TV | Look Around You | Liked It-ish

Clever, humorous homage to those dated educational films that those of us who are older than a shoe grew up with. But seriously, how long can you watch this premise? They do a good job but it gets stale pretty quick.

TV | The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon | Liked It

Richard Gale is the new Roger Corman. This was one of his online pieces and it was a lot of fun.

TV | Hunderby | Didn't Like It

My problem is that I hate period pieces. The saving grace here is that it's a black Britcom and there were moments, mainly because Alexandra Roach (Utopia) stars, there are several other notable cast members and Julian Barratt narrates (The Mighty Boosh). But it wasn't enough for me. Julia Davis is clearly a genius but her brand of monotone humor drives me nuts.

TV | Monkey Dust (Series 2) | Really Liked It

Another series of the blackest of black animated Britcom.

Movie | Dr. Cyclops | Didn't Like It

Despite some pretty interesting ambient funk, the acting and the script were just not good.

Movie | Nothing | Liked It

Finally! A movie that I could actually enjoy. The director of Cube decided to make an indie comedy with a similar premise...to mostly good results. David Hewlett, who was in Cube, stars in this one just as he did in the superior A Dog's Breakfast.

Movie | Damsels in Distress | Didn't Like It

Awful. When will this run of stinkers end?

TV | Pulling | Didn't Like It

This year's viewing is off to a dismal start. This is another one where I liked the cast but not the show.

TV | Superstore | Didn't Like It

A waste of time and a perfectly good cast.

Movie | Bedlam | Didn't Like It

Karloff aside, the acting was so bad that I had to turn it off.

Movie | Doctor X | Didn't Like It

Bored the spit out me.

Best of 2015

It was another banner year for television and movies; we're truly in a golden age! There were so many good ones but there must be a best...and so here you go, my favorites for the year 2015.

Best Action/Adventure/Thriller - Housebound

Honorable Mention - Mad Max: Fury Road, Hector and the Search for Happpiness, Lucy, The Maze Runner, Tower Block, Now You See Me, Shuffle

Best Comedy - A Fantastic Fear of Everything

Honorable Mention - A Dog's Breakfast, What We Do In The Shadows 

Best Documentary - Searching for Sugar Man

Honorable Mention - Exit Through the Gift Shop, Winnebago Man, Deceptive Practice

Best Science Fiction and Fantasy - Automata

Honorable Mention - The Signal, Turbo Kid  

Best Family Film - The Boxtrolls

Best Drama - The Road Within

Honorable Mention - Natural Selection

Best Horror - It Follows

Honorable Mention - The Night Listener 

Best New Television Show - Mr. Robot

Honorable Mention that's so good it's a "Best" too- Sense8

 

Best Returning Television Show - Fargo

Best Horror Television Show - The Strain

Honorable Mention - Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead

Best Sci-fi Television Show - Utopia

Honorable Mention - Black Mirror, Wayward Pines, Other Space, Humans

Best Reality Television Show - Adam Ruins Everything

Best Comedy Television Show - Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Honorable Mention - Grace and Frankie, Broad City

Best Drama Television Show - Better Call Saul

Honorable Mention - The Last Man on Earth, You(comma) Me and the Apocalypse

Best Adult Animated Television Show - Rick and Morty

Honorable Mention - Mike Tyson Mysteries 

Don't forget, these are the outstanding shows but there are so many that were just merely very good.

So there you have it! It was an amazing year, full of incredible viewing experiences and I'm looking forward to what the new year brings.

TV | You, Me and the Apocalypse | REALLY Liked It

Neat-o! A comedy about the end of days starring a cast that mixes Brits who actually play Brits with Americans, some of whom are actually Brits. Oops. Ha ha! Oh well, it all works wonderfully, especially due to a great script and that fantastic cast, led by the always outstanding Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans, Yonderland and Spy to name just a few marvelous shows he's been in). It will be interesting to see what American audiences think of this when it's released on network television. Will they dismiss it as a Last Man on Earth ripoff? We absolutely loved it. And yes, that's Jenna Fischer, Megan Mullally and Rob Lowe in the picture above. They're great and this is a superb movie career-wise for Fischer, I think.

Movie | Extinction | Liked It

This is the last time I'm going to write this; Jeffrey Donovan can act. There, now I'm done and I can just look forward to what he does next.

Fast forwarded through the parts that depict violence towards animals.

I liked this movie a lot and wanted to love it. It has all the elements that make up a movie that's just my cup o' tea; tiny cast, action, post-apocalypse, excellent FX, great production, etc. So what could have made this movie better? To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure. I think if the script was a bit more, uh, something, it would have vaulted it up in my estimation. Still, I was glad I saw it and if it catches your fancy, I recommend it. Just not highly. Sadly. But I want to, that's the thing...

TV | Tripped | Really Liked It

Extremely enjoyable mini-series about two stoners traveling through time. A terrible premise but like so many British shows, they make it work and the result is imminently watchable. Plus, Blake Harrison is in this and this is a great role for him.

Movie | Cowboys vs Dinosaurs | Didn't Like It

Wanted to like it but just couldn't. A cheesy snore and another one of those bad made-for-Syfy-channel movies. Twistern or not, this stinker sucked. Better to watch The Valley of the Gwangi again.

TV | Mad Men | Didn't Like It

My admiration for Hamm just keeps growing, so I thought I'd give this a whirl for a third time. Nope, this show is an extremely slick, highly produced nighttime soap opera that isn't functionally all that different than daytime soaps. If you love that sort of thing, then I can understand how this show is the bomb-diggity for you. But it's definitely not mine, so...no.

