On paper, Criminal Record, AppleTV+’s new crime thriller, sounds like a sure bet. The series, which twists and turns through a rehashing of a past murder investigation that might have landed the wrong man in prison, stars the exceptional pairing of Peter Capaldi in the role of grizzled elder Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty and […]
TV
What If? Season Two Review
I will admit to not be a huge fan of season one of What If?, the animated MCU series that allowed for a bit of fun to emerge into the convoluted world of Marvel – and that allowed some of our dearly departed characters the chance to appear in some more stories (even if not […]
I’m in Love with the Villainess Spoiler-Filled Review
I’m in Love with the Villainess, also known as ILTV, Watashi, or Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijō, is a yuri isekai and romantic comedy anime. It’s based on a Japanese light novel series by Inori and illustrated by Hanagata, serialized between 2018 and 2021. It was later adapted into an ongoing manga, novel series, and […]
Tabby McTat Review
The BBC’s adaptation of Tabby McTat is the second feline animated story to be broadcast on British TV this festive period. Tabby McTat is a busker’s cat. He performs every day with Fred (Rob Brydon), but when Fred is injured chasing a theft, he leaves Tabby McTat as a stray. Tabby McTat gets taken in by Sock […]
Mog’s Christmas Review
Channel 4 has developed a tradition of adapting popular children’s books into animated specials for Christmas. 2023 sees the second book in Judith Kerr’s Mog series getting this treatment. Mog is a dim and forgetful cat that the Thomas family owns. Her peaceful life gets disturbed by a strange tradition the humans celebrate. This includes putting […]
Doctor Who – The Church on Ruby Road Review
You know your enjoying the latest incarnation of Doctor Who when your only complaint is that the latest sonic screwdriver is a bridge too far in terms of qualifying as anything in the realm of a “screwdriver.” Because that is such a minor quibble to have in terms of the story, characters, and aesthetic of […]
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is built on a pretty interesting premise: What would happen if, in modern times, the children of the Greek gods were made aware of their parentage and found themselves in a tug-of-war between various gods for control of Mount Olympus? After all, what adolescent – and despite broad appeal, these […]
Burkely’s Top Twenty Anime TV Shows of 2023
In my last post, I chose ten (Western) animated series which I felt were the best of 2023. However, of the over 40 reviews I wrote in the past year, 14 of them were anime. Originally I was planning to make this a top 10 list, but I decided that was too limiting, and added […]
Rick and Morty – Mort: Ragnarick Review
The penultimate Rick and Morty’s seventh season sees the titular pair going on an adventure into the afterlife. Rick discovers that the afterlife does exist after murdering Jerry seven times. The afterlife can be a source of infinite energy. To harvest this energy Rick concocts an overly complex scheme involving getting himself murdered by Bigfoot and […]
Burkely’s Top Ten Animated TV Shows of 2023
On December 13th, fellow writer Jean Henegan published Pop Culture Maniacs‘ annual Top Ten TV shows list. I decided to put together my own list of my top ten animated series for 2023. I’ll be focusing only on Western animated series, not anime or films. Like Jean pointed out, this year, for television, was tumultuous, […]