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⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) I had never watched any of his specials before, but I felt like I knew him before I watched because the internet loves him. I genuinely thought he was really funny. He was clever and thoughtful, and his jokes delivered a great punchline. I think he stands out among other fellow comedians because he doesn’t just talk about sex. His jokes aren’t just crude, and although that can be funny, it gets old and uncomfortable pretty quickly. He also uses swears in a great way. Had an awesome time watching this!

⭐ 9.5/10 (Originally written by Anita) Well this one was surprising! I was not expecting it to be so dang sentimental!! I wanted to watch it for some laughs (which I definitely got!) but I got some feel-good tears along with it! I absolutely *loved* all the main characters and even the villain was a properly bad dude but who just had a really sad upbringing, ya know? Anyway, it was hilarious and heart-warming and I loved it.

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Anita) I still am really enjoying the magic system of this book and all the super relevant political ties to our world. So much wrestling with the correct way to lead and govern people. I do think Brandon enjoys his detailed battle scenes just a bit too much. They're well-written scenes, I just get tired of being on the edge of my seat for 75% of the book.

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Tim) There are not many movies that could get me into the theaters these days, but I made an exception for Christopher Nolan (and the broken promise of a Dune trailer). This was a great movie to experience in theaters, because I don't really imagine I will be watching it again. I did really enjoy it, and like all Nolan movies it forces you to lock in and pay attention. This one uses some funky inverted time mechanics to push the plot forward, and it is confusing but also fun to try and put all the puzzle pieces in place. That said, it reminded me a bit of Inception, but not in a good way. It is so caught up in its own devices that the story kind of falls flat, and the harder you think about it the less it makes sense. I believe a character in the movie literally tells another character just to not think about it. The motivations of the characters are a bit flimsy, with our protagonist chasing MacGuffins, and the female lead's only driver is h...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This is a 50 year old movie about 4 guys who want to go canoeing down a backwoods river and enjoy the beautiful sights, but events along the way turn the trip into a nightmare. Lots of Apocalypse Now vibes here, and I felt similarly enthralled yet disturbed by it. I'd watched Dueling Banjos on YouTube a few times so I felt good about getting Jess to watch this movie with me (look at this fun music scene!). It was a bad idea. Within 30 minutes there is this long, incredibly uncomfortable scene that kinda makes you sick. But what I loved about this movie is that the scene leads to this great moral dilemma that really challenges you. The characters handle it like real humans which you soon realize is probably more than most movies do because it makes you think in unusual ways. As the movie goes on, the dilemma continues to grow and deepen and you really sympathize with everyone involved (especially young and sexy Mr Sir!). So yeah, this movie ...

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This was a super weird movie to watch as an adult because I couldn't figure out if any of these jokes were actually funny or if they were just a reminder of a time when I thought they were. This movie is also completely absurd. It's got zero plot and the scenes that follow one another seem to have no connection, and then at the end every problem is magically resolved. Still, maybe for sentimental reasons, I laughed a lot and I suppose that's the whole point.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) I really loved this season and am really loving this show. It's fully embraced its ridiculousness which sets it apart from the other beloved comedies. The ability to use film cliches and turn each one into a joke is amazing. Lots of meta humor here. There are so many episodes that are just so darn good. The characters have become a lot more fleshed out and likeable by now which was a criticism I had of the first season. Peirce remains my favorite character which I know isn't the character you are supposed to like. It's discouraging to know that future seasons won't all be as good, but I'm glad there are plenty of good episodes ahead. For this season, my favorites were the "bottle episode," the paintball episodes (obviously), the space episode, and my favorite, the trampoline episode. Like I said, lots of good ones!

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) So as many of you may know, Mother Teresa is my second favourite person to ever live, right next to Jesus Jay Christ. I think she is so incredible, loving and amazing, that I’ve chosen her as my guiding saint on my faith journey. This is a brief and quick overlook of her life and work, with accompanying pictures which I love. The thing about MT is that she literally changed the world in her time on earth. Like, she changed the *whole* world. I feel emotional whenever I think about her work and seriously wish I could’ve met her while she was living. I can’t wait to see her on the right hand of YHWH when the Kingdom is restored. She encourages me to love more, to pray more, and to trust God even in the midst of chaos and doubt: something she was highly accustomed to. I could seriously sing her praises all day HMU for more Mother Teresa discourse!

