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Previous Next With the recently released Haunted Mansion, we decided now was a great time for the Bitesize crew to put their brains together to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Live-Action Disney Films. For inclusion on this list, a film had to be original Disney content, not from a property they acquired such as Lucasfilm. Each writer ranks his or her top 15 films in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five. 5. THE MUPPETS It’s worth mentioning that both The Muppets and The Muppet Christmas Carol received votes for this Top Five, but it was the 2011 reboot that won in the end. The Muppets have been beloved for what seems like forever, and yet, in the years before this film, it felt like they’d been gone. The Muppets is fully aware of the characters’ growing irrelevance over the years, and brings them back to the spotlight in true Muppets fashion, by being funny, charming, and full of heart. - Adriano 4. REMEMBER THE TITANS If I randomly yell out “LEFT SIDE!!!,” and you don’t immediately respond “STRONG SIDE!!!,” I’m gonna look at you real funny-like. There isn’t a sports movie in the last twenty-some-odd years that uses a great ensemble of dedicated actors to inspire more confidence and motivation than Remember the Titans . Of course, you’ve got Denzel Washington doing Denzel things, but Will Patton might be at his best as Coach Yoast (sometimes giving Denzel a run for best actor on screen); not to mention Donald Faison, Wood Harris, Ethan Suplee, and a young Hayden Panettiere bringing great energy to the story. Also, don’t ever forget that Ryan Gosling is an absolute liability at cornerback. - Amarú 3. MARY POPPINS Though there have been many, no live-action Disney musical has quite blazed a trail so thoroughly as 1964’s Mary Poppins . So iconic was Julie Andrews’ titular performance that she took home Best Actress that year, and looking back, she more than deserved it. Beyond the Oscars, the film itself remains one of the finest examples of combining animation with live-action storytelling (even if only for one sequence), and so celebrated is the music that anyone should be able to tell you precisely what a spoonful of sugar does and exactly how the word Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious sounds. - Jacob 2. NATIONAL TREASURE What can I say about National Treasure that hasn’t already been said in hundreds of memes or on SNL Weekend Update ’s “Get in the Cage” segment? This extremely fun film franchise (we don’t talk about the Disney+ series) is The Goonies meets The Da Vinci Code , and instead of having Nic Cage be the whirlwind of crazy, it grounds him in relative normalcy while making the situations around him bonkers. Steal the Declaration of Independence? No Sweat. Kidnap the President of the United States? Easy peasy. Part history lesson, part heist caper, and all popcorn entertainment, National Treasure is what we want in our summer blockbusters. Now, please tell me more about Page 47… - Quentin 1. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is such an odd film to think about conceptually. You have non-action-star Johnny Depp at a quiet point in his career; Orlando Bloom, who had just jumped on the scene with The Lord of the Rings franchise; and Keira Knightley, the relative unknown from Bend It Like Beckham …in an adventure movie about pirates? Yet, it works... quite wonderfully, in fact. After two strong films, the franchise begins to falter, but everyone remembers that first film and the day they (almost) caught Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp). - Nick HONORABLE MENTIONS SAVING MR. BANKS FREAKY FRIDAY (2003) HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS TRON: LEGACY THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE Photo Credits: Walt Disney Studios

Previous Next March 2, 2023 WRITTEN BY: NICK AND QUENTIN With the Oscars approaching and everyone focusing on 2022’s Best in Film, Nick & Quentin wanted to take a second to highlight 2022’s Best in Television. While some of these were massive successes, others flew under the radar. Either way, all are worth checking out. BLACK BIRD Taron Egerton is one of the most exciting young actors working today. The charisma he shows as a leading man can't be denied, and you get to see that here as he adds another wrinkle to his range. This tight, six-episode series is succinct, well-written, and expertly cast. Beyond Egerton, it features a chilling performance from Paul Walter Hauser (the standout of the series in his best work to date), and a heartbreaking Ray Liotta in what turned out to be one of his final roles. This is just solid storytelling from beginning to end, which is becoming the norm for Apple TV+ programming. - Nick Black Bird is currently streaming on Apple TV+. PEACEMAKER While some will say we have reached the point of superhero fatigue, Peacemaker is the perfect example of how the superhero genre can be used to tell character-driven stories. Yes, there is still a “save the world” dynamic, but it’s also the interesting exploration of a lonely man who just wants acceptance. John Cena delivers hilarious raunch and surprising nuance in his best performance yet, while Freddie Stroma steals nearly every scene as the oddly sweet sociopath Vigilante. And let’s not forget that banger of a theme song. If Peacemaker , which came from the mind of James Gunn, is any indication, the DCEU is in good hands going forward. - Quentin Season One of Peacemaker is currently streaming on HBO Max (US) and Crave (CAN). Although it has been renewed for Season Two on HBO Max, a return date is currently unknown. REBOOT What if we did a meta-comedy series about former sitcom stars featuring the guy from Key & Peele , the guy from Austin & Ally , the girl from Arrested Development , and the guy from Jackass ? Well, they did, and it really worked. Reboot is like watching a network sitcom minus the censorship. It never goes so far that it loses its mirroring of the classic sitcom stylings before it, but it also feels like it’s made for adults and not “the whole family,” though it is wrapped up in a nice family story carried by Paul Reiser as a man past his time. Unfortunately, Hulu canceled this series despite solid ratings, but it is being shopped to other networks. I hope it’s picked back up because I’d love to see these characters again. - Nick Season One of Reboot is currently streaming on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (International). Season Two is currently in search of a new network. REACHER On paper, Reacher isn’t anything special. A brilliant investigator, who likes to work alone, trying to solve a murder; this describes everything from Bosch to most of Bruce Willis’ work in the 90s. However, Alan Ritchson, whose charisma is only matched by his hulking frame, makes this series much more than that. You can’t help but to root for the guy, and you’ll find yourself grinning ear-to-ear as he uses his brain and his muscles to crack both the case and skulls. - Quentin Season One of Reacher is currently streaming on Prime Video. Season