How the “Indian Liberace” Korla Pandit Swept Hollywood
Were it not for Hollywood credence Korla Pandit – who could only realize himself by pretending not to be who he was – would have been little more than Missouri snake oil.
Television
Alias’ Carl Lumbly and Michael Vartan on Its Legacy and Streaming Rebirth
Alias actors Carl Lumbly and Michael Vartan recall their work with J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Garner, and others on the spy/sci-fi action thriller, now airing on Disney+.
‘The Dropout’ and the Vice of Virtue
Hulu’s limited series, The Dropout, uses the tragic saga of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos to expose Silicon Valley’s exploitation of virtue, an American vice.
Rod Serling, ‘The Twilight Zone’ and the Things Only Martians Could Say
To menace the American public’s conscience was Rod Serling’s proverbial contractual obligation in ‘The Twilight Zone’ and the questions posed were essentially of a civic nature.
Fantasy Series ‘Loki’ Introduces MCU to the Multiverse
The Marvel Studios Disney+ series Loki uses the multiverse to dive deep into its central character and explore interesting moral and philosophical ideas.
Comedy/Drama ‘Somebody Somewhere’ Won’t Let Kansas Be the Joke
Set in America’s “flyover country”, HBO comedy/drama Somebody Somewhere, starring Bridget Everett, defies small-town America stereotyping.
The Arrested Patriarch: Euphoria’s Cal Jacobs and Bad Education’s Frank Tassone
Euphoria’s Cal Jacobs and Bad Education’s Frank Tassone deliberately thwart redemption, lending a flair for the tragic to these otherwise villainous characters.
The Limits of Cultural Revisionism in Hulu’s ‘Pam & Tommy’
Mini-series Pam & Tommy seeks to bring depth and humanity to its oft-ridiculed titular leads. But it nonetheless revels in their mythology.
The Eternal Rome in Mobster Show ‘Suburra: Blood on Rome’
Italian mobster series Suburra exploits its Roman setting, using carefully composed shots and symbolically charged locations to suggest that nothing has changed in Rome since antiquity.
Tech-World Sexism Is the Main Character of Elizabeth Holmes Miniseries ‘The Dropout’
Hulu’s The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, puts gender at the center of the infamous Silicon Valley scam.
Marvel’s ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Fails to Capitalize on a Strong Premise
Marvel’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+ follows the legacy of Captain America in the MCU, but its timely racially and politically charged plot lacks focus.
Ali Wong Is Reliably Riotous but Safe in ‘Ali Wong: Don Wong’
That delicious pompousness, often reserved for men in stand-up comedy, has been sharpened over the course of Ali Wong’s career.
