My Cultural Diet

I knew this would be a disaster even before I started watching it, and yet I still stayed up way too late to finish it. I only have myself to blame. I’m giving it an extra half star because there are moments that hint at a much cooler, weirder movie. Still doesn’t change the fact that G.I. Joe titles should only ever be animated (e.g., G.I. Joe: Resolute).

Oscar Isaac is great as always, and I like the fact that Marvel isn’t afraid to get weird, but towards the end, Moon Knight felt like it was getting weird simply for its own sake.

Pretty much what I’ve come to expect from Scalzi: nothing earth-shattering, but light, clever, and very entertaining nevertheless. (I finished it in less than two days.) He likens the novel to a fun pop song, which is pretty accurate.

Aviation-themed anime from the early ’00s. Cool aerial sequences but a muddled plot about artificial intelligence, alien invasions, and PTSD (among other things). (Read my review)

I liked this better than Black Helicopters, but I still think Agents of Dreamland is the best of the trilogy.

It’s heart is in the right place, and I chuckled when I saw myself in the protagonists’ zeal for their favorite music, but a bit underwhelming overall. That said, I can see this becoming a cult classic in 10 – 15 years.

Does a good job of filling that Parks and Recreation-shaped hole in my life. While not every joke hits (the “power clashing” line kills me, though), I enjoy the characters and premise, and am looking forward to another season.

We loved this delightfully bizarre series on Apple TV+. Filled with surreal humor, mysteries, and pointed jabs at American pop culture, and blessed with immaculate production design. Can’t wait for season two.

This movie didn’t need to be three hours long. Normally I’m all for slow pacing and atmosphere, but this should’ve been a lean, mean action film. That being said, I really liked Robert Pattinson’s super-emo Batman.

Completely bonkers Bollywood action film that makes the Mission: Impossible movies look like made-for-TV movies. Come for the crazy stunts and increasingly improbable twists, stay because you find it impossible to resist Hrithik Roshan’s smoldering looks.

Funny, trippy, wildly creative, and over-the-top in every way possible, but also surprisingly emotional at times. (Read my review)

I enjoy this kind of spy thriller, which emphasizes mood and atmosphere over action. But it wasn’t very thrilling, not even when the final twists began revealing themselves.

I saw this once described as “The Matrix, if made by Studio Ghibli,” which isn’t too far-fetched. Filled with interesting ideas and concepts but gets pretty convoluted near the end. Wouldn’t mind watching it again to try and make better sense of it.

I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as Agents of Dreamland. Lots of interesting ideas and striking prose, but the disjointed and meandering narrative made it a slog.

Excellent Lovecraft-inspired fiction. Reads like the trippiest X-Files episode never made.

Packard has more fun toying with the CYOA format, though this isn’t as trippy as Hyperspace.

Not sure if this gave me a lot of new insight into Kon’s films, but it was neat to see how respected he was by other filmmakers. We lost someone truly special when he died.

My least favorite Expanse novel to date. But even a “bad” Expanse novel is still pretty good.