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With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

City of Tiny Lights (Pete Travis)

Small-time private detective Tommy Akhtar (Riz Ahmed) has all the swagger of a hard-boiled snoop: leather jacket on his shoulders and cigarette in his mouth, leaning against London architecture in the darkened night. His office resides above some shops, he makes friendly with local convenience store owner Mrs. Elbaz (Myriam Acharki), and asks new clients where they found him because he’s not advertising in the paper.

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably.

For being a summer month, July only having two sequels (yes, An Inconvenient Sequel in limited release on the 28th counts) and one reboot is kind of an astonishing realization.

It’s a tough market for originality out there, but maybe we’re turning a corner. A24 is bringing its niche auteurs to wide release, big studios like Warner Bros. are affording A-listers the room for passion projects, and no matter how misguided The Emoji Movie (July 28) seems, the reality of it not having a number after its...

“Untamed” is an appropriate description of Amat Escalante’s latest film, which uses a relatively benign plotline — an unhappy couple have secrets to spare, and then a compelling newcomer arrives in their town — to frame up one of the most wild films of the year.

“The Untamed” follows married couple Alejandra and Angel, who are struggling to connect thanks to both petty domestic squabbles and a massive mystery that could upend not just their relationship, but their entire family and their provincial city. When the mysterious Veronica arrives and befriends Alejandra’s brother Fabian, she introduces some unexpected new elements into everyone’s lives, and no one will be the same. Sounds standard, right? Hardly.

Read More: 10 Great Erotic Thrillers to Stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime Right Now

Soon, Veronica and her new acquaintances are trotting off into the nearby woods — where, not to worry, a meteorite has recently landed — to meet a mysterious creature that offers up both pleasure (yes, that kind) and pain to the various people who come to interact with it, including Alejandra, Angel, and Fabian. Part horror story, part sci-fi outing, and part “wait, what the hell is that thing?,” the film deftly blends relatable problems with some very out of the box solutions.

The film was a hit on the festival circuit, where it earned Escalante accolades at events as diverse as Fantastic Fest (so you know it’s insane) and Venice (where the director won the Silver Lion and was nominated for both the Golden Lion and the Queer Lion), and it’s now bound for a limited release, all the better to hit more audiences right in the ol’ shock and awe.

Put it this way: you’re guaranteed to gasp at least once — a big one, borne of shock and maybe fear — during this trailer, and this is just two minutes of the entire film. Check it out below, and prepare yourself.

“The Untamed” will hit limited release on Friday, July 21.

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Related storiesHere Are The 555 Times Michael Bay Has Used Product Placement -- Watch'Columbus' Trailer: Discover Why This John Cho Drama Is One of the Great Indie Debuts of 2017'Person to Person' Trailer: Michael Cera Stars In A Summer Indie That Evokes the Best of Woody Allen...

The ensemble comedy drama explores intersecting lives in New York City

The post New York Stories Intersect in the Person to Person Trailer appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.

Lineup Announcements

– Sundance Institute and Picturehouse have announced that the 2017 Sundance Film Festival: London will open with the European premiere of “Beatriz at Dinner.”

The film world premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA, and will be introduced to London audiences by director Miguel Arteta, screenwriter Mike White, and lead actress Salma Hayek on June 1 at Picturehouse Central.

– The American Pavilion has announced its 2017 lineup for the American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase. The impressive program features 25 short documentary and narrative films by up-and-coming filmmakers from the U.S. and around the world, all of which will screen at The American Pavilion during the Cannes Film Festival. More information about the showcase and links to view the films’ trailers are available at its official site.

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveriesNEWSThe Summer Is GoneCineuropa reports on an open letter of protest by "500 Portuguese and international personalities from the film industry" over "a new amendment to the [Portuguese] film law, which relieves national film body the Ica of the responsibility of choosing the juries for the institution’s financial support schemes." The proposed shift in approval power is a significant one, and the protest has drawn signatures from such figures as Leos Garax, Pedro Almodóvar, Aki Kaurismäki.The lineup for New Directors/New Films, New York's annual collaboration between the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, is announced and looks great, including Notebook favorites Person to Person (Dustin Guy Defa), Arábia (João Dumans & Affonso Uchoa), The Dreamed Path (Angela Schenelac), The Future Perfect (Nele Wohlatz), and The Summer Is Gone (Dalei Zhang). Recommended VIEWINGThe trailer for It Comes At Night,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveriesNEWSJohn Hurt and Emmanuelle RivaCurrently, due to American President Donald Trump's executive travel ban, Academy Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi cannot travel to the United States. But in a statement made to The New York Times, the filmmaker, who is nominated again this year for The Salesman, says he wouldn't attend even if granted an exception:Instilling fear in the people is an important tool used to justify extremist and fanatic behavior by narrow-minded individuals.

