Articles by: Dan Hirshleifer | Visit Website

Daniel Hirshleifer has been reviewing movies for over a decade, and running them theatrically for half that span. He also has strong opinions on comic books, music, video games and other pop culture phenomena. You can usually find him sneaking through the interwebs, hunting internet trolls.

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05-15-2013

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‘Community’ 4.13 Recap: “I Hear You’re Graduating Kiddie College”

‘Community’ 4.13 Recap: “I Hear You’re Graduating Kiddie College”

The execs at NBC has gone off their meds. First they fire Dan Harmon, leaving him to find out about the news secondhand. Then they renew ‘Community’, but in a shortened order. They delay the start of the season, dumping it towards the end of the regular programming season, where it runs awkwardly through holiday episodes in the wrong time of year. And now, as this poor, tragic saga winds down to a merciful close, NBC renews the show for another season!
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05-10-2013

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‘Happy Endings’ 3.22 & 3.23 Recaps: “Ooh La La, Pepe Le Pew, French Stewart!”

‘Happy Endings’ 3.22 & 3.23 Recaps: “Ooh La La, Pepe Le Pew, French Stewart!”

This may be the end. ABC has aired the final two episodes of ‘Happy Endings’ Season 3. These may be the final two episodes of the series forever, unless ABC offers a last minute renewal, or USA or TBS snaps the show up. If these are to be the end, at least they’re not a bad way to go out – with some slapstick and a whole lot of whimsy.
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05-08-2013

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‘Community’ 4.12 Recap: “What’s an Anarchist to Do Without Her Organization?”

‘Community’ 4.12 Recap: “What’s an Anarchist to Do Without Her Organization?”

The fact that this season of ‘Community’ even exists is a bit of a baffling proposition. By removing Dan Harmon, the show’s creator and driving force, NBC left the series rudderless, and this season has been about finding its focus again. The best episodes have been simple, straight-up sitcom stories about students at Greendale. Rarely have the gimmick episodes had the wit or the originality of those under Harmon’s tenure. Last week’s ‘Heroic Origins’, however, manages to pull a gimmick that serves the story, instead of replacing it.
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04-30-2013

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‘Community’ 4.11 Recap: “And That Is What I Would Be Saying If I Gave a Crap”

‘Community’ 4.11 Recap: “And That Is What I Would Be Saying If I Gave a Crap”

I know that I may sound like a broken record at this point, but this season of ‘Community’ has consistently been at its best when it keeps things focused on the group and keeps the group at Greendale. This was perfectly displayed in last Thursday’s episode, ‘Basic Human Anatomy’. Not only was it one of the funniest episodes of the season, but it was the one that felt the most like it could have come from the Dan Harmon era.
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04-23-2013

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‘Doctor Who’ 7.10 Recap: “How Do Sharks Make Babies?”

‘Doctor Who’ 7.10 Recap: “How Do Sharks Make Babies?”

Some ‘Doctor Who’ episodes, like last week’s ‘Cold War’, lay out exactly what they’re about in the opening scenes, and play that scenario out to the end. Others start you down one path, and then take an abrupt left turn and lead you down another. Saturday’s episode, ‘Hide’, falls into the latter camp.
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04-22-2013

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‘Community’ 4.10 Recap: “No One Wants to Screw the Group”

‘Community’ 4.10 Recap: “No One Wants to Screw the Group”

Thursday’s episode of ‘Community’, called ‘Intro to Knots’, features Malcolm McDowell tied up in a chair for extended periods of time. Under Dan Harmon, this would have led to a smorgasbord of ‘Clockwork Orange‘ gags, but instead, we get a half-hearted homage to Hitchcock’s ‘Rope‘ that does no credit to either the original film or a show that should have knocked this premise out of the park.
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04-16-2013

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‘Community’ 4.09 Recap: “Those Berries Made Us Real Talky… But Not Real Listen-y”

‘Community’ 4.09 Recap: “Those Berries Made Us Real Talky… But Not Real Listen-y”

It was bound to happen eventually. From time to time, ‘Community’ will do a show outside the norm, like the stop-motion Christmas episode, or the 8-bit episode that dealt with Pierce’s inheritance. At their best, these episodes can give us a whole new way of seeing the show. At worst, these episodes feel like a gimmick, not properly utilizing what makes the medium so special. Unfortunately, Thursday’s episode, ‘Intro to Felt Surrogacy’, fell into the latter camp.
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‘Happy Endings’ 3.18 & 3.19 Recaps: “I’m Just Sitting Here with aTowel on My Lap”

‘Happy Endings’ 3.18 & 3.19 Recaps: “I’m Just Sitting Here with aTowel on My Lap”

It seems like ‘Happy Endings’ has had a hard time figuring out what it wants to do this season. First, the show thrust Alex and Dave back together, which has had surprisingly little repercussions, given their history. Then Brad went through an employment crisis, only to come out the other end firmly maintaining the status quo. Now it’s Penny’s turn.
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04-15-2013

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‘Doctor Who’ 7.09 Recap: “Mutually Assured Destruction”

‘Doctor Who’ 7.09 Recap: “Mutually Assured Destruction”

‘Doctor Who’ has a long and storied history. In fact, November of this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the show’s premiere. However, there’s a marked difference between the first run of the show, now referred to as “Classic Who,” and the current run, often referred to as “New Who” or “NuWho.” While many of the writers are fans of Classic Who, the show feels very different now. Saturday’s episode, ‘Cold War’, hearkens back to the early days of the show by combining a Patrick Troughton-esque Second Doctor story with the return of a villain last seen during Jon Pertwee’s tenure as the Third Doctor. The result combines the best of both worlds.
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04-10-2013

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‘Happy Endings’ 3.16 & 3.17 Recaps: “They Play Jinx in Prison?”

‘Happy Endings’ 3.16 & 3.17 Recaps: “They Play Jinx in Prison?”

Another week, another two episodes of ‘Happy Endings’. This past week saw a feud between sisters, a feud between two food truck owners, and a feud between Brad and Robo-Brad. All in a day’s work for this wonderful, bizarre show.
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