Screener Squad Archives -

UNDER THE STARS MOVIE REVIEW Regarding true love, I give you this quote from the pages of “A Wizard and Glass” by Stephen King. “True love, like any other strong and addicting drug, is boring—once the tale of encounter and discovery is told, kisses quickly grow stale and caresses tiresome…except, of course, to those who […]

THE ABANDONS SERIES REVIEW ‘The way of the gun’ crashes against the power of wealth while the law watches with a big bucket of popcorn in this Netflix series by The Shield and Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, The Abandons. Fiona Nolan (Lena Headey) is a ruthless calculating homesteader who adopted several orphans to […]

THE CHAIR COMPANY TV REVIEW It seems like cringe comedy has evolved quite the bit over the past decade. Some would say that both the UK & US The Office really kicked off the trend. But now with comedians like Nathan Fielder and Tim Robinson, they’ve taken the comedic style to a whole new level […]

JINGLE BELL HEIST MOVIE REVIEW Nice Christmas tree you got there with all that silver and gold on it. Be a shame if something happened to it. Jingle Bell Heist follows Sophia (Olivia Holt) who is all dressed up in red and green, and making cash at the Christmas department store adorned with Christmas trees […]

LEFT-HANDED GIRL MOVIE REVIEW Director Shih-Ching Tsou once said “I fell in love with my own city again. I spent 23 years of my life in Taipei. That’s home. That’s where my family is. I can never remove that from my brain or my body, and I notice every little detail of the city now. […]

THE LOWDOWN SERIES REVIEW Mark Twain once said “If you tell the truth, you won’t have to remember anything”. This great advice seems to go largely unobserved in the Oklahoma city of Tulsa in the FX series, The Lowdown. Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) is a bookstore owner that also happens to moonlight as a self […]

TRAIN DREAMS MOVIE REVIEW Denis Johnson once said “If you write fiction, you’re by yourself. There are certain advantages to that in that you don’t have to explain anything to anybody”. An adaptation of one of Johnson’s most cherished novellas is now streaming on Netflix, Train Dreams. Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) is a man living […]

BUNNY MOVIE REVIEW There are so many songs about New York from all kinds of artists. From crooners to rappers, the adulation of the big apple can be heard world wide, but the best kind of harmonies that make up the most memorable stories are from the voices of the communities within the city itself. […]

STRANGER THINGS – SEASON 5 VOLUME 1 REVIEW The fifth and final season of Stranger Things might leave you feeling nostalgic, not for the 1980s, but for the halcyon days of 2016; back when a streaming series with no pre-release buzz could become a surprise word-of-mouth hit, when unknown child actors were actually the same […]

HAZBIN HOTEL SEASON 2 REVIEW Heaven’s extermination of Hell’s sinners in order to keep the sinner population below the numbers of the righteous has been thwarted by Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen). Along with her girlfriend Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz) she runs the Hazbin Hotel, a place sinners can go for redemption. Hell isn’t forever anymore after […]

CHAINSAW MAN – THE MOVIE: REZE ARC Tatsuki Fujimoto’s most hellish manga creation has rev’ed up from the the page, onto the tv screens, and moving onto the biggest screens of silver and into our hearts. We are talking about Chainsaw Man The Movie- Reze Arc directed by anime key artist and showrunning legend Tatsuya […]

THE PAPER SERIES REVIEW What are some things you can use the newspaper for? Paper mache for a float or some kind of school art project. Catching droppings at the bottom of your bird cage. A prop for a costume at halloween or a play. However it may surprise you to learn that in the […]

MUZZLE: CITY OF WOLVES MOVIE REVIEW Surprise! A sequel to a movie you didn’t know exists! Well, at the very least The Screener Squad didn’t know about it. Muzzle: City of Wolves storms onto the scene as the surprise sequel to 2023’s Muzzle, once again centered on Aaron Eckhart’s LAPD K-9 officer Jake Rosser. Still […]

STAR WARS: VISIONS SEASON 3 REVIEW Star Wars: Visions returns with nine bold new animated shorts that push the galaxy far, far away into fresh artistic territory while continuing a few fan-favorite stories like The Duel, The Ninth Jedi, and The Village Bride, as well as 6 brand new visions. Each short brings a different […]

CHAD POWERS SERIES REVIEW Its the 4th quarter with the clock ticking and the game on the line in front of a sea of fans and that one person in the stands that matters more than anything. Lesser men would crumble under the pressure and the moment calls for a true hero. Unfortunately, that’s not […]

BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER MOVIE REVIEW Did you know that there are other casinos in the world and Las Vegas doesn’t corner the market on gambling? It’s true! Also the tables offer more than poker and blackjack. That’s right, sometimes the cards are used for a game called baccarat. It’s a simple game in […]

NOUVELLE VAGUE MOVIE REVIEW In 1959, film critic Jean-Luc Godard set out to direct his first feature, “À bout de souffle” or Breathless as it is known in English. Following Godard’s oft quoted dictum that ‘All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun’, Breathless tells the story of a louche […]

PREDATOR: BADLANDS MOVIE REVIEW Director/writer Dan Trachtenberg gets his third go-round helming a Predator film (definitely watch Prey and Predator: Killer of Killers). This time he gets a theatrical release, like his previous two should have, and again he finds a way to tell a story very different from your traditional Predator film entry. Dek […]

HEDDA MOVIE REVIEW That Gatsby, now he was great, a guy who knew how to throw a party. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. You know who else could throw a luxurious party and all for the sake of killing […]

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE MOVIE REVIEW Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide. John Woo’s Broken Arrow. Heck, even Michael Bay’s The Rock. What do these films have in common? Bad men have THE BOMB and they are threatening to launch. Okay, Gene Hackman as a bad man in Crimson Tide is sort of debatable but that’s what […]

SLOW HORSES SEASON 5 REVIEW Slow Horses Season 5 wastes no time setting up the stakes, starting with a brutal mass shooting in the heart of London. This kicks off a series of terrorist attacks in a politically divided city during the midst of a fraught mayoral campaign. Ordinarily, this would be a job for […]

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING SEASON 5 REVIEW After four seasons of murders in the building, you would think the titular building would be the least desirable apartment complex in all of Manhattan. Fortunately for fans of Only Murders in the Building, people are still dying to move into The Arconia, home of true crime […]

THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE MOVIE REVIEW In the 1992 film The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, fictional character Peyton Flanders said “When your husband makes love to you, it’s *my* face he sees. When your baby’s hungry, it’s *my* breast that feeds him. Look at you! When push comes to shove… you can’t […]

TASK SERIES REVIEW Remember Mare of Easttown on HBO? A self contained mini series with three acts about an FBI agent with no extended universe, no hanging threads or unresolved plots, and also it was for grown ups? We were watching week to week the dominoes being set up by the hand of cruelty and […]

V/H/S HALLOWEEN MOVIE REVIEW Close down that YouTube browser and put the leftover creepy pasta in the fridge. The time of year has arrived for short form horror films in a nice packaged anthology! Presenting the eighth film in the franchise, V/H/S Halloween. A collection of scary cinema icons and prospects present six chilling tales […]

THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 MOVIE REVIEW Author Ruth Ware once said “The only advice I can give to aspiring writers is to write the book you would want to read, and hope other people agree”. I don’t know about reading but Netflix sees you, Ruth, and is hoping A Woman in Cabin 10 is […]

MR. SCORSESE SERIES REVIEW Martin Scorsese has been one of our most acclaimed filmmakers for so long, that it’s easy to forget his reputation and career weren’t always as secure as they are now. Scorsese has been the subject of many articles, books, and documentaries before, so it’s hard to imagine anything that hasn’t been […]

STAY MOVIE REVIEW One of the most famous and spooky scary EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) ever documented was the phrase “Get out of my house”. Often a haunted house tale is a story of a restless spirit that doesn’t want anyone in its space and someone figuring out why it’s so restless. Move on? I […]

MARVEL ZOMBIES SERIES REVIEW The dead have risen… and they’ve got superpowers. Marvel Zombies shambles onto Disney Plus, expanding the fan-favorite What If…? episode that first teased this gruesome alternate Marvel universe. Inspired by the 2005 comic series by Robert Kirkman, the animated show imagines a world where a zombie virus infects Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, […]

STEVE MOVIE REVIEW A famous monologue in the Irvine Welsh novel Trainspotting reads “Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pishing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total […]

HAUNTED HOTEL SERIES REVIEW Whenever I check into a hotel I know I’m in good hands when I see that delicious mint on my pillow. Chocolate and fresh breath? I am loved. Worst case scenario? Cold water showers, paper thin walls, no mints, and a diabolical room 1408 situation. For those of you that haven’t […]

