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⭐6/10 The whole thrust of this movie is "spoiled" in any movie description you read, and it's pretty much impossible to talk about this movie otherwise, so yeah, I will dance around the major plot point a bit but discuss the major theme.  In this movie they may as well introduce us to a poor little puppy with only 1 leg that is bullied by his classmates, and finally when he finds love and acceptance he dies in a fire screaming an agony. I know and appreciate that there are tough realities in this world, and that it's not always emotional manipulation when they are portrayed on screen, but part of me felt like this movie was a little over indulgent with the sadness. It felt a little mean-spirited to have us know this sad moment was coming and then build up to it in the most tear-inducing ways. The portrayals of suffering are extended and claustrophobic, not allowing us to look away or have a break. If the characters must go through it then so must we.  The ...

⭐7/10 I loved Collins as a teenager but was pretty skeptical I'd still enjoy her writing given my advanced years and curmudgeonous nature. It didn't take me long to be convinced otherwise. I think she's pretty talented and creates compelling backdrops to tell interesting stories within her genre. I thought it was a pretty bold choice for a blockbuster YA writer to tell a story from the perspective of the villain, and I think it mostly paid off.  Most people say that this book was kinda average but the next one was better. After the first few chapters I was ready to come in hot and say that this was her best book. I thought the examination into the mind of an evil man was well done with consideration of his own trauma and insecurities. But midway through I kinda just stopped thinking that. This book was set up to be better than it was, never really exploring the ideas it sets up beyond some surface level observations. I'm not sure if it's a limiation of C...

⭐8/10 This is a movie based on a true story where Major League Baseball was suspended during WWII, and so to give the American people something to watch, they made a women's league. This primarily follows two sisters from rural Oregon as they join a team and travel the country.  I should first say that this movie is very funny. It's a 90s movie that parodies the sexism of the 40s, and while I think there are plenty of jokes that aren't funny to a modern audience, there are also some outrageous things coming out of people's mouths. I would say this movie is primarily a comedy, especially for the first half, and made me laugh a ton.  I also thought this movie had a deft touch when it came to these portrayals, not trying to portray these women as modern progressives, but what progressive women were like during that era. It's hard to say what this would look like if made today, but with how touchy all of this is, it wouldn't have looked like this. I appr...

⭐3/10 I can see this being okay if you go to the theatres with the homies and let yourself be swept up in loud noises and big visuals, but man, watching by yourself on a Thursday night? Absolute dud. A thought I often had was that this is The People We Meet on Vacation but for boys: a few nice things to look at, but horrendous writing with one cliche following another. There is not one original idea here and it's an embarrassment that this was nominated for Best Picture. The accusations that the Oscars are run by a cabal of white dads remains strong.  So in this movie, a failing F1 team needs to make a big move to save their season. Enter Brad Pitt, a driver who doesn't play by the rules, his old-school approach just what the team of book-following dweebazoids needed. Oh, he doesn't always get along with everyone, but he isn't here to make friends, he's here to win! And also the sole female character still sleeps with him because he really is that cool. ...

⭐ 9.5/10 This is everything good TV should be. 30 minute episodes, week to week, beautiful to look at, fun, full of great characters and dialog and action and emotion. From the first 5 minutes I was in love, as it literally takes a dump on the stoicism I associate with what Game of Thrones became (mainly House of the Dragon). It embraces the nastiness of Westeros, all from the view of an actually good person! They are so so rare in this world, and it is refreshing to have one, and that they didn't warp this story to try to squeeze it into the contours of the other shows. We have all the classic medieval story beats, a tourney with jousting, but also conspiracy, royals misbehaving. Aside from that we also have a lone wolf and cub story, a trope that has been used a million times in things I love but is done so well here. Dunk is loveable and kind and noble, Egg is fun and sweet but also has a secret. The Targs are pathetic and annoying except the one who isn't. The guy running ...

⭐ 9/10 First off, check out that cover art. Amazing. Secondly, 3 book reviews in a row, look at me go! Amazing what a vacation affords you time to do. I have reviewed this book before, probably on the old spreadsheet, and I have no idea what I gave it there, but I loved this. I could not put it down, and read it in two days, completely absorbed. I have a memory of it being a bit of a slog, at the very least less exciting than Dune, so I loved getting a chance to look at this one with fresh eyes. It's a tired take to say Paul Atreides is "not actually the good guy", but this book brings this fully into view. I would have read this the first time probably 10 years ago, and while I shockingly remembered many scenes, my reaction to them was very different. This book is basically about a conspiracy or 3 factions, representing 3 groups, plotting against Paul, who has become the emperor of the galaxy, whose followers are enacting a religious war across that galaxy. I would have...

