10. Prey (20th Century Studios – Disney Plus) Director: Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) Going back to basics reversed the downslide this series was starting on after Shane Black’s misstep The Predator, and it performed so well at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 on Metacritic. The only way it could have done better was…
Tag: Netflix
Stranger Things Returns to Diminishing Effect With Season 4: Volume 2
When Volume 1 came out, I criticized the show for not killing off important characters when their time was up. Now it seems with the season’s end the tide has turned with me. If the main characters do not die there are no stakes and therefore no one is in any real danger. Despite what…
Stranger Things Loses its Charm in Season 4
Distributor – Netflix Date – May 27th, 2022 Length – 7 Episodes/ 9+ hours long Plot – 9 months after Season 3, the Hawkins crew face a new supernatural threat known as Vecna. Meanwhile, Joyce and Murray try to help Hopper escape from a Russian prison where he prepares to fight an unknown monster. When several…
2022 Oscars Review: Bad Company
“Did I miss anything?” comedian Amy Schumer said several minutes after Will Smith publicly assaulted Chris Rock on stage. That was the most direct acknowledgment of the incident. Anthony Hopkins recited Will Smith’s Oscar winning speech in a presentation saying we should move on with peace and love. Chris Rock declined to file a police…
‘Ozark’, Everyone’s Favourite Mid-tier show returns for a Mid-season
It’s good now and then to take a break from highly acclaimed movies, television, and video games and focus on the nuts and bolts of what makes a show watchable. Ozark, by the grace of the Netflix algorithm, thought you’d like something more with your Breaking Bad and has provided 3 and a half seasons…
Squid Game Spoiler Wrap-Up
With the plot and pacing of Squid Game taking its time to get to the second game, it hasn’t let up since. Episode 6 is the first time it felt like the show breathed and ended my night of bingeing. People wonder how they’d fare in these games. Red Light, Green Light is easy enough….
In Midnight Mass, Mike Flanagan Builds A Faithful Congregation.. Then Burns It All To The Ground
This Netflix series tells the story of the well-regarded creator’s problems with a late-breaking story structure. Created by Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Hush, Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil, The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep) I remember the moment I knew Midnight Mass hit its peak. It is at the end of Proverbs, episode three. In…
‘You’ Confidently Strides Into Its Third Season
Read The Excellent Season One Review! Every storytelling mark You gracefully hits in its season three premiere is so clear and unfussy. This is a show made by an experienced and diverse group of people who have experience in other shows about serial killers (Think if Dexter had a Mindhunter Bookclub with Prodigal Son and…
In Episode II, ‘Squid Game’ Elevates its Premise Cementing Itself as an Unlikely Character Drama.
Not since HBO’s The Leftovers has a show so successfully managed to cloak and dagger its audience by revealing its high concept premise as a character drama. At the conclusion of episode one, you would not believe there would be any chance of escape. Revisiting this premise, audiences haven’t been given one before. In every…
Think It’s Too Late To Get Into Squid Game? It Has Been Waiting For You.
Who would’ve thought 1 1/2 years into the pandemic we’d get another pandemic sized Netflix hit? Netflix sure hoped so. The most interesting thing so far about Squid Game is that it writes its premise from a character rather than plot approach. This alone lifts it above its predecessors and inspirations. Battle Royale chiefly among…
Dave Chappelle Goes For Broke With The Anti-Woke Special ‘The Closer’
Sticks and Stones is the funniest stand-up I’ve seen. A comedian working at the top of his craft while pretending to not care what other people think. It felt like he was discovering along with the audience. It’s the best standup he will ever do. In ‘The Closer’ he proves it by dropping the act….
Charlie Kaufman and Ian Reid help me “think of ending things”
“I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to the algorithm.” Kingston author Ian Reid said upon reviewing the successful adaptation of his work, the latest head trip from Academy Award Winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman is my brother’s favourite screenwriter though I always preferred Kaufman’s twin brother Donald. Most of his tales never venture…
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