PBS' Brit-based fare takes on HBO's Stateside stuff

Julian Fellowes"Downton Abbey"PBSHighlight: Fans of a romantic persuasion might cite the long-awaited kiss between Lady Mary and Matthew, while those who prefer mind games would go with the ongoing rivalry between the crusty Dowager Countess and Isobel Crawley.Why he might win: Fellowes has already filled his mantel with prizes from across the pond, and the miniseries doubled the typical "Masterpiece Classic" audience when it aired in the States. Fellowes has Oscar pedigree, too, with "Gosford Park."Maybe not: There's another English aristocrat-servant saga on the ballot that might split the vote. Peter Gould"Too Big To Fail"HBOHighlight: Chagrined treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson admits, "We've been late on everything."Why he might win: Took a complex subject -- the 2008 financial meltdown -- and explained it with clarity plus a suspense appropriate to a disaster movie.Maybe not: Its scope might have been too big for some viewers and felt like homework to others.Todd Haynes & Jon Raymond"Mildred Pierce"HBOHighlight: Mildred finally says what we've all been thinking -- "To hell with Veda" -- though after watching her sacrifice so much for her insufferable daughter, one might think she'd escort her to Hades personally.Why they might win: Haynes and Raymond scored points with some for remaining true to the substance and scale of the James M. Cain novel and its portrait of a changing America in the 1930s.Maybe not: Miniseries had its vocal detractors, with critics complaining it was drawn-out, dull and ended with a thud.Steven Moffat"Sherlock: A Study in Pink"PBSHighlight: Cab driver challenges Holmes to play a game involving two pills -- one harmless and one containing poison.Why he might win: Cleverly modernized the "Sherlock Holmes" tales in a manner that appealed to both fan boys and the purists who still read books with bindings. Series won best drama at BAFTA.Maybe not: May be too geeky for some voters, who prefer their British dramas display more restraint.Heidi Thomas"Upstairs, Downstairs"PBSHighlight: Lady Maud Holland arrives with her Sikh manservant and a sense of privilege that could only belong to someone toting a pet monkey.Why she might win: Took a rather daunting challenge and crafted a worthy successor to the lauded original, delivering many diverting pleasures along the way.Maybe not: New "Upstairs" didn't inspire the devotion accorded to its predecessor or that other "Masterpiece" series, "Downton Abbey."ROAD TO THE EMMYS: THE WRITER Showrunners don't run from non-writing dutiesDrama | Comedy | Movies & Miniseries | Nonfiction | Variety, music or comedy series Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

