‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’ is a thematic thriller that left me guessing until the end
By Sophia Monastra
On Good Friday, Monsignor Jefferson Wicks preaches a militant, fiery sermon from the pulpit of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. He then walks to a nearby storage closet to fortify himself for the remainder of the service. The door is open and in full view of the stage. The closet is empty. Moments later, Monsignor Wicks is dead, stabbed in the back.
The only other person on stage and the first person to find the body is Reverend Jud Duplenticy, a young boxer-tu...
‘Spy X Family’ Season 3 dives into history for a secret origin
By Katlynn Rossignol
An undercover spy, a deadly assassin and a first grade telepath live together as a make-shift family, each hiding their true identities for the safety of themselves and their missions. With two seasons and a movie already released, “Spy X Family” continued its run with a third season full of slice-of-life antics and action showdowns.
What set this season’s promotions apart from previous ones, is the focus on the mysterious backstory of Loid Forger’s, ...
‘Fallout’ season 2 sets up a risky gamble for the characters
By Carly Shaner
“Everyone wants to save the world. They just disagree on how.”
About 200 years after the entire world is nuked, Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) ventures out to the surface to find her father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), who has been captured. She encounters folks like the Ghoul (Walter Goggins), Maximus (Aaron Moten) of the Brotherhood and everything the irradiated world has to offer. After learning through her journey in the wasteland, it’s revealed that her father ...
‘Stranger Things’ Vol. 2 and Finale enters Dimension X
By Danielle Cherry
Ten years after the release of “Stranger Things” season one, the Duffer brothers finished the beloved franchise in a beautiful, yet heart-wrenching final four episodes. Action was a main focus, but the revealing and satisfying conclusion was what won everyone’s hearts.
Vol. 2 picks up on the huge reveal of Will Byers’ syphoned powers. The Duffer’s knew exactly what they were doing, leaving us on such a high during Thanksgiving break.
As the ...
‘Anaconda’ slithers towards box office success
By Molly Adkins
Welcome back to the Amazon! Jack Black and Paul Rudd star in Sony’s 2025 reboot of “Anaconda.” The original movie, released in 1997, is an adventure-horror movie following a documentary crew searching for a long lost tribe in the Amazon and a snake hunter tracking a massive anaconda. Filled with betrayal, suspense and a stacked cast (including Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson), the film was a box office success.
“Anaconda” 2025 follows a group of ...
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is a step in the wrong direction for James Cameron’s world of Pandora
By Gabriel Payne
There have not been many franchise films in recent years that generated more hype and enthusiasm than the third installment to James Cameron’s “Avatar” universe. In 2022, he delivered an impressive and record breaking sequel in “The Way of Water,” defying the cynics who claimed the success of the original “Avatar” could never be repeated.
As a result, expectations were high for what looked like an exciting new exploration into the world of Pandora, ...
‘David’ brings the beautiful biblical story to life.
By Amelia Morris
‘David’ is a musical biblical epic following the life story of king David. Even from humble beginnings he is chosen by God for a greater purpose, more than he could ever imagine.
The story begins with David as a young shepherd, defending his flock from danger. When Samuel the prophet visits David’s home to anoint him, the parallels between David as a shepherd and becoming the next king are not lost on anyone in the audience. David was an excellent shepherd ...
Lackluster and gauche, ‘Merv’ will not be joining the ranks of Christmas classics.
By Eva Tweeten
Breakups are hard on everyone, especially for Anna (Zooey Deschanel) and Russ (Charlie Cox). Anna is mourning the loss of a decade-long relationship. Russ is grappling with the unknown of why it ended. Worst of all, their beloved dog, Merv, is down in the dumps. Nothing anyone does seems to bring a smile to his face.
But no matter how irreconcilable their differences, Russ and Anna will do anything for Merv. Merv is their life, their light, their pride and joy. After six ...
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ is a wonderful treatise on the nature of revenge
By Josh Ball
Revenge is a powerful motivator. In pop culture, it can keep people alive. “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” takes a deep dive into the full destructive force of revenge.
The prologue takes place in 1982 at a birthday party at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. During a horrific incident in a back room at the pizzeria, an isolated girl named Charlotte (Audrey Lynn-Marie) is stabbed. Bleeding out, she screams in rage as a trap door opens under her and she falls into the arms of her ...
‘Sons of Day and Night’ achieves the minimum requirements for a fantasy novel
by Megan Deets
“Sons of Day and Night” is a fantasy, action-adventure retelling of the classic story “The Prince and the Pauper” by Mariposa Aristeo. Her debut novel is published by Enclave, a leading publisher of young adult Christian speculative fiction.
In the kingdom of Twinsbane, the people are divided into the Sons of Day and the Sons of Night, each with a magical connection to these elements. Every person is born with a double from the opposite group. When their double ...
