Better Things Season 3: Back and Better Than Ever

By Spencer Coile 

Better Things being renewed for a third season was the miracle we all deserved. Since co-creator/ executive producer Louis C.K. was fired, any worries about the series maintaining its high-wire act of cynical humor and raw emotion should be put to rest. Where the magic of Better Things laid all along was is in its leading lady's craftsmanship. Writing, directing, and playing single mother and working actress Sam, Pamela Adlon is a 2019 force to be reckoned with. 

Better Things has arrived in the wake of a highly contentious Oscar season, and it could not have come back at a better time. Built into every moment is a snapshot (sometimes literal) of the mundane, almost thoughtless acts we so often take for granted. Adlon has rendered these minuscule details into something finely tuned and deeply felt...

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Another Academy Reversal. But We're Still Feeling Battered

We were offline last night (a break for computer strained eyeballs) so we're hours late delivering the news but good news is still good the next morning. Deadline scooped that the Academy has decided to reverse the decision to not present all categories live. This is a very happy turn of events but it's also left us feeling bruised and battered. Deadline's scoop reminds us that a large part of the problem -- a problem that's not going away any time soon -- is the way the media frames these issues. The media is essentially complicit in ABC's tactics at undermining the Oscars. For those who are looking closely at the situation it's become blindingly obvious that ABC is a toxic and abusive partner to The Academy, more concerned with pushing their own stars (like Jimmy Kimmel) and movies (more awards for Disney blockbusters plz -- hey how about a "popular Oscar"?) than perpetuating the brand of the Oscars themselves. And that brand, the Oscars, is the reason people tune in each year, not for any particular host or any particular movie.

ABC has strategically kept the Academy in panic mode with 'the sky is falling' style messaging about their lack of popularity (which is bollocks but facts are hard to see when you're in an abusive relationship). But the problem  becomes larger because the media continually helps them do it! Consider the way Mike Fleming Jr frames the piece (and he's hardly the first) in his article...

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Russian Doll: Season One

By Spencer Coile

Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) regards her reflection in the mirror. The moment lingers until a sharp knock at the door pulls her out of it. She stomps her way out of the newly renovated bathroom of her best friend Maxine (Greta Lee) – complete with a shotgun doorknob – to join her comrades for her 36th birthday party. Taking a hit from a cocaine-laced joint, hooking up with a stranger, and searching for her cat Oatmeal eventually lead to Nadia’s death. She is struck by a car when crossing the road.

She wakes up, exactly where she was before.  

Reconfiguring the influential conceit from Groundhog Day in meaningful ways, Russian Doll is groundbreaking in its own right...

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"The Other Two" is Essential 2019 Television

By Spencer Coile 

The cancellation of Difficult People left a gaping hole in our hearts. The Hulu original series about two failed comedians, actors, etc. (Billy Eichner & Julie Klausner) brought out our most cynical selves, our razor sharp wit, and scratched that itch many contemporary comedies were not reaching for. Indeed, it’s been tough coping with this loss.  

However, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider (both writers from Saturday Night Live) have sensed our grief. The premiere of their Comedy Central series The Other Two, might somehow fill that Difficult pop culture void. After their teenage brother becomes an overnight celebrity when his YouTube video goes viral, siblings Cary (Drew Tarver) and Brooke (Heléne Yorke) – a struggling actor and dancer respectively – must define what success means to them. 

If that sounds trite, fear not. Because here are five reasons why The Other Two is essential 2019 television...   

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Sundance: Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling in "Late Night"

The Film Experience has two contributors at Sundance this year, Murtada and Abe. Here's Murtada's first missive, on a film that's currently closing a record Sundance deal with Amazon -Editor.

by Murtada Elfadl

Emma Thompson plays legendary late night talk show host Katherine Newbery (think Letterman, 2 decades younger, English and a woman but just as famous and revered and still on TV) in the new comedy Late Night. Early in the film Newbery meets a male employee from the writers room who is asking for a raise because he recently had a baby. In two minutes Thompson eviscerates him, and all of the decades of sexism and inequality in the workplace. She likens having babies to having a drug problem that one can’t shake. The latter is an unexpected and illogical simile until, that is, you hear it coming out of Thompson’s mouth. The writing’s funny and sharp, and Thompson is on full throttle hilarious commitment. Late Night has a few more of these golden moments, but also a few that are clichéd...

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