The drama series House of Cards, which can currently be viewed through Netflix, is an uncompromising exploration of power and ambition.  Francis Underwood (Kevin Spacey), the House Majority Whip, is a politician’s politician – masterful, beguiling, charismatic and ruthless – and he and his equally ambitious wife, Claire (Robin Wright) stop at nothing to ensure their ascendancy.

During this recent interview to promote the 13-episode series, actress Kate Mara, who plays bright and determined political reporter Zoe Barnes, talked about her take on the character, where Zoe’s moral compass lies, getting early drafts of the scripts prior to shooting, how each director took on two hours of the show and that they shot it like six movies, what it was like to work with co-star Kevin Spacey, and that they start shooting Season 2 in about a month.  Check out what she had to say after the jump. 

Casting news for two anticipated upcoming projects has been unveiled.  First up, Alcon Entertainment has announced that Kate Mara (House of Cards, American Horror Story) is joining the cast of longtime Christopher Nolan cinematographer Wally Pfister’s sci-fi project Transcendence.  The film stars Johnny Depp and is rumored to concern a scientist whose brain gets uploaded into a supercomputer, but confirmed plot details are being kept under tight wraps.  Mara’s role is unspecified, but she most recently did excellent work on Netflix’s fantastic original series House of Cards and should make a swell addition to the Transcendence cast.

Rebecca Hall and Paul Bettany are also poised to star in the film.  Kate’s sister Rooney Mara was previously considered for one of the pic’s lead roles that eventually went to Hall.  Nolan is executive producing the film alongside Emma Thomas and Aaron Ryder, with filming set to get underway soon.  Hit the jump for casting news concerning the female lead in Michael Bay’s Transformers 4.

This weekend, Netflix premiered House of Cards.  All of House of Cards.  It was a bold strategy that signaled that not only was Netflix now in the television business (even though it isn’t their first original series), but that they had quality programming on the level of HBO.  House of Cards is a show with the same level of plotting, character development, twists, and turns that we’ve come to expect from the celebrated premium channel.  In some ways, House of Cards is even better than some of HBO’s recent offerings.  Beau Willimon‘s adaptation of the BBC series is radical not only in its distribution, but also in how it spits in the face of those who claim that they need characters to “root for”.

One of my most-anticipated TV series of 2013 isn’t on network television, cable, or premium cable.  It’s on Netflix.  The streaming service is moving into the original television business, and it might have two hits on its hands with House of Cards and the fourth season of Arrested Development.  Four new trailers have been released for the former, and if you couldn’t tell by the first trailer, the show looks downright nasty and loads of fun.  The new trailers bring us some crackling lines such as “The most you’ll ever make of yourself is blowing men like me,” and “Twitter twat.”  Who can resist dialogue like that?

Click here to see the trailers [via CinemaBlend].  We’ll update this article with embeds as soon as they’re available.  The series stars Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Sakina Jaffrey, Kristen Connolly, Sebastian Arcelus, Boris McGiver, Constance Zimmer, Jayne Atkinson, Michel Gill, and Reg E. Cathey.  All 13 episodes of House of Cards premiere on February 1st.

Netflix, the ever-evolving DVD and streaming service, has really raised the bar on web series and online original content recently, both with the news of its resurrection of the beloved Arrested Development and its upcoming David Fincher adaptation of Michael Dobbs‘ House of Cards series.

In anticipation of House of Cards‘ release, Netflix has created character profiles that say something about each, while also revealing their true nature.  Hit the jump for the pics and the trailer.  The show stars Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Sakina Jaffrey, Kristen Connolly, Sebastian Arcelus, Boris McGiver, Constance Zimmer, Jayne Atkinson, Michel Gill, and Reg E. Cathey.  All 13 episode of House of Cards premiere on February 1, 2013.

Back in March, Kevin Spacey billed David Fincher‘s upcoming Netflix series House of Cards as “not your daddy’s West Wing.”  It certainly looks like The West Wing if Aaron Sorkin‘s show was dark, cynical, and filled with duplicitous characters but still entertaining as hell.  Watching the Washington, D.C. scheming in this trailer looks absolutely captivating, and Netflix might very well have a hit show not named “Arrested Development“.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The show also stars Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Sakina Jaffrey, Kristen Connolly, Sebastian Arcelus, Boris McGiver, Constance Zimmer, Jayne Atkinson, Michel Gill, and Reg E. Cathey.  All 13 episode of House of Cards premiere on February 1, 2013.

We’ve got the first trailer for 10 Years, an ensemble comedy centering on a group of friends at their high school reunion.  The directorial debut of Jamie Linden (Dear John), 10 Years stars Channing Tatum as Jake, who is ready to propose to his girlfriend (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) until he runs into his old flame (Rosario Dawson) at the reunion.  The film also stars Chris Pratt, Justin Long, Max Minghella, Kate Mara, Oscar Isaac, Ari Graynor and Lynn Collins.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

A new trailer has gone online for Deadfall, the debut crime-thriller from screenwriter Zach Dean  that stars Eric Bana (Star Trek) and Olivia Wilde (TRON: Legacy).   Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters), Deadfall follows a brother (Bana) and sister (Wilde) who flee from a casino robbery gone wrong.  Making a run for the border, they draw an innocent family and the local law enforcement into their ordeal.  Deadfall also stars Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Sissy Spacek, Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams.  The film opens December 7th.  Hit the jump to check out the synopsis, trailer and poster.