However, I believe that the similarities among the human beings on this earth and its various lands, and among its cultures and its faiths, far outweigh their differences. Last week we lost two great actors, John Hurt (1940 - 2017) and Emmanuelle Riva (1927 - 2017).Francis Ford Coppola's recent forays into moving images, whether the super-local indie thriller Twixt or his "live cinema" project, have been ambitious and unusual,...

Welcome to the first, hopefully annual, Weekend Warrior Sundance Awards, where I go through the couple dozen movies I had a chance to see over the course of the past week and pick some of my favorite things.

I ended up seeing roughly thirty movies in total, only walking out of a couple (that won’t be mentioned), and overall, it was a generally decent Sundance, although only a few movies really stood out and will be remembered later in the year when we start talking about next year’s Oscars.

Oddly, I missed many of the movies that won actual awards at Sundance, so I’ve decided to give a few of my own.

Salma Hayek as Beatriz in Beatriz At Dinner

Most Literal Use of a Movie Title

1. Beatriz at Dinner (starring Salma Hayek as a Mexican healer named Beatriz who is invited to stay for dinner at...

In May of 2015, Matthew Weiner’s AMC series “Mad Men,” an existential drama about a talented advertising executive amidst the historical developments of 1960’s America, came to a close. The series finale ended with protagonist Don Draper (Jon Hamm) meditating in an Esalen-like spiritual retreat with a smile on his face as the show smash cuts to the 1971 “Hilltop” TV advertisement for Coca-Cola. The ending has opened itself up to a couple different interpretations: some say Don finally found enlightenment and peace away from his traditional New York lifestyle, while others say he returned to New York unchanged and create the Coke ad.

Read More: Review: ‘Mad Men’ Series Finale, Season 7 Episode 14, ‘Person to Person’ Ends an Era with Empathy

On “The Rich Eisen Show,” Hamm has come out in favor of the latter interpretation. When asked where Don Draper is right now, he joked that he’s “six feet...

Dustin Guy Defa’s “Person to Person” is a gentle summer breeze of a movie that’s set during an early fall day. Amiably unstuck in time without feeling anachronistic, Defa’s second feature pulls off the trick of offering an analog version of New York in a digital age. Threading together enough vignettes to compete with a young Paul Thomas Anderson, Defa bounces between a motley crew of characters, all of whom are living together on their own time. On their own, they don’t add up to much, but play them together and they cohere into the cinematic equivalent of vinyl.

Dusting off a title that Defa previously used for a beloved 2014 short, the feature-length version of “Person to Person” isn’t an adaptation of that earlier work so much as a shaggy expansion pack. In fact, the two films might seem entirely unrelated if not for their one shared character,...

Dustin Guy Defa makes his Sundance Film Festival feature debut with “Person to Person,” and he doesn’t know what to expect. He’s had a lot of disappointments in his life, ranging from being the kind of penniless artist whose survival demands long-term couch surfing to overcoming a nightmare family of origin. (It yielded his 2011 Sundance short, “Family Nightmare.”)

However, “Person To Person” also gives real weight to the time-worn trope that values the journey over the destination. With a cast that includes names like Michael Cera and”Broad City” star Abbi Jacobson as well as indie filmmaking stalwarts like David Zellner and Benny Safdie, it reflects the success he’s had building his place in independent filmmaking and the joy he brings with it. “It comes through loud and clear in his work,” said filmmaker David Lowery, a longtime Defa fan. “It’s the reason why his movies...

For every Sundance Film Festival movie that sells for a big sum, there’s another one that doesn’t.

While hordes of buyers scatter throughout Park City over the next week, a Sundance premiere from two years ago quietly hits theaters on January 27 with little fanfare. “I Am Michael,” Justin Kelly’s perceptive and troubling look at gay-activist-turned-Christian-pastor Michael Glatze (James Franco), hits theaters and VOD long after the Sundance hype has moved on. It’s a missed opportunity for the movie, in which Franco gives one his most complex performances, as audiences struggle alongside the character’s tragic sense of conflict with his faith.

At a divided moment in American history, it’s a shrewd look at conflicting values at the root of modern society. But no distributor took a gamble on it when its fleeting spotlight in Utah came and went; now, dumped onto digital platforms at the start of the year,...

A man who says he alerted former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in 1976 that he was allegedly being sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky when he was 14 claims Paterno brushed him off, according to newly released documents reviewed by People. "Is it accurate that Coach Paterno quickly said to you, 'I don't want to hear about any of that stuff, I have a football season to worry about?,' " an attorney said in questioning the man, who is identified in the documents only as John Doe 150. "Specifically yes," answered the man, who added, "I was shocked, disappointed, offended. I was insulted.

