TV | Triptank (Season 2) | Liked It

Hit or miss as usual but the stuff that was good made it worthwhile.

Movie | Son of Frankenstein | Liked It

The three Bs; Basil, Boris and Bela!

Movie | Mad Max: Fury Road | Really Liked It

Superb. Envisioned initially as a one long chase scene, the story line was linear and simplistic but that was thoroughly appropriate in this case. Visually stunning, of course and all the little details were incredible. The acting was great. Every time I see Charlize Theron's name on the marquee, I cringe a little. Not because I don't like her, it's just that she's overexposed. Well, just like every other time, she blows me away. In fact, this movie is as much about her character as Max. More, in many ways. And Theron was just fantastic at it; she's a lead actor, there's absolutely no doubt about it. Diverse, on top of it, too.

Hardy did a great job as usual and I'm looking forward to more installments with him in it. I started critiquing him as I was watching, often finding that he chose to mimic Mel instead of inhabiting the role and making it his own. But that was a mistake and it's an impossible job, inhabiting such an iconic role. In the end, he also knocked it out of the park, just like everyone else.

It's a crime that we'll probably never see Nicholas Hoult in another Max film. He's an amazing actor, for a guy in his early 20s when they made this film. That being said, there's very little chance that we don't see outstanding work from him in the future. One to watch, for sure.

What a delight it was to see Hugh Keays-Bryne back on the screen. As magnetic as ever, it's a downright shame American audiences don't know more about his work. Of course, he's nearly unrecognizable in this film, with the costume nearly consuming him. But there's no mistaking those eyes and his acting. Unreal.

The cast is rounded out with so many interesting actors, it's insane. It includes the grand-daughter of Elvis.

There were the copious expected references to the previous films, including the signature increased film speed during action scenes, as was expected and welcomed. But there were other nods to other films that were also fabulous; I spotted shout-outs to Doomsday, Star Wars, The Book of Eli and Akira. There were probably more that I missed. Connections to the previous movies were throughout and the continuation, as opposed to a prequel, of the premise was wonderfully laid out for all to see.

The trivia about the connection between the euphoric chrome spray and Amazon is hilarious. Look it up.

So, can you tell that I loved it? I did. They did a marvelous job of capturing what I was worried they wouldn't; a sense of suicidal hopelessness in the characters in everyone except Max, of course. Why? Because he can't die - his name is in the title...although, that would be an interesting creative direction. There's a theory floating around that he actually isn't Max, but The Feral Boy from the third movie. We'll see...

Here's my main gripe, which isn't a new one; if one more person starts talking at me about "the films of George Miller", as if he's done nothing more than the Max movies, I'm gonna lose my mind. Miller doesn't have a huge body of work but he's done a lot more than that. Not only the stuff he's directed but he's also co-directed...folks, see a movie every now and then!

But that has nothing to do with anything other than people running their mouths about something they know nothing about. If you loved the other Max movies, then you're going to love this as much as I did, hopefully.

To the V8 and Valhalla!

Movie | TMNT (2014) | Didn't Like It-ish

Michael Bay action scenes. Out of control lens flares. Terrible acting. Good soundtrack. Remove all of the human characters and the scenes with them in them and you'd have a somewhat entertaining film. Haven't we seen the origin story enough already?

TV | Teachers | Didn't Like It

TV | Minority Report | Didn't Like It

Bad casting (except Nick Zano) and poor editing conspire to make another ho-hum scifi show on Fox. They've never gotten it and it doesn't appear they every will. The few exceptions were nothing more than a pleasant surprise and even those they didn't seem to know what do with what they had.

TV | Life in Pieces | Didn't Like It

Whoa. What's with the vulgarity on primetime network tv? Is this the place for it? Seemed really out of place and inappropriate in the extreme. That's too bad because, beneath all of the forced filthy talk, there's actually the makings of a decent story-line. Maybe. The characters that these poor (excellent) actors have to play are really stupid, too. No thanks, I'm moving on.

Movie | The Doors | Didn't Like It

I've seen this in bits and pieces, never been terribly interested and kinda felt bad about that. So I finally sat down and watched the whole thing from beginning to end. It's so very well done but I didn't find it enjoyable, I didn't want to know more about any of the characters and we all know how it ends, so no surprise there.

TV | Moonbeam City | Liked It

I've been waiting a long time for this to come out and I don't know why it took so long. Regardless, I enjoyed it. Another good adult animation, this time soaked in fantastic 80s neon, Patrick Nagel-style. Looking forward to more.

TV | Longmire (Season 4) | Really Liked It

Netflix saves the day for fans of this excellent show!

Movie | Monster on the Campus | Liked It

Goofy, illogical fun.

TV | Bojack Horseman | Didn't Like It

After the old college try (I watched the first three episodes), I gave up. It was pretty boring. Maybe it gets better and this is probably one of those shows that if it clicks with you, you're gonna love it. Just not me.

TV | Difficult People | Didn't Like It

I should have known by the title that I probably wouldn't like this show. Despite some truly clever and funny lines, I was right. The characters were so intentionally obnoxious that it sucked all the fun out of it for me.

Movie | Deep Web | Really Liked It

Alex Winters rocks it again, this time with a little help from his old pal Keanu Reeves.

Movie | It Follows | Really Liked It

This is not my sort of movie and I'm not particularly interested in seeing anything else like it. But this was really well done and the music was spectacular. As uncomfortable as I was watching it, I can't help but admire what they accomplished; a fresh take on the teenage sex = you're gonna die horribly at the hands of a supernatural, unstoppable killer premise.

TV | Hack My Life | Liked It

Really cute show and it's great to see Kevin Pereira back on the tube. His co-host is genuinely cool and I like her but she seems completely uncomfortable in front of the camera. As if I could do better...I couldn't, in case you were wondering.

Movie | The Thing That Couldn't Die | Liked It

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There are Twistern elements (though it wasn't one, really), so that certainly helped. I also loved that they recycled music from other movies, too.

Movie | Original Gangstas | Didn't Like It

Thanks for the loan, PW.

TV | The Last Ship (Season 2) | Really Liked It

This marks a shift in recording television shows for this blog; if I remember to do it, I'm going to start recording what I thought of the different seasons as they occur. That way, I'll know where they really started cooking or in which season they jumped the shark.

The Last Ship is some great adult summer watching, with plenty of action and a fun storyline. The second season kept the ball rolling set in motion by the first season. If you like action, this is a must watch. Good stuff!

Movie | A Monster In Paris | Liked It

Rather painfully slow to get moving and predictable to a fault, things really picked up in the last half.

Movie | The Invisible Man's Revenge | Liked It

Surprisingly fun and John Carradine!

Movie | The Road Within | Really Liked It

Finally, a great movie starring the incredible Robert Sheehan, not to mention Zoe Kravitz and Dev Patel.