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Last Update 12/26/25
Wake Up Dead Man (2025)
Third in the series that began with Knives Out. This was an improvement over number two but still not as good as the first. The setting is a small Catholic church whose priest is a sadistic, abusive bully who deliberately drives people away from the church. He is also heir to a substantial fortune that has disappeared - we later find out where it is hidden. He gets murdered in a locked room setting and is then interred in a tomb, but it appears that he has risen from the dead. There are two more murders before the crime is solved. This was okay as a story of suspense but not very good as a mystery. There are too many things withheld and there is no way to figure out who the bad guys are except by guesswork. Daniel Craig is fine in what is really a minor role. Glenn Close is excellent. I'm not sure I would ever watch this again but I'm glad to have seen it once. 12/26/25
Patrick MacNee and Honor Blackman have more adventures. It’s never quite clear how they are connected to the government, and many of their cases are common, or uncommon, criminals rather than spies or saboteurs. The low budget meant that most of the episodes are claustrophobic. There’s a plot in one to restore the Roman Empire in England. A gold smuggling ring turns out to have benevolent intentions. Undertakers have a shady sideline. Political assassinations, big heists, and various other bad guys and gals all fall before the wit and ingenuity of the two avengers. A bit visually lacking but the acting and dialogue are all good. 12/5/25
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)
This movie presumably brings the series to a close. It finishes off the various story lines, all of them with more or less happy endings. Maggie Smith had died so she is the only regular cast member who does not appear. The butler, housekeeper, and cook are all retiring and being replaced. The gay footman has found a good job working with an actor. The parents decide to cede control of the estate to their daughter Mary – a character I have staunchly disliked throughout. The new plot lines involve Mary’s ostracism because of her divorce, a swindler from the US, a visit by playwright Noel Coward, and the reshaping of a local charitable society. 11/28/25
Weapons (2025)
Without much in the way of special effects, this is a very effective horror movie that opens when seventeen kids get out of bed in the middle of the night and run off into the darkness. A teacher, a surviving student, a father, a police officer, and a drug addict and thief all become involved in some element of the unfolding mystery. I won’t reveal the explanation, which is not disappointing, although there are a couple of minor unanswered questions at the end. The acting is excellent, the overlapping viewpoints of the same scene is a device that I enjoy, and there are several very creepy scenes. Worth watching. 11/17/25
Fantastic Four First Steps (2025)
The Fantastic Four were among my favorites in the Marvel comics universe. I even kind of liked the admittedly inferior movies that appeared a while back. So I was looking forward to the first one in the MCU film world. Alas, I was somewhat disappointed. Oh, it's entertaining enough to watch, although Galactus just becomes another Kaiju. The Silver Surfer is done well, but is not on screen for very long. The cast for the foursome are all quite good. There was not one single thing that bothered me. The first half hour crams too many scenes into a short period of time. I felt as though I was jumping over deleted scenes more than once. There are also too many coincidences, too many unexplained events and decisions, and not enough time actually developing the characters. And I found the various scenes in which people were applauding the Fantastic Four, or praising them on a tv set or elsewhere, were just cornball. They felt forced, almost satirical. 10/27/25
Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)
The first fifteen minutes of this contained so many implausible and illogical elements that I had little hope for improvement. Fortunately, after they get to the island - yes there is another island of dinosaurs - it improves. It is not particularly innovative - some of the scenes feel like remakes of sequences from the first three movies. A small group is clandestinely approaching the quarantined island to get blood samples what might be the key to a new medical breakthrough. Their paths cross that of a family whose sailboat was sunk by an aquatic dinosaur. The two parties combine, then diverge, then combine again. The island was being used to experiment with cross breeding dinosaurs, although this element is only intermittently relevant. There is a cute kid to be menaced - she did a good job but her peril was overdone - and a terminally cute dinosaur that likes licorice. There is also a giant mutated dinosaur whom we only see vaguely and which feels completely implausible. I was also annoyed that even though the island has been abandoned for many years, all of the flashlight batteries are just fine and a truck starts up on the first try. Not awful, and an improvement over the last two, but still nothing special. 10/14/25
