Screener Squad Archives -

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE: LIFE’S STILL UNFAIR As the They Might Be Giants performed theme goes for the 2000-2006 sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, “You’re not the boss of me now and you’re not so big.” Twenty years later, the dysfunctional family and their boy genius returns on Hulu and Disney Plus with a 4 […]

ROOMMATES MOVIE REVIEW High School graduation: that’s the time to steel yourself with courage, say goodbye to those lifelong friendships you made next to the bleachers, the lockers, in algebra, and of course in the confines of your heart. But wait! What if you don’t have any BFF’s to bid adieu to? Roommates on Netflix […]

THE PITT SEASON 2 REVIEW The Pitt returns for Season 2, continuing its unflinching, real-time look at life inside one of America’s busiest emergency rooms. Set ten months after the explosive first season, which was marked by a mass shooting, the new season unfolds over a single 15-hour real-time shift on the Fourth of July, […]

STRANGER THINGS: TALES FROM ’85 SERIES REVIEW Just when you thought it was safe to cancel your Netflix subscription, Stranger Things: Tales from ’85 is back to deliver another shot of 80s nostalgia, or at least nostalgia for a streaming series that ended less than five months ago. Set between the events of seasons two […]

THE MADISON SERIES REVIEW John Steinbeck once said “I’m in love with Montana. For other states, I have admiration, respect, recognight, even some affection. But with Montana, it is love.”  Paramount Plus presents  the new show by Taylor Sheridan; a story of a man who had two great loves in his life: his wife, and […]

FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEY’S END SEASON 2 REVIEW Jonathan Larson once pondered how one would measure a year. Cups of coffee, sunsets, laughter, strife? Regardless, a year is five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes. Frieren, and elf, by this measure is approximately five hundred twenty five million six hundred thousand minutes. Give or take […]

THRASH MOVIE REVIEW It’s been 4 decades since Jaws chomped beach goers to an iconic John Williams score. Netflix is reminding us that it’s still not safe to get back into the water with the survival horror original feature Thrash. Dr. Dale Edwards (Djimon Hounsou) is an expert on the oldest predator on the planet, […]

THE CHRISTOPHERS MOVIE REVIEW From prolific filmmaker Steven Soderbergh comes a dramatic comedy about elderly artist, Julian Sklar (Ian McKellan) and his newly hired assistant Lori Butler (Michaela Coel). Unbeknownst to Julian, his greedy children Barnaby and Sallie (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) hired Lori not because of her experience as a personal assistant, but […]

SHRINKING SEASON 3 REVIEW From prolific creator and showrunner Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town, Ted Lasso) comes the third season of Apple TV‘s hit Shrinking. When we first met licensed therapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) he was a grief-stricken widower and single father spiraling out of control, lost in a haze of substance abuse and […]

BROTHERS UNDER FIRE MOVIE REVIEW What do soldiers fight for? Some would say that they fight for mom, apple pie, baseball, and a little ideal we sometimes take for granted called freedom. But for those who have actually been a soldier, perhaps they would say that mainly soldiers fight for each other. Brothers under Fire […]

DTF ST. LOUIS SERIES REVIEW Henry David Thoreau famously said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” One can only imagine what he would think of the sex lives of lonely, middle-aged suburbanites suspected of murder. Jason Bateman and David Harbour play Clark and Floyd, two friends who are sexually unsatisfied in their […]

BAIT SERIES REVIEW Tomorrow Never Dies at the James Bond Rumour mill and with Amazon pulling the strings, The World is Not Enough. It’ll take a real GoldenEye casting director to pick the next actor to be On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Comment sections are being real Dr. No about all suggestions stepping away from […]

REFUGE MOVIE REVIEW Lewayne, Mike the Editor, and T.C. gather in the One Of Us cabin in the woods to discuss this tightly wound thriller that starts as a simple fishing trip between four friends, but quickly reveals itself to be something far more sinister. What unfolds in the new film Refuge is less a […]

