All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
We're going to take a little break from the movies this week and give you lots of new TV to take in. Obviously, more film trailers came out than we've posted here, but do you really need us to give you the info on Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (both actual movies that are happening)? We didn't think so. There are definitely a few big screen projects we felt worthy of your time, but much like An En Vogue Christmas, this round belongs to the television contenders. And thus we leave you now in the capable hands of Timothy Olyphant, Lena Dunham, Tricia Helfer, and the Duplass brothers. Happy impending binge watching!
So, this franchise is totally still happening whether we want it to or not. Last time we saw the world of Divergent it was in tatters. Yeah, the United States existing as a withered shadow of its former self is, at baseline, pretty bad news, but the constructs put in place to govern what remains of society and keep its citizens alive and safe have now dissolved. A lot happened in the first movie, but also kind of nothing did, so here's what you need to know for the sequel: Tris (Shailene Woodley) has watched everything she grew up knowing burned to the ground by tyrannical forces, and now she, hand-in-hand with the boy she loves, Four (Theo James), are basically responsible for rallying all the freethinkers and peaceniks they can find to overthrow the malevolent regime that has risen to power. Considering the script from Divergent hit with the emotional weight of some wet bread dough, we're hoping reinforcements have been brought in to beef up the second installment of this franchise. Keep doing your best, Shailene!
Pause at: 0:17. Tris is short-hair serious now. Flying vegan to the rescue at 0:33!
Essential Quote: "Mom!"—Tris
It's no secret Adam Driver can do off-putting. Before his massive turnaround to become the heart and soul of the show Girls, his character was one of the most loathsome people on TV. But the fact that Driver could swing such a dramatic change and be so believable as both hero and heel truly speaks to his range and skill. That's what makes Hungry Hearts look so fantastic. Driver plays opposite Alba Rohrwacher as one half of a young married couple in New York City who have just welcomed their first child into the world. That may sounds like Girls, The Epilogue: Adam Grows Up, but the twist in this feature from Italian director Saverio Costanzo is that Rohrwacher's character slips into some sort of post-partum madness and the couple are forced into a standoff for the life of their child. It looks nerve-wracking and eerie and all together disturbing. We're in.
Pause at: 0:17 and 0:33. Bliss before the fall. At 0:54 ... Ummm? These are some crazy eyes at 1:30.
Essential Quote: “Are you consciously trying to kill our son?!” – Jude (Driver)
Raylan Givens is to Timothy Olyphant what Walter White is to Bryan Cranston; two-career defining performances that each actor had basically been building up to playing for their entire professional lives. But whereas Walter's saga had to come to an end so that we could all be relinquished from the anxiety death grip of his trials and tribulations, we could stand under that big hat with Raylan for all times. How about just a spinoff podcast? Storytime in the Holler with Raylan Givens. Anyway, the point is, Justified is coming back for its sixth and final season, and what could be more appropriate than a brawl for all between our favorite US Marshal and his frenemy/nemesis, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), to finish the whole thing off. Guest stars for the final season include Garret Dillahunt, who worked with Olyphant on WIRED house favorite Deadwood; Mary Steenburgen (who, honestly, there just isn't enough of anywhere); and Sam Elliott, who obviously should have been on this show the entire time. Way to save that one for the end, FX.
Pause at: 0:26. Yes, it is hot in here! It's a metaphor at 0:28! Where you going at 0:34, Ava?
Song: Cliff the Duke, "If I Live or If I Die"
In a fictionalized past version of 1963, the US government launched a secret starship called Ascension meant to take a 100-year journey out into the 'verse and establish a human colony on a new planet. The rub comes 50 years into the quest when a young woman is mysteriously murdered on board and the hundreds and hundreds of residents are left to question what they were really sent into the cosmos for. Sounds fun enough. We love us some space, after all, but the real news here is who's in the cast. Two words: Tricia. Helfer. Yup! Six is back on board a human colony vessel headed into the great wide unknown, and her character, Viondra Denniger, is described as "a beautiful, manipulative and dangerous power broker on the Ascension." Are you kidding?! Is this just fanfic meant to give Battlestar Galactica fans a six-part fix of their favorite beautiful, manipulative, and dangerous Cylon? We don't know whose idea this was, Syfy, but they deserve all the raises.
Pause at: 0:06 for some heavy kitsch. Is that you, Six, at 0:11?? Really creepy at 0:17. Totes Tricia at 0:27. Scary cool at 0:33.
