This week marks the return of Betty Francis, the wounded whale. Betty, struggling to lose weight, bookended last night’s episode with her strategic consumption. Weiner continued to poke at the plight of the Jews in 1966, and Don’s secret, shameful past is bubbling to the surface without any disturbing effects. There are only four episodes [...]

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A recap/review of The Killing: Off the Reservation (Season 2, Episode 8)

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A look at NBC’s Fall and Midseason Schedule

This article is filed under Television, The Fourth Wall.

As Ichabod Crane, as Willy Wonka, Ed Wood, the Mad Hatter, or Sweeney Todd, Depp’s persona is quirky and stiff, wide-eyed and full of suspicion/mischief/barely hidden insanity. The characters into whose skins he slips under Burton’s direction are all beginning to feel suspiciously familiar – and Barnabas Collins isn’t an exception.

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A recap/review of The Office: Family Free Portrait Studio (Season 8, Episode 24)

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Christopher Walken plays—as only Walken can—Frank White, a drug dealer whose release from prison sets the film and the violence in motion. It would be a stretch to say that White has returned from prison a changed man, but he has returned as a man with a mission.

This article is filed under 100 Greatest Gangster Films, Movies, The Fourth Wall.

So is House achieving emotional balance, just in time to lose his best (only) friend? Is leaving the only way for Chase to become his own man? Why is it so hard to watch them leave when they’ll be disappearing from our screens anyway?

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Can you believe we’re already two-thirds through season five? As Pete’s high school crush said a few episodes ago, “Time feels like it’s speeding up.” In last night’s “Lady Lazarus,” Mad Men‘s cast of characters was forced to visit some unappetizing truths. Pete Campbell developed an unfortunate obsession with a pretty, discontented housewife. Peggy snarked [...]

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A recap/review of The Killing: Keylela (Season 2, Episode 7)

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Sherlock sits humming at the intersection between our sulky obsession with the Victorians, our fascination with the idea that information is in the very air we’re breathing, and our fear that other people could use that information to harm us. There’s a lot to be beguiled by in this series.

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Not to compare actors to superheroes, but this cast could easily have exploded in our faces; like their characters, each of these actors is famous in his or her own right. Some are A-list while others hover just below, and it takes a persuasive genius (shall we call Whedon a Nick Fury of sorts?) to gather them and get them to fight for a common cause.

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Whatever you felt about the The Expendables, you are meant to feel ten times over about the sequel. That is about the most substantial analysis this trailer can stand.

This article is filed under Movies, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

A recap/review of The Office: Turf War (Season 8, Episode 23)

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Are they, in fact, in the darkest time line? Even though things haven’t worked out the way they would have wanted, this couldn’t be the darkest time line since they’re all together and somehow it feels like everything will be okay.

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Few filmgoers noticed Charley Varrick when it came out in 1973. After all, The Godfather, that ultimate game-changing gangster film, had been released a year earlier. So who was going to fuss over this nugget about a small-time bank robber fleeing with the mob’s money?

This article is filed under 100 Greatest Gangster Films, Movies, The Fourth Wall.