Tron (1982)

"On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy."

Tron remains an iconic piece of 1980s cinema and a landmark moment in the history of special effects and computer animation, but I'm hesitant to say it's a very good movie. At best it is a fun yet disposable adventure film with a distinctive aesthetic and enough memorable moments to make you overlook how flat and formulaic the plot and characters are.

Alien Earth: The Real Monsters

"You better save the children because I'm going to burn this place to the ground."

I imagine this episode is going to be divisive. Not only did they leave things on a cliffhanger, they barely resolved any of the long running plots.

Slow Horses: Season Four Review

"You want me to do it out of the goodness of my heart?"

This review spoils everything.

Every Slow Horses season has its own plot, and thus its own vibe, but this season's focus on personal relationships threw me for a loop that I wasn't expecting.

Alien Earth: Emergence

"We're not safe here. I don't think we ever were."

I think this episode frustrated me because it was incomplete, like the first half of a two-parter. A part of my frustration was due to the fact that despite being the penultimate episode, several long running plots were finally resolved. While perhaps momentarily satisfying, they felt more like inevitabilities rather than grand payoffs.

The Lazarus Project: Season Two Review

"This is how it always starts. A small group of people trying to do a good thing."

This season review spoils everything.

Mini Movie Reviews: Daylight Robbery

Today's theme is heist flicks featuring films by John Huston, William Wyler, Stanley Kubrick, Jules Dassin, Peter Collinson, and Basil Dearden.

Marvel Zombies

"Oh, fine. Let's go save the world."

It's not October yet, but Spooky Season is still upon us. Which means zombies.

This review is spoiler free!

The Long Walk

"WARNING. WARNING."

The Long Walk is the latest adaptation of a Stephen King novel, directed by Francis Lawrence. The premise is terribly simple: America has descended into a totalitarian dystopia. Public morale and state control hinges upon an event known as the Long Walk, in which 50 randomly chosen young men must walk along a cordoned off road until only one of them remains. The reward for the winner is great. The price for those who lose is death.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 20)

"DO I DETECT A NOTE OF UNSEASONAL GRUMPINESS? said Death. NO SUGAR PIGGYWIGGY FOR YOU, ALBERT."

Book twenty heralds the return of Death's granddaughter Susan Sto Helit. So of course, we also have Death himself, and his manservant Albert, all involved in shenanigans surrounding the holiday of Hog's Watch, the Discworld version of Christmas. But all is not so jolly this time.

Him

"Football. Family. God."

If I have one true love in life, beyond video games, beyond horror movies, beyond ridiculous shark movies, it is football. As soon as the games kick off every Sunday afternoon, I sit on the couch and I do not move for the next eleven hours. There is very little that I do not know about this sport. I love it. It's something of an obsession.

All of which is to say that I am this movie's exact target audience.

This review is spoiler free!

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (Discworld 19)

"You are in favour of the common people?" said Dragon mildly. "The common people?" said Vimes. "They're nothing special. They're no different from the rich and powerful except they've got no money or power. But the law should be there to balance things up a bit. So I suppose I've got to be on their side."

Besides the odd murders of an old preacher and a man who cared for the Dwarven Bread Museum, the Patrician is being poisoned, and the golems, which most people regard as simple automatons, are acting oddly. Our ever-expanding night watch must solve the crimes and also what links them together, all while dealing with the ridiculousness of Discworld.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds: New Life and New Civilizations

"According to this, she is the statue. The statue is her."

Am I the only one who found this episode confusing and disappointing?