Latest news with #HoltMcCallany
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix's New Hit Show 'The Waterfront' Has Viewers Seriously Divided—Here Is My Honest Review
I've been on the hunt for a new Netflix series since knocking out the latest season of Ginny and Georgia, and luckily, it didn't take too long to find my replacement. The Waterfront is the latest series to quickly enter into Netflix's top ten streaming list at the number one spot, and needless to say, it's already drawing a lot of chatter. Depending on who you ask, you might find someone who loves it or hates it (I guess a show about fishing isn't for everyone...). A thriller series set in the fictional town of Havenport, North Carolina, the show stars Holt McCallany, Maria Bello and Topher Grace, and centers around the Buckleys, a family of fishermen who are bedeviled by secrets, betrayal, greed and addiction. The show is a slow burn, as it starts off by introducing the key players and dynamics to set the scene. For starters, you have Harlan Buckley (McCallany), the head of the table, willing to do anything and everything to protect his family. Harlan's past is a dangerous one that includes drug fronts, cartels and a host of other illegal activities. While Harlan has somewhat tried to reinvent his image over the years, the decline of opportunities for fishermen, plus some health issues, has driven him back into that lifestyle. The character is loosely based on creator Kevin Williamson's own father, who encountered a similar situation in his career as a fisherman. "I come from a family of fishermen — not just my dad, but the entire family," Williamson told TIME in a recent interview. "Someone came along and said, 'If you do this one thing, you can make all this money.' And it was hard to say no," he continued, explaining that his father agreed to run drugs on his fishing trawler, for which he was later arrested. "He got caught, he served his time, he got out, and I graduated." Then there is Belle Buckley (Bello), the straight-shooting matriarch who is also willing to defend her family at all costs. While Belle looks demure and innocent on the outside, she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty either, and is quite cunning, I might add. Netflix Originally, I planned on only watching the first episode of this series and saving the rest for later, but as so often happens, oops, I ended up binge-watching the whole season. Not even the drug-exchange-gone-bad or a major plot twist are enough to keep episode one from being overly predictable. (Take this with a grain of salt though as I obviously kept watching.) This, by far, has been the biggest criticism of The Waterfront—that it takes entirely too long to get to the point. It also doesn't help that we've had similar shows in recent years (Yellowstone and Ozark, for example) to which this series is already comparisons. Netflix On the upside, I can assure you that things do pick up. Eventually, you'll realize that the slow start and character introductions are to lay the necessary groundwork for future events, and the show is incredibly well-written, providing a generous blend of suspense and drama. It's also well-acted, I might add, with Holt McCallany giving Harlan Buckley a complexity that blends his good and bad traits together beautifully. You'll end up loving Harlan so much that you hate him, and that's really all you can ask for in a show. Another person that will irk your nerves is Topher Grace's character Grady, who is so painfully cocky at times you'll want to throw something at your television. Oh, and the family drama alone is worth seeing this show the entire way through. Make no mistake—the Buckleys hate each other, despite the perfect family image they have previously tried to project. My final thoughts? I do think The Waterfront is a show I would have been more impressed with circa 2009, but it was also entertaining enough for me to binge in a single day, so that counts for something. You can stream The Waterfront on Netflix now. Want all the latest entertainment news sent right to your inbox? Click here. I Just Realized Why 'Sirens' Star Glenn Howerton Looks So Familiar—and I Can't Believe I Didn't See it Sooner PureWow's editors and writers have spent more than a decade shopping online, digging through sales and putting our home goods, beauty finds, wellness picks and more through the wringer—all to help you determine which are actually worth your hard-earned cash. From our PureWow100 series (where we rank items on a 100-point scale) to our painstakingly curated lists of fashion, beauty, cooking, home and family picks, you can trust that our recommendations have been thoroughly vetted for function, aesthetics and innovation. Whether you're looking for travel-size hair dryers you can take on-the-go or women's walking shoes that won't hurt your feet, we've got you covered.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix's #1 Show Is a Twisty Murder Drama Based on Real Events & It Looks Seriously Binge-Worthy
