Hope everyone has a great time tonight and a fantastic year ahead.

See you in 2010!

_________________________________________________________________________________

The year started with Terminator promo and press tours. The show returned with the last nine episodes in the Friday slot in mid-February.

Later that month, Garret was spotted filming Winter’s Bone in Missouri. The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in late January. If anyone plans on going, the Sundance screening schedule is here.

The Last House on the Left opened on March 13. The reviews ranged from excellent to free branding campaign and the film made it to several lists of best horrors of the year. In October, it won a Reaper Award for Best Theatrical Release in 2009.

Toward the end of the month, Garret played his fifth character on T:SCC, the Skynet virus from the future. Previous four were George Laszlo, Cromartie, the Beastwizard and John Henry.

In late March, the first pictures from Burning Bright appeared online. Burning Bright was later renamed to Ravenous and it still awaits theatrical release. In November, it was screened at the AFM. The first reviews were pretty positive.

In early April, Water Pills had its U.S. premiere at the Florida Film Festival. Jasmine Jessica Anthony walked away with a grand jury award for best performance.

Also in April, two series finales aired two days apart. Garret snuffed the TV crew and gave Damian Lewis his final headache in Life on April 8. Life season two was released on DVD on August 25.

The Terminator finale aired on April 10. Despite cancellation, the show made it to #8 on the list of  the Top 10 Most Pirated Shows in 2009. Last year, it was the only new show among the top 10, at #4.

In the meantime, Garret joined Delroy Lindo and Roslyn Ruff in Things of Dry Hours, a play by Naomi Wallace about communists in 1930s Alabama. Rehearsals started on April 21.

The first trailer for The Road hit the web on May 15.

On May 18, Fox announced that they would not be picking up Terminator for a third season. Even though there has been talk of a possible TV/DVD movie, Terminator rights are currently up for grabs and in limbo until February 2010.

On May 20, Garret appeared in the season finale of Criminal Minds.

Two days later, Things of Dry Hours went into previews at the New York Theatre Workshop. The show premiered on June 8 and ran through June 28. Critics liked the cast, but were divided on the writing.

At some point over the spring/summer, Garret was cast in Madeleine Stowe’s Unbound Captives, an independent western epic with Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz and Robert Pattinson. If they get financing in time, the film will go into production in March (at the earliest).

In late July and early August, Garret filmed two TV guest appearances,  on CSI and Lie to Me, and a short film, One Night Only.

The Last House on the Left was released on DVD in mid-August.

Later that month, Garret was spotted filming the season three finale of Burn Notice. The episode will air in March 2010.

The trailer for One Night Only was released on September 2.

On September 3, The Road had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. Ten days later, it was screened in Toronto.

Terminator: The Complete Season Two was released on DVD on September 22.

On September 24, the CSI season 10 premiere aired. “Family Affair” is one of the five hours of television nominated for an ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) Award this year.

Speaking of CSI, in a fine display of Terminator fanboyism, the last episode before the break, Better off Dead, had a bunch of people stealing Cromartie’s music and killing each other. Also, a killer described as a Terminator.

On October 13, Oliver Sherman, an independent drama with Molly Parker and Donal Logue, went into production in North Bay. The film will most likely premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2010, but Canadians might get an early screening in the spring.

On October 21st, Garret appeared on Lie to Me.

And two days later, on Law & Order: SVU.

The Road finally saw its U.S. premiere at AFI fest in early November. On Thanksgiving, it got a limited release. Even though the film has been vastly overlooked in the early awards season, the reviews were mostly positive and it scored a few acting nods (Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee) from several critics’ societies (Broadcast Film Critics, Utah Film Critics, St. Louis Film Critics).

On November 13, Garret appeared on White Collar.

And the next day, One Night Only had its premiere in New York.

In November, Garret was cast in two new projects. The comedy pilot Keep Hope Alive, with Martha Plimpton, Cloris Leachman and Lucas Neff, was filmed earlier this month. If it gets picked up, it will be aired in the 2010/11 season.

The other project, John Sayles’ film Baryo, starts shooting in February in the Philippines. The crew is already there, building the set and preparing for the shoot. You can follow the updates on the new production blog, at johnsaylesbaryo.blogspot.com.

And that about wraps it up. If 2010 is even half as eventful, it will be another excellent year.

One for posterity:

White Collar had its series premiere yesterday. Garret’s episode is still a month away, but if you were planning on tuning in earlier, this would be the time. The show is getting pretty good reviews, it is on every Friday at 10 and the pilot is available on USANetwork.com. For the TV schedule and everything else you need to know, go to USA’s site.

Some pics from this week’s shows:

You can also visit LieToMeScoop.com and vote in the poll for the episode. And you definitely don’t wanna miss Alan Sepinwall’s new column (especially the comments section.)

Clips and screencaptures coming later this week.

Here it is without House:

Other news, Neal Baer posted another bubbletweet from SVU 11×05 “Hardwired,” this time with Mariska Hargitay and Stephanie March.

Side note: the interview is dated Sept. 25 and episode 2 is now episode 4.

Spoilers below.

