What if ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Mad Men’ were on HBO?
When AMC greenlit Mad Men and Breaking Bad in 2006 and 2007, respectively, it took a huge chance on first-time showrunners, unproven lead actors, and most notably, stories that pushed the audience unlike ever before. Fast forward to 2013, and it’s clear the risk has paid off. AMC put itself… [Read More]
Embracing the Gray Area With ‘Drinking Buddies’
As I sit drinking a craft brew I bought 30 seconds after walking out of Drinking Buddies, the film’s ambiguous ending is pretty fresh in my mind. For 90 minutes, Olivia Wilde and Jake Johnson act out a classic will-they-or-won’t-they story that essentially leads nowhere; consciously withholding the happy ending… [Read More]
Popular Actors That Bailed on Their Hit Shows
With recent rumblings that Laura Prepon is leaving Orange is the New Black after a wildly successful first season, it’s as good a time as any to look back at other notable exits from hit shows and why they went down: Michael J. Fox, Spin City During the fourth season… [Read More]
The Marital Bonds of TV Viewership
Commitment to watching a stellar TV series is a glorious and momentous undertaking. It’s much like any relationship, beginning with an initially awkward period of wonder and adjustment, which spills into intense exhilaration as a viewer comes to understand a show’s on-screen characters and the story really hits its stride…. [Read More]
8 Hours From a Post-‘Breaking Bad’ World
This Sunday marks the beginning of the end for Breaking Bad, indisputably one of the greatest shows to ever hit TV. “Beginning of the end” isn’t quite an accurate descriptor though — it’s really best to consider the first episode of the series as the beginning of the end, and… [Read More]
A (Somewhat) Strong Case Against Horror
When I was in the sixth grade, my good friend invited me over to his house for his 12th birthday/slumber party. I joined a group of our friends there shortly after school got out on a Friday, and we were all thrilled about the festivities to come. Within the first… [Read More]
Michael Cera is My Spirit Animal
I personally identify with Michael Cera. As the skinny awkward guy in my group of friends in high school (and now), I saw a lot of myself in his portrayal of a graduating senior struggling with the transition from high school to college in Superbad. Especially because I was a… [Read More]
Horrible Sequels to Great Films
A lot of work goes into making a quality film. Writing a script, production, casting, shooting, editing, etc. A lot of moving parts have to spin just right in order to get a result that’s commercially and critically praised. So it’s a damn shame when all the effort that gets… [Read More]
THIS IS THE BEST TRAILER OF 2013
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=reIxnLrtY5g] I mean, wow. Just wow. It remains to be seen how good a film this ends up being, but whoever was given the task of editing together this trailer should get a raise. For anyone that’s seen Drive, you know what to expect from Only God Forgives: gorgeous cinematography, stone-faced… [Read More]
Live in the Now: Real-time Sports vs. the DVR
On Thursday of last week, the day of game 7 in the Heat and Spurs’ NBA Finals series, I came across a status on Facebook that read: I’m not one to butt into other people’s personal lives…and as we all know, what you record on your DVR is very privileged… [Read More]
