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The preeminent concern of the early 21st century — terrorism — now prompts a refined counterpoint to what’s become an obsession with American TV dramas, and it puts most of them to shame. This BBC series, which aired in the U.S. on the A&E cable network, follows a cadre of elite agents from “Section B” … more…
What if Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had secretly met at the height of the civil rights movement? Could they have bridged the distance between their very divergent approaches to the fight for public equality? Such an imaginary intrigue is at the heart of this 1991 entry from PBS’s American Playhouse. Emmy and … more…
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…
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