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BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.6 – ‘Bali Ha’i’
As we ease into the second half of Better Call Saul’s sophomore year, it’s becoming clear that Jimmy McGill’s (Bob Odenkirk) storyline isn’t a strong as his occasional partner-in-crime Mike’s (Jonathan Banks). I’ve had concerns about this being the case before on the show, but I think season 2’s highlighting the split more because the…
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THE CLUB / EL CLUB (2015)
Recently crowned Best Picture at the Oscars, Spotlight detailed the uncovering of the shocking child sex scandal associated with the Catholic Church. While that film focused primarily on the journalists working doggedly to reveal the heinous conspiracy to cover up what turned out to be a long history of systemic child abuse, the latest film…
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THE AMERICANS, 4.1 – ‘Glanders’
We return to The Americans in the middle of a nightmare, as Philip (Matthew Rhys) dreams about the time, as a child, he beat a bully to death with a rock. When he wakes up, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) asks what’s wrong, and he tells her that he has to let Martha (Alison Wright) know about Gene—the FBI…
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VINYL, 1.5 – ‘He in Racist Fire’
Far too much of my time is spent wondering exactly why Vinyl doesn’t work for me. It looks wonderful, the pieces are in place, the script sometimes sings, the cast is strong —and yet the show is a hotter mess than its coke-snorting protaganist. Part of the problem is that it’s entirely lacking in subtlety.…
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BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.5 – ‘Rebecca’
I love how Better Call Saul fleshes out its own narrative, with glimpses of the past that inform the future (which is also, slightly confusingly, the past to fans of Breaking Bad). The opening of “Rebecca” answered the obvious question the title provokes, with a lovely vignette set during the time Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) was working…
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STAG (BBC, 2016)
There’s a long tradition of stories about groups of people being hunted and killed, one by one, by a mystery assailant (most owing a debt to Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel And Then There Were None, maybe a few to 1987’s Predator). There’s an even longer real-life tradition of soon-to-be-married men being thrown raucous parties, to…
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THE WITCH (2015)
I wasn’t surprised to learn that The Witch’s writer-director, Robert Eggers, is from New England (his hometown is Lee, New Hampshire, about an hour from where I grew up). The film, which opens in a Puritan village, may have been filmed in Canada, but Eggers (also a production designer) and his crew put a great deal of…
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KUNG FU PANDA 3 (2016)
Whether or not this is the farewell for this under-appreciated animated series is uncertain, but Kung Fu Panda 3 provides a conclusive finale that brings the journey of its chubby protagonist to meaningful resolution. What’s assumed to be the final note in a trilogy sees Po (Jack Black) confronting both his past and future, as…
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THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT (2016)
Identity and the search for self play an integral role in the structure of good YA fiction. It’s therefore as ironic as it is wasteful that the Divergent saga has so palpably lost its personality. The third instalment of this adaptation of Veronica Roth’s book series fails to charm, and proffers no reason to return for next year’s final chapter.…
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BETTER CALL SAUL, 2.4 – ‘Gloves Off’
My favourite episode of Better Call Saul’s first season was episode 6, “Five-O”, which could be seen as a problem because it had the least to do with the titular character, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk). It was instead a showcase for Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), answering questions about this ex-cop-turned-enforcer that had been lingering since…
