Confession time: As someone who has reviewed movies on home video for more than two decades, I simply cannot stand to watch most DVD or Blu-ray bonus features. The days when I might get excited for a director’s audio commentary or a lengthy making-of documentary about the film I just watched feel like a distant… Read More Remember When DVD and Blu-ray “Special Features” Actually Used to Be Special?
Based on the popular video game series, HBO hopes that its new apocalyptic survival horror drama The Last of Us will be the television event of the season, the type of show that inspires enthusiastic water cooler discussion after every episode. The network specializes in that type of thing, so it’s not an unreasonable expectation.… Read More Fear the Fungal Dead | The Last of Us (2023) HBO Series Premiere
The latest in the never-ending cycle of Star Wars content being churned out on Disney+, the animated Clone Wars spin-off series The Bad Batch has returned for a second season. Released in mid-2021, the first season was decidedly underwhelming, to be honest. Whether this one will show any growth or improvement remains to be seen,… Read More More Clonin’ Around | Star Wars: The Bad Batch Season 2 Premiere (2023) on Disney+
In the Green episode of Netflix’s limited series Kaleidoscope, the lead character bemoans how people have a tendency to get stuck in ruts and find “new ways to do the same old shit.” While perhaps overly harsh, the show itself could be considered an exercise in exactly that. A very novel and innovative viewing method… Read More A Heist of a Different Color | Kaleidoscope (2023) Netflix Limited Series
I love movies. Let me start with that lest I sound too negative right off the bat. I’ve been obsessed with movies most of my life and have many fond memories of watching countless films on the big screen. All the time I spent in darkened movie theaters over the years played a critical role… Read More R.I.P. Cinema – Leaving the Theatrical Experience to Nostalgia
Now in its third season, Amazon’s Jack Ryan has all the superficial trappings of being a blockbuster marquee title for the streamer. Based (very loosely) on the bestselling book series by the late Tom Clancy, the show is flashy and obviously expensive, with ambitious globe-hopping storylines and plenty of high-octane action. (Michael Bay is among… Read More Back in the U.S.S.R. | Jack Ryan Season 3 (2022) on Amazon Prime
I seem to be out of step with both critical and popular opinion on Guillermo del Toro’s new stop-motion animated remake of Pinocchio. I watched that one without so much as checking Rotten Tomatoes or Letterboxd and thought it was kind of awful, only to find nearly everyone else in the world proclaiming it a… Read More No Strings on Me | Pinocchio (1940) Blu-ray
With five TV series on the air in 2022, all of which he claims primary writing credit for, prolific creator/producer Taylor Sheridan may have just about hit his limit. 1923, the newest entry in his Yellowstone saga, is a very dull affair that not even Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren can bring to any life.… Read More That’s Ranching for You | 1923 (2022) Paramount+ Series Premiere
For The Banshees of Inisherin, writer/director Martin McDonagh reunites Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, the stars of his 2008 cult hitman comedy In Bruges. The two films may be very different in terms of story, incident, and tone, but both share an incisive wit and blisteringly funny ear for character dialogue. The lead actors’ previous… Read More Niceness Doesn’t Last | The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
I am frankly puzzled at why anyone felt the world needed two Pinocchio remakes in the same year, much less two bad ones. Disney’s official live-action adaptation directed by Robert Zemeckis was a pretty big bust when it streamed on Disney+ just a few months ago. Now we have another Oscar-winning filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro,… Read More These-a Puppets I Do Not Like | Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
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