Lulu Wang’s Expats took everyone by storm and delivered a scintillating finale. The six-part series about three strong women took viewers on a journey about how people deal with grief. Nicole Kidman portrays Margaret in the series, while Ji-young Yoo plays Mercy. Sarayu Blue plays the role of Hilary. However, they are not the only ones with hard-hitting …
Delicious in Dungeon is a new anime series that follows adventurers on a dangerous journey into a dungeon filled with fantastical creatures and gruesome monsters. If you liked Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and maybe even Chopped, this show is for you. The series, airing on Netflix, combines adventure, comedy, and fantasy elements …
In November of 2023, Hulu released The Artful Dodger, a thrilling series set in 1850s Australia filled with redemption, love, and social standards. Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a former navy surgeon, is trying to create a life of respectability in the colony. As you witness the drama, betrayal, romance, and redemption that …
In 2021, Claire Keegan’s novel on the Magdalene laundries Small Things Like These was released to acclaim, going on to be shortlisted for the famous Booker Prize. The turnaround between a book’s release and a film adaptation being made can vary, with some taking years to find their adaptive footing. In the case of Small …
Annihilation is a 2018 sci-fi horror film directed by Alex Garland and written by Alex Garland and Jeff VanderMeer. VanderMeer also wrote the novel the movie is based on. I love this movie dearly. I was already interested in watching this movie because it features Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson. But hardly anyone knows about it. And that’s because it …
Franklin Armstrong was the first black character in Peanuts. He’s also the character that the newest Snoopy Presents animated special is all about. Welcome Home, Franklin is Franklin’s origin story. First introduced in 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and at the behest of teacher Harriet Glickman, Franklin was a barrier-breaking character and …
You know how people will watch a movie solely because their favorite actor is in it? That is how I fell into the trap of watching He Went That Way, the 2023 crime drama film directed by Jeffrey Darling and written by Evan M. Wiener. It stars Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, so of course, you would assume that this …
All Percy Jackson and the Olympians episodes, starring Walker Scobell, Leah Jeffries, and Aryan Simhadri, are now streaming on Disney+. Connor looks at the merits of one-to-one book adaptations and finds that the series lacks some of the books’ magic. When the Chris Columbus-directed movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief was released in 2010, young, avid …
The original Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory movie from 1971 was a bit of an anomaly. Sometimes, when a film’s elements come together in just the right time and place, it is something akin to lightning striking. This process cannot be predicted, duplicated, or repeated, at least not easily. The …
If you were to do a Family Feud-style survey and ask a hundred people who the greatest movie director of all time is, you undoubtedly would get Alfred Hitchcock’s name on the board. Steven Spielberg would be up there, possibly even Stanley Kubrick as well. I cannot say where he would place, but without much doubt, Martin …
In 2019, Lulu Wang took the world by storm by capturing the complicated dynamics of a family in The Farewell. The poignant story about love, sentiments, and culture went on to touch everyone’s hearts and made Wang a household name. Although the filmmaker showcased her impeccable directing skills with the title above, her latest venture, Expats, is …
Describing Ava DuVernay’s Origin to an average moviegoer may prove complex, especially concerning its opening moments, where Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) listens to a recorded phone conversation with the police and the assailant who murdered Trayvon Martin (Myles Frost). DuVernay and cinematographer Matthew J. Lloyd recreate this tragic moment in American history chillingly, with Isabel listening attentively to …
Director Peter Hutchings turned heads (in the best way!) with his adaptation of the popular romance book The Hating Game, starring Lucy Hale and Austin Stowell. The indie rom-com was so successful it was even the number-one movie on the US charts for a bit of time. Hutchings is back with another exciting romance, Which Brings Me to You, …
Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale is the latest magical fantasy offering from AMC+ and Sundance. The pilot episode premiered for free on Prime Video, with a second episode available simultaneously for subscribers of the premium channels. Starring Elaine Cassidy as Sarah Fenn, Sanctuary’s resident magical practitioner, the show is, at the core, an exploration …
Ava DuVernay is one of the filmmakers who never shies away from showing impactful stories on the big screen. The director floored everyone with Selma, which is considered one of the most well-crafted biopics of recent times. Meanwhile, she delivered hard-hitting projects such as 13th and When They See Us to let everyone know the ugly …
Slow Horses, now in a third season on Apple TV+, is one of my new favorite TV shows. It’s been a long time since I’ve found a show that has grabbed my interest and hasn’t left my mind since I finished it, so this show is exhilarating. Slow Horses is adapted from a book …
Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers has gone through many permutations, but Martin Bourboulon’s two-parter, which has allowed France to direct a just – and realist – adaptation of Dumas’ tale, is one of the very best modern book-to-film iterations we’ve seen in ages. And its first installment, D’Artagnan, is also the best part one of …
The Taste of Things (or La Passion de Dodin Bouffant) is a new French-language film by director Trần Anh Hùng and distributed by IFC Films in the US. France has submitted it for the best International Feature at the Academy Awards, and it recently made the Oscars shortlist. For myself, I love a great cooking …
Like a mythical quest, Percy Jackson and the Olympians have taken the long road to get to this series. It may have taken time, but Percy Jackson’s arrival is a thunderous, thrilling triumph. When the first book was released in 2005, it created an entirely new fandom. Unfortunately, the 2010 film Percy Jackson …
Reacher Season 2 returns to screens everywhere this week on Prime Video. Alan Ritchson is back as Jack Reacher, a pure force of nature, and he’s not messing around when it comes to people he cares about being threatened. Reacher season 2 delivers blunt force action and a layered brawny mystery worthy of the iconic Lee …