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) This was my first time ever watching this movie! I obviously didn’t feel any nostalgia and I think that’s a huge reason people like this movie. I did think it was really funny and laughed quite a bit. MVP goes to Andre the Giant.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) Such a good season! Liked this one much better than the first. Like everyone else, I really felt like they were able to settle into their characters better, and we were able to see more character development. Obviously loved Klaus and Vanya, and Diego actually really grew on me! Five takes the crown though. I absolutely hated the whole Luther + Allison thing. I really hate time travel because they never make it make sense but this worked if you didn’t think about it too much. Plus .5 stars for the awesome soundtrack!

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Will) Despite the rather boring title, this is one of the all-time classics in the software industry. The main premise is that the hardest problems in software development are sociological, not technological, which is really counter-intuituve to technical people that love solving problems with software. This was a re-read for me - I skim it every few years to make sure it's really sunk in. I first read it when I was barely out of school and new to the industry, and thought every problem could be solved technically, so it was groundbreaking for me then. I've been interested for a few years in how to build effective software organizations and this book is a great starting point on that.

⭐ 6.5/10 (Originally written by Will) A rewatch, as we're catching Evelyn up on some of the DC universe. The movie is worth watching for the first half, which I thought was quite good. Unfortunately the second half consists entirely of three separate long, drawn-out fight scenes that are really tiresome.

⭐ 6.5/10 (Originally written by Tim) As always, I was really looking forward to listening to this season. I thought it started off with a bang, probably because he uses a Hobbit reference in his thesis for the first 2 episodes, but after that there was a 4 part series on bombing in the war. I felt that these episodes came across more as a history podcast, and I had a hard time connecting the dots to his thesis on this one. Really just felt more like an interesting character he wanted to talk about for 4 episodes. It was fascinating, and the last part of these 4 was very moving, just felt a bit bloated. I did think that it got better after that, with more (shorter) looks at interesting people. I also found the finale pretty emotional, but once again I thought his conclusions were a bit flimsy, hinging on the basis that the 9/11 memorial and a graph plotting homeless people were conceptually the same thing. Overall I can't say I loved this season. Had some bright spots, but wasn'...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Benjamin) Maybe it's kind of silly to review this, but can i just say that this is a lovely little documentary that made me smile alot and made me want to be a better human. About solving the rubix cube in record times, Feliks shows us a great example of how to be a good friend to others. I mean the kids doing these competitions are so nerdy, i loved it.

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) A collection of essays written by a Haudenosaunee woman that was really raw and informative. She addresses lots of topics, especially mental health and the treatment of Indigenous People. I learned a lot about how badly Canada is still doing when it comes to Indigenous rights, which was so disappointing. She tells stories of growing up on and off the reservation with a bipolar white mother and occasionally emotionally abusive Native father, becoming a teen mother, and dealing with her own mental health issues. She has a really wonderful essay about photography, and tying it together with how Indigenous people have been portrayed, agency, and erasure. Highly recommend.

⭐ 9.5/10 (Originally written by Benjamin) Fantastic! Acting, story telling, all of it. Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, John Ortiz were all amazing!

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) This movie was something else. Two men maintaining a lighthouse on an island get abandoned there when a storm breaks out, and both get a severe case of cabin fever. The acting is great, with the camera on these two guys the entire time. The film also looks incredible, all in black and white, and filmed in a narrow aspect ratio that makes it look like a historical documentary. The dynamic between the two is incredible, one being the lighthouse keeper and the other his whipping boy for all the difficult tasks, and this clearly leads to a bunch of conflict. Willem Dafoe in particular is amazing as a raving and demanding former sailor, and his superstition and secrets are really what make this film boil over. There was tons of symbolic imagery, and I am pretty sure it's a retelling of a Greek myth. The final image in particular is pretty grotesque, but unforgettable, and makes the connection to Greek mythology pretty obvious. Feels like I need to wa...

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This is a memoir by the woman who took in and hid the Frank family during World War 2. I'm probably the only person in the world who hasn't read Anne Frank's Diary, and probably should have read that first, but hey, I don't control what's free on Overdrive. But going in with less knowledge added a bit of character and suspense to this story because although I knew the fate of Anne, I didn't know anything else. This memoir is really great. The author does a great job telling the story and explaining her beliefs and convictions in a human way. She was no great politician or war hero or intellectual, but was a normal Dutch woman doing what she thought was right for her friends. Like any story related to the Holocaust, the story was a real gut punch and simply hard to fathom even though we've heard these things a million times. Hearing it from this unique perspective was pretty interesting - not a victim necessarily but o...

