media update: November

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Whidbey** by T Kira Madden:  Told from different perspectives, this novel is about the wake of destruction left by a serial sexual predator and how the effects ripple across years with unexpected results.  Beautiful and devastating; I'll happily read anything T Kira Madden writes in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC!  The book is scheduled for publication on March 10, 2026.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 20

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 11

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. The Apothecary Diaries vol. 14 by Natsu Hyuuga and Nekokurage

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 13 volumes of manga and 7 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Bring Her Back*:  A teenage boy and his visually impaired sister are sent to live with a foster mom (Sally Hawkins) whose sunny smile belies a dark nature.  Extremely gory and surprisingly sad.

2. Nobody 2:  Desperate for a vacation, assassin Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) takes his family to a tourist town he loved as a kid.  Unfortunately, he also runs into trouble there.  In a year that gave us some bona fide action bangers like Ballerina and Fight or Flight, this fell very flat.  Also, there is some truly dreadful acting in this.  Not Bob, I hasten to add, but you'll know who I'm talking about if you watch this.

3. F1*:  Thirty years after a devastating accident, race car driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) returns to the track.  The racing sequences are super fun to watch!

4. Maximum Overdrive*:  Thanks to a comet causing a radiation spike on Earth, machines come to life and start attacking humans.  I know you're probably wondering why the hell I gave a cheesy horror movie from 1986 a star, and I'll tell you exactly why: I was stoned, and under those conditions I enjoyed this movie tremendously.

5. 28 Years Later:  Almost three decades after the "rage virus" decimated Great Britain, a young boy leaves the protection of his community in search of another survivor who might be able to help his sick mother.  There are some very weird choices in this movie as far as directing and music, but Alfie Williams is really good as the kid.

6. House of Dynamite:  The president and his staff must quickly figure out a plan when a nuclear missile is launched towards Chicago.  If this movie had stayed as good as its first thirty minutes, it would easily have gotten a star.  It's still very tense and absorbing, but I sure wish it had stuck the landing.

7. The Ice Road:  Ice road truckers (led by Liam Neeson) embark on a dangerous journey to get supplies to a collapsed mine.

8. Drop*:  A woman's return to the dating world goes south when she starts getting ominous text messages.  Implausible but lots of fun.

9. Playdate:  A playdate turns into a wild afternoon for two stay-at-home dads and their sons.  I thought this would be unwatchable, but weird ending aside, it was enjoyable, and Alan Ritchson is pretty funny in it.

10. The Naked Gun*:  Inept police detective Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson, who's terrific) tries to unravel a conspiracy.  Perhaps a little overhyped, but the jokes that land are great, and there's one sequence that's the funniest thing I've seen since Ice Cube's meltdown (uh, no pun intended) in 22 Jump Street.

11. The First Omen:  A novitiate nun (Nell Tiger Free) discovers that she's been chosen to birth the antichrist.

12. Eddington*:  Tensions boil over in a small New Mexico town at the beginning of the pandemic.  Strange and thought provoking.

13. Caught Stealing*:  Former baseball player Hank lands in hot water when a favor goes horribly wrong.  Technically a 3.5, but I'm rounding up for Austin Butler and the unbelievably cute cat in this.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 97