IGN: Can you talk at all about some of the storylines coming up?

Raymund: Episode 1 we have Erika Christensen from Traffic. She’s a guest star and gives an incredible performance as a woman with multiple personality disorder. So that’s dramatic and fun! Then we have Garret Dillahunt who comes in episode 2. He’s amazing. He’s one of my favorite actors, ever. And he takes me hostage and brings me into the company and takes everyone hostage. It provides for a very entertaining, action-packed episode. Then we go off to Mexico in another episode. I go with Lightman to Mexico, because he needs a Latina to help him… Who doesn’t?! [Laughs] And then we go to Vegas, where we will be near the poker world series tournament.

IGN: I wanted to ask you a bit more about that hostage episode, because I’d imagine Torres would be a bit cooler under pressure in that situation than most.

Raymund: She’s very cool. Obviously, with a gun to your head, you’re going to freak out a little bit. But she understands what she has to do. She understands that there’s lives at stake. So she just does what she needs to do, to make sure everybody is okay. So she just comes in and does her bit. And then a gun goes to Lightman’s head… and that’s where the story really takes off.

IGN: How was it working with Garret Dillahunt on that episode?

Raymund: It was great. I think he’s probably one of the most brilliant actors of our time. I have immense respect for him. [IGN.com, via LieToMeScoop.com]

Here is the press release for the episode:

“LIE TO ME”—(9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) CC-HDTV 720p-Dolby Digital 5.1

A MURDER SUSPECT IS DRIVEN TO DRASTIC MEASURES

ON AN ALL-NEW “LIE TO ME” MONDAY, OCTOBER 12 19, ON FOX

Garret Dillahunt Guest-Stars

Eric Matheson (guest star Dillahunt), a man suspected of killing his wife, is brought in for questioning by the Lightman Group. Determined to prove his innocence, he takes drastic measures that put the team’s lives in danger in the “Honey” episode of LIE TO ME airing Monday, Oct. 12 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (LTM-202 204) (TV-14 D, L, V)

Cast: Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman; Kelli Williams as Gillian Foster; Monica Raymund as Ria Torres; Brendan Hines as Eli Loker; Mekhi Phifer as FBI Agent Ben Reynolds

Guest Cast: Kristen Ariza as Heidi; Garret Dillahunt as Eric Matheson; Karina Logue as Gwen Burns; Sean O’Bryan as Tom McHenry; Dean Chekvala as Danny Pavelka; Billy Smith as Mike Zancanelli; Stephanie Michels as Cynthia; Kevin McCorkle as Lawrence Edison; Meta Golding as Raven; Alina Phelan as Joan; Michael Patrick McGill as Officer Barnes

Looks like Garret won’t be holding Tim Roth hostage next week or the one after that either. LietoMeScoop.com has posted a press release for episode 2×03 (the one airing on Oct. 12) and it’s not “Honey,” but “Control Factor,” with Marc Blucas and Timothy Carhart guest starring.

No word yet on when “Honey” will air, but the promos Fox has been showing lately (below) have Garret in them so hopefully it won’t be a long wait.

Here is the press release for 2×03, just for reference:

“While on vacation in Mexico, Lightman and Emily become involved in the case of a missing American woman. Back home, Foster investigates tainted blood in D.C.-area hospitals with Lightman’s rival, Jack Rader (guest star Blucas), in the “Control Factor” episode of LIE TO ME airing Monday, Oct. 12 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (LTM-204) (TV-14 D, L)”

And the promos (surprisingly lacking in Buffy’s boyfriends):

SpoilerTV has a new season two clip:

And here is a new synopsis for SVU 11×05, “Hardwired:”

Law & Order SVU “Hardwired” Air Date 10/21/2009 (9 PM ET/ 8C Wednesday)
A YOUNG BOY IS RAPED, AND THE SUSPECT LEADS TO A CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP IN FAVOR OF CHILD-ADULT RELATIONSHIPS.

After Eva Banks (guest star Rosie Perez) makes a shocking discovery about her son, Cory’s (guest star Cruz Santiago) behavior at school, she takes him to the doctor, only to find out that he has been the victim of sexual abuse. Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) come onto the scene and question the victim and his family. From the boy’s frightened reaction when his stepfather, Thomas Banks (guest star Jim True-Frost), silences the investigation, it is clear to everyone in the room who the real perpetrator is. Detective Benson and Stabler are about to arrest the suspect when Thomas agrees to give up the leader of the largest pro child-adult relationship civil rights group in exchange for amnesty. [AllThingsLawandOrder]

For a short clip with Mariska Hargitay and Rosie Perez, go here: http://bbltwt.com/ayrge

Screencaps & clips from yesterday’s CSI episode are up. Click on the picture below to see them.

Lie to Me episodes 2×02 and 2×03 got switched. (Maureen Ryan has a new interview with Shawn Ryan and Tim Roth and mentions that Garret will appear in episode 3. More at Chicago Tribune.) Unless something changes again, the new air date for the episode is October 12.

And if you don’t have the new Terminator DVD yet, you can check out some of the behind-the-scenes featurettes on YouTube.