Tag Archives: review

Farmed and Dangerous, S1E1 “Oiling the Food Chain”: A Web Show Review

Farmed&Dangerous

The first episode of Farmed and Dangerous begins not when the twenty minutes start counting down, but in a way that works exclusively because of the format. As a Hulu-exclusive show it of course kicks off with a 30 second commercial, but this one features antagonist Buck Marshall, who tells us that “surely there’s something better to watch on Hulu. Avoid Food Inc., though. More hippie propaganda.”

It’s a delightful introduction to the show as a whole, and establishes the smarmy villainous businessman persona that Ray Wise’s character is going to be embodying throughout.  Continue reading

Ms. Marvel, #1: A Comic Book Review

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There was a lot hinging on this first issue, and that’s putting it in the lightest way possible. Not only is Marvel releasing a book featuring a brand new character [in secret identity, not heroic alter-ego], they’ve chosen to also make her a female, Pakistani, and a Muslim. How well this title ends up doing will strongly affect the publisher’s future decisions on diversity down the, and in their, line. In other words, this had better be incredible.

I picked up a copy this morning and read it cover to cover. I witnessed all that Wilson, Alphona, and Herring had made, and it was very good. Continue reading

2 Broke Girls, S3E16 “And the ATM”: A TV Review

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After so many weeks where the focus of this show has been decidedly anything but what the title implies we have an episode that is all about the Benjamins. Last time we were with Max and Caroline the snarky one had found out that her boyfriend [yeah, things were getting serious] Deke was a rich kid. Cue the feeling of betrayal, brace yourselves for the emotional fallout.

Her decision is to break up by breaking into his dumpster house and taking back her toothbrush and her second favourite gnome, Gnomosexual, both clear signs to Caroline that this relationship might actually have a pretty decent foundation. Even though Deke catches her in the act and speaks to the heart of her actions [“you’re too big a babypants to tell me you’re breaking up with me”] her reason is unassailable: the rich and poor don’t mix.  Continue reading

Grammarly: An Online Platform Review

I tried Grammarly’s check grammar free of charge because, well, let’s just say that I’ve been skeptical of any sort of program that claims to be able to assist or improve writing. Sure, I write a fair amount as you’ve probably noticed, but I edit quite a bit as well [every post that goes up on this blog, for one, so any mistakes you may find are unfortunately all on me]. Suspicion of any product that may eliminate the line of work I’d like to be in is warranted, I think.

Not only that, but back when I was still working as a copywriter I was asked to try out some software that would be used to “spin” articles, turning old content into fresh, new content that would draw search engine attention to our company. Unfortunately the program [the ironically named The Best Spinner] only served as a sort of glorified thesaurus, providing alternatives to words used, something that any accomplished writer could handle themselves, while rearranging sentences as well. 

So I tried out Grammarly with equal parts skepticism and trepidation- would this be an online platform that would make me, and others editors to boot, obsolete?

grammarlylogo Continue reading

2 Broke Girls, S3E15 “And the Icing on the Cake”: A TV Review

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I don’t know if I made it clear last week, but I really like Deke’s dumpster house. It evokes the whole Tiny House Movement that’s going on which actually helps make it appear less cartoonish, and it also proves just how much I loved The Boxcar Children when I was younger. All that being said, the prospect of there being a wine and cheese party in such a small space just oozes with promise, sort of like how the garbage outside of Deke’s place oozes with . . . other things.

In the hands of a more capable director and more creative writers, I’m ideally thinking the crowd from fellow CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the majority of this episode could’ve taken place in the green dumpster no problem. There were so many interactions to work with, what with the whole diner crew plus Deke and Chef Nicolas and Bebe. Unfortunately the focus was pulled to the two title and the Pastry Schoolers don’t really mix in with the Dirty Diners [those are their gang names now and I stand by them]. Continue reading

2 Broke Girls, S3E14 “And the Dumpster Sex”: A TV Review

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This episode of 2 Broke Girls . . . I think probably the best way to sum up my feelings about this episode, humour-wise.

“So you thought that in your head and your brain was like: ‘That’s okay to say?'”

“That’d be funny if you got jokes.”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I’m not this show’s target audience when it comes to comedy. It’s not like I’ve forgotten that, either, it’s just that in the 21 minutes and 45 seconds of this episode I heard five iterations of the joke “brown chicken, brown cow” and that’s four and a half times too many.

And now I’m going to drop that thread completely, because no one tunes into these reviews to hear me whinge about how it wasn’t funny. I mean, this still manages to be a far cry from that one episode with 2 Chainz, so I count my blessings no matter how small they may be.  Continue reading