The Rockford Files Season 1 (1974)
I always liked James Garner and I’d never seen an episode of this, although it lasted six years. The first few are quite promising, though a bit dated. The 1970s atmosphere is pervasive. Rockford only takes closed, unsolved criminal cases, he lives in a trailer and is almost always broke, and while he can handle himself in a fight he is far from James Bond quality as a brawler. He projects an uncaring demeanor but is often convinced to accept cases that will not even cover his expenses. These involved old murder cases, stolen legacies, misappropriated literary rights, and so on. There are a few pretty good car chase sequences, including one on a golf course. Rockford gets arrested a lot. He digs up an empty coffin, runs afoul of the witness protection program, gets abducted several times – usually by criminals but sometimes the authorities, stolen money hidden by one of the thieves, and a very good episode in which a woman steals some money intended to pay a bribe. The scenes where a sheriff is ordering Rockford to leave his town are really, really overdone and doing so would be completely illegal. Nice solid show with no really outstanding shows but no real clunkers either. 10/12/25
28 Years Later (2025)
Sequel to 28 Weeks Later, although other than zombies, they have little in common. A small community lives in an island off the Scottish coast which is connected to the mainland by a narrow causeway that is impassable at high tide. They have evolved, or devolved, into a culture which has coming of age ceremonies in which young boys have to visit the mainland and kill their first "infected." The protagonist is a boy whose mother is dying of cancer and whose father is a complicated and not entirely admirable character. The zombies are quite well done. There is a marvelous set late in the movie when a doctor brings the boy and his mother to a kind of ossuary. The mother dies and the boy decides not to return to his village but to stay on the mainland. Quite good. 10/10/25
Madame Web (2024)
I was not familiar with this Marvel character – here brought to the screen by Sony rather than the Marvel group. Not awful, but not very good. A woman with the ability to see into the future, at times, fights a man with spiderman powers in order to protect three teenagers whom he believes will kill him in the future. Lots of explosions and crashes, but bits and pieces do not make sense – the fireworks factory is allowed to stay unguarded even though the building is unsound structurally, in the middle of a city, while filled with explosives! Poorly plotted and indifferently acted. 9/18/25
Warehouse 13 Season 5 (2014)
So full of ridiculous plot elements that I read a book while these episodes were playing and only finished out of a sense of duty. Fortunately it was a very truncated season. What a waste of, admittedly, limited potential. The cast seemed to be embarrassed most of the time and I am mildly embarrassed to have watched this many episodes. Couldn’t they have found a single competent writer in all of Hollywood? I did enjoy seeing Anthony Steward Head guest star as Paracelsus, but the episodes are trite, repetitive, and mostly boring, particularly the finale which has Claudia becoming the next Warehouse keeper. 9/11/25
South Park Season 25 (2023)
At this point, despite their conservative bent, the minds behind this show had realized who the real villains are and they’re the target of spoofs, from racists to capitalists to super patriots to the obsession with a weird and distorted work ethic. The dressage episode is very close to the worst they’d ever done. The gang has to deal with moody teenagers while they play airsoft – which I didn’t know actually existed and in which people shoot each other with pellets. The final episode involves ST Patrick’s Day and pot and is pretty bad. A very weak season overall. 9/9/25
Daredevil Season 3 (2017)
This one opens after the events in The Defenders, which is not available on dvd. Screw these people who do this. They are either incredibly incompetent or incredibly willing to screw their audience. Probably both. The fact that the first episode is all about Daredevil wallowing in self pity is a change from his previous megalomania, but even less entertaining. Episode 2 continues the self pity extravaganza. In this episode, we learn that Murdoch’s friends think he is dead. There is more arguing about whether or not being a vigilante makes one a monster, but there is no effort to answer the question. Episode 3 actually makes Daredevil a villain. Kingpin is released to house arrest after he provides valuable information to the FBI. This season is too repetitive and while there are some good sections of episodes, and the series became too introverted in the second half. 9/7/25
South Park Season 24 (2022)
