The series is an uneasy, sometimes nauseating, and often fascinating examination of our current moment.
It suggests a human-interest story where all the humanity has been gutted in favor of deadening narrative efficiency.
The film demonstrates the fatal proximity and deceptive distance that can exist between the words and deeds of extremists.
The surfeit of subplots might be seen as a series of speed bumps or potholes, slowing a ferociously entertaining two-hander at every turn.
Bates Motel suggests what Gilmore Girls would’ve been like if it arbitrarily featured a tormented young Charles Manson.
Easily the most “stylish” episode of the season, what with its longish takes and lowish angles, this Richard mythology is also not too great a reveal.
Lost recognizes culture, particularly pop culture, as the primary means for understanding the world today.
Lost is a show fairly obsessed by notions of duality.
The episode plays less like an individual segment of the show and more like a long prelude to the two-hour finale.
The more we get to know the people who are behind the scenes on Lost, the more we realize just how much our point-of-view characters are looking in on a battle they will never really understand.
Father issues are to the Lost flashback what cancer is to a diagnosis on House.
What is the formula that drives most TV series but a pleasant form of inevitability.
Let us now sing the praises of Josh Holloway and Elizabeth Mitchell.
In so many ways, this latest episode is Lost at its best.
The actors bring authenticity to what is otherwise a hysterical, Dynasty-style vision of Cuban-American experience.
Like the show’s viewers, Locke is justified in his cynicism, even after bearing witness to a seemingly paranormal event.
Lost’s viewership is more savvy than most.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the ad-hoc approach to long-form storytelling.
Smokin’ Aces is a handsome and entertaining 108 minutes, but it’s not a good movie, and it’s difficult to get at why.
This multi-character crime saga is even less appealing than watching televised poker.