Sisu: Road To Revenge
The first Sisu ended up being one of my top ten films of the year it came out because it felt like a breath of fresh air. Sure, it’s a movie that borrows heavily from the John Wick style of filmmaking. One unstoppable man on a path of revenge who will do whatever it takes to make the people who wronged him pay for their crimes. It’s a formula that’s worked incredibly well for John Wick, giving us four Keanu Reeves films and a spinoff starring Ana de Armas. So it makes sense that Finland would want to keep this … Continue reading Sisu: Road To Revenge
Undertone
We need to have a conversation about elevated horror and what that term even means anymore. Especially now, at a point where horror isn’t just getting critical acclaim, it’s actually becoming part of the Academy Awards conversation. Last year alone we saw horror films earning major nominations, Amy Madigan winning an Oscar for a horror performance, Jacob Elordi landing a nomination for playing Frankenstein’s monster, and even Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, an unapologetically grotesque body horror film, breaking through for Best Picture. This year, there’s already a serious conversation around Obsession and Backrooms, with Obsession looking like a legitimate Best … Continue reading Undertone
Matlock: Season 2
When we first heard CBS was rebooting Matlock with Kathy Bates, I think most of us assumed it was just going to be another gender-swapped remake. We figured it would play out a lot like the old Andy Griffith classic, with Bates simply stepping into the role of a kindly Southern lawyer who just happened to be extraordinarily good at practicing law. That’s partly true, except somebody had the genuinely brilliant idea of capitalizing on the Matlock name and all of its brand recognition while creating an entirely new series around it. I’m actually surprised more studios haven’t tried this … Continue reading Matlock: Season 2
The Small Screen Diaries: 07/11/26
Coming up this week: The Hawk (Netflix) a new comedy starring Will Ferrell, The Westies (MGM Plus) a crime drama starring JK Simmons, and Ride Or Die (Amazon) an action series with Octavia Spencer. Also, Dancing With The Stars: The NExt Pro drops, but will it have audio description? There’s also another Descendants film at Disney, along with streaming premieres for Is God Is (Amazon), Obsession (Peacock), Marked By Sophia (HBO MAX), and the highly anticipated new Apple series Lucky with Anya Taylor Joy they’ve been promoting the hell out of. TV Shows Watched: Detective Hole: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/11/26
Solo Mio
I’m not entirely sure what about Solo Mio makes it a faith-based film, but Angel Studios has backed the Kevin James Italian romp for whatever reason. Regardless of who is backing it, though, I’m glad it got made, because Kevin James rarely gets decent material to work with. A lot of his films, especially the Happy Madison productions, consistently use him as a punchline. James is rarely asked to emote or play an actual human being. He’s almost always either the joke, in on the joke or the butt of the joke, sometimes all three at once. Solo Mio gives … Continue reading Solo Mio
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
In space, no one can hear you… wahoo. That should have been the tagline for Super Mario Galaxy, the latest installment in Illumination’s ongoing mining of Nintendo’s massive catalog by once again sending its most recognizable mascot on another oversized adventure. The only real disappointment is that Nintendo has such a deep bench of characters that I’d rather see Illumination branching out by now. We already met Donkey Kong in the last movie, so where’s Donkey Kong Country? This movie also introduces Star Fox, voiced by Glen Powell, which naturally raises the question of whether that’s setting up a Star … Continue reading The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Young Sherlock: Season 1
I remember when I first saw that Prime Video had a hot new series called Young Sherlock, and I rolled my eyes. Do we really need one more Sherlock Holmes adaptation? Is that what the world has been asking for? One more person’s take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective? Apparently the answer is yes, because Young Sherlock is far better than it has any right to be. A big part of that comes down to Guy Ritchie. I don’t say that nearly as often as I used to. Back when he burst onto the scene with Lock, Stock … Continue reading Young Sherlock: Season 1
The Small Screen Diaries: 07/10/26
TV Shows Watched: Silo: S3E2 (Apple) with audio description, Vladimir: S1E9 (Netflix) with audio description, St Dennis Medical: S2E10 (Peacock), Young Sherlock: S1E8 (Amazon) with audio description, Scrubs: S10E8 (Disney Plus) with audio description, The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball: S1E19 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Matlock: S2E16 (Paramount) with audio description Silo: The parallel between Charlotte and Juliet as they both have lost their memories across each timeline, and in our primary timeline, what Juliet is trying to do about it, and how dangerous it may be for everyone if she does remember, versus Charlotte’s brother trying to guide … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/10/26
