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⭐ 8/10 I love this world, but this series has been consistently good, not great.  This book felt like all setup for the finale, but it took some time to remind us of other characters across the world which I appreciate.  There were some dramatic moments in the book, and things were changing despite our main cast staying mostly in the same spot the whole time. I am 12 books deep into this world so I can't really talk about the plot without spoiler what has come before, but the changes the characters go through is pretty amazing to see, something you can only imagine in the first trilogy. This is a book about discovery, and preserving history while the world changes around you.  Ownership and greed is a huge theme in this series, whether its for land or animals or people, and this entry ratchets up the tension around this. I am so curious how the next book will wrap up this series, feels like anything could happen.  I love the pace of these books, which is pretty slo...

⭐ 9/10 Still a great show, with some great moments, although impossible not to feel like we are past the prime.  The Michael Scott Paper Company arc feels like them grasping at straws to make something interesting happen.  Pam is just so stupid for agreeing to sign on to that, so its annoying hearing her complain all episode long.  Meanwhile Jim is being an absolute doofus in front of Idris Elba.  Way to make the characters we care about suck! I do think this show crushes finales, and this season is no exception, with that almost silent scene in the hospital.  Not only that, but Slumdunder Mifflenaire and the quite crowd reactions is the cringe I want out of the show.  Speaking of cringe, Pam's volleyball serve!  The funniest thing this show ever did was have her say she was a volleyball star in college and then cut to that abomination. The hardest I have laughed in a long time. Lots to love still, and Michael is the bedrock. Dwight has the funniest ...

⭐ 10/10 Ah yes, the worst perfect movie of all time. I absolutely adore this movie. Definitely very clumsy here and there, but boy is it effective. At times it can be completely haunting or even moving, and then that final sequence just knocks your socks off. This is basically a meme movie now, but it is also simply a very good movie.  Right from the start, it's clear Lucas spent the years between 2 and 3 in his alchemy lab working on special effects because this movie looks as good as any movie today, and often better. This movie happened in the mid-2000s which seems like the apex of effects for reasons I'll never fully understand. The space scenes, the droids, and even most of the aliens look great. I have also never mentioned costumes in any review of these, but that's a tragedy because the costumes in every movie are great, and this is the best of all. Anakin, Obi Wan and Padme all rock iconic fits, especially Anakin with his all-black robe.  Okay, one more ...

⭐7/10 Yaaaa this is a tough one. I don't think it's lows are as low as episode 1, but it sure comes close.  For whatever reason, I don't have the same nostalgia for this one and I'm not even totally sure I watched it until a few years after it came out? Hayden Christensen caught a lot of criticism for his performance, and some of that is fair, but I actually think he's pretty good as this petulant, arrogant, horny teenager. There is some pretty brutal writing, but the main crime of this movie is making the romance so, so unbelievable. Padme is literally everything you could ever want. I was so in love with her, and Natalie Portman is my most enduring celebrity crush. In this movie, her character is smart, level headed, and, you know, very anti-genocide and anti-dictator... So it's maybe a little weird that the only qualities Anakin ever displays are that of an insane psychopath?? And she's into it?? So, so strange.  I remember thinking this was t...

⭐7/10 This was a movie I watched with my 12 year-old niece. Obviously I'm not the intended audience, but I thought it was pretty good nonetheless. I feel like it's the perfect summer movie for preteens; mysterious, a little spooky, funny. Jess had a huge crush on the love interest when she watched it as a kid, but I think this other guy, Corky, was the real catch. 

⭐ 9/10 I played a video game! It's a video game with no combat and only puzzles you have to solve, mostly by learning the languages of the people you meet. Puzzles and languages, two things I love!  I had a very good time playing this. There are four distinct levels, each with its own people, vibes, language, and culture, and you have to learn the story of each level before you can move on.  I don't really know how to talk about video games because I don't play enough, but it looked very cool and I liked it. It loses a point because there were a few small glitches that made solving a couple puzzles up to chance.

