My mom is the one who originally brought this miniseries to my attention, and after way too many years of living life HBO-less, I’ve finally made the viewing of Olive Kitteridge a priority in my life. Honestly, it was worth the wait!
Read moreMonth: June 2021
Weekend Movies in Review
This weekend I managed to squeeze in quite an eclectic mix of films whenever I could! Let’s get to it!
Read moreFan Art Friday: One Direction
Because I can!!! They formed in 2010 and burned out by 2015, but my goodness they were world dominators. As a full fledged adult when I first heard them, One Direction we’re my musical guilty pleasure for a long time, but getting the chance to see them live and missing them dearly most days means I don’t feel guilty about liking them anymore! Enjoy one of very many drawings.
Read moreLove, Victor Season 2 Review
I know almost two weeks have already passed since the second season of Love, Victor dropped on Hulu June, 11, but I promise I watched all of it the weekend it came out! Watching all ten episodes over the course of three days was certainly not the plan, but it was just so darn good I couldn’t help myself! There’s love, betrayal, and a serious cliffhanger, so let’s get into it!
Read moreBook Review: They Don’t Need to Understand by Andy Biersack
This book of stories written by Black Veil Brides front man Andy Biersack, and pal Ryan J. Downey, really had a lot to delve into for someone who really hasn’t spent all that long on this planet. While he claims the passages written were not meant to be a memoir but more like a recounting of his sheer determination of will, it still read like a memoir to me. Either way, this book is a deep dive into the life of Andy Biersack.
Read moreFrameline Film Festival
In the midst of one film festival, I have managed to stumble across another virtual film festival! Well, similar to Tribeca, this queer film fest is also doing a hybrid of in person and at home screenings, which works out just fine for me! While I only picked out a handful of films from this event, they were ones that were on my radar from other foreign screenings earlier this year. I’m so glad I got the chance to participate!
Read moreTribeca Film Festival (At Home) – Pt 2
Another week virtually participating in the Tribeca Film Festival! I know I said this last week, but I’ll reiterate how pumped I am that I can participate in this festival. The pandemic may be good for almost nothing, but it did somehow afford me this opportunity. Especially now that things are slowly beginning to morph back into normalcy. Well, enough of that – let’s get to the rest of those movies!
Read moreAFI Bodies Album Review
More than a week has passed, which means I’ve been given ample time to listen through AFI’s 11th full-length album, Bodies, to fully appreciate its awesomeness. Not that I really ever had any doubts. And even though I was able to experience over half of this new release in the form of singles in the months leading up to the full release, there was still so much to enjoy cohesively about this record.
Read moreFan Art Friday: Zoey Deutch
For the last several years I’ve felt like Zoey Deutch has been everywhere! But that’s definitely not a bad thing. This talented actress has had awesome starring turns in great films such as Everybody Wants Some!!, Before I Fall, and Set It Up. Seriously, go check those out while you enjoy some new fan art I made in her honor. She’s got a long and prosperous career ahead of herself, if her mother’s is anything to go by.
Read moreMade for Love Season 1 Review
If the pandemic has taught me anything it’s that I love a good half hour comedy. So while I still have HBO Max, I’m trying my hardest to burn through as many shows as humanly possible, and that includes the loveable half hour comedy. Although most have hit the mark with me, I can’t really say that this HBO Max original, Made for Love, was able to do the same.
Made for Love is both the name of this comedy, but also the name of a new technology that a man by the name of Byron Gogol is trying to introduce to the world. It is a chip that gets implanted into a couples’ brains and then they are able to know everything about each other. No more secrets and being able to totally connect is his selling point. Um, does anybody know a single soul on this earth who would want that? No? Me neither, which is maybe why I didn’t connect with this show right from the get-go.
Well, you know who else isn’t crazy about this chip? That would be Byron’s wife of ten years, Hazel. And for good reason! She’s essentially been held prisoner at Byron’s “hub” since they got married ten years ago after their first date. Yeah, this guy sounds like a psycho. Anyway, one day Hazel decides she’s had enough of being constantly monitored and controlled so she escapes and makes her way to her dad’s place. What she learns shortly after her escape though is that Byron has already implanted the chip in her brain, so while the two can’t share thoughts yet, she can’t hide from him either.
I’m honestly shocked that Byron never just takes Hazel back to the hub. Perhaps that shows he loves her a little bit? Anyway, back to her father’s house. He lives on a dumpy property and is in a “romantic” relationship with a sex doll. Look, in my eyes Ray Romano can do no wrong, and he doesn’t do wrong in this role either. It’s clear he’s hurt that his daughter never contacted him for the last ten years, and this doll is the other thing/person he’s tried to connect with since his wife passed away. While he’s not super loving towards his daughter, he does believe her plight and tries her hardest to get a divorce to happen.
Obviously, the mention of divorce sends Byron into a tailspin, so he enlists the help of his assistant to leave the hub and show Hazel that he can exist in the real world. By the time the finale of the first season rolls around, you think that Bryon might manage to say the right things so Hazel will give him a second chance, but she’s no dummy and has him sign the divorce papers anyway. However, Byron does reveal that (SPOILER!) Hazel’s dad has cancer that he’s not treating, so if she promises to move back to the hub he will make sure her dad has top-tier care. It seemed pretty obvious to me that she was going to take the deal, so clearly that’s what a second season will focus on.
Personally, not much made me laugh in this show. I really like Ray Romano and Billy Magnussen, but there just wasn’t enough in this script that was funny. They both gave stellar performances, don’t get me wrong, but it just wasn’t enough. And I’m sure I mentioned this when I reviewed Palm Springs, but I also can’t really connect with actress Cristin Milioti. She didn’t seem like she fit in the show really. But, I probably say all this for naught because the critics were big fans and it got renewed for a second season. Just don’t count on me watching it.