Meet the cast & crew of Durham County season 2 in person at this year's Fan Expo Canada (Toronto, August 27-29 2010).
Featured guests:
* ADRIENNE MITCHELL - Director / Executive Producer * LAURIE FINSTAD KNIZHNIK - Writer / Executive Producer / Co Creator * JANIS LUNDMAN - Executive Producer * GREYSTON HOLT - Ray Prager Jr * MICHELLE FORBES - Dr. Penelope Verrity (Saturday only)
Update :: * Panel with Michelle Forbes, Greyston Holt, Adrienne Mitchell, Janis Lundman, Laurie Finstad-Knizhnik : 28 August · 12:30, ROOM 104A (Deluxe Pass required, acc. to the FanExpo site)) * 2:00pm: Cast and creators of DC S2 will be at the Anchor Bay Booth (#525) to meet fans and sign autographs (must provide proof of panel attendance to guarantee autograph)
And for those poor souls who can't make it to Canada, meet the producers of Durham County at their official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DurhamCountyTV
Fresh from the Canadian DVD bonus features - 38 minutes, interviews with cast and crew and 'Making Of':
Btw, the DVD includes two tracks, English and French :)
Update :: Quotes from a recent interview:
"Forbes [...] has an interesting take on visiting Canada. "It's funny to think that a very thin border separates the two of us. We look alike (in a multi-cultural sense). We sound alike. And yet it's a completely different feeling when you cross that border." For her, the feeling is elation because she is fascinated by Canada's unique culture [...] Durham County offered stimulation."
Excellent news for the German Durham County fans! The German (Pay-for-TV) channel RTL Crime finally airs the second season this fall, of course the uncut and uncensored version, and dubbed in German. After a season one marathon (5 September), 6 new episodes start on 8 September, 20:15.
"MORE UNCOMPROMISING, MORE THRILLING: THE SECOND SEASON OF "DURHAM COUNTY - IN THE FRENZY OF VIOLENCE" EXCLUSIVELY ON RTL CRIME FROM 8 SEPTEMBER
RTL Crime airs six new episodes of "Durham County - In the Frenzy of Violence." In the second season of the award-winning Canadian series, more terrifying secrets will be unveiled, that must be kept in the dark under all circumstances. New enemies take stage and new conflicts break open.
From 8 September 2010 on RTL Crime viewers will require a particularly strong set of nerves! After serial killer Ray,from the first season, goes to jail, a woman who puts everything in the shade with her behavior takes the stage. Therapist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes, known from "True Blood", "24") is a truly seductive opponent to Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon, known, among others, from "Flash Point") . Sexy, mysterious, and with murderous intent!
Mike is very depressed following the separation from his wife and easily becomes susceptible to his co-worker Pen's charms, who, a psychologist, acts as an advisor in their current investigation. However, the detective would never think it possible that Pen is very disturbed and poses life-threatening risk to him and his family... The depths of the human soul are opening up. An implacable war of life and death begins.
Michelle Forbes won the prize for Best Actress in the Monte Carlo TV Festival for her performance in the second season of "Durham County - In the frenzy of violence," Hugh Dillon was also nominated for Best Actor in Monte Carlo. The Directors Guild of Canada nominated the new season for Best Direction, Best Picture Editing and Best Production Design. The series' first season won the majority of TV awards for the 2008 season in Canada, including five Gemini Awards, among others for Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Direction. It was also named The Best Prime-Time Series in the field of drama at the "FTPA Indie Awards 2008".
@the RTL PR folks: We're glad our blog served as a prompter :D
* DC Season 2 DVD set went on sale in Canada today. From a DVD review: "Let’s just say if you can only make room for one new dramatic series in your schedule, let it be Durham County — it’s some of Canada’s finest television work." Source: tvguide.ca
* I'd love to write about the third season on this blog as well, but haven't found a smart way to assimilate it, mirandazero.blogspot was meant as a site covering the work of Michelle Forbes, after all. And her characters have, as we all know too well, the unfortunate tendency to end up dead. How dead? Ultimately and perfectly dead.
We 'could' rename the blog title to:
You Are On The Global Frequency Formerly known as: Michelle Forbes Community Blog
... and write about all the great stuff we love. What do you think?
Great news for all gamers & comic fans! Michelle is lending her unique voice to the iconic supervillain Circe, for the upcoming online action game, DC Universe™ Online, reports Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE).
"We’ve hit the jackpot with a full cast that are veterans of all the movies, TV shows, and games that our fans are crazy about,” said Sony Online Entertainment Vice President of Development John Blakely. “Several of these actors are recognized as the definitive voices for these characters, and will help us in creating an authentic and exciting experience for fans when they get in the game.”
