“The Last Dance” is not documentary but hagiography. Many commentators mean this as a criticism, but here is the thing: Hagiographies are important—and compelling.
Television
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
‘Never Have I Ever’ depicts an authentic Asian-American experience on TV. Finally.
‘Never Have I Ever’ is a refreshing take on growing up in an immigrant family, where cultural and religious traditions are part of everyday life.
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The corporeal imagination of Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’
Class gets placed front and center in this upstairs-downstairs romance between an upper class girl and her maid’s son.
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‘The Last Dance’ asks: What is the price of greatness?
The first thing I noticed when tuning into “The Last Dance” were Michael Jordan’s eyes. The second was his glass of tequila.
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Review: ‘Better Call Saul’ arrives at the precipice of ‘Breaking Bad’
For a few remarkable seasons, AMC’s “Better Call Saul” seemed not only as good as its predecessor, but in some ways arguably better.
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‘The Innocence Files’ sees the devil in the details of criminal injustice
When someone refers to a “foul” system, he is not talking only about law enforcement and prosecution.
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What if Americans turned to fascism in the 1940s? HBO’s ‘The Plot Against America’ offers an answer.
Reality may have caught up to Philip Roth’s imagination.
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Saying goodbye to ‘BoJack Horseman’
The final season of “BoJack Horseman” gives many of its characters endings about as happy as they can manage.
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Netflix’s ‘Messiah’ tests the faith of its characters (and its audience)
If Jesus Christ were to return to initiate an apocalypse in the Year of Our Lord 2019, how would we receive him? “Messiah” may have a prophetic vision.
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A Good End for ‘The Good Place’: A meditation on the series finale
Watching the finale, my mind wandered through places in my life that have been special to me.