⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This review discusses major moments from Season 15**

I absolutely loved this season from start to finish.

After how much I enjoyed Season 14, I was excited to see where the show would go next. Somehow, Season 15 managed to be even better. It took everything that worked in the first new season and leaned into it even more.

Ten episodes just wasn't enough. By the time I reached the finale, I was already wishing there were ten more.

One thing that really stood out was how heartfelt so many of the stories were.

The episode where Hank tries to help Peggy through menopause was one of my favorites. It perfectly captures who Hank Hill is. He doesn't always understand what someone is going through, and he certainly isn't great at expressing his emotions, but he'll do everything he can to support the people he loves. Everyone deserves a Hank in their life.

The relationship between Bobby and Connie also gets some great development. Instead of pretending every relationship is perfect, the show lets them disagree, argue, and work through their problems together. That's one of the things King of the Hill has always done well. Relationships take work, and the show isn't afraid to show that.

There are plenty of great comedy moments too.

Luke Jr. is a fantastic addition, and I loved seeing Boomhauer, Bill, and Kahn team up. That group ended up being one of my favorite parts of the season, and it was especially fun seeing Kahn taken down a peg. Dale is somehow even more Dale than ever, and I mean that in the best possible way.

If I had one criticism, it's how the show handled Nancy and John Redcorn.

I wasn't a fan of suggesting that Nancy was cheating again. One of the things I appreciated about the original series was that she grew beyond that storyline. It felt like she had earned that redemption, and it showed real growth for her character.

I understand why the writers may have gone in that direction, especially since it serves as something of a farewell to John Redcorn following the passing of Jonathan Joss. Even so, I don't think it was the right choice. Unless I missed something, the only indication that Nancy was cheating again came from a reference to internet comments. Internet comments say all kinds of things, and I don't think that was enough to undo years of character development.

It's not a huge issue. It was just the one nitpick I had in an otherwise fantastic season.

Overall, Season 15 reminded me why I love King of the Hill. The humor is still there. The heart is still there. The characters still feel like real people instead of caricatures, and that's something very few sitcoms can pull off after all these years.

I'm already ready for more. Ten episodes flew by, and now I'm just sitting here hoping we don't have to wait long for Season 16.

Rating: Worth a Watch

I went into Roofman not knowing much beyond the basic premise: a guy robs McDonald's restaurants by drilling through the roof, escapes prison, and hides inside a Toys "R" Us. It's such a bizarre true story that I was immediately interested.

The movie ended up being a lot more charming than I expected.

Channing Tatum carries the film. He's just an incredibly likable actor, and I found myself rooting for Jeffrey Manchester more than I probably should have. Several times throughout the movie I had to remind myself, "This isn't a good dude." He's stealing from people, holding employees hostage, lying to everyone around him, and constantly making selfish decisions. But Tatum brings so much warmth to the role that it's easy to get caught up in wanting things to work out for him.

That's probably the movie's greatest strength—and maybe its biggest challenge. It humanizes Jeffrey without pretending he was a hero.

Kirsten Dunst is excellent as Leigh. She's been showing up in movies and TV for what feels like forever. I still remember first seeing her in Bring It On back when I was in middle school, and she's continued to be one of those actors who always seems to elevate whatever she's in.

Juno Temple has a relatively small role, but she's always fun to see. I really became a fan of hers after Fargo, where she absolutely crushed it.

Jimmy O. Yang also pops up briefly, and I'm always happy to see him. Between Silicon Valley and his stand-up comedy, he's become one of those actors whose appearance immediately makes me smile.

Peter Dinklage is fantastic as the Toys "R" Us manager. His character walks the line between being frustrating and oddly entertaining, and Dinklage makes the most of every scene he's gets.

What surprised me most is how funny the movie is. Even with the serious subject matter, it balances the comedy and drama well enough that it never feels like it's making light of Jeffrey's crimes. Instead, it focuses on the absurdity of the situations he finds himself in while still reminding the audience that his actions have consequences.

