REVIEW: Better Call Saul – “Bad Choice Road”

The following is a recap and review of the ninth episode of the fifth season of Better Call Saul, available on AMC in the U. S. and on Netflix internationally. Expect story spoilers. 

In the penultimate episode of the fifth season of Better Call Saul — titled Bad Choice Road — Jimmy McGill (played by Bob Odenkirk) has returned with Lalo’s bail money, and now he has to come up with a cover story to protect him from further harm. But it isn’t easy to fool Lalo (played by Tony Dalton) or Kim (played by Rhea Seehorn). Bad Choice Road was written and directed by Thomas Schnauz, who has directed at least two episodes of every season of Better Call Saul, including Wexler v. Goodman also from this season.

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REVIEW: Better Call Saul – “Bagman”

The following is a recap and review of the eighth episode of the fifth season of Better Call Saul, available on AMC in the U. S. and on Netflix internationally. Expect story spoilers. 

In the eighth episode of the fifth season — Bagman — Jimmy McGill (played by Bob Odenkirk) travels south of the border to pick up Lalo Salamanca’s bail money. Bagman was written by Gordon Smith and directed by Breaking Bad creator, Better Call Saul co-creator, and El Camino-director Vince Gilligan.

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REVIEW: The Boys – Season Three (2022)

Billy Butcher (played by Karl Urban) and Homelander (played by Antony Starr) go toe-to-toe in this season of THE BOYS. — PHOTO: Amazon Studios / Prime Video.

Series Developed by Eric Kripke — Season Three consists of 8 episodes.

These days superhero shows are a dime a dozen. There’s the Arrow-verse, the Netflix-era Defenders Marvel series universe, the Disney+ shows, and so much more. There are so many that I can’t say I’ve seen all of them, even though I once was very much into following all of these superhero shows. These days it’s like the second you blink, that one superhero show you once watched a couple of episodes of now has had close to ten seasons and it feels like no one has noticed. For superhero die-hard fans, select shows are must-watch. These must-see shows are things like Peacemaker and the ever-growing streaming series corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but then there’s also this other show developed by the creator of Supernatural, Eric Kripke, and produced by the brilliant comedic minds of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. I am of course talking about Prime Video’s The Boys, the one major superhero show that you can’t watch with your family without getting some awkward silences or looks. It’s a terrific show that I can’t believe exists, and this third season of the show was its very best thus far, even though the season peaked a couple of episodes prior to its season finale.

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REVIEW: Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor Odinson in Taika Waititi’s THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, but he isn’t only one possessing the power of Thor. — PHOTO: Walt Dsney Studios Motion Pictures.

Directed by Taika Waititi — Screenplay by Taika Waititi & Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

When it was first announced that Chris Hemsworth was going to play ‘Thor’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), I don’t think anyone expected him to be the first Avengers character to have four solo movie. Although, to be honest, back then I’m not sure anyone expected Marvel Studios’ cinematic universe to go this far. Since the 2011 Kenneth Branagh film Thor, the titular character has been going through some changes. I still quite like the original film. The sequel, Thor: The Dark World has become a bit of a punching bag in the franchise, with it receiving a lot of criticism time and time again for the tone, the visuals, and the forgettable antagonists. Thor went from being a Shakespearean inspired (by way of Branagh’s influence) Norse God to being a space viking and true comedic lead thanks to Taika Waititi who, with his immensely popular Thor: Ragnarok, reminded everyone of Hemsworth’s fantastic comedic talent, while reinventing the character at the same time.

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REVIEW: Moon Knight – Season One (2022)

Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Show Creator: Jeremy Slater — Show Directors: Mohamed Diab and Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson.

My most anticipated Marvel Studios Disney+ series thus far was, without a doubt, Moon Knight. Ever since I first started reading comic books about him on Marvel Unlimited several years ago, I have been waiting for the chance to finally see this character in live-action. When it was announced that two of my favorite actors — Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke — were going to be in it, my excitement for the show reached a fever pitch. I’ve now seen the show, so how is it? Well, overall, it’s quite good, but it still suffers from some of the early Marvel-Disney+ problems that we saw in many of last year’s Marvel Cinematic Universe shows.