A new show just dropped on Netflix and it's already making major waves. The Waterfront premiered on June 19 and has rocketed straight to the top of Netflix's Top 10. Touted by Variety as a 'highly bingeable family soap' and compared by Slate to Yellowstone, the series is packed with small-town power struggles, deep-rooted secrets, and messy family drama. But here's what really sets it apart: it's inspired by the real-life story of creator Kevin Williamson. Yes, that Kevin Williamson—the mind behind Dawson's Creek and Scream—turned his own upbringing into a gripping TV drama. DANA HAWLEY/NETFLIX Set in the fictional town of Havenport, North Carolina, The Waterfront follows the Buckley family, once the town's ruling dynasty thanks to their grip on the fishing industry and restaurant scene. But things are falling apart fast. Patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) is recovering from two heart attacks and it's up to his wife Belle (Maria Bello) and son Cane (Jake Weary) to hold the business together. Meanwhile, daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist), who's in addiction recovery and has lost custody of her son, finds herself caught in a complicated romance that could unravel everything. DANA HAWLEY/NETFLIX As dramatic as that sounds, it's rooted in truth. Williamson grew up in New Bern, North Carolina, surrounded by the fishing life. 'I come from a family of fishermen—not just my dad, but the entire family,' he shares. 'Everyone I knew was a fisherman.' By the 1980s, that old-school fishing life was slipping away and Williamson's dad made a risky move. He started using his fishing boat to smuggle drugs. 'He was arrested for conspiracy to traffic marijuana—20,000 pounds,' Williamson told Time. 'They didn't just arrest my dad. They arrested a whole bunch of people. It was part of a cartel. They were the low men in the operation.' 'I always told my dad I was going to write the story,' Williamson adds. 'He said, 'Wait until I'm dead.'' The Waterfront cast also includes Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González, Danielle Campbell, Brady Hepner and Topher Grace in a guest role. All eight episodes are now streaming. Want all the latest entertainment news sent right to your inbox? Click here. Netflix New Releases: The Best Shows & Movies to Watch in June
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kevin Williamson Talks ‘The Waterfront' Finale and Insane Childhood That Informed Netflix Series
[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the season finale of.] Kevin Williamson had a crazy childhood — and not all of it was captured on Dawson's Creek. For starters, the creek was not shark-infested waters. More from The Hollywood Reporter King Charles and Idris Elba Team Up on Netflix Doc About Charity That "Changed" Actor's Life 'Mindhunter' May Return as Three Movies, Star Holt McCallany Reveals Don't Expect Netflix to Save U.S. Broadcast Networks Netflix's The Waterfront takes the drug-smuggling aspect of Williamson's youth up a few notches. It also features a tremendous heel turn by Topher Grace (That '70s Show). The rest of the cast, which also includes Holt McCallany, Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary, Maria Bello and Dave Annable, among others, are quite capable as well. The Waterfront sees the Buckleys, a successful and affluent coastal North Carolina family on the brink of losing it all, turn to drug-running. As can happen with smuggling, violence follows — a lot of violence. The biggest bang comes in the season finale; if you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading right here. For the rest of you, our Q&A with Williamson is below. *** as the villain Grady— I wrote it with him in mind, and I was hoping he would say yes. Ben [Fast], who is my partner on this [and an] executive producer of the sho, had some meetings with him, and I had met Topher over the years so I knew him from around Hollywood. Ben was like, 'We need like a Topher Grace character in this role.' And I was like, 'Oh my God, he would be great!' I love taking these sort of likable, fun actors and just turning them into raging psychopaths — I think it's a lot of fun. Netflix wanted us to keep the show very regional and Southern, and not have him be this tech guy from New York who comes in and starts drug smuggling. [Grady's] family hails from Atlanta and they were this big, well-to-do, rich family that sort of threw him away because he was trouble. He's clearly on the spectrum of some major crazy, and it just got worse and worse and worse. I think he got into some stock fraud and ended up in prison, and then came out having met a lot of other criminals, and he decided he had a new game plan. Did you ever assign a specific 'major crazy' diagnosis for him in your mind? No, no. But he had inherited his grandparents' land, and I think his family