Marty: Life Is Short
Normally, I have to weigh these celebrity centric documentaries, these career retrospectives, as how truthful, honest, open, or journalistic in nature they are.But also, sometimes, it is just OK to like something. Sometimes, the project itself almost erases the extra checkboxes it doesn’t check, because it accomplishes something else. What Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill) has achieved here is the understanding that his good friend, Martin Short, is possibly the most well respected and liked person in Hollywood.This film is absolutely a simple, lovely, career retrospective for MArtin Short, and very much content creation for Netflix, who will likely launch … Continue reading Marty: Life Is Short
The Boys: Season 5
I’m still salty about the abrupt cancellation of Gen-V, especially since the characters are given an opportunity to breeze through the last two episodes of the season,and do basically nothing.The plots don’t even converge. The grooming of Marie to become this next level superhero never pays off.The final two episodes of The Boys solidifies that Amazon cancelled Gen V independently of the actual finale, and its implications, because that door is left wide open. It isn’t like the finale prohibits a third season of Gen-V, quite the opposite. Considering how VOT is left at the end of the series, it’s … Continue reading The Boys: Season 5
The Small Screen Diaries: 05/19/26
TV Shows Watched: XO Kitty: S3E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Widows Bay: S1E2 (Apple) with audio description, Paradise: S2E6 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The Pitt: S2E15 (HBo MAX) with audio description, Malice: S1E5 (Amazon) with audio description, Top Chef: S24 Top 9 (Peacock) with audio description, Margo’s Got Money Troubles: S1E2 (Apple) with audio description XO Kitty- Jumping back in as Kitty’s summer ends, she heads back to define her relationship with Mino, only to find out a new/returning student is going to throw a wrench into her senior year. On top of that, her cousin now works there, … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 05/19/26
The Pitt: Season 2
It’s odd how much The Pitt has grown on me, because when I first started watching the series in Season 1, I gave up after the first three episodes. At the time, it just felt basic. Another medical drama with doctors yelling things at each other while patients rolled through the ER. I didn’t really understand what made it stand out, and honestly, I wasn’t entirely convinced it did. But then I jumped back in, pushed deeper into the season, and finally understood what the show was doing. The Pitt has this interesting habit of lulling viewers into a false … Continue reading The Pitt: Season 2
Greenland
Just to be clear, this is the review of the film Greenland, not a treatise on American foreign relations with Greenland. I remember thinking that January 2026 was either the best or worst time to open Greenland 2, and it turned out to be the latter of the two options. However, I know there’s a deep amount of lore, and I did not want to feel like I was missing out. Gerard Butler films are known for the intricacies in their screenplays, worlds built carefully and slowly over time. So, join me as I step foot into the pandemic success … Continue reading Greenland
The Small Screen Diaries: 05/18/26
Disney Plus greenlit an Ella Enchanted series. That’s what the kids on the interwebs are talking about. Also, Amazon is doing their screenings of The Boys finale tonight in theaters, so check your local listings. TV Shows Watched: Witch Hat Atelier: S1E5 (CrunchyRoll) with audio description,Big Mistakes: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, For All Mankind: S5E5 (Apple) with audio description, Sheriff Country: S1E12 (Paramount) with audio description, KLast Week Tonight: Most Recent (HBO MAX) no audio description yet, and Matlock: S2E13 (Paramount) with audio description Witch Hat Atelier- I’m kinda liking this. Coco, after being targeted by the dark side … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 05/18/26
A Gorilla Story (2026)
Truthfully, nature documentaries are not my most favorite thing in the world. Every year, around Earth Day, the streamers all start circling each other like they’ve entered some kind of Planet Earth Thunderdome. This year, Netflix rolled out A Gorilla Story at nearly the exact same time Disney Plus launched their annual “look how beautiful and terrifying nature is” feature, and much like two alpha silverbacks crashing into each other over territory, only one really walked away with my attention. Sorry Josh Gad. Not everything is better in summer. Slight edge to A Gorilla Story. The documentary follows a clan … Continue reading A Gorilla Story (2026)
Reel Abilities Film Festival 2026: Heavy Healing
