Latest Takes
Kathleen Kennedy’s Complicated Star Wars Legacy and Why the Future Belongs to Dave Filoni
Kathleen Kennedy’s tenure at Lucasfilm will likely be remembered as one of the most paradoxical chapters in Hollywood executive history. Her legacy is neither a disaster nor an undisputed triumph, but something in between. The way I see it, Kathleen Kennedy had flashes of creative brilliance alongside baffling, momentum-killing decisions that left Lucasfilm - and specifically the Star Wars brand…
Fallout Season 2 First Take: The Post-Apocalyptic Series Levels Up
The second season of Prime Video’s successful video game adaptation series, Fallout, recently dropped the first two episodes of the second season and it might be even more thrilling than season one (so far). We pick up right where we left off, with Lucy and The Ghoul heading to Las Vegas to find Lucy’s father, Hank McClean, who we learned…
Too Queer, Too Explicit, Too Popular to Ignore: How Heated Rivalry Broke Television and Became a Cultural Phenomenon
Heated Rivalry - a television series chronicling the romance of two closeted gay hockey players - arrived on the scene in late November and soon skyrocketed to become the #1 series on HBO Max week after week, besting the likes of It: Welcome to Derry and I Love LA. Moreover, episode five, titled “I’ll Believe in Anything,” became the second-best-reviewed…
Spoiler-Free First Take on Stranger Things Season 5, Volume 1: A Cheesy Good Time in the Upside Down
The Duffer Brothers’ record-breaking hit Stranger Things landed at Netflix on November 26 for its fifth and final season. In classic Netflix fashion, the streamer is doing its best to extend and monetize the show’s popularity. The first four episodes of season 5 ( “Volume One” ) dropped on Nov. 26, the next three episodes (“Volume Two”) will be available…
Alan Rickman’s Performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is Criminally Underrated
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) was one of my favorite movies growing up. "TO THE TREEEEEES" is still an epic moment for me. And while I've soured on the notion of BOTH Kevin Costner and Christian Slater having American accents in one of the most famous British tales of all time, I fondly recall Alan Rickman's performance as the…
First Impressions: The Initial Episodes of I Love LA Are Regrettably Relatable
“I loooove LA” – a song I belted driving down the PCH in a convertible a few years ago, and the catchy name of Zillennial Rachel Sennott’s new HBO comedy series. With two episodes out for public consumption, I Love LA mostly succeeds to be both a criticism of and a lighthearted laugh at how we navigate adulthood while refusing…
The Most Terrifying Alien Abduction Scene of All Time…And it’s Not Even Close
When I was 8 years old and my sister was 12, we somehow watched the "based on true events" sci-fi-horror film, Fire in the Sky (1993). The film overall is just OK, but the ~15-minute alien abduction scene was and is, truly terrifying. Not only was it well-crafted and well-shot, but it was also harrowing in its execution. Dirty. Grimy.…
The ‘Episode 4 Rule’: How the 6-Minute Tracking Shot in True Detective Season 1 Changed the Way I Watch TV
How do you decide when to tap out of a show? Television series need time to develop stories and characters, but you also need to know that things are going somewhere. For me, it's a hard four episodes. That's how many I will give a show to convince me to invest in it long-term. If I get to episode four…
Adria Arjona as Wonder Woman? Yes, Please!
Superman director and DC Studios Chief James Gunn recently responded to speculation that Adria Arjona (Andor, Hit Man) was in consideration for Wonder Woman after fans discovered he followed her on Instagram, and then said she'd be great in the role: "I follow Adria on Instagram, but everybody came out (and thought), 'He just followed her, that means she's Wonder Woman,'" Gunn…
