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TV: “GEORGE CARLIN’S AMERICAN DREAM” on HBO, film examines what made the man a genius and shows us the bits that make him resonate today | REVIEW

George Carlin, Gillian Jacobs, Stephen Colbert and Paul Reiser
Directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio

Along with Richard Pryor, George Carlin was a groundbreaker in the comedy world. As Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio’s documentary “George Carlin’s American Dream” shows, the comedian had a comic vision of Nostradamus-like proportions. The film digs deep and gets to the soul of Carlin’s philosophies. The man could be called a comedic prophet, as his political and social work observations are ... more >

“Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn” (REVIEW)

America's most notorious fixer laid bare

(during all of this week, Screen Comment’s Eric Althoff gives readers his take on the choicest films from the 2020 crop of AFI Docs, the world’s premier documentary film festival which took place online this year due to the coronavirus) He was one of the most famous fixers of the last century, he rubbed elbows with everyone from Joseph McCarthy to then-real estate tycoon Donald Trump.  But Roy ... more >

HBO’s “Chernobyl,” a timely and empathic drama about one of the greatest technological disasters of our time

This series is currently airing on HBO

1986’s Chernobyl accident was the result of a flawed reactor design operated by inadequately-trained personnel. The disaster was the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power in which radiation-related fatalities occurred. It’s estimated that the incident resulted in as many as 93,000 fatalities. The HBO miniseries “Chernobyl” examines the domino effect of incompetence and ... more >

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“Game of Thrones” season 8 to begin airing tonight on HBO

A new season is coming

What's "Game of Thrones," you ask? This Shakesperean tragedy with plenty of parallels to be drawn with our century, chockfull of epic battles, sex and betrayal and set in a fantasy medieval-type atmosphere, depicts the epochal clashes between power-hungry monarchies. Each one wants to seize the iron throne, all this action taking place on a continent named Westeros. Bi-partisan? Mythological? ... more >

TFF’11: Marathon Boy

“Marathon Boy” follows the unbelievable story of Budhia Singh, a boy born into the crushing poverty of an Indian slum, sold by his destitute mother, and rescued by a judo coach who runs an orphanage. The coach, Biranchi Das, soon discovers that then-three year-old Budhia has a prodigious talent for running. Jumping on what he sees as a huge opportunity both for himself and the children who ... more >