Two will premiere in the summer of 2023 on Prime Video. TULSA KING For a while, Sylvester Stallone was doing three things: returning to his famous characters of the 80s, forgettable action flicks, and The Expendables franchise, which feels like a mix of the first two things. Enter Tulsa King . This series gives Stallone a chance to play a more toned down badass with an entirely new character, and the results are great. It’s not a show that is afraid to get serious, but it understands the need for levity too. It also has a better script than anything he has starred in over the past 20 years that wasn’t part of the Rocky franchise. - Nick Season One of Tulsa King is currently streaming on Paramount+. Although it has been renewed for Season Two on Paramount+, a return date is currently unknown. INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Have you ever checked out a show with an aloof, “eh, why not?” mindset, not really expecting much? Interview with the Vampire was one such show for me in 2022. Other than the 1994 film, I don’t have much connection to this story or anything author Anne Rice has done. However, I was immediately hooked by the lush production design, gothic atmosphere, and tremendous performance of Sam Reid as Lestat (though Jacob Anderson and Eric Bogosian are also quite good). This series is the start of AMC’s Immortal Universe, an interconnected franchise of gothic horror series based on Anne Rice’s novels, and one can only hope they are all as good as this one. - Quentin Season One of Interview with the Vampire is currently streaming on AMC+. Although it has been renewed for Season Two on AMC, a return date is currently unknown. OUTER RANGE After the finale of its first season, it was just plain cruel for Prime Video to delay the announcement of Season Two for as long as it did. The storytelling is a slow burn, but it’s well worth it as it provides numerous interesting directions to take the series. Most importantly, with the aspect of the dueling families, it was able to stay grounded despite being a series with clear sci-fi roots. Beyond the storytelling, the series features a great ensemble led by Josh Brolin but without a weak link in the bunch, with a special shout out to Will Patton, who does typically great work. - Nick Season One of Outer Range is currently streaming on Prime Video. Although it has been renewed for Season Two on Prime Video, a return date is currently unknown. WINNING TIME: THE RISE OF THE LAKERS DYNASTY Even as a person who couldn’t care less about the NBA, let alone the NBA from before I was born, Winning Time won me over on the strength of its impeccable casting (from both the actual talent and the looking-the-part perspective) and its groovy ‘70s vibe. I’ve always found the inner workings of a sports franchise’s front office interesting, so when you add all those elements together, then film them with a pseudo-documentary realism (including fourth wall breaks), you get a show that I was eager to return to every week. The fact that this intended miniseries was given a second season should tell you just how good it was. - Quentin Season One of Winning Time is currently streaming on HBO Max (US) and Crave (CAN). Season Two will premiere in the second half of 2023 on HBO Max. THE OLD MAN Jeff Bridges was an old man, but now he’s THE old man. In all seriousness, this show is a blast. Bridges’ Dan Chase battles his way through attackers while not hiding how his age has affected him, and John Lithgow’s Harold Harper drops F-bombs with such vitriol you’d think his last name was L. Jackson. There are even a few intriguing mysteries sprinkled in, especially surrounding the whereabouts of Chase’s daughter, not to mention it has the distinction of having one of the best pilots of 2022. Season One of The Old Man is currently streaming on FX. Although it has been renewed for Season Two on FX, a return date is currently unknown. THE OFFER Truth be told, a lot of people shit on The Offer (57% on Rotten Tomatoes), and I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Maybe it’s because it deigned to revisit the behind-the-scenes drama of unassailable cinematic classic The Godfather , I don’t know. What I do know is that The Offer combines old Hollywood legend with an interesting mob angle, then drops it in the hands of a more than capable cast. Almost all involved do nice work, but Matthew Goode as famed producer Robert Evans is pitch perfect. Plus, it makes you want to rewatch The Godfather , which is never a bad thing. - Quentin The Offer is currently streaming on Paramount+. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT COSBY Every year, there is a series I champion and promote to everyone I know as a must-see, and this was that series for 2022. The direction by W. Kamau Bell is perfect in the way he balances the legacy and importance of Bill Cosby to both black culture and comedy before jolting you with the contrast of his victims’ stories. It’s one of the best art v. artist examples I’ve seen, and every interview subject adds something to the piece. I warn you, though, this is not an easy watch. It is, however, an important one. If you haven’t seen this series yet, do yourself a favour and make the time to watch it. - Nick We Need to Talk About Cosby is now streaming on HBO Max (US) and Crave (CAN). THE BEAR In hindsight, The Bear is probably the surprise hit of 2022’s television season: a quiet, out-of-nowhere dramedy with no real stars, 30-minute episodes, and a gritty indie vibe. There was almost no marketing for this show, yet word-of-mouth carried it to being one of the most talked about and acclaimed series of the year. I mean, it inspired an entire generation to start dropping “Yes, Chef” in random conversation. On top of that, it’s the most authentic representation of working in a blue-collar kitchen that I have ever seen. It’s stressful, funny, heartfelt, and, most importantly, utterly fantastic. - Quentin Season One of The Bear is currently streaming on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (CAN). Season Two will premiere in early summer of 2023 on Hulu. WE OWN THIS CITY This series initially made headlines because it came from David Simon, who is best known for creating The Wire . It was the performance of Jon Bernthal that really roped me in, however. The man just exudes charisma, and he gets to display it in all his glory here. This true story about the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force spans 20+ years over six episodes, and spotlights the corruption within the police force. It has been a problem for a long time, and it’s something we certainly haven’t heard the last of yet. - Nick We Own This City is currently streaming on HBO Max (US) and Crave (CAN). FROM For years, networks have been trying to recapture the magic of Lost , so much so that “the next Lost ” has become kind of a laughable death knell since no one has been able to do it successfully. Enter From , a series about a town that mysteriously traps anyone who enters while also being plagued by supernatural creatures that only come out at night. This series boasts incredible world building, legit scares, subtle gore, and, most importantly, a compelling mystery that seemingly has no easy answers. The next Lost has finally arrived. - Quentin Season One of From is currently streaming on MGM+, formerly known as Epix, (US) and Paramount+ (International). Season Two will premiere April 23rd, 2023, on MGM+. A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY I had never seen the documentary about the unbelievable true story this series is based on, so some of the story’s twists likely affected me more than for those who had. But even if you know what you’re in for, you’ll likely be content with this adaptation. Jake Lacy is just so uncomfortably manipulative as kidnapper Robert Birchtold as he uses his charm to get away with his evil deeds. It’s just an excellent performance. Meanwhile, Colin Hanks and Anna Paquin play the naïve parents to a T. It’s a story that feels too outlandish to be real, but it’s true, all of it, and that may be the craziest thing of all. - Nick A Friend of the Family is currently streaming on Peacock. