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The Descendants: You know from the start how it’s going to end, but the journey to get there is so fresh and engaging that the lack of surprise doesn’t matter. Proving again (and again) that subject matter is neutral, it’s either done well or done badly. YES.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: The younger sis of the Olsen twins is getting rave reviews for her performance, which is what reviewers always say about an actress playing a troubled person. Think Angelina Jolie in “Girl Interrupted” or Natalie Portman in “Black Swan.” But the movie is fabulous. Just chilling. YES.

“El Camino” by the Black Keys: It’s 70s rock that your indie friends will dig. LOVE it. Also appreciate the way these guys are a little dorky and self-effacing, meaning their drama and personalities don’t get in the way of the music. BIG YES.

“Homeland” on TV: Wow, this show is blowing me away. Smart, with lots of twists. YES.

“Dexter” on TV: This is one of my favorite seasons because of all the creepy religious stuff and the character development on Deb as the new lieutenant. YES.

Oh look, straight As. Excellent report card dears.

The history professor freedom fighter. Yummy

Thought I’d check out “Falling Skies” to see if it deserves the buzz, and in a word, yes, it does. As I was watching, it felt familiar — the ragtag group of people remaining after an invasion of alien creatures has wiped out humankind, armed to the teeth and in survival mode.

“The Walking Dead” had the same premise precisely, but that show was far inferior. The difference so far is that the people on “Skies” are doing the things and asking the questions that are obvious for smart people in a survival situations. They’re trying to figure out what happened, attempting to outmaneuver and outsmart the predators. On “Dead” the storyline focused on a group of dumb people engaging in drama the level of reality TV. So frustrating as a viewer when the characters have zero curiosity.

So dumb they deserve to be wiped out

An interesting piece of dialogue between two of the resistance fighters on “Skies.” They know they’re the inferior army against a formidable force. One character points to the fact that they’re in Boston and draws and analogy of the patriots vs. the British. But the other counters back that it’s more like the Indians vs. the onslaught of Europeans. Very good writing — are they the underdog yanks who prevail or the natives who succumb to genocide?

The truth is that I’m down on all AMC shows after the lazy and disgraceful season finale of “The Killing” on Sunday. The show was good for two episodes, then the writing dropped off a cliff and stayed there for the remainder of the season. I only kept watching because I wanted to solve the mystery of who killed Rosie Larson, then at the end there was a twist and we didn’t find out. To read an excellent review from Tom & Lorenzo click here.

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Falling Skies: YES (so far based only on the 2-hour premier)

The Walking Dead: NO

The Killing: GIANT NO

What kind of a world do we inhabit where AMC renews “Dead” and “Killing” and spikes a brilliant show like “Rubicon” after one season?

The revenge of testosterone

Game of Thrones on HBO. Pop culture lately has been filled with slacker and stoner guys: think of the Jackass series or any of the deadbeats from the Judd Apatow movies. GT hearkens to a medieval fantasy world drenched in testosterone, where men take whores, drink ale and march into battle, where it’s acceptable for a man to arrange a marriage for his unwilling sister, saying: “I would let all 40,000 men in his army fuck you and their horses too if it would get my kingdom back.”  It’s visually cool but the woman-shaming aspect might be too much to take. There’s only been one episode so far, so I’m going withhold judgment.  NOT SURE

The Escort at the Geffen: Flat-out brilliant theatre from a playwright who understands the complexity of human motivations, especially in the area of sexuality. She has an ear for dialogue between the professional woman and her teenage son. My friend Amy and I both have boys that age and kept giving each other knowing glances — my kid does that.  BIG YES

Win Win. A small film with Paul Giametti which doesn’t have the Hollywood ending that might be expected from the title. Rather, it’s about the small and large sacrifices necessary to make it through the day. This is real life, not processed pap like “The Blind Side.”  BIG YES

Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3; Northern Aggression. As a monster Dream Syndicate fan during the 80s, I was thrilled to read a positive Rolling Stone review about this new album, and immediately hit download. It’s as if 20 years never happened and this is Wynn’s solo project after the break up of Syndicate. On heavy rotation now as my running music.  YES

Think it's the same hat he wore in Deadwood?

I never used to watch TV. In fact, I went several years without even owning one. But lately I’ve found myself watching a number of programs, and my smart friends are too so we discuss them or get together to watch. As my gal pal Dana said, TV has suddenly gotten good. The quality level has certainly improved since the days of vacuous sitcoms, mostly through the efforts of cable. It started with HBO as the trailblazer with The Sopranos, Sex and the City and the mini-series Band of Brothers. Truly, the writing and acting were terrific. These programs made the world safe for television.

Now many shows have episodes that approach movie quality. And the benefit over a movie is that the characters continue to deepen week after week, year after year. Coming home tired at the end of the day it’s profoundly satisfying to switch on these high-level programs because they’re smart enough to engage but don’t require the work to figure out the set-up.

TV doesn’t completely replace movies, but programs exist that are certainly time-worthy: Justified, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Breaking Bad, Rubicon (RIP), Law & Order re-runs from any of the 20 years.

This post-apocalyptic image is the best thing about the show

The Walking Dead pilot was terrific, but the three episodes since have not been written at the same level. The problem sets in when characters act in ways that are so unrealistic that the audience strains at constantly being forced to suspend disbelief.

(Tom and Lorenzo started blogging WD after Mad Men ended, and I’m borrowing a bit here on the analysis.) Yes, the viewer knows the world has ended but that doesn’t change fundamental human nature. Like who would casually check out a unicorn necklace at a shop counter while flesh-crazed zombies are pounding on the window? Why would the group stand in a tight circle watching as the zombie corpse is bludgeoned — people would be as far away from that as possible, hands over their faces, stealing glances in horror. And my favorite, T&L’s observation that with three cartoony rednecks, the “asshole quotient is a little high.”

But the biggest issue I have with the show is that the most obvious conversation is not taking place: What the hell happened and why did it happen? The lack of curiousity is the oddest thing about these characters. Whenever there’s the slightest tremor here in earthquake-zone Los Angeles, people turn on the TV and call their friends: Did you feel that? Where was the epicenter? What was the magnitude? People naturally crave information about the world around them. The human characters on WD are acting like intellectual zombies.

I’ll watch tomorrow night before giving my final opinion.

MAYBE