EPIC: Elvis Presley In Concert
In case you thought that year where Austin Butler walked around doing every interview pretending he was such a heavy method actor that he couldn’t shake his Elvis Presley voice was some sort of fever dream, it actually wasn’t. Baz Luhrmann really did direct an Elvis biopic, and it really was nominated for multiple Oscars. As a byproduct of making that film, Luhrmann clearly developed an even deeper fascination with Elvis Presley, and that eventually led him to dig through archival material, restore and assemble footage from different performances, and create one of the most exhilarating concert films I’ve ever … Continue reading EPIC: Elvis Presley In Concert
Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: Deli Boys: Season 2
I’m pleasantly surprised that Hulu went with a second season for Delhi Boys. Sometimes it’s easy to get a second season, but it’s hard to get anything beyond that. So the real question now is whether Hulu is willing to go with a third season for a comedy whose episode count was reduced in year two. Six episodes isn’t exactly a ringing vote of confidence. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to how many people actually watched it. At the same time, six episodes also makes this one of the easiest shows on streaming to recommend. If you’re sitting there … Continue reading Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: Deli Boys: Season 2
The Highest Stakes
Every once in a while I watch a movie where I can see that the elevator pitch is solid, and somewhere along the way it just got lost. Maybe there was a good treatment that slowly became muddled in the screenplay, or perhaps the director simply wasn’t sure how to translate the concept to the screen. Whatever happened, The Highest Stakes is built around an interesting premise that never quite works. It reminded me of those morality tales where some unseen force gathers a group of people together for reasons that aren’t immediately clear, with the audience slowly uncovering the … Continue reading The Highest Stakes
The Small Screen Diaries: 08/06/26
TV Shows Watched:The Agency: S2 E1-5 (Paramount) with audio description, Shelved: S1E3 (Peacock) no audio description, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: S5E3 (Disney Plus) with audio description The Agency- Yup. Tried to knock out another show, but this one is another 10 episode behemoth, and I couldn’t pull it off, so I’ll tackle 6-10 likely on Saturday. I don’t remember much of Season 1, but this has so many different beats to it than a typical Taylor Sheridan production. The cast is stellar, and John Megarro has a lot to do in the first five episodes, where I … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/06/26
Criminal Record: Season 2
Apple has quietly assembled one of the most impressive television libraries in the business. HBO still has the advantage of decades of prestige programming, but considering Apple TV+ has only been around for a handful of years, the quality of its lineup is remarkable. Even beyond the awards magnets like Severance and Slow Horses, there are shows such as For All Mankind that have built fiercely loyal fan bases without the Emmys showering them with trophies every year. Then there’s Trying, which recently returned to my absolute delight. Somewhere in the middle of that lineup sits Criminal Record, a British … Continue reading Criminal Record: Season 2
Running Point: Season 2
Spoiler Warning: It’s possible to like something that is in the middle of an identity crisis, and that would be Running Point, Netflix’s sophomore comedy about Isla Gordon, played by Kate Hudson, who is continuing to run a professional basketball franchise against all odds. At the end of last season, her brother Cam, played by Justin Theroux, managed to get out of rehab. This season, he rejoins the family business, clearly with the intention of taking it over again, although he settles for a smaller position while the family slowly welcomes him back, believing that he’s sober when he is … Continue reading Running Point: Season 2
Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy
Probably one of the most prominent documentaries in my life remains Super Size Me. It’s one of only a handful of documentaries that I’ve watched more than once. It followed documentarian Morgan Spurlock as he attempted to survive on nothing but McDonald’s for an entire month, ordering breakfast, lunch, and dinner from the Golden Arches. Every meal came with an entrée, fries, and a drink, and back when McDonald’s still offered Super Size, he agreed to supersize only when the cashier asked if he wanted to. His health absolutely cratered over the course of the experiment. Spurlock has since passed … Continue reading Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy
The Small Screen Diaries: 08/05/26
TV Shows Watched: X-Men 97: S2E8 (Disney Plus) with audio description,Ted Lasso: S4E1 (Apple) with audio description, Daemons Of The Shadow Realm: S1E10 (CrunchyRoll) with audio description, Strip Law: S1E9 (Netflix) with audio description, Tales Of The TMNT: S2E10 (Paramount) with audio description, Life Larry And The Pursuit Of Unhappyness: S1E5 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Breaking Bad: S4E7 (Netflix) with audio description X-Men 97- Still synthetic, but in terms of the written context, it was fine. Some of the X-Teams take a back seat, and aren’t mentioned anywhere, but they basically are all now in the same plot line. … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 08/05/26
Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: 23,000 Lives (2026)
One thing that continues to frustrate me is trying to figure out Netflix’s logic for deciding which international originals get English audio description and which ones don’t. Sometimes it feels like they’re just spinning a wheel. I still can’t get over the fact that Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated Roma never received an English audio description track, nor did acclaimed films like Bardo or El Conde. Yet I stumble across a German film called 23,000 Lives, something I’d never even heard of, and it not only has English audio description, it even has an English dub. Granted, the description uses a synthetic … Continue reading Wishing You Were Somehow Human Again: 23,000 Lives (2026)
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