REVIEW: Veep – Season Seven (2019)

Release Poster – HBO

The following is a review of the seventh and final season of HBO’s Veep.

For seven seasons, Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been the face of the state of American political satire. She has dominated awards ceremonies, cussed out her supporting cast more times than Jesse Pinkman said “Bitch!” on Breaking Bad, and given outstanding performances again and again. But now her time as Selina Meyer is over. She has left an already long-standing satirical legacy that is much more significant than her character’s political legacy if the final shot of Veep is to be believed.

Though Veep changed showrunner over the course of its run, it was almost always a step ahead of the political state of America, even as America seemed insistent on nominating someone for president who would be just as vicious and disinterested as Selina Meyer. As showrunner David Mandel once wrote in a column for The Hollywood Reporter: “there’s nobody more Trumpy than Selina. […] Trump, in a weird way, is sort of doing us. We’re not doing him.” Continue reading “REVIEW: Veep – Season Seven (2019)”

REVIEW: Long Shot (2019)

Theatrical Release Poster – Lionsgate

The following is a review of Long Shot — Directed by Jonathan Levine.

It would appear that I have a soft spot for Jonathan Levine films. His is a name that immediately gets me excited to watch a film if his name is attached to it. I am one of the few who thinks Levine’s 50/50 is a genuine masterpiece of the genre within which it belongs. Furthermore, I think his 2015 holiday film The Night Before has the makings of a modern Christmas classic — in fact, it has already become a tradition for me to watch that film every Christmas. Likewise, I really enjoyed my time with Long Shot, which is Levine’s attempt at Rogenesque romantic comedy with a political twist. While I doubt that Long Shot will become as memorable to me as the aforementioned efforts, I think it is another example of a hip Levine film that goes down well. Continue reading “REVIEW: Long Shot (2019)”