Hollywood insiders were surprised last fall to hear that NCIS, a series in its ninth season that has pretty much always flown underneath the radar, was suddenly the number one scripted show on television. But it completely makes sense once you consider that the show’s audience transcends demographics and includes both men and women, young and old, rich and poor, Republican or Democrat. In fact, the show will reach a unique and honored television milestone when it airs its 200th episode of the series tonight, February 7^th on CBS.

The show revolves around a fictional team of special agents located in Washington D.C. known as the Major Case Response Team, a division of the primary security, counter-intelligence, counter-terrorist and law-enforcement agency of the U.S. Department of the Navy. They are basically the people who deal with high-profile shenanigans. The team is comprised of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon, The Presidio), Special Agent “Tony” DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly, Dark Angel), Timothy McGee (Sean Murray, JAG), Goth-chick Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette, The Ring), Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum, The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) and his assistant, Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).

I recently had the chance to speak with actor Brian Dietzen about his role on NCIS and the show's longevity. The actor discussed the popular series, his character, it’s upcoming 200th episode, what it’s like to speak to fans that happen to be in the military, and working with fellow actor David McCallum.

ABC’s Castle keeps getting it right by constantly keeping it fresh and next week’s brand new film noir episode that takes us back in a time machine to the 1940’s is no exception. Entitled The Blue Butterfly, fans will get to follow novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), as they investigate the killing of a treasure hunter. In true Castle-style, there is an ominous twist when they discover that the current case is linked to a mysterious homicide from 1947 that involved a hard-nosed private detective. Of course with Castle on the case, all involved are lured into his theory that the only way in which to solve this present-day murder is to solve the mystery from the past. Through stylized flashbacks with Castle as the private eye and Beckett as a femme fatale, the 1947 case is resurrected.

Cast member Tamala Jones (Medical Examiner, Lanie Parish) speaks about her character’s 1947 alter-ego as well as this most special of episodes that she is calling her all-time favorite. “We had the best time ever making this one! This is my personal favorite and everyone is just going to love it!” Excited that Mark Pellegrino (Lost, Supernatural, The Closer) is guest starring as Tom Dempsey, she says of his performance, “He plays a mean gangster that owns the nightclub that my character, Betsy, sings in.” Also guest starring in this episode are Patrick Cassidy as Clyde Belasco, Chad Everett as Jerry Maddox, Ellen Geer as Viola Maddox and Darin Toonder as Frankie.

Definitely not a show about forgiveness, ABC’s saucy new hit Revenge is successfully quenching the insatiable appetites of fans that cannot wait from week to week to see what could possibly be happening next in the Hamptons. Speaking with Gabriel Mann, who portrays the naughty-but-also-nice Nolan Ross, many questions were asked and answered. Well, answered to as much of a degree as he was allowed.

Mann says of his role as Nolan, “I’ve been given a goldmine with this character.” Laughing he adds, “If I crack up and can’t get through my lines during the table reads then I know we have a winner.” In regards to reading the scripts, he says that he constantly marvels at the brilliant dialogue. “I get to say that on network television?” 

With a restrained glance to the side and a unique shake-shrug of the shoulder that only Mann can pull off, he conveys to his audience the many facets of his complex character in a way that is both charming and telling of just enough so that you are privy to the fact that there is so much more to Nolan Ross than first meets the eye. Not always aware that he is even doing this, he explains, “I’ve ingested him at this point.” Of creating a character, he adds, “You take the character and you flesh it out.  My job is to find as much humanity within this eccentric guy. Who’s the guy behind this façade and what’s his driving force?”

Crime movies are a captivating genre because they are the perfect holdall; a crime thriller can be altogether suspenseful and grotesque and profound, a reflection of our dual humanity. It is in this spirit that Ami Canaan Mann (Morning, Friday Night Lights) helmed Texas Killing Fields, which is available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning January 31st, and is the director's follow-up feature film after more than a decade of writing and directing for TV.

