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⭐10/10  Not totally sure where to start with this one. It is an absolutely mammoth novel that I've been consumed with all summer, and one of those where you feel kinda spent after. It's so immersive that you don't really feel like going back to your own life after you finish.  This is a classic Western novel about a group of Texas Rangers who set their sights on becoming ranchers. The novel is essentially the story of them moving a herd a cattle from southern Texas to northern Montana - so essentially the expanse of the American West. And that's really it. I am usually a plot guy, but this novel is all about the characters, their experiences, and their interactions with one another. There are certainly some exciting events within the 1000 pages of this novel, but for the most part, this book almost feels like a documentary. Part of that is the unrelenting committment to realism. I can't say I've ever experienced this sense of belonging in a setting. ...

⭐ 9/10 This is one of my all-time favorite movies, though I readily admit it's not perfect. It's what got me into Godzilla and other monster movies, except I guess it wasn't even the movie that did that; it was the trailer! Seriously, that trailer is one of the greatest 2 minutes of cinema you will ever see. I had no connection to Godzilla beforehand, but the moment I saw that trailer, I knew I was a fan.  And much like the trailer, this movie uses Godzilla sparingly and to great effect. He is famously only on screen for 13 minutes, and so it's a lot more like Jaws or Jurassic Park than say, Transformers. It's all build up and tension, and even when you do see him, it's often in the distance, or through a car window, or obscured by darkness or smoke. I think the cinematography is excellent in this movie, with several memorable shots. I wouldn't call this movie scary, but I think the way they use Godzilla is much more dynamic than in future films....

⭐6/10 I didn't think I'd have terribly high expectations for this one. I just wanted exciting action and cool CGI, nice recliners and theatre popcorn.  But I've also been watching classic summer blockbusters all summer long, so I guess I've come to believe that these movies can actually be good.  This one starts out pretty well. The stakes feel kinda high, they introduce some interesting concepts (I feel like a lot of the classics make you feel smart at some point), and although I'm not a big fan of Glen Powell, I admit he was pretty good as this arrogant cowboy.  From there I just felt like it plateaued and didn't offer anything interesting for the next ninety minutes. The characters all become a bit more cliche and boring, the writing gets weak and repetitive, the action and CGI lose all novelty. I think a big issue was that there just wasn't anything meaningful for our group of heroes to do. They kept coming back to this, "we have to aban...

⭐ 6/10 I continue to not understand Ghibli movies at all.  They are just one random scene after the other. I keep seeing articles celebrating the "dream logic" as if dreams aren't the dumbest things our minds produce. How about just normal logic for a change?  I get how movie people can enjoy these, but I totally do not understand how these appeal to a wide audience. Honestly, this is one of the most perplexing things that I can't get my head around. Do people not care about understanding what they are seeing? This is pure imagination, purely sensory. There is nothing rationale going on at any point in these movies - and this one is the worst in this regard. I would get it if there was some niche interest, but I refuse to believe more than like 6 people appreciate this style.  With all that said, I still strongly believe that Miyazaki is one of the most gifted creators to ever live. That style can't be understated. The new creatures are cool, the music...

⭐ 9.5/10 This is the expansion for Elden Ring, which on its own is one of the greatest video games to ever come out. For the most part, this is just more Elden Ring, which is fine. The dungeons feel similar, the fighting similar, the weapons, etc. There are a few new things, but for the most part, not much differentiates this from the core experience.  Still, I will say this is some of the best Elden Ring. The vistas are as beautiful or haunting or mysterious or terrifying as anything in the main game. There are unique dungeons, unique enemies, a few cool puzzles, some interesting bosses. But really, more than anything, this was just an excuse to return to the game which was very welcome for me.  The main discourse about this expansion has been it's difficulty. This is an incredibly difficult expansion, because after you spend 100 hours on your character, you can get carved up the moment you step into the new area and meet common enemies. Most bosses can kill you i...

