Another fairly unmemorable January turd that I’m just now reviewing…Man, I wouldn’t even blame people if they weren’t reading this at this point. What Works: Kevin Costner keeps his movie star cool going strong. Kenneth Branaugh is an interesting villain. And some of the intrigue is decent. What Doesn’t Work: I’m not sure that Chris…
Author: Alabama Liberal
Movie Review: Labor Day
I have been seriously slacking with my movie reviews. In hopes of “making it up to you” I’m going to post several reviews today for movies that may no longer be part of the conversation, but I did see them so… What Works: This Josh Brolin/Kate Winslett romance involves an escaped felon played by Brolin…
Oscar Hosts: NO More Ellen or Billy Crystal, NEW Hosts Every Year
Welp, Ellen Degeneres hosted the Oscars last night and was exactly how you’d expect: bland, tedious, indulging in long set pieces that promised only mild chuckles from the outset and barely delivered those in execution. I guess the Academy Awards do this every time they have a “risky” host (like Seth MacFarland last year) and…
New TV Shows: “Mixology,” “Mind Games,” and “Game of Arms”
“Mixology”…The novel premise of this show is that it’s centered entirely in a bar during one night, and there’s ten single people (five straight guys, five straight girls) and we have to wonder who gets with who by the end of the night. Last night mainly focused on one of those horribly bitchy women who’s…
Why Paula Patton and Robin Thicke Should Stay Together
I love media and pop culture, but it’s not often I really get too invested in celebrity couplings. “Hollyweird” marriages aren’t built to last, and there’s no sense getting too attached to them, is the general thinking. Except that the marriage of Paula and Robin actually was. Theirs was a real, pre-fame relationship that’s been going strong…
TV Reviews: “About a Boy” and “Growing Up Fischer”
NBC’s debuting two “new” comedies tonight (although one is a remake and the other an adaptation) but they’ve already shown the pilots after two different nights of the Olympics, so the secret’s out somewhat… “Growing Up Fischer”…One long blind joke. See, the title kid’s father is blind and his newly divorced mom (Jenna Elfman)…
Can the New “Late Night” Host Seth Meyers Please Let SNL Go?
We get it Seth, being on SNL as Weekend Update anchor and being the head writer on the show during an excruciatingly tedious period (when blandos like Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and Fred Armisen reigned supreme) is the best thing that ever happened to you. We know that you looooooooved it there, and were seemingly going to…
“TV” Review: “House of Cards” Season Two
Netflix’s somewhat-overpraised sensation House of Cards is back and the internet giant sure has gotten cocky in the space between. Before House of Cards first season, Netflix had Lilyhammer…Now, they’ve been nominated for Emmys, had two shows that were on every critics Best of the Year list (the other being “Orange is the New Black”),…
Jimmy Fallon’s First “Tonight Show”…Great, If You Love Bland
I have a deep, dark secret. I have a secret that would make me such a social leper I can’t tell anyone about it. The truth is: I don’t like Jimmy Fallon. I know, I know, I know I’m supposed to. I know that Fallon’s too-genial, toothless brand of comedy is supposed to instantly endear him to…
Jay Leno’s Final “Tonight Show”
I’ve never been a big Jay Leno fan, and I actually found it hard to watch The Tonight Show the last few years as ole lazy-joke Leno made more or less the same 10 jokes every night (OJ’s guilty, Clinton likes sex, hyuk yuk yuk). I can’t say Jimmy Fallon is any better though, but…
TV Reviews: Rake, and Black Sails
Time to start rolling out the midseason shows… “Rake” comes on Fox Thursdays and feels like it probably won’t be around next year or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part. It stars Greg Kinnear as a “sleaze bag” lawyer with a very messy personal life and that’s pretty much it. The real problem…
Movie Review: Philomena
This is a tough movie to grade and review because I was left with so many mixed emotions. It has the wild tonal shifts of a Tyler Perry movie (verbal comedy one minute and rage-inducing melodrama the next). It doesn’t quite feel real (I never really bought the odd-couple friendship of Judi Dench’s too gullible character and…
Movie Review: Nebraska
I love Alexander Payne (the director of contemporary classics “Citizen Ruth,” “About Schmidt,” “Election,” and “The Descendants”). So why don’t I love his latest film? It has, once again, gotten him nominated for Best Director. And it has, once again, been nominated for Best Picture. It is also, once again, centered around people we don’t…