What’s apparent in “Hello, Old Friend” and “Sleepless in Pinebrook,” the two episodes that open the season, is that Playing House is stealthily one of the best shows on television about living in a small town. Between awkward run-ins in public places to finding out an old driving instructor is on Tinder, the show captures the familiarity and slight claustrophobia of being in the same small place for a long time.
Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean Written and directed by Matthew Mishory USA, 2012 Let’s posit a hypothetical – what if the iconic James Dean was gay? Well, let’s answer one hypothetical question with another – what if Fellini made a Dolce & Gabbana commercial instead of La Dolce Vita? What does one …
Jamie and Jessie Are Not Together Written and directed by Wendy Jo Carlton USA, 2011 It’s long been said that men and women can’t be ‘just friends’. In many Hollywood films (When Harry Met Sally, Friends With Benefits, Friends With Kids, ad infinitum) this axiom becomes a pursuant theme, which they always, and invariably, succumb …
Mosquita Y Mari Written and directed by Aurora Guerrero USA, 2011 What can you say about teenagers? Ask a parent and they’ll likely say they haven’t a clue. Ask a teenager and they’ll likely say the same. Understanding them is a dissertation of its own and very few filmmakers have ever shown an adequate propensity …
My Best Day Written and directed by Erin Greenwell USA, 2012 At one point in the film, Karen (Rachel Style) says that, “I’m sick of all the bullshit streaming out of everyone’s mouth. Including my own”. Out of all the ornate, haphazard, and abject silliness that happens in Erin Greenwell’s My Best Day, this statement is …
Cherry Directed by Stephen Elliott Written by Stephen Elliott and Lorelei Lee USA, 2012 For adult entertainers working in the San Fernando Valley, a transition into the business of tinsel town has proven to be fruitless. For an industry that doesn’t require much acting, and even less writing, porn stars, like Sasha Grey in The …
Hit So Hard Directed by P. David Ebersole USA, 2011 Among the many accreditations that Courtney Love and her rock band Hole have garnered, the one she’s most proud of is the recognition for having a female drummer – a lesbian drummer, to be pedantic. A rarity in the music industry heretofore, Patty Schemel is …
Dorfman Directed by Bradley Leong Written by Wendy Kout USA, 2011 After her mother dies, Deb Dorfman (Sara Rue), a timid accountant, has to live with her perpetually grumpy father (Elliot Gould) in the San Fernando Valley. A hopeless romantic, Deb is irreparably enraptured with Jay (Johann Urb), her brother’s war-zone reporter friend. When …
Something Wild Directed by Jack Garfein Written by Jack Garfein and Alex Karmel USA, 1961 For an era as socially untactful as the 1960’s, Jack Garfein’s Something Wild, a story about a young rape victim struggling with the aftermath of her attack, must’ve been nothing short of avant-garde. As daring and inventive as it might’ve …
The Last Flight of Petr Ginz Directed by Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts USA, 2012 An old adage stipulates how history is written by the winners, so it’s extremely rare when it’s told by someone who has suffered the ultimate loss. Not since Anne Frank has there been such a deeply affecting postmortem autobiography, but …
The Raven Directed by James McTeigue Written by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare USA, 2012 In a room of posh, opulent women, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack) commands their undivided attention by reciting the film’s titular poem, The Raven. Enamored, one of the women tries her hand at poetry as well. Crude, unsophisticated and juvenile, …