Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG-13):
This unnecessary reboot-sequel to the original movie updates the premise by making the titular board game a video game. It was surprisingly pleasant to watch (especially if you go in with low expectations) as it features actors playing out of their typecast and exploits common video game tropes. I remember very little of the original, other than the fact that it involved screaming children, screaming animals, and very poor sound mixing, but this did not affect my understanding or enjoyment of the new version at all.

Final Grade: B+

Jon Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City:
This stand-up special was consistently funny, and the physicality of his presence adds an extra layer of humour above what you might get from an audio recording of the same jokes. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B+

Game of Thrones, Season Seven:
I checked out of caring about Game of Thrones somewhere in season two. However, this abbreviated penultimate season is much better than any season since the first and really pushes the plot forward (as long as you can accept the "Fast Travel" approach to moving people between far-flung cities that would have taken 8 years to travel between in earlier seasons). It seems like a basic script-writing lesson, but the writers have finally figured out that scenes are more interesting when all of the main characters get to play off of each other, rather than having each one of them off in their own little plot worlds. My only fear for the upcoming final season is that we'll get stuck with hundreds of boring battle scenes. You can only make killing a zombie intriguing so many times.

Final Grade: B+

Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife:
Unlike an Amy Schumer stand-up special, this comedian is both vulgar AND funny. This particular special has a lot more new baby jokes than her first special (which was the right target market for us), which may get tiresome if you are kid-free. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B