This season consisted of two longer episodes. The first deals with the Pandemic. Cartman doesn’t want it to end because that means he will have to go back to school. Stan’s father realizes he might be responsible for the pandemic. The lockdown is spoofed at great length, with jabs at Mickey Mouse, police forces, and others. About average. The second episode is better. It skewers the prioritization of vaccinations, the Qanon movement, remote learning, and assorted other things. One of their better episodes. 9/4/25
Nonnas (2025)
This is a light weight, feel good movie based on a true story - although I suspect most of the details are invented. A man who has been drifting through life inherits enough money to buy a restaurant. His vision is to employ traditional grandmothers instead of professional chefs. Naturally there are all sorts of obstacles - including a kitchen fire, a crooked building inspector, shortages of money, the need to keep his day job while the restaurant is being rebuilt and provisioned, arguments among his staff, and so on. There is a mild romance interwoven with the main plot. The cast includes Linda Cardellini, Susan Sarandon, and Talia Shire so the performances are all good. Nothing to rave about but not unpleasant to watch. 8/30/25
Dalgliesh Season 3 (2023)
Adaptations of three P.D. James murder mysteries. Death in Holy Orders was one of the weaker novels so it translates as one of the weaker television episodes as well. Not bad, just not as strong as the others. Cover Her Face is a very good mystery involving a wealthy Indian family whose son wants to marry a servant girl. She gets killed and there are plenty of suspects. Good job of diverting attention from the real killer. Devices and Desires is about a serial killer who appears to be strangling young women who work for a nearby nuclear power plant and who might be a political activist. Overall, quite good and very well filmed. 8/22/25
The Avengers 1962
John Steed originally had a male partner, replaced after one season by Honor Blackman. The season opens with an episode in which a military/political commentor is killed by a device disguised as a pill and dies on live television. Steed and Blackman have to track down a hired killer who uses an automated chimp puppet as his public face. A secret rocket fuel is hidden in a bottle of hair restorer misplaced during a murder at an airport. Episode 3 is very bad. A diplomat’s bodyguards are being systematically killed. But the idea that ten million pounds in foreign aid would be delivered in one cash payment is nonsense. The directors of an arms manufacturer are being murdered. Episode 5, which concerns an actress with a valuable film in her possession, is undercut by some very bad overacting. Steed doesn’t show up until almost the midpoint. Next he infiltrates a murder for hire ring. “The Mauritius Penny” is one of the best early episodes. Murder at a stamp auction leads to a Nazi plot against all of Europe. Then there is sabotage of an experimental computer. A revolutionary plot in Chile is thwarted. A plane is sabotaged and crashes near an Irish convent whose nuns are not nuns at all. “Death of a Great Dane” was the kind of quirky story that would dominate later. A fortune of diamonds in the stomach of a dog and a rich man found dead at a pet sematary. Diamond smugglers and a crisis at the United Nations round out the season. 8/12/25
Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)
Although I had a few quibbles about unrealistic details – MRI machines do not work the way they are portrayed here, for example – this was a worthy continuation of the series. The logic behind the premise is nonsensical, but given that assumption the stories are gripping if repetitious. A woman has a vision of the catastrophic collapse of an elevated restaurant and Death is pissed off because the people who were supposed to die survived. The vision is actually the best part of the movie. In any case, the protagonist realizes that everyone in her family is on the list and convinces them of the truth – although only after a few more grotesque deaths. Why Death would not just give them a heart attack, why Death allows the premonitions, and why Death cares who survives are all questions never addressed, let alone answered. Gory, but with high production values. 8/10/25
The opener has our friends reversing time because the warehouse was destroyed in the climax of the previous season and has to be brought back. But episode 2 shows that the show has jumped the shark. The melodramatic flashes are over the top. The rules change arbitrarily. One episode tries to condense four separate stories into one but it verges on being incoherent. The silly scenes are more common and sillier. The story arc – Artie changed time to save his friends but by doing so incurred the wrath of the leader of a cult which has been watching over the artifact responsible. A new agent is recruited. Old plots are recycled. The Artie goes devil sequence is such an overdone trope, in comics and television, that it was largely boring. Artie’s evil alternate self releases a plague. He also kills one of the regulars, who is replaced a few episodes later. Myka appears to have cancer. The highlight of the season is the episode in which the agents are trapped inside a 1940s black and white murder mystery movie. 7/31/25