REVIEW: Jesse Eisenberg Keeps 30 Minutes or Less Ticking, But Barely

Jesse Eisenberg’s performance in 30 Minutes or Less is like a mirror of something you’ve seen before in a movie you’ve seen before: As an unambiguously unambitious pizza-delivery guy who’s forced to rob a bank, is he riffling through the deck and pulling out the same old cards, perhaps in a slightly different order? Or is he adding subtle variations to a type of character he’s played many times previously, biding his time until he can get another role like the perfectly calibrated one he played in The Social Network? It’s hard to tell with Eisenberg, who may be one of the most underwhelming good actors working today: Even when he wows us, as he did in The Social Network, he’s wowing us with a shrug. The shrug is there in 30 Minutes or Less, Ruben Fleischer’s follow-up to his exhilarating, sure-footed 2009 debut, Zombieland, but it’s a shrug without a country. Zombieland was a picture with a strong sense of place, a metaphorical call for compatriots to band together in tough times. 30 Minutes or Less is a crime farce that’s clever and funny in places, but mostly just shambling and crude. Eisenberg can’t quite find his place in it, and it’s easy to see why. Eisenberg plays Nick, an alleged grown-up who hasn’t yet figured out how to make the grown-up thing work. His best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari), pinpoints the problem succinctly: “You? An adult? You had a Lunchables for dinner last night.” Nick has some minor problems, including that dead-end pizza-delivery job, and the fact that he has a huge crush on Chet’s twin sister, Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria), a development that greatly displeases Chet for numerous reasons. (Some of it has to do with simple brotherly protectiveness, but Chet is also freaked out about the idea of his best friend having sex with his own twin.) But Nick’s problems combust off the charts when a couple of rec-room lowlifes — when we first meet them, they’re blowing watermelons to smithereens using both crossbows and explosives — kidnap him and strap him into a bomb vest, informing him that they’ll treat him like a human watermelon unless he agrees to rob a local bank. The Mutt-and-Jeff schemers are played by Danny McBride and Nick Swardson; they need the money to start a tanning salon/prostitution ring. And that’s just one of the ways in which 30 Minutes or Less works too hard to be fun and crazy. For every line or gag that works, there are three or four more that seem to belong in a different movie altogether, either a darker one or a breezier one. Fleischer, working from a script by Michael Diliberti (who conceived the story with Matthew Sullivan), doesn’t have firm control of the movie’s tone: A movie can, of course, be both a black comedy and a crime caper, as 30 Minutes or Less tries to be. But Fleischer can’t navigate the movie’s shifting moods fluidly enough. We see real terror on Nick’s face when he looks down and sees that kaboom vest he’s strapped into. Then he’s back into hapless goofball territory again, but the transition is rough and forced. What’s more, Fleischer doesn’t seem to know what to do with all the attendant clutter of the story. A subplot involving a stripper and a street gangsta (Bianca Kajlich and Michael Pea, respectively) is necessary to resolve the movie’s plot mechanics, but it only makes the workings more cumbersome. There’s also the nagging fact that the basic concept of 30 Minutes or Less bears a strong resemblance to a real-life 2003 incident, in which pizza-delivery guy Brian Wells was forced to rob a bank with a bomb locked to his neck; Wells died when the device detonated. His family has publicly reproached the filmmakers, although representatives from the movie’s studio, Sony, claim that the writers were only “vaguely familiar” with the real-life case. The writers’ familiarity with the incident, and even their intentions, are beside the point. While it’s true that truth is stranger than fiction, it would have been easier for me to enjoy 30 Minutes or Less if it hadn’t taken the depraved craziness of its premise from a real-life horror show. Maybe, deep in his gut, something didn’t set right with Fleischer, either. His Zombieland was not only beautifully made; its mood was freewheeling and openhearted — it was a picture in which camaraderie saves the day. 30 Minutes or Less, on the other hand, appears to have been made to please some invisible audience: It’s much raunchier than Zombieland was, and its crudeness feels patched-on rather than organic. When a character defines the acronym OTPF — “over-the-pants-fingered” — it’s as if the words had been plunked, at the last minute, into a little cartoon voice balloon hovering over her head. There are some enjoyable, if vaguely unsettling, sequences in 30 Minutes or Less: When Chet and Nick stumble into the bank in their balaclavas, their ineptitude sets off a Rube Goldberg contraption of dark slapstick; their haplessness conjures shades of Dog Day Afternoon. But Fleischer doesn’t seem to know, ultimately, what effect he’s after, and the actors suffer for it. Ansari, with his warbly monotone, works wonders with even some of the movie’s lamest one-liners. I’m not sure why I laughed, or if I should have laughed, at Chet’s assessment of Nick’s car — “It’s like you got a Mustang and the Mustang got AIDS” — but I did. And yet he and Eisenberg seem to inhabit the movie only half-heartedly. I find Eisenberg fascinating to watch, particularly for the way words motor out of his mouth at some 90 miles an hour, even as none of his other body parts — save, maybe, his ever-shifting blue eyes — appear to be moving. And in the movie’s crucial moment, when he looks down and sees the danger he’s been strapped into, the terror in his eyes is believable and affecting. For once, the words don’t tumble out nearly so fast; his fear slows him down, and that by itself is terrifying. Eisenberg may be giving one of his stock performances here, but he still finds ways to let his character’s soul shine through. He’s working harder than he should have to, as if he were an actor with a figurative bomb strapped to his chest. Maybe that’s what happens when you’re a talented guy who’s not sure which way to turn next.

Glee Adds American Dreams' Vanessa Lengies

Vanessa Lengies Glee is adding another new cast member to its roster for Season 3. American Dreams vet Vanessa Lengies will recur about the Fox musical as Sugar, a spoiled new student referred to like a mix from a Nj housewife and former Glee guest star Molly Shannon, TVLine reviews. Friday Evening Lights star to woo Mercedes on Glee Although Sugar can't have a tune, a minimum of we all know Lengies can move because of her three seasons on American Dreams dancing on American Bandstand alongside star Brittany Snow. Lengies, 26, also plays Nurse Kelly Epson on TNT's HawthoRNe and guest-starred on Castle captured. Her casting follows those of Friday Evening Lights alum LaMarcus Mess, who'll play Mercedes' new boyfriend next season. Glee returns on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 8/7c on Fox.

Get Out Kaanapali Hawaii

Join the "Get Out!" crew for exciting travel and adventure on HDNet. Join Lindsay Clubine and her co-hosts as they take you to exciting locations to experience all of the local color, fun, and nightlife from famous cities around the world. From South Beach to the Bahamas, Get Out! traverses the globe looking for the hip, trendy, and cool, all in amazing 1080i high definition!

