review Archives

Harley Quinn Starts off Strong with its First Season, Balancing Comedy and Character Development

A Harley Quinn show could have gone wrong in a lot of ways. Although she’s a very popular character, she often runs the risk of overexposure like Deadpool does. And there’s the problematic aspect of Harley being in a toxic…

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Altered Carbon Season 2 is a Mixed Bag of Kinetic Action and Mundane Storytelling

After an absence of two years, Altered Carbon has returned to Netflix, helmed by both a new lead and a new showrunner. The pacing has been improved with the episode count being trimmed down to a more manageable eight from…

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Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker is Spectacular, but Also Predictable

After Star Wars: The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He had to keep the ball rolling after Rian Johnson had subverted several plot threads and set his own play into motion, all…

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The Witcher is a Mostly Faithful Adaptation that Shows Promise, Anchored by a Strong Henry Cavill Performance

When it was first announced, many expected The Witcher to be Netflix’s salvo in finding the new Game of Thrones. First arriving as a series of short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the franchise later morphed into novels…

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Jumanji: The Next Level is Good, Popcorn Fun that Builds on its Predecessor

It’s surprising that we have a Jumanji sequel already, especially since the last one came out only two years ago. The once novel premise, of getting transported into a magical video game and inhabiting the body of video game avatars,…

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Titans Season 2 is a Mess that Suffers from a Lack of Direction

There’s no two ways about it. Titans season two is a gigantic mess of a TV show. It feels like someone just threw a bunch of characters and story arcs into the mix and didn’t put any effort to make…

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Unbelievable: A Gripping Narrative of Trauma, Rape Culture and Justice

Unbelievable is a new show on Netflix based on a Pulitzer winning true story from US investigative site ProPublica. The story is about a young woman from Lynnwood, Washington, who initially claimed to have been tied up and raped at…

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Knives Out is A Witty Modern Take on Murder Mysteries, with Solid Performances and Direction

Whodunits from the likes of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle are rare in this day and age. Which is what makes Rian Johnson’s Knives Out all the more enjoyable. Set in modern day pastoral Massachusetts, it’s skewers the antics…

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Zombieland: Double Tap is a Robust Comedy with Solid Performances

Did Zombieland really need a sequel? Probably not. While it has acquired a small cult status since its release, the comedy was always more of a sleeper hit. The sequel brings back almost everyone from the original film, including writers…

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You Can’t Look Away as Joaquin Phoenix Descends into Madness (and Violence) in Joker

At the beginning, Joker starts with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) sitting in front of a dressing mirror, pulling at the corners of his mouth, forcing a grin and a grimace. This is reminiscent of the two masks, tragic and comic,…