Posts

That’s one of the downfalls of sketch comedy. Some things work, some don’t. Some characters are worth the payoff, and some aren’t. Bing Gordyn isn’t. The character just doesn’t work for me in the slightest, and I hope he won’t show up too much more or they can figure out a way to make it as funny as his appearance in the first show. Arguably, they should have done more of it for Little Britain USA, as that’s something Americans are pretty used to in our own sketch comedy programs....

The resolution, happy or otherwise, involves an accommodation of pragmatic acceptance into this idealism. The trend leans towards being realistic, thus enabling yourself to flourish under more achievable circumstances. Canadian director Simon Ennis brings an endearing deadpan sensibility to the subject, abandoning narration in favour of a wry commentary via captions. Initially exploring some of the oddballs who are driven in some form by the moon, it observes its subjects’ quirks by quoting them exactly, which has the effect of being both funny and neutral....

The voice on the other line belonged to Stephanie, Anna Draper’s niece, the niece of the real Donald Draper. A pregnant Stephanie calls asking for money after not speaking with Don since the last time they met. Even with less than great news, Don seems absolutely thrilled to get her call, so thrilled that he books a flight a week early to fly out to California to meet her. In the meantime, he directs her to Megan’s....

McMafia Episode 1 AMC’s McMafia legitimizes bad business in a time when standards and practices are under siege by white collar criminals who use loopholes as larceny and ballots like bullets. Russia is the center of attention in the political news cycles, blamed for sealing the D.J. Trump administration by stealing votes from Hillary Clinton and depositing them in Jill Steyn’s columns, and rousing up the fringe elements of the far right so far they are now aligned with the former union of Soviets....

Fans have come to expect a special blend of emotional depth, supernatural action, and dry wit from Wynonna Earp, and Scrofano promises that this will continue to be part of the show’s proven formula. “Part of the appeal is that the show… is not just one thing. It seems like everything on the air right now is just dramatic. You can’t have a laugh during the drama,” Scrofano says. “I think our show does a great job of walking that line, and it’s just a bit more dimensional....

It all starts with Gwen’s father doing a bit of lead smelting on the side for a dodgy looking character, Tauren. What he doesn’t know is that this man is a sorcerer, and that glowing stone he’s got is a means to perform alchemy! Duly, Tauren turns the molten lead into molten gold. That’s a neat trick, but almost as impressive is the one that Tom performs seconds later when he picks up the now solid gold with his bare hands after quenching it....

With an episode entitled Beauty And The Beast, the subject matter of this week’s episode is self explanatory with the writers not even bothering with wry, witty or clever titles and saving all their skills for putting together the first episode in the series I have actually enjoyed. Chock full of thinly disguised fart gags, gross creatures and wobbly drool-covered special effects, the episode is in some ways a nod to the Slitheen episodes of Doctor Who, containing all the things that kids like and, as such, works a lot better than the usual plots that take themselves too seriously....

Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is an ex-cop with a troubled past. Since accidentally shooting a fellow officer on an undercover assignment, Ben’s life has gone into the toilet. He’s separated from his wife Amy (Paula Patton), his kids, he’s been forced out of the force because of psychological problems, and he’s bunking with his much younger kid sister Angela (Amy Smart). He’s had some drinking problems, but he’s clean and sober now, and he’s getting back onto his feet with the help of a night watchman position....

After turning the Dunphy house into a Smart House, Phil decides to go to the gym for a quick workout. There he meets Dave, a fellow Bulldog Alumni who Phil quickly befriends and invites over to watch the night’s game. But unknown to Phil, Dave is one of Cam’s Gay friends who is taking Phil’s signals as most people take them: wrong. He is under the impression that Phil is asking him on a date....

What does it really mean to be a hero? Sure, there are countless superheroes that currently crowd the television, film, and comics industries, but beyond the basics, what does it actually mean? Is a hero someone that has immense strength? Is it someone in control of ridiculous super powers? Or is a hero simply someone who has an unflappable sense of justice? My Hero Academia’s exceptional premiere episode did a strong job at introducing the audience to Izuku “Deku” Midoriya, their optimistic protagonist....

