36 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(09/14/20 10:07pm)
Going into the new season of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix, I was feeling cautiously optimistic. I had loved the first season, but felt that its last episode went off the rails. And since that episode was the lead-in to this new season, I had no idea what to expect. However, this new season absolutely exceeded my expectations and had me feeling back at home in the Umbrella Academy universe within minutes. Much like its predecessor, this new season balances emotional honesty and a quirky, fun universe in a way that has never been done before in the superhero genre.
(08/14/20 4:05pm)
by Emily Worrell
Going into the new season of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix, I was feeling cautiously optimistic. I had loved the first season, but felt that its last episode went off the rails. And since that episode was the lead-in to this new season, I had no idea what to expect. However, this new season absolutely exceeded my expectations and had me feeling back at home in the Umbrella Academy universe within minutes. Much like its predecessor, this new season balances emotional honesty and a quirky, fun universe in a way that has never been done before in the superhero genre.
The Umbrella Academy: Season 2 starts where the first season left off, with Five attempting to use his powers to transport all seven siblings back in time. Unfortunately, this goes horribly awry, and they are all transported back to the same alley in Dallas in different times spanning from 1960 to 1963. To make matters worse, Five discovers upon landing that the threat of apocalypse has followed the siblings back to the 1960s, giving them a total of 10 days to find each other and save the world.
Same great characters, brand new setting
Despite the setting being completely different, the characters stay consistently themselves in this new season. The choices that were made with what happened to the characters in their 1960s lives not only made sense based on the types of people they are, but were also interesting and added layers to the show. For example, the choice to have Allison pursue civil rights activism without using her powers highlighted her passion and desire to leave the consequences of her powers in the old timeline. Klaus becoming a cult leader was both on brand and hilarious, adding to the show’s quirky and unique brand of comedy. However, I think the most interesting outcome of this time jump was Vanya’s, as she was hit by a car immediately after landing and completely lost her memories. It was heart wrenching to watch her rediscover what had happened in her life, and added another layer of emotional complexity to her interactions with her siblings. It was interesting to see how each member of this diverse group of siblings ended up faring on their own in a new timeline where they didn’t have each other to rely on.
These interesting writing choices for each character were backed up by incredible acting. The Umbrella Academy is truly an ensemble show, and every actor gives an outstanding performance. It is clear that these actors completely understand the depths of their characters’ trauma and understand their motivations as well as why they are the way they are. It is absolutely mesmerizing to see a group of people who seem so effortlessly in tune with their characters deliver exceptional, raw, emotionally honest performances with no one hogging the spotlight or standing out as weaker than the rest. While all the actors were incredible, I am continually amazed by young actor Aidan Gallagher’s portrayal of Five. Gallagher is tasked with portraying a man who is in his late 50s trapped in the body of a 15 year old, and he does it so convincingly that it’s simply unbelievable. The viewer completely forgets they are watching a child take on a role far beyond their level of life experience and becomes engrossed in the character.
Family matters
As I mentioned before, the siblings end up spread across the span of three years in Dallas, Texas. Thus, each character spends a significant amount of time alone rather than with the rest of the family. While this allows for great character development on an individual level, there is, as always, a trade-off
. Because so much time is spent with each character alone in their new, alternate timeline lives, the viewer sees much less of the family dynamic than they saw in the first season. This is rather disappointing, because so much of the original season’s appeal was the dysfunctional family dynamic that was new and fresh to the superhero genre. For about the first half of the season, we never see more than three of the siblings together at a time, and Five is almost always one of them, which gives less variety in these interactions. Fortunately, everyone eventually gets together again. However, while the parts of the show where the family is together have some really great moments of strong chemistry between actors and characters, overall, the dynamic between the siblings feels a bit generic compared to the first season.
Additionally, the fact that it takes about half the season just to get the family back together again messes with the pacing in a pretty significant way. Because so much of the season is focused on the characters’ individual 1960s lives before the family is reunited, it makes the oncoming apocalypse feel much less urgent, because the show itself doesn’t seem to be too focused on that problem, so it feels as though the viewer shouldn’t care as much.
Uniquely Umbrella Academy
One of the reasons the first season of The Umbrella Academy stood out so much was because it established its own identity as a show so clearly. It was unapologetically quirky and kooky, but was driven underneath the surface by characters with very real emotions and traumatic pasts. Fortunately, none of that amazing identity is lost in this new season. The show continues to blend emotional honesty and the complex long-term effects of family trauma with something fun and unique, and frankly, it’s incredible. The soundtrack is full of fun, upbeat tracks as well as 1960s throwbacks that set the scene for this new season. What other show could pull off putting “Rocket Fuel” by DJ Shadow and “My Way” by Frank Sinatra in the same episode? The show’s unique brand allows it to pull things off that other shows just can’t (like having one of the main bad guys be a fish in a tank wearing a suit. Does it make sense? No. Does it need to? No. It’s just fun.) The distinctive identity of the show is strong in this new season, and it elevates every moment to near perfection.
