Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Rare Bird by Whitton:
This album is a fun mix of jazz and pop songs. The artist has a weird affectation to her timbre that comes and goes and makes her sound cartoony, but it grew on me over time. A representative song that I like is B Sting.

Final Grade: B+

Luther, Season Two:
Luther continues to be a great example of a police procedural done right. The performances are top notch, and the stories are given room to breathe which effectively builds suspense (each "case" spans two episodes, and the season is four total episodes). This was the weakest of the three seasons because it felt like they weren't sure how to effectively use one of the main characters, but I still enjoyed it. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B

Fargo, Season One:
This remake of the movie from the 90s is a surprisingly successful -- it has clear ties back to the source material but manages to be something as good as (or even better than) the movie that can stand completely on its own merits. It has whimsical elements that are used just enough to not feel like a cinematographer's circlejerk, and even an overused plot device employed in the 8th episode was able to keep me interested where other shows might have stumbled. The cast, including movie stars like Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Oliver Platt, Keith Carradine, and Colin "Mini Tom Hanks" Hanks turn in uniformly excellent performances.

Final Grade: a rare A+

Modern Family, Season Four:
Reliably funny with slightly fewer tedious Cam stories than Season Three.

Final Grade: B