Sadly, people are debating about whether to release any movie smaller than “Transformers”-size in a theater at all. Some argue that small and mid-size movies will be seen by a wider audience if they just stream on various platforms or Video-On Demand, but to me that would basically symbolize the death of independent cinema and…
Category: Mindless Mondays
How “The Americans” Became My Unexpected “Hate Watch”
I usually think of the term “hate watching” as applying to a show you hate yourself for watching usually involving the words “Housewives,” “Naked,” or “featuring [blank] Kardashian.” I’ve never really thought of the term applying to a series that is supposedly great quality and has a reputation for being underrated, yet you can’t help but hate what it’s become. Which…
Movie Review: Why “Alien: Covenant” is a Step Backward for the Franchise
Even before “Alien: Covenant” opened to softer-than-expected box office, I was dubious it would really offer the creative goods. That’s why I placed it in the “I’m not so sure about” section of my summer movie preview, and watching the film didn’t really change anything. I still wish they had made a more direct sequel…
Movie Review: King Arthur
“King Arthur” holds the dubious distinction of being “Summer 2017’s First Big Flop.” Uhhh…congratulations? To celebrate, what do you get the movie who has nothing, including dismal reviews, bad box office, and its franchise hopes dashed? How about a mild Alabama Liberal review that points out what the movie does right? I’m just kidding, this…
TV Review: A “Twin Peaks” Newbie Tries to Make Sense of the First Four Episodes
As a millennial TV critic, I was about four years old when “Twin Peaks” first exploded onto the scene during its original ABC run, and needless to say I wasn’t much following it at the time, instead engrossed in a different bizarre world called “Sesame Street.” Still, I’ve heard more times than I can count…
TV Reviews: Silicon Valley and Veep
Just yesterday, I pointed out that the Best Dramas on TV are struggling to reach the heights of “Best Dramas” of yester-year, but that doesn’t appear to be the case for TV’s Best Comedies. 2016 was the first year in Alabama Liberal history I chose a comedy (Veep) for Best Series, and “Silicon Valley” is…
TV Reviews: Better Call Saul, The Americans, Fargo, Homeland
All of the Best Dramas on TV are back after some alarmingly long hiatuses (both “Homeland” and “Fargo”) skipped 2016, something most people wish they had the option to do. Sure, you may ask about more popular behemoths like “Game of Thrones” or “The Walking Dead” or something else in the fantasy, horror, sci-fi genre…
Why Simone Biles Didn’t Win “Dancing With the Stars” Even Though She Should’ve
People are funny. They are “shocked” Simone Biles didn’t make the “Dancing with the Stars” Finale over lesser dancers like David Ross. The judges “couldn’t believe it” after they had judged her harshly. The host couldn’t believe it after he had told her to smile more just last week. And the media write-ups keep using…
The Most (And Least) Anticipated Movies of the Summer
To me, this Summer seems much quieter than previous years and it seems more full of shoulder shrugs than sure-things, with almost half my “Most Anticipated” list coming out in August, traditionally the sleepier period of Summer. We may finally be seeing the affect of studios greenlighting fewer movies to release bigger tentpoles, a strategy…
TV Reviews: The Leftovers, The Son, American Gods
Three novels adapted into TV series, and even though “The Circle” demonstrated the downsides of movie adaptations that diverge too far from their source material, these shows may demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of source-novel devotion for TV. The Leftovers…Longtime readers know that I hated the first season of HBO’s adaptation of the Tom Perrotta…
The Best Movie Mothers
I didn’t even want to put “of all time” in the title of this posting, because I realized that if there’s anything harder than coming up with a list of Bad Movie Mothers, it’s limiting my list of Good Movie Mothers. There were so many to choose from, this list is going to be a…
The Worst (Movie) Mothers of All Time
There have been so many bad movie mothers that it’s hard to know where to begin with a list like this, so I tried to focus less on “bad moms” and more on “Bad Mothers.” What’s the difference? A “Bad Mother” is serious business and severe, possibly played by Nicole Kidman, and definitely representative of…
TV Reviews: Six, The Young Pope, Crashing, Feud
It’s beyond time I reviewed these shows that had their season finales a month (or more) ago, but don’t worry, later today they’ll be more current TV reviews, lists of the Best and Worst Movie moms, and even a list of the Most and Least Anticipated Summer Movies… The common thread of all four of…