A community’s refusal to assist in an investigation is at the heart of CBS’s Blue Bloods season 12 episode seven. Directed by Ralph Hemecker from a script by Brian Burns and Van B. Nguyen, episode seven – “USA Today” – will air on Friday, November 19, 2021 at 10pm ET/PT.
Tom Selleck leads the cast as Frank Reagan, with Donnie Wahlberg back as Danny Reagan and Bridget Moynahan returning as Erin Reagan. Will Estes plays Jamie Reagan, Len Cariou is Henry Reagan, Sami Gayle is Nicky Reagan-Boyle, Marisa Ramirez is Det. Maria Baez, and Vanessa Ray plays Officer Eddie Janko.
Recurring season 12 cast members include Abigail Hawk, Gregory Jbara, Robert Clohessy, Steven Schirripa, Andrew Terraciano, and Rosyln Ruff.
“USA Today” Plot: Danny and Baez’s attempts to find the culprit who assaulted a shop owner are hindered by the close-knit community’s refusal to cooperate with the investigation. Also, Erin’s suspicions about her boss rise when the D.A. assigns her to a seemingly low-level case, and Gormley, Garrett and Baker are threatened when Frank welcomes a new staff member to their “dream team.”
Blue Bloods is a drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the New York Police Commissioner, and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry, during his stint as Chief. A source of pride and concern for Frank is his eldest son, Danny, a seasoned detective, family man and Iraq War vet who on occasion uses dubious tactics to solve cases with his partner, Detective Maria Baez. Erin, the middle daughter, is a New York Assistant D.A. who serves as the legal compass for her siblings and father.
Jamie is the youngest Reagan, a Harvard Law graduate and the family’s “golden boy.” Unable to deny the family tradition, Jamie decided to give up a lucrative future in law and follow in the family footsteps as a cop. He’s found a friend and ally in his wife, Eddie, who keeps him on his toes, and has very different reasons than the Reagans for joining the police force.
A comet capable of wiping out Earth is headed our way and the U.S. government and news media don’t seem to care in the new trailer for Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. The two-minute trailer focuses on a grad student (Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook) and her professor (Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant) who seem to be the only adults capable of grasping the idea a planet-killing comet is about to crash into our planet.
In addition to DiCaprio and Lawrence, the huge ensemble includes two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, three-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet, Emmy winner Michael Chiklis, and two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill. Oscar-winner Mark Rylance, Rob Morgan, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, and Tomer Sisley also star in the Netflix original film.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam McKay (The Big Short) wrote and directed Don’t Look Up, and during a Netflix Q&A he explained the inspiration for the comedy. “I knew the movie needed to be laugh-out-loud funny, not just clever or wry, so I turned to the all-time greats. Comedies like Office Space and Idiocracy that really capture the weird way we live in the modern world. (Both of those Mike Judge films were north stars for me.) But also movies like Dr. Strangelove, Network, and Wag the Dog,” stated McKay. “I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of finding a way to encapsulate these giant looming threats that we’re faced with in this world, but to show it in a way that has a bit of fun with it.”
Asked what drew him to the film, Leonardo DiCaprio replied, “Adam McKay is a director that I’d been wanting to work with for a long time. His ability to combine comedy with incredibly pertinent issues, especially with this film having the undertone of the climate crisis, so it was a unique opportunity to work with somebody that really allowed all of us as actors to collaborate and improvise. Adam is somebody that values everyone’s opinion and allows you as an actor to take a scene in any direction that you see fit.”
Jennifer Lawrence explained preparation for the role included speaking to astronomer Amy Mainzer. “I was mostly curious about what the world for a female astronomer looks like since they’re so outnumbered,” said Lawrence. “That helped shape Kate’s personality, how she dresses, how she carries herself. I tried to learn about astronomy as well, but I don’t know how much of it I retained. Leo, of course, learned all of it.”
The new trailer was accompanied by the official poster as well as new photos from the film. Netflix is releasing the comedy in select theaters on December 10, 2021 followed by a release on the streaming service on Christmas Eve.
The Plot, Courtesy of Netflix:
Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. The problem — it’s on a direct collision course with Earth. The other problem? No one really seems to care. Turns out warning mankind about a planet-killer the size of Mount Everest is an inconvenient fact to navigate.
