reviews

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Goode Family Not Great
 Goode Family Not Great 
TV review
May 27, 2009 9:02 AM CDT

Goode Family Not Great

A few good jokes, but show's aim seems off

(Newser) - The Goode Family, an animated series about an eco-obsessed, passionately politically correct family that airs tonight on ABC, is fairly funny, but leaves reviewers scratching their heads:
  • It “feels aggressively off-kilter with the current mood, as if it had been incubated in the early to mid-’90s,” writes
...

Grey Gardens a Grim Retelling of Odd Duo's Life

Latest incarnation has its 'flaws'

(Newser) - The riches-to-rags story of an eccentric mother and daughter—relatives of Jackie O, no less—who gained fame for their destitute existence in a 1975 documentary gets another retelling in HBO's Grey Gardens. Critics aren't overly excited:
  • The movie "fills in bittersweet blanks” left by the original documentary, writes
...

New Google Voice Offering a 'Dutiful but Klutzy Secretary'

Features like voicemail transcription are great, but far from flawless

(Newser) - Google’s Voice feature, offered in free beta for now, bundles all your phone numbers into one “Google number,” and records, transcribes, emails, and archives voicemails, allowing you to respond via texts sent from your computer. It “has some brilliant features,” Courtney Banks writes in the...

ER Checks Out Tonight
 ER Checks Out Tonight 
critical roundup
Apr 2, 2009 10:54 AM CDT

ER Checks Out Tonight

Critics, fans, brace for last episode tonight

(Newser) - After 15 seasons, viewers will make their final trip to County General Hospital tonight in the series finale of ER. Critics and fans are reflecting on the groundbreaking show:
  • Mixing “medical triumph” with “personal angst,” ER “may have begun as a show about salvation, but it
...

Decades Later, Hair Still Swings
 Decades Later, Hair Still Swings 
Theater review
Apr 1, 2009 11:00 AM CDT

Decades Later, Hair Still Swings

Critics love 'exuberant' revival

(Newser) - Bursting with energy, the Broadway revival of Hair, recently moved indoors from Central Park, has wowed critics—though there are a few gripes. What they had to say:
  • “Hair, for all its references to hippies, Vietnam, free love and the revolution, feels utterly of the moment in its exuberance,
...

Critics Bowled Over by World's Cheapest Car

 Critics Bowled Over 
 by World's Cheapest Car 
Auto review
Mar 26, 2009 10:00 AM CDT

Critics Bowled Over by World's Cheapest Car

It's $2K, but the Tata Nano provides bang for your buck

(Newser) - India unveiled the world's cheapest car this week, and a few lucky drivers took the $2,000 Tata Nano for a test drive. Their reactions:
  • “A surprisingly smooth ride. Thrifty transport is not meant to be this comfortable,” writes Randeep Ramesh in the Guardian. “Built for functional
...

New Safari 4 Frustrates, but Is Blazing Fast
New Safari 4 Frustrates, but
Is Blazing Fast 
SOFTWARE REVIEW
Mar 5, 2009 1:00 PM CST

New Safari 4 Frustrates, but Is Blazing Fast

Apple browser's UI improvements flop, but halve load times

(Newser) - Apple’s new Safari 4 browser is the fastest available by far, Walter Mossberg writes in the Wall Street Journal, but the much-hyped “user-interface changes are a big disappointment.” In most cases, Safari just follows other browsers with helpful improvements to its format. But moving tabs to the...

Critics: Better Luck Next Time, Jimmy

They're unimpressed, but ready to give him a chance

(Newser) - Critics weren’t wowed by last night’s debut of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon—but they were willing to cut Jimmy some slack for his “opening-night nerves.” Still, some noted, the show didn’t make good on its promise to be different.
  • “A typically stiff debut
...

Disney Kidcom Screams Miley Ripoff
 Disney Kidcom 
 Screams Miley 
 Ripoff 
tv review
Feb 7, 2009 7:43 PM CST

Disney Kidcom Screams Miley Ripoff

(Newser) - Still enthralled with Miley Cyrus, Disney is rolling out a so-so show starring its latest "'Hannah'-mannered" glam-girl, Tom Shales writes in the Washington Post. Sonny With a Chance stars Demi Lovato as a comic on an SNL-ish sketch-comedy show. "Not a bad idea in theory," ...

Chiropractor Sues Over Bad Online Review

San Fran libel case could break back of review sites

(Newser) - A chiropractor's lawsuit has the potential to break the back of the online business-review industry, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The bone-cracker is suing a client who posted a complaint on review site Yelp that suggested he was dishonest with insurance companies. "I think he is trying to scare...

