Netflix is hustling to get in the original content game (this month’s Arrested Development return is probably their biggest coup to date), and their nasty political drama, “House of Cards,” truly is as good as anything on most cable networks. [I still don’t think it touches most dramas on AMC or HBO.] It’s smart, well-made, and excellently…
Category: Mindless Mondays
Pop Culture Battle…Bates Motel vs. The Following vs. Hannibal
Three shows enter, only one show shall leave (the first of three pop culture battles today). What’s the best serial killer show on TV? Bates Motel…Going for it: Is the show better than I thought it would be? Yes, but that’s not saying much. The cast is strong, particularly Vera Farminga as the infamous Mother…
More Book Reviews: The Teleportation Accident, What the Family Needed
Two literary novels with a sci-fi angle that are more interesting than truly successful… The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman…This book has already been described as a “cult hit,” which means that most people probably won’t like it very much. Sadly, I’m in that category. It is occasionally brilliant (a man in 30’s Germany wonders about…
Book Reviews: Ghost Man, Dinner, 12 Tribes of Hattie, Bringing Up the Bodies
Ready for a round-up of books that came out last year or a few months ago? No…well, too bad… Bringing Up the Bodies by Hillary Mantel…This book came out last year and pretty much everyone who was going to read it already has, but I thought I would weigh in briefly on this (slightly)…
Movie Review: “Mud,” a Quietly Triumphant, Romantic Film
A slow-building, completely charming indie about two boys in the waaaay rural South (think Mississippi Delta) who travel out to an island and discover a fugitive (Matthew McConaughey, continuing his career resurgence) who needs their help. One of the boys is having some personal problems (his parents are getting divorced…his “girlfriend” barely acknowledges him when…
Movie Review: Disconnect
This film wants to be “Traffic” for online crimes instead of drugs, but the impact is softened at every turn because of a faux-Crash vibe. The film keeps telling us that everyone is human, and that soft emotional center really undercuts the movie’s would-be grittiness. What Works: Three interconnected stories following a teenager who meets…
Mom Jokes: Hell of a Day
[Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!] There I was sitting at the bar staring at my drink when a large, trouble-making biker steps up next to me, grabs my drink and gulps it down in one swig. “Well, watcha gonna do about it?” he says, menacingly, as I burst into tears. “Come…
TNT, Please Renew “Southland” (and grading all the seasons)
I know I’m weeks too late for this article to be relevant (Southland’s 5th season finale was on April 16th) but, in a way, that’s all the better to keep this terrific, criminally underrated show on people’s minds. If you haven’t been watching “Southland” when it was on NBC, then got cancelled, then got a second life…
TV Reviews: “Red Widow”…Like The Sopranos Meets a Target Commercial
Cable and premium cable have produced a lot of anti-heroes over the years, but, so far, broadcast TV has preferred to keep their heroes/heroines unrealistically/squeaky clean and moral. ABC tried to push things a little more towards the dark side with their new drama, Red Widow, which concluded its first (and likely only) season last night….
Movie Review: Iron Man 3
This movie had the second highest weekend box office of all time (behind only The Avengers), far outpaced the first two films in the series, and is tearing up the international box office. And yet…does it matter that it’s just not very good? Or not only “not very good,” I would say arguably the weakest…
TV Review: “Parks and Recreation” Proves It’s the Best Comedy on TV
Some give NBC’s excellent “Parks and Recreation” the slightly back-handed praise of “best comedy on broadcast TV,” as if broadcast is a short-bus of lowered expectations and cable is vastly superior. Well…actually, for dramas that’s 100 percent true, but that’s beside the point… Sure, FX has the critically beloved “Louie” (which I’ll admit is a damn good…
TV Review: “The Americans” Season Finale
A fine conclusion to a solid season. Sure, there may not have been any Earth-shattering cliffhangers for a show about spies, but this has always been a much more grounded, realistic show than, say, Alias. [I often describe it as an ultra-realistic “Alias,” made by people who actually understand spy craft.] If you aren’t watching…
Most Anticipated Movies of Summer, And Least Anticipated
It’s time to think about summer movies, and I humbly submit some (most of them smaller films that could get lost in the shuffle) films for you to consider… Most Anticipated… 10. “The East” and “Shadow Dancer”…Two smart, sleek looking indie-thrillers. “The East” is about corporate espionage, and “Shadow Dancer” stars Clive Owen as a…