Finally heading back to Hawkins, one last time

Now that we’ve wrapped up Arcane Season 2, and with my daughter on holiday break, we’re finally diving into the fifth and last season of Stranger Things. It’s been waiting patiently on the list, and there won’t be a better moment to start watching it! 

I’ll share some thoughts once we’re through it all, early in the new year.

Back to the Upside Down.

Why Blue Eye Samurai cut so deep & why I can’t wait for season 2

Every once in a while, a show slices through the noise and reminds you why you fell in love with animation in the first place. Blue Eye Samurai did that for me.

From the very first frame, that painterly Edo-era Japan bathed in blood and moonlight, I knew this wasn’t just another revenge story. It’s an emotional blade honed to perfection: sharp, purposeful, and heartbreakingly human. Mizu isn’t a hero; she’s an instrument of fury shaped by a world that refuses to see her as whole. And yet, beneath every duel and dismemberment, there’s this quiet ache, the question of what’s left when vengeance burns everything else away.

It’s Kurosawa meets Kill Bill, but with the moral complexity of Andor and the tragic beauty of Princess Mononoke. The choreography is poetry. The dialogue cuts like truth. And the craftsmanship (the light, the pacing, the music, etc.) it all screams that animation can be cinematic, adult, and profound without needing to apologize for it.

Season 2 can’t come soon enough. Not just to see where Mizu’s path leads, but to watch this creative team keep redefining what “animated storytelling” can be. 

If Season 1 was the strike, Season 2 feels like it'll be a reckoning.

Anyone else feel like this show reignited their faith in what animation can say?

Cosmic Rebellion Unleashed: Zack Snyder's 'Rebel Moon' Sets to Ignite Netflix This December

Mark your calendars for a cinematic extravaganza as Zack Snyder’s latest creation, “Rebel Moon,” is gearing up for its grand release on Netflix this December 22, 2023. This space opera unfolds the captivating tale of Kora, a former soldier who has carved out a peaceful existence on the agricultural moon of Veldt. However, tranquility is short-lived as Admiral Atticus Noble and his Motherworld army land on Veldt, threatening her peaceful life and reawakening her warrior spirit. In a daring move, Kora joins forces with Gunnar, a local farmer, rallying a ragtag team of rebels to counter the oppressive might of the Imperium and its malevolent leader, Regent Balisarius.

Hooked on "Sweet Tooth"

It's been some time since I've watched a series where the whole family got into it. I first started watching "Sweet Tooth" by myself mid-afternoon yesterday in our family room. A third into the first episode, my eldest came down to make herself a late lunch. Next thing I knew she was sitting down with me on the sofa to watch it. She was asking questions and completely captivated. Next, our youngest came up from downstairs where he had been playing Minecraft with a classmate. 'What is this?" he quickly asked as he was closing the basement door. 

By the end of the day my daughter and I had watched 3 episodes and even the better-half was curious to start watching the series after seeing the intro in the first episode.

I've read somewhere that the actual books on which this is based are a bit darker, and I can easily see how and why. But the Netflix series has just the right amount of humour, wonder and post-apocalyptic horror.

And this family has found something wonderful to watch together.