Peculiar Reviewer

Giving blood transfusions to the masses is no longer (sort of) the motive of the makers of True Blood . When the eternal storylines had become outlandish since Season 4 with the addition of about 96 new characters per season, the show forced their audience to no longer be unable to focus on the main characters - we had lost our True faith. So it's refreshing that they've put the gear in neutral and calmed the bleep down in this final Season 7, given that ratings have gone down since Season 5. SPOILERS below (if you aren't caught up) In the latest episode "Fire in the Hole," we discover that Sarah Newlin is alive-and-kickin' and still into faux guru s, a weeping Pam finds Eric Northman who has been infected with the Hepatitis V virus, and Eric's hair was out of control in 1986 Paris. Alcide is now doing half-nude New Balance ads in the forest ? True has incorporated a classic horror theme of the townspeople turning on "the hero" (Sam Merl...

Julia Roberts has had a recent turn in her 25+ year career as America's Sweetheart - to a fearless performer. She was a force to be reckoned with in last year's Oscar nominated August: Osage County , even opposite Meryl Streep, Roberts was the leading lady who carried the film. For this, it was no shock to me that she gripped me once again as Dr. Emma Brookner in Ryan Murphy 's TV movie The Normal Heart , which premiered this week on HBO. Roberts plays a brave doctor (based on Dr. Linda Laubenstein) who suffers from polio, who, although glued to her wheelchair, spends her days as one of the only doctors researching and attempting to save gay men's lives in the early 1980s during the HIV-AIDS crisis. Based on Larry Kramer's 1985 Off-Broadway production, Kramer serves as screenwriter on this film version of The Normal Heart, which took director Ryan Murphy years to obtain the rights to.   Mark Ruffalo plays the lead as Ned Weeks, the openly gay New York writ...

In the Season 3, Episode 7 episode of Girls "Beach House," the foursome get away from the city for the weekend at a decadent estate that Marnie setup in hopes of stitching back the girls' bond. From the opening segment of "Dame" Marnie's classical BBC opening of the double French doors, we know we're in for a 30-minute staycation with Girls . Marnie carefully places fresh flowers and place cards on each assigned bed, inviting us to the special occasion at the beach house (at least, according to Marnie). The turmoil between Marnie and Hannah, caused by Marnie sleeping with Hannah's gay friend Elijah, still ensues. Marnie has already planned her Sisters of the Traveling Pants time for her friends, but her plans are shaken up when Elijah and his gay friends arrive to the beach house (per Hannah's request after running into him). Elijah serves as Hannah's escape from drill sergeant Marnie, as well as all of those who misunderstand her quirks....

Jesus' beard, I have missed Larry David in my life. It's been two years since David's genius comedy improv show Curb Your Enthusiasm has been on the air, finishing its eighth season on HBO in 2011. Larry David is back as the star and co-writer of the HBO comedy film Clear History , which tells the story of Nathan Flomm, a marketing executive at Electron Motors who developed the first electric car "The Howard," along with his partner (and boss) Will Haney, played by Jon Hamm ( Mad Men ). Flomm then sells his share of what would become a billion dollar investment, due entirely to his neurotic ways. Larry David dons a homeless beard, a Jesus-gone-wrong hairdo, and a Hawaiian shirt while working at the office, who, as Danny McBride put, "looks like the guy who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart" - a worse office getup than Curb 's "casual Friday" episode. The brains behind Edible Arrangements, Flomm asks pressing social questions like: "why ar...

I'm slightly late broadcasting the news about HBO 's fresh series  The Newsroom , as I'm sure many are along with me. Few television series have revolved around broadcast journalism - the '90s had NewsRadio  and Just Shoot Me!  - both were sitcoms, focusing more on situations between colleagues, doing what situation comedies do. There hasn't been a solid drama. The Newsroom has changed that. Writer/creator Aaron Sorkin ( The West Wing , The Social Network ) captures the anxieties and stress of not only reporting events in the nick of time, but also being able to provide the news - unfiltered. Powerhouse Jeff Daniels plays the "number two news anchor in ratings" Will McAvoy, who returns to his cable show "News Night" to discover that he has been given a new team of colleagues and producer. Emily Mortimer ( City Island , Hugo ) plays McAvoy's newly-hired-producer-behind-his-back MacKenzie McHal...

HBO 's smart new series Enlightened scored this fall season, where Hung left viewers limp and unsatisfied (which is why it got chopped off). Never has the office workplace been so dead-on-screen as the numbing corporation Abaddon (which literally means in Hebrew: the depths of hell), that drives Laura Dern 's ( Wild At Heart , Jurassic Park ) character to seek enlightenment at a Hawaii retreat. Diane Ladd ( Chinatown ) limelight's as seasoned Inland Empire -er Laura Dern's real-life, and fake-life mother, who is aloof when her daughter hugs her. The series co-creator, and writer, Mike White ( Chuck & Buck , The School of Rock ) plays Dern's corporate confidant. Enlightened has been picked up for a second season and will return to HBO next fall. Higher calling coming soon.