Summer Sparks
Did you know Roku makes movies? They do. Over Christmas, I reviewed the disappointing Jordin Sparks Christmas film they put out, and earlier this year, I tried to sit through some ill-fated road trip comedy with Sophia Bush and Lauren Holly. My heart and soul just weren’t in it, so I passed on reviewing that one. I can’t even remember what the movie was called or anything else about it, except that it involved a mother-daughter road trip. I remember being shocked that Lauren Holly’s career is still somehow chugging along, and I’m always a little sad when I see … Continue reading Summer Sparks
The Madison: Season 1
Taylor Sheridan has always had an interesting relationship with critics. He seems to delight in thumbing his nose at the people who insist they just don’t understand what he’s doing, and to a certain extent, I get it. I enjoy most of his shows. At the same time, enjoying something and believing it belongs in the conversation for the year’s best television are two different things. Awards are about narrowing the field to the very best, and that inevitably leaves a lot of good, even great, television on the outside looking in. Sheridan doesn’t always clear that bar for me, … Continue reading The Madison: Season 1
Going In Blind: Mile End Kicks
I had never even heard of Mile End Kicks until I saw a review from a critic whose opinion I respect. That was enough to get me interested in Barbie Ferreira’s latest film. After all, she was excellent last year in Bob Trevino Likes It, earning a handful of mentions throughout awards season even if the performance was never realistically headed for Oscar contention. It was still nice to see her getting recognized, and I could easily see something similar happening with Mile End Kicks. This feels like exactly the kind of movie critics tend to rally around. It’s one … Continue reading Going In Blind: Mile End Kicks
The Small Screen Diaries: 07/09/26
TV Shows Watched: Legends: S1E5 (Netflix) with audio description, Solar Opposites: S6E6 (Disney Plus) with audio description, Ghosts: S5E10 (Paramount) with audio description, Star City: S1E4 (Apple) with audio description, The Comeback: S1E11 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Strip Law: S1E? (Netflix), and Little House On The Prairie: S1E1 (Netflix) with audio description. Legends- Kate figures out who the corrupt cop is while things get crazy in Pakistan. It has proven interesting enough to hold my attention, but there are better shows in this vein. The AD is OK. Very British. Solar Opposites- Almost done with one of my favorite … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries: 07/09/26
The Small Screen Diaries- 07/08/26
So the Emmy awards were announced. Was your favorite show nominated? Favorite performance? I’d say the biggest welcome surprises for me (things I wasn’t predicting), were Rufus Sewell for The Diplomat, Your Friends And Neighbors, and Michael Urie for Shrinking. While there were a bunch of snubs, some expected, some not, the first time THe Amazing Race misses Reality Competition Series is notable, as The Bear fell out of Comedy Series, and the final season for both Squid Game and Stranger Things, previous winners in this category, failed to get any above the line nominations. Stranger Things still managed 7 … Continue reading The Small Screen Diaries- 07/08/26
They Will Kill You
There’s certainly an element of They Will Kill You that feels like someone was watching Only Murders in the Building and thought to themselves, “Hold my beer. I’ve got this.” Then they decided the film should be only in the building and that the murders should take full advantage of an R rating. Because They Will Kill You does basically take place in one building, just like the hit comedy series, and yes, people die. I know that’s shocking for a movie called They Will Kill You. There might be a death or two in here. And I’m sure you’re … Continue reading They Will Kill You
Amadeus: Series Review
I can’t really remember how many times I’ve seen the Academy Award-winning Amadeus, directed by Miloš Forman. It was used so frequently throughout my education, sometimes in fragments and sometimes in whole, depending on how old I was at the time. For years, I think I just assumed it was a fairly strong historical account of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Of course, Amadeus is based on the play by Peter Shaffer, which was adapted into the 1984 film, and now that play has been adapted again into a five-episode limited series starring Paul Bettany and Will Sharpe, stepping into … Continue reading Amadeus: Series Review