Sam's Review Club

Logo courtesy of VH1. I already miss Morgan McMichaels. Sure, she was a hardcore bitch who was a hot mess in last week’s challenge but she brought a hardness to the competition which is desperately needed in a show where the queens are concerned so much at not coming off as antagonistic to not upset their fans. BenDeLaCreme spends so much time agonizing over how much she hated sending Morgan home and the other queens rightfully point out they don’t buy the act. Thankfully Aja is around to stir up some drama by saying she would have sent home Chi Chi if she had won the lip-sync. I agree with that choice: Morgan showed more promise than Chi Chi did in that first act. But if I learned anything from Season 8, it is that Chi Chi knows how to make a comeback. No mini-challenge this week, instead the queens are hurled right into their maxi-challenge which is another All-Star mashup lip-sync combined with celebrity impersonation. Thorgy Thor immediately launches into her ...

©2017 Nickelodeon. All Rights Reserved. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? The same cute sponge who has made his home at Broadway’s Palace Theater. Like (I’m sure) many others, I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the thought of a SpongeBob Squarepants musical. But this production—helmed with a lighthearted touch by Tina Landau and featuring an eerily spot-on SpongeBob in the form of newcomer Ethan Slater—demonstrates the power imagination has in creating a Broadway spectacular. If you aren’t already familiar with SpongeBob, there isn’t nearly enough time to catch you up. And this musical doesn’t even try. But honestly, when the cast is filled out by a lazy starfish, an eternally woeful squid and a sea-dwelling squirrel, new converts will be confused no matter what. Thankfully, the deliriously technicolor sets and costumes by David Zinn give you plenty to look at even when the action onstage reaches it’s most manic. Unlike preceding animation-to-Broadway adaptation...

©VH1. All Rights Reserved. Acting challenges are the bread and butter of ANTM ’s wackiness. Why Tyra thinks that any of her girls will have even a semi-successful acting career is beyond me. I’m not complaining. After all, watching young wannabe models flail their way through a short scene is always the most entertaining. I still fondly remember the time the girls needed to whip out a cockney accent for their challenge in Cycle 4. If you haven’t seen it, go and watch it. “SUNNY ROSE I AM!” Classic. That also happens to be the episode where Tyra yells at Tiffany. Cycle 4. Episode 7. I’ll wait while you go and catch yourself up. Welcome back to the review! The Cycle 24 acting challenge is standard Top Model fare. Tyra sends some scripts over to the girls (“be sure you memorize these”), pairs them with an attractive male actor (this time in the form of Kevin Phillips) and all of the girls’ lines quickly fly out the window. In their defense, the scene is amazingly ...

©2017 Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com All Rights Reserved Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, the current gold medal holders for speed-talking in a television dramedy, have some stiff competition on their hands from Rachel Brosnahan’s devilishly smart and silver-tongued Miriam “Midge” Maisel. Penned by Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is one of the most refreshing and fast-paced shows of the season. Mrs. Maisel ( House of Cards ’ Rachel Brosnahan) is the epitome of a perfect 1958 housewife. She cooks, she cleans, she coordinates stand-up sets for her talentless and aimless husband, Joel (a surprisingly sympathetic Michael Zegan), at The Gaslight Café. Her protective and overbearing parents Abe and Rose Weissman (a perfectly cast Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle) live directly above her. She has a housemaid, she has friends, she has money. Of course something has to go wrong! And oh how wrong it goes. It takes a while to get there but it shouldn...

Happy 2018 everyone! A blog might seem so early 2000s but I swear there's a method to my madness. At the end of 2017, I got MoviePass (which is amazing and everyone should sign up for it). I started seeing more movies and talking about them with my friends, family, and co-workers. As I did, a couple friends suggested that I start blogging about my opinions--I have a lot of them after all. That brings us here. This is a blog that serves a few purposes: I'll get my thoughts on paper (does the internet count as paper?) about all of the movies, television, theater, music, books, etc. that I consume. It will make looking back on all of these memories at each years' end so much easier. This will be a great test of my resolve. Resolutions come and go and they rarely stick. Maybe this will build my determination and commitment throughout the year. Writing for personal enjoyment is so crucial. More than any writings done for work this is the best way to develop one's ...