Diana G. Gallagher’s “Prime Evil” (March 2000) is a game-changer for the “Buffy” book series – not because it’s significantly better than other books (although it is a step up from Gallagher’s first entry, “Obsidian Fate”), but because it’s the first novel to acknowledge books written by other authors. Additionally, Gallagher does a delicate continuity […]
“Lady Bird,” now available from Redbox, didn’t totally connect with me, and since the glowing theatrical reviews and awards are long since in, that statement says more about me than writer Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut. Coming-of-age films tend to be more personal than other genres; I got peeved in the early Aughts if anyone thought […]
After the often credulity-stretching “Obsidian Chamber” (2016), Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child get back on track with “City of Endless Night” (January, hardcover), their 17th Pendergast novel. As the evocative title suggests, the action takes place entirely in their favorite home stomping grounds, New York City, in the winter months when it gets dark early. […]
“Everything Sucks!” (Netflix), the first season of which includes 10 half-hour episodes, starts off like a second-rate “Freaks and Geeks” but eventually strikes painfully accurate notes about first love and high school crushes. By the time the strains of Spacehog’s “In the Meantime” play over the closing credits of episode 10, the show has learned […]
“Score: A Film Music Documentary” almost seems like it’s cheating. Its score – by the very definition of the subject matter – is the greatest music cues from the history of film. And inevitably, that is a percentage of the doc’s appeal. But this is also an accessible 90-minute history lesson that vastly increased my […]
This week, “Atlanta” (10 p.m. Eastern Thursdays, FX) began its second season of being about nothing and everything. The episode “Alligator Man” opens with two ATL youths lounging around when one mentions that they can purchase drugs at a local drive-thru restaurant if they ask for the “No. 17.” We assume they are heading there […]
Movie review: “Veronica” doesn’t redefine Ouija board horror, but it certainly approaches it from a different perspective.
Laura Anne Gilman and Josepha Sherman, who showed promise with their first “Buffy” YA novel, “Visitors,” step up slightly with “Deep Water” (February 2000), although this effort has a lot of the same problems. The best trait is that the Scooby Gang’s case centers on an innocent selkie, a seal that becomes human when on […]
First episode impressions (TV review): “iZombie” is still going strong as it surpasses “Veronica Mars” in longevity.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) – which is still in many theaters and hits home video on Tuesday – is a brutal portrayal of the cycle of violence that exists beneath the veneer of what we call civilization. Writer-director Martin McDonagh takes humanity to task for what we’ve wrought, but also gives us enough dashes […]