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Let’s be honest: House of the Dragon was fighting an uphill battle when it premiered. It had to contend with the hype of “good” Game of Thrones , the bad taste of Thrones ’ final season, and Prime Video dropping a competing (and tremendously expensive) fantasy show, The Rings of Power , at the same time. Given all that, the fact that Dragon works at all is a minor miracle. Admittedly, it’s mostly doing heavy lifting for future seasons, especially with the somewhat confusing time jumps, but there is no denying that the excellent casting, production design, castle intrigue, and “anyone can die” vibe of Thrones’ earlier seasons is back in full force. - Quentin Season One of House of the Dragon is currently streaming on HBO Max (US) and Crave (CAN). Season Two will premiere on HBO in 2024. OBI-WAN KENOBI One of the first films I remember watching as a child is Star Wars: A New Hope , so when they announced The Phantom Menace , I excitedly went to the theatre on opening night (months shy of my eighth birthday) and was blown away. Now, I don’t have that same opinion as an adult, but those characters are special to me. So, watching Ewan McGregor return to the robes of Obi-Wan Kenobi for this series was supremely satisfying. Plus, there is darkness here that Star Wars first introduced to live action with Rogue One . We get to see Darth Vader at his most ruthless while exploring the relationship between Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Kenobi more in depth. The series doesn’t quite reach the heights of The Mandalorian , but it features some of the best scenes in Star Wars history, and I would welcome a second season. - Nick Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently streaming on Disney+. ANDOR Here’s the tea: whether you’re willing to admit it or not, Star Wars is not a great franchise. Sure, its few highs are very high, but it’s mostly a series of mediocre (or worse…much, much worse) lows. That said, please place Andor on the peak of that high pile. Despite a slow start, it’s a layered story of rebellion and the birth of a hero, presented with the grit and grime that a story like this deserves. And you know the best part? No Skywalkers, no Force, no lightsabers. Just tales of political intrigue, heists, prison breaks, and espionage told through rich writing, complex characters, and terrific casting. The fact that it happens to be Star Wars -affiliated is almost irrelevant. - Quentin Season One of Andor is currently streaming on Disney+. Season Two will premiere on Disney+ in 2024. PAM & TOMMY It would have been so easy for this series to fall into parody, but since Sebastian Stan and Lily James took their jobs so seriously, this really worked. The pair gives arguably the two most entertaining performances of the year, and James’ transformation into Pamela Anderson is mesmerizing. It’s a travesty she didn’t get any Emmy hardware for her performance. The angle of telling the story from the POV of the man who stole the sex tape (Seth Rogen) and the intricate workings of everything that came after was also a very good call. A nice mix of laughs and absurdity in this one. Pam & Tommy is currently streaming on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (International). GEORGE & TAMMY Admittedly, mileage may vary on this one, but, if like me, you grew up on country music, George Jones is a musical legend. And, if like me, you are a sucker for musician biopics, especially for artists whose music you are very familiar with, this series is a must watch for fans of The Possum, even if it’s more Tammy’s (Jessica Chastain) story than George’s (Michael Shannon). It’s an incredibly bingeable watch at only six episodes, yet I could have watched several more hours of this hard-living love story. Plus, the music. Both Chastain and Shannon do their own singing and absolutely nail it. Lastly, I’ve been playing George Jones on repeat since the finale. If that’s not a lasting and immediate impact, I don’t know what is. George & Tammy is currently streaming on Showtime (US) and Crave (Canada).

THE AFTERPARTY: SEASON TWO Starring: Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoe Chao, Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall, Vivian Wu, Ken Jeong, and John Cho Creator: Christopher Miller NICK Talk about a sophomore slump... Season Two of The Afterparty is sadly underwhelming in every way. The new cast may boast more star power, but their characters and the mystery they’re tasked with solving are less interesting. As for the returning cast, the most notable thing is how annoying they’ve made Zoe Chao’s Zoë. Even the well constructed genre episodes that made Season One work so well are done half-assedly. Sure, there’s one entertaining episode surrounding Tiffany Haddish and Michael Ealy, but it’s not enough to bring me back for a potential third season. ADRIANO As someone who very much loved the first season, it brings me no pleasure to say that Season Two of The Afterparty is a disappointment. It still has some of the charms and quirks of Season One, and the genre hopping is still fun to watch, but the mystery isn’t nearly as captivating, it’s not quite as funny, and the cast is not as unique (aside from Sam Richardson, whose talent Hollywood needs to embrace finally). Overall, the cohesion just isn’t there, and it breaks my heart to say that. QUENTIN Season Two of The Afterparty is an excellent example of what can happen when a network (or streaming service) decides to grant an unplanned second season to a surprising hit miniseries. I mean, man…talk about a sophomore slump. Almost nothing works or hangs together cohesively this time around, from the cast chemistry to the mystery to the different takes on various genres. It’s almost like they decided to lean into an anthology approach, which means neither the central story nor the characters are compelling on an episode-to-episode basis. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a show drop off this badly. Also, Hollywood…less Tiffany Haddish, please.

