Since 2014, I've covered TV shows for pop-culture website denofgeek.com. I've written about series like Banshee (Cinemax), Dominion (SyFy), The 100 (CW), Lucifer (CBS), Hap and Leonard (SundanceTV), Preacher (AMC), The Walking Dead (AMC), and Fear The Walking Dead (AMC). Editorial content includes reviews, features, and news items.
Everything I've written to date for Den of Geek can be found here.
Everything I've written to date for Den of Geek can be found here.
TV REVIEW - Preacher Season 2 Episode 5: Dallas
While I enjoy cartoonish violence just as much as the next person, sometimes it’s good to indulge in some good character-driven drama. And in the case of this week’s Preacher, the drama isn’t just good in “Dallas,” it’s great. While a lot of credit goes to writer Philip Buiser and director Michael Morris, this episode is truly elevated by standout performances from Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, and Joseph Gilgun. They are the heart and soul of this show, even as their characters break hearts and damn souls.
Last season, we learned that partner-in-crime Carlos ruined Jesse and Tulip’s lives by abandoning them after a job gone bad. (And, if you’ll recall, the reason he turned on them in the first place was because he was jealous of their happiness.) Tulip eventually tracks him down and she and Jesse finally find closure and catharsis. So it’s interesting that Carlos pops up again this season in “Dallas,” albeit in spirit. Indeed, his very specter hangs over Tulip and Jesse three months after they’ve decided to go the straight and narrow. But as we find out, only one of them is truly trying to make a legitimate go at a legitimate life. Domestic tranquility isn’t Tulip’s strong suit. It isn’t Jesse’s, either, but he’s too stuck in a rut to see the pain behind Tulip’s empty stares. We know they eventually wind up together again, but that doesn’t mitigate how painful it is to see them come undone. It’s a break-up by degrees, a slow-motion implosion caused by the mundanity of everyday life. It feels voyeuristic, too, this intimate look at their lack of intimacy. Their relationship is over—they just don’t know it yet. Until then, there’s all manner of loss and betrayal and grief to wade through, one stinging rebuke and emptied bottle of beer at a time.
You can read the full review here on denofgeek.com.
While I enjoy cartoonish violence just as much as the next person, sometimes it’s good to indulge in some good character-driven drama. And in the case of this week’s Preacher, the drama isn’t just good in “Dallas,” it’s great. While a lot of credit goes to writer Philip Buiser and director Michael Morris, this episode is truly elevated by standout performances from Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, and Joseph Gilgun. They are the heart and soul of this show, even as their characters break hearts and damn souls.
Last season, we learned that partner-in-crime Carlos ruined Jesse and Tulip’s lives by abandoning them after a job gone bad. (And, if you’ll recall, the reason he turned on them in the first place was because he was jealous of their happiness.) Tulip eventually tracks him down and she and Jesse finally find closure and catharsis. So it’s interesting that Carlos pops up again this season in “Dallas,” albeit in spirit. Indeed, his very specter hangs over Tulip and Jesse three months after they’ve decided to go the straight and narrow. But as we find out, only one of them is truly trying to make a legitimate go at a legitimate life. Domestic tranquility isn’t Tulip’s strong suit. It isn’t Jesse’s, either, but he’s too stuck in a rut to see the pain behind Tulip’s empty stares. We know they eventually wind up together again, but that doesn’t mitigate how painful it is to see them come undone. It’s a break-up by degrees, a slow-motion implosion caused by the mundanity of everyday life. It feels voyeuristic, too, this intimate look at their lack of intimacy. Their relationship is over—they just don’t know it yet. Until then, there’s all manner of loss and betrayal and grief to wade through, one stinging rebuke and emptied bottle of beer at a time.
You can read the full review here on denofgeek.com.
FEATURE - The Goonies and the 30-Year Quest for a Sequel
Hollywood has long been a serpent eating its own tail – nothing is sacred when big box office weekends are at stake. Why create original content when known quantities—tried-and-true intellectual properties permeate the cultural zeitgeist? Case in point: the myriad sequels remakes, and reboots that have retconned so many of our childhood memories. J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek immediately comes to mind, as does Michael Bay’s gaudy, cacophonous Transformers franchise. Indiana Jones may have outpaced that boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but he couldn’t outrun a superfluous fourth installment.
In addition to the traditional reboots and sequels, we have the reboot as sequel (or sequel as reboot) coming into vogue, with Jurassic World, The Force Awakens, and Creed serving both as extensions of classic franchises, and resets of problematic continuity and/or mediocre sequel installments. And then there are the belated sequels, films who are getting second installments roughly twenty years too late. The long-threatened but unlikely Beetlejuice 2 fits the bill, as does the excellent Mad Max: Fury Road.
Which brings us to Goonies 2.
When The Goonies turned 30 in 2015, the specter of a long-rumored sequel continued to loom overhead. This was an important milestone for a beloved film that has heretofore avoided the dreaded remake/reboot.
In case it’s been 30-something years since you’ve last watched The Goonies, you may not remember the strange melancholy that permeates the story of young, asthmatic Mikey and his misfit friends, who live in the soon-to-be-demolished seaside town of Astoria. The reason for Astoria’s razing? A golf course, of course, which quickly sets the stage for an interesting variation on the tried and true snobs vs. slobs conflict that is the bread and butter of stories that truck in class warfare.
You can read the full article here on denofgeek.com.
Hollywood has long been a serpent eating its own tail – nothing is sacred when big box office weekends are at stake. Why create original content when known quantities—tried-and-true intellectual properties permeate the cultural zeitgeist? Case in point: the myriad sequels remakes, and reboots that have retconned so many of our childhood memories. J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek immediately comes to mind, as does Michael Bay’s gaudy, cacophonous Transformers franchise. Indiana Jones may have outpaced that boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but he couldn’t outrun a superfluous fourth installment.
In addition to the traditional reboots and sequels, we have the reboot as sequel (or sequel as reboot) coming into vogue, with Jurassic World, The Force Awakens, and Creed serving both as extensions of classic franchises, and resets of problematic continuity and/or mediocre sequel installments. And then there are the belated sequels, films who are getting second installments roughly twenty years too late. The long-threatened but unlikely Beetlejuice 2 fits the bill, as does the excellent Mad Max: Fury Road.
Which brings us to Goonies 2.
When The Goonies turned 30 in 2015, the specter of a long-rumored sequel continued to loom overhead. This was an important milestone for a beloved film that has heretofore avoided the dreaded remake/reboot.
In case it’s been 30-something years since you’ve last watched The Goonies, you may not remember the strange melancholy that permeates the story of young, asthmatic Mikey and his misfit friends, who live in the soon-to-be-demolished seaside town of Astoria. The reason for Astoria’s razing? A golf course, of course, which quickly sets the stage for an interesting variation on the tried and true snobs vs. slobs conflict that is the bread and butter of stories that truck in class warfare.
You can read the full article here on denofgeek.com.
TV REVIEW - Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 Episode 13: This Land Is Your Land
Well, it was only a matter of time before the ranch fell, but did anyone expect it to happen quite in this fashion, or so soon before the end of the season? Still, Jeremiah Otto’s legacy doesn’t go out with a whimper—resulting in one of the strongest episodes of the season, if not the entire series itself. A couple of minor points bog things down here or there, but overall, “This Land is Your Land” vaults Fear the Walking Dead onto the same level as The Walking Dead. And a lot of the credit for this goes not only to writer Suzanne Heathcote (who also penned this season’s excellent “Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame”), or to first-time Fear director Meera Menon, but to Alycia Debnam-Carey as well. Especially Debnam-Carey, whose performance in “This Land” gives us an Alicia that is bold but not fearless, brave but vulnerable, elated yet in mourning. Debnam-Carey is always solid, but this hour of television is truly transformative.
