Play Review: “A Delicate Balance”
“I might very easily, as they say, lose my mind one day” purrs Glenn Close with casual conviction. It’s a humorous, but ultimately unsettling way to open a play. “A Delicate Balance” may not be Edward Albee’s most famous work, but it is likely the hardest to look in the eye. Glenn Close and John…
Transparent Review: Season One
If there’s one thing that Netflix has proven, it’s that original programming for streaming services cannot be ordinary. Instead of pumping out run of the mill big-network dramas, we instead are treated to shows such as Lilyhammer, Orange is the New Black, and House of Cards. These high-class dramas currently outshine nearly anything else on…
LIVE BLOG: 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards Reactions
The 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The kudos honor the best performances by actors and casts in motion pictures and television from the last year. Check out our live blog below with our reactions to the winners, ceremony, and what it all means for the Oscars.…
AHS: Freak Show Review – “Curtain Call” (4×13)
Wow. Let’s just all take a minute to consider “Curtain Call,” which is an astoundingly, thuddingly bad conclusion to a season that, while not great, wasn’t necessarily a disaster. Well, leave it to Ryan Murphy to rewrite history at the eleventh hour. “Curtain Call” is awful: tone deaf, flat, boring, ridiculous—take your pick. It is…
Shameless Review: “I’m the Liver” (5×02)
As with “Milk of the Gods,” this week’s episode of Shameless is something of a mixed bag. There’s quite a bit of good material here, but the show is doling it out very slowly, and as a result much of “I’m the Liver” repeats the beats of the premiere, without adding any depth or creating…
Parenthood Review: “Let’s Go Home” (6×11)
As Parenthood draws to a close, its aims of a work of fiction haven’t really changed, but they have come into sharper focus. There is a scene late in this week’s episode, the aptly titled “Let’s Go Home,” where Zeek and Camille return to the old house to retrieve an old souvenir baseball. (First, just…
Smash Cut Awards Clash (Ep. 1): Oscar Nominations Reactions
This year, as usual, the Oscar nominations brought us some of the biggest snubs, surprises, and shockers of any award show. Although we saw Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead as expected, films like Gone Girl and Selma were nearly shut out. In the first episode of the Smash Cut Awards Clash podcast. Editor-in-Chief…
My Top 5 Favorite Song Production Choices
If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for, it’s fantastic album production. And since I now possess an ample platform for my opinions to be kinda heard, I’m going to honor some of my favorite production moments. It’s one thing to have top-notch, impressive production throughout an entire song; I can name plenty of those.…
American Horror Story: Freak Show: “Show Stoppers” (4×12)
If nothing else, “Show Stoppers” is proof positive that Freak Show, if not the whole concept of American Horror Story altogether, is far beyond the point of course correction. Because on its face this is a pretty solid penultimate episode, just in terms of stuff that happens and what it sets up. The problem is…
2015 Oscar Nominations: Complete List
The Oscar nominations were announced in their entirety in Hollywood this morning. Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel led with 9 nominations each. Check out the nominee below: BEST PICTURE "American Sniper" "Birdman" "Boyhood" "The Grand Budapest Hotel" "The Imitation Game" "Selma" "The Theory of Everything" "Whiplash" BEST DIRECTOR Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Birdman"…