'Transformers: Dark From The Moon' Explodes Past $1 Billion Mark

Showing that does not the threat of global economic collapse will keep people from giant robot fights, worldwide box office receipts for Transformers: Dark from the Moon have finally surpassed $1 billion. Without doubt assisted through the more money introduced in by three dimensional ticket sales, the 3rd Michael Bay Transformers movie has made $338 million within the U . s . States along with a whopping $663 million worldwide. While Transformers: Dark from the Moon may be the first Vital Pictures film to ever break the $1 billion mark, it is the tenth movie to do this ever, that also makes it a place within the greatest-grossing films ever. Their email list, so as, goes: Avatar, Titanic, The The almighty from the Rings: The Return from the King, Pirates from the Caribbean: Dead Guys Chest, Toy Story 3, Pirates from the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Alice's adventures in wonderland, Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Dark Dark night, and lastly, Transformers: Dark from the Moon, which edged out Harry Potter and also the Philosophers Stone because of its place. Not remarkably, six from the movies on that list were launched in three dimensional, permitting these phones enjoy the greater ticket prices connected with this format. Other fun details: » James Cameron supports the top two spots with Avatar and Titanic. » Only three films, Avatar, Titanic, and Alice's adventures in wonderland are stand alone films, and never a part of a set. » The only real movie out there to become launched just before the entire year 2000 is Titanic. » Three movies out there were launched this year: Pirates from the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Transformers: Dark from the Moon. » The 2nd Transformers movie, Transformers: Revenge from the Fallen ranks in at No. 27, while the first is completely lower at No. 45. » Transformers: Dark from the Moon continues to be in theaters, and may rise even greater out there. Exactly what do you consider this area office performance of Transformers: Dark from the Moon? Do you consider its colossal success might lure Michael Bay and Shia LeBeouf to the home? Inform us within the comments section as well as on Twitter!

Play 'Guess the Cause of Death' With These New Images from Final Destination 5

Death continues to wreak fateful havoc in the lives of doomed young persons in next week’s Final Destination 5 (Death doesn’t like to be cheated… out of an opportunity to rake in more money!), but who knows what inventive, grotesque kills await? Play Movieline’s “Guess the Death” and take a stab (ding!) at predicting how each of the film’s cast members (including Emma Bell, Tony Todd, and David Koechner) will meet their maker, based on clues found in these five new stills. 1. Jacqueline MacInnes Wood as Olivia Death by Ludovico technique! Or, more likely: Lasik gone horribly wrong. 2. Nicholas D’Agosto as Sam Clutching the railing for dear life, Sam’s little heart gave out from the strain. 3. David Koechner as Dennis Say it ain’t so, Koechner! Most tragic comic-over-the-cliff death since Rob Riggle in Furry Vengeance? (Apologies for that spoiler alert if you’re still waiting to see Furry Vengeance.) (Condolences if you’ve already seen it.) 4. P.J. Byrne as Isaac Those acupuncture needles aren’t going to commit freak homicide themselves. ARE THEY?? 5. Tony Todd as Bludworth Death by… bees? CANDYMAN CANDYMAN CANDYMAN CANDYMAN CANDYMAN! Click for the full gallery of 20+ images from Final Destination 5, in theaters August 12.

Elliott Kozak dies at 80

Elliott Kozak, Bob Hope's producer for more than 30 years who also served at times as his agent and manager, died July 23 of complications after recent surgery in Tarzana, Calif. He was 80. Although he criss-crossed back and forth between work for Hope and for various talent agencies throughout his 65-year career, he was known primarily in the industry as the "go-to" person for anything Hope-related. Brooklyn-born Kozak began his career in 1945 at age 15 at the William Morris Agency mailroom in New York. Within three years he became a full-time agent in the TV variety department, booking "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Ray Bolger Show," among others. At one point during his time at WMA, Kozak did a favor for Colonel Tom Parker and got a young Elvis Presley an audition on "Arthur Murray's Talent Scouts," but Elvis and the band were quickly rejected. In 1959, on a tip from Berle, Kozak learned that Hope's longtime agent, Jimmy Saphier, was looking for someone to help book Hope's NBC specials, so he left for the West Coast to begin what would become a decades-long on-and-off relationship with Hope. In 1969, Kozak returned to William Morris for a three-year stint in the TV variety department in Los Angeles, helping to shepherd a young Michael Ovitz, as well as Kozak's assistant, future mega-manager George Shapiro. In the TV packaging department, Kozak packaged "Laugh-In" and booked "The Merv Griffin Show," among other shows. In 1972, Kozak returned to Hope again, this time partnering with Saphier, and became Hope's main agent after Saphier's death in 1974. Kozak was soon producing Hope's many NBC specials, coordinating his appearances and running his production office.In 1979, Kozak was hired to run ICM's TV variety department, to which he lured an array of A-list producers and directors, including Gary Smith & Dwight Hemion and Steve Binder. But his high-crowning achievement was an anniversary show that Motown's Suzanne de Passe brought him in 1982 and that he sold to NBC as a two-hour special and ICM package. "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever" won an Emmy for best TV special, as well as an NAACP Image Award and a Peabody Award, and became one of the highest-rated shows in television history.Following the Motown project, Hope asked Kozak to return for what would be his last run with the comedian in which he continued his prior duties, serving also as his manager. In 1991, Kozak opened up a West Coast office for Nashville's Buddy Lee Attractions, where he would remain throughout the 1990s. He was semi-retired beginning in 2000 and spent the last decade of his life booking personal appearances.Kozak is survived by his wife, Marie, a former executive secretary for General Artists Corp. (now ICM); sons Steven, clearance coordinator at "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and Robert ; daughters Julie, wardrobe supervisor on "Extra," and Heather; and 10 grandchildren. A memorial service will be held Sunday, Aug. 7, at 2 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com