The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 04:27 AM PDT THE Red FM Radio Renovation is running for a month and your opinions as well as suggestions are needed on the music, features and content that you want us to build into the fastest growing English radio station in the country. Log on to www.red.fm and leave your comments as your likes and dislikes will be taken into consideration. Join us on the path in producing a station that's designed to give listeners the best of music, entertainment and information around the world. And in return for your "hard work", we will reward you with a getaway. Featuring a different escapade each week, you could find yourself whisked off to the luxurious Cyberview Resort and Spa in Cyberjaya, the exotic Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina and Spa, Kuala Trengganu, Trengganu, or the lush Belum Rainforest Resort in Perak. Look up Red FM Radio Renovation on our website and win a stay at any of these amazing resorts for your thoughts. Keep on listening to the difference you make as it's the radio station that's built for you and by you. While you lay down your thoughts online, strut into the glamorous world of modelling with Rudy and Jeremy on air. As the search for the X Top Model 2011 is coming to an end on July 23, win passes to the after party for an exciting celebration. Tune in to the Red FM Breakfast show (Mondays to Fridays, 6am-10am) with the lively duo next week for a special contest. You get a chance to win VIP passes to the X Supper Party as well as a pair of Crocs shoes and possibly, a grand prize from Thomas Sabo for the ultimate winner. Check out www.red.fm for more details on this contest and more. Join the Red FM Malaysia Facebook fan page (www.facebook.com/redfm.my) and follow us on Twitter (@iloveredfm) for the latest updates. Red FM is owned and operated by The Star. Red FM's station frequencies: Taiping, Kedah, Perlis and Pulau Langkawi: 98.1 FM; George Town and Seberang Perai: 107.6 FM; Ipoh, Perak: 106.4 FM; Klang Valley, Negri Sembilan & Tapah: 104.9 FM; Kuantan, Pahang: 91.6 FM; Batu Pahat and Malacca: 98.9 FM; Johor Baru and Singapore: 92.8 FM. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 04:27 AM PDT LIKE Boyd Crowder in Justified, television today seems to thrive on the blurring between heroism and villainy. There are many characters on the small screen who've given new meaning to the dark side. Here are a handful of them. 1. Walternate and Fauxlivia (Fringe) – When the alternate universe is revealed at the end of Fringe's Season One, we literally gasped. The shock is further compounded when we meet the "evil twins" – Walter Bishop (aka Walternate) and Agent Olivia Dunham (aka Fauxlivia) from "Over There" at the end of Season Two. We view them as the enemies because they have been aggressively sending soldiers to our universe, presumably with a devastating end for us. However, if you think about it – people from Over There are just reacting to what was done to them when our Walter crossed between the two universes to take Walternate's son, Peter. Walter may have only wanted to save Peter, but his action had a ripple effect of massive proportions – the parallel universe got a lot weaker and is slowly breaking down. Also, a father has been kept apart from his son for years – see this from Walternate's point of view, and you wonder who's right and who's wrong. 2. Damon Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries), Eric Northman (True Blood) and Spike (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) – These three vampires have no qualms when it comes to killing people – and delivering some deadpan humour to the dying. But these vampires also have another thing in common – they are love's bitches. Damon (Ian Somerhalder) tries to rein in his desire to charm schoolgirls into doing naughty things with him when he falls in love with goody-goody Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev), his brother's girlfriend. He even goes into harm's way to try and save her. Now Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) has a more dreamy method of winning a human's heart, in this case Sookie Stackhouse's (Anna Paquin). He tricks her into drinking his blood, allowing him to know where she is at all times. Oh and this also makes her have erotic dreams that involve him. Sneaky, right? Although he doesn't pretend to be a knight in shining armour, his own armour falls to pieces when it comes to her. Finally, there's Spike – a vampire who has a reputation as the slayer of Slayers. That is, until he meets Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar), the current Vampire Slayer who has somehow moved his unbeating with her shampoo-commercial hair and can-do attitude. All that goodness even made him want to change his ways so much so he teams up with Buffy and her band of Scoobies to take down the Big Bads. 3. Dexter (Dexter) – Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is a serial killer, hence he has to be the bad guy, right? Well, the truth is more complicated than that. Although he harbours a "Dark Passenger" which prods him to fulfil the need to spill human blood, Dexter doesn't deserve the villain label because he is a great brother to Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and a dependable stepfather to his wife's two children. When he does go roaming the streets of Miami at night – the people who end up as his victims are those who truly deserve to be punished. He may be a killer but he wears the face of a human so well that we can't help but agree with his hilarious observations. 