PEACEMAKER SEASON 2 REVIEW Who would have guessed that a D list superhero like Chris Smith AKA Peacemaker would be the cornerstone of DC Comics latest cinematic universe, or that the role would offer former wrestler turned actor John Cena the meatiest role of his career, thus far? Nobody, that’s who. And yet here we […]

PLAY DIRTY MOVIE REVIEW Trim the tree, put up the lights, hang the stockings with care: there’s an action film on Amazon Prime with Shane Black as writer/director…Christmas will soon be here! Inspired by the popular Parker book series by Donald E Westlake, Play Dirty starring Mark Wahlberg, is about a heist gone wrong that […]

HOUSE ON EDEN MOVIE REVIEW All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray. I went to a church, and it was so spoooooky SCARY! Halloween is coming and Shudder is ready to assume its final form. Director, writer, and actres Kris Collins finds the camera and supplies the footage for a haunted house […]

THE MAN IN MY BASEMENT MOVIE REVIEW Charles (Corey Hawkins) has fallen on the worst of times in the most apathetic of decades, the 90s. He doesn’t have a job, the bank is continually threatening to foreclose on his house, and he is burdened with a past full of trauma and anger. His ancestral domicile […]

KILLING FAITH MOVIE REVIEW It was a time of tumbleweeds, rawhide, and ghost towns. A time of doctors who traded in bottles of medicine to find the bottom of bottles made of dead families and glass. Ranches with too many horses in a one horse town with no name. Well, the town had a name, […]

ALL OF YOU MOVIE REVIEW Criss Jami once wrote, “To say that one waits a lifetime for his soulmate to come around is a paradox. People eventually get sick of waiting, take a chance on someone, and by the art of commitment become soulmates, which takes a lifetime to perfect.” Beautiful, profound, and thought provoking. […]

ALIEN: EARTH SERIES REVIEW The common online geek response to a hyped up writer/director being giving the reins to a beloved classic sci-fi franchise is “get away from her you bitch!”. With a track record that includes the Legion and Fargo TV Series, at least some geeks were excited to give Noah Hawley a crack […]

DEAD OF WINTER MOVIE REVIEW Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said “Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak”. Had he ever been to Minnesota during ice fishing season? Dead of Winter is the story of Barb’s (Emma Thompson) solo pilgrimage through northern Minnesota. It’s an annual trip she used to take with her husband […]

NIGHT OF THE REAPER MOVIE REVIEW Once upon a time we all had a babysitter and once upon a time within that once upon a time we all watched babysitters get massacred by a maniac around Halloween. From the network that brought you such nostalgia as “Kids on bikes solving mysteries” and “Your ghost isn’t […]

DEMON SLAYER INFINITY CASTLE MOVIE REVIEW Over 220 million copies sold world wide across its 23 volumes. Adapted into an anime of 4 seasons and 63 episodes all translated into several languages propelling it into a world wide phenomenon. An empire of merchandising that rivals that of Star wars and The Simpsons. Writer/artist Koyoharu Gotouge’s […]

WEDNESDAY SEASON 2 REVIEW It’s back! Wednesday! No, I’m not talking about hump day, I’m talking about the eldest daughter of that creepy, kookie, mysteriously ookie, all together spooky Addams Family. Snap Snap. Wednesday, the hero of Nevermore, returns to find her new found popularity a dreadful nuisance. New Principal Dort (Steve Buscemi) is bursting […]

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB MOVIE REVIEW When four retirees (Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie) trade in bingo night for cold-case crime solving, they get more than they bargained for after stumbling into a very real murder. Suddenly, the cozy English village is buzzing with secrets, suspects, and amateur detective work that’s […]

BANG BANG MOVIE REVIEW Float like a Butterfly. Sting like a bee. Get your head examined and live with CTE. This quote is not quite right, but it’s the reality of what boxers are left with after their time in the ring is at an end and the promoters high tail it outta town. Former […]

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST MOVIE REVIEW Rick Rubin once said “There’s a tremendous power in using the least amount of information to get a point across” and Spike Lee once said “I think it is very important that films make people look at what they’ve forgotten”. Apple Plus presents Highest 2 Lowest a film directed by […]