⭐ 7/10 This is a collection of classic Robin Hood stories, compiled and synthesized by Howard Pyle for kids. It came out in 1883, so the language is very different, but still comprehensible because of that target audience. So it worked pretty well for me.  At first I was totally on board, because these stories are charming and use this beautiful language. However, I will say that an entire novel of stories in this style is rather wearisome and I kinda just wanted to be done midway through. The biggest issue for me is that these are super episodic and don't have all that much consequence from one story to the next, so there isn't actually that much to keep you reading. It's mostly hijinks by the merry men, mostly at the expense of the Sheriff of Nottingham (who, for the record, was just trying to do his job).  The other big issue is that SO many of these stories are nearly identical. So many stories start with a confrontation, and then Robin Hood fights someone w...

⭐ 9.5/10 I have been begging for Jess to watch this with me, and she kept saying no because she knew it was sad and is never in the mood for a sad movie.  So when I saw it was available on the back of an Air Canada seat I fired it up and wept in front of the entire plane! I really loved this movie.  I think the setup is great, the picture of the family that it paints is complete, and it is just so heart breaking.  The father is the center here for me, just so concerned with chasing his dreams through his sons, and every time he loses one he just adjust the plan.  I thought the guy who plays him was tremendous. I was curious why I felt such a connection to these guys, given that my dad isn't like that, and I don't have a relationship with my brother's like this, but I think that's what really good writing and acting can do.  The power of the movies! Zac Efron is the star here, and I feel like this will be on his tombstone right after Troy Bolton.  Completel...

⭐ 7/10 I binged a season of this on a super delayed flight and I wish I hadn't started.  I don't think its great, and at this point I only watch because I am so curious what's going to happen.  Points to them for hooking me, I just feel like every episode is way too long ands everything interesting happens in the last 10 minutes of each one. This show still tries to shock you every week and its pretty silly.  Feels like the writers just try to think of the grossest kills or the most outrageous sexual stuff and then write the story around it.  I do think Homelander being obsessed with breast milk is funny and a noteable character trait (flaw?), mark my words if they ever kill him its going to involve those mommy issues somehow. But ya, I think Homelander is probably the only reason I watch, I find him terrifying and the actor is scarily good at being him. I think he's an amazing villain, but at this point he's so strong there were several moments when I wondered why...

⭐ 9.5/10 I am completey in the bag for Grann, so no surprise I loved this. Learning about Fawcett and his legendary journies and reputation was really cool, and I was wondering why I had never heard of him before.  Seems like he was a well-known figure but for whatever reason his legend didn't live on to now.  Anyways, the tales of his journies through the Amazon are actually incredible, with literally everything trying to kill you.  I loved how he seemed to have a perfect consititution for an adventurer, "built different" as the kids would say.  My favourite portion was when he was on a trek with a guy that travelled with Shackleton through the Arctic and he become completely unhinged - even among explorers he was the cream of the crop. I thought the wife's side of the story was unique too.  More that the sad wife who is left at home missing her husband, she shares her frustrations and worries but also supports and advocates for him.  I'm interested to se...

⭐ 7.5/10 This is a movie about Christian Bale being assigned to transport a dying Cheyenne chief across America. The problem is that Bale is a military leader that has been fighting indigenous people his whole life, so he doesn't want to. Can a long march in close proximity, and the breathtaking backdrop of the great plains change his attitudes??  So I think the whole "racist becoming less racist" trope didn't really work, and rarely does. It doesn't really work for the modern audience, nor does it work within a 19th century context. I just think the cowboys vs Indians relationship is too fraught, too complex, and too hard to make sense of in any meaningful way within the scope of a single movie. I do appreciate this movie trying to introduce some levels of complexity, but it almost tried a little too hard and everything gets a bit muddled.  But there is much more to this movie than that narrative. There is some interesting stuff about cycles of violen...

⭐ 7/10 A huge step down for me this season.  I heard that this show was supposed to be 3 seasons originally but they got a deal for 4 from FX, and that kind of explains everything you need to know.  For a show that is so propulsive we went basically nowhere, and I am convinced that this season could be told in 3 episodes instead.  One episode is an artistic flashback to recap what has happened so far.  There is a long montage in episode 2 honouring the food industry workers of Chicago.  There is an entire episode that takes place with 2 people in a hospital room.  Felt like instead of flexing on past success they got gluttonous and showed us their massive belly instead. There was enough to like here that I can't say this was terrible, but the bar was so high after last season.  I am convinced that season 4 will be great and season 3 will feel like a prologue to that, but that's kind of the problem.  They lean so heavily on flashbacks, mainly for ...

