It was the end of times, and—as is so often the case with TV finales–it was the worst of times. Cinemax’s “Banshee” was one of the most consistently underrated shows on television, and in fact many readers of this article may not have even heard of the series, let alone watched it. I want to…
Category: Mindless Mondays
Petty Issues: So Long Ted Cruz…You Will Not Be Missed
[Ted Cruz Edition] Ted Cruz exited the race after losing Indiana primary by huge numbers. He needed to spend more time accidentally elbowing his wife in the face, forcing his daughter to hug him, and taunting the police with letters of his accomplishments as The Zodiac Killer. [Cruz and his family reminds me of the…
The 10 Most (and Least) Anticipated Movies of the Summer
It’s time for our Summer Movie preview, and as usual there’s at least ten movies I’ll not be looking forward to along with the good ones. The Least Anticipated Movies of the Summer Runner-Up: Captain America: Civil War…I know, I know, it’s gotten “great” reviews so far, but so did Captain America 2 and if anything my interest in…
Movie Review: The Jungle Book
Just as there are some movies I want to like more than I do, there are some I want to resist—pretty much anything Disney—that actually work really well. What Works: “The Jungle Book” is one of the best big-studio movies to come out this year and that is perhaps a back-handed compliment in this year of…
Movie Review: Criminal
A movie I wanted to like more than I did. What Works: You’ve got to admire Kevin Costner. At a time when a lot of 80’s stars have become self-parodies (Ah-nuld) or bizarre, outright disgraces (Mel “Let Me Tell You About Jews–Hey Where You Going?” Gibson), Costner still manages to star in diverse, interesting projects…
TV Review: I’m Glad The Good Wife is Ending…And Wish It Would Have Sooner
The worst thing for a television series is not getting cancelled too son. The worst thing is actually that it will last too long. As much as we like to grumble about the cases of a show getting axed prematurely, it’s now become much, much more common for a series to live long past the…
Mom Jokes: Dear Tech Support
Dear Tech Support, Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0 In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as: Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as: NBA…
Movie Review: The Huntsman 2: Winter’s War
A sequel nobody asked for, and a waste of time for a trio of talented actresses. What Works: Jessica Chastain is the best actress alive, and this film is proof-positive of that. Sure, a lot of actresses can be great in well-written roles with top-notch directors. But how many can shine in lifeless genre junk with…
TV Reviews: Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep
Game of Thrones…No sooner did I write an article saying “GoT” might save this lackluster TV year than they came back with a very weak season premiere. “Never fear” some might say “they always start slow and get really good by mid-season” but previous seasons have had the books as a blueprint. Who knows if…
Can “Game of Thrones” Save This Lackluster TV Year?
First off, let me say that I’m not in general one of those people that says “There’s nothing good on TV.” I find those people to be incredibly boring and really spoiled. There are now more than 100 basic cable channels each with their own handful of original series; plus great premium networks like HBO, Starz, Cinemax,…
How AMC Network Lost Their Most Loyal Viewer
It’s no exaggeration to say I was the most loyal viewer AMC network ever had. I watched literally every scripted original series they ever made (have you ever even heard of “Low Winter Sun?”) and at least some of their unscripted series like the great “The Pitch” and the more guilty-pleasure “Small Town Security.” When…
Actually, the Second Season of “Better Call Saul” was WORSE than the First
The conventional wisdom seems to be that the second season of AMC’s Breaking Bad-Spinoff/prequel “Better Call Saul” was better than the first season. And, as usual, the conventional wisdom is wrong. The second season was actually worse than the first on almost every level. The first season had a couple of early missteps (like Tuco…
Movie Review: “Midnight Special” is One of the Best Movies This Year
I’ve been complaining for a while that movies are too beholden to the sci-fi/fantasy/comic-book tastes that seem to be overpowering films about real people. Well, “Cloverfield Lane” and especially “Midnight Special” show you can get around that problem by making a sci-fi film that would play just as well at the Toronto Film Festival as…