Media Diet: March 2023

All of my favorite shows of 2023 are already done for the year, and I am still trying to figure out what I will do with myself! However, the Last of Us, Shrinking, and Poker Face were all incredible.

🎭 Katherine Ryan & Friends - Started the month with a bang, comedy shows as part of London’s JFL festival! This was one of my favorite standup shows I have seen in ages, and Ed Gamble headlined. (A+)

🎭 & Juliet - I’ve been seeing a string of fantastic musicals while traveling the last few months, and I continued it with & Juliet! Such a fun show to see. (A)

🎥 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - So underwhelming. It feels bland and generic, like every other Marvel film of the last few years. (C+)

📺 Poker Face Season 1 - The “mystery of the week” format works incredibly well when you combine Rian Johnson’s magic with Natasha Lyonne’s acting. (A+)

📺 The Last of Us Season 1 - I haven’t played the video game before, so I went into this with low expectations and was blown away. I can’t wait for the next season. (A)

📺 Shrinking Season 1 - Jason Segel and Harrison Ford is a combo I didn’t know I needed. They are so great at this. (A+)

📺 Party Down Season 3 - A solid return for one of my all-time favorite TV Shows. The original was better, and I miss Casey Klein / Lizzy Caplan. It still was fun to watch and catch up with the characters. My favorite of all the recent TV show revivals. (B+)

📚 His Majesty’s Dragon (Temeraire, #1) by Naomi Novik - I’ve loved many of Naomi Novik’s recent works, including Spinning Silver and A Deadly Education. Still, I have never read her original fantasy series. I love a good alternate history! Great read, and looking forward to continuing with the rest of the series. (A-)

📺 Workin’ Moms Season 7 - The final season! This may be my favorite comedy that the CBC has ever created. It’s meandered in quality through its seven seasons, but I’ve enjoyed it the entire time. I can’t wait to see what these actors do next. (A-)

📺 Extraordinary Season 1 - Fun little twist on the classic superhero show concept. (B+)

📺 Shadow and Bone Season 2 - I loved the books this series is based on and have enjoyed the show for the most part. Season 2 felt like a dip in quality, but it was still a fun ride. (B+)

🎥 Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre - Guy Ritchie was so far off his usual quality mark with this. Save it for watching on a plane. (B-)

📺 The Curse - Pretty mediocre and unremarkable. I watched the full show and need help remembering the plot or the characters. (C+)