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By: Jesse Striewski

I’m really not sure why I even continue trying to convince myself that each new Walking Dead spinoff or as with this case, sequel series, will somehow improve, when each time it’s more of the same tired formula; good guys find a new home that gives them a temporary false sense of security, then bad guys (often someone from within their group these days) threaten that safety.

Dead City is really just more of the same; it starts out promising enough, but just ends up more of the same as previously mentioned. This time our hero leftovers from the original show Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) team up to reinforce a New York hospital with brother and sister duo Luis (Raul Castillo) and Reneta (Aimee Garcia), a doctor and “community leader,” respectively, at the helm.

There’s even an interesting, eccentric new character in the form of Dillard (Jimmi Simpson) who’s spent his time in the apocalypse in a lonesome bar with a couple of walkers, that befriends Negan. But where there’s potential, there’s more of the same, predictable developmental let down as usual.

Perhaps the only real standout of the season is the “what if,” zombie-less episode that has Maggie and Negan meeting in the pre-apocalypse real world that also features a guest spot from Maggie’s long-since deceased sister, Beth (Emily Kinney). The only downfall with this is the weak portrayal of Negan, who instead of being seen as some tough-as-nails, outlaw biker type that we all grew to hate when initially introduced, is reduced to a sensitive teacher type in order to make him more like-able to audiences prior to his going bad. (A huge misstep in my opinion.)

I’ve actually been re-watching a lot of the older Walking Dead seasons (the pre-Negan days, a.k.a. the show’s prime), and the difference is night and day, with the writing, acting, and overall quality declining more and more with each new passing season and iteration. If these characters must continue on (as I’m sure they will), perhaps the writers of these episodes could go back and take some lessons on how things were done when it was actually in good hands what now feels like a lifetime ago.

Rating: 2/5 Stars

Film Review: Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie (Bushnell Productions/Keep Smokin’)

By: Jesse Striewski

There was a time when the low-brow comedy styles of legendary stoner duo Cheech & Chong were right up my alley, and although I may have grown considerably since those days, I knew it wasn’t an option to miss Last Movie on the big screen while the chance was still there (and caught it just in time, too – on the very last day it was showing at the AMC Theater near me).

Things start off innocently enough with the two driving across the desert together and recalling their own individual stories and upbringings before reaching their inevitable joining of forces in the late 1960s, and eventual breakthrough of comedy albums and films in the ’70s.

It may be funny enough to see the two now sharing THC gummies these days in place of a joint, but things get a little uneven by the time the story reaches the duo’s split in the mid-’80s, and many of the events or films leading up to it feel glossed over (no mentions to be found of 1985’s After Hours or 1989’s Rude Awakening, among others). Unfortunately many of the clips shown from the old films with their gross-out humor have also not aged very well, either.

While it’s far from a perfect swan song, Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie caps off the career of two of history’s most iconic comedians of all time. If nothing else, see it just to say goodbye.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Series Review: The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)

By: Jesse Striewski

Not since Andrew Lincoln departed the original Walking Dead series after its ninth season have I seen a show (and entire franchise) take such a steep downhill dive and overall decline in quality. But after disappointing conclusions and over-saturating the material with far too many spin-offs (all with varying results), the character of Rick Grimes (Lincoln) is resurrected and finally given his just due.

In the fist episode we learn that Rick, presumed dead after a helicopter crash in said original series, is alive and well (?) and part of the CRM, a military operation on the outskirts of Philadelphia focused on rebuilding society at a hefty cost. Rick is anything but free though as several attempts to escape back to his old life have proved unsuccessful.

Meanwhile Michonne (Danai Gurira) has been searching for her long lost love (Rick) and is shocked to find how submissive he has become once finally reunited. Meanwhile Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), another leftover “bad guy” from the original show, holds their secret over their heads and threatens harm upon their family.

