Set in the middle age of Middle Earth, thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and the One Ring, Amazon Prime Video’s new series The Rings of Power. After watching the first two episodes, it is clear the studio squeezed every cent out of the reported $465 million dollars for its first season…
Read More
There aren’t many shows that can successfully straddle the lines between comedy and drama. But This is Going to Hurt is not most programs. The British dramedy based on Adam Kay’s memoir will dazzle audiences with its sharp writing, humour and pathos. Ben Whishaw stars as a young doctor working for the National Health Service….
Read More
Watching the anti-heroine of Alice Seabright‘s thrilling series Chloe, Becky Green (Erin Doherty, an absolute star-making turn), as she scrolls through the social media lifestyle of the titular Chloe (Poppy Gilbert), a flame-haired femme with a seemingly enviable and lavish existence, the loneliness and self-loathing is palpable. It’s a feeling we’ve probably all experienced, noting…
Read More
Within the first few minutes of the third season of The Boys, the profane-laced dialogue (no one drops a “C-bomb” like Karl Urban), bold nudity (if you think there’s a lack of male frontal shots in mainstream media, feast your eyes here), and bloodied-red body horror (there’s that R18+ rating certified) more than announces that…
Read More
As Gillian Anderson states – under a set of prominent teeth that appear almost caricaturish in their imagery as Eleanor Roosevelt – being a first lady isn’t a job, it’s a “circumstance”. Such a circumstance, it would seem, that Showtime thought it only fair to showcase the women behind some of the most powerful Presidential…
Read More
So often favouring spectacle over character development, the comic book action movie has gradually skewered its initial action-centric mentality towards a dramatic outreach (however melodramatic) that speaks to the quality talent the films so often manage to lure. And for Marvel, not only are their films consistently cast, but their Disney+ series’ have more than…
Read More
The British have always excelled at the cosy murder mystery – the sort you watch routinely on a weeknight with a cup of tea – but this time its Ireland that’s produced a stellar addition to the genre. Giving off strong Rosemary & Thyme vibes, the Acorn TV original Harry Wild stars Jane Seymour as…
Read More
It’s been two years since the first season of Upload, an off-beat comedy set in the future where the wealthy can upload their consciousness to a digital afterlife and continue living in a perfect world of their creation. The first season was the perfect blend of comedy mixed with drama exploring themes of loss, love…
Read More
Amy Sherman-Palladino’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has returned for a fourth season of lighthearted 1960’s shenanigans and based on the first two episodes it looks set to be just as quick-witted as ever. The spirited comedian Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is back in New York City after she was abruptly removed from Shy Baldwin’s…
Read More
Over the last year there’s been a heavy re-examination regarding the critical response the media placed upon women in the public eye. Recent documentaries about Britney Spears and Janet Jackson have truly bought the discussion into a manner that extends beyond their fandom, and something like Pam & Tommy, as exaggerated at times it is,…
Read More
This is a spoiler-free review of the first three episodes of Peacemaker. The show premieres on Binge January 13. The Suicide Squad went down as one of 2021’s best comic book movies. The soft reboot helmed by James Gunn won over critics and audiences with its hyperviolent scenes and adult tone. Gunn further expands the…
Read More
The last episode of The Wheel of Time season one was released on the 24th of December, capping off the agonisingly slow weekly wait (who decided to re-introduce that?) for new episodes of the epic fantasy series. For the uninitiated, the show is based on the well-known novels by Robert Jordan – although fans of…
Read More
As easy as it is to wax lyrical on the fact that we have yet another Marvel property release in 2021, not to mention the fact that it’s basing itself around a character that never appeared like enough of a stable figure to centre around, the resulting Hawkeye is all the more alarming and engaging…
Read More
Although the fantasy genre had always had a dedicated fanbase, one could argue that it wasn’t until the filmic adaptations of the Lord of the Rings in the early 2000’s that it truly became a classification known and embraced by a mainstream audience. Second to that, in a more culturally relevant manner, Game of Thrones…
Read More
Marvel have really leaned into their Disney+ products, haven’t they? Following on from the fan-embraced success of WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki, the fresh-but-familiar mentality continues with the animated ambition that is What If…? The notion of a multiverse is something that the MCU have teased and ultimately confirmed throughout their…