If you're expecting a high-octane heist movie, this isn't really that. It's more of a character-driven crime comedy with a surprisingly big heart. Knowing it's based on a real story only makes some of the stranger moments even more enjoyable.

Overall, I had a good time with Roofman. It made me laugh, had a strong cast, and kept me engaged from beginning to end. It's not a movie I'll probably revisit often, but it's absolutely worth watching if you're looking for something a little different.

Rating: It's Fine

This is one of those movies that's really easy for me to enjoy... as long as I don't think of it as an adaptation of Ready Player One.

On its own, it's a fun sci-fi adventure packed with references to games, movies, anime, and pop culture. Seeing so many iconic characters and worlds sharing the screen is genuinely entertaining, and it's hard not to smile when another familiar character pops up.

The problem is that it barely feels like Ready Player One.

Watching the movie gives me the impression that someone came up with a generic story first, then tried to fit the book into that framework, instead of taking the book and adapting it into a film. The major plot points, character arcs, and challenges that made the novel so memorable are either heavily changed or replaced entirely.

Some of those changes are understandable. The book spends a lot of time inside Wade's head, and many of its challenges revolve around older games and obscure trivia that might not translate well to a blockbuster movie. But instead of finding creative ways to adapt those moments, the film often swaps them out for entirely new sequences that lose much of what made the original story special.

That leaves the movie in an awkward spot. It's entertaining enough that I'll happily watch it if it's on, but it's also disappointing because I know how much better the story could have been.

I still consider Ready Player One one of my favorite books. It deserved more than a single two-hour movie trying to condense everything into one adventure.

If I could choose, I'd love to see it revisited as a streaming miniseries or even a trilogy of films. Give the characters room to breathe, let the challenges unfold naturally, and stay closer to what made the novel such a fun read in the first place.

Until then, the movie lands squarely in the "it's fine" category. It's a fun popcorn flick full of geeky fan service, but as an adaptation of one of my favorite books, it's pretty lackluster.

💀 Tales from the Grish: Season 1, Episode 2 – "And All Through the House"

🎙️ Hello, Boils and Ghouls

Here we are with Episode 2: "And All Through the House." The Crypt Keeper is dressed in his holiday best as Old St. Nick himself, complete with a mask where you can still see his eyes and lack of teeth. He tells us, the viewers, he’s “having a little holiday fun. Why else would I be in this get-up unless there was a 'clause' in my contract.” These opening sequences are just so good at setting the tone for the episode.

⚡ The Corpse-Encounter

"And All Through the House" follows a greedy wife who decides to murder her husband on Christmas Eve to collect whatever wealth he had left to her in his will. Things go awry when she fails to hear that an axe-wielding asylum escapee dressed as Santa Claus is on the loose. Of course, Axe-Santa shows up right when said wife is trying to get rid of her dead husband’s body. She calls the police, only to realize she’s in a bit of a holiday pickle—because if they come to help, they’ll find out she murdered her husband. Antics ensue with some great fight sequences, and in a classic Tales from the Crypt twist, her daughter manages to help Santa get his Christmas wish.

🎬 Ghoulish Gossip (Background Info)

• The Chucky Connection: Kevin Yagher was the legendary special effects designer who was the mastermind behind the design and creation of the Crypt Keeper puppet. Cool fact! Yagher also created the doll Chucky of Child’s Play fame. He actually reused Chucky’s clear blue eyes for the Crypt Keeper puppet.
• Hollywood Royalty: Robert Zemeckis (director of Back to the Future, among others) directed this episode. He would go on to personally direct three total episodes in the series.
• A Family Affair: The actress who played the greedy wife, Mary Ellen Trainor (of The Goonies fame), was actually married to Robert Zemeckis at the time of this episode.
• A Shocking Cast: The actor Larry Drake, who played Axe-Santa, was best known then for his kind-hearted role on L.A. Law, so seeing him as an axe-wielding maniac was a real shock to viewers. The dead husband, Joseph, was played by Marshall Bell (Total Recall 1990, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2). Lots of legendary actors in this episode.

