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Thomas Hardy’s bummer of a tale of personal failings, decorous deceptions, and poetically just comeuppances gets an impeccably mounted production from the A&E cable network, which continues its winner strike of stellar adaptations of classic literary works. In a moment of alcohol-fueled weakness, poor farmhand Michael Henchard (an appropriately austere Ciaran Hinds) betrays his wife … more…
Meee-owww! It’s the rise and fall of Martha Stewart from a manipulative little kid, crushing her 8-year-old competition at the bake fair, to a grabby, greedy, calculating Terminator, the boss from hell who’s rude to her fans, worse to her staff, and an absolute bitch with her friends and family. Cybill Shepherd throws herself into … more…
Crude, mean-spirited yucks went mainstream with the debut, in 1987, of Married… with Children, a vicious rejoinder to the domestic tranquility that ruled the primetime sitcoms of the era, like The Cosby Show and Family Ties. The Bundys — put-upon shoe salesman Al (Ed O’Neill), layabout housewife Peg (Katey Sagal), slutty teen Kelly (Christina Applegate), … more…
Dick Wolf’s Law & Order empire expands again with Criminal Intent, his modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes. CI swings the focus around to delve into the mind of the criminal, devoting far more time to the psychology of the law-breaking mind than do the other L&Os — but, in the tradition of Conan Doyle, the … more…
Forty years ago, in 1964, Bruce Brown’s wave-riding documentary The Endless Summer introduced the world to surfing, and ten years ago he returned with a look at the worldwide phenomenon the sport has become. Now, The Endless Summer II arrives on DVD, though it may as well not have. Following champ surfers Robert “Wingnut” Weaver, … more…
Steven Bochco of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue acclaim created, in Brooklyn South, 22 episodes of some of the grittiest, most authentic police drama TV has ever seen, which was justifiably recognized by the Emmys and the People’s Choice Awards. Shot on the streets of Brooklyn and depicting in plain, unvarnished terms the job … more…
Oops, someone did it again: made a bad, bad movie that’s desperately hoping you’ll see it as a sort cultish, underground kind of thing and forgive it all its many, many flaws. But that’s not gonna happen. Cheaply made and badly acted, this is a disaster from start to finish, an embarrassingly awful film. A … more…
It’s what Will & Grace could have and should have been: a charming, urbane exploration of a complicated relationship between a gay man and a straight woman. Funny and human and never resorting to stereotypes, this six-hour miniseries — from Queer as Folk creator Russell T. Davies — follows Bob (Alan Davies) and Rose (Lesley … more…
It’s shocking what kids get up to these days: the drugs, the blow jobs, the wandering of lonely nighttime streets in the throes of adolescent angst. Yes, this German coming-of-age drama delivers stunning performances from its young stars, and director Maria von Heland is a talented visualist, but this box, however grim-prettily wrapped, is empty. … more…
This depressingly real depiction of the horrors of high school, from the Showtime cable network, won four Emmy awards, and deserves to be seen by every student — who will surely recognize something of their own school in it — and every parent of a teenager, who will be horrified at the toxic social environment … more…
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