With the help of Dr. Oglethorpe (Morgan), Kate and Randall embark on a media tour that takes them from the office of an indifferent President Orlean (Streep) and her sycophantic son and Chief of Staff, Jason (Hill), to the airwaves of The Daily Rip, an upbeat morning show hosted by Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Perry). With only six months until the comet makes impact, managing the 24-hour news cycle and gaining the attention of the social media-obsessed public before it’s too late proves shockingly comical — what will it take to get the world to just look up?!
Zachary Knighton pulls double duty on CBS’s Magnum P.I. season four episode seven, starring in and co-writing the episode with Barbie Kligman. Directed by Ruba Nadda, episode seven – “A New Lease On Death” – will air on Friday, November 19, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT.
Jay Hernandez returns to lead the cast as Thomas Magnum. Season four also stars Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Zachary Knighton as Orville “Rick” Wright, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin, Tim Kang as Det. Gordon Katsumoto, and Amy Hill as Kumu.
Episode seven guest stars include Chantal Thuy, Devon Sawa, Yancey Arias, Richard Gant, Candice Coke, and Dann Seki.
“A New Lease On Death” Plot: When Rick is asked to assist with a federal investigation of his childhood friend Robbie (Sawa), Magnum launches his own investigation to see what the Feds really have on him Also, Kumu goes undercover in a retirement community when Higgins is hired to investigate the disappearance of a resident’s life savings.
Magnum P.I. is a modern take on the classic series centering on Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. A charming rogue, an American hero and a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, Magnum lives in a guest cottage on Robin’s Nest, the luxurious estate where he works as a security consultant to supplement his P.I. business.
The “majordomo” of the property is Juliet Higgins, a beautiful and commanding disavowed MI:6 agent whose second job is to keep Magnum in line, with the help of her two Dobermans. When Magnum needs back-up on a job, he turns to his trusted buddies and fellow POW survivors, Theodore “TC” Calvin, a former Marine chopper pilot who runs Island Hoppers, a helicopter tour business, and Orville “Rick” Wright, a former Marine door-gunner-turned-impresario of Oahu’s coolest nightclub and the most connected man on the island.
Suspicious of Magnum’s casual attitude and presence at his crime scenes, Detective Gordon Katsumoto finds that he and Magnum are more alike than either of them care to admit. One of Magnum’s biggest supporters is Teuila “Kumu” Tuileta, the unofficial “House Mom” and cultural curator of Robin’s Nest. With keys to a vintage Ferrari in one hand, aviator sunglasses in the other, and an Old Düsseldorf longneck chilling in the fridge, Thomas Magnum is back on the case!
Apple TV+ just launched the first official teaser trailer for Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock featuring the classic Fraggle Rock theme song. Premiering on January 21, 2022, the reboot of the popular ’80s series reunites Gobo, Red, Boober, Mokey, Wembley, and Uncle Traveling Matt for more wild adventures.
The original series debuted in January 1983 and kept kids entertained for five seasons. In April 2020, Apple TV+ returned to the weird world of Fraggles with Fraggle Rock: Rock On!, a series of shorts featuring celebrity guests including Alanis Morissette, Common, Jason Mraz, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish, and Ziggy Marley. Fraggle Rock: Rock On was filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic and was shot on iPhones, with the production team working from home.
The popularity of Fraggle Rock: Rock On! led to the streaming service greenlighting Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.
The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford serve as executive producers along with John Tartaglia, a longtime Henson collaborator. Matt Fusfeld, Alex Cuthbertson, and New Regency’s Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer also executive produce, with Fusfeld and Cuthbertson guiding the series as showrunners. Ritamarie Peruggi serves as a producer and Harvey Mason Jr. is the executive music producer.
Apple TV+ released the following description of the 13 episode first season:
“Jim Henson’s fun-loving, musical Fraggles are back! Join Gobo, Red, Wembley, Mokey, Boober, and new Fraggle friends on hilarious, epic adventures about the magic that happens when we celebrate and care for our interconnected world.”
Focus Features’ new minute and a half teaser trailer for the second Downton Abbey film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, drops a significant number of hints as to what’s in store without giving too much away. In other words, it’s pretty much the perfect teaser.
Are we about to learn about a secret love of Violet Crawley’s? The teaser features Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham informing Robert, along with assembled family members, “Years ago, before you were born, I met a man…and now I’ve come into the possession of a villa in the south of France.” A framed picture of a young Violet is shown as well as a reaction shot to her declaration. The teaser ends with Violet saying, “And with that, I will say good night and leave you to discuss my mysterious past.”
