Category: TV Review

Diana Vacc Sees OUTLANDER Episode 5 “Untimely Resurrection”

outlander-season-2by Diana Vaccarelli

This episode of Outlander entitled “Untimely Resurrection” finds Jamie and Claire at odds as the past comes back to haunt them. If you haven’t viewed this episode yet be warned this review may contain spoilers.

THE GOOD:

  • The writing of this episode was the best this show has achieved to date. Richard Kahan writes an episode so full of tension that I didn’t just see and hear it, I felt it in my bones. The dialogue this time around is fantastic and gives the actors so much to play with. The way Kahan wrote the return of the Villain – Black Jack Randall – made it the best scene of the show. Everything about it was perfect.
  • The Acting was topnotch. Caitriona Balfe, who portrays our heroine Claire, demonstrates a true conflict of the heart. She gives everything to her performance in this episode, and I felt her inner turmoil as my own. Sam Heughan, as Jamie, truly owns this episode with his performance. The anger, satisfaction, and, yes, happiness of the character is tangible in every scene. And, as Black Jack, Tobias Menzies is so evil that the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

THE BAD: read article

LB: TV Series I’ve Given Up On This Year

"Terrifyingly fascinating" Uncle Miltie plays with Lucy & Desi
“Terrifyingly engaging” Uncle Miltie plays with Lucy & Desi

by Larry Brody

I love TV.

I’ve loved it since the first moment I watched it, way back in 1948.

The show that captured me then was The Texaco Star Theater, starring – and all about, in every possible way – Milton Berle. To my pre-school self, Uncle Miltie was terrifyingly engaging. I couldn’t stop watching…until I discovered The Howdy Doody Show, starring Bob Smith and the puppet called “Howdy,” both of whom were engaging as hell, without the terrifying bits. read article

John Ostrander: They Grow Up So Fast

H'wood's version of Mr. Ostrander's Amanda Waller of SUICIDE SQUAD
H’wood’s version of Mr. Ostrander’s Amanda Waller of SUICIDE SQUAD

by John Ostrander

I’ve been watching DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow over on the CW. Among the characters that have been appearing on the show are Firestorm and Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Well, not so much Hawkman any more, maybe. I didn’t create those three characters but I certainly played with them a lot and, for a while, left my sticky fingerprints all over them. So it’s interesting watching manifestations of them in other media.

I’ll be experiencing that big time come August when the Suicide Squad movie hits the multiplexes. I created Amanda Waller and I defined characters like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang and it will be exciting to see how they translate for the screen. I hope.

None of the character portrayals will translate directly from the comics to movies or TV. I’m okay with that; none of them have so far. Different media have different needs. That’s why they’re called adaptations. The material is adapted from whatever the source was. My only question about any given adaptation is – how true is it to its roots? Did they get the essence of the character or the concept right? If you’re going to do Captain XYZ Man, there should be a resemblance to what makes up Captain XYZ Man. Right? read article

Diana Vacc Sees Outlander Season 2 Premier

by Diana Vaccarelli

hbt1Everyone that knows me knows that I’m obsessed with Outlander. And right now my obsessed self is so glad that what Outlander fans call “Droughtlander” is over.

While reading the second book of Diana Gabaldon’s series I had reservations about whether its complexities could be adapted to television.

If you are not familiar with the story, know that it follows WWII Combat Nurse Claire Randall, who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1700’s Scotland where she is immediately in danger. She is forced to wed Scottish Warrior Jamie Fraser and a passionate relationship ignites. read article

‘Empire’ Has Always Known What TV Is Just Figuring Out

The secret is out!

And we are sooo glad:

empire-wowBlack Culture is Mainstream Culture
by Lara Zarum

Empire co-creator Danny Strong has likened his show to Game of Thrones, remarking that the two hour-long dramas are both centered on “kingdoms at war.” The comparison feels particularly apt considering the colossal viewership of both series: Game of Thrones has famously become TV’s most pirated show, and HBO’s most-watched ever, while last year Empire knocked The Big Bang Theory off its throne to become broadcast television’s #1 rated series.
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