Jamie Bell and Kate Mara (American Horror Story) have been tapped to star in the romantic comedy Fighting Jacob.  Variety reports that Bell will play, “Jacob ‘The Manic Maniac’ Rosenthal, an up-and-coming boxer whose extreme OCD is the key to his success in the ring.”  Bell suffers a devastating breakup with Mara’s character, after which he must reevaluate his life and find a medium between his happiness and success as a fighter.  Justin Lader wrote the script, and Charlie McDowell (Bye Bye Benjamin) will direct.

Bell is currently filming the promising thriller Snow Piercer with director Bong Joon-ho, while Mara is busy shooting David Fincher’s Netflix series House of Cards with Kevin Spacey.  Mara’s sister, Rooney, nabbed an Oscar nomination for her work with Fincher in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Production on Fighting Jacob is slated to begin this summer in Los Angeles.

This is a fair warning to anyone who is reading this and hasn’t been keeping up with our American Horror Story recaps: turn back now or risk ruining some fantastic surprises from this series. When last we left the Harmon house, we learned that Vivien’s (Connie Britton) twins had, not one, but two fathers. We also watched as Ben (Dylan McDermott) came to certain revelations about the house and its inhabitants. Hayden (Kate Mara) was up to her old tricks again and ill-advisedly added a new member to the ghost line-up: Travis (Michael Graziadei). The episode “Spooky Little Girl” ended with a spoon-fed foreshadowing of the birth of Vivien’s demonic (read: antichrist) baby. But what have the other kids, Violet (Taissa Farmiga) and Tate (Evan Peters) been up to? Hit the jump to find out.

People tend to freak out a little when it comes to their ten year high school reunion.  They see it as a chance to make up for past regrets, prove how well they’re doing (even if they’re not), and regress a bit to the meaningless drama of our teenage years.  Jamie Linden’s Ten Year gets the meaningless drama part.  Following a group of male friends and their female appendages, Ten Year features redundant storylines, a dearth of humor, an almost total lack of creativity, and a waste of a perfectly good cast.

A few weeks ago we posted the first official image from director Jamie Linden ‘s Ten Year when the film got announced as part of this year’s Toronto Film Festival.  Now, thanks to Voltage Pictures website, we’ve got a number of new images and the first poster.  Starring Channing Tatum, Ron Livingston, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Chris Pratt, Kate Mara, Lynn Collins and Oscar Isaac, Ten Year is about a group of friends returning home for their ten year high school reunion.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: We've removed the posters at the request of the studio.]

Continuing our assault of all the new movie images that hit the net this morning, we’ve got our first official looks at Steve McQueen’s Shame (starring Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale and Nicole Beharie), Fernando Meirelles 360 (starring Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz and Ben Foster), Jamie Linden’s Ten Year (starring Channing Tatum, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Anthony Mackie and Chris Pratt) and Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut Coriolanus (which stars Fiennes and Gerard Butler).

While many Film Festivals hope to land a few big movies, this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is an insane lineup that’s loaded with huge actors and high profile projects.  Like the past few years, I’ll be at TIFF, so you can expect plenty of reviews/interviews during the Festival which runs from September 8-18th.  Hit the jump to check out all the new images.

Ironclad is a prime example of a thrilling adventure film that is hampered by the modern chaotic editing of its action scenes. Set in the 13th century, the movie follows a dedicated Templar (James Purefoy) that bands together with the local barons to defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John of England (Paul Giamatti). While the plotline of a few against many doesn’t break new ground, the brutal action scenes, excellent cast, and unfamiliar outcome keep the film from feeling tied to conventions. Even the dialog has its moments that show co-writer/director John English is a rising star, if only he could get the camerawork under control. Hit the jump for my full review.

The main character of 127 Hours, Aron Ralston, is a real person and the film is based on his experience of being pinned to a cliff for a period of time that should be self-evident. As such – with a clock and an unavoidable ending – any film based on this event is bound to be something of an exercise. That’s not a knock against the movie – it’s just that what’s going to happen is predetermined by one’s knowledge of the events. Much like Into the Wild or Milk, I guess an audience could not know where the narrative is going, but that’s not the point with these movies. For director Danny Boyle, it was his follow up to his Academy award winning picture Slumdog Millionaire. For James Franco – who stars as Ralston – it a chance to show that he could carry a movie by himself, which led to an Oscar nomination. And for the audience it’s an interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying meditation on one character coming to terms with his life. My review of 127 Hours on Blu-ray follows after the jump.