Previous Next March 5, 2024 WRITTEN BY: ADRIANO With the Oscars fast approaching, and popular titles like Oppenheimer , Barbie , and Poor Things (rightfully) receiving their share of attention as they collect wins, I thought now would be as good a time as any to talk about two of the Academy’s lesser appreciated categories: Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature. Considering most of the Best Documentary Feature nominees also are international, this piece provides a great opportunity to highlight a collection of nominated films from outside North America. International titles, both narrative fiction and documentary alike, offer viewers new perspectives on filmmaking, different cultures, and the lives of those living outside the bubble of the Western world. Maybe more so than anything, the general idea of a new perspective is one of the core factors that makes me fall for these types of films. As with every category, the Academy can only nominate so many films per year, so while I really loved About Dry Grasses , Monster , and, most notably, Anatomy of a Fall last year, a nomination just wasn’t in the cards for them. However, that in no way diminishes what the films below were able to accomplish. If you have the time, I’d recommend you give them (or any international or documentary feature, for that matter) a chance, if for no other reason than to expand your horizons and to gain a better understanding of the world. BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE IO CAPITANO Starring: Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall Director: Matteo Garrone Plot: A Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou (Sarr) and Moussa (Fall), who leave Dakar to reach Europe. Io Capitano is a film that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, but personally, I found it to be fairly forgettable. It's very easy to root for the protagonist, excellently played by Seydou Sarr in a breakthrough performance, but the film has an absurd tendency to jump from one obstacle to the next too quickly, which leaves a lot of it feeling a little weightless. The film’s beautifully shot aesthetics are generally undermined by how detached I felt emotionally, and despite the film's best efforts to pull me in, the big finale didn't hit me the way it should have. SOCIETY OF THE SNOW Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe Otaño, Luciano Chattón, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustín Berrutti, Andy Pruss, Simón Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustín Della Corte, and Tomas Wolf Director: J.A. Bayona Plot: The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive. Based on a true story. Similarly to Io Capitano , Society of the Snow tends to go in circles as it shows the protagonists experiencing one obstacle after another. Unlike Io Capitano , however, Society of the Snow is intense, claustrophobic, and successful in telling its miraculous true story with the power that is necessary. The film is gruelling to get through, courtesy of excellent direction from J.A. Bayona and outstanding sound and production design. Somehow, it manages to make you feel like you're smack dab in the middle of the freezing cold, which means when the ending finally arrives, it arrives with a massive sigh of relief. Society of the Snow may be flawed, but it is a powerful film, nonetheless. THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE Starring: Leonie Benesch, Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak, Sarah Bauerett, Kathrin Wehlisch, and Anne-Kathrin Gummich Director: Ilker Çatak Plot: When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak (Benesch) decides to get to the bottom of the matter. Caught between her ideals and the school system, the consequences of her actions threaten to break her. For the majority of The Teachers' Lounge , I might have said that it was my favourite of the nominees discussed in this article. From the outset, the film gives way to a faux sense of inviting atmosphere, only for the film to take a drastic turn. One accusation, whether true or false, turns the film into a white-knuckle thrill ride fuelled by a brilliant series of misunderstandings and cruelty. Ilker Çatak's direction is spectacular, as are the performances of Leonie Benesch and Leonard Stettnisch. Then the ending happens. Without giving anything away, and while there is an argument that its lack of payoff and clarity is part of the point, it’s far too unsatisfying for the amount of tension that was built up. PERFECT DAYS Starring: Kôji Yakusho Director: Wim Wenders Plot: Hirayama (Yakusho) cleans public toilets in Tokyo, living his life in simplicity and daily tranquillity. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself. Perfect Days is one of those films that requires patience, but, boy, is that patience rewarded. Overall, it’s an exploration of how beautiful the mundane can be. Or, perhaps a simpler way to describe it is to call it the film version of the phrase "it's the little things that matter." Throughout the film, despite the less-than-ideal nature of Hirayama’s (played with brilliant nuance by Kôji Yakusho) life, we see the beauty in what brings him joy, whether that's in repetition or the small divergences in his day-to-day. The film certainly features emotional hardship, but Perfect Days is a love letter to life that's sure to touch the soul. THE ZONE OF INTEREST Starring: Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Medusa Knopf, Daniel Holzberg, Sascha Maaz, Max Beck, Wolfgang Lampl, Johann Karthaus, and Ralph Herforth Director: Jonathan Glazer Plot: Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Friedel) and his wife, Hedwig (Hüller), strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the camp. If Perfect Days shows us that our day-to-day can be beautiful, The Zone of Interest shows the flip side - that true evil can hide behind the mundane nature of our lives. This is a movie that, the more I ponder it, the more it blows me away. Every detail of Jonathan Glazer's exquisitely crafted masterpiece is designed to suck us into the film's haunting analysis of the walls we put up to justify our comfort and shield us from the horrors of the world. Every time I learn something new about the film's production, I get more and more impressed with the level of immersion that was accomplished (for example, I only recently learned that the crew left the set, leaving only the actors and still cameras during shooting). I believe it's only a matter of time before The Zone of Interest' s legacy as a work of genius is cemented. BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE THE ETERNAL MEMORY Director: Maite Alberdi Plot: Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. They both fear the day he no longer recognizes her. The Eternal Memory can evoke strong emotions, especially, I imagine, if you have dealt with a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's. As someone whose been lucky enough not to have gone through that myself, I found that when the film focuses entirely on the central couple, it is at an emotional peak, to include the very heartbreaking ending. That said, the film is extremely lopsided in its presentation. For example, when the film decides to focus on the couple's careers, I was emotionally detached and started not to care. I can't deny what the film can elicit in its more emotional moments, but it could've been better had it been more focused. BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Director: Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo Plot: Follows Ugandan opposition leader, activist, and musical star Bobi Wine. He used his music to fight the regime led by Yoweri Museveni, the person who led the country for 35 years. There are documentaries that, even when the presentation is weak, the power and urgency of the subject at hand make the film a worthwhile watch. Bobi Wine: The People’s President is just that. However, while Bobi Wine’s personal story is powerful, the film’s true power comes from the devastation of Uganda's political landscape, which shows the true horrors of its dictatorship. Those moments are the most crucial, but the movie spends too much time on Wine's life and upbringing through very questionable stylistic decisions that it begins to lessen its impact. Again, it's a hard film not to recommend due to its subject, but I can't ignore the clear flaws. TO KILL A TIGER Director: Nisha Pahuja Plot: Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented. A documentary is most powerful when you can feel yourself becoming a different person as you watch it, and To Kill a Tiger succeeds in that. As I watched this father's fight for justice, I felt myself getting physically enraged by what I was seeing on screen. Beyond the film's insight into the sexual assault epidemic in India, the film also gives a look at life in an Indian village, in some ways that aren't pretty. By the end, the film prompted such a powerful and instant reaction that I was brought to tears. If I had to make one criticism, I would say some of the subplots are underdeveloped, so they didn't grab me as much as the central story. Still, though, To Kill a Tiger is a film I would absolutely call necessary viewing. 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL Director: Mstyslav Chernov Plot: As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities. At the time of this writing, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began more than two years ago. 20 Days in Mariupol is perhaps the most gruelling and depressingly accurate depiction of what life in Ukraine has been and, tragically, still is like. Watching the film unfold, you feel the gravity of war at its most impactful, as this team of journalists bravely use what little resources they have to craft a tour-de-force of documentary filmmaking. It’s a tough viewing experience, I can't possibly deny that, but I can't think of a better film to demonstrate the horrors of the Ukraine invasion than 20 Days in Mariupol . FOUR DAUGHTERS Director: Kaouther Ben Hania Plot: Between light and darkness stands Olfa, a Tunisian woman and the mother of four daughters. One day, her two older daughters disappear. Filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania invites professional actresses to fill in their absence. Wherever you stand on Four Daughters , you can't deny that it's the most interesting style of documentary filmmaking of the five nominees. Its approach never feels like a gimmick, and it truly does enhance our view of the subjects, from both an educational and emotional standpoint. Many moments in the film brought me to tears, as the subjects are fully able to cope with what happened, the way the remaining daughters’ mother raised them, and how it possibly led to the two eldest daughters no longer being with them. The final reveal is truly heartbreaking, making Four Daughters a fascinating film, especially at its most devastating points.

