2024 TV Highlights Thus Far, Pt. 1 | Bite-Sized Reviews

(L-R, 1st row, then 2nd row) SHOGUN (FX / Hulu), RIPLEY (Netflix), FALLOUT (Prime Video), MR. AND MRS. SMITH (Prime Video), and Presumed Innocent (Apple TV+).

You don’t really understand it when you’re a kid, but, boy, it really feels like time flies by as you get older. When you’re stressed or overworked or even just have more important things on your mind, it can be difficult to find the time to do what you want to do before it feels like you’re too late. This is, in part, why I started doing these review compilation posts sometimes containing bite-sized reviews about shows or films that I feel like I still need to talk about, even though I missed out on the moment right after the release. If you read my website frequently, then you know that I’ve recently posted two backlog/catch-up compilations for last year’s TV series. With that out of the way, I now want to focus on some of the shows of the past seven or eight months that I really want to give you my thoughts on. Today, I’ll focus on some of the shows that I think are the very best of the year thus far, including, but not limited to, a video game TV-adaptation and an incredibly stylish reimagining of an iconic Patricia Highsmith story.

Continue reading “2024 TV Highlights Thus Far, Pt. 1 | Bite-Sized Reviews”

REVIEW: Glass (2019)

US Theatrical Release Poster – Universal Pictures

The following is a review of Glass — Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Unbreakable is my favorite film from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, whose career has been one of the bumpiest rides for any filmmaking talent in recent memory, and Split, Shyamalan’s 2017 secret continuation of the Unbreakable-universe, gave me one of my favorite experiences in a movie theater at the very end of the film, when Bruce Willis appeared out of nowhere to reveal that Mr. Glass, David Dunn, and The Beast exist in the same world. Continue reading “REVIEW: Glass (2019)”

REVIEW: Blue Jay (2016)

Theatrical Release Poster - The Orchard; Netflix
Theatrical Release Poster – The Orchard; Netflix

The following is a quick review of Blue Jay – directed by Alex Lehmann.

Blue Jay follows Jim (played by Mark Duplass) and Amanda (played by Sarah Paulson), two former high school sweethearts, after they run into each other in a supermarket. They decide that they should go have some coffee together and talk about their lives. Amanda is married and has become a stepmom to her husband’s two sons. Jim, on the other hand, works on houses for his uncle and hasn’t got anyone. They decide to spend the rest of the day together to discuss old memories and to reconnect. Continue reading “REVIEW: Blue Jay (2016)”

REVIEW: 12 Years A Slave (2013)

Fox Searchlight Pictures theatrical poster for 12 Years A Slave.

The following is a spoiler review for 12 Years A Slave.

At the 86th Academy Awards in early 2014, 12 Years A Slave was nominated for 9 awards, and only American Hustle & Gravity were nominated for more (both 10). In a less stellar year for movies — and with a little bit of luck on their side — Ejiofor and Fassbender might have left the night with Academy Awards, but, in the end, the film only received 3 Oscars. But it did receive the most important award of them all – Best Picture. And the film deserves the honor. Continue reading “REVIEW: 12 Years A Slave (2013)”