Your Guide To: Netflix Originals

Ah Netflix - making us binge both TV and food, and become the living embodiment of a couch potato. Now as anyone  with access to wifi (#blessed) knows, Netflix is coming out with some big original hits. The TV version of 'Chunes' or 'Bangers'. But where to begin I hear none of you ask? Well let me help you enjoy your Easter and ruin your revision!


Here are 6 original Netflix shows I've loved and perhaps they'll tickle your fancy too. Three comedies, and three dramas, how convenient!

Comedies:

1. Bojack Horseman

Undoubtedly one of their first quirky shows to take off. This animated cartoon, set in a world with people, and anthropomorphic animals (I did say quirky) is a surprise winner. It revolves around ex-TV star Bojack Horseman (a Horse..duh) and his life outside the limelight, attempting to make things work. Comedically cynical, hilariously narcissistic and endearingly negative, for some reason you find yourself rooting for him as he finds himself in the strangest of situations. With a stellar cast of Will Arnett (Arrested Development, 30 Rock), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad/Science Bitch) and Brie Larson (Community) it sets itself up nicely, with wonderfully touching moments, and major dysfunction. The guest stars are endless and it's humour is very broad that anybody will find some of it funny. 

2. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Once again, a fairly original idea. A group of women who were locked underground for years when a religious cult leader thought the world was going to end are found and released into the wild (world*). This show follows one of these women (Kimmy duh) as she decides to brave New York. She quickly meets her roommate/buddy, an extremely camp black man named Titus, played by Titus Burgess very well, and Jane Krakowski who plays a billionaires vain/insecure wife (charmingly, and with comedic finesse). We join Kimmy on many a caper and see the world through her eyes, as someone not used to the 21st century. The characters are much larger than life, an area that Producer/Writer Tina Fey is not unfamiliar with (30 Rock is another show i'm a big fan, see previous blogs). At first I was a little skeptical, I'm not a fan of OTT characters, especially not unrealistically flamboyant ones like Titus, but I took a liking very quickly. Ellie Kemper is great as the ever-optimistic absolutely pure Kimmy and her energy is matched by Krakowski and Burgess. 

This is definitely the most main-stream sitcom in style and whilst occasionally suffers from the Netflix Curse of waning storylines, and unnecessarily long episodes. It is a true hoot. Also, if anything watch it for the music video 'Peeno Noir: An Ode to Black Penis', you won't regret it.

3. Master of None

I'm not going to lie to you, this one may not appeal to everyone. Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford, Parks and Rec) is an aspiring actor in New York. That's essentially it. What it lacks in originality in concept and storyline, it makes up for in issues addressed. I like this show because it's interesting. Topics I'd love to cover in my writing are covered; Race, Gender, Generational differences, Marriage, Mortality, Infidelity and Happiness are a number of topics covered. Eric Wareheim and Noel Wells are great as his best friend and girlfriend respectively. Underdog champion is Azis's real life father playing his onscreen father. This show isn't your typical sitcom, with set-up, punchline etc. However, it does have literal laugh-out-loud moments, and very amiable characters. As is the case with many Netflix Originals , it is shot masterfully and I wonder if every building in New York is open-brick, and how a low-key actor affords the apartment the protagonist lives in, but what do I know. With Aziz Ansari's charisma, smarter writing than most sitcoms and each episode being largely self-contained story-lines, this is definitely worth a watch.

Dramas

1. Daredevil

This post comes hot on the heels of me finishing Season 2 of 'Marvel's Daredevil' so I can move onto revision distraction free (who am I kidding...). Right everybody, this show is kick-ass, literally. The extremely charming Charlie Cox, plays the blind lawyer with heightened senses who patrols the streets of hells kitchen at night. Not a mainstream Marvel hero, but an interesting one with a rich backstory. The fight scenes are the best you'll see in any show, and arguably most movies. Both seasons have delivered compelling story lines, and incredible imagery. Vincent D'Onofrio (Law & Order, Men in Black) as the Kingpin,  Elodie Yung (B13) as Elektra  and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead) as the Punisher are all fascinating characters that you hate/love in equal measure. Bringing themes of morality, death and love into an increasingly fascinating show. Season 1 brought in flashbacks and backstory for both the villain and the hero whereas season 2 simply toyed with the idea of what is a 'villain'. I'd get on this, and if you like it there's Jessica Jones, and the upcoming Luke Cage, Iron First and The Defenders (The Avengers of Hell's Kitchen, thats all the aforementioned heroes in one).

(This whole scene was shot in one take.)