The cast is fantastic but the premise and writing is unlikable to the point of being alien. It literally made me squirm in my chair wanted to do anything but suffer through this. I have no doubt that with time and character development, the story gets interesting. But it also seems that it will be so very painfully predictable, with characters back-stabbing and scenario manipulation assured. Personal note to the writers; rampant, illogical sexism and endless scenes of people smoking are not the makings of a great show.

I don't get peoples' tastes. The "greatest television drama ever"? That could be, but I think the folks claiming that haven't seen much of what's out there and we'll just agree to disagree.

Ah, well. There will be no fourth attempt. I tried, it failed and we all move on. Sorry Mr. Hamm, I'll just have to be awed by your other work, of which when I try talking to Mad Men fans about (and I know several), they want to hear nothing about; that's their loss because he really is that good.

If you're a fan of this show, I can see why you'd like it. I just didn't.

Movie | Timebomb | Liked It-ish

Okay, pretty much everything about this was bad. Especially the acting. But it was fun to see cameos by Julie Brown, Billy Blanks and Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini.

TV | The Talking Dead (Season 6, First Half) | Really Liked It

Continues to be an excellent addendum and analysis of the show for fans who are interested in exploring the show to a deeper level.

TV | The Walking Dead (Season 6, First Half) | REALLY Liked It

The question going forward for this show will be when will it jump the shark? Not this season, that's for sure. The creativity, production and plot lines continue to be outstanding.

Movie | The Mummy's Hand | Didn't Like It

Just too slow and boring.

Movie | God Told Me To | Liked It-ish

Also known as Demon. There were some interestingly weird elements in this one, which is the only reason I stuck it out. There's a brief cameo featuring Andy Kaufman in his very first film role (it wasn't much) and a minor role for Richard Lynch, who is always interesting.

Movie | Isle of the Dead | Liked It

Another Val Lewton film. Karloff was awesome in this; it was so much fun to see him without makeup FX.

TV | Into The Badlands | Liked It

There were enough interesting elements here to keep me interested but some of the script was extremely poorly written. For example, the writers want us to know more backstory to some of the characters so they get another character to explain their history to them as if they'd never heard it. That's really dumb and insulting to us, the viewers.

The acting was pretty good, especially Marton Csokas. The rest of the cast isn't bad, they just don't stand out.

The production is excellent, as expected and the world they created is fascinating. Unfortunately, it also feels like a bit of a Shakespeare and Game of Thrones ripoff in that this character is scheming against that character and that's the main plot motivator. Fortunately, there's good subplot or I would have gotten really bored.

I liked the mix of wuxia and a baroque steampunk South. That worked really well, except...only Csokas seems to go whole hog on it and that's a shame.

Hopefully, AMC will have another hit on its hands. This definitely feels, while still worth watching, not fresh. It mixes in lots of Walking Dead in the process, which is no surprise.

One last note; I recently read an article by creators Gough and Millar, who do have previous experience with martial arts-focused television shows and movies like this one, but they spent a majority of the interview badmouthing David Carradine and Kung Fu. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, the level of disrespect was terrible. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt though and assume it was the interviewer's bad writing that caused that to happen.

It cracks me up how many folks I've spoken to who don't understand why this fictional world doesn't have guns. It's literally explained in the first line of the opening scene; they're banned. Don't think that's realistic or possible? They did it in Japan, so there's factual proof that such a thing could occur.

They left the plot open for the second season by only allowing us to really get to know two of the seven barons. That's a good thing.

The soundtrack is a perfect analogy of this show; it isn't bad but it's extremely familiar, almost as if they're using stock music, with the exception of the notable theme music by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda which is very cool.

I'll watch the next season but I'm not dying to see it.

TV | Cockroaches | Really Liked It

Fun brit-com about the end of the world.

Movie | Curse of the Demon | Liked It

Also known as Night of the Demon. Val Lewton's fave director, Jacques Tourneur, strikes out on his own with quite good results. Except...he once again did what he did with Lewton and left much of the film up to the imagination of the viewer (yay!) but the producer decided to go in afterward and insert some shots that blatantly showed more of the horror (boo), which is a shame as it didn't need it. Still, a movie worth watching. Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (which isn't particularly all that good) is an homage to this film.

TV | Uncle (Series 2) | Really Liked It

Picks up one year after the first series leaves off, to very successful results. Excellent sitcom like they just can't seem to make or get in the States.

Movie | The Leopard Man | Liked It

Another Val Lewton flick, this one was extremely slow paced. Still, the craftsmanship was superb.

Movie | Turbo Kid | REALLY Liked It

I was nervous about this film, a mash-up of Rad, BMX Bandits, A Boy and His Dog, The Omega Man, Night of the Comet and Mad Max (including the myriad ripoffs). Based on the trailer, things could get real stupid, real fast, so it took me a while to get around this even though one of my friends sent me a copy (thanks, G!). But it turned out to be a really clever homage to all those bloody 80s sci-fi explotation flicks. Emphasis on the blood...we're talking chambara-style buckets spraying everywhere, mostly to hilarious results. I hate to connect it to the current fairly awful "grindhouse" shlock, but it definitely has that element too. Intentionally over the top and lots of fun! Absolutely fantastic soundtrack by Le Matos and a must buy soundtrack.

Movie | Air | Liked It

Reminded me of one of my favorites, Cube. For The Walking Dead fanatics like me, Kirkman just produced this so don't get too excited. But it is by the same folks behind the video game Red Dead Redemption so maybe you should.