The Small Screen Diaries: 08/04/26
TV Shows Watched: Devil May Cry: Season 2 (Netflix) with audio description, Off Campus: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, and Marshals: S1E11 (Paramount) with audio description Devil May Cry- I did watch and immediately review this. I have no idea what’s going on, conceptually, but the audio description is fantastic. It is part of my pull quote on RT. The only reason I went Fresh was because of the AD, but honestly the only reason I watched was because of AD. The series would be totally unintelligible without it. Kudos to DVW, David Chan, and Paula Hoffman. I wouldn’t have … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/04/26
Hokum
I have not seen all of Damian McCarthy’s filmography. My experience with him is still fairly limited, but after being so pleasantly surprised by Oddity, I was excited to see what he would do next. Oddity impressed me not simply because it featured a blind lead character, but because of the way McCarthy created genuine fear and sustained tension without relying on an endless barrage of cheap jump scares. I appreciate horror directors who aren’t dependent on excessive gore or loud stingers, but instead want to build a story, develop memorable characters, and slowly tighten the screws. That approach is … Continue reading Hokum
Scarpetta: Season 1
It dawns on me that with all of the crime procedurals we have on television, and how it constantly feels like there’s a new detective or investigator showing up across networks, streaming services, and film franchises, there must be twice as many living on the shelves of libraries waiting for their turn. Every time one series ends, somebody discovers another bestselling author with twenty novels sitting there ready to adapt. The latest character to join that ever-growing lineup is Kay Scarpetta, Patricia Cornwell’s legendary medical examiner, who finally gets her own television series courtesy of Amazon. The show has already … Continue reading Scarpetta: Season 1
Untitled Home Invasion Romance
Warm apple pie. That’s what it feels like to direct your first feature. Or at least that’s what I imagine Jason Biggs would say, that directing his first feature was like warm apple pie. Yes, Jim from American Pie has grown up and is now directing Untitled Home Invasion Romance, which is, in fact, the title of the movie. It’s not like they forgot to name it. They’re trying to be clever, much like Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, or any of those other films that tell you exactly what they are while pretending they aren’t. Jason Biggs stars … Continue reading Untitled Home Invasion Romance
Devil May Cry: Season 2
I think I finally understand the argument for waiting until an entire series has finished before starting it. I know people who actually do that, somehow avoiding spoilers until every episode has dropped so they can binge the whole thing in one sitting. Personally, that would drive me insane because I like staying up to date on new releases. But with a show like Devil May Cry, I’m starting to understand why people do it. I’m not very familiar with the lore, so asking me to wait between seasons and then remember exactly what happened in season one or who … Continue reading Devil May Cry: Season 2
The Small Screen Diaries: 08/03/26
TV Shows Watched: House Of The Dragon: S3E7 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Widows Bay: S1E9 (Apple) with audio description, Detective Hole: S1E? (Netflix) with audio description, Robin Hood: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, St Dennis Medical: S2E11 (Peacock) with audio description, Last Week Tonight: Current (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, and American Classic: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description House Of The Dragon- I got cheated out of my Bring The Usurper To Me! But, the episode still featured an epic dragon battle, the most oedipal thing on HBO ever, and something presumed dead rises. There’s also … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/03/26
Unchosen: Series Review
Netflix’s six-episode limited series Unchosen is supposed to be about cults, but it really isn’t. It wants to be. It opens with a statement about how there are all these tiny little cults peppered throughout society that most of us never even realize exist. Right down the street, there could be a quiet little cul-de-sac where every family shares the same bizarre beliefs, and nobody outside of that neighborhood would ever know. That’s a genuinely fascinating premise. The idea that a cult can exist right in the middle of suburbia, living alongside everyone else while still remaining completely isolated from … Continue reading Unchosen: Series Review
Dutton Ranch: Season 1
