Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Modern Family, Season Three:
We got incredibly tired of the character, Cam, less than halfway through this season, which dulled some of our enthusiasm for watching. He's good enough in a supporting role, but becomes grating when major plotlines revolve around his whining nature. Otherwise, the season was light, funny entertainment.

Final Grade: B-

Luther, Season One:
This BBC show featuring Idris Elba takes your standard cop show format and adds a sociopathic serial killer that the main character may have more in common with than he wants to believe. Nothing here is groundbreaking, but the performances are all great and the action builds steadily in intensity to the season finale. The female serial killer puts in a great performance as well, even though her lips look distractingly like a mushroom growing on a log in the woods. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B+

Nightcrawler (R):
Jake Gyllenhaal is at his creepy best as a guy on the fringe of society who starts filming accidents and crimes to sell to the local news station. His escalating attempts to get bloodier footage mirrors any given local newscast you might have watched in the last ten years. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B+

Drones by MUSE:
This new album by MUSE is much better than their last, and approaches the quality of their classics. The lyrical and thematic content (government conspiracies and disillusionment) is tired and forgettable, but I don't listen to the lyrics anyhow. The obligatory "mini-symphony" works much better this time around, and stands alone as a song I would listen to more than once for novelty's sake, although the closing a capella choir track is unnecessary. There's a good ratio of great beats to B-sides on this album, and thankfully, the singing bassist has been relegated back to the bass section and never gets his own song.

Final Grade: B+