Moviefone Editorial

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  • ‘True Detective’ Renewed for a Fifth Season at HBO

    Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    (L to R) Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    Preview:

    • ‘True Detective’ will return for Season 5.
    • ‘Night Country’ showrunner Issa López is once more overseeing the series.
    • It’s not yet known if it’ll continue Season 4’s story or start fresh.

    If you were a fan of Season 4 of HBO series ‘True Detective’ subtitled ‘Night Country’ –– and the viewership figures suggest plenty of people enjoyed it –– there is good news.

    The cable channel has commissioned a fifth season of the series, with ‘Night Country’ showrunner Issa López returning to run it as part of her overall deal with the company.

    Related Article: TV Review: ‘True Detective: Night Country’

    What was the story of ‘True Detective: Night Country’?

    Jodie Foster in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Jodie Foster in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    ‘Night Country’ brought us to Ennis, Alaska, where the sun sets on December 17 and doesn’t rise again until after the New Year. On the third day of night, police chief Liz Danvers is called to the scene of a strange maybe-crime: the Tsalal Arctic Research Station, home to eight scientists who spend their days investigating arctic biology, geology, and the impacts of climate change.

    But when Danvers arrives, all eight are missing. They’ve left behind their access passes, their cell phones, an uneaten sandwich; it’s as if the entire group has simply vanished into thin air. To solve the case, Detectives Danvers and Evangeline Navarro will have to confront the darkness themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.

    Starring Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, Fiona Shaw and John Hawkes, the season has been warmly received critics, and set viewership records for HBO, with 12.7 million cross platform viewers.

    What will the story be for ‘True Detective’ Season 5?

    'True Detective: Night Country’ Showrunner Issa López.
    ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Showrunner Issa López. Photo: Chino Lemus/HBO.

    Nothing was included in HBO’s announcement about the new season regarding a storyline. Assuming it keeps to ‘True Detective’ tradition, Season 5 will be a completely new setting with a fresh set of characters.

    Here’s what López had to say about the news:

    “From conception to release, ‘Night Country’ has been the most beautiful collaboration and adventure of my entire creative life. HBO trusted my vision all the way, and the idea of bringing to life a new incarnation of ‘True Detective’ with Casey, Francesca and the whole team is a dream come true. I can’t wait to go again.”

    And here’s HBO head of drama series Francesca Orsi on the renewal:

    “Issa Lopez is that one-of-a-kind, rare talent that speaks directly to HBO’s creative spirit. She helmed ‘True Detective: Night Country’ from start to finish, never once faltering from her own commendable vision, and inspiring us with her resilience both on the page and behind the camera. Alongside Jodie and Kali’s impeccable performances, she’s made this installation of the franchise a massive success, we are so lucky to have her as part of our family.”

    When will ‘True Detective’ Season 5 be on screens?

    HBO has yet to announce a date for Season 5, though since it has yet to be cast or shot, we predict it won’t land until 2025 at the earliest.

    Kali Reis in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Kali Reis in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

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  • TV Review: ‘True Detective: Night Country’

    Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    (L to R) Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    Premiering on Max January 14th, ‘True Detective: Night Country’ offers a very different spin on the usual mystery story, one that draws upon the eternal clash between modern progress and native lands, between parents and children, and between the forces of right and wrong, even as the main characters sometimes cross those lines.

    Built around a typically excellent performance by Jodie Foster, in what might be her most iconic law enforcement role since Clarice Starling of ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, the new ‘True Detective’ pivots away from creator Nic Pizzolatto’s seasons of the show to focus instead on a stranger mystery –– time might have been a flat circle in the first season, but here it is frozen in ice.

    Does ‘True Detective: Night Country’ find the light in the darkness?

    Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    (L to R) Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    As mentioned, this will feel very different to past ‘True Detective’ seasons. While the show has generally re-invented itself with each iteration (from the Louisiana-set first to the California-inflected second and Ozarks-featuring third), incoming showrunner Issa López maintains what worked about particularly the first and third seasons while imbuing the fourth with her own particular viewpoint and energy.

    And filming in Iceland –– standing in for the fictional Alaskan town of Ennis –– gives the new season a distinctly different look too, its dark, snowy night-time setting upping the stakes for the officers and locals as they try to figure out what exactly is going on in this frosty, close-knit community.

