Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Booksmart (R):
This coming-of-age movie plays out kind of like a female version of Superbad (and also stars Jonah Hill's sister). If that's the kind of movie you need at the moment, this one hits all of the right marks and is full of pleasant and vulgar laughs. On Hulu.

Final Grade: B

Cascadia:
We got this board game for Rebecca's birthday. You build an ecosystem in the Pacific Northwest and place different kinds of animals, with points based on best habitats (longest salmon runs and number of hawks not near any other hawks, for example) and longest terrain runs. Replayability comes from different sets of scoring criteria, which allows you to learn the base game very easily and randomly choose cards with more advanced scoring later on. We've enjoyed this a lot over four or five games although it's very easy to let the game drag by overthinking any single move.

Final Grade: B

Formentera by Metric:
Metric's newest album is as good as Art of Doubt but doesn't quite reach Pagans in Vegas. The placement of a ten-minute overture as track one feels out of place, as it's the kind of song that Muse would tack on to the end of one of their albums.

Final Grade: B-

Upload, Season Two:
This show about a digital afterlife was pleasant in season one but doesn't really go anywhere in season two. There are only 7 episodes and events end just as the plot really starts to pick up. On Amazon.

Final Grade: C+