The X-Files all but defined the 1990s. As a television show, it was not only a cultural phenomenon for the majority of its run, but it also set a template for the serialized storytelling that is dominating the current landscape. Beyond that, however, it also defined the decade by helping, for good or ill, to crystallize the …
A guide to the very best of one of TV’s most definitive genre series.
A thorough primer on the CW’s latest assortment of heroes and villains.
I want to quote you the lead-in from the 9/21 article, “Television’s Social Evolution,” by technology writer Allan Hoffman in the business section of The Star-Ledger, the state paper where I live. Writes Hoffman: Watch a sporting event on TV, and you sometimes feel like there’s hardly room to see the action, what with all …
Scream, Season 1, Episodes 8 to 10 Created by Jill E. Blotevogel, Jay Beattie, and Dan Dworkin Aired Tuesdays at 10pm (ET) on MTV There’s something we’ve got to talk about before we can talk about the final three episodes of Scream, and that’s about the sad passing of Wes Craven on Sunday, August 30th. There’s a thousand …
This month, Sound on Sight’s monthly theme focuses on the relationship between movies and video games, so I thought it would be neat to talk about a TV series that was video game related.
BBC News reports that Sean Bean will star in a new six-part event series titled Frankenstein Chronicles, a crime drama that will reimagine the classic tale. The series is created by Benjamin Ross (RKO 281), who will direct the first episode, and will be written by Frank Doelger, who has written episodes of Game of …
In what sounds like a match made in heaven, famed filmmaker David Fincher and author James Ellroy are in the early stages of collaborating on a new show for HBO. The Playlist and /Film report that details on the project are scarce, but the show is said to be a 1950s set noir detective story. Fincher …
In this new golden age of television that we are currently living in, the television industry is poaching some of cinema’s greatest minds more than ever to create their own long form stories after being restricted to the hour and a half to maximum four hours that film allows. The gap is getting increasingly small …
The episode asks the title question in just about every scene. Consider the opening jaw-dropping opening scene featuring Cleary dumping a bag of rats in a ring to be stomped on, all diegetic sound muted with only Cliff Martinez’s bonkers and wondrous score playing over it, making it all the more haunting. Where’s the dignity?
Wes Craven’s 1996 Scream was easily one of the best and most influential horror films of the 1990s. Its sequel in 1997 was just as successful with critics, audiences, and at the box office. The franchise faltered with 2000’s Scream 3, but started to take a step back in the right direction with 2011’s Scream …
Sam Raimi has been making his rounds at San Diego Comic-Con, talking about various upcoming projects like his upcoming adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, which he’ll be producing, but he also dropped some news that he, Ivan Raimi and Bruce Campbell are currently collaborating on writing an Evil Dead TV series, as …
While many may still be reeling from Tatiana Maslany’s recent Emmy snub, fans of BBC America’s Orphan Black have something to get excited about as the show makes the jump from the small screen to the pages of comics. In a recent press release, IDW has announced that the show will be coming to comic …
The episode opens with yet another misleading sequence, although exactly how misleading the gorgeously shot Will-digo transformation/birth scene really is remains to be seen–after all, we still don’t know with any certainty who arranged the Randall exhibit, or whose body was sent flaming down the parkade runway in glorious tribute to Red Dragon’s exemplary Tooth Fairy kill. In fact, I would hasten that there is still a lot that we don’t know about this secret plan which has occupied much of the narrative lo’ these last few episodes. But more on that later.
Last May with the announcement of Bruno Dumont’s television debut, I wrote an article outlining accessibility issues when it comes to International television. With television becoming as increasingly artistically rich medium, demands for accessibility to international content is in greater demand. Certain shows have broken the threshold, most obviously those from the UK that found …
Boneless, titled for Ragnar’s latest son, is a stand-out offering from a largely sure-footed series; crammed with glorious portent of battle (and battle scene alike), and flinty farewells backed up against luxuriously shot love scenes. Moreover, all the loose plot-threads are carefully spliced into one another; without any loss of gravitas or mood, too. Is some of this hyperbole?
I’ve previously remarked upon, the plots Hirst and co have put into play appear to be converging; and to it’s credit, it’s not just battle stories alone that are unfolding. Rather, tonight sees Bjorn drawn into battle alongside his father — and the determined eagerness upon Ludwig’s face feels both heart-breaking and authentic. It’s not difficult to imagine the limits Bjorn would toe in order to prove his place among the Lothbrok family — particularly given his implicit rivalry with Aslaug’s sons — nor is it difficult to imagine, after the starkly-shot battle scenes of tonight, that Hirst could take him down the road of self-sacrifice. As we’ve previously seen in the case of Gydda — and to a lesser extent, Lagertha’s abandonments of the group — no player in the Vikings community is entirely secure. Furthermore, Bjorn’s now of an age where he stands alongside the members of his family as a veritable warrior; he’s not impervious to blood or pain, no matter how Ragnar rushes to defend him when the former stumbles. There’s something particularly lovely about this moment, in among all the cinematic jostling and callous thrusting of swords that occurs during this stretch of fighting. I’d attribute this to the emotional heart Vikings occasionally excises, in favour of thrills and slick war plotting. (Similarly, Lagertha’s quick glance-over at her son, in the heat of the battle, also tugs at the heart. No matter how indomitable and icy a force Lagertha is on the battlefield, or while defending her honour, she is still ultimately human; she has those she needs to protect.)
The phrase “for the fans” has a new definition, and its name is Veronica Mars. Here, at least, the descriptor doesn’t automatically speak ill qualitatively, as the long-rumored film based on the cult TV series only came to fruition thanks to a massively successful Kickstarter campaign last March. (The overwhelming response to the Veronica Mars campaign has since inspired a number of other filmmakers and actors to call upon their fans to help long-gestating projects become the real thing.) Veronica Mars, the film, will easily cater to the series’ most passionate fans, but it’s just as safe to assume that if you’re not that familiar with the three-season TV show, you might as well start there and eventually build your way up to the movie.
Almost Human, Season 1, Episode 8: “You Are Here” Written by J. H. Wyman & Naren Shankar Directed by Sam Hill Airs Mondays at 8 P.M. ET on FOX “So close, yet so far away. That must be frustrating…” In every episode following the pilot, we’ve seen Kennex and Dorian solve case after case with …
Girls, Season 3, Episode 1, “Female Only” Written by Lena Dunham Directed by Lena Dunham Girls, Season 3, Episode 2, “Truth or Dare” Written by Jenni Konner Directed by Lena Dunham Airs Sundays at 10pm (EST) on HBO A common complaint from Girls viewers is that the protagonists are quite unsympathetic, especially its main character Hannah Horvath …
Almost Human, Season 1, Episode 6: “Arrhythmia” Written by Alison Schapker Directed by Jeff T. Thomas Airs Mondays at 8 P.M. ET on FOX Marketing and advertising never promised that Almost Human wasn’t a cop show and that it wouldn’t touch on clichéd plotlines somewhere along its first season run. What it did promise, however, …
Almost Human, Season 1, Episode 5: “Blood Brothers” Written by Cole Maliska Directed by Omar Madha Airs Mondays at 8 P.M. ET on FOX In its first few episodes since the action-packed series premiere, Almost Human has delivered thrills, humor, and clever integration of technology into the criminal and crime-fighting worlds, and this episode is …
Almost Human, Season 1, Episode 4: “The Bends” Written by Daniel Grindlinger Directed by Kenneth Fink Airs Mondays at 8 P.M. ET on FOX “If you approach your work with reverence and pour your very soul into it, it …