⭐ 9/10 An odd score for something I have no complaints about. I flew through this pleasantly short book in about 2 days, and loved every moment. We are in the perspective of a young girl trying to avenge the death of her father, following her as she gets herself in danger but has no fear or filter. She is witty, intelligent, and I had the thought that finally I am seeing a precocious youngster I don't hate! She is defined by a sense of righteous justice, and she refuses to even acknowledge her age, always haggling with adults and getting her way. The caveat is that this book is actually told by Mattie Ross in the future, but still, her voice is very fresh, especially compared to the cookie-cutter manic-pixie-dream-girls of another author I read too much of. The plot is simple, the main three characters are memorable, and the charm is unavoidable. When danger comes you can really feel the vulnerability of Mattie, despite her defiance all book long, and the safety of these tougher m...

⭐8/10 I have given basically every book of Red Rising the same score, and while I think this is maybe the best one it also took me 6 months to read. It is massive, it is dense, and when I finally got some momentum on it earlier this year I finally finished it. This is book 5, the second book of the second trilogy, and it is very much the Empire Strikes Back of this second arc. Things are indeed dark, and it goes out of its way to be as gnarly as possible. But let me take a step back. The first third of this book is a siege of a planet told from two perspectives. It is pretty incredible, the scale is massive, but even 5 books in I can barely keep track of going on. I've read these books over too long of a span, and when character names are mentioned I know they are significant but I can't remember why, or what their allegiance currently is. There are a million moments in this book that I'm sure would hit harder on re-read, but the universe is so big, the names so weirdly ob...

⭐9/10 This is the game that I first found in the clearance bin at the Superstore when I was a kid that set me down this path, and is also the first non-Pokemon game that I was obsessed with. It's typically considered the best in the series (though I'm not sure I agree with that) as it is the perfect balance of adding some new, interesting mechanics, while still sticking to the main formula.  Again, I cannot express just how much I have genuinely loved replaying these. I was obsessed all over again, especially when I got to the end game, spending some four hours at a time grinding bosses, staying up way later than I should have. These are awesome games! They are flawed, especially with my modern sensibilities, and yet I'm not sure many games today can match these timeless, classic features. If they made this game today, I'm not sure they could do much better.  I agree this game was the best I've played so far. I was skeptical to start, especially as it se...

⭐ 9/10 My 3 season binge meant that I got to watch this fourth season weekly for most of it, and I forgot how exciting it is to have ongoing shows to look forward to every week, specifically Sunday night. This and Knight of the Seven Kingdoms were such a treat. With this show specifically I forgot how much I love a multi-season show. If I have to pick between movies or TV I will go movies 90% of the time, but with something like this you are really rewarded for the tens of hours you spend with these characters. Seeing how they evolve, and even how the show evolves over time, is something that is basically impossible to do in movies. Speaking of evolution, this show continues to amaze. The first season is a bunch of kids at an internship trying to score this soul-sucking job. Season two we move higher up in the company, the rot on the trading floor trickling down from the board rooms above it. Season 3 we keep going up, the upper-upper class and their relationship with the media and fi...

⭐7.5/10 This is a movie that's up for best picture this month, and kinda falls into my wheelhouse as it's a quirky dramedy led by my favorites Jesse Plemmons and Emma Stone. It's a fantastic premise where Plemmons, a conspiracy theorist, kidnaps Stone, a CEO he thinks is an alien, and, ya know, hijinks ensue.  I get why people love this movie. I think this is a good movie and I wanted to love it more. I don't have much to offer for critiques, but I kinda just wished I was moved by the characters more, or more into the plot, or I wished I laughed more at the jokes. I almost wish they leaned more into the silliness, made this more of a comedy, because this plays out more as a representation of weird people that actually exist. That's fine, I just didn't find it super compelling.  There's also some really cool ideas being explored here. I loved this idea of misplaced suspicion, stuff we see all the time. There is hurt, but rather than seeking to und...

⭐9.5/10 Our latest offering from the Thronesverse, and while the dialogue around Westeros has been pretty negative for pretty much the last decade, I was pretty optimistic about this show. I loved the short story collection they are based on and thought it would offer some levity and charm to a series that has been a little over-serious and grim for most people's tastes.  I will still admit I didn't expect to love this show quite as much as I did. I think it was pretty much perfect. It was funnier than the books, going for some pretty outrageous visual gags, but otherwise it was pretty true to the source. The writing, as in most Thrones adaptations, was consistently sublime, getting the voice of the universe just right. I think this is the result of closely following a wonderful writer with a strong voice, and if a story sticks close to George, it usually succeeds.  Dunk is a character in this universe that we all need, someone who is just and kind and easy to chee...

    KJ Charles never misses, and this is another great mix of historical, mystery, and romance, which is one of my favourite combos.  Zeb tries to stay away from his family, because they're all horrible and consider him a failure because he can't hold down a job. But a distant uncle convinces him to come for a stay in the family faux-Gothic manor in Dartmoor, and to his horror, all of his terrible relatives are there, and so is his ex-lover who hates him for losing him his job. The uncle declares that he will choose which of the men will be marrying his ward and get the inheritance. Zeb isn't interested, but he's stuck there because of the mist, and tensions rise between the family members, especially when they start seeing ghosts and messages appear on the walls.      I love what KJ Charles did with the setting here. It's set in the early 1900s, but the manor was built to resemble a Gothic manor. It's also set in the moors with an unpredictable fog, ...

