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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Cosmic Circle Ep. 41: ‘John Wick’ Movies Discussion (Spoilers)

Ayla Ruby ,  ,  2 min read

Earlier this year, Keanu Reeves returned to the big screen as the titular assassin in John Wick: Chapter 4, arguably the most stylish and high-octane action franchise of our time. Directed by the talented Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch, the film sees our dog-avenging anti-hero facing off against the High Table in another thrilling installment. On this action-packed John Wick podcast episode, members of The Cosmic

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‘Spy Kids: Armageddon’ Review

Brian Kitson ,  8 min read

Spy Kids was a formative film from my adolescence. I was 9 when the first film came out, following the adventures of siblings Juni (Daryl Sabra) and Carmen Cortez (Alexa PenaVega) as they save their parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) from the misguided villain Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming). The original series was a wonderful combination of adventure, spy gadgets, and

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Review: ‘Expend4bles’ Is A Serviceable Sequel That Keeps The Action Franchise Going

James Preston Poole ,  5 min read

Out of all the franchises out there, The Expendables isn’t one where yet another sequel would be expected. After the first film, which opened to decent profit off its premise of teaming iconic action stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, and every other icon your dad grew up on in one movie, a sequel, The Expendables 2, performed even better. The same luck

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Review: ‘American Horror Story: Delicate’ Part 1 Season Premiere

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  ,  8 min read

Spooky season has finally arrived! The temperature is cooling, the leaves are changing, and our yearly fix of horror is returning to our screens. Nothing signals a shift from summer to fall and the need to consume everything pumpkin spice and a new season of American Horror Story. Now in its twelfth year, the Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk-created series does

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‘Mortal Kombat 1’ Game Review: Sets a New Standard

Wiktor Reinfuss ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  8 min read

Mortal Kombat 1 is the newest installment in the iconic fighting game series that has delighted the gaming world since the release of Mortal Kombat 9 in 2011. Developed by NetherRealm Studios, written and directed by the legend of this franchise Ed Boon, and published by Warner Bros. Games, this game has set a new standard for the fighting game genre.

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Review: Prime Video’s ‘Cassandro’

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  7 min read

What makes someone extraordinary? This question crosses my mind each and every time I watch a biopic. There must be something about the individuals whose lives we deem the general public needs to know. There’s been such an influx of biopics in recent years, each one showcasing the extraordinary lives of these larger-than-life individuals. Prime Video is releasing two such films

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Book Review: ‘Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology’

Luna Gauthier ,  ,  6 min read

Spooky season is upon us. It’s the perfect time to grab some warm cider and your favorite blanket and cuddle up somewhere with a scary story or two. Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., is exactly that! This collection of short stories is all by indigenous authors and

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Review: ‘A Haunting in Venice’

John Dotson ,  ,  5 min read

Director and actor Kenneth Branagh’s passion for the works of Agatha Christie continues with another murder mystery for Hercule Poirot. This time, Branagh takes a swan dive into the supernatural with A Haunting in Venice, an approach he has tried with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  A Haunting in Venice is not a perfect sequel. Some aspects feel slightly undercooked within its screenplay. However, this might be the most engaging

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Review: Prime Video’s ‘Wilderness’ is One Wild Ride

Brian Kitson ,  7 min read

I think it’s pretty universal that at some point in our lives, we’ve been pushed to our breaking point and snapped in some way, shape, or form. The unbridled emotions that come with the snap are raw, and deep, and can cause us to feel like we’re going crazy. Perhaps in some way, we are, like a rubber band, we have

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Audiobook Review: ‘Light Bringer: A Red Rising Novel’ by Pierce Brown

Brian Kitson ,  ,  ,  6 min read

As nerds continue to take over the world, it feels like there’s been a bigger shift in the landscape of media on fantasy, science fiction, and comic books. Not that you’ll hear me complaining. With so much focus on nerd culture, the market has become inundated with many new series, films, and books to catch the attention of consumers. To stand

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Review: Netflix’s ‘Gamera: Rebirth’

Sam Pearce ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  13 min read

Thanks to the recent renewed interest in the Kaiju genre, we’ve been treated to various Kaiju movies and shows both animated and live-action. Between Legendary’s Monsterverse, the Godzilla Singular Point anime on Netflix, the upcoming Godzilla Minus One from Toho, and plenty of others, kaiju fans have been treated to a wide variety of city-toppling monster romps. But while we’ve seen

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Book Review: ‘Cursebreakers’ by Madeleine Nakamura

Luna Gauthier ,  6 min read

Adrien Desfourneaux is currently a professor of magic but he used to be a physician. Instead of teaching about magic, he used it to heal people. Until the day he went too far and was almost branded a witch. The victims of that tragedy are still lying comatose in the Chirurgeonate (hospital) years later. But now something is happening. An unexplained

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