Reviewed at the 2012 Tallgrass Film Festival

"My name is Wayne White, and I make pictures." So announces the subject of Neil Berekely's documentary Beauty is Embarrassing , but he's selling himself short; he is also a puppeteer, sculptor, cartoonist, art designer, and a pretty mean banjo player. To the oft-given advice to focus on one thing and do it well, he offers a stern "Fuck that!" And as someone who found success in Hollywood, dropped out, and became an artist, he says, "Fuck you, F. Scott Fitzgerald!"

There are "fuck"s a-plenty in White's vernacular; he cheerfully deploys the word not just in conversation but in many of his "word paintings," which have become his trademark works. In them, he tak...Read the entire review

The Show:

Friends of mine have been talking about Downton Abbey for a little while now, and when the opportunity to check out the show came up, I felt like giving into the urge. Normally I am not one for period pieces (and the show's touting of a Guinness World Record for 'highest critical review rating for a TV show' left me feeling a little dubious) but hey, if you are going to have horizons, why not try to broaden them occasionally, right?

The show is the brainchild of Julian Fellowes, and the show seems to have some general similarities to his Gosford Park story from several years back. The title of the show is derived from the fictitious British estate, in a drama that starts upon the recent news of the Titanic's sinking and concludes (at the end of its second season) at Christmas 1...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The British have something of a tradition of producing fine detective drama, often for television. The long running ITV show Inspector Morse is one such example that has spawned a couple of spinoffs, including the film being discussed here: Endeavor.

Intended as a standalone film, and as a sort of pilot for a new Morse related series, Endeavor serves as a prequel to its parent show. Set in the sixties, it follows Endeavor Morse as a young detective working on his first big case. It seems that young Mary Tremlett has gone missing from an exclusive school in Oxford (what would be equivalent to a private girls high school in the US), and a number of police personnel have been called in to assist with the investigation, including Morse (Shaun Evans) and his friend McLeash (Jack Ashton).

Being quite junior, Morse and McLeash are assigned to relatively minor ...Read the entire review

Lewis returns to Blu-ray with four more movie-length episodes. An ITV co-production with PBS's Masterpiece Mystery, it airs on the public television network in a slightly different form. Retitled Inspector Lewis apparently these shows are cut by several minutes, ironically to make room for intrusive host Alan Cumming.

Fortunately, following complaints from viewers, PBS wisely began releasing the "original UK editions" (as the packaging notes) of Lewis beginning with series three. These bear the original Lewis title and each episode runs 92 minutes. They've also gotten rid of the public broadcasting corporate sponsor ads preceding and following the shows (as broadcast on PBS), which for a time they had extended to their DVDs and Bu-rays.

The four mysteries here rise on fall on their scripts. I thought the second and fourth ones were way above average, the first e...Read the entire review

When asked recently by a friend for some British television recommendations, on the list I provided was Inspector Morse (1987-2000), the series adapted from Colin Dexter's novels and which starred the irreplaceable John Thaw in the title role. "Oh, I really don't care for British mystery shows," was his response. This prompted a long reply in which I tried to explain that the Morse films really weren't whodunits in the conventional sense. The mysteries were almost irrelevant except insofar as their investigations impacted Chief Inspector Morse himself, personally. The show was about him, his character, his relationships with women (often suspects), his superiors, and especially his junior partner, Detective Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately).

Though Dexter's novels were popular, it was the TV adaptations of his stories, and particularly John Thaw's portrayal of Morse, both of which ...Read the entire review

Sumptuous and moving, writer Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) and director Philip Martin (TV's Prime Suspect: The Final Act and Wallander) have crafted a meticulous, deliberately paced film of Sebastian Faulks' best-selling novel. Forget about the fact that it was produced as a two-part television drama broadcast on the BBC in the UK and on PBS here in the States; Birdsong displays exquisite filmcraft. However, it's also driven largely by recycled clichés stolen from All Quiet on the Western Front, The End of the ...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

It seems likely that interest in the Amish -- those East-of-the-Midwest Pennsylviania-Dutch descendants we all have a vague and often probably not very accurate idea of -- was sufficiently renewed to warrant a two-hour PBS special by the horrendous events of October 2, 2006, when a gunman killed five young Amish girls in a Southeast Pennsylvania schoolhouse and added insult to injury by bringing in a wave of the kind of media attention that these rural, quiet, pious, very purposefully insular people would loathe more than anyone. But much like the community itself (which, rigorously true to their beliefs, rejected all vindictiveness, forgave, bore up, and moved on in the face of this tragedy), David Belton, the writer/director of The Amish,...Read the entire review

As documentaries of entertainment personalities go, Johnny Carson - King of Late Night (2012) is just about perfect. In a little under two hours, it traces the talk show icon's personal life and professional career frankly, informatively, and entertainingly. Although it does include some of The Tonight Show's most famous moments - Ed Ames's infamous tomahawk throw (and Carson's ad-libbed response) for instance, and the on-air wedding of Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki - mostly it tries and largely succeeds, insofar as such a thing is possible, to get inside the head of the enigmatic, circumspect entertainer, a man whose emotionally distant, isolated life off-camera so contrasted the intimate, personal relationship his viewers, total strangers, felt toward him. As writer Al Jean puts it, Johnny Carson was television's Charles Foster Kane. But what was his Rosebud?