    ‘True Detective: Night Country’ : Script and Direction

    Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    (L to R) Kali Reis and Jodie Foster in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    In addition to running the show (and having a hand in all the scripts alongside writers Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Chris Mundy, Katrina Albright and Wenonah Wilms), López directs all six episodes of this new season.

    And the result is a hauntingly consistent look for the story, which makes full use of the gloomy, doomy landscape against which the mystery takes place. This is a haunting and haunted place, which makes for a fascinating backdrop for a neo-noir. The writers’ minds are full of conflict and survival, and subplots about protests against a local mining operation and the strange case of the frozen lab staff give the narrative plenty of weight.

    Related Article: 10 Things We Learned at the ’Nyad’ Press Conference with Annette Bening and Jodie Foster

    ‘True Detective: Night Country’: Performances

    Jodie Foster in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Jodie Foster in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    Foster, in a very rare TV performance (she’s primarily been a director on the small screen) and, in concert with López’ writing, her Liz Danvers is a fine creation, weather-beaten and careworn, not afraid to bend the rules to do her job and with little time for the fantastical theories others suggest as to what happened to the victims in her cases.

    She’s also dealing with her step-daughter, Leah (Isabella Star LaBlanc), a young woman caught between her native heritage, her anger at the world and her own new romance. Their dynamic is complicated and truthful, and while it sometimes slips into expected teen-parent cycles, it’s always involving.

    But while this is often the Jodie Foster show, that’s not to say that the rest of the ensemble doesn’t match up to her level. Kali Reis is the intense, torn trooper Evangeline Navarro, once a close colleague of Danvers whose relationship with her after a particularly tragic case, is now frostier than the air they breathe. Reis brings a damaged vulnerability to the role, cloaked in a steel attitude towards her job and those who would hurt her family. She certainly gets her moments to shine.

    John Hawkes in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    John Hawkes in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    While Reis might be less familiar to some, there is also a host of “it’s-that-person” character actors to bring smaller parts to life with their usual care and attention. John Hawkes plays Hank Prior, one of Danvers’ direct colleagues, whose approach to law enforcement is decidedly more macho. He oozes toxic masculinity (which Hawkes portrays perfectly despite his wiry frame), his manner nevertheless hiding his own damage, yearning for love he can’t quite make work.

    Then there’s Christopher Eccleston (best known for the likes of ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Leftovers’), as Danvers’ superior, with whom she has a complicated relationship. He’s a perfectly-judged mix of authority figure and ridiculous doofus. Fiona Shaw, meanwhile, is Rose Aguineau, who lives on the outskirts of town and appears to see visions of the dead. It’s a role that Shaw fully engages with.

    Beyond the core cast, there is a tapestry of bro-style hunters and some compelling native characters, who appear to offer clues to what is really going on.

    ‘True Detective: Night Country’: Final Thoughts

    Kali Reis in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Kali Reis in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    Bold and melancholic, with some wonderfully pitched performances and well-realized detail, the new run of ‘True Detective’ is a more than worthwhile addition to the show’s canon. It’s great to see Jodie Foster given another meaty role to get her teeth into, and she’s aided by a top-notch ensemble.

    It’s certainly not going to be comfort watching, but then do you expect that from a ‘True Detective’ tale?

    ‘True Detective: Night Country’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

    Fiona Shaw in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Fiona Shaw in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

    What’s the story of ‘True Detective: Night Country’?

    In Ennis, Alaska, the sun sets on December 17 and won’t rise again until after the New Year. On the third day of night, police chief Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) is called to the scene of a strange maybe-crime: the Tsalal Arctic Research Station, home to eight scientists who spend their days investigating arctic biology, geology, and the impacts of climate change.

    But when Danvers arrives, all eight are missing. They’ve left behind their access passes, their cell phones, an uneaten sandwich; it’s as if the entire group has simply vanished into thin air. To solve the case, Detectives Danvers and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) will have to confront the darkness themselves and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.

    Who is in ‘True Detective: Night Country’?

    Jodie Foster stars in the series as Danvers, with Kali Reis as Navarro. The cast also includes Fiona Shaw, Isabella Star, Christopher Eccleston, John Hawkes, Finn Bennett, Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna and Joel Montgrand.