Previous Next August 27, 2025 WRITTEN BY: ROBERT For sports fans, August represents the doldrums of the calendar year. Unless baseball is your passion, most yearn for something sustainable until fall when the real sports seasons commence. In the interim, for the likes of football, basketball, and hockey, this is preseason, where players and teams practice to hone their skills in anticipation for when the games truly count. When it comes to sports on film, while I’m sure actors undergo some preseason-style training or even have a natural background in a given sport, viewers can use their discerning eyes to tell which actors look realistic as athletes, regardless of what the movie is trying to convey about someone’s talent. With that in mind, I have taken it upon myself to shine a light on some feats of athletic prowess put on screen, looking critically at where the athletic performances fall flat. More specifically, given that it’s the time of training camps, I am identifying who should’ve played more catch, run more drills, or watched more game tape to be ready for showtime. WESLEY SNIPES — WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP A term reserved for those with no set position on a basketball team is “tweener.” Sometimes it can speak to versatility — someone who can move about the entirety of the court and not be out of place. However, in a more negative connotation, it can be a description of someone who doesn’t really fit anywhere. The latter scenario is common whenever an individual has athletic gifts but no real aptitude for the game. Enter Wesley Snipes. Snipes has a knack for inhabiting physical roles and pulling off stunts. See Blade , for example. He has trained in martial arts and shown a physicality that proves he possesses agility and grace. However, when attempting to translate those talents to a team sport, it’s awkward. Snipes’ most egregious attempt was as the braggadocious Sidney Deane in White Men Can’t Jump , a man who would make you believe he was God’s gift to basketball. Deane certainly wins a bunch of games and pairs well with Billy Hoyle (Woody Harrelson) throughout, but if you focus on Snipes’ actual playmaking ability, it is clear he hadn’t really picked up a basketball much. The director, Ron Shelton, tried to prepare him, but with Snipes’ abnormally high dribbling, unconventional jump shot, and movement with and without the ball, there is a discrepancy between how Deane is presented and how Snipes looks. This is especially noticeable anytime he’s shown playing next to Harrelson, a silky-smooth operator on the court, which speaks to his familiarity with the game off screen. Obviously, you can trust Snipes to mow down vampires and fight Sylvester Stallone hand-to-hand, but you cannot trust him to realistically drive the lane and stick the ball in the basket. FREDDIE PRINZE, JR. — SUMMER CATCH Baseball is a sport defined by minimal success, where most outcomes are failures. The margins are razor-thin between positive and negative results, with the most minute adjustments leading to major shifts one way or the other. For a pitcher, the difference can be made with slight height or rotational changes in delivery, or even tiny injuries on a throwing hand, to go from unhittable to mediocre. As such, if you are experienced, you might be able to notice when something is off for whomever is on the mound. This leads me to Freddie Prinze, Jr., who takes the mound in Summer Catch to mixed results. Despite his stature and build, Prinze, Jr. has never been the most convincing athlete on screen (as also seen in She’s All That ), but in a sport where timing and physics are requirements, it was even more apparent he was miscast. Prinze, Jr. claimed he worked with a pitching coach and could throw in the 80-mph range for the film, a la Charlie Sheen in Major League . Whether you buy that or not, the difference between the actors is that Sheen and his motion looked believable. Prinze, Jr., on the other hand, makes you wonder if he could even throw it 30 feet, much less 60. The real giveaway is how the camera catches Prinze, Jr. in close-ups before he throws, then transitioning to a wide shot or over-the-shoulder view once he enters his windup. This is clearly to hide his mechanics, suggesting director Michael Tollin wasn’t confident he could edit around the lack of throwing skill. Granted, Ryan Dunne (Prinze, Jr.) is playing at the minor league level, but that would still mean he was in the top five percent of baseball players on the planet. Near the end, Dunne throws a no-hitter before running off to chase Tenley Parrish (Jessica Biel). Unfortunately, only if the game stats show him walking every batter would it be viable that Dunne didn’t allow a hit. Otherwise, it is the most fictional concept in a fictional film. KIRSTEN DUNST — WIMBLEDON When it comes to individual sports, with so much attention focused on the participants, it makes actual talent much easier to scrutinize. There simply is nowhere to hide and no other person to draw eyes like they would when part of a team. In movies, tennis has been challenging to illustrate without camera manipulation and quick cuts since real tennis professionals train for years from an early age to improve their speed and range of motion. Thus, there is somewhat of an unwritten acceptance to look past the inconsistencies and just enjoy the tension of the moments. However, when one of the conceits of the film is that a player is a rising prodigy set to take the tennis world by storm, leading her to avoid a distracting relationship, there is a level of criticism to consider. After looking back at on-the-court scenes in Wimbledon , I could not stand idly by and leave Kirsten Dunst off this list. I don’t believe she could serve in a restaurant, much less with a tennis racket. In the scene where Lizzie Bradbury (Dunst) and Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) are trying to hit canisters with serves, her getting a ball within ten feet of the target seems like movie magic. There is a lack of hand-eye coordination and striking ability that would see her more likely whiff than ever manage to hit a ball in a forward direction. Interestingly, the focus of the film is mostly on Colt’s comeback after a period of ineffective play, but if it was staged that Bradbury was the one trying to play her way back to prominence after a slump, that would make sense too. ROBBIE AMELL — THE DUFF As football players are preparing to be drafted, they endure rigorous testing and practice sessions for scouts so that teams know what they are investing in. Such tests are designed to review the physical, mental, and emotional capacities of the players in question. From a physical standpoint, they look at measurables and how those will translate to a standard of success based on league precedents.For quarterbacks, much like with pitchers, throwing motions are nitpicked, especially the timing of a player’s release. If someone has wonky mechanics, it slows everything down, making it seem unlikely they would be able to get the ball out in time. For Robbie Amell, who portrayed the captain of the high school football team and future Ohio State Buckeye in The Duff , there would be an inclination to have him look competent while tossing the pigskin. It didn’t end up that way, though. He short-arms the few attempts captured on screen, as if the person he is throwing to is three feet in front of him. Amell received such backlash about it that he made efforts to show that he knows what it takes to throw a football off-camera — that’s how bad it looked. Either way, despite the plot consideration in the movie that he needs academic help to get into college, his brain would be the only way he’s getting into Ohio State because it certainly wouldn’t be his arm. RUSSELL CROWE — MYSTERY, ALASKA Hockey is as graceful as any other sport, and perhaps even more so given that people glide on 1/8-inch blades. Much like with tennis, the grooming starts at an early age to gain and hone the necessary skills. In most hockey movies, the team will have a few piss-poor skaters to play up the comedy or to highlight that skating isn’t their contributable skill, like fighting is for Doug “the Thug” Glatt (Seann William Scott) in Goon . When you are propped up as the captain, albeit an aging one that the town wants to bench, you would think the ice would be like a second home. Unfortunately, for Russell Crowe in Mystery, Alaska , he skates like he is mired in cement, clearly demonstrating he grew up in Australia and not on frozen ponds. Sure, John Biebe (Crowe) leads and hits with ferocity, but to be the anchor of an amateur team trying to go toe-to-toe with the New York Rangers, it seems odd the actor portraying him clearly cannot keep up, especially when a key point of the story is that the local hockey team can compete with the NHL pros based mostly on their ability to skate. Perhaps if the water thawed, Crowe could show them how to ride the waves with conviction. Otherwise, in real life, he’d leave his team out in the cold.

