Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Lincoln Lawyer, Season Two:
The second season of this show is so shallow that infants can swim in it unattended. The court case is marginally interesting but the characters are plot ciphers that constantly speak the clunkiest, cliche dialogue in every scene. May have been written by an AI. On Netflix.

Final Grade: C-

Barbie (PG-13):
We liked this more than expected. It had a great visual style and was much more subversive and tongue-in-cheek than one might expect from a Mattel-blessed movie. Good performances and a nice balance of absurd and dramatic.

Final Grade: B

Le Pop by Katzenjammer:
This Norwegian band has a fun, kitchsy sounds that mixed Gadjo, early Cardigans, and Dirt Poor Robins. I discovered it when Demon Kitty Rag started appearing on my Pandora stations -- unfortunately, the band broke up back in 2015 so I'm late to the party. Tea with Cinnamon is ony of my favourite tracks on this first album.

Final Grade: A

Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree:
A prequel to the "cozy fantasy" book, Legends and Lattes, this book is a short, pleasant exploration of the protagonist's earliest days as an adventuring orc. It doesn't cover a lot of new, interesting ground but manages to recreate most of the low-stakes warmth as the first book.

Final Grade: B-