The Show:

For the Peak TV run we've been on lately, and the way things have risen more towards dramatic fare for obvious reasons, comedic shows have had their own rebirth the last few years. And in HBO's Barry, we get a dark comedy with a strong ensemble. When the Emmys were rolling in September and the show earned trophies for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, I couldn't help but think "damn right," because its unique voice is one worth experiencing.

SNL vet Bill Hader plays the eponymous character Barry, a loner who went through a combat tour in Iraq and, upon his discharge from the Army, was welcomed by Fuches (Stephen Root, Get Out), a mentor who turned Barry into a hitman and Fuches was his handler. The pair became tired of doing jobs in the Midwest and moved to California to do a hit for some Chechen...Read the entire review

The Series:

Based on George R. R. Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire (and named after the first book in the series), Game Of Thrones debuted on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011 and has pretty much been a pop culture phenomena ever since. The first season has been released on Blu-ray a few times already, and now HBO gives the initial ten-episode run a 4k UHD facelift. More on the technical side of the release further down this review, but for now…

The initial episode, Winter Is Coming, opens when three Soldier's Of The Night's Watch go past their protective wall out into the wilds of northern Westero where they come across the dead bodies of some wildlings and then ultimately the White Walkers they suspect killed them. Two of the men are killed, but Will (Bronson Webb) survives and deserts the Night's Watch, heading south hoping to find safety...Read the entire review

The Wire (2002-2008) was one of the best television dramas of the new century, and its many qualities are only expanded upon in The Deuce (2017-present), a new HBO series from Wire creator David Simon and writer-producer George Pelecanos. Even more remarkable in its own way, The Deuce is one of the best American television dramas in years.

Taking its title from the nickname given to the stretch of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, the series follows a tapestry of archetypes during the rise of the porn industry in the early 1970s. Featuring a dozen major characters and as many important supporting ones the series, like The Wire, builds methodically, creating the kinds of three-dimensional, realistic people one can't help but think about long after each episode is over.

Perhaps its most noteworthy achievement is its authenticity. Even a lot of otherwi...Read the entire review

The (Half?) Season:

Chances are if you were watching HBO around the height of the "Westworld" craze, you saw the mysterious and slick ads for "The Young Pope". With a thumping brooding techno beat viewers were offered the intrigue of the Vatican through the story of unconventional looking Pope played by Jude Law. Unfortunately, despite the mesmerizing teasers, I never actually got around to watching the miniseries until months after it's Blu-Ray release and to be honest, I never heard any buzz about it good or otherwise. Screened at the Venice Film Festival and making the rounds on European television months prior to its HBO debut, Paolo Sorrentino's ten-hour miniseries is perhaps a series best digested via a Blu-Ray release.

"The Young Pope" is a series that rewards the patient viewer who is willing to accept ambiguity and non-closure. At its core, it's the tale of Lenny Belrado (Jude Law), an orphan raised ...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

Shot for HBO by veteran director Barry Levinson and starring Robert De Niro in the lead role, The Wizard of Lies chronicles the downfall of financial advisor and businessman Bernie Madoff, who was arrested in December 2008 for perpetrating the biggest financial crime in United States history. Madoff and his investment firm engaged in a Ponzi scheme with the life savings of hundreds of investors and left them with nothing. He is currently a federal prisoner at FCI Butner Medium I in Butner, Nor...Read the entire review

The Show:

Veep capped off an amazing fifth season by putting its central character at a bit of a crossroads professionally and personally. It was a bold choice to make and given the actual political climate at the time, maybe hedging a bet against the actual was a good choice too. More on that in a minute.

I've been lucky enough to handle reviewing most of the adventures of the show and you can read them all here if you'd like. And seeing Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus ,The New Adventures of Old Christine) outside of her Presidential term, and trying to cull together those br...Read the entire review

The Show:

When Mike Judge decided to take his first television show work since the end of King of the Hill to HBO and put together a smart, funny ensemble for it, the start was promising and things were running smoothly. The show has been running along nicely for the first three seasons, and they decided to do something interesting in Season Four.