saw it as a way to get rid of him. And so he went down there and did a little opium startup. Sometimes in your stuff and they're not really dead. comes to mind. Grady is definitely dead though, right? Yeah, yeah. We're paving the way for an equally [evil] new villain next year. If people watch [season one]. Is the plan for a villain-of-the-season? I don't know if there's a villain of the season. [For a season two], we have the Parker family that will come into play. They have such a backstory with the Buckleys already. The Parker family would become season two's big conflict. We've only met Emmett [Terry Serpico] and his father. There are more Parker family members and they will prove to be equally as complicated as the Buckleys — and more dangerous than Grady could ever be. So Belle (Mario Bello) broke bad at the end of season one — did Cane (Jake Weary) break bad? Cane really, he was compromised. He finally killed someone, which he didn't plan on doing. He was trying to not cross that line. He has disposed of a body, he has watched somebody being killed, but [in the past] when it came time to pull the trigger, he couldn't do it. In episode eight, he finally did it. So there's no turning back for him. I do think he's kind of on another path. But in my mind, he's still the good guy. I like him, too. I like everybody. You have to in order to write them, but I think they're all good people who have done bad things. The whole thing is: How do you pull them back to good? Once you cross the line, can you go back? Can you ever forgive him? [The Hollywood Reporter asked actor Jake Weary the same question via email. 'Did Cane break bad at the end of season one?' Here's what he said: 'When Cane is standing there with the smoking gun in his hand, I like to imagine the first thought in his mind is, 'Holy s***, I just killed a human being,' immediately followed by, 'but did the right thing, you did it for everything you stand for.' Which is his family. I'm not sure if he's necessarily 'breaking bad' by killing Grady, but it does symbolize a massive paradigm shift moving forward. Cane is now capable of murder, and what does that say about his emotional fragility? Does it prove something about himself to his father that Harlan never thought was there? I think the more interesting side of it is actually Harlan's perspective of what transpires, that maybe his own son isn't who he thought he was.'] [] So, where are the Buckleys at exactly, money-wise, at the end of season one? At the end of season one, they had broke even, and they were doing well. The problem was, as Harlan [Holt McCallany] explained it, running drugs is a drug. Just making that money; you start prospering and you see everything getting better. Quite frankly, it's the thing that brought him back to life. It was one thing he's really good at. And so, who would want to give that up? He's starting to live again. But now they're beholden to another organization, and they have to work for the Parkers. Now they have a bigger foe to deal with. Waterfront settings are all the rage in TV series these days — it's wealth porn. Beyond the obvious natural beauty, what makes those locations so inherently watchable? I don't know. I think maybe there's a wish fulfillment to it. If you live in the middle of the country, you don't see the ocean a lot. And I love it. I grew up on the water. I think it's so picturesque. When you think of just like a happy place to go, I think of the water. The reason we wanted to do this is, there's such beauty there, but what's under the surface? We played with the whole idea of the duality of life, and I think that happens. It's such a beautiful setting. I personally love it. and it's meant to be a fun show. It shouldn't be some heady… I didn't want to make a show that was homework. I wanted it to be watchable and fun and bingey; a summer fun show. We really tried to stay in the bingey world with the tone of the show, in the sense of humor about it also holding true to the characters. We wanted a fun show. You're on Netflix — do you also feel the vibes? It does have Bloodline vibes because of the water and — [Bloodline] was in Florida, right? Yeah, Islamorada in the Florida Keys. So it had a little bit of a different vibe, but it was equally as beautiful. And it did have a family at its core. Yes, there are definitely some Bloodline vibes. Netflix describes as being based on 'true events.' I'm told that means it's based on your childhood. So, what the fuck happened in your childhood? I mean, it'll go longer than this Zoom. I've been through a lot — I've been dipped in sharks. I've done it all there. You were (purposely) dunked headfirst into the ocean with sharks around you? It was a long story. Yes, I was 10 years old — it was a silly thing. It was a prank that my uncle played on me. He was a kid, he was a punk. Once again, very good guy who just did silly — there was that one day we woke up and there were just sharks