Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the His Dark Materials franchise in the Pop Culture Maniacs podcast
TV
Star Trek: Discovery – People of Earth/Forget Me Not Review
In the interest of time, I will be reviewing Star Trek: Discovery on a biweekly schedule, covering two episodes at a time. If there’s a particularly momentous episode that calls for a single review, I will break the schedule to cover it, but covering two episodes at a time will allow me to link together […]
The Mandalorian – Chapter Ten: The Passenger Review
For all my harping about wanting to see a more complex and serialized story on The Mandalorian, I appreciated this week’s frenetic stand-alone episode. Sure, there are now two major dangling plots in the series (between Moff Gideon still hunting Mando and The Child via a network of bounty hunters – some of whom got […]
His Dark Materials Season Two: What to Expect
His Dark Materials is coming back for a second season. The first season was a critical success, especially for its casting, production values and special effects, but the audience reaction was a bit more mixed. As a fan of the novels it seems like a good time to explain what can be expected. Season One […]
We Are Who We Are (Spoiler-Free) Review
It’s rare to find a show that treats modern adolescents with as much care and grace as HBO’s We Are Who We Are. And it’s equally as rare to find a cast of young actors as talented and emotionally connected to their characters as we have in the series. From the minds of Paolo Giordano, […]
The Mandalorian – Chapter Nine: The Marshal Review
Well, that was quite the bait and switch with a classic Star Wars character – only to throw in a literal last second twist. But I’ll get to that later on in the review. Welcome back to our weekly reviews of The Mandalorian! While I didn’t love the first season, I have higher hopes for […]
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Halloween Heists: A Ranking
Halloween is upon us. It’s a time for fun, festivities, costumes, partying, and sweets. Since 2014, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has had their traditional Halloween Heist where the squad competes for an item. There were elaborate plots and hijinks, lots of betrayals, and offered some of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s most memorable moments. It’s a TV Halloween tradition that […]
The Queen’s Gambit (Spoiler-Free) Review
As I heard the rapturous reviews for Netflix’s new limited series The Queen’s Gambit (adapted from the 1983 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis) rolling out this past week, I’ll admit I wasn’t completely sold. A series about a female chess prodigy in the 1960s? Really? I mean, it’s chess. Not exactly a […]
Star Trek: Discovery – That Hope Is You/Far From Home Review
Huh. That’s my general reaction to the two-part third season premiere of Star Trek: Discovery. While some of the show’s problems have been alleviated by the 900+ year time jump to the future, the series still relies too much on style over substance when it matters the most. First the good: Discovery continues to have […]
Pop Culture Maniacs Podcast Episode Five: Arts and Sports during COVID
Kieran Freemantle and Jean Henegan discuss the impact of the COVID pandemic on art and sports.