PBS's Blu-ray is unusually goo...Read the entire review

Someof you are probably hugely familiar with the television program knownas Nature that airs on PBS. Then again,maybe some readers are going to be more like me and have only watched theprogram a few times over the years. It's a brilliant concept for ashow. Everyweek that the series is airing a new episode, there is a differenttheme and highlightabout various global issues that is broadcast...Read the entire review

When asked recently by a friend for some British television recommendations, on the list I provided was Inspector Morse (1987-2000), the series adapted from Colin Dexter's novels and which starred the irreplaceable John Thaw in the title role. "Oh, I really don't care for British mystery shows," was his response. This prompted a long reply in which I tried to explain that the Morse films really weren't whodunits in the conventional sense. The mysteries were almost irrelevant except insofar as their investigation impacted Chief Inspector Morse himself, personally. The show was about him, his character, his relationships with women (often suspects), his superiors, and especially his junior partner, Detective Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately).

Though Dexter's novels were popular, it was the TV adaptations of his stories, and particularly John Thaw's portrayal of Morse, both of which d...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
Vocabulary building meets superhero fun

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Animation, entertaining edu-tainment, Patton Oswalt
Likes: Wordgirl's animation style
Dislikes: Overt lessons in my entertainment, short DVDs
Hates: Extra-less DVDs

The Show
I will not lie: I enjoy watching television with my daughter. We watch a bunch of different series together, everything from Big Time Rush to Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Sesame Street to The Aquabats! Super Show!. I love that she's embraced the series I watched as a child, and that she's embraced modern shows I can watch with her without being brutally bored by them. But unfortunately, too frequently, the shows on PBS, a chan...Read the entire review

THE SHOW:

Where was God on September 11th? It's the kind of question that is seldom asked, even in academic or religious circles, to say nothing of prime-time television--which is why the two-hour Frontline special Faith & Doubt at Ground Zero is so extraordinary. That Tuesday morning has become such an emotionally wrecking moment in our collective subconscious, and such a key turning point in our geopolitical thinking, that it is easy to overlook its ramifications in our personal faith (or lack thereof). 

The program is divided into several acts, each of them centered on an event or a particular idea. The first, predictably (and wisely) walks through the morning of the 11th, as told by survivors and family, and it is utterly wrenching (as these things so often are). When the first tower fell, says one widow, "I knew he was dead." Another remembers her first t...Read the entire review

Peep and the Big Wide World: Star Light, Star Bright:
Peep and the Big Wide World is the newest bit of wry fun from the creative folks at PBS. Surprisingly simple, the show defies this and any other possible negatives by functioning with near perfection. My kindergarten-aged child, a veteran PBS show scholar, might be a little more aged than the target audience, but she loves it. I do too. The thrill may wear off pretty quickly for adults, but I reckon kids will get their money's worth.

Peep, the nominal star of the show, is a newly hatched fuzzy chick, learning about the world from his friends Chirp and Quack (a robin and a duck). Chirp and Quack content themselves easily on lazy days, but something quirky always seems to happen; a chance encounter with another animal, or a problem usually created by Quack. Chirp (who looks a bit like an Angry Bird with legs) and Quack have kooky, o...Read the entire review

Peep and the Big Wide World: Seasons of Adventure:
Peep and the Big Wide World is the latest drollery from the magicians at PBS. Almost painfully simple, the show defies this and any other potential shortcomings by being just about as perfect as it can be. My 6-year-old, who has been corn fed on PBS shows, might be a little older than the target audience, yet she loves it. So do I. While I'm sure the thrill will wear off pretty quickly for me, I bet the kid will get her money's worth.

Peep, the nominal hero of the show, is a newly hatched fuzzy chick, learning about the world from his friends Chirp and Quack (a robin and a duck). Chirp and Quack seem content sitting around enjoying a lazy day, but something always seems to happen; a chance encounter with another friend, or a dilemma brought about by Quack. Chirp (who looks a bit like an Angry Bird with legs) and Quack possess wacky, ...Read the entire review