YouTube video by Michael Snyder

That proverb about mighty oaks growing from tiny acorns came to mind after watching the new documentary You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, which takes a deep ...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Betrayal is disheartening and debilitating, unless it’s happening to someone in a movie. Then, it’s diverting. For example, The Weight is a tension-loaded drama that follows a criminal expedition into...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

A lack of originality isn’t merely a bug in the movie and TV business. It’s often a feature, as production companies and studios take the easy road and try to replicate earlier successes rather than r...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Earning acclaim as a child actor may or may not be a harbinger of future success. There are more than a few movie and TV kids who proved incapable of transitioning to grown-up roles for one reason or ...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Since television first captured the public’s fancy in the 1950s, shows about detectives and spies have predominantly featured men in the main roles. There have been distaff outliers, from Anne Francis...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Summer is almost over, and kids are returning to school. So why not get the whole brood together for a night out at the multiplex before homework becomes too overwhelming? Conveniently enough, there a...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

If it feels like real-world heroes are in short supply these days, the fictional variety can be easily found on television. They may not conform to a particular heroic ideal, but they’re out there, an...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Success is not always a component of fame, nor is fame a requisite of success — and neither one is easy to achieve. While the late celebrity chef, author, and TV personality Anthony Bourdain earned ac...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

One of the best known tragedies of Greek mythology tells of the doomed romance between the preternaturally gifted musician Orpheus and the beautiful wood nymph Eurydice. As befits a sad tale about the...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

In his capacity as a comedic performer, writer, and public figure, Larry David has made a considerable living by being cantankerous, contrary, and dissatisfied, perpetually whining about the status qu...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Never mind the poisonous noise from certain quarters about the nontraditional casting of the actors in filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. All the racism and transphobia and the whining about s...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

A young woman makes a bargain with her fiancé that would give each of them license to sleep with one famous person — presumably one time only and ostensibly with no negative repercussions on their rel...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

As an actress, Olivia Wilde can project fierce intellect as well as earthiness, whether she’s playing serious or silly. Those traits seem to be inherent to the woman herself and serve her well as she ...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Wandering through a preview of the ornate color blast that is the Forever Grateful exhibition of Grateful Dead memorabilia at the Haight Street Art Center, I couldn’t help but reflect on the Bay Area ...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

The release of Toy Story 5 this past weekend is yet another landmark in the saga of Pixar Animation Studios, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company that has produced 30 full-length movies since the firs...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

A welcome rebuke to divisiveness and intolerance wherever it lurks, the Frameline media-arts organization — renowned bastion and supporter of queer cinema — is presenting the 50th edition of its annua...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

If anyone understands the glories, pitfalls, and perils of the music industry well enough to make a movie (or five) on the subject, it would be John Carney who, prior to his impressive career as a dir...

The barrage of content produced for the profusion of networks, cable channels, and streamers means that there will inevitably be some hits and some misses. While conventional television programs court...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Flagrantly distinctive Oakland, Calif.-born filmmaker, rapper, songwriter, and activist Boots Riley rails against the machine with a torrent of gags in his sophomore movie, I Love Boosters, and award-...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

Depending on your perspective, the rise of computers, smartphones, and digital media can be seen as a boon or a threat, especially as AI becomes more pervasive and invasive. It’s safe to say there are...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

It’s almost a cheat to point out that the various wooly creatures sharing the screen with some familiar and well-regarded live actors in the whimsical mystery movie The Sheep Detectives are largely co...

YouTube video by Michael Snyder

With the ongoing expansion and sophistication of global cinema and television, it’s hard to imagine anyone in the English-speaking audience would blanch at watching something of high quality that was ...