Articles by Matthew Simpson
Netflix's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Once Again Fumbles the Source Material
Developed by Albert Kim
PUBLISHED Feb 22, 2024
Nickelodeon's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' premiered in 2005 to critical acclaim. It featured a unique world, fully realized over three...
'Shōgun' Is a Grand Epic Without Focus
Created by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks
PUBLISHED Feb 13, 2024
Adapting any beloved novel to the screen is daunting, even more so when some of the book's themes are perhaps a little dated...
'Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person' Brings Fresh Blood to Familiar Themes
Directed by Ariane Louis-Seize
PUBLISHED Oct 13, 2023
The coming-of-age story is a well-worn tale, but one that still has a lot of mileage if a filmmaker can find a new angle. Director Ariane L...
'Ahsoka' Thankfully Transcends 'Star Wars' Nostalgia
Developed by Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau
PUBLISHED Aug 23, 2023
It's fair to say that Disney+'s various Star Wars shows have been a mixed bag. While the fan base remains rabid, the shows have not all bee...
'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' Sinks into Incoherence
Directed by Steven Caple Jr.
PUBLISHED Jun 26, 2023
There's a moment in the third act of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts where the bad guys have taken possession of the transwarp key (the ce...
'Class of '09' Is Too Unrefined to Be Great
Created by Tom Rob Smith
PUBLISHED May 9, 2023
We live in perilous times. As a society, we are grappling with subjects previously only found under the purview of science fiction, the con...
'Polite Society' Doesn't Follow Coming-of-Age Conventions
Directed by Nida Manzoor
PUBLISHED Apr 25, 2023
Polite Society hits the ground running, jumping and kicking in the first few minutes, and never lets up its pace or infectious, offbeat ene...
'Shrinking' Grows Past Its Familiar Story
Created by Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel
PUBLISHED Jan 27, 2023
With so much content these days, it can sometimes feel like there are no new stories. Shrinking, AppleTV+'s new series starring Jason Segel...