Originial cast members returning for the theatrical sequel include Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary, and Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley. Jim Carter is Mr. Carson, Phyllis Logan is Mrs. Hughes, Penelope Wilton is Isobel Merton, and Imelda Staunton is Maud Bagshaw.
Brendan Coyle, Kevin Doyle, Joanne Froggatt, Matthew Goode, Harry Hadden-Paton, David Haig, Geraldine James, and Robert James-Collier also star. Additional cast reprising their roles include Simon Jones, Allen Leech, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lesley Nicol, and Kate Phillips.
Newcomers to the world of Downton Abbey include Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye, Jonathan Zaccai, and Dominic West.
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes wrote the screenplay and serves as producer. Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning Gareth Neame and Emmy Award-winning Liz Trubridge also produce, with BAFTA and Emmy nominated Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) directing.
Focus Features is releasing Downton Abbey: A New Era in theaters on March 18, 2022.
Update: On January 26, 2022 Focus Features confirmed Downton Abbey: A New Era will now open in the UK on April 29, 2022 and in the US on May 20, 2022.
A Look Back at the First Downton Abbey Film’s Description:
The television series followed the lives of the Crawley family and the servants who worked for them at the turn of the 20th century in an Edwardian English country house. The initial film followed a Royal Visit to the Crawley family and Downton staff from the King and Queen of England and ended with a ball fitting for the Royal Family.
Paramount+ has finally released the first teaser for the upcoming sci-fi action series, Halo, starring Pablo Schreiber (American Gods). Plans for a series based on the Xbox franchise have been in the works for years, and back in 2018 Showtime confirmed they were moving forward on adapting the game into a series.
Now, three years later, first footage has arrived of Schreiber donning his helmet as a female voice says, “Hello, Master Chief.” The series is no longer set to air on Showtime and instead will arrive on the Paramount+ subscription streaming service sometime in 2022.
In addition to Pablo Schreiber, the cast includes Natascha McElhone (Californication) as Dr. Halsey, “the brilliant, conflicted and inscrutable creator of the Spartan super-soldiers,” and Jen Taylor (Halo game series) as Cortana, “the most advanced AI in human history, and potentially the key to the survival of the human race.”
Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), Shabana Azmi (Fire), Natasha Culzac (The Witcher), Olive Gray (Half Moon Investigations), Yerin Ha (Reef Break), Bentley Kalu (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Kate Kennedy (Catastrophe), Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders), and Danny Sapani (Penny Dreadful) also star in season one.
The series is a Showtime production, in partnership with 343 Industries, and Amblin Television. Amblin Television’s Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank, and Justin Falvey executive produce along with Steven Kane and One Big Picture’s Toby Leslie and director Otto Bathurst. 343 Industries’ Kiki Wolfkill, Frank O’Connor, and Bonnie Ross also executive produce as well as Chapter Eleven’s Kyle Killen and Scott Pennington.
Paramount+ released the following description of the series:
“In its adaptation for Paramount+, HALO will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001 with the launch of Xbox®’s first ‘Halo’ game. Dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant, HALO the series will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.
‘Halo’ reinvented how people think about video games and has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, having sold more than 82 million copies worldwide and grossing more than $6 billion in lifetime total sales revenue.”
‘Summer of Soul’ (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), emerged the big winner at the Sixth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards. Summer of Soul won in all six of the categories in which it was nominated including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, and Best Music Documentary. The documentary also picked up wins in the Best Editing, Best Archival Documentary, and Best First Documentary Feature categories.
Additional documentaries winning in multiple categories included The Rescue, which chronicled the incredibly dangerous rescue of a youth soccer team trapped in a cave, and Val featuring footage actor Val Kilmer shot over his lengthy career. The Rescue‘s Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin won Best Director (in a tie with Questlove) and the film topped the Best Cinematography and Best Score categories. Val won in the Best Narration and Best Historical or Biographical Documentary categories.
Winners were announced during a gala event hosted by Roy Wood Jr. and held at BRIC in Brooklyn, New York on November 14, 2021.
“We are proud to be able to recognize such outstanding work at this year’s awards gala, in our return to a live event,” stated Christopher Campbell, President of the Critics Choice Association Documentary Branch. “It was a wonderful night of showcasing and honoring the best of the best in documentary storytelling, with a mix of fresh faces and veteran talents lauded by our members. We are excited for our choices to inform the choices of film fans everywhere, as the CCDAs continue to support nonfiction filmmaking and influence the growing audience for documentaries.”
