‘Karate Kid’ (1984) a flawed classic for young viewers
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): This is a sloppy, incomplete film, but also a timeless classic for young viewers.
‘Karate Kid’ (1984) a flawed classic for young viewers
John’s 10 favorite TV characters at the moment (Commentary)
Here are my 10 favorite characters from the last 12 months of television, from networks to cable to streaming, counting down from 10 to 1:
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Spark and Burn’ (2005) (Book review)
In the early days of the “Buffy” novels, we got the points of view of supporting characters – as well as a chance to revisit episodes prior to syndication and home video – in series such as “The Angel Chronicles,” “The Xander Years” and “The Willow Files.” Diana G. Gallagher’s “Spark and Burn” (July 2005) […]
‘The Verdict’ (1982) a masterwork of the courtroom drama form
Mamet Monday (Movie review): This Mamet-Lumet collaboration is a masterful courtroom drama and redemption story.
‘Daredevil’ (2003) looks particularly mediocre
Superhero Saturday (Movie review): In the wake of the Netflix series, this Ben Affleck-starrer looks particularly mediocre.
‘Fighting with My Family’ is a fairly lightweight biopic, but Florence Pugh is a champion in the main role (Movie review)
“Fighting with My Family” doesn’t redefine the sports biopic genre, which in a way is too bad because professional wrestling is such an unusual thing, sitting on the border between athletics and entertainment. It might be fascinating to dig further into the mechanisms of how participants – and ultimately, champions — are chosen and how […]
Preston & Child’s ‘Verses for the Dead’ explores southern Florida and a puzzling string of deaths (Book review)
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child give Agent Pendergast a fresh start of sorts in his 18th novel, “Verses for the Dead” (December, hardcover). Series like the Constance trilogy and the Helen trilogy are conclusions to long-simmering threads, and the standalone before this one, “City of Endless Night,” is a nostalgic team-up for Pendergast and D’Agosta. […]
‘Buffy’ flashback: ‘Queen of the Slayers’ (2005) (Book review)
Nancy Holder gives extra care and attention to “Queen of the Slayers” (May 2005), writing it as if it’s the canonical followup to “Buffy” Season 7, taking place simultaneously with “Angel” Season 5. A lot of what she writes would later be contradicted (and a lot of it repurposed/borrowed) for Joss Whedon’s canonical “Buffy” Season […]
‘Winslow Boy’ (1999) grippingly chronicles small, crucial legal case
Mamet Monday (Movie review): This adaptation is an engrossing, character-driven document of a small but crucial legal case.
‘Angel’ flashback: ‘Love and Death’ (2004) (Book review)
Jeff Mariotte probably didn’t know “Love and Death” (October 2004) would be the last “Angel” novel when he wrote it, but it plays pretty well since it has that status. By Season 4, when this book is set, the likelihood that the general public doesn’t know about vampires and demons was starting to be stretched […]