WAYWARD Starring: Mae Martin, Toni Collette, Sarah Gadon, Sidney Topliffe, Alyvia Alyn Lind, John Daniel, Tattiawna Jones, Brandon Jay McLaren, Joshua Close, and Patrick J. Adams Creator: Mae Martin NICK Netflix’s latest limited series Wayward is a spirited effort from comedian Mae Martin. Martin has their hands all over this as star, writer, showrunner, and producer, and they’ve done enough here to welcome more work in this genre. While I loved this series in the early going, it couldn’t maintain that momentum as it went along; despite a devilishly good Toni Collette. The story began to spin its wheels a little, the reveals didn't land as they should, and it didn’t quite stick the landing. I still enjoyed the series and think it was quite well done; just a couple creative decisions held things back. PAIGE Wayward attempts to be this generation's Twin Peaks , but fumbles its premise miserably. Weak writing, subpar performances, and choppy editing kill the tone. Not even the great Toni Collette, who tries her best to carry it on her shoulders, can get it across the finish line as a somewhat satisfying season of television. This stale show presents no real consequences for its characters' actions and merely dips its toes into its intended themes. It’s got the right ideas, but doesn’t know how to use them to make a compelling experience. BODE I wouldn’t have anticipated that Mae Martin’s scripted follow-up to Feel Good would be a very Canadian answer to Twin Peaks . But credit where it’s due, Wayward shows they have the chops to pull this mystery off. Though it occasionally stumbles, the show mostly does a good job building layers upon its plot – getting progressively surreal, but also surprisingly thoughtful with each episode. It helps that it has memorable performances, especially from Alyvia Alyn Lind and Sydney Topliffe. It’s enjoyable all-around, and though this was green-lit as a limited series, I wouldn’t be opposed to another season.

Previous Next October 31, 2022 WRITTEN BY: JOSEPH Horror stories have existed throughout history in a variety of forms. Oftentimes, horror is used as a cautionary tale to reflect on the ills of our own society. Children are warned to not venture too far lest the boogeyman will snatch them up, creatures like the Wendigo reinforce cultural taboos towards cannibalism during famine, and Frankenstein’s monster shows the fear of humanity wielding the power of God irresponsibly. While many horror stories certainly have greater meaning behind the terror, I think to most fans, horror has mostly been about gaining an adrenaline rush in a safe environment. We just want the scares! However, modern horror seems to offer much less in actual fear-generating. It makes me wonder…. “Is horror dead?” Growing up, I remember every other horror film being marketed as “the scariest film since The Exorcist ” (or the even more bold, “scarier than The Exorcist ”). While younger generations, myself included, may not find The Exorcist as scary as audiences did upon its release in 1973, it still holds up in many ways. It has yet to truly be challenged by any other film. Horror films of the late 90s and early 2000s may have been billed as the next The Exorcist , but many failed to leave a cultural imprint, only being remembered by the most devoted horror fans. With very few exceptions, horror films haven’t really made an impact since the turn of the millennium. I’d also argue that virtually none have come close to being as scary to their audiences as The Exorcist was nearly 50 years ago. Some may make a case for Hereditary , Paranormal Activity , or Sinister , but I say they did not have the same effect on their audiences that classic horror films did. Why is that? There is a lot of blame to go around, but I mostly blame the use of CGI over practical effects. The Universal Classic Monsters may have come out too far back to gauge how much they truly scared their audiences, but their cultural significance cannot be denied. They’re instantly recognizable and referenced in all forms of media, serving as a blueprint for much of the horror genre even today. The B-movies of the 50s and 60s continued the trend of using monsters on screen. While the costumes have become laughable because they were so cheesy, they still serve as a main influence in subcultures such as psychobilly and horror punk. They also paved the way for the exploitation films of the 70s. Still, it seems that the majority of what are generally considered to be the “scariest” movies of all time come from the 70s and 80s. As I mentioned before, The Exorcist is often touted as the scariest film ever, but it's not the only iconic piece of horror cinema from that era. We saw plenty of growth in the genre as it diverged to slashers and other forms of religious horror. Iconic creatures like Alien ‘s Xenomorph were spawned in sci-fi horror, and we saw increased reliance on practical effects as the slasher subgenre emerged. With Halloween ’s Michael Myers, the featureless white mask was extremely effective, while Friday the 13th ’s Jason Voorhees and A Nightmare on Elm Street ’s Freddy Krueger used make-up and still iconic costume designs to highlight their more grotesque features. There were grisly creatures and disgustingly fun deaths put on screen. Along with those iconic slashers, other great movie monsters graced the silver screen, like Predator, Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors , and, of course, the werewolf from An American Werewolf in London , which features an astounding transformation scene that has yet to be beaten. Furthermore, these practical effects gave way to bizarre body horror, allowing for potentially forgotten films from decades before, such as The Fly and The Thing , to be revisited and improved upon. In my opinion, the hey-day of horror was driven by practical effects, but as computers improved and became more accessible, film studios did their best to utilize the technology in all their films. As a result, many 90s films are filled with ugly polygonal creatures and special effects that weren’t convincing even then (and have only grown to be worse now). Just like director David Cronenberg thought he could use improved physical effects to make a better version of The Fly in 1986, some filmmakers thought they could use new computer technology to reinvent the films of the past to inspire terror in new generations. Sadly, it didn’t happen. The incredibly self-indulgent Van Helsing (2004) may have had some cool ideas, but the tone removed all the scary elements of the creatures they were reinventing. The Fog (2005) replaced leprous, ethereal zombies with wispy, transparent spirits. CGI quality may have improved, but there were no real scares to be had. There are some outliers from that era, like The Others and The Descent , but they used practical effects and large sets to deliver their thrills. There aren’t many, if any, CGI-driven horror movies that will keep you up at night. Nothing that kids will dare each other to watch at sleepovers for years to come. It’d be easy to say horror is just a genre of tired clichés, trying to constantly reinvent the wheel while staying formulaic. As a horror fan, I resent that notion because a lot of