Featured Image: IMDb
Images: IMDb
(03/27/20 3:24pm)
(03/11/20 3:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
On October 24, 2017, Netflix released the first season of The End of the F***ing World, a series based off the graphic novel of the same title by Charles Forsman. The show followed troubled teens James and Alyssa as they ran away from their homes to look for satisfaction somewhere else, and it became an unexpected hit. Flash forward to November 4, 2019, and the highly anticipated second season of the show dropped to the delight of audiences and critics alike. About two weeks later, writer Charlie Cowell announced that the show would not be continuing on for a third season, to the disappointment of many fans. Where else would we get a show that put so much teen angst into such an upbeat and interesting package?
Flash forward to February 3, 2020, and the first teaser trailer for a new Netflix show called I Am Not Okay with This drops. To fans of the show, the trailer no doubt felt familiar in tone, and for good reason: this new show would be based off of a graphic novel by Charles Forsman, the same man who wrote The End of the F***ing World. Meanwhile, the show was created by none other than Jonathan Entwistle, who directed and created the television series The End of the F***ing World. This left fans like myself both excited and apprehensive: would this new show be able to come close to what The End of the F***ing World had been for us, or would it just feel like a weak attempt to recreate what was over and done?
I Am Not Okay with This follows high schooler Sydney Novak, who struggles with the adolescent issues of friendships, family, her sexuality, and managing her feelings, all while still grappling with the fact that her dad committed suicide last year. When strange things start happening all around Sydney, she realizes that there are forces inside of her that she does not know how to control.
(02/14/20 8:51pm)
Once again, Valentine’s Day is coming around, and whether that excites you, terrifies you, or makes you want to hit something, there is no denying that Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to watch a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the quality of films in this genre is incredibly hit-or-miss, and it can take hours of scrolling through Hulu or Netflix to find one that even sounds halfway decent. To save you from that fate, here are the top three romantic comedies from each streaming service (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney +, and plain old Blu-ray/DVD), with honorable mentions included.
(02/14/20 6:00am)
by Emily Worrell
Once again, Valentine’s Day is coming around, and whether that excites you, terrifies you, or makes you want to hit something, there is no denying that Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to watch a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the quality of films in this genre is incredibly hit-or-miss, and it can take hours of scrolling through Hulu or Netflix to find one that even sounds halfway decent. To save you from that fate, here are the top three romantic comedies from each streaming service (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney +, and plain old Blu-ray/DVD), with honorable mentions included.
(12/27/19 2:00pm)
We’ve finally arrived at the day we all knew would come: It’s time to say goodbye to Sean and Daniel, our favorite road-trip-brother-outlaws. After loving Episode 4, I was excited, yet apprehensive to play the final installment, as I had faith that the developers could do what they had done before—I just wasn’t sure if they would. In a way, the game proved both of these senses right; while there were some elements in the final episode that were frankly mediocre at best, the ending managed to—more or less—make up for them by packing an emotional punch that left me sobbing almost an hour after finishing the game.
(12/23/19 5:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
We’ve finally arrived at the day we all knew would come: It’s time to say goodbye to Sean and Daniel, our favorite road-trip-brother-outlaws. After loving Episode 4, I was excited, yet apprehensive to play the final installment, as I had faith that the developers could do what they had done before—I just wasn’t sure if they would. In a way, the game proved both of these senses right; while there were some elements in the final episode that were frankly mediocre at best, the ending managed to—more or less—make up for them by packing an emotional punch that left me sobbing almost an hour after finishing the game.
(11/22/19 7:29pm)
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for The End of the F***ing World Seasons 1 and 2.
(11/20/19 5:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for The End of the F***ing World Seasons 1 and 2.
The headline of this review may come off as a bit of a surprise to readers who are familiar with my previous work. As a huge fan of The End of the F***ing World, I was not shy with my opinion about the decision to renew the show for a second season. It seemed silly to continue the show when the first season was concluded in such a tragic, beautifully ambiguous way; plus, the first season had ended where the source material (the graphic novel by Charles Forsman) did. Could show writer Charlie Covell pull off creating a completely new story arc that not only lived up to its predecessor, but also fit the quirky, dark tone that fans of the show had come to love?
The answer, as it turns out, is yes. While the second season of The End of the F***ing World isn’t quite as good as the first—which is to be expected with TV shows like this—it’s still a surprisingly strong addition to Alyssa and James’ story that builds on both of their characters and has the same dark, comedic tone fans of the first season grew to love. Season 2 tells the story of Bonnie (Naomi Ackie), former lover of Clive Koch (Jonathan Aris), who is hellbent on exacting revenge on Alyssa (Jessica Barden) and James (Alex Lawther) after his death. Her revenge ends up reuniting the duo, who parted on extremely uncertain terms. Alyssa and James struggle to reconcile and come to terms with what happened when they were 17, all with the threat of Bonnie lurking right under their noses.
(10/30/19 1:36pm)
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the first season of ‘The End of the F***ing World’ season one.
(10/02/19 7:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
(09/27/19 5:34pm)
by Emily Worrell
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the first season of 'The End of the F***ing World' season one.
When The End of the F***ing World first came out back in 2017, I was one of those people who watched the whole show in less than a week. I was also one of those people who stared at the TV screen for a good five minutes before sobbing uncontrollably at the ending. I naturally was one of those people who then binged it again, recommended it to every human being who would listen to me, and asked my high school teacher if I could write about it (they said no). But yeah, I was basically a The End of the F***ing World superfan from the minute it came out.
(09/09/19 6:53pm)
Disclaimer: This review is of the PC version and was conducted on a PC with an Intel Core i7-6700, 16 GBs of RAM. This review contains spoilers for the game Life is Strange 2.
(09/04/19 4:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
Disclaimer: This review is of the PC version and was conducted on a PC with an Intel Core i7-6700, 16 GBs of RAM. This review contains spoilers for the game Life is Strange 2.
After the utter debacle that was Life is Strange 2: Episode 3, I must admit that I didn’t approach the long-awaited fourth installment with very high expectations, despite my high opinion of the previous Life is Strange series and its related content. If anything, when I was downloading it, I felt like it was something that I had to do as a reviewer and loyal fan of Life is Strange rather than just a fun game that I really wanted to play.
However, within the first few minutes of gameplay, I found myself enraptured more deeply than I had ever been in Episode 3. This episode has proven to be easily the greatest Life is Strange 2 episode thus far, and perhaps one of the best episodes of anything set in the Life is Strange universe at all.
Life is Strange 2: Episode 4 starts off three months after the explosion at Merrill’s farm that ended the last episode. Our protagonist, Sean, is in the hospital, recovering from injuries sustained in the explosion. With his younger brother Daniel still missing after the blast, and the inevitability of being thrown in juvie after his recovery is complete, Sean knows he has to find a way to escape the hospital and find Daniel. However, in doing so, he finds a lot more than he originally bargained for.
(08/16/19 12:00am)
As an avid Quentin Tarantino fan who hadn’t gotten anything new from him in about four years, I was naturally very excited when I saw trailers popping up for his new film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a 1960s Hollywood actor and stunt double duo, seemed to promise a very different, more intimately emotional type of movie than is typical of Tarantino. In that aspect, it delivered.
(08/13/19 4:30pm)
by Emily Worrell
As an avid Quentin Tarantino fan who hadn’t gotten anything new from him in about four years, I was naturally very excited when I saw trailers popping up for his new film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a 1960s Hollywood actor and stunt double duo, seemed to promise a very different, more intimately emotional type of movie than is typical of Tarantino. In that aspect, it delivered.
On the other hand, less than a day after its release, critics were heralding the film as “Tarantino's masterpiece” and claiming it to be his best work to date. Having seen most of Tarantino's films (including this one, of course), I can say with a good deal of certainty that at least to the typical Tarantino fan, this is not his best film. However, it’s by no means a bad film, and certainly worth seeing.
(06/28/19 5:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
Men in Black: International is a reboot of a franchise that’s been dead for many years, featuring absolutely none of the original directors, writers, or actors (excluding Emma Thompson in a minor role as Agent O). At this point, it seems like if anyone is disappointed, it’s their own fault for expecting this film to be halfway decent. However, I went in with extremely low expectations, and this film shocked me by actually managing to be even worse than I thought. It’s just another film turned out by Hollywood with the sole purpose of making money and no interest in honoring the original series, pleasing franchise fans, or even being remembered five seconds after leaving the theater.
The film follows Molly/Agent M (Tessa Thompson), who, after seeing an alien as a child and not being neuralyzed (that’s MIB for having her memory wiped), has dedicated her entire life to finding the Men in Black. Upon finding them, she manages to get recruited, and partners with resident handsome stock character bad boy Agent H (Chris Hemsworth) to take on what could be the agency’s biggest threat to date.
(06/06/19 5:00pm)
by Emily Worrell
Having seen plenty of high school films ranging from The Breakfast Club to Juno to Superbad, I always find it interesting when a film of this genre comes along with a promise to bring something fresh and new to what is considered a supersaturated market. When Booksmart trailers initially dropped, I was intrigued: this, for once, genuinely looked like something actually new and interesting that would show a different perspective than the average high school film. Given that and its stellar rotten tomatoes score, I decided to see it and was surprised to discover that the film took place over the course of one night. My expectations automatically dropped drastically after that; before this film, I had never seen a one-night film that actually worked and didn’t think it could even be done. Booksmart proved me wrong.
So, what does Booksmart do so right that similar films do wrong? What puts Booksmart above other films trying to cash in on the trend of the one-night teen movie?
(05/23/19 10:13pm)
Disclaimer: This review is based on the PC version of the game and was played on a PC with Intel Core i5-8250U, 8 GBs of RAM.