19. Veep Viewers had high expectations for this comedy from the mind of Armando Iannucci, creator of The Thick of It, and set in the dysfunctional offices of the Vice President of the United States and, happily, Veep delivered. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was fantastic as the VP, Selina Meyer, bringing out different elements in Iannucci’s comedy …
It’s been such a deathly slow year at the movies so far that attempting to list ten great TV series is far easier than naming ten great films. With the premieres of TV’s two best shows, Breaking Bad (July 15, AMC) and Louie (tonight, FX), imminent, it seemed as good a time as any to …
Luck, Season 1 , Episode 9 Written by Eric Roth Directed by Mimi Leder Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO “Today’s the day they take it all away from us.” If you were looking for doomy portent to tie in with the fact that this is now in all likelihood the last episode of …
Luck, Season 1, Episode 8 Written by John R. Perrotta and Jay Hovdey Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO This week, Mike had Nathan Israel cut up into little pieces, wrapped in plastic, and thrown overboard, never to be seen again. A similar fate befell Luck itself in the same …
Luck, Season 1, Episode 7 Written by Amanda Ferguson Directed by Brian Kirk Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO “Syntax!” In David Milch-land, words and language are king. They have power, but that power can be tragically misapplied. That’s a lesson poor Nathan Israel learns too late in “Episode Seven”‘s most memorable sequence, in …
Luck, Season 1, Episode 6 Written by Robin Shushan Directed by Henry Bronchtein Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO In Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, an act of God ripped straight from the Old Testament seems to tear uncannily from the sky and set right the paths of a dozen or so misdirected souls, defying …
Luck, Season 1, Episode 5 Written by Scott Willson Directed by Brian Kirk Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO For a show initially mostly noted for its denseness and incomprehensibility, Luck seems awfully human in “Episode Five.” Possibly the least racing-intensive outing yet, this week principally works towards getting us better acquainted with a …
Luck, Season One, Episode Four Written by Jay Hovdey Directed by Phillip Noyce Airs Sundays at 10pm EST on HBO Several of the small legion of critics who have access to Luck‘s entire first season have been claiming for weeks that it’s in this fourth installment that the show really kicks it up a notch …
Luck, Season One, Episode Three Written by Bill Barich Directed by Allen Coulter Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO First, a word about the controversy surrounding the show that arose this week. For the uninitiated, it came out that two horses perished over the course of the filming of the show’s first season; as …
Luck, Season One, Episode Two Written by John R. Perrotta Directed by Terry George Airs Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO “The Ace is back in place.” To Luck‘s credit, it goes to great lengths to put all of its players on an even keel in terms of representation on the screen; that means the …
Luck, Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot” Written by David Milch Directed by Michael Mann Airs Sundays on HBO More than most series – and even more than most HBO series – Luck is facing down a hell of a set of expectations. For the first time since the disastrously-received (but, in some corners, quietly revered) …