Category: TV Reviews

REVIEW: Outer Range – Season One (2022)

Josh Brolin finds a mysterious black void on his land in the neo-western sci-fi series ‘Outer Range,’ — Photo: Prime Video.

All eight episodes of ‘Outer Range: Season One’ are available on Amazon Prime Video right now.

I don’t think I watch enough Amazon Prime Video shows. Sure, I watch their biggest series and select lesser shows, but I still feel like I often overlook some of their lesser-known output. Brian Watkins’ Outer Range seemed destined to end up as a show I had heard about but which hadn’t caught my eye for whatever reason. But after watching a Late Show with Stephen Colbert interview with the show’s lead actor Josh Brolin, who I am a big fan of, my interest was piqued. Their description of the show had sold it to me, and I’m glad I watched it, even though it’s a difficult show to communicate to others without spoiling too much.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Outer Range – Season One (2022)” →

REVIEW: Borgen – Power & Glory (2022)

Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg in ‘Borgen – Power and Glory’ — Photo: Mike Kollöffel.

‘Borgen – Power and Glory,’ the fourth season of ‘Borgen’ is available on DR in Denmark and on Netflix internationally. It consists of eight episodes.

A Danish political drama and international hit, Adam Price’s Borgen is a critically acclaimed television show that takes its viewers into the Danish political system by focusing both on politicians, their families, their spin doctors, and the media. It originally ran for three seasons from 2010 to 2013, but has now been revived by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and Netflix for a new season titled Borgen – Power and Glory (Borgen – Riget, Magten og Æren in Danish).

Continue reading “REVIEW: Borgen – Power & Glory (2022)” →

REVIEW: Peacemaker – Season One (2022)

Jennifer Holland (Left) and John Cena (right) in James Gunn’s PEACEMAKER — Photo: Warner Bros. / HBO Max.

All Episodes of the First Season of James Gunn’s PEACEMAKER Are Available on HBO Max Now.

I know. This show did, indeed, come out several months ago. Back then, I had been preparing to write a longer article about this show, but, then life got in the way, and now we’re in June. Sorry about that. Still, I am happy to be able to report that I think this show is absolutely terrific and I also think it’s the best DC Comics season of television I’ve ever seen. That statement is coming from someone who was obsessed with Smallville once, who loved the first season of CW’s The Flash, and who did follow the Arrowverse for quite some time. With respect to those shows, James Gunn’s Peacemaker is just head-and-shoulders above those other series in large part because it feels so director-driven. It has a distinctive style and voice that is just so right for this show.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Peacemaker – Season One (2022)” →

REVIEW: Ozark – Season Four, Part Two (2022)

Jason Bateman and Laura Linney in Ozark: Season Four — Photo: Netflix.

For my thoughts on the first part of the fourth season of Ozark, click here.

The second part of the final season of Ozark kicks off right where the first part left off with Ruth (played by Julia Garner) hell-bent on getting her revenge on the man that killed her cousin. That’s a bit of a problem for the Byrdes — Marty and Wendy (played by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) — as that man is Javi (played by Alfonso Herrera), one of the most pivotal members of the drug cartel that they work for, and if the Byrdes are going to get out of this business alive, then they need a few things to work out for them, and a vengeful Langmore, who Marty is fond of, can only complicate matters.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Ozark – Season Four, Part Two (2022)” →

Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, Early 2022: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ ‘The Afterparty,’ and More

Christopher Miller’s The Afterparty is available on APPLE TV+ right now. – Photo: Apple TV+.

In this edition of my recurring movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I take a look at one of the start of the year’s best shows, and I also give you my thoughts on a (currently) Oscar-nominated film. So, get comfortable, and get ready to read my thoughts on things like Apple TV+’s latest gem and the film that very well could earn Jessica Chastain her first Academy Award tonight.

Continue reading “Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, Early 2022: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ ‘The Afterparty,’ and More” →

Top Ten TV-Shows of 2021

“For All Mankind,” now streaming on Apple TV+ — Photo: Apple TV+.

