2023 TV Catch-Up / Backlog: The Mixed Bags | Bite-Sized Reviews

(L-R) The Changeling (Apple TV+); Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV+), The Crown (Netflix).

In this edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, the point of this post is to function as a review compilation, if you will, of some notable 2023 television series that I’ve either caught up with in the last few months or which I never found the time to write about when they were released way back when (i.e. my review notes backlog). For this post, I have specifically highlighted three shows from the past year that didn’t fully work for me, even though I liked a fair bit about them.


Continue reading “2023 TV Catch-Up / Backlog: The Mixed Bags | Bite-Sized Reviews”

REVIEW: The Crown – Season Five (2022)

PHOTO: NETFLIX.

Series Created by Peter Morgan.

A lot has happened since November 2020, when, two years ago, Netflix released the fourth season of their wildly successful historical drama, The Crown. Britain has had three different prime ministers — Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and, current PM, Rishi Sunak — and, most importantly, Queen Elizabeth II, the subject of this series, has died. The United Kingdom now has a new monarch in King Charles III, who, as the series has moved forward, has moved closer and closer to the focal point of the series. Indeed, one might argue that these latest two seasons are the most critical of the former Prince of Wales.

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REVIEW: The Two Popes (2019)

Release Poster – Netflix

The following is a review of The Two Popes — Directed by Fernando Meirelles.

Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes is based on writer Anthony McCarten’s non-fiction work The Pope and inspired by the historic papal renunciation in 2013. Meirelles’ film is about a number of conversations between Pope Benedict XVI (played by Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (played by Jonathan Pryce). These conversations highlight the conservative and ‘progressive’ branches of the Catholic Church and the things that they have in common. These conversations are both incredibly interesting and surprisingly funny. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Two Popes (2019)”

REVIEW: Game of Thrones – Season Six (2016)

Game of Thrones reviewed

The following is a review of the sixth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Expect spoilers for the show in this review.

This is the first time that I am ever reviewing a season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, but I’ve been following the show since the beginning. I hadn’t read any of the books prior to the first season, but I have since read the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire-series of novels.

The fact that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was in the show, was what made me interested in the show, and his character is still one of my favorites. The first season was excellent, and every season has just been so good. Then the fifth season aired, and a lot of people were underwhelmed. This time around though, with the sixth season of Game of Thrones, HBO have given us one of the most outstanding fantasy seasons that we have ever seen.  Continue reading “REVIEW: Game of Thrones – Season Six (2016)”