• Thu, May 15, 25
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review

03 Aug

Double World Review: Kung Fu Eye Candy for Pandemic Comfort Food

Netflix, New DVD release, , , , ,
Like so many 2020 films, Double World was slated for a major theatrical release this summer. But due to the pandemic, it has become one of the first big films to jump online in some hopes of recouping its costs. It’s a shame because Double World is the kind of film that was made for the big screen. It opens a spectacular new fantasy world, brimming with ravishing visuals. Haven’t heard of it?  Don’t feel bad. It’s from China. Had 2020 gone as planned, Double World might have had a limited North American theatrical release at best, but now we…
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03 Aug

Perry Mason Episode 7 Review: Chapter Seven

New DVD release, , , , ,
This Perry Mason review contains spoilers. Perry Mason Episode 7 Perry Mason, episode 7, “Chapter Seven,” steers out of control to a very unexpected crossroads. There are deals with the devil happening in this installment and none of them are specifically satanic. Perry Mason (Matthew Rhys) tries to exorcize demonic truths from the Assembly of God Church, while its leader plays god, and not just on the radio. In “Chapter Six,” Sister Alice (Tatiana Maslany) remarks to her mother, Birdy McKeegan (Lili Taylor), that she’s been remembering quite a few things, lately. The new installment brings up a memory, though…
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03 Aug

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 7 Review: Cripple Creek

New DVD release, , , , ,
This NOS4A2 review contains spoilers. NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 7 In our recent interview with NOS4A2 showrunner Jami O’Brien, she addresses something very surprising. There are people online who have bought into the lies of Charlie Manx. He claims he’s saving children from bad situations, and there are people who say, “Yes, that sounds right,” and look no further than that. Hopefully, his actions in the second season are enough to put fire to those particular lies, but that doesn’t mean Manx isn’t still a character with more dimensions than first suspected. Oh no, while up on “Cripple Creek,” Bing…
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03 Aug

Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 2 Review: Friends in Low Places

New DVD release, , , , ,
This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers. Wynonna Earp Season 4, Episode 2 Damn, Wynonna Earp. That sex scene. In the context of the show, the Wayhaught love scene was gorgeous, sexy, and one of the most romantic scenes of the entire series so far. In the larger context of television history, it was one of the most explicit and beautiful sex scenes between two women that I have ever seen on network or basic cable TV. In many ways, Wynonna Earp follows a tried-and-true genre TV formula: a snarky-yet-sentimental narrative path laid out by shows like Buffy and Supernatural. But…
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03 Aug

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness Episode 5 Review: Belly of the Beast

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This THE ALIENIST review contains spoilers. The Alienist Season 2 Episode 5 After the best episode of the season, The Alienist: Angel of Darkness mainly plays their criminal pursuit of Libby straight, adhering close to the procedural structure that works, but doesn’t necessarily excite. Though a spooky atmosphere is built, which helps create some palpable tension, this episode mainly focuses on Sara in Super Detective mode. When “Belly of the Beast” does take some bold creative swings, digging into the character work that often elevates the show, some of the season’s cracks begin to appear. The episode opens on Libby…
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03 Aug

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness Episode 6 Review: Memento Mori

New DVD release, , , , ,
This THE ALIENIST review contains spoilers. The Alienist Season 2 Episode 6 The Alienist: Angel of Darkness has a problem. The problem isn’t the fact that, just like the season prior, the series revealed the identity of the killer at the halfway point of the season, although it definitely zaps the mystery out of the proceedings. No, the issue with this current season is the fact that the titular character, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, no longer fits into the story. Maybe they should have just called the season Angel of Darkness.   At a certain point in “Memento Mori,” Sara emphatically…
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01 Aug

Host Review: Zoom Horror That’s Fresh and Frightening

New DVD release, , ,
Time moves differently during lockdown. But for once that’s actually worked to the advantage of director Rob Savage who has managed to create an incredibly timely, sincerely scary and wonderfully shot horror movie in 12 weeks. That’s 12 weeks from conception to its appearance on streaming service Shudder. The result is Host, a horror set over a Zoom call that couldn’t be more relevant and more zeitgeisty, which will likely secure a place in horror history as a movie which captured a moment which, with any luck, will look like a bizarre blip. Though Host certainly leans into horror movie…
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01 Aug