The "triple-A cast of voice actors" also includes Mark Hamill (The Joker), Kevin Conroy (Batman), Adam Baldwin (Superman), Gina Torres (Wonder Woman) & James Marsters (Lex Luthor).
Michelle Forbes (Circe) – One of the industry’s most prolific actors, Forbes brings an intense quality to every role she tackles. She has appeared in such independent films as Kalifornia and Swimming with Sharks. Last year she made her debut in the groundbreaking HBO series True Blood starring as Maryann, a wealthy local who has mysterious intentions. She has also appeared as Kate Weston in the critically acclaimed HBO series In Treatment. In 2005, Forbes received rave reviews when she starred as Admiral Helena Cain in the intelligent and politically charged series Battlestar Galactica.
In DC Universe Online, players will be thrust headlong into an action-packed online world based on the heroes, villains and landmarks of the DC Universe. In the game, players step into the role of the next legendary superhero or villain and are given the choice to save or conquer the universe online. Along the way, players will be fighting alongside or against iconic DC characters as well as other players for the fate of the DC Universe. Source: blog.eu.playstation.com
Circe is, of course, inspired by the Greek goddess. An immortal sorceress, she can turn objects and people into animals, seduce and manipulate; she is a powerful arch-enemy of Wonder Woman.
Update! Exclusive 'Who Do You Trust' video. It's quite awesome, I must say. We catch a glimpse of Circe. Watch closely just past the 2 min mark. Delicious!
DCU Online release on November 2, 2010 for PS3 and PC. However, you can sign up for the beta right now! To register for beta access (both PS3 and PC) visit the game website at www.dcuniverseonline.com and click on the beta registration link.
And finally, the game will have a special collector’s edition available for PC only that will include a bitchin’ Batman statue designed by game director and artist extraordinaire Jim Lee. Also included will be a 56 page art book going over the making of the game, concept art and “insight into some of the iconic characters players will encounter.” Collector’s Edition buyers will also get a copy of the DC Universe Online: Legends issue #0 comic, written by Tony Bedard (Green Lantern Corps) and illustrated by Oliver Nome, Michael Lopez and Livio Ramondelli, with a variant by Jim Lee.
* A reader who wants to stay anonymous writes us: "I'm seriously missing the quizzes and giggle postings, bring it back!"
Uh ah, yeah that was fun, wasn't it? But, you know, we're a tad understaffed atm. Randy is enjoying life in the countryside, and my skills in writing something funny are fairly limited. Did you ever try to be humorous in your third language :p We could introduce a sort of "The five most crack-ups Or: When fangirling goes wrong". A la cracked.com. Btw, I've heard that Michelle called a few of her fans 'a wonderful bunch of nutters'. How sweet is that?
* Do you remember Kalifornia? A Blu-Ray edition has been released in Europe, and is expected in the US next month. More details on the sidebar.
Apropos. It would rock my (virtual) world if you would join us and submit a Revisited article. Come on, guys and gals, it can't be that hard. Homicide - Life on the Street, anyone? Kalifornia, Alias - anything but True Trash!
* German TV will finally air the second season of Durham County, it starts on RTL Crime 8 September 2010, 8:15 pm.
* On the sidebar you can follow the few things and updates I know about the FanExpo in Canada.- I'm still knitting and customizing the new blog template. You may have noticed that we can now create static pages (up to 10), apart from the normal postings, take a look at the tabs. Nice summer job for me :) I'm broke this year, thus no travelling, why not doing something useful on this site, hehe.
Subtlety is a forgotten art. Nature and landscapes have their own tales. Silence is not just another word. Melancholy can be beauty. I loved Dandelion.
Synopsis
In a small town of rolling fields and endless skies, isolated 16 year old Mason lives in a world where families exist in fragmented silence and love seems to have gone missing. Then Mason meets Danny, a sensitive and troubled girl, and their tender bond is soon tested after a fatal accident and a series of complications takes Mason away for something he didn't do. Upon his return, the two find what they're looking for - but with tragic consequences.
"The movie is rich with symbolism so subtle that it manages not to slap you in the face with obvious, cheesy links between each character and/or event, all while still pulling everything together, leaving no annoying loose ends to tie up in the end. The music was written for the movie, so it compliments the movie instead of distracting from it, and the scenery (as you'll read in many more reviews) is stunning."
"For all of those who have yet to see this, the movie opens with a very teary Vincent Kartheiser placing a .357 in his mouth and pulling the trigger. I was so amazed that I sat completely still waiting to see what would happen next.