⭐10/10 This season was the first one I've followed in literally twenty years. I liked the show enough as a kid, but even then I felt it was kinda silly, over-dramatic, and a little campy. Fast forward to now, and that's exactly what I'm looking for in a show! I have honestly not had this much fun watching something on TV that's not a basketball game. Getting together with friends every Friday to watch was the highlight of my week.  As for this season itself, I really have no idea. I've heard it was a pretty good season, but I have nothing with which to compare. There was some insane drama, with lots of backstabbing, blindsides, and all of the people going home with an immunity in their pocket. Every episode had me on the edge of my seat. Besides the first few weeks, it seemed like there wasn't an episode that went by without shifting the entire landscape of the game. After 46 seasons, the game makers know how to manufacture conflict, and the producer...

⭐ 7.5/10 I have never seen these movies, so with a new one in theatres I thought now would be a good time to check it out. We had a great time watching this one!  Baby Caesar is so cute, and the opening of this movie makes what he goes through more tragic. Seeing him get sprayed with the hose by Draco is so upsetting. A clear standout in this movie is the CGI, which holds up very well.  Andy Serkis should get a shoutout here, similar to Gollum this animated characters feel very real because of the performances and the technology behind them - there is a reason there are a couple years between these movies and that's because they take their time to put out a good product. Some great moments in this one, including Caesar's first word and the Golden Gate Bridge set piece.  James Franco is not great, and it was pretty weird how they give him this pretty vet girlfriend who does basically nothing. All the stuff happening in the labs is frustrating, have the classic scientists...

⭐ 7/10 I have been watching this show for probably 10 years, but I never watch it live.  The actual live show is so long, and there are enough bad sketches that it is brutal to watch live.  However, they have been putting up every episode on YouTube for quite a while now, so its very easy to watch the first minute of a sketch, the quickly pan through it if its not good.  That's probably why I have never reviewed this show, because I watch it as a series of short clips.  But that's what media is these days! Anyways, while each episode has a bunch of stinkers I think this was one of the better seasons in recent memory.  I don't love Weekend Update, Che in particular always laughing at his own jokes and talking to the crowd, but the segment where they write jokes for each other is always hilarious.  Allows them to tell awful racist jokes but its funny because they are making the other do it. Aside from them the cast is pretty strong, and it seems like they g...

⭐8/10 I'm not too sure where I found out about this novel, but it was widely popular last year and about video games, so count me in! I really liked this one. It's about video games I guess, but it's actually about friendship. It has one of my favorite tropes of close childhood friends reconnecting later in life. This was all super effective and beautifully written and made for some evocative, powerful moments.  I liked the video game backdrop too. I thought the author made some odd choices - namely that her games clearly make no sense. She clearly knows her stuff, but this is the 90s and her games seemed incredibly complex or gimiky and like they wouldn't be fun at all. You know this is the era of like, Mario 2? But that's a minor nitpick I guess.  I saw a bunch of complaints online that this book feels pretentious and a lot of complaints that this book is woke (what a stupid word). As for the latter point, I actually thought this book did a great job o...

⭐6.5/10 This is maybe the hardest movie in the world for me to rate because I'm not sure there is a bigger divide between a movie being actually good and me blindly loving it. I was 6 when this came out and this movie was made for little boys just like me. I still have a 25 year old collection of pop cans that came out as a promotion. I collected all of them! Nothing brings me back quite like this movie.  But no, it is an abomination and honestly it's mostly Jar Jar. Don't get me wrong, I laughed a lot when he was on the screen. He is the best part of this movie. He is so absurdly unfunny that it feels like an out-of-body experience seeing him get his tongue stuck in the laser. Who on earth thought this was a good idea?  But the other thing is that this movie is just so poorly written. This isn't news to anyone, but yeah, you can't write "yippee" into a script and actually have someone say it. The script managed to make Natalie Portman, Liam Ne...

⭐ 7.5/10 I can't say I'm big on this franchise, and have only watched a few here and there. I should also mention I watched this one with Willy and Corny, so any time I'm paid to watch a movie in theatres on a beautiful day with popcorn and candy, I'm in a pretty good mood.  But this one was not bad! I was basically expecting a CGI fest with little depth, and I would say that's true in the first half. Kinda weird to make a movie about monkeys that don't speak very well. I think when the human characters came, there was a lot more going on. I won't say this movie had me rethinking what it means to be human, but there were certainly some interesting ideas being floated around. This is one of the few characters where humans are the side characters and it's cool to almost see us from another perspective.  But again, it's not like this movie is a powerful work of genius. It's competent, and looks pretty good, and has some cool action seque...

