Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Top New Shows of the 2010s

2010                                                                          2011
1. Sym-Bionic Titan                                                  1. American Horror Story
2. Boardwalk Empire                                                2. Green Lantern: The Animated Series
3. Young Justice                                                        3. The Looney Tunes Show
4. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated                     4. New Girl
5. The Walking Dead                                                5. Falling Skies
6. Conan                                                                   6. Portlandia
7. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes              7. Once Upon a Time
8. Ben 10: Ultimate Alien                                         8. The Kennedys
9. Victorious                                                             9. Terra Nova
10. MAD                                                                   10. The Amazing World of Gumball
Honorable Mentions:                                               Honorable Mentions
Tower Prep                                                               Austin & Ally
Hawaii Five-0 2010                                                 Jessie
Pretty Little Liars                                                     Grimm
Blue Bloods                                                              Hell on Wheels
Nikita                                                                        Revenge

2012                                                2013
1. Hatfields and McCoys                 1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
2. The Legend of Korra                   2. Under the Dome
3. Gravity Falls                               3. Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
4. Arrow                                           4. Rick and Morty
5. Ben 10: Omniverse                      5. Bates Motel
6. DreamWorks Dragons                 6. Sleepy Hollow
7. Revolution                                    7. Hostages
8. Awake                                           8. Mom
9. Elementary                                   9. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
10. Tron: Uprising                           10. The Following
Honorable Mentions:                       Honorable Mentions:
Alcatraz                                            Liv and Maddie
Common Law                                   Beware the Batman
Nashville                                          The Americans
The River                                          The Fosters
The Mindy Project                            The Blacklist

2014                                                                  2015
1. The Flash                                                      1. Daredevil
2. Gotham                                                         2. The Man in the High Castle
3. 24: Live Another Day                                   3. Ash vs Evil Dead
4. Fargo                                                            4. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
5. Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond      5. Better Call Saul
6. How to Get Away with Murder                     6. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
7. From Dusk till Dawn: The Series                 7. Documentary Now
8. Madam Secretary                                          8. Agent Carter
9. Star Wars Rebels                                           9. The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
10. The Spoils of Babylon                                 10. Jessica Jones
Honorable Mentions:                                        Honorable Mentions:
Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero                              Fear the Walking Dead
The Last Ship                                                    Supergirl
The Librarians                                                 Sense8
The 100                                                             The Last Man on Earth
NCIS: New Orleans                                         Killjoys

2016                                                        2017
1. Stranger Things                                  1. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
2. The Good Place                                  2. A Series of Unfortunate Events
3. 11.22.63                                              3. Ozark
4. American Crime Story                        4. Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later
5. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee        5. Mindhunter
6. Luke Cage                                           6. Legion
7. Preacher                                             7. 13 Reasons Why
8. Voltron: Legendary Defender             8. Feud
9. Designated Survivor                           9. DuckTales 2017
10. Class                                                 10. Santa Clarita Diet
Honorable Mentions:                             Honorable Mentions:
The Great                                               The Sinner
Milo Murphy's Law                                Brockmire
This Is Us                                               Castlevania
Lucifer                                                    The Punisher
Shades of Blue                                        Future Man

2018                                                                                               2019
1. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman  1. Chernobyl
2. The Terror                                                                                  2. The Mandalorian
3. Waco                                                                                           3. Infinity Train
4. The Haunting                                                                             4. Fosse/Verdon
5. Barry                                                                                          5. Watchmen
6. Manifest                                                                                     6. I Am the Night
7. The Rookie                                                                                 7. Swamp Thing
8. Black Lightning                                                                          8. The Act
9. Disenchantment                                                                         9. Creepshow
10. The Alienist                                                                              10. Catch-22
Honorable Mentions:                                                                     Honorable Mentions:
9-1-1                                                                                               Helluva Boss
The Last O.G.                                                                                 Hazbin Hotel
Trust                                                                                               What We Do in the Shadows
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina                                                      The Righteous Gemstones

