Everyone gets a documentary nowadays. Whether it’s Apple TV+, Disney+, or Netflix, you can find several documentaries highlighting musicians. Naturally, some of these documentaries are more fascinating than others. Some music documentaries are put out to function as tell-all documentations of a tour or the construction of an album, others function as these musician origin stories that are obviously heavily constructed by the musician so that the right story is told from their point of view. The very best music documentaries get to find a way under the skin of their artist. On the surface, this Ed Sheeran docu-series may look exactly like one of the many unremarkable types of music documentaries. But once you dive right in and follow along, you are met with the kind of documentary that goes more than merely skin deep.
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REVIEW: The Mandalorian – Season Three (2023)

Series Created by Jon Favreau — All Episodes Available on Disney+ Now.
To a certain extent, The Mandalorian was once the kind of show that united the Star Wars fanbase after the divisive sequel trilogy. However, the show that spun off from the excellent second season of the show — The Book of Boba Fett — was not only uneven, it also undid the very end of The Mandalorian season two through these episodes that were always more episodes of The Mandalorian than The Book of Boba Fett, even though they were sandwiched into the latter show. Since then, live-action Star Wars on Disney+ has featured the very satisfying but safe nostalgic Obi-Wan Kenobi show, as well as the outstanding course-correcting dark and mature Star Wars series Andor. It was always going to be hard for this third season to live up to Andor, but what is really frustrating is that it doesn’t even live up to its own previous seasons. The third season of The Mandalorian is a little bit of a disappointment.
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It’s time. I’ve seen everything that I feel like I need to see before I can publish my best TV/streaming shows list for 2022. Today, I’ll list ten shows that I think were absolutely fantastic last year. You’ll find a lot of different shows on this list. Some of them are big franchise entries, but there are also new favorites and an experimental show that I was obsessed with last year. So, without further ado, let’s get to it. Counting down from ten to one, these are the best television shows of 2022.
Continue reading “Top Ten TV-Shows of 2022”REVIEW: The Bear – Season One (2022)

Series Created by Christopher Storer.
In Christopher Storer’s The Bear, we follow the employees and cooks at the dirty, failing Italian beef sandwich shop, the Original Beef of Chicagoland, as its owner has died by suicide and his brother, Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (played by Jeremy Allen White), takes over. Carmy, an experienced chef with fine-dining experience, wants to change the way things are done in the restaurant much to the frustration of some of its employees, including the de-facto manager of the shop, Richie (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who is the most unruly of the bunch.
Continue reading “REVIEW: The Bear – Season One (2022)”REVIEW: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – Season One (2022)

Show Created by Jessica Gao — Directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia.
The first Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe series, WandaVision, was released in early 2021. Now, in October of 2022, Marvel Studios has fully released eight different Marvel series on the Disney streamer. While I’ve enjoyed watching all of them, I really do think that many of them would’ve been better as films, as these shows — like The Falcon and the Winter Soldier — still swear by the classic Marvel template. Honestly, I think only WandaVision, Loki, What If…?, and Ms. Marvel were right to be made into series rather than films. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, however, is the kind of story that feels appropriate for the streamer as a series. It doesn’t take the overarching Marvel storylines all that seriously and, even though I’m a fan of the MCU, that feels really refreshing.
Continue reading “REVIEW: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – Season One (2022)”REVIEW: Grimcutty (2022)
Directed by John Ross — Screenplay by John Ross.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that a new horror film had been released on Disney+ (on Hulu in the U.S.), and, since it was a title that I had heard absolutely nothing about, I was somewhat puzzled. Where had this been hiding, why did Disney/Hulu acquire it, and why are they now releasing it without any fanfare? I assumed that it was a bad sign, just like how January has previously been known as a bit of a dumping ground for movie releases. I was right. I take no pleasure in writing highly negative reviews, but I think this is a big miss. It is an ineffective and quite bland horror film with no staying power, even though its general interest in how parents want to control what their children see online is an interesting premise for a horror film.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Grimcutty (2022)”REVIEW: Werewolf By Night (2022)

Directed by Michael Giacchino — Screenplay by Heather Quinn and Peter Cameron.
Since the launch of Disney+, Marvel Studios has pumped out a plethora of straight-to-streaming series. It has, honestly, been a little bit overwhelming at times, and not all of the shows are equally good. One of the things that excited me about this streaming service, and the potential for Marvel Studios on it, was the general idea that this gave Marvel an opportunity to break from their formula and try new things. To give examples, Marvel has done that somewhat with Ms Marvel but also with She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, which is this sitcom that doesn’t take the overall universe as seriously as most of the Marvel films do. With Werewolf By Night, Marvel Studios has released their first so-called ‘special presentation.’ This is essentially a Halloween special just like how we know a Christmas special is coming down the line from James Gunn and the Guardians of the Galaxy cast. And think outside of the box they certainly have, as Marvel Studios have hired their frequent composer Michael Giacchino to direct for them on the streaming service. and this special presentation proves that if they need a director for a future feature-length theatrical project, then Michael Giacchino could very well be their guy. Werewolf by Night is surprisingly good.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Werewolf By Night (2022)”REVIEW: Prey (2022)

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) — Screenplay by Patrick Aison — Story by Patrick Aison & Dan Trachtenberg.
When I was a kid, my father would often want to watch the Alien and Predator films with me. Truth be told, I was probably a little bit too young to watch them when I did, but I didn’t mind and they never gave me nightmares. Instead, for me those films helped to create a love for sci-fi action and sci-fi horror, and I really love watching them over and over again, even though not all of the films are great. As a kid, I vividly remember that, to me, mindblowing moment when an easter egg in Predator 2 revealed a connection between those two franchises.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Prey (2022)”REVIEW: Ms. Marvel – Season One (2022)

Show Creator: Bisha K. Ali — Show Directors: Adil & Bilall, Meera Menon, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
It’s interesting to me that most of the Disney+ shows thus far have really been aimed at the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s mainstream die-hard audience. I sort of expected Disney+ to get into more shows that focused on family fun. I think Hawkeye felt like a family show, but no show has been as close to feeling like a Disney Channel show as Ms. Marvel did. Don’t misunderstand me. That isn’t a diss or a criticism. I think it’s refreshing to see a true young adult family-oriented MCU show. I also think that is the right way to introduce this fan-favorite character to the mainstream audience. I’m glad they gave her a Spider-Man: Homecoming-esque Disney+ show.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Ms. Marvel – Season One (2022)”REVIEW: Moon Knight – Season One (2022)

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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