Ms. Marvel is blissfully not part of the Marvel slush. It’s not rote or the same story again. Though dealing with a teenager coming of age, it’s not simply Spider-Man with a different protagonist. Instead—within the first three episodes—it becomes a family drama with the superhero aspects simply elevating the emotions.
I Am In Eskew doesn’t fit into the usual framework by which I’ve recently rated horror podcasts.
We’re in a golden age of nerdy media. Every time I think we’ve hit the pinnacle of high-budget media adapting or embracing something once only for the nerdiest of the nerds, another trailer comes out.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a masterpiece. A culmination of increasingly popular science fiction topics, well-trodden philosophy, absurdist humor, and incredible fight choreography.
Rules for Vanishing is such a different book from anything we’ve reviewed on the site in a long time. It’s a dark medley of The Wizard of Oz, Lovecraftian Horror, and The Blair Witch Project.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls delighted at first but steadily worsened. The endless brownie points earned spent themselves too fast and left a husk of a film.
Amphibia wants to make dark jokes and frog jokes, and it succeeds at both. Or at least that’s what the early episodes are about.
Baymax! is formulaic, predictable, and utterly charming. It brings a smile with every single episode and feels like something special.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a movie that could only exist this deep in the Marvel phenomenon. It doesn’t flow or function like an actual movie—it heavily assumes you’ve seen so much media. It doesn’t give you time or an adequate explanation for half the stuff that happens.
Black Tide was a different sort of book than I expected. The premise of a cosmic horror-style alien invasion was interesting by itself, but Black Tide marks the first “bottle episode” book I’ve ever read.
The Old Guard is perfect at what it wants to be. It’s an action movie with a tight fantastical premise and stellar execution. By chance, I saw a five-minute scene and was immediately hooked.
The Tomorrow War has a fantastic premise, talented actors, and stellar effects, yet it never comes together properly. The enthusiasm for its own appeal wanes, and it becomes a shell of a movie, running on formula and tropes.