The 2016 Writers Guild Awards were handed out Saturday night in Los Angeles and New York City, and the final salvo of AMC’s Mad Men claimed the top drama prize, while HBO’s Veep beat out the comedy competition.

RelatedNAACP Image Awards: black-ish, Empire, The Wiz Live Lead TV Winners

AMC’s Better Call Saul and HBO’s Silicon Valley earned individual episode accolades. USA Network’s critical darling Mr. Robot walked away with the New Series award.

TV’s major winners are listed below.

Drama Series

The Americans

Better Call Saul

Game of Thrones

Mad Men — Winner

Mr. Robot...

After announcing the nominees for best film direction yesterday, the Directors Guild of America revealed the slate for TV direction in dramas and comedies today.

"Game of Thrones" seeks to add to its trophy haul for David Nutter's direction of the season 5 finale, "Mother's Mercy," which won an Emmy last September. But HBO's epic fantasy series will be challenged by the series finale of "Mad Men," directed by creator Matthew Weiner.

On the comedy side, "Transparent" will vie with the usual suspects, "Veep" and "Silicon Valley." Here is the full list of nominees:

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series

Michael Engler

Downton Abbey, "Episode 8" (PBS)

Lesli Linka Glatter

Homeland, "The Tradition of Hospitality" (Showtime)

David Nutter

Game of Thrones, "Mother's Mercy" (HBO)

Steven Soderbergh

The Knick, "Williams and Walker" (Cinemax)

Matthew Weiner

Mad Men, "Person to Person" (AMC)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series

Chris Addison

Veep, "Election Night" (HBO)

Louis C.K.

Louie,...

Wednesday's Directors Guild of America nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television mark the medium rapid shift toward what might be called "auteur TV," with names familiar from the world of film—Sofia Coppola, for "A Very Murray Christmas" (Netflix); Steven Soderbergh, for "The Knick" (Cinemax)—featured alongside writer-director-stars—Louis C.K., for "Louie" (FX); Amy Schumer and co-director Ryan McFaul, for "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer," which I named the best TV episode of 2015. Read More: "The Top Ten TV Episodes of 2015" Other notable nominees include Matthew Weiner, for "Mad Men" (AMC) series finale "Person to Person"; Jill Soloway, for "Transparent" (Amazon) season premiere "Kina Hora"; and Chris Rock, for Schumer's HBO stand-up special "Live at the Apollo." The winners will be announced at the 68th Annual DGA Awards...

The Writers Guild of America has just announced the nominations for their annual awards for Best Screenplays (by writers who are guild signatories). That’s right, before you get nervous thinking that your favorite may have been left off the list, you must remember that the WGA is the group that is not all-inclusive and leaves out several of the top contenders each year due to them not being part of the guild or not following their very specific rules. For this reason, you won’t see Inside Out, The Hateful Eight, and Ex Machina in the Original Screenplay category or Room, Brooklyn, or Anomalisa in the Adapted screenplay category.

Taking a look at what’s left over for the nominations, we find many that were expected to make a showing, including Spotlight and Bridge of Spies for Original Screenplay, though they apparently had to sink to really low depths...

American Cinema Editors (Ace) today announced nominations for the 66th Annual Ace Eddie Awards recognizing outstanding editing in ten categories of film, television and documentaries. Winners will be revealed during Ace’s annual black-tie awards ceremony on Friday, January 29, 2016 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be presided over by Ace President, Alan Heim.

As previously announced, writer/director Nancy Meyers will receive the Ace Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year award. Two Career Achievement honorees will be announced later this week.

Nominees For 66th Annual Ace Eddie Awards Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic): Mad Max: Fury Road

Margaret SixelThe Martian

Pietro Scalia, ACEThe Revenant

Stephen Mirrione, Ace

Sicario

Joe Walker, Ace

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Maryann Brandon, Ace & Mary Jo Markey, Ace

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy):

Ant-Man

Dan Lebental, Ace & Colby Parker, Jr., ACEThe Big Short

Hank Corwin, ACEJoy

Jay Cassidy,...

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Mr Robot, Cucumber, Inside No. 9...Here are Den Of Geek writers' top 15 TV episodes of 2015. Did your favourites make the cut?

The votes are in.

Earlier this month, over thirty of Den Of Geek's writers nominated up to five of their favourite television episodes of the year, ranked in order of preference. Points were allocated. Favourites emerged. And the sanity of the site's TV editor was offered once again as a festive sacrifice to the God of Microsoft Excel worksheets.

Over eighty individual episodes were nominated in total, and below are the fifteen that placed highest overall...

