Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season arrives on Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate on August 31st. This horror series stars Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Maggie Grace, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia and Keith Carradine.
Nashville is a lengthy but ultimately decent ensemble musical-drama-comedy from Robert Altman and features David Arkin, Barbara Baxley, Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, Jeff Goldblum amongst many, many others.
The West Wing this is not, but Madam Secretary is a fine enough television series with a respectable cast, though some of the writing, and dialogue especially, wasn’t great.
Madam Secretary: Season 4 is pretty much like any of the many other political shows (like Scandal or, going way back, The West Wing) with sort of a more fantasy element compared with real life, though the election certainly gave the writers a field day for some additional drama.
The Moderns is an environmentally rich drama that has shades of Robert Altman which makes sense as director Alan Rudolph was a disciple of his, and even a little Woody Allen in some respects. It’s not the most fascinating tale or anything but the performances by both Keith Carradine and Linda Fiorentino were both top great.
Although the last few seasons of Dexter were flawed (to say the least), the entire series still possesses some entertainment value and one can marvel at the performance by Michael C. Hall who was pretty consistent even in those weaker seasons.
Emperor of the North, also known as Emperor of the North Pole, is an interesting little film no doubt. On the technical and acting front, it’s not a bad flick headlined by veterans Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time has good video/audio transfers however the bonus material is a bit limited.
“Madam Secretary” is an entertaining if not flawed series. Where it lacks in writing and plot, it more than makes up with a respectable ensemble cast including the still charming Téa Leoni leading the pack. I can only hope some of the issues get shored up in the second season but as a freshman series, it’s adequate.
“Missing” The Complete First Season isn’t a well oiled machine compared with other serialized dramas and I suspect if it weren’t a mid-season replacement and only 10-episodes, not to mention starring Ashley Judd, this wouldn’t have been picked up in the first place. Even so, because it’s a short series plus a fantastic cast, it’s worth checking out even with a cliffhanger ending.