“How ‘Lego Movie 2’ Pokes Fun At The Evolution Of Chris Pratt”

You might like your Chris Pratt beefy or made of Lego bricks, but he’s at his best when he’s just playing huggy, lovable, cream puff doofuses. Continue reading →

“Terry Crews In Brooklyn Nine-Nine Is Modern Masculinity At Its Best”

Terry Crews isn’t the star of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” but he’s pretty much the show’s heart and soul. And its muscle. And its fretting grandma. Continue reading →

“Renew Brooklyn Nine-Nine or Bust!”

I started reviewing Brooklyn Nine-Nine for Paste Magazine way back in the day, about four years ago in fact, so if anyone is going to write an editorial about Fox’s jaw-dropping failure to renew the series for a sixth season it’s going to be me. Which is basically a convoluted way of saying that I wrote an … Continue reading →

Review: Half Magic, 2018, dir. Heather Graham

It gives me no pleasure to dunk on a movie directed by an established Hollywood actor turned first time filmmaker, especially a movie like Half Magic, which is clearly the product of personal experience and an act of catharsis for its author, Heather Graham. But Half Magic is really only half good at best. I won’t go … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.17 & 4.18, “Cop Con”/”Chasing Amy”

Get ready to be bummed, gang: This is my last Brooklyn Nine-Nine write-up. For now! For now. Easy there, you didn’t let me finish. This is my last Brooklyn Nine-Nine write-up for now, as I’ll be unable to cover the rest of the season (ending on the 23rd). But it’s all good! You can still tune into … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.16, “Moo Moo”

I know neither how nor why I have managed to forget to share my review of last week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine. For as long as I’ve been writing about this show, my write-up for “Moo Moo” stands out as one of my favorites, much as “Moo Moo” itself stands out as one of the best episodes in the … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.15, “The Last Ride”

Spoiler alert: The title of this week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a lie. Just thought I should tell you that upfront, because there is just no way anyone could have guessed that on their own, no sir. (This is my shorthand, smartass way of saying that I dug “The Last Ride” in spite of its predictability, because … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.14, “Serve And Protect”

Honest admission: I’m not sure if my critique of this week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine is fair or if I’m just reaching for something critical to say about a pound-for-pound solid episode. It is a little bit of a bummer that the real dramatic “stuff” of the episode is shunted to the side to make space for an A-plot … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.13, “The Audit”

I say this a lot, particularly whenever Brooklyn Nine-Nine returns to air after its mid-season break or its season ender, but: Brooklyn Nine-Nine is back, baby! Just like Gina Linetti! I failed, in my recap of “The Audit” for Paste Magazine, to properly salute Dirk Blocker for his perfect delivery of that exact line upon Gina’s return … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episodes 4.10/4.11, “The Fugitive Part 1/Part 2”

How weird. I’m slowly becoming disenchanted with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, one of my go-to favorites for unwinding during the week. Not that the New Year two-parter is bad (though I am disturbed at how often I find myself repeating this sentiment), but as with the New Girl crossover, it feels unnecessary. If the show wanted to do a … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.10, “Captain Latvia”

And again with the Brooklyn Nine-Nine reviewing, over at Paste Magazine as always, in which Charles Boyle taps into his inner mommy strength and goes sickhouse on a gang of gunrunners, all in pursuit of giving young Nikolaj the perfect (first) Christmas. (Content warning: Joe Lo Truglio’s chest hair.) A good way to break for a … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.09, “The Overmining”

Don’t let the score on this review fool you: “The Overmining” is likely going to end up being one of the funniest episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s fourth season. Take that to the hilarity bank. But it does come up short as far as making a cohesive narrative, and that really frosted my cake, so I was … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.08, “Skyfire Cycle”

I say unto thee: “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!” If you haven’t seen this week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, this will have no special significance for you, but if you’re reading this you probably have, so go to Paste Magazine for my full thoughts on the matter of Captain Holt’s sex life.

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.07, “Mr. Santiago”

Ho-man! Can you think of a better guy to cast as Amy Santiago’s father than Jimmy freakin’ Smits? Forget how hard I laughed at Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s turkey jokes this week, not the least because there’s a rafter of turkeys that’s staked out turf at the parking lot at my day job (and they stare you down … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.06, “Monster in the Closet”

…oh, thank god Brooklyn Nine-Nine is back. This is a nail I hammer home often, but for the most part any Brooklyn Nine-Nine is good Brooklyn Nine-Nine, even the Brooklyn Nine-Nine that isn’t as good as the best Brooklyn Nine-Nine; it’s even better when Brooklyn Nine-Nine hasn’t been on the air for a while, whether because the season is over or … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.05, “Halloween IV”

I’m starting to sound like a broken record with Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “Predictable! Predictable!” – and it’s not just in the show’s fourth season. “Predictable” is exactly how I described the show’s Halloween episode back in 2015, too! The thing is, predictable isn’t the same thing as bad, and so, just like with last year, predicting … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Episode 4.04, “The Night Shift”

The best part of “The Night Shift,” last week’s episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is that its crossover with New Girl didn’t totally sink it. It barely made a dent in it, in fact, but that’s because the crossover is minimal. (There’s more crossover in New Girl itself than in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, in point of fact.) But I still hated … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 4.03, “Coral Palms, Pt. 3”

And: Boom. It’s done. The Coral Palms arc is over, and we’re back to New York City. I’m not upset about that, per se, because it was inevitable, but I kinda wish we’d gotten to spend just a little more time down in sweaty stinky butt Florida, because that diversion was super fun. I’ll live. So … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 4.02, “Coral Palms, Pt. 2”

Finally, what all of you Jake/Holt shippers have been waiting for: The kiss. Except that the kiss isn’t a real kiss, just a decoy kiss, and seriously, there are no Jake/Holt shippers, so forget it. (There actually may be, because everything is someone’s kink, but that’s neither here nor there.) Brooklyn Nine-Nine continues its winning ways by … Continue reading →

TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 3.22 & 3.23, “Bureau”/”Greg and Larry”

I’ll say this about Brookly Nine-Nine‘s third season in a macro context: I liked it quite a bit overall and think that it’s solid with just a few rough patches here and there in its twenty three episode span. On the subject of its final two episodes, my thoughts are somewhat more complex, and I suggest … Continue reading →