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High Definition: Will Ferrell & Adam McKay's Big Lake
What happens when Will Ferrell and Adam McKay—co-writers of comedies like Step Brothers, Anchorman and Talladega Nights—create a good ol’-fashioned, multi-camera, laugh-tracked, sit-com? Strange things, of course.... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: The Pillars of the Earth Miniseries Review
Ken Follet’s sprawling historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth, gave a wonderful glimpse at life across social strata in 12th-century England. Spanning the multi-decade construction of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, the book is as much a poem to architecture as it is a tale of intrigue. Minor innovations in stone work are treated as miracles of God. And while some of that passion is lost in the eight-part miniseries airing now on Starz, the intrigue is enough to entertain.... read more
Found in: Movies, ColumnsHigh Definition: Persons Unknown Review
The first thing you should know about NBC’s new summer miniseries Persons Unknown is that its creator Christopher McQuarrie also wrote The Usual Suspects. I would have probably been ready to give up after one episode if McQuarrie hadn’t provided one of the most satisfying resolutions to a film in the last couple of decades. I’ve been down this road before, and I’m not sure I could handle another sideways purgatory, dream sequence or alternate reality to explain away what I’ve invested my time and attention to.... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: Crystal Bowersox is my American Idol
I’ve never been drawn to reality shows or contests on TV, but with two pre-teen girls in my house, I’ve watched the last few seasons of American Idol. Austin City Limits is more my speed, so I’ve usually just been content to hear a handful of songs I loved in their original form made “relevant” or “current” by the contestants (to use two of executive producer/surly judge Simon Cowell’s favorite words). But this season, I’ve become an unabashed fan of one of tonight’s finalists, Crystal Bowersox.... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: Late Night Music on the Telly
Jay Leno might have fended off Team Coco to win the late night war on NBC, but along with Conan O’Brien—and, many would argue, America—the loser of this battle was music. Last night, just before Craig Ferguson’s Late Late Show on CBS hosted Wilco, Leno welcomed the members of Limp Bizkit onto his Tonight Show stage. Last week, the musical guests included Michael Bolton and Godsmack. The week before that featured Creed.... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: Fall 2010 TV Pilots That Might Not Suck
Keeping an eye on the TV pilots in development for the major broadcast networks is a little like the baseball draft. You can get excited about that lanky lefthander with the 96-mile-an-hour fastball, but there’s no guarantee that he’s ever going to even play for your major league team. Still, there’s no real harm in getting a little excited about the possibilities of TV shows which sound more original than they probably are—even though they’ll probably get beat out by a remake of Hawaii Five-O, another procedural spin-off (this time, from Criminal Minds) and the third Christian Slater vehicle in... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: Tremé Hits the Right Notes
Before the flood, I’d only spent a day in New Orleans. My friend Stephanie was working with Desire Street Ministries, and she showed me where she lived and worked in the 8th and 9th Wards. It was the best and worst of America in one place. It was the week of Mardi Gras, and I saw communities readying their immaculate floats among the stark poverty of the city’s toughest neighborhoods. The grandness of the funeral processions was only matched by their sobering frequency, as the children she worked with grew accustomed to sounds of gunfire at a young age.... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: The Pacific
I’ll occasionally tear up in movies, but I cried like a baby in Saving Private Ryan. My wife’s Grandpa Wigton flew bombers in Europe during World II but was called home after his two brothers died in combat. I was completely alone in the theater, catching a mid-week matinee. I paced the floor in front of the screen in the tenser parts of the movie, but the scene that knocked me out was just after one of the most brutal accounts of war I’d ever witnessed: the opening battle on the beaches of Normandy. The film cut to a non-descript... read more
Found in: Movies, ColumnsHigh Definition: Wild Kingdom and Discovery's Life
I grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, so it was a while before Nebraska’s biggest city lost its exotic luster. I assumed Omaha was one of those untamed locales where Marlin Perkins revealed the mysteries of animals, just like the “Trails of Saguaro Springs”, the “Wild Shores of Patagonia,” the “Land of the Dingo.” I watched in awe at a world beyond my suburban home and developed an appreciation for these remote habitats untouched by man—save for brave explores like Perkins and his cohorts. They would wrestle pythons and alligators, throw sticks at charging elephants, and—most ridiculously—bring down... read more
Found in: TV, ColumnsHigh Definition: Farscape Revisited
I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and it’s given me a chance to start tackling the Farscape Megaset that arrived back in November. I’d caught assorted episodes during its run from 1999 through 2003, but watching sequentially has given me a deeper appreciation for a show I’d mostly sloughed off as overly dramatic and full of muppets.... read more
Found in: TV, Columns
The 50 Best Movies of 2011
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
The 20 Best Movies of 2011 (So…
A Day In The Life Of Seryn
Album Stream: Eisley - Deep Space
Video Premiere: Rhett Miller - "Tower of…
Live From CMJ: Robert Ellis
Song Premiere: Milagres - “Quiet Street”