    Christopher Eccleston in HBO's 'True Detective: Night Country.'
    Christopher Eccleston in HBO’s ‘True Detective: Night Country.’ Photo: Michele K. Short/HBO.

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  • ‘Deadwood’ Forever: Other Great Performances By The HBO Series’ Cast Members

    ‘Deadwood’ Forever: Other Great Performances By The HBO Series’ Cast Members

    HBO

    Today HBO’s acclaimed series “Deadwood” comes at long last to an end with a two-hour film reuniting its colorful characters one last time. At the time of its premiere 14 years ago, many of its leads were hard-working character actors hoping for a breakout role, while others were longtime performers looking for a comeback. Creator and showrunner David Milch gave each of them unforgettable calling cards that exploded and expanded their careers, opening doors on television shows and movies alike. To commemorate the series’ overdue conclusion, Moviefone scoured the filmographies of the show’s incredible cast for some of the incredible work they did before, during and especially after appearing on one of the most groundbreaking, mesmerizing television shows ever.

    Lionsgate

    Ian McShane – “Sexy Beast” (2000), “John Wick” (2014)

    It’s hard to believe that the would-be star of “Deadwood” went 13 years (from 1987 to 2000) without a film credit given his mesmerizing screen presence, but McShane’s comeback feels especially appropriate: in Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast,” he plays a stoic mob boss who does and says almost nothing, and still manages to be absolutely terrifying. He’d later provide echoes of both that role and his “Deadwood” turn as Continental manager Winston in the action-packed “John Wick” franchise.

    20th Century Fox

    Timothy Olyphant – “The Girl Next Door” (2004), “Justified” (2010)

    When “Deadwood” was cancelled after its third season, Olyphant moved on to a familiar, equally memorable challenge with the acclaimed television series “Justified,” where he again played a rigid lawman. But immediately before starting on Milch’s show, he stole Luke Greenfield’s “Risky Business” riff “The Girl Next Door” as a calculating, charismatic pimp who throws a wrench into the plans of an overachieving high school senior.

    Netflix

    Molly Parker – “The Center of the World” (2001)

    Molly Parker has, for most of her career, been a bit of an indie darling, so it comes as no surprise that years before joining Milch’s show, she already transfixed audiences in Wayne Wang’s idiosyncratic drama about a Vegas stripper who confounds a dot-com millionaire who hires her to spend the weekend with him.

    Showtime

    Paula Malcolmson – “The Hunger Games” (2012), “Ray Donovan” (2013)

    Like many of the show’s stars, Malcolmson went on to appear in a number of high profile television series, including “Ray Donovan,” where she has a starring role opposite Liev Schreiber. But prior to that, she signed on for a choice gig as Katniss Everdeen’s troubled mother in the “Hunger Games” franchise.

    Roadside Attractions

    John Hawkes – “Winter’s Bone” (2010), “Martha Marcy May Marlene” (2011)

    Few actors even on this show have the versatility of the great John Hawkes, who went on to play a terrifying meth addict opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Debra Granik’s “Winter’s Bone,” and followed up that performance with another one as a charismatic, mysterious cult leader in Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene.”

    Momentum Pictures

    Dayton Callie – “Abattoir” (2016)

    Callie has long been one of Milch’s repertory players, popping up over and over again in his various television projects. But in Darren Lynn Bousman and Chris Monfette’s “Abattoir,” he plays the mysterious caretaker of a house built out of rooms where terrible things happened, and he effortlessly conveys the menace and gravitas of that responsibility.

    Warner Bros.

    Brad Dourif – “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975), “Child’s Play” (1988)

    Dourif’s Doc Cochran was often the heart of Milch’s series, which may come as a surprise to fans of his earlier work, which includes his breakthrough turn as a delicate mental patient opposite Jack Nicholson in Milos Forman’s 1975 Oscar winner, as well as the voice of iconic movie monster Chucky in the “Child’s Play” films.