Perhaps the unpopular opinion here is that, while I’ve read every single reason why Taylor Sheridan decided to part ways with Kevin Costner, the Yellowstone franchise has suffered without him. I know that probably sounds like a shock to the system, but the time Kevin Costner spent on the Yellowstone Ranch was some of the best television Sheridan has ever produced. It reminded people there was actually something called the Paramount Network, which I don’t think many people even knew existed at the time. There really wasn’t much of a reason to tune into Paramount Network other than Yellowstone, especially … Continue reading Dutton Ranch: Season 1
The Small Screen Diaries: 08/02/26
TV Shows Watched: The Walking Dead: Dead City: S3E2 (AMC Plus) no audio description, Unconditional: S1E7 (Apple) with audio description, Ghosts: S5E11 (Paramount) with audio description, The Westies: S1E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, Unchosen: S1E6 (Netflix) with audio description, Running Pointe: S2E10 (Netflix) with audio description, and The Rookie: S8E8 (Disney Plus) with audio description Dead City: OMFG. Second week in a row, where the show and episode are advertised as being audio described but are not. Fuck off, AMC. The show is still interesting as the new showrunner, who worked as a writer on the original series, is … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/02/26
The Small Screen Diaries: 08/01/26
A very tiny diary. In case you missed it, I reviewed Cape Fear in its entirety yesterday. I did that after watching all ten episodes of it. In the same day. Needless to say, I didn’t do much else in terms of watching things. Still, the week ahead for you might include a few returning shows like Lioness (Paramount) on Sunday, Futurama (Hulu) on Monday, Ted Lasso (Apple) on Wednesday, or My Life With The Walter Boys (Netflix) on Thursday. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place exits this week, though I’m not sure that show ever gained audio description. Greta Lee and … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/01/26
Going In Blind: Tow
Rose Byrne had a great 2025. Technically it bled into 2026, the year she actually heard the words “Academy Award nominee,” but the film that earned her that recognition, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, was released in 2025. It was excellent, one of my ten favorite films of the year, and easily the best performance of her career. That’s a tough act to follow, but she’s followed it up with another terrific performance in a film that, for some reason, seems to have entered the witness protection program. Did you even know she starred in a movie this … Continue reading Going In Blind: Tow
Over Your Dead Body
Over Your Dead Body looked like it was tailor-made for me. You have Jason Segel starring in a film directed by Jorma Taccone, the man who gave us one of the most underrated comedies of my lifetime, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched that movie or listened to the soundtrack, but it’s one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen. So I was hoping Over Your Dead Body, which is billed as a horror comedy, would capture even a fraction of that energy. Alongside Segel is Samara Weaving as his wife, Lisa, an … Continue reading Over Your Dead Body
Cape Fear: Season 1
A tale as old as time. A film that’s been rewritten enough that it credits multiple original screenwriters. Cape Fear, the new Apple limited series, is adapted from two previous films, which were themselves adapted from John D. MacDonald’s novel The Executioners. It’s almost like playing a game of telephone, seeing what gets passed from version to version while recognizing that this is 2026. We have the internet, smartphones, and a very different world than the one these earlier adaptations existed in, giving the series opportunities to modernize the story in ways previous versions couldn’t. Of course, the last trip … Continue reading Cape Fear: Season 1
The Small Screen Diaries: 07/31/26
TV Shows Watched: Silo: S3E5 (Apple) with audio description,Stuart Fails To Save The Universe: S1E2 (HBO MAX) with audio description,Mating Season: S1E? (Netflix) with audio description, Will Trent: S4E16 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Invincible: S4E8 (Amazon) with audio description, The Hawk: S1E4 (netflix) with audio description, and Little House On The Prairie: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description Silo- Man, this is hard to describe now without spoilers. So, I’ll just say that it had solid audio description, especially regarding the person with the burns. However, I wish we had a better idea of the expansiveness or lack thereof of … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/31/26
Star City: Season 1
Star City is one of those series that I wanted to love almost by default because I love For All Mankind. Admittedly, I haven’t reviewed all five seasons of that show, but I’ve watched them, and even though I don’t think season five was the strongest of the bunch, I still think For All Mankind is one of the best television series Apple has ever produced. I have spent years wondering how on earth it has managed to fly so far under the radar with the Emmys. The work from that cast over multiple seasons has been outstanding, and the … Continue reading Star City: Season 1