DVD Review– Elementary– The Fourth Season When I first heard about CBS’s plans for a 21st-century, New York-set series based on the Sherlock Holmes stories, with Watson given a sex and ethnicity change, I was dubious, to use most polite word possible. Then I remembered how pessimistic I was when I first learned about the […]

DVD Review– The Player The Player is a scathing indictment of the vapidity and venality of Hollywood culture made by people who love the movies. Robert Altman directed this classic 1992 satire, with Michael Tolkin adapting his own novel for the screen. As usual with Criterion, the release is filled with great extras, but the […]

DVD Review– Major Crimes– The Complete Fourth Season Major Crimes is an example of a spinoff living up to the original series, although in many ways, it is more a continuation of The Closer than a spinoff with a new premise.  The big differences are that Kyra Sedgwick left her leading role on the show, […]

DVD Review– Midwinter of the Spirit   Midwinter of the Spirit is both crime drama and horror show, an unsettling story that manages to take religion seriously while exploring the natures of evil and madness. At the center of this three-part miniseries is Anna Maxwell Martin as the Anglican vicar Merrily Watkins. The widowed single […]

DVD Review– Fargo: Season 2 When it was first announced that the modern classic movie Fargo was being spun off into a television miniseries, fans of the original film were justified in being apprehensive. But just as Bates Motel and Hannibal proved to be astoundingly impressive surprises, the first season of Fargo proved to be […]

DVD Review– Cop Rock: The Complete Series   The short-lived series Cop Rock has provoked a wide variety of opinions among viewers. Is it Steven Bochco’s great folly? Is it a misunderstood and original commentary of our troubled society? Is it flawed but fun? Should it be acclaimed as a risk-taking triumph? Ought it to […]