2014 in Television (Mid-Year Review Hangout)
Karl, Brooke, and Craig discuss the year in television so far including on air and on Netflix. They also talk about the upcoming fall lineup and those pesky Emmys! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKQNbB-ANis
2014 Emmy Predictions: TV Movie
This is by far the easiest category to predict. The Normal Heart is pretty much running this race unopposed. It did extremely well in the nominations with 16, leading all TV movies, and it did receive critical acclaim. If there is a very unlikely upset, it would probably be Sherlock: His Last Vow. There's no…
Emmy Spotlight: The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart arrives on HBO with somewhat lofty expectations, and yet, being a Ryan Murphy production, I wouldn’t blame anyone for approaching it with a healthy measure of skepticism, as well. It’s in many ways a spiritual sequel to Angels in America, another adaptation by HBO of another well-regarded period piece about the AIDS…
Emmy Spotlight: “Killing Kennedy”
When I say there isn't a contender more underrated than Killing Kennedy, I mean it. Although it was a fairly successful entry for the History Channel, have you heard someone walking down the street saying, "have you seen that new JFK movie on the History Channel?" However, although the History Channel is basically doing to…
2014 Emmy Predictions: Supporting Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie
I've been avoiding predicting this category like the plague. It is probably the hardest category to predict, because there is not even a semblance of a frontrunner. The top three contenders are neck and neck, and this race could really go either way. First of all there is Julia Roberts (The Normal Heart). Her role in…
Do the Shuffle (Vol. 10): Blur, The Flaming Lips, Toro y Moi & more!
In Do the Shuffle, one of our team members put their iPod on shuffle and list the first 10 songs that play. It's great for us because it helps us remember some of the stuff that gets lost on our playlists and it's great for you because you can discover some of the awesome music…
Joyce Manor Album Review: Never Hungover Again
If you've been following the genre since its inception, I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that pop punk hasn't always been the emotionally-charged melting pot that it is today. While classic pop punk bands such as Blink-182 may have occasionally ruminated on the nuances of growing up, they ended up spending most…
Do the Shuffle (Vol. 8): The 1975, Foster the People, and Ghost Beach
In Do the Shuffle, one of our team members puts their iPod on shuffle and makes a playlist out of the first ten songs that play. It’s a great way to find new music or rediscover the old stuff. Enjoy! http://open.spotify.com/user/smashcutreviews/playlist/7yF2Ow1Ko9j9KGONcXWRWF
Contenders for the Best Film of 2014 so far
It may be a bit early to write a definitive ranking of the best films of the year. Usually it takes a few viewings of the contenders before I can make a true decision on what should be on top. That's a mistake I made last year. When I did my rankings last year, I…
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Film Review
I make it a general rule to try and stay away from any hype/reviews/general recommendations about what I’ll be reviewing. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was one of those films where I just couldn’t escape that stuff. Sitting through the coming attractions, I forced myself to push out all of the uber-positive feedback about the…