Dalgliesh Season 2 (2022)
Adaptations of three novels by P.D. James, previously filmed with Roy Marsden in the title role. The first of these is Death of an Expert Witness. The head of a forensic laboratory is murdered in his office after hours. He had lots of enemies, a secret but failed love affair, and someone attempts to blackmail the killer and becomes the second victim. There is an attempt to introduce some romance between Dalgliesh and his assistant, which is not in the books, but it is clumsy unlike the rest of the production, which is polished, efficiently plotted, and easy to follow despite some complexities. Second is A Certain Justice, murder of an unpopular lawyer. The third, The Murder Room, involves murder at a museum, two murders in fact, with a hint of espionage. This is an excellent series. 7/29/25
Daredevil Season 2 (2016)
The big bad this season was a lot less interesting. The Punisher is a one-dimensional character in the comic books and he is about the same in the show. He’s another vigilante, but rather than beat up the villains and turn them over to the police, he simply kills everyone in sight. The amount of carnage he inflicts without hurting any bystanders is completely implausible, but he is phased out as the main adversary after four episodes. The nasty District Attorney is pretty comic bookish as well. The characters from the first season continue to put in excellent performances but the newer recurring characters seem flat. Electra is somewhat better but I tired of the character very quickly. Episode 8 introduces The Hand, a secret society whose leaders are immortal and who have dire plans for humanity. The complicated relationships among Daredevil, Electra, and Stick are confusing and unconvincing. Murdoch/Daredevil comes across as a shallow, egotistical person who neglects his friends and obligations and tries to impose his own rules on other people. 7/27/25
Daredevil Season 1 (2015)
Another Marvel spinoff, although the first few episodes feel like just another crime show with a skilled vigilante. He happens to be blind but uses his other senses to compensate. There are frequent flashbacks to his childhood showing how he lost his vision and the death/murder of his father, a prize fighter. There is a shadowy criminal organization which employs Murdoch and his partner as lawyers, unaware that he is the person who has been upsetting their operations. Things pick up in episode four when the bad guys split into two factions, one led by Kingpin, although he is not called by that name. Some of the fight sequences feel repetitious – and no one could survive the various beatings in such a short period of time without serious injuries – but otherwise this was very good, with excellent performances across the board, better than average writing, some pleasant nuances to the characters, and a more serious consideration of superhero vigilantes. I’ll be watching season 2 shortly. 7/7/25
Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966)
I can’t think of any movie with a more inappropriate soundtrack than this jungle adventure with a very bad sort of jazz/rock hybrid theme. The movie feels more like James Bond than Tarzan. Mike Henry is the star – and he even looks like James Bond. A villain has organized a small military operation which intends to subjugate a lost city in the jungles of Brazil. There is a cute kid, a beautiful woman in distress, a daunting henchman, and lots of battles. Although generally disappointing, the animal elements are vey well done and not with CGI. The child actually rides the lion and Henry interacts with predators on several occasions. The lost world is kind of flat looking. Henry did two more Tarzan movies. 7/6/25
Warehouse 13 Season 3 (2012)
Mika comes back to the team as they search for more artifacts as well as welcoming a new agent, who can tell when people are lying. The artifacts are the usual variation, things that steal memories, etc. There is a new arch enemy whom we only see as a shadowy figure at first. There are attempts to insert serious messages – usually as voice overs, but they tend to be trite, juvenile, and annoying. The writing gets sloppy more frequently. How do random people suddenly show up at a top secret site in the middle of the desert to visit their ex-husband? How does Artie always know to bring the right benevolent artifact on a mission which just happens to solve a problem? How do any of them keep their jobs when they are so sloppy about managing the artifacts that almost every episode involves them screwing something up? The antics to keep the Wells character involved are so bad they are insulting. The new Big Bad appears in the first episode, but is not back until late in the season. After a few routine episodes, the quality improves as they clash with the villain and his minions. Then it falls apart again with bad scrips, unexplained changes in characters, and problems caused simply because people refuse to mention things that would have avoided problems, and for no good reason. I hate this last thing in particular – it’s in a lot of mystery novels too. This is just lazy writing. And some of the supposed good guys, really aren’t. 7/3/25