Stage Shrek Is Lumbering but Lovable
 Stage Shrek Is 
 Lumbering but Lovable 
theater review
Dec 15, 2008 12:14 PM CST

Stage Shrek Is Lumbering but Lovable

Show lacking in 'inspiration'

(Newser) - Shrek the Musical has its moments, but in the end, it contradicts its own message that substance trumps what’s on the surface, writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times. The “leaden” show presents a “cavalcade of storybook effigies” that “feels like 40 blocks’ worth of...

Gran Torino is Vintage Eastwood
 Gran Torino is Vintage Eastwood 
Movie Review
Dec 12, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Gran Torino is Vintage Eastwood

(Newser) - Clint Eastwood has hinted that Gran Torino might be his last gig in front of the camera, and “it is a humdinger of a valedictory,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone. The movie, which tells the tale of a bigoted Korean War vet’s redemptive attempt to clean...

Skip Doctor-Rating Websites
 Skip Doctor-Rating Websites 
OPINION
Nov 28, 2008 5:15 PM CST

Skip Doctor-Rating Websites

Physicians find sites mostly content-free, easily manipulated

(Newser) - The Internet allows people to rate just about anything, so you’d think that rate-your-doctor websites would be a useful, possibly even live-saving resource, right? Not so, writes Kent Sepkowitz for Slate. A physician himself, Sepkowitz set out to find out what he could learn about himself and various colleagues....

Colbert's Christmas Parody Tacky But Fun

Stephen tries too hard in special, but fans will enjoy it

(Newser) - Stephen Colbert fans will find much to love in his parody of old-time Christmas specials, though critics carp that the gags are too long and chuckles too few. “Colbert is delightful,” writes Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times, but “the show is too long and more...

At Long Last, Chinese Democracy
 At Long Last, 
 Chinese Democracy 
REVIEW
Nov 11, 2008 12:53 PM CST

At Long Last, Chinese Democracy

15-year wait is over for GN'R fans

(Newser) - It’s been 15 years since the last Guns N’ Roses album, but loyal fans can rest assured, Chinese Democracy “sounds a lot like the Guns n' Roses you know,” writes David Fricke for Rolling Stone. Axl Rose and his army of supporting players, from Buckethead to Nine...

Holmes Holds Own on Stage
 Holmes Holds Own on Stage 
theater review
Oct 17, 2008 5:53 PM CDT

Holmes Holds Own on Stage

Supporting performer is center of attention in Broadway production of All My Sons

(Newser) - In a perfect world, stars John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest would be the center of attention in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. “In this world, however, Mrs. Tom Cruise is playing a supporting role,” writes Natalie Finn of E!. So with tabloid-lovers watching...

Google G1: Nice Try, But No iPhone
 Google G1: 
 Nice Try, 
 But No iPhone 
product review
Oct 16, 2008 10:27 AM CDT

Google G1: Nice Try, But No iPhone

Gadget impresses but won't keep Apple up nights

(Newser) - Google's upcoming G1 is the first real rival to the iPhone, but the different gadgets "are likely to attract different types of users," Walt Mossberg writes in the Wall Street Journal. Making phone calls was a lot easier on the G1, which worked great with Google services, Mossberg...

Revealing Radcliffe Carries Equus


 Revealing 
 Radcliffe 
 Carries 
 Equus 
theater review
Sep 26, 2008 1:10 PM CDT

Revealing Radcliffe Carries Equus

Harry Potter star delivers 'intense' performance

(Newser) - Daniel Radcliffe takes on a “mothball-preserved, off-the-rack part” as a teenage stable boy who blinds horses in the Broadway debut of Equus, and “wears it like a tailor’s delight,” writes Ben Brantley of the New York Times. Radcliffe’s “beautifully understated” acting and his “...

New Season Turns Heroes Into Victims
 New Season Turns 
 Heroes Into Victims 
TV REVIEW
Sep 22, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

New Season Turns Heroes Into Victims

Generation Y's 'woe is us' attitude blindingly reflected in NBC's sci-fi drama

(Newser) - Beginning their third season tonight, the scrappy band of young world-savers of NBC’s Heroes is just in time, Alessandra Stanley writes in the New York Times. The dangers they have to face, from a sinister conglomerate started by their parents to deadly viruses, make a convenient parallel to the...

Roth's Latest Doesn't Measure Up
 Roth's Latest 
 Doesn't Measure Up 
BOOK Review
Sep 17, 2008 6:11 PM CDT

Roth's Latest Doesn't Measure Up

New Novel's protagonist too earnest for a fun read, says Kakutani

(Newser) - Unlike the emotionally twisted and tortured heroes of Philip Roth's finer works, the dead 19-year-old narrator of Indignation is an uncomplicated soul—and the novel suffers because of its milquetoast protagonist, writes Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times. "All of Marcus' unrelieved niceness makes for a somewhat pallid...

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