For those unfamiliar with the show, the group is comprised of Richard (Thomas Middleditch, Search Party), Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani, Central Intelligence) and Gilfoyle (Martin Starr, Freaks and Geeks), who ...Read the entire review

The Show:

After six seasons of twentysomething self-involvement, HBO's button-pushing hit Girls has called it quits. (DVD Talk has reviews of every season for your perusal [I took over starting with season 3].) The sixth season, new to Blu-ray, offers an appropriate and satisfying close to a series known for antagonizing its audience as often as it entertained them.

As in the past few seasons, this last batch of episodes starts off with a seeming digression. Hannah (creator and star Lena Dunham) makes a professional splash with a confessional article, about her best friend Jessa (Jemim...Read the entire review

2017 isn't over yet, but it's given way to at least two incredible television achievements, which coincidentally stand in stark contrast to each other. First, there is the long-awaited, highly controversial, 25-years-in-the-making "Twin Peaks: The Return," which ended its frustrating/satisfying/overwhelming run on Sunday night. The rhythm of the sprawling 18-episode series and each individual episode ebbed and flowed to a beat that only director David Lynch could hear, including one episode that spent a significant chunk of time floating through the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion. Fans have been left with as many questions as they have answers, which is part of what makes the complete series so fascinating. Secondly, there is "Big Little Lies," a propulsively focused, deviously constructed 7-episode blast of storytelling that leaves little in the way of unanswered questions or dramatic ambiguity...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
The sad life of funny people

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: stand-up comedy, Lauren Lapkus
Likes: Pete Holmes, Judd Apatow stuff
Dislikes: Oblivious dreamers
Hates: adultery, divorce

The Show
Judd Apatow likes to deliver pain unto people who make others laugh. At least, that's what it seems like after watching two seasons of his Netflix show Love and now the first season of his HBO series Crashing. Putting hilarious people into dark situations also seems to be a hobby of his, going all the way back to Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy, as he puts one of the sunniest guys going--comedian Pete Holmes--through the wringer in this show, as his life collapses around him in the pur...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Midway through the course of watching HBO's comedy Divorce, there was a scene where a guy walking down the street spotted Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City). The two lock eyes and keep walking, and she flashed a smile that I guess could be construed as a self-validation type of thing. I feel like this is part of some weird contractual thing or style note that SJP has in any project she's in these days, a signature move, if you will. Anyway, this anecdote serves little more than to serve as a segue to Divorce.

Created by Sharon Horgan and featuring a crew that includes Jesse Peretz (Girls) and Paul Simms (...Read the entire review

The Show:

It shouldn't feel so novel, but it does. The new HBO dramedy Insecure, created by Issa Rae and The Nightly Show's Larry Wilmore, is a story of African-American characters in Los Angeles, staring down their fast-approaching thirties and attempting to finally get their respective shit together. These characters aren't idealistic projections of how black people should be viewed by the mainstream (read: whites), nor has the characters' cultural identity been carefully sanded down for easy consumption. The folks on Insecure just get to be people. Specific, imperfect, three-dimensional people.

Co-creator Rae also stars as Issa Dee, a creative young woman who nonetheless finds herself creeping toward stagnation at the start...Read the entire review

The Show:

As the HBO show Veep rolled into its fifth season, there was a change at the top of the show that could have brought some concern for longtime fans of it. Gone from the show running helm was Armando Iannucci, who wanted to spend more time with his family, and in was David Mandel. The last time a show had its show creator disappear and replaced with a television veteran that I had a personal stake in was Community, and that went to mixed results. That said, Mandel had a connection to the titular character that did wonders for the show. More on that in a minute.

Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus ,The New Adventures of Old Christine) was now President at this point, engaging in a Bush-Gore style contestation of votes with her opponent. Amy (Anna Chlum...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
Richard Hendricks is his own worst enemy

The Story So Far...
Another in a long line of fantastic comedy series from HBO, Silicon Valley, created by workplace-comedy savant Mike Judge, follows the struggles and successes of computer engineer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) and the small team at Pied Piper--a motley crew portrayed by Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, T.J. Miller and Zach Woods--as they do battle with Gavin Belson and his behemoth corporation Hooli, and interact with the movers and shakers of Silicon...Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

I enjoyed the first season of HBO's Ballers, which I still believe is their replacement for Entourage. Dwayne Johnson is the showrunner, and plays ex-NFL standout turned financial manager Spencer Strasmore. The man has a knack for shepherding spoiled talent, and this season sees Strasmore fighting for solo clients and r...Read the entire review

The Show:

The penultimate season of Lena Dunham's hit HBO show about bougie twentysomethings, Girls, comes to Blu-ray hyped as the best batch of episodes in the show's entire run. To these eyes, the fifth season is narratively strong and inventive when taken as a whole, but it suffers from the same slow start that cooled some viewers' enthusiasm for the fourth season.

Admittedly, the first episode from this year, written and directed by show creator and star Lena Dunham, is a gem. Simply titled "Wedding ...Read the entire review

The Show:

Cards on the table for a second: when I saw a commercial about a comedy show featuring Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down) and Walton Goggins (Justified), chances are I was fairly most of the way in before seeing an episode. So know that whatever you may read next, it's going to have those prejudices in mind, OK? OK.

The latest in McBride's HBO television work reunites him with EB & D friend and longtime pal Jody Hill. The two have worked together for awhile and the show runs a little closer to their 2006 film The Foot Fist Way than anything else, and the two say that they worked on the story back in 2006. McBride plays Nea...Read the entire review

The Knick Season Two takes television into new territory in content and form. The title refers to one of the original surgical hospitals in New York of the 1900s. At this time, The Knick serviced the poor and rich alike. Often times the poor were an opportunity for doctors to experiment with new potentially life-saving techniques without as much concern for the consequences of a death along the way to perfecting the surgery. Being at the bleeding edge of science and technology, the show presents surgery of the day in all its horror and glory.

Picking up in Season Two, John Thackery (Clive Owen) our Byronic genius head of surgery, is completely at the mercy of his addictions. As a result, any medical procedures he is performing seem to border on mad scientist or Nazi science officer territory rather than seeing him as the the brilliant young surgeon we meet in Season One. This twi...Read the entire review

THE LIMITED SERIES:

Over its eight episodes, The Night Of consistently surprises with its twisty tale of murder and one man's walk through the judicial system. It would be a disservice to give away plot points, but The Night Of turns into much more than a murder mystery. HBO's Limited Series is based on a British show called Criminal Justice, and is written by Richard Price (Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

As our resident Banshee reviewer, I was pleased to receive the fourth and final season in my mailbox to screen. I respect the showrunners for allowing the series to go out on a high note instead of running the pulp spectacle into the ground. After the botched heist at the end of last season, Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) is no longer sheriff of Banshee, Pennsylvania, and instead nurses his wounds at a secluded cabin on gangster Kai Proctor's (Ulrich Thomsen) property. In a bold and unexpected t...Read the entire review

Confirmation, HBO Films' star-studded telemovie about the 1991 Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas sexual harassment hearings, has a complicated goal: objectivity. In the hands of director Rick Famuyiwa, the movie achieves something more like ambiguity. That's not to say that the movie is bad, but what is meant to be an unbiased look at a tough case that doesn't draw too many conclusions where the hearings couldn't comes off more like an attempt by the filmmakers to have their cake and eat it too.

