Reviews

I'm not going to get into whether it all made sense.... More pertinent, perhaps; rather than feeling like I needed to see it a second time to understand it, I wanted to watch it again simply because I enjoyed it so much. Even if you see it only once, Christopher Nolan is a masterful storyteller and it is admirable that he is willing to try something outside of the typical Hollywood storytelling conventions. I loved Interstellar and Inception, and Memento is a masterpiece; Tenet did not disappoint. Great action sequences, excellent dialogue; in my mind, definitely one of the best movies I have seen this year.

I was hyped to see this movie as soon as I saw the trailer. I am a fan of Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke both; they were both absolutely superb. Riz Ahmed should at least be nominated for an Oscar. Do yourself a favor and and see it; definitely worth a view at least once. Also, as to the title - Sound of Metal? I started watching the movie thinking it was describing the type of music they played; I got it by the end that it was referring to something else completely.

Read the comics when I was younger, and in spite of the varying levels of quality/fidelity, I have always somewhat enjoyed the X-men films as a diversion for a couple hours. New Mutants is just bad...between the constantly varying accents of the main characters, the illogical "rules" of the setting (Magik can teleport anywhere, but somehow the force field prevents her from leaving the facility) and the one-dimensional horny teen caricature they made of each character, it was all I could do to force myself to the end of this movie. Seriously, don't waste your time. It really sucks.

It may not be for everyone, but I was seriously impressed. Robert Pattinson, Bill Sarsgaard and Tom Holland were all superb, in particular; I wasn't aware that Tom Holland had that kind of depth as an actor. True craftsmanship in acting and storytelling. Great movie.

I've only seen the first episode, but it is the first series I have seen in a while that left me wanting to see the next episode immediately. Beautifully shot and generally unnerving; like a good book, anxious to turn the page to see what happens next.

Okay, so I have probably watched the three seasons of Showtime's Penny Dreadful a dozen times or more - with the exception of a few slow episodes sprinkled over the three seasons collectively, it's nearly unimpeachable in my mind. I thought I would give City of Angels a shot, hoping that if it was even half as good, it would be worth a view. I just finished the third episode, and it's boring and disappointing. Ultimately, even though it doesn't have any of the advantages of the original Penny Dreadful series (ie, the characters all tied together from different historical literary worlds, etc...), this could still have been an engrossing series, but this series doesn't even seem to know what it is. I can't figure out what sort of psuedo-mexi-catholic mysticism it is trying to tie back to, and watching Natalie Dormer try to inhabit multiple characters gets annoying - or boring - very quickly. Rather than finishing an episode and looking forward to the next one, I am just checking my watch, hoping it's almost over. It's honestly bad enough that I really doubt I bother with another episode after the third.

I tried really hard to give Season 2 a chance, I honestly did. Everything that made Season 1 awesome, such as the maverick attitude Kovacs carries himself with, the strong main storyline, pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in terms of violence, nudity, etc...for a Netflix show? Yeah, so the brainstorming meeting for Season 2 went like this - "Let's take all the it that made Season 1 great...and get rid of it. What say you?" Just a total crap for Season 2...thank you, for killing this series and my interest in it.

Simply one of the best shows on TV right now, streaming or otherwise. Definitely a diamond in the rough. If you haven't seen it, you need to; if you have, spread the word.

Most fun I have had watching a movie based off of Marvel canon. Action is great, special effects are awesome, but the best part of the movie is the constant banter going back and forth between Eddie and Venom in Eddie's head.

There really isn't much I can say about this film that isn't positive. Based on Chuck Hogan's novel "Prince of Thieves," The Town is superbly directed and features stellar performances by Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Ferguson. This is a film I have returned to over and over.

I think there are certain genres of storytelling that seem to suffer from a lack of unique ideas or captivating presentation; science fiction and horror are the two that most immediately come to mind. I was initially interested in Outcast because it came from the mind of Robert Kirkman, of Walking Dead fame. That being said, I find Outcast to be superior in terms of the uniqueness of it's premise and storytelling. At this point, I have grown tired and disappointed in the bloated sluggishness The Walking Dead has become; I have yet to feel anything but enthusiasm and excitement for the next episode of Outcast.

Rather than going back to the well over and over again as does The Walking Dead, Outcast pulls you in because you aren't really sure what it is that you are scared of. Even though it could fundamentally be classified as a show about demonic possession, etc...it isn't the moments of exorcism or bloodletting in the show that are truly the most anxiety-inducing or disturbing; rather, it's the buildup to those moments, when Kyle is trying to determine which of his friends, neighbors and family members are possessed. Like any good science fiction or horror, it's the quiet moments of realization that lead up to the "aha" or jump scare moment that make it worth viewing.

Patrick Fugit is fantastic as Kyle, and the rest of the cast is certainly superb as well. This show has seemed to fly under the radar for a rather long time; hopefully other people will hear about it and voice their enthusiasm. I would hate to see something as promising as Outcast go the way of the dodo while so many shows continue to get renewed simply so they can remix the same unoriginal ideas over and over again.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is an absolutely fantastic film and is definitely worth viewing at least once. It's a movie that really simply defies any attempt to classify it by genre; it possesses elements of drama, dark comedy and tragedy, to say the least.

Fundamentally, the film excels as a study of human emotional nuance; there are really no "bad guys" or "good guys," at least not within the group of main characters that the film focuses on.

Three Billboards asks more questions than it answers, but without passing judgement on the characters themselves as they struggle to find the path, and themselves, against the backdrop of small-town apathy.