Cobra Kai Continues to Entertain in Season Three, Balancing Character Development with Crazy Action Set Pieces
Cobra Kai has never shied away from embracing the absurdities of its premise and characters. In doing so, it has created a self-aware show that is both adorably corny and true to its characters. Originally made for Youtube Red, the…
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Shows Flashes of Brilliance in Rushed Final Season (and Makes Several Problematic Decisions)
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has always been unapologetically cheesy, wacky and soapy since its first season. Over the last couple of years, however, the show has bloated in size as both the scope and cast of characters grew considerably. After…
Alice in Borderland is a Tense, Brutal Take on the Battle Royale Genre that Raises Questions about the Humanity of its Characters
Adapted from the manga of the same name by Haro Aso, Alice in Borderland is a modern take on the tropes popularized by the likes of Battle Royale and Saw. It’s definitely as brutal as the latter, and the way…
Soul Tackles Jazz, the Afterlife and the Purpose of Life in Delightful (and Inventive) Fashion
Usually, Pixar films are geared towards children, despite being accessible to adults. Soul, however, seems the opposite: made for adults and accessible to children. It’s a return to form for Pixar, whose middling Onward dropped earlier in 2020. Soul not…
AK vs AK is a Clever, Meta-Take on the Age-Old Clash Between Bollywood Royalty and Outsiders
AK vs AK has an ingenious concept at the heart of its narrative: a meta-story about the quintessential clash between a star and a director driven up to eleven. If you are into Bollywood’s dynasties and lineages, you might be…
The Best TV Series of 2020
Unlike with movies, there was no shortage of TV shows in 2020. While some shows like the Marvel Disney+ projects got postponed, we also got our fair share of great shows this year. Honorable mentions include Dispatches from Elsewhere, The…
The Best Movies of 2020
2020 was a difficult year in many, many aspects, but at least we had some great movies along the way to tide us over. Of course, the number of movies being released was substantially smaller because of the pandemic, but…
Sound of Metal is a Searing, Unnerving Look at a Man Learning to Live After Losing Everything
Sound of Metal could have easily been a saccharine, tugging-at-your-heartstrings affair. It follows Ruben (Riz Ahmed), a recovered addict and metal drummer who discovers that he is losing his hearing. Instead of wallowing in misery, director Darius Marder and co-writer…
Wonder Woman 1984 Stumbles More Often than it Succeeds, Despite Some Good Performances
Originally slated for a December 2019 release, Wonder Woman 1984 has definitely had an interesting- and fraught- path to theaters and HBO Max. Due to the pandemic, it has become the only superhero movie release of 2020, and in a…
Mank is a Time Capsule of Old Hollywood, Centered around a Burnout Screenwriter (Who Went On to Create History)
Mank is one of those films that, despite having all of the elements for success, fall just short of being great. Directed by David Fincher and starring heavyweights such as Gary Oldman and Charles Dance, it focuses on disgraced screenwriter…
