Category: Reviews

Best of 2016: TV

December 28, 2016

The television half-hour is the boldest and most exciting art form in popular culture right now, as “former” TV critic Andy Greenwald has been quick to point out over the last couple years, and this was very much the case in 2016. Nowhere was that more apparent than Atlanta, the best new show of the … More Best of 2016: TV

Best of 2016: Music

December 26, 2016

2016 was another strong year for music across the board, so you couldn’t really go wrong with any genre, even country, which featured Sturgill Simpson leading the scene. However, it will probably be remembered most for two things – the legends we lost and the possible peak of the surprise album drop. Many eulogies have … More Best of 2016: Music

‘Continuum’ Turns 10

September 12, 2016

Today marks the 10th birthday to my favorite album of all time. I still remember the first time I heard Continuum, streaming it a week early on Yahoo! Music in my dorm room my junior year of college. I had never listened to a John Mayer record before, he was not remotely my style of … More ‘Continuum’ Turns 10

Best of 2015: Music

December 28, 2015

2015 was another rock solid year for music across genres. While it may have proven short on delivering albums that years from now will be ranked among the classics (To Pimp a Butterfly is the only shoo-in there, Carrie & Lowell perhaps the next closest), most anticipated releases more or less at least came close … More Best of 2015: Music

Inside Out

June 28, 2015

In the years following the widely praised Toy Story 3, the luster behind Pixar, the studio with the near perfect track record that was the envy of Hollywood, dissipated into the ether. It released its two worst films to date (Cars 2, Brave), a lightweight (albeit still fun) prequel (Monsters University), suffered major behind-the-scenes drama … More Inside Out

The Grand Budapest Hotel

March 15, 2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel is unabashedly a Wes Anderson concoction that only he could create, as viewers of his previous seven films will quickly attest, and yet it’s a little bit different as well. The symmetrical compositions, color palette, detailed production design, meticulous camera shots, quirky antics and epic ensemble are all there, but this … More The Grand Budapest Hotel

Short Term 12

January 28, 2014

The stories behind the at-risk youth in Short Term 12 may be fictional, but there is an element of truth contained within that unnervingly reverberates in an all too realistic fashion. It makes sense. Writer-director Destin Cretton spent two years working at a similar facility as seen in the film, helping him craft an environment … More Short Term 12