Thoroughly Modern Reviewer

books

REVIEW: “The Journals of Incabad Reyl” by Gregory Tasoulas

Published by

Michael Cook

on

May 17, 2019

I’m really picky about the kinds of science fiction and fantasy books I like. I like stories that have a well-defined world while also not requiring an encyclopedia to understand that world. I like stories with well-defined characters who help guide the reader through this other world. So, when Gregory…
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books

REVIEW: “The Buying of Lot 37” and “Who’s a Good Boy?” Welcome to Night Vale Episodes, Volumes 3 & 4, by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink

Published by

Michael Cook

on

May 14, 2019

In case it isn’t clear, I love Welcome to Night Vale. I love the novels, I love the live shows, I love the podcast, and I love these script books, too. I always have trouble focusing on audio-only stories, so I find that having the scripts for podcasts such as Welcome to…
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movies

REVIEW: “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu”

Published by

Michael Cook

on

May 10, 2019

I’ll be totally honest – when I first heard that Warner Bros was making a live-action Pokémon movie based on some game that featured a talking Pikachu that moonlit as a detective, I was pretty skeptical. The subsequent announcement that Ryan Reynolds would be voicing the titular Detective Pikachu did intrigue…
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comics

REVIEW: “The Dreaming, Volume 1: Pathways and Emanations” (The Sandman Universe)

Published by

Michael Cook

on

May 8, 2019

One of the most appealing parts of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series was that it was one of those rare long-running comic books that had a definitive end. It ran for a total of 75 issues and, for a while, that was it. Over the years, Gaiman had returned a few times…
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movies

REVIEW: “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”

Published by

Michael Cook

on

May 5, 2019

Movies that dramatize the events of real crimes are always forced to walk a narrow tight-rope. They have to be careful not to gratuitously show too much of the real violence and potentially glorify real murders while also not focusing too much on the wrong aspects and showing too little…
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tv shows

REVIEW: “American Gods” S02E08 – Moon Shadow

Published by

Michael Cook

on

April 28, 2019

I honestly don’t know what I was expecting from this second season finale of American Gods but I can pretty confidently say it wasn’t this. And I mean that in the absolute best way humanly possible. The summary provided for the episode was just vague enough that all anybody really knew…
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movies

REVIEW: “Avengers: Endgame” (Spoilers!)

Published by

Michael Cook

on

April 27, 2019

I’m actually impressed at how much of a narrative mess this film is. Maybe I’m not the target audience for it. Maybe you have to really, really love the Marvel movies in order for this film to feel even a little bit satisfying on a narrative level. Or, maybe it’s…
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tv shows

REVIEW: “American Gods” S02E07 – Treasure of the Sun

Published by

Michael Cook

on

April 21, 2019

I’m on record as not loving last season’s A Prayer for Mad Sweeney. It’s not that it was a bad episode or anything, but it was the penultimate episode of the season and, instead of focusing on setting up the finale in any meaningful way, it spent all of its…
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movies

REVIEW: “Hellboy” (2019)

Published by

Michael Cook

on

April 19, 2019

I love the Guillermo del Toro Hellboy movies. Like, really love them. They’re so damn stylish and well made and well-acted. So, with that in mind, it was always gonna be hard for any Hellboy film not made by del Toro (or starring Ron Perlman as Hellboy) to truly succeed for me.…
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movies

REVIEW: “Pet Sematary” (2019)

Published by

Michael Cook

on

April 16, 2019

Stephen King adaptations are notoriously hit or miss. For every decent one (the It miniseries from the ’90s or the It movie from 2017), there are at least two bad ones (nearly every other Stephen King miniseries, The Dark Tower, and the Carrie remake from a few years ago). It…
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Welcome to

Thoroughly Modern Reviewer

Your destination for all things movies, TV, and books. Here, you’ll find reviews and tidbits from your Thoroughly Modern Reviewer, Michael.

Michael has been reviewing movies, TV shows, books, and more since 2017 for Thoroughly Modern Reviewer and, more recently, as a critic for Geek Vibes Nation.