- “Justice is not about popularity…”

- “…but politics is.”

The title of Show Me a Hero is taken from an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.”  So it’s not a surprise that in the hands of David Simon — creator of an all-time great drama with The Wire — this HBO miniseries is short on conventional heroics and long on personal, political, and institutional tragedy.

Following the Lifetime original movie Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is a continuation of the tale about the young woman accused of killing her stepmother and father with an axe.  It’s tricky enough to do a feature length film about real people involved in real events; liberties seem to be taken for the sake of telling a good story.  It’s one of those things that when you see “Based on true events” or “Inspired by true events”; is there a difference, and does it even matter?  Well, if you are watching The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, accept the fact that though the character and her sister are very real, this is hardly biographical, but instead a fun game of “what if” that the creators have done with Lizzie Borden.  And it’s a wild eight-episode ride that they have set the viewers on.

“Can you get me off the hook? For old times’ sake?” 

But it was we who were on Abe Vigoda’s hook. He might have been a character named Fish, but he had us hook, line, and sinker. Godfather fans knew him as the dangerous Sal Tessio. To the Barney Miller faithful he was Detective Fish, who eventually moved to his own spinoff. Certainly, he had many more memorable characters over his nearly 70-year career, but these will likely remain his legacy. He was a reliable character actor on shows like The Rockford Files, Mannix, Hawaii Five-0, Cannon, Dark Shadows, Kojak, MacGyver, Law & Order, and even the voice of a mobster in a Batman animated feature. Last week we lost Abe. He was 94 years old. Fortunately, we’ll never lose Tessio and Fish.

“Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”

Years ago a news magazine, I don’t remember which, conducted a survey. They discovered that more adults knew the names of the Seven Dwarfs than could name seven figures in the federal government, including President, Vice-President, Senate, House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court. They say our educations begin very young. Well, since 1938 our youths have been entertained by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

I’ve never been too big a fan of romantic comedies. They are often too quirky for their own good, and they follow a typically cliché story arch. I do not even enjoy rom-coms from famed comedic directors such as David Wain. Although certain directors do attempt to break the mold, it’s as if the genre is nothing more than a memory foam mattress: you will always fall into place, because it is the most comfortable. That being said, when watching a made-for-TV rom-com such as For Better or for Worse, one can assume there will not be much breaking of the genre conventions.

"This bird you'll never change."

That seems to be the case with the Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Few bands have experienced the level of tragedy this one has. It's somewhat of a miracle that any version of the band would still be standing. But they are thriving and doing their best to keep their particular sound alive. And what better place to demonstrate that nearly 50 years after they were formed than back home in Jacksonville, Florida where the band's original members were formed. (No, they didn't come from Alabama.)

Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and Dopey…these are just a few of the words I would use to describe my mood over the last couple of months as I bought and moved into my first house. More importantly — and much more famously — those are, of course, a few of the iconic title characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which gets a shiny new “Signature Collection” Blu-ray from Disney this week. Cinedigm boards Noah’s Ark, regales us with Extraordinary Tales, and visits Meadowland. Hallmark accepts us For Better or For Worse, and hounds My Boyfriends’ Dogs. HBO comes to the rescue with Show Me a Hero, while Warner Bros. reintroduces us to The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Season 2 and goes out of this world with Falling Skies: Season 5.

Dreamworks crosses a Bridge of Spies, and Entertainment One pulls an all-nighter with From Dusk Till Dawn: Season 2. Lionsgate charts the Rise of the Krays, battles in a Fight to the Finish, advocates in Freeheld, and breaks the curse of The Last Witch Hunter. Sony cuts to the chase with The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, while RLJ Entertainment celebrates All Hallows’ Eve 2, and lays eyes on The Sin Seer.

Steven Spielberg. Tom Hanks. The Coen Brothers. 1957. The Cold War. Mark Rylance. There are a lot of elements to the stew that is Bridge of Spies. Let's start with the most important ingredient. Steven Spielberg has been a household name for decades now as the most reliable producer/director of movie entertainment we may have ever seen. His name is so synonymous with big-screen entertainment that he needs no introduction from me. But he has been trying to get away from pure entertainment for a long while now, often with great success.

"Never underestimate the impact of dramatic entrance!"

It's hard to maintain the attention of the 21st-century child. Animated movies have to combine enough elements of charm and action to keep their attention for a little under two hours. If you want to keep a franchise going, you have to rip out your sequels in reasonably tight schedules. It's been over four years since Kung Fu Panda 2, and we waited nearly that long between the first and second entry. That's a long time in a culture where we move from fad to fad almost by the hour.

With a few slight changes and additions, Sin Seer could have been quite something. As is, it is far from the worst film that I have ever seen, but there were a few areas that upon examination did not make much sense, such as in what world would we ever allow a convicted felon to carry a weapon? There are a few other things; however, I will let you marinate on that question, as it is one that plagued me for much of the movie’s duration. Our story opens up at a prison; convicted felon Grant Summit (Isaiah Washington) is released after serving an undetermined amount of time for the death of at least three people. OK, let’s just pause there.