The Toad's Burrow

       Jean Dawson has always been one of those mid-tier artists for me when it came to artists whose careers I somewhat follow. Truthfully, this album, CHAOS NOW*, is really the only project by Dawson that I enjoy. His debut album really did not interest me at all, and his other two albums, Pixel Bath  and Glimmer of God , were alright. Nothing has quite managed to scratch that same itch that CHAOS NOW* managed to reel in though. True to it's name, it's a fantastic blend of rock and rap that really highlights the Dawsons multi-genre abilities. Frankly, the most disappointing part of this album was finding out that it's more of a one off rather than a sound that Dawson would have followed up on. Regardless, this album has really grown on me, which is funny because when it first came out I wasn't too interested in it, but eventually I gave it a proper listen a year later and I fell in love. So of course, as a pretty interesting album sonically, at least in my opi...

     Jesus Christ, talk about an elite season of television. I'm going to be honest, this might be my favourite season of The Sopranos  so far. It is that good. At this point the world is just coming to life on it's own, and I could watch them do anything. Which is exactly what happened with Pine Barrens, just watching Paulie and Christopher struggle to stick it out in the middle of a forest in the storm. At one point I took a bit of break, getting through the first couple episodes of the season, then really ramping it up again around episode 6 or 7, and boy was it worth it. It pretty much has everything I wanted, it has good mob drama: Ralphie is introduced as this sort of weirdo wildcard, Christopher is finally a made man, and Jackie Jr. is introduced. It also finally starts to build on the tensions at home that pull Tony apart, whether it be a new goomar or his children. Finally halfway through the show, I will not say that this is it's peak, for all I know it wil...

      I'm going to be honest, this movie was not on my radar at all. I didn't even realize that it was releasing until I had seen SZA post about it. Even still, my sister really wanted to see this movie, and even though I hadn't heard much about it, I went in with an open mind. And honestly, I'm glad I did, I was pleasantly impressed with it. It isn't some game-changing comedy, I don't think I'm fiending for more Keke Palmer and SZA comedies together, but for what it was, a short 90 minute film that has some pretty relatable working class struggles, it was well worth the price of admission.     I'll start off with the two leads holding it down together, SZA and Keke Palmer. At first, you'd be a little skeptical of the fit. Frankly, considering at times it feels like SZA can hardly stay a musician, I'd understand if you have some healthy skepticism about the duo working. Don't get it twisted, Keke Palmer does carry the film a little bit, and h...

      The Sopranos season two is for the most part the same quality television that you've come to expect from watching season one. Would I call it more boring? I suppose depending on your perspective on how TV shows operate it could be disappointing how self-contained it felt. Season 1 had clear ramifications, Tony was almost assassinated, and in one fell swoop he retaliates against his uncle, finally culminating in a satisfying finale where Tony alone sits at the top of the DiMeo family. His uncle basically neutered, his mother in a stroke, and life is good for him. In season two the ramifications of what happened feel more self-contained, Richie joins and dies pretty unceremoniously, Janice does much of the same ultimately leaving for the final episode, and the Big Pussy storyline almost feels cut short when it happens in the very final episode. Not to say that I disliked this season, just to say that I am interested to see what ramifications this season has upon the n...

      Respectfully, and I do mean this respectfully because people have some very  strong opinions on this show, I simply never understood the hype around Arcane . The modern miracle that is a video game adaptation around League of Legends  that is not only watchable, but amazing has not been able to replicate all of the magic from season one. That's not to say that I did not enjoy watching this show, I think this show is worth watching for the animation alone, I think visually it is that pretty. However, I'd be remiss to mention that overall I think this season is a step down from season one in terms of storytelling. In only nine episodes, they expect you to follow around six storylines, all of which never actually receive enough breathing room, and in the end it's all messily shoved into one giant tube. A very pretty tube at that, but not pretty enough that it magically fixes all of the issues with the multi-headed beast that is the plot of this show.   ...

      Did you know that this film is somehow labeled as Romantic/Comedy on Google? These days, it feels like every romance movie is a romcom, but I think I would go as far to say that this movie isn't really a rom com. Yes there are certainly moments of humour and laughter that cut through the seriousness, but this film isn't trying to make you laugh, but I wouldn't say its some tear jerker that leaves you on a deeply depressing note. Instead, what you get are a lovely series of vignettes in non-chronological order, carefully placed to help viewers understand the relationship it has presented, and all of the serious, often overlooked questions that might come from it. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Me Before You , but this film is not that genre of film, where a character has some terminal illness and so its all about doing the most lavish things while they're still alive. Instead, this time around there are some real stakes, there's not some estranged child...

      "Y ou'll remember the little moments, like this." That is how The Sopranos  season 1 ends, and I think that perfectly sums up what this show felt like it was about to me. It reminds me of Breaking Bad  in that sense, and I don't just make that comparison because these are two highly lauded drama's. What I mean is that there is remarkably little "mafia-like" activity that happens in this show. Yes, they "whack" people, but really the only time they dress up in suits and act all "mobby" like you'd imagine when someone says Godfather or Goodfellas  one time this entire season (Which they mention like a hilarious amount). Instead what really sells this show, at least in my opinion, are all the little moments building up all these characters in this world.      The structure of The Sopranos season 1 is basically this, there's a very light underlying plot bubbling all season, about tension between Tony Soprano, and his uncle J...

      Yeah I went to go watch Wicked . You've seen what I reviewed, was that ever really a surprise? What is a surprise, at least to me, was that the film was actually surprisingly good. Look, sometimes it's so easy to get caught up in twitter drama, and negativity only feeds off negativity, so going into it all the press I knew about this film was: the colour grading was bad/could be improved, whatever Cynthia Erivo is doing, Ariana Grande body discourse, and of course Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater cheating discourse. All of this to say, there was not exactly a lot of positive momentum for this film in my mind going into it, people were complaining hard about the fact that it was only part 1, afraid that Hollywood would do what Hollywood does best and stretch out this musical to five hours or something like they tend to do with finale's in action movies. Luckily, I can report that Wicked  has weathered the storm, remarkably well in fact I'd say. Frankly, of all the...

       You know I've never actually listened a full Kendrick Lamar album? That's not to say that I dislike all of the music he's released. I'm certainly a fan of his poppier stuff, and even off this album I absolutely adore Luther , though that song could hardly be considered a rap/hip-hop song. Either way, it's hard to think about this year in music and not think about him. His beef with Drake was on the mind of everyone, even mine, and I quite enjoyed some of the songs that came out of it, mainly Not Like Us and Like That . Even still, I was not particularly eager to go out and listen to this album when Kendrick surprise released it a couple weeks ago. I suppose a part of me understand that he's beloved, but I also understand that I'm not a big fan of the genre he operates within, so really the more I listen to his music the less my opinion on him is going to become. Regardless, I figured it's only fair I give it a shot, after all maybe I like more so...