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Category: Sam Reviews

True Detective 2.5: Other Lives – Review

Welcome back True Detectives. “Pain is inexhaustible. It’s only people who get exhausted.” It’s another of Ray’s little recorder messages that he supposedly makes for his son. It’s a good summary of how myself and other viewers are feeling about his season. Misery as an art form is only effective…

True Detective 2.4: Down Will Come – Review

Welcome back, True Detectives. This episode didn’t click for me until the end. Pizzolatto’s flourishes may come under fire for his flowery dialogue and such, but hell if he doesn’t know how to end an episode. It’s the beginning and middle he’s got to to work on. With every episode,…

True Detective 2.3: Maybe Tomorrow – Review

Welcome back, True Detectives. A quick recap of last week: the season’s investigation kicked off in earnest as our three main detectives – the corrupt Ray Velcoro, the rebellious Ani Bezzerides, and the unstable Paul Woodrugh -were joined together in a taskforce to find the killer of kinky, duplicitous Vinci…

True Detective 2.2: Night Finds You – Review

Welcome back to the heart of darkness, True Detectives. We’re back in Vinci, California, finally ready to dig deep into this season’s murder case and free of the glare of this acclaimed show’s return. Quick recap: we left off last week with our three cops finally united. Dirty cop Ray Velcoro…

True Detective 2.1: The Western Book of the Dead – Review

Was Game of Thrones too optimistic for you? Well, don’t worry, lovers of everything dark and depressing, HBO has the answer to squash our re-emerging happiness. True Detective takes over the former show’s time slot on Sundays and brings with it the same fatalistic tone that entranced viewers last year, albeit with an…

Game of Thrones 5.10: Mother’s Mercy – Review

Here we are. The end of Game of Thrones. It always flies by so fast. 10 episodes used to be a cakewalk for traditional shows, especially broadcast networks where they can pump out 22-24 episodes of NCIS. Or NCIS: Los Angeles. Or NCIS: New Orleans. Game of Thrones is a distinctive beast…

Jurassic World (2015) – Review

JURASSIC WORLD  June 12, 2015 I remember, like a lot of Millenials do, seeing Jurassic Park for the first time. It was a seminal moment. The build-up, the reveals, the wonder, the awe . . . followed by the adrenaline, excitement, and fear. Spielberg’s 1993 original is, bar none, one…

Game of Thrones 5.9: The Dance of Dragons – Review

That was probably the most horrific thing I’ve seen on Game of Thrones, and that includes the Red Wedding. No coincidentally directed by the same man, David Nutter, this week saw Shireen of the House Baratheon and Stannis’ daughter burned by Melisandre at the stake at her parents’ consent, though…

Game of Thrones 5.8: Hardhome – Review

Hardhome: Jon & Tormund What “Hardhome” saved for last, I’ll put up front: Game of Thrones just snuck in their yearly battle episode under our noses. While the coming Stannis vs. Bolton confrontation has been teased all season (that got some more foreshadowing below) this unlike previous setpieces, comes with…

Game of Thrones 5.7: The Gift – Review

This season is the season Game of Thrones became it’s own creature. It is no longer appropriate to compare George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series that gives the story basis. It won’t be conclusively until we have both the final season and the final novel within…