🪓 The Grish’s Verdict

While this was a really fun holiday episode, and it gave me major Silent Night, Deadly Night vibes, it just wasn’t up to snuff with the standard Episode 1 set. Yes, Zemeckis—the legendary director of some of my favorite movies—directed this, but it just didn’t hit as hard as the first episode for me. Tales from the Crypt is great at dark comedy, but I think in this episode, there were too many goofy conveniences that happened. Of course, this is just my opinion, but this episode was kind of borderline too much goofy and not enough horror. Even the ending left me a little... meh. Yes, there's a twist... kind of. It just fell flat for me. Still, it was an OK episode.

Rating: 💀 💀 💀 / 5 Crypt Keeper Cackles

💀 Tales from the Grish: Season 1, Episode 1 – "The Man Who Was Death"

Tales from the Grish: The Beginning

When Tales from the Crypt debuted in 1989, my family didn’t have cable. I had to rely on catching an episode here or there at a friend’s house, whenever they happened to record the series on VHS. The Crypt Keeper immediately captured my imagination, and another gate to the world of horror fiction swung open for me.

At the time, I had no idea that the Tales from the Crypt show was a spinoff of a comic book series started in the 1950s. As a kid in 1989, the only comics I read were Spider-Man, Batman, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. Finding out there were actual comics dedicated to horror stories boggled my mind, and it pushed me further down the path toward a lifelong pursuit of the weird and twisted world of horror.

As an adult, I eventually tracked down DVDs to see the episodes I’d missed. Now, with Shudder streaming the series, I have the perfect excuse to rewatch it in its entirety.

That’s exactly what "Tales from the Grish" is all about: an episode-by-episode rewatch of the series, complete with my own commentary and some tasty background info thrown in for good measure. With that said, let's dive into Season 1, Episode 1 – "The Man Who Was Death."

🎙️ Hello, Boils and Ghouls

The opening sequences were easily some of my favorite parts of the show. John Kassir was an absolute legend in voicing the iconic Keeper. He provided 100% of the personality, the laugh, and the vocal performance for the entire run of the series, and he even returned to voice him for the movies and the animated cartoon spin-off.

Starting off with episode one, we have to talk about that opening sequence paired with the classic theme music by Danny Elfman. Back in 1989, I went to see Tim Burton’s Batman about a dozen times in the theater. Finding out that Danny Elfman also did the opening music for Tales from the Crypt just makes me smile. Watching the camera glide up the steps, through the haunted house, and down into the crypt always filled my kid brain with nostalgic endorphins.

In this premiere episode, we find the Keeper holding a long zapper, giving us a little taste of what’s to come. He drops hints like, "A man with nobler ambitions. He likes to kill human pests, and he does it in front of an audience. Now that's entertainment!" With a chuckle, he tells us to "hang onto your hats, kiddies, this one’s a real shocker!"

⚡ The Corpse-Encounter

Meet Niles Talbot: a dedicated "public servant" who genuinely loves his work. As a prison executioner, his favorite pastime is throwing the switch on the electric chair. But what happens to a man so devoted to his craft when the state suddenly abolishes the death penalty? Naturally, he goes rogue. Refusing to let a little thing like being fired stop him, Niles begins staging his own private executions. Of course, justice has a twisted sense of humor; it isn't long before the police catch up with him, and Niles finds himself taking the ultimate hot seat in his very own chair.

🎬 Ghoulish Gossip (Background Info)

• The Hollywood Heavyweights: Directed by Walter Hill and executive produced by a team of cinema titans (Hill, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis, and David Giler). They deliberately chose a gritty, cinematic noir style to prove premium cable horror could compete with feature films.
• The Comic Roots: Adapted straight from the bloody pages of The Crypt of Terror #17.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: William Sadler actually auditioned entirely in character, delivering Niles’ intense, direct-to-camera monologues right to the casting directors to win the role.

🪓 The Grish’s Verdict

What a way to kick off a series. Rewatching "The Man Who Was Death" today, it’s amazing how perfectly it established the DNA for everything Tales from the Crypt would become. It’s dark, it’s cynical, and it walks that razor-thin edge between genuine crime noir and pitch-black comedy.

