Category Archives: Previews

15
Aug

Too Early for This: Oscar Picks – 15 Aug 2017

BEST PICTURE Detroit Downsizing Dunkirk Goodbye, Christopher Robin The Greatest Showman Last Flag Flying Murder on the Orient Express The Papers Phantom Thread Wonderstruck The skinny: We always start with 10, because nobody knows anything at this point. The only … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Previews | Tagged beguiled, big sick, call me by your name, coco, despicable me 3, detroit, downsizing, dunkirk, goodbye christopher robin, greatest showman, last flag flying, lego batman, lego ninjago, loving vincent, marshall, mary magdalene, molly's game, mother, murder on the orient express, papers, phantom thread, roman israel esq, shape of water, three billboards outside ebbing missouri, wonderstruck | Leave a comment

1
Aug

Netflix Picks: August 2017

I inadvertently skipped July because your brain forgets things when you move across the country. So here are the picks for August, which is surprisingly lean. BEST BET – FILM Cloud Atlas – 8/1 Though its cult is very enthusiastic, … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged atypical, brad paisley, cloud atlas, defenders, disjointed, dragons, glitter force doki doki, good place, hollywood masters, home, icarus, lynne koplitz, maz jobrani, murderous affair, my little pony, naked, once upon a time, royal house of windsor, ryan hamilton, surviving escobar, true and the rainbow kingdom, voltron, wet hot american summer, what happened to monday, white gold | Leave a comment

1
Jun

Netflix Picks: June 2017

BEST BET – FILM Okja – 6/28 God bless Netflix. No, really. Who else would bankroll an environmental satire/kid-creature buddy movie from Bong Joon Ho? While booed at Cannes – mostly for its “They’re killing the theatrical experience!” B.S. – … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged agents of shield, aquarius, baby daddy, chris d'elia, comedy bang bang, counterpunch, el chapo, flaked, free rein, glow, grey's anatomy, gypsy, inspector gadget, intersection, little witch academia, lucid dream, marco luque, my only love song, netflix, nobody speak, off camera, oh hello, okja, orange is the new black, quantico, ranch, rory scovel, scandal, shimmer lake, shooter, turn, west coast customs, world of winx, you get me, young and hungry | Leave a comment

1
May

Netflix Picks: May 2017

BEST BET – FILM War Machine – 5/26 Netflix’s biggest acquisition to date: A $60 million satire about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan starring Brad Pitt from the director of Animal Kingdom. It’s going to be really tricky to pull off, … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged all hail king julien, anne with an e, blame, bloodline, bunk'd, chelsea, f is for family, fosters, get me roger stone, handsome, hasan minhaj, house of cards, in the shadow of iris, joshua, kazoops, keepers, laerte-se, last kingdom, maria bamford, mars generation, master of none, mindhorn, norm macdonald, riverdale, roger stone, royal pains, sahara, sarah silverman, sense8, sherlock, simplemente manu nna, spirit, switched at birth, tracy morgan, unbreakable kimmy schmidt, under arrest, war machine | Leave a comment

28
Apr

The Optimist’s Summer Movie Preview 2017

The real world has given us plenty of reasons to be cynical, so I’m going to try to keep that from creeping into my take on the summer movies we’re getting. As always, it’s dominated by sequels and comic book … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Previews | Tagged alien, atomic blonde, baby driver, big sick, dark tower, detroit, dunkirk, guardians of the galaxy, planet of the apes, spiderman, valerian | Leave a comment

1
Apr

Netflix Picks: April 2017

BEST BET – FILM Win It All (2017) – 4/7 Small Crimes (2017) – 4/28 I missed both of these when I was down in Austin for SXSW, but I love that Netflix is funding and finding homes for indie … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged 101 year old man, bill nye, bill nye saves the world, casting jonbenet, chelsea, chewing gum, dawn of the croods, dear white people, documentary now, el faro de las orcas, get down, girlboss, good witch, great british baking show, hot girls wanted, las chicas del cable, legends of tomorrow, liv and maddie, louis ck, lucas brothers, mr peabody and sherman, mst3k, mystery science theater 3000, netflix, real rescues, rodney king, sand castle, sandy wexler, slam, small crimes, sofia the first, tales by light, tramps, vir das, win it all, wynonna earp | Leave a comment