2021 Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominees and Winners:
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Attica (Showtime)
Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse/National Geographic Documentary Films)
The Crime of the Century (HBO Documentary Films)
A Crime on the Bayou (Augusta Films/Shout! Studios)
Flee (Neon)
Introducing, Selma Blair (Discovery+)
The Lost Leonardo (Sony Pictures Classics)
My Name is Pauli Murray (Amazon Studios)
Procession (Netflix)
The Rescue (National Geographic Documentary Films) WINNER: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
BEST DIRECTOR WINNER (Tie): Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin – The Rescue (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Liz Garbus – Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse/National Geographic Documentary Films)
Jessica Kingdon – Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry – Attica (Showtime)
Jonas Poher Rasmussen – Flee (Neon) WINNER (Tie): Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson – Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
Edgar Wright – The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Jessica Beshir – Faya Dayi (Janus Films)
Rachel Fleit – Introducing, Selma Blair (Discovery+)
Todd Haynes – The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+)
Jessica Kingdon – Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Kristine Stolakis – Pray Away (Netflix) WINNER: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson – Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
Edgar Wright – The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jessica Beshir – Faya Dayi (Janus Films)
Jonathan Griffith, Brett Lowell and Austin Siadak – The Alpinist (Roadside Attractions) WINNER: David Katznelson, Ian Seabrook and Picha Srisansanee – The Rescue (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Jessica Kingdon and Nathan Truesdell – Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Nelson Hume and Alan Jacobsen – The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (Bleecker Street Media)
Emiliano Villanueva – A Cop Movie (Netflix)
Pete West – Puff: Wonders of the Reef (Netflix)
BEST EDITING
Francisco Bello, Matthew Heineman, Gabriel Rhodes and David Zieff – The First Wave (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Jeff Consiglio – LFG (HBO Max and CNN Films)
Bob Eisenhardt – The Rescue (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Affonso Gonçalves and Adam Kurnitz – The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+)
Jessica Kingdon – Ascension (MTV Documentary Films) WINNER: Joshua L. Pearson – Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
Julian Quantrill – The Real Charlie Chaplin (Showtime)
BEST NARRATION
9/11: Inside the President’s War Room (Apple TV+)
– Jeff Daniels, Narrator
Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse/National Geographic Documentary Films)
– Vincent Cassel, Narrator
– Mark Monroe and Pax Wassermann, Writers
The Crime of the Century (HBO Documentary Films)
– Alex Gibney, Narrator
– Alex Gibney, Writer
The Neutral Ground (PBS)
– CJ Hunt, Narrator
– CJ Hunt, Writer
The Real Charlie Chaplin (Showtime)
– Pearl Mackie, Narrator
– Oliver Kindeberg, Peter Middleton and James Spinney, Writers WINNER: Val (Amazon Studios)
– Jack Kilmer, Narrator
– Val Kilmer, Writer
The Year Earth Changed (Apple TV+)
– David Attenborough, Narrator
BEST SCORE
Jongnic Bontemps – My Name is Pauli Murray (Amazon Studios)
Dan Deacon – Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Alex Lasarenko and David Little – The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (Bleecker Street Media)
Cyrus Melchor – LFG (HBO/CNN) WINNER: Daniel Pemberton – The Rescue (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Rachel Portman – Julia (Sony Pictures Classics)
Dirac Sea – Final Account (Focus Features)
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse/National Geographic Documentary Films)
The Real Charlie Chaplin (Showtime)
The Real Right Stuff (Disney+)
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (HBO Documentary Films) WINNER: Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
Val (Amazon Studios)
The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+)
BEST HISTORICAL OR BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
Attica (Showtime)
A Crime on the Bayou (Augusta Films/Shout! Studios)
Fauci (Magnolia Pictures/National Geographic Documentary Films)
Final Account (Focus Features)
Julia (Sony Pictures Classics)
My Name is Pauli Murray (Amazon Studios)
No Ordinary Man (Oscilloscope) WINNER: Val (Amazon Studios)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry (Apple TV+)
Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James (Showtime)
Listening to Kenny G (HBO Documentary Films)
The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features) WINNER: Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures/Hulu)
Tina (HBO Documentary Films)