15. Rick & Morty – Total Rickall

What our writer said:

“Clip shows are traditionally seen as ways to save money, building a flimsy narrative framework of nostalgia-fuelled new footage around flashbacks to previous episodes. Somehow, Dan Harmon's shows usually manage to put more effort into spoofing this type of episode than any other episode.

The Writers Guild of America announced some of its nominees for its 2015 awards on Thursday, including television, new media, and radio, and among the TV nominees are series both new and old, and all beloved.

In the comedy series category, freshman Netflix show "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" scored a nomination for best series, as well as an overall best new series nod. "The Last Man on Earth" also landed in that latter category, and was singled out for its pilot episode writing, too.

On the drama side of the equation, lauded "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" also got best series and best new series nominations, in addition to a an episode writing nod. Newly-minted Emmy winner "Game of Thrones" also scored a best drama citation, as well as an episodic writing nomination.

The full list of nominees released this week are below. Nominations in the theatrical and documentary categories will...

Fox’s Last Man on Earth just got even lonelier.

The Writers Guild of America released its 2016 nominations Thursday, and the Will Forte comedy is the only broadcast series in the running for the New Series prize. Meanwhile, shows like Game of Thrones, Mr. Robot and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt received various nods.

RelatedCancellation Jitters: 8 Shows in Danger

The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 13, during simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City.

Scroll down for the nominations list…

Photos TVLine’s 10 Best Drama Series of 2015

Drama Series

The Americans

Better Call Saul

Game of Thrones

Mr. Robot...

Jon Hamm finally won Best Drama Actor for "Mad Men"! Including his loss for Best Comedy Guest Actor for "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" last Saturday night at the Creative Arts Awards, Jon Hamm had gone 0-for-14 at the Emmys, but prevailed in this category on his eighth try (he was also nominated for producing the AMC series). Our exclusive Gold Derby odds had him out front at 1/4 for the period drama's final season. -Break- Emmy Awards: Complete list of winners Hamm submitted to Emmy judges the series finale episode, "Person to Person," in which Don Draper learns of his ex-wife Betty's terminal cancer diagnosis, suffers an existential crisis and then has an epiphany at a spiritual retreat. That episode also competed for Best Drama Writing. Ranked second in our predictions was Bob Odenkirk ("Better Call Saul") with 8/1 odds. This was his first time competing for his role as Jimmy McGill (w.

HitFix is live-updating all the winners from tonight's 2015 Primetime Emmy Awards. Here's the list as it stands now: Allison Janney, “Mom” **Winner** Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory” Niecy Nash, “Getting On” Julie Bowen, “Modern Family” Kate McKinnon “Saturday Night Live” Gaby Hoffmann, “Transparent” Jane Krakowski, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Anna Chlumsky, “Veep” Supporting Actor, Comedy Tony Hale, “Veep” **Winner** Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Adam Driver, “Girls” Keegan-Michael Key, “Key & Peele” Ty Burrell, “Modern Family” Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Directing For A Comedy Series Jill Soloway for Transparent, “Best New Girl” from Amazon Instant Video and Amazon Studios **Winner** Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for The Last Man On Earth, “Alive In Tucson” (Pilot) from Fox and 20th Century Fox Television Louis C.K. for Louie, “Sleepover” from FX Networks, Pig Newton, Inc. and FX Productions Mike Judge for Silicon Valley, “Sand Hill Shuffle” from HBO, HBO Entertainment in association with Judgemental Films,...

Including his loss for Best Comedy Guest Actor for "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" last Saturday night at the Creative Arts Awards, Jon Hamm is 0-for-14 at the Emmys, but according to our racetrack odds, he'll finally win Best Drama Actor for "Mad Men" on his eighth try (he's also nominated for producing the AMC series). Our exclusive Gold Derby odds have him out front at 1/4 to prevail for the drama's final season. -Break- Watch our recent Emmy webchats with Kyle Chandler, Liev Schreiber and more nominees Hamm hopes voters are sentimental because he submitted to Emmy judges the series finale episode, "Person to Person," in which Don Draper learns of his ex-wife Betty's terminal cancer diagnosis, suffers an existential crisis and then has an epiphany at a spiritual retreat. That episode also competes for Best Drama Writing. Ranked second in our predictions is Bob Odenkirk ("Better Call Saul") w...