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
This was an excellent series. Following the loss of Captain America, the Falcon declines to take his place but continues as the flying soldier. Another man, woefully inadequate, eventually becomes the new Captain America. The first episode mostly establishes the characters and the existence of a terrorist group. The second develops the villains – who are not entirely unsympathetic characters – and demonstrates the tensions between the two heroes and the new Captain America. The latter becomes less admirable in episode 3, as does the leader of the supersoldier terrorist unit, who had been portrayed as somewhat sympathetic until that point. Captain America takes the super soldier drug and turns really, really bad after his partner is killed. The ambiguities of several characters really help make this feel real and the ending, though inevitable, is rewarding. 6/23/25
Moon Knight Season 1 (2022)
I had stopped reading comics about the time this character was introduced so I knew nothing about him. After watching the first episode of these six, I know little more. It’s a mess. There are too many unexplained events, too many mysteries, and too many subplots for an opening episode. I was bewildered and if this had been a longer series, I would have stopped right there. The protagonist ends up in Egypt, where he explores a tomb and faces a number of ancient Egyptian gods who are returning to the world of humans. He kills or expels them in an ambitious but mostly confusing series of encounters. This is without doubt the least interesting thing I have seen from Marvel Studios. 6/21/25
Loki Season 1 (2021)
Loki escapes the Avengers only to become a prisoner of the Marvel version of the Time Patrol in this six episode series. He is assigned to track down what is supposed to be an alternate version of himself, but instead uncovers a plot to fragment the main timeline. They become reluctant allies. The TVA was supposedly founded by three alien creatures, but that is an obvious lie. There is a lot of blurring between heroes and villains in this one and numerous cases of people changing sides. The special effects are notably excellent. The plot is complex and intriguing. The acting is great. I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of the second season, particularly since the first ends with a cliffhanger. 6/11/25
Captain America Brave New World (2025)
The former Falcon is now Captain America and there is a new Falcon. General Thunderbolt Ross is now President. The artifact from the Eternals is coveted by various world powers who want its valuable minerals. A shadowy figure is working behind the scenes to cause dissension among the allies and undercut Ross as he tries to manage a world treaty. This one had its ups and downs. There were a few times when the plot seemed to slow down way too much, and the villain really isn't much in evidence until quite late. Bucky Barnes has a cameo that really doesn't have much relevance. A place keeper rather than a solid advance. 6/1/25
Warehouse 13 Season 2 (2011)
The archenemy MacPherson dies and is replaced by an evil, female H.G. Wells, in a season opener that I found boring. Artie’s constant refusal to provide details to his agents has become actively irritating, as has the opposite, and as has the male agent’s juvenile behavior. The feud between the two female assistants is starting to become annoying as well. Not to mention that the agents blow their cover constantly, and everyone accepts their ridiculous excuses for getting involved in police matters. Episode 2 is about an artifact that makes a man into a superhero vigilante. A movie projector creates physical images. The episode about someone stealing the life force from models is exceptionally stupid. A computer upgrade at the warehouse goes awry. Wells becomes a potential ally. A sports drink causes people to spontaneous combust. The two agents swap bodies while their boss deals with a woman who can magically seduce any man. Wells becomes an ambiguous figure who may have reformed. There is an artifact that turns people into glass. The Wells arc comes to a disappointing end. Myka’s resignation at the end is really stupid. 5/24/25
Thunderbolts (2025)
This was a pleasant couple of hours that actually broke slightly from the usual pattern for superhero movies. The Thunderbolts are a group of quasi-villains, failed heroes, and troubled spirits who are thrown together when their shifty government employer decides to have them all killed to cover their tracks. They have to overcome a series of dangers in order to reach safety, and then they find themselves facing the Sentry, a man whose powers are greater than that of the Avengers combined. Although not actively evil, he suffers from a schizophrenic streak and his altered self is capable of destroying the entire world. SPOILER. I liked the fact that they win through compassion rather than violence. 5/16/25
Warehouse 13 Season 1 (2010)
