Television Critics Association Honors Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad

Tonight, the Television Critics Association (of which both IGN TV's Executive Editor Eric Goldman and I are members) recognized the top programs and actors of the 2011-2012 television season at its 28th Annual TCA Awards presentation. Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston hosted the annual invitation-only event, held at the Beverly Hilton hotel in conjunction with the TCA’s summer press tour.

HBO's Game of Thrones captured (presumably with fire and blood) the top honor of "Program of the Year" while comedian Louis C.K. took home two awards; "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy" (for his series Louie) and "Individual Achievement in Comedy" (for his performance on the series).

Too bad there's no Individual Achievement in Douchebag.

Showtime's riveting counter-terrorism series Homeland also took home two awards - one for "Outstanding New Program" and one for lead Claire Danes in "Individual Achievement in Drama."  Meanwhile, Downton (Spanish flu induced?) fever wasn't just for last week's Emmy Award nominations as Masterpiece: Downton Abbey won the 2012 TCA Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials."

In the "Outstanding Achievement in Drama" category, AMC's Breaking Bad took the top prize while the classic Bostonian bar sitcom Cheers beat out nominees such as Twin Peaks and Lost to take home the Heritage Award.  Here is the full list:

• Individual Achievement in Drama: Claire Danes (“Homeland,” Showtime)
• Individual Achievement in Comedy: Louis C.K. (“Louie,” FX)
• Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: “60 Minutes” (CBS)
• Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: “So You Think You Can Dance” (Fox)
• Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: “Switched at Birth” (ABC Family)
• Outstanding New Program: “Homeland” (Showtime)
• Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: “Masterpiece: Downton Abbey” (PBS)
• Outstanding Achievement in Drama: “Breaking Bad” (AMC)
• Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: “Louie” (FX)
• Career Achievement Award: David Letterman
• Heritage Award: “Cheers”
• Program of the Year: “Game of Thrones” (HBO)

Source : ign[dot]com

Anthony Russo Talks Captain America 2

Earlier today at the TCA press tour, IGN TV's Eric Goldman spoke with former Community executive producer (and frequent Community director) Anthony Russo about what he and his brother Joe Russo have planned for Marvel's sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier. First, we learned a bit about how the comedy duo was initially tapped to direct the upcoming comic book feature, as well as how Community was actually the launchpad for their recruitment.

"It sort of came out of the blue, but [Marvel] were big fans of Community," said Russo. "You can sort of draw a line between some things we did on Community and a Marvel movie. I think if you look at some of the big genre episodes -- you know, the paintball episodes, etc. -- there’s a cinematic sensibility being explored there that is in the language of those films."

Additionally, Russo noted that he and his brother's experience in television gave them a leg up with working in such an expansive franchise like The Avengers. "Marvel is a big company, and they’ve made a lot of movies. These narratives are connected to each other. That’s not typical for a feature film, but television people are used to that. There are seasons and seasons of a show, and the history is very important it, obviously... My brother and I were comic book geeks from a young age, and big fantasy geeks. We got to talk to [Marvel] in detail about that. They knew that we understood the brand and their characters really well. We were just incredibly passionate about the movie, and they felt that it was the right match."

While Russo wasn't allowed to divulge many details surrounding the Winter Soldier plot, he did describe some of his aspirations for the Steve Rogers character. "We’re trying to grow him as a character," he continued. "Certainly, he’s come a long way from where he started in World War II to where he is in modern-day America. So the character has room for growth because of that huge journey he’s been on, number one. Number two, the appeal of these movies is the ensemble. Captain America isn’t the only character in the film, and there are other characters that are perhaps lighter in nature."

Speaking of the ensemble, might we see any appearances from other Avengers, Peggy Carter or S.H.I.E.L.D. members? To that, Russo remained tight-lipped. "That’s something Marvel will shoot me for if I tell you," he joked.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier begins production early next year, with a release date set for April 4, 2014.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

X-Men: First Class 2 Will Be Extraordinarily Ambitious

Simon Kinberg, who is co-writing X-Men: First Class 2 with director Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman, spoke about the hotly anticipated mutant sequel at Comic-Con last weekend. Unsurprisingly, he's not allowed to give any details about the plot, but he did say that the film is "extraordinarily ambitious" and "unlike the other X-Men movies and yet very much a celebration of the X-Men movies." Hmmm, intriguing…

“It’s one of those movies that, because it’s such a big deal for the studio, they have some sense of what it is that we’re writing and they are ambitious about the movie, too," he said. "I don’t know what the budget’s going to be, we’ve got to finish the script before we have a budget, but I would assume that it is a bigger movie than the last in physical scope, and that we have the license to do that because of the success of First Class. And because I think Fox has had success with interesting movies in the last couple of years in the genre, like Planet of the Apes was a really good movie, Chronicle was a cool movie, First Class, they’re just narratively or creatively a little bit more ambitious. So they’ve encouraged us to do that with the sequel.”

When asked about Vaughn's previous statements about things he might like to do in the film -- such as pinning JFK's assassination on Magneto -- Kinberg said the writing process has been very fluid. Read: Ideas are always changing.

"We really went into it, Matthew, Jane and myself, just wanting to create a movie that was as… I’m very proud of First Class… as dramatic as that movie," he said. "I think it is as dramatic as that movie, but more epic, mythic in a way as well. So, there are ideas that we’ve started with that haven’t survived, there are ideas that we started with from conversations we had from making First Class that are going to be in the sequel."

Shooting is expected to begin in spring of 2013 for a July, 2014, release.

Via Collider

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN, and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com