⭐ 6.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) Only a 6 episode season!? I have seen a few odd episodes of this, but never watched it all the way through. I know I tried in the past but I just don't think this first season is very good. Complete rip off of The Office (I know, same people who made it), and all the characters seem like lesser knock-offs and combinations of office characters. Leslie in particular is more annoying than anything, and doesn't have that Michael charm (I know, it gets better, I know). Andy was the standout for me, and was basically the only person I laughed at (the occasional Tom as well), but he gets such limited screen time. I have already started the second season and it is noticeably better. I just don't really love shows where you have to say "don't worry, you just need to get past the first season". I will accept it here, since the season is so short, but I have to leave an honest review.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) I kind of picked this book up without knowing anything about it except Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington star in the tv mini series adaptation. The book is about two families: one of them is an upper class, Caucasian, well to do family that lives in suburbia and plays life by the rules. The second is a single mother with her one child, they’re Black, and live their life wherever the wind takes them. The single mother and her daughter end up renting a house from the white family and their lives are forever altered as they become entwined. This book was incredibly complex in it’s characters. The author did an awesome job with portraying the layers and nuance that are in every person. She also did a fantastic bit of juxtaposing the lives of both families in a way that made you relate to both worlds. As the story progresses you can see and feel the tension build up to this incredible conclusion that leaves your head spinning. A lot of surprises s...

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This movie is pretty funny and it has some nice nuance around mental health. I appreciate that it shows the good and the bad, that there are highs and lows, and that family can be both your best asset for better mental health as well as the biggest barrier.

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) This show is like a darker version of Stranger Things with time travel. A kid goes missing, a small town is in an uproar, and all of a sudden events and people from the past show up in the present. It becomes a bit of a puzzle box, with multiple timelines you are constantly trying to remember who is who at different ages, what their relationships to others are, and what is motivating them in each timeline. It can be difficult at times, but I found it all pretty exciting, and was totally locked in every episode. It's also a German show, so you are reading subtitles at the same time. I feel like this might actually help keep track of all the threads, since the names are constantly in your face. The show also does a great job of mirroring events/people in different timelines, sometimes in split screen. This not only shows some cool narrative parallels, but makes me go, oh ya, this person is that person's dad, got it. I sometimes find shows...

⭐ 5.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) See my review for season one. I just don't think this show is funny, although it does have its moments. It's a shame that it tries to draw humour from sex all the time, because the best episodes are the ones that don't revolve around who is sleeping with who. This season is slightly better than the first, mainly because the characters have kind of figured out who they are (except Winston - what is his deal?). I will admit that I feel a fondness towards the characters, but they constantly make the worst decisions. They do things only to drive forward the zany sitcom plot, which is frustrating and often nonsensical. Especially around relationships - it really does not need to be as difficult as they choose to make it. I just want the best for Jessica and Nick and Schmidt and Winston. It's painful to watch them be so bad at everything.

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) This is my second book by this South African author, and I really enjoyed this one as well. Our two narrators are Robin, a young white girl whose parents have just been killed, and Beauty, a Black woman who is looking for her daughter, who got caught up in the riots. It revolves around the Soweto Uprising during Apartheid, and I really appreciated getting a look at the issues from both sides. Of course it's a sad subject, but the book doesn't dwell on the tragedy too much; rather, it's about opening yourself up to others over and over again, and resilience. I found it really touching and informative.

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) How could I resist a book about a girl spending her summer in Taiwan and eating a bunch of dumplings? It's geared towards the younger side of the Juvenile Fiction spectrum, but I still quite enjoyed it. It's about Pacy, a Taiwanese-American who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The author does such a good job making Taiwan come alive, and exploring the different things that Pacy sees and experiences. It was so accurate to how I experienced Taiwan as well, from the food to the busy streets to the high speed rail. It includes a lot of facets of Taiwanese culture, and I want to make all of the kids in my life read it. It also explores identity and immigration in a really sweet way. Pacy struggles to feel like she belongs there when she looks like everyone else, but can't speak or read Chinese, and she often feels really lost in Taiwan, which also helps her to understand how her parents must have felt when they immigrated to the U...

