Articles

THE SKED PILOT REPORT: FOX’s “Terra Nova”

Posted June 16, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> Disclaimer:  Network pilots now in circulation are not necessarily in the form that will air in the Fall.  Pilots are often reedited and rescored, and in some cases even recast or reshot.  So these critiques shouldn’t be taken as full TV pilot reviews, but rather as a guide to the general style and content […]

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Reviews

THE SKED SEASON FINALE REVIEW: “The Killing”

Posted June 18, 2012 by Mitch Salem

And finally, after 2 seasons, 26 hours of television, seemingly a hundred red herrings, and enough rain to float the SS Poseidon, THE KILLING revealed who killed Rosie Larsen.  The only thing that was ever worth spoiling on this show is going to be revealed here, so if you’re reading this without having watched, a […]

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Pilot Reports

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “Chasing Life”

Posted June 9, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  CHASING LIFE:  Tuesday 9PM on ABCFamily – Change the Channel ABCFamily is launching all its summer shows over the next week or two, so it appears to be luck rather than careful planning that’s resulted in its new CHASING LIFE, about a lovely young woman diagnosed with cancer, just a few days after the […]

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Film Festival

SHOWBUZZDAILY Toronto 2014 Review: “The Humbling”

Posted September 5, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  THE HUMBLING (Millenium) – no release date set – Watch It At Home THE HUMBLING wasn’t one of Philip Roth’s major novels, and Barry Levinson’s film, despite striking performances from Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig and some memorable moments of dark comedy, isn’t a major film either. The script by Buck Henry and Michal […]

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Midseason Premiere

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Second Chance”

Posted January 11, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  SECOND CHANCE:  Wednesdays 9PM on FOX (pilot also available via VOD/streaming) – If Nothing Else Is On… There’s not much spark to FOX’s SECOND CHANCE, a spin on Frankenstein (at one point it was even titled The Frankenstein Code), restyled as a contemporary sci-fi-tinged procedural.  The show’s creator Rand Ravich was behind the intriguing […]

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Misc

SHOWBUZZDAILY @ SUNDANCE REVIEW: “Filly Brown”

Posted January 29, 2012 by Mitch Salem

> FILLY BROWN, directed by Youssef Delara (who also wrote the script) and Michael D. Olmos, falls into a recognizable Sundance genre:  sagas of poor young women (usually ethnic) struggling to escape their poverty and make a better life.  Celebrated examples in festival history include Girlfight and Real Women Have Curves; Filly Brown, while it […]

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Pilot + 1

THE SKED’S PILOT + 1 REVIEW: “Arrow”

Posted October 18, 2012 by Mitch Salem

A lot can happen between the creation of a TV pilot in the spring and the production of episodes for the regular season: a writing/producing team is hired, audience focus groups weigh in, networks and studios (which may have had their own turnover) give plenty of notes, helpful and otherwise, and critics begin to rear […]

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Archive

THE BIJOU RETROSPECTIVE: “Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix”

Posted July 12, 2011 by Mitch Salem

> The magically moving portraits are pulled off the walls of Hogwarts in 2007’s HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, and the colors have started draining from the Potter universe.  Gone are the lush visuals of Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire; the palette of Slawomir Idziak’s photography (his films include Kieslowski’s […]

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