Cry Baby Cry, Make the Devil Sigh

 By Salim Garami

What's good?

Yuasa Masaaki is going to have a really good 2018 year. Earlier last month, North American animation distributor GKIDS announced they had acquired distribution rights to his two works from 2017, Lu Over the Wall and The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl, as well as his 2004 cult hit Mind Game. The acquisitions can promise no less than a breakout in recognition in the U.S. for the 52-year-old animator and his studio Science Saru. And yet, it's only apparently going to be riding on the tail of Yuasa's latest release, the Netflix anime series Devilman Crybaby, inspired by Nagai Go's tragic action-horror manga series...

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A Ryan Murphy Political Comedy Quasi-musical?

Chris here. Ryan Murphy is a television titan with American Crime Story: Versace currently drawing high praise and umpteen projects in the pipeline, including a Sarah Paulson-led Nurse Ratched series. This next one already sounds kookier than the rest - Netflix has given a greenlight to The Politician, an hour-long comedic satire.

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FYC: "Okja" for Best Visual Effects

by Ilich Mejía

With all due respect to Transformers: The Last Night and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, neither one made me fall in love with a creature forty times my size—mostly because I skipped both, but other reasons, too. Okja's titular superpig, however, had me smitten after her opening scene cavorting across a Korean forest with her best friend, Mija (played by Ahn Seo-hyun, a revelation).

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Review: "Bright" on Netflix

by Ben Miller

Will Smith misses the good ole days.  He has been trying to reclaim his blockbuster status since 2008’s Hancock.  In between, Smith has been featured in a string of weird melodramatic dramas (Seven Pounds, Collateral Beauty), traditional action genre vehicles (Men in Black 3, After Earth, Suicide Squad) and films that sink or swim on the charisma of the stars (Focus, Concussion).  None of these have worked.

Reuniting with Suicide Squad director David Ayer, Smith tries to make it work again in action/sci-fi with Netflix’s Bright.  This also doesn’t really work...

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"A Christmas Prince" We Never Knew We Needed

By Spencer Coile

It’s time to get into the Christmas spirit, readers! With a recent push from Netflix for prestige filmmaking – in 2017 we received Mudbound, and First They Killed My Father, among many less heralded offerings – everyone’s favorite streaming site is now getting festive with their new original film, A Christmas Prince. At first glance, it may seem like a sweet and predictable little RomCom, but within a week, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone on the interwebs not talking about it. 

Why has this sugary, Hallmark-esque film received this hailstorm of attention? Perhaps it is because, in a bit of marketing genius to generate buzz about the film, Netflix tweeted this: 

To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?

— Netflix US (@netflix) December 11, 2017

Could this constant viewing possibly mean that A Christmas Prince is actually... good? No, A Christmas Prince is not "good." However, it truly is an experience I recommend...

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