⭐6/10 Neither Jess or I had seen this movie, so this was actually her choice and she was instantly mortified. The whole premise of this movie is that Ron is part of a 70s news team that is trying to diversify, so they hire a woman. The news team is incredibly sexist, and while these are by no means good guys, and it's a parody of sexist work culture, I still don't think this movie gets made today. Definitely some things that are funny, but others that haven't aged well at all.  So yeah, the whole thing is maybe a little uncomfortable, but there were other moments that had me dying. Maybe it's because I was a few edibles deep, but the scene on the bridge made me pause the movie because I couldn't breathe. I also loved that acapella part and have rewatched it a few times already.  I'm not the biggest Will Ferrell fan, and this movie is a lot of Will Ferrell. Conversely I'm Todd Packer's biggest fan, but he's not in this too much... But when...

⭐ 7.5/10 I think this is the original that feels the most similar to the prequels. I feel like this one is really targeting that 10-15 year old boy audience, for better or for worse (mostly worse). It's a little campier, a little silly, a little Saturday-morning-cartoony. Still, it has a few moments I liked a lot.  So first off, this movie starts off by introducing us to this universe's best character, and that is Hutt's insane rat croney that is always laughing. I need a guy like that to laugh approvingly at all my evil deeds. Seriously though, that thing is so ridiculous and it got funnier and funnier every time they put him on the screen. Am I the target audience?  But soon after that, Luke arrives in all his Jedi glory. This is him at his fullest potential, super badass in his black robe. Except no! Then he fumbles around fighting the monster for twenty minutes. Pretty bizarre sequence. It's set up like he has this master plan, but it makes him look pret...

⭐ 8.5/10 This is usually everyone's favorite Star Wars movie, and I think this is true for me? At least of the originals...  I don't think I actually have that many unique thoughts.  It's all pretty cool. That early scene with Luke cutting the arm off the wampa (I googled that) and then immediately gutting that snow horse (didn't need to google that) was so striking. So gory! Blood on snow is so gross.  I think it actually somehow sets a nice, grim start for the darkest movie in the trilogy.   This is the movie where famously everything goes wrong, that middle entry that fills you with dread, making you wonder how the heroes will ever recover.  It's pretty effective here, and that whole sequence with Luke and Vader is so cool.  Definitely Lucas at his best.  But I'm getting ahead of myself!  I would also first like to say that Dagobah is my favorite setting in these movies, and there are a lot of amazing settings.  Yoda is my favorite ch...

8/10 ⭐ I actually have a very hard time knowing what to score this movie. I'm not really loyal to this franchise and didn't watch the originals until I was a teenager (the prequels are another story...). Still, it's impossible to just rate these movies on their own merit, pretending like they came out today.  We started our rewatch on Star Wars day, and I actually really tried to imagine what it would be like watching this in '77, a new IP, a little-known director, before John Williams was super famous or Harrison Ford was really a household name. It was weird to think there was ever a time where you could see C3PO, or hear "Help us Obi-Wan!" and not think about the decades of significance. Honestly while watching, everything just felt timeless and like they'd always been famous.  But as a movie, ya, this one is kinda weird. I think Luke, to begin, is so whiny and annoying, but also when looking into it - he was a literal child! That's pret...

⭐10/10 Whew, I cannot believe what a perfect movie this is. I read the book a million times as a kid, and watched the movie a million times, and not only does this movie hold up perfectly, but the plot is so intricate and complex that it gets better every rewatch. A kids movie! It honestly blew me away how masterfully it weaves together so many threads across a hundred years. This is a unique book with a cool idea that the author clearly thought long and hard about.  And yet, aside from the beautiful plot, this movie has everything you could want. A major thing that stood out to me was the brilliant performances from some pretty big names. Sojourney Weaver is incredible as the warden, and Tim Blake Nelson is a great lackey. This is Shia LaBeouf's breakout role, and honestly one of his best. All the rest of the kids were fantastic, and I feel like the dialogue is truer to how teens talk than most movies, though that might be because I was a teen at that time too. But the best perfo...

