My Own Little World

The first two seasons of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt  were a great way to spend a couple of weeks.  I loved them  because of their relentless quirkiness and optimism, and I was so looking forward to the third season. Regardless of whether it would make the show better or not, I knew I would wildly enjoy the time I would spend with these characters and their comedy. Once again, the show swept me off my feet. The third season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt  is the best season from the show yet (by a slim margin, mind you), and I think it's mostly due to how it doesn't let up on the gas at all throughout its thirteen episodes. There's so many things that contribute to this, from the brand of comedy that Tina Fey pushes so hard on all her shows to the cast's chemistry and performances to the simplicity and innocence of Kimmy's character. (Some of these things could be copied and pasted from my review of the first two seasons, so I'm just going to touch on what cha...

In the past 25 years, there has not been another show like Friends . No show has been more universally well-liked throughout its run and inserted itself into culture as much. No show has been as popular as it has been after its run has ended (no thanks to Netflix). No show has as much hype on the "let's make a reunion" train as this one. Friends  is a really good show, don't get me wrong. It deserves most, if not all, of that acclaim. That being said, there is a certain level of polish to the show that makes  Friends  feel very tailored to be a popular show. This level of polish does make the show good and even great for a majority of its run, but there's also part of me that feels it could have taken more risks later on in the show's run to make it feel a bit fresher rather than rely on its established formula. The one thing that definitely was perfect about Friends  was the casting. David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa ...

I loved the first Guardians of the Galaxy  film. It was so relentlessly original and infectious, and up until the release of Captain America: Civil War  it was my favorite movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I loved the cast, the writing, the soundtrack, and virtually everything else about it (save the villain; Marvel almost never does well there). Naturally, after the success of that first film, Marvel decided to attempt a repeat, bringing back the same cast, the same writer and director, and the same talking tree and raccoon. Marvel's sequels have usually at least in some ways improved on the originals, and sometimes they have struck gold, so I was quite hopeful for Vol. 2 . In some ways, this film does quite well, mostly due to the clever humor. Part of this is because of the writing and how fast and furious the jokes come, but I feel a majority of the humor's success comes from the chemistry of the cast and how everyone has different comedic slants. Every charact...

A little over a week ago, I finished my sophomore year at Olivet Nazarene University. To be honest, that statement really doesn't mean much (and those of you at Olivet who aren't in a science major can back me up there). A lot of my time so far has been focused on adjusting to life away from home, finding new friends, and figuring out what to actually pursue in my four-year program there. Difficult schoolwork? Not so much. The toughest part of classes this semester has been waking up for my 8 AM class three days a week. So, what's happened? Did I hit a sophomore slump in any areas? Not really. This has actually been one of the best years of my life. Between a lot of excellent classes, making some new friends, and finding romance, it's been really incredible. I have no complaints and very few regrets going into the summer. Here's some notes about stuff going on: My grades ended up pretty good, even in the classes I hated. The best thing about this semester...

(I need to open this review with something a little different than usual: a disclaimer. Typically, the reviews on my blog and the ratings I give should be some kind of indication as to whether or not you should watch or listen to something. This time, that is not the case. 13 Reasons Why  depicts sexual assault and suicide in quite graphic manners that could bring emotional and/or mental instability to those who have either gone through these traumatic acts (either as a first or third party), as well as those considering suicide. Therefore, despite the fact that I will give a positive verdict at the end of this review, if the things that the show depicts could be too much for you, then I urge you to not even risk watching this show. Your emotional and mental health is not worth it.) I remember when I read Jay Asher's novel 13 Reasons Why . That thing was one heck of a way to tell the story of a dead girl in a fresh way, and that made me want to see how it could be depicted on...