I'm not typically a drama-movie guy. I like action, explosions, nudity, horror and just plain disgusting things in movies. This movie has very little if any of the afore mentioned things. What this movie does have though is amazing sense of compassion and real life circumstances that draw the viewer (this viewer at least) into this hypnotic trance where you just can't take your eyes off of the screen...
Let me also say that every character in this film is played fully and believably by the actors portraying them. The scenery from upper Washington and Idaho where it was shot adds so much to the film itself that I find it impossible to imagine this film being as believable and prolific if it were set anywhere else."
"Hauntingly Beautiful Portait of Love, Hope and Tragedy Will Capture Your Heart
Debut director/co-writer Mark Milgard masterfully makes the long hot summer of the lovely Idaho and Washington landscapes redolent with both the magic of young love and the dread of violence in a very "Days of Heaven" fashion. The perceptive camera fills in the silent gaps of the inarticulate characters, between parents and their teens, between parents and between teens. The sins of the parents are literally visited on the children. The action is moved along not by theatrically explosive explication but by the existential choice that each character makes, even as one gently points out that his passivity at a key point was a choice. Using cinema as a storytelling technique, the director unveils these choices visually."
Michelle Forbes as Mrs Voss in Dandelion:
"From the beautiful shots of Idaho fields to the perfectly understated acting, Dandelion is its own greatest compliment. The editing, although only using very few techniques succeeds in making the most powerful transitions possible. As well, for a movie of its length and bare bones story it is amazing that the film never feels boring. Most directors would have felt like making Dandelion a short, but in its full length one can see its true colors. Anyone who watches independent film will not be surprised by the plot, but the beauty with which Dandelion executes the simple story is a testament to artistic film making."
"I found this film to be intriguing. I relate to these characters and the place they find themselves stuck in. I appreciate the use of metaphor (guy at the train tracks, the beating a tractor with a shovel)and found the cinematography to be beautiful. The actors did a fantastic job of telling the story of these characters. I found each to develop through a series of emotions. Hurting, Angry, Happy, Good natured, fearless in the face of difficulty, honest, frightening, dangerous, under pressure, heart broken, in love, and many more I can't list here. This film is nothing like any other film and cannot be grouped with any other, it stands along in its expressiveness and investigation of the human condition. I think they have really created and captured something here and it takes someone with the ability for sensitive and artistic observation to catch it, slow down otherwise you won't get it."
"The cinematography is breathtaking."
What the critics are saying
"A Search for Human Connections in a West Where the Land Is Bleak and the Lives Are, Too
In a movie filled with long, pensive silences as the camera slowly pans over the land and sky, the characters' reluctance to speak borders on affectation. The cinematographer Tim Orr finds a bleak magnificence reminiscent of the cosmic melancholy evoked by Nestor Almendros's camera in Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven." The teenage protagonist of "Dandelion," Mason Mullich (Vincent Kartheiser), is a milky-skinned John-Boy Walton type mired in hopelessness. The film's opening scenes observe him alone in a field putting a gun into his mouth and rehearsing his suicide."
Source: nytimes.com
"Dandelion is one of those rare movies about and for teenagers that's driven by real human drama rather than by ancillary sales of soundtrack CDs and videogames. Milgard and his uniformly excellent team of actors invest the story with such emotional richness that, early on, we sense these characters are worth spending time with."
Source: variety.com
"There's nothing particularly earth-shattering about this gentle drama — there are no shocking revelations, no sudden explosions of violence — but Milgard has an unerring sense for the quietly dramatic. He's also got excellent taste in music — the soundtrack includes songs by Cat Power, Sparklehorse and Doves — while Tim Orr, who captured the real grit of New York City's Lower East Side in RAISING VICTOR VARGAS, and brought grace and beauty to David Gordon Green's otherwise overrated GEORGE WASHINGTON and ALL THE REAL GIRLS, just might be the best young cinematographer working today."
Source: tvguide.com
Director: Mark Milgard
Writers: Mark Milgard, Robb Williamson & Richard Murphy
Original Music by Robb Williamson
Cinematography by Tim Orr
Film Editing by Amy E. Duddleston
Cast
Mason Mullich - Vincent Kartheiser
Danny Voss - Taryn Manning
Luke Mullich - Arliss Howard
Layla Mullich - Mare Winningham
Eddie - Blake Heron
Mrs. Voss - Michelle Forbes
Uncle Bobby - Marshall Bell
Arlee - Shawn Reaves
Michelle Forbes won the prize for Best Actress in the Monte Carlo TV Festival for her performance in the second season of "Durham County - In the frenzy of violence," Hugh Dillon was also nominated for Best Actor in Monte Carlo. The Directors Guild of Canada nominated the new season for Best Direction, Best Picture Editing and Best Production Design. 
