He has more or less joined a mediocre Arnold Schwarzenegger cover band that can’t quite stay on key, but it’s hard not to occasionally smile at seeing him still trying to play the hits at his age.

Secrets of the Mogwai has a human touch, and a sense of humor and adventure that spans generations. It doesn’t rewrite any books, but it’s better than an animated prequel series to a 39-year-old live-action movie has any reason to be.

While it’s tempting to say that everything you’ve heard about it is true, that may be soft-selling how skin-crawling the experience of actually watching this satire (?) on the seven circles of showbiz hell is. The double-dose the festival screened felt nasty, brutish, much longer than it is, and way, way worse than you’d have anticipated.

The plotting overall is a bit shaggier, and I had to pay frequent visits to my friend Google to remind myself of events and relationships from seasons past. (Say, that investigative reporter Richard, played by Derek Riddell, is Catherine’s ex-husband and Ryan’s grandfather.) But the work by Lancashire and Norton brings everything into focus despite the long gap. And the final scene they share, along with its immediate aftermath, is everything you would want it to be.

American Born Chinese doesn't always find the right balance between its regular and extraordinary elements, but it sure is a blast to watch it try. [May 2023, p.76]

Exceedingly likable new family comedy.

A sharp yet warm-hearted new series.

It’s not hard to see what he’s aiming for, even if the results are mixed. The series seems at its most vibrant while following the rookies through Quantico.

The issues of race and inheritance only bog the series down with every mention — giving few answers and leaving in their wake massive questions about Bridgerton’s world. With only six episodes, there’s still plenty of glitz and glam that longtime Bridgerton fans will cling to. But by centering serious issues without handling any of them deftly, Queen Charlotte’s final result paints a pretty picture, just not one you want to look at for too long.

What follows is wildly uneven and at times downright annoying, but it’s also a lot more ambitious and interesting than I was expecting, to the point where I’m curious which creative direction a second season might lean.

It’s a sad, sordid story, told here with the kinds of reality-TV tropes – on-camera apologies, tearful reunions – designed for maximum emotional impact. But the series, directed by Esther Reyes, also suggests there’s plenty of fire to go with the smoke, even if the two components don’t always connect and it remains to be seen what the end result might eventually be.

Gentle Art manages to be frank and funny with its clutterers without stooping into condescension. And the show has some great characters with which to work.

It’s not without funny moments, nor without interesting performances — even though leads Woody Harrelson, Justin Theroux, and Lena Headey all seem to be acting in different projects from one another — but on the whole feels like a long joke where the punchline gets repeated again and again.

It’s back for a second season, with much of its charm intact. The uninitiated might want to hit a recap before jumping in, but otherwise Sweet Tooth remains quite welcoming, the kind of thing you might watch with your adolescent (provided you’re up for talking a little global pandemic and eugenics).

Unfortunately, Citadel falls far, far short of transcendence, or even goodness. It is bland, generic, and almost shockingly cheap-looking, given the price tag.

The show seems most alive in dealing with Candy and Allan’s affair, as if the killing is the thing that got a greenlight, but not something worth exploring in great depth. Whether you know the story from previous articles and dramatizations, or it’s brand-new to you, Love & Death never really justifies why all these talented people have come together to re-create this particular crime.

A wonderfully candid Netflix stand-up special.

The Diplomat knows what it is (even if it’s a bit more ambitious thematically, and has a stronger overall cast than many of its guy-centric counterparts) and how to deliver the best possible version of that.

Watching its seemingly mismatched pieces strain to fit together is more appealing in many ways than watching other current series go about their business in more coherent and consistent fashion. ... There is something that feels right and on-topic for this one to be so sprawling and messy and unsure of itself. ... It manages to hit you in the feelings.

Murphy, with dark, piercing eyes, a messy bob, and a perpetually forming pout, is the star of the show, and Her performance is one reason why Obsession, adapted by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and Benji Walters from Josephine Hart’s 1991 novel Damage, is more than mere sordid spectacle. She brings high intensity, as does Armitage. ... Obsession pays admirable attention to craft, and this makes it a lot easier to take the whole thing seriously. It’s far more cinematic than it needs to be.

If Season Three proved there was more life in the concept than it appeared at first, Barry is still not a series built to run forever. Credit to Hader and Berg for recognizing this, and for making a final run of episodes(*) that feels true to the spirit and ideas that have typified Barry at its best.

Transatlantic is an effective, crowd-pleasing thriller. It moves briskly, lays out the story and stakes cleanly, and has three strong and likable lead performances.

On the whole, far more of it continues to work than doesn’t.

Through interviews with all parties and never-before-seen footage, he wants to explore the facts, through all the fog of war and vehement disagreement. And he succeeds more often than not.

Significant choices are made, by both the characters and the creative team, that cannot be taken back. It is full steam ahead to the end. Much of what happens is shocking and/or shockingly poignant, especially since it is a show about the absolute worst human beings alive. The one aspect that remains unsurprising is how incredibly funny the show is. ... Armstrong and company also continue to demonstrate a marvelously deft balance between the yuks and the tragedy of it all. ... It’s doing absolutely everything it wants to in the here and now.

Mei Li and Renaux truly give their all, imbuing Alina and Mal’s relationship with the right amount of earnest pining and steaminess. But the show still falls back on YA tropes, failing to ramp up the sexiness in the right way. ... Shadow and Bone accidentally lets The Crows snatch the spotlight, making every moment they’re off the screen — and there are a lot of them — annoying. ... Shadow and Bone isn’t great. But you can’t call it boring.

There are fascinating, even thrilling, aspects of Swarm, first and foremost a fantastic lead performance by Dominique Fishback (The Deuce). But the show never quite hangs together, creating a whole that’s substantially less than the individual parts.

Sin Eater is a case study in how to build a better true crime doc. It’s exciting, and it’s disturbing. But it’s also thrillingly journalistic, and it doesn’t take the audience’s intelligence for granted.