Tony Sokol
‘Godfather of Harlem’ Claims New Territory in Season 2
Features • Published on April 2021
“Godfather of Harlem” season two is being tied with the “French Connection.” It is the title of this season’s first episode, a new business venture for Forest Whitaker’s Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson,…
‘Kung Fu’: The CW Puts Their Stamp on an Iconic Story
Features • Published on April 2021
The CW’s “Kung Fu” is a new show using an old title, rather than a reboot of an old classic. The original “Kung Fu” series, which aired from 1972 through 1975, is…
Maggie Brings Enemies Old and New as ‘The Walking Dead’ Takes a Detour Before the Final Season
Features • Published on February 2021
“Home Sweet Home,” the first episode of the extended 10th season of “The Walking Dead,” is what happens when you film around Covid delays. The pandemic bumped the original finale, “A Certain…
Hulu’s ‘No Man’s Land’ Barely Cracks the Glass Ceiling of the Syrian Revolution
Features • Published on November 2020
ISIS soldiers are afraid of women. The staunch hardliners of the Islamic caliphate are happy to die in battle because they’ve been promised paradise in the afterlife with 72 virgins for…
‘I Am Greta’ Offers an Intimate Look at Teenage Climate Activist Greta Thunberg
Features • Published on November 2020
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg goes out of her way not to leave a carbon footprint but she left a lasting impression from the first steps she took. The Hulu documentary…
Vince Vaughn Slashes Expectations in Blumhouse’s Body-Swap Horror-Comedy ‘Freaky’
Features • Published on November 2020
Blumhouse’s slasher comedy “Freaky” may be a more important and timely film than director Christopher Landon imagined.
‘The Liberator’ Is a Patriotic Look at an American Hero but Loses Sight of the Diverse Unit He Leads
Features • Published on November 2020
“War is hell,” is probably the only battle cliché not used in Netflix’s new miniseries, “The Liberator.” An ethnically disparate squad of courageous and…
On ‘Letter to You,’ Bruce Springsteen Revisits the Past to Find Inspiration
Album Reviews • Published on October 2020
Bruce Springsteen has been looking back for the past few years, whether in the form of writing his “Born to Run” memoir or reminiscing that he’s…
‘The Conners’ Season 3 Opens With Socially Distanced ‘Keep on Truckin’ Six Feet Apart’
Features • Published on October 2020
The Conner family continues to survive as it moves into a socially distanced season 3. None of the family have caught Covid, because they’ve apparently set up a fortress against the…
Netflix’s ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ Gives Up the Ghost to Bring a New Twist to an Old Love Story
Features • Published on October 2020
Precocious children are perfectly splendid in the world of subliminal horror. There is all that prepubescent curiosity which has yet to rage as hormones. Netflix’s “The…
Self-Aware A.I. Steals the Show as Fox’s ‘NeXt’ Plugs Into Real-Life Concerns
Features • Published on October 2020
“I’m sorry, Dave,” HAL said in Stanley Kubrick’s masterwork, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” “This conversation can serve no purpose anymore.” With the slamming of a pod door, HAL, just an alphabetical…
‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ Turns a Graphic Horror Story Into a Teen Series
Features • Published on October 2020
If “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” is indeed what follows an undead nation’s return to normalcy, we’ll stick with the zombies. This runs like…
‘The Walking Dead’ Season 10 Finale Sidesteps ‘A Certain Doom’ While Stumbling Into an Uncertain One
Features • Published on October 2020
It’s been quite a while since we were left at the tower waiting for the final episode of “The Walking Dead” season 10. In…
‘The Salisbury Poisonings’ Skips the Politics to Focus on the Everyday Players in a Detective Story
Features • Published on October 2020
“The Salisbury Poisonings” opens like a political “Andromeda Strain.” A beast from the east hit the west in 2018. The series dramatizes a real…
‘Gangs of London’ Carves New Territory for British Mobsters, Usually in Rivals’ Faces
Features • Published on October 2020
“Gangs of London” wastes no time in burning itself into distinction. The very first scene is a blazer. A poor nobody dangles, upside down,…
‘South Park: The Pandemic Special’ Skewers the National Response With a Comic Dystopian Present
Features • Published on September 2020
“South Park” opens season 24 with “The Pandemic Special.” Like the 1999 animated feature, “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut,” the series first hour long special opens with…
Jeff Daniels Brings Everything But Justice to Showtime’s ‘The Comey Rule’
Features • Published on September 2020
If you had vague trust issues with the presidency of Donald Trump before now watching “The Comey Rule” will confirm them. Of course, if…
Netflix’s ‘Kiss the Ground’ Says the Solution To Climate Change Is Under Our Feet
Features • Published on September 2020
Directed by Rebecca and Josh Tickell, Netflix’s “Kiss the Ground” is a dirty movie. It wants to arouse viewers to get into the mud,…
Dawn Porter Shows off Pete Souza’s Presidential Portfolio in ‘The Way I See It’
Features • Published on September 2020
To begin with, Pete Souza didn’t like the drapes. Deep reds look so much better in an oval office than ornate gold curtains. But Souza is a photographer not an interior decorator,…
‘All In: The Fight For Democracy’ Takes Aim at Voter Suppression Without Losing Sight of Solutions
Features • Published on September 2020
Stacey Abrams grew up with three parental directives: she had to go to school, she had to go to church, and she had to help a stranger in a significant way.