Kerry Washington plays Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma. Although she watches the news of George Bush appointing Clarence Thomas (Wendell Pierce) as a new Supreme Court judge with a mixture of horror and disgust, she tells a friend she's not interested in bringing a sexual harassment case against him, to avoid upending her life. Unfortunately for Hill, the decision is taken out of her han...Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

With the remaining Starks still reeling from "The Red Wedding," this fourth season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" picks up in Westeros, as the terrible King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) prepares to marry Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) reluctantly serves King Joffrey but receives an increasingly icy reception from sister Cersei (Lena Headey), causing him to turn toward despondent brother Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) for assistance. Tyrion is now married to Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), but that union is short-lived. Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and the Hound (Rory McCann) travel the wilderness together, and Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) prepares for a Wildling battle. Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Cl...Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

After two incredibly well-received seasons, HBO's "Game of Thrones" could have easily collapsed under the weight of its own success, but the drama returned for a third season that was dramatically satisfying and consistently entertaining. Based upon George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "Game of Thrones" received the royal treatment from an HBO still stinging from the expensive collapse of "Rome". The show has become a worldwide phenomenon; an incredible feat considering intricately plotted fantasy has not always been universally appealing. The factions of Westeros continue to evolve in this third season, with series favorites Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Daen...Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

HBO continues to kill it with original programming and adaptations like Game of Thrones, so it is no surprise the network wanted a thematically similar replacement for their debaucherous hit Entourage, which ended in 2011. The not-quite-apples-to-apples replacement is Ballers, which is anchored by Dwayne Johnson as an ex-NFL player turned financial manager trying to wrangle his prickly talent. There are plenty of gorgeous women, drug and booze-fueled parties, exotic cars, and over-the-top shenanigans to go around, and Ballers is ...Read the entire review

I always enjoy looking back on music and pop culture, so when I heard that Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger were doing an HBO series about the music industry taking place in the early 1970s, I considered it a must-see no matter what the critical reaction might have been. The show arrives on Blu-Ray as a four-disc set with a nearly two-hour pilot followed by nine hourlong episodes. The pilot episode, directed by Scorsese himself, would have been impressive enough released on its own. We first meet Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale), head of American Century Records- a fictional record company but with a number of real-life music artists on it, with offices in New York City's Brill Building. While the label has had a few successes, it's on the verge of falling on hard times (with ...Read the entire review

The Show:

This is the fourth time I've reviewed Veep for the folks at DVD Talk (you can read the reviews of Season One, Season Two and Season Three), and it continues to be a pleasure to do so, with this one being particularly special.

In Season Four, Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus ,The New Adventures of Old Christine) is, um, no longer Veep, now taking over as President after the resignation of her boss. We see her enjoy the Presidential comforts before being forced to run for re-election after on...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
Pied Piper takes on Hooli...and everyone else

The Story So Far...
Another in a long line of fantastic comedy series from HBO, Silicon Valley, created by workplace-comedy savant Mike Judge, follows the struggles and successes of computer programmer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) and the small team at Pied Piper; a motley crew portrayed by Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, T.J. Miller and Zach Woods. In the first season, the group took on Gavin Belson and his massive Hooli corporation in order to launch a new compr...Read the entire review

THE SEASON:

Cinemax's pulpy thriller returns for a third season with the requisite livewire characters, gonzo violence, cultural clashes and bed-rattling sex. Banshee has not mellowed, and con-cum-sheriff Lucas Hood (Antony Starr) slips further back into his old lifestyle thanks to lucrative opportunities that fall into his lap. Hood is joined in poor decisions by former lover and sometimes partner Carrie Hopewell (Ivana Milicevic) and behind-the-scenes guy Job (Hoon Lee), whose character is explored in...Read the entire review

The Season:

The Show:

In its fourth season, the HBO dramatic comedy Girls explores its petulantly arrested characters in both familiar and surprising new ways. By starting the season with ostensible main character Hannah Horvath (show creator Lena Dunham) leaving her friends in New York to enter a writing program in Iowa, the show's writers take the focus off the titular foursome (which also includes Allison Williams as struggling singer Marnie, Jemima Kirke as recovering addict Jessa, and Zosia Mamet as uptight college graduate Shoshanna) in their original friend group dynamic and instead they allow all sorts of tangential threads to develop. Much like the similarly titled Read the entire review