on the herculean task of telling multiple stories in each episode. Though this is nothing new, the difference is that Seed inserts Harry into every story line in some capacity, making it difficult for the viewer to decipher which story is supposed to come out on top. This episode particularly emphasizes this crisis as Harry seems to be everywhere, all the time.

What compounds the hectic nature of the story lines is that Harry’s motivation for his involvement with the donor recipients isn’t always clear. In this particular episode Harry was labeled Rose’s partner on several occasions, without objecting to the term, but in the next scene professed himself fully available to another woman. Though I’ve been keeping up with the show and understand the nature of Harry’s relationship with pregnant Rose (sort of) it seems that half hours have a responsibility to re-apply this knowledge from time to time to hang on to viewers who may stop in mid-season to test out the show.

While leads Adam Korson and Carrie-Lynn Neales have no problem delivering what the show needs, their talent often gets lost in the din of the large cast. The potential to refine the series into a focused and sharp comedy is what draws me back each episode. The gags are there, the talent is there, the concept is there but something is misfiring.

Green’s presence on Seed helped to focus the storylines and provide the kind of humor that will draw comedy fans back for more. The concern now will be, who will be the bandaid for the next episode?

 

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Bitten, Featured, Industry News

Bitten’s Daegan Fryklind on werewolves and the Toronto Screenwriting Conference

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Daegan Fryklind (Bitten, Motive, The Listener) is one of the speakers at the upcoming Toronto Screenwriting Conference on April 6 and 7. She shared her thoughts on the conference, forming a writers room, and life as a werewolf.

What do you want to convey at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference?

For the most part, that the talent in Canada is strong enough to make amazing homegrown shows. I’m proud to be sitting next to two great Canadian showrunners who developed their careers and series here. It’s possible, and something that is not out-of-reach for others like us.

What do you hope to get out of it?

We go to camera on Season I following the conference. I’m hoping to get out of my office, really, and talk about this show!! And I’m looking forward to catching up with Tassie and Kevin. And come on … Glen Mazzara? Beau Willimon? Two of my favorite series. Mad respect!

Have conferences like this played a role in your career development?

I started going to the VIFF conference when I was a development executive — keeping up-to-date on financing models and co-productions was an early education in how to start creating a show. There are those who say “just go for it!” in terms of what to write, but then you also have to have a practical sense of whether something is feasible production-wise. Also, it’s just so damn inspiring to hear how other writers do it — how they get up every day and put words to page. Their tales from the trenches. All good stuff!!

How did you get involved in Bitten? Had you read the books, or were they brought to you by producers, or …? What was the draw for you?

Origin story: Bitten…. about 3 years ago, John Barbisan and Patrick Banister of Hoodwink Entertainment brought the books to J.B. Sugar at No Equal Entertainment. They optioned the Elena Michaels portion of Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. I came on after that and developed the first novel into the first season and we landed with Space. It’s a series about a woman who is torn between two worlds. I’m a Vancouverite who mostly works in Toronto. Sold. (Also, I’m a werewolf. Write what you know!)

Is Bitten your first time showrunning? What’s the biggest challenge in that transition?

Bitten is my first time to the big plate, yes. But I’m incredibly fortunate to have Grant Rosenberg as my co-showrunner and a team of whizbang Executive Producers (No Equal, eOne, Hoodwink) and crew who are seasoned players and who know the ins and outs of production. The biggest challenge is the workload. Not the writing; the grocery shopping — my fridge has been virtually empty since I landed in Toronto on January 15. I wish my dog was a helper monkey some days. Most days.

What did you look for when forming your writing team?

It’s always a mix of personality and talent at the individual level, then mixing personalities and interests to get the right balance in the room. J.B., Grant and I had a development room in November with Denis McGrath and Karen Hill, which was incredibly productive and fun, and our current room is Wil Zmak and Will Pascoe. I’ve worked on the last 4 shows with Zmak so that was a no-brainer. Pascoe has fit in perfectly. And our coordinator Garfield Lindsay Miller was with us in November as well and is the go-to wellspring for fact-checking us on the deep mythology of the books. When you’re building a small room, it’s vital that everyone is a heavy lifter and drama-free … except when passionately arguing over story points.

What’s your theory for why Canada has done so well with genre shows?

We’re positioned in a sweet spot here between US and UK influences and I think that’s really helped shape genre in Canada. And Canadian writers are jacks of all trade — the majority of us have grown up writing both comedy and drama, so genre is the perfect place to play with that full deck. Our VFX houses are top notch as well, so our genre shows can hold their own on the international market. And the Canadian genre fans are outstanding! We announced Laura Vandervoort as our lead at Toronto Comicon and it was a blast. I can’t wait until we can start hitting more Comicons with the show and reach out to the fans.

Where does Bitten fit in that pack – what do you think is the heart of the story?

Bitten. Pack. Nice one. [Editor’s note: puns are my weakness.] We refer to ourselves as “The Pack” all the time. And the heart of the story is exactly that: what makes a Pack? How do you define who is in your own Pack, be it the family you’re born into, or the family you make for yourself. Who has your back? Who will help you bury a body (figurative/literal)? We’re playing with basic, primal stuff — family dynamics, a love triangle, good vs bad when morality is skewed, and some steamy sex scenes. Oh, yes, and there are WEREWOLVES. So basically, everything you’re looking for in one show.

Anything else you want to add?

Thanks to the TSC for putting this together!

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Bomb Girls, Featured

Bomb Girls’ showrunner Michael MacLennan on digging deeper

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From Cheryl Binning of Canadian Screenwriter:

Showrunner Michael MacLennan & Bomb Girls Writers Talk Taking Character-Driven Drama into Season Two
After a successful six episode run, Global doubled the order for a second season of its homegrown hit Bomb Girls, a historical drama about Toronto women working in a WWII munitions factory. With the characters and world solidly set, showrunner Michael MacLennan was given an opportunity to delve deeper into their stories. Read more.

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