Reviews

Although we mainly focus on reviews of movies and TV or streaming series, we have a wide array of reviews here at Cosmic Circus. This includes concerts, tech and other products, travel, games, books, and comics.

Refer to the Stellar Picks archive to find some of our top-rated movies, shows, books, games, and more!

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Movie ReviewsReviews

Review: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ is a Farewell Poem

John Dotson ,  ,  ,  5 min read

Hayao Miyazaki is easily one of the greatest storytellers of our time. The imagination and artistry on display with each project showcases an auteur who dreams of worlds beyond our understanding. Like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, every image of this film can be a poster, keepsake, wallpaper, etc. His latest effort, The Boy and the Heron, continues to demonstrate Miyazaki’s powers. However, this might be one of his

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‘Wonka’ Movie Review: A Delicious Addition to Willy Wonka’s Legacy

Wiktor Reinfuss ,  ,  ,  ,  7 min read

Willy Wonka is an iconic character that was has been slightly forgotten in recent years. His story started in 1964 with Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, and was later adapted and continued in films. But after 18 years, we’ve finally got a film that will explore Willy Wonka’s character and genius more than ever before. Willy Wonka’s story is full of adventures,

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Review: ‘Merry Little Batman’ is a Festive Way to Celebrate the World of DC

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  7 min read

Happy holidays readers! There’s just something magical about this time of year, as the stockings are hung and snow gently falls from the sky. I know in the Kitson household, we’re looking forward to all the comforts and cheer that spending time with family brings. One of our favorite Christmas activities is to snuggle in a warm living room with a

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Book Review: ‘Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks’ by Eric Saward

Luna Gauthier ,  ,  5 min read

The planet of Necros, as the name implies, is a pretty quiet place. This is because it’s one giant cemetery. Aside from the few people who maintain the structures and oversee the funerals (I’m sorry, the “Posture for Perpetual Instatement”), all the “residents” of Necros are either dead or cryogenically frozen to be reanimated once cures are found. However, things aren’t

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‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ is a Fantastic Family Film

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  7 min read

How many of you remember Chicken Run, the stop-motion animated film from the early 2000s? I’m sure almost everyone my age has at least heard of the film, if not a distinct memory of the film from DreamWorks Animation’s early days. The animated film landscape at the time was an interesting one, to say the least, with Disney still ruling with

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Review: ‘Godzilla Minus One’ is a Monster Blockbuster Befitting the Franchise Legacy

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  ,  ,  6 min read

Amidst the post-war rubble and lingering trauma of nuclear destruction still present today in the world, Godzilla Minus One emerges as a blockbuster befitting a franchise that, like society, has transformed over the past 70 years. It continues breathing new life into kaiju stories. Still, instead of rehashing the political satire of 2016’s Shin Godzilla, it returns to the story’s roots, where Godzilla first emerged from

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Book Review: ‘Shield Maiden’ by Sharon Emmerichs

Luna Gauthier ,  ,  ,  ,  5 min read

We’ve all heard of “Beowulf.” Some of us may even remember Grendel or his much scarier mother. While Beowulf is considered one of the first heroes, most people don’t realize that we don’t even know his whole story. Everything we know of Beowulf comes from a few small scraps of his story that have been found. Most of his tale is

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Wonka Book Review: Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Luna Gauthier ,  ,  ,  5 min read

What kid wouldn’t love to visit a chocolate factory? Especially one as fantastic as Willy Wonka’s eccentric factory? But be careful what you wish for because things aren’t always what they seem. What starts as a benign tour of a candy factory quickly starts to look like something else. Kids are dropping like flies, and it’s not quite clear if they’ll

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Review: Prime Video’s ‘Candy Cane Lane’ is a Refreshingly Hilarious Christmas Film

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  7 min read

What’s the holiday season without a film about the importance of family and finding the true spirit of Christmas? It’s either that trope or a city girl stuck in a small town where she finds love and the spirit of the holidays. The pickings are limited when it comes to messages in our Christmas films, however, there’s something magical each and

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