The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY WINNER: The Crime of the Century (HBO Documentary Films)
Enemies of the State (IFC Films)
Four Hours at the Capitol (HBO Documentary Films)
Influence (StoryScope, EyeSteelFilm)
Mayor Pete (Amazon Studios)
Missing in Brooks County (Giant Pictures)
Nasrin (Hulu)
Not Going Quietly (Greenwich Entertainment)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY WINNER: Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse/National Geographic Documentary Films)
Fauci (National Geographic Documentary Films)
The First Wave (National Geographic Documentary Films)
The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (Bleecker Street Media)
Playing with Sharks (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Puff: Wonders of the Reef (Netflix)
The Year Earth Changed (Apple TV+)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY WINNER: The Alpinist (Roadside Attractions)
Changing the Game (Hulu)
The Day Sports Stood Still (HBO)
Kevin Garnett: Anything is Possible (Showtime)
LFG (HBO Max/CNN Films)
Tiger (HBO)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Audible (Netflix)
Borat’s American Lockdown (Amazon Studios)
Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis (Netflix)
Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol (The New York Times)
The Doll (Jumping Ibex)
The Last Cruise (HBO Documentary Films) WINNER: The Queen of Basketball (The New York Times)
Snowy (TIME Studios)
MOST COMPELLING LIVING SUBJECTS OF A DOCUMENTARY (HONOR)
Ady Barkan – Not Going Quietly (Greenwich Entertainment)
Selma Blair – Introducing, Selma Blair (Discovery+)
Pete Buttigieg – Mayor Pete (Amazon Studios)
Anthony Fauci – Fauci (Magnolia Pictures/National Geographic Documentary Films)
Ben Fong-Torres – Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres (StudioLA.TV)
Val Kilmer – Val (Amazon Studios)
Ron and Russell Mael – The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features)
Rita Moreno – Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It (Roadside Attractions)
Valerie Taylor – Playing With Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story (Disney+)
FBI: Most Wanted‘s Julian McMahon guest stars on CBS’s FBI: International season one episode seven, “Trying to Grab Smoke.” Directed by Alex Zakrzewski and written by Matt Olmstead, episode seven will air on Tuesday, November 16, 2021 at 9pm ET/PT.
The season one cast includes Luke Kleintank as Special Agent Scott Forrester, Heida Reed as Special Agent Jamie Kellett, Carter Redwood as Special Agent Andre Raines, Vinessa Vidotto as Special Agent Cameron Vo, and Christiane Paul as Europol Agent Katrin Jaeger.
“Trying to Grab Smoke” Plot: When an American founder of an illegal adults-only site is killed in Prague, the team is tasked to locate his co-founder, who is still on the run in the Czech Republic. Also, Kellett struggles to maintain a relationship with her mother due to the complications of working so far from home.
FBI: International is the third iteration of the successful FBI brand that follows the elite operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Fly Team. Headquartered in Budapest, they travel the world with the mission of tracking and neutralizing threats against American citizens wherever they may be, putting their lives on the line to protect the U.S. and its people.
The Fly Team’s Special Agent Scott Forrester, their accomplished and dedicated leader, puts his missions ahead of his personal life and is rarely seen without the team’s “secret weapon” – their trusty Schutzhund dog, Tank. Second in command is Special Agent Jamie Kellett, not afraid to tussle – in an alley or courtroom – and her extensive network of informants is a powerful resource. Special Agent Andre Raines shines in the field and makes good use of his accounting background in tracking criminal enterprises’ moving money; and the group’s newest member is Special Agent Cameron Vo, a competitive West Point grad who excels at interrogation and strategy.
A key part of the mix is the unflappable Europol Agent Katrin Jaeger, a multilinguistic liaison between the FBI Fly Team and each host country they inhabit. Always at the scene where American interests are at risk, FBI: International is a globe-trotting depiction of law enforcement overseas.
ABC’s Station 19 season five episode six finds the group trying to get into the Thanksgiving spirit following the devastating events in episode five. (The episode said farewell to Okieriete Onaodowan as Dean Miller). Episode six – “Little Girl Blue” – will air on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at 8pm ET/PT.
The season five cast includes Jaina Lee Ortiz as Andy Herrera, Jason George as Ben Warren, Boris Kodjoe as Robert Sullivan, and Grey Damon as Jack Gibson. Barrett Doss plays Victoria Hughes, Jay Hayden is Travis Montgomery, Danielle Savre is Maya Bishop, Stefania Spampinato is Carina DeLuca, and Carlos Miranda plays Theo Ruiz.
