In character-based, episodic shows like The Wonder Years, one of the oldest tricks in the book is to select two characters who don’t often interact and center a plot around them. Figure out the ways they’re similar, the ways they’re different, and construct a situation in which the two play off of each other. Cocoa…
Fred Savage was nominated for an Emmy after only the six-episode first season of The Wonder Years aired. But his work here in Good-Bye is the most award-worthy yet. Those heartbreaking forty seconds, an extended shot of Kevin’s expression as he learns that Mr. Collins passed away, show Savage working with an emotional articulation and…
After the set-up of the episode — Paul struggles athletically; Kevin is marginally better; Paul has some jealousy — I was worried that The Unnatural would turn into a thematic clone of Loosiers: that competitiveness can divide friendships, that Paul’s ego is easily bruised when it comes to his athletic struggles, that Kevin is a…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed the past year, regardless of when it was released. #8 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 At the end of last year, I wrote about the first half of Harry Potter and the…
I know I’m delinquent on my end of 2011 posts, but after seeing this post on Grantland, I couldn’t resist interrupting my countdown to make a few predictions for 2012, mostly in the pop culture department. Like Grantland, I will classify these predictions as “Fearless (But Not Insane).” I predict that, in 2012… JK Rowling…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed the past year, regardless of when it was released. Hammersmith Odeon, London ’75 Album, 2005 In his retrospective of The Arctic Monkeys’ first three albums, Grant cites a theory about artists’ third albums. As Coldplay…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed the past year, regardless of when it was released. #10 Adventureland Movie, 2009 That Thing You Do is one of my favorite movies of all time. Maybe even my favorite. And it kept popping in…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed this year, regardless of when it was released. 11. Mount and Blade: Warband PC game, 2009 When I think of indie games, I think of twee platformers and lo-fi tactical games. I think of Darwinia…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed this year, regardless of when it was released. 12. Grantland Sports and pop culture web site (debuted 06/2011) When you visit www.grantland.com, you’re greeted with contrasting images: At the center, you have the elegant, classicly-styled…
This is part of my 2011 wrap-up series, A Few of My Favorite Things, in which I discuss what I enjoyed this year, regardless of when it was released. #13 Larry And His Flask Self-described “hillbilly band” I remember reading an article somewhere — maybe it was in the thought-provoking Ripped — that the role of…