Monday, January 9 2012
We All Have to Decide How Much Sin We Can Live With: ‘Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season’
With its government corruption, political scandals, bruised soldiers just home from war, and catastrophic financial losses due to the original Ponzi scheme, this '20s tale isn't much different from politics and business these days.
The Gag of Recognition: ‘Long Story Short’
Colin Quinn’s quick and laugh-heavy sprint through history and philosophy ties everything back to America: "the bouillabaisse of fallen empires".
Friday, January 6 2012
‘Women, War, and Peace’ Will Make You Think Hard About the ‘We’ in Warfare
The interviews are real; the interviewees are dynamic, knowledgeable. The events covered are fresh and newsworthy. The subjects are inspiring without being romanticized. The producers take little -- including the viewer -- for granted.
Tuesday, January 3 2012
Perhaps the Filmmaker Should Go Back Underground: ‘The Molly Dineen Collection: Volume 3’
Is Molly Dineen Dr. Frankenstein? Others did a similar thing before her, but she really zapped the monster that is the reality TV documentary into life.
Tuesday, December 13 2011
‘Big Love: The Complete Collection’ Mined Private Family Dynamics and Public Personas
Big Love ran the gamut in its five seasons and the series did an admirable job of addressing such charged material.
Thursday, December 8 2011
‘Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series’: Whoniverse Steered in a New Direction
The Doctor is in—and back for the holidays. Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series should keep the whole family intrigued, puzzled, and occasionally scared by more than just the sight of Amy Pond wielding a machine gun.
Monday, November 28 2011
Physics Does Radical Violence to the ‘Fabric of the Cosmos’
Brian Greene is an affable host who delves into the history of each topic and current-day thinking about it, and a wide variety of physics professors help shape each episode.
Monday, November 21 2011
Is Life Worth the Risk? ‘The COI Collection: Volume Six’
Controversial subjects such as sexually transmitted diseases rub shoulders with anti-drink driving films.
The True Boy Scout and Global Citizen: ‘The Adventures of Tintin: Series One’
The 'Curious Fox' as the Boy Reporter represents a cartoonist's sense of adventure -- both enticing and inspirational.
Wednesday, November 16 2011
‘Bedlam: Season 1’ Takes Its Premise Right Out of a Classic Ghost Story
An insane asylum is being converted into modern, luxury apartments by the descendents of its original owners. Unfortunately, not all of the previous occupants have moved out yet.
Wednesday, November 9 2011
‘Bones: The Complete Sixth Season’: A Specific, Intelligent, Not to Mention Morbid, Brand of Humor
The majority of Bones Season 6 maintains the show’s established pattern—twisted humor, conflicting personalities, and crime solving—but it also throws a monkey wrench into the gears, and as a result, the show will never be same.
Monday, November 7 2011
‘The Walking Dead: Complete First Season’ When Featurettes Are More Plentiful Than Brains
Come for the brains, stay for the special features ...
Wednesday, November 2 2011
‘The Street: Complete Collection’: As Touching, Real and Thought-Provoking as the Best Literature
Set in a working class neighborhood in Manchester, The Street examines how minor revelations and everyday secrets transform our lives suddenly, inexplicably, inevitably.
Tuesday, November 1 2011
‘The League: The Complete Season Two’: At the Intersection of Fantasy and Reality
Though it makes compromises in order to deliver its premise while satisfying the average audience, this is a landmark show in its attentiveness to sport, technological and popular cultures.
Care to Romp, Once Again, with ‘The Monkees: Season 1 and Season 2’?
The show was mostly wholesome, often silly, and sometimes slyly subversive in its social commentary. It employed all of the hallmarks of earlier forms of comedy like slapstick, wordplay and visual gags.
Thursday, October 27 2011
The Troubled and Charismatic ‘Luther: Season 2’
The second season of Luther remains wonderfully suspenseful and excellently acted.
Wednesday, October 26 2011
Spin City: The Complete Fifth Season
Charlie Sheen joined the cast of Spin City in its fifth season, to help Barry Bostwick, Heather Locklear and the rest of the cast run New York City.
Tuesday, October 25 2011
Masterpiece Classic: Northanger Abbey / Mansfield Park / Wuthering Heights
Masterpiece Classic has successfully taken material that is well known and well loved and done it justice.
John le Carré’s ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ Reheats the Cold War
More than 30 years after George Smiley’s television debut, he still reminds us of the value and price of loyalty—and the reason why Sir Alec Guinness was one of the finest actors of the 20th century.
Monday, October 24 2011
Camping It Up Behind Bars: ‘Bad Girls: The Complete Series Five’
'Essence of Camp' and Chateau Larkhall, G-Wing at its finest.