In 2021, both the film and television industries tried to play catch-up after films or seasons had been delayed and pushed out of 2020. This meant that Succession: Season Three finally came out this year, for example. But something new also happened in 2021. That year marked the debut of Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe Live-Action series, and we got a lot of those, most of which I really liked. So, today, let’s have a look at what shows I thought were the very best in 2021.

Continue reading “Top Ten TV-Shows of 2021” →

REVIEW: The Book of Boba Fett (2021-2022)

Boba Fett (Played by Temura Morrison) in Lucasfilm’s THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. — PHOTO: Lucasfilm / Disney+.

Series Created by Jon Favreau — All Episodes Are On Disney+ Right Now.

Jon Favreau’s The Book of Boba Fett is a spin-off of the extremely popular Disney+ Star Wars live-action series The Mandalorian. The Book of Boba Fett follows the titular character (played by Temura Morrison), who became a fan-favorite character in the Original Trilogy (and who made his in-universe return in The Mandalorian), as he tries to become the new daimyo of Tatooine for the purpose of controlling the territory that once belonged to Jabba the Hutt. But he isn’t the only one who wants to control what can and can’t happen on the desert planet.

Continue reading “REVIEW: The Book of Boba Fett (2021-2022)” →

Did Showtime’s Revival Actually Fix the Controversial ‘Dexter’ Ending? | Review

Michael C. Hall and Jack Alcott in Showtime’s DEXTER: NEW BLOOD — Photo: Seacia Pavao / Showtime.

The following is a review of the mini-series ‘Dexter: New Blood,’ which was developed by Clyde Phillips.

Is it possible to salvage a once-iconic show that once ended terribly? The original run of Showtime’s Dexter (2006-2013), which was based on Jeff Lindsay novels, started great, picked up a massive fanbase in its first four fantastic seasons, and then, after a couple of underwhelming, but still at least watchable (and rewatchable), seasons of television, it ended in a way that has made the original show a textbook example of how not to end a show.

Continue reading “Did Showtime’s Revival Actually Fix the Controversial ‘Dexter’ Ending? | Review” →

REVIEW: Ozark – Season Four, Part One (2022)

Jason Bateman as Martin ‘Marty’ Byrde and Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore in ‘Ozark.’ — PHOTO: Steve Dietl / Netflix.

All seven episodes of Ozark: Season Four, Part One are available now on Netflix.

Nowadays, fourteen years (or so) after the release of the iconic AMC crime thriller series Breaking Bad, there have been many shows and showrunners that have tried to ape its style or tone. But I think one of the better comparisons to Breaking Bad is Netflix’s crime darling Ozark, arguably the family-centered crime series equivalent of Pepsi to Breaking Bad‘s Coca-Cola. Of course, Ozark’s cold and blue aesthetic and color-grading also fit quite well with that comparison.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Ozark – Season Four, Part One (2022)” →

REVIEW: Succession – Season Three (2021)

Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans in Succession: Season Three, Episode Nine, “All The Bells Say,” — Photo: Graeme Hunter / HBO.

This is a full season review of Succession: Season Three — All episodes are available now on HBO Max.

Some of the best television show writers, directors, and creators know how to seemingly blow up their shows in exciting season finales all the while still making these unforeseen events feel true to the show, and then they pick-up where the last season left off with equally good and layered writing, and with convincing twists and turns. While that description may sound more like Breaking Bad than a show about the line of succession in a right-wing media company, it is also true for Succession (and their writers), which, again and again, takes its characters in enthralling new directions. The second season of Succession was right up there with The Leftovers, as some of the most gripping and well-written television on HBO ever, and I’m happy to say that the third season, which went in directions that I hadn’t anticipated at the end of the second season, is equally good. Jesse Armstrong and the Succession writers’ room have done it again.

Continue reading “REVIEW: Succession – Season Three (2021)” →