This year has already seen several extraordinary feature-length documentaries, many of which were pulled from the popular arts. Actually some excellent examples focused on the music world, with Lambert & Stamp and Amy attracting a great deal of acclaim (and quite a bit early Oscar-buzz). This new release delves into another art, the art (and it really is one) of acting, by giving us a peek at a true legend of stage and screen. Often actors become a touchstone, a symbol for the decade in which they garnered their greatest triumphs. In the 1950’s, the two actors who truly exploded onto the scene were James Dean and Marlon Brando. While Dean was a bright, shooting star snuffed out by tragedy after just three films, Brando rode a bumpy rocket, with highs and lows, into the next century. Biographies have filled the bookshelves through the years, but what did he think of his life and work?...

"Listen to me, Marlon...This is one part of yourself speaking to another part of yourself. Listen to the sound of my voice and trust me. You know I have your interests at heart. Just relax, relax, relax. I'm going to help you change in a way that will make you feel happier, more useful...I want you to accept what I say as true. What I tell you here and now is true."

- Marlon Brando, self-hypnosis tape, 1996

Stevan Riley Listens to Marlon Brando

By Alex Simon

In addition to being widely regarded as the greatest film actor of all-time, Marlon Brando, who died in 2004, remains one of popular culture's great enigmas. A man who fiercely guarded his privacy and shunned the spotlight whenever he could, Brando purchased an island in the South Pacific, a place so remote and removed from the western world and its media. It was...

Existential angst, meditations on happiness, a deeply flawed protagonist... BoJack Horseman fills the void left behind by Mad Men...

Contains spoilers for BoJack Horseman season 2.

On some level, relatability is essential to good storytelling. We need to understand what characters feel in order to care about what happens to them, and that is far more potent if we can see ourselves in their plight. But so many of the best shows of television are only relatable in the abstract. We may feel the wounded pride at the heart of Breaking Bad, the masculine insecurity that fuels the characters in True Detective and anybody who has ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship is certain to empathise with a lot of what goes on in Hannibal, but the circumstances of those shows are so far removed from the lives of most of us and the parts we relate to are ultimately...

Here is the complete list of nominees for the 2015 Emmys Awards: Drama Series Better Call Saul Downton Abbey Game of Thrones Homeland House of Cards Mad Men Orange Is The New Black Comedy Series Louie Modern Family Parks & Recreation Silicon Valley Transparent Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Veep Limited Series American Crime American Horror Story: Freak Show Olive Kitteridge The Honorable Woman Wolf Hall Lead Actor in a Drama Series Kyle Chandler, Bloodline Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom Jon Hamm, Mad Men Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan Kevin Spacey, House of Cards Lead Actress in a Drama Series Claire Danes, Homeland Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder Taraji P. Henson, Empire Tatania Maslany, Orphan Black Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men Robin Wright, House of Cards Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Adrien Brody, Houdini Ricky Gervais, Derek Timothy Hutton, American Crime Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge David Oyelowo,...

Director John Frankenheimer.

I'm often asked which, out of the over 600 interviews I've logged with Hollywood's finest, is my favorite. It's not a tough answer: John Frankenheimer.

We instantly clicked the day we met at his home in Benedict Canyon, and spent most of the afternoon talking in his den. A friendship of sorts developed over the years, with visits to his office for screenings of the old Kinescopes he directed for shows like "Playhouse 90" during his salad days in live television during the 1950s.

We hadn't spoken for nearly a year in mid-2002 when the phone rang. It was John, who spoke in what can only be described as a "stentorian bark," like a general. "Alex!" he exclaimed. "John Frankenheimer." He could sense something was amiss with me. It was. My screenwriting career had stalled. My marriage was progressing to divorce. I had hit bottom. John knew that...

All this week, the Vulture TV Awards honor the best television from the past year. The nominees are: Mad MenParks and RecreationJustifiedParenthoodThe Jinx And the winner is ... Mad Men The Mad Men finale “Person to Person” came close to being all things to all people. That almost never happens. Series creator Matthew Weiner — who wrote and directed the finale as well as the penultimate episode “The Milk and Honey Route” — pulled it off by paying his characteristic careful attention to everything that led up to it, arranging all the various character and plot pieces so that when everything paid off, you felt in retrospect as if it were all inevitable, even though you didn’t see it coming. The story closed out with one old relationship and two new ones poised for maybe-permanence (Pete and Trudy, Peggy and Stan, Roger and Marie), and another one in tatters (Joan...

All this week, the Vulture TV Awards honor the best television from the past year. Here, The Americans' showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields make their pick for best episode of the year. The nominees for Best Episode are: "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer," Inside Amy Schumer "St. Mark’s," Broad City "Stingers," The Americans "Get the Rope," The Knick "Person to Person," Mad Men And the winner is ..."12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer," Inside Amy Schumer There were a lot of great episodes of television this year, and a lot of great episodes of Inside Amy Schumer. But we’re going with Schumer’s “12 Angry Men” as the episode that topped them all — as funny as any comedy, but able to rip apart the human psyche as surely as any drama. The episode is based, of course, on the classic film 12 Angry Men —shot in black and white,...

