Pinoys among top downloaders of 'Breaking Bad' finale

MANILA – Filipinos were among the top downloaders of the much-anticipated final episode of the Emmy-winning series "Breaking Bad," according to a report released Monday.

The online piracy news website TorrentFreak said the last episode of the fifth and final season of “Breaking Bad,” which aired Sunday in the US, resulted in a record number of pirated downloads for the popular TV series about a chemistry teacher turned drug lord Walter White, played by Emmy winner Bryan Cranston.

“Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that 12 hours after the first copy of the episode appeared online, more than half a million people has grabbed a copy through one of many torrent sites. Never before have so many people downloaded a ‘Breaking Bad’ episode, making it a strong contender for a top spot in our most-pirated TV-shows of the year chart,” the TorrentFreak report said.

The Philippines ranked No. 8 on the list of top downloaders of the episode, accounting for 2.3% of the total.

Australians were the top downloaders of the “Breaking Bad” finale with 18%, followed by the United States with 14.5% and the United Kingdom with 9.3%.

The other countries in the Top 10 are Canada, India, Netherlands, Poland, France and South Africa.

Despite being one of the most-pirated TV episodes of the year, the “Breaking Bad” finale still managed to draw 10.3 million, making it the largest-ever audience for the series, which was awarded the best drama at the recent Emmy Awards.

In doing so it drew 3.7 million more viewers than the penultimate episode seven days earlier, which itself had set a series record at 6.6 million, the ratings tracker Nielsen said, cited by industry journal Variety.

"Breaking Bad," set in the dangerous world of crystal meth trading, which White rises to dominate, mesmerized viewers with a cocktail of meticulously crafted plot, fine acting and scenic camera work.

But it was the stunning metamorphosis of White's average guy persona into that of a veritable monster that ultimately captivated audiences. White became a meth manufacturer in the New Mexico city of Albuquerque, having learned at age 50 that he had terminal lung cancer.

With his bank account all but empty the lead character outwardly took the drastic decision to pay for his treatment and provide for his family, but the underworld he enters eventually captures him in unanticipated fashion, catapulting him into the role of a criminal kingpin feared by his rivals.

But much as he manages to achieve his original goal -- at one point raising around $80 million for himself -- his life spirals out of control and ends in tragedy for many of the characters involved in the show. – With a report from Agence France-Presse

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Anne Curtis to do cameo in US series?

MANILA -- Anne Curtis is "speechless" over the prospect of making a cameo appearance in an American television series, which recently premiered in the Philippines.


The 28-year-old Kapamilya actress got the approval of Bryan Fuller when she was suggested to appear in a cameo role in the second season of the US series "Hannibal," which was developed by the American screenwriter and television producer.

Curtis was mentioned to Fuller on micro-blogging site Twitter on Thursday by Joyce Ramirez, who heads Manila-based public relations firm Publicity Asia (PR Asia).




The publicity network is responsible for the local promotion of "Hannibal," which recently aired its pilot episode in the Philippines via the cable channel AXN.

The thriller series, which started airing on NBC in the United States on April 4, stars Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen and Laurence Fishburne.

In mid-2012, Curtis stayed in California for a month to film "Blood Ransom," an American indie movie by Filipino director Francis dela Torre.

A release schedule for the film, which also stars Alexander Doetsch, has yet to be announced.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

From gay lawyer to crime-solving schizoid: ‘Will & Grace’ star returns to TV

LOS ANGELES – Sometimes all it takes to solve a puzzle is a different way of looking at it.

Former “Will & Grace” actor Eric McCormack is hoping audiences will do just that when he returns to television next week, not as a witty gay lawyer but as an eccentric professor with paranoid schizophrenia.

“Perception”, which debuts on July 9 (Monday) on the TNT network, sees McCormack playing lovable neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Pierce, who is recruited by the FBI to use his brilliant but delusional mind to help solve complex crimes.

McCormack describes Pierce and the new show as “‘A Beautiful Mind’ meets ‘Columbo’” – a combination of the Oscar-winning movie about a mathematician and the TV detective series. Others have likened “Perception” to medical TV drama “House” for crime show enthusiasts.

Arrogant, outspoken and largely closed-off from other people, Pierce is a character who despite having a real job as a university professor can’t help solving mysteries, whether it is a crossword puzzle or an unsolved crime.

Proud as he is of “Will & Grace” – a TV sitcom about a gay man and straight woman who are best friends – and its role in re-shaping the US cultural landscape in terms of gay acceptance, McCormack says that six years after the it ended, he is hoping audiences will accept him in a new light.

“Actors are supposed to show versatility, but you are saying to audiences ‘you have lived with that guy on screen for eight years, and now I want you to live with this new guy.’”

“I can’t expect everyone to go along with it, but I hope people will give it a try and see there is fun in the same actor creating something totally different,” McCormack told Reuters.

“Perception” is as much about the character of Pierce and his attempt to keep his paranoid schizophrenia at bay without medication as it is about the crimes he solves with FBI agent and former student Kate Moretti, played by Rachael Leigh Cook.

McCormack said he did weeks of research into the mental illness and how it manifests itself. He read about Nobel economics laureate John Nash, whose story was told in “A Beautiful Mind,” and devoured University of Southern California law professor Elyn Saks’ account of her own struggle with schizophrenia in her 2007 book “The Center Cannot Hold.”

“I don’t think there is a single show where on some level my character’s condition doesn’t escalate. The real thrust of the first 10 episodes of ‘Perception’ is that, because I am not on my meds, the more cases I take on, it is a little clearer that it is ungluing my way of life. But there will always be some crime to solve too,” McCormack said.

McCormack started his career playing classical and Shakespearean roles before becoming a household name in his Emmy-winning turn as neurotic Will Truman on “Will & Grace.”

Since the series ended in 2006, the 49-year-old actor has struggled to find his feet. TV advertising drama “Trust Me” was canceled after one season in 2009 despite good reviews, and his sci-fi movie “Alien Trespass” was a box-office flop.

McCormack fared better as con artist Clark Rockefeller in 2010 TV movie “Who is Clark Rockefeller?” and he is currently playing what a jerk in the Broadway play “The Best Man.” He also appears in the independently made political satire film “Knife Fight,” which premiered at the Tribeca film festival in April.

“I have to show the world there is another side of me. I have to probably not go and play a whole bunch of other gay roles,” said McCormack, who is straight in real life.

“But I am prouder now of ‘Will & Grace’ than I have ever been. There a lot of guys who write me letters saying I don’t know how I would have come out to my parents without that show.

“We were never political about it at the time … but I think what we did little by little, by having middle America watch the show, was as valuable as all the speeches and rhetoric and parades in the world.”

source: interaksyon.com