There is no Kevin Spacey in the November 2-launching sixth and final season of House of Cards. But the now disgraced Oscar winner still dominates the Netflix political drama almost as much as he did in the past, to the detriment of the series now led by Robin Wright.
Despite the "my turn" final words from now-President Claire Underwood that capped House of Cards’ Season 5, the eight-episode conclusion from returning showrunners Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese is… Read
Two years ago Garrard Conley published his memoir, Boy Erased: A Memoir of Identity, Faith, and Family, which detailed events of more than a decade earlier when, as a young man grappling with questions about his sexuality, he was sent into conversion therapy in order to set himself straight, as it were. The story, which immediately made a lasting mark on the LGBTQ community, first and foremost is a uniquely human tale of a traumatic time that over the years has not been… Read
Submarine movies are a genre unto themselves in Hollywood, which has been churning them out for as long as anyone can remember. There are some pretty good ones like Das Boot, The Hunt for Red October, Crimson Tide, Run Silent Run Deep and my favorite, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
And then there is Hunter Killer. Now don’t get me wrong, this is dumb fun, as far as it goes, and perfect for non-discerning audiences looking for an old-fashioned mindless Cold War-type… Read
I am not sure the world was itching for a remake of Italian director Dario Argento’s 1977 cult horror classic Suspiria, but apparently it haunted another Italian helmer so much over the past 40 years that he just had to try. Ironically, in the same gap of decades between original and reboot as last week’s smash Halloween, this movie has less of the prescribed slasher effects mass audiences want and is more psychologically inclined if anything.
Director Luca Guadagnino… Read
Kenneth Lonergan, along with his Manchester by the Sea discovery Lucas Hedges and Lobby Hero star Michael Cera, team with the astonishing Elaine May and Joan Allen for The Waverly Gallery, a vital comic drama that dares us to laugh before delivering the gut punch we know is coming.
Opening tonight at the Golden Theatre, sensitively directed by Lila Neugebauer, Waverly Gallery – a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2001 only now making its long-in-coming Broadway debut – is an… Read
Launching on Netflix tomorrow, Bodyguard comes with the benefit and burden of having been a massive hit over in Britain. Yet, despite the BBC six-parter being watched by an audience of 11 million at its peak on the other side of the Atlantic, the series starring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes about a potentially very British coup is a stiffly mixed collection of conspiracy clichés. Coming in a week that also sees the Season 6 debut of Showtime's muscular and now New York… Read
Controversy has swirled around the new movie Bohemian Rhapsody since before it went into production. Sacha Baron Cohen (who was attached to play Freddie Mercury at one time) griped about the authenticity of the script; director Bryan Singer was fired well into the filming; the first trailer was vilified on social media for leaving out Mercury’s homosexuality and AIDS diagnosis, and so on. But as a critic, it is best to review what is up there on the screen, as well as its… Read
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about all episodes ofChilling Adventures of Sabrina.
There seems to be a trend in Hollywood of giving any and all IP a “dark reimagining” — specifically material that is normally seen in a more buoyant and hokey light. Shows like Riverdale and Titans have gone this route in order to make it edgy, slick, sexy, and hip. Revamping classics to fit 21st-century sensibilities is a novel idea, but shows can easily fall into a trap… Read
When the banshees of the past come calling in Jez Butterworth's fearsome The Ferryman, you can bet their shrieking will be blood curdling. Directed by Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and opening tonight on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, the Olivier-award-winning play is a stunner, stitching familiar elements of Irish pastoral drama, The Troubles history and Butterworth’s magical, myth-tapping touches into something as powerful as anything on today’s stage.
If nothing… Read
If you can watch the new family drama What They Had without at least shedding a few tears, then you have to be dead inside. From first-time feature writer-director Elizabeth Chomko, this movie about a family in crisis over the journey into dementia of its matriarch, and its impact on everyone else, is inspired by her own grandmother’s 16-year battle with Alzheimers, although Chomko has fictionalized this particular story for the most part.
I’ve seen it twice now, and both… Read
When you see the name Melissa McCarthy you probably think of SNL, Mike and Molly, her highly successful comedic movies like Spy, The Heat, The Boss, and a rare Oscar nomination for a broad comedy role in Bridesmaids. What you likely don’t associate with her are the words: dramatic actress. But make no mistake, even though there are definitely moments that make you laugh in her new film, Can You Ever Forgive Me? they are solely coming out of the real-life character, Lee… Read
So maybe Joan of Arc plays second fiddle to few saints in history, but on stage even she’s no match for Glenn Close. As the title character in Mother of the Maid, Jane Anderson’s eccentric and startlingly play opening tonight Off Broadway at the Public Theater, Close takes on history and wins.
Mother of the Maid reunites the actress, as good here as you’ve seen her, with Anderson (the two most recently collaborated on feature film The Wife) and Damages director Matthew… Read
