Cooking competitions like Chopped, Cupcake Wars, and Iron Chef (2002) have been relatively popular for many years. However, the cult-like following that emerged after The Great British Bake Off’s arrival on Netflix brought about a whole new obsession with cooking competition-style shows, such as the Netflix originals Sugar Rush (2018) and Nailed It (2018). The…
Alas, it is that time again. No not apple picking season or the winter holiday, it is Great British Baking Show season. This season does not fail to bring all the sugar, smiles, tears, and fallen cake. Or shall I say *will* not fail as Netflix has taken it upon themselves to ruin every binge-watchers…
In a season premiere that began with a truly absurd sequence featuring the judges and hosts dressed as characters from the Wizard of Oz (1939) (including Paul Hollywood aptly costumed as the heartless Tin Man), and ended with the characteristic wholesome group hug given to the contestant going home, five bakers emerged from the rest…
Netflix’s new movie, The Perfect Date (2019), features its highly-utilized heartthrob Noah Centineo as Brooks Rattigan, a senior in high school who has sky-high dreams, which is nothing new in terms of teen movie protagonists. He wants a fancy car, a hot girlfriend, and admission to a prestigious university. The movie’s plot tracks his journey…
Star Wars IX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGAupmtXcMM Jake: Remember when we were supposed to let the past die, kill it if we had to? Yeah, me neither, because apparently nothing’s ever really gone. This whole trilogy has been a mess of half finished plotlines, “subversive” storytelling that subverts only our expectations that a Star Wars movie will be…
This March, Netflix released The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, an 8-part documentary chronicling McCann’s disappearance from a Portuguese resort and the subsequent investigation. This is merely the latest entry in what has become an avalanche of true crime documentaries released in recent months. Netflix has been the unchallenged forerunner in this trend. In just the…
The Perfect Date: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hld-7oBn3Rk Aaron: “Do you even need to see the movie now?” It may be a complaint I see in the comments under pretty much every trailer I’ve watched recently, but this trailer takes it to a whole new level of ridiculousness. I’m almost certain that after watching this trailer, I could write…
Unicorn Store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwx3gxdxsxg Katie: Hmmmm ok, I am more than a little confused by this trailer. The thing that first jumped out of me was the Captain Marvel (2019) dream team pairing of Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, which will be exciting to see again. Everything else, though, I am confused about. The movie…
The drugs, dildoes, and death jump out immediately in this series, but eventually come to barely figure in the background of this innovative story about finding a path in life that staves off a feeling of dissatisfaction. The Netflix show Russian Doll is based the premise of a Groundhog Day-esque storyline in which the main…
“Well, hello there.” “Who are you? Based on your vibe,” a romance. Your title is brief but insistent. You. Your preview picture is a girl on top of a guy. Another white, heteronormative rom-com? Maybe. But, wait—is that the guy from Gossip Girl? “Okay, I’ll bite.” I quickly learn that you’re more Gone Girl (2014)…