2. Narcos

If I can't find a job after I graduate I'm moving to Colombia and becoming a drug dealer (for any police reading this thats a 'joke'). Narcos follows the life of Colombian Kingpin Pablo Escobar and his rise and demise. Sounds short, but when you consider it shows how he moved into drugs, the various political tensions, and politicians, his enemies, his friends, his worries, his options, his rise to fame, prominence and power and subsequently how he was beaten it easily covers an entire season. With Netflix's massive budgets, the views, cinematography and atmosphere is all exceptional. Moreover, the acting is once again incredible, as well as much of the show being in the various native languages. It starts slow, but once you know every character you're with the show till the bitter end. This too suffers from the Netflix Curse as I found myself having to power through a few episodes in the middle, which moved the story line along, but not as much as it could have with the time it took.

3. Sense-8

Last but not least, this is the underground drama. The Master of None of the Dramas. Sense-8 is directed and written by the Wachowski Siblings (The Matrix people). The concept is what hooked me, 8 people all born at the same moment in time are psychically linked. This leads to all sorts of neat ideas, such as their new-found ways of empathising , they communicate as mobile consciences and they can harness knowledge & skills off each other. While this is going on, your classic psycho bad guy is trying to steal their powers (blah blah blah). Whilst that part of the story line is relatively simple and an antagonist is necessary, it's the strength of the characters, the cinematography and philosophies it covers that I stayed for. Firstly all 8 people are scattered across the world. This means the show takes us (semi-genuinely) to Seoul, Chicago, Mumbai, Mexico City, London, Rejkavic, Nigeria, Berlin and San Francisco. I was awe-struck, with sweeping shots of these cities, great shots of actual festivals/monuments/areas of these cities, as well as seeing characters from one country appear in another was eye-opening. For them, and us. There is an especially poignant moment where all eight of them start singing 'What's Up?' by 4 non blondes, each by themselves across the world which sounds tacky but hit me in the feels real hard. They constantly offer fresh perspectives to each other, questions such as Why do you live like this? Why do you feel that way? Why don't you do this? 

Lastly, I'm a sucker for shows/movies where everyone shows up at the end to help. So with this, there were multiple moments, where one of them needed the skills of the other, whether that be driving, shooting, acting, fighting, surgery, lock-picking etc. The final episode has a 'heist' of sorts where all the characters are finally understanding their powers and help the police officer from Chicago (without actually being physically present). I hope there is a Season 2 of this, as I type this out it excites me to see. 

P.S. I just saw Kung Fu Panda 3 and it was absolutely incredible. Visuals, storytelling, humour and message was on fleek, definitely recommend. 

What I'm Watching 26/07/15

In future posts of 'What I'm Watching' I'm not going to write an introduction. But just tolerate my narcissistic narrative for a few more moments. 

This summer I have been working at IMAX a job I was lucky to secure through my school (Paulatim Sed Savedmyass) and it's brought more knowledge and interest in the entertainment world than before. Between that and my previous interest in writing/acting/producing it's shaping up to be an informative summer. Because of it however, I'm watching things I wouldn't otherwise see, and making time to make time to see things (does that just mean 'made time to see things'?)

I thought I'd tell you all what it is I've seen this last week or two between work and play and if it catches your interest let me know or give it a watch yourself.

1) Amy: This is the Amy Winehouse biopic that seems to be taking the world by storm, something it's muse did too. If there is anything this movie showed me it's that she had an unfathomable amount of talent, and never wanted to get thrown into the spotlight the way she did. With unseen footage, calls and interviews with people who were truly close to her, we see an Amy Winehouse that wasn't the reckless rioter that the media portrayed her to be, but a vulnerable soul who was hit by tragedy after tragedy due to some toxic company. Perhaps this is how the director intended for us to feel, either way, he did a good job. If there's any one reason to see this film however it's that you see the events and feel the emotions that lead her to write what she writes, especially with regards to 'Rehab' and 'Back to Black' and this gives those lyrics that much more weight. An air of sad sympathy emanated from the audience and it was a truly remarkable piece of work which left everybody thinking in some way or another.

2) Skeleton Twins: I love SNL. It's unlikely you'll have a conversation with me about entertainment and I won't bring it up. It's also going to be popping up a few times in this article. Skeleton twins takes two SNL alums and puts them in a more dramatic role. It is the story of two estranged, and equally dysfunctional, and self-destructive siblings spending time together again. Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are both fantastic, Luke Wilson should also be commended for his portrayal as Wiig's fiancee and Ty Burrell (Phil, from Modern Family) as Hader's character's lover. Everyone brings great humour and humility to their roles reminding us they're not just great comedians but versatile actors.  The film has touching highs and sombre lows, it's sweet and honest. It also has the best use of 'Nothing's gonna stop us' by Starship.

3) Good Morning Vietnam: Robin Williams was a force of nature with boundless talent and this film proves it. I find myself constantly saying 'another classic Robin Williams role' but every role seems to be that. I think it is a true testament to his talent that every character he plays he brings a unique charm and energy. This film reminds me why it is I love radio, the beauty of creativity and (because I'm such a rebel) the ability to truly speak freely and when oppressed...stick it to the man. A 'Black Comedy', it's equally as quirky with highly amiable characters and is well paced and just so damn sweet. I miss Robin.

Right so that covers some pretty heavy, thought provoking films I've watched and now onto the lighter stuff! 

Action/Comedy-

Mission Impossible 5: Great stunts, lots of action, nice touch of humour. Massive set pieces and is definitely an adrenaline rush. If you do go see it, the plane stunt was done by Big-Tom himself. Well done sir. Also, the new heroine is Rebecca Ferguson from Sweden and now I think I'm in love. How does Rebecca Ganjoor sound, or Ishan Ferguson? God I'm lonely.

Ant-Man: Okay listen up haters, this is a solid Marvel film, with the ever-charming Paul Rudd in the lead and the infamous Michael Douglas as his mentor. Michael Pena plays Scott Lang (Paul Rudd)'s best friend, and is the funniest thing I've every seen in a Marvel film, and is absolutely hilarious by any standard. Written by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead etc) Adam McKay (Anchorman) and Rudd, it ends up being a very quirky Marvel film with unique action scenes, one favourite being a little action scene set in a falling briefcase.

7 Days In Hell: An HBO original with Andy Samberg (Lonely Island, SNL (I told you), Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Jon Snow (or 'Kit Harington') it's about a 7 day tennis match between an 'American Playboy' and a 'Straight-laced, British mothers boy' and is absurd, outrageous (there's a threesome on the court at one point) and just a good time-pass. In all fairness, with my man Andy writing it I thought it would be a touch funnier, but it was still fantastic. Look out for the animated swedish prison orgy scene (that just feels weird to write...) 

TV-

30 Rock: This has basically been my life lately and I'm ashamed to say how many episodes I've watched in the last month (here's a hint...it's all of them). Witty, odd and fresh. Not only does it make me laugh every episode, the core relationships are different to your standard sitcom and Tina Fey and Co make plenty of jokes about the actual entertainment industry, movies, actors and writing. It deserves the slowest of claps.

What I'm looking forward to-

Fantastic Four, Trainwreck and Inside Out in the near future. All different to the rest of the films in their genre. 

The Fantastic Four (cleverly stylised as Fant4stic, get it?) reboot will be dark and gritty (yes that bit has been done before) but will place more emphasis on origins, and the science of it all than the previous Fantastic Four. It's got a far more talented ensemble too, with Miles Teller (Whiplash, 21 & Over) Rooney Mara (House of Cards) Michael B Jordan (The Wire, Awkward Moment) and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot). It's going to be good, I'll bet this Ice-cream I just finished on it.

Trainwreck is the latest Judd Apatow film (Superbad, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Freaks and Geeks) film and is written by Inside Amy Schumer's Amy Schumer. With Bill Hader ('wait a second isn't that the guy from SNL and also The Skeleton Twins', why yes it is.). Amy Schumer has proven herself time and time again with her sketch show and this film looks like it's going to be equally as funny, if not more. With Bill Hader, a master of sketch himself, the acting and comedy prowess is extraordinarily high. Even supporting cast like Vanessa Bayer, Colin Quinn (both SNL) and Tilda Swinton just add to the abundance of talent. Hader's best friend in the film is also none other than LeBron James who is very funny in it. Which sucks, by the way. What a selfish dick for being good at Basketball and acting. YOU'RE ONLY MEANT TO GET ONE. 

Inside Out is Pixars latest about the emotions in your head. Amy Poehler (Parks and Rec), Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Bill Hader (my god he's on a roll), Phyllis Smith (The Office) and Lewis Black (I don't know, he's some guy) play the emotions. It's meant to be equally as entertaining for adults and kids and seems wonderfully different, something Pixar never fail to do.

So yes, now I stare at screens, and also write about what I'm staring at. I should probably get off my ass and go to the gym...

Joking, what am I...The Rock?