Film and TV Reviews and Podcasts
Blumhouse’s reimagining of 70s & 80s television show Fantasy Island is at best a passable cheese fest depicting beautiful people in peril. At its worst (and, sadly, most frequent), it’s the dull presentation of an uninspired thriller that’s more concerned with revealing its mystery than creating compelling characters.
Aside from a few scant comedy beats and a delightfully over the top performance from Jim Carrey, Sonic the Hedgehog feels like a slapped together adaptation of a video game franchise for which no one seemed to be clamoring.
This week, Ben joins me to rundown the 2020 Oscar Nominees! We also commiserate on Joker’s success, Star Wars’ whatever, and some of the snubs from this year’s Academy Awards.
Color Out of Space is the classic tale of the Gardner family, a meteorite that lands on their property, and the havoc it unleashes. Through wonderfully vibrant visual effects and strong body horror elements, Color Out of Space leaves the viewer with a lot of dread to digest.
Happy 2020 and welcome to The Obsessive Viewer’s 2019 Year in Review episode! It’s our annual episode where Tiny, Mike, and myself share our movie viewing stats for the year, our top ten favorite movies list, and otherwise just nerd out about our year in movies and life! So buckle in and prepare yourself for the episode we always looking forward to and enjoy!
The underlying message of honor and perseverance in the face incredible odds in 1917 is a noble undertaking and a worthy tribute to the people who fought in WWI. Although that message does get slightly lost in the spectacle, the single shot technique is a wonder to behold and impressive in and of itself.
Merry Christmas! In this episode, Kyrsten and I review Tom Hooper’s abysmal adaptation of Cats in a non-spoiler review. Then we cover Bong Joon-ho’s incredible Parasite in a full review. We also discuss Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 film Don’t Think Twice and have our usual nonsense.
In this week’s episode, Evan Dossey from MidwestFilmJournal.com and the IFJA joins me to talk about the Indiana Film Journalists Association award winners for 2019. We also touch on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, my disconnect with the franchise, and its connection to The Last Jedi.
Cats is a lifeless husk of barely comprehensible storytelling interspersed with an endless string of songs, only two of which are memorable.
At the end of each year, the IFJA meets to hash out the award winners in various categories. We met Saturday and spent several hours discussing films and selecting winners. It was my first year as a voting member of the group and I am very pleased with what we awarded and the films and talen we recognized. Today, we’re announcing the winners!
In this week’s episode, we welcome back our friend and OV contributor Ben Sears to help Tiny and I with double Adam Driver review of Amazon Studios’ The Report and Netflix’s Marriage Story. We also lightly touch on the Golden Globe nominations and the trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Then, in Potpourri, we talk about Little Women, Netflix’s Unbelievable, Dickinson, Servant, and Truth Be Told.
The Beach Bum left me genuinely questioning whether it was meant to be a drama about a stoner’s laid back attitude toward life or if it was a comedy about a bumbling, carefree guy coasting through it. The sad truth is, I really think it’s neither of those things.
Happy Thanksgiving (to those of you in the US)! In this special double parking lot special episode, Kyrsten and I have a laid-back non-spoiler review of Knives Out and then Tiny and I go into a spoiler review of the film! Then, to close out the episode, we have the remaining Red Carpet recordings from last month’s Heartland International Film Festival!
Writer/star Mindy Kaling and director Nisha Ganatra’s “boss from hell” movie about an underdog in late night TV is plagued by underutilized supporting characters, underdeveloped subplots, and a borderline unlikable co-lead character. Late Night’s saving grace is a strong performance by Emma Thompson who, despite her character being nearly irredeemably obnoxious, is served well enough by a script that misuses most of the other characters and subplots.
This week, Tiny and I catch up on what we’ve watched lately with an Extended Potpourri episode. In it, we discuss Disney+, The Boys, Brittany Runs a Marathon, Joker, El Camino, and much more.
The Obsessive Viewer 