Song: Neon Genesis Evangelion, "Fly Me To the Moon"
Essential Quote: "Ascension is a lifeboat for humanity."—XO Aaron Gault (Brandon P. Bell)
The whole summary for this show could have been "Duplass. HBO." and it would be a homerun. The brothers Mark and Jay are doing maximum duty for their new show, writing, directing, and executive producing the half-hour comedy, with Mark also playing one of the four leads. This leads us to wonder: What is Thanksgiving like for the Duplass family? Does everyone just sit around congratulating each other for being amazing? Does Game Night for the whole brood consist of story-breaking Pictionary wherein everyone contributes to the next poignant, charming, quirky, heart-warming enterprise? Either way, we want to be invited (next year!). Togetherness follows the lives of four middle-aged people living under one roof together. Duplass and the ever-effective Melanie Lynskey play Brett and Michelle, a married couple dealing with the grind of life and parenthood. And they have roommates in the form of Brett's best friend, Alex (Steve Zissis), and Michelle's sister Tina (Amanda Peet). First off, this is an understatedly outstanding cast. Second, it will be tucked right after Girls, providing a nice adult counterweight in the network's coming-of-age programming block. (We like you, Looking, but trailing Hannah and co. you were a little samey.) We plan on laughing, crying a little, and laughing some more.
Pause at: 0:18. Cool.
Song: Neulore, "Shadow of a Man"
Essential Quote: "Just fake it! Do you see this smile? I'm dead inside."—Tina
Hannah Horvath (Lena Dunham) is back on the scene, except this time, the scene is in Iowa, where she's gone to become a real, live writer. But the whole gang, save Elijah (Andrew Rannells), is still back in the Big Apple—including Adam (the aforementioned Adam Driver). Marnie (Allison Williams) is continuing to pursue her dreams of singing, and finding support in the arms of her already spoken-for acoustic guitar hero. Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) is on the job hunt. Jessa (Jemima Kirke) is drifting (as Jessa always does). And Ray (Alex Karpovsky), we can assume, is brooding. America will continue to debate whether they love to hate or hate to love Dunham's pseudo-biographical brain child, but we can be sure of one thing: She will keep them talking all season long. Tip of that cap to you, Ms. Dunham.
Pause at: 0:47 for Elijah being Elijah. The usual at 0:50 and 0:51. Oddly, Shosh is having trouble being taken seriously at 1:04 and 1:07. Jessa and Adam are probably a bad idea for a dynamic duo, see 1:11. Oh, snap at 1:13!
Song: Nico Vega, "I Believe (Get Over Yourself)"
Essential Quote: "To Hannah! Taking the next step in a series of random steps!"—Adam
Titus Welliver, in addition to having one of the best names in Hollywood, is best known for his role as The Man in Black on Lost. That's not a bad thing, but it's kind of a shame considering this guy's had a long career. He's been a working actor on the TV circuit since the early 1990s, putting time in on shows like NYPD Blue, Deadwood, and a ton of other small parts on all manner of shows. Titus Welliver gets the job done, dammit. So it's great to see him in a leading man role for this Amazon pilot that got picked up for series. Bosch chronicles the life of an LAPD homicide detective named Harry Bosch, and focuses in particular on his work to solve the murder of a 13-year-old boy. But because you don't cast Welliver and his steely glare to play the uncompromised squeaky clean guy, he's also on trial for the murder of a serial killer. The character of Harry Bosch is actually the hero of 17 novels written by Michael Connelly, and this is the first foray onto screen for the character. We.re optimistic about it, and hopefully longtime fans of the Bosch chronicles will feel well served by this adaptation.
Pause at: 0:43—Welliver glower!
Song: Caught a Ghost, "Can't Let Go"
Essential Quote: "I believe you find the justice you can in this life, not the next one."—Detective Harry Bosch
Marion Cotillard. Just putting her name in the same sentence as your movie is a quick way to generate some Oscar buzz. It doesn't make sense that a person can be this radiant and this talented and also willing to make a promotional video for "Forehead Tittaes" with Funny or Die. No sense at all! And as we saw in her Oscar-winning performance as renowned French songbird Edith Piaf, Cotillard hits hardest when she's dressing it down (the Academy does love a make-under, after all). For Two Days, One Night, Cotillard is going working class as a woman, Sandra, who's recently returned to work after an extended medical leave. In her absence, the company realized it could make do with one less worker, but instead of just letting her go, management is leaving it up to her coworkers to vote on her fate: vote Sandra off the island and collect a bonus, or let her stay and forfeit the extra money. What a major dick move. Sandra now has one weekend to track down each of her coworkers and campaign for her livelihood. Cotillard, beseeching her friends and peers through those big, weeping eyes will surely require a tissue box.
Pause at: 0:34. The heartbreak is beginning. And continues at 1:12.
Song: Petula Clark, "La Nuit N'en Finit Plus"
Essential Quote: "You mustn't cry"—Sandra, asking herself to keep it together far better than we will
"What if En Vogue got back together to do a Christmas show to save the opera house?" Let's find out, shall we!
Pause at: 0:11 to free your mind!
Song: En Vogue, "Free Your Mind" and "Oh, Holy Night"
Essential Quote: "I guess we're doing a show."—En Vogue