LOVE, BROOKLYN MOVIE REVIEW Everybody loves a fluff piece, and why not? In these trying times, feeling good is a hallmark of being human and keeping the hope alive. What borough of a city is more of an example of hope and prosperity than Brooklyn?. I know what you’re thinking: a lot of parts of […]

THE THREESOME MOVIE REVIEW Have you ever had a crush on someone for so long that you’d be willing to do anything just to hook up with them intimately? Even agree to a third person being invited to the bedroom? Director Chad Hartigan and writer Ethan Ogilby answer this question with a sexy cast in […]

THE TOXIC AVENGER MOVIE REVIEW The janitor becomes the hero, the mop becomes the weapon, and the toxic sludge becomes… well, a makeover. The Toxic Avenger returns in a reimagined reboot of the cult classic, telling the story of Winston (Peter Dinklage), an everyman who finds himself transformed into a grotesque but oddly noble vigilante […]

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS SEASON 3 REVIEW As One Of Us bids farewell to Jordan in her final review, the Screener Squad sets course for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3—where Pike, crew, and canon collide, and destinies get teased with every warp jump. This season delivers ten wildly different adventures: a tense […]

HAPPY GILMORE 2 MOVIE REVIEW Creed, Maverick, The Colour of Money. All defined in film terms as “The Legacy Sequel”. Whether it’s an entirely new Star Wars trilogy or Ridley Scott milking his ideas before a big fan of the franchise on the come-up in tinseltown does it for him. The legacy sequel is front-loaded […]

MY MOTHER’S WEDDING MOVIE REVIEW Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today not to exchange vows, but to talk about Kristin Scott Thomas’s directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding. Three daughters return home for the wedding of their twice-widowed mother, Diana—and with them comes more baggage than could ever fit in the bridal registry. All three […]

STICK SERIES REVIEW Mark Twain once said “Golf is a good walk spoiled”. Which is a rude way to open up a show about golf. But perhaps the show in question isn’t so much about golf. Perhaps it’s about a walk through life, spoiled by the many harsh realities we all endure on our day-to-day […]

WHAT WE HIDE MOVIE REVIEW When it comes to raising a family there’s a lot hidden from the children as they come of age, and a lot to teach about what we hide from others when it comes to maintaining innocence and the beauty of childlike wonder. Easter eggs in the spring or the messiness […]

FIXED MOVIE REVIEW Genndy Tartakovsky’s Fixed plays like the result of a studio willing to fund the juvenile machinations of a middle school kids’ dare. At its center is Bull (Adam Devine), a gentle dog who learns he’s slated for neutering the next morning. Facing the end of his manhood, he sets off on a […]

THE PICKUP MOVIE REVIEW Eddie Murphy returns with The Pickup, another straight-to-streaming action-comedy. Murphy stars as Russell, a long-time armored truck driver on the verge of retirement, who finds his last stretch on the job complicated when he’s paired with Travis (Pete Davidson). Travis dreams of becoming a cop, but his lack of tact—and basic […]

KING OF THE HILL – SEASON 14 REVIEW From 1997 to 2010, The Hill family has comforted audiences with heart warming and thought provoking episodic adventures about a propane salesman who also sells propane accessories, navigating work life, marriage, and raising a boy that ain’t right. No matter what was thrown at Hank Hill (Mike […]

SHAMAN MOVIE REVIEW There is missionary work all over the world, bringing the word of God to all sorts of places, even places you would not expect like a remote Ecuadorian volcano! Director Antonio Negret and writer Daniel Negret present another horror summer film feature in limited release, Shaman. Candice (Sara Canning) is all about […]

ET TU MOVIE REVIEW Lou Diamond Phillips is Brent – a miserable director forced to endure weeks of his own awful community theater production of Julius Caesar. Worse still, he suspects his wife is having an affair with his dim-witted leading man. But when the theater’s janitor reveals a dark secret, Brent may finally have […]

STRANGE HARVEST MOVIE REVIEW When it comes to successful harvesting, all you need is a strong work ethic, a team of farmers dedicated to the crop, and a handful of teachers with patience to cultivate the next generation of harvesters. This is community, this is life. Every once in a while though that community turns […]

HELL MOTEL SERIES REVIEW It’s a dark and stormy night and you’ll never make it to your final destination on these roads. Better check into a motel for the night. It would be quite unfortunate if that was your final destination after all! What you never know about these seedy looking places just off the […]

