Watched ‘em, read ‘em: April 2025

If this is your first time seeing one of these posts on the blog, they’re inspired by Steven Soderbergh’s annual “Seen/Read” list.

Every January, Soderbergh posts his chronicle of all the media he consumed during the previous year. I don’t expect my choices of movies, TV shows and books to be nearly as compelling for a year-long list. So I’m doing it month by month, which is more engaging to write and easier to track.

April was a really good month for TV. The Pitt and Daredevil: Born Again were both nearing the end of their seasons, while Andor and The Last of Us were beginning their second turns. Your Friends & Neighbors was also intriguing, but I might not have been interested if not for Jonathan Tropper running the show. He’ll always get my attention because of Banshee and Warrior.

Then there’s Andor, which isn’t reinventing TV but may be reinventing Star Wars. Tony Gilroy is telling adult stories that may take place in another galaxy, but aren’t space fantasy. No Jedi, no Force. And maybe the best definition of “rebellion” that ever could have been created in this universe.

Continue reading

5 takeaways from second Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer – After Endgame, who is Mysterio, and can’t fool MJ

[This post was originally published on the Amusement Park Podcast website.]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps on rolling. Though one stage of Marvel’s superhero epic reached a conclusion of sorts with Avengers: Endgame, the overarching story continues with Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Far From Home. (Technically, Phase 3 of the MCU ends with this film, according to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.)

If there was any question of where Far From Home fits in the MCU timeline, the movie’s new trailer makes that clear. (I speculated on the latest Amusement Park Podcast that it must take place between Spider-Man: Homecoming and Avengers: Infinity War, but was obviously wrong.) So clear, in fact, that Tom Holland issues a spoiler warning before the preview begins. If you haven’t seen Endgame, don’t watch this trailer because it gives away a major development from that film, one you won’t want spoiled.

Continue reading

Overzealous Recycling 009: Higher, further, faster!

My movie calendar is probably way off, but it feels like 2019 is finally beginning at the movies. Oscars season ended almost two weeks ago and Captain Marvel represents the first big blockbuster release of the year. (Sorry, Alita: Battle Angel.) So there’s finally reason to be excited.

— If you missed the last Overzealous Recycling, you can read it here

Plenty of other films have been released since Jan. 1, and I still need to catch up on a few of them. But it’s also time to write some movie reviews again. I’ve really fallen off during the past few months because I didn’t have an outlet — forgetting that I’ll always have this blog.

So I did write up a review for Captain Marvel, which you can read here. If you’d like an audio version, we also recorded some back-and-forth reaction for the Amusement Park Podcast. I’m hoping this helps me scrape off some rust and gets me back into regularly writing about movies again. More on that with some fun news after the first of this week’s links.

Continue reading

Captain Marvel takes a while to click, but eventually comes together for a payoff

Carol Danvers has been a C-list character in Marvel Comics for most of her 50-year history. Only within the past seven years has she held the mantle of Captain Marvel that sells her as a pretty big addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Danvers has a convoluted comic book history, one that surely made her difficult to distill into something simpler for a movie. Yet like Tony Stark before her, the lack of a signature storyline made Danvers a blank slate for Marvel Studios and the five writers (including Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nicole Perlman and Inside Out‘s Meg LaFauve) who took a crack at Captain Marvel‘s story.

A comic book overhaul in 2012 by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick (who appropriately has a quick cameo in the movie) made Danvers a tougher, more accessible character fueled by all of the doubts and obstacles encountered throughout her life. That perseverance is what pushed her into becoming an elite fighter pilot and gave her the edge to stand as an equal with Captain America, Iron Man, and the other Avengers.

Continue reading

Amusement Park Podcast: Captain Marvel Special Episode! Non-Spoilers and Spoilers

Captain Marvel has arrived! And with that, it feels like 2019 is finally beginning at the movies. The Oscars are done, people are seeing or have seen last year’s awards contenders, and wannabe blockbusters such as Alita: Battle Angel have fizzled out.

We do get into spoilers on our special episode of the Amusement Park Podcast. But that part of the discussion begins about halfway through the show, at the 21:40 mark. So be warned! And please come back and compare your thoughts on the movie after you’ve seen it.

Higher! Further! Faster!

My review of Captain Marvel can be read here

Please leave a rating and review on iTunes for us and a like on our Facebook page to help boost our signal. You can subscribe to the Amusement Park Podcast everywhere you find podcasts, including:

You can also give us feedback at amusementparkpod@gmail.com and find us on Twitter and Instagram. We’d love to hear from you! Thanks for listening!