I wasn’t the biggest fan of Land of the Dead when I saw it many years ago, but seeing it again now, I really enjoyed this entry within the Romero canon as the social commentary, albeit in your face, is present and there are characters one can actually care for.
Dawn of the Dead is one of only a few horror remakes that was any good (off the top of my head, The Thing and The Fly are others) and as Zack Snyder’s feature film debut it’s a solid start as this was quite entertaining even if the social commentary gives way to cool action.
Riverdale: The Complete First Season actually was far better than I expected even if some of the teen angst clichés are present, but the cast is mostly likeable with Camila Mendes probably being the standout of the bunch. I commend the writers for this compelling freshman season.
I know Girls Trip received plenty of praise but I found this to be dreadfully unfunny in spite of a respectable cast, outside of Tiffany Haddish since I’m not familiar with her work.
Friday Night Lights was a well done series even with a so-so sophomore season, but the acting was mostly top-notch from a then relatively unknown cast and seems to do a good job portraying just how big football is in Texas.
The Vietnam War is yet another amazingly detailed and fleshed out documentary from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick outlining the history of Vietnam from French colonial rule to what precipitated the United States’ participation and continued military involvement over the course of a decade.
Wish Upon could’ve been better but instead was another teen horror movie with some really stupid moments. The only saving grace is probably a respectable and wide-ranging performance from Joey King who does shine.
Queen of the Desert is a finely acted, especially on the part of Nicole Kidman, film about an important time in the Middle East, however it is slow plodding and can be trying to sit through, so I can’t really recommend this sadly.
Dreamgirls is a nice enough release and all as I did enjoy the film, albeit I’ll stick with the theatrical version from now on, it’s just a shame the studio didn’t port over all the features from the previous releases making this incomplete.
As I’ve said many times, I don’t care for found footage movies but The Poughkeepsie Tapes, while hardly great, has some genuinely creepy and disturbing scenes… in between some laughable ones.
Open Water 3: Cage Dive is pretty awful not for being poorly shot but just downright of a bore of a film with characters who are hard to care for with a half-baked script.
Although I didn’t really care for the format of this season on American Horror Story, or the style of the final few episodes, there is some tense atmosphere and the performances at least weren’t bad, with Sarah Paulson being the highlight.
Arrow: The Complete Fifth Season was at least a passable year for a show I never really cared for but the writing still isn’t great and the performances were, at best, so-so. One big drawback is that the other two episodes in the 3-part “Invasion” crossover were not included in this set, lame.
The Flash: The Complete Third Season is another solid year and still one of the better shows within the DC TV brand, though that’s not exactly a high bar, but I’ve generally enjoyed them all except for maybe Arrow.
Admittedly neither All the Sins of Sodom nor Vibrations were my particular cup of tea but the visuals in both films are striking including the opening shot in Sins (as shown on the front cover). This is the second edition in the “Joseph W. Sarno Retrospective Series” and seems like a fine release.