Parenthood Review: \"The Waiting Room\" (4×03)
This week’s Parenthood gets off to a pretty sluggish start. Everything before the title sequence feels like an unnecessary recap of last week’s episode. That redundancy is especially egregious in the scene where Amber shows Zeek her ultrasound, which is the exact same emotional beat as their conversation at Zeek’s party. Fortunately, the episode quickly…
Sons of Anarchy Review: “Smoke Em If You Got Em” (7×06)
There isn’t much to say about “Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em” that hasn’t already been said about the past several episodes this season. No appreciable progress is made in any of the season’s arcs, save that of Juice. The episode concludes on a series of manufactured climaxes, which serve only to delay a conclusion…
Album Review: The Blithedale Romance – Wanderer EP
New Jersey-based quartet The Blithedale Romance, all furious guitars and shredded vocal cords, want you to know they’re trying. The young band took a mysterious, cultish online presence and rebranded their sound “new noise” leading up to the release of this, their second EP. Despite the half-makeover, the band comes out sounding more like themselves…
Film Review: “The Skeleton Twins”
Craig Johnson takes the directorial reigns of his second film with the dark family dramedy, The Skeleton Twins. Having debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, this film offers a gorgeous commentary on the strength of blood and revival of hope. Former SNL costars, Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig,…
American Horror Story: Freak Show Review: “Massacres and Matinees” (4×02)
As we make our way through the second hour of Freak Show, it becomes very clear (if it wasn’t already) that this season is much more concerned with establishing atmosphere than it necessarily is with accelerating the plot (or even with having one in the first place). The plot beats are pretty basic, but it’s…
American Horror Story: Freak Show Review – “Monsters Among Us” (4×01)
“Monsters Among Us” begins with Dot’s arrival at Elsa’s camp, the American Horror Story signature Dutch tilt cleverly hiding Bette’s head from the viewer. We then double back almost immediately, to first the birth of the twins, and then to the hospital where they’re held following Dot’s murder of their caretaker, and Bette’s stabbing of…
Film Review: “Annabelle”
Annabelle is the prequel to 2013’s The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, which received generally favorable reviews. James Wan handed the directorial baton over to his cinematographer, John R. Leonetti, whose previous experience includes Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and The Butterfly Effect 2; safe to say that this may not have been a wise choice. The…
Sons of Anarchy Review: “Some Strange Eruption” (7×05)
Another week, another step closer to total ruin. That’s the mode Sons of Anarchy is in this season, as we continue what’s essentially the fifth act of one long tragedy. We feel the full weight of the show’s dramatic structure and its Shakespearean inspiration this week, as various characters’ decisions have repercussions throughout Charming. The…
Off-Broadway Review: “Indian Ink”
Two actresses, some fifty years apart, portray sisters. Different time periods and locations weave together through fast paced flowing dialogue. A history lesson of clashing cultures unfolds. I must be at a Tom Stoppard play. The playwright, famous for works like Arcadia and The Real Thing, has crafted a sweeping narrative across two time periods…
U2 Album Review: “Songs of Innocence”
Let’s be frank: U2 is nothing less than one of the most successful and popular acts to have ever recorded a rock album. They need no introduction. As such, this review really needs no introduction either. By now you’re probably already sick of hearing about the band’s thirteenth studio album, Songs of Innocence, as well…