The Toad's Burrow

    If there's one word I'd use to describe this album, it's indulgent. Indulgent in the sense that there are really no holds barred on this album, it's not going to be some low-key indie affair, it might be a bit too grand or a bit much for some people, but for me, I relish in the theatrics, I will always appreciate these big, sometimes over the top pieces. Perhaps that's just me, but imagine my surprise when I randomly put this album on last year, only to instantly fall in love with it. I have a bit of a soft spot for baroque pop after all anyways, Queen was one of the first bands I listened to seriously, I used to love Fun. as a kid, and of course Pretty Odd. was one of my favourite albums growing up. What I didn't realize is that slowly but surely, this album would stay ingrained in my mind, slowly gnawing away until I enjoyed it more and more with each passing listen. Would I say it's my favourite album from 2025? If you asked me last year I wouldn'...

      Well that was a movie for the ages. I can't even remember when I first started hearing about this little indie Canadian film. It had to be close to a year ago now, on Twitter when someone posted a clip of one of the numerous, hilarious yet stupid flashbacks in this movie. Obviously I didn't make make much of it at the time, how could I. I didn't know what they were flashing back to, that it was supposed to be completely misremembered, or what the name of it even was. But slowly and surely, this movie just burrowed it's way into my consciousness, almost forcing itself onto me in a way (not that way), which is funny because that's exactly what I found so great about this movie.       First it was random billboards around the city, since I obviously live in Toronto. Of course my first thought was Nirvana, you know the famous band? I didn't even realize Nirvanna had two n's in the title until I watched it yesterday. Then finally I searched it up, and...

      Ooh I should have come into this review lacking complete hope. Whether it was the unnecessarily odd title, the mid album cover, or the fact that Harry reminds me more and more of a dog with the more facial hair he decides to grow. A part of me still held out hope. He was a pop star, surely Harry could at least deliver one hit pop song off of this album. I mean even if I wasn't the biggest fan of Harry's House at the very least you could say it had As It Was, and Late Night Talking . Surely, the lead single was just an artistic choice to ease people into the sound of the album right? Sadly, it seems Mr. Styles has lot his way, at least in my eyes, even if to most he lost it when he posted that awful shirtless photo. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. - Harry Styles Aperture - 65/100 I think this song is fine, but it's really missing a proper climax to make the payoff of the entire song stick. Think Happier Than E...

    I did it. I finally bit the bullet. I had been hearing so much about this show, and as a Canadian, I had felt like missing out on a real moment of cultural heritage. How often is it do you see an entirely Canadian produced show sweep western society like that? Not very often. So I gave it a shot, after all it was only six episodes. How bad could it be? Well, I sort of stopped watching after episode two for a week or so, not really getting anything out of it, but then a friend mentioned it again. So I gave it another shot, and I wouldn't say this show blew me away, but at the very least it was beginning to slightly redeem itself. Let's talk about it.     For better or worse this series is basically just fanfiction inspired by Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. I say that because the first two episodes basically just feel like one long montage spliced together with long, drawn out, gay sex scenes. There's no other way to put it but this show loves it's sex scenes, an...

      I don't get it. I am by all accounts, the equivalent of a movie normie. I don't mind a good time, and don't need something super pretentious to enjoy it/rate it highly. That's not to say I find this film pretentious, it's just I don't get why it's rated so highly. All I came into this film with was that it would be about some director, Tim Burton directed it (whose movies I generally like), and my friend CJ loved it so much to give it a perfect rating, that's it. So why do people love this movie? I saw someone say afterwards that this movie is so beloved because it's filmed in a way Ed Wood would have done his own films, and from what I can gather he's supposed to be a director that's so bad his movies are good. Let's talk about it.     I think part of the reason I didn't like this film as much as I thought I would is that it just kind of meanders around. Perhaps this is meant to emulate how "strong" (or weak I suppose...

      I've reviewed a Mac Miller album before, and frankly the beginning of this review will probably sound much of the same to that. I don't know anything about this album other than one song I know I definitely like, which is almost certainly carried by the presence of Ariana Grande. Other than that I'm not expecting much. I simply don't enjoy rap albums that much. But who knows. So without further ado, my track-by-track review. The Divine Feminine - Mac Miller Congratulations (feat. Bilal) - 70/100 Simple but pretty adorable to be honest. A nice soft introductory song that sets the rest of the albums tone. Dang! (feat. Anderson. Paak) - 75/100 I do love me some Anderson. Paak. Maybe I should check out his solo work. Though on a side note I do really hate it when Mac Miller mentions his penis. Stay - 75/100 Mac Miller's raps remain a little goofy even if I like the Soprano's shoutout on this song. It's a good tune underneath it all though. Actually I just ...

      Well what would you know. I called the last season of House of the Dragon painfully boring, and frankly I was a bit skeptical of any new ASOIAF content because of it. But as this show came out, i started to see more and more posts about this show. Surely it can't be this good I thought to myself. After all, I had just assumed HBO had completely burned the bridge with George R.R. Martin. But I was wrong. This show is really just that good. I mean I was waiting for the entire season to be over to watch it, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I kept on seeing these clips of Egg being just absolutely adorable, and frankly I've always been a sucker for this hero and his sidekick stories. So let's talk about it.     Some might complain that this show is too short, being that it's six episodes that run about 30 minutes a piece. And to that I say I think it kind of works for this show. The entire point of the Dunk and Egg novella's is that they're just a coll...

      Obligatory reminder that this is me talking about both the film and the book in one review. Anyways, I wouldn't say Return of the King  is my favourite book in the series, I think that definitely has to be The Two Towers. Funnily enough, a part of me thinks that the book and it's film counterpart have sort of the opposite issue. Return of the King, the novel is good, except it's basically "the siege of Minas Tirith," like three chapters of Sam and Frodo's journey, then over a hundred pages of just epilogue pretty much. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this was entirely the wrong decision, frankly everything but the actual journey to toss the ring into the fire was interesting at that point, and there's only so much you can do before they actually throw the ring away, hence it only being three chapters. Sadly, I just don't think the scouring of the Shire is a particularly compelling adventure. You don't really have much evidence of th...

       You know we've gone too far as a society when game publishers are so desperate to make a safe and easy buck that they're deciding to reboot this game series. I'm sorry but there's no other way to put it, this game stinks. It's like hilariously mediocre, and the best part is? there's no redeeming qualities. It's all just bland, run of the mill, open-world RPG slop. I'm sorry I know people love this, and developers put their heart and soul into making this game, but there is nothing about this game that stands out, and I can't fathom why they made two more sequels to this game. It has to be nostalgia, there's no other way. I am legitimately baffled that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion  released 2 years after this game, because it makes it feel like it's 20 years ahead. Let's talk about it.     The combat in this game is so awful. It's so simple, it's so basic, it's so easy, yet somehow it still sucks. Not only is it hilari...