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) You guys know the saying “it had to be so over before we could be so back”? That’s exactly what’s happening here! It’s been a long 20 years of fox xmen movies. And I won’t say they’re all bad, I would say some are even really good! The standout being Logan of course. But those movies somehow always fell short. You have so much potential with such interesting characters and the movies never followed through. This show fixes all of that. This show follows a small team of core xmen. They animation style is so fun yet so well done. They are so creative and show each character use their powers in never before seen ways. They spend significant time with each character that makes you feel invested in this whole team. I was about to say how they were all great but x character was my fave, but I don’t think I can cause I loved them all! Cyclops FINALLY got his cool guy arc. His powers and leadership really stood out. Rogue and Gambit had this little roman...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) When I saw this trailer over a year ago I thought it would be pop garbage, there to scandalize and give Zendaya another stage. Well I was completely wrong, this movie was funny and exciting and a launch pad for the three young stars. This movie is scandalous in ways that made me uncomfortable at times, but there was always a lot of humour in it, which is what I think the trailer missed. The way the two guys ogle at Zendaya early in the movie is so funny, and their interactions throughout are charged in many ways. This is a love triangle movie, but each character is so much more deep than just their feelings for the other two. I loved Zendaya here as this driven athlete, but the boys here stole the show for me, specifically Josh O'Connor. Loved him on The Crown, but this is a star making performance. The character has a lot of depth and makes some dramatic choices, and I like how we get to see them all age and change. Mike Feist is great, and I l...

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Beans) This is a sports movie that isn’t really about sports but the whole movie basically hinges on tennis. It stars Zendaya and two other white boys and follows their lives as high school tennis players to their adult years and where they are currently. So this movie is kind of weird. It opens with the the final tennis match but hops around a ton to explain the back story and how we got here. I thought it was very effective and was way better than if it had been done linearly. Zendaya is really really good in this and wouldn’t be surprised if she is Oscar nominated. The boys are fun and cute and honestly so charming. This movie also finally does a love triangle right!! So much chemistry between the three actors it was insane. I’ve never played tennis but if it gets me two boyfriends I honestly might get into it. The soundtrack for this was so interesting but really great and standout. Had a great time with this one.

⭐ 2.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) By the time the title card showed up, which was oddly like 15 minutes into the movie, I knew this might the worst movie I had ever seen. The phone came out but I gave it half my attention to see if it could win that crown, and it just might have. The writing in this movie is atrocious. It’s a romcom that is completely unfunny, with the most forced dialogue and annoying characters. Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney have no chemistry, and Sydney in particular was completely wooden in the line deliveries. I know these are both up-and-coming actors, so they clearly have some talent, and maybe the writing is to blame. But it actually had me thinking a lot about Ticket To Paradise, which was a Julia Roberts/George Clooney romcom from 2 years ago with almost the same premise. That movie has similar beats and side characters, but it is completely carried by the charisma of the leads, making it a pleasant and only somewhat stupid m...

⭐ 6.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) This show was pretty boring. The first two episodes didn't sell me, 3 & 4 were actually really engaging and had me excited, and then the rest of the season was pretty dull. First of all, I don't think this show looks good. Filmed in some nice locations, but otherwise its always so foggy sitting in these rooms that are clearly on set. You don't have to film on location, but I definitely didn't feel transported to another time or place. Second this show revolves around a white guy adapting to life among Japanese during times of turbulence, and the only theme they care about is life and duty, with the Japanese giving their lives away constantly and Blackthrone being appalled that they consider it honorable. And you know what - I was too! Seppuku is not cool! By the 3rd time someone threatened to kill themselves I was so over it. And every time someone does something wrong, everyone is like "buddy kys" (that's what my R...

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) So this was easily the most popular book of 2023 for very polarizing reasons. People either loved it or hated it. I don’t hate many things, but I fall very much in the middle. The story was pretty compelling. A lot of things were happening the whole time, the pace was good, she kept pulling you in to a riveting story. The characters and magic and dragons were all pretty cool, albeit very one dimensional, and I could get behind a lot of it. However, the writing of this is truly atrocious. Like, this felt like a 17 year old creative writing project. The dialogue was insane, the magic system was unexplained, and the dragons seemed like humans with the way they talked and thought - only they were in dragon form. So I’m torn, cause it’s not a good book, but it was fun and interesting and I think that’s ok! I kept comparing this book to Eragon. Which again isn’t a well written series but he did so much work to set the foundation for his characters and m...