I have certainly reviewed films and been the first to do so for Rotten Tomatoes, asking them to create a page for the film. However,in every instance, there’s always been an IMDb page to link to. This is the first time I’ve watched a film with apparently no IMDb page, or one the algorithm can find. So weird. Heavy Healing, which like every other doc at Reel Abilities, landed with audio description. It is largely about how music you wouldn’t naturally find soothing, actually is for so many people. This manages to get a lot of musicians involved from various … Continue reading Reel Abilities Film Festival 2026: Heavy Healing
Going In Blind: The Midway Point
What an appropriate title, even though I’m not entirely sure it fits the film, or tells you anything about this coming of age tale, but it definitely is appropriate for a subset of reasons. One of my readers looped me in a conversation on the lack of nuance anymore about being average, or being (as the kids say) “mid”. If someone asks me “How was it?”, I feel like “It was OK” gets dissected into my tone, body language, inflection, and beaten to death until the person who asked has the binary answer they are looking for, which is “should … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Midway Point
The Small Screen Diaries: 05/17/26
TV Shows Watched: From: S4E5 (MGM Plus) with audio description, The Unchosen: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, Invincible: S4E3 (Amazon) with audio description, Shelved: S1E1 (Peacock) no audio description, The Predator Of Seville: S1E3 (Netflix) with audio description, and Celebrity Jeopardy: Semifainls Round 2 (Disney Plus) with the legal requirement of audio description From- Man, a lot happened, and the AD team had no idea what the fuck to do. I wasn’t entirely sure how tall the dolls were in comparison, because when they first encounter them, it isn’t like they stand them up. Then, shit hits the fan, and … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 05/17/26
Reel Abilities Film Festival 2026: Dream Touch Believe
I’m finally getting around to Dream Touch Believe, with hesitancy, because while I did like the documentary, it also was my least favorite. I’ve tried marinating on why. Structurally, it is a sound, heartfelt work. A daughter is directing a film following her father’s life. Michael Araagelo, a fine art creator, who hasn’t let blindness or missing limbs lost in Vietnam stop him from creating art. I’m blind, so this should hit me hard, which at times, i related. he talks about early on, how people would try to show him things, and he kept thinking how unnecessary since he … Continue reading Reel Abilities Film Festival 2026: Dream Touch Believe
Dolly
DollI feel like I trudge through Shudder titles every year hoping to land the Late Night With The Devil, Oddity, Birth/Rebirth, or Good Boy, the films that transcend the typical horror slop that seems to traverse to Shudder on a regular basis. I’ve done some films a kindness, and not reviewed them, partially because they didn’t have audio description, and partially because I just don’t have the time to review hundreds of films without audio description.However, Dolly does have audio description, and it is even readily available on the AMC Plus platform. How about them apples? Dolly is like if … Continue reading Dolly
One Piece: Season 2
Netflix somehow made One Piece work. That still feels a little surprising to me, mostly because anime adaptations have a pretty rough history when they try to jump into live action. Cowboy Bebop didn’t survive. Plenty of others never really figure out how to balance the tone, the weirdness, or the larger-than-life worlds they come from. But One Piece figured it out in Season 1 by leaning directly into the absurdity instead of trying to make everything darker or more grounded. Season 2 continues the journey of Luffy and the Straw Hats as they travel from island to island searching … Continue reading One Piece: Season 2
The Small Screen Diaries: 05/16/26
Coming this week… the streaming premieres of The Bride (HBO MAX) and Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (Peacock), as well as big streaming movies like a feature length Jack Ryan with John Krasinski (Amazon) and Ladies First (Netflix) with Sacha Baron Cohen. As most shows are wrapping up their seasons, not a lot of new standouts, except the high profile The Boroughs (the newest limited series produced by The Duffer Bros) and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed (Apple) with Tatiana Maslany. There’s also a new adult animation on Netflix from the team behind Big Mouth, MAting Season (Netflix). TV Shows Watched: … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 05/16/26
Going In Blind: Linda Perry: Let It Die Here
Admittedly, if I had been accosted prior to screening this with the need for an immediate answer to the question “Who is Linda Perry, and what is she known for?” I would have struggled. I know she’s a musician, unquestionably, but attaching her to a song? A band? I couldn’t have done it. That isn’t a deal breaker for me, as last year I fell in love with Janis Ian through her documentary, and I truthfully didn’t know she existed. I’m not a music critic, it is less weird for me to have gaps in my knowledge of musicians than … Continue reading Going In Blind: Linda Perry: Let It Die Here