Weekend monster update

Tons of updates today. Let's start with Bear McCreary.

GameMusic.net posted an interview they did with him in April. It's mostly about the SOCOM 4 score, but Caprica and BSG also get a mention, as well as the other shows he is/was scoring. Here is a snippet:

Matt: To switch a bit, in addition to video games, you scored three television series over the past season: Eureka, The Walking Dead, and The Cape. How were you able to fit in composing and recording for so many projects?
Bear McCreary: I don't sleep a lot (laughs). The schedules are tough, but thankfully, of the three shows that you cited, two of them are on cable and cable has a very different schedule than network television. Generally I'm able to weave my way through the schedules and I usually don't have to work on more than one show at any given time. Still, I don't really get a lot of time to sleep when I have three shows to do.

Matt: I can imagine. About those shows... The Cape, Caprica, and Trauma were prematurely cancelled despite having a considerable fanbase. Was this disappointing for you or partly expected, given the highly competitive nature of primetime broadcasting?
Bear McCreary: Of course. It's always disappointing when something you work on — and really invest yourself emotionally in — does not continue. At the same time, in all three of those shows, I was able to explore what I wanted to explore.
Looking at The Cape as a perfect example, of course I'm disappointed that there wasn't another season where I could write big, epic superhero music and record it with an 80-piece orchestra every week. But in looking at that from the other side, from the artistic perspective, I was able to record a full season of a superhero show with an 80-piece orchestra every week! So I'm very proud of the work I've done on those series and it is good to know that it will live on in other media for people to discover as the years go on.
In the case of The Cape and Caprica, I am in the process of working on a soundtrack album release for both of those so that fans can hear all the things that I put in the score that sometimes get lost in the final edit.

The Hollywood Reporter had an article last week about directors who might get nominated for an Emmy this year (the nominations will be announced on July 14). Among other people, they talked to Eric Stoltz and John Dahl. The relevant bits:

John Dahl
Justified (FX)
Episode: "For Blood or Money"
"This was an episode written by Wendy Calhoun, who happens to be black, who told me, "I've never been able to tell a real African-American story with this many characters." [Showrunner] Graham Yost really gave her permission to go ahead. He really wanted a more emotional story fit into the pile of season scripts this year. I think one of the first scenes I shot with [star] Timothy Olyphant in this episode is where [guest star] Larenz Tate comes by the school, and then Tim pulls the gun out on him. As soon as you see Tim in that wardrobe with a pistol in his hand, you're like, "Oh, that's right, we're making Justified!" and it's so awesome. He looks so good. And you just go, "Man, that is a TV show right there." There was another scene I loved, kind of a nothing scene in a way, where Tim goes in to talk to this real estate guy. He said to me: "The scene's just kinda flat; there's nothing going on. It needs that Elmore Leonard twist." And I don't know whose idea it was, maybe it was Wendy's or maybe it was Graham's or maybe it was Tim's, but somehow the script came back where the real estate guy wasn't wearing pants. So that one little thing, one little addition, it gave Timothy something to play, and it turned it into a Justified scene. Tim is relentless in terms of finding that little hook or that little twist that gives it that off-kilter thing."

Eric Stoltz
Glee (Fox)
Episode: "Duets"
"Anytime they break into song and dance, it's a massive challenge -- both technically and emotionally. You want to be able to tell a story within the story of the song, and with the music and dancing -- and the reaction -- it can all be a bit overwhelming. Because the show itself has become such a phenomenon, a lot of the actors have become quite savvy and quite sophisticated in their sense of humor and their approach to the work. What I remember about directing this episode is that I tried to get them back to the place of innocence and wonder, perhaps when they were actually auditioning for the show and didn't have the job and weren't affected by the success of the show. I remember feeling a little guilt over two numbers in particular: Amber Riley and Naya Rivera did "River Deep -- Mountain High" and Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Ushkowitz did "Sing," and both of those numbers were incredibly exhausting for them. I kept asking for one more take, and I could see them literally about to collapse on the set. I felt like I was driving them too hard, but they are so passionate about doing good work that I overcame my guilt and they recovered -- although they all told me how wiped out they were the following few days. It's a serious feeling you don't often get when you direct a show -- that you're physically abusing the actors with the goal of creating something wonderful."

Someone posted a clip of Eric getting attacked by a zombie in the Judy Moody film on YouTube. Next stop, the Leverage season premiere on TNT next Sunday.

Several other Caprica directors are also in the running for an Emmy nod for their work on other shows: Roxann Dawson for The Cape (episode "The Lich, Part 2"), Michael Watkins for Justified ("The Spoil"), Jeffrey Reiner for The Event ("I Haven't Told You Everything"), and Jonas Pate also for The Event ("Loyalty").