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) So I re-watched this and realized I never reviewed it. Obviously I loved this. I had been listening to the soundtrack for years, so I had a pretty good grasp on what was going on. I really loved being able to see what was happening: seeing the characters, the facial expressions, the stage, the revolving floor, etc; I thought it really enhanced the viewing experience. I just can’t believe how much I loved it. The vocals were unreal, the songs are so good. I want to go see it live even more now so I’m starting a GoFundMe link in bio!

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Tim) Quite the departure from my usual reading, but I picked this up for Jess after a friend at work recommended it. I saw all the incredible reviews online, so I decided to give it a try before her, and I am glad I did. This is book one of a four part series following the lives of two female friends growing up in a small poor town outside of Naples. It is told chronologically, so book one is their childhood and adolescence, and I assume the remaining books pick up from there. It seems to be semi-autobiographical, since it is told in first person, the main character dreams of leaving her situation and becoming an author, and her name is the same as the author's (although I think that is a pen name). As I said, not usually the kind of book I go for, but somehow I found myself relating to characters in situations I will never experience. The story is very detailed, told in short chapters that illustrate a defining moment in the lives of these girls...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) This is an ownvoices book about an autistic character, written by an autistic author. And the author is the creator of the #ownvoices hashtag! So that really caught my interest. The book opens on Denise and her addict mother trying to get to a bunker, because a comet is about to come and destroy a big part of the earth. They've known about it for six months, but they're late, and end up on a generation ship that is getting ready to leave Earth soon after the comet hits. Denise needs to find a way to make everyone accept her and her mother on the ship, as well as find her (trans) sister, who is missing. There's missing supplies, and distress signals from trapped people, and lots of debate about who is worth saving and accepting onto the ship, since it can't support everyone once they leave for space. I loved getting this Own Voices portrayal of someone with autism struggling with stress and responsibility, and trying to seem ...

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by The Original Susanne) I hadn't really heard much about this movie, but it was surprisingly good! Rather clever with catchy songs. The premise wasn't anything unique (pretty much the kid's version of The Village), but it was a fun watch.

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by The Original Susanne) A fun watch. No The Office or anything, but Steve Carell is always a hoot.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) I have never liked either lead actor at all, but I thought they were both pretty good in this one. Pretty good for easy watching.

⭐ 9.5/10 (Originally written by KathleenQ) I enjoyed season one. I freaking LOVED season two. The tone was a bit lighter, and there was less need for the tedious exposition that sometimes bogged down season one. The characters all got their chance to shine as we got to know them better (especially Klaus, who has the BEST LINES. He made me laugh out loud at least three times). And there was still plenty of paranormal ass-kicking, dark humour, and narrative wizardry. This season kept me guessing -- I could never predict where it was going. It was just SO FUN, I enjoyed every minute of it. Loses half a star for insisting on giving unnecessarily grisly deaths to completely innocent minor characters. WHY. OOH, random note: this was a minor detail, but I really appreciated how they treated the autistic child in this season. He was not a tragedy just because he was nonverbal, but a beloved and precious child, just as worthy of protection as a neurotypical child. THANK YOU, Netflix.

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Tim) Been a while since I have watched a new movie and enjoyed it this much. I love Andy Samberg, so this movie (made by him and his Lonely Island gang) was really fun. He plays a guy stuck in a time loop, reliving the same wedding over and over. The female protagonist gets dragged in alongside him and it turns into a pretty great romantic comedy. The groundworks of the time loop are explained through her character, they grow closer together as she accepts her new life, and then there are some good twists (even if they aren't the most shocking twists ever). I laughed a good amount, and was pretty struck by how good Andy was as a leading man. Really makes you feel for a guy in his position. There is the obvious comparison to now, living the same day over and over, and it's not the first movie to use this kind of plot device, but it still felt fresh and I didn't know how it would end. Really fun movie, didn't feel like it lacked from not se...

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) Keah Brown is a Black woman with cerebral palsy, and this book is a collection of essays about her life as a Black woman in a disabled body. She's also the person who created the viral hashtag #disabledandcute. She goes through her journey towards loving herself and her body after years of hating it. She talks a lot about having good representation, and how when there are disabled people in media, they either die or get cured. It was really eye-opening for me, and she made a great case for why it's so important. She also had an interesting essay about her longing for romantic love, but how it feels so hard when it's so hard for people to see past her disability. I consider this a really valuable read, but I have to admit she does tend to be pretty wordy, and by the end the essays felt repetitive. But it's definitely worthwhile to get the perspective of someone with two identities that get ignored by society.

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) This is a novella, less than 150 pages, but it really packs a lot into that small amount of pages. It follows Ariadne and her three fellow astronauts, as they are sent to four different planets for a very long-term research and exploration project, about 100 years in the future. They spend a few years on each planet, just documenting and discovering new life forms, and each one is very unique. Gave me big Space Trilogy vibes. The astronauts are gone for years, and we watch them go through the highs and lows of space travel, especially when they stop getting word from Earth. On each planet their bodies are modified to adapt to the specific environment, and the descriptions of everything were just so cool. Climate change is a frequent topic, as is the justification of space travel, not for colonizing other planets, but just to be taught. I definitely want to read more by her.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by The Original Susanne) I didn't love this show, but it was interesting enough to keep me watching. The robot was kind of creepy. It's a bit exhausting to watch because there are so many freaking obstacles and they just can't get to their destination.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by The Original Susanne) If you know my tv preferencesat all, you'll know I love British crime shows. I don't know why, but I just can't help myself. I watched the first 2 seasons a couple of years ago, so it took me some time to remember the history. I didn't love how they tried to work Marcella's mental illness into the season, and it felt a bit forced and confusing. Like they had a storyline and needed to work in the illness that the other seasons were centered around. Also, there's no way the police force would allow her to work like this. And if no one knew she was alive, who was paying her?? Anyway, interesting plot, some pretty big questions.

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by The Original Susanne) After everyone assured me I would like this show more than I thought I would, I decided to give it a try. They were right. I tend to avoid highschool drama as much as possible, but I actually didn't mind it in this show! It didn't feel as lame and eye roll worthy as most, and I found myself actually invested in the characters' lives and issues. Appreciated the diverse cast, as everyone else has mentioned.

⭐ 6.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) This book had me for the first half, and I thought this might be the best Asimov I had ever read. It is a standalone novel, not part of his connected universe, and it felt incredibly fresh and exciting for me. It is a story of three acts. In the first, scientists notice that a certain element is being spontaneously replaced out of nowhere with an unknown element. This unknown element produces energy in a way that defies science, but provides limitless energy as long as this swap occurs, and the earth begins to rely on its energy. Scientists agree that there must be a parallel universe that is forcing the swap, since the earth element that is sent must provide them with energy in the same way. I completely bought in to this premise, and was excited for the second act, which introduces us to the parallel universe. However, it wasn't at all what I expected, in all the best ways. His description of an entirely knew species is really fascinating, and...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) I can't say I was expecting to like this one. This book is very warm and wholesome and those aren't usually qualities I'm looking for in a book. It turns out Michelle is also a very normal person, but I think that's what made this book so relatable and interesting. She was a lower-middle class girl that became an upper-middle class woman who liked her job, her kids, sitcoms, fast food, and didn't care much for politics or high society. That's why you really identify with her and the significance of the turn her life takes when she falls in love with a interesting, but mostly normal guy who quickly becomes a celebrity, then the most powerful man in the world, and everything changes rapidly. In biographies of famous people I always wish there were more of the small, day to day stuff and this is full of that. She does an awesome job of describing how it feels to go from being a normal person to a celebrity, and how that affec...

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Katrina) Okay, the ART, imagery, fashion, styling, music and dance of this film is absolutely incredible and beautiful and expressive and evoking. Everyone in the film is amazing and unique. Beyonce is the STAR she is. I loved the album The Lion King: The Gift that came out as a companion to the movie and how it included so many collaborators and creatives from different countries in Africa. The music they created was amazing. As much as I love the original Lion King, it really is a white, American, Disney-fied story, and The Gift and Black is King work hard to bring the perspective back to Africa. The story of Black is King follows a Simba-figure in his journey of growing up, trying to find himself and find his way home. It also focuses on black women and their relationships and maternal sacrifices. There's a part where Beyonce places her child in a basket and leaves it to float down The Nile, just like the story of Moses. That seemed like a strange...