reviews by genre

After a blockbuster debut on NBC in 1986, this grim series wallowed in the ratings basement and was condemned for its unflattering portrayal of cops, its violence termed “X-rated” by one police organization. Today, its nihilistic attitude feels thoroughly modern, a stark vision of obsession and pursuit from executive producer Michael Mann (Collateral, Manhunter). A … more…

The Brits invented reality decorating and guerrilla design, and here it is in all its (dubious) glory. This compilation disc, which collects high- and lowlights from the BBC TV series (which has inspired numerous imitations on American cable), features a slew of designers with over-the-top, made-for-TV personalities who deploy garish colors and outlandish do-it-yourself projects … more…

“Sakura Kinomoto has finally captured and converted all the Clow Cards into Sakura Cards and now… someone or something is stealing them away and is erasing vast parts of town including the people she cares about!” If this makes any sense to you, can you explain it to me? I’m not sure I could tell … more…

It’s the show that made Middle America comfortable with gay stereotypes, and watching them pile up episode after episode is nauseating. It’s the flip side of the power of TV-on-DVD: The good stuff gets more intense and more fun when consumed in whole-season chunks, but the bad stuff gets worse, its sins magnified and amplified. … more…

It may just be the finest prime-time drama ever to grace the airwaves. The smart, snappy zingers of office politics meet the Gordian knots of global politics behind the scenes at the White House of the Bartlet administration, full of intelligent, compassion people you can’t help but wish were more than the stuff of civic … more…

It’s not quite the feminist nightmare it seems to be, but almost. As in most anime, it’s a Japanese schoolgirl causing all the to-do — here, it’s Momoko, who turns out to be the “legendary love angel Wedding Peach” in her “beautiful, magical wedding dress” destined to rescue humanity from “devils” who want to take … more…

It’s 1970s pop culture in a bottle. The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, one of the most popular shows of the decade, parades guest stars like a who’s who of the time: Burt Reynolds, Farrah Fawcett, Tina Turner, Harvey Korman, Howard Cosell, Glen Campbell, and The Jackson 5. This best-of set collects nine original, unedited … more…

As a teenager, I half-believed that my “real” parents would, any day now, swoop down in their spaceship and rescue me from dreary ol’ planet Earth. Who’d have guessed that such trite teen angst could serve as the basis of a network TV series? Not that it’s a good basis… This snooze of series posits … more…

Making fun of really, really, really bad movies never gets old, and so Mystery Science Theater 3000 never wears out its welcome. In this batch, Mike Nelson and his robot pals, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo, take on four deserving cinematic atrocities: Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues, a terrifyingly awful monster movie; … more…