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Vinyl, Ep. 1.10: Vinyl’s Season Finale Goes out With a Whimper, Not a Bang

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 10: “Alibi” Written by Terence Winter Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Prior to the penultimate episode of Vinyl’s first season, HBO announced that co-creator and showrunner Terence Winter would be leaving the show, supposedly over creative differences (usually code for low ratings and/or critical disapproval). Although filled with …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.09: The Other Shoe Drops in “Rock and Roll Queen”

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 9: “Rock and Roll Queen” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by Carl Franklin Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Ever since Richie lost all the money gained from selling American Century’s private jet, a shoe has been hanging over the show. Zach is Richie’s most loyal lieutenant, and one who’s really more of …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.08: Vinyl Gets Back to Basics with “E.A.B.”

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 8: “E.A.B.” Written by Riccardo DiLoreto & Michael Mitnick Directed by Jon S. Baird Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO So far, a fairly reliable indicator of the strength of a Vinyl episode is how much humor it has. That’s not to say that the show needs to veer toward broad …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.07: “The King And I” might mark Richie’s turning point

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 7: “The King and I” Written by David Matthews Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO If Vinyl has managed to convey one thing about Richie’s personality, it’s that he never does anything halfway. He has to run his business with a constant pipeline of cocaine direct to his nose. …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.06: Richie Is Trapped in a Destructive “Cyclone”

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 6: “Cyclone” Written by Carl Capotorto & Erin Cressida Wilson Directed by Nicole Kassell Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO If it succeeds at anything, Vinyl knows how to do a good coke scene. Bobby Cannavale has perfected the wild-eyed look of someone who’s been doing cocaine for three days straight, …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.05: “He in Racist Fire” turns up the heat

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 5: “He in Racist Fire” Written by Adam Rapp Directed by Peter Sollett Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO The revelation from last week’s episode of Vinyl was that the show can be hilarious when it wants to be. It was a necessary discovery, because Vinyl would eventually implode if it chose to …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.04: “The Racket” finds the series hitting its stride

Vinyl, Season 1, Episode 4: “The Racket” Written by Debora Cahn Directed by S. J. Clarkson Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO Perhaps Vinyl has regained its footing. The first three episodes of the series were filled with drama – Richie falling off the wagon, murdering Buck Rogers, and threatening his already shaky marriage. The episodes were …

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Vinyl, Ep. 1.01: “Pilot” shows great promise

Vinyl, Season One, Episode One: “Pilot” Written by Terence Winter and George Mastras Directed by Martin Scorsese Airs Sundays at 9pm on HBO It seemed inevitable that Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger would work together at some point. After all, The Rolling Stones have created the essential music of Scorsese’s life, and his films would …

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‘Adult Beginners’ can’t deliver laughs or on its premise

Narcissistic entrepreneur Jake (Nick Kroll) has the world thoroughly in his grasp; his company’s next product launch is in days and he can smell the proverbial success everywhere around him. Jake fancies himself the next Steve Jobs-type king of industry, but the truth is he offers very little in the way of skill, expertise or even human decency. If this were an Oliver Stone film Jake would cash in despite his undeserved arrogance, but this isn’t one of those movies.

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Shot Glass Half Empty?: On Boardwalk Empire’s Troubled Legacy

I was a bit hesitant to start watching the series finale for Boardwalk Empire. I didn’t even have it in me to watch it until a few days after it aired. Why was I so hesitant? Probably for a number of reasons. A part of me wasn’t ready to say goodbye to a series I …

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‘Chef’ a mildly enjoyable film that breaks from Jon Favreau’s recent workmanlike blockbusters

Chef Written and directed by Jon Favreau USA, 2014 It’s been roughly 7 years since Pixar released their best film to date, Ratatouille, which manages to be both a celebration of food and of the creative spirit. A great artist, that film argues, can come from even the most unlikely place, and so the world …

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Boardwalk Empire s03.12 ‘Margate Sands’: Missed Opportunities

Boardwalk Empire Season3.12 ‘Margate Sands’ Written by: Terence Winter and Howard Korder Directed by: Tim van Patten Airs Sunday 9.00pm EST on HBO This was the show when I thought the talking would stop. Boardwalk Empire, always a little dialogue heavy, had moved itself into prime position for an episode where plotting was kept to …

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Boardwalk Empire ep3.09 ‘A Milkmaid’s Lot: Nucky goes a few quarts short of a pint

Boardwalk Empire Episode 3.09 ‘A Milkmaid’s Lot’ Written by: Rolin Jones Directed by: Ed Bianchi Airs Sunday 9.00pm EST on HBO Three episodes out and we’re building for the season finale. This is always a difficult time for a series fan. The writers have to keep the big plot twists both secret, but also completely …

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Boardwalk Empire, Ep. 3.05 “You’d Be Surprised”: Bobby Cannavale gives it all he’s got

Boardwalk Empire, Season 3, Episode 5: “You’d Be Surprised” Written by Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider Directed by Tim Van Patten Airs Sundays at 9pm (ET) on HBO An auspiciously titled episode: we begin with the customary sex scene and discover that Gyp Rosetti is a man of very specific needs. The fact that Rosetti …

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Boardwalk Empire, Ep. 3.01: “Resolution”: New Year’s brings new faces and new tensions to Atlantic City

Boardwalk Empire Review, Season 3, Episode 1, “Resolution” Directed by Tim Van Patten Written by Terence Winter Airs Sundays at 9pm (ET) on HBO If we were all asking ourselves how Season 3’s premiere would top the dark and bloody finale to Season 2, it took about thirty seconds for the answer to be handed …

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