A huge part of why this pilot holds up so well is William Sadler. He carries the entire episode on his back, and his performance as Niles Talbot is mesmerizing. The choice to have him constantly break the fourth wall—staring right into the lens to justify his twisted crusade to the viewer—makes you feel like an unwilling accomplice to his crimes. He plays Talbot not as a raving lunatic, but as a calm, meticulous professional who genuinely believes he is performing a public service. That makes his inevitable descent into rogue vigilantism all the more compelling.

Director Walter Hill brings his signature gritty, cinematic eye to the small screen here. The episode doesn't feel like standard late-80s television; it feels like a high-end neo-noir comic book come to life. The lighting is moody, the atmosphere is heavy, and the pacing never slacks for a second.

And then, of course, there’s that classic EC Comics ending. The irony of a man who lived to pull the switch ultimately being forced to sit in his own beloved chair is the exact kind of twisted poetic justice this franchise built its name on. It's an absolute masterclass in how to deliver a pilot.

Rating: 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 / 5 Crypt Keeper Cackles

I was having a discussion with a friend about my recent penchant for folk horror when she mentioned a movie she had recently viewed, Hokum. Little did she know that this movie would catapult to one of my top favorite all-time horror movies, right next to The Conjuring. Shout out to @Saraespi for giving me the recommend. (There you have it; you can guess what I'm going to say in "The Final Cut.") I have loved this recent resurgence in folk horror with movies like Hokum, Keeper (2025), and Exhuma (2024). My recent rabbit-hole dive has, yet again, found an amazing film.

Plot Summary

Adam Scott plays a cynical, douchebag of an author named Ohm Bauman, who is battling an onset of writer's block. Desperate to finish his book series, he escapes to Ireland to clear his mind and scatter the ashes of his parents, who honeymooned at the Bilberry Woods Hotel years ago. The Bilberry has a dark past where the owner is to have said he trapped a witch on the premises. Ohm, skeptical of the lore, calls it all hokum (yes; the title of the film).

After some unfortunate happenings and important background building, a kind member of the hotel staff disappears, and Ohm takes it upon himself to find her. This pushes Ohm’s skepticism to its limits, and he unwittingly steps into a living nightmare where he must face both supernatural horror and his own psychological trauma.

Background

Hokum is written and directed by Damian McCarthy. I haven't seen his other films, Caveat (2020) and Oddity (2024), but they are definitely on my list now.

The studio, NEON, was also a newcomer for me, and I found I also viewed another of their backed movies, Longlegs, recently. As I stated, Adam Scott plays the lead in the movie, and he did a great, phenomenal job. I'm used to him playing the quintessential nice guy, and to see him playing the exact opposite here brought a new kind of appreciation for his work. The guy was a downright jerk and nigh-on unlikable in his portrayal!

Another nod to The Conjuring universe was the standout sound work done by Joseph Bishara.

Folk Horror Context

Hokum sits comfortably in the folk horror subgenre. This movie had several reminders of another favorite movie, The Wicker Man. The unsettling atmosphere, the decaying architecture of the Bilberry Hotel, and the slow-burn story all reminded me of that film. The theme of an arrogant outsider challenging local history and then facing the consequences of his beliefs was also very reminiscent of the aforementioned film.

Hokum uses Irish folklore to great effect. Unlike the classic Hollywood "witch," Irish folklore uses ancient entities like the Cailleach, hags, and banshees—not just as monsters, but as physical representations of the land's history, particularly related to grief and judgment.

The Final Cut

When we get to the heart of Hokum, that's what it's really all about: trauma, grief, and judgment. This film is deeply about one man's dealings with deep-seated trauma; the grief he has following that trauma, and the judgment he feels from the world around him. Scott excellently portrays all of this in his performance.

Another performance that really stood out for me was the mushroom-milk-guzzling Jerry, played by David Wilmot. It's also this affectation that calls into question the very happenings of the movie, but I choose to disregard this explanation.