The debut feature from Lauren Miller Rogen, Like Father marks a confident next step for the actress turned writer and producer on 2012’s middling For A Good Time Call…, and she takes the same gently spikey, slightly left-field approach to the romcom and pushes it into a generational family drama instead – telling the tale of a workaholic daughter and an absentee dad forced to reconnect on a luxury holiday....

I’ll say up front, No Ordinary Vigilante was a much, much better episode than the previous story. Mostly it was a more enjoyable watch because the kids started to do more interesting things with their abilities rather than just whine about them. There are two basic threads in this episode, one involving Jim being mistaken for a vigilante, probably because he is one, and the other is about JJ coming to terms with his powers....

What I really enjoy about Not Going Out is that, no matter what the backing scenario for a particular episode is, it can generate 10-12 really solid laughs per instalment. For want of a better way of putting it, the ‘com’ always takes priority over the ‘sit’. As usual, they have a lot of fun with this, not least contrasting the straight-laced Tim with the shoot for the film, into which he ends up featuring....

There’s nothing pixie-like, or dream girl-ish about Obvious Child’s lead Donna (Saturday Night Live and Parks & Recreation’s Jenny Slate), she’s more raucous imp. A Brooklyn stand-up and book clerk specialising in crude, confessional comedy, we first meet Donna on stage and mid-flow on the subject of vaginal cream cheese, farting and “getting banged out” by her boyfriend. This isn’t a Katherine Heigl movie, in other words. When said boyfriend dumps her, Donna collapses into a duvet-based stupor that leads to a drunken hook-up with nice stranger Max (Jake Lacy)....

5.2 The Price The big push of this episode is the slow role reversal happening between Regina and Emma. In Camelot, Regina starts to enjoy the perks of being the Saviour. People are actually nice to her! Obviously this is something she could get used to. Knowing how hard Regina has worked to be a part of the ‘good guys’ team over the past seasons, it was rewarding when the crowd applauded for her....

Electric Dreams Episode 3 One to please PKD purists, the latest Electric Dreams episode is this series’ most faithful to its source material yet. Names have been changed, 1950s gender politics have been updated and saucy scenes added, but writer Jessica Mecklenburg tells the original story of a dwindling marriage rejuvenated by an unexpected source. I say unexpected, but a Metamorph from the planet Rexor IV is exactly the sort of thing you’d expect to find in sci-fi....

1.1 The Hood Maker Or more properly, a world inspired by Philip K. Dick. Episode one of this ten-part anthology series has taken liberties with Dick’s 1955 short story The Hood Maker, and quite rightly. That was written under the shadow of McCarthyism, when loyalty and betrayal were matters of state. This was written under the shadow of the Snooper’s Charter and corporate data mining. In the fifties, PKD imagined the government reading our minds to sniff out traitors, not ISPs doing it to hawk our preferred brand of cat food to the highest bidder....

2.13 The End Of The Road In a way, Starr is right when he says that Jesse is the perfect centrepiece for his Messiah con. He has experience as a con artist, he’s charismatic, he has a legitimate power that he can use (sometimes), and he knows enough other sources of power—like voodoo and strange Japanese soul-extracting machines—to supplement Genesis when it fails him. And Genesis is starting to fail him more and more for reasons yet to be explained....

2.18 Manhunt Lwaxana invites Picard to dinner, and he’s confused to discover that it’s just the two of them. Attempting to distract her, Picard asks Data to come and make small-talk while he makes good his escape. Troi informs Pulaski and Picard that her mother is going through a Betazed menopause, meaning that her sex drive has quadrupled and that she’s chosen Picard to be the focus of her attention....

What can we expect from Zombieland 2? Rhett: It will be a bigger budget so there’ll be more grand zombie killing. In every way it’ll be bigger. The cast will be bigger, the action scenes will be bigger and, hopefully, with 3D you will be looking down to make sure that’s not blood on top of your popcorn. What’s it like writing a movie specifically for 3D? PW: They say that 3D and good character and story are mutually exclusive, you can’t have both, and once you start writing for 3D you lose your drive and you’re paying more attention to what’s coming at you rather than the characters and story....