“Clone Wars” episode three ups the ante and delivers an action-packed 22 minutes of television

Mild spoilers for the recent season of Star Wars: Clone Wars on Disney+ “On the Wings of Keeradaks” picks up with the rescue of clone trooper Echo who has been used by the Separatist forces to extract battle plans and strategy information while grafting cybernetic components to his human body. Anakin, Captain Rex, and the …

Shows to watch during the pandemic

As readers know, this column is typically about family-friendly programming that’s rewatchable and won’t drive you crazy. For the past four months, I haven’t had the mental or emotional range to sit down and watch something specifically to review for this section of the paper. Instead, I’ve mostly reverted to “comfort” movies and shows, typically …

Movies to watch during the pandemic

Continuing from last week’s column, I shared a list of shows and series I’ve been watching during the last four months in lockdown. Here is my list of movies to watch between binge-ing shows. Also note many/most of these are not family friendly (marked with *), but parents need something to watch after the kids …

“Onward” is a wonderful mix of comedy and high-fantasy any nerd like me will love

Onward is Disney/Pixar’s latest film to hit theaters, starring Tom Holland (Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and Chris Pratt (Star Lord in the MCU) as two brothers, Ian and Barley, living in New Mushroomton, a land that once was home to fantastical magic and adventure that has become a hum-drum suburb thanks to modern …

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” is back and off to a great start for its final season on Disney+

The Star Wars prequels are nothing if not problematic and divisive. They set up a good amount of lore for the Skywalker Saga as it’s now known, but most fans agree they are not good and generally terrible. But one shining beacon of goodness to come from the prequel-era was a little animated series that …

“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” is a mixed bag of high fantasy adventure

Admittedly, I had very little interest in this movie after seeing the first film and finding it hard to remember. That may also be because we watched it on a bus in Florida while the driver got lost on the way back to our hotel, but that’s neither here nor there. Maleficent told the story …

“Hotel Transylvania” is cute and has a lot of heart. But once is enough.

Sometimes movies come along with so much of a marketing push that I get tired of them before I even see them. The trailers are shoved in my face so frequently that whatever merits the film may have are lost because I’m now annoyed at its mere existence.  This couldn’t be more true about the …

The final installment of the “How to Train Your Dragon” films is a fitting end to a delightful trilogy

“How to Train Your Dragon” instantly became one of those movies I didn’t expect to love as much as I did. The sequel was equally good, continuing to develop interesting and complex characters and relationships as well as creating breathtaking animation with even more dragons to love. The third of the series is currently streaming …

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” works…well enough as a first film in the series

I was very late to the “Harry Potter” party. I saw the first film at the Peerless Theater and wasn’t a huge fan. I thought some of it worked, but most of the performances from the child actors were not great (but honestly how great can 10 years olds be in their first film roles?). …

“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” has all the action and high-fantasy adventure of “The Lord of the Rings” – with puppets

The new Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance dropped on August 30 with ten episodes and a (roughly) 90 minute making-of documentary. Fans of the 1982 film have no doubt already binge-watched it in its entirety (we haven’t finished the doc yet), but those unfamiliar might be wondering if it’s worth the watch. …