Chris Vognar

‘The Chair Company’ and ‘Bugonia’ mirror the conspiracy mania of our times - The Boston Globe We're in a thriving new era of conspiracy thrillers in both television and movies.

Wrote about how TV and movies play with our conspiracy-mad “truthiness” times. Remember: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. Also: Watch The Chair Company.

Colleague or colonizer? Netflix swallows Warner Bros. Discovery, and the film industry has feelings - The Boston Globe The streaming giant announced it had struck a deal to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery.

Had some thoughts on Netflix’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. I like Netflix. I don’t like monopolies. But: If the film industry is so worried about the sanctity of the moviegoing experience, perhaps it should consider making the moviegoing experience suck less.

Netflix’s ‘The Abandons’ adds to the long list of fierce women in Westerns - The Boston Globe Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey join a long line of fierce female protagonists in westerns.

Netflix’s new series The Abandons got me thinking about westerns that put women high in the saddle, including two of my favorites: Johnny Guitar and The Furies. Mess with Barbara Stanwyck at your own risk.

Jazz bass giant Ron Carter brings his ‘crown jewel’ quartet to Regattabar - The Boston Globe Carter remains a dynamo as he prepares to bring his New Foursight quartet to Cambridge’s Regettabar for four shows.

Had the pleasure of speaking with bass maestro Ron Carter, the rhythmic dynamo of the second great Miles Davis Quintet. He’s still very much active at 88. Carter brings his New Foursight Quartet to Regattabar in Cambridge this weekend.

The hardwood lessons and self-aware white savior complex of ‘The White Shadow’ - The Boston Globe A '70s teen basketball series offered a sly look at race relations.

Have some Salami. And some Coolidge. And some Thorpe. In this week’s installment of Autopilot we look back to the start of The White Shadow, as self-aware as white savior stories come. This show was 10-year-old Vognar’s jam. It also turned out to be a future directors factory.

A new HBO doc shows how the 1985 Chicago Bears did the Super Bowl Shuffle - The Boston Globe The video was recorded the day after the Bears suffered a humiliating loss to the Miami Dolphins.

I’m not here to start no trouble.
I’m just here to write about The Super Bowl Shuffle. Or at least the new HBO doc The Shuffle, which tells the story of the ‘85 Chicago Bears novelty rap hit and video. I didn’t realize they taped the video the day after getting beat down by the Dolphins on MNF.

Wong Kar-wai is the latest movie master to go TV with ‘Blossoms Shanghai’ - The Boston Globe The series, from the director of "In the Mood for Love," begins streaming on the Criterion Channel on Nov. 24.

Everyone is doing TV these days — including the great Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. His first-ever series, Blossoms Shanghai, premieres tonight on The Criterion Channel. It’s set amidst the Chinese stock market boom of the ‘90s, and boasts the same stylish sensuousness as his movies.

When Steven Spielberg helped launch ‘Columbo’ - The Boston Globe The Peter Falk series had all its trademark characteristics from the start.

Just one more thing: In this week’s Autopilot installment I revisit the glorious first episode of Columbo. Directed by some guy named Spielberg.

A city on the brink and a headline for the ages take center stage in ‘Drop Dead City’ - The Boston Globe President Gerald Ford didn’t actually tell the city of New York to drop dead.

Vognar to readers: Watch Drop Dead City, a good doc about the story behind the headline.

John Edgar Wideman writes about life with the lively rhythms of jazz - The Boston Globe Yes, it's an essay collection but this is like a written form of jazz, a musical genre to which Wideman returns frequently.

John Edgar Wideman’s essays read like poetry and flow like great jazz. And nobody writes better about basketball. I reviewed his new collection, Languages of Home: Essays on Writing, Hoop, and American Lives.

‘Armed Only with a Camera’ spotlights the first American journalist killed in the war in Ukraine - The Boston Globe The short documentary, now streaming on HBO Max, tells the story of Brent Renaud.

Documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud was the first American journalist killed in the war in Ukraine. Armed Only with a Camera, now streaming on HBO Max, spotlights his compassionate tenacity.

‘The Civil War’? ‘Baseball’? Ranking the 10 best Ken Burns documentary series - The Boston Globe How does "The American Revolution" land among other Ken Burns projects? Read on to find out.

A few months ago my editor suggested we might send our readers into a frenzy by ranking the ten best Ken Burns projects. Our readers really like Ken Burns. And I am not one to pass up a healthy frenzy.

The damn fine ‘Twin Peaks’ began with deeply earnest strangeness - The Boston Globe The series is unlike any other primetime soap opera.

This week in my Autopilot series, I try to conjure what it was like to first watch Twin Peaks. A damn fine pilot episode.

‘The American Revolution’ is the answer to the binge-watch - The Boston Globe In its ambitions and scope, the latest docuseries from co-director Ken Burns rewards slower viewing.

You say you want a Revolution: Ken Burns’ 12-hour deep dive into the American Revolution should be savored, not binged. It’s a reminder of how rich, unwieldy, and brutally violent the country’s founding was.

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys match wits in Netflix’s stellar ‘The Beast in Me’ - The Boston Globe Two of television's best actors unite in a psychological thriller.

Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, in an acting league of their own in the new Netflix thriller The Beast in Me.

