Reviews
Human Resources Review: An Overly Raunchy, Occasionally Thoughtful Big Mouth Spin-Off
The Pitch: Five seasons into the Netflix animated comedy Big Mouth comes Human Resources, a spin-off dedicated to exploring the workplace antics of Big Mouth’s hormone monsters. Not only does the show feature familiar Big Mouth hormone monsters Maury (voiced by Nick Kroll) and Connie (voiced by Maya Rudolph), as well as The Shame Wizard (voiced by David Thewlis), Love Bugs, and Anxiety Mosquitos, Human Resources also introduces dozens of new characters, including a “Logic Rock” named Pete (voiced by Randall Park), Petra the Ambition Gremlin (voiced by Rosie Perez), and many other fantastical creatures that represent the complex emotions of human beings. Rather than dwell on the pubescent confusion of adolescence, the creatures of Human Resources serve humans of all ages, and throughout the...
Ryan Reynolds Is Really, Really Reynolds-y In Netflix’s The Adam Project: Review
The Pitch: The Adam Project is centered on the kind of question asked during job interviews and looming existential crises: “What would you say to your younger self, should you have the chance?” But in the case of Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds), that’s not why he’s traveled back from the year 2050 to the present. Adult Adam’s on a quest to find his wife Laura (Zoe Saldana), a fellow time traveler in the program controlled by the duplicitous Maya Sorian (Catherine Keener). Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite hit the time period he was looking for, instead blundering across his pre-teen present-day self (Walker Scobell), a plucky but troubled kid coping with the recent death of his scientist father Louis (Mark Ruffalo), school bullies, and other indignities of growing up. While initially reluctant to...
The Boys Presents: Diabolical Offers Wild Superpowered Raunch As We Wait for Season 3 — Review
The Pitch: Animated spinoff anthologies for popular nerd properties are all the rage, it seems; hot off the back of Star Wars Visions a mere few months ago, Prime Video’s hit superhero satire The Boys gets one in the form of The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Taking inspiration, presumably, from their other blood-soaked comic book adaptation Invincible, here we’ve got eight distinct stories, with eight distinct animation styles, telling stories in and around the show’s world of corporate-sponsored (and created) superheroes, and the intestine-strewn trails they leave in their wake. Across eight Adult Swim-sized stories, the anthology peeks into the following tales of superpowered mayhem: Advertisement • A Tex Avery-style silent caper with a Vought scientist chasing down...
Euphoria’s Season 2 Finale Was a Mess, and Not Even the Fun Kind
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 2 finale of Euphoria, “All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name.”] Euphoria hive, this is a dark time. Today, we truly have no other choice but to put our eye gems away and ask ourselves — what was that?! The Euphoria Season 2 finale, which aired February 27th on HBO, finally brought this chaotic, discourse-filled era to a nearly disastrous close. The episode was a dumpster fire of pacing issues and lacked the signature style that makes the show fun to watch in the face of absurdity. It’s almost impressive that the hour managed to both be overstuffed and completely devoid of any cohesion at the same time. It was the epitome of, “Go girl, give us nothing.” Advertisement Related Video Since its return on Ja...
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak Kick Off Silk Sonic Las Vegas Residency: Recap + Setlist
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) began their Las Vegas residency on Friday (February 25th), transforming the Dolby Live theater at Park MGM into a seventies disco. The superduo — whose live appearances have thus far been limited to awards shows — threw what might just be the sexiest dance party Sin City has ever seen. The mood for “An Evening With Silk Sonic” was set from the get-go, as wisps of fog spilled out from under a red velvet curtain while guests settled into their seats. When the venue went dark, signaling the start of the show, the crowd roared in unison. Two screens on opposite sides of the stage flashed images of Silk Sonic sipping cocktails in a tropical setting with flowery button-up shirts, while a giant disco ball hung high above the seats. As the curtain lifted,...
Clairo Brings the Intimacy of Sling to Radio City Music Hall: Review, Setlist + Photos
Clairo’s 2021 sophomore album Sling is an album of closeness, immediacy, and contemplation; it is turned inward, but the moments that burst out do so like snowfall, and even the warmest, brightest choices are dripped in a haze, like you just woke up and the sun is shining through the corner of your window. So, hearing it performed live in the 6,000-capacity Radio City Music Hall on Thursday night (February 24th) is a little strange. The whimsy and intimacy of Sling almost suggests it should be performed in a cozy cabin somewhere in the woods, but Clairo’s remarkable rise to stardom has proven that the upgrade in venue size is deserved. Considering that Clairo’s debut album Immunity came out only six months before the pandemic began, as well as the fact that her biggest single to date, “Sof...
