TV amp; Movies Reviews

Art can be taken in (or, from a more mercenary point of view, consumed) as something abstract, enlightening, subtextual, subversive, thought-provoking, transcendental. The actual making of it, however, depends on a very specific inspiration-to-perspiration ratio. Showing Up is all about putting the work into artwork, what it takes to marshal …

TV shows and movies inspired by real-life events tend to overstate the truth for dramatic effect. Netflix’s Transatlantic is a rare case of underplaying history — in this case, the work of Varian Fry, Mary Jayne Gold, and the rest of the European Rescue Committee, who worked to get Jewish …

A group of twentysomethings converge upon a small, seemingly abandoned house outside of Odessa, Texas. Two of them are former students, frustrated by the lack of urgency around climate change. One is a Native American from North Dakota, who does a series of D.I.Y. bombmaking videos under the name “Boomtalk.” …

Let’s be clear about one thing: Owen Wilson is not playing Bob Ross. He’s just a guy named Carl Nargle, who hosts a popular PBS painting show called Paint with Carl Nargle, filmed in a small American town — Burlington, VT., not Muncie, IN. — that has made him a …

Raine Allen-Miller’s feature directorial debut Rye Lane, out now on Hulu, is a firecracker of a film exploring modern-day dating (and heartbreak) mores while providing witty commentary on the borderline-absurd ways in which millennials and zoomers have latched onto social media buzzword culture. Running a brisk one hour and 22 …

A wise man once asked: “Is it the shoes?” The question has plagued generations of sneaker fanatics, amateur ballers, and would-be Hall-of-Famers, all of whom would give their right rotator cuff to be Just. Like. Mike. Thankfully, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Air has provided an answer. It pops out …

It’s strange to think of Mario as an underdog. Although he’s been depicted as vaguely blue-collar since his first appearance over 40 years ago, Nintendo’s mascot has always been decidedly super. And despite having had more professions than Johnny Sins, his most notable role is also his simplest: he’s a …

For starters, they’re called the Tobacco Force, and these intergalactic “avengers” battle extraterrestrial monsters by giving them cancer via chemicals like nicotine, mercury and ammonia… but let’s assume that any similarities to other groups of helmeted, high-kicking heroes, living or dead, are not coincidental. This quintet — technically a sextet …

At this point in his career, after almost 30 years of cranking out hits and a recent Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Adam Sandler makes two kinds of movies. He can fully commit himself to projects of originality and depth, includingHustle, one of the few truly great basketball films …

The title is Cornish for “Stone Island,” a forbidding slab of land located off the coast of England’s southern tip. The year is 1973 — the same horror-cinema annus mirabilis of The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now, for those of you playing along at home. The only current resident …