Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Boyhood (R):
Built around the conceit of filming the same actors over a span of 12 years, this movie ends up being more of a series of moments than a strong narrative. The dialogue of the children bounces erratically between realistic-sounding and outtakes from Degrassi Junior High, but in general, this is a pleasant journey with minimal resolution.

Final Grade: B

Game of Thrones, Season Four:
The writers of this show must have heeded my advice to calm the eff down, as they don't try to cram every single story into every single episode in this season. Episodes focus on a few characters at a time, allowing the plot to breathe a little more. There's still plenty of storylines that we don't care about -- anything involving Red Vagina on the Island of Who Cares, or Hodor's inability to give Bran a haircut -- but this season was a definite improvement over the second and third.

Final Grade: B+

The Shield, Season Five:
This is a tightly-wound season that starts weaving together the varied plots of previous seasons. It's elevated by the performance of Forest Whitaker as the erratic, crazy-eyed IAD detective, and kept me binging through the season finale.

Final Grade: A-

The Shield, Season Six:
A slight letdown after the fifth season, this one had the handicap of also being the penultimate season, meaning that too much time was spent setting things up. This reduced the cohesiveness of the story within the season, although it did a nice job of foreshadowing what's to come.

Final Grade: B-