⭐ 9/10 I wasn't sure we needed another Quiet Place movie, but when I saw who was acting in it, I couldn't wait to watch it! Lupita and my friend Joe Quinn did not disappoint. It didn't really break any new ground, but it was still compelling and moving. I was riveted the whole time.

I'm back with my favourite books of the month! I was leaning hard into summery reads, which is reflected in this list. A great MG read for Pride Month as Bug spends a summer in the 80s coming to understand more of the world around her, especially when she finds out some of the people around her are LGBTQIA+. Loved reading it as an adult, since it felt so full of innocence and nostalgia and days at the beach, while also being a coming-of-age story, when you're forced to learn hard truths about the world. A bit hard to describe, as it's really one of a kind. It's an epistolary light academia spec fic with both fantasy and sci-fi elements, as well as romance, set on a planet that's mostly covered with water. A year ago, Henerey and E. disappeared, and now their siblings try to figure out what happened by sharing their letters with each other.  While I do think the epistolary format bogged down the story sometimes, and all the layers to the story meant I really had to p...

⭐ 9.5/10 I'm not sure why we didn't just go straight to this one. Why bother with Jurassic World? This one is better in every way! First off, what an amazing idea for a movie. We take it for granted now, but I think this idea is just so unique and interesting and perfect for the big screen. I wanted to praise Spielberg for his creative genius, but I found out in the credits that this was actually a novel first, and the screenplay was written by the same guy. Well it makes sense, because this all seems well-researched and detailed.  Still, the Spielberg/ John Williams combo is unmatched, and we are a blessed people in that this has happened more than once. This movie is everything you could ever want in a summer blockbuster. It looks great, has some great thrills, and has enough depth to seperate it from other types of monster movies.  To be fair, the moral of this series often seems to be that humans need to be more thoughtful about progress and not squeeze discove...

⭐7.5/10 This is a super weird Wes Anderson movie about two troubled children that fall in love, then plan to run off together and live in the woods while others search for them. It's a cute premise, but I think it would have been better served as an Indie movie (like Hunt for the Wilderpeople) rather than a Wes Anderson movie.  I just don't know if I like Wes Anderson. My feeling is that his style is cool and unique, but would make much better short films than feature length. He's just too strange and the style kinda wears me out by the end. I do really love it at times; the sense of symmetry in all the shots, the snappiness and rhythm of each scene. I'm glad there are unique filmmakers like this, I kinda just wish he toned it down sometimes. We get it, you're quirky! Because I did really like this movie. I loved the two main characters, both giving great performances, and the finale made me feel some things for sure. There were some great jokes, but for...

⭐ 7/10 A day after watching this movie, I was writing Weviews and could absolutely not remember what I had watched the day before. I had to eventually ask Jess and together it took us a few minutes to finally remember that this was our movie of choice. So that kinda tells you a lot of what you need to know!  This movie is actually not bad at all. It's got a very British sense of humor, and the claymation looks nice, but moreso makes you want to appreciate the movie because of how much work must go into this. Honestly, that's all I could think about half the time.  The premise, much like the first one, is incredibly dark despite the light tone. And rather than take place on a small countryside farm, the setting here is a meat processing factory. I actually thought this created a lot of issues, because from the perspective of chickens, this is a holocaust movie, but of course they still want to make jokes and also this is a kid's movie... To be fair, they used thi...

⭐ 6/10 I just randomly rewatched this by myself over a few nights because I think these are the perfect summer movies. I love the original movie, and liked this enough when I watched when it came out in theaters.  On rewatch, I definitely think this movie mostly sucks. To start, I was pretty sold. I actually love this idea, where there's an entire island that works as a resort, and I thought they did some cool things with this. The rides and exhibits felt oddly tangible and really well thought out. I thought there was some cool stuff about corporate growth, nature versus nurture, the ethics of all of this. Nothing too crazy, but enough to keep me interested in a summer blockbuster.  From there, I thought there were serious issues. First off, it's weird to say but this movie looks super dated. Maybe I'll have to go back to the originals, but those practical effects from the 90s look way better than this 2015 CGI fest. This movie doesn't offer much more than a...