Latest news with #GeorgeMullen
New York Times
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Sudden Weirdness of TV Presidents
You can't say that TV's fictional presidencies lack for drama today. In 'Zero Day,' the former President George Mullen (Robert DeNiro) sleuths out the source of a debilitating cyberattack. In 'Paradise,' the feckless nepo baby President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) shoulders responsibility for humankind after an extinction-level volcanic eruption (and, no spoiler, gets murdered in his postapocalyptic underground shelter). In 'The Residence,' a White House state dinner becomes a crime scene. Yet watching these political series lately, I am now struck by the same nagging feeling. This is all wrong, I think. It feels too normal — even the series that takes place in an enormous subterranean city. It's not just that TV dramas can't compete with the show we're watching unfold on the news. Increasingly, they seem to operate in a parallel universe. Historically, TV's presidents — Jed Bartlet on 'The West Wing,' David Palmer on '24,' Fitzgerald Grant on 'Scandal' — tend to share certain familiar traits. They are concerned with the appearance of stability and normalcy. They treat federal enforcement and intelligence agencies as part of a system to manage, not as internal enemies to be conquered. They make measured statements. They scold, even explode, but behind closed doors. They even have an aesthetic: a cool formality that speaks of quiet power without ostentation. Compare them with our reality. President Trump erupts into a shouting match with Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, a nominal ally, in front of live cameras, ending the altercation by saying, 'This is going to be great television.' He renames the Gulf of Mexico, goes on the attack against Canada — a literal plot element from the movie 'South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut'— and stages a Tesla ad on the White House grounds. To watch presidential fiction today is to feel how the polarity has suddenly flipped. The base line assumptions about how power works and presidents behave — about what America is in the world — have changed. And the details that TV series relied on to seem politically realistic suddenly make them feel like transmissions from an alternative timeline. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Express Tribune
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Netflix's ‘Zero Day' flops with critics despite Robert De Niro's star power
Netflix's highly anticipated political thriller Zero Day has failed to impress critics, debuting with a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite Robert De Niro's rare TV appearance as former U.S. President George Mullen, many reviewers found the six-episode series predictable and lacking in suspense. Critics have called Zero Day a missed opportunity. M.N. Miller of FandomWire described it as "contrived and rushed," while Alex Maidy from JoBlo's Movie Network lamented that it "wastes an all-star cast with a story bogged down by misdirections." The series follows Mullen as he investigates a deadly cyberattack but gets entangled in political conspiracies and his own troubled past. The ensemble cast includes Lizzie Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Joan Allen, Connie Britton, Dan Stevens, Angela Bassett, and Matthew Modine. However, The Daily Beast's Nick Schager wrote that even this impressive lineup couldn't save the show from being a "muddled, suspense-challenged washout." Not all reviews are negative. MovieWeb's Matt Mahler suggested that the show improves after its "horrible first episode." Collider's Shawn Van Horn praised its short six-episode format, saying it remains thrilling without dragging. Fans are divided, with some praising the acting and others calling it "one of the silliest things on Netflix." Zero Day is now streaming, allowing viewers to judge for themselves.
South China Morning Post
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
‘Television's a little different,' De Niro, 81, says of Netflix shoot
Published: 4:15pm, 8 Feb 2025 Robert De Niro has said filming for a new Netflix series about cyber warfare was 'like doing three features back to back'. The Oscar-winning actor , 81, was an executive producer on Zero Day , which sees him play former US president George Mullen, who is pulled out of retirement amid a cyberattack that has shut down the country's entire technology infrastructure. Speaking at a London screening, he said: 'It is like doing three features back to back.' He added: 'Jesse (Plemons) and I were talking about it, and he was saying, 'Television's a little different, you know?' 'And I kind of saw what he meant as time went on. 'It's just that there was a schedule, a very tight thing for me, I was in most of it (the film), and so I had to keep up with everything, even (something) as simple as knowing the lines.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robert De Niro: Filming Netflix series like doing three features back to back
Robert De Niro has said filming for a new Netflix series about cyber warfare was 'like doing three features back to back'. The Oscar-winning actor, 81, was an executive producer on Zero Day, which sees him play former US president George Mullen, who is pulled out of retirement amid a cyber attack that has shut down the country's entire technology infrastructure. Speaking at a London screening, he said: 'It is like doing three features back to back.' He added: 'Jesse (Plemons) and I were talking about it, and he was saying, 'Television's a little different, you know?' 'And I kind of saw what he meant as time went on. 'It's just that there was a schedule, a very tight thing for me, I was in most of it (the film), and so I had to keep up with everything, even (something) as simple as knowing the lines. 'So, I likened it to being in the English Channel, swimming to England from France, looking behind me and not seeing France, looking ahead and not seeing England. 'I gotta keep going, otherwise I'm going to sink.' The six-episode series has been co-created by Eric Newman and Noah Oppenheim and stars Breaking Bad actor Plemons as Roger Carlson, George Mullen's former aide, and Mean Girls actress Lizzy Caplan as Alexandra Mullen, a young congresswoman from New York. The political thriller begins with a 'zero-day event' which shuts down air traffic control, railroad crossings, subway signals, banking, communication, and other major systems. Angela Bassett is The President. Zero Day, a new conspiracy thriller series, also stars Robert DeNiro, Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine, Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Joan Allen & Connie Britton. Coming soon to Netflix. — Netflix (@netflix) December 19, 2023 An ominous message follows from an unknown and unseen enemy saying 'this will happen again' before US president Evelyn Mitchell, played by Angela Bassett, calls upon the former president, played by De Niro, to head the Zero Day Commission, charged with finding the designers of the attack. Asked if he had done any research for the film, De Niro said: 'Not in a sense, it was basically me reacting in the situation, I didn't feel that I had to. 'I had great people supporting me, Eric, Noah, (executive producer) Michael Schmidt, and technical people. 'We had the best advisers we could have had. And so it was there in the script, when I read each episode, I said, 'This is really good.'' Eric actress Gaby Hoffmann guest stars as Monica Kidder, a controversial Silicon Valley billionaire, with Agents Of Shield star Clark Gregg in a guest role as corporate raider, provocateur, and billionaire Robert Lyndon. The cast ensemble also comprises The White Lotus star Connie Britton, Room star Joan Allen, and Stranger Things actor Matthew Modine. The series was filmed in New York and Washingston DC. De Niro will also star in Netflix film The Whisper Man, a new adaptation of Alex North's bestselling novel of the same name which will begin production in the spring. Zero Day will be released to the streaming platform on February 20.
