TV Reviews

Season 2 of HBO's Big Little Lies finds the so-called Monterey Five (Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern) dealing with the emotional aftermath of the killing that concluded Season 1.

Arts

With 1 Huge Lie Revealed, 'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Takes A Slow-Burn Strategy

1:36pm June 06, 2019

by John Powers

Meryl Streep joins the Big Little Lies cast as the mother of the man killed at the end of Season 1 — complicating things for the Monterey Five, who are still processing the aftermath of the death.

In the first episode of Black Mirror Season 5, Anthony Mackie (left) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II play two estranged college friends who reunite later in life over a virtual reality video game.

Originality And Uncertainty Still Reign As 'Black Mirror' Enters Its 5th Season

3:21pm June 05, 2019

by David Bianculli

The anthology series returns to Netflix with three thought-provoking new installments that help solidify the show's hold on the fantasy anthology series crown.

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Asante Blackk plays young Kevin Richardson, one of the boys imprisoned for years only to be released when another man finally confessed.

Arts

Horrors And Humanity In Ava DuVernay's Gripping 'When They See Us'

5:01am June 01, 2019

by Eric Deggans

Ava DuVernay's powerful Netflix series shows a system that frequently fails men of color — and the costs of that system to a famous group of boys who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Foul-mouthed brothel owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) is back in HBO's Deadwood: The Movie.

Arts

13 Years Later, 'Deadwood' Goes Out Just As Brilliantly As It Came In

6:49pm May 31, 2019

by David Bianculli

David Milch, creator of HBO's Deadwood: The Movie, never strikes a false note upon his return to the lawless 19th century mining town at the center of his earlier series.

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Randall Park and Ali Wong star in Netflix's Always Be My Maybe.

Arts

Love Finds Ali Wong And Randall Park In 'Always Be My Maybe'

9:46am May 31, 2019

by Linda Holmes

Randall Park and Ali Wong star in a Netflix romantic comedy about two young friends who grow up and grow apart, only to find each other again as adults. Also, there's Keanu Reeves.

'Deadwood' TV Movie Offers A Fitting Conclusion After The Series Was Canceled

4:59pm May 30, 2019

by Eric Deggans

Almost 13 years after its finale, HBO's Deadwood is back as a TV movie. Created by David Milch, the foul-mouthed characters inhabit an illegal mining camp in the Dakotas where their dramas unfold.

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Dancing on the Escalator of Life (on the head of pin): The demon Crowley (David Tennant) and the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) conspire to stave off the end of the world in Good Omens.

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Arts

'Good Omens' Serves Up A Cozy, Strangely Heartwarming Apocalypse

4:11pm May 30, 2019

by Glen Weldon

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's 1990 novel about an angel and demon striving to prevent the end of the world becomes a charming, very British series that turns the apocalypse into a spot of bother.

Renee Zellweger plays the rich venture capitalist Anne Montgomery in the Netflix series What/If.

Arts

'What/If' You Were In Just The Right Mood For Some Good Bad Television?

7:00am May 25, 2019

by Linda Holmes

Netflix's ridiculous and over-the-top What/If features Renee Zellweger as a dangerous rich woman with terrible secrets. It's a little bit terrible and a little bit perfect.

Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei starred as Archie and Edith Bunker in ABC's re-creation of All in the Family and The Jeffersons, a live event staged in front of a studio audience and broadcast in TV's prime time.

Arts

'All In The Family' And 'The Jeffersons' Revival Delivers Nostalgia — For What?

5:58pm May 23, 2019

by Eric Deggans

ABC's two-hour live special re-created classic episodes of celebrated sitcoms with famous actors — and original creator Norman Lear. TV critic Eric Deggans found it both triumphant and bittersweet.

Are Fans Satisfied With The 'Game Of Thrones' Series Finale?

6:29pm May 20, 2019

by Glen Weldon

Game of Thrones is over, but dark shadows loom on the horizon just beyond the smoldering landscape. The spinoffs are coming.

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