The initial reunion between the two characters, and – without giving too much of it away – the conclusion of the final episode are both some of the most gratifying moments of the show, albeit a tad on the cliche and predictable side. Nonetheless, the ending here is far closer to what fans of the very first show since 2010 had deserved over what was actually dished out on that series finale.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Series Review: The Walking Dead Season 11 (AMC)

By: Jesse Striewski

When The Walking Dead premiered on Halloween night 2010, I was a single father at the time, in need of some definite escapism to fill the void after completing a full night of trick-or-treating with my son and dropping him off to his mother’s place for the rest of the night. The show was the perfect remedy I needed, not only that very night, but for many more to come.

Since then I’ve never seen a show climb so steadily (and painfully) down hill before in my life. What once was a concise series filled with relatable characters and plots worth emotionally vesting in, became muddled with far too many ridiculously tedious and (often non-sensical) subplots, as well as the addition of far too many unlikable characters that it became impossible to keep track of them all, many just being added for no better reason other than to show how “woke” the show could be. Even the special effects have suffered an immense loss of quality.

The show had been on a noticeable decline for several seasons now, ever since the writing staff started going through changes and main characters like original boss man Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincolin) left (no doubt seeing the writing on the wall). But this latest season has just been so predictable, and just plan weird at times. You’ve got all these different communities (or “Commonwealth”) intertwined together, with these storm-trooper looking morons walking around now that it all just feels like, frankly, a joke. There’s even an episode that featured a full-on wrestling match in the zombie apocalypse, if you can believe that.

The core trio of early cast members that consists of Darryl (Norman Reedus), Maggie (Lauren Cohan), and Carol (Melissa McBride) hold it together as best as the can among the noise and chaos, but are given little to nothing to work with here. It’s not until the very last finale episode that anything of any real interest actually occurs, with some standout emotional performances from the likes of Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) that offers some sort of closure at least.

But it doesn’t really end there now, does it? With multiple spin-offs still very much in motion, we’ll still be seeing more from this “dead” horse for years to come. Let The Walking Dead be a lesson to AMC of exactly what not to do to a once-flawless show. Hopefully at least one of said spin-offs (I’m putting my money on the one about Rick and Michonne) will manage to bring some integrity back to the brand, instead of just continuing to tarnish it.

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars

Series Review: The Walking Dead Season 10 (AMC)

Never before have I seen a series take such a steep decline in terms of writing and content as I have The Walking Dead. What once started off as such a juggernaut, has been dying a slow, painful death for a good four or five seasons now, with Season 10 being the most embarrassing one yet.

Originally airing from October of 2019 to April of 2020, the season dragged on thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t pick back up until February of this year (with one single forgettable episode airing in the meantime in October of 2020). But no matter when they aired, the majority of the episodes remained as uninteresting as the last one.

When the season first picked back up, the heroes were still in the midst of conflict with “The Whispers,” the most bland and boring group of villains to fill the small screen since the original Scooby-Doo series back in the ’60s (and equally as laughable). Samantha Morton and Ryan Hurst lead said group of “bad guys” as Alpha and Beta, respectively, and were (thankfully) both killed off early on with little to no shock effect at all.

The show has become so overly muddled with various new characters (Princess and the “masked soldiers” come to mind) and settings, it’s become nearly impossible to keep track of (or even care to) what’s even going on. The only saving grace in recent memory were two individual episodes; one involving Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) encountering an unstable drifter (played brilliantly by Robert Patrick) while on a supply run, and Negan’s (Jeffery Dean Morgan) backstory episode last night (though unfortunately, even the latter took away some of the mystic of the character by making him into a former gym teacher. Yes, a GYM TEACHER!).

I remember watching the show the night it originally premiered (October 31, 2010) after taking my son out for a night of trick-or-treating. I instantly related with characters like Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and fell in love with the dramatic tension of the pace and writing. Since then, the show has become unrecognizable, and downright atrocious, with cast members coming and going (Danai Gurira, a.k.a. “Michonne,” is the latest to leave after this season). But thankfully, the show will finally be put out of it’s own misery after season eleven (with of course even more spin-offs than the ones already going, which both have more or less surpassed their source material at this point). If you’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead in your life, do yourself a favor, and do not start with a later season like this. Hell, even if you do start from the beginning, don’t waste your time, and just skip the last few pitiful seasons altogether (I certainly wish I had).

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars