Review: Netflix’s Avatar The Last Airbender – At Least It’s Better Than The Movie

I had the amazingly good fortune as an 11 year old boy to be seated in front of the television in our basement on February 21, 2005, for the long-awaited premiere of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Over the past few months, the ads for the new fantasy series had played on Nickelodeon, over and over, … Read more

Cuckoo Berlinale Review – Irritating, Unwieldy, Fun

How do you even begin to talk about a movie as weird, messy, but ultimately fun as Cuckoo? It’s a modern giallo from Germany, brought to us by NEON, about a secluded resort in the mountains, strange noises that put you in temporary time loops, and screeching women with red, glowing eyes that try to … Read more

Meanwhile on Earth Berlinale Review – Just Like Space It’s A Whole Lot Of Nothing

I was absolutely enamored with writer/director Jérémy Clapin’s feature debut, I Lost My Body (2019), when I finally watched it for the first time the other day. An animated movie that used the intimate speficity of every carefully crafted frame and brushstroke within to tell a story that celebrated the smallest of sensations that make … Read more

A Different Man Berlinale Review: You Can’t Run From Who You Are

The tale of the disfigured individual, demonized by its society and pitied by the audience, is one that’s been retold many times in cinema. From The Elephant Man (1980) to Wonder (2017) to the here frequently referenced Beauty and the Beast (1991), it’s understood that these people are simply victims of their genetic code—or whatever … Read more

Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom Review – A Modern B-Movie Blockbuster

The DCEU has now officially ended in December 2023. But before we say our goodbyes to a cinematic universe filled with ups and downs (and maybe a few more downs than ups, if we’re being honest), there’s still one final movie to watch. Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom is the second of what was once … Read more

Review: Percy Jackson & the Olympians – Episodes 1 & 2

I must confess first and foremost that Percy Jackson and the Olympians was one of my favorite book series growing up. Throughout middle and high school, I was completely sucked into Rick Riordan’s urban fantasy stories where a world of mythology hides just beneath the surface, and great heroes emerge from otherwise inconspicuous 8th grade … Read more

Review: Doctor Who 60th Specials – Episode 3 – “The Giggle”

Doctor Who - The Giggle.

Spoilers from the outset for this review of the Doctor Who 60th-Anniversary Special, “The Giggle.” The end looms for the Fourteenth Doctor in the third and final episode of the 60th-anniversary specials. It all begins in Soho, 1925, with the birth of television, an appropriate subject matter to honor the 60-year milestone and an effective means to welcome … Read more

Review: Doctor Who 60th Specials – Episode 2 – “Wild Blue Yonder”

Doctor Who - Wild Blue Yonder.

Spoilers from the outset for this review of the Doctor Who 60th-Anniversary Special, “Wild Blue Yonder.” As a recap, Donna (Catherine Tate) spilled coffee onto the TARDIS console, sending the temp from Chiswick (born in Southampton, as we learn in this episode) and the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) out of control across time and space. The episode swiftly … Read more

Review: Doctor Who 60th Specials – Episode 1 – “The Star Beast”

Doctor Who - The Star Beast.

Spoilers from the outset for this review of the Doctor Who 60th-Anniversary Special, “The Star Beast.” In 2008, Donna Noble lost her memory of the Doctor. Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) saluted the Time Lord from his doorstep as the time traveller returned to the TARDIS in the rain, once again, all alone. Tears fell, and … Read more