Alci Rengifo
‘Game of Thrones’ Ends a Historic Run With a Disappointing Curtain Call
Features • Published on May 2019
Eight seasons of historic television on the grandest scale imaginable finally comes to an end with more of a whisper than a roar. Maybe it was just too much and HBO’s “…
‘Catch-22’ Evokes the Horror of War With Somber Satire
Features • Published on May 2019
Hulu’s “Catch-22” sets itself on the challenging mission of adapting one of the great American satires of the 20th century. Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel…
‘Better Things’ Season 3 Is Pamela Adlon’s Strongest Delivery yet
Features • Published on May 2019
“Better Things” ends its third season on a rather quiet note, binding some characters closer together and leaving the fate of others up in the air. This season…
Teenagers Find Love Under the Threat of Deportation in ‘The Sun Is Also a Star’
Features • Published on May 2019
The immigrant experience gets the young adult romantic treatment in “The Sun Is Also a Star.” In the spirit of the title, this is the kind of film…
‘John Wick: Chapter 3’ Shoots and Kills With Pure Exhilaration
Features • Published on May 2019
The best way to enjoy “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” is as an experience of exhilarating aesthetic pleasure. It’s all about the style. It continues the ridiculously…
‘Veep’ Goes for Broke in Election Season Series Finale
Features • Published on May 2019
Hilariously vicious and brilliantly sober about how the political game is played, HBO’s “Veep” ends its run with a grand electoral finale episode. Season seven has been about…
‘Sneaky Pete’ Season 3 Grapples With the Fallout of Deceit
Features • Published on May 2019
The con is nearly up in season three of Amazon’s “Sneaky Pete.” Since its beginning the suspense of this show has relied on the main character’s shattering secret,…
‘The Biggest Little Farm’ Documents One Couple’s Journey to Farm in Harmony With Nature
Features • Published on May 2019
All it took was their beloved pet dog to inspire documentarian John Chester and wife Molly to leave the concrete jungle of Los Angeles for its surrounding farmlands.
‘Pokémon Detective Pikachu’ Brings Back the Franchise for a Lively Romp
Features • Published on May 2019
“Pokémon Detective Pikachu” is a total nostalgia job. Those who remember the Pokémon phenomenon from the dawn of the millennium will cheer the return of recognizable characters in…
The Devil Faces Matters of the Heart in Season 4 of ‘Lucifer’
Features • Published on May 2019
Even the Devil has to come clean in the new season of “Lucifer.” Originally a Fox production, this wickedly creative series has found a new home with Netflix.
HBO’s ‘Chernobyl’ Intensely Chronicles History’s Worst Nuclear Disaster
Features • Published on May 2019
HBO’s new miniseries “Chernobyl” chronicles a real life apocalypse. Early in the morning on April 26, 1986 a nuclear power station in the Soviet Union exploded, emitting deadly…
Netflix’s ‘Dead to Me’ Brilliantly Finds Sharp Humor in the Process of Grieving
Features • Published on May 2019
The new Netflix dramedy “Dead to Me” pulls off the difficult feat of tackling the issue of death and mourning with intelligence and pathos. In the average television…
Murder Derails Hopes for Peace in Final Season of ‘iZombie’
Features • Published on May 2019
“iZombie” on the CW remains a fresh tonic against the usual walking dead fare on television, even as it enters its fifth and final season. Fans have been…
‘The Intruder’ Messes With Domestic Bliss Using B-Movie Clichés
Features • Published on May 2019
“The Intruder” joins the ongoing trend in genre movies of pitting a young city couple against a menacing, rural threat. There seems to be some kind of social…
Zac Efron Channels Serial Killer Ted Bundy in ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’
Features • Published on May 2019
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” stands back and observes with confused tension how people gravitate around demented charisma. When we hear about serial killers or the current…
‘El Chicano’ Stars Raul Castillo and George Lopez on Breaking Ground With the First Latinx Superhero
Features • Published on May 2019
“El Chicano” is both a throwback and a sign of progress. It gives us a genuine, big screen Latinx superhero while basking in a classic midnight movie style.
‘American Gods’ Season 2 Ends With the World In Panic
Features • Published on April 2019
Fear defines the season two finale for “American Gods.” The new deities have figured out a way to try and defeat the old ones by instilling terror in…
Wars for Oil and Personal Vendettas Grow More Intense in Season 2 of ‘The Son’
Features • Published on April 2019
AMC’s “The Son” returns for a second and final season to remind us that men of industry have always been pretty ruthless. Powerful families also tend to have…
Marvel Reaches a Grand and Thrilling Milestone With ‘Avengers: Endgame’
Features • Published on April 2019
It has all come down to this. “Avengers: Endgame” makes the bold attempt of combining every element that has turned Marvel into the great movie franchise of our…
HBO’s ‘Gentleman Jack’ Dramatizes the True Story of Anne Lister, a 19th Century Lesbian Who Defied the Rules
Features • Published on April 2019
Defying gender norms and social codes, Anne Lister was quite ahead of her time while walking around 19th century England. HBO’s new series “Gentleman Jack…