It’s not often that you hear about series based off of a viral commercial. Yet, here I am talking about Ted Lasso, the new Apple TV series based off of some NBC promos to encourage Americans to watch the Premier League. No, seriously. In 2013, Jason Sudeikis travelled across the pond over to White Hart Lane (and the Spurs training grounds) to portray Ted Lasso, an American Football … Continue reading ‘Ted Lasso’ Hits The Back of The Net
It keeps me up at night wondering how many reviewers start their pieces on this sequel to Borat with something like ‘MY NAME A ___. THIS MOVIE IS VERY NICE, HIGH FIVE!’. Honestly though, who can blame them? I was only a six when Sacha Baron Cohen made his most popular debut onto American cinema screens. Yet, the lasting cultural impact of the was, and still is, absolutely staggering. … Continue reading Review – ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ is “The Most 2020 Movie” You’ll See in 2020
Adapted from the Audible play of the same name by Madhuri Shekar, Jason Blum welcomes a new Horror-Thriller Evil Eye to Amazon as part of their ‘Welcome to the Blumhouse collection’. This film joins the latest releases alongside both Nocturne and Black Box. In Evil Eye, we follow a mother and daughter, Usha (Sarita Choudhury) and Pallavi (Sunita Mani) respectively, and the events surrounding how their relationship deteriorates when a handsome stranger, Sandeep (Omar Maskati), … Continue reading Review – ‘Evil Eye’ Has No Vision
How do you document something that hasn’t happened yet? Most documentaries are about what happened right there – at that moment – in that space. Yet, how do you make a documentary about an event that will happen? How about someone’s death? With Dick Johnson is Dead, filmmaker Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson) invites us into the life of her father, Richard “Dick” Johnson as he approaches the tipping point in his battle with … Continue reading Review – ‘Dick Johnson is Dead’: the Power of Father and Daughter in the Face of Doom and Gloom
In the sixth episode of Lovecraft Country, we head back in time on another detour from Leti (Jurnee Smollett), Tic (Jonathan Majors) and Montrose’s (Michael K Williams) encounter with the Braithwhite clan. In Meet me in Daegu, we gain expository information for the cliffhanger presented in Strange Case as we are introduced to Ji-Ah (Jamie Chung), a nurse amid the Korean War. She forms a strong relationship with Tic … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft Country’: Episode 6 (Meet Me in Daegu)
[This review contains mild spoilers] After a spelunkingly adventurous fourth episode, with entertaining results, Lovecraft Country’s fifth instalment – Strange Case – builds on the events of Montrose’s actions as well as focusing on Letitia’s (Jurnee Smollett) sister, Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku). I am delighted to say that this episode might be the best of the series so far. There’s an emotional core to this hour, and it is filled … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft Country’: Episode 5 (Strange Case)
If Lovecraft Country’s last venture had more in common with a haunted house flick, this week’s episode (A History of Violence) is more Pirates of the Caribbean or Indiana Jones than anything else … but that’s not necessarily a bad thing perhaps. With adventurous beats, yet still retaining a handful of horrific moments, Lovecraft Country continues delivering scenes ripped straight from a pulp comic strip. Unfortunately, the pressing, and essential, question that audiences will be … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft Country’: Episode 4 (A History of Violence)
After a confusing, and bloated second episode, Lovecraft Country returns to familiar form in a ghoulish fashion. Deploying some usual methods of haunted house hocus pocus, Holy Ghost deals with the hard-hitting fallout of last episode’s bombastic finale, bringing us back to a Chicago entrenched in bigotry. After purchasing a property (which looks like something straight out of an R.L Stine novel), Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) aims to house people who … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft Country’: Episode 3 (Holy Ghost)
Two years, ten months, and eighteen days. That’s the exact amount of time it’s been since the first trailer for Josh Boone’s The New Mutants dropped on YouTube. A myriad of delays, reshoots – and what a lot of people would label ‘production hell’ – kept this extension of the Fox X-Men Universe unseen from the public eye for what seemed like a millennium. Finally, after so long, The New Mutants has … Continue reading Review – ‘The New Mutants’ is Comically Dreadful
Triumphantly walking a line between ‘Jim Crow Era Drama’ and a ‘Science Fiction Adventure’, last week’s introductory of Lovecraft Country hit viewers with a bang of thematic exploration. It’s an impressive initial step into a system of cosmic terror, one with substantial entertainment value balanced alongside a consistent, potent, story. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the series’ sophomore endeavour: “Whitey’s on the Moon”. The principal issue … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft Country’: Episode 2 (Whitey’s on the Moon)
It is no secret that the USA was notoriously built on the backs of black slaves. The systemic racism that persists in America today is historically enforced, and complimentary, to the supernatural monsters we encounter in the first episode of Lovecraft Country. Based on the novel by Matt Ruff, this series, fresh from HBO’s ever-expanding catalogue, is produced for the small screen by Jordan Peele (Us, Get Out) alongside J.J Abrams (Super … Continue reading Review – ‘Lovecraft County’: Episode 1 (Sundown)
Are you feeling bored in quarantine? Need a good laugh? More and more people are looking for quick bursts of humour amid this miserable pandemic, and sketch-comedy might just provide the solution. From That Mitchell and Web Look and Key & Peele to The Fast Show and Monty Python¸ sketch comedy is one of the funniest and most reliable forms of rib-tickling entertainment available. Absurdist … Continue reading A Beginner’s Guide to ‘Aunty Donna’