everywhere. And they had a pistol, and they were throwing chum over, and when the sharks came to the surface, they'd shoot it. Does that kill a shark? Well, they'd shoot it in the head for fun. It was so awful, it was just awful. I remember I wouldn't even go to the edge and look over because I was so terrified. And the boat was (rocking). I remember my uncle said, 'I'll hold you.' And then, of course, he picked me up to held me over, like an idiot. Jesus. He was a kid. He turned out to be my favorite uncle. You sure about that ranking? He was my favorite uncle, so I loved him dearly. He's passed. My mom wasn't part of this story. My dad, in the '80s, was a fisherman. He worked on the shrimp trawler, and the business had bellied up, and so my dad had an opportunity to smuggle some marijuana… Oh, this really happened? Well, it was marijuana, but yeah. At the time, we basically considered that opium. It was in the '80s, and he did some smuggling with some other people. He got caught, and he went to prison for a little while. Very much like if you'd — see, you didn't watch Dawson's Creek! Sorry about that. Joey's [Katie Holmes] dad went to prison for smuggling marijuana. He was in prison, and she had to go visit him there. So, yeah, I've been writing about this for a while. Everybody's like, 'Oh, this is true!' I go, 'Well, I wrote about it my first TV show.' Yeah, that's my bad. It was a pretty big show and I'm TV Editor, I should probably know that… No, no it's OK. [Pauses] I haven't seen every episode. What was your dad's role in the smuggling operation? He just had a boat. He was a runner. He didn't own a beach house, he didn't own a restaurant. That was all fiction. I really did embellish and exaggerate. You write what you know, but it always starts with a kernel of truth, same as Dawson's Creek. That's autobiographical, but hardly any of that happened to me. I always talked with my dad about making this show and telling the story. He was like, 'OK, go for it. Wait 'til I'm dead, but then do it.' And then he actually said, 'No, don't wait 'til I'm dead. I want to watch it happen.' And then, of course, he didn't make it — but he was close. He had a huge sense of humor, kind of like Harlan does. You've had some long-running franchises — , , . But that's not really the trend in TV these days. Do you have a max number of seasons in mind for ? You know, it's interesting. This is a new landscape. Netflix is a new world to me. Streaming is a new world to me. I think, three seasons? If they wanted four… The good news is, with a family, I feel like we have such a great cast of actors that we could explore beyond three seasons. But I went in there pitching three — that's [Netflix's) magic number. In the back of my head, [I was thinking], 'Oh, this could go four [seasons]. It's only eight episodes.' I mean, three seasons is one season of network [television]. I could go five seasons if it's a success, but I'd be happy with three. Three would be a solid number. I used to watch shows for years and years and years, and I saw every episode of CSI, but now I'm in a place where I just watched three seasons and I'm kind of done. *** The Waterfront is now streaming all episodes on Netflix. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Forbes
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Waterfront': Here's A List Of All The Songs In Hit Netflix Series
"The Waterfront" stars Melissa Benoist, Maria Bello, Holt McCallany and Jake Weary. The new Netflix crime drama The Waterfront not only features a compelling story, but songs from several nobable country music and rock artists throughout the series' eight episodes. While not one particular genre define the song soundtrack, the music for The Waterfront tends to skew more toward the music of country, rock and pop past and present, from Ryan Bingham, Chris Stapleton and Bella White to Tammy Wynette, Seals & Croft to The Allman Brothers Band. The Waterfront premiered on Netflix on June 19 and its viewership numbers were so huge in its first four days on the platform that the series debuted at No. 1 on the streamer's list of its Top 10 TV Shows globally. According to Netflix, The Waterfront had 8.3 million views for the weeklong period of June 16-22, which equates to 53.3 million hours viewed. The streamer noted that The Waterfront was also on Netflix's Top 10 TV Shows chart in 77 countries and No. 1 in 10 of them. The official summary for The Waterfront reads, 'For decades, the Buckley family has ruled Havenport, North Carolina, dominating everything from the local fishing industry to the town's restaurant scene. But their fishing empire has started to crumble as patriarch Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany) recovers from two heart attacks, and his wife Belle (Maria Bello) and son Cane (Jake Weary) venture into the deep end to keep the family businesses afloat. 