Musings of a Wandering Writer

With us about to enter the spookiest month of what many would consider to be an already spooky year, I decided to scour bookstores for a good horror novel. Now, despite my fondness for Hell House ( see my review here ), I generally dislike ghost/possession stories as I prefer a more tangible antagonist. With that said, I wanted to read something akin to Friday the 13th , but in written form and with less hockey masks. After a bit of digging, I saw several recommendations for this one and was pleasantly surprised for what turned out to be a frighteningly good read. * General Information Survive the Night was published in 2015 and is written by Danielle Vega. It is a young adult horror novel that falls under the slasher sub-genre. Entertainment Weekly gave the book a B+ in its review , while Goodreads has the book listed at an above-average 3.2/5 stars. I noticed that apparently a movie with the same name as the book released earlier on 22 May 2020, however that is unfortunately an unr...

Having seen this series once before, the only thing I recalled from this season was that Henry VIII looks very strange in it due to the poor makeup and that a lot of people die in it due to old age. After the new viewing, I think the series ends on a good note. It may not be as good as season 1 or season 2, but it exceeded my expectations after season 3's middling performance (see my review for season 3 here ). Like the rest of the series, I saw this one on Netflix. 1 General Information  Season 4 of Tudors was released on 11 April 2010 and is the final season of the Tudors series. Based off critical reception and viewership numbers, it is statistically the worst season of the series as it falls just short of season 1's numbers. Despite the declining numbers, season 4 appears to be the series finale by design (as opposed to the show just getting cancelled). The cast expanded slightly in this season, however it handled the new characters' introductions quite well. Of note, J...

I'm not sure if it's COVID-19 or the slow decay of Hollywood, but this year has been an awful year for movies. Before you say it, no, this is not simply because I actively seek out awful movies from time to time (although it may contribute). So I have to say that I'm incredibly proud that I dug up my film backlog and checked out what is truly a spectacular film.  * Where You Can Find It:   I digitally purchased this on Amazon Video (and am glad I did), but it is also available for purchase on DVD/Blu-ray. General Information  Hustlers was released on 13 September 2019 as a crime drama inspired on the true story written by Jessica Pressler in 2015. It was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria as her third project in the director's chair. The film was distributed by STXfilms and shown at Toronto International Film Festival one week prior to its release. It received a slew of awards and nominations from numerous outlets that split nearly equal levels of praise between b...

When I was looking at the viewer numbers for this series, season 3 apparently had a spike, which left it with the highest viewership of the series. While watching season 2, I genuinely curious how the show could go even farther than it had as I felt season 2 was pretty damn good ( see my review for it here ). Unfortunately, I think those viewer numbers were so high because people saw season 2 and expected the same level of quality. There's a reason those numbers dropped for season 4 as season 3 is poor installment for the series overall. Like the previous two seasons, I saw this on Netflix. * General Information  The third season of Tudors released on Showtime 5 April 2009 with the fourth season getting announced less than ten days later. As previously mentioned, the third season had the highest viewership numbers of the series although I'm genuinely unsure as to why. There was a slight adjustment of the cast as well as the actress playing the role of Lady Jane Seymour was shif...

When I watched Narcos: Season 3 ( see my review here ), there were certainly parts of it where I wondered what was dramatized and what wasn't. As a fan of true crime books, I was ecstatic when I saw that there was a book out there that covered the fall of the Cali Cartel. Little did I realize that some dramatic parts of the show actually happened, while other parts were completely fictionalized. It made me look at the show in a whole new light. * General Information At the Devil's Table: Inside the Fall of the Cali Cartel, the World's Biggest Crime Syndicate (I'll be excluding the portions of the title after the colon for brevity's sake), was published on 21 June 2011 and is a true crime nonfiction thriller. It was written by former LA Times reporter and editor, William C. Rempel, who derived most of the book from several interviews with former chief of security for the Cali Cartel, Jorge Salcedo.  Although I love true crime books, my biggest concern whenever I read...

After the abrupt ending of season one, I rolled into this second season without even realizing it. From what I recall of my initial viewing of this series, this season was the best, although I have no memory of what happens in seasons three or four. If you haven't read it yet, you can find my review for the first season here . * Where You Can Find It:   Like the last season, I saw this one on Netflix as well. General Information The second season of Tudors hit Showtime 30 March 2008 with the third season getting green-lit for production by June of the same year. The second season saw a slight bump in viewership as well as a couple of new additions to the main cast with Peter O'Toole being the most renowned. Overall, although I may like season two the most, I'd argue that it's more of a "season 1.5" than full-fledged second season. The cast from season one barely expanded and the overall story themes remained focused on what was in season one. I totally get why...

Since I began playing the newly released Crusader Kings 3 , I've developed a much deeper appreciation and understanding for the royal affairs of the Middle Ages. Considering I suck at the game, I felt that I needed advice from someone with experience on ruling over uncooperative vassals and adulterous wenches. The first name that came to mind was King Henry VIII, however he appears to have been dead for quite some time. Thankfully, all is not lost as I can at least retrace the mad king's steps through this show.  1 Where You Can Find It:   I caught this one on Netflix, however I must admit that I originally viewed this series the first time on DVD. Gen eral Information The Tudors is a historical drama based on the real life of King Henry VIII. It was produced by a collaboration of American, Canadian, and English companies in which it was initially released on Showtime Networks. Season one was initially released on 1 April 2007 and was quickly renewed for a second season o...

In both my reviews of the last season and Narcos  (season 3), I'll admit that I had pessimistic attitudes going in. On both occasions, my expectations were soundly demolished. When I went into this season, I felt I had learned my lesson, which was helped by the awesome way that the first season ended. I wanted revenge for Kiki, and the sight of Scoot McNairy smuggling assault rifles into Mexico (while listening to Bob Seger) made me incredibly excited. Unfortunately, it's starting to look like the series is finally losing some steam. As always, I checked this out on Netflix, where the entire series is available for streaming. * General Information N arcos: Mexico season two was released 13 February 2020 on Netflix. As of this writing, the reception for the season is still up in the air. Something I learned about this spin-off series though, was that apparently one of the location scouts for the show, Carlos Munoz Portal, was murdered on  15 September 2017 . According to El Pai...