So given the critical mauling that I and others gave it, what does the running show deliver that’s different? A few things, but what really staggered me was that that they’ve been able to nimbly limbo under the incredibly low bar that the pilot set, as the running show is actually worse. I’ll go as far to say that this is actually worse than a really bad Hoff era episode, and that’s saying something....
The article is sweet and profound. It tells the story of Kodachrome obsessives and the powerful feelings they harbored for the technology that popularized color photography. Kodachrome, the Netflix film that was just released, is a fictionalized story of a father and son directly making that fabled Kansas pilgrimage. Unlike the real-world trek to Parsons, Kansas, however, Kodachrome features little warmth, nostalgia, or profundity. Kodachrome tells the story of Matt Ryder (Jason Sudeikis), an executive for a small indie record label who is on the verge of losing his job unless he can sign “The Next Big Thing....
Lethal Weapon: Season 2, Episode 8 “Ah, hell of a plot twist, Scorsese!” This show has really found a groove that it’s comfortable with now and it’s clear that the recent string of episodes with particularly strong scripts is no fluke. It’s the new standard. This is still just a cop procedural at the end of the day, but it’s certainly not a show that I expected to go to such meta places or have characters punching sharks....
Personally, I don’t care about Oscars, Emmys or any of those other tedious popularity contests and marketing opportunities dressed up as awards, but if I did, I’d be suggesting someone give one to Michael Emerson immediately. You’re probably getting a bit sick of hearing how great all the acting is in Season 6, but I’ll say it again: this is fantastic stuff, and it just keeps on getting better and better....
But “Elevator Part 4” brings back the surreality with news broadcasts where the broadcasters use complete gibberish to discuss the impending doom of hurricane Jasmine Forsythe (which is a great name for a hurricane, by the way) and no one notices/minds Louie taking a break from the counseling session he and his ex-wife Janet are having to walk over to a window, open it, stick his head through, and scream his lungs out....
Love Is Strange attracts fewer headlines, but it too not only treats its audience as grown-ups, it makes sure the film is about grown ups as well. The pair each have to lean on friends and family just to get a roof over their heads, and that in turn leads to further problems. Love Is Strange explores most of those through Lithgow’s Ben, who – in his early 70s – finds himself sharing a bedroom with his nephew’s troubled teenage son....
As finales go, that was pretty damn good wasn’t it? We got the return of Alice, a fraught cat-and-mouse chase with a compelling villain, and a fitting bittersweet ending. Last week’s episode of Luther was an uneven thrill ride with an emotional crescendo that really delivered. This was a high-octane blast from start to finish. There was no let-up, and no padding. It also provided a highly satisfying end to the Luther story....
Little did they know, what doesn’t kill him only makes him kill you at a later date. That’s what catches the eye of Booth (Jeff Fahey), who has a proposition. Machete shoots anti-illegal immigration Texas State Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro) in exchange for $150,000 or Machete gets killed by Booth’s nameless sidekick (Shea Whigham). As it turns out, it’s another set-up, this time to get the Senator re-elected by faking an assassination attempt....
In an interview with BANG Showbiz (via Digital Spy), Williams spoke candidly about the prospect of her reprising the role of the immortal maker of machinations. It seems that, as far as Williams is concerned, the role of Ashildr/Me might as well be for “no one,” because she is apparently finished with the series. As Williams states unequivocally: Yet, Williams’ heavily hyped Doctor Who run turned out to be, thus far, the most poignant performance of her young career....
When Deadpool director Tim Miller left the sequel during the early stages of development, fans were understandably concerned: Miller was one of the quintet of creatives — including star/producer Ryan Reynolds, producer Simon Kinberg, and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick — who had rolled the first film up the studio hill for years, overcoming every obstacle and argument to get the movie made the way they wanted to make it....
5.8 The Hollow Queen Arthur prepares for the arrival of the fearsome Sarrum of Amata and isn’t too pleased that his only servant is off who-knows-where whilst the King attempts to sign a peace treaty with the vicious visitor. Arthur realises how useless at day-to-day activities he is sans servant, so is forced to recruit help from Gaius with comical consequences. The physician may not be any good at dressing the King, but he can offer counsel on the reputation of Sarrum....
