TV amp; Movies Reviews

As the international refugee crisis was wobbling past its tipping point in late 2021, a small patch of no-man’s-land between two Eastern European nations was turning into a hot spot. Migrants who were fleeing turmoil in the Middle East and parts of Africa had been told that they could find …

When you get to be an actor of a certain age, you have the option of a lucrative career pivot into action movies. Just ask Liam Neeson, or Denzel Washington, or any of the other A-listers who’ve reinvented themselves as late-act ass-kickers. We’ll confess that we did not have June …

We meet Queenie Jenkins under extremely intimate conditions in the first episode of Queenie. She’s in a hospital bed, getting a pelvic exam, while her voiceover narration talks us through recent problems at work, a fight with her boyfriend Tom, and the other challenges of her life as a self-described …

Oh, so you think being a kid is an emotional rollercoaster, huh? Try becoming a freshly minted teenager. When Inside Out hit theaters in 2015, Pixar‘s deep dive into an 11-year-old’s brain quickly ascended to top-tier status; the combination of old-school cartoonishness, a color scheme that left no hue untouched, …

When older film fans lament the loss of the mid-budget movie made for grown-ups, Presumed Innocent is an obvious example of what they have in mind. The 1990 adaptation of Scott Turow’s best-selling legal thriller — starring Harrison Ford as a prosecutor charged with killing his mistress — wasn’t meant …

“Because I could not stop for deathHe kindly stopped for me.”—Emily Dickinson “He’s kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, run down the curtain, and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible! This… is an Ex-Parrot!”—John Cleese The macaw is tiny at first — small enough, in fact, to nestle in …

Julio Torres’ new HBO series Fantasmas takes its name from the Spanish word for “ghosts,” which Torres’ fictionalized alter ego wants to use for a clear crayon. When a Crayola executive asks why anyone would want such a thing, Julio argues, “Some things aren’t the normal colors, or play by …

We won’t bury the lede. Yes, it goes there. Will Smith was not quite a full-blown, A-list movie star when mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer cast him in a buddy-cop action movie in 1995. He was still better known as the Fresh Prince than King of the Summer Blockbusters; compared to his …

Deep in the woods of West Ireland — in “a forest that does not appear on any map” — there is a house. A steel door, blessed with numerous locks and bolts to keep its occupants safe, is the most prominent feature up front. The back of the house appears, …

On House of the Dragon, there are prominent characters named Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, and Rhaena. There’s an Alicent and also an Alys. There are identical twins named Arryk and Erryk (both pronounced like “Eric”). There are references to multiple characters named Jaehaerys, and there’s also a Jacaerys, whose nickname is Jace, …