“Little Girl Blue” Plot: Station 19 and Station 23 each attempt to celebrate Thanksgiving following the fallout from the neighborhood explosion. The firefighters come together to cook, toast to loved ones they have lost, and celebrate the families they have become.
Station 19, currently in its fifth season, follows a group of heroic Seattle firefighters as they put their lives and hearts on the line. Station 19 takes us inside the tough, tight-knit and sometimes heartbreaking world of the city’s bravest first responders.
A scene from ‘Station 19’ season 5 episode 6 (ABC/John Fleenor)Jay Hayden in the “Little Girl Blue” episode (ABC/Craig Sjodin)Jason George in season 5 episode 6 (ABC/John Fleenor)Carlos Miranda in season 5 episode 6 (ABC/John Fleenor)A scene from season 5 episode 6 (ABC/Craig Sjodin)Danielle Savre in season 5 episode 6 (ABC/Craig Sjodin)
Writer/director Kenneth Branagh brings a very personal story to the screen with the dramatic film, Belfast. The film focuses on nine-year-old Buddy, played by newcomer Jude Hill, a movie-loving, happy child from a working-class family. Buddy’s carefree childhood is suddenly shattered when the conflict between Catholics and Protestants rips his normally friendly neighborhood apart.
Kenneth Branagh’s childhood inspired the film which he wrote in 2020 and filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic (following strict safety guidelines). Hill was a standout during a lengthy casting process and for the adult roles Branagh turned to actors who would bring an extra level of authenticity to the characters. Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe is Irish, and Jamie Dornan (The Fall) is actually from just outside of Belfast. Branagh cast Ciarán Hinds to play Buddy’s grandfather, and it turns out Hinds grew up a mile from where Branagh lived in Belfast. Branagh turned to his frequent collaborator Judi Dench to round out the main cast in the role of Buddy’s grandmother. (Dench’s mother was from Dublin.)
Focus Features’ Belfast has been generating Oscar buzz (Variety has it at the top of their Best Picture predictions list), and the cast and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker are earning rave reviews for the stunning black-and-white film set in Belfast in the late 1960s. And it was obvious during their recent Critics Choice Association press conference in Los Angeles that making this film was a genuinely moving experience for all involved.
“It came out of that silence that a lot of us stared into at the beginning of the lockdown. It certainly sent me back to this other lockdown that we experienced where both ends of the street were barricaded. You ended up looking inward – I think a lot of us did this during the pandemic, separated from things that were so familiar to us that we perhaps took for granted…and particularly from people that we took for granted. I think it was a chance to look back. I wanted to shake hands with a nine-year-old kid,” said Branagh becoming visibly emotional while explaining why now was the right time to tell this story.
Branagh believes during this current pandemic, just as happened back when he was a child in Belfast, many people made enormous numbers of sacrifices. “Those sacrifices – those family moments – I think a lot of people from around the world understand. We all have our versions of them. It seems to be one of the beautiful things that the film seems to have unlocked for people is moments in their own life when…I don’t know…they’re suddenly told that Father Christmas doesn’t exist,” explained Branagh. “When you leave, in whatever sense, a home or a place, I think that re-adjustment involves dealing with some form of loss which can be painful. The result can also be beautiful. But it’s bittersweet like life is sometimes and going back to look at it at a time when we were all considering those difficult losses in our own lives and what is valuable to us sort of meant that it had to come out.”
Jamie Dornan (left) stars as “Pa” and Caitriona Balfe (right) stars as “Ma” in director Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ (Photo Credit: Rob Youngson / Focus Features)
Dornan touched on the responsibility of honoring the people from Belfast and revealed participating in a screening there was one of the most remarkable experiences of his life. “We care so much what people from Belfast think of this movie. It’s not strictly only for the people from Belfast, but god they’re important. The story of what people from that part of the world have been through is vitally important. It’s been told in many different guises before to success. There’s a place for what Jim Sheridan did in the ‘90s and recent films that are focused more on the sort of the troubles themselves. But to see a normal, hard-working family and the impact that the beginning of the conflict had on them I think is really important,” said Dornan.
The cast and Branagh also touched on shooting specific scenes, bonding as a cast, their characters’ relationships, and the joy of delivering Belfast to an audience during the nearly one-hour press conference (embedded above).