While the survivors may have found refuge in the pantry, their very salvation is also the means of their own demise. Thanks to a blocked vent, the bunker has about two hours of oxygen left. This conflict alone is enough to drive the entire hour—but Fear doubles down on the drama by revealing that some of the survivors have been bitten. So not only is “This Land” a race against suffocation, Alicia and company must contend with potential zombies in their midst.
Most of the scenes in the bunker are shot very tight and very close, with a shallow depth of field. Menon and director of photography Scott Peck choose what we see and when we see it. The resulting shifts in focus are intimate, to the point of claustrophobia. There’s no escaping any of this, for those in the pantry or us at home—we’re in this together.
You can read the full review here on denofgeek.com.
Well, it was only a matter of time before the ranch fell, but did anyone expect it to happen quite in this fashion, or so soon before the end of the season? Still, Jeremiah Otto’s legacy doesn’t go out with a whimper—resulting in one of the strongest episodes of the season, if not the entire series itself. A couple of minor points bog things down here or there, but overall, “This Land is Your Land” vaults Fear the Walking Dead onto the same level as The Walking Dead. And a lot of the credit for this goes not only to writer Suzanne Heathcote (who also penned this season’s excellent “Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame”), or to first-time Fear director Meera Menon, but to Alycia Debnam-Carey as well. Especially Debnam-Carey, whose performance in “This Land” gives us an Alicia that is bold but not fearless, brave but vulnerable, elated yet in mourning. Debnam-Carey is always solid, but this hour of television is truly transformative.
While the survivors may have found refuge in the pantry, their very salvation is also the means of their own demise. Thanks to a blocked vent, the bunker has about two hours of oxygen left. This conflict alone is enough to drive the entire hour—but Fear doubles down on the drama by revealing that some of the survivors have been bitten. So not only is “This Land” a race against suffocation, Alicia and company must contend with potential zombies in their midst.
Most of the scenes in the bunker are shot very tight and very close, with a shallow depth of field. Menon and director of photography Scott Peck choose what we see and when we see it. The resulting shifts in focus are intimate, to the point of claustrophobia. There’s no escaping any of this, for those in the pantry or us at home—we’re in this together.
You can read the full review here on denofgeek.com.
NEWS - Hap and Leonard Cancelled by SundanceTV
Well, all good things must come to an end. So too SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard, which has not been picked up for a fourth season. Which is a shame, really, for a host of reasons. Never mind that the show was beloved by critics (as evidenced by the 100% rating “The Two-Bear Mambo” received on Rotten Tomatoes, and by my glowing reviews on this very website). And never mind that the show had much left to mine from Joe R. Lansdale’s novels. Hell, Lansdale just published a new book, Jackrabbit Smile, the eleventh in the series. That’s right, eleventh. And never mind the fact that Hap and Leonard was the network’s highest-rated hour of original programming.
And while we’re at it, let’s just ignore the fact that James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams, as Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, respectively, were perfectly cast as our titular heroes, breathing life into working-class characters that embodied the sort of lifelong friendship that most people can only dream about.
I know, I sound bitter. But just indulge me for at least one more paragraph. (And by one more, I mean at least three more.)
You can read the full article here on denofgeek.com.
Well, all good things must come to an end. So too SundanceTV’s Hap and Leonard, which has not been picked up for a fourth season. Which is a shame, really, for a host of reasons. Never mind that the show was beloved by critics (as evidenced by the 100% rating “The Two-Bear Mambo” received on Rotten Tomatoes, and by my glowing reviews on this very website). And never mind that the show had much left to mine from Joe R. Lansdale’s novels. Hell, Lansdale just published a new book, Jackrabbit Smile, the eleventh in the series. That’s right, eleventh. And never mind the fact that Hap and Leonard was the network’s highest-rated hour of original programming.
And while we’re at it, let’s just ignore the fact that James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams, as Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, respectively, were perfectly cast as our titular heroes, breathing life into working-class characters that embodied the sort of lifelong friendship that most people can only dream about.
I know, I sound bitter. But just indulge me for at least one more paragraph. (And by one more, I mean at least three more.)
You can read the full article here on denofgeek.com.