    Radius-TWC

    Robin Weigert – “The Good German” (2006), “Synecdoche, New York” (2008), “Concussion” (2010)

    Weigert’s Calamity Jane stole many scenes — and hearts — over the series’ three seasons, and she has quietly done the same in a number of acclaimed movies, disappearing into roles in Steven Soderbergh’s exercise in period filmmaking “The Good German,” Charlie Kaufman’s melancholy mind-bender “Synecdoche” before breaking out again in the lesbian drama “Concussion.”

    20th Century Fox

    W. Earl Brown – “There’s Something About Mary” (1998) 

    As Al Swearengen’s Number Two, Dan, Brown was forced to tackle some tough challenges, but he’d already proven himself more than capable in a variety of movie and TV roles, perhaps most notably playing Warren, the disabled brother of Cameron Diaz’ Mary in the Farrelly brothers’ raunchy but as always surprisingly sweet 1998 comedy.

    Warner Bros.

    William Sanderson – “Blade Runner” (1982), “Newhart” (1982)

    More than two decades before playing the Grand Hotel’s oily, scheming proprietor E.B. Farnum, Sanderson became known to moviegoers as the tender, troubled inventor J.F. Sebastian in Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking sci-fi classic, and then pulled a 180 in more than 90 episodes of the sitcom “Newhart” playing Larry, the dimwitted brother to two Darryls.

    20th Century Fox

    Kim Dickens – “Gone Girl” (2014)

    Kim Dickens is one of Hollywood’s most reliable character actors, appearing in films and television roles with equal ease and skill. For David Fincher, she played a doubtful detective searching for clues in the disappearance of Nick Dunne’s wife Amy before winning acclaim in not one but two popular television series, “House of Cards” and “Fear the Walking Dead.”

    Orion Pictures

    Ricky Jay – “House of Games” (1987), “Boogie Nights” (1997)

    Ricky Jay’s pedigree as one of David Mamet’s regular played made him ideal for the role of a smart-talking card sharp and hustler in “Deadwood,” but he had already convincingly played a con artist in Mamet’s breakthrough film “House of Games,” and delivered a decidedly more avuncular performance as Jack Horner’s unflappable cinematographer in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to the 1970s porn industry “Boogie Nights.”

    Paramount Vantage

    Garret Dillahunt – “No Country For Old Men” (2007), “The Assassination of Jesse James” (2007), “Raising Hope” (2014), “Widows” (2018)

    Few actors got a bigger bounce from “Deadwood” than Dillahunt, who was so good that Milch killed him off and then brought him back in another role. Just a year after the show ended he delivered memorable turns for both the Coen brothers and Andrew Dominik in two more Western-themed projects, then transitioned into a sitcom star with “Raising Hope” before delivering a powerful supporting performance as a dedicated but feckless driver in Steve McQueen’s feminist crime film “Widows.”

  • Jake Gyllenhaal Is ‘Not a Big Fan of Heights’

    Jake Gyllenhaal Is ‘Not a Big Fan of Heights’

    Jake Gyllenhaal is about as high on the Hollywood totem pole as anyone can be, but just don’t get him high in the air.

    “I’m not a big fan of heights,” the heartthrob confesses Tuesday to Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show.” “I don’t mind being high up, but I don’t like heights. Like, I don’t like hanging off of something.”

    Gyllenhaal explains: “Sometimes when you’re driving across a bridge you see the top of the bridge and you think, ‘Wow, if I walked up there.’ Some people think, ‘I could do that really easily. I wouldn’t be nervous,’” adding, “I don’t think I’d be able to do that.”

    His distaste for heights could have brought on a big problem while starring as a mountain guide in “Everest,” a movie centered around the eponymous mountain peak, the highest point in the world.

    He was somewhat prepared for the film, he says, because he and some of the cast and crew actually went mountain climbing.

    “I think playing a character, you should transform yourself,” Gyllenhaal says. “Some things call for you to do things, internally and externally, sometimes not at all, sometimes you have to,” he says of facing his aversion to heights,” adding, “I have a vision of a character and what that character should be and sometimes I go and follow.”

    In “Everest,” Gyllenhaal stars opposite Keira Knightley and Robin Wright in the true story that chronicles the survival of climbers trapped on the peak of Mount Everest during a 1996 snow storm. Costarring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington and Emily Watson, the film hits theaters on Sept. 18.

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