Author Archives: Coffeecat
Review: In the Next Room at Playmakers
In a time when, uh, “personal massagers” are available in the $4 bins at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, it’s amusing and unsettling to look back at an era when many women had no idea that “marital relations” could be anything … Continue reading
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior: Reclaiming Indiana Jones for Asia?
“Hi Spielberg, let’s do it together,” reads a graffitied message on a wall in one scene from Tony Jaa’s Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior. It’s a invitation for Spielberg to cast him in a film. That’s one offer Spielberg should be glad to … Continue reading
‘Life’s’ Mammals Episode: When ‘Planet Earth’ Goes Oprah
Review of the ‘Mammals’ episode of Life. All nature shows anthropomorphize their subjects, often to the degree that they tell us as much about our values and morals as they do about animals. And so it is that Life, the successor to Planet Earth now … Continue reading
Powerful Cinematography and Cool Critters Make “Life” Worth Watching
My husband and I are big fans of Planet Earth, so we were happy to hear about its creators had made a sequel, the 11-part Life (airing Sundays on the Discovery Channel). For the most part, Life is a worthy successor. Like Planet Earth, it combines … Continue reading
The 80′s Were Cheesy In China, Too
Lately my husband, who’s Chinese-American, has been looking up songs he remembers from his childhood on YouTube. He showed me the following video, of Taiwainese pop star Fei Xiang performing on the 1987 CCTV Chinese New Year Gala, and we … Continue reading
Trekkin’ Through The Stargate: Trek Actors On Stargate SG-1
Over the past few months, my husband and I have been watching Stargate SG-1 (thanks, Hulu!). And, being big Trek fans, we couldn’t help but notice the many ways the show borrows from and plays off of (and, in a couple of … Continue reading
The Trouble With “Wicked”
The Trouble With Wicked Contains spoilers. My husband and I went to see Wicked over Christmas break. It’s a big, baroque spectacle of a musical, with soaring songs, intricate sets, and steampunky costumes in a Venetian palette. What sets it apart from other … Continue reading
The Best of Jean-Luc Picard
In honor of Patrick Stewart’s being knighted, I’ve collected ten of the moments, scenes, episodes, and incidents that make Captain Jean-Luc Picard one of the great characters in television history. He was one of the main reasons The Next Generation rose above … Continue reading