Two Secret Service agents are reassigned to a hidden warehouse full of artifacts that are connected to the supernatural. Yes, despite the surface appearance, this is horror rather than SF. The movie length pilot is pretty good – introducing the characters and causing them to track down an artifact infused with the spirit of Lucrezia Borgia. A piece of experimental music causes people to lose their will power and then forget what happened. Random people commit acts of violence in a small town after sitting in the same chair. The team leader is kidnapped by a young woman who wants to bring her brother back from limbo. A secret cave beneath Manhattan. A sword makes its bearer invisible. One of the agents gets an evil doppelganger. A prison built on top of an abandoned quartz mine resonates weirdly during bad storms. The season finale has the warehouse nearly destroyed by a mechanical problem. Edgar Allan Poe’s pen causes trouble. A renegade Warehouse officer begins selling magical artifacts. 5/7/25
Wandavision (2022)
This is a very innovative program in which two superheroes – The Scarlet Witch and The Vision – are trapped in a world that emulates classic sitcoms. The first two episodes are even in black and white. The town is cut off by a mysterious force from the outside world and the military has it surrounded. Slowly cracks begin to appear in the façade. Unnatural things occur. We learn that Wanda is consciously controlling everything to make her perfect world. The Vision begins to realize the truth. The people outside the community risk triggering a greater catastrophe. The visuals are consistently excellent and understated. The Vision’s wanderings on Halloween are haunting. 5/5/25
Ahsoka Season 1 (2023)
Another Star Wars spinoff. The crumbling Empire and the series title Jedi are looking for the location of Admiral Thrawn – name borrowed from Timothy Zahn’s rather different tie-in – whose return could set off a new war. Pretty good, with some awkward spots. The general’s confrontation with the council is really, really badly written. And the lengthy re-enactment of a scene from the first movie is just boring. For the most part it’s quite entertaining but there are several conversations which I suppose are designed to provide insight into the plot or the characters, but usually they are taking up screen time and are either illogical or irrelevant. The season ends with a cliffhanger and it is not clear if there will be a season two. 5/2/25
The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943)
The premise for this one is terrible. A man found innocent of a murder charge is contemplating marriage, and the Crime Doctor advises him not to marry until he has a different job because his present job is too similarly to the one he held when the murder took place. Sure enough, the employer is poisoned and dies. The writing is terrible as well. The housekeeper knows her employer was poisoned even before a doctor examines him. The doctor can tell it is murder because the poison would have killed the man instantly and the cup had been set down on the night table – which is absurd. The doctor has to prove the secretary – a young Lloyd Bridges – is innocent. Really badly done. 4/27/25
The Crime Doctor (1943)
First in a series of crime movies. A man is left for dead by the side of a road, but he survives. Unfortunately he has amnesia and cannot remember his past. Years later, he has become a well regarded psychiatrist when he is spotted and recognized by the people who attempted to kill him. He had been the mastermind of a gang that had stolen a great deal of money which had never been recovered. They believe that he had tried to keep it all for himself. This doesn’t make a lot of sense because if that was the case, why did they attempt to kill him rather than force him to tell them where the money is. He finally regains his memory and turns himself and the gang in. He is convicted for his past crimes but is given a suspended sentence. A bit silly at times. 4/26/25
Kraven the Hunter (2024)
This should have been a decent movie. The plot elements, taken objectively, were well arranged to provide Kraven’s origin and advance his story. The special effects were decent if not great. But it never seemed to get its act together. The acting was competent but not spectacular. Unlike the Marvel movies made by Marvel, it has no humorous bits to break up the action. Kraven was never a major superhero in any case. The dialogue is almost always bland. The premise – essentially he is a vigilante who kills by preference – is pretty much horrible despite the fact that it is rigged so that everyone he kills deserves it. There are some minor logical flaws and several scenes are annoyingly underlit. I am not sorry that I watched it, but I doubt that I will ever view it a second time. 4/23/25
The Acolyte (2024)