Read More
Though it boasts a lush Byron Bay setting, is filled to the brim with aesthetically pleasing cast members, and is based around the notion of healing one’s self, Nine Perfect Strangers is decidedly unnerving. Set in a secluded health and wellness resort named Tranquillum House, the nine perfect strangers of the title are the latest…
Read More
Knowing that one simply can’t just replace Tom Hanks – in whatever capacity – Disney+’s Turner & Hooch reboot tries the next best thing by honouring his character’s legacy, even if it is essentially a veiled attempt at replacement. For the uninitiated, Turner & Hooch was a sizeable success for Hanks in his more comedy-driven…
Read More
Earning a more fruitful reaction and reputation over the similarly themed Netflix offering Next In Fashion (which only lasted one season), Amazon’s Making The Cut took the winning Project Runway duo of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn and altered their mentor mentality to look for a fashion brand rather than just a designer. There’s no…
Read More
The first episode of The White Lotus, the latest darkly comedic effort from the mind of Mike White (Enlightened), sets itself up as a more humorous Big Little Lies, offering a seasonal hook in the first few minutes that suggests the titular paradisal resort is anything but. A stoic Shane (Jake Lacy) sits at an…
Read More
Supported by Pixar but not specifically animated by them, Monsters At Work serves as a direct continuation of 2001’s Monsters, Inc., picking up in the hours after learning the laughter of children is a much more efficient way to energise their city over the nightmarish screams they used to evoke. Despite the sequel feel of…
Read More
When Kevin Can F**k Himself begins you’d be forgiven for worrying that Annie Murphy, so great as the vapid Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek, has drastically reduced herself to playing the stereotypical put-upon wife in the all-too familiar sitcom set-up of schlubby husband acts like a man-child and gets away with it because he’s endearing,…
Read More
There’s something delightful in a comedy series basing itself around a person who’s, for lack of a better word, awful. Maybe awful is too strong a word. Let’s go with morally questionable. Either way, In The Cards, from writer/director Colin Kane Healey, centres itself around a morally questionable type who most would agree deserves that…
Read More
Given how mischievous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is as a character, it only makes sense that his namesake series follows suit. A show that, from the first two episodes afforded to media ahead of its Disney+ debut, seems to absolutely delight in embracing the unexpected, Loki continues the more inventive, and oft-humorous, route that served the…
Read More
Let’s be honest; the 2017 version of Justice League was one of the biggest cinematic disappointments of the last decade. What should have been the glorious peak of the DC Extended Universe was ultimately a sloppy, disjointed mess that was the inevitable result of switching directors at the eleventh hour. After the tragic death of…
Read More
Right from the opening moments of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – an extended action sequence amid rock formations spearheaded by Anthony Mackie‘s Falcon – it’s evident that the intent of this show is to link it to the prototype of the Marvel canon we’ve come to expect. After WandaVision took bold swings, this…
Read More
A nonlinear storyline, a dash of supernatural suggestion, and committed performances across the board, The Sister switches enough of the standard murder-mystery thriller concept for it to earn viewer interest over the course of its four sharp episodes. Within minutes of Neil Cross‘s screenplay unfolding on the screen – the writer adapting from his own…
Read More
Given that 2020 was unable to give us the Marvel titles we had originally anticipated thanks to a certain pandemic – both Black Widow and Eternals were set for release – WandaVision has somewhat of an extra layer of pressure added to it, now that it is officially both the first taste of the MCU…
Read More
In this high stakes season finale, Mando must try to rescue Grogu from the clutches of Moff Gideon. It won’t be easy and the odds are stacked against him. Can he manage to get the kid back safely or will he and his team be defeated? Beware spoilers ahead in this episode review. Din Djarin…
Read More
If you’re a fan of science-fiction, you’d be hard pressed to find a show that’s more faithful to the genre than The Expanse. Originally a novel series written by James S. A. Corey, the series is set in the far future where humanity has colonized various parts of the solar system. The series predominantly focuses…
Read More
The penultimate episode to season 2 has a few surprises but is nowhere near as outlandish as some of the previous episodes. Beware of spoilers in the review ahead. Working at a prison scrapyard smashing up larger pieces of old Empire ships into smaller pieces, a prison droid approaches Mayfeld (Bill Burr) and orders him…
Read More
