Blueprints: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

As we approach the Emmys, Jorge is looking at the pilot episodes of Best Series contenders. 

Amy Sherman-Palladino made a name for herself with dialogue. Best known as the creator of Gilmore Girls, but also behind the one-season wonder Bunheads, her newest series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel follows a 1950s housewife who finds refuge in standup comedy after her husband leaves her. The delightfully twee vintage setting and the world of verbose comedy sets and big performer personalities is a perfect fit for her now immediately recognizable patter-chatter, all anchored by a revelatory performance from Rachel Brosnahan. 

Let’s take a look at the climax of the pilot episode: Midge’s drunken, cathartic stand-up set. How she slowly wins the audience. How it escalates on the page. How the endless sentences, tangents, and colorful adjectives create explosive tension...

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Is this the end for "Harlots"?

by Nathaniel R

There wasn't enough interest to continue our lengthy "Harlots" write-ups but dayumn, y'all are missing out if you're still now watching. The show is absolutely a smorgasbord of actressing. Season 2 initially felt like the Lesley Manville show after Season 1's Samantha Morton flavor but everyone in the cast is vying for queen of this deliciously talented pool of fascinating women in season 2. Tomorrow night is the season finale.

I do wonder sometimes if the writers are writing this show into a corner, though. How can it continue for a third season  -- if renewed *bites nails* --  given what's happened to the characters? With hangings, stabbings, whippings, betrayals, and general abundance of emotional scarring it feels like there will soon be no one left intact? Or is the nihilism the end game and this is a series finale tomorrow? Season 2 isn't as much "fun" as Season 1, and given what's transpired the show has probably left "fun" behind for good, but it's still dynamite drama. Watch it. And bless Morton, Manville, Liv Tyler, Jessica Brown Findlay, and the rest of the cast for investigating the psyches of these bruised angry witty sexual women. 

Blueprints: "GLOW"

As we steamroll towards Emmy season, Jorge will be diving into the pilot episodes for some of the Best Series nominees from now until the ceremony on September 17. This week, he steps into the ring for some gorgeous lady wrestling…

If a TV show has the Jenji Kohan seal (either as a creator or as an executive producer), there are several things you can expect from it: biting satire that effortlessly moves from dark comedy to emotional drama, a focus on female stories, and large ensembles.

GLOW, Netflix’s second big collaboration with Kohan after Orange Is the New Black (though here only in a producer capacity) is a perfect embodiment of these traits. Let’s take a look at how writer-creator’s for the hit comedy, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, introduce and establish the main characters that we will be following in this journey of self-empowerment and risky physical maneuvers...

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Prime in August: The Elephant Man, How to Talk to Girls at Parties

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Eat me alive. Mommy, mommy 🎵

How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017/18)
We should talk about this movie at some point real soon now that you can all see it. L-O-V-E this entire scene. My favorite in the movie though these screen pulls are random as promised. I want this nominated for Best Original Song though it never shall come to pass...

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Netflix in August: The Aviator, Her, Silverado

Time to play Streaming Roulette. Each month, to survey new streaming titles we freeze frame the films at random places with the scroll bar and whatever comes up first, that's what we share!

Remember when Netflix used to get recent movies and classics? Now they seem to be exclusively in the business of streaming things that are between 5-20 years old only... with the obvious exception of their original programming, cheap foreign tv series, and straight to streaming indie stuff that wasn't cut out for theatrical.

LYRA!

The Golden Compass (2007)
Have you ever read this book? It's fantastic and bold. The movie is sadly a compromised rendition but it's still a bit tragic that they didn't finish filming the trilogy. Nicole Kidman was a sensaysh "Mrs Coulter" at least. Whatever happened to Dakota Blue Richards? Remember what a surprise it was when this one beat the first Transformers movie to the Visual FX Oscar?!

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