PRIMAL SEASON 3 REVIEW From his early work on a show about a boy genius with a secret laboratory beneath his family home, to a time traveling samurai with a sword of destiny, Genndy Tartakovsky has created timeless moments of animation that inspire the imaginations of children and adults alike. The legendary animator decided next […]

BODYCAM MOVIE REVIEW “When you were eight and you had bad traits. You go to school and learn the golden rule. So why are you acting like a bloody fool? If you get hot then you must get cool!” These were lyrics in the song “Bad Boys” before the massively popular show “Cops” hit syndication, […]

STRIP LAW SERIES REVIEW “If you are committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it” – Saul Goodman from Better Call Saul. Netflix presents an animated series featuring legal counseling in Las Vegas, Strip Law. Lincoln Gumb (Adam Scott) […]

LOVE STORY MOVIE REVIEW Love is a many splendored thing, and back in the 90’s two lovers, named John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, kissed and the world stood still. The two would be lifted up by love where they belonged but alas not every love is like like in the storybooks. While all […]

THE DRAMA MOVIE REVIEW Don’t let the title fool you, The Drama is a comedy, albeit a very dark, pitch-black comedy; the kind where the laughs offer a welcome and much needed respite from the discomfort you’ll feel as its narrative unfolds. In a classic rom-com set-up, the movie begins with a meet-cute in a […]

FORBIDDEN FRUITS MOVIE REVIEW The online discourse (in some disturbing corners) says you should pass on cinema made for and by women in the industry. That wouldn’t be very fetch of you, no cap. If you thought that was cringe, that’s because an adult wrote it after googling “Is Gen Z a thing, how does […]

FANTASY LIFE MOVIE REVIEW Are you a fan of Noah Baumbach movies? Maybe some classic Woody Allen New York Jewish anxiety films? How about a quiet walking and talking film? Well, Fantasy Life might be right up your alley. This feature directorial debut from Matthew Shear takes us on a sun-soaked stroll through the Big […]

THE SERPENT’S SKIN MOVIE REVIEW Since the dawn of time, snakes have been given a terrible rep. Sketchy marketing practice? Snake oil salesmen. Surprised by bad news? Snake in the grass! Really good at lying? Forked tongue, like a snake! Poor reptiles have suffered the slander for years but with that bad boy reputation also […]

ONE PIECE SEASON 2 REVIEW Hoist the colours and set sail into the long time coming season two of One Piece streaming on Netflix, adapted from the still ongoing manga and anime by Eiichiro Oda. Even if you are not a fan of the magnum manga opus but you are a fan of swashbuckling adventures, […]

THE GRAY HOUSE SERIES REVIEW Sam Houston once said “Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives you may win Southern independence, but I doubt it. The North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not fiery, impulsive people as you […]

SHE DANCES MOVIE REVIEW She Dances stars Steve Zahn as Jason, a divorced father who owns a successful whiskey distillery with his best friend and business partner, Brian (Ethan Hawke). They’re in the middle of negotiations to sell their company for a lot of money, when Jason receives a call from his ex-wife Deb, (Rosemarie […]

THE MORTUARY ASSISTANT MOVIE REVIEW Based on the video game of the same name, The Mortuary Assistant stars Willa Holland as Rebecca, a young woman with a troubled past who has just completed her training as a mortician. One night, her boss, the mysterious Mr. Delver (Paul Sparks), asks her in to come in and […]

THE BLUFF MOVIE REVIEW Avast, ye scurvy-ridden dogs! It’s a rare entry into the swords and sails action-adventure genre! Lewayne and T.C. set sail on the One Of Us schooner to chart whether this new, bloody, swashbuckling Amazon original sinks beneath the waves or turns out to be a treasure. Set on a secluded island […]

STARFLEET ACADEMY SERIES REVIEW It’s the 32nd century and in an effort to restore themselves to their former glory, a shattered Starfleet relaunches Starfleet Academy, which had been replaced by the more bellicose War College. Former Starfleet Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) has been appointed Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, which will operate alongside the still […]

