All 22 episodes of ‘Angel’ Season 5 (2003-04), ranked
TV review: The Buffyverse’s TV reign comes to an end with the best season other than “Buffy” Season 3.
Who killed Rosie Larsen? Place your bets now (TV commentary)
Last week’s penultimate episode of “The Killing’s” (8 p.m. Central Sunday on AMC) second season and the “Who killed Rosie Larsen?” arc placed a lot of emphasis on two members of the Richmond campaign as suspects: Gwen and Jamie. But I think that’s a distraction technique by the writers. There are two types of mystery shows: The […]
‘Prometheus’ undeniably cool, but continuity glitches are annoying
Movie review: It’s cool to return to the world of “Alien,” but Scott’s new film has as many questions as answers.
‘Alien’ (1979) sets the monster-flick template, and a high bar
‘Aliens/Predator’ Universe flashback (Movie review): Ridley Scott’s masterpiece sets the monster-flick template, and a high bar.
First episode impressions: ‘Bunheads’ (TV review)
“Bunheads” (8 p.m. Central Mondays on ABC Family starting June 11, with the first episode online now) is refreshingly familiar for “Gilmore Girls” fans in that executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino brings back the la-la-la background music, the quirky small town and the rapid-fire, witty exchanges. I’ll definitely be coming back for more, but the first episode is also […]
Jeff Grubb gets his Hutt on in ‘Star Wars: Scourge’ (Book review)
Hutts have come a long way, baby, since we first met Jabba the Hutt in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.” I remember being excited by the notion of meeting Jabba’s dad in the 1993 kids’ book “Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge,” although I remember nothing about the specifics of that story.
‘Chernobyl Diaries’ a creepy trek through a radioactive ghost town (Movie review)
“Chernobyl Diaries” is a great launch to the summer horror movie season, a spooky journey through a ghost town, a blue-collar burg with bland government-style architecture that was quickly abandoned three decades ago in the wake of the next-door Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the town might not be […]
John’s all-time top 5 Canadian character dramas (TV commentary)
Canadian TV gets short shrift in the U.S., where most cable packages offer Univision and BBC America but not CBC. And often when you mention “Canadian TV” people think of “The X-Files” or other American sci-fi shows filmed in Vancouver.
With ‘Apocalypse,’ Denning delivers a rousing final installment in the ‘Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi’ series (Book review)
Troy Denning mutes his weaknesses and emphasizes his strengths to deliver a satisfying, character-driven final installment of the much-maligned nine-book “Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi” series. I liked the series more than most readers, but still feel that Denning ratcheted things up a notch for the grand finale that is “Apocalypse” (March, hardcover).
In ‘The Dictator,’ Sacha Baron Cohen makes another awful person rather likable (in the context of the film, at least) (Movie review)
“The Dictator” is one of those comedies where you like a despicable main character simply because he’s the main character. This works only in the movie world, and it’s a particularly effective phenomenon in Sacha Baron Cohen comedies, because, as usual, the daring actor pushes the envelope of how sheltered, horrible and morally bankrupt a main […]