⭐9/10 This movie right here is the kind that reminds you why you love cinema. In the two hours it takes you to watch it, you will experience wonder and awe and dread and profound sadness and hope. It's perhaps not a perfect movie, but it is a story that grabs you and doesn't let go until you're left reeling at the end, silent as you watch the credits, ready to immediately go back to the start and see how all the pieces fit.  This is a French movie by Denis Villeneuve and kinda feels like what Momento was for Christopher Nolan - an earlier, less grand movie that is tight and driven by mystery and compelling characters. It's about two siblings being left a mysterious will by their mother, her final wish being one that takes them across the vague Middle-east (most of the places are fictional to avoid political commentary) to discover her past. They have mixed feelings about their odd, eccentric mother, but as you learn about her story you quickly start to under...

⭐9/10 Starting our watch of my new favorite show in earnest, though we skipped a few seasons to start because we've heard first few are a little rough.  This show and this season are absolutely awesome. It takes place in Patagonia, and I actually had a bit of familiarity with survival tactics in this area because I read The Wager which is a survival story that takes place there. It's a beautiful, harsh location, and one of the best features of this show is that it's nice to look at.  We get a terrific cast of characters from nature hippies to mountain men, each one having their own strengths and weaknesses. I love the contrast that we get every season, especially in age, where young people have more energy and can recover better, but don't have that experience or knowledge that the vets have. This is a American show with American contestants, but I do wish there were a few people from different cultures who might bring something different. One of the most st...

⭐7/10 This was my latest foray into the movies with Willy and Corney, and these are always super hit or miss. I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. It's your typical kids sports underdog story - like truly, there are zero surprises - but it's got a few good gags and the animation is gorgeous.  I love this trend in animation. This is Spiderverse inspired and works great for this movie. It's super stylish and one of my favorite representations of basketball. It's got a lot of swag and actually looks like it was made by people who either play or actually know what basketball looks like. In a lot of ways this is a love letter to the new generation of basketball lovers, having a uniquely modern feel. It's a bit of a double edged sword because I am indeed not the new generation and romanticize the old school, but I'm glad kids have a movie that is distinctly for them. I wonder if all the slang and trends will look silly in ten years...

⭐10/10 Is this a comedy masterpiece? I was really not familiar with this comedy duo outside of their viral Wii Shop Wednesday sketch, but praise for this movie was high and we actually made it out to the cinema like this was 2008. Man, what an absolute hoot to watch in the theatres. From the opening scene this movie killed me and I was laughing so hard in the theatre that I was honestly embarrassed. This movie is a miracle.  They have a pretty unique style in that this is often unscripted interactions with the people of Toronto. That's right -- Toronto! -- this movie is also very Canadian. It's a bit like Nathan Fielder in that way, though it blends scripted moments with it as well. In fact, I daresay Matt and Jay are something of a combination of my favorites - Fielder, Tim Robinson, as well as Flight of the Concords or even a little old school Rhett and Link. The whole premise is that they are a struggling band trying to get booked to play the Rivoli, a very modes...

⭐9/10 This was our choice for Valentine's this year. In a way it was kinda a tough movie for the occasion - it asks some questions I'm not sure I want to think about. But by the end I was completely sold and really liked this as a unique, creative romance.  In this one we meet a couple who have had a nice, plain marriage for decades, and then when they both die they meet up in the afterlife except there's a problem - she had a first husband and the two of them had a passionate, shortlived marriage when they were young and hot and before he died as a soldier. Now she has to choose which man she spends eternity with - the plain but safe guy she was married to for decades, or the earnest heartthrob whose love was unrealized. It's a cool premise right? I mean, the details aren't super important and you can't think too hard about the details, but it really explores this question in a meaningful, emotionally resonant way, especially because choosing one me...

⭐ 9.5/10 This is a show that I hear about almost every week from one of my favourite podcasts because they have loved it from day one. I heard it described as Succession + Euphoria, and while I love Succession I haven't seen Euphoria because it looks like sex and drugs and no real substance. Well this show certainly has that, but a whole lot of substance as well. I started the first season over a year ago, and it took a while to get through that season, but at some point it finds its rhythm and I could not stop watching. I didn't even have time to review previous seasons because I was burning through them, and it all felt like one big story. Season 3 has a huge ending, and is clearly the closing of a chapter for the show, so before I start 4 I figured I should reflect. Season 1 is about a bunch of new grads starting what is basically an internship at Pierpoint, a massive financial institution in London. If they do a good job and pass the final interview they will secure full t...