With Love Sux, Avril Lavigne Cements Pop-Punk Legacy
For 20 years now, Avril Lavigne has swung a pendulum between her two rock personas: playful, vaguely punkish pop (see: “Sk8er Boi,” “Girlfriend” and “Here’s to Never Growing Up”) and self-serious alternative (“My Happy Ending,” “Nobody’s Home” and that unfortunate collaboration with Chad Kroeger in 2013). Yet despite regular attempts to shift her sound — 2019’s Head Above Water was a collection of glossy pop ballads fit for Demi Lovato or Kelly Clarkson — Lavigne’s legacy appears forever tethered to the pop-punk moment of the early ‘00s. To casual listeners, she’ll always be the teenager in the necktie, tank top and heavy eyeliner skateboarding to the mall. Yet the Canadian singer has never released a true-blue pop-punk album. Her colossal debut, 2002’s Let Go, was more Michelle Branch tha...
Dog Review: Channing Tatum and His Canine Co-Star Anchor a Surprisingly Emotional Road Trip Tale
The Pitch: Let’s begin this review with what the dog lovers want to know first. Spoiler alert: Nothing bad happens to the dog. There’s some minor peril, and the climax of the film is tough to watch. But no Marley and Me-esque tragedy lurks in the final act. At the end of the film, the dog is fine. With that out of the way, let’s talk about Dog, the often-charming road trip dramedy that marks Channing Tatum‘s (co)-directing debut, starring Tatum alongside a trio of Belgian Malinoises for a darker and more emotionally affecting film than you might expect from its marketing. What the Trailers Don’t Mention: All the advertising for Dog sells a pretty authentic version of the film as a whole: Former Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum) gets tasked with a new mission: Bring a former Army Ranger do...
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 4 Review: More Mediocre Than Magical
The Pitch: When we last saw the titular character in Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Amazon Prime comedy, things were looking quite bad for her. Despite killing at The Apollo, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) has been fired from Shy Baldwin’s tour, thanks to some jokes that alluded a bit too closely to his status as a closeted gay man. This left her abandoned on the tarmac with Susie (Alex Borstein), who, unbeknownst to Midge, had lost all of Midge’s hard-earned money thanks to a combination of gambling problems and general managerial irresponsibility. Meet Me on the West Side: Season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel picks up shortly after these events in a familiar setting — Midge, onstage, cigarette in hand, seemingly killing at a club in The Village. The cliffhanger of Season 3 seemed to ...
Space Force Season 2 Review: A Big Improvement That Leaves You Wanting More
The Pitch: The original pitch was simple: In 2019, the 45th President of the United States announced a plan for a Space Force branch of the U.S. military. To Steve Carell and Greg Daniels (who previously worked together on The Office), that sounded pretty ridiculous, so they successfully pitched Netflix on a satirical version of what such a “space force” would look like, with Carell as the general in charge. Unfortunately, Season 1 of Netflix’s Space Force… didn’t quite work. Despite the assembly of a surprise-packed ensemble, including awkward comedy G.O.A.T. Carell, human live wire Ben Schwartz, secret MVP Tawny Newsome, and wild card John Malkovich, there was something just off in how the writing and acting and directing jelled together — and to the credit of Carell and Daniels, they no...
Uncharted Review: An Indiana Jones Riff That Still Delivers Some Unique Thrills
The Pitch: For non-gamers, Uncharted is a remarkably straightforward project: Hot treasure hunters go on an action-packed adventure to track down a centuries-old treasure? Sure, checks out. Maybe these particular treasure hunters aren’t as nobly intentioned as, say, one Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr., but that doesn’t mean 25-year-old bartender/history buff/aspiring thief Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) isn’t just as dedicated to tracking down some long lost gold. We first meet Nathan as a 10-year-old living with his older brother Sam in an orphanage, though Sam makes his escape from the place after a run-in with the law, leaving his brother with a family artifact (an engraved ring), followed by, in the ensuing years, a trail of vague postcards from exotic locals. Now (ostensibly) an adult, Nate’s ...
Ghost and Volbeat Bring the Fire in the Home of the Devils: Recap + Photos
You might not expect a rock or metal show to kick off with a saxophone rhythm that slaps, but that was the first sound the fans at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, heard onstage as Twin Temple began to play on Thursday night (February 10th). Vocalist Alexandra James and her husband, guitarist Zachary James, took to the stage in an opening ritual with swords and all. The singer asked for Satan to burn down sexism, racism and ignorance. If the big man downstairs is wise, he’ll heed her request. Alexandra’s vibe is part Elvira, with the soulful essence of an Amy Winehouse, and a sprinkle of a Lars von Trier film — but she has created an innovative style that is all her own. The height of her beehive hair was impressive, but nothing could outmatch her vocal talent as she belted out...