An episode of multiple strands, this week’s Mongrels sees overstuffed moggy Marion addicted to catnip, a narcotic substance that, in a brilliant opening scene in a nightclub, has him dance like his tail’s on fire. Meanwhile, cold-hearted pigeon Kali discovers that her long lost friend has discovered God, vacuous canine Destiny sniffs London’s hindquarters in search of a mate, and Nelson the posh fox unwittingly adopts a sickly fox cub whose ailments range from repetitive strain injury to Dane Bowers syndrome....
2.3 Kernel Panic A few years ago, my laptop experienced a kernel panic. I’ll never forget the name of the particular disaster because 1. it turned my very expensive laptop into a brick and 2. “kernel panic” sounded phonetically like “colonel panic” and the idea of a deranged colonel wreaking havoc upon my hard drive delighted me to no end even as I sheepishly handed my laptop over to the Genius bar to fix....
We find out that Princess Cadence (Twilight Sparkle’s old babysitter and current sister-in-law) needs the Mane Six to serve at the welcoming committee for the Games Commissioner. It appears that the Crystal Empire has a chance to host the Equestria Games and Princess Cadence wants to make sure they give the best impression possible in order to secure the games. Almost as soon as the Mane Six land in the Crystal Empire, things start to go wrong....
This is that film about the guy who chops his own dick off (as it’s probably always going to be remembered as), although it’s unlikely to go down in comedy history as anything other than a missed opportunity. Up and comers Daniel Doheny, Sadie Calvano, Geraldine Viswanathan, Luke Spencer Roberts and Eduardo Franco star as the teenage stereotypes who hike into the woods for a weekend of banter, binge-drinking and awkward sexual repression....
I’d heard from numerous reliable sources that Never Let Me Go was a bleak and potentially tear-inducing movie, so I resolved to go into the film with a heart of stone and a face of poker. With the screening room packed with hard-nosed critics, I feared an outburst of weeping and snivelling might be seen as a dreadful faux pas. Beginning in an alternate-universe 70s, it charts the friendship of a trio of youngsters, Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), who have been bred and reared for their internal organs....
Cruise plays Jack Harper, an airborne repairman in a post-apocalyptic future. Years before Jack’s birth, invading aliens destroyed the Moon, and a nuclear war on Earth decimated the extraterrestrial threat but left our planet a ruined husk. With Earth’s surface all-but uninhabitable, humanity’s remnants have built an ark named the Tet, which it plans to use as a means to set off for a new life on a terra-formed moon orbiting Saturn....
3.11 Going Home The winter finale of Once season three rolls onto the scene like Regina on a rampage: relentless, single-minded, and ready to crush some hearts into dust. The angst-filled offering brings the Neverland arc to a close and, after a long wrap-up scene, teases us with a few minutes of next spring’s new story arc. Pan, still in Henry’s body, takes Felix’s heart and crushes it as the final ingredient for his curse on Storybrooke....
The fire company is led by Eric Marsh, played by Josh Brolin, who gamely tries to outgruff Jeff Bridges, who in turn plays his boss. Marsh pushes for better resources for the group who become the Granite Mountain Hotshots, as their lives become engulfed by Arizona fire season, and the ongoing battle to keep flames at bay. He also excels in the fire sequences. Wisely opting to keep his camera far back and get across the scale of what the firefighters are up against, there are some really widescreen sequences here that get across the fast spread of the flames, and the extreme danger that the Granite Mountain Hotshots put themselves in....
Wright’s experience with historical characters and their emotional lives has taught him valuable lessons in character development. He uses this skillset to anchor Pan in the personal experiences of Peter – here played by impressive youngster Levi Miller. In the boys’ home, we’re given a welcome slow-paced introduction to Peter via his friendship with his fellow orphan Nibs (Lewis MacDougall). They sneak about the orphanage, mocking the panto villain dinner ladies and yearning for an elusive slice of bacon....