My Final Cut is this: Hokum uses its suffocating atmosphere, brilliant use of Irish folklore, and a career-pivoting performance by Adam Scott to make itself a standout in psychological and folk horror genre. If you're looking for a slow-burn, high-payoff movie like The Wicker Man, you need to watch Hokum.

Recently, I've been going down a folklore rabbit hole. I'm the kind of person who, once I start down a rabbit hole, finds it quickly becomes an absolute obsession. This particular journey started with a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) called Vaesen (check out Free League's website for more info). I'll talk more about Vaesen in a later post, but for brevity’s sake—so I can get straight to the review of Troll—it is heavily based on Scandinavian folklore. I started looking up movies with that same theme, and you can guess what came up. Troll has been sitting on my Netflix watchlist ever since it debuted in 2022.

Troll is absolutely steeped in Nordic folklore. It plays out like a Norwegian love letter to the genre where "kaiju meets folklore." Being a massive fan of Godzilla, King Kong, Gamera, and other giant monster franchises, this movie seemed like an excellent fit for my current obsession. It did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I'll try to keep this review spoiler-free, but just know the movie has been out for over three years now, so I don't think I'm giving too much away. Structurally, it hits all the beats of a classic kaiju movie, beat for beat.

A Brief Synopsis

When a blasting operation working deep in the mountains of Dovre, Norway, accidentally frees a skyscraper-sized stone troll, a government desperate to understand the creature's motivations sets an intrepid group on a crash-course adventure.

It takes Nora Tidemann, a paleontologist; her father Tobias, a former professor of folklore; Andreas Isaksen, the Prime Minister's assistant; and a sprinkling of help from the military in the form of Captain Kris Holm, to solve this ancient puzzle. All the while, the massive creature is relentlessly plodding its way toward Oslo, the capital city of Norway. Together, they must try to stop it before it destroys the entire city.

Thoughts on Theme and Style

At its heart, Troll is a classic "wannabe Hollywood disaster meets monster movie." Seriously—Tokyo has Godzilla, the U.S. has King Kong, and Norway has... a Troll. Albeit, a gigantic Troll. I know I'm coming off as really sarcastic here, but seriously, I love it. That tongue-in-cheek grandeur is exactly what it feels like director Roar Uthaug was going for, and in my opinion, he succeeded in spades.

The troll itself was pulled off brilliantly. The CGI was amazing and didn't detract at all from my immersion in the movie. I loved the design of the creature and how the film compared Uthaug’s vision with classic pieces of fairy tale artwork. As with my other favorite kaiju movies, my favorite parts are always where you get to see the sheer destruction the monster causes. I felt like the pacing and the build-up to revealing the monster were done incredibly well. We don't get to see all of the monster at first during its early interactions, but when we finally do, it's used to great effect.

The atmosphere and setting are also used beautifully. I love the way the landscape was filmed. There are tons of sweeping visuals of the Norwegian scenery, shifting from awesome, high mountain peaks to the concrete and asphalt streets of Oslo. For someone who yearns to explore distant lands, this movie gave me a great presentation of what Norway actually looks like. Real locations like Nordenga Bru and the Ekeberg area were used, as well as the actual Royal Norwegian Palace in Oslo. The filmmakers used these real-life locations to great dramatic effect.

The film has a run time of 1 hour and 41 minutes. Now, I am not a purist, so I watched the film with the English dubbing. I felt it was done very well, and at most points, I even forgot it was a dub and thought the cast was natively speaking English. Don't get me wrong, there were a few parts—as there always are in foreign films—where the dubbing is obvious, but for the most part, it was carried out seamlessly.

The characters were a lot of fun and the actors portrayed them beautifully. I particularly found myself liking the character of Andreas Isaksen, the Prime Minister’s aide portrayed by Kim S. Falck-Jørgensen. I think I really identified with his Star Trek nerdiness. On the opposite side of things, I loved to hate the Minister of Defense character portrayed by Fridtjov Såheim. He did a great job playing the villain of the film.

The Final Cut

If you enjoy a little bit of folklore horror mixed with a massive kaiju spectacle, then this film is absolutely for you. It's a fun, easy watch that earned a great place down my current rabbit hole.