Muppets Now Episode 1 Review: Due Date

New DVD release, ,
There are some franchises that stand the test of time. Superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, get rebooted and recreated over and over again. Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse’s crew are technically the same characters over time, but the art styles and personalities shift by the generation and evolve, for better or worse. The Muppets, on the other hand, are always meant to be the same. They’re the same characters from the 70s with the same designs and dynamics. It’s not about rebooting the brand, but finding new settings for them. The Muppets have persevered in…
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01 Aug

Black is King Review

New DVD release,
Black is King is the visual album for the soundtrack The Lion King: The Gift, based on the 2019 live action Lion King, adapted from the 1994 animated film of the same name. It takes the story of the Lion King and reconceptualizes it around a Black boy, Simba in human form. Like the album, the film includes audio clips from the 2019 live-action film in interstitials between songs and sometimes disparate visuals. The clips also serve to connect the interspersed Simba narrative within the larger performance piece. More than just a story about one young man reclaiming his identity…
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30 Jul

Doom Patrol Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Dad Patrol

New DVD release, , ,
This Doom Patrol review contains spoilers. Doom Patrol Season 2 Episode 8 With the penultimate episode of the season, the newest Doom Patrol installment sets the table for at least two major conflicts that almost guarantee a cliffhanger next week. However, despite that potentially frustrating possibility, “Dad Patrol” once again features excellent character development, with Abigail Shapiro the standout performance this episode as Dorothy. The episode opens by flashing back to Jane/Kay’s childhood where her abusive father would force her into the well to spend the night. It is a dark beginning to the story, with Kay’s trauma at being…
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30 Jul

Agents of SHIELD Season 7 Episode 10 Review: Stolen

New DVD release, , , , ,
This review contains spoilers for Agents of SHIELD. Agents of SHIELD Season 7 Episode 10 Let’s not mince words; Nathaniel Malick is not a great Agents of SHIELD villain. However, “Stolen” does enhance his antagonism a little even as it emphasizes his weaknesses, and the resulting mayhem is still cool to watch. And by the end of the episode, we at least get a hint of Sybil’s plan even if her reliance on Inhuman powers seems only indirectly related to getting what she supposedly really wants: a new Chronicom home planet. Specifically, Nathaniel as a viable enemy has two problems.…
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29 Jul

Paper Mario: The Origami King Review – Innovative Turn-Based Combat

New DVD release, , , , , ,
Turn-based RPGs have been around since the ‘80s and have offered many different variations on combat. Since this genre is one of the oldest in video games, it’s become increasingly rare to see new innovations in turn-based combat. Paper Mario: The Origami King is one of those rare titles that brings something wholly unique to the genre, offering turn-based combat that’s ostensibly simple but over time reveals itself to be deceptively complex and mind-numbingly challenging, particularly later in the game. Nintendo is known for introducing new, innovative concepts in its games, and Paper Mario: The Origami King’s combat is one…
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27 Jul

Stargirl Episode 11 Review: Shining Knight

New DVD release, , , ,
This STARGIRL review contains spoilers. Stargirl Episode 11 The idea that heroes can come from anywhere isn’t exactly a new theme in comic book movies and television. We can all wear the mask, right? Or wield the sword. Or the staff, or the hammer, if we’re worthy of it. Stargirl has vaguely touched on this theme already – after all, it’s not like Yolanda or Beth are exactly legacy heroes or anything, and Henry King still chose the light in spite of who his father is. But the trope has never played out so directly and so heart-wrenchingly as it…
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27 Jul

NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 6 Review: The Hourglass

New DVD release, , , ,
This NOS4A2 review contains spoilers. NOS4A2 Season 2 Episode 6 One of the smarter choices in “The Hourglass” is to lean on Maggie (Jahkara Smith), who has been underutilized this season. She was such a crucial part of the first season of NOS4A2, being Vic’s inroad to the world of the supernatural, and this season she’s mostly just been hanging around, afraid to use her bag of tiles due to the horrible side effects she suffers. That in and of itself is an important role—gifts have consequences—but it’s not the most exciting thing to be on television, and to see…
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27 Jul

