Netflix’s new original series Bloodline centers around an affluent family in the Florida Keys, well regarded in the community for the inn and charter tour business run by Robert (Sam Shepard) and Sally Rayburn (Sissy Spacek). Their business, and indeed world, is turned upside down with the arrival of family black sheep Danny (Ben Mendelsohn), …
Kim Dickens may be an unrecognizable name, but she is certainly a recognizable face. In the past several years, Dickens has had prominent roles in some of the most acclaimed television shows of all time, Sons of Anarchy, Treme, House of Cards, Lost, and Friday Night Lights just to name a few. In each of …
In the age of social media, “hot take” articles incite outrage and polar, ideological opinions on movies no one has seen, influencing the way moviegoers perceive films.
Although the Underwoods in all their conniving glory is one of the main appeals to House of Cards, season three presents a slow but forceful tear between Frank and Claire that drove the plot into new territory. With Frank resorting to old but now ineffectual methods of coercion by putting his foot down until he gets his way, he finds himself weakened under Claire’s unwavering high heel. Restless and tired of her husband’s ways and her seemingly permanent position at his side, she ends the season with an exciting and unexpected decision to leave him. In spite of the fact that Frank and Claire seem to be an unbreakable duo hellbent on complete power, there are several moments throughout the latter half of season three that seem to suggest Claire’s desires to surpass her husband’s position or at least break apart from the illusion that they are a single organism, such as in multiple scenes where she is sitting alone at the presidential desk.
After a whirlwind second season ending with Frank Underwood in office as the President of the United States and the fate of both Rachel Posner and Douglas Stamper unclear after the former’s attack of the latter, season three has a high-stakes tone to maintain. Fortunately, the first half of the season is very watchable, remaining appropriately dramatic without being transparent and avoiding the stumbling block many political dramas face of putting too much dependence on ridiculous standards of practice within the halls of power. With that being said, FEMA has tweeted about the new season, stating, “Hey, Frank Underwood: We’re not on board with claiming your own emergencies. #HouseofCards” in regards to the character’s twist on the Stafford Act. However some drama-for-the-sake-of-drama is to be expected and so far in season three, House of Cards has done a good job balancing drama with believability.
We’re mourning the loss this morning of David Carr, the culture writer and critic for The New York Times since 2002. Carr wrote about movies, television, celebrities, media, and popular culture as they intersected with politics and society, and as a favorite journalist of this writer, no one did it better. The New York Times …
Whilst the development of technology continues at such a rapid pace, the brightest and most talented innovators amongst us persist in creating new and exciting technologies for us all to enjoy and benefit from. And it’s the media industry that often benefits so greatly from these new devices and modernisms. For television and movie productions, …
House of Cards premiered last year to tremendous buzz, the highly-anticipated, prestige-soaked first original program from Netflix. Viewers embraced the series and no one was surprised to see it rack up nomination after nomination, both for the Golden Globes and Emmys. After the initial furor died down however, many critics were left cold by the show’s self-satisfaction and paint-by-numbers approach, the strong individual performances let down by predictable plotting and under-developed characterization. Fortunately season two of House of Cards, while still flawed, greatly improves on many of the first season’s biggest problem areas and this self-awareness bodes well for the already-commissioned season three.
Once upon a time, it may very well have been possible to see all of the great television that aired in North America in a calendar year. For most of us, that time is over. From the ever-growing list of networks supplying quality programming to the advent of digital content providers smuggling in new and …
Dedicated television viewers know that there will always be shows that everyone wants you to watch, either it’s a cult show, a show that ended way before it’s time, or seems to grab everyone’s attention but yours. However many viewers find themselves stumbling upon these shows either years later or late into a shows run. …
With the recent release of House of Cards and Hemlock Grove, Netflix has established serious interest in the original programming market. Amazon, another major player in online streaming services with Prime Instant Video, has made the first major step to follow suit. Late last week, 16 pilots were made available for free streaming on Amazon – 8 comedies and 6 children’s series.
House of Cards, Season 1 Premiered Friday, Feb. 1st on Netflix Only a few years removed from an acclaimed collaboration with Aaron Sorkin on The Social Network, David Fincher has dipped his toe into the realm of serial storytelling with the first Netflix original series, House of Cards. A cynic’s alternative to Sorkin’s monumental series The …
House of Cards, Season 1, Episodes 7-8: “Chapter 7”, “Chapter 8” Written by Kate Barnow (1.07) and Beau Willimon (1.07, 1.08) Directed by Charles McDougall Season 1, Episode 9: “Chapter 9” Written by Beau Willimon and Rick Cleveland Directed by James Foley Season 1, Episodes 10-11: “Chapter 10”, “Chapter 11” Written by Sarah Treem (1.10) …
House of Cards, Season 1, Episodes 1-2: “Chapter 1”, “Chapter 2” Written by Beau Willimon Directed by David Fincher Season 1, Episodes 3-4: “Chapter 3”, “Chapter 4” Written by Keith Huff (“Chapter 3”), Rick Cleveland (“Chapter 4”), and Beau Willimon (both) Directed by James Foley Season 1, Episode 5: “Chapter 5”, “Chapter 6” Written by …