Although it scores points for ambition and scope, The Company (2007) didn’t really connect with me, a three-part miniseries based on a novel by Robert Littell. This one layers a secret history behind several decades of the Cold War, and while it succeeds occasionally in pieces, as a whole it struck me as a clumsy [...]
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Even if you’re not a fan of cop shows, and especially if you are, do yourself a favor and check out Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-2000). I went into it looking for a diverting background show, wholly convinced it couldn’t possibly be as good as its direct descendant, The Wire. But coming away from [...]
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Funny how a severe decrease in writing corresponds with an increase of television marathoning…lots of shows crossing my path lately, and for some reason, most of them involve cops and robbers. I’ve become quickly, hopelessly addicted to Homicide: Life in the Street, the gritty 1990’s police procedural about crime-solving detectives in Baltimore. This ensemble drama [...]
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If you had told me three years ago that I would have gotten this blog to 500 posts, I don’t think I would have believed you. But here we are: five hundred posts of wordy review-y media junkie pop culture goodness, awwww yeah! As it turns out, not giving a shit about whether people give [...]
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I’ve added a handful of new TV sets to my casual viewing rotation, which should keep me busy for a while. Here are two new (to me, anyway) discoveries, plus one not-so-new one: Jenn and I finally started season one of The Gilmore Girls, a show I’ve heard a lot of positive buzz about over [...]
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A five-episode BBC miniseries, The Last Enemy (2008) is an intelligent, unique blend of conspiracy thriller and near-future, Orwellian dystopia. Benedict Cumberbatch, perhaps laying the “smart guy” groundwork for his eventual casting in Sherlock, stars as Stephen Ezard, a brilliant mathematician who returns to England from China to attend the funeral of his brother. A [...]
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Until this weekend, my experience with Japanese anime pretty much began and ended with Akira; I have vague memories of checking out a few anime series here and there, but no memory of liking anything. But I’ve always been curious. And with a little extra time on our hands during this vacation weekend, we took [...]
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I don’t always write up casual viewing, but recently the past several months of accumulated background noise has got me thinking about TV stereotypes. The trigger for this train of thought was Terriers, which I’ve recently had the pleasure of re-watching. If you have Netflix instant-streaming, by all means go watch Terriers. Like, right now. [...]
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If you were a TV producer who wanted to get my attention, you would succeed spectacularly by pitching your show as “Mad Men meets Rubicon.” This is exactly how I first heard The Hour (2011) described, and the shoe fits, although I think it brings even more elements to the table. The six-episode period piece [...]
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As usual, I’m considerably behind the rest of the world in seeing off a long-running series’ final episodes: in this case, Rescue Me, the powerful Denis Leary comedy-drama that ran for seven seasons on F/X. The final two seasons were bundled together for the DVD release, sending off a uniquely compelling fusion of ensemble comedy [...]
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