If it takes a kind of genius to strike gold, then consider Judd Apatow a genius. In the fifteen years since the cancellation of Freaks and Geeks, that altar before which all unduly cancelled TV shows […]
Tag: Review
The Strawberry Criterion: The Last Man on Earth
The Last Man on Earth, whose first season finale aired two Sundays previous, on FOX, theoretically could be–and arguably should be–sued for false advertising, for the high concept bait-and-switch it perpetrates at its own expense. […]
The Strawberry Criterion: To Pimp A Butterfly
Musicians faced with great expectations have a tendency to disappear up their own asses. Either out of courage or cowardice, albums like Low, In Utero, Kid A and Yeezus consciously subvert the sound for which their predecessors won acclaim, garnering in those […]
The Strawberry Criterion: 50 Shades of Grey
Boredom isn’t particularly titillating. If a simple imperative exists for both fucking and filmmaking, it can summarily be expressed as, “Don’t be boring.” This principle applies doubly so to making films about fucking. A great force of […]
The Strawberry Criterion: American Sniper
Editor’s Note: This review of American Sniper contains mad spoilers. Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper is a notable war film, if not for the hundreds of deaths it depicts, then for the single death it leaves out. In its dramatization […]
The Strawberry Criterion: Inherent Vice
Is genius adaptable? The answer really seems to depend on the compatibility of the geniuses in question. Even across mediums, sensibilities need to align somewhat; if not in action, then in spirit, theme, effect. A […]
The Strawberry Criterion: Birdman
The (clearly discontinuous) continuous take that presents all of Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as a single, unbroken shot is meant to recreate the effect of live theater, a literally ancient […]
BPoFD Podcast Episode 15: Talking Gone Girl with Thandie
In Episode 15 of the BPoFD Podcast, managing editor Carmen Petaccio sits down with his friend Thandie to discuss David Fincher’s Gone Girl. Highlights include an analysis of the film’s “alleged” misogyny, ruminations on the morality […]
The Strawberry Criterion: The Mulaney Pilot
The three best American stand-up comedians currently living are, in my opinion and deliberate order, Mike Birbiglia, Louis C.K., and John Mulaney, whose eponymous sitcom, Mulaney, premiered last night on FOX. Under no circumstances should you watch […]
baby pictures of famous dictators 