Best Movies of 2021
Another year is now in the history books. 2021 had a lot more movies than 2020 did, and that made it harder to assemble a best movies list. This isn’t an exhaustive list: it’s skewed towards movies that I have…
Best TV Shows of 2021
There has been no shortage of TV shows in 2021, and that makes our work of choosing the top ten shows a lot harder. It should come as no surprise that seven of our ten shows are exclusive to streaming…
Arcane is a Gorgeous and Stylized Animated Series that Tells a Simple but Emotionally Charged Story
Arcane is one of those delightful surprises that not only ends up being much better than anyone expected, but also reframes the landscape of video game adaptations. It creates an immersive world and focuses on a smaller slice of the…
Red Notice has a Paper-Thin, On-the-Rails Narrative that Never Quite Takes Off, Despite Some Fun Moments
Red Notice isn’t as much a heist movie as it is a cartoon, filled with outrageous sequences that are somewhat entertaining but also feel empty at the same time. It is one of Netflix’s most expensive movies yet, with a…
Doom Patrol Doubles Down on its Weirdness in Season Three. But is it Getting Too Complacent?
Doom Patrol continues to be the weirdest comic book show on television today with its third season. However, sometimes it can seem like the show is spinning its wheels, treading the same worn paths while still keeping things entertaining. The…
The Harder They Fall is a Highly Stylized Modern Take on the Western Genre that is Highly Entertaining (and Strangely Empty)
The Harder They Fall is a curious take on the Western genre. While it’s refreshing to see a predominantly black cast in a Western, there actually have been a handful of black Westerns that, unfortunately, didn’t make as headway as…
Eternals is an Ambitious Film that is Caught Between Pursuing its Vision and Still Trying to be a Marvel Movie
Eternals, directed by Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao, hasn’t garnered the most favorable reviews in the lead up to its release. Having watched the film, it’s easy to understand why: it’s plot is complex and dense, marrying the superhero backdrop…
Army of Thieves is a Charming Prequel that Plays Standard Heists Tropes Straight
Army of Thieves can feel like a confusing sequel to those who liked Army of the Dead. The zombies are mentioned and shown several times in the film, but most of the focus is on Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), who…
Locke & Key Gets Darker in Second Season, But its Writing is Still as Infuriating as Ever
When Locke & Key arrived last year, I mentioned how exhausting and tired its whimsical, Harry Potter-like approach to a darker source material felt to me. The second season delves deeper into the lore, and thankfully, does bring more darkness…
Dune is One of the Most Visually Impressive and Faithfully Adapted Sci-Fi Epics Brought to Screen in a Decade
Dune is supposed to be one of those unfilmable sci-fi epics, like Foundation. While both franchises are being adapted to different mediums this year, Dune is much more faithful to its source material, and also manages to be an enthralling…