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Beans) I have no strong feelings about this movie either way. It feels like it was supposed to be a Ryan Reynolds movie which is not a good thing but Ryan Gosling has a lot more depth which added to this movie. There were a few cool stunts, some funny moments. All in all just very ok.

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This is a reread, but I read this book yeeeeears ago, and I feel like I've learned a lot about what I like in fantasy since then. I adored this book when I read it. Would it hold up? Mostly, yes. During the first half, I fell in love with this book all over. It's so incredibly engaging. I think Rothfus is a master writer, having this fantastic sense of style and craft. Beautiful prose, especially scenes like losing his parents, playing music in the woods, suffering in the city, or playing a song in front of his girl by a fire. It was powerful, moving stuff, and I'm not sure he currently has an equal in the fantasy universe in terms of just crafting beautiful sentences. But I actually think his writing is secondary to his storytelling! This is a funny one because upon reread, you kinda realize much of the plot is superfluous. Little of it comes into play later in the story, and maybe you could say it helps build the character, but stil...

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This is a 2D rougelike game from 2018, which was kinda the golden age for indie games. I remember hearing a lot of hype for this one, but I didn't like the art, and rougelikes didn't appeal to me (the main idea is that you start over when you die with very little progress saved). But then I played Hades and loved it, so I wanted to give this one a chance. It's great, and I think I really do like roguelikes now. There is something so addicting about starting a new run, thinking each one is going to be the one. I would definitely play this game way too late into the night, thinking I'd caught lightning in a bottle each time and needing to see it through. The combat and platforming are super satisfying, and there are all these little extra goals and challenges to keep you engaged. It's a great formula and I think they were really the ones to popularize it. The only downside, I think, is that Hades is just a bit better in basicall...

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) Jess chose this movie because she thought I'd like it, and fortunately she doesn't read my Weviews so she'll never know otherwise. I'm mostly kidding, because I did like this movie. I'm not a Nic Cage fan, and don't find him funny, and didn't really find him funny here. I'm not big on self-aware movies like this either, though I guess I'm thankful that they tried something new. But Pedro Pascal! I was very pleased to see that the man can indeed do it all. He was definitely the highlight here and good for a few laughs. That's all I've got. I didn't love it, but it was funny enough and there were a few good twists and turns. Not bad for a Saturday night.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) I have mostly been giving 8.5s to every season, but I remember a few extra funny episodes during this one, so what the heck, let's give it a bump! The major highlight was the Godfather episode which I remember from when Jess was watching alone. Perfect execution on that one. There was also that very tender moment between Phil and his dad which was very precious. I read over Tim's review before writing this one and totally agree, though I've been on the Cam bandwagon since episode 1. But I do wish Claire would lighten up a little, or at least wish they would give that character something else to do besides being a fun killer. Otherwise ya, love Manny and Jay's back and forth, and the kids are pretty good too. You know what? I wish there was more Dylan! I've come to really like that character. Can I do this for 7 more seasons? It's tough because there is a lot of good TV on right now, and this is all we ever watch. I'm s...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) She had a huge smash hit that charted really high called Confetti that led me to check out this album. Really solid, moody pop here. I think she has a really great, distinct voice that is atmospheric. Cool backstory to this album. She was going through a life crisis and went to fellow Canadian Jim Carey for some advice and a lot of songs came from that, including the track Jim Carey that might be the best song on the album. I don’t like to acknowledge French Canadians very easily but this album is really great and I’m constantly going back to it.

⭐ 4.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) Very sad to finally admit that Henry Cavill is immune to making a good movie. This is based on a true story about a secret mission deployed by Winston Churchill during world war 2 to stop the Germans. So first of all, this is the only time ever I’ll root for the English, and even then it was hard. This movie felt like absolutely zero stakes. So very lacklustre; you don’t even see Cavill shirtless once! Hello?! They say “old boy” and “young lad” about a million times and more earnestly each time.