Samantha James

Samantha James is the author and founder of The Chronicles of History, a site dedicated to history, archeology, historical fiction, literature, and book reviews. She also co-leads the History Group, a social community of 22,000+ buffs.
Featured Image

Mary & George

A clever, dark and salacious historical drama that brings a much overlooked chapter of European history to vivid life. Mary & George is a richly drawn, rough and raunchy story about the quest for power – and survival – in 16th century England.

Featured Image

Vikings Valhalla S2

An emotionally intense coming-of-age story underlies Vikings Valhalla, which tackles the tumultuous High Middle Ages and power shift across Europe with all the heroics, gore, and sex of its predecessor.

No items found
Featured Image

It’s not HBO, it’s The Pitt: How streamers are embracing old TV network models  

“It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” Remember that old tagline? For nearly all of its history, broadcast television has been fighting against the perception that it’s subordinate to film as a storytelling medium. Television was just media for the masses, as opposed to the more erudite aficionados of cinema (who, by the way, poured into theaters

Read More »
Featured Image

Boyhood

Boyhood captures the importance of moments in time as people grow up and contests the idea that any singular moment is defining to your childhood. It’s a film filled with the full breadth of the emotions of childhood, conveying each one delicately to leave you reflecting on its many pensive conversations. 

Featured Image

Why Andor is Luring in Non-Star Wars Fans

An edgier Star Wars prequel with a timely story about rebellion, Andor skips some of the more familiar elements of the franchise — from lightsabers to Jedi to the Force — in favor of a more grounded story with parallels in both history and our current moment. While it sets up the legendary world of

Read More »
Featured Image

Inside the War Zone: A sit down with Warfare’s director and cast

A harrowing new film from Alex Garland’s production banner, Warfare drops viewers into a real-time combat mission in Iraq. Set in 2006, it follows a team of Navy SEALs on a surveillance mission gone awry. Co-written and co-directed by Garland and Ray Mendoza—whose own platoon was ambushed during the real-life event—the film is both brutal

Read More »
Featured Image

Black Bag

A taut, stylish and steamy take on the high-stakes espionage thriller, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag keeps you second-guessing every character’s motives until the very end. The tension, the suspicion, the sense that the walls are closing in? It’s all here.

Featured Image

The Icon Party: The Cast & Producers on Mid Century Modern

A nostalgic tribute to classic sitcoms that adds some R-rated edge, Mid Century Modern has all the making’s of a breakout hit. It follows three gay best friends – played by Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham – who decide to live out their golden years together in Palm Springs after the unexpected

Read More »
Featured Image

Lonely Planet

If you’re starting over after a breakup, facing some midlife questions, or looking for a date night movie that might inspire a romantic vacation, add this Moroccan adventure to your watchlist.

Featured Image

A Watercooler Guide to Hollywood Satire The Studio

A perfectly-timed send-up that is already driving more water cooler talk than the blockbuster movie machines it satirizes, Apple’s star-studded new comedy The Studio just dropped its first two episodes, and the series is sure to be watched and discussed all the way to September’s Emmy awards. Created by one of the most prolific producing

Read More »
2
Featured Image

Oppenheimer

A biopic of epic proportions, Oppenheimer is chock full of explosive blasts and guilty conscience. Flawless acting performances and artistic finesse make it a visual treat, while its relentless nature and powerful sense of injustice burn an image in your soul that doesn’t quite fade after leaving the theater.

Featured Image

The Best of the Barbie Watercooler

This weekend was the biggest of the year for water cooler conversations across the country – and even the world. I saw Barbie on Thursday, the first day it was in theaters in New York City, and I had to get tickets a week in advance.  Part of me was annoyed to be participating in

Read More »
Featured Image

Theater Camp

Theater Camp is a treat for those who remember what it’s like to be young and to have a dream, and who haven’t forgotten all the sweat and ambition that comes with it, and how it can feel like the most important thing that has ever happened. The world of AdirondACTS is richly envisioned, and

Read More »
Featured Image

Welcome, or No Trespassing

An intriguing time capsule of a film with an original take on the summer camp movie, Welcome, or No Trespassing is also a biting social satire of the autocratic Soviet regime.

Featured Image

Asteroid City

Asteroid City is like a trip to a resort — it’s fun, colorful, outwardly buoyant and a little soulless, a potent combination that makes it both a pinnacle of Wes Anderson’s style and a slight miss as a narrative picture.

Featured Image

Riviera

If you’re looking for a glitzy, sexy, escape, Riviera serves up three seasons of a lush, soapy mystery series dripping in yachts, conspiracies, globe trotting art world intrigue, and spy thriller plots that include a somewhat timely Russian threat.

Featured Image

What AI Can’t Tell You About The Bear S2

The Bear just returned for its second season The Bear Season 2 on Hulu, and we threw a party in Brooklyn, home of star Jeremy Allen White. For the uninitiated, and those unwittingly relying on AI bot reviews, we are talking about the show set in a Chicago sandwich shop – not the movie about

Read More »
Featured Image

The Bear S1

The Bear is a fast-tempo character study set behind the scenes of a family-run Chicago restaurant. It invites you in to pull up a chair and watch the drama unfold, but never lets you get too comfortable.

Scroll to Top