Liars and Saints

 "Mother Simpson" has a terrific mystery plot: The Simpson children must reconstruct Mona's past even as events in the present become distracting. Mona's elaborate story spills out. But the core of the episode is how Homer relates to his mother. Homer is mortified to ruin a tender moment after a hyperactive fish falls from the sky and lands in his underpants. Mona (appropriately) soothes Homer. Later, Mona tries to have a serious conversation with Lisa while occasionally reassuring Homer that his cartwheels are "very impressive." A detail I love is that Mona uses the word "rapport" with Lisa. Lisa doesn't bother to brag that she knows what the word means. Instead, she expresses her delight that Mona--unlike so many other adults--has not tried to condescend to Lisa by searching for a monosyllabic synonym. Condescension is belittling *both* to the teacher *and* to the student. Of course Lisa would understand this. Finally, the episode carries its...

  One of the nicest touches in "Tony" is Mrs. Bourdain, who pounces when her son mispronounces the word "Bildungsroman." She trashes a bag of records that her husband has left in the living room -- then disingenuously says that a bag on the floor is always, categorically, just a piece of trash. When her son goes missing, she quickly gets lost in a marital fight; somehow, she forgets to keep her eyes on the prize, which is the chance to locate her son. The script doesn't "dig in" to Mrs. Bourdain's standard-variety misery. It just lightly touches on a few odd moments -- and this is enough to let us know that we have certainly met (and maybe lived next door to) someone very much like Mrs. Bourdain. There are other surprises. In an American coming-of-age movie, we might expect the flawed main characters to have hearts of gold. But Leo Woodall's character is mostly reprehensible. He seems to be cruising close to "self-destruction" territo...

 "The Amateur" is the story of Mira, who will almost certainly be a character on the big screen within the next few years. Like Christina Ricci in "The Ice Storm," Mira is a teen in an affluent suburb in the 1970s. No one watches her very closely (and this is a problem). Having survived an attempted assault, Mira goes after her attacker. She is a skilled golfer; she destroys the guy's car with a 9-iron. She does not explain the context surrounding her behavior--the world has never been very welcoming to victims of assault, and the world of the 1970s is especially problematic. So Mira acquires a reputation for being "troubled." Then the story takes a turn unlike any other turn I've seen in any novel. Mira is practicing her swing in one of those enormous "golf tents" you see here and there--next to a row of batting cages. The owner of the tent has not followed instructions. A tent should be installed in an area that adjoins a wall; instead,...

  There is that peculiar strain of masochism -- the strain that leads parents to host kiddo parties free of alcohol, free of sunlight, free of food. Last weekend, my family went to "the Funplex," a kind of dungeon in which small children assault one another with foam bricks. "You can tell times have changed," said one dad. "Now, all the arcade games are, like, virtual reality games." I would rather eat glass than participate in this conversation. "So crazy!" I said. "Times change!" What a relief it is to have pop music. At some point, Carly Rae Jepsen's breakout hit began to play. Really charming. What people fail to note is that the music video is icing on the cake -- Carly Rae falls for a local guitarist but discovers, in the climactic moments, that he is gay. I would cross a lake of fire for Carly Rae Jepsen. She is now working on a musical with Lena Dunham. At the party, Sunday, there were exactly zero dads who could discuss thi...

  Nothing matters except character development. In "The Widow's Broom," an actual broom takes center stage. It once belonged to a witch. But it lost its power to fly. That doesn't mean it has fully lost its magic--it can still sweep on its own, play the piano, and chop wood. It can also feed the chickens. At least from Salem onward, stories involving witches have tended to touch on gender politics. In "The Widow's Broom," the men among the townspeople despise the broom. They find it unnerving. By contrast, the women notice that the broom is quite helpful with domestic chores. The broom's new owner--Minna, a widow--becomes inspired by the broom's resourcefulness. She plays a "witchy" trick to ensure that she will have the future that she actually wants. I live in a small town, and I sometimes deal with meanness and stupidity (and this is often when I'm communicating with someone who works within my son's school district). To me, ...

  The Times had a terrific piece about Madonna's dance career this weekend. A friend of Madonna's--Stephen Sondheim--was especially fond of Madonna's sense of self-discipline. The NYT supports Sondheim's verdict. For me, the Times helped to "reposition" one of the classic Madonna numbers, "Express Yourself." (It's stunning to me that--for four music videos--Madonna's team selected a director who would go on to make "Panic Room," "Mindhunter," and "Zodiac." Can any other pop star claim anything like that?) The film for "Express Yourself" was--in its day--among the most expensive music videos ever made. It is a "dystopian industrial pop epic influenced by Fritz Lang." On its surface, the song seems to borrow from Merry Clayton: "If you wanna know if he loves you so...it's in his kiss." But it's a bit less passive than Merry Clayton. "He" has to express himself--but ...