FOR WORSE MOVIE REVIEW Winter is wrapping up and romance is in the air, whether you’re a young adult taking your first steps into a relationship or an adult abandoning the burning wreckage of a sinking relationship. Directed, written, and starring Amy Landecker, For Worse is the story of a woman rediscovering the awkward vulnerability […]

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS SERIES REVIEW A century before Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the first of her name, Queen of the Andals, Khaleesi of the great grass sea, the unburnt, breaker of chains and mother of dragons met Jon Snow, the King of the North, there was a hedge knight and squire […]

DREAMS MOVIE REVIEW Whenever I see a movie about marginalized groups of people in pursuit of a better life, I am tempted to quote Steinbeck and the nightmare that is the American dream. I’m not going to do that to introduce this film though I will quote the character Professor Walter Vale played by Richard […]

UNDERCARD MOVIE REVIEW There are several ways to explain it but this obscure quote might help: “He who conquers the left side conquers the world, chief”. What does it mean? Work your jab. In theaters and featuring the Florida boxing locations of Liberty City and Miami, Undercard is led by Wanda Sykes in her first […]

BREAKDOWN: 1975 MOVIE REVIEW At times, film has the power to give a voice to the voiceless and speak truth to a power that would ignore those voices. When a culture shifts its thinking and changes the method and way stories are told about people, and the world in general, a massive culture shift can […]

COLD STORAGE MOVIE REVIEW When a long-forgotten government experiment goes very, very wrong, a sealed biological threat awakens beneath a quiet long-term public storage facility and begins spreading fast, leaving our minimum wage heroes Naomi (Georgina Campbell) and T-Cakes (Joe Keery) scrambling to stop an outbreak before it reaches the outside world. What begins as […]

THIS IS NOT A TEST MOVIE REVIEW Suburban living can be tough when your dad won’t get off your back about skipping class, and your Mom isn’t around to provide that parental balance, and your older sister bailed on the family. The only thing worse than that kind of anxiety is the emergency broadcast system […]

GHOST TRAIN MOVIE REVIEW Just when you thought it was safe to use public transportation, here comes Ghost Train, a South Korean horror anthology film about a cursed subway station. Da-kyung (Joo Hyun-young) calls herself the Horror Queen of YouTube, and hosts a once popular channel about ghost sightings and other paranormal events. Desperate to […]

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S SEVEN DIALS MINISERIES REVIEW For countless years, master storyteller and queen of the “who done it” genre, Agatha Christie, has entertained and thrilled us with her mysteries. Even if you’ve never read a single story, you’re almost certainly familiar with her thanks to countless adaptations and homages through television, film, and plays. With […]

THE MUPPET SHOW TV SPECIAL REVIEW The Muppet Show premiered on TV in 1976. The show was about a failing live variety and sketch comedy show hosted by The Muppets with weekly celebrity guests. 120 episodes later in 1981, they cut the music, turned out the lights, and closed the curtain forever on Jim Henson’s […]

THE WRECKING CREW MOVIE REVIEW Abraham Maslow once said “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail”. These two brothers just vacated the home depot, and there was a sale on sledgehammers. Also, the hardware store was exploding! Amazon Prime […]

WONDER MAN SERIES REVIEW If you’ve been out of the MCU for a few, Marvel’s Wonder Man arrives on Disney+ as not only one of the MCU’s most self-aware projects to date but as a perfect re-entry point that doesn’t require you watching or even knowing anything that took place after Avengers: Endgame. An industry […]

COSMIC PRINCESS KAGUYA! MOVIE REVIEW Teenagers these days have all sorts of wild ambitions that blur the lines of dreaming big and living in a fantasy world. They want to get rich as young as possible and retire in your early 20’s. Fear not young listeners, such ambitions can be achieved! You could become a […]