Smart self-awareness and a charming cast help Grandfathered stand out despite being a very standard formula network sitcom. Paired with the far-funnier Grinder in the new FOX Tuesday lineup (remember the 2012 FOX Tuesday lineup? Those were the days), the two shows form a strange 90s heartthrob-fuelled nostalgia block with both Rob Lowe and John […]
The Duplass Brothers and their unparalleled taste as producers have facilitated yet another extraordinary cinematic moment by partnering with an up-and-coming writer/director in the form of Hannah Fidell. According to Wikipedia, Mark Duplass approached Fidell about writing a film that touched on domestic abuse and, rather than give us a horror show cautionary tale or […]
In his director’s note for The Alchemist, Stratford Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino makes a preemptive strike against the argument that he should have set the early seventeenth century play in “our own era”, saying that it adds “a needless layer of complexity to an already challenging text”. Intriguing defensiveness aside, the problem with this statement […]
CBS’s new sitcom Life in Pieces is just Modern Family without the diversity. They really really don’t want you to think that, but it’s true. It’s derivative and palatable and simple and sometimes very and sometimes very not funny… just like Modern Family. And, just like Modern Family, it’s about an extended family and their […]
Director Michael Almereyda’s thrilling new film adaptation of the strange and semi-obscure Shakespeare play Cymbeline begins with three words on the screen- “Keep Your Head”. It’s the name of the production company and a reference to the eventual demise of one of the characters (a brutal death that, because Cymbeline is all over the place […]
The ten-episode first season of the new TVLand sitcom Impastor sped by with the unmistakeable momentum of a pretty good show in the late weeks of summer. It was consistently fun but never really great, bolstered by a strong cast and a definite lack of competition. A strange tonal mix of Stars Hollow-esque small town […]
CLICK HERE to read our full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2015. I loved the CW3PR Behind the Music events at Comic-Con this year. The first of the two, featuring composers from shows about Crime, Death and Resurrection, was the only press room where I was also able to attend the panel (my first event […]
The powers that be at FX really do have exceptional taste. Their lineup is diverse but cohesive with very few duds. Irreverent rom-com You’re the Worst might be their best underrated gem. From the genius mind of Stephen Falk (Weeds, OITNB), You’re the Worst is essentially a love story between two terrible people with […]