Your mileage may vary regarding your reaction to the ending of AMC's hit drama "Mad Men," which aired its series finale on May 17. [Spoilers follow.] The final episode, "Person to Person," saw Don Draper (Jon Hamm) hitting rock bottom while at a hippie retreat in Big Sur, California, then finding enlightenment in the form of the iconic "I Want to Buy the World a Coke" ad, which the show implies to be Don's brainchild and masterpiece. Indiewire's TV Critic Ben Travers called the ending "uniquely fitting" in his review of the episode, arguing that Don's newfound empathy (gained during a breakthrough moment while listening to a man describe depression in a group therapy seminar) was precisely what allowed him to come up with the concept for the Coke ad. Show creator Matthew Weiner had a similar interpretation, explaining that he loved "the idea that some enlightened state, and not just cooption, might have created something that.

Mad Men continues to set more personal bests in the days after its May 17 finale. The AMC drama, which narrowly missed its all-time viewership high on the night of its swan song, continues to climb with time-shifting. "Person to Person" rose 41 percent with three days of DVR, hitting a series best 4.6 million viewers. That tops the season six opener as the most-watched ever in the series live-plus-three ratings. [readmore:797302] “While it’s true that AMC’s Mad Men ended with its highest-ever live+3 ratings, we believe the most meaningful metric for this

read more...

Nearly a week after "Mad Men" aired its 92nd and final episode, creator Matthew Weiner sat down with writer A.M. Homes at the New York Public Library to reflect on the acclaimed AMC drama. It's the first talk he's given since the much-discussed "Person to Person," aired last Sunday. Read More: Review: 'Mad Men' Series Finale, Season 7 Episode 14, 'Person to Person' Ends an Era with Empathy Although the chat covered some familiar territory, Weiner spoke about his literary influences -- John Cheever's short stories and Frank O'Hara's poetry, his feelings about the current state of television, and gave some insight on some of the show's most beloved characters. Yes, that includes Betty. Below are some highlights from the chat, which is also available for your listening and viewing pleasure. Matthew Weiner doesn't like ambiguity for ambiguity's sake Without getting too spoiler-y, Weiner discussed "Mad Men's" final scene,...

Mad Men: Sky Atlantic, 10pm

Matthew Weiner's '60s advertising drama draws to a close after seven series with its last ever episode, 'Person to Person'.

The series finale aired in the Us earlier this week and we imagine you're avoiding spoilers - so all we'll say for now is that Don (Jon Hamm), Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) and Joan (Christina Hendricks) will be returning to our screens one last time.

The British Soap Awards: ITV, 8pm

Phillip Schofield hosts the star-studded awards ceremony at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, to celebrate the best of British soaps from over the past 12 months.

With 14 categories, including Best Newcomer, Best Storyline and the one everyone wants to win - Best British Soap, Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Doctors fight it out to win.

Forever: Sky1, 9pm

Dr Henry Morgan's story draws to a close in the...

For many of Mad Men’s writers, directors, producers, and designers, the most satisfying moments of the “Person to Person” season finale had nothing to do with the fates of Don, Peggy, Joan or Roger. The staff had their own close-ups to watch for. As a salute to his iconic show’s behind-the-scenes talent, Matthew Weiner secretly sprinkled cameos of many of them throughout the finale, and other episodes this season. Here’s Vulture’s exclusive look at some of the staffers hiding in plain sight. Peggy and Stan weren’t the only creatives attending the McCann accounts meeting. That’s co-executive producer and writer Semi Chellas (who co-wrote “Lost Horizon” with Matt Weiner) to the left of Stan (above), and first assistant director Adam Ben Frank to the left of Chellas (below). Supervising producer and writer Erin Levy (right) hugs it out with another retreat attendee. Levy began as...

As we steel ourselves for life after "Mad Men," there's one question that remains in focus two days later: What does that ending mean? The final sequence, and what it portends for our man Don Draper, has drawn a line in the sand for audiences. There are those cynical viewers who think Don has turned his enlightenment into yet another commodity, and there are those hopeful audiences who believe, as Indiewire's Ben Travers elegantly argues, "Don felt empathy, perhaps for the first time, and after a morning of meditation... Don tried to pass that feeling on to everyone through the only method he understands: advertising." According to a New York Times interview with Dave Itzkoff, Jon Hamm stands somewhere in the more "optimistic" camp. In the last scene of "Person to Person," we see Don sitting in lotus pose on the sunny edge of a cliff, finally locating a moment's...