2010s
1. Chernobyl
2. Stranger Things
3. The Mandalorian
4. Infinity Train
5. Daredevil
6. The Man in the High Castle
7. The Good Place
8. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
9. 11.22.63
10. The Flash
11. Fosse/Verdon
12. Watchmen
13. American Horror Story
14. Sym-Bionic Titan
15. I Am the Night
16. Ash vs Evil Dead
17. Gotham
18. Boardwalk Empire
19. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman
20. American Crime Story
21. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
22. Young Justice
23. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
24. The Walking Dead
25. Conan
26. 24: Live Another Day
27. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
28. Hatfields and McCoys
29. The Legend of Korra
30. Gravity Falls
31. Fargo
32. The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes
33. The Terror
34. Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
35. Swamp Thing
36. Under the Dome
37. Waco
38. Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
39. Rick and Morty
40. The Haunting
41. Barry
42. A Series of Unfortunate Events
43. Ozark
44. Luke Cage
45. Arrow
46. Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later
47. Preacher
48. The Act
49. Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp
50. Better Call Saul
Honorable Mentions:
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Mindhunter
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Manifest
Voltron: Legendary Defender
Documentary Now
How to Get Away with Murder
Designated Survivor
Creepshow
Class
Agent Carter
The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
Jessica Jones
Legion
Bates Motel
Feud
DuckTales 2017
The Rookie
Black Lightning
Ben 10: Omniverse
The Looney Tunes Show
Mom
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Star Wars Rebels

Venom: The Last Dance

Sony's third entry in its Venom focused series with Tom Hardy, Venom: The Last Dance, sees Eddie Brock and his unhinged symbiote travel to New York to prove his innocence after being framed for what happened in the last movie. It won't be easy as they're hunted down by creatures sent by Knull, the creator of the symbiotes trapped by them in a prison that can only be opened by the duo, and the American military who wants to experiment and use the alien entity. By this point, taking any of these films seriously is not the best way to watch, and especially with this third entry with its rather thin plot compared to the last two but Kelly Marcel's writing and direction knowing it works best by being over the top, silly, and rather stupid. The action scenes are well done while also being incredibly energetic and unhinged at times, especially with some unique symbiotic abilities that give the film really great visual effects. Even when the films get stupider, Tom Hardy still gives a fun and engaging performance, equal parts portmanteau farce and near emotional breakdown. Newer cast members like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple also provide strong performances, but in a more serious way that makes Hardy really stand out. For a final entry in a trilogy, it does feel like not having Michelle Williams and Reid Scott return feel a bit empty. And by adding a big character like Knull with a post credit scene and played by Andy Serkis feels redundant for a final entry. Venom: The Last Dance may be a very stupid movie, but it's a very stupid movie that knows how to have fun. Over all: 75%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. The Wild Robot
3. Saturday Night
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
5. Deadpool & Wolverine
6. Transformers One
7. A Quiet Place: Day One
8. Inside Out 2
9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
10. The Fall Guy
11. MaXXXine
12. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
13. Abigail
14. Monkey Man
15. Late Night with the Devil
16. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
17. Alien: Romulus
18. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
19. The Book of Clarence
20. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
21. Drive-Away Dolls
22. Joker: Folie à Deux
23. Kung Fu Panda 4
24. Lisa Frankenstein
25. Argylle
26. Venom: The Last Dance
27. Mean Girls 2024

Monday, October 13, 2025

Saturday Night

Depicting, though with some liberties in terms of the show's history and production for story purposes, the 90 minutes before Saturday Night Live's debut, Saturday Night takes a look at the absolute chaos that occurred just before the show's live premiere. Jason Reitman's love letter to the long running sketch show, released a year before its 50th anniversary, focuses on Lorne Michaels as he goes through rehearsals, Chevy Chase's ego, NBC's meddling, and disgruntled crew members before the show went live on the night of October 11, 1975. Between Reitman's numerous uses of long unbroken shots with scenes of characters walking as they talk and his and Gil Kenan's quick back and forth dialogue, the film definitely has a touch of Aaron Sorkin. Seeing all the troubles the show went through really makes you appreciate how it all could have gone wrong, between the higher executives having no faith and John Belushi nearly quitting with just a few minutes left. The writing's biggest strength is how it managed to pull off a solution to these problems, many of them thanks to Lorne's quick thinking. Gabriel LaBelle's leads an impressive cast all playing the original cast and crew who all play them to perfection. While a decade younger than when Lorne actually created the show, LaBelle is astounding and captures a combination of the creator's anxiety and belief in what he's creating. Cory Michael Smith captures Chevy's ego to perfection, Matt Wood is perfect as John Belushi, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster is wonderful, and Finn Wolfhard has a fun time as a page trying to get people to see the show. The production design does an amazing job at capturing the look and design of how the show's original stage felt. Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid's editing definitely helps in giving the movie a very Aaron Sorkin-vibe to it. Serving as both the composer and a supporting role playing Billy Preston, the show's first musical guest, Jon Batiste gives the movie a two way in both a great score befitting the era while performing Preston's classic Nothing from Nothing while everyone prepares in the last few minutes before airing. Everyone involved with Saturday Night did a magnificent job in not only making a great movie, but a wonderful love letter to a beloved staple of American television. Over all: 100%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. The Wild Robot
3. Saturday Night
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
5. Deadpool & Wolverine
6. Transformers One
7. A Quiet Place: Day One
8. Inside Out 2
9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
10. The Fall Guy
11. MaXXXine
12. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
13. Abigail
14. Monkey Man
15. Late Night with the Devil
16. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
17. Alien: Romulus
18. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
19. The Book of Clarence
20. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
21. Drive-Away Dolls
22. Joker: Folie à Deux
23. Kung Fu Panda 4
24. Lisa Frankenstein
25. Argylle
26. Mean Girls 2024