RICK AND MORTY – SEASON 8 REVIEW Since Rick and Morty debuted in 2013 (yes, it’s really been that long), it has grown from an absurd sci-fi comedy into a layered, multiverse-spanning saga full of emotional depth, dark humor, and some surprisingly tight continuity. Rick has evolved from a detached god-complex genius to a man […]

POKER FACE SEASON 2 REVIEW Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne are back with another season of Poker Face, their acclaimed murder-of-the-week mystery series. Charlie Cale (Lyonne) has an unusual talent, she’s a human bullshit detector who instantly knows whenever someone is lying. When her gift gets her into trouble with a Las Vegas crime family, […]

MONSTER ISLAND MOVIE REVIEW Secluded island paradise? Yes please? Oh wait a sec, it’s in the middle of WWII and instead of a getaway you’re a marooned castaway, chained to an enemy soldier. Maybe not such a great vacation. What could be worse than that? How about a creature from the black lagoon? Monster Island […]

LAZARUS SERIES REVIEW Sometimes when the world has got you down you just wanna take the edge off. Doctor Skinner has created a drug called Hapna which has all the benefits of a pain killer without any of the detrimental benefits. Physical or mental pain? Hapna can take it all away, and it’s over the […]

SAINT CLARE MOVIE REVIEW You know what they say about walking home alone at night, especially if you are a promising young woman. Always have a buddy. What if a buddy would just get in the way of your calling; a calling by God to take down all the sexual deviants and pathetic men that […]

THE BEAR – SEASON 4 REVIEW The kitchen is open, the countdown is ticking, and the heat has never been higher. After last season’s rocky launch of The Bear, the dream is still alive—but barely. Uncle Jimmy’s slapped a ticking clock on the whole operation, Sydney’s eyeing the exit, and Ritchie’s trying to plate leadership […]

MOBLAND SERIES REVIEW Oi, pull up a chair, mind the blood on the floor, and keep your voice down—we’re talkin’ business. Serious business. The kind with blokes in leather coats, dodgy accents, and enough bullets flying to make Tarantino blush. Lewayne and T.C. gather in the smoky One Of Us backroom, conspirin’ in hushed tones, […]

MURDERBOT MOVIE REVIEW They Might be Giants once rocked out to the lyrics “Robot parade, robot parade, wave the flags that the robots made”. As any Sci-Fi fanatic knows, the overthrow of man by the cold steel hands of a robot all begins with that first step into the land of free will. Adapted from […]

ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY MOVIE REVIEW Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road, but what if time didn’t grab you by the wrist and direct you where to go? What if time violently chucked you 20 years into the future every time you sneezed? Written and directed by Yang Li, Escape from […]

THE OLD GUARD 2 MOVIE REVIEW “And here we are, we’re the princes of the universe. Here we belong, fighting for survival. We’ve come to be the rulers of you all”-Freddie Mercury. Who knew that this one lyric would best describe the long awaited sequel to the smash hit The Old Guard on Netflix? Andy […]

IRONHEART PART 2 REVIEW After the events of the heirloom heist going south, Riri finds herself no longer allied with her criminal crew, sees her new friend Joe AKA Ezekiel Stain hauled off to prison, and her AI N.A.T.A.L.I.E. dejected after Riri considers deleting her. Marvel TV’s Ironheart has come to a conclusion with many […]

HEADS OF STATE MOVIE REVIEW There have been some great entries into the action-comedy road trip genre, with films like Tango & Cash, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Nice Guys, Midnight Run, and recently Deadpool & Wolverine. Now, Idris Elba and John Cena are using their combined charisma and endless charm in the genre. This […]

ECHO VALLEY MOVIE REVIEW Kate Garretson (Julianne Moore) tends to all the pretty horses on a ranch for training riders, but her roof is at risk of collapsing. Her life is already in a state of disrepair after the tragic death of her wife. $9000 could fix the roof, but the turmoil in the home […]

IRONHEART PART 1 REVIEW Disney Marvel has dropped a new MCU series starring Dominique Thorne following her role as the tech-genius Riri Williams, first introduced to us in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The show picks up after the events of that film and takes Riri back to her hometown of Chicago where she reconnects with […]

BEST WISHES TO ALL MOVIE REVIEW When you’re a kid you don’t really notice the routines of your parents until you leave the house and take a peek through the kitchen window. On the outside looking in you might notice some things overlooked by the wide eyes of your innocent childhood. Father stressed about work. […]