‘It’s very humbling’: Rakim reflects on being inducted into Berklee’s Hip-Hop Hall of Fame - The Boston Globe The emcee, best known as one-half of Eric B. & Rakim, joins the ranks of past inductees like Roxanne Shanté and Edo.G this Thursday.

Spoke with Rakim as Berklee College of Music prepares to induct him into its hip-hop Hall of Fame. A singular presence on the mic, he helped make hip-hop a modern art form. “I was trying to make my name in the game, but I had no idea it would resonate with people the way it did,” he told me.

The quicksilver pacing of ‘Arrested Development’ created comedy gold - The Boston Globe The Bluth family, introduced in speedy order, stands out for the distinctive reasons they're all a bit craven and bumbling.

My Autopilot series returns with an appreciation of Arrested Development. One of those moments when you immediately knew you were looking at something special.

In Vince Gilligan’s ‘Pluribus,’ one woman fights the tyranny of happiness and conformity - The Boston Globe Rhea Seehorn stars in a dark comedy about a misanthrope's right to be unhappy.

In Pluribus, one woman’s rebellion against an alien positivity virus. It’s got promise, and deserves time to grow.

From ‘Bad Santa’ to the amazingly bad ‘Star Wars Holiday Special,’ a feast of holiday streaming options - The Boston Globe No matter your level of holiday spirit, you'll find something to watch.

We got your Bad Santa. We got your Star Wars Holiday Special. And of course George Bailey. I regret never getting a drink at Nick’s Bar. In any case, here’s my holiday streaming guide.

Netflix’s ‘Death by Lightning’ presents a story of assassination and a great historical could-have-been - The Boston Globe Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfadyen, and some incredible 19th-century facial hair star in a series about the assassination of James Garfield.

Netflix’s Death by Lightning is about a great man (President James Garfield) killed by a delusional man obsessed with greatness (Charles Guiteau), and by some incompetent doctors. Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfayden are both excellent. It tells a good story in only four episodes. How bout that.

In ‘Vice,’ Christian Bale played Dick Cheney as a strategic, cagey power player - The Boston Globe The film has its flaws, but it also has one nearly perfect scene.

Not a big fan of Adam McKay’s “Vice.” But I love the scene where Christian Bale’s Cheney jujitsus Sam Rockwell’s Bush into the imperial vice presidency.

Beyond ‘Nouvelle Vague’: Five classic French New Wave films to stream - The Boston Globe Get a crash course in Jean-Luc Godard and other filmmakers.

I put together a very brief, by no means complete French New Wave watch list for those looking to go deeper after Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague.” Vive le cinema.

Living the influencer life (and making it very funny) in Rachel Sennott’s ‘I Love LA’ - The Boston Globe The new HBO series turns a sharp eye on the lives of young people in LA.

Introducing HBO’s I Love LA, the TV comedy for the influencer age. It’s quite funny and self-aware. And it makes fine use of the Randy Newman song.

‘The Great Pumpkin’ as symbol of hope, delusion, and ... QAnon? - The Boston Globe It's the 59th anniversary of "The Great Pumpkin," Charlie Brown.

It’s Halloween, which means Linus is still waiting for JFK Jr., I mean the Great Pumpkin.

Ruth Wilson and Emma Thompson are a dynamic duo in ‘Down Cemetery Road’ - The Boston Globe The show, a twisty paranoid thriller, gives both actresses plenty of good material.

Emma Thompson gives the second best performance in Down Cemetery Road. Which should tell you something about how good Ruth Wilson is. Apple TV has the latest from Mick Herron, the writer behind Slow Horses.

‘All in the Family’? ‘Seinfeld’? Ranking the top 10 network sitcoms of all time - The Boston Globe The shows on TV critic Chris Vognar's list are strictly comedy (no dramedy), and strictly network (as they always said, it's not TV, it's HBO).

Every now and then I will embark on a fool’s errand. Like ranking the top 10 network sitcoms of all time. And forgetting MASH. Man. Lotta MASH fans out there.

The death of the Montreal Expos and the life of Allen Iverson join a golden age of sports documentary on TV - The Boston Globe Between series and one-off films, intimate portraits and dynasty tributes, there’s always something to cheer for or hate-watch.

We live in a golden age of sports documentary. I wrote about two new ones, Netflix’s Who Killed the Montreal Expos? (answer: it was a group effort); and Prime Video’s Allen Iv3rson (bad title, pretty good series). Practice?

H.P. Lovecraft, New England’s master of the macabre, is ready to stream this Halloween - The Boston Globe Find adaptations from a few different masters of the uncanny.

H.P. Lovecraft was a pretty screwed up individual. He’s also the most influential horror writer of the 20th century. For Halloween I wrote about his streamable TV presence, with special emphasis on Night Gallery and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, plus Lovecraft Country.

NBA instigator Draymond Green checks into ‘St. Denis Medical’ - The Boston Globe The Golden State Warriors forward plays a small role in the mockumentary's upcoming season premiere.

You know it’s NBA season because Draymond Green is about to make a cameo as an anonymous patient on St. Denis Medical. His character was struck by lightning. Some NBA fans are probably good with that. Also I get to riff on The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island. Go Warriors.

Paranoia, conspiracy, and Emma Stone with a shaved head drive deadpan comedy in ‘Bugonia’ - The Boston Globe The latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos won't dissuade people who think he's prone to misanthropy.

I wrote about Bugonia and defended my favorite misanthrope, Yorgos Lanthimos.