Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

His Dark Materials, Season One:
This is a solid adaptation of Book 1, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. (I enjoyed the first two books but thought that the 3rd was an imploded mess, not unlike the 3rd Hunger Games book). Great performances and decent CGI keep the story moving, and even Rebecca liked it. The only flaw in the structure of the story was introducing a character from Book 2 early on to get their scenes out of the way -- while it makes sense not to have to backtrack in the next season, nothing truly happened in any of that character's scenes.

Final Grade: B

Seven Mirrors by Drapht:
A fine but forgettable Australian hip-hop album. Good hooks that fall apart if you listen more closely to them, like an entire song where the chorus is just "I'm feeling bad, bad, bad" repeated ad nauseum. Also, the trend of putting skits on hip-hop albums between songs needs to stop.

Final Grade: B-

Get Duked! (R):
This movie is like Hunt for the Wilderpeople mashed up with Get Out and it's as awesome as that sounds. The needle stays strictly on the comedy side vs. horror, and the tone remains pleasant with plenty of bro-mance. A particular scene when an aspiring rapper stumbles across a small farming community is perfectly storyboarded. Free on Amazon Prime.

Final Grade: A

3%, Season Four:
The final season of 3% ends the story well enough while giving most of the characters plenty of space for denouement. A few characters flip-flop just for the sake of plot, which is disappointing because earlier seasons did so well at avoiding this classic flaw that always happens in The 100. The final episode is way too long and feels a little tacked on, but the ending doesn't stray very far from the conceit of what came before. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B-