The seedling for the script is found in Texas City, the outskirts of which harbor a massive, haunting field with a macabre history. Over sixty murders were dumped within this region, known by locals as the Killing Fields and it was from this that director/producer Michael Mann (Thief, Heat) was inspired to commission a script. Like a lot of movies in Hollywood, it took years for all the right particles to come together and greenlight a story into creation but when it finally did, the story succeeded in its director’s aim to do three important things: do right by the families of the real victims, put a face to the victims of sexual assault murders, and to evoke the horror of the story in a sophisticated, non-procedural manner.

To achieve all that, Texas Killing Fields makes use of the genre’s elasticity. On the one hand, you have the high-stakes plot: the story focuses on two detectives, committed to finding the culprit of a murder that had been dumped in the field, who end up having to race the clock in order to save the life of another potential Killing Field victim, played by Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass). Sam Worthington (Avatar) plays Detective Mike Souder, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) plays his partner, Brian Heigh, and Jessica Chastain (The Help) plays the former-Mrs.-Souder, Detective Pam Stall.

Director David Frankel first gained attention as a filmmaker for his 1995 movie Miami Rhapsody starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Antonio Banderas, but it was the 1996 short film Dear Diary that won the filmmaker his Academy Award. And Frankel would also go on to earn an Emmy Award for directing the pilot episode of HBO’s Entourage. He eventually returned to making feature films in 2006 with the Academy Award nominated movie The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. The director followed that up in 2008 with the extremely popular Marley & Me starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Both films became cultural icons and earned $326 million and $242 million, respectively, at the box office.

Last fall, Frankel released the ensemble comedy The Big Year, which will be available on Blu-ray and DVD January 31^st. The film follows a group of bird enthusiasts set on a “Big Year,” a quest to outdo each other by finding the most species of birds in North America. However, their competition becomes an allegory for the challenges that they all face in their own lives. The film features and impressive cast of comedic and dramatic actors including Steve Martin (The Jerk), Jack Black (School of Rock), Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers), Rashida Jones (The Muppets), Rosamund Pike (Barney’s Version), JoBeth Williams (Fever Pitch), Jim Parsons (TV’s The Big Bang Theory), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou?), Joel McHale (TV’s Community), Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects), Anthony Anderson (The Departed), Corbin Bernsen (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy), and Academy Award winners Dianne Wiest (The Birdcage), and Anjelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums).

I recently had a chance to speak with director David Frankel about The Big Year, as well as a few of his upcoming projects. The director spoke candidly with me about his most resent film, birding, working with three comedic geniuses, the rest of the film’s outstanding cast, Jack Black’s surprising dramatic skills, Frankel’s upcoming film Great Hope Springs, and his proposed adaptation of the popular fantasy book series Septimus Heap.

I recently had the immense pleasure of speaking with one of my all time favorite actors, Titus Welliver, about his prolific and impressive television work. But as accomplished as his TV resume is, the actor has just as distinguished of a film and stage career. Welliver first gained attention in the groundbreaking off-Broadway play “Riff Raff,” which was written, directed and co-starred actor Laurence Fishburne. He would eventually reprise the critically acclaimed role that he originated on stage as the sympathetic drug addict and part-time thief Billy “The Torch’ Murphy in the film adaptation of the play entitled Once in the Life, which also starred Fishburne and marked his feature film directorial debut. In fact, while the actor and I were chatting about the making of Once in the Life and his work in "Riff Raff," which also happens to be my all time favorite stage play, the actor happened to mention that he and Fishburne are discussing doing a revival of the show. “I have to say Laurence and I have been sort of toying with the idea of doing the play again even though it's been about twelve years since we made the film,” Welliver admitted.