great, if not scary, horror comes out every year. However, one film embodies nearly all the flaws I see in modern horror: A Quiet Place . Don’t get me wrong, A Quiet Place has a fantastic premise and is overall well executed, but like many horror films, the film gets less scary once we finally see the monster. The Death Angels in A Quiet Place are fully CGI, and though they are imposing, they’re clearly not actually there. Death Angels share similar characteristics with the Xenomorph, yet they are incredibly forgettable. Can you remember what they even look like? Probably not. On top of that, they never physically interact with our protagonists, which only fuels the lack of believability. Meanwhile, the Alien franchise has historically done things the opposite way. For the most part, each film has used primarily practical effects for each stage of the Xenomorph’s life cycle, eliciting a myriad of emotions from disgusted by the slimy, fleshy eggs to horrified by the large Alien Queen. Eventually, though, even that franchise took the lazy CGI path in its latest and probably final entry, Alien: Covenant . Aside from having some of the dumbest movie characters ever, Alien: Covenant almost exclusively used CGI for its creature designs. While this did assist with the newer Neomorphs, it only hurt the Xenomorph. A creature that almost always had been shown with practical effects and under the cover of darkness was now a fully CGI rendering in broad daylight. The result is disappointing, distracting, and odd. But, more importantly, it’s no longer scary. While Alien: Covenant may have put the nail in the coffin on any future Alien sequels, Universal also had some problems with horror and CGI. 2017’s The Mummy tried to spearhead the launch of the Dark Universe, a reimagining and modernization of the classic Universal Monsters in a shared universe akin to the MCU. However, in trying to bring this giant spectacle to the big screen so quickly, even going as far as to publicly release an ill-fated cast photo, the Dark Universe was quickly shelved after The Mummy ’s poor critical and commercial performance. If a CGI-driven horror movie starring Tom Cruise was a failure, the lesson should be that horror as a CGI spectacle just doesn’t work. Truthfully, it’s a lesson that should have been learned after the previous soft attempts at reinventing the Universal Monsters with Dracula: Untold and 2010’s The Wolfman . Neither of those films resonated with audiences or critics, but one good thing did eventually come out of it: the course correction that is Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man . The Invisible Man offers a full reimagining of the original H.G. Wells tale by turning it into a social commentary on domestic violence and gaslighting. It may not keep you up at night, but it touches on the fears that someone is always watching you, as well as the horrifying concept of someone actively trying to drive you crazy (even more so for women). Blumhouse, the company behind that 2020 hit, has fueled some of the more successful horror films in recent years, from the Purge franchise to the “scariest” film according to science, Sinister . Still, a fast heart rate doesn’t quite replicate the same cultural effect as The Exorcist , and while Sinister may be the scariest film ever according to “data,” that seems more attributable to the famous lawnmower scene causing a significant rise in heart rates than it being an overall scary movie. The best thing The Invisible Man did was highlight one of the horror genre’s biggest strengths, which is the unseen. The unseen, especially before a jump scare, is precisely why jump scares often work. It’s also why ghost stories remain so effective. The Conjuring and Insidious are other modern examples of effectively scary films, even if they don’t inspire the same widespread fear as The Exorcist ; however, I do think The Conjuring has created another issue permeating modern horror: branding. The Conjuring has ultimately become its own cinematic universe, taking the loosest bit of “true stories” and weaving them into a film that somehow ties into the real-life paranormal investigators/charlatan couple, the Warrens. Annabelle and the Nun have both become leaders of their own spin-off franchises, but like with movie monsters, the more that is shown, the less scary these characters are. The greatest example of this is Annabelle Comes Home , the third film featuring the demonic doll. It serves as a fun romp through the Warrens’ occult museum, but it’s more focused on setting up new spinoffs and serving as a litmus test to see what the studios can turn into a film later than it is delivering scares. The first two The Conjuring films focused more on ghosts and the unseen, but the spinoffs have turned into a whole ‘nother thing. Same thing can be said about what The Walking Dead has done to the zombie. Though the show uses practical makeup and effects, and is technically a horror show, it’s more of a brand than anything else at this point. People do not watch it to get scared. Anecdotally, it feels like a show for people who dislike horror, as the only fans of the show that I know aren’t typically horror people. It’s a post-apocalyptic survival show that uses zombies as a selling point. The zombies are almost irrelevant at this point, and they certainly aren’t scaring anyone. So, is there anything that can be done to revitalize the horror in horror? The answer is I’m unsure. The ghost story still seems effective, building upon the notion of the unseen, and a lot of fear can be generated from items moving around inexplicably. As for any creature features, there is an uphill climb to get away from the recent norm of computer-generated spectacle. CGI monsters don’t inspire fear, zombies have been overdone, and practical effects are becoming rarer and rarer. Lovecraftian tales are a little more effective as they typically deal with unknown and unseen forces, while also blending them with bizarre and horrific practical effects (two notable examples being Annihilation ’s bear and the fused bodies in The Color Out of Space ). There’s also the fact that I think the indifference and nihilism within Lovecraftian stories represents the current cultural landscape really well, as the state of the world has left many feeling hopeless. These types of stories may prove to be more effective in horrifying and inspiring dread, especially among younger generations who dread every day life. And in the prior statement lies my final point: the world is scary. There is so much instability and anxiety in every factor of real life that horror can barely compare. There is hardly a singular monster we can channel all our insecurities into like in days past. For Cold War insecurities, we had pod people and The Thing . For a youth culture interested in breaking the taboos of premarital sex and recreational drug use, the slasher entered the scene. Wartime scandals like Abu Ghraib were mirrored by torture porn like Hostel and Saw . Now, we have all that and more, and it’s everywhere…television, news, social media, a crowded street, the dinner table. We can’t escape it, and the only truly scary thing is the feeling of “oh, god, what’s next?” Hardly anything