Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in ‘Game Change’
The one-shot films produced by HBO rarely reach the same high level as the weekly series presented by the cable giant. Perhaps because a series can generate so much more revenue than two-hour...
View Article‘Struck by Lightning’: a fresh take on high school
It’s not surprising that young actor Chris Colfer would write a juicy role for himself in the new independent film, “Struck by Lightning.” What is surprising is the sensitivity Colfer and director...
View Article1971 flashback: when kiddie movies didn’t rule the summer
When, thanks to Netflix, I watched the bitter relationship comedy “Carnal Knowledge” a while ago, I was struck by how relevant the Mike Nichols-Jules Feiffer film still is more than 40 years after its...
View Article‘Girls’ Season 2 DVD — Lena Dunham sticks to her guns
In “Girls,” Lena Dunham has created one of the most polarizing TV shows ever. While the brilliant young writer-actress-director has legions of fans — myself among them — the hate on the Internet is so...
View Article‘Sexplosion’: breaking the taboos 45 years ago
HarperCollins’ !t Books division is publishing Robert Hofler’s new book “Sexplosion” next month and it’s an illuminating and entertaining look back at when book publishing, movies and theater got much...
View Article‘Looking’: HBO scouts new talent, new points of view
Cable giant HBO is more willing than most media entities to look beyond Hollywood and television production companies for fresh ideas. It was Lena Dunham’s remarkable 2010 indie film debut “Tiny...
View ArticleLost movie: ‘Love and Human Remains’ turns 20
In between his 1989 art house hit “Jesus of Montreal” and his Oscar-winning “The Barbarian Invasions” (2003) the French-Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand made a very funny and very disturbing movie that...
View Article‘Broadway Backwards’: gender-bending benefit
It was fun last night to see a few dozen Broadway performers tackle songs they wouldn’t ordinarily have a chance to sing. “Broadway Backwards,” now in its ninth year, is a benefit for Broadway...
View ArticleWhatever happened to romantic comedies?
It’s pretty amazing how quickly the rom-com genre dried up after being so successful around the turn of the century. The careers of a whole slew of young actresses were built on the genre — Kate...
View ArticleAre people really upset by the sex in ‘Shondaland’?
Not to sound overly prurient, but I don’t understand how people can continue to express “shock” over the sex content of a 2014 network TV series like “How to Get Away with the Murder” four decades...
View Article‘Girls’: more highs than lows in third season
“Girls” has been compared with another HBO hit — “Sex and the City” — but the series didn’t have the same consistent high quality during its first two seasons. This varying tone is understandable due...
View Article‘Olive Kitteridge’: why women are abandoning movies
In all of the discussion of the under-representation of women in the recent Academy Award nominations, a lot of movie pundits overlooked the fact that some of the smartest women filmmakers and...
View Article‘Younger’: here’s hoping it gets better
The combination of ‘Sex and the City’ creator Darren Star and Sutton Foster sounds irresistible, but their new TV Land series needs work. The cable network has released the pilot episode of “Younger”...
View Article‘Silicon Valley’: unofficial sequel to ‘Office Space’
With a first season consisting of only eight half-hour episodes, the HBO series “Silicon Valley” feels like a longer-than-usual movie rather than a traditional TV sitcom. The creator, Mike Judge, made...
View ArticleSecond season of ‘Looking’ gets early digital release
HBO has been loosening up its rigid distribution and release patterns in recent months. What was originally a cable-only service was just made available for streaming via Apple devices with the new HBO...
View Article‘Hello Ladies’: abrasive but very funny
A 2013 HBO season series that never clicked, “Hello Ladies” has just been released on DVD by HBO Video. The big comedy hits on HBO tend to feature characters you might want to spend time with in real...
View Article‘The Newsroom’ ends on a high
I’ve run into lots of people who loved the Aaron Sorkin HBO series “The Newsroom,” but it never got the media love necessary for it to turn into one of those “hot” cable shows like “Girls” or...
View Article‘Sexplosion’: testing artistic limits in the ’60s
HarperCollins’ !t Books division published Robert Hofler’s “Sexplosion” to less press attention than it deserved. The book is an illuminating and entertaining look back at when publishing, movies and...
View Article1971 flashback: when kiddie flicks didn’t rule summer
When, thanks to Netflix, I re-watched the bitter relationship comedy “Carnal Knowledge,” I was struck by how relevant the Mike Nichols-Jules Feiffer film still is more than 40 years after its release....
View Article‘Brooklyn Street Style’: ‘outer borough’ no more
Abrams Image has followed up its snazzy street style guides to Berlin and Paris with a much closer-to-home title, “Brooklyn Street Style.” Co-authored by cultural reporter Anya Sacharow and travel...
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