While I reviewed this current crop of Amazon’s pilots yesterday, it might be time to take a look at the series they greenlit from last year’s pilot season… The Tick…A dedicated group will love this update of “The Tick” but I wasn’t encouraged by the pilot. The lead character/actor (Griffin Newman playing an accountant with…
Category: Mindless Mondays
Odds on Which Amazon Prime Pilot Season Series Will Get Picked Up
Amazon Prime’s pilot seasons—in which viewers watch a handful or so of TV pilots and pick which ones they want to see made into series—started out revolutionary and often invoked the praise “Finally! Why don’t more networks do this?” Well, partly because cable series and our bingeable culture (Amazon itself releases all episodes of its…
Monday Morning Movie Reviewer: John Wick Chapter 2
“John Wick Chapter 2” is thrillingly serialized so make sure you see the first one before heading into a theater. You’ll still probably be able to follow this movie—obviously, most scenes work on a visceral level and there’s not much to “get” about a guy killing his way out of a room—but the world-building is…
“Get Out” IS Racist, but Towards Interracial Couples
The buzz and controversy of “Get Out” is deafening, but the few–too few–criticisms the movie appears to be getting is that it’s anti-white or racist towards white people. I don’t really believe that, and there’s little in this movie that hasn’t been in “Machete” or Blaxploitation films, but the film is anti-interracial couples and in that way…
Why “Moonlight” is Really Good, but “La La Land” is Better
Quick Note About Last Night’s Oscars: I nailed literally all the big categories except Best Picture, correctly predicting Mahershala Ali, Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Casey Affleck, Moonlight’s Best Adapted Screenplay, Manchester by the Sea’s Best Original Screenplay, Zootopia, and Damien Chazelle’s Best Director win. So some of this post may be affected by “Moonlight” screwing up my prediction…
TV Reviews: “Crashing,” “Legion,” and “Big Little Lies”
HBO debuted two very different series this past Sunday that both show promise, while FX’s “Legion” may already be slightly overrated… Legion…Blame it on Marvel, but even top TV talent like Noah Hawley (“Fargo”) has been snapped up to adapt their decades-old second-tier characters. The title character is supposedly a powerful mutant in the X-Men…
Movie Reviews: La La Land, Rogue One, Silence, The Founder, Patriot’s Day
Some of my favorite 2016 are all in one article. It feels like a shame not to give each one their due, but “La La Land” and “Rogue One” have already been semi-reviewed in my end of the year movie countdown, and sadly “Silence” never quite caught-on with audiences or awards voters. I still hope…
Movie Reviews: Nocturnal Animals, Manchester By the Sea, Hidden Figures, Fences, Jackie
Five big Oscar contenders that are all worth watching for different reasons… Nocturnal Animals…Tom Ford’s follow-up to “A Single Man” (still a great movie and all-time best performance from Colin Firth, if you haven’t seen it) isn’t as deep and doesn’t stay with you as long, but it’s still a fun head-game in the moment….
Movie Reviews: War Dogs, Snowden, Our Kind of Traitor
Three very different (but quality) 2016 films about espionage or the military industrial complex… Our Kind of Traitor…If you’ve ever read a John Le Carre novel (and this book is based on one of his most recent ones) then you know his spy tales will be more about slowly untangling suspense than wham-blam action set…
Movie Reviews: Pete’s Dragon, The Secret life of Pets, Sully
Three 2016 films that are family-appropriate (except “Sully” may bore some kids and may scare younger children during the plane crash sequences)… Sully…Listed as one of my “Best Films of 2016,” it’s so old-fashioned it’s practically new-school. Tom Hanks continues his winning streak, and even though some of the scenes suffer from Eastwood’s trademark stodginess,…
Movie Reviews: Miles Ahead, Anthropoid, Mechanic Resurrection, Jack Reacher 2
Today’s the end of the road of 2016 movies I never reviewed earlier… Miles Ahead…Don Cheadle used Kickstarter to get his labor-of-love film financed (something people apparently do even when they can afford to finance it themselves), and I wish this Miles Davis biopic had done a better job of explaining why Miles was such a jazz…
Why “Weiner” is the Best Film of 2016 (and “Hacksaw Ridge” the Worst)
Following up on my “Best of 2016” rankings, I didn’t post proper reviews of “Weiner” or “Hacksaw Ridge” before the listings in order to keep things a surprise. I thought I would expand a little bit on both… Hacksaw Ridge: It’s true that I may stand alone among critics in listing this as one of…
Oscar Predictions: Who Will Be Nominated…AND Win
Note: I can usually predict about 4 out of 5 nominees and 2/3rds of winners, for whatever that’s worth in your Oscar betting pool. The rankings are how sure I am they’ll be nominated (so the 4th or 5th placers may very well not make the cut) and the top choice is who I think will…