can compare to “not knowing” and the unexplainable, which is why I feel ghost stories still manage to maintain a hold on audiences most consistently. It’s also why I feel that Lovecraftian horror is maybe the only chance we have at making films truly scary again. The unknown is terrifying, especially when one considers all of the known horrors in the world. At the end of the day, though, horror is in the eye of the beholder. There is no one thing that scares everyone anymore. Horror has expanded to a plethora of subgenres and niches. Still, it has managed to stay relevant, and is beginning to reemerge as a more popular genre following films like Get Out and Hereditary . Recent films like Barbarian and Terrifier 2 are showing film studios that there is a market for good horror, and more importantly, that these films don’t need a huge budget or an over-reliance on CGI to be successful. Hell, Terrifier 2 has had some of the best viral marketing I’ve seen thanks to the leaked clip that so many found too gruesome (personally, I thought it was hilarious, but different strokes for different folks). Ultimately, the future of horror as a genre seems to be in good hands, but it remains to be seen what that means in terms of actual scares. Photo Credits: Photo 1, 4, 7, 8 - Universal Pictures; Photo 2, 3, 6 - 20th Century Studios; Photo 5, 10 - Paramount Pictures; Photo 9 - Warner Bros.; Photo 11 - Bloody Disgusting

GANGS OF LONDON: SEASON TWO Starring: Sope Dirisu, Lucian Msamati, Michelle Fairley, Brian Vernel, Valene Kane, Paapa Essiedu, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Asif Raza Mir, Orli Shuka, Narges Rashidi, Waleed Zuaiter, Jahz Armando, Fady Elsayed, Salem Kali, and Aymen Hamdouchi Creators: Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery QUENTIN Be it the almost three-year hiatus or that show creator Gareth Evans took a step back this season, Gangs of London ’s second offering isn’t quite as strong as its first. The great acting and extremely violent action scenes are still present, but the story is kind of a bore. I often found myself just waiting for the next bloody fight scene or exhilarating shootout. Thankfully, there are plenty of those sequences, so I was never waiting long, but biding time between moments of explosiveness isn’t as fun as becoming engrossed in the story at hand. I’ll be back for Season Three, albeit with a short leash.

UNSTABLE: SEASON TWO Starring: Rob Lowe, John Owen Lowe, Sian Clifford, Aaron Branch, Rachel Marsh, Emma Ferreira, Fred Armisen, Iris Apatow, and Lamorne Morris Creators: Rob Lowe, John Owen Lowe, and Victor Fresco QUENTIN In its second season, Unstable remains a decent enough watch, but it’s nothing more than a nice diversion. If it weren’t for the compact episodes (about 20 minutes each) and short season (eight episodes), I probably wouldn’t have stuck with it. However, Rob Lowe’s brand of pretty boy buffoonery is charming and amusing enough to pass the time, especially on a lazy day when all you want to do is lay on the couch and not think too hard. If it comes down to watching something as admittedly unsubstantial but moderately enjoyable as Unstable or mindlessly scrolling social media or Reddit, the choice is easy.

THE MADNESS Starring: Colman Domingo, Marsha Stephanie Blake, John Ortiz, Tamsin Topolski, Thaddeus J. Mixson, and Gabrielle Graham Creator: Stephen Belber QUENTIN If you aren’t a Colman Domingo fan, which doesn’t make any sense because he’s great in everything he has done, you probably don’t need to bother with Netflix’s The Madness . From an overall series perspective, it's kind of a mess. Sure, there are twists and turns that might half-heartedly get you to watch the next episode, but the conspiracy, characters, and social commentary are underwritten and a tad preachy, making it hard to truly invest in them. That said, probably-soon-to-be-two-time-Oscar-nominee Domingo single-handedly wills the bloated series into something watchable through a typically commanding performance despite his character being a somewhat empty and poorly developed vessel.

MR. SCORSESE Starring: Martin Scorsese, Thelma Schoonmaker, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jay Cocks, Jodie Foster, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Nicholas Pileggi, Ari Aster, Cathy Scorsese, Francesca Scorsese Creator: Rebecca Miller KATIE I loved every minute of this documentary. I don’t think I’ve ever described a documentary as fast-paced and exciting, but it really is. Moving through director Martin Scorsese’s filmography in chronological order, as well as his personal history, this series highlights the impact he has had on the cinematic landscape, society, and those closest to him. It’s visually distinct, connecting his films with significant times in his life, and ridiculously entertaining with often funny anecdotes, all accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack. Overall, Mr. Scorsese is a hugely enjoyable documentary, and a stunning portrait of one of the greatest living filmmakers. QUENTIN If you’re a fan of director Martin Scorsese in any capacity — or just an unashamed cinephile — Mr. Scorsese is a must watch. Granted, depending on your level of fandom, it might be a little too long at five hours, but it covers everything from his upbringing to personal battles, from relationships with Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to his connection to the music world. Scorsese is surprisingly open and vulnerable as an interview subject, and he’s surrounded by a collection of equally noteworthy and powerful artists that add rich context to his career. If nothing else, it’ll make you want to rewatch his entire filmography.

LANDMAN: SEASON ONE Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, Paulina Chávez, Kayla Wallace, Mark Collie, James Jordan, Demi Moore, and Jon Hamm Creators: Taylor Sheridan and Christian Wallace QUENTIN For better or worse, Landman is more of the same from prolific show creator Taylor Sheridan. On one hand, you have a stellar cast (Billy Bob Thornton, especially) willing the show to be better than it should be through sheer charisma and screen presence (not unlike Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King ), as well as the dusty blue-collar vibe that Sheridan loves so much. On the other hand, Sheridan still can’t write a nuanced female character to save his life, and there are uninteresting and undercooked tangents shoehorned in to pad the season. That said, if you like Sheridan’s other shows, you’ll probably like this one too. PRESTON After Yellowstone took a dive following the departure of Kevin Costner, it is refreshing to see Taylor Sheridan (creator) attack another gritty, blue-collar world with an equally exceptional lead in Billy Bob Thornton. That said, Landman has some minor problems (don’t we all), specifically the borderline exploitative sexualization of his daughter, the inclusion of a lawyer and widow that operate at unbalanced extremes, and narratives that meander a bit too much; still, none of these issues have restricted my enjoyment or anticipation of every new episode. I hope this show is around for a while, but I’m already sold on whatever Sheridan’s next project is.