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!
When indie game developer Luca Galante released his first game, Vampire Survivors, in early access back in 2021, it wasn’t an immediate hit. Once streamers took notice, the game rocketed to the top of the charts on Steam, and it eventually morphed into the game most people love and adore. While the game initially came with dozens of characters, a wide
Read MoreThe game Gambonanza uses the chess system and rules uniquely. Not by simplifying it or changing the décor to flashy visuals, but by slowly pulling apart the foundations of chess and rebuilding them into something unpredictable. Gambonanza respects the core idea of chess just enough to keep it recognizable and understandable, but everything around it feels new, weird, and unexpected, like
Read MoreIn a key scene from The Devil Wears Prada 2, Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly gently asks Stanley Tucci’s Nigel if she’s been taking advantage of him for the past 20 years. The scene is played as if it comes from a genuine place, seemingly intended to make viewers say “aww” as Miranda finally recognizes her second-in-command’s skill and dedication to the
Read MoreDead as Disco is one of those unique indie games that immediately feels like it’s going to be a big hit. It doesn’t just take inspiration from rhythm games or beat ’em ups. It fully commits to mixing them into something that feels like you’re fighting your way through a music video. At first look, it seems like it’s another flashy,
Read MoreMortal Kombat II has everything a movie based on the video game should have. There are extended fight scenes with excessive gore, faithful character portrayals, and visual recreations of various game levels. Yet, for a movie that hasn’t even been released in theaters, it feels as dated as a Sega Genesis console. The sequel introduces new ideas. One of them is bringing
Read MoreStar Wars animation is one of the best bits of Star Wars out there. From the Clone Wars, to Rebels and The Bad Batch, each show has brought exciting art styles and directions as well as amazing new characters, some of which have since made their live-action debuts. Animated Star Wars is a way to tell different stories and have unlimited
Read MoreEvery now and again, there comes a film that might not break any barriers but surprises you with how much more it has to offer. The Sheep Detectives is the definition of a film that, at first glance many will dismiss as generic kiddie fare with an absurd premise, but The Sheep Detectives provides the heart and clever wit that more
Read MoreHokum sees filmmaker Damian McCarthy return with another horror film that balances a mystery with supernatural creepiness. His previous effort, Oddity, made great use of the terror of inanimate objects moving. For almost 100 minutes, viewers would scan the background as characters talk in the foreground. And the same question would always arise: Did that giant mannequin-sized doll move? Hokum does not linger on the fear of sentient
Read MoreWe continue our coverage of the Dallas International Film Festival with The Furious. As a film, The Furious promises exactly what its title advertises: many angry characters. And when the film begins, the emotions are immediately justified as a kid takes an arrow to the face. Akin to John Wick, the film has a clear antagonist. For the John Wick franchise, it was a villain
Read MoreObsession accomplishes the impossible. It takes one of the most beautiful human experiences and makes it crawl under your skin. It’s natural to crave human connection or the innate feeling of being wanted. No one ever considers the most extreme version of this scenario. What if someone needed you like a heroin craving? Filmmaker Curry Barker apparently has thought about this extensively. There
Read MoreThe first five episodes of The Boys season 5 deliver the trademarked brutality and uncomfortable moments as intended, but what really defines the final season is how heavy and serious everything feels. Every conversation carries tension, every decision feels like it’s irreversible, and the pacing slows down just enough to let you absorb the consequences of the character’s actions. That makes
Read MoreFour years after the release of Beast, it might be logical for Icelandic genre filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur to eventually direct a film with the title Apex in it. That said, no apex predators are found in this two-hander survival thriller between a hunter and the hunted. Such a simple premise as the one found in Kormákur’s latest should exalt tangible thrills,
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