Greetings programs and welcome to another edition of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast. This week Matthew and Simon are taking a look at the new season of Netflix’s The Witcher and Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.
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Let me begin this by saying that I enjoyed the first season of The Witcher. Some were put off by the multiple timelines and Geralt’s absence from some of the stories, but I was not one of them. If you were, you will be happy to know that the entire second season takes place in a single timeframe and that Geralt’s story is the main plot of every episode. On the other hand, if you were like me, well, you already like the show, and you’ll continue enjoying it because it’s good.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Witcher Season 2’ is a cool, confident continuation and improvement of the story that began in season one”
It’s fair to say that Benedict Cumberbatch is perhaps a little over-exposed. Since his big break with Sherlock in 2010, he has appeared in all manner of films, not only in prestige dramas like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Imitation Game, but also in major franchises like Star Trek, The Hobbit, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite their varied nature and differing challenges, it feels like all of these roles have blinded us to the simple fact that he is actually an outstanding actor. Not to say that he hasn’t done good work in the past ten years, but rather that we’ve forgotten exactly how good he can be.
Jane Campion is here to remind us of this and that she is one of the best directors working today.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Power of the Dog’ features a powerhouse performance from Benedict Cumberbatch”
It isn’t an understatement to say that the 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop, directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and scored by Yoko Kanno, is a masterpiece. Binding together influences from around our world, in particular noir thrillers like The Big Sleep, westerns like The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and science fiction classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, it became a gateway anime for many –including myself.
Its 26-episode (and one movie) run is far more approachable than most anime series. Despite its near-flung future setting –where the earth is ruined, and the solar system colonized–, Cowboy Bebop became a stone-cold classic of the genre that holds up to this day.
It’s only natural that someone would want to remake it as a live-action series; the only surprise here is how long it took to do so. With such an intricate world and iconic characters, adapting it was never going to be easy. Still, while Netflix has wrangled a promising cast and put a ton of money into re-creating the future of the anime series, they managed to miss the mark.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ recreates the look, but not the feel, of the classic anime series it’s based on”
Greetings, programs, and welcome to the latest edition of the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast! This week we are looking at two new Netflix movies. First up, The Harder They Fall, a western starring Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, and a host of other talented actors. Second, Tick, Tick… Boom! , the new film adaptation of famed Rent composer Jonathan Larson’s one-person show directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and starring Andrew Garfield. One of these movies we have differing opinions on, the other we unabashedly loved. Listen in to find out which!
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Passing feels like it might be the most appropriate to the format in a year full of exceptionally shot black and white films. Chronicling the story of two black women in the 1920s –one of whom is passing for white, and all the complications that entail, it’s a heartbreaking story elevated by the central performances from Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Passing’; Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut is a heart-rending film with two exceptional performances”
As one of the most well-regarded anime series of all time, the live-action remake coming to Netflix is highly anticipated. The trailers show promise, but the original has a certain style and charm that will be difficult to replicate, but I am choosing to remain hopeful.
Either way, whether it’s time for a re-watch or if you’ve never seen it, now is a perfect time to revisit the anime series as well as the animated film they made a few years later.
Continue reading “Home Video: Buy, Rent, or Stream Cowboy Bebop ahead of its live-action remake”
Greetings programs! This week on the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast, we take on the new Tom Hanks boy-and-his-dog-and-his-robot-post-apocalyptic-road-trip movie Finch and the most expensive movie Netflix has ever made, the Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson, and Gadot adventure heist movie Red Notice. Join us!
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A preacher says grace with his family. He has a kind voice and is revered by his wife and young son. Their pleasant dinner is interrupted by a knock at the door from the preacher’s past. The stranger on the other side, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sporting two gold pistols, joins them at the dinner table. The preacher begs, but the stranger shoots him and his wife several moments and then uses a razor to carve a cross into the young boy’s forehead.
This is the opening to The Harder They Fall; it sets the stage for a film that will all at once be a revenge picture, a colourful and bloody action picture, a history lesson, and a damn good time at the movies.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Harder They Fall’ is a bloody good time”
Rawson Marshall Thurber has had an interesting career as a director. His films aren’t terribly inventive; they often wear their influences on their sleeve and often get by on the fact that he works with charismatic casts.
His latest, Red Notice, a globe-trotting heist action movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot, is no different.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Red Notice’ coasts on the strength of its cast”
Greetings programs! This week on the Awesome Friday Movie Podcast, we’re taking on the new Netflix vampire thriller Night Teeth and the 25th entry in the James Bond franchise, No Time To Die.
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We’ve all been there. That feeling of being trapped in a relationship and not seeing a way out, knowing that you need to act but not knowing exactly what to do. The characters in The Trip are in this place, but rather than taking an ordinary course of action, they separately decide to kill each other. Things only go downhill from there, and the movie that follows takes this couple and puts them through the wringer. It’s brutal, and it’s problematic, and it’s pretty fun.
Continue reading “Fantastic Fest Review: ‘The Trip’ is fun, funny, and mean-spirited as hell.”
Jake Gyllenhaal is one of our great actors at this point. He has proven himself over and over again in a multitude of supporting and leading roles. That he carries The Guilty –a remake of a recent, critically acclaimed Danish film of the same name– should be no surprise then, given his stature. Given the conceit that most of the other characters are only ever heard on the phone, it’s also the main thing that the movie has going for it.
Continue reading “Review: ‘The Guilty’ is saved by a fully committed Jake Gyllenhaal performance”
Greetings programs! It’s that time again, Awesome Friday on a Sunday! Remember, it’s a state of mind and not a day of the week. In this episode, we have two new series to talk about, the latest Star Wars project Star Wars: Visions and director Mike Flanagan’s latest series for Netflix, Midnight Mass. This episode is nearly 90s minutes long, but that’s because we absolutely loved one of these series and have a lot to say about it. Join us!
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Greetings programs! We’re back with our 9th episode of the new Awesome Friday Podcast. This week we’re talking about one new thing and one not so new thing. First up is the new Mary Elizabeth Winstead starring action film from Netflix, Kate, which we have mixed feelings about, and second is the new-to-all-Disney+-subscribers film starring Emma Stone, Cruella, which as it turns out, we both really like.
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