1
Mar

Netflix Picks: March 2017

BEST BET – FILM Who Framed Roger Rabbit – 3/24 One of the most inventive films of the 1980s and a treasured classic from my youth that still holds up. BEST BET – TV Five Came Back – 3/31 Mark … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged 13 reasons why, amy schumer, angry birds, archer, beau sejour, better call saul, bordertown, bottersnikes and gumbles, buddy thunderstruck, burning sands, carmichael show, cooper barrett, deidra and laney rob a train, dinotrux, dirt every day, discovery, el reemplazante, epic drives, felipe neto, five came back, grace and frankie, greenleaf, head 2 head, hot rod unlimited, how to get away with murder, ignition, ingobernable, iron fist, jim norton, jo koy, julie's greenroom, kate and mim mim, life in pieces, love, most hated woman in america, netflix, one more time, pandora, roadkill, samurai gourmet, señora acero, trailer park boys, vampire diaries, who framed roger rabbit | Leave a comment

24
Feb

Oscar Guide 2017

BEST PICTURE Arrival Fences Hacksaw Ridge Hell or High Water Hidden Figures La La Land Lion Manchester by the Sea Moonlight Will win: La La Land Could win: Hidden Figures Should win: Moonlight Should have been here: Silence The skinny: … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Previews | Tagged 13 hours, 13th, allied, arrival, captain fantastic, deepwater horizon, doctor strange, elle, fantastic beasts and where to find them, fences, fire at sea, florence foster jenkins, hacksaw ridge, hail caesar, hell or high water, hidden figures, i am not your negro, jackie, jim, jungle book, kubo and the two strings, la la land, land of mine, life animated, lion, loving, man called ove, manchester by the sea, moana, moonlight, my life as a zucchini, netflix, nocturnal animals, oj simpson, passengers, red turtle, rogue one, salesman, star trek beyond, suicide squad, sully, toni erdmann, trolls, wanna, zootopia | Leave a comment

1
Feb

Netflix Picks: February 2017

BEST BET – FILM Brazilian Western – 2/27 A festival favorite that could have easily been lost to time, this is great – if bleak – revenge thriller that ignites the screen. BEST BET – TV American Crime Story: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Previews, Television | Tagged brazilian western, chef's table, crazy ex-girlfriend, daniel sosa, david brent, dragons, frequency, girl meets world, girlfriend's day, i don't feel at home in this world anymore, katherin ryan, legend quest, michael bolton, mike birbiglia, office, oj simpson, project mc2, santa clarita diet, seven deadly sins, stronger than the world, ultimate beastmaster, veggietales, when calls the heart | Leave a comment

20
Jan

Final Oscar Picks 2017

Just like 2016 was a year of unease, I am not very uneasy about these picks. Several of these picks haven’t picked up the precursor nods that would typically foretell a sure-fire Oscar nomination. This is likely to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Previews | Tagged 20th century women, arrival, cameraperson, captain america, captain fantastic, civil war, deepwater horizon, doctor strange, dressmaker, elle, fences, finding dory, fire at sea, florence foster jenkins, hacksaw ridge, hell or high water, hidden figures, i am not your negro, jackie, jungle book, kubo and the two strings, la la land, land of mine, lion, lobster, man called ove, manchester by the sea, moana, moonlight, my life as a zucchini, nocturnal animals, oj simpson, paradise, rogue one, salesman, silence, sing street, star trek, star trek beyond, star wars, toni erdmann, weiner, zootopia | Leave a comment