Mad Men, Season 7: Episode 14 – “Person to Person”

Written by Matthew Weiner

Directed by Matthew Weiner

The poet John Milton began his 1630 tribute to the Bard with the line “What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,” introducing the dilemma of attempting to praise someone who is in no need of praise. Some works will last–without the help of critics–as long as the civilization which bred them lasts, as Shakespeare’s plays have done. At times, Matthew Weiner has channeled Shakespeare in Mad Men, portraying the multifaceted nature of what it means to be human. Don Draper, Peggy Olson, Pete Campbell, Joan Harris, Roger Sterling, Betty Francis, Sally Draper…These characters have sometimes been interchangeable with one another based on certain superficial qualities, giving Mad Men the feeling of a true ensemble. At other times, these characters could not be more distinct from one another. At all times,...

Sneak Peek images from the final episode of AMC's 15-Emmy Award winning, period drama TV series "Mad Men", titled "Person To Person" that aired May 17, 2015, written and directed by series creator Matthew Weiner:

"I am extremely solicitous of the fans' pleasure," said Weiner about the final episode, "but as the person who’s telling this story, I think people sometimes have to be protected from what they want to see happen.

"To delight them with a surprise...you can’t give them everything they want."

"...'Mad Men' is set in the 1960's, initially at the 'Sterling Cooper' advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later at the newly created firm, 'Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce', located nearby in the Time-Life Building, at 1271 Sixth Avenue.

"Focal point of the series is 'Dick Whitman', a self-described 'whore-child' (Jon Hamm), who enlists in the army and assumes the indentity of killed officer 'Lt.

"That's it!" three of us agreed – Debra Birnbaum of Variety plus my fellow Gold Derby editor Marcus Dixon and me -- upon seeing the "Mad Men" finale episode at the IFC event at the Ace Hotel Theater on Sunday. "Jon Hamm can finally win the Emmy!" In fact, I hereby switch my official prediction to Hamm to win Best Drama Actor. See the picks of all Gold Derby experts here. -Break- In "Person to Person," Hamm gives a deeply felt performance that has the three key elements that Emmy judges seek when deciding a winner: range, impact and empathy. Don Draper's demeanor spans jauntiness to dark drama, punctuated with powerful impact scenes that include his emotional breakdown during group therapy. But a winning Emmy "reel" is all about empathy and Draper spouts gallons of it while shedding tears during phone calls with Betty and Sally and Peggy. Up until now,...

"That's it!" three of us agreed – Debra Birnbaum of Variety plus my fellow Gold Derby editor Marcus Dixon and me -- upon seeing the "Mad Men" finale episode at the IFC event at the Ace Hotel Theater on Sunday. "Jon Hamm can finally win the Emmy!" In fact, I hereby switch my official prediction to Hamm to win Best Drama Actor. See the picks of all Gold Derby experts here. -Break- In "Person to Person," Hamm gives a deeply felt performance that has the three key elements that Emmy judges seek when deciding a winner: range, impact and empathy. Don Draper's demeanor spans jauntiness to dark drama, punctuated with powerful impact scenes that include his emotional breakdown during group therapy. But a winning Emmy "reel" is all about empathy and Draper spouts gallons of it while shedding tears during phone calls with Betty and Sally and Peggy. Up until now,...

The End of Era is truly here. Though I wrote up an initial reaction to Mad Men's series finale "Person to Person" in my episode recap, I wanted to delve into it a little deeper and ask my fellow Mad Men fans here at Collider what they thought. Below, Adam Chitwood, Chris Cabin, Brian Formo and I all weigh in with a roundtable discussion on the final episode, the show's legacy, our favorite characters, and more. We encourage you to add your own thoughts and theories in the comments. Allison: Mad Men is dead, long live Mad Men! That was a feels-filled finale, and it felt right. I exhausted most of my hot-take reaction in my recap, but I want to know how you guys felt -- Happy? Sad? Disappointed? Frustrated? Other adjectives? Did Don create the Coke ad, or did he stay lost in California? And most importantly: Peggy and Stan!

Due to both lack of sleep from reviewing the finale, and the sheer weight of the show being over, it's been hard for me to think about anything but "Mad Men" today. I put most of my thoughts about "Person to Person" into last night's review, and we can all continue to debate over there about the meaning of the final scene in terms of what Don did and didn't write, and what that says about his character arc after the series is over. Today, though, rather than dive into screeners of another '60s drama with Manson references ("Aquarius") or another AMC drama about a mysterious man in a suit ("Halt and Catch Fire"), I wanted to write about some odds and ends that didn't make their way into the finale review. That's all coming up just as soon as I find a way to communicate, without words, how...

Mad Men has left the building, and done so with a characteristic blend of tragedy and comedy. Here's our series finale review...

