Posts Tagged ‘1980s’
 

 

Sundance 2023 Reviews: “Cat Person,” “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” & “My Animal”

  CAT PERSON:  It seems to be necessary to establish one’s bona fides (or lack thereof) before commenting on Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person, so I’ll note that I’ve never read Kristen Roupenian’s ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Toronto Film Festival Reviews: “Empire of Light” & “Triangle of Sadness”

  EMPIRE OF LIGHT (Searchlight/Disney – December 9):  Sam Mendes takes the first solo screenwriting credit of his long career on Empire of Light, a personal film inspired by his youth and his mother.  The story is ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Sundance Reviews: “The Nest,” “Wendy” & “Sylvie’s Love”

  THE NEST (no distrib):  Sean Durkin’s first feature since 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene presents its emotions with such high-intensity beams that it often feels as though the film is going to slip into the...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Pose”

  No one could have known when POSE went into production that it would be Ryan Murphy’s last original series (created with Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals) for the Fox group of networks and studios, before his giant n...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere TV Review: “The Americans”

  THE AMERICANS:  Wednesday 10PM on FX THE AMERICANS is coming off its first disappointing season, and the hope among fans was that it was attributable to the show receiving a final 2-season order, and showrunners Joe Wei...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Snowfall”

  SNOWFALL:  Wednesday 10PM on FX – In the Queue It used to make sense to judge a new TV series based on its pilot, because the pilot was a template of all the episodes that would follow.  In the serialized, bingea...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “The Americans”

  Last year FX gave THE AMERICANS showrunners Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg a final 2-season order, and from the vantage point of Season 5’s finale, it seems clear that they’ve approached this stretch as a singl...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “The Americans”

  THE AMERICANS:  Tuesday 10PM on FX THE AMERICANS is inevitably one of those pieces of pop culture that feels more queasily topical these days (in this case, despite its 1980s setting), with its tale of Russian agents in...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Halt and Catch Fire”

  HALT AND CATCH FIRE:  Tuesday 10PM on AMC HALT AND CATCH FIRE is AMC’s charity project; every episode could bear a credit saying “This series is brought to you thanks to the generosity of The Walking Dead.&#...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Pilot + 1 Review: “Halt and Catch Fire”

  HALT AND CATCH FIRE:  Sunday 10PM on AMC Previously… on HALT AND CATCH FIRE:  In 1983 Texas, the enigmatic, charismatic Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace) comes to sleepy Cardiff Electric and manipulates the company into g...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Pilot Review: “Halt and Catch Fire”

  HALT AND CATCH FIRE:  Sunday 10PM on AMC – Potential DVR Alert HALT AND CATCH FIRE won’t remind you much of The Social Network.  (Or for that matter of Silicon Valley.)  Set in 1983 Texas and written by fi...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Review: “The Normal Heart”

  THE NORMAL HEART:  Sunday 9PM on HBO – DVR Alert When Larry Kramer’s just-barely-semi-autobiographical THE NORMAL HEART was first written and performed in 1985, it was as “ripped from the headlinesR...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “The Americans”

  In its second season, THE AMERICANS continued to be a expertly crafted saga of betrayals, both political and personal.  Tonight’s chilling season finale, written by series creator Joe Weisberg and his co-showrunne...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

THE SKED Season Finale Review: “The Carrie Diaries”

  In fairness, I should note up front that I didn’t keep up with THE CARRIE DIARIES very often after its season premiere, so this won’t pretend to be an authoritative look at its second season.  Still, checkin...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

THE SKED Series Premiere Review: “The Assets”

  THE ASSETS:  Thursday 10PM on ABC – Change the Channel It’s easy enough to see why ABC would like to be in the spy-TV business.  Homeland, whatever its flaws, is a major hit, and The Americans, while not as...
by Mitch Salem