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REVIEW: Barry – Season Three (2022)

Bill Hader is the titular character in HBO’s dark comedy BARRY — PHOTO: Merrick Morton / HBO..

I’ve long been a fan of HBO’s Barry. When it first came out, I reviewed the first handful of episodes and I was blown away. Although I haven’t always had the time to write about the show due to life getting in the way, it has remained one of my favorite shows on television over the last several years. However, it feels like so long ago that season two of Barry ended. When the third season of Barry was finally released on HBO and HBO Max, it had been more than three years since the second season ended. Admittedly, I wondered if the show could still hook me in and if what it was aiming for would still work. And I was happy to find out that HBO’s Barry, led by Bill Hader, is still knocking it out of the park.

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REVIEW: Stranger Things – Season Four, Vols. 1 & 2 (2022)

(Left-to-Right) Joe Keery, Gaten Matarazzo, Maya Hawke, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, and Caleb McLaughlin’s characters must confront a new mysterious and murderous monster in the latest season of ‘Stranger Things’ — Photo: NETFLIX.

This is a review of both halves — Vols. I & II– of Stranger Things: Season Four.

Like The Crown and BoJack Horseman, Stranger Things has long been one of Netflix’s most consistently good shows. The nostalgia-based supernatural coming-of-age horror-thriller show that was created by the Duffer brothers has managed to stay really good and really entertaining for four seasons now — including this latest season, which was split into two parts (with the season finale having a runtime of almost two-and-a-half hours) — and, even though the show still wears its inspirations on its sleeves, the show is getting better in many ways. In fact, I would say that this fourth season, which is probably the goriest and most horror-like of the bunch, is the best season of the show since the very rewatchable debut season, even though this latest season included two season-long subplots that were never as engaging as the main story was.

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RETRO REVIEW: Oslo, 31. August (2011)

‘Anders’ (played by Anders Danielsen Lie) eavesdrops on conversations in a cafe in Oslo, Norway — PHOTO: Nordisk Film.

Directed by Joachim Trier — Screenplay by Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt.

Five years after having released his first film as a director, Reprise, the Danish-born Norwegian Director, Joachim Trier, his second film came out. It, Oslo, 31. August, is the second film in his critically acclaimed Oslo film trilogy. If you read my retro review of his feature-length debut, then you know how impressed I was by Trier’s Reprise. I’m here to tell you that somehow he outdid himself here. Oslo, 31. August hit me like a ton of bricks.

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REVIEWS: MCU Series on Disney+ – Year One (2021): ‘WandaVision,’ ‘Loki,’ ‘Hawkeye,’ and More

Paul Bettany as Vision in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION, exclusively on Disney+. — Photo: Disney+ / Marvel Studios.

Disney’s Marvel Studios — the masterminds and architects of the global cinematic sensation, the Marvel Cinematic Universe — now also spends a lot of time on TV/Streaming shows due to the arrival of the streaming service Disney+, which Disney knows can thrive on several shows aimed at the Marvel and Star Wars fandoms. In the first year with MCU content straight-to-Disney+, Disney and Marvel Studios gave us four live-action series and one premier animated show. In this article, I’ll take a look at each of the ‘first-year’ shows in bite-sized reviews.

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RETRO REVIEW: Reprise (2006)

Phillip and Erik get ready to submit the manuscripts for their debut novels in Joachim Trier’s REPRISE — PHOTO: Nordisk Film.

Directed by Joachim Trier — Screenplay by Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt.

The Danish-born Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier has quickly made a name for himself over the years with films such as his three Oslo films, the first of which I’m reviewing in this article, and right now he is one of the hottest directors in all of Scandinavia next to Ruben Östlund (The Square), the Swedish auteur, and Thomas Vinterberg (Jagten), the Danish co-creator of the Dogme-movement. Already with his first film, Joachim Trier — not to be confused with the Danish auteur (and other co-creator of the aforementioned Dogme-movement), Lars Von Trier, even though they are supposedly distant relatives — shows signs that suggest the Norwegian director is something special. So much raw talent is already there to be seen and admired.

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