“The 5th Wave” may not have done well—at all—at the box office, but I still saw it, so why not review it? What Works: Chloe Grace Moretz is a great actress no matter how bad the movie she’s in, and here she combines some of the best elements from Divergent’s Shailene Woodley (vulnerable, expressive eyes, real-girl…
Category: Mindless Mondays
Movie Review: The Forest
Is “The Forest” a worthy addition to J-Pop horror? Well…yes and no… What Works: Having a horror movie set in the loony world of Japanese suicide culture is a strong idea, and the second half of the film that actually takes place in the infamous suicide forest works really well. Plus, Natalie Dormer makes a smooth transition from…
TV Review: Can Rebooted “X-Files” Win Over a New Fan?
So a small caveat before we begin: I’ve never seen an episode of the original “X-Files.” But I have seen both movies, which is either a good thing (the first one) or a bad one (the sequel) depending on whether you stopped after the original. Still, the question remains: “Is the reboot enjoyable for relatively-new fans to…
Is TBS on to Something By Showing All of “Angie Tribeca” in One Day?
Cable networks are getting increasingly jealous of the streaming platforms (Netflix, Amazon) putting all of their shows online at once and hogging all the attention, so it was perhaps inevitable that they’d find ways around this. Last year, NBC put the entire first season of “Aquarius” On Demand at the same time (I guess so…
Movie Review: Why “Spotlight” is the Best Film of the Year
I know, I know, you’re thinking “but you said ‘The Revenant’ was best of the year only a few hours ago?” But “Spotlight” shares the top spot this year, as I think both movies are truly something special. And I never got around to reviewing “Spotlight” when I saw it last year, and that’s because…
Movie Review: Why “The Revenant” is the Best Movie of the Year
Actually, “The Revenant” is tied with “Spotlight” for best movie of 2015, and either one would make a great choice for Best Picture. Right now, “The Revenant” is defying my wildest expectations at the box office, and I never dreamed it would make over 100 million and so many people would get to see it….
Follow-Up: How Did I Do On My “Most Anticipated (and Least Anticipated) Fall Movies” List?
A few months back I posted a list of Most Anticipated and Least Anticipated Fall Movies, and it’s time to see exactly how well I predicted which movies were worth anticipating… The Ten Least Anticipated Movies… 10. I Saw the Light…Right or Wrong? Wellllllll…the movie was bumped from an Oscar-prime slot in late Fall until…
Movie Review: “Joy” and “The Hateful Eight”
Two movies that have absolutely nothing in common with each other, but I didn’t think either was buzzed about right now to get its own review. I semi-reviewed them in the “Every Movie I’ve Seen in 2015” list, and gave both of them grades, but this is a few words on why… The Hateful Eight…Reviews…
Movie Review: “The Big Short,” “Concussion,” and “Carol”
Is it wrong to lump three heavy-hitter Oscar-courting films into the same review? Maybe so, and especially since “Big Short” and “Carol” could easily be nominated for Best Picture come Thursday, but the truth of the matter is that I just didn’t love them as much as I wanted to, and I couldn’t get excited…
Movie Reviews: “Selfless,” “Time Out of Mind,” and “The Hunting Ground”
Three films I just didn’t have time to formally review before my end of the year movie list. Selfless…The movie should be better than it is—it’s about an aging billionaire (Ben Kingsley) who undergoes a surgery to take the body of a young man (Ryan Reynolds) with a company that is shadier than they first appear—but, then…
Every Movie I’ve Seen in 2015 From Worst to Best
To be honest, 2015 wasn’t a great year for movies. Yes, the box office broke records but that doesn’t necessarily mean people were really leaving the theater satisfied. And I could see where a new “Jurassic,” “Avengers,” James Bond, “Star Wars,” “Terminator,” and two separate Pixar films may look like an embarassment of riches. But I kept…
The Best TV Shows of the Year
We’ve done the Best Characters, the Best Scenes, the Best Episodes, and it’s now time to say goodbye to 2015 for good with the overall “Best TV Shows of the Year.” This is the first year that I can honestly say TV was significantly better than the movies, and the movie lover in me is…
The Best TV Episodes of the Year
The 20 Best TV “Scenes” of the Year might be more a more comprehensive of the year’s best TV, but this smaller list of Ten will still give you a great sampling of shows to try. Runner-Up: Another Period is too easy to dismiss as a Comedy Central odd duck, but this series—-a mockumentary mix of…