The TV cycle of life continues, as “The Walking Dead” ends (but is coming back in only two months) while “Treme” begins (but is ending forever after this five episode final season)…hmmm, maybe things are more complicated. The Walking Dead…I guess viewers aren’t the only ones who weren’t satisfied with the third season finale that…
Author: Alabama Liberal
Monday Morning Movie Review: The Hunger Games 2
This is the rare sequel that I think is almost exactly as good as the first one. Even though it’s slightly different (it’s less about the games themselves and more about the revolution against the oppressors who institute them), there’s no real dip in quality. And for a monstrously successful sequel to a film that…
TV Reviews: “Boardwalk Empire” Sputters to a Close as “Getting On” (Barely) Starts
HBO seems to be falling on tough creative times judging by its recent spate of shows. I love The Newsroom, but even I was rolling my eyes with the second season finale. True Blood is a parody of itself. Hello, Ladies is occasionally hilarious but too often feels like it should be called “Depressing Losers…
Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave
A great movie that some people may never check out because of reports of the film’s brutality. Yes, it is hard to watch in certain sections, but I think you’ll survive if you watch it. One woman sitting in the row behind me cried through about three quarters of it—-to the point of distracting other…
Movie Review: Blue is the Warmest Color
This one will probably be forever known as the “long French lesbian movie” and, on paper, it sounds like the ultimate cliche to have a three-hour French film centered around a young woman’s sexual development with other women. Oh, and some of the scenes are steamy enough that the film has an NC-17 rating, and…
Movie Reviews: The Excellent “All is Lost” is Worth Seeking Out
This deceptively simple tale of one man (Robert Redford in arguably the best performance he’s ever given) lost at sea and scrambling to survive is every bit the pared down, beautifully minimalist against-the-odds survival story that Gravity is. Now of course the box office for All is Lost won’t be anything close to Gravity, but…
Petty Issues: Last Jew in Afghanistan, Youngest on Facebook, Luckiest Man in Michigan
The luckiest man in Michigan (which is a little like the World’s Tallest Midget) won a million dollar cash lottery for the second time. The real money: when he writes a book called “How to Win the Lottery” and a million suckers buy it. There was a story about the last Jew in Afghanistan and…
5 Reasons Why Sundance Channel’s “Dream School” is My Nightmare
The Sundance Channel recently wrapped their six-part series “Dream School,” which features 15 kids who either quit their last schools or were kicked out, and will attend The Dream School filled with celebrity teachers in hopes of graduating high school. [Or something like that, we learned last night that the big test they took didn’t…
Movie Review: Dallas Buyer’s Club
A little rough around the edges, but it certainly won me over. It’s quite possibly the first gay-rights and “AIDs movie” that I think even rednecks might enjoy and that’s no easy feat. It’s as much about the struggles to get the best drugs past a sham-FDA as it is HIV. What Works: Matthew McConaughey’s…
Movie Review: Last Vegas
This movie about four old friends (a sourpuss Robert DeNiro, a spry Morgan Freeman, a likable Kevin Kline, and Michael Douglas in smooth ladies man mode) getting together in Las Vegas for the bachelor party of Douglas’ character certainly knows what the older folks want to see. And knowing your demo is key to any…
Movie Review: Ender’s Game
Now that Thor is out, nobody really cares about this movie anymore, but if I have to watch it, then you have the option to read a review about it…That’s the deal. What Works: This movie is based off the enormously popular Ender’s Game books the controversial author Orson Scott Card started all the way…
Monday Morning Movie Review: Thor 2
So pretty much anyone who went to a theater this weekend happened upon Thor 2 and even though the film broke records, cemented Marvel’s place as a kingmaker, and raked in money hand over fist, I can’t help but ask an all-important question: “Is the movie good?” Now true, there aren’t many Marvel fans that…
Goodbye and Good Riddance Mayor Bloomberg! The Top 5 Reasons I Don’t Like Him
This week, NYC elected it’s first true Democrat in two decades, and I’m happy to welcome Bill de Blasio to the office of mayor. NYC is one of the wealthiest cities in the world but it’s one that desperately needs new ideas and more opportunities for its millions of poor residents. And it became clear…