While the actor is probably best known for his extensive television work that includes playing Silas Adams on HBO’s Western-based series Deadwood, the pivotal role of Kyle Hollis on the brilliant but short-lived NBC series Life, season three villain Jimmy O’Phelan on FX’s motorcycle gang series Sons of Anarchy, a recurring role on the current Fox series Touch with Kiefer Sutherland, and of course, as the Man in Black (A.K.A. the Smoke Monster) on ABC’s cultural phenomenon Lost. But he’s also appeared in many popular feature films including The Doors, Mobsters, Twisted, Assault on Precinct 13, and most recently Man on a Ledge, which opened on January 27^th and is in theaters now. But his most famous film roles have come from his collaborations with fellow actor and now critically acclaimed writer/director Ben Affleck. Welliver first appeared in Affleck’s Boston-based directorial debut Gone Baby Gone as Lionel McCready, and also appeared as FBI agent Dino Ciampa in The Town (also set in the Boston area) opposite Jon Hamm (TV’s Mad Men). Now, Welliver will achieve the hat trick by also appearing in Affleck’s upcoming third directorial effort Argo, which will be the first of his films, as a director, not set in Massachusetts.

Beauty and the Beast was re-released in 3D to theatres everywhere on January 13th, and it has been doing remarkably well, though, honestly, it’s renewed success is no surprise. Beauty and the Beast may have been produced before Pixar’s time, making its sheen different than animations developed in this millennium, but certain elements of its story transcend the visual, hitting all kinds of notes that have proven timeless over the years.

For one, Beauty and the Beast is much darker than other animated features. It’s gothic allusions and brooding characters make it an animated feature that twinkles a little more darkly amongst the Disney renaissance repertoire, making it unlike any movie before or after it. Further, the movie’s heroine is the quintessential odd-girl-out, which is a starting point to any good gothic romance; it takes an interesting character to understand and grow intimate with another interesting character. Beauty and the Beast also marks the first time a “Disney Princess” is rewarded for favoring reading and her imagination, and not for simply being the town beauty. Then, there is the issue of the movie’s villainy. At times it seems as if it’s both the Beast and Gaston, the heroine’s ardent suitor, making this Disney classic a movie about redemption and the danger of committing erroneous and superficial judgments about the people you encounter. Indeed, the creators of Beauty and the Beast produced something truly unique by charging a gloomy fairy tale with modern sensibilities.

Oh, and then there’s the music! Really, its accolades speak louder. Beauty and the Beast won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture –Musical or Comedy, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. It was also the first animated motion picture nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (the only other animated feature to ever gain this honor was Up in 2009). It ended up sweeping the Oscars by winning the Academy Award for Best Music - Original Score, and the Academy Award for Best Music - Original Song.

With all of the renewed interest in this wonderful movie recently, I got the chance to speak on behalf of IAR with the inimitable Robby Benson, who voiced the part of The Beast and is an artistic force in his own right. Benson spoke about watching his children’s growth parallel the success of the Beauty and the Beast legacy, his thoughts about being a successful voice actor, and about what it means to be a creative person.

Fans of the Paranormal Activity franchise will soon be able to possess their own copy of the third film in the series as Paranormal Activity 3 becomes available on Blu-ray and DVD beginning January 24th. In honor of this monumental event, the creator of the series, and several actors from the franchise assembled at Hollywood’s legendary Roosevelt Hotel recently (on Friday, January 13^th in fact) to discuss the success of the series and drop a few hints about the unenviable Paranormal Activity 4.

Along with several other members of the press, IAR attended the “Tea with Toby,” which is of course named after the demonic entity featured in the films. Tea, coffee, cheese and dessert were served while we all sat down at a table that had seating cards with our individual names printed on them. A special spot at the table was reserved for our host – Toby, but he never made his presence known.

On hand was series creator Oren Peli, as well as actors Katie Featherston, Micha Sloat, and Chris Smith. Also in attendance were Chloe Csengery and Jessica Tyler Brown, the young actresses that play Katie and Kristi, respectively, as children in the most recent film.