This review contains spoilers.

7.14 Person To Person

Perhaps unusually for a drama so well-versed in existential despair, Mad Men has long had an impeccable sense of humour. That rich history should have been preparation for just how funny the series finale would be, but even this late in the game it seems the show is still capable of taking me by surprise.

Yes, Person To Person dealt with dying, grief and the ultimate disintegration of Don’s psyche, but that’s an average day on Mad Men. It was also a riot. When I wasn’t in emotional pieces over that “Birdie…” “I know” phone call or Sally helping Bobby to make dinner, or Leonard’s monologue, I was in bits over the gags.

It started by teasing...

Mad Men died as it lived: showing us all the destructive ways characters — people! we ourselves! — repeat behavioral patterns, and how those patterns tend to mutate in surprising ways; how hard it is truly to know and be known by others; and how "newness" is often just a rediscovery of an old idea. The series has focused tremendously on themes of motherhood, divorce, mortality, the frequently baffling mechanics of human love, and "Person to Person" was no different. Mad Men's series finale was a greatest-hits tour of the show's favorite ideas.All season long, Mad Men has been reprocessing themes and identities from earlier in the series. It's a mirroring that's been happening on the show for a while, and in a style befitting a series finale, "Person to Person" didn't retell one episode: It touched on dozens. "My life moves in one direction: forward," Don once said. "Get...

The "Mad Men" journey continues to come full-circle.  After Matthew Weiner wrote and directed a finale that heavily called back to the show's early days, Imaginary Forces, the company behind the series' infamous title sequence, has done a little reflection of its own. Read More: Review: 'Mad Men' Series Finale, Season 7 Episode 14, 'Person to Person' Ends an Era with Empathy Through the years, there have been arguably too many parodies of the "Mad Men" opening credits to count -- and this whole time, Imaginary Forces was paying attention. In a gloriously detailed and seamlessly produced homage to all of the humorists who channeled their work, the company has compiled the definitive "Mad Men Mashup." From the "Simpsons" references to the image of Don Draper's silhouette crashing into a super-sized glass of whiskey, there's a lot of great stuff here. And as we continue to mourn the...

Mad Men series finale recap Season 7, Episode 14 (original air date May 17, 2015) It took just over an hour, but Matt Weiner put Mad Men to bed with a flourish, and the endings are more hopeful than we had any reason to expect when “Person to Person” begins with Don doing a speed test in a 1970 Chevelle on the Utah salt flats. Echoes of Don’s past reverberate through the episode — his post-Korean War job as a car salesman, his lack of scruples with women, his identity as Dick Whitman, his moral reckoning with the man whose … Continue reading →

The post Mad Men series finale recap: A perfect ending? appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

All mad things must come to an end. After seven booze-and-smoke-filled seasons, Mad Men said goodbye on Sunday night. It was the end of an era for sure, but was it a satisfying end?  Well, not every character's conclusion may have been fulfilling, but at least we got to see where (and with whom) Don, Betty, Peggy, Richard, Joan and the rest of the AMC series' gang ended up. (And one particular declaration of love had us jumping off our couches.) After "Person to Person" aired, we asked you to weigh in on whether you loved or loathed Mad Men's swan song, and now, we can officially add the show into our ranking of the best and worst TV series finales of all time. Spoiler alert:...

“Be open to this,” Anna Draper’s niece Stephanie tells Don in “Person to Person” when they check into a proto–New Age facility in Northern California. “You might feel better.” She’s responding to Don’s reflexive sneering at class names on a handout: “Psychotechnics,” “Anxiety and Tension Control,” “Divorce: A Creative Experience.” She’s right to push back against Don’s sourness, because those last two topics, maybe all three, sound like they might do a fellow like Don some good. And by the time we get to Don’s final close-up — a slow dolly into his meditating face as he smiles, capped by the sound of a bell — it appears that he’s on the road to accepting them. He’s open to the possibilities.I started my final recap with this seemingly minor scene between Stephanie and Don because I’ve been reading descriptions of Mad...

“I want to keep things as normal as possible, and you not being here is part of that.”

‘Person to Person’ is Mad Men‘s final hour, and it opens with Don driving as fast as he can through the middle of a blasted wasteland. He’s running for the sake of making distance, drawing out wild trajectories between nowhere and nothing. Later, he tells Sally about the crew that broke the land speed record out on the same salt flats.

Don has spent his life in a state of separation. Even to his children he’s a shadowy figure, someone disconnected from the day to day reality of their lives not just because of run-of-the-mill neglect but because he cultivates distance to preserve his sense of self. When Sally tells him about Betty’s terminal diagnosis it isn’t to make him come home, it’s to ask him...