Tag Archives: Netflix

TV Review – Daredevil: Resurrection

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TL;DR – This is a more quiet character driven episode than pilot episodes of the past, but all that means is that the actors get a platform to shine.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Daredevil. Image Credit: ABC Studios/Netflix

 

Review –

Well, we are back to where it all started, the very first entry into the Marvel world on Netflix was the first season of Daredevil all the way back in 2015. For many people, me included, that the first season is still the high water mark for the Netflix project, so there is both a hope and a trepidation when you start that first episode. Also, it felt like just last week we got a new Iron Fist, and I am wondering is it all getting a bit too much. Well, today we explore if Daredevil Season Three can be the touchstone that it was.

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TV Review – The Good Place: The Brainy Bunch

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TL;DR – Season Three blasts forward at the speed of light blowing through what might have been a full season in a single episode

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

The Good Place: The Brainy Bunch. Image Credit: NBC/Netflix

 

Review –

One of the things that you have to get used to when you watch The Good Place, is how quickly everything moves. Sometimes the show completely changed up its entire structure in a single click of the fingers. It also means that it does not waste any time whatsoever, and sets up premises that a usual sitcom would play out over a bunch of episodes or a whole season, and then resolve it in 20 minutes.

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TV Review – Chef’s Table Season 5

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TL;DR – Chef’s Table returns to its core by using its platform about chefs and their food to explore deeper issues in society

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Chef's Table. Image Credit: Netflix

 

Review –

If you have read any of my past reviews about Chef’s Table (see here) you will know that I am in love with this series that explores the lives of impactful chefs right across the culinary world, their lives, their philosophy, and their impact. However, last season I found myself walking away from Chef’s Table feeling like something in the recipe just didn’t work. Was it the shorter run time, or the format, or was it on me because I am not really a dessert person. Well whatever the case, I approached this season with a bit more trepidation than I have in the past, and I am happy to say it was just as impactful as ever.

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Map-It: Chef’s Table

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TL;DR – With Volume 5 just released and Volume 6 just around the corner we take a moment to map out all of Chef’s Table

 

Chef's Table. Image Credit: Netflix

 

Map-It –

 

If you have been reading my reviews for a long time then you will undoubtedly know that I have a deep love for David Gelb’s striking food documentary series Chef’s Table on Netflix. It is a world full of beautiful food, fascinating stories, and a deep exploration into a world that I don’t really get to visit. Well today the fifth volume (six if you add in France which we do) has dropped and I wanted to take a moment to combine my love of both food and cartography and thus chart out every restaurant visited throughout the series so far (and even into the next volume since the names of the chefs have already been announced). With the maps, if a chef had more than one location featured, we picked the central place explored in the episode.

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TV Review – Ultimate Beastmaster Season 3 (Survival of the Fittest)

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TL;DR – Another iteration and they have refined the formula even more and it works really well … also Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Ultimate Beastmaster Season 3 (Survival of the Fittest). Image Credit: Netflix

 

Review –

There are many reasons people watch Beastmaster, for some, it is the athleticism, for other, it is the face plants into the water, and for some, it is the unique format of the multi-country multi-format show that only Netflix could pull off. This is the third iteration of the series and this time the format has been changed up, and we have new contestants, new obstacles, new countries, new hosts, and still one angry beast.

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TV Review – Iron Fist: The Fury of Iron Fist

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TL;DR – A good first episode that has me quietly optimistic for the rest of the season.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Iron Fist. Image Credit Marvel/Netflix

 

Review –

The first season of Iron Fist was … well, it was a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. You can read all about in our past review (see here), but the TL;DR, and we are all about the TL;DR here, is that every part of the production felt rushed. It was clear to anyone watching that Finn Jones had not enough time to prep the action sequences which were the hooks that the show was using to propel everything forward. Were there moments when the season got interesting? Yes, but not enough to really recommend it. Well since then we have had The Defenders (see review) which was a step in the right direction, and Finn popped up in Luke Cage and was actually engaging for a change. All of this had me hoping that they had learnt their lessons and would take their time with pre-production this time around, and from the first episode, I think they have.

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TV Review – Disenchantment: Season One

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TL;DR – What we get is a series with some interesting moments and characters, but feels more of a prologue to something than a season in its own right

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

Disenchantment. Image Credit: Netflix/Rough Draft Studios

 

Review –

When you think over the parody genre, it is surprising that there are not more quality entries into it. Part of this is because many take the easy way out and just fill their shows with pop-culture references that instantly date them. To really do a parody justice you really have to understand the genre and works you are parodying to an almost obsessive level. These are your Galaxy Quests, and your 22 Jump Streets. Today we take a look at a new series working in this territory Disenchantment which delves into the myriads of tropes around the Fantasy genre, and mostly succeeds. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Movie Review – To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

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TL;DR – It looks at the complicated emotions of love and how we respond to it.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

To All the Boys I've Loved Before. Image Credit: Netflix

Review –

The teen romance is a genre that use to be very popular but you don’t see it as much anymore in recent times. Part of the reason is that quite often these were the mid-tier films falling between Indy and Blockbusters that got squeezed out of oblivion in the rush for everyone to make their tent pole crossover franchises. Also the genre has gone through some shifts in the wake of works like John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars. However, as people realise that the big multi-film franchise can’t happen all the time, we have started to see the resurgence of these mid-tier budget films and all of this brings us to today’s film To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before a Young Adult/Coming of Age film about love and loss and the need to hide your letters better from well-meaning but potentially destructive siblings.

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TV Review – Disenchantment: A Princess, an Elf, and a Demon Walk Into a Bar

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TL;DR – An interesting start that gives us a real direction as to the tone and where the series is going.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

 

Disenchantment. Image Credit: Netflix/Rough Draft Studios

 

Review –

I was coming into Disenchantment with a bit of a mixed mind as I have an interesting relationship with Matt Groening’s work. When I was growing up we were not allowed to watch The Simpsons so when you did see it at a friend’s place it was this little rebellion, so I hold some of those early episodes to be quite dear to me. However, I can’t tell you the last episode I watched, at this point, I could be over seven seasons behind. On the flip side, while all this was happening Futurama came and went, and then came again and then went again, and I would count it in the top ten TV Shows I have ever seen. So where would Disenchantment fall? Well from the first episode we can see that it is at least going to be interesting.

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Movie Review – Extinction

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TL;DR – This is a film with a lot of promise and an interesting hook, but it’s missing that final level of polish needed for a film like this and the ending did feel like a cop-out.

Score – 2.5 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Extinction. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review –

It has been a good year for Science Fiction TV on Netflix, I mean it is only halfway through the year and we have already had such gems as Altered Carbon (see review), Lost in Space (see review), Star Trek Discovery (see review) & The Rain (see review). However, when it comes to Science Fiction films it is a bit more of a mixed bag, ranging from the excellent Annihilation (see review) to the quite disappointing TAU (see review). Today we look at the next film that Netflix has saved after having its theatrical release pulled Extinction, which has some good ideas going on but didn’t quite get there with the execution.

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