'As their attempts spiral out of control and into treacherous waters, Harlan steps back in to take command. Facing her own demons, Buckley daughter Bree (Melissa Benoist) — an addict in recovery who's lost custody of her son Diller (Brady Hepner) — finds herself entangled in a complicated relationship that could threaten the family's future forever.' The Waterfront also stars Rafael L. Silva, Humberly González and Danielle Campbell, as well as Topher Grace, Dave Annable, Michael Gaston, Gerardo Celasco and Zach Roerig in guest roles. The Waterfront was created by Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek, The Vampire Diaries), and was inspired by some of Williamson's life growing up in North Carolina. What Songs And Artists Are Heard In 'The Waterfront'? There are 39 songs in all featured throughout the eight episodes of The Waterfront. Per Netflix Tudum, the songs are listed as follows: 'No Good' - Kaleo 'Devil Stole My Style' - Ryan Bingham 'Good Lovin' (Makes It Right)' - Tammy Wynette 'Star of Monterey' - Ben Chapman 'Heaven Hill' - Sterling Elza 'Don't You Dare' - Ben Chapman'Down in the Gulley' - Brent Cobb 'Rewind' - Rosali 'I'm a King Bee' - Peter Frampton Band 'Black Hearted Woman' - The Allman Brothers Band 'Numbers' - Bella White 'Summer Breeze' - Seals & Crofts 'I'd Really Love to See You Tonight' - England Dan & John Ford Coley 'Moonstroke' - Gordon Broad 'Tennessee Whiskey' - Chris Stapleton 'Moving' - John Fullbright 'Can't You See' - Marshall Tucker Band'True South' - Rodney Atkins 'Broken Bones' - Kaleo 'Hang in There' - Stephen Wilson Jr. 'Black Leaf' - The Cave Singers The Record Company - 'Gotta Be Movin'' Gary Clark Jr. - 'Don't Owe You a Thang' Lee Ann Womack - 'All the Trouble' Caitlin Rose - 'Own Side''Nashville Money' - Myron Elkins '4 x 4 Play' - Blackjack Billy 'Sinner' - Shaya Zamora 'Albatross' - Corrosion of Conformity 'Dead Man Walking' - Channing Wilson 'The Way I Oughta Go' - Bella White 'Echo In the Holler' - Tanner Usrey 'Dig a Hole' (unreleased) - Stephen Wilson Jr.'Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)' - Looking Glass 'Right Down the Line' - Gerry Rafferty 'Burgundy' - Laura Jean Anderson 'Deep Stays Down' - Larkin Poe All eight episodes of The Waterfront are streaming on Netflix.
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The Waterfront review roundup: Holt McCallany of Mindhunter fame fails to save Netflix drama
Netflix's The Waterfront was a much-anticipated series with considerable pedigree behind it. Aside from being developed by Kevin Williamson, who was well-renowned for his work on the iconic Scream horror movie series, as well as Dawson's Creek, the series also starred Holt McCallany, who'd risen to prominence thanks to his work on Netflix's critically acclaimed Mindhunter series. Alongside him, The Waterfront starred Melissa Benoist, Jake Weary and Rafael L. Silva. The Netflix series, however, has had a middling critical reception compared to Mindhunter, sitting at a lukewarm 54 on Metacritic. While the show has garnered praise from outlets such as The Collider and The New York Times, it has also drawn negative comparisons to 2018's Yellowstone by its harshest detractors. The Waterfront's Metacritic is just 54 compared to Mindhunter's 85 From the creator of Dawson's Creek and Scream, The Waterfront centers on the fictional Buckley family and their crumbling fishing details: Mindhunter's second season sits pretty on Metacritic with a score of 85, indicating 'Universal Acclaim'. The Waterfront, however, does not reach those heights. The series did garner its share of praise. In one of its more positive reviews, Collider's Samuel R. Murrian called the series one of the year's best shows. He praised the influences The Waterfront took from Ozark and Yellowstone and even went as far as saying that The Waterfront could be among Netflix's flagship series if future seasons managed to build on the first season's foundation. The show, from 'Dawson's Creek' creator Kevin Williamson, struggles to find a middle ground between gritty family saga and goofy CW This sentiment, however, was not universal. The Pittsburgh Tribune's Rob Owen was far more middling in his assessment of the show, noting a 'sameness' about it, comparable to Kevin Williamson's earlier Ransom Canyon, that rendered both series 'various levels of meh'. This sentiment was shared by The Daily Beast's Caroline Siede, who called the show 'Yellowstone with seafood', and claimed that it struggled to find a balance between being a gritty family drama, and a goofy CW series. TVLine's Dave Nemetz was far more scathing in his assessment, as he called the dialogue 'unforgivably dumb' and claimed that while the series tried to emulate Yellowstone and Dallas, it was far too by-the-numbers to measure up to either. With such a tepid critical response, it seems unlikely that this Netflix series will reach the levels of commercial and critical success Mindhunter once did. There is currently no confirmation of a second season.
