Gladiator II

Lucius: Is this how Rome treats its heroes?

This is a movie about a gladiator, so naturally, there are MANY fight scenes. But they are well done.

Wicked

The advertising for this movie had gone on for so long and had been so all-consuming that I walked into the theater very jaded and cynical. I walked out grinning and humming.

This review is spoiler free!

Outlander: Brotherly Love

The title is appropriate, and not just because a lot of the action took place in the occupied city of brotherly love. There was indeed a lot of love – brotherly, cousin-ly, brothers from other mothers.

And oddly, several unknown parents in the mix.

Resident Alien: Secrets

Asta: Why can't you sleep?
Harry’s thought: There's a dead me floating in the lake.
Harry’s words: I can't find the on/off switch in my brain.

A foot belonging to the original Harry Vanderspeigle gets fished up from the lake, making Harry the alien’s life even more difficult.

Batman The Animated Series: Dreams in Darkness

"There's always time to heal, the doctor told me, but he was wrong. There was no time left. Not for me, not for him, and not for Gotham City. And as long as I remained trapped in Arkham, there was nothing I could do, except wait for the end and remember the beginning."

This is the best Scarecrow episode, a brilliant, trippy ticking clock thriller that puts the Caped Crusader through some serious psychological torment.

Outlander: Unfinished Business

Yes, the wait was way too long. But this episode was awesome.

Resident Alien: Homesick

Finding an object the size of a suitcase in the Colorado Mountains is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I've been searching for my device every day for months. I haven't found it yet, but after searching a half dozen mountains, I finally found the haystack, and that's all that matters. Well, that and being on time for my first day of work.

We get much more of Max – the young actor does really well – and more of the other characters, usually as patients in Patience, in this episode. Harry starts experiencing human emotions.

Dracula (1979)

Count Dracula: "You fools! Do you think with your crosses and your wafers you can destroy me? Me! You do not know how many men have come against me. I am the king of my kind! You have accomplished nothing, Van Helsing. Time is on my side. In a century, when you are dust, I shall wake and call Lucy, my queen, from her grave. I have in my time had many brides, Mr. Harker. But I shall set Lucy above them all.”

Taking a detour from my planned trip through the Universal classics, I recently rewatched this one and felt it would be a good time to review this often overlooked but enjoyable take on Dracula.

Resident Alien: Pilot

But here I am. My first real test. To say my species is more advanced than humans would be a massive understatement. If the universe had a scale for intelligence, humans would land right below lizards.

An alien with an unpronounceable name – who later becomes Harry – takes up residence among humans in Patience, Colorado.

This Week: I'm Clearly Michael Sheen Stalking

Mikey Heinrich: Has anybody else watched Staged with David Tennant and Michael Sheen? It really is very, very funny.

The Penguin: A Great or Little Thing

"Oswald Cobb, man of the people."

That's really all he ever wanted to be. Or at least, that's how he always wanted to present himself. A man of the people, just like his childhood idol.

Alien: Covenant

Alien: Covenant represents a pretty sharp correction following Prometheus (a movie that I strongly disliked the first time I saw it, but have softened towards over the last decade.) When Covenant works, it expertly marries the tones of the prequel and the original movie and becomes something fascinating.

When it doesn’t, it starts quoting Milton.

This review contains spoilers and in-depth discussions of the movie’s themes.