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Joker: Folie à Deux

Todd Phillips's sequel to his 2019 hit, Joker: Folie à Deux follows Arthur Fleck's time in Arkham and his eventual trial after the events of the first film. This time around Fleck meets his match with the arrival of Lee Quinzel, a fellow inmate whose infatuation with each other turns this entry into a musical at times. One can't deny the uniqueness to this movie, both as a sequel and a comic book adaptation, whether or not it helps or hurts it. Whereas the original was a psychological crime thriller, this followup acts more like a prison drama with bits of a courtroom drama alongside big musical numbers akin to Broadway shows. Instead of focusing on Fleck committing crimes and finding ways to get away with them, we're instead given a look into his infamy and psychological state, and whether or not he's truly the legendary lunatic he made the people of Gotham believe he was. The writing from Phillips and Scott Silver is both fascinating and often frustrating at times due to a combination of factors like not just going in and redoing what came before, their method of not always giving straight answers can often feel alienating, all the while their way of telling the fans of the first movie why they were wrong to connect with Fleck at all does often try too hard to get its message across, and how it handles the returning characters alongside new ones is definitely strong though with rough flaws. Returning as Arthur, Joaquin Phoenix still gives a strong performance and manages to add a touch of vulnerability even when Arthur tries to go back to his Joker persona to seem tough. Lady Gaga's take on Harley Quinn is really good, making her manipulations seem so believable while having pretty good chemistry with Phoenix. What helps this entry be memorable is its musical moments namely for the combination of popular songs that fit what's happening onscreen alongside Hildur Guõnadóttir's score, the choreography by the cast, the atmospheric cinematography from Lawrence Sher, and the patient editing by Jeff Groth. Yes, Joker: Folie à Deux is a very unique movie, but often that uniqueness is often what hurts it in its favor. Over all: 89%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. The Wild Robot
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
4. Deadpool & Wolverine
5. Transformers One
6. A Quiet Place: Day One
7. Inside Out 2
8. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
9. The Fall Guy
10. MaXXXine
11. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
12. Abigail
13. Monkey Man
14. Late Night with the Devil
15. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
16. Alien: Romulus
17. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
18. The Book of Clarence
19. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
20. Drive-Away Dolls
21. Joker: Folie à Deux
22. Kung Fu Panda 4
23. Lisa Frankenstein
24. Argylle
25. Mean Girls 2024

Monday, September 29, 2025

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot is an adaptation of a 2016 novel about a service robot named Roz who gets stranded in an island and in an attempt to fulfill its duty by befriending the animals, ends up taking care of a gosling that Roz accidentally orphaned. This DreamWorks feature is an absolutely beautiful work of art all thanks to everyone involved in its production. While DreamWorks announced this will be their last animated film made in-house, they at least gave it their all with CGI that captures a very traditional and watercolor style similarly to classic Disney and Hayao Miyazaki. Chris Sanders as director and writer manages to take story elements that have been told numerous times before in such a way that neither feels cliche nor forced. Both the story and characters are well fleshed out, are given time to establish themselves, and tell great themes regarding families and individuality. The cinematography from Chris Stover does an incredible job at showing off the incredible animation regardless of how much light or darkness there is. While the editing done by Mary Blee doesn't do the usual thing of most animated films and go from one scene to another, as instead it lets you take in scenes by not cutting from one angle to another until it's necessary. Kris Bowers's score is an absolute delight, being able to seamlessly change from comical to tough drama when needed. And of course the cast, led by Lupita Nyong'o alongside Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, and Stephanie Hsu, all give such powerful vocal performances. With the book The Wild Robot is adapted from also having sequels, they're gonna have to pull off a miracle considering how incredible this movie is. Over all: 100%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. The Wild Robot
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
4. Deadpool & Wolverine
5. Transformers One
6. A Quiet Place: Day One
7. Inside Out 2
8. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
9. The Fall Guy
10. MaXXXine
11. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
12. Abigail
13. Monkey Man
14. Late Night with the Devil
15. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
16. Alien: Romulus
17. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
18. The Book of Clarence
19. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
20. Drive-Away Dolls
21. Kung Fu Panda 4
22. Lisa Frankenstein
23. Argylle
24. Mean Girls 2024

