Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

sincerely, e by Elizabeth and the Catapult:
The latest album from Elizabeth and the Catapult is pleasant pandemic-inspired fare (Rebecca backed the Kickstarter and we watched "living room concerts" every week up to the album's release). The first half is catchy but the last couple songs fade into an aural sameness that makes me tune out whenever I put the album on.

Final Grade: B-

Detectorists, Season Three:
The final season of Detectorists is a fitting ending for the story but it feels more like a regular British sitcom in its plotting and style -- it's not as whimsical and magical as the originals. We also got a little tired of the "magpie" mysticism that felt like a plot crutch.

Final Grade: B

Six: The Musical (Studio Cast Recording):
This musical that places Henry VIII's six wives in a Spice Girls singing competition is completely unnecessary but lots of fun. The lyrics are witty and the performances are great, although a few songs linger too long. The show was supposed to debut on Broadway the night that Broadway closed, March 12, 2020. Six kind of fills the same tonal neighborhood as the Broadway version of Moulin Rouge but feels a little more successful to my ears.

Final Grade: B+

Tenet:
The latest Christopher Nolan movie is Interstellar without any charisma. The general conceit is "reverse entropy" where some things in the world move backwards through time. The movie's full of interesting ideas, horrible sound mixing where the dialogue is impossible to hear, and an electronic soundtrack that overstays its welcome immediately. The last half of this 2.5 hour behemoth is where everything comes together and features some impressive action sequences and forward/reverse cinematography. I can tell that I would definitely catch some cool details on a rewatch (or 7) but I didn't care enough about the movie to want to do so. (Conversely, I've seen Memento at least 20 times over the years).

Final Grade: C+