Damn Fine TV/Film
The 1960s in America represented a time of great turmoil. The decade saw the murders of a president and a civil rights leader, the threat of a nuclear missile attack, and a war. The decade also began the shift away from the 1950s expectations of marriage and family along with working the same job, whether …
Continue reading "Mad Men Part 2: The Limitations of Self on Madison Avenue in the 1960s"
This week’s episode had almost everything I love about Better Call Saul: Jimmy up to his usual nonsense, exceptional Kim content, Mike being Mike, and Gus Fring getting his hands dirty. “Breathe” (written by Thomas Schnauz and directed by Michelle MacLaren) opens in a dark hospital room. The doctor Gus has on his payroll is …
Welcome back to our continuing coverage and analysis of each week's new episode of Sharp Objects! We're officially in the home stretch now with only two more episodes remaining. This week's episode did move the story forward, both with the characters and the plot, but perhaps more than any other episode so far left us …
The story we were told last week was not entirely true. Not even in the ballpark of truth. And in a powerhouse hour of TV with more than a few twists and painful revelations, we learned what really happened to Alison the night she died. Last week belonged to Joshua Jackson, from beginning to end. This week …
Continue reading "She Weaves a Pattern All Her Own: The Affair – Season 4 Episode 9"
One of my favourite exchanges from The West Wing is a typically Aaron Sorkin back-and-forth between Amy Gardner and one Donatella Moss, who’s just been informed she was actually born in Canada, and was therefore endowed with certain inalienable rights. “Canadian, huh?” Amy asks. “Yeah,” Donna responds. “You feel funnier?” “No, but I am developing …
Continue reading "The Surprising Quality of Canadian Comedy: A Primer for Americans"
I was thus weighed down by the pleasant burden of the world in the way one commonly is by sleep, and the thoughts with which I attempted to meditate upon you were like the efforts of people who are trying to wake up, but are overpowered and immersed once more in slumberous deeps. No one …
There is a reason why Mad Men is considered one of the greatest shows to ever air on television. AMC truly broke the mold when it came to detailing the lives of the advertisers working on Madison Avenue, Mad Men, as they reportedly called themselves. A period drama set predominately in the 1960's, and despite …
“Everything seems simple until you think about it. Why is love intensified by absence?” - Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife [Note: Plot spoilers for The Time Traveler's Wife and Doctor Who] It’s no secret that Steven Moffat loves Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. The book’s concept of lovers living in out-of-order timelines became …
Continue reading "World and Time Enough for “The Time Traveler’s Wife”"
We three, we’re all alone Living in a memory My echo, my shadow, and me - The Ink Spots, “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)" This sad refrain ushers us into Season 4 of Better Call Saul. As with all previous season premieres, "Smoke" (written by Peter Gould and directed by Minkie Spiro) …
Continue reading "Better Call Saul Episode Review: S4E1 (“Smoke”)"
Welcome back to 25YL’s analysis of Sharp Objects. "Ripe" left us on a cliffhanger, with Camille frenziedly racing after her younger sister, Amma. Camille feared she might be next in line to be murdered by the local serial killer after having had a vision of her toothless corpse in the creepy hunting shed. "Closer" begins with the …
Continue reading "Sharp Objects Episode 5 (“Closer”): A Celebration of Silence"