Monday, September 8, 2025

Transformers One

The first theatrical film in the franchise since the first one in 1986, Transformers One is separate from the live action films since 2007 and tells an original story of how Optimus Prime and Megatron became who they are. While Michael Bay still serves a producer, the feel and tone are absolutely different from the previous entries that came before. The animation from Industrial Light & Magic is incredible, especially with its mix of modern and Generation 1 era character design from when the franchise first started. Director Josh Cooley puts together a well crafted and thoroughly enjoyable love letter to the origins of these characters. The script is put together thanks to Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari who manage to take an overdone franchise and give writing that makes the now 40 year old characters seem fresh, an often untold aspect of the franchise's mythology an epic take, and manages to know when drama and comedy should be well placed. But the biggest praise to their writing definitely goes to Megatron as so much of his fall to evil is so complex and very mature in ways no one would have expected from an animated family film. It wasn't just the writing though, as without Brian Tyree Henry's performance then it wouldn't have worked as well. He makes the role his own, while adding certain inflections from Frank Welker's original as the movie goes. The same goes for Chris Hemsworth as Optimus, who manages to grab that special charm that Peter Cullen is best known for. While the rest of the cast, including Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson, and Keegan-Michael Key all give great supporting performances. While the live action films can often be fun, Transformers One easily outshines all of them and needs to be seen as a step in the right direction for the franchise. Over all: 100%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Deadpool & Wolverine
4. Transformers One
5. A Quiet Place: Day One
6. Inside Out 2
7. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
8. The Fall Guy
9. MaXXXine
10. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
11. Abigail
12. Monkey Man
13. Late Night with the Devil
14. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
15. Alien: Romulus
16. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
17. The Book of Clarence
18. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
19. Drive-Away Dolls
20. Kung Fu Panda 4
21. Lisa Frankenstein
22. Argylle
23. Mean Girls 2024

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

After numerous attempts to get a sequel made since the 1988 original, Michael Keaton finally returns as the over the top bio-exorcist in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Keaton returns alongside cast members Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara with director Tim Burton while introducing new characters played by Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe. The sequel sees Winona's Lydia return to her old home after the death of her father, alongside her stepmother and daughter, Astrid. With Betelgeuse aware of Lydia returning and his ex-wife being freed and seeking him out for revenge, he must figure out a way to escape his ghostly confines by once again trying to marry Lydia. The sequel definitely keeps the gothic and darkly comedic feel and tone of the original while still feeling fresh and unique from it. Burton's style has not lost its touch and he can still capture that over the top and weird feel that made the first film work so well. One strong aspect that keeps the movie from being stale is that Burton chose to do the effects more practically, alongside stop motion, rather than overdo it with CGI, which it still uses but when it's needed. The writing from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar does capture a lot of what made the original script by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren so special. They were smart not to overuse the title character similarly to the original and keep him minimally instead of just wholly focusing on him as one would expect due to his large popularity. Most of the story is pretty good and Gough and Millar both manage to make the characters memorable and have such fun moments, but certain storylines, such as Lydia's boyfriend taking advantage of her abilities and Betelgeuse's ex looking for him, often feel like they needed more time to them. All the while, the returning and new cast members all give strong performances and Keaton hasn't lost his physical prowess even in his 70s. Two strong aspects that also perfectly capture the essence of the '88 original are Haris Zambarloukos's cinematography and Danny Elfman returning to do the score. The movie wouldn't be as memorable without their work not only keeping the original's style and look but also further expanding on Elfman's music by incorporating instrumental versions of songs the first film used and newer songs this entry introduced. It can be agreed that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice may not reach the highs of its predecessor, but still manages to be incredibly entertaining on its own. Over all: 93%
2024 top list so far:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Deadpool & Wolverine
4. A Quiet Place: Day One
5. Inside Out 2
6. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
7. The Fall Guy
8. MaXXXine
9. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
10. Abigail
11. Monkey Man
12. Late Night with the Devil
13. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
14. Alien: Romulus
15. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
16. The Book of Clarence
17. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
18. Drive-Away Dolls
19. Kung Fu Panda 4
20. Lisa Frankenstein
21. Argylle
22. Mean Girls 2024