True Blood

Finale recap: "True Blood"

Heather Havrilesky — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:12:00 PDT

"I need you, and Sookie needs you to make this right."

A guide to vampire fiction with real bite

Laura Miller — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:23:00 PDT

Seventeen years ago a high school cheerleader in Southern California learned that she was the one girl of her generation chosen to stop the spread of evil -- namely, by slaying vampires. The cinematic incarnation of Buffy Summers wasn't a notable success, but when she returned five years later, this time to the small screen, a cult classic was born.

I Like to Watch

Heather Havrilesky — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:13:00 PDT

"Not to be disrespectful, but if I don't get this money, someone is going to die." That's what a man making threats against the president told a bank teller a few weeks ago -- which is sort of like saying, "Not to be rude, but I may have to bash in your kneecaps with this baseball bat," or "I don't mean to interrupt, but this room is rigged with plastic explosives."

Finale wrap-up: "True Blood"

Heather Havrilesky — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:48:00 PST

Now at least we know what happens to a vampire when he ventures out into broad daylight: He starts to fry like bacon! His head turns red and black and oozes and smokes! But could Bill (Stephen Moyer) end up disfigured forever, thanks to his efforts to save Sookie (Anna Paquin) from that vampire-hater Rene (Michael Raymond James)? Would Sookie merely pity poor charred Bill, then set her sights on Sam (Sam Trammell) -- who actually saved her life, after all, instead of falling to the ground, a smoking, crispy shadow of his former self?

The HBO "It Boy"

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:50:00 PST

Alexander Skarsgård has a slightly superior air about him. Something in the way he squares his shoulders, in his unapologetic stare, in his swagger, feels at once inscrutable and slightly world-weary. The set of his jaw tells us that he finds mortals like us amusing, if somewhat pathetic.

I Like to Watch

Heather Havrilesky — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:20:00 PST

I'm over this fall TV season. Like a dull girl who hides her below-average intelligence by cultivating a mysterious vibe -- mostly by keeping her mouth shut and refusing to put out -- the fall TV season somehow teased us into submission. She flashed a little thigh in mid-June, made one half-assed joke at the television critics' tour in late July, claimed not to believe in sex before marriage throughout September (while sleeping around like a filthy whore behind our backs), then she threw herself on us in October, sticking a rough, sluggy tongue down our throats and pledging her undying love forever and ever while we reeled in agony.

Arab-American beauty

Andrew O'Hehir — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:47:00 PDT

Warner Independent Pictures

Peter Macdissi and Summer Bishil in "Towelhead."

Vampires that don't suck

Joy Press — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:00:00 PDT

In "Six Feet Under," Alan Ball created a show about death that was exuberantly full of life. His characters were maddeningly self-absorbed, over-expressive and haunted by loss; they were also unforgettable. One of the best TV series of the last decade, "Six Feet" set mundane elements of life -- eating breakfast, bickering with a parent, taking out the trash -- against the creepy backdrop of a funeral parlor. Ball proved that he could weave morbid extremes into subtle drama: Whole conversations sometimes took place over corpses splayed on marble blocks, or with mourners sobbing just around the corner.

I Like to Watch

Heather Havrilesky — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:00:00 PDT

The world is filled with hot-tempered vampires, whether they're bearing down on you in their 18-wheelers on the freeway or unleashing their ill-mannered children on yours in daycare. Most recently, reports indicate that hot-tempered vampires are manning the phones at AT&T, which is why, from the dark confines of their blackout-shaded offices, they so viciously refuse to explain the unauthorized charges on your phone bill.