Prawn releasing New “Settled” EP and Deluxe Version of “Kingfisher”
Last time I saw Prawn they were absolutely killing it at The Studio at Webster Hall supporting Hotelier and Foxing. While I didn't know much about them then, it did spawn a slight obsession with the band. Maybe it's just natural to want to support local Jersey bands, but these guys know how to put on…
7 Reasons why “House of Cards” Season 2 was Awesome
SPOILERS! It's ridiculous, unrealistic, and wonderfully dark, but also so entertaining. It probably won't win this year at the Emmys, but here are some reasons voters could cast their vote for House of Cards. "One heartbeat away from the presidency and not a single vote cast in my name..." Remember when Frank gave us this…
Parenthood Review: “Vegas” (6×01)
Reviewing Parenthood is always an interesting prospect for me. Coming up with a score can honestly feel a bit like alchemy. I love this show because it perfectly nails such significant minutiae of family life, like that little shrug Camille gives Julia after Kristina brings Joel on board at the school. You know they are…
Sons of Anarchy Review: “What a Piece of Work Is Man” (7×09)
“What a Piece of Work Is Man,” indeed. This week’s episode is still over-stuffed, and the pacing is drawn out at times, but it at least features periodic jolts of excitement in most of the ongoing stories. It at least raises stakes, and at least bothers to feign forward momentum on the season’s major arc. The…
Sharp and funny, “Dear White People” urges discussion on racism
Director Justin Simien makes his feature film debut with the satirical drama Dear White People. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; leaving with the Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent, which was certainly deserved. The movie focuses on several students’ experiences at an Ivy League college during a pseudo- race war. Dear White People…
Iceage Album Review: "Plowing Into the Field of Love"
Punk rock, at its finest, both agitates and puts a smile on your face. Danish band Iceage did that on their previous two albums, New Brigade and You’re Nothing. Both were obliterating affairs dealing with both physical and philosophical anxieties in short, aggressive, and noisy spurts, like a Black Flag for the 21st century. This,…
Parenthood Review: “Happy Birthday, Zeek” (6×02)
About two thirds of the way through this week’s Parenthood, Jabbar asks Crosby a deceptively simple question: “How old is Grandpa?” And yet, it’s a question that gets to the heart of this final season. The show is called Parenthood. Confronting the reality that your parents get old is the perfect way to bring everything…
Parenthood Review: “Too Big to Fail” (6×06)
I’m not going to lie, that “three months later” title card pretty much blew my mind the first time I watched this episode. Not because anything particularly shocking happens as a result of it, but because it's the sort of thing that Parenthood wouldn’t typically do in previous seasons. Between seasons, maybe you would see…
‘Penny Dreadful’ Review: “Demimonde” (1×04)
It was an odd feeling watching this episode of Penny Dreadful. Up until this point every moment and scene was done to build to the conclusion of the last episode, which saw the assembling of the "monster hunting" team. There was a clear trajectory of every storyline that built upon each other until the series was…
Scandal Review: “An Innocent Man” (4×06)
This week, Olivia Pope devotes her energy to proving the innocence of a man who stands accused of attempting to assassinate President Cooper, who is the Scandal universe’s analogue to Ronald Reagan. The notion of innocence is an elusive one in Olivia Pope’s Washington, and so it’s fitting that the case of the week here…