Jamie Malanowski

HBO

THE TOP 10 OF 2008

A highly eclectic, hardly systematic accounting of what I liked best in 2008: 1.) THE ELECTION. What a tremendous drama. The characters were strong and well-drawn–too-good-to-be-true Barack Obama, the redoubtable Hillary Clinton, the indomitable and gracious John McCain, and the brilliantly imagined Sarah Palin, among others–plus the well-plotted series of upsets and comebacks, culminating in …

THE TOP 10 OF 2008 Read More »

SAD SADDAM

You’d think that HBO, the network that for seven seasons gave us a perfectly pitched story of the personal and professional life of a criminal monster, would have done a better job with the story of Saddam Hussein, but House of Saddam, a four-part miniseries that begins airing Sunday, disappoints. The son of an interfering …

SAD SADDAM Read More »

LUNCH WITH KAT

Had a happy lunch today with HBO’s endlessly delightful Kat Pongracz at Un Deux Trois. She swore that their new series Generation: Kill will be the greatest thing in military-themed TV since Sgt. Bilko. Plus she paid. (From right to left, above: Kat, me, waiter’s finger.)

COUNT ON RECOUNT

Political buffs, malcontents, and those who wish to stay home and avoid Indiana Jonesy-crazed throngs at the tenplex are in for a treat this weekend when HBO debuts Recount, their new film about the most absurd moment in American political history, that is, the election interruptus of 2000. Although the film was directed by Jay …

COUNT ON RECOUNT Read More »