4. Dr Gauis Baltar (Battlestar Galactica) – Even though it was Baltar's (James Callis) greed that allowed the Cylon attack on his home planet Caprica – forcing any remaining humans to flee to space – he does try to be a better man from time to time. Only thing is, he fails most of the time – falling back to his cowardly ways, succumbing to his need to survive. It's easy to hate this character, but it's got to be said that Baltar reminds us that we are all flawed and are, sometimes, simply self-serving. One thing's for sure, the presence of Baltar amongst courageous characters like Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) has kept the audience on its toes as no one knows what he's going to do next. Like getting elected as the President (needless to say, he handled it badly) and then, later, turning into a revered religious figure – seriously, who saw that coming? 5. Ben Linus in Lost – Some of the things that Linus (Michael Emerson) has done – saying it's the creed of the island – are pretty disturbing. He gasses the peaceful folk of the Dharma Initiative so he can become the leader of "The Others", which gives him the licence to do all kind of B-A-D things. He also has had direct access to the Smoke Monster, so he creates some more havoc and kills more folk in the process. For goodness sakes, he serves as the catalyst who starts the domino effect that spells the end for everyone and the island. But it becomes clear he knows the errors of his way, near the end of the final season when he finally does the right thing, twice. Also in the alt-reality, in which he is a history teacher, he puts aside his own ambition to be in control for the sake of a student and is actually taking care of his ailing father with patience and love. – Mumtaj Begum Related Stories: |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2011 04:26 AM PDT Justified gives the classic good versus bad battle a good Southern style shakedown. FOR every hero there is an anti-hero – you know, the antagonist who drives the protagonist to be a better person. In a simpler (i.e. fictional) world, villains are the polar opposite of heroes – gleefully dispensing bullets, vile humour and a really bad attitude. In stories based on reality, however, things are never quite so black and white. People – good or bad – come in all sorts of flawed forms. They are misunderstood individuals who want to do the right thing; they are victims of circumstances; they are good souls trapped in evil minds. These imperfect characters make for compelling viewing. Which brings us to Justified, created by Graham Yost based on Elmore Leonard's short story titled Fire In The Hole, about a tough lawman, enforcing his own brand of justice. It has a hero with a penchant for shooting people (after giving them enough notice, of course) and an anti-hero who goes around preaching about God and His ways, but is still capable of blowing things up to make a point. These two characters drive one of the more interesting subplots in Justified, as they share a long history. When they were teenagers, they were friends who had each other's back when working deep in the coal mines of Harlan, Kentucky. They drifted apart after one left town to become the law and the other stayed behind to become an outlaw. As adults, they cross paths again as the southern-bred deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) is reassigned to Lexington, Kentucky (which includes Harlan) after a shooting incident in Miami. Meanwhile, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) – a proud Harlan native – has gone on to be involved in all kinds of criminal activities alongside the Crowder clan. As it happens – and will happen again – they come together, but on opposite sides. That first time ends with Raylan shooting Boyd and the latter going to jail. Only thing is, Boyd claims to have seen the light and starts on a spiritual journey to become a man of faith, much to Raylan's (and the audiences') scepticism. In a telephone interview with Goggins last month, he shares: "At the end of Season One, Boyd has lost everything. He is a material, enigmatic guy who thinks he has the answer to just about everything. Then, he is left without any answers and ultimately left without any questions. Hence, I expect that in Season Two, you are going to see a guy looking for some peace, and looking to understand how he came to be the kind of person he is." The actor, who turns 40 this year, brings so much more complexity to an already layered character and gives Boyd both humanity and intelligence, turning an otherwise merely dark character into a compelling one. Thanks to Goggins' bright eyes, calming voice and Boyd's poet-like words, it's real easy to forget Boyd is a cold-blooded killer. Instead, we only want to remember him as someone who wants to be a better man, worthy of a woman's love and the friendship of a man he respects. Goggins confesses that he found Boyd's voice easily. "I was surprised at how easy that came. Being from the South, I know a lot of people like Boyd who are unconventional poets, or self-taught poets. I wanted to at least attempt to portray a Southerner in a way that is reflective of my experience in the South and not just the stereotypical interpretation Hollywood normally engages in. His love of words is something that we talked about early on and the way he sings about things." Goggins adds: "Boyd's intellect was inherent in the pilot and I really wanted to play that up. I wanted Boyd, more often than not, to be the smartest man in the room except when he is in the room with Raylan, then he is on par with the smartest man in the room. Their conversations are spiritual, intellectual and challenging. I think Boyd challenges Raylan in a way that Raylan can't get anywhere else and stimulates Raylan, and Raylan does the same for Boyd. To me, it was really interesting to explore that." During this 15-minute conversation, it becomes clear the actor is far removed from his character. Although he does share the character's intelligence, polite way of speaking (but without a strong Southern twang) and love for words, Goggins has a wider world view. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Lithia Springs, Georgia, Goggins moved to Los Angeles when he was 20 to pursue a career as an actor, then later expanded his vocation to filmmaker and photographer. He has a production company (Ginny Mule Pictures) along with other partners and their projects have won a couple of awards in various festivals. His photos – available for viewing at www.hindutoyoutoo.blogspot.com – comprise his travels to destinations like India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Central America and Morocco, which he hopes to be made into a book one day. When asked what it is about these places that holds a fascination for him, he replies with – first of all – "I really wanted to go to Malaysia. I was so close. If I had another month, I was going to go to Malaysia and Bhutan, but I didn't make it." He then continues: "Growing up in Georgia, the idea of visiting South-East Asia was so fun to me. I didn't really know that much about it and I have made it my life's journey to not just read about those places in books but to see them up close. The first chance I got, I wanted to start in South-East Asia. And I made so many friends and I had so many experiences that were off the beaten path that I just fell in love with the people and those independent cultures because they are so different yet they are so close to one another. I hope to go back soon and I hope to come to Malaysia next time." Besides acting and travelling, any free time is spent participating in various non-profit organisations, ranging from environmental to humanitarian groups. Given all of this, it seems ironic that Goggins has yet to play a traditional hero, not that he's complaining. Before Justified, Goggins was best known for portraying Detective Shane Vendrell in the gritty series The Shield for seven seasons. That series revolved around a group of cops patrolling the tough neighbourhood of Los Angeles, willing to bend the law to their advantage. According to Goggins, characters like Detective Vendrell and Boyd appeal to him because they are not easily understood. "It is very challenging to play someone with different shades of grey or to be an open book, but have people read a chapter at a time. "I quite like those roles and I look for that as an actor. Boyd is just the perfect mixture of rascal and hero. At the end of the day, Boyd is really cool, much cooler than Walton and he is in the world of Elmore Leonard which is a cool world in itself. I like the idea of playing someone who is cool. That is what it would mean to me as an actor," he says with a laugh. He is equally excited that television has become bolder in exploring the dark nature of men. For one, having darker impulses and having an inner battle about that are part of being human. He explains: "I think there's a darker side to me. There's a dark side to every single person I know. My close friends that I like have a dark side and they have an edge. One needs a dark side to celebrate the light side. I think it balances people. " Justified, which enters its second season on AXN on July 25, has all kinds of dark characters. There's Boyd keeping to himself and going about his job in the coal mines, only to have his murky past catch up with him. And Raylan doing his job to keep things safe – in this case tracking down a paedophile sex offender, which leads to so many other places and people – all while ensuring the one he loves doesn't run into trouble. While the past between the two men is explored – and Goggins promises it to be kinetic, dynamic and emotionally revealing– Season Two brings forth a group of really strong female characters as well. At the centre is Mags Bennett (Margo Martindale), a matronly-looking woman who has a powerful hold on the people in the district. She and her three boys control most of the illegal businesses around town, and – get this – she runs a legal business selling family goods at the same time! As the 13-episode season progresses, it becomes hard to ignore the level of violence and hardship that exists in rural areas in the United States. As it turns out, Goggins has received letters from people from these parts thanking him and everyone involved for how the show portrays them. "Different people from Harlan County reach out to me to say how proud they are of the show and how much they love the characters. (While) I do not think that people are killed on a daily basis in Harlan County, I also know for a fact that in the South there are characters who are larger than life, who are very similar to the characters portrayed in Justified ... Boyd in particular. I have never met a Boyd Crowder, but I have met 10 people who make up Boyd Crowder." Justified Season Two premieres exclusively on AXN (Astro Ch 701) on July 25. Catch it every Monday at 10.55pm. Related Stories: |
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