A Star Wars spinoff involving a pair of twins, one of whom has turned to the dark side, the other of whom is a failed Jedi. The former is engaged on a campaign of assassination against the Jedi at the bidding of a mysterious master. The writing in episode two could use some work. The good twin reaches the second victim even though the rest of her party are taking the direct route. Episode 3 is awful. First, it’s boring. Second, it’s illogical. Third, it portrays the Jedi as dictators who project their power even beyond the region where they have authority. I was appalled at the dubious morality, which spoiled the whole series for me. More inconsistencies. The mystery villain can defeat six Jedis at once, but cannot defeat one a few moments later. The bad twin can kill a Jedi Master in combat, but cannot defeat a trainee later. The master has the last of the four people on his hit list, but then leaves when he has him at her mercy. Sol can read minds/aura but cannot tell that one sister is impersonating the other? The real identity of the Sith is obvious much too early. The final episode is dreadful. 4/22/25
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Obi-Wan has to come out of hiding in order to rescue a very young Princess Leia, who has been kidnapped by thugs at the behest of an Inquisitor, part of a group specifically organized to hunt down the last of the Jedi. This particular Inquisitor – who eats a lot of scenery – is willing to kill her peers in order to cultivate the patronage of Darth Vader. Obi-Wan is portrayed as incompetent on several occasions. He has trouble dispatching simple storm troopers and is no match for the Inquisitor – even though he had beaten Darth Maul. A lot of scenes are underlit and the special effects are not as good as in the other Star Wars spinoffs I’ve watched. There are only six episodes. It was nice, however, to see Hayden Christenson playing Darth Vader. 4/19/25
The Book of Boba Fett (2022)
This sequence takes place between the two seasons of The Mandalorian. It opens with the title character escaping from the creature that ate him in the movies. He becomes a slave of the sand people, rises to become a member of the tribe, then organizes a group to take over the territory ruled by Jabba the Hutt, now deceased. He is opposed by a corrupt mayor, two rival Hutts, and a couple of gangs, with hints that someone even more dangerous might be lurking in the background. Pretty good special effects and the first half of the season is actually quite good. Then they decided to merge this series with the Mandalorian for episode five, which was certainly a mistake. Episode 6 features some really bad dialogue delivered by Luke Skywalker and a scene with some really incompetent Jedi. They do introduce a great villain toward the end, but they squander it. The finale was fun but mostly just a big gunfight. 5/14/25
The Last of Us Season 1 (2023)
A zombie apocalypse show, this one caused by mutated fungus. The opening episode did not impress me. The zombies are a side issue. It’s all about the rebellion against a future military dictatorship and it is very depressing. Episode 3 is outstanding and mostly peripheral to the main story – it deals with an aging gay couple who have built themselves a relatively safe haven. The protagonist’s decision in episode four to drive through a strange city rather than circle around it struck men as out of character. He has been hypercautious in all previous situations. Episode five demonstrates that all of us can be monsters and even if we recognize that we are doing monstrous things. Not a feel good show. It has good moments, but I found some episodes flat and too predictable. The special effects are nice but not particularly imaginative and it didn’t always feel like a real world. The acting is generally good but the scripts didn’t always measure up. 3/20/25
Peacemaker Season 1 (2022)
I’m generally not fond of the DC universe movies and tv shows, but this is surprisingly good. Although he died in Suicide Squad, Peacemaker has a miraculous recovery, after which he is recruited into a small group of assassins who are after the Butterflies. That seems like a code name but quickly turns out to be descriptive because a large number of humans are controlled by a parasite that looks like a butterfly. His team is an odd mixture of often interesting characters. Peacemaker himself goes through some personality changes during the course of the show. The special effects are good - although a planned surprise reversal at mid-season was telegraphed rather obviously well in advance. There is a climax and a presumed resolution, although there is plenty of wiggle room for the next season. That season got delayed but is supposedly going to appear later this year. 3/11/25
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
The third and presumably final Venom movie is easily the best, with outstanding special effects and a good plot, although the early stages are a bit confusing and the premise is not very convincing. Venom and Eddie have created something called the Codex, which can release some kind of creature from imprisonment, after which the prisoner will destroy the universe. So our heroes are pursued by spidery monsters that seem to be virtually unkillable, except when they can be killed. The peripheral characters are more interesting than in the other two movies in the series. It appears to make a sequel impossible, but of course nothing is really impossible in the Marvel universe, thanks to the Multiverse. 3/4/25
