Category: Sci-fi

Russian Doll ☆☆☆☆☆ (5/5) 4/1/19

I feel like Natasha Lyonne really Gets Me, ya know?

Sweet jumping Jesus, I loved this show.

Literally anything I could say about the clever plot would be a spoiler of some sort, so I’ll just say the acting and writing are terrific. Lyonne’s performance is spellbinding – rough, raw, and hilarious, but Charlie Barnett and Elizabeth Ashley also shine. Ritesh Rajan is gorgeous. Brendan Sexton iii (Hey, remember the “I’m gonna rape you at 3 o’ clock” bully from Welcome to the Dollhouse? That’s him!) kills his role in a really special way that I predict is about to give him a solid career boost.

Check out the definition-of-cool playlist of the show’s songs, too.

One of my all time favorite TV shows.

Watch it.

Captain Marvel ☆☆ (2/5) 3/17/19

I saw Captain Marvel in Imax tonight, and the second-weekend audience was definitely appreciative.

Was I missing something? To me, Captain Marvel is on the very low end of Marvel movies. Better than Thor 2, but not as good as Doctor Strange, which at least had clever effects.

This one is extremely routine factory filmmaking. The jokes are sitcom-y, the plotting is predictable, and Brie Larson’s too slick performance doesn’t land. I didn’t care about her.

Seeing the Skrulls as refugees instead of an evil empire was a nice twist, and so was meeting the young Monica Rambeau, a character that also goes on to become a Captain Marvel in the comics.

Not a terrible movie, but a disappointing one.