Wynonna Earp Season 4 Episode 1 Review: On the Road Again

New DVD release, , , ,
This Wynonna Earp review contains spoilers. Wynonna Earp Season 4, Episode 1 Hold onto your flasks, Earpers. For the next six weeks, new episodes of Wynonna Earp will be gracing our hearts and eyeballs. It’s almost too good to believe that, after almost two years, a time in which funding snafus and then COVID-19 temporary halted production, we have more of this wonderfully bonkers, ridiculously fun, and unabashedly sentimental story that centers found family, queer love, and women getting shit done to look forward to, but sometimes the universe gives you something good. Given the long, long hiatus, you would…
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27 Jul

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Review (Spoiler-Free)

Netflix, New DVD release, , , ,
Any successful sophomore season has to build on the strengths of its predecessor, particularly in the areas of world building and characterization, and create a compelling new conflict to grab the audience’s attention, and The Umbrella Academy season 2 does just that. One would think that presenting another impending apocalypse for which our heroes are once again responsible would be repetitive, but if anything, this end-of-the-world scenario is even more thrilling because it places everything and everyone in the context of 1960s Dallas just before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a quintessential time travel setup second only to…
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27 Jul

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness Episode 4 Review: Gilded Cage

New DVD release, , , , ,
This THE ALIENIST review contains spoilers. The Alienist Season 2 Episode 4 After two weeks, we’re already at the halfway point with The Alienist: Angel of Darkness. It’s still a mystery as to why TNT is blowing through original programing when every content provider is about to be facing a drought in the months ahead. However, what IS NOT a mystery is who murdered Martha Napp’s baby. As predicted during the previous episode, there was something off about nurse Libby, and she proved it in “Gilded Cage” by attempting to murder an undercover Bitsy and by successfully offing the matron.…
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27 Jul

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness Episode 3 Review: Labyrinth

New DVD release, , , , ,
This THE ALIENIST review contains spoilers. The Alienist Season 2 Episode 3 Rarely does a crime show build to a satisfying reveal if the series settles in on its first suspect, then reveals that suspect to be the killer. That’s why despite the circumstantial evidence pointing at the matron, Dr. Markoe’s right hand woman at the Lying In Hospital, it seems almost too obvious that she’s the culprit. However, the episode certainly wants you to think that the barren, slightly crazy-eyed matron has kidnapped the Linares baby, with a lot of “Labyrinth” dedicated to investigation and plot. However, the final…
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27 Jul

Perry Mason Episode 6 Review: Chapter Six

New DVD release, , , ,
This Perry Mason review contains spoilers. Perry Mason Episode 6 Perry Mason, “Chapter Six,” delivers the title character’s courtroom debut. For a man who is going to embody an icon of courtroom drama, Perry Mason is off to a much less than auspicious start. Matthew Rhys coughs, stammers, makes self-effacing jokes as he stumbles into objectionable oratory and forgets to bring water to court before he even makes it through the first paragraph of his opening statement. His worthy opponent, District Attorney Maynard Barnes (Stephen Root), is just finishing his two-hour opening statement as the episode opens, and we can…
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24 Jul

How To Build A Girl Review: a Grungy British Answer to The Devil Wears Prada

New DVD release, , , , , ,
Caitlin Moran is kind of a big deal. A multi-award winning journalist, a highly influential feminist after her non-fiction book How To Be A Woman, and now a successful movie screenwriter as her novel How To Build A Girl Comes to the big screen. Or rather it would have, were it not for COVID19, instead the movie lands on Amazon Prime after it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. How To Build A Girl is the semi-autobiographical story of Johanna Morrigan, a 16-year-old from a big family growing up in Wolverhampton in the ‘90s. With How To Be…
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DVD Guide reviews current dvd releases of movies and TV shows. The reviews of these dvd releases are my thoughts and understandings of the movie, dvd releases or TV show and not be taken as fact.

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