The Sky is Everywhere is a study in grief from director Josephine Decker. When a teenage girl’s older sister dies it throws her into a crazy spiral of grieving. Also explored are other family members and the dead girl’s boyfriend’s ways of grieving. It’s a heavy topic but it’s treated with fantasy and magical realism.
Continue Reading: Review: The Sky is EverywhereTag: Cherry Jones
Review: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The Eyes of Tammy Faye paints a portrait of the human person with strengths and weaknesses in Tammy Faye Bakker. With the help of some prosthetics and padding, star Jessica Chastain proved once again that she is capable of convincing an audience of anything.
Continue Reading: Review: The Eyes of Tammy FayeReview: Transparent: Musicale Finale
Transparent: Musicale Finale takes a grieving Pfefferman family on a journey toward healing with music, Jewish traditions, and some truly bizarre turns of fantasy.
Continue Reading: Review: Transparent: Musicale FinaleReview: The Party
The Party brings a dysfunctional collection of people who know each other’s secrets into the same room. It’s a wild and wonderful thing to watch.
Continue Reading: Review: The PartyReview: Wine Country
Wine Country is hilarious and heartfelt. Six old friends go to Napa for a 50th birthday celebration and things happen that set off memories, old resentments, new worries, and cement friendships.
Continue Reading: Review: Wine CountryReview: The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2
I’ll say it right off the mark: I didn’t think season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale was as strong as season 1. I’m not sure I can pinpoint why, but I’ll offer several theories as to why anyway. You can join in with a comment if you think you have a better sense of why. This review is fairly spoiler free.Continue Reading: Review: The Handmaid’s Tale, season 2
Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a 2016 Tina Fey starrer about a journalist in Afghanistan. It is based on a book by Kim Barker, “The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” The premise should guarantee an interesting journey into an unknown land. In some ways it fulfills that promise, it some ways it does not.Continue Reading: Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Review: Transparent Season 3
Transparent season 3 dives deeper in the the hearts of the Pfefferman clan than we have gone before with this series. After much thrashing about, some of these unhappy and broken people are starting to get a grip. Just barely. There are some season 3 spoilers ahead. Continue Reading: Review: Transparent Season 3
Transparent and Epigenetics
Ali Pfefferman’s (Gaby Hoffmann) discovery of epigenetics in season 2 of Transparent hooked me. In fact, I thought the idea that stress and trauma from generations before yours could be passed through the generations was the most interesting thing in season 2 of Transparent. It certainly would do a lot to explain why the Pfefferman clan are such a bunch of dysfunctional, self-centered, commitment-phobic assholes.
Assholes we love, of course.Continue Reading: Transparent and Epigenetics
Watch This: Teaser for Season 2 of Transparent
“Did he call me sir?”
Yes, it’s almost time for Transparent season 2 on Amazon.
Amazon released a tiny clip to let you know that the characters you learned to love in season 1, are going to remain true to themselves. It’s a bit hard to tell in all the confusion, but it looks like Sarah (Amy Landecker) and Tammy (Melora Hardin) are the ones getting married.
Maura (Jeffrey Tambor), of course, is concerned about looking her best. Josh (Jay Duplass) brought his girl, the rabbi (Kathryn Hahn), and his newly discovered son to the wedding. Ali (Gaby Hoffmann) seems to be alone. We don’t see Syd (Carrie Brownstein) in this clip, but Ali and Syd are scheduled for a romance in season 2.
Based on the expression on Judith Light’s face in this very brief teaser, I’d say she is going to continue killing it as Shelly Pfefferman in season 2. New guest stars for season 2 include Cherry Jones, Anjelica Huston and Tig Notaro. Returning guest stars include Bradley Whitford and Alexandra Billings, among many others.
The series creator Jill Soloway described the new season by saying, “Season two is wild! Now that the bubble wrap is off, it’s time for the whole family to transition.”
And pronouns are still at issue. We live in a time when your choice of pronoun is a symbol of your enlightenment.
“We’re done here.”