Among the actors, Patton Oswalt and Scott Porter are submitted for nominations in the guest star categories for United States of Tara and The Good Wife. A sneak peek from the United States of Tara series finale and a new trailer for Scott Porter's new show, Hart of Dixie, are embedded below.

You can also catch Patton Oswalt in the new Poirot adaptation, "Three Act Tragedy," on PBS tomorrow at 8 pm. More details at Red Eye Chicago.

Both Gun Hill Road with Esai Morales and Judas Kiss with Richard Harmon and Genevieve Buechner are getting screened at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco these days. There is a photo of Esai at the event here.

Gun Hill Road will also close the NewFest (New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Film Festival) in late July (IndieWIRE):

CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING AND AWARDS CEREMONY
Thursday, July 28th, 8pm at the Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center
GUN HILL ROAD directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green
Pairing a talented cast with a nuanced script, this Sundance hit is a groundbreaking look at family, gender, and machismo in Latino culture. After a three-year stint in prison, Enrique Rodriguez (“NYPD Blue” star Esai Morales) returns to his family in the Bronx only to discover their lives have changed dramatically. Wife Angela (a dramatic turn for “Scrubs” star Judy Reyes) now seems distant, and their teenage son Michael (captivating newcomerHarmony Santana) is making a new life for himself as Vanessa. While Vanessa is exploring her two new passions, poetry and a new boyfriend, Enrique becomes hell-bent on turning his child into a tough Nuyorican man just like himself.

Meanwhile, Judas Kiss will be shown at the North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (NCGLFF), which runs from August 11 to 14 in Durham. It has also been selected to open the Philadelphia Q Fest in July. A new trailer showed up on YouTube this week. You can watch it below.

Before it gets released, Alessandra Torresani's new movie, Playback, will be getting a prequel in e-novella form. From the press release:

Del Rey Books will publish an original e-novella that ties into the new movie, Playback, starring Christian Slater, Johnny Pacar, Toby Hemingway, and Ambyr Childers. The e-novella, PLAYBACK: LIGHT AND SHADOW, to be written by two-time Bram Stoker Award winning author Elizabeth Massie, will serve as a prequel story to Playback, a new horror film from Bennett Robbins Productions, written and directed by Michael A. Nickles. Michael Braff, of the Del Rey Editorial group, will edit.

In the film, a group of high school students unwittingly unlock a dark secret, while digging into their town’s infamous past. Now, an evil spirit has been awakened to possess and destroy its victims through video playback, stopping at nothing to find his true heir. The film is inspired by the true story of the disappearance of film pioneer Louis Le Prince, an event that will be explored completely in the e-novella, to be published Summer of 2011.

To see a few stills from the film, hop over to Facebook.

Sons of Anarchy Season 3, with Paula Malcomson, will be out on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30. Spoiler TV has the DVD details and artwork.

There is a new teaser for Grimm on Facebook. BuzzSugar has a review of the pilot. Sasha Roiz tweets that he will be at Comic Con with his new cast mates this summer.

The first poster and concept art from John Carter, with Polly Walker, are available on Cinemablend.com and Collider.com. The film doesn't get released until next March.

Luciana Carro Fans posted an update on Luciana's new web series, The Icarus II Project. The trailer will be released later this month.

The first still from the McPherson Playhouse production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, with Meg Tilly, as well as the dates and the ticket info, are available here.

The June Q&A with James Marsters is up on his official site. The Sydney Morning Herald has a short interview with him here and there are pics of him in Australia (he is there for the Supanova con) on his official FB page.

Daemon's TV has a bunch of new sneak peeks from Falling Skies. Charlie Jane Anders did an interview with Mark Verheiden and several cast members, and has a pretty extensive article about the show over at io9.com. Falling Skies premieres this Sunday at 9 pm on TNT.

The Killing has been picked up for a second season. Michelle Forbes is reportedly coming back. The season one finale airs tomorrow. No idea if any other BSG & Caprica actors will be in it.

Torchwood: Miracle Day will premiere on SPACE in Canada on Saturday, July 9 at 9 pm.

Screen Rant has the international trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

And finally, the videos.

Discovered a clip from the screening of Born to Race, with John Pyper-Ferguson, on YouTube (where it probably won't be forever):



The new festival trailer for Judas Kiss, with Richard Harmon:



A sneak peek from the United States of Tara series finale, with Patton Oswalt (Monday, 10:30, Showtime):



A teaser and sneak peek from the Sanctuary season finale, "Into the Black," with Christopher Heyerdahl and Ryan Robbins (Monday, 10 pm, Syfy):





And the new trailer for Hart of Dixie: