Recommended In 10 Words or LessFunny chaos that's as relevant as ever Reviewer's Bias*Loves: Laugh-In, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne WorleyLikes: Goldie Hawn, Sammy Davis, Jr. Dislikes: Formulaic comedyHates: Casual racism, how awful things don't just go awayThe ShowA controversial president drowning in scandal, Republican leadership ignoring the poor, social unrest, civil-rights battles, racism, clashes over reproductive rights, gender inequality, international strife...boy, the late 60s were a mess, huh? Thank goodness we've come a long way over the past 50 years. I mean, if we hadn't, then revisiting Dan Rowan and Dick Martin's Laugh-In would feel incredibly relevant and frustrating, watching…

Highly Recommended Decoy a one-season undercover cop show from 1957-58, was unknown to this reviewer until it turned up in our unwanted screener pile. Because it starred cult actress Beverly Garland I was moderately curious to see it, only to discover that it's an unusual, even groundbreaking series of exceptional interest. For starters, it was the first - and still among the very few - American cop show with a female protagonist. One would imagine that, Decoy coming from the 1950s, that a male co-star would have been required to do all the heavy lifting, to sweep in and save…

Skip It Director: Patrick JohnsonStarring: Nate Rubin, Kris Kiley, Brina PalenciaYear: 2015Your guess is as good as mine as to why American Pie worked when so many other coming-of-age sex comedies die a terrible death as soon as they hit the screen, some as soon as they hit the straight-to-DVD shelves. Maybe it was Eugene Levy, maybe it was the pie, who knows, but that film is now a classic, and in comparison, The High Schoolers Guide to College Parties will never be. Not only will it never become a classic, it will never be seen by more than the…

Highly Recommended In 10 Words or LessYoung female friendship portrayed perfectlyReviewer's Bias*Loves: The look of classic cinema, Peter SellersLikes: Positive female relationshipsDislikes: Rich peopleHates: Running into old casual racism, adulterersThe MovieGeorge Roy Hill, who would go on to win an Oscar for The Sting, while directing a string of well-regarded films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the iconic Slap Shot, started off his feature-film career with stage adaptations before tackling Nora Johnson's novel, The World of Henry Orient. Obviously his earlier work, including his time with "Playhouse 90" and "Kraft Theater", set him up well to tackle…

Highly Recommended The Show: A staple of syndicated television in the half-century since it originally went off the air, Perry Mason is the kind of show that is so firmly ingrained in pop culture that it is easy to take it for granted. With its formulaic mystery-story approach, it can be considered influential upon any number of courtroom and crime shows, for better and worse, and it's hard to imagine a more iconic fictional lawyer than Raymond Burr's stoic, sly, and sometimes streetwise L.A. attorney.The original run of Perry Mason started in 1957 and ended after nine seasons in 1966.…